4 Debts Must Be Paid

"That was unexpected."

Wilhelm deadpans. His head still hanging in the air as he watches the cloud disperses, uncovering a now grown-up Calida. Her fiery red hair has reached past the hips. Her lifeless eyes are now glowing red, though the colour seems to be more purple. In her right hand, a single-edged pitch-black sword growls intimidatingly with fires at the tip.

Calida is now alive again. Yet at the same time, she looks more like a puppet than an actual person, with how empty her gaze is.

'You seem nonchalant about this...'

"Eh. Not my first time having my head cut off. Clean cut, by the by."

'It appears I got worried over nothing...'

Helical clouds of nanomachines arise from Wilhelm's neck and stump on his shoulder, and quickly attach themselves to his head and his left arm. Shortly they attach them back to his body, reconnect the flesh and skin, making Wilhelm whole once more. He rubs his neck, filling his lungs with air, as Elizabeth drops her jaw, seemingly in disbelief at what she just witnessed.

"H-How is that possible?! How're you not dead?!" Elizabeth cries. "Are you even a human?!"

"More human than you, that is for sure."

Elizabeth clicks her tongue and quickly composes herself, before revealing a triumphant grin on her face. She approaches Calida and squeezes the girl's shoulder from behind.

"It doesn't matter. I have what I wanted," Elizabeth continues smugly. "Thanks to you. My daughter is now back with me. With it, you may leave here unscathed. My quarrel does not include you, Mr. Herrmann. Please don't stand in my way."

"What makes you think I am going to let you go?" Wilhelm growls, narrows his eyes. "You have yet to answer to what you did to them."

"This again?" Elizabeth rolls her eyes in exasperation. "You're a stubborn man. Women don't really like that, you know. Calida, why don't you be a good sport and take care of him for mama?"

'Can you handle this, partner...?'

Wilhelm grunts. "I can let you possess me. But yeah, I can try and see how it goes first."

At Elizabeth's request, Calida nods, causing Wilhelm to tense up and ready for an impending strike. In an instant, Calida thrusts her sword forward. Though, much to Wilhelm's and Elizabeth's surprise, it is not aimed at the former, but rather...

Blood slowly trails off the corner of Elizabeth's mouth, as she shakily stares down at the blade which pierced through her stomach, with Calida standing behind her.

"C-Calida, my sweet... child? What're you doing...?"

"Calida is no more."

Without any hint of hesitation in Calida's eyes, the girl proceeds to mercilessly cleave Elizabeth into two, spraying her blood across the ground and leaving the demoness cry desperately; her pitch-black sword growls and begins absorbing Elizabeth's blood, sucking out her very life force.

Wilhelm immediately rushes at Calida, sending a spinning flying kick right to the girl's head. Yet she effortlessly stops him with her hand and throws him to the wall. A large pair of deer-like horns begin to grow on either side of her head, along a scaled dragon-like tail. Simultaneously, screams of terror begin filling the room, all originating from the sex cave. Calida's body glows for a moment. Not long after the screams die down. Calida's face remains passive and tilts her head.

"Not enough..." Calida murmurs. "Need more... blood..."

Which she immediately snaps her head to Wilhelm with a nasty crunch of her joint, as he grumbles, pulling himself out of the wall and lands his feet on the ground.

"Great. What is happening now, Bones?"

'Calida is already no more... That is just an Archdemon in her body... A very dangerous one...'

"No shit, Sherlock. Seems like you are going to possess me after all. Do it."

'No... Not necessarily...'

"Why not? You were going to posses me anyway, were you not?"

'Not anymore... Check the time, partner...'

Raising a brow, Wilhelm checks his watch, surprised to find time is already approaching 5:30 in the afternoon, which means one thing. "Well, Bones, time to do your magic."

'With pleasure...'

With an unholy screech, scorching blazes set Wilhelm's head on fire. Cracks slowly appear all across his face, giving off tiny sparks of blue flames, before his skin and flesh burn out. A black and charred skull taking shape. In the blink of an eye, Wilhelm finishes his transformation. The hollow eye sockets now bore into Calida's purple eyes, as though judging her, more precisely the demon inside her.

"You—" he points his bone finger at her "—back to the shithole you call Hell."

Wilhelm definitely does not miss that unamused twitch on Calida's face.

=

As the sun begins to set in the horizon, more and more people start going out to enjoy the weekend night to their fullest in Lower Manhattan.

For many highs school students, today and tomorrow are the last days of the Winter Break just before the new term of the year begins. So, many go out in groups in order to make the best out of it. Yet, a certain Petra Parker is having her mind somewhere else instead of enjoying the last days like others; she cannot forget everything that happened last night.

