Brightest Doom - Chapter 21

Brightest Doom

Chapter 21

By: BigTofu

Ladies’ Night Out…

Bouncing on the balls of her feet, Harley couldn’t tamp down the bubble of energy that she felt inside as they strolled along in Metropolis. It had been some time since they had last come to the big city, and honestly, she was enjoying looking at all the pretty colors.

It wasn’t different shades of grey and brooding like Gotham, nor was it like that big secret base out in the desert. No, Metropolis had that bright and clean look and feel to it that made Harley feel like a brand new person.

Well, that could also be because she was no longer a villain, villainess? whatever. Yep, Harleen Quinzel was a bonafide businesswoman now. Well, she had her sports company, but no sports star. Pouting now, she stuck her tongue out at a kid while stealing his lollipop, that’s what he gets for staring.

Spinning gracefully around the back of the mother, Harley dropped a twenty into her purse as the kid started to cry. With a hum, Harley could already envision Giganta on her team, stomping all across the shadowy form of her opposition. Hopping from one leg to the other, she wondered how long it would take to find Cheetah.

She knew that Ivy had interrupted her attempts to ride Doom’s pole. Maybe they could make a trade, a little shag for a little play. Hmm, she would have to look into that.

But before she could make a delightful comment about the rainbow dress a lady was wearing, Ivy hooked their arms together before pulling them both into a building that looked far too rich for her blood. Then again, Selina had stolen Doom’s credit card, so it wasn’t like they were about to pay for lunch. Maybe she can kiss it/blow it and make it up to him later. Yeah, she could do that, since Doom liked her kisses, above and below the belt.

Standing behind Ivy, Harley couldn’t help the smile that spread across her features as she spotted the toupee sitting on the door guy’s head.

“OHH look! That squirrel died of natural causes!”

Selina and a few others in the restaurant all made to cover their laughs while Ivy face palmed before pulling her along.

“Harley dear, please play nice,” Ivy whispered. Instead of sending them back out, someone ushered them quickly along and forced them into the elevator. Well, that might be because they paid so much to reserve the restaurant, ohh well.

Arriving on the top floor which opened up to a beautiful view of the city, Harley paid it no attention as a new arrival caused the wind to flutter her hair some.

“Power! You’re here!” Harley yelled excitedly as she glomped onto the taller woman.

The look on Power Girl’s face was one of pure surprise, not really expecting to be wanted or welcomed here. She knew that they had invited her, but honestly, Power Girl thought that it would be four on two with only Lois on her side.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Power Girl smiled and returned the hug before sharing her greetings with both Ivy and Selina. Looking around, she tried to locate Talia but noticed that she wasn’t in the building after checking once with her x-ray vision.

Shrugging the thought aside, she heard the arrival of Lois and made sure that her companions also knew of her arrival. Harley, being Harley, of course, was far too excited, while Ivy shared a commiserating look with Selina.

Luckily for everyone, Lois arrived right alongside the tea, and that solved more than a few issues. Yet that hope was short-lived as Harley decided to be Harley right in the middle of tea time.

Sipping her tea with a pinky finger wagging in the air, Harley finished her sip before dabbing at her lips delicately with a napkin. With a raised eyebrow and voice dripping with conspiracy, she let the bombs drop. “Sooooo, is big blue really the ‘man of steel’ in bed, or is that all talk?”

Lois, mid sip, nearly did a classic spit take of her tea in response to Harley’s intimate question. The blush on the face of the reporter could have been one for the record books. Yet, before she could answer, Ivy came to her rescue.

Placing her cup down, Ivy chided her a little bit, “Harley, that is not a question you can just ask a lady.”

“Why not?” Harley asked, “She didn’t have to show up, even if Vinny passed along the invite to big blue.”

Lois could only sigh before deciding to answer in the affirmative, “Yes, he stands true to his moniker, the man of steel…even in bed,” Lois sighed, before letting out a whisper that a few of them heard. “In fact, maybe a little too much steel.”

“Well, maybe we can help you with that, sweetie,” Selina purred, which in turn caused Lois to frown at her. Selina’s eyebrows wiggled for all to see before Lois let out a sigh as she then looked at Power Girl.

Then Lois shook her head, “Urgh, I don’t know how you ladies can share one guy.”

