6
Integration and Infiltration
Within the space of just a few seconds, Peter realized that he was dreaming. It wasn't because he was still wearing his glasses, or the fact that Aunt May and Uncle Ben were at a stand shooting at cardboard ducks. There were times in which he wished that he had never gone to that science exhibit, that it was all but a bad dream. He knew it was a dream because the pretty girl from the library was there, with her arm around his. And she was wearing a bathing suit. That couldn't be real.
This place wasn't Coney Island that was for sure. He had been there once. This place looked nothing like it. The carnival was filled with families and wandering individuals. And giant spiders wearing red busboy caps. That struck Peter as being slightly odd.
"Hey, look at that Peter" the girl from the library said, tugging at his arm. She seemed unnaturally strong, and Peter couldn't resist; especially since she insisted in shoving his arm into her bosom.
Peter looked and he was amazed and horrified. He saw a large, wooden mock-up of his head. The forehead was open, and inside he could see Doctor Octopus performing as a DJ inside. He was wearing a colorful Hawaiian shirt with a lei around his neck – indeed, each of his metallic arms had leis around them. The music he was playing was a strange and unpleasant version of thrash punk. Not at all the sort of music anyone with taste would dance to. Pinned to his shirt was a button that read: KISS ME – I'M SUPERIOR.
"Let's go somewhere else" Peter said to the girl. She smiled and nodded her head merrily. Peter didn't know if he should like that, or be disturbed. They soon came upon a man dressed in a demon suit, offering to sell a few more days of the week in exchange for wedding rings. The girl kicked him in the privates. Peter felt better with that; for some reason that made her seem more real, and not like an obscene doll. And he had the sadistic pleasure of seeing the demon squirming on the floor.
She continued pulling him along, until they reached a dunk tank. She looked at it and smiled in a way that left Peter feeling uneasy.
"What are you thinking?" he asked timidly.
The girl giggled. "It would be real fun if you sat in the Dunk Tank"
Peter shook his head vigorously.
"No no no! I'm not doing it. I'm not getting all wet just because you're a pretty girl. I could catch a cold or something"
The girl kept smiling in an unnerving way. She began tugging playfully at the strap of her bathing suit. "Come on! Sit on the chair! Or I'll make you. I can do that because my daddy's rich. And I'm pretty! A pretty girl who might walk away from you."
Peter looked at her, sighed and then he walked towards the Dunk Tank.
The man standing next to the Dunk Tank would have looked like Fancy Dan, except for the fact that he was obscenely fat. He was flanked by a gorgeous blond and a gorgeous redhead.
The redhead winked at Peter. "Are you feeling lucky, tiger?"
The girl from the library smacked Peter across his head.
"Don't look at other girls" she said, clearly cross.
The Fancy Dan lookalike opened the door for Peter. The teenager sat down, knowing that this had been a mistake.
The girl was now holding a red ball in her hand. She tossed it, and as it approached, Peter realized that it wasn't an ordinary red ball; it had been drawn to look like Spider-Man's head. The girl hit the bulls-eye, and Peter fell down into the water.
He suddenly felt an incredible amount of pain, and numbness. He opened his eyes, and he found himself in a bed. It was soft and comfortable, but it was a hospital bed, that much he could tell by the smell and the tubes stuck into him.
Peter tried to ask where he was, but instead he croaked like a frog. Through the corner of his eye, the youth noticed a dark haired man in a white coat. Something within Peter's skull told him that this must be the doctor. The doctor went to an intercom on the wall.
He pressed the button. "Dinah?"
A few seconds passed. "Yes?" a woman's voice asked.
"He's awake"
"I'll be there in a moment. Let me just finish this stuff" she replied, before the doctor walked away from the intercom.
He turned to Peter.
"Good morning Mr. Parker. Or good afternoon. It's hard to tell up here in space. I'm Doctor Pieter Cross. Yes, I know, another Peter, but I have an 'I' in my name. How are you feeling?" he asked
Peter opened his mouth, only to let out a cough. The youth shook his head and he took a deep breath. "I feel numb and worn out. And in pain."
"That's only natural" Dr. Cross said "You were hit by a pretty nasty blast. Any normal person would have died. You were just knocked out for about five days, if I'm counting this correctly" he said, and then muttered, "Your brainwave activity shot up through the roof."
"Five days?" Peter exclaimed. He had never been out for so long. Not to his recollection. He also immediately found himself wondering about Bette, and the girl in the library. He also recalled that he had an exam coming close.
