Secret Wars II # 9 - God In Man, Man In God !

The Beyonder was determined to destroy all of existence.

Volcana called the Avangers hotline to warn them about the Beyonder's plans.  However, she ended up speaking to the Fantastic Four.  Suddenly all of Earth's heroes were ransported to an unknown location.  Phoenix appeared before them all to discuss the Beyonder's plans & how to save the Earth.  Volcana offered to help too, but the other heroes dismissed her as being inexperienced and sent her back home.  There she entered her apartment to find it had been thoroughly destroyed.  She cried out when she found the Molecule Man slumped in a chair.

The Beyonder returned to his underground lair.  He filmed himself as he recalled events of his time on Earth.  He grew increasingly frustrated and decided that the one thing he could never experience was a mortal death.  Therefore he decided he had to be born, but instead of relying on a human woman with a gestation period of 9 months he created a 'mama' machine.  To test the machine he collected the wisps of energy that used to be the New Mutants (see New Mutants #37) and threw them into the machine.  One by one the New Mutants were spat out by the machine, each one dressed and at the age they were before they were killed, but with no memories or minds.  The Beyonder then took his turn.  He poured his existence into the machine, and was transformed into a baby and then eventually a grown man.  Scared, he reached into the machine to regain his cosmic powers.

Back in Denver, Molecule Man woke up.  He had been distraught when Volcana left him (Secret Wars II #8), but in the time apart he grew to understand that he could survive without her.  They made up, confessing that they loved each other more.  However, Molecule Man was determined to stop the Beyonder once and for all.

Meanwhile, the Beyonder continued to be reborn & regain his powers through his 'mama' machine.  However, after he has been born as a mortal man he was attacked by Belasco.  The Beyonder was inflicted with hellish tortures and burst in to flames whenever he tried to reclaim his powers from the 'mama' machine.  Eventually the Beyonder managed to merge with his powers once more and Belasco fled.

On the surface above the Beyonder's home, the heroes all gathered.  Molecule Man and Volcana appeared to lead the way.  The Beyonder was aware of their presence, and therefore programmed the New Mutants to fight to the death in order to protect him.  He resurrected Warlock to complete the team and teleported them to the surface.  As the New Mutants had been erased from history, none of the heroes recognised them.  While the Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men & Alpha Flight were trying to pull their punches on the kids, they did not spare the heroes.  The New Mutants' attacks were ferocious and they successfully managed to slow the heroes down.  However, they were outnumbered and eventually defeated.  Phoenix used her telepathic powers to read their minds, and learnt of how the Beyonder had killed & resurrected them so callously.  

The heroes then ventured into the Beyonder's underground lair.  In the fight, only the Molecule Man held his own against the Beyonder.  However, he was inexperienced in battle, and therefore lost the the Beyonder.  With one blow, all the heroes were sent flying across the earth, scarring the ground for miles where they landed.  

The Beyonder threw his energies into the 'mama' machine once more.  While he was in the gestation cycle the heroes slowly got back to their feet.  The Molecule Man had created a shield large enough to protect them while moving any innocent citizens out of the way.  They immediately launched another attack on the Beyonder's lair.  There they found him as a tiny infant inside the 'mama' machine.

The heroes argued over the ethics of killing a baby when the machine's defence systems created a might explosion.  Mr Fantastic reasoned that the machine didn't just contain a human infant, but it held the Beyonder's cosmic powers as well.  Volcana implored the Molecule Man not to harm a baby, but ultimately he knew that it was the only way to save the Earth.  Molecule Man blasted the 'mama' machine.  The explosion flooded the world in a blinding white light.

The Silver Surfer carried the lifeless body of a baby out of the broken 'mama' machine.  Volcana comforted Molecule Man, and Captain America thanked him for saving them all.  They acknowledged that it was not an ideal solution, but admitted that it did save the Earth.

Elsewhere a portal opens.  The white nothingness is filled with the Beyonder's power.  That power then creates a new universe, complete with stars, planets, and evolving landscapes.  A fish leapt out of the water, grew legs, became a gorilla and slowly evolved into man.