Hearing Valeria's question, Doom touched his mask. They were in one of his secret bases, a doomsday fortress beneath Latveria's soil.
It resembled a vast library, brimming with magical and technological artifacts. But for the little girl with no magical aptitude, her only toy was a supercomputer.
"You misheard, child. Doom fears nothing," he replied.
"Then why go to the future, Uncle Doom? What's before us is already overwhelming," Valeria asked, curiously watching as Doom led a group from the time machine.
Was this a rescue plan for the End of Time? But that wouldn't stop the multiverse's collapse. Could they isolate this week in a looped timeline, extending it infinitely to address the crisis? In a flash, the girl's mind raced through possibilities—she knew Doom wouldn't bring strangers here lightly.
Doom approached the massive computer, his towering armored figure making Valeria seem like a doll perched on her chair.
"I went to the future to draw courage," he said. "I've seen it—mad gods trampling the future like dust. I must destroy them."
Valeria scratched her fluffy golden hair, her cheeks puffing like a squirrel's. Doom, as expected, chose his preferred path: confronting the Beyonders head-on.
"Fine, I'll help. But who are they?" she asked, eyeing the group.
"Relics. Shadows lurking in the world's underbelly. Reed's enemies, like me," Doom said, his tone betraying amusement despite his mask. "Reed treats you like a child, never sharing his shameful past—like when his reckless quest for the unknown got him sliced into mincemeat by its guardian."
"Wait, you're teaching her that? Is Latveria into hate education?" Su Ming interjected, questioning Doom's parenting. He was curious who carved up Reed in the future but didn't want Valeria's scrutiny.
"No matter. Val has a rational mind and discerns truth from lies. I only give her facts," Doom said calmly, watching the computer's readouts, their glow dancing across his mask. "The mystic arts aren't for Reed's curiosity. Using science to harness Elder Gods, treating the world like a fairy tale—it's childish folly."
Valeria swung her legs from her chair, nodding after a moment's thought. "If my parents are unharmed, this man showed restraint. Trespassing another's domain is like breaking into their home—retaliation is fair. I'm the one who should feel ashamed. So, are you sorcerers?"
Su Ming's mouth twitched beneath his mask. He glanced at Ciri, then Magik.
Ciri was distracted, marveling at Doom's gadgets—a multiversal tech projector, a magical earpiece for eavesdropping on extradimensional chatter. She barely registered the conversation.
Magik stood behind Su Ming, her perfect smile fixed on Valeria's golden hair, clearly itching to touch it but restraining herself.
Su Ming sighed. Why were other people's kids so rational while his team ran on emotions? "Not sorcerers. Warriors," he said, drawing his greatsword to show Valeria briefly.
Valeria nodded, propping her chin on her hand, leaning against the chair's armrest. Her big eyes shifted to Doom, awaiting his next move without further questions.
Doom's hand flew across the console, inputting commands and tweaking bizarre devices, attaching them to the time portal's platform. "Time, space, reality—everything is ready. Shall we begin?"
"You've got a plan for Loki," Su Ming said, removing his helmet. The air here, just a week from the End of Time, was far better.
Doom glanced at him, then resumed work, his green cloak billowing. "Isn't that why you sought me out?"
Fair point. Doom, having allied and clashed with Loki countless times, had a stockpile of contingencies. Many could challenge a God of Stories—those with time-based powers had a shot—but Doom, nearing the End of Time, was the most prepared.
Su Ming could devise his own plan, but Doom's, honed over decades to counter Loki, was ready to deploy. Unlike Wade's or Tony's often-flawed schemes, Doom's plans were near-perfect, failing only due to his arrogance in execution. With Su Ming's attention to detail, the plan would be flawless.
In Marvel, outside comedic invincibility, power dynamics followed a rock-paper-scissors logic, forming chains of counters. The Scarlet Witch's magic trumped Vision, Vision's intangibility beat Captain America, and Cap's rhetoric subdued Wanda—a small loop. Larger webs of counters existed among superhumans, mutants, aliens, Inhumans, and sorcerers.
Simpler rivalries existed too, like Steve and Bucky or Deadpool and Wolverine, each countering the other.
Doom fit this pattern. Mephisto held power over him via his mother's soul. Doom, blending science and sorcery, countered Loki. Loki, with superior trickery, outwitted Mephisto. A closed loop.
To prevent Loki from recruiting Mephisto against Doom, Su Ming brought Magik, another Hell Lord, to counter Mephisto. If Mephisto intervened while Su Ming and Doom tackled Loki, Magik would unleash a Limbo invasion, consuming Mephisto's hell to force his submission.
If Mephisto summoned sorcerers against Magik, Hamir—representing the Vishanti and Kamar-Taj—would handle them. Who dared provoke the Ancient One's order?
And if Loki sought other time-travelers, Ciri's unmatched speed in timeline navigation and teleportation made her ideal for intercepting them, her blink ability perfect for assassination.
This was Su Ming's meticulously crafted puzzle, covering gaps Doom might overlook.
Loki's paths were sealed, save one: crafting a new "story" to escape. But Su Ming anticipated this. Why, in sieges, leave one gate open? Sun Tzu's Art of War taught to leave a gap in encirclement—not to let the enemy escape, but to ambush them as they flee, wavering between flight and fight.
Su Ming came to the End of Time for two allies: Doom and not Valeria, but her brother, Franklin.
Franklin Richards, beyond Omega-level, wielded reality-warping and psionic powers: matter and energy manipulation, energy projection, mind control, telepathy, astral projection, precognition, time-space travel, immortality, and parallel universe creation. His abilities could reshape an entire universe, altering molecular structures and replicating cosmic entities like Galactus or Eternity.
As a child, his uncontrolled powers caused chaos—like stripping the Fantastic Four of their abilities during a fight, just to play with his parents. Only Doom, pummeling them with a Doombot, was amused.
Reed later scolded Franklin, warning that if Doom himself had attacked, they'd all be dead. Johnny Storm was gravely injured from a fall. Upset, Franklin turned Reed into a giant "Daddy" doll to silence him. Susan eventually calmed him, restoring Reed.
As he matured, Franklin sealed most of his powers, retaining only single-universe creation for fun, like a child building with blocks.
At this point, near the Secret Wars' end, Franklin had likely unsealed much of his power. Convinced by Valeria and Doom, he'd help create the "Battleworld" and, later, the "All-New, All-Different" universe.
Su Ming needed Franklin now, to travel to the past and use his reality-warping to nullify Loki's "story" powers. Loki could magically shield himself from change but not the world around him.
This was the ultimate trap. Loki, caught in the paradox of change versus stasis, faltered—his stories stalled, riddled with scribbles and garble, unsure of his path.
Can't choose? No problem. Su Ming would choose for him.