NOTE: This issue takes place after Captain Marvel #X

Cosmic awareness.

It is an unbelievable ability for a mortal to possess.

To be in tune with the universe.

I've discovered that the Supreme Intelligence was the one who gave it to me.

There are a lot of things I'm beginning to question about the Supremor - about how much he has influenced my life. It was he that switched Rick and I to the Microverse.

Professor Bloph lied. He said he did it to repair the Microverse's stability. Was he acting for the Supremor's behalf?

I am Genis-Vell, son of Mar-Vell of the Kree and Elysius of the Eternals.

I am Captain Marvel.

This is my story.

This is my pain.

I bash through the door of Bloph Port Five, the home of renowned scientist, Professor Bloph. A series of battle droids appear, who seem to be missing their legs. They looked like a bunch of R2-D2's with clawed forearms hovering above the ground.

Using my Nega Bands, I send out a radiating presence of light. Granted, my powers take a little longer to charge up in the Microverse, but it doesn't matter. The blast was good enough, the androids were already scrap metal.

Three purple-skinned beings in red, blue, and yellow armor swoop in, commanding me to stop. The one in red, Zang, Bloph's son, holds up his hand, "Genis, don't make us do this."

My brow lowers, "Your father is a liar...and it cost my friend his child."

"Please, don't, Captain!" Rohk, the one in blue, pleads. He was another of Bloph's children.

Khru, the one in yellow, the only daughter, silently hovers in the air, with her built-in weapons armed, pointing at my vitals.

"Genis, you don't have to do this," Rick says, trying to stay calm. He was in the safety of his home. What did he have to worry about?

"I have to, Rick...I have to. I need answers," I respond. I hold out my fists, which were glowing like protostars, orbs of light getting brighter and bigger. Finally, the orbs lash out into huge beams of photonic energy focused by the Nega Bands and my own stored up energy.

In a deafening sound of tires screeching to a halt, I hear three distinct screams. When the flash clears, Bloph's children were lying naked, curled up on the floor. Their skin was burnt, but their tough hides managed to protect them from the blunt of my blast.

"BLOPH!!" I shout. "Get DOWN here!" There is a pregnant pause as my voice echoes throughout the futuristic alien structure. "Now!"

I hear footsteps approach to the side as a metal door slides open. It was Bloph, plump and purple. His children looked like him, only younger. "Captain! What did you--"

I fly up to him at light speed and ram him against the door he just came in through. "You bastard!" I growl. "You lied to Rick."

"About...ungh...about what?!" Bloph asks, his voice cracking.

"You didn't need our bond to repair the Microverse. And then you told Rick he couldn't go back to Earth, but you led him through a portal, directly to the Kree Supreme Intelligence!" I yell.

"I...I don't see the significance," Bloph admits.

My eyes flash with light. My Eternal blood allows me to absorb light in all of its forms and then rechannel it into powerful blasts. My father's Nega Bands enhanced this ability, as the Trio...or whatever they call themselves...found out.

My teeth clench, "Supremor is obsessed with evolution. It so happens the Mig-Na'cha were an offshoot species derived from the Brood. Did the two of you plan this out all along?"

"What are you--?"

"ANSWER ME!!" I shout. "Why was it so convenient that you had a cure for this Mig-Na'cha virus?! What were you really doing to Rick?"

"I...I...," Bloph rambles.

The space field within my face flashes for a moment as I grip my fingers around Bloph's skull. My cosmic awareness already had the answer. I breathe slowly.

Bloph had created a virus that evolved some specimens of the Brood the Kree Intelligence had in storage. Those evolved Brood began breeding and formed their own collective and were supplied with Kree and Padcrosian technology to invade Earth and transform everyone into Mig-Na'cha drones. Supremor wanted to keep humanity in check since he controlled the Mig-Na'cha.

Rick was given the virus on purpose, so he could be brought to Bloph himself for the cure. The cure did more than what we could see. It placed a sort of fail safe upon his mind. The Destiny Force that resided in all human beings was awakened in Rick...and now it could only be activated by the will of the Supreme Intelligence.

And now, all of this has caused the death of Rick and Marlo's unborn child, and the release of Thanos...things just keep on getting better.

Bloph was convinced by the SI that humanity would eventually take over everything, including the Microverse. Such a sad waste...a brilliant man...

I look at his three children, still lying on the floor, unconscious. I sigh. He was just trying to protect his family. Grozit...all of that bullshit he put the Earthers and I through...was just for his damn family.

My body begins to radiate energy as he release my grip around Bloph's neck. He slides down the door onto the floor. He gasps for breath, "Please, you have to understand--"

"I do understand, Bloph," I explain. "In an attempt to protect your family, you inflicted pain and suffering upon an entire planet not even from your own universe. What gives you the right?"

"Why do you even care?" Bloph asks, as if he were tired of playing the happy-go-lucky doctor. Maybe I was staring at the real him for the first time. "You aren't even from Earth. You're not a human."

"I'm Eternal. It's pretty damn close," I say. I cross my arms as a sphere of light appears around me, gradually growing larger and larger.

"What are you doing?" Bloph yells.

