Text appeared on the screen. "In the beginning, before the six singularities and the dawn of creation, came the Celestials."
"Six singularities as in the Infinity Stones?" Wong said.
"Celestials? Oh, hell no," said Quill.
"Like Knowhere and your father?" Sam asked.
The Eternals choked. "Your what?" Ikaris said, astonished.
"You're the son of a Celestial?" Kingo said, wide-eyed.
"Yeah, and so is Mantis. She's my sister and we killed our Celestial father, Ego," Quill replied. "He was a dick."
"Yes, he was," Mantis agreed.
The Eternals stared at Quill and Mantis in awe and complete confusion while the Avengers and the rest of the Guardians were highly amused. Eros blinked; his niece was dating the son of a Celestial?
"You killed a Celestial? Is having a Celestial as a father even possible?" Phastos questioned in disbelief.
"I'm...not sure," Ajak said, lost. Did Ego create Quill and Mantis like the Arishem created them or was he talking about biological creation?
"It's possible," Quill said. "Ego went on a tangent about how he was a Celestial and had seeds planted in planets. He wanted to create new extensions of himself to fulfill life's one true purpose—to grow and spread."
"That's all he ever talked about when I was living with him," Mantis added.
Ajak and Ikaris blanched and exchanged an alarmed look.
"Does Arishem know?" Makkari signed, asking Ajak.
Ajak shook her head. "If he knows then he never told me. I've never heard of Ego," she said while signing. But Quill and Mantis have to be the children of a Celestial since Quill was uncomfortably close to the true reason of why the Eternals were on Earth.
"You two must be very powerful," Thena told Quill and Mantis.
"Oh! Uh, yeah. Obviously, I'm very powerful. I'm known as the legendary Star-Lord," Quill said, puffing his chest out. The Avengers and Guardians roared with laughter causing him to shoot them a dirty look.
"Thank you!" Mantis said brightly.
"Arishem, the Prime Celestial, created the first sun and brought light into the universe. Life began and thrived. All was in balance."
"What do you mean by 'created the first sun'? What about the Big Bang Theory?" Jane said.
"The Celestials created life. They're responsible for the Big Bang Theory," said Ajak.
Gamora snorted. "More like destroyed it. Or have you not heard about that one Celestial who destroyed an entire planet with the Power Stone?"
The Eternals were dumbfounded. "I'm sorry, what?" Sprite said.
"For people who were sent by the Celestials, you don't seem to know much about them," said Valkyrie.
"Until an unnatural species of predator emerged from deep space to feed on intelligent life—they were known as the Deviants. The universe was plunged into chaos. To restore the natural order, Arishem sent Eternals—immortal heroes from the planet Olympia—to eliminate the Deviants."
Eros raised an eyebrow. So, the Eternals on Earth still believed the lies that the Celestials were feeding them.
"Deviants are disgusting beings. It was a pain fighting them," said Thor.
Gilgamesh clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You did your best fighting them," he laughed. He remembered when Thor had been a young man, eager to slay monsters and prove himself in battle.
"And thankfully, the Deviants are all gone," said Phastos.
"Eternals had unyielding faith in Arishem until one mission, led by the Prime Eternal, Ajak, changed everything..."
The Eternals furrowed their brows. Which mission?
The Domo flew past the Sun in 5000 BC. A statue of Arishem formed the Celestial Communication Sphere and it entered Ajak's body at the level of her chest. "It is time," she said.
Eros noted that Ajak had to know of the Eternals' true purpose as the Prime Eternal, but he didn't know if any of the others knew and he was sure that not all of them knew. He had Titan's communication sphere, but he rarely spoke to Arishem and didn't want to speak to him either. The Celestials were wrong in wanting to destroy planets to create new galaxies; none of it helped Titan in the end. If the rest of the Eternals didn't find out by the end of this what the Celestials do to Eternals after an Emergence, he'd tell them himself. They deserved to know that they were artificially created and their memories get reset.
The ten Eternals suited up in their suits using cosmic energy.
The Avengers and Guardians appreciated the Eternals' suits; they were intricate and beautiful.
"Eros' suit looks the same too," Nebula said.
"Well, I am an Eternal, just not one on Earth," Eros said.
"Oh, all of you guys have the same cosmic energy from the Celestials," America noted.
Quill and Mantis wondered if they had the same Celestial cosmic energy. Did the Celestials gift the cosmic energy to the Eternals? Mantis knew she never had the Celestial gene, but as far as Quill knew, his Celestial powers died when Ego did and honestly, he preferred that.
Sersi walked over to the window where Ikaris was standing. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said, looking at Earth. The two introduced themselves.
"It is pretty great," Thor agreed. He never expected to have a soft spot for Earth, but it was his home now.
Eros' heart twisted. Titan had been beautiful once too; he loved that planet more than anything, but it was unlivable now.
