Doomsday, an outrageous monster brought into being by the DC editorial department desperately scraping the barrel.
One could say that the inevitability of Laughing Bat, this lump of garbage, appearing was clear from the moment Doomsday was created. There is always a wall coming up when it comes to stacking up power, so the DC editors chose to pile on the settings and crash into it headfirst.
If Laughing Bat is the product of the editors stacking intelligence, then Doomsday is definitely the pinnacle of physical stacking, and these two stacks have a common characteristic – they absolutely have to create a setting that lets the character break all the limits.
Laughing Bat is a typical 'god of foresight.' Anyway, no matter what was drawn in the first half of a publication, as long as there is a sentence like 'Laughing Bat foresaw your foresight' afterward, whatever he does next is reasonable.
While Doomsday is evolution. No matter how strong his opponent is, Doomsday can absorb their abilities and evolve, and the evolution has no upper limit.
However, compared to the intelligence stackers, the martial stackers have a potentially fatal flaw, which is that they might get killed while they are relatively weak. The editors, with their clever brains, had a lightning-bright idea and gave Doomsday another bizarre setting, that is, the Doomsday Spores.
To put it simply, this is a special parasitic ability that Doomsday's adult body can use. It can release destructive spores, any living creature within the range of the spores will have its vitality absorbed by Doomsday, and once they are stuck with the spores, they become hosts to Doomsday.
When Doomsday's main body is killed, so long as there is even one Doomsday Spore, it can reproduce within the host's body, consuming the host's flesh and vitality to complete rebirth, then continue the process of evolution.
In the fan circles, the somewhat famous 'Day of Destruction Superman' is actually Superman infected by the Doomsday Spores. His combat power is among the highest in several altered Superman forms.
The reason why Helen didn't try this instinctively right away when she saw it was because it was too outrageous for her. As Doomsday herself, she knew better than anyone the absurdity of this ability.
Formally speaking, Doomsday Spores and the Symbiotic Factor are somewhat similar, they both exist in particle form and can possess others to achieve parasitism.
The problem with the Symbiotic Factor, however, is that the particles are their actual form of life. Once the particles suffer a destructive blow, the symbionts will die, and the remaining smallest unit of Symbiotic Factor cannot allow the symbiont to survive. They need to retain at least some tissue.
Moreoever, in such extreme situations, a symbiont resurrected from the remaining small amount of tissue may not necessarily be the original one. When ninety-nine percent of their bodily structure is destroyed, their consciousness also dissipates, and the subsequent resurrection is more like a new birth.
Doomsday Spores, on the other hand, are different. They can float in the cosmos as the smallest particle until they find a host, and when they are reborn, they are still the previous Doomsday, their consciousness does not disappear with the loss of bodily structure.
In other words, Doomsday is both a form of a microscopic particle and the microscopic particle itself, the two forms of existence complement each other and can switch between one another.
Moreover, according to Helen's observations, there is no such thing as a minimum size for Doomsday Spores. They can split as small as is needed for them to survive and far exceed the current human understanding of the microscopic range. In theory, Doomsday is absolutely indestructible.
What's more outrageous is that a Doomsday that has been reborn from the spore state will still retain the evolutionary powers from before his rebirth. There's no loss on his part, not even the need to grind for levels again.
Anyone who sees such an overpowered ability would be stunned. Helen took it as an extreme situation lifesaving measure, after all, normally, it's better to have a physical body.
But now, according to Shiller, this ability seems to be able to be actively used in other aspects. Could it be turned into a parasite like Venom?
Helen unintentionally blurted out this question, which immediately enraged Venom. Baring his fangs at Helen, he roared, "I'm not a parasite, you damn brat! Apologize now!"
Helen picked at her ears and ignored him. She felt she'd be quicker testing it herself than asking Shiller. So, she waved at Eddie and said, "You should stand back a bit, or you could get hurt."
Just as Venom was about to ridicule, Eddie ran out the door. He knew how big a deal Helen was; even a mad Asgardian was not something ordinary people could resist. Better to keep a safe distance.
Shiller also silently flew out the door. The Doomsday Spores are too strange; it's hard to say for sure whether they will have any effect on non-substantial existences. For the sake of prudence, it's best to keep your distance.
Only Helen was left in the room. She closed her eyes after taking a deep breath. Shiller only saw a colorless, thin fog rising from her, and in an instant, the ground beneath her feet and the surrounding walls began to fade.
With a whoosh, the fog withdrew back into Helen, who looked at her own hands in shock. Shiller, floating by the door, asked, "How does it feel? Can you control it?"
"This is amazing," Helen exclaimed. "These aren't spores I released, but it's me... this is another form of my existence."
"It's really difficult to describe to you, but when I change into this form, I can perfectly control every single spore, driving them to devour, kill, and destroy. But at the same time, I maintain consciousness in a peculiar way, as if I were a collective consciousness of countless lives."
"Can you swallow the zombie virus?"
"Perhaps, no, I mean, of course." Helen looked out the window, "There cannot be any virus that can compete with me. I can swallow them all."
Helen turned to Shiller and said, "The zombie virus has been dealt with. It's that simple."
