Chapter 20

The second that cackle rang out, Jackie knew that he was in for some shit. The lights winking out as the fuses blew from the sheer mystic power of an unbound and vengeful spirit was the sorta shit Jackie'd expected. The forcible vacating of the Hookers they'd hitched a ride on by the Succubi ain't, though. One moment, the Succubi-Possessed Hookers'd been moving around, ready to try and kill whatever was fucking with the lights, the next they'd just froze like they'd been stopped by some kinda time mojo. A wave of power blasted through the club, blowing out whatever glassware and windows ain't already shattered from the fight, and suddenly the Infernal Presence of the Trio of Succubi winked out, banished back to the Pit.

The same went for the bindings keeping the various ghosts tethered to the wait staff and bartenders. Jackie'd watched them get banished back into the Netherealm too, and from the soundsa the wails coming outta them, whatever spirit's been doing this ain't too picky about banishing the Ghosts to the right afterlives, neither. The three Zombies, Tempest and both of the Bouncers managed to weather the release of mystic power more or less intact, but they'd hadta draw on Papa Midnite's reserves of mystic juice to do it, and now the Houngan looked like he was running on fumes.

"Shit! You three get back here and guard me!" Ordered Papa Midnite.

The three Zombies retreated back toward where Papa Midnite was holed up behind an overturned table, guarding his flanks. Jackie ain't sure that'd do him a whole shit ton of good, though. Whatever'd just been called up was powerful and it was pissed as Hell, maybe even literally. Jackie was forced to lay down his strongest Shield Spell, the Eightfold Shell of The World Turtle, Just to avoid being blasted back outta the Club through the wall from the sheer power.

"Oh, Linton. Haven't you learned by now you can't beat me without your tricks?" Cackled the Spectral Voice.

"Cedella, get back to the Pit! I'm ordering you!" Tried Papa Midnite.

"Oh, but without our more physical connection, I no longer have to take orders from you! No more seducing Dukes of Hell just to pick up secrets that you can use as blackmail from pillow talk, no more trading away my afterlife for power that I can't do anything with 'cause you take it all, none of it! I'm free to do as I choose now, for the first time in over three centuries!" Snarled the Spectral Voice, coalescing into the spectral form of a black woman wearing the sorta shit that ain't too outta place in a period piece about seventeenth-century Jamaican Maroon Settlements.

"Cedella, I'm warning you, get back in. . ." Began Papa Midnite only to be cut off.

"Back in where Linton? Back to the Pit? Back in my Place? No, never again, Little Brother! I am free to do as I please now, and what I please is to send you back in my stead!" Shrieked the Spectral Woman.

"I warned you! Kill her!" Spat Papa Midnite.

As he did that, the trio of Zombies opened fire. The Two Bouncer Zombies emptied their magazines of Demon Bone Bullets, while Tempest fired off some more of the same kinda Thermo-Kinetic Blasts that'd given Jackie so much trouble. Unfortunately, the Spectral Woman, apparently Midnite's dead sister Cedella, raised her right arm and conjured a translucent shield to block the Demonbone Bullets, while her left hand wreathed itself in black light as she batted Tempest's bolt away with contemptuous ease.

"You never were my Equal, Linton. That's why you had to come at me in the night. Your bindings on my Soul gave you the extra power you lacked on your own. Now, I take that power back!" Snarled Cedella.

As she said that, she waved her arm and ripped the tendrils of necromancy and spiritualism binding the trio of Zombies to unlife out of them. Their corpses fell to the ground like a buncha puppets with their strings cut, the magic keeping them going literally torn outta them. Another gesture from Cedella set the remains on fire my mystical power. Jackie'd come back when this was all over and mix salt into the ashes just in case, but he hadta survive first. Papa Midnite seemed to have pissed off his Sister something fierce and there was no telling if Jackie'd get caught in the crossfire just yet.

Speaking of Papa Midnite, he tried to muster some kinda defense against the Spectral Wraith of his Sister, conjuring a black shield in front of a bolt of crimson flame that Cedella's Wraith spat forth at him. The Shield Held, barely, only for Cedella to wave a hand and a bolt of lightning to crack forth and smash into Midnite's Shield, shattering it. Papa Midnite stumbled backward and Cedella muttered an incantation in Liturgical Vodoun and made an arcane gesture. As she did so, a shadow detached from the wall and formed a tendril that wrapped around Papa Midnite's Leg, pulling the Houngan up by his ankles to suspend him mid-air.

Midnite spat forth an invocation and thrust his hands out in a mystic gesture, pouring green fire onto the Spectral Form of his Sister, but she snapped a shimmering shield in place with a wave of her hand and the flames washed off the shield, catching on furniture and starting a fire in the club. Jackie looked around and spotted the unconscious and no longer possessed forms of Three Hookers, two bartenders, and six waitresses and groaned. These two clearly don't care 'bout the bystanders, they're too caught up in their family pissing match to do so. Jackie'd haveta be the one to get the unconscious outta here before the two of 'em burned the Blue Bayou down around them and made the unconscious workers into a statistic.

Immediately he began to get to work, using his Chi techniques to carry out the unconscious, no-longer-possessed, Workers outta the Club and out onto the street. As he did so, the fighting between Papa Midnite and his royally pissed-off Sister continued. Jackie'd had to parry a conjured iron spear that Papa Midnite'd conjured up to try and throw at his sister, only for her to teleport outta the way, his Resplendent Crane's Wing Block, batting the weapon away from the unconscious form of one of the Bartenders that'd been slumped against away and into the wall instead of the Woman's Chest. He Conjured a Mystic Shield to block the backlash from a Fireball powered by literal Hellfire which would've burned one of the Unconscious Hookers to ash, and was forced to use the Strong-Maned Pig Smashes the Stubborn Rock to punch apart a boulder that'd been tossed his way to avoid it crushing a Prone Waitress.

