201. Dial "D" for Doom

Prime-Earth:The Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman, SHAZAM, Freddy Freeman, Mary Bromfield, Darla Dudley, Eugene Choi, Pedro Peña, Harley Quinn, Deadshot

Earth-Prime:Superman, Supergirl, The Flash, Atom, White Canary, John Constantine

Earth 615:Daredevil, The Punisher

Earth 616:Spider-Man, Ant-Man, Thor, Professor Hulk, Captain Marvel, The Falcon, The Winter Soldier, The Scarlet Witch, Doctor Strange, Star-Lord, Drax, Groot, Mantis, Rocket Raccoon, War Machine

Earth 617:Deadpool, Colossus, Cable

Bruce and Peter reach an abandoned alien town. The town was mostly wooden in form made from red alien wood. The structures were very symmetrical and came in the form of squares and rectangles. The town was like a maze. However, this wood is rather hard and is comparable to metal like titanium.

Bruce stares at the town. He lets out a soft sniff.

"What gives you hope that you can bring everyone back?" asked Peter. "How is that rational?"

"Faith, Peter," said Bruce. "Faith."

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Years ago...

In the Kingdom of Latveria, a nation on Earth 616, the Kingdom had a civil war. It was 1999.

Victor, a young boy, began running away from bombings in his local home. His mother, a gypsy, told Victor to keep running.

"Find your father, Victor!" she shouted in their native language. "RUN!!!"

She ran with him as grenades were thrown nearby.

"Mama!" he wept.

"It's okay, Victor... It's okay. Don't look back," she said. "Don't look back, Victor... Don't look back."

The two kept running and running.

*click*

She stopped stepping.

She stepped on a land mine.

Victor approaches her slowly.

"Mama," he whimpered.

She shook her head.

"Turn around... run... Don't look back... Don't come back for me," she said.

The eight-year-old boy began to cry. "Mama."

"RUN!!!" she shouted.

He began to run away... now being meters away.

But... he turned back around.

He ran back to her.

"NO!!!" she shouted.

*BANG*

She is shot dead by a nearby soldier as the mine was set off.

"MAMA!!!" cried Victor.

*click*

*BOOM*

*SPLAT*

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH-!!!" shouted the young boy, grabbing his face with massive amounts of blood and guts all over him. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

A piece of shrapnel could be found on the ground stuck to the dirt.

It says one thing.

"Made by Stark Industries."

Now... 27 years later...

"I can't believe several races of aliens died because of our fight," said Peter. "All over a stupid wish."

Bruce stared at the town. It's a town of about 100 buildings in a 10x10 alignment. Guilt faded into Bruce's mind. He sighs out of self-disappointment.

"You okay, there, Bruce?" asked Peter.

"I'm fine, kid," he replied.

Bruce looked at the sun, which is set.

"We should get going," said Bruce. "Night's falling, and we haven't found a meal yet."

"There should be Sludge," said Bruce. "There should be Sludge within one of these buildings."

The two walked into the abandoned town. It was empty. The place was dead silent, except for a small beeping noise from Bruce's and Peter's suits. The smell of Sludge could be smelt.

"We'll set up camp in one of the buildings," said Bruce. "My Parademon Detector says that this place is free by those darn insects."

"Good," said Peter. "Because it'd be really awkward... since... y'know... you guys killed one of their leaders some time ago."

"Nine years ago," he sighed. "It was nine years ago since I signed up with that man from your Earth... Victor von Doom."

"V-Victor von Doom?" asked Peter. "That guy is... That guy's a Dictator on our Earth. What does he have anything to do with this?"

"He's the wizard that brought us here," said Bruce. "His manager, Epimetheus, hosted the whole battle... But he was the one who recruited each of us.He's not only a wizard... He's a Dictator like you said... But he's also a scientist, an artist, a writer, a medical doctor, a teacher, a healer, a priest, a monk from K'un Lun, a businessman, a soldier, and many more."

"Whoa!" shouted Peter. "It's like how you're also a scientist, artist, writer, medical doctor, teacher, healer, priest, monk, businessman, soldier, and many more!"

Bruce sighed.

That night... the two set up camp inside one of the buildings. Again, the building is barren. It had a tunnel-like system similar to an ant's. There are wooden doors around that lead to a kitchen filled with Sludge filled in jars.

Bruce takes a whiff of these jars.

"They don't go bad, right?" asked Peter.

"You never know," said Bruce. "They smell just about the same. This would be good for a year's worth of sludge. Sadly, we can't bring all of 'em. We can bring up to three at best and tie them to our suits."

"Remind me why you didn't bring your vehicle again?" asked Peter. "Oh... right... Parademons... *Ahem*..."

