PROLOGUE

2039. A very significant year in the history of Earth. After all, it was the year that John Connor began the war against the machines. If it hadn't been for him, heck, Earth would have been ruled by a bunch of tin cans.

It wasn't as if Connor didn't use machines himself. Ones that the humans reprogrammed to work for them were exceedingly useful: especially when John had sent one back in time to protect his past self from the terrible wrath of the Terminator 1000. And one such occasion was rising again….

John stared out of the window of the military base at the stars. He had lately been finding himself jealous of them. They could relax without pressure in the endless expanse of the cosmos, while he was stuck on Earth trying to fight what some called a long lost battle. He found it ridiculous that he, a sentient being was actually envious of mindless, non-living things, but the thoughts would continue to cross his mind uninterrupted.

"Penny for your thoughts?" said a dry voice from the other side of the room. "Sorry. I don't think you've got enough pennies handy." This was one of the very rare times when John could relax for a little while. Or not. He really couldn't stop thinking.

The other man chuckled. "You were never one for speaking about yourself." "After so many years, I'd guessed you'd have realized that."

There was a flick of a switch, and the man at the other side of the room was revealed. He was tall and well-built. He was clean-shaven, and could easily be mistaken for a man in his thirties. But his age showed in his eyes. The man, had after all, spent decades fighting demons and then machines. This man was Johnny Blaze.

"I have to talk to you," said Blaze flatly. "Shoot."

"I can't do this." Connor's eyes widened. "What do you mean?" "I'm not any use to this army anymore. The Ghost Rider is powerful, but I'm not. I can't take it anymore." "I don't understand."

Johnny got up from his armchair, his eyes flashing. "I've told you this before. I'm getting too old for battle. I can feel the pain all the time. It's there when I'm fighting against the machines. It's there when I'm at Roxanne's grave. It's there when I'm in bed. It's there when I'm speaking to you right now. Damn' it John it's there all the time!" He almost screamed these last lines.

He calmed down a bit and said, "The Ghost Rider was intended to be a powerful weapon, but not like a routine thing. I find myself transforming nearly everyday. There's a limit my body can take. I can fight fire with fire: but only up to a point. There's going to come a time when I'm not powerful enough to be of any use to you. That time is coming soon. Very soon."

John stood up cautiously. He was unsure of how to handle this. After Roxanne had died, Johnny had stopped showing any emotion. There was the occasional, casual, flippant remark, but that was all. "Johnny," he tried. "Calm down, would you?"

The Ghost Rider snorted in response and said, "You know what I'm saying is true. The Ghost Rider may be helpful to you. But he's a demon. And he's still sadistic. I've never said this to anyone, but whenever I transform, the pain is unbearable. It's draining me John. And now it hurts like never before."

John walked over to the man and placed a hand on his shoulder. He addressed him quietly, but firmly. "Snap out of it man. You and I both know that you've proved your worth ten times over. Even if you've run out of gas, you won't be left behind. I'm going to keep you by my side until we take down every single one of those machines, and I'll be able to say, 'I'm proud to know Johnny Blaze.'"

He looked directly into the other man's eyes. The two old friends quietly embraced. When they let go, Johnny said softly, "But there's nothing we can do about this. I'll fall in battle sooner or later. After that, you'll be at a major disadvantage."

Before John could answer, there was a banging on the door. "Come in," yelled Connor irritably.

The door opened to reveal a ragged man dressed in military clothes. He was about five foot seven, and his face was transfixed with fear. He looked like he couldn't speak. Before either of the two could address him, he fell over. Connor instantly rushed forward and picked him up. His face was still transfixed with fear. His lips quivered as he struggled to pronounce three words. "Terminator. Time Machine." He then collapsed dead.

The two looked at each other. Connor had dropped the soldier. "Oh crap," said Connor finally.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Colonel Alan Hartman swallowed nervously as he spoke to General Connor over one of the few telephone lines that Skynet hadn't commandeered. "Yes sir. Definitely. He'll be there immediately." He put down the receiver nervously and put on his flashlight. He pulled out his bunch of keys and began to journey down the dusty flight of steps. No one had been to this room in over two years. The last person had been Connor himself. Apparently he wouldn't risk the life of anyone else.

He walked through a dark and dank corridor. He instinctively clutched his pistol, but knew that no one was in this horrible place. Except for it.

He walked up to a locked room. Nervously, he opened the door to the dreaded room. He almost fainted when he saw it.

It looked almost like a normal human. About six foot six in height; it was covered with actual skin. Its facial features were completely normal, and no one could have mistaken it for a machine. No one that new what it actually was at least. A wire was connected to it's leg. The source of power.

He bent down and flicked on a switch. That was done. He immediately backed away. The mechanical monstrosity slowly opened it's eyes as if it had been awakened from a long sleep. "Umm…. you are the Terminator-850. General John Connor wishes to meet you." The machine stared at him and nodded blankly. "Affirmative."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The door to John's small cabin-like room opened. Hartman stood nervously by the door as the Terminator walked in. Connor waved Hartman away and glanced at Johnny. "T-850. I have summoned you here to brief you on your mission." The T-850 smirked. It was the only machine capable of doing so. After all, it had spent time with John Connor in the past. Although it had supposedly been completely destroyed, it's programming had been inserted into a new robot, the T-850.

"You will be sent back in time to the year 2003. You are to protect the target from an enemy Terminator, as well as any forces that try to cause him harm. He is known as Johnny Blaze. Alias the Ghost Rider."

It was impossible to resist this idea. It hit me when I was at dinner with a couple of friends, and it's been on my mind for the past three days. I had to upload it.

The past of John Connor and Johnny Blaze will slowly be revealed. There's going to be a lot of action in this fic, and I'm glad I was able to start writing it. This prologue was a bit short, but I'll definitely make the subsequent chapters longer. For readers of my other story, Yu-Gi-Oh: Advent of Power; don't worry. I'll balance out the two, cuz' I've got forty-five days of free time ahead of me.

Please review this, as I want to know the ways for me to improve. REVIEW!!!!!!!! (Hell, I'm probably the only author with a crossover of Terminator and Ghost Rider).

P.S. The facts of Ghost Rider will be movie-based. Sorry to all the hard-core fans. Also, the above events between Connor and Blaze take place between T2 and T3.