The Players

Part One: Kings

the 58^th tale of agc

written and created by Mark Bousquet

2201 / AUGUST

THE EVERYTHING ENGINE - THE VIEWING TUBE

Adam Warlock's heart was heavy. The End, he felt, was coming, too fast to stop. He had come to the Center of the Everything seeking "all the answers to all the questions." For the most part, he had achieved his goal. There was not much that alluded him any longer, but now he wondered if there was any point in knowing all, when you could not use that knowledge to act.

Adam thought of Mar-Vell's presence here, how he had had told Adam that all who were here were here for a purpose. Mar-Vell's purpose had ended, it seemed; one of the Everything's greatest heroes had faded away shortly after Adam had arrived. Now Adam was left without a guide, was left to wonder what, in fact, his purpose was inside the Everything Engine.

He stood on a platform inside of a tube that extended above and below him as far as he could see, and had a diameter of nearly 100 feet across. Adam had named it 'the Viewing Tube,' since none of the denizens inside the Everything Engine had even known the tube existed before he opened the door that led inside. On the inside walls of the tube were monitors that revealed to him all of the Everything. Figuring out how the tube worked was no longer his concern. It was tuned to him somehow, so if he wanted to see what Captain America was doing at the moment, all he had to do was think about the hero and then search the monitors around him. Within minutes, if not seconds, he would find a monitor that showed him exactly what he wanted to see.

Captain America, he saw, was with at the Fantastic Colonies with Ben-Vell, receiving treatment for the illness that had wracked his body since the powers of the Cosmic Protector were forcibly removed. *

* AGC 50: The Circle Closing

'Was this it?' he wondered. 'Am I to be the one who watches and records the End of the Everything? For what purpose? Posterity? For whom?' Adam shook his head, clearing the muck that seemed to come to him whenever he let his mind wonder why. "Why?" it seemed, was the one question not even the Engine could answer.

If this was to be the End, he decided, he would arrange the monitors in this seemingly limitless tube to keep the stories of those most involved.

Mission One: the Kings. King William of the Beta Ray. Franklin Richards. Dr. Doom. Each led one of the three Armies of the Everything, though all were newly ascended to their thrones.

At the moment there was great difficulty in finding two of these three most powerful men.

Monitoring the activities of Beta Ray Bill, the new King of Asgard, was easily accomplished. The King was, at this moment, deep in discussion with the Council over the message delivered by Apollo, asking for Asgard's surrender to Doom.* They would not accept, of course, but that did not stop the Council from arguing over how best to decline the offer. The small force Doom had deployed that stood outside the city in the Plains of Ida only made discussions more tense. As of now, the Council had spent four intense weeks deciding how best to tell Doom, No.

* AGC 57: The Ceremony of Dark Angels

Adam had developed a friendship with Bill over the years, and had full faith that whatever decisions the new King made would be the decisions that needed to be made.

No, it was the other two "Kings" of the Everything that worried Adam: Franklin Richards and Von Doom.

He could find neither of them on his viewing screens, so he concentrated on bringing images to him that most strongly resonated with the presence of Franklin and Doom.

'Whatever that means,' Adam mused without humor, hoping this tactic would bring them to him.

MT. OLYMPUS - THE DEAD CORNER OF SPACE

Franklin Richards was nowhere to be found.

The young boy, who held within his tiny frame more power than any other human in history, was not, at this moment, holding a deep philosophical discussion upon the steps of the Hall of Zeus, as was Santa Claus/Hercules and the Easter Bunny.

"So … you're Hercules?" the Easter Bunny asked.

"Ayup!" Santa roared, taking a massive chug of ale from the cup in his hand. "I am the son of Zeus! That is why my flagon of ale need never run dry when we converse on the steps of his great hall, my friend!"

The Easter Bunny - actually, a man in a pink bunny suit - didn't want to argue with Sant- er, Hercules. He knew the reason they wouldn't run out of ale here was that Franklin had stocked the Hall of Zeus with over 100 full kegs. The Bunny looked at Herc seriously. "Who do you think I am?"

"Why, you're the Easter Bunny!"

"Yes, but really, who do you think I am? Everyone thought you were Santa Claus, but you're really Hercules. Who do you suppose I am if I took off this suit?"

