Case 3-1
The Silent Forest Hotel
(Part 1)
(One Month Later) – Unknown Place
"Pl—Please someone help me!" The walls inside a dimly-lit corridor screamed and reverberated a man's voice. Loud scampering of footsteps was followed with wheezing, labored breath escaping from his lips. 'Where am I now…? Is this really part of the hotel!?' His eyes, wide in horror, darted uncontrollably everywhere, searching for the sight of the one who was tormenting him.
He stopped at a corner and rested his back on a wall. His chest rose up and down as his lungs scurried for air. The man had been running for some time, but to no avail. He could not escape the terror that was chasing him.
"They'll know that I'll be missing. I have no choice!" He pressed the device on his left wrist and the glow of a holo-screen illuminated his frightened face.
"I am Inspector Marol of the MWPSB 4th Unit. I am in trouble—" A loud screeching metallic sound, coming from the other end of the corridor, where he had been, echoed sharply and interrupted his video recording, "I don't know what they are. Demons! They're demons. To the chief inspector, tell this to Unit-1. The Devil is here!"
He turned off his device and took a mouthful of air before he turned to the corner. And then he gasped, his eyes widened in terror. A black creature stood in front of him. It was huge and tall. Its horns let out a metallic screeching sound when it scraped the roof and the air around him was engulfed with the disgusting aroma of brimstone and sulfur. "He-Help-!" The inspector's knees buckled in fright. He toppled and started dragging his butt across the rough cement floor.
'Get away!' He pushed himself away from the creature. But the creature suddenly lunged itself at him and pushed the inspector's back towards the wall behind him. Its face was now inches away from the man.
"Heh, finished your video?" It spoke in a deep curdling voice.
"Pl-Please—let me go! I have wife and kids-"
"Which you've taken for granted – isn't that right, Inspector Marol?"
'Ho-How? But I was busy with my job-'
"Is your career really that important? Oh well, I don't really give a damn about you Humans and your relationships!"
'He can read my mind-' The thought darted passed in the Inspector's mind, but before he could finish it, he let out an anguish scream. The creature's tail made out entirely out of fire pierced the inspector's chest. The man's body then began to glow an orange hue.
"Goodbye, little inspector." The demon laughed in a devilish way as the man burst into flames and killed his last scream.
Unknown Place – Somewhere in the outskirts of Tokyo
The creature stood in an empty garden themed verandah. The night above him was colorless and pitch black, cold air brushing against his black, yellow-spotted, fur. His brown cold eyes stared at the city of Tokyo, its lights glowing dim because of the mountains and hills that obscured his view. His snout blew a white breath before he rubbed both of his hands. The coldness had entered his body.
"You seem to be very active." A new voice called from behind the demon. The creature's ears perked up in alertness but he didn't turn.
"I…was hungry. I couldn't my handle my urge." He reasoned, his deep voice soft. "I swear, I only do this once a year, and after that, I lay low." His words were suddenly filled with worry. The new man clicked his tongue sharply and the demon moved slightly in jittery.
"No. 1 wouldn't like it. It's a good thing I'm keeping it a secret." the man slowly emerged from the darkened corner of the verandah. His footsteps made a soft sound. A light coming from his phone bathed and showed his face. He was a man in his thirties with brown hair and black eyes. His face, hard and humorless, possessed a scar that ran down his left cheek.
"However, this one might be hard." He said in a thick German accent. "You killed one Inspector and an Enforcer. You also imprisoned a girl, the one that you chose as your target tonight." The creature shifted and turned his face away, ashamed of the mistakes that he had done. But the man continued without minding him. "Since the cops are here, it means the MWPSB was already on your tail."
The German grinned and landed his mocking brown eyes at the creature. "Count Furfur…now do you need No. 1's assistance?"
"No, No. 2!" the creature named Furfur shouted in fury at him. But the German scoffed and shrugged both of his shoulders in a dejected manner.
"I can take care of this. I can kill some of them and hide immediately. I will not bother him!"
