BIOGRAPHY - page 4
Upon returning to Earth, Quasar decided to take a leave of absence from the Avengers, feeling that he had spent too much time recently focused on Earth. He worried he might have been able to prevent the Kree/Shi’ar War if he had been more outwardly focused. He planned first to head to Hala to aid in the recovery efforts. Before he departed Earth, though, he put Ken in charge of his security business and set out to say goodbye to Makkari and Kayla. Mak insisted on accompanying Wendell and, when he couldn’t find Kayla, Wendell set out for Kree space, with Her tagging along.
However, the trio weren’t warmly welcomed when they arrived on Hala. In fact, they were immediately attacked and driven off world. In space, they came across the Mourners, who informed Quasar that the billions of Kree souls had never reached the afterlife. Quasar then tracked the souls to the gigantic Soul Eater, a cosmic being that had consumed the lost souls. The group followed the beast to a planet-sized, alien fetus, which the soul-eater was currently trying to consume. The trio’s attacks seemed futile, forcing Wendell to attack from within the creature. Inside, he encountered the billions of souls, each of which thought they were in the afterlife. Eventually, Quasar managed to convince the souls that they were in fact being digested, which resulted in the souls resisting and destroying the Soul Eater from within. [Captain America (1st series) #401, Quasar #35-36]
Though the Soul Eater was destroyed, the damage done to the cosmic fetus seemed fatal. Fortunately, help arrived in the form of two of the Elders of the universe, the Contemplator and the Caretaker, the latter of whom managed to save the creature. This meeting was fortuitous, as soon after Quasar received a request from Captain America to find the cosmic entity Eternity. A mysterious force, in actuality the Magus, was accumulating power and had attempted to assassinate the heroes of Earth and Cap wanted answers.
With the aid of the Contemplator, Quasar accessed a dimension where the cosmic entities created and stored their manifestations. It took several tries and a conflict with the entity known as 
Anomaly for Quasar and the Contemplator to locate Eternity, who they discovered had been rendered catatonic by the Magus. Returning to normal space, Quasar immediately notified Captain America and rushed to join the gathered heroes of Earth in facing the cosmic threat.
Unknown to the world’s heroes, Adam Warlock, his Infinity Watch and Thanos, were also investigating the Magus. The two groups ended up meeting on a small world, which resulted in an unnecessary battle due to Thanos’ presence. Quasar played a key role in the fight, first sealing the Infinity Watch in a dome, then fighting Adam Warlock. He fared well at first, only to be overwhelmed by Warlock’s Soul Gem. The fight was soon interrupted by the arrival of Galactus and his own allies. Together at last, the three groups combined their knowledge and formed a plan: to assemble the Infinity Gems. However, as the Living Tribunal had decreed the gems could no longer work in unison, Galactus set out to convince him to change that ruling. With Warlock abducted by the Magus soon after Galactus’ departure, and the Infinity Gauntlet stolen, Quasar and his allies had lost their greatest weapons.
Left unsupervised on Galactus’ ship, Thanos acquired the Ultimate Nullifier, the most powerful weapon in existence. While powerful, the weapon had a massive drawback; if not used perfectly, it would erase the user from existence, along with its target. Not willing to die himself, Thanos manipulated Quasar into accepting the task of using the weapon.
Feeling a sense of duty as Protector of the Universe, Wendell accepted the responsibility. Not wanting to rush into his decision, however, Wendell consulted with Epoch and teleported to an intergalactic library to study up on the device. While studying, he was confronted by Deathurge, who as an agent of Oblivion had to test anyone that intended to use the Nullifier. The pair fought and Deathurge urged Quasar to embrace the void in his heart, in order to dispense the void from the Nullifier. Wendell, however, refused and the agent of Oblivion left, promising he would see him on “the other side.”
Returning to Earth’s heroes, Quasar resolved to use the Nullifer and teleported to the Magus’ domain before his friends could talk him out of it. Ever the levelheaded thinker, Quasar took his 
time and prepared for the shot, but the Magus blocked the Nullifier’s power, turning it back on Quasar, seemingly wiping him from existence. [Infinity War Crossover]
Quasar awoke to find himself a strange, colorless dimension before the entity Oblivion. He made a deal with the entity; fight his champion to the death for his freedom. Unfortunately, Oblivion’s champion was Kid Reaper, Wendell’s own personal death avatar, generated from his subconscious. Wendell battled hard but was ultimately killed, losing his Quantum Bands in the process. He next awoke in yet another colorless world, at a long table in a white room with other former wielders of the Quantum Bands, each with their own view of what the room was. While there, he was visited first by the spirit of Eon, who offered to sacrifice his own spirit to help Quasar escape. Wendell refused, unwilling to free himself if it meant killing someone else. Next, he was visited by the Angel of Vengeance, who offered to kill those responsible for his death. Again, Wendell refused, not believing that a death for a death would make anything better.
