-The Island-
Ikaris slowly opened his eyes, his gaze locking onto Makkari as she materialized before him. His expression remained unchanged—he'd known she would find this place eventually.
He just hadn't expected her to arrive quite so quickly.
'Why did you kill Ajak?' Makkari's hands moved in rapid sign language, her face contorted with anger and grief.
Ikaris's eyes narrowed slightly. The fact that Makkari was certain he was the murderer meant his attempt to frame the Deviants had failed. Someone had unraveled his plan.
'The Avengers,' he thought with growing suspicion. 'They must have saved her.'
Even now, he didn't realize the woman whose neck he'd snapped on that Arctic cliff was Christine Palmer. She'd appeared in the broadcasts for less than a second during Tony's wedding vision—a bride in white he'd never consciously registered.
But there was no time for such reflections. Makkari was here, which meant the others weren't far behind. He couldn't allow them to reach the island before the Emergence completed.
Without warning, Ikaris focused cosmic energy into his eyes. Twin beams of concentrated power erupted from his gaze, lancing directly toward Makkari.
The speedster blurred, moving faster than human perception could follow. The energy beams struck empty air where she'd been a microsecond before.
Makkari's expression shifted from shock to grim determination. She'd hoped—prayed—that Ikaris could be reasoned with, that his attack on Ajak had been some terrible misunderstanding.
But no. The man before her had made his choice. He was no longer their brother. He was their enemy.
Her form flickered, then she slammed into Ikaris with the force of a meteor strike. The kinetic energy from her supersonic velocity was tremendous, enough to level buildings. Ikaris was blown backward, tumbling through the air before catching himself with flight.
But Makkari didn't press the attack. She knew her limitations—in a sustained fight, Ikaris would destroy her. Her mission had been reconnaissance, not combat.
She became a blur of motion, a beam of light that streaked across the island and vanished over the horizon, moving so fast she left a sonic boom in her wake.
By the time Ikaris took to the sky in pursuit, she was already gone, her speed carrying her beyond even his enhanced senses.
-S.W.O.R.D. Headquarters-
"Thank God she didn't try to fight him," Hill breathed, watching the satellite feed.
Fury's expression was grim. "She's smart. Her job was to find the location and get out alive. Mission accomplished."
He studied Ikaris on the screen—the Eternal had landed back on his boulder, resuming his vigil. "He's dug in now. Stopping the Emergence is going to be a hell of a fight."
"How long until Captain Marvel and Thor arrive?" Hill asked, checking the tactical display.
"Still forty minutes out," Fury said. "They're the only ones with the raw power to go toe-to-toe with this guy. Everyone else would be a liability."
He'd seen the impact of Makkari's strike. The speedster had hit Ikaris with enough force to crater concrete, and he'd barely reacted. Speed translated to kinetic energy—and apart from monsters like the Hulk, Fury was certain 99% of Earth's enhanced individuals would have been pulverized by that blow.
Pietro Maximoff, watching from the briefing room, felt a chill run down his spine. Makkari's speed had far exceeded his own maximum velocity—and she'd done it while carrying enough mass to hit like a cannonball. He couldn't even approach that level. They weren't in the same league at all.
-The Domo-
Back aboard the ancient vessel, Makkari signed frantically, explaining everything that had transpired on the island to the assembled Eternals.
Doctor Strange's jaw clenched, his hands tightening into fists. He wanted revenge against Ikaris—wanted to make him pay for killing Christine, even if Strange had reversed it. But he wasn't delusional. In a straight fight, Ikaris would obliterate him before he could finish a single spell.
Revenge would have to wait. The Emergence took priority.
Phastos was already working, his hands moving in a blur of motion as cosmic energy flowed from his fingertips. He'd taken Ajak's communication sphere—the artifact she'd used to commune with Arishem the Judge—and was systematically dismantling it, reforging its components into something new.
Within minutes, he held up nine identical bracelets, each one pulsing with golden light.
"These will link our minds," Phastos explained, his voice carrying the weight of millennia of scientific knowledge. "Pool our power into a single individual. We call it the Uni-Mind."
He distributed the bracelets to each Eternal. "Whoever wears these and activates them will wield the combined strength of all of us. It might be enough to stop Tiamut."
Sersi looked at the bracelet on her wrist, feeling its potential thrumming beneath her skin. "How does it work?"
"Concentration and will," Phastos said. "You focus, we focus, and the connection forms. Our power becomes yours to command."
