DC Under Doom Chapter 9: Light Bends to Doom.

Chapter 9: Light Bends to Doom.

-0-

Vandal Savage, still seated in Doom’s throne, grinned as he raised his arms. The air in the throne room darkened, pulsing with unstable energy.

A swirling red portal ripped open before them, and from its depths stepped Klarion the Witch Boy, his feline familiar Teekl perched on his shoulder.

Klarion stretched dramatically, his wild black hair shifting unnaturally. His slitted eyes gleamed with mischief as he surveyed the throne room.

“Well, well, well! What do we have here? The great Doom, standing all high and mighty. Let’s change that, shall we?”

He cracked his knuckles, his aura distorting reality itself. Pure chaos energy flooded the chamber.

Doom stood still, his arms folded behind his back.

He tilted his head slightly. "You will get one shot boy. Use it wisely."

Klarion blinked, then grinned.

"Oh, you poor, arrogant fool. You think Chaos plays by rules?"

With a snap of his fingers, the entire room twisted.

Reality folded inward, the walls of Castle Doom bending like melted wax as a surge of unrestrained chaos magic erupted toward Doom.

It was an attack capable of rewriting existence itself, meant to erase the target from time, space and existence.

And it hit Doom directly.

Silence followed.

Then—a quiet hum.

Doom remained standing, completely unmoved.

The energy had not harmed him.

Instead, the runes on Imperium pulsed softly as it absorbed the attack, converting it into stored energy.

Doom sighed.

"Disappointing."

Klarion’s smile faltered. "Wha—?"

Doom slowly raised his gauntlet, inspecting the energy readings displayed on his HUD.

"This barely filled one percent of Imperium’s vibranium battery store."

He sounded genuinely unimpressed.

Klarion’s eye twitched. "No no no, that’s not how this works!"

"Doom relents. You get a second attempt. Do better this time." Von Doom declared.

"You'll regret that soon!"

An angry Klarion slapped his palms together— creating another surge of raw spinning chaos energy above his head, even stronger than before.

"Taaaakee thiiiss!!!" The Witch boy unleashed the spinning crimson beam straight at Von Doom.

The result was the same.

Doom let the energy wash over him, his armor humming as it effortlessly absorbed and stored it.

2.6 percent charge- his HUD displayed.

He shook his head. "If this is the power of a Lord of Chaos, then I have severely overestimated your kind."

Klarion’s eyes darted around in panic.

"Teekl, we’re leaving."

A new red portal opened. Klarion immediately jumped into it—only to walk out of the same portal, back into the throne room.

He froze.

Teekl hissed, back hairs standing in fear.

Klarion snapped his fingers, creating another portal.

He jumped in.

And landed back in the same spot.

He tried again.

And again.

No matter how many portals he created—he and Teekl remained trapped.

Doom finally stepped forward. "You fail to understand something, Witch Boy."

Klarion spun toward him, his confidence replaced with desperation.

Doom raised a single gauntleted hand, and a ripple spread through the air. The nano machines flowing off his cape and restraining the Witchboy.

"All space around Doom becomes Doom’s space."

The entire throne room shuddered, the walls momentarily distorting to reveal a lattice of control— intricate webs of magic across the air, with Doom at the center of the web.

Klarion had been cut off from his chaos magic. He had no power here. In fact none of them did. Once more Diana was left in awe of the King's power. Her decision to join him seemed more and more like the right choice.

Doom’s mask turned toward the Light.

"You could have enjoyed a few more weeks of freedom before the revolution reached you." His presence loomed over them. "But because you could not wait, because you were impatient—"

His voice darkened.

"You will be the first to be changed into productive members of society."

The members of the Light stiffened. Or tried to.

Savage’s confidence cracked.

Luthor’s mind raced.

Queen Bee's heart raced.

OceanMaster wished he was back home, far from the Surface. At least in the water, he could piss in fear and it wouldn't show.

And Klarion?

For the first time in his immortal existence, he was truly afraid.

-0-

(5 days later)

The world watched in disbelief.

