Chapter 16: I'M BACK

(AN: Sorry about going AWOL, this is just a habit of mine. Lose track of one hobby to pursue another for a couple months. This happens with games too, I never finish too many of them. Doesn't help I work a full time job now. Excuses aside, I'll try to fix that from here on.)

Reviewing what few cameras weren't demolished in the aftermath of the Rider's rampage, the Warden of the prison tallied up not the deceased he left in his wake, but rather the survivors. Those being far fewer and easier to count.

Looking over their files, all twenty of the prisoners he had left alive, were ones that had solid reasons behind their crimes, or scuffed trials that likely weren't even correct. Being that his job was to contain prisoners and not reason why they were sent to him, he had just let these people rot there.

'But, if he's crazy enough to murder those he has no sympathy for, will he really leave those he does behind? Or, will his plan not stop at just breaking out?' Suddenly, the warden got worried that he might try to spring all the surviving prisoners.

Looking down at his desk, more specifically the button hidden inside his desk, he realized this quest would bring the Rider directly to him. And if the Rider saw him face to face, given his ability to judge crimes from a glance? He'd die.

Simple as that. As a warden, guarding the release button of the prison, he actually had some combat ability of his own. Not as much as the best guards mind you, high level positions as always were given to those with connections more so than capabilities.

Sadly for him, some combat ability might as well be none in front of a monster that could break out of section 10. Thinking in this direction, was a very poor decision on his part.

The more he thought, the more he feared. The more he feared, the faster he thought. Color drained from his face, following the sweat down to drip off his chin. His job as a warden was at risk from the start, that was painful but he wasn't too scared.

Now that his life was on the line, his composure shattered like the glass house it had always been. He did anything he could to improve and cushion this life, and would do even more to preserve it.

Worst thing was, he would never know this but he was overthinking it.

Knowing how difficult it was to break out of this prison, the warden had assumed this entire scenario with the thought that the Rider knew how it worked, knew the layout, and planned for all this.

Never in a million years would he guess this was brainstormed within minutes, and that this massacre was being executed by the seat of his pants. And because of all this panic, the warden made the worst mistake of his life. He dialed up his phone, one of the few connections to the outside world that worked, and called for help.

His desperation was reaching it's peak, as the Rider was already mopping up his efforts of Section 1, the final section of the prison. He had already taken out the main guards, and all the prisoners deemed guilty. All that was left were the reinforcements from the ground floor.

-----

Faced with a giant metal mace swinging towards his head, all the guards had hopes in their minds of that damned flaming skull cracking into a thousand pieces. As if mocking them without even knowing, the thing that cracked was the mace, being gripped by that gloved hand.

He had stopped it inches from his face, the wind of the blow fanning the flames on his head, and gently pushing some of the unconscious guards on the ground. Completely undisturbed by this event, Jack looked into the middle aged guards' eyes.

He was actually a retired hero, who was active way back in the days when All Might was active in America. Jack knew him well, for he was a knight themed hero and always preached about chivalry. The kind that focused more on the knights code, and less about worshiping women like some today think it is.

"I like you, so I'll give you the best advice you've heard all day. Take this one and stay down." He made the respect in his tone quite evident, which shocked the experienced man, who thought this vigilante was just a mad man.

With that, Jack reeled his fist back and pounded forward at the retired knight, who made his own metal shield with his quirk to block it. He had even made a tower shield of all things, but that just made it more depressing to watch the fist make a large crater in it.

The shield flew backwards despite his best attempts to steady it, slamming into his nose and bloodying it. He also flew back from the force, and slammed into the wall, slumping unconscious. 'If only I had fought this lad in my younger years. I might have made a hell of a friend.'

With that, all the remaining guards actually started drawing back. They liked their jobs, held high confidence in themselves, but even they knew this was the end. This man had already taken down every single guard on the other floors.

What idiots did they have to be, to think they were any different. He might be exhausted after all that fighting? Bullshit, he isn't even breathing heavy, not to mention they don't even know if he can sweat. Does he even need to breath?

Dropping to his knees, one guard pleaded. "Please, please don't kill me. M-My wife's expecting within the next couple months. I-I-" He could hardly complete his words, let alone a full speech. A grown man was shaking, crying on the floor in fear. Not for his own life, but for his future.

Rather than have his ego grow at what he can do, Jack actually felt kinda bad. Striking this kind of fear into men who didn't deserve it, that brought no joy to him whatsoever.

