Elders of the Universe

A/N: Pat-reon: HelloDarkness07.

50th Chapter! Yay!!

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En Dwi Gast. One of the oldest beings in the Universe, also known as the Grandmaster. His age was well over 12 Billion years, and he was only the 3rd youngest of them!

Over two Million years ago, he had argued with his siblings, the other Elders of the Universe, on whether they should hide the Infinity Stones or not. At one moment or another, the Elders had come across every Infinity Stone, and had used it for their own purposes.

The Gardener, Ord Zyonz, knew where the Time Stone was, but refused to tell anyone, the Collector Taneleer Tivan, had the Reality Stone, the Challenger had the Soul Stone once, but he had lost it to someone, while the Space Stone once used to be in his possession, before a Celestial attacked him for it, and they both lost it to a God of all people.

'Ugh. What bad day it was, losing to a mere God. At least I fared better than the Celestial who attacked me.' Gast thinks to himself, giddily remembering the God beheading the Celestial, and taking the Space Stone from him.

The Mind Stone was with the Possessor, Kamo Tharnn, 'Who just loves to collect stuff for her vaults.' Gast thinks, rolling his eyes as he flies through the Hyperspace in his pleasure ship, the Commodore.

The Champion of the Universe Tryco Slatterus once had the Power Stone, but he never used it. He had kept it as the prize for winning a fair fight against him. Alas, no one could win it, and he abandoned it on the planet he was on at the moment, from where it changed hands a lot of times and ended on a planet. On Morag.

The mortals of this planet, while stronger than most, had made one mistake while trying to use the Power Stone. They dropped it on the ground, in the grass. 9 beings, pretty strong for mortals, had stood together, touched the Stone together, to help ease the burden of carrying the Power Stone.

Their goal was accomplished, their enemy vanquished. Alas, they had perished, and the Stone dropped on the grass, taking all Organic life with them, thankfully it also destroyed the rest of the Brood tribe they were fighting with.

And so, knowing that the mortals will keep coveting the Stones, the Elders had convened, to discuss what to do with the Stones.

The Collector, the one closest to his age, and his favourite brother so far, had argued against hiding them away, and was completely in favour of finding the remaining ones too, to use them to rebuild the Universe in their Image, where they all would be reborn with the Power Cosmic, new incarnations of Galactus.

But, he was out voted. The other Elders were just happy lording their Power Primordial over the mortals, in whatever way they can.

The Elders decided to split the Stones they had in their possession, the Reality, Mind and the Power Stones, and Hide it in their own way, but not possess it themselves. Still, if need arises, they could collect the stones themselves.

The Collector had taken the Reality Stone to hide it away, the Possessor the Mind Stone, while the Grandmaster was responsible for securing the Power Stone. And what better place than the planet it last destroyed.

So, he was quite surprised when someone stole the Power Stone from the place he hid it from. But, since it was still in the Orb that he had designed himself, he couldn't seek it. And so, he had left the topic, save informing the other Elders of the theft, and returned to his Contest of Champions. He was not going to try and steal it back, that was the Possessor's MO.

But now, the Power Stone was back on Morag, the thief having returned it after their use. 'Bravo! Give them a prize. Maybe I can offer them a place on Sakaar, as a Scrapper? No, a Champion would be better.' Gast thinks.

Still, he had once again ignored it, because a Contest was going on! What? Did you expect the Grandmaster to just.. leave? Leave his children, his Champions? Noo, he finished the Contest, and let it go.

But, when a huge blast of Cosmic Energy was detected on Morag, on the planet he had kept an eye on, he packed up his fastest ship, and left. Left to check on the Power Stone, on Morag.

He was the first person to reach Morag. When his ship came out of the Hyperspace, Gast immediately turned it, and came towards the small temple that housed the Power Stone.

Landing his ship, the Grandmaster swished his robes up, so they don't get dirty on this filth of a barren planet, and began a trek towards the Temple.

"I really should have brought some servants with me. Bloody useless things, the lot of them. Couldn't even tell when I need them." Gast mumbles to himself, as he walks through the open door.

At first, he just looks around the room that housed the Stone, and then looks down, at the Power Stone itself. It lay down on the ground, still in it's case, with an almost burnt patch of ground near it.

"What did you find?" the sudden voice of the Gardener says, making Gast jump.

He yelps, "Ah! Ord! You should not scare me like this! Why, if I had it now, I would have used my Melt stick on you."

Rolling his eyes, Ord Zyonz, the Gardener walks towards the burnt place, and touches his hand. Humming a bit, he says, "Terran. This is definitely Terran."

Another voice asks, "Terran what? Do they even have living beings there? I should visit there to see if I can get one for myself."

Gardener turns around, to see Gast greeting his brother, Tivan, the Collector with a kiss on each cheek. He gets up, and says, "This ash used to be a Terran God, which explains the higher than usual Energy signature. I guess even Gods cannot handle the Power of the Stone."

Collector walks forward, swaying his hips like the Diva he is, and kisses Ord on the cheeks in greeting. He says, "Good to see you too, brother."

