Max looked at the ring in his palm. It was blackened, with green sparks dancing across its surface. It felt strange not having Jade in his head all the time. Having her there for nearly two decades straight, he had gotten used to her presence, the constant companionship, sometimes the voice of reason and guidance. She had become a part of him, woven into his thoughts and identity as thoroughly as his own memories.
He did not know what had happened. Jade had warned him he was overextending, and then he had grabbed the crystal Doom was using to channel the orange spectrum, and everything had gone wrong after that.
Max slid the ring onto his finger and tried to use his powers.
He was able to create a construct of a sword. The emerald blade formed in his hand. But something was fundamentally wrong.
Before, channeling the power of will had felt like wielding a precision instrument. Power flowed through him in measured amounts, controlled and refined. Now it felt overwhelming. The energy came rushing out all at once, uncontrolled and wild. The sword in his hand flickered and pulsed, its edges unstable, growing and shrinking erratically. He could feel the raw power of Will itself trying to pour through him without restraint, and it took all his concentration just to keep the construct from exploding outward in every direction.
The ring housed Jade. It also helped him channel his powers more effectively, acting as a regulator between the infinite energy of the Source and his finite mortal body.
Now it was damaged. Jade was gone. Maybe forever. It still worked somewhat, but it was like trying to play a violin with broken strings.
He kept staring at the ring, and all he could remember was his failure.
His daughter was gone, all because he had trusted the wrong person.
"Max."
He heard Firehair's voice from behind him and turned.
"We will find her," he said, not meeting her eyes.
"Yes," Firehair said softly, stepping closer. "Yes, we will."
Max turned to face her fully, and the words came pouring out before he could stop them. "It was my fault. Trusting Reed. I should have been more careful, and now..."
"Now Aurora is gone."
Firehair grabbed his hands.
"It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known. None of us knew. Reed deceived all of us."
They stood there for a moment, hands clasped, sharing their grief, fear, and desperate hope.
"We will do whatever it takes," Firehair said, her voice steady despite the tears streaming down her face. "Whatever it takes to find her and bring her home safe. I don't care what we have to do. We will get her back."
"Yes," Max agreed. "We will."
Firehair's expression changed slightly, becoming more intense, more urgent.
"Max, I need you to promise me something."
"Anything."
"Promise that you will do everything in your power..." Firehair paused, gripping his hands tighter. "Even if it seems like the worst has happened, even if everything looks hopeless, promise me you won't stop looking for her. That you'll never give up, no matter what you see, no matter what you're told."
Max felt a chill run down his spine. "What are you saying?"
She insisted, her eyes boring into his. "Promise me, Max. Please."
"Has the Phoenix told you something?" Max asked. He knew it had powers of foresight. Had it shown Firehair what was going to happen?
"Promise me."
"I promise."
Firehair pulled him close and kissed him. They pulled apart as someone cleared her throat to get their attention.
"Sorry, um... Agamotto, he... we are ready," Clea said, her cheeks slightly flushed.
Max turned to her. "Aldrif, right? Odin told me you're going to be married to Thor."
Clea's face changed instantly. "What? No. No. Me and that dunderhead? Bleh. Ugh. No, no, no. He's like a brother to me."
"Oh, sorry," Max said, slightly taken aback by her reaction.
He paused, then continued more seriously. "Thank you for helping us, and Thor too."
"Of course we did," Clea said, her expression softening. "Why wouldn't we help? There's no question of whether to help, only how."
Max looked her over more carefully, studying her features. Something about her was nagging at him, a sense of familiarity he could not quite place.
"You know, you look very familiar," Max said slowly.
Clea's eyes widened slightly. "We should really get going. The others are waiting."
=======
They arrived near where the others were gathered in the main courtyard of the Sanctuary.
All the Avengers were assembled. Odin, Thor, Azzuri, Nur, Ghost, Fan, Vnn, and Tony stood together. Agamotto stood at the center of the group, arguing heatedly with Odin.
"We obviously win," Odin was saying, his voice booming with confidence. "I myself survived. Thor here is evidence of my survival." He gestured broadly at his son. "My son also tells me Max is alive as well." He laughed. "That means we win. The future is secured."
"The past, present, and future are all in danger," Agamotto countered. "Everything is in danger. Their future can easily cease to exist here and now. We are dealing with the very foundations of reality itself."
"Damn it all," Odin muttered, his enthusiasm deflating slightly as Agamotto's words sank in.
