Chapter 10 - And Lo, A Herald Ascends!
It had been well over an hour since Galactus had fallen, and in that time, most of the scientifically-minded superwomen, assisted by both members of NERV's Tech Division 1 and the S.H.I.E.L.D. contingent assigned to work with them, were currently studying the shrinking form of the devourer with all manner of equipment set up. NERV's command and advisory staff had also rejoined their friends at the site, not only checking in with them but also greeting the new face among them in Nadia of the Atlanteans. It was at that moment that Mana, aka Iron Maiden, had returned with War Machine and Rescue, carrying a large container full of machine parts, which they immediately got to work assembling into an apparatus over Galactus.
"What's all this for?" Shinji asked.
"Basically, it's the near-equivalent of a kidney dialysis machine," Mana answered. "Only difference is, based on Aahno's input, it'll draw out the energy within Galactus, accelerating the particle flow and returning it at an increased level to him. All it needs is a power source." Once she installed the last component, she looked towards Maria (alias Thunderstrike), who cricked her neck a bit before aiming her hammer Storm Bringer into an opening in the apparatus. Soon, lightning erupted from the enchanted Uru-crafted weapon, which entered the machine as it activated. Soon, energy began crackling around Galactus, as light began to wrap him in an all-encompassing glow.
"Keep in mind, I can't do this forever, which means the rest of you had better come up with a more long-term solution," Maria urged, as Mayumi joined in to keep her charged with her own electrical-manipulation abilities and Amora the Enchantress cast a spell that increased her stamina.
"I still cannot believe you are doing this," Nadia said contentiously, "saving the life of the very being who nearly doomed this planet, and laid waste to countless others before it! It's almost a missed opportunity to spare other worlds out there of Galactus's unending hunger..."
"A very small part of me agrees with you," Mari, aka Captain America, replied, "but even so, this is still a living being we're dealing with. We don't have any right to decide his fate any more than the geezers of SEELE had when they tried to carry out the Human Instrumentality Project." Earlier, when Nadia had been introduced to the others, they'd given her as brief an overview as they could of the true cause behind Second Impact, and what had been done to punish those truly responsible.
"It's more than just that," Yui started to add, "Galactus, in spite of the destruction he leaves in his wake, serves two vital purposes in the overall grand scheme of the universe."
"And those are-?" Misato (alias She-Hulk) asked, somewhat skeptical.
"Galactus is more than just a living being," Aahno elaborated. "He is a force of nature, whose existence is necessary to correct the imbalances between two other conceptual entities that make up our universe: Eternity, whom Yui has mentioned, and Death. For a time, his purpose also served as a cosmic test of survival for the many civilizations throughout the universe. Other than that, his existence also acts as a stopgap which prevents the emergence of an even more terrible being..."
"Abraxas," Yui said as she identified the being in question. "As Phoenix told me, Abraxas, the embodiment of destruction, is the counterpart of Eternity, themselves the embodiment of creation. If Galactus were to ever perish, Abraxas would be freed from his confinement and cut a swath of horror and devastation throughout not just this universe, but multiple alternate ones." Yui's eyes narrowed as she looked over the slowly-recuperating Galactus before them. "Which is all the more reason why we must keep Galactus alive."
Nadia, disbelieving at first, stoically nodded, reluctantly agreeing that Galactus, while not evil, was still the lesser of two evils.
"So, begs the question-what do we do for him, as Maria mentioned, long-term?" Asuka asked.
A sudden thought then came to Aoi/Yellowjacket, which she immediately voiced. "Something Rika said to me earlier-what if we actually put Galactus on a 'diet', only in this case, of uninhabited worlds?"
Hitomi/Ms. Marvel's face immediately lit up as an idea soon occurred to her. "That might actually work! S.W.O.R.D.'s been compiling a database of planets lacking any habitation by intelligent life!" She then quickly flew off towards the bridge, where she proceeded to contact Commander Abigail Brand to get a copy of the database transmitted to them as soon as possible. Moments later, she flew back with a disc containing the copy. Soon, they projected some of it so Galactus could see for himself what they were planning to offer him.
