-The Island-
Ikaris stared coldly at Natasha as she rocketed toward him, his expression unreadable. He leaped into the air with casual ease, dodging her initial strike without apparent effort.
But his attention wasn't on Natasha. His eyes—complex with emotion, regret, determination—locked onto Ajak standing among the group below.
He'd been certain he'd watched her die on that Arctic cliff. He'd changed his mind at the last second about taking her body because the Avengers' intervention meant he couldn't let the other Eternals discover the truth about the Emergence prematurely. The Avengers alone were problematic enough.
What he hadn't known—couldn't have known—was that the woman whose neck he'd snapped had been Christine Palmer. Which meant Doctor Strange had used the Time Stone to resurrect both her and Ajak.
His plan had unraveled completely.
"Stop, Ikaris!" Ajak's voice carried across the distance, pleading. "You can't defeat all of us!"
"Ensuring the birth of the Celestial is our purpose!" Ikaris shouted back, his voice raw with conflicted emotion. "I have no choice! I've never had a choice!"
He clenched his fists and dove toward the group below, cosmic energy building in his eyes.
Mysterio, standing protectively near Ajak, snorted. "Little overconfident, aren't we?"
He conjured emerald energy waves in both palms—enhanced with Rocket's technological upgrades—and fired them directly at the diving Eternal.
Ikaris's eyes narrowed. Twin beams of concentrated cosmic energy erupted from his gaze, striking Mysterio's attack head-on. The two forces collided in mid-air, creating a sphere of clashing power.
But Ikaris's heat vision was stronger. Much stronger. His beams pushed steadily through Mysterio's energy waves, forcing them backward.
Behind the fishbowl helmet, Quentin Beck's face tightened with alarm. "Stephen! Little help here!"
Strange's hands moved in precise patterns, orange mystical energy flowing from his fingertips. He poured power into Mysterio's attack, the Eldritch magic intertwining with technological energy to create something greater than either alone.
The combined assault finally matched Ikaris's output, creating a stalemate in the air between them.
But even with two attackers, Ikaris's heat vision was still slowly, steadily overwhelming them.
That's when Mjolnir came spinning through the air like a missile, aimed directly at Ikaris's head.
The Eternal sensed the incoming weapon and immediately cut off his heat vision, barrel-rolling to the side. The hammer passed within inches of his skull, the wind of its passage ruffling his hair.
Natasha burst through the dissipating energy, flying in fast with her fist cocked back. Lightning crackled around her knuckles—pure storm energy channeled through her body.
She swung with everything she had.
Ikaris caught her fist with one hand, his fingers closing around her knuckles like a vice. He held her suspended in mid-air, seemingly without effort.
Natasha's eyes widened in shock. The strength required to stop her momentum like that was—
Mjolnir came flying back, answering her call. Ikaris saw it coming and couldn't risk whether he could catch an enchanted Asgardian weapon. He released Natasha and dodged again, the hammer passing through the space his head had occupied a heartbeat before.
Natasha caught Mjolnir and put distance between herself and Ikaris, reassessing. His strength had surprised her—he'd stopped her punch like it was nothing.
From the ground, Gilgamesh had been watching the exchange. He sighed heavily, turned to Thena, and spoke quietly. "Stay back. This one's mine."
"Be careful," Thena said, her eyes distant but focused. The Mahd Wy'ry was held at bay for now, but she could feel it lurking at the edges of her consciousness.
Gilgamesh strode forward, energy manifestations forming around his fists—golden bracers of pure cosmic power. "I'll handle him!"
"Appreciated!" Strange called back.
Ikaris's expression tightened when he saw Gilgamesh approaching. As the strongest and most powerful Eternal in terms of raw physical might, Gilgamesh was one of the few who could actually hurt him in close combat. This wasn't good.
But Ikaris wasn't alone. He glanced toward the back of the group, catching Sprite's eye. While everyone's attention was focused on him, they'd missed the small Eternal making subtle hand gestures in his direction.
Sprite had always been troubled by her inability to age, to grow. She'd lived as a child for seven thousand years, watching civilizations rise and fall while remaining forever young. If Tiamut was born and they returned to the World Forge, everything would reset. She could finally be remade. Finally grow up.
So among the Eternals, Sprite was Ikaris's most reliable—and secret—ally.
Seeing Ikaris's signal, Sprite understood. It was time.
She took a deep breath, her illusion powers activating, and her form shimmered and vanished from sight.
Gilgamesh's massive fists clenched, the energy bracers glowing brighter. "Stop this, Ikaris! We shouldn't be fighting each other!"
