THE EVERYTHING ENGINE

Part IV: Fraud in the House of Tomorrow

the forty-seventh tale of agc

written by Mark Bousquet

2201 / March

HALA / KE-RETRIBUTION

Ben-Vell Parker stood aboard the Retribution, a deep-space war cruiser that had been dropped into the atmosphere of Hala during the Three Day Civil War.* Looking down at the surface of a planet torn apart from within, Ben began to feel a weight on his shoulders that had never been there before.

* AGC 35 - 41: EMBERS OF HALA

The Chosen One.

Eshir had derided him with that nickname their whole life, turning the playful dig of Jonas into a cruel indictment.

The Chosen One.

What did that mean?

Ben knew of his heritage, knew that he could trace his lineage back to the House of Mar-Vell and the House of Spider. He was the direct descendant of the union between Genis-Vell, son of Mar-Vell and May Parker, daughter of the original Spider-Man, who came together to produce…

Somewhere below him, on the surface of Hala, Eshir, Angelica and Attumidunn worked to clean this planet of debris, care for the dead, grieve with the victims, and, ultimately rebuild a proud world. Ben sighed, a deep, sorrowful sigh that came from a place inside he had tried to lock away.

He thought of Angelica and her fears over the Goblin Legacy, and the fears others had of her turning evil.

He thought of Eshir, his hands lost, his face scarred, his heritage filled with great good and great evil, knowing that all who knew of his past wondered on what side would he ultimately fall.

He thought of Attumidunn, and the secrets she told him late at night, as they snuggled under the covers, about how she was a child that was never supposed to be.

He thought of K'Zan, a man seemingly cursed by fate to hold so much promise in a body that would never be able to fulfill its duties.

And then he thought of himself, the "Chosen One," the young man that so many looked to become the Cosmic Protector and save the Everything from, well, he thought, from everything. The Supreme Intelligence wanted him here, Ben knew. Balder and Captain America had warned him of this, warned him that the Intelligence would try to seduce him and bring Ben under his influence.

What Ben hadn't expected was the attention the other Kree were giving him. They looked at him as he walked past differently. They didn't see Angel or Eshir and Attumidunn. By the gods, Ben thought, Esh walked around with a scarred face and no hands, and Toomi was an aqua-skinned knockout who hardly wore any clothes and no one even looked at them. Ben sometimes forgot that being the "Chosen One" carried a great weight alongside it.

"Do you know what I think I love most about you?" Toomi had said to him a few months previous as they snuggled together beneath the sheets.

"What?" Ben remembered asking with a grin on his face, thinking of the cries of pleasure she had just assaulted his eardrums with.

"You don't have any secrets," she whispered into his chest as she pressed herself against him.

"What does that mean?" Ben asked, confused.

"The rest of us keep things buried, away from prying eyes, but you're an open book for the Everything to read, Ben," she said honestly, kissing him as she started to fall towards sleep. "People say I love you because you're the Chosen One, the Cosmic Protector in waiting, and they're right. But it's not your power or your status that I love, Ben, it's that I know how your story ends. After our parents were butchered down on Earth, I don't want the unknown. You're as close to the known as I'll ever find."

"Toomi, I - I don't know what to say, those things are just … just things people say. There's no guarantee any of it will come to pass," Ben said quickly, his spine curling in fear.

Toomi let out a small chuckle, "Oh, it will. I can feel it."

"But what if … what if I turn out to be a fraud, Toomi? What if I can't fulfill all these expectations people have of-?"

"A credit for your thoughts?" The voice snapped Ben out of his memory, and he turned to see a beautiful young Kree woman standing there. This woman didn't appear to be one of the Nebulae that had visited him in his quarters - she was younger, closer in age to the Orphans, although a full-fledged member of the Kree military system by the appearance of her uniform.

"Is there something you want?" Ben asked coolly.

The woman's face grimaced, her feelings clearly hurt by Ben's response. "The Supreme Intelligence would like to see you now," she said, not looking up at him, then turned in crisp, military style and walked away.

Ben rolled his eyes, but followed, wondering if the Supreme Intelligence believed what Toomi believed, and if he did, how many billions of people would Ben ultimately let down when everyone realized he didn't have what it took?

NIFFLEHEIM

Dani Moonstar rode her steed, Aragorn, down through the heavens towards Niffleheim. The Valkyrior rode behind her, their tongues stilled and their jaws set for the duties of their station - the claiming of the souls of Asgard's most recently deceased warriors.

