The FIFTH Tale

by Mark Bousquet

THE COMING OF THE LORD

The Abacus of Attentiveness … Ben-Vell and Angelica sat down to read one of Beta Ray Bill’s Histories of the Marvels - a tale almost 200 years in the past, from 2011, featuring the Stark/Summers campaign for the Presidency, the death of Charles Xavier and the liberation of Magneto from Niffleheim by the Defenders. Their studies were interrupted when Bill arrived with the news that Thanos, the main protagonist of the Eternal War, was soon to come to Asgard.

Asgard - Earth Standard Year 2200

Thanos the Titan Eternal walked the streets of Asgard with a palpable sense of power surrounding him. Asgardians - the bravest of the brave in all of the Everything - huddled in their houses like a dog trying to hide from an abusive master.

Thanos smiled and energy cackled in the air around him.

Asgard was a rebuilt city - it’s people finally completing the reconstruction left over from the True Ragnarok¹, but there was the sense - Thanos could feel it from the once-proud eyes that peered at him from upstairs windows - that the Golden Realm was a decaying empire on it’s last legs.

1- True Ragnarok is an untold tale at this point in ALL GOD’S CHILDREN.

He would conquer it in time. It was the center of his opposition and home to the Council, a conglomeration of the most important leaders that dared oppose him. It mattered not to Thanos who sat on the Council. All the Everything could ally themselves against him if they chose.

He welcomed the challenge. When he destroyed Asgard and crushed the life of the opposition against him, there was no possibility that Captain Mar-Vell wouldn’t return from the dead to oppose him. And that was his goal, to return life to Mar-Vell’s corpse so that his true enemy, his opposite in the Grand Tapestry, would stand against him and once and for all Thanos would get to test his mettle against his greatest foe in their greatest moment.²

2- See All God’s Children # 4.

But before that he had the Asgardians and their allies to deal with.

They would fall. One by one or all at once.

It mattered not.

He was Thanos and they were nothing.

Above

The Valkyrior, led by Dani Moonstar, hovered above the city of Asgard and watched Thanos walk through their city. Their faces were grim, their muscles twitching in bursts of micromovements as their minds thought over and over again about unsheathing their swords.

"This is a disgrace," Attumidunn spat as she held her position near Moonstar. "For nearly 200 Standard years the war against this madman has been raged and now we let him walk through our city like an honored guest! Pfah!"

"You will not get disagreement from me," Moonstar responded grimly. "I want nothing more than to soar down to the street and cry the names of all who have fallen to this madman."

"So why do we wait?" Attumidunn asked, already knowing the answer.

"Because that is what the Council wants," Moonstar responded.

"We could slay him and end this Eternal War!" Attumidunn whispered harshly.

"Nay," Moonstar countered. "Until we know what the return of Franklin Richards does to the balance of power in the Everything, we cannot slay Thanos. As difficult as it is to believe, we may require his aid if Franklin has ill intentions. Do not forget what he did to Galactus, nearly slaying the Planet Devourer a short time ago." ³

3 - In ALL GOD’S CHILDREN # 1

"You would side with the sworn enemy of the Golden Realm?" Attumidunn asked incredulously.

Moonstar turned to look at the product of an Atlantean/Inhuman … coupling - a girl who was one of two survivors of the Annihilation of Atlantis⁴, along with Ben-Vell, the young man she had become attached to. Her young, green face was strong, but tired. All she had ever known was War, and it was Thanos himself who oversaw the fall of Atlantis.

"Sometimes, Attumidunn," Moonstar set her jaw, "sometimes the person you most want to slay is the only one who can save your life."

4 - The Annihilation of Atlantis is, as of yet, a story told only in the details presented here. Chronologically, the Annihilation of Atlantis occurred in 2181 - 19 years previous.

Asgard - Thor Odinson Hall of Peace

Ben-Vell Parker strode into the grandest hall in the Golden Realm alongside Beta Ray Bill.

They walked up to the enormous statue of Thor, the God of Thunder that had been built by the great Asgardian sculptor, Jobuscema, and knelt down on the circular kneeling pad the surrounded the circumference of the statue. Quietly, separately, they took a minute and prayed to the greatest son Asgard had ever known. Throughout their history, Asgardians had never known a greater warrior.

Before Ben-Vell arose, he took a moment to read the inscription on the plaque at the foot of the statue.

