Brightest Doom

Doom 31

By BigTofu 

Vincent Von Doom

The hologram of the compound rotated over my desk as I methodically wrote down notations of my observations. It was a hard track, but once you viewed the first variant, it was rather simple to note the improvements made to the compound over its many integrations. Then again, once a person of my prestige was able to view the compound chain, it was rather straight-forward from there. 

Two beeps came from the holo-display on my left, and when I looked, they were the results from the test phase that was currently being held. A light tap of the mouse sent the video to play.

The video opened with a narration stating that this was test #43; it was a male, age 22, a college-aged guy from one of the Midwest schools. Already, it was easy to place why he would sign up for a test like this. It was guaranteed easy money to help with his college lifestyle. There was also the fact he was a young man at his peak with biology screaming in his ear to chase the thrill. 

In front of the guy sat three plates with a single Dorito chip on top. In front of each chip, a single sign that depicted the level of fearful intensity one would like. The first chip would give a nice little shudder and goosebumps. The second chill would force you to break out in cold sweat, and get clammy hands as a shiver runs down your spine. 

The third and final chip, though, was the one that would induce the fight or flight response. This was the chip that would cause your bladder to release, your muscles to fire, and your body to dump high levels of adrenaline into your system.

While I relaxed into my lab chair, I watched as “Davis” ate the first chip, there was a little jingle as $500 sprang up as a hologram over his table. I continued to watch as Davis wrote out what he was feeling while all of the other sensors in the suite recorded his full biometrics.

The minor uptick in heart-rate, and dilated pupils,  then there was a trigger warning that I was not prepared for. The warning came from the brain scan, and when I checked it, I could honestly say that I wasn’t prepared to discover that he was getting a rush of endorphins from this little experience. 

This was fascinating data, but I was also not prepared for such a reaction. Turning to the other test subjects, I watched as they also went through their own variation of fear, yet not one of them got the same reaction to fear as Davis. Sure, they enjoyed the experience, but none of them got an endorphin reward for such a thing. 

Soft mutterings followed as I watched Davis complete the entire chip, a thousand dollars appeared over the table in a hologram, denoting his payment. On one hand I was rather excited to have come across such an anomaly so soon, but on the other, it was clear he might disrupt the data I could collect. While Davis wrote out his report and the attendants came in to check the monitoring data, I decided that Davis was still of use. 

A few quick commands were typed out and sent to the attendants. With the swift reply of the attendants, I no longer needed to watch his video feed. Davis would be given an offer to test out both a haunted mansion, along with a few more tests. If my assumption was correct, I was certain that Dr. Crane might also have the same genetic and mental mapping that Davis displayed. 

With an idle dismissal of the hand, the hologram of Davis and his processes was placed out of my mind as I then brought forward another livestream. This time it was a lady in her early 30’s, her entire outfit screamed goth or at least one of those trendy goth types. 

She was a rather striking and fit specimen, but that could also just be my libido whispering in my ear due to the massive display of cleavage. Ignoring my lust raising its head, I watched her very visceral reaction to the chip. I watched the monitors as she broke out into cold sweat and goosebumps. 

A thought brought up the chip she would be sampling this day. Raising a brow at her gripping the table, I could honestly say that I was impressed that she would go for the higher caliber chip that was guaranteed to send a shiver up ones spine. I was also happy to note that she didn't get off on this chip like Davis did. Although, I had to ignore her licking her lips as her nipples got hard. Then I checked the monitors and found she had a dump of adrenaline from that little sample of fear 

Okay, I'll have to add another one for secondary testing. After marking her down, I continued to watch her reactions to the chip as she smiled a goofy smile as she continued to grip the table. Her body shook for a bit as beads of sweat formed on her skin. 

A glance at the timer in the corner told me that a little over five minutes had elapsed as the very mature Goth enjoyed her experience of terror. My hands flew across the keyboard as I continued to note my observations and personal anecdotes of the data that fed in real-time.

In the distance behind me, I felt her before I heard her, but that was alright; I wasn’t her father. So I would allow Talia her freedom as I found no need to be underneath her skirt-tails at all times. My hands flew across the keyboard in an attempt to keep up with my indomitable mind. 

A few minutes of rapid clicking was then followed by a final press of the enter key as I passed along my research notes to the lab assistants. This would allow them to check my impeccable work against their own trifle anecdotes.  A small wave dismissed the hologram projection of the work I was doing, then a press on my control chair had me turn around in a most impressive fashion. 

One does not name himself Lord Doom without having a dash of presentation. 

Spoiler

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“You may speak, I would like to know of the progress of the task I have assigned you,” I stated as my eyes bored into Talia’s. 