"More or less. Space is tricky for those of us who are new here. Even with all of the clocks" Dr. Cross pointed at an antiquated clock hanging on the infirmary wall "You did heal quickly though. When I first saw you, I thought that you'd spend a few more weeks here. Shows how much I know; although your healing process was delayed for two days – we had to put an inhibitor collar on you, which had an adverse affect on you"
Peter rubbed his neck, not really knowing why. It did seem a bit rough.
"We're in space?" Peter asked, recalling what the doctor had said. It didn't seem like space. Apart from the fact that there were no windows, he seemed to be in a normal hospital room.
"You're in the Watchtower's infirmary. Or rather, in one of the rooms of the infirmary. It's more like a small hospital. And this place is very well equipped. I could make a living here." The doctor said. He was visibly glad to be there.
"The Watchtower?" and then it all came back to Peter. He sat up suddenly "What happened to Mister Miracle?"
Dr. Cross walked over to Peter, keeping him from getting off of bed.
"I'm sorry Peter, but he didn't make it. For what it's worth, Wonder Woman said that he went peacefully" the doctor said.
Peter shook his head. "Damn it!" he muttered. And then he looked at his hands – his naked hands. He realized that he was wearing a hospital gown. His hands went to his face; of course, his mask was gone.
"Don't worry Peter, your secret is safe. It's just that everyone who has access to the Watchtower knows who you are. I think they knew before you came here, judging by the way Batman and Nightwing spoke" The Doctor said.
Peter moaned.
There was a knock on the door. Dr. Cross reached out and touched a button on the wall. The door opened. A blond woman dressed like a Vegas dancer walked in. Peter had absolutely no idea on what to say.
"I'll leave you alone" Dr. Cross said, leaving the room. Peter felt uneasy. The door closed almost silently. The blond woman smiled.
"Hello Peter. My name is Dinah, but I'm also known as Black Canary. Have you heard of me?" she asked. Despite her choice of clothing, she spoke like the counselor at his school, who Peter had refused to see for some time now. Ever since everything in his life changed.
Peter took a deep breath "I've read about you. And I've seen a few news reports with you on it. You were always with some guy called the Green Beard"
Black Canary smirked. "His name is Green Arrow. But that beard is hard to ignore. And I've seen you on the television. You call yourself Spiderman?"
"That's my other name, yes. Spider-Man, with a hyphen in the middle. So, are you going to have me blame my mother for something? That would be very hard for me to do" Peter said.
"I know; you never knew your mother. That's hard for me to imagine. My mother was a very strong presence in my life."
Suddenly, something turned on within his mind, like a light bulb, but instead of giving him an idea, it brought light to something he should have thought of before.
"How does everyone know my name? And how do you know about my mother?" he asked, straightening his back out on the bed. "I never told anyone about this." Peter stopped. And then he recalled what had been happening in the past few days "Dick and Bette knew my name, as did the librarian and a few others. The only time I spoke about my mother was with that reporter. And it was in front of Dick and that billionaire that took care of him, Bruce Wayne. What's going on? You know too much" and then, something else came back to Peter's memory, regarding the girl from the library. He no longer viewed what he remembered as a fantasy. Something had temporarily pumped up his spider-sense "how did she know my name?"
Black Canary just looked at Peter with an apologetic look.
"All I can say is that we have ways of getting information that we need to have" she said "And we really need to know who you are Peter"
"You need to know little old me? I'm flattered. And this isn't even Boston." Peter said.
"Have you ever been to Boston?" Black Canary asked.
Peter grimaced. "No."
Black Canary didn't answer; she just smiled.
"Well, this might not be Boston, but you have made your mark. It was impossible to miss what happened in Gotham. Or what happened within this station just five days ago. You were quite heroic in both cases, but you yourself are something of a mystery" she said "Your first known appearance in Gotham coincided with what you might call a cosmic event. You weren't the only thing to appear either. A robot fell in San Francisco, and is currently being studied by Red Tornado. It had traces of your costume on it before it fell to San Francisco, and you seem to emit similar energetic readings."
Peter's eyes widened. He took note of only one thing she said. "You mean the doombot? You have to be careful with that. Dr. Doom built that thing, and although he's not one of my enemies, I've had my fill of him. Anything that guy makes is dangerous"
Black Canary placed her chin on her knuckles. She seemed pensive.
"Well, at least we have a few more names. But I would like to know more Peter. You have nothing to fear from me" she said.
"What about the doombot?"
Black Canary smiled. "Red can deal with it. The Justice League has faced its fare share of threats. We're your friends"
What she wanted was clear to Peter: an explanation from him. She wanted an honest and detailed explanation of who he was and how he came to be in this world. His spider-sense wasn't picking up anything ominous from Black Canary. Besides, they had a doombot.
