What you just saw was a sign of things to come. A premonition of the inevitable conflict that will befall a once innocent world.
But before we see the resolution, I must first take you to the real beginning, a mere few hours before Doom would set foot on Mobius. It was a day unlike any other, when Earth's Mightiest Heroes found themselves united against a common threat.
New York
The Invincible Iron Man soared through the skies, dodging Crimson Dynamo's many missiles heading his way. The Mighty Thor was engaged in battle with the Wrecking Crew, Black Panther was engaged in CQC with Taskmaster, and as for the Hulk?
"HULK CRUSH YOU!" the jade giant said as he brought a mighty hammerfist upon Abomination, caving in the street that they stood over and sending them into the sewers below New York, shaking the streets above like an earthquake.
Back up above, the God of Thunder was struck by Wrecker's crowbar, followed by a tackle by Bulldozer that left him wide open for attacks by Thunderball and Piledriver. The Asgardian grunted with every hit, attempting to break free, but couldn't under the onslaught of strikes.
Black Panther was under constant pressure, trying to ensure his movement was as unpredictable as possible, but Taskmaster countered almost every single attempt. "Come on, Your Highness," the mercenary taunted, "surely you can do better."
T'Challa responded with a multitude of swipes and strikes at the hired gun, surprising him with a leg sweep that Taskmaster quickly recovered from with a backflip, leaping up and taking out a grappling hook, hooking onto a piece of debris behind the Wakandan and pulling it to send it flying towards him. With a simple swipe, T'Challa slashed at the debris with his Vibranium claws and huffed afterwards, striking a stance to continue the fight.
Back up in the sky, Iron Man looked back and fired a repulsor ray at Crimson Dynamo who simply dodged and resumed his chasing of him, "Ya know, Anton, surely you've thought about hanging up the armor!" the billionaire said, dodging several energy blasts along the way as they zipped across the skyscrapers, "I mean, you're an old man fighting for a cause that doesn't exist anymore! I can't imagine not having considered a happy retirement!"
"I don't care about that!" Dynamo responded, unleashing a volley of gatling laser bolts at Iron Man, "All I care about is seeing you and your pathetic company in ruins!"
Tony sighed before talking to Jarvis, "Jarvis, what's the status on the backup?"
"Already on the way, sir." the A.I. responded before the Iron Avenger was then struck by the Hulk's flying form from below! The impact dazed him enough to not move out of the way when the green goliath impacted on the side of a building, sending glass everywhere.
The not so jolly green giant then growled and looked down to see Abomination leap out from the hole he punched him out of. The Hulk shifted and jumped down to face his foe once again, not even feeling that Iron Man was in the way of his collision course. The billionaire groaned from the pain and shook his head, "Ow." was all he had to say.
"That impact hit your suit so hard, it was forced into reboot mode." Jarvis then spoke in an almost impressed manner, "Reboot should take no longer than ten seconds."
Iron Man thought that was a relief until before he saw Dynamo emerge in his view, readying his gatling cannon at him.
"JARVIS!" Tony screamed before the A.I. responded, "Backup has arrived."
An energy blast hit Dynamo and sent him flying to the streets below, landing with a crash.
Tony looked upon his savior: A woman with sepia brown skin wearing a bodysuit that was primarily white, but broken up with black leggings that went up the sides of her body, arms, and upper chest, a white star emblem shining and breaking up parts of the black bits of her costume.
"Reboot complete." Tony heard before his suit hummed back to life again and he could move once more, "Monica!" He beamed, "You really saved my skin there."
"When am I never?" Photon responded, crossing her arms, "So what's the problem that's got you guys all tied up?"
"Supervillains all over New York. The F4 are helping us deal with them in other areas of the city."
Photon nodded, "So more of the same?"
"More of the same."
It was then that Tony found himself tackled by a pissed off Dynamo, crashing through the rooftop of an office building, the former managing to roll back on his feet, readying his weapons.
"Need some help with this guy?" Monica smirked, her fists glowing with energy before Tony shot her head towards her, "I've got Dynamo! Go help the others!"
Photon nodded and turned into her energy form, flying off at high speeds to the other Avengers as Tony prepared himself.
Taskmaster and Black Panther resumed their fight. T'Challa tossed Vibranium daggers at him, which the merc deflected with lightning-fast strikes from his photogenic energy sword… except for one, which managed to dig into his shoulder pad, deep enough to cause a notable scratch, but shallow enough that it didn't hit his flesh. Regardless, that was more than enough for T'Challa as he struck with a flying kick that nearly knocked Tony Masters off his feet.
