"Woah," Sprite said as she and the other Eternals lounged together in the vast marble-and-gold grand hall of Olympia, the hidden city that once teemed with thousands of their kind. Now, only a few remained. Their eyes were fixed on the large holo-screen before them.
On the display, the battle on the Moon played out. The Inhuman the Kree experiment who could control gravity was torn apart by the combined attack of nine beings, a cataclysmic strike that cracked the lunar surface and reduced the Inhuman to ash.
Phastos broke the silence first, his deep voice calm but tinged with awe. "They are… quite powerful."
"Quite powerful, he says," Sersi replied, her eyes fixed on the figures now gathering after their victory. "I see an Asgardian who could give even Gil a hard time. A sorcerer, a king, one who bears the Starbrand… powerful warriors with strange abilities. And the Phoenix Force itself. And that green one…" She tilted her head. "What even is he?"
Sprite's eyes darted to Thena and Gilgamesh. "Thena, Gil is this him? The one you fought with?"
Thena inclined her head. "Yes. That is Max. The Green Lantern."
"Green Lantern?" Kingo repeated, brows raised. "Is that his title?"
"It seems to be," Gilgamesh rumbled.
Thena's voice softened just a fraction. "Max… I don't know what he truly is. But I know this the power comes from the ring on his finger."
Phastos narrowed his eyes. With a flick of his wrist, the holo expanded, zooming in until the image of the emerald ring was clear. Every Eternal present leaned forward, their faces illuminated by its emerald light, curiosity and unease crossing their features.
Ikaris finally spoke, his voice firm but questioning. "Phastos, what is it?"
All eyes turned to the Eternal of Invention. For once, Phastos looked… sheepish. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I… don't know."
The hall fell into silence. Even Thena blinked, surprised. "You don't know?"
"Yes." Phastos exhaled, clearly uncomfortable under the stares of his kin. "I don't know."
Gasps and murmurs rippled through the gathered Eternals. For Phastos the one who could name every scrap of technology across worlds, who could disassemble alien engines at a glance to admit ignorance was almost unthinkable.
Sprite snorted, her voice dripping with mischief. "Well, well… the great Phastos doesn't know something? Do we not have access to the archives of the gods themselves?"
Sersi folded her arms. "Sprite's right. We should have something in our records."
Phastos gave an exaggerated sigh, raising his hands. "If it's there, then the gods don't want us to know. That's the truth of it. And that makes me want to uncover it even more." He pointed at the screen, where Max floated among the Avengers. "That ring of his it's a mystery worth unraveling."
Sprite leaned forward, eyes gleaming. "And the Phoenix. What do we do about that?"
"Nothing," Ikaris said firmly, his voice cutting through the chamber.
Kingo frowned. "Nothing? Everything I've ever read about the Phoenix says it's dangerous. We should at least—"
"No," Ikaris interrupted, his tone hard. "From the looks of things, it and its host are bent on protecting the Earth. And this group they've formed seems to have good intentions."
Thena's voice carried across the room. "I agree. Max is a good man. A selfless warrior. A hero."
Gilgamesh nodded with a grunt. "I trust him. After fighting side by side against that time traveler, I know what he's made of. In fact, I'd say we should consider allying with them take the fight to the Deviants together."
Ikaris turned sharply toward him. "No. That is our fight and ours alone. We do not need their help."
The room quieted. All eyes returned to the screen as the holo shifted, showing the Avengers standing over the shattered battlefield of the Moon.
Phastos broke the silence. "Seems they're calling themselves 'Avengers.'"
Gilgamesh barked out a laugh. "Much better than the 'Revengers.'"
Thena's lips twitched into a rare smile at that, while the others looked on in confusion.
Phastos waved it off. "As I was saying, these Avengers did the world a great boon driving out the uninvited Kree. And from the looks of things…" He zoomed in on the Inhumans before they were defeated by the Avengers. "…they were experimenting on humans."
Sprite whistled low, eyes wide. "Yes, Phastos. We saw the human who nearly pulled the Moon out of orbit."
Phastos continued, "They handled the Kree well. They fought with honor, even allowing the non-combatants to leave peacefully. And they've been busy since then many battles have been fought against interdimensional incursions, which have increased in the last two years."
Thena tilted her head slightly, her golden eyes narrowing. "I believe the sorcerer, Agamotto, is planning to construct a barrier to keep those beings out of our world. That must be why more and more of these incursions are happening… a desperate attempt to stop him."
Gilgamesh chuckled. "Maybe we should join them then, Thena. Max must have thought of us for his team, I'm sure. He didn't call because he couldn't find us."
Thena considered this, nodding slowly.
Sprite piped up with her usual sharp mischief. "Question. Could the Avengers defeat us?"
