Elsewhere....
"The moment is upon us," began Thanos, "When the stars must come to realize, the absolute truth of your words." With a wave of his hand, he shatters the "God" sign that he erected with just a thought.
"None shall deny me my righteous path in the pantheon of the cosmic gods," boasted Thanos. "I claim a seat at the head of the table."
Suddenly, and without warning, Thanos cries out in pain. He looks down, and where his left arm was is suddenly gone. Laughter permeates his surroundings, and as he turns, is met with a sword thrust directly into his chest, courtesy of Sephiroth.
"What...is this...madness..." Thanos gasped.
"Not madness," explained Sephiroth, "I am simply taking your 'seat', that is all." And as he retracts his sword, he turns and removes the Infinity Gauntlet from the severed arm of Thanos.
"Oh, don't feel too bad about this," he continued.
"It was predestined that you were going to fail. I have foreseen this
already."
"That.... is.... MY.... BIRTHRIGHT!" Thanos howled, staggering toward him. "My.... Lady Death...WILL... be appeased!"
"You are so right, Mad Titan," agreed Sephiroth, snapping his fingers. Thanos then begins to turn to rock, Harding, solidifying, before finally resembling a stone structure. He laughs at his creation, and then with one wave of his hand, obliterates Thanos. "Give my regards to your fair Lady Death."
"My lord!" cried Mephisto, rushing to his side. "I am at your humble disposal! Thanos was a fool, and in no way worthy of the Infinity gems, unlike yourself, of course! Please," he continued, dropping to his knees, "What is it that you wish of me, your most humble servant?"
Sephiroth then drew his sword, and with one swing, severed Mephisto's head. "To be silent," he said with sarcasm. He then watched as Mephisto's body fell to one side. "Good, keep it that way."
Sephiroth then floated up into the cold vacuum of space, now in possession of his new weapon, the Infinity Gauntlet. He looked around, laughed, and proceeded to blink the universe of Marvels out of existence.
Opening a dimensional pocket in the blank vastness, he steps though back into the North End cavern. When he arrived, he begins to formulate his plan. He realizes that despite the ease in destroying that universe, it is not enough. The Infinity Gauntlet is just the first step in becoming an all-powerful entity. As there are other universes, there are other worlds to destroy. And, he thinks to himself, it will all fall before him very soon. But first, he has to gather an army. Yes, he thinks to himself. His foot soldiers will be loyal and obedient to the very end. But for his soldiers on the battlefield, a general will be there to lead them. To that end, if anyone foolish enough attempted to oppose him, his soldiers would step forward and fight his war, allowing him to focus on the real prize; the complete and total obliteration of all known universes. Combining the power of the Black Materia with the Infinity Gauntlet, Sephiroth searches through time and space for those who will become part of his Dark Army.
Elsewhere....
Elsewhere....
Quickly she turned around. She looked, but no one was there. She shrugged it off, thinking it was just Mihoshi. But the voice called out again. "Miss Washu."
Washu stood up, and looked around. But still she didn't see anyone in the lab. "Ya know it's not very nice to try to sneak up on the greatest scientist in the world!" She picked up her analyzer and scanned the area. "Ya want to tell me where, or for that matter, who you are, and just how you got into my lab?"
The voice began to speak. "I am terribly sorry, Miss Washu, but I am afraid matters are at hand that require your field of expertise."
"Is that so?" Washu questioned. "Matters of what great importance that it relates to me?"
"The end of existence," the voice said. "All of existence."
Washu looked stunned. "What!?! What are you saying? No one has that kind of power! It's impossible to eliminate existence, much less all of it!"
"Explore your calculations, and tell me otherwise," the voice said.
Washu went over to her console, and there, as she had said, was the proof. Already, 33 possible universes had blanked out of existence, and many more were disappearing by the minute. She looked away in shock. "Oh my god."
"I hope you see," the voice offered. "Why you are needed in this particular crisis."
"Who could do this?" questioned Washu. "Who would possibly have this kind of power?"
"He is called Sephiroth," said the voice. "While a force in his own right, he craved the power that would make him the most dominant being in all of the realities. Power, I'm sorry to say, that he now possesses, with the Infinity Gauntlet."
"But the Laws of Reality shouldn't allow him to use that kind of power outside of the original universe," rationalized Washu. "It would sever the checks and balance that the galaxies share!"
"That would be true," the voice concurred. "But with each universe he destroys, reality becomes unbalanced. With the universe of Marvels decimated, the set of rules established by that universe was erased. The more galaxies he destroys, the quicker the laws change, and the more power he absorbs through the Black Materia. If he isn't stopped soon, all of existence will cease to be."
