Author's Note – I do not own any of the characters, Marvel and DC do.
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Chapter Twenty-Two
Battle For Existence
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"We have Galactus on approach, incoming from thirty-degrees above the ecliptic, bearing one-zero-three anti-spinwards. Current speed point nine C but decelerating fast. Estimated zero-zero in lunar orbit, but on the far side from the moon in thirty minutes."
Clark inhaled deeply, his air-mask providing him with air that he barely needed due to the effect that the unfiltered solar radiation was having on him. Around him, in a cloud that almost blocked the sun, floated over three million other Kryptonians, all of whom had volunteered for the battle, despite knowing that the hopes of success were almost non-existent.
Scattered amongst the Kryptonians were the ships of the Solar Defence Force, their golden hulls gleaming in the Earthlight. Fighters orbited them, some of them arcing out on trajectories designed to let them scan the incoming entity, trying to find any clues as to its weaknesses.
Although the force assembled would have caused any Admiral from the Shi'ar, Skrull and Kree Empires to urgently re-think their battle-plans, Clark knew deep inside that it would not be enough.
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A pair of eyes opened, then closed briefly before opening once more. For a long moment, they stared blankly at the starscape.
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"Surfer."
The Surfer looked at the one-eyed man curiously, but otherwise didn't move.
"He is coming. I sense his presence."
"He is." Nick Fury stated. "We know that we must not kill him. We know that it is possible to drive him off. How?"
"I have only seen it done once before." The Surfer mused. "A being of power who dwelled inside a planet, one who matched my Master, whom my Master recognised. That being is not here. For the last thirty orbits of your world as you measure time, I have not sensed it."
"What was the name of that world?" Fury pressed.
"Cybertron."
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A fist smashed through the crystal barrier, shattering it with surprising silence. A second fist followed suit almost half a mile away, then a third even as the first figure launched itself out of its former confinement. Soon, over a dozen clouds of crystal shards were glinting in the light.
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Talon landed with an expert backwing, then straightened up, looming over the suddenly-quiet crowd in front of the Xavier Institute.
"Listen up!" He half-shouted, the unusual timbre of his vocal cords giving his voice a growling undertone. "We can get you to safety, but not if you try to rush! Form lines and only carry two cases each at most, backpacks included. If you have more, go to the left where you can leave the excess with your name on them. Hopefully, you'll get to come back to collect. Any questions? No. Good. Now, stay calm and you'll live. Let's get going!"
As the Generation-X members took over guiding the suddenly-obedient civilians, Talon glanced to where Wolverine was watching him with an odd smile.
"What?"
"Just thinking that Slim did better than he knew when he asked you to take over." Logan chuckled.
"…thanks?"
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"Sensor confirmation! Galactus has almost reached zero velocity, engage and drive him back!"
Clark hurled himself forwards, the Kryptonian volunteers forming up behind him as he threw himself into battle. Ahead of him, the cloudy shape that was the portion of Galactus that existed inside the universe, seemed to expand as he accelerated towards it.
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"There must be another way to stop him!" Fury half-shouted. "Zenn-La managed!"
"That was the first planet I offered to my Master." The Surfer stated calmly. "He refused to sate his hunger on it as he had made a promise to spare it."
"Who?" Fury pressed. "Who did he make the promise to?"
"I do not know. He made the promise before my Awakening as his Herald."
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Clark punched through the tentacle that tried to wrap around him. The remains of the complex construction, neither organic, technological nor energy but a fusion of all three, seemed to float away as it disintegrated, only for another to take its place.
"Strafing runs are having virtually no effect!"
Clark grabbed a larger tentacle and pushed with all of his strength, trying to move Galactus away from the world he called Home, but the Entity didn't even twitch.
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"Sir, we need to move!"
The President shook his head firmly, even though his eyes remained fixed on the protestors outside the White House grounds and the visible queues for the emergency Portals beyond them.
"I will go, but not yet." He said calmly, ignoring the looks his Secret Service bodyguards were exchanging. "For now, I need to be here. America must know that its leader did not run."
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"Let's try another way." Fury groaned. "You said that your master needs to feed. On what?"
"Energy. The energy of a living planet can sate his hunger for a while."
"What sort of energy?"
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"Galactus' approach speed has been decreased by one point two percent!" The sensor officer reported. "Estimated extra time before planetary contact, nine point two minutes."
"Great." Clark muttered as he looped round to build up momentum for another strike against Galactus. "Over a million Kryptonians only buy ten minutes?"
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"My King, we are ready."
T'Challa nodded. The cost of purchasing the dimensional-shifting technology from Doctor Doom have been high, almost a full percent of the remaining Vibranium Ore in Wakanda, but the devices had been installed and the planned destination scouted.
"Do it." He said firmly. "Take my people to safety."
Turning to look at the screen he had linked to the feed from one of the surveillance satellites, his eyes narrowed in satisfaction at the sight of the green of Wakanda changing shade.
Even if Earth was destroyed, Wakanda would live on.
Of course, now he had to file the damned paperwork for a Dome.
Even a world-ending crisis wouldn't prevent the pen-pushers from making their annoying demands.
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"Reed, Otto, Mysterio, Victor, you all ready?"