"You better not." The German said with a heavy, threatening tone in his voice. "And don't you dare contact No. 3. That guy is sensitive and I don't want to deal with this kind of problem anymore." He scowled at Furfur. The demon took a step back in fear. A single sweat of nervousness ran down the Demons Hart's brow, despite the snow that was falling around them.
'Shit…I screwed up.' "I'm sorry, No. 2. I truly am-"
"Tell that to the Ghost Rider." Furfur let out a short shriek in shock and clutched the golden pendant hanging from his neck. "If the MWPSB was on your trail, then he is too." The German warned before walking away, leaving the fear-stricken demon alone.
Tokyo Media Studio – Tokyo City – (One Day Later)
Governor Karina Komiya sat silently and read the paper in her hand. It was still early morning and the sky was peaceful. Her brows were strained and she blew out a frazzled sigh. "This is going to be hard." She said with a small frown. She put the paper on the coffee table in front of her.
"Governor, Ma'am." Karina turned around and greeted her new secretary with a cheerful smile, hiding her uneasiness. "We'll be live in 10 minutes."
"Thanks, I'll be there." Her secretary left her alone, and soon as the door closed, her face became serious. 'Ok, just answer nicely. Like before.' She turned around and faced the mirror. She prepared herself for the interview. The topics that she would discuss were normal and all about to strengthening the country's law regarding the immigrants' rights. However, today, she was expected to be asked by the audience about the recent new topic – one that she was caught off guard too, like the rest of the country.
"Ghost Rider…" she muttered with a small bothered frown, but she quickly clapped both of her hands on her cheeks, erasing her worrying look. "Ok, just answer them nicely and always remember to smile!" she said with energetic tone before walking out of the room.
"And that's all for today, folks!" the interviewer said in a joyful manner. The former pop star and Governor of Tokyo waved at the crowd as claps and cheers coming from her fans in the audience filled the studio. The interview was successful. However, what she had prepared for was the next part of this morning live show.
"Now, then let us proceed with the question and answer portion!" the emcee on the stage gleefully welcomed and the Governor crossed her hands on her lap.
'Alright, the most crucial part.' Karina maintained her smile, but her cautions eyes watched as the emcee picked a random person from the audience.
The first person was a man, showing an excited grin, wearing a t-shirt that said 'IDOL KARINA'. He was clearly a fan of the Governor's previous job.
"Umm…hi, Karina-sama! What can you say about the Ghost Rider?"
And right on schedule. "Well…what can I say? I was so shock when I watched it while eating my breakfast the day after the Shibuya incident. I dropped my poor omelet du fromage!" The whole audience snickered a laughter as the governor continued, "All I can say is that I thought that Steven Spielberg had visited Japan and was filming a movie in the Shibuya Crossing!"
The audience roared with laughter at silly comments of the Governor. 'Alright got the first question.' Karina beamed a confident smile as the emcee called another person from the audience.
The chosen person, a girl, stood up and beamed a nervous smile. "H-Hi, Karina-sama. Do you like what Ghost Rider did there? Are you in favor of him as a Vigilante?" Governor Karina's smile weakened a bit. This was a hard question, but then she softly laughed, regaining a bit of her confidence.
"Everyone loves superheroes, right? If that is so, then as a person, I certainly love a vigilante hero." The audience clapped at her response. The governor then continued. "However, as a Governor, I must always uphold the law. The Ghost Rider may have 'saved' the people from the creature…but he also endangers our Hues. If the Ghost Rider really is a hero, then he mustn't put the law into his own hands. He must either join the law enforcers or cooperate with them."
The Governor answered straightly and firmly with a proud smiling face. The audience rocked and hollered the studio with their voice. They all had agreed to what she said. The Governor then stood up from her seat and waved her right hand. "Everyone, always remember: there's no one alone in the Sybil Society. Everyone is connected!"
Myogadani – Abandoned Zone – Tokyo City
"Pl-Please stop…" a girl wearing a school uniform pleaded helplessly. Her poor voice resonated between the two large buildings that made up an alley. In front of her were three men whose faces were carved into malicious grins.
"Ho, looked at that! A girl from Oso Academy." The first man on the left of the girl giggled as the girl winced.
