Biography - Page 8
Death was not the end for the Moon's Knight of Vengeance, however. Marc experienced visions in the afterlife, metaphorical encounters with Khonshu as well as Bushman, the Werewolf, Morpheus, Black Spectre, and Stained Glass Scarlet among others. Meanwhile, Marlene and Frenchie were drawn to visit the mothballed Spector Mansion and the statue of Khonshu. In their presence, the statue exploded, revealing Marc Spector alive again. Moments later, they turned to 
find the statue restored as if nothing had happened. A hazy and confused Marc reunited with his friends, and felt compelled to return to old habits while looking into the true circumstances of his death and resurrection. He would remain dead as "Marc Spector" while reviving his Jake Lockley and Steven Grant personas, dissolving what remained of Spectorcorp into Grant Holdings to reactivate his cover identity. Uncertain whether he had ever been dead, Moon Knight was intent on unraveling the clues of this mystery. [Moon Knight (3rd series) #1]
Moon Knight continued to dream of Khonshu when he slept, and his dreams told him that Black Spectre was now a pawn of Seth, the Egyptian God of Death. He was also visited by the spirit of Professor Simon Darkover, who had unearthed a dark statue of Set similar to Marc's statue of Khonshu, only for Darkover to mysteriously die days later. Marc sought out Stained Glass Scarlet and discovered she was hunting Black Spectre, who was back in action and again trying to gain control of the city. As Lockley, he reconnected with Gena and Crawley, and got a tip on where to investigate. He found Black Spectre and his Ghosts trying to "influence" a city councilman and fought his opposite number with the help of Scarlet. Marlene confirmed that Morpheus had also escaped his asylum, despite his doctors believing otherwise. Marc had trouble connecting the dots, and could not assure himself whether his dreams of Khonshu were real, or some form of manipulation by Morpheus. [Moon Knight (3rd series) #2-3]
In his dreams of Khonshu, Marc learned that Seth desired wars and death, and threatened peace itself. Reasoning from there, Moon Knight decided the threat would emerge at the United Nations peace conference his NYPD contact Detective Flint told him about. Moon Knight got one of the councilmen being intimidated by Black Spectre to turn evidence on him over to Flint. Gena's kids, Ricky and Ray, tracked Black Spectre to the airport. Moon Knight and Stained Glass Scarlet defeated Spectre and his Ghosts, but Black Spectre told Moon Knight that Bushman and Morpheus were arriving by private jet. Moon Knight beat Bushman, then pursued Morpheus' private helicopter with Jean-Paul in the Moon-Copter. Morpheus intended to plant the statue of 
Set at the peace conference to evoke hatred and war in all the representatives present. When Marc boarded the copter and confronted Morpheus -- whether through Morpheus's dream power or its own dark magic -- the statue of Set seemed to come alive and attack Marc directly. The statue was cast out of the chopper and Moon Knight sent Morpheus down with his ride, ending the threat. Marc Spector was still left with doubts about how or why he was resurrected, or if Khonshu was truly real, but he was rededicated to the role of Moon Knight. [Moon Knight (3rd series) #4]
Moon Knight's decision to keep "Marc Spector" dead seemed prophetic after he answered one of his old dead-drops for a message and was nearly shot by an assassin who killed himself rather than answer questions. Marc determined someone from his CIA days wanted him dead. Crawley helped him uncover a Company operation to experiment on homeless people, while his old lover Candace Calder confirmed the old MK-Ultra research had developed R.H.I.C.E.D.O.M. -- Radio-Hypnotic Intracerebral Control and Electronic Dissolution Of Memory, an implant allowing remote mind control using extra low-frequency radio waves as a trigger. The Red Dragon (somewhere between a black ops project and secret society) was mercilessly testing this technology while eliminating anyone from the old days who might know too much.
