(A/N):
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BASTION...
AFTER TWO DAYS...
DAY ONE OF LOCKDOWN...
The doors closed one by one.
Wood against wood.
Metal sliding into place.
Locks snapping shut with finality.
Across Bastion, teenage boys were sealed inside their own rooms like animals being prepared for slaughter.
Windows were boarded from the outside.
Door handles removed.
Some rooms had mattresses dragged into corners—
Others didn't even get that.
No food. No water.
Only time.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Inside those rooms, anger fermented.
Hunger sharpened it.
Thirst twisted it. Fear fed it.
Knuckles slammed against walls until skin split.
Voices screamed until throats burned raw.
Some boys cried.
Others went silent—
"...."
"...."
"...."
More dangerous than the rest.
Parents stood outside, arms crossed, faces hard.
One father muttered,
"If he won't run, he's useless anyway."
A mother turned her face away as her son begged through the door, telling herself it was for the good of the town.
Tradition made monsters out of everyone.
ON PATROL CAR...
Officer Jerry moved through the settlement with methodical calm.
Checklist in hand.
"...."
Keys jangling at his belt.
House after house.
Door after door.
He knocked once—just once—on each boarded room.
-Knock -Knock
"Still in there?"
He asked casually.
A muffled scream answered him.
Jerry smiled faintly and marked the clipboard.
"...."
✔ LOCKED
✔ COMPLIANT
✔ READY
When a boy didn't answer,
Jerry leaned closer to the door.
"They always go quiet on the second day,"
He said to a nearby parent.
"Means it's working."
Some parents nodded.
-Nod
"...."
"...."
"...."
Others flinched.
None stopped him.
At one house, a boy's mother hesitated as Jerry approached.
"He hasn't eaten, He's not like the others—"
She whispered and looked at the locked door probably wanted to open it.
Jerry turned to her slowly.
"...."
"...."
"...."
"This town survives because we don't make exceptions."
Her shoulders sagged.
Jerry knocked. No answer.
-Knock
He smiled wider.
INSIDE THE ROOMS...
Time stopped making sense.
Day blurred into night.
Night bled back into day.
Hunger turned into rage. Rage turned into instinct.
Some boys paced until their feet bled.
Others clawed at the boards, teeth bared like cornered animals.
A few whispered prayers they didn't believe in anymore.
And somewhere in the cornfields—
A farmer was preparing things like pumpkin for the harvest.
Meanwhile...
Jojo stood at the edge of the fields as dusk settled, hands in his pockets, jaw tight.
He could feel it now.
The ritual tightening.
The fear being distilled.
The anger being sharpened into fuel.
This wasn't just preparation.
It was conditioning.
"They're breaking them,"
Debbie whispered beside him.
Jojo nodded while looking at the farmer with a cold look on his face.
-Nod
"They want the boys feral when the hunt starts. Easier to steer."
Caroline's eyes burned.
"And easier to justify when they don't come back."
Inadu's voice was low, while she looked very cold.
She hates this kind of peoples who uses other peoples for their selfish desire.
"Blood rites thrive on despair."
Jojo's gaze drifted toward the church steeple silhouetted against the sky.
"And the priest lets it happen, Because faith makes cruelty respectable."
Thunder rumbled in the distance—
-FLASH
Far off, but coming closer.
Three days of starvation.
Three days of fear.
On the third night, the bells would ring.
And Bastion believed it would birth another monster.
Jojo exhaled slowly.
-Sigh
"They think they're raising a champion,"
Jojo didn't move.
He stood at the edge of the cornfields, boots half-buried in damp soil, eyes fixed on the scarecrow silhouette swaying far off in the dark.
Saw Tooth Jack wasn't fully awake yet.
Not tonight.
Not until the bells rang.
If Jojo intervened now—the soul bound inside that thing wouldn't be released.
It would anchor.
Turn rage into permanence.
Turn suffering into eternity.
And that soul had already suffered enough.
"So we wait,"
Debbie said quietly while looking at his face.
Jojo nodded with a sigh.
-Nod
"We let the ritual reach its peak. When saw tooth Jack finally unleash we could free him."
Inadu's gaze was distant, reading currents no human could see.
"The binding circle is ancient. Fear feeds it. But so does choice."
Jojo's jaw tightened. "Then we let the boy;s soul choose."
Meanwhile...
At Richie's House...
The argument exploded like a long-delayed storm.
"I'M NOT STAYING LOCKED IN HERE!"
Richie shoved the chair back so hard it scraped the floor.
His mother flinched.
"...."
"...."
His father didn't.
"You're not going out there,"
His father said flatly rejecting him within a second.
"Your brother already paid that price."
"That's exactly why I'm going,"
Richie shot back clearly irritated by his father's response.
"I don't want to live in his shadow..."
Silence fell heavy.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The fortune. The house.
The reputation.
All built on a dead boy's victory.
"You have everything now,"
His mother pleaded with a guilty look which she has been keeping hard to maintain.
