THE EVERYTHING ENGINE

Part III: Statues Walking

the forty-sixth tale of agc

written by Mark Bousquet

What You Need to Know: After nearly a decade absence, the Olympians, led by Pluto, have returned, and battle the forces of Asgard in Hela's realm of Niffleheim. Lady Death and Thanos have come to watch the battle, and stand together, high above the fray. The Orphans of War - minus K'Zan - have been sent to Hala to aid in the Kree's rebuilding program after their most recent Civil War, and the Supreme Intelligence has shown great interest in the half-Kree Ben-Vell. Adam Warlock has decided to seek the Everything Engine, a rumored "great machine" at the Center of Everything, where he hopes to find all the answers to all the questions. Rebecca Almond has journeyed to Grell City, Washington with a half-page torn from the Prophecies of Grey, to tempt Cable into becoming Earth's new Ambassador to Asgard. And now, a new face enters the story …

CHRONOPOLIS

"You should not have made the arrangement," Kang the Conqueror admonished a future version of himself.

"And you, my younger, impatient self, should not have forced my hand."

Kang waved his hand angrily at Immortus, "Earth is too important for the elitist heroes to have not asked for my help. Emperor Doom needed to be stopped, and it was I, Kang the Conqueror, who did end his reign! I have earned the right of conquest of that planet!" *

* As seen in AGC 24: ASCENSION / ABANDONMENT, Part II: The Reign of Doom

"But you said," Immortus hid a smile, "that defeating Doom and freeing the Earth from his Shi'ar driven conquest would be enough for you. That the heroes would have to spend the rest of their days living knowing that in their darkest hour, it was you who had saved them."

"Feh!" Kang turned away in disgust. "I am now barred from entering that segment of the multiverse, because of you and your damned interference during Ragnarok. And no statues have been built in my honor on the Earth's surface. How quickly they forgot it was I who saved them."

"You could go back on your word," Immortus smiled. "We both know, after all, that you eventually will."

"Do not tempt me, Immortus. I would not hesitate to slay you where you sit."

"By all means, my younger self, feel free to kill me. Such is the nature of time that unless you kill yourself, we both know that I will return." Immortus leaned back in his floating chair, enjoying the torment that racked Kang's soul. "And even then, you know I have taken that into account. How many Kangs are hidden throughout the multiverse, kept prisoner somewhere away from your prying eyes? Only one of them need survive to become me, after all." Immortus enjoyed watching Kang suffer in silence, and turned the screws deeper, "When you interfere with the central plane of existence, you will trigger the events in motion that will lead to you becoming me."

Kang's voice turned somber, "They were too foolish to ask for my help with Doom, and they will be too foolish to ask for my help with Thanos. We have seen the future, you and I, Immortus, and we know that the Everything does not have long to live. It is collapsing in on itself, thanks to Thanos and his minions, and Asgard is too stupid to stop him."

"But you could stop him at any time," Immortus prodded.

Kang nodded.

"You think of what the heroes owe you for defeating Doom," Immortus continued, remembering how great if felt to bring Doom's defeated, but alive, body back here, to Chronopolis for future study. He gave a half-thought of ponderance to the monarch, then pressed on, "Think of what they would owe you for defeating Thanos."

"But the price …"

"The price is that you will become me," Immortus finished.

Kang wrung his hands together behind his back, "Unless they ask it of me."

The words hung in the air between two men who were the same. Kang continued, "Damn my ego for agreeing to that pact."

Immortus finally let a small laugh escape his lips, "You want to conquer that plane of existence, Kang, and you want them to beg you to do it. For all of your, for all of our, accomplishments, there is something about that plane that keeps us from total victory."

"The Everything Engine."

"Yes," Immortus nodded, surprised that Kang knew of this, then saw a monitor that viewed Adam Warlock's quest for the Everything Engine. "That plane is the battlefield where all of God's children will one day fight the final battle. You are an anomaly in time, Kang, and though I am loathe to feed your pride over such vicious and deplorable accomplishments, I cannot deny that you have achieved more that any mortal man, in all of the Everything, ever has, or will. Death is an easy victory compared to Time, Kang, and yet you have conquered Time like no other mortal could dream of doing.

"But this final plane, the central plane," Immortus let his words sink in, "if you fight to control it, you will lose. The Everything Engine will not allow final conquest. Only total death and the end of this stage of existence. This is why Thanos has enjoyed the success he has over the centuries. He is not after a kingdom, but annihilation."

"But I can fight for the continuation of this existence," Kang said slowly.

