Su Ming rendezvoused with the Sorcerer and Garth, who were mildly surprised to see him descend from the sky.
Moments earlier, Mephisto had used Hell's power to seal the portal, causing Monarch to panic briefly, nearly contacting the Ancient One for help.
But Garth trusted her boss had anticipated this. It wasn't the first or second time he'd vanished before her eyes. She signaled the Sorcerer to wait calmly.
As she predicted, Su Ming landed with his armor fully repaired, wounds from battles with the Maidens of Destruction healed completely.
Garth's eyes locked on him, awaiting the next move, while Monarch sighed in relief, tucking his rabbit back into his jacket's breast pocket. "I thought you'd gotten into a fight with Mephisto," he said.
Su Ming glanced at him, bemused. Did he seem that reckless in the Sorcerer's eyes?
"In his Hell?" he replied.
A Hell Lord in their own domain was a god. If they wished, no one could touch them—attacks would only hit air. He'd already tested this with the Horse-Headed Man. Mephisto indeed wielded such power. The future Horse-Face Thor had merely caused some chaos in Hell before being repelled by the Maidens of Destruction, leaving Mephisto unscathed.
Hell Lords in their domains enjoyed myriad enhancements, but one trait was universal: endless resurrection.
Surtur was no different. In his Hell, he was invincible. When Odin, alongside his brothers Vili and Ve, confronted the Fire Giant, they found him unkillable.
No matter how many times Surtur was struck down, he rose from the lava the next second, ready to fight for millennia if needed.
Vili and Ve perished in that battle, sacrificing themselves to cover Odin's escape to Asgard.
Before dying, they transferred their divine power to their brother. The combined might of the three Odinson brothers—three Skyfather-level powers—formed the true Odinforce.
Later, Odin endured a long saga to become God-King: losing an eye, drinking from the Well of Wisdom, gaining runic power. At his peak, in his prime, he barely defeated Surtur.
By flooding the Fire Hell with immense Odinforce, he altered the entire plane's nature, temporarily halting Surtur's rebirth.
Even Odin couldn't kill a Hell Lord in their domain. Instead, he sealed Surtur in a volcano, stole the Eternal Flame, and struck a deal: "Unless invited, you can never set foot in Asgard."
Surtur agreed, patiently awaiting Ragnarök, knowing someone would eventually invite him.
At this point in time, only another Hell Lord could counter a Hell Lord, annexing and devouring their plane. Neither Earth nor Asgard bore Hell's essence.
There was another way: lure a Lord out of their Hell, where a slim chance might exist.
In the cinematic universe, Dormammu fell for this. To consume Earth, he opened his Hell, and Doctor Strange slipped in.
The outcome was clear: Strange trapped Dormammu's true form with the Time Stone, negotiating endlessly. Strange, clever as he was, knew even with the Time Stone, Dormammu couldn't be killed—only bargained with.
The story ended with Dormammu's temporary retreat, but it wasn't the finale. He'd return.
Mephisto, less powerful than Dormammu, was far craftier. When doing business on Earth or elsewhere, he never used his true form.
He sent a talking phantom, imbued with minimal Hell power—enough for small threats like robbers or thugs. Against stronger foes, he'd abandon the phantom, dissipating into black smoke.
"I just thought you didn't know," Monarch said, rubbing his swollen, peach-like eyes. "I forgot to warn you before you went in."
Su Ming smiled. Monarch meant well. Though he knew no magic, Su Ming was versed in the arcane world's secrets.
Hell Lords mostly worked for "Death," part of the world's soul cycle. Without Death's nod, none could die.
Fighting them in Hell was a losing game—that was the demons' vile edge.
Thus, Su Ming chose to battle the Maidens of Destruction, showcasing his strength, knowing he'd never touch Mephisto in Hell. Even the Mephisto he spoke to was likely a phantom or illusion.
Su Ming saw through Mephisto's scheme, reading his intent.
If Deathstroke avoided conflict, Mephisto would spread word of Earth's future weakness, troubling the Ancient One and Earth.
