Chronicle XX: Mirage

The news of the night fire spread through all available media and social networks. The next morning, everyone knew what happened in great detail.

Without delay, the police, forensic and fire forces arrived at the scene of the crime as soon as they were notified, and verified for themselves the magnitude of the tragedy.

Some individuals, due to the state of the corpses and the nauseating smell, vomited while putting out those flames, observing the vast majority of charred bodies.

The entire neighborhood succumbed to the same cause of death. However, there was one family in particular that suffered little more than a fire death.

If law enforcement officials were asked to recount every explicit detail about the state of those bodies, the amount to be heard would be abominable. It wasn't just a scene of a fire, but something much more grotesque and bloody.

Who in their right mind would want to hear about the heinous way that family left the world?

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The rain fell heavily on the grass of the cemetery. Many acquaintances, friends and relatives had gathered to attend the Johnson family's funeral.

While the ears of those present caught the farewell speech, Dante observed the three tombs with dull eyes, expressionless.

It was not the police, nor the firemen, nor the coroners who found the bodies of his parents and his little brother. He was the one who found them.

Following Johnny and Wong's departure, Dante began the long walk home, learning of the tragedy along the way from the nightly news. Accelerating his motorcycle to his limit, the boy arrived at his home at dawn.

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[Flashback]:

The curious crowd of people gathered near the burned neighborhood occupied a large part of the street, as did the press. However, a sound of acceleration interrupted their observation, being forced to move aside to avoid the motorcycle that braked in front of all of them. From it, a boy in a hooded jacket got out, dropping his vehicle, pushing aside the police guarding the entrance to the large crime scene.

The people heard him desperately beg to be allowed to pass. The law enforcement officials tried to stop him, but he simply pushed them aside and ran towards his house under the surprised gaze of those present.

Dante didn't hear the call to stop. He didn't care either.

And when he finally broke into his own home under the astonished gaze of forensic scientists and other police officers, he observed the bodies of his family in utter detail. And without further ado, he fell to his knees.

The body of Carl, his father, was missing an arm, and his head was in a 180-degree turn. In addition to this, his legs were in an abnormal position.

His little brother, Rex. The little legs with which she was running towards him were gone, reduced to dust. The skin on his face was ripped off,; everything seemed to indicate that it had been taken from him in one go.

But above all, the most grotesque corpse of all was that of his mother, Iris. The moment the teenager saw her, he knew that the person responsible for such a murder knew him.

She was on the ground, with a piece of wood through her chest. The sight reminded the boy of the death of Erika, his biological mother. The scenes were almost identical, with one small difference. Apart from the fact that all three bodies were somewhat burned, the woman's eyes were petrified, turned to stone. It was the same effect as when a Ghost Rider used Penance Stare.

Dante looked at the three of them, reliving the trauma he thought he had overcome. His greatest fear had come true.

"No..."

"Please..."

Realizing that the boy was related to the victims, two detectives rushed him away from the scene.

"Not you too..."

"I..."

The two detectives were talking to him, but Dante couldn't hear what they were saying. His sight was focused on the corpses of the family that took care of him for so many years.

"I can´t..."

"Not again..."

Thus, the heart and mind of Daniel Williams broke once again.

[Flashback: End]

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The priest's voice did not reach his ears. His gaze was fixed on a point on the ground. Some people looked at him, feeling sorry, but his thoughts did not go beyond that feeling. He felt pain and sadness. He wanted to cry. Even if it was just a couple of tears.

His mind sailed to the cause of the fire. Such a fire did not start naturally. There was a difference between the flames of nature and those of hell.

If the murder of all those people was at the hand of a demon, it was his job to avenge them. That was what his curse was about, wasn't it? Of vengeance.

"Vengeance".

The word ran through his mind like a perpetual echo. Why should he do it? Easy. It was his duty.

But why was it his duty? Was the idea of ​​revenge out of duty, or was it out of his own desire? Who wanted to hunt down the person responsible for that tragedy? Daniel, or the Ghost Rider?

He didn't want this. He never wanted to be a slave to the King of Hell. He just wanted to be happy, a chance to spend a quiet life with his new family. A dream that he had since childhood, since that night when she died.

A dream that, now, was nothing more than that. A dream. One destroyed.

-Rest in peace... Amen.

The words stopped. Gradually, the crowd began to disperse, leaving survivors and family members to come to terms with their loss and grief. Daniel continued with his lost gaze, reflecting inside his mind. Before he knew it, he noticed that he was alone.

Slowly, tears began to fall from his face, but he quickly wiped them away. He took one last look at the Johnson graves, placed the flowers he brought with him on each one, and left the cemetery.

He might be a cursed human, but he was also a demon. He didn't deserve the right to squeeze the pain out of him. Not without first avenging the innocent.

He remembered a video game he played a long time ago, which oddly enough was about demons.He remembered one phrase in particular, one that he felt was going quite well for the moment.

"Devils May Cry"

But it was not the time to do it.

He had work to do.

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Vengeance walked the halls of the Underworld with evident serenity and contentment. Someone could tell from this because of the smile that crossed his skeletal face, and the small laughs that sometimes escaped him.

In her defense, the demon was having a great time. His sworn enemy was suffering one of the greatest losses to a human being, and it was eating away at his mind. At any moment, she would let his guard down completely, and she could finally finish him off, like she always wanted. The possibility that this fact was getting closer and closer to becoming real put Vengeance in a very good mood.

