1005 B1

The rustling of leaves betray the lifelessness of a certain section of the woods. The winds blow gently on the flora, where beneath, any other animal has been hunted to absence, with no humans to hunt them. This was apex predator country, and nothing lives that enters and leaves.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Loud, thundering paws traipse through the foliage with primitive haughtiness. Low growls emanating from a snarling snout, dripping with drool. Its shape is unnatural yet true, with rippling tendons and muscle fibers layered with thin epidermis. Fangs and claws already bared, its proboscides flailing about impatiently as it tries to scout for a scent, any scent resembling that of prey.

A Deviant.

Even with its limited intelligence, it feels it deserves to walk tall. After all, it and its pack have hunted all of the animal habitats and human settlements around the forest. The time has come for its kind to expand. Any time now they will move out of the woods and into the lush fields beyond it. Anything there and beyond is easy pickings. More prey to…

*SHUNK*

Its primeval musings are immediately silenced by a golden spear to the cranium, piercing out through its torso.

The thrower of the spear, a woman with blonde hair cut into a bowl cut with straight bangs, was fully garbed in black armor from the neck down inlaid with golden circular patterns, her armor's cloth tassets swaying gently swaying in the wind as she touched a nearby tree. The affected area soon turns solid gold as she plucks a two headed spear, measuring her own immense height, out of the transmuted bark and wood. Looking behind, she signals for her group to move forward. One sentry down, more to follow.

They are Eternals, hunting Deviants their eternal quest. But it ends today. After 3000 years, they can finish their mission and be recalled home to Olympia.

"That's one more than you for this week's quota, Aurelle." Even as she jests, the woman's gunmetal grey eyes remain alert for danger.

"Shut up, Yvani! You and I both know I trapped that entire pack in that neck of the forest before setting it on fire. That still counts!"

Floating above the group, the owner of the voice pouts in half-hearted anger. Aurelle's youthful oval face and champagne-shaded wavy hair betray her true power. Clad in burnt orange armor adorned with silver plate and similar circular patterning, she is one of the Eternals' main powerhouses, ever ready for the worst of the action.

"It would do me and the rest of us a huge favor should you both remain silent for the rest of this hunt," spoke a middle aged woman with prominent Asiatic features. Clad in the same armor as her compatriots, her design is elaborate, twisty yet symmetrical: a storm of black streaks on purple body flowing down her black boot clad legs in the form of a violet battle dress, open on both sides for mobility. Her hair tied into an intricate braid reaching her lower back; her face, wizened with experience, screams nothing but business. She only draws her weapon when necessary, opting to go unarmed until absolutely necessary. "Your 'rivalry' has been grating on us for the past three millennia."

"Have a care, all of you. That includes you, Suyin," intones a low, commanding voice. "This shall be the last Deviant hive. Remain vigilant."

"Zuras Prime," Suyin inclines her head respectfully, with all present following suit.

From behind them, a figure, with broad shoulders and a strong chest, steps forward. His red hair, wild and loose like a man of fire, hangs on his shoulders. His suit of armor, shaded burgundy with curt lines of silver running down and across his torso, came with a sleeveless brown overcoat. His aged face reflects the toll of the mission he leads, but today is different. He allows himself to feel hopeful. It shows in his narrowed, beady eyes.

"I thank you all for being here today. Our mission, our war will come to an end. The Deviants shall die."

"Suyin, is the frontal assault squad ready?" He turns to the Oriental woman in violet and black.

"Ready and awaiting your orders, Lord Prime."

Zuras walks in front of the assembled Eternals until he reaches a cliff, overlooking a plateau. He cracks his knuckles and allows himself a smirk.

Beneath, Deviants everywhere, of all shapes and sizes. It was clear from the variety of appearance that this pack had eaten just about anything that walks or crawls in this forest at one time or another. Good, thinks Zuras. This battle will be legendary.

"The attack begins now. Tell Sunen to inform the others."

His eyes narrow.

"Let us end this."


The one called Sunen is never seen or heard.

Unless called for.

In his camouflaged form, he blends into his surroundings without sound or smell, impossible for the Deviants' heightened senses to detect him.

Then he draws his swords.

The wet sounds of high-speed metallic edges slicing clean through flesh and bone keeps him steady. Vibranium is such a sturdy material for cutting.