"You can leave—college, work—"
"No,"
Richie snapped clearly not understanding why his parents were not believe.
"I can't leave unless I win."
His father's eyes hardened.
"Why are you this adamant on leaving?"
Richie stepped closer, voice shaking with fury.
"You think I don't see it? You think I don't feel it when everyone looks at me like I'm living someone else's shadow?"
His hands clenched.
"...."
"I don't want his money. I don't want his house."
His voice broke, raw and honest.
"I want my own way out."
His mother reached for him.
Richie pulled back.
"I'm not going to rot here pretending I'm grateful. I am going to build my own future."
AFTER TWO DAYS...
NIGHT OF THE HARVEST...
The cornfield shuddered as the wind tore through it, stalks bending like terrified witnesses.
The church bell rang once.
-RING
Then again.
-RING
From the far end of the field, the rusted gate screeched open.
The farmer stepped out, lantern swinging, cigar glowing faintly between his lips.
He pulled the lever.
Chains snapped.
Metal screamed.
-ROOOOAR!!!
Saw Tooth Jack burst free, roaring at the moon before charging headlong into the cornfield.
The farmer exhaled slowly, satisfied.
'Another harvest begins.'
Heat suddenly bloomed behind him.
The lantern trembled in his hand.
He frowned.
-Frown
'What the hell—'
Fire reflected on the corn.
A shadow far too large stretched across the ground.
He turned.
Flames. A skull wreathed in hellfire stared back at him.
"...."
Before he could scream,
A burning hand clamped around the back of his neck and forced his face forward.
The cigar slipped from his mouth and hissed against the dirt.
-THUD.
"LOOK INTO MY EYES."
The scream ripped out of him.
'HE FEELS IT... THE LIES... THE CHILDREN... THE BLOOD FED INTO THE SOIL.'
The world shattered inside his mind.
Every boy locked in his room.
Every mother silenced.
Every sacrifice excused as tradition.
"YOU CALLED THIS NECESSARY, YOU CALLED THIS FAITH.... BUT YOU KNEW."
The hellfire surged.
-HISS
The farmer convulsed as his soul burned, his scream echoing across the fields—
Then choking into nothingness.
The flames vanished.
His body collapsed into the dirt, eyes empty, mouth frozen mid-plea.
A hollow shell.
Ghost Rider straightened slowly.
"THE HARVEST ENDS TONIGHT. NOW I FREE THE ONE YOU BOUND."
The flames around Ghost Rider dimmed just enough for him to turn his skull toward the others.
He looked at Inadu first.
"...."
Then Caroline. Then Debbi and Gayathri.
"GO TO THE CHURCH, THE PRIEST IS THERE... CAPTURE HIM. DO NOT LET HIM DIE."
The hellfire in his eyes flared brighter.
"I WILL HANDLE THE JACK."
Inadu met his gaze without fear and nodded once.
-Nod
"This won't take long."
Caroline swallowed, then straightened even through witnessing the transformation many times its still leave her awed.
-Gulp
"We'll get him."
Debbi hesitated for a heartbeat, then nodded firmly.
-Nod
"I won't freeze this time. I will do help as much as I can."
Gayathri clenched her fists, excitement and dread mixing in her eyes.
"Let's go."
They turned and disappeared into the darkness toward the distant church bell,
Their footsteps quickly swallowed by the cornfield.
Ghost Rider watched them go for a second longer.
'GOOD. THIS IS BETWEEN ME AND HIM.'
He turned.
"...."
At the edge of the field sat an old truck.
Rust devoured its body.
The tires were half-buried in mud.
The hood hung crooked.
The engine bay was empty.
A dead relic.
Ghost Rider tilted his head, amused.
-GRAAAAAA!
"THIS WON'T DO."
He stepped closer and placed both burning hands on the truck's corroded frame.
The moment his palms touched metal—
Hellfire erupted.
Flames poured across the rust like liquid sunlight,
Racing along every crack and bolt.
The truck groaned, metal screaming as it reshaped itself under infernal force.
The frame thickened.
The tires reformed, swelling larger, harder, wrapped in blazing sigils.
Chains burst from beneath the chassis, clanking as they fused into the axles.
Where the engine should have been, hellfire condensed, spinning, compressing—
Then ignited.
The truck roared.
-VRRRRROOOOOOMMMM!!!
Not a mechanical sound—
But a beast's roar, deep and violent, shaking the cornfield.
Ghost Rider stepped back as the transformation completed.
The rust was gone.
In its place stood a monstrous hellfire truck, body blackened like obsidian, veins of molten fire pulsing beneath the surface.
Exhaust poured out as flames.
The headlights burned like demonic eyes.
Ghost Rider laughed, low and dangerous.
-RARARARA!!!
"NOW THAT'S BETTER."
He climbed into the driver's seat.
The moment his hands touched the wheel, the truck answered—howling, eager.
'LET'S HUNT.'
The engine screamed.
-VRRRROOOOOMMMM!!!
With a violent burst of fire, the hellfire truck tore forward, crushing corn beneath burning tires as it surged straight into the field.
