Thor could have ended the contestation with Superman at any point but he had wanted to save the Kryptonian if possible. The new Allfather found the most effective way to negate Superman’s great speed was to slow time around him. This done Thor then raised the OdinAxe and commanded it to gently and slowly take the power cosmic from Superman. Several things had worked in Superman’s favour not the least that he was a very powerful entity in his own right unlike some of the earlier heralds of Galactus.
It took some time that could be ill afforded but under Thor’s strong direction the OdinAxe took from Superman all of the power cosmic with which Galactus had imbued him. Most importantly the man of steel was whole and himself again.
Again momentarily unopposed the world eater began the process of assembling his elemental converter. However both Thor and a recovered Superman, their differences resolved” were quick to confront him. Superman, enraged by Galactus treatment of him began at super speed smashing the devourer’s partially assembled elemental converter. Yet, for all that rage, Galactus raised a hand and froze the Kryptonian motionless as if he had been placed in a stasis block though none was evident.
Magni came running to the confrontation but in truth still seemed heavily drained by his godblast efforts and concussed by Galactus mighty blow. Lord Thor had mystically increased his height to match Galactus current size.
So it was then that the two titans Thor and Galactus stood toe to toe. Thor, Odinson, Lord of New Asgard and indeed all Earth, probably the most powerful skyfather in the Multiverse. Then the great Galactus ravager of countless worlds and the third force in the Universe whose siblings were no less than Mistress Death and great Eternity themselves. Godly mystical powers in abundance ranged against what Odin had described long ago as a cosmic force of nature.
Suddenly our small world, this island Earth of ours, seemed very small and very fragile. Could it survive even the first stages of an encounter between these two titans? It seemed for a moment at least that the entire Universe held its breath.
Thor could hardly contain the OdinAxe. It grew very hot, brilliant white rather than its usual silver grey colour and Asgardian and other arcane energies coruscated back and forth along its entire length. Thor felt it urging him to strike Galactus down. Imperiously, almost contemptuously Galactus drew forth from the Axe the power cosmic that had been drained from Superman. The Axe grew ever more agitated.
“I know of this little one” said Galactus looking towards the OdinAxe “your father once used it against me” but any trace of contempt had gone from his voice.
For the merest moment Galactus looked indecisive as if weighing options then at almost uncustomary indeed blinding speed he grasped part of the shaft of the Axe and sought to wrench it from Lord Thor. Billions of tons of earth below them immediately gave way under the initial impetus of their struggle as Thor sought to retain the Axe. Fleetingly Galactus wondered if it were a trivial attempt by Gaea to assist her son but it was simply a matter of physics in operation.
In the next moment the two titans were flying though space and time locked together as they continued to struggle for the OdinAxe. Thor seemed unable to break Galactus grip and the world destroyer seemed equally unable to wrest the axe from Thor. Mystical energies competed with the power cosmic and at times seemed to almost merge with and become one with the power cosmic. To any capable of observing them they must have seemed like a blazing star hurtling through the heavens except that this “star” knew no constraints as to distance and time nor even as to interdimensional travel.
It has been said that Odin weakened the longer he might be away from Asgard but that the same does not apply to Thor. Just one of Odin’s reasons for long ago creating the OdinAxe was that it would always enable him to draw on those nearly inexhaustible reservoirs of Asgardian energy wherever he might be in the Multiverse. Thus as Galactus drew as required from various energy sources that they passed near so Thor in turn drew via the OdinAxe on the vast reservoirs of Asgardian energy that exist in and around New Asgard and in certain other places.
At one point the path of the two titans and the axe led into the very core of Balderon largest of all the black holes of the Multiverse where they slowed under the most immense naturally occurring gravitational pull in existence. In this place Galactus released his grip on the axe and left the immediate vicinity of the black hole curious to see if Thor could escape it. If the world eater seriously thought that victory could be achieved in such a cheap fashion he was sadly mistaken as the Odinson emerged from the phenomenon moments later.
Again Galactus grasped the Axe clearly thinking that wresting it from Thor was the key to defeating the Thunderer. Their journey through space and time continued.
There is a phenomenon not often encountered in the Marvel Multiverse. It is similar to a black hole but it’s pull extends across all known dimensions. Anything held in its super gravitational pull is drawn into it and if it survives at all is thrown out into the ethereal void beyond the Multiverse. No one has as yet provided a name for this perhaps the greatest of all the Multiverse’s natural phenomena since from the reference point of any particular dimension it seems only like an ordinary black hole. Whether unknowingly or otherwise Thor and Galactus sped directly into one such. The forces acting upon them to expel them from the Multiverse were so great that for the merest instant they were forced to cooperate in order to escape those forces. It was a sobering experience for them both.
At some point in their continuing journey Galactus and Thor began probing then actually entering each others mindscapes raising their struggle to a different level. The struggle moved from one mindscape to another. If Galactus found Thor’s mindscape unusual Thor found the mindscape of Galactus utterly alien and difficult to deal with. The struggle within the mindscapes seemed very physical in nature. Thor swung with the OdinAxe and though Galactus sought to avoid it the fearsome axe seemed to effortlessly rip not only through any personal force fields but also to rip away chest armour. When Galactus was in Thor’s mindscape he was on the offensive and in his own he was on the defensive.