Down, down they flew through Yggdrasil, the world tree, their bodies drawn forward by the forces of their beliefs. It had been years since the Valkyrior were needed in full force to fulfill their duties, and Dani was, she had to admit, almost glad to see that time come to an end - even if it meant that large numbers of Asgardians were dying. Death on this scale meant they were fighting, at the least, and Dani preferred the call of battle far more than a quiet détente.

Moonstar was more worried, however, than she had been in decades. She and Ash'lin had watched over Beta Ray Bill's body as he recovered from injuries suffered at the hands of Pluto. The horror of the Olympians' return grew more troubling with every utterance from the proud warrior's mouth. Was Persephone, the former lover of Thor, involved in the return from the dead? She wondered. Dani was one of many Asgardians who believed Persephone's role in Ragnarok was more than had been revealed, but Balder would not hear of it.

If they had been right, and the King wrong…

No, Dani wouldn't let herself think of it.

"We draw near!" one of the younger Valkyrior shouted, probably to calm her nerves, and Dani rebuked her with a hard look, then turned to see Niffleheim open up before them.

The horror of the image was too powerful for even a Valkyrie to take with one glance. The stench of death hit them with a palpable force, and their eyes looked down to see the dead of Olympus and Asgard pushed to the side, and the floor of the cavernous hall covered with blood and coagulating ionic liquid, that served as the life-force of the reanimated Olympians. There was a break in the battle, as each side withdrew near their tunnels to care for the dead and make preparations for the next round of battle.

The souls of the deceased Asgardians called to them on a deep, primal level, and it broke the small part of Dani's heart that she allowed to feel to see that Volstagg the Lion was among them.

Aragorn dropped towards the kind-hearted warrior, as Dani searched the Asgardian camp for a sign of Steve.

A movement caught her eye, and her dark brown eyes locked onto a thick, pungent smoke that had appeared behind Olympian lines. She could almost make out an image behind the cloud, but the waving, rolling smoke played tricks with her eyes in the low light of Niffleheim and she could not be certain what it was she saw. Laying her heels gently into Aragorn's side, Dani tugged back on the reigns and her steed responded, arcing up from its descent and moving towards the smoke.

She noted the presence of Thanos and Death, but saw that if this smoke meant anything to Death, she did not turn to acknowledge it. Thanos, likewise, paid it no heed, but something tugged inside Dani about the smoke and she rode Aragorn into the upper reaches of the thick veil, looking to break through into a clearing on the other side. It was easier than she had thought, with the wall of smoke being no wider than Aragorn was long, and Dani looked down to the cavern floor to see Pluto in a heated exchange with-

"By the gods!" she swore, yanking back hard on Aragorn's reigns. "It cannot be!"

"Oh, but it is," a voice behind her menaced, "and it is only going to get worse!"

The voice spooked Aragorn, and as he darted forward, Dani felt a warm hand reach through her back to grip her soul.

And squeeze.

Dani Moonstar, leader of the Valkyrie, started to scream. It would be many, many hours before she would stop.

HALA / KE-RETRIBUTION

"Look, I'm … I'm sorry," Ben scratched the back of his head as he caught up with the Kree soldier along a steel corridor. "It's just … I'm on edge, I feel singled out and-"

"You should feel that way," she said with a hurt, but angry, voice as she spun on her heels to stick a finger in his face. "And you should be glad of it. You are unique, the 'Chosen One' that can lead the Kree people into a brighter and better tomorrow. You are the great hope of our race, Ben-Vell, the great hope of the Everything."

Ben sighed deeply, "Look, um…?

"I am Thalia, a member of the Kree Special Divisions. I have been assigned to assist you during your stay with the Kree."

Ben-Vell looked askew at the soldier, who was definitely no older than he was, "Isn't that what the Nebulae are for?"

Thalia nodded, "They fulfill the same duty, yes." She looked at his confused face and let a half-smile of kindness come to her face. "I can see you are not accustomed to this treatment. They do not treat you as they should on Asgard. How is the Chosen One to learn his place in the Everything if he is treated no differently than anyone else?"

"It's called humility," Ben answered, wondering how many times his younger self had asked the same question as Beta Ray Bill put him through drill after drill, and chore after chore.

"Humility?" Thalia looked as if her food had been poisoned. "Why would the Chosen One need to learn humility?"

