Chapter 60: Face your DOOM! -5

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[Plan 4 Selected]

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Turn 9

(Yours) Health (99/100) End: 8 (Will use 6)

(Susan) Health (59/80) End: 9 (Will use 3)

Forcefield Defence: 12

(Reed) AC 20 Health (90/100) End: 23

(Johnny) AC 25 Health (93/100) End 10 (Will use 3)

(Ben) AC 20 Health (100/120) End 25

(Doctor Doom) AC: 15 Health (286/300) End: 90 (Will use 6)

Electrical Blast: 20

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You swiftly establish a telepathic connection with everyone, relaying the plan to the team. However, this time, you sense a wave of skepticism emanating from each member.

"It will work… hopefully," you reassure them, projecting your confidence into their minds, hoping to quell their doubts.

Doom stands amidst the charred pit, electricity crackling around his form, his anger palpable as his gaze fixes on Susan and Johnny standing before him.

"You will all pay for going against Doom!" he declares, unleashing an ElectroBlast.

Susan pushes Johnny aside and hurriedly raises her forcefield.

For a moment, you worry if Doom will regenerate his power by consuming electricity again. Maybe he is too consumed by anger to think about that?

"Your feeble forcefield cannot withstand Doom's power!" he taunts, unleashing a torrent of Electroblasts at Susan.

Susan grits her teeth, her forcefield already in tatters as it absorbs the brunt of Doom's attack. She can feel the strain but holds firm, buying precious moments for the team.

"Flame on!" Johnny yells, his body engulfed in flames as he follows the plan, soaring high above the battlefield.

"Arghhh!" Susan screams in pain as her forcefield shatters, and she is thrown back by Doom's powerful electricity.

"You will pay for attacking my sister!" Johnny roars, swooping down and hurling a massive fireball directly at Doom's face.

Doom, momentarily distracted by the searing heat and the sudden flare of light, instinctively raises an arm to shield himself. The fireball impacts with a brilliant explosion, but Doom stands firm against the blast.

He retaliates by unleashing a surge of electricity at Johnny, who deftly evades while countering with intermittent fireballs of his own.

With Johnny distracting Doom, you, Reed, and Ben are ready for the next part of the plan.

Reed is stretched taut between two light poles, his elastic form held back by Ben's immense strength like a stretched rubber band. You cling tightly to Reed's elongated body as he is extended backwards.

Utilising your powers, you conjure a semi-circular forcefield in front of you. Then, with a focused effort, you render yourself invisible, ready to execute the next crucial step unnoticed.

'Now!' you telepathically shout to the team.

With a mighty roar, Ben releases his grip, causing Reed to snap forward with incredible force, propelling you like a missile straight toward Doom.

As you hurtle through the air, the wind rushes past, and you become a blur, invisible and undetectable, closing in on your target with precision and stealth.

Woosh!

Doom hears the noise and senses the incoming force, but it's too late.

Boom!

You collide with him, your momentum enhanced by Reed's catapult effect. Your forcefield slams into Doom with the force of a speeding train, shattering but adding to the impact.

"Argh!" Doom bellows, his balance lost as he topples backward.

You use this momentum and your physical strength to push Doom downwards. Concentrating, you activate your Earth Portal Creation power, opening a portal beneath him. The ground gives way, creating a black pit that begins to suck Doom downwards.

Doom tries to unleash his electrical powers, but the suddenness of the attack and the portal's pull overwhelms him. His struggles grow more frantic as he realises what's happening. Despite being blasted by the currents, you hold firm, determined to see the plan through to its conclusion.

"No! Doom will not be defeated so easily!" he roars, glaring at you in anger, but the portal's suction is relentless.

Just as Doom is almost entirely pulled through the portal, you close it with a decisive thought. The portal vanishes with a burst of water spraying outwards.

Unbeknownst to Doom, the other side of the portal was connected to the depths of the Hudson River. The force of the water spraying out hinted at the sudden drop into the river's depths, sealing Doom's fate in the cold embrace of the river bed.

The battlefield falls eerily quiet, the electrical arcs fading into nothingness. You stand up with some effort, your invisibility already faded.

Susan is the first to arrive next to you. "Are you alright?" she asks, her tone tinged with concern as she holds onto your arm.

"Yes, what about you? His last attack looked quite painful," you say, mirroring her concern.

