The noise of laughter, cheer and festivities echoed through the castle. The waves of sound would hit and reflect off the cold stone, leaving no open room vacant of disruption.

Undoubtedly, there would be games being played, feasts eaten, and lively conversations on this day. All of these things are done for the ruler of the country, Latveria, a lone dictator in his castle. It was a requirement that day, for the celebration of his birth was the reason for such festivities. The people had no pause with this national holiday, for this dictator was not an abuser of his people.

All people went with food and shelter, they were protected, and they were happy to serve under him! However, for this birthday, the dictator decided it was not the day to enjoy himself.

He stood in the dimly lit library, gazing upon his collection of literature. His green cape was still and hanging from his shoulders as his arms crossed, encased in metal. His eyes were the only thing that moved, skimming over everything for inspiration.

After a few minutes of skimming, the ruler clenched his metal hand, then grunted before turning his green hooded, metal encased head to the right.

A servant of his bowed his head, "Sire, are you sure you don't want to celebrate with your subordinates? They are eagerly awaiting your presence."

There was a pause before he answered, voice deep and bold with a slight echo from the metal helmet, "I have celebrated many times, the day of my birth." He turned back to the books, "Sadly, today is not cause for celebration on my part. I have yet to prove myself superior to that pest Richards. Just days ago, he subdued my attempt to do just that!"

"May I inquire, then, as to why you've decided to come to the study rather than the War Room?"

The answer was as simple as, "Inspiration." The ruler waved his hand and the servant gave his leave of the study through the double dark oak doors.

"However, there is something peculiar about this particular plus." A metal hand clasped a book with a red spine with golden accents. He pulled to book from the shelf with a frown, "When had this book been acquired by my hands? I wonder."

He opened the book, and began to read. It gave a directory, which the first four simply read as;

2….. Sword Cardinal Hero

3….. Spear Cardinal Hero

4….. Bow Cardinal Hero

5….. Shield Cardinal Hero

Following that was a familiar phrase;

6….. Yggdrasil

Norse mythology? Perhaps I could use Thor against Richards somehow. The idea was thrown around in his head before he began to skim through the pages.

The hero pages seemed to just simply be descriptions, which was odd enough as it was. The metal clad man never heard of a mythological story begins with descriptions of the characters. A play's script, perhaps?

Even more peculiar was that the fourth hero, the Shield Hero, had a blank page other than the words, Shield Hero, along the top.

"How has this even managed to make it through the entrance?"

Once the man finished his sentence he went to close the book with a sigh. Simultaneously, the floor around him began to glow in a blinding circle!

Mystical arts outside of my own creation made it into my domain!?

The armored man threw the book aside, then stretched both hands out to the side. From his hands, his own magic began to imbue from his fingertips. His green aura combined with the light from the incantation began uncovered the details of the study that were once obscured by darkness.

The king closed his eyes and began to absorb what information he could feel from the incantation. He searched for any resemblance of this magic to his own magical spells and feats. It wasn't long at all before he deciphered it to being-.

"A summon?" He began to immediately conjure his own spell. A simple one, but in order to counter this summon, he would have to break out of the circle, something impossible to be avoided by simply stepping out of it.

The metal hands began gesturing, causing different spells to be brought forward as obstacles to the summoning. This summon circle was a powerful one, which isn't to say it was unbreakable for the ruler. In fact, breaking out of it would be simple in of itself. However, this summon circle was already almost complete!

"You will not win this battle!"

Deep down, however, the man knew he would be summoned to wherever he was forced to. There simply wasn't enough time to properly break the spell. Within seconds, the green and chrome leader of Latveria would be overtaken by this force.

The man opened his eyes and the blue light died as quickly as it spawned into existence. Through the wall of light, he could see three others around him within a similar, larger summoning circle.

One boy was wearing a red dress jacket over a white shirt. Over the shirt was a necklace. Below the belt was a pair of brown slacks. His hair was golden and long, tied in a messy tail behind his head with a few locks on either side hanging loosely and just as messy on his head. His eyes were bright red, looking over his situation with little anxiety.

Another boy was wearing a darker set of clothes, which complimented his black hair and blue eyes. His outfit consisted of a dark blue jacket zipped up halfway on top of a black turtleneck. Below that was a simple pair of black jeans.

