KRAKABHOOOOOMMMM!
Doom's Galactus construct and Max's Celestial construct collided.
The impact was apocalyptic. The sound became a physical force, propagating through the earth and air as a shockwave visible to the naked eye. Massive amounts of energy were released at the point of collision—orange avarice clashing with emerald power of will. The energy erupted outward in a sphere expanding at supersonic speed, a wave of pure force that scoured everything in its path.
The desert around them was devastated.
Sand was instantly superheated and fused into glass, only to be shattered by the shockwave into billions of glittering fragments hurled miles away. Rock formations that had stood for millions of years were pulverized into dust. The ground cratered for hundreds of feet in all directions, forming a massive bowl-shaped depression with the two titans at its center.
Both constructs remained locked in position, like wrestlers in a test of strength.
The Celestial's massive hands gripped Galactus's shoulders, green light blazing at the points of contact. Galactus pushed back with equal force, his orange form straining against the emerald giant. Neither could overpower the other—they were perfectly matched, titanic forces in absolute equilibrium.
Max stood atop the Celestial's head, sweat running down his face from the immense concentration required to maintain such a vast and complex construct.
Doom stood on Galactus's shoulder, wreathed in orange fire, his expression beneath the mask one of savage satisfaction at finally facing a worthy opponent.
Twin lances of orange-tinted energy erupted from Galactus's helmet, striking the Celestial's chest. The beams carried the Power Cosmic, corrupted by avarice, burning through the Celestial construct's defenses and leaving scorch marks across its surface.
Max began maneuvering his construct, turning the massive form and pivoting at the waist while maintaining the grapple. Then, with the free hand, the Celestial threw a punch—its fist blazing with concentrated energy.
The blow connected with Galactus's helmet, generating another shockwave.
They began trading blows. The Celestial struck Galactus across the face. Galactus responded with a knee to the Celestial's midsection. They grappled, broke apart, then clashed again in exchanges that released enough energy to vaporize entire islands.
Then they moved to the sky.
The two titans rose into the air, still locked in combat, ascending thousands of feet in seconds.
As they climbed, Max and Doom unleashed their full power simultaneously.
They blasted at each other with everything they had—beams of concentrated energy erupting from multiple points on both constructs. Green light met orange light in the space between them, the competing energies annihilating each other and releasing even greater force.
Every attack struck true. None were dodged or deflected. This was a pure contest of power, each side attempting to overwhelm the other through sheer output.
The sky ignited with their clash. Green and orange lightning formed in the clouds from intense ionization. Thunder rolled continuously, a sustained, unending roar.
To a Bronze Age human witnessing this, it would have been nothing less than a battle of gods. Stories would be born from the sight, woven into myth and religion. Some might even build entirely new belief systems around what they had seen.
Still locked together, the two constructs began to fall.
They crashed into the desert floor with cataclysmic force, the impact registering as an earthquake across the continent. Yet even then, they did not stop fighting.
They exchanged beams and blows simultaneously.
Galactus fired cosmic blasts while striking with both fists. The Celestial blocked with one arm while returning fire from its eyes and attacking with the other.
"Max," Jade's voice came through their connection. "Analysis indicates you and Doom are equally matched."
"I can see that," Max grunted as he directed the Celestial to block another strike from Galactus.
He launched himself from the Celestial's head, flying into the sky. Doom did the same from Galactus's shoulder, the two of them leaving their massive constructs to continue fighting autonomously.
The Celestial and Galactus carried on their battle, operating on the commands Max and Doom had already given them.
Max and Doom closed the distance between them in seconds.
Max blocked Doom's first strike with a shield construct, then countered with a hammer that Doom barely dodged.
"Max, I'm detecting unusual activity in your cells," Jade said urgently.
"Not now, Jade!" Max snapped, creating a chain construct to bind Doom.
"This is important," Jade insisted. "We may have found the limit of how much you can channel from the spectrum. With how far you've pushed yourself—the Celestial construct, the thousands of constructs defending Earth, the sustained combat—this might be it. If you push further, I don't know what will happen to your body."
