Doomed

Dust and shattered concrete hung in the air like a storm that refused to settle, turning the ruined building into a choking maze of broken beams and flickering shadows. Somewhere deep inside, Sue Storm braced herself against a fractured support column, her breathing tight, her focus sharper than the pain lancing through her side. The collapse had been sudden, violent, far too precise to be accidental, and even now the groaning structure felt ready to give way entirely. Her powers flickered as she tried to extend a force field, the strain of holding the crumbling space at bay threatening to overwhelm her. Through the haze, a slow, deliberate sound echoed closer: metal boots against rubble, steady and unhurried, as if the destruction itself had parted to make way. From the drifting dust emerged Doctor Doom, his armored form unmarred by the chaos, his presence as suffocating as the collapsing walls. His gaze fixed on her with cold certainty, as though this moment had been engineered long before the first crack in the building’s foundation.