Chapter 12: The Graveyard Battle.
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(General P.O.V)
The graveyard was shrouded in an otherworldly glow, Hellfire casting grotesque, flickering shadows over the tombstones.
Ghost Rider stood tall, his skull wreathed in blue flame, a figure of pure vengeance.
Yet, despite this intensity, there was hesitation in his posture—an unsettling restraint.
His empty gaze swept across his opponents, warriors of justice, none of them guilty of the kind of sins that demanded his retribution...except for one. But he was off limits- for now.
Across from the Rider, the Justice League braced themselves.
Wonder Woman's grip tightened around her sword, her eyes locked on the Spirit of vengeance.
Green Lantern hovered in the air, bathed in emerald light, while Zatara murmured incantations of protection under his breath.
Shazam's cape rippled in the wind, his expression serious as he sensed the raw, primal force standing before them.
Constantine, in contrast, seemed more annoyed than worried. He searched his coat for a cigarette lighter, coming up empty.
"Bloody hell, of all the times to forget it," he muttered, eyeing Ghost Rider's flaming skull with a glint of mischief. "Mind lending me a light, mate?"
The Rider cocked his head slightly, and a flick of Hellfire ignited the cigarette hanging from Constantine's lips.
"Much obliged." Constantine took a deep drag, utterly unfazed by the stares from his teammates.
Green Lantern broke the tension, glancing at Batman. "Does it have to come to a fight? Questionable fashion aside, He doesn't seem like the usual villains, does he? Looks like he's just... waiting."
Batman's voice was low, calculated. "He's assessing us. To know our strengths, our weaknesses. He's weighing his options."
Wonder Woman didn't look away from Ghost Rider as she spoke. "Like a predator studying its prey."
"Exactly," Zatara added, his expression grim. "We may not be evil, but none of us are without sin. And that makes us targets. Be prepared for judgment."
Ghost Rider finally moved, his chains clinking ominously as they dragged across the ground. His hollow voice echoed through the graveyard.
"COME."
The single word sent a ripple of dread through the air, more chilling than the color of the Hellfire itself.
Batman's voice cut through the tension, calm and authoritative. "We hold him until the ritual is complete. Don't engage directly—delay him. Go."
The stillness of the cemetery shattered as Wonder Woman and Shazam charged forward, their figures cutting through the dark night of the cemetery.
Diana's sword unsheathed, edge gleaming under the eerie light as she leapt at the Rider.
Shazam followed from above, lightning crackling from his fists as he hurled a brightly charged blue bolt at the target.
The Ghost Rider responded instantly.
His chains lashed out, burning with Hellfire, meeting Wonder Woman's sword and Shazam's lightning in midair.
The force of the impact sent both heroes sprawling, recovering too late to block the wall of blue flames headed their way.
"Nruter!" (Return!) Zatara's voice rang out in time, redirecting the Hellfire with a quick incantation.
The flames roared back toward Ghost Rider, but the Rider slammed his foot onto the earth, causing the ground to crack and upheave. Sections of it were thrown upwards.
The chunks of soil and stone blocked the redirected fire, resulting in a cloud of smoke and dust.
"Demons I've handled before, but this bloke... he's something else entirely."
Constantine muttered to Batman as he knelt by a gravestone, chalk in hand, furiously sketching out a pentagram. "Feels like Etrigan, but there's something purer about him. His fire's not meant to destroy—it's meant to cleanse. He's more of a dark angel than a demon."
Batman didn't look away from the battle as he stood at the center of the forming pentagram. "Just finish the circle. We don't have much time."
The smoke cleared, revealing something worse than expected.
Emerging from the dust came a wave of skeletal figures and decayed/rotting corpses- ghouls, their eyes blazing with the same blue fire as the Rider's skull. The dead had risen from the graves in the cemetery.
"Zombies!?"
Shazam cried in disbelief as the undead swarmed toward him.
"They're not just zombies," Zatara said, his voice strained as he cast another spell. "Ghost Rider's turning them into Hellspwans, just like he did with Manhunter. They're vessels of vengeance now."
True enough, the Rider stood behind the waves of undead, watching as the puppets infused with his flames dogpilled the League. Yet, he was still to make a direct move on them.
Green Lantern's ring flared as he created a giant hammer, smashing through a group of skeletons. "They might look tough, but they're brittle. I'll clear them out. You guys can thank me later."
A green vacuum construct formed in the air, sucking up the skeletal attackers with ease.
But the trap quickly backfired. The undead combined within the vacuum into a massive, fiery ghoul-skeleton hybrid, burning through Hal's construct with a breath of Hellfire and grabbing him before he could react.
"Hal!" Shazam acted fast, summoning a bolt of lightning that obliterated the creature into bits, freeing Green Lantern. "You alright?"
"Yeah... barely," Hal panted, his ring flickering slightly. "That thing almost roasted me alive."
Constantine's voice cut through their commotion. "Circle's done, Batman. We're ready for the next step."
Batman gave a curt nod, his focus never wavering. "It's time. Restrain him."
Shazam and Wonder Woman pushed through the remaining undead, making a direct line for the Ghost Rider.
