A/N: So I finally had my very first ever, legitimate flame! It took five months but I finally hit the big leagues! I'm popular enough now to have people be unnecessarily rude. Unfortunately, I overreacted. It was a guest review, and my first response was to remove it. I feel bad now in hindsight. Someone took the time out of their day to read this story, and then write one (admittedly humorous) sentence along the lines of me dick riding the Latverian hype train (not their exact words, but I think this is even more funny and of a similar nature to the original). And that's impressive. Because when I read a story I don't like I just sigh in disappointment and pick something else to read.

A/N 2: I went back and altered certain sections of the previous chapters in a desperate attempt to cover up an inconsistency. It was only a few sentences, so if it didn't bother you then no need to worry about it. A short summary of what I retconned is that the PTB used a loophole in Xander technically being Doom, making him an outsider in a flimsy excuse to boot him from that dimension. Xander comes to realize that he'll need to become more powerful before he even attempts to go back, otherwise there's nothing stopping them from just banishing him again.

Warning: This story will contain adult situations and language... I'm not sure if I can actually do anything else.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, any DC comics characters, and most depressingly of all I don't own DOOM! Every time I write that line break for this series I laugh unreasonably hard.

Alexander Doom

Chapter 3

Xander heaved a heavy sigh as he took one last look at the room that was comped to him by one of the richest men in the world as both a grand gesture, and a bribe for him to work for the business tycoon.

The show of opulence and wealth was something that made the old Xander slightly uncomfortable. Everything was too neat and tidy, new, and perfect. So much so that anyone would have the feeling that they shouldn't touch it so as not to mess it up.

The new Xander however, with Doom's memories, was unimpressed, both by the shallowness and obviousness of what it was. And quite frankly? Doom had seen better.

He went ahead and checked out, leaving behind his one travel bag with a week's worth of clothes and essentials in his paranoia that they might have been bugged. The dark eyed man didn't have the means to check one way or the other if there were any, and so he decided not to risk it.

Using that as an excuse to unwind, Xander spent the rest of the day leisurely shopping around and replacing his abandoned items to hold him over until his flight back.

Rounding out the day, he checked into a smaller hotel that Ultron informed him wasn't owned by Lex Luthor, then ordered pizza before calling it a night.

The next morning, Xander slept in late. Partly because he already had a wonky sleep schedule from staying up and working on one project or another on a whim. And Partly because he considered himself on a pseudo vacation and was entitled to sleeping in as much as he wanted. Sadly his only other reason for coming to Metropolis, besides getting Luthor off his back, was the medical science convention. And he just couldn't justify missing it to himself.

He wasn't actually on the books to do any speaking, but he was sure they would let him have some floor time, insist on it even, once they knew he was there. And honestly, he had nothing better to do to occupy his time. The curse of his intelligence was making itself known in the weirdest of ways lately, as seeing what 'cutting edge' was and coming up with something better, even if only as a mental exercise, was becoming a more fun pastime then going to a club with friends.

His lack of friends in this world was a painful reminder though. And that wasn't something that could be remedied easily. Considering his situation Xander couldn't exactly have normal friends, hell, he hadn't gotten along with 'normal' people years before he became a gestalt with a fictional genius.

In the end it was something he had no control over at the moment, so he put it out of his mind for future consideration. Besides, Ultron would probably get jealous when other people started taking up his time.

Xander donned some clothes he bought yesterday, jeans and a t-shirt that said 'I'm a scientist, to save time let's just assume I'm never wrong', then set off to hail a taxi.

Congested traffic slowed them down somewhat turning what should have been a five minute drive into fifteen, but in the end, Xander arrived at the convention center without any fanfare.

Entering the building, he snagged a brochure detailing the highlights of what was being showcased, as well as the time slots for demonstrations.

Perusing the list to see if there was anything that might peak his interest; Xander rounded the corner of the hallway, when someone much smaller than him collided with him, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground. Oddly enough, the other person didn't so much as budge.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" The voice of a girl apologized before grabbing Xander's hand and hauling him to his feet with surprisingly effortless ease.

Xander brushed himself off and threw her his best charming grin. "Well I don't think anything's broken so no harm, no foul." He said while taking in her appearance. He couldn't believe such a tiny girl packed such a punch. She reminded him of Buffy because of that, and her appearance. Petite figure, blonde hair, expressive blue eyes that were currently downcast in embarrassment.

She perked right up though when Xander didn't make a big deal out of it. "Still though, I should have been paying more attention. My names Kara Kent. Who are you?" She introduced herself.

'Of course she is.' He thought. What were the odds that he'd just happen to bump into one of the strongest girls on the planet? Although, to be fair, the chances are pretty good considering the city they are currently in. Exponentially better than if he'd just stayed in California, or moved to a different state to avoid a house call from a billionaire who seemed unusually insistent on employing his talents for no doubt nefarious purposes.

"I'm Alexander Doom. It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Kent."

This caused the beautiful blonde alien to giggle and tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. "Just Kara is fine. And is your last name seriously 'Doom'?" She asked with a very heavy emphasis leaving no question as to her skepticism.

"I know, it's awesome isn't it?"

