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(General P.O.V)

"It's time."

A shadow stated.

"He's ready. We'll take it all back."

It's voice could project through the vacuum that was the surface of the moon.

Uatu, despite hearing it's words, said nothing in return.

He stayed silent on his perch, glowing white eyes locked onto a single planet. Earth. Specifically, the East coast of North America.

'That boy. He's grown much much stronger now. How interesting.'

Uatu thought.

'I suspect he's the reason she is here.'

His thoughts drifted to the Shadow behind him. Yet it was also in his vision. It didn't matter that he lacked a direct line of sight. Uatu could see ALL.

He'd been watching her before she even decided to come.

In any case, he knew what she wanted to discuss.

And what good news it was for the Terrans, as the rest of the universe called Humans.

The dire situation was coming to an end. While he wouldn't admit it to anyone else, Uatu had come to care for them. The humans.

He even had a few favorites.

The ones with special abilities or dispositions. The heroes.

Watching them go through life's hardships while trying to remain altruistic was inspiring. Even for a long lived being like him.

Humanity was like a comet. Burning so bright and fervent despite only lasting a mere sliver of moment.

The shadow behind the Watcher drifted closer, its steps making no sound on the dusty and uneven ground.

"Fate finally gazes upon us with good fortune."

The Shadow added, slowing its walk before stopping next to Uatu.

"All hope seemed lost. Now we're at the critical juncture. We can end this."

"I take it your mission was a success then, Sorcerer?"

Uatu finally responded with a question.

"Oh please, spare me the humility, Watcher."

The shadow snorted.

"As if your gaze couldn't pierce the walls of hell. You know everything that goes on in this galaxy."

"My apologies."

Uatu blinked.

"I have been starved of conversation for far too long. You don't visit as often. Unlike your late master."

His tone was almost accusatory.

"Too busy protecting the world from mystical threats."

The Ancient One told him.

"Of course, of course."

Uatu responded understandingly. She always gave him that answer.

"Unlike you, who has pledged to observe, I do not have the same luxury."

The Ancient One sighed, staring out into the expanse of space.

"I occasionally feel your sight on me whenever 'one' of them tries to invade."

"I cannot deny myself the pleasure of seeing the Sorcerer Supreme in action. You will have to forgive me."

Uatu said amiably.

"I do not mind it. It's...endearing."

The Ancient One responded softly. She allowed the small surge of pride at someone like him praising her skills.

"Too bad this time you failed to prevent it."

Uatu immediately followed it up by bringing up her failure, his owlish eyes blinking.

Was he, as the kids these days say, trolling her?

The Ancient One's smile became strained.

"It was never about preventing it from happening. An absolute focal point in time is unstoppable and irreversible Watcher."

Her tone was frigid cold.

"One might say, you were not trying hard enough. I'm sure your student...would agree with me."

Uatu replied.

A brief silence settled in between them.

"Strange will be the best of us. I respect his decisions. However, the way we fight and live are different from each other. He will seek to push the boundaries. I maintain the balance."

The Ancient One returned after a few seconds of quiet.

Uatu turned to look at her.

"He has destroyed his own universe, Yao. All because he was denied."

He told her seriously.

"And just like the Supreme Sorcerer from that world, you are also betting everything on one person."

Both of them stared at each other almost challengingly. With a sigh, the Ancient One tore her gaze away, staring out into the expanse of space.

"You can see what is happening. But I can see what WILL happen. Billy, will be the salvation the world needs."

She narrowed her eyes, voice tinged with confidence.

"I guarantee."

"Or he will become the Destruction of everything."

The Watcher countered, ominously.

"You said it yourself. I can see what is happening. He's not the boy you knew. The boy you risked everything to get back. Something has changed... something happened in hell. Something even my gaze couldn't see."

She stared at him with a raised eyebrow, hands tightening within the confines of her robe sleeves. No. He was wrong. But if he wasn't...

"One calamity at a time, Uatu. One calamity at a time."

"Regardless."

Uatu started, getting off his perch.

"I will break my vow and assist you, Sorcerer."

The Ancient One stared at him blankly. Then she smiled knowingly, bowing her head. The Eye of Agamotto hadn't been a help when dealing with The Watcher.

Frankly, this conversation could have gone either way.

"I am grateful."

Uatu frowned.

"My intervention is strictly forbidden. That said, I can no longer stand and watch from the sidelines."

He shook his head.

"Not when even the All father has been defeated and Asgard is on the verge of destruction . Galactus will turn his attention on Terra next. He is coming."

******

(Billy's P.O.V)

Aaachoow!!!

Huh? Is someone talking about me?

Eh, who cares.

I looked around at my surroundings. At the power I could command as easily as breathing.

