Multiverse's Ghost Rider

Pierce was sitting alone in his house, gnawing on a loaf of white bread, when suddenly the front door was kicked open. Gaston burst in, looking panicked.

Pierce instinctively hid the bread behind his back. "M-Mr. Gaston? What brings you here?"

"Where's Jon? The man I brought to the village yesterday, where is he?!" Gaston demanded.

Pierce hesitated, then answered honestly, "He saw the notice I posted. He went to capture the monster."

"Damn it!" Gaston cursed under his breath before storming out.

He returned to his own home and grabbed his hunting rifle.

"Where are you going?" asked his elderly father.

His father's dementia was intermittent, sometimes lucid, sometimes lost. Right now, he was clear.

"To the castle," Gaston replied simply.

His father sighed but said nothing.

Gaston paused with the rifle in hand and asked, "You're not going to stop me?"

His father shook his head. "Lately, you've been staring in that direction every day. Even while hunting, your eyes always drift that way. I knew you'd return there someday."

Gaston loaded his rifle, gave a final glance toward the castle, and headed out alone.

***

Meanwhile, Jon had arrived at the castle after dealing with the witch.

It was an old, snow-covered fortress, gloomy and run-down. Sensing the darkness inside, Jon picked up a dead branch from the ground and lit it with his power, using it as a torch.

The castle doors creaked open as he stepped inside.

Though the interior was lavishly decorated, the air felt lifeless, the whole place radiating an eerie and oppressive aura.

From the clock monster's memories, Jon had learned a dark truth. Despite rumors of the castle hiring new servants in recent days, none of them had been employed as staff. Instead, they were brought here as food for the beast.

Suddenly, a chair nearby sprang to life. It sprouted eyes and a mouth, then barked, "Who dares trespass in our castle?!"

The chair charged at Jon on four stubby legs.

Jon didn't even flinch. He kicked it into splinters.

That action stirred the whole castle into chaos. Clocks on the walls, tables and chairs on the floor, candlesticks, dishes, everything sprang to life, sprouting eyes and mouths, bouncing and flailing around.

"Oh no! He killed Cogsworth! The human killed Cogsworth!" a table shrieked as it hopped away in panic.

All the guards and servants in the castle had been transformed into furniture. Unlike the clock monster, or as they called it Cogsworth, most hadn't been outfitted with limbs by the witch. They were helpless and unable to fight, forced to flee.

A few still tried to retaliate. One teapot attempted to scald Jon with boiling water, but the result was obvious.

Watching the bizarre chaos unfold, Jon chuckled. "Now this... this is going to be fun."

He summoned another flame and hurled it at another piece of furniture, which caught fire and ran around screaming.

"He's a witch! An evil witch! Run!" yelled another.

"Have your curses rotted your brains? Can't even tell I'm a guy?" Jon shouted, launching another fireball at the screaming furniture.

He laughed as he tossed fireballs around like a child with toys, sending the animated furnishings scattering in all directions.

"You should thank me. When was the last time your castle was this lively?" he said, grinning.

"Enough!"

A calm yet icy voice rang out from above. Jon looked up to see a young woman standing in the corridor above, dressed in a flowing blue gown.

She wasn't particularly stunning, especially compared to the witch, but she had some charm. With meticulous grooming and a refined outfit, she could pass as a modest beauty.

Jon raised an eyebrow. "You must be Belle—the 'mistress' the clock monster or what you guys call it, Cogsworth, mentioned."

From Jon's knowledge, she was the protagonist of Beauty and the Beast. Though not extraordinary in Jon's eyes, she was probably the village's most beautiful woman, by local standards.

Gaston, whom Jon had met earlier, was also from Beauty and the Beast. But Jon found the hunter far more respectable.

To him, Gaston was a man of gratitude and filial piety, a pillar of strength during the famine, carrying the burden for his family and the village.

Belle, on the other hand, was ambitious and shallow. She rejected men like Gaston in favor of a beast who'd kidnapped her—just because he lived in a fancy castle, had a tragic backstory, and used to be handsome. That somehow stirred her misguided compassion.

Yes, while the village starved, she didn't lift a finger. Instead, she sympathized with a pampered prince, one who brought about the starvation by cursing the witch, turning her into a monster, and dooming the land.

Despite all this, Belle never saw herself as selfish. She called it 'redemption', saving the Beast. Never mind the countless villagers who died, she was hellbent on 'redeeming' a cruel, violent prince because he was rich, handsome, and once human.

From the clock monster's memories, Jon had learned Belle was far worse than he initially thought.

"That notice calling for servants—that was you, wasn't it?" Jon said coldly. "You lured villagers here with promises of bread, then fed them to the Beast. You really are... vile. Not even your own people were spared."

Belle responded, "I did it all to redeem the Beast, to save the one I love! He became what he is because of people like you. If anyone's to blame, it's that damned witch in the forest!"

At the mention of the witch, Belle's face twisted with malice. Jon could see it clearly, her expression brimmed with envy. The kind of envy that could make someone want to strangle the object of their jealousy.

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