The merc grunted as he leapt back, smiling beneath his skull mask, "Alright!" He exclaimed, kicking up his shield that was on the ground with his foot and grabbing it, "Now things are getting interesting!"
"Too bad it's gonna be over so soon." a voice then said which Taskmaster heard, but could not find. He then felt a tiny little figure walking on the cut shoulder pad. It was a very small woman wearing a black bodysuit with yellow insectoid patterns, on her ears were little yellow antennae topped with hair that looked like weird insect wings that complimented the actual insect wings emerging from her back.
"Hi!" Wasp waved before hopping off the merc's shoulder and shifting to normal size, grabbing him by the face and blasting him in the face with a full powered stinger blast that made Tony scream in pain before collapsing on his back, unconscious.
The Wakandan king went up to her, "I was wondering when you would arrive." he said nonchalantly.
Wasp smiled, "You looked like you were having fun and I would have hated to spoil it so early."
"You and I have very different definitions of fun, Janet." Black Panther responded before an earthquake beneath them shook the ground beneath them. Almost right behind them, the ground erupted in rubble, dust, and roars as Hulk and Abomination continued to fight each other, their punches shaking the area around them as they tackled each other through the streets.
The gamma mutates got each other in an armlock for a bit before Blonsky noticed a bright light heading towards him… an energy blast hit him in the face, breaking his guard enough for Hulk to punch him to the ground, grabbing his arm and leg and spinning round and round and round, faster and faster, until releasing him straight into the air and across the Atlantic ocean.
Hulk let out a deafening roar in victory as Photon landed behind him, "Nice work, big guy," she said, making the green goliath turn his head towards her, "Hulk appreciate help by Space Woman." he said before smiling cockily, "but Hulk could have beat Big Ears by himself!"
Monica smiled, "I'm sure you would've."
"Come on, Thor!" Piledriver exclaimed, "Put up a better fight!"
"This an off-day for you, thunderer?" Wrecker taunted before going in for a swing of his mighty crowbar.
The Asgardian grit his teeth before Thunderball hit his face with his wrecking ball. He growled and spit out a wad of blood, "I am concentrating." he whispered, loud enough for them to hear.
The Wrecking Crew laughed, "Concentrating!?" Bulldozer guffawed, "On what!? The fact that you're getting your ass kicked?"
The Asgardian smirked, "no… on creating an escape." The superpowered thugs all seemed to collectively raise their brows as Thor continued, "Had you thugs been paying attention, you would have felt the very ground beneath your feet shaking."
Now that Thor mentioned it, the ground did feel a bit shakier than before. It was then that a rumbling occurred and Mjolnir popped out of the ground and in front of Thor, who broke free of Bulldozer's grip and grabbed onto the handle. The shaking beneath their ground intensified…
"Uh oh." Thunderball mentioned before the road caved in beneath them all, except for Thor, who was using Mjölnir to hover above the created sinkhole. The Wrecking Crew all groaned at the sewer water splashing around them before Thor summoned a bolt of lightning to strike the water, shocking them to unconsciousness.
Thor looked down with a slight snort of contempt before he turned to see the other Avengers heading up to him.
"That was pretty brutal, Thor." Wasp muttered before the sound of Iron Man's thrusters made her turn her head to him.
"They'll be fine, Wasp," Tony shrugged, having heard her comment before tossing Dynamo's unconscious body on the ground with a heft. He landed on the ground and turned to Monica, "so, Photon, what's the status of the other Avengers?"
"Ant-Man, Hawkeye, She-Hulk, and Vision are upstate dealing with an AIM facility, while Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were visiting their father at Xavier's Mansion before being attacked by Sentinels." she put her hands on her hips, "as for Carol, she's offworld. Cap and Yellowjacket are fighting off the Serpent Society in the subway, and the reserve members haven't answered their calls."
"Except for yours truly!"
When everyone heard that familiar young, smart-alecky voice, they all either mentally or outwardly groaned.
A man wearing a red and blue bodysuit with lines resembling webbed patterns and a spider emblem on his chest swung from a building to a bent up lamppost. A man who needed no introduction.
"So, supervillains attacking all over New York and the Avengers save the city by leaving a giant mess," Spider-Man said with his trademark snark, "what else is new?"
Monica thinned her lips, "Spider-Man," she said, getting his attention, "I see you're still being an insufferable smart-ass."
"Hey, Captain Marvel!" the wall-crawler responded before putting a hand on his chin, "Or was it Spectrum? I heard you were going by 'Photon' now, but who knows how long that's going to last."