"Wait, so you two are Sersi and Ikaris, but what about the rest of you guys?" Carol asked.
"Besides Ikaris and I, there's Ajak, Thena, Gilgamesh, Kingo, Sprite, Makkari, Druig, and Phastos," Sersi said, pointing to each one.
"And Eros, an Eternal from Titan. Brother of Thanos," Gamora said, eyeing her uncle. She and Nebula didn't know what to make of him yet.
Eros sighed. He understood Nebula and Gamora's hesitation because Thanos hadn't been kind to them at all, and he knew how cruel he could be, but he wasn't like his brother and didn't want to be like him either. He hoped Nebula and Gamora understood that in time. He'd like to have a good relationship with his nieces if they let him; he didn't have much family left—Thanos, Gamora, and Nebula were the only ones alive. The other Eternals from Titan were dead and he ran off with the communication sphere after Titan's destruction, his parents were dead, and his relationship with Thanos was...complicated.
"No wonder you guys know Thor. Those are a lot of mythological names," said Peter.
The Eternals groaned. "They're either named after us or we were mistaken for the real versions," said Phastos.
"Of the top of my head, I know Sersi, Ikaris, Ajak, Thena, and Phastos are Circe, Icarus, Ajax, Athena, and Hephaestus from Greek mythology, Makkari is Mercury from Roman mythology, Gilgamesh is, obviously, from Mesopotamian mythology, Sprite and Druig are the sprites and druids from Celtic mythology, and Kingo is Kingu from Babylonian mythology," Steven explained.
"Pretty much, yeah," said Druig.
"Plus, Eros and Thanos are weirdly like Eros and Thanatos from Greek mythology. Eros, the Greek god of love and Thanatos, the personification of death ," Stephen stressed.
"Death certainly follows Thanos wherever he goes," Tony grumbled, causing Eros to wince.
"No Egyptian mythology?" Layla asked the Eternals.
"We spent some time there and hung out with the Ennead and their avatars, but they were infuriating," said Gilgamesh.
The Avengers laughed loudly.
"Sounds about right," said Marc.
A young boy cut open a fish and his father speared a fish on the beach in Mesopotamia, in 5000 BC.
The humans' jaws dropped at seeing Mesopotamia back in 5000 BC. They weren't surprised that the Eternals first appeared in Mesopotamia, the birthplace of civilization. It, along with the Egyptian, Indus Valley, and Chinese, were the earliest civilizations.
"5000 BC? Thor and Loki weren't even born then and wouldn't be born for another 5500 years," Bruce said.
"And I thought Steve was old," said Tony, causing Steve to chuckle. However, he thought Tony was right. 100 years was minuscule compared to 7000 years.
"I doubt Hela and Valkyrie have been born either," said Loki.
"I wasn't. I'm around 2300 years old," Valkyrie said.
"Wait, is Sprite 7000 years too? She looks like a kid..." Scott trailed off.
Sprite's face soured and the rest of the Eternals grimaced. "Yes, I'm 7000 years old!" she snapped. The rest of them found it strange to think that someone who physically looked like a child wasn't truly a child but was much, much older than the rest combined even adding Thor, Loki, and Valkyrie's ages.
"Thanks to Sprite, I'm pretty famous in Mesopotamia," Gilgamesh said, proudly.
"Thousands of years later and everyone still knows about the Epic of Gilgamesh," Thena said fondly.
"It's coming! Run! " a villager yelled in Sumerian. The boy cried out for his father, who was eaten by a Deviant.
There was a collective gasp.
"Oh man, that's brutal," said Kate.
"It's not like their life spans would be long in those days anyway," said Rhodey.
"Dude."
The Deviant nearly attacked the boy as well before it was shot back by laser beams.
"Ah, there's Ikaris," Kingo said, proudly.
The boy looked back to see five Eternals, including Ikaris who was flying in the air. Ikaris shot laser beams from his eyes at the Deviant and flew toward it, punching it and driving it away from shore.
"You can shoot lasers out of your eyes? Nice," Shang-Chi said, impressed.
"Thanks," Ikaris laughed.
Sersi's heart clenched at hearing his laugh, but she purposefully ignored him and told herself that she moved on. She casually dated here and there, but hadn't found anyone she truly liked. However, Ikaris wasn't going to be an option again, she wasn't going to get back together with him; he was the one who left her .
Another Deviant almost attacked the boy before Makkari saved him by getting him out of harm's way with her super-speed. She got other villagers out of harm's way as well.
"Oh...super-speed," Wanda said with a watery smile. Makkari's speed looked different than Pietro's and she was pretty sure that Makkari was faster.
Kingo shot energy spheres from his fingers at a Deviant, and Makkari used a sonic boom to throw it back. He conjured a larger sphere and killed the Deviant in one shot. " Good fight," he signed. "You too," she signed back.
"We always fought well together," Makkari signed.
Kingo grinned. "We did."
