When Mike received Coulson's call and heard about the flaming skull, the words "Ghost Rider" immediately popped into his head.
After listening to Coulson's more detailed description, Mike was certain it was the Ghost Rider.
If Deadpool was the sticky plaster of Marvel, then Ghost Rider was the honey badger of Marvel. In the multi-Universe, this guy has fought with many superheroes and supervillains; it doesn't matter if he can win, he just fights first.
Ghost Rider has lost, but never cowered. The reasons for his losses weren't complicated: either his Judgment Eye and Hellfire were countered, or it was a plot-driven defeat. Few truly strong individuals could suppress Ghost Rider with pure strength. These strong individuals were all major figures in the Universe.
For example, Thanos, his soul is too powerful, and the Judgment Eye simply cannot affect him.
Additionally, even before Marvel movies became popular, Ghost Rider already had a large number of loyal fans.
"I know," Mike said.
"You know, and that's it?" Coulson said, "Can you give me some advice?"
"Alright, I suggest you run as far away as possible."
"Uh, is this guy that terrifying?" Coulson was skeptical. "What's his background? Gene mutation, or supernatural power?"
"It's a long story."
It wasn't that Mike didn't want to show off his knowledge, but the origin of Ghost Rider involved a wide range of elements—Zarathos, the power medallion, the Spirits of Vengeance, Noble Kale, Zadkiel, Heaven, and God. If he went into detail, it would take a whole day.
"I'm not in a hurry, you can take your time."
"Explaining doesn't take time, you know I charge by the second, right?" Mike said impolitely, "If you've carefully looked at the relevant deceased people involved with Ghost Rider, you'll find they're all scumbags who deserved to die."
Coulson said, "That's not right, I've seen the files. I remember there was a priest and a Professor among them. They were keen on helping the poor and weak, were kind to people, and had quite a reputation and prestige locally."
Mike scoffed, "They just disguised themselves well, you haven't seen it before? I'd bet my head they were probably serial killers, pedophiles, rapists, or other scum, beasts in human skin."
On such matters, Mike had no need to lie. Moreover, Coulson was more willing to believe Mike than information written on paper by strangers.
"Alright. I believe you." Coulson persisted, "So, can you make a long story short? I'll owe you a favor."
"Alright," Mike said helplessly, "Simply put, Mephisto lets evil spirits possess humans, and then that human transforms into Ghost Rider at night, using the Judgment Eye to judge sinners."
"Concise and clear," Coulson said, "But I still have a few small questions. Is the Mephisto you mentioned someone's codename, or the devil spoken of in Faust?"
"You guess."
"Uh..." Coulson had an ominous feeling.
"I am the spirit that eternally denies! For everything that arises, it must naturally perish, so it would be better if nothing ever came into being. You call this destruction, sin, or simply evil—that is my inherent attribute." Mike recited Mephisto's self-introduction from "Faust." "'Faust' certainly has elements of artistic embellishment. But yes, Mephisto is that devil."
Coulson chuckled dryly, "How could it be a devil, this..."
Mike sneered, "You talk about God all the time, and then you don't dare to believe that devils really exist? You've dealt with so many supernatural events, souls, magic, curses, and such, you must have encountered quite a few, right?"
Coulson said, "But ultimately, those things are just things that humans cannot yet understand. With the development of technology, there will certainly be a reasonable explanation."
Mike said, "magic is science that humans don't understand. Hmm... then devils are powerful life forms from different dimensions—that should be easy to understand, right?"
Coulson nodded, "Indeed, as you said, Ghost Rider is for hunting sinners. How does it feel like devils are humanity's good friends?"
"How could that be? Mephisto is a devil who draws energy from human souls as sustenance," Mike said. "So don't think too optimistically. Devils may vary in strength, but they are always insidious and cunning. Alright, I've said enough, I have things to do, bye-bye."
He hung up the phone.
Mike smiled; he had a premonition that a new commission was coming soon.
On the other side, Coulson was processing Mike's words.
The amount of information was a bit overwhelming.
And there was a risk of his worldview being completely shattered and rebuilt.
Taking a few deep breaths, Coulson dialed Fury's number. He reported everything he had seen and heard, as well as what Mike had said, to Fury, without adding his own opinions or conjectures.
As the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury knew more than Coulson. After a moment of silence, Fury said, "Submit an informal report to me alone, then temporarily suspend the mission and await further instructions."
"Yes," Coulson had no objection.
Since he had nothing else to do, Coulson pulled up a file.
Anderson Shawn, a Professor at a certain university. According to the file, Anderson wore glasses and was refined. According to students and colleagues, he was kind to people, diligent in his work, patient with students, and loyal in love—simply a role model.
Coulson dragged several S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence analysts out of bed to pull an all-nighter with him.
A few hours later, the evil began to show its first signs—a murder inevitably occurred the day after Anderson attended an academic conference.
Although there had never been a clue linking the murders to Anderson, Coulson had a hunch that Anderson was definitely involved.
As for the priest among the victims, investigating him was much simpler. There was a police report, but it had been suppressed. The victim was a young girl.
After the report, the girl's family account received an additional million U.S. dollars, and the priest was immediately transferred to a monastery. The monastery was full of "flawed" priests, equivalent to a private church prison. The priest stayed in the monastery for five years, and after being "purified," he continued his missionary work.
Coulson attached the investigation results to the report and sent them to Fury.
The next day.
"Are you sure you're not writing a novel?" Stark looked at Fury.
"You ask him," Fury pointed at Mike, who was hunched over a table playing on his phone.
"Although it's a bit different from the descriptions in the Bible, Heaven truly exists, and so does Hell," Mike said without lifting his eyelids. "Stark, you're done for. Pride, lust, any of those sins are enough to send you to Hell."
Stark: "Heh heh, if anyone's going to Hell first, it's you. Pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, lust—the seven deadly sins are having a meeting on you, alright."
After thinking for a moment, Mike said, "Forget the others, but what am I envious of?"
"Haha!" Stark burst into laughter, "Envious that I'm more handsome than you!"
"Get lost!"