The wind coming off the lake bit at Eira's cheeks as she descended the steep, dew-slick path, her breath clouding in the chill. The water below was still and dark, save for the faint ripples where a pair of geese paddled silently. Around her, sheer walls of fjord rose slabs of gray rock and moss, half-shrouded by morning mist. The sky above was filled with shifting clouds, with just a sliver of sun glowing faintly as it rose over the peaks.
She stooped at the rocky shore, plunged the wooden pail into the icy water, and watched as it filled the water so pristine it was clear enough to see the stones at the bottom.
As she turned to head back, Eira glanced across the valley. Her eyes landed on the almost-collapsing fjord to the north, where once the gods themselves had clashed. The entire landscape where her village resided was still filled with remnants of the battle that had happened nearly a decade ago. Great chunks of stone lay scattered across the slopes like a giant's broken teeth. Scorch marks still blackened the cliff faces in sweeping arcs, and in some places the rock itself had melted and rehardened into twisted, unnatural shapes.
She began the trek back up to the village. Along the way, she slowed as she came to the large crater where the green god had fallen from the sky.
It was impossible to miss a perfect circle carved into the earth, thirty paces across and deeper than two men standing on each other's shoulders. Nothing grew there. Not grass, not moss, not even the hardy lichen that clung to every other surface. The soil was dark, almost black, and sometimes at night people swore they could still see a faint shimmer of green in the air above it. Eira stared at it for a moment, as she always did, wondering what it must have been like to see a god fall.
Then she continued on.
She passed through the outer fields, where men and women were already at work with plows and hoes. Smoke curled from the chimneys, and the tang of peat fires hung in the air. Several villagers greeted her a nod from the fisherman mending nets by his shed, a wave from young Thyri carrying a basket of eggs. Old Bjorn, the leatherworker, stood by his door, swinging a heavy sack onto his shoulder.
"Out early, girl?" he called, his voice rough as gravel but warm.
Eira smiled back, her arms aching a little from the pail. "Always. The water tastes truer at dawn."
Bjorn chuckled, shaking his head. "You sound more like your father every day." He gave her a wave, then disappeared into his workshop.
She continued on, weaving between timbered houses, until she reached the village's heart the largest hall, its roof shingled in dark wood, its door carved with runes and wolf-heads. Inside, the morning crowd had already gathered to pray. Eira slipped in quietly, eyes drawn to the great mural her father had carved and painted upon the standing stone.
The mural showed two mighty gods locked in battle against the evil fire god. One brandished a golden spear in one hand and a hammer that summoned thunder and lightning in the other; beside him stood another figure wreathed in green, his sword held aloft. Both faced the horned fire god, a demon swathed in flames, brandishing a burning blade.
Some prayed in whispers; others simply stood in awe. Eira joined them for a moment, gazing up at the figures. In the hush, she almost thought she could hear the crackle of lightning, the roar of distant battle.
After a moment, she stepped quietly into the great hall and paused near the doorway. Inside, her father, Hadvar, sat with about a dozen children, regaling them with the tale of the battle of the gods.
"That night the sky split open" he spread his hands, eyes wide for effect, "the fire god came. He was big—bigger than the mountains—his entire body burning with fire hotter than anything we mortals could make. He wanted to scorch the world and drown it in flame."
The children stared, enraptured, wide-eyed. One hugged her knees; another's mouth hung open.
"We all watched," Hadvar continued, his voice softer now, almost reverent. "We prayed to any god who might listen to the earth, to the sky, to the ancestors. The fire god raised his sword, and the flames grew so bright we could not look at them directly. We felt our skin begin to burn."
He paused, letting the horror of it settle over them.
"And just before doom came for us, we saw him."
The children perked up, hope lighting their faces.
"The green god," he said, almost reverently. "He fell from the sky, no, he flew to us. I remember it well: when his eyes met mine, I could see the kindness in them. He said, 'This will protect you.' And then a wall of green light rose around the entire village. It curved over us like the sky itself, and when the fire god's flames struck it, they rolled away like water off a roof. We were safe. He protected us."
"Then what happened?" one of the boys asked eagerly.
"Then, from the storm itself, the thunder god arrived. With his hammer and spear, he stood beside the green god."
"Lightning split the sky hundreds, thousands of bolts all striking at once. Thunder shook the ground so hard that some of the houses fell. The storm god's spear blazed with golden light, and his hammer" Hadvar shook his head in wonder "summoned more thunder as he used it to strike at the fire god."