"Give me strength, Odinson Thor," Ben-Vell whispered. "Give me the strength to face my destiny head on, as you did, so that I may do what must be done. Whatever it may be."

"Come, Ben-Vell," Beta Ray Bill spoke beside him, clasping his right hand on the young boy’s shoulder. "The Council awaits."

Asgard Center

In the center of the city of Asgard, there stood another monument to Thor. A simpler, smaller reminder that did not salute the past as much as it begged to herald the future.

On a small, man-made hill sat Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor, waiting for it’s next owner in which to instill it’s awesome power. Guarding the hammer were Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder - the large, enchanted goats that had once pulled Thor’s chariot.

Thanos walked up to the hammer, the goats snarling, but allowing him passage, admiring it’s long wooden handle and the large rectangular stone head. He knew that only the worthiest of men could raise Mjolnir and he knew that the Asgardians sat in their homes and prayed to their dead ancestors to send them someone who would lift it high in the air and usher a bright new day into existence.

The Titan would have loved to reach down and grasp the hammer and lift it high into the air. It would crush the Asgardian’s spirits. But he knew that there was no way he could. The hammer wouldn’t allow it.

There were several alive who could lift the hammer, if they chose to, and Thanos knew that, too. Captain America and Beta Ray Bill had both done so in the past, but Captain America now wielded the Nega Bands of Mar-Vell and possessed Cosmic Awareness and the accursed historian Bill wielded Storm Breaker, a replica of Mjolnir.

Thanos eyed the Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder and smiled. "Goats."

Thor Odinson Hall of Peace

The Council sat around a large, oval table and waited. At it’s head sat the King of Asgard, Balder the Brave. His face still held it’s pride and his eyes still held the hope of Asgardians in them. It was Balder, who, in the wake of True Ragnarok had taken the crumbling Realm and put it back together by the unfaltering force of his own will.

Around the table with him sat Captain America, his once familiar red, white and blue costume replaced by an all navy with white trim outfit. Cosmic Awareness seemed to glow in his icy blue eyes and, it was noted with some suppressed smiles around the room, he had a hard time keeping them from the woman who sat across from him, Dani Moonstar, lead Valkyrie and holder of Steve Rogers’ heart.

"Eros is not here," Captain America stated the obvious, trying to look for anything to keep his thoughts occupied.

"Just as well," Moonstar mumbled.

Beta Ray Bill, warrior and historian sat alongside Ben-Vell Parker. Ben was not a member of the Council, but was often invited along to learn "the way of things", as Balder put it. He was part of the Everything’s future and Balder would make certain he was as trained as possible.

Across from Ben sat Skrull 4, the latest "Super Skrull" to wield the combined powers of the original Fantastic Four. 4, as he was known to friends, sat passively, his large brown robe seemingly enveloping his frail green-skinned frame. Ben didn’t understand what the big deal with Skrull 4 was. Sure, he could mimic the impressive powers of the original First Age FF, but he was so … scrawny. Few had ever even seen 4 fight, Ben reminded himself. He was always off on some secret mission or other.

Next to Ben sat Ash’lin, ambassador to the Council from the Shi’ar Empire and beside her stood Kovar the Accuser, a Kree representative. Balder looked at Ash’lin and Kovar and sighed. As the victories over Thanos grew - which they did every 25 years or so, only to be beaten back down - the Kree and Shi’ar would endlessly revert back to their more militaristic and formal ways. Increasingly, though he would not mention it to either Ash’lin or Kovar, Balder found himself looking to Shi’ar and Kree rebels for assistance and turning away from their governments.

Ben-Vell sighed as he looked around the room, but allowed himself a smile as he looked upwards for just a second, knowing who was hiding in the rafters above the ceiling.

BOOM!

The large doors to the Hall burst open and in strode Thanos.

All eyes were glued to the man that they had fought for nearly 200 years. Only Thanos could be so arrogant as to stride completely alone directly into the heart of the enemy and demand that they heed his every word.

The members of the assembled Council, representing, in part, those that made up the Defiance, all reacted with equal measures of anger and hate.

"Greetings, King Balder," Thanos mused as he took the seat opposite the Asgardian King. "It is an honor for me to … walk your beautiful city. Your repairs have gone well."

