Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
So, this will feature the showdown with Doom and Thawne. Hope you like it.
Let's get to it.
Bl4ckHunter: This is just my theory, but I think there's two different options to explain it. One is that Thawne was so obsessed with killing Barry that he didn't really think about that. The second, and more likely in my mind, is that he just so consumed with proving he was better and that he could destroy Barry that it didn't matter if killing Barry caused him to lose his powers.
AWESOME1356: At this point, Barry's speed is far beyond what it used to be and even currently in canon due to him wielding both the Speed Stone and all the Infinity Stones. Their power affected him and boosted his speed. Barry thought that, as long as he kept moving and didn't stop, which was his plan, Doom wouldn't have anything that could stop him. As for a Barry/Wanda centric story, I do plan to do one. I'm not yet sure whether I'll do it during Phase 3 or Phase 4, though.
Chapter 9- Showdown in Latveria
Barry slowly feels consciousness coming back to him. As he does, he slowly shakes his head and starts to open his eyes.
As he opens his eyes, he quickly sees that he's still in the laboratory, strapped to some kind of machine. A second later, he realizes it was the machine he had tried to investigate. Barry tries to struggle free, but the bonds are too strong for him to escape. As he looks around, he also sees an ornate stone chair on one side of the room, and wonders if this place also doubles as Doom's throne room.
"Oh, I wouldn't bother, Barry. Without your speed, you won't be getting out of those."
Barry looks up, right as Thawne walks into the room, smirking smugly at Barry. Barry narrows his eyes in anger and hate.
"Thawne. Why are you working with Doom? I know the Legends fought you once. You only worked with partners because you got something out of it," he says.
Thawne grins sadistically. "Well, Barry. I don't necessarily need Doom. But, he promised me a few things I couldn't refuse. First of all, he promised to make me a better suit. But most of all, he said he'd make sure you were dead. I've realized by now that you have a way of slipping out of my hands. I say there's no reason not to guarantee that I'll finally see you dead," he says.
"And why is Doom working with you? Reed Richards told me about Doom. He wouldn't work with you unless there was something in it for him," Barry says.
Right then, Barry hears the thudding of metal bootsteps. Moments later, Doctor Doom comes walking into the room. He looks right at Barry for a moment before he says, "Because, Barry Allen, you possess something truly valuable. You possess the first power of the multiverse. The Speed Force. I have conversed enough with Thawne to understand the multitude of gifts and powers bestowed by the Speed Force. You don't understand fully the power you possess."
Doom pauses for a moment, then says, "That power belongs in the hands of someone who will truly understand and appreciate it. One who does not squander it on meaningless acts, but uses it to its full potential." He pauses, then says, "Thawne and I constructed this machine together. It will drain you of the Speed Force, ready to be given to me, just as Zoom once did. Once I have the powers of the Speed Force, I will be unstoppable. And this world will bow before me."
Barry narrows his eyes. "You want my powers? Really? You went to all this trouble and threatened all those people just to get my powers?" he demands.
"A small price to pay for such power," Doom says remorselessly. He then walks over the controls for the machine, typing keys and preparing the machine.
Barry struggles again against the bands around his limbs, but again with no results. Thawne laughs as he says, "To think. After all this time, that when I finally kill you, you won't even have your powers." He laughs more before he says, "You know, I think I'll change my plans a bit. Once Doom has drained you of your power, I'll take you back to Earth-1, and I'll kill your precious wife and children before I kill you."
Barry looks at Thawne with increasing hate, struggling more against his bonds. However, right as he opens his mouth to say something, a familiar female voice says, "I don't think so." Then, completely out of nowhere, a volley of force spheres blast Thawne and send him flying across the room.
Doom whips around, right as a volley of force spheres blast towards him. He holds up his arms in front of his face, and the force spheres hardly even affect him. Right then, Ben charges into the room and over to me. With relative ease, he wrenches the bonds off of Barry's legs and arms. He then drives his fist through the machine, destroying it.
Barry smiles as he falls out of the machine. "Thanks, Ben," he says.
"No problem, Barry," Ben replies rights as Reed and Johnny rush into the room.
Thawne speeds up next to Doom, and the two face Barry and the Four. After a second, Doom says, "Reed. You came. I'm glad you did."
"Why? So we can put a stop to your plans?" Reed says.
"No. So you can die," Doom says before thrusting his hand out and sending a bolt of electricity towards Reed. Reed is unprepared and knocked backward a bit. He then fires another bolt towards Sue, but she brings up a force field.
As this is happening, Barry takes off towards Thawne. Thawne takes off running too, and the two begin racing around the lab.
