The room had grown quieter after Soren's explanation.
Soren nodded absently, his mind already ten steps ahead. The Silver Surfer… then Galactus isn't far behind.
He let out a slow breath, eyes narrowing. Not worried.
Not yet at least.
Between the Time Gem, the Space Gem, and the Death Scalpel the system had rewarded him...
Galactus was powerful, but power alone didn't make one untouchable. He was eaten by Zombies after all.
Still, the room waited for his answer.
"Do you have a solution?" the President asked at last, his voice strained, as if pushing each word uphill.
"Is there any way to… distract this monster? Turn it away?"
Soren glanced toward the vaulted ceiling as if the answer might be written in the shadows there. His gaze dropped back to the President.
"I'm afraid."
"It's not so simple."
He paced slowly, hands folded behind his back.
"Galactus isn't some alien tyrant or cosmic threat. He is… the last survivor of the universe before this one."
"He watched an entire reality die and was reborn into ours through fire and collapse. He doesn't just consume planets. He must."
"It's the only way he continues to exist."
The President paled, almost slumping in his seat. A whisper of dread passed between the agents nearby.
"You're asking whether we can distract a being that has lived since before our stars formed, who can feel hunger on a planetary scale and is led by instinct more ancient than our gods."
A heavy silence fell. No one breathed.
Then the President leaned forward, desperation cracking through his composure. "Soren, is there really no way?"
If we can stop this…if you can stop this….we'll give you whatever you want. Anything. Name it."
Soren's lips twitched in a faint smile.
"I never said there was no way."
The room seemed to exhale in collective relief.
"But…"
"The price of confronting Galactus isn't measured in money or favors. This isn't a negotiation."
"This is war on a scale Earth has never known."
He stepped toward the President, folding his arms behind his back.
"I live on this planet too."
"You think I'd stand by and watch it be devoured?"
Then he waved dismissively, as though brushing off the weight of the conversation.
"As for conditions... let's save that for after. If I fail, it won't matter. If I succeed... you'll owe me more than you can imagine."
The President gave a shaky nod, words failing him. General Ross muttered a quiet "Understood."
And Tony simply placed a hand on the folder and stared ahead, silent.
Soren turned his back to them.
"We're done here. I'll look for a way forward. You prepare for the worst."
The three men stood slowly, uncertain but strangely steadied by his confidence. They filed out into the night without another word.
Flashes of fear rippled across the globe.
▶ News anchors tried to remain composed as they reported the approaching "planet-devouring entity."
▶ Footage of the Silver Surfer tearing through the atmosphere played on loop, followed by shaky cell phone videos of a silver blur over cities.
▶ Global markets plunged. Streets emptied. Churches overflowed. Riots broke out in major cities. Some people wept. Some partied.
▶ Politicians and military leaders held emergency press conferences, all offering nothing but empty promises.
▶ Social media burned with hashtags like #Galactus, #EndOfDays, and #WhereIsSoren.
General Ross slammed a fist on the table. "Our defense grid is a joke. The Surfer bypassed it without slowing down. What chance do we have against the main course?"
Tony Stark sipped bitter coffee. "Our best shot is still with Soren. If he says he has a plan... we have to trust it."
North Pole
The sky above the North Pole swirled with cosmic colors as magnetic storms flared unnaturally.
Soren stood alone on the icy tundra, his coat billowing in the alien wind.
He exhaled slowly, his breath not forming mist.
Eyes half-closed, Soren focused. Threads of shimmering blue light, barely visible to the naked eye, extended outward from him in all directions.
The Space Gem pulsed faintly in the air beside him, resonating with his thoughts.
"Come on… where are you…"
His mental energy swept across the Arctic like a radar forged from thought and willpower. Every fluctuation in dimensional space, every unnatural vibration in the air, registered as pulses across his mind.
A hollow, deep beneath the ice. A chasm that did not belong to nature. And something pulsing inside… like the heartbeat of a star in chains.
Soren's eyes snapped open.
"Found you."
In a flash of silent light, Soren teleported directly to the top of a vast glacier.
With a sweep of his hand, the space around him fractured, black-edged blades of distorted reality cutting outward like the slashes of a god.
The thick layers of ancient ice screamed as they were sliced open, revealing a massive sinkhole beneath.
From the depths, light surged.
And then… he surfed.
A streak of silver light burst from the abyss like a missile fired from the heart of the planet.
The Silver Surfer rose at impossible speed, riding atop his gleaming cosmic board.
The Surfer ascended into the air and hovered, silent, shimmering, perfect. His featureless chrome face reflected the auroras above.
Soren was already surrounded by a cage of space barriers, layered like an invisible labyrinth. There would be no escape.
The Surfer's head tilted. A flicker of awareness passed through him as he examined the man before him.
He sensed the unnatural curve of time and space around Soren's body, and knew instantly this was not a simple Earthling.
Still, the Surfer turned.
He said nothing. He did not posture. He simply moved, tilting forward and gliding toward the sky.
BOOM
A silver shockwave erupted as the Surfer smashed into a wall that wasn't there, a perfectly still barrier of folded space that sent him reeling.
He stumbled in the air, nearly losing control of his board. Sparks of silver light scattered like spilled mercury.
"Leaving so soon?"
The Surfer steadied himself, eyes narrowing.
Soren walked forward slowly, hands behind his back like a professor inspecting a rare creature.
"You bring destruction wherever you go." He said softly, voice edged with contempt.
"Your master eats planets. And you, little herald, are the dinner bell."
The Silver Surfer didn't reply. His expression remained unreadable, but the energy around him intensified. The board pulsed beneath his feet.
Soren stopped a few meters away.
"Give me your board."
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
PhantomDream