They never saw who it was that put them down.

*SHUNK* *SHLAKK*

Pulling his swords clean from the last Deviant sentry, Sunen deactivates his camouflaging, his thin eyes observing the carnage as a wry smile appears under his silver menpō mask. His armor, a frugal blend of silver plate on black, reflects his own humble calling within Zuras' army. Merely another blade for his Prime to throw against his enemies. A duty he will gladly fulfill. He looks to his side to see a new arrival, busy with own handiwork.

Twisting the neck of a horse-like Deviant with great strength, the warrior turns to snatch a lion-like Deviant by its snout. With a jerk of both hands, he slew it, jaw and body in two different directions.

Sunen observes the Eternal from afar. His bold dark skin contrasts with his armor, a pale white emblazoned with five red circular armor plates, forming a cross. Unlike his brethren, he chooses to wear red and white gloves. Upon laying eyes on Sunen, the man merely inclines his head slightly in greeting, a gesture Sunen returns in kind.

"Virako."

"Sunen." The sum total of their interactions for the last three millennia have been cordial yet curt.

"Is the attack coming?"

"Any minute now."

"You'd be the one informing, yeah?"

"Aye."

"Go ahead then. I shall regroup with Lord Zuras and the rest." Virako merely nods farewell as he slowly takes off into the sky, taking care not to alert any more Deviants in the area. Sunen pays him little mind. They will meet again when the assault begins.

His pockets vibrate. Reaching in, he pulls out the comms device issued to all Eternals under Zuras and activates it. The familiar face of his sister, the invincible Suyin, formed by golden light, stares back at him.

"It's time."

"Yes, sister."

Putting the device away, he turns invisible and dashes away. It will all end soon.


"How long are they gonna make us wait? We've made mincemeat of all the sentries and stragglers here!"

Three identical young men in matching suits of armor lounge around the carcass of a dead gorilla-like Deviant, its huge body filled with deep cuts and head split in half vertically. Their dark shamrock shaded garb blends in well with the burgeoning flora. Their bright blue eyes flicker about impatiently, as if expecting ambush. They are the Delphan brothers, three-who-are-one, always acting in tandem.

Nearby, a man of great height, his own armor colored red-on-black, leans back first on a tree. His earthen skin and long straight black hair exudes a calm, yet powerful aura, as befits his normally quiet demeanor. He is Keyote, the Eternals' sculptor.

Around them and along the path they had taken lay strewn corpses of Deviants that they had felled stealthily. Beyond the trees, in an open clearing surrounding a large cave, hundreds of Deviants have taken residence inside, above and around it, the cave itself having dug deep into the side of a small mountain. Aerial-type Deviants flit about the air, with some perching on the jagged rocks surrounding the cave while the strong and bullish ground-types guarding it.

"Patience, younger Delphus. Lord Zuras and Suyin have sent us forward for a good reason. Look at the Deviants you have felled thus far. Surely this suits their plan well," Keyote points out.

"Keyote, ever the flunky," one of the Delphan brothers joked, earning a laugh from the remaining two.

"Or perhaps you are the one lacking in faith, middle Delphus," the statue of a man turns to glare at the identical brothers, who wisely says nothing. Near them, another man sits against a tree. His own armor, a straightforward silver plate on grey garb, reflects the steel in that of his eyes, though amicable, have the familiar gleam of a predator who has had its share but wants more. He is Tiscali, the Eternals' beast-shifter. He looks up to a lone figure on top of those gathered.

"I, for one, am not complaining, Keyote. But whatever Zuras has planned, he ought to hurry up. We're getting restless! You hear that, Pixelis?"

Waiting in the branches above, a lithe figure stands in wait. Her armor is an unsettling blend of dark blue grey and silver circular plates, stretching up her neck forming right-angled cheek plates on both sides of her face. Her ashen eyes, framed by curtains of shoulder-length pale blonde hair, flit downwards to Tiscali's direction, merely acknowledging his presence. One could see wisps of black smoke emanating near her long cape, bolstering her unsightly presence. She is Pixelis, the Eternals' smoke manipulator.

An appearance of a darkly clad figure put an end to all gossip.

"Eternals! It is time we advance. Lord Zuras shall give the signal shortly. Get ready."

"About time," said Tiscali, "we're getting bored to tears here."

