#8 - Tapping the Vein, Part Four

by Des Davies

Previously... the Seekers in New Orleans were too late to stop the ritual and arrive in time to see the portal opening. Jennifer is led to a secret room in the Seekers HQ where she meets a member of the previous group. Zarathos possesses the Hulk.

The people around Firestar, Moon Knight and Frank Drake, moved back as the temperature around her rose dramatically. The smell of burning wood filled the air as the wood under her feet started to ignite. With a screech of rage and frustration she let loose the emotions that she had been burying for too long in the form of a focused microwave blast. It was directed at the man standing at the altar in the basement below. In his hand he held a long, curved dagger that dripped in blood.

Instead of frying the murderer where he stood, the blast hit a red barrier that suddenly appeared before him. Her shriek of rage intensified at being denied and she poured more power into the next blast. The red shield buckled, but held under the new onslaught. The material close by it was not so lucky, and the clothes on the bodies of the dead that littered the ground burst into flame.

A heavy thump sounded as Ghost Rider landed on the basement floor and started to stalk towards the blood drenched altar. Immediately, people erupted from the shadows and ran at the spirit of vengeance. The chain unwound itself from his wrist and he swung it in an arc about his head. The first few that tried to get past it, to tackle the wielder, were killed as the mystic metal sliced through them. In complete silence he slowly moved towards his goal.

In the remains of the room above, Magick screamed, "Firestar! Ghost Rider! Stop! You can't kill him. We need him to reverse the ritual."

Ghost Rider appeared to have heard as he turned his attention to the crowd of people and vampires that now crowded around him. There must have been more than twenty of them, and they were getting smarter. Some would faint to attack, allowing another to slip past the whirling chain. Three of them piled onto the Rider and the chain slowed its arc as he was forced to deal with the closer threat. The others did not have a chance to take advantage as a dervish with a silver katana fell amongst them. Blade cut right and left, spinning and moving with a speed that was awesome to see. Blood drops flew through the air, marking the path of the sword. The numbers would have eventually won out, but then Ghost Rider was beside him and the crowd rapidly thinned out as the pair dispatched one after another.

Firestar did not appear to hear as she continued to power the fury of her microwaves at the man at the altar. They only stopped when she received a sharp blow behind the ear from Moon Knights staff. He caught her as she stumbled and laid her on the ground.

"She always that blood thirsty?" Drake asked.

"No."

"She could have been a victim of the spell that got King."

"No," Moon Knight answered again as he stood. He glanced upwards, and was rewarded with a stomach-clenching nausea as the form of the creature moving downward through the portal became clearer. He clamped down on it.

"Let's get down there," he said to no one in particular. Grabbing hold of the edges of his cloak he jumped from the balcony that was the remaining floor of the room. The cloak acted as a parachute and he landed easily and ran towards the man at the altar.

Back on the balcony above, Drake muttered, "Easy for you super-tights. Me, I'll break my fool neck." Then he lowered himself to the floor, slid over the edge and after dangling by his fingertips, dropped to the ground below. He too moved towards the altar.

Moon Knight was about ten feet away from the man when he saw him raise the dagger into the air. The mad gleam in his eyes told Spector everything he needed to know. Without slowing he slipped a crescent shaped dart into his hand and whipped it outwards.

The dart sunk into the back of the man's hand, and the knife clattered to the ground. The man cried out in pain. The cry was cut off as Moon Knight's fist caught him below the jaw, putting down and out.

He spun as he heard footsteps approaching from behind. Drake stepped up, holding a hand out. A moment later, Magick arrived, clad in her gold and red armor, with the SoulSword carried before her. Moon Knight noticed the crimson that dripped from its edge, but said nothing.

"What now?"

"I don't know," Magick replied with a hint of desperation edging her voice.

"What?" Moon Knight and Drake demanded together.

"I don't know the counter to this. I just know that the original caster must be present when it's performed. We need to get Jen here, now. This is more in her field than mine."

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

"I was waiting to make sure he wasn't killed." She pulled a cell phone from her pocket and dialed Jennifer Kale's number.

"Very mystical," Drake murmured, pointedly not looking at the amorphous shape that was now plainly visible above.

