This was supposed to have been a soft launch, a gentle return to heroism.
Max had imagined something simple. A planet under attack by an invading army. He would stop the fighting, rescue some people, and make sure peace returned, all to remind himself of what he had been before becoming the Green Lantern and the leader of the Avengers. A hero of a thousand galaxies, as one of the leaders of a planet he and Odin had saved had called him all those years ago.
But no.
The universe never made anything that easy for him.
The gigantic vessel hanging above the planet, large enough to rival several worlds, apparently belonged to Galactus. The Devourer had not come to consume the world. He was fighting something else. That alone told Max how serious the situation was, because anyone willing to attack Galactus had to be either immensely powerful or completely insane.
Then there was Taneleer Tivan.
The Collector.
Or perhaps he was not calling himself that yet.
"Oh, this is how I become one, isn't it?" Max muttered as he flew across the shaking planet.
The Elders might not even exist as a group yet, but one day they would, and Max was going to qualify for their absurdly exclusive membership. Honestly, he would have been insulted if they left him out. He was older than almost everything in the universe now, even if most of that time had been spent unconscious inside a crystal.
He had introduced himself to Tivan as Ion. The name had come to him in the moment, perhaps because Veridion kept telling him to stop thinking of the Entity of Will as something separate. Max and Ion were supposed to be two expressions of the same being.
Introducing himself as Ion was part of that long path toward finding a balance between both sides. Also, Ion sounded much cooler than just Max.
The planet trembled beneath him as he crossed another continent. Thousands of Superman-shaped constructs moved through the cities below, lifting collapsed buildings, carrying the wounded, and placing civilians inside large emerald transport ships. Once filled, the ships flew toward the upper atmosphere and then continued toward another habitable planet in a nearby system.
Tivan was also helping with the evacuation so they could complete it quickly and save as many people as possible.
Maintaining so many constructs across an entire planet placed tremendous pressure on Max. The partially restored ring helped him focus the energy, but it still struggled to manage power on this scale. He could have reached directly into Ion and ended the problem much faster, but he feared what would happen if he opened that connection too far.
Max might disappear. Only Ion would remain.
He pushed the thought aside and continued toward the strongest concentrations of cosmic energy. The battle was moving rapidly around the planet, each clash shifting hundreds of miles within seconds and sending fresh earthquakes through the crust.
Max finally saw them beyond the horizon.
Galactus fought seven beings.
The Devourer towered above the shattered landscape, armored in purple and blue. The seven figures attacking him were much smaller, but each gave off enough energy to tear apart the world beneath them. They moved around Galactus in coordinated bursts, striking from different directions before retreating beyond the reach of his hands.
A feminine figure clad entirely in golden armor raised one palm.
Violet energy gathered around a gem embedded within it, then erupted in a beam that crossed the battlefield and struck Galactus in the chest. The blast forced the Devourer backward. His enormous body crashed into the ground, destroying a mountain beneath him and sending stone high into the atmosphere.
Max stopped at the edge of the battlefield and assessed the situation.
The seven attackers immediately pressed their advantage. They surrounded the fallen Galactus and fired beams of energy into him, each attack driving deeper cracks through his armor and shaking the continent.
Galactus's eyes glowed. Cosmic energy exploded from them in two broad beams. He swept his gaze across the battlefield, striking all seven beings and throwing them away from him. Several crashed into the ground, while others were sent tumbling through the sky.
Max saw his opportunity.
He called back every Superman construct that had finished its rescue work. Green figures rose from cities and continents across the planet, accelerating through the atmosphere until hundreds of them converged above the battlefield.
Max pointed toward the seven beings, and the constructs descended together.
Some struck with their fists. Others seized arms and legs, forcing the attackers away from Galactus, while another group hammered a blue-armored figure into the ground with repeated blows.
The golden woman turned toward them.
Violet light gathered in her palm, and a single blast tore through dozens of constructs. Their emerald bodies shattered into sparks, but more immediately replaced them and attacked from every direction.
Max watched the beam carve through the sky.
The constructs were not as strong as they had been when he fought Doom, but their performance here was still impressive.
Stay out of that thing's range, he made a mental note.
He flew forward, entering the battle himself and driving his fist into the chest of a red-armored god. The impact launched the figure toward the surface, where it struck hard enough to leave a crater several miles wide.
Max looked toward Galactus and felt the Devourer's gaze upon him. Their eyes met. Neither spoke, but an understanding passed between them. Galactus would handle the others. Max would deal with the golden one and the weapon in her palm.
Max shot toward her.
She saw him coming and raised her hand again. The violet gem glowed, and another beam tore through the air. Max changed direction sharply, moving around it as the blast passed close enough to burn through the edge of his cape.
She fired again.
Max twisted between the attacks, accelerating each time she tried to follow him. As he closed the distance, he finally saw the object embedded in her palm clearly.
