Circle of Four Part Three

Las Vegas has been turned into a Hell on Earth by Blackheart. Outside, Doctor Strange and Son of Satan work to try and contain the barrier, while Johnny Blaze races around a centrifuge to keep the portal open until the spell can be stopped or else Vegas will get sucked into Hell.

Meanwhile, X-23 makes her way up to Blackheart’s throne room to end his life and hopefully end the spell before is spreads across the Earth. As she goes, she wonders why her wounds won’t heal. She is followed by X-666, one of the Antithesis created by Blackheart, who explains that there are no healing factors in hell. When X-23 asks why her opposite is letting her walk to her master, X-666 explains that this is hell and she wants to watch her suffer eternal torment as X-23 and the other heroes are trapped in Vegas belong here.

Near the city limits the Ghost Rider continues to ignore Blackheart’s offers for her to rule by his side so she can hunt down his lover, Gari Oyle, in order to break the spell. The Ghost Rider questions if Blackheart is willing to sacrifice his love to achieve his goals. Fearing for Gari’s life, Blackheart orders the other members of the Antithesis to stop the Ghost Rider. The Evangelist is in the middle of tormenting Flash Thompson with his shortcomings. When he turns to leave, he warns Flash that if he follows he will die. As soon as the Evangelist is gone, Flash reaches out for the Venom symbiote which bonds with him. Free from the Evangelist’s power, Agent Venom finds the Red Hulk who was brought down low by Encephalon, who made him cry over his mother. The pair agree to join forces to help the Ghost Rider, even though they might risk death. Back inside the Devil’s Den casino, X-666 leaves X-23 to her mission. However, Blackheart is far from unprotected as his unleashes his symbiote warriors — clones of X-23 with their own symbiotes — to battle her.

Back at the city limits, Ghost Rider is about to kill Gari Oyle when she is ambushed by the members of Antithesis. They try to temp the Ghost Rider into joining them when the Red Hulk and Agent Venom arrive. The Hulk tramples X-666 then lunges at the Evangelist while Venom battles Encephalon, as the two heroes realized that the key to victory is switching opponents. This works until the Red Hulk turns to tell Ghost Rider to chase after Gari Oyle allowing the Evangelist to ram his fist through the Hulk. Agent Venom’s symbiote begins going wild and he tells Ghost Rider to leave the Antithesis to him and go after the gargoyle.

At that same moment, X-23 has slaughtered the symbiote warriors and is now face-to-face with Blackheart. The demon causes her to pause when he offers to reveal to her if clones, such as herself, have souls like everyone else. He tells her that you can only be in Hell if you have a soul before activating a trap door sending X-23 falling into a pit of fire. At the scene of the battle, Agent Venom resists the Evangelist’s power and, although he strips away the symbiote, Flash chokes him to death. Moments later, Gari Oyle sneaks up behind Thompson and snaps his neck. She then takes off to remove the amulet that is keeping their spell from spreading across the Earth.

Injured by Encephalus, Ghost Rider races to the barrier trying to ignore Blackheart’s offers. She arrives at the barrier where Doctor Strange and Son of Satan are still trying to maintain the barrier. They are shocked when Ghost Rider uses her hellfire to melt the mystical amulet before she too dies like the others. Strange can’t believe that something was capable of killing the Ghost Rider. Son of Satan explains that Hell can and now it’s here.

Recurring Characters

Agent Venom, X-23, Ghost Rider, Red Hulk, Blackheart, Gari Oyle, Antithesis (X-666, the Evangelist, Encephalon), Doctor Strange, Son of Satan