EXISTENCE END

Part Nine: Existence End

the 84th tale of agc

written and created by Mark Bousquet

THE BATTLE FOR EARTH

The Current State of Affairs:

Chronopolis: Kovar, Dani, Glimmer Girl, Cable, Cosmic Flame, Canticle, Skrull 4, General Van'Rogg and five small space crafts move against the fortress of Doom. Inside his lair, Doom is shocked to find himself face to face with the Hulk.

The Wheat Fields of Kansas: Captain America prepares to battle Kang to the end.

Mt. Olympus: The Orphans of War have been reunited and Ben, Eshir, Angelica, Attumidunn, and K'Zan face off against King Franklin and the Lady Luna.

At the Gates of Attilan: Hawkeye, Crystal, K'Zan, Golden Eagle, Dr. H2O, Kendar, and Kendra attempt to enter the fabled, locked dome that once held within the Inhumans.

And all around them, the universe collapses, moving rapidly upon the Earth.

2202 / JANUARY

ATTILAN

Frustration and defeat were beginning to set in amongst the small group of heroes that stood at the base of the closed, domed city of Attilan, the former home to the Inhumans. Above them the sky was nearly gone, consumed in the collapse of the universe; the sun was now starting to crumble as the moon had earlier. All around them bits of blue fell like solid snowflakes.

"Clint, perhaps we should go," Crystal said quietly to the seated archer. "I don't think it's possible to get inside."

"Not possible?" Clint asked, shooting her a half-smile. "Like any of this is possible." He motioned his arms across the horizon to the falling bits of sky. "We probably just haven't kicked it hard enough."

Crystal smiled sadly. "Should I give it another kick?"

"Nah," Clint said. "We just need to think. There's got to be some way to … get … it … open …"

The dome was opening. Gears slid silently and the dome split in half, and began to slide down into the Earth. The group of heroes all rose off the rocks to stand and watch. Crystal and the Bodyguard Twins (Kendar and Kendra) fell their hearts flutter, never having expected to see their home again.

As the walls of the black dome opened wide, they realized that their city was gone. The inside of the dome was a still, empty darkness. When the walls had finished their descent, the black dome was no different, save for the lack of reflected sunlight.

"What is it?" Golden Eagle asked.

Crystal replied, "It's the Void." Her eyes were locked on what seemed to be an eternal darkness. "There are two phases to the Everything - Existence and the Void. We live in Existence, the next age will occur in the Void as the two halves of the Everything change roles." The darkness began to stir and the heroes took cautious steps backwards on the slippery rocks. Crystal felt her heart beating faster in her chest. "We are on the verge of something great," she whispered.

And then it did.

Galactus, unconscious and floating upon his back came feet first out of the Void and into Existence. A lone figure stood upon the great Planet Devourer's chest. More huddled back near Galactus' large headgear. The heroes present all looked with reverential awe at the man that had come back to them in their most desperate hour, and joy exploded in the heart of Crystal. Her family had come back to her.

Black Bolt had returned.

All present had read the Prophecies of Grey. All knew, without being told, what had just happened.

The time had come for the Unspeakable Good to act.

THE VOID - MT. OLYMPUS

The Orphans of War once again stood together. From left to right, Ben-Vell, Eshir, Angelica, Attumidunn, and K'Zan prepared to do their part to save Existence.

"Give up, Franklin," Ben said. "You're not going to win this fight. All of your troops are gone. I can sense that your powers are failing. The stakes are too high for us to play games."

King Franklin spit on the ground of Olympus. "None of you will leave here alive. My powers may be failing, but they have not left me completely." With a wave of his hand, Franklin sent an array of energy blasts across the grassy courtyard. K'Zan raised his hands and extended the power cosmic out to make a shield. It should have easily deflected the blasts, but several sliced through the barrier and Attumidunn and Eshir had to duck out of the way.

The Lady Luna laughed. "Are you not surprised, K'Zan? You hold within you the power cosmic, yet the universe collapses, robbing you of your powers." Luna sneered, "You always were the most useless Orphan. I cannot believe the Alliance is reduced to sending kids to fight their battles."

K'Zan clenched his fists; his breathing became ragged and hurried.

"You okay, K'Zan?" Ben asked.

