Under an endless night, Herja and Mist

Opened the doors of Valhalla's reign

Spirits of fallen nights, swift as winds

From the reign of death returned to defend the...

Kingdom of the King of Steel

They'd died on battlefields

With swords in their hands

Warriors of many ages past

Heimdall - "Warriors of Many Ages Past"

The battle in Arcadia was over, but the conflict was far from being over. The battle for Battleworld was about to begin. For a little space, they may triumph on the field, for a day. But against the power they were fighting, there is no victory. To the warrior city of Arcadia, only the first finger of his hand had yet been stretched. All the heroes knew it, and dare not delude themselves thinking otherwise. They all met in a hall to discuss their options and their next move.

Thundra: Everything dies. Warriors. Heroes. Brothers and sisters in arms. Monsters. Villains. We all live by the sword and die by the sword. This is simply how things are. What I will not tolerate, what I find unacceptable, is the unnatural acceleration of that end. Which is why I summoned you all here. First of all, let's start with the most important question: do we all agree to keep on fighting? Does anyone here want to turn tail and run to his own domain?

The Colonel: I will not. I took the Super Soldier serum to stand against tyranny, what I thought to be a tyranny, but I helped instead to establish a real and way more brutal one. I thought with the Liberators in other domains, to stop "heretics", but I finally understood what I have been doing. I have much to atone for, both for my domain and for Battleworld itself.

Spider-Gwen: All my life, I had an identity crisis, remembering only parts of my life, and having huge gaps. One of the few things I remember was the death of Peter Parker, but the details were very confusing. Then, I met a group of people with similar powers to mine. One of them was another Peter? Then Peter was back? Then a machine summons a Spider-Man and a Spider-Woman who say they are not even from Battleworld? Then I met another me? Then the new Peter is killed? Then a new Peter appears? My life is officially a train wreck, so whatever. I will stay and help.

Logan: I will fight. Where I come from, Hulk killed my wife and my sons. I offed that bastard, but discovered that he had orders to do that… orders from Doom. I don't know which was his idea. Just mess with me? Why? I'm determined to kill him or die, probably die, but I still don't understand the reasons.

Beta Ray Bill: The reason is more twisted than you would suspect. Battleworld itself is a lie. All our lives in it are a lie.

Thundra: Yes, that's what you Ultimates said when we met you. It's a wild story indeed, but…

Jean Grey: Excuse me, I was not there when you met my friends, but I can make things shorter. I have psi powers, let me share with you all the things we remember.

Like she did other times in the past, Jean links the minds of all the people in the hall. All their memories of their older life were an open book for the people of Battleworld. Beta Ray Bill, A-Force, Old Man Logan, the Colonel, Spider-Gwen, and her friends, they all saw everything and understood it all. They saw the mind of Peter Parker, how he gained superpowers at a time almost nobody else did in his world, the death of his uncle Ben that forced him to understand that "with great power comes great responsibility", how he struggled against Norman Osborn, the Kingpin and several other villains while trying to protect his secret identity, the time that Octavius made many clones of him, and when he took a bullet aimed for Captain America and died saving his family from the Sinister Six. And also his surprise when he woke up and discovered that he had not died. They also saw when Miles Morales was bitten by another modified spider and gained similar powers, that he initially did nothing with them, when he heard that Peter was killed and learned the same lesson in another way, and his struggle to be accepted in this identity. Many of them already knew his secret identity but others didn't, but at this moment that was the least of their concerns. They also saw the minds of Kitty Pryde, Storm, Jimmy Hudson, and Rogue, how they all discovered that they were mutants, the conflicts between the X-Men, the Brotherhood, and several anti-mutant humans, and the time that Magneto wrecked the world in his pursuit of vengeance. They also saw the minds of Hawkeye, Iron Man, and Thor, how Nick Fury formed the Ultimates to protect the world from all those arising threats, and how the team was disbanded after the coming of Galactus. They also saw the minds of Spider-Woman and Bombshell, who made a new Ultimates team when the first one disbanded. They also saw the mind of Sue Storm, who took part in an experiment with her brother, her boyfriend and his friend, how they became the Fantastic Four, and how Reed Richards turned into the Maker, a villain that surpassed even Magneto. They also saw, in the minds of many, the arrival of Gah Lak Tus, and the Vision, the android that warned worlds about it.

