Chua sees an explosion at the local historical society. He runs to intervene and finds a dead Navy SEAL. When the corpse’s eyes glow red and he spits bile, Chua searches it and finds it clutching a bizarre totem. Chua decides to bring in Retter.
A flash forward show Retter at sea, struggling to clutch wooden debris as underwater tentacles reach for him and a wave threatens to drown him. The tentacles manage to grab his legs and drag him down as an entity promises him endless suffering and the destruction of his belief in anything but hatred. Back in the present, Chua visits Retter, who notes that the police commissioner has formally assigned Chua to Retter. Chua reveals the totem, which Retter identifies as a demon's scapular — a totem that a demon gives his most loyal followers as a promise of supernatural powers — and says it’s Blackfire’s. Chua says he hung around the historical society long enough to learn that a journal from an old Spanish galleon was stolen. The galleon, called The Star of the Sea, sank off the Maryland coast a few hundred years ago. Before they can talk more, government troops arrive and demand the scapular.
Chua and Retter are taken by helicopter to a military base in Norfolk. An admiral named Cameron Sticks reveals that he knows of Retter and Chua and implies he’ll arrest them if he doesn’t get what he wants, which is everything they know about the scapular and the wrecked galleon. He then says the government is bringing in Crane as well.
Later, Cameron says that he works for Joint Special Operations Command as Crane enters. Crane demands an explanation and Camero says his team is in charge of dealing with any elite American soldiers who are corrupted by occult powers. At Crane’s insistence, Cameron reveals that a Navy submarine captain named William Nebel became obsessed with the occult and something called ‘Chora Makra’, a theological concept that roughly translates to ‘The Great Emptiness.’ Nebel interpreted the concept to pertain to the vast emptiness of the deep ocean and let the concept drive him insane; he went rogue, corrupted some SEALs, and took his submarine to join Blackfire’s cult. The government managed to recover the submarine (called the USS Seaviper) back and decommissioned it before taking it to the Potomac and leaving it in a ‘ghost fleet’, a group of ships which have been taken out of service. Nebel, however, escaped and has been on the run for decades.
Cameron demands to know what was in the stolen journal, but Crane refuses and in turn demands a ship so the Soulfinders and Chua can recover whatever Nebel is after. Cameron threatens to reveal some secret of Crane’s from the files documenting his military service in Vietnam, but Crane says the records are lies and they both know it. Cameron yields.
The Soulfinders meet Captain Oscar Redburn, captain of the deep-sea fishing boat Kurtz’s Widow. Crane accuses Redburn of being a Pentagon spy, and Redburn acknowledges being a veteran, but he says he’s a civilian now and has the skills that the Soulfinders need. He threatens to leave without them if they don’t want to get on his ship. Chua asks who the ‘Kurtz’ is in Kurtz’s Widow and Redburn says that Kurtz was an old friend who loved the boat more than anything but the ocean itself. The trio get on the ship, though Crane texts someone called ‘General Falco’ first. He asks for some night stalkers, members of an Army special forces unit, to back them up.
The trio eats with Redburn after setting sail and swap details about their military service, with Redburn saying he was a diver. He asks to know what they’re looking for, and when Crane asks why he’s trustworthy, Redburn snaps that he’s taking two priests and a police officer into the ocean based on nothing other than government claims of ‘national security’ and despite an approaching storm which is big enough to frighten the Coast Guard. Retter agrees to trust him.
Retter explains how the Star of the Sea had a very rough crossing of the Atlantic, with ninety percent of the ship’s occupants dying before they could even see land. The remaining ten percent were cut down further by a squall that hit them just a few miles from sure. A survivor, Jonathan Savoy, noted in his journal that the Catholics on board were able to sustain themselves solely by taking communion provided by a shipboard priest named Cardinal Pacifico Cascia. After Retter says that Cascia is a candidate for sainthood (which would make his remaining body parts holy relics), Redburn jokes about digging up Cascia’s bones, angering Chua with his disrespectful attitude. Redburn shouts insults in Tagalong after him as Chua leaves. He asks for more details, but Crane just says Redburn’s only job is to protect Retter while Retter dives. Redburn demands Crane show him respect, but Crane just says he’s going to his cabin and then he asks if Redburn has a copy of Heart of Darkness — the original novel introducing the doomed captain Kurtz — to read. Redburn says he does not.