Gilgamesh used his cosmic energy to project a powerful exoskeleton around his fist and forearm, and slapped a Deviant.
The Avengers and Guardians' brows shot up.
"That was amazing!" Drax said, highly impressed.
Thena ran behind the creature and sliced it with her conjured cosmic spears. Gilgamesh punched the creature, allowing Thena to jump on top of it and stab its head, killing it. She gracefully jumped back onto the ground and took Gilgamesh's hand.
Thor and Loki thought that Thena had similar abilities as Hela, but looked and acted like the antithesis of her. The humans and Asgardians realized that, of course, Thena would be a warrior since she was mistaken for Athena, the Greek Goddess of War.
Thena longingly looked at herself fighting in battle. She missed it. She was a fighter, what was she doing sitting on a ranch in Australia with Gilgamesh? She appreciated everything he did for her, helping her with her Mahd Wy'ry, but she wanted to fight. That's who she was, but what if she couldn't fight anymore?
Meanwhile, Ikaris was chasing a Deviant, shooting lasers and punching it, finally killing it.
"I knew it wouldn't take long," said Sprite.
The Domo revealed itself to the Mesopotamian villagers. The other five Eternals—Phastos, Druig, Sersi, Ajak, and Sprite—landed on the soil.
The non-Eternals realized that the first five were the fighters of the group and the other five weren't. They were sure that they weren't any less useful, just in a different way.
The villagers pointed their crudely-made weapons at the Eternals, but Druig used his mind-control abilities to make them drop them.
The Avengers stiffened.
"You have mind-control powers?" Bucky warily asked Druig, who nodded.
Ajak used her healing abilities to heal a wound on Ikaris' shoulder. "Thank you, Ajak," he said warmly.
"I wish one of us had healing abilities. It would've been so much easier," Clint grumbled.
"We should've gotten the God of Healing on the team instead of the God of Thunder," said Natasha.
"Hey!" Thor said, offended.
"What powers do you have?" Nebula asked Eros.
"I can make other people...feel good around me. Pleasure stimulation," Eros explained.
Everyone's brows shot up.
"What," Gamora said, deadpan. Nebula looked at Eros incredulously and Quill roared with laughter. He thought Gamora's family was getting more and more weirder.
Mantis's eyes lit up. "Kind of like me! I'm an empath and I have emotion manipulation powers too."
"Sort of like that, yes," Eros smiled.
The ten Eternals faced the Mesopotamians.
The humans couldn't help but feel amazed at seeing the Eternals back in 5000 BC. Humanity had tremendously changed since then and was unrecognizable—civilizations and empires had risen and fallen, but the Eternals were constant. How much had they seen? How much had they experienced? They must have incredible stories about their experiences throughout their time on Earth. The Eternals had known Thor and Loki since they were children and that was comparatively recent to them.
With Ajak's blessing, Sersi picked up a flint knife and transformed it into a more durable blue and gold metal one.
The sorcerers and witch looked at Sersi with curiosity. "Transmutation," Wanda said, feeling proud of herself for identifying that particular piece of magic. "I can do the same thing with my magic."
"Magic? Are you a sorcerer or a witch?" Sersi asked.
"Witch. They're the sorcerers," Wanda said, pointing to Stephen, Wong, Clea, and America.
"How is the Ancient One?" Sersi asked them.
Wong and Stephen blinked. "You know the Ancient...of course, you do," Stephen said. Circe was the goddess of sorcery, witchcraft, and transmutation in Greek mythology with a proclivity for metamorphosis so he supposed that the actual Sersi would've known the Sorcerer Supreme, who'd lived for centuries. "Unfortunately, she died a few years ago. She was my mentor."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Who's currently the Sorcerer Supreme?"
"Me," Wong said. "Do you actually turn men into animals?"
Sersi sighed and looked at Sprite, who snickered. "No, I don't. You couldn't have come up with a better story for me?" Sersi asked her.
"It's funny!" Sprite laughed.
Shang-Chi wondered if the Eternals knew his dad too.
She handed it over to a local boy whose father had been killed by the Deviants.
"Poor kid. The knife won't make up for losing his father, but at least he won't be stuck with the flint knife anymore," said Tony.
In the present day, Sersi was in London when she came across a billboard featuring artifacts that shaped human history, and she recognized the metal knife she gave to the Mesopotamian boy 7,000 years earlier. She took a picture of it on her phone.
The Avengers and Guardians were taken aback by the whiplash at seeing Sersi in Mesopotamia in 5000 BC and then seeing her in London in the 2020s, not having aged a day. Everyone laughed at seeing the metal knife that Sersi had created on a billboard.
"I see artifacts like that now and then, and it's always surreal to me," said Sersi.
"But it definitely shaped human history," said Bruce. His mind couldn't stop thinking about the impact that the metal knife had on history and how it would've advanced humanity. What other things did the Eternals influence? The Asgardians had largely stayed out of Earth's affairs, but the Eternals lived on Earth.
