I. Forging the Stabilizing Prison (1993)
The pact with Hela, the Goddess of Death, was the ultimate risk: bringing a cosmic-level Alpha Equal, fueled by millennia of rage and ambition, directly into the heart of Project Prometheus. Tony Stark (age 21) spent two intense months preparing for her arrival, recognizing that this extraction required not just science, but a sophisticated technological countermeasure against pure, ancient magic.
Tony tasked Sue Storm (Dimensional Anchor) and Wanda Maximoff (Chaos Magic Anchor) with designing the Nexus Array—a system engineered to stabilize Hela's prison degradation and contain her immediate power upon stepping onto Earth-616.
The Nexus Array Architecture:
Uru Integration: The base structure utilized the Uru metal acquired from Thor, its magical resonance acting as a perfect conduit for both Asgardian power and Tony's Vanceonium energy.
Chaos Containment: Wanda provided the conceptual framework for the "unraveling of a conditional knot" (her analysis of Mjolnir's magic). The Array was programmed to mimic her Reality Stabilizing Field (RSF), creating a structured, anti-chaos energy envelope.
Dimensional Cloaking: Sue's expertise ensured the entire array was surrounded by a strong Dimensional Harmonic Stabilizer (DHS) field, preventing Hela from immediately accessing the Bifrost or contacting any remaining Asgardian forces.
The Nexus Array was built in the deepest, most shielded cavern of The Citadel, a colossal ring of glowing Uru and Vanceonium generators designed to impose logical stability on primordial chaos.
"The array is stable, Sir," Sue reported to Tony, monitoring the complex power balance. "But the energy signature of Hela's prison is immense. When the prison collapses, the Array will only hold her for approximately forty-seven minutes before the Uru core starts to fail."
"Forty-seven minutes is enough," Tony stated, his voice ringing with absolute Alpha conviction. "It's enough time for the Pack to establish the terms of the truce. J.A.R.V.I.S., initiate the release sequence. Full Pack defense posture."
II. Hela's Arrival and The Primal Alpha Clash
The dimensional bridge opened with a tearing sound, not a clean snap—a brutal, violent rupture of reality. The air in the cavern became thick with the scent of ozone and the ancient musk of blood and ozone.
Hela stepped out of the swirling dimensional vortex. She was magnificent, radiating immense, predatory power, clad in her black and emerald armor, her massive helmet horns materializing instantly. . She surveyed the technological cage Tony had built with undisguised contempt.
She was the ultimate, unrestrained Alpha.
Hela immediately challenged the only source of non-physical power in the room: Tony Stark.
"You break my chains, boy, only to cage me in a circle of tin?" Hela's voice was a devastating, beautiful war-cry. She strode toward Tony, the ground cracking under her immense, non-physical weight. "You dare project dominance to a Goddess who conquered nine realms? Where is your hammer? Where is your army?"
Tony stood his ground, the only physical object separating them the humming, stabilizing field of the Nexus Array. He stood alone, his helmet retracted, meeting her gaze with the unwavering fire of his own Alpha-Prime resolve.
"Welcome to Earth, Hela. I am your host, Anthony Stark," Tony replied, his voice calm and amplified by the Mark I (Alpha) suit. "I broke your prison with logic, not brute force. The 'tin' you see is a Reality Stabilizer built from your own brother's technology, capable of absorbing your primal energy. You came here for an Anchor. You came here for the Pack. Now, you will listen to the terms of your integration."
Hela laughed, a harsh, scornful sound. She summoned a massive, obsidian blade from thin air and slammed it against the Nexus Array. The Uru groaned, and the stabilizers briefly flickered.
"The terms are mine, Architect! Submit your technological arrogance and your collective of weakling Omegas, and I shall allow you to serve me as my weaponsmith!"
Tony did not raise his weapon. He hit her with the ultimate strategic truth, the Achilles' heel of her eternal ambition.
"Your vengeance is irrelevant. Your goal is Asgard. My goal is Thanos," Tony projected the holographic image of the Infinity Gauntlet, fully assembled. "If you do not integrate, he will acquire those Stones within a decade, annihilate your kingdom, and your power will be useless. I am offering you the only countermeasure against that inevitability: stability, foresight, and a loyal collective to govern."
The mention of Thanos—the force of cosmic nihilism—halted Hela. She saw the truth of the threat in Tony's unwavering eyes. She lowered her blade, her gaze fixed on the glowing Tesseract containment unit Tony projected—the evidence of his success.
III. The Anchor's Stand: Pepper vs. Hela
The immediate test of the Pack's stability came not from Tony, but from his primary Omega Anchor, Pepper Potts. Pepper, witnessing the raw Alpha aggression, knew her role was to provide the immovable, structural foundation that Hela desperately lacked.
Hela, sensing the powerful, yet non-combative, presence of Pepper, turned her attention to the small woman who commanded the entire operation from the console.
"And who is this delicate blossom?" Hela sneered. "The architect's pet? She commands the technology that cages a goddess? Such audacity."
