“Nois!” Sama said, she and Venom giving Gorr and Anti thumbs-up, Venom manifesting his own arms to do so.

“Gratifying,” Gorr rumbled firmly, releasing his grip on the Weapons in his hands. “Thank you for your Strength and Thunder. You are wielded by truly worthy gods,” he stated solemnly, and bowed formally to both Weapons as they floated there.

Satisfied, both godly Weapons flashed off back to their owners. Gorr simply watched them go.

“We need all the Klyntar off that planet right now, if possible. I hope they truly didn’t bond to anything down there,” Sama told Gorr. “We spend a lot of time and effort trying to get them good hosts, and just slapping onto any random sapient is going to get them a lot of crazy hosts.”

“Many of them killed or lobotomized their hosts under the influence of Knull. They know enough to realize it was not right, but there is little that can be done about it,” Gorr apologized for them, the face of Anti nodding sadly on his chest. “We will withdraw as many as we can.”

“Uncle Ben, please make sure there’s nothing ‘accidentally’ left behind to exploit,” Sama said softly. Venom had been one of the things that could not be created on this Earth, as the symbiote was hundreds of years old. Without his existence possible, those of his spawn were likewise not possible on the planet given the miotic style of reproduction they had, so there had been no Carnage or other symbiotes remade here, although they were certainly remembered as having existed.

Sama was aiming to keep it that way, knowing that many eager geneticists were going to be trying to get their hands on Klyntar remains and see what they could learn from them, wondering if they could be weaponized, and would inevitably lose control of them after they did so. Capturing stunned or wounded symbiotes was definitely happening right now, and simply couldn’t be permitted for what it would unleash.

While Gorr was not their god, he was the temporary locus of the Klyntars’ faith and belief, and able to return that power to the Klyntar to remove themselves from the world. If great Portals were opened to shift them off to their distant homeworlds and Uncle Ben helped them with the flights there, no one on the planet below was going to say much about it.

Ho, it was another Wednesday. There was going to be screaming all over the planet as politicians tried to blame someone for the attack, not caring that we’d saved them from extinction as long as they could put the blame for being the weaker world for Knull to attack all on us.

Knull hadn’t attacked Terra, after all. He’d probably taken one look at the absolute obfuscation of Time and Space about the world, the overwhelming power of Destiny there, and decided to pick on something else.

------

A diplomatic mission to Earth’s Krakoa, some time later...

“We have lost the ability to access our Resurrection Protocols,” Magneto said grimly. “I don’t think you need to think much to realize how importantly we view this matter.”

I tilted my head as I considered his words. “Resurrections. Psionic recordings and trans-telepathic spiritual attachments. A custom White Room. Genetic reconstruction and transfer.” My eyes flitted over to the mutants elsewhere who were involved in the process. “That is an impressive step, I won’t argue that with you. What’s the key point? You seem to be doing fine without the Phoenix Force backing you.”

He considered the point for a moment. “We cannot access the souls in the White Room, I have been told by Hope Summers.”

“Ah.” Well, that cleared matters up. “Someone associated with Death cut it off, then.”

“Death? Death, Herself?” he asked slowly, suddenly having the impression he was messing in deep waters.

“Yeah, the number two force in all the universe. I can’t imagine why She would be interested in a bunch of mortal specks making a mockery of Life and Death by coming back and forth from Her domain. Oh, wait, we already have proof She was interested in the Xandarans who were doing much the same thing through cloning, the Nova Force, and the World-Mind, which combined to make a custom form of their own White Room.

“She arranged Extinction Events to wipe the Xandarans and their little Nova Force from the galaxy via multiple overwhelming wars.” I held his eyes calmly. “So, you were in effect drawing an Extinction Event down against us from Death Herself, all so that your people could enjoy coming back from death and consider themselves immortal.

“I don’t know about you, Elder Lensherr, but if something was making themselves immortal and dooming the rest of the human race in the process, I’d probably interfere in the process directly myself. Wouldn’t you?”

“We are mutants,” began a new arrival, Hope Summers coming in to join our conversation

“From the perspective of Death, you are fundamentally identical to humans in ALL respects,” I interrupted her idly. “If you think that because you were able to figure out a method to do so using your mutant powers makes you special, you are quite foolish. Technology, cosmic power, divine energy, and magical power used correctly can all do the same thing. And yet, you don’t hear of anyone willy-nilly laughing in the face of Death across the universe. Those who have, have all come to some very abrupt and lethal ends.

“In your case, you’d take this entire planet with you. How long ago was your access to the White Room sealed away, Miss Summers?” I asked her politely.

“Two months ago!” she replied after a moment of hesitation. This was considered one of the core secrets of the nation of Krakoa, but it was having exactly the opposite effect on me that it should have had.

“So, right after the Dark God Knull came with his horde of symbiotes, and would have wiped the planet if the High Guard hadn’t shown up?” I asked archly, glancing at Magneto. “An Extinction-Level Event for the whole planet. Interesting.” I tilted my head slightly as they looked a bit flustered. “Was there any magic or anything involved in establishing this Mutant White Room of yours that you can recall?”

The young mutant teenager who was the most powerful and essential member of Krakoa hesitated. “Wanda, the Scarlet Witch, used her magic to twist reality and set it up for us, and from the afterlife, no less!” She raised her voice, impressed at Wanda’s resolve.

“Chaos magic involved. I see.” I rolled my eyes as she faltered. “Given that she’s not the Scarlet Witch anymore, you didn’t have a cosmic figure backing it to justify the existence of the thing.”