"No, don't forget our other goal. We also have to save Zombie Spider-Man." Shiller chuckled, looking at Helen, "The brainwave therapy can calm his emotions, it's just to prevent him from self-destructing due to extreme negative emotions."
"He will step out of the shadows through his strength and kindness. He can certainly do it, but we need to provide a little help."
A day later, in the conference room at Avengers Base, all the superheroes looked up at a news report playing on the screen.
"We interrupt your regular program with this urgent news. Yesterday at six in the afternoon, a special virus invaded New York State. Infected individuals show greenish-grey skin, are disoriented, have extreme hunger, and demonstrate a strong propensity for violence. This station reminds all residents to be vigilant..."
"New York Bulletin, our correspondent reported ten hours ago a widespread outbreak of a zombie virus in the Bronx. Infected individuals exhibit symptoms such as lip decomposition and visible teeth, along with increases in bloodlust, hunger, aggression, and violent tendencies. The police are on the scene investigating..."
"Our station has an exclusive report, a big news story. A large portion of New York City is infected with the zombie virus. The Mayor of New York City declared a state of emergency twenty minutes ago..."
"What the hell is going on here?!" Captain America slammed his shield down, and everyone's gaze rested upon Zombie Spider-Man.
"I warned you." Zombie Spider-Man's tone was very low. Looking around at the other superheroes, he said, "Time is of the essence, so I will be brief. This isn't the first time I've met you."
"My universe and your universe have entered a cyclical time loop. Simply put, disasters spread exponentially and cannot be stopped. At regular intervals, the universe will reset, and your memories will be lost."
"In the previous cycles, I have gained some experience and found a feasible solution. Next, you'll have to cooperate with me to..."
"Bang! Bang Bang!!!"
Loud banging sounds came from outside the base's front door. The superheroes rushed out of the conference room, looking towards the end of the corridor where an enormous bulge had appeared in the door.
Iron Man's eyes widened in disbelief, "What the hell! The door is made of Vibranium!!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, with a "boom", a huge shadow barged directly into Avengers Base. To everyone's shock, it was a hunting dog, three times the size of an average one.
Its skin was a necrotic green, its eyes red, its sharp teeth bared, saliva dripping from its mouth, as it charged viciously towards the superheroes.
Zombie Spider-Man was stunned. The situation had once again caught him off guard. The zombie virus is not supposed to infect animals, right?! What is this thing?!
The Avengers superheroes scrambled into action. Captain America smashed his shield against the corrupted hound, which only caused it to shift slightly. Everyone could tell this was going to be a tough fight.
The hallway in the Avengers Base, was so narrow that only two people could stand in a row, making it impossible to form a proper surround. So, they could only face the enemy head-on.
No one had expected that the Vibranium door would be directly smashed open. The majority were unprepared for a base attack. Many didn't even have their equipment on hand. Iron Man was in his battlesuit, but Hawkeye didn't even have his bow.
The hound, being smaller in size and possessing a stronger jumping ability, used the walls to swiftly jump past Captain America, who was difficult to bypass, and by flexing its waist and head, landed at the back of the group and bit straight into Dr. Banner's arm.
Banner retreated in pain and let out a scream. Iron Man reached out to grab him, but it was too late. Out of instinct to protect himself, the Hulk emerged, and a deafening roar echoed through the New York sky.
The green giant was clearly in pain when he landed. He continually scratched his own arm and kept panting, occasionally letting out an angered roar and beating the ground with his fists. However, his strikes seemed weak, only managing to shatter a few tiles.
Zombie Spider-Man rushed over and saw the Hulk's pained expression, "He may have been infected, and we need to subdue him quickly, or he'll spread it to more people!"
The Avengers didn't need his reminder as they sprang into action. Iron Man flew into midair and forced the Hulk to shift position using his hand cannon while Captain America hurled his shield with all his might causing the Hulk to stumble backwards a few steps.
Natasha picked up the radio and requested backup from S.H.I.E.L.D., Hawkeye stood on the rooftop and aimed his bow at Hulk's eyes, and Spider-Man shot spider silk at Hulk's feet trying to hinder his movements.
For a moment, everyone's attention was on the infected Hulk, including Zombie Spider-Man, who hadn't noticed a pair of blood-red eyes glowing amid the debris of the destroyed ceiling behind him.
"Ah!!!!!"
Zombie Spider-Man gave a horrified scream as he was knocked down by the corrupted hound, which fiercely bit into one side of his shoulder, causing a gush of blood to spill from half of his body.
Luckily, Spider-Man was quick to react, rushing forward and knocking the hound away, preventing it from tearing Zombie Spider-Man's arm off.
Writhing on the ground in pain, Zombie Spider-Man was trying to keep his breath steady and turned over, pressing down on his wound with one hand.
He thought he had been long numb to pain, yet, for some reason, the pain from this wound was so intense that he was on the verge of fainting. It even made him roll around on the ground, screaming in agony.
The pain blurred his vision, so he didn't see the transparent spores that had entered his bloodstream through the hound's fangs, starting a battle with another black virus coursing through his veins.