"Sunen, may I ask, what would be the signal?" Asked Keyote.

The growling sound of rumbling thunder may have answered his question. Keyote looks up to see the sky darkening, clouds swirling above the clearing as the wind begins to pick up around it.

"That."

A golden pillar of lightning strikes the clearing with a deafening BANG, obliterating dozens of airborne and grounded Deviants instantly and throwing many more off the ground. Roars and growls of shock reverberate across the trees as the gathered Deviants try in vain to regain their bearings. But it is too late for them.

Sunen draws his swords.

"For the glory of Skathirim! ATTACK!"


The battle that ensued for the following hour had been nothing less than vicious.

Zuras' thunderbolt had wiped out one-third of the Deviants gathered in front of the cave. It also had the intended effect of alarming and enraging every other Deviant in the area, including those not near the cave. Get them all in one place and wipe them all out, was what Zuras told his Eternals.

It was the bloodbath they expected.

Sunen, having drawn his swords, let his hands go. Limbs and appendages go flying as the ninja unleashes his pent up fury on the beasts. He felt as if he was locked in a flow state, where every move he made seamlessly transitioned to the next, with no mistakes made.

But even all that pales in comparison to his sister, Suyin's rampage.

Wielding her signature jian formed out of cosmic energy, she was a whirlwind of violence, sucking in poor Deviants caught in her way and spitting out nothing but viscera and mangled flesh. In a graceful fluid motion, Sunen observed as she decapitated four Deviants at once, only to turn and send a crescent of cosmic energy at three others charging from behind, cleaving cleanly through all of them. Sensing another flying-type Deviant making a beeline for her, Suyin whips her head towards it, her already long braid glowing and extended with cosmic energy. The flying beast could not stop itself before it was bisected clean by the elongated braid. Noticing her brother stopping to watch her, Suyin turns and snaps:

"Sunen! Get back to killing!"

Sunen merely smiled under his mask, before going back to his own carnage.

This battle might have as well be won.


To say Aurelle was having a blast would be putting it mildly.

The vantage point granted by flight makes for great area of effect attacks. Eyes and throat glowing with gold light, she unleashed another torrent of sunfire from her mouth onto a band of suicidal Deviants. The fire settles to reveal them scalded black beyond all recognition. She bats a charging eagle-like Deviant out of the air with a single hand, immolating it on the way down.

Never had there been a pack this large with this many Deviants crammed in such a small space. It was nothing less than a godsend for Aurelle, who is simply tired of holding back for the past three millennia in fear of collateral damage. She turns to toss a fireball (freshly squeezed, she often jokes), into the face of another gryphon-like Deviant, blowing its head and part of its torso clean off. Spotting another rampaging pack, she breathes in again…

…only to watch as the Deviants jerk back in confusion as a black smoke gathers around their legs. It suddenly envelops them violently, drowning out their own terrified roars with sickening wet sounds of flesh tearing and bones breaking. The smoke quickly retreats to reveal mutilated corpses, twisted and broken beyond all recognition.

Aurelle immediately knows the culprit.

"PIXELIS, YOU BITCH! THOSE WERE MY KILLS!"

The culprit, fully intending to upstage Aurelle, turns to look at her, barely able to contain a chuckle at the other girl's prolonged bout of agitated cheek-puffing. Watching Aurelle fly away in rage, she simply smirks as she summons even more black smoke appendages, the Deviants she is facing slowly backing away in fear.

Pixelis lunges forward in a plume of black smoke. Those unfortunate enough to be in her way could barely let out a scream before they are engulfed in black.


"Bro, watch where you're shooting!"

"Shut it! You stumbled in my way!"

"Will you two shut up and get behind my shields?"

The bickering of the three identical Eternals known as the Delphan brothers has been a common fixture in their war against the Deviants. When they settle their differences, they are nothing but a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

But right now, all Tiscali wanted to do was slap the three upside the head. Hard.

Tearing through a Deviant horde in his beast form, a monstrous jaguar-like beast complete with horns, spinal spikes and spiny tail, he is the king of all the beasts. Flaying Deviants apart with his claws, teeth and spikes; Tiscali sends the rest packing. Fleeing the horrid beast, they encounter a man on a horse. He quickly disembarks his mount, and places his glowing palms into the ground.

