Comic book characters introduced: Jack O' Lantern, Vengeance, Agent Uno, Kowalski, and Carter Slade.
Comic book characters mentioned: Rebecca Taylor and Sam Buchanan.
Jack O' Lantern has been multiple characters in the comics, but we decided to focus on the mystical-demonic character for this story. We made the identity of the character someone recognizable from the RWBY universe and we hope you enjoy that little twist. As always, thanks for everything.
(Kingdom of Mistral, Windpath)
The portal closed behind them as they made their way through the street. They all felt uneasy as they walked past the inhabitants since Windpath was notorious for being not as governed like the main city and ripe with those of the criminal underworld. They weren't particularly fond of the stares they received, which only made Wolff grip his rifle tighter.
"The people around here are either trying to swindle something out of you or try to kill you so try to be careful." Johnny warned.
"I'm sure this place ain't so bad." Wolff said. He then began to check his pockets seconds after. "Wait, where's my wallet?"
"Like I said, be careful."
"I'm already in love with this place." Sara said sarcastically.
"Welcome to Windpath." Johnny said.
"You sound like you've been here before." Wolff said.
"I've been everywhere. Not every bad guy stays in or comes from Vacuo you know."
"Fair enough."
They made their way past some of the vendors in the street. Most of them selling cheap or fake items meant to either sustain or protect those outside the kingdom's borders. Sara didn't feel very comfortable passing by some of the rougher "citizens", especially those who easily appeared to be killers for hire.
"Doing alright?" Johnny asked, shaking Sara out of her funk.
"Yeah, just a little nervous." She said.
"Then we should get you a weapon or two to help with that."
"I'm not that nervous."
"We should get something anyway. I'm surprised we haven't gotten you a weapon sooner, especially after all the things we've been through lately."
"Of course, cause who could predict demons, life force vampires, shadow monsters, ghosts, and cannibal priests?" Sara said, to which Johnny slowly raised his hand.
"Ok, nobody likes a show off." She and Johnny began to laugh.
Johnny walked over to a vendor selling a variety of different weapons, parked his bike near the stand, and began looking through the selection until he saw a pair of weapons he thought were suited for Sara.
"How much for these two together?" Johnny asked.
"Those are top grade, my friend. I'll sell 'em for five hundred Lien." The vendor said.
"One: no, two: these are not top grade, and three: who the hell do you think is gonna walk around here with five hundred Lien, especially when you announce it for the entire street to hear?" Johnny said irritatedly.
"Don't matter. You don't got the Lien, you don't get the weapons."
"How's this? We do a non-murderous and non-life ruining favor, and you give us the real pieces instead of these knock-offs." Johnny said. The owner looked at him with a curious but apprehensive expression.
"Well…alright. If you can disrupt the sellin' of those weapons from the table in front a' me for the day, then I'll give the real ones to you for a hundred, and I'll even throw in these pair a' biker goggles." They looked over to the table he described, run by a man with a wider variety of weapons. They looked back at the vendor with a questioning look.
"What? He's my little brother. I like to mess with 'im, especially when he's cuttin' into my business."
"Yeah, whatever. Wolff, would you mind?" Johnny asked.
"Say no more."
Wolff walked over and pretended to browse through the weapons of the opposing vendor, unbeknownst to him however, Wolff loosened a nail on one of the table legs. The table then collapsed under the weight and Wolff snuck away pretending to be as surprised as everyone else.
"That work?" Johnny asked the more than pleased vendor.
"Works just fine." He reached under the table. "I give you what I like to call 'Slice n Dice'. The katana to slice 'em, and the pistol to dice 'em."
The pistol appeared to Johnny as similar to the design of Blake's but without any of the sword and ribbon attachments. The katana was standard with a black handle and gold hilt. The vendor also included a holster for the pistol and a harness with the katana's sheath attached to the back. Sara held them to see how they felt and loved them right away. She then put on all the gear, holstered her weapons, rested the brown leather goggles on top her head, and they all walked away to their next destination after bidding a quick thanks to the vendor.
"Pleasure doin' business! Sure I can't interest you in any a' my other products? Got body armor, boots, even skirts with pockets! They're really goo-and they're not listening." Said the vendor.
"Hey!" His attention was then drawn to his brother. "You did this, I know you did!"
"What are ya talkin' about?! I didn't do nothin'."
"Oh yeah, well I'm tellin' mom! We'll see what she has to say about this!"
