Chapter 3
Case 2-1: The Ghost Rider (Part 1)
So noisy…the blaring of his alarm clock woke Inspector Arata. Eyebags were under his half-open eyes as he reached and turned his alarm off. He pulled himself, sat straight up and glanced around the garage where he always slept.
Yesterday was a close one. He recalled the terrifying events yesterday. The whirling of his very own Dominator that was pointing at him made him shiver slightly. "Ghost Rider knows whenever someone tries to invade his mind." He grumbled as his mind wondered in thought. "How could he even control me…unless he isn't human after all." He frowned, but quickly jumped from his sofa and smiled.
"Now then, time to investigate!"
MWPSB – Unit 1 Floor
In the Unit 1 office floor, everyone was busy with their own tasks. Irie and Todoroki were back from the hospital and and both were typing on their computers. Todoroki was reviewing the footage over and over, and each time he watched it, he grimaced to what he had suffered.
"That chain of his…it really came out of his left hand magically. And I can still feel it." He murmured as he rubbed his chest and remembered the pain.
Irie, on the other hand, snorted and grumbled. "Well check me out! I got hit by a fireball!" he exclaimed while he looked down to his stomach.
Mao glanced at him with a concerned yet hard look. "I'm glad you weren't blown to smithereens, Irie."
"Aww, thanks, Mao. I didn't know you'd miss me."
"Yes, a little bit." Mao answered bluntly, making Irie squawk to her response.
Kei, however, was sitting silently in front of his computer. His eyes were focused intently on the drone footage of Ghost Rider, galloping through the river's surface. That horse yesterday was this horse. How was this possible? He was deep in thought, so much that he didn't notice Arata entering and greeting everyone good morning.
"Hey there, Kei-chan!' Kei's thoughts were cut as Arata's relaxed face loomed over him. "Ah, Arata. I'm just checking to see if we missed anything yesterday." He paused and his eyes squinted at him. "And by the way, yesterday was a close call."
Arata shyly chuckled, flustered by the events of yesterday. "No need to worry. That won't happen again." He said with guarantee, making Kei frown for a bit. "So then, how will we proceed with the investigation today?" he then asked him in a firm tone. How to proceed? Arata stared at his friend and then he grinned as a plan formed in his mind.
"We'll go back to the Zoo and investigate the nearby buildings around it."
Sho glanced at his computer and then raised his hand. "Excuse me, Inspector. But the buildings surrounding the park are Temporary Tenements for Immigrants."
"Yes," Arata nodded and continued. "When I Mental Traced my Dominator, I saw a room that looks like a Tenement unit."
"A Tenement unit…?" Todoroki tilted his head, questioning the inspector, "What does that mean?"
"It means that's where the Ghost Rider reside. Which could also mean that our mysterious, magical, vigilante…is an immigrant, probably a recent one too." Kei spat the word 'magical' in a ridiculing way, making some of the enforcers smirk in amusement.
"Our reasoning may be full of holes, but we can't leave any stones unturned." Arata said and the Irie burst from his seat.
"Yeah! Let's start the investigate now. I can't wait to punch him in the guts!" he declared, startling Mao, who darted her questioning eyes to him. "What do you mean by that?"
Arata felt his spirit and he only made a nod before he declared. "Now then, let's investigate!"
Tenement Apartment Building B
"Status Check, Kei." Arata stood in front of a staircase inside an apartment building. After the meeting, the whole of Unit 1 had started their investigation. They visited and questioned each immigrant who recently emigrated and entered Japan.
They had started a few hours ago, but they hadn't found anything yet.
"Everything's normal here, Arata. Nothing relevant to our case too." Another dead-end. A low grumbling sound reverberated from his insides. 'That's right. I haven't eaten my lunch yet.' He thought and noticed Irie, sitting on the stairs with a tired look on his face.
"No luck in this apartment, huh?" Irie stated in a cold voice.
"Yeah and all of the units looked the same. I thought we'd find something since this Tenement block is near to the Zoo." Arata said in defeat and clicked his device and looked at his holo-screen.
"Last floor, Irie, and then we'll move to another." A groan escaped the enforcer's mouth as he stood up and climbed up the stairs.