Keyote prided himself as a sculptor, his dedication to his art second to none.

He raises his army. From the earth sprung forth stone and dirt golems of various shapes and sizes. With a swipe of his hand, Keyote sends them into a frenzy, each taking off in a furious sprint towards their targets. Crashing into the Deviants with ferocity, their superhuman strength is more than capable of overpowering the beasts.

For any one felled in battle, Keyote could easily summon ten more, but chooses not to. Watching the chaos with a stone face, Keyote is joined by a bone-tired Tiscali, who shifts back to human form. They glance over to the Delphan brothers, still arguing amongst each other while fending off Deviants.

"You need not worry for them, friend," Keyote remarks as he dismounts his stone horse. He sits down next to Tiscali. "Brothers they are, quarrel they do. They will find common cause again when the tide of battle turns sour."

"When that ever happens, their lives may be in danger if they keep this up! I'm surprised Lord Zuras even sends them on solo missions." Tiscali looks at his friend in slight exasperation.

"They can be more mature than you think," Keyote notes, watching the brothers slowly cease arguing and start to properly synchronize their attacks.

"Let us hope so," Tiscali returns. Their moment of respite is brief as they stand and return to the fight. Behind them, the Delphan brothers have cleared up their own field of Deviants, now of one mind and purpose.


As far as she could remember, Yvani longs for home. She knows the name, Olympia. She could never remember what it looked like.

But now, she's so close. With every Deviant she kills, she gets a step closer to that place.

She has lost count. Deviants, dead or or maimed by her signature golden double-ended spear, now count among the hundreds. More come by the minute, only to meet the same fate. Her body moving on autopilot, she twirls her spear, every end of it slicing through incoming Deviants like butter. Piercing a charging boar-like Deviant in the eye and finishing it off, she can see Aurelle, ever the spitfire, taking out her frustrations on another poor pack of Deviants a distance away. She almost pities them.

Yvani scans the area. All clear thus far…

"Aghh!"

She grits out in pain as a tiger-like Deviant clamps its jaws around her right shoulder. Frantically trying to remove it, she feels its claws digging deeply into her back and nape, dangerously close to tearing her head off. To make matters worse, another pack is quickly making its way to Yvani, sensing her weakness. Still wrangling with the Deviant latching on to her shoulder, Yvani tries to regain her composure while trying not to drop her spear.

A sudden explosion of dirt impacts the beasts, stunning them. Their momentary respite is immediately interrupted by a fist. A figure in white proceeds to decimate them with flurries of punches and kicks, with those unlucky to be caught by those powerful hands torn apart by them. Yvani uses the momentary distraction to wrench her Deviant free and throw it over her shoulder, before impaling her spear through its throat with her unwounded arm.

Virako viciously tears the heart out of a primate Deviant. Tossing the organ away in disgust, he hurries himself over to the wounded Eternal in need of his care.

He kneels next to her. "Yvani, you alright?"

"Maybe, wanna check?"

As the Eternals' lone healer, Virako doesn't take kindly to poor attempts at putting up a brave face. Any wound that can lead to the death of an Eternal sits badly with him. He says nothing as he removes a glove and places the bare hand on her ravaged shoulder. The grievous wound glows the ethereal gold before it closes along with her armor.

Yvani immediately gets on her feet, brushing herself off. "Thanks."

"Need me to charge you?"

"No. Go with Lord Zuras. He might just need it for the finale."

Virako's brows furrow. "That was a small pack that already got you hurt. A bigger one and you might not survive."

"Don't worry. I promise you won't be needed again." She smirks at him as she sprints off, weapon in hand, more than ready to join new battles.

Virako nods as he flies off. He allows himself a small smile. Sometimes the mischievous glint in her eyes really gets to him.

Sometimes, he swears.


"Lord Zuras."

The Eternal leader remains on the cliff, observing the battle thus far. He is content to let his Eternals take care of the common riffraff, whose numbers are thinning by the minute. The true Alpha, he deduces, is still inside the cave, sending its peons out in droves to clear the field, with the pack's "elite" standing guard near the cave entrance.

Time to lure it out.

"The bastard thinks it can hide from me, Virako," Zuras harrumphs. "I need a charge. I'm going to destroy the cave entrance."

"My Lord?"