"This has...potential," the devourer stated, his voice weary but still impactful. "According to your data, the first six worlds catalogued alone contain the energy I require-yet the spatial coordinates have not been exactly pinpointed."
"Er, yes, sorry about that," Hitomi said apologetically.
"And not exactly helping things either," Maya/Ms. Fantastic pointed out, "is that we took out all of Galactus's heralds-the ones who were able to do the scouting ahead of him. If Galactus is ever going to start this new 'diet' Aoi proposed..."
"He'll need a new herald," Yui finished.
"Yes," Galactus affirmed. "I am restored enough that I may be able to infuse an individual with a portion of the Power Cosmic-they would become the first living being to act as my herald."
"The only question is-who would even volunteer for such a role?" Yui posed.
It was then that Shinji was suddenly struck with inspiration. "I think I know one person who could do this," he said as he walked over to Rei/Silver Surfer. "Can you fly me down to the main lab in HQ?"
Rei gave her brother a questioning look. "Why do you need to go-?" Her eyes widened slightly when she realized what his goal was. "Oh." She then helped Shinji onto Toomie the board, and soon they were zooming off in the direction of the aforementioned lab facility.
Central laboratory, NERV HQ, moments later...
Rei and Shinji soon made it to the lab, and quickly made their way to a specific area-one that had, as its main feature, a human-sized capsule filled with LCL, repurposed from the 'dummy plug plant' in Terminal Dogma, where in what seemed like a lifetime ago Rei would frequently venture to in order to upload her latest memories. Here though, it served a different purpose, namely keeping its current occupant stable and healthy.
The occupant in question was one Kaworu Nagisa, who while appearing to be a teenage boy with pale skin, red eyes, and ashen gray hair, was in fact the disguised form of the 17th Angel, Tabris. Following the defeat of the 16th Angel Armisael, SEELE had sent Kaworu, whose vessel their scientists had crafted from the DNA of the Angel progenitor Adam, to act as a sort of sleeper agent. Once in Tokyo-3, he was enrolled in the same school as the pilots, and registered with NERV as the Seventh Child, acting as a back-up Evangelion pilot. But Tabris was also known as the Angel of free will, and as such he took his time before fulfilling is apparent destiny, befriending Shinji before then. His appearance and timing were deemed suspicious by a number of the superwomen, chiefly Rei, Asuka, and Hikari, and only Mayumi was aware of Kaworu's true nature. Eventually, Kaworu/Tabris struck and, having 'remotely' hijacked Evangelion Unit-03 (itself having been previously controlled by the 13th Angel, Bardiel), tore his way down into Terminal Dogma to seek out what he believed was Adam. Shinji, in Unit-01, followed after, accompanied by some of the superwomen, while the rest were stuck dealing with threats that coincidentally had happened to appear around the same time. In spite of going up against someone who he'd come to view as a friend, Shinji and the others fought to prevent him from breaking into Lilith's chamber. While the superwomen who followed him dealt with the hijacked Unit-03, only Shinji was able to catch up to Kaworu, who himself was shocked that he'd found Lilith instead of Adam.
Discovering the trap he'd fallen into-something, thanks to a unique awareness he possessed, he realized had happened across other lifetimes-he willingly allowed himself to be held in Unit-01's grasp, urging Shinji to finish him so that the human race would be spared from a Third Impact. What happened next was something, Kaworu silently mused, that very rarely occurred in the other lifetimes: Shinji found a third way out, by breaking every bone in Kaworu's body. Immobilized, the human-shaped Tabris was brought up to NERV HQ's central lab facility, where Ritsuko and Maya carefully surgically removed his S2 organ. From that point on, Kaworu, for all intents and purposes, was human, and at Shinji's urging, was treated like a patient as he was placed into the capsule he currently resided in, while the LCL had been specially-modified to aid in his healing process, which would take some time. Shinji made it a point to visit Kaworu, to truly show that they could still be friends. Yet now, Shinji was here to ask him for what would be the greatest favor a friend could want...
