SILVER SURFER VOLUME 1 Issue #20

Editor's note: At the end of Silver Surfer Vol. 1 Issue #18 (published in 1970 and written by Stan Lee), the Silver Surfer, still trapped on earth for betraying Galactus and still feared and hated by all of society, declared revenge on the human race. These stories are a continuation of that, beginning with issue #19.

Written by Matt Hamilton, Edited by James Pedrick
Published by the Cosmic Power Fan Fiction Group
Silver Surfer created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Silver Surfer is a trademark of Marvel Comics
Click here for black&white text version (good for printing!)

About a million kilometers outside the moon's orbit, the great craft sat. Its crew of one cared not of its destination. All that mattered was the bounty of resources on the planet it found.

After finishing its scan on each planet in the system, the ship began to move. Towards earth.

The X-Men moved in toward their silvery adversary, unsure of what was to come. Cyclops raised a hand, gesturing to his comrades to stop.

The Silver Surfer replied in a measured tone. "I am the Silver Surfer, and I have had my fill of human intervention. Leave me in peace, or you, too, will suffer my wrath!"

Cyclops let the threat bounce off him. "The way I see it, we have no choice. You seem to pose too big a threat to let you leave here."

The Surfer's shoulders seemed to sink. In a resigned voice, he said, "so be it. If you seek to be the first casualties of the new order, come forth now!"

That was enough for the five mutants. Signaling his intent, Cyclops' raised hand moved to his visor, and the crystals, which ordinarily blocked the ionic energy from his eyes, rotated out of the way. The beam struck the Surfer full in the chest, and (too his own surprise) he was knocked to the ground.

Before he had time to react, he was grabbed from behind by the Angel in a half-nelson. His anger growing, the Surfer easily broke the winged X-Man's grasp, almost breaking the Angel's wrists in the process.

No sooner had he released himself from the Angel, he felt the invisible force of Marvel Girl's telekinesis surround him. Suddenly he was suspended several meters above the ground! Anger swelled within him, and Jean Grey slowly became aware of the energy build-up within her field.

"Err . . . guys! I don't think I'm going to be able to hold him for long!" she warned.

"No sweat, Jean!" replied Iceman. As the field gave way, and the Surfer began to drop to earth, a case of ice enclosed him. His silvery form was barely visible through six feet of frozen air.

"I can't say, Cyke," Iceman replied. "It's gotta be a hundred below in there. I'm not sure that anyone would have the strength to . . . to . . ."

Iceman's attention was suddenly grabbed by a radiance emanating from within the crystalline structure. Pale pink in colour, it seemed to be coming from the very heart of the Surfer's frozen form.

Suddenly, cracks appeared in the surface of the ice, and without warning the sphere exploded! One shard of ice struck the Angel in a wing, grounding him. The others were unharmed.

"No human can stop me! Taste the full fury of the power cosmic, mortals!" Norrin Radd raised both arms, and prepared to teach his assailants the last lesson of their lives.

The mighty Galactus sat in meditation aboard his Worldship as it approached the nearby planetary system. It had been many months since his last feeding, and once again the hunger gnawed at him. Galactus knew that the time between feedings was shortening. That had, in part, been the reason he had adopted Norrin Radd as a herald. The quicker he could find new worlds to devour, the easier it was to sate his hunger.

The next world, thought the devourer of worlds, would not only provide sustenance.

Scott Summers realised, at that moment, that he and the other X-Men were no match for this being. The alien had already taken a full optic-blast in the chest, had broken free of Jean's telekinetic field, and had shrugged off one of Bobby's freezing containers.

However, he knew that it was pointless to surrender. An X-Men born, he braced himself for the fight of his life.

The outstretched hands of the Silver Surfer began to glow, as the power cosmic swelled within him. Unexpectedly, however, he turned to one side, and let his blast fall on a pile of junk several dozens of metres away!

All five mutants were dumbstruck - until the alien spoke. "Show yourself, evil ones!" he cried.

The junk pile beside the one he had struck suddenly began to shimmer, and then faded from sight! In its place stood the familiar figure of Mastermind, and the rest of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants!

"Holy cow!" yelled the Angel, and extended his slowly healing wing. "Have they been there all along?"

The Surfer nodded. "The presence of evil was what drew me to this place to begin with. Your arrival was simply a distraction. Leave now so that I may deal with this group!"

"What," replied Iceman, "and miss all the fun? These guys have been asking for it for a long time!"

Mastermind, by now, had shuffled his way to the back of the crowd. In his place stood a defiant Quicksilver, protective of his sister the Scarlet Witch. The sniveling form of Toad crouched beside them. "Where is Magneto, Quicksilver?" called Cyclops.

In answer, Quicksilver took off. His green costume blurred as he rounded the Surfer, and struck Cyclops on the chin with a super-speed punch. Unable to do anything but watch as their leader fell, the other X-Men tended to him.

The Surfer, however, paid no heed to the fallen hero. Instead, he tracked Quicksilver with his cosmic senses, and let loose a precise beam of cosmic energy, which found its mark. Pietro Maximoff's smoking body lay unconscious near his teammates.

Before the Surfer could argue, the witch motioned with her hands, activating her probability-altering powers. The Surfer felt the earth shake beneath his feet, then open up! He fell into a chasm several hundred kilometers deep.

"To me, my board!" he cried, and the silver board obediently flew down to catch him. Within seconds he was back on solid ground. Before Wanda had lowered her arms, she was on the Surfer's board, held by him. "It was not your presence that brought me here. I sense that you are not truly evil." As he dropped her off within the group of X-Men, he spoke to the recovering Cyclops.

"You know these mutants. They do not seem to be a complete group. You spoke of another of their chapter "

Cyclops nodded. "They serve an evil maniac called Magneto. Without him they are no real threat."

The Surfer turned back to Mastermind and Toad. "Then it is your master I seek. Direct me to him and I will simply leave you to these mutants. Believe me when I tell you that they are less of a threat to any of you than I."

Satisfied with the veracity of Mastermind's words, the Surfer turned back to the X-Men. "Then we will wait, and when he arrives, I shall--"

Suddenly the wrecks of two dozen cars leapt from a nearby pile and struck the Surfer, burying him. Where the cars had been stood a caped figure, and it flew to the top of the newly formed pile. "You shall do nothing, silver one, except learn the awesome power of Magneto!!!"

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Written by Stan Lee! Art by John Buscema and Jack Kirby! Featuring 528 pages of comic continuity, including stories of the Origin of the Silver Surfer, the Silver Surfer vs. Mephisto, the Silver Surfer vs. Thor, and appearances by Spider-Man and more! For more information, check out our review of Silver Surfer Volume 1!
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