The Song of Eternity
Canto 6 : Galactus
Verse 4
Fantastic
A chance encounter,
Nearly ends in tragedy.
More questions are raised about the past,
And an omen of Doom appears.
"What was that about?" Vincent asked after he and Logan had landed on the sidewalk outside Strange's mansion.
"What was what about?" Logan countered as he led the way down the street.
"At the end, he said for you to make sure he did not have to handle something himself," Vincent said as Logan lit up a cigarette and kept walking.
"Me and Strange go way back. We were in a group with a couple other guys in the city, called ourselves the Defenders, so I have a pretty good understanding of what the Doc meant," Logan explained as they kept walking and he breathed out a puff of smoke. "Same thing that me and Chuck are worried about actually. You and Starmore killed off most of the planet, or so you say. Let's just say that we all want to keep a close eye on you," Logan continued.
"I had no choice, I did my best to make it quick for them," Vincent said as they kept walking. "I did not agree with what we were doing until much late, but I still did not like it. I eased their suffering, they were under the control of evil beings. There is no telling what he would have done on his own either," Vincent added.
"What are you talking about, what he would have done on his own?" Logan asked as they continued walking.
"Starmore. He had been wandering the multiverse for half a million years before that. He was distraught when he left the first time, before my first long sleep," Vincent continued as they kept walking. "When we were purging the cities, I realized that he was mad, possessed by the sole thought of killing all of those that Garland controlled with no regard to anyone or anything else. I tried to make it quick, I cannot stop him, he is too powerful," Vincent finished as they walked.
"If it's any consolation, I'm starting to trust you," Logan said as they stopped at an intersection. They waited for the light to change, but both turned as they heard something behind them.
A woman screamed as a man in a ski mask ran off with her purse. "Help! Police!" she screamed.
Logan and Vincent ran in the direction of the thief, leaving the woman behind. They slowed down when the thief disappeared from the street down an alley. Vincent stopped Logan at the alley's entrance. "I'll handle this, go see to the woman," Vincent ordered as Logan grumbled, but walked back to where the woman was, sure that Vincent could handle himself.
Vincent walked down the alley, his eyes quickly becoming accustomed to the darkness. He frowned as he saw the thief near the top of a fire escape, heading to the rooftops. Vincent got a running start and scaled the brick wall, leaving holes where his claw and boots had cut into the building on his way up. He straightened up as he landed on the rooftop and saw the thief walking away a few feet in front of him. "You people never change," he said as the thief turned around in surprise.
"Who the hell are you?" the thief asked before he drew a knife.
"It is none of your concern," Vincent said as he laughed at the small weapon. "Praying on those weaker than you. Your kind disgust me," Vincent said as the man tried to edge away from him. "Don't even think about it," Vincent threatened as he moved his coat away to reveal one of his guns. He pulled out his Death Penalty and pointed it at the man. "Time to give that back to it's rightful owner," Vincent said before something hit his gun, knocking it from his hand.
"As much as I like citizens lending a helping hand, guns are not the answer," came a voice from behind Vincent.
Vincent turned to see a man dressed in red and blue, with what looked like a spider web design all over his costume. "Do all people here dress so strange?" he asked as he faced the newcomer. The thief took the opportunity to try to sneak away, but found himself covered in web with another gun pointed at him immediately. Vincent held his Quicksilver with his left hand pointed at the thief behind his back and his Outsider pointed at the man in red and blue.
"Just the weird ones," Spiderman replied. "Take it easy there, I'm a friend," Spiderman said as Vincent frowned but took the time to look back to the thief who was pinned to the ground by web.
"What are you supposed to be? A guy who shoots goo at people?" Vincent asked as he holstered his guns and retrieved his Death Penalty.
"Just your friendly neighborhood Spiderman," Spiderman explained as he walked over and picked the thief up and carried him over his shoulder as if it was nothing.
"A mutant like Logan and the others?" Vincent asked as they walked in the general direction of where the woman was mugged.
