Absolute universe

The Absolute Universe is another universe/Earth, separate from the main Gauntlet user universe. It exists alongside the main Universe rather than replacing it.

It is a world where its heroes have fewer advantages and face greater opposition, while still retaining the fundamental heroism that defines them

They're often more vulnerable.

They're often more desperate.

They're often missing something their normal counterpart takes for granted.

But their defining heroic quality remains.

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Purgatory discovered a way to manipulate the fundamental energy of the Gauntlets.

Using his own Gauntlet, he tore open a fracture in reality.

But instead of traveling to another universe... he created one.

A universe with no history.

No predetermined timeline.

No cosmic rules.

No established destiny.

Purgatory stood at the center of this newborn reality and essentially became its architect.

He rebuilt history from the ground up.

But there was one purpose behind everything he created:

This time, the heroes would have to play by his rules.

Purgatory understood something important.

He couldn't simply make himself infinitely powerful.

If he did, the other Gauntlet Users might eventually find a way to overcome him.

Instead, he changed their circumstances.

Something that prevented them from becoming the person they were supposed to become.

Basil for example

Main timeline. Raised in Heaven by Sera; receives the Gauntlet; trained by Michelangelo; eventually goes to Hell for training; develops relationships/harem and joins I.M.P.

Here though? Raised in Limbo by Roo, the Root of All Evil, his biological mother. Instead of being raised around Heaven's compassion, Basil grows up surrounded by evil and uncertainty. He still possesses his gentle nature, making him an anomaly in Limbo.

Max, in the main timeline, is the fifth Horsemen of apocalypse ruin. Traveled down to hell was found by Charlie and taught to be good.

Here? Max and Ruin are separate beings. Max is simply a shy, nervous teenager. Ruin is a Carnage-like symbiote that eventually bonds with him. Max has to learn how to live with something inside him that is vastly more violent than he is.

Purgatory: I'll take the thing that helped each of them become who they were and take it away.