Against The Darkness -- AND ONE SHALL SURELY FALL!

"The Rage Stone is mine!" the Dweller exults. "And thwarted this long interval, I have stored up

plentiful rage indeed!"

Sue Storm asks over the mind link for Spider-Man to ask the Mind Gem whether or not the Soul Gem can

transform the soul of the Dweller in Darkness into a substance nourishing and tasty for Galactus to eat.

"Then you can warp Galactus here using the space stone, and have him eat the Dweller. I think he still

owes the Fantastic Four a favor. Or we owe him one. Or something."

Spidey says, "I don't have the mind gem anymore. I gave it to someone, remember?"

The Vision coughs discreetly.

Storm says, "I was about to ask, for my request, if we might know where in the universe some great evil

was being done, so we could use the stones one last time to fight evil and wreak justice...

"But perhaps this is the spot!"

She looks at the gem she is holding, having kind of lost track in the merry-go-round of gem juggling. If

it is the will stone, she wills the Dweller to drop Machine Man and the Ragestone. And indeed, it is the

softly glowing green complexity of the Will Stone.

Aloud she says, "Drop Machine Man with the Ragestone still in his hand!"

"Ha! Your pitiful Will Stone indeed possesses the key to the will of Eternity itself," scoffs the

Dweller, "but it cannot enforce more than your puny human will can conceive! Even the most clever

servant cannot do what its master cannot command, and your will ... pah ... aaah ... is nothing ... mfff

... your will is strong, aye, for but a .. hnngh ... mortal, but I am ... hk .. the Dweller in ... your

will really is QUITE strong ... mff  .. argh .. URRR ..."

The Dweller is clearly straining, but also clearly winning. Storm feels her will strained to the utmost,

not bending, but not bending the Dweller, either. If she had slain her best friend Jean to save the

universe, perhaps her will would be stronger ... but then, she would be a different person than she is.

Sue Storm, meanwhile, turns Machine Man invisible.

The Dweller in Darkness can find him anyway. He operates mostly in realms where sight is useless, after

all.

Sue coats Machine Man with a skintight forcefield, which she then slowly forces outward, hoping to keep

the shadow at bay.

The pressure of the Dweller in Darkness upon her forcefield is diffuse, but massive. It weighs down her

soul, pressing harder than even the incredible Hulk could! And as we know, the Hulk can eventually wear

down even Sue's mighty powers ... or at least, that's what she always cries out, so Reed will come and

save her.

But the pressure is of a spiritual kind, and Sue has the ultimate spiritual resource clutched in her

hand!

The Soul Stone banishes the Dweller's onslaught, allowing her to ignore it. And what she can do to

herself ...

She says, "Dweller! You face one who can inflict the endless happiness of enlightened perfection upon

you with the merest thought!

"Withdraw, leaving Machine Man here unharmed and unrobbed! Or I exile you into paradise, and cast you

forever into the joys of a realm of endless light!"

Wanda enters the mind of the Dweller in Darkness and draws forth his most paralyzing fears--which,

hopefully, will only be seen by him. And her.

The Dweller's most paralyzing fear is of a place of eternal light and joy, where he will be not only

powerless, but more importantly, pointless. And Sue Storm has the instrument which can send him there!

"Nooo ... not the LIIIIIIIIGHT!" hisses the Dweller in Darkness, recoiling.

"But hold, Dweller in Darkness!" calls out the In-Betweener. "You well know the impossible difficulty of

making the universe pure darkness. Even in a single spot, the forces of reality conspire to thwart you!

Can it be any easier for the light? I submit to you, Dweller in Darkness, that the place you fear, the

place of ultimate light and perfection, DOES NOT EXIST! And what does not exist, you cannot be theatened

with!"

"Yessss ... YES! Darkness is mighty, and as I strain towards ultimate victory, the forces of the

universe DO conspire to thwart me! Here they are, held in the hands of costumed bipeds! There cannot be

a place of ultimate light and goodness, and therefore, I need not fear it!"

