LJ Presents: Doom Gets a Genie, part three
Sometimes, LJ and I come up with the stories together. Sometimes I make suggestions which she includes; more often than not I make suggestions she discards (greatly in-tune with her universe, is the kidlet). I want to stress, though, that the story you're about to read is 100 per cent LJ's sole creation. Why? Because the scenario dreamed up by her nine-year-old mind is, quite frankly, rather good and I wish I'd thought of it myself. Often have I said my daughter will outstrip me in terms of intelligence and creativity - who knew it'd happen this soon?
With that as preamble, on with the story!
LJ presents:
DOOM GETS A GENIE
PART THREE: LIFE IN DOOMSVILLE
Written and directed by LJ
Novelisation by SF
Ironclad, Shield Maiden and Torunn awoke on the mountain range outside Super Hero City. Their heads and bodies ached but they could move once again - Doom's invisible bubble had popped, and they were free. Gingerly they made their way back down the mountain and headed for the city, determined to help the Avengers. What they found, however, was something altogether unexpected.
Super Hero City was now bordered, on three sides, by an enormous wall (the mountains formed the back of the "box"). The Arc Reactor was gone and, with it, the city's free power source. A crusty, malfunctioning electrical plant had replaced the green energy beacon. Street lights around the city sparked, flickered and burned out. The streets themselves were dirty, litter piled on the sidewalks, and it seemed as if a wash of grey had been applied to every building, every bench, every tree. To the people, too; the heroes noticed citizens were wearing identical green-and-grey jumpsuits emblazoned with the letter "D". Most walked with their shoulders slumped and heads down. Two, however, noticed them and rushed over. They were police officers.
"You there," cried the male officer. "Female citizens! You're in breach of Doomsville ordnance #23871.6!" The heroes just blinked at him, uncomprehending. "You're out of Doom-iform," he sighed, exasperated. He gestured to his female partner, who muttered into her radio. "This won't do, it just won't do," the officer continued. "How are we going to... ah." He looked up and smiled. "Good, good."
The officers dropped to their knees and bowed, heads touching the filthy bitumen. The heroes were startled to see a Doomwalker lumber in their direction - and were even more shocked to see Leader and Kang at the helm! The villains were still clad in their von Doom armour. Leader looked at them from on high and clucked disapprovingly. "Another #23871.6," he shook his elongated head. He pressed a button and a long, vacuum cleaner-like hose extended from the belly of the Doomwalker. One by one it sucked up the heroes and, one by one, dumped them back out again clad in the same drab uniform as everyone else! Without so much as a word, the villains steered their juggernaut away. The police officers continued to bow, reverently chanting "the other side".
Someone tapped the heroes on the shoulder and led them quickly away. It was the bank manager, who had once saved and fallen in love with Dr Skelios. "You children must be careful," she whispered. "You're only permitted two Doom-iforms here in Doomsville. If you lose them both, you receive punishment and you'll never make it to the other side."
"I've had just about enough of this malarky," Shield Maiden fumed, tugging at the cloying fabric of her uniform. "What in tarnation is going on here?"
In hushed, sad tones, the bank manager explained the new status quo. Super Hero City had become Doomsville overnight - literally! The citizens had all fallen asleep after the Avengers' defeat and woken to find themselves under Dr Doom's rule. Villainville was now the larger city, its size bolstered by the impossible relocation of Latveria from across the world. The great wall had reshaped itself around Doomsville, creating a prison camp. The only form of public transport was a fleet of Doomwalkers operated by the villains. Citizens who behaved well enough to be deemed "reformed" were taken by Doomwalker to Latveria and began better lives on "the other side".
"This is preposterous," Torunn spat. "The Mayor and Commissioner Gordon are too virtuous to allow this e'er to happen!"
The bank manager broke down and wept. Ironclad comforted her and, through her tears, she relayed horrifying truths. The Mayor and J Jonah Jameson had been brainwashed to encourage obedience from the citizens. The police force, ambulance workers and other emergency services had been similarly corrupted. "Worst of all," the bank manager sniffled, "Commissioner Gordon and my beloved Skelios are to be executed this morning, because they proved immune to the mind control! My poor, sweet, Skrully darling!"