"With luck, the entire cave structure collapses on all of them while all of their strongest guardians get taken out," Zuras reasons. "But if the Alpha is as evolved as I think it is, it will dig itself out and show its face."

Virako nods as he removes both of his gloves, placing both hands on Zuras' shoulders. Concentrating the flow of his own energy, the medic syncs his leader's cosmic power with his own. The effect is almost immediate, with Zuras' power leaking out in bolts of electricity lashing against his surroundings, his eyes blazing with a storm. Virako could almost hear the wind hiss against the trees around them as Zuras' increasing power washes into the environment around him in waves. Gauging the sudden surge in power, the Eternal leader gathers it into one hand, focusing until it coalesces into a large spear-like form.

"That's enough, Virako. Stand back." Zuras heads to the cliff's edge, the powerful lightning spear in his right. "I'll take it from here."

The Eternals, now merely clearing up the leftovers of the once mighty Deviant horde, look up in wonder. The coup de grace is finally here.

With a grunt, Zuras flings the spear.

The explosion and shockwave following the flash was deafening. Leaves torn, Suyin and Sunen held on, impaling their swords into the ground, anchoring them. Tiscali, in his beast-form, moved quickly to shield the Delphan brothers and Keyote from the blast. Aurelle, still in the air, was nearly blown away by the force. Yvani quickly transmuted and raised a wall of gold to shield herself while Pixelis merely clad herself with thick smoke. Virako barely held on as Zuras, slightly backing away from the cliff, merely watched his handiwork with grim determination. The blast had completely eliminated whatever remains of the Deviant horde, with the "elite" guarding the cave entrance utterly decimated. The entire mountain shook as the rocks composing it came crashing down, collapsing on and crushing everything beneath it, even the cave itself and all within it.

The dust settles.

"Virako, check on the others." With the command, Virako quickly flies down to join his comrades. Zuras smiles. It wasn't enough…

"Is it… over?" The eldest Delphan brother wonders.

Aurelle, having recovered from being blown off by the blast, flew back into the clearing. Landing next to Yvani and her conjured golden wall, she could not help but cling onto the much taller woman and cheer.

"WE DID IT! Yvani! We di…"

"Wait," Yvani pries Aurelle off of her. "Movement. From the cave entrance."

Indeed. Some of the rocks were slowly rumbling down the pile gathered in front of the cave. Soon, all present could hear a visible "thump" repeat itself as more rocks and dust crumbled around the ruins of the mountainside.

*CRASH*

"DEVIANT!" Aurelle's alarmed shout caused the rest of the Eternals to leap to alert.

A gigantic fist crashes through the cave opening, blasting the rubble surrounding into pieces. The hand clamps onto the dirt nearby and hauls the remainder of itself up, its back lifting up and collapsing the mountain as it climbs to the surface. The Eternals quickly retreat from the site of emergence as they gaze up in horror at the humongous figure emerging from the dust and smoke.

Not only was it bipedal, the Deviant was the first of its kind that any of the Eternals have ever seen stand completely upright. Standing, no, towering over its surroundings with its 18m height, its back is littered with the tentacles typical in Deviantkind. Its sinewy, heavily muscled form almost resembled that of a human's without genitals. Its head, lacking the feral animalistic features of its less advanced brethren, sported a lipless mouth lined with two rows of humanlike teeth. Its four beady eyes quickly scan the area with an intelligence previously unknown to its kind. Its mouth opens…

*RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH*

…letting out an earthshaking roar. This is the Deviant Alpha. The undisputed leader of the last Deviant horde.

In response, Zuras simply smiles. "There you are."

He was right.

"Let's end this."


"ETERNALS, ENGAGE!"

At the command, the Eternals rushed the Deviant Alpha. Tiscali, even in his transformed state, and the Delphan brothers are immediately either swatted or kicked away. Zuras, now in the air, could not help but marvel at the Alpha's highly evolved state. Virako tried his luck, charging in blindly only to get backhanded away. Aurelle was similarly batted away when she tried her luck.

Yvani, seeing the distraction, places her glowing hands on the ground. The green grass and the dirt beneath it quickly take on the familiar glister of gold, spreading all the way beneath the Alpha's left foot. Spikes of gold rise up from the golden earth, impaling the titan's limb from various angles all the way up the lower leg.

