[Abishai100]

Shiva is the Hindu god of destruction and meditation.

Doctor Doom is the fictional Marvel Comics super-villain who makes fascist schemes and wields dangerous power.

I'm a fan of both divinity studies and comics art, so I thought it would be cool to merge these two 'folk mythos' characters for an apocalypto short-story tale.



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Shiva was watching the activities of men from high on his mountaintop in the Himalayas.  He noticed that a strange new fascist ghoul named Doctor Doom was terrorizing New York City with a strange pirate radio signal that was hypnotizing Americans with a repetitive ominous message, "Pay my tithe, and I will give you spiritual protection!"  Shiva decided to descend upon Earth and challenge the dominion of Doctor Doom and therefore rescue humanity from a terrible foolishness.  He disguised himself as a taxi-driver and drove up to Doctor Doom who was marching down Manhattan streets with a megaphone.  Shiva then dared the ghoul to get in his taxicab for a harmless 'citizen's debate' and Doctor Doom consented.

SHIVA: You create hysteria with your panic-themed message.

DOCTOR DOOM: Americans need vigilantes.

SHIVA: New Yorkers simply need storytellers for comfort.

DOCTOR DOOM: Humanity is not optimistic by nature.

SHIVA: True, but New Yorkers appreciate compassion.

DOCTOR DOOM: Perhaps, but there is not time for patience and pity.

SHIVA: You will open up a 'bottomless pit' of panic with your methods.

DOCTOR DOOM: I'm 'necessary evil.'

SHIVA: You're just like Al Capone --- a Machiavellian suit.

DOCTOR DOOM: What do you recommend?

SHIVA: The people need music.

DOCTOR DOOM: I have no time for fiddlers; the apocalypse is approaching, but I appreciate your criticism.


After Doctor Doom got out of Shiva's taxicab, the Hindu deity ascended back onto his mountaintop and meditated on the value of peaceful dialogue.  He decided that he should motivate a human being to tackle Doctor Doom intellectually.  Meanwhile, Doctor Doom decided to make a terrorism pact with North Korea.  All of this activity was written down on a scroll by Shiva and sent to a curious reporter in New York City named Peter Parker.  The scroll contained a little note from Shiva which read as follows:

"Doctor Doom is a Machiavellian terror who will turn North Korea against the United States.  I charge you, Peter Parker, good-willed employee of New York's trusted newspaper the Daily Bugle to present Doctor Doom with responsible journalism and disclose the dangers of following the advice of a pirate.  This Halloween Eve, dress up as a vigilante (maybe an acrobatics-themed insect-praising hero called 'Spider-Man' and dare Doctor Doom to engage you in a public debate about peaceful politics.  This note is from Shiva, meditator on destruction, and the future of New York is in your hands, Peter!"

After Peter Parker read the passionate note, he decided that becoming 'Spider-Man' just might do the trick.  So, Peter stitched himself a skin-tight spider-ornamented superhero suit and went to Central Park to wait for Doctor Doom after posting an article in the Daily Bugle titled, "Mysterious Spider-Man Challenges Doctor Doom to a Debate in Central Park."  Doctor Doom read the article, and Peter Parker (Spider-Man) anticipated the offended ghoul would meet him in Central Park, which he did.  When Doctor Doom asked Spider-Man, "Who gave you the courage to challenge me in a human debate?", Spider-Man replied with defiance, "Shiva, who meditates on destruction, believes I can unfurl your sense of arrogance!"  Thus began a televised debate which would change how New Yorkers (and Americans) conceived of hell-holes.  Was this the Great Tribulation?  At the end of the debate, Doctor Doom was pleased and asked Spider-Man, "My real name is Victor von Doom.  What is your real name?" to which Peter lied (to conceal his identity) and replied, "My real name is Richard Wentworth, and I've always wanted to work for the Daily Bugle newspaper, but you can call me Spider-Man!"

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[Abishai100]

Shiva was back on his mountain-top, and he felt good about the good deed he did regarding the 'New York tussle' between Spider-Man and Doctor Doom.  However, Shiva was on the mind of Pennywise, the demonic clown, who intended to challenge Shiva's wisdom regarding vigilantism and his 'work' with Spider-Man.  In particular, Pennywise brought his notes about the proverbial Hellmouth and wanted Doctor Doom to be reconsidered as a true modern prophet of urban displacement.

SHIVA: Why are you so concerned with vigilantes and the Hellmouth?

PENNYWISE: Spider-Man can learn something about the Hellmouth from Doctor Doom.

SHIVA: The Hellmouth is simply a model for understanding unrequited intellectual yearnings.

PENNYWISE: Doctor Doom knows more about the truth of the flesh than Spider-Man.

SHIVA: The belief that the Hellmouth can be complicated by the flesh is the Hellmouth.

PENNYWISE: One can not resolve the controversy of vigilantism by idolizing only the heroes.

SHIVA: There's a difference between a vigilante and a terrorist.

PENNYWISE: The Apocalypse demands we understand the 'logic of passion.'

SHIVA: Sometimes you create trouble by talking about it.

PENNYWISE: You must convince Spider-Man to praise Doctor Doom.


