After being confined by himself in a maximum security detention center somewhere in Texas, the man known as the Deacon was liberated by a prison guard in the service of the rogue angel, Zadkiel. The Deacon is a mountain of a man who believes he's doing the Lord’s work by punishing those who have sinned. He feels his murderous ways are righteous and just, and he even killed two prisoners soon after being released. The guard spoke to Deacon about Zadkiel and his mission, and he presented the former prisoner with the Ark of Bezalel – telling him to reach inside so the Lord could provide the necessities the Deacon would need to fulfill his task. First, the Deacon was given the Elixir of the Rock of Etam followed by two large golden daggers, possibly from Heaven itself. It is unknown if the Deacon's assignment was to kill a recent addition to the prison in the form of Ghost Rider, or if it was to dispose of the priest Blaze was speaking to with the hope of finding a way to reach Zadkiel, but either way the Deacon had no trouble slaying the priest and his Satan worshipper protectors and taking on the Ghost Rider at the same time. The Deacon's wrath was furious, and he seemed to be more than a match for Blaze with the power of Heaven on his side, but it was when he had Ghost Rider on the ropes that the Deacon’s demise was imminent. Just as he was going to plunge one of the golden daggers into Ghost Rider while inside the prison chapel, Blaze took a large Bible and shielded himself with it. Deacon would not harm the Lord's book and refused to stab Ghost Rider. Blaze turned this to his advantage and beat the Deacon into submission with the very book the Deacon was so well versed in. Ghost Rider left the Deacon inside the chapel wondering why the Lord had forsaken him.
The Deacon apparently escaped from prison after his defeat at the hands of Ghost Rider, and Zadkiel had a new mission for him. Deacon traveled to Kansas where he slaughtered the nuns of The Sacred Heart Convent for the Sisters of the Holy Sepulcher. After that despicable act, he met with Blackout to decide who else would join their cause to kill the Ghost Rider. The two madmen recruited Big Wheel, Trull, Madcap, Scarecrow and Vengeance, but Deacon didn't cause any real damage until he confronted the guardians of one of the gateways to Heaven – the Gun Nuns. It didn't take him long to kill almost every one of them, but the arrival of Blaze's Caretaker, Sara, temporarily stayed his hand. Sara knew he was the one who murdered her sisters and sought revenge against him. Deacon was sure he would slay her too, but it appeared the Lord wasn't on his side that day. Sara sliced into the back of Deacon's neck, completely paralyzing him, leaving him for the authorities to escort him back to prison. Deacon would not suffer alone as he was roommates with the ever-talkative Orb.
