The creation of the automobile changed every aspect of human life, but more importantly, it gave humanity a new avenue of looking really cool. There's just something about a muscle car or a motorcycle that pushes a character's cool factor through the roof, and none know this better than Robbie Reyes, the possessed Los Angeles teen cursed to be Spirit of Vengeance, and Makoto Niijima, the biking Queen of the Phantom Thieves! Without further ado, let's put the pedal to the metal and obey the gospel of the throttle for this high-octane collab between Cfp3157 and Laquearius as these two teens with exaggerated swagger take to the streets in a no-holds-barred race to the top! Who is DEADLIEST?
Robbie Reyes[]
| “ | ...amid all the hellfire and penance and racing to beat the devil, it's family that keeps us sane.
— Robbie Reyes
|
” |
In a crime-ridden neighborhood of LA, Roberto "Robbie" Reyes struggled to provide for his disabled younger brother after they were abandoned by their parents. One night, Robbie entered an illegal street race in a desperate attempt to earn money, having borrowed a car from the garage where he worked. The car contained stolen drugs, and Robbie was cornered and gunned down by mercenaries. In his dying moments, Robbie was possessed by the spirit of Eli, his devil-worshipping serial killer of an uncle, who granted him the powers of a Ghost Rider, a Spirit of Vengeance. Robbie's desire to use his powers for good clashed with Eli's bloodlust, but Robbie kept control over his body and mind. Eventually, after encountering the Avengers, fighting Celestials, and racing Johnny Blaze, the original Ghost Rider, Robbie mastered his powers. Eli's influence waned and became dormant, and Robbie embraced his role as an Avenger and a Ghost Rider.
- Vehicle: Hell Charger: Robbie's vehicle is the Hell Charger, a demonic 1969 Dodge Charger once possessed by the spirit of his murderous uncle. Possession has granted the car a variety of supernatural abilities. It has a 6,000-horsepower engine, on the level of a typical drag racer. It constantly emits hellfire, can drive on any surface or even underwater, has a trunk that functions as an interplanar teleporter, is completely bulletproof, and repairs itself quickly enough to keep driving after a missile impact. Robbie can control the car remotely, allowing it to fight alongside him. It can become selectively intangible, allowing it to pass through solid walls or pass through Robbie and strike an enemy on the other side.
- Superhuman Physicality: When he transforms into a Ghost Rider, Robbie's physical abilities surpass human limits. He's strong enough to swing around steel beams as weapons with ease, crush firearms into scrap, and tangle with monsters much larger than him in hand-to-hand combat. He's fast enough to keep up with, albeit barely, Johnny Blaze, the first Ghost Rider, who's quick enough to catch a bullet in his teeth. He's fireproof, hardy enough to keep fighting after taking hits from She-Hulk and Amadeus Cho, and so tough that rounds from pistols and submachine guns bounce off of him and leave no damage.
- Healing Factor: Robbie heals from wounds much quicker than a normal human, but not to the same extent as previous Ghost Riders. Serious wounds like impalements close quickly and will fully heal within a matter of hours. Robbie can regenerate much faster by connecting to the Hell Charger.
- Hellfire: Robbie can project hellfire, a staple of all Ghost Riders, from his body. He can launch plumes of it from his hands and mouth or channel it through his weapons. Hellfire has some unique properties; it burns the soul as well as the flesh, doesn't require oxygen to burn, and can block magic.
- Hellfire Weapons: Robbie can summon a variety of weapons made of hellfire, including chains, hooks, knives, tire irons, and crowbars. The chains are especially unique; they change length according to Robbie's will, can be topped with other weapons, and can be summoned from the ground or the Hell Charger. Chains are by far Robbie's favored weapon. He frequently uses them to restrain his foes before swinging them around to beat them into submission.
- Teleportation: Robbie can create portals on any surface that lead back to his car. While inside his car, he can create pairs of portals that connect with each other. Portals created from the car can have even hundreds of miles between them.
