We're finally here! The end of San Venganza! You guys have been supportive throughout this whole thing and we couldn't be more thankful to you. You've been with us this far and we hope you stick around for the adventures to come afterwards.
(San Venganza)
They walked through the empty run down desert town, passing the abandoned carts and barrels, and all they could hear was the wind and the sound of faint whispers.
"Anyone else hearing that?" Sara asked.
"It's the spirits of the townsfolk. Since no one collected 'em, they've been stuck here since their allotted time was up." Carter said.
One of the whispers spoke. "She's here."
"Ok, that is creepy." Wolff said.
Wolff noticed one of the many barrels labeled with a fire emblem had fallen over. It was full of Dust that had spilled out a long time ago.
"There are a lot of Dust barrels around here." Wolff said.
"This place was a minin' town. Their main export was Dust, hence the many barrels." Carter explained.
As they were walking, Johnny saw that the path near the end curved to the right to the middle of town.
"The town square just up ahead?"
"Yep, just to the right." Carter said.
"Could you guys just give us a minute?" Johnny asked gesturing to Sara. Wolff and Carter stepped to the side so Johnny and Sara could talk.
"What is it?" Sara asked.
"Look, um…a lot in your life has changed these past few weeks, especially during the last few days. Understatement of the year, I know, but you've been introduced to a world of realms, magic, and monsters you never knew existed. You've seen people die in front of you, found out about a grandfather you didn't know you had who wrote to you about parents you never knew, and you've had to deal with it all in a short amount of time. That could take a toll on someone. I wanted to make sure you were ok."
"Oh, well um…I'm not gonna lie, it's all been quite a lot to deal with. And now, facing what is most likely certain death, it doesn't seem so daunting anymore. I can't really explain it. Maybe if we survive this, I'll find the right words for it." She finished with a smile, which Johnny returned.
"Sounds like a plan."
They walked to the end of the path to the town square. In the middle was a ring of stone slabs with Blackheart standing in front of it in his human form.
"My father told me once that inside this ring of rock was a flag pole. The symbol of the proud mining town of San Venganza waving up on high. A nice place to call home." Blackheart chuckled and gestured his hands to the buildings falling apart around them. "Look at it now." He turned to look at the group. "Ah! 'He Who Rides the Night Winds' himself. The Phantom Rider! I am honored by your presence. I thought you retired."
"Thought you were imprisoned."
"Got out."
"I can see that."
"Would you believe me if I said it was for good behavior?" Blackheart smiled.
"No."
"Good to see you're still sharp in your old age. Oh, and what a delight, you brought the contract."
"My name is Sara!"
"Didn't ask." Sara moved to draw her pistol but Johnny placed his hand on her wrist so she wouldn't.
"We came here as asked. We were also told that we could try and stop you. It was some sort of challenge or something?" Johnny recounted.
"That's right. And since I'm feeling generous, I'll give you the first shot."
Blackheart stood there smiling, and with that blessing, they all drew their guns and opened fire on him. He stumbled back a little from the barrage but was not affected. They all charged forward with Johnny whipping his chain around Blackheart's right arm only for him to pull Johnny in and head-butt him in the nose. Phantom Rider drew his pistols and fired until he was close enough to hit him in the face with the butt of his right pistol which knocked him to the right a little towards Wolff's rifle. Blackheart narrowly dodged an energy blast, grabbed the rifle, and crushed it in his hand rendering it useless. He threw Wolff over his shoulder and into Phantom Rider just before Sara charged in swinging her sword. He knocked it out of her hand and grabbed her by the throat. The others charged in again only for him to knock them all back with a swing of his arm.
"You know, I actually expected this to be dragged out a little longer. I guess you're not really much without your monster after all. So much for a challenge."
He turned Sara around and placed his left hand on her shoulder and his right on her head, keeping her in place. The words of the contract manifested in white lettering that floated around them as he spoke.
"Animarum sanguinem super contractus tenentur." (The souls of this contract are bound by the blood spilled upon it). Sara's eyes went white as he continued.
"Mille enim mortalium animos lucra reliquerunt. Nunc tenentem convenire declaraverit tempus colligendi." (The one thousand have relinquished their spirits for their mortal gains. And now, the one who holds this agreement has declared that the time has come to collect.)
He stepped back with his arms extended outward while Sara still stood there with the power of the contract overwhelming her. As Johnny was lying on the ground holding his bloodied nose in pain, a decayed hand came out from the ground near his face. The figure came up without disturbing the dirt, looked at Johnny, shrieked, and flew into the air and entered Blackheart. The spirits throughout the town began to manifest and fly into the demon. Johnny and the others stood up as the storm of souls flew through the air.
