A Horror Story 6: Ghost Riders In The Sky

Instead of telling you the usual, I'm going to tell you to be grateful! I thought I was out of ideas after last year! So yes, this might be the last story! Or maybe not! In any case, let's begin.

People probably think, because of how we live, that nothing 'strange' ever happens to us.

To clarify, we're a group of semi-parapsychologists slash mercenaries slash repairmen. Our 'front man' works in tandem with a 'spirit of blades', and our ranks include a gunslinger assisted by two legendary figures and one who only existed IN legend and an Esperanto-speaking wolf. We travel all over the world, closing up holes in reality that spew out bad, unnatural, unusual, or just plain 'doesn't belong here' stuff, and that's when we're not going into the closest parallel dimension that holds just about anything those new security cam horror films could think up, and then some. Sometimes we even go INTO these holes, and whatever lies beyond. To us, strange is normal. Our way of life.

But do not think that means that nothing unusual ever happens to us. Oh no.

Personally, we'd prefer it. With so much of our lives being devoted to what we could call 'unique' pursuits, we tend to be possessive of normal moments. I think the main reason Danny doesn't do anything about the love quadrangle that's developing around him (oh they all deny it, but I've been playing watchman and recorder of deeds for a long time now, and I've picked these things up) is because he considers it a 'normal' problem, and he's come to cherish ANYTHING that could be called 'normal.'

But none of that excuses us from the unusual. It just makes it so that when something happens to us that could be considered UNUSUAL…

Well, I'll tell you about it. And before I start, you might wonder why I take a negative tone. After all, in retrospect, this whole thing seems, dare I say it (or type it, rather), cool.

Yeah…maybe cool to recount.

Nothing unusual for us is ever cool to live through.

Sometimes, we wonder if we will.

For Danny, despite being what could be considered 'half-dead'…

Ever more so.

The first thing Danny became aware of as he woke up was the spot of wetness on his pillow, almost directly lined up with the corner of his mouth. With a small grunt of annoyance, he wiped at the moisture with his thumb before running a hand over his mouth and casting his sheets aside. Feeling his joints crack as he stood and stretched, Danny padded over to the bathroom, blinking the last bit of sleep from his eyes as he closed the door and flicked on the light.

As usual, the only one who was aware that Danny hadn't shaved for several days was Danny himself. Facial hair came in all stripes, and Danny's was light, fine peach fuzz that was virtually invisible unless Danny let it grow out for several weeks, something he didn't really want to do. Danny didn't much mind: he'd never wanted to grow a beard. He had enough trouble keeping his semi-long hair out of mulletville: he hated to see what a beard on him would do.

Applying shaving foam and selecting a razor, Danny went through the process before taking a shower, toweling himself off, and getting out the hair dryer to blow-dry his hair. Brushing it once it was mostly done, Danny phased through the wall and into his walk-in closet, selecting a pair of slacks and a long-sleeved shirt before he phased through the floor and to the hallway below. Heading to the kitchen, Danny tossed some bagels in the toaster before getting out two separate frying pans and putting them on the stove. Some beaten eggs went in one, and some back bacon went on the other, Danny turning on the burners and cooking both at the same time, pushing his bagels into the toaster about halfway through. Several minutes later, Danny sat down with his makeshift sandwiches and began eating, pulling a nearby laptop on the table over as he perused his usual websites.

"Hiya Danny."

"Hey Paulina." Danny said, not looking up as the young woman entered the room, dressed in a silk robe. "Had another long night?"

"Took this night off. Need my beauty sleep." Paulina said, heading to the fridge and getting some grapefruit juice. "You?"

"Uneventful." Danny said, tapping at the laptop to advance through the pages.

"Anything happening in the world?" Paulina said, approaching Danny from behind and leaning in on his shoulders to peer over his head.

"Some stuff in Africa…but that's probably outside our pay grade." Danny said.

"How's the Ghost Zone?"

"Well…" Danny said.

"Pardon me." The second, terser voice said. Danny glanced up at Sam, who had entered from another doorway; unlike Paulina, she was wearing her 'professional' outfit that Maddie had designed for her. "We have daily reports, Paulina. You shouldn't bother Danny for them."

"Am I bothering you Danny?" Paulina said, her tone coy.

"Uh…" Danny said, not sure what to say.

"C'mon Paulina. Show some class." Sam said, walking to another fridge and retrieving milk from it. Paulina gave the still-gothic girl (Sam always seemed to pull that off no matter what she was wearing) a sour look, but moved out of her position of leaning over Danny's shoulder. Danny pondered for a moment if there was something he was missing, and then shrugged and went back to eating his breakfast.

"Are we out of low-fat cream cheese?" Paulina said.

"I think that's on our next shopping trip in two days. Just eat the normal kind." Sam said.

"I hesitate to do so. Someone else might get mad they can't use it to pack on the pounds."

"I'm not the one who has it go straight to my thighs." Sam said, grimacing. "Ugh. Can we just drop this Paulina? High school was a lifetime ago."

"It DOES go to your thighs too, you know."

Danny sat at the table, wondering if he should do anything. His beeper/communicator going off saved him the trouble.

"Yeah Mom?"

"Danny, got something. Not sure what." Maddie Fenton said over the communications band. "Computer forwarded me a strange 911 call. In the Midwest. You may want to have a listen."

"Be right there." Danny said, eating his last two bites before wiping his hands. "Uh, girls? Could I owe one of you a favor and have you put away my dishes…"

Both girls shot Danny death-glares, and the Halfa cowered beneath them.

"Okay…was just asking…"

"I got it Danny." The third voice said. Valerie entered, dressed in jeans and a black top, her hands behind her head as she finished doing up her hair. "You get to work. I'll get ready in case you need my help."

"Thanks Val. You're a peach. I'll give you a foot rub or a back…brace or something, later, LATER!" Danny said, his form turning intangible as he fell through the floor.

"Hmph. Have I cursed your luck lately, Valerie?" Paulina said.

"No, but feel free to do so some more. It NEVER gets old." Valerie said, giving the Hispanic girl a wicked grin. Sam sighed inwardly and turned back to her own breakfast, bothered that these things still got to her. She should have been more concerned with Danny's safety and happiness, not petty things like who'd made a move first.

"AHA! We DO have some low-fat left!" Paulina said triumphantly.

"Oh yay. Call down a chorus of angels and sing halleluiah." Sam murmured.

"Should watch that stuff Paulina." Valerie said, putting Danny's dishes in the sink. "It goes straight to your thighs."

"OH THAT IS IT…!"

"LADIES." The final female voice said on the intercom, before a corner of the room projected the holographic upper half of Maddie Fenton. "Let's act our ages and not our shoe sizes, shall we?"

"…yes Mrs. Fenton." Paulina said, removing her hand from her robe free of whatever she had reached for. Sam rolled her eyes and kept making breakfast, wondering if it was going to be one of those days.

Ghost Of A Chance had learned, through hard experience, to not skimp on security, both on the technological and the more unusual. It was not easy to get the drop of them. It was even harder for them to be unaware of your presence.

That simply made the fact that the eyes watching Danny went unknown to everyone, as he landed down in the 'war room', his normal clothes transforming into his black and white skintight costume. A wall opened as Danny shifted, his long black coat placed on its specialized rack within, said rack extending out so Danny could grab the coat and put it on. Another part of the floor opened, extending a platform upward on which a singular blade rested. The sword looked like a cross between a bastard sword and a katana, and was unique in having its length filled with repeated square holes.

Danny touched the sword, looking ahead. After a few moments, a faint blue aura appeared before him. Danny spoke to it, though no words came through the screen of water that the figure watched on. After twenty seconds, the blue aura surged down to the sword, Danny picking it up and sliding it onto the sheath on the back of the cloak.

"…all right then, vermin." The voice said. The voice was impossibly soft, its cadences seeming to transcend sound and brush against something that could almost be described as divine. "The rabbit is in play."

I'm going to be vague about this part. It's these kind of things that Danny hates about his job, and having to read about it in the main files is best handled with minimum details. All the gory, unpleasant stuff can be found in the specific files, but in these general recounts, I'll gloss over this part.

Ghosts, as I may have recounted before (my memory's good, but not perfect), tend to be formed in one of two ways. One is the more traditional method of dying and not being able to pass on, for whatever reason that may be (Ember is, was, suspected of being that type, for an example). The rest are a type of hive-mind manifestation, the remnants of strong emotions fusing with ectoplasm to create a sort of 'desire golem', though once formed, said creature can, and often will, take on their own personality. Back in the old days, before the disaster, before Amity fell, such ghosts seemed to come into existence on a monthly basis.

When Vlad was done, all that seemed to drop off. The Ghost Zone seemed scarred by his actions, almost as if he had rendered the realm 'infertile', as well as the greater problems his Fissures caused. Since then, I can count the new ghost faces I've seen on one hand.

One of them called itself Harrk'brech.

Harrk'brech was an odd ghost; it (whether it was male or female, we could never tell) looked like a porcupine and a cardiac system had a baby. Harrk'brech's 'gimmick', as it was, was that it was an emotion eater. Unlike Spectra, any type of emotion could do: Harrk'brech claimed s/he needed it to fill the void inside it. We've theorized, but never confirmed, that it was being exposed to humans, and all their complicated feelings, that gave Harrk'brech the more troublesome aspects of its hunger. Still, as unpleasant as being fed on by Harrk'brech was (as I experienced it myself: it was like someone dug into my mind and soul with an ice cream scoop and wanted a stacked cone, but I pulled through it after a few cups of coffee, so maybe I'm just that good), its actions often took second fiddle to the greater problems the Fissures caused. Harrk'brech was more like a junkie seeking a fix; we tried to help it a few times, but were rejected. I think Harrk'brech may have been ashamed of its needs, feeling that it had to overcome its issues on its own. Between that cruel fact, what it did, and how its name sounded like, we eventually started calling the ghost by another, simpler name. Heartbreak.

That day…

We didn't understand what had happened at first. Finding a small town full of dead people tends to point us in certain directions. But after listening to some remnants of the town that remained after the attack, like more of the 911 calls in the vein of the one Maddie found, as well our crude crime scene analysis determining that the victims had essentially died by some sort of non-trauma based fatal arrhythmia, we eventually figured it out.