A violet gem.
Not merely a weapon.
An Infinity Stone.
The Power Stone, to be exact.
"You possess great courage to interfere in the affairs of gods," the woman said. "Now die."
She thrust her hand forward. Max created a wide prism construct between them. The violet beam struck its surface and split in several directions, the reflected energy cutting across the clouds. Cracks spread through the construct almost immediately, and Max reinforced it just before it shattered.
The last of the blast tore past his shoulder.
"Who are you supposed to be?" Max asked.
The woman answered with a glare and rushed him.
Max formed a rocket-powered bat in both hands. Green thrusters ignited along its back as he swung it across her face. The blow sent her spinning toward the ground, where she struck the ruined plain and carved a trench through several miles of stone.
She rose from the crater, fury tightening her features.
Max floated above her with the bat resting against one shoulder.
"I am Ion the Green Lantern."
She continued to glare.
"Do you have any idea what your battle with Galactus is doing to this planet?" Max asked. "Billions are dead."
Confusion crossed her face. It was not guilt or concern. She seemed genuinely unable to understand why those lives should matter, as though Max had interrupted a great undertaking of utmost importance to complain about ants.
"There was no need for introductions," she said. "I am Aegis, Lady of All Sorrows. I already know what you are... a dead man."
Damn she has a cooler title than me.
Aegis attacked.
She crossed the distance between them and drove a fist into his chest. Max was thrown through the sky, but he recovered before she could follow up. He formed a shield over one arm, blocked her next strike, and answered with a hammer construct that struck her from the side.
They traded blows across the battlefield, moving between the clouds and the broken land below. Aegis fought with raw force, using the Stone to strengthen every strike and release blasts at close range. Max relied on speed and constantly changing constructs, moving from weapon to weapon before she could adapt.
While they battled, Galactus stopped holding back.
He seized one of the gods in both hands and flooded the being with cosmic energy. The god's armor cracked, then his entire body came apart in a violent burst of light. Another tried to attack from behind, but Galactus turned and struck him with enough force to drive him through the planet's crust.
The deaths of her comrades distracted Aegis, and Max took advantage.
He formed an enormous cannon around his arm and fired. The blast struck Aegis directly in the chest and drove her into the ground.
Max followed her down.
Before she could recover, he surrounded her with specialized prism constructs, the same kind he had used against Vnn when they first met.
Aegis raised the Infinity Stone.
A continuous stream of violet energy erupted from her palm. Max quickly countered it with a prism construct, which deflected the beam toward another. From there, it bounced across the chamber, gaining speed as Max altered the angles around her. The beam crossed itself again and again until the entire construct prison was filled with violet light.
Then the beams struck her.
Aegis screamed as her own attack hammered into her from every direction.
As the light finally faded, Max flew down toward her, his emerald cape moving behind him.
"Got a little overconfident there, kid," Max said, rubbing in his victory.
He landed at the edge of the crater and walked toward the groaning god, who lay half-buried beneath broken stone. Her golden armor was cracked where the Power Stone's attack had struck it.
A shadow passed over him.
Max looked up and saw a massive figure in black-and-white armor descending from the clouds. The god carried a broad sword in both hands and hurtled toward him at great speed.
Max threw himself aside as the blade struck the crater. The impact tore open the ground where he had been standing and sent a wave of debris in every direction. He rose into the air, already forming a cannon around his right arm.
Then the god's chest opened.
Armor plates separated to reveal a glowing yellow gem embedded beneath them.
Oh, fuck, Max thought.
His mind was assaulted. Max fell to his knees, both hands gripping his head as the mental attack increased in strength. The black-armored god approached slowly, his sword dragging through the ground behind him. He raised the weapon above Max's neck.
A beam of cosmic energy crossed the battlefield.
It struck the god in the side and blasted him away. Max looked toward its source and saw Galactus, his eyes glowing with power. He had killed five of the seven, leaving only these two.
Max forced himself upright as the pressure in his mind weakened. He had barely regained his balance when Aegis tore herself free of the crater and flew toward the black-armored god.
Max raised his hands to attack, but space folded around the two gods.
They disappeared.
"Damn it," Max muttered. "They're gone."
Galactus approached and landed near him. Each step of his enormous body shook the ground. Max flew upward until he hovered before the Devourer's face.
"Galactus, Devourer of Worlds," Max said. "My name is Ion. I am..."
"I know what you are," Galactus interrupted.
Max raised an eyebrow. "You do?"
"You are the avatar of one of the entities born from the Emotional Spectrum."
"Well, that saves time." Max looked toward the place where the gods had vanished. "So, what is going on here?"
Galactus did not answer immediately. His gaze remained fixed on the empty sky.
"They escaped," he said. "That means they obtained what they came for."
"And they are...?"
