The MARVELOUS Storyteller: "Rider's Delight"

[muppetwriter]

The Caretaker is a very special character, but I won't tell why just yet for those who haven't seen the movie. Just know that he's much like Storyteller in the case that he knows more than he's telling.

 

[muppetwriter]

We follow Johnny through the city and across the areas that he had ravaged while on his Hellcycle as the Ghost Rider. Keeping our distance from him (which I tell my companions would be a wise decision, in order to avoid attracting too much attention from our enemies), we see him come across Roxanne Simpson, who was less than pleased to see him. From what it appears during the conversation they have amongst the ravaged site being investigated by police, the relationship between Roxanne and Johnny has diminished after Johnny failed to meet Roxanne for their date.

Feeling there being no way of telling her the truth without having her think he is utterly insane, he let Roxanne out of his life once again. Even though this is an unfortunate situation for Johnny, it is fortunate for us, seeing as how we are free to follow him once again to his home. But we do not enter simultaneously with him—again, we are taking our next steps tactically to avoid any more altercations. Instead, we wait for night to approach, that way if we are discovered, we can be prepared to defend ourselves with Johnny as the Ghost Rider by our side.

“We’re waiting?” Tucker exclaims. “You have got to be kidding me, man! We can take on Blackheart and his goons, with or without the Ghost Rider.”

Sam grins at the boy. “Would you really like to test out that theory, Tucker?” He looks back at her and seems as if he is about to provide her with a witty response, but he stops and thinks.

“Um…never mind.” He says.

Looking up at the sky, I see how it is completely after dark right now. It is the perfect time for my Nightstalkers and I to meet with Johnny Blaze again. But before I attempt to transport all of us inside his home, a vehicle approaches to the entrance.

“It could well be another deadly threat.” Sir Didymus assesses. “Be on your guard, Ambrosius. We might just very well engage in another battle between good and evil soon.”

Looking closely at the person stepping out of the vehicle, I realize soon that it is far from what Sir Didymus has been anticipating. The unexpected visitor is Roxanne herself, obviously returning to apologize to Johnny for not feeling so understanding during their previous conversation. She is leaving for another town soon and does not want the previous conversation to be the last one they would have for a long time.

“Well, that’s good. Right?” Juniper inquires. “I mean, now they have a chance again to patch things up in their relationship.”

I’m afraid not. In this current encounter of theirs, Johnny will be forced to reveal the truth of his involvement with Mephisto to Roxanne, telling her all that we have shared with him at the cemetery. And, unfortunately, Roxanne will not believe a word he will say, again feeling obligated to walk out of his life.

This much is evident, as you can see, my dear Nightstalkers, as Johnny accompanies Roxanne out of his home and guides her to the vehicle she had arrived in. With nothing else more to tell her, she drives away back to her apartment to prepare to leave town.

“Poor Johnny.” Sarah utters. “Trying to convince someone of this secret of his must be only adding to the headache he’s already been suffering from for years.”

That it is, dear Sarah. But with Roxanne now again out of the picture, we can only take advantage of this unfortunate moment to try and get Johnny Blaze back to the cemetery before any unforeseen circumstances happen to get in our way of doing so.

But as we attempt to reunite with Johnny Blaze again, it seems like only a split second as we are all suddenly surrounded by groups of police cars, red and blue lights flashing in every direction. The police officers quickly pile out of each of the vehicles and are immediately aiming their weapons at all of us.

“Hands where we can see them! Right over your heads!” They shout at us, and we immediately comply with their demands.

Two officers come out of one vehicle and approach Johnny—one with a tough, no-nonsense type look on his face, and the other with a smug one (much younger than the other officer). The tough officer flashes his badge along with his partner’s and says, “Johnny Blaze. I’m Captain Jack Dolan. This is Officer Edwards. You and your satanic friends here are coming with us.”

“Satanic?” Renee exclaims. “Hold up, man! I just happen to be a church-going woman! You can just ask my mom!”

Ignoring Renee’s claims, Captain Dolan looks in the direction of Ludo, who he finds the most intimidating figure out of us all. “Somebody taser that freak to the ground now!”

And just as Captain Dolan commanded, a group of S.W.A.T. officers approach Ludo and instantly attack him with their taser weapons, sending jolts of electricity coursing through him. Ludo howls in pain as he falls to the ground, quivering under the mighty electrical voltage.

