Chapter 65: Ghost Rider vs. Simon

"Harvey-no, Ghost."

The Ghost Rider stopped in his walk and turned to Alex, a severe expression on her face. It seemed she was using the nickname she and everyone else agreed on calling him while he was in his transformed state.

"Whatever this thing is, whether it's an out-of-control enhanced or some science project that escaped. But from what I have observed, it has an extremely tough layer of skin. Gunfire couldn't seem to penetrate it. From what I've seen, its strength is also around the level of the Hulk; it can walk through walls as if they were made of cardboard and throw concrete pillars easily. Its skin also seems to pulse with energy sporadically. So... be careful; I don't think it has shown everything it can do."

"I see, don't worry. I'll finish this quickly." Ghost Rider nodded and turned back to the red-growling Beast. It seemed he was about to charge. "Take Haley and everyone else in that direction. It's where I came from. I opened a safe path to the outside."

Watching Alex look in the direction he was pointing to, The Ghost Rider saw his girlfriend nod and jog toward Haley and the rest of the crowd. The red man-like Beast turned to her and roared. It was about to move in Alex's direction, but not before the spirit of vengeance moved.

"I'm your opponent now."

Swinging his dual blades to the right, Ghost Rider struck what he was now dubbing Red Beast into the right wall, away from Alex and completely crashing through the thick cement walls with an audible explosion of dusk and concrete. Not wasting a second, the Ghost Rider retracted his blades, dashed after Red Beast, and slashed vertically up on the creature's muscled torso. Only to see his blades scratching uselessly against the Beast's red skin and only causing sparks to fly.

This action seemed to annoy the Red Beast because, in the next second, it swiped at Ghost Rider's head with a powerful, wild punch. Seeing the telegraphed punched from a while away, Ghost Rider quickly jumped high and backflipped over the punch; while he was in mid-air, the spirit of vengeance swung his right leg and landed a devastating kick to the Red Beast's jaw.

"RAGH!" Red Beast roared in anger as it was flung across the ground. Slamming its hand into the ground to slow down, it quickly righted itself up and dashed angrily towards the flaming leather-bound man.

"Hm." Ghost Rider tilted his head slightly and started running as well. The Red Beast reached Ghost Rider and lifted both arms to slam them down onto his opponent. Seeing this, Ghost Rider dismissed his jagged blades and raised his hands to catch his opponent's incoming arms.

BAM

"Geh!" Ghost Rider grunted in exertion as the shockwave rocked his body and cracked the ground beneath him ten feet out. "So strong... could this thing be stronger than the Abomination?"

The two stood firm in their battle of strength, fighting to see who would give out first. Red Beast pushed down while the Ghost Rider pushed up; both combatants shook in exertion as they continued to push against one another. That was until one of them threw a powerful kick into the other's midsection, sending them flying back and out of the north wall.

"That fucker..." Ghost Rider growled as he got up and looked at the hole he just crashed through. "Cheap shot."

At the sounds of heavy footsteps quickly approaching him, Ghost Rider summoned a long bo staff and swung it hard upwards. Catching the Red Beast's chin and sending it flying high in the air. Dismissing the bo staff, Ghost Rider swung his newly summoned chains, wrapped them around the Beast's body, and yanked him down into the ground. A loud crash could be heard throughout the city as the Beast's head sunk into the cracked ground.

Raising his arm, a long, sharp spear materialized into Ghost Rider's hand. With a heavy wind up, Ghost Rider threw the spear at the Red Beast's stomach. Only to shatter into ashes as it made impact.

"Bladed weapons are useless." Swinging a newly constructed chain around his torso. Ghost Rider shifted into a fighting stance as he saw the Red Beast stand up and shake its head. "Looks like we'll have to do this the fun way."

•••

"Hah hah... Oh no."

Eric panted and looked at the state of the shopping center. Smoke and rubble could be seen throughout the whole area. Sporadic fires were burning away as the fire department tried to put them out. Several ambulances were parked a safe distance away as paramedics and police officers helped get the injured to safety and for medical help.

Five SWAT trucks were parked in between the ambulances and the police blockade as a small tent stood over a group of heavily armed SWAT members and several police officers; in the center stood a blonde woman in a suit. Eric turned his head to look at the police blockade and saw several police officers keeping at bay a slowly building crowd filled with curious onlookers and worried individuals.

"Simon... what have you done?"

At the sound of several helicopters flying over them all, Eric looked up and saw a large white eagle logo plastered on the sides of the helicopters. Eric backed up and hid under the roof of the parking garage he was standing in. He looked back at the building. Occasional crashes and explosions echoed out of the building, causing Eric's worry to increase.

"They're already fighting. How do I get in there?" Eric spoke out loud, looked around, and thought of ways to get inside without being stopped or detained by the police. "I have to hurry... If I'm right, we only have thirty minutes before all the energy within Simon builds too large to be contained."

•••

WHAM

The Ghost Rider's punch caused the Red Beast's head to snap back. Continuing with his combination of punches, Ghost Rider then struck with several jabs and crosses. Jumping high, Ghost Rider spun and delivered a crescent kick onto the Beast's neck. Flipping back several feet away, the spirit of vengeance watched as the Red Beast cracked its neck and looked back at him calmly.

"My attacks are becoming more useless as time goes on." Ghost Rider stated as he weaved around a left punch thrown by the Beast, which that cut through the air. "It's becoming faster and more coordinated as well."

Bending his knees, Ghost Rider reared his right arm and ignited it with Hellfire. With a razor-fast swing, he was able to land an uppercut onto the Beast's midsection. It roared in pain and punched down towards him. With a backflip; Ghost Rider barely dodged the attack as the Beast's arm sunk into the ground. Concrete exploded out from the contact point and caused the ground to shake.

