Hey guys, here's chapter 2 of Helluva Spirit of Vengeance. I'm amazed at the positive reception it got for its concept, Moxxie being a Ghost Rider and all. Anyway, here's chapter 2.
Moxxie was walking around in pitch-black darkness. He could feel the ground beneath him, but that's all he could feel.
"Millie? Loona? Sir?" Moxxie called out to his wife and co-workers, only to receive no response. As far as he could tell, he was the only one out here.
That's when a tower of flames burst in front of him. Two trails of flames circled around him, meeting and connecting behind him and creating a ring of fire. With the glow of the fires lighting the darkness, Moxxie could see what was around him. Around him were several bodies. Bodies of dead demons, angels, and humans.
"What the…?" Moxxie looked on with some shock.
He then heard a raspy roar. The imp looked towards the tower of fire where he saw a figure stepping out of it. It was a skeleton and an angry one at that. The skeleton pointed at him, making him gasp lightly. A split later, the skeleton appeared in front of him, grabbing him by the shirt.
"We ride… for VENGEANCE!" the skeleton yelled, and then roared, making Moxxie scream.
Moxxie eyes shot open as he jolted awake. He sat up, panting a little as he placed a hand on his chest. That… that was a weird dream. Or was it a nightmare? Either way, it felt real.
"Yo, Moxxie," the gun specialist looked up at Loona, her phone in hand, "We just got a client. Some teenage girl wants revenge on the lowly dealer that killed her. You think you can handle it on your own?" the hellhound asked, her eyes glued to her phone.
Moxxie pondered it over. Blitz had called in sick, and Millie was off in one of the other rings, visiting family. This left Moxxie and Loona as the only ones at work today. He could use a little breather and a little fun right about now anyway.
"Sure. I guess it'll give me something to do," Moxxie replied with a shrug. He glanced over his shoulder out the window and saw it was nighttime, "The client is calling in this hit kind of late, isn't she?"
"She just died not too long ago," Loona replied.
"What time is it anyway?" Moxxie asked the hellhound.
"Around two in the morning," Loona said. The hellhound pulled out the book and opened the portal to Earth, "You know how this works, right? Just call me when the job's done and I'll reopen the portal."
Moxxie gave a tired sigh before stepping through the portal.
"Alright, Mox, your first solo assassination mission. You can do this…" Moxxie told himself, prepping for what's to come.
Moxxie stood in the backyard of a one-story house as he looked at the photo of the target. It was a little, bald guy with goatee and glasses. Emphases on little. Apparently, the client wanted to buy some drugs but didn't have the money to pay for it this time around. The target offered to let the client to pay for it with sex, but when the client refused, the target shot her dead. That was an understandable motive for revenge.
Moxxie inhaled deeply then released a quick exhale. The small imp hopped through the doggie door, stepping into the kitchen on the other side. From there, he could see a light emanating from the living room. Moxxie snuck into the living room, the light coming from the TV which was still on. The living room was decorated with a three-seat couch and recliner.
As fate would have it, his target was sitting in the recliner, fast asleep. Which was evident by his light snoring. From what Moxxie could tell, the target was taller than himself but shorter than Blitz's.
"Well, that certainly makes things easier. This has got to be the easiest target yet," Moxxie whispered.
Moxxie rolled up his sleeves, revealing a bracer on each arm. These bracers weren't a fashion statement either. These things had blades, hidden and attached to the bottom. He had gotten the weapons from an old friend of his who hooked him up for a fair price. Normally he'd use his guns to finish the job, but he'd rather not wake up the whole neighborhood with gunshots. Plus, odds were that he probably wouldn't be able to use these things that often.
Moxxie hopped on to the seat of the recliner, standing over the client. With simultaneous flicks of his wrists, he unsheathed the hidden blades. The small assassin reeled his arms back then quickly lunged them forward, impaling the target in the opposing sides of his neck, severing the jugulars. Moxxie pulled his arms back, removing the blades from the target's neck. Large amounts of blood spilled out of the target. In a matter of seconds, the target was dead.
"Yep," Moxxie flicked his wrists again, retracting his blades, "Easiest target yet."
Quickly and quietly, Moxxie hopped out of the recliner, exiting through the doggie door just as he came. He pulled out his phone and was about to call Loona to open the portal, when something in the driveway caught his attention. Moxxie hopped the fence to get a better look. It was a Harley Davidson low rider motorcycle. The bike was black with chrome accents and was modified to be a smaller size due to its owner's height… or rather former owner now.
"Huh. This is a really nice bike," Moxxie said, admiring the vehicle.
"It is. And it's perfect for you…" a new voice said, one that Moxxie recognized. The imp turned his head, and out of the shadows came a middle-aged man. Moxxie saw the cane he was wielding and put two and two together.
"Mephistopheles? Is that you?" Moxxie asked the human-disguised demon.
