Lilith's Subconcious

Lilith woke up in what could aptly be described as a void. A floor and sky as black as pitch, with ashy gray horizons, filtered with a white hue that reminded her of fog. All stretching on for what may as well have been infinity.

As she took in her surroundings, any color on her already pale face was completely drained to nothing, "No…" She softly said to herself, panic practically written on her face, "not here…"

The sound of a massive impact that shook the void behind her made her practically jump out of her skin. She slowly turned around, every porous of her skin raising with goosebumps as she saw the form of a building-sized, four-legged bird, with wings as dark as the surrounding void, silver highlights dotting it, and a beak on its elongated face that was sharp enough to pierce metal.

Lilith immediately turned tail and ran as fast as her legs could take her, her boots creating white splashes with each stride, as though the shadowy floor was covered in puddles invisible to the naked eye. Behind her, the Raven Beast bellowed a call that echoed across the infinity of the void, flared its wings and began to gallop towards the witch, who was several paces ahead of it, already.

Despite its bigger size and far larger strides, the Raven Beast never caught up with the witch, as though the ground between them was continuously moving like a treadmill. This didn't stop Lilith from running, for she knew if she faltered for even a single second…

BOOM

A sound that can only be described as thunder echoed across the void, shaking it to the point where both Lilith and the Raven Beast nearly tripped over themselves. Both entities stopped their running to observe what had happened, confusion painted on their faces.

BOOM BOOM BOOM

More sounds of thunder and quakes. The blank space shaking once more. The Raven Beast seemed to screech in panic as it tried to keep its footing, while Lilith fell flat on her keester, making a small splash from the ethereal water that covered the black floor. She wondered where these things were coming from. Outside of her mind? Or was it her own mind trying to fight back the curse?

Neither question would get an answer as the thunder and quakes continued every now and then, the Raven Beast screeching in what sounded like pure desperation, leaving Lilith confused.

The Streets

Spawn leapt backwards, dodging a couple of swipes from the Raven Beast before hopping towards a wall and leaping off of it, delivering a haymaker to the bird beast's face, dazing it and giving it one heck of a headache.

The corvid shook its head and growled as its feathers flared up at the vigilante, who kept a calm demeanor as the Raven Beast charged forward with a growl, with the Hellspawn dodging the predictable attack with the speed and grace of a dancer.

What was not predictable, however, was the sudden sideswipe that the bird monster did. It turned its body and hit the vigilante with its forelimbs, causing him to slam into the side of a building.

Dazed for the briefest of moments, he shook his head to see the massive form of the Raven Beast charging at him. He removed himself from the wall with a roll, barely dodging the attack. The corvid ended up hitting the wall, instead, forcing much of the already broken structure to crumble even more.

With no hesitation, the Raven Beast got its head out of the stone and twirled to the Hellspawn who only just stood up fully. It leapt with its forelimbs and pinned the vigilante down with all its might, raising its roaring maw to bite his head off.

For an animal the size of a road truck, it sure was fast.

The Raven Beast lowered its mouth to the Hellspawn's pinned body, but Al broke his arms free from its grip and stopped it from turning him into its midnight snack. It held up both maxilla and mandible with its two arms, grunting at the effort to keep it at bay. He let go of one jawbone and tossed a fist towards the monster's face, dazing it long enough for it to loosen its grip on him, letting him flip and leap back on his feet.

By the time the beast regained its composure, Spawn leapt upwards and tackled it, wrapping his mighty arms around its neck, intent on choking the beast to submission. He didn't get far as the corvid began to violently thrash around in the hopes that it would get the vigilante off of it. It even resorted to slamming its body against buildings, shattering walls.

This seemed to work, as Al found himself knocked out of his grip on the animal's neck, his body flung to a wall and crashing through it, loose splinters and rubble falling on top of his head like trickling water from rain.

He got up with a slight grunt and noticed the Raven Beast flaring out its wings before taking off towards the night sky at incredible speeds. The Hellspawn then shifted his cape to wings and did the same, catching up with it in mere moments as he matched its speed in the air.

