"The rebels have taken it, your excellency," the guard muttered as he knelt before his master in the throne room. Fear seized him, for this mishap was his and his team's responsibility entirely.
Doom leaned forward on his throne and his emotionless eyes peered at the kneeling officer. Silence gripped the room and there was only the sound of burning torches along the walls.
"I know that I failed, your excellency. But the man was so fast. He caught me and my men unaware..."
"Tell me who this man is," Doom softly commanded. There was no weight to his voice. He didn't need to bark; his words alone were enough to strike fear in the hearts of his people.
"I don't know the name," the man fumbled. "Only that he wore a dark red suit. With devil horns."
Doom leaned back and smiled beneath the mask. "The Daredevil. Bold of him to infiltrate Castle Doom. He truly is the Man Without Fear."
"Sire, I..."
"Your time on this planet is done," Doom said, waving dismissive a hand.
Before true panic could snare him, a pair of hands reached out behind him, captured his head in them and twisted. The man let out a startled gasp that yielded to the cracking of his neck and he fell to the stone floor in a lifeless heap.
"Go summon your sister and wait for your instructions," Doom ordered the figure before standing and walking through the door just beyond his throne. He descended the steps and entered a large laboratory.
"Your excellency," a technician said as she bowed before him. "How may I be of assistance to you?"
Doom kept walking, barely acknowledging the woman. "I need them woken up. I have a mission that requires their skills."
"Of course," the technician sputtered before turning to her team. "Bring them out of stasis!"
Doom watched as the tubes rose up from panels in the floor and were then drained of fluid. The figures inside awakened and stared at him through the thick glass.
He cleared his throat and addressed them. "Longing...rusted...furnace...daybreak...seventeen...benign...nine, homecoming...one...freight car."
The tubes opened when he waved a hand and the the figures stepped forward. In unison they said "ready to comply."
Matt Murdock was running for his life. As his boots splashed in the puddles of the back alleys of Doomstadt, he almost chuckled at the notion of him running away in fear. They used to call him The Man Without Fear.
That was a long time ago, he reflected as he reached a dead end and quickly leaped up to the wall and kicked off in a display of immense athleticism. He reached an arm up, the baton gripped tight in his hand. He pressed the button on its smooth surface and the upper portion of the weapon shot upward and wrapped around a small statue of Victor Von Doom- the dictator who ruled all of Europe and Asia.
We don't call them that anymore though, he reminded himself. When Doom expanded Latveria's borders, he'd taken those names away. Now the vast expanse of land was known only as the Doom Empire.
The baton retracted, carrying him rapidly up the side of the building to its roof. Beneath him, the sounds of his pursuers' footfalls could be heard.
Almost there.
He tended up as he scaled the building and landed roughly on its rough, his senses on red alert. Three of them were on the ground below him; he could tell from the distinct sounds of their footsteps. And on the roof was...
"Daredevil, hurry!" Hawkeye shouted.
Daredevil breathed a sigh of relief. The archer was a skilled marksman and a good ally in these dark days. They'd saved each other's skins more than either could count. Hawkeyes wore a jet black bodysuit with a balaclava and pair of sunglasses obstructing his features. He strung an arrow in his bow and leaned over the side of the roof to let it loose. Daredevil was just rolling out of harm's way when he heard the sound of the arrow tip slamming into something sturdy and metallic. Then came the explosion. The building was rocked by the blast, which was tremendous enough to lead one to believe that the pursuers had bitten it.
"Come on," Hawkeye shouted. "That probably bought us a few extra seconds, if anything."
Daredevil took off behind him, his powerful legs propelling him away.
"Please tell me you got it!" Hawkeye muttered once they reached the edge of the rooftop. He took aim and fired a rappelling arrow into the side of the church across the street, then fastened the other end to the chimney next to him.
"Of course," Daredevil grunted before using his baton to slide off of the roof and along the line, Hawkeye using his bow to follow close behind.
"Hawkeye to team- were closing in and we've got the package," the archer reported over his comm.
Suddenly Daredevil detected a nearby presence. "Brace for impact!" He screamed as a whistling sound of something metal flying through the air came from nearby. The line was cut, sending both men hurtling to the street beneath them. Daredevil effortlessly moved into a forward roll and landed as gracefully as he could. Hawkeye didn't fare as well. He landed roughly on his leg the heartbreaking sound of the bone in his leg cracking echoed like a gunshot in Daredevil's head.
Hawkeye rolled onto his side and yanked a grenade out of his side pack. "Go, Daredevil. I'll buy you some time."
Daredevil didn't have to ask for elaboration; he knew the score. Instead, he clapped a hand on Hawkeye's shoulder and fought back tears as he said "I'll see you on the other side, buddy."
Hawkeye nodded briskly. "Tell my family I love them."
Daredevil hesitated for a fraction. Then, his mind made up, he tore the grenade from Hawkeye's hand and slapped the package into it. He lifted him up, shoving him aggressively toward the church. "No. You tell them yourself!"
"Matt, don't!" Hawkeye shouted, but it was too late. Daredevil was faster than him, especially with his injury.
"Get in the sewer- now!" Daredevil commanded as he kept running. "It's up to you, man!"
Hawkeye punched it, moving as fast as he could toward the sewer entrance. He hefted the lid up and jumped into the murky darkness below.
Daredevil ran forward, his senses on fire as he worked to detect his pursuers. Suddenly a flashbang grenade fell at his feet and exploded, drowning out his sense of hearing, crippling him completely. He yanked the pin from the grenade and threw it in the direction that the flashbang was thrown from, hoping he could at least take a few of them out.
He held his breath, waiting for the explosion. Suddenly a figure dropped down from the roof overhead, landing in a crouch in front of the grenade. Hope died in Daredevil's chest, knowing who this was. The athletically-built man was dressed in a green, black and red. The symbol of Doom's empire was on his chest. In one fluid motion, he slammed his shield on top of the grenade, dampening the blast and rendering it useless. Then he rose and looked at Daredevil with a hateful expression in his blue eyes.
"Well, if it isn't Captain Doom. I always wondered what it'd be like to fight the super soldier," Daredevil grunted as the deafening ringing in his head slowly subsided.