It has been said that the world is built on legends, tall tales that help us make sense of things too great or too terrifying to believe. This is the legend of the Ghost Rider, not just any random Ghost Rider, this one goes by the name of Nathan Adachi. This is his legend, his story, all his pain and suffering, his happiness and love. Some say it isn't for the faint of heart, hearing what happened to him while others view it as tale of a cursed hero. It isn't up for you or me to decide, we are just watching all of it unfold eight before us.
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You know, sometimes life just has a way of kicking you in the balls, kicking you while you are down after something tragic has just happened, over and over again. One would think that impossible, others would tell you that you are crazy but some, some might just believe as they too have gone through the same thing. My name is Nathan Adachi once Nathan Blaze before I was adopted into the Adachi family. I was born in a small town in Texas over in the United States to Johnathan “Johnny” Blaze and Roxanne Simpson. My father was a professional motorbike stuntman and preformed tricks all of the country as well as the world. My mother, Roxanne, was a worldwide famous reporter known for her amazing stories.
One would say that I had a rich childhood growing up, while not completely true, I did get to travel a lot with my family and see all types of things a normal kid my age at the time wouldn't get to see. I was living with a loving family, I learned a lot from my mother and father. I once thought that everything was going good and nothing wrong could ever happen. Unfortunately, that was just not the case and life had something else planned for me. One day, my mother got extremely sick, apparently she had developed a rare type of cancer that was eating away at her nervous system.
My father, worked extremely hard to get the money that would cover any type of treatments that my mother needed but there was just nothing that the doctors could do. So at the young age of 7, I watched my mother slowly die in a hospital bed while no one could do anything. After my mother had died, my father had her buried next to her mother and father. My father Johnny didn't know what to do after my mother's death. Instead of doing shows and traveling, he stayed home and tried to be the best father that he could be. Unfortunately my mother's doctor bills and treatment costs came back to haunt us along with all types of bills and debts my father had amassed trying to take care of us.
Seeing no other option, my father planned to do a trick that if he did successfully would pay off all the debts and bills he owed. With the money left over, he and I could move somewhere else and live a quiet and peaceful life. Once again life had other plans, so on the day of my father's big stunt, I watched as the engine in his bike exploded and he fell into a ring of fire, dying almost instantly. I watched all of that, I saw the crew put my father out and watched as the ambulance and paramedics carried him out of there. The doctors told me he died the moment his body caught on fire as well as when pieces of the engine pierced his body.
With no mother or father to look after me, I was an orphan and would be sent to a home until I was adopted. I had nothing left of my parents except my father's old jacket and my mother's silver ring. Before I could be put into the system and tossed around like garbage, two people came forwards and offered to adopt me. Their names were Hiroki and Ena Adachi, they were friends of my father and they lived in Japan. I didn't know what to think but I did know I didn't want to live in an orphanage so I went with the Adachi's to live in the small town Kuoh Japan. There I met their only daughter, Keiko Adachi who was 17 at the time of my arrival.
At first I didn't know what to say or what to do, I was in a new environment had no idea how things were going to go. Slowly as time went on, I got comfortable living with the Adachi's and started to see them like my new parents. Even Keiko and I got close with one another and she treated me like her actual little brother. Life was starting to look up for me, that was until life decided I needed to get kicked once more. When I was 10, my adoptive mother, Ena was in a violent car accident and died upon impact, leaving Hiroki and I alone.
Like with my father Johnny, my adoptive father Hiroki began to drink and smoke to hide his pain. At the time, Keiko was off in Europe doing God knows what and was never home. She only came back for Ena's funeral and when we got the news that Hiroki had cancer. It seemed as though I was going to lose another set of parents and become an orphan once more. While Keiko and I took it seriously, Hiroki played it off like it was nothing. On the day of my 13th birthday, I decided that I wasn't just going to let another father die. I just didn't know what I was going to do or who could help me with saving him. It would be this day that I made one of the biggest mistakes in my life, something I would regret doing for a very long time, on that day, I made a deal with a Devil.
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Garage, Adachi Residence: Kuoh
In the garage of the Adachi residence, young Nathan was hard at work fixing his father's car. While he was fixing the car, Nathan was trying to think of ways that he could try and cure his adoptive father, Hiroki's lung cancer. The doctors said that the cancer was in stage 4 and was moving down towards his liver. They said at this rate, Hiroki was and could die at any given moment if he didn't get any treatment. Of course he and Keiko pushed Hiroki to get the treatment but he was set in his ways and claimed that he would meet his lovely Ena once more.