He felt the wind rush past his body as he made chase to the beast, every swerve and shift in the air not once slowing either's speed as they zoomed past buildings below them.

He was in for a long night.

The Alleys

Orlok drained the blood of a Scout with intensity, savoring every drop of the copper-tasting fluid. In the shadows, several other converted Coven members watched him, mouth drooling as they shook with hunger.

"GRAAAAAGH!"

Orlok's ears perched at the sound of a distant roar. He knew that roar. He raised his head from his meal's neck and looked upwards, seeing the shape of the Raven Beast flying overhead, with Spawn trailing not too far behind it.

"What was that!?" one of the newly-created vampires queried.

Orlok didn't answer and just turned to them, dropping the body he feasted on, "finish him."

As soon as he finished his command, the vampire lackeys pushed and shoved at each other trying to get to it for their own fill. He then looked up towards the sky and leapt upwards towards the roof of one of the buildings. He looked off to the distant horizon, the figures of Spawn and the Raven Beast barely illuminated in the moonlight.

He narrowed his eyes, his ears tuning out the sounds of his newly-turned vampire brethren, instead, focusing on the sounds of small wings flapping and a faint hiss that was next to him.

Orlok furrowed a brow, "I know you're watching me, Draven," he growled, not even bothering to turn his head to the amphiptere perched on the chimney, "don't bother interfering."

Orlok shifted into his bat form and flew off towards the direction Spawn and the Raven Beast flew, sending a screech that echoed across the night. The amphiptere watched as Orlok flew away, nearly jumping from the sounds of the other vampires landing on the rooftop and leaping across the buildings, some shifting into a bat and taking flight sooner than others.

The serpent tilted its head before taking off and following them into the night.

If it had stayed for a few seconds longer, it would have noticed a white raven flying towards it, a bottle of orange elixir in its talons.

The Streets

Steve sat up against a wall and gazed at his bird-like mask in his hands as he walked on the cobblestone street alone pondering all the decisions made in his life that led to this moment.

As a child, he had always wanted to be a part of the Emperor's Coven. He remembers many sleepless nights ensuring he was proficient in all fields of magic by endlessly training and studying. He could recall his excitement when all those years finally paid off and he was picked up by the Emperor's Coven almost as soon as he graduated from Glandus High.

Oh, how he felt like a giddy little toddler back then. He couldn't help but smile at those memories.

His smile dissipated when he remembered the intense training that one went through to become a member. The duels, the booby trapped mazes, and especially that time they were left alone on that mountain…

He winced at the thoughts. So many recruits didn't make it out… But he did. Even years later, he still was never sure if he counted himself lucky to have passed those grueling trials or whether he would have had a better fate with those left behind…

He stopped walking, gazing firmly on the avian-like mask in his hands as he kept reminiscing about his time in the coven. For years, he served well and did his duty, giving up his own palisman, wading through the muck of backstabbing cohorts, terrible hours, and zero vacation time to fulfill his dream to the fullest and to show his utter devotion to the cause.

And then his best friend was branded a traitor and tossed aside like garbage.

What was once a strong foundation of loyalty became a cracked footing. The seeds of doubt were planted as he began to look at the wider picture. He realized all those years of devoted servitude was nothing more than glorified slave labor. His happiness in the coven was a farce, nothing more than a mask - no different than the one he wears on duty - to cover up his inner disgust that was buried under years of chauvinism.

As he wallowed in his frustration, he was interrupted by the sounds of pinging inside his pocket. It was so sudden, it made him jump in his seat as the pings continued. He fumbled in his pockets to find a small oracular orb glowing with each ping.

He activated the ping and from the tiny orb, it showed someone who looked like a guard or scout, but had metal shoulder pads and mask, with triangular tassels that held his cloak

"This is Captain Harker speaking. Any and all forces near Police Precinct 128, report to the district HQ immediately and await further orders. Harker out."