Pepper did not flinch. She walked toward Hela, her posture radiating administrative authority and supreme emotional control—the true strength of an Omega Anchor. She stopped just outside the destabilizing field.
"My name is Virginia Potts," Pepper stated calmly, her voice even and utterly devoid of fear. "I am the Chief Operating Officer of Project Prometheus, the architect of The Citadel's defense, and the Primary Anchor of the collective. Your terms of engagement, Hela, are not with Anthony's science, but with my logistics. My rules govern this structure, not your aggression."
She pointed to the flickering array. "Your power is currently causing a localized dimensional tear in the Pacific. My system is struggling to contain it. If you breach this perimeter, you risk revealing our location to the Kree and the Skrulls, rendering your vengeance irrelevant. You are a Cosmic Alpha. You require a structure to contain your ambition. I am that structure."
Hela was stunned. She was used to defiance, fear, or submission—not cold, calculating, unassailable administrative power. Pepper's stability was so absolute, it was its own form of magic.
The conflict was won. Hela saw the truth: Tony provided the vision; Pepper provided the reality that made the vision possible. The Primal Alpha accepted the necessity of the Omega Anchor.
"You have steel beneath your skin, human," Hela conceded, slowly retracting her blade. "But if I stay, I take the primary defense of this realm. The Pack will be structured by my command."
"Agreed," Tony stated immediately, stepping forward. "You are the Warrior Queen. You lead the active defense against all cosmic incursions. But the Citadel Code applies: No lethal force against the Pack, and the emotional stability of the Omegas is paramount."
IV. The Harem's Integration: The Darcy Element
With Hela's presence stabilized (though still radiating terrifying volatility), the Pack began the complex process of integration. Hela was immediately paired with Carol Danvers (Cosmic Alpha), leading to an intense, competitive, but ultimately productive sparring session.
However, the key to Hela's social integration was the most unexpected Omega: Darcy Lewis (Humble Anchor).
Tony tasked Darcy (now in her early twenties, working as Jane Foster's cultural liaison) with Hela's "acclimation to Earth-616 Variant Culture."
Darcy, armed with pure sarcasm and a complete lack of reverence for divinity, approached Hela in the Citadel's main lounge.
"Okay, look, Queen of Death," Darcy said, offering a remote control. "You need to understand two things about Earth. One: the only thing more dangerous than Thanos is bureaucracy. And two: Netflix. Start with The Crown. It's basically Asgardian politics, but with better coats."
Hela, expecting ritual and fear, was instead presented with a device that showed her complex human narratives. Darcy's irreverent, non-judgmental presence was the only thing that bypassed Hela's millennia of emotional defenses. Darcy treated Hela like a high-maintenance, extremely dramatic roommate.
Hela found a perverse fascination in Darcy's absolute normalcy and relentless stream of pop culture references. Darcy was teaching the Goddess of Death the art of the human Slice of Life. Their relationship quickly became one of the most unexpected, stabilizing dynamics in the Harem.
V. The Alpha's Primal Bond
Tony's romantic bond with Hela was, predictably, the most intense and primal of his Harem dynamics. Hela, as an Alpha Equal, did not seek stability; she sought the challenge, the intelligence, and the shared ambition for absolute control.
Their intimacy was characterized by a deep, powerful acknowledgement of mutual Alpha command—a relationship forged in the fire of strategic necessity and raw, spiritual compatibility. Their shared moments were intense intellectual spars on military strategy and philosophical debates on the ethics of conquest, often culminating in profound, physical acknowledgment of their shared, immense power.
Hela was the Primal Alpha Equal—the ultimate expression of Tony's power and ambition. Her presence completed the Alpha circle of the Pack, providing the necessary counter-balance to the raw cosmic forces they now faced.
VI. Project Omegaverse: The Next Generation
With the Harem fully secured and integrated (Pepper, Natasha, Yelena, Helen, Maya, Sue, Carol, Wanda, Emma, and Hela), Tony turned his focus to the long-term goal: Project Omegaverse—the creation of the next generation.
Tony, with the help of Dr. Helen Cho (Biotech Anchor), began the delicate process of genetic analysis, ensuring that the offspring resulting from his complex Harem structure would inherit the best of the combined genetic, mutant, and cosmic lineages while maintaining necessary stability.
"The goal, Helen, is stability, not maximal power," Tony directed. "We need to ensure the Omegaverse genetics blend—Chaos Magic, Cosmic Energy, Psionics, and my own stabilized X-Gene markers—results in stable, powerful, and psychologically sound children. No more volatile phoenixes or uncontrollable elementals."
Helen, viewing this as the ultimate biological project, worked meticulously, combining her advanced regenerative protocols with Tony's genetic foresight.
The late 1990s were now completely dedicated to securing the Skrull/Kree conflict, stabilizing the Multiverse, and beginning the process of building the next generation of heroes in The Citadel—the Alpha Architect's ultimate family and ultimate defense system.