The Doctor turned to the right, then to the left, and finally spun in a complete circle. His eyes were wide, and his forehead was now dotted with tiny beads of sweat. His hearts raced in his chest and his face paled. These were Cybus Industries finest product and somehow they had found their way out of their universe, out of his universe and here, where they appeared to have easily conquered the inhabitants.

"This is... impossible, just impossible. How did you get here?"

The Cybermen remained silent and motionless, weapons primed. From the barrel of their weapons a soft, red light began to glow as they prepared to fire.

"Delete."

The heroes and the Doctor dropped to the ground as the Cybermen fired.
For a moment the Doctor remained quiet, eyes squeezed shut in preparation for the coming pain... but it never came. He stood up and opened his eyes and saw the Cybermen looking at their weapons in a sort of blank confusion.

"Perform scan on functionality of offensive systems."
"All units register full functionality."
"That is impossible. Logically fully functioning weapons would operate normally, yet ours do not. Therefore there must be a malfunction."
"All units register full functionality."

The Doctor watched the Cybermen for a moment, listening to their words. He studied their faces and noted all the subtle changes from the Cybus-men he remembered. Their facial design had been altered, giving them a semblance of aggression. Eyes turned inward at an angle, and a mouth shaped in a scowl. Their armour had also been heavily modified, strengthened and reinforced.
Suddenly the Cybermen screamed in pain. Their hands grabbed at their antennae and they dropped to their knees. The encircling Cybermen were suddenly surrounded in golden light before crumbling to dust on the ground.
Spider-Man scratched his head and spun his long tongue. "Um, what just happened?"

"I happened."

Above them a figure soared low towards them, a figure that shone in the sunlight and was made of solid silver and stood on a board of the same silver. Reed Richards smiled and stretched towards the approaching figure. "Norrin! I'm happy to see you well. Although I wish it were in better circumstances."
The Silver Surfer smiled at the elastic scientist. "And I am happy to see you Reed Richards. I am happy to see all of you so well." Silver eyes rested on the figure in the brown trenchcoat who stared back at him with an odd look in his eye.

"Greetings. My name is-"

"The Silver Surfer."

Norrin nodded. "Yes. Have we met?"

The Doctor slowly approached the Surfer and stopped barely centimetres from him. His eyes met those of the Surfer, the Surfer who was a step away from omnipotence, without a trace of fear.

"You destroyed my home, my family... everything I held dear."

The Surfer stepped back as though he had been struck. "I... That's impossible."

"No, it isn't. You came to Gallifrey, you summoned that thing you call 'Master' and you stood by and let it... You let that disgusting, corruption of nature feed on my home. The burnt orange skies, the crimson grass, silver leafed trees, the Silken Falcon... all gone. You let that thing feast on the Shining World of the Seven Systems."

Mr Fantastic placed a hand on the Doctor's shoulder and pulled him back a few steps. "There must be a mistake Doctor. Firstly, the Surfer hasn't been employed as a Herald of Galactus for years. Secondly, the Surfer is native to this universe. How could he have crossed?"

The Doctor, his eyes still on the Surfer, growled a single word. A word that caused the Surfer to drop to his knees in realisation.

"Daleks."

The Surfer placed his head in his hands and began shaking his head. "He is correct. Forgive me."

Captain America helped him up. "Norrin, get a hold of yourself. We're at war."

"We were at war when he helped destroyed Gallifrey. At war with the Daleks. And we were winning. Then the Dalek Emperor captured the Cruciform. He took it, corrupted its programming and used it to tear a rip into another universe as a means of retreating from the Time Vortex. And through that hole, that one tiny hole in an infinite universe full of billions, upon trillions, upon gajillions of beings... you came through."

The Surfer's head drooped and his body heaved with silent sobs.

"I was searching, seeking. Galactus required sustenance and I, His faithful Herald, had to find it. I felt the tear in space and investigated. I thought that, perhaps, I had found a new way of nourishing Him. A way which wouldn't demand so much death and destruction. So I journeyed closer and closer until I entered your universe. I journeyed for many weeks, my Master's mind questing to find me and reminding me constantly of His insatiable hunger. So I sought food for Him. I was approached by something, something I know now as a Dalek. After hearing my tale it directed me to Gallifrey, swore to me that it was uninhabited and rich in life. So I set out for it."

The Doctor was calmer now, his initial anger had abated somewhat as time passed. "We detected you approaching. You passed straight through the planetary defences as though they weren't there. The Quantum Force Field faded as you approached and the Transduction Barrier shattered the second you touched it. You entered our atmosphere and that was the beginning of the end."

"I soared close to the ground and was shocked to see such beauty. It was clear to me that the Dalek had lied, and this world was indeed home to life. And such life! I journeyed across the entire surface of your world, Doctor. I examined all animals, plants, sea-life... it was all so uniquely beautiful. Then I entered your city. I attempted to communicate with your leaders, but before I could meet any of your species you attacked me."

"We assumed you were a new type of Roboman, a Dalek creation. No being has ever penetrated Gallifrey as easily as you had. We were at war for the sake of the entire Universe, so we had no time to second guess ourselves. All Battle TARDISes were launched and ground forces tried to shoot you down."