Heartbreak had gone off the deep end, it seemed. S/he'd not only increased, or changed, its emotion feeding so that it had become fatal, but s/he'd then devoured a whole town. Worse, this sudden, terrible excess didn't seem to be enough: s/he'd was tracked by Danny and his mother as heading towards another town to start the whole process over. Danny gave chase, intercepted, and tried to find answers. Instead, Heartbreak fled into the desert the towns had been in, Danny hot on his (or her) heels.

I'm not sure if the Ghost Zone portal had been there before or had been arranged: I haven't yet cross-referenced it with the Infi-Map. However it got there, Heartbreak fled into it. Danny did likewise…

You would think the fact that he exited into one of the most crippled, unstable corners of the Ghost Zone that exists now would have been the height of the bad day for Danny. You would be wrong. The area was dangerous, but Danny had seen worse.

The real trouble started when Heartbreak ended up heading for a Fissure that had sprouted up there.

There's a difference, you see, between the normal portals in the Ghost Zone and Fissures. Ghost Zone portals, as strange as they can lead to, tend to not lead or open to anything that could cause wide-scale destruction to the Earth or the Zone, a sort of self-preservation mechanism. Fissures, on the other hand, can lead to anywhere, and let anything through. Chances are, if this issue with Heartbreak hadn't caught our attention, Danny likely would have located it and closed it that day.

I suspect…things likely would not have gone that way. Especially when Heartbreak actually fled THROUGH the Fissure.

I'm sure you recall, crossing a Fissure is bad news. Even if you exit out somewhere safe, it's a terrible process to go through. Heartbreak could have very well killed itself doing so, but Danny had to be sure. At least this time he took a moment to siphon off some excess energy from the Ghost Zone to make crossing through it easier.

So Danny crossed.

That's when it really started.

As much as Danny wanted to gasp for air, he kept his eyes and windpipe firmly closed as he stepped out the other side of the Fissure. The fact that he didn't immediately feel pain was a good sign, but Danny waited a few more seconds until the Magnus confirmed that he could both see and breath where he'd come out.

"…huh." Danny said, looking around at the rocky plateaus and sand around him. He'd exited one desert and ended up in another one, it seemed, though the portal to the Ghost Zone had been located in an expanse of dune sands, while this current desert location was more mountainous. Well, that, and the fact that it was night here. If he hadn't been in a hurry, Danny might have stopped and looked at the sky to see if, and how, the stars were different on this world. The Halfa was pretty sure it was still Earth: while he saw no evidence of civilization in terms of dwellings, he was pretty sure he could see a paved road off in the distance.

Those, however, were secondary observations. Danny, having been able to cross the Fissure without much trouble (this time), was more focused on catching up to Heartbreak. Fortunately, s/he hadn't gone far.

As said, crossing a Fissure without preparation was a dangerous business, something Heartbreak had learned firsthand. The ghost had clearly crash-landed upon arrival, and had only managed to drag itself a few dozen yards when Danny arrived. Having pulled itself up via the rock next to it, Heartbreak was now glaring dully at Danny.

The emotion eater didn't have a face, in any traditional sense. Besides eyes composed of light, Heartbreak's face was a completely blank slate, the ghost speaking mentally rather then vocally. It's hair was composed of thick, jagged strands that fanned out from its head in a razor-plume, its short, semi-hunched body also armed with long, curved claws and powerfully coiled legs. The ghost, unlike some of its fellows, wore no clothing, but that didn't really matter as it possessed no indication of sex, its body as desolate as its face.

It did, however, have one new aspect of it Danny had never seen before, and which he hadn't noticed in the bright sunlight of the previous desert. Green lines were scattered across Heartbreak's body, a spider web of cracks that seemed to be leaking white mist. Danny had no idea if that had been due to the feeding frenzy Heartbreak had just went through, or something else.

"…all right, Harrk. Let's end this before it gets any worse." Danny said, holding out a hand in what he hoped was a peaceful fashion.

"End…worse…" Heartbreak 'said', its voice a melodious rasp. "No end, Halfa…not…for me…"

"Harrk, if something's wrong…"

"EVERYTHING WRONG! EVERYTHING!" Heartbreak said, pushing itself off the rock and starting towards Danny. The ghost's staggering gait spoke to Danny of immense pain rather then hostility, though, and he did not draw his sword. "Empty! Always empty…!"

"I know." Danny said. "We can still find a way to help you. Come on…don't make this any worse…"

"Worse…" Heartbreak said, cocking its head. "Help…help worse…"

Heartbreak stumbled, falling to one knee. Instinctively, Danny moved to help the ghost…

He drew up short when he saw the mist steam from within Heartbreak's body, the ghost's form going taunt.

"NO WORSE." Heartbreak said.

The ghost snapped out its right arm, and vein-like tentacles tore from within it, seeking pseudopods trying to tear into Danny's form. The Halfa dodged to the side, his guts clenching and his heart going cold.

"Aw man…" Danny said, though he was replying to a whisper inside his head rather then Heartbreak's reaction. "Damn it all."

"FEEEEEDDDD!" Heartbreak yelled, lancing towards Danny. Danny jumped over the attacking ghost, trying to draw the Magnus. Heartbreak bounded off its new landing point before he did, leaping up into the nearest rock formation and ricocheting off it like a pinball at Danny.

The Halfa yelled as Heartbreak surged by, its claws carving across Danny's body. The talons did not actually break his skin, but their passage burned nonetheless, in a way that was more than physical. Danny got the Magnus out just before Heartbreak bounced off another rock protrusion and crashed into Danny, the two of them falling down onto the rocky sand with a low crash.

"NEEEDDDD…MOOOREEEEEEE!" Heartbreak shrieked, Danny feeling the ghost trying to tear into his heart and soul. A thrusting flip-toss stopped the process as Danny hurled the ghost off of himself, said ghost doing a tumbling crash landing that looked immensely painful. Danny got up a second before Heartbreak, its eyes burning with need.

"HARRK, STOP! JUST TRY…!"

"FEEEEDDDD MEEEEEE!" Heartbreak screamed, charging forward. Danny yanked his sword up to defend himself…

Too slow. But not in the fashion Danny was used to; instead of failing to fend off the attack, Danny failed to properly blunt the defense.

Heartbreak impaled itself on the Magnus, its body crashing into Danny and driving him back against another rock face. Danny's eyes went wide at the situation, even as Heartbreak continued to claw at Danny's chest and face, like the sword that it had driven through itself in its mad attack wasn't there. Ignorance, however, had a short shelf life in these situations, and on the crack of his peripheral vision, Danny saw the entry wound ignite with blazing light.

"MOREEEEEEEEE! MOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Heartbreak rasped. Danny looked at the agonizing ghost, completely lost in a bottomless void of terrible thirst, and he knew what he had to do.

"…I'm sorry…so sorry…" Danny said, his hand clenching on his sword hilt, the blade erupting with the destroying energy Danny called the Absolute.

"KRRRIIEEEEEEEEE!" Heartbreak screamed, its whole body lighting up with more cracks. Even as the ghost screamed, Danny felt another voice scream almost in twin, a cry of warning and danger.

Then Heartbreak exploded, and Danny found himself flying backwards through solid rock. He'd lost the Magnus…

No. The Magnus had forced itself out of his grip, using its connection with Danny to activate his intangibility powers. Danny tumbled through the rock, emotions surging through his body, a chaotic tangle of experiences of all stripes. Yet the sensation was muffled somehow, like Danny was walking through a cold winter day bundled up for the cold. The whole process was so jarring that Danny almost didn't notice when he'd exited the rock and ended up going several feet into the desert ground before stopping. Shaking his head, Danny phased back up to terra firma and settled on the ground.

"…Flare?" Danny said, floating up and back over the rock he'd been forced through. The other side of said rock was badly scorched, as was the ground where Danny had been standing. Heartbreak, sadly, was gone, only the Magnus blade remaining, left on the ground where Danny had been.

"Flare? What just…" Danny said, dropping down and kneeling next to the sword. For a moment he hesitated, realizing he still didn't know the whole story, and hence instead of picking the sword up, he gingerly reached out and touched it.

Child…

"What just happened Flare? Are you all right?"

Lost all sense of reason…reduced to pure appetite…

"…I know, Flare. I…did what I had to." Danny said, lowering and shaking his head. "Hopefully, I brought that poor thing some measure of peace."

Hopefully…Danny…had to stop it…

"Stop what?"

Harrk'brech was overloaded with the emotions it'd eaten, nowhere done digesting it…they were…all released when it died. One cataclysmic eruption of all the people it had fed on…had to…take the brunt of it…your brain would have been…unable to handle so much alien sensation…

"Took the brunt? Are you all right?"

Knocked me…for a loop…need to…rest a bit…regain my sense of self…not easy…even for me…to feel so much at once…

"I got you." Danny said, gingerly picking up the sword. "Kick back a bit. There's nothing left to do here, right?"

Harrk'brech has fallen…and there is nothing you can do about the emotion he unleashed. Those he took it from…can no longer make use of it. But…area is isolated. The mark will fade…in time…

"Okay then. I'll just cross back over the Fissure then, close it up."

…Danny, wait.

"I've seen you close those things dozens of times, Flare. Heck, you were using me to do it, so I felt it too. I think I can close one myself."

…I…suppose but…be careful…I could not stem ALL the emotions Heartbreak unleashed…you may have noticed you seem oddly calm…it's a side effect of what you felt…

"Really?" Danny said, realizing that he did feel rather grounded. Considering he'd just seen witness to another tragic series of death, that fact loomed very large when Danny realized it.

Will likely return soon…just keep that in mind when you try and close the Fissure…and do anything else for a bit…but primarily, the Fissure…

"I'll take my time. No rush. You rest."

Danny…you don't believe you will need anything else, do you? Once I got into my stasis, I won't be able to respond or aid you until I come back out.

"I'll make do if need be. Stop hanging around and get some sleep, or whichever."

…As you command…my liege…

"And stop calling me that." Danny said, sliding his sword back into the sheath. "I don't rule much of anything, let alone you."

The Magnus had no reply to give, and Danny hadn't expected one. He took a few moments to rest and scout the area, making sure Heartbreak hadn't somehow pulled a bait and switch. In a way, Danny would have preferred if it had. He hated it when things went this way. Even considering what Heartbreak had done.

