(A/N):
Drop a meme here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.
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Marvel: Starting as Ghost Rider!!!
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....
Just as they were about to finish their discussion, a familiar tune suddenly drifted through the quiet streets outside the hotel.
At first, nobody paid much attention to it, but when the melody repeated itself, Cole immediately straightened in his chair, his expression changing so abruptly that Jenny noticed it before anyone else.
The music was faint, accompanied by the distant mechanical whine of an old-fashioned ice cream van's siren, but it was unmistakably the same tune they had been hearing throughout the afternoon.
For a moment, everyone remained silent, wondering whether they were imagining it, until the sound grew louder and seemed to be approaching the hotel.
"That's it,"
Cole said, already getting to his feet.
"That's the same music. I remember it."
Jenny hurried toward the window and pulled the curtains aside before opening it, allowing the cool midnight air to enter the room.
The others quickly gathered around her, with Kang and the two Quileute tribesmen moving closer to get a better view of the street below.
Jojo initially remained seated, wondering what sort of ice cream vendor would be driving around at midnight, but when he noticed the expressions on everyone's faces, he got up and joined them.
Down on the road, an old-fashioned ice cream van was slowly making its way past the hotel, its cheerful melody playing loudly enough to be heard throughout the otherwise deserted street.
The vehicle appeared perfectly ordinary at first glance, with colourful pictures of ice cream decorating its sides and a small illuminated sign above the serving window.
However, unlike the busy afternoon when children had been running toward it, the streets were almost completely empty now.
There were no customers waiting for ice cream, no parents accompanying their children and no obvious reason for the driver to be playing that irritatingly cheerful tune in the middle of the night.
"That's the van,"
Jenny confirmed, pointing toward the vehicle.
"The same one we followed earlier. Look at the driver."
Jojo narrowed his eyes and focused his supernatural sight on the vehicle.
Almost immediately, his expression changed.
While the others could see the van's decaying appearance through the abilities granted by their contracts, Jojo could perceive something much deeper, and what he discovered was considerably more disturbing than he had expected.
The vehicle itself was saturated with spiritual residue, but the strongest concentration of supernatural energy was coming from the man sitting behind the steering wheel.
"Huh? Now that's interesting,"
Jojo muttered, leaning slightly forward.
Freya glanced at him.
"What did you find?"
Jojo didn't answer immediately.
He was examining the driver carefully, trying to make sense of the strange spiritual structure surrounding his body.
There was no mistaking the presence of a ghost.
The man's soul carried the unmistakable signature of someone who had already died, yet unlike an ordinary wandering spirit, he wasn't floating around without a physical body or possessing an unfortunate stranger.
His soul was firmly attached to the corpse sitting behind the steering wheel, and the connection between the two was so deeply established that it almost resembled the relationship between a living person's body and soul.
Except this man was definitely not alive.
"Well, that explains a few things," Jojo finally said.
"The driver is a ghost."
Kang looked at him in surprise.
"A ghost? But he's driving the van and selling ice cream. How is he doing all that?"
"Because he's possessing a body,"
Jojo replied, continuing to examine the man.
"The strange part is that it doesn't appear to be someone else's body. From what I can see, he's possessing his own corpse. His soul is attached to it, and something is preventing the body from deteriorating completely."
"I can still see traces of decay, but whatever power is keeping him here has been maintaining the connection for a very long time."
Freya's expression became serious as she directed her attention toward the driver, attempting to examine the energy surrounding him.
Inadu moved closer as well, and after a few moments, both women appeared to notice something that made them exchange a concerned glance.
"There's demonic energy around him," Inadu said quietly.
Jojo nodded.
"Exactly. And quite a lot of it."
He continued observing the driver, who seemed completely unaware that several people were watching him from one of the hotel's upper-floor windows.
The man's clothing also caught Jojo's attention.
Beneath the illusion that made him appear like an ordinary ice cream vendor, he wore an old-fashioned uniform that looked as though it belonged to a period many decades in the past.
The fabric was faded and stained, with an outdated collar and buttons that Jojo couldn't remember seeing on any modern uniform.
Even the style of his cap seemed unusually old.
"Look at what he's wearing,"
Jojo said, pointing toward the driver.
"That uniform doesn't belong to this century, or at least not to recent decades. I wouldn't be surprised if this fellow died a very long time ago."
Jenny frowned.
"Then why is he still wandering around selling ice cream?"
"That's what I want to know."
Jojo folded his arms while watching the van crawl along the street.
"The ghost itself isn't particularly difficult to understand. I've seen spirits possess corpses before, although possessing their own bodies is much less common. What bothers me is the demonic energy surrounding him."
"Someone or something has given this fellow the ability to remain in the physical world, and I doubt they did it out of kindness."
Freya considered his words before speaking.
"A witch could theoretically create a binding that anchors a spirit to its remains, but maintaining a corpse for decades would require considerable power. If there's demonic energy involved, the spell may have been strengthened through a pact or some other form of supernatural agreement."
"That's what I'm thinking," Jojo replied.
"Either he made a deal with a demon before he died, or some witch brought him back afterward using demonic power. There's also the possibility that the demon itself is responsible for keeping him here. Whatever the arrangement is, I doubt the driver is operating entirely on his own."
Inadu watched the vehicle with a thoughtful expression.
"And if the power sustaining him comes from another entity, there's a chance that entity is still assisting him. We shouldn't assume destroying his body will be enough to stop whatever he's doing."
Jojo nodded in agreement.
He had already begun considering that possibility, particularly because the strange substance being distributed to children didn't appear to be something an ordinary ghost could produce.
A spirit possessing its own corpse might be capable of interacting with the physical world, but creating an illusion powerful enough to deceive an entire town while distributing something that appeared to contain living supernatural matter was another matter entirely.
The driver had either acquired abilities far beyond those of a normal ghost or was receiving assistance from something much more dangerous.
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(Author's POV)
(A/N):
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