Mission of the Heart and Fire

Chapter 2- Decisions and Jelly Bean Blues

The sun rose over the desert highway as road sign after road sign greeted the alert eyes of the young biker. Jezzmine had traveled all night and in a few more miles, she would finally reach her destination: Austin, Texas. Pulling over to the side of the road, she pulled out a piece of paper with an address written on it in her tiny scrawl. Tucking it safely back into her jeans pocket, she revved the engine and took off again into the city. Following the directions imprinted in her head, she found the address easily and parked alongside the curb. Dismounting, she heads into the building and takes the lift all the way to the top floor loft. Not even bothering to knock, she enters the home of who she suspects to be her target, but to her annoyance, he isn't home. Heading back downstairs, she mounts her bike and takes off for the arena downtown, daring to hope that he'll be there. Heaving a sigh as she pulls up, she notices the huge posters advertising Johnny Blaze's latest show, set for that night. Well, Mr. Blaze, looks like I've found you…ready or not, here I come.

That night, she sits quietly in the stands as a white clad figure moves onto the ramp. The crowd cheers in anticipation as the rider guns the engine and shoots down the ramp; pushing the nitro button at the very last minute and shooting off the ramp and over the semis. Everyone watched with baited breath, save for Jezz, who merely watched with a bored expression. He's just tempting death….I wonder if he realizes that he can't die just yet. The crowd jumped to its feet as the rider crash landed on the other ramp, and Jezz's eyes follow the rider's every movement as his crew leads him out of the arena. She rises to follow him, and slips backstage unnoticed. The rider was left in a chair in his dressing room, while Karen Carpenter sang softly in the background. Jezz moved silently into the room and crept up behind the helmetless man. "Why hello, Johnny Blaze." Johnny jumped out of his chair and spun around to face the intruder. "H-how…how did you get in here?" She laughed and sat in the chair he had recently been occupying. "That really isn't important. I'm here to let you know that it's time to fulfill your contract, Johnny. You're to come with me and learn how to do this." Johnny's wide eyes scanned her emerald ones for any sign of humor, but he found none. "You…how did you know about the contract?" Slowly she leaned closer to him, eyes sparking darkly, "I too made a contract with a stranger….now it's time to pay Johnny. Will you come willingly, or will I have to tie you to my bike?" He shook his head as if to clear it, and turned wild eyes on her still seated form, "I-i…." Jezz sighed and stood up, "Look, if this makes it any easier, I'm Jezz." She stuck out her hand and waited for him to shake it. All Johnny could do was stare at her out stretched hand and then at her face. "Sheesh…look Cowboy, I don't have time for this. C'mon….maybe a demo'll get that brain of yours working." Jezz took is hand and pulled him out into the corridor. She lead him out to her bike and swung one leg over it, making herself comfortable. "Hop on, Blaze, time to see what your new job is." He swung a leg over her bike and wrapped his arms loosely around her waist. Once she was sure he was on, Jezz pulled away from the curb and headed to a darker part of the city; into the heart of the slums and bars. She spotted a man trying to mug a young girl and killed the engine. "Pay attention, Cowboy…." Jezz moved silently towards the struggling pair and suddenly, the night air was lit up by flames. Johnny's eyes widened even more as the girl who had brought him here was consumed by massive flames, causing the skin to peel off revealing the milky white bones of her skeleton. "Corrupt…now, it's time to pay the piper…" Her voice was raspy as her boney hands clutched at the man's jacket; lifting him away from the girl. "Stare into my eyes so that you may see your life for what it truly is…tainted by the blood of others." The man's screams tore at Johnny's ears as he tried to force himself to look away, but the sight of her flaming hair and leather clad frame held his gaze as she dropped the lifeless form of the man to the ground. Turning away from the lifeless corpse, the specter moved towards the bike. "This is what you will become, Johnny Blaze. This is the price of your contract. I am the Devil's bounty hunter. A legend beyond all that you have ever dreamt of. I am the Ghost Rider, and it's time for you to ride Johnny. This is the contract that you signed, and it calls for your service." Her face began to shift back; the bone being covered by flesh and muscle. Once she stood in front of him in her normal appearance did she begin to speak once more. "If I have frightened you, forgive me. But you needed to see what this was about. So, what say you Johnny Blaze? Will you ride, or give up any chance to save your soul?" He opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by insane laughter from across the street, "Dear, dear Jezz……I think you've given the poor boy a heart attack. Let me tell you this Johnny. I can offer you a different fate. I promise you wont go through the horrors of turning into this….a monster like her." Black Heart stepped out into the light cast by the street lamp and Jezz growled, "What are you doing here, Black Heart? I told you to back off, this was my mission…or did your Daddy send you to make this any harder than it already is?" Black Heart glared at Jezz, but then returned his full attention to Johnny. "So, what do you say, Johnny-boy? Do you want to be a monster, or do you want to be free?" Jezz pounced on him before Johnny could answer, her fist connecting solidly with Black Heart's face and knocked him to the ground. He retaliates by springing