And they also saw the nature of Battleworld. They saw Sue and Stark finding out about the incursions, the retrieval of Vision from the timestream, Peter Parker defying Mephisto, and the last incursion. And their arrival in Battleworld, the Thors attacking them, how they were all dispersed across domains, and how they all found back their ways into the battle in Arcadia.

All of them, but two. Vision and Nick Fury.

Thundra: That was… quite a lot to digest. Yes, we can see your plight, but we still must focus on the here and now. Hardly has our strength sufficed to beat off the first great assault. The next will be greater. This war is without final hope. Victory can not be achieved by arms, whether we sit here to endure siege after siege, or march out to be overwhelmed somewhere else. Your Nick Fury is still out there, seeking the secrets of Sherriff Strange, but what could he possibly find? God Doom has absolutely no weaknesses. He is God.

Peter Parker: He is not God. There is only one God. Doom is a man with great powers. Nothing less, but nothing more.

Rogue: I agree. This is not the place for a religious discussion, but yes, he's not God!

Beta Ray Bill: As for weaknesses… actually, he does have one. He has no omniscience. He does not know all that happens everywhere at the same time. That's why he had the services of Sheriff Strange and the Thors. He probably knows about our victory here, but not about the specifics of our discussion right now. And although he knew about the landing of your ship, I'm not sure if he knows about the presence of survivors of the Multiverse in Battleworld. But that robot that is with Fury, the Vision, does have something very similar to it. If Dooms captures her, takes his powers for himself and amplifies them, he would have omniscience… or something really close to it, anyway.

Bombshell: But what can we do to help or protect them? Jean left them, now we have no idea where are they.

Beta Ray Bill: Verily, Sheriff Strange did not share all his secrets with us. I have no knowledge of this secret lair of his.

Jessica Jones: Screw it, then. If we know nothing of that search or how to locate this Nick Fury, then it's pointless to us. It does not change this shit we are in: either die fighting Doom, or die here after some time.

Beta Ray Bill: Not completely: We ignore the secrets of Strange, but we still have common sense. If he had something, and he kept it secret, it has to be something big.

Thundra: But Jones is right. Fury is not here, and his search is beyond our help. Doom's doubt will be growing, even as we speak here. His attention is now straining towards us, blind to almost all else that is moving. Se we must keep it. Therein lies all our hope. We cannot achieve victory by arms, but by arms we can give Fury his only chance, frail though it be. We must walk open-eyed into Doomstadt, with courage, but small hope for ourselves. For it may well prove that we ourselves shall perish utterly in a black battle far from our lands; so that even if Doom's Castle fell down, we shall not live to see a new age. But this, I deem, is our duty. And better so than to perish nonetheless, as we surely shall, if we sit here and know as we die that no new age shall be.

They were silent for a while. Old Man Logan spoke first. "He has gone unchallenged long enough. I promised, for Maureen, that I would kill that bastard, even if it is the last thing I do in my life. And I will not walk away from the chance to do so. I knew that things would eventually get down to this, the very moment that Baron Strucker voiced the name of Doom in the Wastelands. I won't pretend I'm not afraid, but I will fight nonetheless." This gave the push everyone needed. Logan wanted vengeance for his wife. The Ultimates wanted to restore their world. A-Force wanted vengeance for America Chavez and Captain Marvel. The Colonel wanted to atone for his former evil actions. Spider-Woman wanted to fight the architect of the world that gave her so much loneliness and misery. They all agreed to do it. Thor and Beta Ray Bill created a portal to Doomstadt, to stand against God Doom.

By moonlight they ride, ten thousand side by side.

With swords drawn held high their whips and armor shine.

Hail to thee, their infantry, still brave beyond the grave

All sworn the eternal vow: the time to strike is now!

Gone are the days when freedom shone, now blood and steel meet bone

In the light of the battle's way the sands of time will shake

How proud their soldiers stand with mace and chain in hand

Sound of charge, into glory ride, over the top of the vanquished pride

Onward into the heart of the battle

Fought the sons of Odin

Outnumbered many times

Still, they fought on

Blood poured forth from their wounds

Deep into the earth

Vultures waited for the broken shells

That once were bodies

But Odin alone would choose the day

They would enter Valhalla

Manowar - "Sons of Odin"

TO BE CONCLUDED...