"But there is," says Eternity.

"So now I shall de ... wait, what?" demands the Dweller.

"Such a place does exist," says Eternity firmly.

The Dweller doubts! And as he doubts, his will weakens, and Machine Man emerges from the recoiling

shadows, the Rage Stone still in his hand!

Machine Man says,

"This thing is really not worth the danger it poses to, well, everything," and slams the stone between

his mechanical hands.

The Rage Stone EXPLODES!

And a burst of terrifying CALM washes over everyone, yea, unto the ends of the universe, as its ever-

present influence is shattered and removed.

The Vision says,

"That should have been COMPLETELY impossible. Machine Man, are you a supernatural being?"

"I don't think so, Vision," he replies. "But I got so darn mad at this stupid stone, sitting there

waiting to hurt people. You know, most of them can't be repaired, or even shut down and restarted?

That's seriously scary!"

"Ah," says the Vision. "So that is how you were able to destroy it."

Machine Man calculates for a minute.

"Nope," he concludes. "Didn't understand that."

"Not now," says the Vision. "But you clearly understood before, when it was most needed."

The Watcher bends down to peer at the Vision.

"That was completely true but extremely ambiguous," he says. "Would you consider an apprenticeship?"

Ant Man is content with Eternity's answer regarding the nature of Death, and turns his attention to the

Dweller in the Darkness.

Since he is in a mind link with everyone, he decides to wait for some one to get Machine Man out of the

clutches of the Dweller. Once that has been done, Ant Man will teleport the Dweller in the Darkness out

of the universe. He knows it must exist, for Thanos is ether still there or is not but was. So he will

just send the Dweller in the Darkness "Back from whence he came". And he totally says that when he does.

Like a BOSS.

The darkness recedes into externality, or non-being. From inside the Universe, there is no perceptible

difference.

The Watcher writes furiously in his book.

Eternity seems happier somehow, with the Rage Stone and the Dweller in Darkness no more.

"WITH DARKNESS AND RAGE DEFEATED, THERE MAY BE LITTLE NEED FOR FURTHER HEROICS," says Eternity. "BUT IF

THERE IS, KNOW THAT YOU WILL BE MORE EFFECTIVE WITH THE FIVE REMAINING INFINITY GEMS."

"SUSAN STORM, THE INVISIBLE GIRL ... OF THE SOUL!"

"STORM, MUTANT MISTRESS OF THE WEATHER AND THE WILL!"

"ANT-MAN, CAPABLE OF ANY SIZE AT ANY LOCATION IN SPACE!"

"STAR-LORD, FIGHTER AND LOVER OF THE SPACEWAYS!"

"THE VISION, MASTER OF THE MIND!"

"SPIDER-MAN! WHO ALWAYS TRIES VERY HARD!"

"AND THE SCARLET WITCH!"

"Who also has an Infinity Gem," adds the Vision. "And a bit more besides, since she has me."

Has The Last Day Come At Last?

Ant Man Thinks for a little bit and then finally says "Eternity what is death? why is she here? where did she come from? where did you come from? All these question I have, but..."

"Thor, these stones are too dangerous for us to have. I only wanted to save the lives of the Kree. But you are right that humanity should not die with the gods. nor should anything die really. but if we abuse these stones the universe may die. so..."

"Eternity, can death be stopped? surly she can't be necessary for the universe to run. but if she is why? Ones I've hired your answer I'll decided what to do with my stone."

DEATH IS THE COUNTERPART OF ETERNITY. SHE IS ENDING WITHIN ENDLESSNESS. CREATION CONTINUES, BUT ALL THOSE WITHIN IT CHANGE. IT IS THE WAY OF THINGS. WHAT IS ALIVE WILL ONE DAY DIE. CHANGE THIS, AND I BECOME SOMETHING ELSE, PERHAPS BETTER, PERHAPS WORSE. I WILL NOT BE THERE TO JUDGE MY NEW SELF.