After all, she put a man to death because she was not strong enough.

It was supposed to be a night with her new friend, Mary Jane, who just moved in next door with her aunt, who also happens to be a friend of her aunt May. Per her uncle Ben's suggestion, Petra agreed to take Mary Jane around for her to get accustomed to the city, before both the girls found themselves in Harlem. That was when everything went horribly wrong.

Petra breathes a sigh and plants her face into her hands. Despite taking the bus to Lower Manhattan to get some air, she cannot manage to get rid of the horrid sight in her mind. She removes her glasses and massages her forehead, having no mood to watch the sunset, in spite of being one of the things she usually does to take her mind off something.

"I'm sorry..." she mutters to herself, with a distant gaze to the sea.

Petra sighs again and leans into the bench, seemingly mentally exhausted. As she exhales, however, she senses a vibration as she puts on palm on the bench. Blinking, she looks to the bench, just before another vibration occurs. More and more appear, getting stronger with each time. Several screeches of tires emitted behind her, getting her attention. Several people stop their car and get out, pedestrians halt and look at each other, all confused.

Then, a boom! A violent shake of the Earth that throws everybody off balance. Petra stumbles to the ground, holding her glasses, and starts panicking.

"E-Earthquake?! But shouldn't there be an alert first—"

Another blaring tremor, eliciting terrified screams. Petra holds onto the bench for her dear life. Her legs shaking, her knees turn weak, unable to move. At the same time, Petra notices the all the tremors do not come from the ground. They come from a building, named Devil's Lair.

Then, the front door explodes as two figures emerge, flying straight towards her!

Petra widens her eyes. Her body reflexively moves, just in time to avoid getting crushed, as the two figures crashing through the bench and into the park. Petra gasps, covering her mouth at the sight of a man with... his skull on fire getting up and dusting the dirt off his jacket, growling.

Immediately, Petra recognizes him.

"Th-The Ghost?!" Petra squeaks, startled. "B-But what's he doing here—?!"

The second figure springs up to her feet with a burst of burning flames, melting the ground surrounds her into magma; a flaming sword in her hand. She looks around Petra's age, having a pair of horns and a tail with a dress too small for her. Not to mention her hair is redder than Mary Jane's.

"Oh, no."

Opening his jaws wide while screeching, Wilhelm charges at Calida with a raised fist, with the latter brings her sword up. A blaring screech, as though metal clashing against metal, resonates throughout this entire part of Lower Manhattan, making everyone within it cover their ears. And the next second, a vicious shockwave, turning the ground around them into a huge pit of crater, knocking everybody near them to the ground, including Petra, breaking the windows and such. More screams ensue.

Realizing fighting here would put civilians into danger, Wilhelm grabs Calida's hand. He arches his head backward, then delivers a thunderous headbutt to Calida, dazing the girl. She staggers, allows Wilhelm to focuses everything he got on his leg and sends her launching to the sea with a kick right at her side. He quickly jumps and follows after her.

Calida recovers briskly, rolling and landing on feet on the water surface, as Wilhelm approaches her with an inhumane speed. Calida steps back and avoids a hook, taking flight as a pair of tattered bat-wings emerge from her back. Dozens of summoning circles appear on them; in an instant, hundreds of fireballs are shot and aimed at Wilhelm.

Wilhelm sprints along the line of fire, dodging the fireballs. Until Calida slices the air with her sword, a boulder-sized fireball smashes into him, making the water around him explodes. The girl stares at the exploded water intently, searching for Wilhelm, only to widen her eyes and block hellfire-infused bullets with the flat side of her blade. Within the next second, whip-like blades envelopes her, which also includes her arms. She tries moving, but to no avail.

As the settles down, Wilhelm returns to view with his right hand holding his burning handgun, with the other hand gripping the hilt of his knife, now transformed into a whip sword. With a sinister grin, Wilhelm violently pulls Calida to him and punches her gut, sends her soaring to the dock. With one great leap, he lands and stomps on the girl, before spinning his sword and throwing her to the sky.

Snapping his head upward, Wilhelm lowers his lower jaw, as he gathers some sort of energy, before unleashing a stream of hellfire towards Calida. Calida, managing to get out of the whip sword, brings her sword up and summons a circle, as a stream of black fire crashes into Wilhelm's.

The two sources of flames clash, turning up the temperature, making the water boil. With either the two looking to have the upper-hand, the two flames result in a small explosion. Calida shields herself from the intense heat. Soon, a hand grabs her throat, with Wilhelm emerges from the flames.

"Time to go down—"

Calida immediately teleports her and Wilhelm away from Lower Manhattan.