"Yeah I guess. So what are you doing here Alex?" She asked as she clasped her hands behind her back while swaying side to side, unconsciously trying to draw attention to her still developing chest.

Xander tapped his chest, specifically the word 'scientist' that was printed on it while answering, "I know I may not look it, but cutting edge technology really interests me... Or at least what passes for it here." He mutters the last part under his breath, but Kara probably wouldn't have needed super hearing to know what he said. This drew her curiosity, and her interest in the dark haired stranger intensified.

'Maybe Earth isn't so bad.' She thought to herself as she drank in Alexander's appearance and liked what she saw.

"What's a girl like you doing in a place like this anyway?" Xander asked while giving her a very obvious once over.

This remark caused Kara to cross her arms over her chest and give a cocky smirk. "What? You don't think a girl like me is interested in this stuff?"

A raised eyebrow was Xander's nonverbal response.

Kara snorted when she couldn't keep up her stern demeanor any longer, losing the battle of wills. "Well you're kinda right. I'm in the city visiting my cousin who's a reporter, and he dragged me along here because he's supposed to write an article on this event. But he got called away on some emergency and left me here with the girl he has a crush on that he works with." She finished in a huff.

'And besides, I'd be way more interested in entertainment technology. This planet has nothing to do here!' She mentally cried in frustration. 'Well maybe not nothing.' Looking into the dark eyes of the man she bumped into and licked her lips. 'Definitely not nothing.'

"Ouch, that sucks." He said in sympathy. "But hey! Now I'm here, we can have way more fun."

'And while you're at it, see if you can get a sample of her DNA. These Kryptonian's physiology are of interest to Doom.' Doom's voice interjected with his own subtle brand of tact.

Xander was grateful he hadn't been drinking anything at that particular instance.

'And how exactly should I go about doing that?' He thought, not entirely sarcastic as he was interested as well.

'You know all their secret identities. It should be trivial to break into any of their residences to get samples. I'm sure that despite their unbreakable nature, they probably shed hair, and if not that, they likely leave saliva on utensils and cups. It might be degrading, but it would be worth going through their trash if that's what it takes.' Xander's internal companion elaborated.

'Well alright, if I see an opportunity. But according to the comics, Kryptonian DNA is notoriously complex making it a convenient excuse for why there aren't tons of clones, or new Kryptonians running around.' He agreed.

'We are Doom. Our intelligence is vastly superior to anything else in this world. I'm sure such an endeavor will be trivial.' Victor countered dismissively.

"Oh? How are you going to liven things up?" The blonde asked, breaking Xander out of his internal conversation.

"Misery loves company?" Xander playfully shrugged. "Besides, I can use you as a shield to stop people from trying to drag me into inane conversations and debates about the possible uses of gamma radiation in cancer treatments. Spoiler alert, there aren't any positive ones."

"I've heard about that. Some new theories or something, my cousin wrote a piece on it I think. Are you some kind of expert?"

"Something like that." He smirked, happy that she didn't know what he had become semi famous for, and thereby didn't care about it.

She let out a cute giggle as she carefully moderated her strength so the 'playful' slap on his shoulder didn't knock him over. "No way, you're way too young."

"Maybe. Come on let's go look around Kara. I'd much rather do so with a cute girl by my side." Xander offered his hand.

Kara blushed beat red as she murmured her agreement and took his hand and walked around with him, remaining unusually quiet and shy. She was pleased as peach however that such a handsome guy was interested in her. Though she was berating herself for stuttering and her mind blanking when it came to making small talk.

The black and blonde haired duo wondered around, and Kara was pleasantly surprised at her escorts insight into the various displays they passed; effortlessly talking about possible applications and improvements that could be made, to say nothing of improving the quality of life for everyone.

She couldn't help fantasizing about Xander having more in common with her, that perhaps he too wasn't from this primitive world and instead came from an advanced society like her. The two of them being stranded and meeting on this planet; destined star crossed lovers. Kara shook her head trying to disperse her renewed blush at the romantic thoughts that persisted. That line of thought as nothing but wishful thinking, the chances that he wasn't native to this world, and she just hawppened to bump into him where infinitesimal. But that didn't seem to slow down her wild imagination from running rampant.

Kara introduced Xander to Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. The latter of which had a camcorder and digital camera to cover the showcases while Lois was reporting the entire event all on her own because her coworker, Clark Kent, had to step out. Xander figured there must be some emergency somewhere that required the attention of Superman.

When Xander's full name was introduced however, Lois recognized him and quite aggressively tried to get him to agree to an interview. Something he'd been reluctant to do as of yet, instead preferring to talk in open forum discussions to crowds.

The blonde quickly grew frustrated with the reporter that her cousin was sweet on taking up her time with Alexander, and finally stepped in to protect her new friend. Unfortunately, this made her a valid target as Lois's smile promised relentless teasing in the future when she picked up on Kara's obvious crush.

They were all about to part ways when a deafening explosion rocked the building, knocking people down both from the force, but many just from the sudden shock. Even Xander was saved from an embarrassing tumble on his ass by Kara who was quick to hold on to him.

When the dust and debris cleared it revealed a tall, gunmetal grey colored person in a suit of power armor just getting up from the ground.

