Agamotto's students and Khemnet had put up a valiant fight. The students were skilled, well trained, and fiercely dedicated to protecting the Sanctuary and those within it. They had faced the demon hordes with courage, holding the line against impossible odds.
But they had not expected betrayal from someone the Avengers trusted. Someone their master trusted.
Clea watched the projections before her, created by a spell cast by Agamotto, a record of what had happened while they fought the nine invaders across the globe. The images flickered in the air like ghosts, replaying the tragedy moment by moment.
Before her, Reed Richards killed all of Agamotto's students.
The first, a young woman with dark hair, did not even see him coming. Reed's arm stretched out, wrapping around her throat from behind, the elastic limb coiling around her neck like a python. She clawed at it, her fingers scrabbling uselessly against his skin as he strangled her. Her face turned purple. Her struggles grew weaker.
Then she went limp.
Reed dropped her body carelessly and moved to the next.
A young man tried to fight him with a spell. Reed pulled a device from his belt and fired it. The beam struck the student in the chest, and he simply came apart.
Another student, then another. Reed moved through them methodically and efficiently, showing no emotion as he murdered children who had trusted him.
Then he fought Khemnet.
The avatar of Khonshu was far more formidable than the students. She met Reed with blade and magic. They clashed in the courtyard, her sword against his stretching limbs and weapons.
He feinted left. She moved to counter. His arm shot out from the right, holding an energy blade.
The slash across her throat was quick and precise.
Khemnet's eyes widened in shock. She tried to speak, but only blood came out. She fell to her knees, then collapsed forward.
In the end, Reed simply walked to where Aurora was, took her, and stepped through a portal that opened before him, crimson light spilling through from whatever hellish realm waited on the other side.
The projection ended.
"Why?" Azzuri asked, his voice rough with emotion. "Why would he do this? We trusted him."
Agamotto was silent.
The Sorcerer Supreme stood with his back to the others, his shoulders tense, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. The weight of failure pressed down on him. Every one of those students, those bright young souls he had trained and guided, was dead because he had been deceived. Because he had brought a viper into their home.
Clea turned away. She did not know what to say to Agamotto, what words could possibly ease the guilt he must be feeling.
The Avengers had won against the nine multiversal invaders. They had defeated some of the most dangerous beings in existence.
And then, at the very end, they realized they had lost.
Her father had returned, his body literally falling apart. He was now resting in one of the Sanctuary's healing chambers as she tried everything she knew to heal him, to stop him from literally falling apart.
It was terrifying to see him like that. Never before had she seen him even hurt, let alone brought low like this. He had always been strong, invincible.
Now he lay broken, and she did not know if she could fix him.
The only other person who had been hurt and had recovered was the Phoenix host, Firehair.
When Firehair woke and heard what had happened, when she learned that her daughter had been taken, that Reed had betrayed them, and what had happened to her lover, she almost destroyed the mountain they were on. Her grief and rage manifested as phoenix fire that threatened to consume everything. She had to be calmed by Fan and Azzuri working together.
After sitting with her father for hours, Firehair had flown away. She now hovered over a mountain in the distance, a solitary figure wreathed in golden red flames.
Clea walked into the chamber where her father lay, breathing steadily but still unconscious.
She approached the bed and picked up the ring, which she had taken from his finger when she first began trying to heal him.
It was blackened, the normally vibrant green metal turned dark as if burned. Green and orange electric sparks crisscrossed around it, the two energies still fighting each other even now, remnants of Max's final battle with Doom. The ring felt wrong in her hand, corrupted and damaged beyond anything she had seen before.
She put it down on the table beside the bed, not wanting to hold it any longer.
"Why did you have to tell my father that your name was Aldrif?" Thor's voice came from the doorway. "Now he thinks you are Asgardian, and he thinks you are my betrothed."
Clea turned to face him, too tired to smile at the attempted levity. "The less everyone knows, the better. Agamotto has agreed to remove the memories of us from everyone, especially Odin, after this is all done. We cannot risk altering the timeline further."