=

Meanwhile, Adam, who is now sporting in an apron, is cleaning the second floor whilst humming; a smiling face on the helmet. An exasperated escapes him—A.I can sigh too?—as he looks to the room at the end of the now-cleaned hall. Something is preventing him cleaning it, since nothing works on those blood marks.

"That reminds me, sir is taking this longer than I expected—"

The floor suddenly shakes, getting Adam's attention. He raises a questioning brow, before he slowly loos up to the vibrating ceiling, squinting the helmet eyes. Soon, his sir and an older-looking version of the deceased daughter of his target come crashing through the ceiling, both of whom do not stop and continues crashing into the lower floor before they stop.

Then they fight in the living room, sounds of metal clashing against metal and things being smashed, which must be the sofas and the TV. The fight continues before the window shatters, and everything return silent again, excluding the sounds of the dog barking and car alarms.

Adam drops the broom as he assesses the damage. A look of pure disbelief on the helmet as the A.I dramatically drops on his knees. "WHY?!! I SPENT A WHOLE DAY CLEANING THEM!!!"

=

Calida teleports them back to Lower Manhattan, to the spot where they were fighting. Although, this time Wilhelm holds her face and smashes it into the ground as they fall back down. Exhausted, the girl let out labour breaths, prompting to Wilhelm to turn her facing him, his hands gripping both of her shoulder and forcing her to look at him in the eyes.

"You get out of her body. Go back to Hell!" Wilhelm demands.

"Impossible..." Calida says weakly. "I am bound to this body... Ripping me out equals to killing this little girl the second time. You do not want that, right...?"

Wilhelm growls. His flames burning more intensely.

"Very well." Wilhelm's tone suddenly takes a darker and more sinister edge. Which sounds like him yet at the same time it is not. "Look into my eyes, and submit your soul to me, hellspawn!"

Calida widens eyes, slightly shaking. Shortly, she shuts her eyes and limps in his hands, unconscious. At the same time, Wilhelm grunts, as the flames on his skull disperse, with his flesh and skin return. He shakes his head, feeling a wave of exhaustion hits him, though more manageable this time.

"B-Bones, what did you do?" Wilhelm asks, breathing heavily.

'I know your conscience will not allow you to kill her... So, I did the next best thing... I tamed Calida and turned her into our ally...'

"Next best thing?" Wilhelm wheezes, coughing. "Damn it, Bones. She was already dead. We should have let her stay dead instead of... this!"

'But are you able to do such thing to a child, partner...?'

"If necessary, yes." Wilhelm evens his breaths. "It is not my first time killing a child."

'I know... I saw from your... memories... However, I still believe this is the best we could do for her... Perhaps Calida is no longer with us, and this Calida is simply an Archdemon in her flesh... During your fight, for a brief moment I sensed a faint presence in her body... A small portion of her lingering soul still there, desperately trying to stay alive...'

In response, Wilhelm breathes out, nodding absent-mindedly. "I hope you know what you are doing, Bones. This... resurrecting people is against the cycle of life."

Placing both his middle and index finger in his mouth, Wilhelm whistles. Moments later, his Yamaha VMAX rides itself to him. Scooping Calida into his arms, he gently places the girl on the motorcycle's seat and takes off his jacket to cover her.

"Get her home. But remember to lose your tail first," Wilhelm orders.

The bike hums before riding off. Wilhelm breathes a sigh. He turns his attention to the Devil's Lair, or what is left of the building. His ears pick up the sounds of firefighters' sirens. As he is about to go back inside to tie up some loose ends, from the corner of the eyes, he spots a teenage girl staring at him wide-eyed, dropping her jaw.

"Y-You..." She points at him shakily. "You're still alive! B-But I saw... you... you died..."

Wilhelm squints his eyes. Before long an image of a teenage girl trying to help an unconscious man stuck under a wreckage comes to mind, as he grins. "I remember you; you are that lass last night."

"You remember?" she asks, a bit astonished.

"Brave and stupid folks tend to make a good impression on me." Wilhelm chuckles light-heartedly. "Fortunately, you just happen to be both. Well, I am on a tight schedule, so see you later, if we both happen to cross our paths again."

"W-Wait, I still have—"

Wilhelm disappears into the wrecked building, leaving a dazed Petra behind.

"—questions."

Petra stares at the building. She tries to go after him, but the more rational part in her stops her from doing so, as she begins heading home. She has a feeling or two they meet again very soon.

=

"H-Heh... Came to gloat at my defeat, Mr. Herrmann?"

Wilhelm's imposing figure shadows Elizabeth, who is slowly bleeding to death. He only stares at the demoness, before unsheathing his Berretta 92 and checks the bullet. One left.