"Yes," Immortus nodded. "You can. And therein lies your only chance of conquest. If you save the Everything and the people give you control, then you will have conquered the one plane that you cannot do so otherwise."

Kang turned away, his eyes finding a monitor with a battle he viewed time and time again. "This battle here," he pointed to the screen. "The return of the Olympians. This is where so much goes wrong. I have witnessed Captain America standing alone at the end of the Everything, looking back to this moment and knowing that this was when Thanos won the Eternal War."

Immortus floated away, letting the echo of his voice call back to Kang, "Unless, of course, you decide to enter the battle itself, and save the Everything. You can slay Thanos, here, Kang, and save the universe you so desperately want to rule. The only price … is that if you do, you will become me."

The words ran through Kang's mind as he turned to watch Asgardians and Olympians slaying each other in Niffleheim.

He wondered if any of them even suspected what the outcome would be.

He wondered if he could stand to see Thanos victorious. So long as the Everything existed, there existed the chance for conquest. But if it should fail, if Thanos was to destroy it, there would be no chance at all.

"I wonder," he said aloud, his eyes taking in the monitor that displayed his Hall of Conquest, where statues and trophies of past victories resided. The camera panned to find the statue he built of Emperor Doom, thinking of what that victory should have brought him. "I wonder if becoming Immortus is worth the risk of interference.

"What price, in the end, is worth eternal glory?"

Kang's eye upturned slightly, an idea coming to him, and without a word he was off for the bowels of Chronoplis.

THE PRESENT

2201 / March

NIFFLEHEIM

"It is a glorious day." On a ledge overlooking a large cavern, Thanos stood next to the woman he loved, Death. Below them, Asgardians and Olympians battled, aiming for no less than the eradication of the other.

Flying above the fray, Captain America, the Cosmic Protector, battled the Harpies, blasting them in an effort to keep them away from the soldiers below. He could not help but think of the puzzle he had been attempting to solve for the past six months, ever since Thanos had walked the streets of Asgard.* Thanos had mentioned a "we" in conversation that day, the first time he had ever acknowledged a partner of that magnitude. While the Eternals, Deviants, Wraiths, and Angelux had long fought for him, Thanos had never thought of them as anything but pawns in his game. A "we" gave Captain America pause to think that a battle was coming, that curtains would be pulled aside and new enemies revealed. As he looked down on the field of conflict, he could see that his fears were justified.

* AGC 5: The Coming of the Lord

But none of them had guessed that Thanos' ally would be the Olympians. No, they believed the Olympians dead. Or rather, most of them dead. They had been aware that some had escaped, but Ragnarok was not the time to be leaving Asgard to chase down enemies that could be fought another day.

Captain America frowned as he hurled his shield at a harpy that was about to pounce on Brono, the son of Balder. Balder’s son should not be here – this was too dangerous, the stakes too high. If Balder and Brono should both fall this day, who would rule Asgard in their stead …

No. He would make certain that would not happen. The Eternal War was too important to be left without a King of Asgard.

Scanning the battleground, his eyes fell upon Artemis, clearly cutting a path through the Asgardians to a predetermined goal. But who? What?

A bolt of plasma slammed into him, sending him hurling towards the high ceiling of Niffleheim.

"You will die this day, Protector!"

Cap didn’t have to look down – the searing heat gave his assailant away.

Apollo.

He brought his shield up to deflect the blast, and as he looked past the plasma glare, he wondered how a god that had been slain by the Warriors Three, whose body had been burned in the Golden Pyre, could be here, walking again amongst the mortals…

BELOW

Volstagg the Lion was the last of the Warriors Three.

Both Fandrall the Dashing and Hogun the Grim had gone to Valhalla during Ragnarok, and as Volstagg stood to the side, his immense girth and wild eyes seeming to keep all Olympians away. He was tired, aging, too old and too alone to desire the furthering of a meaningless life. His body kept him in place, years of gluttony taking their toll. It was not fair, he believed, that Ragnarok had claimed so many but not him.

But then Angelica Osborn had come into his life and he had gained ten years of joy helping to raise her. But now, she had no use for him, either. The world kept spinning and Volstagg kept receding further and further into the darkness of inaction.

What was worse than war?

Not being able to fight in that war.

