Within the shadows of the Yggdrasil, the gods concealed there descended into chaos.
They had long avoided contact with external beings, yet they were not devoid of emotion.
When Knull, the dark god, suddenly detected their existence, born from the shadows, they could not help but succumb to panic.
"Damn it, Knull has found us."
"How could this happen? Knull merely glanced our way indirectly and discovered us? What kind of monster can achieve such a feat!"
"This is the power of an ancient Cosmic Being... The question now is, what do we do?"
"Do nothing, of course. Wait for Him to come to us. Are we to leave the shadows and attack Him ourselves? When have we ever done such a thing?"
The Those Who Sit Above In Shadow erupted into fierce debate.
Anger, anxiety, fear, and frustration consumed them, some even contemplating a desperate stand against Knull.
No one could fathom the turmoil of being exposed by a terrifying Cosmic Being after eons of hiding.
"It's all Adam's fault. Why couldn't he stop Knull? We fulfilled our promise, granting him the Yggdrasil's power, yet he failed to handle it."
"Yes, Adam failed. So what's your plan? Reclaim the Yggdrasil's power? You know that's impossible! Knull is still out there. If Adam falls, our fate won't be any better. We've already poured most of our divine power into him."
"Then urge Adam to kill Knull! If the power isn't enough, give him more, push him harder."
"The divine power we've provided is already immense. Give more, and we weaken ourselves, leaving us no chance to survive Knull."
"We can't place all our hopes on Adam. Besides, he gives me an intensely sinister vibe. His threat level is no less than Knull's."
Knull's intentions were clear and bold, but Adam's plans remained hidden until the last moment. For all they knew, Adam might already be acting in secret.
The Those Who Sit Above In Shadow understood their strategy: crafting a dangerous Cosmic Being to confront one who seemed an even greater threat.
They had no choice. As flawed as this plan was, it was infinitely better than leaving the shadows to fight themselves.
The Those Who Sit Above In Shadow reached out to Adam.
"Adam, what are you doing? Kill Knull already!"
"That evil god has sensed our presence. We must stop Him from entering the shadow world."
"Our existence must remain hidden from the other beings of the Yggdrasil. That's the line we cannot cross."
Through the chain of divine power, a torrent of cryptic whispers flooded Adam's mind.
"Shut up. I don't need your instructions. If you're so keen, do it yourselves instead of cowering and complaining."
Adam couldn't block the incessant whispers, transmitted as divine power and manifesting as mystical runes under his control.
He felt another surge of divine power, meager, but he knew it was the last the Those Who Sit Above In Shadow could muster.
Good. He'd squeezed yet another wave from them.
Yet Adam found the Those Who Sit Above In Shadow less helpful than obstructive.
It made sense. He couldn't expect much from beings born and destined to die in the shadows.
Knull, the evil god born from darkness, could wield the Necrosword and rampage across the universe, never clinging to the dark.
The Those Who Sit Above In Shadow, however, refused to leave the shadows that birthed them, even at the cost of their lives.
No matter. Adam had never placed much faith in them. His true hope lay in a trump card he'd held for ages, Moira.
From a vast distance, he issued his command to Moira.
"Charles, still no sign of Destiny? Where is she, and why is she ignoring us at this critical moment?"
Magneto, master of one of the universe's four fundamental forces, was fraught with anxiety. He sensed the ferocity of the cosmic battle more acutely than most, the universe itself rocking like a ship in a storm.
Professor X removed the Cerebro helmet once more, his expression calm. "She hasn't contacted us in a long time. Perhaps she's uncovered something vital. A mutant who communes with fate is beyond our understanding. I only hope her choice proves right in the end."
"If destruction is inevitable, right or wrong won't matter. That's why I need to know what she saw in fate's visions."
This time, Professor X remained silent, quietly awaiting the outcome.
The crisis threatening mutants came not from S.H.I.E.L.D., nor anti-mutant factions, nor even Adam, who used superhumans as Xenomorph hosts yet paid little heed to their kind.
Instead, it was an evil god from the universe's depths, whose mere shockwaves endangered mutants and all of humanity.
"Destiny, I hope you've aligned with fate once again…" Professor X sighed softly.
Destiny had indeed acted, months earlier.
Hidden in Earth's oceans, blending with countless ordinary Xenomorphs, an unremarkable Xenomorph raised its head.
Its sleek, elongated skull parted the restless waves.
"It's finally my turn… no, our turn."
Moira's heart was heavy with unease. She had never been part of a war on this scale.
In past crises, including all her experiences across two previous lives, she had never faced opponents like Cosmic Beings.
Now, with Adam holding the front line, carving out a wide enough gap, he had created the perfect conditions for Moira to shine.
"Don't be nervous. We've prepared for so long, haven't we been waiting for this moment? Rather than fleeing fate, why not seize it?"
Destiny stood on the ocean's surface, gazing at Moira. Beneath her featureless mask, her thoughts burned like molten lava.
The day had finally arrived. Destiny had prepared for this moment for far too long.