Selina replied with a shrug of her own, “Girl, don’t even go there with that mess,” Selina said, before shaking her head. “If half of the villains out there were able to get laid, then we wouldn’t even be having half the issues we do. Think about how many super-powered men and women must be out there, frustrated because they can’t find any release besides getting their rocks off in unusual ways.”

Harley sagely nodded her head along with Selina’s statement, “If half the ladies labeled as villains were able to get themselves hooked up with the good D, some cuddling, and maybe a little soft touch, they would quit the villain biz in an instant. Hell, all they would need after that is something to punch on occasion to keep ’em happy.”

Power Girl facepalmed, “I did try once with one of the guys on the team, but he was always scared to put his head between my legs,” she shared with a mirthless chuckle. “We broke up after he witnessed me catching a building or two. Ohh, there was also that one time I overpowered him in bed,” she sighed. “Doom didn’t mind at all when I rode his face like a bronco.”

Harley let out a belly laugh, “Ha! Don’t you dare compare our Doom to all those soy boys.”

The chuckle that came out of Selina’s throat was positively toe-curling in how sinful it sounded, “Girl, don’t I know it, sometimes you want a man that’s not scared to spank your a.s.s and pull your hair while hitting it from the back, hard,” Selina leered with a wistful look on her face. “I could never get any of that from Batman. It’s always soft, consensual loving. I did not put on these twelve-inch heels and leather pants while oiled up for a night on the town for some soft loving. Hell, the whole reason why I stole the damn cat’s eye diamond in the first place was because it was close to his usual patrol route,” she finished with a huff.

Harley patted Selina on the arm while commiserating with an ‘aww sweetie.’ Then she got a super fun idea before getting up from her seat, “Gimme a sec, I wanna grab a new friend gift for Lois.”

Running off with a shout of ‘where was it?’ no one was able to prevent Harley from being, well, Harley. She checked high and low before finding the lamp in one of the strangest places. Then again, maybe it wasn’t so strange to be labeled a fun project. It was, after all, a prototype of a test unit for their very own Power Girl.

Then again, maybe Power would be able to wait since she was now on a daily diet of the good D. Hmm, that’s some food for thought, but Harley didn’t want to think about any of that now as she picked up the lamp, found a box, and then grabbed some wrapping paper left over from presents for Damian.

Before she poofed back to where she had come from, Harley decided to grab some of the good scotch. Maybe that would help Lois loosen up some. Flipping the card through her fingers, Harley danced it across then pressed the teleport button while performing a Sailor Moon pose.

Lights flashed as Harley vanished and those within the shadows could only shake their heads.

With a smile, Harley bounced back into the room before setting an oddly shaped lamp upon the table. Then with a flourish of the hand, she presented it to Lois who was already looking seriously envious from the talks that were going on.

Smiling as she presented the lamp, Harley noticed that Selina already recognized it. Then there was Ivy who had a raised brow and a look that demanded an explanation. Then there was Power Girl who was staring a little too hard at the device.

“Harleen Quinzel, also known as doctor love, and as Doctor Love, I have to prescribe you a red solar lamp for you and your Kryptonian lover,” Harley said with all cheer. “This is a certified Harleen Quinzel one-of-a-kind item.”

“Wait a second, isn’t that the thing Vincent was building?” Ivy asked with a raised brow.

Harley stuck her tongue out at Ivy, “Yeah, but it sounds like Lois needs this a lot more than we do.”

Selina covered up a light snort, “You mean the ‘man of steel’ needs it.”

“Ignore them suga’,” Harley popped. “Blue button sets up a force field about twenty-five feet in diameter around the device. Blocks all solar radiation. The red button is red solar energy, depowering your hubby to base human. The fluffy cuffs are to put the power in your hands, just remember to remove them after play. The yellow button is to give the wearer of the cuffs a dose of normal solar energy to power them back up. In case of emergencies, of course,” she finished with a mile-wide smile.

Lois Lane’s eyes went wide as the implications hit her over the head like a ton of bricks, “Ohh my gosh Harley, thank you soooo much!”

Harley waved a hand as she accepted the hug from Lois, “Nahh, don’t worry about it.”

Selina spied the device for a moment before turning a very sultry smile towards Lois, “Yes, my dear, so you might as well take this and stake your claim upon your man.”

Ivy hummed a little before also adding in her own comment, “Make sure he learns how much of a woman you are. I’ll make sure that someone drops off a few dozen rose petals for you.”

Lois’ eyes went wide, but her excitement was almost overshadowed by the pout on Power Girl’s face. “Wait, how come Vincent didn’t try that with me?”