The third boy had wavy hair the color of sand with eyes to match that shade of brown. He wore a green suit with a red tie over a white dress shirt. Upon either side of his chest was a breast pocket with a white lip. There were two columns of buttons, made of a kind of bronze colored, shiny plastic.

The most peculiar thing the ruler of Latveria noticed about the three boys was what was being held in their hands. The boy in red had a spear in his right hand. The boy in blue had a sword in the same hand. The boy in green held a bow in his left hand.

They have the same weapons… the metal clad man looked down at his right arm, noticing a shield connected to his forearm. As do I, have the same weapons as the book mentioned.

Outside of the finally dispersed circle was men in robes, all of which surrounded the circle. In front of the four a single man put his hood down, showing an older mage with greyed hair along the sides of his head. He smiled, and looked to the four that were summoned.

The ruler was the first to speak up, "What is the meaning of your forcing me to this place?"

His voice boomed, causing the mage to step back. The boys also jumped at the sudden eruption.

The mage raised his hands, "Ah, so you're the one that made the summon more difficult for us all."

"Dodge the question once more," the ruler warned, "and I will stake your head upon the border of my nation!"

"T-the king is the one that asked for the summon! He wanted to be the one to explain the summoning to you."

The boy in red spoke up, "Hey, pal!" The Latverian turned to meet his gaze, "What are you doing? We were summoned as heroes, we're obviously supposed to save this world from-."

"This world's problems are not mine to resolve!" The metal clad man marched forward, narrowing his gaze through the metal helmet, "I know not, nor do I care for this world."

The boy in red swallowed his now dry mouth before the boy in green spoke up, "I doubt they would summon us to this world without some form of payment." He turned to the speaking mage, "You are planning on paying the four of us, correct?"

The mage nodded, "Indeed, we are willing to pay a heavy price for all of your help! But first, we must speak to the king immediately. He's been expecting all of you."

The irritated man crossed his arms, giving in to the offer of speaking to the ruler of this nation.

The mage beckoned the four to follow, and the Latverian ruler took the lead. Along the way to the king, a glimpse of the city could be seen. It had a similar look to Latveria from what he could see, except obviously less technologically advanced.

When they finally got to the throne room, the four summoned stood side by side on the red carpet that began at the entrance of the large wooden doors that measured closer to the entrance of the Latverian castle.

The carpet led to the throne, which sat an older man with a golden crown with a large purple gem in the middle of the design upon his light grey hair. His entire outfit matched the cliché of a king, with the exception of the red colors being replaced by the same purple shade as the gem upon his head.

The king smiled, raising a hand to the four, "The Cardinal Heroes, here at last! I have been awaiting your arrival in our time of need. I am King Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, the king of Melromarc. Please, introduce yourselves as I beckon to each of you." He beckoned to the boy in the green suit.

The boy stepped forward, "My name is Itsuki Kawasumi, and I'm seventeen years old. I was a high school student in Japan before I was summoned here." He stepped back.

The darker haired boy was pointed to by the king, to which he stepped forward, "I am Ren Amaki, sixteen years old. I was also a student in high school before this." He stepped back.

The ruler of Latveria was about to make his demands before the king pointed to the boy in red. He stepped forward, "My name is-."

"You dare…" the boy stopped, looking over at the armored ruler, whose head was lowered and hand clenched in anger. "You dare to steal me from my world, steal me from my own accomplishments and aspirations of my world. Then, you insult me by ignoring my presence!" The man looked up, then took a powerful step forward which echoed throughout the room, "You know not who you oppose, you fool!"

The king glared at the man, clenching his throne, "You dare call the king a fool? You're lucky I don't call the guards to strike you where you stand!" Knights began to surround the lone man, weapons on guard.

"Your feeble army wouldn't measure to an ounce of my power!" The man clenched his hand as he raised it, a light ebbing from it. He motioned down, the light launching toward the ground and dispersing away from the point of contact. The guards were pushed away from the man in green and metal, slamming against the walls which cracked and crumbled over the pressure. One guard even broke into the stairs leading up to the throne. The man glared back at the king, "You shall not address me with such ignominy! You shall learn my name and heed it, for I am Victor Von Doom."