The two then slept in the same bedroom. The beds were separate and were rather soft. They were made from the sap of the tree, whatever wood this was made from.

Later...

"Can't sleep?" asked Peter, turning to Bruce. Bruce is facing the other way. Peter is on the left side bed, and Bruce is on the right side. There's a window near their heads.

Peter sighs. "I wish Tony was here. He'd talk..."

Bruce takes a deep breath.

"I threw myself in the wilderness forty years ago when I was 8. That's when my parents died. It was caused by a mad man in a clown suit who caused some sort of civil uprising or whatever. He caused some people to believe in what he was saying. One of the people who believed in him was swayed to shooting my parents," said Bruce.

"That guy..." said Peter. "He was the Joker guy, right? Didn't Diana say that you were related to this guy, like your brother? Then it was covered up by your dad?"

Bruce didn't answer.

"I finished my studies in a place called 'Eth Alth'eban. It was a mountain kingdom of Arab Ninjas."

Peter laughed softly from slight disbelief.

"There, I trained for fifteen years. I trained with my master... his name was Ra's Al Ghul, but I didn't know it was him at the time. He was... he was like my dad. I saw my dad in him, you know?

Then I was given my final task. I was told to kill my master. I... I didn't listen. I ran back to Gotham through a plane... pretended that I was stranded there... and I got Wayne Manor.

Then Ra's came back... there was some stuff about him wanting to destroy Gotham, or whatever... I beat him and his ally, Scarecrow. He survived, somehow. Then I accidentally dropped the man who caused my parents' deaths into acid which made him younger... Fought him when he was causing anarchy to the city, or whatever... He corrupted a friend of mine... he killed the love of my life..."

Peter looks at Bruce with intent. He looked down for a moment, probably from shame for asking the question earlier.

"Then I quit being Batman for... a year? Then I fought Ra's' son, Bane... Broke my back... came back stronger... And I sacrificed my life pretending to die... I moved to Paris with someone I thought I loved... Didn't work out.

Then... things got weird..."

"How weird?" asked Peter, looking interested.

"When I came back, there were these guys I've found out about... these people with enhanced abilities.

It was about my third year when I fought a serial killer who called himself the Riddler, but then I fought this other guy...

He was a mutant bat. Then I fought this Mob Boss who was deformed and looked like a penguin. Then there was this plant lady who was an ecoterrorist. Then there was this guy made of clay. Then there was this guy who had the physiology comparable to a crocodile's."

"Sounds like someone a friend of mine fought," laughed Peter.

"Then... my ex came back as a bad guy again... We fought... got back together... fought again...

Then my old friend came back... then the clown guy had a girlfriend... then a guy with really good aim tried to murder me... Then my old friend from the Mountain Kingdom with Arab Ninjas tried to assassinate me, too. Then an ice guy who wanted to save his wife... I had to beat him. A moth guy... A crazy guy with a hat... pig-masked guy... Countless of others...

But then... along the way... it wasn't all fighting...

I had kids... Adopted...

There was the first one. His name was Dick. Calm kid. He worked in a circus for a while with his parents. They thought he was a freak. His parents were killed by Falcone. He swore vengeance, but I took him in to show him that what he wanted wasn't right. I used to tell him stories every night. After a day's job, I'd come home with him all excited to talk with me and tell me about his day. He just started running to me... my heart said, 'Is he mad at me? Or is this his way of saying, that he missed me?'

A few years later, he started joining me in my fights. Called himself Robin.

The first one, Dick, was... he was killed by the clown guy...

Time bomb... I... I couldn't save him in time...

Then, there was Jason. Rough kid, he was. I met him taking out the wheels of my Batmobile. He was strong, hardened, and honorable. But sometimes he'd go out o control.

In the end, however... he was just a kid who lost his parents. No different from me.

He left and became Nightwing and started killing his enemies. He thought I was weak.

Then, there was Tim... Tim was this loving, happy-go-lucky kid. He was kind, rowdy, and filled with feeling. He was much sweeter than the other two Robins. He was smart. I'd read him, Moby Dick. Goddamn, was that his favorite book. I'd read him every night and he'd be so enamored by the words.

Then, he was killed by the clown guy... All except for Jason...

Ever since that happened all over again, these two guys, Red Hood and Ghostmaker had been hunting criminals in my city non-stop. They were killing all of them. I... snapped... and I joined in for the kill.

I started killing along with them. I had lost all forms of hope.

Then this guy... this god... an alien... who I've had visions of him wiping out the very fabric of our world... thought he was there to kill us...

I tried to kill him...

Then, when I was about to pull the trigger, I saw something in him..."

"What'd you see?" asked Peter.

"I saw myself... Or... I saw who I used to be..." said Bruce. "I saw who I could become again..."