Sensing she could slow the beast down further, Pixelis joined in, unloosing her smoke tendrils. Latching them to the Deviant's already impaled left leg and arm, she tried to restrain it, the monster roaring as it struggles to remain balanced.

"Pixelis and Yvani are trying to hold it down! Sunen, go up the leg!" Commanded Suyin as she charges her sword with cosmic energy. The ever diligent Sunen, with his dashing ability, was now already halfway up its leg. Swinging upwards, Suyin casts a large crescent of energy, impacting the Deviant's torso with great force. With the beast dazed, Sunen aims his swords for its neck.

Only for a hand to grab him.

Already tearing away the smoke tentacles and sending Pixelis, still attached, flying, the Alpha lazily reached for Sunen as it carelessly tore its trapped leg out of the gold spikes. With a lazy swing of its arm, the Alpha tossed the Eternal into his sister, both crumbling into a heap resulting from the impact. Everyone else looked on in horror as the bleeding gash left by Suyin's blast and the mutilated left leg slowly regenerated, wounds dissipating into smoke. The lifted, healed leg soon came down with a vengeance, throwing Yvani away with its thunderous stomp.

From above, Zuras observes.

It is defending itself intelligently… covering its weak spots in a way that does not feel instinctual… but in anticipation! Also, it can heal… something no previous Deviant, much less Alpha, could be able to do…

He narrows his eyes.

Not easily downed, are you?

Snapping his head to Virako, his trusty guard, he bellows: "Get to Keyote and charge him! Tell him to make something big!" His hands crackle with electricity.

"It'll deal with me while you work." Lightning bolts strike the Alpha clean on its head. Growling in pain, it tries to swat Zuras away only to be met with another onslaught of lightning. "Go! NOW!"

The Delphan brothers are just barely getting off the ground from their thrashing. Helping Tiscali, who landed nearby, to his feet, they could only stare at the beast as it tries to fend the Eternals' leader off. "It just threw them off like they were nothing… how the hell are we gonna bring it down? Tiscali!"

"I have no damn clue…" The Eternal in question answers grimly.

Virako, having long left his leader, quickly makes his way to the resident sculptor. "Virako! Thank the Celestials."

"He wants you to make…"

"...Something big, I know. Boost me! This will be my greatest sculpture and it will give this Deviant hell!" Swiftly pulling off both his gloves, Virako places his hands on Keyote's shoulders as the man places his own on the ground.

Keyote can spawn any living creature from inorganic material, with his limit being anything that can be twice as big as him. But combined with Virako's ability to amplify the power of any Eternal, he can make wonders.

From the earth sprang forth a towering behemoth of stone and dirt. Nearing the Deviant Alpha in height, it let out its own roar, while slowly trudging on its newfound feet towards its new enemy, still fending off Zuras.

"Virako, help me get on its head! Without your powers, I'd have to manually control this golem!" Nodding, Virako quickly places his friend on the earthly beast. He looks around. His compatriots are scattered, watching the Alpha continue to tangle with their leader. He seemed to be purposefully holding it off without significantly wounding it.

Wait…

"Everyone, get on the golem!" Virako's call was heeded as the remaining Eternals quickly made their way up the inorganic giant, either by climbing or flying. They all gather at the giant's shoulders and head, watching it slowly advance towards their leader's continued battle.

Lord Zuras has something big planned with the golem! I know it!

"There we are!" A final bolt of electricity takes out three of the Alpha's eyes, severely damaging the fourth. It covers its face with a frantic roar as it tries to heal the damage. Yvani, slowly understanding the purpose of Keyote's golem, places down a glowing hand. Upon impact, a trail of gold runs quickly from her hand across the right limb, before spreading across the forearm, turning it and the fist attached into solid gold. With the golden fist already cocking itself back on command, all its master had to do was order it to swing forward.

*CRACK*

The Deviant only managed to fully heal an eye before it glimpses the heavy golden fist crashing into its face, flinging it onto the side of the ruined mountain.

"Now!" Zuras bellows. "Obliterate the head!" A torrent of lightning bursts forth from his hands, striking the beast head on. The eldest and middle Delphus brothers, taking their chance, conjure energy discs and beams respectively with fervor. Lastly, Suyin assails it with her sword's cosmic slashes, knocking it back significantly with each blow.

