Secret Wars II #8 (1986)

Secret Wars II continues from New Defenders Vol 1 152... Frustrated over his recent interactions with the super-hero community on Earth, the Beyonder has returned to the suburban home of Owen Reece and his girlfriend Marsha where he unleashes his frustrations causing universal wide destruction. Calming the Beyonder down, Owen suggests he talks about his problems and quietly repairs the damage caused by the Beyonder. Having him stretch out on a couch like a therapists patient, Owen and the Beyonder travel through time and space to see the root of the Beyonders problem. They start at the beginning in Beyonder-Realm where, although the Beyonder cannot recall what it was like before he became aware of Earth's universe, he can recreate the event that caused him this awareness. When Owen looks through the "pin prick" through reality he is shocked to see the event that caused the rift was the accident that gave the Molecule Man his powers. This shocks Owen and he has no explanations to the Beyonder when the One From Beyond asks if Owen was responsible for creating him. Moving forward to the point in history where the Beyonder came to Earth and conquered it, the Beyonder explains that even ruling over everything did not provide him fulfillment. Even when he attempted love, attempting to win the love of Dazzler was met with disaster. When pushing the Beyonder to talk more about his lost love causes the Beyonder to become more irritable. When visiting the time that Dr. Strange put him on the path of enlightenment angers the Beyonder as he now thinks it was a crock. He points to the time that he attempted to get those to find their true potential and his failed attempt to get the Puma to realize his potential by slaying him. Returning back to Owen's apartment, this trip through the Beyonders past has done little to change his mood, in fact it has done worse and he is ready to wipe out the entire multiverse so that there is nothing but him. Owen pleads the Beyonder not to, that he just needs to try harder at finding his personal fulfillment. When Owen suggests the problem is the Beyonder's lack of mortality, the Beyonder decides to give all existence twenty-four hours to convince him not to destroy it and departs. Leaving Owen and Marsha to wonder what to do. The Beyonder appears in San Francisco where he uses his powers to get the most expensive room at the most prestigious hotel. Going out to a fine restaurant he uses his powers to coerce the waitress into going home with him. Finding these excesses not enough he decides that he should destroy things that he doesn't like, and is about to destroy San Francisco with is powers when the girl he brought with him suggests that it's mortality that is the problem. Not liking this same answer, he uses his powers to make her elderly, but seeing her fright at being aged he changes her back telling her to enjoy her supposed "fleeting moments" of mortality before he destroys the universe. Deciding to leave, he is attacked by the X-Men whom he easily manages to fight off -- deciding that destroying them outright is beneath him and their end will come soon. When Phoenix attacks him with all of her might even this is not enough. As he chokes the life out of her he asks why the X-Men were foolish enough to go on a kamikaze run against him. When Rachel tells the Beyonder he came and endangered San Francisco knowing that it is under the X-Men's protection was reason enough. Realizing that Rachel is correct the Beyonder teleports away. Witnessing this from a view screen, Owen believes that the Beyonder is coming to destroy him and uses his powers to create a dome around the city hoping it will be "Beyonder proof". The Beyonder, on his way elsewhere finds the effort hilarious and uses his powers to shatter it with ease, leaving Owen to clean up the mess before anyone is hurt. Appearing in the deserts of the American southwest, the Beyonder goes looking for the Hulk and is attacked by the brute. As the Hulk furiously pounds the Beyonder to a pulp, the One From Beyond realizes that the Hulk seems to be more savage than ever before. Stopping the gamma spawned monster he peers into his mind wondering what happened to Bruce Banner since their last encounter and is shocked to realize that Banner and the Hulk are two separate beings. The Beyonder, employing his virtual omniscience, effectively evaluates the Hulk's potential strength, deducing that it is infinite. Seeing the Hulk as some unchecked being of raw power (reminding the Beyonder of himself) he lets the Hulk go so that he can be alone for a while. Back at the home of Owen and Marsha, Owen begins pulling in energy from across the multiverse hoping that he can either use it to destroy the Beyonder or use it to save himself and Marsha -- spiriting them away to the Beyonders universe where they can hid. When Marsha realizes how scared Owen is she tries to comfort him by pointing out the Beyonder must be interested in what Owen has that he does not -- her. The Beyonder meanwhile pays a visit to Peter Parker, the only being in the multiverse that he has come to like. When he asks him about human mortality and why it makes fulfillment so easy, Peter has no questions but points to a time when he rescued a roof jumper who -- despite the fact he was committing suicide -- reached out to be saved in the end. When Peter has no easy answers, the Beyonder becomes more angry than ever and tells Parker that he may have saved the universe from ultimate destruction before leaving. Outside, he is attacked by the New Mutants who were informed of his location by the X-Men. The Beyonder, not wishing to be bothered with mere children easily swats them aside and begins heading back to Owen's home. There, Owen is busy trying to pack up whatever he can, having decided to flee the multiverse however Marsha convinces Owen to stay and fight. Owen decides to do so, unaware that Marsha has come up with another plan should Owen fail to destroy the Beyonder. When the Beyonder arrives he is about to tell Owen he has decided to spare existence when Owen attacks him. Seeing this as an unprovoked attack and that Owen intended to try to destroy him all along the Beyonder is about to destroy him when Marsha gets on her knees. She begs for her life, telling the Beyonder that Owen means nothing to her and to destroy him and spare her. Owen is completely shattered to hear this and collapses into a heap on the floor while the Beyonder kicks Marsha away in disgust. Ashamed at what she had to do Marsha flees the scene, leaving the Beyonder to see how worthless Owen is without the love of his life with him. Watching this display, the Beyonder decides to maintain a temporary reprieve for the universe to once more give it's total offering a last look before wiping it all out. Outside, Marsha flees to her car in tears, upset that she had to hurt the man she loves most in order to save the universe and leaves the city in shame. Later the Beyonder appears over the Rocky Mountains more frustrated than ever. The Avengers, using a device created by the Black Knight have tracked the Beyonder down in a Quinjet and confront him. However the Beyonder attempts to blow them all away with a energy tornado, and all the Avengers save Captain America are caught up in it. Furious that he Captain managed to jump away the Beyonder grows in size and grabs the Star-Spangled Avenger telling him that perhaps the can provide some insight on the human race -- a race that is about to face extinction... This story continues in Avengers Vol 1 265, Secret Wars II continues in New Mutants Vol 1 37, Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 274, Avengers Vol 1 265, Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 203 and Fantastic Four Vol 1 288...