As Robert puzzled over why the official organizations were sending Doomsdays to die, he soon noticed something strange: the Doomsdays were not flying toward him or the Avengers. Instead, they were heading in a completely different direction, seemingly for some other, more pressing purpose.
"What's this?" Robert's eyes flickered with curiosity as he realized it wasn't just a single group of Doomsdays heading off in that direction—it was all of them.
"JARVIS, where are these groups headed?" Robert quickly analyzed the trajectory of the Doomsdays and asked. However, just as the words left his mouth, the situation changed again.
In his perception, some Doomsdays began to break away from their original formations, heading off in new directions. It was unclear what their goals were, but one thing was certain: they weren't flying toward the Avengers to die.
"That destination is Vought International's headquarters—or at least, their publicly known, highly secured headquarters," JARVIS replied, identifying the primary destination of most of the Doomsdays.
Before Robert could respond, a new layer of chaos unfolded. Many of the Doomsdays suddenly began fighting each other. Some of the battles erupted within the same formations, while others broke out between different groups of Doomsdays. The rapid escalation left Robert even more bewildered.
Robert wasn't the only one caught off guard; even the official organizations were thrown into confusion. Initially, they assumed their alliances had broken down, and some factions had decided to go to war.
However, they quickly realized the truth: the Doomsdays under their own control were fighting each other as well.
This could only mean one thing: someone had infiltrated their ranks.
The revelation struck the high-ranking officials like a lightning bolt. They weren't fools—identifying the problem wasn't difficult, especially since sabotage and espionage were tactics they frequently employed themselves.
After all, none of these organizations trusted one another completely. Many officials maintained secret connections with rival factions, believing that having multiple alliances would grant them more power and influence.
But while leveraging alliances to expand power was one thing, having their own resources compromised at such a critical moment was another matter entirely.
The current situation was dire. The officials understood that after this operation, there would inevitably be a massive purge. The organizations that participated in the assault would stand to gain significantly—provided everything went according to plan.
A betrayal at this juncture wasn't just treasonous; it jeopardized everything.
Identifying the infiltrators, however, was far easier said than done. If the Doomsdays had not yet engaged in combat, it might have been possible to trace the chain of command and uncover the culprits. But with the chaos of battle already underway, stopping to investigate would only allow their own Doomsdays to be destroyed.
Moreover, the infiltrators were not isolated to a single organization. Rooting them out would require absolute trust and cooperation between the various factions—something that was entirely absent.
Faced with this reality, the organizations had only one viable course of action: allow the Doomsdays to fight it out and hope to eliminate the infiltrated forces through attrition.
Fortunately for them, the infiltrated Doomsdays represented only a small fraction of the total. The remaining Doomsdays were still sufficient to carry out the original plan—particularly since their target organizations lacked comparable forces to defend themselves.
Meanwhile, Robert's senses picked up new activity within Vought International. From various locations, waves of Kryptonian mechanical warriors began emerging to confront the approaching Doomsdays.
"So, the official organizations have turned on each other? Could it be that they've realized they can't beat us and are now preemptively settling scores to avoid our retaliation?" Robert mused, his tone laced with mockery.
"JARVIS, keep an eye on their movements. Have Victor help you monitor the situation. Let's see what those worms are up to."
"Understood," JARVIS replied swiftly.
At the same time, Clark, the Sentry, and Kara had also noticed the turmoil among the official organizations. However, they remained focused on dealing with the Doomsdays in front of them, lacking the bandwidth to investigate further.
With JARVIS' message in hand, Clark appeared next to Victor Stone in a flash, obliterating the Doomsday Victor had been struggling with.
Victor Stone's combat abilities, while respectable, were far from top-tier. However, his computational prowess in cyberspace was unparalleled—even exceeding JARVIS in flexibility.
With Clark's intervention freeing him from combat, Victor redirected his efforts to the digital realm, where he began unraveling the tangled web of the official organizations' plans.
Within moments, Victor pieced together the situation: who was fighting whom, who had allied with whom, and why chaos had erupted. He quickly shared his findings with the Avengers.
"So they really are tearing each other apart? Not surprising—after what Robert did to their Doomsdays, they're probably terrified," Pietro quipped as he dodged a Doomsday's attack with ease, toying with his opponent.
"Terrified isn't the half of it," Bucky Barnes chimed in, swinging his hammer at a Doomsday only to be knocked back by the force of the clash. "They're not just afraid of Robert—they're afraid of us coming back. If we return, they can't keep hoarding power and wealth unchecked."
"Well, looks like we're in for a dogfight—a proper dog-eat-dog spectacle," Mobius remarked with a smirk. His tone carried a hint of schadenfreude, as he inwardly hoped the officials would destroy one another. If they all wiped each other out, it would save the Avengers a great deal of trouble.
Interestingly, the Doomsdays fighting the Avengers relayed snippets of their conversations back to their controllers. But this hardly mattered—those controllers were already well aware of the betrayal unfolding.
If they could have recalled the Doomsdays to defend their headquarters, they would have. Unfortunately, the Doomsdays engaged with the Avengers were locked in preprogrammed attack patterns, leaving the officials with no way to reassign them.
This forced the organizations to pivot, redirecting their resources to deploy Kryptonian mechanical warriors for defense.
The Avengers, meanwhile, noticed a change in the Doomsdays' behavior. Their tactics became even more predictable and rigid—evidence of their purely automated programming. This made them easier to handle, though the Avengers still used the opportunity as combat training.
Clark and the Sentry, capable of instantly annihilating any Doomsday, stepped back to provide support, ensuring no Avenger suffered critical injuries.
By now, the number of Doomsdays was nearly equal to the Avengers' ranks. The absence of reinforcements like the Green Lantern Corps or the mystics of Kamar-Taj made it clear that the Avengers had always anticipated the outcome of this battle.
Watching the escalating chaos, Black Adam was left utterly bewildered.
"What's going on?" he muttered, struggling to comprehend the rapidly shifting dynamics.
At first, Black Adam had believed this was all a dream. But as he continued battling the Doomsdays, he realized the reality was far stranger: the world had changed, and he no longer understood it.
Uncertain of his next move, Black Adam instinctively continued fighting, reluctant to leave and risk antagonizing the Avengers. He wasn't afraid of death per se, but the overwhelming power of Robert, Clark, and the Sentry made him cautious.
He had come to respect the Avengers—not only for their strength but for their restraint and sense of justice. Unlike many others, they had not abused their power or sought to kill him despite having countless opportunities to do so.
As Black Adam battled, the official organizations descended further into chaos. In their desperation, they deployed whatever remnants of their arsenals remained: outdated mechs, jets, and tanks—technologies long eclipsed by Kryptonian mechanical warriors and Doomsdays.
The officials, having poured their resources into developing Doomsdays, had abandoned older technologies. Now, with their advanced forces stretched thin, they had no choice but to rely on these relics.
Despite their efforts, the Kryptonian mechanical warriors were no match for the Doomsdays. The officials, now on the brink of collapse, turned to more drastic measures.
"Send a message: if they don't stop this war, we'll use nuclear weapons and take them down with us!"
Nuclear weapons, though considered outdated, were still a formidable force. In terms of sheer destructive power and environmental devastation, they rivaled even energy-based weaponry…
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