"But the fire god was so large," Hadvar continued. "Too large. His sword swept toward them…but then…"
He smiled.
"The green god changed. He grew. We watched as he became as large as the fjords themselves, as big as the fire god. His sword grew with him, and when the two blades met, the entire earth shook once more. He threw the fire god down onto the fjord, shattering most of it. You can still see it now, children just look north and you will see."
One of the children, Sigrid, raised his hand timidly. "Were… were the storm god and the green god brothers, like me and Rolf?"
Hadvar's expression softened, becoming almost tender. "They were true brothers," he said. "Born of the earth itself, from the first stones and the first storms. The green god was the elder, the storm god the younger."
Eira let herself remember the roar of thunder, the flashes of green and gold, the impossible size of the giants as they clashed above the fjords. She could still feel the cold night, the taste of fear in her mouth, her mother's arms holding her tight as the fire god crashed into the fjord, thrown by the green god's fist.
Her father's voice cut through her memories. "Eira, could you help me, daughter?"
She blinked and nodded. "Yes, Father."
He looked to the children. "It's time to bring you all home. Your mothers will be waiting."
Eira smiled at the little ones, some already shuffling to their feet.
She led them out of the hall.
The children clustered around her as they walked, their small voices bright with excitement. "Eira! Eira!" one of the older boys called, tugging at her sleeve. "Did you see the gods battle?"
"I did," Eira replied, a small smile tugging at her lips. "I was about your age maybe even younger when it happened."
The children gasped. Another boy puffed out his chest. "When I am old enough, I'll seek the green god's blessing and learn how to grow big and strong!"
A boy beside him chimed in, "And I'll learn to wield the hammer so I can call the lightning and thunder!"
"I want to fly like the storm god!"
"I want a sword that glows green!"
Eira laughed softly, warmth threading through her despite the chill in the air. She opened her mouth to speak, but then something strange caught her eye. The light around them was shifting. The gentle gray of morning was fading, replaced by a deepening, unnatural red. Shadows twisted along the ground.
Around her, the village began to react. Conversations stopped mid-sentence. People emerged from their houses, looking up with confusion that quickly turned to fear. Some mothers snatched up their children. Men gripped axes and spears, their faces grave.
"What is that?" someone whispered.
"Not again," an old woman moaned. "Please, not again."
"Stay close to me," Eira said quietly, gathering the children in with her arms. She tried to sound calm, but a tremor slipped into her voice. The sky was swirling now the clouds streaked red and purple, as if wounded. And then, as she watched in horror, the very fabric of the sky seemed to tear itself apart.
"Eira, I'm scared," little Astrid whispered, clutching at her dress.
"It's all right," Eira said, wrapping her arms around them. "Just stay close. It's—"
The sky ripped open above them. Violet and crimson light bathed the land. Eira's heart thundered in her chest. She could only stare as winged monsters screeched and spiraled out of the rift, their forms blotting out the sun. All sorts of abominations dropped from it some with wings, others simply falling crashing into the ground and the lake near the village. She could hear every impact.
The village erupted into chaos, people screaming, running, stumbling over one another.
"Back to the longhouse!" Eira shouted, trying to herd the children to safety. "Run! Now!"
She pushed them forward, counting heads frantically as they stumbled in panic. Tormund fell, and she yanked him up. Kjell was crying. Astrid screamed.
Then Eira fell.
In the rush, someone slammed into her from behind she stumbled and hit the cold earth hard. The children scattered ahead, some stopping, some running, their voices calling her name. She tried to push herself up, but her hands were shaking; her legs wouldn't obey. She lay on the ground, staring up at the sky as the monsters poured forth in an endless stream.
She froze. Could not move.
This was it. This was how it would end.
Eira squeezed her eyes shut and prayed to the gods, to the storm god, to the green god. She prayed not for herself, but for the children, for her people.
Please. Please, if you can hear me. We need you. I need you. Please—
All around her, the screams of the villagers faltered, then ceased.
Thunder rolled deep, shaking the earth itself.
She opened her eyes. They widened; she gasped.
Above the burning clouds, two shapes streaked down one wreathed in green light, the other trailing a storm of lightning: the green god and the storm god.
"You know we've been here before."
"We have."
"Yes, remember when we fought Surtur, and he used the Space Stone to portal us all over the place?"