"Because," Ben sighed, feeling suddenly old, "even though I am prophesized to save the Everything, I need to learn that I am no different than anyone else."

"That does not, in the least particle, make any sense at all," Thalia replied, her eyes turning away. Her voice dropped to almost a whisper, "How are you to save the Everything if you are not special? And if you are that special, why pretend that you are just like everyone else? If one that is different is told that he is the same, then how can he be different when his time to let that which is special shine through? In short, Ben-Vell, how is one that is just like everyone else supposed to save the Everything?"

"Good question," Ben mumbled. "Look, Thalia, can we just get along to the Supreme Intelligence? I'd rather only hear about my inadequacy from him."

Thalia looked at Ben as if he were a homeless dog, "I just don't understand how Asgard can-"

Ben threw up his hands, "Enough! Enough, okay? Just … enough. All I hear is that I'm some supposed savior-to-be and yet I haven't prepared nearly enough for it, okay? If I had to save anything more than a dog today I'd probably screw it up, which I know," he looked into her soft eyes hard, "I know is what the Intelligence is going to tell me so let's just go ahead so I can be ripped to shreds."

Thalia's features softened and she reached a hand out to stroke his cheek, "I apologize, Ben-Vell. It is just," she glanced both ways down the hallway, making sure they were alone, "we have been told so much about you that … to be honest," she leaned in closer, dropping her voice to a whisper, "we were expecting more. If I speak too harshly to you it is because I am a failure. The Kree Special Divisions unit that I am a member of? We are an attempt by our scientists to engineer genetic powers within our DNA. We have failed, as we have for centuries. You are the closest chance we have, Ben-Vell. Your parents, an Earth scientist named William Parker, and a Kree warrioress named Sasha-Ra, are the culmination of two centuries-"

Thalia stopped herself, "I shouldn’t say anything more. The Supreme Intelligence has ordered that we not speak of your parents to you."

Ben's head involuntarily sagged forward onto her shoulder. It was all too much. Being on Asgard, hanging with the Orphans, going on their adventures as they complained endlessly that Balder was treating them like children … it all seemed so far away from him at that moment. On Asgard there were many who stood above him in importance and for all the talk of Ben-Vell being the Chosen One, Master Order and Lord Chaos had bypassed him for the role of Cosmic Protector in favor of Captain America. And really, why shouldn't they have? What could Ben do with that power that Steve Rogers could not?

Screw up, a voice in the back of his head answered sarcastically.

"It must feel next to impossible to be you," Thalia whispered into his ear as her hand snaked around the back of his head. She held him against her for several long moments, wondering if the Supreme Intelligence had made a mistake about the greatness within this one.

It's too much, Ben thought, letting his head sink deeper into her shoulder. Being here, with the Kree … it overwhelmed Ben. They really did believe all the "Chosen One" talk, apparently. On Asgard there was no pressure on him - if he failed, well, there were countless others who everyone was counting on more, anyway, but here … the way they treated him … it was clear that they were counting on him.

Odin's beard, Ben thought, what am I going to do?

NIFFLEHEIM

"An amazing sight, is it not, milady Death?" Thanos asked, a grin upon his face, as he and Death looked down from their ledge to the battlefield of Niffleheim. "They hate each other with a passion that could rend the Everything asunder, and yet they break for a nightfall they cannot see."

Death said nothing, as was her way, but did peer down to the floor beneath them. The Asgardians had retreated to their right, back near the tunnel that had brought them to Niffleheim from Asgard, and the Olympians camped on their right. Fires raged as the dead was gathered from the battlefield and set aside.

"Note how the Asgardians lay their bodies on the back, shoulder to shoulder, moving back up through the tunnel," Thanos pointed out. "They treat their dead with a respect the empty husks do not deserve. Look at the Valkyrior swoop in to lead the souls away … magnificent." Thanos watched them come and go, performing their duties with a grim determination, "They are as beautiful as life gets, milady Death."

Death, as was her way, said nothing.

"And the Olympians," Thanos continued after a pause, looking down to view their encampment. "They drag the carcasses behind this wall of smoke, most likely to pile them high and burn the flesh and bone to dust." The Mad Titan turned his gaze to the silent Death, remembering a day a decade earlier…

2090 / November

HADES

In the flickering light of Hades, a would-be god stood in front of an actual god, taking a pledge of honor. Flames from outside the small room caused light and shadows to dance across the features of those inside, a macabre show of orange and red, smoke and rock.

