Case 3-2
The Silent Forest Hotel
(Part 2)
Highway No. ### - Near Mount Fuji
Cars, buses and other vehicles moved along the highway on the foot of Mt. Fuji. The night was already high. There was nothing but light traffic along the paved road. In one of the cars, a child was sitting and staring outside with bored eyes. He likely did not enjoy his previous destination because he let out a deadpanned sigh. His tiny hands played only his toys, an action figure from a famous anime series. Suddenly, his ears picked up a sound.
The sound was faint, but it eventually roared and filled the car. His father, the one who's driving, hadn't noticed the ascending sound. He looked to his side, only for him to swerve the car violently to the left. The child gasped in shock as a motorcycle shot passed their family car.
The child's eyes lit up in a lively recognition. The being in the motorcycle was a creature that went viral in the Sybil Internet and it made him leap with joy. "Dad, look! It's the Ghost Rider!"
The cool night air fueled the flames around the Ghost Rider's skull as he swept passed a toll booth. The tool booth rattled a loud alarm, signaling that he had crossed the border without paying. The phantom rider only flipped his right finger to whoever was the attendant on the booth.
"As if!" he laughed wildly and his laughter echoed through the silent forest together with the thundering engine of his hell-cycle.
'Now, how much farther?' He whipped his left wrist, and a map glowing red pop out of his device. "Two minutes…Hmph, I can arrive in 30 secs." He pulled the throttle hard. The flames on his motorcycle burst high and shot the burning rider forward with a devilish speed.
Johnny pressed the brakes and his hellcycle squealed loudly to a stop. The headlights of his motorcycle shone at a large black gate, over twenty meters high. Its paint was black and filled with rust. In the middle, welded and formed beautifully, was steel mended into different complicated lines and difficult shapes. The Ghost Rider recognized it immediately. It was Count Furfur's seal and it could only mean that he owned the land beyond the gate.
He had arrived. "Hehe…ready or not." Johnny glanced down and read the sign beneath the demonic seal. 'SILENT FOREST HOTEL: CLOSED TEMPORARILY FOR RENOVATIONS' it said, but he only snorted and turned around. He took a couple of steps, gaining distance away from the gate, before he turned around again and sprinted.
"Knock, knock!" He leapt from the ground and kicked the black gate. The steel structure cried and crashed to the ground after detaching from its hinges. "Now…ready or not?" he asked again to no one as he sat on his motorcycle and moved forward.
'What should be my battle strategy?' He thought in a wicked manner. His mind was already running so many gruesome scenarios on how to defeat the devil count. He was excited to judge and send the demon back to hell. He wanted let out his lust for destruction, which he had kept inside of him all throughout the day.
Silent Forest Hotel – Underground Control Room
Unknown to Johnny, the whole land and hotel was monitored by hundreds of tiny video cameras and security sensors, all of it were feeding the computers of the control room underneath the hotel. The whole room was dark and poorly-lit by the blue color coming from hundreds of T.V. monitors mounted on the wall. The air inside was stale and bad. There wasn't enough ventilation inside the room.
"So, he really came." A hardened, yet whimpering, voice escaped from Count Furfur. The devil was in his true form. Normally, whenever he wasn't hunting, he would wear his human form. He liked to walk on his human legs and with his back straight. His human face was that of a young white man with short curly hair and sharp purple eyes. But now, everything had changed.
"I—I no longer need to wear it. What's the point? He would see the real me through his penance stare." With anxious eyes, he watched as the Ghost Rider arrived at the front door of his hotel.
There was no point to walk in his human disguise. Furfur's true form was that of a hart, a stag. His skin was adorned with black and yellow-spotted fur. He also possessed a pair of dragon wings hanging on his back and a tail made of fire, which was currently emitting a low-dim glow.
He curled his lips down after the Ghost Rider threw the bell on the concierge table into the wall after pressing it relentlessly. The rider was hungry and already mad and Furfur knew he would be his food to his vengeful fire. He frowned and held tightly on his brown horns.
'What should I do!? I don't want to die…not yet.' He cursed furiously and widened his eyes in terror. Then he remembered his words to Number Two, the German devil who smirked mockingly to his words. He was looking down on him like he was a weak demon, and it made him frown. He was one of the five counts of hell and he had legions like the rest. "No, I'll face him…in fact, I heard that Johnny Blaze is no longer the King of Hell."
