Chapter 6

Cosmic Threat

10 Miles outside the city

An object came skyrocketing through the atmosphere and crash landed by the interstate.

All the traffic came to a stop and people left their cars to investigate the massive crater.

In the center of the crater was a sphere which seemed to be comprised of various minerals.

"What is it?" One person asked.

"Probably a piece of a satellite" Another said.

The sphere began to morph and change.

A bunch of them pulled out their phones and began recording.

It changed into a man with a body made of onyx stone. He was 7 feet tall and massive. His belt was made of topaz, and his torso was covered in a set of armor that was made out of a mixture of sapphire and ruby. The top of his head was bald but the rest of his hair flowed straight down and was made of titanium. His eyes were a cold, lifeless white, like diamonds.

The man slowly floated on a flat piece of stone.

He ignored the people recording him and looked into the distance where the city was.

He sensed the energy levels of all life forms in that area.

The man snorted unassumingly, "Vermin, the lot of them…except for one" he focused on the one that stood out.

The one was decently powerful, perhaps enough to determine this planet's defenses.

"Let us see how this planet fairs against Terrax" He said as he floated towards the city.

Back at the Clock tower

Dean was ready to depart, after helping them as much as he could, he needed to be getting back to his training.

"I think you should be well prepared for whatever comes your way from this point on, there's just one little important matter remaining" Dean said, "Who's going to be the leader"

"Oh that's easy, me" Nova stepped forward proudly.

Firestar scoffed, "As if, you let any insult get to you"

"Like you'd be any better, your short temper blows and you start melting things" Nova pointed out.

"I think the person filming should be the person in charge" Speedball joked as he looked at them with his camera.

Marvel Boy shook his head, "I think someone a little more serious would be better"

Speedball shrugged, "Yeah, but also someone who doesn't hesitate to act"

"Guys there's no need to bicker!" Namorita tried to deescalate the situation.

They went on to argue for a few minutes before Dean broke it up, "Ok that's enough, settle this with a vote. Vote for anyone on the team including yourself"

Not unlike his own team, one after the other they each voted for themselves.

Finally it was Namorita's turn, and she couldn't decide who to vote for.

Dean smirked as he saw a reflection of himself, "The leader is responsible for their team, and it's their job to lead them into battle, to make sure they all make it home in one piece. It requires power" he glanced at Nova, "As well as passion" he glanced at Firestar, "Quick thinking" he glanced at Speedball, "But also to slow down and take your time when necessary" he glanced at Marvel Boy before finally staring at Namorita, "But most important it requires humility, for the leader is not above the team, they always put the team first"

They all looked at Namorita, knowing what he was implying.

Namorita looked unsure of herself, "I don't know if I'm—"

Dean interrupted her, "Trust me, you are. Doubting yourself is normal, I did too when I first lead my group. And like my group, we needed someone else to choose for us, so I say it's you"

The others didn't object.

"Then it's settled, Namorita will be in charge" Dean happily announced, "Which means it's time for me to go, maybe I'll come visit you guys again when I have some more time off"

They said their goodbyes and Dean went on his way.

In the city

People screamed as they fled in terror of the cosmic threat.

Terrax floated above a couple dozen police officers.

The officers all aimed their weapons at him, "DESCEND TO THE GROUND AND PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!"

Terrax didn't acknowledge their existence and floated past them.

"OPEN FIRE!" The officer in charge shouted and they unloaded all their bullets on him.

All the bullets harmlessly bounced off of Terrax.

Terrax glanced at them and lifted his palm.

The asphalt rose up behind them as if it were alive and crushed them, blood and bones splattered everywhere.

Terrax kept floating in the same direction. He crushed any nuisances that stood in his way and wreaked havoc as he saw fit.

Coincidentally wherever he roamed any electrical devices either fizzled out or exploded, making it impossible to catch any footage of him and the damage.

An armored car pulled up and a swat team ran out. They went into position and each officer fired a grenade launcher at Terrax.

They all impacted and exploded simultaneously.

A few seconds later the smoke cleared and Terrax looked unfazed.

"Let em have it!" One of them shouted and they all fired their machine guns.

Terrax raised his hands and tendrils of rock came out of the ground to impale the swat team enough times until they had more holes in them then Swiss cheese.

A motorcycle came to a stop not too far from that horrifying scene.

Terrax turned to stare at the newcomer.

Dean stood there with a blank face, not sure what to do or say.

