Saving the Team
“I do not exist for Arishem! I exist for my family!” Phastos yells walking towards Ikaris with anger.
“Then you are making the same mistake Ajak did” Ikaris responds not flinching.
Just then Makkari zooms in happily. I found Tiamut she signs happily.
“NO!” Phastos yells.
“Makkari!” Kingo yells pushing her out of the way and getting the brunt of the attack himself.
Druig moves to catch her, Makkari looks up at him confused and scared. Druig shakes his head solemnly before turning his attention to Kingo.
Makkari goes to Kingo’s side and he yells “Get out of here!”
Makkari looks at him confused and then back to Druig who mouths at her to “run”.
She nods and zooms away as fast as she can.
Ikaris grunts and looks at the rest of his former team. “You should not have done that”
“You don’t betray your family boss” Kingo says leaning on Phastos for support.
“You think I wanted to kill Ajak? It was the only way. We live for Arishem.” Ikaris responded.
“I believe Arishem too, but I wouldn’t hurt anyone for him” Kingo responded.
Ikaris shook his head at him and turned to face the rest of the Eternals. “I serve Arishem. And I will kill everyone you if I have to”
Sersi breaths out a sob, Ikaris looks over at her and she turns her face away from him.
“I don’t want to hurt any of you, so let the emergence happen peacefully”
“I won’t let you kill my family” Phastos said stepping forward becoming face to face with Ikaris.
“Then you leave me no choice” Ikaris said flying up and laser beaming Phastos across the room.
“Ikaris stop!” Sersi yells running over to Phastos.
Kingo goes over and helps as well, he glares over at Ikaris and lifts his hand, creating a cosmic energy ball at the end of his fingertips “I don’t want to do this Ikaris”
Thena walks in the room at the moment. “What’s going on here?”
Ikaris shoots lasers out of his eyes at her, she dodges his attack and creates a cosmic shield. Thena generates her cosmic spear and plunges forward, attempting to strike Ikaris in the air.
Ikaris flies up into the air, then flies back down punching the floor hard. This creates an earthquake in the Domo, causing everyone and all of Makkari’s artifacts to fall to the ground.
Ikaris then grabs a nearby bag containing collars. He quickly flies around putting a collar on each of his fallen companions.
“Wha-what is this?” Druig says gripping his collar.
“Inhibator collars. They dampen your powers. I’ll take them off once emergence is done”
“Ikaris, please don’t do this” Sersi begs, trying to take off her collar.
“It’s no use Sersi. This is designed by Phastos himself”
“Phastos? Are you fucking crazy? Why would you ever design something like this?” Druig yells storming up to Phastos.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time! Ajak asked me to design something like this in case one of us ever went rouge…which I guess did happen” Phastos replied.
“All right, you’re all coming with me” Ikaris said leading them out of the main room of the Domo.
“We’re not going anywhere with you” Phastos said.
“Don’t make this difficult Phastos” Ikaris responded.
“Wait Ikaris. I’ll help you.” Sprite spoke up “Just take this collar off of me”
Ikaris looked at Sprite, she nodded at him reassuringly and he took the collar off her.
Sprite looked at everyone and lifted her hands up, creating an illusion for the rest of the Eternals. She teleports them to an empty desert plain.
“Where are we?” Druig asks squinting his eyes at his surroundings.
“This is where Babylon used to be. The last home we had. The last place we were all together” Sprite responded.
“Speaking of all of us…where’s Makkari gone off to?” Ikaris questioned.
Druig’s face perked up as he continued glaring at Ikaris. “You’ll never catch her. You’re fast, but she’s faster”
“She might be fast, but she’s also loyal. She won’t do anything knowing her family or her love is in danger”
“What are you going to do to her?” Kingo asks worried.
“I don’t want to hurt her. But if she challenges me and not tell me where Tiamut lies…I will subdue her.”
Druig goes up to Ikaris’s face “If you hurt her Ikaris I swear-”
“You’re weak Druig. You couldn’t beat me with powers, you sure as hell won’t beat me now”
Ikaris looks over at Sprite, she nods and waves her hands creating chains around each of the Eternal’s wrists, chaining them to the ground.
“Ikaris, don’t do this” Sersi pleads.
Ikaris walks over to Sersi and cups her cheek. “I’m sorry Sersi, but I have to”
He turns his back on her and flies up a few feet.
