"Agamotto literally invented the idea of the surly wizard who speaks in pompous riddles. I found him so frequently infuriating, I still swear he had some troll in his lineage." Odin explained as he remembered agamotto the worlds first sorcerer supreme.
"What the starbrand lacked in wits, which was damn near everything, he made up for with pure cosmic might." Odin remembered the starbrand.
"The rider was a frightened boy with a devil where there'd once been a soul." Odin remembered the ghost rider.
"The panther was the first to discover some manner of vibrating rock or some such, and the first to begin to unlock its many secrets. Never have I been more impressed by a mortal." Odin remembered the first black panther.
Odin had a fond smile on his face at the next recollection "the Phoenix. She was... a good friend...for many years. Even long after the others had turned to dust. And that's...all I care to say about her."
"I never much cared for the iron fist. Any of them, for that matter. Never trust anyone from k'un-lun. I should have burned that wretched dragon's nest to the ground when I had the chance." Odin scoffed.
A look of confidence adorned Odin's face "and then there was me. The dashing young all-father of Asgard. With a powerful yet... temperamental hammer. We were a ragged assortment, to be sure. But there at the dawn of man, we were all that Midgard had. And we saved it more times than I can count. Perhaps one time too many." Odin's face looked grim at the last statement.
(Old Asgard.)
"Wow... and to look at you now, I never would have believed you were like that and to think no ones ever known of these exploits, You being young and dashing when now you look old and fed up with life. But I guess looking at your overwhelmingly bleak circumstances...I guess I'd be fed up too." Constantine pointed out as he gestured to the ruins of old Asgard.
"Humph... it's been a long life, boy. The stars would go black before I could tell you all of it. Even the parts that are fit for telling in the company of a...lady. And there are some secrets that the all-father will take with him to Valhalla." Odin said.
"HHRRRGH." She-hulk grunted.
"Not the one I seek, you won't. One million years ago, you and your primordial allies defeated a dark celestial. You're gonna tell me how." Constantine explained.
"Aye, we felled one weakened, sickly celestial, still in the throes Of succumbing to its cosmic corruption. Loki's final host are a different breed. Not even the odinsword or any spell you could come up with could crack their dark armor. Nothing will stop them." Odin sighed.
"I don't believe you. With all the secrets that've surely been buried in Asgard since the beginning of time, there must be something here that we can use." Constantine said plainly.
"Oh, of course there is. But it will not defeat your enemies. It will only make your ultimate death...far more spectacular." Odin informed.
"Show me." Constantine nodded.
Odin got up and started to lead Constantine and she-hulk through a secret corridor "you must have some dark secrets...if you're willing to go through this much for security." Constantine pointed out.
"Of course. No knows about this place, that's by design. My design." Odin said.
As they walked a bit more eventually they came to a grand door that was chained and locked. "What's behind this door could end the world. Or perhaps save it. Open it if you dare, magician." Odin stood aside.
"Tell me what's in there before I..." before Constantine could finish she-hulk cracks her knuckles "hrrgh." She-hulk grunted "rrrrgh!" She-hulk roared and ripped the door off.
"What you seek lies in the center of that room." Odin explained.
"There appears to be a large amount of ice in the way." Constantine pointed out.
"That is your problem, Constantine. Not mine." Odin said.
"So be it. Race you, hulk!" Constantine proceeded to use his fire magic to burn the ice.
She-hulk proceeded to punch through the ice "RRRGGGH!!!" She-hulk roared as she continued punching through the ice.
"You race only to your doom, my boy. And we all race right along with you." Odin watched on grimly.
(The mountains of Greece. Olympia. Home of the eternals.)
"I'm sorry, Shinji, but...I can find no signs of life here." Selina informed.
"Holy hell." Shinji gasped.
"It would appear... that the eternals are dead. And judging by the way the bodies lie... ...I would say that they did this to each other. Or to themselves. All within the last few hours." Elite explained as he had tasted the blood off one of the eternals and due to his enhanced sense taste he was able to tell that the blood was at least a few hours old.
"My condolences, to these people...no one deserves this...I wonder what drove them to do such a thing..." Selina lamented as she looked at all the dead bodies.
Shinji, Selina, and Elite started walking around Olympia trying to find anyone who might still be alive.
"The eternals claimed they were created by the celestials, left on earth to watch over humanity, after the celestials had tinkered with us, too. If you believe the eternals, it was ancient celestial experiments on proto-humans that would ultimately give rise to the sort of mutations and superhuman abnormalities that keep all of us in business." Shinji explained.
"The deaths of all those celestials must have...driven the eternals mad. If they weren't already mad." Selina mused.
"Or perhaps it opened their eyes. There is something here we still don't quite understand, I heard from aven...about those egg sacs at the center of the earth. Thousands upon thousands of them. Giant cosmic insects have been nesting inside this world for millions of years. Where did they come from? And what's their connection to these dark celestials? What piece of this bizarre cosmic puzzle are we still missing?" Elite wondered as he observed some dead eternals trying to find any live ones.
