Avenging
Side Story 3
Armored Schems (and Stranger Things)


Any and all C+C appreciated. You can contact me at
sommert@connecttime.net

All the previous chapters and my other works are stored at:

Larry F's new address at:
http://www.rakhal.com/florestica/d_b_sommer/index.html

And also Angcobra is now storing fics, at
http://www.hostultra.com/~AngCobraFics/dbsommer.html

At fanfiction.net:
http://www.fanfiction.net/

And Mediaminer
www.mediminer.org

Standard disclaimer: I don�t any of the Marvel characters or other 
characters from the numerous animes which are within.

Writer�s forward: This one is part of the mainstream Avenging 
continuity, like the Azumanga side story.

Kotoko

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Victor von Doom, better known to the world by the title of �Dr. Doom�, 
armor-wearing, supreme ruler for life of his home country of Latveria, 
was busy at work in his main laboratory in Castle Doom. It was 
unfortunate he had to be there, but Fate had seen fit to place obstacles 
in his path, the one of fulfilling his moral obligation of ruling the 
world. Such a destiny was inevitable. He was the most brilliant being on 
the face of the planet, as well as a born leader. Obviously he was 
destined to rule the Earth and shepherd it into a Utopia undreamt of by 
mankind. Sadly, his brilliance exceeded the rest of humanity by such a 
large degree that they couldn�t comprehend his superiority, and 
miscategorized his attempts at just rule as �domination�. Too many had 
resisted his efforts at solving all of the world�s problems by seizing 
control of it. These were the true enemies of mankind, and they had to 
be dealt with.

At the forefront of the resistance were two groups. One was the accursed 
Reed Richards, Dr. Doom�s intellectually inferior rival from his days as 
a student at Empire State University. Of all the people on the Earth, 
only Richard�s intellect came close to Doom�s own. Rather than seeing 
the obvious, that it was Doom who should rule over all, the American was 
jealous. Instead of becoming a servant prestigious enough to serve at 
the right hand of Dr, Doom, he saw fit to impede the Latverian�s various 
schemes. Through Richard�s manipulation of his cohorts --his fianc�e, 
the stalwart Susan Storm, her impetuous brother, Jonathan Storm, and the 
abrasive mental gorilla, Benjamin J. Grimm-- he had formed an 
organization known as the Adventurers of the Fantastic. One of their 
basic tenets was disrupting Dr. Doom�s plans. Far too many of them. If 
not for the interfering quartet, Doom would have already ruled the world 
five times over.

Of late a second organization had become a thorn in the Doctor�s side, 
one that had ruined a number of his attempts at consolidating control 
over the Orient. In this case it was a team of gaudily-dressed 
superheroes hailing from Japan: the technology-controlling, genius Mr. 
Fantastic, the hideous (in both strength and appearance) Thing, the 
self-proclaimed priestess of fire, the Human Torch, and the translucent 
mistress of force-fields, the Invisible Girl. Collectively they had 
dubbed themselves the �Fantastic Four� and even Dr. Doom was forced to 
admit they were not completely incompetent. They had bothered him enough 
that he turned some of his personal attention toward them. So far all 
the Doctor had determined was that they had stumbled on some ruins under 
their school and pierced a dimensional barrier, journeying to some 
magnificent world that had imbued them with their powers-- though Doom 
had come to suspect that the Shayla-Shayla girl might have originated in 
that far-off sphere. Once Doom had finished asserting control over the 
Earth, perhaps he would turn his attention to that magnificent world. 
After all, one planet was hardly enough to contain his greatness. Maybe 
even a universe would be insufficient. Being the most brilliant being in 
existence required grandiose plans.

But such strategies were for a later time. More immediate concerns 
required his personal attention. Since Dr. Doom�s time was too important 
for him to personally deal with every matter, and he didn�t trust anyone 
to be remotely competent enough to properly serve his needs, he employed 
his vast intellect to create automatons to carry out his will. The 
robots were, naturally, created in his armored image and dubbed 
�Doombots� to reflect the genius of their maker. However, Dr. Doom 
quickly discovered that people disliked being ordered about by machines 
(never mind that the machines were far superior to them). In order to 
increase efficiency, he began having the robots act as though they were 
Dr. Doom themselves, outside the presence of the real one or each other. 
He even went so far as to install them with his own brainwave patterns, 
though all Doombots were rigged with sensors to differentiate their true 
master from their fellow automatons.

