Author's Note: I know what you're thinking… 'Another DC story?' Well, I did say I had a trilogy of origins in the works that I could funnel into whatever universe that's to my liking. This is the third of those and, believe it or not, the idea isn't actually mine! Regular beta-reader TheCarlosInferno/TheCharles2099 suggested it to me and I liked it enough to give it a shot.
Don't hesitate to review. Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Doom and Gloom
Kansas, USA. It doesn't get more American than this. Golden farmland, small towns that haven't changed since the 1960s, herds of cattle, old-style pickup trucks cruising leisurely along township roads, it was as picturesque as any patriotic soul could ask for.
It also made for the perfect cover.
A single Blackhawk helicopter hovered lazily above a pristine golden wheat field, waiting for clearance confirmation. Nearby was a single silo, acting as a storage allotment for grain not intended to be moved immediately. The Blackhawk began to descend, lowering into the narrow strip of green separating wheat fields. The rear passenger bay doors slid open, a pair of suited government agents stepping out ahead of a large dark-skinned woman. The men's clothing and hair was whipped about by the thundering rotor blades above, but it seemed like nothing could move the woman.
She stood halfway between five and six feet tall, the remaining inches all seemingly going to her width. She carried herself with confidence and walked with boldness, one often wondering how her feet managed in such basic high heels. Her business suit was appropriately tailored to match her size, but her jowls and the rolls of her neck made it appear like she was being squeezed out of it. Her black hair was cut short and close to the scalp, letting not more than maybe an inch or two of frizz to grow and give her any real defining sense of style.
She approached the silo and a secret door pulled open for her and the men with her, exposing the falsehood of the structure. The door sealed behind them, restoring the mirage, and an elevator took them far beneath the surface. They stood in perfect silence, saying nothing under the pale illumination of incandescent lights and a soft chime signalling the passing of various floors. The elevator slowed to a gradual halt before a chime opened up the doors and revealed a complex network of technology sheltering a labyrinth of storage chambers beyond. Men in dress shirts and lab coats moved like bees in a hive, typing information in once computer before scurrying over to another to record new information on clipboards.
"Director Waller," a bearded man with thick-rimmed glasses greeted her.
"Doctor Kurtz. I read your report. It's promising." Amanda Waller responded calmly and curtly. "Project Windfall was expected to provide results a month ago. This had better be good if we want to keep our funding."
"I admit the road has been a rocky one. But we have made a breakthrough that should guarantee the President looks favourably on us again." Doctor Kurtz promised. He gestured towards a single wide viewing window revealing the arranged testing chambers on the other side. Amanda moved to investigate. Of the eight within, seven were sealed off with red tape marked 'HAZARDOUS MATERIALS: DISPOSE WITH CAUTION'. The eighth remained accessible and a body could be seen floating within.
It appeared to be the build of a normal teenage boy, around 5'10 in height. High school athlete, with what could have once been a wiry frame. Now it was a patchwork of sinewy muscles covered with slate grey skin. He was dressed in just a pair of green skintight testing shorts, exposing the majority of his body. His face remained human, shrouded by wispy white hair.
"Molecular bonding was a success this time. We're still working out how, but he's stable and holding."
"The DNA of Doomsday, attached to the youth and vigor of a boy just barely considered an adult. Lots of growing to do."
"What's the saying? Youth is wasted on the young?" Kurtz asked with a wry smile. Waller did not return it but the twinkle in her eyes was enough of an agreement.
"How long has he been stable for?"
"Two days."
"That's long enough. Prep him for phase three. I want him completely obedient to our commands." Amanda Waller ordered. "Use the neuralizers, implants, whatever you need."
"We can start within the hour." Doctor Kurtz promised.
Twenty-five minutes later, technicians in hermetically-sealed suits approached the containment chamber. Doctor Kurtz was among them, Amanda Waller still watching from the viewing platform. "Project Windfall entry thirty-three-point-two… We are beginning Phase Three. Containment tube has been outfitted with neural injectors." He gave a nod to his team and various needles attached to tendrils descended into the tank, finding their way towards the man's head. "Subject is currently passive, the 'Doom Kid' has shown no sign of responsiveness but vitals remain consistent and are holding."