The scientists on the various consoles nodded as a group of Agents brought the Surfer's Board into the lab. The silvery humanoid stared at it almost hungrily as it floated in the chamber designed to nullify its powers. A hissing of pressurised air announced the liberation of the Board and the Surfer reached out to take it, his skin rippling back to pure silver as he made contact.
"Alright." Fury said as he glared at the being who had led Galactus to Earth. "You have your board. Give us the demonstration we need and you'll be free so long as you stay out of the fight."
"Very well."
The scientists bent over their consoles as the Surfer held up his hands and summoned a sphere of energy into being.
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The figures raced towards the distant speck, lit from behind. A micro-meteorite impacted one of the figures and shattered into a brief cloud of dust.
The figure's course didn't even waver.
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"Galactus' estimated time of intercept has been increased by five minutes."
"Hold the line!" Clark ordered. "And remember, for every five more minutes we buy, half a million people get a chance to live!"
A shudder ran through Galactus and Clark threw himself back into the fight, punching and pushing with everything he had.
While there was no way that they were going to win this battle, he would delay the end for as long as he could.
No matter what it cost him.
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"We have the readings and we've come up with a way to create the energy we need." Reed reported. "However, there are two problems. The first is that we'll need to use the Krypton World Engine to do it, the second is that we need to get it into position and it takes quite a few Kryptonians to move since all the tugs are currently trying to hold back Galactus."
Fury didn't respond for a long moment, then he smiled.
"Gentlemen, I believe that the solution has just presented itself."
Reed flexed his neck to look t the entrance behind him where a shocked SHIELD agent was leading a group of Kryptonians in.
Kryptonians that he recognized.
"…but I attended your funerals!" Doom gasped, shock causing him to forgo his normal mode of speaking.
"Reports of our deaths were greatly exaggerated." Az-Lan snarked with a wide grin. "So, what's the problem?"
"…but how?" Reed whispered.
"Later!" Fury snapped. "We have a planet to save first! Let's move!"
"Where to?" Iph-Ro asked curiously.
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The Surfer flew out of the atmosphere, mentally marking the location of the planet he had been held on.
He would continue to scout out other worlds, since the natives were too much of a threat to him for now, but in several centuries time, they would have forgotten him and he could return to procure sustenance for his master.
A familiar sensation caught his attention and he adjusted course slightly.
Although he had given his word he would not interfere with the attempts of the natives to rail against their fate, he would watch and wait for his Master to sate his overwhelming hunger and, for a while, be able to truly think once more.
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"We need to hurry!" Otto barked as he used his tentacles to catapult himself into the control room even as the World Engine shifted.
"Fortunately, the secondary air-plants can take the remaining load." Reed said as he pulled himself to a second console and began entering commands with incredible speed, his arms flexing like whips as he manipulated the tactile-holoscreens.
"Entering the primary conversion algorithms now." Mysterio added.
"Doom is accessing the schematics of the World Engine in preparation for modifying the systems to generate the energy required."
"Let's hope this works." Otto grunted as sudden g-forces pushed him hard into his chair. "We have a lot of work to do, and not much time to do it in!"
"We will be ready." Doom promised.
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"Galactus is almost at the atmosphere! Repeat, Galactus is almost at the atmosphere!"
Clark disengaged and fell back into the outer reaches of the atmosphere, moving out of Galactus' shadow. As the feeling of solar-induced recharging flooded his body, he looked up at the looming entity.
"Come on…" He muttered to himself. "Recharge faster!"
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"So this is how the world ends." Talon quoted softly as he looked up at the darkened sky as he walked across the trampled grass into the Mansion. "Not with a bang, but with a whimper…"
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"Mr President! It's time!"
The Agents crowded round their charge and chivvied him towards the Portal.
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The Surfer drew to a halt and looked down as Galactus began to extend himself towards the holes that the Surfer had created, holes that would allow the Eternally Voracious to tap into the flows of life-energy and drain them…
What…
Was…
That?
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The World Engine floated above the upper reaches of the Sun, grav-lenses focusing thousands of square-miles worth of sunlight onto the receptors. The collected energy poured through the systems, being transmuted in the process, emerging from the top of the Engine as a near-solid beam of energy that lanced across the eight light-minutes between it and Galactus, impacting on the Entity.
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Galactus froze, his tentacles hovering around the Earth, then he began to pull himself away, accelerating slowly but surely towards the source of his newfound nourishment.
Orbiting his master, the Surfer accompanied him, carefully avoiding the beam of power that lanced across space, power that had saved the planet behind them.
Power that felt exactly like that which he had demonstrated in exchange for his freedom.
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"Galactus has disengaged! I repeat, Galactus has disengaged! Earth is safe! Earth is safe!"
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"Thank god." Talon muttered as he sagged in relief in the doorway, then he turned round to look at the pile of suitcases awaiting their owners to reclaim them. "Of course, this is going to be a bloody nightmare to sort out…ow!"
"Language." May Parker scolded as she lowered her hand from delivering the dope-slap.
Talon rubbed the back of his head, then frowned down at the smaller woman. "Aren't you supposed to be on New Krypton with the others?"
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Author's afternote - You wouldn't believe how long it took to tweak the "I Feed" into something readable...
Although the "I Hunger" took slightly longer...