"You're forty two years old, what're ya rattin' on me to mom for?!"
"I'm even gonna tell her you sold her sword to that girl."
"No! Look, I'll do whatever you want, just don't tell mom. If you do, there'll be no lasagna tonight!"
(Tavern)
"Seer said if Hag and the others were just as much scoundrels as they were when we met them, then they would've more than likely done business here." Johnny said.
"Ok, so what's the play?" Wolff asked.
"You guys stay with the bike so it doesn't go wandering anywhere. And if things go bad, you can come in and help me out."
"Seriously, after everything that's happened, you're benching us now?" Wolff asked.
"Well, if you guys want to come with me and meet the thieves and murderers, then by all means…"
"Nah, we're good."
"I'm not looking to have my wallet stolen either." Sara said while testing the sights of her new pistol.
"Well then. See you in a few." Johnny said before walking in.
"Do you even know how to use those?" Wolff asked looking at Sara.
"My dad taught me how to handle a gun and I was actually a fencing champion for three consecutive years."
"Well, damn."
Once inside, Johnny looked around through the smoke to find who or what would be the best source of information. He saw goons for hire with their "clients", patrons throwing knives at a dart board, and people just having a drink. After scoping the place out, he surmised that the one person that might have the information he needed was the bartender.
"Hey, I'm looking for someone." Johnny said.
"If that someone's name is bourbon, then I can help you with that." The man said.
"Actually, this person employed somebody who I'm sure frequented this place. That somebody's name was Hag, I believe."
"Look man, if you're not gonna buy anything then I'm not gonna talk to you. Seeing as how we've got nothing else to discuss, there's the door." The bartender said pointing to the door. Johnny then grabbed his hand and began applying pressure, and the whole place went silent as everyone looked to see what was happening.
"I don't usually do this sort of thing, I actually let the 'other guy' do stuff like this, but I ran out of patience the minute Hag showed up and I've picked up enough moves over the years to make you tell me what I want to hear. So, let me put it simply, you're going to tell me what I want to know or whatever happens to this hand is gonna look a little more tame compared to what I'll do to the other one if you don't give me what I want."
"Ok, ok, oh my go…wh-what do you wanna know about Hag?" He said through the pain.
"Did she and her crew talk to anybody out of the ordinary? A non-regular, dressed all weird, creepy looking, that sort of thing?"
"Uh, y-yeah, they were talking to some guy in a red mask. He talked about giving them 'power beyond their wildest dreams', and they just ate it up."
"Did the guy talk about anything else?"
"I think he said something about a blade, or maybe he said slade, I don't know."
"Slade?" Johnny said in a surprised tone. "He said that, that exact word?"
"Yeah, I-I think so. Look, I told you all I know, could you please?" The bartender directed to his hand. Johnny let go soon after.
"Thanks for the help." Johnny said.
"Before you go, I gotta ask." The bartender said, massaging his hand. "What's the deal with you and Hag? She up to no good again?" Johnny then placed Hag's scorched pin on the counter.
"She was." Johnny said as he left.
"Good, never liked her anyway." The bartender said to himself.
"Spot of trouble?" A cloaked and shadowed figure asked.
"Just some punk."
"I'll take care of it for you."
"Hey, you won't hear me complaining. There's a free drink in it for you if you do, stranger."
"Good to know." The figure looked to where Johnny exited. "I'm gonna have fun with this one." The man's smile then glowed with a yellow flaming light.
"Any luck?" Sara asked.
"Oh yeah, grab your stuff. We're going back to Sanus." Johnny said.
"What? After all the crap we went through to get here, we gotta go all the way back? We don't have a woman who can open portals to get us back quickly anymore, you know." Wolff complained.
"True, but these guys smuggle stuff between continents all the time. I'm sure we can hop on one of the outgoing ships."
"Continental travel isn't a little cab ride away. It'll take a day, maybe more. Your 'guest' isn't gonna keep himself indisposed of for all that time." Sara pointed out.
"Well, then I'll just hijack one and follow you guys back from a distance."
"Do you even know how to fly an air ship or a Bullhead?" Wolff asked.
"I'll figure it out." Johnny said after a brief pause.
"I am filled with confidence." Wolff said sarcastically.
"Then you're gonna love what I've gotta say next." They turned to Johnny worriedly.
"The outgoing shipments take off at sunset." Johnny said.