They needed to know. Peter took a deep breath. He would have to spill the beans.
"I used to be an ordinary science major. I wasn't very popular – everyone called me a wallflower, or Puny Parker, or a bookworm - which I was. And then, I went to this science exhibit. I had asked several of my classmates if they wanted to come with me, but they weren't interested. The science exhibit was about the wonders of radiation – now that I think about it, the security was a bit shoddy. Anyway, no one noticed a tiny eight-legged guest hanging from the ceiling that day. I can't imagine how my life would have been if anyone had noticed." Peter took another deep breath. He had his misgivings and almost kept his mouth shut. But then, it all came out.
Guardian and Bumblebee walked into the monitor room, and found Static already there with Kid Flash and Aqualad looking at the main monitor. Robin was standing in the opposite corner, with metal rods attached to his legs and holding crutches. It took another second for Guardian to spot Atom on Kid Flash's shoulder.
The image on the main monitor was a picture that had clearly been taken in a big city. There were two figures within it, caught in a fight. One of them Mal recognized; it was the Spider-Man who had beamed into the Watchtower along with Mister Miracle, prior to the alien attack. He had seen the security footage with Snapper Carr. The other figure was someone the young hero had never seen before; a heavy set man wearing goggles, with robot arms that were like tentacles coming out of his sides.
"What is that?" he asked.
"Some of the most crashiest images I've seen" Kid Flash said "We got them out of the camera in the Spider guy's belt"
"Are you even supposed to do that?" Bumblebee asked, a bit shocked.
"You would be correct Bumblebee, but this is a matter of security" Kaldur said.
Bumblebee winced. She still hadn't forgotten his role in the previous invasion.
Guardian's eyes were still on the photograph. Kid Flash had said it was the 'crashiest' thing he had seen. Mal couldn't see why. He didn't see what was so special about a superhero and a supervillain fighting that would make them seem so extraordinary to the young speedster. But it was remarkable that two superbeings had been fighting without calling attention.
"They're images from another world" Atom said with enthusiasm and elation.
"Another world? That looks like any city in North America" Guardian replied.
"That's New York" Robin said recognizing some of the streets.
"New York? I don't recall hearing anything like that in the news" Static said, pointing at the large image of Spider-Man fighting the man with the tentacles. "That would definitely get the front page of the paper"
"As I said, it's another world" the Atom said "You didn't hear it on the news because it never happened here. It happened there. Not on an alien world within this universe, but a parallel Earth from another universe – within this multiverse perhaps, or even another multiverse." A big smile came on the physicist's face "The possibilities are actually endless. There could be an Earth out there where the non-avian dinosaurs never went extinct"
"You are elated Dr. Palmer" Kaldur said, but he could understand the Atom's enthusiasm. He was familiar with the more exotic theories pertaining to the multiverse. It was a remarkable discovery that almost made him forget about the reemergence of Ocean Master.
"You can't even imagine" Atom replied.
"Show us the other pictures" Static said. He almost seemed like a child on Christmas day hopping about impatiently for his presents.
Kid Flash clicked. A series of other photographs appeared in a progressive slide-show. There was one in which Spider-Man was fighting a man made of sand, another in which he was fighting a huge lizard monster wearing a lab-coat. There was a picture of a man dressed as a green ghoul, standing on a jet powered glider. Another picture showed a man with an electrically themed costume, and another with an old bald man dressed in green with wings.
"That one looks like a vulture" Bumblebee said
"And that one's crash" Kid Flash said, pointing at a picture of a muscular man in a lion skin vest and tight leopard pants.
Mal just looked at the boy from the future with a sideways glance.
"There are other people in this chip that seem more like heroes" Kid Flash said, clicking again on the computer.
A new set of photographs appeared. One that seemed to catch everyone's eye was that of a man seemingly dressed in the American flag, holding a shield, and fighting a Nazi with a red skull for his head. Bumblebee nudged Mal playfully.
"I think it's pretty obvious who the villain in this picture is" Static said, looking at the red skulled Nazi with morbid curiosity.
The next picture had a man in red and golden armor stopping a plane from crashing into a building. Another had a large, godlike man with long blond hair swinging a hammer at a gigantic colossus with an odd purple headdress as a storm raged.
"Honey, if I weren't with you, I would want to definitely know that man's number" Bumblebee said. Guardian could only growl lowly.
Kid Flash clicked again. This time, an image of a man riding an ant, and a woman with insect wings could be seen. Guardian looked at his girlfriend.