Herc look puzzled. "Hmmm, interesting question." He snapped his fingers. "Why, of course, it's so obvious! You'd be … the Easter Man!"

The Easter Bunny buried his head in the two, soft, pink paws of his costume. "You are so scary when you're not quite drunk."

Had Franklin Richards been around, he would have laughed, but neither Hercules nor the Easter Bunny had seen the young human god in over four months.

ASGARD - THOR ODINSON HALL OF PEACE

THRONE ROOM

Uneasy is the head that wears the crown, the saying of old tells us.

And so it was with King William of the Beta Ray.

Dani Moonstar had just returned from delivering the official Council rejection of surrender to Doom's troops that camped in the Plains of Ida. As expected, the answer was not unanticipated, though Dani informed them that Apollo was amused that it had taken a month for them to come up with the answer. For now, the small part of the Army of Doom seemed content to sit in the Plains and wait Asgard out.

Bill had been on the throne for just over four months, but it seemed like four lifetimes. Not half a year past he had lied in his bed, recovering from injuries gained at the hand of Pluto, ruler of the Olympians, as the Battle of Niffleheim raged deep beneath him. It was at that battle that everything seemed to change. King Balder was slain by Pluto. Thanos was slain by Ben-Vell, after the powers of the Cosmic Protector had been ripped from Steve Rogers body and given to the young clone of the Chosen One. Volstagg the Lion had perished, thus ending the story of the Warriors Three.*

* Much of this detailed in AGC 50: The Circle Closing

The Eternal War was over, but there had been no joy. Thanos was betrayed by Ikaris the Eternal, but Ikaris had not betrayed Thanos to Asgard. No, Ikaris had betrayed the Titan to an insidious, dark threat within Thanos' own army.

The threat they now understood to be Victor Von Doom. A man that Kang had captured 175 years ago, ending the Reign of Doom on Earth. Yet somehow, Doom had returned. Even more, he had united the gods of the Underworld.

Bill rubbed his eyes with a heavy hand. The small force of Doom's troops that stood outside the city, patiently waiting in the Plains of Ida were not a threat because of the force they represented, but because of their presence alone. Before the Battle of Niffleheim, no army would be able to march that close to the city without meeting strong resistance, but the Battle had sent so many Asgardians to Valhalla that their defenses were at all-time low. Truth be told, Bill knew, they had just started to recover from True Ragnarok, seven years past. They had lost too many during that struggle and now, the boys that were kept from that battle to protect them had grown up to die fighting the same Olympians anyway.

So many of their greatest had passed: Odin, Thor, the Warriors Three, the Lady Sif, Heimdall, and most recently Balder. Even their enemies were mostly passed: Loki, Karnilla, Malekith, Skurge, Lorelei … only one Frost Giant remained, Ymir, and the trolls had not been seen since Ragnarok. The King shook his head, the oldest ally they had left was Amora, the Enchantress, who had survived, it seemed, simply by staying away from the harshest fighting.

But could Amora be entrusted with anything of importance? She had shut herself off from Asgard, spending the years since Ragnarok living in a cabin deep inside the Forest of Midgard, that resided just to the left of the Plains. Had she seen Doom's troops approach? Had they come through the Forest and failed to alert her? Or did they end her threat before she could send word to them?

The King had sent Skrull 4 into the forest to find Amora and bring her to him, and in the process scout the woods for the possibility of more enemy troops hiding from plain sight.

King William did not think the Army of Doom had come to Asgard through the tunnels Ben-Vell and Eshir had discovered,* for they had been collapsed when the troops had returned from the Battle of Niffleheim. Bill shook his head. It was in following the footsteps of those Orphans that Bill had been attacked by Pluto,** an attack that had kept him from joining the Battle of Niffleheim.

* AGC 30: Jonas

** AGC 42: The Walking Ghosts of Mt. Olympus

Turning to the window, Bill thought of Ben, Eshir, and the rest of the Orphans: Attumidunn, Angelica, and K'Zan. 'We protected them for too long,' Bill thought to himself, 'and now we are losing them before we have a chance to correct our mistakes.'

