Ben Tennyson cruised through the endless stars of Universe 8096 on his gleaming Interstellar Harley, one leg lazily propped on the handlebar. His expression was blank, almost annoyed.
"Man, these Avengers are a snoozefest," he muttered, watching a distant projection of their latest struggle on a screen embedded in his bike. "When's that Skrull invasion gonna spice things up?"
Suddenly, his bike's sensors pinged. A violent energy surge sparked in the nearby sector.
"Huh? That's not boring."
Ben swerved and sped toward the disturbance. As he approached, a fierce battle came into view—the Guardians of the Galaxy locked in an intense brawl. But something was off. Their opponent wasn't some galactic warlord. It was Adam Warlock.
Or at least... it looked like him.
"Wait a sec," Ben narrowed his eyes as he circled overhead. "That's not the golden space messiah. That's… something else."
The air around Adam shimmered with twisted energy—dark, almost alive.
"Magus," Ben whispered, recognition dawning. "The evil side of Warlock… Guess this universe has its own version."
He landed his bike on a floating rock nearby, watching from a safe distance as Magus hurled Star-Lord into a crater. Gamora charged with her sword, only to be blasted back by a pulse of dark energy.
Ben crossed his arms. "Harsh."
In Universe 616, he recalled, Magus was born when Adam Warlock purged himself of both good and evil while wielding the Infinity Gauntlet. What emerged from that act was a being of pure darkness, a warped echo of the original.
Magus wasn't just a bad guy—he was pure evil.
The Magus of many universes have different stories and different results.
In the timeline of Universe 616, Magus had already begun collecting the Cosmic Cubes—five, to be exact. Each one pulsed with unimaginable power. With them, he created evil doppelgängers of Earth's mightiest heroes... and even a twisted version of Thanos.
But it didn't stop there. The Cosmic Cubes weren't enough for Magus.
Magus's hunger for power knew no bounds. Twisted by ambition, he didn't just want control—he wanted to reshape the universe in his image.
"The stars will burn with my truth," he declared, hovering above a collapsing world. "Order, chaos… all will bend to my will."
Though the five Cosmic Cubes granted him incredible power, they weren't enough. Magus wanted everything. With ruthless precision, he launched a new plan—one that struck at the very core of existence itself.
He attacked Eternity—the living embodiment of the universe—and cast him into a catatonic state. With Eternity silent, no cosmic force remained to challenge him.
Now nothing stood in his way.
Soon after, Magus obtained the fabled Infinity Gauntlet, each gem gleaming with cosmic energy. The universe trembled.
"I am the end and the beginning," Magus roared, his voice echoing through time and space. "With this, I am God!"
But not everything was as it seemed.
From the shadows, two familiar figures watched: Thanos, the Mad Titan, and Adam Warlock, Magus's pure counterpart.
Thanos crossed his arms, smirking. "He believes he holds the real Reality Gem."
"He's wrong," Warlock replied, calm but focused. "And it will be his undoing."
Unseen by Magus, the Reality Gem in his Gauntlet had been switched—replaced with a flawless fake by Thanos and Warlock in a desperate bid to stop him.
Clutching the Gauntlet, Magus summoned chaotic storms and tore rifts through space. But without the real Reality Gem, his supposed control over existence was an illusion.
Adam Warlock stepped forward, golden aura radiating. "You wield a lie, Magus. And lies unravel."
Magus sneered. "You dare oppose me? The Gauntlet obeys my will!"
Their battle shook the cosmos. Beams of raw energy collided, worlds cracked, and time itself warped around them. But as they clashed, something changed within Warlock.
A realization struck.
"I am not just Adam Warlock," he whispered, eyes widening. "I carry within me Eternity… and Infinity."
With newfound clarity, Warlock drew deep into the cosmic forces sleeping inside him. In one surge of radiant power, he released both Eternity and Infinity from their dormant states.
From behind him, two vast celestial forms emerged—one bathed in light and the other shimmering with the endless void of the universe.
Magus turned, fear finally flickering in his eyes. "No… this isn't possible!"
The avatars of Eternity and Infinity stood tall, their combined energy dwarfing his stolen might.
"You sought to rule us," Eternity's voice boomed.
"You never understood us," added Infinity.
Overwhelmed and still clutching the incomplete Gauntlet, Magus fought back—but it was useless. In a final surge of divine power, the united force of Warlock, Eternity, and Infinity overwhelmed him.
"No!" Magus screamed as his form unraveled. "I was the future!"
And just like that, it ended.
His essence was torn from the battlefield and sealed away—trapped within the very Soul Gem Prison, which he had made.
In Universe 8096, the Guardians of the Galaxy were locked in a desperate struggle against Magus. Explosions of energy lit the void as cosmic forces clashed. Suddenly, an unfamiliar presence stirred the battlefield.
A fiery blue trail tore through the stars. Racing across space on a sleek, cosmic bike with wheels blazing with cerulean flames came a figure none of them expected.
Quasar, mid-flight and channeling blinding energy through her Quantum Bands, narrowed her eyes. "Who is that? And how is his bike not disintegrating in the vacuum of space?"
Star-Lord, ducking under a shockwave from Magus, glanced toward the streaking figure. Recognition flashed across his face. "No way… That's Ben Tennyson! Remember him? From the Michael Korvac mess?"
