23 Chapter 21: Justice League vs Ghost Rider 3

AN: I woke up generous

"talking"

'thinking'

"Ghost Rider voice"

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"Flash, take Superman, take him to the medical bay, now!"

"I won't leave you alone against that"

"I'm not alone"

Suddenly more and more heroes were arriving towards the area where they were. Next to Green Lantern came Black Lightning, Shazam, Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter, Captain Atom, Cyborg, Vixen, Black Canary, and right on the roof was Green Arrow aiming towards the rubble of the building, as soon as they told him, he would shoot everything he had, and everyone knew he never missed.

Finally, the rest of the Justice League had arrived.

The entire building, which had fallen on top of Edgar, was piled up in tons of bricks and concrete. Clearly, anyone would have been defeated by such an event. But the League knew Edgar wasn't just anyone. No Alpha threat listed by Batman himself would be so easy to defeat, let alone having defeated Superman so severely.

However, the heroes hoping for movement registered nothing. A long minute passed, no movement from the rubble. Everyone had the same thought.

'Is it all over?' But their optimistic thoughts were interrupted when one of the rubble moved.

There they witnessed, as if it were a 90's horror movie, as a skeletal hand slowly made its way to the surface. Then it was the other hand, and so on. After a few seconds, a skull, dressed in biker attire, which only had a lot of dust on its clothes, but no scratches, was rising.

Then as if that wasn't bad enough, the skull, which at this point had its head down, raised its face and looked at them. Then, its head burst into flames.

"SHUUUUU" (AN: I don't know how flames make noises hahaha, but let's just say they go like this).

Orange flames with blackish hues danced across his head. The flaming skull stood there looking at them all, however, it didn't move, it just stood there... waiting. Everyone tensed at this situation, but no one attacked.

To attack recklessly without knowing your opponent was suicide, and from what they saw when they arrived, Superman had paid the price for such carelessness. He was the most powerful of the League, but he was not invincible.

At this point they remembered why they had initially formed the group. To be able to fight powerful opponents that only one could not master alone, to fight threats like this... being. Another minute passed, no side moved, but everyone was tense about the situation. After waiting, John Stewart lost his patience and spoke.

"Surrender now, with Superman you were 1 vs 1, but now you are outnumbered and you are alone, you don't stand a chance."

"Who said I'm alone?"

"...Guys, there's a problem- AGGGGGGG" Green Arrow's shout baffled the assembled heroes. When they turned to look at the building he was in, said hero was gone.

Out of nowhere a large shadow materialized on the spot, out of the shadow came a dog over 2.5 meters tall. Its fangs were as big as the head of an average person. Its obsidian claws so sharp that they could dismember bodies at the slightest touch. And its eyes, those almost orange-red eyes, glared menacingly at the group above its master.

This was Duke, or his true form, a Hellhound. Whose power was in melting into the shadows and attacking. His strength was also not to be questioned, as he could easily strike a grizzly bear and kill it with one blow.

What surprised and terrified the heroes most, however, was not the sight of this monstrous dog. It was what was in his jaws that chilled everyone's blood. In Duke's jaws he held the arm of Green Arrow, said hero was hanging totally unconscious, his hand was bleeding heavily from where Duke was biting him, any harder and he would rip his arm off.

Black Canary exploded at this, but as she prepared to attack and save Green Arrow, she was stopped by Martian Manhunter who telepathically called out to her.

<They've got Ollie, we need to attack>

<Yes, but strategically, not recklessly. I'll hook everyone up to the neural net> Martian Manhunter put a couple of fingers to his head and closed his eyes. Within seconds everyone present could speak telepathically to each other.

John Stewart, being the person with the most experience in joint missions due to his experience as a Green Lantern Corp took the lead

<good >

<let's go>

They all agreed, it was good strategy, as it put the heavyweights on the one who had finished off Superman himself.

