"He called himself 'Mara,'" Max heard their unexpected guest say as he walked out of the room where he'd secured the unconscious caveman. The open courtyard of the house was calm; Odin, Fan Fei, and Agamotto sat together, sipping the tea the sorcerer had brewed.
Agamotto's brow furrowed. "Mara… I do not recognize the name."
Max's eyes narrowed. Mara. He'd heard that name before in Buddhist cosmology; it was the name of an asura king, the great tempter who once tried to derail Siddhartha, the man who became the Buddha. Mara sought to break his pursuit of enlightenment with illusions of power, fear, and desire.
Fan Fei continued, hands folded tightly in her lap. "He offered me power… power to conquer and rule the world as a god. In return, he demanded I kill you three. But most of all—" She looked directly at Agamotto, then Odin. "—he wanted your heads."
The realization struck them all at the same time.
"Mephisto," Max, Odin, and Agamotto said together.
Fan Fei blinked. "Mephisto? You believe it is him? I have only heard the name in old tales from Kun-Lun…a lord of Hell."
Agamotto nodded grimly. "It has to be him. The beasts that attacked you… you said they carried fire that burned hotter than ordinary flame fire that scarred even you, a master of chi. Only a lord of Hell could grant such power."
Fan Fei inclined her head. "I see."
Max sat down, taking a slow sip from the cup made for him. "Oh, it's Mephisto, all right. And it makes sense. He has plenty of reasons to come after you two. You both escaped his realm two years ago?" His eyes flicked toward Odin. "Guess that must have bruised his fragile ego."
"Bah!" Odin bellowed, laughing. "We struck him down, didn't we, Agamotto? Shattered his pride and outsmarted him as well!"
Agamotto gave a small, cautious smile. "We did. He is not the sort to forgive humiliation. I knew he would come for us eventually. And the time has come, it seems."
Fan Fei's expression hardened. "Then when he does, I will be here. I will fight alongside you."
Max smiled faintly. "We'll take all the help we can get, Lady Fei."
Fan Fei set her cup down and looked at Max. "Please no need for honorifics…" She glanced toward the room where Max had put the pod. "That man you brought the one you imprisoned, who is he?"
Max rose, motioning for them to follow. "That's the thing we don't know. And we should find out before he wakes up." He led them inside, where the construct pod shimmered and vanished, leaving the man lying unconscious on the bed.
Agamotto stepped forward, weaving his hands into intricate sigils. Golden sparks crawled over the man's body like fireflies. "Yes… I can sense it. Something resides in him, a force far older than this age."
Max folded his arms. "Whatever it is, it's powerful. Very powerful. He was growing stronger by the minute when I fought him. If I hadn't ended it quickly, I don't know if I could have any of us would have…"
Fan Fei moved closer, her fingers glowing with golden chi as she pressed lightly over his sternum. She closed her eyes. "His chi… it is unlike anything I have felt. It is vast, unruly—like a storm with no center. His dantian burns with energy, but here—" she touched her own chest over her heart, "—in his xin, his heart center, I feel something else: a brand forcing his life energy into constant expansion."
Odin stroked his beard. "Aye. That brand on his chest… I have seen it before somewhere in the sagas of old, though I cannot place it."
Agamotto lowered his hands, frowning. "I, too, have glimpsed it in ancient texts, but the knowledge is incomplete. I must consult my archives to be certain."
"Jade," Max said aloud. "Anything from your scans from before?"
Jade spoke. "Yes. I cross-referenced what I recorded across all acquired databases. There are fragmented mentions of something strikingly similar. In ancient Shi'ar archives, it is named the Starbrand. According to them, it was created by a race known as the Builders, who claim to be the first sentient beings in the universe. What little the archives understood is this: the Starbrand functions as a planetary defense system, a safeguard granting overwhelming might to a chosen bearer whenever the survival of a world is at stake."
Max's eyes widened slightly. "A planetary defense system… huh."
Odin's expression brightened with sudden recognition. "The Starbrand! Now I remember! My ancestor, Tiwaz the Wise, once fought a being who bore that mark."
"Did he win?" Max asked.
Odin hesitated, then scoffed. "The records are… incomplete."
Max leaned on the bed frame, grinning. "So he lost."
"Of course not!" Odin barked, indignant. "Tiwaz was the greatest warrior of Asgard! No foe could ever defeat him!"
"Uh-huh." Max turned back to the unconscious man, his tone sobering. "Whatever the case, we need to make sure he doesn't go berserk again when he wakes up."