Kaworu opened his eyes, as if he'd sensed Shinji and Rei's arrival. "Hello, Shinji," he greeted through the capsule's intercom. "How are you today?"
"I...I'm fine, Kaworu," Shinji answered.
"There is a bit of hesitance in your voice," Kaworu noted. "Is there something wrong?"
"...That's...putting it mildly," Shinji said. "Kaworu, you know about your...otherworldly origins. So I figure you probably know more than a few things about the universe at large, right?"
"That is true," Kaworu replied.
"Then...do you know about Galactus?"
Kaworu's eyes widened with surprise. "The world-devourer? He is here on Earth?"
Shinji nodded. "Yeah-and Rei and the others managed to stop him from eating the planet. But..."
"Galactus is-was dying," Rei finished. "On realizing his importance to the universe, we have done all we can to ensure his continued existence. But ours is a temporary measure at the most; we have compiled for him data on a number of uninhabited planets of which he could feast, but the coordinates are inexact, and without his heralds, he has no means of navigating his way to them. Therefore...he is in need of a new one."
"...And we think you may be the only one who can take it up," Shinji solemnly stated.
There was a pause in the air as Kaworu took in his words. Then, his usual enigmatic smile appeared as he came to a decision. "I will do it."
Both Shinji and Rei's eyes widened with astonishment. "R-really?" Shinji asked. "This-just like that?"
"Nagisa, do you have any idea of what this will entail?" Rei asked warily.
"I am highly aware," Kaworu answered unflinchingly. "To become a herald of Galactus is to forever travel the stars, seeking out sustenance to satiate his great hunger. Before, it would mean bringing an end to numerous civilizations who've yet to reach the stars themselves; such destruction is something I would have brought were I still the Seventeenth Angel...Yet, with what you have planned, it can bring about a small, but impactful change to the benefit of civilizations still out there, all without changing Galactus's overall nature. And on a more personal scale, I see a chance at giving myself a new purpose in life-perhaps even an opportunity to redefine the role of a herald."
Shinji nodded in understanding. Of the many conversations he and Kaworu had shared, they had debated over what the former Angel would do with his life once he was fully healed. Even with the limited understanding of humanity he had acquired over many of those visits, Kaworu would still feel as alien to the rest of the world as humankind would feel about him. There was also an underlying curiosity about the rest of the universe that he felt gnawing at him while he recovered, and for the first time, dreamed. As one who in a way believed in the concept of fate, what Shinji and Rei had now laid before him was as good a sign of its ever-moving hand opening up to him.
Shinji could tell that his friend was determined to help, even if it limited his freedom in the process. "If you're sure about this...let's get you out of here." He then turned to Rei. "And before we take him to Galactus, there's something I need to grab from the apartment..."
Topside, moments later...
Yui and the others were beginning to wonder what Shinji was doing when they soon spotted the speeding glint of Rei's board, as she and Shinji returned-along with an additional passenger.
"Nagisa?" Asuka wondered in astonishment as Shinji helped Kaworu off the board, the former Angel leaning on him as he kept him steady on his feet.
"What's he doing out here in his condition?" Ritsuko/Spider-Woman asked.
"Mom said Galactus needed a new herald," Shinji explained, "and Kaworu's the best qualified for the job."
"It is true," Kaworu confirmed. "The knowledge I've retained from my time as an Angel includes details of many worlds within the galaxy; combined with the data you've collected, I should be able to lead Galactus to the energy he needs, without any further loss of life." When he was still met with mostly-skeptical looks, he continued. "Please-think of it as my penance for the role I played in SEELE's attempt to initiate an impact. It is one I will accept wholeheartedly."
Nearly-speechless at what the former Nephilim was adamantly committing himself to, the others stood and watched as Shinji helped Kaworu over to Galactus's side. He then released him from his grip, with Kaworu managing to steady himself as he faced the devourer.
"Great Galactus!" he said. "I am Kaworu Nagisa, but I was also once known as Tabris, the Angel of Free Will. I have come to bargain with you, if you will hear me out!"
