5 Dead Men Walking

Episode 3: Dead Men Walking

"So let me get this straight. We're only seeing you now because we believe in magic and Jace's trust in us? If that's how it works, how come we are just seeing you now?" Cindy, Jace & Wesley were all sitting in Jace's room trying to figure out this whole magic thing with Klaus and how Jace fit into it. So far, the more answers they got the more questions seemed to arise.

"Believe me, I'm not entirely sure how this has happened as well, but somehow you were able to see me right after you witnessed that flame character and Jason perform magical arts or attempt to anyway," Klaus replied looking over at Jace who would then roll his eyes in response.

"So what happens now?" Wesley asks, sitting near Jace's desk as he looks at the others. "You said Jace is supposed to save the world right? How can we help?"

"Yeah, we want to be a part of this and I think after surviving a pyro-maniac gets us some points right?" Cindy liked the idea of being a hero or at least helping her friend become one. Saving the world? Now there was something that never happened every day. "And instead of a pyro-maniac, I was thinking of something along the lines of Inferno."

This suggestion earned a raised eyebrow from Jace as he looked over at his friend. "Inferno? We're naming the bad guys now?"

"It does have a nice ring to it," Wesley admitted as he shrugged his shoulders.

Jace just blinked before shaking his head and turning back to the British man. "Alright then...Klaus, who was Inferno anyway? When I stopped him, or well when the amulet took over, I sensed two souls inside the body. How is that possible?"

"As I explained, there were souls of horrible people sealed long ago in an old urn that I thought had been long since forgotten along with the amulet and myself. But seeing them making an appearance, could only mean one thing. Possession." Klaus's tone got serious as he explained this. "They probably wonder before locating a suitable host before taking over and becoming the dominant soul of the body, the previous soul becoming dormant."

"Like a lost soul...Oh yeah, that's definitely sticking," Cindy would say proudly as she crossed her legs.

"So these...lost souls, how did they break from the urn in the first place? Do you know who let them out?" Wesley would ask next, sitting up in the chair as he looked over at Klaus who had his hand over his chin in a thinking manner. "Hmm, no one that I can think of but whoever this was, they were powerful enough to remove a seal placed long ago, must contain a tremendous amount of power, which means you'll end up facing them soon Jason."

"Me? I barely know anything about magic, let alone fighting powered people. That inferno guy I faced two days ago? I don't even remember doing anything to him, and in a blink of an eye, he was knocked out!" This was all happening way too fast. Jace wasn't ready nor was he cut out to do any of this superhero stuff. There may be comics and stories filled with kids his age being heroes but this was reality and there was just no way he could do it.

"You won't be alone in this." Cindy started, turning to her friend. "Things may seem a bit on the chaotic side right now."

"Way on the chaotic side," Wesley interjected.

Cindy whipped her head around and shot Wesley a glare and the redhead was quiet after that.

Returning her gaze to Jace, she sighed. "Like I was saying, it may be rough now but you don't have to go through this alone. We are here with you and will be with you every step of the way."

"She's got a point, J." Wes said this carefully, in hopes that Cindy wouldn't kill him for speaking up. "Besides, the amulet chose you. You're basically the chosen one and this is basically your origin story."

Jace sat there as he contemplated what he should do. Finally realizing there was nothing else he could do, he made up his mind. "Alright, I'll do it."

"Really?" Cindy said excitedly as she then squealed. "Oh, this is great!" She'd then gasp her brain and go into overdrive. "We have to think of a cool hero name for you." She would gasp again. "And we have to think of some type of super-suit too!"

Jace sat there shaking his head as he and Wesley chuckled at Cindy's reaction to all of this. This was the strangest way to start his journey as a hero but he was starting it nonetheless. He just hoped he was mentally prepared for what was to come.

[At Gotham City's Police Department]

Jackie sat at her desk wearing a look of confusion as she continued to look over the man that had kidnapped her nephew and his friends four days ago, Marcus Martinez. The guy had only ever been charged for petty crimes, nothing too serious, nothing that'd convince Jackie that he'd suddenly start holding children hostage. And what was with those abilities he had? There was never anything mentioned about those abilities during his previous reports on other crimes so why reveal them now? It just didn't make any sense.

"Something on your mind Detective?" Detective Jones made his way over to Jackie's desk, snapping the female out of her thoughts. The file on Marcus Martinez caught the man's eye. "Find anything new on Martinez yet?"

Jackie would shake her head slightly as she sat up in her chair, looking from the file to Jones. "No, nothing new. But I don't know David, this just seems all too suspicious. I mean, we had Marcus tested again for the meta-gene just to make sure he isn't one of those meta-humans from Central City but nothing turned up."

