Chapter 14

Brightest Doom

Chapter 14

By : BigToFu

Vincent Doom

Leader, Lover, Visionary

The beep over intercom stilled my hand from the precise work I was performing. Leaning back in my seat, I couldn't help but to glare at the blinking intercom button. Pressing the button on the intercom, I waited for them to speak.

"My Lord, there is a reported snowstorm in Gotham."

The screen on my wall turned on and I turned to look at the weather reports against my tech that were currently sending live. Well, it would seem that Mister Freeze was at it again. Plans within plans flew through my mind as I started to make hard calculations on how I could best take advantage of this situation.

There was another ping at my computer console, looking at the report had me raise a brow. It would seem that sending Dent to the international courts had paid off spectacularly. Well, the stipulations were those I could work with. It would help my standing by being known as the man who solved the melting of the polar ice-caps. Hmm, I wonder how Mister Freeze would respond to being told that he could no longer return to Gotham.

Zelda was floating around as she did her own self repair so that was a non issue. A flick of a finger had the cape removed and set to float at the side. Another flick had the latches of my DOOM armor unseal and open up for me to don. The plating was checked to make sure that the environmental seals could handle temperatures well below freezing.

Once that was verified, I then looked over my lower armor before reviewing my gauntlets and shoulder pauldrons. Once they were checked out, everything slid into place along my legs and shoulders. Zelda had my helm float off to the side and I stepped forward so that my cape would settle upon my sculpted shoulders.

With my full armor on, I held out a hand for Zelda and waited for her to integrate her systems into my armor. A shimmer of blue circuitry ran across my suit as the readings on my helmet's HUD changed. Sending along a sign of mental appreciation, I exited my chambers in the air ship and made my way to the cargo bay. Standing in the cargo bay, I summoned forth my throne, once seated I gave the command to fly over the center of the storm surrounding Gotham City.

It didn't take long before we were in a hover over the snow ravaged city. Ignoring the creeping irritation I felt with the situation, I sent out a pulse of telekinetic force. The cargo ramp lowered and I picked myself up and flew out of the VTOL, leaving my throne behind.

For the briefest of seconds I hovered there, just taking in the silence of the moment. This was one of those blatant situations where Bruce was nothing but a petty little man. All it would take for this to be solved was to call in superman. Yes, people would have still died because of the blizzard, but a lot more lives would have been saved without having to wait on one man to solve the puzzle of Mister Freeze.

The moment of solidarity I was taking quickly finished as Zelda cleared out the weather pattern and located the power signature that was keeping everything going. My HUD locked on as I rolled over in the air and powered myself forward. There was a crack of a sonic boom as I broke the sound barrier in my descent towards Gotham.

Nothing stood in my way as I cut through the harsh and frigid air. Hail, sleet, snow and the biting winds couldn't stop me as I flew past the Gotham bridge. Ignoring the Wayne Tech tower, I kept on flying, although, I did find it strange that they had power and working heat. That was a stark contrast to the rest of the city which was out of power and any heating equivalent.

Keeping my irritation to myself, I kept on flying until I reached the docks. A sharp curve to the right set me on the path to the Gotham observatory. As I flew along the coastline, I noticed the odd iceberg here and there in the Gotham harbor. Ignoring the icebergs, I flew up the side of the rocky outcropping of the Gotham Observatory making sure to hug the rocky surface. It was a fool's errand to approach from the front side like I knew the Bat-family would.

The only thing that they were going to get from taking that way was a squad of goons and Mister Freeze sending out the periodical shot of freeze ray. A slow moving object pinged on my HUD and I marked it for tracking as I touched down on the icy ledge.

Putting aside the fact that Bat-girl was here, urgh such a horrible name. I pressed my hand against the door that clearly led inside of the lab Mister Freeze was working out of. The goons on the other side of the door turned and looked at me strangely, but I kept on walking. It took them a solid minute before they turned to attack me, and they did not make it very far. A pulse of telekinetic force had them thrown out of the room with aplomb before the door closed behind their crumpled forms.