The moniker was coined after lab techs grew bored of the alphanumeric serial numbers applied to previous candidates. In comparison to the original specimen, these humans were like miniature versions of the real deal. 'Kid Doomsday' had been floated around first before the wording was flipped and shortened to 'Doom Kid'. Amanda Waller never showed any partiality to the nickname but if she had wanted to enforce professionalism she never said a word against it either. And so the name stuck, becoming more prominent as this test subject exceeded where others had failed.
One of the technicians approached the tank and planted a large screening tool in front of the face of 'Doom Kid'. "Scaling methods are in place. His brain impulses were successfully mapped twelve hours ago, giving us the perfect means to reprogram his thoughts. Doctor Clive, begin electro-stimulation." A large switch was cranked by one of the techs, resulting in a surging arc of blue electricity that connected wires to head. The needles implanted shortly thereafter… and the Doom Kid awoke. Fire-red eyes snapped open to a muted yowl of pain. "Engaging nanotech injection in three… two… wait!" Kurtz interrupted himself when he noticed the biometric readings on a nearby panel flare to incredible heights. "Subject is showing unparalleled brain activity inconsistent with projected numbers!"
"Doctor Kurtz? Is there a problem?" Amanda Waller demanded over a loudspeaker. The bearded man took a moment to gather his thoughts.
"Th-The subject… Doom Kid… h-his reactions are exceeding acceptable levels!"
"Then inject sedatives to keep him docile. We can't afford to screw this up." Waller demanded coldly. Before Kurtz could act or respond, the sound of cracking glass filled the room. Doom Kid was fully awake and fighting against the neuralizers, his fists creating spider-webbing cracks across the glass containment tube walls.
"Shut it down! Shut it down!" Kurtz exclaimed as technicians scrambled to respond. All of a sudden, the glass shattered as strength beyond measure ripped apart the containment tube like it was nothing. The Doom Kid burst out onto the chamber floor, rearing to his full height as bone spikes emerged from his arms, legs, and shoulders (while smaller than the original, no less deadly). "He's free! Subject is free!" Kurtz exclaimed before a vicious backhand sent him flying across the room. The technicians scattered as Doom Kid plowed through the lot of them, sending men flying in every direction in a mad dash to get away from everything.
Alarm klaxons began to sound throughout the room as the overseeing engineers in the observation deck scrambled to react. "I wanted armed men in every corridor! This is a government asset and he will NOT breach containment!" Amanda Waller barked.
Throughout the facility, barracks of handpicked men sprang from their passive downtime to slap on bodyarmor and collect Olympic Arms K3B AR-15 assault rifles from weapon racks. The cavernous corridors were soon filled with the beastial growling of the test subject as he stomped his way through, trying to find his way out. "Your orders are clear! Whatever you do, DO NOT let him escape this facility!" Amanda Waller snapped through personal radios. Stoic and steadfast, the armed men in black organized themselves into platoons and spread out through the complex tunnel network linking areas of the facility. Meanwhile, Amanda Waller moved away from the observation deck into a command centre. "Give me a status update! Where is the Doom Kid?"
"Cameras picked him up moving through sub-section delta." One of the security officers announced.
"On screen."
Grainy images appeared on a bank of monitors at the back of the room, showcasing the various turns of the access tunnels. Sounds of growling and snarling, like an animal somewhere off screen, fill the command centre. "What the hell is that?" One of the men asked.
"Enough." Waller stared intently at the screen, her round face illuminated by the artificial light from the monitors. Doom Kid suddenly stormed past one of the cameras, not hunched over or crawling like an animal but upright and confident, a powerful force concentrated into a near-human form. "That's corridor two. He's close to team one." The armed platoon appeared on another camera, forming into a standard firing formation.
The moment Doom Kid turned a corner, the soldiers opened fire. Rapid fire bullets created clouds of concrete as they etched a constellation of holes into the rearmost wall. Those that struck the Doom Kid crumpled on impact, rippling shockwaves radiant across his body as the man-turned-monster moved unfazed through the assault. With long strides, he crossed the distance in seconds, his fist crashing into the soldiers and sending them flying across the tunnel. Each swing smashed them into the walls and floors, decimating the entire unit while Doom Kid went without a scratch on him.
To the shock of Amanda Waller and the security team, nothing any soldier could do could stop him. Bullets were destroyed in impact, grenades merely irritated him, smoke and knockout gases only made him sneeze, the unstoppable juggernaut plowing through level after level of the facility as the soldiers fell in his wake. The calls in the command centre were frantic,
"We need medics in tunnel two-beta!"
