The Living Tribunal is one of Marvel's top beings, but there is only one who can command him, and that is the OAA, full name One-Above-All. Said to surpass and stand above all things! This "all things" includes all matter, spirit, fantasy, imagination, thought, consciousness, meaning—literally everything...
Uh, all right. Let's change the explanation: OAA's status in Marvel is equivalent to that of the Root in the Nasuverse. All in all, the only one in Marvel who could chat casually with the OAA was Stan Lee himself. (laughs)
"The Infinity Stones are essential cornerstones for maintaining the balance of this universe. You may take them to another Marvel universe, but you absolutely cannot bring them out of the Marvel multiverse." Without paying any attention to the two who were dumbfounded, the Living Tribunal slowly spoke to them.
"What should we do? If I put everything on the line, including the Kabbalah Tree of Life, maybe we could perish together." Before Tohka could say anything, the reversed version of herself inside her could no longer sit still. She was calculating the difference in strength between the sides, and soon presented Tohka with the results.
"I'd like to ask—aside from the Space Stone, I've also held the Reality Stone and the Power Stone. And every time I held them, I felt like someone was watching me. Was that you?" Ignoring what the Living Tribunal had said earlier, Tohka voiced her doubt. She hadn't lacked opportunities to take the other Stones for herself, but every time she touched them, she felt a sense of dread. She knew this feeling wasn't coming from the Stones themselves—after all, without being gathered together, they couldn't exert such overwhelming power.
"Yes. The Infinity Stones should not be gathered together. And you, as an outsider, are especially forbidden from possessing more than one. However, up until now, you have only truly kept the Space Stone. The others, though you held them briefly, you did not claim them as your own." Hearing Tohka's question, the Living Tribunal did not hesitate and spoke directly.
"What if I had decided to keep a second Infinity Stone? What would you have done?" Tohka was still not satisfied and kept pressing.
"I would have intervened to strip you of your second Stone."
"..." Silently looking at the golden giant before her, Tohka finally let out a breath of relief. Fortunately, she hadn't actually done that—otherwise, she probably would have ended up in direct conflict with this being. And whether she could win—Tohka didn't think so. In terms of rank alone, he was far above even the Five Great Cosmic Entities. Although in the comics he had been ganged up on and killed by the Beyonders and his corpse thrown onto the moon, Tohka didn't believe she could gain any advantage here.
"So basically, either I leave this Infinity Stone behind, or I can't leave at all. But if I leave it behind, we won't be able to cross over." She glanced at the distant tear in reality that was slowly closing after being interrupted. Tohka frowned—without the Infinity Stone, if she went over, she wouldn't be able to return.
"I can help you safeguard the Infinity Stone. When you return, I will give it back to you." But to Tohka's surprise, the Living Tribunal actually offered a very considerate solution: "I will leave a special back door for you, and with this device, you can still return from that world. But every time you travel, there will be a cooldown period."
After speaking, the Living Tribunal tossed her an object radiating the aura of the Space Stone. Tohka caught it with one hand, and it instantly replaced the Space Stone's position within her mindscape. There was no helping it—this thing was essentially a miniature Space Stone.
"Here." Tohka didn't hesitate either. She knew that if she resisted here, everything could be lost.
"All right, let's go." Then she grabbed Miku's hand and prepared to leave. But soon she thought of something else—there was still something else inside her body.
"That originally belonged to you. Besides, the birth of this universe is related to that thing." Before she could say anything, the Living Tribunal preemptively answered her question.
"All right. Let's go." Hearing his response, Tohka no longer bothered to dwell on it and simply led Miku away.
"Why help her? We could have simply reclaimed the Infinity Stone and let her leave empty-handed." Watching the two figures disappear, now only the golden giant remained. He was a little puzzled as he spoke into the void. After all, if it had been left to him, he wouldn't have bothered with all this. He'd just take the Stone back and be done with it. Why complicate matters?
"The Kabbalah Tree of Life... what an interesting thing." Just then, another voice drifted out from the cosmos: "When I discovered that thing in the void, I deliberately constructed this universe to house it. At the same time, I severed the temporal flow between this world and hers, creating a huge disparity in time. I just wanted to see whether, when the Tree fully awakens, it might reach my level."
"..."
Hearing what seemed like a muttered monologue, the Living Tribunal said nothing. After all, matters involving that being were not for him to comment on.
In another world, two figures suddenly appeared in a room. They did not alert anyone, nor did they disturb any of the furnishings.
"Huh...so calm? I thought it would trigger a spatial quake. Also—where exactly are we? Why is it such a mess here?" Tohka looked around the cluttered room in confusion. In her memory, they should have reappeared in a crater and immediately been chased by a bunch of mecha girls.
"Well...as you saw, I wasn't in great shape earlier. Also...huh? We were over there for so long, but here only a few hours passed?" Miku's slightly embarrassed voice came from behind her. Soon, she sounded puzzled—she'd realized that despite how long they'd been away, only a few hours had passed here.
"Perfect. But..." Tohka started to say something else, but her expression quickly darkened. She felt a massive repulsive force trying to expel her from this world.
"All right, Miku—it looks like I'll have to return to the border dimension for a while. You stay in this world line and take care of things. Weren't there people here who bullied you before? Make them pay." Feeling the repulsion growing stronger, Tohka hastily gave Miku instructions before vanishing completely.
"Okay. I understand."