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(Episode 14)
Written by Larry Brody |
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THE WATCHER: "I am the Watcher. For eons it has been my sacred duty to observe all that happens in the universe -- and never interfere. Long have I watched the journey of the being known as the Silver Surfer. Wandering the spaceways, he has sought his lost home, the planet of peace and hope called Zenn-La. Yet no matter his personal needs, always has the Silver Surfer cast them aside for the greater good. In sacrificing his mission for the good of others, the Silver Surfer has met cosmic challenge after challenge and suffered personal loss after loss. Scorned by a universe that regarded him a lackey of the omnivorous Galactus, omniscient Eternity and his sister, Infinity, however, knew the Silver Surfer's quest had ennobled him; and these two, the very essences of Time and Space, enlisted the Silver Surfer as their champion against the most dangerous menace ever encountered-Thanos! Worshipper of havoc! Master of destruction! To earn the love of Lady Chaos, goddess of devastation, Thanos reversed the flow of time. Seeking to contract the ever-expanding cosmos and return it to the instant before its own creation. Thus creating the ultimate devastation -- the destruction of the universe itself! For the Silver Surfer, it was truly a race against time, which not even he, for all his power cosmic, could win. I am the Watcher. Yet, to the great sorrow of all, fate seems to have decreed that no one ever will know what occurs next next..."
As the Watcher speaks, a montage of clips show the Surfer's travails thus far including his encounter with the Wanderers; his escape from the Virals; his journeys with Pip; his conflicts with Galactus, Ego, the Kree, and Skrull; his friendships with Adam Strange and Nova; and the loss of Zenn-La and Shalla Bal. The montage ends with Thanos reversing time until the universe is nothing but a luminescent orb, the size of a baseball-it is alive and wriggling with energy. On its surface we see a dull, glowing pinprick of light, the Silver Surfer.
Meanwhile, in his ship, Thanos gloats to the statue of Lady Chaos. "Outside, where once a universe went its clockwork way, now is only nothing! Nothing at all!" he says staring at the viewscreen that depicts the gray nothing that is the cosmos. "Open your eyes -- and gaze upon my ultimate gift -- the supreme proof of my worthiness to you. Not even your vaunted power, your wild forays and crushed stars, could have accomplished so great a deed... All creation -- reduced to its primal state of utter chaos, before even the Big Bang!"
Thanos extends his immense hand to Lady Chaos. In it is the universe ball, writhing and twisting as if it were alive. Zooming in, one can see silver flares exploding on the surface. Zooming in closer, we see it is the Silver Surfer. Oblivious to the ranting of Thanos, the Surfer tries to stay a-right his board in the maelstrom of the primal pre-Big Bang universe. End Teaser.
Act One begins, and Thanos is still waiting for the stone Lady Chaos to compliment, comment, reply, anything-He alternately chastises, "You are so silent! Where are the thanks I deserve? Where is my reward?! Always so cold! It can be only that you are envious of my power! My greatness!" and pleads, "Oh, my lady forgive me. I do not mean to judge you so harshly. But now -- now that I have achieved my life's goal and still do not have your approval - what is left for me to do?"
For a moment, it seems like Lady Chaos's eyes glint; but it is only a reflection off of the universe-ball.
As Thanos receives the coldest shoulder, the Silver Surfer attempts to dodge the various pulsing, untamed energies flying around him. He valiantly tries to stay on his board while musing why he has survived when everything else has not.
"Wrenched as I was by Galactus, out of my own place in time and space, I have not been fully affected by Thanos' foul crime," he concludes. "Yet how does that avail me? How can even the Silver Surfer turn this deepest of failures to success?"
As he muses, a wave of energy buffets him, and he is knocked from his board.
As we zoom out, it becomes clear that the wave of energy is the result of Thanos angrily shaking the universe-ball. He is flummoxed by the lack of adoration from Lady Chaos. Thanos drops the ball to the ground and skulks away, insisting that he will celebrate his coup d'etat without her. "I need no one, not even you!" he vents. "I will have my own universe, ringing with the sounds and sights of eternal discord!"
Back in the shrunken universe, the Surfer muses how all things are one in this primal place are one-a harmonious chaos-save for he and his board. He summons his vessel back to him with a "to me, my board," and he sees in a light in the distance that he identifies as a barrier out. He heads toward the light, swearing that he will right his failure.
Thanos has set up court elsewhere in the garden on his ship. He is surrounded by gnarled, skeletal trees. Without Lady Chaos's accolades, he decides he will create a cheering throng, but not any throng. Thanos transforms the trees into the shape of Alars, his father, and Mentor, his brother. Other trees are turned into other members of the Titan System Science Council.
The replicas, fully cognizant, ask Thanos why they are here. The purple Titan explains they exist to celebrate his deeds.
"Celebrate them? Your deeds have always been crimes, Thanos!" Mentor retorts.
Put off, Thanos sends Mentor flying backward with a purple blast emanating from his hand.
Alars rushes to Mentor's aid, infuriating Thanos.