Pennywise, feeling satisfied with his debate about the Hellmouth with Shiva, departed the deity and allowed him to concoct his plan tor resolve the issue of competition between Spider-Man and Doctor Doom.  Sure enough, Shiva was working on a method to approach Peter Parker (still going by the name of Richard Wentworth to the press as the 'real' identity of Spider-Man) and have him deliver a public statement that vigilantes and terrorists can learn from each other.  Shiva resolved to convince Peter to send in a series of articles to the Daily Bugle calling for more conversational input from everyday policemen about the problem of terrorism.

The Daily Bugle had a series of articles printed under the name Richard Wentworth about street cops talking about terrorism.  Peter, simply a photojournalist for the Daily Bugle, had the articles sent to the newspaper, and overnight, Richard Wentworth became a pulp celebrity.  When people asked Peter what he thought about Wentworth, he simply replied, "Whoever Mr. Wentworth is, he (and Spider-Man!) are doing a terrific job tackling the intellectual challenge posed by Doctor Doom and his Machiavellian consciousness."

Things were pretty much normal until Pennywise broke Doctor Doom out of jail and established him with a pirate radio signal, which Doom was using to send out messages about the half-vision of Richard Wentworth and demanded that Spider-Man address his criticisms.  Doom suggested to radio audiences that Spider-Man could not handle the psychological blow to the ego posed to vigilantes by terrorists.  Peter caught wind of these broadcasts and decided to send in counter-point articles to the Daily Bugle (under the name Richard Wentworth).

The Daily Bugle printed the following neutral op-ed by 'Mr. Wentworth' which pleased both Shiva and Pennywise (and the lawyers) and which read as follows:

"Doctor Doom is correct in stating that vigilantes are not entirely different from terrorists, but the vigilante responds to democratic demands of the citizenry, while the terrorist simply assumes the hopes and dreams of the people they apparently represent, even if the interpretation involves egregious violence and mayhem.  Spider-Man was just and wise in treating Doctor Doom as a Devil's Advocate, since, in the end, it's what you do that is more important than what you preach!"





Hellmouth

[Abishai100]

I really like this idea of Shiva engaging humans in all kinds of pedestrian justice daydreams, so I will add one more spin on this type of multi-avatar crossover story with this Fan-Fic about Shiva transforming into Green Arrow (DC Comics) and teaming up with Green Lantern (DC Comics) to tackle the terrifying winged predatory humanoid from the horror film Jeepers Creepers.


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Shiva became so intrigued by human jurisprudence matters and justice-oriented storytelling that he decided to transform himself into the American comic book superhero Green Arrow (DC Comics) and descend on Earth and 'mingle' with humanity as a vigilante-crusader.  Shiva, as Green Arrow, unfurled a Chinatown crime syndicate, freed tortured American POWs from an Iraqi prison, and captured a Los Angeles serial killer who went by the name of 'Tooth-Fairy.'  Arrow (Shiva) was pleased with his work and noticed that he was receiving press attention, as Americans were billing him as the mysterious masked angel dressed up as the comic book character Green Arrow.

As Hal poured over the terrible headlines of crime in New York City, he realized he was dissatisfied ethically with his everyday society life as a mid-tier movie actor.  Hal appeared in famous films made by the popular film-makers Woody Allen, Michael Crichton, and Clint Eastwood but only appeared in supporting roles.  Hal wanted to make a bigger impact on society, and so, he decided to don a mask and outfit and prowl NYC by night as the vigilante Green Lantern (DC Comics), modeled after the comic book character.  Lantern started doing good deeds and making the work of the policemen easier, and soon Lantern was also receiving press attention, as Americans were claiming that now a 'Lantern copycat' was soothing their crime woes.

Arrow (Shiva) noticed the attention Lantern (Hal) was receiving and decided to make contact with him and ask the masked vigilante if he wanted to work as a team.  Arrow found Lantern in New York one Saturday night in autumn.  Lantern agreed the partnership would be profitable and told Arrow he was studying a peculiar phenomenon in the American Midwest in which electromagnetic disturbances near rainbows were opening up a strange portal to another dimension and had perhaps 'invited' in a terrifying winged humanoid creature.  Lantern told Arrow that farmers were reporting sightings of the humanoid creature and that it needed to be driven back to its own dimension.

Arrow and Lantern arrived in the American Midwest and began scouring around for this humanoid creature.  Three months went by and the two saw nothing; meanwhile, more sightings of the humanoid creature were reported by farmers in the press.  Arrow and Lantern grew frustrated and decided to lure the creature with a spectacle of miniature lights made to look like fireflies.  Arrow and Lantern would move the light array (connected by wire) around to make the movement look half-natural (like fireflies) and half-choreographed (manmade presentation).  The light-trick worked, and soon Arrow and Lantern were face-to-face with the terrifying humanoid creature which spoke intelligently (to their surprise) and introduced himself as Mr. Jeepers Creepers.

Arrow and Lantern circled around 'Mr. Jeepers Creepers' for about half an hour, sometimes wrestling with him, sometimes being thrown back, until they were finally able to bind up the beast with some sturdy rope Arrow (Shiva) brought with him.  They then carried the creature to a ripple by a rainbow and found the portal Lantern (Hal) theorized existed and realized they could push the creature through it; and so they did, and the creature disappeared (and never returned).  Arrow and Lantern congratulated themselves and decided to part ways, but their bond would be cemented by their daring memory of tackling an inter-dimensional 'dragon.'  The press hailed that Arrow and Lantern performed a final deed of perfect 'folk finesse,' and Shiva decided he had met a true miracle-man in Green Lantern (Hal).


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[Abishai100]

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