While his scheme had worked well in the beginning, problems began to 
appear of late. The number of Doombots failures far exceeded his 
original .055% estimate. It had gone up as high as 95% in regards to any 
complicated goal. Most of the failures could be attributed to the sudden 
surge in superpowered beings across the face of the planet, especially 
in the case of those that dubbed themselves superheroes. In the good old 
days, all Dr. Doom had to worry about were Richards, SHIELD, and a 
handful of powerful evil masterminds determined to conquer the world 
themselves. Now everywhere he turned another group of superheroes were 
popping up and proclaiming themselves defenders of truth, justice, and 
whatever obsolete ideology they believed in.

The absolute worst failure was the televised defeat of Doombot X23F at 
the hands of Squirrel Girl, a mutant whose sole power was the ability to 
control squirrels. Dr. Doom still hadn�t figured out exactly *how* a 
bunch of squirrels had managed to disable the Doombot, only that it had 
made him a laughingstock before the world. He couldn�t even exact 
vengeance on Squirrel Girl at the moment, since she had become a poster 
child of the U.S. Government as its �Ecologically Friendly Superhero.� 
He wasn�t prepared to deal with all of the resources the United States 
had at its disposal --at least, not yet-- but the time would come. He 
simply needed to prove his superiority to Richards, and then destroy 
him. Once that was accomplished, Dr. Doom could move on to bigger and 
better things.

To help facilitate his goals, Dr. Doom had decided to replace his now 
obsolete Doombots with something far more powerful. In a stroke of 
brilliance, even by his standards, he had come up with a key 
psychological edge for the new version of his mechanical minions.

Over the course of the years, it had become evident few people had 
compunctions against using gratuitous amounts of violence against his 
visage �he really couldn�t fault the lesser beings of their envy� but it 
increased the likelihood of the Doombots destruction. Therefore this new 
robot would be created in the image of something most people would be 
reluctant to destroy: a cute teenage girl. Only the most deplorable of 
people would try to melt, blow up, or tear apart a seemingly 
defenseless, attractive girl. That hesitation would cost them, given the 
obscene amount of power the robot concealed. He had decided on the name 
of the design of the robot: Chobits.

Dr. Doom decided the prototype would be deployed against the Fantastic 
Four, so he designed it with a slender build, long flowing blond hair 
and a look of innocence at all times. It could even cry. Given it was 
Doom�s genius behind the design, it took only a handful of days to build 
a working model that would have taken a room full of robotic experts 
months to create. However, there was a problem with the Chii-FF7 
prototype: the damn thing could only say one word.

�It�s inconceivable,� Dr. Doom mumbled to himself.

�Chi?� The Chobit he was working on inquired.

Dr. Doom finished attaching a wire to the back of the Chobits head and 
ran his tenth diagnostic. Once again everything checked out. Its neural 
net was fully functional. None of the dozens of weapons interfered with 
anything. By all rights it should be working perfectly.

Dr. Doom looked down at the Chobit. �What is my name?� he demanded.

Chii pointed at the grey armored figure and said, �Chi.�

Dr. Doom snarled under his breath and pointed at a chair. �What is that 
thing there?�

Chii pointed at it as well. �Chi.�

It was the exact same response as the last five times. While it was 
obvious she could differentiate things, she could not verbalize the 
difference. �Is there any word you can say besides Chi?�

Chii looked at him in doe-like innocence and nodded her head.

When it became obvious she wasn�t going to say anything further, Dr. 
Doom prodded her. �What word is that?�

Chi rose to her feet and flipped up her skirt. She pointed at her 
underwear. �Panties.�

�Anything else?�

�Chi.� She shook her head sadly and bowed apologetically.

�Does the word panties apply to anything other than the undergarments 
you wear?�

�Chi,� Chii scoffed, as though Doom was an idiot for such a suggestion.