Harley shrugged in return, “Well, pretty sure he thought that even with consent, you wouldn’t want to give up your powers for a shag, honey.”

“Ohh, damn.”

“It’s alright, Doom likes’em strong anyway,” Harley popped from her seat with a smile.

“Ohh, don’t I know it, he even let me use him as a scratching post,” Selina purred, then turned her attention to Lois. “I do have some books you might want to try.”

Lois squealed indignantly, face going bright red, “I don’t need any books to try.”

Ivy looked at Lois then shook her head, as if in pity, “Ohh honey, this is not like riding a bike, you do know that, right?”

“Girl, you are with the man that is known to have unlimited stamina, you are gonna have to learn a few tricks to even that playing field,” Selina commented from her chair.

Before anyone could answer, the air shifted with the arrival of a lady dressed in red and blue with the stars and stripes. Long legs for days with an amazonian build that showed off not only her arms, but also her back muscles.

“OHH yes, I would like to read these books that you speak of,” spoke the newcomer. Everyone shifted to see who had arrived from the location of the balcony. Only to see that Harley was already there wrapping the new arrival in a big hug.

“Girls, Diana’s here and she wanna read our books,” Harley popped enthusiastically, with one hand around Diana’s shoulder.

Selina gave her the side-eye as she made her comment, ” Pretty sure that she wants to practice what’s in those books, not just read them, Harley.”

Placing her hand upon her h.i.p.s, Harley struck a pose, “Since Doom isn’t here to help her practice, then we should show her how. It’s only proper to have someone guide you through this unique cultural exchange…”

-) (-

Doing things the good ol’ fashion way, with some elbow grease and big guns.

Minor things rattled here and there as the inertial dampers kept the outside g-forces from affecting us all. Setting aside my own personal note to fine-tune the sensors while also increasing the shield nodes, I waved a hand over the holo-table of my war room on the airship.

Humming lightly as the hologram rotated for closer inspection, I took in the position of the trails and hidden tunnels leading away from the structure. Heat signatures sprinkled throughout the map gave the count of twenty hostiles, with at least four pets. Rotating the hologram once more, I zoomed in on the man located in the lower rooms, the quality of the hologram even showed that he was bent over some kind of table.

If my agents were correct, that had to be my target. Then again, their reports put him in the bas.e.m.e.nt for the last three hours and counting. Making my own notes, I turned to my littlest companion at the side.

“Tell me, Damian, what do you see wrong with this setup?” I asked with a wave of my hand towards the hologram.

He looked on, garbed in his little power armor mixed with his ninja attire, with a hand on his chin. I watched as Damian reached out and rotated the hologram, and I had to glare at one of the female ninjas with hearts in her eyes as she whispered the phrase ‘ninja-shota’. I even had to smash away the hidden cameras of a few others as they took pictures of Damian.

After he was finished looking at the map, Damian spoke, “Hmm, he doesn’t have any security watching the southern side?”

“Are you telling me or asking me?” Was my reply.

“Ahh, I am telling you,” Damien replied, face scrunched up in a scowl. Again, I had to shoot some of the female ninjas a look. Because of course one of them whispered legal ‘shota’ in Brazil.

“Correct,” was my noncommittal reply, then I made a few gestures to the hologram. “This tunnel here isn’t shielded nor does he have any more escape routes.”

He gave a nod of the head signaling that he understood what I was trying to teach.

“So the points of failure are the lack of security and escape routes,” Damian muttered to himself while I gave him a nod of approval.

“Correct. With proper shielding, that tunnel would have not shown up on scanners and maybe not even the seismic sensors once we arrived,” I continued with a rotation of the hologram to point out spots and approaches. We continued in this manner for another few minutes before the jet came to a hover over the compound, high above the cloud layer.

The overhead lights in my war room shifted from red to green at the same time Zelda alerted me to our arrival. Giving Damian a pat on the head, I took a step back into my armor alcove and allowed the manipulator arms to dress me within my armor. My HUD booted to life before flashing the all-clear.

Stepping out from the alcove, I flicked my hand, summoning my war axe. There was a crackle of electricity with a meaty thwack as my axe slapped into my waiting palm. Feeling the hum of power, I gave my hammer a few test swings before placing it on the magnetic holster upon my back.

Giving Damian one last look, I held out my hand for a fist bump, “You are in charge of Overwatch, little man. You cool with that?”

