{{"Hello, I'm Mary Hart."}}

{{"And I'm Bob Gohen. Tonight's top story, tragedy in Hollywood. Just after North America was invaded and transformed into alien insects, actress Marlo Chandler miscarried her and husband, Rick Jones', first child. Even with the efforts of Captain Marvel to change everyone back to normal, one life was still lost..."}}

"Can we change the channel, please?" Genis-Vell asks, sitting at a neon-lighted bar on a beach planet in the Microverse. He sips a malt-like drink and wipes away the cream that accumulated on his upper lip.

The barkeep, a green-skinned humanoid with a tank-top on with swimming trunks, grumbles, "What? This is the only station we get from the Macroverse."

Genis blasts a hole into the screen of the television, "I warned you, damn it."

"Hey!" the barkeep shouts. Two, muscular green bouncers wearing speedos approach Genis. "That was my only television set, you damn alien!"

Genis gives the tender a mean look, "I'm not here by choice. Go complain to someone who cares..." He walks out of the bar, pushing the bouncers to the side.

Captain Marvel rockets upwards, kicking white sand up into the air as photonic particles trail him.

"God...," Marlo sniffles, "is there anything else on besides coverage on us?" She clicks through the various news stations, finally landing on the Cartoon Network.

{{"...for my name is...Mojo-jojo!"}}

{{"C'mon, Bubbles an' Buttercup! We can take him! He's just a monke--"}}

*CLICK*

{{"...claimed that Rick Jones was overseas promoting something. Well, we don't know what that something is. He wasn't even seen abroad. Was Marlo lying about his absense--"}}

*CLICK*

{{"Welcome to the Tonight Show! Whew, it's another hot one, here in LA. Wasn't it hot, Kev?"}}

{{"Yeah, man. It was hot."}}

{{"Well, it was so hot, kids were seen frying Mig-Na'cha drones under a magnifying glass."}}

{{"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"}}

*CLICK*

{{"...now all I'm asking is this, Paul."}}

{{"Okay, Dave?"}}

{{"Did you...or did you not...eat poop when you were transformed into a drone?"}}

{{"I, uh...heh! Um...I-I don't rememeber, Dave."}}

{{"Well, I did! What is up with that?"}}

{{"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHA!!"}}

Rick sits beside Marlo, leans over and kisses her shoulder. Her hair was greasy and frizzled, as she hasn't washed it in over a week. She just got out of the hospital a few days ago, getting surgery as a result of the miscarriage.

"You wanna watch a movie?" Rick asks. "The Matrix?"

"No. No blood...I...can't stand the sight of it anymore," Marlo shakes her head.

"Um...Happy Gilmore?"

"Is there blood in that one?"

"I don't think so..."

"All right."

Rick goes to the DVD rack and spins it around until he finds the comedy section, he kneels down and runs his finger down the titles until he finds Happy Gilmore. Rick pops the disc out of the case and places it into the DVD player. He turns back to Marlo, who has curled up on the couch with a blanket, "You want anything to eat? Popcorn?"

Marlo stares blankly at the screen, "No."

Rick pauses in deep thought. What was there besides popcorn to eat during a movie? "Um...do you want some candy or something? You want Raisenettes, your fav?"

"No."

"M&M's?"

"No."

"Reese's Pieces?"

"No."

"Cotton candy?"

"...NO!" Marlo shouts, wrapping herself in the blanket tighter. "Let's just watch Billy Madison or whatever."

"You mean Happy Gilmore--"

"Whatever."

Rick nods his head. He walks past the couch, rubbing Marlo's back. He speaks to her calmly, "I'm going to make some popcorn. If you change your mind, we can share."

A tear rolls down Marlo's face, unseen by Rick, "Uh-huh...," she mumbles.

"You, uh...wanna talk about it?" Lorraine, the ghost of a former co-star only Marlo can see, asks.

"Not now," Marlo whispers, making sure Rick doesn't hear.

"Maybe you should just tell him about me," Lorraine sighs, as she blows smoke out through her neck. "Whoops," she says as she wraps a green scarf around her wound. Twas the reason she died. The director of Monster Books slashed her throat as part of a ritual to harness the power of Wendigo. Luckily, Marlo destroyed the amulet Larry, the director, used in the mystical process. Well...Captain Marvel and the Hulk helped.

Now, ever since then, Lorraine has been stuck with Marlo. Lorraine used to be a bit hateful towards Marlo for her good looks and lack of acting talent, something of which Lorraine was good at in her golden years when she was alive. Now the actress with short cut brunette hair with a mole on her chin is stuck in her leather jacket, yellow blouse, heels, and gray pants for all eternity. She never wondered about why she was "bonded" to Marlo. It was just one of those things that Lorraine just accepted, like when she miscarried a child.