"What?!" They both shouted.
"Look, I'll set something up with one of the pilots. All you guys have to worry about is getting on the ship, while I secure a Bullhead nobody's paying attention to."
"I really don't like this plan." Wolff said.
"Me neither, but I can't think of another plan that'll get us back in time."
"Time for what?" Sara asked.
"I'll tell you after I get you two a ship. You guys find a place for us to eat and I'll fill you in on everything when I get back."
They all walked away from the tavern unaware of the cloaked figure watching them from the shadows.
They found a place to sit and ate the first real meal they'd eaten in three days. It wasn't sunset yet and they tried to kill time until Johnny came back. When he did, he ordered and ate his food.
"So, you gonna tell us or are we supposed to read your mind?" Wolff asked.
"I will, I will. Just let me finish eating." Johnny mumbled, chewing his food.
"Ok, I'm ready now." Johnny said. "I got you guys a Bullhead. The guy's shipping cargo to Sanus, of course, and he agreed to take the both of you as long as you stay quiet. He'll be on the middle dock among five. And before you ask, yes, I've found a ride out of here too."
"Good, now all that's left is what you found out." Wolff said.
"Deathwatch talked with our trio and, through some coercion, the bartender said he overheard him mention a 'Slade'."
"What's a Slade?" Sara asked.
"It's not a thing, it's a person. A long time ago there was a Ghost Rider who brought vengeance on flaming horseback across Sanus. That Rider was Carter Slade."
"Carter Slade? I've read old reports about him. Caused a bit of trouble for some Atlesian soldiers a while back, operated between Vale and Vacuo, but pretty much everyone thinks he's dead since nobody's seen him in twenty years." Wolff said.
"Yeah, there's a reason for that. His last bounty as the Rider is his most famous story. Mephisto had tasked him with retrieving a contract from the town of San Venganza, and it was said that this contract was worth a thousand souls."
"A thousand?!" Sara asked in disbelief. "How was Mephisto even able to get that many?"
"He asked. Remember, every deal has to be finalized on a mutual agreement. You can't force someone to sell their own soul, they have to make that decision all by themselves otherwise the contract is void."
"And a thousand people just agreed to that?" Wolff asked.
"They were desperate. It was said that San Venganza faced a drought and all the cattle and vegetation had died out. Without food and water, and with nowhere else to go, the entire town gave away their souls for the land to be revitalized again. The crops grew back, the lakes refilled, the wildlife returned, and Mephisto told them that he would be back to collect their debt. When the time came, he sent Slade to collect the contract and bring it to him, since Mephisto was the only one who could use it. But, knowing what the contract could do in the hands of the devil, Slade made sure that Mephisto would never get his hands on it. It was believed that he was killed and Zarathos was sent back to Mephisto, since that's the only other way to get a Spirit of Vengeance back from the host. But as it turns out, that's not the case."
"Ooh, now I'm intrigued." Wolff said before loudly sipping his drink through a straw.
"I found out through Seer's mentor, the Caretaker that he was alive and helped out anyone who needed him under a new name: the Phantom Rider. Dressed all in white and riding in on a white horse that he named Banshee."
"Wow. Guy took the whole white knight thing to heart, huh?" Sara asked.
"Wait, hold on. If he's not dead, then how did he break his tie to Zarathos?" Wolff asked.
"That's one of the things I intend to ask him when we meet him."
"You know where he is?" Sara asked.
"I got a pretty good guess. I already told the pilot to punch the coordinates in so you guys should get there without any problems."
"Ok, now this begs another question. What does Blackheart have to do with this? If Mephisto is the only one who can use it, then why bother trying to get it?" Wolff asked.
"Let me elaborate. Mephisto and anyone in his bloodline could use the contract of San Venganza, and if they were able to unleash its power, they could then bring Hell to the mortal plane. They could merge both worlds together, become the new ruler, and bring about a never ending reign fire and darkness. That's what we're doing, we are saving the world from Blackheart bringing Hell to Remnant." Johnny finished.
"Damn, no pressure then." Wolff said bewilderedly.
"There's still one thing I don't understand." Sara said. "What does this all have to do with me?"
"I don't know yet. Maybe Blackheart thinks you know where it is."
"I think I would remember a contract worth a thousand souls."
"I'm more worried that we may not make it to Carter in time. Since Blackheart and Deathwatch have a three day head start on us, Carter might already be dead."