The sight is enough to bring Sarah up to protest. “Leave him alone! He’s not going to hurt anyone!” But the officers just ignore her demands, continuing to electrocute Ludo to the point where he is unconscious. As soon as he completely is, they come in with one large net and place it over him, carrying him over to the back of a huge police van.

It isn’t very long before Animal Control arrives to place muzzles over Fu Dog, Munroe, Ambrosius, Sir Didymus, and my own dog, guiding them over to their truck. And then the rest of us are placed under handcuffs and taken to separate police vehicles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

A moment later, we are all taken to the police station, where Sarah, Hoggle, the Lees, the Longs, the Fentons, Sam, Tucker, Spud, Trixie, and myself are placed in the same holding cell along with other prisoners who seem as if they belong there more than either of us do. They are vicious, dangerous, and hungry for violence (presumably on us newcomers). Even as we wait for Johnny to finish being interrogated by the police, the homicidal prisoners not once take their eyes off of us.

“I think I smell fresh meat, boys!” One of them (a bald man with heavy leather motorcycle jacket) says while staring upon us. His eyes are primarily focused on Sarah, who suddenly finds herself frightened over his particular interest in her. “And something tells me we gonna have one h*ll of a party soon!”

The other inmates, with the exception of one young man who stands by himself in the corner of the cell, laugh in agreement with the bald stranger.

“Who ya callin’ ‘bald’, old dude?” He shouts to me. “And who the h*ll are you even talkin’ to? Someone ought to teach ya how to talk to people in their face rather than behind their backs!”

“And someone should teach you how to brush your teeth, ‘cause your breath smells rank, dude!” Ray-Ray boldly exclaims, and the bald inmate diverts his attention from me to focus on Ray-Ray, who he starts to advance on until Juniper steps in to block his path.

“How about you just take it easy, buddy?” She suggests, appearing to be ready to defend herself if the inmate happens to decide on making a move.

While Juniper and the inmate are locking glares with one another, I can hear Sam, Tucker, and Danny talk amongst each other near me. Sam says to Danny, “Don’t you think now would be a marvelous time to go ghost?”

“With my parents sitting there nearby? Are you nuts?” Danny remarks.

“Yeah, Sam.” Tucker agrees. “With his parents sitting there nearby? Are you nuts?”

“Shut up, Tucker.” She utters.

“Yeah, shut up, Tuck…oh, yeah. Right.” Tucker says, feeling sheepish for acting like a parrot that one moment.

Meanwhile, another inmate (one speaking with a Southern accent and wearing a dirty baseball cap) attempts at wooing Sarah, who is far from showing affection towards any of the animals in this cell. “C’mon, sweetheart. Why don’t you show daddy them sweet buns ya got covered under all that cotton?”

Having enough of their harassment towards his only friend, Hoggle steps up to the inmate and says, “Enough! Leave her alone! She’s not interested in either of you ugly dogs! She’s a wonderful girl that neither of you deserve to even stare at!”

“And who’re you supposed to be? Her boyfriend?” The Southern inmate jesters, bringing every other inmate to laugh directly at Hoggle, who is starting to fume from all of them disrespect. “Do yourself a favor, midget, and go back to the Land of Oz, while Dorothy and I get better acquainted.” Having enough of the man’s comments, Hoggle tries to attack him but is quickly held back by Sarah, who doesn’t want to see her friend get himself hurt (or killed).

“Let me go! Let me go!” Hoggle furiously petitions. “He’s no Jareth! I can take him!”

Before Hoggle could have done any damage to the inmate (or vice versa), we hear two men loudly debating outside of the cell. This attracts the attention of all the inmates inside, as they run up to the bars and start mocking the new addition to the cell: Johnny Blaze.

Johnny is sweating profusely and shaking under the grip of the guard who is bringing him in. His feet are barely in sync with the guard’s, dragging behind and forcing the guard to set him up straight several times. This is an action of protest from Johnny to prevent the guard from putting him in the cell, and that much was made clear from his constant pleading.

“You gotta let me go. The real killer’s out there.” He says, but the guard refuses to listen. “Oh, God. Oh, please. Please, you don’t wanna put me in there!”

“Sorry…the Ritz was booked!” The guard exclaims, before throwing Johnny in and causing him to collapse at the feet of us, his only friends in this unholy territory.

As we all help him to his feet, we each notice almost immediately how extremely warm he is, forcing all of us to let go of him as soon as he’s on his own two feet. Sarah brings herself to ask, “Johnny, what in the world is going on? Why are they doing this to us?”