Max formed a massive cannon around his arm, the construct easily fifty feet long and glowing with concentrated green energy. He fired at Doom, the beam screaming through the air.
Doom dodged, the blast missing him by inches.
Max immediately dove after him. As Doom was still evading, Max slipped behind him and drove him down into the ground from the sky. The blow was reinforced by a uru-vibranium mimicking construct that had been absorbing kinetic energy throughout the entire battle.
Doom crashed into the desert, its surface now covered in molten glass.
"Great. Just great," Max muttered, breathing hard. "Now we find it. Now, of all times."
Max had always tried to find the limit of how much he could use the ring.
The ring had infinite power not like the Green Lanterns in the comics who needed to recharge from a battery. His connection to the green light of willpower was direct, unlimited. That made him one of the most powerful beings in the universe.
But there was one thing he had noticed: how his body reacted when he used his powers extensively. After long fights, especially when creating complex constructs and exerting massive amounts of energy, he would feel tired but only slightly, never enough to truly impair him.
He had experimented with it, trying to find the limit of what his human body could handle. How much strain could it sustain before breaking down?
He had never found that limit before.
Every test had left him well below whatever threshold existed.
Until now.
"I theorize it could be the massive energy expenditure from maintaining the Celestial construct," Jade said, her voice carrying an unusual note of concern. "Combined with sustaining hundreds of thousands of constructs defending Earth from demon incursions. Another possibility is Doom's presence—the orange light of avarice may be interfering with your connection to the green light in ways we haven't accounted for. The emotional spectrum may not respond well to two lights in such close proximity."
"We can theorize later," Max said.
"Just keep me updated if I'm about to explode or something," he added, cutting her off.
"Affirmative," Jade replied.
Max's gaze locked onto Doom.
"Let's kill this fucker first."
Max dove toward Doom, who had already recovered and was flying upward with a sword construct. Max created one of his own, an emerald sword of equal size.
They continued to fight, the massive blades clashing in exchanges that moved the clouds around them.
"How did the great Victor von Doom end up serving Mephisto of all things?" Max asked between strikes. "Victor von Doom, as I am familiar with him, bows to no one, especially Mephisto. Yet here you are, the Hell Lord's lapdog."
Doom did not react to the taunt.
He remained calm and composed, almost serene despite the furious battle. He continued to attack as he summoned more constructs, more heroes he had defeated across the multiverse.
A Scarlet Witch appeared. A Captain Marvel. A Sentry.
Max countered with more Superman constructs.
Doom had variety, yes, an entire arsenal of defeated heroes to draw upon, each with different powers and abilities.
But Max had the perfect hero to create as a construct to counter them all. Why change what worked?
The Superman constructs engaged Doom's new summons while Max and Doom continued fighting directly.
They clashed with swords, energy blasts, and constructs that formed and dissolved in seconds. Their stalemate continued, and Max could see that Doom sensed it as well. They could remain locked in battle forever if they had to.
Max saw the break in the calmness, the first crack in Doom's composed exterior, as the tyrant attacked with slightly more aggression and slightly less precision.
"Tell me," Max pressed, dodging a sword strike and countering with a shield bash, "is this Victor von Doom the only one in the multiverse who submitted to a Hell Lord? Are you the lowest of all Dooms across the infinite multiverse?"
That broke through Doom's calm exterior.
Rage flashed, shattering the mask of composure he had maintained throughout the battle. Orange fire erupted from his hands in a massive, uncontrolled attack, pure avarice fueled energy released in torrents.
Max raised a shield around himself, the construct forming a perfect sphere as the orange flames washed over it harmlessly.
"Do NOT speak on what you do not understand, Lantern!" Doom snarled, his voice carrying emotion for the first time.
Max decided to take a shot in the dark, remembering something Reed had mentioned during their preparations.
"I know you're after the Quarry," he said.
Doom paused.
They stopped battling for a moment, floating in the air.