Seeing his adoptive father's lackluster behavior, seeing him not want to fight and just giving up, angered Nathan. If Hiroki wasn't going to do anything and just die than it looked like Nathan was going to have to step up and take charge. Nathan knew he had Keiko by his side and the two of them would do what they could to get Hiroki the help that he needed.
"It's kind of sad, seeing a young kid trying to fight cancer for his father" a voice said to Nathan
Nathan slid out from under the car and looked around for the person who spoke to him
"Who's there?" Nathan asked, looking around the garage
All of a sudden, the air got extremely cold, Nathan could see his breath and the wrench in his hand froze
"Hello there, you must be Nathan Blaze or is it Nathan Adachi now" a man said to Nathan, revealing himself to Nathan
The man had silver hair, blood red eyes, tattoos on his chest and arms as well as one going down his eye, there was also a long cut mark going all along his neck
Just looking at this strange man, Nathan was instally getting a bad feeling about him
"W...What are you doing here?" Nathan asked the man nervously
"There's no need to be afraid my dear boy, I am simply a man looking to help you" the strange man answered
"Well, who are you then?" Nathan asked the strange man, wanting to know who he was
"I'm just a friend of the family and a big fan of your father" the strange man answered with a grin on his face
"My father?" Nathan asked the strange man
"Yes, I watched him back when he was in the carnival with your grandfather, then I watched him as he traveled around, breaking records and doing all sorts of stunts, I'm a big fan of his, I have posters, t-shirts, video games all types of memorabilia" the strange man answered
Right away, Nathan knew that the man was talking about his father Johnny
"Okay, you were a fan of my father but that doesn't explain how you were his friend" Nathan tells the strange man
"You really are perceptive, just like your mother, you know, I am the one who introduced your father to your mother and you could also say, that I'm the one who got them together so you could be born" the strange man tells Nathan
As the strange man walked around the garage, Nathan made sure to keep his distance from him. He didn't know who this man was or what he wanted from him but whatever it was couldn't have been good.
"Okay, you did know my mother and father but that doesn't explain why you are here now" Nathan tells the man
"You know, the thing about cancer is the the time it takes, the tole on loved ones, I'm sure you know a lot about that" the man says to Nathan
Nathan remembers back to when his mother Roxanne died in the hospital of cancer
"If you're here to give me sympathy, don't, I don't need it and it definitely doesn't make things better" Nathan tells the strange man
"Oh don't worry about that, I'm not here to give you sympathy, I'm here to give you something much better" the strange man says
"And what would that be?" Nathan asks the man, suspicious yet curious
"Let's just say, I can cure your adoptive father's cancer and it won't cost you much" the strange man answers
"You...You could cure his cancer?" Nathan asks the man, sounding desperate
"I can and like I said it won't cost you much" the strange man answers with a grin on his face
"Whatever it is, I can give it to you, I'll give you anything" Nathan tells the man, wanting his help
"Are you sure about this?" The strange man asked Nathan
"Anything, it's yours" Nathan answered
"Let me see, I think I'll take...your soul" the strange man said in a serious tone as his presence changed
"My soul?" Nathan asked confused
"Yes, your soul" the strange man answered as he pulled out a parchment from his pocket
At first, Nathan thought the man was just being crazy, he didn't believe that someone could sell their soul. However, Nathan was hesitant to even do it but then he thought about Hiroki then how he lost his adoptive mother Ena and then his birth parents.
"Are we going to make a deal or not?" The strange man asked Nathan
"I'll do it, it's yours" Nathan answers
"Good, just sign here down at the bottom" the strange man said, revealing the parchment to be a contract
Nathan took the contract and looked at it, he tried to read what it said but the contract was written in a language he didn't understand. As Nathan moved his hand along the paper of the contract, he ended up cutting his thumb and drop of blood fell on the line where he was supposed to sign.