BUT DO NOT FEAR HER, SCOTT LANG. NOTHING THAT WAS IS EVER TRULY DESTROYED. WHOEVER HAS GLIMPSED ETERNITY, BE IT FOR HOWEVER BRIEF A MOMENT, ABIDES IN ME.

After hearing Eternity's answer, Sue says, "Well, we cannot turn over the stones to Eternity in any case. If I understood what he said, giving him the stones will decrease the free will of living being everywhere, and increase the pain and suffering.

"How about this for an idea? We use the stones in concern with each other to create a super-being who can guard the stones. We can call this super-being Captain Universe or something...? Then Captain Universe can bond with a partner, anyone who is in need or peril, and give him the cosmic powers of the Universe for a time, but abandon that partner instantly if he tries to use the Power Cosmic for selfish ends."

Wanda says kindly to Thor:
"But you have not been able to keep it, have you? Surely the Watcher...or Eternity Himself... could keep it safely and return it to you at the time of need? Are there not many portents of Ragnarok?

"Aye ... e'en Eternity must end. And when the world comes to its firey ruin, Eternity wilt no longer need the stones. Wilt thou, Eternity, give back the Tesseract at the last moment?"

I WILL. BUT I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT DAY WILL COME.

"Aye, but I do. No matter which of us be right ... I have secured my weapon for the Last Day. I am content."

"But I am not," hisses the Dweller in Darkness. "And I shall take what I want!"

A cloud of roiling darkness billows across the fields and farms of New York state, enveloping a gas station and a Super Donut franchise. The superheroic resurrected Kree stand resolute, punching and kicking the Darkness as though alien to fear.

It advances anyway, enshrouding the Kree in shadow, and coils around Machine Man, who still holds the Ragestone.

"The Rage Stone is mine!" the Dweller exults. "And thwarted this long interval, I have stored up plentiful rage indeed!"

Interview With The Universe

Sue Storm says, "Greetings, great Eternity. If you are the true owner of the stones, if they ARE you, what is the drawback if we merely turn them over to you, for safekeeping?

"And, while we are at it, what is the drawback, cost, or curse, if we use them to cure Galactus of his eternal hunger, allow the Silver Surfer to return to outer space and find his long lost true love, allow Ben Grimm to return to his human form at will, cure Alicia Masters of blindness, and free the evil Reed Richards from a parallel dimension from the utopian existence trapped inside this soul gem? 

"Also, our Landlord in the Baxter Building, Mr. Collins, has been really grouchy lately, so he might have some personal problems we can fix, and Willy Lumpkins our mailman has a bad back, and I think one of our neighbors is a Skrull in disguise. And then there is the Wingless Wizard, the Mad Thinker, and Dr. Curtis Conners who all have things wrong with them, either mentally or physically..."

Her voice trails off. Sue Storm is beginning to see the problem that Reed often mentioned, about absolute power, even used for a good purpose, getting out of control. 

"... Anyway, I was just curious, if you are the universe, why there is so much pain and turmoil inflicted on the innocent."

THERE IS FREE WILL, Eternity advises. AND MATTER IS OFTEN INCONVENIENT TO THE MINDS WHICH INHABIT IT.

IF YOU TURN THE STONES OVER TO ME, IT MAY WELL BE THAT I WILL HAVE MORE AWARENESS THAN I PRESENTLY DO. AS YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE SUFFERING THE UNIVERSE CONTAINS, YOU MAY NOT WISH TO GIVE ME MORE SELF-CONTROL, MORE SELF-AWARENESS. THE CHOICE IS YOURS.

UNLIKE THE WATCHER, I DO NOT INTERFERE. HOWEVER, THE WATCHER IS PERFECTLY ABLE TO DO THE THINGS YOU ASK, ALL BUT THE FIRST AND THE LAST. HE CANNOT CURE GALACTUS OF HIS ETERNAL HUNGER, AND HE CANNOT CURE THE PAIN AND TURMOIL SUFFERED BY THE INNOCENT.

