On Sakaar, the fighting pits had not been shut down. The tradition was too deeply engraved in the planet's culture to be eradicated completely. But under Ben's rule, the games were no longer barbaric spectacles of death. Losing no longer meant dying. Anyone could sign up; winners received rewards, and losers received the best medical treatment available. Those who performed exceptionally well could even earn an invitation to join the Plumbers—the greatest honor a Sakaaran could imagine.
In the main conference room of the Totem Tower, Ben listened as Caiera and Brunnhilde delivered their reports. Sakaar, not being a primary target for Thanos, had suffered minimal losses after the initial surprise attack. Thanos's forces had been content to simply blockade the planet's portals, preventing aid from reaching Earth.
But their aggression could not be ignored.
"We must strike back!" Brunnhilde slammed a fist on the table, her eyes blazing. "Give him a taste of his own medicine!" Taking a beating without retaliating was not a virtue the Valkyries advocated. Since joining Ben and seeing Sakaar slowly recover, her old fire had returned. The shadow of Hela was receding, and she was becoming a true Valkyrie once more.
Caiera, however, was more hesitant. "An offensive war does not align with the stated purpose of the Plumbers," she argued calmly. "Furthermore, Sakaar has only just begun to heal. We are in a period of development. We are not prepared for a large-scale interstellar war, especially not against a cosmic overlord." She could not make the final call. She looked to Ben, waiting for the King of Sakaar's judgment.
Ben's thinking aligned perfectly with Brunnhilde's.
"We can't just let this go," he said, leaning back in his chair. "Thanos attacked Earth and Sakaar without provocation. He sent his assassins after Looma. He has done more than enough to earn a response." Ben leaned forward, resting his hands on the table, his expression hardening. "Does he think he can start a war whenever he pleases and end it on his own terms? He doesn't get to decide when this is over."
"Perhaps the universe will tolerate his self-righteousness," Ben continued, a grim smile touching his lips. "But I will not." He had always known Thanos was a threat, a being of immense power. But so what? He wasn't afraid. As for the purpose of the Plumbers…
"In this universe, there are very few interstellar civilizations who have not heard of Thanos and his army, the Black Order," Ben explained. Caiera listened intently. For a closed-off world like Sakaar, galactic intelligence came in scattered fragments from off-worlders. They knew of the Aesir, but not of their true power, otherwise the Red King would never have dared to provoke Loki. She had heard the name Thanos, but she did not know what it truly represented.
Ben bypassed the Titan's early history, which he didn't know anyway. He only knew the version from the movies. "That madman intends to indiscriminately wipe out half of all life in the universe." He spread his hands, dropping a fact that left Caiera stunned into silence. It took her several seconds to process the sheer scale of such a monstrous goal.
Before she could form a question, Ben added, "So far, he has slaughtered the populations of dozens, if not hundreds, of planets."
"That… that is more monstrous than the Red King," Caiera whispered, shocked. She had thought Angmo-Asan was the cruelest of tyrants, but this was a different magnitude of evil entirely.
But what Ben found most terrifying was the difference in their philosophies. The Red King used violence to maintain his rule. Thanos genuinely believed his actions were a righteous, necessary destiny, beneficial to the entire universe. He felt that the survivors should be grateful. Compared to a pathetic wretch like the Red King, Thanos's conviction made him infinitely more dangerous.
"No one, save for the most bloodthirsty warmongers, would ever support him," Ben concluded. "Attacking him is not a violation of our purpose. It is a fulfillment of it. It is justice."
After hearing his reasoning, Caiera had no further objections. "I will begin preparations at once," she said, her voice firm. For the people of Sakaar, the King's orders were oracles.
Ben nodded. "The Korbinites have found a new home; their great ship is no longer needed for that purpose. We can modify it, turn it into the flagship for the Plumbers."
As Caiera was about to leave, Ben stopped her, producing the two Infinity Stones. The Space Stone still resided within its Tesseract form.
"The Tesseract?" Brunnhilde recognized it instantly. When she had left Asgard, the Cube had not yet found its way to Earth.
"I plan to store it here, on Sakaar," Ben explained. Earth's planetary shield was complete, but it, like Sakaar's own defenses, required a massive energy source. The Mind Stone would serve Earth; the Space Stone would serve Sakaar. More importantly, he needed its power to control the unstable portals that dotted Sakaar's sky. Those "holy gates" were both a blessing and a curse. Now that Sakaar's location was known, they were a glaring vulnerability.
After arranging these matters, Ben went to check on Looma, who was submerged in a vat of healing fluid. As always, the moment she saw him, she invited him to join her. This time, Ben did not refuse. While they soaked, he told her of his plan to counter-attack Thanos.
Looma's eyes lit up immediately. "Of course we have to fight back!" she said, clenching her fists. "That purple potato-head dared to send his lackeys to attack me! On Khoros, that is an official declaration of war against the Red Wind Empire! How can he simply withdraw when he sees the situation is not in his favor?"
Having secured Looma's enthusiastic agreement, Ben decided not to linger on Sakaar. The war had just ended, and he knew Uncle Ben and Aunt May must be worried sick. He had to return to Earth. The counter-attack on Thanos could wait. Preparations would take time.
As he left Looma's chambers, about to use the Tesseract to return to Earth, Beta Ray Bill strode over.
"King of Sakaar, Caiera has informed me of your plans," Bill said, his voice a deep rumble. "I will oversee the modification of the great ship." As its former guardian, he knew the ship better than anyone.
"Thank you, Bill. I leave it in your hands," Ben replied.
Bill then held out something else. Ben looked down and saw a small pouch of dirt.
"What is this?" he asked, perplexed.
"It is soil from Knowhere," Bill explained. "When I learned my people might be there, Loki told me that Knowhere originated from an ancient Celestial. He asked me to bring some soil back for you."
Ben immediately thought of the Celestial DNA. He took the pouch and sprinkled the soil over the Omnitrix, but the watch did not react. It seems this soil contains no residual divine power, he thought.
I'll have to visit Knowhere myself someday. He wasn't too disappointed. His consciousness was linked to the delegate he'd left in Alien X's mind space, and he knew that Enara and Ouyana considered the Celestial that formed Knowhere to be "trash." He couldn't help but look down on its potential. He was more touched by the gesture from Loki and Bill. The thought was more important than the gift itself.
"Bill," Ben said, changing the subject. "Hundreds of thousands of Korbinites have come to Sakaar. They are now the second-largest population group on the planet. I trust you will do your best to guide them and help them integrate respectfully."
"Please rest assured," Bill nodded solemnly, placing a fist over his heart. "This is my duty. Every Korbinite will remember the generosity of the people of Sakaar, and of their King."
Back on Earth, agents of H.A.M.M.E.R. had begun the monumental task of cleaning up Manhattan. Stark and T'Challa may have offered to foot the bill, but the reconstruction itself would be a nightmare. Fortunately, Queens was largely untouched.
Of course, none of this was the immediate concern of the heroes. Exhausted, physically and mentally, they just wanted to rest. Tony had suggested a kebab restaurant a few blocks away, but it, like much of the neighborhood, had been smashed to pieces.
So, Harry came up with an idea.
A few minutes later, a large group of the world's most powerful individuals gathered in a small slushy shop. They sat in silence, staring blankly at the brightly colored, syrupy ice in their hands. Ben, having tasted this particular shop's offerings before, had wisely declined to order anything from the start.