"My finger" Nathan said as he shook his hand in pain
"That'll do nicely" the strange man said as he took the contract
"So, is he cured now?" Nathan asked the strange man
"Oh don't worry about your adoptive father, by the morning, Hiroki will be as healthy as horse" the strange man answered with a grin on his face
"Good" Nathan said with a sigh of relief
"Now kid, I'm just going to need you to wake up and think of this as just some dream" the strange man said to Nathan, confusing him
Before Nathan could say or do anything, the strange man grinned once more and tapped Nathan on the chest which suddenly made him fall over onto the ground and black out
"Sleep tight Nathan"
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Nathan's Room, Adachi Residence: Kuoh
Early that morning, young Nathan woke up to the smell of something being cooked downstairs in the kitchen. Groggy from last night, Nathan gets up out of his bed and stretches, letting out a yawn. Looking down at his hand, Nathan doesn't see a cut on his thumb from when he cut it signing that contract.
"I guess it was just a dream" Nathan said to himself
Flashes of the strange man grinning and smiling at him, appear in Nathan's mind
"It had to have been a dream" Nathan says to himself as he gets dressed
Kitchen, Adachi Residence: Kuoh
Once Nathan was dressed, he walked downstairs and headed into the kitchen to see his adoptive father, Hiroki making breakfast. Nathan also saw his adoptive sister, Keiko sitting down at the table.
"Look who decided to wake up" Keiko said, seeing Nathan walk into the kitchen
"I was hoping you'd wake up, I've made a really good breakfast" Hiroki said to Nathan looking back at him
"I see fish and rice, is that miso? You haven't made a full breakfast in a long time" Nathan said, looking at the spread of food on the table
"That is true, I haven't felt all that good lately" Hiroki said with a sigh
"We understand dad, you don't need to remind us" Keiko tells Hiroki
"We know things have been hard for you" Nathan tells Hiroki
"But that is the thing kids, I've got something to tell you" Hiroki says to Nathan and Keiko as he motions for Nathan to sit down at the table
Nathan sits down at the table next to Keiko as Hirko slowly sits down at the table
"I don't like that look on your face" Keiko says to Hiroki
"Is something wrong?" Nathan asks Hiroki worried
"Actually you two, I'm feeling a whole lot better, the doctor called and said that my tests came back and showed that my system was clean" Hiroki answers
"Your system was clean?" Keiko asks Hiroki confused
"The cancer is gone, it's not in my lungs or in my liver, the scans showed that I am completely cancer free" Hiroki answers
Neither Keiko nor Nathan could believe what they were hearing, Hiroki was cancer free, it was just gone. Nathan started to think it his dream last night of the strange man was nothing more then a coincidence for this good news he was getting today.
"The doctors have no idea how it happened, they tell me I'm healthy and damn, I guess I do feel healthy, as healthy as a horse" Hiroki says with a chuckle
"I am so glad to hear that you are healthy dad" Keiko says, hugging Hiroki
"Yeah, I'm glad that you are healthy too" Nathan says
The three hug each other and chuckle, celebrating the good news of Hiroki's sudden recovery and clean bill of health
"We should celebrate" Keiko suggests
"That does sound good" Nathan said
"Yeah, we can go out and have a good time, properly celebrate Nathan's birthday" Hiroki says
Nathan remembers that yesterday was his 13th birthday
"Yeah, that is something we can do" Keiko says with a smile on her face
"I don't have school today so we can definitely do something" Nathan says
"I'm not working but I did get paid today" Hiroki says
"I've just got some things to take care of today but once I'm done with that, I'll come home and three of us can go out to celebrate" Keiko says
"Sounds good sweetheart, you head out and get that done, Nathan and I can hang out here" Hiroki tells Keiko
Living Room, Adachi Residence: Kuoh
With a plan made, Nathan and his family ate their breakfast before Keiko left to go and take care of her business. Nathan and Hiroki stayed behind to talk and hang out with one another before they all left when Keiko got back. Sitting out in the living room, Hiroki came out and handed Nathan a box.