He glanced at the T.V. monitor and saw that the Ghost Rider was sitting at the bar, juggling three bottles of expensive whiskeys in his hands before he threw them all on the wall in front of him.
'I even heard that he's also an idiot. He should be easy.' The tense face of the demon changed into a menacing wide grin as his confidence returned. He began to laugh in a wild and uncontrollable way while he spread his arms in the air.
"I-I'll kill him, right here. Right now!"
Silent Forest Hotel – Lobby
The lobby inside was silent and grand. The walls were painted in gold. Large and heavy wood stood and acted as its pillars shone brightly as if it had just been cleaned. The tiles were marble and white, the murals of trees and birds reflecting upon its surface. Sadly, however, a portion of it was already stained by mud and dirt coming from the boots of Johnny, who was now standing in front of the empty concierge.
"Hello-! Anybody here!?" he screamed, jocularly, and slammed the bell on the table, expecting a person to come out and greet him. Silence was the only reply of the building, the ambient sound filling his ears and making him tap his right foot. He threw the bell away and glanced at the wall behind the concierge. A group of photos were hanging on the wall.
Previous customers or patrons of the hotel, smiled down at Johnny, and together with them was a white man with curly blonde hair and sharp purple eyes. A large holo-portrait of him dominated the middle of the wall and his name was displayed below it.
"Gregory Beyts." The Ghost Rider read and then chuckled. "Well, well, hello there, Count Furfur." Johnny wasn't fooled by his smile. Even though it was a picture, he could see right through his angelic smile – the demonic form of the young man. His heart beat quickened in cruel anticipation.
Silent Forest Hotel – Bar Area.
The outside façade of the hotel was that of a Victorian mansion. Everything was painted in the theme of either white or gold. In the bar area, the man was surrounded by lavish and exquisite furnishing. Johnny was a bit confused at first. For a demonic lair, this place was too fancy, rich and an eyesore. But he just shrugged it off and sat down on one of the barstools.
'Tch. Where on earth is he?' He grumbled, impatiently. He went over the bar counter and took one of the expensive whiskeys, sipping on it. "I'm drinking one of your…expensive shit here!" he called again in a childish way, but again, silence answered him.
"Augh, fine I'll do whatever I want!" he shouted in anger, flames shooting high on the ceiling, and took two more bottles, juggling them like clown in a circus. He glanced around the bar area and the walls. Huge taxidermy decapitated heads of deer adorned the golden wall, their eyes looking straight to Johnny, watching him in an eerie observing-like manner, and it unnerved him to his core.
"Where the hell are you!?" he shouted and threw the bottles at the deer. The contents poured all over the floor as tiny bits of glass landed with sharp tips. Johnny, fuming still, watched as the liquid pooled on the marble tiles before it began to trail on the edges of the wall. He blinked, startled at the action of the liquid. He moved to the spot where the liquid disappeared and knocked the wall softly with his right bony finger.
His knocking made a loud resounding echo. Hollow – which could only mean one thing. Johnny chuckled to his discovery and threw his right fist on the wall. The wall collapsed with a loud bang and a creepy-looking dark corridor greeted the Ghost Rider. Just as he expected, the true face of the hotel was now right in front of him.
The Ghost Rider rattled his chains in his hands and made a low rumbling laugh. "Here's Johnny!"
Silent Forest Hotel – Underground Control Room
Count Furfur watched, with observing eyes, the Ghost Rider walking down the stairs. The Underground hotel area was separated into four segments. Block A was the first floor, where the Ghost Rider was right now. The Devil smiled viciously while he tightened a fist in trepidation. He had designed this hotel from top to bottom. Its outward looks may look like it was just a normal fancy hotel, but the underground area was its true face. It was Count Furfur's favorite place.
Every nook and cranny, corner and space, was riddled with traps that could kill a person instantly. The labyrinth underground was his palace and his sanctuary from the judging eyes of Sybil. He made a satisfied grin after the Ghost Rider fell on the floor, face splat, avoiding a trap.
"Now then…about the woman." The Count then slowly glanced to his left, and stared at the door that leads to another dark room. "Shall I use her?"
Silent Forest Hotel – Underground Block A
Johnny slowly poked his flaming skull on a corner. He had just descended from a flight of stairs. The man was now staring at a very dark corridor with no doors. He couldn't see the end and his senses couldn't detect any demons or devils other than Count Furfur, who was, most probably, at the other end of the hallway.