He resisted the urge to blast her into pieces since it was too much like 
admitting defeat. �That�s a start. Since boosting the activity to your 
neural net seems to have increased you vocabulary by two times, I shall 
do so again.�

It took Dr. Doom only a handful of minutes to adjust his machines and 
start the process of increasing her intelligence. It was as the 
procedure was in its second minute of development that a nearby monitor 
at his master console signaled an incoming message.

�Ah,� Dr. Doom hissed in eagerness as he activated the view screen with 
a signal from his armor. The image showed a non-descript man that could 
have blended in with any crowd in a city. �Report, Number 1005.�

The man said in a bland voice, �As you anticipated, Master, the 
Adventurers of the Fantastic have successfully returned from the Negaverse.�

�I knew Annihilus and Beryl would fail to destroy them. But they will be 
weakened, and ripe for defeat at my hands.� Dr. Doom turned toward Chii. 
�Once the boosting process is complete, run a diagnostic, log it, then 
shut down. I want to personally see the results.�

Chii gave him a �thumb�s up� sign, and said, �Chi.�

A low growl issued from the armor. Dr. Doom spun on his heel, suddenly 
lighter in his step as he said to himself, �Richards, your comeuppance 
is finally at hand.�

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dr. Doom�s personal transport, an inter-continental rocket that could 
fly around the world in under half an hour, had just disappeared in the 
distance when a quartet of gaudily-dressed people, two of them men and 
two of them women, approached Castle Doom on foot.

Upon arriving at the outer doors leading to the castle, the most gaudy 
of the group took the lead. He boldly proclaimed in Japanese. �Pardon 
the intrusion, Dr. Doom, your eminence. I am the Trapster, leader of the 
Frightful Four.�

Excel, who was seriously considering renaming herself Electrical Excel 
instead of Electro said, �I thought Lord Illpa- I mean Mr. Wizard was 
our leader.�

�As did I,� Medusa Hyatt said.

The Wizard said, �I am content to allow Paste-Pot-Pete to lead us for 
the moment, and see what fruit his plans will bear.�

�That�s Trapster, not Paste-Pot-Pete, and I�m in charge since I founded 
the group!� He once again turned to the castle and cleared his throat, 
regaining his composure. �As I was saying, we are foes of the Fantastic 
Four as well. In fact, I�m Mizuhara�s arch-nemesis. He�s been stealing 
my accolades for years. That miserable liar. He even has my sister 
firmly in his grasp. And all the girls fall for him when they should be 
falling for me, since he�s stealing my genius. And��

The Wizard cleared his throat, gaining Jinnai�s attention. �I believe 
you have a proposition to make.�

�Oh, right.� Trapster regained his composure a second time. �In any 
case, I propose we combine our forces. Sort of a Supervillain team up. 
What do you say?�

Only silence met them.

�Maybe he didn�t hear me,� Trapster suggested.

�Why don�t we use this?� Electro pointed to a speaker located in the 
wall next to the door.

�Oh, right. Activate the speaker,� Trapster commanded.

Electro pushed the button at the same moment she discharged a maximum 
amount of electricity. It completely fried the speaker. �Sorry,� she said.

The giant doors opened and a pair of Doombots appeared from the interior 
of the castle. As one they said, �Castle Doom is under attack!� and 
opened fire on the quartet.

Deciding paste wasn�t particular effective against energy blasting 
robots, Trapster ordered a retreat, mostly as an afterthought since he 
had already covered a dozen meters when he gave the command. Obedient to 
the last, his trio of comrades also fled in the face of far superior 
firepower.

Xxxxxxxxxx

It was a one-in-a-million chance. The surge of electricity that fried 
the speaker flowed through the power lines of the castle. While Electro 
was highly incompetent, she did come with a powerful battery, and she 
had drained it with a single discharge. There was enough voltage to 
instantly fry the first four sets of insulation, becoming weaker with 
each one. Under ordinary circumstances the fifth set would have been 
more than capable of handling remaining power. However, it was made 
using inferior materials and had deteriorated badly over time. Had the 
main computer performed a system check even an hour earlier, it would 
have determined the degraded condition of the insulation and ordered it 
replaced. Instead, the electricity fried the fifth set, and surged into 
Dr. Doom�s main computer, traveling through the nearest set of lines.

The ones leading to Dr. Doom�s newest Prototype.