The heroes knew what they had to do. They stooped their shoulders, hung their heads and shuffled into the plaza outside Stark Tower along with everyone else. Commissioner Gordon and Dr Skelios stood beneath the elevator, manacled to one another. Gordon's once-loyal officers surrounded him; in moments they would throw the switch and the elevator would hurtle down to ground level, fatally crushing their erstwhile leader and the Skrull. The young heroes waited, every muscle tense, until the switch was thrown. With blinding speed, Torunn and Shield Maiden pushed past the guards and caught the elevator before impact! Ironclad joined them a second later, wearing her gauntlets beneath her Doom-iform, and knocked the first wave of police down with a flurry of repulsor blasts.
Police reinforcements quickly joined the fight, but the heroes didn't care. Escape was not the plan - not for them, anyway. Torunn sliced Gordon and Skelios' bonds and Shield Maiden hurried them away. Then the heroes moved to the second part of their scheme: getting captured. "We need to get to the Avengers," Ironclad had explained, "and the quickest way is to be taken prisoner. If we make enough of a noise, enough of a mess, the police are sure to take us straight to Doom for punishment!" And so they had staged a defiant, impossible rescue mission and, as police officers dog-piled atop them, smiled and winked at one another. Everything was proceeding exactly to...
"Get them up," a police officer - the same one who'd forced the uniforms upon them - snarled, "and hold them still! Violations of Doomsville ordnance #00001.0 - disturbing the peace - are punishable by summary execution!" Two officers stepped to his side, and all three of them drew their weapons and took bead on the heroes' heads.
"Aw, nuts," Shield Maiden groused.
"STOP!" ordered a booming, imperious voice. It belonged to an exquisitely beautiful woman with long, flowing hair and a midnight black dress. Her aura, Torunn would later comment, was a palpable thing - power leaped and danced around her like invisible fireworks. Silver charms, pentacles and small cloth bags dangled from her neck, wrists and waist; truly, this was a witch of the highest order. The citizens of Doomsville knew it, too - they all but flung themselves onto the ground in submission and reverence. With one voice they hailed her - hailed Lady Cynthia von Doom!
"I would have words with these children," Cynthia continued, her tone pure ice. "Effrontery such as theirs shall not be countenanced in Doomsville. Bind them securely and bring them to my private Doomwalker. I shall convey them to my son for judgment." With quick motions, made bumbling by nerves and the eagerness to please, the police officers shackled Ironclad, Shield Maiden and Torunn and placed them in Cynthia's custody. Like her son before her, the witch encased the heroes in an invisible bubble; the officers pushed it to a sleek, black-and-purple Doomwalker and loaded them inside. With a groan of hydraulics and servomotors, the mechanical beast began to trot toward the wall... and, beyond it, Latveria.
They traveled in silence for a few minutes before Cynthia turned on them, eyes flashing. "Well now," she said darkly, "we won't be needing those anymore." All she did was blink, but it was enough to pop the invisible bubble and cause the heroes' bonds to evaporate. "I do not know who you are," she explained, "but I have need of your help. This world... confuses me." Cynthia told the heroes of her time in Mephisto's realm, chilling them to the bone. "Mephisto would taunt me with visions of this world and how awful it had become," she said. "Victor tells me his rule is necessary, that it brings order to chaos, but his actions trouble me. They remind me all too much of cruel King Vladimir, who ruled Latveria in my time."
Cynthia took Shield Maiden's hands. "The three of you are strong young women who stood up against the ruling class for what you believe," she continued. "You clearly have powers and abilities beyond those of normal people, and are not afraid to use them in furtherance of your goals. You remind me of myself." She smiled - it was only slight, but it was beautiful. "Come with me to Latveria - please, I beseech you - and help me understand what the Earth has become in my absence. I want to know that I'm doing the right thing."