"Something like that, radioactive spider-bite actually," Spiderman joked. "What about you? I was following you and Logan out of curiosity, never seen you before though," Spiderman asked as he leapt to the next building.
Vincent crouched and easily leapt the ten foot gap to land beside Spiderman. "Went to sleep for a million years and woke up in their backyard," Vincent shrugged as they both looked over the edge of the building at Logan talking to woman. "Better get down there, he doesn't strike me as a people person," Vincent said as they both jumped down to the sidewalk.
"Here you go ma'am," Spiderman said as he grabbed the purse from the thief's unwebbed hands.
The woman walked away as the three of them heard sirens closing in. "What the hell have you been doing? Following us?" Logan asked Spiderman who just shrugged.
"Seemed like the thing to do," Spiderman joked. "You two better get going, I'll handle the cops here," he said as they heard the sirens a couple blocks away. "Police still don't take too kindly to mutant outlaws, Logan. By the way, what's your name?" he directed the question at Vincent.
"Vincent Valentine," he replied as he shook hands with Spiderman.
"Spiderman. You better get out of here," he said as Logan and Vincent headed in the opposite direction of the sirens quickly. After they were safely away from the action Vincent commented on the situation. "This is a strange place, so many people have superhuman powers," he said as they walked further downtown towards a tall skyscraper.
"Get used to it bub," Logan laughed. "You ain't seen nothing yet, just try to keep the gun holstered," he added. After walking through the crowded streets for a bit, Logan pointed up at the enormous building in front of them. "Four Freedoms Plaza, this is our stop."
They walked into the building stopped at a security guard manning a metal detector. They both walked through, making the machine beep loudly in the lobby. "You two got any metal on you?" the guard asked.
"You could say that," Logan said as he unsheathed a claw and Vincent revealed his left arm. "Just tell Reed that Logan is here," he ordered.
The guard walked over to a phone by the elevator, picked it up, and began talking. He hung it up after a minute and came back over. "Sorry about that, it's all part of the job," he apologized. "He's up on 34 right now. He said to meet him there," the guard said before going back to his position.
Logan and Vincent walked into the elevator and pushed the button for the 34th floor. As the elevator went up, Logan talked to Vincent. "Try not to be surprised from what you see here. Remember what I said, he's made of elastic, his brother in law is a matchstick, and Grimm's made of rock," Logan warned as the elevator stopped and they both got out onto the 34th floor of Four Freedoms Plaza.
They looked around the deserted hallway for a minute before Vincent spoke. "I think I can control my shock, where is everyone?"
"Shaddup," Logan said as he sniffed the air and listened for signs of life. Suddenly they heard a huge crash and felt the building shake. "It came from this way," Logan said as they both took off down the hallway and were promptly buried as the wall exploded and rubble flew in their direction.
"What a revoltin' development this is," came a voice as a piece of rubble that was actually none other than Benjamin Grimm, the Thing, rose from the rubble rubbed his head. He looked back into the room where eh just came from wondering what hit him. He saw Sue, Reed, and Johnny getting to their feet and a familiar silver being lying in the center of the ruined lab. "Reed, why's the Silver Surfer lying in your lab," he muttered as he walked over and helped the Silver Surfer to his feet.
"That would be my fault," came another voice as a being of fire floated through the hole in the wall. "He directed his fall to land here. I will kill him now. Step away," the being ordered.
"I don't think so, he's a friend of ours," Sue said as she erected an invisible force field between the Surfer and his attacker. "Who are you? Why are you attacking the Silver Surfer?" Sue asked the being who looked at her in annoyance.
"I am Firelord, herald of Galactus. The Silver Surfer has attacked the master and must be destroyed," Firelord explained.
"He is going to break his word," the Surfer muttered as the Thing held him up. "Galactus is coming to destroy us all," he explained as he gained his feet.
"You are not worthy to question the master!" Firelord shouted as he unleashed a blast of fire at the heroes. Sue erected an invisible force sphere around Firelord, keeping his flames from damaging the building. "You think you can stop me? I am empowered by the power cosmic!" Firelord shouted.
