Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 5

"Rage Against the Machine"

Cover Date: September 1994; On Sale Date: July 1994

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Mark Buckingham; Inker: Mark Buckingham & Kev Sutherland; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Group Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Mark Buckingham

Following the death of his friend Warewolf, the Ghost Rider wages all-out war against Central Security Systems' armored police force.  After he wins the battle, Zero is approached by reporter Willis Adams, who asks what Zero is so angry about.  Zero gives a short speech about what the "biz suits" have done to the world, and then tells the reporter that if he wants to know about him he should ask D/Monix.  Adam's technicians manage to stop the broadcast feed the moment Zero mentions D/Monix, and Zero departs the battleground.

He soon arrives in Neo-Chicago, home of the D/Monix corporation.  Using his steal camouflage field, he disguises himself as a guard and gains access to the D/Monix building, where he encounters executive Jackson Womack.  Upstairs, Harrison Cochrane thinks about the deal Womack had presented to him regarding the decryption of the Singapore Archive disc that had recently been recovered.  Fearing the wrath of D/Monix CEO Kellerman, Harrison tells the newly-arrived Womack that he doesn't think they should do it behind Kellerman's back.  Womack asks Harrison who fingered the Hotwire Martyrs in the archive's theft, and a surprised Harrison states that he was the one who did it.  Womack's features transform into a furious Zero, who addresses Harrison as "Dad".  Surprised to his see his dead son standing in front of him, Harrison attempts to justify his actions that led to Zero's death.  Zero transforms into the Ghost Rider and smashes Harrison's computer, retrieving the Archive disc.  After Harrison tells where to find both Zero's captive girlfriend Kylie and his confiscated motorcycle, Zero shatters the disc and leaves Harrison to clean up the mess.

Zero retrieves his bike and busts into the neuroterrogation lab, where he finds the comatose Kyle and the similarly captive Doctor Neon, who begs to be freed.  Zero is shocked to see his own dead body and briefly wonders if there would be a way to "reboot" his mind back into it. He quickly changes his mind and incinerates the corpse, thinking "no going back".  He then escapes D/Monix with the unconscious Kyle and Doctor Neon.  Elsewhere, the entities that comprise the Ghostworks have been watching, stating that the Singapore Archive contained evidence of their existence has now been destroyed and a period of observation for Zero should be considered before proceeding to "stage two".

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 4

"Uncontrollable Urge"

Cover Date: August 1994; On Sale Date: June 1994

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Peter Gross; Inkers: Mark Buckingham & Kev Sutherland; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Group Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Mark Buckingham

Zero's best friend, Warewolf, has transformed into a mechanical monster hell bent on destroying the Ghost Rider. Despite his attempts to talk his friend down, Zero is forced to fully transform his robotic body to combat mode and fight back. Warewolf tries to resume control of his body, but finds himself unable to do so. While their fight continues, Kylie and Dr. Neon are led to Womack's office in D/Monix headquarters. Womack is given the Singapore Archive disc, and when Kylie lies about what she was caught doing he orders her sent down to "neuroterrogation". Womack contacts Harrison and tells him to load his decryption software to access the disc. When Kylie and Neon arrive in the neuroterrogation room, they find Zero's dead body on a table. Kylie freaks out, screaming that Zero still owes her money, forcing the security team to hold her down on a table while a technician injects her with a dose of Mnemopromethylne to gain access to her memories. Harrison is viewing a screen shot of Zero's body when Womack enters his office, prompting Harrison to comment about how the boy's parents must have been "unlucky". Womack shows Harrison the disc and asks him to decrypt it without informing Kellerman, noting the opportunity that's been presented to them. Unbeknownst to them, the holographic Kellerman is watching their conversation. Harrison views the progress on the dismantlement of the Ghost Rider's bike, but he's interrupted by a news report from Willis Adams about the Ghost Rider's battle with Warewolf.

