CHAPTER 131 — ADAPTATION
Gaius stood over the body.
Doomsday lay on the platform below him, broken and incomplete. Its head was gone. Its chest was torn open. Thick fluid pooled around the remains and slowly spilled over the edges of the platform, dripping down into the lower levels of the Genesis Chamber. The air smelled sharp and metallic, mixed with something organic and wrong.
For a moment, the regeneration slowed.
The flesh twitched, but it did not rush forward like before. Muscles trembled as if unsure. Bone shifted, then paused. It was subtle, but clear to someone like Gaius.
The creature sensed danger.
Not fear in a human sense, but awareness. Its body understood that it was close to total destruction. The rebuilding hesitated, as if waiting to see what would happen next.
Gaius raised both fists.
His posture was steady, calm, and precise. This was not rage. This was not reaction. It was a decision already made.
He intended to erase the body completely. There would be no need to wait for Batman to bring kryptonite. He would reduce it to nothing with his power fist, leaving no structure intact.
No pieces left to heal. No core to rebuild from. He would end it before the creature could adapt again.
Behind him, Superman hovered a short distance away, watching closely. His eyes followed every small movement in Doomsday's body. He felt the same tension Gaius did, the sense that something was about to change.
Tony floated nearby as well, his repulsors keeping him steady above the fluid-covered ground. His systems tracked dozens of readings at once: heat, pressure, energy flow, tissue movement. Even with all that data, something about the creature made his skin crawl.
This thing was learning.
Gaius shifted his weight forward, preparing to strike.
That was when everything changed.
The energy from the earlier blows did not fade.
Instead of dispersing into the air or bleeding into the ground, it sank deeper. It spread through Doomsday's cells, moving like a current beneath the skin, threading itself through muscle and bone.
The damage Gaius had caused, every punch, every shockwave, the kinetic force and heat, had not weakened the creature. It had fed it.
The regeneration surged.
Flesh rebuilt itself at a violent pace. Muscle layers grew thick and tight, stacking over one another. Bone pushed outward, reshaping and reinforcing itself. The open chest closed rapidly, sealing over organs that formed almost instantly.
The platform shook.
A pulse of force burst outward from Doomsday's body. Thick fluid exploded in all directions, slamming into walls and spraying across the chamber like rain caught in a storm.
Gaius was forced back a step, his armored boots digging into the surface beneath him.
Superman braced himself mid-air, arms raised as the shockwave hit him full on. Even with his strength, the force pushed him back several feet.
Tony was thrown sideways, his stabilizers fighting to keep him upright as warning lights flared across his display.
The Genesis Chamber groaned under the pressure. Tubes rattled violently. Panels cracked, hairline fractures spreading across reinforced glass and metal. The structure itself seemed to strain, protesting against the sudden surge of energy contained within.
On the screen, Lex Luthor who stared in disbelief. Anger across his face, and frustration. He had thought Doomsday dead.
When he realized it wasn't, when he saw the readings climbing instead of falling, he let out a short, unrestrained laugh. "Hah—"
The feed cut out mid-sound. The screen shattered as the pressure spike surged through the chamber, leaving only static and broken glass behind.
Doomsday's body continued to change.
The wounds closed faster than before. Bone thickened beyond its original shape. The skin darkened, hardening into a tougher layer that looked denser and less flexible. Muscle packed in tighter, built for power instead of movement alone.
This body was different.
It was no longer just healing.
It was adapting.
The new flesh formed specifically to resist blunt force. To resist crushing strength. To resist the kind of power Gaius had used against it.
A mouth began to form where the head should have been.
It appeared early, before the skull was complete. Teeth pushed through raw tissue. A jaw shaped itself without eyes above it.
The creature was blind.
But it did not need sight.
Doomsday sensed the world through vibration. Through heat. Through energy. It knew exactly where its enemies were. It could feel them through the floor, through the air, through the pressure of their presence.
The half-formed mouth opened.
The roar that came out was not just sound.
It was force.
The air compressed around the creature and then burst outward in rings. Shockwaves rolled across the chamber, slamming into walls and equipment. The floor buckled slightly under the pressure.
One wave hit Gaius directly.
It pushed him backward across the platform, his armor scraping as fluid flooded around his boots. He held his ground, but the force was enough to make him adjust his stance.
Superman was driven back again, forced to shield his face as the pressure wave hit him head-on.
Tony was knocked off balance completely, spinning mid-air before correcting himself.
The chamber felt smaller now. Tighter. Unstable.
Doomsday rose.
It did not struggle. It did not hesitate.
It moved instantly.
The creature stood upright in one smooth motion, its newly formed muscles flexing with strength far greater than before. There was no sluggish movement now. No delay.
It had learned.
Tony saw it immediately. The way it moved. The way it balanced itself. This was no longer a test subject waking up.