her off of him using the bottoms of his feet; throwing her into the side of a building. "See Johnny. This is what working for my old man gets you….it gets you hurt. What say you? Join me, or join her and die?" Jezz shakily stands and spits a stream of blood, "Johnny…he can't give you those things. Freedom doesn't await you on his side." Black Heart lunged at her and slashed a blade deep into her side, drawing blood and a choked breath from Jezz. "Freedom doesn't await you either, rider. You have a choice, Blaze. Join me, or waste your life on my Father's petty and foolhardy missions." Johnny's eyes moved from Jezz's prone form to Black Heart's flat cold eyes. Johnny moved closer towards Jezz's unmoving body, though his eyes never left Black Heart's face." I choose….I choose to be that monster." He took a step back as Black Heart roared into the night sky, whipping past Johnny with a rush of cold air. "You'll regret this, Riders. You will wish you had joined me when given the chance." When his shadow had completely been enveloped into the night, Johnny rushed over to Jezz and lifted her into his arms. "You…you chose well, cowboy. Now, let's get you home….it's not safe out here anymore." He nods and then slowly heads to her bike. She tries to take the handle bars, but Johnny's hands are firm as he sets her on the back and he sits in front of her. "You're in no condition to drive this thing. Let me." Jezz nods slowly and wraps her arms around his waist. He starts the engine and they take off down the dark road. Once back at his loft, Jezz slowly peels off her jacket, and inspects the damage to her side. "Shit….he reopened it. Do you have any bandages?" He nods and quickly goes to fetch them while she peels off her top. Coming back into the room, his breath halts in his throat as he is greeted with the sight of her back; the creamy flash marred with her blood. Shaking his head forcefully, Johnny hands her the bandages and a bowl of hot water. "Thanks" She hisses as she roughly washes the wound and dresses it before standing up. "Here" Johnny hands her a black button up shirt before turning from her. She smiles slightly and pulls the shirt on slowly; wincing as the fabric brushed her wound. "You didn't have to do that. I…" Her sentence broke off as she realized that she had been standing in nothing but her bra, and that now she was surrounded by his scent. "Don't worry about it. It would have been painful for you to pull on a shirt over your head….think of this as…payment for earlier. Anyways, who was that guy? And why did he want me to join him so badly?" Jezz nodded and sat down on a nearby chair. "That was Black Heart….the supposed son of Mephistopheles, our boss. He's been after me for years; trying to get me to revoke my contract with his father and become his rider. Now, he's after you and he'll stop at nothing to become more powerful than his father. Even if it means killing one of the riders." Staring at her incredulously, Johnny shook his head. "Let me get this straight….you're one of these riders, and now I'm one too? All because I sold my soul to this…Mephistopheles?" Jezz nodded her head once and wrapped her arms around herself, "Basically, yes. You are bound to this contract, Johnny. There is no running." He stood and paced around the room; pausing to gulp down a mouthful of jelly beans. "Look, you can either accept it or not, but this is what you will become. You cannot hold the power of the rider in when you are around those who have corrupt blood running through them, trust me…the pain is not worth the effort. Now, these are your choices Johnny Blaze. You can either come with me and I will train you in how to use your new powers, or…you can stay here and figure it out yourself. Which do you choose?" Her eyes locked with his, and he slumped in defeat. "Alright….I'll go with you. Just, let me write Mack a note at least." She nods in acquiescence, and leans back into the chair. He quickly jots down a note and Jezz throws him a book bag. "Pack only what you'll need. Clothes and the like. Anything else we can buy…lets go Cowboy." Johnny rushingly throws clothes into the bag and then joins her in the elevator. "Where…where are we headed to?" The elevator reaches the first floor with a soft thud and she strides out into the night air. "The Badlands….Boss thinks it'll be a good place to learn how to use your new, abilities. Can't say I disagree with him….we'll have a cabin couple miles out of a small town." She climbs onto her bike and motions for him to do the same with his; which to his dismay, starts at a flick of her hand. "How…" She laughs and starts her engine, "Now is not the time to go all amazed on me Blaze. Hop on and lets go." He did as she bade him to and soon they were off; flying down the highway and into the night; into a new beginning and down new paths.

Mack's POV

"Johnny…look, I don't think it's such a good…id-…idea to….Johnny?" As he wanders around the apartment, his gaze falls to the note stuck into one of the many carafes of jelly beans. "What the…."

"Mack,

Needed a vacation, and some things came up that required my attention. I'll be back in oh, a month or two. I'll be in touch by the end of the week. Don't worry Mack….I wont die on you.

JB"

Mack simply stood there and let the note fall from his hands. Flopping gracelessly into a chair, he raggedly ran a hand through his hair. "Dammit, JB,……what am I gonna do about your show this weekend? Why do you always…always do these things?" Grabbing one of the vacant martini glasses, he poured the red and yellow candies into it and tipped his head back; allowing his mouth to be filled with their sweetness. "What did I do to deserve this? God help us all….." The only answer he got was the tinkling of jelly beans against the glass in his hands as he tipped it to his mouth once more.

End chapter Two