Chapter Sixty-Seven, Part One

"What is this place?" Silver Surfer extended a hand toward Dan's phantom star, eyes distant as he scanned the empty space. "I can no longer feel my connection to Galactus… how is this possible?"

"Welcome to the phantom zone, an infinity that exists between all spaces," Dan frowned as his gaze was drawn toward the distance. Etrigan was busy with his consumption of Apocalypse's power, bloated and round of belly as he shovelled cosmic energy into his mouth. "My personal realm, with a semi-permanent population of two. So long as we're in the zone, very few entities are my match."

A full power Galactus would probably still be a bit much, but most of them were half starved. Dan waved a hand and formed the shadows into a pair of comfortable chairs. He took a seat and motioned for the Surfer to do the same. The one who stood behind Galactus was the real problem. 

The Black Winter, Devourer of Universes. Its function was to sweep clean the multiverse and prepare it for its inevitable rebirth. Galactus was only its herald, tasked with guiding it to nearly dead universes that were ready for its consumption.

"Even if I remain here, my master will continue his terrible work," the Surfer sat in the overstuffed leather chair and shook his head. "He has no choice, he must consume or die."

"I'm aware of his condition, but I may have a solution to his hunger," Dan flicked a finger and projected an image of the entombed Apocalypse. The light had faded from the ancient mutant's gaze, his movements listless as he wandered his labyrinthian prison. "I've harvested a considerable amount of cosmic energy from this fellow, enough to hold back his hunger until we've found a permanent solution."

"Why would you help him? Or me?" White flared behind the Surfer's eyes, lips twisted in a frown. "Both of us have committed atrocities, committed evils beyond imagining…"

"Galactus is a victim of another, more powerful entity," The Black Winter was also a servant of something greater, a being that stood opposite to the One Above All. Dan dispelled the vision of En Sabah Nur's struggles and replaced it with a vision of a rocky, red blue planetoid. "This is Ego, the living world. Not only will he make a perfect snack for Galactus, but he's got something that we'll need to reform your master."

"So, you want me to summon him to this 'Ego' and help you collect whatever it is we need from its surface?" Silver Surfer's eyes glowed with cosmic light as he appraised the living world. "This planet is powerful, but hardly a threat to my master. What does he have that could bring change to the Eater of Worlds?"

Dan shifted the spatial vision toward Ego's surface, through a crack and toward the planet's core. He'd found the evil planet long ago, alongside the unusual object that rested next to its freakish cosmic brain.

The mechanical, vaguely squared structure took up nearly a quarter of Ego's central foundations. A hypercomplex machine that carried the trace of an ancient and terrible power. Lifebringer One, the incubator that birthed Galactus and gave life to the world that held it.

"The machine predates this iteration of the multiverse, a cosmic cocoon that changed Galactus into the ever hungry being he is today," Dan's vision halted before a sealed entry way, whose surface spanned thousands of kilometres in length. Used by the Black Winter to form his champion, it had withstood the aeons without a hint of damage. "With some modifications, it can be used to evolve him further, alter his purpose to align with creation instead of destruction."

Dan knew that it had been done before, a line of comics that introduced Lightbringer Galactus. He'd recognised the machine from his admittedly faded human memories and long planned to investigate. 

The arrival of the Surfer had accelerated his timetable a bit, with Peter Quill now only in his early teens. Dan had wanted to allow Star Lord the chance to confront his father, but fate had other ideas. 

"Very well," the Surfer rose to his feet, gaze set through the spatial viewing glass. "I will help you bring my master to feed on this Ego, but my power will be of no help against him."

"Don't worry about that," Dan smiled as he transported both of them out of the phantom zone and into orbit around the Earth. "I've long been preparing to counter threats of his level…"

– – – –

Hurricane winds flowed past, narrowly dodged as May pushed her flight speed to the limit. The draconic sword in her hand flicked out once more and a flash of flame ignited the air, a wave of golden fire that closed its jaws around the Father's enraged figure.

The ancient Celestial defended himself too well, layer after layer of Force barriers that repelled the weapon in her hand and the magic of her spells. Brow furrowed, May redoubled her efforts. 

One hand carved runes into the air, a cascade of light that took the form of an endless wave of branches. The other wielded her dragon blade unpredictable arcs, a rain of fire and teeth that forced the Father to shield himself from all directions.

"I'll have to overwhelm him, this chip damage isn't cutting it," May scowled as she placed both hands upon her blade. The draconic energy within her grew the more she battled, a thunder in her heart that demanded only victory. "If he wants to stay bundled up like a turtle, then I'll show him my limits…"

Fire spilled from under her skin, a golden cascade that wrapped around her body like a newborn star. Spun and compressed, the flame coiled into the form of a four-limbed dragon. Emerald glinted from its eyes, mouth opened to roar in defiance of the world.

A miniature sun blossomed from the back of its throat, a concentration of heat that darkened the fire of its scales. May floated cross legged within its heart, senses connected to the dragon's as she took careful aim.

Solar fire illuminated the skies of Mortis, a golden spear that turned the forests to cinders in its wake. Driven home against the Father's barrier, it split the earth and replaced the clouds with a haze of smoke.

"Your power is incredible, for a mortal," the Father shook his head as he brushed a layer of ash from his robes, unharmed by the draconic inferno that raged around him. The constellations in his eyes grew brighter than the heavens around them as he waved his hands and extinguished the fire. "If the Force did not demand Anakin as my replacement, I would offer the position to you."

"I'm not finished just yet," the expended shell of her molten dragon fell from around May, her body surrounded by an intricate cocoon of runic script. The vertical slits of her pupils widened as she opened her eyes, focused on the smug expression on the Father's face. "Let's see how well you do when someone turns that power of yours against you…"