"What is it dad?" Nathan asked Hiroki
"I've got you something special for your birthday, I feel like you should have it now" Hiroki answers
Nathan opens up the box and sees a katana in its sheath, he then slowly unsheaths the katana, revealing a black blade
"Its beautiful" Nathan said, looking at the katana in awe
"That katana has been in my family for a very long time, passed down through generations from father to son" Hiroki tells Nathan
"And your giving it to me?" Nathan asked Hiroki
"After your father died, I promised to look after you and raise you as my own son, like he wanted, this whole cancer thing made me open my eyes and realize that while you and I don't share blood, we have a bond and that makes you my son" Hiroki tells Nathan
"I...I don't know what to say" Nathan says as tears start to fall from his eyes
"In life there is a saying, you don't make the choice the choice makes you and I know I made the right choice taking you in" Hiroki tells Nathan
"My dad said his grandfather taught him that" Nathan said as he wiped away his tears
"And your dad taught it to me, now I'm teaching it to you, strange circle of life it is" Hiroki said with a chuckle
The two then hugged one another tightly
"I've got one more thing to show you" Hiroki tells Nathan
"You do?" Nathan asks
"Yeah, it's in the garage" Hiroki answers
The two then get up as Nathan sets the katana down, sheathing it first before he and Hiroki leave the living room and enter the garage
Small Time Skip
Garage, Adachi Residence: Kuoh
Over back in the garage, Hiroki leads Nathan to the other birthday present that Hiroki has for him
"What else did you get?" Nathan asks Hiroki as they walk into the garage
"It's a secret, you'll just have to wait to see it" Hiroki tells Nathan
Hiroki walks over to a white tarp that is covering something in the middle of the garage
"Come on dad, just show me what you got already" Nathan said to Hiroki, getting annoyed
"It's under this tarp and let me tell you this son, getting it was no east feat" Hiroki tells Nathan
With a single pull, Hiroki pulls the tarp off of what it is covering and to the suprise of Nathan, it is a motorcycle. It was just any motorcycle though it was the one that his father Johnny used to drive, the same motorcycle that his grandfather use to ride, Grace.
"Grace" Nathan says in awe as he falls to his knees
"Back when your father was doing his circuit over here, he use to tell me about this bike and how when you were old enough he was going to give it to you" Hiroki tells Nathan
"W...Where did you find it? How did you get it?" Nathan asks Hiroki
"I know a lot of your father's stuff was taken and sold so it could those debts and funeral expenses, Grace included but after getting a word from a friend about it, I found the bike and bought it for you" Hiroki tells Nathan
Nathan doesn't say anything else, he walks over to the bike and runs his hand along the seat and the front before sitting down on it and grabbing the handles. Memories of his father working on the bike and him taking Nathan on rides flash through Nathan's mind.
"I know you aren't technically legal to ride it yet but if you won't tell anyone then I won't" Hiroki says to Nathan as he hands him the keys
"You have no idea what this means to me dad, I...I haven't seen this bike in a long time, I thought it was lost forever" Nathan tells Hiroki
"I think I do son, now, I have one other gift but you can't have it till you are 16" Hiroki tells Narhan
Nathan looks up from the bike and sees Hiroki holding up another set of keys, this time a set of car keys
"I don't have a license yet" Nathan says
'"I know, that's why you'll have to wait till your 16" Hiroki tells Nathan
"Can I drive Grace around now?" Nathan asks Hiroki
"Sure, I don't see why you can't, just don't get pulled over" Hiroki answers, opening the garage door for Nathan
Nathan puts the key into Grace and turns on the engine, starting the bike
"Looks like she still works" Hiroki said looking at Nathan on the bike
"She purrs like crazy" Nathan says as he revs the engine a little
"Put this on and enjoy yourself" Hiroki tells Nathan as he tosses him a helmet
Nathan puts the helmet on and slowly wheels the bike out of the garage
"Now remember, your sister will be back in a few hours, please be home by then" Hiroki says to Nathan
"Don't worry dad, I'll be back before Keiko shows up, I know how she likes to be punctual" Nathan says
"Yeah, I think she gets it from her mother, kinda annoying but that's why we love her" Hiroki says
"You better not let her hear you say that" Nathan tells Hiroki
"You get out of here" Hiroki tells Nathan, shooing him away
"Alright, alright, I'll see you in a bit" Nathan says to Hiroki before he drives off and leaves
Hiroki watches as Nathan leaves and let's out a sigh
"He's never going to want to walk anywhere again" Hiroki says to himself
Hiroki smiles and turns around to leave the garage
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Little did Nathan know, life was going to have other plans for him today, a certain little deal was going to come back to bite him. For now, Nathan thought nothing of it but he would be in for a real surprise when he got home. Like Nathan once said before, life has a way of kicking you while you are down and it doesn't care what happens. Once Nathan would return back from his ride, he would find himself in an extremely familiar setting and position. This time though, things would be a little bit different in how it was carried out. This new tragedy would be carried out by a sinister man who believed that he was doing the lord's work, killing sinners.
