"His appearance is humanoid. Male. But his entire body is coated in some kind of liquid silver, and he rides a… surfboard. Literally, a flying surfboard." A thoroughly deflated Johnny Storm had returned to Baxter Tower.
The normally brash and cocky Human Torch had found himself utterly outmatched against the Intruder. Had Iron Man not swooped in to catch him during his uncontrolled freefall from orbit, he would likely still be wandering the Nevada desert, trying to figure out which way was up.
The spacious penthouse living room had taken on a somber atmosphere. Susan kept casting worried glances at Reed, as if silently acknowledging that their wedding might soon be postponed.
"Whether he's an alien or just some interstellar beach bum, one thing is clear," Tony concluded, "He can manipulate matter and energy at a fundamental level. It looks like he's channeling cosmic radiation to alter the physical properties of objects around him."
Aside from Johnny, Tony was the only one who had encountered the intruder face-to-face. The being had passed through reinforced glass as though it were nothing more than empty air. As if, in the instant of contact, he had simply rewritten the molecular structure of the window.
"And this… Silver Surfer clearly doesn't want to be found. That's why he destroyed the sensor array on his way out."
"He knew he was being tracked," Reed mused, his brow furrowing, "And he traced it straight back to us."
'What is he hiding?' An intelligent being arriving on Earth with such extraordinary abilities did not, Reed suspected, come with peaceful intentions. His years stationed at Knowhere had taught him the cold, brutal reality of the wider cosmos.
There was no warmth between civilizations. Only the raw calculus of survival and the unforgiving laws of the jungle.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Susan asked, her concern focused entirely on her brother rather than her fiancé's scientific tangents.
She pressed a glass of water into Johnny's hands. He looked terrible. The usually vibrant, handsome face was pale and drawn.
Reed and Tony exchanged grim looks. Johnny was one of the more formidable fighters on the Fantastic Four's roster. Yet against the Silver Surfer, he hadn't even managed to put up a struggle. That alone raised the threat assessment to a deeply uncomfortable level.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had already initiated a global search. The sensor array might have been fried, but the data it had collected beforehand was still intact.
"I don't know," Johnny replied, his voice thick with exhaustion, "Ever since I touched that guy… I feel strange."
He felt drained, like he hadn't slept in days. As if a black hole had opened up inside him and swallowed every last reserve of energy he possessed.
Johnny just wanted to lie down, close his eyes, and let the world fade away. Even speaking felt like too much effort.
"Hey, cheer up. I can give you a sympathy hug if you want. Maybe next time we see that chrome-dome, we'll give him a proper clobberin," Ben, the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing, boomed with his usual gruff warmth.
He reached out a massive, rocky hand to clap his teammate on the shoulder. The moment his fingers made contact with Johnny, a surge of energy jumped between them like a static shock.
Then the room witnessed something both astonishing and utterly absurd.
The Thing, a towering mountain of orange rock, shrank back down into his normal human form. Wisps of flame flickered and danced across his now-bare skin.
Simultaneously, Johnny's muscles swelled, his frame bulking out as his skin hardened into a familiar, craggy orange hide. In the span of a heartbeat, the two had swapped powers entirely.
"Whoa. Johnny the Thing. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" Tony quipped, utterly unsympathetic to Johnny's visible horror.
"You made physical contact with the Silver Surfer," Reed cut in, one hand cradling his chin in thought, "He possesses the ability to manipulate matter and energy. When Ben touched you just now, the effect transferred. He's altered the molecular energy signature of your body. It's in a state of… flux."
Reed stared at Johnny with the kind of intense fascination usually reserved for a particularly rare lab specimen.
"That sounds… bad," Johnny groaned, staring down at his thick, stone-plated arms.
He'd spent years ribbing Ben about his rocky appearance. Now that the shoe was on the other foot, it wasn't nearly as funny.
"It's probably not going to get worse," Tony offered, exchanging a glance with Reed, "We'll get you fixed up. But first, we need to figure out what this Silver Surfer actually wants."
Susan glanced around the room, a sudden crease of concern appearing on her brow, "Where's Sean?"
...
~Greenland, The Russell Glacier~
A shimmering portal of cerulean light rippled open, and a tall figure stepped through into the frozen waste.
The wind howled, carrying a biting, sub-zero chill. This was the largest ice mass in the Northern Hemisphere, where average temperatures hovered around -30 degrees Celsius. Even in an age of advanced technology, the region remained largely untouched and uninhabited.
A vast ice sheet blanketed the sea, broken only by floating chunks of frozen debris. In the distance, massive icebergs drifted with imperceptible slowness. The cold was absolute, yet Sean moved through it as if strolling through a spring meadow.
He followed the trail of intense cosmic radiation, the signature left behind by the intruder. His steps carried him to the edge of a massive, seemingly bottomless crater carved into ice that had lain undisturbed for eons. Waves of potent energy still radiated from the depths.
Hidden within the glacier, the Silver Surfer sensed the approaching presence. He rose on his board-like craft, ascending from the chasm to hover above the ice field.
Before him stood a human. But this human radiated a pure, blazing energy, similar to a newborn star burning fiercely against the void.
"I wish to speak with your master," Sean said, his voice calm and even.
Using Skynet's global tracking network, he had finally cornered the elusive Herald.
If it was at all possible, Sean preferred not to make an enemy of the ancient being who dined on whole worlds. He was here to extend courtesy before resorting to force. He needed to know if there was room for negotiation.
"Human…" the Silver Surfer replied, his voice flat and devoid of emotion, "You are not even worthy of being called 'food.'"
He was the Herald of Galactus. His sole purpose was to locate suitable planets for his master's consumption.
"Everything you know will end." he added.
"Of course," Sean replied evenly, "I understand that to earn the privilege of equal discourse, one must first demonstrate one's standing."
He had no desire to provoke Galactus, but neither was he so terrified that he would cower before a mere Herald.
This blue planet was his launching point into the greater cosmos. Sean would not allow anyone to take it from him.
"I have cross-referenced the target's radiation signature against all available astronomical databases," Skynet's voice whispered in his ear, "Deneb III. Vega VI. Altair VII… Every world the Herald has visited now lies silent and dead. Within eight to twelve days of his arrival, planetary disintegration follows."
The massive craters left behind were not random acts of vandalism. They were preparation. Tenderizing the meal, so to speak, for the Devourer.
"Cease your actions," Sean said, his voice cooling noticeably.
"You are not my master," the Surfer replied, turning his board to leave. He had no further interest in this conversation.
*BOOOM!*
A blinding flash split the white expanse. A thunderous boom of displaced energy echoed across the glacier like the roar of an angry god.
In the next instant, Sean was standing on the Surfer's board.
His hand closed around the silver figure's throat, yanking him clean off the craft.
"You should learn to be more polite," Sean said, his grip unyielding.
Deprived of the board's energy flow, the Surfer's gleaming silver sheen began to fade. His coloration deepened, shifting from polished chrome to something darker... the hue of cold, cast iron.
"Now," Sean started, tightening his hold. His voice was colder than the ancient ice beneath their feet, "Shall we try that conversation again?"