"But it's the only lead we got." Wolff summarized.
"And I'm afraid the lead has gone cold." They all turned to see the mysterious figure from before.
"Oh god, what now?" Johnny asked.
"Rude." As the figure said this, Wolff and Sara reached for their weapons.
"Look, we've had a rough few days and I'm not particularly in the mood for any more."
"Wouldn't want to burden you." The figure said in a sarcastic tone. "Point is: the boss isn't ready for you yet."
"Isn't ready? He's had three whole days. Hell, he's been killing and causing mayhem for weeks, how can he still not be ready?" Wolff asked.
"Ask him when he's ready for you. But until then, you're gonna have to deal with me."
The figure dropped the cloak to reveal that he wasn't much of a mortal being at all. He wore dark green pants and what appeared to be green body armor, the sleeves had a lighter green diamond shape pattern throughout, green metallic shin and knee guards that were slightly burned, black gloves and boots, a severely torn short dark red cape, and a burning pumpkin for a head. The eyes and mouth glowed from the flames inside the head, and the "carved" teeth were small compared to the four large ones at the front. Two large ones on the top "jaw" and two large ones on the bottom like fangs.
As soon as the diners caught sight of this, everyone in the food stop ran out as fast as they could.
"Great, it's another one." Johnny sighed.
"So, should we be heading for that ship now?" Wolff asked.
"I would say that's a definite yes." Johnny said, standing himself up. Wolff and Sara both began to run for the ship while Johnny stayed behind.
"Look man, I am tired, still hungry, and I haven't showered in three days. I want this all to be over so that I can at least have a decent night's sleep. So, would you please mind going the hell away so that I can get right on that and not have to do this whole song and dance anymore?"
"What do you think my answer would be?"
"The same one I've gotten every time. Are you sure you don't want to leave? I really don't want to have to kill you."
"You sound confident that you'll win. I like that."
"So, what do I call you? Everyone we've met so far has a 'super villain' name. Is it like Pumpkin Head or something?"
"Close enough. Jack O' Lantern." He materialized a burning sphere from his left hand.
Johnny saw that the sun had set. "Well…here we go again." His eyes then vanished as smoke began to rise from his body.
Wolff and Sara ran past citizens who were otherwise mildly confused as to why they were running. Sara stopped to catch her breath and upon noticing this, Wolff ran back to her.
"What're you doing? We gotta go!" Wolff said.
"Johnny's back there. We should help."
"Look, I know you're worried, and that you really want to try out the new toys, but I'm not going to let the both of us get killed for a test run. No offense."
"Come on, you're his best friend. Don't you think he might need some help?"
There was suddenly a loud boom and they both turned into the direction they ran from to see fiery mushroom cloud.
"I think he'll be fine." Wolff began to run. "Come on! They'll leave without us!"
Sara looked away from the fire and started to catch up to Wolff.
Jack O' Lantern threw the explosive spheres, only for Ghost Rider to dodge them whenever he did. He threw one more, to which the Rider whipped with his chain and sent it back near Jack's feet. Jack became irritated and summoned through fire a large disk beneath his feet, and flew up into the air on it. The Rider dove for cover as Jack bombarded him with more spheres. After making for cover, he summoned the Hell Cycle to him which drove through the fleeing civilians, turning them to ash. The ruckus from the bike distracted Jack long enough for the Rider to wrap a chain around his arm. The Rider mounted the bike and drove down the street dragging Jack and his floating saucer along the road. The Rider slammed on the brakes and Jack zoomed past and crashed through a wall to a store that several people had taken refuge in. As Jack flew in, he dropped a sphere near the group of frightened people and the interior of the store exploded with flames bursting out the windows.
The Rider pulled up near the front of the burning building to see Jack stumbling through the flames. Jack dropped to one knee trying to recompose himself and brushing off fire from his left shoulder. The Rider began to drive towards Jack until Jack summoned his flying disc and sent it towards him, knocking him off the bike. Jack summoned another sphere and the Rider readied his chain, both waited for the other to attack each other in a standoff. Jack looked at the crowds of people around them and saw an opportunity. He saw killers and thieves, men and women who had committed their fair share of heinous acts, surrounding them. To Jack, they were the perfect distraction.
"Looks like things are getting a bit too hot for me." Jack said as he mounted his flying disc. "I'm afraid this is where we part ways." He then flew off into the sky.
