To Light The Darkness

Wanda:
"Perhaps you would influence the Watcher, o, Dweller in the Darkness. How many times have I done something similar? As to what Vision is,"
she slips her hand in his, "at least we know his origin."
She stares at the Dweller in Darkness. "What is yours?"

"When the first being to perceive its surroundings felt pain from an unexpected source, I was there. When the first animals to develop speech found a fear for which they had no words, I was there. And when children across the universe wonder why things happen, and they dwell on what might befall if things stopped making sense ... I am there. Inexplicable scary happenings, such as those which attend you superheroes like gnats on a summer evening, make me stronger. I am the mystery and terror of the dark side of the cosmos, just behind what you can observe. I am Dread."

Ant Man is terrified of the cosmic super being of darkness. but he comes down and asks "Ok Mr. Dweler in Darkness, What would you do with Eternity if we did give them to you."

"Frighten him," purrs the darkness, and narrows its navy-blue eyes in delight.

He will teleport some more shrinky and growy disks from Hank's lab.

After that he will think about Cats.

(That was a great show on Broadway. Mmm. Cats.)

Storm says, "I thought I had a gem, too, but frankly...I've been a little confused on that matter for some time now."

She checks. She does in fact have the Will Stone. Unless she doesn't want to; then it obeys her will, and isn't there.

INVISIBLE GIRL

Sue Storm thinks over the mindlink, "Clearly the gems are too dangerous for any entity, cosmic or not, to hold. What we need to do is use the mind gem to erase the knowledge of the fact that we have these gems from the memory of Eternity, the Inbetweener and the Dweller, then decide what to do with them, and use them to create some form of safe or strongbox to hide and hold them --- let us say, a form of super force field to block any possible attacks and a form of rendering them super invisible to escape anyone possible way of finding them --- while erasing all trace from our own minds of whatever it was we did, but leaving behind a smug feeling that we did the right thing and never need worry about it again."


Wanda: "Vatever else is decided, you are not taking Vish's stone."

Vision: "Indeed!"

"Enough!" declares the IN-BETWEENER. "I shall strike and gather the Gems together, to poise Creation ever on the precipice, between Being and Becoming!"

"Then you will have changed the present moment from a potentiality into an actuality," say the three faces of the Living Tribunal. "You will no longer be in between."

"Ack!" shouts the IN-BETWEENER. "I almost ... I would have ... but I didn't!"

"Not yet," says the Dweller in Darkness. "Until you do, you stand between doing, and not."

"Then I shall not take the stones from the humans ... YET!" declares the IN-BETWEENER.

"One down," says Star-Lord. "So we're agreed -- we fry the darkness dude? We better use all six stones to make sure."

"Living Tribunaaal," the Darkness wheedles, "they are going to destroy me! Isn't that ... MURRRRDERRR?"

"I judge what is done, not what is debated," says the Living Tribunal. "They have not done anything yet."

"But if ... should they strike me down ..."

"I would levy the penalty for murder," says the Tribunal, hefting his scales.

"We got the Mind Stone, Captain Three-Way," says Star-Lord. "We'll beat the rap. C'mon, guys! One, two ... "

Star-Lord presents the purple Heartstone of the Universe, ready for blasting.

Darkness Threatens the Rainbow Guardians!

Spidey WAS going to tell the Watcher that Peter Parker is a secret name (that was probably a rely, rely bad Idea) or (more likely) he would have tried to find out more about the gems. But then, Cthulhu, Justice, & something IN-BETWEENER (Justthulhu?) all showed up.

Not having a gem himself, Peter can not personally be the one to make the finale decision, but he can give his counsel. He will tell the others that out of the three, the glowing super-being of justice is probable a good chose.

Storm wonders if the gems should be split up among viable candidates, so that no being has them all.

Ant Man Looks at the three super beings in awe. "What do you mean by a New World? We haven't done anything like that yet!"

Over the mind link "U guys what do we do? If we give any one of them the gems we will never be able to save the people lost when Thanos. But then again there's no way we can handle these things."