Mister Freeze paused at his work to look at me, but I paid him no mind as I found myself a seat to observe.

"You do not appear to be one of the bat's little minions, who are you?" Mister Freeze demanded with the irritation of a man beyond his breaking point.

"Someone with an offer of redemption." I replied with a shrug. "Whether you take it or not is entirely up to you."

"Then what is the offer?" Mister Freeze asked interested in what I had to say now that I tickled his curiosity. "Whether it is worth my time or not, only I can tell."

"International pardon and advanced alien technology that even the Justice League doesn't have access to." I said, then with a wave of my hand a hologram appeared before us both. "I'm sure with what I have available we should be able to find a solution for Nora. All you have to do is help fix the ice caps."

"What do you know of my wife?" Mister Freeze asked voice flat, but I could hear the edge in his tone.

"Enough, but then again, you can always keep pursuing your little squabbles with the bat. That is, if your wife comes second to your ego." I poked as I followed the sensor ping of our now eavesdropper. Mister Freeze's hand creeped towards his canon, but I raised a finger to stop him. "Think before your actions reflect poorly upon you."

"I will take your offer under advis.e.m.e.nt." Mister Freeze ground out.

Shaking my head, I then stood up from my seat, "That is no longer an option. You see, your little temper tantrum has caused a cascade of problems. The only way forward is to either take the deal, or tangle with the one currently watching."

Mister Freeze then shifted positions, but it was clear that he understood. Whatever plan he was hatching wasn't going to succeed and that meant one of the bat-family was here to kick his teeth in. Ignoring the shifting body above us, I kept my gaze locked on Mister Freeze, it would reflect poorly on me if I was to let my guard down right now.

"How do I know that this deal will do more than benefit you and your goals." Mister Freeze asked at his control counsel.

"Ohh, that's going to happen since I facilitated such a deal for you," I said with a wave of my hand nonchalantly. "Now, if you please, I would like to examine Nora, I believe you have her stashed around here somewhere."

"Do not speak of my wife as if she was some mere luggage," Mister Freeze said, his voice going flat.

"I would if she was not sleeping inside of a box, now enough d.i.c.k measuring, please lead the way." I said, then I got up from my seat. Mister Freeze looked at me with a clearly neutral expression on his face. His hand moved, but I wasn't playing his game. Only fools played by the pre-established rules and I was no Batman. The only game I played was the one where I always win.

Always stack the deck in your favor.

With his freeze ray disposed of, Mister Freeze had no choice but to stand there as if he had his d.i.c.k in his hands. Instead of saying anything, Mister Freeze did an about face and started to walk. Before following his path, I looked up towards the iced over rafters. There was a shift of movement as something shifted in the shadows, smirking at her attempt at stealth, I then turned back around.

Zelda kept little miss batgirl on my HUD's radar as I walked down the long spiral staircase of the Gotham Observatory. We walked and a red sensor trailed our path as we made it to the dormitories. That caused me to release a snort. It would seem that her genius level intellect wasn't so genius after all. If it was where it should have been then she would have stayed behind to use the chance I had given her.

This was the time that she needed to dismantle Mister Freeze's machine, then again, Barbara Gordon had always been the nosey sort. Ignoring her sensor trail on my HUD, I watched as Mister Freeze opened the door to the master suite of the dormitories. I stood in the doorway and took in the care in which he moved about the room. The lack of sound drew my attention to the ground for me to notice the crystalline like gelatin.

I didn't walk into the room, but I did watch as Mister Freeze slowly walked over and ran a gloved hand along his wifes cryopod. He was allowed his moment of silence before I broke it by summoning Zelda out from my armor.

{Scanning…}

{Scanning…}

{Aliment recognized… MacGregor Syndrome advanced stages...}

{Cure…. Possible...}

{Would need lungs drained of fluid post cryogenesis.}

{Regeneration serum #256 for muscular dystrophy.}

"Then do it, cure my wife," Mister Freeze commanded of me.

"Return Zelda," I commanded my own tone firm as I stood facing Mister Freeze. "You would need to take the deal. No deal, no cure."

