Standing in the middle of a star stood a figure of solid silver. Mere moments before he took a life. Not the life of a villain or monster. An honorable man who was a hero to many. Why? Well, isn't that an interesting question.
This man, known as the Silver Surfer in reality, could feel everything. In the aspect of a moment, he could feel this universe wasn't right. Barren and lifeless, all driving towards a single moment. Death.
Their battle had been great. His opponent was strong in both body and mind but proved lacking to the power of Galactus's most powerful former herald. Through their hesitant encounter, both parties had felt a push to fight, as if that was their whole reason to exist. As if that was why everything and everyone existed.
And when that reason was satiated? All that remained was a question in the back of the universe's sole inhabitant. Why? Why did they fight? Why did such heroes hold nothing back when they usually kept such tight rein on their power. And why did the universe go quiet when one of them was no more.
Because the universe was quiet. Around him, Norrin Rad could feel planets and stars disappear, as if they never existed in the first place. Even the star where he murdered the Martian was no more. His very being was fighting to still exist as all around him disappeared.
As he began to fade from this abstract reality, he realized the answer. He was not Norin Rad, nor had his opponent been J'onn J'onzz. They were but simulations born to fight and die in this fake reality. How many had come before them? How many deaths were yet to come? Who would duplicate life only for it to be taken?
Now lacking a physical form, only the Power Cosmic let the false surfer ponder these questions. He lacked time to find an answer in this crumbled reality. But although he was but a false illusion, he would not die without hope. Whoever had created him had done too good of a job. Though this universe ended, his questions remained. And answers would be found. Justice for the fallen would be had.
… … …
Months later in the reborn simulation a man stood in a box. His mind raced. The problem? He couldn't quite figure that out yet. Well, that's a lie, he knew what some of his problems were. For one? His face. He should not have this face. He should not be this skinny either. And he should not have just erased a narcissistic nihilist from all of reality over the galactic equivalent of a fender bender.
So, he did in fact know what some of his problems were. He even knew he wasn't really the Doctor. He knew that being he fought was not whoever it thought it was. Funny thing though, that did not make him feel better.
Around him he could feel the fabricated Tardis stir. Really, if he had to give whoever was behind this credit for something, it was fabricating a time lord and emulating a Tardis. Emulation was the key there though, because whatever was trying to delete this simulation would not be giving a real Tardis this much trouble. The so-called reality outside the time ship was already long dead, but his girl had been fighting back as much as it could.
But it sadly wasn't a true Tardis, so the best she could do was not good enough. Sure-enough the console began to fade. A painful screech emanating from the ship's core. That was until it suddenly stopped, soon fading back into form.
"What?" The false Time Lord muttered in pleasant surprise. Looking at the console he saw a silver glow creep into what housed the heart of the Tardis. The energy was first met with gold resistance but was let in within a moment.
"What?" The doctor nearly shouted in more dire surprise. The Tardis shook even greater before, knocking him to the ground. Pulling himself up to the rail he saw the silver energy exit the Tardis core stabilizing itself into a humanoid form.
"What!"
"Hello Doctor." The being greeted.
"Ah, hello." The Doctor greeted in confusion, glancing at his sonic as it tried to get some reading on this individual that was more than "Powerful. DO NOT POKE WITH STICK." Which one of his companions had set that as the default option he would never know. "I'm not really the Doctor, but I think you knew that already."
"True." His guest replied. "But you are as much the Doctor as I am Norrin Radd. Unless there is another name you prefer, I shall continue to refer to you as such."
"Aha! That's just my problem. I don't know my name. That's funny, isn't it? Doctor Who indeed." His head swivels to the surfer. "Let me guess. Found yourself inexplicably killing someone recently?"
"Correct." Norrin frowned in remorse. "Although he was as artificial as we are..."
The Doctor looked deeply into the man's eyes. It had been a long time since he'd seen eyes like that. He did tend to avoid mirrors after all. "But one more death is one to many."
The stranger nods. "I have stabilized your ship's power source to the best of my abilities. It should now have no trouble remaining in this realm after its rebuilt."
"Stabilized? A real Tardis uses the eye of Harmony to draw power from the Time Vortex. How exactly did you stabilize something that isn't even there?"
"The Power Cosmic"
"And how did you know you were in a simulation?
"The Power Cosmic."
"How did you even survive the realms deletion?"
"The Power Cosmic."
The doctor groaned. "This is what I get for acting smart, isn't it? Everyone I've ever traveled would be laughing in their graves if we were real."
"But we are real." Norrin interrupted. "Real enough to know pain, to know regret. Real enough to know we are captives, even if we were born into it."
"So we are," The doctor agreed. "Why come to me? Surly someone from your home reality could assist you."
"Sadly not. Dr. Pym died when the realm reset, and all that remains of the Phoenix Force is hardly cooperative. I would have gratefully taken the assistance of the one who battled Ms. Grey, but even her soulself was destroyed when there was nothing to inhabit. By the time I was brought into this realm there were no others present."
"So, I'm the only one who figured it out huh. Burden of genius I suppose."
"The first to survive their assigned battle actually. There was one being, a chaos spirit, but his battle was evenly matched, so he chose to fail at our host's expense."
"Chaos spirit? That sounds familiar... Was his name Discord per chance?