"So...?"

"So how did he obtain these powers? Use them but then lose them the same day we arrest him? When we found him, he was knocked out on the ground and despite my nephew being a strong teenager, there is no way he'd be able to fight off some guy like that."

"So you think someone else was there that day and saved Jace?" Jones asked, lifting a brow.

"I don't know what to think honestly," Jackie sighed as she rubbed her forehead. She had barely gotten any sleep because of this and how crazy and confusing all of it was. She was a Detective and she could tell when something was up, especially with this.

"Listen, Jackie, I understand where you're coming from but so far we got nothing. We even questioned him, he had no recollection of what had happened. The last memory he has is of that incident with those men in the alleyway where he thought he was the one that was going to die."

Jackie furrowed her brows. "You're saying he doesn't remember anything after that moment?"

Jones nodded in response. "Could be lying, but either way he has gotten into some trouble with the law and needs to serve some time in jail so it's a win in my book."

"Something tells me things are about to get a lot crazier in Gotham City." Jackie heaved a sigh before turning back to her desk.

***

That very night standing in the middle of a graveyard, the mysterious necromancer helped bring the soul that had inhabited Marcus back. Sadly Inferno was indeed a failure, to say the least. What he managed to do was ignite the fire that helps awaken the amulet and that was going to be an issue moving forward if Necro is to ever obtain the Apollyon Crystal.

"Well if you want something done right..." Necro pulled out a dagger, opening up his hand and making a cut on his palm, blood quickly spilling out. Clenching his fist, he turned his hand around, the blood now dripping to the ground. Under Necro was a ritual circle that he had created earlier, and with the ingredients he had, he was now able to cast his spell. The eyes of the masks would flash green as he would begin chanting words, raising his hands as he did so. Looking up to the sky, he would stop chanting. "Rise."

There was a moment of complete silence, not a single sound was made. Then suddenly a hand would appear from beneath the ground under Necro. Then another, and another until multiple hands would begin rising from the graves around him.

They were hideous, to say the least. Some were skeletons while others were merely a corpse with peeling skin. They smelled of the dirt from which they climbed out of and their clothes were basically ripped and ruined. They were your traditional zombies. Puppets for Necro and they were summoned only to do his bidding.

"Let's get to work."

-

"The Magician."

"What? No. He's not going around pulling rabbits out of his hat."

"Dark Magician?"

"...Just stop searching up names that go with the magician on google already." Cindy and Wesley were currently sitting in Jace's room trying to figure out different hero names for their friend. While Jace was completely against the whole idea of a name, to begin with, he thought it was silly, his friends insisted on one anyways.

It wasn't one of his biggest concerns at the moment either. He was now the trusted user of a magical amulet that went back generations, and yet somehow that part seemed believable. It's the part about how he was chosen for the job. A sixteen-year-old boy who has issues and is going to therapy to talk about his dead parents was entrusted with the job of taking care of Gotham City as a superhero? When you think about it that way, it all seems unreal and truthfully he wasn't sure if this was something that he wanted to do.

"Jace, what do you think?" The sound of his friend's voice snapped him out of his thoughts as he looked up from the ground.

Cindy furrowed her brows as she looked concerned for her friend. He was awfully more quiet than usual. "You okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I just don't understand why we have to come up with a name for me right away. I mean, is it really necessary?"

"Oh, my dear friend." Wesley went and sat on one side of Jace, throwing his arm over his friend's shoulder. "It's not every day you're entrusted to save a city y'know and if reading about all of our heroes in the world has taught me anything it's that you need a name for people to call you. Something memorable, something that'll strike fear in your enemies and sheer jealousy in your peers just by hearing the name!"

"And yet you wanted to go with Dark Magician," Cindy said sarcastically as she folded her arms.

"It's catchy!" Wesley protested. "Black and purple are the colors of the amulet thingy, and I mean if that's what we're going with, we might as well get a name that matches. Y'know, like the Green Arrow? The Red Arrow? Black Canary? Must I go on?"

"I really wish you wouldn't."

***

"This is Naomi Nixon reporting from outside the prison where infamous serial killer [Insert Name Here Later] is about to meet his fate as he gets the electric chair. About a month ago he had received the death penalty and it seems as though the law is wasting no time in dealing this man the justice he deserves after causing so much grief in the world."

The man Naomi mentioned was Nathan Carlyle, an infamous serial killer that was famous for his brutal killings and how he deemed it art. Nathan's killings were brutal and sickening to those who were unfortunate enough to witness the dead victims. But now people could rest knowing that the serial killer was now going to get what he deserved by receiving the electric chair.