Galactus's eyes briefly glowed as he studied the teen boy before him. "Yes...I sense a faint trace of they who were called the First Ancestral Race about you. Speak your piece, Kaworu Nagisa."
Kaworu nodded. "As has been made aware to you, there are other planets-other worlds-uninhabited by intelligent life. It is also true that for now, you lack even a single herald to probe the universe for these worlds, so that you could spare those populated by intelligent beings. If a herald is what is needed for you...then I shall become that herald! I will search the heavens, scan the space-ways, roam the endless expanse of the cosmos for you, so that the civilized worlds may continue to live and thrive! This, I swear upon my very being!"
Galactus's expression became grave as he responded to Kaworu's appeal. "Consider well what you are offering, Kaworu Nagisa-by assuming the mantle of herald to Galactus, you shall do so...forevermore."
Kaworu smiled his enigmatic smile as he replied, "If this be my destiny-then willingly I accept it."
Galactus then held out his hand towards the former Angel. "Step onto my palm," he urged, to which Kaworu complied as he slowly walked onto it. "I accept your offer, Kaworu Nagisa. Before you take on the role, I must first adapt you for it." Soon, Galactus's palm became aglow with a bright light, shining with such force and intensity that Maya and Quasar quickly created a combined force field to shield themselves and the others. It was as if Galactus were channeling the fires of creation as he remade Kaworu before their eyes.
"Hear me, young mortal!" Galactus commanded, "Feel the touch of Galactus about you, and do not flee from my presence. I shall guide you as your being, once infused with a fraction of the Power Cosmic, is transformed into something much greater!"
Soon, a great flash lit up the area, and then just as quickly dissipated. When the superwomen and their friends and allies uncovered their eyes, they watched, awestruck, as Galactus unfurled his hand.
"It...is done," Galactus declared. "No more are you Kaworu Nagisa, also Tabris, the Angel of Free Will. Arise, Kaworu Nagisa, now known as...the Praeter, herald of Galactus!"
The transformed Kaworu stood up in the devourer's palm, astonishing those in front of him with his newfound appearance. He looked to be clad in a blue bodysuit with dark blue knee pads, shoulder pads, bracers, and boots, and a cowl left only his now-silvery hair and golden face visible. Gold highlights adorned the suit, and his eyes were now the same silvery color as his hair.
Maya and Quasar dropped their fields as the others inched closer to take in the being before them, the foremost being Shinji. "K-Kaworu? Are you-?"
Kaworu smiled at his friend reassuringly. "I am quite well, Shinji. I may have been changed physically by the Power Cosmic, but I am still, for all intents and purposes, myself."
As his first act as a herald, Kaworu channeled a stream of energy that surrounded the apparatus that had been acting as Galactus's life-support, and removed it from on top of the devourer. Maria and Mayumi took this as their cue to cease channeling energy into the device as they and Amora stepped back to rejoin the others. Once freed, Galactus stood up on his own two feet and signaled for the Taa II to recall the components of his elemental converter. While he was doing that, Hitomi handed Kaworu a device containing the disc with the database copy on it, while Shinji handed Kaworu a device of a different sort. Rei, Asuka, and even Misato grew surprised when said device turned out to be Shinji's S-DAT player.
"Something to remember me-all of us by," Shinji said. "I left the tape in it for you to listen to, if you ever need something to fill the quiet. I mean, there's no sound in space, so..."
"I understand," Kaworu said. "And I appreciate it. In fact..." Using another aspect of his newfound power, Kaworu transformed the player from its outdated frame...into something more out-of-this-world. "As I said before, I plan to redefine the role of a herald of Galactus. I won't be just scouting uninhabited worlds for his sustenance; for each inhabited world I encounter in my travels, I plan to catalogue the forms of music native to them. I once told you I considered music to be the greatest achievement of Lilim civilization; I wish to see if the same holds true for others in this universe."
Shinji smiled on hearing this. "That sounds like a great idea."
"Better hope you've got enough storage space," Asuka commented amusedly.
"With the modifications I've made," Kaworu said in turn, "I have a feeling that will not be a problem." Kaworu looked over at Shinji and the many people he came to know in the time following his defeat, before his focus returned to the boy. "Farewell, Shinji Ikari, and thank you...thank you, for being my friend."