Terrax faced Dean and pointed at him, "You…the seed of chaos…come forth and show me your strength"

Dean looked uneasy, "Oh I have a bad feeling about this" lightning crackled around him as he prepared for the fight of his life.

At the Clock tower

They were all watching the news, trying to figure out what was going on.

"This is Channel 5 news reporting on a strange occurrence happening in the city of Los Angeles. A serious of concentrated tremors have caused considerable damage within the city and an unexplainable magnetic interference has disrupted any possible footage of the catastrophe leaving us with nothing to show at the moment, we'll return when we have more to report"

"That sounds strange, maybe we should go check it out" Namorita suggested.

"It's just an earthquake, they can handle it" Nova said laying back in his chair.

"We probably can help, but it would raise questions, possibly attract too much attention from the police" Marvel Boy said cautiously.

"Definitely don't want that" Firestar said.

"Guys!" Speedball shouted as he stared at his phone in shock, "You need to see this!"

They gathered around him as he watched someone record a live video.

"This shit is insane!" The guy said staring into the camera with an amazed look. He then moved the camera and zoomed in several blocks away.

The feed was blurry so it was hard to make out details.

A yellow flash zipped around avoiding the asphalt that seemed to be sentient and trying to crush it.

A man made of Stone could be seen floating nearby manipulating the earth.

The yellow flash sent a massive lightning bolt at him.

The lightning bolt struck the stone man and blasted a chunk out of him. However a few seconds later he regenerated and rushed forward with inhuman speed, colliding with the ground where the yellow flash was and caused a massive explosion that tore apart the street.

"DAMN!" The person recording shouted in awe.

Within the dust from the explosion there were shockwaves and tremors.

Then a loud boom sent the yellow flash flying through several buildings and past the guy recording.

A few seconds later the live feed fizzled out as the stone man approached.

In the city

Dean crashed into a car that exploded on impact.

Terrax walked over to the blazing vehicle opened his arms before bringing them together creating a thunder clap with a strong enough shockwave to extinguish the fire.

There was no sign of the Demigod.

Dean appeared behind Terrax and struck him in the rib cage with a tornado kick that caused several cracks in his torso.

A fist of rock morphed out of his back and struck Dean between his legs, sending him tumbling backwards.

Dean clutched his crotch, "Fucking cheap shot"

Terrax's body regenerated and morphed until he was facing the boy again before walking towards him once more.

Dean's whole body was one massive bruise. Several ribs were broken, his head split open, jaw broken, scrapes, cuts, and burns all over the place.

Terrax has been kicking his ass across the whole neighborhood. No matter how much Dean damaged him, Terrax didn't even flinch and regenerated immediately. His maximum strength didn't work, lightning didn't work, his bronze blade didn't work, cutting off his head, stabbing him in the heart, chi blasts, hell Dean even tried busting open a fire hydrant and giving him a power wash to see if water would do anything…it didn't.

Dean managed to get on his feet and backed away, seeing as how he was unable to destroy him maybe he could be reasoned with, "What do you want?"

"I am scouting this planet for my master. Determine whether it has flourished enough to be consumed, measure its defenses and general population. Then when the time is right, this world like all the others will be assimilated" Terrax said without hesitation.

Dean gulped, if he spilled the beans just like that he's either really dumb or so confident that there isn't anything anyone could do to prevent that from happening, "You should know there are others far stronger than I, conquering a planet won't be so easy"

Terrax smirks, "I am quite aware of those of your bloodline, the blood of chaos. There was once a time when far too many powerful beings inhabited this planet according to my master. Now there are so few that even you, the power of your ancestor nearly faded, are among the 50 most powerful beings on this planet"

Dean didn't know whether to be proud of that or to be terrified.

"Seeing as you're not even capable of stopping me, this world won't be too much trouble" Terrax raised his arm and pointed his hand at him, "I must be going, I have a long journey ahead of me" energy began to focus in his hand.

Dean could sense his energy being focused, it would be enough to obliterate him if he didn't do something.

He instinctively jumped as high as he could.

Terrax kept sight of Dean as he continuously charged his attack until the boy stopped ascending and he fired his energy blast.

The energy expanded and grew the further it traveled, threatening to swallow the boy whole.

Dean let the blast hit him and it pushed him farther upwards.

After a few seconds the blast exploded high in the sky.

Terrax's eyes narrowed, that blast should have exploded on impact. He searched with his senses but could no longer sense the son of Zeus.

Assuming he was destroyed, Terrax looked far beyond the city and thoroughly measured the power on the entire planet.