Soon, she would no longer be a mutant limited to glimpsing fragmented visions of the river of fate, she would become fate itself.
In Moira's presence, Destiny slashed her own throat, blood splashing onto Moira.
"We will become fate, with my ability to read fractured destinies and your power to restart the universe."
Destiny spoke: "We've worked so hard, and we're one step away. I believe Adam is awaiting your performance."
"Is it truly worth it? We've tested this many times in secret, but when it succeeds, you'll die. You're giving your life to complete me." Moira said, struggling to comprehend.
"In the concept of fate, life and death are indistinct, without rigid boundaries. They are all part of fate."
Moira said nothing more and began to wield her power.
In the next instant, a mighty divine force descended, forming a giant hand that seized Moira, shattering space and time to bring her before Adam.
"Moira, it's your turn. Don't disappoint me." Adam said calmly, as if discussing a mundane meal. "I've seen your efforts clearly, I understand your thoughts, and I know you can wield the power to master fate as you and Destiny envisioned. If you succeed, Knull will become our plaything, and the thing I've imagined will soon come to pass."
Moira didn't know what "thing" Adam referred to, but it didn't matter. As long as Adam had a plan, she needed only to follow orders.
Under Adam's watchful gaze, Moira prepared to act.
Knull observed Moira, this unremarkable Xenomorph, devoid of potent magical aura, striking divine power, or even basic immense energy.
"This is your final gambit? A common Xenomorph? If you'd brought a Queen, I might have paid attention, but this one isn't even that!"
Knull sneered, unable to fathom Adam's strategy, even as a Cosmic Being.
His instincts warned that Adam's next move would be perilous, but logic insisted a mere Xenomorph was useless.
Knull moved to destroy Moira, but Adam stepped forward, intercepting every assault, shielding Moira fiercely.
"Vulgar god, no matter how ancient or mighty, you remain vulgar. For such a being, I've crafted a comprehensive plan for your end. Knull, you should feel honored. You're worthy of a scheme I've personally designed to make you wish for death. Perhaps eons from now, when the universe collapses and the multiverse crumbles, you'll have the privilege of witnessing as part of me."
"A joke! You and that Xenomorph by your side?"
"You'll see soon enough."
Moira unleashed her ability.
Under countless curious and skeptical gazes, time began to twist in eerie ways, interwoven with the power of fate.
On Earth, the Ancient One sensed the anomaly first, drawing the Time Stone to probe the shifting currents of time.
Mephisto, too, noticed something amiss. Hailing from the hell dimension, his lifeform differed from multiversal natives, his true self typically immune to single-universe temporal shifts.
"Time is changing."
"Not simple acceleration or reversal, local severance? No, it's excising a region."
The Ancient One and Mephisto spoke in turn, their faces etched with profound astonishment.
They soon grasped the staggering scope of Moira's power.
Local time began to loop, head to tail, as if a fragment of the universe's fated path had been sliced away, time cycling endlessly within it like an ouroboros devouring its own tail.
Knull, already weakened by Adam's onslaught, was the core of this cycle.
Bound by localized time, he became the severed fragment.
Horror and boundless rage contorted Knull's face.
The evil god struggled, but Adam's relentless blows, cascades of divine runes, thwarted every attempt to break the temporal chains.
"How can this be? I am a Cosmic Being! Even the Creator Gods and the Celestial Host cannot slay me. How can you, with this Xenomorph, do this to me?!"
Knull's disbelief was palpable, defying all logic. As a Cosmic Being, he was even less able to comprehend the events unfolding.
Adam replied, "Your confusion is natural. Understanding would be unnatural. Moira is the most unique of all my Xenomorphs. She may not have been the strongest before, but now she might be."
How powerful was Moira? One phrase sufficed: universal reboot, or reincarnation.
Moira's ability was to be reborn repeatedly, returning to her life's starting point, dragging the entire universe into temporal regression alongside her.
No matter how she died, whether of old age or untimely tragedy, the universe bore the cost. Countless planets, countless lives, were held hostage, forced to reset with her rebirth.
From a long enough perspective, Moira's power was a dreadful curse affixed to the cosmos. The universe's existence hinged on her lifespan.
Even Cosmic Beings, unless they transcended single universes at a multiversal level, could not escape her resets.
Adam couldn't confirm if Moira was an Omega-level mutant, with boundless potential and an immortal soul. She appeared ordinary, lacking overt supernatural might, yet for most beings, she was a nightmare.
Naturally, the Creator Gods, with multiversal true forms, were unaffected by Moira. At most, their avatars in a single universe might be impacted.
Now, through Destiny and Adam, Moira had fully harnessed her power. She redirected her ability to reboot the entire universe, focusing it solely on Knull, with astonishing efficacy.
Adam suspected that some who glimpsed Moira's true nature might even approve, eager for her to trap Knull in an infinite loop.
Let Knull, the evil god, bear Moira's fate. It was a boon for the cosmos, a vital act of redemption.
Knull, the Symbiote God, was truly a great deity. He burned himself to save the world, restoring the universe to order.
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