<Martian, support the first group against dog, but stay away from skull, its fire can easily damage you. But try to mentally incapacitated it, see if you>

<I'll try> Martian Manhunter tried to mentally attack Edgar, but this was a stupid mistake. Quickly J'onzz started screaming.

"AGGGGGGGHHH I'M BURNING, HELP ME, I'M BURNING, AGGGGGH" he screamed as he grabbed his head. Shazam seeing this, quickly acted and hit J'onzz hard by the back of the neck knocking him unconscious.

The Martians were a race that, due to the extreme conditions of their planet, learned to adapt and over time generated many useful abilities because of it. Their abilities were shape shifting, accelerated regeneration, super strength, great speed and flight. But what most characterized them was their telepathy. An ability that made him quite useful for the League and dangerous for his enemies.

Needless to say, if Superman was considered the most powerful, Martian Manhunter was the most versatile of the group. Even Superman had said in a training session that, for him, the most dangerous member of the League was Martian Manhunter because of his great versatility.

However, like Superman with the kryptonite. J'onn J'onzz also had a weakness that easily incapacitated him. This was fire. The cells of the Martians were too sensitive to the components of the fire. This caused these cells to die at the slightest touch of the flame. However, the phobia of fire was such that the Martian race also acquired a mental fear of this element. That is, if you could confuse a Martian that he was burning with fire, you could easily incapacitate him.

(AN: fun fact: this, actually happens in the comics)

And at this point, J'onzz had been stupidly mistaken in trying to read Edgar's mind. If J'onzz was afraid of fire, Edgar's mind was hell itself to him.

"I don't like it when they try to read my mind" Edgar spoke menacingly. Edgar knew that the spirit of vengeance had strong mental barriers. These same barriers prevented him at first from being able to control his powers, and turned him into a monster without reason whose only purpose was to kill sinners. However, with meditation and some mental exercises taught by the order, he has been gradually breaking those barriers and being able to control his powers and his thirst towards sinners.

"Damn it" John couldn't help but exclaim, they hadn't even begun to fight and they had already lost a heavyweight like J'onzz. They had also lost the way to communicate mentally.

"Vixen, take him to the Watchtower"

"...Well" though she didn't want to leave, Vixen agreed. J'onzz would be a liability at this point, but she still regretted not being able to be in on the action. She hoped the others would be fine without her. She quickly touched her necklace and a cheetah and a spirit elephant manifested above her.

Her totem, which had been inherited from her mother, the ancient protector of her people, was called a Tantu Totem. A necklace said to have been bestowed by the god Anansi himself to her people to protect them from external threats. Her powers made her simulate any ability of the animal kingdom. At first, Marie could only master one skill at a time, but with training she has managed to mix up to two different skills.

At this moment, she was simulating the strength of an elephant and the speed of a cheetah. Quickly taking Martian Manhunter, she set off for the nearest portal to reach the Watchtower.

John, seeing the precarious situation in which he found himself, did not hesitate any longer.

"League, attack!" The league moved in groups.

Again, John simulated a giant hand that sent Edgar flying, pulling him away from the giant dog and taking the fight to open ground. Duke wanted to follow his master and help him, but a loud sonic scream meant he had to melt into the shadows and materialize far away. The only thing that completely affected his ability of shadows was just the ice and the sound. He had to get rid of that dangerous lady.

Duke's ability allowed him to blend into the shadows, but he had restrictions. He could only blend into places he saw or knew. And he could only appear if there were just that, shadows. Which was impossible for him to appear where Edgar was, because the main avenue where they were fighting was completely illuminated.

Also, the bigger he gets, the bigger shadows he has to look for to appear, otherwise he can't materialize either. When he is the size of a 'normal dog' he has no problems, but right now, at his original size, he is quite limited by the shadows of the buildings and the walking alleys.

