---
Location: Afar Depression, Ethiopia – Dallol Crater Zone
Scorching winds howled over alien landscapes—boiling acid pools, neon-yellow sulfur plains, and salt towers like jagged bones. The air stung with mineral heat, unfit for any man.
And yet, Hann stood at the edge of a volcanic fissure, hands wrapped around the Heavenbreaker staff, his rings flickering in anticipation.
Beside him, Naledi squinted through thermal goggles. "This place is radioactive and cursed. You sure about this?"
Hann's lips were cracked from the heat. "The Ancient One's vision led me here. The first one's in the fire."
Naledi turned, skeptical. "You said that like it's normal."
He smiled faintly. "It is now."
---
Earlier — Johannesburg
Hann sat before a holographic map. The rings had synchronized with a section of the staff overnight, projecting something he hadn't understood before: a pattern of elemental disruptions across the globe—ice storms in Uganda, wind cyclones in Siberia, and a fire surge in Ethiopia. Too focused. Too unnatural.
One mark pulsed in red: Dallol.
---
Present
They'd traveled light—hitching rides, borrowing gear, staying off-grid.
Hann stepped forward into the baking air. The rings began to hum.
"She's here," he muttered.
"Who?" Naledi asked, pulling out her modified tablet.
A roar answered her.
The earth cracked open like a splitting fruit, and from it rose a figure of flame and ash. Her body pulsed with magma veins, long dreadlocked hair turned embers mid-float. Her eyes glowed white.
"Nguye ohlupha ingxolo yam?" she bellowed in isiXhosa.
("Who disturbs my silence?")
Hann stood his ground.
"Ngiyaxolisa, ndodakazi yomlilo. Angiyona ingozi."
("I'm sorry, daughter of fire. I am no threat.")
The flaming figure descended, the molten heat making Naledi stumble back.
"I am called Azari, and this is my territory."
---
Hann planted his staff into the ground. "I came for you."
Azari's flames surged. "For me?"
He nodded. "There's something coming. Bigger than this world. And I need people like you."
She circled him. "You carry old power. But why should I follow you?"
One of the rings pulsed, reading her. Hann saw flickers—burned villages, betrayal by government labs, the endless running. She was feared, hunted, forgotten.
"Because you've been alone too long," he said softly. "And the fire in you? It doesn't have to burn everything down. You can light the path."
Azari paused.
Then smiled.
---
Suddenly—an explosion.
Drones fell from the sky. StarkTech origin—hijacked.
Dozens of soldiers in volcanic suits dropped in, surrounding them. Weapons ignited.
Private Military Contractors.
Azari roared. "They never stop!"
Hann stepped in front of her. "Let me."
He spun the staff—rings glowing.
A wave of anti-heat energy expanded, nullifying the soldier weapons instantly. Azari's flames surged beside it.
Together, they moved.
Hann cracked skulls with pinpoint accuracy. Azari melted their weapons mid-strike, leaving only smoldering husks. Naledi dropped smoke grenades to obscure long-range sights.
Within minutes… silence.
The mercs were unconscious or gone.
---
Aftermath – Sunset
Azari sat atop a salt hill, her skin returned to normal—dark brown with embers glowing faintly beneath. She had delicate scars around her neck and collarbone—branding from her capture years ago.
"You sure about this team thing?" she asked.
Hann sat beside her. "I'm not trying to be a leader. I'm trying to stop the end of everything."
She looked up at the stars. "Good answer. But next time, I call the shots in fire zones."
He chuckled. "Deal."
---
Elsewhere — Cairo, Egypt
A lean man in a silver suit watched a projection on a cracked wall. It displayed Hann's face, overlaid with glowing script.
He touched his earpiece.
"Target identified. The boy's recruiting. Should I engage?"
From the shadows stepped a man in black, face lined with age and power.
Wenwu.
"No," he said. "Follow him. I want to see what my son becomes… before I decide his fate."
---
Scene — Kampala, Uganda (One Week Later)
Hann's team traveled north, following the ring-mapped disruption patterns. Azari now wore a black hoodie with fireproof lining. Naledi handled ops.
Inside a storm-battered hut, they met an old woman—blind but clear-minded. She touched Hann's arm.
"You carry the sky and earth in balance. But your shadow comes from blood."
She handed him a coin marked with the Ten Rings symbol.
"My grandson was taken. He carried your father's blade. They said he disappeared in Sudan… with others."
---
Hann's eyes widened.
His father's reach. Still active.
A long-forgotten splinter of the Ten Rings—abandoned after Wenwu disappeared.
He stood. "We find them next."
---
Post-Credit Scene – Space, Unknown Planet
Proxima Midnight knelt before a glowing sphere.
Inside it flickered scenes of Hann, Azari, and a growing map of potential recruits.
Thanos's voice echoed.
"The boy builds a wall. Let us bring the storm."
---
End of Chapter 4