'No.' Xander thought, 'Not armor. That's Metallo!' He realized when he saw the robot's chest cavity open up to reveal the neon glow of a kryptonite heart.

Metallo chuckled as he stood to his full, massive height, towering over everyone. "I'm impressed. Here I thought only Superman had the strength to toss me through a few walls. But I don't recognize you. Who are you?" He asked.

A statuesque woman who had bright blue eyes, blonde hair styled in a bob cut framing her face, dressed in what many of the older generation would consider a positively scandalous outfit that looked like a white form fitting swimsuit with a large cut that revealed an impressive amount of cleavage from her more than blessed assets. A red cape affixed to her left shoulder, and blue colored belt, gloves and boots finished off the ensemble of the woman who was currently hovering over the ground.

"I'm Power Girl, Superman's cousin." She answered with a cocksure smirk before flying at speeds greater than the eye can follow to attack her adversary.

The smug look was wiped from her face as her high speed blow merely turned his head instead of sending him rocketing away like she thought. Her body felt suddenly weakened and she broke out into a sudden sweat of exertion.

"Ah, you're related to the blue boy scout? That's great!" He chuckled, grabbing her still outstretched arm with one hand and landing a crushing haymaker to her face with the other, sending Power Girl into the tile floor with enough force to cause it to crack.

"You see, my heart just so happens to be made out of kryptonite. It's ironically poisonous to Kryptonians such as yourself. A good thing for me when you people seem to keep popping out of the woodwork."

Metallo leaned down until his face was closer to the blonde superheroine. "I'm gonna enjoy breaking you. And then I'm gonna enjoy killing your cousin later."

Power Girl gave a roar of anger, and in her surge of heightened emotions, she found the strength to actually send him flying with a powerful punch, collapsing to a knee as she struggled to catch her breath immediately afterwards.

Karen Starr, the secret identity of Power Girl was angry at the way Metallo had so casually threatened her new family. She arrived in this alternate dimension after fleeing her own, and was welcomed with open arms by this worlds iteration of Superman and his cousin Kara Kent. They were heroes here, and good people who helped her get set up when they didn't have too. Weakness to kryptonite or not, she wasn't about to let him get away with it. Hopefully she could endure long enough to put a stop to this menace.

Once the situation broke through the collective minds of everyone in the area, panic set in. People began screaming and running away or hiding behind cover hoping to not be casualties in the coming battle.

And then there was Lois Lane, and her ever trusty sidekick err... camera man, Jimmy Olsen. Veterans of danger, this entire situation where most everyone else was desperate to get away, was just another Tuesday for them. The red head cameraman had already stepped back to get Lois in the shot as she began reporting on the fight without missing a step or even the slightest sign of hesitation.

While it was routine for them, Kara was busy trying to drag Xander to safety. She'd love to help out her extradimensional counterpart, but she was loath to make excuses to get away and change into her superhero attire while Xander was still in the danger zone. But he just wouldn't leave for some reason! She didn't want to draw suspicion from him by forcefully dragging him away effortlessly.

"Come on Alex please we need to get out of here!" She practically begged.

"No way, fuck that guy, he ruined our date." He said in an indignant tone, as though two super powered beings having a death match in the vicinity was an inconvenience and not a life threatening situation.

Almost as soon as the dust had settled from the beginning, Xander sprang into motion, pulling a seemingly random mix of state of the art devices from their exhibits and tearing them apart with an astonishing efficiency.

"What are you doing?!" Kara hissed.

Xander didn't even slow down his movements. "I'm making something to shut down that sad excuse of a robot." He explained. "I swear, it's like you didn't even read my shirt." He rolled his eyes at her lack of faith.

Unknown to them, Lois and Jimmy had snuck a few glances with the camera to Xander and Kara, and the mess of parts strewn about them.

The battle between the Kryptonian and machine was swift and brutal. Karen did her best and doled out a good amount of punishment, but it was always a battle of attrition, one that she was rapidly losing ground in. She spat out a mouthful of blood after another blow to her jaw rocked her. Power girl raised her arms defensively, but her once unyielding physiology that could tank nuclear strikes was dwindling and the next blow broke through, sending her to the ground with a cry of pain.

Metallo kept her from rising again by planting his foot on her chest and pressing down. Her flagging strength no longer enough to push him off.

Karen felt despair, this couldn't be the end. But it was too much to hope for last minute back up. She wanted to rage in frustration, that this robot had bested her; that she had such a weakness that she couldn't overcome on the same level of how normal humans needed air to breathe. A painful reminder that despite all appearances, she, and every other Kryptonian aren't invincible.

"Well, it's been fun Power Girl." Metallo said while scoffing at her name.

He raised his foot up preparing to crush her, but was interrupted by a citizen who hadn't chosen to flee for some reason beyond him.

"Excuse me, Metallo was it?" A dark haired teenager approached with one hand raised and the other hidden from sight, but this fact was disregarded in Metallo's post victory high.

But the sheer audacity at how he so casually addressed the supervillain was enough to give him pause, and humor the newcomer.

"What?!" He bit out impatiently.

"As a scientist I'm just curious, I just have to know you see..." He trailed off.