“Because they think we’re the ones responsible for killing all those people who Blackheart murdered.” Johnny could barely speak, as his voice is quivering more than his body. “We have to…we have to get out! I’m…I’m…”

“Johnny?” Sarah looks questionably at him.

Meanwhile, our “friends” begin to advance on Johnny. The bald one mockingly tells him, “You look like that Johnny Blaze.” He then turns to his fellow inmates and shouts, “That is him!” They agree with the man, each with smug, vicious looks on their faces. “I saw you jump in the state fair a few years ago. I paid ten bucks to watch you splatter. But you didn’t.”

Johnny suddenly reaches out violently at the bald man, hissing at him and even roaring. The man is not once intimidated by his sudden actions, neither are the other inmates, including the Southern one in the dirty cap who assumingly says, “Looks like somebody’s tripping out.”

Johnny desperately tries to keep himself under control long enough to avoid any more attention, but his plan is leading to no avail. “Now, I don’t want any trouble. I don’t want any troub…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Gentlemen, I’m certain that we all are feeling understandably upset for being locked up in such a crowded area.” I say, knowing what is about to happen to Johnny and buying enough time for it to come. “So, why don’t we all just calm down and…”

“I’m getting d**n sick and tired of you, old man!” The bald inmate shouts, pushing me to the floor. “You just sit your a** right there, while we take care of Mr. VIP right here!” And after addressing me, the inmate punches Johnny right in his stomach. The punch doesn’t stop Johnny from laughing horrendously. Neither of the inmates takes notice of the way his eyes are starting to burst into flame. “I’m takin’ that jacket, Blaze!”

Throwing Johnny to the floor, the bald inmate and his friends commence in brutally beating Johnny, while the one inmate that has been standing in the corner steps in and protests. “C’mon, man! Leave the dude alone!”

“Shut up!” The bald inmate yells at him, turning away from Johnny long enough to slam the young inmate across the face and knock him back to the corner of the cell.

My Nightstalker allies start to step in to assist Johnny, but I quickly hold them all back to avoid an all-out brawl from happening inside the cell. It will only be a matter of time before karma steps in on its own.

“What do you mean by that?” Jake asks me.

And before I even have the moment to answer…

“BWWWWRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!”

A blinding light shines from the center of the holding cell, obscuring our view on what’s occurring from that area. As soon as the light diminishes, we see the unearthly form of the Ghost Rider stand where Johnny Blaze formerly was, with all of the inmates beating on him now lying unconsciously on the floor.

“Oh, now I see what you mean.” Jake says. “Sweet!”

The Ghost Rider stomps his way to where the bald inmate (who is still conscious enough to see the demonic form before him), while the sprinkler system in the holding cell goes off and drenches everything and everyone inside. If Johnny Blaze didn’t intimidate the bald inmate, he is truly much so by his alter ego, the Ghost Rider, who reaches out and grabs him, holding up high up in the air. While shaking under his massive grip, the inmate looks into the “eyes” of the Ghost Rider, but the demon does not perform his Penance Stare on him.

Instead, he gazes at the torn area of his jacket from the ambush and then looks at the inmate and his own jacket. If his gaze on the jacket is not obvious enough that he is interested in having it, his words most definitely are…

“NICE JACKET. VERY NICE.”

The moment proves to be too much for the inmate and he faints under the Rider’s grasp. With him now in an unconscious state, the Ghost Rider removes his jacket from his body and places it on himself. As soon as he wears it, it automatically upgrades itself under his demonic aura, spikes protruding from sections that have metal on them. Even the long, heavy gloves that he finds out of the pockets upgrade themselves as soon as he puts them on.

Needless to say, the Rider is prepared to get out of this unsanitary area and search for the ones that are responsible for having him put there. Just as he is about to head out, he turns in the direction of the young inmate that is still standing in the corner and obviously horrified and bewildered at the shocking turn of events that has occurred within the cell. Pointing to him, he says…

“YOU…INNOCENT.”

It is plan enough that the Ghost Rider’s intuition serves him well, because not once does he bother the young man that had tried to save him while he was under the form of Johnny Blaze. Instead, he turns to a section of the bars surrounding the cell and melts them away, providing a perfect escape route for him. As soon as he steps out and makes his way down the hall, we are right on his track and following him out of the station, leaving behind quite a bit of carnage.

 

[The Count]

Excellent installment. Very curious to see where this leads when you update next.

