Chapter 6: Deception and Doom Part II

Chapter Six: Doom and Deception Part II

The Fantastic Four walked forward, with Spider-Man following from a safe distance. The longer he was here, the more he felt like an awkward addition to the mission, especially considering that he never technically volunteered for it. Fury had somehow convinced him to take part. He looked up, as Mr. Fantastic looked at a scanner in his hand, before he looked at the hanger.

“Doom’s plane is in that hanger,” said Mr. Fantastic. “Problem is, figuring out the access code to get inside.”

“One access code coming up,” said the Thing as he raised his fist before he smashed open the door, causing it to fly to the ground.

“Well, I can’t argue with that, it worked,” thought Spider-Man, as he followed the Fantastic Four inside the hanger.

“Remember our mission is to recover Colonel Jameson,” said Invisible Woman, as she looked right at the Human Torch right as she was saying this. “That means no trouble if we can avoid it and now’s not the time for throwing yourself into a situation without thinking.”

“Sis, I don’t always thrown myself into the situation without thinking,” protested the Human Torch.

“Yeah, there might have been a time or not where you haven’t, Matchstick,” said the Thing but Spider-Man grew rigid. “Problem, kid?”

“My spider sense just went off, that normally means something’s up,” said Spider-Man quickly which caused the Human Torch to laugh like a mad man.

“Your spider sense went off?” asked the Torch with an amused look. “That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my…”

He was cut off when the wall exploded and several large robots moved forward, weapon systems at the ready.

“Doom bots,” said Mr. Fantastic in a hopeless voice, as they turned to face their opponents.

“Yeah, I gathered about that much,” responded Spider-Man dryly.

“Alright, I get to toast some robot butt!” cried the Human Torch as he raised his hands into the air. “FLAME ON!”

The Human Torch spun and threw a fire ball, but the Doom bot dodged, avoiding the assault, before it sprayed fire extinguisher exhaust at the Human Torch knocking him down. The impact caused him to flame off, as the Thing leapt before he smashed one of the Doom bots. In the air, Spider-Man webbed onto a piece of pipe, before he swung over, kicking one of the Doom bots away, causing it to crash away. The bots backed off and began to fire several laser blasts, but the Invisible Woman stood, projecting a force field, the lasers bounced back off the force field, back at the Doom bots.

A loud explosion and several of the robots were blown up, as the Human Torch was back in action. Fireballs shot from his hands, roasting the bots to bits, as Spider-Man climbed up, before he pried the back of the Doom bot and filled it with webbing. The central core of the bot began to overload because of this tactic and Spider-Man leapt down, as the bot dropped down to the ground, watching as the Thing smashed another robotic to bits.

“Not getting us closer to getting that Colonel Jameson guy,” grunted the Thing, as he smashed his way through another bot, knocking it to bits. Mr. Fantastic stretched his arms forward, reaching into one of the Doom bots, pulling the back panels off before he disabled it. As the fight raged on, more of the killer robots were taken out, as Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four all stood back.

“Man, they don’t make killer robots like they used to,” said Spider-Man.

“No kidding, those things blew up really fast,” said the Human Torch before he turned to Spider-Man with a mischievous smirk on his face. “Not half bad for a wall crawling chump.”

“Not half bad yourself, Flamebrain,” responded Spider-Man as he looked forward.

“Man if this is the best Doom can throw at us, he’s really losing his touch,” said The Human Torch. “That was so easy, we could have won this in our sleep.”

“Don’t get too cocky yet,” said the Invisible Woman sternly.

“Agreed, Doom’s not going to give up after the first line of attack,” said Mr. Fantastic. “These Doom bots went down a little too easily.”

“You call that easy?” asked Spider-Man. Sure, they were all in one piece but from robots built by Doctor Doom, he was expecting something a bit more challenging.

“For Doom, yes,” said Mr. Fantastic. “Stay sharp.”

“So where is the metal faced creep?” demanded the Thing as he looked around.