"You will aid me in my quest?" Thanos the Mad Titan asked, his gravelly voice cutting across the rumbling of the great fires. At his back stood his two highest ranking Generals: Bruunhilde and Ikaris.

"I will," Pluto replied, his voice seething with anger as he looked across the small, circular room cut out of the stone that surrounded them. "My wife, Persephone, has left me for the damned Thor, and I will see ultimate vengeance loosed upon all who stand beside the Thunder God. Many of the other Olympian gods stand with me, as well. You are gaining a powerful weapon this day, Titan."

"You are aware," Thanos said evenly, "that I seek the destruction of the Everything."

"I am," Pluto nodded slowly, looking briefly to Ikaris, then back to Thanos. "But I am a god of death, am I not? Your crusade only increases my power, Thanos, filling the ranks of an army that will one day overtake Olympus."

"And what," Thanos asked, his eyes never leaving Pluto, "guarantees you will follow my orders?"

Pluto let a smile play across his face, "I have followed Zeus for centuries, Thanos, so long as his needs met mine. As long as your plans call for the destruction of Asgard, I am happy to serve alongside you."

Thanos took a deep breath, his eyes peering out towards the fire pits, "And yet you openly make plans with the other Olympian gods to attack Asgard during Ragnarok."

Pluto let a laugh rumble from deep inside him, "It will be the greatest achievement for your crusade, yet, Thanos."

"Why is that?" the Titan asked, his eyes coming back around.

"Because if we win, Asgard is defeated and a clear path to the end of the Everything opens before you."

"And if you lose," Thanos countered, "what then? I am left with nothing. Why should I pledge any weapons to you, Pluto, if you insist on battling the Asgardians before I give the order?"

Pluto took a step closer, the small pit of fire in the center of the room raging violently. "Because if the Asgardians slaughter us, the Olympians will fall directly under my control. They will make me the Olympian King."

Ikaris cut in, "Why would they do a thing like that?"

"Because," Pluto glared, "I will give them back their lives in exchange for their loyalty."

"How?" Ikaris asked, ionic energy glaring in his eyes.

"By a purer form of the energy that now courses through your veins, Eternal," Pluto answered. "I have found a wellspring of pure ionic energy-"

"You lie!" Thanos suddenly roared, taking a quick step and planting his hand around the neck of Pluto. "The Kirby-Ion energy pools are a myth!"

"They are not."

A chill descended upon them, as they turned to see Death standing in the doorway.

"Milady?" Thanos asked, too confused to pretend otherwise. "You speak?"

"Death will confirm the honor of my words," Pluto answered as Thanos' hand fell away.

"Does he speak the truth?" Thanos asked, taking a small step towards Death. "Does Kirbyon energy exist?"

Death nodded.

"And it can return the dead to life?"

Death nodded.

Pluto took a step forward, to stand at the shoulder of Thanos. "Have we a treaty, Titan?"

Thanos looked from Death, to Pluto. "Aye, Olympian, that we do."

HALA / KE-RETRIBUTION

Ben-Vell heard the door slide closed behind him, signaling Thalia's exit from the room, leaving him alone with the Supreme Intelligence.

"I have been in discussion with Ash'lin of the Shi'ar, her Empire's ambassador to the Council of Asgard," the Supreme Intelligence frowned down at the young man.

"What is it?" Ben asked after a long pause.

The Supreme Intelligence's voice was low, somber, "It appears the Olympians have returned, and Balder has led an army into Niffleheim to battle against them. Much of the Asgard's finest have made the journey. It is an unwise move into what is clearly a trap."

Ben shook his head, "Balder would have made arrangements. While he would put himself at risk without hesitation, certainly there are contingency plans."

"Like sending you here?" the Intelligence asked.

"I would not call that much of a contingency," Ben admitted.

"You underestimate yourself, child," the Intelligence said somberly, his voice rumbling through the steel room as his head-tentacles waved back and forth as if in deep thought. "Balder is a wise King, Ben-Vell, wiser than I had given him credit for."

"How so?"

"At first, I had believed you lied when you told me that you have received little training to become the next Cosmic Protector. There was no possibility, I had believed, that Balder would thrust you into a role unprepared. But then I verified your words with Ash'lin, and it appears you have spoken the truth, which caused me great concern." The Supremor let the words sink in before continuing. "And then I scolded myself for my ignorance - not an outcome easily reached, I assure you."