Max pressed the advantage. "I apologize for what I said before. I should have known. You are not Mephisto's servant. You are planning to betray him, to take the power of the Quarry for yourself."
Doom laughed, a sound of genuine amusement as his composure returned.
"Even Mephisto knows that," he said, spreading his arms as if the admission cost him nothing. "Every one of the other eight plans the same. We all scheme, we all plot, and we all wait for our moment to seize ultimate power." He paused, considering. "Perhaps not the feral, unintelligent beast. Berserker lacks the mental capacity for such planning."
"It is all a game of survival in the end, Lantern. And I plan to win it. I will claim the Quarry and reach the Firmament to remake the multiverse in my image."
Firmament, Max thought, filing away another clue. Another piece of the puzzle.
"And to do that," Doom continued, his eyes fixed on Max, "I need your ring. To perfect my hold over the spectrum, to master avarice in full. With it, I will become the ruler of all creation."
"Jade?" Max asked through their connection.
"Plan C is currently nearing Doom," Jade responded. Plan C was a microscopic construct designed to damage the orange crystal in Doom's chest. Max had been building it throughout the entire conversation, a construct so small it was invisible to the naked eye, pouring his concentration into maintaining it while keeping Doom distracted with words.
"The others will have already been defeated by my friends. And after I kill you, we will end Mephisto as well."
"You will never have my daughter."
Doom laughed.
"Mephisto already has your daughter."
Max's chest constricted, his heart seeming to stop for a single terrible moment.
"And you thought this attempt would work?" Doom continued, his smile vicious.
He powered up, orange light exploding around him in a sphere of avarice. The microscopic construct nearing the crystal was caught in the surge of energy and shattered, destroyed before it could reach its target.
Then Doom struck.
He hit Max straight in the stomach with a punch backed by the full power of avarice. The blow drove all the air from Max's lungs and folded him in half around Doom's fist.
Doom began to strike Max with all his strength, and Max was unable to move away. He was caught in the orange aura surrounding Doom, the avarice energy binding him in place like invisible chains.
Punch after punch landed. Max's ribs cracked. His armor construct shattered. Blood filled his mouth.
Max began to fight back, refusing to yield despite the agony. He erupted with power, green light bursting from his body with enough force to create space between them. He struck back with fists wreathed in emerald fire.
"WARNING," Jade's voice was urgent in his mind. "Cellular disintegration detected. You must—"
"This is the end!" Doom declared.
He grabbed Max by the head with both hands, his fingers digging into his skull with crushing pressure. Then he began to descend, driving Max down toward the Earth below.
Max struggled, his hands clawing at Doom's arms, trying to break free. But the orange aura held him tight, and Doom's grip was like iron.
Then Max's eyes locked onto the crystal in Doom's chest, the orange crystal glowing with malevolent avarice.
He went for it.
His hand shot out, fingers extended, reaching for the crystal. If he could just grab it, rip it out—
Doom caught his hand mid-reach.
His fingers closed around Max's wrist with bone-breaking force, wrenching it away from the crystal and twisting it at an angle that nearly snapped the bones. Max screamed as his wrist bent to its limit.
They tumbled downward together, locked in their struggle.
Their focus shifted entirely to each other, to the physical fight and the effort to overpower the other through sheer force. As their concentration faltered, their constructs began to fade.
The Superman constructs dissolved into motes of green light. Doom's summoned army vanished. The massive Celestial and Galactus constructs, the titans that had been battling independently, flickered, destabilized, and then disappeared completely, their forms breaking apart into fragments of light.
It was just Max and Doom now, falling toward Earth like twin meteors.
They crashed into a mountain in the Himalayas, completely destroying it.
The mountain did not just crack or crumble. It ceased to exist. Billions of tons of rock were vaporized instantly by the energy released. The shockwave flattened the surrounding region for miles, turning it into a barren wasteland.
Max gasped as he tried to rise. His entire body felt like it was breaking apart. He saw Doom already on his feet.
Max was weaker. His movements were sluggish, his body trembling.
