Eternals
Walking through London streets to meet up with his friends, a handsome young man with light brown hair, hazel eyes, and trimmed stubble walked down the streets at night and the man’s name was Asmund Henderson and he wasn’t like other humans since he was an enhanced being with the ability to mimic powers of those around him and use them anytime as his own without being exhausted by the possible draining of his strength. Asmund saved the universe with the Avengers, a group of extraordinary people who took it upon themselves to save the world in crisis, and when all was done and sacrifices were made; Asmund left the United States to retire in London where he kept his identity a secret from the public in order to live in peace while working at a museum and locked his abilities within a part of himself so he wouldn’t use them again in order to try and have a normal life. As Asmund was walking down the streets of London, he messaged his friend Dane to say that he was almost at the club when suddenly he got the sense of something off in the air and he turned back to look around but didn’t see anything, unaware that someone was watching him from a distance in the shadows. Asmund slanted his eyes in confusion wondering what was nagging him, but the sense faded almost as quickly as it came so he shook his head before continuing on his way to the bar. He arrived at the club and the bouncer let him inside quickly so he went inside and looked around to see that the club was crowded with many people dancing with each other and drinking at the bar while lively music played throughout the establishment.
“Asmund!” a man’s voice called out and Asmund looked to see his friend, Dane Whitman, coming up to him.
Dane was a scientist who did his research at the Natural History Museum where Asmund worked as well alongside Dane for the last 5 years. Dane had short curly brown hair and brown eyes with a trimmed beard and wore jeans with a black t-shirt and leather jacket.
“You made it.” Dane said with a smile as he hugged Asmund tightly.
He led Asmund deeper into the club until they reached a table where a woman with long brown hair wearing a green dress and Dane cleared his throat as they came up to the woman.
“Sersi, Asmund was able to come.” he said and the woman turned to Asmund, showing that she had brown eyes and Asmund smiled at his friend.
“You made it!” Sersi said as she hugged Asmund tightly, “So glad you came!”
“Thanks for inviting me,” Asmund said over the music and they started talking with each other as time went by.
“Are you’re researching anything new?” Sersi asked as she took a sip of her drink.
“Yeah, I am doing some research here and there.” Asmund told her, “Nothing too interesting.”
“He’s being modest.” Dane said as he wrapped an arm around Asmund’s shoulder and pulled him closer, “Asmund is actually researching the human minds and memories.”
“Memories?” Sersi questioned with a tilt of her head and Asmund chuckled with a smile.
“Yeah…specifically the process on how to activate subconscious memories which may be locked or erased.”Asmund told her and she nodded slowly, “It’s not a popular area of study but call it an obsession of mine though I’m not sure exactly why.”
They continued to talk before the scene at the club started to become more lively and Dane went dancing on the floor with Sersi as Asmund stayed at the table watching them dance as he drank vodka. While he drank; Asmund felt the same nagging feeling in the back of his mind and he groaned as pain filled his mind and he clutched his head with a hand while bracing himself against the table with his free hand as flashes of war with inhuman beings and monsters rushed through his mind.
Ikaris! a voice called out in the visions and a vision of a man with short stylish brown hair and blue eyes with trimmed stubble wearing a blue/gold one-piece outfit flashed through Asmund’s mind.
Asmund gasped as his eyes clouded over as he saw visions of other inhuman beings in the same blue/gold outfit fighting alongside each other against monsters including Sersi being part of the inhuman beings, before someone laid a hand on his shoulder and brought him back from his visions, causing him to spin and look to see Sersi was the one that touched his shoulder and broke the visions.
“Are you alright?” she asked in concern and Asmund stumbled back in shock and stared at Sersi as he gasped for breath, “Asmund, what’s wrong?”
“What the hell are you?” he asked slanting his eyes in suspicion and she titled her head confused, “I…I saw you…battling monsters with seven other inhuman beings and yet…it seemed like so many years ago.”
Sersi’s eyes widened in shock and she reached towards Asmund, who backed away from her touch, causing her to pull her hand back as his breathing became more labored.
“Asmund, I can explain.” she said earnestly and he shook his head as he started backing away from her before turning and running out of the club.
On the way out, he paid for his drinks and heard Sersi calling after him, but he did not pay attention to her, solely focused on running away from his friend, who lied to him for 5 years about who she is and he only wanted to get away from her, soon finding himself in a dark alley where he stopped breathlessly and leaned up against a wall to catch his breath. Asmund groaned as he saw more visions of Sersi and her team battling monsters throughout time, seeing to be thousands of years ago, and he cried out in agony as he fell to his knees while clutching his head as the visions continued to bombard him and cause him pain.
Asmund! Sersi’s voice called out as Asmund heard a deep growl coming from the shadows causing him to look and see a gray unworldly monster with tentacles appearing from the shadows and crawling towards him.
