The Infected have attacked Galactus with their amplifier weapon. A powerful beam attacks the planet devourer, and even hurts him! The villains nearby him are startled. Galactus is so badly injured, that he even falls down, almost crushing the villains, causing them all to run for their lives.
As Galactus is down, Dr. Doom orders his companions to start eating him. Sabretooth believes that they could live from Galactus for years to come, but Rhino already lays claim to Galactus’ eyeballs. Venom, meanwhile, wants the alien’s brains. The Super-Skrull doesn’t care what he gets, as long as he gets something. However, the former, now Infected heroes order them to stop!
Giant-Man reminds the villains that they killed Galactus, so they get to eat from him. Colonel America orders the villains to stand aside, as they don’t want to figure out ways to hurt them. An angry Mole Man shouts that the heroes don’t even get a taste, and if they want to have one, they’ll have to fight them first. That’s no problem for the Colonel: he fires his galactic powers on the misfit, and kills him!
The heroes and villains all confront each other, and Venom finds it great to have one last chance to be able to kill Spider-Man. Spider-Man defends it’s a pretty safe bet that Venom won’t succeed this time, either. They start fighting each other, and Spidey hits his nemesis with his cosmic powers. Peter notices that Venom is a lot less agile than he used to be and wonders aloud if living death doesn’t sit well with him. Venom transforms back into Eddie Brock and, with an exhausted voice, reveals that his symbiote is already dying and that he was no longer a suitable host. Eddie dies, and Peter doesn’t care much.
Meanwhile, Wolverine faces the Juggernaut. Cain mocks that Logan can’t do anything with his claws, as they can’t cut through his armor. Wolverine proudly states that it’s not Cain’s whole body that’s covered in armor, so he can hurt those parts. So, he sticks his adamantium claws right through Cain’s mouth! And, Logan adds, Cain apparently forgot that he’s got new cosmic powers now. He powers up his arm, and makes them powerful enough to slice off the Juggernaut’s head. Logan leaves Juggernaut’s corpse be, and joins the next battle. It’s time to face Sabretooth.
Colonel America faces his long-time foe, the Red Skull. The Colonel quickly brings him down, and mentions that the Skull would never bring him down in a physical battle, so he doesn’t even know why the guy even tries. He wonders if the hunger has consumed the Skull that much, and if his judgment is that clouded. The Skull thinks that he needs to spell it out to the Colonel, and notices that he never had such an obvious weakness before. He sticks his arm into the Colonel’s open skull, and starts picking his brain out of it! Spider-Man sees this, and quickly attacks the Skull with his cosmic powers, killing him. Only his head remains left, but the Colonel quickly steps on it, destroying the Skull permanently.
Though he enjoys the battle, Giant-Man thinks it’s about enough, as they need to eat and he is starving. His companions agree and, after the last villain is killed, they take some time to enjoy their triumph. Hulk jokes that he ate the Rhino’s head, but that it didn’t taste so good, and now he regrets doing that. However, Galactus has survived his fall, and is furious. He shouts at the Infected that they shouldn’t have threatened him, because now they will regret their actions! But, the Infected don’t care, and they continue to fight the planet devourer until he is finally down, and start feasting on his body.
Five years later…
The Acolytes and the Black Panther land back on Earth. The Panther looks around, and sees that nothing is left. He believes that, perhaps, Reynolds’ theory was correct. Cortez states that they know that a lack of food doesn’t kill the Infected and, even though there isn’t enough food left on the planet to keep the Infected alive, they could still be around and they have to stay alert. Hendricks is ready for everything.
The Panther notices Lisa and her baby. He asks her if it wouldn’t have been a better idea to keep K’Shamba on Asteroid M, or at least until Reynolds completes his sensor sweep. Lisa understands T’Challa’s concerns, but tells him to look around himself: there is no life left on the planet, and no death, either. They are surely alone there. The Panther doesn’t think they can know that for sure until the area has been properly scanned.
Cortez agrees, and tells Lisa that she would better listen to her husband. He reminds her that there were hundreds of Infected monsters the last time the Acolytes visited Earth, and they couldn’t have just disappeared. Reynolds reports that, actually, Hendricks is correct, as the scan has been completed, and the planet really is deserted. Reynolds and the Wasp, who now has a complete robotic body, step out of their ship and report the news to the others.
Forge wants to know how that could possibly be. He wants to know what happened, since starvation doesn’t kill the Infected. He doesn’t understand it… they couldn’t have just disappeared! He wants Reynolds to confirm that the Infected aren’t in just another part of the planet. Reynolds confirms they aren’t. He defends that his sensor sweep was all-encompassing. That’s why he couldn’t do it in orbit on Asteroid M. They needed to break through the atmosphere to be able to get clear readings.
Cortez wants to hear it one last time if Reynolds is sure about it. He confirms it. He explains that the thermal readings indicate that there are no living humans left. There are motion readings, however. Although they aren’t entirely conclusive, they indicate that nothing has detected the Acolytes’ descent and no one is on route to their current position. The Infected are nowhere to be found. They either died, or… left the planet. Cortez doesn’t even understand how the Infected could do that. The Panther is also interested in finding out where the Infected went.
Meanwhile, on another world, in outer space…
A father wishes a good night to his child. A servant comes to warn his king that sensor readings have been reviewed, and that he will be informed about their results. The king angrily silences the servant, because he’s in the presences of the heir to the throne. They leave the young infant’s room, and are now able to talk.
The king warns the servant to be quick, as he doesn’t have much time for leisure. The servant understands, but has some bad news to report. Their sensor readings weren’t incorrect: their worst fears have been born into reality. The king wants to know if this is absolutely a proven fact. The servant confirms it, and explains that the information they gathered from the dead worlds of their explorations have provided them the means to detect an attack of this nature – and their readings are true to such an attack.
In short, this means that… the Galactus is coming. The king finds that a shame, and wants to know how much time they have left.
Unfortunately, none. Outside the palace, the citizens of the alien planet start screaming, as the Infected, now wearing Galactus uniforms, have used their cosmic powers to travel to this planet, and… it’s feeding time!