Then he saw Max approaching.
"Grænlaðr, you look..."
He trailed off, the words dying in his throat as he took in Max's appearance.
Fan stepped forward, her expression worried. "Max..." The concern was shared by all of them. Nur, Azzuri, Ghost, even Vnn, they all looked worried as they studied their leader.
While Max was not breaking apart anymore, his body was weakened, and it showed. His body was thin, and his face looked gaunt, with dark circles under his eyes. He looked like a man who had been hollowed out from the inside.
"I'm fine," Max said to Fan, managing a small smile. "Don't worry. Really."
He looked around at all of them, taking in each face.
"I'm proud of all of you," Max said, his voice gaining strength. "They brought the fight to us before, attacked our home, took what was precious to us, and tried to break us. Now it is time we repay the favor. We are taking the fight to them, and we are not stopping until Aurora is safe and Mephisto is ended."
"We will save Aurora, Max," Nur said, his voice carrying absolute conviction. "I swear it."
The others echoed the sentiment, each in their own way.
Max felt something tighten in his chest, gratitude, pride, and love for these people who had become more than just friends. They were family, and they were going to war for his daughter.
"Thank you," Max said, his voice thick with emotion. "All of you. Thank you."
Agamotto stepped forward, breaking the moment with necessary urgency.
"I need both Max and Firehair's help in opening this portal to the Quarry of Creation,"
"Let's do it," Max said.
Suddenly, the entire Earth shook, and then the world around them simply started vanishing.
Mountains in the distance flickered and disappeared. The sky began to fragment, pieces of it dissolving into nothingness. The ground beneath their feet became translucent, showing an infinite void below.
"Agamotto!" they all said in unison, turning to the Sorcerer Supreme.
"It's not me," Agamotto said, his hands raised defensively. "I haven't even started the spell yet."
Agamotto and Clea immediately looked around, both of them casting spells, amber and green energy flowing around them as they analyzed what was happening.
They arrived at a horrible conclusion simultaneously.
"They are destabilizing the multiverse," Agamotto said, terrified. "If this continues, everything will..."
"No time to waste," Max cut in. "Get us to the God Quarry. Now."
Agamotto and Clea both moved into position, with Firehair on one side and Max on the other.
The world continued to disintegrate around them. Entire sections of the Sanctuary collapsed into nothingness.
A portal began to form, a massive tear in space that showed infinite darkness on the other side.
"Go!" Agamotto shouted.
They all ran toward the portal.
Max grabbed Firehair's hand as they sprinted forward. Behind them, the Earth itself was dissolving, ceasing to exist.
They dove through the portal just as the ground beneath their feet vanished completely.
.
.
.
"AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!"
The Maker watched as the God Quarry became a battlefield of cosmic proportions, hell lords and heroes clashing in a place where the corpses of dead gods lay.
Prime Mephisto fought Max and Odin together.
"Just like old times, Grænlaðr!" Odin called out, spinning Stormbreaker in one hand while Mjolnir crackled with lightning in the other.
"Emerald lightning!" Max shouted back, channeling green energy into a focused beam.
"Aha! Yes!" Odin laughed.
They combined their powers, Odin's lightning infused with Max's power of Will, creating bolts of green gold energy that screamed through the air. The combined assault struck Mephisto, driving the Hell Lord down toward the ground with tremendous force.
Mephisto countered with a blast from his hands, crimson energy erupting in a wave meant to consume them both.
But he was hit again before the attack could fully manifest, Odin coming from above with both hammers swinging in unison while Max created a massive emerald fist construct that struck from below. The combined force of Green Lantern and Odin drove Mephisto into the surface of the platform.
===========
Firehair fought the dragon and the serpent together. The Phoenix took on both Mephistos simultaneously, fully transformed, her entire body made of fire, no trace of the woman left, only the cosmic force burning with the fury of a billion suns.
"You will pay for laying your filthy hands on my daughter, beasts!" the Phoenix screamed.
The dragon Mephisto breathed black flames. The serpent Mephisto coiled and struck with fangs dripping venom. Together, they were a nightmare incarnate.
The Phoenix attacked with wings of golden red fire that cut through space itself. She created phoenix constructs, burning birds that exploded on impact, each one carrying enough power to destroy planets. Her telekinesis gripped both Mephistos and slammed them together.
It was a stalemate, but the Phoenix was pushing them back, inch by inch, her rage giving her strength that even the Hell Lords could not fully counter.
