THE MAZZAROTH
Doctor Strange: You are the being who called us here?
Enoch: I am and you specifically, Stephen Strange.
Doctor Strange: Why?
Enoch: Because all of reality is at risk.
Doctor Strange: That's a little fantastic. Can you be more specific?
Enoch: I can. There is much to explain and discuss. Please, follow me to the study.
Daredevil is wincing in pain. One arm leans on Captain America.
Captain America: Honestly, I don't think our friend will make it down the hallway. He is in great pain.
Enoch: Ah. Matthew Murdock. His radar sense is no longer only contained to the physical realm. He is seeing the subtle energies behind the veil as well.
Doctor Strange: Behind the veil?
Enoch: Stephen, surely you are not surprised that there is a field of energy that exists behind the physical reality experienced through your five senses?
Doctor Strange: I am just a little surprised that he is able to observe it.
Enoch: He is evolving in response to the necessity of the coming battle.
Doctor Strange: But why? How?
Enoch motions to Baraquiel. Baraquiel walks over to Daredevil.
Enoch: Baraquiel is the defender of the Mazzaroth and my personal body guard. He is ancient and his knowledge is vast. He speaks in a tongue that is primordial with a visceral dialect that contains a vibration that has the potential to trigger madness. As a result, he doesn't speak. His only means of communication is through touch. But I must warn you. He is not always able to contain the amount of information that slips through when in contact with another. As a result…this may hurt a little, Matthew.
Daredevil: I d…d…don't care. Just make it stop. I can't balance all the sensations coming from both realities. It feels like my brain's being torn apart.
Enoch nods to Baraquiel. Baraquiel places the palm of his hand on Daredevil's forehead and he immediately jerks backwards. Captain America struggles to keep him upright.
Daredevil: Aghhhh!
Captain America: You're hurting him!
Enoch: It can not be avoided. Just a few more seconds.
Daredevil pushes off and lands hard on the ground. Smoke billows off his head. He is on his knees.
Doctor Strange: Matthew?
Daredevil: Just gimme a moment.
Daredevil puts one hand in his knee and slowly pushes himself to his feet. He glances around. A look of wonder is on his face.
Daredevil: My God. I can alternate back and forth between my senses now. I can hone in on the physical as well as drill down into the quantum and see the underlying energies as well. It's not chaotic anymore. It's…beautiful.
Enoch smiles.
Enoch: That is quite a gift that has been bestowed upon you, Matthew.
Daredevil: Did you do this?
Enoch: Come. Please follow me to the study. All will be explained.
Strange looks at the heroes and raises one eyebrow.
Doctor Strange: Lead the way.
The heroes follow Enoch and Baraquiel down the long passage. It eventually ends in a large room with a dome ceiling. The room looks like a planetarium.
Ant-Man: THIS is a study?
Enoch: Well, it is where I study things. Please, sit.
Enoch walks up to a pedestal and presses a button. The ceiling begins to retract revealing the swirling overhead of the quantum realm.
Enoch: As you have already discovered, this is the quantum realm. It is the underlying field of energy that is the foundation for all life. It surrounds us and binds us. It is the connectivity for everything. All synchronicities. All archetypes. All forms. It is the bedrock for all consciousness and creativity as well as fertile ground for the emergence of emotions. It isn't too far removed from the Noosphere, a concept developed by your philosophers.
Captain America: We share thoughts?
Enoch: Yes and no. Each living creature is a unique filter for the expression of the quantum realm. Your signatures align to this source, but attract energies sympathetically. The Mazzaroth is the center of the quantum realm and I am it's appointed overseer to this flow of energy.
Doctor Strange: Fascinating. You manage all of this?
Enoch: Quite the opposite. Quantum energy is a living force. It is my duty to prevent it from being managed. From being manipulated.
Doctor Strange: Is magic a manipulation of the quantum field?
Enoch: Because the quantum field is not governed by physical laws, many abilities you refer to as "powers" are due to the individual's relationship with this reality. Your "manipulations", Stephen, have always been in the interests of protecting others and not to elevate your ego or satisfy desires. This intent aligns with the moral archetype of the quantum realm.
Doctor Strange: Does the soul exist here?
Enoch: The soul gem does, but we are veering off course with this line of questioning.