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Garage, Adachi Residence: Kuoh
As Nathan pulled up to his house after his long bike ride, the sun had stared to go down and he noticed that the garage door was still open
"Huh, did dad forget to close it?" Nathan asked himself as he pulled up into the garage
Nathan turned off the bike and parked it, he looked around and didn't see anyone in the garage. Pulling out his phone and checking the time, Nathan saw that he had been gone for three hours.
"Wonder if dad is inside watching TV or something" Nathan said to himself
"Nathan, LOOK OUT!!!" A voice yelled
Before Nathan could react, Hiroki came out of nowhere and tackled him to the ground as the sound of a gun went off
"Dad, what's going on?" Nathan asked Hiroki confused
"Don't move, he's not here for you" Hiroki told Nathan as he got off of him
"He's right boy, I'm not here for you" a voice said
Nathan looked up and saw a man with white hair and red eyes walking out of the shadows with a gun in his hand
"What do you want Freed? I haven't been involved with the church or gotten in their way" Hiroki says to the man, revealing his name to be Freed
"It's not exactly you I'm after either, it's that annoying daughter of yours, Keiko" Freed tells Hiroki
"What did Keiko do?" Hiroki asks Freed
"She betrayed the order, abandoned her post and sabotaged a church facility, taking many lives" Freed answered
"Dad, what is going on?" Nathan asks Hiroki, wanting to know what was going on
"There's a lot you don't know son and it's best that you don't get involved" Hiroki tells Nathan
"Your old man is right kid, I kill sinners and besides that sister of yours, your father is a pretty big sinner himself" Freed tells Nathan
"You will leave my family alone, they've done nothing to you, my daughter isn't here, I don't know where she is now leave" Hiroki tells Freed
"That's the thing Hiroki, I got a tip she was here so I know you are lying to me and lying is a sin" Freed tells Hiroki
Before Hiroki could react, Freed shot him in the chest, knocking him down to the ground
"Dad, NO!!!" Nathan yelled as he ran to Hiroki's side
"Maybe if I kill you and the boy, she'll come out and try to avenge you" Freed said as he rubbed the barrel of his gun against his temple
"You...You won't hurt my son" Hiroki tells Freed as he struggles to get up
"You Adachi's sure are hard to kill" Freed says as he fires two more shots off at Hiroki
Both rounds hit Hiroki in the chest and knock him down to the ground once more
"That should do it" Freed said with a twisted grin on his face
"Dad, no, you can't die, I can't lose you" Nathan tells Hiroki as he lay bleeding and dying in Nathan's arms
"D...Don't worry about me son, I'm here for you, he...he won't hurt you, n...not as long as I'm still breathing" Hiroki tells Nathan weakly as he coughs up blood
"Maybe I'll kill you too" Freed says as he aims his gun at Nathan
Before Freed could fire it, Hiroki quickly threw a throwing knife at Freed, the blade pierced his hand and stopped him from shooting Nathan
"My fucking hand, that HURT!!!" Freed yelled as he ripped the throwing knife out of his hand
"Take it and run" Hiroki says as he hands Nathan the katana he had gifted to him earlier
"DIE YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!" Freed yells as he fires his remaining rounds into Hiroki's body
"DAD!!!" Nathan yelled as Hiroki's blood splattered on his face and body
"N...N...Nathan, y...you can't live in fear, y...you can't live in fear" Hiroki tells Nathan as the life slowly leaves his body
Nathan grabs Hiroki's bloody hand and holds it against his face
"Dad wake up, dad, please wake up, I can't lose you too, I can't lose you" Nathan says to Hiroki's body as tears fall from his eyes
"Looks like I'm going to have to finish you off the old fashioned way" Freed says as he forms a sword in his hands
Nathan doesn't move or say anything, he just looks down at Hiroki's lifeless body, laying in his lap. As Freed goes to finish off Nathan, something inside of Nathan snaps. He grabs the katana and unsheaths it, immediately charging at Freed and swinging it.