"Once the attack started I thought that your race did not deserve to live. I am not a killer, and I dislike the taking of life. So when your people attacked me, before I could warn them to evacuate their home, I decided not to warn you. Instead I sent the summons, and Galactus came."

All the heroes suddenly recalled the fateful day Galactus had appeared over their own skies. The giant figure had planned to turn their world into a full three course meal but was stopped when Mr Fantastic threatened him with a device capable of destroying Him, and the rest of the Universe.

The Doctor paused for a moment and placed his glasses in his pocket.

"We had never seen anything like him before. He arrived in minutes and instantly his machines, tubes and pipes entered our world and began turning into a food source. We threw everything we had at him but it did nothing. He didn't even notice the attacks. We launched all of our Temporal Disruptors at him, weapons capable of erasing entire Solar Systems... and he didn't even notice them. The President announced a full evacuation and we all got into our ships and left Gallifrey, a dead world. And while we watched from orbit as our world died, the entire Dalek Empire attacked. They emerged from hyperspace and demanded we surrender and yield to Dalek supremacy. We were beaten... but I saw a way out. A longshot. If it worked it would destroy the entire Dalek fleet, as well as the Time Lord evacuation. But I had no choice, I couldn't allow the Daleks to survive. I couldn't!
I took my TARDIS into the Eye of Harmony which was dying. I reversed the polarity of the neutron flow and caused the artificial Black Hole to expand outwards. And everything burned, the Daleks, the Time Lords, and Gallifrey. Everything. Burned... except me."

Norrin Radd moved closer to the Doctor and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I too know the pain of being alone Doctor. I am sorry for my actions and the pain I have caused to you. I swear to you that should I ever find a way of somehow making up for what I have done, I will do it. No matter what it requires of me."

The Doctor looked at the ground for a moment, and then nodded slowly. As he opened his mouth to speak he became aware of the monotonous sound of the approaching Cybermen. Spider-Man laughed uncomfortably, "Let's be going now." Hulk snorted and smashed his enormous fists together. "Hulk no leave. Hulk strongest one there is."

Captain America patted the Hulk slowly, "No Hulk, we have to get back to Strange's mansion and make sure everyone's safe."

The Doctor moved forward slowly, "Excuse me? No, nowhere's safe from the Cybermen. Haven't you figured that out yet? How long did it take them to take control? Years? Months? Weeks?"

Richards frowned and looked at Captain America. "He's right Steve. The mansion is nothing but a temporary safehouse."

"Right. We need to do something now. The Cybermen know me, and if they know I'm here they're going to be sending everything they have here."

As if in response several sonic booms sounded overhead and the silhouettes of several Sentinels flew rapidly towards the group.

Cap stepped forward. "With all due respect Doctor, this is our world. You may be ready to charge in fighting, but we have a responsibility to the people. They have to stay safe."

"I understand Captain, but..."

"The matter's closed. We're going to the Sanctum and then we're going to round up more survivors."

Spider-Man walked to the Doctor's side. "Steve, I've already lost everyone who matters to me. There's nothing left for me, so I'm going with the Doctor."

"I too will accompany the Doctor. After the pain I have caused him, it is the least I can do. Besides I will be able to scout the city faster. Perhaps I can find their base of operations."

Captain America shook hands with Spider-Man, then with Silver Surfer and finally saluted the Doctor.

"Doctor I don't know who you are, and frankly I don't care. If you can stop these Cybermen we will all owe you everything."

"I'll do my best Captain. And good luck. It's rare in my universe to see people who are so dedicated to good. Most people will only consider helping if there's something in it for them. You're a credit to your species."

Captain America smiled and placed his shield on his back. "Whenever you're ready Strange." The heroes were each consumed by a glowing, red light which dragged them soaring backwards through the sky.

After they had left the Doctor removed his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and began scanning the city. Seconds later he deactivated it in frustration. "I can't locate Cyber Control. There's too much interference from all the other Cybus buildings in the city."

Spider-Man jumped to the top of a lamp post and hung from its light. "So what now Doc?"

The Doctor thought for a minute, recalling his past encounters with his own Cybermen, which he was shocked to see Lumic's Cybermen had slowly began to mirror. The computer-like 'Cybusmen' were slowly becoming the cold, ruthless, logic driven beings that had originated on Mondas and spread across the universe like an organ harvesting plague.

"Well the Cybermen can't breed. So, logically speaking of course, they'd have to keep a supply of humans penned in. A supply that they will breed, and grow, and then convert, like mechanically processed cattle. The farms will be generating most of the interference and it'll take too long to go around shutting them all down, no matter how sick we find it."

"Then what do you suggest Doctor. It will be difficult to find this 'Cyber Control' without any help."

The Doctor wasn't paying attention to the Surfer. His eyes were locked on something high overhead, something which resembled the airships of 'Pete's World'.

"These Cybermen - their creator was an arrogant, genius who believed his 'children' were the future of mankind. So if they stay true to their programming they'd be looking down on us... most likely from one of them."

Spider-Man and the Surfer turned upwards where the skies were dark with Helicarriers. They soared seemingly slowly through the sky with a grace that belied their deadliness.

"That's where we'll find the CyberLeader, and that's where we'll end this."