"That's exactly I let Sersi give the knife to the child," said Ajak.
Phastos remembered that he'd been impatient for humans to develop before World War II, but he'd lost all faith in humanity until he'd met his eventual husband. He understood why Sersi loved humans and the planet so much because he loved his husband more than anything, however, most of the other humans could go to hell for all he cared. Phastos eyed Tony with distaste; Howard Stark worked on the Manhattan Project and then Tony Stark had created deadly weapons that waged war on countries for decades. Weapons that never should have been created.
She realized she was late and hurried to her workplace at the Natural History Museum. "I know I'm late, Charlie," she said as she passed a statue of Charles Darwin.
The humans gaped. "Charlie as in...Charles Darwin?" Jane said, gobsmacked.
"Yes, he was a close friend! He had many great ideas," Sersi said brightly. Besides him, she loved spending time with the Masters of the Mystic Arts and the witches' covens. They were quite creative.
Sersi stood outside a door watching Dane Whitman teach a class full of children with a fond smile.
Sersi was startled at seeing herself like that. Did she find someone else? She hoped she finally had because she had to move on from Ikaris.
Ikaris's stomach clenched in jealousy, but he knew he had no right to Sersi's heart anymore. She was free to be with whoever she liked; he'd left her. It wasn't easy to live with the truth to know that all of this would end one day; it wasn't easy to constantly lie to Sersi knowing how much she loved humanity. It would devastate her to know the truth and she would hate him forever.
The rest of the Eternals grimaced while Sprite tried to feel pleased at the new development, she was. If Sersi was seeing someone else then she wouldn't get back together with Ikaris.
"Oh...this is going to be awkward," Gilgamesh said, his eyes flickering between Sersi and Ikaris.
Dane was discussing a poem, "The poet's hope and optimism in humanity echoes our recent universal victory, the return of half our population..." Sersi entered the classroom, much to Dane's relief.
Eros wanted to weep at the constant reminders of Thanos killing half of the universe. He didn't know how to handle knowing that his brother was dead in that universe, killed by Thor and Tony Stark, who were sitting in the room with him, but they were wholly justified in killing him. He just wished Thanos hadn't gone down the path he had.
He introduced her to the students and she apologized for being late and said that they'd be learning about the importance of apex predators in a balanced ecosystem today.
"Apex predators," the Eternals repeated, amused.
"What's so funny about apex predators?" T'Challa asked.
"Nothing. It's just that we were sent to defeat the Deviants on Earth, who are apex predators," said Druig.
Dane whispered that he turned to poetry since he ran out of things to say and the kids made him nervous.
Sersi's lips twitched into a smile. She didn't know him, but he was very charming and entirely her type. He seemed different from Ikaris, but maybe different is what she needed right now.
"Well, I thought you were very charming, Professor," she said. "See you tonight," he said. "Ooh! 'See you tonight,'" a girl teased, causing the class to laugh.
Ikaris' eye twitched and he had a blank look.
Sersi rolled her eyes. She loved teaching but some of the students could be slightly annoying. However, they were children so she didn't mind.
Sersi and the students discussed what apex predators were. An earthquake occurred in the middle of the lesson, and Sersi instructed the kids to take refuge under their tables.
Everyone's hearts jumped into their throats at seeing the earthquake and they hoped the kids would be alright, and that there would be too much damage.
Bruce's brows knit together. "That's unusual. The UK usually doesn't get earthquakes that strong, it's not near any major fault lines."
Ajak and Ikaris stilled. Although there was always the chance that the earthquake was due to normal circumstances, was the Emergence finally occurring? They had both heard about Thanos killing half of the population so the Emergence might've been delayed for a bit, but now everyone had been brought back. Ikaris closed his eyes; he knew exactly what Sersi would think about all of this and it would break her heart.
A heavy fossil nearly fell on a student, but Sersi discreetly used her powers to turn the falling fossil into sand.
There was a collective sigh of relief.
"Those powers can be useful," said Steve.
Later that night, a Deviant swam out of the water causing a dog to whimper.
The color drained from the Eternals' faces while everyone else's eyes widened in alarm.
"Is that a Deviant?! I thought you said that you guys have killed all of them on Earth?" Carol questioned.
"We did!" Kingo exclaimed.
"Clearly not!"
The Eternals turned to Ajak. "How is this possible? We made sure that all of them were dead," Makkari signed.
Ajak was speechless as well. "I don't know."
"The original Deviants came from deep space so maybe more of them came from space too," Scott suggested.
"Maybe," Ajak lied.
Ikaris stayed silent while a million thoughts ran through his mind. It simply wasn't possible that more Deviants had come from space since the Celestials were the ones who sent them to Earth in the first place so what was happening?
"We have to search for the rest of the Deviants," Kingo told the rest of the team, who nodded. Maybe his latest adventure would inspire a new movie.