The heroes agreed, but felt a heavy weight settle on their shoulders. In order to save the world, they'd have to break a mother's heart.
Clearly, it was execution time for Doom's regime. Cynthia's personal Doomwalker arrived in time for the final fate of the Avengers. They had been grouped in a circle, tied to one another as Gordon and Skelios had been, and were surrounded on all sides by armour-wearing super villains. Doom himself was above it all, sitting atop a plushly-appointed throne installed upon another Doomwalker. He was making what Shield Maiden considered to be a typically long-winded and self-serving speech. She could imagine that, down below, her dad was rolling his eyes even as he pondered ways to escape.
"Here's what I don't get," Ironclad murmured. "Where did Doom get the power to do all this? How did he manage it overnight? And how the heck did he make an entire country fly through the air and land right next to our city?"
"The genie, of course," Cynthia answered, pointing to the lamp at Doom's side.
"Oh please," Ironclad waved her off. "I've accepted a lot in my life, okay? A lot. The same tech that fuels our city keeps my father alive, two of my best friends are alien beings and I live in a universe whacky enough to incorporate everything from Batman right down to Deadpool. But genies? Sorry lady, I'm not buying it."
"That is because the genie is invisible to all save its master," Cynthia said, "and those with the ability to see." As quietly as a breeze, she cast a gentle spell that wafted past the heroes' eyes. Instantly they saw the blue-skinned lamp spirit floating next to Doom.
Ironclad blinked, rubbed her eyes, blinked again, rubbed her eyes a second time, and stared with her mouth agape. "A freaking genie," she breathed. "I don't believe it."
"The execution is about to start," Torunn announced. "The time to strike is now!" Before Cynthia could protest the heroes exploded from her Doomwalker and fell onto the armoured villains. It was all the distraction the Avengers needed; characteristically, Black Widow and Hawkeye had already slipped their bonds and surreptitiously freed their team mates. Thor sounded the battle cry as Mjolnir streaked into his hand, and the battle was joined. "We must get to Doom," Torunn told the older heroes. "He possesses a magical wraith that is key to his power! It is secreted within yonder lamp!"
"You mean a genie?" Iron Man scoffed. "Look, Torunn, I've accepted a lot in my life, okay? A lot. But..." He paused as a light breeze wafted past his eyes, altering his perceptions and revealing the lamp spirit. Iron Man blinked, rubbed his eyes, blinked again, rubbed his eyes a second time, and stared with his mouth agape. "A freaking genie," he breathed. "I don't believe it."
"That's what I said," Ironclad called.
This time, the Avengers and young heroes were ready for their opponents. To Doom's mounting horror, they began to gain ground. "Genie," he thundered, "how can this be?"
"Your second wish was to be master of all you surveyed," the spirit responded. "You explained that meant Latveria had to be brought here, because you could see it on your computer screen. You convinced me that meant your allies should be empowered to your level, that they might crush all opposition. You told me which citizens needed to be mind-controlled, and which elements of the city altered, to ensure your wish was not undone by unforeseen circumstances." The genie shook his head. "These beings, these Avengers, are too willful to be controlled and too tenacious to be bettered by your friends. They are beyond the boundaries of your wish. I can do no more to help you."
"Yes you can," Doom said, his eyes alive with desperation - and, perhaps, a glint of madness. "Being lord of all I survey is not enough, I see that now. The only way to truly rule, to truly claim dominion over this world, is to ascend." He rose to his feet and strode to the very edge of the Doomwalker. He raised the lamp high into the air. "Genie, I am ready to make my third wish!"
"Your third and final wish," the spirit responded.
Doom paid him no mind. "Genie - make me GOD!"
"As you wish it," the genie bowed, "so it shall be. But beware, Victor von Doom, of the consequences of your desires."
"What consequence--"
The genie wiggled his golden fingers and Doom began to grow. Taller and taller, bigger and broader, until it seemed as if his presence would dwarf the Earth itself! The Avengers looked on in horror as their nemesis towered over them, cackling madly as his body expanded to match his voracious ego. "This is really not good," Hulk grunted.