"Get on with it! Make it quick, I'm kind of busy here." Metallo punctuated his statement by slamming his foot against the downed superhero's stomach, causing her to cough more blood to the side.

The machine's glowing chest dimmed as he turned down the output on his kryptonite power source to the lowest setting now that the fight was over and to save his energy. He didn't need to run out of juice and be incapable of escaping the police after all.

"Well I was wondering, how's your EMP shielding?" Xander asked with a furrowed brow in genuine curiosity, seemingly ignoring the plight of the vulnerable Kryptonian, when in reality he was quite angry at Metallo but kept a firm reign on his temper.

"Not great actually. Why?" He responded automatically without even considering it.

"Hmmm... no reason." The young man said.

Suddenly he pulled the hand that was hidden from behind his back and leveled something that looked sort of like a gun, if one were to tilt their head a little and squint that is. It had the general shape but the barrel was incredibly short and wide, the handle didn't look like it belonged, and there was a glowing blue cartridge on the side that looked like it had been spot welded on.

Metallo realized too late what it was as a blue flash of lightning lanced out from the improvised weapon, and everything went dark for the man who was turned into a machine.

With no further use for the makeshift ion blaster that only had enough charge for the one shot, Xander carelessly drops it to the ground as he approaches the immobilized hunk of metal and the now recovering Power Girl.

He leaned down to the busty woman and pulled her away from the still glowing kryptonite, until they were far enough away for Karen to be unaffected.

"Hey there, are you alright now? You took quite the beating." Her dark haired savior asked while dabbing at the blood from the corner of her mouth, cleaning her up with gentle care.

"I'll be alright. I heal quick." Was all she could say, stunned at the kindness this man was showing her after saving her life. Karen couldn't help but marvel at the situation. This was a true hero, just as much as anyone else on the Justice League. Going out of his way to head into danger to save someone, putting himself at risk, and without any powers no less! He clearly has an admirable strength of character.

Meanwhile, Kara was having a multitude of conflicting emotions. On the one hand, her interest in Alexander skyrocketed due to him saving her older twin from a parallel universe. On the other hand however, she felt a twisting, writhing feeling of jealousy at the care and attention that Alex was paying to Karen and not her. She knew it was wrong of her, but she couldn't help feeling angry that he was looking at the older, more... developed version of her.

The moment was interrupted by Lois Lane in typical reporter fashion, asking numerous rapid fire questions as she held out a recording device.

"That was incredible Mr. Doom! What was that device you used to stop Metallo? Was that some kind of gamma radiation gun? How did you build it so quickly from parts taken from other machines, many of which were being unveiled for the first time today? What other kind of weapons could you make on the fly?" She asked, all the while Jimmy was flashing a grin and a thumbs up from behind the camera.

Xander helped a mostly recovered Power Girl to her feet and used the commotion of Lois's questions to slip the hand towel he used to clean her up into his pocket while everyone was focused on his face, all the while being mindful to make sure it was out of sight of the camera.

He smiled in a combination of successful sleight of hand, and to make a good impression for the news.

"Well, in order, it was an improvised ion blaster that can fry the electronics of whatever it hits, provided it's not shielded against it. Thankfully, even if he was protected, Power Girl here gave him enough hull breaches that it would have been effective regardless." Xander said while tilting his head in acknowledgement.

"It didn't use gamma radiation, contrary to popular belief I do know more than just that one branch of science. In fact I'm pretty good with most any kind of technology, that's how I was able to coble that thing together, it wasn't pretty and only had one shot but it got the job done. And I'm actually uncomfortable answering that last question you had. Just because I can do something doesn't mean I will. I don't want to be known as that guy who goes around making death rays." He finished laughing, and getting a laugh out of Lois along with a few chuckles from everyone else. It had been a long time since the raven haired reporter had someone so willing to answer her questions without being evasive, and even having fun with it.

"Well Mr. Doom- "

"Call me Alexander please. I'd prefer Dr. Doom but I haven't earned a necessary degree yet." Xander interrupted flashing a roughish grin.

"Alright then, Alexander, what is your relationship with the superheroine Power Girl? The people want to know." Lois asked.

Kara felt like she was just gut punched and her eyebrow began twitching furiously. Lois damn well knew that she was walking around, hand in hand even, with Alex before they were interrupted. This was just sensationalist gossip that she was fishing for now.

"Aha, well, there is no relationship, this is the first time we've met today."

Before the interview could go any further, the police arrived and promptly began cordoning off the area and ushering the remaining people outside who had been meandering around hoping to catch snippets of the impromptu interview.

Once outside, Power Girl said her farewells. "Thanks again for helping me back there. Maybe I'll look you up sometime Alexander." The blonde said while throwing a wink at him before lifting off and flying away.

While this was happening, Lois and Jimmy packed up and were getting ready to head back to the office.

Now that she was finally alone with Alex, after their whirlwind day, Kara found herself reverting to shyness, not knowing what to say, but knowing that she didn't want to say goodbye.

"That was a hell of a day huh Kara?" He said to her quietly, and in her opinion, intimately.

"You didn't run. You didn't even try! What if something happened to you?! What if you got hurt?" She pleaded with her eyes beginning to rim with tears.

