The Iron Labyrinth
After stepping through the portal, the Guardians suddenly found themselves within a hideous iron structure. Corridors and access ways snaked off in all different directions, and cocooned all across the walls were thousands and thousands of wailing humans, their agonized moans lifted through the complex on an icy wind. Somewhere off in the distance could be heard the loud baying of hounds.
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After the Guardians had left the first circle of Hell, Mephisto began to grow concerned over their chances of success. He had since dispatched his special Lieutenant, Thanos, and a number of powerful followers to stop the Guardians. Ghost Rider had even been sent to stall the Guardians. The hounds the Guardians could hear echoing through the labyrinth were the hell hounds Thanos' forces were using to track them down.
The baying and howls of the vicious hell hounds grew louder as the Guardians sped through the labyrinth, desperately searching for the end to the maze. Until, eventually Thanos was upon them and there was no choice but for them to fight.
Thanos and the Guardians, and even Dr. Strange had confronted each other numerous times in the past. Drax, in fact, found his sole purpose in existence as to destroy the malignant and infamous Titan dictator. Gamora was the prodigal daughter of Thanos as well, who had turned against his wicked cruelty. Dr. Strange had waged wars against Thanos when he had repeatedly attempted to conquer or destroy the planet Earth.
Thanos, Born to the Eternals Mentor and Sui-San, Thanos was subject to the Deviant gene at birth. As a result, Thanos became that of a 'mutant' of Titan (the sixth orbiting moon of Saturn). He developed a purple, hide-like skin, along with strength and other physical abilities far surpassing that of other Titans.
This mutation also augmented the powers he inherently possessed as a descendant of the Eternals. Growing to become the most powerful Titan, his skin developed in such a fashion that allowed Thanos to absorb cosmic energy on an atomic level and then manipulate it as kinetic force via conscious choice.
Though never shunned by his family in his youth, Thanos was feared and avoided by his fellow Titan peers due to his unique qualities. His brother, Eros, was groomed from childhood to eventually replace their father in the role of leader among their people. Eros would, throughout their youth, be fawned over by loving friends and family, whom much favored him over Thanos. Feeling the sting of such ostracism, Thanos would find solace and purpose in other pursuits. On one fateful day, in an all but forgotten subterranean temple, an enterprising young Thanos would find companionship in the form of Mistress Death.
Decades would pass, and Thanos's relationship with Mistress Death grew, eventually blossoming into a dark and forbidden romance. Under Death's tutelage, he became even stronger and more powerful - well versed in the Black Arts, which had long been banned on Titan. She taught Thanos that knowledge is power, and that power is everything.
With the revelations of Thanos's rebellious activities, his maturation, and rebellion against his father (The Mentor), Thanos's ensuing exile was not far from realization. When his father discovered Thanos conducting forbidden dark art experiments, he expelled Thanos from Titan - though not without a heavy heart. Fueled by his hatred for this slight, Thanos would begin to amass even more knowledge, skill, and power via mysticism, meditation, and bionics during his century-long isolation.
Eventually, having surpassed all other Eternals in power and strength, Thanos decided to return to Titan to display his newfound might. Thanos would not come home with the intentions his father had hoped for after his punishment. Instead of atonement, Thanos attacked the planet with nuclear weaponry while orbiting Titan. Thanos had miscalculated Titan's defenses in his haste to sate his anger, which allowed some to escape the onslaught. However, only a handful of what was once thousands survived the invasion. As chance would have it, neither Thanos's brother nor father were on Titan during the assault. To Thanos's deep regret, though, his mother was not so fortunate, having stayed on Titan. In the aftermath, Thanos left the remains of Titan and returned to space, proving his devotion and worth to Death was all that mattered to him. During this time in the cosmos, Thanos conquered and pillaged many worlds, acquiring vast resources such as an assortment of followers, technology, weapons, and space-craft.
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The Hell hounds pounced on Groot immediately, chomping off massive strips of burning bark in their flaming jaws. Drax dove through the air towards Thanos, who reacted quickly and locked his assailant in a grapple. Gamora drew her sword and ran Into the fray, while Star-Lord and Rocket attempted to help Groot fend off his vicious attackers. Doctor Strange silently stood back from the conflict, hands waving ambly through the air, fingers contracting Into different geometric formations, the somatic components of a great spell.
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After narrowly escaping the conflict with Thanos, due to Ghost Rider's intervention, and the Guardians had progressed roughly halfway through the maze, Star-Lord recognized a familiar voice among those trapped against the walls, that of his former ally Adam Warlock. "Thank the stars you're here," he screams. "You've got to help me, I dont belong here, there has been some mistake. Please get me out of here, please."
Of course, this was not the real Adam Warlock, who would have never ended up in Mephisto's realm. It was the Dread Dormmamu, who was masquerading as Star-Lord's old friend in order to trick the Guardians into helping him. While he had been banished to Limbo, Dormmamu had discovered a unique mystical item that enabled him to impersonate anyone so well, even their closest of relatives would not detect the deception.
Adam Warlock and Star-Lord had a long and complicated history together as companions and brothers-in-arms. mplex was set to self destruct. After "Him" was born, he immediately sensed how corrupt his creators were, promptly abandoned them and left for space to gather his thoughts. However, he didn't get far, as he was caught in an asteroid shower and saved by the being known as Uatu, The Watcher, who sent him back to Earth. Years later, the Enclave attempt to create another perfect artificial human, resulting in the birth of Kismet.
While performing his duties and enduring his trials upon Earth, "Him" discovers the existence of the Asgardian goddess Sif and decides he wants her as his mate. This, of course, inspires the wrath of Thor, the Asgardian God of Thunder, and the two battle. When, after a short time, it becomes apparent he cannot beat the Thunder God, "Him" passively escapes the confrontation/altercation by creating a cocoon around himself. "Him" later met the person who would change his life, The High Evolutionary, who gave him his now known name: Adam (for being the first of his kind) Warlock – because men would fear his power. They gave Adam the Soul Gem that would change his life.
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Dormammu Dormammu, along with his sister Umar, is a mutant member of an extra-dimensional society of energy beings called the Faltine. Unlike other Faltinians they were not perfect copies of their progenitor Sinifer given some unknown mutation and they hungered for matter instead of energy. They were banished from their home dimension for turning Sinifer into matter, which was considered the equivalent of murder. The siblings eventually discovered the Dark Dimension and insinuated themselves into the role of advisors to King Olnar. In exchange for power and protection, Dormammu and Umar taught Olnar how to exploit the natural pocket warps of the Dark Dimension and absorb other dimensions/universes into it. When Olnar died in an attempt to conquer the realm of the Mindless Ones, the siblings used the opportunity to murder most of the Mhuruuks (the magical priest class under Olnar's rule) and successfully sealed off the Mindless Ones from the rest of the populace. They secured rulership of the realm under the guise of heroes for ages. Later on Dormammu would banish Umar after the same had given birth to Clea into one of the pocket dimensions under his control, taking sole custody of the Dark Dimension.
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The Guardians freed Dormammu disguised as their ally and allowed him to travel with them.