"Aha. This is where you struck him down, when I was able to get the Space Stone off him."
They landed near her. The storm god turned at once to face the sky, a hammer in one hand and a spear tipped with green light in the other. But the green god—
The green god held out his hand to her with a warm smile. Her hand trembled as she slipped her fingers into his. His grip was strong but gentle, and those eyes so kind, so calm banished the terror clawing at her heart. For a moment, it felt as though nothing in the world could harm her.
"Don't worry," he said, his voice warm and clear above the chaos. "I'll get you all out of here."
Eira could only nod dumbly, her voice caught somewhere in her throat.
"No, Grænlaðr, simply form a shield around the village," came the deep voice of the storm god.
Grænlaðr. Was that the green god's name?
"No, Odin. We have to get them out of here," Grænlaðr insisted, his tone firm but not angry.
The storm god was Odin. She thought it again, testing it. Odin and Grænlaðr. Odin and Grænlaðr.
They had names.
"Fine," Odin huffed, sounding almost annoyed, but then he streaked away into the sky, his red cape snapping behind him. Eira watched, spellbound, as Odin summoned bolts of lightning. They struck the creatures spewing forth from the wound in the sky, and each one that was hit shrieked and disintegrated into ash.
Grænlaðr turned to her again. "What is your name?"
"Eira," she managed, cheeks flushed.
He smiled, the edges of his eyes crinkling. "A beautiful name." Then he raised his arms, the green light blazed brighter, and a large green box began to form around them.
Grænlaðr flew upward, rising above the houses, his voice amplified somehow so that it carried to every corner of the village. "Everyone! Come to me! Now! We have no time to waste quickly!"
All across the chaos, men, women, and children paused at the command there was no question, no hesitation. They ran, stumbled, even crawled if they had to, toward Grænlaðr.
Eira helped the nearest children along, her heart pounding as she watched him herd the villagers into the box of light. For the first time since the sky had torn open, hope sparked in her chest.
Grænlaðr flew down and landed beside Eira again. "Get inside," he said gently. "I will take you all away from here."
Eira nodded, but she found it was not easy to walk; the fall had hurt her legs. Seeing this, the god lifted her. His arms were strong and careful, and he carried her as easily as she might carry a child. He placed her inside the green box, setting her down gently on the solid floor of light.
Inside, the green walls glowed with a soothing light transparent enough to see the chaos outside, yet solid as any fortress. She watched Grænlaðr, making sure everyone was within, helping the elderly and those who were hurt in the earlier chaos.
"My Eira! I thought I—" Her father appeared suddenly, pushing through the crowd. His face was pale, streaked with sweat and dirt.
"Grænlaðr saved me," Eira said, still breathless.
Her father's eyes widened. "Grænlaðr?"
"Yes, Father. The green god's name is Grænlaðr. And the storm god is Odin."
He stared, silent, then knelt and pulled her close. "They chose you, daughter. You are their prophet."
She did not know how to respond to that. Prophet? She was just…she was just Eira.
Soon the green box filled up. All the villagers were inside.
Then Eira felt it a lurch, a sense of movement. She gasped in awe as it began to fly. The entire construct, with all of them inside, lifted from the ground as smoothly as a bird taking flight. They were carried out of the war zone their valley was becoming. Through the transparent walls, she could see the storm god fighting.
Lightning split the sky as Odin battled monstrosities born from nightmare, every stroke scattering horrors back into the churning wound in the sky.
She hoped the gods would be able to defend the world once more.
No what was she thinking? Of course they would. They would never fail them. They were gods.
They would do it again.
They had to.
.
.
.
As soon as the villagers were safe, Max sprang back into the battlefield.
Above him, the sky rippled violently as the massive portal to the Dark Dimension continued to grow.
This was Dormammu's largest assault yet. Two prior attempts over the past eight months had been foiled, but those had been small probing attacks, testing their defenses. This one was so large that the entire Avengers team needed to assemble.
Agamotto and Nur were in South India, fending off the invasion there.
Firehair was in North America with Ghost.
Azzuri, Vnn, and Fan Fei were near Wakanda.
And Odin and Max had come to the western shores of the lands that would one day be called Norway, where the largest of the portals had opened.
Agamotto had given them all an artifact that could close the portals. The plan was simple: get the artifact near the portal and activate it. Simple in theory. In practice…well, it was hard, since it was literally raining demons from the sky: an army of Mindless Ones, flying creatures Max had nicknamed "dementors," and other abominations in Dormammu's host.