"…Okay then…" Danny said, approaching the crackling hole in reality that the Fissure had created. The shifting emerald greens of the Ghost Zone were faintly visible beyond the aperture, and Danny, with some effort, found he could still draw on them through the Fissure. "Let's see if we can't at least end this well…"

Danny's exit location, where Heartbreak had died, had indeed been fortunate. Any human-type sentience caught in the emotion explosion would have suffered fatal consequences, forced to experience hundreds of different viewpoints, nearly all of them tainted with the terrible last moments the victims of Heartbreak had had. Much like sound, though, as the concentrated wave of feeling expanded from the initial site of release, it would grow weaker and weaker before fading away entirely.

The nearest town was a good twenty miles away. None of its inhabitants would ever know what had occurred that night.

The rider was a mere three.

Rubber shrieked as hands seized onto the brakes located on the motorcycle's handlebars, the rider snapping his head in the direction.

"…pain…" The rider whispered, his fingers slowly clenching.

Nothing normal could cause whatever he had just felt to occur. Nothing normal, and nothing good.

Now…

Nothing good would come of whatever had caused this. Clearly, they'd thought they would get away with no consequence. Consequence, instead, had brought him nearby when it had occurred.

The fingers opened up again, and the fire began to blaze.

Closing a Fissure was, in a sense, partly like closing a zipper, and partly like sewing up a hole in some clothing in a neat, ordered fashion. The latter wasn't something Danny had any real skill in, but a metaphor could only carry so far anyway.

"Okay…" Danny said, having drawn off enough strength to pass back into the Ghost Zone. Now back on the other side, he held his hands held out in front of him, the Fissure opening placed in his line of sight between his steepled fingers. He had been slowly, ever so slowly, been drawing his hands together, closing the Fissure as he did. It was sluggish, and boring, but after the Magnus' repeated warnings Danny saw that as a good sign. If he wanted excitement, he could go watch a stunt show.

"Right…okay…" Danny said. Another few minutes and…

An odd prickle ran its way through Danny's neck, and he briefly looked away from the Fissure at the shifting green reality around him. Was something watching him?

Danny peered around some more, his concern giving way to annoyance. His ghost sense was a godsend, but it only really worked on creatures of a ectoplasmic or related bent. Maybe he'd just had a normal muscle twitch. Or maybe someone, as Danny's great aunt had once said, had walked over his grave.

A charming thought. Danny put it out of his head and went back to work. He'd keep an eye and ear open for any possible ambushes. Once he'd closed this Fissure, he could find the closest Ghost Zone portal and get home, maybe have some pizza and chill out…

The Fissure had halfway finished closing when Danny heard the odd noise. He cocked his head. Was that a motorcycle?

"…Johnny?" Danny said, looking around. It had been a long time since he'd seen the bad-luck ghost, but unlike some of his enemies Danny hadn't had him listed as dead and gone. Stranger things had happened, and could happen, then him showing up…

The noise was getting louder. Danny jerked his head around. What the devil…

…wait.

It wasn't coming from around him.

It was coming through the-

The roar abruptly became ten times louder as the fire ripped through the Fissure. Danny recoiled, but not enough, the flaming wheel smashing into his face and sending Danny flying end over end with a scream.

"You cannot escape! Nor can you hide!" The voice said, the tone a deep, echoing snarl. Danny tried to get himself upright once more…

All he saw, when he did so, was the approaching form, before the fist slammed into his chest. A small part of Danny noted the unusual texture of the knuckles, thin and firm…like he'd been punched by a skeleton. The rest of him was busy agonizing over the sheer pressure of the attack, even as Danny flew backwards, a smoking mark left on his chest symbol…

The portal was coming up on Danny before he realized it was there. Danny abruptly felt the shift in realities as the Ghost Zone gave way to the real world. It was not the same portal that Danny had chased Heartbreak through, though; this time Danny exited out into a boreal forest. More specifically, a steep incline at the edge of a boreal forest that lead to a road winding through it, Danny painfully tumbling down the slope before stopping partway across the road.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow." Danny said, drifting up to his feet. "You know, if I was anyone else, I'd wonder what I did to deserve this."

Nothing answered Danny's words, and he briefly glanced over his shoulder.

"Flare? Still out of reach?" Danny said. He took the lack of answer as one. "All right then. Just like the old, bad days. Before these new, worse days, but until I find a blue police box I can't do much about that."

The roar exploded from the forest above, and Danny surged backwards a dozen feet, just in case. His action proved to be wise, as the flaming motorcycle, having followed him through the Ghost Zone portal, crashed down in the exact spot where he had been standing, swerving violently to the side before stopping.

Danny blinked. He hadn't been seeing things. What had slammed into him from the Fissure and followed him back into his own world was, in fact, a giant flaming motorcycle. Well, to be specific, the wheels were the only things on fire. Technically, they were made of fire, the actual bike looking like a cross between a Harley-Davidson classic and a heavy metal album cover, its front covered with a metal horned demon structure whose mouth was open in a snarling bellow. As for its occupant, he was dressed completely in black leather, wearing large steel-toed boots on his feet and with masses of spikes on his wrists and shoulders. Though those features tended to be somewhat less noticeable then his primary one, that being that his head was a skull. Which was also on fire.

"…it's going to be one of those days, isn't it." Danny said. The motorcycle skull, if he heard Danny, gave no sign, instead stabbing an accusing finger at Danny.

"I told you, sinner. No escape. Whatever crimes you bear, they will be your last. Executing them in my world has sealed your OWN execution. Nothing can stop me, sinner! And for all the pain I bore at your escape, will be repaid a thousand fold!"

"Wait, wait!" Danny said, holding up his hands. Considering how this guy was talking, he clearly hadn't much liked his unprepared and unprotected trip through the Fissure. He also clearly had gotten a very wrong idea somewhere, and Danny really didn't want to bear the brunt of it. "Listen to me! There's been a mistake!"

"A mistake? You unleash such pain, and the suffering of innocents, and you trying to skulk away like a thief in the night? With such a steady heart and mind?" The motorcycle man said.

"What?" Danny replied, before Flare's words came back to him. His emotions weren't normal, not after Heartbreak's meltdown. Indeed, instead of freaking out here, he'd actually stayed pretty calm. Which his new 'acquaintance' was clearly misreading, no doubt from Fissure effects. Wonderful.

"Your time is over, sinner! You will burn, and scream, and lament your crimes! So is the duty, and the pleasure, of the Ghost Rider! Vengeance will be had!"

"Oh my life." Danny said, as the Ghost Rider opened up the throttle on his demonic motorcycle and blazed down the road at Danny, its fiery wheels scarring the road behind it. "For the love of…!"

Danny shifted upwards a bit and thrust out his arms, somehow making it over the flaming wheel as he jammed his hands against the handlebars. The terrible heat beneath him seared into his skin, but Danny did his best to fight through it as he gazed into Ghost Rider's burning visage.

"This is a mistake! Can we talk?"

Ghost Rider's reply was a vicious right hook, Danny just dodging backwards to avoid it. It was right about then he decided to stop playing nice.

"Fine!" Danny said, yanking himself backwards, hands still on the motorcycle's reins, as Danny lifted the whole vehicle off the ground. The fire burned him, but he'd felt worse.

"HAVE-IT-YOUR-WAY!" Danny yelled, spinning around and violently hurling the motorcycle through the air and into the forest. It crashed into the trees, the Ghost Rider going with it, and Danny promptly opened up with several violent ecto-blasts, the projectiles smashing into the trees around his target and causing them to break into pieces. The Ghost Rider looked up as he was promptly buried under several dozen tons of wood.

"Guys, can you hear me? Guys?" Danny said, pressing at the communication piece at his ear. He didn't even get static as a response. "Oh come on! You're built better than that! GUYS!"

No answer.

"Flare?"

Once again, no answer.

"…Okay, I can play that way." Danny said, smacking a fist into his hand.

The trees burst into flame as the Ghost Rider forced his way out from under them, chunks of fiery bark dropping off his leather jacket as he stood up, apparently having decided to get off the motorcycle.

"You know, that didn't work on the last dead guy I tried that on, either." Danny said. Ghost Rider responded by twisting his head back and forth, loud hollow cracks being emitted with the motion. "And I'm not sure how that works either."

"Abandon all hope." The Ghost Rider said, as a length of chain emerged between his osseous hands.

"Now that way, I won't have." Danny said, and braced himself as the Ghost Rider came for him.

"Everyone has been executed as you arranged, sire. As far as we can tell, it worked perfectly."

"Of course it did, wretch. I organized it." The figure said, sipping from a wine glass. "Have the hounds been prepared?"

"Yes sire. Properly maddened and chained."

"Get the horses ready. We move out on my command."

"Yes sire."

"For now…" The figure said, peering into the pool of water that the action played out. "Let the imbeciles savage each other."

The length of chain swung out, cutting through the tree faster and better then any chainsaw could. Danny dove out of the way as the tree collapsed, flipping off his hands and landing near another one. The battle had been going on for a minute, and it had mostly all been Ghost Rider, Danny having fled back into the forest on the other side of the road to get out of the way of his attacks.

"Wow, maybe you should forget about this and go work as a lumberjack." Danny said, and fired off a two-handed ecto-blast. Ghost Rider took it in the chest, rearing back partially before regaining himself. Whirling the chain behind him, Ghost Rider thrust it forward, the iron links abruptly going rigid and stabbing out as a spear. Said spear did not so much impale Danny's coat as burn through it, Danny doing another sliding dodge to avoid the brunt of the attack.

"Oh that's just plain cheap." Danny said, firing several more blasts into Ghost Rider. This time, the burning skeleton marched forward without breaking stride, calling his chain back to him. "Okay fine, distance isn't working, let's get dangerous!"

Ghost Rider lashed out with the chain again. Danny dodged it by leaping and flying through the air, doing a corkscrew to dodge away from the follow-up lash Danny had gambled was coming. His fist smashed into Ghost Rider's jaw…and was almost immediately yanked back, Danny feeling like he'd punched into a jet plane's afterburners. "YEOW!"

Ghost Rider laughed, a low, unpleasant tone, and backhanded Danny, the Halfa flying back-first into another tree. Before Danny could get up, Ghost Rider lashed out with his chain again, its barbed links wrapping around Danny and yanking him up.