"I'll live," Susan responds with a shrug, though her injuries are evident, they seem manageable.

The rest of the team regroups around you, eyes wide with a mix of astonishment and relief.

"Well, that was a ride," Johnny quips, his flames flickering as he lands next to you.

Reed reverts to his normal form, gazing at you with admiration. "That was brilliant thinking," he praises. "It's finally over!"

Ben, despite his stony exterior, gives you a nod of approval. "Yeah, he's heavy, just like me. He'll definitely drown under a river."

That makes everyone fall silent, realising they may have just sent the man to his death.

You feel a twinge of uncertainty hearing Ben. You had convinced yourself that Doom would drown in the water with no way to get up, but now you are not so sure.

Perhaps this wasn't the right plan after all. Maybe you should have taken matters into your own hands and confronted Doom directly, ensuring his defeat or demise before your own eyes.

In the Marvel world, you can never assume someone is truly dead, even if you witness their apparent demise. With Doom, you merely sent him away, without confirming if he truly met his end.

As the team starts worrying about the property damage and the people hurt in the surroundings, you take a deep breath and stop your own worrying. You decide to send a Bio-probe to the area of the portal soon, hopefully to find the dead slab of metal there.

"We are going to talk with the police and help those in need. Are you coming with us?" Susan asks, hopefully.

"No, you guys go, enjoy the glory," you say with a smile, going invisible. She looks straight at you, knowing that she can still see you, you lean in and give her a quick kiss. You walk away with a smirk at her blushing face.

Susan sighs slightly, then turns to the team. "Alright, let's get started," she says as they head towards the police cars and reporter vans that have just arrived.

While invisible, you touch the ground where Doom was standing and use your Metal Construct power to gather all the residual metal that had melted off him into the form of marbles. You decide to call it Doom Metal.

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On the side of the square where the battle had happened was an empty coffee bar. The owner, staff, and customers had all fled in fear during the chaos.

But there was someone who had remained seated, calmly sipping their drink and had watched the battle through the window.

"Yes, did you find out anything about the Fantastic Four?"

"Yep, there was a big battle here. I think you'll hear about it on the news soon. Luckily, you sent me here to scout out the Fantastic Four, so I got a front-row seat,"

"Good. You can write a detailed report about what you saw. Anything else?"

"Yeah, there was another person—a man who was fighting with the Fantastic Four. I'm more interested in him. He displayed multiple interesting powers."

"Could you identify who he is?"

"No, but I have a guess."

"Alright, good work. Follow up on that, Agent Romanoff, and keep me posted"

"As you wish, Director Fury," she replies, tapping her ear to disconnect the call. With a faint smile, she continues to observe the Fantastic Four assisting people, taking a casual sip of her drink.

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In the depths of the Hudson River, a portal suddenly opens on the riverbed, expelling a figure before promptly vanishing.

The figure is Doom, struggling as water floods his open mouth. He looks around in shock, trying to use his electricity to no avail. His feet are planted on the ground, and he feels suffocated by the water filling his metal lungs. He looks up, but all he can see at this depth is darkness, with the only light coming from his futile electrical outbursts.

'No, Doom cannot die here! His legacy, his story has just begun! Doom will not accept this!' His thoughts rage, but the water around him remains calm and quiet.

'This is all because of that pesky Reed, the Fantastic Four, and that hateful Lucas. When Doom gets out of here, he will have his revenge!' His thoughts echo in the darkness as he feels his body functions slowing down, alone and deep beneath the riverbed with no one in sight.

'Maybe Doom was too hasty with his revenge. Doom should have waited, prepared more, gotten more powerful before attacking!' His thoughts become sluggish as his eyelids start to droop.

'People of Latveria, my people, Doom apologizes for not being able to free you. Doom is sorry, Mothe—'

Just as Doom is about to complete his thought, a dark light emits from his neck. It is his mother's pendant, the jewel in between shining with an inky black light. From the moment Doom passed through the portal, unnoticed to him, the jewel had started glowing.

Crack!

In the next second, the jewel's light turns as dark as ink, and it shatters into pieces. A black cloud erupts from the broken pendant, expanding rapidly and swallowing Doom whole. The next moment, there is nothing left on the riverbed, with Doom vanished without a trace.

The Hudson Riverbed falls into silence once more, with no one knowing what had occurred in its depths. After a while, a Bio-probe would scan the area but find nothing.