"DIE!!!" Nathan yells as he swings the katana
"Nice try kid but you lack any skill" Freed tells Nathan with a chuckle
To the suprise of Freed, Nathan switches his stance up and uses a sword technique that Keiko taught him. Freed goes to dodge the attack but Nathan changes the direction the katana is swinging and ends up cutting Freed across the face.
"MY FACE!!!" Freed yells as he falls backwards
Feeling his face, Freed saw blood dripping from a wound on his face where Nathan had cut him
"Damned boy and his cursed sword" Freed says, frustrated with what just happened
"I'll kill you" Nathan says as he readies the katana
"Sorry but you are still too weak and not worth my time, you got a lucky shot in but still not worth my time, I'll kill you and your sister later" Freed tells Nathan
Nathan charges forwards and tries to attack Freed Once more but Freed vanishes in a blinding white light. Seeing that Freed was gone, Nathan drops the katana and runs back over to Hiroki's side.
"Dad wake up, he's gone now, you can wake up" Nathan tells Hiroki but he doesn't respond
Nathan grabs and shakes Hiroki's body but Hiroki doesn't do anything
"Come on dad, you can't be dead, you can't" Nathan says as he continues to try and wake up Hiroki
Unfortunately, it was just too late, Hiroki's heart had stopped beating and now he was dead. There was nothing Nathan could do to save his adoptive father.
"Nathan, what happened?" A voice asks Nathan
Nathan looks up from Hiroki's body and sees Keiko standing there with a horrified look on her face
"He...He...He's dead" Nathan tells Keiko as tears fall from his eyes
Keiko sees the blood on Nathan and looks down to see her father's body on the ground. Immediately she runs over and pulls Nathan away from Hiroki's body.
"Who did this Nathan?" Keiko asks Nathan
"He did it, he did it" Nathan answers as he continues to cry
"Who's he Nathan? Who is he?" Keiko asks Nathan, wanting to know who killed Hiroki
"Freed" Nathan answers
Hearing the name Freed angers Keiko, instead of going after Freed, Keiko hugs Nathan tightly and tries to calm him down
"It's okay Nathan, I'm here" Keiko tells Nathan
"I let dad die, it's my fault" Nathan says
"You didn't do anything" Keiko tells Nathan as she continues hugging him
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After the incident, police and paramedics showed up, the paramedics checked on Nathan to see if he was alright while the police tried to get an idea of what happened. Nathan wasn't injured, he hadn't been hurt at all, he was just in shock and was going through mental trauma. When asked by the authorities what happened, Nathan simply told them that Freed did it. The police didn't know who Freed was and from the descriptions Nathan gave them, they didn't know if he was real. As to not let her adoptive brother seem crazy, Keiko told them that Freed was a name of a man she had met while working overseas.
Nathan didn't know if that was the truth or not but at least the cops weren't seeing him as a suspect. Nathan did know that the cops would search and search but they'd never find Freed. With Hiroki dead, Nathan was once again an orphan. He finally lost his second father and had no one left to be there for him, except for Keiko. Instead of leaving again, Keiko stayed behind and offered to take care of Nathan. The government allowed it and didn't send Nathan back to United States and to an orphanage there. Once the police finished their investigation and the autopsy of Hiroki was finished, Nathan and Keiko could bury him.
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Adachi- Konua Family Cemetery: Kuoh
Nathan and Keiko had taken Hiroki's remains to the family cemetery where members of Hiroki's family was buried as well as where members of Ena's were buried. They had Hiroki buried right next to their mother, Ena's grave so that the two of them could finally be together after so long apart. A large group of people showed up for the ceremony as it rained. Members of both families showed up to give their condolences to Nathan and Keiko. Nathan could hear some of them talking and saying awful things about him, blaming him for Hiroki's death.
Nathan knew the truth, he knew who was responsible for Hiroki's death regardless of what those people were saying about him. As people left the cemetery, Nathan stood there, looking down at the graves of Hiroki and Ena.
"I am sorry things had to be this way, if only I could have been stronger then you wouldn't have died" Nathan says
Nathan looks down at his thumb and remembers the deal that he had made with that strange man
"I gave him what he wanted, why did he die?" Nathan asked getting angry
As Nathan's anger grew, he heard a familiar laughing off in the distance, he looked up and saw the strange man from before. Without saying a word, Nathan ran away and chased after the strange man.