Druig studied his own bracelet thoughtfully. "This technology... it wasn't designed for us, was it? Arishem built it to communicate with Celestials."
"Exactly," Phastos confirmed. "Which means the Uni-Mind can potentially access Tiamut's consciousness as well. For a moment—just a moment—Sersi might be able to use his own power against him."
That was their only chance. Sersi's molecular manipulation abilities, amplified by the Uni-Mind, channeling Tiamut's own cosmic energy to transmute his form into stone before he could fully emerge.
It was desperate. It was dangerous. It might not even work.
But it was all they had.
The Eternals moved to their quarters to don their battle armor—suits they hadn't worn since the team disbanded five centuries ago. The advanced technology interfaced with their cosmic energy, amplifying their natural abilities.
Because Ikaris had never attacked Sersi in this timeline, and because Kro had been killed by Natasha before he could drain more Eternal energy, all nine Eternals were now preparing to face the Emergence together.
Sprite, despite hating the eternal child-form her powers had locked her into, wouldn't abandon her family. Neither would Kingo, despite his doubts about opposing the Celestials' design.
They were a family. And families stood together.
While the Eternals prepared, the Avengers held their own tactical briefing.
"The Eternals need time to establish the Uni-Mind connection," Strange said, projecting a holographic map of the island. "That means our job is simple: keep Ikaris away from them. Especially away from Sersi."
"His biggest advantage is flight and speed," Natasha observed, spinning Mjolnir thoughtfully. "Most of you can't match that. Sam, Bucky, Steve, T'Challa—you're all ground-bound. He'll just fly circles around you."
T'Challa, who'd rushed in from Wakanda when the crisis became clear, nodded grimly. "Then we focus on support. Create openings for those who can engage him."
"I can fly," Natasha said, the hammer crackling with barely contained lightning. "And I want first shot at him."
"I'll provide covering fire," Mysterio added, his face serious behind the fishbowl helmet. "My drones can create tactical distractions. Maybe give you the opening you need."
Natasha gave him a nod of respect. "Appreciated."
"If I can get close enough, I'll trap him in the Mirror Dimension," Strange said, his voice tight with barely controlled anger. "Lock him in there until he starves or ages out."
Barton shook his head. "He's lived for seven thousand years, Stephen. Starving him out won't be quick."
"Besides," Pietro added with a meaningful look, "you need to worry about yourself. Don't let revenge make you sloppy. This guy can fly faster than I can run, and he could vaporize you before you finish a hand gesture."
Strange's jaw clenched, but he nodded. Pietro was right, damn him.
With the plan set, Ajak made a decision: they wouldn't take the Domo. Strange's portals were faster, and the ship would be a massive target Ikaris could destroy before they even landed.
"Everyone ready?" Strange asked, his hands already moving in the circular patterns that would open the portal.
They nodded, grim-faced but determined.
Strange completed the gesture. A ring of sparking golden light materialized, expanding to show the volcanic island beyond. They could see Ikaris in the distance, still waiting on his boulder. Behind him, the island's rock was fracturing, glowing cracks spreading across the ground as something enormous stirred beneath.
"For Earth," Ajak said quietly.
They stepped through.
-The Island-
The moment they emerged, the situation's urgency became viscerally apparent. The nearby volcano was actively erupting, smoke and ash billowing into the sky. The ground trembled constantly—not earthquakes, but the movement of something impossibly large trying to push through the planet's crust.
"I need to get close," Sersi said, her voice tight with stress. "Very close. I have to make physical contact to transmute him."
"Then we clear you a path," Natasha said firmly. She raised Mjolnir high, lightning crackling along its surface. "Let's go to work."
She shot into the sky like a missile, flying directly toward Ikaris. S.W.O.R.D.'s satellites tracked every movement, feeding tactical data to the team.
-Around the World-
As the final battle began on a remote island, extreme weather continued to ravage the planet. Earth's consciousness was in full panic now, throwing everything it had at humanity in a desperate attempt to prevent Tiamut's emergence.
Hurricane-force winds battered coastal cities. Earthquakes of unprecedented magnitude struck the Ring of Fire. Volcanoes that had been dormant for centuries suddenly erupted. Tsunamis crashed against shorelines.
Humanity watched the skies darken and wondered if this was the end.
But on that island, a small group of immortals and heroes were fighting to ensure it wasn't.