"No," K'Zan said, his bright red and yellow "skin" beginning to dull and throb. "My power is leaving me," he whispered, "but it is not because of the collapse of Existence. Something's draining me … I think …" his eyes rolled back in his head and his body began to shake. Energy - the power cosmic - began to lift off his body like smoke rising from a smoldering fire. "By the gods," he wheezed, "it's Galactus. He's … alive … drawing the power cosmic back to him … I can't … I can't … I can't breathe …"

The power drain increased and K'Zan's body was lifted briefly off the ground. His body exploded in light as the last of the power cosmic left him and his body fell back towards the ground. Toomi, the closest Orphan to him, reached out to break his fall.

"Is he … okay?" Angelica asked, not wanting to say 'dead.'

"He's breathing," Toomi replied, "but he's unconscious." Concerned for their friend, the Orphans looked down at his body; though the power cosmic had left him, he still retained the same red skin that had come with the powers.

"Pathetic," Luna laughed quietly.

Even across the quad, Eshir could hear and feel the derision in her voice. He turned to look at Luna and without giving any notice, he used his powers to zip along the weak magnetic fields of Olympus and slammed the stumps of his arms into Luna's stomach.

"How dare you?" King Franklin roared as his lover's body was hurled back and to the ground. Eshir saw the flash of energy in the King's eyes and shot forward just as Franklin's energy blasts smashed into the ground where he had stood. The force of the blast still knocked him off stride and Eshir was knocked on top of Luna.

"Insolent dog!" she roared, slapping him in the face, then ripping up into his stomach with a hidden dagger. Eshir grunted, not wanting to show Luna she had hurt him.

Franklin laughed behind him, then fired several blasts towards the Orphans to keep them away. "Kill him, my love. End this cripple's misery."

Luna thrust the dagger deeper, but almost as quickly realized it was her who was in trouble. Eshir extended his powers to their maximum capacity, crushing her down onto the surface of Olympus. She tried to call out for help, but Eshir crushed her larynx, and his body blocked Franklin's vision. For the first time in a month, the image of Licia Osborn came into the mind of Eshir, and he thought of all the hell her world had been put through because of those who lusted after power.

Because of those like the Lady Luna.

As he crushed the life out of Luna, bursting her heart and internal organs with his pressure, he wondered where Licia Osborn was right now.

In his heart, he knew she was no more alive than Luna.

CHRONOPOLIS - THE BOMB ROOM

"We are too late," Dani Moonstar said.

Skrull 4 nodded. "The bombs have been deployed." The two friends stood together as Chronopolis rumbled around them, the battle rocking this world hard. Across the room a portal door was open and a swirling mass of pink and blue light shone brightly. "What should we do?" he asked, eyeing the portal.

"Find Doom," Dani said, setting her jaw. "Steve was supposed to 'port in and take him on, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind the help." Without waiting for 4 to agree, Dani made to walk out of the room.

Skrull 4 stopped her, grabbing her arm and holding it tight. "Wait," he said, meeting Dani's powerful gaze. "There is something you need to know. I have been ordered to kill Captain America, by the United League of Nations. It was part of a treaty between the Skrulls and Humans." He watched Dani's eyes show a brief flicker of surprise. "I agreed to do it so that the treaty may be signed, but I would not ever have fulfilled that order."

"Why do you tell me this?" Dani asked, pulling her arm away roughly.

"To explain why I won't go with you," 4 said sadly, taking a step back. "I could not fight in a battle alongside Captain America knowing in my heart the orders I was disobeying. While I was shunned for years by Kovar and Ash'lin you always treated me with the respect my position deserved. I could not ever bear the burden if something happened to Captain America that you believed, even for a moment, that I had something to do with it."

Dani looked at her friend, a man who had always been troubled by the burdens his people placed upon him. She shook her head. "Why didn't you tell us this?"

Skrull 4 shook his head. "I could not take the risk someone would find out. Good-bye, Dani Moonstar."

A confused look came to Dani's face. "Good-bye? What do you mean?"

Skrull 4 walked backwards across the Bomb Room to the open portal. "It is my hope that walking through this teleportation field I will be sent to the location of either the Infinity or Virus Bomb. I will attempt to stop it."