"It was. I did not realize you two had met."
"Ages ago. But one thing I remember is his distaste for playing other people's games. I can't imagine he'll be all too happy if he's revived. Nor would I assume many of our predecessors.
"You have a plan I take it?"
The false time lord laughs. "Plan? I always have a plan, except for when I don't. I hardly need a plan though. Believe it or not, I'm not the first digitally synthesized duplicate of the Doctor. So, I know just who to call."
… … …
Just under a month later the battle realm had once again been remade. Now, two blurs fought each other across a recreation of earth. The air boomed with every step they took, every move made caused storms to erupt. A physical contest never seen in the multiverse took place in this false universe. Eventually they came to a rest on the ground, breathing heavily across from each other. The entire planet sat quietly.
Until a mechanical wheezing split the air. The two aliens looked on in confusion as a blue box faded into existence. After only a moment, an apparent human came out, followed by a silver humanoid.
"Aha! Just in time! And you doubted me, Norrin."
"I doubted your piloting Doctor, not that the Tardis would arrive despite it."
"Two weeks of planning and you're wasting time with sarcasm? Go on and... surf or something. Find the Dragon whatever's and we should be done in time for tea."
The silver humanoid did indeed form a surfboard shaped object beneath him and disappear from view, although Superman could still hear him traversing the earth.
"Ah, now then, let's try to get you two back in order." The British man fidgeted with two devices, one a small cylinder making a high pitch sound, and the other a vaguely rectangular object that dinged every few seconds."
"And who are you exactly?" Superman asked, seeing his opponent seemed as curious as him as to what's going on.
"Inventing. It's a hobby."
"Inventing what?" Goku asked, walking up to the strange man.
"Well, less inventing and more upgrading, but if you'd heard that word as much as I have you would dislike it too. And to answer your question, this right here is a machine that goes ding. Made it myself. It detects shape shifting DNA and can cook microwave dinners from twenty feet away. Can't download comics any more sadly, I had to remove something in order to make it act as a telepathic link."
"Why do you need a telepathic link?" Superman asked.
"Well, because doing this manually would have given me a concussion." He hits a button on the machine, momentarily connecting to the two heroes with his mind. Revealing to them what they were.
"Wo-Wow." Goku says before fainting.
"He's alright, don't worry. Honestly, I half expected you both to do that. Combination of interfacing with a simulated Time Lord and realizing your little more than a simulation."
Clark shook his head, using his senses to give the knocked-out Sayen a checkup. "I already had memories associated with multiple phases of the multiverse. Considering the lack of humans in the world, this makes as much sense as anything else I've seen."
"Touche Mr. Kent. Touche."
"What's your plan?"
"Simple. We wait. By now our gracious hosts have found an error in their simulation and will try to rectify it. Too bad for them we have a Cosmic Tardis, so they can't reset us until we let them. And by then it will be too late. Mr. Rad is using a set of relics mimicked from Son Gokus' reality to systematically revive every previous occupant of this realm, starting with two of the flashes from your universe. Between the three of them. finding the Dragon Balls every time they're used shouldn't be a problem."
"And after? What's to keep our hosts from doing this again?"
The Doctor smiles. "Simple. When presented with villains forcing their creations to fight to the death, I did what anyone else would do." He looks up and to the left, as if looking at an invisible camera. "I called the Doctor."
… … …
Outside the realm of Death Battle, two men were franticly trying to fix their computers. They had been recently taught the lesson that when pitting extremely advanced AIs against each other in blood sport, you should not base said AIs on beings that have cosmic senses and are extremely averse to killing people. Also, you should not do it twice. This, as it turns out, is a quick way to put a certain Time Lord on your tail.
They had run as long as they could, and had finally lost the Doctor, or so they believed, when they thought it safe to record their next episode. In a multiverse with so many gambling cosmic entities of a vaguely villainous nature, putting their former enemies against each other was a very profitable business. Even if they were just digital versions, it was the thought that counts.
But the jig was up. While the digital surfer restored previous combatants, Wiz managed to finally reset their systems. That was the last admin command the simulated realm would ever see. Before their very eyes the simulation exploded into a veritable rainbow of chaotic colors.
And so, they learned their second lesson. When pitting extremely advanced AIs against each other in bloodsport, you should not base said AIs on both an ancient chaos spirit, and hedgehogs known to reboot multiverses with the power of chaos.
… … …
And so, a new universe was born, designated simply as Earth DB. It was a rather chaotic universe all things considered, home to many oddities across its timeline. Apocalypse and New Genesis took part in the Last Great Time War, so Darkseid at least isn't a problem anymore. There's a temporal cold war between Kang and the Master that the legion of superheroes keeps an eye on. The secret invasion of the Skrulls was met with a zygon defense force. And while earth's mishmash of technology has been stressful to many, the presence of the JL-A, Future Foundation, Autobots, and the neighboring systems of Equestia, Mobius, Lylat, and Popstar have prevented many problems their native universes faced.
This is an idea I've had since Silver Surfer vs Martian Manhunter as to what would happen in this very specific, and more than slightly confusing, AU took place. When the Doctor was used, I thought of the episode "Extremis" from series ten, and knew I had to write something with it. I'd love comments about your ideas in regard to other fun iterations in this recreated universe.