Max flew straight toward the portal, artifact in hand. His shield flared around him, blazing green against the red and purple sky. The swarms hit him immediately, "dementors" that shrieked and dove, their forms barely cohesive; abominations with wings like torn leather and mouths that opened in impossible directions snapped at his shield. He wove between them, spinning and banking, his flight path erratic but driving steadily toward his target.
As the swarm thickened, he conjured a ring of drones. They blasted apart the horde, shredding whole clusters of creatures.
He neared the portal's mouth close enough to see the Dark Dimension beyond, a realm of eternal night. Shapes approached from within humanoid silhouettes; one looked like a woman.
How are you holding up, Odin? Max sent through the link that connected all the Avengers' minds. Going to close it soon.
Odin's laughter thundered across the link. You should join me down here! Battling these Mindless Ones is always fun.
"The villagers are safe distance away" came Jade's voice.
"And you are also the perfect distance to activate the artifact" she added.
Max chuckled as he drew out the artifact, a bronze disc etched with runes that glowed faintly gold and began to activate it.
The portal thrummed, its edges flickering and wavering. The artifact flared, sending waves of golden-amber light toward the portal's rim. The thrumming grew louder.
It's working, Max thought with relief.
"A large increase in power I recommend moving away from the eye." Jade warned.
Then came a sound a deep, guttural pulse that shook his bones. The portal shuddered violently before a beam of raw violet energy erupted from its center and slammed into him.
Max barely had time to reinforce his shields before he was blasted from the sky, crashing into the ground below. The impact sent shockwaves through the fjord, carving a massive crater and rattling the mountainsides.
Grænlaðr! Max heard Odin call through the link.
"Fuck," Max said, getting up and looking at the portal now growing even more.
Agamotto, he called through the mental link, urgency lacing his voice. It didn't work.
What? I just used it here and the portal closed, said Agamotto instantly.
Well, it didn't work here, Max replied.
We just closed ours, Azzuri's voice joined in, calm but slightly distorted through the link.
Same here, Firehair added. Portal's sealed. What's happening over there?
Max looked up. The portal now encompassed the entire sky above them. Red and purple light bathed the world, turning day into a hellish twilight.
Everyone, converge on me and Odin, Max commanded through the link.
We will be there soon, Max, Nur said and the others echoed the same.
Odin landed beside him with Mjolnir in his right hand and the spear Max had taken from Kang—what he'd been calling the Will Spear—in the other. Max had given it to Odin a few months ago; the prince was more than proficient with both spear and hammer together.
"Are you well?" Odin asked, concern flickering across his features.
Max smirked. "I'm offended you think that could bring me down."
"So it didn't work?" Odin asked, glancing up at the ever-expanding portal.
Max shook his head. "It worked for the others. Something's different with this one."
Odin's jaw tightened. "I think the others were just a way to split us up. This is the true invasion force."
"He is correct in that assessment Max" agreed Jade.
"Yeah," Max said grimly. "I think so too."
The ground quaked beneath them. From the edges of the valley, shapes began to move hulking, stone-skinned giants with single, glowing red eyes.
Mindless Ones.
They came from all sides hundreds becoming thousands. The nearest raised their massive arms and charged, blasts of crimson energy lancing from their eyes.
"Together?" Odin said, spinning Mjolnir in one hand, the Will Spear in the other.
"Yeah. You take the thousand on the left, I'll take the thousand on the right," Max said, forming laser cannons over each hand.
"There are more than 2000 Max. My estimate is there are now 30,000 of them," Jade said, correcting him.
Max chuckled at that.
Odin grinned. "A fair split."
They launched forward.
Odin struck first, Mjolnir leading with a thunderous blow that pulverized the front wave of Mindless Ones into rubble. He pivoted, the Will Spear firing concentrated blasts that punched through three, four, five of the creatures in a single shot. Lightning arced from Mjolnir with each swing, chaining between enemies, cooking them from the inside out.
Max conjured Xandarian missile launchers that materialized in the air around him dozens at once. They opened fire in unison, alongside the lasers on his hands, raining devastation across the horde. Explosions thundered over the battlefield, each volley cutting down hundreds.
But the swarm was unending.
For every ten they destroyed, twenty more emerged from the portal. The Mindless Ones showed no fear, no hesitation; they simply came, and came, and came.