"You're something else you know that..."

I spoke to my Trident, caressing the ridges along it's shaft. God, that sounds so sus.

What couldn't be denied was it's usefulness and power.

A shadow rested above the ruins of New York. Someone who could see past the smog hanging over the city, would have spotted the blue chunk of frozen ice floating before me.

Within the ice were the torn up parts of over a hundred Sentinels. Fury would have a field day over this.

Speaking of...where was he? No matter how much I scanned for his weird Magnetic Field( I couldn't read his mind because he wasn't actually human), I came up empty.

It didn't matter much anyway.

What did was ensuring I kicked Ultron's metal ass back to where he had come from. There was no way this was base Ultron. Base Ultron took time to learn. To hate Humanity.

In comparison, this version seemingly attacked out of nowhere.

Fortunately, I could fight back now. I wouldn't lose or die this time. Not when I had my new powers and better control over Neptune's Trident.

Not when due to it's magic, I could flash freeze billions of tonnes of water by simply willing it. Speaking of...

The ice chunk shifted states into water.

The remains of the Sentinels appeared in my Hammer space, leaving behind murky sea water.

I controlled the water, turning it into steam that I used to push away the smog and ash-clouds in the air.

The polluted gasses were expelled from New York's atmosphere, clearing the air enough that you could see the sun once more. Even if it's light would be dim.

I focused more intensely, reaching out into the water molecules and giving a command.

"Purify."

The Trident glowed. And immediately the remaining Ash-clouds in the vicinity were pushed away.

The sun's naked rays reached my face. I breathed in, my chest inflating with the clean air I held within my Psionic barriers.

One simple command and the Trident eagerly rose up to the challenge. I hadn't known if that would even work.

What a useful weapon.

The Trident sent back warm feelings as if it could understand me.

A small smile wormed it's way onto my face.

*******

(Negative Zone) (a Few Minutes ago)

In the dreary and dark landscape that was the negative Zone, billions of Annihilus' bug creatures were routinely turned to ash as they scuttled towards a hill.

On top of that hill was a zone that nothing could cross. Immense heat immediately fried everything that got even an inch closer.

Past the heat was something else, an invisible two layered barrier. The outer barrier was shaped into a concave shape.

It's unique structure kept the flames spreading outward more efficiently, guiding the surge whenever the heat was increased.

The second shield behind it, was spherical and enclosed 4 individuals. It was the last line of defense.

One of the 4, the Human Torch, a blonde haired man covered in flames, maintained the fire burning on the outside.

Him, his sister, the Invisible Woman and The Thing huddled around the final member of their team, Mr.Fantastic.

The latter on his part was busy working on a way out of the Negative Zone. They had been stuck within it for 5 weeks. Give or take. Time moved differently here.

And during that time, Annihilus had done all he could to kill them and unleash his annihilation wave onto the world.

Too bad for Annihilus', the Fantastic Four were formidable. Enough to even steal his cosmic rod and use it as the battery to power up Mr.Fanytadtic's device.

Unstable energies clashed within the core of the Spatial Relocation Device, the Junky yet exceptional invention, courtesy of Mr. Fantastic.

"Anytime now, Reed!"

Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman, exclaimed, her voice filled with urgency as she continued to maintain the two barriers around them.

While her costume was clean and immaculate, her face was gaunt and she had bags under her eyes. They hadn't slept or had anything to eat for some time.

Only survived on the bugs and whatever they could scrunch up from the Negative Zone.

"No no no...it's leaking too much power."

The Smartest man on Earth muttered, a trail of sweat falling down his forehead as he tinkered with the device.

His fingers moved with dexterity, shaping into various tools like spanners, screwdrivers, energy testers e.t.c

By molding his biology, he could shape his digits, even making them as dense and hard as metal.

Fortunately, his unstable molecules costume conformed to his abilities, ensuring it molded with his stretching.

"Let me out again...I could thin out a few and buy you more time."

Ben, the Thing said with a grimace.

Out of everyone one, he was the one injured the most. The left side of his face was raw and red, the rocky carapace that made up his body having been torn off on that spot.

It was slow healing.

Without a single warning,

A beam of radiant energy shot out of the Device, rising up into space, breaking through Invisible Woman's shield as it it was tissue.

Following that, was a hum that resonated across the entire Negative Zone.

Annihilus, seated on his throne immediately got up. There were numerous injuries on his body and he was missing a wing.

"Impossible! ANNIHILUS DOES NOT LIKE THIS!!"

Annihilus bellowed, clicking his pincers in agitation.

The Energy waned, rushing back into the Spatial Relocation Device. A swirling yellow portal sprang up, wide enough to even allow The Thing through.