"Yes," Mephistopheles said, approaching the imp, "Moxxie you recall the deal we made when we first met, right?" he asked.
"Yeah?" Moxxie raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I have a little problem and it's time I cashed it in…" Mephistopheles said vaguely.
"What kind of problem?" Moxxie looked at him curiously.
Mephistopheles looked at him out of the corner of his eye. The demon then spoke.
"My four children, each with a different element of nature, conspire against me, to dethrone me," he said.
"Dethrone? Wait, you're royalty?" Moxxie looked at him with surprise, "So, you're like Stolas?"
Mephistopheles chuckled at the comparison. "That thirsty owl freak is like a newborn hatchling compared to me and the power I possess!" he growled in a condescending tone, making Moxxie flinch a bit. "My children must be taken care of. One possesses the power of earth, the other possess water, the third possesses wind, and the final, most powerful of my kids, possesses the power of darkness and decay."
"Whoa…" Moxxie said at a loss for words.
"You job is to find them… and destroy them," Mephistopheles told Moxxie while walking around to the other side of the bike.
"Why can't you do it yourself?" Moxxie raised an eyebrow.
"I'd rather not get my hands dirty," Mephistopheles said nonchalantly, "Besides, you're under contract. Think of yourself as my bounty hunter and me as your second boss of sorts."
"Uhh… ok?" Moxxie replied, unsure of how exactly to respond to that.
"If you need a ride then you've got one right in front of you," Mephistopheles gestured to the bike between them.
"Wouldn't that be stealing?" Moxxie asked.
"There person that it used to belong to is dead. He won't be needing it where he's going," Mephistopheles replied.
"Good point," Moxxie said while scratching his chin, "But what about the license plate?"
Mephistopheles tapped his cane on the ground, changing the words on the license plate from whatever they said originally to Mox-Rocks.
"Now it's yours. Like I said, it's perfect for you," Mephistopheles said. Moxxie looked at the demon who nodded.
Moxxie threw a leg over the bike, sitting on the two wheeled vehicle. The seat was surprisingly comfy. He gripped the handle bars. For some reason, this just felt right.
"Have an experience riding one of these?" Mephistopheles asked.
"Sort of. When I was a teenager and wasn't practicing music, I'd dabble a little in motorcycles. Haven't rode one since then, so I might be a little rusty," Moxxie told him.
"Well then…" Mephistopheles tapped his cane on the ground, causing the bike to start on its own, "Now's as good a time as any to get some practice in," he said, Moxxie finding himself unable to remove his hands from the handlebars, "Oh, and if you happen to run into drug-trafficking gang leader that's connect to the guy you just killed, take him out too."
Mephistopheles tapped his cane on the ground again. The bike revved, smoke coming out of the wheels as they spun in place. As if it had a mind of its own, the bike then rode of in high speed, taking its rider with it.
[Flashback]
Four young adults, two boys and two girls, each with a different hair color, strolled through a park at night on Earth. They all wore trench coats, albeit with their respective colors. They all had pale skin.
The first was female with short, shoulder length brunette hair. This was Terra, Mephistopheles' child of Earth.
The second was female with long, aqua-colored hair tied into a bun. This was Marina, Mephistopheles' child of Water.
The third was male with long, dark silver, windblown hair tied into a ponytail. This was Zephyr, Mephistopheles' child of Wind.
The fourth and final was male with short, black, slick-backed hair. This was Shroud, Mephistopheles' child of Darkness and Decay.
Speaking of their father…
"Mephistopheles. We knew you'd come here eventually," Shroud said.
"I know what you kids are after and good luck finding it," Mephistopheles said with a smug smirk.
"Don't be so cocky, old man. Once we find it, you'll be history and the throne will be ours," Shroud replied, "Unless you have it in you to destroy your own kids."
"Trust me, you four will pay dearly for this…" Mephistopheles growled, "You will soon suffer by the hands of my Rider."
"The Ghost Rider? Your favorite creation?" Shroud asked, Mephistopheles grinning with his sharp teeth showing, "Very well, send your Rider. We'll bury him just as we'll bury you… father."
[End of Flashback]
"Find them Moxxie. Find them… and destroy them," Mephistopheles muttered with a distorted growl, his pupils glowing with flame.
There's chapter 2. I was going to have Moxxie's Ghost Rider transformation be in this one, but I think it'd be better if it were saved for the next chapter. Yeah, I was inspired by the 2007 movie… a movie that I actually enjoy, I don't care what anyone says about it. That aside though, I'm going to try not to make this story entirely like the movie. A few elements of it here and there, but it won't be entirely like the movie.
With the Moxxie assassination scene, I think some of us know the what weapon was referenced and what it was a reference to. Probably not going to use it again anytime soon though.
The idea for this chapter came from Mezentsevmichael. If the rest of you have ideas for future chapters, feel free to say it in a review or PM me.
Remember to Read, Review and Favorite/Follow.