Chapter Summaries

Melinda, Evenson, and Rumlow discussed how their work fell short of their expectations before Melinda’s surveillance program located the fleeing mother and son. When they learned Carrigan was pursuing them on Locke’s orders, Morrigan urged them to intervene, but Evenson argued they should let Carrigan lead them to Locke.

• Melinda bombed the warehouse where Johnny Blaze had been, destroying his motorcycle and leaving him stranded on foot in daylight.
• Evenson asked Rumlow to use the mother and son’s vehicle details to search for them, while Melinda set up surveillance in the direction they had fled.
• Melinda, Evenson, and Rumlow shared stories about the difficult realities of their work, and Klayya listened without sharing their regrets.
• Melinda’s surveillance program found the mother and son and revealed that Carrigan’s convoy was following them.
• Morrigan urged the team to stop Carrigan before he could deliver the child to Locke, but Evenson suggested letting Carrigan lead them to Locke first.

Evenson ordered Melinda not to intervene in Carrigan’s ambush of Nadia, hoping to keep the Child of Demon as bait to draw out Locke. After a strange change of heart, he let Melinda jump from the aircraft, then faced Klayya’s suspicions about his motives.

• Melinda prepared to capture Carrigan and interrogate him about Locke, but Evenson argued that Carrigan was unlikely to know Locke’s whereabouts and ordered her to stand down.
• Morrigan protested that Evenson had promised to let him take the child to the Sanctum, while Klayya questioned whether Nadia would survive; Evenson insisted the child was not in immediate danger.
• Melinda suddenly stopped beating a sandbag and remarked that Evenson had softened up.
• Melinda blew open part of the aircraft’s lower cargo hold and parachuted out, and Evenson calmly let her go.
• Evenson investigated the laboratory equipment as Klayya demanded to know why he had changed his mind, then accused him of plotting something.

Melinda parachuted into Carrigan’s ambush to rescue Nadia and Danny, using her enhanced abilities to kill two of his men before taking cover under gunfire. As Carrigan’s men attacked, Evenson spotted Ghost Rider rapidly approaching, apparently with a new vehicle.

• Carrigan revealed he had been following Nadia, while his men dragged Danny from the car and beat him after he fought back.
• Nadia tried to reach for a mercenary’s weapon, but Carrigan drew his revolver to kill her before a parachute’s sound distracted them.
• Melinda landed among Carrigan’s men and sliced the old Russian in two with her hunting knife.
• Melinda struck a stone with her knife, setting it alight with green flames and burning another soldier to ash.
• Carrigan ordered his men to fire, forcing Melinda to retreat behind a car as Evenson and Klayya watched from the aircraft.
• Evenson saw a heat signature approaching and identified it as Ghost Rider, who seemed to have found a new vehicle.

Melinda prepared to ambush Carrigan’s men, but Ghost Rider’s arrival disrupted the standoff and stirred her power with a desire to consume his. Ghost Rider appeared wearing magically enhanced roller skates, which Evenson and Melinda identified as Wind Fire Wheels.

• Melinda used her sunglasses to track Carrigan’s men and prepared two explosive stones for an ambush.
• Ghost Rider arrived in a howl and explosion, causing Melinda’s power to stir with hunger for his power.
• Melinda recognized Ghost Rider and told Evenson that he was riding Wind Fire Wheels.
• Ghost Rider had found roller skates at a nightclub after his motorcycle was destroyed and chosen them over a small bicycle as his new mount.

Ghost Rider arrived to confront Carrigan’s mercenaries, but he mistook Melinda for a sinful enemy and attacked her. Melinda’s Fel-infused blade disrupted him, and Carrigan escaped with Danny after blasting both pursuers.

• Evenson learned how Ghost Rider had come to be and joked with Klayya about selling him a Vajra hula hoop.
• Carrigan ordered his men to shoot Ghost Rider, who used the Hell Chain and Wind Fire Wheels to attack them.
• Ghost Rider grabbed Melinda, but she stabbed and slashed him with her Fel-infused knife, leaving him distracted by an itching corruption.
• Melinda identified herself as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and pursued Carrigan as Ghost Rider chased her.
• Carrigan’s men fired grenade-launcher shotguns at Melinda and Ghost Rider, then Carrigan took Danny and fled.