"The Proemial Gods," a voice said behind Max.
He turned.
A new figure floated above the ruined land.
At first, Max thought he was another Watcher. The resemblance was obvious, from the broad head to the heavy robes and pale eyes, but this being was larger and carried himself with an authority no Watcher Max had ever met possessed. He looked like the figure the Watchers might have used as the model for a god.
The stranger bowed his head first to Max, then to Galactus.
"My name is Antiphon the Overseer," he said. "To answer your question, Lord Ion, those beings were among the first of their kind. I was one of them."
Max glanced at Galactus, then back at Antiphon. "And what exactly were you created to do?"
"We were commanded by the Creator to uphold the Cosmic Consonance. We were meant to preserve balance and refrain from imposing ourselves upon creation. Most of my brethren have now chosen to defile that purpose."
"How?"
Antiphon's expression tightened. "It began with Diableri. He was among the greatest of us, but ambition corrupted him. He rejected the duty given to our kind and began gathering others who shared his desire to reshape the universe in his image."
Max sighed. "The usual reshaping-the-universe-in-your-image business, then."
Antiphon ignored the remark and lowered his head again.
"Great Ion, Great Galactus, only through your combined might can they be stopped."
Galactus looked down at him.
"I should destroy you as I destroyed the others," the Devourer said. "Your kin have taken something from me. You live only because I choose mercy."
Max looked between them and considered what a group of ancient gods might steal from Galactus if they intended to remake the universe.
"The Ultimate Nullifier," he guessed.
Galactus looked at him and gave a single nod.
"A weapon made by the Watcher Enmu, one that has already caused great destruction throughout the universe," Antiphon said with profound sorrow.
"Do you know where they went?"
"Yes."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
"I will devour this world first," Galactus said.
Max looked down.
The planet was already coming apart. The battle had fractured continents, destabilized the core, and damaged the atmosphere beyond repair.
"Give me time to make sure everyone is off the planet," Max said. "After that, do what you need to do."
Galactus made a sound of approval, and Max was surprised that he had agreed so readily.
From the enormous ship above them, great metallic rods began to descend through the atmosphere. They spread around the planet in precise formations, each one locking into position as energy gathered along its surface.
Max flew away before the process could begin.
He scanned the entire planet from orbit, searching for any remaining signs of life. If only Jade were here, this would have been much easier. He flew over the planet once more, searching the cities and major population centers.
Nothing remained.
Tivan's ships had taken the last survivors.
Max flew toward the vessel above the planet and entered through one of its open bays. Tivan was waiting for him inside, surrounded by servants who directed streams of refugees toward temporary shelters.
"Thank you for saving as many as you could," Max said.
Tivan placed one hand against his chest. "It was the right thing to do."
Max looked past him at the thousands of displaced civilians being escorted deeper into the ship.
Wait.
Was he collecting these people?
Fuck, he probably was.
He needed to follow up on that later.
Tivan approached him with obvious interest. "Did you help Galactus win, or did you side with the others?
"Galactus is about to devour the planet. After that, we're pursuing the gods."
"Then our paths separate for now." Tivan studied him for a moment. "We should speak again, Lord Ion. I believe we are more alike than you think. I have searched for others like myself for a very long time, and you are only the second I have found."
"Who was the first?"
Tivan smiled. "A conversation for another time."
Max nodded toward the refugees. "I sent most of them to the neighboring star system. There is a habitable world there."
Tivan nodded.
Max left the ship and flew back toward the planet.
Galactus had completed his preparations. The Devourer sat at the center of an enormous machine assembled across what remained of the largest continent. Towers, conduits, and the rods placed around the world were now connected by lines of cosmic energy.
Max slowed as he neared Galactus.
"How did you know what I was?" he asked.
Galactus did not look away from the machine. "We passed into this universe together, the only two survivors of the previous cosmos."
"That makes sense," Max said.
"I am also quite familiar with the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum. My mother was even more of an expert."
"Your mother?"
"She sought to wield its power and use it to save our universe. She failed."
Max looked at the vast mechanism surrounding them.
"Someone else trying to wield and control it caused the destruction of the Fifth Cosmos," he said. "That attempt also created the being that eventually destroyed yours."
Galactus did not respond as he raised one hand.
The machine activated.
Energy surged through the rods surrounding the planet, drilling into its crust and drawing power from its core. Great cracks opened across the surface as continents split apart. The seas rose into the atmosphere in vast clouds of vapor, and the world's remaining mountains collapsed into rivers of molten stone.
Max moved away, leaving the atmosphere as the planet began to die.
From space, he watched the machinery strip the world apart. Layers of rock peeled away and dissolved into streams of energy that flowed toward Galactus. The planet's core became visible for a brief moment, burning against the darkness, before it too was consumed.
The world collapsed inward.
Then it was gone.
.
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Max vs Aegis