Slowly, as the Mystical Duel wrecked up the entire three-story building, Jackie used what he had left in the tank after his extended fights tonight to get folks who woulda been collateral damage outta the line of fire, dragging 'em out onto the street. Eventually, he managed to get all of 'em outta there without taking so much as a single other flesh wound on his part or losing a single, unconscious, no-longer-possessed, Worker. He coulda called it a day there and just let the pair fight it out, but Jackie ain't about to trust that they'd take each other out like that. He ain't that lucky.

Instead, Jackie plunged right back into the chaos that was the Blue Bayou Club, blasting through Hurricane Force Winds and smashing apart conjured obstacles in his way to emerge outta the storm and into the eye. Papa Midnite snarled as he sent his last bit of Mystic Energy at the Spectral Form of his Sister in a crackling, whirling, bola of purple light. His Sister merely cut the spell outta the air with a blade made outta pure shadow before once again gesturing to the wall, where a shadow detected itself and wrapped around Papa Midnite, pinning the Houngan's Arms to his sides.

"What. . .will you do now? You. . .can't kill me, you know." Spat Papa Midnite.

"Oh, Brother. Three Centuries as a Houngan and you still haven't learned? Death is a Mercy compared to some things out there. I plan to serve you to Queen Triskele on a platter and settle our business with her once and for all." Sneered Cedella.

"No!" Roared Papa Midnite, firing one last-ditch blast of white, Abjuration Magic at Cedella. The Beam lanced out from Papa Midnight's eyes only for Cedella to lean her head outta the way with a bark of laughter.

"I know all your tricks, Brother, it's too late for them now!" Calcked Cedella, snapping her fingers.

Suddenly, Papa Midnite's form disappeared in a puff of brimstone and smoke, the smell of sulfur letting Jackie in on just where exactly he'd been sent. With a growl, Jackie prepped to charge in, the words of one of the most powerful Banishment Abjurations he knew already forming on his lips, but Cedella made no move to do anything but watch him.

"What? No puffs of brimstone for me?" Questioned Jackie.

"Would you like me to send you to the Pit?" Queried Cedella's Spectre back.

"Not exactly." Admitted Jackie.

"Then count yourself lucky, for I have no issue with you." Intoned Cedella's Spectre.

"Coulda fooled me. Ain't you never heard of Collateral Damage?" Asked Jackie.

"Please, this was three centuries in coming. I would destroy a hundred clubs like this to be able to enact my vengeance upon my Brother." Scoffed Cedella's Spectre.

"Still, you ain't exactly given me much choice." Pointed out Jackie.

"Yes well, be that as it may, my earthly tethers are now resolved. Perhaps now I can finally find myself some peace in the afterlife. With any luck, you will never see me or my Brother again." Intoned Cedella's Shade.

And with that, Cedella's Shade began to vanish, fading back across the veil between mundane reality and the various afterlives. That was lucky, 'cause Jackie ain't too sure he'd've been able to fight something like Cedella's Shade and come out on top in the end. Not with how banged up and gassed he already was right now. Of course, it was about that time that the Hellfire finally spread up one of the walls and the alarm system started going off. Jackie beat a hasty retreat to a payphone about a block away and called in the fire to nine-one-one. He stayed long enough to make sure the firemen got an ambulance for the unconscious, no-longer-possessed, Workers, and that Cedella ain't about to come back.

Once he was sure of that, he headed back to his Safehouse. When he reached it, he didn't even bother shucking his armor, he just collapsed into the bed and slept the sleep of the dead for the next twelve hours. The next day, he headed for the JSA Headquarters at the Old Dodds Mansion to do a bit of sightseeing before heading back to Gotham. He grabbed a ticket for the tour, thinking he'd see a piece of history. He ain't had any way of knowing that there'd actually be a living legend in residence, though he probably should've.

After all, it was the Man's House before it'd been the JSA Headquarters. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we see how the final bit of the Confrontation with Papa Midnite plays out. Cedella's Ghost and Midnite went at each other without caring too much about folks who might be caught in the crossfire, leaving Jackie to play crowd control and ferry the no-longer-possessed, unconscious, workers out of the Club before it burned down around them. In the end, Cedella sent Midnite to the Pit for all the shit he made her do while she was forced to effectively be his slave.

In canon, she made Midnite commit suicide after Constantine wound up freeing her, but that never made any sense to me. Midnite is immortal and after being his slave for so long, Cedella should know that. I felt this fit a lot better, given the nature of his crimes against her and the knowledge of his capabilities Cedella should have had.

Now, Jackie's taking a single day to sightsee before heading home after dealing with Midnite's Family Drama and Planned Revenge on Constantine all wrapped up into one adventure. He's decided to take the tour of the JSA Headquarters at the Old Dodds Mansion because Jackie is essentially a Mark for the Golden Age Heroes of the JSA, despite his criminal past.

That is coming up next, featuring an appearance by Wesley Dodds, the Original Sandman. It's his house, after all. I figured we needed a bit of a breather chapter after three chapters of dealing with Evil Houngans and Dark Voodoo.

Stay tuned. . .