He looked out with sad, beaten eyes at the hordes of Olympians and Asgardians slaying each other, wondering if it would ever stop. One side killing another, one race of men killing another for what? Land? Glory? Honor? Volstagg thought of the story of the Cosmic Flame, told at Logan’s Bar and Grill not, what, two months past? Three? A year?*

* In AGC 12-13: VANISHING STORMS

That was a good time – listening to the telling of stories of the past. And that was where Volstagg felt he know belonged. To the past. He was a statue walking, standing on the sidelines of a great and glorious battle, winded from a long walk, not able to join the fray, not enough of a threat to draw the enemies’ attent-

"You’re body will be a feast for the maggots of Olympus!"

Volstagg’s attention was drawn to the right, where he saw a young Olympian charging toward him. His eyes were glowing red from ionic energy, and Volstagg nodded to himself, understanding how the Olympians were able to walk amongst the living again.

"Have you nothing to say, fat man?" the young Olympian challenged, approaching close, his sword drawn. "I shall slice your gut and watch youuuughhhhh!"

Volstagg looked down to see his sword dripping with the young Olympian’s blood. "They bleed," he said, shaking his head, surprised. His large head turned upwards to the overhanging shelf where Thanos and Death stood. "What horrors have you unleashed into the Everything, Thanos, to make this day possible?"

"More than you can imagine, Volstagg," Ares announced, emerging from the melee to approach the Asgardian. He stepped over the fallen body, "You have slain a son of Poseidon. He will not be pleased."

Volstagg slowly turned his girth to face the Olympian god of war, "Ah, Ares. I didst wonder if you would come seeking me."

"I have long dreamed to slay the one who slew me," Ares grinned, ionic energy pouring out of his eyes. "Without the other two Warriors Three to fight by your side, you have no chance to defeat me."

Volstagg lunged at Ares, his sword chopping down straight for the Olympian’s head, "We shall see. For Asgard!"

Ares easily blocked the blow with his own sword, smiling broadly, "You shall never see the Golden Realm again. For Olympus!"

Volstagg joined the final battle in which he would ever fight.

There were many here of which the same could be said.

HALA / KE-RETRIBUTION

"This is totally unfair," Angelica pouted as she entered Ben-Vell's quarters, along with Eshir and Toomi, aboard the Retribution. "Our rooms are barely larger than a closet, but this…"

Ben didn't know what to say, "I'm sorry, guys, I didn't ask for this. I don't-"

"Save it," Eshir remarked as they took in the extravagant room. "We know you didn't ask for this."

"Doesn't change the fact that you've got it, though," Angelica remarked as she tried to convince herself not to get mad. The room was more opulent than any they had seen, fit for a King more than a soldier. Angelica frowned as they examined Ben's quarters. Where the rest of them had a small, narrow, hard bed, and room barely big enough to stand, Ben had a large, quadruple-sized waterbed, complete with solid oaken head-and foot-boards. They had to use the community showers, while Ben had a king-sized marble and granite bathroom, complete with separate shower, bath and hot tub. Angel knew this had to be on purpose, and had to be because of the Supreme Intelligence's desire to bring Ben into the ranks of the Kree.

"You could, literally, fit our entire three rooms into your bathroom," Toomi mused, trying to control her anger, her arms folding and unfolding across her chest.

"Like you won’t be spending every 'sleeping' second in here," Eshir groused to Toomi.

Toomi turned harshly on Eshir. "Perhaps you would like to lose thy tongue, as well, Eshir," she glared down at his missing hands.

"And perhaps you should decide if you're going to talk like an Asgardian or a human," Eshir shot back.

"Stop it," Angelica ordered, stepping between them. "We have to assume that the Kree are using this bedroom to divide us. We knew the Intelligence would come after Ben once we arrived, and this is just another part of that. What does it matter, anyway, that he has a large bedroom? We're going to be so tired from our duties helping to rebuild Hala that we'll pass out before we even hit the bed."

"Angel's right," Ben added. "Look, why don't we rotate through this room? Everyone gets one night here and three in-"

Ben's suggestion was interrupted by a knock at the door. The Orphans turned to see the door slide easily open and a statue-esque blue-skinned Kree woman enter Ben's quarters. Her hair was raven black and flowed down past her shoulders, and her eyes were a piercing purple that drew you in and didn't let go.

"I'm sorry," she said unapologetically, "I was seeking the quarters of Ben-Vell Parker."

As she turned to leave, Ben stepped forward, "That's me."

The woman turned, her thick black boots imbedding into the plush carpet. Her eyes took Ben in, from head to foot, measuring him. When she spoke, a chill ran down his spine, "You cannot be he, boy. Long, since his return, has the Supreme Intelligence regaled the highest Kree officers with tales of the next great Kree soldier. That legend could not possibly be one such as you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ben asked, taking another step to the woman. "And who are you, anyway, to come barging in here-"

"I have stood outside that door for the past ten minutes," the woman replied. "If you were truly the next Cosmic Protector, truly the descendent of Mar-Vell and Genis-Vell, you would have enough cosmic awareness in your genes to have told you I was there."