"This guy was Superman... but you didn't trust him again..." said Peter.

"Yeah... I made a deal with the devil," said Bruce. "And his name is Doom."

"I was bit by a radioactive spider when it was about... 2016 or 2017... somewhere along the lines... I was on a school trip. Then, I was bit by a radioactive spider.

I then became enhanced. I started crawling on walls, lifting cars like they were nothing, and I could punch through concrete...

Now, my Uncle told me these words... 'Great power comes great responsibility.'

I had great power, but I didn't have great responsibility..."

"You used them for something selfish," said Bruce.

"My uncle was kinda like... the closest thing I had to a dad... other than Tony.

My parents were working for this company of my best friend's dad, Norman Osborn... Oscorp. Ned... I dunno what happened to him after all these years...

There was this fight club. I didn't get the money. The guy that was supposed to pay me was robbed. I let the robber go.

He... He killed my Uncle.

So I became a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

Then I met Mr. Stark.

He was... something.

He was smart... he was kind... he was my hero. Saved me once when I was younger.

He told me that I could be something more..."

"He wanted you to become the next Iron Man?" asked Bruce. "Did it work out?"

"I keep messing things up," said Peter. "I almost destroyed the world and made everyone lose all hope."

Bruce sighs and chuckles.

"That makes two of us," replied Bruce.

Suddenly, an animalistic shriek could be heard outside.

"Find them," whispered a voice.

Bruce's and Peter's metal helmets are made of Vibranium, Promethium, and Adamantium armor. Thus, they are immune to Doom's telepathy.

Bruce stands up and prepares his Shattered Stars Repulsor Cannon.

Peter prepares his web-shooters.

Peter went to his wallcrawler position. Bruce prepared his fists.

"I know some Capoeira," said Peter. "You?"

"I mastered a hundred and seventy different martial arts that I wouldn't be able to list down right now since we may be about to be bug food," said Bruce.

*PEW*

The roof is blown open as Doctor Doom floats down before them using jets on his armor.

Doctor Doom lands before them.

"Hello, Bruce," he said in a booming voice.

*shwing*

Bruce threw an energy blast from his armor which spun toward Doctor Doom.

Doctor Doom protected himself with forcefields.

"Doctor Doom shall lay waste to you fools with my Banishment Spell," said Doctor Doom. "PROTERO!!!"

*PEW*

Bruce and Peter leaped upward as Peter shot web into Doom's eyes.

Bruce flew up toward Doom and punched him in the face with great speed. He then turned on an electromagnetic repulsor and shocked Doom in the face.

"RAAAAAAAAUGH!!!" shouted Bruce.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!!!" shouted Doom, as he kicked Bruce down.

"Take care of the insects, Peter," said Bruce. "I'll take care of the Robot Space-Time Wizard."

Spider-Man then webs upward.

"I heard you've recently had a daughter, Bruce," said Doom. "Doctor Doom shall break her body and stride on her flesh."

Bruce flew before Doom and punched him over and over again. Sparks went out from the sheer speed and flurry of Bruce's fists. Doom simply put a forcefield around him as Bruce shouted with a berserker scream.

The forcefield even nearly broke because of Bruce's attacks.

His caped turned into metal wings as the wings blasted lasers toward Doctor Doom.

Doctor Doom created a shield-like forcefield to stop Bruce's blasters.

Doctor Doom then tries to use his telekinesis against Bruce's suit to try and crush it, but Bruce simply pummels Doom with a back kick.

"I can lift mountains with my magic," said Doom. "You seem to be emitting sorcery energies from your body. You've learned the arts?"

"Yeah..." said Bruce. "I just didn't learn them very well. Magic isn't much of my thing, to be honest. I just have some tricks up my sleeve..."

"What happens when you run out of tricks?" asked Doom.

"I never run out of tricks," he replied.

Bruce teleports behind Doom and hammers him down with his fist.

"I'm Batman," he explained.

Bruce turns the switch on his belt as energies began to go around his body.

He teleports around as he punches Doom.

Doom teleports as well, shooting beams of magic toward Bruce.

"I thought you called yourself the Iron Knight," calmly said Doom.

"They call me the Iron Knight," said Bruce.

Bruce teleports in front of Doom and leaned to his face.

"I call myself the Goddamned Batman."

*BONG*

Bruce kept on punching Doom over and over again.

Meanwhile, Peter leaped from one building to the other in his Iron Spider suit. His Spider Legs stab several Parademons that attacked him.

"Uh... Suit! Activate Instant Kill!" shouted Peter.

*SHING SHING SHING SHING*

*SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT*

Parademons were killed every second.

Doctor Doom opened portals all around him and shot more blasts toward Bruce.

