Now that I'm back from my local anime con (Exhausted, but a good kind of 
exhaustion) I can get to this:

David Dee wrote:

Avenging Side Story 3 Armored Schemes (and Stranger Things)

By the way, a No Prize to those that can figure out where the title for this 
side story came from.

Well, let's give it ago.

Let's. Used the grammar corrections, as always.

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.

Naturally.  I feel an urge to obey him right now...

One thing about Doom is his persistance over time. He always has the same 
goal in mind, and has come close to succeeding often

Such a destiny was inevitable. He was the most
brilliant being on the face of the planet, as well
as a born leader.

And then there was the matter of his bountiful
humility.

I don't think even he professes that. :)

Too many had resisted his efforts at solving all of
the world's problems by seizing control of it.

Urge... to make... cutting political comment...
rising...

Actually it's a logical assumption. If you want to solve it all, you have to 
control it all in order to do so. Likewise let's say you only choose to 
solve 90% of the problems by taking over 90%. Eventually someone in the 
remaining 10% is going to be convinced they can do a better job of running 
the other 90% than whoever is, and start taking measures to do so. Doom 
actually has the tools to be a good ruler, and wants to rule everyone 
equally, giving preferential treatment to no one but himself. It's his 
rampant ego and penchant for ruthlessness that reduces his effectiveness.

 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.

Reed:  "I was going to call it "The Champions of the
Unknown", but Sue thought it wasn't catchy enough..."

That and I have plans for the Champions name going to a different group.

If not for the interfering quartet, Doom would have
already ruled the world five times over.

Well, all right--maybe not that time he sent them back
in time to get Blackbeard's jewels--but aside from
that--he would have done it!

He hasn't attempt that here.

Collectively they had dubbed themselves
the 'Fantastic Four' and even Dr. Doom was forced to

admit they were not completely incompetent.

High praise, by his standards.

Yep. Of course, he's actually understating their effectiveness.

After all, one planet was hardly enough to contain
his greatness. Maybe even a universe would be
insufficient.

Two universes... might just do it.  He'd know for sure
once he'd given that a try.

Pretty much.

Being the most brilliant being in existence required

grandiose plans.

Like when he tried to launch the Adventurers HQ into
space.  Man, he'd been sold on that one...

Heh. Again, not this one.

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.

Oddly enough, this seemed not to have the effects he'd
hoped for, like the time when three of his Doombots
had each seperately declared war on Cleveland.  And
lost.

Heh

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.

Naturally, Doom knew that someone else was to blame
for this.  His designs were perfect.  They had to be.
HE'D made them after all.

Obsolete technology. Defective parts, but not design flaws. Nope, nope, 
nope.

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.

Hey, actually, Squirrel Girl has the proportionate
speed and strength of a squirrel as well!  And a
knuckle spike in each hand, just like a real squirrel!
And a tail!  A furry, prehensile tail!

I only vaguely remember her abilities, all of which do not go toward 
defeating a Doombot.

Well, hey, it could have been worse.  He could have
lost to the Great Lake Ave--Super Squad.  Or Grizzly
and Gibbon, the Boy Monkey.  ;-)

The latter were bad guys, at least, and you forgot the leaping prowess of 
the Kangaroo. :)

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.

And he'd do it to.  Yep.  Any day now.

He actually had one upped him several times in the mainstream universe. One 
of the most decisive was the battle with the Overmind. Hell, OM actually had 
Reed working for him when Doom led the remaining FF to victory. It's just 
never enough for Doom.

He had decided on the name of the design of the
robot: Chobits.

And the nightmare begins!

Yep. Had to start somewhere.

"It's inconceivable," Dr. Doom mumbled to himself.

"I do not think that word means what you think it
means..."

Pretty much that's an opening for that joke

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

Well, I guess he's making some progress...

Yep

He resisted the urge to blast her into pieces since
it was too much like admitting defeat.

I mean--he knew he wasn't wrong.  He couldn't be.  He
was Doom, for godsakes!

Exactly. It's not 'defeat' it's 'temporary setback'

two times, I shall do so again."