"Why am I not surprised at more weird monsters appearing on Earth when they were previously thought to be dead?" Steve said.
Cut to Sersi and Dane dancing at a bar. Sprite tried flirting with a guy donning the guise of an adult woman, but he when accidentally brushed through her illusory hand, she hastily excused herself, claiming he'd had too much to drink. She changed back into her regular form once out of sight.
Sprite felt a flash of irritation. She could never live a normal life like any of the other Eternals because she looked like a stupid child! She could never live her life the way she wanted to because of her appearance. The only people she could truly be herself with were the Eternals, but they had their own lives that she could never be a part of. Immortality was a curse when she looked the way she did, and all she wanted was to grow up the usual way.
The Avengers and Guardians didn't realize how frustrating it must be for Sprite to look like a child when she wasn't. No wonder she transformed herself into an older woman just for a little while.
Sersi and others sang happy birthday to Dane. During a private moment with just the two of them, Sersi gifted him with a ring that had his family crest dating back to the Middle Ages. "It must have cost a fortune," he said. "I'm a good eBay bidder," she said.
"Is he from an important family to have a crest from the Middle Ages?" T'Challa wondered.
Makkari lit up upon seeing the ring. It reminded her of all the artifacts she kept in the Domo.
The two kissed.
Except for Sersi, the Eternals' eyes flickered to Ikaris whose face was blank.
"Dane seems nice , " Phastos said.
Sersi smiled. "He does, doesn't he?"
Dane asked Sersi to move in with him, and after considering it she declined.
Ikaris felt slightly smug.
"Is it because you don't age?" Thor said.
"I mean, yes. People freak out when you don't age," said Sersi.
"It's not that big of a deal. Asgardian lives outspan human lives, but Jane understands. I think Dane would too if you explain."
"He's not going to live forever, you know. It's better to make the most of the time you have left with him, and I think he would want the same thing. I'm not saying this specifically about Dane, it's about anyone you find," Jane said with a sad smile. She didn't know how much time she had left due to her cancer or if the treatments would even work if she caught it earlier, but she was determined to spend it with Thor.
Sersi bit the inside of her cheek; Thor and Jane had a point.
"Are you a wizard?" "What?" "Yeah, like Doctor Strange."
Stephen groaned. "I'm not a wizard!"
"Maybe you would be if you wore a hat," said Sam.
"I swear, I will turn you into an eagle."
Bucky's lips twitched into a smile at the thought.
"I've noticed some unusual things happen when I'm around you. Like our water always turns to coffee whenever the waiter ignores us." "That's your caffeine addiction talking."
All of them let out a guffaw while Sersi's cheeks flushed.
"And Sprite says things...like you and your ex-boyfriend broke up a century ago."
"It was longer than that," Sersi said quietly.
"Ex-husband, not ex-boyfriend," Ikaris couldn't help but correct. He wished Sersi would talk to him or at least look in his direction, but he understood why she wouldn't.
"That doesn't make it better, idiot," Gilgamesh said.
Marc and Layla and Thor and Jane were delighted that someone else's relationships were the focus now. Their relationships ended up stronger after watching their futures, but it had been an awkward experience.
"She said that?" "And he can fly." "He's a pilot."
The group chuckled.
"A pilot that doesn't need a plane to fly," said Wong.
"She should just tell him the truth. He already knows half of the truth," said Loki.
"Because someone couldn't keep their mouth shut," Sersi said, shooting Sprite an annoyed look.
Sprite crossed her arms. "He should know."
"Get a room, you two. Can we go now? It's past my bedtime," Sprite interrupted. The two were walking back home with Dane some distance in front of them. "Are you really in love?" Sprite asked. "What if I am?" Sersi asked.
Ikaris's heart dropped, Sprite felt like dancing, and Sersi badly wanted to fall in love again.
"You better tell him the truth, then. He won't live forever, you know. Move in with him," Sprite pushed.
Thor and Jane nodded. They agreed with Sprite.
Kingo shook his head. He knew why Sprite was pushing Sersi to move in with Dane; she had to get over her crush on Ikaris. It's been centuries at this point!
"I live with you," Sersi said.
Sprite's face softened. It would've been so easy to hate Sersi because Ikaris loved her, but she was so kind that she couldn't bring herself to.
"You could come to stay with Thena and me in Australia if you want, Sprite," Gilgamesh offered.
"Come stay with me in South Dakota too," Ajak said warmly.
"Anyone but Kingo," Sprite said.
Kingo threw his hands in the air. "I'm sorry for abandoning you!"
Kro the Deviant rose from the river and attacked them.
Everyone's bodies went cold with dread at seeing the Deviant.
"I still don't know how it's possible that the Deviants are back. We made sure we killed them all," Thena said.