“Makkari! I know you can feel my vibrations wherever you are. So I’m going to give you a choice. Come here and surrender yourself and the location of Tiamut. Or else I kill your family, starting with Druig”
Druig grunts as he struggles against his chains. Please don’t come Makkari he thinks to himself.
“I’m going to look around for her, keep guard of the others” Ikaris instructs to Sprite
Makkari listens intently, from her hiding spot. She can’t let the emergence happen, but letting her family get hurt because of her was not an option either. When she heard that Ikaris would kill Druig, her heart dropped.
Makkari peeks her head out and see’s the other Eternals chained to the ground. Why aren’t they escaping? She thought to herself.
Day soon faded into night and Ikaris had still not returned and Sprite had slowly drifted off to sleep. This was Makkari’s chance, she emerged from her hiding spot and ran quickly to Druig, his eyes widen as he’s about to say something. She cups his face and puts a finger to her lips, indicating for him to be quiet.
“Makkari? What are you doing here? You need to get out of here” Druig says worriedly.
Have to help you Makkari signs back.
“No, forget about me. The only thing standing between Ikaris and the destruction of the world is you”
What’s around your neck? She asks.
“An inhibitor collar. They take our powers. It’s why we’re stuck here. You can’t get one of these on you”
I have to get you guys out of here Makkari signed.
“Makkari. My love. You have to leave us. Ikaris will be back any minute” Druig says resting his forehead against hers.
I can’t leave youhere Makkari signs back, a single tear falling down her cheek.
“I’ll be okay. We’ll all be okay” Druig whispers, smiling weakly.
Makkari smiles at him staring into his big blue eyes. By the way, I did miss you. A lot.
“I know you did, I missed you too”
Just then Makkari looks up sharply.
“Kari? What’s wrong”
He’s near. I can feel his vibrations. Makkari signs.
“You have to get out of here. Now” Druig whispers.
But-
“No, please, get out of here, for me” Druig begs.
Makkari nods and turns to leave, but then turns back to face Druig. He looks at her confused but eyes widen as Makkari’s lips crash on his. He rests his hands on her waist, despite his chains and deepens the kiss. Druig reluctantly pulls away and mouths at her to go, she nods at him and in a blink of the eye, she’s gone.
Just then Ikaris flies over and lands in front of Druig.
“Oh back so soon?” Druig smirks.
“You know, I never liked your attitude Druig. I’m surprised Makkari kept up with it for as long as she did”
“It’s cause she possesses something you will never have”
“And what is that?”
“A mind as big as her heart” Druig says.
Ikaris’s smile falters as he goes up close to Druig’s face.
“Say what you want. Come tomorrow I will either end your life or possibly Makkari’s”
Druig struggles against his chains, trying to get a hit on Ikaris’s body.
“Oh? I seem to hit a nerve there”
“I’ll show you how to hit a nerve…take these chains off. Or are you scared I would win?"
“Nice try Druig…I know you’re just trying to get into my head and it won’t work”
Druig just smirks at him and tilts his chin up. Ikaris glares at him and looks down, he squints his eyes on the ground and bends down to examine it.
“Hmmm, now I may not be as observant as you, but I know that a certain speedster always leaves scuff marks on the ground when she runs away”
Druig’s expression stays steady, but his heart is racing.
“She was here wasn’t she”
Druig just stays silent as he watches Ikaris stand up, staring down at Druig.
“I’m not saying anything”
“You don’t need to” Ikaris responds turning away from him.
“Spite!” He yells.
She instantly wakes up and hurries to his side. “Yes Ikaris?”
“I need you to do something”
Sprite nods as Ikaris whispers something into her ear.
Makkari was watching intently from her hiding spot. She saw Ikaris talking to Druig, she held her breath when she saw him go face to face with him.
She watched Ikaris walk towards Sprite and whisper something in her ear. She squinted as she tried to get a better look of what was going on.
Just then Ikaris flies up at full speed grabbing Druig’s neck and lifting him up. Her eyes widen as she watches Druig struggle under Ikaris’s grasp.
Makkari doesn’t hesitate and runs out from her hiding spot, full speed at Ikaris pushing him away with an intense amount of force. Ikaris is thrown to the side at a distance, with Sprite rushing to his side to help him up.
Makkari turns her back to help Druig, who is coughing on the ground. She bends down and helps him stand up.
