Cosmos in Collision Part One

Prologue:

The Recent Past

Near the planet Saturn exists the disembodied form of Kronos, a member of the Eternals whose experiments into immortality lead to a cosmic accident that expanded his molecules into the solar winds. Since then his mind and body have continued to expand, making him a god among his people.[1]

This day, he is visited by another similar entity, who claims to have no name and explains that he found himself in this state through treachery when he was tricked into expanding his power to hyper-enlarge himself.[2] The stranger would like to know what Kronos does with his time.

The Eternal god explains that at first he was concerned with stopping his descendant Thanos from becoming a blight to the universe. Although his chosen champion was able to end the threat posed by Thanos, the Mad Titan has since returned anew.[3] However, Kronos is less concerned with such matters and instead has been searching for the face of Infinity, stating that it is not just an abstract concept but a personified being that once gave a fraction of its power to Odin, lord of the Asgardians.[4] The knowledge that there are abstract cosmic entities whose power dwarfs the known universe interests the stranger, who tells Kronos that he now has other business to attend to. He decides to claim that power for himself and goes deeper into the universe to learn what he can. As the stranger flies away, Lord Chaos watches and laughs.

Refugees:

Now

At Project PEGASUS, Quasar is spending time with the Squadron Supreme, who have been stranded in this reality and are looking for a way back home.[5] That’s when Doctor Strange arrives at the facility to see them. However, he is not visiting because Quasar summoned him, but he sensed something was amiss after returning to this dimension.[6] Quasar wants to know what this might be, but the members of the Squadron are eager to return to their home dimension after Reed Richards was unable to return them to their native reality.[7][8] However, when Strange casts a dimensional displacement spell, only half of each Squadron member disappears, putting their lives at risk. Needing to remain on Earth as an anchor, Strange sends Quasar into the dimensional rift and pulls the halves of the Squadron that are trapped.

Once back on Quasar’s Earth, Arcanna — a mystic in her own right — has divined that they are being barred from their native reality by Doctor Thomas Lightner, who was a threat to their own reality until he usurped the role of Wizard Supreme from Arcanna’s newborn son Benjamin who has since been undoing the damage done to their universe by Lightner. Strange offers to commune with Lightner to convince him to allow the Squadron Supreme back home. This upsets the Whizzer who wants to return home to his family, but Strange insists that they need to go about this gently otherwise he could spark an interdimensional war. The rest of the team calms him down, and Quasar makes arrangements for the Squad to remain at Project PEGASUS until they can be returned home.[9]

Meanwhile, having escaped from the Strangers prison world, Jack of Hearts is returning to Earth towing a number of ships carrying other Earth born prisoners back to their home world.[5]

Sometime later, Quasar and Doctor Strange to New York City where they part company. Quasar returns to the Four Freedoms Plaza where he resumes his civilian guise and returns to his business, Vaughn Security Consultants. There, Wendell is told by his secretary, Kayla Ballentine, that H.D. Steckley has returned to work and is in his office. He finds her inside with Ken Tanaka. She claims that she hasn’t been around for the past few days due to a “medical emergency”. Wendell insists that she go home and get some rest, but when he reaches to touch her she instinctively flips him over her shoulder. This causes the bookshelf that hides the portal to Eon’s pocket dimension to start teetering over. Luckily, it is prevented from falling by Makkari, who comes racing into the room. Steckley apologizes for hurting Wendell, saying that she trained in martial arts and decides that perhaps it was best for her to return home after all. When Wendell asks Makkari who he has come by, Mak reminds him that they were supposed to go apartment hunting. Hearing this, Kayla tells them that her uncle is a real estate agent who can help them find a place.

A few hours later, H.D. Steckley returns to her apartment, where Eon reveals that he has established a psychic link with her. He tells her to rest as he needs her to keep Quasar and his companions under constant observation. Steckley agrees but first decides to draw a bath. As her tub fills, she strips off her clothing, glasses, and her wig.[11]

By this time, Wendell and Makkari are shown an ideal apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. After signing the deal, Makkari heads off to Olympia to gather his things, while Quasar goes out with Kayla for dinner to celebrate his new apartment.[12] When Wendell and Kayla are out for dinner, he gets a warning signal from his Quantum Bands that something has breached the energy barrier he put around the Earth.[13] Annoyed that this has happened after finally mustering the courage to ask Kayla out on a date, Wendell decides to reveal to her that he is really Quasar. Showing her his Quantum Bands and explaining how he has been selected as a guardian of the universe comes as such a shock to Kayla that she is rendered speechless. Changing into costume, Quasar heads up into orbit to face this potential threat, hoping he didn’t totally botch things with Kayla in the process.