Marlo curls into a ball on the couch, her bare feet sticking out from underneath the blanket. Rick returns with a big bowl of microwave popcorn. He sits down, checking to make sure he doesn't sit on Marlo's feet first. He brings the bowl up to his face and takes a wiff. "Ahhhh," he smiles. "Buttery goodness."

"You remember that actress that died up in Canada?" Marlo asks.

"Yeah, your friend, Lorraine, right?" Rick asks as he chomps on popcorn. He laughs as Happy Gilmore hits two people in the head with golfballs from yards away.

"Well...I can sorta...see her. And hear her," Marlo explains. "And it seems only I can."

"Do you see other ghosts?" Rick asks curiously.

"Wait, you're not weirded out by it?" Marlo asks.

"Sweetie, come on. You're talking to Rick Jones, he who inadvertenly created the Avengers, who caused Bruce Banner to transform into the Hulk, who once had psionic powers that stopped a millenia-long alien war between the Skrull and Kree. He who--"

"Okay, I get it," Marlo rolls her eyes. "No, I don't see any other ghosts besides Lorraine."

"Maybe it has to do with that ritual thing with Wendigo. You put a stop to your crazy director, Lorenzo. So now Lorraine is sort of rewarded for having to be sacrificed," Rick suggests.

"Rewarded?!" Lorraine shouts at Rick. He can't hear her. She clips his earlobe.

"What the--?!" Rick yelps, looking behind him. "Well, I mean she's rewarded by being with the one who freed her. But she has to use you to cross over fully."

"When did you become so...informed?" Marlo asks.

"I don't know. I'm just going by logic," Rick explains. "Superhero experience, you know?"

"So, how am I supposed to help Lorraine cross over?" Marlo asks.

"I don't know, ghosts have unfinished business, and they need to finish it to cross over," Rick explains.

"Was that from your experience?" Marlo asks.

"No, that was from the movie, Casper," Rick says with a smile. "I can show you the clip after Happy Gilmore's over with."

"Yeah, come to think of it...I do have some unfinished business," Lorraine mutters.

"I don't get it, Rick," Genis says as he flies at light speed though microspace. "Why aren't you sad over your dead child?"

"I am," Rick responds. "I just wasn't really attached to it, y'know?"

"How can you say that!?" Genis shouts.

"Dude, what's your deal?"

"Grozit, Rick...my father died not knowing he would have a son. You were that same way until you did find out...and now your child is gone and you don't even care?!"

"I do care, Marv. It's just that these things happen all the time. Well, if that were true, we'd all be extinct, but it's not uncommon. Hold on, let me pretend to be constipated so I can talk about this in the bathroom...Okay, I am sad over the miscarriage, I really am. I hate seeing Marlo like this, I really do. When have you ever seen Marlo really sad? Never, right? She's always so chipper!"

"Actually, she was pretty bummed about you being in the Microverse, unable to share the news of your son or daughter..."

"Well, okay...but life goes on. There's nothing wrong with Marlo's...er, plumbing. And there's nothing wrong with mine. It was just one of those things that nature intended."

"No it wasn't," Genis says bluntly.

"Marv, come on, now you're being difficult."

"Death took your child to free Thanos from his statue prison."

"WH--at?!" Rick shouts, dampening his voice. "How do you--?"

"I sensed it. It wasn't natural. The disruption of the natural flow of the cosmos actually freed Thanos...and now he'll do Pama knows what..."

Titan, Thanos' lair.

Drax the Destroyer staggers to walk up the long set of stairs to greet the man who has brought him back from the icy grip of Death herself. The green behemouth collapses on the floor at Thanos' feet.

"Kneel, Destroyer," Thanos' ancient voice bellows. "Kneel before your master!"

Drax winces as he lifts himself onto his knee. He wearily looks upward at the purple-skinned Eternal, wearing blue and yellow armor. Thanos angrily blasts Drax in the eyes with a blast of psionic energy. Drax howls in pain.

Thanos smiles, "I've got the Destroyer for my protection...now all I need is Genis-Vell. Hopefully my fellow Eternals will stay out of the way, wouldn't you say, Elysius?"

The raven-haired beauty in her green Titanian dress turns her head at the sound of evil in Thanos' voice. Few know she used her own genetic material mixed with that of the frozen sperm of the late Mar-Vell to create Genis. Even fewer know that she has returned from the grave as Drax has.

Elysius' form suddenly becomes bulked up as Thanos appears in her spot. He sighs, "Unfortunate that I bring back someone with me...molecularly bonded, no less. The Nega-Bands should fix that problem, right?"

Thanos' laughter echoes through the ancient Titanian structure, sending a chill down Drax's back.