Are you okay? She signs worriedly.
He looks up at her with the same Druig look she is so familiar with. Then he goes emotionless. She looks at him confused and then watches him disappear in her arms. She turns her eyes to see Sprite’s eyes glowing gold as all of her teammates surrounding her also disappeared. That’s when she realized what was really going on.
She turned to face Ikaris who had an evil smirk on his face.
“You know I’m surprised at you Makkari. Druig said you were smarter than this”
What have you done with them?
“Doesn’t matter. Now it’s just you and me. Tell me where Tiamut is.”
Never.
“Then you’ve made your choice”
Before she can react attacks her with his laser beams. She closes her eyes in pain as she clutches her stomach armor.
“I don’t want to hurt you Makkari. Just tell me where it is” Ikaris roars.
Makkari glares at him as she gets up slowly and shakes her head at him. Ikaris bows his head down in shame as he prepares for another attack.
Makkari runs forward at him again, she uses her speed to get a few quick punches on him, but eventually her luck runs out and he grabs her by the neck.
She looks at him scared scared and tries to free herself from his grasp.
Where are the others? She signs weakly.
“You want to say hi?”
He turns to Sprite and nods his head. She returns his nod and soon enough, her teammates the real ones.
Druig locks eyes with Makkari and his eyes widen. “Makkari!” He yells and runs forward, chains stopping him from reaching her. “Ikaris let her go!”.
“Tell her to tell me where Tiamut is and I will”
“Ikaris, she can’t breathe! Please let her go!” Sersi yells.
Ikaris turns his head to face Makkari and see’s her gasping for air. He drops her and watch her cough for air.
Druig’s heart breaks as he sees how broken his Makkari looks. Her hair is a mess, face covered in cuts, neck bruised up, and a giant burn on her armor.
“This is your last chance Makkari. Tell me where it is. Or I kill you and the rest of the family” Ikaris said bending down to be at eye level with her.
“Ikaris I swear to god you hurt her I will break your mind” Druig threatens, staring at Makkari intently.
“Oh? Is that a threat?” Ikaris challenges, grabbing Makkari by the hair and pulling her back to force her to look at the others.
Druig had absolutely no compassion left for the person in front of him. He just kept pulling at his chains, hoping his strength was strong enough for it to break.
I’m okay Druig Makkari weakly signs, tears coming out from her eyes.
“Ikaris! This has gone too far!” Sprite says, finally speaking up.
“Sprite? What are you taking about?” Ikaris asks shocked.
“I-I agree with you and that Arishem’s orders should be followed, but they are our family. We can’t hurt them” she stammered.
“Well then…you can join them” Ikaris said, not hesitating in pulling out a collar and lunging forward at her.
Sprite steps back and waves her hands, chains disappearing to the Eternals. She hides behind Sersi as she realizes what Ikaris was about to do to her.
Ikaris looks around at the other Eternals, who are now free, but still wearing their collars. Druig is already at Makkari’s side, supporting her back up and pushing a hair out of her face. She takes this as her chance and musters up all the strength she has left in her body and zooms out of Druig’s arms and into Ikaris once more.
Druig watches her as she carries Ikaris far, launching him into the side of a mountain, she runs back and fourth at full speed, pushing Ikaris further and further into the rock wall. Each time she lands a hit, the Ikaris sized crater in the wall starts to glow hotter with friction heat.
“Enough!” He yells, grabbing Makkari by the neck and flying up.
“Makkari no!” Druig yells at the top of his lungs, not being able to do anything with the collar still on him.
“Any last words Makkari?” Ikaris asks looking down at the distance between the where he’s levitating and the floor.
Yeah…these collars work for you too right?
Ikaris looks at her confused before she whips out an inhibitor color and places around his neck. Within seconds the two start free falling down to Earth.
“SPRITE! GET THESE OFF OF US RIGHT NOW!” Thena yells.
Sprite happily obliges and with a flick of her wrist, the collars fall to the ground with a crack. Sersi steps forward and bends down to touch the ground. She focuses and her hands start to glow gold, turning the hard rock into a deep lake.
Just in time, as Makkari and Ikaris fall into the water with a large splash. Druig wastes no time wading into the water and diving under to save her. Moments go by and Druig soon emerges with Makkari in his arms. She has her arms wrapped around his neck, pressing her forehead against his.
