Safe now in Blaze's garage, Flagg was sitting next to Blaze's motorcycle with his head between his legs. Blaze went to his fridge and moved a few beers aside to grab a water bottle in the back. He handed it to Flagg.

"Drink. You were on fire. Literally," he said.

Flagg took it and started gulping the water down. He didn't stop until he was halfway through it. He coughed and tried to keep himself from vomiting. He handed the bottle back to Blaze. Blaze shook his head so that Flagg would hold on to it.

"John? What did I do?" Flagg asked.

"You did nothing," Blaze replied.

"That was still my body. Whatever had taken ahold of me—used me," Flagg said.

"You had no control over it, except for the 'making a deal' part."

"Oh, crap," Flagg groaned.

"Flagg, what was the deal you made?"

"I don't remember," Flagg said.

"That's not possible."

"Well it is in my case, okay?"

"Flagg," Blaze said, kneeling down so that his eyes were leveled with Flagg's. "I can't help you if you don't remember the deal you made with Zarathos, and Zarathos isn't going to tell me."

"I don't know," Flagg whined. "Even if I did remember, what would it matter? A deal's a deal, and it can't be broken. You should know that better than anybody."

Blaze nodded. "True, I do know that. But I've broken the mold before."

Flagg sighed. His shoulders shook and it sounded like he was having a difficult time breathing. Seeing his friend like this cut deep through Blaze's heart.

His thoughts were cut short when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out and frowned at the number. He didn't recognize it.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Blaze, this is Frank."

"How did you get this number?" Blaze asked.

"I'm a police detective, I have access to a lot of records."

"What is it?"

"I think those ninjas we were fighting earlier are at it again. We've got a victim here. Open sword wound in his neck."

"Alright, I'll be right there." Blaze hung up. "I gotta go."

"I'll come with you," Flagg said.

"You can barely walk. You're in shock."

"I'm fine. I don't feel safe by myself anymore."

Blaze stood up and held his hand out for Flagg to take. He wasn't going to argue with him. He understood. He understood all too well.

Flagg let Blaze lift him up. "John?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I understand you now. Every bit of you."

"I never wanted that to happen for you."

"Well, it did. I got powers, and not the awesome kind of power that people would beg for. It's not—noble."

Blaze shook his head. "No. It's not. It's a burden." He placed a gentle hand on his brother's shoulder.

"But no burden is beyond taming."

"I think I was able to tame it—for a little bit at least. I was 'awake'—for just one moment. When I reached the hospital, I took the gas cap off of the motorcycle and left it on the ground. I'm sure you know it wasn't just a gas cap. It was the motorcycle's own energy source. Without it, the Rider would lose a lot of its power. That thing in my head wasn't able to control me to put it back on."

Blaze nodded. "I was wondering where it went. Only problem is, it wasn't there anymore when I got to it. It's gone."**

*Blaze and Flagg used Flagg's car to arrive on the scene once Frank texted the address to Blaze. It was worse than Frank had described over the phone. Not only was a man being wheeled towards an ambulance, but the man's home was bathed in flames. Several firemen were using their hoses to snuff the fire out but it was a stubborn one.

"Stay in here," Blaze told Flagg. Flagg didn't argue this time.

Blaze ran up to Frank's side to get a better look at the man who had been killed by Stephen or a member of the Hand. The man had been zipped up in a bag and placed on a cart.

"Can I see it?" Blaze asked.

Frank nodded and motioned to the ambulance attendants to stop rolling the cart. They obeyed, and Frank nodded again to give Blaze permission to unzip the bag. Blaze went for it, doing it quickly to get it over with. The man's neck was indeed completely open. Blood soaked his shirt and his eyes were shut tight.

This was Stephen Lords' doing all right.

"He has too much innocent blood on his hands."

You don't have the right to talk.

"So, what are you—or the other guy—going to do?" Frank asked.

Blaze stepped back and Frank motioned to the attendants to continue wheeling the cart away. "Cut off the head of the snake. I know, really cliche thing to say, but it's true. Think back to all those investigations you had into all that ash that was left behind in those homes. There's an organization running around called the Hand, and their leader is a demon that had been banished from his own land."

"I'll believe anything at this point, Mr. Blaze. So where is this—demon?" Frank asked.

Blaze shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. He keeps moving from place to place. He never stays in the same spot for too long."