Doom raised his enormous, metallic right hand and swung it down toward the Avengers and the young heroes, meaning to squash them flat.
-----TO BE CONCLUDED!-----
Greet the Fire as Your Friend,
SF
With that as preamble, on with the story!
LJ presents:
DOOM GETS A GENIE
PART THREE: LIFE IN DOOMSVILLE
Written and directed by LJ
Novelisation by SF
Ironclad, Shield Maiden and Torunn awoke on the mountain range outside Super Hero City. Their heads and bodies ached but they could move once again - Doom's invisible bubble had popped, and they were free. Gingerly they made their way back down the mountain and headed for the city, determined to help the Avengers. What they found, however, was something altogether unexpected.
Super Hero City was now bordered, on three sides, by an enormous wall (the mountains formed the back of the "box"). The Arc Reactor was gone and, with it, the city's free power source. A crusty, malfunctioning electrical plant had replaced the green energy beacon. Street lights around the city sparked, flickered and burned out. The streets themselves were dirty, litter piled on the sidewalks, and it seemed as if a wash of grey had been applied to every building, every bench, every tree. To the people, too; the heroes noticed citizens were wearing identical green-and-grey jumpsuits emblazoned with the letter "D". Most walked with their shoulders slumped and heads down. Two, however, noticed them and rushed over. They were police officers.
"You there," cried the male officer. "Female citizens! You're in breach of Doomsville ordnance #23871.6!" The heroes just blinked at him, uncomprehending. "You're out of Doom-iform," he sighed, exasperated. He gestured to his female partner, who muttered into her radio. "This won't do, it just won't do," the officer continued. "How are we going to... ah." He looked up and smiled. "Good, good."
The officers dropped to their knees and bowed, heads touching the filthy bitumen. The heroes were startled to see a Doomwalker lumber in their direction - and were even more shocked to see Leader and Kang at the helm! The villains were still clad in their von Doom armour. Leader looked at them from on high and clucked disapprovingly. "Another #23871.6," he shook his elongated head. He pressed a button and a long, vacuum cleaner-like hose extended from the belly of the Doomwalker. One by one it sucked up the heroes and, one by one, dumped them back out again clad in the same drab uniform as everyone else! Without so much as a word, the villains steered their juggernaut away. The police officers continued to bow, reverently chanting "the other side".
Someone tapped the heroes on the shoulder and led them quickly away. It was the bank manager, who had once saved and fallen in love with Dr Skelios. "You children must be careful," she whispered. "You're only permitted two Doom-iforms here in Doomsville. If you lose them both, you receive punishment and you'll never make it to the other side."
"I've had just about enough of this malarky," Shield Maiden fumed, tugging at the cloying fabric of her uniform. "What in tarnation is going on here?"
In hushed, sad tones, the bank manager explained the new status quo. Super Hero City had become Doomsville overnight - literally! The citizens had all fallen asleep after the Avengers' defeat and woken to find themselves under Dr Doom's rule. Villainville was now the larger city, its size bolstered by the impossible relocation of Latveria from across the world. The great wall had reshaped itself around Doomsville, creating a prison camp. The only form of public transport was a fleet of Doomwalkers operated by the villains. Citizens who behaved well enough to be deemed "reformed" were taken by Doomwalker to Latveria and began better lives on "the other side".
"This is preposterous," Torunn spat. "The Mayor and Commissioner Gordon are too virtuous to allow this e'er to happen!"
The bank manager broke down and wept. Ironclad comforted her and, through her tears, she relayed horrifying truths. The Mayor and J Jonah Jameson had been brainwashed to encourage obedience from the citizens. The police force, ambulance workers and other emergency services had been similarly corrupted. "Worst of all," the bank manager sniffled, "Commissioner Gordon and my beloved Skelios are to be executed this morning, because they proved immune to the mind control! My poor, sweet, Skrully darling!"