"Wolff, shoot him!" Johnny yelled.
Wolff's crushed rifle sparked as he held it. "I can't!"
As the last few souls were being absorbed, Johnny quickly wrapped his chain around Sara and yanked her away from Blackheart before her soul could be collected as well. Her eyes returned to normal as Johnny helped her up. They all looked at Blackheart to see the dark smoke clear and saw him trembling as he was adjusting to his new power. He turned to them to show that his true form was trying to manifest. His eyes were red, his fingernails were long and sharp, and the facial protrusions of his true form had blended with his human one.
"That's much better." He said after a deep inhale. "But it's incomplete." He said looking at Sara.
"Just try and take her." Johnny said.
"Try? I didn't try wiping the floor with all of you just a minute ago, I just did it. It took nothing to swat you away like bugs." He took a moment to think. "Tell you what, I'm still feeling generous and I want this to be somewhat challenging. In five minutes, I'll unleash one thousand corpses on you. And be sure to smile, there'll be people watching." He gestured to the sky to a damaged Bullhead with a camera attached to it.
"Even though the CCT is botched the connection shouldn't be a problem. I'll send the signals through the power nodes to every screen on the planet. It'll start broadcasting once the five minutes are up. I want everyone to watch as you fight hopelessly to stay alive until you're eventually ripped apart. And you're five minutes start right now. I'd wish you good luck but let's be honest, I hate you too much to do that." He said with a smile before evaporating into smoke.
"I don't get it. If he's so powerful, why didn't he just kill us and complete the whole 'reshaping the world' process." Wolff asked.
"Why? Because he's a murderous psychopath who's been imprisoned in Hell for two years, he's bored!" Johnny said looking around to see what they could use.
"We're in for a hell of a fight. Here, take this since Blackheart trashed yours." Phantom Rider gave his rifle to Wolff.
"Ok, so let's think. Blackheart is gonna send an army of souls to fight us and hope that their numbers will overpower us."
"Right." Wolff said.
"So, if we cut off a few of their numbers with a big concussive move, then we can cut down the rest with no problem. Hopefully."
"Ok, so what 'big concussive' thing are we gonna use?"
Phantom Rider and Sara looked to each other in realization and then turned to Johnny.
"You're crazy, kid." Phantom Rider chuckled.
"Think about it, Wolff. This is a town for Dust miners. What's the biggest export of this town that's been left in barrels all over the place?" Johnny said with a smile. Wolff looked around at the dozens of abandoned Dust barrels all around the town.
"Carter's right. You are crazy." Wolff smiled.
They started setting up the barrels around town and pouring Dust lines between the barrels for a chain reaction ignition. While setting them up, Johnny saw some rusted but sharp silver ware through the window of a house and, using some old tape, attached them to the knuckles of his left glove.
After everything was in place the Bullhead floated over and steadied the camera, signifying that their five minutes were up. They heard the shrieks soon after.
"Ok, it's time!" Johnny shouted. Phantom Rider ran past Sara, throwing her sword back to her, before getting into position.
(Kingdom of Vale)
Citizens passed the rubble that was once their homes and would have kept walking until their scrolls beeped from their pockets, including the former Beacon professors. They opened them to see Blackheart's half-morphed face.
"Ladies and gentlemen, humans and Faunus alike, I am Blackheart, the son of the devil."
(Kingdom of Vacuo)
"You'll probably find that hard to believe but frankly I really just do not care. In a few moments, I will bridge the worlds of Hell and Remnant together and rule over that new kingdom." People were confused and panicked by the bold statement.
(Kingdom of Atlas)
"Now, most of you won't survive the merge and the mere thought of it brings me so much joy to know that I'll be rid of a majority of you annoying worms." People were looking to each other in worry while Deathwatch sat in his mansion drinking a glass of wine and watching Blackheart's speech on his screen. He raised his glass at the screen.
"Here's to you Rider." Deathwatch then drank everything in the glass.
Meanwhile, at the Schnee estate, Weiss looked at her scroll with a concerned expression.
(Kingdom of Mistral)
"But, there is a very small fleeting bit of hope. If the people you're about to see can somehow manage to defeat me, then you're world will continue as if nothing ever happened." People's attention were further grabbed by that last detail.
Elsewhere in Anima, Ruby and the others watched intently as the events unfolded.
(San Venganza)
Blackheart was floating in the air in front of the camera as he continued his speech.
"So, take your seats, place your bets, and heat up some popcorn. The fight for the fate of your world begins…now." Blackheart disappeared and the camera was on Johnny and the others.
