Pyro and Iceman were the first to step onto the battlefield, mainly because the flames on the opposite side were raging incessantly and their elemental abilities could effectively counter them.
With a casual wave of his hand, Pyro condensed the surrounding inferno into a compact fireball, siphoning its energy. Meanwhile, Iceman clapped his hands, and a sheet of glistening frost spread outward, encasing the entire corridor. The temperature plummeted as the rising smoke thickened, turning the environment into a battlefield of extreme temperature.
"Where the hell are we?" one of the heavy hitters asked as he stepped through the swirling frost and smoke. The next wave to enter included the Red Hulk, the Hulk himself, and the Thing.
"I'm not exactly sure," the Thing replied, scratching the back of his rocky head. "Galactus's ship is way too massive, bigger than the whole Earth. Even with a detailed map, we'd still be flying blind."
"Leave it to Doom," came the confident, mechanical voice of Doctor Doom as he entered, his armored boots clanking against the metal floor. "Doom always knows the way."
By this point, almost all the superheroes had entered the wreckage of the vessel, save for a few who were simply unsuited for this level of combat such as Professor X. No one expected his psychic powers to be useful against a cosmic entity like Galactus. And stripped of his psionic strength, Charles Xavier was, after all, just a paraplegic in a wheelchair.
Shin entered the vessel in a trance-like state. Though outwardly calm, he was devoting a significant portion of his energy toward absorbing stellar radiation, and it showed, his expression was distant, his eyes unfocused.
Doctor Doom activated a compact scanning device, its screen flickering with arcane readings. "Galactus is close... no more than a hundred kilometers away. And closing in fast."
"Well, of course he's coming," Tony Stark muttered as he adjusted his armor's systems. "We just blew up half his ship."
Indeed, the damage was catastrophic. Shin glanced back and surveyed the wreckage fragments of Galactus's colossal three-lobed vessel that drifted through space like shattered continents. They were currently standing on one of the larger surviving sections, which, as fate would have it, housed Galactus himself.
There was no need to rely solely on Doom's scanner. Shin could sense an astronomical surge of life energy, so dense and furious that it rivaled a supernova. It wasn't just detectable to him, any half-decent sensor-type ninja would've picked it up. The sheer magnitude of the life force made it impossible to gauge distance properly it was like trying to locate a hurricane by the force of its wind alone.
Of course, overwhelming life force didn't always equate to overwhelming combat strength. Galactus had once been a scientist, brilliant, yes, but not exactly a fighter. That said, with power levels like this, he wouldn't be easy to defeat either.
The group hadn't advanced far when the corridor trembled beneath their feet. Thunderous clashes echoed ahead, and moments later, Galactus appeared towering, armored, and radiating devastation, though his purple armor was tattered from the earlier explosion.
Clashing against him was a woman in a sleek black leotard suit, cinched at the waist with a red belt. She moved with frightening speed and struck with blinding energy. Though her power didn't match Galactus's, she was formidable. With a single swipe, she shattered a wall constructed from hyper-dense alloys as though it were paper.
[T/N: Captain Marvel Aka Ms. Marvel is dressed as the leotard version in the comics.]
"Wow, nice outfit!" Tony Stark whistled, nudging General Ross. "Is she one of yours? Some secret military project?"
General Ross squinted, recognition dawning. "Project Pegasus…? Carol Danvers?"
"She's from Earth?" Stark raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "I thought she was a Kree or something."
Ross didn't reply. His expression soured. Technically, Carol had once been part of the Air Force, but Nick Fury had long since pulled her into S.H.I.E.L.D., and then she vanished into the stars to become a cosmic crusader. The military had no real claim to her anymore, her power was off the charts, and now she served no nation.
"And now she's fighting Galactus? How many superhumans are hiding out on Earth?" Stark kept babbling, when...BOOM! Captain Marvel was smashed into the deck right in front of them.
Dust and debris scattered. She rose to her feet with a scowl, brushing off the cracked plating of her suit, which exposed far more skin than any regular uniform would allow.
"Just standing around chatting, huh? You planning to help anytime soon, or are you all statues?" she snapped, hands crackling with cosmic energy.
"Yikes. Spicy personality," Stark muttered. "Let's table the attitude discussion until after we survive."
The Hulk had no such reservations. With a roar, he leaped forward, swinging his axe at Galactus's shin. The blow made contact but the retaliation came instantly. Galactus swatted him aside like an insect, embedding him deep into a wall.
"Okay, yeah, this guy's a problem." Stark launched twin energy beams from his repulsors. They struck Galactus's armor and fizzled out harmlessly.
Galactus countered with a wave of cosmic energy. Stark barely dodged, his systems screaming alarms. One direct hit and he was vaporized.
From behind the line, Phoenix and Scarlet Witch surged forward. Only entities wielding such potent, high-tier energy could make any real impact on someone like Galactus. They coordinated with uncanny precision, one altering reality, the other rewriting it with flame.
Meanwhile, Captain Marvel had recovered and shifted into her Binary Mode, energy blazing from her entire body as she rejoined the fight, acting as the front-line tank against Galactus's devastating attacks.
"I've been meaning to say this for a while," Stark grumbled while dodging debris. "Why is it always the women leading the charge?"
Cyclops, firing concentrated laser blasts, answered absentmindedly, "Because they're stronger?"
"I don't think that's an excuse for us men to stand back and hide!" Red Hulk yelled as he charged in.
The Thing added in a deep rumble, "So... we're taking a page from Logan's book?"
Their eyes flicked to Wolverine, Tony Stark, and the Human Torch who had all already attempted to attack Galactus directly. Wolverine was now half-embedded into the floor, slowly regenerating from being crushed into a pulp. His adamantium skeleton looked like it had been hit by a wrecking ball. Even Human Torch had been snuffed out and reignited multiple times already.
"You know what? Those women always talk about gender equality, right?" Stark said, backing away again. "So maybe this is our chance to let them take the spotlight for once!"
Doctor Doom, who had been silently launching bursts of destructive energy, finally broke his silence with a sneer.
"Fools," he muttered coldly.
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