The moment Joey laid eyes on Galactus, the phrase 'his mind went blank' wasn't merely a figure of speech.
It was a genuine physiological reaction.
Vision is the primary sense through which living beings perceive the outside world. Compared to ordinary humans, Joey, as a Kryptonian, possessed a vastly broader visual spectrum.
And that broader perception only made him feel even more dizzy.
From the perspective of energy radiation frequencies, Joey was absolutely certain that what stood before him was an enormous cloud of energy stretching from the void into the physical universe.
Yet the instant that information reached his brain, his mind automatically interpreted it as a gigantic humanoid deity wearing a purple helmet crowned with twin horns.
This was one of Galactus's passive abilities as a cosmic entity.
Simply existing within the material universe, he constantly warped reality itself and altered the perceptions of those who observed him.
For Silver Surfer and Superman, who were witnessing Galactus from close range, it was an overwhelming shock.
For every human being on Earth at that very moment, however, it was pure terror.
The entire sky seemed to part as though clouds had been swept away.
The only difference was that Galactus shone even brighter than the sun itself.
Whether on the daylight side of Earth or the hemisphere cloaked in night, every person who looked up into the sky could see the colossal figure clad in purple armor, even if Galactus was actually on the opposite side of the planet.
It wasn't an optical phenomenon.
It was a theological one.
Galactus merely glanced at the two of them.
His gaze lingered on the Silver Surfer for only a brief moment—a silent warning.
Then, the hungry god began shrinking his massive form before flying straight toward Earth without another look back.
His meal awaited.
"You're not going anywhere!"
Seeing Galactus about to descend into Earth's atmosphere, Joey immediately accelerated.
His fist shot forward, intent on letting the Devourer of Worlds experience the strength of a Kryptonian.
"Watc—!"
The Silver Surfer tried to stop him.
He didn't even manage to finish saying 'Watch out' before Joey had already closed the distance.
Even after shrinking, Galactus still stood nearly a hundred meters tall.
To Joey, he remained a towering giant.
Without the slightest hesitation, Joey's punch flew straight toward Galactus's face.
"Stand down."
Galactus did nothing more than look at him.
A torrent of cosmic energy erupted from his gaze.
The annoying little insect that had dared rush into his face was instantly blasted away—
Over a hundred light-years in a single instant.
As Joey was hurled through space by the cosmic beam, he fought with every ounce of strength he had against its overwhelming force.
It made no difference.
A Kryptonian's flight wasn't flight in the conventional sense.
It had nothing to do with aerodynamics or even high-energy physics.
It relied entirely upon the manipulation of their innate bio-field.
While the cosmic beam scorched his body, Joey simultaneously used that same bio-field to counteract the unimaginable force behind Galactus's attack.
But determination could not overcome objective reality.
The difference between himself and Galactus wasn't merely one of strength.
It was like comparing a mouse to a mountain.
The struggle against the beam lasted several minutes.
Only after the cosmic energy finally dissipated did Joey's body stop hurtling through space—
By crashing into an unimaginably frigid planet.
The combined resistance between his bio-field and the fading cosmic force evenly dispersed the remaining impact across an entire continent covered in black ice.
Centered on Joey's point of impact, cracks spread across the frozen land like an immense spiderweb, tearing apart tens of thousands of miles of solid ground.
Fortunately, space was vast.
During those countless light-years of involuntary flight, Joey hadn't collided with anything significant.
"That's complete bullshit!"
A rough, booming voice protested from beneath him.
"When that beam sent you flying with your ass over your head, did you seriously not notice you smashed right into me halfway through?!"
The voice sounded strangely familiar.
Yet Joey couldn't immediately place who it belonged to.
Seeing that Joey still wasn't moving, the unfortunate individual serving as his human cushion finally lost all patience.
With one powerful swing of a hammer, he knocked Joey off to the side.
"You almost killed me!"
Thor staggered to his feet, still dizzy from the collision.
He barely managed two steps before stars filled his vision again, and he collapsed back onto the ground.
"No wonder I don't actually hurt that much."
Joey wasn't in much better shape.
His living metal armor had been nearly destroyed—over ninety-nine percent of it reduced to slag.
Lying on the ground, he could feel the spot on his chest where Galactus's cosmic energy had struck burning as though his flesh itself had been scorched away by fire.
Still, looking at Thor's miserable state somehow made the countless cracks across his own body, where cosmic energy had burned and eroded him, seem a little more bearable.
Thor, still sprawled across the ground, growled in irritation.
"There was something wrong with the Bifrost. I was supposed to arrive in New York."
"I've got no idea why I ended up outside Midgard instead... only for you to slam straight into me!"
Midgard—one of the Nine Realms—was what the Asgardians called Earth.
Naturally, nothing was actually wrong with the Bifrost itself.
The problem was Earth.
Galactus's very existence had distorted the Bifrost's destination, causing Thor to be dropped outside the Solar System—
Right in time to become Joey's living crash cushion.
After crashing onto the frozen planet, the first thing Joey realized was how familiar Galactus's method of attack had seemed.
It was almost identical to the way Galactus had casually blasted Darkseid all the way back to Apokolips in another universe with a single gesture.
...Wait.
His thoughts became increasingly muddled.
Climbing out of the crater hundreds of meters deep, Joey lightly smacked the back of his own head.
"When the hell did he ever fight Darkseid?"
"And why do I remember something like that?"
Thor blinked in confusion.
"Huh? Did that Darkseid come looking for trouble?"
"The timeline doesn't seem right, though."
"What are you even talking about?"
Now Joey was even more confused than Thor.
Since when did Thor know about Darkseid?
"...Actually, never mind."
Considering that Thor's timeline and his own intersected in completely opposite directions, it wasn't all that strange if Thor knew things Joey didn't.
The real problem was that Joey couldn't remember reading any comic where Galactus had fought Darkseid.
Yet those memories felt vividly real.
Surely Galactus's cosmic energy hadn't literally fried his brain...
"Fuck!"
Just as Joey was trying to sort through the extra memories suddenly filling his mind, a blazing particle plasma bolt shot down from above the crater—
And struck Thor square in the forehead.
Countless alien troops riding hovering skiffs poured into the crater overhead.
Each wore exoskeleton armor crafted from chitin-like material.
Roaring as they descended, they immediately opened fire with plasma rifles.
An entire storm of blue energy bolts rained toward the two of them.
"You little...!"
Being attacked without so much as a word instantly enraged the proud Prince of Asgard.
He raised Mjolnir high, lightning already crackling around the enchanted hammer.
"Have you lost your mind?!"
Joey hurriedly shoved the glowing hammer downward before Thor could summon the storm.
Grabbing Thor by the arm, he dragged him out of the path of the first barrage.
"Seriously, I don't think we should start fighting back just yet!"
After all, the two of them had just fallen from space like a pair of giant meteors and shattered an entire continental shelf.
As far as Joey was concerned, the locals reacting with extreme force was... actually pretty understandable.
"Don't worry about it!"
Thor had absolutely no intention of listening to reason.
Without the slightest hesitation, Mjolnir flew from his hand and rocketed toward the sky.
"They're Chitauri!"
"The more you kill, the more they just keep coming!"