 

[muppetwriter]

While the Ghost Rider retrieves his confiscated Hellcycle from the garage area of the police station, the rest of us free Ludo, Sir Didymus, Ambrosius, Fu Dog, Monroe, and my own dog from the cells in the section of the station that is reserved for animals and not humans. With our alliance now together again, we enter the garage area to find the Ghost Rider. But we are only met with his roaring Hellcycle, as it rides up the side of a parked car and soars over our heads.

“Whoa, dude!” Spud exclaims, as the demonic motorcycle lands back to the concrete and zooms outside of the garage to meet its owner. The Rider gets on his cycle and, with one maniacal cackle, rides away from the station. In his wake, he leaves behind a busted neon “Garage” sign, knocking out the “G”, “A”, and “R” letters and causing it to only read “Rage.”

“Well, there he goin’ again, probably to mess someone else up.” Trixie says. “How we supposed to get him to come back to that cemetery wit us?”

That is when Jake Long decides to take control as the resident planner of the group. “The best plan would be to split up. Gramps and I will ‘Dragon Up’ and chase after him on air. Sam, Tucker, and the Fentons can go in one direction on ground in their RV and the rest of you guys can go in the other in Renee’s cab.”

“Sounds like a marvelous plan to me.” Sam acknowledges. “What do you think, Danny?” As soon as she turns in the direction of where Danny Fenton once stood, she suddenly realizes that he is no longer standing there. Apparently no one else in the group has taken notice of this, because they are already busy commencing with Jake’s plan. And it is best that they have not, because it left Danny Fenton to go off on his own and search for the Ghost Rider as Danny Phantom.

While Jake and his grandfather both transform into their dragon forms and fly off into the night sky, the rest of us run to our confiscated vehicles inside the garage and drive away to search for the Rider on ground, taking separate directions just as Jake had planned for us.

When Sarah, her labyrinth friends, the Lees, Trixie, Spud, my fateful dog, and I search for the Ghost Rider in our direction, we come directly across him as he zooms down the street near the one we are traveling down. If it were not for the shield that I put around Renee’s cab, we all would have been sure to be incinerated by the intense unearthly power the Rider’s cycle left behind. And it is also the one thing that protects us as we chase him down this particular street. At the wheel of the cab, Renee tries her best to keep her cool, as she feels the cab almost steering itself off the road.

“I said it once and I’ll say it again: this is just downright insane!” She says.

Despite Renee’s struggle to control her own taxicab, we are very hot on the Rider’s trail. Unfortunately, we hear the sound of police sirens behind us, signifying that the authorities are hot on our own trail as well.

“Oh, great!” Sarah exclaims. “What do we do now?”

And while the rest of us try to think of some way to elude the police, Ludo is already way ahead of us. With one loud howl that echoed through the windows of the car and the shield surrounding it, Ludo summons the rocks littering the street from the shredded areas of the concrete caused by the Hellcycle. They roll themselves towards the pursuing police vehicles and slam against their wheels, tearing through their exteriors and bringing the cars to an abrupt stop.

Seeing what Ludo’s uncanny ability had done to the pursuing vehicles impresses the Lees, Spud, and Trixie quite a bit. Even Jasmine expresses her joy by saying, “Wow. Talk about your old school rock ‘n’ roll.”

With the police no longer a problem, we find ourselves returning to our primary task of retrieving the Ghost Rider, who has come across a bridge area with a massive arch constructed at the side of it. The Rider drives his motorcycle up the arch, once he sees the fleet of police vehicles approaching at the opposite side of the bridge. He soon finds himself trapped at the top of the arch, with the fleet of officers at one side and us Nightstalkers at the other.

“CRAP.”

Looking down the side of the arch, the Rider sees only one alternative: jumping into the river. If the Rider had an ordinary mouth, he would be grinning right now, because he sees the brilliance in this idea. He then proceeds to go along with it by driving his cycle down the rest of the arch and skidding it sideways until he has completely fallen off the arch.

Both the police officers and our Nightstalker team look to the edge of the bridge to see the Ghost Rider splash into the river. As we expect for physics to kick in and see his flames extinguish from the water, it appears as if even underwater the Ghost Rider’s flames continue to grow strong. We see a bright light beneath the bubbling surface, and it is not very long before the Ghost Rider and his Hellcycle resurface incredibly.