"Of course they think they can stop you, they have always been fools," came a new voice as a figure appeared in a cube of golden light. "But with the help of Victor Von Doom, maybe we can stop this from happening," Doom's voice came from within his suit of armor.
"Doom? What're you doin' here?" the Thing asked nervously as he found himself between Doom and Firelord.
"He is using his time cube, which means some of us die here and are unable to aid in the battle against Galactus, which me lost in the future," Reed guessed.
"Correct Richards, now we must deal with this creature," he said as he prepared to attack the herald.
"Anyone get the name of the bus that hit me?" came a voice from the rubble behind the six preparing for battle. Logan dug his way out of the rubble, claws bared and all, quickly surveying the situation. He then looked down to where he could see a bit of Vincent and his eyes opened wide in surprise. He quickly walked over to the others and said, "get ready, he's on our side, I guess."
"What is the X-Man doing here? I have done nothing to make him appear here, I have changed no history," Doom said strangely.
Suddenly the rubble moved and Chaos appeared, looking ready to kill anything. It glanced over at Logan and growled. "Valentine, go after the fire guy!" Logan shouted, causing Chaos to look at Firelord.
"This is impossible….," Doom whispered.
"What is this? A monster of some kind? It is nothing compared to me," Firelord boasted before Chaos dove at him and knocked them both from the building. Chaos roared as flames enveloped them both, causing him to let go and circle the herald in the sky. "Feel the power of Firelord, beast!" Firelord screamed as he created intense flames around Chaos.
"I am hell-spawn, fool," Chaos laughed as he flew at the herald, striking it with his claws.
Firelord clutched his wound in pain and looked back to the demon in anger. "Then feel the power cosmic!" he shouted as a blast of energy leapt from his hand, impacting Chaos, sending him crashing through the window of another skyscraper. "Fool, you are nothing compared to me," he taunted as he turned to go take care of the others. He floated up into the air above the hole in Four Freedoms Plaza and prepared to attack.
"Never turn your back on an enemy," Chaos said as he tackled Firelord, forcing both of them to crash toward the rubble below. Chaos was pulled away from Firelord by the Thing, even as he transformed back into Vincent. Vincent got to his feet, unharmed and looked at Logan and the others. "Is it dead yet?"
"I will not fall to you pitiful creatures," Firelord responded as he slowly got to his feet.
"Pardon us then, we'll get to work on it," the Thing said as he swung at the herald, knocking him back into the wall. "A little help guys," he called as he felt the flames burning his rock-like skin.
Vincent concentrated and cast ice on the herald as Logan, Doom, and the others joined the battle. The herald seemed dazed as he was pummeled from all directions by invisible force fields, adamantium claws, energy blasts, and rocky fists. Firelord managed a small cosmic blast which was negated by Doom. "What is happening!" he roared as he failed to create any fire around his body.
Vincent was sweating. It was taking a lot of effort to keep the herald cold enough to prevent him from creating his flames. He had already created enough cold to kill most normal men and was fatiguing. "I can't keep him cold for much longer!" Vincent shouted as the others stepped up their efforts. As the last of his MP ran out, he quickly switched the materia in his gun so that he had Ice and Elemental linked. "Stand back," he shouted too late as Firelord, beaten and bloody, sent out a heat wave forcing the attackers back.
"You will pay for this!' Firelord shouted at Vincent.
"You are nothing," Vincent replied coldly as he raised his Death Penalty and started shooting. The bullets, imbued with the ice power, tore into the exhausted herald's flesh, spraying blood all over the ground.
"I…I…," the herald muttered as he stumbled backwards.
"You are finished here," Vincent said as he fired one last bullet into the herald's skull. Vincent holstered his gun and went to check on Logan and the others who were getting to their feet. "Who was that?"
"Dunno, mind filling us in Reed," Logan groaned as he got to his feet.
"Firelord, herald of Galactus," Reed explained.
"But the important question is, who are you?" Doom asked as he stared at Vincent. "I did nothing to change the past to bring you here, and I have never seen you before. You should not be here," Doom explained.