Ash bared his glowing eyes at Lita's father: no sympathy, no remorse, just pure hate.
If he hadn't used Quothe to find Lita and see if everything was ok with her, he wouldn't have known this was happening. The Raven sat perched on his shoulder, its scarred eye glowing, as Daredevil blew bursts of flames from his exhaust pipes outside the house.
"What the hell are you. What do you want?" He asked, looking at Ash in terror.
Ash pulled out Gwar, aiming the glistening axe blades at the father without hesitation.
"I am the devil, and I'm here to do the devil's work." He announced to the father, no feeling in his words, just the intention of scaring the hell out of the father.
Quothe cawed, jumping off Ash's shoulder, he pecked at the father's face. Panicking and trying to swat him off, Quothe continued to peck, only stopping when Ash slammed the axe down, hitting between the legs, just missing the testicular area. The father grabbed a gun under the table, just in case any of the debt collectors he owed would come to rough him up. He shot at Ash multiple times, but Ash just stood there, brushing the bullets off the jacket like it was nothing.
"Kraegan, you're a Kraegan, aren't you?"
Ash's eyes widened; the father called him something he wouldn't easily forgive. His hand gripping the axe in anger, the smoke from his backup head erupted.
"Kraegan? YOU DARE CALL ME THAT! YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!!!"
Ash swung again, but he was too angry and missed the father. The father jumped at the window the second he had an opportunity to escape.
"GET BACK HERE! You're dead, you hear me, I'll chase you down even if I have to burn the world to get you! You hear me, old man, IM GONNA CHOP YOUR HEAD OFF!"
Ash roared as the father ran to his car to escape from the scene. Daredevil slammed into the car; he, too, would not let the father escape. The father got the car started and peeled out before Daredevil slammed into it again.
Daredevil looked at the fleeing coward drive off, his engine revved loudly, where it didn't sound like a motorcycle revving or neighing from a horse, but a growl from an angry beast watching its prey get away.
Ash picked up Lita, resting her on the couch and gently brushing her hair from her face. He knew she would never forgive him, but he made up his mind. He was going to kill her father; he deserved it after everything he put her through.
Quothe looked at Ash; he was waiting patiently for a command.
"Seek," Ash ordered.
Quothe did as he was told, he flew to follow the father. Ash walked out of the house, Daredevil waiting for him to mount his body to ride after the father.
"Let's go, boy. This ends tonight."
Daredevil agreed, spinning his rear tire in fury as he blasted off after the car.
Quothe followed the car, the father recklessly ran over nearly everything in his path, including pedestrians.
He even nearly ran over an off-duty HVA member coming out of a bar. The member got the license plate down from memory, even though he was buzzed from his drinks earlier. He was about to call one of his peers to report the speeding car when Ash blew past him.
The sight of a headless biker in old military clothes on a flaming bike sent chills down the marrow of the spine. He immediately called his superiors about what he saw, with all the panic in his fingers as he dialed on his phone.
The father tried to get away, but Quothe was relentless; he wouldn't give up easily. The father fired shots again, anything to shake off Quothe.
"Goddamn bird, piss off." He yelled, firing wild shots after another.
Quothe dodged without any effort; the shots aimed at him were sloppy and aimless. Not even an insect would be hit by them.
Ash caught up, staring at the father. He regenerated the pumpkin head in front of him in an instant, as it blasted fire from its mouth and eyes to scare the hell out of the father. The father's face turned pale from fright, firing shots again. Eventually, he ran out of ammo from all the useless shots he fired. Ash held up a finger, giving a 'uh-huh' gesture to let the father know he was screwed.
He grabbed Gwar from his back, slamming the axe on the top of the engine of the car.
The force caused the engine to explode into pieces as the car sped out of control and hit a light post. The father struggled to get out of the car, his forehead bleeding from the cuts it received from the broken glass.
He grabbed the extra clip from the glove box, sluggishly reloading the empty mag from his gun. He ran as much as his shaken legs could carry him to another building, like the one Ash was in, which was abandoned too from Kraegan attacks. Too many in the neighborhood to count, and the townsfolk not bothering to do anything, without fear that another attack would happen, which could cost them money.
Ash got off Daredevil, signaling him to stay; he would deal with this one himself. Ash walked inside, no hurry to chase; he was methodical, taking his time to stalk the father. Removing the axe blades from Gwar, carrying them both in each hand as he scraped the walls and furniture with them loudly inside the hollow building for anyone to hear.
"Ring around the rosey, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall." He sang as he continued the stalk. He was playing into the role of a killer, doing anything to make the father suffocate in his fear.
The father hid in a closet in one of the rooms. Holding his mouth in one hand, the gun in the other, he was trying to stay as quiet as possible to avoid being caught.
"You can't hide, old man. I can smell your filthy soul. I know all the skeletons you're hiding, every sin you committed. You can't hide forever. I'm going to enjoy chopping off your head and eating it raw. Come out, and I promise to make it quick and painless."
Ash searched every room, toying with the older man's emotions. He could hear his heartbeat and breathing, even with him trying to mask his breath.
Having the hunting prowess thanks to the Hessian Robes made it all too easy. He was enjoying making the father suffer the same way he made Lita suffer. Ash entered the room where the father was hiding and tapped everything with the tips of his hand blades, still singing a singsong tune, keeping in character.