"Regular rounds are useless! Switching the armor piercing!"
"Team three is down, repeat, response team three is down!"
"It's here! It's here!"
The cameras continued to track the action, some being destroyed by stray bullets, detonating grenades, or the flying bodies of soldiers cast aside by the Doom Kid. "What the hell did we make?" The security officer breathed.
"He would have been perfect if he was under proper control." Waller grunted.
"Perfect? You call this perfect? That thing is a monster and it's tearing our men apart!" The officer exclaimed.
"Control yourself, soldier, or I'll have you replaced." Amanda snapped. "Doom Kid hasn't killed anyone so far. Just injured them. This must be the basic instinct of Doomsday's genetics acting up. The animal in him. That makes him predictable and we can use that against him."
"How?"
"His reaction to the stresses of being in the testing chamber must've triggered his fight or flight response. That means he's trying to escape the 'situation' he's in." The obese woman leaned forward against the console, metal groaning faintly as large hands were pressed flat. "Lock down all personnel exits. No one gets in or out." She ordered. Thick metal doors began to close as heavy pneumatics pushed seals into place, locking off sections of the facility to force Doom Kid in a more predictable direction. The monstrous man was forced into a singular area where power lines and conduit pipes lined the walls and ceiling. It was a hub room where the distribution of essential systems junctioned out to the various levels. "Kill the lights."
Doom Kid was abruptly plunged into darkness as the security cameras switched to a night vision mode. He roared furiously, causing the ears of those listening to ring. Then he found a single camera, thanks to its red activity light, and lunged, destroying it with a single punch. The motion nearly startled some of the crew out of their seats. Amanda Waller remained stoic and stationary. "Direct all containment teams to junction c-thirteen." She commanded as the view switched to the single still-functioning camera in the junction room. "Load heavy weapons and electrostatic rounds. There may yet be a way to subdue this thing." They watched as the monster began moving around the room, pounding on the walls and floors as though searching for something. At last he began investigating a layer of pipes over a sheet metal wall, loosing a snarling bellow as he began pounding away and tearing through the weak metal, his body encased in a cloud of steam and other gases as he disappeared from view.
"Where's he going?" One of the security techs wondered.
"Get me infrared and motion sensors activity!" Waller snapped. One of the monitors shifted to reveal a different scenario, one that featured a single red blip moving higher and higher.
"H-He's tunneling his way out! He's using the elevator shaft to reach the surface!" The deck security officer exclaimed. Amanda thought quickly and was barking more orders within seconds.
"I want tanks from Fort Leavenworth here ASAP! Contact the Air Force director at Fort Riley and tell him to send choppers on the double!"
The exterior of the metal silo exploded outwards as the Doom Kid emerged into sunlight, the elevator shaft behind him reduced to shattered fragments from his explosive climb. For a moment he shielded his eyes from the glaring rays of daylight before adjusting to his surroundings… endless stalks of wheat. Unfamiliar with his surroundings, he started moving, slowly building up speed as he turned from a walk into a jog and then a sprint. The wheat parted before him as he darted through, sticking out like a sore thumb. The Doom Kid failed to notice the top of the silo retract and release a pair of remote-operated air drones that followed on silent thrusters several feet above. Cameras tracked his movement and beamed the information back to the facility command deck.
"Visual confirmed. We're tracking him now." One of the drone operators announced.
"Good. Acquire a location fix." Amanda Waller ordered. They continued to watch in relative silence as Doom Kid continued sprinting through the wheat fields, building up significant speed as he did
"Director, we have an incoming call from the helicopter squadron dispatched from Fort Riley." The security officer reported.
"Patch it through."
A brief crackled of static preluded the low voice of a helicopter pilot speaking into his comms. "Black Site Kilo, this is Vanguard Lead, requesting VIP coordinates, over."
"Kilo to Vanguard, affirmative. Acquiring coordinates now." Waller replied. The details from the drone operators were confirmed and communicated appropriately so the pilot could acquire a fix.
"Roger, Kilo. ETA two minutes." The pilot responded and Amanda Waller smiled.