- Penance Stare: Like all Spirits of Vengeance, Robbie can perform the Penance Stare by locking eyes with a victim at close range. This causes the victim to suffer all the pain that they have inflicted on others in their life. However, Robbie is unfamiliar with the use of the Penance Stare and only ever used it once by accident.
- Expert Driver: Robbie has been familiar with cars since childhood. He's participated in multiple street races, frequently coming out on top against older and more experienced drivers. Thanks to its supernatural speed, acceleration, and handling, he wields the Hell Charger on the road and in battle as if it were an extension of his own body, even when controlling it telepathically.
- Skilled Hand-to-Hand Combatant: He hasn't had any formal training, but Robbie is a decent fighter in close quarters. He combines his supernatural abilities and weapons, the Hell Charger, and a style of physical brawling to take down large groups of thugs and giant monsters alike.
Makoto Niijima[]
| “ | Come to think of it, there was something he used to say to me all the time... "The most important part of your life is how you choose to live it."
— Makoto Nijima
|
” |
The sister of public prosecutor Sae Niijima and the student body president of Shujin Academy, Makoto Niijima devoted herself to her studies following the death of her father, a police officer. She eventually became the student body president of her high school when so-called delinquent Joker enrolled in the academy. She was initially tasked with investigating the possibility that the Phantom Thieves were Shujin students, successfully uncovering that Joker was their ringleader. Rather than hand them in, Makoto decided to utilize their talents to help stop the kingpin Junya Kaneshiro from selling drugs to Shujin students. She is taken hostage by Kaneshiro during the investigation, but is rescued by the Thieves when they are forced to become indebted to Kaneshiro. She joins them in their attempt to steal Kaneshiro's Treasure, where she awakens to her Persona, Johanna. Makoto joins the Phantom Thieves from then on, helping to uncover the Conspiracy and working alongside the Thieves to reform society in the Metaverse. After the Thieves disband, Makoto goes to college, with ambitions of becoming a police officer like her father.If you got big poopy brain, she and Joker end up dating
- Vehicle: Agnes: Makoto's Persona is Agnes, the supposed true name of Pope Joan, the legendary medieval woman who disguised herself as a man and became the pope. Agnes takes the form of an armored motorbike. Makoto summons Agnes to her side by removing her mask. Most Personas move freely through the air, but Agnes acts more or less like an ordinary motorbike, albeit one that can make physics-defying jumps and stops. The use of a Persona drains the user's strength and stamina over time. If a Persona takes damage, the user will also feel a similar pain. Agnes, and by extension, Makoto, is immune to nuclear attacks and resists curses, but is weak to psychic attacks.
- Offensive Spells: Agnes specializes in nuclear attacks, offensive spells that create miniaturized nuclear blasts that can vary in size and power. She can choose to launch a blast at a small area or use a cone-like attack that hits a wider area but has shorter range, as well as create small explosions when she hits things with Agnes. These nuke attacks are particularly effective against foes inflicted with shock, burn, or freeze. She also has access to skills like Flash Bomb and Vajra Blast, which are physical attacks that can inflict status conditions like dizziness, as well as Makajama, which has a high chance of inducing a foe with forgetfulness, and eliminating their resistance to nuclear attacks. Agnes can also infuse her nuclear power into Makoto's fists, making her punches do nuclear damage with each strike as well.
- Supportive Spells: Agnes's most useful powers come in her support spells. In addition to being the Thieves' back-up healer, this she has access to potent healing spells like Mediarahan and Mediarama, she also has access to a number of support spells that can boost her allies, or her own, defenses, attack power, accuracy, and evasion. She can also heal mental status conditions like confusion or fear as well as end the debilitation of herself and allies with Dekunda. Finally, she has access to Checkmate, which briefly lowers the attack power, defenses, accuracy, and evasion of all her enemies.
