Fall Foretold

Ghost Rider vs Melissa

"Where's Ashwood? He should be busy with an exorcism"

"He went to the beacon. He wants the spirit of vengeance", Joe replied.

"What?!", Lucifer turned, sharply. "What was he thinking? The Rider's spirit will darken him"

"It already did. Guerrero did something called the sand baptism. He can control himself, now"

"It will only last for the moment. Juan should remain with him till he's done with Melissa. He will turn, again"

"About Juan; I don't know. Some sort of tornado happened and sucked him in. Then, the tornado stopped. I can't find him"

"Damn!", Lucifer punched his palm and muttered to himself. "Nowhere has called him back"

"Uhn?"

"I'm walking in to the beacon. Get ready to fight him. Now, find Stan and keep him under control before he does something we'll all regret"

"I don't know if I can do this on my own, Luci. The Rider is not something I've ever faced on my own. Neither is the beacon. I'm scared"

Lucifer walked closer to him and held his head, just like his father had done. "Look at me, son. You are the prophecy. You are the strongest being I've ever come across. The beacon has created demons but he can never clone you. You have an in-built sanctification and he can't see you coming.... I will not return. When you walk in to him, I want you to know something". He put his lips closer to Joe's ear and whispered. "The beacon is scared of you"

*****

“You weren’t expecting me, were you?”, the beacon said. “You were supposed to lead me out of my bonds and be my partner. But you abandoned the project”

“And an i***t refused to see a reason to keep you locked in”, Lucifer replied, confidently.

“No, a wise woman who saw the truth and chose the power in it. She chose freedom and salvation”

“Freedom and salvation are two English words and the last time I checked, I have a master’s degree in some University course I can’t remember”

“It’s not my fault that you have failed to see the light. You have taken a dark path. Be prepared to stumble”

“I already saw my fate, long before I stepped. I didn’t only prepare for this, I prepared the ultimate weapon”

The beacon snarled, angrily, as fumes emitted from his nostrils. His eyes glowed in the dark. He hated Lucifer’s confidence but Lucifer wasn’t bluffing and he knew it.

A man stepped out of the thick darkness. It was an exact clone of Lucifer; wearing the same shirt, the same pants, the same haircut and the same look, with a darker glow in his eyes. He stood in front of Lucifer. Lucifer had expected it. The beacon would never reveal it's face. They stared into each other's eyes.

"I hate your confidence", the beacon snarled and threw a punch. Lucifer caught it in his palm.

"You will lose", Lucifer managed to say, enduring the pain, as a fiery glow slowly spread over his lifted arm. His hand burnt off, as he held the beacon's heavy arm in his palm. The fiery glow spread through his body. His eyes glowed as he muttered his final words. "I will leave my mark on you".

Lucifer burnt, completely. His melted body dropped on the ground, spilling on the beacon's toe and burning it off. His teeth gritted, groaning silently.

★

"I can see you're back", Melissa said, working towards Stan in a gorgeous dress. She looked less as dangerous as she always appeared, while Stan was quite opposite.

Stan was looking human, dressed corporately, with an hat and dark shadows around his eyes. "I'm the last thing you'll see... The last thing before hell", he said and looked up.

"Don't get deceived by the unchaining, my dear", Melissa replied, confidently, walking seductively towards him. "You might have gotten a few abilities from the unlocking of the beast. I need not remind you of who led it. Whatever you have is only a percentage of my upgrade... a liquid spill, compared to the power that lives within me". Her dress fell off her and her naked body emitted a black substance that quickly covered her, like an armor. She grew taller and huge gaseous serpents could be seen, coming out of her back. "I wasn't going to do it myself. Unfortunately, you chose a gruesome."

"The spirit of vengeance would decide who sees hell, tonight", Stan said, in a thick distorted voice. The skies got darker, immediately. He pointed an arm to the sky, summoning a lightning.

He caught the bolt of lightning, which had come down with a chain. He pulled down the chain and it rolled around his body. His eyes disappeared, replaced with two dark holes in his face. He dipped his second hand in his pocket and pulled out a pair of eyeglasses, covering the dark holes with it. "I'll make it easier for you"

Melissa's serpents flew at Stan. One of them opened it's mouth, attempting to swallow Stan. Stan jumped into the serpent's mouth and blew it from within, bursting out of it.

Melissa screeched, as the serpents returned into her back. She created a black ball of smoke and threw it at Stan, who hit it aside with his left arm. The ball of smoke hit the ground, putting a hole in it.

Melissa threw another ball. Stan caught it, rubbing his hands around it, then, he swallowed it. He grew so huge and poured out a hurricane of fire over Melissa.

Melissa cast a shield of shadow, preventing herself from getting burned, though the heat burned her hair.

Stan took off his eyeglasses. Immediately she cleared her shield, her eyes fell into the dark holes in Stan's face. Her eyes also disappeared, becoming an exact copy of Stan's dark holes.

She shrunk in size, groaning painfully, as the serpents from her chest crawled back in. "What are you doing?!!!", she yelled, holding her head, tightly. "Grrr!"

Stan threw an arm out, flinging out the chains. The chains wrapped around her neck, choking her slowly. Fire spread through the chains, from Stan's body. "Your soul is mine", his distorted voice muttered and he yanked the chain, making her explode in coals of fire.

"Stan?", a voice called from behind. The dark skies, turned less dark, as it was before they fought, and the thunderings continued.

Ashwood looked back at the Shadowmask, who stood afar looking awed and afraid. "Stan is dead", his distorted voice echoed. The chains curled around his body. "It's the ghost Rider now".

A tornado of lightning dropped in front of Stan, suddenly, disappearing immediately, but leaving a smoking motorcycle behind.