"I told you," Ikaris said, his voice low and pained. "I have no choice. I never had a choice."
"Then I'll give you one!" Gilgamesh roared. "On the ground or unconscious—pick one!"
Ikaris's lips curved into a slight, sad smile. "You can't touch me."
He shot into the sky like a rocket, gaining altitude rapidly. From above, he fired his heat vision down at Gilgamesh.
The massive Eternal raised his arms, crossing them above his head. The cosmic energy bracers absorbed most of the beam's power, but the force still drove him backward, boots carving trenches in the rock.
Gilgamesh glanced at Strange and jerked his head—the signal they'd discussed.
Strange's hands moved immediately, tracing a circular portal that opened behind him. Gilgamesh didn't hesitate—he stepped backward through the gateway.
The moment Gilgamesh vanished from Ikaris's sight, the Eternal's tactical awareness screamed danger. He spun in mid-air—
A portal was opening directly behind him.
Gilgamesh emerged from it like a meteor, his fist already extended. The punch connected with Ikaris's hastily raised arm, and even blocking it, the force was tremendous. Ikaris was driven downward like a nail struck by a hammer, crashing into a small hill. Rock and dust exploded outward from the impact crater.
Gilgamesh began to fall, but Strange had already opened a second portal beneath him. He dropped through and emerged right over Ikaris's crash site.
But Ikaris had learned from being caught off-guard. The moment the portal's golden light appeared, he fired his heat vision preemptively.
Gilgamesh saw the beams coming and threw himself forward anyway, accepting the hit. The heat vision scorched his chest, but his cosmic energy armor absorbed most of it. He powered through and delivered another devastating punch.
Ikaris was blown backward dozens of meters, tumbling through the air before catching himself with flight. He steadied, then immediately rocketed forward, accelerating to supersonic speeds.
Another portal opened. Gilgamesh appeared right in Ikaris's flight path, fist cocked back for another strike—
But Ikaris had anticipated it this time. He pulled up sharply at the last instant, Gilgamesh's punch missing by inches. The massive Eternal's momentum carried him forward, off-balance, beginning to fall.
Ikaris flipped in mid-air and dove after him, firing concentrated heat vision at the vulnerable target.
Gilgamesh raised his arms desperately to block, but the sustained beam drove him downward, faster and faster, until he cratered into the ground with tremendous force.
Ikaris cut off his heat vision, breathing slightly harder. That had been close. Too close.
Then Natasha was on him again, Mjolnir blazing with accumulated lightning. She'd been gathering power during his fight with Gilgamesh, letting the storm charge the hammer to its maximum capacity.
She closed to striking range and released everything. A massive bolt of lightning erupted from Mjolnir, a column of pure electrical fury aimed directly at Ikaris.
The Eternal's eyes blazed. His heat vision met the lightning in mid-air, the two forces colliding with a thunderous crack. For a moment, they were evenly matched—cosmic energy versus divine storm.
But Mjolnir's charge had limits. The lightning began to weaken, the bolt thinning. Natasha gritted her teeth and raised the hammer defensively, but she was hovering in mid-air with no leverage, no way to brace herself.
Ikaris's heat vision struck the hammer and kept going, driving Natasha backward. She tumbled through the air, completely at the mercy of the beam's force.
Mysterio shot upward and caught her before she could crash, using his jets to arrest her fall. His expression behind the helmet was grim. "This guy's on another level. I don't think we can beat him. Only Thor or Carol could match this."
"I know," Natasha said, frustration evident in her voice. She'd given it everything, and it hadn't been enough. The gap in their power levels was too wide.
While Ikaris fought off the Avengers and Gilgamesh, Sersi and the others had used Makkari's speed to position themselves near the volcanic crater. They could feel Tiamut stirring beneath them, cosmic energy building, the Celestial preparing to emerge.
"I need physical contact," Sersi said, staring at the cracking ground. "But his hand hasn't broken through yet."
Phastos was already working, his hands moving in rapid patterns. "Then we buy time. Everyone—start forming the Uni-Mind. I'll set up a barrier to keep Ikaris off us."
He focused his power, and a shimmering dome of golden energy began forming around the group. It wasn't strong enough to hold Ikaris indefinitely, but it would slow him down. Give them precious seconds.
The Eternals—Sersi, Druig, Thena, Makkari, Kingo, and Phastos—activated their bracelets. Golden light flowed from each device, connecting them, linking their minds, pooling their power.
The Uni-Mind was forming. And when it was complete, they would have one chance—just one—to stop a god from being born.