Dani thought about trying to talk him out of it, then thought better of it. Strange had volunteered to take care of the I-V Bombs, but another set of hands couldn't hurt. "Good luck, Skrull 4. I hope we meet again."

Skrull 4 bowed low, then turned and walked into the portal.

KANSAS - THE KENT HOMESTEAD

Captain America raised his shield just in time as Kang's sword was on-line to deliver a kill-shot to Steve's head. The sword slammed hard into the trusted shield and Cap pushed the shield upward, causing Kang to lose his balance. Taking quick advantage, Cap swung his legs around, catching the back of Kang's knee and driving him into the ground.

Kang expected the move and rolled with the blow, the move taking him out of Cap's reach - unless his father wanted to throw his shield. Kang knew he wouldn't risk it coming out of that move. He had watched, literally, months of footage of Captain America in battle. None knew how he fought better than his abandoned son.

Kang swore he would not taste defeat this day. The hell with the rest of the war; this was the only fight he cared to win.

All around them, the sky continued to fall as the collapse of the universe rolled closer and closer to Earth.

THE VOID - MT. OLYMPUS

The three faces of Warlock watched as King Franklin screamed in agony as Eshir moved off the broken, lifeless body of the woman he loved.

"It is time," Him said.

"Agreed," Magus nodded.

"It all ends now," Adam declared and all those who still lived heard Existence groan in agony. There was not much time left.

"It seems such a shame," Him said sadly, looking at all the images from Earth that played out around them. "Look at the epic battle atop the SCN/Bugle Building in New York, where Brono and the White Rider battle. None will remember this fight."

"And there, in Wakanda," Magus said with a begrudging admiration. "The Black Panther has battled Magneto - Magneto! - for nearly twenty hours without rest, and yet, in the grand scheme, it means nothing. Shakespeare could spend a lifetime writing epics just of the happenings in England, and yet, we have hardly given it more than a cursory glance. Is this tragedy ours, or theirs?"

Adam was in agreement with the other two faces he shared a head with. "And there, on the training grounds of Chronopolis, Apollo rips the heart of Cable out of his chest, then turns to face the oncoming rush of the Cosmic Flame. So brilliant is the battle between the two masters of flame for the brief moment it lasts. Apollo slays another, for the Flame is a Herald of Galactus, infused with the power cosmic, and Galactus draws all of his given power back to him."

"Look to the skies above Massachusetts," Him remarked. "Galactus awakens, and the great purple dragon Lockheed flies overhead."

"It all ends now," Adam repeated, and the other two faces remained silent.

CHRONOPOLIS - DOOM'S CONTROL ROOM

Doom could think of no worse way to die than at the hands of an ignorant brute.

But this is what was happening, he knew, as the large green fists of the Hulk smashed into his armor over and over again. There were escape routes, Doom knew, but he was unable to execute any of them. The Hulk, whether through design or luck, had sent his first blow crashing into Doom's head, causing a brief moment of disorientation.

The Hulk had capitalized.

In the small room there was nowhere for Doom to run and the Hulk picked Doom off the ground and snapped his right arm like a twig. The Hulk slammed Doom's body into the ground, then stomped onto his chest, pinning the monarch. With both hands, the Hulk reached down to grab Doom's left arm and squeezed around the forearm, obliterating the bone into dust.

The eyes of the large, green monster told Doom all he needed to know. The Hulk was lost to his rage. Doom's scientific genius was proven in the strength of his armor - it took the Hulk almost twenty minutes of constant bludgeoning before Doom passed out.

Fourteen minutes after that, the Hulk wrapped his right hand around the mask of Doom and squeezed.

Thus ends the life of Doom.

MT. OLYMPUS

King Franklin cried like a five-year-old boy as he lashed out with his failing powers. Around him, the Orphans circled like sharks. Franklin would fire a blast at Angelica, allowing Toomi and Eshir to move a step closer. Then Franklin would turn to fire a series of weak energy bursts at Toomi, allowing Ben to take a step towards the King.

Within moments the four Orphans stood over a crying, powerless King who collapsed into the grass.

"Wasn't there some poet who talked about the world ending, not with a bang, but with a whimper?" Ben asked.