Frank groaned. "Well, we have to start somewhere."

Frank's phone started buzzing, and he grunted as he pulled it out of his pocket and answered it. "Hello?"

"Detective McGee. This is Agent Coulson. You need to tell Blaze to 'suit up'. Some person or some thing has the Medallion that powers the Rider's motorcycle. He needs to stop it."

"Got it. He's right here with me," Frank said. He hung up and his eyes shined with fear.

"I think the one you're looking for has something you need," Frank explained.

Blaze's eyes widened. The Medallion.

"So what now?" Frank asked.

Blaze shut his eyes. Using the powers given to him by the Spirit of Vengeance, he would be able to locate the Medallion in his head.

Now concentrate. Where would he take it?

Blaze stretched out mentally to search for the Medallion and all the souls contained within. Most importantly about the Medallion was that it contained one of the six Infinity Stones. Whoever was in possession of just one of them was guaranteed tremendous power. In this case, the Soul Gem had the ability to trap dozens upon dozens of souls inside of it, allowing its wielder to use them in whatever way he saw fit.

And Deathwatch doesn't deserve it.

Finally, Blaze figured out where it was. Stephen Lords had taken it into the church—the same one where Jennifer's funeral had been held. While the heavenly presence there was enough to block the abilities and speech of one evil soul, with the combined strength of the souls within the Medallion and the power of the Soul Gem, the heavenly presence could be officially blocked from having most of any strength against the enemy.

This also meant however that Blaze could face Stephen Lords inside the church and be able to call upon all of his powers as Ghost Rider. It was a poetic setting to defeat him at.

"The church. He's at the church. I know which one," Blaze finally said aloud.

"I'll go with you. At this point, this is my fight too," Frank said.

Blaze couldn't argue with that. After all of his investigations, this would make for a fitting conclusion to all of it. Plus, Blaze knew that Frank was capable of defending himself. He had seen it firsthand.

Blaze turned to look at Flagg still sitting in the car staring straight ahead.

"I think I have an idea for a third team member too," Blaze said.**

*Blaze, Flagg, and Frank all stood outside the church. Through the stained-glass windows they could see an orange-like color bleeding through. Stephen was already using the Soul Gem.

"Alright, before we go in…" Blaze turned to his friend Flagg, who was wearing his motorcycle vest. "Flagg, I need to ask something of you."

"Name it," Flagg replied, with as much confidence as he could summon. This both surprised and impressed Blaze.

"If you want to fight alongside me against Stephen, then you need to take back some of the Ghost Rider's power. It's the only way you'll have a chance to help me defeat him," Blaze said.

Flagg grimaced, and at first Blaze wondered if he was going to refuse. He wouldn't blame him if he did.

"John, are you sure?" Flagg asked.

Blaze nodded. "Yeah. Both me and Frank have powers, but you don't. You'll need some too. Just this once."

"But can you actually do that? Can you actually—transfer your own power to me just by touching me?" Flagg asked. "I feel like there's more to it."

"There is. But you already did it. You made a deal, whether you remember it or not," Blaze said.

Flagg didn't reply right away. Tears filled his eyes and he looked back at the church which at this point had been swallowed up by the orange light.

"Flagg. You need to make a decision now," Blaze said.

Flagg looked back at him with a tear slithering down his cheek. "Can you promise I won't have it after this is over?"

Blaze bit his lower lip. "I don't make promises. Just deals."

Flagg chuckled. "You may have lost your life, but you never lost your sense of humor."

Blaze chuckled in return. "There are some things a demon can never take away." With that, he placed his hand against the side of Flagg's face and transformed into the Ghost Rider so that some of the power could be transferred into Flagg. A fire enveloped his friend and his face melted away to reveal a screaming skull on fire.

Both Riders now turned to look at Frank. "I take it we're all ready now," Frank said.**

*Stephen Lords stood on the altar in the sanctuary of the church surrounded by kneeling members of the Hand with their heads bowed in respect. In both of his hands, Stephen held the Medallion, now part of a necklace, which was opened up displaying the Soul Gem. The Gem radiated a bright orange, blanketing the walls within the room in a setting sun's light.

Ghost Rider will come for me. I will kill him, and then come for Mephisto. This church will be the place where Mephisto will be ensnared in this gem and become my prisoner forever.

Predictably, the double doors into the sanctuary flew open, revealing not one but two Ghost Riders, and a police detective armed with his glock.