Talia stood before me, back straight, with a custom-made tablet in hand. There was no Apple in this world as Luthor, Wayne, Cord, and Star Labs all killed them within the crib along with Microsoft. I could lie and say that I felt bad about it, but Doom does not feel anything for those beneath his intellectual standards. Already, I was pushing global USB standards with USB-C underneath one of my Umbrella companies.

All it took was for Luthor to show interest before the other companies came to eat out of my hand with nations following right after. Yet, this train of thought was neither here, nor there. 

“The FDA has been spoken with and given the first set of data long with nutritional values.” Talia replied as holograms formed in a semi-circle above her head and between the two of us. 

With a grunt, I made a continue gesture as I skimmed the data presented before me.

“They are willing to give us approval for support of three senators,” Talia continued as the three political figures appeared between us. 

“Their connections?” I questioned as I kept my calm facade as a finger idly tapped away upon my chair.  

Talia cleared her throat, “Two of the Senators were childhood friends, the FDA Director was a connection they made in college, and the final member of this little team was picked up when the Senators swore in.” The holograms shifted to show a list of bills they got passed along with their extended network of connections. 

“Are there any leaders to this little group of theirs?” I questioned as I gave this alot more of my attention. 

That was when Talia shifted, “As far as we can tell, they are their own little group.”

The slight tapping of my finger stopped as I stared at the images hovering before me, “Send someone to feel them out. Now, has there been any word from Strange?”

Her hands paused in their actions as they flew across the tablet in hand. “Sir, might I ask if this is such a course of action you should take?” Talia Al Ghul questioned me with caution in her voice, even if she did her best to mask it.”

Leaning back in my little throne chair, I steepled my fingers together as I looked at her over them, “Tell me Talia, what is a man when his life's purpose no longer matters? When all that he has fought for so hard, the things that made him who is slip through his hands as they leave to a place far outside of his reach?”

Talia slowly blinked at me as she tried to process what I was saying, she then shook her head. “Doom, I don’t understand.”

“Bruce has built his entire identity around his Batman persona. He’s nothing without it, and while he does not admit anything. He live’s for the battles against his roster of villains. Ordinary gangsters just don't do it for him. Why else would he have Gotham PD so underfunded with Arkhem set as a revolving door.” I replied, then snorted. “No man worth well over three hundred billion in a city like Gotham would allow those villains the amount of leeway he does. He needs this as much as those in Arkham; it feeds him, drives him in his most low moments, and is his reason for waking up in the mornings. There is no Batman without Villians providing that little dose of endorphins as he proves his worth and beats them at their own game. His entire identity is so wrapped up in his Batman persona that not even the man knows what he would do with himself if he were to hang up the cowl tomorrow.”

Then, before I could let her speak, I raised a hand, shifted the holograms, and played the scene out of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman holding the lasso of truth.

“Clark Kent”

“Diana of Themyscira”

“Batman”

Talia flinched at that statement by Bruce even if she tried to not show it. Unfortunately, it was rather easy to read her bodily reactions even if I allowed her the sanctity of her own mind. 

“Do you hate him sir? You claim not to have an obsession like that of the Joker, but from what I can see, your actions led to the contrary.” She questioned me without a hint of worry.

“Such a bold question Talia,” I spoke, the bland tones in my voice shifting to that of humor. “That's the question, isn't it? Yet, the fact of the matter is. I do not hate Bruce or even have any misguided grudge or anger for what he does.” I then chuckled at the notion of me holding a grudge against such a person. 

“No Talia, I do what I do because I can. At the end of the day, Bruce, or Batman as he views himself is nothing but a scared kid in the alley taking his anger out upon the world. I do no doubt that he believes himself to be in the right as he goes out with that cowl on, but he could have brought far better change with lasting impact to his city as Bruce Wayne, playboy, billionaire, philanthropist than the caped crusader. So whether he breaks or not, at the end of the day, he needs to grow the fuck up and stop taking his frustrations out on the populace of Gotham.” 

I then made a swipe motion with my hand. “All the obstacles will be removed in a manner that makes them a valued member of society while also filling our coffers with monetary funds. That will be my gift to the City that made me who I am today. Whether Bruce likes it or not was never my concern, he will be forced to accept it because there is nothing he can do to stop me without breaking his code, whether he likes it or not.”

Only a fool would wait for Batman to retire when they can force such a choice onto him. Long gone were the days in which Batman would go out and fight crime for the sake of just fighting crime. He’s far too addicted to the thrill of the fight now, the heady high he gets from outsmarting a villain and saving the day. 

Well, what will Batman be when there are no more villains for him to outsmart and save the city from. Bruce will either figure that out or crumple, for I will not be there to give him a hand upwards. 

“Now, what did Hugo Strange want?” I stated with a carry-on motion of the hand, getting us both back onto the proper topic of conversation. 

Talia quickly shifted tracks and stalled follow-up questions as with a flick of the wrist, information appeared before her. “He refused all monetary funds, but he has made a ploy stating his unappreciative nature of how Amanda Waller treats his subjects.”