After strapping the male into the chair, the officers all stood in front of him as they prepared themselves to witness the death of a horrible and terrifying man. "Any last words, Carlyle?"

Just outside the building, Necro stood across from the prison where Nathan was being kept. You could hear it, the snarls and the horrible sounds coming from the undead that appeared behind their master.

Naomi, who had just finished her piece on the prison, could also hear the zombies. Not only that, but could smell their horrible stench from where she was standing and quickly turned around to find the source before coming into eye contact with Necro and his army of undead.

Necro slowly made his way towards the reporter with a calm composure, his zombies remaining in their spots.

The necromancer looked from the woman to her cameraman, the fear and confusion on their face was very evident which made this moment even more enjoyable for him. "You're going to want to film this."

Naomi nudged her camera man who fumbled with his camera out of fear before rolling.

"Attention Gotham City, I am Necro. You may not know of me but I can assure you you will very soon."

With that said, Necro's eyes flashed a green color from within his mask. The zombies' eyes would glow the same color as if falling under the command of Necro. "Go."

The zombies charged towards the prison, Naomi screaming as she shielded herself while the zombies ran past her and started climbing the gates of the prison. The zombies were ruthless once inside. The security guards screamed in agony and pain as the zombies were basically gnawing at them or just ripping them to shreds, showing no mercy at all. Necro, in the midst of it all, walked down the halls of the prison towards the room where the Warden was being kept and protected. It was also the room where a certain serial killer had been killed as well.

As he approached the door, two guards stood armed and ready for the man. "Not a single step!" One of them yelled, his hands gripped tightly around the handle of his gun. "You're not getting past us." He grinned as he kept his eyes on the necromancer.

"I beg to differ." Necro opened the palm of his hand, a green spark shot out, before it formed into a green fireball. "Your mortal weapons are nothing compared to the power of magic." Necro threw the fireball to the ground where the two men were standing and immediately the fire would spread and start burning the men, their screams being heard from the other side of the room. The Warden wasn't sure what was going on out there but he wasn't going to leave his spot and find out. He wasn't scared, no not the warden but he didn't like how he was in the dark on what was going on and who could be causing such a ruckus.

Just then the door blasted open, the Warden ducking over and covering his head while his two guards got their guns out. But as if in an inhuman speed, out of nowhere a shadow came into the room and grabbed one of the men by the neck before holding him up. "You guys are always better when you're dead. Trust me." With that being said, Necro crushed his neck.

The other guard began shooting at him. Necro the dead body as a shield as he made his way to the other guard. He tossed the dead body to the ground before grabbing the other male by the neck as well, smoke emitting from his hands as he began burning him with his hands and then tossing that lifeless body to the ground as well. There was a bit of silence in the room before Necro would ever so slightly turn his head to the Warden who was cowering in a corner.

Necro always enjoyed seeing the fear on peoples' faces whenever he was in the room. It showed who truly had the power in the room and the answer was always going to be him. Always. He slowly made his way over to the warden. With each step he took, he could see the fear on the man's face growing and growing. Finally he knelt down in front of the man. "Don't worry Warden, I'm actually here to thank you." Necro nodded over towards the dead killer who sat in the electric chair. "You've done me a great favor in taking him out, because now? Now I can show the world just how much of a threat I am."

A portal formed against the wall beside them, two zombies coming out of it and grabbing the dead body on the chair and dragging it back into the portal. Necro stood up again before heading towards the portal himself. "You can relax, Warden. I need you alive. Spread the word that Necro is here. And he should be feared." The portal closed after Necro stepped through. And all the zombies down in the cell blocks had returned to ash immediately after their master departed.

Necro stepped out of the portal, inside an abandoned warehouse to a dead body that lay on the ground in the middle of a ritual circle that was prepared earlier. The two zombies stepped aside, bowing their heads as their master walked by them. Picking up a knife, he would make a cut in his hand, not even wincing from the cut. He'd then let the blood fall to the sand that was spread on the floor as a ritual circle. The sand would then glow a blood red color, the dead body in the center. Necro's eyes flashed a red color as he began chanting in a different language. As he would continue chanting, the body would rise from the ground, floating above ground for a while before returning back to the ground. "Awaken!"

Victor's eyes opened. He'd slowly sit up as he looked around before looking down at his hands. Wasn't he supposed to be dead? The sound of Necro approaching him snapped him out of his thoughts as he looked up at the necromancer. "Who the hell are you?"