"I think I would ask that girl for her number" he said, trying to provoke Bumblebee. It worked; she was scowling at him.
New images appeared. Some showed a large green man in purple pants tearing up the city; another had a quartet of similarly dressed heroes with the number four on their chests. One of them was an orange behemoth, and the other a man on fire.
"That girl is so crash, she's crashing the mode!" Kid Flash said, with regards to the blond member of the quartet.
"They kind of look like the Challengers of the Unknown to me" Robin said, advancing on his crutches.
"These are curious images. Is the Spider-Man in good enough condition to explain what is going on in them?" Kaldur asked.
"Dr. Cross said that he just woke up. He's speaking with Black Canary right now" Flash said.
Guardian looked at the picture. The universe was getting smaller.
The general waved enthusiastically at Doom as he entered the great dance hall. As expected, the general was surrounded by three beautiful women. All of them were smiling – Doom couldn't imagine why.
"Victor, my good friend. You've made it here after all" the general said clasping Doom's hand.
"Well General Hinzir, sometimes, you have to take a step back and take a rest. That engine you showed me is quite challenging. But then, all engines of alien design are challenging" he said with a smile of fake humility. The truth was that Doom had understood the workings of the engine General Hinzir had given him quite quickly. Oddly enough, Doom found the general design of the engine – and the guns he had seen before – to be unusually familiar, like something he himself, or that accursed Richards, would design. And yet, the devices that the general had him see were without a doubt, alien – even more so, considering that this was an alternate universe. It was as if whoever had made these devices shared something in common with Doom himself – like two disparate fictional characters sharing the same creator.
Doom grabbed a glass of wine from a passing busser, and sipped from it daintily. He saw a girl that looked like Valeria; he looked away – that was not Valeria, and Valeria was nothing but a memory. Doom had no intention of allowing the memories in his head to get a hold of him.
"Victor, is something wrong?" Hinzir asked.
"Nothing. I just realized that here I am alone, and you have three amazingly charming young ladies with you. I'm jealous. You soldiers get all of the fun, while scientists like myself have to work over alien contraptions – by the way, where did these toys come from?" Doom quickly asked. He knew Hinzir well enough to know that there was a very good reason he was a general – he wasn't very bright. Things were different back in Latveria, but sadly, there was no Latveria in this world. The generals he remembered would have had Hinzir imprisoned for impersonating an officer. Doom knew that at this point, he wouldn't arouse any suspicion from the man.
General Hinzir came close, and he spoke into Doom's ear.
"It is from a world called Apokolips" he said fearfully. The fear was not from uttering a word that was supposedly top-secret, thus clearly violating national security, and risking a charge of treason – it was from muttering the word itself. That was what struck the general with fear. The actual word and name.
"You make it sound like a bad place general" Doom remarked.
"You have not met Desaad. I hope you do not. You are a good friend" Hinzir said. Suddenly Hinzir's face lightened up "Now my friend, I must find you some more delicate companionship" Hinzir's eyes scanned the hall. He then pointed at a woman. The woman who reminded Doom of Valeria. "How about her? She is Zaida, daughter of an important owner of a chain of Bialyan supermarkets"
"No. Not her" Doom said abruptly. "I would rather have someone else on my arm"
Everything suddenly stopped. That chattering between gossiping couples, the dancing and the drinking were halted as if someone had pressed a pause button. With two young officers by her side, Queen Zazzala, more popularly known as Queen Bee, entered the room.
She entered with an air of authority that Doom was very much familiar with. She could do anything she wanted in this hall – indeed, in this entire country – and not feel any of the consequences.
"She is beautiful" Doom said to Hinzir "I think that I will ask her to dance with me"
Hinzir looked terrified. "You must not speak to her like that! She will crush you like a bug. Let me take the time to introduce you when she comes to speak to me." Hinzir's smile was that of a lackey begging for mercy. This man would never be a general in Latveria.
"I will introduce myself" Doom said.
He calmly made his way to Queen Bee. He was just a few feet away when the officers around her noticed. One turned to Doom and reached out his arm.
Doom was quick. He grabbed the man by his wrist, and calmly twisted his arm, and then Doom held it behind his back – a well known move meant to disarm possible attackers. The officer was soon on his knees, shrieking.
Before the other guards could intervene, Doom raised his hand and smiled at Queen Bee. The silence within the hall was overwhelming.
"Please, I mean you no harm" he said, in the most debonair tone he knew "It is just that I found myself without a dance partner, and you just struck me as the most beautiful woman in this room"
Queen Bee raised an eyebrow. She looked at Doom carefully. Her lips began to curl into a smile.