Xander shrugged and reached up to scratch the back of his head. "Hey I'm a guy, we do stupid things to impress girls like... all the time." He smiled sheepishly as he shamelessly admitted to trying to impress her. "Besides, it may not have seemed like it, but I knew exactly what I was doing. That wasn't a mistake, it wasn't an accident, I was in complete control." He tried to reassure her.

She swallowed thickly, amazed at what he accomplished both to do the right thing and help someone in need, and to impress her.

"You're such an idiot Alex."

Any response he might have made was cut off when Kara wrapped her arms around his head and pulled him down into a heated kiss, molding her lips to his and desperately trying to convey her feelings for him.

She moaned into his mouth when instead of pushing her away as she feared he might, he instead settled one hand around her waist to pull her even closer into their embrace while his other hand carded through her blonde locks drawing a shudder of pleasure throughout her entire body.

They were interrupted all too soon in Kara's bias opinion by the clearing of a throat to politely get their attention.

Turning to regard the one standing next to them, a man dressed in a blue suit and wearing glasses. Kara gasped and blushed in surprise and embarrassment. "Clark! When did you get back?"

"Just now. I see you've had an exciting day." He said crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow, an expression that said she should start explaining fast, plain to read on his features.

The blonde Kryptonian gave a flourish of her arm as she introduced him, "This is Alexander Doom. I met him today at the science event, you know... the one you left me at." She snarked as if the entire thing was Clark's fault.

"You just met him today? You two were being awfully friendly." He asked skeptically with disapproval lacing his voice.

"Well you said it. It was an exciting day." She pouted.

And so the two younger adults proceeded to tell Clark Kent all about how the convention became an unforeseen site of a battle between Power Girl and Metallo. How Alex saved the day by creating an EMP device on the fly from spare parts to shut the criminal robot down. All of which the dark haired young man tried to downplay his role in the whole ordeal as unimportant, that he was sure Power Girl could have found a way out of the situation on her own even if he hadn't done something.

Clark was begrudgingly impressed at Alex's accomplishments today. He chastised him for being reckless when he should have evacuated, but thanked him for saving someone's life today and keeping people safe. Clark gave Kara and Alex a few minutes to say goodbye where they shared a few words and exchanged phone numbers.

For Kara, she was sad to learn that Alex was only in town for a few more days before heading back to California, making a long distance relationship unfeasible for them at this point in time. Even though she could make the trip in minutes at a casual pace, she knew the importance of keeping her civilian and superhero lives separate, for her cousin's sake if not her own. She remained optimistic that he might end up a superhero himself, making a relationship between them easier. And even if he wasn't cut out for that life, Kara was determined not to give up on making a go of it with him.

Xander waved goodbye to Clark and Kara Kent as they got into a car to drive home. Once they were out of sight, Xander hailed a taxi to take him back to his hotel room. As he got into the car he patted his pocket reassuringly, the one that contained a hand towel with Power Girl's blood and a strand of blonde hair from Supergirl, Kara Kent.

'Holy shit I can't believe it was that easy.' Xander thought.

'I'm surprised everything worked out as flawlessly as it did.' Doom agreed.

DOOMDOOMDOOM

A sliding door hissed open revealing a red haired woman dressed professionally in a chauffeur's outfit. She stepped forward and entered the clean sterile room, heels clicking on the polished floor with every step.

"We recovered the items from Mr. Doom's hotel room. You were right, there were plenty of DNA samples." Mercy answered the unasked question.

Lex Luthor said nothing, instead opting to take a sip of his drink as he stood at the window overlooking one of the labs in the Luthor corp. headquarters.

His ever faithful assistant moved to stand just behind him and to the side, ready to carry out any orders.

Finally he spoke without looking away from the glass. "Doom is remarkable isn't he Mercy?"

"I confess I had my doubts at first Mr. Luthor, but after listening to the news on the way back today, I am impressed at what he accomplished under pressure." She answered dutifully. "But is it really true he defeated Metallo on his own?"

"He did. And it was a happy accident all things considered."

"Sir?" She asked with her tone questioning for elaboration.

"I paid Metallo to start a fight today, and to make sure it got carried into the convention center where he was to cause a bit of property damage. That would have given my people enough time while it was a crime scene to get scans, pictures, schematics, anything of value really." He paused to take another sip.

"I wasn't sure if Mr. Doom would be there, I checked to see if he was on the list of attending guests, but he wasn't in the books, meaning he likely paid for a ticket like a normal person."

"Why would he do that?" Mercy asked.

Luthor could only shake his head. "No idea. But what I do know is that," Luthor pointed to the lab below them where his scientists were busy at work examining the device Alexander built, "Is an impressive piece of ingenuity."

Mercy's response was to raise an eyebrow, knowing her boss well enough by now to know that he would go on to explain soon enough.

"He built an ion gun strong enough to drop Metallo using parts that he cannibalized from whatever he could get his hands on in under a minute. From machines that he couldn't have known the internal components of until he saw them for the first time.

"You said there was plenty of DNA samples among the things he left behind?" He asked, finally turning his gaze to the beautiful woman who was always by his side.

"Yes sir. Are you planning on cloning him?" Mercy asked in honest curiosity.