The Rider whipped his chain to try and bring him down but Jack dodged it and flew away. He looked to where he last saw Jack until he was distracted by the sounds of the crowd.
"What is that thing?!" He heard a woman cry out.
He looked through the crowd and his mind flooded with voices. Voices of the ones they hurt in more ways than one, and the need to chase Jack was gone. Overcome with hatred, he readied his chain and made his way toward the crowd.
(Cliffside docking bay)
Sara and Wolff ran to the Bullhead they were told would take them back to Sanus. The pilot was frantically loading cargo onto the ship until he noticed the both of them.
"You the ones I'm supposed to take?" The pilot asked in a panicked tone.
"Yeah, that's us." Wolff said.
"Good, now help me get this in before whatever's blowing stuff up over there decides to do it over here." Wolff then went to help the pilot push the last crate onto the ship.
Sara saw people running from the flames and ran in the direction of the fire.
"Sara!" Wolff shouted.
"I've had enough of this, I'm leaving. Your choice whether you wanna come with or stay with your girlfriend." The pilot said. Wolff sighed in frustration and knocked out the pilot with the end of his rifle.
"Really hope I didn't forget those flight simulations at the academy." Wolff said as he dragged the unconscious pilot into the cockpit.
Sara ran past the fleeing crowds to the source of the fires. When she made it, she saw a man running for his life toward her. A burning hot chain came down through the middle of him and he was split into two separate piles of ash. Sara looked up to see the Rider holding the chain and looking at her. She drew her weapons and readied herself for a fight as he made his way to her. Knowing she would ultimately lose, she looked around to see what else she could use to better fight him. She saw a Dust shop with barrels supported by a winch atop the store entrance. The barrels were labeled with a flame emblem signifying that the powder inside was Burn, and Sara made to act when he got close enough to the entrance. She cut the rope and the barrels were falling in front of the Rider. Sara then drew her pistol and fired toward the falling barrels, igniting them. The explosion sent the both of them flying back with the Rider receiving the brunt of it.
"Holy crap, I was sure I was gonna miss." Sara said before getting up.
Sara looked around and saw that there were dozens of piles of burning ash. The whole thing had escalated from a fight to a massacre. A chain was then wrapped around Sara's foot and she was then dragged towards the Rider. He held her up to his face while she pointed her gun toward his right eye socket and the both of them waited for the other to do something. They were then interrupted by the sound of laughter.
"I always loved watching you work, Zarathos." They both turned their gaze to the creature that spoke and saw the behemoth that was Blackheart. The Rider dropped Sara and made his way over to the demon.
"As good as it was catching up with you, I'm gonna need to speak with your other half." Blackheart said as the Rider readied his chain. "Restinguam tenebris ad vindictam unde venisti." (Extinguish your vengeance and return to the darkness from whence you came).
The Rider struggled to walk further and the flames began to extinguish. He fell to the floor as his influence over Johnny began to dwindle like the coming of the sunlight.
"Why do you only know the painful suppression spells?" Johnny said as he painfully stood back up.
"They're more fun for me." Blackheart said smugly. "I believe you have something of mine." Blackheart looked toward Sara and she visibly became uneasy.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Does this form bother you? I forget it's not considered normal around here."
Blackheart then morphed from his demonic form into a more human one. In that form, he donned black dress shoes, black suit pants, red velvet waistcoat, white dress shirt, and all under a black overcoat. His skin was deathly pale and, in Johnny's mind, eyes like Qrow and hair like Oobleck but black.
"Better?" Blackheart said as he gestured to himself.
"No." Johnny said frankly.
"There's always someone. Well, you won't have to see it for much longer after I take what's mine." Blackheart began to walk to Sara before Johnny stood in his way.
"Seriously? You have no power over me anymore."
"How did you get out of Hell?" Johnny asked, ignoring his statement.
"Vale, of course."
"I'm not following."
"That much terror, sadness, and death on that large of a scale hadn't happened since the Great War. That much influx of negative emotion and dearly departed souls passing through Hell, it was enough to weaken the prison surrounding me."
"But not enough to break it. So someone did help you get out, and it's more than likely the same someone who gave you the power to make deals, I'm guessing."
"Sorry, Blaze. Can't reveal all my secrets, what kind of magician would I be if I did?"
"Alright, then what do you want from Sara?"
"I'm sure you've figured it out already." Blackheart said with a smile.