Rushing forward, Ghost Rider grabbed the Red Beast's head and launched a knee strike into its face. "RAAAAGGGHH!"

"Sensitive there, aren't you?" Ghost Rider mocked and flipped himself onto the muscled back of the large red Beast. Summoning a dagger into his left hand, Ghost Rider swung his arm down into the Red Beast's eye. Embedding the dagger deeply into its eye.

"GRAAAAAAHH!" Roaring in agony, Red Beast grabbed Ghost Rider's skull and flung him through the air.

CRASH

Red Beast grabbed the flaming dagger and ripped it out of its now bloody eye socket. Releasing a loud growl at the fact it was now blind in one eye, the creature shook in anger; its red skin started to pulse bright white repeatedly and quickly until it roared and released a wave of explosive energy. The wave expanded out thirty meters, completely incinerating anything in that range. The Red Beast stood inside a deep crater. Smoke and ash floated through the air.

"What was that?" Ghost Rider said, shocked as he witnessed the sheer display of power. "It's growing too powerful; I need to stop it. Now!"

Just as he was about to dash forward to try and stop the volatile Beast, a man covered in sweat with a messy beard and dirty grey hoodie ran in front of him, holding his arms out. "STOP!"

"Out of my way." Ghost Rider growled lowly as he continued walking forward. This caused the scruffy man to back away with every step.

"I-I won't! You don't understand!" The man yelled as he held his ground. "The one you're fighting, he's my brother! His name is SIMON!"

Looking over at the Red Beast, Ghost Rider saw it continue to stand still. It seems like that explosion of energy must have tired it out. This was his chance. "Enough, I don't have time to mess around."

Grabbing the scruffy man's shoulder, Ghost Rider moved him aside but found that the man refused to let go of his arm. "Listen to me, you bag of bones! That's my brother! Not some monster! He is a HUMAN being!"

"Listen, my brother took a vail of failed ionic particles! He took them to help me with my plans. He isn't himself! You can't kill him, i-it could cause a premature reaction! This is all my fault!" The dirty man pleaded with tears in his eyes as he gripped his leather jacket. "PLEASE! You're a hero, right?! Help me save Simon!"

Ghost Rider's eyes widened at finally remembering where he heard the name Simon before. It was during that night Luke called him about two men who were attacking a kid they helped in an alleyway. He found them all in an old building that night just when Simon and his brother, Eric Williams, were being held at gunpoint to retrieve a vail with the same name this man just said—ionic particles.

"Eric Williams." Ghost Rider stated slowly, causing the man's eyes to widen,

"Y-You know my name?" Eric whispered with wide eyes.

At the sound of heavy footsteps, the two turned around and saw the Red Beas-no, Simon walk slowly towards them. White hair and single eye glowing brightly. Seeing that Simon had regained his lost energy, Ghost Rider walked in front of Eric and stared at his opponent.

"Is there a way to stop him without killing him?" Ghost Rider asked without turning around. Eric watched Simon walk towards them in fear and worry.

"...there isn't." Eric whispered. "We never had a chance to create an antidote or a chemical substance to rectify the ionic energy due to the fact the last person to have taken the failed ionic particles detonated... with enough energy, similar to the nuclear bomb that leveled Hiroshima."

"...What?" Ghost Rider whispered and turned to look at Eric in shock. Eric frowned and looked over to Simon with tears flowing down his face.

"Ghost Rider... You need to get Simon as far away from the city as possible. If I'm right, we only have fifteen minutes before all the energy in his body grows so much that his body won't be able to contain it." Eric said, deadly serious, a defeated look on his face. "Otherwise, millions of people will die."

•••

[ "Agent 13." ]

"Excuse me for a moment." Sharon Carter abruptly said mid-conversation to the officers and SWAT members before her. Walking far enough not to be heard, she raised her hand and pressed a button in her ear communicator.

"Ghost Rider, Go ahead." Sharon spoke.

[ "You need to evacuate the city; the enhanced I'm fighting will explode with enough energy as sixteen tonnes of TNT. Similar to that of Hiroshima." ]

Sharon felt her heart drop to her stomach as she just heard what Harvey said. Turning around to look at the officers and civilians beyond the perimeter, Sharon felt a lump grow in her throat. "...how long do we have?"

[ "I-I'm doing my best to stop Simon and take him out of the city. Whatever is powering him is just making him stronger every second. So we only have around thirteen minutes before detonation." ] Sharon heard the sounds of fighting and the occasional explosions as Harvey spoke.

"That's not a lot of time." Sharron started walking back to the tent. "Do you think you can move him in time?"

[ "I'll do everything in my power, but in case I fail... you need to get as many people away from the city." ] Harvey said with a deadly tone.

"I will." Sharon nodded. "...good luck."

Sharon ended the call with a heavy sigh with nothing more she could say to Harvey. It ate away at her that she was unable to help the young man, but if even he was having trouble taking down the enhanced, then nobody had a chance. Sharon shook her head and decided to focus on what she could do, not what she couldn't. "All right, everyone! I need your attention! What I'm about to say is real, and we need to move fast."

"What's the situation?" Sergeant Grey asked as he looked over to her. Everyone became silent and gave her their full attention. Sharon took a deep breath and spoke.

"I was just informed that the red creature inside has the capability to detonate with enough power to rival a nuclear bomb." Sharon spoke with a severe tone while looking at everyone present. Several officers grew pale and terrified at the news.

"We need to evacuate this city."