The five completely different people looked at each other warily. Ragman, the Collector of Souls. Nightshade, Sorceress of Shadow. Enchantress, the girl turned Wizard. Blue Devil, the movie star demon. And Detective Chimp- the Monkey PI.
Before all of them stood the Phantom Stranger- the one man who had somehow been related to all of their origins. White pearly eyes flashing, he floated about a foot off the ground, his words eerie and his chin square.
"Warriors. I bring you here to swear oath under the Shadowpact." He claimed, voice booming through the small tavern they were in.
An ebony black book appeared in front of him- reminding Enchantress of her spell book that had been gifted to her by Nzamor the demon.
Phantom Stranger telekinetically opened the book, as it landed on a certain page.
"Enchantress. Step forth." He said- Nzamor's own voice echoing his own. Hesitantly, she did- walking up to the magical book.
"Do you, June Moon, hereby known as the Enchantress, swear to lead this team of rogues and renegades to victory in overall conflict?" Stranger spoke gently, even if it was loud.
"I... I do." She said carefully. A quill appeared in her hand.
"Sign your name in your blood."
Being extremely gentle, Enchantress prodded her fingertip, red blood soaking the quill. Writing her name, she set the quill down before walking back to where she stood before.
Stranger was about to call up on one of the other heroes- however, a loud crash was heard as the windows shattered. Souls made by Neron flooded the bar, drawn to the many souls on Ragman's suit. However they were held back, as a powerful shield formed between the two parties.
"You doing that?" Blue Devil asked the Phantom Stranger, only to receive no answer. However, the mystery man's eyes were gleaming a brighter shade of white, and slowly the souls were forced back.
Turning back to the group, he continued the rituals, until finally all of the members of Shadowpact were formed.
"I now pronounce you all," Stranger started, only to be interrupted by Enchantress.
"Husband and wife!" She yelled, floating up in the air at her joke. Everyone stared at her.
"Shadowpact." Stranger said, with significantly less drama as had been intended.
"So now we're a team. What about the souls knocking at your shield?" Ragman said- some of the first words he had spoken once inside the tavern.
"They are souls from the great beyond, sent by Neron. I would go to challenge him myself. But not only am I weakened by something mortals such as yourself wouldn't understand, the universe has greater encounters and challenges for me to overcome."
Enchantress yawned- this guy was boring.
"So, I shall leave you to battle the souls and keep the city of Gotham safe. Others may help... But not on my command. Keep battling till the fight is won. And do not fear. For I've seen unto the future." He said, as he floated up into the air.
They waited, before Detective Chimp spoke. "And you saw...?"
Stranger made a small smile. Before a flash of light exploded in between Shadowpact and him, not harming any of them- however, when the light cleared, he was gone- the shields lowered.
Masses of souls rushed toward them all, and they swiftly prepared for battle. Ragman was the first to react to the waves of souls- leaping forward and waving his cloak over the first wave of souls, absorbing them all and making a considerable gap between him and the rest of the ghouls.
"Woah..." Nightshade commented, eyes widening.
Ragman leaped toward the army of souls, wildly sending punches and absorbing the souls. For a while it seemed like he could potentially solo the entire invasion.
But then, another person noticed this- Neron himself must have turned his attention to the warrior of souls, and gave the minions a new set of commands.
Now, the ghouls flung themselves at Ragman instead of actually fighting. Coating his suit in souls, they soon amassed in the thousands.
Ragman- at least, the man inside- found himself unable to move. All of the angered souls were now in control of his suit. And he was powerless against them...
Slowly the suit turned onto the other members of Shadowpact- who were stunned by his display of prowess.
"bhreghAAAAH!" Roy Regan shouted as he was spewed out of the chest of the suit, collapsing on the floor in front of his comrades.
Crawling to his feet, the scrawny man turned to his suit that had rejected him. It stared back. Roy recognized the power emanating from inside of it. Slowly, he swallowed. "Run."
