"It's fine—as long as we're careful, there shouldn't be any problem, right?" But Miku Izayoi didn't care at all. She was even more eager to see these so-called demons. You couldn't blame her—she had already seen "Gods," so in her mind, these creatures probably weren't all that powerful.
"All right, since you insist, there's no harm in going to have a look. But we'll have to wait until tonight. At the very least, those guys don't act during the day." Thinking back to that movie, Tohka decided they'd wait until night.
Truthfully, even if Miku hadn't asked, she herself was planning to go see. Back when she'd watched the film Ghost Rider, she'd been fascinated by the flaming motorcycle and warhorse.
"Fine, then let's go out tonight and take a look." In the end, Miku Izayoi didn't argue further and simply chose to wait quietly.
"You stay here—I'm going to see if I can find any clues. Here, wear these glasses. They can remotely control the armor. Tony didn't give you the permissions to operate it, but you'll still be able to see everything I see and talk to me."
After thinking it over, Tohka decided she'd better check things out herself. She needed to confirm whether this was really the same timeline as the movie she'd seen. Giving Miku the glasses would let her see exactly what was happening without being able to interfere.
"Eh—really?" Hearing this, Miku skeptically put on the glasses Tohka handed over. Then she looked startled, because she could see herself in the display. At the same time, she turned toward Tohka and saw her holding the armor, a small glowing dot pointing straight at her.
"All right, I'm heading out." With that, Tohka reactivated the armor in her hands. Her whole body rose into the air and flew straight out the window. Simultaneously, the display in Miku's glasses synced perfectly with her view.
"I remember the main character was called Johnny Blaze—he was a stunt rider and the first Ghost Rider." Tohka silently reviewed all the information she'd gathered in her mind. Boldly, she flew straight to one of the crime scenes from yesterday's report. The victim here wasn't one of those drained of life, but rather someone whose eyes had become extremely strange.
"Iron Man—please leave immediately. Do not interfere with our investigation." Since there hadn't been any fighting here yet, the area was still sealed off. So as soon as she landed, the police warned her. If not for her fame—and the prestige from the Battle of New York—the officers would definitely have been much ruder.
These superheroes might have a great reputation among civilians, but among law enforcement, it was different. When the police failed and had to be bailed out by superheroes, what were ordinary people supposed to think? But when they faced something truly beyond their capacity, they still welcomed the help. It was a contradiction. And in this case, the officers present had never worked with any superheroes before.
"Hmph—this is no ordinary crime. If you don't want unnecessary casualties, you'd better not block me." Tohka didn't care about their warnings. Her voice came out in the special metallic tone of her armor.
"Uh…" Hearing her, the officers hesitated.
If it had been someone else, maybe they wouldn't have cared. But since this was a Stark, they couldn't dismiss it so easily. No matter what, the Stark family held enormous social standing. And if she spoke so confidently, none of them wanted to bet their lives she was wrong.
"…."
Tohka shot them an indifferent glance and walked straight past toward the body lying under a cloth. It seemed the forensics team hadn't finished, so the corpse hadn't been moved yet.
"Look, look—it's the Iron Armor. That should be the Stark heiress." Unlike the uneasy police, the surrounding onlookers were thrilled. Someone was already filming. After all, this wasn't New York—it was rare to see Tohka or Tony in person here.
"As expected…so this is the Ghost Rider's Penance Stare?" Lifting the cloth, Tohka immediately saw the body's eyes. But now, they no longer had pupils or whites—only cracked, charred sockets.
"Hey—you, what do you think you're doing? Leave now, or I'll have you arrested. Even if you're Iron Man, the law doesn't give you police powers." Just as she was inspecting the body, a man who looked like a police captain pushed through the crowd to confront her. He instantly spotted her examining the corpse.
"Mm? From the way you're talking, you already know who did this?" Tohka glanced at the captain. From his composed expression, she guessed he already had some idea.
"Of course we do. Now get out of here—this is none of your business. Don't interfere with our work, or I'll charge you with obstruction." The captain wasn't polite at all.
"Hmph—fine then. I'd love to see how you plan to deal with that thing." Tohka's voice was cold as she snorted. If these people didn't want help, she'd just let them learn the hard way.
She wasn't some self-sacrificing saint. She'd tried to warn them—if they refused, they could eat the consequences. When a few more people died, they'd probably beg her to step in. Without another word, she launched herself into the sky and flew off.
"Tohka—those people are awful! How dare they treat you like that after everything you've done?" As she flew away, Miku Izayoi's voice rang in her ears. She'd clearly heard everything through the glasses. But she also sounded worried: "Do you think they'll really be able to handle this? If not, we'll miss our chance to act."
"Handle it? Those guys? Even if everyone from before came here—except maybe Thor—I doubt any of them could deal with this." Tohka gave a low, cold laugh. Did they really think demons were just some harmless vegetables you could pick whenever you liked?