At this moment, the members of the Ultimate Team, led by S.H.I.E.L.D., had arrived at a warehouse in New York City.
Staring at the object in front of them, they could hardly believe their eyes.
"This is it?" Hawkeye spoke up.
"Yes." Miles hadn't expected to see this thing again, let alone find it still preserved here.
"I thought Bat destroyed this device."
"He did," Monica said at that moment, "but we rebuilt it."
"But that gave us a solution—one that allows us to travel to another universe and figure out how to deal with that big guy outside," Stark said, looking at the interdimensional portal beside him.
That was exactly what he had in mind.
"Hey, unauthorized personnel, no entry! Didn't you see the sign at the entrance?" A kid, flanked by heavily armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, walked in and shouted at the members of the Ultimate Team.
"What's your name, kid?" Captain America looked at the bald-headed boy and asked.
"Amadeus Cho. Dr. Amadeus Cho."
"Doctor?" Hawkeye clearly didn't buy it. It was hard to believe someone so young could be called a doctor.
"That's right, arrow boy. I have three PhDs, after all."
Amadeus replied with full confidence.
"How old are you?" Jessica asked him then.
"Fifteen. And you?"
Maybe it was because he was talking to a woman, but his tone softened a bit.
Hearing Amadeus's age, Jessica lowered her head.
"Makes me feel like I've been outclassed."
"It's exciting to meet real frontline heroes like you, but this is an intricate piece of equipment—" Before Amadeus could finish his sentence, Stark had already interrupted him.
"We know exactly what it is, kid. But what you may not realize is that the outside world is on the brink of collapse—and the only person who knows what's really going on is on the other side of that portal." Stark's tone was anything but friendly now—he was visibly agitated.
"You think you can just walk through that portal? Are you crazy, Mr. Stark?" Amadeus clearly didn't think Stark's idea was a good one.
"Kid, we have to—who the hell are you?" Stark grabbed the boy by the collar and lifted him up, obviously having missed Amadeus's earlier introduction.
"He's the lead researcher and experimental supervisor on the portal," Monica quickly stepped in to smooth things over and introduced Amadeus.
"Him?" Ben, the Thing, was clearly skeptical and looked at Monica in disbelief.
"He's a top expert in interdimensional energy fields."
Ben was about to keep questioning when a rough voice cut through their conversation.
"Has the evacuation been completed?"
Everyone recognized that voice—it was Bat's. That deep growl was unmistakable.
"It's done. Where are you now? We've found a way to deal with that guy." Hearing Bruce's voice, Stark got a bit excited. After all, there were only a few people who could stir up emotion in him—and Bruce was definitely one of them.
"Good. Jessica and Gwen are with you, right?" Bruce's words made Stark feel like something was off.
Still, he responded.
The next second, the door they had come through slammed shut.
"Hey!"
They didn't need to ask who was responsible. No one else but that bat would pull something like this.
"Monica, open this door." Stark knew there was no point in asking that bat to let them out. Whenever he made a decision, no one could change it.
The best they could do was have Monica try to open the door. After all, they were still in S.H.I.E.L.D. territory, and as the director, she should have access.
But neither Monica nor that bald-headed kid, Amadeus Cho, could open the now tightly sealed door.
Thor, never one for patience, raised his hammer, ready to smash the door down—but Amadeus stopped him.
"If you want to kill us all, go ahead and swing that hammer," Amadeus said, and it was enough to make Thor stop in his tracks.
"Bat, what the hell are you trying to do?" Stark now understood—if they wanted to get out, only Bat could open the door for them.
Meanwhile, Bat had already arrived in New York.
Seated in the Batwing, staring at the towering figure standing in Midtown Manhattan, Bruce didn't answer Stark.
"Stay hidden."
Leaving behind only those words, Bruce cut off communication.
"I can still find them," said another voice that didn't belong to Bruce. It was a deep, hoarse voice, brimming with fury and madness.
"I know," Bruce replied, and with that, he piloted the Batwing straight toward Galactus.
Galactus saw the Batwing rushing toward him and casually waved his hand, swatting it from the sky like a bug, instantly shattering it mid-air.
But the next moment, he saw a figure burst out of the Batwing and charge directly at his face.
In all his long existence, Galactus had never seen a life form appear before him in such a way—nor had he seen one like this.
The figure was covered entirely in sharp bone spikes. Its blood-red eyes radiated a primal bloodlust and thirst for violence.
Emerald breath flowed from its mouth, sending chills through the air.
Galactus swatted at the figure again, sending it crashing through one building after another before it finally slammed into the ground.
But instead of lying still like other life forms might have, it stood back up—fast—and looked even more ferocious than before.
"I agree with you now, Batman. He is indeed as powerful as Superman."The deep, hoarse voice revealed the speaker's current identity.
He was no longer the composed and calm Bruce, but a Ravager—one whose mind had long been ravaged by fury and remorse.
Of course, calling him Doomsday wouldn't be wrong either.