At one point Thor shouldered the OdinAxe and fists balled and coruscating with energy he traded blows with Galactus for what seemed like all Eternity. The pain and tiredness both felt from the mental confrontation seemed every bit as real as if it were a purely physical contest. Eventually with Galactus on the attack in Thor’s mindscape the Thunderer landed a blow of such staggering might that Galactus found himself back in his own mindscape.
The battle continued to rage. Thor with his hands about the devourer’s throat and Galactus responding with lancing beams of the power cosmic directly from his eyes into Thors face.
Exactly when the conflict of the minds ceased and gave way to a purely physical confrontation seemed unclear. However at some point it became evident to both combatants that not only had their battle returned to the physical level but that their long journey had ceased. They were somewhere in the Andromeda Galaxy in our time.
Still the struggle continued unabated though the pain and the tiredness they had felt in the mindscapes continued into this physical contestation.
Galactus, perhaps sensing something, made one last mighty grasp for the OdinAxe. Thor felt his heart pound, his eyes bulged, every muscle in his body aching with pain strained to the limit. Something had to give and it did as he broke Galactus grip on the axe and in doing so hurled the titan toward a nearby sun. For whatever reason, and perhaps it was simple tiredness, Galactus was quite slow in returning.
Thor feeling close to exhaustion, even though he was continuing to tap via the OdinAxe into Asgardian energy reserves, was uncertain as to Galactus condition.
The Thunderer decided to end it quickly if this was possible. With the OdinAxe held firm he took perhaps the dangerous step of allowing his life force to become as one with the axe supreme. For a fleeting moment the axe attempted to take control but asserting himself Thor directed the resultant god/axe blast energies out against Galactus.
Galactus though near exhaustion refused to yield holding up his forearm against the blast as it smashed away his residual force fields and stripped him of what was left of his armour. Still the titan would not yield eventually changing into his energy cloud form.
In this form Galactus moved threateningly towards Thor but then moved away slightly and began to disperse. Galactus was still clearly sentient in this form. For his part Thor was totally drained but sensed the energy cloud form of Galactus was at very low energy levels. It was at that moment that the mighty Thor sensed the distant presence of Galactus siblings Death and great Eternity. They seemed to present no overt or even covert threat but mayhap were there just as a reminder of Galactus place in the Universe. Thor decided to let it end there. Just before parting he noticed the energy cloud moving off in need of substantial sustenance.
Whether this now meant that Galactus would no longer trouble the Earth or that he would now even more embittered was impossible to say. Perhaps Thor had made a mistake today.
On his return to Earth Thor saw that Superman and Magni had overcome the stasis block effect Galactus had imposed on Superman.
Allfather Thor returned Superman to his own reality the latter full of appropriate for
the power of New Asgard. ‘I wonder if I had encountered him in my own youth” thought Thor “how I myself devoid of the OdinPower might have fared against him?”
Magni’s unfettered godblast had inevitably done damage to the Earth but acting in unison with his grandmother Gaea, Magni had already healed it.
End
Dark Father
The almost countless realities were converging on one another at an alarming rate.
As reality crunched upon reality only the strongest of them survived. These were the realities with sufficient great powers acting in unison to protect them. Such as our own reality.
Another reality though was also prevailing. It did not have large numbers of great powers. Only one great power really. The oldest still existing entity among all the realities. He who was known as the Dark Father.
Dark father was the ultimate manipulator of realities. He was counterbalanced but barely by a loose association of great powers from all the major realities. These included the Living Tribunal, Eternity, Infinity, Odin the All Mighty and others unknown and unknowable to such as we.
Some thought that the Dark Father had caused the convergence of realities. But it was a natural phenomenon. He did however gladly hasten it along.
None of the great powers in any of the realities looked to help from he who was once above us all. They knew that entity no longer existed. Long millennia ago the creator had dispersed the goodness that was him among almost all the realities.
It was disquieting for those that knew the truth of it. While he who was above us all no longer existed, his dark counterpart the anti-God lived on. Dark father was and is the anti-God. The darkest one of all did not seek dominion over all the realities. For long millennia he was content to rule his own reality. In that dark place no one challenged him. Neither from within nor from without. From time to time he toyed with other realities manipulating them almost at will. At least until the loose association of great powers of all the other realities partially countered him.
The form almost always taken by Dark Father, bore remarkable similarity to Allfather Odin, liege lord of Asgard. The rumour still whispered by the few was that Odin and all things Asgardian were but a creation long ago of Dark Father when he entered our reality. An experiment, a dabbling by the darkest lord of all in the lighter magics, a rare use of more benign mystical powers. The rumour had it that at a point in time a mature Odin was created along with other Asgardians and complete with memories of a rich glorious past that were a total fabrication. Those that held to this view argued that the memories of all who might otherwise know the truth were altered so that the true origins of Asgard would never be known. Save perhaps the Living Tribunal.
