GHOST RIDER VI: Page 4 of 4

BIOGRAPHY - Page 4

Robbie continued working with the Avengers when the War of the Ten Realms finally found its way to Midgard. Malekith the Accursed and his Dark Council of Worlds lay siege to Manhattan, prompting the Avengers to make a stand. Doctor Strange teleported the majority of New York's population to Avengers Mountain at the North Pole, removing them from harm's way. From there, Lady Freyja assembled a strikeforce composed of Ghost Rider, Hulk, Punisher and Blade to help her seize control of the Black Bifrost being used by Malekith to move his armies between worlds. While Freyja held the Bridge and its control sword, Bitterblade, Ghost Rider and the others moved among the realms to gather an army of light for the final conflict with the Dark elves and their allies. [War of the Realms crossover]

One day, the Hell Charger flew out of Robbie's control while driving Gabe to school. Gabe was supernaturally oblivious to what happened, but the car spoke to Robbie for the first time in months, and not in Eli's voice, threatening him and his brother. This was the final straw for Robbie, and he wanted the Spirit of Vengeance out of his life. He tried destroying the car and abandoning it in the California desert, only to find the fully restored car back at his house when he returned. Through Blade and the Avengers, he requisitioned the aid of Daimon Hellstrom, a demonic exorcist to help him separate from the Charger. Instead, Daimon's ritual returned Robbie to Hell, putting him face-to-face with Johnny Blaze once again. [Avengers (7th series) #22]

Down in the underworld, Blaze pressured Robbie into the Challenge of the Ghost Riders, a race for the throne of Hell. Johnny needed to claim the extra power of Robbie's Spirit to make his control over Hell unassailable. Robbie didn't want the power anyway, so he gladly tried to forfeit the race altogether. Blaze called him the worst Ghost Rider in history, but he needed the race to be legit in order to claim his prize. Instead, Johnny got Robbie blood boiling by threatening to go after Gabe if he didn't race for all he was worth. But just because he wanted Robbie to race, didn't mean he wanted Robbie to win. After a few dirty tricks from his demon servants, Blaze had Robbie's car too damaged to continue racing. [Avengers (7th series) #23]

Robbie was given aid from an unlikely source: all the previous Spirits of Vengeance had also ended up in Hell from their own misdeeds, and they helped fix up his car and get him back in the race. Blaze's next cheat combined two of Robbie's greatest threats: the spirit of his uncle Eli Morrow possessing the body of Callus the Void, one of the Final Host of Celestials who fell during the rise of the Horde. Eli then pulled the dirtiest trick of all and brought forth Robbie's parents, revealing to Robbie for the first time that they were both dead and in Hell. The shock distracted Robbie long enough for Callus to strike his Hell Charger with enough force to total it, taking Robbie out of the race for good. Eli and Johnny laughed at Robbie once again for being a failure of a Ghost Rider. [Avengers (7th series) #24]

Robbie's teammates, however, hadn't been idle since he vanished from Avengers Mountain. The Avengers fought their way into Hell with a ship of their own: An Asgardian flying vessel, tricked out with Stark rockets, Wakandan Vibranium engine, the world's greatest pilot at the helm, and a Hulk providing gamma-charged nitro. Charged with the hellfire of a Spirit of Vengeance, even Johnny Blaze couldn't beat Robbie Reyes and his new ride to the throne of Hell. Robbie proudly claimed that he WAS the worst Ghost Rider in history: by not going it alone, by relying on his friends and by being true to the legacy of an Avenger, not a Spirit. He abdicated any claim on the throne of Hell, leaving Johnny to rule without the power to enforce it. Robbie was now free of any residual influence Eli Morrow had over the Ghost Rider. Although he didn't have the opportunity to learn more about how his parents died, he nevertheless got their blessing for how he had raised Gabriel in their absence. [Avengers (7th series) #25]