"That pain is nothing compared to-!" Ghost Rider got out before Danny phased through his restraints, flipping over in the air and ramming both feet into Ghost Rider's face. The infernal heat seared through his boots, but Danny held on and delivering several more stamping kicks before kicking off and flipping over. Emerald power erupted on his hands again, and Danny fired with all his might, the blast again shining out and into Ghost Rider's chest.

And through it. The projectile punched right through the leather jacket and what lay beyond, a mass of flaming bones flying out from Ghost Rider's back. Danny landed with some alarm, even as Ghost Rider shuddered and took a step back. Danny could see the trees behind Ghost Rider, from the hole he'd blown right through him.

"…No amount…of desperation…will save you…" Ghost Rider said. Fire erupted in the chasm, and Danny saw new bones regrowing a moment before the fire belched out towards Danny, forcing him to dodge as the trees behind Danny ignited. Danny landed, the Ghost Rider turning to face him, the jacket having regenerated as well.

"Since you court the flames, I will properly introduce you!" Ghost Rider said, his hands igniting.

"Uh no that's okay, I'm GOOOODDDDDD!" Danny yelped, diving out of the way as Ghost Rider fired his own blasts of infernal power. More of the forest erupted into flame, flocks of birds taking to the sky as the destruction spread.

"Hey watch it! You don't wanna have Smokey on your ass too, do you?" Danny said.

"You talk like the arachnid champion. A pity you lack all his other QUALITIES!" Ghost Rider said, blasting more fire towards Danny. Danny switched gears for his next dodge, turning intangible and sinking into the ground.

"Ah. Clever cle-" Ghost Rider got out before Danny phased up from the ground by his side, blasting Ghost Rider at point blank range. A sickening dry crack sounded in Danny's ears as the Rider's left arm was torn off from the attack, but Danny put it out of his head and sank back down into the ground. Ghost Rider turned around a moment, glaring towards where Danny had been.

Then he swung around and hurled his chain into the ground, the metal tearing through the earth like it wasn't there. After a few seconds, the Ghost Rider yanked back with his lone remaining arm, the length of chain erupting from the ground and dragging a still-intangible-yet-still-caught yelling Danny with it.

"Your tricks are the only thing with a shorter life span than you!" Ghost Rider said, slamming Danny into the ground, Danny feeling the blow despite his ghostly state. Left without options, Danny seized onto the chain, and green power erupted down it, surging into and igniting Ghost Rider with crackling verdigris energy.

Amazingly, Ghost Rider just laughed again as the Stinger tore through his bones. With another yank, he hurled Danny skyward, and with a lashing whip of his arm the chain released him, its lengths shattering into its many pieces. Ghost Rider stabbed his lone arm up, and the metal all flew up after Danny, battering him violating across the sky before Danny crashed back down several dozen feet distance. Greenish blood stained the dry leaves beneath him.

"I told you before. Abandon all hope." Ghost Rider said.

"Yeah…yeah." Danny muttered in reply, trying to get up and ponder his next move. The Magnus still wasn't responding, which irritated Danny: if the Magnus had been available, maybe he could have pulled that new trick he and Flare had been practicing, where Flare used some aspect of her place as an avatar of weaponry and switched blades with his opponent's weapon as they struck. Knowing his luck though, with this chain he'd probably just wind up tying himself up. Plus she wasn't available, so it was all just wishful thinking. "You know, I've heard other people spout that before. Do you actually know where it comes from?"

"Through me you pass into the city of woe, through me you pass into eternal pain, through me among the people lost for aye, Justice the founder of my fabric moved, to rear me was the task of Power divine, Supremest Wisdom and primeval Love, Before me things create were none, save thing Eternal, and eternal I endure." Ghost Rider intoned. As he spoke, fire erupted from his shoulder, forming into a new limb, whose bony fingers Ghost Rider raised and clenched before him.

"All hope abandon, ye who enter here."

"…You know, I should really stop assuming people are dumber then me." Danny said, having stood back up.

"Know this: your time is NIGH!" Ghost Rider said, and blasted off more infernal fire.

Blue mist flew from Danny's mouth and onto his hands, and Danny fired off a cryonic blast to counter, the supernatural cold meeting the hellfire and, much to Ghost Rider's surprise, overcoming it. The fire vanished as Danny's blast pushed through it, striking Ghost Rider and snuffing out his own fire before he was encased in ice.

The fire returned in seconds, Ghost Rider shattering through the cold that had dared to try and imprison him. Danny met him with a ecto-charged punch, sending the rider flying and smashing through two trees behind him.

"Heard that before too." Danny said, and flew off after his opponent.

No matter how often he did it, it never ceased to amuse him.

How it always happened. How easy it was, to turn the so-called righteous against their creeds. All that was needed was a few simple factors that he provided, and the rabble immediately tried to tear their own guts out. It make their shock, fear, and despair all the sweeter.

The sight, however, was growing boring. It was time to begin the hunt proper.

"Do try not to die, rabbits." The figure said, brushing away the picture on the water before turning away from it. "It would be terribly droll."

Danny's cold blast did not stop the chain, the metal smashing into his side and dragging him along the ground. Danny finally fell to the ground to get out of the attack, immediately flying back up as the chain moved on and blasting Ghost Rider with more cryonic energy. For the first time, Ghost Rider actually tried to dodge, and succeeded, the ice blast snuffing out some of the blazing trees. Danny flew in immediately, hammering more ecto-charged punches into Ghost Rider's form, before the rider knocked him away with a thrusting front kick. Danny sprang off his impact from the ground and onto his feet, breathing hard, his mind racing. Surely he had to be getting somewhere. This Ghost Rider couldn't just dish it out and take it with no limits. Surely…

"Your stubbornness will only ensure further pain!" Ghost Rider said, drawing his chain back and spinning it before him. The metal moved far, far faster then any normal man could have spun the chain, and as a result Danny was forced to dodge aside as the makeshift drill pistoned towards him, tearing through another tree at its base. Danny rolled off his dodge, flying up to the lower branches of another tree.

"Look, buddy, this is called DEFENDING MYSELF! You started this!" Danny said. "I'm quite open to another means of settling this! How about a debate? A game of checkers? Maybe tiddlywinks?"

Ghost Rider's drill-chain lanced towards Danny, the deadly weapon ripping the tree apart. Danny had been leaping down even before the attack came, springing over to where the last tree had been knocked down, gathering his strength.

"Pick up sticks?" Danny said.

His hands seized the tree, and with one great surge of might, Danny swung the tree trunk around and slammed it into Ghost Rider. The demonic avenger almost burned the tree in half in the process of taking the blow, but he took it, thrown to the side and off his feet. Danny dropped the tree before it became too heavy for him and flew up above Ghost Rider, his hands burning green. With a silent yell, Danny rained down a few dozen potent blasts onto him, Ghost Rider vanishing in a cloud of smoke and dust.

"Yeah, not falling for it!" Danny said, arcing back his arm and slamming his palm out, firing a cryonic blast the size of his whole body into the cloud. Blue light surged out from the cloud, a low hollow whooshing noise being emitted from the attack, and Danny flew backwards a bit before stopping to rest.

"…Okay. Maybe he'll be banged up enough that I can get through. I really want to…"

The chain erupted from the smoke, and before Danny could react it had coiled around his ankles.

"OH COME O-!"

Danny's attempt to go intangible failed once again, the chain yanking him down towards the ground at rapid speed. The smoke cleared just enough for Danny to see Ghost Rider swinging at him before the bony fist slammed into his chest and sent him flying back up into the sky. The flight didn't last long; Ghost Rider twisted and yanked down once more, and Danny was slammed down into the ground.

"I told you before. NO ESCAPE!" Ghost Rider said, and slammed his fist down onto the earth. Fire exploded beneath Danny, again launching up skyward…directly into the follow-up blast from Ghost Rider, the hellfire tearing into Danny's body and sending him deeper into the forest before he crashed through another tree and landed in a small brook.

For a moment, Danny lay there, trails of green blood being carried away from the water.

"…fine." Danny said, pushing his way up. He could see the form of Ghost Rider approaching, but Danny ignored that fact as he took to the sky, flying upwards at rapid speed. The chain tore from the trees almost immediately, seeking to draw him back down, but Danny wasn't trying to escape. All he wanted was a few seconds to see off into the distance, and confirm something.

His assumption was correct. The only small town Danny could see was several miles away and off to his right. Danny immediately changed direction, flying back and landing in the water of the streamlet.

"Have you accepted your fate, then?" Ghost Rider said, having reached the edge of brook.

"Have a listen." Danny said, drawing in as deep a breath as he could.

The Ghostly Wail tore up the stones in front of Danny, Ghost Rider taking one step back before it smashed into him. Danny poured all his energy into the devastating cacophony, the trees around and behind Ghost Rider being torn apart or out by their roots, the trees beyond suffering similar damage and the fire that had begun consuming the forest blown out like a birthday candle. For nine seconds Danny sent his ultimate Phantom attack out, before the exhaustion finally grew too much, and the attack ceased.

"…I…remember…why that always…kinda sucked." Danny said. Ghost Rider had no reply, having been driven back about twenty feet. The fact remained, however, that he had never left his feet.

The avenger took a step, and stumbled, falling to one knee. Through bleary eyes, Danny watched.

The fire flickered on the Rider's skull for a moment, and then roared back at full force. Standing fully upright again, Ghost Rider looked at Danny with renewed determination.

Circles of light abruptly appeared around Danny, and before Danny could react his power was gone, leaving him in his normal clothes and jacket.

"…uh oh." Danny said.

"And so it ends." Ghost Rider said, striding forward. "Whatever crimes you committed for power, it was not enough. Now vengeance shall burn your soul to ash."

"Wait, look…this is a mistake…just listen…!" Danny said, trying to find the energy to move. "I'm sorry I picked a fight, but I didn't, let me EXPLAIN…!"

Ghost Rider's skeletal hand shot out, seizing Danny by the front of his shirt with an iron grip.

"LOOK INTO MY EYES." Ghost Rider thundered, pulling Danny face to face with him. "LOOK, AND BURN, AND…!"

Danny didn't hear anything else, as the images washed over him.

"This is my town. No one makes trouble here!"

"If you want to discuss this, you'll have to go through me!"