"The contract of San Venganza."
"And I will have it."
"But she doesn't have it. If she did, it was definitely destroyed in the Vale attack." Blackheart laughed at that last part.
"You think the contract is a piece of paper? If it was, then every angel and demon would know what to look for. The most powerful contract on the planet wouldn't be something so easy to identify. After knowing my father, you'd really think he'd make it something so simple?"
"Your dad always did like to make everything as 'extravagant' and complex as his ego. Ok, then, tell me. What really is the contract of San Venganza?" Blackheart gave him a quizzical look. "Oh, come on. I have no power and you're going to kill me anyway. So why not let me die with some clarity?"
"Kill you? No, I need you alive. Believe it or not, the plan does require you to keep breathing. Why do you think I came here? Well, aside from coming to collect the contract itself."
"You came to collect me too?"
"Correctamundo."
"What do you need me for?"
Blackheart smiled and was about to speak until something exploded in his face, knocking him back. Johnny and Sara turned to see Wolff piloting a Bullhead and hovering above the street with a smoking gun barrel.
"Aw, damn it! He was gonna reveal the whole plan!" Johnny yelled in frustration.
"Forget the plan, make for the ship!" Sara said as she put on her goggles and mounted Johnny's bike. She pulled Johnny onto the back which barely had any space for him to sit on.
"I'm the one who drives the bike, it's always me!" Johnny yelled as she sped off.
Wolff hovered closer to the ground with the left cargo door open for them to board. She pulled up and with the front wheel in the air and she managed to get the rest of the bike over the open door and made it inside. Once they were in, Wolff closed the door and flew off into the sky. Blackheart sat up and slowly began to morph back into his true form.
"BLAAAZE!" Blackheart shouted into the sky.
"Problems?" Blackheart looked to his right and saw Jack O' Lantern hovering above him.
"Don't get smart with me. Go after them!" Jack then flew up into the sky.
"Nice driving." Johnny said as he and Sara got up off the floor.
"Don't mention it." Sara said, quickly patting his shoulder.
"I'm uh…I'm really sorry you had to see that." Sara realized he had meant the piles of ash and the fleeing civilians the Rider had killed.
"It wasn't you."
"No, but I let him out. I should've left earlier, I should've…I guess I thought, with everything that happened lately, that I could control him. I was very wrong, and I'm sorry."
"Guys! You need to see this!" Wolff shouted.
"Excuse me." Johnny said, stepping over the unconscious pilot.
"We have company." Wolff said, directing their attention to Jack O' Lantern hovering in front of them with spheres ready.
"May I?" Johnny asked.
"I insist." Wolff said. Johnny reached for the flight stick, pressed the top button, and fired the gun at Jack sending him towards the ground.
"God, that must've been satisfying." Wolff said.
"Yeah." Johnny said in a sad tone before walking out of the cockpit.
"What's with him?" Wolff asked.
"Not just now, ok?" Sara asked, seating herself in the co-pilot seat.
"Ok. Let's get outta here before 'pumpkin spice' comes back." Wolff said.
Johnny sat up against one of the containers thinking about everything that had just transpired. While thinking about those Zarathos hurt, he remembered something that Jack said.
"I'm afraid this is where we part ways."
"Where have I heard that before?" Johnny asked himself.
He tried very hard to remember. His memory took him back to the previous day when he tried accessing the Rider's power to find dark magic and he looked into Ruby's memories. To find sins, his power had to sift through her memories to find them. One of those memories was a dark night during a robbery with Ruby looking at a figure wearing a bowler hat and wielding a cane.
"Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening, and as much as I'd love to stick around…I'm afraid this is where we part ways."
Johnny held his head in his right hand and sighed.
"Ruby's not gonna like this."
(A few months prior)
There was darkness all around. No sound, no smell, nothing. There was absolutely nothing until a voice called out through the blackness.
"Do you want a second chance?" He looked around to see who had just spoken, only to find that there was still nothing to see.
"What? Where am I? What's going on?" He asked frantically.
"Think back, what do you remember?"
He remembered a ship, monsters in the sky, and a fight he was about to win until he remembered a giant beak.
"Oh god…oh god! I-I died?!"
"Yep, pretty much."
"Oh my go…w-wait, how am I still here? I don't…" He was interrupted before he could continue.
"Well, luckily for you, I saw promise and thought 'why not give this guy the first one?'"
"First what?"