Monica didn't respond to that. He was not worth it.
The sounds of distant booms were heard on distant buildings. Every hero looked to see four individuals wearing matching outfits of blue with black boots, belts, and gloves. One was a lanky fellow with gray hair on the sides of his head, next to him was a blonde woman, her hands outwards and summoning transparent platforms for her and the lanky man to ride on. Another man was soaring through the sky, literally on fire, and finally, a big rock man leaping on the buildings, each landing making the booms.
The Fantastic Four neared the heroes quickly, The Thing holding the unconscious body of the Trapper, while behind Invisible Woman contained Ulysses Klaw, Titania, and the Wizard in a bubble shield.
"Sorry we're late," The Thing said, "these guys put up a better fight than they normally do!"
Reed Richards stepped off the platform, "We dealt with the Frightful Four and headed to you, immediately." He then turned to Invisible Woman and nodded to her. She undid the barrier orb holding the other three members of the Frightful Four and let them all drop onto Trapster, all of them, especially Trapster, groaning in pain.
"That's that." She muttered, dusting her hands off.
Human Torch finally landed, extinguishing himself of his fiery aura, revealing his blonde hair and dashing features. "So, I take it the other Avengers are off with their own thing?" he asked, receiving a nod from Iron Man, "figures."
He then turned to see Spider-Man on the lamppost. He then called out, "Yo, Spidey!" This caused the other three members of the first family to turn and wave towards their wall-crawling friend.
Spider-Man waved back to them, "Nice to see some friendly faces."
Suddenly, in the middle of the street, a portal emerged from nowhere which forced everyone's head to turn. From the other side of the portal revealed a seemingly endless void of space colored with various hues of purple and black, strange shapes floating inside with no real rhyme or reason.
From the void, a figure wearing blue robes, black pants, and a red cape with a gold outline teleported into view, a golden necklace hanging from his neck. He quickly gestured with his yellow gloved hands as he stepped through the portal, closing it almost immediately.
"Doctor Strange?" Iron Man asked, receiving no answer.
Grimm folded his arms, "Ok, since when did this become a superhero convention?"
The sorcerer bowed, "Apologies for the unexpected appearance," he seemed slightly out of breath, "I had just dealt with Baron Mordo."
T'Challa tilted his head, "He wouldn't have happened to be a part of a recent supervillain attack, would he?"
"I am not sure about that," Strange said, stroking his chin, "all I know is that someone managed to free Mordo from his bonds that trapped him in the Dark Dimension and he immediately took the chance to attack me. Needless to say, I have fixed this sabotage."
"I think that answers our question," Reed said, "a myriad of supervillains attacking at once and Baron Mordo freed from his imprisonment? Far too overlapping to be called a coincidence."
"Sounds like we have another supervillain mastermind situation." Wasp commented with a sigh.
Thor slightly curled his lips in a scowl, "So which cowardly villain would be the one who orchestrated such a ploy?" he asked, hitting his palm with his hammer in slight frustration.
"There are a few candidates." T'Challa responded before listing them all with his fingers, "The Leader, MODOK, Mr. Sinister, Baron Zemo-"
"Doctor Doom."
Everyone had a sudden chill run down their spines at the very mention of the name. They turned to the source of the interruption: Taskmaster, who had just woken up, sitting down on the street as casually as he could, "It was Doctor Doom who sent us to distract you."
Every hero was now on edge with what he said, "Why?" Mr. Fantastic sternly asked the mercenary.
Taskmaster shrugged, "Beats me, Stretch," He then shuffled a bit, attempting to ease the discomfort of the bonds around him, "All I know is that he personally paid me six figures to fight you guys and refused to elaborate as to why beyond muttering something about 'big plans,' whatever that may be."
"Jarvis, prep the Quinjet!" Iron Man shouted in his helmet before picking up Taskmaster by the collar, "What are his plans!? Tell us!"
Taskmaster remained calm and shrugged again, "Don't know, don't care. The only thing that matters to me is getting paid. And that's already dealt with 'cause Doom is an upfront kind of fella."
"Truly, mercenaries have no honor!" Thor spat as Iron Man dropped the copycat fighter in frustration.
"Honor doesn't pay the bills, blondie," the mercenary muttered to the god before Iron Man knocked him out again with a simple bonk on the head.
As everyone looked around in panic and wondered what to do, Strange was already using the Eye of Agamotto to figure out what Doom was planning, his eyes closed and his body floating in the lotus position as he gazed from beyond the astral realm.