Shinji nodded. "See you again sometime, Kaworu. And thank you, too."
"Thank you from all of us as well," Yui added as she stepped next to her son and daughter. "And good luck."
Kaworu smiled appreciatively, and with that, flew off in a glowing streak towards the Taa II. By then, Galactus had finished recalling the components of his convertor, and faced the group of superhumans and their friends. "Because you risked it all to save me, when it would have been easy to let me perish, I thank you, deeply, and hereby pledge that Earth will remain inviolate. This planet, and other civilized worlds, will never more need fear me." His face became stern before he continued. "It is also thanks to you that I now perceive the minute glint of glory within the human race. Heed my advice: be ever worthy of that glory, humans-remain always mindful of your kind's promise of greatness, for it shall one day bring you beyond the stars...or forever entomb you in the wreckage of war. The choice, as always, is yours..."
Soon, in another great flash of light, Galactus disappeared from view, and the Taa II soon departed Earth, heading higher and higher into the atmosphere until it was gone. The devourer of worlds soon resumed his travels throughout the wide universe, though this time, he was no longer alone, as he was now accompanied by one who had previously been a potential destroyer...now on the new, more hopeful path of an explorer. Said fledgling explorer was currently listening to the music contained in the gift bestowed to him by Shinji, with the lyrics proving, in his opinion, to be fitting, given the sights that lay before him.
Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars.
Let me see what Spring is like on Jupiter and Mars...
To be continued...
**Author's Note(s)**
Our tale is almost told, with quite a few surprises left in store. Kaworu becoming Galactus's herald was something I also had in mind from the very beginning, along with him redefining what a herald does. His new look is partially-inspired by that of Ikaris in the Marvel Cinematic Universe take on The Eternals. As for other bits of Marvel lore...
-Much of the chapter is inspired by 1966's Fantastic Four #50 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, 1968's The Silver Surfer volume 1 #1 by Stan Lee and John Buscema, and 1982's Fantastic Four #244 by John Byrne, which also would be adapted into "When Calls Galactus" from the 1994 Fantastic Four animated series. (It's how Frankie Raye became Galactus's herald Nova.)
-Galactus's role as a maintainer of balance in the universe was first revealed in two issues of volume 3 of the Silver Surfer title-1987's #3 and 1988's #10, both by Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers.
-Abraxas first appeared in 2001's Fantastic Four Annual #2001 by Carlos Pacheco (RIP) and Rafael Marin.
-Kaworu's new alias of the Praeter comes from a character introduced in 2011's The Mighty Thor volume 2 #1 by Matt Fraction and Olivier Coipel. Here, the future Praeter was Pastor Mike, a preacher in the town of Broxton, Oklahoma, U.S.A. during the period of comics when Asgard had relocated next to the town. At first protesting the presence of the Asgardian city, Mike witnesses Galactus arriving to seek the Galactus Seed, which the Asgardians had needed at the time. Seeing the devourer as something of a god, Mike begs Galactus to spare the planet, to no avail. After Galactus is thwarted thanks to the Asgardian weapon known as the Destroyer armor, and Loki hiding the Galactus Seed within Yggdrasil the World Tree, the Silver Surfer (who had been back as Galactus's herald at the time) brokers a compromise between his master and the Asgardians. While the Surfer would remain on Earth to keep an eye on the Asgardians and the Seed, he offers Mike the opportunity to take up the role of herald, based on the courage he observed in his standing up to Galactus. Mike reluctantly accepts, and is transformed by Galactus into the Praeter.
And now, a bit of fun paying homage to an old recurring feature of comics with a cult-like following!
OMAKE 6 - The Sweet Solution by Marco A. Salazar
The event that was occurring right now could be celebrated by countless civilizations throughout the universe: the defeat and death of Galactus, the devourer of worlds.
However, for those who had brought it about, there was nothing but the feeling of deep regret; they did not want things to get so out of hand.