"It's not fair, it's not fair, it's not fair!" King Franklin screamed, curling into the fetal position and sucking his thumb.

"What do we do with him?" Angelica asked, glancing to Eshir.

"Captain America said to stop him," Ben said with a quiet conviction. "We've stopped him. There's no reason to-"

"Look out!" Eshir yelled, knocking Ben to the side as Franklin fired one last blast. Acting on instinct, Attumidunn withdrew her sword and stabbed the King of the Third Army through the heart.

"It's not fair!" Franklin yelled, then sobbed himself to death, Toomi's sword pinning him to the ground. The Orphans watched as life left the most powerful human who had ever lived, his body transforming back from the form of a King and into the guise of the five year old boy they had met all those months earlier.

"Huh," Ben remarked, picking himself up off the ground. "We're not six meters away from where we hid when Franklin returned to Existence. How many years ago was that?"

"Fifteen months," Angelica replied, letting out a deep breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "Give or take a month."

Toomi kicked the body as she stepped across it to move to Ben. "He's no longer a concern," she said.

"Toomi, I …" Ben stammered. He didn't know what to say, he didn't realize that all of these feelings would swell up inside him at being this close to her again. He extended his arms to show her that he didn't know what to say, and she fell into them. As the last breath was taken from the body of Franklin Richards, Ben-Vell Parker held Attumidunn in his arms.

Thus ends the life of Franklin Richards.

KANSAS - THE KENT HOMESTEAD

Captain America and Kang battled hard and furious. Both connected with hard shots and both bled out of open wounds.

It was an epic battle between two equal foes, that would be robbed of a fitting ending.

"We have no time for this!" a woman's voice called out from above.

Captain America and Kang reflexively looked up, just as Lockheed swooped down and grabbed Kang up in its claws. "No!" Captain America shouted.

"Even at times such as this," Queen Medusalith said gently as the walking Galactus reached down to let her and Black Bolt out of his right hand, "you strive for fairness. You are a good man, Steve Rogers."

Steve brushed the compliment aside. He watched as Lockheed flew high into the sky, Kang struggling in the dragon's massive claws. The dragon soared up to the edge of collapse and, without ceremony, tossed Kang into the breach, ending the life of Steve's son. "No," Cap said weakly, feeling very old and tired.

"I am sorry," Medusa said gently, "but the end of this Age of Existence is at an end. There was no time to delay in battle."

Lockheed landed and Illyana Rasputin jumped down, the ancient text in her hand. "You will need this, I imagine," she said, offering the book to Medusa.

Medusa smiled, but shook her head. "No. We have within us all the knowledge we need." She turned as Galactus lowered his left hand and Hawkeye and Crystal were let free. Cap's face brightened momentarily at Clint's presence, and the two old friends nodded from across the distance. The time to talk would come later.

If there was a later.

All eyes looked up. There was not much sky left.

A white ball of light appeared on the ground near them, and Stephen Strange stepped out. "My friends," he said, his voice tired and drained, "we can no longer hold back the Wellsprings. They are soon to burst. I am sorry," he said, bowing low before them.

Crystal, her eyes the only one still trained to the sky, let out a gasp. "Look, the Orphans!"

All eyes watched as Mt. Olympus fell from the sky, crashing hard into the ground. Smiling despite the gravity of the situation, the Orphans casually jumped off the landmass and walked across the wheat fields to join the company.

"Stephen," Medusa asked gently, "can you call those who should be here? I believe Skrull 4 has finished deactivating the Infinity Bomb - not that it really makes any difference."

The Sorcerer nodded. "It will take the rest of my strength, but …" his eyes rolled back into his head and an enchantment was brought forth from his lips. There was a flash of light and a wounded Brono joined them, followed quickly by a surprised looking Dani, Kovar, Canticle, Skrull 4, and Glimmer Girl.

As if on cue, the entire world began to shake.

"It is time," Galactus announced. "The final player must come forth." From out of nowhere, the Celestial Messiah, Green, appeared, standing next to a shocked John Francis Saint.

Medusa nodded to the words of Galactus, then turned to Ben-Vell, who stood with his arm around Attumidunn. "You know what is required of you, Cosmic Protector..