"Hey little girl, are you lost or are you cutting classes?" The girl let out a yelp as the second man slammed his hand on the wall behind the girl and moved his face closer her.
"It's bad to cut classes you know…Why don't you join us, eh?" the third man invited, but his tone was filled with malicious intent. The girl closed her eyes and winced in shame and disgust as the man began to caress her brown hair.
"Why don't you three fags leave the girl alone?" The girl and the three men darted to the source of the new voice.
"Another one?" The girl stared with questioning and helpless eyes at the new man standing at the exit of the alleyway. His face was obscured with a red Japanese tengu mask.
"Huh, who's this?" the third man snarled and approached the new man. His right hand flicked a swiss knife.
"Who you callin' fags?!" the second man berated. His face formed an ugly grin. The man in the tengu mask tilted his head to the right.
"Why you three, of course." The sarcastic tone made the veins of the third and second man pop. They both growled guttural sounds and charged. The man grinned underneath his mask as he dropped his bags and opened both of his palms.
"Wh-What the-?!"
"How did we-?"
The two charging men gasped in shock as they found themselves hanging upside down by chains attached to the walls of the buildings that wrapped around their ankles. The third and last man squealed when they were dropped to the ground. His terrified eyes widened in recognition as he realized who was the man behind the tengu mask and black leather jacket.
"Ghost Rider…" It was the girl who muttered first. Her tone was that of in disbelief. The third man screamed as he was pulled by his ankles and dangled upside down beside the girl.
"Well, that's killjoy." The Ghost Rider sighed dejectedly while he unziped his black leather jacket. 'Japan is so hot, seriously. Why did I even bother putting my jacket on!?'
"Um, thanks." The girl called the Ghost Rider, making him shift his mask at her. He slowly approached her while he spoke.
"You shouldn't cut classes, Mira Miku."
'He knows my name?' The girl named Mira opened her mouth in slight shock. She watched the Ghost Rider, who picked up her bag and held it close to her face.
"Seriously, you'll regret it when you grow up."
The girl blushed at his sensible words. She took her bag from his bony left hand, made a graceful bow, and quickly took off. 'Heh youth these days with their 'cutting-classes-is-cool' norm and stupid tik-tok dance videos…' The Ghost Rider snorted irritably. He picked up his shopping bags and exited the dark alleyway.
Apartment 1408 - Tokyo City
"Huh, and yet crime is still happening here." Johnny watched the morning interview of Governor Karina with scrutiny. All throughout the show he had disagreed with every word that she said. This so called 'Sybil Society' had made everyone weak. He wasn't into politics, but Johnny knew what was wrong with the Sybil Society. It was a paper town, or in this case, paper city. Everyone's desire was regulated and repressed by the A.I. Sybil, making them almost dull, boring and inhuman.
"The Demons and Devils would surely love to feast on those deprived people soon." He muttered in a warning tone as he opened the box and took out a second-hand laptop that he bought from Miyogdani. 'Since I can't access Halphas's phone then hacking is the only way.' He glanced at Halphas's phone beside his laptop.
'Halphas…' The memory of the dying devil count played in his mind. His joyful, resigning, smile and last words filled his ears, though it was nothing but a phantom feeling right now. Johnny's eyes, without him realizing it, slowly became glassy as he pitied the devil. "What the hell…!?" He snapped into reality and glared before he pushed himself up from the floor and walked to his fridge. He took out a huge bottle of chilled whiskey before he slammed the fridge's door hard.
'No, there's no way I would pity a devil!' He tilted the whole bottle into his mouth, gulping half of its contents before he cursed loudly. "Shit, I'm not one of those Avengers or X-dudes!" 'I am…cursed. I am Ghost Rider. Former King of Hell, disgraced and now exiled forever. I am the Warden of Hell and there's no any reservation in my job.' A grimaced frown formed on his face, but he quickly shook his head and opened the laptop.
"No time to mope. There are demons I need to hunt." The laptop booted up after he pressed the power button and said an incantation. "Hellfire enhancement: Hacking."
