Aida glanced around, taking in the deserted island they had arrived on. The ocean stretched endlessly around them, and the only sounds were the crashing waves and the occasional cry of a distant seagull.
She then looked down at Max, who was lying lazily on the beach, arms behind his head, looking like he didn't have a care in the world.
"Why are we on this abandoned island?" Aida asked, frowning.
Max let out a sigh. "Well, I can't exactly take you home where my sister is."
He sat up, brushing some sand off himself before continuing. "If I did, that flaming skull would just track us down and try to burn us all alive."
Aida's expression remained neutral. "So we're on the run?"
Max smirked. "For now. Until I learn the right spell from the Darkhold that'll send our flaming friend back to Hell where he belongs."
Aida crossed her arms. "Then why are you just lying there instead of studying it?"
Max chuckled. "Oh, I am working. Just not in the way you think."
He waved his hand, and a golden glow surrounded the Darkhold, which was floating inches above the sand. "I'm filtering through the right spells to make sure Ghost Rider doesn't sense when I use the Darkhold. Last thing I need is for that fiery bastard to track us the moment I touch this thing."
Aida nodded in understanding.
She then looked at herself, flexing her fingers, her body shifting subtly.
"By the way," Max said, eyeing her, "why are you still using that robotic form? I transformed you, didn't I?"
Aida glanced at him, then at her own body.
Technically, she had been given a new chance at life—but instead of a normal human body, Max's intervention had caused her form to evolve into something far more advanced.
Unlike her previous synthetic android structure, she was now composed of liquid metal, a futuristic morphing material somewhat similar to nanotech.
In a way, she had transcended being just an AI.
She was something else entirely now.
Her liquid-metal form allowed her to shift between any appearance she wanted, molding herself into different forms with ease.
However, her true goal had always been to obtain a real human body.
Aida's gaze flickered. "This body is… highly advanced. But it's still not human."
Max smirked. "Don't worry, I'll find a way to fix that too. But for now…"
He pointed at the Darkhold hovering beside him.
"First, we deal with our flaming friend."
...
"Did you find it?" Aida asked, watching Max closely.
Max opened one eye, staring at her with mild annoyance. "Love, you ask this question every 30 seconds. It's kind of hard to concentrate when you keep interrupting me."
Aida tilted her head, processing his words, then immediately shut down, falling forward onto the beach face-first.
THUD.
Max blinked. "Wow. And now she shut off her entire system. The heck is wrong with her?"
Sighing, he didn't bother messing with her, simply grabbing her by the waist and dragging her to the shade, leaving her to "reboot" on her own.
Shaking his head, he sat cross-legged on the sand, focusing back on the Darkhold.
"Alright, time to get serious."
He closed his eyes, letting his mana sync with the book, filtering through its corrupt knowledge in search of the right spell.
The island remained eerily silent, the only sound being the ocean waves crashing softly nearby.
As he focused, Max muttered to himself.
"Can't believe I'm actually being forced to hide from Ghost Rider… How the hell is he so broken?"
Fighting powerful beings was one thing, but Ghost Rider?
That guy was straight-up cheat code material.
Max sighed, rubbing his temples as he continued searching for the right spell.
One way or another, he was going to send that flaming bastard back to Hell.
Max remained focused, filtering through the Darkhold's forbidden knowledge, ignoring the whispers and corruptive temptations that tried to dig into his mind.
The book was dangerous, but so was he.
After what felt like hours, Max's golden eyes snapped open.
A smirk formed on his lips.
"Found it."
It was a spell designed to banish a hellspawn back to its origin—essentially a forced recall to Hell. Unlike an exorcism, this wouldn't just remove Ghost Rider's current body…
It would send the Spirit of Vengeance itself back where it belonged, preventing it from returning for a long time.
The problem?
It required a massive amount of energy.
And worse—it had to be done while Ghost Rider was restrained.
"Well, I found plenty of spells to restrain him, so it's not that hard for me," Max mumbled, glancing around the small island.
"But still… better to start laying traps just to be sure."
He stood up, stretching.
"Time to work."
Before Max could start preparing, Aida suddenly sat up, her systems rebooting.
She looked around, then at Max. "Did you find it?"
Max rolled his eyes. "Yes. Now shut up before I throw you back into the ocean."
Aida pouted, but nodded. "So what's the plan?"
Max stretched his arms. "Simple. We lure Ghost Rider here, trap him, and then I send him straight back to Hell."
Aida tilted her head. "And if it fails?"
Max grinned. "Then we run like hell."
With a flick of his wrist, Max activated the Darkhold's energy, sending out a massive pulse of dark magic.
The moment the energy spread—
A fiery portal burst open in the sky.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!
The Spirit of Vengeance had arrived.
Ghost Rider descended, his flaming skull burning brighter than ever, his hellfire chain spinning in his hand.
His hollow voice boomed through the island.
"I KNEW YOU COULDN'T HIDE FOREVER!"
Max cracked his knuckles, standing up.
"Yeah, yeah. Now come and get me, you flaming skeleton."
The flaming skull looked at him as he said " Where is DARKHOLD?"
" you want it come and get it" Max said flashing the dark hold as the Ghost Rider eyes went at it.
***
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