Chapter 220: Baxter Building

[3rd POV]

Turns out her preparations were...complicated, very very complicated. In order to properly protect the Earth from the battle that they would be launching against Galactus, a worldwide barrier would need to be put into place, one strong enough to resist his power. The sort of barrier that required her to use the eye of harmony to power it, as well as placing satellites around the world in key points.

She had also placed several places on the planet itself, with the magical aspect of the barrier being "funded" by the planet itself, being infused with nature's very energies, and the ambient magical energies that was spread throughout the planet. Gwen helped with this part in order to ensure that it didn't harm the planet in any way,

By doing this, the barrier would be several times stronger, and should be able to withstand a lot more force than before. As the barrier around the planet from the satellites was strong enough to block the initial blows, but the barriers on the planet itself would be the secondary line of defense should anything happen.

She had several other defenses placed around the planet, just ready to be utilized against him if need be. Defenses like another orbital cannon, another energy absorption array that was placed in the atmosphere of Earth, which would work in tandem with the one on mars and on the moon.

She hoped that they would actually do something to him, but she had a feeling that it would be a lot of stalling in order for her to properly fight back against the entity.

Said entity was getting closer and closer to Earth, and from her own estimation, was around a couple of weeks away from the planet. Meaning she would need to get as strong as possible during that time, which is why she planned on doing some otherworldly quests to prepare. These would give her enough TL tickets to get some more SSL characters in hopes of gaining a bit more power before then.

She just hoped that she wouldn't need to use Project Rebirth early, as that would be detrimental for her plans for when Knull eventually arrives. And Knull was almost certainly stronger than Galactus was, and by a decent bit at that. He casually killed Celestials in the past, whereas Galactus would usually struggle against them unless fully fed.

At the moment she was in New York again after being out of the city for a couple of days. The reason why? She wanted to finally meet the Fantastic Four, more specifically she wished to meet with Reed, Sue, and Johnny. She had nothing against "The Thing" but the man simply wasn't strong enough to do anything against Galactus, whereas Sue had barriers that could block his blows, Johnny's firepower could be enough, and Reeds mind was more than enough to help.

It was for this reason that she was walking up to the Baxter building, the homebase of the Fantastic Four, who had been growing quite quickly in terms of skill and experience, with them learning their hero duties rapidly. Enough that she believed they could help them, at least somewhat.

Walking up to the building, Gwen walked into the front waiting room, only to ignore it as she stepped into the elevator. Her cloaking abilities blocking all security measures as the elevator began to ding, rising higher and higher to the floor in which they lived, before it had stopped, and the voices of the Fantastic Four entered her ears.

"Johnny, I was going to wear that!" Sue's voice echoed, as she held up what looked to be a burnt shirt, while Johnny looked at his sister with a sheepish expression on his face.

"Sorry sis, still getting use to these new powers of mine, you know?" Johnny replied, as Sue glared at him.

"We've had these powers for months now Johnny, that excuse doesn't work anymore. Now what you're going to do, is you're going to pay me for the shirt you destroyed, it was expensive" Sue said as Johnny was going to cut her off, but one glare from her got him to shut up. If there was one person he did not want to piss off, it was his sister, who could be terrifying when she wanted to be.

"She got you there" Ben Grimm, aka the Thing said from the kitchen, as his rocky face formed into a smirk, finding the interaction to be funny.

"Shut up" Johnny grumbled, as Ben just laughed louder.

'They're a bit stronger in person than I had expected. Especially Sue and Johnny. Should be enough for them to be helpful against Galactus' Gwen thought, as she stepped into the living room of the floor, and glanced around. It took her only a moment before she found where Reed was and walked off, walking through the hallway and around a few corners before entering his lab, where the sleep deprived man was hard at work creating...something.

Gwen could tell that it was connected to the Negative Zone, likely a portal to it or something of the sort. But she wondered why he was making a portal to that place, but she remembered that the man wasn't exactly the smartest when it came to the use for his inventions. Sure he was incredibly intelligent when it came to the creation and development of them.

But in terms of actually using them? Making sure they were safe? Yeah he was awful, and she should know, she was partially him, as strange as that may sound.

Looking at the man work, Gwen found herself gazing at his notes, noticing that he was indeed making a portal to the Negative Zone, and was getting quite close to finishing it, but he was missing a few key parts that would make it work. She wouldn't be helping him with that though, as she'd rather not have the man make the portal at all, at least not until she takes the place over, whenever she can.

After a few moments of watching him, she decided to reveal herself.

"Your security is quite lacking" Gwen said from behind the man, as he jumped to his feet and turned to her, his eyes widening at the sight of the unknown woman standing in his lab. A lab that had dozens of defenses made to keep others out, except for him and the others.

"Who-how did you get in here?! Who are you?!" Reed yelled, as Gwen raised her hands in order to calm him, even if slightly.

"I'm Gwen. I just came in through the elevator and thought I'd look around. Only to see that you're making a portal to the Negative Zone. Quite the impressive little thing, even if it's not the brightest move in the world" Gwen said, putting her hands back down as she gazed at the makings of the portal.

"And how did you get past all of the security? How did the others not see you?" Reed asked, calming slightly as Gwen glanced at him.

"I cloaked myself, an ability of mine. Nothing you need to worry about, as I am not here to attack you or your team. It'd be a foolish move to rid the world of one of its smartest men, not to mention the potential that each of you possess" Gwen replied with a shrug.

Hearing these words, Reed frowned at her, but slowly began to put his hands down from their ready position, as he had his fists up ready to attack her if need be.

"Why are you here? And why didn't you contact us beforehand? If you wished to speak with us, there are better ways than to break into our home" Reed said.

"I didn't want to bother. You wouldn't know my name so getting into contact would have been difficult. This is easier for me and you. As for why I am here. I am here to ask you and your team for your help" Gwen responded, as the man frowned.

"What do you need our help with?" Reed asked, as he felt a strange sensation of dread beginning to pool inside of him, as he heard the words that Gwen uttered next.

"...I need your help to save the world"

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That's the end of the chapter!

Basically just a first meeting with Reed and that's it. She'll be speaking with the others in the next chapter.

Anyways, have a good day!