(AN: imagine that Edgar was sent to fight on the avenue, where there are no buildings anymore, only the road, which is highly illuminated, and they have no shadows. Duke is where there are buildings, and yes there are shadows, but some are bigger than others. He could make himself smaller, but that would affect his strength and speed)

However, when he materialized from the other side, a strong tornado attacked him sending him flying, crashing into a light pole. Red Tornado was a robot that had quite powerful sensors. He had already scanned Duke, and had his energy signature. As soon as he sensed where he would appear he attacked. Red Tornado attacked again with another tornado, but Duke was faster and melted into the shadows, again.

The boss (Edgar) had told him to only get involved if the entire League went after him, but not to use lethal force against them. However, his superior sense of smell that registered the odor of this red human, which was titanium, iron and other metallic elements, plus his great hearing that did not hear any heartbeat, made him conclude that this thing was not human and that gave him the green light to attack with lethal force.

He materialized a few meters behind where Red Tornado was and with a great leap, he opened his snout to cut the robot in half. However, a high wave of electricity intercepted him in mid-flight and sent him rolling away. The electricity didn't affect him, but it was still annoying and a bit painful.

He couldn't even get up when another sonic scream attacked him which made him groan loudly. The shadows that covered his body, were beginning to wane from this sonic wave. He needed to get rid of this woman quickly. She was the most dangerous to him.

"Keep attacking Canary, he seems to be weak to your scream" Black Lightning said. At this point, the three of them were working as one big unit. They were slowly starting to beat this monster.

Red Tornado interrupted his thoughts and said.

"Black Lightning, Canary, on your left" Exactly where Tornado had said, Duke was materializing. Quickly the three of them attacked. However, the giant wolf was very fast and melted into the shadows just in time for the attacks of the three to miss him.

"Right" Red Tornado spoke again. Each time he materialized, Red Tornado intercepted him. Left, right, back, forward, each time little by little the attacks of the three got closer and closer.

However, something happened that cut off all the excitement the heroes were feeling.

"Forward" was the command given by Red Tornado. However, when the three attacked, nothing was there. Red Tornado, hastily said. "It was a trap, on your left" However, it was already too late. When Red Tornado and Black Lightning turned to attack, they could only register as Black Canary went flying hard, crashing into a wall. Blood started pouring out of her head from the blow.

'Damn it' thought Black Lightning. That thing had set a trap for them, and now the only person who had the ability to affect it, had fallen. Now it was just the two of them, against that monster.

------------------

On the other side, Green Lantern was currently trapping Edgar in a large green construction, which simulated a metal safe. Edgar was hitting the said construction, but every time he made cracks in the construction, Green Lantern reapplied more power and made him return to his original state.

After Edgar had fallen into the avenue after being thrown by Green Lantern's hand, he didn't even have time to get up when a white lightning bolt hit him, sending him to the ground again. Then, as if it wasn't bad enough, a sonic laser attacked him, strongly disorienting him.

Being blind, his senses of hearing and smell had been fully maximized, and being in this transformed state, those senses were greatly multiplied. A sonic attack was completely painful for him. When the attack finally subsided, and his disoriented mind was returning to him, he was finally able to register that he was trapped in a giant green box. Green Lantern simply told him.

"Give up, you're trapped"

Edgar pounded and pounded, and although every blow he delivered caused the box to crack, it never fell or shrunk. Then Edgar opted for another approach.

Edgar placed both his hands on the surface of the box. He didn't know how Green Lantern's power worked, but at this moment, if he could describe it, it felt exactly like a metal safe, that's how real it felt.

Edgar was amazed, he had heard on the news and forums that Green Lantern could create whatever he wanted with his mind, but he never thought that what he created would feel so... real.

However, he put his astonished thoughts aside and began to act. Edgar began to heat said box with his hands, the temperature began to rise because of this. John's ring began to emit more energy because of this, sweat was pouring down his face. Even though he could not feel the heat of its construction, and fortunately he did not because then he could realize that it felt as hot as the sun itself, the ring was trying to generate more energy derived from John's willpower, which made him start sweating, as he was getting tired at this point because of so much energy spent.

Unfortunately, his willpower could not withstand so much power and with a strong explosion, which generated a great wave of wind, the green construction was destroyed.