Ghost Rider remained an active member of the Avengers, becoming more confident in his abilities. He brought his Hell-Charger for a mission in space to the Shi’ar Prison-Galaxy of Ravenstarr, where the next Starbrand of Earth was being born to a woman far, far from home. Robbie’s ability to infuse any vehicle with the power of the Spirit of Vengeance served him well when he briefly wrestled control of the Silver Surfer’s board from the former Herald. [Avengers (7th series) #27-30] When the Avengers got caught in a war between the Cotati and the Kree-Skrull alliance, Ghost Rider charged the Quinjet with hellfire, fueling cannons designed to shatter asteroids with the power of the Penance Stare. [Empyre event] However, even without his powers, Robbie Reyes was Avenger material. Moon Knight began to gather the primordial powers for his god Khonshu, using the Iron Fist and the power of the Sorcerer Supreme to rip the Spirit of Vengeance from Robbie’s body. Despite this, Robbie rode into battle alongside his fellow Avengers in a commandeered ambulance, reclaiming the power of the Ghost Rider from the thief Khonshu. [Avengers (7th series) #33-37]

As with several Avengers before him, Robbie Reyes learned to move past being a rookie when new members arrived. The Phoenix Force, another one of the primordial powers, held a tournament on Earth to decide its new host. The Cuban/Seminole martial artist Echo was its unlikely but final choice. As Captain America and the Black Panther argued whether the Phoenix was too dangerous or too necessary, Robbie brought Maya a cheeseburger. Out of all the Avengers, he wasn’t scared of her. The Ghost Rider was experienced with having an unquenchable fire inside him. Whether his powers came from God or the Devil, he knew he had already contributed to saving the entire world at least six times as the Ghost Rider. Power was power, and what you did with it was up to you. Ghost Rider’s pep talk helped Echo focus on what mattered and grow more comfortable with her new status. [Avengers (7th series) #40-45]

Despite his growing confidence, Robbie began to have disturbing dreams which affected his performance. Other Ghost Riders appeared in his visions, always dying against some unknown threat. Feeling his own mortality, Robbie asked the other Avengers to promise they would look after Gabe if anything happened to him. In fact, Robbie Reyes was the fated “All-Rider,” an Omni-Avenger and multiversal Spirit of Vengeance who detected the need for vengeance across multiple realities. His dreams were the result of the Multiversal Masters of Evil targeting the primordial powers in their early stages, dominating Earths before they could defend themselves. The Deathlok army of Avengers Tower at Infinity’s End came to Earth-616 on behalf of Avenger Prime to warn the local heroes of this threat. Ghost Rider encountered one of these Deathloks and it triggered his multiversal drive for vengeance, transporting them both across the veil of realities with his Hell-Charger. On Earth-818, Ghost Rider and Deathlok found a world which was meant to be an oceanic paradise, reduced to a dry and arid wasteland by the Masters and their time-traveling devastation. The All-Rider began to consume Robbie’s thoughts as he awakened to planetary-scale needs for vengeance. [Avengers (7th series) #50]

They were captured by the War Machines of the Wastelord Black Skull, a Multiversal Master of Evil version of the Red Skull with a Venom symbiote. The Skull spent days torturing Ghost Rider, physically and psychologically. Sawing off Ghost Rider’s leg didn’t break him, but it forced Robbie to remain the Rider, which further weakened his connection to his humanity. Once he learned Robbie’s real name, the Skull scoured the multiverse for Roberto Reyes and brought as many versions as he could to Earth-818. Tortured into savagery, the Robbies were turned against each other with the promise that only one Roberto Reyes would be allowed to survive. Ghost Rider finally broke as he watched versions of himself murdering each other all around him. [Avengers Forever (2nd series) #1-2]

Miraculously, this version of Earth still had something resembling Avengers. Tony Stark was an outlaw technologist and archeologist who used his “Stark Particles” and robot ant Shelly to become the shrinking Ant-Man. He found Deathlok and the All-Rider in their cell, but the Spirit was in charge after Robbie broke, and it would not leave until satisfying its vengeance. The scope of the All-Rider’s power made everything a vehicle, and he could drive anything. He assumed power over the symbiote with his will alone, shaping it to turn against the Black Skull. When the Wastelord Skulls of other Earths arrived to claim their fallen brother’s territory, the All-Rider commanded their symbiotes as well, sending them back through their reality portals. The Black Skull was left staked in the desert of the Wastelands, suffering in a state of forever penance. So says the All-Rider. Hope came to Earth-818, and hope would be brought to every other reality twisted by the Masters of Evil, one world at a time if necessary. [Avengers Forever (2nd series) #3-4]