"It's going to take a while to bring the entire team together since we're spread across the world. I'm in Scotland, Ajak's in South Dakota, Sersi and Sprite are in London, Thena and Gilgamesh are in Australia, Makkari's in Iraq, Druig's in Peru, Kingo's in Mumbai, and Phastos is in Chicago," said Ikaris.
"You're joking. All of you are spread across every single continent in this world," Tony said, annoyed.
"Don't you guys have ways to communicate with each other in emergencies?" Clint asked.
"We thought that the Deviants were gone and a lot of us haven't seen each other in centuries. We generally know where everyone on the team is, but we live our own lives for the most part," said Phastos.
Sersi screamed at Dane to run and delayed Kro by turning the concrete beneath it to quicksand and resolidifying it.
"Huh, that's useful," said Wanda. She tucked away the idea in the back of her mind as she could do the same thing as Sersi.
"That's not going to hold it for long," said Mantis.
The trio ran away. "What is that thing?" Dane asked. "A Deviant!" Sprite yelled. "You said you killed them all!" Dane yelled back.
"We thought that too," said Druig.
"Yeah, we've fought a lot of things that never go away like those HYDRA bastards," Steve said. He thought he killed the goddamn Red Skull, but all he did was transport him to Vormir.
"And the Red Room," Natasha said.
"Plus, the Ten Rings," Tony added. Shang-Chi winced.
"You told him that?" Sersi asked. "You believed me?" Sprite replied. "I do now!" Dane exclaimed.
"It's a bit hard not to when a giant monster attacks you. Poor guy," said Sam.
Sersi then tried to draw Kro away from the group, instructing Sprite to guard Dane. Shortly after Sersi left, Sprite declared that he was fine and rushed to follow Sersi.
"Sprite!" Sersi exclaimed.
"What! He'll be fine!" Sprite defended.
Sprite conjured multiple copies of herself and Sersi walking in different directions to confuse Kro, which went along fine until a car went through a Sersi illusion, causing another car to collide with it.
"I always found your illusions to be quite impressive," Loki told Sprite.
"Yours are...okay, I guess," she said.
Kro recognized which one was the real Sprite and lunged toward her, with one of its tentacles managing to knock her down, and attempting to absorb her powers.
Everyone's mouths turned dry.
"How did it even find out which one was the real me?!" Sprite said.
"What is it trying to do?" Nebula asked.
The Eternals exchanged a puzzled look. "None of the Deviants have ever done anything like that before," said Ajak.
"Well, you guys also thought the Deviants were all gone so clearly something else is up," said Bucky. The Eternals eyed him and wondered why he looked like Ikaris.
"But the Deviants on Titan didn't act like that either. Also, why is it attacking Sprite, an Eternal, instead of a human?" said Eros.
Sersi ran to help Sprite, but Kro was tackled into a nearby shop. Dane helped Sprite up, and Kro was thrown back by laser beams. Ikaris walked out of the shop and Sprite's face lit up. "Ikaris!" she said brightly.
Kingo sighed. Sprite had to get over her crush.
"Evening, ladies," Ikaris greeted.
The Avengers thought he suspiciously looked like Bucky.
"Watch out!" Sersi said as Kro attacked Ikaris into an incoming bus, forcing Sersi to turn it into a storm of petals. "Wizard," Dane said, catching one of the petals.
The Avengers and the Guardians' brows shot up.
Sersi's lips curved into a smile. "Not a wizard."
Ikaris shot his laser beams at Kro and injured him, but he was able to heal himself from his injuries.
Terror streaked through the Eternals.
"H-How is that possible? How did it heal itself?" Kingo said, his voice thick with fear.
"None of this should be possible!" Makkari rapidly signed.
"Ajak can do the same thing, but the Deviants never had that ability," Ikaris said, his heart beating fast.
Ikaris chased Kro down the street until the creature jumped into the river and swam away.
"It'll come back," said Vision.
"I don't think that's the only Deviant out there. If one of them came back, how many others do you think are there?" said Valkyrie. Everyone else felt queasy at the thought.
Ikaris flew and landed near the group. "Ikaris," Sprite said, running toward him. "It's good to see you." "It's good to see you, too, Sprite," he said, smiling.
Sprite's heart skipped a beat at seeing Ikaris's smile.
Dane and Ikaris studied each other. "I'm Dane." "Hello, Dane." "Well, I guess you must be the pilot."
Sersi's eyes flickered between the two; it was her ex-husband and her current boyfriend meeting each other. She didn't think Ikaris would be outwardly hostile, but she also didn't think he would leave her, so clearly, she didn't know that much about him even though they'd been together for 5000 years.
The Avengers wondered why every new person they met have to have relationship drama. First Marc and Layla, and now Ikaris and Sersi.
Ikaris looked at Sersi, who looked away.
Ikaris's heart sank, but it wasn't unexpected. He hadn't even told her why he left, but what was he supposed to say? Oh, by the way, don't get attached to the people on Earth because it's going to blow up to bring forth a Celestial.