"You certainly do seem to know how to move" Queen Bee said with a hint of amusement "Who are you? I've never seen you before."
Doom let go of the officer's wrist. The soldier immediately got up and made his distance from the Latverian, trying his best to rub sensation back into his arm.
"I am Victor Von Doom, and this is my debut" Doom said, with a slight bow.
Queen Bee seemed intrigued. "I have never heard of you before."
"Should I have ever been heard of before? I am but a man from somewhere in Central Europe, who has only recently, begun to discover himself and his potential."
Queen Bee's eyes moved along Doom's figure, dressed in a gray suit with a black shirt and no tie, looking like a millionaire playboy.
"I find it hard to believe that a man with as much moxy as yourself could ever walk upon this Earth without being noticed" she said.
Doom smiled politely "Only now have I arisen from my cocoon"
Suddenly, Hinzir came rushing in, bowing his head down repeatedly as if he were kowtowing to the first Emperor of China. Hinzir truly was a stupid man. He was fortunate that he wasn't stupid enough to stand in front of Queen Bee, instead, standing a safe distance away.
"Please forgive my friend your highness. He is from a foreign land and does not know much about court etiquette."
Queen Bee turned her head at Hinzir. There was a slight hint of annoyance, but she was also curious. "You know this gentleman, General Hinzir?"
"Yes my lady. He is here out of my request. He has been helping my division with the" Hinzir stopped as he realized where he was talking "He is a brilliant scientist who understands a great deal about technology"
Queen Bee turned to look at Doom, who returned her gaze with confidence and fearlessness.
"So what you are saying, General Hinzir" she said, without even looking at the cowering general, never looking away from Doom, "is that you owe your life to this gentleman, is it not?"
Hinzir just nodded furiously, as if his life depended on it.
"You may join your three lady friends Hinzir" Queen Bee stretched out her arm towards Doom "And you shall have the honor of this dance"
Doom smiled wickedly and he took Queen Bee's hand. The music at once began to play. Doom proved to be a skilled dancer, helping Queen Bee glide along the dance-floor. Everyone else stopped to watch. It was like a cheesy romantic fairy tale film. But Doom was fully aware of what he was doing. During pirouettes he would check his watch; within it he had a detector which would allow him to know if Queen Bee was using her pheromones on him. He was certain that they wouldn't work on him, which was why he needed the detector. To his surprise, the detector didn't detect anything.
"You are a superb dancer Victor. Were you always like this, or is this part of your rebirth?" she asked.
"A gentleman should know how to dance" Doom replied enigmatically.
Queen Bee didn't press it. "Indeed. But you know more than any ordinary gentleman. We were having problems with our imports. I thank you for your help. You have made it easier for my people"
"I have also made it safer" Doom said.
Queen Bee looked at Doom with a questioning stare. "How is that?"
"Some of the imports had safety mechanisms within them that would have rendered them useless to your people; possibly even dangerous. I have no doubt that the importers wanted to make sure that the weapons were not used against them. I disabled the safety mechanisms, but if you feel that you need to give your importers a show of good faith, I could re-enable them."
For a flash of a moment, Queen Bee seemed unnerved. But she quickly masked her emotions and she smiled at her dance partner.
"You have done well. There's no need to endanger the people of Bialya in the name of good faith"
The music ended and with it, the dance. Doom and Queen Bee let go of each other's hands. It did not suit Doom to seem needy. Doom let out a sigh.
"Perhaps I should not have been so bold tonight. How can I dance with any other woman after I have danced with you?" he said cavalierly.
"I will reserve the last dance for you Victor. You have earned it" Queen Bee said. Doom bowed and was about to move away with some discretion, when a portion of the dancehall wall came crashing down. The people nearest to the crumbling pieces of masonry managed to escape unscathed, although their expensive clothes were caked in soot and dust. The startled people soon saw what had caused this collapse: a man dressed in black, with a golden thunderbolt on his chest. He was floating on the air, his feet never touching the edges of the hole he had just made.
For some reason, Doom was reminded of the Sub-Mariner.
Slowly, the man hovered towards Queen Bee, until his feet touched the ground just a few feet away. This time it wasn't just one soldier who attacked; every soldier present opened fire on the man. Doom saw with interest as the bullets just bounced off of the man's wide chest. The bullets began to ricochet, and people immediately ducked down as the bullets crashed into the walls. Seeing that their guns were useless, the soldiers attacked with bayonets, swords, sticks and bare hands; it was quite comical.