MEANWHILE...
PATROL CAR...
Officer Jerry stared at the cornfield, unease crawling up his spine.
The night had gone too quiet.
Then—
A sound tore through the silence.
-VROOOOMMM!!!
A roar.
Not an animal. Not machinery.
Something wrong.
"...."
A red glow flickered between the stalks—
Far away at first, then rapidly growing brighter, closer, angrier.
Jerry's eyes widened.
"...."
"What the hell…?"
The ground began to vibrate.
Corn stalks bent and snapped as something massive plowed through them.
Then he saw it.
A truck.
No—
A flaming monstrosity on wheels.
Fire licked across its body like living veins.
Its headlights burned crimson, fixed on him like predatory eyes.
Jerry's breath hitched.
"...."
"No… no no no—"
He lunged into his patrol car, hands shaking as he jammed the key into the ignition.
-Trrr -Trrr
"Come on, come on—start!"
The engine coughed.
Died.
Jerry looked up.
"...."
The hellfire truck was already on him.
Time slowed.
He saw the skeletal figure behind the wheel—
A burning skull, chained jacket, eyes blazing with judgment.
"MOVE."
The word hit him like thunder.
Too late.
The hellfire truck slammed into the patrol car with overwhelming force.
-BOOOMMM!!!
Metal screamed.
The patrol car lifted off the ground, flipping end over end as it was hurled into the cornfield.
Glass exploded outward, sparks and fire scattering through the night.
The car rolled once.
THUD. THUD.
THUD.
Twice.
Then crashed onto its side, crushed stalks and smoke billowing around it.
Silence followed.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The hellfire truck skidded to a stop several meters away, flames settling into a low, furious burn.
Ghost Rider stepped out.
Thud.
The ground scorched beneath his boots as he walked toward the wreck.
Inside the overturned patrol car,
Jerry groaned, blood trickling down his forehead.
-Cough -Cough
"...."
He tried to move—his body refused to listen.
The door was ripped open with a single burning hand.
-CRACK!
Ghost Rider leaned in, flames illuminating Jerry's terrified face.
"OFFICER JERRY RICKS."
Jerry whimpered trying to get up.
"...."
"P-please… I was just doing my job…"
Ghost Rider tilted his head.
'JOB? YOU CALL THIS A JOB?'
Chains rattled softly as Ghost Rider straightened.
"YOU WATCHED. YOU ENFORCED. YOU DELIVERED BOYS TO DEATH AND CALLED IT TRADITION."
Jerry shook his head weakly.
"I—I didn't kill anyone. It was the rules. The harvest keeps the town safe—"
Ghost Rider's flames surged.
-AH!
"AND YOU SLEPT EASY."
He grabbed Jerry by the collar and dragged him halfway out of the wreck,
Forcing their faces inches apart.
"LOOK INTO MY EYES."
Jerry screamed.
The penance stare ignited.
-Ahhhhhh!!!
His scream echoed across the cornfield as his mind was flooded with every choice he made—
Every boy he locked in, every plea he ignored, every night he told himself it was "necessary."
The screams cut off abruptly.
When Ghost Rider released him, Jerry's body went limp.
Ending the life of the self claimed protector of virtue.
Ghost Rider stood over the overturned patrol car.
Officer Jerry's body lay twisted amid crushed corn, eyes glassy, breath shallow—
Alive, but already hollow.
He took his last breath of life.
For a brief moment, the flames around Ghost Rider dimmed.
Then they surged.
"JUDGMENT IS COMPLETE."
Hellfire poured from his palm, washing over the lifeless shell that had once been Officer Jerry Ricks.
The flames did not rage wildly—
They were precise, deliberate.
Flesh, fabric, badge, and sin burned together until nothing remained.
When the fire receded, there was only ash, drifting quietly into the night wind.
A scream cut through the cornfield.
-Ahhhhh!!!
Ghost Rider turned.
"...."
Three figures stood frozen between the stalks—
Richie Shepard and two of his friends.
Their faces were pale, eyes wide, mouths trembling as they stared at the flaming skull and the burning truck behind him.
One of them whispered, barely audible,
"M-monster…"
Their legs gave out.
All three collapsed where they stood, unconscious before fear could push them any further.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Ghost Rider watched them for a second longer.
'CHILDREN. NOT YET DAMNED.'
He turned away.
The hellfire truck waited, engine growling like a chained beast eager to be unleashed.
Ghost Rider climbed in.
The moment his skeletal hands gripped the wheel, the engine roared—
-VRRROOOOMMM!!!
Louder than before, shaking the earth itself.
Flames burst from the exhaust, scorching the ground beneath the tires.
In the distance, a feral howl echoed through the cornfields.
Saw Tooth Jack.
Ghost Rider's burning gaze locked onto the direction of the sound.
-RAAAAAAA!!!
The hellfire truck lurched forward, tearing through the cornfield in a blazing straight line, fire splitting the darkness as judgment sped toward its next prey.
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(Author's POV)
(A/N):
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