“No, need to be so cross, Mr. Grimm,” stated Doom as he walked forward and looked at the Fantastic Four. “The Fantastic Four and Spider-Man as well, one would think you had enough of Doom after the results of our last encounter. But that matters little, for you now will have to face Doom’s wrath.”

“Yeah, yeah, Doom, we know, but I think it’s time to Flame on!” shouted the Human Torch hotly as he dove forward, but the Invisible Woman’s eyes widened in realization.

“Johnny wait, no, that’s a….” said the Invisible Woman before she winced, watching her younger brother pass through the form of Doom and slam into the wall with a though.”Hologram.”

The Human Torch pulled himself up, but he blinked, as several other forms of Doctor Doom appeared, all laughing evilly.

“He’s toying with us,” said the Thing, as he watched the Human Torch get to his feet and groggily walked over to join the others.

“The real Doom has to be here somewhere,” protested Spider-Man. “The question is where.”

“Spider-Man’s right, he’s here,” said the Invisible Woman. “The problem is to find a way to detect Doom, to separate the holograms from the real thing.”

“Maybe if I can find the right frequency on my scanner,” suggested Mr. Fantastic but suddenly one of the Doom’s walked over and punched him right in the face, knocking him down.

“Looks like you weren’t so smart after all Doom,” said the Human Torch as he dove towards the Doom that attacked Mr. Fantastic but he passed through. With a thud, he landed on the ground again, before the holographic Doom turned around and punched the Torch right in the face, to knock him to the ground.

“Wait a minute, they can hurt us, but we can’t fight them,” said Spider-Man in an alarmed voice, as he tried to punch at one of the holographic Dooms but his fist just passed through it. “Exactly how is this fair?”

“It’s not,” said Mr. Fantastic grimly as he pulled himself up and moved around, stretching his arms, passing through the holograms one at a time but so far Doom had not detected. “It’s Doom.”

“When, I get my hands on the real you, Doom, it’ll be clobbering time!” yelled the Thing, as he swung in mid air, but two of the holographic Dooms blasted energy beams from him. The Thing was knocked to the ground.

“Can’t you just use that spider sense or whatever to find the real Doom?” asked the Human Torch desperately.

“Since these holograms all register as a threat, it won’t work that way, it’s not like it’s selective,” said Spider-Man shortly, as he shot his webbing through a holographic doom, before he somersaulted out of the way of an energy blast. “Mr. Fantastic, work on finding that frequency, I’ve got your back!”

“Right, Spider-Man,” said Mr. Fantastic, as Spider-Man moved around quickly, trying to draw the fire of the Doom holograms as he watched the other members of the Four do the same.

“Come on, metal pants, you’re supposed to be so bad, yet you can’t bother to hit one little spider!” taunted Spider-Man, as he shot his webbing but they passed through the holographic Dooms.

“You will pay for your mockery of Doom!” shouted Doom but the problem was the voice echoed from a dozen different directions, making it hard to pin down the source.

“Cash or credit?” asked Spider-Man as he dodged another energy blast from Doom who looked incensed at Spider-Man’s blatant disrespect towards him. “You don’t mind if I write you a check, do you?”

“Just another moment, Spider-Man and…I have it, this frequency should destabilize the holograms and reveal the real Doom,” said Mr. Fantastic as he pressed a button and vibrations created caused the Doom holograms to disappear particle by particle, leaving the real Doctor Doom standing in the shadows. “It’s over, Doom!”

“On the contrary, it’s only begun,” responded Doom, as he sent energy blasts, causing the heroes to scatter. “None shall escape the wrath of Doom!”

The Human Torch shot a fireball right at Doom but an energy shield from Doom blocked the attack, before he pivoted, knocking the Thing out of mid air as he attempted to dive towards him.

“Spider-Man, go after Colonel Jameson, we’ll keep Doom busy!” shouted Mr. Fantastic as he stretched around, dodging the energy blasts from Doom.

“Right,” said Spider-Man, shooting a line of webbing and swinging through the door that Doom had come from. He had a feeling he would find John Jameson not too far away, as the battle raged on between the Fantastic Four and Doom.