Once in orbit, he crosses paths with Jack of Hearts and his convoy of refugees. Jack is so desperate to return home to Earth, that he sees Quasar as a threat to this goal and attacks him. During the fight, one of the life support pods is shattered and it’s occupant — the heroic Gargoyle — almost suffocates in the vacuum of space, if not for Quasar’s quick intervention.[14] Quasar attempts to stop his attacker by absorbing the zero energy that powers him but has to stop when he realizes that this is what is keeping Jack alive. Sealing himself and Jack in an energy bubble to try and talk things out. However, Jack recovers enough to knock Quasar out. He is then approached by the Presence and Starlight, two other escapees.[15] The Presence tells Jack that Quasar must be destroyed as he is the defender of a major threat to the universe, Eon![16]

Recurring Characters

Quasar, Squadron Supreme (Hyperion, Power Princess, Doctor Spectrum, Whizzer, Skylark, Moonglow, Shape, Haywire) Doctor Strange, “H.D. Steckley”, Ken Tanaka, Kayla Ballentine, Makkari, Jack of Hearts, Starlight, Presence, Kronos, Maelstrom (unidentified), Lord Chaos, Gargoyle,

Continuity Notes

1. Kronos’ ascent into godhood was detailed in What If? #24-25. However, it is later revealed in Eternals (vol. 5) #5 and Eternals: Thanos Rising #1 that Kronos was imprisoned in the Exclusion for the crime of auto-deification. He exists simultaneously as a god and also a regular imprisoned Eternal.

2. This unnamed entity is revealed to be Maelstrom in Quasar #21. He was last seen in Avengers #247-250 where he was forced to hyper-expand himself.

3. Kronos is referring to when Captain Marvel was selected to stop Thanos from destroying all life in the universe, as detailed in Captain Marvel #25-33 and Avengers #125. That conflict ended with Thanos’ death. However, more recently, the Mad Titan was resurrected in Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #34. His latest scheme hinted at here is killing half the population of the universe, a tale told in Infinity Gauntlet #1-6.

4. Kronos claims that Odin tapped into the power of Infinity. This happened during the events of Thor #185-188. This was caused by many interruptions to the Odinsleep and a period where Odin was held captive in a realm between life and death.

5. The Squadron hale from Reality-712, per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005 #1. They have been stranded on the Prime Marvel Universe (Earth-616) following the events of Squadron Supreme: Death of a Universe #1 and have been slumming it with Quasar since Quasar #13.

6. A reference to Alpha Flight #101, when Doctor Strange ventured into the Crossroads dimension with Northstar and Aurora. There are flashback appearances from Sentry #4-5 and Sentry/The Void #1, but at the time of this story, Strange was made to forget those events.

7. Reed Richards offered to help the Squadron get home in Quasar #17.

8. Here, Doctor Strange recalls meeting the Squadron Supreme in the past. This happened in Defenders #112-115, when the Defenders went to the Squadron’s Earth and liberated it from control by the Overmind.

9. The Squadron Supreme remain trapped on Earth until Avengers Annual 1998.

10. Jack of Hearts and his companions were revealed to have been prisoners of the Stranger and escaped over the course of in Quasar #13-16.

11. H.D. Steckley’s name, martial arts skill and wig are hints to her true identity. She is actually Heather Douglas, aka Moondragon. She has come to try and forge a romantic relationship with Quasar as she has come to view him as the ideal mate. This will all be detailed over the course of Quasar #21-25. She encountered Eon after forcing her way into Wendell’s office in Quasar #16.

12. Makkari laments that he lost the race to determine the fastest man alive. That happened in Quasar #17. He will get the opportunity to redeem himself in issue #58.

13. Quasar put this barrier around the Earth to warn him if any alien beings come to Earth. See Quasar #12.

14. The Gargoyle was last seen in the company of Moondragon and her cousin Sundragon, as seen in Solo Avengers #16, 18, 20. How he ended up captured by the Stranger is never clearly explained, but whatever, Moondragon and her comrades didn’t give a shit about the Gargoyle, why should we?

15. The Presence and Starlight were prisoners of the Strangers’ planet that were previously seen in Quasar #14. It’s later revealed in Quasar #23 that they were tricked by Maelstrom into thinking that Eon was a threat to all existence.