The Eldest is
in her lavish home in Las Vegas when a monster servant asks to see into her
magic pool. She declines but describes what she sees: the Hulk, seeking to
restore Charlie’s soul to her body. But Eldest recalls an older, similar story…
In Ancient Assyria,
an old beggar comes to a town full of corpses, some crucified. He hears sounds
of violence in a nearby cave and goes to investigate. There he meets a gigantic
warrior and two monstrous henchmen taking prisoners to work in the Child God’s
mines. They spot the beggar and try to seize him; the beggar explains that he
did a favor for an old witch who granted him a boon: he asked for a place where
he could die in peace. The witch directed him to the Fallen City of Nineveh, a
city overthrown by monsters where he can die. The beggar transforms into
Enkidu, the First Hulk, who notes that the old witch lied: it is a place
overrun by monsters but he doesn’t see anything that can kill him. And he
proceeds to tear the monsters apart. The people he rescued tell him of the
monsters and the Child God they follow. One of the people calls the Child God “Just
as much a monster as y…” nearly calling Enkidu a monster. They recognize him as
Enkidu and wonder whether he really came there to die. A child plays at being
Enkidu and says, “Enkidu smash!” Enkidu tells them to flee as the land will not
be safe after tomorrow….
The next day,
the mortally wounded henchman Charruk drags himself to the palace and tells the
Child God of the stranger who takes the former of a beggar and glows with the
light of the Green Door. She (called “Eldest”) immolates him with a touch and
her servant wonders if this stranger could be their enemy, the One Below All.
She responds that the One Below All does not walk the Earth but considers
whether this creature has the power to free the Mother of Horrors….