Red Shift and Morg in…

PARADIGM SHIFT

By Mitch Crane

To say the man known as Red Shift was bitter was like saying World War Two was a bit of a scuffle. It was an understatement of the highest degree. He was a Herald of Galactus; perhaps one of the most mysterious, mainly due to the fact he had one of the shortest tenures as a servant of the Devourer.

Who he used to be before becoming a Herald was a mystery to all but he and Galactus, and he liked to keep it that way. He liked to think of his transformation into a Herald as a rebirth, with his former, mundane existence incinerated by the Power Cosmic bestowed upon him, and a new, glorious life born from the ashes.

He had served his master diligently, eager to please the ever hungry Devourer of Worlds. With twin swords formed from the Power Cosmic, he had honed his power in ways unseen in previous Heralds. Where Firelord and Nova had mastered cosmic flame, Terrax dominated earth and rock, and the Silver Surfer was nearly unequalled in the manipulation of matter, Red Shift had perfected the mastery over space. With his blades he slashed through the folds of space like it was paper, cutting gashes in reality and opening gateways to other realms.

It was through one of these gateways that he had come to be separated from his master. Galactus was sick, poisoned from a foul world, one that Red Shift, in his inexperience, had brought his lord to. Desperate to heal the Devourer, and bring himself back into favour with his master, the Herald brought Galactus to Earth. The world was rich in life and surely would have purged the corruption from his master, had the Silver Surfer not interfered.

The pair battled long and hard and in an attempt to destroy the Surfer, Red Shift created a portal into a black hole. To his frustration, the former Herald dragged him in, too, and the pair battled savagely for some time before the Surfer eventually got the best of him. By destroying one of his blades, the focal point of his power, Norrin Radd left him weakened and the portal expelled him into the black hole.

Despite possessing the vast power of a Herald, he still should have been killed instantly, but somehow he survived long enough to create a gash in reality with his last remaining sword. Not knowing where he was headed, he slipped through the gash into a hellish reality of fire and pain. He drifted through that realm, half dead and delirious, for what could have been days or months, he’ll never know.

Eventually he found enough strength to open another portal into the prime material plane, and found himself “home” once more. Something about that hellish reality had sapped his strength, but upon his return to regular space his power seemed to come flooding back. The great Red Shift, Herald of Galactus and bane all worlds was back!

Feeling reinvigorated, he created another blade from the Power Cosmic. His talent required two focal points; one created the opening and the other the exit. With two blades once more he could travel the cosmos in the blink of an eye and return to serve his master.

He longed to feed Galactus once more. In his short time as a Herald he had grown quite fond of bringing his master to inhabited worlds. The knowledge that he held the power, that they lived or died on his whim, sent shivers down his spine. In his old life, before his rebirth, power was something sorely missing from his life.

Imagine his dismay to find that Galactus had so easily replaced him. Rather than search for his missing Herald with his near infinite power, the Devourer had forgotten about him. He realized then that the Heralds were less like servants and more like tools; if one went missing or acted improperly, it was discarded and replaced. That Galactus had supplanted him with the ethereal Stardust, who loved his/her master dearly, only incised him further.

And so he spied upon his former master and his latest tool, plotting revenge. With the emergence of the great beings Aegis and Tenebrous into the universe, it would seem his time to strike was drawing closer. It pleased him greatly when Stardust was slain in battle with Aegis’ Herald Magus, though he knew he would be replaced soon enough.

With former Herald the Silver Surfer so close at hand, it made things difficult. He chaffed at the bit to strike out at his former master and the opportunity finally presented itself when the Devourer of Worlds and his former Herald engaged Tenebrous and Aegis at the Shi’ar throneworld Chandilar.

He watched the battle from one of the planet’s uninhabited moons until he was sure Galactus was suitably distracted.

With a small vertical slash of his right hand blade he created a tear in space, through which he stepped directly onto the Devourer’s woldship. He smiled, thinking how much technology Galactus had implemented to stop trespassers, and yet he had walked right onboard.

Despite Galactus’ tremendous size, there were an amazing number of man sized rooms and hallways throughout the ship. He had often theorized that the giant force of nature had originally hoped to fill the ship with people. He guessed that millions of years of consuming worlds and destroying lives had hardened him against such a notion.

His mind drifted to his own people, who too were consumed by the Devourer. He felt no regret for that though; his people had shunned him long ago. Shaking the thought from his head he continued on through a series of halls until he encountered a large reinforced door. Knowing that destroying the door may set off alarms, he instead created another small portal with his blades, stepping through into a gigantic chamber.

This massive chamber held many of Galactus’ own experiments and mechanical designs. The common misconception was that the Devourer lived solely for consumption and nothing else, but Red Shift knew the truth. Galactus was like any mortal; he desired sustenance, but he also desired a life. Once he had felt proud of the fact he knew such personal knowledge about the Devourer. It made his rejection hurt all the more.

