New York, United States - May 2008
Matthew Harkness was thirty-eight years old, and the world had changed a lot in the last two decades.
Him too.
He stood on the balcony of his penthouse in Manhattan, watching the city sparkle under the night sky, a glass of whiskey in his hand (imported from Argentina, obviously), and a smile on his lips as he watched the news on the television behind him.
"Tony Stark surprised the world this afternoon with an unexpected press conference," the reporter said, her voice blending with the city noise. "Contrary to the prepared official statement, Stark admitted to being Iron Man to the media, saying, and I quote: 'I am Iron Man.' This revelation has sent shockwaves through..."
Matthew turned off the television with the remote control, laughing.
"That son of a bitch did it. He really did." He took a sip of his whiskey. "Tony Stark, you're an arrogant jerk, but I have to give you credit. You've got balls."
She turned around, looking at her reflection in the balcony window.
Thirty-eight years old. He was no longer the skinny teenager of twenty years ago. He was a grown man, 1.87 meters tall, with an athletic body sculpted by two decades of superhuman training, black hair (dyed, because he had started to get gray hairs and there was no way he was going to look old before forty), a short, neatly trimmed beard, and those same blue eyes that now had a gleam of experience and accumulated power.
He was wearing an expensive Armani suit, black as night. Because if you were going to be an underworld god disguised as a successful businessman, you had to look the part.
"Twenty years," he murmured, looking at the city. "Twenty years since I started to emerge from the shadows. And look where I am now."
Quick Flashback - The Last 20 Years
Matthew hadn't wasted any time since he was seventeen.
At eighteen, he graduated from high school as valedictorian. His parents cried with pride. He smiled and thought about all they didn't know.
At nineteen, he entered Columbia University studying Business and Ancient History (because he needed the business facade, but Ancient History gave him access to information about myths and legends that served his true purpose).
At twenty-two, he graduated with honors. He had also been secretly operating as a vigilante during those years, honing his skills and building a reputation in the mystical underworld.
At twenty-three, he founded his first company: Erebus Consulting. Officially, a business consulting firm. Unofficially, a front for laundering money he "found" using his powers to detect hidden treasures, lost artifacts, and occasionally by stealing from undeserving criminals.
By twenty-five, Erebus Consulting was a multimillion-dollar company. Matthew was officially a successful businessman, occasional playboy (he had to keep up appearances), and philanthropist (he donated A LOT of money to causes he cared about, especially programs for at-risk youth).
By twenty-eight, he had expanded his empire into real estate, technology, and private security. He had also begun building his network of informants. People who owed him favors. People who knew things. People who were useful to him.
At thirty, he was one of the richest men in New York, with a net worth that rivaled some of the biggest names. Tony Stark still outranked him, but Matthew was in the game.
And all that time, he had been building his true power.
Back to the present - May 2008
Matthew left his glass on the balcony table and walked back inside the penthouse.
The place was enormous. Three floors, panoramic views of Manhattan, tastefully decorated but with touches that revealed its true nature to those who knew how to look. Ancient statues of underworld gods. Tapestries with mystical symbols subtly woven into the designs. And on the lowest floor, hidden behind reinforced doors and energy fields, its true sanctum.
He descended using the private elevator, placing his hand on the biometric scanner that also read his cosmos signature. The door opened with a hiss.
The sanctum was his masterpiece.
It was a circular room, the size of an entire apartment, with a domed ceiling. The walls were engraved with underworld symbols that glowed with a dim violet light. In the center, a permanent ritual circle that had taken three years to perfect. Around it, shelves filled with artifacts he had collected over two decades.
Wang Chen's medallion. An Egyptian dagger that once belonged to a priest of Anubis. A fragment of a mirror that supposedly could show the underworld. Scrolls containing necromancy spells from five different cultures. And his prized possession: a piece of obsidian the size of a soccer ball that pulsed with pure underworld energy.
And at the center of it all, on a special pedestal, his armor.