'You made a deal with the Devil... You have to live with the consequences...'

"He agreed to resurrect Calida," Wilhelm adds. "But I suppose he did not make it clear how he was going to resurrect her. Hence this mess. Am I correct, Elizabeth?"

"...Was it that obvious?"

"It does not take a genius to know getting yourself involved with the Devil is a bad idea."

"Yet, he was the one who saved me and showed me salvation... when no one answered my prayers," Elizabeth says dully. "I guess I... followed the wrong star in the end."

"Perhaps so."

"...Mr. Herrmann. Would you mind if I ask you a favour?"

"Depends on what you want."

"Please take care of my Calida for me. I know that might not be Calida, but I can still... sense her in there. Please don't let that Archdemon do anything to her..." Elizabeth requests weakly. "And make that bastard who started all this pay... I know he... regularly kidnaps children and sell them to a shady organization... Put a stop to it. Do it not for me, but for them, Mr. Herrmann..."

"I read your profile. That same guy you used to date, now the leader of Ebony Eagles?"

"The very same."

"...Very well. I will do it." Wilhelm aims his gun at her head. "I hope your life in the next life is going to be better than this one, Elizabeth. Goodbye."

Wilhelm pulls the trigger. The shot echoes in the room, prompting him to look up to the hole which leads to the ground on the ceiling, before he exhales through his nose. A dim light shining through the hole, illuminating the peaceful expression on Elizabeth.

All this really brings back some unpleasant memories. But his job is not done yet.

Tonight, Wilhelm is going to clean some trash.

=

He is confident to say he has earned this position, starting from a nobody to being the boss of a mid-sized in gang. Not too great, but not too bad either. Smuggling, drugs, prostitution, and that side-job nobody really knows of his. They all make good money.

Life is good, and it is only looking up from here onwards.

That is until th-that monster comes...

At first it was a small commotion at the front gate. Some guy wanted to go in, but his guards stopped him and even showed their guns to intimidate the guy. Which should have been the end, until they were both flying through the main gate. Everything went to hell from there.

No matter how many men he sent, none was able to stop that monster. Gun, knives, grenades? None of it slowed that thing down! And God, i-it took down everyone, akin to killing machine dealing with one then switching to the next. It was efficient, too efficient! A-And its head, a skull on fire!

It was only a matter of time before it reached his room.

He stands no chance against it.

"Y-You killed my men, you son of a bitch! You killed them!"

"No. Barely clinging to life. Not dead, yet," it says darkly. "Crippled, physically and mentally. They might be saved, if the hospital is quick enough."

"Who are you?! Wh-What the fuck do you want with us?!"

"Elizabeth sends her regards."

He blinks, as anger over takes his mind. "Th-That bitch is still alive?!"

"Your soul is stained with the blood of the innocents," it growls and chokes him. "Look into my eyes and feel their pains!"

Later, everyone in the neighborhood is reported to have heard an unholy screech, and a terror-struck scream.

=

"Are you sure that's him, Agent Romanoff?"

Agent Romanoff nods at Nick Fury's voice in her comms. "Skull on fire, and scream like something that come out of Hell? Positive, sir."

Crouching on a nearby roof, the attractive red-haired agent keeps a close eye on Wilhelm with a pair of binoculars, observing the man tear through the lines of defence with deadly efficiency. Sure, most are not dangerous by themselves, but together their sheer number might perhaps provide somewhat of a challenge for her. Though, watching him does humble her, knowing there is always somebody out there is more dangerous and stronger than her.

"Continue observing the Ghost. Do not engage. Fall back if he turns hostile."

"Affirmative."

A few more minutes, and Wilhelm exits of the building, assuming his business with the poor bastard who invoked his wrath is already done. The same bastard was the boyfriend of the woman, Elizabeth, who turned herself into a demon after making a deal with the Devil. Absurd, as it sounds, since this is the first time that she has ever heard of this. Though, she does not question it.

Wilhelm whistles, before a motorcycle rides itself towards—which is also on fire, because why not?—prompting him to get on and rev the engine with a sickening cackle. Even from here, she could feel it travelling down her spines; honestly it frightens her a bit.

In S.H.I.E.L.D, there are rumours of beings like him, who seek out evil and punish them. Although, they are rumours, until now.

Romanoff narrows her eyes, as Wilhelm does not leave the area yet, nor even moving, only staring aimlessly at something. However, her blood grows cold, as he casually tilts his head to her spot and stares straight into her eyes, into her very soul. She holds her breath, finding herself unable to move, nor stir under his gaze.

"...Shit," Romanoff curses.

"What happened?!"