A squadron of five Apache helicopters swarmed the wheat fields as their internal tracking systems guided the vehicles towards the location fixed by Waller and her team. The lead pilot adjusted several sensor controls on his console. "Vanguard Lead to Vanguard Two and Three. Follow me in and bring the rain. Vanguard Four and Five, slow your approach and maintain visual contact with target. Let's heard him closer to Kilo for containment."
"Roger that Lead."
Three of the choppers accelerated pace, the other two slowing down until they were roughly a hundred feet behind, the squadron now in a diamond formation. "I have a visual on target. Moving to engage. Weapons free, gentlemen." The leading Apache confirmed as his onboard computer picked up Doom Kid sprinting through the fields. Engaging his nose-mounted M230 chain gun, the sound of an industrial buzzsaw overpowered the thunderous chopping of the helicopters' rotors and a stream of white-hot tracer rounds drew a line right to the fleeing monster. Doom Kid stumbled with a primal growl as two more chain guns attacked, bullets striking his body and ricocheting off him as the Apaches drew closer. Once in range, the three leading copters unleashed several of their hellfire missiles, blackening the wheat with deafening explosions that kicked up dirt and debris in mile-high showers and ignited fires within the field of crops. The three Apaches passed by overhead as the two behind lingered and waited for the cloudy haze to dissipate.
"Impact confirmed. Good hit, good hit." A pilot reported. "Vanguard Four, Vanguard Five, any sign of the target?"
"Negative. Maintaining scanning." The pilots circled the darkened piece of ground, a dirty haze clouding the air. "Vanguard Lead, I have confirmed movement in the target ar-… wait… Holy sh-!" The pilot's curse was cut short as Doom Kid lunged from the ground and clung to the copter's side, where he stuck his right arm straight up and let the bone spikes there shred the rotor assembly. The Apache promptly lost power and began to fall. "Mayday! Mayday! This is Vanguard Four I'm going down!" Doom Kid rode the remnants of the Apache to the ground where his added weight smashed the nose end and half buried the remains in the dirt. He stood up and bellowed in challenge, defiant of the M230 bullet storm that was unleashed upon him.
Making another colossal leap, he lunged at Vanguard Five, powering through the helicopter as he tore off the tail assembly. Without a stabilizer to maintain momentum, the Apache began spiralling out of control until it struck the ground, bounced, and rolled several times before coming to a stop on its side, every rotor snapped off during the crash. Doom Kid started running again as the Apaches opened fire, alternating between hellfire missiles and chain guns as they gave chase. "Vanguard Four and Five are down. Close the gap, people! Let's take this thing down!"
The drones above continued to monitor, broadcasting everything back to Amanda Waller.
Fountains of dirt were kicked up by impacting chain gun rounds all around Doom Kid followed by showers of earth and shredded wheat from near-hellfire impacts. A primal instinct had been triggered within Doom Kid; it was time for him to fight or flight and he was going to fight… smartly. Whatever cleverness had been contained within the original Doomsday spilled over through his animalistic instincts.
He forced himself to stop, digging a trench in the dirt. With powerful leg muscles, he shot high into the air and dug his claws into the metal of Vanguard Three. "He's on me! He's on me!" The pilot screeched.
"Vanguard Three, veer left, I'll try to knock him off!" Vanguard Two ordered, pulling back to align a clean shot with either his M230 or his starboard weapons rack. But Doom Kid was already reacting, his body tensing as the shoulder spikes along his back erupted out like a hail of shrapnel. The adjacent Vanguard Leader was promptly taken down as bone spikes speared the cockpit and rotor assembly, smoke belching from the rotors as it tumbled towards the ground in a downward spiral. "What the hell was that?!" Vanagurd Two exclaimed, pausing just for a moment to his own detriment. Reaching down, Doom Kid ripped off a weapons pod and hurled it at Vanguard Two just as his chain gun belched high-caliber fire. The pod detonate, smoke and flame catching in Vanguard Three's rotors as the Apache sputtered and lost control.
Heaving himself up with a shout, Doom Kid threw himself into the rotors of Vanagurd Three. His indestructible body shattered the blades as they made contact, but the kinetic force also hurled him backwards where his body shredded the upper half of Vanguard Two, tearing off the top section of the Apache and annihilating the tail assembly.
Metal fell to the ground in a shrieking heap, helicopters bouncing to the tune of crackling glass and crunching chassis. Rotors whined down as all systems failed and Doom Kid tumbled across the ground with a scene of perfect carnage behind him. Loosing a bellow, he turned and started running again, away from the destroyed Apaches.