"Yeah, they hate me…is that really a reason to give up?"

"I believe in you, Danny."

"NO VLAD, STOP IT! JUST STOP IT!"

"This isn't your fault Danny."

"That doesn't really change anything. I have a part in all this mess, and I have to clean it up."

"…I miss you Dad…"

"I miss you…"

"I'll find you…"

"I know I will…"

Danny felt the bony hand release him, his first sense of reality being his pants becoming soaked as he fell on his rear in the stream. Danny blinked, thinking about all he'd just seen. His life, and all it had entailed.

The Ghost Rider had taken a few steps back, one hand pressed against his head. Even lacking a proper face to show it, Danny could tell he was confused.

"…You know." Danny said. "If you'd done that to start, we could have saved ourselves a lot of trouble."

"How is this possible…" Ghost Rider said. "I felt, I was certain…and yet…"

"Everyone makes mistakes?" Danny said, carefully standing up, still wary of an attack, and uncertain what he could do to fend it off if it occurred.

"I am the servant of vengeance, I do NOT make mistakes! And yet…" Ghost Rider said, looking at Danny. "Innocent."

Danny's reply was cut off when he felt the surge of power on his back, and a moment later blue energy ignited and flew from within the sword he'd managed to keep on his back the whole time, manifesting off to Danny's side in a featureless mist.

You! Demon! I name you, demon! Zarathos!

"…An existential avatar?" Ghost Rider said.

I name my emotion, shock and disappointment! How dare you, rider! How could you be so wrong?

"…That…" The Ghost Rider said. "Is a very good question."

The hounds were ready. The rest as well. All that was required was the horn. And a grand entrance.

"Enjoy your last moments, rabbits." The figure said. "Well…actually, you likely won't."

"…So. The emotion I felt was the released feeding of this creature Harrk'brech." Ghost Rider said. "Said release altered your natural emotional state, aiding in my misconception…"

"I have a feeling crossing a Fissure without meaning to also had something to do with it." Danny said, somewhat amazed how quickly things had turned around. "Crossing through them affects you, no matter who you are…"

"It should not have affected me like this. Not to this degree." The Ghost Rider said, clenching a fist. "I am not omnipotent, but my sight is miles beyond what mere mortals are blessed with. If it was simply my error, I should have realized it nearly immediately, or at least far sooner then I did!"

Between what I have just experienced before and after my rest, I do not believe it was your error.

"If not…" Ghost Rider said, putting one hand to his mouth, or rather his teeth. "To cross dimensions where I happened to be at the time. A creature that previously fed without doing harm suddenly killing and devouring far more than it had before, with no sign or warning why. Its madness towards Phantasm, directly leading to its death. Its death drawing me and cloaking Phantasm in false actions. My own self being unable to see beyond it until I peered as deep as I could…all of these are simply too much. This was not a chance encounter."

"Really? You didn't sign the contract that two heroes have to mistakenly pick a fight with each other at least once a year?" Danny said.

"I understand your badinage, child, but I suggest you replace it with forbearance."

Indeed. Having overcome the initial issue of whatever arranged your meeting, I suspect it will make itself known in a more overt fashion.

"Really? After we had a moment to talk things out? Would that be…?" Danny said.

The prickle had come back, its strange sensation tracing across Danny's neck. This time, however, it did not stay briefly.

He'd been right, earlier. There HAD been another presence, his ghost senses not properly picking it up, but not completely missing it either.

"Stupid?" Danny said.

"I do not believe intelligence, as you understand it, enters into play here." Ghost Rider said, turning away from Danny. The forest and inlet in the distance had vanished into a massive cloud of black fog that had seemed to come out of nowhere, everything around it consumed by the murk. Danny felt the prickle move from the back of his neck to his back teeth.

…This is no ordinary crossing. This is…

"A so-called stepping down. Crossing from a supposed higher realm." Ghost Rider said. "I should have realized it once the capricious nature of this whole affair was revealed."

"What? What is this? Who is this?"

"Something very old, Phantasm. Very old, and very bad. My own experiences with them are non-existent, but the circles I walk in bear enough warning to know their mark." Ghost Rider said, snorting.

They were no longer alone. Danny could sense the presence of a great many creatures lurking in the fog. From the impression he was getting, none of them were friendly.

"Who are they?"

"The Fair Fo-"

"Do NOT speak our name."

The form that emerged from the black mist was hard to describe.

What was worse was that said difficulty was not in the traditional sense. Danny had fought a creature or two with such unnatural geometry or an outright alien nature that it hurt to look at them (fortunately, Danny had yet to run into anything of the Lovecraftian, drive-you-mad-at-their-sight bent, and he hoped to keep it that way). To anything non-living that would be looking at the figure, like say, a camera, they would have simply recorded a human-like being on a black horse.

The difficulty lay in Danny looking at the man, and his horse…and immediately being struck afterwards by a terrible sense of wrongness. The horse looked normal…too normal. Its fur was perfectly set, its hooves shone to a near-glean, its main and tail magnificently coiffed, all of it not bearing not a mark of age, experience, or the rigor of a ride, which did not match the fierce energy roiling in its eyes. And the man…

He wore green-tinted armor under a long fur cloak colored brown and black. His hair was blonde, flawless gold locks bearing not a trace of sweat. And his face…

He was somehow both beautiful and handsome at the same time. It was the finest specimen of natural beauty, by Danny's definition, that he had ever seen. Danny's heart ached to look at him…

Which swiftly brought the greater feelings of wrong on their heels. And it didn't come from the fact that Danny considered himself heterosexual. Danny was pretty sure that if he had been gay, he would have felt the same way. It was WRONG to just look at this man, this figure on his horse, and immediately feel emotions that would have been better suited to a loved soul mate or a respected, trusted general. Their presence and their strength quickly brought to bear how unnatural they were, breaking whatever spell that could have been cast by his visage. Idly, Danny wondered if he was just experienced in the matter and if a normal person would have immediately been captivated, perhaps beyond rhyme or reason.

"You lesser creatures stain us with words uttered by your tongues." The figure said, before turning an autocratic gaze onto the Ghost Rider. "Well, you know what I mean."

Ghost Rider let his actions speak for him, his hand snapping out and hurling a blast of infernal fire at the man.

The man's gesture seemed more appropriate to plucking a grape from its stem, but it still made the fiery blast disappear like it had never happened.

"Now, don't be rude."

"Rude?" The Ghost Rider said, though he held back from making another attack. "What is the meaning of this nonsense, faelord? Do you know who you are trifling with?"

"Why yes." The Faelord said, snapping his fingers. From the black mist, another human-type emerged. His horse was also black, and the same impossible beauty radiated from his features, albeit to a lesser degree then the first one. He rode out next to the 'faelord', producing a scroll from a bag on his side.

"And so, it was said, that Daniel Fenton and Daniel Ketch of the lower realms, have been selected as the honorary quarry of Count Arnau Gwyn ap Nudd, to be run down and slain upon our liege's pleasure." The announcer said.

"WHAT?" Danny said. "Did he just say…?"

He did. Prepare yourself child, this will not be easy!

"You are wrong, blade spirit. It is hopeless." Count Nudd said, examining his fingernails. "I have rode at the helm of the Wild Hunt before the species you and the hell-spawn empower had learned to throw rocks. I have seen all their so-called advances, even in unique matters as these two, and it has never remained anything except laughable."

"You think you can just…"

"I think nothing. I do. You are my rabbits, and that is all." Count Nudd said.

"…WHY?" Danny said, his tone filled with overwhelmed confusion. "Why me? Why US?"

"You share the same name." Count Nudd said. Danny blinked.

"…You picked us because we have the same name."

Count Nudd stared at Danny as if he had re-assessed his low opinion that Danny was even stupider then he believed.

"…You…you manipulated Heartbreak…" Danny said, remembering what Ghost Rider had said earlier about there being a calculating hand in the experience. "You made it become a killer, made it devour that emotion…cross dimensions, prodded it to its death to engineer the circumstances so that Ghost Rider and I would meet and fight with each other, so we could then be your presumably worn-out PREY…and you did this because we SHARE THE SAME FIRST NAME?"

"Yes." Count Nudd said. "I found it amusing."

Danny opened his mouth, and found no words came to him. He also found that his emotion was starting to come back, as jagged blades of hot rage stabbed at his heart.

"You…" Ghost Rider said, having been gathering his remaining strength. Despite his stone-face, crossing the Fissure and fighting Danny HAD taken more then its fair share out of him. Danny's latest words, however, had almost made said preparation moot. The calling had swelled within him, ten times fiercer then what he had felt with the Halfa. It didn't matter what this count wanted to do with or to him. He would see him burn, even if he was pounded to dust. "You DARE meddle in the affairs of mortals for such base reasons? You slay innocents to manipulate the sick into dying and the noble into battle? You THINK WE ARE SOME SORT OF WOUNDED ANIMAL YOU CAN RUN DOWN AT YOUR LEISURE? PREPARE TO FEEL…!"

Danny didn't see the blast. He just saw Ghost Rider fly backwards like a wrecking ball at struck him, crashing against the lake bed after fifteen feet and carving up another eleven-foot gash before he came to a stop.

"You bore me, rabbits." Count Nudd said, lowering his glowing hand to his other one. A moment later, he lifted up a crown of antlers, sliding it carefully onto his forehead before he brought his hands back to his reins and spurred his horse into a turn. "Begin the hunt. Release the hounds."

"…Flare, I am going to assume that this will be a lot worse then dogs that shoot bees when they bark." Danny said, reaching behind him and drawing his sword.

I'm sorry Danny. I should have…

"I don't need that. I need to know if we have a chance."

You face a lord of the Fae, creatures born of and in some of the most ancient, primordial magicks in all the planes of existence. The Wild Hunt legend/tale is told in more places then Earth, Danny. The Count's creatures are not of this realm, however familiar they may seem, and his power will flow through them to make them even stronger.

"Wonderful."

No, Danny. He may dismiss me, and the Rider, but that is HIS folly. Take me up! Cast them down!

Danny did not immediately reply, instead looking at the main pairs of glowing green eyes that had appeared in the black mist, Count Nudd having ridden further back into it before stopping to watch.

"Was still kind of hoping for the tiddlywinks." Danny said, raising a finger before him. "Going GHOST."