=========
The armored Mephisto battled Thor and Clea.
"Your tricks will not work on me, children!" the armored Mephisto roared, his gauntleted fist catching one of Thor's hammers mid swing and throwing the thunder god backward.
Clea used the most dangerous spell she knew, but Mephisto was able to counter it.
Thor recovered and charged again, this time coordinating with Clea, their attacks complementing each other in a dance of thunder and sorcery.
==========
Agamotto and Azzuri battled the bearded Mephisto, who resembled a pirate, complete with an eye patch.
"Ye think ye can stand against me, Sorcerer Supreme?" the pirate Mephisto mocked.
Agamotto struck with the Bolts of Balthakk, golden energy spearing toward the demon. Azzuri followed up with Gram, the blade cutting through the demon's defenses and drawing black blood.
"For Wakanda, for Bast!" Azzuri called out, the panther goddess's power flowing through him.
They worked together, Agamotto binding with the Chains of Krakkan while Azzuri struck at exposed weaknesses.
========
Vnn battled Mephisto in the suit. This version looked like a corrupt businessman, his three piece suit immaculate, his smile predatory and cold.
"You're just a child playing with powers you don't understand," the suited Mephisto said as he dodged a Starbrand blast.
Vnn responded by erupting with stellar fire, the Starbrand burning at full power. "Raarahhhhhhhhhhh!"
He created blasts of pure stellar energy, miniature suns that he hurled at the demon, each one exploding and damaging the suit, which only made Mephisto angry.
"Damn you, beast," Mephisto said as he flew to battle Vnn hand to hand, only for him to be pummeled to the ground.
===========
Ghost, Nur, Fan, and Tony battled the child, the fat Mephisto, and Lady Mephisto together.
The child Mephisto was perhaps the most disturbing, appearing no older than ten. The fat Mephisto was grotesque, his bulk moving with unexpected speed, his laughter echoing like thunder. Lady Mephisto was beautiful and deadly, her crimson dress clinged to her form.
Ghost attacked with crimson hellfire as he punched the fat Mephisto into the ground, striking him again and again so he could not get up.
Nur joined in with Ghost as he threw the child Mephisto toward him, only for Ghost to punch him away toward where Fan stood. With the power of Shou Lao focused in her fist, she struck the Mephisto down, but was surprised to see him laughing.
"That was fun. Let's do it again," he said.
Fan continued to punch him as Tony flew around, firing repulsor blasts against Lady Mephisto.
"Damn creepy demon child," Tony said as he watched the child Mephisto grab Fan by the throat and throw her away.
The child Mephisto giggled at Tony's comment. "Would you like to play with me, Tin Man?" the child asked in a sing song voice.
"Oh hell no," Tony said.
"You know, Anthony," Lady Mephisto purred, "you could replace your father by my side. Howard was adequate, but I suspect you have so much more potential."
She licked her lips, her tongue running slowly across her perfect teeth.
"I would very much like to see if the son has inherited the father's talents."
Tony shivered, his entire body reacting with instinctive revulsion.
"Okay, I really need to get out of here," he muttered.
==========
The Maker extended his body, stretching across the void and avoiding detection as the Avengers and Mephistos clashed below. He landed on the Quarry's surface and immediately understood the true nature of what he was standing on.
He could see faces frozen in death, their expressions capturing their final moments. Celestials with their distinctive helmets. Elder gods whose names had been lost to time, their divine essence crystallized into the structure itself, their power still radiating faintly even in death.
Bodies. Heads. Limbs. Organs. All compressed together, layered upon each other, each layer representing a different iteration of reality that had died and been recycled here.
The Maker knelt and placed his hand on the surface, feeling the residual power still thrumming through the dead divine flesh. This was the junction point of all creation, the place where universes came to die so that new ones could be born.
And somewhere inside this mass of divine corpses, buried deep within layers of dead gods, was the First Firmament itself.
He looked up and saw the abomination battling and winning against the witches, the Cosmic Coven.
The witches were ancient. They wove powerful spells. But the abomination was relentless, made of three powerful beings, and it was able to overpower the witches.
The Maker watched with cold fascination, already calculating how long until the witches fell, how long until the abomination turned its attention elsewhere, how long until the Mephistos' plan reached its critical phase.
The Mephistos were all planning on betraying each other. That much was obvious. Nine versions of the same being, each convinced of their own superiority, each scheming to be the one who ultimately claimed the First Firmament's power.
