In this story, we follow a man named Franklin Blaze who is a normal citizen in gotham city that lives with his parents. After learning that his parents have a terminal illness, he wishes that he could find a way to help them. Then that night, the de...
Later in the night, Ghost Rider is riding his motorcycle through the deeper reaches of Gotham City before riding up one of the many skyscrapers that litter the city. Reaching the top, he parks his motorcycle and hops off. He then takes a few steps away and looks over the entire city, searching for his target.
"You can't hide from me forever. I'll always find you." Ghost Rider says as he looks around.
Suddenly, something flies out of nowhere and hits the Ghost Rider in the chest, causing him to stagger back. Ghost Rider then rips the object out of his chest and sees that it is some kind of metal in the shape of a bat. Looking up, he sees something or someone gliding towards him. The creature then pulls up and lands in front of him. It is none other than Gotham's dark knight, the batman. Shortly after, six other people in costumes land right behind him. These people are Nightwing, Red hood, Red Robin, Damian, Batgirl, and Batwoman.
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"Franklin Blaze, you're under arrest." Batman says.
Ghost Rider just laughs maniacally at Batman's words. Batman's frowns even more by this. Damian steps forward.
"What's so funny, Fire Skull?" Damian asks.
Ghost Rider then stops laughing and faces the bat family.
"What's so funny is that you all believe that you can take me but I'm afraid you've been misinformed." Ghost Rider says.
"Everyone has a weakness." Batman says.
"Maybe, but I know yours... Bruce Wayne." Ghost Rider says.
What Ghost Rider has said gives the batfamily a shock. Even Batman is surprised to know that Franklin knows his secret identity, although he doesn't show it.
"How did you..." Nightwing asks before being cut off.
"I know all your names. The reason for that is quite simple. I looked into your souls. I know everything about all of you. Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, you both have watched their parents die before their eyes. Jason Todd, you died by the hands of some clown but was brought back to life via resurrection. Tim Drake, you willingly sought out to be Bruce's sidekick. Barbara Gordon, you are the daughter of the police commissioner. Kathy Kane, you fight crime just to imitate Bruce's Batman persona. And Damian Wayne, raised by a death cult to become the ultimate killer but was turned around by your father." Ghost Rider explains, revealing their backstories.
To say everyone was shocked would be an understatement. All of them now didn't know what to do, except for Batman.
"That's enough. It's time to take you back to jail." Batman says.
The bat family then assumes their fighting stances and ready their weapons. Ghost Rider just chuckles and grabs his chain and envelopes it in his spiritual energy.
"Time to put you all in your place." Ghost Rider says.
Ghost Rider then swings his chain at them, who all dodge the attack but Ghost Rider doesn't stop and tries to swing his chain again and again, but keeps on missing. Batman then finds an opening and spin kicks Ghost Rider in the head, followed by a series of strikes by Nightwing's escrima sticks, which makes Ghost Rider drop his chain. Ghost Rider then grabs the sticks and lands a kick to Nightwing's chest, sending him flying towards Batman, who catches him. Ghost Rider then drops the sticks to the ground and runs towards Batman. He and Batman perform a series of punches and kicks before Ghost Rider grabs Batman's leg and slams him into the ground and then repeatedly punches him again and again. He then rips off Batman's helmet but before he can deliver a finishing blow, Red Hood begins shooting at him with his pistols which Ghost Rider, while feeling them, is not at all hurt by the bullets. Damian then tries to strike him with his sword in order to save his father. With a battle cry, Damian manages to stab Ghost Rider in the abdomen which comes out through the back which causes the Ghost Rider to scream. The scream slowly then turns into laughter, which makes Damian more afraid.
"Silly child. Mere bullets and stabbings can't kill me." Ghost Rider says as he then rips the sword out of his abdomen, which melts immediately afterwards.
He then uppercuts Damian, which sends him flying and hitting the concrete skyscraper roof hard, knocking him unconscious. At this point, Batman gets angry and sends a series of explosive batarangs at Ghost Rider, which does nothing but cause him to stagger. Batman then sends a series of punches to his face while Nightwing and the others come in and send their own flurries of punches and kicks to the Ghost Rider. Just when they thought they had the upper hand, Ghost Rider manages to send hellfire from his body and send it outwards, causing everyone to be sent into the air and landing hard onto the ground. With everyone down, Ghost Rider stands back up and walks towards the dazed Batgirl. He then picks her up by the neck with his right hand and looks into her soul. All the while, Batgirl couldn't do anything, not even scream as all she could do was look helplessly into the Ghost Rider's flaming eye sockets.
"Innocent." Ghost Rider says before dropping Batgirl back onto the ground, causing her to grab her neck in relief as she tries to catch her breath.
Confused, Batgirl looks back to the Ghost Rider who is picking up his chain and wraps it twice around his torso. Then for some reason, he turns back into Franklin Blaze.
"This is a mistake." Franklin says, walking towards his motorcycle, which also returned to normal.
"The only mistake you made is resisting arrest for the pain you caused!" Batgirl yells.
Hearing this, Franklin stops walking and turns towards Batgirl who has managed to get back onto her feet.
"Listen... I don't expect you to believe me on this Barbara, but I'm not the one who has been going on a killing spree in this city over the last few days." Franklin explains.
"Well, if it wasn't you then who did it?" Batgirl asks.
Suddenly, flames imbue from Franklin's hand and when they recede, they leave behind something that looks to be some kind of photograph. Franklin then throws it and it lands in Batgirl's hand. She looks at it and it shows a picture of Blackheart's face.
"His name is Blackheart. He is... some kind of demon if you will. He and his demon friends are searching for something, something I have yet to find out what it is, and another demon by the name of Mephisto has tasked me to destroy him." Franklin explains.
"Why follow a devil's orders and commands?" Batwoman asks, who has managed to get back onto her feet and is now standing beside batgirl.
"That's the thing Katherine. I don't have a choice. 18 years ago, Mephisto came to me in the middle of the night and offered to cure my parents of their terminal cancer in exchange for my soul. Since I was 16 at the time and didn't know any better, I agreed to the deal. When I woke up the next morning, I found that instead of being cured, the parents ended up being killed. After seeing that, I fled Gotham, not wanting to face the consequences of my decision. It took 18 years of running and hiding to finally decide to return. And then this whole killing spree happens and then Mephisto returns. Because I'm still under contract, I'm forced to be his slave. And I will stay that way until Blackheart is gone." Franklin explains.
Batgirl and Batwoman were left speechless at Franklin's words. Now, they don't know what to do. Franklin then turns back to his motorcycle and sits on the seat.
"W-Why tell us all this?" Batgirl asks.
"Because you two are the only ones who would even listen to me. Who would understand what I have gone through and not judge. Something that most people don't want to hear or care about. Just know this, if you find Blackheart, please let me know. He needs to be stopped and no normal humans can take him out. I have to be the one to do it. And one more thing..." Franklin says before he transforms back into Ghost Rider and his motorcycle transforms as well.
"Don't follow me." Ghost Rider says before laughing and riding off the skyscraper, riding back down onto the street and away from the batfamily.
Batgirl and Batwoman watch as Ghost Rider rides away and it leaves them with many thoughts in their minds.
"What now?" Batwoman asks.
"Honestly Kathy, I don't know. But something tells me that we should actually follow him." Batgirl says.
"But what about the others?" Batwoman asks, gesturing towards the rest of the batfamily, who are still unconscious.
"Knowing them, they will be fine. Now, we have a job to do." Batgirl says before jumping off the building and gliding away to follow Ghost Rider with Batwoman right behind her.
Both of them know what their plan is but they don't know what to do when or if the plan goes into motion.
