Venom (vol. 2) #13.4
Circle of Four Part Five
Doctor Strange and Son of Satan are taxing their mystical powers in order to keep the spell to create Hell on Earth contained to Las Vegas after the fall of the Ghost Rider.[1] When the flaming Spirit of Vengance emerges from Alajandra Jones’ body and streaks toward Doctor Strange. The sorcerer wards off the spirit, telling it to return from where it came. The spirit takes off and Strange hopes that it chooses Johnny Blaze as a host again.
Not far away, on the Vegas side of the spell, Gari Oyle — Blackheart’s lover — spots the Spirit of Vengance and chases after it when she sees that it is going to the centrifuge that is the epicenter of the spell. There, Johnny Blaze continues to race around it in order to prevent Las Vegas from being sucked into Hell. He is beginning to falter because of the magics and demons that follow after him. He spots the Spirit of Vengeance heading his way and looks forward to receive it. Unfortunately, Gari Oyle sucks the spirit up in one of her demonic fish and carries it back to the Devil’s Den casino where Blackheart is waiting. Blackheart is observing how Strange and the Son of Satan are keeping his spell in check. However, the capture of the Spirit of Vengeance has convinced Blackheart that victory is at hand.
At that same moment, a dragon emerges from the river of tortured souls that used to be the Vegas Strip and lets out Alejandra Jones, X-23, the Red Hulk, and Agent Venom who have all entered into a pact with Mephisto to stop his son from creating Hell on Earth. Although they are determined to put an end to all of this, Alejandra can sense that Blackheart has captured the Spirit of Vengeance. They are then attacked by demons with crow heads.[2] The group all agree to work together as a team now that they have been given a second chance at life. As they navigate the hellish landscape they all agree that the key to victor is freeing the Spirit of Vengeance and allowing it to bond to Johnny Blaze since he has the experience to stop something like this.
Outside the barrier, Doctor Strange and Son of Satan continue to hold back the spell. Blackheart tries to tempt Daimon Hellstrom into allowing the spell to spread across the Earth by trying to appeal to the fact that they are both the sons of Hell.[3] Despite Strange’s protests, Daimon lowers his trident allowing the spell to spread. Blackheart then appears before them and contains both mystics.
At the same time, X-23 arrives at the centrifuge and slays demons guarding the place on her way to blow the place up and rescue Johnny Blaze. However, when she sees the ruined body of Blaze still racing around the centrifuge and is horrified by the ghoulish sight as Johnny pleads to her for help. While back at the Devil’s Den, Blackheart is preparing to bond himself to the Spirit of Vengeance when the Red Hulk suddenly comes crashing in through the window. Although he has the element of surprise, the Red Hulk is impaled on Blackheart’s spines. That’s when Agent Venom — allowing the symbiote to go all out — comes crashing in to lend the Hulk a hand.
In the confusion, Alejandra Jones rushes into the room and steals the vial containing the Spirit of Vengeance. However she refuses to hand it over to Venom, prompting him to snatch it from her with his webbing. Blackheart then tosses the Red Hulk into Venom, sending both flying out of the building. Blackheart then once again offers Alejandra a place by his side as his own Ghost Rider and she agrees. She then tells him how the others are planning on destroying the centrifuge. Blackheart then betrays her by pushing her out of the office window. However, this betrayal was merely a distraction as Alejandra was just buying time for the Red Hulk to bond with both the Venom symbiote as well as the Spirit of Vengeace. The gambit pays off and Jones lands on the handle bar of the Red Hulk’s massive motorcycle which is racing towards Blackheart and his minions.
Recurring Characters
Agent Venom, Red Hulk, Ghost Rider, X-23, Blackheart, Gari Oyle, Doctor Strange, Son of Satan, Johnny Blaze, Mephisto, (corpses) Encephalon, Evangelist
Continuity Notes
Strange wishes that Jericho Drumm was still Sorcerer Supreme and was alive to deal with this. Drumm, aka Brother Voodoo, had a brief stint as Sorcerer Supreme after Stephen Strange was stripped of the role in New Avengers #53 until his death in New Avengers (vol. 2) #6.
The crow demons mock the heroes for very specific faults. The ones that are mentioned are:
That Flash Thompson’s parents didn’t want him. This is a reference to Flash’s abusive upbringing that was first detailed in Spectacular Spider-Man #-1.
X-23 is referred to as a “carbon copy”. She was created in a lab using Wolverine’s DNA. See X-23 #1-6.
There is a reference to a character having unborn children. I suspect this is citing that Alejandra Jones has had abortions in the past. This is entirely possible since, as explained in Ghost Rider (vol. 7) #5, Alejandra was a victim of human trafficking so the possibility that she had terminated unwanted pregnancies is a definite possibility.
While Blackheart and Son of Satan are both sons of Hell, they are the offspring of two different Hell-Lords. Blackheart is the son of Mephisto while Daimon Hellstrom is the son of Marduk Kurios. See Daredevil #270 and Ghost Rider (vol. 2) #1.
