Wicks and Matches and Mad Pumpkin Patches

New York.  A den of scum, malcontents and vices innumerable. If there were a hundred of Searchlight, all assigned to different sections of the city, it might take until hell itself froze over before the demon could burn away the rot from this city. It was constantly on his mind, these mortal sinners, sacrificing their salvation for mortal pleasures, their temporary satisfactions. The devil loomed over this city as if it were cradled in his left hand, another city on the other side of the country, cradled in his right. America, truly the epitome of man in both his virtues and his failings.

Tonight, Searchlight hunted an assassin, a women twisted enough to end the lives of her fellow man before God was to call them home. What was more, she did it for something as finite and corrupt as she was: Money. To her, the life of a human could be measured in the amount of green, stylized cloth she could accumulate in exchange. What made it all that much worse... was that she was a parent. Indeed, it was amazing what one could see through a shroud of fog. She had children, a boy and girl, birthed from her own flesh. She SHOULD understand the sanctity of life, how important it is to preserve... But she cuts it all short anyway...

"By the grace of God go I..." Searchlight whispered, a shroud of fog flowing in all around him! "...And by the grace of I shalt thee..."

The woman had tucked her children in that night and had already set out for her target. Life had been so much simpler before those rugrats were born. She had never needed kids before but now...? She couldn't imagine life without them. Obviously, the life of an assassin just wasn't fit for a mother of two and she would have to give it up, find a real job, meld back into society... But for now, she would enjoy the last hunt of the good-ol' days before they were over. Climbing up atop a building, the woman would ready her sniper-rifle, propping it on the edge of the roof. Looking through the scope, she spotted her target, an old and fat CEO within his penthouse, sipping his last glass of before-bed wine. Poor chump had made too many enemies climbing to the top and didn't stop once he had reached it. No, he was arrogant, cocky in his power and now all he was good for was a paycheck.

"Say 'good-night' pork-chop..." The woman mumbled... ONLY for her scope to be blocked by... smoke...? "The hell...?" Looking away and around, she was suddenly enveloped in a white cloud of cold, icy mist, a cloud so thick, she could barely see the end of the rifle she held! How did this happen...? Fog didn't roll in this high-

"Thou hast been caught in the act of thine sin..." A voice reverberated out from the fog, the woman dropping her rifle and pulling a pistol from her belt! "Dost thou thinkest thee above the judgement of God...?"

"Where are you!?" The woman growled, turning this way and that, pointing her gun in all directions! "Show yourself!"

"Thou makest demands of me...? Dost thine pride know no end...?" The soft whine of metal being unsheathed reverberated through the whisps of white, the woman feeling a haunting presence right at her back! WHIRLING around, she pointed the gun up towards where this yahoo SHOULD be... only to see the face of a BLAZING Jack-o-Lantern staring back! Suddenly, a gloved hand would reach out from the fog before the woman could react, grabbing the barrel of the woman's gun and WRENCHING it away, a boot soon following after, KICKING her hard in the chest! The assassin fell HARD to the roof-top, gasping desperately as she fumbled around for her rifle! Slowly, piece-by-piece, Searchlight emerged from the fog, his full, dapper-clothed form towering over the woman, a silver-edged blade resting in hand.  

"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit..." Searchlight rumbled, reaching down and grabbing the woman by her neck! "I send to thee a mortal soul who thought herself above thine almighty will..." He would raise the woman up raising her to eye-level as he leveled the point of his blade at her chest. The woman choked and struggled, swinging her fists at the figure... only for them to pass right through as if he were nothing but fog himself! "...May thine eternal mercy find forgiveness for her betrayal of the eternal covenant. May thee have mercy on her children and guide them with thine holy grace..."

"Amen."

*THUNK!*

The fog would fade only Searchlight would stand atop the roof of the building, fresh blood dripping from the tip of his rapier. But one sinner was purged this night and many more were still to be found. As he sheathed his blade, and tucked it within his coat, Searchlight looked down upon the city from his perch... Many powerful sinners stalked the roads this night... At least one must be returned to God and purify these streets for the deserving.