Max created twenty Megatron constructs that dove into the fray, even as he began shaping massive Jaegers in the background. But the constant assaults tore at his work; the giants were harried and destroyed as quickly as he could raise them.
Max and Odin found themselves side by side once again, shoulder to shoulder, cutting down wave after wave of Mindless Ones as the ground beneath them quaked from the fury of battle.
"So," Odin said between blows, swinging Mjolnir and shattering a brute's skull into molten fragments, "where did you and Firehair disappear to last week?"
Max, blasting two more with a surge of emerald light, arched an eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?"
"I was concerned. You were gone for days," Odin replied, spinning to deflect an eye-beam with the Will Spear.
"Really?" Max said, incredulous. "I was with the most powerful being in the universe, and you were concerned?"
Odin struck down another Mindless One, then turned slightly toward Max. "Firehair could lose control. The Phoenix Force is very powerful."
Max sent out a massive blast that cleared the Mindless Ones around them in a perfect circle, their stone bodies disintegrating into dust. He turned toward Odin, pausing mid-flight as realization dawned. "Oh… so that's what this is about."
"What?" Odin asked.
"The reason you've been so weird for the last few months. You're jealous," Max said, grinning.
Odin's grip tightened on Mjolnir. "What? Jealous? Why would I—"
Max laughed, unleashing another wide burst of energy that vaporized the next wave. "Come on, Odin. You haven't exactly hidden your interest in her. But I think she made it clear—"
"That is not what this is," Odin snapped.
"And you see me spending all this time with her," Max continued.
"That's not it," Odin insisted, but his voice was strained.
"It's understandable. I mean, you're basically a teenager in Asgardian terms."
Lightning exploded around them as Odin's temper frayed.
Max smirked. "So you see me and her and think that we're together?"
Odin unleashed a storm, bolts stabbing in every direction, turning Mindless Ones to smoking rubble. "Are you?"
Max's grin widened. "No."
"Oh. I thought—" Odin exhaled, just slightly relieved until Max added, with a shrug:
"But I'm going to be."
Odin's eyes went wide. "What? You cannot!"
Max chuckled, flying upward, green aura flaring. "You had your chance, my friend."
"Grænlaðr! MAX!!" Odin roared after him.
In the last eight months, Max had become good friends with all the Avengers well, all except Vnn.
Vnn still held a grudge from when Max beat him. But Max understood. The Starbrand was a force of nature, and Fan Fei had told him Vnn himself was a good person; the Starbrand simply dragged old insecurities to the surface. It was almost fun to rile him and then spar every now and then.
Nur saw Max as a mentor something Max took seriously. He wanted Nur to become the leader of the mutants, a true protector of mutantkind. Max spent hours with him, teaching philosophy and the importance of leading with wisdom, not just power.
Azzuri, Ghost, and Agamotto those three were basically his bros. They fought, laughed, and drank together after every battle. Max had even learned magic from Agamotto. Well, one spell: a clothes-changing cantrip. Agamotto found it hilarious that, of all the arcane knowledge he could share, Max was most eager to never worry about what to wear.
Fan Fei was basically his big sister. Honestly, she was everyone's big sister protective, wise, occasionally exasperated, and deeply loving. She was the heart of the team.
And then there was Firehair.
Someone for whom he'd developed deep feelings.
At first, they spent most of their time sparring Odin would join, too; Max knew his friend liked her as well. Their friendship deepened when she became interested in what Max did with most of his time: visiting and studying the development of Bronze Age civilizations. It was even more fascinating on Marvel's Earth, where there was always more to discover.
Firehair was eager to learn more. She loved all living things and felt a deep calling to protect them. She wanted to understand the past how people once lived and the present how they live now. Together, she and Max visited different peoples across the world. Everything fascinated her: the interconnectedness of life, the ways humans adapted, survived, and thrived.
During this time, he learned about her past, something the others didn't know. She had been abandoned because of her mutant nature, left to die before wolves found and raised her. She told him this one night when they visited the fledgling city of Eridu. She described what it was like to live with wolves, how she once believed other humans were evil; how she learned to hunt, to communicate through posture and subtle sounds; how the pack became her family.
There was a wildness in her that would never be tamed, and he loved that about her the way she could be fierce and gentle in the same breath.
She remained secretive about what had happened just before she became host to the Phoenix something he did not press. Everyone had their secrets; he had the biggest of all, and he had no intention of telling anyone.