John knelt down from exhaustion. Although physically he was fine, mentally he was a mess. He had used up a lot of power trying to contain it, and his battery was clearly not at 100%. If he could tell, his ring was at less than half power. At this point, he was really regretting not charging the ring, but he couldn't stop and cry, he had to keep fighting. Fortunately, he was not alone. Shazam came and helped him up.

While Shazam supported his friend, Edgar was fighting on two fronts. On one side, Cyborg was striking with his sonic boom. On the other he was being attacked by pure atomic energy, courtesy of Captain Atom. He couldn't hurt him, but if he could tell, the power of the nuclear superhero's attacks were just as powerful as Superman's laser vision.

Both heroes opted for a cautious approach, and did not go close to hand-to-hand combat with this being. So, from both sides, they preferred to launch their attacks from a distance.

However, Edgar was not going to let them do as they pleased. Edgar opened both skeletal hands, and, as if by magic, a chain and a rifle shot out into his hands. Then with a swift movement, he threw the chain toward Captain Atom.

Captain Atom flew to try to dodge it, but the chain was anything but normal because every time it spun, it spun with him, chasing him. It also seemed to have no end, as the chain grew and grew, trying to reach him, as if its length was infinite. In the end, he could dodge no more, and was caught by his feet. Then with thunderous speed and force, he was pulled out of the sky like a projectile, where he was going he could not guess.

Cyborg could not help his friend. For while this chase was going on, he was dodging several fireballs, as big as baseballs. At first he simply materialized a shield from his hands. But then he realized, these balls could melt the metal of his body.

It must be said, his body was made of various metals. And over time, it has been modified to become more resistant and powerful. Even using in the part of his torso and head a bit of Promethium. That fire could melt his hands, which were made mainly of Iron and Titanium, told him one simple thing, that fireball easily exceeded 3000 K.

There he had no choice but to run and dodge. Since this being was sending several balls towards where he was. The funny thing is that it didn't even look at him, it simply shot as if it knew where he was. However, his ordeal ended when the skull stopped shooting.

This took Cyborg by surprise, but then his danger sensors quickly warned him to move. However, it was too late and he was unable to prevent a projectile travelling at thunderous speed from smashing into his body, sending the two flying away several kilometers, crashing hard into the ground. This was Captain Atom, who had fainted as a result of the blow. Cyborg was no better, as he had also lost consciousness, but his robotic senses were still alert.

Shazam and Green Lantern, who had recovered, looked at the scene with apprehension. Two heroes had fallen, and not even this monster had tried that hard. Shazam put on a straight face and said to him.

"Lantern, I have an idea how we can defeat him. I need you to distract him for 1 minute to get me close to him"

"Copy that" Green Lantern flew and with great willpower generated a fighter jet. He sent it flying at subsonic speed towards Edgar. Edgar was not idle and quickly began firing several volleys of fire that caused the green plane to crack. In the end, Edgar was able to destroy the plane before it crashed into him. But, he could not claim victory because he was interrupted by several green chains that held his hands and legs, causing him to fall to his knees.

Edgar wanted to escape with his strength, but the chains got tighter and tighter as he exerted pressure. In the end, he again opted to warm them up, but it was too late. The distraction had worked and Shazam had arrived right where he was.

The chains stopped holding him, but Edgar was unable to move as Shazam grabbed him tightly in a big hug and lifted him to the ground. Then with a great and powerful voice, he shouted.

"SHAZAM!"

A great and powerful white lightning bolt fell on Edgar's humanity.

This attack was so strong, that for a moment, a great white light dazzled the whole place.

In the end, Edgar was lying there, smoke was coming out of his inert body and the fire in his head had been extinguished. Shazam released him and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Edgar had been defeated.

Or so they thought...

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Duke was being attacked from two sides. When he approached Black Lightning, strong winds knocked him down. When he approached Red Tornado, torrents of black electricity attacked him, numbing his body. These heroes, although there were two of them, were quite well coordinated. Black Lightning then generated a field of electricity so powerful that it sent Duke flying, but he recovered quickly and attacked the man again.