Doom caught him in a construct and trapped him within a force field, orange energy wrapping around Max and binding his arms to his sides, immobilizing him completely. Max struggled, but his strength was fading.
Doom reached forward and pulled the ring from Max's finger.
The emerald band came free with great resistance, releasing a burst of green energy that Doom endured. He held it up, examining it as orange and green light swirled around his hand.
"Thank you for the ring," Doom said, his voice filled with satisfaction. "When Doom rules the multiverse, I will ensure your sacrifice is remembered. Yours and your daughter's."
Hearing that, hearing him speak of Aurora, Max felt a final surge of power.
He began to glow green, even without the ring.
To Doom's shock, Max overpowered the force field holding him. His hand shot forward and grabbed the orange crystal in Doom's chest, the source of his power.
Max's fingers closed around it.
And he crushed it.
The crystal shattered in his grip, fragments of orange light exploding outward.
"No!" Doom could only utter that single word, his eyes wide with shock and horror.
An explosion erupted between them, orange and green energy colliding and annihilating each other in a sphere of devastating force.
Max was thrown backward, tumbling across the ruined ground. He was barely conscious, his vision blurring as darkness crept in at the edges.
The ring returned to him, and he slipped it back onto his finger.
He tried to reach Jade.
"Jade?" he thought weakly.
No answer came.
He tried again, pushing through the haze clouding his mind.
"Jade?"
Silence.
The connection that had been constant since the moment he woke up in this universe was gone.
Max tried to fly, but he did not feel anything. No pain from his injuries. No sensation from his body. Max felt hollow, empty, as if he were a shell with nothing inside.
He did not like the feeling.
He looked ahead, where Doom was convulsing.
The tyrant writhed on the ground, his hands clawing at his chest where the orange crystal had been. The power of greed itself, suddenly released from its containment, was eating Doom alive from the inside out.
He screamed.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHGGGGHHHH! THIS CANNOT… NOT—AAARRRRHHHHH!"
Doom's body began to glow with orange light from within, the energy burning through his flesh, through his armor.
But then red energy surrounded him—crimson fire that wrapped around Doom's dissolving form, pulling him away.
He was gone.
Max could not determine if he was dead or had been taken away by Mephisto. In that moment, he found he did not care.
He only cared about getting back to see if his daughter was safe.
He called to Jade again, his ears ringing with a high-pitched tone that would not stop.
"Jade?"
No answer came.
He looked at the ring, which appeared more black than the green tint it had always had.
Max began to fly.
Or he tried to. His body lifted off the ground through sheer force of will, but he was not fully present during the journey. His consciousness kept fading in and out one moment he could see that he was flying above the mountains, the Sanctuary visible in the distance. The next moment, he was somehow descending into the compound, with no memory of how he had gotten there.
He wobbled into the building, his feet barely supporting his weight. He saw that parts of it were burned—scorch marks on the walls, holes in the ceiling, evidence of battle.
He walked in and saw his friends all together.
Good, Max thought distantly. They won.
"Where is Aurora?" Max asked, his voice sounding strange in his own ears—too loud and too quiet at the same time.
They all turned to him.
The expressions on their faces were not what he expected. They looked at him in absolute horror, as if they were witnessing something terrifying.
Fan stepped forward, her hands visibly shaking.
All of them moved toward him slowly, carefully, as if approaching something fragile that might shatter at any moment.
Odin was faster, concern clear on his face.
"Grænlaðr—" his voice trembled.
"Where is she?" Max asked again, feeling his body weaken, feeling whatever was holding him together begin to give way.
He remembered Doom's taunt. Aurora was already gone. The Sanctuary was in ruins. She was gone…
From the Avengers' perspective, they were seeing their friend and leader standing there with his entire body cracking apart.
Green, glowing fissures covered every inch of his body, running across his face like a broken porcelain mask, spreading across his arms and legs.
He looked like a statue about to shatter, held together only by will and nothing else.
Max lost his footing.
Odin was quick to catch him.
The last thing Max heard was everyone's frantic voices overlapping, calling his name.
.
Scenes from the last chapter of this arc....