He saw Doom reading some sort of book that he could not see fully. Perhaps if he turned the page…
In spite of that, the former surgeon was still unable to get a good glimpse at what the book contained before Doom stopped and seemed to turn his head to where he was looking!
The dictator raised an extended finger, the tip glowing with energy before firing, spooking Strange out of his concentration and back to the physical plane of existence with a hiss of annoyance.
"Strange!" Monica exclaimed, "What did you see?"
The Sorcerer Supreme clutched his head and shook it, "Doom was in his chambers, reading what appeared to be ancient tomes. I couldn't get a good look at them."
"I don't even trust Doom with a car owner's manual," Iron Man muttered before turning to Reed, "Richards-"
"Already on it!" the stretchy hero interrupted as the Fantasticar hovered in view and landed, the other members of the first family already rushing towards it, "I'll take it that you'll catch up?"
The whirring of the engines of the now-arrived Quinjet answered Reed's question. Mr. Fantastic nodded and headed to pilot his vehicle as Iron Man called to his fellow Avengers to board their own vehicle, "Avengers, Assemble!"
As the Avengers- sans Doctor Strange - boarded the Quinjet and began following the Fantasticar off to the horizon, Spider-Man sighed on top of a bent lamp post, "And, of course, leave it to the friendly neighborhood wall-crawler to clean up the messes the big-shots make!" He whinged, "I should start charging them at this point. Might help with the rent."
"Don't worry, Spider-Man," Strange said, raising his hands and performing his gestures, "I'll help."
In moments, the rubble began glowing with sparkles and glowing mist as they began to reconfigure themselves. The broken streets, crushed cars, and shattered glass were all as good as new in practically no time. Even the lamp post Spidey was perched on bent back to its regular shape.
The web-swinger was more flabbergasted than anything else, "Ok, what are your rates, cause having a mystic housekeeper help clean my apartment would be great!"
"I am the Sorcerer Supreme, not a butler." Strange responded with an annoyed sigh.
"I was just making a joke, buddy."
Castle Doom
The halls of Castle Doom were lit with ignited torch holders, the banners of the Latverian flag displayed at every opportunity, and dotted with stained glass windows that showed the metallic visage of Victor Von Doom. For outsiders, it was an exercise in narcissism. But for the native populace, it was the symbol of peace and prosperity.
Deep below the halls lay Doom's private chambers where the lines between science and mysticism blurs together. Alchemical sets, computers, scrolls, and books dotted the tables and shelves. and a bubbling cauldron lay in the center of it. From the smoke that emanated from the cauldron, Doom could see Earth's Heroes were in their vehicles and no doubt heading right towards his beautiful country.
He scoffed. He should have known that the thug Taskmaster would have spilled at any moment, regardless of how much he was paid. He never should have even approached the feckless mercenary.
He turned his head towards the book that Strange could not see earlier. On the page had a rather simplistic drawing of what looked to be some sort of rock with Nordic runes carved into it, next to it was a stone tablet that depicted what appeared to be a painting of seven diamond shaped gems and one massive gem in the middle of them all.
A few weeks ago, while scouring the globe for magical artifacts to help him gain the power to rule Earth, Doom had discovered this ancient tablet in the Savage Lands, near the ruins of what could have been a pyramid or a burial site. It told of seven powerful gemstones that granted the ultimate power, similar to that of the Infinity Gems, with a master gemstone that enhanced them to even greater heights.
Victor knew immediately that he needed these powerful artifacts. But where to get them? He studied every arcane art from the dawn of history and never did they leave any hint towards these powerful gemstones. And he doubted the Mystic Arts academy or even the Sanctum Sanctorum would have what he already didn't.
It wasn't until he realized that in order to get his answers, he had to look past this dimension.
He had to look for the Norn Stones.
The Norn Stones had a connection with Yggdrasil the World Tree, their primary capability was interrealm travel and there weren't just nine of them. There were hundreds, if not thousands of realms, each with their own Norn stone. He first heard of these mystical items a few years ago when that fool Baron Zemo and his lackeys known as the 'Masters of Evil' received help from Amora the Enchantress in retrieving these artifacts in a pathetic attempt to defeat the Avengers. Since then, has kept a close eye and ear on them in the event he would ever need them.
And that time is now.
He turned the page, reading words he's studied over a hundred times by now, observing the passage that mentions an Asgardian sorceress named 'Karnilla' and her role in keeping the Norn Stones in the right hands.