"I'd get out of here if I were you," I say.

And that's when Genis went all Rambo and blew up Professor Bloph's building, taking his technology with it.

That was a couple months ago.

I hate to say it, but I think Marv is changing. Not good change, per se. I'm talking mid-life crisis change. He's only like five years old in the body of a man with memory implants that make him seem like an adult.

Let's see. He's quit the Avengers, that was from left field. He modified his costume by taking out the red. So now when he activates his cosmic awareness, he looks symbolically dark and cold as space itself.

I think it all started when he went searching for the Supreme Intelligence. When I met face to face with it, I was on Hala, the Kree's native homeworld. Granted, the capital of their empire is on Kree-Lar, the SI likes to move around a lot since the Shi'ar are in control of the Kree now.

Then there's the fact Marv sensed that Death herself took the life of our (when I say our, I mean Marlo and I) unborn child to break Thanos out of his statue prison...since that's all the heroes could do to him, since the bastard couldn't die.

Well, either way, something's up with Genis. He's been training for months, in the Microverse, and out here in the regular world. He called it "getting in touch with his Kree side." Well, yeah. The Kree are great warriors. They know how to fight. I'd like to see Taskmaster try to emulate their fighting skills.

I guess it's good for Genis to have a little something to fall back on instead of his cosmic powers. Eternals are kind of like that. They're all hovering in the air with that holier than thou 'tude. You can't respect someone like that. You can't be a hero to someone when all you do is act arrogant and annoyed, like saving that someone was a job.

I think that's what Marv's problem was. He thought he had to save people because it was a job. Hell, if that was my job, I'd quit.

Surely but slowly, I think Genis is coming into his own, approaching the Universal Protector gig in his own way. I think when the Supreme Intelligence told Marv he was unimpressed by him, Genis realized he didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps...he wanted to outshine his father. He wanted to be the best.

That's not meant to be disrespectful. Mar-Vell was a good man. Genis just wants to be his own man from now on, which is cool. Now that I think of it, Genis is a lot like Robert F. Kennedy. He's cursed with a name and can't get out of the shadow of the guy that brought the name to fame.

As long as no political aspirations are on Marv's mind, I think everything will work out for him.

While sitting on the affectionately named Beach Planet of the Microverse, as Genis-Vell lies on the white sand, soaking up rays next to two naked, jade-skinned beauties on each side of him, he gets a ringing in his ears...which can mean only one thing.

Genis stretches and yawns, sitting up, "Well, time for work."

"Work?" the red-haired green woman asks.

"But there's been no time for play," the blonde haired green girl pouts.

Genis smiles as he takes his Nega Bands off briefly as he slips his costume over his bathing suit. This new costume fit over him like a jumpsuit. He slips his Nega Bands back on and activates his cosmic awareness, transforming himself into a literal space man.

"I've gotta do this, girls. Try to understand," Captain Marvel says.

In a flash of light, Captain Marvel was gone, replaced by another young man who had similar Nega Bands on his wrists. It was Rick Jones. He had an earring in his left ear and a bad-looking goatee that made him look like an aging member of the Backstreet Boys.

He was wearing a white shirt with a short sleeve red open-buttoned shirt over it. His pants were black baggy jeans with various pockets and zippers along the seams. For some peculiar reason, the man was closing his eyes tightly.

He hops on one foot, and then the other, taking off his sandals. He smiles, "Sorry. I'm married. And I don't want to give into temptation."

The twin green beauties look at each other, and back at the human, amused.

Rick continues, "So, if you would just like to direct me to the nearest--" He opens his eyes, one by one. The girls were already gone, towels covering their unmentionables, walking towards the outdoor showers. "--aaaaaallllright."

Rick looks around, checking his surroundings as he sits in the sand, eventually laying on his back. "Ahhh...," he sighs. "This ain't bad." He ponders, "I should have brought Marlo along."

"She was still at the apartment," Captain Marvel explains. "And you were twenty blocks away, out for a walk. I needed you to switch--"

"Yeah, yeah...I know," Rick smiles. "You sensed a cosmic disturbance of the utmost importance."

"Actually, I preset my cosmic awareness to go off whenever there was a trace on Thanos. He's still out there, you know."

"How could I forget?" Rick turns onto his side, "Did you ever find out the prognosis on Moondragon?"

"She's still recovering. I'm surprised she even survived."

"Yeah...taking on the Mig-Na'cha Queen. I'll bet she felt like Linda Fiorentino in Men in Black."

"Ugh. Can you go one day without referencing some pop culture movie?"

"They've made so many that they've become applicable to all aspects of life," Rick explains, acting half-serious. "They've canceled production on the Insectoid movie, but still gave Marlo and the other stars a good chunk of money from the insurance settlement."

"Good...I couldn't stand the fact that that wimp Brad Horton was playing me."

"For the last time, Brad Pitt was the one playing you. That Horton kid was just a crew member," Rick explains.

"Right...right, how silly of me."

"Don't you just love these conversations while you fly through space?"

"Not really. I've got enough voices in my head without having to listen to you." Marv pauses. "Sorry...I just meant...y'know. How's Marlo, anyway?"