"I, who have mastered all arts, all sciences, and all secrets, shall rule Battleworld for my Master, Darkseid. Once I take the Anti-Life Equation from your hands, I shall give it to Darkseid, and I may bring salvation to my nation. I rule a simple nation. I rule a simple planet. All I want is peace and prosperity for my nation. And I will kill everyone who stands in my way. Despite all these titles, I only have one simple title... and that is Doctor."

"Your name literally means, 'death, destruction, or terrible fate' in English," said Bruce.

"SILENCE!!!" shouted Doom, as he fused his electromagnetic beams, repulsor cannon energy blast, and Banishment Ray, and Disintegration Spell with each other and blasted it head-on toward Bruce.

Bruce simply created a shield-like armor to protect himself.

Doom grabs Bruce's arm armor and tears it off, but his armor heals itself as he transforms his gauntlet into a blade and stabbed Doom in the abdomen. Doom pulls the blade out and whispers a healing spell unto himself and stabs the blade into Bruce's abdomen. Bruce simply roared and blasted Doom's face. Doom tries to put his forcefield into Bruce's body, but the forcefield couldn't enter into his armor.

"Your armor's enchanted," Doom whispered. "You're a man who is prepared for just about anything... Your resourcefulness exceeded my expectations... which allowed you to defeat the majority of the powerless heroes of Earths 615 and 616. You pummeled the Falcon. You beat the Winter Soldier with his own arm. You beat Daredevil one-on-one. You broke Hawkeye's arms. You broke The Flash of Earth-Prime's legs. You beat the White Canary with ease. You immobilized Deadpool.That drive in you to keep on fighting is what I can respect about you, Mr. Wayne. But what's pathetic about you is your inability to have faith in your allies.Thus, I shall give you a quick yet painful death."

Doom began to crush Bruce's head with his telekinesis as Bruce screamed.

"TURN AROUND!!!" he roared.

"What!?" asked Doom.

Doom turns around as an arrow is shot into his eye.

Bruce apparently planted an Adamantium crossbow behind Doom that was formed from his suit.

"You don't know how this armor works, do you?" asked Bruce, as Doom kept on screaming in pain. "I read the late Tony Stark's old blueprints from Peter's suit. Nanites in the bones are summoned and turned into any form of metallic weapon or equipment that can come out through pores from your body. I'm sure you wouldn't need that because of your damned ego. But that's how this armor works.That's what makes me the Iron Knight."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" shouted Doom.

*PEW*

*SPLAT*

Bruce's chest was blasted open.

Bruce grunts as he falls to the ground.

"BRUCE!!!" shouted Peter, still fighting the Parademons.

Doom laughs maniacally as he floated down before Bruce.

"With you, Darkseid will give us each our wishes," said Doom. "Now come with us to the Legion of Doom.Huh!?"

Bruce's armor slowly heals Bruce's armor as he gasps for breath.

"Interesting..." said Doom. "But not good enough," Doom prepares his repulsor cannon and points it at Bruce.

Bruce thought. "I have two shots left before my armor loses energy until the sun comes back again... I have to be smart about this."

Bruce turns and nods to Peter.

*THWIP*

"RAUGH!!!"

Doom's face was webbed by Peter.

Bruce then activates the Teleportation Mode on his utility belt as he teleports to Peter.

"Take me somewhere with an enclosed area!" he shouted.

Several miles away, Bruce appears in a random cave with Peter.

"Mr. Wayne!" shouted Peter, as he grabbed his head up. "Oh my God..."

Peter applies pressure to the wound.

Bruce, despite being healed, is still losing a lot of blood.

"Sludge!" shouted Peter, as he rummaged through his items and grabbed the bottle. He then lets Bruce drinks it.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!" shouted Bruce, as his blood replenishes. He heals completely as he trembled on the ground. He gasped as his veins looked like they were about to burst.

He gasped for some more breath.

Trembling, he slowly stands up.

He sighs.

"You saved my life," he said.

"Y-... You know who I-I am," said Peter. "I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."

Bruce chuckles. "You sound like you came from a radio Superhero show in the '40s if you change the context."

"We're all Superheroes... What? What are you talking about Mr. Wayne!?" asked Peter.

"'Friendly neighborhood,'" he chuckled. "What was that!? Why'd you just introduce yourself thinking you sounded cool? You sound like a Goddamned Newspaper Boy."

"What?" shouted Peter.

"I'm just kidding with you, kid..." said Bruce. "It's just been a long time since I... shared a chuckle."

"Mr. Wayne, you were the only one chuckling," said Peter.

"I know kid... I know."

Bruce immediately dropped to the sandy ground and fell asleep.

Peter sighed, smiled for a moment, and slept beside him.

"What's wrong with 'Friendly Neighborhood'?" he whispered.