"Fine, I accept your deal, I'll dance like a puppet for the powers that be." Mister Freeze ground out through his teeth. For a moment, I worried that his teeth would shatter because of the sub zero temperatures. Then I got over it with a shrug and took out two discs and their control unit from my utility belt.

Mister Freeze caught the two discs I threw his way. With that in hand, I then floated the control unit over to him before explaining their use. "The discs are anti-gravitational lift units, place one at the top and the other at the bottom of your wife's cryo-unit. The control unit is obvious, gather your things, I shall speak with our guest."

Turning away from the room, I then took a step away and raised a hand. Looking upward, I located the little bat-shaped listening device. Plucking the device out of the wall above the door, I carried it with me as I walked back up the spiral staircase. On my HUD was that same red life sign following along.

Going back to the weather console, I started the power down procedure since we were leaving. We might as well leave Gotham in a better condition than it was in before. It didn't take long before the prompts came up on the screen asking for a yes or no selection. Before hitting the selection, I took a step back and looked up once more to the rafters.

"You can come down now." I spoke, leaning back into the large chair that could hold Mister Freeze in his armor. For the briefest of moments there was nothing; no sound, no movement. Then there was a flutter of activity as a bat shaped person came flying down with a grapple line extended into the rafters.

Yeah, there was no stopping me from rolling my eyes at her actions, and they called me dramatic.

"Why are you here Viktor?!" Batgirl tried to growl as she pointed a finger at me.

"My, my, that's not a tone to take with me Miss Gordon, not with leather pants like those." I replied all too smugly. The fact that I knew who she was came as a startling surprise if her body language was anything to go by. Yeah, if she was going to break the rules then I don't see why I shouldn't.

"You, you, you know my secret identity?"

"Well, since you have decided to breach decorum. I don't see the need to fake such a thing as act like I do not know who is under that cowl." I replied with a shrug. "Now, since you did not take the chance I gave you to shut down the weather outside, I must ask. Why are you here?"

Barbara went silent for a moment before gathering her thoughts. "To stop Mr. Freeze of course."

"Now, now, we both know that's not the truth," I said while holding up the listening device. "Like I said before, if you truly wanted to stop him. You would have taken that offered chance instead of following us so you could eavesdrop on our private conversation."

She didn't say anything so I decided to take a shot in the dark.

"You wouldn't be here for a live performance would you?" I ask a little bit of a l.u.s.ty tone sneaking it's way into my voice. "I heard Selena has been quite vocal about my last performance. Is that why you came in the tight leather instead of properly heated armored pants?"

The mouth parts that showed beneath the cowl went red at the cheeks.

"You, you, scoundrel," Barbara squeaked before lashing out with a high kick towards my head. Shaking my head at the foolishness, I stopped her boot halfway to my face by it's metallic parts.

Letting out a fake disappointed sigh, I trailed a finger down her nicely toned calf, up her shapely t.h.i.g.h, then gave her a.s.s a nice squeeze through the leather pants that appeared to be painted on that a.s.s.

With the way the leather flexed and the supple feel in my hand, I was certain that Bruce wasn't the one that picked these out for her. Pretty sure he would think that they weren't tactical or something along those lines. A shiver went down my spine as I slashed that thought in half, I then telekinetically pulled her grappling hook out from its location at the back of her utility belt. Of course I was still keeping up my master of magnetism shtick.

After giving her nice a.s.s one more smack, I then used the metal wire of her grappling hook to tie her to the chair. I then turned the chair so that she would be able to see the command prompt on the screen.

"Untie me this instant!" Barbara yelled at me as I took a step away. I faked another sigh, shook my head at her, then turned around and summoned the freeze ray to my hands.

"Relax, I didn't make it that tight. If I properly judged any of your skills, then you would be able to get yourself out while I leave with my latest employee." I said before turning to see Mister Freeze walk into the room. He instantly zeroed in on Batgirl tied to the chair and his arm twitched. Yeah, he wasn't able to do anything because I still had his freeze ray well outside of his reach.