Dr. Doom began his stride towards the throne, taking his proud steps to confront the king face to face. He towered over him and his shadow was cast over the throne, "I demand you send me back to my world from which I came."

The king crawled back on his throne, trying to distance the now-shielded man, "I would love nothing more than to cast you from this world!" He voiced with a growl. His scowl turned turned to a face of solemn, "Sadly, that is only possible once this world's problems are resolved."

"What is this obstacle?"

"I was about to get to that, Shield Hero, before you assaulted the throne!"

"Victor Von Doom has no time for your insignificant concerns." The man stepped away from the throne, the other heroes were just getting back on their feet and their weapons were going up.

The king cleared his throat, sitting back down as comfortably as he could and raising a hand to the heroes, "You three may stand down."

The three boys were hesitant, but did as they were told. The man in metal stood before the four conscious figures, arms crossed over one another and facing the king.

Melromarc sighed, "Spear Hero, please introduce yourself and we shall perdure the discussion of the reason for all of your summoning here."

The blonde stepped forward with reluctance, but met the king with a smile. He pointed to himself with his thumb, "You can call me Motoyasu Kitamura, your majesty. It's a pleasure to be here."

The king nodded, "I am glad all of you are here, for Melromarc has come under the incursion of the Waves of Calamity. The Waves consist of portals being opened which monsters of another dimension come to wreck havoc on the people and land. One wave has already come upon our world and has taken the lives of Melromarc citizens." The king raised his hands, "Long ago, mages came up with a new method of fending against such Waves; they summoned champions from other worlds to defend us! We have won all the battles before now, and now you four have been summoned, much like the heroes before you, to help us in our endeavors."

The king looked to Victor, "Of course, if you become victorious against the Waves, you have the option of being sent home with many new luxuries and a much more favorable position than you previously had." The king waved his hand, to the others, "Or, you may stay in this world and be regarded as heroes for the rest of your lives in luxury!"

Doom lowered his gaze, A more favorable position? Does this mean the potential for defeating Reed Richards and proving that Doom is, ultimately, superior to his rival? Perhaps Richards may not have ever existed and my face would not be scarred. Or mother's soul…

"For now, none of you are ready to face such a threat." The king reminded, to which he caught the glare of Doom. Aultcray cleared his throat, "Or, at least most of you. So I have asked for volunteers throughout the nation to help you in your efforts to stop the waves and help you improve yourselves in this world."

Itsuki raised his hand.

The king saw the hand and nodded to the boy in green, to which the boy began waved to the other heroes, "Sire, wouldn't it be better for the four of us to work together? We have all the proper attributes a party should have."

"That is a brilliant point. However," he pointed to the boys bow, "your affiliated weapons, in fact, become less effective when you work as a group outside of the Waves. In order to be most potent in the upcoming battles, you four must spread out and grow separately. Thus, I have asked the most competent among our world's warriors to help you in your efforts."

"You will be assigned your volunteers early next morning." The king continued, "Until then, I suggest you all get some rest so you can be ready to become stronger and venture into the world."

The king looked to the Shield Hero with a glare, whose arms were still crossed, "Any questions or issues?"

"If what you say is true, that once returning to our world our positions will be more favorable, then I accept this task of defending this land." He looked up with a glare of his own, "However, Doom fights for himself, not you or your nation."

With that, Doom turned away towards a servant who beckoned them to follow to their rooms. Once they all got to the room, they found four beds spread around the room and a table in the middle of the room with four chalices. There was also four closet spaces for the four heroes to put their clothes in. On the farthest side of the room was a balcony separate from the room by a glass set of doors.

Doom began his stride to the windows overlooking the village and the night sky of this world where the stars outside the atmosphere was visible. It was nothing compared to the brilliance of the sky from mountaintops, ventures Victor had gone on before. But, it was different this time. None of the constellations he was used to were visible in the sky. He truly was away from his universe, not just in a different solar system as he initially thought.

His stargazing was interrupted by Itsuki Kawasumi, "So, you said your name was Victor Von Doom?"

The ruler of Latveria didn't turn his head. "Yes, I did."