The strange man easily towered over the soldiers, and as they tried to rush him, he just swatted them away, like flies. He walked towards Queen Bee and he stood before her like a towering monster in human form. Only then did it become apparent to everyone else that the menacing figure had been in a fight. His face was bloodied, and his black suit was torn. His expression was red with rage.
Queen Bee however, did not cower. Perhaps she was too confident in her abilities. Or perhaps she was too angry to realize the mortal danger she was in. Doom touched his belt buckle, and he felt the force-field surround his body.
"Black Adam! What is the meaning of this? You are interrupting a peaceful event!" she said.
Black Adam laughed.
"Oh yes, you would be having a ball. Celebrating what your flunkies have done to Khandaq." The menace spat out with clear hatred.
Queen Bee was genuinely puzzled. "What are you talking about?"
"And you pretend to not know. I knew you would say something like that" Black Adam turned to everyone present. "It is a cliché after all. When someone is caught in a double-cross, they always ask the victim what they're talking about" he turned to Queen Bee "Be original you witch! Before I kill you and everyone in this country, tell them, and the world how you sent your four riders of Apokolips into my country to slaughter my people. You could have sent them to Qurac, but you were fool enough to think that your dogs could kill me. I killed them!"
Queen Bee was now truly aware of how dangerous her situation was. Doom was intrigued.
"They must have acted without my consent. I was already having problems with them" she said.
"I am going to skin you alive" Black Adam snarled.
Doom knew that he had to act and quickly. Queen Bee was his best chance at making it big in this world. He took a calculated risk; he punched the man in the face. His hand was flooded with pain; it was like punching a rock, or a slab of steel. Ever since he made his discovery in the Bialyan desert, his body had a strange relationship with pain: sometimes he didn't feel it, despite being aware of any injuries, and other times he did feel it, at times, horribly so. Still, Doom could handle pain well and easily ignore it. Pain was nothing to Doom. He looked at Black Adam. As expected, the brute barely felt his punch, but his attention was on Doom, and not Queen Bee.
Everyone gasped. A few people said that Doom was dead. General Hinzir was in shock.
Black Adam let out a grunt. He extended the palm of his hand, and it hit Doom painfully on the chest. Doom was hurled across the room, crashing against several tables, and on to the opposing wall. The Latverian would have been dead if it were not for the force-field. However, the force-field was not strong enough to prevent wine from spilling on to his suit. Doom looked at the stain, and he scowled. His fist was engulfed in mystic energy.
"Begone you lowly cur!" and he shot out the blast at Black Adam. Fuelled by Doom's rage, it hit Black Adam in the chest, and hurled him against the wall and through it, making another hole. The mystical energy was unusually strong. Doom wondered if this universe allowed Horton cells to harness paranormal energies more efficiently than in his own native universe.
Doom got up and walked towards Queen Bee.
"Your majesty" he said, breathing heavily "It is best you leave to a safer location. I will deal with this animal myself"
Queen Bee looked at Doom, her eyes widened with shock.
Doom made the mental command, and his armor came out of hiding, attaching itself to his body. Ever since he had arrived in this universe, he had repaired his armor, at times fitting it with bits and pieces of the alien technology he had been working on wherever he had to. In a matter of seconds, he stood before Queen Bee donning his armor. He took out his green tunic and put it on, followed by his cloak and hood.
"WHOEVER WISHES TO CHALLENGE DOOM SHALL FEEL THE WRATH OF DOOM!" he said in a booming metallic voice.
Whichever soldiers were fit enough to stand huddled around Queen Bee to take her to safety. She slapped a captain in the face as she recovered her composure.
As Doom lifted off into the air, he heard Queen Bee order her soldiers to take her to a command center. She could watch all she wanted. His focus was now on Black Adam. He could see him with his scanners as he was soaring aimlessly in the sky.
Doom accelerated his flight, and within seconds, he was on the brute of Khandaq, delivering several punches to his face. After having received a barrage of such blows, Black Adam caught Doom's fist. He tried to crush Doom's hand, but the gauntlet, as was the rest of the armor, was made from adamantium, and it was hard to bend. But Black Adam did not let that stop him. He simply punched Doom in the face. The strength behind that strike was staggering, and even protected by his armor, Doom felt the pain.
And Black Adam was on Doom, giving him punch after punch. Doom hated to admit it to himself, but he was getting more than just winded. This man was at least as strong as Ben Grimm. Black Adam then grabbed Doom's cape and began swinging the Latverian around several times before hurling him down hard against the ground. Doom almost blacked out as he crashed down, creating a small crater. But he wasn't done yet. As the brute was diving down towards him, Doom stretched out his hand and blasted the man of Khandaq with a heavy concussive blast. Black Adam was hit hard, but he recovered his senses quickly, and continued his dive. A second before Black Adam reached the ground, Doom teleported a short distance away.