Diana hurled her Lasso of Truth, the golden rope glowing as it caught Ghost Rider's chains mid-swing.
The Amazon tugged hard, locking the chains in place while Shazam unleashed another bolt of lightning that struck the Rider head-on, immobilizing him momentarily.
Green Lantern followed up, his ring glowing as he created heavy chains of his own, wrapping them around the Rider's body. "We've got him!"
Zatara's hands moved in a flurry of gestures as he invoked an ancient spell. "Gaea's Domain: Dnib Stoor Tirips! (Spirit Roots Bind!)"
Massive, spectral roots burst from the ground, wrapping themselves around Ghost Rider. The Hellfire flared violently, but the ethereal roots held fast, forged from the will of the Earth itself.
"Hold him!" Zatara shouted, his face pale with exertion. "We don't have much time until he realizes what we're trying to do!"
Constantine stepped forward, chanting in Latin.
The pentagram beneath Batman flared to life, a second one appearing beneath Ghost Rider.
The ritual had begun, one aimed at transferring the Ghost Rider's spirit of vengeance from Michael into Bruce Wayne.
The plan had hinged on the connection established when Ghost Rider had subjected Batman to the Penance Stare.
Under his costume, Bruce was covered in thousands of sealing characters, meant to serve as a cage for the Rider's spirit and bolster his own soul so that the Rider wouldn't take over.
Constantine had to thank Jason Blood for inspiring the spell. Once the the transfer successed, Constantine would then be able to exorcise the Ghost Rider back to where it came from.
The reason the exorcism wouldn't have worked on Michael was simple. The host had to be willing to let it happen. And Michael would have never agreed to banish the Rider.
'But now, it doesn't matter if he agrees or not. The ritual is working.'
Ghost Rider struggled, Hellfire burning hotter than ever as the ritual took hold of its spirit.
The ground cracked beneath him, but the pentagrams held, glowing with power. Green Lantern's constructs began to shudder under the strain.
"I can't... hold it much longer!" Hal shouted, his ring's energy dimming.
"Just a little more!" Wonder Woman urged, her grip on the Lasso tightening as she fought to keep the Rider contained.
Constantine's voice reached a fever pitch, the final words of the exorcism spell echoing through the graveyard.
Just as the ritual reached its climax, J'onn decided to act, sensing the imminent threat.
Abandoning his insect form, the Martian exploded into a massive dragon, his wings cutting through the night air as he hurtled toward Constantine to disrupt the spell, intent on saving his master.
The Martian's roar shook the graveyard, scales gleaming ominously in the glow of Hellfire.
But before he could reach his target, Captain Atom shot down from the heavens like a bolt of pure fury, landing a thunderous punch squarely on the back of J'onn's draconic head.
The impact was like a meteor strike, sending the Martian crashing into the earth with a tremor that rattled the gravestones.
In the same motion, Atom clamped a custom thermal collar around J'onn's neck, locking it into place with precision.
"Stay down, J'onn," Atom commanded, his voice low and pained. "I don't want to hurt you."
J'onn's mind screamed in defiance, 'NO! MASTER MICHAEL!' His telepathic attack flared, a desperate attempt to reach out.
But the collar activated before the thought could land— producing a sharp hiss as liquid heat was injected into the Martian.
J'onn's powers flickered and faded, his body slackening under the sudden, paralyzing agony. The fight in him ebbed, leaving him vulnerable, grounded.
With J'onn incapacitated, the tide shifted irrevocably.
Across the battlefield, Ghost Rider's flames faltered, the blaze dimming on his skull as the ritual circle siphoned away his power.
The Hellfire was drawn into the red glow of the ritual, like an ocean of fire consumed by a bottomless scarlet void.
The twin circles pulsed in tandem, resonating with an eerie rhythm that matched the fading heartbeat of the Spirit of Vengeance.
Two voices filled the air, screaming in agonized harmony—Michael and Batman, locked in a battle of wills.
The light from the circles grew more intense, blinding in its brilliance, before one began to fade faster than the other.
Drained of its energy, the circle holding Michael dimmed, its light snuffed out as the ritual reached its conclusion.
The screaming stopped. Silence followed, profound and heavy. The cemetery, once bathed in hellfire, was cloaked in darkness again.
"Is it... over?" Shazam asked, his voice barely above a whisper, eyes darting between Batman and the defeated Rider.
Batman, kneeling in the circle, gasped for breath. The eerie blue fire that briefly burned in his eyes flickered out, leaving only exhaustion in its wake.
"Yes," The Dark Knight replied, voice cold and resolute. "The Ghost Rider's spirit is locked within me. We succeeded."
On the other side, still bound by glowing constructs, The Lasso and enchanted roots, Michael stood frozen in shock.
His expression was one of hollow disbelief. He had lost—lost the Ghost Rider, lost the very tool that fueled his quest for vengeance.
"Secure the target," Batman ordered, his voice sharp and commanding. There was no sympathy, no remorse.
The Spirit of Vengeance had won their first encounter, but in the end, it was The Batman who laughed last.
—Out in the void of space—
A streak of yellow light cut through the darkness, moving at impossible speeds. Something immense was coming, racing through sector 2814.