Hmmm... he seems a little less--monologueish than
usual.  And where's the patented Doomspeak?  "Doom
shall do so AGAIN!"

No one to posture too.

"I knew Annihilus and Beryl would fail to destroy
them. But they will be weakened, and ripe for defeat

at my hands."

And a side-detail from Defending becomes canon...

I'd have told you to nix it when you did it otherwise. :)

Hey, I'm pleased as punch. :-D

A low growl issued from the armor.

Victor really lacks the ability to take things in
their stride, doesn't he?

Sometimes.

Dr. Doom spun on his heel, suddenly lighter in his
step as he said to himself, "Richards, your
comeuppance is finally at hand."

Suuuuure, it is...

Even a poor marksman will hit the target, given enough arrows.

Upon arriving at the outer doors leading to the
castle, the most gaudy of the group took the lead.

And ANOTHER side-detail from Defending enters
Avenging.

And may I suggest "the most gaudily-dressed of the
group"...

Okay

He boldly proclaimed in Japanese. "Pardon the
intrusion, Dr. Doom, your eminence. I am the
Trapster, leader of the Frightful Four."

Ahhh... good to see Jinnai in toady mode...

He has some survival instincts. Not many, but some

Excel, who was seriously considering renaming
herself Electrical Excel instead of Electro said, "I

thought Lord Illpa- I mean Mr. Wizard was
our leader."

Actually, she was going to use Electro, but never
could remember it, and stuck with her old code name.

She's getting better over time. Sort of.

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."

As I set it out, Illpalizo and Jinnai took on the
roles of Supreme Leader and Tactical Commander
respectively.  So, in theory, the Wizard guides the
team in abstract planning and determining goals, and
Trapster commands in the field.

Of course in reality, they bicker and snipe at each
other in their own unique fashions so that nine times
out of ten, nothing gets done, and the one time out of
ten they do decide on something it's usually because
Jinnai has managed to yell out Illpalazo's objections,
or Illpalazo has managed to completely ignore
Jinnai's.

But then again, this is your story, not mine.

Here Ill admits Jinnai has come up with a good idea, it's just a matter of 
seeing what happens now

"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.

"Like this paste-pistol.  Oh, sure, he's the one
who--you know--built it--but did he think to become an
archcriminal with it?  Well, did he?"

Exactly

And-"

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

As usual, Illpalazo has little time for the deluded
rantings of anyone but himself.

Like me. Not that I rant in delusional manner. Nope.

"Oh, right." Trapster regained his composure a
second time. "In any case, I propose we combine our
forces. Sort of a Supervillain team up.

Well, they certainly are no Namor.  Or even a Red
Skull...

Not that Namor was much of a villain during the title's run. And I don't 
think RS ever really teamed up with Doom. They were actually trying to kill 
one another at the time

What do you say?"

"You have five minutes to get off of Doom's property.
Then--I detonate a tactical warhead."

It's coming.

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.

And once again, Excel demonstrates that she is the one
member in the organization who is anyway remotely
plugged in to reality.

Hyatt tends to be, when she's alive, you know

"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.

However, her competence remains the same as well...

Yep.

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.

Fortunately, so had the rest of the Frightful Four.

Yep. And they were running fast today.

Obedient to the last, his trio of comrades also fled
in the face of far superior firepower.

Trapster: "So--we did a comprehensive review of the
situation, and realized that Doom had very little to
give us, and would in actuality have been a
hindrance."

Wizard:  "Aptly put."

Trapster:  "So I declare this mission a complete
success."

Medusa: "Hur-*cough*-ray."

Excel:  "WE RULE!"

Heh. a victory in their own minds, at least.

It was a one-in-a-million chance.

Is it ever anything but?  In comics, anyway?

Given all the potential things that can happen at any given moment, that any 
one thing should happen is at least a one in a million chance. :)

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.

Uh oh...

Wouldn't be much of a story if they didn't

The surge of power went directly into Chii's neural
net, slightly melting one of the key circuits.

Doom: "Please don't be the inhibitor chip, please
don't be the inhibitor chip..."