But if Deathstroke attacked the Hell Lord, Mephisto would stage a "tragic death" illusion, using the vivid record to rally other Hell Lords after Deathstroke left.
Hell planes constantly warred, Lords annexing each other, but external threats united them.
The Sorcerer Supreme's heir attacking a Hell Lord? Perfect pretext.
United, the Lords were unstoppable. In the comics, even the mighty Galactus fell to their schemes.
Su Ming's brief chat with Mephisto was layered with calculation. He gave no leverage, secured his intel, and escaped unscathed.
Mephisto wasn't testing Deathstroke's martial prowess—he didn't care about that.
He wanted to gauge how much the Sorcerer Supreme's heir knew about the arcane world, whether he'd blunder into traps. If the Ancient One's heir was as reckless as Odin's, Mephisto's future would be bright.
Su Ming shattered that fantasy, proving with his actions that his knowledge of the arcane matched any sorcerer's.
Revealing strength and some cards could be a deterrent—to the cunning.
In the DC universe, why did Su Ming openly display the Ten Rings? If he just wanted to save people, a strike from space on the giant octopus would've been simpler.
For Batman? Hardly. Batman was never the obstacle.
Su Ming flexed his power for Luthor and the Joker, knowing they monitored the battlefield. Black Manta's situation confirmed Luthor's surveillance.
This ensured that, until they devised a counter to Deathstroke's rings, those two masterminds would hesitate to act.
That bought Su Ming time to prepare for his next move.
When enemies returned, thinking themselves ready, Su Ming would unveil his true trump card: the Contract of Inversion, a magical concept he'd crafted.
They'd prepare for a Lantern, but their foe was a Sorcerer Supreme.
In this Hell journey, Su Ming entered as Odin and left as Deathstroke, shedding that identity like a cicada its shell.
Let Heimdall stare into Hell in vain. Using Odin's authority, Su Ming had cleared Garth's crimes, so Valkyrie could now guide Deathstroke freely through the Nine Realms.
But with all suspects cleared, the mystery deepened.
How did the Serpent escape? Where was he now? What was his plan? Without answers to these three questions, the mastermind remained elusive.
If Su Ming's hunch was correct, the Hammer of Winter was likely with the Serpent's lackey. Who that lackey was remained a question.
Still, preparing to counter the Serpent was never wrong. The prophecy pointed to Odin's son.
Odin had more than just Thor. One son, thought dead, was very much alive.
Balder, God of Light. Su Ming might try to find him.
In the comics, after Loki killed Balder with a mistletoe spear, his soul fell into Hela's hands.
The goddess of the underworld, knowing he was a hot potato Odin would demand, didn't want Balder revived. She promptly ejected his soul from her realm.
Odin arrived too late—Balder wasn't in the underworld, his whereabouts unknown.
Hela, a Hell Lord, was unkillable in her domain. Odin, unwilling to lose another child after one son's death, left empty-handed.
Cast out, Balder's soul could only drift to other Hells.
He became a prized commodity, traded among Hell Lords as currency or a toy. The soul of a god-king's son was a fascinating plaything.
Balder visited nearly every Hell Su Ming could name, enduring every torment imaginable. Days ago, he was Mephisto's human instrument; soon after, torn by Eye Demon's tentacles, then shuffled elsewhere.
Odin searched tirelessly but found nothing. The Hell Lords played a silent game of hide-and-seek.
Yet, someone always slips. Hell Lords aren't omniscient.
Through endless torment, Balder didn't lose his mind or become a blank soul. Instead, he recovered his memories and secretly rebuilt his body.
Then he escaped—from the demon king Belasco's clutches.
Though he fled Belasco's prison, he couldn't leave that Hell, waging guerrilla warfare against the demon's armies, hiding in the wasteland.
That was about three hundred years ago, wasn't it?
Balder's Hell was Limbo, known in DC as Purgatory, though the concepts differed entirely.
Limbo's current lord was Belasco. Decades later, a new lord would rise: Illyana Rasputin, codenamed Magik, a girl once captured by Belasco.