American Comics: Multiverse of Madness

350. Bollocks!!!

Ten minutes earlier.

The Wasteland Universe.

In the endless, desolate timeline, a rift suddenly tore open. With a gentle breeze in the sky, a sleek, metallic sled emerged from the other side of reality.

"Are we back?" Wolverine eagerly asked. Beside him, Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman's two children sat quietly.

As one of the most powerful beings in the primary universe, Mister Fantastic's son, Franklin, was born with powers capable of creating reality and bending causality. However, not every Franklin across the multiverse possesses such immense power; similar to the one killed in his sleep by Deadpool, Wasteland Universe's Franklin still couldn't control his powers.

This was one reason Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman would send their children to safe pocket dimensions to escape danger whenever they faced a crisis.

"It seems so; we've returned to the time anchor set by Herbie, although we're slightly off. After all, the energy from the Time Stone fragments is limited," Mister Fantastic adjusted the time sled, answering.

At that moment, as she took in her surroundings, the Invisible Woman's gaze was suddenly drawn to a strange phenomenon in the sky.

According to the intelligence from Logan and Constantine, the time they were traveling to was set in the afternoon, marking their expected time anchor.

At first, Susan didn't notice anything unusual, but as the glow in the sky began to fade, she suddenly realized that the Wasteland had already fallen into night. The light in the sky wasn't from the sun—it was from magic.

"That's… the protective magic of the Sanctum Sanctorum!?"

Susan looked up, staring at the golden barrier, which was shattering like broken glass and dissolving into countless stars, rapidly dissipating like an aurora.

"Damn…" Watching the spectacular sight, old Logan recalled the battle where the heroes had fallen. "We're too late."

"It's not time to give up yet, Logan. It's just the barrier that's broken—the enemy hasn't truly set foot on our land. We're not too late."

Though Mister Fantastic didn't know much about magic, he understood that, no matter which Earth-based sorcerer had cast this protective barrier, their situation was dire now.

But it was also thanks to the sorcerer's sacrifice that they'd bought enough time to make it back at such a critical moment.

"Yes, we're not too late. As long as we're here, Galactus will never threaten Earth."

As the Invisible Woman, Susan, spoke, her force field senses suddenly picked up on something unusual. Looking far off into the distance, she spotted a tiny, meteoric figure plummeting from the heavens at tremendous speed.

"What's that?"

Franklin also saw the object.

"It looks like a person?"

"Whoever it is, they seem to need our help."

Her son's voice caught Mister Fantastic's attention, and he adjusted the sled's parameters, steering the metallic craft in the figure's direction.

"That feeling… so familiar…"

As they approached the figure, even with just the briefest contact of her force field, Susan felt an intensely familiar sensation, as if they'd crossed paths many times before.

"With all our old friends gone, any 'familiarity' you sense may not be a good sign."

Mister Fantastic adjusted his glasses, analyzing the situation calmly.

Knowing her husband well, Susan didn't respond but instead focused her energy, fully activating her force field in an attempt to slow the falling figure.

In an instant, her blue energy flared up, and the figure, cloaked in flames, began to decelerate slowly.

At this moment, Susan finally recognized the aura emanating from the figure—and the true identity of the person who sacrificed everything to save Earth.

"It's… him."

The fallen Doom's body, burned to a charred husk from reentry, was now nearly unrecognizable.

Moreover, his magic had long been depleted, which was why Susan hadn't immediately identified Doom. In her memory, Doom was an unstoppable monarch, never appearing so weak.

Using her force field, Susan brought Doom's battered body onto the time sled.

Seeing their old adversary, yet also an old friend, in this state, both the Invisible Woman and Mister Fantastic had complex expressions on their faces.

It was hard to believe that the very man who once orchestrated the killing of Earth's superheroes had, forty-five years later, died defending the planet, leading the charge in the battle.

"Doom… is this what you wanted?"

Mister Fantastic gazed at Doom's body, a mixture of emotions swirling within him.

"To kill heroes, understand heroes, and become a hero—I wish you could answer me. Did you ever regret it?"

But the deceased Doom could no longer answer his question, and Mister Fantastic understood he was merely musing aloud.

"You'd never admit you regretted it, would you? That's just who you are."

At this moment, Constantine leaned in. "He still has remnants of his soul."

Without further explanation, and under the others' confused gazes, Constantine pulled out a pencil from his coat and snapped it in half.

A breeze blew through, and the broken pencil transformed into a dark mist that seeped into Doom's body through his eyes, ears, and mouth.

"…Reed, I did my best."

Though his lips did not move, Doom's voice resonated in everyone's minds.

As she looked at Doom's body, Susan felt a sudden disturbance in her force field. She had the eerie sensation that Doom was staring right back at her.

"I know."

Mister Fantastic didn't know what emotion colored his words as he replied.

"From here on…"

Doom's voice grew weaker but carried a sense of peace and release.

"I leave it to you…"

The voice faded, and Doom's body began to disintegrate. Like the wood that had turned to smoke, Doom's remains dried, shrank, and eventually turned to ash, scattering in the wind.

Witnessing this strange scene, everyone turned to look at Constantine.

Seeing their questioning stares, Constantine gave an awkward smile, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it as he explained.

"Don't worry—it's just a side effect of the spell. At least you got to hear his final words, which is far better than him dying alone, right?"

'Constantine! Are you done yet?'

Abruptly, a voice echoed in Constantine's mind, nearly making him drop his lighter.

Before he could respond, the voice rang in his mind again.

'You're way overdue, mate! I've already lured Darkseid to Earth. If you don't wrap this up soon, you'll have two timelines' worth of corpses on your hands!'

Hearing Alex's urgent tone, Constantine smacked his forehead.

"Bollocks!"

.....

30 advanced chapters on p@treaon
For advance chapters: /Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
351. I'm Laying Down the Law.
352. "Equivalent Exchange"!!!
353. Inter-Universal Migration.
354. The Great God Descends!!
355. The Open Plot - Driving the Tiger to Devour the Wolf.