"The remaining Olympians could be troublesome, beyond them there is none who could stand against my master and his heralds" Terrax said confidently.

Something came speeding out of the sky.

Terrax looked up just in time to see Dean smash him with a lightning amped fist, shattering him.

Dean collided with the ground and skid for a few dozen feet, carving a small trench. When he came to a stop he rolled over and leaned on one arm to sit upright.

Dean had infused his hands with chi to prevent the blast from going off immediately when he touched it, let it carry him higher, and used the height to give him the momentum he needed for a powerful punch.

He looked over at the pile of rocks and watched in disbelief as they came back together and reformed Terrax.

Terrax walked towards Dean once more, "Why do you persist to delay the inevitable?"

Dean struggled to get on his feet, "I can't let you leave, not with the information you know. Maybe killing you will prolong your master's arrival, maybe it won't, but it's the only idea I've got"

Terrax was baffled, "Are you suicidal fleshling? Is protecting this mudball planet so important that you'll risk dying right now instead of fleeing?"

Dean readied himself for battle, "I'm incredibly stubborn, and foolish, but I am a fast learner"

Terrax laughed, "There is nothing you can learn that will defeat me"

"On the contrary, I did learn something that will defeat you" Dean boasted confidently.

Terrax smirked amusingly, "And what is that?"

"More firepower" Dean stated.

Terrax looked confused before Nova came flying into him from behind and crashed into a pile of rubble, "How's that dirt taste?!"

Dean breathed heavily, he did his best to hide his fatigue until now, "Really happy you guys showed up"

Firestar was shocked that he was so badly hurt, "What did he do?"

Terrax bursted out of the rubble and grabbed Nova around his neck, choking and lifting him up, "Who are you earth vermin to confront me?"

Nova struggled to breathe as he tried to pry Terrax's hand off.

Speedball bounced around a few times before heading towards Terrax.

Terrax waved his hand and a literal hand of rock formed to smack Speedball, sending him flying away.

"Something like that" Dean groaned not looking forward to more of that.

"What's this guy's deal?" Marvel Boy asked as he used his telekinesis to throw a car with some effort.

The car crashed into Terrax, knocking him off Nova and exploding.

Nova gasped for air as he rubbed his neck that had a hand shaped bruise.

"His powers are earth derived. He manipulates earth however he wants, floats on it, is just as sturdy, and even if I manage to damage him he regenerates" Dean gave them a rundown of what he knew so far.

"Take a breather, see if you can find a weakness" Namorita said as she flew towards him.

Dean wiped a bead of sweat off his brow,"No problem, I'll get right on that" He said sarcastically.

Terrax ripped the car in half before tossing a half at Marvel Boy and Nova.

They both narrowly flew out of the way.

"Draw his attention! Wait for an opening then engage on my signal" Namorita said flying above him.

Firestar threw a fireball.

Terrax let it hit him, he seemed unaffected, "You call that heat? I have walked on the surface of suns"

"He's an alien who's intent on destroying the planet, I suggest you all use lethal force before he takes you out" Dean warned them.

"Wise assumption" Terrax reached out with his hands, the asphalt grabbed Marvel Boy and Nova, squeezing the life out of them.

Firestar began charging up a blast.

Namorita flew towards Terrax.

Terrax's head stretched forward and headbutted Namorita, knocking her back.

Speedball came bouncing back into the fray from behind.

Terrax kicked his bubble as he got close, sending Speedball in a different direction.

Firestar released her blast which hit Terrax head on.

Nova and Marvel Boy used this momentary distraction to break free.

Terrax's body melted slightly before regenerating.

Dean couldn't figure it out, his energy had barely gone down since the fight started, then how could he keep regenerating like that?

Nova blasted the ground under Terrax, making a dust cloud, "Let's see how he does when he can't see"

"Blinded? Nescient insignificant mote! I am able to see in the darkest reaches of space. How can mere smoke harm me?" Terrax boasted.

"Now!" Namorita shouted to attack together and the whole team closed in on him.

"Now I crush you flitting insects!" Terrax said as he grabbed Nova, who flew in first, and used his as a club to bash his teammates one at a time before throwing him face first into the ground.

Dean winced, "That looked painful"

Nova had made a hole in the asphalt. Dean looked down and saw that under street seemed hollow. The sewer had water pipes, gas pipes, electrical tubes, but no rock, no earth for at least 18 feet. Like it was sucked up or something.

Terrax put his hands together and placed them on the ground,"My victory will not be complete, earth pups, until I am complete" he began focusing his energy into his palms.