Levitating Mister Freeze with the cryopod of his wife, I gave Barbara one last long look. Now that I had gotten my fill, I turned sharply while levitating myself up into the air. I then flew both myself and my new company out of the Gotham Observatory. It didn't take us long to get out and into the waiting blizzard. As I flew us back the way I came, I snapped the grappling line that was holding Barbara tied to the chair.

Her movements were almost instant as she reached for the control console in order to shut down the ongoing storm. I knew that she was going to investigate that failure in the grappling line, but of course that was for later for her. Right now though, Barbara was doing just what I wanted her to.

The storm was coming to an end and we were already halfway to where my VTOL waited with a company of ninja assassins. The snow stopped coming down as we landed and my people started to strap in Nora as I put her cryo-unit down in the cargo bay.

Mister Freeze looked at me with his hard neutral expression and I ignored him to stand at the opening of the cargo bay. Once Nora was strapped in properly, I finally decided to speak so that he could stop looming over my shoulder.

"I have already given my people the command to prep the medical bay for when we arrive." I said calmly as I looked out over the now slowly shrinking Gotham. "I will hold up my end of the deal, but I want plans for repairing the ice caps finished before the week is out so that I may present them to the United Nations. And if I were you, I would take this time to come up with an explanation about the whole Super Villain thing to your wife."

The flight path took us over the city and everyone inside the cargo bay could feel the tension in the air as I waited. I knew that it could happen anytime soon and I refuse to let it not happen on my own terms.

The silence was palpable, the air felt so crisp on my skin that little goosebumps ran there way up my arms. For the briefest of moments, the moon shone through the clouds giving a glimpse of clarity to this mad mad world. It was sad to know that it would never shine on this mad mad city. What I did know was that eventually I would be able to save this city, but that wasn't going to be today.

The moment of revery that I was having was abruptly interrupted by a sharp hiss. Instinct and reflexes kicked in as an arm snapped outwards catching the grapple line that was about to connect with VTOL. Looking around for where it came from, I finally found the culprit.

Bruce looked at me from his perch on the Gotham bridge, his gaze was hard and I could feel the anger pouring out of him. I sent a mental command to my pilots to keep us in a hover before jumping out of my VTOL. Just to be flashy and distract from my abilities, the booters on my armor activated catching me in the air. I caught myself in the air before turning and flying to Bruce's location.

Hovering before him, I noticed that Bruce never moved from his perch on the Gotham bridge. Interesting, I would think that with the amount of anger pouring out of the man he would have taken the chance to hit me with a cheap shot.

Bruce said nothing as I hovered before him on my armor boosters, his eyes narrowed at me as he took in my armor.

"So, you went Villain."

"There is no such thing as hero or villains in the world. Only fools put arbitrary titles like that on people." I replied with a nonchalant wave of my hand. "I never took you for being such a fool."

Bruce was silent for a moment before speaking some more. "The world is chaos, titles come with rules that define the lines that be."

Before I could say anything, I felt a large object enter my range of perception. Deciding to see if he was going to take the bait since he was already being all sneaky. I turned my head to play like I just picked up the Batjet in the sky.

The moment my gaze was off of his form, Bruce was on the move for his utility belt. I played the pause like I hadn't noticed him, then I turned around just in time for him to pull out a f.u.c.k.i.n.g EMP pulse device.

Unfortunately for Bruce, I was also quick on the draw.

My own grappling hook fired out of my right arm gauntlet to wrap it's way around the EMP pulse device. A bolt of electricity ran down the metallic wiring, but Bruce had already released his hold on the device.

Not interested in fighting on a battlefield for which I hadn't prepared myself, I detached my own grapple wire. The wire flew faster than a striking snake to catch Bruce mid-dive off the bridge.

"There are things to do, so you can understand if I'm in a rush. Part of the deal I made was to have the good doctor out of the city." I said as I had the metallic wire wrap tight enough to rub marks into his Batsuit. "I am the Master of Magnetism."

"I know."