Ben-Vell Parker, the young man believed by many to be the "Chosen One," but in truth nothing more than a grand charade that Odin had set in motion. Ben-Vell was a clone of the real "Chosen One," the son of Genis-Vell and May Parker nearly 200 years in the past. That Ben had died in childbirth, and was cloned to serve as … what, Bill wondered. A weapon? A back-up plan to fool the Everything? The Everything, Bill believed, did not take kindly to being treated as a fool.*

* For Ben's complete origin, see AGC 47: A Fraud in the House of Tomorrow

In the end, Odin's plan was turned back on him, as the Supreme Intelligence was able to exploit Ben's origin, and turn Ben, if not against them, then certainly away from them. Now the young man had the power of the Cosmic Protector, and lived under the ever-watching eyes of the Supreme Intelligence on Hala.

This was what made the head of the King ache, Bill recognized. No longer could he simply care for the well-being of Ben-Vell. No, now he had to concern himself with Ben's place on the Council, his right as Cosmic Protector. Not only was Ben more likely to be influenced than was his predecessor, Captain America, but Ben's place on the Council gave two clear votes to the Kree on every issue.

That was more power in the hands of the Supreme Intelligence than any were comfortable with, which, Bill believed, thinking of Ash'lin, he might be able to use to his advantage.

If only they knew what Doom had planned …

THE PLANET SIN-NOT-JOE

The medium-sized planet Sin-Not-Joe, just outside the influence of the Shi'ar Empire, went into its cellar and removed drums of war of an age lost past. Father and mother had passed to son and daughter down through the generations stories of an Emperor of Metal that had thrown off the oppressive Shi'ar regime and restored peace and prosperity.

Word came to them through travelers and whispers that the Emperor had fallen on a distant world. The inhabitants of Sin-Not-Joe took down their flags and hid their drums, for feat the Shi'ar would exact a cruel punishment on them.

The Shi'ar had never come back.

And now, travelers and whispers were coming again, saying that the Metal Emperor had returned to life.

The flags - dark green with a grey, standard D upon its surface - were hoisted anew.

Drums of war began to beat. Drummers began to chant in rhythm with the pounding.

Across the surface of the planet, a steady constant rise was born.

DOOM. DOOM. DOOM. DOOM. DOOM. DOOM. DOOM. DOOM. DOOM. DOOM. DOOM. DOOM.

In the Center of Everything, watching with sullen eyes on monitors that showed him everything, Adam Warlock felt a cold shiver crawl up his spine and nest inside his brain.

MT. OLYMPUS - THE DEAD CORNER OF SPACE

Franklin Richards was not standing beneath the statue of Aphrodite, where the Cosmic Flame, Phil Sinton, and Canticle Guthrie were conversing lightly and with wide smiles, the cares of the world gone from their minds.

"It's … I don't know," Phil shook his head, looking out at the emptiness of space around them. He had powered his cosmic flame down, and stood before Canticle as an ordinary man, albeit one with red-orange skin. "Tragic? Sad? Ironic? Funny? I spent decades searching the Dead Corner of Space for Galactus, searching for any signs of life. I would've given my soul to escape the never-ending nothingness." He looked at Canticle and smiled. "And now, seemingly not two seconds after I'm free, I'm right back in the Dead Corner. Only now … now it doesn't seem so bad."

Canticle closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as her smile seemed to spread through her entire body. "I don't know what's worse, Phil. You had all the power you could ever hope to have, but spent the decades flying in isolation. I had no power, trapped for decades within Titan-3, kept alive by tubes and formulas, but at least I had company."

Phil reached out to gently touch her face. "You had it worse, Canticle. Freedom inside an empty space is still freedom."

Had Franklin been around, he likely would have smiled, and felt a twinge of jealousy, as Phil and Canticle hugged each other close.

Neither of them had seen the boy who brought them here in over four months.

ASGARD - THOR ODINSON HALL OF PEACE

King William read the report just handed to him and felt his heart grow darker. "When did this arrive?" he asked Miss Almond, Cable's liaison to the United League of Nations. It was the transcript of a communication from Brono, informing him that Attumidunn had become an Angelux in order that they may learn the location of the Celestial Messiah. Bill didn't know what infuriated him more - that Toomi's soul now belonged to Daimon Hellstrom or that Brono had let her go through with it.