"In a way. I want the samples sent to the Cadmus facility. I think giving Alexander a daughter might ground him a little. I just need to figure out who the 'mother' donor should be."

"Like how you plan to use your and Superman's for the Kr project?"

"Yes but someone else's. No need for two that are essentially the same."

DOOMDOOMDOOM

Xander wasted no time in securing the use of a rental boat once he returned to his home in San Francisco. He was giddy with anticipation to create his own private island and he had no more reason to delay. Even Ultron's servos were positively tingling, or so he said. It was sometimes difficult to tell if he was being serious or sarcastic but bless his little artificial core processor, he was learning quickly.

"Master, are you sure we shouldn't move back a little bit more from the epicenter? To the shore maybe? We can cause the detonation from there and come back to check on it tomorrow." Ultron asked in a simulated nervous tone.

"What's the matter Ultron? Don't you have faith in the force field generator to keep us safe?" Xander playfully asked.

"Of course I do master. According to my calculations, it should be more than sufficient. But I just finished this body and I'm loath to part with it in case anything goes wrong."

"And what about me?" Xander asked as he dropped the last buoy into the water to set up the field that will contain the effects of a forced volcanic eruption, negating the waves and trapping the particulates in a dome. It would make it hazardous until it settled down and was washed away by the ocean; as well as taking time to clear the island.

That was probably the only thing that excited Ultron about the entire endeavor. That he was in charge of developing and building on the island. He had lackluster imagination when it came to the biological aspect though, and Xander wanted it to be a paradise for his future people. He had an idea or two on who could help with that, but getting her help would be a challenge.

Either way, after his latest public stunt in Metropolis, his time of hiding would soon come to an end. He knew now that his name and actions were plastered all over the internet, thanks to the article written by Lois Lane, and the video taken from Jimmy and everyone else who had a cellphone and was there.

Honestly he shouldn't have been so surprised. He knew people would take notice the second he did something, he just hadn't prepared for the volume of attention. Superman or Batman stops a criminal and no one bats an eye. A relative newcomer who's an unknown effortlessly stops a supervillain and everyone loses their minds.

That's why it was time to get this show on the road.

"I'm sure you'd find some way to survive master. I'm confident in your abilities." His faithful A.I. companion stated.

Xander paused to look at Ultron's minimalist, almost skeletal form. "I still can't tell if you're being serious or not."

"Of course I'm being serious master. You managed to effectively disable an inefficient, borderline retarded toaster. I'm sure you'd be fine."

The black haired man who was about to become the dictator of a barren rock in the middle of nowhere gave Ultron a deadpan look.

"What? Humans are more progressive now and it's okay to say 'retarded' in the context for which it was used. Metallo has an electronic brain, there should be no reason his processing power hasn't grown beyond his former fleshy limitations." His friend defended.

Xander opened and closed his mouth a few times before shaking his head in defeat. "You're unbelievable. I have no words." He said while going to the controls and starting the boat to drive it another few miles out.

"Very eloquent master. Truly you are a paragon of wordsmithing." Ultron quipped eliciting a smile from Xander.

"Okay, now I know that was sarcasm. Hit it!"

At Xander's command, Ultron hacked into the satellite feeds that had a visual of this small patch of ocean to block this section, and simultaneously sent the detonation signal to trigger the eruption.

The flesh and blood human looked over his shoulder to see the fruits of their labor, and the sight took his breath away. Liquid fire spewed up into the air in a great geyser that was visually stunning. It didn't last for long however, as smoke and steam hit the field and obscured the view. Xander looked forward to seeing the end result in a week after the magma settles and the dust dissipates. He couldn't wait to see his new home.

DOOMDOOMDOOM

"What did you need Clark?" The gravelly voice of the dour man said not even bothering to look away from the massive computer screens with scrolling data he was looking over.

Not for the first time Superman wondered how Batman did that, knowing that he was there when he was sure he hadn't tripped any alarm and the wind rustling his cape couldn't have possibly been picked up by human ears. Perhaps that had always been Bruce's superpower? Knowing everything.

"I need your help with something." Clark said without preamble, far to use to his best friends eccentricities when he's wearing the cowl.

"Alexander Doom." Batman stated pulling up various files and pictures of the man in question on the screen.

Superman could only sigh in resignation. He didn't know if he was just that predictable or Batman was just that good. Probably a mix of both if he was honest.

"Yeah, I did a cursory inspection on him already, just what I could get ahold of with my resources, but you're better at this sort of thing." He said while floating down to ground level and walking to stand behind Bruce's chair.

Bruce hit a few more keys on the computer and a full profile on Alexander Doom showed up with detailed, but far from complete information on his life. Mostly a compilation of what was publicly available from records and videos taken of him over the past year. Nothing on his extracurricular activities, so he remains unaware of things like the A.I. he created, and other such projects he's done behind closed doors because he hadn't warranted a more intrusive investigation yet.

"He's on the list." Bruce said as if that explained everything.

"What list?" Clark asked.

This got Bruce to turn around and stand up as he began pacing back and forth in what Clark knew was his habit when he was intensely profiling a suspect.

