Silver Surfer: Black #3 (2019)

As he sleeps, Norrin Radd recalls his first wife, Shalla-Bal, and dreams of their last day together. As he lays a hand on her belly, Shalla-Bal asks if he really wants to have a child in so dark a world, but he says that their child would be a brilliant light. As she smiles lovingly at him, the last moment in his life he knew true peace, a massive shockwave shakes the building. Leaping out of bed and running to the window, Norrin Radd sees the coming of the Devourer of Worlds... but rather than Galactus, he looks upon a titanic, blackened version of his future self. The dark Surfer stands, its black surfboard rising into the air as it opens its mouth to reveal countless crimson fangs. Countless tendrils of Living Abyss erupt from the dark Surfer, effortlessly ripping through buildings and stabbing into the ground towards Zenn-La's core. Norrin begs the dark Surfer to spare his planet, offering to become the entity's herald, but the dark Surfer's board stabs into the planet and it explodes. Awakening from his nightmare, Norrin finds himself orbiting Ego the Living Planet, who informs him that he's slept for days. Norrin apologizes for imposing, cradling his blackened arm and saying that he's badly injured. Ego replies that he can see into Norrin's mind and that the stars Norrin has been creating in his weakened state have immensely drained him of the Power Cosmic. Reading Norrin's thoughts, Ego asks what Norrin means when he thinks he's undergoing rapid atomic degeneration. Norrin explains that it means his body is coming apart and nothing can be done to stop it, asking if he can land on the Living Planet's surface. Ego grants him permission and thanks him for asking, Norrin landing and pointedly stating that he would never violate another being's inner space without permission. Ego apologizes for intruding into Norrin's mind but maintains that doing so was necessary to make sure that the Silver Surfer was an ally and to save him from becoming a weapon for Knull. A massive earthquake suddenly shakes Ego, splitting open his surface and causing lava to surge out. Concerned, Norrin asks if the Living Planet is alright, and Ego brushes off the incident by saying it's part of his maturation process. Approached by some of the strange creatures living on Ego's surface, Norrin pets them while asking if Ego would be willing to help oppose Knull. Before the Living Planet can respond, another massive earthquake wracks him and causes him to scream in pain. Realizing that something is wrong, Norrin summons his board and demands to know what's going on. Ego confesses that not long ago a strange meteor crashed into him and embedded itself in his core, where it is draining his energy and slowly killing him. Despite Ego's protests and warnings, the Silver Surfer offers to extract the meteor in exchange for Ego's help in defeating Knull, reconfiguring his board into a drill. Ego begrudgingly agrees, Norrin using his board to tunnel through Ego's crust and mantle until he reaches the Living Planet's core. Swarmed by Ego's Anti-bodies, Norrin transforms his board into a blade and fights against them -- noting that were it not for his weakened state he could make short work of them, but he cannot destroy them all or it would risk killing Ego. Diving into Ego's core, where the anti-bodies cannot follow, Norrin notes that his blackened arm is vulnerable to the intense heat and resolves to get this over with as quickly as possible. Arriving at the strange meteor infesting Ego like a tumor, Norrin gazes in horror upon the Lifebringer One, the incubator of his past and future master, Galactus.