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Quote1 In the presence of this banner, which represents our Lord Doom, I swear to devote all my strength to the savior of our world, Victor von Doom. Before I was chosen, I was nothing. But I have been given purpose. I swear that I am ready and willing to obey to the end, and even give my life in service of our Lord Doom. Live faithfully, fight bravely, die laughing. Only the strong will survive. Quote2
—Victor von Doom Institute for Gifted Youths Oath[src]

History

Located in the heart of Doomstadt and functioning for allegedly over sixty years, the Victor von Doom Institute for Gifted Youths is the place where the best and brightest of all the domains of Battleworld are sent to become one of the Doom Elite, the leaders of tomorrow. The students of the Doom Institute, who are between the ages of fourteen and nineteen, undergo the annual Final Exam to demonstrate their will to succeed, with only the strongest, the hardiest, the most intelligent, and the most devoted to God Emperor Doom advancing to become one of the paragons of humanity.

Between such students were Frostbite of Killville, Amadeus Cho of the Warzone, Skaar of Greenland, Molly Hayes of the Kingdom of Manhattan, Cloak and Dagger of Arachnia, and the Night Witches Jubilee of Limbo, Pixie of Mutopia, and Delphyne Gorgon of Arcadia; a group of youths who were sent to the Correction Room for fighting in the Great Hall and almost didn't register for the annual Final Exam because of that, if not by Amadeus Cho, who used a disruptive signal to confuse the Doombot Supervision Unit who was taking care of them. Because they were the last ones to register, they all ended up in the same team, but, unbeknownst to them, the Headmaster of the Doom Institute, Valeria von Doom, planned to ruin their chances to become one of the Doom Elite.[2]

After the opening ceremonies, the now named Team Puce entered the simulation room to undergo the annual Final Exam. As soon as they entered it, they were outnumbered and almost destroyed, with one of their own, Pixie, being taken out, until Cho took them to a glitch in the program of the simulation room where they could be safe. But there they discovered the truth about the Institute: they weren't fighting and destroying simulations, instead they were fighting and killing other students, and it had been this way for years. Fearing that the truth would get them killed, the members of Team Puce waited in the glitch room until the exam was over and escaped from the Institute using an aircraft, hoping to never return, Jubilee taking Molly Hayes with her, while Cloak and Frostbite stayed behind.[3]

Team Puce stopped by the Valley of Doom to purchase supplies from the Timely General Store; however, the appearance of Skaar, as well as attempted theft by Jubilee, raised suspicions that they were in fact a group featured on a wanted poster. As the children resisted arrest, it led to a gunfight, which ended when Molly hurled one of the gunmen at the others allowing the group to escape.

Afterwards, they headed to Cho's parents house in the Warzone with what was left of gasoline in their aircraft. Along the way, Cho fixed the head of the Doombot Supervision Unit he had hacked earlier and that was disposed of by Headmaster Valeria von Doom, and asked it why Doom was using the exam to kill students. The Doombot said that it would neutralize potential threats to Doom, guaranteeing that only the loyal and obedient to him would make it to graduation, when the truth about the exam would be told to them.

By that time, they ran out of gas and had to land in Weirdworld, where they encountered Cloak, who came to warn them that Headmaster Valeria was sending Bucky and his team after them. Then they were attacked by a monstrous machine, though were teleported by Cloak to the Warzone, but not before Molly was able to defeat the swamp mech. When they got to Cho's parents house there was nothing there but a hole, implying his parents were probably dead. As the runaways thought about bringing Doom down for what he had done, Bucky and his team arrived, having discovered their location through the stolen aircraft's radio.

Although Cho and Delphyne were caught by Bucky,[4] the rest of them managed to escape through Cloak, who teleported them back to Weirdworld. While they devised a plan to invade the school in order to save their friends and stop the school from making its students kill each other, Cho and Delphyne were taken to the Headmaster's room. Valeria gave Cho a chance to return to the school as he had potential to become a member of the Doom Elite, but he refused. It was then that Cloak and Dagger, who had invaded the school alongside the other runaways, and broadcast the truth throughout the school with the help of the disembodied head of the Doombot Supervision Unit who now called itself Emily.

Meanwhile, Molly and Skaar were fighting Doombot alongside a small group of rebellious students as Jubilee went to find Cho and Delphyne. Taking advantage of the situation, Cho and Delphyne escaped from Valeria's room. While searching for them, Jubilee was attacked by a Doombot, but was saved by Frostbite, who finally revealed her feelings for Jubilee and kissed her. Soon after the group reunited, they were surrounded by Bucky and Doombots; however, Bucky let them escape and lost his life for betraying Doom, even after Valeria commanded the Doombots not to kill him. Sad and angered by her friend's loss, Valeria commanded the Doombots to let the escapees go and to call her father, as she wanted to go back home.

With no place to go to, the runaways set out to discover their place in the world.[5]

Alternate Universe Versions[]

Home to Brother Brit-Man and Spider-Gwen (Earth-65)[]

In Earth-65, Reed Richards enrolled into Von Doom Academy for a semester at the age of eight, but was expelled after an incident with cosmic flames.[1]

Points of Interest

  • Corrections Room
  • Final Exam Area
  • Great Hall

See Also

Links and References

References

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