They all stood around the shrinking figure of Galactus…
"OK, dude, I'm pretty sure your attempt at aping Jack Kirby's gone on long enough!" said Deadpool, looking annoyed at the narrator.
Oh, come on, Wade…
"Nope! Nuh-UH! No way! You SUCK, dude!" said Deadpool. "And I say this as a character who's got some experience with this - I mean, I was co-created by Rob Liefeld, for crying out loud!"
…that was low, Wilson. Real low.
"Hey, truth to power," said Deadpool. He looked at the other superhumans surrounding him and shrugged. "What? Am I lying here?"
Misato slowly shook her head, followed by the rest of the girls.
"OK, cool. So-!" Deadpool said, clapping his hands together and pacing around. "One omake, good to go! Big planet-eater starving to death, so what do we do about it…?"
Looking around, Deadpool noticed that there was a Lawson Station store close to the battleground, still open and unscathed. The cashier noticed that Deadpool was looking at him, and gulped loudly.
Deadpool smiled under his mask. "Well, whaddya know, we got a twofer. All of you stay moping around here for juuuuuuu~sssssttttttt a second…"
With that, Deadpool ran into the store. He picked up a half-dozen colorful packets from the stand right next to the cashier and slammed them down on the counter. The cashier smiled nervously as he rang up the price. Deadpool pulled out a wallet from one of his outfit's many pockets.
"Huh, whaddya know, a practical narrator. OK, I can dig that," Deadpool mused as he pulled out some cash from the wallet and placed it on the counter. "I'm 100 yen short, but you understand it's for a good cause, right? Put it on NERV's tab…wait a sec, does NERV has a tab?"
The cashier nodded. Deadpool immediately withdrew all of the money back into the wallet, and then took a nearby bag and filled it close to bursting with everything that caught his fancy.
"Pleasure doing business with ya!" said Deadpool as he walked out of the store towards the superwomen. He then tossed a big box towards She-Hulk, who caught it on reflex and opened it, curious about its contents.
"...Hostess Fruit Pies?," said She-Hulk. "I didn't know they sold these in Japan."
"Me either. Good ol' plot convenience to the rescue, again," said Deadpool with a shrug. After a few moments of silence, he added: "Well? Give 'em to him!"
"Deadpool, I don't think…" said Domino.
"Tut-tut-tut, cooooooooo~mmmeeeeddddyyy omake!" said Deadpool. "Give 'em to him."
The superwomen all looked at each other, shrugged, and ripped the cakes out of the bags and fed them to the shrinking titan. Galactus immediately started to chew, then woke up with an exhilarated "Hmmm…!"
"You're overdoing it again!" said Deadpool, looking our way.
Wade, for the love of…
"He's okay!" said Deadpool. "Well, he LOOKS okay…!"
Sure enough, Galactus was a lot more lively now, acting like a kid who had discovered a new flavor.
"This is…amazing," said the devourer. "What wonder is this?"
"Hostess Fruit Pies, your great Purpleness!" said Deadpool with an exaggerated bow.
"I have not felt this full in eons," said Galactus as he licked some stray crumbs off of his lips. He then chowed down on some more, and added, "I shall make you a deal: as long as you keep providing me with these 'fruit pies', I shall spare all other civilized worlds in the universe."
"DEAL!" said the superwomen, nodding their heads vigorously.
"And with that solved, who wants some chimichangas?" said Deadpool. "Fresh ingredients from Lawson Station! So much convenience in a single spot!" he turned towards the narrator. "That'll net me some of that sweet, sweet ad revenue, right?"
Wilson, ask NERV. I'm pretty sure this will get you a bonus.
"Oh, I definitely am not gonna let them forget this!" said Deadpool. "'Deadpool, the man who heel-face-turned Galactus!' Ha-AHHHHHHH! Savior of the uuuuuu~nnnii~vvveeerrrssse…!"
And with that, we fade out.
"No, we don't."
Yes, we do.
"No, we don't. It's a fanfic. There's no fade-outs," said Deadpool.
Please don't make this an argument.
"You're still a Jack Kirby wannabe."
Good-BYE, Wilson!