Red Tornado returned to support his partner, but this was what Duke wanted and he quickly feinted and melted into the shadows to materialize behind Red Tornado. Red Tornado didn't expect this, and when he reacted, Duke's jaws already had him in the center.

The last thing his robotic eyes registered was a black lightning bolt striking the giant dog's body, however, its circuitry was destroyed, quickly its battery died. The robot was completely split in half, the once yellow eyes was completely off.

Black Lightning knew that was it. He was alone against this giant dog and he was also quite tired from using so much of his power. He hoped to last long enough for someone to arrive, but his hopes were very low.

Duke quickly materialized to attack him, said hero didn't even move, he just awaited his fate. But as if Lightning's prayers were answered, a blur quickly took him out of attack range. Flash had arrived.

Another blur, less fast, but still at a considerable speed approached from behind Duke taking him by surprise. Vixen hit Duke's side and sent him flying with the power of an elephant's stampede.

Finally, both heroes had arrived and were ready to support their partner. Duke got up quickly, the fight continued. But before he attacked, this one stopped when his senses registered something bad, something quite bad.

'Oh no, I need to get to the boss before it's too late' thought Duke. So he decided to ignore the heroes and started running towards Edgar.

But how could they let him go. He was quickly thrown into a wall again, this time it was by a less powerful, but faster punch. This was Flash.

"You can't leave. You've been a bad dog and you have to be punished" commented Flash comically.

However, something had changed and Flash had to move before he could be inserted into Duke's long claws. Flash was taken by surprise by this. Clearly that attack was dangerous enough to seriously injure him and even, if that attack got him in a vulnerable area, it was capable of killing him.

All the heroes tensed at this. Something told them that it was not going to be like before, that this new fight would be life or death.

At this point, Duke no longer cared about anything. Whether he had to seriously injure or even kill these heroes, he didn't care. Right now all he wanted was to get to his master. Before it was too late.

Before the monster gets out....

----------

"SHAZAM" a strong bolt of lightning struck Edgar. The impact was such that it left a lot of smoke on the skull's body, even the special clothing was a bit shredded, exposing the entire skeletal body of his spirit of vengeance.

Edgar lay there, inert. His fire was extinguished. Then, as if he were a rag doll his knees began to weaken, and finally, as if his body held the weight of the world, he fell limp into unconsciousness.

The mission had been a failure. He had a five-minute window to kill the Joker and leave. But he was swayed by Batman's words that held him back. In his anger, for having used his feelings for Diana by Batman, and made him doubt his convictions, he had beaten him severely to teach him a lesson. But this was a mistake, because it gave him time for Superman to arrive.

Superman was tough and powerful, but inexperienced, his great confidence in his power was his downfall. In the end he defeated him, and although Edgar perhaps got excited fighting Superman, going overboard with severe burns and severe beatings, in the end, it gave the League time to come to his rescue.

There, he could only use Duke to help him defeat them and finally escape.

Edgar needed a lot of concentration to generate his portals. Concentration that he has not been able to have, due to all the events. Not only that, but he knows that he is so inexperienced in such power, that it takes several seconds to generate a portal, it is not immediate. Depending also on the distance, this portal may need more power coming from him.

(AN: His portals work like Dr. Strange's. So you will have an idea)

There is also the fact that he does not know if the League can track the location of his portal. That's why the plan was to ride the motorcycle out of town, and eventually open the portal so they couldn't track him being far enough away. But now, he could no longer just leave, because Superman and the League would never let him go. So he had to fight them and defeat them.

However, Edgar's thoughts were interrupted when his consciousness was transported to a completely white platform. At the end of the platform, there were stairs, which led to a temple, also completely white.

The temple was Roman in character. And there were two statues at the entrance. The one on the right side was a statue of an angel raising his hand, and the one on the left was that of a horned demon sticking out his tongue.