Balder eyed Thanos strongly, he was in no mood for games this day. "I have no want to play nice with you for the sake of historical remembrances, Thanos. I want you dead. I want your Crusade against the Everything stopped." He rose from his seat. "We’re here to discuss the return of the Richards boy."

Thanos smiled, but continued to sit, "Poor Balder, so wrapped up in saving today that tomorrow must seem an eternity away. Or perhaps it is that you are surrounded by so many allies infringing on your decision making. While I have the advantage of hearing only the voices in my own head and not the incessant whining of the voices at my ears. Perhaps I enjoy having someone to talk to for a change."

"I will slay you, Thanos!" Kovar the Accuser shouted. "For crimes against the Kree, I shall-!"

"Silence, Kovar," Thanos brushed aside the Accuser without raising his voice or turning his head. "Your race is an evolutionary dead-end. You are nothing to me because you do not need me to die. You will accomplish that task all by yourselves."

Kovar started to respond, when Balder cut in angrily, "Shall we continue, Thanos?"

"Forgive me, Balder," Thanos bowed his head without lowering his glowing eyes. "The Richards boy."

"The Richards Boy. He has returned."

"Yes, and in a most unexpected way," Thanos mused seriously. "Nearly destroying Galactus upon his immediate return … the boy does not think small. At the very least, you lose an ally by the action. Certainly, not even you, Balder, can embrace an ally that sought to kill your biggest pawn?"

"My allies are my own to worry about, Titan!" Balder spat, before calming. "But it is clear that Franklin has chosen not to side neither with us nor with you."

"A Third Army enters our game, then."

"This is not a game, Thanos," Captain America reminded calmly. "People are dying."

Thanos smiled, "That is most certainly the point, afterall, pretender to Mar-Vell’s legacy."

"What shall be done next, Thanos?" Balder asked, amazed that Steve was able to brush aside the insult so easily. He wondered, not for the first or the hundredth time, if maybe the wrong person wasn’t leading the Defiance.

"You sound disappointed, King," Thanos mused. "Perhaps you wished that some grand insight would come about from this meeting? If so, then you are a fool and it is a miracle that I have not slaughtered your people as of this moment." He rose. "The Coming of the Lord never lives up to it’s hype, Balder. Throughout history, there are countless tales of mass disappointment when the heralded Lord arrives. People disapprove of the ragged clothes or the failure to hand Paradise on a plate. I will not give you Paradise, Balder. You will earn it, if you can." Pause. "The Richards boy has returned. He will need to be dealt with. Perhaps by me, perhaps by you, perhaps by us both."

Balder spoke confidently, "Until then … we wait."

"You can wait, Balder," Thanos turned to go. "The plans of Thanos will continue. We have nothing to fear from Franklin Richards."

"If you believe that, than it is you who are the fool."

Thanos turned around to catch who said the words. "Ah, the mysterious Skrull 4 speaks. I can not believe that the man whose legend grows daily is the weak, pitiful Skrull who sits before me. I should slay you where you sit."

Skrull 4’s eyes widened and he bowed his head, "So sorry, Thanos. Forgive me."

Thanos said not another word and left the room, leaving the Council to debate amongst themselves what to do.

Above the Hall of Peace, three bodies lay still on support beams.

"Sit and wait," Angelica sighed, "yeah, right. It’s time for the Orphans of War to do a little something. Or," she smiled, "a big something sounds even better."

First, I’d like to publicly thank Matt and Randy for their loyal letter writing. They’ve written in about every issue, so far, and their input has been tremendously valuable. All letters are always valuable, of course, but I thought Randy and Matt deserved a special recommendation. So, in true MV1 style, I will now plug Randy’s VAULT series and Matt’s CAPTAIN AMERICA work. Go read them and let them know what you think.

Second, I know I promised the debut of the Cosmic Flame and the return of Santa Claus and Canticle this issue. Whoops. In an effort to provide a jumping on point for new readers, I purposely left out anything but the Asgardian angle.

On to the letters …

About AGC # 2

I could nitpick about various bits here and there. A few complaints about

characterization maybe (particularly Galactus). But all in all ... it's

brilliant. I liked this Chapter better than the first.

I've read it twice and I still think I am missing a lot.

You should be writing comics. Submit submit submit. Woody Allen said "80

per cent of success is showing up." Write a treatment of this and send it

in. I think it would be a great series.