Any-Man: What?! Whoa! Back up. The soul gem is here?
Enoch: This is not the reason you are here and you are wasting time.
Ant-Man: But…but…Thanos…
Doctor strange glances sternly at Ant-Man.
Doctor Strange: Who appointed you?
Enoch: Can you guess?
Doctor Strange: Eternity.
Enoch: Very good, Stephen! You are as impressive as I have observed.
Doctor Strange: Are you saying that we share consciousness with Eternity?
Enoch: Is that so difficult to accept? Since all of physical reality exists within the body of Infinity, then it is only logical that all of conscious reality also exists within Eternity. Their relationship forms the foundational cycle of existence.
Ant-Man: Holy shit.
Hulk: This is plausible. Our neurons are small enough that their firing could interface with a size and scale that's on the level of a quantum field.
Doctor Strange: OK. So why is "all of reality at risk"? Why are we here?
Enoch: A being by the name of Dormammu has discovered a way to invade the quantum realm and pervert its energies. Specifically, he has been able to lock on to areas of extreme anger and inject horrible thoughts with the intent of escalating into wrath.
Doctor Strange: This is what Charles detected via Cerebro. Can Professor Xavier counteract this influence?
Enoch: This is worse than mind control. Because Dormammu is injecting suggestions into the consciousness of an individual if they decide to act upon it then they are, technically, using their free will. As result, there is no mind control to counter because they are freely acting upon the thought he implanted.
Captain America: But he is still manipulating their decision-making process by playing their anger against them.
Enoch: Yes. According to the ancient myths, the eternal polarity between intellect and passion is known as the Synod. Wrath, lust and greed are some of the primary dynamics that unbalance this relationship. Intense emotion clouds rational thought. This is why Dormammu has been intentionally creating imbalance with suggestions of chaos, conspiracies, paranoia, rage, violence and insurrection. Archetypal concepts such as democracy, freedom, equality are tested when imbalanced with its dysfunctional opposite polarity, wrath.
Captain America: So, Nuke and Punisher?
Enoch: Yes.
Captain America: …and the rest of the former President's followers?
Enoch: They were easily persuaded because of their natural hatred of government and the opposing political party.
Captain America: And the "DD" reported on various dark sites is Dormammu?
Enoch: It represents Dormammu and Doctor Doom. Their kind always travel in pairs. As master and pupil. They represented themselves this way because it also falsely infers the initials of the former President. They hoped that his followers would interpret the messages as if they were originating from him.
Daredevil points at the Hulk.
Daredevil: See? Told you it wasn't me.
Doctor Strange is pacing in deep thought and stroking his goatee.
Doctor Strange: This explains the danger to the United States. It doesn't explain the danger to the quantum realm. Also, Dormammu has never displayed power at a scope and range that you have described.
Hulk: …and why do you still have a job if you allowed this to happen?
Enoch raises his hand for the group to pause.
Enoch: The answers to those questions lie in the past…
Enoch raises his silver staff off the ground and holds it out in front of him.
Enoch: This is the Syzygy. It is a mediator of quantum realm energies.
Enoch begins slowly swirling the staff in a large circle in front of him. It moves through the air as if it were wading through water. Waves of energy ripple out from the circle and then recoil back into the center. Over and over until the movement begins to blend together into one solid, mirror-like surface. Inside the mirror is an image of a king sitting upon a throne.
Enoch: Many eons ago there was wise king named Solomon. In addition to his position as ruler of a kingdom, he was also a very educated and talented magus. Solomon's mastery of the occult led him to the study of demons. Over time his expertise in demonology became so advanced that he was able to control demons by learning their names and language according to their correct pronunciations. Solomon used this knowledge to force demons into labor. As a result, massive temples were constructed, sprawling palaces built and a glorious empire grew. But the avarice and luxury turned Solomon callous, cruel, selfish, greedy and paranoid. He refused to share his riches with anyone and when the rebellions started, Solomon returned to his study for solutions. As a practicing magus, Solomon had learned how to manipulate quantum energy and he opened a portal that connected him to the energies of one of the most evil stars in the galaxy. He bathed himself in its power not caring that the side effect of absorbing this evil star's influence is insanity. Shortly afterwards, Solomon unleashed his demon horde upon the entire empire, killing every last man, woman and child. Sitting upon his throne, his empire in flames and death everywhere Solomon was enraged because he was still not satisfied. The star had exacerbated his wrath and lust to such a degree that he wanted the entire earth as well. He combined his powers with those of all the demons under his control and he became Algol, the demon lord. This transformation turned him into a monster roughly the size of an asteroid.