Turning in our direction, he makes a very obscene gesture with one of his fingers and then laughs horrendously while riding his cycle across the water, heading back to dry land in only a matter of seconds. As soon as he is out of the scene, we all return back to our vehicles and continue on with the chase.

~~~~~~~~~~~​

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, Sam, Tucker, and the Fenton family search for the Rider through an alleyway. As soon as they pass through completely, the Rider appears before them.

“There he is! Let’s get him!” Jack exclaims, still bent on avenging the death of his friend Vlad Masters, although he was once an evil half-human/half-ghost. “I’m not doing this for Vlad! I’m doing it because this is a no-good, stinkin’ ghost…AND HE’S GOIN’ DOWN!”

“Dad, for the last time, we can’t hurt the Ghost Rider!” Jazz reminds him. “We made a promise to Death, and if we got back on that promise, we’ll all…”

“No talkin’ now! I’ve got him cornered!” Jack interjects.

Apparently that seems to be the case, as the group find themselves chasing the Ghost Rider down the dead end of a street. However, this does not stop the Ghost Rider—it only provides him with one easy and remarkable challenge. With his eyes blazing more than ever, the Rider tilts himself and his motorcycle back before slamming against the wall of a building. His engine revving more monstrously than before, the Ghost Rider commences in scaling up the side of the office building, shattering all of its windows while trekking up towards the rooftop.

Stopping the RV near the dead end, its occupants get out to look up and see how bizarrely they have lost their prey. Tucker cannot help but comment on the sudden action by saying, “Uhhh…on second thought, I think I’m gonna keep my mouth shut on this one.”

As the Ghost Rider scales up the building on his demonic Hellcycle, he unknowingly catches the attention of someone from another nearby building. Staring out the window of her bedroom suite, Roxanne Simpson sees the horrific, unearthly form of the Ghost Rider and is shocked over the revelation that all that Johnny Blaze had told her earlier was in fact true. Johnny is the devil’s bounty hunter as he said he was.

“Johnny.” She silently utters.

Meanwhile, while the Rider continues to ride his way up the side of the building, three forms suddenly appear on opposite sides of him. To his left are Jake and Luong Lao Shi (flying in their dragon forms) and to his right is the flying Danny Phantom.

“Pull over, Skully!” Danny demands. “We need to have a talk!”

Jake and his grandfather are surprised to say the least by the appearance of Danny Phantom himself. “Yo, bro. Who the heck are you?” Jake asks him.

Danny was about to ask Jake and his grandfather that exactly same question, for he had not witnessed their transformation a short while ago. He left to transform into his ghost form shortly before Jake shared his plan with the rest of the team. So instead of even telling his alter-ego name to the two, he settles on telling them, “I’m the guy who’s here to stop the Grim Reaper’s evil twin from terrorizing even more people!”

“Oh, please. What could you do with your sad self?” Jake asks. “You look like an anorexic version of Casper!”

“Anorexic?” Danny remarks. “Hey, for your information, I gulf down more meat than my friend Sam can ever hope to!”

On his reference to a fellow member of the Nightstalker team, Jake and his grandfather stare at the half-human/half-ghost boy in surprise. “Danny? Is that you?” Luong Lao Shi inquires, and a sheepish look comes across the face of Danny, as he suddenly realizes the mistake he has made.

Before Danny could provide an answer for them, the Ghost Rider reaches the rooftop area, soaring high across the air momentarily and landing with a hard thud on the roof. Danny, Jake, and Luong Lao Shi all land softly on the rooftop surface, just as a police helicopter arrives and shines over all of them.

“Yo! Chill on that light!” Jake tells the pilot, while shielding his eyes along with his grandfather and Danny.

The Ghost Rider, however, needs not to shield his own eyes—for he has no human eyes at the moment. He gets off his Hellcycle and takes off the long chain that has been wrapped around his torso, using it as a way of lassoing the bottom of the chopper.

“YEEEE-HAAAAAWWWW!”

With the pilot suddenly losing control of the aircraft, he begins to look down upon the Ghost Rider in fear, as he becomes more and more closer to him with the Rider himself pulling the helicopter towards him. As soon as the pilot is within earshot, the Ghost Rider immediately let him know how dissatisfied he is over his presence.

“YOU’RE P***ING ME OFF.”

Notified of this, the pilot nervously nods his head in affirmation. “S-Sorry.”

“THAT’S BETTER.”

Giving the chain one mighty tug, the Ghost Rider starts to swing the helicopter around again and again, until he forcibly sends it on a course away from the rooftop of the office building. As it flies away from the area, the Rider uncoils his chain from the chopper’s legs.

