The Song of Eternity
Canto 6 : Galactus
Verse 7
Preparation
The eve of destruction has come,
The plans are made,
Waiting is the hardest part.
Vincent stood at a makeshift firing range that had been put up on one of the floors of Four Freedoms Plaza. He had not touched the gun since it was given to him yesterday. Instead, he had spent his time researching the powers and abilities of those who would be joining him in the battle and waiting as Reed, Doom, a Native American in his early 20s called Forge, and a man in a suit of red and yellow metal tried to cobble together some energy draining devices to stop Galactus.
He had left momentarily to help Logan as Xavier, Hank, Ororo and the kids arrived. He helped them get their stuff moved into guest rooms, then went out on the town to clear his mind. He borrowed some of the local currency from Logan and took a taxi to where Doom said Galactus would land, some place called Central Park. It was a nice place, full of people. Vincent was used to drawing stares, so he was surprised when few gave him a second glance. He reminded himself to make sure Reed and the others evacuated this part of the city starting tomorrow.
After he sat on a bench in the park for a bit, he walked the streets until he found himself at the bar he went to with Logan earlier. He shrugged and entered, taking a seat at the bar. "The usual?" the bartender asked. Vincent nodded and accepted the bottle the bartender handed him. He took a sip from the bottle and glanced around the establishment, looking for a familiar face.
He spotted two of the men who came with Strange on motorcycles sitting in a booth with another man whose face he could not see. He went over and took a seat as they made room. They made some small talk for a while before the inevitable questions. "So what do you do, shoot things?" the older of the two asked.
"Among other things," Vincent said. "I have a little magical skill, expert marksmanship, immortality, and transform into a demon," he explained. "And you two?" he asked as he took a drink of the bottle.
"Dan Ketch. Possessed by a demon as well," the younger said.
"John Blaze. Used to be possessed by the same demon, we think. Anyway, now I just got a hellfire shooting shotgun," he explained. "Why didn't you ask about him?" he indicated the third man.
"I know what he does, but he seems more secretive. I did not know if you knew the secret," Vincent said.
"They know about it, me being Spiderman and all. We go way back. Peter Parker," he introduced himself.
They had made small talk, trying to keep their mind off of the coming battle, eventually leaving later in the night after several other heroes arrived and the bar was running out of alcohol. At the firing range, Vincent pulled out his new gun, Agememnon, and studied it for the first time. He turned it over in his hands, noticing how light it was. "How did he make it white?" he muttered to himself as he looked over the flawless, almost pearl-like exterior.
He got another surprise when he popped out the magazine to see what kind of rounds it used. "Amazing," he whispered as he clutched the magazine. "He fused all the materia into this…," he stated as he looked over the multicolored crystal. He slammed the magazine back into the gun and pointed it at the target he set up earlier. He pulled the trigger and nothing happened. Puzzled, he tried again, getting the same result. "Stupid me," he scolded himself. "It's materia, I have to use my mind." He concentrated on a fire elemental blast and pulled the trigger, this time sending a burning red projectile of energy at the target, destroying it. "He made them more powerful…," Vincent marveled as he got used to his new gun.
Later that day Vincent caught up with Logan, Xavier and the kids. When they sat down, he remembered some of the kids, but had never seen several others before. He recognized Cyclops, Jean Grey, Madrox, Quicksilver, Rogue, Iceman, Nightcrawler, Spyke, and Cannonball as well as Hank and Ororo, but noticed a few new faces. He was introduced to a pair of students, Jubilee and Shadowcat who were home for the weekend before Xavier introduced him to a new group.
"This is the 'Brotherhood' as they call themselves," he gestured at half a dozen youths. "Avalanche, Pyro, Boom-Boom, Blob, Gambit, and Havok. They live in Bayville as well. I volunteered their services for this event," Xavier explained chuckling at the angry youths. "How has your time here been, besides the obvious," Xavier asked him.
"Well enough. This world is full of interesting people," Vincent laughed. "Strange helped me take care of three of the demons, but Chaos remains. I will live with him as I always have, until the day we die," Vincent explained.
"Cheer up Vincent, as you said there are many interesting and powerful things on this world. Maybe one day you will find the one that frees you," Ororo comforted him.
"Maybe," Vincent whispered. "Galactus will come tomorrow. I must go prepare," he said farewell before he bowed and left the room.