"Time to pay for your sins," Blaze's Ghost Rider declared, pointing a bony finger at Stephen.

Stephen grinned, cast his cloak aside, and unsheathed the sword from heaven. In one hand he still held the Medallion.

"Do you really think that you'll be able to trap me in that?" Blaze asked.

"I'm not going to trap you in this, Zarathos, I'm going to kill you. Mephisto is the one that's going to have this as his home," Stephen replied. He put the Medallion around his neck and started walking down the steps of the altar.

"You were foolish to bring this Inhuman with you. His power does not even come close to holding a candle to mine, or even your own," Stephen said.

Both Ghost Riders reached behind them and whipped out their own flaming chains with a roar.

"Shut up and beg for forgiveness," Flagg's Ghost Rider said.

"I already tried that. He won't listen," Stephen snarled.

Stephen leaped into the air, soaring higher than any normal man could while jumping, and landed with his sword downward in an attempt to split Blaze's skull. Blaze leaped back just in time and his chain's links stiffened up to form a staff. He and Stephen dueled each other down the aisle. Blaze leaped and came down to strike his foot upon Stephen's head, but ended up missing him and smashing his foot into the floor, kicking up dust and debris. Stephen attempted several stabs at him with his sword, all of which Blaze avoided by swerving his head left and right depending on the direction in which the blade was coming for him.

A member of the Hand slammed into Blaze's back, causing him to tumble forward. Either Flagg or Frank had thrown that ninja. Blaze grabbed the ninja and tossed him at Stephen. Stephen was prepared however, and he sliced straight through the ninja's midsection and came at Blaze again, this time swinging for his legs.

Blaze leaped up and his chain reformed back to normal. Once he landed, Blaze spun the chain in a rapid blur to form a deadly saw, which he ran after Stephen with. Stephen backed up, his eyes searching everywhere for a weak point. He leaped up onto one of the rows and leaped off just as the saw came bearing down on where he had just stood. Chunks of wood exploded into the air, and Blaze used his chain to bat it all at Stephen.

Stephen raised his hand and used his telekinesis to force all the wood back at Blaze. The fragments bounced harmlessly off of Blaze's body.

"I probably should have seen that one coming," Stephen admitted.

With a roar, Blaze launched himself at Stephen with his chain-whip spinning with him. One end of the chain lashed out to wrap itself around Stephen's waist. Stephen managed to catch it with his hand and hold on to it. Blaze tried pulling to yank it out of Stephen's hand, but his grip was strong. He pulled back, wrenching Blaze forward so that he could use one hand to slash his sword down Blaze's side. With a pained cry, Blaze fell to the floor and the rug beneath him boiled and burned as some of his power leaked out from the wound.

Hang in there.

Zarathos was screaming.

Don't you dare come out of me again.

Stephen towered over Blaze now with a fiendish grin. For a moment, Blaze did wonder if this was it. He tried so hard to force himself up but nothing was working. His whole body shook like a mild quake and he could feel the cold breeze of the room began to swallow him as he transitioned back to normal. Stephen raised the sword over his head, the tip of the blade tantalizingly hovering over Blaze's chest.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Then Stephen was stopped by a chain wrapping itself around his midsection. With a frustrated grunt, Stephen clutched the Medallion dangling around him, and a bright light exploded from it, vaporizing the chain that held him.

Behind him, Flagg's Ghost Rider lunged for him, and he struck Stephen across the face again and again, trying to take him off his feet so that he could finish him. They fought down the aisle out of Blaze's sight.

"Frank!" Blaze shouted. He held his hand out for the detective to take. Frank ran up to him and helped him onto his knees. Icicles of pain needled through his stomach.

"Ah! Stop, stop!" Blaze pleaded. Frank let go and the two of them turned to watch as the fight between Flagg and Stephen continued to ensue.

This can't be happening right now.

Flagg aimed to punch Stephen again, but the enemy was ready this time. He used his own hand to stop Flagg's fist, then used his other hand to cut off Flagg's hand. Flagg's Rider screamed and stumbled back, giving Stephen the opportunity he needed. He spun around and impaled Flagg through the chest and out the back.

"No!" Blaze screamed.

