Author's Note – I do not own any of the characters, Marvel and DC do.

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Chapter Twenty

The Silver Surfer

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"We may have a problem."

Clark looked up at Reed's embarrassed admission and stared at the rocky man before him.

"Reed?"

"Yeah." Reed sighed with a shrug of his larger-than-normal shoulders. "We made a discovery regarding the Silver Surfer. A… very annoying discovery."

"I kinda like it." Johnny laughed as he rippled into visibility. "Pranks are just so awesome when you're invisible!"

A long arm snaked through the doorway to slap Johnny on the back of his head with a rolled-up newspaper, then the arm shortened as its owner, Susan Richards, entered the office.

"Dammit, Sue." Johnny whined. "That hurt."

"Shut it or I'll give you a hotfoot!" Ben Grimm growled as he walked in, flames dancing around his fully-human form.

"What… the… heck?" Clark managed and Reed gave him a pleading look.

"The Surfer destabilized our powers, meaning that every time we touch, we seem to trade powers. Like this."

Before Johnny could dodge, Reed tapped him on his shoulder, causing Reed to go semi-transparent and Johnny to morph into a rocky caricature of his former self.

"Dammit, Reed." He groaned before Ben dope-slapped him, turning Johnny back to how he normally was while Ben regained his rocky form.

"So, you need Kryptonian help?" Clark offered, only to pause as Reed shook his head.

"That might be a bad move. You see…"

"…after I punched him once, he grabbed my arm, then suddenly my powers vanished." Karsta stated as she flew in. "Fortunately it was only temporary, no more than an hour, but it scared the hell out of me while it lasted. It was also very lucky for us that Captain Britain was helping to fix the London Eye and he caught me on my way down."

"He can destabilize our powers and negate Kryptonians." Reed summarized. "Plus, he's leaving holes."

Clark blinked at the apparent non-sequitur. "Holes?"

"Holes." Reed confirmed. "One of them seems to have drained the Thames."

"While they were trying to take down the Surfer, I had to put the London Eye back on its axle." Karsta interjected. "I'd just finished when the Surfer took them all down, so I tried to take him down. Didn't work. I held back too much on my initial attack, I didn't want to splash him."

"You mean break him?" Johnny asked and Karsta shook her head.

"He relies on his board to fly and by the time I reached him, we were over a mile up. I meant splash."

Johnny's face went blank for a long moment, then he paled and winced. "I so didn't need that image!"

Clark cleared his throat in order to regain their attention. Once they were looking at him, he spoke.

"So we have a flying surfer able to create giant holes of unknown purpose, one who is able to cause solar-initiated metahuman powers to switch and to power down Kryptonians… Reed, can you track him?"

Reed nodded slowly. "Of course, but… what good will it do?"

"Mutants and tech-users for starters." Clark supplied, causing Reed to facepalm at having overlooked the obvious. "Plus, we only know he can alter solar-initiated metahuman powers, what about those that activated due to environment or stress? Give me ten minutes and I'll have Sif and the Warriors Four here as well. Four Asguardians and a warrior-trained Kryptonian should tilt the balance in our favor, even if Nightwing has to be relegated to a support role."

"So, we have a plan?" Ben asked and Reed lowered his hand to look at his oldest friend.

"Yes, we have a plan."

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"Clark of Kent, Clan El, I come leading the Warriors Four to thine aid." Sif declaimed as she strode into the room, the other four following her. "We have read the information you sent us and have brought with us one of our skyboats, that we may chase this being through the skies."

Clark blinked. "I… thought that your skyboats were too big for the Doors and I have a standing order with Control to alert me to any use of the Bifrost…"

"We traded a few techniques with some of Konoha's sword-users. In return, they helped us develop the use of scrolls." Hogun stated, pulling a metal tube out of his belt and holding it so that Clark could see the endcap of the scroll stored inside. "These are incredibly useful. Odin himself spent a day and a half sealing many valuable treasures into scrolls so that they could be stored more safely and take up less room."

"We each have a sky-boat on us." Volstagg added with a wide grin. "And supplies!"

Volstagg seemed to shrink slightly as Sif turned to give him a quelling glance, then she returned her attention to Clark, who was hiding a slight smile. "Will you be leading us into glorious battle?"

"If you can hold him, I'll be rustling up some more help." Clark demurred. "I've already called up a couple others to assist. Since this will be a mobility-issue, I asked Morph to join us as well as David Xanatos."

"Is he not… just a human?" Sif queried.

"But I have a really nice suit." A voice responded from behind them as David Xanatos, wearing his red exo-suit with the helmet retracted, stepped into the office. "Clark. Goliath and the others send their best. I'm sure Fox would, but she, Mysique and Pepper are currently out shopping, along with Alex and Harry. Those two are great playmates."

"Nice suit." Volstagg grinned as he circled the multi-billionaire.

"I upgraded it recently, with Lexington's help and some Kryptonian technology." Xanatos admitted. "Tony and I have developed a bit of a rivalry with our suits, one in which I have a slight advantage. Tony may be a genius and have JARVIS as his helper, but I have Lexington and a large number of other highly-intelligent people I can trust. People who come up with the most interesting of ideas."

"Is that a modified Asguardian Wind-cape?" Nightwing asked, tapping one of the caped wings of Xanatos' suit.

"It is, or at least an Earth-made reproduction." David agreed. "Modified to fit over a Kryptonian crystal-thrust array wing-skeleton, giving me superior speed and agility with a lower energy signature."