Meanwhile on Earth, Thanos had released the Marvel Boy simulacrum from the Eonverse with the intention of making him his own personal Protector of the Universe. After learning that Wendell was trying to escape from his purgatory, he sent Marvel Boy to the strange dimension to stop him. Arriving in the “white room,” Marvel Boy incinerated Wendell, only to find Quasar spontaneously regenerated and able to counter-attack. When Marvel Boy fled, Quasar gave chase, flying after him again and again, no matter where Marvel Boy fled. During his pursuit, Quasar had no 
explanation for his continuous resurrections or why he felt so invigorated, until he notice the Starbrand on his wrist, a spot usually covered up by his Quantum Bands. The tattoo and the power behind it had not burned itself from the jump from the alternate universe, as Quasar had believed, but had been slowly regenerating itself, even as it remain hidden behind Quasar’s bands. With this rediscovered power, Quasar eventually defeated Marvel Boy and placed him in his former spot in the white room purgatory, after which he returned to his home reality. [Quasar #40-43]
Having lost his Quantum Bands upon his death, Quasar had to rely on the power of the Starbrand to return to Earth. He headed first to his security business, eager to see Kayla, only to learn she had gone missing weeks ago with H.D. Stockley. Unknown to Wendell, in addition to having retained the Starbrand, he had also transferred it (or a part of it) to Kayla upon his return. After extraterrestrials had detected this power in her, they had enlisted the trans-dimensional criminal Quagmire to abduct her to an alien world. Though unaware of these occurrences, Kalya’s trail led Quasar to Quagmire, who was currently threatening patrons of a local diner. Aside from wanting to interrogate him about Kayla, Quasar wanted to assist the innocent diners and attacked. Quasar 
gained the upper hand until Quagmire’s surprise ally joined the fight, the small Antibody creature that that tagged along with Wendell from the distant universe. Since his arrival into Quasar’s universe and separation from Quasar, the Anitbody had fallen under Quagmire’s sway. Having grown ever larger as it continuously fused with Quagmire’s sludge powers, the Antibody had become giant and every time Quasar struck the creature it split into smaller versions.
Matters grew more complicated when two more of Quasar’s former foes also returned. Neutron, the Imperial Guardsman whom Wendell had abandoned in space during Operation: Galactic Storm, had happened upon the former Soviet agent called the Presence. Both bonded over their desire for revenge upon Quasar and rushed to Earth to find him. By happenstance, it was in the middle of his fight against Quagmire and the Antibodies that the two found Quasar, resulting in a three-way battle between the Avenger and both sets of his foes. Through his quick wit, Quasar neutralized the threat of the Presence by informing him that his native Soviet Union had broken up during his exile from Earth, prompting the Presence to abandon the battle to investigate. Meanwhile, Neutron’s fellow guardsman arrived soon after and, together with Dr. Druid’s supernatural Shock Troop, the group destroyed the Antibodies. Unfortunately, with Quagmire’s escape, Wendell was no closer to finding Kayla. [Quasar #44-46]
Wendell sought the aid of the Watcher to locate both Kayla and his Quantum Bands. While the Watcher refused to interfere, he did happen to leave on a monitor that showed Quasar the location of the bands: within the embryonic sac of the giant cosmic fetus that he had recently saved. Sensing that his Starbrand was “running out of juice,” Quasar sought the aid of fellow Avenger Thunderstrike and together they travelled to the embryo’s location in deep space. Upon arrival, they found a gathering of Elders of the Universe, arguing over the fate of the creature. Though the assembled Elders had not yet decided on a course of action regarding the fetus, two of their number, the Possessor and the Eradicator, had their own opinions. Between them, they intended to possess or destroy the creature, and did not wish for the two Earthmen to interfere. The two Avengers managed to prevail but it was only moments afterward that Quasar’s Starbrand powers ran out. Fortunately, the Elder Caregiver assisted Quasar in bonding with the fetus, at which point he learned that the creature was in fact Origin reborn. In thanks for saving her on two occasions, Origin had retrieved the Quantum Bands on Quasar’s death and kept them safe.