The All-Rider, Deathlok and Ant-Man moved through the multiverse, collecting heroes to represent the pillars of the Omni-Avengers, the building blocks of every Avengers roster. They found the Star Panther, Thor God of Fists and countless derivations of Steve Rogers and Carol Danvers to swell the ranks of their Howling Commandos and Carol Corps. Even the tiny Tony Stark came into his own, swearing off alcohol and helping many of his counterparts find help and peace of mind as well. [Avengers Forever (2nd series) #5-10]

All this time, however, Roberto Reyes became lost under the quest for All-Vengeance. The deaths of Ghost Riders throughout the multiverse still called for him to avenge them. After 615 Earths fell to the Multiversal Masters of Evil, the All-Rider finally had enough. He left Deathlok and Ant-Man behind to pursue vengeance on the Doom Above All and his associates personally. His first strike brought down the latest Black Skull, King Killmonger, and the Dark Phoenix. When the Ghost Goblin came at him with purloined Ghost Rider heads as bombs, the power of the All-Rider turned the bombs back on their murderer.

The Vengeance of Infinity then challenged Doom the Necromancer Supreme. Their power was nearly even, but Ghost Rider would prevail with the most powerful Penance Stare of all time, only it would cost him his life. Stark and Deathlok refused to let Robbie sacrifice himself, however. They arrived just in time to prevent the All-Rider from self-immolating as he released all of his power. Deathlok reminded Robbie of Gabe, and that he had reasons to live rather than die. The last Deathlok sacrificed himself to hold off the Masters of Evil while Robbie and Stark escaped back to the God Quarry. [Avengers Forever (2nd series) #11]

Robbie managed to get himself and Stark back to the God Quarry, but his Spirit of Vengeance was failing him. He could not access his powers and become the All-Rider. The battle for the God Quarry raged without him, as Mephisto’s Council of Red and the Doom armies of Doom Above All tried to claim the power of the First Firmament buried beneath the Quarry. Robbie’s army of Omni-Avengers was joined by Avenger Prime, the Avengers of 1,000,000 B.C., Robbie’s teammates of Earth-616, even the Progenitor Celestial itself inhabited by a Deathlok consciousness. All the primordial powers were represented… save two. The Starbrand baby had grown into a young woman in Robbie’s absence, and then into an old woman getting to the God Quarry. The power of the Starbrand left Brandy aging prematurely, and using her powers again would likely kill her. Robbie wouldn’t die if he unleashed the All-Rider, but he might lose “Robbie” in the process. Still, Robbie and Brandy decided that Ghost Rider and Starbrand were needed for this fight, and so they prepared to make the needed sacrifices.

Mephisto intended to bring about universal annihilation by unleashing the essence of the First Firmament. The battle at the God Quarry was deliberately engineered to weaken the walls of the Quarry itself, releasing the entropic force it contained. Infinity nullity began to breach into the cosmos, and even the power of three Phoenix Forces and a Deathlok Celestial could only delay it. One of the casualties of war had been Doom the Living Planet, and the power of the All-Rider enabled Robbie to make even an undead world his vehicle, launching the Planet of Vengeance into the breach. Unfortunately, nothing from this cosmos had the properties of the God Quarry. A sacrifice was necessary, for the breach must be closed from the other side. After reminding the Avengers to look after his brother, Robbie raced his Charger towards the breach. Starbrand tried to beat him and take the sacrifice for herself, but nothing outraces the Ghost Rider. Within a sea of infinite nothingness dissolving his ride, the All-Rider brought down the walls of a dead cosmos, saving the life of his brother Gabe and the multiverse that he inhabited.

Trapped in the remains of the First Firmament, Robbie Reyes works to repair his Hell-Charger so that, if the opportunity to escape ever comes, he can get there in a flash. [Avengers Assemble crossover]