"Wind-cape?" Clark queried.

"Old technology, abandoned when we moved to our lift-generators." Sif explained. "We never thought to try combining it with anything… perhaps the SkyGuard idea can be finally put into commission."

"Maybe I can help with that. For a price, of course" Xanatos offered.

"Still looking for the business opportunities, I see." Clark laughed as Xanatos smirked at him.

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"I have a fix on the Surfer." Reed's voice sounded from the comm. "He seems to be headed for Japan."

Sif didn't bother to acknowledge as she sprinted through the Hall of Doors towards the Door leading to the Henshin Rangers, the Warriors Four, Morph (wearing the shape that had once belonged to Archangel) and Xanatos following close behind. Piling through the doorway, they barely slowed as they raced through the headquarters of the Henshin Rangers (ignoring the shocked expression of the girl in psionic armour) and almost exploded out of the front door, Hogun already holding the scroll.

"Unseal!"

A cloud of smoke marked the appearance of the sky-boat and Sif vaulted over the side, grabbing the control tiller as her fellow Asguardians piled aboard.

"Lifting!" She snapped as the boat rose into the sky, Nightwing, Morph and Xanatos flanking it.

"Reed, we need a vector." Xanatos transmitted.

"I'm sending you a link, David."

"Got it. South-east. The Surfer's coming in at about Mach 2 so we need to hustle!"

Glancing at the holographic compass, Sif swung the boat around (almost pitching Volstagg out) and cranked the drive unit almost to maximum. Despite the protective force-field bubble, her hair whipped wildly in the breeze of their passage.

"Nightwing, find him and shadow him!" She sent through the comm-device that they had adopted (Midgardians were so useful at times).

"On it." Nightwing sent as he seemed to vanish, a brief crack announcing that he had broken the sound barrier. Sif glanced at the holo-display and noted where Nightwing's dot was, then adjusted course very slightly.

"This should be fun" Volstagg grinned as he checked his sword, the blade briefly lighting up as he channeled his will through it.

Hogun nodded, his dour face somehow showing his eagerness for the impending combat.

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"Well, this is… different." Victor Toomes allowed as he looked around the large hall. "So many heroes…"

"You'll get used to it." A voice said and Victor half-turned to see the Falcon beside him. "First time in a mass team-up?"

Toomes nodded and Sam Wilson waved around.

"Clark's been pulling in as many fliers as possible. Sure, we're light on Kryptonians, but that's because we know that the Surfer can de-power them. They'll be on catching duty. You know, in case we lose our wings or something."

"Who are those?" Victor asked and Sam followed his gaze.

"Oh, the Gargoyles. Various clans, London, New Olympus, Manhattan… the huge guy is Goliath. Xanatos based his armor on him. Looks like quite a few New Olympians are with them…"

"And the statues?"

"Gargoyles." Sam repeated with a slight smile. "Different time zones, so we can have some ready to go at any time. That's Archangel talking to Goliath… he's looking better than he was last time I saw him. Hope he returns to the Guardians soon. Heard that he and Lexington were considering getting married... wonder if Lexy'd transfer from the Manhattan clan…"

"So… what's the plan?" Toomes asked and Sam glanced at him.

"Basically we fly through the portal, capture the Surfer or knock him out or something and bring him back here."

"Huh."

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"We're getting good readings!" Reed stated.

"We are indeed." Otto Octavius mused. "Reed, check my conclusions, please. They are based on several assumptions that I have yet to prove, but…"

Reed Richards stretched his neck so that he could look at the screen held in Otto's tentacle.

"If that's true… Lexington! We need to reprogram the tiertiary arrays! If this is correct…"

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"There he is!" Fandral shouted, pulling a scroll from his belt, an action mirrored by the other two male Asgardians. As one, they all jumped out of the sky-boat, their scrolls unfurling, then they were engulfed in clouds of smoke from which they emerged, each one piloting their own craft.

"Activate shields and try to take him down!" Sif ordered. "Nightwing, get below us! Xanatos, engage! Morph, send word!"

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The Surfer blinked as one flying craft was joined by three, their appearance marked by suges of energy that he had never before associated with such events. Banking slightly, he moved to pass around the aerial obstacles, only for them to change course.

So, they wanted a chase, did they?

Then he would oblige.

And once they were dealt with, he would complete his task and summon his master.

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"We've got him on the run!" Volstagg cheered as he accelerated, using one hand on the control yoke while he waved his sword in the other.

"He's trying to get us to spread out so he can take us one at a time!" Sif countered as she hefted her spear. "Fandral! Hogun, flank left! Volstagg, form up on me and flank right to pincer him! Morph, get above, Xanatos, how fast is your suit?"

"Very. Why" David replied.

"Loop ahead, we'll try to get his attention so you can grab him."

"Understod."

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The odd beings were trying to flank him!

Aiming for a large building, the Surfer reached for his power and used it to fly straight through, altering the space-time continuum slightly to let him pass unhindered and without leaving a hole for his pursuers. Angling his board upwards, he began to turn, gathering his power to deal with the fir/

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"Damn, that had to hurt!" Morph winced, then he triggered his comm.

"Xanatos just tackled him straight off his board!"

"Somethings happening, he's changing from silver to pewter!" David sent, then another voice broke in.

"This is Reed, our scans indicate his power source is the board he's riding! Separate him from the board!"

"Already done." Morph replied with a grin, then his eyes widened. "Xanatos! DODGE!"