The move surprised Black Adam, who wounded up crashing on to the ground with violence. Black Adam was made of strong matter, and he stood up to look at Doom. He snarled and flew towards Doom at an incredible speed.
Doom found himself being rammed and then being crushed in an inescapable bear hug. The Latverian began generating an incredible amount of electricity, which stunned Black Adam enough to force him to release his grip on him. Doom then slipped away and gave him another blast, one that this time mixed his usual concussive blasts with his mystic blasts. Black Adam was hurled some distance away.
Black Adam shook his head as he plummeted away, but he regained command over his trajectory. Once again, he flew towards Doom. This time however, Doom teleported away as Black Adam was about to reach him. Once he was a safe distance away, Doom shot him with a mystic blast which hit the Khandaq marvel on his back. Black Adam yelled and turned to look at Doom. Again he charged, and once again, Doom teleported away, blasting at him from a safe distance.
Doom had now found a good strategy against Black Adam. Whatever fight the big man in black had been in before had robbed him of his good judgment; whenever he charged or attacked, Doom would teleport away to a safe distance and then blast him, either with mystic blasts, or with concussive blasts. At times, he would hit him with his force-field, in a manner similar to what the accursed Sue Storm would do to him.
In spite of this however, Black Adam was proving to be a truly difficult opponent to beat. The only way Doom could see of surviving a confrontation with this beast in human form was to keep his distance and keep blasting away – he was too strong for Doom to take in an actual physical fight. But even so, even after having been tired out by a previous fight, this Black Adam would not fall down. This required a different strategy.
Doctor Doom sped up his flight, flying downwards towards the ground below, letting gravity accelerate his mass. As he was about to hit the ground, he transported away, towards where he had started. He repeated the same action again. And he kept on repeating this over and over, making sure to not be caught within Black Adam's grasp, gathering momentum and acceleration. He had never used teleportation in this way before and this frequently – it wasn't safe – but this was a chance he had to take, especially against an opponent that could fight Thor.
And then he had it; all of the momentum, speed and acceleration he needed. He teleported himself in a path that led him straight towards Black Adam. With as much strength as he could muster, he punched Black Adam out of the atmosphere, while ramming him with the mass of his entire body, his force-field forming a wedge.
But that wasn't enough. Black Adam would recover from that. Doom followed Black Adam's trajectory. One of the additions he made to his armor since he had arrived to this world, was installing Zeta-Beam technology into it. Now, it wouldn't be used as it should, but it could be applied in a manner that was helpful at least. Now that the time was right, he could use the same technology that allowed people to go from one place to another in the blink of an eye, to generate a blast that could shove a man across the endless void of space. Doom blasted away and Black Adam was hurled at relativistic speeds into the darkness of space, voicing a soundless scream; he would not be returning to Earth very soon.
The sensation of pain was returning, and Doom's body was swamped in it. He returned to Earth and to Bialya, landing in the middle of a square within Al-Qawiya. People began to gather, saying things he didn't really care about.
Slowly, he pulled down his hood; then, he removed his helmet. It was then that he noticed Queen Bee, surrounded by several people, approaching him.
He smiled. As soon as she was close enough, he said to her, "I hope that you are safe"
Several doctors approached, but Doom quickly swatted them away. Certainly he was bruised and bleeding, but he could not under any circumstances allow a medical doctor to look at him.
This was, without a doubt, an awkward moment. Peter stood within the conference room of the Watchtower, facing several members of the Justice League. He was wearing his suit, but his mask was in his hand. He felt that this was more appropriate.
More awkward yet was the fact that Batman was in there, sitting and staring at him. Peter still wasn't afraid of him – anyone who knew better would know that bats aren't so scary – but his gaze was slightly unnerving. Besides, how do you talk to someone after you've beaten them up? Do you shake hands like chums and let bygones be bygones? He doubted that Batman would be capable of this.
Next to Batman sat a man who seemed familiar to Peter for some reason. He was dressed in blue, with a big red S on his chest. Peter knew who he was, as he had seen him on the news countless times; this was the famed Superman. Of course, that wasn't why Peter thought he was familiar. He was certain that he had seen that face somewhere before. Anyway, Peter thought that Superman seemed like a cross between Captain America and Thor.