- Passive Spells: Agnes has a multitude of passive talents, including ones that boost the power of her already powerful nuke spells, make Makoto more evasive of psychic attacks, and give her an automatic boost to her defenses in battle. Agnes's unique trait is Gaia Blessing, which grants Makoto and her allies an increased chance of inflicting burn, shock, or freeze.
- Superhuman Physicality: Makoto developed superhuman physical abilities when her Persona awakened. She's tough enough to survive magical attacks that would kill any normal person, while her strength allows her to crack walls and beat large Shadows to death with relative ease. In close combat, she moves like a blur and can throw dozens of punches in a few seconds. She's quite nimble as well, regularly engaging in parkour and leaping to great heights with the rest of the Thieves.
- Judge End: Makoto's preferred firearm is a revolver. One of her strongest guns is the Judge End, a weapon created from fusing the archangel Michael into a revolver. A harmless prop in reality, it becomes a real weapon in the Metaverse. The enchantment grants powerful boosts to Makoto and Agnes's strength, magical power, endurance, agility, and luck. The gun is closest in appearance to a Colt Single Action Army and functions the same way, with a six-round cylinder and a single-action trigger. Makoto is quite skilled with her revolver, able to land shots on airborne Shadows and she can even fan the hammer.
- Unparalleled Vajra: Fitting of a martial artist, Makoto's primary weapon is a pair of tekko, basically large spiked brass knuckles shaped like stirrups. The Unparalleled Vajra is a unique pair empowered by fusion with a Hindu demon. With each strike, the tekko have a chance to inflict one of many ailments, including burns, freezing, stuns, dizziness, sleepiness, confusion, fear, rage, hunger, forgetting one's own abilities, and even temporary brainwashing.
- Ring of Envy: Makoto wears a magical ring created from her sister's Will Seeds, fragments of her psyche. The ring automatically powers up the first spell she uses in battle and grants her a unique spell that temporarily boosts her agility.
- Skilled Driver: Makoto is the Phantom Thieves' main getaway driver, and for good reason. She can skillfully maneuver Agnes through chaotic battles and ram into Shadows in an impressive display of motorcycle-based car fu. She also drives the Morganamobile during the Thieves' heists, stealthily steering through Shadow-infested areas and evading crashing debris while escaping from collapsing Palaces.
- Expert Martial Artist: Makoto has professional training in aikido, a style focusing on defense with throws and pins, but she also displays familiarity with several other martial arts, including karate and Muay Thai. In the Metaverse, she combines her skill and her tekko into a highly aggressive style of mixed martial arts to beat down Shadows.
- Skilled Investigator: Makoto is one of the smartest members of the Phantom Thieves, acting as their primary strategist and planner aside from Joker. She's capable of deducing what most enemy shadows are resistant to, and she learned the identities of the initial Phantom Thieves before they even realized she was onto them. She was also capable of lying in equal measure, convincingly keeping her identity as a Phantom Thief from the very woman investigating them, her own sister. She isn't great at stealth, though.
X-Factors[]
Experience
Since being caught up in the life of a Ghost Rider, Robbie has become a magnet for danger and chaos. He's protected his hometown from criminals, mercenaries, mutants, and monsters, fought against several members of the Avengers at once, battled cosmic beings like the Celestials, and defeated demons and other Ghost Riders during a trip to Hell itself. His power and skill has even led him to become a full-time member of the Avengers, usually serving as the team's driver or pilot.
In her experience as a Phantom Thief, Makoto has encountered a wide variety of foes. This includes Palaces full of monsters both small and great, as well as the eclectic Palace rulers that utilize different powers. Makoto's also gone up against three different reality warping gods, using her Persona and her intelligence to help the Phantom Thieves come out on top.