The orb turned off with another ping. Steve just sighed. Orders, orders, orders, that's all he gets nowadays. Ones that he follows to the letter no matter what. For it was his duty.

It's just my duty. I'm just following orders."

The words of the Hellspawn echoed in his mind, taunting him. He hissed through his teeth, clenching the mask in his hands so tightly, beneath his gloves, his knuckles turned pale. He hated him for being right. He hated feeling powerless against him as he unwrapped his thoughts like a candy bar as if he could read his own mind.

He tossed the oracular orb out of frustration, watching it hit the wall of an adjacent building and shatter into pieces. He sighed in frustration and buried his face in his knees, not knowing what to do anymore.

In the middle of his angst, the sounds of rushing winds and growls flew past him, interrupting his inner thoughts as he looked upwards to see its shape flying above him, the wind whooshing past it, followed by another shape flying behind it.

"Lilith!?" He cried out, worry in his eyes as he stared at the shrinking forms. Not long after, the sounds of a distant crash was heard.

As he pondered what that could have been, the eerie noise of screeching and multiple wings flapping interrupted the conclusions and he looked up to see at least half a dozen bat-like shapes flying overhead towards the crash site.

He knew that only one creature could turn into bats of that size…

Placing his hands on his head, panic overtook him. Lilith's beast form, the crash, and now, the fact that there was more than one vampire! He paced back and forth and began to lose his breath at the thought of this.

"Oh no… Oh no." He cried, feeling helpless as a million scenarios ran through his head. What was he gonna do? What could he do? What would happen to Lilith? These questions formed a cacophony of noise within his skull as sweat rained down his forehead in panic.

"CAAAW!"

The sounds of a raven call made him jump, he took on a fighting stance at the source of the noise, only to see a white raven, hovering in place and holding a glowing bottle of orange elixir.

Steve lowered his fists, "Frederick?" He inquired, "what are you doing here?"

The raven looked downwards towards the bottle it was holding in its talons - an item that Steve somehow missed - answering his question.

"Oh…"

Steve reached out his hand and let the raven drop the bottle to his hand. He stared at it for a long time as Frederick perched himself on his shoulder.

He then gazed at the crash site, then back to the elixir, back to the crash site, back to the elixir, over and over again to the point where he gave himself a dizzying headache.

Frederick then pecked his ear, "OW!" Steve yelled, "what did you do that for!?"

The palisman used its beak to point to the bottle, then pointed it to the crash site. Steve just furrowed a brow, "What do you think I've been thinking about these past few seconds!? He asked, irately, "of course I know what to do with this thing, it's just…"

He sighed before continuing, "do you know what followed Lilith? Vampires! You know? Virulent bloodsuckers? Burn in the daylight? One man armies? Vampires!"

Frederick stared at him with an unamused glare that practically mocked the demon. Steve sighed again before looking at the bottle in his hand, "I'm arguing with a wooden bird," he muttered, gazing into his reflection that the bottle shone. He took a deep breath, "I am going to regret this aren't I?"

He gazed at the bird, who blankly gazed back.

Taking another deep breath and putting on his mask, he ran towards the crash site as fast as his legs could take him. With Frederick taking off in an unknown direction, Steve was intent on making sure his best friend was safe. Even if it killed him.

Al had to admit that this animal was really starting to piss him off.

He was busy chasing it like how one would chase their stubborn dog that had something in its mouth they wanted to get. At first, it was slightly entertaining, but now it was just annoying. He chased the damn thing across the whole island at this point and was no closer to catching up, aside from a few sharp turns that resulted in one or the other crashing into a wall before recovering quickly.

As they zoomed past more and more buildings, Al decided that he had enough of this shit.

By his own will, his body glowed with the green necroplasm that flowed through him and then, he teleported in front of the still-flying Raven Beast in a green flash.

It was at that moment he realized he didn't think of the plan beyond that.

The Raven Beast crashed into him with a shocked snarl, the feeling of the impact comparable to that of a train. Despite the hit, the Hellspawn wrapped his mighty arms around the neck of the Beast, intent on choking it to submission. Both figures now spun around in the air for the briefest of seconds and before they knew it, they made landfall.

