by Spirit Of Vengeance, Grimm and Sonhaven
Below the courthouse, Monroeville, Pennsylvania:
As Grimm and the Spirit of Vengeance reached one another, Vengeance abruptly stopped. The tension in the air was palpable. Even the zombies, sensing something strange in the air, halted their advance on the two dead men. For a full minute, there was silence in the huge, mazelike basement of the courthouse. Finally, Grimm broke the silence.
"What are you waiting for? You're only prolonging the inevitable."
"There is another issue we should address. It is something we must combine our forces to accomplish."
"And what would that be?" the skeletal biker asked, skeptical.
"There is one of your group called Priest. He has been possessed."
"Priest? Possessed? You have GOT to be kidding me!"
"It is true. I will show you."
With those words, Vengeance gazed into Grimm's eyes. In a flash, Grimm saw Priest leading an army of zombies down the street toward the bookstore. Priest's eyes were glowing red, except for when he would grasp a zombie, after which they would glow blue.
"That is definitely NOT a good thing," Grimm said after Vengeance had looked away. "So, where do we go from here?" the dead biker asked.
"Follow me," came the words as Vengeance turned and headed back the way he had came, heading for the bookstore.
The streets of Monroeville:
Lightning flashed across the rapidly darkening sky as thunderclouds rolled in. Priest's zombie army advanced toward the Dragon's Den occult bookstore, the possessed man cackling maniacally at the head of the undead procession.
Jason Hill peered out of the front window. "This doesn't look good." He began to reload his shotgun.
"Ughhhh..." one of the corpses groaned at Priest.
"What? Speak up! You're mumbling again!" the crazed metahuman cackled. "Oh, I see. We've got guests."
His red glowing eyes gazed at Grimm and Vengeance rapidly approaching on Vengeance's motorcycle. The cycle's engines screamed like souls being tortured in the depths of Hell.
"Let's give them a little present, shall we?" Priest's eyes shot forth a searing red flash that enveloped the two dead men. As Vengeance steered to avoid crashing, the bike turned over, depositing the two supernatural warriors on the waste-littered street.
"Yeeeeaahhhhahhhh, I'm the one that you wanted! Yeeeahhhhh, I'm the superbeast! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Priest continued to maniacally lead his rotting minions toward the bookstore.
Jason Hill, Dirk Bell, and Tayden stared out the front window of the Dragon's Den bookstore as the zombie army approached. Hill looked at the swiftly moving clouds and could swear he saw a large skull briefly take shape in them.
"Snap out of it, kid," Dirk Bell said to his left. "Daydreaming'll get you killed in times like this."
Grimm and Vengeance picked themselves up from the street.
"Where did you learn to drive this thing?" Grimm said, dusting off his leather jacket and reaching over to pick up his axe.
"The same place you learned your manners, apparently," Vengeance replied, attempting to right his bike.
"That's it. Let's go!" Grimm's axe crackled to life with its signature blue energy as Vengeance whipped out his flaming sword and drove straight at him.
Thunder crashed as the two monstrous beings came violently together under the storm-clouded skies. Steel-covered fist slammed into helmet-covered jaw. Fiery sword connected with bone face.
The two mystically reanimated beings that once were men fought endlessly, preternaturally strong muscles never tiring as lightning flashed and struck the ground beside them. They battled on, uncaring.
Nearby, the boys got back into the van.
"Does Grimm have a brother?" Tayden said with eyes fixed on the cartoon-like battle before him, Dirk and young Mr. Hill also watching.
Grimm's axe ripped through zombies like it was a sickle and they were the tares as an enraged, flaming-topped, skeleton-biker-guy literally tore corpses apart with his bare hands.
"You think that's strange... is that Priest over there making blue shit come out of zombies and... singing?" Dirk asked as he checked how many clips he had left.
Then Hill spoke with a shake in his voice. "I've been in this godforsaken hellhole, running from my former neighbors who, instead of shaking my hand wanna eat it, for awhile now, and I thought I'd seen some crazy shit, but you know what? You guys and your friends are really fucked up."
"Heh. Kid, I think I'm starting to like to you," said Dirk, smiling as he pulled the hammer back on his .45. "Well, gentlemen, we ain't getting' any younger, are we?" Dirk nodded his head toward the battle.
Tayden clinched his left fist while holding onto the book in his right hand. "Looks like we may not be getting any older, either. Let's do this."
Jason Hill just looked at them both as he fingered his shotgun. "Whatever, man... whatever."
Somewhere else, far away from that Pennsylvania town, four dark, hooded figures stood around a cauldron, watching the scene unfold.
"Brothers, is this what we envisioned for our avatar?"
The zombie army had completely encircled the two combatants, but they moved no closer. Lightning was falling, one bolt after another, making the scene look like something wrestling promoters dreamed of. Outside the ring, Priest was laughing maniacally and urging his army to cross the lightning. One zombie approached the ring and was instantly vaporized.
"We knew this would happen. It was, after all, in the cards, as they say."
"In the cards, you say? For our avatar, our watchdog, to face his possible doom mere months after his creation?" one of them inquired, not believing his ally's comments.
"Indeed. Do you not remember the oracle's warning to him?" he responded. "Besides, he must be battle-tested. And he would have to face the death avatar sooner or later, anyway. Better he learn what he can of him now to use such knowledge if necessary later."
Monroeville, Pennsylvania:
Grimm and Vengeance fought on, tearing into each other without abandon as the lightning bolts continued to surge and strike. Zombies hit the bolts and popped and sizzled, filling the area with the sickening stench of burnt and rotting flesh. Blue energy hovered in the air momentarily before finding a new home, either with Grimm or the demented and possessed Priest.
Tayden, Dirk, and Jason looked on at the scene of unrelenting horror before them. Dirk and Jason were checking their weaponry and awaiting the zombie onslaught to begin anew.
"I'm going down there," Tayden said, his face a mask of stoic resolution.
"Are you crazy? You can't survive down there. You'll be murdered..." Hill pleaded with him.
The angel, for his part, looked at the young man, smiled, and gave him a thumbs-up. "I've seen much worse than this."
Dirk Bell, never looking up from checking the jury-rigged machine gun he had placed at the bookstore window, merely said, "We've got you covered."
"Here." Jason placed a small pistol in Tayden's hand. "At least take this with you."
"No, brother," he answered. "I won't need it. I have all I need within." And with that, Tayden stepped out the door and walked toward the battlefield.
Vengeance motioned with his free hand as he stood over Grimm, having struck a brutal blow with his flaming sword. The zombies continued to be blasted by lightning as Vengeance's vicious cycle roared to life with a sound like thousands of souls screaming in defiance. The bike blasted into life, smashing through the lightning-ring barricade and circling around the two gladiators.
Stopping with its rear facing Grimm, suddenly the ends of what would be exhaust tubes on an earthly constructed motorcycle flipped open as chains shot out from both ends and wrapped themselves expertly around Grimm's neck. The bike kicked into gear and sped off, blasting through the barricade again and heading off down the street, dragging Grimm behind it.
The bike careened back and forth, making turns that no earthly bike could stay upright with, as its unwilling follower was slammed repeatedly into cars, mailboxes, lampposts, and even buildings. Vengeance directed the bike with his mind, having had months to learn the layouts of the city and its streets.