-

John Jameson struggled, he had been tortured by Doom for longer than he cared to remember and he tried to free himself, aware that he might be fighting a losing battle. Still he had to try, because the alternative was not too pretty.

“Don’t move, Colonel Jameson,” said a voice and he looked up, eyes widened he surprise when he looked up to see Spider-Man drop down an action that startled the Colonel to say the least.

“Who are you?” asked John groggily.

“Someone who’s here to rescue you, hang tight, I’ll have you out of these ropes in a second,” said Spider-Man as he walked over, as he began to untie John who looked up and eyes widened in horror when he saw something behind his savior.

“Watch out!” shouted John, just as Spider-Man was warned that there was an attack. He spun around in time to dodge a bullet shot away from him. He saw a dark haired man with a goatee standing right in front of him. A loud bang and another bullet was dodged, before Spider-Man pulled the gun from his enemy’s hand.

“We meet again, Spider-Man, but I can assure you it’s for the last time,” said the Chameleon as he leapt up. Spider-Man avoided what was surely a deadly martial arts strike, before he blocked a punch. Another punch was blocked at Spider-Man caught the hand, before he twisted it, dropping the Chameleon to his knees. A twist of the arm and the Chameleon was hoisted up, before he was tossed to the ground. Spider-Man stepped forward, as he prepared to web his enemy up, but the Chameleon dropped a pellet to the ground. A cloud of smoke engulfed the area and Spider-Man hacked and sputtered, staggering around.

“Hang tight, Colonel, I’ll be back in a flash,” said Spider-Man as he gagged, before he managed to fight his way through the smoke, seeing a glimpse of the Chameleon making his way down the corridor. Quickly, he propelled himself out the door, before he walked down the hallway. Several armed guards walked forward, but Spider-Man made quick work of them. Punches and kicks sent them flying and dropped them to the ground in no time.

Spider-Man reached the end of the hallway, before he spun around a figure. He blinked when he came face to face with Peter Parker.

“No need to get all hostile, Spider-Man, I’m just a photographer, you know from the Daily Bugle,” said the Chameleon in an exact imitation of Peter’s voice, which quite frankly gave Spider-Man the creeps.

“Yeah there is a need,” responded Spider-Man as he charged forward for the attack but the Chameleon dodged a punch. He attempted to stab Spider-Man with a dagger, but Spider-Man blocked it with his hands, before he ripped it from the Chameleon’s hands, before he landed against the walls and bounced back with a somersault, before he drilled his opponent with a punch that knocked the Chameleon on his back. The Chameleon got to his feet, staggering slightly. His enemy was dropped with another punch, before Spider-Man managed to web him up. The Chameleon struggled but he could not break his way out. “Caught onto your tricks after a while Chameleon.”

“How?” demanded the Chameleon.

“That’s my secret,” said Spider-Man before he punched the Chameleon hard to put him down for the count. The webbed up villain dropped to the ground with a thud.

-

The Thing hit the ground with a thud, completely trapped, as he desperately watched as Doom battled Mr. Fantastic. Invisible Woman and Human Torch had already been incapacitated.

“You’ve never been much of a fighter Richards, in fact, you’ve been weak, spineless, nothing compared to the might of Doom,” said Doom as he threw a pellet. It dropped to the ground and Mr. Fantastic was immobilized instantly, frozen, unable to stretch or even move. “You may have escaped from that particular trap during our previous meeting, but it’s been increased. You will regain your powers and the ability to move, but it is a shame that you won’t be alive to enjoy it. Now, the Fantastic Four will fold to the might of Doom.”

Spider-Man swung in with John Jameson and the Chameleon under an arm Doom prepared to deliver the finishing touches on Mr. Fantastic. Carefully putting down John and the Chameleon, he raised his arm, as the energy powered up, to deliver a lethal blow but Spider-Man took careful aim, before he webbed around Doom’s arm. With a yank, he pulled the arm up and Doom was caught off guard, his energy blast blowing a large hole through the ceiling above. He turned around, right into a kick from Spider-Man.

“No one touches Doom!” bellowed Doom as he regained his footing before he went into a battal stance.