MWPSB – Unit 1 office floor - Tokyo City
Irie scratched the back of his head as he strained his eyes on the photocopy picture of the demonic seal of Halphas. The enforcer was completely lost and he didn't have a clue on where the investigation was going. "Say pops, do you believe that Halphas was a devil?"
"That's a 23rd time you asked me that, Irie." The enforcer Todoroki turned his chair halfway to him. He too was still clueless to the investigation. A small pocket book of demonology was laid out in front of him and he had been reading it for the last few hours.
"I still don't think Halphas was a demon…maybe he was really a secret government bioweapon that had gone rogue?"
"Irie, as much as I want to believe that, actual evidence from the crime scenes contradict your suggestion." 'No choice but to believe in this reality.' Kei said while sitting and glowering. He was reading an occult book regarding the demons of hell. He was reluctant at first when Arata had started to look at the investigation from another angle – the occult angle. 'What if there are demons or devils who entered in this realm?'
The device on his wrist rang and he immediately answered.
"Kisaragi, how's on your end?"
"I'm afraid it's a dead end. Shion and I didn't find anything in Ministry of Science and Technology's databanks." Mao said from the other end. The Enforcer was sitting inside Shion's office, waiting for the analyst to finish skimming through the files. "It was a bit hard, Inspector. Some of these words make me dizzy." A low protesting moan escaped Shion while she blew some smoke out of her lips.
"We already narrowed our search to 'Biological and Weapons Division' databanks, but nothing turned out." Mao looked through the computer holo-screen, reading each of the files. "It's as if Halphas had already infiltrated our society long before it."
'And that's not good.' Kei thought of an idea one month ago, back in the museum while looking at the grotesque angel e-portrait. Arata's mental trace had revealed that Halphas had illegally entered Japan twenty years ago, and yet his bogus registration on the Sybil Society was just seventeen years old. The Devil had lived inside Japan for three years straight without being caught by the scanners. And that was very impossible.
"MOFA's data was also inconclusive. Halphas just appeared out of nowhere."
'And was he alone when he entered Japan?' The dreaded thought made him frown, a strained look forming on his face. That was the idea that he had come to. 'If not, then we're dealing with something that we might not be capable of enforcing.'
MWPSB – Chief Inspector's Office
"Excuse me, Ma'am." Arata's head peered right at the door of Chief Shimotsuki's office. The Chief Inspector didn't respond, her eyes staring at her computer. The inspector then closed the door and saluted the Chief inspector with a tired-looking face.
'Today was supposedly my Day-Off. I'm planning to study more about the devils later…what now?' he thought, half irate and half wondering what seemed to be the cause on why the Chief Inspector called him when she knew it was his Day-Off.
"Arata, we received a distress call from the head inspector of Unit 4." The Chief said while she chewed on a mint that she took from her pocket-sized mint dispenser. A holo-screen then appeared in front of Arata, showing the name of the inspector in trouble and another man who seemed to be his enforcer. "His name is Komia Marol and his enforcer, Ron Achten. They were investigating the disappearance of this woman, Carol Kuzumu." Another Holo-screen popped out beside the two, displaying a woman in her late twenties with shoulder length brunette hair and black eyes.
"According to her friends, she was planning to hike and camp on Aokigahara Forest near the foot of Mt. Fuji. She hasn't returned from her destination for two weeks now. She was reported missing two days ago by her friends." Chief Shimotsuki rested her chin over her right hand. Her brow furrowed as she glowered at the inspector. "Inspector Marol and his enforcer was on the case. They'd found clues regarding her whereabouts inside the forest…and that's where his, and his enforcer's trail ends."
Her hand waved a holo-screen away and then summoned a new one again. "And then, twenty-four hours ago, we received this file." Chief Shimotsuki glanced at the file, an audio type, and played it for the inspector to hear.
"I am inspector Marol of the MWPSB unit-4. I am in trouble-! I don't what they are. Demons! They are demons! To the Chief Inspector, tell this to Unit-1! The Devil is here!" The holo-screen dropped after the file had finished playing. The inspector's mouth hung in shock. 'Demons? Wait, there's another one!?' He couldn't believe what he had just heard. If this was true, then his fear had really happened. There was another Devil, like Halphas, in Japan.