Both statues contrasted with each other, but they were so well done that the image fascinated Edgar. But it was not all pretty. On the sides, Edgar saw how the temple and the platform were surrounded by dancing flames.

However, Edgar felt no heat at all, he at this moment, registered nothing. That's when the realization dawned on Edgar

'My eyes. I can see again!'

That's right, he had been so distracted by the sight that Edgar never realized that he was seeing it with his very eyes. Those blind eyes that normally could only see souls. Tears began to fall. This was his dream. He thought he had finally regained his sight, but a voice cut off his excitement.

"Don't get excited. Your sight has not returned. You can only see because you are in your mind" A honeyed voice came from inside the temple. Then a figure materialized before Edgar's eyes.

He was a man with slightly curly black hair, quite handsome with sharp features. He was tall, about 6 ft and had an athletic build. He had signs of a beard, but this did not detract from his handsomeness, on the contrary, it enhanced it. However, what was surprising were his eyes, their color was such a deep and beautiful blue, and they seemed to glow in the light of the fire that adorned the temple. They looked like the purest and most beautiful blue flames.

"Edgar, we finally meet. So long I've called out to you and you've just ignored me. You're making me feel hurt" said the mysterious man with a slight smile.

"Who are you?" Edgar asked cautiously. At the moment, the man looked like his father to him, but he had different features.

"Oh, so long blind makes you can't recognize yourself Edgar. I, dear friend, I'm you"

"Impossible. You're lying!"

"Hahahaha. Yes, it's a lie. I'm not you. But this body is yours. I thought a familiar face would make you feel more comfortable, but I was wrong. Maybe I should wear the look of that beautiful Amazon, you like. Maybe some nice boobs will make you feel more comfortable"

"Don't you dare!"

Edgar ran and attacked the man. But the man simply dodged it effortlessly and with a swift movement threw a kick right to Edgar's ankle that made him stumble. At this moment, Edgar felt extremely weak, as if all his power and strength were gone.

"What did you do to me?"

"Me? Nothing. You did it all to yourself. Did you think that fighting against many strong opponents wouldn't take a toll on you? How naive you are. But you brought that on yourself. If you had listened to my call from the beginning, all those weaklings wouldn't even have made you sweat. But it's too late. Now your body is about to be captured, and your mind is not well enough for you to do anything about it. In my eyes, you're a damn disappointment. But don't worry, I'll do you the favor this time. But when I call you back again...you will coming"

"What are you-?" But Edgar couldn't finish the sentence when several chains materialized holding his arms and feet.

"SET ME FREE" Edgar shouted angrily.

With all his might he was trying to break free, but it was useless. At this moment he felt like a simple normal human. A normal human who could do nothing in this situation.

"Goodbye Edgar, see you soon" Saying this, the man simply started walking towards the temple

Edgar kept shouting to be released, but each time, more and more chains emerged binding him. Finally, a chain bound his mouth, stifling his screams. Tears of helplessness streamed down his face. At this moment he felt the weakest.

-------

All the heroes had finally arrived where Edgar was down. After much struggle, they had finally managed to defeat him.

"Cyborg, tie him up with the suppressor cuffs. He needs to be taken to the Watchtower, he has a lot to answer for" Green Lantern requested the youngest member.

"Understood." However, when Cyborg was less than a meter away, his danger sensors went off in his mind

'DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER'

"Guys, move now!" the heroes quickly ran at the warning. And just in time, because just at that moment, a loud explosion rocked the area where Edgar was lying.

Then they witnessed something that made their blood run cold. There was the skull, standing there as if nothing had happened. His clothes were intact as well.

But something was different, something in the heroes' senses told them that they were no longer fighting the same person they had fought before. Something told them that this, was something else, something more powerful, something more dangerous.

Their instincts were telling them to run, sweat from fear was beginning to materialize on their face. And it was all because of a change in the being. A simple change that made them tense up like never before.

The fire in the skull's head... it was blue. That's right, Edgar was no longer present.

At this moment... There was the Ghost Rider

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