The other boy, Motoyasu, was the next to talk, "C'mon, don't even try talking to that guy! He was about to attack the king just because he needed our help." He scoffed.

Doom was about to respond before Ren waved his comment to the side, "He already said he would help, and I'm personally glad someone like him is on our side, even if he isn't with us per say."

"Come to think of it," Itsuki interjected, "How is someone like him one that's summoned?"

"What do you mean?" Motoyasu inquired. "We were summoned, right? It's the same thing."

The green clothed boy shook his head, "Yeah, but he seems to have some magical abilities. I don't know about you guys, but magic doesn't exist from what I remember."

Ren nodded, "Must be the shield, which is odd considering that was never mentioned in the game."

Motoyasu nodded, "Yeah, I thought the shield was the weakest weapon in the game! But being able to do something like that is-."

Doom turned around, "The mystical arts I have honed over my years of training have nothing to do with this pathetic shield." He scanned the three boys, "Why are you three boys talking about a game?"

Itsuki frowned, "Um, we're talking about the game this world is based off of. The four Cardinal Heroes, the Waves, all of it is too close to the game." He gestured toward the Latverian ruler, "It was called Dimension Wave, it was a popular console game back home."

Motoyasu slammed the table, leaning forward with a frown, "The hell are you talking about? Don't give him the wrong idea, it was the PC game, Emerald Online! I've never even heard of 'Dimension Wave.'"

Ren crossed his arms, "You're both idiots, consoles and PC games have been outdated for years. The only things out now are VRMMO games." He looked at both of them before continuing, "It's based off of Brave Star Online."

The three began bickering at one another, the two boys claiming virtual reality doesn't exist while the other went through a history the others denied ever happening. It was a clear picture what had happened, Doom realized it as their initial conversations took place trying to inform him about what this world was.

He began shaking his head, "It is clear what has happened." The three boys stopped bickering and looked up at the towering man, "I have experience with these kinds of predicaments, and it is clear all four of us come from different realities of Earth."

The three boys exchanged glances.

Ren nodded, "That would explain how your guys' worlds are so primitive. The technology I'm familiar with is leagues above what you're all used to."

Itsuki nodded, placing a hand on his chin looking up to the boys, "That would also explain why Doom has such powerful magic." He looked back to the armored man, "If you're that strong, what is your world like that allows you such abilities?"

Dr. Doom glared down at the boy with a chuckle, "A reality where men have created pocket dimensions with technology, travel through time by condensing to the size of an atom, and men who have mastered the mystical arts to the extent they can travel to other dimensions." Victor raised his left hand, allowing his arm to spark electricity around his gauntlet, "I am considered a threat to those with such power."

The three boys stared at the man. Ren raised an eyebrow, obviously skeptical.

Itsuki, however, grinned, "Well, someone as powerful as you is someone I'm more than happy to have on our side."

Motoyasu nodded, "Yeah, I second that! It sounds like you might be able to take on the Waves single handedly, Doom."

"That does bring up a big question, though." Ren sounded. Victor let his hand go to his side and looked to the youngest of the group, "Why would someone as powerful as you be playing a game?"

Doom hardly moved as he spoke, "I do not waste my time on trivial activities such as that. I was simply going through my library, in an attempt to expand my knowledge to a new horizon when I saw a book that hadn't belonged. Upon opening the book and reading it, the summoning circle appeared around me." He clenched his fist and raised it, "I attempted to resist the dimensional hopping magic with a similar incantation, but this world's magic was incompatible with my own, thus it didn't work. It is for the same reason why Doom hasn't escaped this prison of a world!"

Itsuki's eyes widened, "So you actually were giving the summoners a hard time like the head mage said?" He leaned back in his chair and let out a whistle, "Wow, that's something else."

Motoyasu grinned, standing up and meeting Victor's eyes, "I know you probably aren't happy to be here, but I'm glad we have a strong ally like you to help fend against the waves." He held a hand out to shake the Latverian's, "Let's try to get along for the time we're here. Which will probably be short thanks to you."

Doom turned away, walking towards the balcony. "Of course it will be short lived. For Victor Von Doom, the sole ruler of Latveria, wills it to be so!"