It was no longer the prototype from when he was seventeen. This was the real version. The armor of Hades, rebuilt with twenty years of work, accumulated power, and materials he had sought in the darkest corners of the world.
It was black as the void of space. Polished to a shine. Covered in symbols that moved subtly, as if alive. The helmet had horns that curved back like a crown. The chest bore the symbol of Hades embossed on it, glowing with violet light. The shoulder guards were sharp, intimidating. The gauntlets ended in claws that could tear through steel.
She was beautiful. She was terrifying. It was him.
Matthew approached, touching the chest of the armor.
"Soon," he murmured. "Very soon you'll be out there playing for real."
Because that was the thing. Twenty years, and he was still being careful. He was still playing in the shadows. He had intervened hundreds of times as a vigilante, saved thousands of lives, but always from the shadows, always without revealing his true power.
Why? Because I had been waiting for the right moment.
And that moment was coming.
"Tony Stark revealed himself as Iron Man today," Matthew said aloud, talking to the armor as he sometimes did. "That means the MCU is underway. The Avengers are going to form soon. Thor is going to show up. Loki is going to bring in the Chitauri. And then... then comes Ultron, the Sokovia Accords, Thanos..."
She smiled.
"And I'll be there for everything. But not as a hero. Not as a villain. As a player. The hidden player that no one sees coming until it's too late."
He walked to his desk in the sanctum, where he had a state-of-the-art computer (magically protected against hacking, thank you) with files on every major player in the MCU.
"Tony Stark - Iron Man. Confirmed. Bruce Banner - Hulk. Hiding in South America according to my sources. Steve Rogers - Captain America. Still in the ice, but they'll find him soon. Thor - In Asgard, but he'll come. Natasha Romanoff - SHIELD, but she hasn't appeared publicly yet. Clint Barton - SHIELD, same as Romanoff. Nick Fury - Director of SHIELD. Son of a bitch with secrets."
Matthew read his notes, smiling.
"And then there are those SHIELD doesn't know about yet. Strange is still a surgeon. Parker is a seven-year-old boy. Wanda and Pietro have probably already been born, but they're babies. Carol Danvers is in space, according to my mystical sources..."
He closed the file and opened another. This one was called "The Plan".
It was a document hundreds of pages long that he had been writing and refining for twenty years. His master strategy to conquer not only Earth, but also to prepare for his eventual return to Saint Seiya.
The first phase was almost complete: Accumulate power and resources. Check.
The second phase was beginning: Inserting oneself into the main events without revealing one's hand. Manipulating from the shadows.
The third phase would come later: When the Avengers were formed, when things got really crazy, he would reveal his existence. But not as an enemy. As... something else. Someone too powerful to ignore, too useful to attack, too mysterious to fully trust.
"The Art of War according to Sun Tzu," Matthew murmured. "Be imperceptible like a ghost. When you attack, do it like lightning. And when you wait for your moment, be patient like a mountain."
"Well," he corrected himself, "Sun Tzu didn't say exactly that, but the idea is the same."
Two days later - Erebus Consulting offices
Matthew was in a meeting with his top executives. There were six of them, all carefully selected not only for their competence but also for their... open-mindedness to unusual things.
"The first-quarter numbers are excellent," said Sarah Chen, their CFO, a 40-year-old Chinese-American woman who was a genius with finance. "We're seeing 23% growth over last year."
"Excellent," Matthew agreed. "And the special project?"
Everyone in the room knew immediately what he meant. The "special project" was the code name for his hidden division: acquiring mystical artifacts, investigating supernatural phenomena, and undercover operations that his regular company would never touch.
"Making progress," replied Marcus Stone, his head of security, a former Marine who had seen things during his service that had opened him up to the supernatural world. "The team in Egypt reports they've found the site. They should have the artifact by the end of the month."
"And what about the situation in California?"
"Contained. The cult was... neutralized. No witnesses."