Wanda thinks: Vision can handle his stone. I ... handled the anger stone ... after a fashion. And the rapscallion doesn't seem to be misusing the love stone. Well... not exactly. About the others, I do not know.

The Vision thinks to all:

Machine Man is immune to the Rage Stone, but perhaps hasty in its use. Wanda has used it for good, which is quite an accomplishment.
I agree that Star-Lord can be trusted with the Heartstone.
The Willstone is presumably still on Hala, where Dark Phoenix dropped it. Although someone may have found it by now. Perhaps, in fact I would gauge most likely, Captain Mar-Vell.
The Space Stone is currently held by Ant-Man. He has not used it unwisely so far.
The Soul Stone is in the holding of Susan Storm, who appears to have it well in hand.
And the yellow Mind Stone is necessary for my survival. I do not believe I have used it ill.

So at this moment, I submit to you all that five of the six stones are already in good hands. If any guardian wishes to hand off to a more reliable guardian, I think we can trust  them to make that decision.

There is still the matter of the green will stone ... but more important is these cosmic entities before us.

I submit further that, first, they cannot be much stronger than the stones, or they would have no need of them. This implies that they may be vulnerable to their action.

And second, each of the three beings, in announcing himself, has shown that he or it is a limited mind, focused so exclusively on one aspect of reality as to be obsessive. Obsessives make poor decisions and should never be trusted with power.

Therefore, I now suggest the five of us, the stone-holders, unite to expel the In-Betweener, Dweller in Darkness, and Living Tribunal from our midst, and place on them a fivefold fetter of Mind, Space, Soul, Rage and Love to never, ever, seek the Stones or use them if they should fall into their hands.

Oh, but first, let's send Spider-Man to get the Will Stone from Hala. Ant-Man, I believe that would be your perogative, as the Space Guardian. In our future superhero team, your costume would logically be blue.

An icy whisper pervades the mind-link, like cold fog drifting up toward your hearts.

"I have heard every word you have thought, artificial man of synthetic tissue woven of two computer programs and brought to life by the sorcery of Asgard. Do this thing, and you cannot conceive of the horrors you will unleash upon the cosmos, and most specifically your own selves and the selves of those you value. Lest you doubt the Dweller in Darkness, simply consult the Watcher, the paragon of honesty and knowledge, and hear what he says about my pronouncement of doom ...."

Why Does the Watcher Even Bother Warning Anyone?

Wanda to the Watcher:
"Zo . . . can you set things aright, or, must we experiment? It is not so much interfering as it is restoring. Much as a referee at a sporting events returns the players to a neutral stance. The interference . . . it surely came from Thanos. The foul is his."

The Watcher looks serious, neither moving nor speaking. It would seem rude, save that it's obvious he hasn't heard a word Wanda said.

Ant Man is visibly shaken "Did ... Did you just kill him? No the Mind stone is vary literal, you probably just made go mute. Vision please fix it."

"On a an other note, I agree with storm lets not use the stones unless necessary. That reminds me..."

Ant Man teleports Thor, where ever he is, to this spot.

"Aye, and you shall reckon with the power of ... hello," says Thor. "I'm somewhere else."

Ant-Man says,
"With that taken care of, let's put the stones in a box. I'll shrink the box and store it in my belt. Unless someone else has any better ideas?"

Storm blinks, shaking off a momentary daydream about meeting Dr. Strange (loved the movie), and says, "That might not be wise. But then again..."

She looks thoughtful. "Where could we put them that we could get them in an emergency--when the danger is worse than the price of using the gems, which happens a lot, but they would be safe the rest of the time?

"And can Vision operate without his?"

"No," says the Vision. "But it is a sacrifice I am prepared to make, if necessary. Let me clarify: only if necessary."

Spider-Man thinks,

"Wait, so the Infinity Gems are activated by... thought?! Not by telling it to do something. Not by giving it a command. But simply by thinking about the thing that you may or may not even want to happen. Who made these?!?! No human could possibly use this power!!! Unless it was not meant to be used by humans or perhaps they were not meant to be used at all!"