Tactics
Robbie is quite straightforward in battle. In one-on-one fights, he usually focuses on surprising and overwhelming his opponents with the sheer strength and variety of his powers, attacking or restraining his enemies quickly with his chains and beating them down with his raw strength or blasting them with hellfire afterward. If cornered, he can always summon the Hell Charger to assist him or take control of the car and fight purely behind the wheel for an entirely new style of combat. He's no tactician, but on occassion, he has proven capable of taking note of enemies' patterns or weaknesses and exploiting them appropriately.
While Joker is the Thieves' leader and Futaba is their navigator, Makoto serves as the Phantom Thieves' primary strategist. She's an analytical and thorough tactician, coming up with inventive strategies on the fly to exploit or work around the weaknesses of her opponents, as well as advising Joker on which teammates would be best for a particular fight. She's a capable investigator and strategist as well, deducing the identity of the Phantom Thieves quickly and showing to be able to keep up with, if not surpass, more skilled strategists like Goro Akechi.
Training
Robbie hasn't had any real formal training. He's received some pointers on how to control his powers from Johnny Blaze and some practical advice from some of the Avengers, but his fighting skill was built up on the fly through his numerous battles with the forces of evil. Some of his skill seems to inherent with his powers, as he was taking on scores of thugs with ease even during his earliest battles.
Makoto was trained in aikido by her father, continuing her lessons even after his death for self-defense. After she awakened to her Persona, she received some supplemental knowledge by Morgana as well. That being said, her primary combat teacher has been the field, with the somewhat simple nature of Metaverse combat meaning she didn't need too much training beyond how to punch real good.
Notes[]
- Note that, unlike previous Ghost Riders, Robbie's body is similar to a normal human and isn't just a skeleton.
- The battle takes place in a city within the Metaverse, with lots of winding highways, bridges, and back alley streets.
- Voting ends on July 16, 2021.
Battle[]
Within the hangar of Avengers Mountain, the latest headquarters of Earth’s mightiest heroes, a lone figure stood with his head underneath the popped hood of a muscle car. Robbie Reyes, the teenaged Ghost Rider and resident new guy, wiped the sweat from his brow as he finished a touch-up on his vehicle, the Hell Charger. After lowering the hood, he opened the door, slid into the driver’s seat, and revved the engine. A smile crossed his face as it came to life with an ever-satisfying roar.
“Remember to be back by eleven. And no funny business, young man!” a snide voice spoke over the hangar’s speaker system.
“I’m not your kid, Stark,” Reyes said, a hint of amused annoyance in his voice. “Besides, who's the infamous party boy Tony Stark to lecture me about staying out too late?”
Reyes was sure that the businessman understood his words, but before the older Avenger could quip back, he slammed on the pedal and drove the Hell Charger straight towards the hangar’s door. The car streaked out of the base and across the surface of the Arctic Ocean, leaving a spray of water and ice crystals in its wake.
Reyes gripped the steering wheel tightly before channeling his powers. The car was soon engulfed in an explosion of hellfire as a portal opened in front of him. He passed through the portal, which disappeared in a fiery flash. The view through the Hell Charger’s windshield of the cold Arctic was instantly replaced with the blistering heat of downtown Los Angeles as he emerged on the other side.
After a short drive into the neighborhood of Hillrock Heights, Robbie brought his car to a stop at the curb in front of his old home, where he knew his younger brother was waiting for him. He removed the key from the ignition and wrapped his hand around the door handle when the car suddenly locked.
Robbie struggled with the door for a moment before the faint smell of brimstone reached his nose. A haunting voice came from the back seat, greeting him with a raspy, “Hmm, this vessel is far superior to Blaze’s.”
Mephisto, the Lord of Hell, casually waved his hand to dissipate the burst of hellfire that Robbie, whose flesh had burned away to reveal the hellish white mask of his Ghost Rider form, instinctively attempted to blast him with. The demon lord, clad in a characteristic red tuxedo, laughed as Reyes followed up his failed attack by summoning a knife to his hand. “Oh, please. You’re not even a real Ghost Rider, boy.”
