Amid the vast, dark expanse of space, the silvery-gray energy mass of the Cosmic Storm looked like a plump silverfish.
Behind it, the golden light source, which had not seemed particularly large, suddenly burst through its "shell." Flame-like wings unfurled, and it rapidly grew larger.
The Phoenix stretched out its slender neck and beat its wings as it surged forward. Its eagle-like beak of solid energy plunged into the center of the storm, while a whip formed from three intertwined purple energy beams snapped precisely toward it.
Beep beep beep.
"Warning! Warning! Impact from high-energy particle waves imminent. Estimated time to contact: one minute, forty-two seconds. Forty-one seconds. Forty seconds."
A shrill alarm suddenly rang through the Space Laboratory as it neared the edge of the Cosmic Storm.
Johnny was still wearing his Space Armor. Ben Grimm, his partner on the spacewalk, had just secured himself to the ship's hull beneath his feet. He stood on the deck, immersed in the vacuum of space.
Ben listened to the incessant warning beeps in his helmet, looking utterly bewildered. Then Reed Richards's frantic, urgent voice suddenly came through.
"This—this can't be happening! How could the energy storm suddenly go out of control? What's going on? Ben, Johnny, get back inside immediately! The ship needs to activate every defense system right now!"
Ben instinctively turned to look around. Though his blue-black spacesuit looked bulky, it was remarkably nimble.
Off to the right and behind them, the energy storm—which had been hundreds of kilometers away—was now visibly pierced by a long, pointed streak of golden flame.
It was like a water-filled balloon bursting, the contents gushing rapidly outward in every direction.
The storm's silvery-gray energy was threaded through with golden streams of light, growing ever stranger and more mysterious. In just a few blinks,