Uatu the Watcher takes a step back.

"But I am pledged not to interfere ... in cases of extreme emergency, I have occasionally lapsed ..."

TO A MAN WHO BECOMES A MONSTER, WHAT IS A MORE EXTREME EMERGENCY? PERHAPS YOU HAVE WATCHED TOO MUCH, AT THE COST OF UNDERSTANDING.

"Perhaps ... I have," agrees the Watcher.

He extends his right hand in a benedictory gesture, and ten complex snowflakes of cosmic energy form in his palm. With a wave, he releases them, nine to flash to various corners of the Earth, one to shoot straight up toward the Sun, making a last-minute swerve to go around it.

"Are you now prepared to render the stones to Eternity?" the Watcher inquires.

"NAY!" shouts Thor, suddenly. "For 'tis foretold that in the End of Days, Garm the monster shall swallow the Moon, and only the power of the Tesseract shall save the last man and woman from death! Surely thou canst not wish to condemn all mankind to the doom which awaiteth the Gods themselves! The Blue Space Stone men call the Blue Space Stone, but which the gods call the Tesseract, must abide until that day, safe where we can reach it in extremity, not given o'er to the vagaries of Fate!"

"Give me now the Space Stone, Man of Ant. For the sake of that race which bore you, and which shall surely perish without!"

Well, Okay, Vision Can Live

THE VISION HAS SUFFICIENT CONTROL OF HIS MIND TO AVOID SUMMONING ME BY ACCIDENT. HIS RETENTION OF THE MIND STONE IS ACCEPTABLE.

"Cool," says Starlord. 'But do we each get one last wish?"

IF YOU LIKE.

Encounter In Eternity, revised

Ant Man says,

"Hey, Vizh, can you ask Eternity his advice on this one? 'cus I don't trust the fear being. But if he can do as he said then we can save all those that were lost."

The Vision says:

"Why, certainly, Ant-Man. Eternity says ..."

WHOOSH!

The starry universe above, below, and to either side, to the limits of visibility, OPENS ITS EYE.

And an intelligent face, half-lit by some unseen blue emanation, turns its gaze upon the mortals and cosmics gathered in upstate New York.

"Aaah ...." mutters the Dweller in Darkness. "Not very dark."

"Indeed," intone the three faces of the Living Tribunal. "Not very just, either."

"Between Chaos and Order stands what actually IS," says the In-Betweener with satisfaction. "Eternity."

"Exactly!" say the Dweller and the Tribunal in chorus. "Not perfect enough."

"But perfect enough for a billion billion dreams, a trillion trillion destinies," intones the Watcher. "For here is ETERNITY, sum sovereign of the Cosmic All, whose mind and soul none can fathom, no, not even given all Eternity in which to contemplate, nor all Reality to inspect at leisure. Behold, the sentient sapience of the Cosmos!"

"Oh, sure," says Star-Lord. "HIM, you introduce. But the rest of us .. hey, I'm the Love Lord over here! And she's the Will Storm, and the Soul Storm, and over here the Mind ... Guy; how about US?"

INDEED, STAR-LORD, YOU SIX AND YOUR COMPANIONS HOLD GREAT POWER, rings the voice of Eternity in everyone's being. It is not so much coming from the blue figure in the sky as it is coming from EVERYWHERE, including from within.

"Unjust power!" exclaims the Living Tribunal.

"Restricted power," objects the Dweller in Darkness.

THAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN, Eternity says. THEY ARE AS UNJUST OR AS RESTRICTED AS THEY CHOOSE TO BE.

"Eternity!" says the Watcher. "Why have you appeared to us, immanent, in this time and space? Is this a turning point of cosmic destiny?"

DESTINY IS ANOTHER ASPECT OF THE COSMOS, UATU THE WATCHER. AND THE FUTURE RETAINS THE CAPACITY TO SURPRISE. I HAVE COME BECAUSE I WAS CALLED, VIA AN ETERNITY STONE. THROUGH THAT LENS, I CAN BE GLIMPSED. IT IS NOT THE NATURE OF REALITY TO HIDE.