"What did these eternals learn that we haven't?" Selina said.
"The truth." A weak voice stated.
"What? Who said that?" Shinji called out.
Shinji started to look around and near a cliff laid a dying body of a man with blonde hair. He wore a blue and red body suit and had blue eyes as the life started to drain from them. "We got a live one here!" Shinji yelled out alerting elite and Selina.
"The truth tore us apart." The man rasped.
"Ikaris, You're alive!" Shinji said as he went towards the man.
"No. Don't believe I ever was. We are...a lie, Shinji akihiko. We eternals... were great fools. We weren't here to protect you." Ikaris coughed.
"Don't move we'll get you some help. Guys! Over here!" Shinji called out.
Shinji went to ikaris and bent down "don't try to talk." He advised.
"Cultivate. We were... to cultivate you. Your... virulence. To them, to the space gods, you...are a useful pathogen... you are the ultimate...ARRGGH!" Ikaris screamed in pain.
"Come on! Stay with us!" Shinji yelled as he took the Ikaris' body into his arms holding him up right.
"We're trying to stop the bleeding, but... but I fear we're..." Elite started but was cut off by ikaris.
"I...fell. Falling...felt good for a change. The final host. Don't let them unleash the horde. ...only the unimind can stop them." Ikaris informed as he started to reach for shinji's head.
"What?" Shinji questioned.
Ikaris reached up and touched the side of Shinji's head "only you can be the cure." Ikaris informed.
"ARRGGH!!!" Shinji screamed.
(Alpha flight space station. Headquarters for earth's planetary defense agency.)
"The interstellar I.d. Department just got a hit." Davi announced as they looked at a holographic screen.
"Remind me to talk to director fury about getting one of those." Aven said referring to the interstellar I.d. Department.
"They're called the horde. A swarm of cosmic locust believed to have devoured entire solar systems. And according to intergalactic legend, they're longtime enemies of the celestials." Davi informed.
"Perhaps not anymore." Aven said referring to all the dead celestials thus far. Aven was looking at a computer monitor and saw something "look at the readings you took of the final host. They're teeming with the exact same energy as these horde creatures." Aven added.
Davi went over and looked at the monitor "you're right. And there are reports from all over the globe of giant insects erupting from inside the bodies of the fallen celestials. So it's not just the earth that's infested. Which means... congratulations, Aven. You and I just became the most important exterminators in human history." Davi proclaimed.
"Don't think of them as insects, davi, but as giant cosmic germs. And if the horde are a disease that even the celestials cannot cure... ...then we must now be smarter than space gods with brains the size of the black panther's palace." Aven corrected.
"I like my analogy better. Sounded a little less hopeless." Davi sighed.
(The North Pole.)
"I may not be a god, but I've heard the stories. About how the celestials supposedly came to earth back in prehistoric times and experimented on humanity's ancient ancestors. Made them what they are today. But I believe we are what we make of ourselves." Seren insisted.
"Yes, spoken like a human greeting card. And as usual your ignorance is only exceeded by the arrogance with which you embrace it. You're correct that the stories say the celestials came to Midgard a thousand years ago—or a million, or perhaps five million. That they seeded life here and tampered with the natural evolution of that life. But those stories, my dear... are a little something that I like to call... ...a lie." Loki informed smirking.
"This alpha celestial has been here rotting, not for one million years, but for four billion. And it did not come to earth to experiment, but instead to die a very sad and exceedingly painful death. Which coincidentally...is exactly the same fate that awaits you and your mighty avengers, my dear. Along with everyone else you've ever known." Loki chuckled as both he and Seren gazed at the dead progenitor.
Up on the surface the dark celestials were shooting highly concentrated blasts of energy into the air, they then stabbed what appeared to be a generator into the snowy ground. The reason for the blast was to produce cosmic energy to power the generator.
"The final host has come, to make the skies burn and the oceans boil. To end this world's wretched life cycle once and for all. A cycle of disease and death and horrific deformity four billion years in the making. And nothing can stop the final host's mission of mercy, nothing in all the heavens." Loki said.
(With Jonathan)
We see Jonathan using his elemental flight and flying over the North Pole. 'Okay, so, thanks to the hunk of dark celestial metal I took...it looks like I just found the bad guys.' He thought 'oof just in time for the ocean to start burning. Man, I really hope that's not 'cause of me.' He added. Jonathan saw the dark celestials hovering over the burning ocean and gulped.
'So... now what the hell do I do?' He mused. 'I can't chance a direct approach... they'd squash me like a big... I guess the only way to go is...down under!' He thought and notice a hole in an area that was covered with ice.
'God! It's cold! but I'm able to tolerate it maybe because of the fire I'm using to propel myself forward? But this is a good idea...sneak up on them... right, I'm sure they'll never see me coming. I mean... ...it's not like I'm on fire or anything.' He thought.
