DC: Becoming Doomsday in Marvel Universe

Each holding a glass of wine, Rook Tanner and Tony sat on the floor of the basement workshop, drinking and talking.

To be honest, the two of them got along surprisingly well. You wouldn't expect it given their different personalities. Tony was a carefree playboy who lived life with abandon.

Rook was nothing like that. If he were as unreliable and unruly as Tony, he never would have become Krypton's supreme commander.

Rook might seem a little sly now, but back on Krypton, he was both respected and feared. His subordinates admired him yet were terrified, because Rook never joked around. During his military career, his word was law.

Life now was nothing like it was on Krypton. It felt more like he had returned to his former life on Earth. That was why he no longer held himself to such a strict standard.

Still, he and Tony were people from two different worlds.

And yet, strangely enough, they could talk to each other so easily.

Tony found it strange too. "Why are you helping me so much?"

Tony had only hired Rook as a bodyguard. But Rook had done so much more. Whether it was helping design the Mark suits or exposing the mole, he'd gone way beyond what a bodyguard would do.

Without Rook's guidance, Tony would have remained an aimless, reckless heir. It was because of Rook that he was building the suit and beginning to grow as a person.

But why? Why was Rook helping him? Tony couldn't figure it out.

Rook swirled the wine in his glass, watching the crimson liquid slosh gently. He inhaled the rich aroma and smiled with satisfaction.

After taking a sip, he answered slowly, "Tony, you're better than you think you are."

Tony laughed, full of self-mockery. "I'm pretty sure I know myself better than you do."

He didn't deny it. He really did live without a care. Supposedly, last year, he had dated every cover model of a certain magazine except one month's. And that month's cover? A pair of twins. So in a way, he hadn't missed a single one.

That said it all.

"Really?" Rook glanced at him and asked, "If I asked you right now—if you were faced with danger, would you lay down on barbed wire so your teammates could climb over—you'd say what?"

Tony didn't hesitate. "I'd find some wire cutters and cut the fence."

"You'd say that, Tony, but you would choose to sacrifice yourself." Rook's gaze was intense, his eyes shining as he stared at Tony. But deep down, there was sadness—sadness for Tony, and for himself.

Rook wasn't wrong. Tony always acted like he wanted to dodge responsibility, but when it came down to it, he chose self-sacrifice every time.

He flew a nuke into the wormhole without a second thought, not knowing if he'd make it back, ready to die in space.

He stood as a mortal against Thanos, snapping his fingers at the cost of his own life.

Rook truly respected Tony. He was a real superhero, just like Rook had been.

Rook knew what it meant to face the likes of Darkseid. He knew how terrifying Darkseid was. But at the first sign of danger, he chose to protect Krypton.

He knew he would die, and he fought until his last breath.

When he was resurrected as a monster, as the first Doomsday, he held no resentment. He returned to the battlefield and faced Darkseid again—and this time, he won.

He laid down his life again to defend Krypton and his people, even standing alone against a rampaging army of ten thousand Doomsdays, destroying what were once his own soldiers.

But there was no hero's welcome at the end. Only a lonely figure walking away.

Yet Rook never complained. He never gave in. Even as Doomsday, he regained his mind and lived like a normal person.

That kind of self-control and spirit was extraordinary.

So he understood Tony. He liked Tony.

That was why he kept helping Tony stay on the path of Iron Man. He didn't want his presence to be the reason Tony strayed. Tony was a superhero, and Rook didn't want him to fall from that.

There was only one reason.

Because they were both heroes.

"And besides," Rook said with a grin, clinking his glass against Tony's, "if you become Iron Man and take out your enemies, I won't have to worry about your safety anymore. I can just sit back and collect my paycheck each month."

Tony stared at him, speechless. This shameless guy. Was this what a bodyguard was supposed to be like?

"Pay me back!" Tony shouted.

But Rook just grabbed two more bottles of wine and laughed his way up the stairs.

Tony didn't chase after him. He just watched him go and realized that somewhere along the way, he'd stopped fearing Rook.

At first, he'd hired Rook to protect himself, afraid of the alien's power, willing to pay any price just to be safe, even if it meant playing babysitter.

Now, they'd become like old friends. They could joke, drink, and talk freely.

Rook had even said that the end of science was becoming a god. He was one step away from pulling out Asgard or the New Gods of Apokolips as examples.

And Rook clearly wanted Tony to become Iron Man.

They really got along surprisingly well.

Days passed. True to his word, Obadiah wired a lot of money to Rook the next day, over thirty million dollars.

But Obadiah was cunning. He sent the money directly from his own account, making it easy to trace.

Rook found it funny. A warning not to talk, or else Obadiah had proof against him too.

But Obadiah didn't know that Rook had gone straight to Tony and shown him the transfer. Rook even shamelessly asked, "You think he paid enough?"

Tony's eyes darted. This guy had refused to name the mole before. Why the change of heart?

Tony played dumb. "Not nearly enough. Tell him fifty million more."

"OK," Rook said, and immediately called Obadiah. "I asked Tony. This is worth at least three hundred million. You better send another fifty."

Obadiah nearly spat blood. But faced with such shamelessness, he could only pay up.

Of course, he never believed Rook really asked Tony.

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