Dean then saw some of the underground pipes molding together and rushing towards Terrax, 'Whatever he's doing it's not good, he's putting a lot of energy into something"he rushed to retrieve his own weapon from the rubble.

The New Warriors all backed away from Terrax, not knowing what his next move was.

Terrax infused a massive amount of energy beneath him, causing tremors and the area around him to radiate with power. He then dug his hand into the ground as if about to pull something out, "Upon plunging my fist into this maelstrom of metal, I will trigger my cosmic powers!" his voice boomed.

"Whatever he pulls out is gonna be deadly, don't get hit by it" Dean warned them.

"To recreate my axe of vengeance!" Terrax pulled out a two handed executioners axe that he wielded in one hand. It had its own powerful aura that emanated more energy than most demigods would, "All the better with which to sever our relationship" he lifted it up with both hands and brought it down in Dean's direction sending a blast wave that carved a deep fissure in its wake.

Dean leapt out of the way, narrowly avoiding being cut in half.

"Holy shit!" Speedball said looking at the fissure he made.

Namorita flew towards Terrax, "Keep the pressure on him!"

Terrax swatted her away with the side of his axe, "Back gnat"

Speedball bounced around and collided with Terrax several times in the span of a few seconds, literally chipping away at him.

Terrax stomped his axe on the ground creating a small shockwave that knocked Speedball back, "Away from me I said! Don't you ever stop?" He sounded annoyed as he floated up.

Marvel Boy took note, 'That bubble field of his seems to be chipping into Terrax. Those bubbles have substance to them. I wonder if…' he put a force field around Speedball, "Keep him busy, Speedball start building up momentum!"

"Got it!" Speedball started bouncing around nonstop.

"You mind explaining your plan?!" Firestar shouted as she sent a fire blast.

Terrax blocked the blast with his axe before swinging it and sending an energy slash.

The slash caught Firestar off guard and she froze like a deer in headlights.

Dean jumped in front of her, aura flaring, and blocked the slash with his blade.

Firestar was startled at how fast he moved.

Dean struggled to hold back the attack, "Move!" He urged her.

Before either of them could do anything else Terrax appeared next to them, preparing to swing his axe and cleave both them.

Nova blasted him from behind.

Terrax blocked it with his free hand as he swung with his other.

Dean focused his chi and managed to deflect the slash, sending it towards Terrax.

The slash cut Terrax's hand that held his axe.

Dean quickly snatched the axe and bashed Terrax with it, sending him flying into a building. He felt the enormous amount of energy coming from the weapon, if he didn't have his aura surrounding him it would be impossible to handle the weapon properly.

"If I can contain Speedball's kinetic field, keep the pressure up, allow the field to build inside my TK bubble" Marvel Boy said focusing on containing the bubble, "Then if I'm right about Speedballs field. The kinetic motion of the molecules should reach a maximum point—"

Terrax bursted out of the rubble and held out his hand.

Dean felt the axe tug and began dragging him down towards its master.

Nova grabbed him from behind and tried to fly away in the opposite direction but the pull from the axe was so strong that it held them in place.

Terrax made an annoyed expression as he floated up. A stone floated up and took the shape of his hand before attaching to him.

Dean noticed that, 'Is that how he keeps regenerating?'

"All that effort" Terrax put all his focus into retrieving his weapon.

Dean instantly lost his grip.

The axe flew into Terrax's hand, "To accomplish nothing"

Marvel Boy could feel Speedball becoming unstable, his movement couldn't be registered and he was completely covered in multicolored bubbles. So he opened his shield and unleashed Speedball on Terrax, "Now!"

Speedball shot in his direction, surrounded by bubbles, and collided with Terrax like a swarm of bullets.

Terrax was so overwhelmed by the sheer amount of them shredding holes into him.

After he went right through him, Speedball fell and tumbled across the ground, "Anyone get the number of that dermatologist that hit me?" He sounded disoriented.

"Did it work?" Marvel Boy asked.

Terrax had dozens of holes throughout his body but there was still enough left for him to be alive, "I WILL KILL YOU ALL!"

"Sure he's madder than ever now" Speedball said.

Dean noticed earth rising up towards him again, "He keeps using the ground to replenish himself! Nova Namorita you have to—"

"We know what we have to do! Last thing I wanna do is hear you ordering me" Nova said as he and Namorita prevented any earth from reaching him.

"Firestar I need you to hit him with everything you've got, don't hold back!" Dean urged her.

"You do the same Nova, I'll take over here" Marvel Boy said as he used his telekinesis to keep the floating earth from reaching Terrax.

