by Sonhaven, Grimm, Spirit Of Vengeance and GoozX
Monroeville, Pennsylvania:
The circus caravan pulled up to the small Pennsylvania town. Semi trucks with huge paintings on their sides of trapezes, the strong man, and various animals, stopped in the middle of Main Street.
A large man, with a derby hat and a half-chewed cigar got out the lead truck and starting walking to the rear in a gorilla-like manner. Upon reaching the last truck, which had the picture of a huge elephant and the word Jumbo on it, he opened its door.
Our heroes, wearily, climbed out the back.
"Ya sure I can't change your mind about staying, boys? We could sure use ya... especially you, Death Man."
"My name is Grimm."
"Yeah... your name's money, is what it is. Damn shame... Well, good luck, boys." The robust man then walked back to his truck, and the caravan left with our heroes standing on a deserted street.
"Let us never speak of the last week again," Grimm requested.
"Amen to that, Death Man." Tayden tried to hold in a laugh.
"Well, at least we're here, now," said Priest.
"Looks like we're the only ones, though," Dirk Bell noticed.
Not a single person was in the downtown area. Not single shop window had someone in it. The few cars that were there look like they were abandoned, some of the doors let open. There wasn't even a bird singing.
"Man... this place seems dead," Tayden stated while staring out at the street.
They all felt uneasy as Grimm said, "Yeah... I think so."
Michael Ringo pulled himself up from the floor that was serving as his bed. He didn't know what time it was or what day, year, or month, for that matter. All he knew was that it was time to begin what had become his daily routine. They would come soon, as they had been for months now, and he would battle them. Night after night, day after day, no matter how many he stopped, they always seemed to come back. Today would be no different.
He walked over to the back door of the shop that he had slept in last night, opened it and stepped outside. The sun hung lazily in the bright blue sky, giving the impression that all was right in the world. But it wasn't.
Michael Ringo climbed onto his bike, started it up, and drove off down the street. Just before reaching the intersection, he touched the glowing gas cap and was transformed into the Spirit of Vengeance.
As Grimm, Tayden, Dirk, and Priest entered the town, they noticed what seemed to be signs of struggles: shop fronts with shattered windows, doors knocked in, dried blood on the sidewalks. This was getting stranger and stranger.
"Bell, take the point," Grimm said, noting that the gunslinger already had his weapons at the ready. "Tayden, see if you can contact Dr. Quantos. Ask him if he's heard anything odd about this town."
"Right," the fallen angel replied, pulling out his cellphone and hitting the speed dial for Quantos' number.
As the four men cautiously moved into the town, heading in the direction of the occult bookstore known as the Dragon's Den, Priest made his way up next to Grimm and spoke.
"So, would you do it?"
"What?" Grimm replied, moving his head up and down the empty streets.
"Kill Hitler. Would you do it?" Priest repeated, watching empty apartment buildings for signs of life.
"Never really thought about it. I guess I would, yeah..."
Priest seemed to crack a slight grin and started to speak before being interrupted.
"Congratulations, Grimm, you've just doomed the American economy into total collapse and subjugated the world into rule by Communist Russia. Hope you're proud of yourself," Bell said, a few feet ahead, never missing a beat.
Something different happened during the transformation. There was a vision of sorts. Ringo could see the Skull that had haunted his nightmares. He felt with every fiber of his being that the body The Skull belonged to was close. Perhaps it was coming for him. Perhaps it was his ticket out of the horror movie his life had become. All he knew was it was close, and he was bound and determined to find it.
What he would do when he found it was a totally different story. The one thing he did know was a single word, and that word was Grimm.
As the Spirit of Vengeance turned the corner, he spotted a group of people walking along the street. They were the first living beings he had seen since he first arrived in this godforsaken town. He followed the group a short way before he realized that the bike was gaining speed. Focused now, he let the bike guide him.
As he gained on the group walking down the street, he had a flash that showed the Skull again. Only this time, he knew that the Skull was right in front of him.
Grimm and Priest continued walking, neither looking at the other man.
"We're not all that different," Priest commented, replying back to Grimm's earlier statement about killing Hitler.
Grimm looked back toward Priest. "And that would be a good thing?"
"Look, all I'm saying is that we might have a common enemy."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Priest leaned in, making sure that neither Dirk nor Tayden would hear him. "Keep an eye on Danny."
Before Grimm could reply, a motorcycle sped by, filling the air with smoke and their minds with a question: Who the hell was that?
"Wait, I hear something."
The group stopped and turned just in time to see a man in a white overcoat and red helmet fly by them on the meanest-looking bike they had ever seen.
We'll meet soon, dead man, Vengeance thought to himself as he blew past the group. Oh yes, very soon...