Even though Asmund was powerful as he was, he knew the monster had inhuman strength and his powers were locked. It would take time for him to unlock his abilities therefore, he had no choice but to flee from it as he turned and ran back down the alley while the monster let out an inhuman roar before chasing after him. Asmund t’skd in anger as the monster chased after him and he looked around trying to find a hiding spot so he could unlock even a sliver of his abilities to battle the monster. Pain flashed through Asmund as visions of the inhuman beings in battle flashed through his mind, causing him to cry out in agony and stop in his tracks as he held his head in his hands and fell upon his knees while the monster came upon him.
Asmund! a Scottish male’s voice echoed in Asmund’s mind as the young man tried to block out the pain.
The monster got closer and its tentacles shot towards Asmund, wrapping around the man and binding his hands behind his back, and lifting him up in the air as Asmund groaned in pain as the tentacles squeezed their hold on him as two tentacles with golden tips on them raised in front of him, prepared to thrust into him as a tentacle wrapped around Asmund’s neck and started to squeeze him into unconsciousness. Asmund gasped for breath as he started to blackout slowly when suddenly something blasted the monster back causing it to howl in pain as it let go of Asmund, dropping him from the air and causing him to plummet to the ground semi-conscious. Someone caught Asmund and lifted him carefully into the air as the young man groaned and gained his consciousness back, opening his eyes and saw a man with stylish wavy brown hair, with a hint of gray, and blue eyes wearing a black shirt and black jacket, holding him and he tilted his head in confusion as he recognized the man from one of his visions.
“Ikaris?” he muttered confused and the man smiled softly at him before they both heard a roar from the monster, “Shit…it’s still alive.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let it hurt you.” Ikaris told him and he started flying away from the monster with Asmund in his arms as the monster chased after them in a rage.
“What is that thing?” Asmund yelled over the wind and destruction that the monster was creating while chasing them.
“It’s a Deviant.” Ikaris told him, “Monsters set on destroying this world.”
“That’s nothing new.” Asmund muttered with a roll of his eyes as he was no stranger to those who wanted to destroy Earth, “How can we beat it?”
“This Deviant is stronger than any I have faced before.” Ikaris said as he continued flying as fast as he could with the Deviant still chasing them, “It will be hard to kill it.”
Suddenly Ikaris was yanked down by the Deviant and Asmund fell to the ground, knocking his breath out of him, and he rolled across the ground and looked up to see Ikaris being tied down by the Deviant’s tentacles.
“Ikaris!” Asmund shouted as he struggled to get up, but he could feel several of his ribs broken which caused him extreme pain when he moved his body.
“Asmund, run!” Ikaris yelled at the younger man as he was brought down to his knees and struggled to get free, “Go now!”
“No…” Asmund muttered angrily as he reached deep within himself until he found the lock placed on his abilities and broke the mental lock.
He gasped as all his powers returned to him and he was able to sense his powerful strength and abilities flowing again within him and as he stood up, he summoned chaos magic to his hands as his eyes glowed red which caused the Deviant to look at him and snarl, believing he was the greater threat than Ikaris. Ikaris was tossed aside as the Deviant rushed towards Asmund, who thrust his hands out at the monster and blasted several red chaos orbs at it, wounding it, only to have it heal itself almost immediately.
Healing ability, huh? Asmund thought to himself as he continued blasting the monster but it healed every wound inflicted upon it, This is taking too long.
“Asmund!” Sersi called out behind Asmund and he looked over his shoulder to see that Sersi was running up to him with Dane and their other friend, Sprite who was a young girl with short ginger hair and green eyes, beside her.
“Is that a Deviant?” Sprite questioned as her eyes widened in shock at the sight of the monster.
Sersi and the others heard the Deviant howl at them and started running towards them, but Asmund stepped forth in front of everyone and let out his powers to cast a barrier around the monster, keeping it from charging at them. Asmund had to strain against the Deviant's strength as it thrashed around wildly in its barrier as Sersi and the others got close to Asmund.
“Asmund, are you okay?” Sersi asked and Asmund nodded as he held the barrier on the Deviant.
“You’re going to tell me what the hell is going on?” he questioned angrily as he glared at her.
“Look out!” Sprite yelled as the barrier cracked and shattered causing the Deviant to become free and flee from Asmund and the others who stood where they were.
“Shouldn’t you go after it?” Dane asked Sersi as he came up beside her but she shook her head.
“Our best chance is to gather the other Eternals and hunt the Deviants down.” Sersi told him with a sigh and she looked at Asmund, “And you need to learn the truth.”
“Yeah, best to know who my friend truly is.” Asmund said with a huff.
“She wasn’t talking about herself.” Ikaris replied as he came hovering towards them from the shadows and Asmund gasped in relief at the sight of Ikaris in one piece as the man landed a few feet away from them.
“Ikaris!” Sprite cried out with a smile on her face and Ikaris smiled down at her before looking at Sersi.
“Evening ladies.” Ikaris said with a smirk and then walked up to Asmund with concern written on his face as he came up close and lifted Asmund’s chin up, turning his head softly side to side as he inspected him for any injuries.
