Sorcerer in the Marvel Universe

Long before human civilization had truly taken shape, when mankind was still struggling through the earliest stages of civilization, the Kree came to Earth.

At the time, the vast Kree Empire was embroiled in a war that seemed to have no end. Its armies were stretched thin, and the empire desperately needed more soldiers.

More accurately, it needed expendable soldiers.

That was why the Kree came to Earth.

They possessed an extraordinary technology capable of altering the genes of primitive humans, granting them a wide variety of supernatural abilities and turning them into deadly weapons.

These modified beings became known as the Inhumans.

And the first of them was Hive.

The idea of divine kingship had its roots in that era.

To primitive humanity, beings who had descended from the stars were indistinguishable from gods. The powers the Kree bestowed upon Hive were accompanied by a far more important gift: absolute authority over the other Inhumans.

Hive’s abilities weren’t necessarily the strongest among his kind.

He wasn’t the most destructive.

He wasn’t even the most physically dangerous.

None of that mattered.

He was their king.

No Inhuman could stand face-to-face with Hive and remain truly independent.

It didn’t matter what abilities they possessed or how strong their wills were. Once Hive had spoken to them, once he had worked his influence upon them, the result was always the same.

We are his slaves.

That had been exactly what the Kree intended.

Once the Inhuman population had grown large enough to form organized military units, Hive would command them to the front lines, where they would bleed and die for the glory of the Kree Empire.

But history rarely cared about anyone’s plans.

The seemingly endless war suddenly came to an end.

The political landscape within the Kree Empire shifted dramatically in the aftermath. The faction responsible for the Inhuman project lost power, and their entire program was abandoned.

Worse, it was condemned as an abomination.

The Kree withdrew almost overnight.

And they left Hive and the other Inhumans behind.

With the gods gone, the strongest creature left behind became king.

The other Inhumans were Hive’s slaves.

But Hive himself had only ever been a slave to the Kree.

The Kree had simply been the slave master above all of them.

Once they disappeared, Hive was finally free.

For the first time, he became a king in his own right.

Then he went further.

He became a god.

His name spread throughout the ancient world, changing from culture to culture.

He was Ra.

Anubis.

Horus.

At one point, he even called himself God.

That particular phase didn’t last very long.

After several rather unpleasant encounters with bolts of light descending from the heavens, Hive apparently reconsidered the wisdom of making that particular claim.

Instead, he used his growing reputation to build monuments worthy of his supposed divinity.

Great structures were constructed in the image of the obelisk that had granted him his power.

Only his most loyal human servants were permitted to be buried within them after death.

His words became absolute truth.

His teachings were recorded on pages of gold.

But not everyone was willing to become a mindless servant.

Some Inhumans remained beyond Hive’s control, and they constantly sought a way to overthrow him.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t fight him directly.

No Inhuman could face Hive and remain themselves.

So they waited.

They endured.

Until, by sheer chance, they obtained a massive black stone capable of connecting to another world.

The gateway was one-way.

And in that limitation, they saw their only chance.

They manipulated several ordinary humans into helping them and presented the stone to Hive as a gift.

When Hive accepted it, the stone activated.

It transported him to an alien world.

And the moment he left Earth, Hive’s control over the other Inhumans was broken.

The age of Hive came to an end.

And with it, humanity’s true age began.

A scattered round of applause filled the room.

Malick gave a dry laugh.

"An extraordinary story. That certainly explains the strange myths and legends left behind by the ancient world. Those supposed gods were actually Inhumans."

His eyes suddenly narrowed.

"Except Norse mythology, of course."

"Correct."

Evenson raised an eyebrow.

Thor was a little difficult to explain away as an Inhuman when the actual God of Thunder existed in Asgard.

Then another thought occurred to him.

"Actually, Celtic mythology doesn’t count either."

"Oh?"

Malick studied Evenson’s mysterious expression.

He thought about it for a moment.

Apparently, Celtic mythology had its own connections to the magical side of the world.

But there was something more important.

"Then how does any of this connect to Hydra?"

Malick’s expression became cautious.

"Given your current position, you should know that Hydra was an evil organization founded by the Red Skull during World War II. Captain America destroyed it decades ago."

Malick was still trying to conceal the truth.

He wasn’t about to hear one suspicious sentence and immediately confess everything.

As long as there was still room to maneuver, he would keep maneuvering.

"Evenson?"

He waited.

But Evenson merely smiled.

"Hydra isn’t directly connected to this."

Malick’s eyes narrowed.

"The connection is to... Hydra."

The moment Evenson said the word, Malick’s eyelid twitched.

Stephanie deliberately put on a puzzled expression.

"But isn’t Hydra just another word for the same thing?"

"A subtle mistake in pronunciation."

Evenson smiled.

"After Hive was exiled, not everyone who had lived under his rule came to hate him."

He looked between father and daughter.

"Some had held positions of tremendous power under him. They were privileged members of his regime. Others genuinely revered his strength and believed in his vision."

"And they remained absolutely loyal."

"Those people formed a secret society. They seized the black stone from the rebels and disappeared into history."

"Their purpose was simple."

"Bring their master home."

"The organization has been known by many names throughout history. But one of the names it used most often was Hydra."

Malick’s expression tightened.

"Not because of the creature from Greek mythology."

Evenson tapped a finger against the table.

"The name was derived from the Latin pronunciation of Hive’s name."

"Generation after generation, those families continued the same tradition."

"At regular intervals, they would select one of their finest young people and send them through the black stone to Hive’s world."

"Some went to rescue their master."

"Some went to serve him."

"And all of them believed that when Hive finally returned, he would reward their loyalty by allowing them to share in the world he conquered."

Evenson’s voice remained calm.

"The people they sent were sometimes relatives."

"Sometimes their own children."

He looked directly at Malick.

"And sometimes..."

His gaze hardened.

"Their own brothers."

Malick shot to his feet.

The chair scraped violently across the floor.

It wasn’t merely because Evenson knew so much.

That last detail had struck something far more personal.

During one of the rituals, Malick himself had cheated the selection process and sent his own brother through the stone.

He had sacrificed him.

Evenson knew.

He knew everything.

"Perhaps too much time passed."

Evenson’s voice continued, steady and merciless.

"The truth became mythology. Ancient records were dismissed as superstition. And after a thousand years, the original oath began to fracture."

"Some members of Hydra abandoned the old purpose."

"They decided that they no longer needed Hive."

"They sought other ways to seize control of the world."

Evenson’s eyes remained fixed on Malick.

"The Red Skull was one of them."

"Enough!"

Malick’s roar shook the room.

The carefully maintained mask of the distinguished statesman was gone.

He stood like an enraged beast, his face flushed, his hair disordered, his entire body radiating barely contained fury.

There was no point pretending anymore.

This man knew Hydra’s origins.

He knew its history.

He knew its internal divisions.

He knew Malick’s own family secrets.

If he knew all that, then there was no way he didn’t already know who Malick was.

Only one question remained.

"How do you know all of this?"

Evenson didn’t flinch.

He rose from his chair.

Instead of backing down, he met Malick’s fury with an even greater one.

His eyes widened.

His voice thundered across the room.

"How do I know?"

He pointed directly at Malick.

"Because that organization the Red Skull used..."

"The organization he betrayed at the most critical moment..."

Evenson’s expression hardened.

"Was mine."

Malick went completely still.

Evenson stared him down.

"That organization belonged to me."

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