A horde of knowledge, millions of year’s worth, filled much of the chamber, along with weapons and machines designed by Galactus. He often refined the technology used to drain planets of their life force, designing and constructing the new models here.

Red Shift didn’t care about any of that though; his mind was set on one thing only. Naturally, for something so important, it stood in the centre of the chamber upon a pedestal; the Ultimate Nullifier.

The Ultimate Nullifier was a weapon of unknown origin, though it was most likely Galactus created it himself. With it, someone with enough willpower could erase someone or something from existence, not just from the present moment, but from all of history as well.

Why Galactus didn’t destroy the weapon after it had been used against him on more than one occasion Red Shift didn’t know. He was just thankful the fool did. It sat levitating over the pedestal, a semi circular pistol-like object with a wicked looking needle like barrel. For all intents and purposes, it looked anti-climactic.

He extended a black gloved hand to grasp the Nullifier when he heard a muffled scream from nearby. For a moment he almost ignored it, but the curiosity got the better of him when he heard the cry again, and caught the faintest whiff of burning flesh. If Galactus was torturing someone on this ship, Red Shift was more than happy to set that person free, if it caused the Devourer pain.

He didn’t have to search long before he found the source of the noise; a curved door against the far wall. Pressing a panel next to the door opened it, revealing a hideously scarred man inside. The man hung suspended by his arms and legs with purple energy bracelets and every thirty seconds, several fist sized robots would blast his body with electricity.

His skin was a mess of burns, pockmarks and old scars, and only a few whiffs of lank white hair hung from his head. Most noticeable of all was his missing left hand. After another blast of electricity the victim opened his eyes and looked surprised at the sudden appearance of Red Shift. He could see how he would be a surprise; what with his burning white eyes, noseless face, bare chest and blades.

“And who might you be?” he asked with contempt.

“Red Shift, former Herald of Galactus,” with his swords he easily destroyed the torture robots and cut the man loose.

He fell to the ground but slowly rose to his feet with a grunt, “Former Herald, hey?” coughed the man. “Looks like that hungry sack of glatch goes through lots of us. Call me Morg.” He held out his stump, then, upon realizing, held out his other hand.

Red Shift took his hand briefly. He recognized the name Morg; he was the Herald immediately before him. Galactus wasn’t a talkative master and all he had learned about Morg was he had died. It would seem the Devourer was a liar as well as fickle.

“I think we have a common enemy,” Red Shift gestured towards the torture chamber.

Morg laughed but his voice full of anger, “Aye, Galactus doesn’t take kindly to betrayal. Tried to use the Ultimate Nullifier on him an’ his filthy son Tyrant. Turns out all the bloody thing was good for was taking off me hand!”

“Galactus has a son?!” Red was shocked.

“Not anymore,” Morg smiled, “the Nullifier took him at least. Pity his old man lives though. The son of a bitch has had me locked in that torture room ever since.” He rubbed a particularly bad burn. “What’s your gripe with him?”

“He left me for dead, and replaced me,” cold rage welled up within the former Herald, and he had to fight down the urge to trash everything around him.

“Sound like you got off easy if you ask me,” grumbled the scarred Herald.

“Either way, I’m going to kill him.”

“Oh and how’re you gonna do that, poke him with your little knives?” Morg mocked.

“No, I’m going to nullify him,” his voice with filled with grim determination.

“Well you’ve definitely got balls lad,” laughed Morg, slapping his new comrade on the back, “well I assume you do, you are a male aren’t you?”

Red Shift ignored the stupid question, “Join me Morg, together we can both have our revenge on Galactus…”

“No thanks lad, I’d like to keep my remaining limbs and my life if I have the choice.”

Red Shift was not disappointed; he would have his revenge either way. He just wanted to rub the Devourer’s face in the fact he had freed Morg before he killed him. At least he still got to kill him.

The former herald said goodbye and walked back to the pedestal holding the Ultimate Nullifier. His thoughts already focused on what he would say when he revealed himself to Galactus with the Nullifier. As he grasped the weapon, excruciating pained surged up his arm and through his entire body before a blast of energy hurled him back against a large piece of machinery. He collapsed to the floor, unable to move but still holding the Ulimate Nullifier.

Footsteps echoed across the floor, the sound growing louder and louder, until a dirty pair of boots were before him. Barely able to even move his eyes, the former Herald looked up to see Morg standing there.

“My, my, you aren’t the brightest one, are you?” he grinned maliciously, “You really think Galactus would just leave his most dangerous weapon unprotected?”

He reached down and pulled the device from Red Shift’s hand, his glove a charred and smoking mess. He couldn’t move a muscle as Morg held the weapon up and examined it.