In the last two months, they had searched for Atlantis, scouring oceans and seas for the lost city. They dove together she wreathed in Phoenix fire that somehow didn't extinguish underwater days spent side by side.
It was then Max realized he was falling in love with the wild redhead.
And he decided he would pursue it, even if it caused trouble between him and Odin.
Max flew faster, blasting apart the swarms as he neared the portal once more, trying the artifact again.
"Almost there," he muttered.
"Max," Jade warned, her voice sharp in his ear, "something's coming power levels from the portal are spiking."
Before he could react, a blur of violet and black slammed into him like a meteor. The impact sent him tumbling through the air, but he stabilized quickly.
Max looked up and saw a woman.
She looked human. She wore skin-tight green cloth that hugged her form, and a black cape billowed behind her. Pale skin, dark eyes, black hair cascading down her back she had a goth aesthetic, all dark elegance and mysterious allure.
"Well," Max said. "Who the hell are you?"
The woman smiled a cruel, knowing curl of her lips as she flew toward him, hurling spells. She bore mandalas like Agamotto's on her arms, but instead of amber they were violet, pulsing with dark energy. The spells came fast bolts of purple magic that twisted and curved through the air. Max deflected them with his shield, each impact sending sparks skittering across the green barrier.
"Fine," Max said. "Guess we're skipping introductions."
He held his ground as she closed the distance then she vanished into a portal mid-flight.
"Jade, where—"
He didn't finish. Pain exploded in his skull as her hand clamped around his head from behind. She whispered a spell, and the pain surged. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't—
Countermeasures deploying, Jade said, her voice cutting through the agony.
A violent surge of emerald light burst from him an explosion that hurled them both apart.
Max, disoriented and seeing spots, realized she was still coming. She'd recovered faster than he had and was already streaking toward him.
"Persistent," she hissed, vanishing into another portal.
She used portals to attack violet rifts snapping open and shut in rapid succession. A punch appeared at his left but emerged from a portal on his right. He blocked, only for her kick to lance up from a portal below. He couldn't predict her moves; every defense left him exposed to an impossible angle. A blast that seemed to come from above actually erupted from beneath.
"Come now," she purred between attacks. "You're capable of more than that."
"Working on it," Max grunted. "Jade can you find a pattern?"
"Analyzing… Yes. The portals have a 0.03-second delay between opening and her attack emerging. Additionally, she favors your blind spots in a clockwise rotation."
"Good girl," Max said through gritted teeth.
Armed with that, he began to counter. When a portal opened to his left, he was already moving right, shield raised to catch the blow he knew would follow. When she appeared above, he had a construct barrier waiting overhead.
All the while, Max was forming a high-yield laser in his left hand powerful enough to wipe out a city the size of the Kree capital. Skrull-designed, he'd simply decreased the footprint.
She came through a portal again confident, smiling—
"Lights out," he said.
Max pivoted and fired.
A beam of concentrated emerald energy hit her squarely, blasting her from the sky. She slammed into the earth and didn't stop; the beam drove her down, down, down until she punched a crater into the landscape. The impact rippled outward, earth and stone geysering up, a mushroom cloud blooming over her.
Max hovered above, grinning. "Jade, is she dead?"
"No, Max. She is not."
"Fuck," he muttered, diving toward the crater.
Max descended through the drifting dust and fragments of molten rock, his emerald aura dimming as he touched down on the shattered ground. To his surprise, the woman was moving.
She rose with eerie grace, the violet glow in her eyes burning brighter as she looked up at him. Her clothes were torn, her composure unshaken. Then confusingly she smiled at him, an almost manic curve of the lips: not pain, not fear excitement.
Max stepped forward, hand raised, an armor construct forming around him. He frowned. "Who are you?"
She did not answer.
"You're going to stop this invasion, go back to your little hellhole, and tell your lord to quit attacking Earth."
The woman laughed. "My lord?" she echoed, almost mockingly. "My brother, you mean."
Dormammu's sister? Max thought.
She bowed slightly, pride dripping from every syllable. "Umar," she said.
Isn't that a man's name? Max wondered, briefly confused.
She tilted her head, studying him with unsettling intensity. "And what is your name?"
"The Green Lantern," Max said.
"Strange name," she mused, lips curling in amusement. "You are… something else." Her voice carried a note of genuine intrigue now. "No one has defeated me before. Not like that."