Apartment 1408
"In this building's floor, there is only one occupant." Irie double-checked his device as Arata pressed the doorbell.
"The name of the occupant is Johnathon Blaze, right?"
"Yeah, an American." The conversation between the two was cut as the door opened loudly. The occupant of the room, named Johnathon, peaked his head out and looked at them both with inquisitive eyes.
"Yes?" he said roughly at the two.
"Johnathon Blaze, right? Can you understand Japanese?" Arata asked as the man smiled and nodded.
"Yes, I can." He answered in a coolly manner. The two officers took out and showed their IDs, introducing themselves.
"My name is Arata Shindo, CID Inspector, and he is Kazumichi Irie, CID enforcer. We would like to ask you some questions, if it's ok with you." The man scanned their IDs, his blue eyes shifting between them in a studying manner.
"We would like to ask if you noticed anything strange for the past two days?" Arata asked as Johnathon glanced to his left, remembering any strange occurrences for the past two days, but then cast an apologetic smile.
"No, nothing except for the park though. The Police barricaded them suddenly…is something wrong, Inspector?" Johnathon then noticed the Inspector move to his right and began to stand on the tips of his toes. The man found his action weird and he turned to the enforcer who cleared his throat, calling the attention of the Inspector.
"Oi, Arata." Arata stopped and blinked at Johnathon. "Sorry, sir. I'm just checking your height." He beamed his grin at him, making the American man chuckle.
"Just one more question. According to our Sybil database, you're the lone survivor of the immigrant ship, the Aurora, right?" Johnathon looked at the ground and his eyes became serious.
"Yes."
"Must've been tough, buddy. I'm glad you're safe." The inspector said in a kind tone that startled Johnny. The American couldn't reply to what he said. He was gladdened by his words.
"That's all. Keep your mind healthy, Johnathon-san."
"Ah…thanks, Inspector." Johnathon bowed as Arata and Irie walked away.
"What's with your weird actions, Arata?" Irie asked as the two walked down the stairs. Arata was silent for a second and then he stopped.
"I was trying to smell him. He didn't smell sulfur and brimstone." The inspector put his right hand on his chin. "Also, Irie, the second time I found Ghost Rider during my second mental tracing, I saw something other than his room." He turned around and looked at the enforcer. "It was a glowing, gold medallion. I was trying to see if Johnathon Blaze was wearing it. But I didn't notice anything on his shirt. His height, however…was the same as the Ghost Rider."
Doing those weird things just for a gold medallion and height…Irie whistled in astonishment. He wasn't expecting Arata to do a lot of things in such a short time. "So, are we going to arrest him because of his height?"
The inspector shook his head and pressed his device. "No. That's very weak evidence, but I'll keep him in my mind." He scanned his holo-screen and started reading Johnathon's profile again.
Heavenly White, despite being a stunt performer and a volunteer soldier for seven years. He rummaged his mind, but to no avail. He couldn't come up any valid logic to pin Johnny as the mysterious Ghost Rider.
Johnny stood silently in front of his bathroom mirror. He had just finished being interviewed by two law enforcers and during those minutes, he strongly relaxed himself so his Psycho-Pass wouldn't increased.
"So that's Inspector Arata…Damn, he's sharper than I thought." That sensitive question earlier would put off any people who had suffered through a traumatic incident. Johnny sighed heavily. "Good thing Sybil taught me how to relax properly." 'And I know how to act.' He added mentally and smirked proudly at his talent.
"Now then I must prepare for tonight." His mood changed as he glanced at the broken phone on top of his table.
Not yet…later. He thought grimly as he sat on the floor and crossed his legs. "Reveal." He whispered and the medallion emerged from his chest. "Arata was looking for you. I guess I need to go over my spellcasting." 'Which means I need to recall every demonic spell that I've almost forgotten and recall everything that Strange said to me…ugh.' Johnny had lost count of every spell that he had cast throughout his life as a Ghost Rider. Since he was in constant battle with different demons, he could always cast new spells, but at the same time, he would also forget the old ones.
'But there's one spell that I like.' He smirked in a devilish way and then stood up again. "I need a roof."