Down below, a large assemblage of police officers and Nightstalkers surround the perimeter of the building, as the rest of us prepare for the Ghost Rider’s next move. The officers seem so interested in him that they miss the fact that the other escaped prisoners (us, the Nightstalkers) are standing right near them—and I do not have our invisibility shield over us. Even Captain Dolan and Captain Edwards are oblivious to our presence, but not that of Roxanne Simpson, who has come for the Ghost Rider as well…or yet the other half of him—the half that is Johnny Blaze.

Back on the rooftop, as the three members of our Nightstalker team attempt to confront the Ghost Rider again, they are quickly stopped by the sudden sound of wicked laughter. With the blink of an eye, the form of Damien Takashi appears before the group, grinning at the Ghost Rider.

“What a marvelous coincidence that we all just happen to be meeting on the rooftop to one of my father’s many office buildings in the United States.” Damien confidently says. “It shows power in my opinion. Power over all this.” He gestures towards the view of the city. “Could you image owning all of this, Rider? Helping us take control over all of humanity for eternity? It’s gonna be so sweet!”

Danny, Jake, and Luong Lao Shi have had just about enough of Damien’s talk, which he seems to be all of at the moment.

“I tell ya what’s gonna be sweet,” Danny says, “Us kicking the living snot out of you!”

Damien lets out a fierce cackle. “Sounds fun. But would you really want to challenge my power…especially now that we know all about your little girlfriend?”

“Sam is not my girlfriend!” Danny angrily yells.

“I’m talking about the Ghost Rider’s girlfriend, genius.” Damien sarcastically clarifies.

Feeling even more sheepish than he had when Jake and his grandfather found out about his secret identity, Danny suddenly turns invisible, hiding the embarrassment that his face is registering. “My bad.”

The flames on the Rider’s skull seem to have grown intensely, as he takes notice of Takashi’s threat. He points his finger directly at him and makes his own threat demandingly clear.

“I SWEAR I’LL MESS YOU UP, IF YOU LAY A FINGER ON HER!”

However, Damien is not too intimidated by the Rider’s threat. He only expresses his fascination in it by laughing coolly. “You’re weak, Rider. It’s quite unfortunate for you that we don’t allow demons with hearts in our group, otherwise the world would be ours now and these pathetic warriors behind you would be dealt with.”

“Hey, man. Who ya callin’ weak?” Jake retorts.

“I’m callin’ you weak, Dragon Breath!” Damien tells him, provoking Jake to unleash havoc, which he tries to do if it were not for the interjection of his own grandfather, who holds him back. “Soon we will have the contract, and then you all will only be a footnote in the history of the new h*ll.”

“I DON’T THINK SO.”

“Well, ya see, that’s the problem, bonehead.” Damien remarks. “Because I do!” And with that said, Damien disappears before their very eyes in a dark gray cloud of smoke, after taking a puff from his lit cigarette.

Seeing no point in being on the rooftop any longer, the Ghost Rider wraps his chain around his torso again, gets back on his Hellcycle, and rides it towards the edge of the rooftop, which Jake, Danny, and Luong Lao Shi just happen to be standing near. The three Nightstalkers immediately leap out of the way in time for the Rider to zoom right past them and crash through the concrete barrier surrounding the roof.

The Rider scaled his way down the side of the building at full speed, heading towards where we—the crowd of officers and Nightstalkers—are currently standing. Realizing how fast he is moving in our direction, we all start to brace ourselves for an unnatural phenomenon to occur.

As soon as the Ghost Rider is within a few feet close to ground zero, something unnatural occurs…only it is not the Rider’s doing. Out of nowhere, a swirling purple vortex appears before the Ghost Rider’s path towards the ground and swallows him up. Just after he disappears through the vortex, it suddenly disappears, leaving us all mortified and bewildered over what has just occurred.

Wh…What happened to the Ghost Rider? One second he was here, and then the next…he’s gone! What happened? What on earth happened?

That’s just the thing, my friend…what happened was not of this earth.

But of mine.

 

[BeakerSqueedom]

I got chills.
Thank you for posting this next chapter.
*GLOMP*

My gosh...
This is intense!

 

[The Count]

Greatness... That's all I can say at the moment. Except, don't forget Uncle Deadly's part of this story on the Nightstalkers side. Looking forward to the next update eagerly.

 

[muppetwriter]