The Syzygy's mirror reflects an image of a large red beast, half demon, half dragon.
Enoch: In the interim, Eternity had been growing increasingly concerned with the events that were transpiring and decided to approach the entity known as Galactus for assistance. After hearing Eternity's pleas, Galactus agreed to stop this beast if Eternity would grant him jurisdiction of this solar system as well as a herald that would seek out planets for him to consume. Eternity agreed and crafted a sword powerful enough to not only cut into the physical body but also the subtle body energies as well. Ultimately, this weapon's penetration could deal damage at a soul level. He named it the Katarche Blade.
Within the mirror, an image of a large sword appears. The width of this blade is about three times the size of a standard sword. The blade is light blue. Engraved on the hilt are glyphs of the four fixed zodiacal signs: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius. The blade emits a low hum, almost as if it is vibrating.
Enoch: Armed with this powerful weapon, Galactus went to war with Algol and their legendary battle almost destroyed the solar system. In fact, most of the Kuiper Belt are the remains of planets destroyed in their wake. In the end, Galactus drove the Katarche blade deep into the heart of Algol, killing not only its physical body, but also completely disassembling its subtle body energies as well. Algol's physical body was then buried deep in a volcano on Mars. But because quantum energy is never destroyed Eternity then dispersed its energies across the quantum realm. Finally, in order to prevent the Katarche blade from falling into the wrong hands, Eternity separated the blade into two objects. One of those is staff you see in front of you, the Syzygy. The other was a powerful sword named the Picatrix.
Within Enoch's mirrored screen, the image of a jet-black sword materializes. It is covered in a smoke-like black flame with two gold lightning bolts on each side of the blade.
Enoch: The Picatrix was aligned with Baraquiel's archetypal signatures and has the ability to cause confusion and madness in anything it touches. This sword is a part of Baraquiel and can be blended into his body. We have been the keepers of these objects, tasked with their protection and ensuring that Algol's energies never reform.
Doctor Strange: I suspect that you have brought us here because Algol has returned…
Enoch: Your insight serves you well, Stephen. Recently we discovered that the Picatrix went missing and believe that Dormammu has been using this sword to aid the perversion that has driven much of your population mad. Otherwise, his power should not have this scope and range.
Enoch: Dormammu is aware that Algol feeds off the dark energies inflamed by unbalancing the Synod towards wrath. And over the past 40-50 years the decay of this corruption has reached such a fever pitch that it has awoken Algol from hibernation. The imp-demons you faced earlier are a part of his energies which is why you were unable to control them using Solomon's ancient grimoires of demonology.
Doctor Strange: Has his physical body reconstituted as well?
Enoch: Yes.
Captain America: So, if wrath attracts it like blood in the water, then I assume it is heading for earth.
Enoch: Also correct, Steve Rogers.
Captain America: Is the former President aware of any of this?
Enoch: Your former President is a figurehead of dark side, black magic, specifically employed because he embodies an exaggerated archetypal signature of rage, greed and narcissism. His imbalance has been aggravated to monstrous proportions and this resonance with many of his followers has been, in turn, unwittingly and sympathetically reflected outwards, attracting Algol.
Doctor Strange: Like attracts like.
Enoch: At its core, Algol represents extreme emotion and ego intensified to the point of insanity.
Doctor Strange: So, the destruction and consumption of earth is Dormammu's goal?
Enoch: Dormammu's goals are much grander. Once Algol has destroyed earth, it will be one of the most powerful entities in the solar system. Ultimately, I believe Dormammu wants to direct this beast towards Eternity, itself.
Strange's eyes widen and he responds under his breath.
Doctor Strange: He wants to replace Eternity….
Enoch: …and become a god.
Strange tilts his head down, places his hand on his forehead and closes his eyes.
Doctor Strange: How did Dormammu obtain knowledge of the Synod?
Enoch: He was the first human to discover it.