Time has come for frostwinds to storm and giants to arise
Raging with power unlike the gods have ever seen
Rising from the void, cruel vile nightcrawlers
Ruling in the absence of light, creatures of the dark
They are born from fire, born from the cold
Born before time, born from the bold
Nature's disasters, beating their masters
From beyond time, when nine worlds fall
And they will rule...
Until the nine worlds fall
Burning Witches - "Nine Worlds"
Nick Fury and Vision teleported to the outsides of Doomstadt, the capital of Battleworld and the seat of power of Dr. Doom. There was no point to subtlety: they had to face Dr. Doom and, with the gauntlet, defy and defeat him. As far as they knew, Dr. Doom should still don't know about them, but that wouldn't likely last for long. They had to be swift and unexpected, and take him by surprise before he knew what was going on. They could not risk things to fall into a battle of power against power: they may win, but they may also lose, and that would be the end. As Vision confirmed, Dr. Doom was just a man before the incursions, a man of great power, cunning, scientific, and mystical expertise, but a man nonetheless. There had to be a source for his power, just as the Gauntlet was the source of Fury's newfound power. And it had to be there, close to him. He scanned the place and pinpointed the source of the highest power on the planet. That had to be it.
But when they teleported, they found themselves on stairs in a room filled with white light. And there, a man was floating in the distance. "I'm the only one who remembers the infinite earths. I know the truth. Worlds lived, worlds died, nothing will ever be the same. Did you bring me something to eat, Vision and Nick Fury?" Vision pointed that she's an inorganic being and does not need nutrients. As for Nick Fury, his FSR was almost depleted. He consumed most of the military rations, and just had half of a "soldier fuel" energy bar. The floating man ceased to float, stood on the ground, and told Fury with an imperative voice "I HAVE TO HAVE IT". Fury considered for a moment the difficulty of finding food in Battleworld and what would happen if he completely ran out of it, but then ignored that. That was a crisis for another time. He gave it to the man, who swallowed it as if he was a kid deprived of candies and chocolates for a couple of months. "Ahh, that felt so good. Where did you get this delicacy?" "It's just a standard military ration, meant to keep a soldier in the field in an optimal fighting state; it was not designed to be especially tasty" "Well, it is. Perhaps I should join the army someday if that gets me more of this thing". Then, feeling more collected and rational after finally eating since… since so much time ago, he introduced himself. He was Owen Reece, and it was actually him who had the power of the Beyonders and gave Doom his one. He was not going to betray his friend for a stranger, but he was not a bad guy either, and he was feeling especially grateful about the bar. He summoned a vision of Doom, and they saw him standing over a mountain of dead corpses. All the Ultimates that arrived in the life raft, and many others that Fury did not know. "Well, that doesn't seem fair, does it? Doom has his godlike powers, your friends never stood a chance. So why not make it more fun? They surely deserve a sporting chance, don't you agree?"
And saying that, he raised his hands like a stage magician, and all of them were revived. The Ultimate survivors, A-Force, Spider-Gwen, Thor, Beta Ray Bill, Old Man Logan, the Colonel, were all alive and healed. And more: Owen also recreated all the heroes that Nick Fury's friends once knew, both those who did not make it to Battleworld and those who had died years ago in the old earth. Cyclops. Angel. Bishop. Monica Chang. Alison. Beast. The Wasp. Betty Ross. Psylocke. Johnny Storm. Falcon. Ben Grimm. Quicksilver. Scarlet Witch. Captain Mahr-Vell. Several malformed clones of Spider-Man. Daredevil. Punisher. The Silver Searcher. Moon Knight. Dr. Strange. Iron Fist. Shang-Chi. Nightcrawler. Colossus. Aaron Davis. Wolverine. Captain America.
Even more, he increased their power to incredible levels, so that they could, indeed, have a chance against Doom.