“Right, only Doom gets to do that to himself, at night, right?” asked Spider-Man cheekily but Doom just shot two yellow beams of energy. With careful dodging, Spidey avoided the attacks and they hit the walls where he once was. The impacted burned through the wall like acid but Doom was relentless, not once giving Spider-Man any room to breath.

“Okay, mocking Doom, not really one of my better ideas,” thought Spider-Man, as he shifted his positioning, before he blasted a line of webbing right towards Doom but the madman incinerated it with one blast. “Okay, not good, he’s mad. And not only he’s mad, but he’s mad at me.”

Mr. Fantastic watched as Spider-Man did an admirable job in managing to keep a half of a step away from Doom but it was just barely a half of a step and Doom was gaining on him quickly. He felt feeling coming back into his body.

“Up, Spider-Man might be holding his own for now, but he can’t hold up forever,” said Mr. Fantastic as his team mates struggled to their feet.

A red blast of energy was just barely avoided when Spider-Man somersaulted to the side. He could land on his feet just soon enough to have to leap out of the way from another yellow blast of energy, that looked a bit fainter than the one’s Doom threw at him previously.

“That knock out blow that he threw at Reed earlier, it looked like it might have drained his power, if I can keep drawing his fire, I might be able to slow him down enough,” said Spider-Man before he desperately dodged another attack, one that just barely missed his ear. “I hope.”

“What’s the matter Doom, running low on power?” taunted Spider-Man.

“You fool, Doom never is out of power!” shouted Doom as Spider-Man was knocked on the ground. He slid out of the way of an attack, but Doom had his enemy cornered, like prey. He walked over and hammered Spider-Man in the ribs with a kick, before he raised his hands, sparks flying from them.

An energy blast went right towards Spider-Man but an invisible shield appeared right around the web slinger at the last second. Doom dodged the attack, having all too much experience of having his attacks repelled back at him by such means, but the Thing sprung up. Doom dodged out of the way and watched as the Human Torch blasted forward, sending fireballs right at Doom who blocked them with a shield effortlessly, before blasting an energy blast. The Fantastic Four scattered as Doom continued to attack but Spider-Man bounced up and kicked Doom. Doom opened his mouth.

“Yeah, I know, no one touches Doom!” shouted the Human Torch in a mock scary voice, before he sent bolts of fire right at Doom. The megalomaniac was knocked off of his feet and the Thing picked up a destroyed Doom bot, before he swung it at Doom. Doom continued to fight, but Reed stretched behind, to grab Doom and pulled him against a wooden beam. Doom struggled but Mr. Fantastic held on tightly, so that Doom strained the capabilities of his metal suit in an attempt to get free.

“Now, Spider-Man!” shouted Mr. Fantastic as Doom was trapped and Spider-Man shot several strands of webbing, to wrap Doom up against the wooden beam, with Mr. Fantastic pulling himself out of the way at the last second. Doom struggled.

“Bah, you can’t do this to Doom!” thundered Doom as he struggled against his bindings.

“Actually, I think he just did metal pants,” said the Human Torch. “Not too bad, web head, not too bad at all.”

“I will get out of this, your puny little toys are no match for the might of Victor Von Doom!” bellowed Doom dramatically as he tried to pull himself out. He would not forget this, Spider-Man would pay for his insolence.

“Should him long enough to bring him into custody,” said Spider-Man.

“Actually, kid, that’s not going to happen,” said the Thing.

“What?” asked Spider-Man.

“Doom’s got diplomatic immunity, it would take something major to bring him in,” said Mr. Fantastic.

“You mean kidnapping an American hero and subjecting him to torture is not something big!” shouted Spider-Man in a mortified voice, as he looked down at John who looked rather worse for wear and the still unconscious Chameleon.

“I’m with the web head, something has to be done to put Doom behind bars and he’s gone too far this time,” argued the Human Torch.

“Johnny, as much as Doom deserves to be put away, we can’t, technically we’re not going to be here, if it wasn’t for Commander Fury pulling some strings, we would be in as much, if not more trouble than Doom,” said the Invisible Woman patiently.

