"Let them go, Ketch!" Johnny hollered. "This is between you and me!"

"I'm sorry, Rider, but I don't really feel like it! Not after what you did to me!"

"I swear, Ketch, if you harm them in any way, I will unleash so much hellfire upon your soul that you'll wish you never even met Johnny Blaze, the real Ghost Rider!"

"Kid," Hellstrom interrupted, "let's hear 'em out. Maybe he'll tell us what going on!"

"If you really want to know," Ketch explained, "then check out the flames just outside this cemetery. Then, meet me at my place if you ever want to see these two alive."

"NO!" Johnny shouted, jumping for Ketch, but he had vanished.

"Come quick, Blaze! The man wasn't kiddin'! His whole story is sketched right in front of me!" Johnny ran towards Daimon Hellstrom, who was staring at cinders much like those in Roxanne's bed.

MY FAMILY HAD NEVER BEEN A HIGHLY RELIGIOUS BUNCH, BUT WHEN ZARATHOS CAME TO COLLECT, WE KNEW WHO HE WAS. HE CHOSE US THREE OUT OF LOTS; THERE WAS NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT US…. UNTIL THEN, THAT IS….

ZARATHOS BURNED DOWN MY HOME, AND PREPARED TO KILL US ALL – ME, MY FATHER, AND MY MOTHER – IN ONE SWEEPING BLOW! THEN HE OFFERED UP A CHOICE: A SOUL FOR TWO LIVES. MY DAD AGREED. JACK KETCH, THE GREAT COWBOY…. NOW A SLAVE FOR THE DEVIL….

BUT MY MA, SHE WAS SO UPSET BY IT THAT SHE WENT THROUGH A RITUAL TO CONTACT THE DEVIL HIMSELF. SHE WANTED A TRADE: HER SOUL FOR HIS. THE DEVIL WAS AMUSED.

THE DEVIL ISN'T ALLOWED TO TOUCH MY DADDY, NOW, BUT THAT DOESN'T PROTECT HIM FROM THE HEART CONDITIONS SLOWLY EATING AWAY AT HIS LIFE. I NEEDED MONEY – AND FAST. SO, I USED EVERY COWBOY AND MOTORCYCLING ABILITY HE HAD EVER TAUGHT ME TO TRACK DOWN THE CASH FOR HIS OPERATION. AND I NEEDED TO STAY UNDETECTED, OR ELSE, WHO WOULD ACCEPT MY DOUGH?

UNFORTUNATELY, I WAS EVENTUALLY CAUGHT, EVEN THOUGH I DID MANAGE TO ESCAPE. IT WAS GETTING HARDER AND HARDER TO SAVE MY FATHER.

AS YOU CAN SEE, IT IS NO COINCIDENCE THAT MEPHISTO CAME TO ME WHEN HE WANTED ZARATHOS' HEAD. HE KNEW I HAD A GRUDGE – SO DID MY DADDY, TECHNICALLY, BUT HE'S OLD AND FRAIL. PLUS, THE DEAL WAS OBVIOUS: IN EXCHANGE FOR MY SERVICE, I COULD SAVE MY FATHER, EXACT REVENGE, AND BE RE-UNITED WITH MY MOTHER!

NO, BLAZE, YOUR EYES DO NOT DECEIVE YOU. THE SO-CALLED "DEMON" WHICH POSSESSES ME IS, IN TRUTH, MY OWN MOTHER, LILITH KETCH! HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL TO HAVE YOUR DEMONIC PAST COME BACK TO BITE YOU? OR DO YOU NOT EVEN REMEMBER US, BEING THAT WE'RE SOOOO INSIGNIFICANT?

NOW MEET ME AT MY PLACE – HERE'S THE ADDRESS. BRING ZARATHOS.

For a while, neither Blaze nor Hellstrom had any reaction. Finally, Daimon spoke.

"So, what now?"

"Now, it's showdown time."