Marc infiltrated the homeless experiments in Crawley's place, but was captured and, unbeknownst to him at the time, fitted with an implant. Through this implant they tracked him to Grant Mansion and chipped Marlene as well. While Marc proved resistant to the control aspect of the chip, Marlene did not and attacked him. Their investigations uncovered Germain Royce, leader of the Red Dragon who claimed to be its immortal founder from the 40's and conduit for power given to 
him by aliens and extra-dimensionals. The implants, illusions and deceptions made it impossible to determine what was real and what was not, but in the end Royce died in the middle of one of his ceremonies. Marc, Marlene and Candace had their implants surgically removed, but they were still left with more questions than answers when everything was over. [Moon Knight (4th series) #1-4]
Moon Knight was recruited by Brother Voodoo to help revive a comatose Black Panther because of the spiritual connection between Khonshu and Wakanda's Panther God, formerly the Egyptian goddess Bast. Marc was uncomfortable renewing his relationship with Khonshu, but did so for the sake of T'Challa. [Black Panther (3rd series) #20-22] Marc next tried to build relations in the super-hero community again. He heard Daredevil was putting together a team of street-level vigilantes, and offered his services. Marc Spector was willing to bankroll the group with a headquarters at Spector Tower, vehicles and other funding. Daredevil had never been good with crowds, but he was willing to work with Moon Knight, who joined him alongside Black Widow, Dagger and Shang-Chi. [Marvel Knights (1st series) #4-6]
Unfortunately, Daredevil and Moon Knight's styles continued to clash. Moon Knight thought nothing about reaching out to Luke Cage and Hiring a Hero for some extra muscle. Daredevil took offense to not being consulted and about using a mercenary. Cage proved useful during a big gang summit out in New Jersey, though, and Daredevil let the matter drop. Spector Tower was then attacked by Zaran and the Dacoit, agents of Fu Manchu who sought to kill Shang-Chi for his 
father. Moon Knight took several blades to the chest while fighting Zaran, and the team barely escaped the destruction of Spector Tower caused by Fu Manchu's demolition team. At the hospital later with Marlene, Spector acknowledged his injuries and financial losses were too much to deal with at the moment. He withdrew from this team of "knights," which ultimately dissolved entirely after the night's events. [Marvel Knights (1st series) #10-14]
Although he continued on as Moon Knight after this, Marc's heart and faith were no longer in the role. His distance from Khonshu weakened his resolve in his mission and unwittingly made him a target. A new Committee had been formed by the sons of the original body who hired Marc as Moon Knight. They sought revenge on Moon Knight for the deaths of their fathers, and wanted to force him into serving them as their predecessors had failed to do. They employed a mutant known as the Profile with an intuitive ability to understand behavioral programming. This allowed him to analyze the influences on someone's behavior and predict outwards how they would react to specific stimuli. The active influence of an otherworldly force like Khonshu placed Moon Knight beyond the comprehension of his powers but, with Khonshu essentially out of the picture, Marc Spector was "profile-able" again.
Under the guidance of Profile for factors such as time, place and conditions, the Committee hired Bushman to make an attempt on Spector's life. As predicted, Moon Knight was off his game 
enough that the encounter proved traumatic. Bushman got the upper hand on Moon Knight while they fought on a rooftop, and the two men plummeted over the side. Marc hit his legs on a fire escape as he fell, leaving him nearly crippled by the impact. Despite their injuries, the two old rivals continued beating on one another. Marc pummeled Bushman to an insane degree and, in an unhinged moment of inspiration, used a crescent dart to carve off Raoul Bushman's face, like it were a mask of skin. He raised the skinned face to the moon, as if Khonshu would respond.
This final act of defiance did nothing to bolster Marc's spirits, however. Although he was saved and treated by Jean-Paul and Marlene, Spector was now a broken man. Trapped in a wheelchair because of his injuries, Marc lacked the determination to continue with his physical therapy. He began abusing painkillers and wallowing in his losses rather than trying to get better. He drove away Jean-Paul and, in time, Marlene as well with his self-pity and misdirected anger. He abandoned Spector Mansion on Long Island to a smaller townhouse in Manhattan, with only Samuels tending to his daily needs. SpectorCorp nearly dissolved due to his lack of care and attention, leaving only a few holdings. And, for two years, Marc Spector wallowed in his own losses, forsaken by his friends and his God. He sat in an empty room, drowning himself in drugs and alcohol, at the foot of the statue of Khonshu, begging to be noticed by his deity once more.