“Plus look at the bright side, Matchstick, Doom might be free, but his accomplice is going to get put away for a very long time,” said the Thing gesturing towards the Chameleon and then he turned to Spider-Man. “I guess I was a bit unfair to you, web head, you’re actually not half bad in there. A little green and a little impulsive, but at least you’re not as reckless and immature as Johnny here is.”

“I don’t think anyone can be as reckless and immature as my little brother,” said the Invisible Woman with a smile.

“Hey!” shouted the Human Torch.

“I think I speak for the rest of the team when I say it was a unique experience working with you Spider-Man and a pleasure,” said Mr. Fantastic as he shook Spider-Man’s hand.

“Same here,” said Spider-Man.

“Now, we need to get Colonel Jameson back safely and get the Chameleon into custody,” said Mr. Fantastic.

“I’ll take that,” said Nick Fury as he walked forward.

“How long have you been here?” demanded the Human Torch as he stared down Fury but Fury responded, his eye focused and not blinking at all.

“Long enough,” said Fury shortly as he motioned for his SHIELD operatives to move forward, to capture the Chameleon. “Jameson needs medical attention, let’s see if we can worry about the physical wounds first. Someone else can deal with the mental one’s Doom has inflicted on them. “

Fury watched as his men carried out his orders.

“Make sure you secure the Chameleon, even when he’s unconscious, I’m not taking any chances!” barked Fury as he turned to Spider-Man. “Come on, kid, I’ll give you a ride home on my way back to headquarters.”

-

J. Jonah Jameson was enraged beyond words and that was saying something. He just received the news that his son had been recovered and was in rather critical condition but he would pull through physically. Mentally, that was another matter entirely and once he heard the infamous Doctor Doom was involved, Jameson felt sickened to his stomach. He had heard stories of what that man was capable of but he doubted any did Doom justice.

When he had learned of Spider-Man’s involvement in the scuffle that lead to his son being kidnapped, Jameson began to put two and two together, as only he could.

“It just proves it, Spider-Man is a menace, he could have saved my boy, but he had to show off,” thought Jameson. “The second time someone in a mask has caused me grief. Well, not again, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure Spider-Man is brought to justice and the world sees him for what he truly is.”

-

Spider-Man, now as Peter Parker, sat in a secured area of the SHIELD transport vehicle with Nick Fury. Needless to say, Fury was not one for small talk, so the ride home was made in complete and utter silence.

“Before, I forget, I believe this is yours, Parker,” said Fury gruffly, as he reached forward to hand Peter his cell phone back. “You’re popular tonight kid but I figured I’d take this off your hands. You wouldn’t want any distractions, especially against Doom.”

“You mean like calling my aunt to tell her that I might be running a little late,” said Peter putting his head in his hands. He was so in trouble right about now.

“I’d write you a note, kid, but it’s out of my hands,” said Fury. “That whole secret identity thing can be a real bitch, but that’s your choice. Good luck in trying to explain where you were until almost one in the morning…”

“One in the morning?” gasped Peter in a horrified voice.

“Park’s about as far as I go, kid, you can walk the rest of the way,” said Fury gruffly as the vehicle touched down and Peter exited the SHIELD transport, legs like quicksand, wondering how he was going to explain this to Aunt May without revealing his secret identity.

“I’m so screwed,” thought Peter as he walked hope, like he was walking to death row as he continued to walk towards the door. “Maybe Aunt May’s asleep, I can fake being in earlier.”

Using his key, he opened the door and came face to face with Aunt May, in a bathrobe and slippers, with arms folded and she did not look too happy.

“Or not,” thought Peter.

“Peter Benjamin Parker, where have you been young man?” demanded May angrily. “Do you have any idea how late it is?”

“I think I’d rather go a couple more rounds with Doom,” thought Peter, as he braced himself for a lecture, resigned to the fact that he would not have much of a social life for the foreseeable future.

-

Fury sat, the SHIELD transport vehicle arriving the temporary holding cell for interrogation. An agent walked over.

“Prisoner is still secured, Commander,” said the SHIELD agent. “Permission to prepare holding cell?”

