Chapter 30

"Hothead, you're pretty sturdy!" the man yelled mid-air. His landing shattered every window in the building. "Haven't had a fight like this in ages. Come on, show me your best shot!"

Juggernaut crossed his massive arms over his chest, waiting. Johnny wasn't one to waste an opportunity.

Johnny stood, scanning the wrecked asphalt around him, and spotted a manhole cover. He picked it up and swung it with all his strength at the giant. The cover shattered into pieces, but the attacker didn't even flinch.

"Damn! That strike could turn a man into a bloody smear, and his armor doesn't even have a scratch," Johnny thought. "He's protected by some kind of invisible force field..."

"Not bad, little Tyson," Juggernaut sneered. "Now watch how real men hit!"

The giant grabbed a nearby car and smashed it into Johnny, turning the vehicle into a heap of scrap metal. Beneath the wreckage, Johnny reflected:

"Why the theatrics? Doesn't he see how quickly my bones regenerate? Without nerve endings, I don't even feel pain. Or is he testing ways to kill me?"

When Juggernaut tossed aside the car remains, his face beamed with a broad smile.

"Wake up, Hothead! The night's just getting started!"

Johnny discreetly drew a knife from his boot, ignited it with flames, and hurled it at the giant's chest. The blade sank to the hilt. A thin trickle of blood dripped from Juggernaut's mouth. It was a direct hit to the heart.

"You're pulling a knife in a fight?" Juggernaut pouted, like a disappointed parent over a bad report card. "What a hillbilly!"

The next punch sent Johnny flying again. The crimson blur of Juggernaut charged after him, plowing through a dozen buildings.

"So my flames can penetrate his force field, but it doesn't matter," Johnny thought, watching the knife wound close instantly in a crimson flash.

Finally, Juggernaut stopped, tossing Johnny into a lamppost. Shards of the lamp scattered onto his skull.

"Did you see me run?" Juggernaut laughed. "That's my super move—the Unstoppable Juggernaut! Now show me your big trick!"

Johnny activated the Penance Stare. A fiery spiral of sins flared around Juggernaut's head but dissipated instantly, as if hitting an impenetrable barrier.

"Some kind of psychic crap?" Juggernaut frown. "Fight like a man!"

The next punch launched Johnny across the street and into the wall of a music store. Juggernaut's laughter echoed in the distance:

"And now for a musical break! Get it? Musical break!"

Johnny lay among the broken musical instruments, sheets of music fluttering down onto him.

"If this keeps up, that idiot will destroy the whole city. And I'm supposed to kill this magical Hulk with just this," he muttered, gripping a pair of drumsticks.

Johnny stepped out onto the street. Juggernaut stood a hundred meters away, smirking. Johnny extended a hand and gestured for him to attack.

"Hothead, you a karate master now?" the enemy jeered, striking a runner's pose. "Show me your kung fu!"

Juggernaut accelerated into a crimson blur once again.

Johnny quickly hurled the drumsticks, which wrapped around a lamppost, securing the piano wire he held in his hands. With a single motion, he pulled the wire taut at Juggernaut's head level and ignited it with hellfire. The metallic string glowed bright, turning into a lethal trap.

"Oh no," muttered the unstoppable force.

His head flew off his shoulders, and blood flooded the street.

Now to remove the helmet and burn that thick skull.

"That hurts, you bony pig!" screamed the head mid-flight. Juggernaut's hands caught it like a basketball and placed it back onto his neck. The wound healed instantly. "Now you've made me mad!"

A crimson flash! Juggernaut grabbed Johnny by the skull and charged forward, grinding calcium off his bones with every wall they smashed through.

"Get out of the way, morons!" Juggernaut roared. "I'm about to beat the Hothead to a pulp!"

"No, oh no," Johnny thought, realizing where they were heading.

The crimson missile slammed into a gas station. The resulting fuel explosion shot flames skyward. No one had time to evacuate in a single second.

"Are you an idiot?!" Johnny yelled, climbing out of the fire. "I'm the Ghost Rider! Fire doesn't hurt me! You just killed innocent people!"

Juggernaut laughed.

"Oh, so you can talk!" he exclaimed cheerfully, kicking a charred corpse. "Feeling sad over a bunch of nobodies? Don't pretend you're a hero. We're both killers."

A new, unfamiliar fire began to burn in Johnny's ribs. He had never wanted to kill someone this badly in his entire life.

"I never hurt those who didn't deserve it," the Rider said, his hollow eye sockets fixed on Juggernaut. "I've never taken an innocent life. I only kill parasites who ruin others' lives. And now you've claimed the top spot on my list."

Johnny unleashed the fire inside him. He felt himself transform. Everything burned. Not just hellfire—something brighter, more merciless. Golden flames erupted through the usual blaze, and Johnny felt himself slipping away. His consciousness blurred, his thoughts drowned in pure rage. His body began to change: bones elongated and grew stronger, the air smelled of molten metal. The fiery trail behind him melted asphalt, and every bone seemed sharp enough to cut steel.

Johnny wasn't thinking. He wasn't holding back. He had become a storm, a force of pure destruction.

"Oh-ho-ho! Is that Zarathos I see?" Juggernaut bellowed gleefully, his form changing too. His skin turned crimson, bony protrusions emerged from his body, and lightning danced in his eyes. "Then meet Cyttorak!"

Zarathos didn't listen. Zarathos thirsted for vengeance. Zarathos saw a sinner, and nothing could stop him. Golden flames burned through sin as Zarathos charged into battle.

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