The force of the impact dazed the both of them, Spawn a bit less so thanks to his healing factor giving him a quick recovery. He opened his green eyes to find himself staring at the weakened beast he was chasing, the only signs of life being its slow and steady breathing, its groans weak and barely audible. It was almost pitiable in such a state.

With some effort, he pulled himself up back on his feet, "stupid animal," he muttered to himself, "could've avoided all this…"

Now that it wasn't constantly shrieking and flailing around, he took his time to gaze upon the beast. It was an admirable creature. One that had a fire that would not die, even against opponents that hopelessly outclassed it. He respected that.

But as he gazed upon it, he felt something… It felt like a soul.

But not just an animal's soul, but the soul of a sapient being. It was faint, but Al could recognize even the blurriest of indicators.

"Something tells me there's more to you than I realized," he muttered as he placed a hand on its head, the beast not even bothering to react as it was too weak to even move, "let's see what your secrets are…"

He closed his eyes as his hand briefly glowed green, before letting everything go to auto-pilot.

Lilith's Subconscious

Lilith sat down and watched as the Raven Beast seemed to stop screeching and flailing around, seemingly content with lying on the floor motionless. It was strange to see such an aggressive beast the size of a building become no more threatening than a trained puppy.

She stood up slowly, approaching the building-sized beast with caution, a hand held out and slightly shaking, her shoes making slight splashes with every step.

Just as she was about to touch it, a flash of blinding green light - the only form of real color she's seen in the monochromatic void - appeared in front of her. The giant Raven Beast shrieked before taking multiple steps back from the sudden light, appearing more like a cornered animal in the process.

The green light dissipated, revealing the form of Spawn, covered in his blood-red cloak that clashed with the dark void around him, making him stick out like a lone candle in a dark room. The bottom of his cape sagged in the watery floor below him as he looked around in a curious gaze.

Lilith gasped and backed up in fear, tripping on her own shoe and causing a small splash. This got the attention of the Hellspawn, who raised a brow at her, "the Hell?" he muttered as Lilith kept backing up.

Ever the historian she was, Lilith knew practically every legend in the Boiling Isle, even the most obscure of all myths. And the Hellspawn… was one she knew all too well. She had heard rumors of the vigilante killer's physical description: A form as dark as pitch, with a blood-red cloak and green eyes full of malice. It was a dead ringer for all the stories of the Hellspawn, passed down from generation to generation in the Clawthorne lineage.

And now, here he was. Right in front of her.

She crawled back, not caring about her dress becoming soaked with every movement as the Hellspawn watched her with a curious gaze.

"Ma'am," he said calmly, "are you alright?"

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" the witch responded, her voice dripping with fear.

Spawn held out his hands, "I'm not here to hurt you," he said, taking a few steps forward, "I just want to know-"

"AAAH!"

He was interrupted by a sudden pain before disappearing in a green flash, leaving a very confused Lilith and Raven Beast behind.

Police Precinct 128

Spawn grunted as pain filled his back, being forcibly severed from the mental world of Lilith's mind, looking downwards to see what looked like an arrowhead sticking out of his chest. An awfully big arrowhead…

Before he knew it, another piercing pain hit him, this time in the shoulder. He fell down to one knee, hissing in pain before the other shoulder was pierced, followed by his arms and legs, pinning him to the ground.

As he tried to ignore the pain, he saw what looked like a net made of light cascade over both him and the Raven Beast. It landed on both entities, trapping them both in the crater they made.

"We got him! We got him!" he heard from an enthusiastic voice.

What little he could see from his pinned position, he saw a multitude of Coven scouts and guards surrounding the crater, all armed with crossbows or magic glyphs that hummed with energy. A few were armed with harpoon guns, no doubt the ones responsible for his current predicament.

As the police slowly closed in on both of them, one figure he noticed looked a bit different from the rest of the guards and scouts present. His silver shoulder pads, mask, and helm seemed to indicate that he was of higher rank than anyone here, to the point where he is allowed to customize his own armor. His folded hands were behind his back and his posture was as straight as an arrow.