"Didn't need to tell me twice!" Enchantress shouted as she clapped her hands in the direction of the roof, making a large explosion as a hole opened up- being made by a green fireball that Enchantress created.
Nightshade leapt agilely toward the roof, Detective Chimp hopping up and riding on her piggy back style, while Blue Devil grabbed Roy and jumped after them.
Enchantress herself flew up the hole, as Ragman dashed after them. The souls followed both parties- some, attaching to Ragman, and others simply chasing the Shadowpact.
Leaping across rooftops and alleyways, the team members of Shadowpact soon grew weary. Specifically, Nightshade did- carrying around Detective Chimp the entire way- and teleported onto Blue Devil's shoulder with a pant.
Enchantress, trailing behind, summoned three large fire elementals to fight for her, the elementals roaring and firing blasts of flame at the suit made of rags. However, the suit felt no pain whatsoever. It simply continued toward them- but rags were slowly burning off.
Detective Chimp shouted from Blue Devil's shoulder at Enchantress. "Fire seems to work on the suit, use that against it!" He yelled as he drew a flask from his warm detective jacket. Uncorking the lid, a slender gun barrel slid out of the hole- and by works of steampunk design it transformed into a flintlock pistol. Nightshade noticed this with a raised brow.
"Built this back in the nineteen-twenties." He explained as he aimed to the Ragman. However, they were going too fast.
"Take the shot." Nightshade said confidently as they rode along, Blue Devil relentless in their escape. Squinting, Chimp focused.
"Take it!" Nightshade shouted now, as Ragman advanced.
Firing, the bullet traveled toward Ragman- but it was easy to see it would not make it's mark. Summoning a small purple portal in front of it, the bullet passed through the portal- appearing again behind Ragman and headed toward the back of his head.
The bullet worked perfectly- exploding just as Ragman attempted to leap over a small alley. Flames burst onto his cloak as he fell down the alleyway, the other souls still in pursuit.
"We need to get to the city dump! There we can form a plan, and I can collect my suit." Roy shouted over the chaos as he simply hung onto Blue Devil- feeling quite useless.
"Got it, boss!" The demon looking creature shouted as he drew his spear, twirling it around and hitting several souls as Nightshade made a couple portals to make souls fall into- leaving them to die in the Nightshade dimension.
"Go!"
Roy, Chimp, and Enchantress raised a brow at Blue Devil.
"We've got it here, go!" Nightshade yelled.
Without waiting for reason, Enchantress made a large bubble around the two who could not fly, and went to the nearest dump.
"We can't just leave them!" Roy shouted at their team-mate. Enchantress didn't care- she'd seen some scary sh!t in those souls, pardon her French. Very bad magic, from a very bad person. She knew now why the Phantom Stranger didn't want to duel their leader. Power like that shouldn't belong to anyone.
As they arrived at the dump, Enchantress dropped them a bit shakily. Landing agilely, Chimp looked around. "Ok, Roy, do what you need to do." He said gruffly.
Roy scrambled to his feet again, standing atop a small mountain of trash.
Thrusting out his hands, he waited, closing his eyes. Struggling. He had never absorbed souls without the suit. And, he didn't think he even could. But his new allies were counting on him.
The Stranger's voice echoed in his mind. The power of rags and souls are not to be used without your gift, Roy Regan. However, I shall permit you this power. But be warned, for my gifts shall not come often...
Ignoring the voice, he kept trying. Enchantress was the first to notice the souls around them turning into cloths and rags. Flying toward Roy's pale skin, they attached to his body, increasing in number as they soon covered his entire body. Soon enough he looked almost exactly like he did a few minutes ago.
"Much better. Now... let's go meet my other half. And check up on Blue Devil and Nightshade." He said, cape billowing as he flew into the air a few feet. "Then I want to have a word with Neron."
It was bold words, and highly unlikely. But if they met Neron by the end of the night, both Enchantress and Ragman would have something to say to him. No- ALL of Shadowpact, would have a word to say. For they were now a team. A team that would last an eternity....
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