"Heh, I guess this will be easy." Jonny scoffed and took a step on the floor. The tile underneath his right boot sunk, triggering a loud thud. Before he could fully react, a shutter suddenly descended and closed the stairwell beside him, his only way out had closed.
"What the-?!" Johnny, surprised, half-turned towards the shutter, but then his eyes caught a symbol that suddenly glowed by the wall on his left. The symbol zapped and pushed the Ghost Rider with tremendous force. He landed with his skull flat on the floor.
"The hell!?" That was Count Furfur's seal! Johnny let out a loud groan of pain. The lightning had paralyzed his body. He felt that his left side was all numb and heavy. "Fuck…" He turned his head up and gritted in annoyance.
"This won't be easy…" Grumbling, he pushed himself up. However, his right hand pressed another tile, a loud thud echoed again above him. Johnny looked up again, the ceiling opened up and ejected spears. The man quickly rolled to his right, avoiding all the spears that could easily pierce a huge hole on his body.
He stood up and scowled while brushing the dust off his jacket. "This hotel is going to get a no-star review on tribago—hmm?" He paused as his eyes landed on one of the blades of the spears. 'What on earth?' He took one of the spears and held the blade up. Latin words were mended on its surface and Johnny recognized it.
"Latin words, and it's a blessing seal…from an angel." The words that were etched on the spear were 'blessings.' The spear was a 'heavenly weapon'. "Why are there heavenly weapons here?!" And why did Count Furfur have this? Johnny touched the blade part with his right hand. His right hand sizzled and a scalding pain crawled through his right limb. He let go of the spear, creating a loud clank that echoed through the floor.
"Damn it!" 'Are there more heavenly weapons beside these spears?' The question rattled his mind, fear beginning to sip inside of him. Heavenly weapons, weapons that were made or blessed in heaven were one of his weaknesses. Johnny had just triggered one of the many traps of Count Furfur, and he was sure that most of his traps had 'blessings' on it and there would be more. He gritted his teeth, furious that he was trapped in this place and that he walked straight to the open palms of his enemy.
'Relax…just avoid them if you can-' Johnny took a step forward on a tile with his left boot, sinking it to the ground. A loud thud rumbled above him as the whole ceiling opened up. A long line of automated machine guns emerged and aimed right at him.
"Oh shit." The Ghost Rider cursed in doom as his body was completely covered with red laser dots. The machine guns whirled and the whole corridor was filled with loud gun shots.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Johnny cursed as he bent low and dashed madly. Bullets rained on him on all directions. He extended both of his hands, and his mystical chains shoot out, twirling them haphazardly in the air. This was the phantom rider's only shield. Johnny's chains parried every bullet aimed at him, protecting him from the deadly barrage.
"Where the hell is the ending of this-? Ah!" The Ghost Rider yelped after he felt a scorching ache on his left shoulder. He glanced to his left and saw a bullet hole. His eyes widened in terror. "The bullets…are also blessed!" The realization almost made him stop, but then he felt another twitch, this time on his right shoulder.
The injury made his heart beat fiercely as the terror bloomed inside of him. The man howled in anguish and pushed himself up. Johnny's boots exploded into fire and it propelled him forward.
"I will not die here!" His voice, deep and infernal, screamed throughout the corridor. For a long time, he felt fear and terror in his heart. The desire to survive was always within him, but he hadn't used it for a long time. And now that he had felt it again, it made him feel strange and alive.
'Is that the door?!' Johnny's eyes caught a glimpse of the door, a white rectangular shape standing by the wall, fifteen meters way from him. Finally, he can get out of this dangerous corridor.
"Hah! These traps wouldn't stop me-!" But then Johnny made a terrible mistake. His right foot stepped on a black tile. It sunk under his weight. The wall to the left of Johnny opened up and, emerging from the darkness, were twenty-five small, sharp knives.
The Ghost Rider gasped in horror as the blades of the knives shone brightly in his eyes, showing the familiar Latin words on its surface. The knives were, just like the guns, just like the spears, endowed with heavenly blessings.
"GAHH!" Johnny howled and forcefully crouched his head to the ground. His skull hit the floor, making it crack. And because he was still producing thrust from his boots, his whole lower body spun forward. The Ghost Rider tumbled and smashed right through the door. He landed on the floor and quickly rolled to his left, kicking the door to close.