Under the furious assault, the Deviant crumbles against the rubble in a cloud of marble dust, clouding the Eternals' vision. As the smokescreen clears, the thought-to-be victors only widened their eyes in horror.

The Alpha was on its feet, arms crossed in an X-formation. Its arms and head, now fully regenerated, are covered with an extremely hard, crystal like substance.

"It… could generate a hardened exoskeleton," notes Virako, still in shock.

It lunges forward at the stone golem with an overhand right, barely missing the head with Keyote perched on it. It instead knocked off Suyin and Sunen, sending them hurtling to the earth. Panicked, the Eternals' sculptor maneuvered the golem sideways, only to meet a crystalline headbutt, nearly completely shattering its head with its pilot on it. The golem's right fist, still golden thanks to Yvani valiantly holding on, tries again to find its target true but is caught by a crystal fist. The other hand, hardened into sharpened claws, digs itself into the golem's side, tearing off chunks of rock on the way.

"Dire straits we are in, Virako… I might have need of your services again," comments Zuras grimly as he tries in vain to fend off the Deviant with his lightning in tandem with the Delphan brothers' continued attacks. All of their efforts prove to be futile: with any part of the crystalline armor caving to the cosmic energy onslaught, the Deviant can simply regenerate it anew.

Virako nods. The situation worsens as the battle drags. He notices something. "Wait a minute… where's Aurelle?"

"EAT SHIT!"

A burnt orange comet crashes into and through the Deviant with crushing force, flooring it violently. Penetrating straight through armor and flesh alike, the culprit rises into the air, torching the still-wounded Deviant as it tries to rise to its feet. The brutal torrent of solar fire forces it down, cracking its armor and searing away flesh faster than it could regenerate. Nearby, the searing heat boils the rocks of the ruins into lava as the blast of burning hot air scorches the leaves of the forest. The other Eternals, not expecting this, were forced to hide behind the stone golem for cover.

Aurelle had no intention of letting it live past this day.

The Deviant braces. It had not expected this one to overwhelm it so easily. The rest had been easy. Their attacks are lethal on their own, but it quickly figured out it could neuter them by combining its regeneration with its armor plating, alternating as necessary. But this…

This is pure destruction.

"It's Aurelle, what is she…"

Seeing the monster squirm brings a smile to Zuras' face. His plan was working. The girl actually listened to him for once. The Deviant is pinned down. The tables have turned.

Now for the coup de grace.

"Virako, NOW!" Zuras bellows. The Eternals' medic quickly charges his leader. The burly Eternal braces as a jolt of energy blitzes through his veins, much quicker than before as the air snaps in tandem with his strengthening. But he will not attack from the front, the Deviant has figured him out in that aspect.

The final strike will come from the sky.

Almost immediately in response to Zuras' uptick of cosmic energy, the weather rumbles, condensing into a nimbus funnel over the site of the battle as the wind once again picks up pace. Below, Aurelle is not letting up her onrush of flame, even intensifying worse than before.

The thunderclaps grow louder as the lightning, tinted gold with cosmic power, threatens to burst forth from the seams of its newborn cumulonimbus clouds.

"AURELLE! MOVE!"

The firebreather, hearing her leader, quickly stops her flamethrowing and flies away to cover. The Deviant Alpha was worse for wear. With most of its limbs burnt to stumps with the exception of its left hand, its armor-like hardening was overcooked to the point of sheer brittleness, falling off its badly burned body in shattered chunks. The hole made on its body had widened twice its original size, its internal organs thoroughly scorched. Its regeneration is going haywire thanks to the scorching heat. Breathing is simply impossible…

It looks up.

"Die."

A great yellow light engulfs it completely. The bang that followed served to deal the deathblow to whatever else left standing from the previous destruction wrought. Trees break in half or are uprooted violently. Rock breaking apart into smaller rocks, then into dust and sand. The ground turning into glass, with whatever that is too far away torn to mud. The remaining Deviant corpses around the point of impact are thrown haphazardly, shredded to organic matter by the force if not burnt further by the intense heat.

The stone golem was completely destroyed, with all of its occupants thrown from it great distances. Zuras, Virako, Pixelis and Aurelle, being the only Eternals capable of flight, were themselves thrown, but barely managed to hold on without being affected further.

The blast slowly dissipates.

