While the
Guardians of the Galaxy watch over the newly resurrected and imprisoned
Thanos and Nova pursues the
false Quasar, the
Magus and the
Universal Church of Truth tear open the Fault (opened at the end of the War of Kings and previously sealed by
Adam Warlock). Monstrous creatures emerge from the Fault and are confronted by the
Kree and
Shi'ar armadas,
Galactus, the
Celestials, and other cosmic beings. Among the invaders is their leader, Lord
Mar-Vell, who is an alternate version of Captain Marvel. Mar-Vell kills the Magus for failing to locate Thanos. Mar-Vell is the
de facto leader of the extradimensional Cancerverse—a metaphysically unbalanced dimension where Death itself has been completely banished and Life runs rampant, like a cancer—and seeks to spread his dimension's plague of "undeath" to all other universes. Mar-Vell is the avatar of Life, and Thanos is the avatar of Death. Because of this, the battle will only be over when one of them destroys the other. While
Star-Lord leads the Guardians and Thanos into the Fault hoping to locate Lord Mar-Vell, Lord Mar-Vell scours the Marvel Universe for Thanos. Nova leads
Quasar,
Beta Ray Bill,
Gladiator, the
Silver Surfer and
Ronan the Accuser in an attack on Mar-Vell, but loses badly. When Thanos kills Drax the Destroyer, his death as the avatar of life alerts Mar-Vell to his presence and he returns to the Cancerverse. When Mar-Vell confronts Thanos and the Guardians, everyone is surprised when Thanos immediately surrenders. As he willingly prepares to be sacrificed by Mar-Vell, he muses about how the Captain Marvel he knew never considered the consequences of his actions either. Mar-Vell realizes he has been tricked just as Death, summoned by Thanos's death, arrives to claim him. This causes a chain reaction that kills Mar-Vell's followers and triggers the collapse of the alternate universe and the Fault. Thanos, expecting Death to embrace him for his actions, becomes enraged when she once again spurns him. Teleporting the rest of their comrades to safety, Star Lord and Nova remain behind to contain Thanos, who blames the heroes for Death's manipulation of him and vows to make the entire universe suffer, by keeping him within the Cancerverse until its imminent destruction. A memorial service is held for those lost in the conflicts. Quasar informs
Rocket Raccoon that, without Nova,
Worldmind has shut down and the Nova Force disappeared. == Critical reception ==