"Yes, father dear, worry about the scholar -- and leave the "monster" you created to yet another sweet victory!" he taunts. "Still you disdain me, just as in my youth? Very well -- for now I know what to do!" Thanos blasts the replicas, disintegrating them one at a time.
Elsewhere, the Surfer has reached the edge of the universe. He is assaulted by a cacophony of sounds, all the sounds of the cosmos; but he is unflappable. "No! I cannot -- I will not - be stopped! All creation is at stake!" he announces and breaks through the opaque light and enters the ship. He emerges with a show of silver fireworks.
Surfer's triumph is short lived. He sees the gray nothingness where once the universe was and smashes the viewscreen in anger. He swears there will be reckoning and smashes the screen. He recollects himself, if only because he needs all of his wits to fight Thanos. That is when he sees his old friend Mentor fleeing.
Surfer greets Mentor, but before Mentor can speak he is disintegrated by Thanos.
hanos greets Surfer with false courteous, and then barrages him with a chain lightning of purple blasts. End Act One.
Act Two opens with the Surfer fruitlessly asking Thanos to reconsider his actions and restore the universe. Of course, he has to do this while dodging a myriad of energy blasts coming from his opponent's palms.
Thanos explains that the regression of the universe was deliberate, a means to the end of acquiring his heart's desire.
"If I made any mistake at all, it was in expecting to share my success with a love who has abandoned me!" Thanos says. "But perhaps you will remedy that. Can the Silver Surfer not appreciate my accomplishment -- just a little?" he asks pathetically.
Surfer lets off a blast of his own and says, "All I appreciate, Thanos, is your enmity!"
"Ah, once again am I met with ingratitude!" Thanos retorts. He reminds the Surfer that it was he who restored his memories, and without him he would still be a lackey for Galactus.
Thanos stops fighting and inundates Surfer with images of Norrin Radd, Zenn-La and Shalla Bal. "Oh, Silver Surfer, can you imagine what it is like - to always be so misunderstood?" the Titan asks.
The images of Surfer's life change and become moments in Thanos's life-his childhood, his father's rejection, the ravaging of his planet by the Skrull, his shameful departure from Saturnan, and then his first meeting with Lady Chaos. Thanos was observing two nebulas crashing together. It was pure destruction, undiluted chaos. In the midst of it was a wild, cosmic woman-hair flying, arms gesticulating, laughing maniacally. Thanos fell in love.
Lady Chaos rejected him, so they fought. The battle spanned galaxies, even Saturnan became collateral damage. "A mere side effect," Thanos explains. "Nothing, of course, compared to what I have since achieved."
The Silver Surfer is aghast. "Ever have I sought the ways of peace. But how can I continue that way now? You seek to excuse yourself? For you, Thanos, there is no excuse... But justice there must be!" he says.
Surfer fires a barrage of shots, but soon he is winded. Even his silver veneer is fading. Without a cosmos to power him, his power cosmic is faltering. Thanos taunts and promises him a quick ending. But in this moment, the Surfer remembers the words of his old master that ultimate evil could not stand in front of ultimate good.
With the last of his energy, Surfer summons images of goodness. This gives Thanos pause. "The power of Zenn-La! Once, the Master there fought me when I sought to destroy the purity of that accursed world -- now you fight me!"
The Surfer's plan is working and Thanos weakens, but Lady Chaos breaks from her stone prison. "I am free!" she announces.
Both combatants are stunned by the arrival of Lady Chaos. Thanos pleads to his love, but she retorts that he is a vain, foolish creature. Growing larger, she grabs Thanos and crushes him in her palm until he is nothing but purple dust.
"Your victory over my captor weakened him enough to free me, and for that you shall receive the ultimate prize! Join me, Silver Surfer, as Thanos was never allowed. We shall unite to create a new universe devoted entirely to chaos and disaster," Lady Chaos offers. She is still enlarging. Now she engulfs most of the ship.
"No! Never!" Surfer protests. Then, at his bleakest moment, he has an epiphany. The universe-ball pulses with energy. The Surfer thinks energy and chaos… the big bang. The Silver Surfer grabs the energy ball and whips it at Lady Chaos. Suddenly, time begins anew.
Galactus is born, planets are created, civilizations arise, the Watchers become virals, and the Surfer is created. It ends with the two familiar, astral forms of Eternity and Infinity hovering over him.
ETERNITY: You have proven yourself a true champion, Silver Surfer.
INFINITY: By uniting the sphere that had been the universe with the energy of Chaos, you recreated that event many civilizations know as the Big Bang.
ETERNITY: Time flowed forward once again, and the universe expanded to its proper state.
SILVER SURFER: So all has been returned as it was?
ETERNITY: Almost all. Some things are changed. People, places, events. This you will discover for yourself.
INFINITY: But even so, there is no record, no knowledge anywhere, of what has happened. It is as though it never occurred.
ETERNITY: Only you -- and we -- are aware of what you did, Silver Surfer. Forever will we be grateful.
INFINITY: You have earned your reward.
Then Eternity and Infinity reveal to Surfer his home world of Zenn-La. Surfer flies off to his home and Shalla Bal...
This page is a part of DRG4's Marvel Cartoon Pages:
Featuring Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, and the Silver Surfer.