The white circles returned, Danny having used the moments since the Ghostly Wail to regain as much strength as he could. He was hardly at his best…

But even as his transformed, Flare returned to her base, surging into Danny's sword and igniting it with red and yellow energies. And that, Danny felt, was what really mattered. The Magnus Flareium was back in his grasp. Let those who did not grasp the importance of that never learn their error.

"Do not think you'll fight alone!" Ghost Rider said, the last bits of steam drifting from his body as he stalked up to Danny's side. "I AM NO RABBIT, FAELORD! YOU WILL BURN FOR YOUR CRIMES!"

The hunting hounds came, impossibly big, their forms matching no real known Earth canines, an impossible mix of all the worst traits of dogs. Danny brought the Magnus up, clenching his fingers around its grip.

The first several dogs broke off and pounced on Ghost Rider. Danny would have made a crack about dogs and bones had a few more not immediately moved to attack him. Danny lashed out, the energies of his sword slamming into the first dog and knocking it away with a cry, its flank burning with a destructive energy that tore into its nervous system, or whatever it had. Danny leapt to avoid the next dog and exhaled cold energy, his sword burning blue as he slammed it down into the brook. The water within immediately froze and lanced up, deadly icicles impaling a few more of the dogs. Danny leapt away before the next one could come for him, even as Ghost Rider tore free of the pile the dogs had made on him. Despite most of their fur being on fire, the dogs pressed their attack, forcing Ghost Rider to crush one's skull in with a fist before kicking a second away. Blasts of fire downed two more, giving Ghost Rider the time to pull out his chain and lash out, cutting the last dog in half.

Danny barely caught the motion Count Nudd made, gesturing towards the two. He was hard-pressed to avoid hearing the noise though, as the barking of the dogs was joined by the thundering sound of hooves.

A few moments later, the hunters emerged from the mist, more fae dressed in muted colors and furs, armed with a variety of deadly weapons. The first one Danny got to see was crossbows, as three of the hunters aimed and fired bolts at him. Danny just managed to deflect two of them, the third one cutting open the side of his head. A moment later, a dog pounced on him, driving him onto his back.

"COWARDS AND FOOLS!" Ghost Rider bellowed, swinging out his chain and sending it lancing towards the hunters. One of the horseman was knocked off his mount with a cry, but that allowed two dogs to pounce onto Ghost Rider and dig their teeth in. Danny finally kicked the dog off of himself in time for one of the horseman to catch up to him and stab at him with a spear. Danny responded by grabbing the spear and yanking, pulling the hunter off his horse. The fae sprang to his feet with impossible agility, drawing a long dagger and lunging at Danny.

Danny dropped the Magnus and turned intangible, causing the fae to run through him. The creature turned around into a vicious ecto-charged uppercut, knocking him into a nearby tree as Danny kicked the sword back up into his hand and whirled around to cut down the dog who'd pounced on him earlier.

More crossbow bolts flew, and Danny felt them slam into his back. The special design of his coat helped protect him some, but it still tossed him onto his knees. The hunter who fired the crossbow bolt at Ghost Rider didn't end up so well: Ghost Rider broke free of the dogs and ended up catching the bolt, igniting it with hellfire, and throwing it back right through the horseman's throat.

Despite this, Danny could see even more dogs and horsemen coming, their ranks innumerable. He grimaced and dragged himself up, firing a green blast to knock another dog away before he started sprinting to the side.

"Don't bother running, rabbit! I sealed up the portal you two came out of long ago! And believe me, you will not have a chance to make another one." Count Nudd said.

"Yeah, running…" Danny said, holding up his sword. After several more steps he came to a stop, whirling around and trying to take in the battlefield.

Careful child!

"I know." Danny said, watching the approaching dogs and hunters, taking in the ones going after Ghost Rider as well. He winced inwardly: the last time he'd tried this move, he'd nearly broken both his wrists.

"I see their weapons." Danny said, the Magnus going white. "MEET WITH THEM."

In an eye blink Danny was forty feet away from the position he'd been.

In another eye blink blood exploded from a score of the hunters and dogs, the fae animals and horseman collapsing to the ground and falling off their mounts. Danny fell to one knee, pain exploding down his arms. He had, in layman's terms, utilized an aspect of Flare's nature to 'bring her' to 'meet' with her 'fellow weapons', such weapons being held in the horseman's hands and by their sides, with the dogs' weapons being the teeth in their mouth. Of course, since she was in a sword, and Danny was directing the meeting, this turned said meet into a rapid-fire pinball slash that had carved through Danny's enemy like a knife through a Halloween pumpkin.

Unfortunately, more were coming to replace them.

Unfortunately for THEM, Ghost Rider was the first thing they met, the avenger charging forth as his jaw opened wide. The fire that spewed out engulfed everything in front of him, the animals and fae clawing and thrashing, trying to put the fire out and failing.

Count Nudd did it for them, snapping his fingers, his entertained expression having faded somewhat.

"So, you think you can just stand there and play at war? This is a HUNT, rabbits. You will see that." Count Nudd said, before rearing his horse. "FLEE LIKE YOUR TRUE SELVES."

The black mist crackled, and suddenly legions upon legions of dogs and huntsmen emerged from behind Count Nudd. Instead of a varied attack, this group simply charged forward in a crushing, overwhelming mass, Nudd at the helm.

"Oh bugger." Danny said, before he fired a blast at the count. Nudd made it vanish just like Ghost Rider's hellfire, and Danny leapt backwards to avoid a spray of crossbow bolts., landing near his ally.

"Treacherous craven…!"

"Yeah, I know, we should probably still not get trampled!"

"NOT HAPPENING!" Ghost Rider bellowed, charging forward to meet the fae phalanx.

Danny! Fall back! Trust me!

"Was leaning that way regardless!" Danny said, leaping backwards again. He saw the Ghost Rider go for Count Nudd, only for some hounds to pounce onto him, the faelord riding around the avenger like he wasn't worth a second glance. Within two seconds Ghost Rider had been swallowed up by the masses.

"He was less interesting, anyway! Come rabbit!" Count Nudd said, bearing down on Danny. "RUN!"

Danny…!

"Yes I know!" Danny said, sprinting backwards, the fact that he was light on his feet even with the Magnus allowing him to do so at an effective speed and without losing his balance. It was not fast enough, however, to outpace the dogs.

Danny managed to catch the first one with a Kickback slash, but the second broke through his guard and slammed into him, trying to drive its teeth into his shoulder even as it knocked Danny down. Danny went with the pounce, rolling and somehow getting back upright in a position to grab the dog and hurl it away. The next two dogs were blasted with ecto-energy before they could get close, and when one of the horsemen spurred their ride to get ahead, a sword in their hands, Danny blasted the ground beneath their feet, causing the horse to stumble and fall, several other horses falling in turn over the first. Count Nudd glanced sideways at the 'dominoes' before facing forward again, and with a slight gesture, he and all his minions rose up off the ground, the horses running on the air itself.

"I hate this legend." Danny said.

Danny, CLIFF!

"What?" Danny said, turning around just in time to run off the edge. "Bugger!"

Danny arrested his fall by firing into the air, the projectile driving him backwards onto the cliff proper, Danny digging his sword into the rock to gain a little control. After a few seconds, he leapt into the air, falling downwards at a controlled rate towards the tallest tree he could find.

He saw it during the jump, and his heart leapt into his throat. He wasn't being herded in a general direction. The path the Wild Hunt was on was directly towards the lone town Danny had spotted earlier when checking for collateral damage from his Ghostly Wail.

"Yes, rabbit! Keep running! We will gladly chase you down, no matter where you go!" Count Nudd said, leaping off the cliff with his riders, the horses descending gracefully into the air. More crossbow bolts flew at Danny, and he once again took to the air, doing a massive sideways leap in an attempt to draw the Hunt away from the town.

It didn't work. While a few of the horsemen broke off to attack him, the main body continued to advance towards the human dwelling. Danny had a feeling they'd only turn around after they'd run roughshod through it, to teach their 'honored quarry' a lesson about following the 'rules'. More innocent lives taken, all for the amusement of a so-called 'higher being'…

Danny began to understand why Ghost Rider had let himself get trampled. Danny, however, preferred to mix intelligence with sentiment, when he could manage it.

The first thing he had to manage was to get back in front of the riders. Well, technically the first thing he had to do was deal with the few who had broken off to confront him. More technically, he had to deal with the arrow the forward rider was shooting at him with his compound bow.

Danny did, arcing the Magnus directly in its path and splitting the arrow in half, before going low and slicing the horse's legs out from under it. A dog lunged in from the side as Danny stood up; Danny blasted it as an afterthought and leapt off the tree-top he was balanced on, heading for the farthest rider. The hunter tried to adjust his path, and failed, Danny kicking the horseman off before driving his blade deep into the flank of the horse. The fact that the horse didn't make a sound at the deadly blow lessened any guilt Danny had, as he channeled Kickback energy and sent it firing into the horse in a specific manner. Instead of knocking the horse back, Danny was launched forward, soaring through the air and towards the charging hunt.

The horseman whose mount Danny landed on turned around just in time for Danny to punch him in the face. Several more horsemen turned at the sight, aiming crossbows at Danny, but the Halfa didn't stay long as he leapt across the masses of riders, landing on another horse and knocking the hunter on it with another kick. Said hunter flew into another, both of them and their horse going down, and Danny leapt again before crossbow bolts slammed into the horse's neck and flank. The next rider actually saw Danny coming, and drew a knife to defend himself. Danny chopped his hand off at the wrist before kicking him off the equine, driving his sword into the horse's spine, and using another Kickback propulsion to hurl himself up and over the hunting legions, heading directly for Count Nudd.

The faelord didn't even look at Danny, reaching up behind himself and gesturing. Danny felt the eldritch forces seize onto his body, hurling him forward past the count and off into the distance. Danny managed to regain control in time to land onto the top of another tree, the Halfa jerking his head around to look at the advancing Hunt. He turned to look behind him immediately.

The town loomed close.

Danny turned back to the hunt, his lips dry.

"…All right Flare. Get ready to meet up with them." Danny said, gathering his energy.

Danny, you can't possibly cut them all down like that!

"Then just make sure I cut down Nudd!"

…He might be the only one I can't.