Evenson dismissed concerns about Melinda’s unauthorized actions after the damaged plane made an emergency repair, while Johnny left the hospital and tried to approach Nadia about finding her son, Danny. Melinda beat Johnny for following Nadia, and Evenson introduced himself to Nadia before secretly taking a sample of her blood.

• Evenson told Klayya that Melinda would retaliate against Johnny for disrupting her plans, while Rumlow reported that the plane’s damaged hold had been patched but would require more frequent maintenance.
• Evenson told Rumlow to contact local police and medical personnel and postponed deciding what to do about Melinda.
• Johnny woke in the hospital, stole sedatives, and followed Nadia after sensing she was connected to the Rider.
• Nadia pointed her gun at Johnny, who told her he needed to find her son, Danny, to save himself.
• Melinda attacked Johnny for following Nadia, then identified herself as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent assigned to handle Nadia’s son.
• Evenson introduced himself to Nadia as the commander of the S.H.I.E.L.D. operation and secretly collected a sample of her blood.

Evenson investigated why S.H.I.E.L.D. could not trace Locke’s call and discovered that Locke’s spell had shielded Danny from Johnny’s senses. He reassured Nadia that Danny was alive and proposed that she and the others move to New York after the crisis.

• Nadia pressed Evenson to explain how S.H.I.E.L.D. would handle Danny, but Rumlow called with news that they had intercepted Carrigan speaking to Locke and could not trace the concealed signal.
• Rumlow sent Evenson the recording, and Evenson heard Locke cast a spell on Danny using the Devil’s true speech, which had accidentally killed the person monitoring the call.
• Evenson had Melinda wake Johnny, who confirmed that he could no longer sense Danny, and Evenson told Nadia that Locke had likely shielded the boy rather than killed him.
• Evenson invited Nadia to join S.H.I.E.L.D.’s search and explained that the agency generally left special people alone if they caused no trouble.
• Nadia promised that Danny would not cause trouble, and Evenson suggested that she and the others move to New York after the crisis.

Nadia agreed to move to New York with S.H.I.E.L.D. so they could better protect her and search for Danny, while Johnny joined them to reclaim his soul. On the aircraft, Evenson took Klayya to the lab to test a vial of blood, then realized he had misunderstood her embarrassment and lamented his missed opportunity.

• Nadia agreed to go to New York with S.H.I.E.L.D., and Evenson invited Johnny to come along after Johnny insisted that Danny's situation concerned his soul.
• Evenson assigned Rumlow to look after Nadia and ordered his men to keep away from Johnny.
• Evenson asked Klayya to join him in the lab, and she mistakenly thought he meant to make an improper advance.
• Evenson revealed that he only wanted to test a vial of blood, leaving Klayya embarrassed and upset.
• Evenson began testing the blood, realized what Klayya had misunderstood, and lamented the missed opportunity.

Evenson tested how much Fel Klayya’s blood could withstand and found it unusually resistant, making it useful for his research. After reconciling with Klayya over their relationship, he asked her to help continue the experiment.

• Evenson injected Fel into a vial of Klayya’s blood and found that it turned green only after a prolonged exposure, showing unusual resistance to Fel.
• Evenson removed the Fel from the blood and asked Klayya to test it, but she refused because she felt he had ignored her after embarrassing her.
• Klayya asked whether they were dating, and Evenson affirmed that he loved and cherished her as his lifelong partner.
• Evenson won Klayya over with an earnest declaration and an offer to get her a convention-exclusive game skin.
• Klayya agreed to help, and Evenson asked her to use Magic to remove the blood from the test tube.

Evenson discovered that Nadia’s blood could bear an unusually high amount of Magic, which explained how she had survived carrying Locke’s Child of Demon. Melinda then reported that Carrigan was meeting a Russian arms dealer to buy Javelins, prompting Evenson to order their plane higher.

• Klayya struggled to use telekinesis on Nadia’s blood, and Evenson explained that it had an exceptionally high capacity for bearing Magic.
• Evenson said Nadia’s physique had allowed her to safely carry Locke’s child and remarked that he wanted to make proper use of her abilities.
• Klayya teased Evenson about having a child with Nadia, and Evenson flirted with Klayya before Melinda interrupted them.
• Melinda told Evenson that Carrigan had been located at a quarry with arms dealer Milhark Berikoff and his men.
• Melinda revealed that Carrigan was buying Javelins, and Evenson immediately told her to make the plane climb higher.