"Two weeks ago, apparently," the earth woman replied coolly. "You were locked away in executive session for so long and barred all from entering-"

Bill raised his hand. "You are right, Miss Almond. Please forgive me."

Rebecca started to reply with a second curt response, but thought better of it and her face softened. "King William," she said, running her hands down the front of her expensive business blouse and skirt. "We are doing the best we can, but with the loss of troops Asgard suffered during the Battle of Niffleheim," Rebecca couldn't believe she could know say words like that with a straight face, "you have been forced to assign the Ambassadorial staffs to handle all incoming and outgoing communication. It is a difficult process." Pause. "Even without the bickering between the staffs."

"I'm guessing that you have a suggestion to our problem?"

"I do," she nodded. "You have requested that all Council races assign 500 troops for the defense of Asgard to fill the void created by those lost."

Bill nodded. "Go on."

"Your request will not be welcomed with open arms by the United League of Nations," Miss Almond said slowly. "Unlike the other members of the Council, Earth is still primarily a single-planet 'empire.' We have never been able to unify-"

"Get to the point," the King ordered, straightening his back.

"Instead of 500 troops, change the request to intelligence personnel. Let Earth take over the operations of infrastructure: communication, intelligence, treasury, even construction."

Bill nodded, sighed inwardly. "An interesting offer, Miss Almond. I shall take it under advisement. Thank you."

Rebecca had been involved with government long enough to know when she was being excused, so she nodded to the King and left him alone.

Bill watched her go, intrigued by the offer, but knowing the other empires - especially the Skrull - would never allow Earth to take sole ccontrol over the infrastructure. It did not mean the offer didn’t have merit. Perhaps if each member were asked to send 100 of the 500 intel officers instead of soldiers…

He shook his head. None of them fully understood this new war they were supposedly involved in, the War of Order and Chaos. What did it mean?

"It means you fight for me now, King of Asgard." Bill's hand went to his hammer, Stormbringer, as his eyes glanced up to find Master Chaos floating before him, a sick, purple head with a sad look upon his face.

"You are here uninvited," the King declared, removing his hand from his enchanted hammer. Bill adjusted himself in his throne. "Speak your mind, Chaos."

Chaos let a small smile play across his face. "The throne of power suits you well, King William of the Beta Ray."

Bill let the comment pass. He hated the name, but understood why people had taken to it. As Brono explained, the title was for the people, a new way to identify and think about their King. It linked him to Balder the Brave, and Odin the One-Eye.

When he saw Bill would not respond, Chaos continued. "These are dire times. My counterpart, Master Order, has decided that he wishes to see this Age of the Everything ended, so that a new Age may begin, an age that he will construct in total and absolute order. This is why he has aided the human Doom. Doom represents Order."

"Then why did Order assist Thanos? It is difficult to create a more ordered world than one in which all are dead."

Lord Chaos' face turned quizzical. "That is not Order, King. That is annihilation. When a system is empty - such as the Void, what some call the anti-Everything - there is no Order, no Chaos. There is only nothingness."

"My original question remains, Chaos. Why did Order assist Thanos?"

"He needed Thanos to collapse the multiverse system. Doom has no interest in genocide, let alone existencecide," Chaos explained slowly. "Doom wants to rule. He would never collapse realities into one when he had the chance to rule all of them. Order used Thanos, all the while supporting Doom behind the Mad Titan's back."

Bill nodded. It was logical. "Yet you tell me Order wants this Age ended. Why not stay the course with Thanos until he had achieved victory?"

The face of Chaos turned even darker. "Do you not listen to the words I speak? Order wants to control the next Age, but he and I are merely concepts. We need agents of the mortal plane who believe in us to execute our designs. If Thanos is the last man standing of this Age, and thus the first man of the next, he will not allow life to come into existence. No, King, Order needs Doom to be the first man." Chaos paused to let the words take effect. "Besides, Thanos has likely already won. I fear he has set the Great Gears turning too fast and that the end may be inevitable."

"Then why should we fight?" the King asked.

"Because there is a chance, and life will do extraordinary things when given a chance." Lord Chaos started to fade away. "You must defeat the Army of Doom, or else you doom all of existence. I can not impress upon you enough, new King of Asgard, how many now depend on you. Do not fail."

CHRONOPOLIS

The Army of Doom would not stay silent for long.