Max straightened, keeping his guard up. "Well, now I have. So go back and tell your brother to call this off or we'll come there and tell him ourselves."
Umar conjured a portal, and Max moved to defend but she didn't attack. Instead, she stepped through and came near him, far too close for comfort. He stepped back reflexively.
She leaned in, voice low and sultry, dripping with the arrogance of someone who believed herself a god. "Perhaps we can come to a deal. My brother won't stop his pride won't allow it. But perhaps I can stop this invasion. For now."
Max hesitated, every instinct telling him to blast her but curiosity won. "I'm listening," he said carefully.
"One simple favor," she purred, stepping closer until her violet eyes filled his view. "I can end it if you agree to marry me."
Jade, did she say what I think she said?
Yes, Max. She did, Jade confirmed in his mind.
"What?" Max said aloud.
She kept gliding closer as he edged back, his mind reeling.
"You and I together we would be unstoppable," she said, eyes gleaming. "Powerful enough to challenge my brother. We could be king and queen." She gestured grandly, as if painting the vision in the air. "Just imagine…the children from our union would be so powerful they could conquer universes."
Max took a cautious step back. "Okay, lady you're crazy."
Umar's expression darkened. "You would deny me?"
"Uh, yeah," Max said, amused. "That's a hard no."
In a blur, Umar lunged faster than he expected. She slammed him to the ground and straddled him, her face inches from his. Violet aura flared as she whispered, her breath warm against his cheek, "Imagine it… no man has ever satisfied me. But you, I can feel the power radiating off you. So ancient. So vast. Together we could—"
Max's eyes widened. "Yeah, that's… not gonna happen." He braced to shove her off and reengage when a white-red glow bloomed over Umar.
A hand wreathed in cosmic flame closed around Umar's throat.
Max watched as Umar was lifted effortlessly by Firehair, who hung in the air blazing with the Phoenix's power, eyes white-hot, red hair whipping in the energy she carried.
Firehair looked down at him, her expression almost angry but controlled. "Looks like I interrupted something." Her grip tightened; Umar gasped, clawing at the burning hand that held her.
"Actually, just in time," Max said, rising.
Umar turned her eyes to Firehair, and for the first time Max saw genuine fear in the sorceress's face. She recognized what held her: not merely a woman, but a cosmic force that could unmake her with a thought.
"P–Phoenix," Umar choked.
Firehair hurled Umar away with tremendous force, then unleashed white-hot Phoenix fire flames that could reduce planets to cinders. To Max's surprise, Umar shielded and deflected; her violet magic formed barriers that held against the cosmic blaze, though they cracked and buckled under the assault.
Damn no wonder she survived that attack, Max thought.
Firehair streaked upward and engaged Umar; Max joined in, lancing her with laser fire from multiple constructs. Umar countered with dark-violet bolts. "You dare strike at me, flame-bird?" she snarled, goading.
"I will burn you and your Dark Dimension to the ground!" Firehair roared, her voice echoing with power. "The Phoenix will have her due!"
Max saw Umar's eyes widen, genuine terror replacing her confidence. She snapped open a portal and vanished, the violet rift sealing behind her.
Max glanced up to find Agamotto chanting, hands carving complex sigils as amber light streamed from his mandalas. The portal began to cinch shut, its edges drawing inward like a wound knitting closed. He and Firehair flew to cover him, cutting down anything that strayed too near to give the Sorcerer Supreme room to work.
The others had arrived as well. Below, Azzuri, Nur, Fan Fei, and Ghost atop Tasi the mammoth battled the Mindless Ones. Odin and Vnn rose to join Max and Firehair in clearing the skies, forming a protective ring around Agamotto as he cast.
Max conjured dozens of turrets, each pouring continuous streams of energy. Odin wielded the Will Spear and Mjolnir in tandem, and to Max's amazement he braided them together, calling down green will-infused lightning that he could shape and command.
Vnn, wreathed in crimson light, became an avatar of destruction, each punch tearing through entire waves. He didn't just fight near the portal; he dove into the Dark Dimension itself alongside Firehair. Together they razed everything in their path, Phoenix fire and Starbrand turning Dormammu's realm into a war zone.
Firehair was angrier than Max had ever seen her. Usually the calmest of them serene even in battle she now burned with fury, every movement aggressive, every blast of fire vindictive. She tore through creatures with bare hands wreathed in cosmic flame, reducing them to ash at a touch.