"The first deal. You my friend will be the first of many in this grand plan of mine to be granted power in exchange for your soul, should you accept of course. Come on, what do ya say? You want a second chance at life?"
"You can do that?"
"Of course. What, don't think I can?"
"Not too sure if I'm being honest."
"Really? A voice speaking to you in the afterlife is offering you a second chance and you're having doubts about power? A man who used to work for a crazy mystical-fire woman."
"Ok, I get the point." He said, weaning from astonished to slightly irritated.
"I can see why you're so apprehensive. You worked for someone who threatened you to do what she said and frightened you to ensure you kept doing it. My friend, the power you'll be granted will rival even hers and should you ever run into her again, she will be the one afraid of you. So, what will it be, Roman? Fade away or come back more powerful than ever?"
After considering both eventualities, either fade away into the darkness forever or come back and get a new chance at the life he once had, he found his answer.
"I accept your offer."
"Good. Now, let's shake on it."
He felt a hand grab his own through the darkness. Then there was a flash of light and he saw a tall dreaded monster in front of him while Vale was burning behind it. Power went up his arm and throughout his body, transforming him into something else.
"Welcome back, Jack." Blackheart said as Roman continued to scream.
(Vale Police Department, the next morning)
A tall man in a distressed suit and tie holding a leather jacket walked in, obviously exhausted. As he was making his way to his desk, he noticed officers scrambling around the squad room.
"Hey, Kowalski. What's going on?" He asked the passing deputy.
"It's him, Michael. It's him!" He said before waving his robotic right hand and running off.
"Detective Badilino. It's been a while." A woman behind him said.
He turned to see a blonde haired woman in a red suit jacket and black pants standing in front of him.
"Yes it has." He held his hand, to which she shook. "Good to see you again, Uno."
"Agent Uno, now."
"Well, Atlas must be treating you nicely then." He looked around to the chaos around the precinct. "What's going on?"
"Earlier this morning, ships with people from Windpath came in and they said that they witnessed a fight between a pumpkin man and a motorcyclist wielding a chain that turned people to ash." Michael's eyes widened.
"We're still sifting through the witness statements, but the M.O. matches the Hellfire Murders. It's him." Uno said. "I talked with the captain, and I got the go ahead to put the old team together to go after him. The only members left are you and me. I couldn't get Sam since he quit, but Kowalski has already volunteered. All that's left is you."
"Oh, I'm definitely in." Michael said.
"And we'll make him pay for Rebecca." She said with a hand on his shoulder before walking away. "You begin work immediately. Bring the old files from your apartment back here and we'll go over what we know."
"How do you know I got the old files?" She turned and looked at him with look that said 'really?'
"Back in fifteen." He put on his leather jacket and walked back out the way he came in.
He made his way outside and onto his motorcycle (Remnant equivalent to a 2017 Harley V-Rod Muscle) parked in the shade. He pulled out a photo from his pocket of him and a brown haired woman, both in brighter spirits.
"I'm gonna take you down for what you did to her, and when I do…" He put the photo back in his pocket and started up his bike. "You'll be the one who burns." His eyes glowed red and his left eye began to burn away until he shook his head and returned to normal before driving off.
(Old shack, between the kingdoms of Vale and Vacuo)
Wolff landed the Bullhead near the old shack and they all got off, giving back the angry pilot control of his ship. He flew away soon after. Johnny parked his bike and approached the shack until he was stopped by a bullet impacting in front of his feet.
"Hold it!" A voice shouted from the open door. "Y'all better have a damn good reason why you're trespassing."
"Well, at least we know Blackheart didn't find this place." Johnny said to the others before turning his attention to the man. "We're looking for Carter Slade! This was the Caretaker's old shack and we thought he might've given Slade refuge here. We're in a spot of trouble."
The man walked out from the shadow of the doorway still pointing his rifle at them. He was an older man near his mid-fifties and short dark grey hair.
"He ain't here. So get on outta here and leave me the hell alone." The man looked over all of them and noticed Sara and his eyes widened.
"Is it to do with her?" The man asked, confusing everyone.
"Uh, yes." Johnny answered.
"Someone after her over San Venganza?"
"Yeah."
The man lowered his rifle and approached Johnny. When he was near enough he held out his hand for Johnny to shake, which he did.
"Carter Slade, and you're the poor sap that took my job." He let go of Johnny's hand.
"We've got a lot to talk about."