"And yet," Thor said, stepping into the room, "the timeline has somehow remained stable. No new branch has formed, according to your findings. How is that possible with everything that has happened?"
Clea shrugged, the gesture heavy with exhaustion. "Perhaps our presence here was always meant to happen." She did not sound convinced by her own explanation.
Thor moved closer to the bed, looking down at Max's still form. "When is Uncle going to wake up?"
"I do not know," Clea said, a bit testily, frustration bleeding through her carefully maintained composure.
Thor held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Well, you should go and help Agamotto then. I will stay here. They are going to interrogate Stark's villainous father. Perhaps we will learn something useful."
Clea nodded. "Tell me immediately if there is any change in his condition. Any change at all."
"Of course," Thor said solemnly.
Clea made her way through the Sanctuary's corridors to where the others were gathering.
Tony Stark, who like Reed had also come from another universe, had been able to capture one of the nine alive during the battle. She wondered if this Tony was a spy like Reed too. Perhaps he was working for Mephisto as well, playing a longer game and waiting for the perfect moment to betray them.
So she kept an eye on him, watching for any sign of deception.
The Avengers stood around Howard Stark, who was bound with mystical restraints.
Nur was holding Howard in the air with his telekinesis, the man's body suspended helplessly several feet above the ground. The mutant's eyes glowed with psychic energy as he spoke.
"What is Mephisto planning? Answer me!" Nur screamed.
Howard laughed, the sound mocking and cruel.
"I would rather die," he spat back, blood dripping from his split lip. "You are all going to be dead soon anyway. And when my master reshapes reality, when he builds his new world from the ashes of this one, I will be rewarded. I will be given everything I deserve."
Odin raised Stormbreaker, lightning crackling along its length, his face twisted with barely contained fury. He took a step forward, clearly intent on bringing the axe down on Howard's skull. "Oh, I will give you what you deserve."
Tony moved to intercept, his hand catching Odin's arm. "We need him."
Fan stepped between them as well, her expression calm but firm. "Killing him solves nothing."
Azzuri saw Clea approach from the corridor and gestured to her. "Bring Firehair," he said quietly. "If anyone can make him talk, it is her."
Clea did not want to. The Phoenix host was barely stable, her grief over Aurora's kidnapping threatening to consume her entirely. There were other reasons as well, like her finding out that Clea was the daughter of her lover, which would not end well. But she nodded and flew toward where the Phoenix hovered in the distance.
Clea arrived where Firehair hovered above a distant mountain peak. She was bathed in Phoenix fire, golden red flames wreathing her entire body, making her look like a star brought down to Earth. The heat radiating from her was intense even from a distance.
"Your name is Clea," Firehair said without turning around.
Clea was shocked. She had not told anyone but Agamotto her true name. Everyone else knew her as Aldrif.
Firehair turned slightly. "I apologize for startling you. The Phoenix shows me things, glimpses of truth that lie beneath deception. And yes, I know who your father is."
This is where I die, Clea thought, her heart racing. The maddened Phoenix was going to kill her.
Firehair turned fully toward her. She looked sad and solemn, but not angry. "You do not need to worry, Clea. I am not going to hurt you."
"Can't be too careful. I have heard of the Phoenix temperament," Clea said carefully.
"I see." Firehair's flames dimmed slightly, becoming less intense. "The Phoenix has been silent about what has been happening. She speaks to me so rarely now, and when she does, she gives only vague answers. No clear guidance."
She paused, looking back out over the landscape.
"I have come to a conclusion about what that means," Firehair continued. "But before I act on it, I need you to answer some questions for me. Can you do that?"
Clea nodded slowly, uncertain where this was going.
Firehair's next question was direct. "Will I survive this? What is coming, will I live through it?"
Clea remained silent, her expression carefully neutral.
"Will Aurora?" Firehair pressed, her voice cracking slightly at her daughter's name.
Clea's expression changed for just a moment, pain flashing across her face, but she remained silent.