It should be noted that what happened in the last part of this recent installment did not happen in the movie. This is the part of the story that I said would switch to that Labyrinth side, so expect a certain long blonde-haired, singing Goblin King to appear in the next installment....

...and probably even take over as narrator for the tale.

 

[BeakerSqueedom]

*Flails arms excitedly*

In Animal voice: MORE STORY! MORE STORY! Hahaha!

This is really getting me excited!
You certainly have a great imagination--which is why
this story seems awfully successful.

*Cheers*

 

[JEANYLASER]

Yeah! more Story!

 

[muppetwriter]

No one can blame you
For walking away
Too much rejection
No love injection…

But down in the underground
You’ll find someone true
Down in the underground
A land serene
A crystal moon…

Awake, Rider. It’s only forever. It’s not long at all. You’ll feel lost and lonely at first…but that’s the underground for you.

Yes, awake and rise to stand before your new surroundings…your new prison…your new home…my labyrinth. As you stand on your own two feet, you first realize that your hellish flames have been extinguished, bringing you back to nothing more than a ball of flesh and bone.

Look around, Johnny Blaze…what do you see? Do you see that you are at the main gate to the labyrinth? Ominous area, isn’t it? Nothing more than decaying plant life and a fountain running with waste, some of which came from that pathetic weakling known as Hoggle.

Don’t be too afraid, Rider. You still have your fateful motorcycle to accompany you. Take advantage of its presence, for it will get you through my labyrinth as quickly as you hope. But that’s the key, isn’t it? Hope. It’s what is assuring you that you’ll make it out soon enough to return back to reality and save your precious Roxanne.

Poor Johnny Blaze. Hope will not get you through my labyrinth in time to complete your task. For as we speak at this very moment, your friends are walking into a trap set up by Blackheart himself. Thanks to Damien, he knows your weakness and will use it against you.

If only you can see what I see through my crystal ball now: dear Sarah comes to your abode with the wise Storyteller and her noble friends in pursuit of Roxanne, who actually believes she’ll find you there. She is much too easy, Johnny. Perhaps you’re better off finding a different girlfriend. Ha-ha!

If only you can see how ridiculous your Nightstalker friends look, Johnny, as they enter to find Roxanne being accompanied by the only friend in your miserable life, Mack.

“D**n it! Johnny needs to get a lock on his front door.” Mack says. “He’s letting all of these weirdoes in here, and it ain’t even Halloween!”

The wise Storyteller steps forward to address Mack. “Kind sir, we are anything but ‘weirdoes’. We have come to take Miss Simpson to the cemetery outside the city for safety.”

“You call a cemetery safe?” Roxanne says with a bewildered look on her face. “Who are you guys anyway?”

“Your protectors, M’Lady.” Sir Didymus tells her.

“Yes,” Uncle Deadly speaks up, “And we must leave here before….”

They hear a slight gasp come out of Mack’s abysmal body, and not very long does it start to lose its coloring, turning from a light tan shade to a very dark shade of violet. His body starts to become solid cold and shrivels up like an old prune. That is exactly what he looks like…a human prune. Ha-ha!

And as this human prune collapses to the floor, it is made clear that the person behind his unfortunate fate is none other than Blackheart himself. His presence—although a demon in the form of a pale-skinned human—is foreboding to the people before him, especially Roxanne, who he immediately sets his eyes on.

Realizing this, the noble Storyteller turns to her and exclaims, “Roxanne! Get away from here! Now!”

Roxanne quickly makes her way to the elevator entrance of Johnny Blaze’s home. However, when she opens the gate to it, she is met with the shock of being grabbed by Damien Takashi, whom afterwards disappears with her in a cloud of smoke.

“NO!” The brave Sarah cries.

“Don’t worry about her, my friends.” Blackheart tells them. “She will not suffer as worse of a fate as this other useless mortal.”

“What have you done with Johnny?” Sarah asks him (rudely, I might add).

Blackheart grins. “Now what makes you believe that I had anything to do with his surprising disappearance?”

“Because you’ve been responsible for just about every bad thing that’s happened to us in the past forty-eight hours!” Danny tells him. “Now tell us what you and your vampire buddy have done to our friends!”

“You aren’t in the position to be making demands, boy!” Blackheart yells, his voice shaking the walls of the room and his face turning into its true demonic form—black eyes, black complexion, and razor sharp teeth. It is enough to put fear into the hearts of the “brave” Nightstalkers. “If you’re just dying to know what’s happened to him, go to the Caretaker and get me the contract. Then bring it to me in San Venganza and maybe I’ll spare the life of the Rider’s girl. And don’t make me wait!”