  

“That’s fine, let him know I would like to speak with Scarecrow first. I would rather make sure the man is of the right state of mind before I decide to purchase.” I replied.

From there, things progressed rapidly as I was updated on the roller rink for Harley, the invites that went out and the list of those who would be attending. Honestly, with how long the list was followed with villains and some hero’s. I was also honestly considering opening this to the governments and have them fight it out in the shadow realms underneath my watch and guileful hands. After all, only Doom could be the rightful savior of humanity. 

The forms were signed and sent back with the teleportation disks being sent out. A replacement disk would cost them a pretty penny. With Talia working on Hugo Strange and his foolish request, I went back to my experiments with the fear toxic. 

There was no helping the small chuckle that bubbled forth as I continued to work. The fact that the FDA allowed me to push such a thing through when I compared it to Capsacin did bring a smile to my face. Their buying a portion of the company through cut-out shell companies made it even more so as they also saw the prospect of substantial capital to be made.

Before I could launch into another set of test, there was a minor vibration on my wrist, drawing my attention towards the set alarm for lunch. Finding a place to stop my notes and experiments, I got up and proceeded to my dining area. When I arrived, I found Damian at the table waiting for others to arrive. 

I shared light greetings with the boy as Talia arrived right after my own arrival. Taking my seat, I watched as Damian grumbled and tried to wipe the lipstick off his cheek from the kiss his mother gave him as a show of affection. Menus were reviewed, and foods were ordered. Cutlery scraped across plates as food was eaten and refreshments were drunk.

From start to finish, an easy forty-five minutes had elapsed; after that, the maids came to remove the plates. Each was given my thanks before my attention was turned to the prodigal child. My hand went up to stop the maid, who arrived with a bowl and three scoops of cookie dough ice cream. On top was a nice caramel glaze with sprinkles and milk chocolate shavings.

His eyes widened as he noticed me stopping the maid. Good, he understood that his sweet treat is now under threat. 

“Have you started on the tasks I have assigned you?” I questioned as I hovered the bowl of ice cream above the table.

Damian picked his lips slightly, then played it off to hide his actions and lust for the treat. He cleared his throat and then smiled at me. “Yes, Father, I do believe that I have found an appropriate villain of suitable difficulty. Located within South Philadelphia, calls himself Rexsplode. A teenage villain of some notable power. He shall join my Rebellion or die.”

I lowered the bowl of ice cream before him as a sign of a job well done. 

Talia smiled at him indulgently, “Do not kill him or offer such an ultimatum, a force of that measure is likely to leave a chance for possible plots behind your back. Offer him riches or the loss of limbs, not life. It allows him some wiggle room and gives you four appendages or 20 bodily digits.”

Damian nodded his head, “Ten fingers and toes, I understand, Mother.”

I gave the following nod of the head, “Your mother is correct, Damian, as happy as I am that you have taken my advice to start a team to face off against the Titans. It's best not to leave hidden daggers that may take you unawares.”

Damian gave a brief nod of the head, which earned him a spoon to eat his ice cream with. “Thank you, Father, I shall take your words under advisement.”

“Good,” I replied, then hummed as I rubbed my chin. “Talia, do you think he has earned the right to have his own minions?”

With a raised brow, Talia kept an aloofness that made Damian almost squirm in his seat. It was far too easy to pick up on her smug pride. “I do believe we should allow him five under his command for now. He does need the experience after all, if he is looking to form his own team.”

“Agreed,” I replied after the silence stretched for a little. “I also have a list of a few children of heroes that have gone villain and a few villain kids roaming around you might want to try your recruitment pitches with.”

Talia made a motion, and I turned and raised a brow at her as she pulled a black card from her mystery pocket space between her cleavage,  “Then I guess an early gift for my dear shall do—a simple five million to start.”

“Yes, that should work,” I stated as I nodded my head, “Along with a minor restriction on lethality.”

“Dear?” Talia questioned me with her motions paused before she could take a sip of wine. 

“My challenge to Damian is to perform his deaths with non-lethal blows.

Damian placed his spoon down and pushed his bowl away, “Why, father, are we not the League of Assassins?”

“We are, but as of now, you are underage,” I replied with more than a little seriousness to my tones. “You will learn restraint as you battle non-lethally. So when you are of age, and you proceed to take a life. It will not only mean something, but there will be a purpose behind the reason for taking a life. I refuse to raise you as a mindless killing machine; you are far more than that.”

Damian made a half bow at the table, “I understand, Father.”

“Good, now go get cleaned up; your mother and I will read over this plan you have made before we allow you to take the family jet and go on this adventure.” 

Author Notes ::::

Sorry, the chapter took so long, had to read the backlog and notes. Then, I had to get into the mind frame of Doom along with various research that needed doing for what I have planned. 

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