[No One's POV]

Seeing that the Spirit of Vengeance was approaching, the CPD and SWAT both continue being stupid and resume shooting at the Ghost Rider. This does nothing but annoy the Rider as he growls in annoyance. He readies his chain again, but stops when he hears a familiar voice.

"J-James?" Marcy's voice says from behind the Ghost Rider.

The flaming skeleton stops in his tracks and turns his skull to see James' sister Marcy standing next to Quinton who stood among the rest of the students of the high school. As the Rider looks at the teens as well as Marcy and Quinton, his flames slowly turn a light and passive blue color as he calms down. The Spirit of Vengeance then turns around to face the law enforcers as his flames die down and skin returns to his bones, revealing the creature to be James once the skin fully heals. He then raises his hands to the air in surrender as Marcy, Quinton, and a few others gasp in shock.

As soon as the CPD and SWAT see that it's safe, they quickly charge and pin James to the ground as they arrest him. They then bring the boy to his feet and lead him to a heavily tanked carrier. As they load him into the van and close the doors, James takes one last look at his friends and sister. Then the doors close, and James is left in the dark. All alone.

-Year: 2016--Three Years Later...-
-Location: Chicago Juvenile Detention Center-
[James' POV]

It's been three years since I've been taken in by the CPD and SWAT and brought to the Chicago Juvenile Detention Center to be kept under watch and surveillance and I'm now 17 years old, 18 in a few months. Staying in this place does have its perks though. The warden, or whatever you wanna call him, allows me to practice my powers so I won't grow out of control when the other juveniles brought here act out. I also get to scare the others it's needed. It's hilarious to see their faces when I show up out of nowhere and all they see is a flaming skeleton. I swear some of them piss and even shit themselves when they see me. I also learned how to control the Rider so I won't go haywire.

Anyways, it's currently lunch time and basically the entire Detention Center is at the cafeteria eating the terrible food served here. I was eating when I heard one of my fellow juveniles speaks.

"Move, Rogers!" a male named Nickolas Magbie orders a boy named Michael Rogers and I turn to look at them.

"B-but I got here first," Michael tells Nickolas. "Can't you find another place to sit?"

"I can," Nickolas says, "but I want your seat. NOW MOVE!"

Nickolas grabs Michael by the back of his shirt and throws him out of his seat and onto the floor.

"Jesus, I hate this kid."

"You and me both, Zar," I tell Zarathos as I continue watching the scene unfold.

"Hey!" Michael says in protest. "What do you think James would do if he knew you were doing this?!"

"James? That bastard?" Nickolas questions. "You think he'll save you? He doesn't care about you! All he cares is about himself! Why else do you think he's "keeping us in check" for Macintosh?"

I growl in annoyance as I stand, feeling heat emit from my body as I stand to my feet. I start walking to the two and the others notice this, causing them to use their brains and run off. Smart choice on their part.

"What's wrong? Scared you'll be hurt?" Nickolas asks Michael. "Like I said: James ain't gonna- ACK!"

I cut him off by summoning my hooked chains and throwing them at the boy, wrapping them around his neck and making it hardest for him to breath. I pull him toward me and turn his body to face me, now fully transformed into the Ghost Rider.

"It's rude to talk about people when they're listening, you know?" I ask Nickolas in my raspy and demonic voice and he shivers in fear. "What's wrong? Scared you'll get hurt?"

At this point, Michael was shaking in pure fear as he stared at my terrifying demeanor.

I raise my burning fist up to deliver a nasty punch to the boy's nose before a familiar voice rings out throughout the cafeteria.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" the voice of Warden Macintosh shouts and everyone turns to him, including me. "Put him down, Ryder. He isn't worth your time."

I glare at the warden before huffing in annoyance and tossing Nickolas to a nearby table, with him giving out an audible "oof". I then detransform and revert back to my human form.

"Asshole. Always ruining our fun. I was looking forward to beating his ass into ash."

I roll my eyes at Zarathos' comment but chuckle a bit as well.

"Ryder! You have a visitor!" Macintosh tells me. "Now move!"

I grumble as Zarathos says curses at the warden, but I chuckle since I'm the only one that can hear them.

I follow Macintosh to my cell and I walk in. Once I'm in, Macintosh closes my cell and locks it so I wouldn't escape. As if that'll stop me, but I'll respect his rules and stay in my cell.

Macintosh then pulls out a metal fold-up chair and sets it in front of my cell door. Then he walks away and leaves me alone. Not even five minutes later, another set of footsteps are heard and I look up. The owner of the footsteps soon walks up to the chair and sits down to reveal himself to be...

"Mr. Tony Stark!" I exclaim in slight surprise. "A pleasure it is to finally meet one of the most famous Avengers!"

"So you've heard of me?" Tony asks me. "I assumed someone in your position didn't care much for news."

"Heh. Even IF I didn't watch the news I would've over heard the others talking about you and the other Avengers," I tell the famous Iron Man. "And even if I didn't hear them, I would still know who you are."