Seeing the earnestness on Damian’s face told me about his recent improvements. It was also nice to see that he wasn’t an egotistical little shit. He gave the holo-table a look instead of spouting some bullshit about it being his right to be at my side. Then again, I did deprogram a lot of what Ras was stuffing into his head.

He gave me a fist bump back and I left with some parting words about how I was depending on him and his eyes in the sky. Damian cracked a smile with that one and I made sure to take the two ninja ladies with me who were giving off way too much shota-loving-vibes for my taste.

=][=

Arriving in the cargo bay proper, I checked my team one last time before pointing at a spot on the wall. There was a soft whooshing noise as Zelda opened a boom tube to our arrival destination down in the forest below. Team one ran through, then team two, with me following at the rear of everyone. Once I, the glorious Doom, arrived upon the field that would signal that the battle had begun. Words were unnecessary as we moved as one, as if my will was upon then.

The teams dispersed into the night and I waited with my arms folded behind my back strolling along, as if I had no care in the world.

My coms chirped before Damian’s voice spoke into my ear, “Father, team two has blocked off the escape tunnel before taking up position in the surroundings. Team One is on standby.”

“Then relay my orders to attack upon my mark,” I replied to Damian. Then with one smooth motion, my axe was in my hand and I was in the air, hovering over the site. Raising my axe high above my head, I allowed power to flex and flow, illuminating the darkness with lightning and frost.

The air shifted just right as I felt the build-up of power had reached its optimal peak; then with a mighty roar I brought it all down as if I was the hammer of judgment. There was a massive kra-thum as the Earth split and the trees shook. The ground warped before buckling to my might and fury. I stood unchallenged after the display of my power, though I bellowed my challenge to the world.

“SNOWFLAME, DOOM DEMANDS YOUR PRESENCE THIS INSTANT!”

For a single heartbeat the world descended into silence, but even that was broken by an explosion of white-hot heat. From the back of the warehouse came a man leaping high into the air, bathed in white flames with hints of blue along his skin.

The veins upon his neck bulged grotesquely and his hair shone white as snow, yet flowed wildly down his frame. He wore a red jumpsuit with a weird symbol on the front. What really drew my attention was the white beneath his nose and the rage-filled red of his eyes.

Unlike so many other chivalrous men, I did not wait for SnowFlame to land, nor did I wait for him to start his monologue. Readying myself, I took an immediate step forward, braced myself, then swung upwards with a considerable amount of my might.

The earth split once more, but that was only from the power of my swing, the shards of ice and lightning shone pearly white upon the backdrop of the night. The arm that he used to protect himself with was shredded down to the bone and hung limply at his side, along with a mangled leg. Yet, Snowflame paid his mutilated body little care as he breathed fire at me.

Dodging left, I side-stepped the fire attack, then dashed forwards with the booster jets built into my armor. Snowflame ducked in time as my swing missed his head by mere inches at best, but he wasn’t able to move fast enough to dodge the knee strike that slammed into his jaw.

As Snowflame flew backward, I noticed that his arm and leg were once more healed, interesting.

He retaliated as he flipped over a wooden log then returned with his own sweeping attack. A leg lashed out, sending fire all over the place, but I was no ordinary foe. Jumping over and performing a combat roll, the screams of those behind me were ignored as I decided that it was time to yeet my axe at my foe.

Hmm, that was a poor choice of words for one such as I. Pushing my cringe aside, I made two simple hand gestures which caused logs of various sizes to move with my intent.

Snowflame burst with power, sending away the logs, but wasn’t prepared for the axe that embedded itself into his c.h.e.s.t. He stood there stunned as I slowly walked to his now kneeling form. His eyes were wide and had dilated pupils, but I cared not for his feelings as I put a boot upon his c.h.e.s.t.

Then with a mighty yank, my axe was removed with a spray of blood. Looking down at his bleeding form, I readied myself to strike.

“My aim was for the head, but do not worry, for Doom shall rectify that mistake,” I drolled with a slow rise of my axe. Snowflame coughed up blood and knelt before me. Looking down, I could see the beating heart within his rib cage, “You will die a disappointment.”

“YOU CAN’T KILL ME, I AM THE COCAINE GOD, SNOWFLAME!”

“Your claims of godhood have been found wanting by the one and only Lord Doom,” I spoke with disdain dripping from my voice, thinking of his poor showing thus far. “This assumed divinity that you have claimed for yourself shall be stripped from you, as Doom is the only being capable of wielding such power.”