They waited to see the oncoming horde but saw nothing. Johnny tried to strike a match to ignite the Dust trail but couldn't get a flame to spark. A hand then broke through the window in front of him and startled him enough to drop the match as he fell. The spirit crawled through the window and moved towards him to attack until Johnny drew his shotgun at it and fired, sending it to the ground lifeless again. Johnny quickly grabbed the match and struck a flame.
"Now! Do it now!" He shouted and dropped his match onto the Dust. The rest did the same and ran as the horde began to surround them.
They all shot at the creatures as they ran through the town trying to make it back to the square. After the barrels were finally ignited, they began to explode all over the town and wiping out any spirits in the blasts. Some of the buildings crumbled apart and fell on any of the horde giving chase.
They all converged at the square and vaulted over and into the middle of the ring of stone, reloaded their weapons, and took aim. Whatever was left of the horde ran towards them and they opened fire. As they kept firing, the remains of the spirits began to pile up around the ring and the rest tried to climb over them, only to be met with bullets. The ones that got too close were hit by Wolff and Carter, sliced by Sara with her sword, and punched/stabbed by Johnny's glove. After stabbing one of the spirits in the face, it clawed at his hand and ripped the knives off, including the part of his glove that covered his index finger. Johnny quickly dispatched of it.
Everyone across the world was glued to their screens. Glynda and the other professors, Ruby and the rest of the team, Seer in Vale, Yang in Patch, Weiss in Atlas, and Blake wherever she was. It was hard to see their faces but Ruby, Jaune, and the rest of the team knew who they were. They were hoping for the best.
Johnny shot the last of the spirits with his last round. After all of the creatures were disposed of, they all fell down tired, catching their breath surrounded by a ring of decayed bodies. They all heard the sound of clapping and then the bodies turn into sand that returned to Blackheart standing in the shade of the buildings.
"Now that was what I was hoping for!" He shouted with a smile. "I honestly did not think that was gonna be as fun as I was expecting, but you four really took me by surprise. I can do it again if you'd like. Oh, but you're out of ammo, we could make it a brawl. What do you say, want to face one thousand souls again with nothing but your fists?" They didn't answer.
"Hm, that's what I thought." He said disappointedly. "You put up a good fight, but you can't beat me and my new army. How about I offer you a deal instead?"
"I'm gettin' so sick of that word." Carter said.
"Tell me about it." Johnny responded.
"You give me the contract and I'll make your deaths quick. I mean, you're gonna die anyway, why not go out painlessly?"
"He's awfully smug." Sara said in an annoyed tone.
"Don't do it, kid. We didn't fight this hard for nothin'."
Johnny could only sit in defeat. No weapons, no strategy, and no Rider. He and Wolff did their best, but there wasn't anything more they could do to keep her safe. He was almost going to think that Blackheart had won, until he saw his exposed index finger in his leg's shadow. He noticed that there was no skin but bone and there was a faint flame surrounding it. He looked up to see that Blackheart was still standing in the shadows and got an idea.
"Alright! You win. We'll be right over!" Johnny shouted.
"What?!" Sara said completely shocked.
"Johnny, what the hell?!" Wolff protested.
"I've got an idea." He moved his hand into a shadow to show them. "But I'm gonna need you to trust me."
After a few moments, Johnny and Sara walked over to meet with Blackheart. Johnny stood just a few inches from the shadows, and looked at the grinning demon.
"If we do this, it's a quick and painless death, right?" Johnny asked.
"Yes, quite painless."
"You give us your word?"
Blackheart sighed and made an x over where his heart would be if he had one. "Happy?" Johnny just looked at him. "Right, dumb question."
Johnny looked at Sara and then back at Blackheart. "I guess we have a deal." Johnny extended his right hand to shake. Blackheart looked at it, smiled, and then shook it.
When he tried to move his hand away he found that he couldn't. When he looked up he saw that Johnny was smiling. He tried pulling away harder but only managed to bring Johnny into the shadows where his head ignited and the Spirit of Vengeance was reawakened.
Everyone watching their screens was stunned by the transformation.
Port interrupted Glynda and the other professors watching. "Wait, that's…" He began to remember.
Yang on the floor, leaned closer toward the screen in the living room.
Ruby and the others cheered. "Woohoo! Yeah, show him who's boss!" Ruby shouted.
Deathwatch could only smile.
"Deathwatch! Help me!" Blackheart shouted.
"He's abandoned you. You'll have no salvation from me." The Rider said.