"I'm compromised! I'm leaving—"

"It is not nice to stalk, Agent Romanoff." Romanoff let out a startled gasp as she feels a pair of hands placing on her hips as she stands up—her heart skips a beat at the mention of her name—along with something poking at her butt. "Ah, my apologizes. My drink was spiked with aphrodisiac earlier, so I cannot help but get excited down there in front of the presence of such a ravishing woman."

"Th-That's fine." Romanoff quickly composes herself, keeping her voice even. Although, there is still a little shaking in it. "At least you're honest about it, Mr...?"

"Ghost," Wilhelm replies simply. "Maybe someday I shall tell you and S.H.I.E.L.D my name, given that you can prove yourself trustworthy."

"Providing you're not our enemy. Trust goes both way, Mr. Ghost."

"True." Romanoff feels a pair of lips kissing softly on her cheeks. "A shame. Perhaps next time, you and I will meet in a place that allows us to... freely explore each other's body to our heart's content. What say you, Agent Romanoff?"

"I'll think about it." She gives him a sly smile. But he is well-aware it has no emotion behind it.

"I would love to see the real you. Until then, have a pleasant evening."

A laughter soon booms across the area, drawing Romanoff's attention to the streets, where Wilhelm starts riding off and disappears into the distance. The S.H.I.E.L.D agent exhales deeply after holding her breath, placing a hand over her chest to calm down her heart.

"You got all that, sir?"

"Loud and clear," Fury affirms. "I think he's taken a liking to you already."

"Should I start seeing it as a good thing?" she asks with a raised brow.

"That depends on you. If you can, try and get on his good side and draw him to our side. We need capable men like him to prepare what's coming the next few years."

"Good thing I was sterilized," Romanoff murmurs under her breath. Still, there is a hint of bitterness as she unconsciously rubs her belly longingly. "I'm sure he was holding himself back, a lot, since the aphrodisiac is kinda making me feel a little funny."

There is a pause. "Right. Do... what you need to do and continue your assignment."

"Thank you, sir. Agent Romanoff out..." She starts to grumble. "Bastard gotta do that on purpose, I swear to God."

=

Ah, cold shower. It does wonder in helping him calm down. It is still there, unfortunately, but it has been reduced to a more manageable level. Turning off the water, Wilhelm quickly dries himself and dresses in a simple crew-neck t-shirt and cropped pants. Exiting the bathroom, he feels bad for Adam as the A.I has to clean up the mess he and Calida made earlier.

He was definitely not happy about the holes.

Speaking of Calida, the girl is sleeping peacefully and soundly on the couch, which fortunately stays unscathed, exhausted. And surrounding her are the 8 innocent souls that were sacrificed for Elizabeth to achieve her demoness form, one is her own flesh and blood.

Wilhelm approaches them, drawing attention to himself as they all look back at him.

"Do you resent her?" he asks curiously. "She is basically the reason why you are all, well, dead."

The spirits look at him, then at Claudia, back and forth, before they all shake their heads.

"She is innocent, just like us."

"We only resent Ms. Elizabeth, Mr. Herrmann."

"...At least she gave us a home, made us feel loved, despite it ended horribly for all of us."

"But I think we can move on now, Mr. Herrmann. Thank you."

With that, their spirit form all start to fade. Yet, all of them have a smile on their faces now, contrary to the state he found them in earlier today. In response, Wilhelm only nods and gives each of them a quick hair stroke. His face grows soft.

"Go on, children. God is already waiting."

They all nod, before completely disappears. Wilhelm takes in his breath sharply, and turns his gaze to Calida, whose eyes begin to stir open. The girl blinks as she finds herself in a strange, yet familiar place at the same time, before realizing she was here; the earlier fight.

She gets up from the couch, blinking curiously, before her purple eyes land on Wilhelm.

"How are you feeling, lass?" Wilhelm asks with a grin as he takes a seat next to her.

"I... don't really know," she admits, looking at her palms. "It feels strange in this body."

"Strange? Would you mind elaborate?"

"When you did the stare-thingy to me, it... merged both souls?" Calida looks a bit lost, humming as she closes her eyes and tilts her head adorably, lightly swaying her legs. "I am neither the soul of the previous owner of this body, nor the Archdemon bound to it. I'm... both now."

'That was... certainly unexpected...'

"Well, should we start calling you with another name?"

"I don't think that is needed," Calida says with a small smile. "Because both souls love the name."

"I see then." Wilhelm places a hand on her head. "What are you going to do now, Calida?"

"...I don't know. But I would like to stay by your side, if you allow it."

"In that case—" Wilhelm strokes her hair fondly "—welcome to the family, Calida."

=