"We got him, Captain Harker!" Spawn heard the voice of a guard holding a harpoon gun say, who received a nod from the aforementioned figure, "didn't think the strategy would work, but it seems he took the bait!"

The one known as Harker nodded, before going up the Hellspawn and chuckling, "you must be the Hellspawn…" his tone haughty and prideful, "and here I thought you were going to be a bigger challenge."

"You caught me off-guard, asshole…" Al snarked as he tried to shuffle his way out of the net and harpoons that pinned him down, "why don't you get rid of all this shit holding me down and I'll show you what I'm made of?"

The captain guffawed in response, "you're funny," he said, turning to the rest of the crowd, "this guy's funny."

A few dry chuckles were heard, but nothing beyond that. The captain then looked back at the Hellspawn, "you've been causing a lot of trouble for us these past few weeks or so! Let alone this whole night!" Harker then listed off with his fingers, "Over a dozen cops dead, a hundred butchered criminals, at least three burned down buildings, missing items, and more!"

"Sounds like I'm doing a good job," Al remarked as he pulled out an arm from a harpoon, necroplasm leaking from the now exposed wound. He went to pull out the other harpoons from his body, but was interrupted by another harpoon gouging his hand to the ground, putting him back to square one, "motherfucker…"

"You deserve far worse than that," Harker voiced, "but we'll give you and your little beastie here the mercy of a quick death. Any last words?"

The Hellspawn narrowed his green eyes and clenched his non pinned hand, "when I get out of here, you damn pigs are gonna wish you were never born."

"Whatever you say."

Harker then turned to several scouts who were wielding harpoon guns, crossbows, or even just plain magic glyphs and raised his hand, "on my mark!"

Spawn's chains slithered out from his belt buckles like creeping snakes, moving back towards his pinned legs under the cover of his cape as the sounds of arrows and harpoons were being loaded and the glow of magic filled his ears.

"READY!"

The order was getting close. The chains wrapped around the rods on his legs and pulled them out, tossing them to the ground and letting Al move a bit more freely.

"AIM!"

Time was running out. He pulled out his hand from the harpoon holding it with a grunt, using his once again free limb to pull out the harpoon holding back his arm. He wasn't in a rush to save himself, oh, no, he was in a rush to save the woman trapped in that beast. Whoever she was, she needed help and she wouldn't get it if she was dead.

"FI-"

"WAIT!"

Before Captain Harker could give out the order, a voice interrupted him. He and everyone else in the vicinity turned their heads to see a running Steve, holding a glowing orange bottle in his hand, panting furiously, "DON'T SHOOT!"

Al recognized that voice. He too saw Steve heading towards the captain and raised a brow at this, 'Small world after all,' he thought to himself.

Steve stopped his running and caught his breath, weakly saluting to the captain, "Captain Harker, Sir!" He exclaimed.

"Sergeant Steve…" Harker responded, "we were in the middle of executing a dangerous criminal."

"With all due respect, Captain, while I am not vouching for the Hellspawn…" Steve said, looking at the Hellspawn with an uneasy glare as Al glared back, "I am, however, vouching for the other one you have caught."

"It's a dumb animal caught in the crossfire, Sergeant," Harker responded, "who cares?"

Steve narrowed his brow beneath his mask, "with all due respect, Sir …" the last word he said dripping with venom, "that 'dumb animal' is my friend."

"Come again?"

Steve pointed to the Raven Beast, "that animal is none other than Lilith Clawthorne, former leader of the Emperor's Coven!"

Silence.

Then laughter.

Every single guard and scout laughed their asses off, with even the more stoic ones offering a few chuckles. Captain Harker couldn't help but join with his own guffaws.

"I'm serious!" Steve cried out, "I swear!"

Only one figure wasn't laughing: Al. He couldn't help but feel pity for that poor bastard.