Robbie raised the knife to the demon’s throat. Mephisto slammed his fist into his seat. “Calm yourself before I claim your soul as my own,” he boomed, the prior mirth gone from his voice.
Robbie slowly lowered the knife as the realization of who the uninvited guest really was set in. “That’s better.” The smile returned to Mephisto’s expression. In a puff of smoke, the demon appeared in the passenger’s seat.
“I appreciate that you’re upset, and I get it. Your car, your rules and all that,” Mephisto continued in a tone dripping with sarcasm. He laughed smugly before adding, “Why don’t we change that?”
The Hell Charger’s steering wheel turned to dust in Robbie’s grip as the rest of the car dissolved into nothing, leaving Robbie suspended in midair. The Los Angeles cityscape around the pair melted away to reveal the fiery planes of Hell. The pair were left suspended in midair above a lake of molten fire. Mephisto chuckled, suit gone in favor of his iconic red cloak, as he floated towards Robbie. “My realm, my rules.”
Searing hellfire surged from Robbie’s body as he clenched and flexed every muscle he had, desperately trying to break free from Mephisto’s telekinetic grip, but to no avail.
“We have business to discuss. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten. Tell me, my boy, what do you know about the Metaverse?”
“The Meta… what?” Robbie replied in the hoarse, metallic voice of his Ghost Rider form.
“I don’t blame you for your ignorance. I’ve only recently become aware of it myself. Let me show you.”
With a snap of his fingers, Mephisto lowered them both from the air and into a pair of brimstone chairs on the ground. A shimmering dark portal opened up in the sulphurous air, providing a glimpse towards a different plane. It revealed a warped and corrupt city flooded with shifting, unnatural colors, with faceless people milling about and an unnaturally black ooze seeping from every wall.
“It’s another plane of existence, constructed from the collective unconscious of mankind. Beautiful, isn’t it?” Mephisto explained, a wicked smile crossing his face. “All that wrath, lust, greed, and base desire fused into their very own universe. Just imagine how all that internal sin given form would taste!”
“Either get to the point, or keep me out of whatever messed-up shit this is,” Robbie cooly replied. Mephisto turned and grinned, putting a friendly but firm hand on Robbie’s shoulder.
“Right to the deal, aye? No arguing, no childish tantrums or reckless attempts to test my power?”
“Much as I’d like to have my turn pounding your face in like a real Ghost Rider,” Robbie answered, smirking at Mephisto’s almost imperceptible flinch of anger and disgust, “I know you’d come back kicking anyway. I’d rather cut to the chase on this one.”
Mephisto shrugged, waving his hand. The view through the portal altered and focused on the fiery image of a man’s face. He was Asian, probably in his late fifties, and wearing a black business suit and a sleazy smile.
“This man’s identity is of no concern to you. I have already struck the deal, and there is no saving him from me. However, within the Metaverse, a group of miscreants have come to my attention. A group of children are going to attempt to steal his soul and you are going to stop them.”
The fiery image of the businessman disappeared and was replaced with a new one featuring a group of teenagers, all about Robbie’s age. Between their leather outfits and masks, they would’ve seemed peculiar to anyone else, but after a little time spent around the Avengers, not even the wildest get-up surprised Robbie anymore.
“Okay, I get the gist. I’ve just got two questions. One: why are you trying to stick me with this? And two: why in the hell did you think I would ever want to help you?”
Mephisto cackled. “As if the Lord of Hell himself has time to play around with a couple of upstart brats!” He waved his hand, the image in the portal changing once more. This time, the smiling face of Gabe Reyes appeared.
“No, you didn’t…” Robbie says, the flames on his head erupting in rage. Robbie shot to his feet, but a simple telekinetic gesture from Mephisto knocked him back into his seat. “You bastard! What did you make him do!?”
Mephisto smiled, sending the final image away. “Nothing, yet. My first offer was weak, but the seed has been planted. The next time I see him, the pot will be much sweeter.” Mephisto cackled and began to float into the air. “Do we have a deal? Take care of those kids for me, and I’ll have nothing further to do with your sweet little brother.”