Warewolf is briefly able to override the commands in his mind and he begs Zero to kill him. The police interrupt and fire on the two combatants, prompting Zero to attack them. Warewolf is shot, but when Zero saves him the battle between the two resumes. The cops warm up a antiparticle generator gun, but Warewolf regains control of himself long enough to place himself in the line of fire, saving Zero's life. As Warewolf dies, he tells Zero that it was Womack and Harrison at D/Monix that did this to him. Upon hearing Harrison's name, Zero flies into a rage and attacks the cops, using an optic laser to disable one of the armored officers. He tells the cops, "You'd better e-mail the body banks. Tell 'em to get ready for rush hour!"

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 3

"Search and Destroy"

Cover Date: July 1994
On Sale Date: May 1994

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Chris Bachalo & Peter Gross; Inker: Mark Buckingham & Kev Sutherland; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Group Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Mark Buckingham

Confronted by a squad of robots piloted by securi-cops, Zero Cochrane launches into an attack with his electro-saw only to find it won't cut the robots' armor. One of the robots slams Zero to the ground and tells him that nothing short of a monomolecular edge can cut through the suit. Just so happens, Zero comments, he has one hand – his fingers sharpen into blades that cut right through the windshield of the suit, severely wounding the pilot. In response, a massive police "street sweeper" barrels down the street while Zero's on board computer alerts him that his reserve power is down to 50%. With no other choice, Zero turns down an alley and runs.

Watching from the police cameras in D/Monix headquarters are two executives, Harrison and Womack. The two check in with the doctors examining the bodies of Zero and the other Hotwire Martyrs. While they can't retrieve any information from Cochrane's fried brain, his friend Warewolf is more or less intact. They induce a memory recall on Warewolf, showing the doctors just how Zero was able to download the secure Singapore Date File from the D/Monix network and the subsequent attack on the Martyrs by the mercenary Artificial Kidz. Womack comments that they still know nothing: the Martyr that's alive doesn't know where the file went while the one that does know is dead. Womack's security system informs him of an online inquiry into one of D/Monix's encryption algorithms, and that the perpetrators are in the process of being apprehended. Womack tells Harrison that he believes there to be a connection between the Ghost Rider and the Singapore File theft; and that they're going to use Warewolf to trace that connection.

Back on the street, Zero takes a wrong turn and comes to a dead-end alley. The cops close in on him, and with his power almost gone Zero barely manages to escape into the sewers. For the brief minute that the police lose their line-of-sight on Zero he implements his solidogram camouflage system that maps a hologram of his human body over his new robot shell. The police pass him up, thinking he's just a homeless man sleeping in the sewer. After they pass Zero goes back up to the street, and a convoy for police cruisers pass him by in route to apprehend his ex-girlfriend Kylie and the amateur hacker Dr. Neon.

At the Bar Code, Zero enters and asks to speak to the bar's owner, Anesthesia Jones. Jones meets with Zero, who asks her for a couple of hours of straight voltage in private. Jones thinks its weird and expensive, but doable. In return for the word on what's happening since the Martyrs were attacked, Jones agrees to Zero's request. The next day, Zero finishes his recharge and decides its time to settle things by first retrieving his bike from police custody. When he exits the back of the bar he immediately sees his friend Warewolf. Both are shocked, as they each thought the other to be dead. Warewolf has no memory of what happened to him after the attack on the Martyrs. Zero takes Warewolf out back and turns off his camouflage, revealing himself to be the Ghost Rider. However, this triggers a transformation in Warewolf, turning him into a monstrous creature programmed to terminate the Ghost Rider.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 2

"Detonation Boulevard"

Cover Date: June 1994; On Sale Date: April 1994

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Chris Bachalo; Inker: Mark Buckingham; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Group Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Chris Bachalo

Zero Cochrane, the Ghost Rider, has found the man that killed him a week before: Jeter, leader of the mercenary Artificial Kidz. With his laser chainsaw, Zero hacks off Jeter's limbs, severing his bionic implants from his body, but leaves him alive. Before he can do anything more, the police arrive in a flying convoy. Zero destroys one of the ships before hopping on his cycle, and then disappears into the night via his stealth mode.