Agamotto raised his hands once more, intoning a series of complex wards. Sigils formed over the man's chest and brow, pulsing gently before fading into his skin. "There. I have reinforced his slumber. He will not wake for some time yet—and when he does, he will be calmer."
"Good. That gives us time to figure out just what the hell we're dealing with."
Max stretched his arms above his head as he yawned. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to get some sleep. We can continue this doom-and-gloom talk tomorrow."
Without waiting for a reply, he left the room. He slipped into one of the side rooms, made a soft bed construct, and collapsed onto it. Sleep claimed him almost instantly.
=====
Max was pulled from a pleasant dream by the sounds of shouting and crashing outside. His eyes snapped open. He rubbed his face and groaned.
He walked out into the courtyard and stopped at the sight. Fan Fei's fist glowed with brilliant golden chi as she lunged at Odin. The prince, bare-chested, sidestepped her strike and countered with his own meaty fist. Fan Fei bent low, spinning gracefully to avoid the blow, her movements sharp and precise.
Max conjured a toothbrush construct in his hand already with toothpaste and casually began brushing his teeth as though this duel were nothing unusual. He leaned against the railing, humming through the bristles as he watched. Odin pressed his advantage with sheer strength, forcing Fan Fei back, while she answered with fluid precision and strikes aimed at his weak points.
By the time Max spat into a construct-bowl, Odin had caught her by the wrist, twisting her arm and forcing her back. With a sharp motion, he swept her legs and pinned her momentum. Fan Fei disengaged, breathing evenly, and inclined her head. Their spar was over.
Max rinsed his mouth with water from a nearby jug, spat into the bowl again, then casually tossed the construct-bowl off the side of the mountain, where it shattered into glowing shards of light. He splashed some water on his face, rubbing his cheeks awake, and finally wandered closer.
He clapped slowly. "Not bad. You handle yourself well, Fan."
She smiled faintly. "Thank you."
Odin rumbled approvingly. "Your strikes were deadly. Do all in your homeland wield such power?"
Fan Fei shook her head, her expression shadowed. "No. I am the only one." She looked down at her glowing fists, mournful.
Max noticed the change in Fan Fei's expression and was about to ask what was wrong when Odin spoke.
"Grænlaðr. I have been thinking on all of this… Mephisto, his schemes, and what he might be planning. I believe we should bring Ghost here."
Max blinked. "Ghost?" Then it clicked. Ah… the Ghost Rider. He remembered what Odin and Agamotto had told him about their ill-fated adventure into Hell, and the human bound to the Spirit of Vengeance. From what they'd told him, he had gleaned that Mephisto had not yet twisted that spirit into his thrall. The man now bonded with the Spirit of Vengeance Ghost was still free of the taint Mephisto would force upon it later.
"Ghost was the one he was truly after when all three of you were taken into his realm. He's still in danger."
Odin's expression hardened. "Aye. Then we should bring him here where he'll be safer and, considering how things are progressing, a powerful ally as well."
Max nodded firmly. "Then let's go get him."
Before they could plan further, Jade's voice chimed in. "Max, I have detected the anomalous energy once more the same one from a year ago."
Max raised a brow. "You mean the one Agamotto sensed?"
"The very same."
Almost as if on cue, Agamotto rushed in, his usually calm face taut with urgency. "I have felt it again!"
"We know," Odin said. "Max's oracle has already told us."
Agamotto shook his head. "No you don't understand. It is the same pulse as before… but this time it felt more controlled. More focused."
Max conjured a glowing globe construct, holding it before them. "Show me where."
Agamotto closed his eyes, weaving spells in murmured tones. His hand pressed against the construct's surface, and glowing lines formed into a map. At last, he touched a point in northern Germany. "Here. That is where I felt it."
His gaze was stern. "We must go at once."
Max shook his head. "No, no you stay here with Fan. Keep an eye on our sleeping beauty," he said, gesturing toward the room where the man slept.
Then he looked to Odin. "You go find Ghost. Bring him here before Mephisto makes another move on him."
"Yes. Bringing Ghost here is a wise plan." Said Agamotto.
"And I'll go chase down this anomaly. Probably nothing again… but with everything going on, it could be world-ending for all we know."
They all agreed.
After having a large breakfast, Max and Odin were ready to depart.
"Why don't we travel by longship, as we did before?" Odin asked, looking at the looming mountains around them.
Max smiled at the memory—their voyages to Vanaheim and Muspelheim, and their departure from Asgard, all aboard a ship construct. He snapped his fingers, and emerald light swirled into form, shaping a glowing Viking longship.
