Back To Work

It took Daniel two days to finally mark his next target. He was a serial killer who had just broke out of Arkham together with Joker and his crew. Unlike Joker, this killer was quite sane and intelligent and Daniel knew he would be killing anytime soon. So, he got to his Ghost Rider clothes, got to his alley and suited up. With a whistle, his hell mount came from the ground, the engine revving like a muscle car on super steroids.

"Two days of no action makes a ghost very snappy," he growled as his bony fingers run over the car's hood before he got in. He immediately put it to drive and he was off.

First things first, he knew the habits of this serial killer, Charles Manson. He would be somewhere with a lot of women or children, his favourite prey and he was showed to have an orgasm when he saw a thirteen year old eating ice cream! Talk about a pedophile among pedophiles!

So, his first stop should be the playground but it was deserted ever since Joker's reign of terror started so it brought it back to going to the elementary school. He thought for a while before he came up with the perfect place, a private elementary school. The children there had short dresses, enough for a pedo to drool over. So, he drove over to the place, his flaming car going to 130m/hr yet able to streak through the traffic unhindered. The police were alerted but there was nothing they could do to keep up with the car.

Daniel finally reached the school and he parked the car outside. He then walked through the front gate that just opened for him on itself and headed into the building. He immediately felt his lust for vengeance awaken and he looked at the direction, the girl's locker's room.

"Charles Manson, I am coming for your soul!" Daniel screeched demonically, making some windows near him break. He power walked to the room where he found the man aiming a shot gun at the door. His eyes showed fear when he saw instead of a flesh bag, a flaming skeleton was the one after him.

"Your sins have caught up with you, time for your soul to be weighed and judged!" Daniel growled as he slowly and menacingly walked towards him.

"Get away from me, Demon!" Charles screamt as he opened fire till his shot gun was out. By then, Daniel was just an arm's length from him. He then snatched the gun from him before hitting him away with the butt of it.

"Before your soul perishes, your flesh must be purified!" Daniel said as he changed the shot gun to become a hell firearm. He aimed at Charles' legs and pulled the trigger. Immediately, Charles screamt in undefined pain as his legs were blown to nothing but blood mist. He was laying on his stomach without the strength to get up due to the pain. Daniel came next to him and proceeded to blow both hands away. He then sat on a bench as he looked at the screaming man.

'Hmm, no hesitation, no guilt, nothing! All I feel is the drive to punish and the thrill seeing him injured and bloody, screaming for death!' Daniel told himself as he continued watching the man for half an hour when his throat gave in from being sour. He then got up, lifted him with one hand by his collar and turned him around to face him. He then saw the necklace of a crucifix on his neck.

"You are a religious man? This might be the biggest joke in the world. Well, let me tell you, faithful man, heaven and hell is real and you were going to hell. You would be tortured over and over again till the end times and that's the best outcome. With me, I eat your soul, let it nourish me as I go on punishing more and more people. Even when I die, you will never be free because you will have died, PERMANENTLY!" Daniel explained, making the man even more panicked. "Now, look into my eyes and be judged!" Like a dumbass, Charles looked into them and what he felt next would be nothing compared to what his body had been through. He felt the pain of every victim he ever had, all of them; meaning he was raped over and over again by himself! He was mutilated as he begged for mercy, by himself, countless times. He was drowned, dipped in acid, burnt, suffocated and even had his organs ripped out, by himself once more. It felt like an eternity but only a second passed and his head fell backwards, lifelessly. Daniel threw his body away before he walked away. Unknown to him, a camera had recorded everything that happened there.

The following day was a hustle for the cops. They were quite distressed to hear that grade two children just saw a mutilated body in their locker room so they were fast to arrive. When the first responders got into the room, they felt like throwing up when they saw the body. Its limbs were reduced to bloody chunks that could be seen all over the room but what got their attention more was the burnt out eyes and the victim's identity.

"That's Charles Manson!"

"Thought we wouldn't catch him again, seems I was right," a cop said.

"The burnt out eyes are the signature of that flaming skull, right?" the other cop asked, trying to keep him breakfast in.

"Yes, it seems he also head about this guy and tracked him down, a good tracker if he knew to find him here. Call this in, now!" The other cop was glad to immediately go away from this scene.

"Dispatch, we have a one-eighty seven over at Foxfire Elementary School. The victim is Charles Manson and the killer seems to be the Flaming Skull," he said.

"Received patrol. 10-5," dispatch answered. The cop nodded before he went back to the room.

"The chief's on the way, in the mean time, we have to tape this whole place and tell the principal to release the kids," the cop said.

Daniel was back to his uniform and was entering the Police station. As soon as he was in, his workmates started clapping for him, making him nod at them in appreciation. He received many a handshake all the way to the Deputy Captain's office.

"Daniel, get in!" he received his answer and he walked in. "Good to see you on your feet, officer. You came at the right time for we are terribly understaffed. With the emergence of a metahuman in Gotham that is killing people, even if murderers and the sort, we have the law to uphold. All of our officers are out in the streets trying to catch up to it but it is a slippery son of a bitch. Just yesterday it killed again, only it was Charles Manson, a serial killer. We just hope its sense of justice doesn't get warped and it decides to go after Innocents to fill the need to kill guilty people!"

"Glad to be back, sir,"

"Good. You will ride on your own for now and like the others, you are required to radio in any sighting you have for the Flaming Skull instead of going after it alone. You are dismissed."