Sirens blared so Sprite turned the group invisible, allowing them to escape from the arriving police.
"Yeah, it's probably not the best idea to stay there," America agreed.
Dane and Sersi were standing on another street. "We're Eternals, from a planet called Olympia. We came here 7,000 years ago on the Domo, our starship, to protect humans from the Deviants. We thought we killed them all five centuries ago, but now they're back," she explained.
"How many do you think are out there?" Kingo asked apprehensively.
"It doesn't matter. We'll kill all of them," said Thena.
Dane joked about wanting Sersi to turn him into a giraffe since he wanted to be one when he was a kid. "It's too bad I can't change sentient beings. You would have made a very cute giraffe," Sersi said.
Sersi smiled. Dane was very sweet.
"You should find him, Sersi," Makkari signed.
"You know what? I think I will," she said.
Ikaris' body went cold.
"Why didn't you guys help fight Thanos? Or any war? Or all the other terrible things throughout history?" Dane asked.
"That's what I was wondering too. Why'd you guys ever help out? New York, Sokovia, Thanos, both World Wars, and the countless genocides that have ever happened," said Steve.
"We can't. The Celestials have forbidden us from interfering," said Ajak. The Guardians rolled their eyes; they didn't have much respect for the Celestials.
"So, you just sat back and did nothing when you have the power to stop it?" Peter said incredulously. He couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't want to help when they had the ability to do so.
Druig's lips thinned. That was exactly his problem with humans; they got into too many conflicts and all he wanted was for them to stop fighting, but he didn't think they were capable of not fighting since they fought over everything . All they did was fight. He had the power to make all of them stop, but he couldn't because Ajak and Arishem wouldn't let him.
"Besides, we don't magically know when something is happening and travel there. All of us are scattered around the world. A lot of the time, it was already over by the time we knew what was happening," said Phastos.
"The Battle of New took place when I was asleep. I woke up and turned on the news and suddenly the entire planet knew about aliens," Kingo added.
"I haven't left the Domo in centuries. I don't know what's happening on the planet these days," Makkari signed. She only knew what Druig told her when he visited, otherwise, she wouldn't know who the Avengers were.
"We were instructed not to interfere in any human conflicts unless Deviants were involved." "Why?" "If we'd protected humanity from everything for 7,000 years, you'd never have had the chance to develop in the way you were meant to."
Thor, Loki, and Valkyrie shifted uncomfortably. "That's exactly why Asgard never interfered either," said Thor.
"So, our development means that people can die?" said Sam.
"Those conflicts are what allowed you to develop. Steve Rogers wouldn't be here today, nor would Captain America ever have been created, without the creation of the super-soldier serum, which was only created because of World War II," said Ajak.
"That was the bloodiest war in history. Millions of people died and you did nothing to help any of them," Steve said coldly.
"What could we have done? We could've stopped some people from dying, but the ideology would never have gone away. There's nothing we can do about that," said Kingo.
Phastos swallowed down his anger. It was his fault for letting humans advance as far as they had due to the technology he'd given them because all they were capable of was destroying each other.
"But if the Deviants were eradicated a long time ago, why are you still here?" "We've been waiting... to be told we can go home."
Ikaris and Ajak felt hollow. No one was going home because Olympia had never been their home; the two of them didn't know how long it would take until the Emergence started. Ajak had doubts about the Emergence on Earth since there was something special about this planet, but Arishem knew best.
"Arishem isn't letting you go back to Olympia? Why? You thought you killed the Deviants five hundred years ago," said Gamora.
"We don't know," said Sprite. She couldn't wait to go back home; she hated staying on Earth when she looked like a child.
"Five hundred years is nothing when we've lived for seven thousand years," said Druig.
Dane sighed deeply, "So...Ikaris. The boy who flew too close to the sun." "Sprite made that story up when we lived in Athens," Sersi said.
Ikaris was unimpressed.
"You made that story up? That's one of the most famous Greek myths," Stephen told Sprite.
"She also created the Epic of Gilgamesh," Gilgamesh proudly said.
"Sprite's really good at stories and theatrics. A lot of her stories are famous," Kingo complimented. Sprite crossed her arms; no number of compliments would make up for Kingo abandoning her.
"I guess the story makes sense. Icarus flew too close to the sun in the story and Ikaris can actually fly," said Layla.
"I'm guessing you guys stayed in Greece for a while since half of your names inspired Greek mythology," said Sam.
"Athena exists. Well, Minerva, at least," said Loki. "She was at Omnipotence City."
The Avengers and the Guardians' mouths straightened into a thin line. "So, it turns out that Minerva, the Roman Goddess of Wisdom, isn't that wise," said Natasha.
"Considering Zeus was the leader of the place and was completely useless, I'm not surprised," said Marc. Thor clenched his jaw at the reminder.
