Thanos (2003 series) #10

Thanos has travelled to the Crunch, the edge of the expanding universe, and the Frontline outpost manned by members of the Omega Core galactic peacekeeping force. Here the Kyln is a massive power generator and a place of pilgrimage and also a prison for the most dangerous criminals, including 3 kept in cocoons in the maximum security Creche. 1 of these is the mad Maker (who doesn't know she used to be the Beyonder and then Kosmos). She's escaped and has inspired an uprising. She also freed the 2nd prisoner, small winged female (who we don't yet know is called Skreet). However when she met Thanos and was reminded of their (unrecorded) past enmity she got angry and blew up a large chunk of the place.

In Frontline our 3 favourite Core members have been censured for letting the Titan into the Kyln. The Earthman Cole actually did it but he blamed Swad, and the big guy's now out to get him. Female Kika is astonished to learn that this is religious Swad's 1st censure. Cole is 'hiding' among a Core squad who are going in after Thanos who's been blamed for the insurrection (but his arrival was pure coincidence).

Thanos himself survived the explosion and now recovers, greeted by the still-naked little Skreet. She watched the chars that Maker shrank last issue fall to their deaths but saved the 1 named Mynx, who she is able to grip in her tiny fist.

The Shi'ar Gladiator and Earthman Peter Quill (ex-Starlord) are observing from outside the crater. Gladiator hopes Thanos survived because it would suit their purpose. Quill reminds him that the Titan *wasn't* part of the plan, he just happened to turn up. Kallark reminds Peter that the same can be said of *him*. He adds that he (and others of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard) turned the Maker over to the Tribunal before knowing what she was. Peter says he's never told him the whole story, so Kallark lets us all in on it.

The Maker killed a whole Shi'ar colony. The Shi'ar were alerted when all their beacon implants stopped transmitting. Gladiator, Electron, Oracle and Quasar/Neutron were sent to investigate. When they found her she didn't seem to be aware of what she'd done, but she was radiating strong physical and psionic energy. Oracle mentally shut her down but in the process absorbed some of her madness. The Tribunal sentenced her to a Creche cocoon. Oracle later worked out from what she'd absorbed that Maker was the Beyonder/Kosmos but she'd gone mad and made herself mortal. Then Oracle succumbed to neuro-shock, but the information suggested that the mortal Maker could be killed. So Kallark volunteered to be sent here on fake treason charge because he was the most likely Guardsman to survive the sentence.

Peter comments on Kallark's hero complex. The Guardsman retorts that Quill used to be a superhero too. But Peter says that's behind him and refuses to explain how *he* wound up here. They both figure that Gladiator might have missed his opportunity to kill Maker now.

The various-sized Thanos, Skreet and Mynx are travelling along a tunnel. The Titan's got some unblasted clothes from somewhere, and Skreet's picked up some scraps too. Skreet wants to make Maker pay for all the mad thoughts that bled into her head while they were in adjacent cocoons. She offers to show him the way to the Creche. She's also angry at her previous partner-in-crime for turning her in to the cops. And she's getting annoyed at Mynx' squirming and biting her hand. For his part Thanos is annoyed by Skreet's continuous chatter.

Meanwhile Maker is sitting on a pinnacle staring into the roiling energy beyond the universe and asking it to speak to her. Then Thanos & co arrive to face her anger. The Titan says he came to the Kyln seeking answers not conflict, but not answers from her. Skreet transfers Mynx to her mouth to attack Maker with her fists. They meet in an explosion but the sprite is repelled, to be caught by Thanos. He fires a blast which sends the foe falling through a hole made in the floor. He jumps in after her to be met by a counterblast. They continue to fight and Thanos tells her she needs to be subdued. He tells her she's made herself vulnerable by taking a mortal form. She pleads with him to tell her who she used to be but he refuses and she collapses in front of him.

Skreet wants to kill her but then realises that the Titan has taken away her consciousness. He says that as long as her body is alive her soul won't be able to escape, and that will be her prison. He tells Gladiator and Moloka Dar this, and how to keep the body alive indefinitely, and Kallark realises that if *his* plan to kill Maker had worked it would have freed the much more dangerous Beyonder. Kallark tells him that this isn't the 1st prison riot and the Omega Core will be here soon to quell it, but Thanos had better get away before they turn up. The Titan shakes hands with Gladiator and leaves with Skreet (and Mynx) on his shoulder.