The scarred former Herald pointed the Nullifier at the prone alien, grinning cruelly all the while.

“I really should give this thing a practice run, shouldn’t I?”

Red couldn’t even scream out in defiance as the traitorous scum erased him from existence. He tried to convey all his rage at Morg through his eyes, as that was the only part of him he could move. Morg merely laughed in reply and walked away, leaving his prey alive.

“I’ll leave ya for Galactus to find,” called Morg as he disappeared from the room. “I kept the torture chamber warm for you.”

Red Shift mentally cursed himself; how could he have been so foolish? His own lust for revenge had blinded him into trusting that sadistic madman and rushing into stealing the Nullifier. No wonder Galactus replaced him without a thought. It was more than likely Galactus had left the Nullifier there as a trap, probably expecting a servant of Aegis and Tenebrous to come for the weapon.

He wallowed in pity for several minutes until the eerie sound of metal clicking against metal could be heard. The sound drew closer and closer until a dozen robots of various shapes and sized came into view. Punisher Robots, he knew them well. These were the mindless servants of Galactus, completing every mundane task upon the worldship and occasionally seeking out worlds for him he a Herald was not at hand.

One spiderlike robot approached him and conducted a scan, bathing him in red light that momentarily tickled his insides. A second robot approached, this one shaped like a headless man, and grabbed him by the ankles. It unceremoniously began to drag him across the floor like a corpse.

It was at that time that he realized that while one of his swords was strapped to his back he still held the other in his left hand. He was just too numb to even realize it. Using it was his only option. Focusing his Power Cosmic mentally, he willed the blade to open a portal directly below him. Without the other blade in his hand he was unable to create a destination, which was extremely dangerous, but he would take his chances.

The portal opened beneath him and he tumbled into sheer darkness. Where he was, he didn’t know, but he would wait, and recuperate, until he was strong enough again to strike.

Morg had just added himself to Red Shift’s ever growing list of enemies.

Three weeks later, the planet Four Sacred Streams

Morg lounged comfortable in the throne that once belonged to the Regent of Four Sacred Streams, a pretty little backwater world. While a member of the Clench Collective, a coalition of worlds dedicated to housing refugees from Shi’ar conquered worlds, it wasn’t big enough to warrant much of an army.

The former Herald had destroyed all this ships in orbit and killed any military force foolish enough to face him in a half a day. After several weeks of raping, killing and pillaging, he was beginning to grow bored.

He twirled the Ultimate Nullifier in his one hand, while admiring the gleaming silver axe blade the local metal smiths had forged for his stump. Several times in the past three weeks he had considered taking the Nullifier and killing Galactus, but he was afraid. Not of the Devourer, but of the device. The last time he had used it the thing nearly killed him, and had it succeeded it would have wiped all memory of his glorious, blood thirsty life from the history books. Instead he held on the weapon in case Galactus or one of his Heralds ever came looking for him.

He spared a thought for poor naïve Red Shift, and wondered how he was faring in the torture chamber. The fool must but at the anti-matter needles by now, oh how he longed for death when he reached that stage.

His hideously scarred face stared back at him in reflection upon the axe blade. A weapon that had killed many unlucky victims in the past several weeks. It was a moment before he realized there was a second face looking back at him in that reflection.

Red Shift had silently materialized behind him, stepping through a tear in space. The former executioner spun around, swinging his axe hand fast, but it was blocked by a red bladed sword. A second sword, this one black, was rammed through his chest before he could retaliate. The scarred former Herald gasped as he looked down at the blade through his chest.

“You left quite an easy trail to follow Morg,” stated Red coldly.

He reached out and plucked the Ultimate Nullifier from his victim’s hand, before wrenching the sword free. Morg dropped to his knees with a gasp, black blood dripping from the wound. He managed to gasp out a few unintelligible curses before collapsing to the floor. He had never killed another Herald before, but it looked as if he had succeeded.

Opening a small tear to a pocket dimension he placed the Nullifier inside. That was the safest place for it, as no-one but he could reach it. A large grin gradually spread across his face; soon he would have his vengeance.

Epilogue

Morg could barely open his eyes at the large boots hit the ground in front of him, followed by four smaller clawed feet. His life energy was slipping away quickly; that bastard’s sword must have been made of Power Cosmic. Whoever this person was it didn’t matter, he would be dead within a few minutes.

The figure cruelly turned him over, exposing his chest wound, and placed some sort of grub against the opened flesh. Morg could barely even cry out in pain as the creature burrowed through his body and out the other side. A moment later he realized the pain was gone and the bleeding was stopped.

He looked up at his saviour, a green skinned man with burning red eyes and a ferocious dog-like animal attached to his wrist buy a glowing yellow cord.

“Call me Ravenous,” he grinned cruelly, “Save your thanks, Lord Annihilus wants you alive.”

Continued in Quasar!