"Limits. They always show up at the most inconvenient times." Danny said. "All right then. Let's see how well he can hunt by his lonesome."

Danny…!

"Yeah, I know Flare. I don't really wanna do this." Danny said, going into a semi-crouch. "Never stopped me before."

No Danny, I mean, WAIT!

"What?" Danny said, the thundering discord of the approaching riders filling his ears.

The noise of the motorcycle somehow drowned them all out.

"YOU WILL HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THAT, FAE!" Ghost Rider said, his fiery bike tearing off the edge of the distant cliff Danny had fallen off moments before. The bike blazed across the air like a shooting star, carrying itself over the masses of the Hunt and plunging downwards towards Danny like a falling angel.

"Get on Phantasm!" The Ghost Rider said, even as he 'landed' on the air near Danny. Danny had been way ahead of him, jumping towards the bike as Ghost Rider spoke and grabbing onto the rear of it. The moment Danny did the bike roared off, driving on the air like the horsemen road on it.

"Got a plan Rider?" Danny said.

"They will not pass through the town." Ghosr Rider said, the fire on his skull expanding to cover his entire torso. "I-FORBID-IT!"

The chains erupted from Ghost Rider's body, lancing out behind him and towards the Wild Hunt. The riders braced to fend them off…

Only to find the chains did not come for them. Instead, they ensnared themselves around the necks of the horses, more chains surging out and grabbing ahold of the remaining hounds. Much to his incredible distaste, Count Nudd even found a chain wrapped around his own horse's neck.

"NO! STOP IT!" The Faelord said, gesturing at the motorcycle. Danny felt the pressure slam into the Ghost Rider, but the avenger bore it as stoically as he'd born Danny's attacks.

"Burn in hell." Ghost Rider said, and yanked on his handlebars, his motorcycle veering drastically to the side before the wheels ignited with even more intense flame then before. The chains grew taunt, and then the Wild Hunt began to be turned, Ghost Rider yanking every single member of the legions along, pulling them away from the town. Danny saw the count move to strike Ghost Rider again, and lashed out with his own attack, green energy striking the count when his attention was focused elsewhere, causing the faelord to rear back with a cry. Danny felt the Ghost Rider put on one final burst of energy, and turned to see just where the avenger was directing them.

The side of a mountain.

"Oh boy." Danny said.

The wheels of the bike slammed into the side. The fiery vehicle did not get to drive far before the masses of the Hunt were pulled into the mountain, a shockwave of force from the impact tearing up behind Danny and the Rider and finally knocking the bike from its wheels. Danny lost all sense of place as he tumbled, finally stopping on his side after six painful seconds. The bike crashed down near him, Ghost Rider pinned beneath its weight.

"Rider?" Danny said, coughing as he got up.

"Do not be concerned, Phantasm." Ghost Rider said, pushing the bike off of himself as he got up. "I cannot be harmed by my own."

"What about the rest of the…stuff?" Danny said.

"Yes…stuff." Ghost Rider said as an answer, turning towards the impact site of the hunt. Danny could tell, by the various motions he saw, that slamming them into a mountain side wasn't the end of it.

"NO! NO!"

Count Nudd had emerged from the smoke, and the anger on his face ruined his impossible beauty, truly bringing the artificial, horrifying nature of it to the fore as he stomped forward.

"THIS ISN'T HOW IT'S SUPPOSED TO GO! YOU ARE THE PREY, THE SCUM OF THE LOWER REALMS WHO SHOULD BE HONORED TO BE SLAUGHTERED BY ME! YOU ARE THE RABBITS! THIS ISN'T HOW IT GOES!"

Danny stared at the faelord, disbelief coming back across his features. The bright, shining entity of higher realms, commander of untold magical power…was throwing a temper tantrum. Danny swore he was one step away from throwing himself on the ground and beating it with his fists while he kicked his feet. Rather then give him any sense of satisfaction, though, the performance just chilled his heart all the more. He'd seen a breakdown or two in his day, but nothing so…unsophisticated.

"…What is wrong with him?" Danny said.

"Imagine not being born, Phantasm, but CRAFTED." Ghost Rider said. "Image this design not cast for love or a desire to create, but a sheer excess of superior egotism. Imagine coming into being fully aware of the world, with all the knowledge of untold aeons past and nigh-incalculable power that only the realms on your 'level' could challenge. Imagine a life where every chance to learn, grow, and experience is taken away from the moment you draw your first breath. And imagine a creator who likely grows bored shortly after your making and abandons you to indulge in something else. That is how most fae come into existence, Phantasm. They are born old…and hence never grow up. You gaze on the result of a society where madness is the norm, and indulgence of all stripes, including the most vile, is the only way to pass eternity."

"SHUT UP!" Count Nudd said, pointing at the Ghost Rider. "YOU THINK YOU CAN GRASP OUR MAGNIFICENCE, MORTAL ORDURE? YOU ENRAGE ME BY EVEN HAVING A NOTION YOU CAN!"

"It is not your rage that should be your concern, monster!" Ghost Rider said, swinging back onto his bike, the flames on his skull and wheels burning anew. "You will answer for your crimes!"

"Rider, be careful!" Danny said, but the Ghost Rider did not seem to hear him, as he tore towards Count Nudd. The Count stopped his angry motions to look upon the avenger, Ghost Rider leaping into the air on his motorcycle and swinging out with his chain.

With a gesture, Nudd yanked the Rider from his bike. The motorcycle crashed down in the distance as the faelord pulled Ghost Rider to him, a look of aggrieved rage on his face.

"You STILL bore me, rabbit." Count Nudd said, and Ghost Rider's body shone with the same sickly green energy Danny had seen on Heartbreak.

"NO!" Danny said, trying to leap forward and stop the Count. He'd made it halfway when Ghost Rider snapped out a hand and seized onto Nudd's throat.

"LOOK INTO MY-!"

Ghost Rider vanished in a blink, the green energy surging over him and carrying him away. Danny stopped in his tracks, Count Nudd lowering his hand. Danny was certain he saw a flicker of concern wash over his features before the mask of supreme confidence settled back down.

"Idiotic speck. I will have to properly show him his place once the Hunt is done and the mood strikes me." Count Nudd said, turning towards Danny.

The black mist had returned, and from it came the hounds and hunters, some on horseback and some on foot. Nudd's own mount rode up to his side, the faelord leaping up onto it with grace beyond human comprehension.

"Now then…" Count Nudd said. "I believe the lone rabbit remaining needs to be somewhat more…bloodied."

Danny narrowed his eyes at the count, before he held his sword out to his side.

"Time to put childish things away." Danny said. "UNLO-"

The count's gesture was swifter, and Danny abruptly felt a terrible sickness slam into his body. He fell to one knee, his arm spasming and almost dropping his sword.

"I think not, rabbit. Your blade spirit can live up to her name. Stay in your hands, and in your sword. And watch you die." Count Nudd said, his horse trotting back into the distance.

Danny felt the weakness abide somewhat, but a quick glance to the flickering energy on his blade showed that was a small comfort. He thought he could hear Flare trying to talk to him, advise him, but the voice was so soft and distant that she might as well have not been talking at all.

"Maybe I should have just stayed in bed." Danny said.

The dog came for him, and Danny thrust out a hand, firing a blast of cryonic energy that froze it in place. Bringing up his sword, he fired what little he could muster of the Kickback energy and met the attacking fae head on, his blade deflecting the fae's axe and allowing Danny to level him with a punch. Leaping backwards. Danny blasted three more fae and then ducked beneath the lunge of another hound. He stood back up to the sound of a horse approaching behind him, the rider lashing out with a whip and wrapping it around him. Danny was jerked off his feet and dragged along the mountainside, bouncing off the rocky ground before Danny finally sliced through the whip with his sword and rolled away. Breathing heavily, Danny was set on by more fae hunters and dogs, one of then biting deep into his ankle and allowing the fae to close on him, knives flashing in the moonlight.

Green energy streamed from beneath them before all the hounds and fae were tossed aside, Danny standing up and pointing at Count Nudd.

"HEY! HEY YOU!" Danny said. "Count von Count or whatever your name is! I challenge you! YOU, ONE ON ONE!"

The fae returned, forcing Danny on the defense.

"Oh what's this, you're IGNORING ME!" Danny yelled. "You think that proves your superiority? IT DOESN'T! IT SHOWS YOU'RE A COWARD! A WEAKLING! A FALSE LORD WHO HIDES BEHIND HIS MINIONS!"

Count Nudd continued to watch, unimpressed. Danny lashed out with a wide slash, driving the Fae back briefly. Holding up his sword, Danny's face screwed up, like he'd just heard something incredibly unpleasant, before cold determination crossed back into his eyes.

"I OFFER UP MY BLOOD IN DEBT! THE BLOOD OF MYSELF, AND MY LINE! BUT ONLY IF YOU CHALLENGE ME YOURSELF, ALONE!"

Count Nudd's expression finally changed, just a bit, at Danny's last words, his head cocking, ever so slightly. Danny didn't have time to say more, as he kicked another dog away and fired two more blasts at some fae hunters…even as several more assembled, arrows drawn against their bows.

"No." Count Ludd said, gesturing. The archers immediately lowered their weapons, drawing back as Count Ludd stepped off his horse.

"I take your offer, rabbit, if only because such idiocy is sweeter then pain." Count Nudd said, approaching Danny. "You do know what you've promised, haven't you? Eternal servitude to me, and servitude of all your ancestors, past, present, and future. You made the offer, you cannot take it back."

"Whatever." Danny said, and charged.

Once again, he didn't even see the fae move.

The backhand from the Count made Danny feel like his brain was rattling around in his skull like a pinball, even as he crashed into the side of the mountain, the rock face cracking beneath the impact.

"The first thing you will do is lay your world to the torch. I think it will burn well." Count Nudd said, drawing his own sword. The moment the blade left his hand, it replicated, the twin swords twisting and crossing together as another sword emerged from their intersected lengths. "Then you can cut down your supposed ally in his world."

"You haven't beaten me YET!" Danny said, charging in and leaping. He did not attack, though, instead cutting his jump short and hitting the ground, rolling and springing off the roll to slash at Count Nudd's side.

