While Drex Valen kept his attention on Logan, he suddenly sensed a dimensional ripple from the movie universe he had already been working in.
That was hardly surprising. With the Black Hole Dimension and Earth's dimension growing increasingly intertwined through the Ghost Riders, the boundary between worlds had started to thin.
"Heaven sent someone down?"
Drex flexed his fingers, almost eager to get moving. The Heaven Dimension of this film universe probably was not all that powerful.
Inside a cathedral in New York City, the Archbishop hurried over to greet the divine visitors.
No one knew why angels would choose to descend here instead of the Vatican. It did not matter. This was a movie universe, after all. Maybe the Heaven Dimension thought America was more pious.
This time, there were three angels.
Their purpose was simple: investigate why no souls were reaching Heaven anymore. Even in a fallen world, it was hard to believe there was not a single decent soul left.
For the record, while Drex had been paying attention to the mutant universe, years had already passed in this movie universe.
Years without souls arriving in Heaven was enough to make the angels suspicious, so they had come down to investigate.
Unfortunately for them, before they could start laying on the celestial mystique and speaking in those so-called "revelatory" riddles no one could actually understand, the cathedral doors suddenly exploded open.
Standing outside were three men.
They were the Punisher, Barnes, and Johnny Blaze, all of whom had just been teleported there from somewhere else by Drex.
All three looked confused as hell. The blown-apart door had not helped.
But once they spotted the three white-winged angels standing barefoot atop the statues, they seemed to understand what they were supposed to do.
"Avenging spirits?"
The angels looked at them in confusion.
These three Ghost Riders felt... off. The angels and the avenging spirits had different duties and different systems entirely. That had been set in stone back when Jehovah still ruled.
The three Ghost Riders had no time to coordinate. Their boss had simply slammed a mission and a reward into their heads.
Kill the three angels, and a resurrection quest would open. Collect one hundred million evil souls, and their wives and daughters could be brought back to life.
The Punisher lost his composure immediately.
Kill the angels, gather one hundred million sinful souls, and Steve Rogers could be restored, because the ice block was already in Drex's hands.
Barnes lost his composure immediately too.
Johnny Blaze... well, for him, collecting one hundred million souls meant freedom.
The Punisher did not care that they were angels and drew his gun without hesitation.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The angels were caught off guard and took the shots. After the Black Hole Dimension's energy began corroding them, their expressions changed at once.
"They're not avenging spirits!"
They looked similar, but they were absolutely not Ghost Riders. Something else had taken their place.
On Drex's side, he worried that the three knights might not be enough, or might fail to hold the angels in place. After thinking it over, he reluctantly burned through a large chunk of evil souls and turned them into creatures of the Black Hole Dimension.
New life, forged in the crushing pressure of the Black Hole Dimension.
Saints.
There was no better term for them. He needed the look to be right.
This was an age where appearance was justice. If he created a swarm of hideous monsters, S.H.I.E.L.D. might decide the angels looked more trustworthy and switch sides.
"Those things are so ugly. The God of Destruction and Ruin must be evil for sure."
And yes, from the name alone, Drex also did not exactly sound like a saint.
Twelve men and women were born.
They inherited the Black Hole Dimension's power and souls, and the moment they emerged, they possessed strength far beyond most living beings.
Unfortunately, they were all appearance and no proper technique. They could not fire light-speed fists or reproduce the usual techniques of the golden saints.
The problem was simple. Drex had no idea how to make someone throw a light-speed punch without also turning Earth into a crater in the process.
That was too much of a headache. Better to give them bodies that were simply powerful.
Under the terrifying pressure of the Black Hole Dimension, their physiques were forged to an extreme density, as if they had been born under a thousand times Earth's gravity. Their strength, speed, and durability all far outstripped the cursed warriors.
Probably around ten times Thor-level strength, if he had to guess.
And then there were the golden cloths.
Not only were they made of Adamantium and Vibranium, they were also reinforced by the mysterious energy of the Black Hole Dimension.
In other words, they were almost impossible to break. Even the power of the Infinity Stones would have a hard time destroying them.
Back in the cathedral, the three Ghost Riders were indeed getting beaten down by the three angels.
Just as it looked like they were about to be overwhelmed, the twelve golden saints arrived.
Shining golden armor. Pure white cloaks. Beautiful faces that looked like they had been carved out of legend itself.
Their appearance instantly drew the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. and every other force that had already been monitoring the battle.
"We are the Twelve Golden Saints of the God of Destruction and Ruin. Heretical beings called angels, be destroyed!"
"God of Destruction and Ruin?"
The angels stared at them in confusion.
Then they sensed the aura of another dimension clinging to the golden saints and immediately understood what was happening.
"You're the pawns of dimensional demon lords invading this world!"
The angels were furious, though their words were already being blocked by Drex.
With twelve golden saints and three Ghost Riders closing in together, the three angels were beaten to death.
Their souls did not reach Heaven.
The Black Hole Dimension dragged them in instead.
Drex watched in surprise as the three souls entered Heaven and kept glowing there, bright as miniature suns.
"Damn. These three angels alone are worth more than everything I've harvested so far."
He could not help but be tempted.
He had no idea how many souls Heaven had been feeding on, but each angel's soul was worth more than all of his recent gains combined, and then some.
After the angels were dead, S.H.I.E.L.D. finally arrived at the scene, hoping to make contact with the twelve golden saints.
But the golden saints ignored them completely and vanished.
Of the three Ghost Riders, only Johnny Blaze stayed behind. Barnes and the Punisher left just as quickly.
Drex was not in any rush.
He intended to wait for Heaven to send more people down. With the Heaven Dimension and Earth Dimension now so tightly linked, they would not be able to keep pretending nothing was wrong.
And when that happened, he would be able to trace Heaven's location through the souls of the angels.
"This is exciting."
For a rookie dimension lord, this was his first real dimensional war.
Win, and he would take everything.
Lose, and there would be nothing left.
That was why dimension wars were so rare. Nobody liked starting one.
After all, they were not those multiverse-level monsters. Most dimension lords were only single-universe or low father-level beings. Their power was close enough that nobody could be sure of the outcome.
Who could say whether they would actually win?