Don't wait to do this. Don't put it off.

Your life is now.

Michael C McClelland

Mike, as usual, is far too kind. Thanks, Mike.

On # 2 …

Another cool issue, Mark. Even though I said I'd hoped large portions

of the past would remain a mystery in this series, I liked this issue

even more than the first. Of course, it's hard to go wrong with a

character like Santa Claus.

One of the things that's really turning me on to this series are the

unanswered questions. What's wrong with the Hulk? Who's Lady Metal?

Why on earth would Tony ally himself with Moonstone? These situations

make for really compelling reading. The story sets its hooks into the

reader right from the start.

One minor complaint - Tony's dialogue while speaking to Scott struck

me as a little too "formal" somehow.

Looking forward to the next one!

Cheers,

Matt

Thanks, Matt! As for the proliferation of hooks in the past issues, I will admit that I put an extra amount of them in with the hopes of drawing in as many readers as I could. I want this series to feel big and the hooks allow for a sense of that. Now that I’ve hopefully gotten the scope of the series across, I’m going to head in the opposite direction for a bit, starting with this issue. Smaller, more linear storytelling with more of an emphasis on characterization to focus the series more tightly before branching off and going large again.

Mark,

I just read the first issue of your ALL GOD'S CHILDREN series.

Suffice to say I was very, very impressed. Before I'd read a word,

I was knocked out by the graphic presentation. Just gorgeous--

makes me wish I'd come up with a background/layout scheme

like that myself (the highest compliment I can bestow!) But the play's

the thing, right? Onward...

I had some sense already as to where the story was going,

since I was a fan of your FF series. The even-more-grandiose

direction you've apparently decided on, though, (or at least the

greater fleshing out of said story) has me wide-eyed. This

is shaping up as having the potential to be not so much

a big-time cosmic epic, but THE big-time cosmic epic. Maybe.

Now, I don't use that previous sentence loosely.

This doesn't strike me as necessarily a definitive

answer to "what happens to Marvel/MV1 in the future"-- your story

so far is one interpretation of a possible future for the

Marvel/MV1 universe, one of a great many which might come

to pass, and come to be told-- but this story will clearly cover

enough ground (and space!) and touch on enough familiar points

and people to rank it among the most important Marvel-based

stories anywhere, in any format-- Marvel, MV1, or anything else.

I agree completely with your musings in the postscript: You may

indeed come up short. You may not produce the seamless tapestry

you seem to be attempting to create. But the sheer effort of undertaking

something like... this... makes this work a critical, important piece of MV1,

and a critical, crucial piece of Marvel lore.

Dammit, I found myself criticizing your writing as I would the work of any top

fiction/SF writer, picking out tiny little things that I would do differently. And

then I realized-- this story, right out of the box, has me sucked in far enough

that I'm actually doing that. I'm actually doing that. Huh. Because you're

putting enough care, enough effort, enough TALENT into this... it's obvious.

This is many things, but it is definitely NOT half-assed (something I've

accused myself of on more than one occasion.)

Saying how important this story _could_ be is all you're getting from me

in the way of lavish praise right now. There are things I could do without--

the Valkyrie battle didn't do so much for me. But there are other things that

have me riveted.

Keep going. Keep writing. Keep impressing me.

I'll be watching.

And reading.

--Van

Well … wow.

Guess I don’t have to worry about getting cancelled for awhile, eh? Van, as some of you may not know, is the EiC and creator of MV1. Whether I can live up to my own standards for this series is something that the future will tell us. Whether I can or can’t though, is secondary to the attempt. This is a challenging series to write and I’m enjoying it greatly.

Let me make it clear, too, that in no way do I intend for this to be a definitive future for MV1, either. There’s too many creative people here to hand over the future to any one person. This is just a big ‘What If…?’ tale showing my take on a possible future of MV1. I wanted to write a cosmic war epic and, really, the future is the only place to do it. So here it is.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading and writing in, folks. The e-mail response has been amazing and I’m eternally thankful for your continued support.

The next issue starts the first present day story-arc in AGC. Fragmented Balance will focus on the Orphans of War’s search for Franklin Richards, and touch on the Cosmic Flame, Santa Claus, Canticle and a few others. But the focus will be on the Orphans: who they are, what they’re like, how strong the bond is between them. As always, I’ll see you …