"What ignorance?" Ben asked, curious despite himself.

The Intelligence looked down at Ben with what appeared pity in his eyes, "It would be foolish for Balder to fail to train you for the role of Cosmic Protector. Which leaves, after deep thought, only one conclusion."

"Which is?" Ben asked, feeling a pit develop in his stomach.

"They have no intention of you ever becoming the Cosmic Protector."

"What?" Ben asked. "Look, no offense, but all I've heard since I was a kid was how I had the perfect genes to become the greatest Cosmic Protector of all time. Now, I'm not saying I believe that, but you're telling me that it was all a lie?"

"No," the Intelligence's voice rose, "I am telling you that you are the contingency plan in case Captain America dies, or fails in his mission to save the Everything. But none on Asgard believe that will come to pass. And why should they? Not even I believe he will fail."

"But …" Ben couldn't help but feel confused, "why would they take me to Asgard to raise?"

"They took many Orphans in, Ben-Vell," the Supremor reminded him. "Angelica they took out of pity for an abused child. Eshir Maximoff to hold him close - he has great power, but an uneven ancestry of good and evil. Attumidunn for much the same reason. K'Zan they took in because of-"

The Supreme Intelligence paused, half-turning away. "No, you should not hear of that at this time."

"So, what? I'm just another pity case?" Ben couldn't have cared less about K'Zan's reasons for being brought to Asgard at that point.

"Do not be foolish, child. This is War, a war that has raged for nearly two centuries. All of the Orphans have potential for greatness. You most of all."

Ben threw up his hands, "Well, am I the Chosen One or not? It's only my life getting tossed around."

The Intelligence floated down, its shadow now completely overwhelming Ben. "You were told that your parents - William and Sasha-Ra - were the keys to your potential, were you not?"

"Of course," Ben shrugged, trying to stay cool. "That after the marriage of Genis-Vell and May Parker the lineage of the two families split apart, coalescing down through the years, laying dormant within the Parker bloodline. When my father mated with my mother, the Kree-Human genetic material that he held in his veins exploded on contact with the Kree genes of Sasha-Ra and I was born into the world as… well, the Chosen One."

The Supremor locked eyes with Ben, "A bit of a fairy tale, is it not?"

"Heck," Ben spat, "what isn't in this world we live in?"

The Supreme Intelligence spoke in low, quiet tones, inviting Ben's trust. "It is all a lie."

"Yeah, right," Ben threw up his hands. "Of course it is. Of course you're going to-"

A video began playing on a screen to the right of Ben, and he turned to see a human woman he had never seen giving birth in a crowded, frantic hospital room.

"Her name," the Intelligence explained, "is May Parker. The doctor, if you are interested as most humans are in the minutia of life, is Jane Foster, former lover of Thor. The men in the corner, watching closely? Representatives from the earthen super-groups to stand on silent watch. This is an important birth, make no mistake." Pause. "I have only recently returned to wholeness, the stench of ISAAC finally purged from my essence. Now that I have returned to lead the Kree, I have gained access to the most secure of Asgardian information. It is only in the past few hours I have come across the files that contain what you are about to see.

"In ten seconds the door will burst open and in will rush the father of this baby, Genis-Vell." They watched in silence until Genis did, in fact, burst into the room and rush to May's side. "He was late for nearly everything," the Intelligence continued, a hint of anger underlying his words. "He was a near total failure as a life form, the greatest missed opportunity of both Earth and Hala. If Genis had been able to stop Thanos, the Eternal War would have ended nearly before it had begun."

Ben watched, unsure of what he was looking at, or for exactly, other than that this was some ancestor of his. His great-great-great-something-or-other?

"I find human birthing procedures barbaric," the Intelligence's commentary continued as a blue-skinned baby came into the world of light, "but we all make sacrifices. This child that you see emerging from his mother? This important birth? Watch as it takes seventeen breaths of air in the human world and then perishes."

Ben watched in horror as the doctors and heroes tried desperately to save the child, without success. "It's … horrible," Ben shook his head, "but what does it have to do with me? Obviously, Genis and May have another child, or have one at the time, because I am here."

"Obviously," the Supreme Intelligence echoed with empty emotion.

