Carol's story was, in truth, quite simple. After obtaining her powers and becoming known as Captain Marvel, she began her journey of intergalactic justice, crusading across the stars. Naturally, one of the greatest existential threats in the universe, Galactus, soon became a target in her eyes.
It just so happened that a group of alien friends Carol had met during her travels lost their homeworld to Galactus's hunger. Fueled by a desire for retribution, she set out to settle the score.
Unfortunately, Galactus was far from the kind of villain she'd encountered before. Before she could even approach the Devourer of Worlds, she was intercepted and severely beaten by one of his heralds. It had taken everything she had just to escape with her life.
From then on, Carol's encounters with Galactus were limited. Direct confrontation was hopeless as she simply wasn't powerful enough. While she might fare better than some against heralds like the Firelord or the Tyrant, she couldn't stand against Stardust, let alone the Silver Surfer.
Galactus himself rarely gave her attention. Despite being annoyed by her interference, he was far more focused on devouring. Most of the time, Carol could only engage with his heralds, or try to coordinate evacuations to help refugees flee doomed planets.
More recently, Carol received an emergency message from Nick Fury. After learning of the Earth's impending danger, she had rushed after Galactus's ship, hoping to intervene. As fate would have it, she arrived just in time to witness the explosion of Galactus's vessel.
Her response was instantaneous, without a moment's hesitation, the so-called "iron-headed girl" threw herself into the battle. The possibility of killing Galactus drove her into action with reckless enthusiasm.
The superheroes of Earth listened to Carol's story without much comment. Her brand of interstellar altruism was foreign to them. After all, most Earthlings had enough problems of their own without concerning themselves with alien worlds. The mutants, for example, were still struggling for basic rights and survival. As for Earth's leading scientists, their interest in alien civilizations was mostly limited to acquiring advanced technology. The lives of extraterrestrials? Irrelevant.
One infamous scientist had once unleashed a horrifying insect swarm from the Negative Zone. The infestation had gone on to devour half the universe. And while the man had made efforts to fix his mistake, he never seemed remotely remorseful.
If the same devastation had occurred on Earth, would he have wept then? Probably. But in the world of Marvel comics, unless the alien was a named hero, few cared for its fate.
So, to many Earthlings, Carol's cosmic humanitarianism bordered on sainthood if not outright madness. General Ross, in particular, found her idealism deeply baffling.
At the moment, the team was still scavenging through what remained of Galactus's ruined spaceship. No one had the strength or the will to chase after the Devourer again. And after suffering such a crushing defeat, it was unlikely Galactus would return to Earth any time soon.
"Hey, everyone! We should get going. The space-time channel won't stay open forever. By my estimate, it'll collapse in about two hours," Mr. Fantastic called out after glancing at his instruments.
The crowd quickly mobilized. Most began preparing for immediate return, with a few scientists staying behind to squeeze every last drop of intel from the debris. Even in a hurry, they weren't going to miss the chance to loot advanced alien tech.
Shin observed all this calmly. It was obvious to him that, following this battle, Earth's technological development would soon experience a massive leap forward.
"Has anyone seen Dr. Pym?" Mr. Fantastic suddenly asked, frowning as he scanned the retreating group.
Everyone glanced around in confusion. No one had noticed Dr. Hank Pym during the later stages of the fight. He had been spotted at the beginning but then disappeared. With his Ant-Man armor, he could shrink or grow at will so naturally, most had assumed he was just staying out of the way.
But now that the battle was over and heads were clearing, it became apparent, Hank Pym was gone.
Shin narrowed his eyes and extended his Observation Haki and chakra perception abilities. After a moment, he shook his head. "Bad news is... I didn't find him. The good news is that... I didn't find him."
That meant two things. One, Hank Pym wasn't lying dead somewhere. Two, he hadn't left any detectable trace. The most likely explanation he'd shrunk so far down that he'd slipped into the quantum realm. Or… he was still inside Galactus.
Shin wasn't the only one capable of infiltrating Galactus's body. If anyone else could pull it off, it would be Ant-Man. Pym's expertise in subatomic shrinking made him an obvious candidate.
But unlike Shin, Pym had no way of manipulating space or reality. Once inside Galactus's internal dimension, a realm that functioned as an entire micro-universe, he'd be completely lost. Even if he expanded to planetary size within that space, it would make little difference. He'd still be no more threatening than a bacterium to Galactus.
More crucially, without any spatial abilities or extreme mobility, finding the point of entry would be nearly impossible in a space that vast. It would be like trying to find your way back to a pinhole in an infinite ocean.
"So… the most likely outcome is that Ant-Man's still inside Galactus and got taken away with him?" someone muttered grimly.
Everyone looked at each other, helpless.
"We'll have to hope Dr. Pym's lucky," Tony Stark finally said, shaking his head. "There's no way we can find Galactus now. Not unless he wants to be found."
Given the current level of Earth's technology, tracking Galactus across even one galaxy, let alone multiple, was simply out of reach.
The mood dampened immediately. Even those who had been giddy with alien tech spoils now felt the weight of the missing scientist. Hank Pym's disappearance put a dark cloud over an otherwise victorious day.
As usual, Doctor Doom revealed nothing. His metal mask concealed any hint of emotion, and without a word, he vanished from the base upon returning just like Bruce Banner.
It seemed the two had come prepared to disappear. General Ross, who had intended to confront them both post-battle, missed his chance entirely. He had no idea where they'd gone.
*******************************
If you would like to gain early access, you can join me at www.patre on.com/bookbattalion
95+ Advance Chapters Now Available!