Robbie could only watch, feeling powerless. “I’ll take that as a resounding ‘yes’!” the demon said as he clapped his hands. The landscape began to shift and warp, replacing the bowels of Hell with the Metaverse’s dark city he had seen earlier. “Enough dawdling! You’ve got a job to do, my boy, and I’m sure you’ll perform gloriously!
Mephisto vanished with a puff of smoke. Robbie turned his gaze forward and saw that the Hell Charger had been transported with him. He growled once in annoyance and anger and passed through the car’s body and into the driver’s seat. As he drove onto the Metaverse’s twisted highways in silent rage, Mephisto’s voice taunted him one last time: “I’ll be watching closely! Ta-ta!”
“You’re up next, Queen!” Ryuji yelled, rolling to avoid a blast of psychic magic as William appeared behind him. The Persona raised its skeletal arm and a bolt of lightning launched forward, turning a shark-like Shadow to ash.
“Skull, give me a boost!” Makoto yelled, driving up to him in Agnes. Ryuji nodded, kicking off the ground and away from the shadows. He summoned his Persona, William’s arm reaching out to Makoto and tossing her into the air.
Dismissing Agnes briefly, Makoto raised her fist and plummeted toward the last enemy Shadow, a hooded man on a fiery wheel. It created a trio of heavenly arrows and fired them at Makoto, who ignored the projectiles as a magical barrier appeared to intercept them.
“Thanks for the assist, Noir!” she yelled. Just before she slammed her fists into the Shadow, Agnes reappeared, crashing into it and creating a small nuclear blast, evaporating the Shadow where it floated. She rose, drawing her pistol and shooting a Shadow that attempted to sneak up on Joker, who shot her a smile as he turned and sheathed his knife.
“We’re in the clear now,” Makoto said, looking around as the rest of the Shadows evaporated into black smoke.
“They were easy!” Futaba’s voice triumphantly spoke overhead, Oracle and Al Azif floating above them and going ahead.
Looking around, Queen nodded in appreciation at her teammates. As Ryuji cracked his back, Queen glanced over to see Joker and Haru relaxing, the latter yanking her axe out of the head of a Shadow and letting out a sigh of boredom. “Hopefully there’ll be a challenge next time.”
Joker and Makoto nodded in agreement, taking point as the voice of Kanaye Atsushi echoed in the area. “I’ll make you regret this! That story was mine, and you took it from me!”
A menacing voice filled the room, raspy and cruel. “That’s show business, Atsushi. If you want to make it in this world, you’ve got to tear everyone down in your way. The door can only fit one, and this time it wasn’t you.”
Joker folded his arms as Makoto pieced it together, frowning. “I see… I guess that explains why his early films are so hard to find,” she pondered. “Even knowing how he’s abusing people on set, part of me feels bad for him.”
“Damn, this sucks,” Ryuji complained. “Who knew a guy with such cool kaiju movies could be such a crap guy?”
Makoto sighed, following Joker as they left the Trauma Cell. “At the very least, we’ll be able to send the Calling Card… soon.” She trailed off as the Phantom Thieves stepped outside, finding themselves in a dark, shadowy city instead of back in the real world.
“Mona, do you have any idea what’s going on?” Makoto questioned, turning to Morgana. He simply shrugged, before the revving of an engine caught their attention. Makoto turned to see a black muscle car speeding towards them, with the fire of Hell flaring out of its exhaust.
“Uh, you fast enough to outrun that car, cat?” Ryuji nervously asked.
“I’m a bus, no way in hell I’m keeping up with that thing!”
Makoto cracked her knuckles, summoning Agnes and getting into the driver’s seat. “But I can. Joker, take the others and try to find a way out of here. I’ll catch up,” she said, revving Agnes’s engine before driving towards the new enemy.