The Avengers finding themselves here was part of one of their plans, probably Prime's, though it could have been the woman. Yes, yes, the Lady Mephisto had always been the most subtle. It was always plans within plans with these demons, schemes layered so deep that even they sometimes lost track of who was manipulating whom.
And the Maker had calculated the perfect path for his own victory, threading the needle between all their competing conspiracies.
Then the Maker saw it. Prime Mephisto and the armored one broke away from the battle.
"Now!" Prime shouted, disengaging from his fight with Max and Odin with a burst of teleportation. The armored Mephisto blasted Thor and Clea backward with a wave of demonic energy, then flew upward to join Prime.
Together, they called to the abomination.
"Destroy them!" Prime commanded.
The four-armed beast turned away from the dying Cosmic Coven, two of the witches already fallen, the third barely clinging to life, and charged at the two father and child pairs.
The Maker waited for the two Mephistos to arrive on the Quarry's surface.
"Now," the armored one said, his voice muffled by his helmet. "We need to get to the center of it. We just need to breach the outer shell."
The Maker pulled a device from his coat, a small cylinder covered in circuitry. He moved closer to the armored Mephisto and pressed it against the demon's back.
The device activated with a high pitched whine.
The armored Mephisto convulsed, his entire body seizing up. At the same moment, Prime Mephisto cast a spell, crimson energy wrapping around the armored one like chains, paralyzing him completely.
"Wh... what are you..." the armored Mephisto managed to gasp out, his voice strained.
"Good work, Richards," Prime said, not even looking at the Maker. His attention was fixed on his paralyzed brother, his smile vicious.
He looked down at the armored Mephisto's frozen form. "Looks like I win, brother. Did you really think I did not know about your plan to absorb us all? Please. I decided on that the moment you brought me in."
"No... you..." the armored one managed to force out, his eyes shifting to look at the Maker with dawning comprehension.
Mephisto placed a hand on the armored one's helmet. "Thank you for your sacrifice, brother. Your power will serve a much greater purpose."
He began to chant a spell. Dark energy started flowing from the armored Mephisto's body into Prime's. The armored Mephisto screamed as his essence was drained away, his very existence being pulled into Prime.
But Prime did not stop there.
The spell extended outward, tendrils of dark energy reaching toward the other Mephistos still fighting below. The dragon Mephisto roared in fury as it felt the pull, trying to break away from the Phoenix. The serpent Mephisto uncoiled and attempted to flee. Lady Mephisto shrieked. The pirate Mephisto cursed. The suited Mephisto's composure finally cracked. The child Mephisto wailed. The fat Mephisto bellowed.
None of them could escape.
The tendrils wrapped around them all, pulling them away from their battles with the Avengers, dragging them through the air toward Prime like fish on hooks.
The Avengers watched in horror as Mephisto absorbed them all, every single alternate version of himself, pulling their power, their essence, their very existence into his own being. One by one, the demons dissolved into streams of dark energy that flowed into Prime's body.
Nine became eight. Eight became seven. Seven became six.
Each absorption made Prime larger, more powerful, more terrible.
Five. Four. Three. Two.
The last one, Lady Mephisto, screamed defiance even as she was consumed. "You'll regret this, you fool!"
Her voice cut off as she dissolved completely.
One.
Prime Mephisto began to grow.
His body expanded exponentially, becoming massive, gigantic. Twenty feet tall. Fifty. A hundred. Two hundred. He kept growing.
Crimson hellfire erupted all over his body, wreathing him in flames. Long horns emerged from his head. His eyes glowed deep red, twin furnaces of malevolence. He was five hundred feet tall now, a titan of hell made flesh, the combined power of nine Mephistos making him into something that had never existed before, a singular Devil stronger than any demon.
"ALL WILL BE MEPHISTO!" the titan roared, his voice shaking the void itself.
He raised both massive fists and punched downward into the Quarry. The impact was cataclysmic. The outer layer shattered like glass, fragments the size of mountains breaking away and tumbling into the void below.
The Maker made himself scarce, slipping away across the Quarry's broken surface.
He watched as the Green Lantern and the Phoenix flew up to battle Mephisto.
Below, the other Avengers continued battling the abomination, and the Sorcerer Supreme had finally spotted Aurora, who was being used as the conduit to destabilize the multiverse.
All was going according to plan.
Yes, yes, it was.
Not the Mephistos' plan. Not the Avengers' plan.
But the Maker's plan.