He saw that Asmund had a few cuts on his face along with some bruises from falling to the ground from the air and Asmund hissed in pain as his ribs flared in pain, causing Ikaris to look down alarmed before gently lifting Asmund’s shirt up and see that the man’s right ribs were bruised.
“You’re hurt.” Ikaris said with rage in his voice and Asmund saw a dark look on Ikaris’ face, wondering why the man was furious that he was injured and thought that perhaps he thought that Ikaris was blaming himself for Asmund’s injuries.
“I will be okay.” Asmund replied and Ikaris looked at him for a moment before nodding and backing away while Asmund looked at Sersi, “Can we go somewhere to talk now?”
“Yes, of course.” Sersi said nodding and she sighed as she looked at Dane and Sprite, “We should go to the museum to talk…I have a key to get in.”
“Ikaris, are you coming?” Sprite asked excitedly and Ikaris looked at Asmund.
“If Asmund is alright with it.” Ikaris said looking at Asmund as if seeking his permission to come along.
It wasn't clear to Asmund why Ikaris would want his permission to join, so he nodded slowly and, with Ikaris helping him walk, they all went to Sersi's classroom where Asmund leaned against the wall as Ikaris stood next to him just in case the young man needed assistance standing up while Sersi and Sprite standing next to each other, Dane leaning against the desk with his arms crossed.
“So what can you tell me about what’s going on?” Asmund asked Sersi and she looked at Sprite for help.
Sprite nodded and held up her hands, which glowed with golden symbols on her palm, and reality was twisted with an illusion, showing space and the different galaxies.
“We’re Eternals from a planet called Olympia.” Sprite began to explain, “We came to Earth 7,000 years ago on our ship, the Domo, with a mission to protect humankind from the Deviants.”
She proceeded to show illusions of the Eternals battling Deviants as Asmund looked in wonder and she eventually made the illusions disappear as she sighed.
“We believed that we defeated the last of the Deviants 5,000 years ago but it seems that they are back.” Sersi told Asmund and she looked at Ikaris in curiosity, “Were you following it?”
“I felt the Earthquake earlier and came here to check up on you and Sprite.” Ikaris explained and she nodded slowly.
“So what do you guys do now?” Dane asked and Sersi looked to him, “I’m assuming that you’re going after the Deviant?”
“I’m certain that there is more than one Deviant out there.” Sersi said and she looked at Ikaris, “We should go find the other Eternals and track down the Deviants.”
“We need to find Ajak.” Ikaris replied, “She's in South Dakota.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Sersi said nodding and she turned to Asmund, “You’re coming with us.”
“Why me?” Asmund questioned confused as he looked at the Eternals bewildered by them having him go with them.
“The Deviant went after you.” Sprite told him, “It will probably come after you again so it’s best if you come with us so we can keep an eye on you.”
“Fine.” Asmund said sighing and he moved away from the wall, hissing in pain at his ribs flaring up and Ikaris moved by his side immediately, “I’m alright, Ikaris…I just need to go pack.”
“Let me help you.” Dane offered as he jogged over to Asmund, who nodded in acceptance so Dane wrapped Asmund’s arm around his shoulders and helped him out of the room with the Eternals looking after them going down the hallway.
“We need to tell him.” Sprite said looking at Ikaris and Sersi, “He deserves to know.”
“Ajak will decide if he should know, Sprite.” Sersi replied, “It isn’t our decision.”
“Come on, that is bullshit.” Sprite argued with a groan and she looked up at Ikaris, “Ikaris, you more than anyone, know that I am right about telling Asmund the truth.”
Ikaris looked down the halls where Asmund and Dane had disappeared and sighed deeply before turning back to Sprite who was looking up at him expectantly and lowered his eyes in resignation as Sprite understood that Ikaris was agreeing with Sersi’s decision to wait.
“You got to be kidding me.” Sprite said shocked as she couldn’t believe that Ikaris of all people wouldn't tell Asmund the truth, “Fine, don’t blame me if he finds out and kills us for hiding it from him.”
Sprite ran out of the room to help Asmund and Dane while Sersi looked after her with a deep sigh then turned to Ikaris to see that he was conflicted with their decision to wait for Asmund to meet Ajak in order to know the truth that they were hiding from him.
“Is she right?” Ikaris asked softly before looking up at Sersi, “We should tell Asmund the truth…he will hate us once he finds out and knows we hid it from him.”
“Ajak is the one that has to tell him.” Sersi answered and she saw that Ikaris looked uncomfortable with the idea, “Look, I don’t like it either but it’s for the best…we can only hope that he understands when he finds out.”
“I hope you’re right.” Ikaris told her and he looked up at her seriously, “If you’re not, then we will need to be ready to calm him down.”
Sersi nodded in understanding as Ikaris walked out of the room and she looked down, hoping that she made the right decision and could only pray that Asmund would understand the truth and why they didn’t tell him.