Matthew nodded. "Neutralized" was code for "dead or so terrified they'll never speak." He didn't usually condone killing, but some cults were too dangerous to let exist. Especially those that sacrificed children.
"Okay. Anything else?"
Jessica Wu, her intelligence chief, raised her hand.
"Yes. There are rumors in the mystical underworld. About you."
Matthew raised an eyebrow.
"What kind of rumors?"
"They say there's a new player. Someone who controls the shadows. Someone who's been interfering in supernatural conflicts all along the East Coast. They call him... well, he has several names. 'The Dark Lord.' 'The Shadow King.' 'The Emperor.'"
Matthew had to make an effort not to smile.
"AND?"
"And some of the most powerful groups want to know who it is. The Hand is asking around. The East Coast vampires are nervous. There are even rumors that someone at Kamar-Taj has noticed the energy fluctuations."
That last part made Matthew serious.
"Kamar-Taj? Strange's sorcerers?"
"Apparently. Although Strange himself is still just a surgeon, the current Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One, has eyes everywhere."
"Shit."
The Ancient One. That old witch was powerful. Very powerful. And wise . If she was noticing him, he had to be more careful.
"Okay," Matthew leaned back in his chair. "We're scaling back public operations. No dramatic interventions for a while. We're keeping a low profile until I have a better idea of what the Ancient One knows."
"What if she tries to contact him?" Jessica asked.
Matthew smiled coldly.
"Then we have a very interesting conversation about jurisdictions and mutual respect."
Because that was the thing. He wasn't an ordinary sorcerer. He was a god. Well, a god in training, but the point was the same. The Ancient One protected physical reality from dimensional threats. He ruled the Underworld. Different domains.
"But let's hope it doesn't come to that," he added. "I prefer to keep things amicable if possible."
The meeting continued for another hour, discussing mundane and supernatural projects, before everyone finally left.
Matthew was left alone in the conference room, looking out the window at the city.
"Iron Man has just been born. The Avengers are about to form. And I'm here, building my own empire in the shadows."
She smiled.
"This is going to get interesting."
That night - The Sanctum
Matthew was meditating in the center of his ritual circle, dressed only in black pants, his bare torso revealing a body covered in mystical tattoos that glowed with violet light.
Each tattoo was a seal. An anchor. A deeper connection to the Underworld.
He had the symbol of Hades over his heart. Runes of the underworld ran down his arms. Symbols of protection adorned his shoulders. And on his back, a complete image: the gates of the Underworld, carved in black and violet ink.
It had taken him ten years to complete all the tattoos. Each one required a ritual. Each one hurt like hell. But it was worth it.
Because now, with the tattoos complete, his connection to the Underworld was permanent. Absolute. Unbreakable.
He closed his eyes and submerged.
He fell through layers of reality, passing through the physical world, passing through the astral plane, until he reached his domain.
The Underworld.
But not the Underworld as it naturally existed in the Marvel Universe. This was HIS Underworld. The one he had been building piece by piece for twenty years.
It was a realm of shadows and impossible architecture. Black palaces that defied gravity. Rivers of violet energy flowing upwards. And at the center, his throne.
It wasn't the complete throne yet. It was more like... a prototype. But it was there, waiting for him.
Matthew sat on the throne, feeling the power flow through him.
"Soon," he promised the darkness. "Soon this kingdom will be real. Soon I will have an army. Soon the Marvel Universe's Underworld will recognize me not as an intruder but as its rightful emperor."
"And then... then I'll go back to Saint Seiya and show those Olympian gods what it means to mess with the wrong guy."
The shadows around him pulsed in approval.
Matthew opened his eyes, back in his physical sanctum, smiling.
"2008. Iron Man is born. The MCU is underway. And I'm ready to play."
He stopped, walking towards his armor, touching it once more.
"It's not your time yet. But soon. Very soon."
"Because when the world needs a god..."
Her eyes glowed violet in the darkness.
"I'll be there."
END OF CHAPTER