Doomed

Chapter Eleven

"I don't think you'll find capturing me so easy, Doom!" Cap said, hurling the shield at Doom's face. The vibranium made a satisfying sound as it bounced off the metal mask, and Doom reeled from the force of the impact. Instinctively, Steve ran to where the shield would be coming down after flying up and away from Doom. However, the Doom statues that lined the columns began to activate, their eyes glowing and crackling with sinister green energy.

Beams started firing from the statues, and Cap dodged what he could, blocked what he couldn't, and reflected several blasts into other statues, destroying the heads. Doom roared, rising from the floor, and started firing energy from his gauntlets. "Captain," he said, "This resistance is futile."

"You're kidding, right?" Cap said, blocking another blast. "Even I know you shouldn't have said that." He kept looking for an opening, somewhere that he could go on the offensive, but there were too many things shooting at him. It was all he could do to keep the shield moving; the few times he'd managed to reflect a shot into another statue felt more like luck than an actual plan.

Ducking behind the columns, Cap tried to give himself some breathing room. He was starting to understand why Bucky always carried a gun. The statues couldn't reach him there, but Doom appeared around the corner, one hand raised to fire another blast from his gauntlet, the other glowing with blue sigils. Cap knew from experience with Doctor Strange that the sigils meant some magic was in the works. Most likely, Doom expected him to deflect the energy beam with his shield, but the force would push him back into a binding spell. So, just as Doom fired, Cap jumped to the side and flung the shield again, striking Doom's wrist and shattering the tech beneath.

Reflexively, Doom pulled his arm back, leaving Cap with another opening. Rushing forward, Steve grabbed the shield out of midair and smashed it across Doom's face, feeling the vibranium reverb in his hands. Doom fell to his back, and Cap landed atop him, the shield raised to bash the villain in the face again; instead, Steve was thrown to the side and into the wall, creating a crater in the stone. They'd fallen within range of a statue, which had blasted Steve off of its master. He could already feel the skin on his back blistering from the heat. He tried to pull himself free of the wall, but Doom was up before he could.

"Doom does not jest, Captain," Doom said, grabbing Steve by the shirt and slamming him back into the wall, knocking free more of the stone. "As I told you, I was prepared for the Avengers." Doom pulled Steve out of the wall only to backhand him across the face. Steve felt the left side of his jaw give way. "It was truly a futile effort."

A holographic interface, much like the one in Tony's armor, appeared over Doom's still-functional gauntlet. "Ready," Doom said, and Steve turned his head to see dozens of laser cannons appear in the walls. At another phrase, this one Steve didn't understand, several glowing blue glyphs appeared in the walls and floor.

Doom threw Steve to the ground, cracking the floor. Steve cried out in pain, but couldn't really hear the sound. He knew blood must be in his ears. Before he could move, an armored foot stomped on his chest, and Steve felt several of his ribs snap beneath the pressure. He would've shouted again, but he didn't have the air.

"Though it was a valiant effort," Doom said, checking the damage to his right wrist.

To his great surprise, Steve started giggling.

Kneeling down, Doom gripped Cap around the throat and lifted him. The shield fell to the ground with a clang. "I fear I've given you a severe concussion, Captain," he said, turning his wrist to shift Steve's head from side to side.

The laughing stopped, and Steve opened his eyes. They were bright, his eyebrows knitted together, the rage there enough to catch Doom's breath. "Spider-Man is still out there," Steve winced out through his shattered jaw.