“She’s not the Scarlet Witch anymore?” Magneto repeated, startled.

“No. The Scarlet Sorceress Supreme holds that power, and there is only one per universe. Chaos Magic comes with consequences. I highly doubt Morgan supported a custom afterlife intended to support carefree resurrection, realizing what the consequences would be.” I took another sip of a drink. “Void gods like Knull are also affiliated with Chaos in many ways. Openings where Death is frowning at a bunch of mortals are weak points in Reality that allow Entities like that to worm their way in and wreak all sorts of havoc.”

“Do you have the power to return the dead to life?” Hope asked me sharply.

“Yes.” I didn’t deny it. “However, such things are backed by power both Divine and cosmic in power, which have explicit permission from Death to alter the natural order. Even then, not even the mightiest of gods would dare to defy Death with such wanton resurrections as you have been doing.

“Even the Celestials gave Death Her due. For every resurrection of their Eternal servants, a young human somewhere on the planet had to die.” Both their eyes widened slightly. “Did you happen to check to see if such a thing was happening with your little Resurrection Protocols?”

Hope stuttered for a moment in horror and fear. “Our, our method has nothing like that?!” she protested eventually.

I stared at her as I finished my drink. “Really? Chaos Magic is directly involved, and you think nothing outside your careful, all-knowing plans and power happened?” She swallowed under my gaze. “I have a number in mind. Would it be about sixteen hundred mutants you’ve dragged back from death since your people arrived here?” I asked in a very grim voice.

“I... one moment...” Her eyes darted away as telepathy hummed.

“That sounds very close,” Magneto half-whispered, staring at me. “Why is that important?”

I held up a finger, watching Hope and indicating he should wait patiently.

“It, the number is sixteen hundred and twenty-eight resurrections were performed, a few times on the same persons...” Hope finally answered nervously.

They certainly had a lot of mutants dying for some reason. “Ah.” The way I said it drained the color from her face. “The approximate death toll from the invasion of Knull and his enslaved symbiotes worldwide was approximately one million, six hundred and thirty thousand.”

The conversion was pretty easy to see. They both looked ghastly.

“If I were to guess, I’d bet Morgan saw the after-effects of the Chaos Magic, removed it as her prerogative as the Sorceress Supreme and Scarlet Witch, and then Sealed off your White Room entirely.” I nodded slowly. “I won’t mention it to anyone, but I imagine if it got out, the whole world would go to war with you. A thousand people dying so one of yours can be resurrected would practically ensure it, don’t you think?” They said nothing, and even the arrogant Magneto realized they were on the edge of a precipice. “I suggest you say nothing to anyone else about this, and I will do the same.”

“Those... sound like very wise words,” Magneto said under his breath, only the slightest glance around showcasing his nervousness. “It would probably be more palatable to say Death Herself intervened to shut down the Protocols, would it not?”

“That sounds encouraging. As for your daughter...” his face turned down again, “she naturally noticed the huge loss of power some time ago, but has been concealing it while she wildly searches for another source of strength. If you tell her that the current Scarlet Witch is the Sorceress Supreme, it is very likely she will race off to confront her to reclaim her position at all costs... and at all costs means something very different to a sorceress than to a mutant.

“It will likely happen regardless at some point in the future, but being responsible for it would probably weigh on your conscience a bit.”

Magneto took a deep breath, Hope also looking a bit wide-eyed. “I will remain silent on the matter,” he agreed.

I nodded, said my goodbyes, and wandered off towards the window. The island was very pretty with a good view, and if not fully sapient, had been recreated exactly as if something had been managing the environment. Mutants with plant-based powers were helping maintain it and keep it thriving now.

-Morgan, did you chop the Chaos Magic White Room these idiots were using?- I /asked her calmly.

-Ah, yes, I did. The reverberations from the Rings of Raggador we were using trying to mess up Knull’s mind control led me right to the fallout of the effect. I drained the Chaos Magic away and sealed away the Room, tossing the souls into the greater afterlife with everyone else. If they want to bodyhop, use clones or something prepared ahead of time!- she /spat. Much less versatile, but Death wouldn’t be quite so snitty about it.

-I’m sure they’ll be angling for a different if similar method. Sinister is an expert on such things, as you know.- My knuckles popped casually. -He’s already been trying shady shit with the Arakkoans. If he gets blood on his hands, he better not step off this planet. Also, has the Wanda here reacted to you yet?-

-She felt the Chaos Magic when I was Casting with the others. She’s already made contact with Chthon and is trying to get ahold of the Darkhold here, bargaining for the power to face me and take back the Scarlet Witch title,- Morgan /sighed.

Naturally Morgan would be tracking that shit. I smiled coolly. -And she doesn’t know she’s the bait walking Chthon right into a vivic trap...-

-Gaia and Oshtur are both so looking forward to this,- Morgan /agreed calmly. -Of course, she doesn’t know I’m a wizardess, not just a sorceress. Don’t go up against a prepared wizard!- she /grinned nastily.

-And magos give wizards conniption fits,- I /finished for her. -When do you think she’ll come for you?-

-Sometime next week. There’s a particular stellar configuration that’ll be most helpful to Summoning the Darkhold to her, she might or might not need to sacrifice Modred to it, and we’re watching to see if she calls on some of the Elder Gods for more juice.- Totally fatalistic about it.

And Morgan would be seeding all of it with Hex Magic the whole damn time. Some old, old things were going to be learning some very expensive lessons not too long from now...