Tenement Apartment - Building B - Rooftop
Johnny sat in the middle of the dirty rooftop with his eyes closed. He was mentally chanting a mantra as his mind travelled deeper within his subconsciousness. 'Open the treasury of hell…come to me.' He minced the words with firmness. His eyebrows connected and twitch as he devoted everything to his concentration.
Suddenly, a large ritual circle appeared. It glowed deep blood red before fire burst around it. Wind shifted and swirled harshly around the ritual seal, carrying the fire to the center. The fire then began to fuse and merge, and began to take form into something that Johnny knew so well.
"Hello there, old friend…ready for a ride?" he opened his eyes and grinned hungrily at the sight before him.
Shinjuku Abandoned Zone
At night, the streets of Shinjuku Abandoned Zone lit up energetically. Stores lined up and it was filled with life. People walked around the streets in a wild and careless manner since the place wasn't monitored by Sybil's surveillance network.
'It's kind of cramped here.' Johnny thought as he slowly moved along the crowd. He was wearing a normal black jacket with a hood over a white shirt, black pants, and boots. He was also wearing a red tengu mask over his face. Even though the place didn't have Sybil System surveillance network, he still couldn't risk being exposed.
"This mask is itchy — hmm?" He paused and slid into a dark alley between two large buildings. He took a peak and eyed a large building at the end of the street. There were two large men guarding the front door. They were likely armed, considering their right hands were inside their jacket pockets. The door behind them displayed the familiar demonic seal of 'Halphas.'
Johnny stood straight by the wall and took a mouthful of air. "Ready or not, here I come."
The two men by the entrance stood and sternly eyed everyone that passed in front of the building. Their right hands were clutching their guns and both were ready to fire at any threat that came to the building.
Their eyes quickly hardened as they saw an approaching figure. The man was in a black jacket and bore a red tengu mask.
"Sumimasen." Johnny said in a rough way. "I have appointment with your boss."
The two menacing men looked at each other in confusion then back to him. "Our boss doesn't meet anyone. Beat it, gaijin." The first man said.
"Or else we'll beat you up." The second man said. The masked man's head tilted to his right.
"Oh, ok. How about this? You bring me to Halphas or I'll kill you both." He said in a grave, threatening voice, which startled the two.
"Why you-!" the first man reacted, but the second man called and stopped him.
"Wait! The boss just said to bring him in." the second man said while he was holding his earpiece to ear. The masked man shifted his gaze and looked up. He saw a camera on the left corner of the door.
'Hmm, so he knows I'm here.'
The first man clicked his tongue, displeased at the order, and grabbed Johnny by his right shoulder. "Come!" The first man then pulled him as the second man opened the door to the building.
Halphas's Office – Top Floor
In a dimly-lit office, sitting behind a sturdy brown desk with both of his feet up, was Halphas. The Chinese-American stared at the screen of the small T.V. sitting on his desk. His right hand held a cigarette between his fingers, and his grey eyes observed Johnny as the two men escorting him suddenly attacked him.
"Fool, you think I would just let you waltz in here." He laughed in a deep, abyssal way and then glanced to his right. "Suo, alert every floor. Prepare for battle." The man named Suo was a tall man with brown skin and a bald head. His black eyes stared at his master before he nodded.
"And take your partner, Yuro, with you." On his left stood man with a similar build to Suo. His head was also bald and had brown skin, similar to his partner. He glanced his black eyes to his master for a second before he followed Suo to the door.
"Since you two are newbies, might as well show me how you'll fair in this battle against the Ghost Rider, eh?" Halphas grinned wickedly as the two closed the door of his office.
Just then, he felt the whole building shake slightly. He glanced at the T.V. monitor again and saw the familiar flaming skull of Ghost Rider. "Ara…guess time to say good bye." Halphas smirked but it was a sad one. He pulled the drawer on his right and took out a silver handgun.
"Time to go home." He murmured deeply as he stood up and walked out of his office.
30 mins ago
Johnny met a corridor that ended at an elevator. "The boss will meet you." The first man snarled behind him. "But only right after we beat you to a pulp. Gaijin!" Johnny turned to his left, but he reacted too late. The second man punched him right on the back of his skull.