Later, the executives of the D/Monix Corporation watch the news footage of Zero, dubbed by the media as the "Ghost Rider" due to his likeness of the 20th century vigilante. The head of the company, Mr. Kellerman, appears at the head of the table as a hologram. He tells one aide, Harrison, that he should see the resemblance of this Ghost Rider to the gang emblem of the Hotwire Martyrs, the group Harrison himself fingered as the thieves of the Singapore Archive disk. Kellerman then gives the order to rectify the situation with unlimited collateral damages.

Elsewhere in Transverse City , Zero's ex-girlfriend Kylie Gagarin sits in the Bar Code, dwelling on Zero and the video file he sent to her before his disappearance. She needs a hacker to find out what's on the file, and is immediately approached by a young amateur hacker named Dr. Neon, who promises he can decrypt the file. As they leave the bar, Zero rides past in stealth mode. His power levels drop to the point where he can no longer use the stealth field, something the Ghostworks warned him about. He needs daily recharges of energy to maintain full capacity; otherwise he'll crash his system. Zero figures out where he needs to go to recharge, but is spotted by the police. Meanwhile, Kylie and Neon arrive at his apartment and begin decrypting the information on the video file.

Zero leads the police onto "Detonation Boulevard", a street held as a constant war zone between two rival gangs. While Zero rides through the onslaught of artillery without a scratch, the police suffer heavy damages. At the end of the street, however, Zero comes to a roadblock, forcing him to turn around. He races back down the street and jumps off his bike to fight the cops. He rips one cop from his car, asking where they were when he was getting murdered. The police call for backup, which arrives as several pod-like war machines.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 1

"Burning Chrome"

Cover Date: May 1994; On Sale Date: March 1994

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Chris Bachalo; Inker: Mark Buckingham; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Group Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Chris Bachalo

In the year 2099, three members of the Artificial Kidz, a local gang of mercenaries, ride their motorcycles through Transverse City, a sprawling 20 lane/10 story super-highway that stands between Chicago and Detroit. Surprising to them, a cybernetic warbot on a hoverbike attacks and quickly defeats them. Capturing one of the Kidz alive, the robot asks him for the name of the person that hired them to kill another gang of data pirates called the Hotwire Martyrs. The so-called "Ghost Rider", one Zero Cochrane, thinks back to a week before, when after a theft of some encrypted data files had marked the Martyrs for death. Zero ran, the only one of the four to escape, but was pursued by the Kidz.

Shot in the arm by a poisonous flechette, Zero manages to evade the mercs, though he trashes his bike in the process. Stopping at a payphone, he wires his brain into the data feed and calls his girlfriend, Kylie. Knowing that the mycotoxin in his blood was quickly killing him, he uploads the stolen files to the link and asks Kylie to save it to disc. A second later, Jeter (leader of the Artificial Kidz) approaches Zero, demanding he return the stolen files. Instead, Chochrane uploads his entire consciousness into cyberspace, intending to melt his own brain and leave Jeter with nothing but a fried brain to examine.

Zero then awakens in a small corner of cyberspace called the Ghostworks, where he is brought before several resident archetypes, beings of artificial intelligence that have come to thrive in the data streams. They have managed to rescue Zero's consciousness from oblivion, and in return they bring an offer before him. Concerned with the state of Earthly society, the Ghostworks wishes to erase the information viruses of greed and stupidity from civilization, and they want Zero to be their "antiviral agent". Zero will be their symbol of rebellion, their myth-like figure through which they will start a revolution. Zero accepts, and is sent back to reality. The warbot body, armed to the teeth with ordnance, houses Zero's consciousness. Then, he's turned loose.

Back in the present, Zero is told Jeter's whereabouts by the captured Kidz member. He runs as the cops arrive, seemingly disappearing into thin air. Not long after, at the Kidz camp, the Ghost Rider reappears and quickly takes down the mercenaries. He finds Jeter, who tells him that the hit on the Martyrs was contracted by D/MONIX. He releases Jeter, who asks the Rider what more he wants from him. As a laser-fueled chainsaw emerges from the robot's wrist, Zero replies with one word: "Vengeance."