Evenson learned that Milhark was selling Javelin missiles and heard Melinda explain how the arms dealer’s connections made the trade difficult for S.H.I.E.L.D. to stop. He ordered Melinda to prepare Rumlow and the others to rescue the child, then hinted that he had a way to create a distraction.

• Evenson recognized the Javelin missile and judged that it could not threaten his Air Bus.
• Melinda explained that Milhark, also known as Nirhark Berikoff, had risen to power in the arms trade and maintained ties with international arms magnates.
• Melinda said S.H.I.E.L.D. avoided interfering with powerful interests in the global arms trade, though it would act if they went too far.
• Evenson told Melinda to get Rumlow and the others ready to rescue the child instead of continuing to wait and watch.
• Evenson said he could heat things up first as manic laughter rose from the cabin’s bottom level.

Evenson and Melinda forced Johnny Blaze out of the plane so he would transform into the Ghost Rider and disrupt Carrigan’s deal. The Ghost Rider survived a missile strike and attacked the mercenaries, while Evenson’s team prepared to rescue the child amid the chaos.

• Evenson used Fel flames to make Johnny Blaze regain some control over the Ghost Rider and said he would teach him to control it.
• Klayya put a fitness hoop on Johnny, then Melinda kicked him out of the plane before he could stop them.
• Evenson told Melinda to take her people and rescue the child during the disturbance Johnny would cause.
• Carrigan bought four Javelin missile launchers and a dozen warheads from Milhark, then fired one at the falling Ghost Rider.
• The Ghost Rider emerged from the crater on Wind Fire Wheels, destroyed a mercenary with a flaming Vajra Ring, and drew the mercenaries’ gunfire.

Evenson led an action team toward a quarry workshop to retrieve a child while Ghost Rider tore through the mercenaries surrounding the site. As the team neared its target, Melinda resolved to claim Ghost Rider’s power, and Evenson moved to intercept Milhark after he narrowly escaped a burning machine.

• Evenson instructed Klayya to accompany the action team, open a portal to extract them, and retreat if the operation went badly; he then rode his Nightmare Steed toward the battlefield.
• Ghost Rider toyed with the mercenaries, swallowed bullets fired by one man, and melted him with molten metal before Carrigan attacked him with a Javelin missile.
• Ghost Rider retaliated by igniting the quarrying machine and turning it into a towering weapon of fire.
• Melinda watched the burning machine and decided she would obtain Ghost Rider’s power sooner or later.
• Milhark tried to fire a Javelin missile, but used Shadow Power to shove the quarrying arm away before someone grabbed him by the collar and hauled him off.

Evenson cursed Milhark and sent him home to await further orders while Ghost Rider fought the mercenaries. Melinda and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents rescued Danny from his guard, but Danny sensed Ghost Rider approaching.

• Evenson cursed Milhark Berikoff, threatened to let the curse kill him unless he obeyed, and ordered him to stay home.
• Milhark recognized Evenson as Black Scythe but denied knowing him, and Evenson let him go.
• Ghost Rider extinguished the flames on the quarry machine and headed toward the workshop where Danny was held.
• Melinda led S.H.I.E.L.D. agents into the workshop, and they killed Danny's guard before freeing him.
• Danny remained calm and told Melinda that Ghost Rider was there.

Evenson crippled Ghost Rider with Fel fire, allowing Klayya, Melinda, Danny, and Rumlow’s team to escape through a portal. Ghost Rider forced his way after them, but a figure emerged from a purple doorway behind him.

• Klayya opened a portal to the aircraft, and Rumlow led Danny and his men toward it while Melinda and Klayya stayed to hold Ghost Rider back.
• Ghost Rider attacked Melinda, but Klayya deflected his chain and realized his strikes were unusually weak.
• Evenson used Demon Fire to bombard Ghost Rider, badly damaging his lower body and nearly extinguishing his Hellfire.
• Klayya and Melinda escaped through the portal, but Ghost Rider used his Hellfire to force it open and follow them.
• Klayya prepared to fight Ghost Rider until she saw a figure step through a purple doorway behind him.