The image on the screen flashed with static, replaced with an image in a laboratory. "Atlantis," the Supremor informed. They watched as Balder and Lady Sif entered the room, followed by Ben's parents, William Parker and Sasha-Ra. The aged Queen Namorita followed gingerly behind them, and it was the monarch of Atlantis who spoke first.

"I do not like that Steve has not agreed to this," she said, and Ben was caught with a sudden rush of emotions of the home that was his before the troops of Thanos razed it from the Earth.

Balder's face twisted with emotion, but he stayed the course, "None do, Queen, but Odin has ordered this mission brought to completion, irregardless of Captain America's thoughts on the matter. It is too important, he feels, to let this opportunity pass us by. We are in the midst of a war we may yet lose. Odin will not let defeat claim us without exploring all opportunities for achieving victory."

"It is, in short," Sif said stoically, "a weapon we must have at the ready."

"And you," Namorita pointed a wrinkled finger to Sasha-Ra, "are okay with your role in this?"

"I am," Ben's mother nodded as her son watched with tears forming a lifetime removed. "I have been charged by my people with this duty, and I will not fail them."

"And you, dearest William," the Queen turned a soft eye to Ben's father. "You will play your part, both in ruse and action?"

"I will," Willaim replied. He was an older man, deep into his fifties and confined to walking with a steel shell acting for the diseased legs that lied beneath. "I have always wanted a child."

Queen Namorita sighed, "Then it shall come to pass, though I object to man acting as God." She half-smiled to Balder, "No offense, of course."

Everyone watched as the Queen walked across the lab to a security wall. Entering the combination, the wall slid aside and several more codes were entered into the appropriate ports and the appropriate time before a small, cooled room opened before them. Resting atop a small, cylindrical column was a smooth, round metal container. When she took it in her hands and turned with it, the image froze on the screen.

Ben frowned in misunderstanding as the image of the Queen holding the container slid to the right, and an image of the deceased infant returned on the left half of the large screen.

"Do you understand, Ben-Vell?" the Supremor asked.

"No."

"The infant on the left died, but his genetic material was saved, placed into the container on the right."

"And?" Ben asked, feeling the pit in his stomach grow.

The Supreme Intelligence spoke in a slow, almost somber voice. "They are you, Ben-Vell Parker. You are the Chosen One? The savior of tomorrow? No," his voice rumbled. "You are a fraud."

"No …"

"Yes. The true Chosen One, the real Ben-Vell Parker is that nearly stillborn infant on the left, whose DNA was taken and placed into the container on the right and given to the Atlantis to guard."

Ben simply shook his head in disbelief.

"It is so, and it is time you realized this," the Intelligence's voice rose in intensity. "You are a clone of the dead son of Genis-Vell and May Parker, raised to life in the body of Sasha-Ra, a Kree warrioress, raised in life by William Parker, a kind, if soft, human whose family has become, over the centuries, an expert on the subject of human cloning. The story your parents and the Asgardians have fed you all these years about the DNA of William exploding to life when mixed with the Kree blood of Sasha-Ra? An outright lie. You are a genetic copy of the son of Genis-Vell, the grandson of Mar-Vell. You are an imposter in the house of tomorrow, Ben-Vell Parker, and you have never been told. You were only born because Odin sought a new weapon to throw against Thanos. And power does flow through you, but the Everything does not take kindly to being played for a fool, no matter how noble Odin thought his actions to be.

"Why do you think Balder has never ordered your full training to inherit the role of Cosmic Protector?

"Because you are a fraud, and he knew that you were nothing but a mistake that a senile Asgardian king had foisted upon the world.

"Welcome to the cold reality of your existence, Ben-Vell Parker. Are you prepared to let down the billions who have place their faith in you?"

2201 / March

NIFFLEHEIM

Coming out of his memory of Pluto's pact, Thanos looked to the smoke, thinking of the Kirbyon Energy that could end the Eternal War, for one side or the other. Neither Death nor Pluto had ever told him of the source of the Kirbyon, though he suspected that it was located at the Center of Everything, alongside the Everything Engine. "What secrets are held behind that veil of smoke, Death?"

Death, as was her way, said nothing, and unease festered and grew in the stomach of Thanos as the wall of smoke billowed unnaturally upwards.

The Everything Engine to be continued…

Are you prepared to let down the billions who have placed their faith in you?

YGGDRASIL

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-- Mark Bousquet …

Northern Bear Productions

25 June 2002