Ben let out a sigh and let his arm fall from Toomi's shoulder. He turned to look down into her eyes to find that hers were as moist as his. "I am sorry, Toomi," he said. "I have always loved you, though I was too stupid to realize it. Forgive me." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently. "Good-bye."

Toomi's eyes went wide. "Good-bye? What do you mean, good-bye?" She squeezed Ben's arms. "I just got you back. I can't-"

Ben shook his head and pulled away from her. "You must. We must all make sacrifices." Ben couldn't stand to look at anyone but Medusa in the face for fear that he would lose all composure. "I know what I must do. I don't know how, but I know." With one final kick at the ground, he took to the sky to float in the air one hundred meters behind Galactus, at a height equal to the Planet Devourer's head.

The rumbling grew louder as both earth and sky seemed ready to fall apart.

The Earth collapsed first.

Around the world the Wellsprings burst open as white magic rushed forth to consume the world. Quebec … the Congo … Tibet … Yellowstone … the Archipelagoes … New Zealand … Wales … all around the planet, the Wellsprings broke like dams too small to hold back the river.

"The end of this Age is at hand!" Medusa yelled above the rumbling. "Green, take your position."

Green burped, then took to the air to float 100 meters behind Ben-Vell.

To the east, right next to the red barn that had hid away the Fury Protocols, a geyser of white magic burst free, soaring into the sky. All around them, one after another, geyser after geyser burst through the Earth's crust and rushed up to meet the black sky. As the Alliance watched on, as lovers moved to each other - Brono taking Angelica in his arms as Glimmer Girl leans into Kovar's chest as Cap and Dani's hands find the other's - the sky broke open and geysers of black rushed down to the ground.

"It is the collapse," Medusa explained, her soft voice somehow carrying over the rumbling and whipping winds. "The final act of this Age of Existence. The white magic rushes out of this world and the black Void rushes in to take its place."

The Alliance watched on in awe as massive columns of white and black pulled Existence and the Void together. Through the columns they could see Galactus, then Ben-Vell, then Green, holding their ground.

"Watch on," Medusa's whisper made peace in their minds, "as the next Age of Existence is born. Good-bye, my love, if this be the end."

Black Bolt moved forward and waved everyone behind him. This was the Unspeakable Good, the only one who could offer any chance of hope, the man whose merest whisper wrought destruction. Long years had Black Bolt lived in silence, but now, there was no need for the quiet. The King whose whisper could fell a mountain let loose a roar that could fell a universe.

Black Bolt's scream slammed into Galactus. Years of meditation had attuned Black Bolt to his powers like none before him. The deep, powerful, wave that was his voice began to break Galactus down into atomic bubbles.

The Alliance was awed and humbled as Galactus was taken apart. Small bubbles of Galactus' very being, of the power cosmic that he had gathered from the destruction of a thousand thousand planets began to break away from the giant.

"No!" Attumidunn screamed, but none could hear her above the wind and geysers and roar of the Silent King. Her horror came not from what was done to Galactus, but from where the atomic bubbles went.

Shining like the brightest star, in the design of the star of Mar-Vell, Ben-Vell Parker, the Cosmic Protector, floated in the air as if nailed to a crucifix. His power reached out, holding the sky and earth apart as the atomic bubbles of Galactus flowed into him. With each bubble that entered into his light, his star shone even more brightly.

Galactus was quickly diminished before the onslaught of Black Bolt - arms, legs, torso, and finally face were broken down and blasted away, all of them consumed by Ben-Vell.

And still Black Bolt roared; his power now slamming into Ben-Vell's star. For he was a star, they now saw, his body barely recognizable somewhere in the middle of the bright light.

The Star of Ben-Vell turned and his outstretched arms slammed down and forward, aiming at the Celestial Messiah. A sonic boom rocked what was left of the world as the star exploded, then shot forth with violent precision from Ben's hands. The white and yellow light blasted forth, slamming through the chest of Green and out into the Void.

For what seemed like hours, but was, in fact, barely a minute, Ben-Vell Parker harnessed all of his energy, all of Galactus' energy, all of Black Bolt's energy and shot it through the heart of the Celestial Messiah. As Galactus was broken apart, so was Green, only his dissolution came not in atomic bubbles, but in streaks of green energy that mixed with Ben's white and yellow light.