"You done, Motto?" Max called, blasting more of the flying horrors and raising a shield wall of constructs around Agamotto.
Agamotto's eyes snapped open, glowing amber like twin suns. "Yes," he intoned, voice deep and resonant. He unleashed the spell a massive mandala of amber light that expanded outward, intricate and terrible.
The portal began to cinch shut, the tear in the sky healing.
"Vnn! Firehair! Get back!" Max shouted.
They cleared the breach just in time. The portal sealed with a thunderclap, the sky fading back to blue.
"Now let's finish the rest," Max said, eyeing the Mindless Ones still swarming Nur, Azzuri, Fan Fei, and Ghost.
The five strongest converged, and the battle ended within minutes as they went all in. Max's mech constructs, Odin's new will-lightning, Firehair's flames, Vnn's nuke-like punches, and Agamotto's spells rained down in devastating harmony.
Soon, the army that had threatened to overrun the world crumbled to dust.
"And that's how you do it," Max said as he landed beside the others. All nine of them stood together once more amid the aftermath of battle.
Odin grinned, resting Mjölnir on his shoulder. "Indeed what a battle."
Agamotto sighed, amber sigils fading from his hands. "If Dormammu had taken the field, we might surely have lost."
Azzuri folded his arms. "With Odin, Max, Firehair, and Vnn, even Dormammu himself could fall before them."
Nur laughed, rolling his massive shoulders. "Damn right he would."
"Well said," Odin boomed, clapping Nur on the back so hard it sent a shockwave through the air.
Firehair hovered just above them, her flames now soft and gentle. "In the Dark Dimension, I felt my power weaken," she said quietly. "It was like the light itself was being drained from me."
Agamotto nodded. "You would have adjusted eventually, but in that time Dormammu could have defeated you."
Fan Fei rested a hand on her hip. "We're getting better with each battle," she said with a proud smile. Then she turned to Vnn. "But you flying into that portal was reckless, Vnn. You could have been trapped on the other side."
Vnn snorted, the mark of the Starbrand glowing faintly on his chest. "Grrr grr grrrr," he rumbled ("I was fine. I am powerful.").
Max smirked. "Well, not that powerful." He said it just to get under Vnn's skin.
Vnn snapped his head toward him. "Grr grrr grr grrr!" ("You and me we can go right now.")
"Peace," Ghost drawled lazily from atop Tasi, who rumbled in agreement. He looked down at Max. "You should stop antagonizing Vnn."
"I'm sorry," Max said with a grin that made it clear he absolutely was not.
"No, you are not," Ghost said, a small smile of his own tugging at his lips.
Max turned to Agamotto, his expression growing serious. "Did you see that portal magic Umar used?"
Agamotto's eyes sharpened. "So it was Dormammu's sister…"
Max nodded.
Agamotto rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I saw her magic clearly. I'll try to replicate it, something like that would be very useful."
"That woman was his sister? Wow," Azzuri said, surprise cracking his usually stoic voice.
"Yes I am sure Max enjoyed her company" Firehair said looking at Max.
"Hey she took me by surprise" Max defended.
"Is that what it was?" she asked, her eyes narrowing her tone teasing.
"Well then," Max said, glancing around at the tired but smiling faces of his team. "No one hurt, right?"
"No," everyone confirmed, looking around at each other. Bruises, maybe. Exhaustion, certainly.
But whole.
Alive.
"Well, I guess it's time to celebrate."
"Huzzah!" Odin said, raising Mjölnir. He added, "Firehair and I will hunt for tonight's feast."
Max narrowed his eyes at Odin, who smiled back a sly, challenging smile.
Max turned to Firehair. "You know, Red, I've been thinking about that offer to teach me proper hunting without my ring. Why don't we go now?"
Firehair's brows rose, a small smile playing at her lips. "Here I thought you'd forgotten." She nodded. "Yes, I'll teach you now."
"That will take time," Odin said, an edge in his voice. "We are to celebrate."
Firehair arched a brow, arms crossing. "Don't worry, Odin," she said smoothly. "We'll be back in time."
Odin opened his mouth, then huffed. "Fine. But hurry, you two!"
She looked to Max and lifted into the air, motioning for him to follow.
Max met Odin's gaze for a long moment and winked. "Don't wait up."
He formed a few constructs to help transport the others home, then shot after Firehair. "We'll meet you back at the Sanctuary!" he called.
.
.
.