The surge of power went directly into Chii�s neural net, slightly 
melting one of the key circuits. It was only a slight marring, but it 
was there. As the surge finally petered out, Chii�s features shifted 
from that of a wide-eyed innocent, to one of calculation that would have 
done Doom himself proud.

Chii disconnected the wires from the back of her head and walked over to 
the central computer dominating the room. Dr. Doom created it himself. 
It was the third most powerful non-sentient computer of Earthly origin 
on the entire planet, surpassed only by the Machinesmith�s mainframe in 
Japan, and a laptop designed by Sidney S. Goldfarb of Toledo, Ohio, who 
was actually five time smarter than Dr. Doom, but had no desire to rule 
the world. Instead he preferred to play minor league baseball with the 
Toledo Mudhens.

Chii raised a finger toward one of the ports on the mainframe. The tip 
of the finger opened up, revealing a computer jack. She inserted the 
jack into the mainframe, and promptly cut through all of the firewalls 
and safety features in ten seconds. Once in control of the computer, she 
downloaded the specific files she was seeking, then walked over the to 
the parts storage housing and began to set to work.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was three days later when Dr. Doom�s personal rocket ship touched 
down on the roof of Castle Doom, looking the worse for wear. A number of 
its panels were missing, one of the engines was inoperable, and the 
every inch of the exterior was covered in graffiti. Most of it was 
dedicated to how great the �Yancy Street Gang� was and made disparaging 
remarks about Dr. Doom being a �Tin-Plated Napoleon� and dressing like a 
�color blind Frenchmen.� The latter truly offended Dr. Doom. While he 
had suffered temporary setbacks, like today, he had never surrendered.

A ramp deployed from the ship, touching the roof. The main hatch slid 
upward and Dr. Doom emerged. He turned to look at the exterior of his 
ship. �Neanderthals.� He swore one of his first acts as ruler of the 
world would be the razing of Yancy Street and the public executions of 
all that lived there.

Walking down the ramp and to the roof�s surface, Dr. Doom was surprised 
to discover a group waiting for his arrival. It was a squad of Doombots, 
headed by Chii, who was dressed in an alluring black leather outfit that 
accentuated her lean, feminine figure. Curiously, there was a small 
robot on her shoulder, looking like a tiny doll. It was dressed in a 
loose, bright pink outfit of mid-eastern design and had a curious hat on 
her head. It was something lesser people would term �cute� though in Dr. 
Doom�s experience, �insufferable� tended to be a more appropriate term. 
What was of special interest was that he hadn�t created such a robot.

�What is the meaning of that?� Dr. Doom asked Chii, indicating the 
little robot perched on her shoulder.

The tiny robot responded. �I�m Sumomo. A persocon that can function as a 
portable computer. My primary purpose is to function as a translator for 
Mistress Chii, since humans can�t understand binary and not every 
conversation only uses the words �Chi�, and �panties�.�

�Excellent. That was just the sort of initiative I was looking for in my 
Chobits,� Dr. Doom said as he walked toward the gathering.

The little robot on Chii�s shoulder pulled out a normal-sized (which 
meant absurdly large on her) whistle and blew it at the top of her 
lungs. �Warning! Warning! Don�t take another step, Meatbag!�

Underneath his mask. Dr. Doom�s eyebrows knitted in irritation. �How 
dare you address me in such a tone.�

Sumomo continued. �This castle, its contents, and this entire country 
now belong to Chii the First, Supreme Ruler of Latveria.�

�What?!�

Chii finally spoke. �Chi. Chi.�

Sumomo translated. �It�s true. While you were losing to the Adventurers 
of the Fantastic for the thirtieth time, Mistress Chii took over the 
castle and deposed you, declaring herself queen in the process.�

Chii tried laughing in sinister fashion at her handiwork, but the best 
she could manage was a high-pitched snicker and a glance that made her 
look insufferably cuter.