Sitting next to Superman was Wonder Woman. Peter did his best not to look at her in an exceedingly adolescent manner. The three of them put together seemed to form a sort of trinity, or at least it seemed so to Peter. That didn't necessarily mean that the other heroes present were unimportant. One by one he had been introduced. He had seen Hawkman and Hawkgirl before, Plastic Man was funny to look at and well humored (although there was something very dark about him), Aquaman wasn't a jackass, so Peter wasn't at all reminded of the Sub-Mariner. The Flash looked and sounded like a crime scene investigator, for some reason. Sitting next to Black Canary was Green Arrow and his sidekick, the beard. There were other members, but these were the ones present. The Green Lanterns were out in space for some reason, and everyone else had their own problems.
Superman was the first to speak. "Mr. Parker, we've thought very carefully on your situation. We wish we could help you – it's not easy being in what amounts to a different world – however, with what we have now, it's difficult. Dr. Palmer has asked us if he could personally look into your case, and believe me, he's the best help you can expect to get. But I hope you understand that there are no magical solutions to your plight. For now, you're going to have to stay here, on this Earth. That doesn't mean you will be alone. We here at the Justice League are more than willing to help you out. We will have to find you a more stable lodging than the one you have now."
"You must however, respect our terms" Batman said, continuing where Superman had left off "You're strong and fast, and clearly experienced, but don't think that that means that I'm going to leave you unattended. You're still a young man prone to make the dumbest mistakes. I'm not saying that anyone older wouldn't make mistakes – I made my own with you, however, yours may lead to the most direst of consequences, as they already have, from what Black Canary has told me.
"On this Earth, most teenagers with powers become sidekicks, in order to learn with more experienced superheroes, or they don't become superheroes at all. Apart from Blue Beetle, I don't know of any other superhero who starts off on his own during his early adolescence. I want you on the team."
Peter blinked. He really wished he had his mask on right now.
"The team? What team, if you don't mind me asking?" Peter asked.
"A junior team, kid" said Green Arrow – or his beard, it was hard to tell "originally formed by our sidekicks. We think you'd do great in it. You're already an experienced superhero in your own world, why not bring that to the table?"
"Peter, you don't have to say yes" Black Canary said "But it would help you a lot more to have friends that have much in common with you."
Black Canary's reasoning was solid; Peter had to admit it to himself. The idea of joining a team however was weird. The only time he had ever thought of that was just before he met his first supervillain, the Chameleon, and had tried to become a member of the Fantastic Four. Since then, he had worked on his own, without any help whatsoever. But he did have to admit that there was a part of him that still wanted to belong to a superhero group like the Avengers. Being part of 'the team' sounded nice; he would just have to get over the 'junior' aspect of 'the team'.
"I think I can give it a shot" Peter said.
Superman smiled.
"Welcome aboard then. We'll call in Kaldur to make the proper introductions."
The process was cut short when an alarm started to blare out.
"I didn't touch anything" Peter said.
"Neither did I" Plastic Man said.
The Flash looked into the computer screen in front of him.
"This is disturbing" he said, displaying what was seen on his monitor through the holograph projector on the table. The image was that of Black Adam being shot out into the darkness of space by a mysterious figure.
The Flash didn't have to zoom in the picture for Peter to recognize who it was.
"Doctor Doom!" he exclaimed.
Batman looked at Peter, and then he looked at the Flash. "It seems we now know why you found nothing in Bialya Flash" he turned to look at Peter "How dangerous is he?"
Peter took a deep breath. "He's very dangerous. I've only fought him once or twice, but the Fantastic Four have always had problems with him. He once tried to get rid of them by blasting the Baxter Building – the building the Four use as a base – into space. Reed Richards told me that Dr. Doom was so arrogant as to challenge the gods themselves. This Earth is in serious trouble"
"We'll look into it" Batman said. The holographic image disappeared, and everyone got out of their seats. One by one, they quickly left, perhaps to find out what was going on with Dr. Doom. Batman was the only one to stay behind. He looked at Peter in the eye.
"Mr. Parker, you told me that you weren't afraid of me. That's good, but I'm afraid of you, which you should be concerned about. I was stupid when we first met, and I hope you'll accept my apologies for what transpired. You were trying to warn me about a pressing danger, and I brushed your attempts off rudely. Believe me, I am sorry. But if you get out of bounds and do something that gets anyone hurt, I will do my best to stop you. Even if it means that by doing so, I might die. I am not invincible Mr. Parker. And neither are you. And a presumption of power is the first step to downfall."
Batman left the room. Peter wondered why he needed the stupid batsuit, when his naked determination was enough to unnerve people.