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A blistering, gargantuan star hung low on the horizon, cast in a hue that felt entirely alien. It was neither the sun nor the moon, but a dying furnace that bathed the world in a sickly, bruised light.
A massive shadow draped across the planet's surface, drowning the jagged landscape in a pervasive, bone-chilling gloom. The geography was a nightmare of impossible geometry, jagged spires and gravity-defying rock formations that strained the mind's eye. It was a place where wonder felt indistinguishable from dread.
Arthur's team held their ground. These were veterans of a hundred battlefields; they had seen the collapse of cities and the birth of gods. They didn't flinch, but they didn't relax either.
Mordo, however, looked around with a lingering sense of displacement.
"I spent the entire journey wondering what kind of hellscape we'd land in," he admitted, his voice tight. "Now that we're here, it's almost mundane. At least there aren't any slavering monstrosities charging us from the mist."
Arthur didn't look back. "Keep talking like that and I'll find one for you."
Thor hummed thoughtfully, his hand resting on the leather wrap of his hammer. "Loki's people had a few of those. Frost Giants loved their beasts."
"One made it to Earth once," Arthur recalled. "Then it vanished. Either it found its way home, or it couldn't handle the heat and turned into a very large roast. Either way... enough talk. If the Red Skull is what I think he's become, he already knows we're here. Let's move."
The objective was simple: hit the target, end the threat, and leave. Speed was their only safeguard against the unknown.
To ensure they weren't caught off guard, Arthur had layered his contingencies. Bringing Mordo, a master of the mystic arts, was one of them.
"Go," Arthur commanded.
They surged forward. Those whose powers weren't built for a mountain sprint were carried by the heavy hitters, the "idiot" and the Hulk. In a heartbeat, the base of a pitch-black, impossibly deep peak loomed over them.
Arthur checked the data pulsing on his wristband. "This is it. Up the mountain. Now!"
The ascent was unnervingly smooth. For a team of Avengers, the vertical terrain was a minor inconvenience. Peter Parker was practically enjoying himself, firing webs against the obsidian rock and wall-crawling with effortless grace.
"I don't know, guys," Peter chirped, swinging upward. "This feels less like a mission and more like a very moody vacation."
Arthur didn't answer. The lack of resistance was making his skin crawl. The Eye of Horus was active, but the silence of the mountain felt like a held breath.
Then, the Hulk's gravelly voice broke the quiet. "Man in the sky. Flying."
"Flying?"
Arthur snapped his head up. The Eye of Horus hadn't registered a heartbeat, yet there it was. A figure cloaked in tattered black, drifting through the air like the specter of Death itself, riding a trail of dark, oily mist.
"It's him!" Arthur shouted. "Hulk, bring him down!"
The team shifted into a combat rhythm instantly. Mordo's hands blurred, sparks of orange light weaving into Tao Mandalas that extended into shimmering Eldritch whips. Wanda's eyes began to glow with a chaotic crimson light, her palms leveled at the sky.
Pietro remained a blur of potential energy. He didn't need to prep; he just needed a target to touch the ground.
T'Challa, scanning the figure through his HUD, frowned behind his vibranium mask. "Something is wrong. The readings…"
Before the King could finish, the specter vanished.
"Behind us!" Steve Rogers roared.
The world seemed to bleed. The desolate, icy gray of the peak was suddenly stained with a vivid, visceral red. A voice, cold and rasping like dry leaves on a tombstone, whispered directly into Arthur's ear:
"We meet again, hypocritical hero."
Arthur spun, met only by a reaching, skeletal hand.
The palm lunged for his throat. Arthur's cosmic energy flared, his ki barrier erupting in a golden dome to shield those nearest to him. His body hardened to the density of star-matter.
But the hand never connected. The figure dissolved into a wisp of emerald smoke, slipping through the air like a ghost.
Thor's hammer struck the earth with a deafening crack. Lightning arced across the cliffside, shattering stone, but hitting nothing but shadow.
"Got you!" Wanda's voice was a snarl.
She didn't just strike; she bound. Red hex-bolts snared a flickering shadow in mid-air. In the same breath, Steve's shield whistled through the wind, slamming into the specter's forehead with a sickening, metallic thud.
The Red Skull's head snapped back. He opened his mouth to speak, but a glob of webbing plastered his face shut.
Suddenly, a massive, toothy maw opened behind the specter. Crunch. Venom bit down hard, his massive form shimmering out of the shadows. He chewed twice, then made a face of pure disgust. "Why does it taste like nothing?"
The Red Skull flickered again. Despite the physical trauma and the webbing, he bled into the air like ink in water, reappearing yards away.
"Over here!" T'Challa leaped, his movements a masterclass in predatory grace. He launched a series of specialized magnetic anchors that hissed through the air, pinning the phantom's robes against the sheer rock face.
Arthur's brow furrowed. The Eye of Horus opened to its limit, seeing past the physical plane. He looked up.
Standing high above them, perched on a ledge of air, the real entity looked down. The Red Skull offered a feral, jagged grin.
"Hypocritical hero... what can you truly change here?"
Arthur's response was a scream of light.
He unsheathed his Asgardian greatsword, the blade erupting in a violent cocktail of cosmic fire and channeled thunder. He launched himself upward in a resplendent arc, a golden meteor carving through the darkness.
The blow landed. This time, the figure didn't dissipate. As the Red Skull was blasted backward by the sheer force of the impact, Arthur was already on him. He reached through the smoke and seized the apparition by the throat, his fingers sinking into the cold, dead fabric.
"Toying with me?" Arthur growled, his eyes burning with the intensity of a sun. "You're going to pay a hell of a price for that."
(End of chapter)