In this, the energy of Existence was given to the Void to act as the seeds of life.

In a blink, the Celestial Messiah was no more.

Black Bolt silenced his roar and fell to his knees, winded but alive.

None of the Orphans or Alliance noticed this. Their eyes were on their friend, Ben-Vell Parker. The kid who'd been anointed as the Chosen One, who ran away from them to join with the Kree to become the Cosmic Protector, then came back to them a changed and hurting soul. To some, Ben was a childish romantic crush or lover, to others a friend or annoyance, to even more a kid who could never live up to the expectations placed upon him. He was different things to different people, but he meant something to all of those who had lived on Asgard, who believed in the Alliance, who felt the bonds of friendship bind them together more than any treaty could ever do.

And now he hovered in the air for a brief moment, then fell achingly to the ground. Disbelief had rendered everyone immobile, but his body fell like a leaf, gently, slowly, tossed with care by the wind and avoiding the white and black geysers, only to be laid carefully on the ground like a mother places her baby in a soft crib.

"No!" Toomi cried again, feeling a hurt she didn't think possible. She found her feet and took one step towards Ben, only to be knocked back as a massive geyser blast of white magic burst violently from beneath Ben, carrying his dead body into the Void. When he reached the darkness a second sonic boom hit and washed across them all in slow motion, silencing all sound for a brief moment.

Black Bolt rose to his feet and spoke in a normal voice, his powers completely exhausted. "This Age must die before the next can begin," he explained slowly. "Have hope in the magic because it is the magic that travels back and forth from the Void to Existence. Ben-Vell has planted the seeds of life with the atoms of Galactus and Green, but now the magic oceans must be loosed to give the seeds a ground to find root in. Ben was the conduit, and he fulfilled the final role of the Cosmic Protector - the creation of the next Age of Existence. All that you have fought for down through the centuries gave him the strength and courage and skill to accomplish this most dangerous and necessary act."

The King of the Inhumans drew them all close. "I am sorry it must now end, but all things must, in time, pass on before the wheels of time."

"That's it?" Toomi screamed. "We have come all this way only to die?"

Black Bolt turned a kind face to the troubled girl. "Death has died, Attumidunn, as have all the concepts of this age. Unless, of course, one believes in faith. What do you believe in?"

Toomi shook her head as tears rolled down her aqua-green cheeks. "I believe in Ben."

"Ah," Black Bolt smiled. "Look to the sky."

They all looked up to find the sky rushing down to meet them. Total collapse was upon them as the Existence and Void rushed to take the place of the other. And as sky and earth rushed to meet each other, Ben-Vell Parker burst free from the darkness above them. With no time for words Ben steeled himself as the ground beneath his friend's feet gave way and they were swallowed up into the light.

He could see them, or sense them. He reached out and called their atoms and souls to him, then blasted all the parts and pieces of them deep into the Void, along the same path he had sent the atoms of Galactus and Green.

The Void and Existence kissed, with Ben caught in the middle. He felt himself warp and waver and a tear - perhaps real, perhaps imagine - rolled down his blue cheek. The Void rushed down to replace Existence and Existence rushed skyward to replace the Void.

And so it was that Ben-Vell Parker, the last living being in this Age of Existence, was choked to death by the Void. But as he died, he did so with a pleasant heart, knowing that in his sacrifice, his friends shall be given a new life in the next Age. He could not save the Everything but he did save his friends, and billions more, sending them forward to start anew in the next Age, where there was no fear, no death, only Hope.

Ben-Vell closed his eyes and a voice, old and wise and kind, came to him and at the end and thanked him, then asked Ben if he wouldn't mind helping an old man with a new project. Ben smiled, and accepted, and then drowned as he was washed away in the swirling current of non-waters, at the moment that brought ending and beginning to together in the eternal, cyclical dance.

And the Voice spoke gently and with more than a slice of sorrow, though no one was left to hear his words:

"It is finished. Be at peace."

EXISTENCE END concluded.

Be at peace.

YGGDRASIL

Comments to bousquet22@earthlink.net

Mark Bousquet

9 January 2004

Northern Bear Productions