"The list was something that Oracle and I created awhile back... when she first became Oracle." He hesitated briefly, both of them recalling the event that forced Barbara Gordon to retire from being Batgirl when the Joker put a bullet through her spine, paralyzing her from the waist down.

"We created an algorithm that would predict the likelihood of someone making the transition to becoming a supervillain. Alexander Doom of Latveria has a very high percentage chance, and has been on the watch list for months now." He explained.

This got Clark's attention in a big way considering his cousin was infatuated with the man in question. "Tell me more."

"Most of my rogues gallery, and that of every other known superhero's for that matter, started off as relatively ordinary people until something changed them. For me, Victor Fries, Pamela Isley, Harley Quinn... the Joker." He went on, and only people who knew Bruce would notice the tightening of his jaw on the last one.

"All of them had some defining event, a shatter point that pushed them over the edge and made them into what they are today. Oracle and I created a program to calculate the probability of such an event happening to someone and turning them into a danger to society." The Batman explained.

"If you have a list like that, then why haven't you done anything about it?" Clark asked.

Bruce seemed to deflate before his very eyes, as though he was exhausted, a state he would let fewer people than he had on one hand see him in. "I don't have the time Clark. I can barely keep up with keeping one city as safe as I can and dealing with near weekly threats. I just can't go out of my way to try to prevent something unpredictable from happening to create another rogue. Especially when it's just speculation with no actual guarantee of it happening." His melancholic demeanor took over, letting Clark know Bruce was despairing at his inability to stop someone else from becoming a villain.

"It's just probability. There's over a hundred people on the list and there's just no way of knowing what, if anything, will trigger their transformation into becoming threats to the public."

"Well this one I'm concerned about for more personal reasons. Kara's been infatuated with him ever since they met earlier this week when Metallo and Power Girl had a fight at the medical convention. And I need to know if I should be worried?" Earth's first Kryptonian said.

"You should always be worried Clark. But to answer your question," Bruce gestured to the screens detailing everything he knew about Doom, "He has a genius level intellect, obviously. Doom was credited with his revolutionary ideas on gamma radiation, but if you look at his behavior since, he's tried to distance himself from it, as though he made a mistake and gave too much information away that he thought we already knew.

"In addition, he filed numerous patents in the computer and technology industry, catapulting our growth by decades, if not more. More concerning, he's clearly holding back. Not giving away too much too fast. Looking at the data, one can tell that he never jumpstarts whatever is commercially available by more than a year and a half. On its own? That could have been happenstance. But a half dozen times? That's too deliberate." Batman explained in a lecturing tone.

"What does that mean Bruce?" Superman asked.

"The implications with the data available are speculation at best. He could just be a very gifted intellectual. It's just as likely that he's an alien, a time traveler, or someone from another dimension entirely. I can't rule any of these possibilities out just yet."

Bruce turned to level a stare at Clark. "One thing I do know is that his listed country of origin, Latveria, doesn't exist. There are no records or mention of it anywhere, there's no records of him before almost a year ago in fact, and it's a big question mark on his life that I suspect has a lot of the answers we both want from him. For all intents and purposes, he just appeared out of thin air one day."

Superman heaved a breath before speaking again. "Well that's a lot to take in. Here I was just trying to make sure that there was nothing wrong with the kid that Kara has a serious crush on."

"Then I hate to tell you this, but all of that is old news." Batman said in his typical deadpan expression.

Clark merely groaned as he brought his hands up to rub his face.

"Before the incident in Metropolis, Alexander Doom met with Lex Luthor." Bruce informed him, causing Clark to instantly pale in dread.

"Oh God. What happened?" He asked, afraid of the answer.

"Apparently Doom turned down a lucrative job opportunity."

"Wait. He did?" Clark asked, perking up instantly at the thought that Alexander had the good sense to stay away from his personal archenemy.

The dark knight nodded solemnly, "That's what bumped him further up the watch list. Luthor unofficially blacklisted him."

Before Clark could question what he meant by that, Bruce headed him off with an explanation.

"The unofficial blacklist means that Lex Corp. has made it clear that any attempt to hire Doom will be met with any means necessary to ruin the company in question. If it's small enough, Lex would simply buy it up. If it's too large for that, like my company for example, he would launch a shadow campaign of corporate espionage and sabotage to ruin them."

"You think something like that would be enough to push the kid over the edge?" Clark asked.

"No... but it's concerning nonetheless."

Clark let the sounds of the batcave fill his senses for a moment as he thought about everything he learned tonight before speaking again.

"What do you think I should do?" He finally asked his best friend.

"Nothing." Bruce answered instantly.

"What do you mean I shouldn't do anything? What about Kara and if she tries to get involved with him?" He said indignantly from getting instantly shut down.

"She may be over eighteen, but she's still a rebellious teenager. If you try to stop her, that will only make her want to be with him more." Batman chided.

Sometimes Clark hated that his friend was a master of psychology. The man of steel exhaled sharply, "So I should just let this go? It's just a phase that she'll grow out of?" He asked.

"Yes and no. Kryptonian's are very much like humans when it comes to personal interaction; so you shouldn't try to force her to conform to your wishes." Bruce told him in his cryptic manner of answering a question without really telling him anything of any value, as though he should just know what he meant.