(Old Asgard.)
Constantine melted some ice with his fire "HHRRRGH!" Constantine grunted.
"Keep... going." Constantine said.
"GRRAAAGH!!" She-hulk roared as she smashed several pieces of ice.
Constantine melted several pillars of ice with his fire "nearly... almost...." he muttered.
Constantine melted some more ice until finally his eyes set on their prize, it was a ice blue object in the shape of a tear drop. "There... there it is. The blood of Ymir. First of the ice colossi. Father of all giants." Constantine announced.
"Yes, this... this we can use to...uggh." Constantine before he could say anything more fell over, his body was finally breaking down due to the freezing temperatures.
"HRRGH?" She-hulk grunted questioningly as she saw Constantine fall over into the snow.
"So... cold. Can't... move. Bollocks...I clearly didn't think this through... ....mhh...." Constantine shivered and his body was starting to look a little icy.
She-hulk went over to Constantine and lifted him upright "hrh. Puny Constantine is cold. Why not say so? Hulk warm. Hulk warmest one there is." She-Hulk said as gamma radiation started to radiate around her and within her body.
Constantine was quite literally freezing to death however she-hulk leaned down and pressed her lips against his and the gamma radiating kiss was saving his life, as his body was no longer freezing and his skin had returned to its normal color.
"As usual, humans fail to heed holy wisdom. No matter how dire my warnings, he and those doomed mortal fools he calls friends... ...will face the final host in battle..." Odin mused grimly. "...just as my primeval comrades and I once faced the first host. They came for revenge, we assumed, because we'd felled one of their own. Felled the deranged bastard and buried it deep in the earth. They were larger and more powerful than anything that has ever lived, yet we faced them without hesitation." Odin muttered as he closed his eyes and thought back.
(Brief flashback)
Odin and the prehistoric avengers charged into battle against the first host.
We faced them with fire and fury. With unholy rage and the holiest of uru.
Ghost rider blasted the celestial with fire and black panther attacked it ferociously but it was to no avail.
With more might than has ever been assembled at any time in the history of this realm. We faced them...
Odin hit the celestial over the head with mjolnir and agamotto blasted magic beans at them but again to no avail.
We faced them... ...without a chance in the world.
(With Shinji, Selina, and Elite.)
"Maid, I don't remember fire in today's forecast! Find me those damn celestials!" Shinji snapped as Selina stood atop the glider with Shinji and Elite hung onto the glider from below.
"You know, shin, using profanity doesn't make my systems work any—" maid pointed out but was cut off.
"And Damnit what's the status on my mark II?" Shinji inquired.
"En route. Leaving the workshop as we speak." Maid informed.
"Tell it to hurry up! I'm not in the mood to die today!" Shinji exclaimed as there was currently fire raining down from the sky.
(With Davi and Aven)
"Okay, so if this goes horribly wrong, you promise you'll kill me before I turn into a giant cockroach, right?" Davi asked.
"As quickly and painlessly as possible." Aven assured.
"Wait, I was joking, but you sounded—" Davi started but then Aven started the count down.
"Full charge in three, two..." Aven said.
(With Seren and Jonathan)
"Listen to me, you imbecile! Can you even understand what this means? You were a grand mistake, all of you were!" Loki snapped as he grabbed Seren by the neck and held her high in the air. "You were never supposed to be here!" Loki sneered.
Meanwhile Jonathan had emerged from under the ice and was moving at high speed.
(With Constantine and she-hulk)
Constantine and she-hulk had emerged from the icy death trap and Constantine clutched the blood of Ymir in his arms. "Thank you... for, ah... saving my life back there, hulk." Constantine said.
"Hrrh. Whatever. Wanna smash things now." She-hulk answered.
"Yes, that we will do. With this new weapon..." Constantine nodded.
"...there will be much smashing indeed!" Constantine added.
"Make a good, thunderous show of it, just as I once did. And when it's finished... when it's all come to it's oh-so-predictable end... when you all lie in blood-drenched ruin at the feet of the final host... ...face your judgement like a man." Odin said to himself as Constantine and she-hulk left.
However Odin remembered one final thing from when he and his comrades faced the first host.
Brief flashback
Odin stumbled over to the bodies of his unconscious comrades he grabbed the starbrand in his arms and held him upright and gritted his teeth on his knees. "To hel... ...to hel with you star-spawned bastards!" Odin yelled as he glared hatefully up at the celestials.
Present.
"And say farewell to Midgard, once and for all. Just as I should have." Odin sighed.
Next chapter: "The Secret Origin of the Marvel Universe"
Back at it again! Gazer! Gazer! Yes! I'm finally back I apologize for the wait. I got a little sidetracked and I meant to have this up a while ago. But I'm back now! The final host is nearing its conclusion! See y'all next chapter.