After Crane leaves, Redburn compliments Retter on his ‘cool head’ and says he could have been a combat diver. Retter reveals they’re after the relics because Blackfire’s cult might try to use them to summon the ‘black tide,’ a religious concept that symbolizes hopelessness. Redburn says he’s intrigued, but Retter warns him not to cause problems or do anything that would stop him from getting the relics first and preventing the Black Tide from being made manifest. Redburn warns him of the approaching storm and says the waves will remind Retter of his insignificance, but Retter is nonplussed. Redburn leaves, but not before warning Retter that they will dive the next day no matter how bad the storm is.
Chua cleans his gun as Redburn enters his room. Chua uses Tagalong to tell Redburn to leave, but Redburn says he doesn’t speak ‘gibberish.’ Chua is confused since Redburn spoke that language earlier, but Redburn speaks in German and reveals that he’s a demoniac and it’s the demon that’s speaking. Chua doesn’t understand, so Redburn insults him more in English and then says he won’t be going on the dive. Chua thinks Redburn is just trying to make him lose his cool and dismisses Redburn’s hostility. Redburn orders him to stay out of trouble and leaves.
Redburn goes to Crane’s cabin and attacks him as his eyes glow red. Crane manages to shoot him, but it has no effect, and Redburn uses a demonic power which turns Crane’s eyes black and makes him collapse. Redburn reveals that he knows Crane had General Curtis Falco send night stalkers after them, but says only one of them is guaranteed a ride home.
The next day, Retter and Redburn prepare to dive. Retter wants to wake Chua and Crane, but Redburn says they only need Chua and can let Crane sleep on account of his age. Chua goes over to them, says he’s up, and complains about Redburn insulting him the previous night. Redburn tells Chua to grow up and then goes over the hand signals that he and Retter will use to communicate during the dive; he also explains that the dive is 50 feet down and they each have one hour of air, but they will have low visibility due to the weather.
Retter and Redburn dive down and reach the Star of the Sea. Most of the bodies they find are just skeletons, but Cascia’s corpse is completely intact, to the point where it looks like Cascia’s just sleeping. Retter takes a ciborium (container for eucharist wafers) from Cascia’s hand, but Redburn draws a scalpel and stabs Retter’s oxygen tank. He grabs the ciborium and flees while Retter tries to stay calm. Retter manages to grab a rosary which was also held by Cascia’s body but then blacks out. Meanwhile, an explosion rocks the boat and knocks Chua over.
Chua searches the now-sinking boat, finds Crane’s unconscious form, and seizes him in a fireman’s carry. He grabs some emergency supplies like flares and life jackets, then jumps overboard with Crane. Meanwhile, deep underwater, Retter finds himself in ‘the Abyss,’ an empty space of blackness. He sees a vision of his mom looking like an angel. He insists it isn’t real as the apparition tries to talk to him. Retter says he knows the apparition is Blackfire, and Blackfire finally admits it, then tells him that the pressure he feels is the weight of his sin and regrets. Blackfire claims that Retter is now separated from God for eternity, but Retter prays and rebukes Blackfire, who vanishes. A whale appears and Retter clings to it as the vision ends.
Retter wakes up clutching Cascia’s rosary. He takes shallow breaths to maximize his remaining air and manages to swim up to the surface. There he meets with Chua and Crane and reveals that he now knows Redburn is in fact Nebel himself. They commiserate about their failures, with Chua in particular saying he should have talked to the priests about Nebel’s hostility the previous night. Retter prays and forgives him.