As they're racing around, Ben charges towards Doom, shouting, "It's clobberin' time!" He throws a punch right at Doom's head, but Doom ducks under it before delivering a punch that knocks Ben flat on his back. He then tries to deliver a downward punch, but Sue conjures a force field around Ben. Johnny then throws a fireball right at Doom, but the fireball doesn't even affect Doom. The force of the fireball forces him back a step, but the fire itself doesn't affect Doom.
Reed reaches out and wraps one of his arms around a machine a few yards away. He then whips his arm around to send the machine flying right at Doom. It knocks him back a bit, but doesn't affect him much. However, a powerful blow from Ben, who's regained his feet, knocks Doom flying across the room.
Sue sends another volley of force spheres towards Doom, but he again shrugs it off. Doom then dodges a fireball thrown by Johnny. Johnny tries throwing two more at Doom, but Doom raises his hand and redirects them in midair, sending them right towards Sue, who quickly conjures a force field to block them.
Reed reaches out and tries wrapping himself around Doom to restrain him, but Doom simply releases an electric shock through his armor that forces Reed to release him.
Right then, Barry catches up to Thawne, managing to trip him up while simultaneously punching him in the gut. He then grabs Thawne by the arm and runs him around the lab, slamming him against various machines before finally throwing him against the wall.
Barry races towards Thawne, only for Thawne to dodge out of the way and punch Barry before running him across the lab into another wall. He pins Barry by the throat, but before he can do anything, Johnny sees his new friend in trouble and sends a jet of fire towards Thawne, who relinquishes Barry and runs away. However, he quickly runs right into a force field conjured by Sue, and stumbles back, slightly dazed from the impact. As Ben tries to keep Doom busy, Johnny throws another fireball, knocking Thawne flying back. Barry then rushes at Thawne. As Thawne tries to get out of the way, Barry deploys one of his vibranium wrist blades and slashes it across Thawne's stomach. Thawne howls in pain, and tries to punch Barry, but Barry easily dodges it, then slams his fist into the ground. The kinetic energy built up from his fight with Thawne bursts out, sending Thawne flying.
Thawne gets back to his feet and looks at Barry, the red glow of his eyes growing brighter. After a moment, he says, "I guess you won this round, Barry. But our race is not yet done. See you later, Flash." With that, Thawne races out of the lab and out of the castle.
Barry watches as Thawne races off. That is, until Ben goes flying over his head and slams into a wall. Barry turns around, right in time to see Doom shoot a blast of lightning at Johnny, who gets sent flying. Barry races towards Doom, only for Doom to raise a shield of energy around him, which Barry bounces right off. Ben charges at Doom again, but Doom ducks under his blow and knocks him flying again with a solid blow to the chest.
Barry raises his hand and fires his repulsor at Doom, but Doom counters with a laser from his finger. Reed tries a stretch punch, but Doom grabs his arm and slings him into Barry.
Reed gets back to his feet and pulls Barry to his feet. "We need to get out of here! We can't beat Victor. At least not here! And the longer we stay here, the more we risk an international incident," Reed says.
"I agree," Barry says. He then looks up at everybody and says, "Guys! Let's go!"
Barry charges up and throws a lightning bolt at the same time Johnny releases an intense stream of fire at Doom. Doom raises a shield around him. However, the distraction allows Reed to open a breach back to Baxter Building. He, Sue, and Ben hurry through the breach. Once they're through the breach, Barry and Johnny cease their attacks and hurry through the breach. Once they're through it, the breach closes.
Doom stands there for several moments, staring at the spot where the breach closed. For several moments, he's quiet. Then, beneath his mask, he cracks the smallest of smiles. "Enjoy your small victory, Reed. This is just the beginning," he says.
And, I'll end there. Hope you liked that one.
So, here's how I see it. In a direct confrontation with Doctor Doom, especially when they're still relatively new to their powers, and not fully familiar with Doom's powers, I'm not sure the Four would be able to beat him. And I think they'd be more concerned with getting Barry out of there. That's the main reason why the fight didn't last too long.
I hope you don't think I had Barry drive off Thawne too easily. But, at this point, his speed has been greatly enhanced by the power he wielded through the Speed Stone and the Infinity Gauntlet. Plus, he as the Iron Flash suit. Plus, he was helped by Johnny. So, I think it's not too much of a stretch.
I hope I did this chapter justice. I do plan on a bigger fight with Doom sometime in the future. So you can look forward to that.
Next chapter will finish up this story, and reveal something else about Doom. It should be up tomorrow. Until it is, please leave a review, and stay tuned!