"How goes the construction, Ikaris?"

"Very well, Set," Ikaris replied. They stood at the edge of Chronopolis, watching the Kree Republic, under the lead of General Ochken, construct weaponry for Doom's army. "The Kree take orders better than the most highly trained dogs." He turned to the right. "My Eternals, of course, construct their weapons with aplomb, as well, and I hear that Mephisto even has the demons in line."

Set growled. "I do not like that we spend so much time building instead of fighting. We have Chronopolis. Why have we not yet attacked?"

Ikaris smiled. "Doom will make them all wait and wait and wait, until they have spread their defenses so far, they will be easy to smash."

Set looked to the towers of Chronopolis behind them. "Must he make us wait, as well? It has been at least a month since I have seen our leader."

Ikaris allowed himself a frown. "On that we are in agreement, Set. But I trust that he prepares well for the coming battles. When we strike, we strike the first blow in the last battles."

"And I pray that you are right, Eternal. We have all risked everything on this human."

MT. OLYMPUS - THE DEAD CORNER OF SPACE

Franklin Richards was not wasting his day with ten sex-crazed women, nor ingesting more food than it was seemingly possible for the human body to consume at all, let alone in one sitting.

"Begone, trollops!"

Eros the Eternal looked up from his pillows in mild anger as his beautiful handmaidens departed quickly. "Oh blast," he pouted, slamming a half-eaten turkey leg into a pillow beside him. "If it isn't the mysterious Astoria. Hello, oh wise and powerful Elder of the Universe, what can a sloven like me do for you?"

"You disgust me, Eros of Titan," the magenta-skinned Elder deadpanned, folding her arms together inside her pink robe. "To think you were once an Avenger. Shameful. You are nearly the size of Volstagg."

Eros burped. "Is there a point to this?" His face changed suddenly, to show hopeful exuberance. "Oooh, wait, have you brought more women to serve me?"

Astoria wrinkled her nose, ignoring the comment. "Where is Franklin?"

"Dunno."

"I can not locate him anywhere."

"Yes, well, that doesn't change the fact that I can't find him, does it? What do you need him for, anyway?"

Astoria snapped her fingers, and a tall, muscular man entered the room. He wore a black costume, dotted with images in orange of pumpkins, and an orange cloak. His face was, Eros noticed with disgust, not quite a face at all, but a … a ….

"Is that man wearing a pumpkin on his head? Ewwww."

"No," Astoria smiled, pleased she had disturbed Eros. "His head is a pumpkin."

"Right," Eros whistled. "Does he have a name?"

Fire roared brightly behind the carved, menacing face, as flames appeared to burst from inside the man's neck and up into the hollow mask. "I am the Pumpkin King!"

"Of course you are," Eros mused, forgetting the leg of turkey in his hand. For the first time in months, he had lost his hunger.

Had Franklin been around, he would have likely scolded both Astoria and Eros, as he hated to watch adults bickering. But then, neither Astoria nor Eros had seen the boy god in four months.

In fact, Astoria now realized, she hadn't seen Franklin since the boy was told about the return of …

"Doom," she whispered, a terrible chill filling her heart.

CHRONOPOLIS - THE PRISON LEVEL

Ultron Mark-12 stood sentry at the cell that had held Dr. Doom for nearly 200 years. Where once he was Doom's keeper, he was now Doom's servant. But he still guarded the same cell, was still allowed the same freedom to develop the evolution of his programming at his own pace. The only proviso, of course, was that Doom could melt his programming with the push of a button. Such was the price of a continued existence. Ultron-12 would gladly exchange that one act of freedom for his life.

There was a vast difference between Doom and Kang, Ultron-12 realized, and it had everything to do with the open door to the cell. Inside, a prisoner was huddled into a ball in the corner, whimpering and crying like a babe. In truth, he wasn't a prisoner at all, but a guest. Doom would let him leave whenever he wanted.

Ultron-12 had to admit the cell's occupant didn't impress him. He expected a lot more out of the boy god Franklin Richards than begging for his mommy and daddy.

THE PLAYERS to be continued …

We protected them for too long.

Y G G D R A S I L

comments to bousquet22@earthlink.net

Mark Bousquet

8 February 2003

Northern Bear Productions