Gast claps his hands a few times, and excitedly says, "Oh nice! Reunion! We should definitely have a party, I even brought my favourite ship today!"

Collector perks up, and asks, "Have you brought your slaves?"

The Grandmaster opens his mouth, to say that no, he had not brought his SERVANTS, because that's what they are, thank you very much, when Zyonz speaks up, "Enough. We can discuss your orgies later, Gast. The Power Stone was your responsibility, put it back."

Gast frowns, and says, "And what about the Terrans? Wouldn't they send more Gods if they want the Stone? Stronger Gods?"

The Gardener places his staff down, and rests against the wall. He says, "The God that tried to use this Stone was weak, and definitely young. I would say about 200 years old at most. I know Terran Gods, and they won't just send anyone to get an Infinity Stone. They would send only the Gods they're sure about. This God was independent too, because I would know about it if he was working with someone. Don't forget, Gast, I live there."

Tivan folds his hands, and drawls out, "Yes, we all know of your obsession with that particular planet, Ord. But, I can't blame you. I do live in the head of a Celestial, don't I? While Gast lives in that..."

"Paradise?" Gast offers, looking hopeful.

Shaking his head, Tivan says, "Dreadful slum. That's what I was looking for."

Gast shrugs, and says, "To each his own, brother. You should visit sometimes. Recently a few Celestial bodies fell there. Don't know from where."

He then walks towards the Stone, and careful not to touch it, puts the cover back on. As he begins securing it behind the Barrier again, he says, "They had a lot of corruption though, so I just banished them away."

"You idiot!" Tivan hissed, clicking his tongue. He says, "Do you have any idea how much money you lost?! I just have the head, I'm mining it for a Billion years, and I'm still nowhere close to being done with it. And you threw a few whole bodies away?!"

Gast claps his hands, having done with his task, and says, "Of course, brother. The corruption would have killed me, of course. Why else would I throw a potential bargaining chip away? I'm not completely stupid, you know."

Looking at his empty wrist, he brings out a hologram that shows the time, and adds, "Oh, would you look at that. My next contest is about to begin." He then whispers, as if it's a conspiracy , "Don't tell anyone, but it's a Poem competition this time. And my champions do not know! I'm going to have so much fun."

And one by one, knowing that the Stone is safe, the three Elders of the Universe return to their own planets.

As they leave, I slowly fly behind them, until they leave the atmosphere, to confirm they have left. Once I do, I too fly away, returning to Donna, and not to Earth or Induk.

This Gardener was on Earth? How did I not know then? I mean, I don't recognize him, so maybe I just didn't find him interesting enough to do a deeper scan. Wait a minute, he's almost 10 Billion years old, so did he bring life on Earth? Questions to ask mother next time, I suppose.

And now I know my trap worked, they think it was a very weak God who did it. I didn't know how to mimic the energy of any other sentient beings, but a lot of animals. And it wouldn't have worked that way. I just didn't expect the Gardener to narrow it down to Earth. I am honestly impressed.

At least I know that my Pseudo Stone works. They didn't detect it as a fake at least. But there was also one worrying part.

Each one of the Elders have access to at least one Stone. Or more accurately, each Infinity Stone has at least one Elder of the Universe keeping an eye on it. Other than the Power Stone, which is also technically with another Elder of the Universe, funnily enough.

But this means that they could have collected all 6 stones without anyone knowing about it. Well, if they had saved the Time Stone for last, that is. No way Agamotto will give the Time Stone to someone like the Elders willingly, and he will most definitely fight for the safety of the other 5 stones too.

Shaking my head, I remove my Armour, now back in my Ship. The Power Stone was safe in my Armour itself, for now. I'll have to keep it somewhere else later. For now, I missed my Axes.

Pointing my hand towards the stand carrying my Axes, I whisper, "Come to daddy, Ànemos, Astrapi."

Putting them on my back, and wearing the new, undamaged Vibranium weave cloth Armour, I portal back to Induk. I should probably help my Life Seed with the Cleansing.

"Let's cross one item off my bucket list." I whisper to myself, as I sit down on the ground, and begin meditating. "Successfully switched one Infinity Stone with a flawless replica."

As my magic starts helping my Seed with absorbing the Power Stone's energy, I smile at a job well done, and start looking for the Celestial Egg. Time for Item number two. Save at least one planet from being absorbed by the Celestial within it.

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A/N: You know, the replacement of the Power Stone would have been an amazing Plot twist if I had kept it a secret from y'all.

Like, imagine. Thanos comes to Earth with 5 stones, waiting to pull the Mind Stone from Vision.

SYKE!

Theos drops in, destroys the fake stone, and reveals the true POWER STONE. Everyone asks, "You had the Power Stone all along?"

"Always have." I answer, beheading Thanos with one swing.

But now, I've kinda ruined it. Well, never mind. There is still a lot of stuff that can be kept hidden. Hint, hint, wink wink.

Oh, and could you guys tell me if I portrayed the Elders alright? It doesn't have to be perfect, but I did try to show what I saw the Elders were like. So, comments?

Anyway, toodles!