"Sleep with one eye open, gripping your pillow tight. Exit light, enter night, take my hand, we're off to never-never land." He sang in as creepy and cold a tone as he could, using a Metallica song now to mess with the father.
The father tried to stay calm; he didn't want to make even the slightest sound that would give him away.
Ash stopped singing, leaving the room in perfect silence. The father waited for a long time, not falling for any tricks that might catch him off guard. When he heard what sounded like Ash leaving the building, he crept out of the closet to look around the room for any sneak attacks. Keeping the gun at the ready, he backed up to the door to exit, keeping his head on a swivel, he looked back and forth, trying to stay calm.
He let out a sigh of relief, turning to leave and call the authorities about the attack he had received.
"BOO!!!" Ash howled as he suddenly appeared in the second that the father turned around to leave. The father screamed as he tried to fire again. Ash grabbed the gun, using his flames, he heated the gun to a high degree, to the point that holding the gun was searing the flesh off the father's hand.
The father let go of his weapon, dropping to the ground, holding his burning hand.
Ash walked slowly, the blades in his hands, the fire peering out of his hollow pumpkin eyes.
"Wait, please. Please tell me what you want. Please, I'll do anything. I'll give you anything you want." He pleaded, but Ash wasn't listening. He sobbed in panic and pain as he kept wondering why Ash was targeting him. "What did I ever do to you?"
"Not me, her, it's what you did to her!" Ash told him.
The father was confused for a few seconds, then realized he was talking about Lita.
"Her? You mean Lita? What hold on what are you going to do to her?"
Ash couldn't believe what he did next. The father grabbed a shard of glass from the ground and pointed it at Ash.
"No, not my kid. You leave her alone. She's innocent."
Ash flinched in shock upon hearing this from the father.
"You're kidding me, right. Are you actually kidding me!"
Ash burst flames from his pumpkin, feeling insulted that the father said those words.
"You beat her, mocked her, drove her mom away, and here you're making demands for her sake." The flames blew hotter and bigger; he was angrier than ever. "Why now, why act like you're a good dad now? Explain to me why I should do as you ask when you treat her badly. Why, Damnitt answer me why!"
The father trembled, even though he was not sure why; now, after everything, he chose to act decently for once. He trembled as he held the broken glass. He let out everything to Ash that he kept inside. If he was going to die, he might as well confess now before he missed out.
"'Cause I'm a piece of shit." He admitted to Ash and himself. "My wife, I didn't love her anymore after we had Lita. I was greedy and bored. I wanted everything I felt owed. I forced her away cause I couldn't stand seeing her as a reminder of who I was. But Lita, Lita's different."
He voiced, choked as he tried to finish his speech.
"She is so capable, full of life—something I'm not. I was jealous of her, seeing her so full of hope for her future and loved by that boy. I was jealous of her, and I took all my frustrations out on her."
Ash's flames slowly calmed down; he was still on his guard.
"I love my girl, but I can't stand seeing her happy without me. I don't want her to leave me behind, so I make her work all the time, and I hit her to make her stay and be obedient. I'm sorry, do what you want to me, but leave her alone."
Ash gripped the blade handles hard. He couldn't believe he heard this. He didn't want to hear it or believe it. He wanted to hate, wanted to kill. Now he was conflicted, he wanted to do it, he wanted to kill the father. He couldn't waver now.
Ash tried to swing the blades down; he was so close to cutting the father's head off. He looked up before the blade connected; he thought it was either divine intervention or his conscience playing a trick on him, but he saw what he believed to be a ghost in front of him. Amelia's ghost.
She had a look of disappointment on her face, her saddened eyes staring into Ash's.
"What are you doing? Stop staring at me like that," he pleaded to her, not wanting to disappoint or make her sad.
"This is the right thing to do. He deserves this. He deserves this the most. Stop staring at me like that." Ash continued to beg the apparition in his heart. He couldn't let her see him like this, not like the monster he was trying to be. Ash looked at the father, still shaking in fear.
His whole body shook in frustration. He wanted to do it; in his thoughts, he was doing the right thing; this was justified. But his heart didn't lie; he didn't really want to do it; he just wanted to scare the father, get even for Lita. He let his emotions get the better of him, making him act recklessly. Ash tried to force his arms to move, to cut the father's neck, but his arms wouldn't obey; they refused to answer his call.
"Damnitt, Damnitt, DAMNITT!" He screamed as he slammed the blades into the floorboards in front of the father.
The father nearly urinated himself in fear from that outburst. Ash dropped the blades and grabbed the father by his shirt collar.
"You, you have no idea how lucky you are. How badly I want to hurt you." Ash lifted him, continuing his rant. "You deserve this, you deserve this!"
Ash gripped the shirt tighter, nearly ripping the fabric.
"You, never appear in front of Lita again. If I catch you following her, spitting in her direction, or even laying another finger on her." He pulled the father close to his ghostly face. "I'll eat your soul alive!"
The father nodded, agreeing to Ash's terms. Ash let him go; the father scurried off like a wounded animal in survival mode.
Ash repeatedly thuds the blades into the ground, having a tantrum about the situation. He couldn't do it in the end, even after his moment of acceptance of his role as the Horseman; he still couldn't do it.
He lifted his head slightly to see Amelia's ghost again, still standing there. He tried reaching out, like a little kid wanting to reach out to his parent, whom he had not seen in forever. Just wanting to touch her again, her voice, anything to feel like he wasn't losing his mind to his own emotional breakdown.