Jennifer Kale heard the cell phone ring, but was a little too busy to answer it. She was not adept at creating dimensional portals and if it was not for the situation, she would not be doing so now. Two men stood on her either side. Neither looked in good shape.

John Blaze winced each time he took a breath, even after the healing magic that Jen had used on him. His face was still puffy with bruising, although both eyes were clear. He carried a double-barreled shotgun in both hands.

The other man, John Kowalski, from what he had told Jen, was responsible for pulling this group of Seekers together. He was the last surviving member of the previous group. He had not told her that he was a ghost, and was possessing this body so that he could, among other things, bring the Seekers together.

Jen relaxed, letting the physical world around her slip away, until she could see the lines that connected everything together. Ley lines, some people called them. The sheer number that connected through this building was almost enough to shock her back to full wakefulness. The ley nexus point, where all the lines merged, was huge, and made this spot a source of power parallel with Stonehenge or Ellis Hollow in New York. Her fingers stopped their intricate pattern as she considered the new possibilities. She dispelled the magic she had been calling, and started again, pulling on the power of the lines around her.

Blaze glanced at Kowalski, when a huge smile played across Jen's face. He received a smile and a nod in return, supposedly meant to be comforting. John Blaze did not like unknowns, especially when they related to one of his family. He had lost too many over the years for that. Before he could say anything, he felt something grab hold of him and pull. In the blink of an eye he was elsewhere. There was nothing to see, other than a warm, welcoming yellow radiance, and his two companions. He had only a breath to take it in and he was gone again.

When he stopped this time, he was back in the physical world, but hundreds of miles south of where they had started. He did not have time to worry about that, as there was a more immediate concern. On the side of the highway, no more than a hundred yards away, sat the wreck of a car. However, it was the green-skinned behemoth standing on the other side of the mangled vehicle that sent cold tendrils of ice through his soul.

John Blaze had fought at the side of the Hulk in the past. Only it had not been a Hulk with a skull for a head that was wreathed in orange and yellow flames.

He pumped the shotgun and walked forward. Raising the gun to his shoulder he aimed and pulled the trigger just as the creature turned his head to look at them. Under his breath he muttered, "Gonna kill you. Die."

The last word was repeated over and over.

Still adjusting to his new form, Zarathos was unable to dodge the blast of Hellfire and it hit him full in the face. Even with the Hulk's body, he was not immune to the mystical flames and he bellowed his pain. Blaze pumped the gun again and let loose with another blast. He had closed to within twenty yards.

The pain-maddened Zarathos lashed out with one arm and it crashed against the car's remains. They tumbled end over end towards Blaze and Kowalski, who had been pacing him. They both scattered to the side, and the car flew past them.

As they rolled back to their feet, Blaze glanced behind him to make sure Jen was okay. To his amazement she was talking on her cell phone. She hung up the call, saw his look of disgust, and shouted, "Helps coming."

He turned back in time to see the Hulk, even with the flaming skull it was hard to think of him as Zarathos, on one knee, his hands raised high above his head. He brought that crashing down to the ground, and the shockwave rippled outwards, flinging the heroes back off their feet.

Blaze steadied himself and brought the shotgun back to bear. This time the demon was holding a young man, his huge hand wrapped around his head.

"Go ahead Blaze. Shoot me. See what happens to the mortals head."

Blaze hesitated, but Kowalski did not. He had snuck around behind the Hulk, a large knife in his hand. He stepped in and thrust the tip of it into the Hulk's armpit. Blaze was amazed to see it cut in, like a knife through butter. He was relieved when the boy was dropped, without harm, as the Zarathos-possessed Hulk roared in pain, and jerked his arm away.

Kowalski shouted, "Get out of here Wayne. Run!" Then the Hulk hit Kowalski, and the crunch could be heard clear across the highway, and his body flew almost two hundred yards before crashing back to earth.

Zarathos turned blood-red eyes back on Blaze, but before he could say anything, another voice, as cold as the artic stopped him.

"Zarathos! That is the last mortal you will kill."

The speaker was Noble Kale, the Ghost Rider.

Next: Zarathos versus Noble Kale, Blaze and their allies. The rest of the Seekers try to reverse the ritual.

To be continued...