The Rider, with his free hand, punched Blackheart in the stomach. He stumbled back a bit before the Rider caught him with an uppercut with his right hand. After stumbling back a bit more, the Rider grabbed him by the collar and head-butted him. After he was a good enough distance away, the Rider wrapped his chain around Blackheart, threw him up into the air, and brought him back down into the inside of the stone ring, making a small crater. The Rider chuckled as he moved out of the way for his Hell Cycle to speed past and knock Blackheart into the church behind the ring, having the entire front of it crumble down on top of him.
Seeing the sunlight a few inches in front of him, the Rider punched into the wall of the building next to him, ripped out a large chunk of it, and walked into the sunlight with the shade of the piece of wall shielding him from the light. When he made it to Blackheart stepping out from the rubble, once he made it to the shade of the rubble of the church he threw the wall at Blackheart, sending him flying backwards. After getting back up, he lunged at Ghost Rider in his true form and picked him up by the throat. His true form began to change from the new power. He grew small spikes on his arms and swirled markings along his body.
"I think I'm not gonna waste any more time and clear the way for my new world." Blackheart's red eyes and his new markings began to glow as he roared into the sky.
He sent his power through the nodes that manifested as burning circles in the sky above the kingdoms of Vale, Mistral, and Atlas. The circles created storms that were about to wreak havoc on the cities below.
The Rider punched at the claw holding him to no effect. His chain sat a few feet away in the sun and Sara ran over to pick it up.
"Now!" She shouted behind her.
Blackheart and the Ghost Rider could hear the roar of an engine. They both looked to see what it was until suddenly, flying through the air, was the Phantom Rider on Johnny's motorcycle. He crashed it into Blackheart, sending him back, and letting go of the Ghost Rider.
"Ghost Rider!" Sara shouted before she threw him his chain.
Blackheart got up and saw the bike lying on its side with the Phantom Rider next to it trying to get up.
"Slade!" Blackheart shouted. He walked towards him as Carter crawled backwards away from him. He pulled out one of his pistols and pulled the trigger only to find that it was empty.
"Ah, damn it."
"I'm going to do to you what my father should have done twenty years ago. Put you in the ground!" He raised his claw only for the Ghost Rider to wrap his chain around it. He dragged him down closer to him and Blackheart summoned more spirits to deal with him. As they grabbed and clawed onto him, Ghost Rider roared and burnt them into nothingness. He wrapped the rest of his chain around Blackheart and pulled him in close.
"All these years and I couldn't find a way to be rid of you." Ghost Rider said.
Shrieking could be heard. Sara and Wolff looked behind them to see the one thousand spirits coming back to finish the job. Sara readied her sword for one final stand.
"But now, in succeeding in gaining your ascension, you've doomed yourself. Because now, you have all that power, all their souls. A thousand souls to burn." Blackheart began to shake.
"No." Blackheart said.
"Look into my eyes. Your souls are stained by the blood of the innocent. Feel their pain."
"NOOOOO!" Blackheart could see and feel all the wrongs that all the souls had done, including all the things he had done.
The souls stopped just in front of Wolff and Sara and shouted in pain and grief. They continued to shout until it was over. They burned away into ash and were absorbed back into the sands of the town. Ghost Rider kept staring into the screaming Blackheart until he was silent. The Rider grabbed his chain and pulled turning Blackheart into ash. All of his deals were now void, his incantations over Wolff were gone, and the nodes disappeared along with the storms they created.
Citizens across the world were cheering, Port picked up Oobleck in a bear hug, Yang shouted "Yeah!" and Zwei barked happily, Blake breathed a sigh of relief, and Ruby and the others cheered loudly.
"Woohoo! Yeah! Ghost Rider saves the world!" Ruby shouted.
"Yeah, go Johnny!" Nora cheered.
Ghost Rider stepped back into the sun and reverted back into Johnny. He turned to the others and smiled, and they returned it in kind. They were all then startled by the Bullhead that had recorded the whole incident crashing into the town and exploding on impact.
"So, it's over?" Sara asked.
"Yeah, it's all over." Johnny said. Sara smiled and hugged him. He hugged back and Wolff laughed, walked over, and hugged them both. They were interrupted by Carter with his mask off and walking Johnny's bike over to them.
"I think this belongs to you." Johnny smiled, got on his bike, and tried turning on the engine only for it to cut out.
"Yeah, it might be more damaged than I thought." Carter said.
"Yep, that'll happen when you ram into a near indestructible hell spawn." Wolff said.
"I think I can do with a walk." Johnny said.
"It took us four hours to get here by vehicle. You sure you wanna walk all the way back in the scorching heat, especially after what we've just been through?" Sara asked. Wolff then got an idea as he looked over at a large cart that survived the Dust barrel explosions.
"Actually…" Wolff pulled out some Dust cartridges from his pouch. "I've got an idea that's much better than walking."