Crawley had been helping Marc acquire the pharmaceuticals he was using still for "pain management." On one visit, Crawley informed Marc that Jean-Paul had been asking about him, and so Marc had Samuels arrange for him to visit Jean-Paul's new restaurant. As the two old friends awkwardly tried to catch up, Jean-Paul introduced Marc to his partner, Rob. It took a few tries for Marc to realize he didn't just mean business partner. Jean-Paul came out to Marc, explaining that not only was he gay, but he had been in love with Marc for many years. It was this devotion that led him to spend so much of his mercenary days as Moon Knight's pilot, not merely the bonds of friendship and brotherhood. Marc learned that he was, essentially, the last to know, including Marlene, and struggled with the revelation. When he realized Jean-Paul had not asked to see him at all (it was a set up by Crawley), Marc fled the restaurant.
The Committee and Profile had been awaiting the precise moment to provoke Marc Spector out of his stupor and claim him as an operative. Profile's carefully choreographed time table was thrown off, however, when a junior member of the Committee jumped the gun and ordered an attack on Jean-Paul. The timing and subtext was not in alignment with Profile's constructed plan and so, instead of driving Marc Spector into their arms, it reawakened his need for vengeance. Marc stood on his own without crutches or wheelchair for the first time since his injury. He tracked down Jean-Paul's attacker and brutally beat the man, reviving his own will to live at the same time.
As Marc brought the weapon he used to beat the mugger to the statue (the altar) of Khonshu, this time his God answered. Khonshu appeared to Marc in the form of Raoul Bushman, still missing the skin of his face from their last encounter. Despite this bizarre incarnation, Marc soon came to 
believe this truly was his god and not his madness speaking to him. Khonshu offered to raise Marc up again, restore him with the gifts and glories he had received in the past as warrior priest of the God. He need only stand up and begin taking vengeance in his lord's name again. As if in response to Marc's prayers, Khonshu faded away moments before Marlene showed up at the townhouse.
With the plan off Profile's script, the Committee activated "Contingency: T" and sent Taskmaster to kill Marc before he could uncover their role in Jean-Paul's beating. Taskmaster interrupted Marc and Marlene's reunion, but was driven away by them and Samuels before he could kill Spector. The Committee had threatened to kill Spector and everyone he cared about, so Marlene and Samuels got him to Long Island and patched Marc up. He reassumed the vestments of a warrior priest of Khonshu, avatar of the moon's vengeance, and became Moon Knight once more. He fired up the Moon-Copter and crashed it straight into the high-rise offices of the Committee. Moon Knight beat Taskmaster into submission and delivered his message that Marc Spector and his people were off-limits to what remained of the Committee. He made a point of personally visiting the Profile, inviting the terrified intuitive profiler to tell him what he sees in Moon Knight now.
And, with that, things turned around for Marc. He cleaned himself up and reacquainted himself with Marlene and Jean-Paul. He discovered that one of SpectorCorp's few remaining investments had suddenly and miraculously developed a new DNA sequencing process, making him very wealthy once more. As he spoke to Crawley, however, Marc discovered that Crawley had no memory of sending him to speak to Jean-Paul. That conversation was nothing but blank time in Crawley's mind. Khonshu arrived after that and took credit for all the events that set into motion Marc's return to action. The God of the Moon prompted both Crawley and the Committee's actions in an effort to reclaim his priest. All that had happened, Marc's fall and his current rise, was directly tied to his show of devotion to his God. And if he didn't continue to take vengeance, if he didn't spread worship and recognition of the name of his lord, then Moon Knight could fall again. [Moon Knight (5th series) #1-6]
[Note: It's worth noting, for the record, that Marc Spector is VERY crazy. While Khonshu is real and has genuinely interacted with Marc in the past, this "Bushman" incarnation of Khonshu may or may not have been the actual God. He may simply have been an aspect of Marc's own delusions, speaking to him as he believed Khonshu would.]