The world curved beneath Soren like a luminous jewel set into the black velvet of space.
From this height, Earth didn't look endangered.
It looked serene… oceans a gentle wash of turquoise, clouds smeared like white brushstrokes across continents. It shimmered against the abyss, defiant.
Soren halted the surfboard. The motion stopped so abruptly it was like time itself had hiccupped. He stood tall in the silence, the silver coating across his body refracting the starlight.
Something drifted into view.
A satellite. A relic of Earth's defiance, bristling with sensors, solar panels, and the insignia of a sovereign nation etched across its hull.
Cameras locked onto him immediately, scanning, recording.
With a flick of thought, Soren dissolved the silver film from his face. Cold air pressed against his cheeks.
He turned toward the satellite and grinned, a wide, cocky grin full of teeth…
Earth
An alarm beeped. The feed stabilized. On screen: a man standing on a silver board, floating in the void... smiling.
Someone gasped.
"Hold~ hold that frame! Zoom in!"
In the crowded control room, General Thaddeus Ross leaned forward, his jaw tight as stone. Around him, a chorus of analysts, techs, and scientists erupted in disbelief.
"That's him!" Someone muttered.
Ross didn't blink. "What the hell is he doing up there?"
A technician, pale-faced, turned toward the general. "Sir… that surfboard—it's not Earth tech."
Another voice from behind: "General… do you think he can really fight it? Fight Galactus?"
Ross's lips thinned. For once, his voice held no bluster. Only cold resolve.
"We don't have a choice. He's already out there."
Back in space
Soren vanished in a flash of light.
He didn't travel through space, he folded it. Every second, he leapt parsecs at a time.
The surfboard responded like it was alive, carving a silver scar across the vacuum, each jump straining the seams of physics.
He didn't even feel the motion anymore.
Only the freedom. The thrill. The absolute control.
He reappeared in the void beyond Neptune, suspended alone in a place where the stars had grown thin and distant.
Earth was no longer visible, just a memory behind him.
In the distance, a shape.
A black nebula.
It devoured light. It looked like space had gone rotten in a single, massive patch, veins of purple and red writhing inside it like something alive.
And in its heart, a… vast and ancient and ravenous beast.
The surfboard beneath Soren shivered slightly.
A strange pulse echoed through Soren's mind, and a translucent display lit up in his vision.
[Entity Detected: Galactus – Duplication]
World Level: S+
Soren blinked.
"This… is a duplication?"
His eyes widened. The implications crashed into him like a comet. If this wasn't the true Galactus… if even a fragment was ranked S+...
Then what kind of power did the original truly possess?
But he had no time to ponder.
The nebula turned.
Somehow, it had seen him.
It began to move.
Soren pivoted. The surfboard ignited, a pulse of silver fire streaking outward. He shot off, hurling himself into the cosmic dark.
Behind him, the nebula stirred, its motion deceptive. It didn't look fast. It looked like a mountain shifting slowly on the horizon.
But in space, size is deceptive.
And that thing was massive.
Within seconds, it began to gain on him.
A sound rippled across the vacuum through fabric, a low, mournful whimper, like a god breathing through torn dimensions.
"Too slow…"
He focused, driving every ounce of intent into the board. It responded, unfolding. Not physically, but in ability.
Trails of white-silver energy spiraled from his arms, merging with the board's surface. A dimensional burst erupted beneath him, launching him forward again.
For a moment, he seemed to outrun the darkness.
But the duplication howled.
It accelerated again, its form now shifting, coalescing into shapes.
Arms. Teeth. Eyes.
And they were locked on him.
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
PhantomDream