Druig mumbles something to her along the lines of “It’s okay. We’re okay”.
Kingo and Phastos also submerge under the water, later coming back up with an unconscious Ikaris in both their arms.
“What are we going to do with him?”
“Give him a few rounds with me without his powers. I’ve always wanted to fight him.” Thena said developing her cosmic spear.
“No more fighting!” Sersi yells. “Sprite, teleport us back to the Domo. Now.”
Sprite nods and within seconds they are standing back in the main room of the Domo. When they all arrived there was an awkward silence between them.
“All right, we need to think of a plan and how to stop the Emergence” Sersi explained.
Before anyone can respond, Phastos uses his powers to produce another collar and it clasps itself around Sprite’s neck.
“What the hell Phastos!?” Sprite yells falling to her knees.
“We don’t know if we can trust you. This is until we know who’s side you’re on.” Phastos explains.
“What should we do now?” Kingo asks.
“I don’t care what you guys do, Makkari needs rest. Don’t bother us” Druig says turning to them, then leaving the room, Makkari still resting in his arms.
The others nod as he leaves, admiring how protective he is of her. Druig takes Makkari to her room and gently sets her down on her bed.
“May I?” He asks politely, gesturing to her armor.
She nods as he carefully takes off the pieces of metal. His eyes immodestly fall to the burn mark on her stomach and anger fills inside of him.
“That bastard…look what he did to you”
Druig, I’m fine…
“No. You’re not. You almost died.”
But I didn’t
“But you could have. God I’m gonna kill him” Druig says getting angry.
Just…be with me now. Help me through this, because god Druig…it hurts, everything hurts.
Druig snaps back to reality as he excuses himself for a moment and returns with medical supplies.
He applies ointment to Makkari’s burn and tries to have the gentlest touch, but she still winces and closes her eyes. He wraps the wound and begins treating the bruises around her neck.
Where did you learn to be such a medic? Makkari signs.
“Living with all those humans, I had to wear a lot of different hats. Healer was one of them.” Druig responds.
That’s pretty cool.
“Thanks Kari” he replies back.
When she’s done being treated, he gives her one of his black T shirts, which fit her like a dress.
He tucks her into bed and holds her hand, tightening his grasp around her fingers.
“My beautiful, beautiful Makkari. You scared the life out of me today” bringing her hand up to kiss it softly.
Is that supposed to be a thank you?
“Thank you for saving my life today. But my life is not worth yours.” Druig responds.
Makkari glares at him and turns her back on him, not wanting to face him.
If that’s how you feel, then maybe you should go. Makkari signs.
Druig sighs as he nods and leaves the room. When he returns back to the others his eyes lock with Ikaris’s and anger floods his veins again.
He storms over to him and punches him right across the cheek.
Sersi gasps and puts her hands over her agape mouth.
“Druig! What are you doing?”
“Doing what I promised. I told you I was going to kill you. The mind is a powerful but fragile thing. You’d be surprised how easy it is to break.” Druig said, eyes glowing gold.
Ikaris screams as he grabs his head in agony. Falling to the ground.
“Druig stop it!” Sersi yells grabbing Druig’s shoulder and pulling it back. It does no good as Druig is focused. He wants to kill him. He wants to kill him so bad for almost killing her.
“Druig…enough. Do not steep to his level. You’re better than this” Phastos persuades.
“Come back to us Druig” Thena says calmly.
Druig’s eyes return to his shade of blue and Ikaris stops yelling in pain.
“Go be with her” Thena says, resting a hand on his shoulder. “She needs you. And you need each other”
Druig nods and turns back to enter Makkari’s room.
She turns her head when she feels the familiar vibrations of Druig’s foot rhythm. She turns to face her door and see’s him standing in it.
What?
He walks over calmly and kicks off his shoes and armor, leaving him bare skinned with nothing but a black tank top and boxers. He doesn’t say a word as he climbs into bed with her, pulling her into his embrace.
“I love you Makkari. I’m not leaving you. Even if you ask me too”
Makkari is too stunned to sign, instead she uses her body as she leans into Druig’s embrace. Nestling her head into his chest.
Druig plants a gentle kiss on Makkari’s forehead and soon enough she falls asleep in his arms. He didn’t care where they were going next or who they were fighting. Just as long as every night ended like this.