Mephisto: Keep Me Out of It

Fort McNair, on the banks of the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C.

Captain America, the hero who had defeated Hydra twice, Mr. Rogers, lived here.

At two in the afternoon on November 1, Rogers finished lunch and prepared to go out. He needed to see Thaddeus Ross that afternoon. He had given up his seat in Congress to run for president, but Ross was still a member.

Last month, Ross had proposed a "Superhuman Registration Act," requiring everyone with abilities beyond the range of ordinary people to register.

At first, he had supported it. After all, in that country across the ocean, even people who were too good at picking locks had to register, let alone Metahumans who could threaten ordinary people.

But Ross had taken a mile when given an inch, proposing controls on these people's behavior.

The proposal, so contrary to freedom, crossed Steve's bottom line. After all, justice and freedom were the very themes of his presidential campaign!

"Darling, come home early."

Steve kissed Sharon Carter on the forehead.

"Okay~"

Suddenly, a red light flashed, and a spear embedded itself in the doorway. The two of them had no time to react and stumbled back several steps in fright.

Steve instinctively reached out, only to remember that he was wearing a suit with no magnetic device, so his shield couldn't fly to him.

He changed his stance, pressed down Sharon's gun hand, and shielded her behind him. After waiting a moment and seeing no further movement from the spear, Steve carefully stepped forward.

But the moment he approached, the spear turned into a streak of red light and flew away, leaving an unfamiliar metal plate with writing on it on the floor.

[War is coming. Tomorrow morning, Times Square, New York. Can you still pick up your shield? —Fengxian Borsen]

As Steve finished reading, the metal plate instantly turned into a rune and slipped into the space between his eyebrows.

"Steve?" Sharon was a little worried after seeing this.

"I'm fine!"

Captain America touched the spot between his eyebrows, his expression grave. Borsen? Having fought alongside Thor before, he had later done some investigating and knew who Bor was. But Foosh had never appeared in the records he had examined.

An elder of Thor's, an artifact surrounded by red light, and this unfamiliar rune!

"Sharon, contact New York. I think we should evacuate the civilians first!"

"Okay!"

"Mephisto, long time no see~"

"...If I remember correctly, the Ancient One left the position to Kaecilius, and we've never met..."

Mephisto, who had been fighting several other demon kings, suddenly sensed someone opening the gates of hell from the outside. He thought the newly appointed Sorcerer Supreme was asking for a beating.

When he came over, he found someone he didn't know. More importantly, not only did this person have a relic of Kamar-Taj on him, he also had Gungnir and Hoggoth's Bone Armor. Mephisto could even sense the Flame of Vengeance on the bone armor.

Startled, he hurriedly checked. Fortunately, both of his were still there.

"Not meeting in this universe doesn't mean we haven't met in others. You sensed it, right? You gave me this thing. The two of us are really close."

"...You're awfully familiar for a stranger. Say what you came to say. I'm busy."

Seeing how fearless Lin Xu was, Mephisto couldn't figure him out. Always cautious, he had no intention of making an enemy this time, and he really was busy.

Hela's sudden death some time ago had caught many Hell Lords off guard. Although the underworld was on the edge of hell, close to reality, and not very large, even a mosquito was still meat.

And so the fighting began.

Although Mephisto was the greatest lord in hell, the others were no pushovers either. If they couldn't beat him one-on-one, they would gang up on him. So Marduk joined forces with Satannish and Mephisto's son Blackheart to oppose Mephisto and seize control of the underworld.

"Reality is in trouble!"

"What the hell does that have to do with me..." Mephisto was at a loss for words. If reality was in trouble, go to Kamar-Taj. Didn't he know they were also a problem for reality?

"The more who die, the better!"

"Well... what if they all die?" Lin Xu flicked open the folding fan Gungnir had become and crooked his mouth, pretending to be a Dragon King.

"That would be even better... What did you say?" Mephisto instantly grew serious. He darted up to Lin Xu and stared closely into his eyes, checking whether he was telling the truth.

There was no trace of a lie. The kid was actually telling the truth!

Damn it, he knew the difference between eating his fill once and eating his fill every day.

"Tell me, who is it?"

"An intelligent conglomerate life-form with the Six Infinity Stones, and... a Watcher!"

"...Kid, are you serious?"

"Dead serious!"

Mephisto glanced at him, then turned and walked away.

"Where are you going?"

"Keep me out of it. I'm going home to bring in the laundry, and while I'm at it, I'll see if I can find another universe to live in."

"If you can't beat him, you can't beat him. No need to make excuses."

"Kid, trying to provoke me won't work. That's right, I really can't beat him!"

"Then can't you find some help or something?"

"Ha, so you're just passing the message on to me and leaving everything else for me to do? With a face that thick, no wonder the other me likes you~"

"Well? Are you in or not?"

Mephisto didn't answer immediately. He walked up to Lin Xu and waved a hand, and a table and chairs appeared.

Lin Xu made himself right at home and plopped down in a chair~

"You know, there are many powerful beings in the world, and quite a few can defeat me through strength alone. But if they can't transcend time, it's all for nothing."

"Bor, Odin, Hela—these people were all very strong, but they weren't stronger than time. They could only decay as the years passed. Only by transcending time can one last forever."

"But... that still isn't enough!"

"The universe is a multiverse. Different universes have different versions of me. Why am I so obsessed with collecting souls? Why is Dormammu so obsessed with devouring Earth? It's because we want to transcend the multiverse and become unique."

"Even Chthon and Shuma haven't crossed that boundary..."

"Watchers, what an ancient name. I'd already heard of them when I first came into being. A group of ancient beings who aren't multiversal but are practically the same as those who are. They generally don't interfere with the universe's natural course. The problem must lie with that intelligent conglomerate life-form, right?"

Mephisto spoke at length, and Lin Xu didn't interrupt. Only when Mephisto asked did he answer.

"That's right. After he destroyed his own universe, he discovered the Watcher's existence, and the two started fighting. And our universe is right next door..."

Mephisto: ...

"Six stones. Forget me—even if everyone in the Hell Dimension joined forces, we still wouldn't be enough to fight him... But..."

"But what?"

"I can give you a set of coordinates. His power just happens to be immune to the Infinity Stones. If you can get in touch with him and have him lend you a little power, the Six Stones won't be a problem!"

"Who? He's that badass?"

"A demon god who became multiversal long ago, Cyttorak!"