All the officers stopped laughing, catching their breaths. "Oh, that was good, Sergeant," Harker said with an exhale, "really good one."

Beneath his mask, Steve furrowed his brow, "I'm not joking!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure," Harker responded with a dismissive attitude before turning back to the captured subjects, "now where was I?"

Before he could carry on with the execution, Steve then raised the elixir bottle in front of the superior officer's face, "look, just let me get the contents of this bottle to her and I'll-"

SMACK

Steve suddenly didn't hold the bottle anymore.

Said bottle was now on the ground, glass shards everywhere, surrounded by an orange liquid.

As Steve looked downwards at the shattered bottle, Harker spoke up, "I don't like it when my time is wasted, sergeant," he intoned, "and I also don't like it when inferior officers think they can impose themselves on superior officers…"

Steve was too shocked to speak as he kneeled down to pick up a few shards of glass, hoping that, if by some miracle, it would be repaired in his hands.

Harker exhaled before raising his hand once again, "let's try this again." He stated. The sounds of harpoon guns and arrows being set filled the air, "and this time, there will be no distractions."

Steve slightly flinched from those words, knowing they were directed at him, but he was far too busy focusing on the pieces of glass in front of him to truly react.

Al simply shook his head at this sight. He knew from his brief encounter with him in the alley that Steve didn't have the strength to do what needed to be done, despite his cracks of doubt. He wasn't someone like Sam and Twitch back home, who knew what they had to do to ensure they didn't get poisoned in the stench of ammonia from all the bad apples in the force. He called it a miracle that Steve wasn't completely eaten alive…

"READY!"

That word snapped him out of his thoughts, he looked at Harker, clenching a hand at both the captain and himself for not formulating a proper plan. He clenched his fist so hard, he swore that his claws pierced into his palm.

"AIM!"

Another order. Another second of realizing he couldn't save whoever was in that beast.

But as all of this was occurring, Spawn could have sworn he noticed something crawl down the rooftops and behind some cops. It inched closer at fast speeds.. It looked like one of the scouts, but their mask was off and they were pale beyond belief…

"Shit," he whispered.

Two hands then suddenly grabbed a scout's shoulders before said scout was dragged into a nearby alleyway at speeds so fast, he became a blur.

"What the fuck!?" a guard yelled, catching the attention of a few officers next to them before a blur tackled them as well and sent them into the same alley, screams cut short in the darkness, leaving many of the nearby officers shocked and confused.

"What is that commotion!?" Harker asked as he turned to see the spots where the cops once stood was now empty, "where did those two go!?"

"Uh, I don't know, Sir!" A meek scout responded, "they just-"

Another blur crashed into him. "AAAGH!" He cried out as he was taken to a different alley, the shadows covering his form as quickly as he was snatched.

Now everyone was scared.

"WHAT THE SHIT WAS THAT!?"

"IT CAME OUTTA NOWHERE!"

"WHERE DID HE GO!?"

Among the panicked screams, before receiving an ear-splitting answer.

"SCREEEEEEEE!"

The sound came from above. Everyone, including Steve, looked up to see a giant bat, pale as moonlight, perched upon a ledge of the department building like a gargoyle looking down upon everyone.

Harker was in disbelief. "What the fuck…" he muttered before he saw the bat creature leap and drop down onto the street like a sack of potatoes, shifting into a humanoid shape…

And landing right on top of him with a loud thud that kicked up dust and cracked the cement below.

The figure's landing was so fast and so sudden that everyone was frozen in shock and tried to process what had just happened. Rising from the small crater that was once a proud member of the Emperor's Coven was an exceptionally pale, thin figure, with lanky arms crossed across its chest, wearing a long coat as black as night, with dried blood that trailed down its gaunt chin.

Steve widened his eyes, his breath suddenly cut short as he recognized the figure in front of him. The vampire opened its eyes, revealing a glare that contained utter contempt for everyone. When his eyes locked with Steve's own, his nose slightly crinkled as he tilted his head in slight confusion.

"I thought I killed you…" Orlok commented, "I must be getting sloppy."