"In the fifth century BC? How long were you two together?" "5,000 years." "I guess you can call that long-term."
The Avengers and the Guardians gaped.
"Five thousand years?" Kate said weakly.
"What happened?" "He left. I always thought he'd come back, but... he never did. So, I moved on." "I'm glad you did."
Ikaris's face fell upon hearing that Sersi always thought he'd come back. He'd wanted to go back to her so badly, but just imagining her finding out about the Emergence made him stay away. He tried to convince himself that it was all part of Arishem's grand plan for the universe. "Sersi—"
"I'm allowed to move on, Ikaris," she said quietly.
"Yes, you are. I just wanted to apologize for hurting you."
"...Thank you," she said.
Marc and Layla thought this was painfully familiar and were glad that they'd managed to sort out their relationship problems. However, Layla was exhausted of all these men leaving their wives without an explanation due to their own internal conflict.
Sersi apologized for having to leave and the two shared a tender hug.
Sersi's heart warmed.
Cut to Sersi, Ikaris, and Sprite in Sersi's apartment watching the news. "This morning, an unprecedented global earthquake swept nation-states across the world, causing damage and panic."
Dread twisted in the Avengers and Eternals' guts at hearing about the chaos.
"Wait... global earthquake? That wasn't just in the UK? Everyone across the world felt it?" said Jane.
"How is a global earthquake even possible?" Tony wondered.
"What's happening to Earth now? Can't things just be calm for once?" Scott said.
Ajak and Ikaris's breaths hitched as the two recognized the signs. It was finally happening. The Emergence was about to happen. It dawned on them that the disappearance of half of the population delayed the Emergence for five years and the return of half of the population caused enough energy for Tiamut to be born. They supposed half of the population disappearing didn't matter to Arishem because it nearly doubled in the past century so if everyone hadn't been brought back after Thanos killed half, it would've taken another century or so to reach the current number. Arishem had waited seven thousand years for the Emergence, one hundred years is nothing. It's a blink of an eye for someone like him.
"Many have speculated its connection with the Blip. The UN has called for an emergency meeting..."
"Of course, everyone thinks it's connected to the Blip. Who the hell has ever heard of a global earthquake?!" said Bruce.
"This is just what the world needs right after the Blip," said Sam. He couldn't help but think about all the refugees at the GRC camps and the earthquake would make things worse.
"It's serious when the UN is calling for an emergency meeting," Natasha said with a solemn expression.
T'Challa and Valkyrie sighed. They'd have to make an appearance at the UN.
"That Deviant healed itself. They could never do that before. And it was coming after us instead of humans. What's going on?" Sersi wondered.
"That's exactly what I want to know. Why are these Deviants different?" Thena wondered.
"Where did these Deviants come from?" Sprite said.
The color drained from Phastos's face. "They're targeting us? I have a husband and son."
Makkari put a hand on his shoulder. "They'll be alright. We'll handle the Deviants now that we know not all of them are gone," she signed.
"You're right. We have to make sure that all the Deviants are gone this time," he said in a shaky voice. Earth had been through too many world-ending events in the past few years and he'd never been more aware of it since he'd gotten a family of his own.
"I came to check on you because of the earthquake. That Deviant is news to me," Ikaris said.
The Avengers and Guardians thought it was odd that this specific earthquake made Ikaris check up on Sersi when there had been thousands of earthquakes since he'd left her. They supposed he was just making an excuse to see her.
"Something's happening to Earth. Can't be a coincidence," Sersi said.
The Avengers let out a long-suffering sigh.
"Something's always happening to Earth," Clint complained.
"What do you think it'll be this time? Psycho homicidal alligator goddess, inter-dimensional demon, multiverse bullshit, or aliens?" Bucky asked.
"Probably something worse."
"We need to find the others," he said. "I haven't seen some of them for centuries," she said. "I doubt much has changed," he said.
Ikaris eyed the Eternals. "Nothing has changed."
"Well, Phastos got married and has a son now," Ajak said.
"Okay, maybe some things have changed."
"When are you going to invite us to see the child?" Thena asked.
The color drained from Phastos' face at the thought of all of the Eternals near his son. "Um...let's think about that later. We have more important things to think about like the Deviants and the strange earthquake."
Ikaris walked closer to Sersi. "I'm sorry I hurt you, Sersi...but we need to stick together. And once I know you're safe, I'll leave you alone."
Sersi's heart twisted, but she appreciated the apology.
"Let's go to Ajak first. She'll know what to do," Sersi said, walking away.
Ikaris thought Ajak needed to know about the Emergence occurring anyway. He knew the rest of the Eternals wouldn't take it well, but they had no choice. They couldn't go against Arishem.
"You hear that, Sprite? Family reunion," Ikaris said. "It's about time," Sprite said.
"Global road trip. Yay," Sprite said, unenthused. She was excited to see Ajak, though.