The heroes knew what they had to do. They stooped their shoulders, hung their heads and shuffled into the plaza outside Stark Tower along with everyone else. Commissioner Gordon and Dr Skelios stood beneath the elevator, manacled to one another. Gordon's once-loyal officers surrounded him; in moments they would throw the switch and the elevator would hurtle down to ground level, fatally crushing their erstwhile leader and the Skrull. The young heroes waited, every muscle tense, until the switch was thrown. With blinding speed, Torunn and Shield Maiden pushed past the guards and caught the elevator before impact! Ironclad joined them a second later, wearing her gauntlets beneath her Doom-iform, and knocked the first wave of police down with a flurry of repulsor blasts.
Police reinforcements quickly joined the fight, but the heroes didn't care. Escape was not the plan - not for them, anyway. Torunn sliced Gordon and Skelios' bonds and Shield Maiden hurried them away. Then the heroes moved to the second part of their scheme: getting captured. "We need to get to the Avengers," Ironclad had explained, "and the quickest way is to be taken prisoner. If we make enough of a noise, enough of a mess, the police are sure to take us straight to Doom for punishment!" And so they had staged a defiant, impossible rescue mission and, as police officers dog-piled atop them, smiled and winked at one another. Everything was proceeding exactly to...
"Get them up," a police officer - the same one who'd forced the uniforms upon them - snarled, "and hold them still! Violations of Doomsville ordnance #00001.0 - disturbing the peace - are punishable by summary execution!" Two officers stepped to his side, and all three of them drew their weapons and took bead on the heroes' heads.
"Aw, nuts," Shield Maiden groused.
"STOP!" ordered a booming, imperious voice. It belonged to an exquisitely beautiful woman with long, flowing hair and a midnight black dress. Her aura, Torunn would later comment, was a palpable thing - power leaped and danced around her like invisible fireworks. Silver charms, pentacles and small cloth bags dangled from her neck, wrists and waist; truly, this was a witch of the highest order. The citizens of Doomsville knew it, too - they all but flung themselves onto the ground in submission and reverence. With one voice they hailed her - hailed Lady Cynthia von Doom!
"I would have words with these children," Cynthia continued, her tone pure ice. "Effrontery such as theirs shall not be countenanced in Doomsville. Bind them securely and bring them to my private Doomwalker. I shall convey them to my son for judgment." With quick motions, made bumbling by nerves and the eagerness to please, the police officers shackled Ironclad, Shield Maiden and Torunn and placed them in Cynthia's custody. Like her son before her, the witch encased the heroes in an invisible bubble; the officers pushed it to a sleek, black-and-purple Doomwalker and loaded them inside. With a groan of hydraulics and servomotors, the mechanical beast began to trot toward the wall... and, beyond it, Latveria.
They traveled in silence for a few minutes before Cynthia turned on them, eyes flashing. "Well now," she said darkly, "we won't be needing those anymore." All she did was blink, but it was enough to pop the invisible bubble and cause the heroes' bonds to evaporate. "I do not know who you are," she explained, "but I have need of your help. This world... confuses me." Cynthia told the heroes of her time in Mephisto's realm, chilling them to the bone. "Mephisto would taunt me with visions of this world and how awful it had become," she said. "Victor tells me his rule is necessary, that it brings order to chaos, but his actions trouble me. They remind me all too much of cruel King Vladimir, who ruled Latveria in my time."
Cynthia took Shield Maiden's hands. "The three of you are strong young women who stood up against the ruling class for what you believe," she continued. "You clearly have powers and abilities beyond those of normal people, and are not afraid to use them in furtherance of your goals. You remind me of myself." She smiled - it was only slight, but it was beautiful. "Come with me to Latveria - please, I beseech you - and help me understand what the Earth has become in my absence. I want to know that I'm doing the right thing."
The heroes agreed, but felt a heavy weight settle on their shoulders. In order to save the world, they'd have to break a mother's heart.