In an instant, the Ravager stomped the ground beneath his feet to pieces and charged directly at the Planet Devourer.
The explosive speed he unleashed in that moment shattered the sound barrier, leaving behind a long-lasting sonic boom cloud in the air.
The Planet Devourer had intended to continue his operation, but in the next moment, he saw a figure rushing toward him at full speed. Before he could react, the Ravager's fist had already landed squarely on his face.
That massive body of his was actually forced to take a step back by the punch.
Clearly, the Ravager wasn't stopping. He kept swinging his fists at the Planet Devourer's face. This mighty cosmic entity was actually being driven back by the relentless blows, moving further away from the contraption he had assembled.
"Enough!" the Planet Devourer shouted, and in the next second, his body burst forth with tremendous energy, toppling the Ravager directly.
The surrounding buildings had already turned to ruins due to his movements, but this energy outburst left nothing but scorched earth.
Even the bone spikes on the Ravager's body were completely shattered by the explosion.
The Planet Devourer opened his hands, a vast amount of energy condensing in his palms. He knew that unleashing this energy would only make him hungrier.
But to rid himself of this pesky insect once and for all—someone interfering with his work—it was worth it.
A surge of immense energy erupted, engulfing the Ravager. Under its force, his body began to crack, even melt.
When the blast finally subsided, the Planet Devourer looked at the now utterly shattered Ravager and nodded, confident that this life form could no longer interfere.
He walked back toward his assembled device. He hadn't yet driven it fully into Earth's core to extract all its energy.
Just as he lifted his foot, he failed to notice that the Ravager's body was slowly regenerating—and undergoing an extraordinary transformation.
His body rapidly healed, and like shedding skin, he burst out of his previous form.
With brute force, he tore open his outer shell, revealing a completely different self beneath. If before, only parts of his body were covered in ashen-white bone armor, now he had become an entirely different creature—
A grotesque monster completely encased in that bone armor.
Seeing the Planet Devourer walking back toward his device, the Ravager instantly fired thick heat vision beams from his eyes, striking the Planet Devourer's back.
Normally, such energy attacks would delight the Planet Devourer—no matter the type, he could absorb it.
But this time, the Ravager's heat vision caused him real pain.
Meanwhile, the members of the Ultimate Team were tensely watching as Amadeus attempted to crack the external system.
As soon as Amadeus cracked it, they could escape this cursed place and find out what exactly that Bat was planning.
"Got it!" Amadeus exclaimed excitedly as he pressed the Enter key. With his action, the massive door in front of them slowly opened.
Stark was the first to rush out. He wanted to see just what the Bat was up to—why had he trapped them in here?
But as he burst out, he saw a crimson beam attacking the Planet Devourer, and was momentarily speechless.
"What the hell is going on, Stark?"Captain America and the others finally arrived, but since Susan hadn't lifted them into the sky with her force fields, they had no idea what was happening in the distance.
"I think we're starting to understand this world less and less," Stark said to them as Susan finally lifted everyone into the air using her energy field.
When they saw the thick energy beam striking the Planet Devourer, they were stunned. They knew full well that even though they possessed energy weapons capable of similar attacks, those weapons weren't in Midtown Manhattan right now.
"That brute looks like he's in pain," someone remarked, noticing the expression of agony on the Planet Devourer's face. They couldn't comprehend it—this being that was previously unaffected by any attack was now clearly in pain.
Stark couldn't sit still any longer. He activated his suit and flew straight toward Midtown Manhattan.
He wanted to see who exactly was fighting the Planet Devourer.
Naturally, the rest of the Ultimate Team didn't just sit around. They followed Stark toward the battleground.
The Ravager was now using every ounce of his strength to fight the Planet Devourer—even the latter's purple outer armor had been pierced by the heat vision.
The Planet Devourer could still convert the energy from the heat vision, but his conversion speed couldn't keep up with the Ravager's output.
"You'll die for this!" the Planet Devourer shouted, turning and unleashing a massive energy blast at the Ravager.
One hand blocked the heat vision, while the other bombarded the Ravager with endless energy attacks.
He could feel the Ravager's heat vision weakening. At the same time, he sensed the Ravager's life force rapidly declining. In the next instant, he couldn't sense it at all.
Maybe the monster was finally gone. But with the lesson from earlier, the Planet Devourer carefully examined the battlefield.
Clearly, the full-force attack had made it impossible for the Ravager to fight back—even after one evolution.
Half of his upper body had been vaporized by the Planet Devourer.
Looking at the Ravager in this state, the Planet Devourer figured there was no way he could survive. No head, no upper body—what creature could live through that?
He turned around—only to see the members of the Ultimate Team flying toward Midtown Manhattan.
These insects were familiar—they'd been interfering from the beginning.
Now they were back, likely with the same intent.
The Planet Devourer raised his hand, gathering energy to finally rid himself of these pesky bugs.
But at that moment, he felt a surge of powerful life energy behind him.
The Ravager stood back up.
"I'm not dead yet!"
(End of Chapter)
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