The fire dancing over Flagg winked out like a lightbulb. The skull's jaw was agape. With a smirk, Stephen reached over and shoved Flagg down off his feet, and marveled in his fall as he cracked his head upon hitting the floor. The Spirit of Vengeance's form blinked off, exposing Flagg's normal human form.

Frank sprang towards Stephen, firing round after round of his glock at the monster while Blaze crawled towards his brother. As Stephen lunged at Frank to slice him in half, Frank used the blinding lights from his eyes to keep Stephen back.

"Flagg. Flagg?" Blaze choked as he reached his friend's side.

Flagg coughed up blood and stared up at Blaze. "This—was the deal I made."

Blaze's heart rate escalated beyond normalcy.

"I always remembered. I just couldn't tell you," Flagg admitted. "Except your demon friend overlooked one thing. He couldn't control how I would die—and that is for you."

Blaze gripped Flagg's hand. Tears coursed down his face in a free fall. He understood why Flagg kept the truth from him. It didn't hurt any less but he understood.

Flagg's breaths started getting heavier as he tried to stay awake for just a moment longer. A weak smile broke through his face. "I'm so glad—that I actually did something good—in that form."

Blaze nodded. The tears were still coming. "You did. You did."

Flagg coughed up more blood and the life was leaving his eyes too quickly. "Now—no more pain. No more tears."

Blaze's heart leaped up behind his teeth once Flagg stopped breathing.

"You can bring him back."

Blaze shook his head. "I can't. I can't! He did what he wanted to do. He's somewhere better now." He leaned down and kissed Flagg on the forehead.

So much pain. I can't do this anymore—.

There was still Stephen to take care of. Frank was holding him back as best he could with his light, but Stephen was beginning to use the light from the Medallion to combat against it and get closer.

You have to fight this pain. Just a few seconds more.

Blaze reached for his chain which was lying beside him and got up. His form immediately transformed back into Ghost Rider and he roared. It wasn't a roar of anger like it usually was however. It was raw, deep pain.

A fire twisted itself around his chain again and he ran past Frank to take down Stephen. His chain reformed back into a staff. Stephen prepared to defend himself.

After the first strike, both weapons collided. The same happened after the second strike.

Blaze was keeping track of Stephen's moves however. He had become predictable and he was running low on energy. He was getting slower.

There. The upper stomach while he has his sword raised.

The chain stabbed up through Stephen's stomach, but not deep enough to cut bone. Stephen's eyes widened and he gasped in pain. He fell onto his knees as he dropped his sword. Blaze grabbed his head before he could crumple completely to the ground. He removed the Medallion from around Stephen's neck and stuffed it in his pocket.

"This is it. Have your vengeance. Use the penance stare. Let your enemy suffer as his victims had suffered."

In Blaze's mind, the only thing he could think of was to destroy Stephen in the worst way possible.

And yet—.

I'm so glad that I actually did something good in this form.

Flagg's words rang through Blaze's head on a loop. Whether it was some kind of heavenly intervention or Blaze's own convictions seeping in through Zarathos' influence didn't matter. The words were powerful enough to cause Blaze to stop.

Stephen looked up at Blaze with hate swimming in his eyes. His teeth bared and he looked like he was about to spit at his face.

The sight didn't phase Blaze like it used to. Not anymore.

"I forgive you," Blaze finally said.

Stephen's expression changed to one of shock. His jaw dropped and his eyes bulged.

"WHAT?" Zarathos screamed.

"I forgive you," Blaze said again. He released Stephen from his grip, allowing him to fall onto his hands.

"For everything," Blaze finished.

"NOOOOOOO!"

Blaze loosed his chain back into its normal form and wrapped it around himself. He had the Medallion now and Stephen's henchmen were all accounted for.

Maybe, just maybe, Stephen will stop. He has always wanted forgiveness. Now he has it.

Blaze turned to start walking away, and the Rider vanished to reveal his human body. "Let's go, Detective."

Frank was too shocked to move. It was as if none of his muscles were working.

"Detective," Blaze said.

Frank shook his head.

"Let's go."

Frank was about to turn to leave with Blaze, then stopped when he heard a sudden noise. Blaze heard it too. The sounds of dozens and dozens of souls crying out for Stephen himself to save them.

And they were all coming from the Medallion.

"Blaze, duck!" Frank cried. Blaze did what he was told without question and he heard a gunshot. When he turned around, Stephen was lying on the floor with his sword back in hand and a bullet hole in his head.