Evenson rescued Klayya, subdued Ghost Rider, and brought Danny to the Sanctum after Melinda asked for more of the Rider's power. When Evenson stepped onto the Sanctum grounds, he suddenly felt unwell.

• Evenson pulled Ghost Rider away from Klayya, corrupted him with Fel, and later drained the flames to return him to Johnny Blaze.
• Evenson checked Klayya for injuries, and she kicked his toes when he kept groping her.
• Melinda asked Evenson to give her Ghost Rider's power immediately, but he refused and said her enhancement had to happen in stages.
• Nadia asked Morrigan for the Sanctum's location so Danny could be taken there, and the plane set course while frozen Johnny Blaze dangled from its tail.
• After five hours, the group arrived at the Sanctum, where Evenson began sweating and struggling to breathe as soon as he entered its territory.

Evenson and the S.H.I.E.L.D. team entered the Sanctum, where its power made Melinda seriously ill and the monks treated them with hostility. After confronting the monk leader over the Sanctum's authority in the mortal world, Evenson eased Melinda's symptoms and hinted that he had discovered secrets about the place.

• Evenson noticed that the Sanctum's power affected him and Melinda, while Klayya felt unusually peaceful and unable to feel anger.
• Evenson supported Melinda and pretended she was airsick so the monks would not question her condition.
• Morrigan greeted the tattooed monk leader and explained that S.H.I.E.L.D. had come to help stop the devil's scheme.
• After Morrigan revealed that Evenson had dealt with Mephisto, the monks accused the team of serving the devil, and Evenson insisted that mortal law governed the Sanctum.
• The monk leader had Danny taken away, and Evenson traced symbols on Melinda's back, relieving her symptoms before saying he had discovered secrets.

Evenson discovered that the monk leader's tattoos concealed magic protecting him from the Sanctum's holy aura and suspected the leader served Mephisto. While studying a mural and hearing Klayya explain the nature of angels, Evenson realized the figure might be a Naaru.

• Evenson identified the monk leader's tattoos as concealment runes and used them to restore himself and Melinda.
• Morrigan confirmed the leader had ordered them to remove the Ghost Rider's curse from Johnny, and Evenson sent Rumlow to fetch Johnny.
• Evenson asked Morrigan about the leader's tattoos and a mural, which Morrigan identified as an angel.
• Klayya explained that angels were genderless energy beings that could reform after being scattered.
• Evenson connected the angel's description to the Holy Light and suspected the mural depicted a Naaru.

Evenson explained that the angels might be Naaru, beings of absolute light whose cycle could end in destructive darkness, and questioned why they had not intervened in Hell’s schemes. A report that monks had tried to kill Johnny Blaze after a curse-lifting ritual sent Evenson and Melinda to investigate.

• Evenson told Klayya and Melinda that angels might be Naaru, alien beings representing absolute light and order.
• Evenson warned that the Naaru could become ultimate darkness and destroy everything around them when they entered their cycle.
• Evenson questioned why God and the angels had never responded to Hell’s interference in the human world.
• An operations team member reported that monks had tried to kill Johnny Blaze after a ritual, while Rumlow’s team stood off against them.
• Melinda said Johnny Blaze was the child they were protecting and was key to finding Locke, and Evenson went to see what the monks were doing.

Evenson intervened in a standoff between Rumlow’s S.H.I.E.L.D. squad and monks who wanted to kill Danny, then withdrew after learning that Danny’s death would return Ghost Rider’s power to Mephisto. He left the monks alive for now, but planned to deal with them after the Winter Solstice.

• Rumlow shielded Danny with his armed squad and warned the monks not to approach.
• Evenson arrived with Klayya and Melinda, condemned both groups’ actions as murder, and used Group Pain to incapacitate the monks.
• The monks’ leader argued that Danny had to die because the danger would persist while the power remained inside him.
• Evenson asked whether any human or magical law covered Danny’s status, then ordered the squad to withdraw.
• Evenson learned that Danny’s death would return the powers to Mephisto and told Melinda and Klayya he would deal with the monks after the Winter Solstice.