Both Nova and Firestar began charging up full power blasts.

"Fools! I don't need the earth to regenerate!" Dean noticed Terrax was trying to pull the energy out of his weapon to help sustain him, luckily he was having trouble since he was turned into Swiss cheese, so Dean jumped over, knocked the axe out of his hands, and took it.

"Annoying little pest!" Terrax shouted as his misshapen arm attempted to grab it but failed.

"Something tells me it's gonna take a lot of energy to regenerate that much missing body out of thin air, and you messed up by putting most of your power in your weapon" Dean guessed.

Terrax tried to recall the axe but Dean held onto it firmly.

He then tried to drop out of the air and fall into the ground but Marvel boy held him up with his telekinesis, "Not so fast"

Speedball was back up and helping Namorita hold back any earth that tried to fly up, which was lessening by the second.

Dean could sense his energy dropping at an alarming rate, "You're running out of options, you might wanna reconsider your purpose here"

Terrax looked furious, "You cannot comprehend what is in store for you. I will return to my master, slower than expected, but nonetheless he will hear of its weak defenses and we will return!" He promised them, "THE GREAT DEVOURER OF WORLDS WILL COME! AND NOTHING WILL STOP HIM FROM CONSUMING YOUR PLANET AS HE'S DONE THOUSANDS OF TIMES BEFORE!" He warned them.

That last part sent a chill up their spines, all of them.

Dean felt intimidated at this looming threat for a moment but quickly gathered his bearings, "We'll be waiting for him, now get this guy off our planet!"

Nova and Firestar fired their blasts simultaneously resulting in a massive explosion.

Right before they hit him Terrax shouted, "BEWARE GALAC—"

Once the smoke cleared there was nothing left of his body. But there was a small glowing light that remained where he stood.

Dean stared at it, 'That's the last of his energy'

The light blasted of into the sky and vanished.

Dean watched it leave, it was so fast no one could have stopped it.

"Good riddance" Nova said.

"I'll say" Speedball said rubbing his back," I'm gonna be finding rocks in my outfit all week"

Namorita walked up to Dean, "What was that name he said? I didn't catch it"

Dean looked concerned, "Galactus" it had this ominous sound to it.

Present Day

"So we parted ways but we exchanged numbers in case of anything" Dean said.

Charles brow furrowed, "Based on what that creature said, shouldn't you be more concerned?" He asked curiously.

Dean scratched the back of his head, "Whether he was telling the truth or not, I can't do more than I already am. I'm trying my best to get stronger but if a planet eater shows up tomorrow?" He shrugs, "Won't be much I'll be able to do" he laughed, "It would be like if the sun exploded, I wouldn't be able to do a damn thing, the gods maybe, but definitely not me "

"I see your point, and you're right of course. Cosmic threats are a bit out of reach for us at the moment" Charles chuckled.

Dean looked at the time, "I gotta get going Prof, I'll see you later" he hurried out.

"Have a good day" Charles said.

As he left, Dean couldn't help but think…how long do they really have before that Cosmic threat comes knocking on their door?

Lightyears Away in the Distant Future

A flickering light traveled to a lonely figure in space. It was Terrax, same as he appeared on earth but this was his real body.

He opened his palm and the energy that had left earth rested on it for a moment before being absorbed.

Terrax looked through the memories of his clone until there was nothing left, 'Master, one of my clones has returned with promising news. A healthy planet with an abundance of energy, and weakened defenses, ripe for the taking'

Something in the void of space appeared. A colossal being, big enough to step on skyscrapers. It was humanoid, with blue and purple cybernetic armor that covered its whole body. His helmet was cylindrical in the center with an angled blade on the left and right side that resembled a sideways V with the point pointing outwards. The only thing that wasn't covered was his nose and mouth.

The being, known to some as Galactus, held out his hand and Terrax floated onto it.

'WHAT RESISTANCE WILL THERE BE?' Galactus's voice echoed in Terrax's head, to any ordinary human it would have been deafening.

'My clone which held 1% of my power was enough to subdue the majority of the population. If we arrive with our full strength then we will be unstoppable' Terrax said.

Galactus nodded, 'THEN LEAD ME TO IT MY HERALD'

Author's Note : As promised, the second part didn't take long. Can't make any promises about the next one besides that it WILL arrive at some point. Hope you enjoy the chapter, next time a certain devil has it out for our young hero and sends a rider after him. If you remember part 1 you'll know what I'm talking about. Till next time ;)