"She's good. Good. She's uh...helping Lorraine with her unfinished business."

"Lorraine...that's not ringing a bell. Do we know her?"

"She's the ghost."

"..."

"Remember the Wendigo incident?"

"Oh, that ghost. The actress. Okay."

"Where are you headed, anyway?"

"The G'orakh system."

"Is that the one with all the plant life?"

"No. It's just your standard watering hole for space travelers. No one's quite sure on who the natives of that planet are."

"You think Thanos is there?"

"Could be. Hopefully."

"What are you going to do...exactly?" Rick asks, sitting up. "You're not going to try to pick a fight with him, are you?"

"No," Genis says as he hovers outside the gravitational field of G'orakh VII. "I'm just going to ask him a couple of questions...then I'm going to pick a fight with him."

Captain Marvel flies past various spacecraft arriving and leaving the backwater planet, heading towards the thick outer atmosphere.

"Marv...? MARV! Don't! He'll kill you!" Rick shouts.

"I know what I'm doing," Genis says as he feels the force of friction by going through the atmosphere. "He can't hurt me."

"The ghosts of half the universe seem to disagree...Marv! Listen to me! Thanos is a heavy-hitter. I'm talking heavy."

"His infatuation with Death isn't what it once was...he's cursed with immortality like all Eternals. He finally realized he can't be with...her. And guess what, Rick? No Infinity Gems, no Cosmic Cubes--"

"Just Thanos, a being who has more power than any known Eternal? Come on, Marv...be realistic."

Genis has finally breached the atmosphere. He rockets towards the inner workings of the G'orakh capital, Huh-Wah. Using his cosmic awareness, he reads the various electromagnetic patterns of each sentient lifeform in his vicinity, until he finds Thanos himself.

Genis screeches to a halt inside an alien dance club. He pokes his finger into the shoulder blade of a woman, "Drop the phony illusion, Thanos, I know it's...grozit!"

Captain Marvel suddenly becomes pale.

Elysius turns around, her green dress and black hair stretching past her shoulders. She was the mother of Genis-Vell, his link to the Eternal lineage dating back to Mentor himself.

"Genis?" Elysius asks.

"Mom...? Didn't you die?"

"Oh! Genis!" Elysius squeals as she begins to sob. She throws her arms around her son as if she hadn't seen him in a lifetime. Sad how irony works out here.

Genis drops his cosmic awareness, his dark blue skin returns to normal and his white hair returns to blonde. He gently pats Elysius' back, not sure what to feel or to think.

"Surprised, Marv? You said yourself Eternals were immortal."

"I know, but...damn," Genis whispers.

"What?"

"My cosmic awareness was set to find Thanos...and I find my dead mother...isn't that a bit strange?"

"Um...yeah. Know what else is strange? Your mom just turned into Thanos!"

"What the--"

*KRACK*

Genis didn't see the massive, yellow gauntlet coming at him. Thanos' unlimited strength knocked him clear across the club, through the wall and into the street.

Captain Marvel reactivates his cosmic awareness and charges his photonic powers through the Nega Bands, "So it was an illusion."

"Quite the opposite, Genis," Thanos says as he hovers down in front of the good Captain. "Your mother and I are very much the same."

"Oh man, that's kind of gross," Rick observes.

"What are you talking about?" Genis demands.

Thanos smiles as he reels back his fist, only Genis is fast enough this time to catch it in midair and fling Thanos, to his surprise, in the opposite direction. The Titan crash lands into a nearby digital box office. The box operator screeches as she slithers away.

Thanos climbs to his feet, "Impressive. I didn't think you'd have any fighting skills in you."

Genis smirks, "That's the problem with you Eternals. So full of yourselves, your own powers. I'm part of the Kree...and one of the best damn Kree warriors this side of the Large Magellenic Cloud."

"Pft. You don't even have blue skin of the true Kree," Thanos mocks.

"This, coming from a purple-gray skinned ogre?" Captain Marvel smiles.

Thanos snarls as energy wells up in his eyes, spewing like a fire hydrant into Captain Marvel's chest. Genis grunts as he is flung through more of the G'orakh cityscape. When he comes to, Thanos is standing over him.

"Pathetic," Thanos spits. He reaches down and grabs Genis' wrists. He struggles, but the mad Titan stomps his massive foot into Genis' stomach. Thanos smiles as he forces the Nega Bands off of Genis' wrists...

Rick Jones suddenly screams as his entire being is pulled apart, molecule by molecule. The Beach Planet natives look on in awe and wonder. Soon, the energy signature dies down. There is a new visitor the Microverse. It was Elysius, with Rick's Nega Bands on her wrists.

The blonde haired greenie looks over at her redheaded friend, "That's the third person this guy has turned into...today!"

The other chick giggles, "Isn't he dreamy?"

Thanos stands over Genis-Vell, fully powered by the Nega Bands. He exhales with pleasure, "That's better."

Genis grips his sides as his body is being thrust in and out of molecular states between himself and Rick Jones.

Thanos thrusts his hands forward as he laughs, blasting the merged entity of Genis/Rick with a full frontal assault of photonic energy...