Washu paused for a moment, then looked up with determination. "All right, I'll help you. What do you want me to do?" she asked.
"For now, simply come with me," she said, creating a portal. "We must try to make contact with the others."
"The others?" asked Washu. "And just whom are you referring to?"
"The ones who will end this nightmare," the voice replied. "Our Young warriors of Justice."
Elsewhere, and still in this plane of reality...
The A1 class criminal, Kain.
Kain, a dark specter of destruction, and a destroyer of worlds, he hates the House of Jurai with a reckless abandon. Possessor of an anti-Jurai energy attack, It took the combined might of the Galaxy Police, and the combination of the sub-space net and energy from the Emperor Jurai to capture Kain.
On this day, Kain was to break free, destroy the GP headquarters, and alter the history of one Tenchi Masaki, by going back in time and eliminating his parents, and thus ending the Jurai family lineage. But on this day, things would turn out differently.
The locks to his cell shorted out, and Kain broke free from his confines. However, just as he was about to destroy the Station, he noticed something different; all of the Galaxy Police officers were already dead! As he looked about, he then noticed a silver haired human dressed in black, and wearing an enormously oversized glove with gems adorning it, blood dripping from his sword.
"I suppose I could have just froze them, or blinked them out of existence altogether," he began, "But the truth of it is, had I done that, I would have denied myself the pleasure of hearing them scream." He then looked up at the dark apparition.
"Hello, Kain," he smiled with sinister intentions.
"I am Sephiroth. I have a proposition for you that you might find quite
interesting."
Elsewhere....
"All right, let's get started!" proclaimed Washu. "It's time to solve this universal paradox, once and for all! And I'm just the genius to do that!"
"Yea, Washu!" cheered Little Washu #1 over her shoulder.
"Washu is the Greatest!" agreed Little Washu #2 over her other shoulder.
"Washu is a Genius!!" sang 1&2 in unison. "Yea, Washu!!!"
"Well, I am a genius!" agreed Washu, laughing and beaming with pride. She brought up her console, and proceeded to work.
"Okay," said Washu. "The first thing that I need to do is bring Tenchi and the others over. That won't be too hard. I already have their bio-patterns on file, so it should be no trouble to bring them in."
She pressed a switch, and waited for them to show. Any minute now, she'll have to tell Ryoko to stop fighting with Ayaka, or explain to Mihoshi why she shouldn't touch certain instruments. Yep, any minute now. Maybe Tenchi's Light-Hawk Wings will be of some use against this villain. Ryoko's energy blasts and Ayaka's Jurai energy power will come in handy as well. Maybe their combined power ought to help quell this villain's destructive rampage. Kyone's police no-how will be put to use also. As soon as they get here, it will be all worked out. Yep, any minute now.
But a minute passed. Two more minutes went by, and still nothing. Washu checked the controls. No readouts. No bio-pattern found. No signature readings. Nothing.
"Hey voice," Washu called out. "Your computers are junk! Tenchi and the others haven't been sent over yet! What's going on here?"
The voice hesitated. "Miss Washu...."
"Oh, come on," demanded Washu, "Just admit you got cheap junk so I can go back to my lab and I can get some real equipment!"
"Miss Washu," the voice began, "There is nothing wrong with the equipment."
"Well then the only other possible reason why they haven't shown up yet," started Washu, "Is that.... oh no. No, that's not possible."
"I'm afraid so, Miss Washu," confided the voice. "I'm sorry."
Washu dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face, and unable to comprehend what had just happened. She is the greatest scientist in her galaxy. She has the ability to create the most complex systems in the world. She can create weapons of mass destruction on just a whim. But now, she has never felt so powerless in the world. Tenchi. Ayaka. Sasami. Mihoshi. Kyone.Ryoko. All of them. Gone at the whim of a madman bent on mass destruction.
"How," began Washu, her voice trembling. "How could he.... how could he move so fast?"
"Miss Washu," the voice interjected. "I'm so very sorry for your loss, really, I am. But time is of the essence. If we don't act quickly, more will perish. We must summon the others before Sephiroth destroys their worlds as well."
"I know," said Washu softly. She slowly got to her feet, and asked, "Who are we looking for? You mentioned Young warriors of Justice."
"I will give you the coordinates, and then we will recruit them," offered the voice. "Before He destroys another universe. I promise you, Miss Washu, Your friends will be avenged. We will stop him."
End of Part One