With this warning made clear, Blackheart disappears before the Nightstalkers, leaving them with no other choice but to get the contract themselves in order to save the lives of you and your loved one, Johnny. How easy would it be for them to know that you’re actually here in my labyrinth, safe and yet-to-be-harmed.

I feel sorry for you in a way, Johnny. The sun bearing down on you and keeping you from transforming into your Ghost Rider form…it’s unfair, isn’t it? But that’s the idea, Johnny. Once you’re in my labyrinth, nothing is ever fair anymore.

From the looks of my view through the crystal ball, it appears that you are coming through the land of the Fireys. Beware of them, Johnny. They’re lanky beasts with flaming red pelts, always devoted to having a good time by removing their heads, limbs, and other body parts. If you’re lucky…they might even try to take off your head.

As you trek through the area, Johnny, you will hear singing in the distance…clear but yet slightly faint singing…

When the sun goes down (when the sun goes down)
And the bats are back to bed (and the bats are back)
The brothers come ‘round (the brothers come ‘round)
I get out of my dirty bed (my dirty bed)
I shake my pretty little head (I shake my pretty little head)
Tap my pretty little feet (tap my pretty little feet)
Feeling brighter than sunlight (oh)
Louder than thunder (oh)
Bouncing like a yo-yo, wooh (oh)

You see them in the distance, already bouncing their heads around like basketballs or using them of batting practice with someone’s leg. They are not like anything you’ve seen before, not even like the Muppets. Yet they are just that close to being outstandingly bizarre.

I just throw in my hand (throw in my hand)
With the chilliest bunch in the land (in the land)
They don’t look much (oh)
They sure chilly-chilly (oh)
They positively glow-glow, huh (oh)

Chilly down with the fire gang
Think small with the fire gang (It’s the only way)
Bad hep with the fire gang (a smile a day keeps the doctor away)
When your thing gets wild
Chilly down, Chilly down

You attempt to ride away from the dreadful abominations, but, no…I’d much rather see how far this goes, so I keep your motorcycle stalled long enough to find out. But you still try to run, getting off from your bike and hiding behind a large tree. However, one or two Fireys still find you there.

So when things get too tough (get too tough)
And your chin is dragging on the ground (dragging on the ground)
And even down looks up (down looks up)
Bad luck (heh, heh)
We can show you a good time (show you a good time)
And we don’t charge nothin’ (nothin’ at all)
Just strut your nasty stuff,
Wiggle in the middle yeh
Get the town talkin’, fire gang.

Chilly down with the fire gang (think small)
Think small with the fire gang
Bad hep with the fire gang (Hey, listen up)
When your thing gets wild
Chilly down

You’re quivering, Johnny. What’s wrong? Don’t you know how to chilly down with the fire gang? Perhaps as you stand in the shadows, you’ll learn how to…

The shadows? No! You fools! Keep him away from there, before he—

“AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHH!”

The Ghost Rider rises again, lighting the shadows up only partially. The Fireys, witnessing the unexpected change, back away from the glowing form of the Ghost Rider. But are they afraid? No. In fact, they’re quite impressed.

“Hey, check it out!” The Firey Leader says. “We got ourselves a new member of the gang!”

“Yeah!” One Firey member excitedly exclaims. “Someone else to chilly with. Maybe even start our basketball team with. HAHA!”

“The sixth Firey! How ‘bout that? Ain’t that somethin’ there!”

The Firey Leader aims his focus on the Ghost Rider and asks, “How does that sound to you, brotha?”

“SORRY. NOT INTERESTED.”

And with that being said, the Ghost Rider opens his mouth wide and blows out a huge amount of flames like a fire-breathing dragon. The Fireys, three of them engulfed in the flames and incinerated, start to run away from the demonic being, finding him less intriguing than they had when they approached him.

“You’re no fun, brotha! No fun at all!”

“WHAT’D YOU REJECTS EXPECT? A SONG AND DANCE?”

With the Fireys now gone from his presence, the Ghost Rider returns to his motorcycle. However, as he steps out of the shadows, he returns to the form of Johnny Blaze, who is aware of the unexpected change and how exactly it came about. Sticking to the shadows is the key to becoming the Ghost Rider during the daylight.

But we can’t have none of that again, can we, Johnny Blaze?

So I guess I will have to increase the intensity of the sun, burning it brighter so that no more shadows remain anywhere around the labyrinth. I want you to make it through it without the assistance of your “friend.” Yes, it will be just as tough getting by, now that you have the heat of the sun bearing down upon you.

But it’s like I said, Johnny…in the labyrinth, nothing is ever fair.