"There's another Devil besides Halphas?"
"Yes, most likely." The Chief Inspector glowered to the fact. The device on Arata's wrist beeped once after she motioned her right hand again, sending a file to the inspector. "Those are the last coordinates of the inspector and the enforcer. Find them and the missing girl, if she's with them." She stood up from her chair and moved to the window behind her. The inspector then asked a question to her.
"Is it possible that the girl had committed suicide? After all…Aokigahara forest is famous for being a 'suicide spot.'"
"The last clues that the inspector had sent to me suggest otherwise."
Arata looked at the screen again, staring at the three pictures before he saluted the Chief Inspector and left.
The Chief Inspector stood all alone in her office once again. She was still staring at the view of the city from her window. "I guess I need to contact sempai and them again." A pained tone, followed by the clicking of her tongue, escaped her lips. She pressed her device and called the former inspector.
"Akane-sempai, I think it's time that we take this matter to them."
Apartment 1408- Tokyo City
'No, no, no…and most definitely not!' Johnny grumbled as he scanned the files from the Devil Count's phone. He was still sitting in front of the table, in the same spot since he started skimming the contents of the phone earlier that morning, missing his lunch in the process. His stomach grumbled, piquing his attention and making him frown in annoyance. But he wanted to go on.
Deep inside of him, he knew he was getting closer and closer to the location of one, if not all, of the Devil Counts.
'Five of them, their locations should be here somewhere-' "Hmm?" His hands stopped as he noticed something. "This is…a record of transferring money." Johnny stared at the file, his eyes sharpening at each and every word and number floating in his screen.
"One Year Ago. The Silent Forest Hotel, at least half a million yen." 'Now that's a lot for a hotel.' He paused for a moment and then he continued before he read the same hotel again. And then another. His eyes shone in realization and his face formed a sly smirk. 'Every year, for seventeen years. He had been transferring money to this hotel, but for what?' But the Ghost Rider already knew what the devil was doing with that money.
"He's using this hotel as a front to build a small army, isn't he?" He grinned at his own revelation. "Well then, I'll be paying this hotel a visit-" His smile disappeared after a sharp ringtone coming from the phone disrupted his happy mood. He looked at it and saw the words 'PRIVATE NUMBER' display on the screen.
'This can't be good.' He frowned and his brows connected. 'Whoever is on the other side of the line certainly won't be human.' "Spare me the introductions, whoever the fuck you are."
He growled at the phone as soon as he answered it. There was nothing but silence at first. However, Johnny stayed on the line. And then he heard a low, demonic chuckle.
"Heh. Despite being ousted in hell, former King of Hell Johnny Blaze, you still know how to bear fangs and send shivers down the spine of all demons and devils." Johnny couldn't distinguish the identity of the demon through his voice.
'He's using an enchantment.' He thought gravely as the devil spoke again.
"Don't bother. Your Identity Detection ability won't work on me since you can't see me. Not to mention I'm using an enchantment."
'Figures.' "What do you want? It doesn't matter if you're tracking me. I can defeat all of this country's enforcers in one go."
An amused bellowing laughter filled his right ear. He clicked his tongue in disgust. "I know. I also know that you've already hacked Halphas's phone and you're currently searching the whereabouts of the other Devil Counts. The reason why I called you is because I'm going to give you the precise location of one of the Counts – Count Furfur, to be exact."
"Count Furfur?!" Count Furfur, just like Halphas, was a fallen angel and the leader of 26 demon legions. He had rebelled against God and was cast down to hell. And in hell, he was more gruesome than Halphas. He loved to play mind games and trick everyone around him, even in his own legion. He made everyone fight and kill each other. But worst of all was his main power. He was a great manipulator of thunder and wind. Count Furfur, if Johnny would rate him, would be seven. He was more challenging than Halphas.
"Tch. Well that sounds…challenging." He said wickedly, masking his startled tone. "And why would I believe you, a Devil in disguise?"