Well, what other hands were more right than Doom's?
Karnilla's fortress was supposedly located in a province of Asgard known as Nornheim. He narrowed his eyes before stepping back from the book and heading to the center of the room. He raised his hand and slightly waved it in the tiniest of gestures, opening a portal directly to the realm of Asgard, the blanket of space dotted by shining planets and stars was all he could see, for now.
Without hesitation, the dictator stepped through, activating his jet boots immediately so he didn't fall into the darkest pit of Ginnungagap below. He turned to his left after dissipating the portal, seeing the golden city of Asgard in the far distance, the rainbow bridge shining as the tall building glimmered in the starlight.
He dismissed the splendor and turned to the right. In the far, far distance, he noticed a stray rock that looked so tiny from this distance, planets and moons surrounding it.
He would assume that was the place he was looking for. He set his rocket boots to maximum power and zoomed towards his desired location.
He got to the rock in a matter of minutes thanks to supersonic flight - only it wasn't a rock, it was an entire island, floating by itself in the void, its terrain consisting of gigantic mountainous crystals that shone in the light reflected by the nearby planets and moons, with one particular crystalline formation sporting what looked to be a massive castle that pointed to the stars above.
He resisted the urge to chuckle in success as he neared the palace, landing on an open balcony and stepping forward to what looked like the front gates, with two Asgardians defending the door.
Unbeknownst to him, in the reflection of one of the crystals, Uatu's silhouette observed him, his glowing eyes barely illuminating his shape.
The path Doom currently takes, like many he's already crossed, is a dangerous one. I could - SHOULD - warn him of the consequences that his actions would set in motion. But I cannot interfere, no matter what. Besides, his ego is the size of the multiverse itself. He listens to no one, not even a being like me.
The guard's noticed Doom's landing and walked up to him, spears in hand, "Halt!" the one on the left shouted, "State your business!"
The dictator merely narrowed his eyes.
Karnilla sat on her throne, her hand rested on her chin as she tapped the armrest with her free hand, her eyes gazing upon the splendors of the crystalline halls and her servants beneath the steps to her throne. She adjusted her purple robes and extravagant silver headdress as she listened to her servant converse amongst themselves.
BOOM
Suddenly, the muffled sound of an explosion from beyond snapped her out of her trance and she perked up to the source beyond the throne room gates as her servants turned their heads as well.
For a brief moment, there was silence, followed by the doors crashing open with a loud bang as one of her guards was sent flying through them! The servants all ran away, panic running through their veins as screams and yells filled the sorceress' eardrums.
She stood up with haste, her fists clenched and ready to strike when the sound of metallic footsteps entered her hearing range. She snarled, "Who dares enter the palace of Karnilla, keeper of the Norn Stones!?"
"Doom dares."
A metallic voice that sent chills down her spine echoed throughout the halls as Doom came into the sorceress' full view, walking past the guard on the floor who was either dead or unconscious. Not that it mattered to him.
The Asgardian furrowed her brow, "Victor von Doom," she muttered, venom dripping from her voice.
"So you know who I am."
"Indeed, I do, Victor," the sorceress drawled, "Thor's tales reach far and wide even to here. He has told of your reputation as the most dangerous and power hungry mortal on the face of Midgard.
Doom stopped walking and narrowed his eyes, "If you claim to know me, then you would do well to speak wisely in my presence, Asgardian," the monarch warned, "Doom is beyond any mortal."
Karnilla seemed to suppress a giggle before scoffing, "I was aware of your arrogance, but I never fully believed it. No man could be so full pride. It seems the stories of your hubris were not exaggerated at all…"
Doom remained calm as the sorceress continued, "regardless, I know why you are here, mortal. You are here because you wish to gain control of the Norn Stones."
Doom merely nodded.
With her presumptions confirmed, she raised her balled up fists which glowed with an ethereal and crackling magic, "I won't allow you to acquire even a simple gander at them, Victor von Doom."
The monarch resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "You would be wise to surrender, Asgardian," he coldly stated, "you are not fully aware of what Doom is capable of."
Karnilla scoffed once more, "I could say the same thing to you." she muttered before boasting, "I am Asgard's greatest sorceress! Even Amora the Enchantress is paltry compared to me!"
Doom merely showed off his hand, letting it crackle with green lightning,"if you will not heed Doom's words, then perhaps a demonstration is in order…" he flatly said before his hand then balled into a fist the lightning intensifying.
With their hands crackling with raw power, their eyes locked with each others, and their intentions clear, they both charged at full speeds.