Gilgamesh and Ikaris both immediately shook their heads. "No."
But Thena, Sersi, and Kingo exchanged uncertain glances before saying, "Maybe."
Gilgamesh scoffed and leaned back, grinning. "Come now, Thena. We can surely take on the Avengers. And mind you—I didn't even fight at full power during our adventure in Khem." His eyes flicked to Sprite with mock irritation. "All because of that ridiculous bet you made me take."
Thena's lips curved faintly. "Even the host of the Phoenix?"
Gilgamesh opened his mouth, ready to boast again, but faltered. "…Well, that's—"
He didn't finish. The chamber doors opened, cutting off all conversation. Every Eternal present rose to their feet in respect upon seeing who entered.
Two figures entered: Zuras, the Prime Eternal, and Ajak, the priestess to the gods.
Ajak lifted her hands, her expression serene but filled with excitement. "My friends, I bring joyous news. One of our gods will soon grace us with His presence."
A collective gasp echoed through the grand hall.
Gilgamesh took a step forward, eyes widening. "Truly?"
Ajak nodded, her tone reverent. "Yes. Not since the Second Host has one of the Celestials graced us with a visit."
The hall fell into a stunned silence. Even the normally unshakable Thena looked shaken, while Phastos's mind already raced with what this meant for their kind… and for Earth.
Phastos frowned, his voice sharp with unease. "Wait—this cannot be the Third Host already. So soon?"
Ajak shook her head. "No. I do not think this is the Third Host. Only one shall come. For what reason… we do not yet know."
Thena turned toward Zuras, her father, noticing the grim shadow that crossed his usually unshakable face. "Father, you are silent. You look—"
But Zuras cut her off. "I am the most joyous of all, daughter, with one of our gods descending to us. But…" His jaw tightened. "They ask too much of us."
Ajak's serene expression hardened as she stepped toward him. "Careful, Zuras. You speak as if you would refuse the command of a god."
"I speak of no such thing," Zuras replied quickly, though his eyes betrayed the storm swirling within.
Sersi, who had rarely seen the Prime Eternal so shaken, asked, "What is it, then? I have never seen you like this before."
Zuras exhaled slowly, his voice grave. "The god commands us to release Uranos from the Exclusion."
Phastos's face drained of all color, as did everyone else's in the room. "What? No. Not him." His words were a whisper filled with terror.
Even the most battle-hardened of the Eternals Thena, Gilgamesh, Ikaris stiffened at the name.
"I do not know why. But the command is clear. We must do it," Zuras continued.
Ajak lifted her hands, as if to calm the rising storm among them. "Then we must prepare. We must all make the journey south."
"Not yet," Zuras interrupted. "Did you forget? We need my brother's key as well, to open the prison within the Exclusion. Without it, Uranos cannot be freed."
"But to free him? He is a monster. You know what he will do," Thena protested, even though it was her gods' command.
Zuras's eyes hardened. "Do not worry, my dear. We will do as the gods command. I will go to Titan. I will speak to my brother, Alars."
Soon the others left the room. Left alone, Zuras's gaze shifted toward the still-glowing screen, where the Avengers stood victorious on the Moon. His expression darkened at the thought of releasing Uranos.
Why now? Especially now…
.
.
.
"So this is who you have chosen," Mephisto heard his female counterpart's voice purr from behind him.
Before him, the scrying orb shimmered with visions of a place known as the Exclusion. The hidden pocket dimension was cold and stark. It was where Eternals went when they died, resurrected in an endless cycle… but it was also a prison, a place where those who had broken faith with their gods, those too dangerous to roam free, were confined.
The orb swirled, focusing on a single figure.
He was lean, almost skeletal, with gray-blue skin and burning red eyes. Seated upon a throne of stone, the Eternal was still but it was the stillness of a coiled blade waiting to be drawn.
"Yes," Mephisto said at last, his lips curling into a sinister smile. "Uranos the Undying."
The Mephisto in the black dress circled closer, her voice silken with doubt. "He doesn't look like much."
Mephisto chuckled. "That's what half a million years of imprisonment does to a being. Do not be fooled. He is the most powerful of the Eternals. And the perfect tool for our purposes."
Uranos was no mere Eternal. He had been one of the Prime Three, alongside his brothers Kronos and Oceanus. But unlike them, he rejected the Celestials' edict of noninterference.
When his kin obeyed their gods and swore never to rule over or destroy the other two races—humans and Deviants Uranos called it weakness. He did not want balance. He wanted purity. His vision was simple, terrible, and absolute: purge all non-Eternal life from existence.
Not only on Earth, but across the entire cosmos.
