Chapter 137: All signs lead to Conner
After Team Coulson found the tip that Ghost Rider left in the house of Sergeant Burns, they immediately went towards the said location in hopes of finding the Ghost Rider. The target was a residential building aimed at the successful individuals of the city. On the bus, Fitz and Jemma immediately hacked the cameras of the building while May, Ward, and Skye were the team assigned on the ground.
They waited for an entire day, in hopes of finding the Ghost Rider but it was all for nothing. The cops went inside the building and captured their target while Ghost Rider was nowhere to be seen. They have spent the entire day achieving nothing.
Coulson had no choice but to reluctantly order the team to fall back and think of a new approach. Assigning a surveillance team to once again keep watch of the Burns' residence is just going to be a waste of time. They didn't know when the Ghost Rider would appear again. Instead, he had the team review all the available files. Maybe they could figure out something that they had missed previously.
MEANWHILE:
In an abandoned warehouse in one of the junkyards outside the City of Los Angeles, a man could be seen sleeping on a chair while being bound by chains. He is a handsome man, one who would certainly pass as a model. He was suddenly jolted awake when someone poured a bucket of cold water on him.
"Ah, fuck!", the man said in surprise. He scanned his surroundings and he instantly became scared when he noticed the situation that he was in.
Standing in front of him is a man wearing a black leather jacket, grey pants, and a pair of sneakers. He is none other than the current Ghost Rider, Robbie Reyes.
One thing that is important about the man Robbie has captured is that he had just rented an apartment in the building that the cops recently raided. He was someone that immediately got his attention because of the odd drug that he has in his possession.
In one look the drugs look normal, even Robbie believes if the drugs were studied using the latest technology, they won't be able to find anything wrong with it. But Robbie thought otherwise. Just being in close proximity with the drugs made his skin crawl. Something that hasn't ever happened before. In fact, if Robbie hasn't been scouting the building a day prior before he gave the tip to Sergeant Burns then he would have never known of the man or the unique drug that he has.
"Look man, if you want money, I can get you money. We can just pretend that this never happened", the bound man said as he tried to negotiate his freedom.
Robbie just looks at the man and took out something from his pocket. It was a sachet of pills that had a red shade to it, "Where did you get this?".
The moment the man saw the pills, he did something that was a surprise to Robbie. With the pills in Robbie's hand, the man became angry. Gone was the fear that had consumed him, what filled the man now is extreme anger.
"You better not touch that!", the bound man shouted as he immediately exerted every strength his body has to free himself from the chains that are currently binding him. For a while, Robbie just watches the man as he struggles to free himself from the chains.
Robbie took a chair and placed it approximately 2 meters from his prisoner. He then placed the sachet of drugs on the chair and said, "Let me tell you a story. I have a younger brother. Unfortunately, some years ago, my brother and I had a car accident. I survived without any injuries but he...he lost the function of both his legs. The next months were tough. Our parents were no longer there, the two of us were the only ones that each other had. I tried to help him...or I thought I did. Then one day, after I returned from work. I found him lying on the floor, unconscious. I immediately called for an ambulance, it was in the hospital that I knew that my brother tried to OD himself. The loss of my brother's legs made him want to kill himself".
Robbie then slowly walks towards his prisoner and said, "Since then I promised to get rid of all drug dealers I could find". He then delivered a powerful punch to the face of the chained man. Blood could be seen spattering the floor due to the force of the punch. He proceeded to continually punch the man until the man calmed down in his seat.
"In truth, I would have not cared about a user like you. Anyone can decide what they want to do with their life. If you want to be high all the time, I don't care. But the drugs that you have are unique, incredible so in fact. So, tell me, who did you buy these drugs from?", Robbie said.
The man's response was odd to Robbie, somehow he did not care that he was just punched in the face, or beaten black and blue until he was bleeding. Instead, he just stared at the drugs that were 2 meters away from him.
Robbie narrowed his eyes and for a while, he alternated looking between the drugs on the chair and the man that he has captured. He wonders if this is an effect of the drugs, or perhaps an effect of the sinister energy he could feel coming from it.
Robbie then turned around, took the sachet of drugs with him and said, "I wonder how long you can go without your next hit".
As he began walking out of the warehouse, only the screaming of the man could be heard. The man combined a mixture of pleading, threats, and bribery. He wanted Robbie to at least give him one pill before he leaves. All of which were ignored by Robbie Reyes.
MEANWHILE: LIGHTHOUSE
"You're telling me that it matches? You are100% sure, Alfred?", Ethan stated. Right now, Ethan was currently in his lab due to Alfred wanting to show him something. He was still pissed about Ava not telling him about Ronan's attack but he was even more pissed about her losing Gamora. She said she gave them a communication device that functions as a tracker but when the communication device was activated, they receive no signal. Ava immediately realized her mistake and ordered her crew to find Gamora. She has been doing this for weeks now but she still had no clue where they were. Without any leads, her search would be extremely hard to bare fruit.
Ethan was pissed at her but at least she did her mission in Xandar. As of currently, a secret alliance had been made between, Shadow, The Chronicoms, and the Nova Empire. An outcome that Ethan welcomes.
Suddenly two hologram images began to appear in front of Ethan. Both of them were D.N.A Sequences. "Currently, S.H.I.E.L.D. is still trying to figure out how to block me out of their system but it would take them a few years to do that, or longer. While in their system, I noticed that Agent Jemma Simmons and Leopold Fitz are trying to figure out a composition of an unknown drug that they happen to be in possession of. While their computer was processing the results, I was alerted about something interesting with the drug. The drugs that they discovered contains a small amount of D.N.A in them and this D.N.A. could be found in SHADOW'S servers. That is why before their computer could give them the final results of the analysis of the drugs, I was able to remove a portion of the result that is connected with the said anomaly".
The hologram then began to merge and Alfred said, "Both D.N.A's are the same. They all belong to a man named, Conner. A person that you sir Ethan, had personally placed in the database".
Ethan was shocked when he heard Alfred say the name Conner. To think that Conner is once again out of Afterlife and also selling drugs again is totally a blast from the past. Ethan thought of it for a while and said, "Contact Ward, and just give him a report on what we have on Conner. Including the one you removed", Ethan stated. He then made a hand sign that resulted in him being surrounded by a puff of smoke. Ethan transformed to the image of Conner a few decades ago. "Alfred, also search online with anyone having this face. Keep in mind that this was more than 20 years ago. If you have a lead, send it to Ward so that S.H.I.E.L.D. can take of it".
"On it, sir", Alfred replied.
12 HOURS LATER:
When night came, Robbie returned to check up on his prisoner. When he opened the warehouse he could immediately see the man sweating badly and having a disheveled appearance. The moment the man saw Robbie, he said, "I'll tell you! Please just let me have a pill!".
With a serious look on Robbie's face, he said, "Tell me first".
Due to drug addiction, the man immediately caved and told Robbie everything. How he bought the drug from a man named Conner. The chained man told him everything, even where Conner lived. After Robbie got every valuable information from the man, he said, "Thank you".
"Come on man, give me a pill!" the man said as his mouth began to water due to the excitement of getting high.
Robbie hesitated for a while and said, "Do you want the pill or Do you want your freedom? You can only choose one".
Without even pausing the man said, "I want the pill!".
Robbie narrowed his eyes and said, "Interesting".