Carter and Sara rode Banshee into the direction of the shack. While behind them on the old cart that they found was Wolff and Johnny, with Johnny's bike strapped in with his chain, and Wolff using the wind Dust cartridges he was carrying to propel them down the road.
"Woohoo!" Wolff shouted as they made their way back.
(Caretaker's shack, four hours later)
Johnny and Sara stood out on the front porch, looking over the sand.
"So, what'll you do now that your life is yours again?" Johnny asked.
"Well, now that the power of the contract is gone, I think I'll move back to Vale and probably help out with rebuilding. I asked Carter all I could about my grandfather, so maybe Seer can shed some more light on certain things that Carter may not know about. Maybe I'll even apply for a job at her club."
"Yeah, she did seem a little understaffed when we visited."
"By understaffed you mean all on her own?"
"She's not on her own. I saw an employee of the month award when we walked in so she's got one person at least." They both chuckled.
"Enough about me, what's in store for you?" Johnny looked around for a quick second before responding.
"I think I'm gonna stay here for a little bit. It's quiet, it's away from people who could get hurt, apart from Carter of course, I'll have to set up a sleeping arrangement that requires a little bit of distance."
"Well, if you're ever back in Vale, you know where to find me." Johnny nodded before she hugged him.
"Thank you for everything that you've done for me."
"Anytime. I'll see you around, Sara." Sara walked towards the cart and waited while Wolff walked up to Johnny.
"And what about you? What's next for the great Michael Wolff, guardian of the contract and not-mercenary as he so constantly reminds everyone?"
"Cute. I think I'm gonna stick with Sara. Not much work out here for me in the desert and I've stuck by her this whole time, figured I'd stick by her a little longer. Besides, I didn't see any security at Seer's club, so there may be a job opening for me too." They both looked out and could only hear the sound of the wind. Wolff chuckled after a moment.
"What?" Johnny asked.
"Nothing, it's just…we came a long way from the circus, didn't we?"
"Yeah, we did."
"Well, couldn't have done any of this without you, man. I'm glad we found each other again."
"Me too." They both hugged and soon let go.
"I'll see you around, man." Wolff said.
"You too." Wolff walked towards the cart and got on with Sara next to him.
"You've got enough Dust to get us to the next town?" Sara asked.
"Yep. The town will have a vehicle or two we can use to get back to Vale." Wolff looked over at her. "You gonna be ok?"
She took a moment to think. "Yeah, I think I will be." She said with a smile.
Wolff then clicked the cartridges and the cart moved down the road to the next town. Carter walked over and stood next to Johnny.
"What do you have in mind, Carter? Got any plans?"
"I think I've been retired for too long. I think it's about time to be the Phantom Rider again."
"Really? Well, I'm glad that people are gonna be a lot safer now that the Phantom Rider will live again."
"Yeah, and you can be my sidekick." Carter said with a smile.
"Uh, your sidekick? Need I remind you who took down the son of the devil and saved the world?"
"If I hadn't a crashed that bike into 'em you wouldn't have been able to have done that."
"I'm still mad at you for that." They both made their way into the shack.
"It'll heal up, don't worry about it."
"That doesn't make me feel better." Carter closed the door and moved to start dinner.
(Kingdom of Atlas, Deathwatch's mansion)
Deathwatch sat at his desk drinking the last of his wine rewatching the footage of Ghost Rider's battle with Blackheart.
"You escaped certain doom with the Rider's victory." The figure before Deathwatch said.
"I had faith that he would prevail. Blackheart's overconfidence is what always cost him his victories." Deathwatch said. "I'm actually surprised to see you after all these years. Are you planning something?"
"I am, but I've decided to take a little break from my search to find something just as intriguing." The figure gestured to the footage. "I came to ask if you knew where he might be."
Deathwatch took a moment to look at the footage then looked back up. "Sorry, I can't help you." Deathwatch lied, keeping his promise to be rid of all those involved with Blackheart.
"That is a shame. Then I shall make my leave." The figure turned to leave.
"I never did understand. Why do you hate him so much, Centurious?"
The helmeted figure turned to Deathwatch. "Let's just say we have a shared and complicated history. Goodnight, Deathwatch." Centurious then vanished into thin air.
"Goodnight, old friend." Deathwatch finished the wine and turned the screen that had a still image of the burning face of the Ghost Rider off.
We've made it to the end of this arc. The next arc will feature two very important characters teaming up with Ghost Rider to battle the threat of Centurious. These two characters are Blake Belladonna and Qrow Branwen, and the three of them will share the same name as the next arc, Hearts of Darkness.