"Besides, Kara's feelings will likely dull with time and distance. So the best thing you could do is wait it out. I'll have more information next week to update his profile with." He finished.

"Why? What's happening next week?" Clark asked in curiosity.

Bruce hit a few keystrokes changing the information displayed on the screens. "According to the information we have on his personality, I've deduced he has a desire to earn multiple doctorates in this country based on some key phrases he used during his most recent interview with Lois Lane.

"So I'm going to provide him with the opportunity to do so. I can't hire him onto Wayne Tech without provoking Lex Corp. but I can sponsor him to attend Gotham University to obtain whatever degrees he wants. I can use the time that he's in the city to gather more information on him. At the same time, I can insert Barbara into his personal life to discover anything I miss." Bruce explained his plan, not even considering Barbara's feelings on the matter.

Clark could only shake his head, wondering if his friend even realized the gravity of what he was suggesting, but unwilling to voice his opinion if it meant getting more dirt on the man whom his cousin was smitten with. It was his duty to protect her after all.

What both of them seemed to forget in a moment of blindness, is that Kara and Barbara are best friends, and had been talking about the mysterious Alexander Doom every day since Kara met him, gossiping as only women could over a cute guy.

DOOMDOOMDOOM

Deep inside the heart of a Tibetan mountain range in a secret base populated by a league of the most dangerous assassins on the planet, a distinguished man played a video on a secure laptop of the incident in Metropolis again. The day when Alexander Doom brought down a metal monstrosity with nothing but his intellect, environment, and determination.

Said man's lips curled into a wicked smile and he spoke, "What do you think my daughter?"

A woman, dripping with sin in every seductive movement sashayed over to her father to look at the latest video of the man who had caught both his, and her attention. She shared her father's smile as she looked upon the man going by Alexander Doom.

Without giving away her true feelings on the interesting man who captivated her, she gave her answer as noncommittally as possible. "He shows promise father."

A/N: So I told some people who have PM'd me that Half-Blood Emperor would be the next chapter I updated... Promise broken. As I've hopefully told anyone who has asked me so far, for those of you who haven't heard, I only just recently realized what people were talking about in the last few weeks when they said things like 'Writer's block' or anything to do with a 'Muse'. I spent days looking at a document with about a thousand words and just... couldn't do anything. Complete blank. Eventually I realized I need to write something and came out with my Jessica Jones one shot. It got me back in the mood, and I started working on this chapter a few days later.

What I guess I'm trying to say is that I won't commit to a schedule set in stone. Nothing is abandoned by any means, but I've got to strike while the irons hot so to speak. Because I think it's better to write something than beat my head against a wall while nothing comes to me. I blame it on my addictive personality. When I'm on, I'm on.

Finally I just want to say, for those of you who stuck out and read the author note thus far, and even those who haven't, all of you are absolutely incredible! Over 1,000 favs and follows for two chapters before now!? I can only hope I keep up to expectations. Thank you.

Bonus Omake: In honor of the famous line in Dawn of Justice

"Bruce I need your help." Clark asked as he descended to the floor of the batcave, landing lightly behind his friend who was busy analyzing data streaming across his computer.

"What about?" The caped crusader asked.

"I did a little investigating into Alexander Doom. The guy who stopped Metallo and saved Power Girl. Kara has a crush on him and I was wondering if you could do a more thorough background check. My leads ran out." Superman requested.

Batman halted all movement and went deathly still for a moment before leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers. After taking a breath to gather his thoughts, Bruce's finger flew over the keyboard bringing up everything he had on the young man in question. The world's greatest detective told his Kryptonian friend everything he knew and had found out so far. About how he was on his watch list for potential threats.

Instead of taking a wait and see approach by luring him to Gothom, where Batman could watch him more closely, the dark knight surprised him when instead he went off on a tangent of possible contingencies for putting Doom down hard.

Manufacturing evidence against him to preemptively lock him up. Optimal strategies that the entire Justice League can employ to take him down and, in his words, 'neutralize the threat'.

"Whoa, Whoa calm down Bruce. Where did all of this come from? He's just a kid isn't he? Sure he's smart, but he doesn't even have any powers. Bringing the whole Justice League in on this seems a little extreme." Superman interrupted his friends frightening plans against containing Doom.

"Exactly. He's just like me. An ordinary human with an extraordinary mind. There is no doubt that given enough resources and time to prepare, he could defeat us all. He could bring down the Justice League. Make no mistake Clark, this is the greatest threat we have ever faced."

"I'm afraid Master Bruce has been up for a week straight with no more and an hour of sleep here and there. Please forgive him Master Clark." The cultured English accent of Alfred intruded on their conversation.

"I'm right about this Alfred." Bruce defended his position.

"What if you're wrong Bruce? What if he doesn't turn into a supervillain, and he just lives a regular life."

Batman turned his glare on Clark, and even with his sleep deprivation it was still intimidating, even to the man of steel. "If there is even a one percent chance that he could be a threat, then we have to take that as an absolute certainty."

Clark blew out a harsh breath while pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head to stave off the oncoming headache of dealing with Bruce's notorious paranoia. "Bruce that's... that's not how math works."