"This thing's faster," Tony muttered.
Superman didn't respond, but he felt it too. The change was obvious.
Gaius took one step forward.
Tony reacted first.
He did not wait for orders or discussion. His targeting systems locked on, and micro-missiles launched from his shoulders in a rapid burst. They streaked through the air and struck Doomsday with precise accuracy.
Explosions tore chunks of flesh away. Bone cracked. The creature staggered under the impacts, its body rocked by the force.
For a moment, it looked like the attack had worked.
Then the damage filled in.
New tissue formed almost instantly, sealing over burns and fractures. Worse, the energy from the explosions did not vanish. It flowed inward, absorbed deep into Doomsday's body.
The creature straightened.
A faint glow spread across its skin.
Its eyes formed.
They opened, burning with light.
Before Tony could react, Doomsday fired a beam of energy from its eyes. It was wild and unfocused, but powerful enough to tear through the air like a cutting torch.
Tony tried to dodge.
He almost made it.
The beam clipped him mid-air, striking his chestplate dead center. The impact sent him flying across the chamber, metal screaming as his armor took the hit.
"Tony!" Gaius shouted.
Even someone as ruthless and rational as him reacted like that. The time they had spent together hadn't been for nothing, though Gaius reserved this kind of concern only for those close to him. Most people were irrelevant, or at best, useful.
Tony crashed into the far wall, the impact echoing through the chamber. Panels shattered. He fell hard to the floor below.
Superman moved instantly.
He charged forward and punched Doomsday square in the chest, the blow landing with enough force to stop the beam mid-fire. The creature staggered back a step.
But it recovered fast.
Doomsday swung its arm in a wide arc and struck Superman with a heavy punch. The impact sent Superman sliding across the platform, his boots carving grooves through the surface as he was driven backward.
The floor cracked under him.
Tony groaned but forced himself upright. Alarms screamed in his helmet, systems reporting damage across his chestplate. The armor was scorched, cracked, and overheated, but not pierced.
"I'm fine!" Tony shouted, pushing himself to his feet.
His voice sounded steady.
Inside, his heart was racing.
That beam had nearly gone through.
As they regrouped, the truth became clear.
Doomsday's cells were not passive. They did not simply heal damage.
They reacted.
Every attack triggered three responses.
First: regeneration. Damage was repaired.
Second: adaptation. The body changed to resist the same type of attack again.
Third: energy conversion. Excess force was turned into strength or new abilities.
Blunt force had made its body denser.
Explosives had given it energy weapons.
Heat forced resistance.
Every hit taught it what to become next.
Superman saw it happening in real time. His eyes tracked the changes, the way the creature adjusted its stance, the way its skin thickened under stress.
He understood it fully now.
This fight could not stay contained.
Superman's eyes glowed red.
He fired his heat vision straight into Doomsday's chest.
Doomsday reacted instantly, raising its arms to shield itself from the attack.
The beams struck with precision, forcing the creature backward. Flesh melted under the sustained heat. Its arms burned as it held them up, hands breaking down into raw tissue while it struggled to block the assault.
But the regeneration kept pace.
New flesh formed even as old flesh burned away.
The beams became less effective with every second.
Superman stopped.
He knew what that meant.
Doomsday was adapting.
The creature had sensed that all nearby threats were being pushed back.
Instinctively, it turned.
It smashed through the outer wall of the Genesis Chamber, tearing open metal and stone with brute force. The structure collapsed outward as Doomsday escaped into the open air.
The scout ship continued to drain power from the city above. Lightning arced across the sky. The dome over Metropolis flickered as energy was pulled away.
Below, the streets were empty.
The Nearby Citizens had already fled.
Doomsday landed hard in the middle of the street, concrete cracking beneath its feet. Its body had finished healing. Its head was fully formed. It stood tall. Complete.
It had retreated for a moment, needing time to adapt and repair its injuries.
It roared.
The sound rolled through the city like thunder. Windows shattered for blocks. Cars shook. The air itself felt heavy with pressure.
This was no longer hidden.
Gaius burst through the hole in the scout ship.
His jetpack ignited, driving him downward like a missile. He struck Doomsday mid-roar, his punch landing with crushing force.
The impact shook the street.
Doomsday was fully healed now.
It saw Gaius.
It raised its fist.
Both struck at the same time.
The blows met.
Gaius' power fist was active.
The clash sent a shockwave ripping outward, tossing debris into the air. Doomsday's arm shattered under the force, aided by the molecular disruption field surrounding it, and the creature was hurled backward across the street.
Gaius landed solidly.
Superman and Tony arrived beside him, hovering just above the ground.
Smoke rose around them.
Tony looked at the monster, then at the damage, then back at his teammates.
He let out a slow breath.
"It seems Doomsday really deserves to be called a Doomsday."
~~~
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