WHENEVER YOU USE THE STONES, YOU ARE FOCUSING MY ATTENTION ON THAT WHICH YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH. THERE ARE WEIGHTY MATTERS WHICH CONCERN ME, AND THOUGH I AM COEXTENSIVE WITH THE COSMOS, I AM NOT INFINITE IN SCOPE. IF YOU CONTINUE TO USE THEM, THE UNIVERSE WHICH I AM WILL SOON OVERLOOK A VITAL DUTY, AND ALL THAT IS WILL FALL.

NOW, THEREFORE, I ACCOMPLISH WHAT YOU THOUGHT TO BARTER THE STONES FOR. THE KREE WHO WERE SLAIN WERE HELD SUSPENDED BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH, BETWEEN ETERNITY AND WHAT LIES BEYOND. THUS I CAN RESTORE THEM.

"But that is my purview, my domain!" says the Dweller in Darkness.

RETURN THEM, THEN, BEFORE YOU MAKE IT CLEAR THE UNIVERSE CAN DO WITHOUT THE DARKNESS.

The navy-blue cutout eyes widen, and like tendrils of retreating fog, the darkness parts, revealing several thousand Kree superheroes, looking puzzled at the strange sky of Earth.

"Wait ... what are we supposed to do?" Star-Lord demands.

I DEMAND NOTHING. YOUR FREE CHOICE IS YOURS ALONE. IT IS THE FREE THOUGHT OF MYRIAD MINDS, PAST AND PRESENT, WHICH MAKES UP WHAT I AM. I CANNOT DENY YOU YOUR INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS.

"But if we guess wrong, the universe is gonna die!"

YES.

Encounter In Eternity

Ant Man says,

"Hey, Vizh, can you ask Eternity his advice on this one? 'cus I don't trust the fear being. But if he can do as he said then we can save all those that were lost."

The Vision says:

"Why, certainly, Ant-Man. Eternity says ..."

WHOOSH!

The starry universe above, below, and to either side, to the limits of visibility, OPENS ITS EYE.

And an intelligent face, half-lit by some unseen blue emanation, turns its gaze upon the mortals and cosmics gathered in upstate New York.

"Aaah ...." mutters the Dweller in Darkness. "Not very dark."

"Indeed," intone the three faces of the Living Tribunal. "Not very just, either."

"Between Chaos and Order stands what actually IS," says the In-Betweener with satisfaction. "Eternity."

"Exactly!" say the Dweller and the Tribunal in chorus. "Not perfect enough."

"But perfect enough for a billion billion dreams, a trillion trillion destinies," intones the Watcher. "For here is ETERNITY, sum sovereign of the Cosmic All, whose mind and soul none can fathom, no, not even given all Eternity in which to contemplate, nor all Reality to inspect at leisure. Behold, the sentient sapience of the Cosmos!"

"Oh, sure," says Star-Lord. "HIM, you introduce. But the rest of us .. hey, I'm the Love Lord over here! And she's the Will Storm, and the Soul Storm, and over here the Mind ... Guy; how about US?"

INDEED, STAR-LORD, YOU SIX AND YOUR COMPANIONS HOLD GREAT POWER, rings the voice of Eternity in everyone's being. It is not so much coming from the blue figure in the sky as it is coming from EVERYWHERE, including from within.

"Unjust power!" exclaims the Living Tribunal.

"Restricted power," objects the Dweller in Darkness.

THAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN, Eternity says. THEY ARE AS UNJUST OR AS RESTRICTED AS THEY CHOOSE TO BE.

"Eternity!" says the Watcher. "Why have you appeared to us, immanent, in this time and space? Is this a turning point of cosmic destiny?"