Clearly, it was execution time for Doom's regime. Cynthia's personal Doomwalker arrived in time for the final fate of the Avengers. They had been grouped in a circle, tied to one another as Gordon and Skelios had been, and were surrounded on all sides by armour-wearing super villains. Doom himself was above it all, sitting atop a plushly-appointed throne installed upon another Doomwalker. He was making what Shield Maiden considered to be a typically long-winded and self-serving speech. She could imagine that, down below, her dad was rolling his eyes even as he pondered ways to escape.
"Here's what I don't get," Ironclad murmured. "Where did Doom get the power to do all this? How did he manage it overnight? And how the heck did he make an entire country fly through the air and land right next to our city?"
"The genie, of course," Cynthia answered, pointing to the lamp at Doom's side.
"Oh please," Ironclad waved her off. "I've accepted a lot in my life, okay? A lot. The same tech that fuels our city keeps my father alive, two of my best friends are alien beings and I live in a universe whacky enough to incorporate everything from Batman right down to Deadpool. But genies? Sorry lady, I'm not buying it."
"That is because the genie is invisible to all save its master," Cynthia said, "and those with the ability to see." As quietly as a breeze, she cast a gentle spell that wafted past the heroes' eyes. Instantly they saw the blue-skinned lamp spirit floating next to Doom.
Ironclad blinked, rubbed her eyes, blinked again, rubbed her eyes a second time, and stared with her mouth agape. "A freaking genie," she breathed. "I don't believe it."
"The execution is about to start," Torunn announced. "The time to strike is now!" Before Cynthia could protest the heroes exploded from her Doomwalker and fell onto the armoured villains. It was all the distraction the Avengers needed; characteristically, Black Widow and Hawkeye had already slipped their bonds and surreptitiously freed their team mates. Thor sounded the battle cry as Mjolnir streaked into his hand, and the battle was joined. "We must get to Doom," Torunn told the older heroes. "He possesses a magical wraith that is key to his power! It is secreted within yonder lamp!"
"You mean a genie?" Iron Man scoffed. "Look, Torunn, I've accepted a lot in my life, okay? A lot. But..." He paused as a light breeze wafted past his eyes, altering his perceptions and revealing the lamp spirit. Iron Man blinked, rubbed his eyes, blinked again, rubbed his eyes a second time, and stared with his mouth agape. "A freaking genie," he breathed. "I don't believe it."
"That's what I said," Ironclad called.
This time, the Avengers and young heroes were ready for their opponents. To Doom's mounting horror, they began to gain ground. "Genie," he thundered, "how can this be?"
"Your second wish was to be master of all you surveyed," the spirit responded. "You explained that meant Latveria had to be brought here, because you could see it on your computer screen. You convinced me that meant your allies should be empowered to your level, that they might crush all opposition. You told me which citizens needed to be mind-controlled, and which elements of the city altered, to ensure your wish was not undone by unforeseen circumstances." The genie shook his head. "These beings, these Avengers, are too willful to be controlled and too tenacious to be bettered by your friends. They are beyond the boundaries of your wish. I can do no more to help you."
"Yes you can," Doom said, his eyes alive with desperation - and, perhaps, a glint of madness. "Being lord of all I survey is not enough, I see that now. The only way to truly rule, to truly claim dominion over this world, is to ascend." He rose to his feet and strode to the very edge of the Doomwalker. He raised the lamp high into the air. "Genie, I am ready to make my third wish!"
"Your third and final wish," the spirit responded.
Doom paid him no mind. "Genie - make me GOD!"
"As you wish it," the genie bowed, "so it shall be. But beware, Victor von Doom, of the consequences of your desires."
"What consequence--"
The genie wiggled his golden fingers and Doom began to grow. Taller and taller, bigger and broader, until it seemed as if his presence would dwarf the Earth itself! The Avengers looked on in horror as their nemesis towered over them, cackling madly as his body expanded to match his voracious ego. "This is really not good," Hulk grunted.
Doom raised his enormous, metallic right hand and swung it down toward the Avengers and the young heroes, meaning to squash them flat.
-----TO BE CONCLUDED!-----
Greet the Fire as Your Friend,
SF