Rocket's jaw nearly dropped as he adjusted his blaster. "That guy has a space-traveling bike? What does that thing run on, stardust and showmanship? What do you think, Groot?"
"I am Groot," Groot murmured, his glowing eyes tracking the approaching rider, clearly impressed.
As Ben finally arrived, he decelerated and skidded to a halt beside the team, the cosmic flames of his bike flickering out.
"What's going on here?" he asked, eyes darting toward the ongoing fight.
Still deflecting attacks from Magus, Quasar called out, her voice tight with urgency, "It started when I used the Quantum Bands to open a jump point and banish Thanos. But... something went wrong. I accidentally tapped into Universe 93112—it was already collapsing. The connection damaged space-time across realities. Fissures are opening everywhere."
"Then," Star-Lord added grimly, ducking a blast of dark energy. "Adam Warlock managed to stop the spread of the fault, but it drained him. That moment of weakness… it let Magus, his dark alter ego, take over."
"I tried to bring him back," Star-Lord continued, the regret heavy in his voice. "But Magus isn't listening. Now we're fighting to save the multiverse—and maybe even save Adam himself."
Ben's expression hardened as he stepped forward, eyes fixed on Magus. "Got it. Sometimes, you can't control how things start. But I can help control how they end."
The Guardians exchanged glances, then nodded. They'd seen what Ben could do. Maybe—just maybe—he was exactly what they needed.
Rocket smirked. "Alright, hero. Let's see what you've got."
After hearing the talk of Ben and Guardian of Galaxy, Magus's attention turned, his glowing eyes locking onto Ben Tennyson.
A flicker of recognition danced across Magus's face, like a forgotten dream surfacing from the depths. "You…" he muttered. "Who are you?"
Ben stepped forward, his presence radiating calm dominance. "Ben Tennyson," he said coolly, his voice carrying the weight of countless battles. "A name whispered across galaxies—though frankly, I'm getting tired of repeating it. Maybe it's time the universe learned it by heart."
The tension in the air thickened. Star-Lord and the others stood back, watching with anticipation as something unspoken passed between the two.
Ben's tone shifted—cool, firm. "I don't know how deep your grip on Adam Warlock runs, but it's time to let go. That body isn't yours."
Magus let out a soft, amused chuckle, then smiled—cold and unhinged. "My actions aren't dictated by mortals. I act on whim… and right now," his eyes flared with dark power, "I'm in the mood to erase you from existence."
Ben didn't flinch. "Yeah, well... I've dealt with worse moods." He cracked his neck. "Looks like I'll have to knock some sense back into that twisted head of yours."
His eyes glowed a fierce green, casting a light that swept over Magus like a scanner. A sharp chime echoed faintly, followed by a disembodied voice:
"DNA acquired."
Ben's gaze sharpened. During his multiversal travels, he had acquired countless beings—some noble, some terrifying. Magus, a twisted echo of Adam Warlock, was now part of that vast library… and a dangerous one at that.
He recalled the horrors of Universe 93112, where another Magus had unleashed chaos so catastrophic, he'd wiped out both himself and the fabric of reality around him.
Ben's jaw tightened. "I've seen what you're capable of in other timelines. I'm not letting that happen here."
Magus tilted his head, intrigued. "You think you understand me?"
Ben raised the Omnitrix, ready to transform. "No," he said calmly, "but I know how to stop you."
"What in the universe have you just done?!" Magus bellowed, his voice laced with fury and disbelief. For the first time in eons, he felt a tremor—not in the cosmos, but within himself. His essence, usually so untouchable, had been mirrored.
Ben smirked, his tone casual but laced with confidence. "Nothing major. Just sampled a little something from your powers."
His form shifted—sleek armor intertwined with arcane glyphs—and in a flash, Ben Warlock stood ready, embodying both alien science and celestial sorcery.
The air around them shimmered with power. Energy surged between them as if the universe itself held its breath.
"Did he just... copy his powers?" Rocket Raccoon gawked, jaw hanging.
"That shouldn't even be possible," Quasar muttered, eyes wide behind her visor.
Star-Lord raised a brow. "Okay, now that was cool."
Even Groot, eyes aglow, let out an impressed, "I am Groot."
Hovering above the ruined ground, Magus crossed his arms, his cosmic aura flaring. "You dare mimic me? I am the will of the cosmos incarnate!"
Ben raised his hand, flexing his glowing fingers. "Cool origin story. But I've faced worse—let's see what this new toy can really do."
Without warning, Magus dove forward, unleashing a devastating blow. The sheer force cracked the void itself, but Ben caught it, his arm glowing with raw cosmic might. The impact sent shockwaves rippling across the starscape, planets trembling in the distance.
They clashed—fist meeting fist, energy clashing with energy. Every strike between them burst with power, tearing through the ethereal battlefield like thunder in a storm.
Magus took to the skies, streaking upward with a burst of light. He zipped across the sky, a blur of cosmic radiance. "Let's see if you can keep up, Tennyson!"
Ben launched after him, flying effortlessly with his newly-acquired powers. The two spiraled and weaved across the celestial plane, their chase illuminating the stars like a meteor shower.
"You're fast," Ben admitted, his voice steady as he kept pace, "but speed means nothing if you can't land a hit."
They collided again, this time midair, their power lighting up the heavens.