While Bruce and the others were making their plans, the Divine Lord Doom was also engaged in a conversation with the one person considered second only to him—his chief enforcer, the Sheriff.
"There were no major incidents on the Southern Wall last week."
"…The Ominous Lord built a rather flamboyant statue for Lord James."
"We're going to have to teach those people a lesson sooner or later."
The White-robed Divine Lord interrupted the Sheriff's report impatiently. "You still care about these trivial matters, Stephen?"
The Sheriff—none other than the former Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen Strange—seemed momentarily unsure of what the Divine Lord meant. He looked up at Doom and asked, "You mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean. These trifles… these lengthy crime reports," said Doom as he rose from his throne, gazing down at Stephen.
But Stephen countered his words, "No matter how tedious they are, they're still less troublesome than our constant disagreements, my lord."
If anyone who knew Stephen saw his demeanor at this moment, they would've been shocked. The once proud sorcerer, known for never bowing to anyone, now showed a rare hint of deference in the presence of the Divine Lord.
"You should understand why I do this. Even if you are the King of Kings, you are not omniscient. Your throne and this final world we reside in—both face unseen threats," Stephen said, fully aware of the nature of the world Doom had constructed.
Doom didn't refute him. Instead, he descended from the throne with calm composure. "You're right. This world is no different from the others that came before—still fraught with danger. So, like those before us, we must face it together. Use their methods against them."
Stephen remained silent as the Divine Lord slowly approached him.
"I remember every disagreement we've had. As for your report, it's not something we need to concern ourselves with," Doom said as he waved his hand, opening a path from the previously sealed space into the rear gardens of his castle.
Stephen could sense that Doom was in a foul mood.
Something had clearly upset him.
"You're in a terrible mood today, aren't you?" Stephen remarked, which prompted a silent nod from Doom. Without further comment, Doom led Stephen toward the garden—to the spot where he had placed a sculpture.
"Divine worries are endless, incomprehensible to mortals. But even mortals can tell when something is weighing on your mind."
Hearing this, Stephen finally spoke more openly.
"I know you are a god, just like everyone else does. But unlike them, I remember. I remember that this world—everything we built—it was our plan. We save who we can. What we can't save, we create anew." Stephen turned his gaze aside, avoiding Doom's eyes. "When we disagree, I always think of who else should've been god—someone other than you. Maybe even me."
They reached the statue—a figure dressed in something resembling a breakdancer's outfit: the Molecule Man.
Beside him stood another sculpture—the so-called God of Darkness seen in legends. But here, the figure was in his original form: Batman, not the version enhanced by the Speed Force.
Doom looked at the statue of the Molecule Man and said to Strange, "But I remember—you never wanted to become god."
"I still don't. But I know how valuable everything we left behind is. I'll risk my life to protect it," Stephen replied seriously.
Yet in Doom's eyes, there was only confusion.
"No wonder your reports are so dull. I may not know everything, but I know you're guarding unknowable secrets—trying to expose the conspiracies that should be revealed," said Doom, standing beneath the statue. "But the problem is, while we try to protect everything, some people want to destroy it all."
Stephen paused, unsure of Doom's full meaning, but he understood that the best thing he could do now was stay silent.
"Batman is gone," said Doom, looking at the statue of the so-called God of Darkness—though both of them preferred to call it Batman.
"That's impossible. I placed a seal on him. He couldn't have awakened so soon." Stephen knew better than anyone. He was the one who sealed that nearly indestructible monster there, back when Doom had turned Bruce into a shriveled corpse.
"And if he had broken through, I should've sensed it," Stephen added. He was sure he hadn't received any warnings from the sealing array.
He was about to use magic to investigate, but Doom stopped him.
"Batman has definitely escaped. A few days ago, on a whim, I went to check on him," said Doom, placing his hand on Stephen's arm to halt the spell.
To be honest, if he hadn't had a sudden gut feeling, he wouldn't have gone to look.
But what he saw left him deeply unsettled.
Batman had indeed broken free. Bruce had erased all traces, leaving no evidence behind.
But Doom no longer needed physical clues to know if Bruce had escaped.
Stephen still remembered the reason Batman had once fought the Divine Lord—it was because he disagreed with Doom's methods.
No one knew why the usually neutral Molecule Man had intervened.
Everyone had asked him why, but he never gave an answer.
"So what should we do now?" Stephen asked. He knew better than anyone how powerful Batman was.
Even with the Molecule Man staying neutral, Batman alone could crush a being on Doom's level.
And even if Stephen and Doom joined forces to fight Batman, at best, they'd only gain a slight advantage.
"Prepare the Thor Corps," said the White-robed Divine Lord.
At the same time, Stephen received another message.
"Looks like the storm has begun," he said, looking at Doom. "I'm afraid someone's discovered a truth that was meant to stay hidden. A prophecy has emerged from the Endlands."