The Light, once considered the most dangerous and calculating group of supervillains, had seemingly turned over a new leaf.

And no one knew why.

Across the globe, these former tyrants, warlords, and masterminds had become forces of charity and progress.

Lex Luthor, once a corporate overlord, Superman's arch enemy and master manipulator barely a week ago, now poured billions into clean energy projects across Africa and Southeast Asia.

His companies were developing free technology to elevate the underprivileged. When pressed, he simply smiled and said:

"Doom opened my eyes. His rehabilitation program helped me see the errors of my ways."

Vandal Savage, the immortal warlord who had in the past and once more sought to dominate the world, was now working in refugee camps, using his vast resources to rebuild war-torn nations.

When reporters asked if this was a trick, he laughed mirthlessly.

"Fifty thousand years, and only now do I understand the weight of my sins. Doom helped me see."

Ra’s al Ghul, the Demon’s Head, had disbanded the League of Assassins.

Instead of waging eco-terrorism, he was personally overseeing global reforestation projects. When asked what changed, he simply said:

"Doom’s method of rehabilitation is… thorough."

Queen Bee, once the ruler of Bialya through manipulation, now fought against human trafficking, using her influence to dismantle the very networks she once profited from.

"Doom showed me what I was," she told the press. "I could not bear it."

Even Klarion the Witch Boy, a Lord of Chaos, was seen teaching magic to orphaned children, using his abilities to help rather than harm.

"I don’t wanna talk about it," Klarion muttered when asked. "Just… Doom’s program works, alright?"

The world celebrated.

The Justice League did not.

Seated around the Watchtower’s conference table, Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman reviewed the footage.

Superman’s jaw tightened. “This isn’t right. People like Savage and Luthor don’t just ‘see the light.’”

Green Lantern folded his arms. “It’s like they’ve been brainwashed.”

Flash frowned. “Yeah, but look at what they’re doing. I mean… is it even bad if it’s working?”

Aquaman exhaled. “We need answers.”

Batman stood. “I’ll get them.”

Two days later, Batman stood in Castle Doomstadt.

Across from him, seated upon his grand throne, was Doctor Doom.

Diana stood nearby, watching the interaction carefully.

Batman wasted no time. "What did you do to them?"

Doom gestured toward Diana. "She doubts me as well. Use the Lasso of Truth my dear."

Diana hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward, looping the golden rope around Doom’s armored arm.

"Did you brainwash them?" Batman pressed.

Doom’s response was immediate.

"No."

The Lasso did not react. He was telling the truth.

Doom leaned forward slightly. "They are exactly as they say. My rehabilitation program simply helped them see their wrongdoings."

Batman’s eyes narrowed. "How?"

Doom’s voice was calm, calculated.

"By making them feel what their victims felt."

Batman frowned. "Explain."

Doom folded his hands. "There exists a warrior from my former world. An Avenger of Hell, known as the Ghost Rider. He possessed a power called the Penance Stare. When used, it forced his victims to feel the suffering of those they had wronged."

Batman stiffened.

Doom continued. "I have studied that ability and developed a spell inspired by it. One that does not simply show guilt, but forces them to experience—fully, endlessly—the agony they have caused."

He tilted his head slightly. "Do you know what happens when a man like Lex Luthor is made to feel every child’s cry for help that his factory's waste poisoned? When Vandal Savage is made to relive the pain of every civilization he has destroyed? When Klarion is made to suffer, as every soul he tormented suffered?"

Batman remained silent.

Doom leaned back.

"The only way to endure that guilt is to redeem themselves. Or be consumed by it."

Diana’s breath hitched slightly. She had thought she understood Doom’s methods. But this?

This was something else.

Batman’s fists clenched. "And if they refuse?"

Doom’s eyes burned behind his mask.

"Then they break."

Silence filled the chamber.

Then Doom spoke once more.

"The Light is no more, Batman. They are now servants of progress. And the world is better for it."

The Lasso of Truth remained still.

Doom was not lying.

And that, more than anything else, disturbed Batman the most.