He fell and the floor hard. His tengu mask shattered into tiny pieces. "Heh, useless!" The first man growled and stepped on his back.
But then the downed man's hands twitched and moved. The smile of the two men quickly disappeared as Johnny eased and slowly pushed himself up with aloud grunt. "Heh…that was a very…good…punch!" His voice shifted and changed into a demonic one as the medallion on his chest made a flaming spark. The short blaze ate and melted his skin away, and then he burst into flames.
The two men screamed as the raging infernal blast pushed them towards the door behind them.
"Guilty, hahaha!" The Ghost Rider laughed maniacally and then turned to the corridor. In an instant, ten mercenaries suddenly emerged from the elevator and scrambled around the corridor.
"What the hell is that thing!?"
"It's an Oni!"
"Bring some rockets here now!" The men were startled and shook as they panicked at the sight of the flaming Ghost Rider.
"No, no, no! I am not an Oni. I am…your worst nightmare!" The Ghost Rider snarled at them, but the mercenary quickly fired their rifles and guns at him. A rain of bullets hit the Ghost Rider, but he only stood still as the bullets hit and bounced off in his bones. He made a low fiendish chuckle before he started walking.
The men panicked even more and were determined to never stop shooting down the flaming being. "Incendiary grenade!" One of the mercenaries shouted and threw a grenade, but the Ghost Rider caught it with his right hand and threw it behind him towards the door.
The grenade exploded and threw the door to the outside street. "Fool…Do you think fire could stop me. I'll show you a real fire!" The Ghost Rider then raised his left hand and took a deep breath before he uttered a spell. "Burn."
His left-hand glow red orange and then unleashed a wave of fire. The fire rocketed towards the mercenaries. Their screams of pain and torment echoed loudly, but the Ghost Rider ignored it all. He had seen their sins and they were all guilty to him.
"Houston, we've got a problem…my awesomeness!" He laughed viciously and walked towards the elevator.
8th floor – Mezzanine
The Ghost Rider was resting his back on the wall inside the elevator. He was humming the tune coming out from the speakers above him when suddenly the elevator stopped. He grunted and looked up.
"I'm still far up." He growled in annoyance and grabbed the doors of the elevator. He yanked and pried the door easily only to be thrown back to the wall as hails of bullets coming from a powerful machine gun hit him.
"Take that!" The mercenary outside roared and watched as the flame around the Ghost Rider's skull disappeared. His machine gun, however, stopped after his bullets ran out. "Reloa-!" But before he finished his word a gush of fire burned him to dust and melted the machine gun from its stand.
"Whew…Now that's what I call a knock off." The Ghost Rider stumbled out the elevator and stretched his body, only to stop after he noticed that he wasn't alone.
He was in a Mezzanine floor, and right in front of him was a large group of twenty mercenaries, all of whom were wielding powerful machine guns.
"…You know, I kinda like your gun-"
"Open fire!" The mercenary in front shouted and the Ghost Rider swiftly slid on the shadows of a pillar.
"So many guns…Halphas is truly here." He laughed deeply and opened both of his hands.
"Hellfire Forgery: Hell shotguns!" Fire spewed out of his hands and slowly morphed into a pair of shotguns. Hellfire Shotguns, one of the weapons he loved, though it was second to his most favorite weapon ever.
"My turn." The Ghost Rider stood for a moment before he ran out of the shadows and jumped into the air. He landed in front of the mercenary who shouted first and blasted his head away with his right shot gun. "One!" The Ghost Rider counted and pointed to his left, shooting his gun at mercenary to mercenary. "Two…Three…Four!" He beelined to the left, shooting three people before he spun and leapt to the air. "Five, six, seven, eight!" He fired both of his shotguns in a frenzied way, taking down four people in a row.
"Heh, I'll give you all more!" The Ghost Rider jeered as the rain of lead bullets knocked his bones. He let out a battle roar before he pivoted to his right and ran towards a pillar. He used the pillar as leverage and jumped higher into the air. And then he started to spin wildly.
He built up his speed above the group and then fired his shotguns. The Ghost Rider laughed as burning lead showered the mercenaries underneath. Each of his bullets pierced and stabbed the group. The screams of his enemies filled the mezzanine floor and the died down after another discharge of the flaming rider's shotguns rang out.