"Nathan, where are you going?" Keiko asked worried as she chased after Nathan
Nathan continued to run after the man, trying to catch up to him, running far away from Keiko
Time Skip
City Streets: Kuoh
Chasing after the strange man, Nathan drove down the streets of Kuoh on his motorcycle, the rain continuing to fall. Nathan ignored everything around him and continued to drive as his anger continued to grow even more. All of a sudden as Nathan turned a corner, a flash of the strange man appeared in front of him but the strange man looked demonic.
"CRAP!!!" Nathan yells as he suddenly loses control of his bike and falls onto the ground, his body tumbling across the street
Nathan gets up slowly and wipes the blood off of his lip as he hears a familiar laugh
"You" Nathan says as he turns and point at the strange man
"That looked like a bad crash" the strange man says with a grin on his face
"You killed him" Nathan says to the strange man with venom in his voice
"I have no idea what you are talking about" the strange man says
"You killed my father you son of a bitch" Nathan tells the strange man, clenching his fist
"I cured your adoptive father's cancer like you wanted, I didn't kill him, I may or may not have given a tip to a certain person but Hiroki's death isn't on my hands" the strange man tells Nathan
Remembering what Freed had said about being given a tip now made sense
"I'll kill YOU!!" Nathan yells as he charges at the strange man trying to throw a punch
The strange man vanishes as Nathan tries to punch him only to appear right behind
"I like that energy but you'll have to do better" the strange man says to Nathan
Nathan tries to punch the strange man but as he goes to swing, the strange man touches Nathan's chest causing a red flaming energy to appear
"Here's the thing Nathan, I held up my end of our bargain and now I've come to collect however, you are still young, I'm going to leave you with a gift, it's the same gift I left your father so I hope you appreciate it, you are going to go out and use this gift to become stronger, it's like an investment and I want to see mine grow" the strange man tells Nathan
Nathan's eyes flash red as his body twitches
"Now, I'm going to be watching you until I need you, so for now I want you to forget about friends...forget about family...forget about love, you are mine Nathan Adachi" the strange man tells Nathan before he taps Nathan on the back causing him to fall to his knees
Nathan quickly gets up and looks around to see that the strange man had vanished. Nathan was all alone now and all he could think about doing was leaving. He didn't know where he was going to go so he got back on his bike and drove off.
"You don't know where you're going but I know one place you can go"
Time Skip
Outside Adachi Residence: Kuoh
Outside of the Adachi residence, Nathan sat there on his bike as he put on the jacket of his father, Johnny. In his left hand was the katana that his adoptive father, Hiroki had give him, the same one he used to cut Freed. As the rain continued to fall, Keiko came out of the house and saw Nathan on his bike down at the end of the driveway.
"Nathan, it's raining, come back inside" Keiko says to him
Nathan doesn't say anything and turns his attention away from her
"Come on Nathan, you'll catch a cold" Keiko says as she slowly starts to walk out towards him
Nathan still doesn't say anything as he starts the bike and revs the engine
"This isn't funny Nathan, park the bike in the garage and come inside" Keiko tells Nathan in a serious tone
As Keiko got close to Nathan, Nathan reved the bike's engine once more before he drove off down the street. Seeing Nathan drive off like that without saying a word, Keiko chased after Nathan and tried to stop him
"NATHAN!!!" Keiko yelled as she chased behind him
At that point it was too late, Nathan was already long gone down the road, there was no point in Keiko chasing after him. Seeing Nathan leave like that, Keiko fell to her knees and started to cry as the rain continued to pour. She had lost her mother then her father and now she had lost her brother. Keiko was all alone now and she believed it to be all her fault.
"Why does this have to happen?" Keiko asked as she wiped away the tears from her eyes
City Streets: Kuoh
Back with Nathan, he was focused on the road ahead of him, he didn't know where he was going, all he knew was that he had to drive strait. The voice of the strange man echoed in his head. Nathan didn't look back, his mind was empty, no thoughts of his friends or family. There was just a voice telling him to drive, it was guiding him to where he needed to go, wherever that was. All of a sudden, the last words that Nathan's adoptive father had told him echoed in his mind.