Nudd's blade intercepted his anyway, and Danny felt like every part of his body was stabbed as Nudd sent Danny flying again with another crackling blast of ancient power. Danny hit the ground hard, dragging several feet before he stopped. Getting back up, he fired several blasts from the Magnus; Nudd deflected them away with gestures before raising his hand, a circle of flickering fire appearing around him before lancing forward. The explosion hurled Danny into the air, the Halfa crashing back down several meters distant. The hounds and fae, having stopped in their tracks to watch, moved away from him as Count Nudd approached.

"I beat you before you were born, wretch. You were created to serve this purpose." Count Nudd said. Danny pushed himself back up, part of his coat tearing off as he lunged towards the faelord. Count Nudd didn't even bother to attack, stepping aside with inhuman grace as Danny ran past. Turning around, Danny blocked Nudd's sword as he swung it out, feeling the stabbing pain in his arms as he did so. For three brief, eternal seconds, the two traded blows…before Nudd effortlessly slapped theMagnus blade aside. Bringing up his other hand, Nudd followed the motion by slapping Danny across the face, his hand blurring down, seizing Danny, and flipping him over Nudd's head to slam him violently back into the ground. A final kick sent Danny tumbling along the mountain face in a bone-shattering bounce.

Looking with distaste at his hand, Nudd put down the blade, extracting a handkerchief and wiping at his palm. One of the fae approached, and Nudd shoved the cloth into his hands before picking up his sword and approaching Danny again.

Somehow, Danny got up. He was good at that, getting up when he shouldn't have. Blood dripped across his face, more of it trailing from his mouth as he watched the count approach. Slowly, he began closing his hand.

"Don't even bother with your so-called hopeful fire. You will not get a chance to unleash it, I assure you." Count Nudd said.

A violent shudder ran through Danny's whole body, bleak fear blooming in his eyes. He took a few more deep breaths, before he brought both hands to his sword hilt.

"Yes, rabbit. Keep fooling yourself. We fae do enjoy a good trick. Especially the kind you mortals call optimism." Count Nudd said. "Come then. Come and live instead of dying. Come and see what a mercy that would have been, rabbit."

Danny said nothing. Instead, he charged, his sword up, a wordless yelling springing from his lips. The count stood there, sword at hand.

The clashing sound of the blades rang across the mountain.

Danny ran several more steps before he collapsed. He brought a hand up to his chest, and the ugly wound carved there, his life's blood flowing freely from it. He stared dully at the sight, even as Count Nudd turned around.

"Let this be your last lesson in the greatest of all truths." Count Nudd said. "It does not matter what you are and what you have. You cannot surpass my glory."

Danny slowly turned, looking over his shoulder at the faelord.

"…And you can't SEE past it." Danny said.

Count Nudd began to reply, before he finally saw it. The fae surrounding him had seen it before, but the count had long ago beaten the 'insolence' of speaking without being spoken to out of them.

Nudd no longer had his sword in his hand. Instead, clenched in his delicate fingers, was the Magnus. His own unique blade was at Danny's side, but Danny had no interest in that.

Just the words the Count had spoken before sealing Flare up.

"Stay in HIS hand."

"UNLOCK." Danny said, and Count Nudd felt the power in the blade break free. The power as old, and as mighty as his.

The only difference between him and it was that Danny had some concept of restraint. And how it could turn the tide of a battle.

"NO!"

The sword exploded, tearing into Count Nudd's hand and body. The Count recoiled, screaming, even as the sapphire power blasted across the air to Danny. Danny had already taken to the sky, the Magnus flying to him and manifesting in its true form, the perfect fusion of all weapons. Danny knew something else about the Count, something he'd observed. He had one, brief weakness.

He could be hurt if his attention was diverted elsewhere.

When the Count returned his attention, it was too late, his eyes casting skyward as Danny came down.

"NO!"

Danny brought the Magnus down, tearing through the count, the energy ripping through his back and impaling into the mountain. All the fae and their animals let out a combined shriek, even as a deafening scream erupted from the mouth of Count Nudd. This couldn't be happening, he…

"You can't…rabbit…!" The Count rasped.

"Didn't you hear?" Danny said. "It's duck season."

The Count let out one last, brief cry before the energy reached critical mass.

For those in the small town of Ridgebend who happened to be looking, the explosion that detonated on the mountain lit up the night sky brighter then the sun.

Quiet.

It seemed strange how easily quiet could return sometimes. Then again, strange was Danny's life.

It had taken some time for him to locate the pieces of the Magnus. The Count's death, and the subsequent demise of his whole hunt, had knocked Danny pretty far up into the sky. Fortunately, it had been more of a tossing blow then an impact one, and Danny had managed to gingerly make his way back down to the ground.

"…You know…I really…have to stop…sticking my neck out…on such gambles…" Danny said, picking his way across the ground. "Could have ended worse."

I'm sorry we had to take such a risk, child. But it was the only way to get the Count into the proper place of vulnerability. Otherwise, he would have simply sent his minions at you until you had nothing left. I knew that, once he'd entered the fray himself, you would make sure he did not collect on his offer.

"Hey, he was the one who didn't question how I knew how to make such an offer. If he didn't figure out that it was because you'd managed to re-establish contact with me despite his little trick…well, I'm rather glad he DIDN'T…" Danny said, kneeling down besides the broken pieces of metal. "Still, though. What a waste."

There was nothing you could have done, Daniel. Like Masters and the Fissures, it was out of your control. As for Nudd, he was doomed the moment he was born. Your task was to avenge those he dared to harm for his own amusement. Maybe it will teach a lesson to any other creature who believes he can pass through the Fissures, in person or in sight, and try and toy with what lies beyond.

"…Yeah." Danny said, the blue energy flowing from his hand and to the broken blade. The power quickly lifted and brought the pieces back together, re-forging the weapon like it had never been shattered in the first place, Danny replacing the weapon in his sheath and setting off again. "What about Ghost Rider?"

Count Nudd saw what the Penance Stare could potentially do. He cast Zarathos and his host back across the dimensions before he could. He may not have had a pleasant landing, but he will have survived it. I gleaned that much from him.

"Well, good and all…" Danny said, as he located the other item of interest. Despite the abuse it had taken, Ghost Rider's bike seemed as unharmed as the Magnus blade. Danny wished he could say the same about himself, but he lived with it. He was a fast healer.

"But what do we do about this?

Hmmmmm…try touching the gas cap.

"The gas cap?" Danny said, hunting around the bike, locating it after half a minute of searching. "What, is that like the equivalent of Onstar for this…"

The moment Danny's fingers brushed the gas cap, the wrecked side of the mountain dropped away. Danny felt his mind pass out of his world and across the many that were, before finally returning to one he'd visited, ever so briefly.

"Ah…Phantasm. So you did emerge victorious. I had faith in your chances."

"Rider?" Danny said. With the connection established, Danny was once again aware of being on the mountainside, with the Rider's visage burning in his mind. "You all right?"

"I will be fine…for the most part." Ghost Rider said. "The fae magicks are immensely vexing, but I am rather glad I have encountered them in this context. It will aid me should I ever have to confront them again, in more serious battles. They will find any misdirection like the kind they visited on me to get us to fight will not work a second time."

"Glad to hear it." Danny said. "Uh…you kind of…"

"Yes…my motorcycle. Normally this would not be a problem. I could simply summon it, or create a new one if necessary."

"Normally?"

"As said. These fae magicks are vexing. I know that I could do such things…but after our conflict, and the one with the fae, not to mention the trek across realms…I do not know how soon I can. It may not even be in the immediate future. Tell me, Phantasm…did the faelord not say he had closed up the portal we entered your world in?"

"Yeah. I can't open it back up either. Not part of my repertoire."

"Yet you informed me that Haark'brech entered the ghost realm you spoke of through another gap."

"Yeah…that one is possibly still open." Danny said. He didn't mention that he could just head back to his team's base and use the Ghost Portal there: while that would put him into the Zone, he had no idea exactly where the Fissure in it was, and with it having being partially closed before Ghost Rider had driven through it, any signal it would have given off to him would have been weak and hard to track; who knew how long it would take before he found it?

"Well, while I have done you a disservice, Phantasm, I wonder if I could inquire of you one last consideration."

Danny blinked, and then his eyes drifted to the bike.

I feel here, near the end, I have to reiterate.

Some of you might ask, what was so bad about this? Yes, Danny got beat up, but he gets beat up twice a week at average. And he won, right?

That's the curse of hindsight, really. It takes the worst things and somehow makes them seem appealing.

Think about living it, if you could. Think about finding the dead town. Of chasing Heartbreak, and not knowing why it'd become murderous. Of being attacked by this strange force, this Ghost Rider, wanting to destroy you for seemingly inexplicable reasons. Of all this happening because you'd been chosen by a childish mind with nearly unlimited power and cruelty to play with, the play equivalent of frying ants with a magnifying glass or pulling limbs off of flies.

Think about living through all that, never knowing when it would end. Or just how bad it could have ended.

It still seem so cool?

For us, your strange and unusual is our normal. And our strange and unusual…

Looking back, if Danny had to go through with it again…I'm pretty sure he wouldn't.

Pretty sure.

End file.

CLICK!

"Ah, Danny! Danny, is that you?" Tucker said, his voice crackling on the communicator.

"Yeah, it's me Tuck."

"Danny, what the heck happened? You just dropped out of contact! We've been trying to raise you nearly half the day!"

"Yeah, ran into some trouble, I think there was a time jump somewhere, what with Fissures and stuff…I'll give you a full account in a little while. Don't worry though. I'm all right. More or less."

"Danny, what the heck are…"

"Tucker, I need you to do something. I need you to pull up where Heartbreak struck, pin it down on a map proper. I'll contact you in a bit with some more info. I need to chart a route there."

"Route? Danny, what are you doing?"

"Oh…" Danny said, reaching up with one hand. "Just getting my kicks."

Tucker's voice cut off as Danny turned off the communicator, and Danny returned his hand to the handlebars.

"Route number optional." Danny said, and cranked the throttle. Green energy surged down the bike, turning the wheels emerald-white, and Danny tore down the wide open road, his battered coat trailing off behind him.

It was one heck of a night for a ride. And if Danny could say so, a real hunter's moon.

"Yippie yi oohhhh…yippie yi yayyyyy…

Ghost Riders In…The Sky."

See you next year?

Well…anything's possible.