Crane also finds himself in the Abyss, except he is further restrained by an orange octopus-like entity, which personifies the Abyss itself. The Abyss uses its octopus form to speak to Crane and say that Nebel is just one of its aspects; it further claims that Nebel will soon be consumed by it as per Nebel’s own volition. Abyss boasts that the world can heal from nuclear weapons but not from a wave of hopelessness infecting every human heart.
—The Abyss
A harpoon materializes in Crane’s hand and Crane realizes that Retter is supporting him. The Abyss boasts that it can use Crane’s mind, and that it will both defile the relic (the eucharist in the ciborium) and corrupt Retter. Crane calls the Abyss a liar, pulls free, and harpoons the Abyss in its eye. That breaks the spell, and Crane wakes up. He apologizes to the others for failing to beat Nebel.
The groups drifts near the sinking ship for more than twelve hours until the moon is high. The night stalkers finally arrive and Chua raises a flare to signal them. One of the soldiers says they’re going to a hospital but Retter insists they first go to the ghost fleet where Nebel’s original ship is stashed. Crane is skeptical that Retter is up for more, but when Retter insists that he can still fight, Crane agrees. He tells the soldiers to contact Falco again and get some SEALs as well as a breacher to help them. He also reveals to Retter than he’s known Falco for ages and they’ve both been hunting for Nebel for a very long time, so Crane is sure Falco will help them.
They fly to the ghost fleet and see that Nebel’s original submarine, the Seaviper, is under way. SEALs attack the boat as the soldiers, Retter, Crane, and Chua drop down. A soldier says they’ll go in first and clear the boat, and the others can talk to Nebel later. The troops head below decks, but Chua complains that they should be helping and should have been given guns. Crane says that guns won’t hurt Nebel. Retter finally agrees to go down to see if he can help or protect the soldiers.
Retter leads Crane and Chua below decks. They find Stick’s bleeding out, but Sticks tells them they’re too late to stop the Abyss. He then crumbles away and Retter finds a scapular in his hand; Sticks was on Nebel’s side all along. Chua takes Stick’s rifle and the group keeps going until they find Nebel (still in the form of Redburn), but as Crane predicted, Nebel is bulletproof. Nebel shifts his arms into tentacles and fights the trio as Crane prays. Blackfire speaks through Nebel and says his hate is infinite; the priests cannot hope to match it. He also says that he sees the rosary Retter took. Finally, he says that he wants Crane alone, and he uses his demonic powers to begin sinking the submarine. Water fills the area as SEALs rush in and futilely shoot Nebel. Crane prays and Retter yells at the soldiers to leave. Nebel collapses under the water as the soldiers run to the door with Chua, but the priests stay behind and keep praying. They’re eventually able to banish Nebel’s demon and rescue him.
Everyone gets back up top, and the Navy sends another ship to pick them up so they can go home. Later, Retter, Crane, and Chua meet with an officer named Grunow. They thank him for having the [SEAL=]s rescue Cascia’s body and Grunow notes that ‘incorruptible’ bodies like Cascia’s are a new concept to the military. Crane asks about Nebel, and Grunow says that he’s going to spend a long time in prison, but he won’t abandon the occult and will probably keep inviting demons into his body. Grunow says that’s why America will need the Soulfinders again. Crane says that Grunow could join the priesthood and become a Soulfinder, but Grunow says he’s not ready for chastity. Retter accepts this and bids him goodbye.
This comic contains examples of the following tropes:
- Combat Pragmatist: Nebel takes out Crane by launching a sneak attack at him in his cabin instead of trying to fight him fairly.
- Demonic Possession: Nebel is possessed by the Abyss, a servant of Blackfire.
- Empty Quiver: Nebel’s evil plan involves stealing a nuclear submarine. He pulls this off twice (once in the backstory and once in the main events of the comic) but is stopped both times before he can do anything with it.
- Mole in Charge: Admiral Cameron Sticks, who is in charge of dealing with soldiers that are corrupted by the occult, turns out to be one of Blackfire’s minions.
- Oxygen Meter: Retter has one which informs him that he’s running out of air after Nebel stabs his oxygen tank.
