Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Prof X explains to the other Illuminati (except Iron Man) something about Secret Wars I. (Mr Fantastic is the only other 1 of them who was there as well, but he doesn't know some of this.)
A being from beyond this universe who they dubbed the Beyonder had gathered a bunch of superheroes and villains on Battleworld and pitted them against each other. Charles Xavier says he could have psychically stopped the fight, and then he and Reed Richards could probably have dealt with the problem. But he was wary of how the immensely powerful being would react.
But he now adds that he investigated the Beyonder's mind and found a mutant signature and an image of the Inhuman royal family. He believes the Beyonder is actually a mutant Inhuman. Ie he was a mutant before the Terrigen Mists triggered his Inhuman power. Xavier reads from silent Black Bolt's mind that he doesn't remember such a thing.
Prof X has gathered Black Bolt, Dr Strange, Mr Fantastic and Sub-Mariner together now because he has sensed the return of the Beyonder. (DrS says they don't know where Tony Stark is, and MrF says he hasn't talked to him for a while.) PX thinks they should go find the alien before he gets a chance to do anything. He's used Cerebro to track the 'mutant' to the asteroid Ceres. Regal Namor expects the Beyonder to respect the will of his king BB.
Reed takes them to the Skrull ship that they escaped from the Skrull galaxy on in #1. The other Illuminati believed the ship destroyed lest the Skrulls track it (but surely the Skrulls know where Earth is?). But he and Stark have been studying it, and Namor accuses them of both profiting from the alien tech.
They fly to Ceres and find a lifesize replica of Manhattan there. They land on the Baxter Building and Stephen Strange declares that the city's inhabitants are all mindless puppets.
They see the Beyonder in human form talking to fake Iron Fist, Power Man and Spider-Man in front of a collapsed gold building. Then B makes PM & IF vanish.
But then Beyonder notices the Illuminati and transports himself to their presence. He is astonished to see real people made of real molecules. Then he recognises Black Bolt and kneels to him as his lord.
But at that point a fake Hulk attacks the alien. Beyonder gets rid of him and apologises for not aborting that scheduled action.
He says Blackagar Boltagon can speak here without fear of his voice destroying the place. He offers to give his king control over his vocal power, or even to remove it completely. But he's confused over how BB can still be alive - Beyonder believes he's been away for a long time.
While they are speaking Beta Ray Bill and Captain Marvel streak past, followed by Silver Surfer, Galactus and his herald Nova/Frankie Raye.
The Illuminati ask Beyonder to return to the universe he just came from (not his birth universe according to the origin presented here). They say his meddling is upsetting the natural order of things, especially the future of humanity. B responds that they interfere all the time, but DrS says they are human so that's OK.
Beyonder then gives them a taste of the 'perfected' world he could create, with their desires satisfied. Dr Strange wakes up in bed with Clea and Scarlet Witch (according to Marvel Wiki). Overhead fly Iron Men and Iron Women, and many other flying beings (Inhumans?), and flying cars. Sub-Mariner invades the surface world with his Atlanteans.
The Illuminati tell him to stop. Namor relays it as an order from King Black Bolt that he should leave this universe. We see Beyonder's memory of walking into the Terrigen Mists watched by BB and co. (Presumably after his transformation he disappeared into the solipsistic universe he later occupied.)
Then his body turns into a statue, which starts to crumble along with the surroundings. And the Illuminati escape as other asteroids crash into this 1. The team believe the alien has gone. And BB still can't remember him.
But Beyonder watches them go from afar. He's in another replica Manhattan, or maybe the real 1.