Baxter Building.
Johnny froze when he saw the Surfer appear alongside Reed. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out.
After a moment of silence, he asked Reed, "So we're just leaving Miles there?"
"..."
Reed took a deep breath, forcing himself to pull himself together as he looked at the others. "Miles is still fighting. He has his battlefield, and we have what we need to do—find Victor..."
Before he could finish, everyone suddenly felt a sharp pain in their heads.
"Ugh—!"
Johnny instinctively clutched his forehead. Beside Susan, a burst of light flickered without warning—a sign that her powers were losing control.
In that instant, an indescribable "screech" erupted directly within everyone's minds.
They all felt as though they were about to suffocate, as if two incomprehensibly vast entities were colliding beyond reality itself.
The silent screech vanished quickly. Reed came back to himself with a hand over his head and muttered with difficulty, "So this is what a battle between higher-dimensional beings feels like... What an unimaginable form of existence..."
"Now isn't the time for a scientific discussion, Reed."
Johnny muttered as he pointed toward the other side of the building. "Look over there."
At Johnny's reminder, everyone turned and saw that the corridor on the other side of the Baxter Building was flickering silently.
The once-smooth walls suddenly became scorched and warped. Huge sections of metal framework caved inward as though struck by some terrifying impact. Half the ceiling had vanished, leaving broken steel bars exposed against a pitch-black void.
Two seconds later, everything returned to normal.
Yet on the other side of the corridor, scenes of apocalypse once again overlaid reality.
A metal bench that had stood by the corridor had even lost half of itself. The remaining half hung