"I see," Firehair said quietly.
She looked relieved, as if Clea's silence had confirmed something she had already suspected. She seemed to make up her mind about something, a decision settling over her with finality.
"We should go," Clea said, breaking the heavy silence. "They need you to interrogate—"
"Is he happy?" Firehair interrupted, her voice soft.
Clea was silent for a moment, immediately understanding who Firehair meant. "When I last saw him, yes. Yes, he was happy."
Firehair smiled, and it was genuine despite the tears glistening in her eyes.
"Come," she said, her voice regaining its strength. "It is time we end Mephisto's schemes."
Clea followed Firehair back to the Sanctuary, both women flying through the air.
As soon as Firehair landed in the courtyard where the Avengers had gathered, the scene had escalated. Odin had his hammer raised over Howard's head again, while Nur and Fan barely restrained him, the future All Father's patience finally exhausted.
Firehair lifted Howard with her powers, telekinesis wreathed in phoenix fire pulling him away from Odin's reach and suspending him high in the air.
Her voice came out mingling with that of the Phoenix, two voices speaking as one.
"WHAT IS MEPHISTO PLANNING WITH AURORA? WHAT IS HIS GOAL? ANSWER, AND ANSWER TRUTHFULLY."
She leaned forward, the flames around her intensifying.
"If you do, you will have a quick death. If you refuse, I will leave you in an endless, eternal burning. You will remain like that until the end of everything, conscious and aware, suffering every moment as your flesh burns and regenerates and burns again, forever."
Flames began appearing around Howard, small at first, dancing across his skin and causing him to gasp in pain.
The others moved to intervene.
"Wait!" Agamotto called out, stepping forward. "We need him alive—"
The flames grew hotter and larger, beginning to consume Howard's clothing and blister his skin.
Howard screamed as the pain became unbearable.
"Stop! Stop!" he shrieked, his defiance finally breaking. "I will tell you everything! I will tell you everything, just make it stop! Please!"
The flames disappeared instantly.
Howard hung in the air, gasping and sobbing, his body trembling from pain and fear. Whatever arrogance he had possessed was gone now.
"The Mephistos are after the First Firmament."
Clea gasped audibly, while the others looked confused, exchanging glances that showed they had no idea what he was talking about.
Howard continued, the words spilling out of him. "They will use the God Quarry, the Quarry of Creation, to make their way to the Firmament. And then they will remake reality itself, the entire multiverse, in their image. That is what they want. That is their ultimate goal."
"Why do they need a child?" Fan asked.
"Aurora, why her specifically?" Nur demanded.
Howard swallowed hard. "They need her to get into the Quarry. All I know is that it was either the Green Lantern or the child. They chose the easier path, taking the infant rather than risking it all with the Lantern."
"The Source," Clea said aloud, the pieces suddenly clicking together in her mind.
They all turned to her, confusion clear on their faces.
"Do you know what he is talking about?" Ghost asked.
Clea nodded slowly. "Yes, I do. Only a few beings in the multiverse even know of these things."
"The First Firmament," Clea began, "was the first universe to ever exist. After it was destroyed by the first beings to inhabit it, the Celestials and their war with the Aspirants, the Second Cosmos was born from its remnants."
"Ours?" Nur asked.
Clea shook her head. "Ours is the Seventh. Six iterations of reality have come and gone before this one. Each Cosmos was born from the death of the one before it."
Everyone except Firehair looked at her in shock, trying to comprehend the scale of what she was describing.
Clea continued, her expression grave. "The Quarry is a dimension beyond anything. It exists at the center of existence. It is atemporal, meaning it exists outside time as well. Over thousands of millennia, it became a graveyard for gods, a place where dead gods and universes are recycled into new creation."
"How is all this related to Mephisto gaining ultimate power to reshape everything?" Odin asked, leaning forward on Stormbreaker. "And how are Max and Aurora part of it?"