Despite their failure, the helicopters had delayed Doom Kid's escape long enough to allow the tanks from Fort Riley to make their way over. Four M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks trundled down country roads, making a beeline for the last reported coordinates given them by Black Site Kilo. Their top speed was lacking but the power they brought would surely be enough to force Doom Kid to heel. Thanks to their intercept course, they had an element of surprise and an advantage over Doom Kid in the sense they could see him and open fire while needing only minor adjustments to their aim. The tank commander stood halfway out of the turret through the access hatch, observing the seemingly-infinite fields of wheat around them while his hands gripped the high-calibre machine gun mounted in front of him.
Doom Kid was not hard to pick out, his dark form parting wheat before him with rising smoke and flame behind him. "Target sighted. Range: thirty-five-hundred yards." The tank commander announced into his radio. "All units, take aim and fire at will." 120mm main cannons lobbed high-explosive shells across the near two-mile distance. Two of them slammed into Doom Kid, detonating with the equivalent force of three pounds of TNT, enough to reduce a normal human to a wet paste.
Doom Kid was stopped short and fell to his knees as the concussive impact rattled him for a moment. The other two missed and tore up the field, sending showers of dirt and destroyed wheat stalks past twelve feet in the air. The tanks quickly reloaded to fire again but Doom Kid was already moving. He bolted forward, tearing through the fields, impossibly fast and strong for someone barely six feet in height. "Spread out, spread out! Concentrate fire!" The tank commander ordered. The four tanks diverged from their tight-knit formation, allowing them to get a better angle on the approaching monstrosity. They fired again, their spread of shells falling short as Doom Kid closed the gap.
Before they could reload again, he was on them.
Doom Kid plowed shoulder-first into the commanding tank, rocking it off its treads as he crumpled the forward armor-plated grill. The bone spike over his hand tore through the wheel assembly on the side, ripping apart the discs and causing the tread to fall away. Grasping the body, Doom Kid roared as he lifted the entire tank off its treads and flipped it onto its side like a child throwing a toy car. As quickly as he struck, Doom Kid was moving again, pouncing on the nearest tank as he sank his bone spikes into its engine, sparks and smoke belching from beneath the shorn metal. His hands grabbed the turret and began to lift, ripping apart the two halves of the tank and forcing the crew to evacuate while they could. With a triumphant shout, his scarlet eyes ablaze, Doom Kid ripped off the turret and threw it on the ground. The tank crew ran for their lives as Doom Kid ripped off the main barrel and turned it into an improvised club.
The furthest tank managed to draw a bead and opened fire, a single shell slamming into Doom Kid's chest and lurching him back into the wrecked tank body. His body shuddered, a blackened scorch mark healing over within seconds. His eyes became fixed on his attacker and he snarled. Pushing off, Doom Kid crossed the gap in a single leap and slammed his turret-turned-club into the army vehicle. He wailed away on the tank, beating the treads off, smashing the armor, shattering the clockwork gears that allowed the turret to turn. He beat the main gun out of shape, shattered the engine chassis, overall pulverizing the tank and turning it into a wreck.
He turned to face the final tank, Doom Kid throwing himself on it and ripping the main barrel clean off. Then he clambered to the ground and grabbed the front of the thing, exercising prodigious strength with a deafening roar as he lifted the entire tank off the ground and held it over his head. Turning around he threw the tank towards the empty wheat field, the vehicle performing an entire loop in the air before it crashed upside down, rendered useless. Roaring triumphantly, Doom Kid took off again, leaping powerfully into the air and crossing hundreds of feet in a single bound before he crashed into the dirt and started running again.
Having been privy to the entire onslaught courtesy of their security drones, Amanda Waller and her security force watched as every tank was destroyed and the helicopters were ripped from the sky. The sheer strength and power of the Doom Kid was incredible to behold as some of the latest military technology proved paltry in comparison to him.
"He's taken them all out! At this rate he'll make Kansas City within the hour, unless something can stop him." A security tech exclaimed.
"I don't think anything can stop him, let alone slow him down…" The security commander murmured. Hearing the words, Amanda Waller stepped away from the hub and withdrew a cellphone from her jacket pocket. One of the numbers was speed-dialled and she waited for exactly three tones before saying,
"Get me Belle Reve."