What Grimwald found amusing was that, for the first time, the victim charged towards him. As if this was a medieval jousting match. Or even that HE was the one being chased this time.
How foolish. The Headless Horseman NEVER ran. One would DARE have the ego to try and hunt him?!
The horses charged at each other, the Horseman readying his sword. And he swung it, expecting to cut flesh. Instead, he heard the sound of steel clashing together.
This one had more fight in him than any other before him…
Equestra took off running at full speed. Van Helsing noticed the Headless Horseman turn Daredevil around and race after them, the horse neighing like a banshee.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU CANNOT RUN!"
"I'm not trying to!"
Van Helsing aimed his gun-sword and began firing. The Horseman roared as the enchanted bullets struck him and Daredevil. Yet the black steed did not slow down. At least unicorns could equal the supernatural speed.
Van Helsing looked behind him again. The Horseman raised his sword, conjuring forth demonic fire to form a laughing jack-o-lantern pumpkin. He launched the pumpkin, with Equestra turning her head to blast the projectile with a blast from her horn.
Eventually the horses were neck and neck. Van Helsing made the first move, swinging right for Grimwald's heart. The headless one blocked it, with both hunter and hessian continuing their horseback duel.
Grimwald was sensing MAGIC in this victim. Was THAT how he was able to put up such a fight?!
The blades clashed and locked as the sparks flew. When the hessian began pushing, Van Helsing fired the gun barrel of his weapon.
"ARGH!"
The hessian tumbled off his horse, which Van Helsing made a quick move to decapitate. But the undead horse didn't stop, despite the wound slowing it down. The horseman warped back in Daredevil's back in a flash of darkness, the head reforming in a similar matter.
The chase continued, with Van Helsing firing his shotgun at his pursuer, with the horseman deflecting each and every shot.
Finally, Equestra crossed an old bridge. One that Van Helsing seemed to recognize. Once Grimwald did, Daredevil stopped. With a smirk under his helmet, Van Helsing dismounted.
"What's the matter?" He asked. "Are you unable to cross this bridge? Does it remind you of the one adjacent to the burying ground you were put to rest in? Or is this the same one? The exact same bridge you're said to vanish, according to rule, in a flash of fire and brimstone?"
The Horseman said nothing. All he did was dismount Daredevil, pull out two hatchets…
And take one step onto the bridge.
"The stories are not always true…" The fiery skull said once it reformed.
"Hmph. I always hoped they weren't."
Van Helsing stepped forward as well, conjuring forth two green sickles to even the odds.
"So it has come to this. Two hunters, facing each other in a duel to the death. Only one walks away. As only ONE…is alive."
"You really think you of all monsters can send ME running for the hills? I've faced much worse than you. You don't even come CLOSE to the terror that is your master, Dracula."
"And what might THIS be, then? A diversion, perhaps? While your allies storm his castle? You really thought I would not know? Without you, they stand no chance. You cannot win this…"
"We weren't wasting any time to begin with. I'll deal with you as quickly as possible."
"You will not last even a MINUTE."
"Prove it."
The Hessian swung a hatchet, Van Helsing easily blocking. He parried another strike, then countered with a jab to the heart. Grimwald chuckled at this.
"I feel no pain…"
"Looks like I've got competition ego-wise…"
The two continued their duel across the long bridge. Meanwhile, Daredevil took a massive leap across the river to face Equestra. Like her rider, she too did not run.
"You are but a mere shadow of an inferior creature." She said, "What are you, before MY power?"
Daredevil screamed and charged again, with Equestra taking to the skies for an advantage. She blasted the black steed with another magic orb from her horn before following up with a beam.
When Daredevil powered through, Equestra only charged and impaled the black horse with her horn like a battering ram. She channeled her magic to form an energy blade of light from her horn, slashing at the dark steed again and again before a final blast vaporized the living shadow completely.
If he was ever disarmed, Van Helsing only conjured forth a NEW weapon. He easily took advantage of those the Headless Horseman did not recognize, such as assault rifles and even a heavy metal guitar ax.
After smacking the horseman across the fiery face, Van Helsing struck a cord to emit a supersonic strum, the loud frequency making the Horseman roar as he covered his ears.
"For someone with no head, you seem to see and hear even better than someone WITH one. But there ARE some downsides."
"So…you DO use magic. How irksome…"
"Know what's even MORE irksome? Being a quintuple amputee."
Van Helsing struck once more when the Horseman swung his sword again. The headless ghost roared as he felt his arm get sliced off. He swung with a hatchet in his second arm, only for THAT to be sliced off as well.
"No! This is impossible!"
"What was that about feeling no pain?"
Angered, the Horseman tried kicking Van Helsing, only for him to slice the leg off before following up with the second one, leaving the fiery skull with only a chest. The Monster Hunter only readied a Holy spell and aimed his palm at the downed hessian.
"Next time, try using a chain whip and this thing called a motorcycle…"
A blast of golden light later, and the ghostly demon screamed as his entire body burned away. With nothing left in seconds, Van Helsing walked off the bridge.
"I almost question why you summoned me." Equestra stated. "The steed was nothing without his master."
"That took way too much time. And it was a waste of mine." He said. "I'm sending you back to your own army. Meanwhile, I'm headed back to MINE."
He opened another portal which Equestra trotted through. Then, spreading the wings of his Monster Armor, Van Helsing took off, flying towards Dracula's Castle.
No more monsters, no more delays…
It was time to end this…