Ben rolled his eyes, feeling his anger grow, "Look, lady, I don't know what the Intelligence has been feeding you, but I have only trace levels of cosmic awareness that I can tap into. If you were a threat to us, I would've been able to pick it up through my limited 'spider-sense' capabilities."

The woman looked at Ben as if he had just told her he was a plant. "Spider-sense? What, may I ask, is 'spider-sense'?"

Angelica cut in, not wanting to have this discussion now, "Excuse me, but who are you? Can we at least get that answered?"

The woman turned and regarded Angelica as if she were a fly, "I am the Nebulae."

"The Nebulae?" Toomi asked. "What sort of name is that?"

The woman turned her icy glare to Attumidunn, "You are Ben-Vell's mate, correct?"

Toomi felt her anger grow, "We are together, yes. What is it to you?"

The Nebulae let a half-smile spread across her face, "You are an insufficient concubine, but if Ben-Vell chooses to play with you for a time, it is not my place to offer more … pleasurable services."

"You wouldn't know the first thing about-"

"I do not need to," she glared at the Atlantean/Inhuman Valkyrie, her eyes sparkling, before turning her gaze to the remaining three Orphans. "I am the Nebulae, one of a series of genetic clones culled from the DNA of Nebula, a legendary Kree warrioress."

"And what do you do, exactly?" Eshir asked.

"We serve the Kree Empire, of course," she smiled. "More than simple clones, we have been genetically altered to best serve the needs of the Empire." She raised an eyebrow to Eshir, letting a slow smile spread across her face, "Whatever those needs may be."

"And why are you here, in this room?" Toomi asked.

Nebulae let her smile grow, "I am in charge of Ben-Vell's training while aboard the Retribution."

"Just Ben?" Angelica asked.

"Yes," she smiled, "the rest of you are assigned to General Van'Rogg."

"But not Ben?" Toomi asked. "He's not going to be with us?"

"Oh no," Nebulae answered, "he's much too important to be given clean up duties. Do not worry, though," she grinned as she turned to leave, "I shall provide the very best of care for him."

NIFFLEHEIM

K'Zan Strange was not sure what to do. Amora the Enchantress, his new tutor in the use of the magic arts, had ordered him to stay just inside the tunnel that led from Asgard down into this cavern, where the Olympians and Asgardians once again tried to wipe the other from existence.

He could, quite simply, not handle what he saw. Hundreds of soldiers swirled about the room, slashing, thrusting, defending, dying. It was pure chaos from his vantage, and yet for those inside it seemed the most natural thing in the world.

Looking out across the cavern floor that was already tinged with blood, K'Zan saw:

Amora casting spells against Hydra, snakes writhing where her hair should have been. Frozen Asgardians and Olympians stood nearby, their pain and agony captured forever in stone.

Captain America battling above against Harpies as he directed the battle below. K'Zan couldn't believe the accuracy of the shield, as America whipped it against walls, into caverns, into the fray. More often than not, it would return to his hand, and when it didn't, an Asgardian would pick it from the floor and send it airborne, where the Cosmic Protector would swoop in to claim it.

High above, residing on ledges, Thanos and Death stood silently watching.

A quarter of the massive, round cavern away, Hela stood watching her land turned to a battle ground, her eyes shooting glances at Thanos and Death.

Kovar the Accuser dropped his hammer onto an Olympian skull, crushing it instantly.

Balder and Pluto raged battle in the center of the cavern. K'Zan didn't know whether to be thankful or sorry that the cavern floor was lower than his vantage point, allowing him to see clear to the center. Balder wielded the mythical blade Twilight, the sword of Surtur and the most powerful weapon in all of Asgardian lore. Pluto held a sword of fire of his own, and though K'Zan did not know of it by name, it appeared only a slightly lesser version of Twilight. But who could build such a weapon?

Was that-? Oh no, K'Zan thought, his nerves beginning to work inside of him. Brono, son of Balder. What was he doing here? Heshouldn'tbehereshouldn'tbehereatallandwhatwould-

Stop, he told himself, shutting his eyes tight and concentrating, using a calming technique Amora had taught him and which, until now, had proved mostly unsuccessful. Open eyes. What was Brono doing here? If he should fall, Asgard would be left without an heir to the throne. And Balder … what would the ramifications be for the King if his own son was slain by Olympian hands, just as his lover and Brono's wife had been slain? Who was it that had slain Karnilla? Ares … Aphrodite … Apollo … whydosomanyOlympiannamesstartwithA? … Artemis!