There was silence at first, but then the voice replied with a sinister tone. "Because he was recently causing a menace. For seventeen years, ever since he established his hotel, he has been kidnapping girls. The reason why the cops aren't onto him is because he has only done it once a year. He always waits for the trail to go cold…until yesterday."
Johnny glanced at the phone, suspiciously, unease to the information coming from the voice. "What happened?"
"He killed an enforcer and an inspector and now the cops are onto him. They already sent someone to his hotel and they will arrive there in exactly two hours." The voice paused as it snorted, haughtily. "It will be a shame if the humans caught a live demon before the Ghost Rider can cast his judgement on it. Also, it would be a shame if…someone had outrun the Ghost Rider."
Johnny knew the voice was taunting him, but the Devil's words made his face darkened. His right cheek twitched irritably and his eyes glared in aggravation at the wall. He was extremely pissed off with the humans catching his targets first. It was his job. It was the Ghost Rider's job. Not theirs.
"Fine. I'll bite."
"Good. Sending you the coordinates. Goodbye for now…Ghost Rider." He heard a sharp click of the phone and the line went dead. Johnny looked down on his phone and seconds later its screen lit up, displaying a set of coordinates. True to the Devil's words and just as he expected, it was the location of Count Furfur, the Silent Forest Hotel.
'What is it for you?' Johnny was suddenly troubled. 'Why would a devil will give away the location of another Devil…?' Puzzled by the actions of the caller, he only let out a loud discontented moan. "Mystery isn't good for me. Leave that nonsense to that Spider dude or Doctor Strange." 'Well, I might find more clues if I hunt down Count Furfur and steal his phone.' He planned and let out a vexed grunt as he prepared for his departure.
MWPSB – Bureau Chief's Office- Tokyo City
Bureau Chief Shizuka sighed heavily in distress after he ended his call and put his phone down on the table. He rested his back on his chair and looked at the window. The golden sunset bathed his office in a radiating, tranquil, glow. This sight would have calmed his mind, but it couldn't. Because he was expecting the next event that would eventually unfold will cause him great shame to his status and name.
"Sometimes God works in mysterious ways. And most of the time, his works are done by the Demons themselves." A heavy, defeated sigh escape his lips. His eyes slowly shifted back to his computer screen, where a live video feed was playing. He watched with a calm eyes as the figure of Johnny came out of the bathroom of his apartment unit and was preparing to leave.
He then muttered in an unamused tone. "Johnathon Blaze…do forgive me on this."
Apartment Rooftop
Johnny walked to the rooftop and felt the cold air of October hitting his face. His black leather jacket ruffled loudly as the man turned to the right and moved towards a normal-looking, black-colored granny bike.
"I'm ready." He muttered and made a wild grin.
"Time to hunt Count Furfur." The medallion on his chest glowed in dark gold light. His skin melted away, revealing his skull and bones to the world. Flames crawled down from his right hand and onto the granny bike which then began to transform its metal structure.
The Ghost Rider watched as his granny bike morphed into its true form – the Hellcycle. He climbed and sat on its seat, breathing in the cold air, which made the flames around his skull grow large.
"Let's go!" he roared together with the engines of his Hellcycle and burst towards the afternoon sky.
Woo-Hoo! Latest chapter is here! First I would like to thank those people who read my fanfic. I know it may not be perfect but ever since I discover Ghost Rider I would absolutely love to write a fanfic regarding him.
But Why a crossover with Psycho-Pass: Ah, that's because I just recently watch it and its good! (I'm in quarantine still so I binge the whole series from season 1 to season 3 and the whole four movies). Plus, Psycho-Pass isn't getting enough love from any fandoms when its writings and story are brilliant!
So Are there any Marvel characters who will appear on this fanfic? Yes, because Johnny needs to grow another life and perspective on being a Ghost Rider (if you read the current comics, you'll know what I mean).
Ok then. that's enough for now, I shall keep the cards close to my chest. But I leave you this question: Other than the Devil counts are there more supernatural being living in Japan and under the radar of Sybil?
Stay tune for more!
Disclaimer : I do not own Marvel comics ghost Rider and the anime Psycho-Pass.