Johnny Blaze found himself at the rundown bar of a seedy hotel in northern Utah. A tall glass of beer sat barely half-drank in front of him. As he started to take another drink, a woman found her way to the stool next to him.
"Aren't you just a tall drink of water?" she tried to get Blaze's attention as she twirled her finger playfully through one of her blonde curls, he simply took another drink of his beer, "Oh, the strong-silent type. I like that." Her expression perked up with that sentence, "Why don't you stop up at my…." Johnny raised his hand before she went any further,
"No, offense, but I'm not interested, ma'am." He said with a tortured breath, "I'd just like to finish this beer in peace." She looked at him with a scowl from being rejected,
"Fine," she huffed as she walked away she added, "loser." under her breath. Blaze ignored her and took a final swig of his lager. Picking himself off his barstool, he started towards his room. Passing through the doorway leading out of the bar, he bumped shoulders with another woman, this one a young redhead. She turned back to look at Blaze as he kept his pace. Her eyebrows raised as she took in the sight of the leather-clad biker. He interested her, not in the same way the lady at the bar was interested. He looked familiar to her, but for she could say anything, Johnny Blaze had stepped into an elevator.
Johnny threw his boots off into the corner and took a seat on the creaky mattress. He pulled the saddlebag from his motorcycle over towards his feet. Flipping the leather flap open, he pulled out the only object in there. He felt the smooth edges of the red stone in his palm. There was a pulsating red glow from what could've otherwise passed as a plain river rock.
"Quicker I get rid of this, the better. Sure that Dr. Strange in New York has a spot for this where even Mephista can't reach it." He looked at it a little longer in a deep stare, "Until then her father and her will send all Hell has to offer." The stone was then safely tucked back into the leather bag and stowed in the corner. Johnny kicked his feet up on the bed and laid his head on the rock hard pillow. With the night in full effect, Johnny started to doze off to sleep.
The alarm clock registered it as a few hours later, but it seemed like only a few minutes when Blaze was awaken in the cool night. From the room next door came a shrill yell and that familiar tingle ran down Johnny's spine, the blood of the innocence had been spilt. Dragging himself out of bed, he ripped opened his door. The screams continued, but Blaze stood in the hallway alone, everyone else chose to ignore it. He grabbed the handle of the door, the tingling now becoming a burning. Blaze wiggled the handle, but the door wouldn't budge. Hellfire started coursing through Johnny's arm, the cheap door handle began to drip into a metal puddle on the floor. When the door flew open the Ghost Rider stood where Johnny once did. The Spirit of Vengeance charged in to the scene to see a belligerent man brandishing a belt over his head. On the dirty bed lay a fearful woman with recent bruises. The two turned towards the new occupant and fear began to boil up on the man's face as well. He dropped his belt and shuffled towards the other end of the room, the lady cowered at the head of the bed. A misplaced shoe caused the man to trip backwards, his back fell against an old-school radiator. The heated metal started to scald his back through his wife beater until Ghost Rider pulled him up by the cheap undershirt. He was so close to the Rider's skull that the hairs on his mustache were starting to singe.
"Guilty." The Rider judged as he looked deep into the man's soul. A Hellish roar echoed from the spirit rider as he tossed the man aside, his body now a stiff, cold plank. The Rider turned to the woman on the bed as she wiped blood from her lip with a jittery hand. Her eyes were wide, expecting this demon to burn away her soul too. Ghost Rider didn't though, he simply walked out of the room and returned to his own hovel. Johnny Blaze shook his head to clear his mind. He realized his stay here was now over, so he threw his boots back on and grabbed the saddlebag from the corner. His bike waited out in the parking lot.
Blaze made his way across the Bonneville Salt Flats with a full moon leaning towards the Western sky. He was flying across the salty earth at record speeds, reminding him of his days of daredevil stunts. Almost felt like no force of Heaven or Hell could catch him out on these plains.