Doom waved his hand, signaling Stephen to carry out his duties. As for himself, he needed to get in touch with an old friend.
Stephen bowed respectfully and vanished from the castle.
Meanwhile, Doom slowly walked to the base of the Molecule Man's statue.
With a light gesture, a secret door opened before him, revealing a warm, white light from within.
"Transported from the calmest place in the world—right now, if you close your eyes and listen, you still won't hear a thing. Absolute silence, Victor. Everything has its opposite; even ears can lie."
"If you sit completely still, immersed in the tranquility at the center of the universe, you'll feel a power within your body stirring with the fluctuations of the world. Your organs are transforming."
God-King Doom walked forward as he spoke these somewhat obscure and difficult-to-understand words. In front of him sat a man radiating light from his entire being.
Rather than saying he was sitting, it would be more accurate to say his world's gravity was reversed compared to others. He sat upright above the white-robed God-King, turning his head to look at the approaching figure.
"We have a peaceful path now, a chance for unity. But if we're not careful, it's all over. Also…" The Molecule Man glanced at the current God-King and grinned. "Did you bring me anything to eat?"
"Sorry, I didn't. I'm not interested. My mind is on other things," God-King Doom replied calmly, his tone unshaken.
"I've devoured everything, Victor, but I'm still starving. From the hair on my head to the tips of my toes, every cell is under Owen's control, and every one needs sustenance. If I don't eat soon, I'll be skin and bones."
The Molecule Man continued to ramble on, but God-King Doom's next words froze him in place.
"Batman—Bruce Wayne—has escaped."
The Molecule Man fell silent, no longer speaking of hunger. He simply turned away, no longer facing Doom.
"What exactly did you see back then?" God-King Doom now wanted to know what kind of power it was that even the Molecule Man feared.
"What kind of existence made you willing to help me defeat that bat who holds absolute ideals?" Doom was well aware he had never been the Molecule Man's ideal ally. Instead, it was always the bat who seemed to satisfy him.
Otherwise, Doom would never have been the Great Destroyer, and the bat would never have been called the Holy Speedster.
One bears destruction. The other, salvation.
Perhaps, in the Molecule Man's view, once the Battleworld was rebuilt, the best ruler would have been that bat. But all of that changed in that one battle.
"Victor, you may think of yourself as an omnipotent god now, but you're merely borrowing power from me," the Molecule Man suddenly said. "But at that moment, I saw that bat… become a god of another kind. A god who didn't need to draw strength from me."
"He would greedily seize all the energy he could control, all the power he could absorb. And he would take great pleasure in seeing the world fall into ruin."
His words caused God-King Doom to furrow his brows. He had never considered such a reason.
"Can you find that bat?"
Just as the Molecule Man said, Doom wasn't truly an omnipotent god. But the Molecule Man—he certainly counted as one.
The Molecule Man looked back at Doom, then said somewhat wistfully, "Next time, remember to bring me something to eat."
He no longer wished to speak with Doom. He closed his eyes again and returned to his task—maintaining the balance of Battleworld, doing everything he could to keep it from collapsing in an instant.
God-King Doom understood now—some things, not even the Molecule Man could perceive. Just like those beyond the pantheon—they were not truly omniscient or omnipotent.
He turned and left, vanishing completely.
"Did we really do the right thing?" the Molecule Man murmured.
But there was no room for regret anymore.
Just like the beings beyond the pantheon—though now they possessed such godlike power, they too were powerless to change anything that had already happened.
Elsewhere, Bruce was leading Captain America and the others away from Zone 20 of Manhattan. They weren't heading directly to Doom's Sacred City in Zone 19.
He had his own plans.
His destination was clear—Zone 22, the War Zone.
It was a very special area.
In one universe, due to the recklessness of some young superheroes, a Nitro explosion occurred in the Stamford community. Over 600 residents died in the blast.
This led to the push for the Superhuman Registration Act, which also created major divisions among the heroes. Captain America refused to give up freedom, while Iron Man preferred to place all heroes under oversight.
This ultimately sparked the superhuman civil war that nearly destroyed America.
Unlike the version in another universe—where Captain America eventually repented and surrendered to the government, bringing the civil war to an end—this war had never stopped.
Prison 42, used to detain superpowered criminals, had its self-destruct sequence manually triggered. Though many tried to flee immediately, Cloak couldn't teleport that many heroes to safety at once.
By the time Cloak teleported everyone to New York, he was completely exhausted. He hadn't been able to fully shut down the teleportation gate. Prison 42, located in Negative Space, exploded. The massive energy blast destroyed all of Manhattan.
Captain America and Iron Man each blamed the other's faction for the incident. Neither side was willing to back down. After all, over ten million people died in New York, and the superheroes suffered devastating losses.
Reconciliation was impossible.
(End of Chapter)
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