K'Zan scanned the room, looking for the slayer of Karnilla. There, on the far end of the battle, her bow raised, an arrow let loose.

From somewhere inside, K'Zan knew at that moment that the arrow was meant for Brono. Perhaps it was because that was what he had been thinking, perhaps there was something more involved. Whatever the case, K'Zan knew it to be true, and before he could think, his arms were raised and an incantation was given…

Bolts of energy shot from his fingers, sizzling the thick, musty air in the cavern, crackling above the heads of warriors and soldiers and exploding into Artemis' arrow.

Not five inches from Brono's head.

The young King turned midst the chaos of battle and saw K'Zan, who meekly pointed away. Brono's eyes followed the gaze to a swearing Artemis, already reaching for another arrow, her eyes locked on the young sorcerer. Brono quickly turned his head back to K'Zan and nodded, then rammed a sword through an Olympian, and started slicing a path to Artemis.

K'Zan sank further back into the tunnel, removing Artemis from his sight. Doing so, he caught sight of Ares and Volstagg, who had carved an area out near the side of the battle, to K'Zan's right. Volstagg was getting winded, and K'Zan could hear the taunts of the Olympian war god coming across the battle to him.

"You are old and finished, Volstagg! The time of the Asgardians is over, and soon it shall be Olympus that rules the cosmos!"

"Never!" Volstagg huffed, raising his sword just in time to catch a blow from Ares' lance.

K'Zan could see that Volstagg would lose this battle. This took no special intuition, no powers of future reading - Ares appeared in the prime of his life, and Volstagg had never looked so old. The girth that never seemed to slow the Lion of Asgard down now, at this much greater weight, seemed to slow his movements to a snail's pace. Volstagg was going to lose, and most likely lose his life.

The young man who knew nothing of his life beyond that he was born of a lineage that crossed several timelines, a young man who had the blood of the multiverse coursing through his veins, closed his eyes and tried to think of a spell to help the man who had been so kind to him.

Nothing came.

Nothing. He tried to think of the spell he had just used to help Brono, but he couldn't remember it. Panic began to sink in, panic that Volstagg would die and it would be his fault because he was too stupid, too weak, to do anything but sink back into the tunnel and act like a scared kid.

No. No gosh-darnit, he nearly swore, gathering his courage. He closed his eyes, went through his breathing exercises, attempted to access a spell, any spell.

Nothing.

Shrabnit! Shrabnit! Shrabnit!

This isn't a game, he told himself, opening his eyes to see Volstagg down on one knee, spit dropping from his mouth with every exhaled breath, Ares standing over him, taunting him with his lance, that came down with a feint, which Volstagg overcompensated for, and finished with the butt of the lance slamming into Volstagg's face, breaking his nose.

My god war is so realtoorealtoorealtoorealbloodandsweatandbloodsomuchblood-

K'Zan needed to try something new. Think of a spell. A simple spell that will do some damage. I don't have kill Ares with one blow, just get him off of Volstagg. Breath. Breath. Keep your eyes on Ares, and breath … ice will work … simple and effective … if I miss Volstagg will be frozen which will meet my goal because Ares can't killdon'tthinkaboutthat… breath … breath … breath … let the battle slip away … focus … draw inward … deeper … deeper … reach for the spell … yes, there it is … say the incantation … make the casting motions with your hand … open your eyes … aim…

"Jotonostromo!"

K'Zan couldn't swallow. Nothing had happened. Nothing at all … his eyes turned to Volstagg, still on one knee, Ares still-

"By the god, no," K'Zan whispered.

"Thy time is over!" Ares shouted, his foot kicking Volstagg's wrist, shattering the aging bones and forcing his sword to fall from his grasp. His lance, shimmering with ionic energy, was raised and then without another word, plunged straight through Volstagg the Lion's chest. Energy built up in the lance, centering near the spot on the lance that was run through Volstagg's chest. Ares shouted, "I am avenged!" and the energy exploded outward from the center of Volstagg's chest. Death had claimed another soul.

And, off to the side, K'Zan had done nothing to save one of Asgard's finest warriors.

Somewhere deep, deep inside, the young sorcerer felt something break, and he knew that his life would never be the same again.

The Everything Engine to be continued…

The only price … is that if you do, you will become me.

Y G G D R A S I L

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-- Mark Bousquet …

Northern Bear Productions

11 June 2002