DESTINY IS ANOTHER ASPECT OF THE COSMOS, UATU THE WATCHER. AND THE FUTURE RETAINS THE CAPACITY TO SURPRISE. I HAVE COME BECAUSE I WAS CALLED, VIA AN ETERNITY STONE. THROUGH THAT LENS, I CAN BE GLIMPSED. IT IS NOT THE NATURE OF REALITY TO HIDE.

WHENEVER YOU USE THE STONES, YOU ARE FOCUSING MY ATTENTION ON THAT WHICH YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH. THERE ARE WEIGHTY MATTERS WHICH CONCERN ME, AND THOUGH I AM COEXTENSIVE WITH THE COSMOS, I AM NOT INFINITE IN SCOPE. IF YOU CONTINUE TO USE THEM, THE UNIVERSE WHICH I AM WILL SOON OVERLOOK A VITAL DUTY, AND ALL THAT IS WILL FALL.

NOW, THEREFORE, I ACCOMPLISH WHAT YOU THOUGHT TO BARTER THE STONES FOR. THE KREE WHO WERE SLAIN WERE HELD SUSPENDED BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH, BETWEEN ETERNITY AND WHAT LIES BEYOND. THUS I CAN RESTORE THEM.

"But that is my purview, my domain!" says the Dweller in Darkness.

RETURN THEM, THEN, BEFORE YOU MAKE IT CLEAR THE UNIVERSE CAN DO WITHOUT THE DARKNESS.

The navy-blue cutout eyes widen, and like tendrils of retreating fog, the darkness parts, revealing several thousand Kree superheroes, looking puzzled at the strange sky of Earth.

"Wait ... what are we supposed to do?" Star-Lord demands.

I DEMAND NOTHING. YOUR FREE CHOICE IS YOURS ALONE. IT IS THE FREE THOUGHT OF MYRIAD MINDS, PAST AND PRESENT, WHICH MAKES UP WHAT I AM. I CANNOT DENY YOU YOUR INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS.

"But if we guess wrong, the universe is gonna die!"

YES.

To Treat With the Darkness! To Thwart DEATH ITSELF!

Wanda says to Captain Purple Eyes:
"I could help you with that..."

She thinks over the mind stone. "Against such, there is no law."Sue Storm says, "I suggest we be very careful before making any attacks, or making any decisions, regarding these stones. They are absurdly dangerous, and apparently even stray, random, idle thoughts are immediately turned into actions."

Storm is trying to practice not willing things by mistake. That takes a lot of concentration...which is good, because otherwise, she would be laughing at the In BETWEENER...which might not be good for her long term health and well-being.

Storm says, "Is there an attack we could make that is not murder? Such as to use the stones to return the creature to the Darkness...and trap it there, so it can't come out again?

Ant Man:
"Hay I have an idea. How about I make a pocket dimension that we'll put the Gems in, and you'all go somewhere else and fight over who gets them. that a good idea?"

"Also, can you help us save the people lost when Dark Phoenix attacked the Cree home world?"

Spidey comments thus "That's a pretty good idea Ant Man. We Should put them in a pocket dimension. Not give them to anyone, just put them in a pocket dimension. That way if we really need them (which we will) we can find a way to get them. All though, we should do more then that. For example, in that we should put each Infinity Gems in a separate pocket dimension. And, in each one of those pocket dimensions, we should have each one of the by a different Gem! That way you can only get an Infinity Gem if you have an Infinity Gem, which is impossible. And, we should put each one of these Infinity guarded Infinity Gems in a completely different trap filled fortress, each with a different theme! AND, after all that, we should erase our memory of exactly what we did. So that way, we know that we hid the Gems in a pocket dimension, but not how to get the Gems."

Spidey said "So, way do we need to to attack the Dweller in Darkness?"

The dweller replies,

"You cannot attack the darkness. It is futility itself. And impolite, as I have not attacked you."

"The Kree who came back from death to serve Thanos, though .... they are with me now. I can give them back to you."

"One Gem. One Gem is all I require ..." purrs the hissing shadow with the navy-blue eyes. "And the thousands of Kree will live again."