Doctor Doom's True Face

Outskirts of the city

A towering black castle stood at the edge of a cliff, its spires piercing the clouds. Dark green magic flickered across its stone walls, and the entire structure radiated an ominous, oppressive presence.

On the castle's highest terrace, Doctor Doom stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes beneath the metal mask as cold as ever.

Beside him, Franklin Richards sat on the stone railing, swinging his little legs. He held a chocolate ice cream cone in his hands, his face smeared with it as he ate.

"Uncle Victor, did you build this castle?" Franklin looked up and asked innocently.

Doctor Doom glanced down at him, a gentle smile touching his lips beneath the mask. "Yes, Franklin."

"That's amazing!" Franklin's eyes sparkled.

"It's way cooler than Dad's lab!"

Doctor Doom did not answer. He merely turned his gaze toward the distant horizon.

An ancient parchment scroll lay spread out on the stone platform between them, covered in obscure magical incantations.

Franklin's left hand rested casually on one end, while Doctor Doom's right hand covered the other.

The scroll emitted a faint green glow. An invisible energy slowly flowed from Franklin, through his fingertips and into the scroll, then, guided by the incantations, eventually entered Doctor Doom's body.

This was an energy transfer.

As Doctor Doom felt the Chaos Energy within him gradually filling up, his thoughts drifted back to yesterday.

Just yesterday

The Avengers had assembled once again, trying to take Franklin back.

They had given it everything they had, even using all of New York as their battlefield.

But Franklin had merely waved his hand.

Reality had twisted.

Iron Man's armor turned into a toy model, and Captain America's shield softened into rubber.

Thor's lightning became falling streamers, while Strange's magic turned into