Marvel: Xenomorphs

Duncan stared at the innocently blinking Coulson, convinced the man had no sincerity whatsoever.

"Coulson, while we aren't friends, I at least expect you not to deceive me with clumsy rhetoric."

Duncan eyed Coulson with a strange look. "You're S.H.I.E.L.D. — an organization with a history so ancient that your actions have directly shaped human civilization, not some fledgling group founded last century as the rumors claim… Must I spell this out for you?"

Duncan had studied this world thoroughly. Without mutants, things might have been simpler, but the existence of mutants — and their ties to the Eternals and Deviants — complicated everything.

Across the multiverse, the origin of mutants was largely consistent: the Deviants. Thus, barring rare exceptions, Duncan had every reason to conclude that the mutants in his universe also descended from the long-extinct Deviants.

The Celestials conducted experiments on countless life-bearing planets, creating two opposing races: the Eternals and the Deviants. Periodically, the Celestials would judge these creations. Those who passed were allowed to thrive; those who failed were eradicated.

The Skrulls were a prime example. As a Deviant offshoot, they exterminated the Eternals on their planet, passed the Celestials' judgment, and eventually became one of the three great interstellar empires in the galaxy. But the Skrulls grew arrogant. Their gods attempted to replicate the Celestials' experiment on the Kree, only to backfire spectacularly. The Kree harnessed that power to rise at an explosive rate, becoming their greatest foes.

The same pattern held for Earth's Eternals and Deviants, both crafted by the Celestials. Long before Ikaris and his cohort of Eternals, there were older generations of Eternals and Deviants who dominated Earth over 20,000 years ago, establishing a flourishing civilization that shaped the planet's history.

Eons ago, when humans were still primitive, the Celestials designated Earth as a grand laboratory. They created the Eternals — beings of perfect genetics, ancestors of Thanos — and the Deviants — entities with limitless mutative genes, the rough progenitors of mutants.

Earth 20,000 years ago was an era ruled by Eternals and Deviants. Back then, the Deviants were intelligent, technologically advanced beings who built cities and interstellar warships — a far cry from the feral, dog-like "Deviants" fought by Ikaris and his 10 Eternal comrades.

The two races warred for dominance. The outcome mirrored the Skrulls' story: the Deviants, with their infinite mutative genes, emerged victorious. The genetically "perfect" Eternals were defeated and fled Earth for Titan. During their exodus, they were attacked by the Kree Empire, dissected alive, and experimented on, birthing a new branch of humanity — the Inhumans, now led by the moon-dwelling Black Bolt.

Though the Deviants won, their triumph was short-lived. The Celestials deemed them flawed and exterminated them. Yet their mutative genes survived, passed down through generations of humans, eventually manifesting as mutants.

This cataclysmic event 20,000 years ago altered Earth's trajectory. Without it, mutants would not exist today. Conversely, the presence of mutants confirms that Earth once hosted — and destroyed — the ancient Deviants.

The fallout cascaded through history: the power vacuum left by the two extinct races allowed demons like Zarathos to invade Earth; vengeful Spirits of Vengeance rained from the sky to combat them, one later merging with a motorcyclist to become the Ghost Rider.

Even pivotal events like Apocalypse's rise, the Norse gods battling a Celestial fleet, Zhang Heng of the Han Dynasty forcing a Celestial to give birth, Da Vinci crafting solar armor to expel a nascent Celestial from the sun, and the schism between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Chinese counterpart, the Great Ten, all traced back to the Eternal-Deviant conflict.

Thanos' genocide of Titan's Eternals — descendants of Earth's originals — was no exception.

Thus, upon learning mutants existed in this universe's Earth, Duncan had braced himself. He'd scoured historical records for traces of these buried truths.

As for S.H.I.E.L.D. — one of two branches born from the ancient "Holy Shield Brotherhood," a global supernatural organization founded during the Eastern Han Dynasty by figures like Zhang Heng — how could they know nothing about the Deviants?

Even if S.H.I.E.L.D. lacked intel on the true Deviants exterminated 20,000 years ago (when humanity was still subordinate to Eternals and Deviants), surely they had records on the lesser, beast-like Deviants deployed by the Celestial Arishem over the past millennia? These crude Deviants were hunted by the 11 memory-wiped Eternals, Arishem's disposable tools. Could S.H.I.E.L.D. truly have missed all that?

Impossible.

Coulson's expression shifted drastically.

"This… doesn't add up," Coulson frowned, locking eyes with Duncan. "We've combed through every file. You're just a moderately clever scientist. There's no way you could access this level of classified history!"

"Why not?"

"Because of your platform. You've never operated at a tier high enough to uncover secrets buried this deep."

"Then, Coulson… is it possible that what you've found about me is exactly what I wanted you to find?" Duncan smirked.

Coulson fell silent. He still thought Duncan was bluffing, but the man's knowledge defied logic.

After a moment, Coulson abandoned prying into Duncan's secrets and pivoted: "Let me guess — Ikaris isn't one of those giant reptilian Deviants?"

"If you mean the recent millennia's Deviants, then no. They're unrelated," Duncan replied cryptically.

Coulson instantly grasped the implication, his eyes widening in shock.

Unbelievable. Duncan even knows about the ancient Deviants who briefly ruled Earth? Even S.H.I.E.L.D., with its millennia of archives, had scarce records of that era!

"I'll report this conversation verbatim. So this is one of your trump cards. The question is: do you have a steady intelligence source… or have you personally witnessed pivotal moments in human history?"

Coulson's interest in Duncan skyrocketed. He resolved to scour S.H.I.E.L.D.'s historical files for any trace of Duncan. Yes, he now suspected Duncan was an ancient figure who'd lived for centuries.

Such beings weren't unheard of. Take Azazel, the demonic mutant revered by Magneto — he'd survived since Apocalypse's reign, over 5,000 years.

Duncan shrugged dismissively.

Coulson chose his next words carefully: "Since Ikaris isn't a Deviant, that's for the best. Otherwise, complications would arise… You understand. If he were one of the true Deviants from 20,000 years ago, with their infinite mutative genes…"

Duncan nodded. If Ikaris were linked to the ancient, sapient Deviants, Earth's current mutants — already prone to supremacist ideologies — might weaponize that lineage to claim superiority over humanity. Some might already be digging into their origins.

The implications would be catastrophic.