"Ah, it looks more beautiful than before," Odin said as he climbed in.
Max followed, and with a thought the construct longship lifted from the mountainside, its sails catching phantom winds as it sailed westward into the sky.
======
The green light of Max's construct boat glided over the dark forests of Germania. It was dead of night now; they had left the morning sun of the Himalayas behind and flown west into Europe's midnight.
"Alright," Max said as he eased the craft to a stop. He floated off the construct, leaving Odin aboard. "This will take you close to where Agamotto believes Ghost is. From here, you're on your own."
Odin grunted, straightening his cloak. "I will find him. It should not be hard to track a man with a flaming skull who rides a beast into battle."
Max smiled. "Fair point. Good luck, my friend."
Odin gave a final nod before the construct began to fly again. Max hovered a moment longer, then dropped into the dark expanse of forest below.
The trees swallowed him whole. Central Europe's woodlands stretched ancient and deep, their boughs so thick they devoured the moonlight. His ring cast a faint green halo, the only illumination against the oppressive black.
"Jade," Max whispered. "Any leads for me to follow?"
"Nothing direct," she answered in his mind. "The energy hasn't spiked again. But… I can feel faint traces. Everywhere."
"Not helpful," Max muttered. He landed beside a shallow stream, boots crunching on moss and wet earth. The silence was suffocating.
With a thought, he conjured a hovering orb of light to push the darkness back. It drifted beside him as he walked, green reflections dancing on the rippling water. "Well," Max sighed, "we could just sit tight for an hour, then link up with Odin. No sense wandering in circles."
He created a handful of drones and sent them whirring into the trees. "If anything twitches out here, I want to know."
Then, with a snap of his fingers, a glowing bed formed beneath him. Max stretched out lazily, hands behind his head, staring up at the full moon that peeked through gaps in the canopy.
Peace lasted all of fifteen minutes.
"Max," Jade's voice chimed suddenly, urgent. "I found something. A settlement. The inhabitants are all dead."
Max's eyes snapped open. "Shit. Where?"
She fed him the coordinates. Max vaulted off the bed, letting it vanish as he rocketed skyward.
It took only minutes before he descended into the ruins of what looked like a typical Bronze Age–style settlement, usually no more than thirty or forty people at most.
Max landed softly on the dirt path, emerald light spilling across the grisly scene. Bodies were everywhere men, women, even children strewn across the village. The smell of blood hung heavy in the air.
His eyes widened, his stomach sinking. "What the fuck happened here…"
"Max… none of them have any blood left in them."
Max frowned, enlarging the orb of green light. The construct flared, flooding the village in emerald glow. Every detail was visible now—the bodies, pale and hollow. Many bore gashes across their stomachs, deep tears in their chests, and, most of all, jagged wounds across their throats.
"All their blood gone?" Max muttered.
"Yes," Jade confirmed grimly.
Before Max could say more, something latched onto his leg. He looked down. A woman her face lifeless moments ago stared up at him with eyes glowing blood-red.
"Son of a—!" Max barked, blasting her head clean off with a burst of emerald light as he leapt backward.
Around him, one by one, the corpses began to stir. Men, women, even children all rising from the ground with jerking motions, eyes glowing crimson, mouths curling back to reveal fangs. They hissed and snarled as they advanced.
"Vampires," Max said aloud. "Fucking vampires."
He raised his hand and formed a massive flamethrower construct, preparing to sweep the horde in flame.... but then he hesitated.
A boy, no older than five, stood ahead, snarling at him.
"Max!" Jade's voice was sudden, sharp with alarm. "The anomalous energy! Above you! Shield yourself!"
Max whipped his head up just as the sky tore open. A blinding, white-hot radiance seared the forest, heat rolling down. He threw up a dome of emerald light just in time.
The wave struck.
The villagers—every vampire—screamed in agony before they were consumed utterly, their bodies reduced to ash by the rain of fire. Max squinted against the brilliance, watching as the inferno condensed into a blazing, majestic image.
A bird. Wings spanning the horizon. A phoenix.
The fiery avatar descended, its brilliance almost too much to bear. Max squeezed his eyes shut against the intensity. When he opened them again, the figure had shifted the blazing inferno condensing into the silhouette of a woman.
She touched down lightly, flames wreathing her like a second skin. Her beauty was otherworldly: pale skin glowing in the firelight, long red hair. She was clad in garments of stitched animal hide. Her eyes blazed white-gold.
Around them, nothing was left of the village. Only ash.
She looked at him and smiled.
Max stood rooted to the spot speechless as he let the shield down. He knew exactly what stood before him.