Surrender, Jason --- Yield to the spirit I've unleashed. Even now, he's on his way to destroy the remaining links to your existence! --- Your three closest friends!
The Demon #14 is an issue of the series The Demon (Volume 1) with a cover date of November, 1973.
Appearing in "Spirit from the Night"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Klarion the Witchboy
- Teekl
- Jason Blood's Doppelgänger (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Zombies
- Demons (In dream sequence only)
- Gargora (In dream sequence only)
- The Shambler (In dream sequence only)
Locations:
- Gotham City
- Jason Blood's Apartment
- Randu Singh's Apartment
- Glenda Mark's Apartment
- Hell (In dream sequence only)
Synopsis for "Spirit from the Night"
The Demon finds himself in the infernal realm, taunted by demons. The pathway collapses and Etrigan falls before the hideous Gargora, who reaches out to claim the Demon as one of her many heads. While struggling against pull of Gargora, Etrigan is approached by a shambler hoping to take advantage of the helpless meal.
Jason jolts upright in bed from the nightmare, only to face an equally terrifying threat, Klarion the Witchboy! Teekl climbs onto Jason, hissing vindictively, recalling how Etrigan banished them to another dimension. Klarion picks up his familiar and explains how the people on the other side taught him a counter spell to escape. The boy makes himself comfortable and requests Jason answer the door. Cautiously, Jason opens his apartment to a pallid corpse that Klarion has reanimated. The undead man extends his hand to the disgusted host, while Klarion heads to the kitchen to eat. Jason demands Klarion send the revenant away, warning the witchboy that the Demon will take care of him. Klarion ignores Jason's protests and sends him to welcome five more shades into his home. With the requisite six dead witnesses, and a storm brewing outside, Klarion is able to cast his diabolical spell to summon a restless spirit which materialises as a doppelgänger of Jason Blood! The entity immediately attacks the real Jason, breaking a vase over his head.
Jason slowly regains consciousness, woken by the malevolent growls of Teekl. Klarion playfully rebukes his friend for arousing Jason from a merciful sleep; now he will be subjected to the suffering of watching himself fade out of existence. Jason looks at his hand in fright to see it is becoming transparent and he shakes the witchboy furiously. Klarion sends Jason flying backwards with a telekinetic jolt, but it is the Demon who rises back up. Klarion gloats, knowing the doppelgänger is on his way to get rid of Jason's three closest friends. The Demon crashes through the window and leaps as fast as he can to stop the imposter.
Etrigan senses a disturbance with Harry Matthews, and arrives just in time as the duplicate hurls Harry from the roof of his building. The Demon catches the unconscious ad executive and whisks him to safety. While the injured Harry babbles about Jason's betrayal in his sleep, Etrigan's concern grows, as his physical form becomes less tangible the longer the night-spirit roams.
Klarion waits patiently back at the apartment and, while not concerned about Harry's survival, he checks on the progress of Randu Singh's demise. Using a mirror as a conduit, Klarion is sees a vision of Randu bound to chair while a fire takes hold of the room. Etrigan creeps through the window as the smoke rises, and Klarion and Teekl laugh knowing the Demon is only wasting time before he fades from existence. Etrigan opens his cloak to produce a fierce gust of wind with incantation to quell the flames and rushes Randu to bed.
In the apartment of Glenda Mark, the false Jason grabs hold of his last victim. Before Glenda can be harmed, the Demon dives through her window and lunges for the doppelgänger, but he has come too late, simply phasing through his enemy, void of physical form.
Notes
- No special notes.
Trivia
- Klarion's spell to create the doppelgänger goes, "Blow, wind, blow! Grow, wind, grow! Seize a spirit from the night! Give him flesh and give him might! Make him demon and make him man --- As Jason Blood and Etrigan!"