The machine gun whirled down and stopped as its red laser could no longer detect the phantom invader. Johnny had cleared the first block.
Underground Control Room – Silent Forest Hotel
Count Furfur's face was etched in a scared frown. He had just watched the Ghost Rider clear the first block. His eyes were filled with fear and rage again as he gritted his teeth. His hands were balled into fists. He was expecting the former King of Hell to be heavily injured and yet he was just lying on the floor right now.
"No! I expect you to be half-dead!" Count Furfur slammed his fists on the table. He gritted his teeth, frustrated at his predicament. All those guns and painstaking labor of ordering and handling each and every bullets, knives and spears that were 'blessed' by that angel, all of it had gone to waste! Furious that all of his traps on the first block didn't work, he cursed fiercely again and slammed his head on the table with force.
'No…I'm not done yet. He still has a long way to go.' A strained laughter escaped from his lips after he lifted his head from the table. Blood streaked down his injured forehead and onto his maddened grin, but he didn't mind. "How can you escape this block, Johnny, when every weapon in there is blessed!?"
A maddening chuckle escaped his lips.
Silent Forest Hotel – Underground Area
"Augh…" a low bellowing sighed escape from the Ghost Rider's mouth. The small sparks on his skull returned as the view of the dark ceiling greeted his sight. He was lying on the dirty floor. He could feel the dust and small debris on his back.
"That was," He paused and coughed hard, "Intense." He slowly pulled himself up only to let out a sharp gasp. He felt a pang of pain on his left thigh, making him looked down. A knife was sticking out of his black pants, the uncomfortable burn was coming from the weapon. "Tch. Damn it."
Johnny cursed in irate and pulled the knife. The hole on his black pants slowly mended back, together with the skin and muscles underneath it. The man then pushed himself from the ground and blew out fiery air. Half healed, he felt his strength slowly building up.
"Seriously, this hotel is twisted as fuck." He frowned and made an evil eye as he slowly poked his head out of the corner.
The hallway wasn't long. This time the end had turned a sharp angle to the right. Johnny then slowly extend his right foot, tapping the hard floor, before finally emerging from his spot. There were no traps in the hallway and it made him breathe with ease.
"Whew, this must be a saving point." He made a low chuckle as he walked and scanned his surroundings vigilantly. "I swear if one of his traps is a pair of creepy twin girls, asking me to play with them, I will lose my shit-" He stopped his thoughts after his boots stepped on something soft.
He looked down and saw the pile of dirty, burnt clothes of a man lying on the floor. The man squatted down and touched the clothes. 'These clothes…' The last moments of the owner of the burnt clothes flashed before his eyes. The Inspector, leaning on the wall, was gasping for breath. His outstretched begging hands were pointed to the figure looming over him.
"Count Furryfurry. Heh, so he gave in to his urges, huh." An excited laughter escaped his lips. The sight of the devil made the flames inside his guts burst out in brutal energy as his hunger for vengeance, which was fueled by the cruel actions of the devil, called out to him more.
"Don't worry. This time, I won't fall for your tricks anymore." The Ghost Rider declared with energy before he turned the corner, towards the next room.
Whew New chapter is here! How are you all guys doing!? I hope this quarantine didn't change your outlook to the world!.
So in this chapter Johnny had arrived in another count's domain. The Domain of Count Furfur (or Furryfurry accoridng to Ghost Rider lol!) How will he hunt him, well youneed to go back to Count Furfur's origin. In the Lesser keys of Solomon, Count Furfur was a hart, an archaic word for stag. He too was angel casted out from heaven during the rebellion against God.
It was said that he can made a man and a woman fall in love. But be warned he isn't some kind of Cupid. In this fanfic he own a picturesque hotel and which he entirely used for his 'special' activities. Now why on earth he build a hotel? It's because, not only that it was his home, he also sometimes act as marriage councilor to troubled couples. But since he gave into his urges, he built the underground part so that he could still indulge in tricking and playing normal people. However there's more then what Johnny thought of him.
So here it is, the new chapter. Enjoy reading this. And as always if you've a review or if you want to like this story, then please do leave a review and a like in this fanfic. It would help me boost my morale in writing fanfic. Thinker out!
Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Rider marvel comics and Psycho-Pass anime. All names and places are fiction, if there's a name or place that exist in real, it will be purely coincidence.