“Yes,” said Fury gruffly, as he watched the SHIELD agent exit the transport before he stepped forward and pressed a button to open the door to the cell. “So thought you could pull the wool over my eyes Smerdyakov. Now, we’re see what dirty operations you have your hands…”

He trailed off when he saw the secured form of the same agent he had just sent to secure the cell, tied up, eyes glazed over. Fury’s knuckles clenched together when he realized what had just transpired.

“Scan the area!” shouted Fury to the other SHIELD operatives before he walked over to activate the radio on the vehicle. “Listen up, this is Fury, no one is to leave or enter, we have a prisoner who has escaped custody. Be on alert, he is extremely dangerous. Lethal force is authorized.”

-

“Grounded, for the next two weeks, I can’t be out past seven and that’s only if I’m working for Jameson,” thought Peter.

“And where were you last night, Peter?” asked Gwen as she walked up looking relieved that nothing happened to Peter, but at the same time annoyed that he did not answer his phone. “I called you almost every hour until about midnight and you didn’t answer.”

“Sorry about that Gwen,” said Peter. “I got a bit tied up in work.”

Gwen narrowed her eyes.

“Look Gwen, I already got in trouble about it with Aunt May,” said Peter. “Don’t think I’ve been punished enough?”

“Sorry Peter, as your girlfriend, it’s my duty to give you a hard time about these things,” said Gwen. “It’s in the manual.”

“There’s a manual?” asked Peter in an astonished tone of voice but Gwen just laughed.

“No, not really, unfortunately for you I guess,” said Gwen. “I’m sure there’s a story behind what happened last night.”

“There is, but you won’t like it,” said Peter seriously.

“All the more reason for you to tell me what happened later,” said Gwen as Harry walked up.

“Hey, Pete, Gwen,” said Harry in a slightly cheerful voice. “See Gwen, Pete’s here, in one piece, nothing sinister happened. I swear, you worry too much.”

“If you only know the reason I’m worried,” thought Gwen.

“You seem in a rather cheerful mood today,” said Peter.

“No more tutors,” said Harry.

“So your father was pleased with your grades,” said Gwen.

“No, not really, he said I was hopeless and he could be better spending his money elsewhere,” said Harry.

“That couldn’t have been costing all that much,” said Peter. “I mean your dad seems like the type who could lose a couple hundred million dollars and not even break a sweat.”

“Pete, don’t try and figure my father out, you’re life will be much less stressful,” said Harry. “But as long as I keep my grades at an acceptable level, I doubt dad will care much about anything. He’s losing interest in it, although he’s still asking questions about you, Pete.”

“Lovely,” said Gwen coolly.

“Yeah, Harry, you get your social life back about the same time I lose mine,” said Peter and Harry raised an eyebrow at this. “Aunt May grounded me, because I was out until one in the morning.”

“One in the morning, that’s coming in a bit late even for you,” said Harry. “Let me guess, Spidey had to pull a late night and you just had to get pictures, right?”

“Something like that,” said Peter as he turned. “And I didn’t come up with anything that I could give Jameson either.”

“Man, grounded and no money, that has to suck,” said Harry.

“Indeed,” said Peter.

-

“I have the blueprints you have requested,” said the Chameleon as he slid them forward into the arms of his employer.

“Excellent work, my boss will be pleased,” said a grey haired man wearing glasses before he slid a briefcase towards the Chameleon. “We will be in touch if we need your services again.”

The Chameleon nodded and walked off with his payment as the grey haired man pulled out a phone and dialed a number.

“Quentin, it’s me, Phineas,” said the grey haired man. “The job went off without a hitch. The blueprints detailing the layout for every major tech company in the city is here. Oscorp, Tricorp, Stark Enterprises, all here and more.”

“Excellent Phineas, now I can put my plan into motion,” said the voice of Quentin Beck calmly before he added in a more boisterous and over the top tone of voice. “The world may have brushed aside Quentin Beck, calling his methods outdated and uninspired but they were nothing but fools. The world will soon marvel at the magnificent mysticism of Mysterio!”


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