On the battlefield, Jean quickly understood what happened, and used her power to make a recap for everybody. Captain America saw Doom and cried "There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that!". And' raising his shield, he led all the heroes to the battle. Thundra raised her fist and her chains, and cried "For Arcadia, the ancient land of war!". Thor raised his hammer high, and cried "For Earth, and for the Holy Town of Gods!". Beta Ray Bill raised his hammer high, Stormbreaker, and cried "Gloria! Gloria perpetua! In this dawn of victory! HAIL, GODS OF WAR!". Dr. Doom saw all the forces standing against him, without any fear. He simply, calmly, said "Owen…". With a wave of his hand, he summoned a legion of powerful villains and armies from his world. The heroes and villains started to fight. Doom himself, however, did not stay. He ignored it all, as if beneath his notice, and teleported away.
Doom appeared in Owen's cave, shot down Vision, and absorbed her power. "Ah. Ultimate Nick Fury. If one among your group could get this far, it would, of course, be you. But it does not matter, of course, that you have won your way here. There is nothing you can do to harm me, no way in all the infinite universe that a mere mortal could conquer one who is omnipotent!" Fury pointed that he was not sure of that, as Doom himself, a mortal, conquered the Beyonders. Then he showed the infinity gauntlet in defiance. "Enough! You shall not conquer me! Behold! I let the infinite power, the power which makes me supreme and invincible, rise, and let the universe beware!" "Say that again, sweet-talk! I dare you! I double-dare you, m***********!". Both of them used their powers, and they canceled each other. Doom could not harm Fury, and Fury could not harm Doom. Both of them stood there and kept doing so. The moment any of them tired and lowered his concentration, even if for a moment, it would be over. Owen stood aside, without taking part in the fight.
On the battlefield outside, the battle was raging. Jean Grey and Cyclops, on one sector, were fighting against the Demon Bear. "Is this real, Jean? I mean, I was just giving a speech, and… and then…" "yes, someone shot you down. And the world ended a pair of years later. And yet, here we are, here we are all. In mutant heaven, there are no pearly gates, only revolving doors." And when they took it down, they shared a long-delayed kiss, ignoring all the chaos around them.
Wolverine, elsewhere, was confused when he saw a kid with claws similar to his own, standing his ground against the Wendigo. "I'm Jimmy Hudson. I'm your son". "Hudson? I told James to… never mind. We'll have a talk when all this ends" Then he noticed an old-timer nearby, also with claws, turning Mysterio into a bloody pulp. "I'm Logan. Wolverine." "What the…? We'll have a talk when all this ends"
Elsewhere, a giant monster surfaced from beneath the ground, grabbing Sue Storm with his giant hand. The Human Torch flies to the rescue "Just wait and see, sister. We have only begun to fight". Ben Grimm also rushed to the scene. "The two of you can't do it alone. It's time for The Thing to take a hand". "Thank you, guys, but I can deal with this beast myself". The creature had opened its mouth and intended to swallow her, but she created a forcefield at the back of its throat and then expanded it, exploding the beast into a lot of green goo. "Sorry for the mess, guys. This was an amazing specimen and in other circumstances, I would have loved to study it. But that Dr. Doom destroyed our world, including my newborn girl, and sure as hell that no legion of monsters will keep me away from him!". And having said that, they destroyed several of the bigger monsters. The Fantastic Four were back… mostly, anyway.
"Where's Mary Jane? We have to protect her!" shouted one of the clones of Spider-Man. "Mary Jane is not even on this planet. you can relax. We have to clear this field, take down the armored guy, and yes, she'll be safe" instructed Spider-Woman while they tried to contain the Inheritors. Leading the heroes of the Arachnia domain was an interesting experience, but being reunited with her original gang of clones was even better.
The Green Goblin tried to attack Spider-Man, but Parker and Kitty Pryde dealt with him with little problem. With just a webbing he got his flying machine and forced him to get down, enough that Pryde could jump towards him, phase through it, and disrupt it. Then just a punch to the face, and it was done. They never even knew who he was, and continued with other foes. Then, Spider-Woman, the one with the white suit, passed by, and Parker called her. "Hey! Unauthorized Spider-person! Stop evading me and come here!" He knew that this wasn't the Spider-Woman he knew, who was also around, but she had similar powers to him. Which was her deal? Why was she trying to stay away from him? Another clone? "I'm from another dimension. But I have heard you two talking, and I suspect that it wouldn't be easy for you to see my face". Parker bragged that of course not, that he has been through so many things that nothing surprises him anymore. She took off her mask. Peter recognized her instantly: Gwen Stacy. Mind blown.
