Zsaji and the other villagers stand aghast, staring at the rubble that was once the headquarters of the heroes. None of them could have survived Doctor Doom’s devastating strike….
In the Denver suburb enclosed in a dome and hurtling through space, the Enchantress conjures up a water elemental from the bathtub in Volcana’s apartment. From it she learns the story of the Beyonder, how he discovered our universe by accident and set out to study the human emotion of desire; to that end he created Battleworld and assembled the various characters for the secret war—and Enchantress knows the rest. The elemental adds one last detail: the Beyonder is not dead but remains close by Doom. Out in the apartment, the Lizard becomes restless from his close contact with humans and Dr. Octopus challenges Molecule Man’s leadership of the group. As the two villains face off, Enchantress lures Volcana off to a secluded park where she exacts the price for her earlier favor to the fiery villainess (issue #7): the goddess plans to drain Volcana of her life-energy to boost her own power so she can return to Asgard and warn them of the danger posed by Doom. Volcana, of course, will not survive the operation. After Molecule Man defeats Doc Ock in battle, he notices Volcana is missing; the Lizard tracks her for him and they confront the sorceress in the park, interrupting the ceremony. Enchantress teleports back to Battleworld (the closest destination) just as the Lizard leaps on her and they both end up on the remote planet. She knocks him down and incinerates him, draining the life energy from his corpse in hopes of getting to Asgard….
At Doom’s tower, the now omnipotent dictator fears falling asleep because of what he might do unconsciously. Klaw spins for him a scenario in which the heroes might have been restored to life: Zsaji went to investigate the scene of the disaster and found Colossus clinging to life, having switched to his armored form at the last second. She used all her powers to heal him but the exertion killed her. Colossus then found Mr. Fantastic still alive due to the elastic nature of his body and put him in one of the cell-regenerators, restoring him to health. Then Reed used the same devices to resurrect all the others, and they are on their way to confront Doom even now…. Doom recoils at the idea, though Klaw suggests he may have made this happen subconsciously. The mad servitor nags his master into a frenzy and just as Doom convinces himself that the heroes are certainly dead…
…Thor’s hammer bursts through the wall. Doom panics and his powers run amok destroying worlds. Klaw offers to deal with the heroes for him if Doom will only give him a little of his power. Doom complies and empowers the sonic villain. As the heroes arrive for combat, Klaw conjures up an army of weird monsters and restores Ultron as their leader. During the furious battle that follows, Thing discovers he can control his transformations to Ben Grimm, Wasp destroys Ultron from inside, and Captain America, his shield broken, makes it into the stronghold to confront Doom. The villain atomizes the hero, who is instantly reborn, then again, and Doom, wrestling with his own fears, collapses in panic and his power goes out of control. As Cap tries to anchor the mad villain’s unstable mind, the energy burst which has possessed Klaw for some time, departs from his body and, revealing itself to be the Beyonder, reclaims his power from Doom. Doom is restored to his original form and the Beyonder departs, taking Doom and Klaw with him….
The heroes return to the village where they bury Zsaji (the scenario described by "Klaw" earlier was apparently brought into reality subconsciously by Doom as he listened to it). The heroes undergo first aid and Curt Connors enters the hall, left behind when the Enchantress absorbed the Lizard’s energy. Lockheed returns with a female dragon friend. Reed theorizes that the building is programmed to fulfill wishes so Cap tests it and his shield is indeed repaired. Reed creates a device to teleport them back to the alien ship the Beyonder used to transport them to this planet and from there they can return to Earth. Reed sends them back in groups, but gets a surprise: Thing chooses to remain on the planet, with She-Hulk taking his place in the Fantastic Four, so he can think things through in solitude. They leave the device with him for when he decides to return and say goodbye.