Tony looks at me in a curious manner.

"And how would you know?" he asks me.

"I guess you can say I have... "friends" in high places," I tell Stark, my eyes turning into a raging red and orange. "Anyways, why are you here Mr. Stark? I'm sure you have MUCH more important things to do than talk to lil' old me!"

"That's just it, kid," Tony tells me as he pulls out a file from his suit. "I want you to be part of one of those important things."

He throws the file into my cell and it falls to the ground. I stare at it for a bit before picking it up and looking through it. What it was shocked me.

"This... this is all me," I say in surprise and I turn to Stark. "What is this even suppose to mean? That you've been watching me?"

"Well, technically we haven't been watching yo-" Tony starts to say but I cut him off.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" I order the Avenger, slamming a burning fist on the cell doors. "I can tell when you're lying!... and it's a SIN to lie."

I then realize that Tony was standing uo and had a smaller version of his repulser hand cannon on his hand, aiming it at me and breathing heavily and afraid. I know why. It's not unusual for people to be afraid of me.

"I'm... I'm sorry," I say, backing off from the cell and sitting back down. "I didn't mean to scare you, I just really hate it when others lie to me. It's one of the reasons I'm in this place."

"I... I can see that," Tony says as he stays on guard.

"Ease up, Mr. Stark," I tell the genius. "I'm not going to hurt you. At least, as of now and if you don't give me a reason to."

Tony looks at me for a few more moments before putting his hand down and sitting back down in the chair.

"You know, not many can scare me like you did, kid," Tony tells me.

"Thanks," I say. "Now, what do you want with me? From these files, I can tell you've been watching me."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it "watching you"," Tony tells me.

"I would," I state, smirking at Stark.

"Right... anyways, I need your help," Tony tells me and I raise a brow.

"Help?" I question. "With what?"

"Captain America has gone rogue," Iron Man tells me, making me extremely surprised.

"Seriously?" I ask, running my hand through my overgrown hair. "Man, I thought he was all about patriotism and helping America. What made him change?"

"He didn't appreciate the fact that the world governments didn't like the Avengers having so much power with no consequences and that they wanted to make the Avengers a private organization run by the government," Tony tells me. "Along with the fact that his friend, Bucky Barnes, is being hunted down by the government. He's now rogue and won't listen to anyone."

"And how can I help?" I ask. "I'm in a cell and going to an actual prison in only a few months. I'm in no situation to help."

"That's where my contacts come in," Tony tells me. "You help take take in either Cap or Barnes, then your sentence will be shortened."

"How short?" I ask.

"No more juvie and no prison in a few months," Tony tells me. "And you'll be allowed anything you want as long as it's in the powers of the world governments."

"Nice," I say, smiling at the thought of being free. "And can I name what I want now since it's fresh in my mind?"

"Of course," Tony says and takes out a recording device, pressing record. "Name your demands, kid."

I smile and start.

"I want to do my job in peace," I tell Stark. "That means that no police, law enforcers, or any government will be on my back, waiting to take me back into prison."

"And that job is?" Tony asks me.

"Bringing penance to the guilty," I answer, my eyes glowing brightly in anticipation and my voice contorting for a moment.

"Like you did with the Right Eye Gang and the Blood in Chicago?" Tony asks me.

"Exactly," I say. "But I want to do it legally, so no getting arrested or attacked by any type of law enforcement... of ALL governments that signed that little packet of yours."

"How did you...?" Tony asks me, genuinely confused on how I knew about the Soviet Accords.

"Like I said: friends in high places," I say, smirking cockily.

Tony smiles and shakes his head playfully. He then resumes his questions.

"Anything else?" he asks me.

"I don't want my identity to be revealed to the public," I demand. "I want to be left in peace and not be flooded with the media for hours at a time. Not me or Z's forte."

"Z?" Tony questions.

"Zarathos," I inform Stark. "He's the real one you should be worried about, not me. If it weren't for me holding him back, everyone here would've been dead loooong before you even came here."

"I see," Tony says. "Is that it?"

"Tell him we want a Panhead Chopper, James."

"Why?" I ask Zarathos.

"What? One of my past hosts had one and I grew a liking to it. It's very stylish and can turn into one HELLUVA monster when we get our hands on it."

I roll my eyes at Zarathos' childish giddy over a motorcycle and Tony speaks.

"You speak to yourself?" he asks me.

"Actually, I speak to Zarathos," I inform Tony. "And I have one more demand. I want a Panhead Chopper."

"A motorcycle?" Tony questions. "Seriously? And why that model?"

"Let's just say it has some deep meaning to me and my partner," I tell Tony and he chuckles.

"All right! You can let him out now!" Tony shouts and my cell automatically opens.

"Wow," I say. "That was easy."

"Easier than we both thought," Tony says as he stands up and offers me his hand to shake. "Welcome to the Avengers, kid."

I take his hand and shake it.

"Glad to be a part of it."