"You are correct, Peter Parker," says the Watcher, reading his mind. "They may not have been meant to be used at all. So long as Eternity has existed, the Infinity Stones have been windows into the mind of Eternity."

"So can use this Love Stone to fix the problem," concludes Star-Lord.

"Have you not heard a single word I have said?"

"I heard you, Baldy. You said these things are linked to Eternity. So there's nothing they can't do! We just have to make sure we don't think of anything bad, even by accident, without meaning it."

Wanda and Storm, and Sue Storm as well, remember that Star-Lord is especially dreamy when he lips off to the Watcher.

Space itself distorts in a shimmering diffraction. The lights of the city fade off to the left, as do the stars, while the darkness of the countryside's shadows gather on the right. All reality sorts itself into Light and Dark.

And from between them slides a fantastic figure, white on one side, black on the other, wearing a tragedy mask and holding a two-dimensional sword!

"I ... am the IN-BETWEENER," he declares. "This is the last moment between the Old World and the New. In this instant, all things are open to reinterpretation, and all things are possible. Give me the Infinity Gems, and I will ensure a smooth transition!"

The darkness speaks.

"I ... am the Dweller in Darkness," it hisses. "Give me the Gems and darkness will continue to exist. Let the fey In-Betweener have them, and all you know shall perish in fire ..."

The light blazes.

"We ... are the LIVING TRIBUNAL!" declares a three-faced golden titan armed with calipers, the book of Law, and a balance on which rests a white feather. "We are the makers of justice and order. Give us the Gems, or the In-Betweener will allow the Dweller in Darkness to swallow the cosmos in chaos and death!"

"That is better than burning in agony ..." hisses the Dweller. "Entropy lasts forever."

From The Records of the Watcher

Wanda:
To Dr. Banner: "Perhaps it is time that you and 'the other guy' talked. Who is he? Is he from another dimension?"

To Star Lord:
"He was injured. Probably severely. But he is a true super being, so... perhaps not..." Her eyes light up. "Perhaps it is a clerical error. Like that film that was on at 2 in the morning that we watched. 'Here Comes Mr. Jordenski.'" In which case, we should certainly try to find him."


"Was he killed by the sun?" Storm asks Star Lord. "Your father, I mean. Is he elsewhere in space?"

"He was duking it out with Thanos, that's the last I saw of him," says Star-Lord. "And then Dark Phoenix threw the Sun at us ... but he's gotta be alive, right? He'll pull through!"

The Invisible Girl says:

"These infinity stones are very dangerous! What shall we do with them? Not even the Illuminati could be trusted with such power! Perhaps we should give the gems to an irresponsible yet lascivious troll, an artificial man tormented by self-doubt destined to become ultimately evil, a female space-assassin, a notorious but literal minded space-criminal bent on revenge, an arrogant bald telepath woman, and give one back to Thanos.

"If this seems like an utterly absurd and ridiculous group of people to whom to entrust the nigh-infinite power of the gems, maybe we should just keep them. We can call ourselves SPIDERMAN AND HIS AMAZING INFINITY WATCH.

"Either that, or THE AMAZING EIGHT. Groups where you just pick a flattering adjective and your number are the best kind. Did I count right? An adventuress, a witch, a mutant, a robot, two insect men, a space rogue in rocket boots, and were-astronaut?

"We may need to split two gems into four, or find other infinities to loot. We don't have enough for everyone right now. I can ask The Watcher where they are! He says he never interferes, but he is a big sweetheart, and helps out a lot. For example, does Eternity have any brothers or sisters? Maybe they have gems."

Spidey Says to the Invisible Girl (he used to be able to think it, but he gave up his infinite power for his mindbogglingly short life to continue for an infinitesimal fraction of a cosmic second. It was probably worth it, though, because if he was dead, who would take care of aunt May?! Who would deliver the pictures he took to J. Jonah Jameson?!! And who would explain to M.J. that he missed their date on the most flimsiest of pretenses DEATH?!?!?! No he can't die so he will continue to express everything he means, OUT LOUD!!!(He thinks this forgetting the mindlink.))