Uranos even dared to plot against his creators, believing the Eternals' purpose of protecting their gods could be fulfilled only by caging them… that the Celestials would be safer if imprisoned.
A war followed. Many Eternals sided with him, intoxicated by his creed of dominance. The war was cataclysmic: many died, were reborn, and died again. But at last Kronos and Oceanus prevailed, defeating their brother.
Uranos was cast into the prison inside the Exclusion, which was meant to hold him forever.
He was easy to manipulate. Mephisto had promised him freedom, and the promise of freedom was enough to make him pliable enough to make him a servant. Mephisto excelled at such things; he was the greatest schemer of all, after all.
This scheme was among his finest: not merely the corruption of mortals, but the deception of the so-called gods of the multiverse. He had even managed to manipulate a Celestial, convincing the all-powerful being that only Uranos could guide it toward the answers it sought.
Their plan for multiversal conquest was vast. Each had chosen a servant—their champion, a piece on the board. Together, those servants would scour the multiverse, butchering any who stood in their way, slaughtering the mortals who called themselves Avengers.
For in every universe, the Avengers rose. They were the rallying point of mortal defiance and they had always been the enemies of the Mephistos. Their champions would kill as many as they could and destabilize the multiverse, and when the time came, the Council of Red would converge on this universe—his universe—where the key to the God Quarry existed. From the God Quarry, they could reach the First Firmament itself and rewrite the multiverse to suit their needs.
The fact that the key was in his universe made him the most valuable of the other eight in the Council. It also made his universe the most unique, so much so that he had started calling himself Mephisto Prime, much to the annoyance of his lesser counterparts.
"I need your servant to free Uranos and bring him to me when the time comes," Mephisto said.
She laughed, her eyes flaring with cruel delight as the void itself peeled open behind her.
From the darkness stepped a man.
Middle-aged, impeccably dressed, his suit pressed to perfection. His mustache was neatly trimmed, his hair slicked back. He looked like nothing more than a sharp-eyed politician or a cunning merchant.
His eyes, however, gleamed with something more a predator's intellect masked in civility.
For all his power, for all his infernal cunning, Mephisto could not hide his surprise. The others had chosen monsters, warriors, gods of their own making. But this? This was simply… a man.
"This is your servant?" Mephisto sneered, contempt unmistakable. His red eyes narrowed at the sight of the immaculately dressed human kneeling before him. "This is your chosen servant for our great task? A simple mortal?"
"Yes," his counterpart said, her voice dripping with pride. She lifted her hand ever so slightly, beckoning. "Come, Howard." Her voice softened, her lips curling with amusement as she bit them lightly.
The man stepped forward without hesitation, lowering his head in a gesture of practiced humility.
"My lady," he said, his tone rich with false warmth, "your beauty only increases each time I lay eyes upon you."
She smiled wickedly, brushing a finger across his jawline. "Oh, he's quite the charmer, you know," she said to Mephisto. "This is Howard Stark my most loyal and trusted servant."
Mephisto's brow furrowed, his lip curling with disdain. "Howard Stark?" He let the name hang in the air, tasting the mortal syllables. "What good is he?"
She smirked, her nails grazing the line of Howard's cheek before trailing down to his shoulder. "Howard is the most devious and intelligent mortal I've ever encountered. A true master of manipulation. He killed his own son to prove his loyalty to me."
"A small price to pay," Howard Stark said, his tone utterly devoid of remorse. "For eternal life."
Suddenly, the darkness behind them tore open once more. Another portal formed. From it stepped a towering figure encased in a monstrous suit of armor.
The plating was dark silver and iron-black, every edge honed like a blade. The helm resembled the skull of an apex predator. From within its slitted visor, four red eyes glowed like coals from the depths of the abyss. A pulsing hellfire core burned in its chest. Its gauntlets were colossal, each finger ending in clawed talons engraved with ancient glyphs that shimmered in fiery runes.
She turned to Howard, her voice almost loving. "It's time, my dear Howard… for you to become the Iron Inquisitor once more."
Howard grinned, madness sparking in his eyes. He stepped toward the looming armor without hesitation. The suit unfolded plates shifting, screaming with hunger as they wrapped themselves around him. One piece after another fused into place, sealing Howard Stark inside.
When the last seam closed with a hiss of black fire, the Iron Inquisitor stood in full form. His presence was overwhelming.
She turned back to Mephisto, her lips curling. "Will that do?"
Mephisto's grin widened. No, he was wrong, he mused—this one was not the weakest among them. That honor belonged elsewhere… to the feral mortal his other self from universe 99 had chosen, a human with metal claws. Yes, that one would be the weakest.
But this one… this one would serve his needs for now.
"Yes," Mephisto said at last. "Yes… it will do just fine."