“Nooo, you can’t do this! I am the Cocaine god!” SnowFlame screamed as I kept him down and kneeling with my telekinesis. “You can’t kill Snowflame, you motherf.u.c.ker!”

Letting out a very un-Kingly snort, I prepared to swing my axe, “Doom is the only mortal with the will, the right, and the sheer fortitude to not only call himself a God, but to become one. Then again, Doom is, in the truest sense of the word, a Motherf.u.c.ker.”

Snowflame made one last doomed attempt to break loose with a burst of his flames, but there was very little that could stand against the might of the Sage Force. There was a flash of light that accompanied the swing of my blade, one that sent a ringing noise through the rainforest.

Utter silence descended as a thump was heard, the frozen head of Snowflame landing at my feet. Peering down, I raised a brow in surprise as my scanners picked up the still-beating heart within the c.h.e.s.t of the headless corpse. With the activation of my left gauntlet, Zelda flew out in her little ghost form to scan the body before me.

[Scanning… Scanning….]

[Shard located…]

[Source of divinity located…]

[Divinity is a shard of the source…]

[Assimilation…]

[Power levels rising… 67%]

“Acceptable,” was my reply before turning around with a swish of my cape. This little farce of a battle was over and there were far more important things to do with one’s only Doom can crush his enemies, see them driven before him, and hear the lamentations of their women.

For Doom is the only mortal that has the right to become truly divine.

=][=

Alexander Luthor

Irritated

Sitting at his desk, Luthor typed away at his computer, writing a memo to one of his research teams. This was one of the teams he had forwarded the cure to cancer, their purpose was to work out a way to have the cure work over a ten-year period. His own cure would have gotten rid of the cancer with just one shot, but that would endanger his company’s bottom line, and he could not have that.

His fingers paused as a knock came from the door, Luthor’s hand smoothly shifted to the left, activating the viewer for his office door, only for him to see Mercy waiting on the other side. Smoothing out his facial features, he pressed the button upon his desk, allowing Mercy to enter.

Without looking up, Luther continued to type while also sending out a contract to his security forces. It wouldn’t be prudent to leave loose ends and allow any of these scientists to get away. It would be best to make sure that there weren’t any loose lips. He could always write it off as another company attacking one of his research facilities, corporate espionage was big business after all.

Hmm, he loved it when he was able to make a profit hand-over-fist without anyone being the wiser. Putting aside his work, Luthor looked up and instantly knew that Mercy carried bad news. Raising an eyebrow, he held his hand out expectantly.

Mercy made a reluctant motion before handing him the folder. With a wave to indicate that she was dismissed, Luthor raised a brow at the report. This was from one of his personal satellites that he had keyed to a certain biosignature. The satellite was one of his more notable inventions, though one that he would never sell to the government, and he had several of them in orbit tracking certain…colleagues…of his that could pose a certain level of danger to him.

Of course, they weren’t true threats to him, he was the one and only Alexander Luthor after all, but caution was worth its weight in gold.

Leaning back in his opulent executive’s chair, Luthor’s hand balled into a tight fist and he almost crushed the report in his grasp. From what he was reading, Superman had spent more than an hour in Gotham, in that bastard’s batcave.

Slamming the report down onto his desk, Luthor turned his chair around to look across the way at the Daily Planet.

He must have been gazing out the window in deep thought for more than an hour as he sat there contemplating his next move, before something flashed on his computer and drew his attention. Ohh, an invite to a Gala, yes, he could use that. Hhmm, he should arrange things to ensure that Bruce also attends. He had to teach Bruce a lesson after all. Superman wasn’t allowed to wander as far as he had.

Yes, that is what he will do, to make sure that they both know their place in the proper order of things.

Author’s Notes :

Well, that happened. I guess Bruce and Luthor will be trying to figure out who owns the big blue, and who could have guessed that the ladies would have helped Lois Lane of all people. Honestly, I am not a fan of Lois and if she wasn’t so important to Clark for character development, I would have offed her a long time ago.

Ohh man, I love the feedback all of you have given me over chapter 20. It keeps me wanting to produce more and more chapters.

And yes, the whole secret identity isn’t really a thing right now unless certain people are involved.

The mother box is almost back to one hundred percent. I wonder what doors it opens.

Let me know what you guys think about the chapter.

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