"Nice going Stretch."

Ben slapped Mr.Fantastic's back.

"Johnny,time to go!"

She told her brother, who had been too focused on the flames keeping the bugs away.

"Finally!"

The Human Torch laughed.

"Eat this Annihilus!"

He held his hands to his chest before spreading them out in a sudden move.

The orange flames under his control surged up, then exploded. The fire quickly spread out, burning the bugs into cinder and covering the entire hill.

When the fire died out, the Fantastic Four were nowhere to be seen.

And when Annihilus got to the top of the Hill, his Cosmic Control Rod was split right in the middle.

"Nooooooo!!! I will get you for this, Fantastic Four!!!"

(Elsewhere)

A sudden portal manifested in the throne room of King Blackagar Boltagon, leader of the Inhumans.

A gaudy chamber, constructed with an aesthetic gray.

On two large thrones, sat the King and Queen of the Inhumans. Officials stood below the Thrones, waiting on both royals.

Someone unexpected was also present.

"Uatu? What are you doing here? And where is here?"

Mr.Fantastic inquired, looking around.

"Welcome Fantastic Four, to Attilan, the City State. Kingdom of the Inhumans."

The Watcher, Uatu greeted.

"We have much to discuss."

(Asgard)

The glowing realm of Asgard, a beautiful plane filled with Gods and magic. The strongest realm. The top of the World Tree.

And it was facing a calamity unlike any before.

Pieces of the realm floated to the air, sucked in by the bottomless hole that was Galactus' wide mouth.

"This is bad. Like End of the World bad."

Falcon said, staring up at the Cosmic Entity in fear.

Pieces of the rainbow bridge swirled around the emerald shield created by Doom. Half of the bridge had already been swallowed up.

The shield housed Doom and two members of the Avengers. Captain America and of course, Falcon.

Iron Man was flying in the air, trying to hold back Galactus with Thor and the Warriors four.

Odin had been drowned and instantly defeated under Galactus' immense power. And the only damage the All-father made was a small dent on the World Eater's armor created by Gungnir.

The sky flashed with a collage of colors. Thor's brilliant strikes of lightning, Iron Man's powerful Arc Reactor energy beams- the magic enchanted in the Uru adding to his power...

And of course the full might Asgard.

Magical attacks rained on Galactus. And yet... nothing seemed to be working. All their attacks harmlessly splashed against his armor.

Cap tore his gaze from the coming calamity, to instead stare at Doom's back. The enigmatic leader of Latveria watched the battle without saying anything.

"Sam."

Cap said, grabbing Falcon's attention.

"We can't win like this. It's time to retreat. Priority should be saving the Civilians now that our only means of escape have been cut off."

With the Rainbow bridge destroyed, they were stuck on Asgard as it fell.

Falcon gave a nod, tapping his ear piece to relay the order to the others.

Meanwhile, Cap approached Doom.

"Should I be worried about you helping us Viktor?"

Captain America asked.

Doom had saved them from the shockwaves produced by the All-father and Galactus' clash.

He'd stopped the worst of Galactus and Odin's stray attacks from reaping their lives.

For all his Supersoldier body and training, Steve knew he was outmatched and outclassed in a battle such as this.

As were their heaviest hitters. Thor could do nothing except watch as his father disappeared under Galactus' power and Hulk was nowhere to be seen.

They could have used his help for this.

"You should."

Doom finally replied, the depth of his voice amplified by his armor.

"But my fight is not with you Avengers. Today, we stand on the same side."

While such news would be encouraging at other times, Cap couldn't bring himself to think it would make such a big difference.

"I've never been a quitter Viktor. Even back in the day, surrounded by Red Skull and his army...we always kept on fighting."

Cap explained.

"But this...this is an entirely different battlefield. How can you stand up to a force of nature?"

As if to prove his point, Galactus's eyes glowed. Purple Optical blasts exploded forth from them.

Thor and Iron Man disappeared in a flash of blinding light.

"You can't."

Doom answered just as the light reached them.

(Elsewhere)

The light died down just as quickly as it had appeared.

Cap thought he had died. He opened his eyes, the familiar weight of the shield on his right hand, telling him he was somehow, someway still alive.

His gaze opened up in an opulent throne room. The rest of the Avengers, including Thor and Iron Man who were also very much alive, were with him.

So was Viktor too, though he stood to the side.

"Greetings, Avengers. Welcome to Attilan. The last bastion of Hope for Humanity."

A big headed (literally) man greeted, walking towards them.

And behind him were a few friends Cap had thought died as well.

The Fantastic Four.

"Viktor."

Mr.Fantastic nodded at his rival/enemy.

"Reed."

Doom returned the gesture.