"Mil… Spider-Man? Some girl has just explained in my head what's going on, but why am I here? I'm not exactly a superhero?" "I know. Of course I know. Glad to see you back, uncle, but as you see, you are outnumbered and I'm not leaving you from my sight… so behave yourself, don't try to steal anything, and for once try to be a good guy. Who knows, you may enjoy it!". But, while trying to elude Carnage's attacks, Miles noticed Prowler's new weapon. "Hey! Isn't that Hawkeye's bow?" "Possessions are fleeting!"
Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor took down Thanos, but when Iron Man was about to praise Cap's good work, he was already gone. He did not stay to actually fight the villains, but just to take them out of his way. Red Skull, Batroc, another Nighthawk, Hydra Cap, Nuke, all fell like rag dolls before him. "This is hopeless!", he thought. "We'll never win, unless I can get past these catspawns and carry the fight to Doom himself!". Old Man Logan had a similar idea in mind and joined him. "Hey, Cap! Wait for me!" "And you are, mister…?" "Logan. Wolverine". "Not the Wolverine I knew" "And you're not the Captain America I knew, either. It's a crazy world, isn't it? Just go along with it, and stay focused on the real target" "Doom" "Doom". With that said, they did not say anything else. Logan soon got the scent of other people, other than those on the battlefield, and they found the cave. They saw Doom and Fury, just staring at each other. Logan did not know Fury and had only seen Doom in the distance, but it was clear who was who. Without saying a word, they knew what to do: Captain America threw Logan to Doom, in a "fastball special".
Logan attacked Doom and managed to land his claws on his side. Doom disintegrated him immediately for the outrage and healed himself immediately. Alas, it was too late: he was distracted for a moment, and Nick Fury got the upper hand. And yet, he was unable to deprive him of his power. Doom boasted that he was still the master, that he was God, whereas Fury was just a bum with seven stones, that he only found some old trinkets under some rock. Captain America protested the notion, and Fury pointed that neither of them were gods. He was using the power of the Infinity Gauntlet, and he was sure that Doom must have a similar power source somewhere. That he did not think any man could have such power by himself, not Doom, and not Owen… and then they realized it. "Enough! You seek to know too much!", and Doom started firing bolts in desperation. He managed to shoot Fury's hand and force the gauntlet out of it, and immediately took advantage of it with a spell that caused sickness on everybody on the planet. But Captain America did not yield and jumped to the gauntlet. For a moment he thought, what if he grabbed it? What if he took that power for himself? He may defeat Doom, recreate his world, and fix everything that had gone wrong with it. He could undo the coming of Galactus, the deaths of Spider-Man, the X-Men and so many heroes, the Ultimatum wave, the destruction of Washington DC, the attacks of Magneto, perhaps even World War II itself and Nazi Germany! All that he thought in a flashing moment of temptation, and then dismissed it: he was not going to play God. He reached the gauntlet and smashed it with all his strength, destroying it.
An earthquake, squirting fire, bursting ground. Doom's screaming, and earth swallowing him away!
Then Owen spoke again. "You were right Fury, the power that Doom and I wielded did not belong to us, and neither to the Beyonders before us. We stored that power in there when we recreated the universe, I was the conduit of it, and throw me, Doom. We do not know the true original source of it, though. You can call it "God", because really, which other name can there be to it? But this power is too great, once collected, to be destroyed so easily. By destroying the Gauntlet you just destroyed its container, and if you want to restore the multiverse to its original form you'll need to take it." He looked at both Fury and Captain America, and Captain America rejected it. He was too uncomfortable with the idea of wielding such power, even if being aware that it was just a tool for an end and not real godhood. So it was up to Fury. "So what now? Do I just snap my fingers and the universe will be back?" "Oh, it won't be so easy! First, you will have to be approved by a higher authority!".
You're the Keeper of the Seven Keys
You lock up the seven seas
And the Seer of Visions can now rest in peace
There ain't no more demons and no more disease
And, mankind, live up, you're free again
Yes, the tyrant is dead, he is gone, overthrown,
You have given our souls back to the light
Helloween - "Keeper of the Seven Keys"