However, before he could put both bands on, one was snatched by the Contemplator. Immediately, Quasar surmised that this was not the real Contemplator, but an imposter the true Elder had been investigating. With only one band each, the pair fought for control over the other. However, with his much greater experience using the bands, Wendell managed to overload the Contemplator, incinerating his arm. It was afterward that Quasar and the Elders learned the truth, that this Contemplator was in fact a Skrull. One of the Elders, the so-called Judicator, declared jurisdiction over the Skrull and transported him away for justice.
As the Possessor and the Eradicator were still hostile towards the Origin embryo, Quasar and Thunderstrike agreed to transport them away. Unfortunately, in transit, the Possessor took control of Thunderstrike first, then Quasar, forcing them to battle each other. As he wanted to Quantum Bands for himself, the Elder forced Wendell to lose control of his Quantum Bands, intending for Quasar to incinerate himself as had previous wielders. However, Quasar mentally resisted and used the last remnant of the Starbrand to drive the Possessor out. Now in control of his body once more, he channeled his excess power into the Possessor’s staff, blasting his arm off. [Quasar #47-48]
Now once again in contact with Epoch, Quasar set the entity’s cosmic awareness on a search for Kayla Ballantine. Wishing to reconnect with his former life but having lost track of Her and Makkari after leaving them with the Mourners in deep space before he had been nullified, Quasar decided to see his mother. He was shocked to learn that during his time away she had developed cancer. 
Desperate to save her, he immediately departed and travelled the universe, trying to find a cure. He spoke with Epoch, the Caregiver and even Death herself. Unfortunately, he found nothing that could help his mother and returned to Earth, intending to spend what remaining time he had with her. As it turned out, in his haste Wendell had failed to learn that doctors were confident of his mother’s recovery.
Wendell’s good luck seemed to continue when he learned from Epoch that Kayla had been located. However, their joyful reunion turned dark when Quasar learned where she had been for 
over month. After various adventures in space with Holly Steckley, with whom she had bonded during their ordeal, Kayla had returned to Earth. Unfortunately, the same Starbrand powers that had allowed her to return home proved a curse when she accidentally injured first her father and then Her (now called Kismet) with unintentional displays of her powers. Afraid of the power she wielded, the emotionally fragile Kayla had taken an opportunity to rid herself of the Starbrand and agreed to transfer it to Stockley when she offered to take it. Unfortunately, Holly Steckley was in fact a Deviant named Ereshkigal, who had usurped the H.D. Steckley identity after Moondragon had abandoned it, all in a plot to steal Quasar’s Quantum Bands. Now armed with the Starbrand, a greater power, Ereshkigal revealed her true nature and departed, intending to use the limitless Starbrand to become “master of the multiverse.”
Taking Kayla with him, Quasar followed Ereshkigal’s energy trail to the Nexus of All Realities in the Everglades and, with the help of the sorceress Jennifer Kale and the Man-Thing, entered the interdimensional nexus. There, he found Ereshkigal in confrontation with the highest of all abstract entities, the Living Tribunal. Before he could decide how to intercede, Quasar was joined by the Silver Surfer, who had detected something amiss with the universe’s “cosmic axis” and had managed to gain access to the nexus to investigate. The arrival of both the Surfer and Quasar gave the Living Tribunal an opportunity to prevent Ereshkigal from using the Starbrand to modify the multiverse into her own image. Rather than damage the multiverse in their conflict, the Tribunal and Ereshkigal would allow the Surfer and Quasar to battle each other as their champions, with neither aware for which side they were fighting. Ereshkigal agreed to the terms and, without debate or choice, Quasar and the Surfer began to battle, each convinced they fought for the salvation of 
the universe. During their battle, however, Quasar noticed that, for every blow he landed, the manifestation of Lord Chaos grew larger. Realizing he was fighting for the wrong side, Quasar allowed the Surfer beat him, resulting in Ereshkigal being defeated. Horrified at her loss despite being so close, Ereshkigal chose to annihilate herself, rather than surrender the Starbrand. [Quasar #49-50]