Elders Quest Chapter 3

Written by Mystic, Edited by Morfex
Logo created by Lord Thanos
Published by the Cosmic Powers Fan Fiction Group in
THE COSMIC POWERS UNLIMITED FANZINE ISSUE #9

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Elder's Quest
Chapter 3: The Challenge


Thanos sat on a throne, in the bridge of his several kilometers-sized ship. Small worker robots silently moved about, each with multiple tasks to accomplish. Even when virtually nothing was going on, the Titan had work for his servants. Whether it was maintenance or research, they were always busy. The Titan too was preoccupied. He studied a panel in front of him arduously. He placed the panel down on the right hand side of his throne as if expecting something to happen.

"Will you be observing me all day long, or will you actually materialize?" Thanos said in a firm voice.

Surprised, the Grandmaster materialized himself in front of Thanos. "I did not know your cosmic senses were so well honed," the Grandmaster said genuinely.

"Cease your prattling, Elder. What is it you want?"

"What else would I want?" the Grandmaster said, a smirk appearing on his face, "But to challenge you!"

"What challenge can there be from one whom I've already soundly beaten?" Thanos somberly replied.

The tone of voice surprisingly held no conceit that the Grandmaster could detect. Did this creature truly think himself above an Elder? It was a ludicrous statement that the Grandmaster chose to ignore.

"Because this challenge will be different from the previous. It will not involve you and I directly. Rather we will use players to determine the outcome. We will see how skilled you are at having others do your bidding!"

"Fool! You enter a game you cannot possibly win," Thanos said almost scolding his adversary.

"I have been doing this for far longer than the oldest existing civilizations," the Grandmaster said, finally getting angry. "If I can beat Death, I can certainly beat any inadequate minion of hers!"

This time Thanos responded, standing up immediately and clenching his fists. His eyes glared, as he contemplated how he would deal with this disrespect. Finally he spoke, "Very well, Elder. What are the stakes?"

"Simple. Since this challenge comes from all the Elders, we have chosen to make it race binding. If we win, the Eternals of Titan, including yourself of course, will leave this universe never to return."

"And if I win?"

"There is virtually no chance of that. However, for argument’s sake, if you were to win, we Elders would exile ourselves outside this universe."

"I see. I do distaste your perfidious lot," Thanos said thoughtfully. "Very well. I agree to your terms."

"Excellent. Since we are so close to Earth, you may choose two Terran groups as your team for our little game. It will be a simple confrontational challenge. I will transmit data to your computer about the locations and we'll decide on match-ups later." The Grandmaster disappeared, having gotten what he came for.

Thanos sat back down. "SR-32," he called.

A supervisor robot quickly stopped its duties and rushed over to face its master. "Yes, Lord Thanos?"

"We have work to do. Transfer power to my throne console and prepare to get the transporters online," Thanos ordered.

"Yes, sir!" the robot responded almost enthusiastically. He had seen his master get that gleam in his eye before. And it was a gleam this old robot knew well…


Continued in Elders Quest Chapter 4.  And be sure to visit the Elders Quest Archive Page if you have not yet read the Prologue or first two chapters of Elders Quest.   If you aren't sure exactly why the elders would want to punish Thanos, then be sure to read our review of Marvel's Thanos Quest mini-series at the Silver Surfer Website... Now leave us your comments and suggestions below.


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