All that is left is the heavily crisping remains of the Deviant Alpha. Its lower half has since disappeared, rounded by the burnt hole made by Aurelle's blind charge. Its head was cleaved in half by the jaw, the burnt flesh quickly evaporating into dark smoke. One arm remained, blackened and charred, lay just a few feet away, broken.

The Eternals, having regained their footing, slowly approach the epicenter of the blast.

Virako, looking worse for wear, decides to question his leader. "Sire, how did Aurelle…"

"Know when to come in at the last minute? I purposefully told her to stay away." Zuras replies, his tone almost smug. "I suspected that the Deviant, this one at least, could adapt to our powers accordingly, gaining the advantage should the battle drag on. I purposely hid Aurelle from it, only to reveal her when the time is right. She took the bastard off guard and weakened it long enough for us to unleash the killing blow. Worked out fine."

"Yes, sire." His curiosity satiated, Virako spoke no more.

Aurelle, her face full of soot, called out. "Guys, did we…"

"Deviant confirmed deceased. Victory is ours!"

The Eternals allowed themselves a silent breath of relief. The younger ones cling to each other, whooping and hollering all the way. The more mature ones smile or hold their faces, shielding their happy tears from the others. The elders merely close their eyes in contemplation of their astounding feat.

They had won.

Suyin approaches her leader from behind, filthy from the grime of the battlefield, her weary eyes showing something akin to hope. "Your orders, sir?"

"We return to the Argos. And wait for our permission to return home." Zuras' calm declaration brought more cheers to the younger Eternals. Even a smile was worming itself onto the eternally taciturn Sunen's face.

Soon their great starship, the Argos, revealed itself. A triangular mass of engraved black stone appears on the horizon, above the forest and the destruction within. Making its slow descent to the ruins, it lowered circular platforms from its hull. Zuras stepped on one of them, lifting him up the ship before its warp gate engulfed him whole. One by one, the Eternals boarded their starship, elation in their hearts. With Aurelle being the last to board, she took one look back at whatever remained of the Deviant Alpha.

It's finally over. She allows herself to believe.

She steps in. The starship hums to life as it regains cloaking function and disappears from the common sight, never to be seen again. Quiet returns to what was once a forest, only broken by periodic gusts of wind.

Movement.

*squelch*

The carcass suddenly splits open. From it, slithers out a glowing blue spine-like creature. It shivers, as if shaking off the heat of past events. Slowly easing into its surroundings with its primitive senses, it moves tepidly across the cauterized earth, "limbs" rippling back and forth like a centipede. After traversing past the epicenter and the gnarled landscape therein, it finds itself among trunks of trees, broken off during the explosion. Finding the ground beneath them soft enough, it digs its "mandibles" in, splitting the warm soil apart, enough for it to wriggle in.

Soon, it disappears beneath the earth, never to be seen again.

History, from that point on, will be changed.

Forever.


They are called the Lords of the Undying, called thus for they have always existed, and have always waited within all the Earth. Suborned to the One King, high ruler of all devils and chthonic nightmares, they emerge from the Earth to reclaim the prize their underling had so freely given without their leave. They ride upon a great ark of gnarled black stone, flown through the air no less alike a feather. Their swords and spears are of golden lightning and each bore unimaginable powers beyond comprehension.

The craven Eldian king and his soldiers cowered but Ymir was resolute. She simply replied to the Lords: "A deal struck cannot be unstruck."

Impressed, the Lords turned to leave. The Lords' lead rider spoke thus to Ymir: "Should you and your descendants fail to hold this land in 2000 years, the One King shall become the One Reborn. He shalt erupt from the Earth in a shroud of lightning, and drown it in Hellfire and Brimstone." Then as quickly as the ill wind, they did disappear, never to be seen again.

It is said one can hear the stone ark of the Lords looming above man's world at the dead of night, reaping the souls of all those who died of violence, plague and hunger to enrich their King's unholy kingdom…

Original ending from the famous fairy tale "Birth of the Devils". Censored and removed from all future publications by the Marleyan Public Security Bureau in Year 762.


AN: The idea of this came like a wave of cold sweat. Ideas just came rushing in and I can't stop writing. If this ultimately doesn't go anywhere, I'm just getting the idea out into the world. Hope it does tho. Please leave kudos and comments, they might coax me into continuing this.