"I hunt the guilty, the damned that belong in hell. You, and your comrades, are neither of those things. Much like those below us, I will spare you all too. The Spirit of Vengeance has no interest in punishing the innocent."

Without a second thought, he started strolling past the man on the ground, making no efforts to keep any guard up. All the guards between him and the final elevator, stepped aside, though some were so stiff they almost fell over trying.

As he rode the elevator up, he made a decision. Instead of bothering with a small time warden who might not even have the information of prisoners in other prisons, he was heading straight for the big guns.

Jack was gonna gun it straight for the Island Warden himself, directly across a literal prison island. While going through each prison one by one and killing all the criminal sounded fun, not only would he terrorize too many innocent guards for his liking, but he had a job to do.

Jackie still needed to be saved, and he needed to stop wasting time. The whole point of this path of his, was to not waste time like the cops or heroes did. So he needed to take that a little more seriously from here on. And anyone who got in his way, would regret it greatly.

----

Having broken the usual communication silence Riker's Island held with the outside world, the warden had inadvertently done the worst thing he could possibly do. Leaking information to the one man he shouldn't.

All for One now knew about the events occurring on Riker's Island, in much greater detail. And not only that, but he had some ammunition to use, that he was going to use liberally.

"Hey little Jackie. Well, I wouldn't say little, you've grown up so fast." The irony in his sharp words was not lost on the girl, who scowled at him, but didn't waste the energy standing up or yelling at him, and instead just sat on the ground.

'He's just trying to trick us again, just ignore him. Shut out his words, they drip with poison. Just a single drop will not only kill you slowly, but addict you to more.' Perhaps, Jackie was one of the few people to truly see through the heart of All for One.

He knew this too, but he was not disturbed at all by her seeing through his words and his plans. The mind and the heart were not always perfectly connected, after all. And so his poker face continued.

"Don't be so sour, I have some really good news for you. Your friend is breaking out of prison!" With that, he displayed the footage he had gotten of the Ghost Rider fighting with one of the sectors, which one he actually didn't know but that didn't matter.

That small call was all it took to open a tiny hole in the firewall, which one of his men was able to get through and gather this data. It wasn't much, but it was all he needed.

Looking up, Jackie saw her hero, her only hero, fighting to get out. She knew people's minds well, she saw the tiny differences in his movements near the end of the fight. He was anxious, desperate deep down.

He wanted to get to her, as quickly as he possibly could. And she wanted that too, oh how badly she wanted him to save her. To bring her back to her sister. She'd do anything to have that happen.

And that's when All for One knew, he had a bite. With the only other image he had gotten in that small window, he displayed the courtyard out in the prison, a fairly recent image.

Nearly 50 heroes, and well over two hundred guards some of whom were also comparable with heroes, were lying in wait to jump him the second he left that building. Not to mention, the dozens of guard towers scattered throughout the island, who had traded their snipers for modified anti-tank rifles.

Modified not by the military, but by I-Island themselves. These babies packed a punch no other gun could, and only Riker's would have the funding to buy as many as they did, let alone the ammo fired from them which could punch through the prisons themselves if fired wrong.

"He's strong, but I'm scared your friend might not be able to make it through this in one piece. Who knows, maybe his thumb will still make it to you though." Jackie's heart dropped once more, but she immediately moved to pick it back up.

'This is just his trick, raising my spirits to drop them again. I won't let him win, I can't. He won't either. He'll find his way out. Won't he?' No matter how hard she believed, she lacked certainty. And that unknown terrified her far more than her current fate.

"He has no one to help him. He's all alone out there, fighting by himself to save you. But, he doesn't have to be. You can return the favor. I'll let you do it. I'll let you save him." Underneath his mask, a sicking grin grew slowly across All for One's face.

'He's tricking me again. There's a trap in there, somewhere. No way would he let me do this without some master plan.' Her logical thought knew exactly what was going on. But the doubt had been expertly planted in her heart from the start, and now it grew tainted, tempting fruit.

'But we can outsmart him. We can use his plan to our advantage, save Ghost Rider, and save ourselves.' For the first time in quite a while, Jackie stood up and looked at the audio only feed of, not her captor, but the mastermind behind her captor.

"Alright. Where do I begin?" And with that, despite Jackie's best efforts.

All for One, had won once again.