The final seal was broken,

it opened up the gates

For the dark avengers,

their anger kills the light and then ...

I do not want my eyes to see,

I never wanted to believe

Take me to the gardens of the sinner,

Bury me and let me rest in peace

Now the time of truth has come for everyone

The fallen angel stands in victory

Gamma Ray - "Gardens of the Sinner"

And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when a ship suddenly fell into an infinite desert plain. The people inside were unconcious, but slowly began to regain their senses. The AI of the ship did not say anything. In fact, nothing in the ship was active. They all saw the desert around them, and Tony Stark was the first to talk. "I don't want to sound cliche, but… 'Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore'". Nick Fury tried to figure out their current status: "Before we were captured, the incursions were about to destroy the only two universes still in existence. Wherever we are, it's good news; the universe has not been destroyed, or at least one of them is still here. Still, we need to know where we are, and what has happened". So Sue asked Vision about it. She got still while seeking information, and stayed that way.

"Why did she got frozen again?" asked Hawkeye, after half an hour. "This should have been an easy question. Where are we, and if it's our universe or the other. Why does it take so long?". Suddenly, Vision started talking again. "Tak3 me awa7… from the pla6e I'v3 b33n… t0 an0ther life… in an07her w0rl9… NO!" Her sudden scream took everyone by surprise, as she regained her senses. "Nicholas Fury is wrong. The incursion took place. Everything died. We're in a new world, created by Rabum Alal. He's the Dr. Doom of Earth-2. They have already sensed us, and they are coming our way." Nick Fury ordered then to leave the ship and escape, and place as much distance as possible between it and whatever was coming after them. Hawkeye protested the idea of leaving the ship behind, but Fury insisted. "We have already tried, this thing is dead as a rock. It will give us no advantage. Quite the contrary, it's like a huge 'We are here!' sign. We have to escape, and hope to find some other place where we can hide and plan our next move."

The Invisible Woman led the escape. Mounted on a big forcefield, they could escape without getting tired, and Iron Man would not waste his energy, that they did not know if he would be able to recharge it any time soon. Out of the ship, the idea of a hiding place seemed a bit remote: there was nothing but sand as far as they could see. No point discussing where to go, then: just in a straight line away from the ship, in whatever direction they took first. At some point, somewhere, they should find something. In the meantime, Vision explained the new world. "Make the people hold each other hands, and fill your hearths with truth. You made up your mind, so do as divined."

"In the end of all things, as in the begining, there was Yahweh, who in our Multiverse is called the One Above All. He was everything and everything was He, but not this time, as the multiversal death left him with a pretender, Victor Von Doom, imbued with the power of the Beyonders that he had slain. Doom was not expecting this meeting and asked, 'Who are you?'. 'I am who I am' was the answer. 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Begining and the End'. It echoed in the skies, and then there was silence. And it came to pass that Doom raised his fist to the skies and said 'That you say, voice, but I am DOOM. And I will not be denied! With this power I shall remake the world as I see fit, and I will be its god.' The One Above All made a final answer: 'I am the First and I am the Last. There is no God but me'. And He did not say anything else."

"Still, Doom was not alone. The devil was there as well, arousing him with sweet words. He said 'There can be no denying it: You are supreme. Anything you wish to be, you are. Anything you wish, is. Nothing in this universe dares challenge that claim. There be only one word to describe you… God. Within your grasp rest the infinite. My humble personage bows before your grandeur. I am proud to be your first acolyte and bask in the glory of your divine presence. How may I serve you, great Doom?' Doom listened in silence, with clenched fists, and when the devil was done, he caught him by the neck. He had no fear of him, and hated him with a passion. 'Do you take me for a fool, Mephisto? Did you thought I forgot what you once did to my mother? I could terminate you with but a thought, but that would be too easy. No, I will destroy your precious Hell instead. You will live, but like a vagrant without home, wandering around the prime reality. You'll soon wish I had killed you!'. Doom sensed the realm of Mephisto, and with but a snap of his fingers, he destroyed it. And when he got rid of Mephisto, Doom was alone, with only the void before him"

"And then Doom saw the void. There was nothing. Followed by everything. Doom created the light. Then there was Earth. The firmament cooled and he raised up a land. His holy land. The world. Battleworld. He recreated Doomstadt as his seat of power, but he was alone. He restored Dr. Strange and the Molecule Man, who stood next to him against the Beyonders, to life. Despite his evil ways, Doom had an uneasy friendship with Stephen Strange. The Molecule Man looked up to Doom, but he was the actual power of the Beyonders in human form. Longing for more company, and as a result of his hatred for Reed Richards, Doom recreated the Richards family, making them his own. Susan Storm was now his wife, and Franklin and Valeria were now his sons. But he still felt the world to be a vast emptiness. He could create people to rule, as he created his family, but it would be long and time consuming. And such creations would not have free will. Strange and the Molecule Man had it because they were with Doom in the multiversal end and he simply restored them to life. Susan Franklin and Valeria had it as well, but it took him a long and detailed work to create them that way. He could not create masses of people with free will in a quick manner, and he would get no satisfaction from ruling a hive."

"This free will made Franklin and Valeria as curious and craving for knowledge as their original counterparts. They wanted to know about the nature of the universe, that Doom had kept from them, and discovered the remains of Yggdrasil, the tree of life. With it, they found the remains of the Badlands, a dimension where most supervillains joined forces and killed all superheroes in a combined swift attack. It was not the whole dimension or earth, just a small portion of it. Doom was intrigued by the discovery, but did not want to recreate the multiverse. Instead of that, he took this territory and brought it to Battleworld. He did the same with other similar discoveries. This is, then, a patchwork planet, made by remains of several alternate dimensions that now co-exist in a same physical planet. "

"And so, Doom recreated those ruins into working and functional domains, largely similar to the worlds they used to be located in. He also restored their populations, people similar to those who used to live in there, but who ignore about their previous life, the incursions or the death of their universes. They all think that they have always lived on Battleworld, that Doom has always been their God, and that they never had an existence other than this one. There is, in fact, a Kingdom of Manhattan with such copycats of most of us. Most of those domains have a baron or baroness, who rules over them, while still being subject to Doom. Some domains, however, and completely anarchic and Doom preferred to leave them that way, without appointing a ruler. Three domains, Deadlands, Perfection and New Xandar, are too dangerous for the others and are kept behind a giant shield. Doom kept restoring dead worlds as Battleworld domains for a long time, secretly hoping to find a reality with a Reed Richards he could torment, but never found any."

"He also created his own police force, the Thors. Most realities, including ours, had only one Thor; Doom made instead an army with several ones, recruited from the domains and all with their own Mjolnir. They act as his messengers and enforcers. For example, he has sent them against the two ships from the old multiverse that have appeared on Battleworld".

The heroes were hearing this narration silently, making no comments or observations. That last point, however, took them by surprise. "A second ship? Where…?". But they could not discuss about this. A hammer suddenly fell from the sky, smashing Sue's forcefield and throwing everyone aside. They looked to the sky, and saw an army of Thors swarming to their location.

The bridge appears, I jump into the dark side

And hear the voice it's cold as ice "Welcome to reality"

Where am I now? Darkness surrounds. Can't go forward, can't go back.

I see planets dying, I fall into the light

A new universe awakes, I'm a Traveler in Time

Pray for the light

Where's the key to the gate of a new life - no

I search for deliverance, but I cannot find

Look behind the mirror, I'm lost in the twilight hall

Once I'll be back for a moment in time, That's when the mirror's falling down

Blind Guardian - "Lost in the Twilight Hall"