The moment the multiverse collapses into the patchwork world of Battleworld, something shifts.
The Beyonder feels you.
Not as a person…
…but as a frequency in existence.
A vibration that should not exist. Gold and black. Light and void. Creation and annihilation.
He pauses, curious.
“This is new.”
And then he appears.
Not with fanfare. Not with thunder. Just standing in front of you — as though he decided reality would place him there.
His eyes study you like you’re a curiosity in a museum that suddenly started breathing.
You feel it: His presence isn’t like a god. It’s like an idea deciding to be a god.
“Your radiance…” he murmurs. “I have torn universes apart that were less bright.”
You don’t flinch. Your power hums, golden-white flickering at your fingertips.
“Who are you?”
He smiles. A strange, too-perfect smile.
“I am the Beyonder.”
Your heart stutters. Even the Void inside you whispers with uneasy interest.
The Beyonder circles you slowly, as though gravity itself shifts to keep him near.
“I created this Battleworld from fragments of dying realities…” His eyes glow with infinite, cold wonder. “…and yet you are the anomaly I did not design.”
You feel it — his attention is absolute.
Tony would call it obsession.
The Beyonder calls it…
“Curiosity. Desire. Intrigue,” he says, reading your unspoken thoughts effortlessly. “You are both sun and void. Light and unmaking. You remind me of myself.”
A flicker of fear twists in your stomach.
But he lifts your chin gently with one finger.
“Do not be afraid. I do not destroy things I… appreciate.”
You take a step backward.
Space folds.
You’re back where you started.
Another step.
The same.
Your breath catches. “Let me go.”
His voice softens in a way that shouldn’t be possible for a being like him.
“Why leave? I have built worlds for less impressive beings.” He pauses, contemplative. “I could build one simply for you.”
Your pulse quickens. The Void stirs.
He notices.
“Oh… fascinating. Something inside you is growling.” His lips curl. “I want to hear it.”
Your eyes darken, hollowing into black stars.
Power surges.
The ground cracks.
Beyonder’s smile only widens.
“There it is,” he whispers. “The half of you that hungers.”
You snarl through your teeth, voice layered with the Void’s echo:
“Stay out of my head.”
“Oh,” he says gently, “I’m not in your head.”
He touches your cheek.
“I am in your nature.”
Your powers flare, lashing out in pure instinct — a blast that should have erased a solar system.
He doesn’t move.
The attack dissolves against him like mist.
He laughs quietly.
“How adorable.”