A/N: Hey everybody! I hope you all enjoy my first fanfic ever. I don't own anything except my own OC. Any constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated it as long its... you know, constructive. I've been wanting to write for a while now and I finally decided to give it a shot. This story was inspired by reading "Dark Abyss" by DigitalEmperor001, it's really good you should read that one as well. If there is anything you want to see in this story or any ideas you won't mind sharing then please don't hesitate to message me, I'll see if I can work your ideas into my story. Anyway, please read, review and enjoy!

Remembrance and Acceptance

Ryan sat there. Alone, in deep thought, wondering at how his simple life became so screwed up. He wasn't complaining. He was sure there were other people who had it worse than he did, but then he remembered, most other people
in the world don't have their very soul bound to a spirit who experienced some hardcore pyromania. "I do not." the rider said in his mind. "Can't you just go away?" Ryan pleaded, knowing he could not but he couldn't help but ask.

"You know I can not. Stop asking stupid questions." The rider shot back at him. Defeated, Ryan plopped back on the bed he had just woken up from and turned on the T.V. hoping the noise would block out the sound coming from the burning voice box in his head. It was early in the morning, the start of a new school year, only Ryan didn't go to school anymore, Being the Ghost Rider had a funny habit of getting in the way of his personal life, imagine that.

With the rider finally being quiet. Ryan started to think about how different life would've been if he hadn't made the deal, wondering if he would do so again if he could go back. he had a good reason for making the deal though, His family was in danger, going to die, his WHOLE family, who wouldn't do what he did? What deal wouldn't be made? He sighed, of course he would do it again.

~~Flashback~~

He walked to the community center, wishing he had his license, he was so tired of walking everywhere, it wasn't that he was almost always late, he didn't care about that, it was how rude people were, other people walking would shove him out of their way, people driving by would throw things at everyone on the sidewalk, and with any stray animal you met, there was a 50/50 chance of being attacked or not.

"Walking sucks." he said to himself, "I can't wait until I'm able to drive." he already had what he wanted in mind, he'd seen it a few times when he walked by the local dealership. A motorcycle, red and black, made for speed, he'd be careful with it, it wasn't made to do tricks or anything, but it was fast, and that was all he cared about, it could get him where he needed to go in the shortest time possible.

Right now though, where he needed to go was the community center downtown, his aunt Cindy had managed to not only get a charity group organized there, but also raised the most money for it at this particular event, because of this her entire family was told they were invited to the party the charity was hosting, he would've been there already but his friends had managed to sneak some alcohol into the movies and he ended staying longer than he should have (he had to get the smell of it off his breath) and now he was extremely late.

It was dark out, his only light being the moon and streetlights, when he finally arrived, there were cops and news reporters everywhere, "Hey!" he shouted to one of the officers there, "What's going on?" the cop just looked at him with this annoyed expression on his face, he was an overweight man in his mid-forties who was balding on top of his head, "Some stupid kid" he began, clearly putting Ryan in that same group "broke in there with a gun, demanding the charity money that everyone helped raise at the event. He realized that we already had the place covered when he was ready to leave so he took hostages, a few have already been shot and presumed killed."

Ryan's heart sank "But my family is in there!" he shouted, "Well, maybe one of them is the one who got shot, we won't know who's alright until we get in there." the cop said coldly. Ryan walked away, in a daze, unable to accept the fact that his family was in danger and he could do nothing about it. "It burns you, doesn't it?" said a menacing voice behind him "What?" Ryan asked, he never heard anyone come up behind him. "It burns you to know that you're damn useless now, with all this going on." the man said, he was old, he looked to be in his sixties, maybe even seventies, His hair was thin, and white as snow, he had a very thin, yet very athletic build, and his skin was almost as white as his hair, the thing that stood out most however, were his eyes, they were dead, there wasn't anything in them, it was unsettling to say the least. "...Yes." Ryan said. The creepy man smiled and said " Than do I have a deal for you."

~~End Flashback~~

Something on the news brought Ryan back to the present. 'Good' he thought 'Focusing on the past helps no one, so there isn't any point dwelling on it.' He desperately wanted to forget that day. he really did. He was only 16, he shouldn't have to worry about shit like this. He tried to make the best of it. It did help knowing that he was saving some lives and getting those that would've fallen through the cracks of their legal system, but the rider was very vocal about its thoughts, Filling Ryan's mind with all the different ways to punish the guilty, Ryan had to admit, some of them were pretty ... creative, (over 50 ways to punish with an umbrella?!) but still, Ryan wasn't like that.

Not at first, anyway. But something had gone wrong when their souls were bonded, they were intertwining, fusing, then went back to the way they were supposed to be,it was odd and as a result of the merging and separations, their personalities were being...altered. Ryan wasn't the quite doormat he used to be and started taking pleasure in the "work" the rider did, while the rider began to see the world in shades of grey, not the black and white fantasy world he had lived in for so long. Ryan realized just how terrible people could be and that some of them needed to be punished, while the rider decided that not all sin should be treated equal, a murder should not be treated the same as a theft.

He shuddered as the feeling came over him again, he was losing control. The rider was emerging and he wasn't going to stop tonight, either. He had managed to repress the cackling spirit in his body for awhile now, but he knew eventually he would lose it, he always did. this time it was another school shooting that set him off.
he heard it through the news as it was happening. The rider screamed to be released to exact vengeance on those responsible. Normally, he would've let him go,because He hated people who did stupid things like that, committing atrocities just so they can be remembered instead of just crying themselves to sleep in their parents home.
But, this was different, because it was a school, and he was scared the rider would go insane and accidentally kill a child. "I would do no such thing!" The Rider Screamed

The rider was insulted that this mortal would even think for a moment that he would harm an innocent, his fury becoming wild, but started to subside when he realized that he was finally gaining control. "Finally." he said, The rider would've smiled if he had any skin, the guilty would be punished tonight, and since he had been repressed for so long there were many sinners to be burned, oh yes, the guilty would know the pain they inflict on the innocent, and he would be there watching every minute of it.

Ryan, on the other hand was not so excited, he could feel his body temperature rise slowly, he felt his eyes start to burn and he felt his skin and hair melt away, it was always like this, it was always painful as hell to change when the Spirit inside him was held back. This would be the last time though, as Ryan finally had enough. He had changed enough to decide that why should he have to go through so much pain because of others bad decisions? Coming up with no answer he decided to just let it happen, if the rider sensed sin, then screw it, just change and then burn it. Another upside was that if he changed because the rider wanted him to, he would get a measure of control, really there were so many upsides that he didn't really know why he bothered ever resisting. As the transformation finished, the Ghost Rider stood in the cheap motel room in all its fiery glory.

Jumping down to the street, he called for his bike, knowing it would heed the call of its master, because after all, what is a ghost rider without his ride?