Before all others, even Odin himself, Dark Father saw that the continuing convergence of the realities would lead to only two remaining realities ours and its.
Even if Asgard was naught but a distant past creation of the Dark Father it had surely evolved and long since taken its own direction in the affairs of the Multiverse. Or had the Dark Father implanted suggestions in the mind of his greatest creation that would forever bring mighty Odin within his thrall when he so desired? These doubts persisted with just a few among the great powers of the realities. Still everything that had happened since this theoretical time seemed to give the lie to the rumours.
Only the inevitable coming battle between Odin, Thor and the Dark Father would yield the truth ripping it away from the rumours and fabrications for all to see.
With the accelerating convergence of all the remaining realities the protection of our own reality power occupied all the great efforts of Odin, Eternity, Infinity, Galactus and our other great powers. The Dark Father protected his own reality but still had time for forays into and the manipulation of various other realities.
Among these forays the anti-God found time to visit golden Asgard while Odin was elsewhere.
Asgard
The huge ethereal image of what seemed to be two eyes formed imperceptibly far above Asgard City. At first the image even managed to elude Heimdall’s famed sensory capabilities.
When his senses were finally aroused Heimdall trumpeted the alarm as dark energies designed to incinerate all of Asgard in milli-seconds lanced from the eyes and met ___ unexpected resistance. Odin’s son an entity that Dark Father had deemed unworthy of consideration had rotated his hammer at near infinite speed creating a shield not just about his person but protecting all of continental Asgard. The seldom spoken of Shield of Thor effect said to be the equal of the Odin Shield itself.
Dark Father knew little of the Odinson. Like some other enemies of Asgard he assumed that all the power of Asgard flowed from Odin and that nothing else Asgardian mattered.
Thus was Dark Father denied the quick and cheap victory he had anticipated in the temporary absence of Allfather Odin.
Still the darkest one of all pressed the attack. With the Thor shield created and fully in place Thor ceased rotating his hammer and began using it to absorb the dark energies that were already starting to leak through cracks and fissures appearing all over the shield.
With his initial attack slowed if not thwarted and aware that Almighty Odin was only moments away the frustrated anti-God raised the stakes.
A giant wraithlike hand reached right through the crunching, converging realities seeking to grasp all of Asgard, wrench it away from our own reality and transport it to Dark Father’s own reality. In that place surely even Odin himself could not protect it.
As the mighty Thor struggled to keep Asgard in our reality, Odin and Infinity arrived. Dark Father ceased his attack and retreated immediately. Now was not the time for a confrontation with Odin. Also the unanticipated power of Thor was troubling him.
Although Dark Father had now departed some of the dark energies absorbed in the head of mjolnir did not immediately follow its master. Not for the first time in his existence an element of evil resided in mighty Thors hammer. Thor moved to expel the evil but not before great Odin analysed the evil energies at a fundamental level.
“Interesting” said Infinity.
“Aye” replied Odin “it gives us an insight we never had before.”
“If necessary you can synthesize it, even fuse it with other energies?” said Infinity.
“Synthesize it yes!” remarked Odin “but there is nothing the energies of evil can be fused with” Odin continued “always will they subsume anything they are merged with.”
“We are hard pressed to protect our own reality” said Infinity “yet the anti-God seems to protect its own dark reality and still carry out its endless manipulations throughout the other realities.” “Even during this time of convergence” finished Infinity.
“We need to distract it” s
aid Odin “a distraction of such force and power that it is obliged to concentrate purely on its own reality.” “Forced to cease its other reality manipulations and to cease its deliberate acceleration of the convergence.” finished the Allfather.
“I saw that even it was taken aback by the power of your son!” said Infinity.
“Those who espouse evil usually are” said Odin.
When the myriad realities began to converge on one another it placed strains on the loose alliance of great powers that had heretofore partially countered Dark Father.
It became a case of every reality for itself. With the alliance in tatters the anti-God was again free to manipulate all but the strongest realties. It troubled him not at all that the realities were all converging on one another. Indeed he was accelerating the process. Nor did the convergence affect his ability to travel among the realities or be in many different realities at the same time.
The great powers of the realities, in a final meeting, agreed to Odin’s request that the mighty Thor, enter the Dark Father reality, there to engage and distract it for as long as was possible. To give the Living Tribunal, Odin and other great powers time to reverse the reality convergence and something more.
Such was the supreme arrogance of the Dark Father that as the most powerful warrior god in all existences entered his reality the anti-God was not even present. It was simultaneously in dozens of other realities accelerating their destruction.
Dark Father could be forgiven for not anticipating the arrival of the son of Odin as no entity had willingly and knowingly entered this reality in long millennia.
As he entered the darkest reality of all, Thor was assailed by the all pervasive stench of pure evil. In some places it was so palpable as to take tangible forms. Among them slow moving morasses of highly viscous semi-liquid darkness to drown the noblest of souls and ice black lattices that cried out hatred beyond conception. Thor sensed also an ethereal flow of minute particles between areas of greater and lesser evil. Winds of evil of a sort.
For Odin, for Thor, for Asgard Page 18