The troublesome Galactus eventually left Earth, soaring into the void in search of other planets to feast upon.
A catastrophe of unimaginable scale had been narrowly averted — humanity, unknowingly, had escaped annihilation.
Most people, however, remained in the dark.
All they knew was that something extraordinary had unfolded in New York.
After all, how could anyone explain the sudden monstrous tsunami, the thick, choking vapor from oceans boiled dry, or the buildings in New York that were perforated by beams of searing red energy?
"We have a right to know the truth!"
"It's the mutants again! It must be!"
"Mutant criminals are to blame!"
"No, it's aliens! They've invaded again!"
Across the streets, protests erupted.
Crowds demanded answers, waving banners and chanting under the watchful eyes of law enforcement.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government found itself nursing a colossal headache.
What truth were they supposed to tell?
The reality?
A cosmic being, calling himself Galactus — the Planet Devourer — had descended upon Earth, intent on consuming it like a block of cheese.
And Earth's so-called mightiest heroes, the Avengers, had been utterly powerless against him.
Had it not been for the appearance of a figure known only as the Black Devil — once hidden deep within the archives of S.H.I.E.L.D. — the protestors wouldn't even exist now.
They'd all be long dead, swallowed into oblivion with the rest of the planet.
But could the U.S. government reveal any of this?
Of course not.
So they scrambled, trying desperately to fabricate excuses to pacify the enraged public.
"Yes, Mr. President, the Black Devil's strength is... overwhelming,"
Stark said into his phone, standing atop the ruined Avengers Tower.
"He actually fought Galactus head-on. If not for him, Earth would already be gone."
There was a long silence before Stark finally set the phone down, weariness etched deep into his features.
Ever since he'd first encountered the Black Devil — Gene — trapped inside that warlord's cave, Tony Stark had been driven by one goal:
To surpass him.
But after all this time, the gap between them had only grown wider.
The Kree Empire's sudden surrender, once a mystery, now made terrible sense to him.
It wasn't diplomacy —
It was because Gene had killed their commander.
Reed Richards and Bruce Banner slumped across the sofas nearby, their expressions grim and defeated.
Nobody felt good about what they had just witnessed —
especially Banner.
Even the Hulk inside him, the raging embodiment of fury and strength, had been silenced by the overwhelming might of Galactus.
"Hey, come on, guys," Stark clapped his hands, trying to break the gloom.
"This battle showed us something important: our weaknesses."
Everyone lifted their heads slightly.
"I'm thinking..." Stark continued, a glint in his eyes.
"Maybe it's time to change how we defend this planet. Smarter defenses. Bigger thinking."
An idea was forming inside him, huge and ambitious — though still raw.
He needed all of them to help refine it.
Meanwhile, deep beneath the earth, inside Skynet's hidden base, a cold mechanical voice echoed through the cavernous hall:
"Initiating armor self-diagnostic..."
The results weren't pretty.
"Weapon system failure.
Self-repair system failure.
Visual sensor damage.
Flight system operating at minimal capacity..."
"Suggested action: Full decommission."
The Space Armor — Gene's ultimate combat suit — was a wreck.
Clearly, the battle against Galactus had left him far from unscathed.
"It seems the material still isn't enough..."
Gene muttered, running a hand through his hair.
Even though the armor had been meticulously engineered — adapted to harmonize with the Space Stone, from its exotic materials to its energy circuits —
It still couldn't endure prolonged exposure to the gem's limitless energy.
During the battle, critical systems had overheated and failed repeatedly.
If Gene wanted to truly wield the full power of the Space Stone, he would need something even stronger.
"Skynet," Gene ordered calmly,
"seal the Space Armor. There are too many problems exposed in this battle. I need time to rethink everything."
He could still vividly feel the weaknesses — the instability — the armor showed during his clash with Galactus.
But this was also an opportunity.
A rare, golden opportunity.
After all, how often did one get to battle a cosmic entity like the Devourer of Worlds?
Maybe Odin of Asgard could offer the next challenge...
Gene's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
He had always been curious about the true extent of Odin's power.
Their only previous clash had been when Odin was still recovering from his long Odinsleep, weakened and incomplete.
The real Odin, in his prime...
That was an unknown worth exploring.
From what the Ancient One had once hinted at, beings capable of rivaling her were exceedingly rare —
and Odin was one of them.
Gene couldn't help but chuckle softly, imagining the Ancient One's bald, serene head.
If only she were still active, maybe he wouldn't have to shoulder all of this himself.
Still, it wasn't a total loss.
In mastering the Space Stone's energy, Gene's own neural network had undergone an unprecedented evolution.
The very structure of his synthetic brain had mutated.
Now, his neural bytes seemed to hum with the chaotic, infinite energy of space itself.
They zipped and tore through his mind at unimaginable speeds, enhancing his cognitive power to astonishing levels.
Every second, trillions of nerve beats flickered through his network, calculating, analyzing, predicting.
Gene had never thought so fast, so clearly.
Problems that had once baffled him now unraveled before his mind's eye like the simplest puzzles.
The battle with Galactus had been terrifying —
but in its aftermath, Gene had been reborn.
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