 "Sue, I think you will need to greatly improve the name of the team before it will be usable. THE AMAZING EIGHT is a terrible team name, THERE IS NO ALLITERATION!!! Something like THE EXCELLENT EIGHT would be a much better name, don't you think?"

The Vision and Machine Man look at each other. Machine Man says,

"Ah, I think you mean TWO robots?"

Ant Man says:
"I see no one has any ideas on how to save the dead people. Hay, Vig, maybe you can ask Eternity how to do it... or we could just invade The Land of the Dead to get them back. That might work as well. Ow and Invisible Girl, what makes you think that that Team you suggested is a good group of people to hand Eternity to?... And how did you come up with that concept at all?"

The Vision says:

"In your history, do groups make better decisions than individuals? If so, let us divide the Stones among those we know well."

"It might be best to entrust the Infinity Gems to someone who can make mistakes, but cannot go mad with rage or greed. I have the perfect candidate."

"Zo, you are villing?" Wanda smiles at him.

"Oh. I did not mean myself," says the Vision, although he doesn't blush, already being very red indeed. "I meant Machine Man."

Wanda: "I am sure Machine Man vill do a fine job...but he is not immune to anger. Unless..."
She turns to Machine Man.
"You have devised a protocol?"

Machine Man says, "Sure! I identified anger and deleted it. It's running in background now, I don't even notice it. But, uh, I don't have a good model of other emotions. Do the Gems produce other things, like anti-rage? Whatever that is."

A shimmer distorts the sky and the ground, as though the solid earth were but a reflection glimmering on a deeper ocean Man never perceives.

Through the shimmer, golden stars blaze in a deep blue sky. And through it steps a giant bald mad, clad in toga and boots, with a blue kirtle belted around his waist, a complexly ornamented gorget extending past his shoulders, and a big electronic book, also in blue.

He looks down at everyone and intones,

"I ...am the WATCHER!"

The Watcher does not notice Sue, facing the others, mouthing along with the words, because he always says the same thing.

"The Infinity Stones are too powerful for mortals to trifle with, as Sue Storm has wisely spoken," intones the Watcher. "Many are the alternative worlds in which a single one of the Stones has wiped all life from the Macrocosmic All. I warn you, despite my oath of non-interference, to place them out of your grasp, lest you be taken by passing whim to do what cannot be undone!"

"Furthermore, I"

And then the Watcher stops talking, and kinda stands there.

The Vision snaps his head up abruptly.

"I beg your pardon," he says, sincerely. "I was thinking he was taking a long time to say what we already agree with. I fear I wished him to stop droning on ..."

"And it happened!" says Star-Lord excitedly. "Wow, these Stones ARE powerful! We gotta use them real hard, right now, to fix all the damage! Lemme try the Love-Stone ..."

We Can't Just Unmake the Cosmos. We Have to Talk Ourselves INTO It First

Wanda: "No, Dr. Banner. You did not hurt anyone. The base might be another
story, but it is only a building."

(She checks with Vision.)

"I wonder... If there is a way to balance your rage with your clear love for humanity, by using the love stone? The love stone's effects enabled me to help Jean Gray overcome her blinding rage as Dark Phoenix."

Storm murmurs, "The sun was mad at me! Well, not me personally." She turns to Star Lord and says cheerfully. "More likely, it was mad at you. But still disturbing."

She looks around, "What is left to be done? Anyone lost, suffering, or disorientated?"

The Scarlet Witch replies:

"Vee are missing anyone who vas brought back from death. Including the residents of the other planet who were turned into zombies. And, including my brother..."

She looks at Captain Purple-Eyes/aka Star Lord sadly. "Your father also."

"Hey, my fath .. my FATHER wasn't a zombie! He shouldn't be dead, man!" says Star-Lord. "Isn't that how it works?"

She looks at Banner. "Is this the right time to experiment? I vould be villing to try."

"What is that, a, a love stone? Love magic seems to work just fine on me, but, uh, they don't do much for the, y'know, other guy."