"It is because of the Source," Clea said. She took a breath, choosing her words carefully. "The Source is a dimension that exists above the multiverse. Not even the highest cosmic entities know where it is. It is beyond their reach. It is the wellspring from which the Emotional Spectrum permeates the entire multiverse."
She paused, then continued. "It's also where fa—" She stopped herself, correcting course. "Where Max's true form resides."
"True form?" Odin said slowly, his eyes narrowing.
Clea nodded. "What we see here is an avatar of an entity so vast and powerful that it resides in the Source along with six others. That entity projects a portion of itself into this reality through the physical form you know as Max…they are the same but they are also not..its very.."
She could see the shock on their faces as they processed this revelation.
"That is not important right now," Clea said quickly, waving away the questions she could see forming. "What is important is that, since Aurora has a direct connection to the Source, both through her father's nature and through her mother's bond with the Phoenix Force, she can be used to enter the Quarry."
Her expression darkened. "The Quarry is sealed to prevent exactly what Mephisto is attempting. But Aurora is a key that can bypass those seals. With her, Mephisto can reach the First Firmament, the foundation upon which all subsequent realities were built. If he gains control of it, he can rewrite the fundamental rules of existence itself."
The weight of that statement settled over them all like a shroud.
"We need to find and stop Mephisto as soon as possible," Clea said urgently. "The entire multiverse is at stake. Every reality, every timeline, every living thing across infinite dimensions, all of it could be unmade and remade according to a demon's will."
Agamotto stepped forward, his face set with determination. "Right. This has been enlightening, if terrifying. We need to—"
"Can we get to where Mephisto is right now?"
Clea heard the familiar voice of her father from behind her and spun around.
Everyone reacted instantly as they recognized who it was.
Max stood there with Thor supporting him on one side, though he seemed to be bearing his own weight. His eyes glowed emerald, pulsing with power. The green cracks that had covered his body were still visible, but they no longer looked like fractures threatening to shatter him. Instead, they looked like veins of pure energy running beneath his skin, as if something vast were barely contained beneath the surface.
"You should be resting," Clea started.
"Can you do it?" Max interrupted, his voice carrying an edge of urgency. "Can you get us to where Mephisto is?"
Clea hesitated, then nodded slowly. "I can try. Using you as an anchor, your connection to the Source, and the Phoenix's connection to the White Hot Room—"
"Do it," Max said firmly. He looked around at the assembled Avengers.
"We won the battle," Max said, his voice carrying to all of them. "And now it is time to win the war."
He stepped forward, away from Thor's support, standing on his own despite the obvious strain it caused.
"We are going to kill the Devil himself."
.
.
.
The still alive Uranos and Apocalypse floated above a hellish landscape, writhing in agony.
Apocalypse was barely more than a torso, reduced to just his upper body, one arm still attached. The rest of him was nothing but cauterized stumps where his limbs had been severed.
Uranos was similarly devastated, his body missing all its limbs. Only his torso and head remained, suspended in the air, his screams echoing endlessly.
Of the nine Masters of Evil Mephisto had assembled, only these remained.
Standing among them was Reed Richards, or as he now preferred to be called, the Maker. He held Aurora, who slept in his hands. His body had returned to what it had looked like before he disguised himself. He now wore a helmet that covered half his face.
The armored Mephisto, the one who had assembled all nine of the devils in the first place, began to chant a spell.
Apocalypse and Uranos screamed louder, their voices combining into a single horrific wail.
Another Mephisto, the childlike one, brought forth the orange ring of Doom.
The ring moved toward where Apocalypse and Uranos floated.
Then they began to combine.
Flesh merged with flesh. Apocalypse's torso grafted onto Uranos's remains, the two beings fusing together with wet, tearing sounds. The orange ring embedded itself in the center of the combined chest, becoming the heart of this new abomination.
The thing that emerged was a nightmare made manifest.
It stood fifteen feet tall. Apocalypse's gray blue skin covered one half of the body, while Uranos's pale blue flesh dominated the other. The face was split down the middle, Apocalypse's harsh features on the left, complete with blue lips and glowing eyes, while Uranos's more refined but equally cruel visage occupied the right side. Four arms sprouted from the torso. The orange ring of power pulsed in its chest, orange energy flowing through the creature's veins and binding the two halves together.