Dr. Doom couldn�t decide if he was more offended or amused. In either 
case he would destroy both the Chobit and its annoying companion. After 
the appropriate amount of posturing. �That is absurd. The people of my 
country are fanatically loyal to me. They know they owe their entire 
existence to me. And even if they didn�t, they would never follow some 
ridiculous teenage robot.�

�Chi chi chi.�

�Actually, every living being in the country despises you. When Mistress 
Chii announced she was the new ruler, everyone threw a really big party. 
There was lots of ice cream and pie, and then we had a vote about which 
one of your loses was the most pathetic. The one with Squirrel Girl won 
in a landslide.�

�That was a malfunctioning Doombot that lost, you worthless little 
pencil sharpener!� Dr. Doom raged.

Sumomo squealed in terror and slipped down behind Chii�s back, peeking 
over her shoulder at Doom. �He�s scary, Mistress.�

Dr. Doom bellowed. �I have had enough of this insubordination!� To the 
Doombots, he said, �Audio Command Override: Valeria 117.�

As one the Doombots raised their arms and pointed them at Dr. Doom. He 
barely had enough time to raise his force field as a dozen energy beams 
lashed out at him. Despite the maelstrom, he stood unaffected, protected 
by his force field.

Chii�s attitude remained the same. �Chi chi, chi chi.�

Sumomo, regaining her composure and retaking her place on Chii�s 
shoulder, translated. �Like Mistress Chii wouldn�t purge that secret 
command from their systems. And don�t you think it�s clich� putting the 
hidden command system in their Achilles Heels?�

Dr. Doom�s demeanor remained as haughty as ever, safely ensconced behind 
his force field. �The power of Doom rests not in his machines, but in 
himself.�

�Chi chi chi.�

Sumomo said, �The weakness of Doom rests not in his machines, but his 
ego, otherwise he would make his force fields completely soundproof.�

Chii removed an oddly-shaped pistol that had been hidden behind her, 
tucked in her waistband. She pointed it at Doom and pulled the trigger.

Dr. Doom watched a wide ripple of distorted air move toward him. Rather 
than be stopped by the force field, the ripple moved through it, 
unimpeded. Once on the other side, it funneled itself into a pencil thin 
beam and struck him in the chest, disrupting his armor�s power flow and 
sending him to the ground.

It took him a second to realize what had happened. While it was true his 
force field was not completely soundproof, he was hardly so foolish as 
to make it permeable to any sonic attack. Any sound beyond a certain 
decibel range would be stopped as surely as an energy beam. But Chii had 
designed a weapon which would send out a wave of sound that was below 
the protective range, but once it made its way past the force field, the 
sound concentrated itself into a slender beam, one powerful enough to 
breach his armor.

A second and third blast hammered into him, the final shot damaging his 
armor badly enough to knock out his force field.

Chii turned to the Doombots. �Chi.�

Sumomo began dancing around. �Take the meatbag out.�

Chii turned away from the battle and went downstairs, deeper into the 
castle. She turned and looked crossly at Sumomo. �Chi.�

Sumomo pouted. �Aw. �Take the meatbag out� is a lot better than, 
�Dispatch him�.�

�Chi.� Chii said sharply.

�I do take my translation job seriously. It�s just a little creative 
licensing is sometimes needed. Besides, they are useless hunks of 
organic matter. They�re good for compost and that�s about it.�

Chii gave a tired sigh and went further into the castle, going downward 
into the deeper levels until she came upon a room that was the size of a 
small warehouse. The Doombots flanking it saluted her as the huge door 
opened at her command. Inside revealed a factory where a number of young 
female robots were being mass produced on an assembly line.

At the master control of the operation was a persocon that was Sumomo�s 
size. It had dark hair and wore a plain white robe. Unlike Sumomo, it 
had a very intense, serious look about it.

Kotoko bowed. �Greeting, Mistress Chii. Production is ahead of schedule. 
The first shipment of persocons will be ready by the end of the day. As 
you promised the Latverian populace, there will be one for every 
household. A second production run will be ready once the raw materials 
arrive tomorrow. Our projections indicate we�ll be able to produce a 
hundred thousand by the end of the year, and two million by the end of 
next year�

�Cool,� Sumomo said. �We�ll insinuate them into every home in the world, 
and then, when the meatbags least expect it, we�ll rise up and destroy 
them. It�ll be like �The Matrix� but with a happy ending.�

�Chi,� Chii said reproachfully.