But for now, he had a "business meeting." He continued on his way down some spiral steps, listening to the echo of his footsteps echo over the screams of agony and pain that reached his ears, until he stopped his walk at the bottom of the stairs, when the horrific shrieks clothed the auditory parts of his demonic body.

In front of him, Astaroth contemplated the well where those howls of agony came from, which for him Emperor formed a sweet and exquisite melody.

- 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁... 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘆?

As much as he hated to bow down to someone, Vengeance made an exception for Astaroth since they had the same goal in common.

Astaroth was slow to respond. It took a while for him to move away from the "music" of it, but he finally got in front of the spirit.

- I must admit, Vengeance, you've done a great job so far. He is finally on the edge of the abyss.

- - 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞... 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 -replied the demon.

Astaroth was silent, looking at him seriously. Vengeance seemed confused at this. He was hoping for some kind of response, like he was patient and that he would get a chance from him. After all, that was the deal.

- Do you know Armageddon?

More than a question, it was a statement, accompanied by dark pressure, which made Vengeance break out in a cold sweat for a second, but he quickly regained his composure and answered.

-𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻?- Inquired the demon- 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹𝘆𝗽𝘀𝗲. 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗺𝘆𝘁𝗵 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱.

Vengeance narrowed her eyes.

- 𝗪𝗵𝘆?

- Do you know the myth that Heaven wrote about it?

The continuous questions confused the demon. A sudden gloomy uneasiness ran through his body momentarily.

- "The origin will be revealed when the bells of the Final Judgment begin to ring. The king will emerge after the truth, and the apocalypse will resound at the gates of the heavenly city. Heaven and Hell will tremble, as he will claim his throne in immortality. Armageddon will begin after his resurgence and will cause the extinction of the damned for all eternity."

A chill ran down Vengeance's spine. They were simple words, but they had some impact.

- They wrote that prophecy when the Holy War ended - the Emperor clarified, to the confusion of the other -. They knew that in the future, their greatest threat would come back for them. Their goal was to be prepared for that day.

The red flame demon felt an impulse. Something caused her to ask what emerged from his mouth. When he wanted to shut up, it was too late.

- 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁? 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀?

Astaroth's fangs bared as he smiled. It was a predatory, grotesque smile.

- Do you know why I accepted you in my ranks, Vengeance? With all your intelligence, I think you haven't figured it out yet...Let me explain.

Just by releasing the demonic power from him, Astaroth nullified Vengeance's transformation and forced the spirit to turn human. Crane felt a wave of terror wash over his frail human being, as if he had the Grim Reaper in front of him. The Emperor slowly walked towards him and the teenager was unable to stop staring at him, terrified.

The demon's hand was placed on his head, patting it twice while still smiling before laying it on his hair.

- You were just a mere piece, boy. You were never a right hand, nor a partner. Just one more measly pawn in my domain. And like any good pawn, his duty is to protect the King, don't you agree?

The redhead didn't say a word, trembling with fear. He had frozen at the sense of death coming from the King of the Underworld. The screams from the pit increased in force all at once, being heard throughout hell. They fell on the ears of the demons that were wandering around different places, who went crazy and started screaming too, creating a creepy atmosphere that increased the teenager's fear.

- You know what they say…- the Emperor commented as his hand glowed green under Crane's hair - . Without sacrifices, there is no victory.

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The moon took its place in the sky. Soon, darkness embraced the world, marking the end of the day. The streets turned cold, as did the wind that crashed against the faces of passers-by who were still awake.

Daniel walked the night streets with endless feelings churning within him. The last few hours had passed in a blur.

After the Johnsons died, Daniel legally became an orphan. According to the laws of the country, he was old enough to take care of himself, but unfortunately, as his family's house was burned down, he had no place to stay. Luckily for him, Johnny Blaze had given permission and a copy of his house keys to the boy after living together for a while, assuring him that he had no problem with him staying there if he needed it.

However, the boy did not even think about approaching the motorcyclist's home. He was too busy venting and atoning for all of his emotions in his job as Ghost Rider currently. Evil and the guilty did not rest, and his watch indicated that it was time to hunt.

This went on until late at night. The empty streets lit up momentarily each time the spirit rode through them on his motorcycle, leaving a trail of shriveled pavement wherever he drove.

After a few hours, the Ghost Rider stopped when he saw a large cloud of smoke in the distance. Without delay, he set off towards the place of origin as his next destination. His trip lasted less than ten minutes.

As he got closer, the entity couldn't avoid an expression of surprise to see a fire consuming the houses on the block, exactly the same as the event that happened a couple of days before in his neighborhood.

His job might be to punish the guilty, but it was also his job to save the innocent. So wasting no time, he got out of his vehicle and headed for the first nearby burning house. Going through the flames and moving some furniture making his way, until he saw a woman trapped under some wood.

Reaching out, he pushed aside the wooden planks and offered her hand to the woman, but to her surprise, he hardly saw him, she backed away in terror until she collided with a wall on her back.

- G-Get away! D-Don't hurt me! -she begged desperately.

The Ghost Rider stopped, realizing that his appearance seemed so terrifying. However, the woman wasn't scared just by her appearance, he could feel it in her soul.

Before he could calm the woman down, he felt something wrap around her waist that throw him out of the house with force until he rolled a couple of times on the floor. Recovering in a moment, the Ghost Rider rose to one knee on the pavement, trying to locate his attacker.

If his surprise at the woman's reaction was unexpected, what he was seeing was impossible.

Same shoes, same pants and same jacket. The fire surrounding his head was the same as that of hell.

The figure that had dragged him out of that house was another Ghost Rider.