"It is done," the armored Mephisto said, satisfaction clear in his voice. "It will be enough to handle the Cosmic Coven."
The Maker spoke up. "Let us not waste any time then."
"Silence, mortal," the dragon Mephisto screamed.
Prime Mephisto, the Mephisto of the universe from which they had taken Aurora, spoke up, raising a hand to stop further conflict. "If it were not for Reed, the child would never have been retrieved. He will, of course, be given a place of honor in our new reality once all is remade according to our design."
Prime Mephisto turned to the Maker. "Give me the child."
The Maker obliged, handing Aurora over without hesitation.
The Mephistos traveled through a portal and arrived at the very center of the multiverse.
Before them, a black hole stretched across infinite space. This was no ordinary singularity. This was the entrance to the God Quarry.
Prime Mephisto lifted Aurora up, and an emerald glow began to emanate from the infant, her connection to the Source activating involuntarily in response to the Quarry's proximity.
The glow allowed them to pass into the black hole itself.
Reality inverted. Time became meaningless. Space folded in on itself.
Then they arrived where the God Quarry truly was.
They stood on solid ground, or what passed for ground in this place beyond places. Above them, floating in the void, was a massive sphere. On its surface were bodies, thousands upon thousands of corpses of dead gods from across infinite realities. Celestials, entities whose forms defied comprehension, elder gods whose names had been forgotten by time itself. All of them dead. All of them preserved here in this cosmic graveyard.
Yes, there it was. The God Quarry.
The other Mephistos were not idle. They began to prepare a ritual, each erecting platforms.
"Is destabilizing the multiverse truly necessary?" the Maker asked, observing their preparations with curiosity.
"It will make things easier," Prime Mephisto replied. "When we begin to reshape the multiverse, it is best if everything is close to collapse."
They used Aurora as the center of the ritual.
The infant was lifted into the sky by invisible forces, her small body rising higher and higher until she hovered at the apex of the Mephistos' circle. The emerald glow intensified, becoming a beacon that lit up the entire realm. The God Quarry began to pulse in response, its surface shifting, the bodies of dead gods stirring as if awakening.
The entire place shook, reality itself groaning under the strain.
"It is done," Prime Mephisto said, satisfaction in his voice.
Three figures came flying toward them from the darkness beyond the Quarry.
"The Cosmic Coven," Mephisto said, unsurprised. "As expected."
The Maker squinted, trying to make out details of the approaching figures. "Hard to believe anything exists here other than dead gods."
"They are witches who stumbled upon the Quarry long ago and have used its power for their own purposes," Prime Mephisto explained. "It is time those greedy witches died."
With a single motion from all the Mephistos, the abomination they had created, the fusion of Apocalypse and Uranos bound by Doom's ring, began to fly toward the three approaching figures.
The armored Mephisto raised his arms, his voice booming across the realm. "Hear me, all of you. Now is the time. Our ascension. Now is the time of—"
He could not finish his speech as an amber portal opened behind them.
And out of it walked the Avengers.
Max stood at the center, his eyes blazing with emerald fire.
To his right stood Firehair, wreathed in phoenix flames. Odin, fully unleashing the Odinforce, held both Mjolnir and Stormbreaker. Thor stood beside his father, equally armed. Azzuri stood ready, Gram glowing with phoenix fire in his grip. Ghost stood fully transformed, crimson hellfire covering his entire form. Nur had grown in size, his presence imposing.
To Max's left stood Clea and Agamotto, both ready to unleash their mystical might. Fan stood with the Iron Fist glowing bright enough to rival the stars. Vnn stood with the Starbrand burning on his chest. And finally, Tony stood ready for battle in his suit.
Every single one of them looked ready for war.
Max's voice rang out across the God Quarry.
"AVENGERS... ASSEMBLE!"