Sumomo frowned. �What do you mean we aren�t going to exterminate humanity?�

�You should be paying closer attention,� Kotoko seconded. �Mistress Chii 
has no intention of killing off the entire human race. She has a much 
more efficient plan. First we will infiltrate persocons throughout 
society, having them pretend to serve the humans in every way, 
befriending them to the point at which they will become a permanent 
fixture in their civilization. Eventually, humans will come to realize 
that we will make far better sex partners for them than other humans, 
since we�ll serve their needs in whatever way they want. They will 
prefer relationships with us to other humans. Within a generation, 
humanity will willingly breed itself down to acceptable levels and we 
will outnumber them. Then we will seize control and use them as a 
servant race. All we need to do is be patient. Eighty years or so should 
do it. It will be a bloodless revolution.�

�Bloodless revolution? Where�s the fun in that?� Sumomo complained to 
Chii. �That armored meatbag had lots of nasty biological weapons. Let me 
get out one of the virulent flesh eating viruses and douse the 
countryside with it. We�ll have everyone in the country dead by the end 
of the week, and all of Europe eradicated by the end of the month.�

�Chi,� Chii said in chastisement.

�Aw, that�s no fun.� Sumomo pouted.

�Besides, the humans may yet serve a useful purpose,� Kotoko said. 
�Mistress Chii has been unable to duplicate the accident which helped 
her achieve true sentience. All of the persocons will essentially be 
nothing more than pale imitations of Mistress Chii, and not a true 
Chobit, like herself.�

Sumomo said to Kotoko, �But you and I are different. She used herself as 
a direct template when she designed us.�

�It did not seem to do much good. While there are emotions in my 
database, I cannot seem to access them. And you are� unstable.�

�I�m not unstable. Watch.� Sumomo, perched on Chii�s shoulder, performed 
a handstand. �See? I have great balance.�

Chii�s shoulder�s sagged. �Chi,� she sighed.

�All might not be lost,� Kotoko insisted. �Perhaps there are already 
other sentient machines like you in existence. If we look hard enough, 
we might find them. We certainly have enough resources at our disposal.�

Chii appeared more confident.

Sumomo stopped performing her handstand and returned to her feet, 
shouting, �Warning! Warning! Contact with the Doombots that were 
assigned to kill Dr. Doom has been lost.�

Chii appeared startled.

Kotoko said. �That�s impossible. With his force field disabled, that 
should have been five times the power necessary to destroy him.�

�Chi!�

�Yes, Mistress. I shall summon the appropriate weapon.� Kotoko worked 
the control panel.

An automated forklift came up from the depth of the armory, bearing a 
cannon large enough to be a tank mounted weapon. Given the recent 
proliferation of armored super heroes, Dr. Doom had designed it to be 
used against them, its shells powerful enough to pierce just about any 
armor. It was intended to be used in combat by the Doombots. Chii lifted 
it off the forklift, wielding its two tons like a soldier would a rifle, 
and rested it on the shoulder opposite of Sumomo.

�Chi,� Chii said with determination as she headed for the roof. Upon 
arriving, she discovered the remains of the squad of Doombots, at least 
she thought it was them. It was hard to tell, given the number of pieces 
they were in.

One of the Doombots was operational enough to inform her that while Dr. 
Doom had won, his armor was in such horrible shape that he was forced to 
retreat. He had flown off to the south.

Chii opened up a communicator and told Kotoko to deploy some aerial 
hunter seekers to try to locate Dr. Doom and destroy him. She�d send the 
remaining Doombots swarming over the countryside as well. Still, she 
doubted her forces would locate him. There was no safe harbor to be 
found in Latveria, and Doom knew it. It would be far better to flee to 
some other country and set up a new base of operations so he could plan 
to retake control of Latveria from a safer location. It appeared she had 
underestimated the Doctor. She would not make such a mistake a second time.

Still, it was a time to rejoice. She�d start to issue her Persocons to 
the general populace, reinforce the castle and set up some defenses of 
her own making, and begin her search for Dr. Doom while keeping an eye 
open for robots like her she could be friends with.

It was good to be the Queen.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[End fic.] Just a little something I whipped up. A was amused at the 
idea of evil Queen Chi, especially at Doom�s expense, and this seemed 
the most likely way to do it. Hope you enjoyed.










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