"It's over!" Ikaris laughed to himself.
His heart was racing, his gaze flickering as he searched for a way out.
"What's the matter, little Superman, don't you dare attack us?" Aron watched him with a playful smile.
"Why?"
"Ikaris?" Sersi looked at him with eyes full of disappointment.
She couldn't understand why Ikaris would ever do anything to her closest friend.
"Why?" she repeated.
"Our mission as Eternals is to give birth to a Celestial!" Ikaris shouted. "That is our duty! Ajak betrayed Arishem and therefore had to die!" As he spoke, he was backing away, step by step.
He didn't get far.
He felt heat at the back of his head, a cold metallic touch. Tony Stark had pressed the palm of his armor directly against him.
"My friend is right, little Superman," Tony said, closing his mask as the suit shifted into combat mode. "Next time remember to respect copyright."
The Marvel world also had DC Comics. Everyone knew who Tony meant.
"Stark, do you think your toys can stop me?" Ikaris didn't even turn his head. The chill in his voice was enough to show contempt.
He knew he stood no chance against Aron, but against a man who depended on technology, he felt much more confident.
"Really?"
Inside the armor, Tony just smiled. The temperature of his palm repulsor suddenly surged. "If I fire it at full power, I'll atomize you in one shot. How do you think you'll escape that?"
"Ikaris! Go! I'll hold them off!"
Sprite, the girl who looked no older than fifteen, suddenly raised her hand and summoned illusions.
In an instant, the entire area was filled with grotesque mutants. Roaring, leaping, they attacked like real creatures.
"Sir, be careful!" Jarvis warned Tony from inside.
"Jarvis, these are just illusions, calm dow—" Tony didn't even finish.
One of the monsters knocked him down.
Its fangs dug into the armor, scraping across vibranium plates, leaving marks.
"Oh, for God's sake! Weren't these supposed to be hallucinations!? Why are they biting me then!?" Tony groaned as two mutants dragged him along the ground. It took him a moment to get back on his feet.
"Have you lost your mind!? Sprite!"
"Ikaris killed Ajak! And you're still standing by him!?" Sersi tried to talk sense into her.
But before she could finish her sentence, the illusions of mutants had already charged at her.
"Good job, Sprite!" Ikaris used the chaos to soar into the sky.
But just as he ascended, a shadow loomed over him.
"Boring."
Aron stood above him, like a wall.
"Honestly, I thought your story would make more sense. And then it all ends up as conflict among yourselves. Even elementary school kids are more complex than this."
He shook his head. "Good thing I didn't waste time watching a movie about you. Could've lost two hours of my life."
As he spoke, an energy spear cut through the air.
Aron didn't even turn around. As if he had eyes on his back, he simply caught it with one hand.
The spear flickered, turned into pure golden energy, and dissipated into the air.
"Ikaris!"
"We received news from Sprite that you were attacked!"
It turned out the remaining members of the Eternals had rushed to the scene.
At the front was Gilgamesh.
The mind manipulator – Druig.
Superhuman speed – Makkari.
Kingo, who could fire cosmic energy projectiles from his fingertips.
Thena, whose weapon at that moment was an energy spear.
And the scientist among the Eternals – Phastos.
By now, they had already arrived to…
Count their dead Ajak.
The Eternals on Earth were now all gathered here at once.
Aron, for the second time, saw how much diversity existed among them.
He thought before: so much variety in one race.
Was this really a threat to peace?
After all, Thanos was also an Eternal.
Only Thanos belonged to the Eternals of Titan.
But either way…
The Eternals Aron knew already formed a colorful picture.
White, yellow, black, brown, and then Thanos's purple, almost reddish-orange.
It was hard not to suspect…
Maybe Thanos's obsession with collecting the Infinity Stones stemmed from his Eternal blood.
"Thena! Gilgamesh!"
"Ikaris killed Ajak! And he still wants to slaughter us!"
Seeing the others arrive, Sersi immediately revealed what had just happened.
"What!?" Several Eternals looked confused.
"Don't believe her!"
"Sersi betrayed us!"
"She sided with these people!"
"She wants to stop the birth of the Celestial! She's sabotaging our mission!" Ikaris stepped back, his voice full of conviction.
Immediately after him, Sprite stood up and said: "Ikaris is right, Sersi wants to stop the Celestial!"
"No!"
Sersi wanted to reply but froze, shocked.
It seemed that… Sprite and Ikaris were right.
Because as an Eternal, if she stopped the appearance of the Celestial, wasn't that betraying their mission?
But it was also the last wish of their leader, the late Ajak.
Sersi thought for a moment.
In the end, she decided to take a firm stand.
She would inherit Ajak's final wish to protect Earth and prevent the Celestial's emergence.
But the other members didn't know that, so when they saw her silence, they believed she agreed with the accusations.
"Sersi!"
"You really betrayed the Eternals!"
"Our mission is the Celestial, and it cannot be betrayed!"
Her silence turned, in everyone's eyes, into undeniable proof of betrayal.
It looked like confirmation of Ikaris's words.
From that moment on…
Most of the Eternals stood with Ikaris.
Only Makkari, wavering from one side to the other, seemed undecided.
As a deaf-mute, she had long communicated only through gestures and hands.
"..."
Aron froze.
It was almost laughable to him to watch this group of colorful clowns.
What was so complicated about this?
Just fight!
Whoever survives, that's the one who's right!
That's the truth!
"Alright, guys, quickly decide where you stand."
"So I don't end up killing the wrong person… though honestly, I don't even care if I do."
As Aron finished speaking, the space expanded.
In an instant, everyone present was enveloped by his power.
–––
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