"Now that's a good exercise." He muttered as he scanned his two shotguns, but his ears caught the sound of man's whimper. He turned his head to his right and saw a man sitting with his back on the stairs. His eyes were crying and his pants were soiled with his own urine.
The man flinched and clutched his small handgun at the Ghost Rider, who towered over him. This man's name was Reon…As for his sins, the man's memory flashed in the Ghost Rider's eyes and then he snickered.
"Innocent. It's your lucky day, punk." The man flinched as the Ghost Rider lifted him up by his collar. "Now scram. I got a devil to cook." The man was startled at his reaction, but he quickly bowed at him in thanks and ran.
'But he's criminally asymptomatic, so he'll end up in a gutter soon.' The Ghost Rider let out a laugh again and walked up the stairs.
Top floor
"Last floor, huh?" The Ghost Rider stood in front of a large door. He opened it and peered inside. The desk on the far side was empty and poorly lit by a single desk lamp. He scanned the room with his hardened gaze and found no sign of the demon, Halphas.
"Heh, did he escape- Ack!" Suddenly, the Ghost Rider was pushed inside the room, a hard kick had landed him on the table. "The heck!" He quickly stood up and faced his new foes. Two men had entered and locked the door behind them.
They were both large and their fists were ready to defy him. The Ghost Rider growled and raised his shotguns, but the two quickly dived in. Suo, on left of the Ghost Rider, raised his right hand in a karate chop while Yuro, on the right, raised his left hand on the same form.
Both of them hit the Ghost Rider's wrist in, synchronously with force, and dislodged his shotguns. "Fuck-!" the two weren't finished yet. They both uppercut him, which detached his head from his body. The Ghost Rider's skull hit the ceiling and landed on the table, the flames around disappeared and his headless body limply fell to the floor with a loud thud.
"Holy…he's really burning." Yuro said with a tense voice. He pressed his device on his wrist, deactivating his hologram disguise. Yuro's bald head disappeared and was replaced with black hair. His skin became white and his black eyes stared at the downed burning rider.
"Indeed, Sugo. Supposedly, the MWPSB are the ones in charge of taking care of him." Ginoza said, underneath his disguise as Suo which he deactivated immediately. "In any case, we must arrest Halphas first. Contact the MWPSB, Sugo, we might've, possibly, killed the Ghost Rider."
"I will-"
"What do you think you're doing?" A menacing voice surprised the two. Sugo and Ginoza was about to attack when they were both whipped by chains that snaked out of the headless body. The Ghost Rider slowly stood up, his flames burst from the inside, and grabbed his skeleton head.
"Wh-What the-!" Sugo couldn't understand what just happened. He and Ginoza had decapitated him with their punch.
"Just shoot him. Don't let him go near Halphas-!" Ginoza couldn't finish his orders as the Ghost Rider swooped forward punched them both on their abdomens. Their bodies smashed the door and landed hard on the corridor outside.
'Damn it…!' Ginoza's body throbbed, his muscles tensing and aching to the injuries on his back and abdomen. He coughed and blood spilled from his mouth.
"Sadly, I can't kill you both, Nobuchika Ginoza and Teppei Sugo." He knew our names? Ginoza looked up at the hollow eyes of Ghost Rider, and frowned in anguish.
"Since you two know Kogami and Frederica, would you tell them this?" He squated down and whispered hoarsely. "Never ever interrupt my hunting…or I'll hunt you, got it?"
The downed man nodded to him and the Ghost Rider stood up again. He knew Kogami and Frederica…How!? His mind worked furiously, but to no avail. He only watched, bitterly, as the burning rider walked away.
Here's my latest chapter! How are you all liking this fanfic? Do you think I got something wrong with the Ghost Rider's character? If so, then that could be it. You see I only recently discovered Ghost Rider 1 year ago and I decided to try and read him again, and I am fascinated by his lore. He could fit right in the Psycho-pass world.
Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Rider and Psycho-Pass.
Special thanks to Pure red crane for beta-reading.
Pls leave some reviews! Thanks! Thinker out.