"You can't live in fear, you can't live in fear"
Nathan quietly repeats those same words over and over
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From that day forward, young Nathan Adachi set out on his own, he didn't know where he was going all he knew was that he needed to drive forwards. Eventually, Nathan found himself in America and found himself transforming into a demonic looking being. That demonic looking being would come out a night and would hunt kill those it thought was evil. It would devour and burn evil souls, punishing those who's souls weren't pure. After letting this being control Nathan for over a year, he came across an old man who went by the name of Carter Slade.
Carter had taken Nathan in and looked after him, explaining to the young boy what had been happening to him. Apparently, the man he sold his soul to was a Devil who went by the name Mephisto. Mephisto had clearly tricked Nathan into selling his soul to him and in return attached a spirit to Nathan's body. That spirit was a powerful being called Zarathos, a powerful Spirit of Vengeance. Together with Zarathos, Nathan would transform into a being known as a Ghost Rider. Carter explained to Nathan that a Ghost Rider was basically the Devil's bounty hunter and collected evil souls for them amongst other things.
Not only that but Mephisto had also tricked his father, Johnny into selling him his soul. It was a similar situation and Mephisto bonded Zarathos to Johnny, making him a Ghost Rider. Of course Johnny had freed himself of Zarathos and had gotten his soul back. None of this made sense to Nathan until Carter explained that he too was a Ghost Rider and that he had trained his father as well as his uncle Daniel Ketch. Nathan couldn't believe that both his father and uncle had been Ghost Riders and didn't tell him about any of this. Apparently Hiroki and Ena knew about it as well and didn't say anything to Nathan either.
With his soul trapped with Mephisto, Carter offered to train and show Nathan the ways of the Ghost Rider. Nathan agreed and for the next few years, Carter trained Nathan and showed him all that he could do as a Ghost Rider. After Nathan felt he had learned all that he could, he set out to find Mephisto and make him pay for all that he had done. Of course Carter gave Nathan a few “gifts” he could use along the way on his mission. Nathan, a now trained Ghost Rider still couldn't fully control his Ghost Rider form but at least he knew where he was going.
A few months after Nathan turned 15, he encountered an Angel who had been sent to kill him. This Angel was named Selaphiel and she was the patron saint of prayer. For whatever reason or another, Selaphiel didn't kill Nathan and actually helped him out. She helped Nathan learn how to communicate with Zarathos as well as unlock Zarathos's true potential. Apparently, Zarathos was once an angel, a Spirit of Justice who had been tricked by Mephisto and was corrupted, transforming into a Spirit of Vengeance. With Selaphiel's help, Nathan and Zarathos could use the powers of a Spirit of Justice along with their Spirit of Vengeance powers.
It was also Selaphiel who had convinced Nathan to return home to Keiko who had been worried about him. Nathan was hesitant to do so but with his newfound freedom and partnership with Zarathos as well as Selaphiel, Nathan went back. Of course Keiko was happy to see Nathan but she wanted a complete explanation of what happened. When Nathan told her, Keiko couldn't believe what she had heard but she still believed Nathan. Seeing an angel with Nathan as well as sensing a powerful being living inside him was more then enough to convince her. Of course Keiko had a bit of explaining to do herself. But in the end, Keiko and Nathan were happily reunited, now they were living with an angel who decided to stick around.
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A/N: Hello there readers, here is the first chapter of my rewrite of, The Flaming Spirt. I hope all of you enjoyed it and are ready for what is coming in the next chapter. The Flaming Spirit was another successful story my brother started writing and is also what got him a lot of followers on here. After talking with my brother he told me that there was a lot he wished he could of done differently with this story as well as things he was proud he did with it. After rereading, I've decided to follow my brother's wishes and write his perfect vision for this story, adding new things to it, changing things he wanted while also keeping a lot the same.
I hope all of you will like this version and support it like you supported my brother's version. I plan on doing my best to make this version as great if not greater than my brother's. Now, like with the other rewrites of my brother's stories, this story will have a 7,000 word count including the A/N at the end of each chapter. There will be a new chapter for this story every Thursday so be ready for the next chapter. In the next chapter, the Ghost Rider is about to make his presence known in Kuoh, you readers aren't going to want to miss that. Now at the end of the next chapter I will be responding to comments and answering questions from this chapter. Now, let me say, thank you for reading and I hope to see you all later.