Again, Bruce never waited as the batjet that was running in stealth fired its missiles. Turning him so that he could witness the difference, I held up a palm as I crushed both missiles. Red and green foam exploded out from both missiles and I couldn't help looking over the scan Zelda picked up.

Hmm, seems Bruce had repurposed radioactive reducer foam to work on suppressing magnetic fields. That same foam expanded when in contact with magnetic fields and was why it responded when I caught the missiles. In the split second that it took me to realize that, the utility belt Bruce wore popped a super Heated capsule as comic book bullshit happened.

Surprise, superise the f.u.c.k.i.n.g bands broke as if it was done by super man as he twisted and thew a few pellets in my direction. Rolling my eyes at his last ditch efforts, I decided to indulge him, just a little.

So instead of switching how I was using my powers I levitated backwards as I fired off a few precision shots with my left arm laser. The car that Bruce was using for cover exploded as he jumped to another while throwing his plastic batarangs at me. Dodging out of the way, I caught the freeze ray under my arm as I lined up another shot.

Of course I had that in play while Bruce was trying to distract me, can't lie. This was a nice bit of high level chess being played right now. Too bad I was going to flip the board.

Vehicles long abandoned on the bridge exploded into parts as they were rapidly deconstructed right before Bruce's very eyes. I could feel his heartbeat spike for the briefest of seconds before his self control reasserted itself. He knew where this was going, but the tightening of his fists showed the amount of fight he still had.

Because I was a massive bastard, I dropped the heavy metal before taking control of the vehicle's system wires. Bruce jumped, dove, and wove around; but there was no stopping me from catching him. This time, I made sure to keep his hands way above his head, but the moving batjet could only mean that Alfred was controlling it through drone mode.

A nonchalant wave of the hand destroyed and sent the batjet into the Gotham harbor and I gave Bruce a nice dose of whiplash as I yanked him towards my hovering position. Zelda picked up on Alfred telling Bruce that backup was inbound, D.i.c.k Grayson of course.

"Welp, you f.u.c.k.e.d up." I let out a chuckle as I made a show of checking over the freeze ray for him to see. "Originally I was going to break you just because I could. Then it occurred to me that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. Lucky for you I'm not like your ole pal, Jack Napier, ohh sorry, that's the Joker for those uncivilized in the ways of the villain's backstory. But, I'm sure you already know that with how obsessed you are with him." I paused for the beat, but the steady rhythm of Bruce's heart told me that he knew. So, I waved a hand and continued along. "Anyway, I figured the best way to help you instead of breaking you, is to help those locked in Arkham. Afterall the definition of insanity is doing the same song and dance over and over expecting change yet finding none. I felt that they could use an outside hand to help open their worldview. Because, let's be honest Batman, something's gotta change. So whether you like this or not is honestly not up for debate, your toys are leaving. I'll make sure that they have a far better life than the one you envisioned for them, locked in battle with you over the corpse of this city for decades to come."

Then I faked a shudder while squeezing the trigger of the freeze ray. In the distance, the sound of a motorcycle could be heard and I could only shake my head at that. Batman and his people were supposed to be stealth operators, yet they were not moving with any type of stealth at all.

F.u.c.k.i.n.g comicbook reality.

Using the wires that were still outside of the frozen mess that was Batman, I then tied him upside down underneath the Gotham bridge. Yeah, I was a spiteful bastard, but what can I say, when you flip the table to upset the game. Always make sure the pieces fly as far as you can make them.

Ignoring the biker guy in the skin tight outfit with a blue falcon on his c.h.e.s.t. I returned to my VTOL and gave the commands for us to leave. Standing at the lip of the cargo bay, I found Mister Freeze in stoic silence. For a moment he just looked at me, then one frozen eyebrow slowly raised. Removing my helmet, I then gave him the smuggest smirk I had.

Yeah, I just pissed all over Batman's Cheerios.

A/N

Well, that just happened.

I wonder how the rest of the League will react to such a move.

A little under my 5k cut off that I like to hold myself to for these chapters,, but the plot is being pushed forward. Hope you all have enjoyed this latest instalment of Brightest Doom!

Minor edits from Pineapple.