49: I've been Doomed
Fanfic
I stared at the letter in front of me, somewhat shocked and very concerned. I was FIVE, for Stan Lee's sake! I shouldn't have to deal with this!
Numb, I reached forward and picked it up again, reading it one more time.
Dear sir,
Welcome to your new life! I hope you enjoy it!
Due to a lack of souls and effective wildcards in this sector, this universe was slated for annihilation. It is, after all, one of the worse variants of this universe. Each and every hero has been marked for a horrible fate worse than death (more than a few at the hands of this body's intended owner), and it was set to destroy itself, annihilating those alternate dimensions alongside it. It is because of this, and an accident that lead to your premature death, that we chose to eliminate the original host of this body, and move you in, instead.
If you are reading this, you are five, you have survived thus far, and your mother was dragged to hell before your eyes. That is an integral part of this character's backstory, so you were prevented from noticing who you were until this happened. As you have no doubt figured out, this is a Marvel Death universe, and you are the future Doctor Doom. You may have also noticed that, while you are certainly far better than your previous state (smater, healthier, etc.), you lack the raw power, charisma, and intellect that Doctor Doom had. This is because the bit you are missing was a part of his soul. New soul, new person.
As you have no doubt divined, however, this puts you in a bad spot. You are, for lack of a better word, weaker. Worse, as you never read the comics, and this world differs greatly from the movies, you have a very poo understanding of the future. To be clear, the characters, as they were displayed in the movies, were weak. Moreso, only a fragment of the danger of the Marvel-Verse was shown (in the power ranking of Marvel, Thanos is, at most, a top five-hundred threat. Big, yes. Biggest, not even a little). As such, lacking even a fragment of the Doom powerset is… damning. As we desire more entertainment than a quick death on your part, we have decided to grant you a few limited boons.
First, you may choose any three MORTAL-GRADE essences. Except for a select few, all the essences you get will BE mortal grade (Choosing 'Golden God' will result in you turning into a powered-up mix between Hercules and C3-PO) or growth-type (If you choose 'Echidna', you will turn into a monster of the same power as your current self, which will slowly [with time, training, and catalysts] become the Echidna). These will be delivered to you, to be used at will.
Second, you will receive one wish. Ask for too much, get a Monkey Paw. Ask for too little… you're a dumbass. No pressure!
Third, you get a list of challenges. Complete them and get a boom. The harder the quest and more entertaining the completion, the better the boon! Fail them, and we kill you!
Have fun!
TIMED QUESTS:
In ONE YEAR, become the King of Latveria.
In TWO YEARS, Graduate Highschool and join up with the Baxter Foundation
…
In TWENTY-FIVE YEARS, Galactus is coming. Prepare the world for this threat.
In…
…
…
PERSONNEL QUESTS:
IRON MAN is destined for depression, mediocrity, and Palladium Poison. Do something about it.
SPIER-MAN is a dope destined to die to a thug with a gun. Do something about it.
LAURA KINNEY is destined to become the world's worst berserker. Do something about it.
IRON FIST is destined to die in a plane crash. Do something about it.
ELEKTRA is destined to be a puppet for villains (that aren't you). Do something about it.
…
…
THREATS:
HELA will kill Thor and wage war on Earth. Do something about it.
LAUFEY OF THE ICE GIANTS will cause a second Ice Age. Do something about it.
SEBASTIAN SHAW will start a nuclear war, and an anti-mutant war. Do something about it.
…
The list of quests was… a book. Actually, it was a set of five books: Personnel, Threats, Personal, Items, and Kingdom. Personnel was about people whose fates those above wanted changed. It was the vague on what goals were desired of the lists. Threats were… threats, to me and the world/universe. I solved them, or I died. It was the most nerve-wracking. Personal were ones assigned to me, and the strictest list. Items were artifacts, super-soldier treatments, books, gems, and any other thing that I could find to make things better. That one had no requirements, but I could get a good bounty for sacrificing those items for boons. And Kingdom were all the issues with Latveria at the present time. It was the most depressing of the lists.
As sighed and leaned back in my chair. What would I use my wish for? Super-genius? The True Longinus? World Peace? And what essences would I get? Inspired Inventor, Archmage, and Scholar to keep with Doom's architype? Or should I go with Mad Doctor, Science God, and Merchant for the profit? Maybe Doom Slayer, Hell Lord, and Demon, for irony and power? Too many choices!
What would I do?