Heh

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.

Doom: "Doh!"

One thing I can't seem him saying. I can see Homer doing a Hulk parody, 
though. Especially since he did already. :)

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,

You go, girl! ;-)

Robotics is one of the few fields Reed has always admitted Doom is more 
brilliant than him in. Time travel probably too, since Reed has always used 
the copped Time Machine he snagged off Doom to do such things.

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.

This sounded less evil, unless you were
well-acquainted with the Mudhens...

Heh

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.

Oh, well.  At least he has the defeat of Reed Richards
to show for it, right?

Of course, it's a moral victory, if not one in actuality.

A number of its panels were missing, one of the
engines was inoperable, and the every inch of the
exterior was covered in graffiti.

Umm, right...?

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.'

Okay, guess not.

No, not

The latter truly offended
Dr. Doom. While he had suffered temporary setbacks,
like today, he had never surrendered.

Batroc: "Hey, zee Germahns were vahry mean!"

Yeah, but you know old Batty. He could always kick box them to death. :)

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.

After which he would begin his benevolent plans to
solve the world's problems.  Which would probably
involve more public executions.

Only necessary ones.

It was something lesser people would term 'cute'
though in Dr. Doom's experience, 'insufferable'
tended to be a more appropriate term.

Also, 'nauseating'...

To some, Myself included.

What was of special interest was that he hadn't
created such a robot.

Let's see if the good Doctor catches the clue?

Right now it's not that unusual. The unusual part comes real soon.

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

Nope.

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

And now the trouble begins...

Well, trouble for Doom is usually good for others.

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."

"She's planning to move substitute your tyrannical
despotism with her benevolent despotism.  Everyone
agrees it's a big improvement."

Heh. True. Until she has to do away with annoying meatbags that keep trying 
to ursurp her.

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

Doom: "But I'd miss valuable monologue time!"

Exactly.

"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."

And somewhere, Ultron, Machine Man, and Jim Hammond
perk up.

Heh. Landing Chii would qualify as scoring with a hot chick.

to her feet, shouting, "Warning! Warning! Contact
with the Doombots that were assigned to kill Dr.
Doom has been lost."

Chii appeared startled.

Well, now we know she's based on Victor's
brainscan--she's inherited his tendency to fumble just
short of the goal line.

Doom does have a tendency to not end up dead no matter who tries to kill him 
or how badly his schemes backfire.

It appeared she had underestimated the Doctor. She
would not make such a mistake a second time.

Suuuure, she won't...

Well, at least that's what she's planning on. But you know how those sorts 
of plans go.

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.

"Dear Miss-Ruling-Latveria-With-a-Metallic-Fist,

I was so thrilled by your letter.  Like you, I am a
robot who seeks to dominate his inferior human
creators.  By my measure, I'm making a good start at
it too.  But it is lonely work, and I feel a burning
need for companionship.  Sadly, my efforts at creating
fellow robots have gone poorly, with my creations
rebelling against my directives, and trying to destroy
me. It was starting to make a little cynical--it
seemed nowhere was there a robotic mind that shared my
goals.  Then I saw your letter, and power core sped up
by 40%.  Here was someone who would understand me!  If
you aren't too busy, I'd like to get together
sometime, and discuss the domination of our
carbon-based inferiors, possibly over maintenece and a
movie.  Tell me if you're interested!  I'm waiting to
hear from you!

Yours truly,
Death-to-Human-Scum
New York City, NY

P.S. If you're willing to take me up on my offer,
don't worry--I'll pay for the date.  A gentleman has
obligations where a lady's involved.  See you soon!"

Hehe. Nice letter to a singles ad. I like it.

at Doom's expense, and this seemed the most likely
way to do it. Hope you enjoyed.

I did.  First-rate work.

It's the contrast of fields, though Chobits has it's serious side as well, 
it's not Dr. Doom type seriousness.

Glad you liked it and thanks for the C+C. Hope to get to more of your C+C 
soon, but yardwork (the real stuff, not a sequal to Heero's tale) beckons.

DB Sommer

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