[FFML] [Marvel] Avenging Act IV

[Adrian Tymes]

DB Sommer is having trouble posting to the list, so he asked
me to post this for him.  He can read comments posted to
the list, but you might want to CC him so he can reply
directly.

---

Avenging
Act IV
The Hate Monger and the Peacemaker
Interlude 1



Any and all C+C appreciated. You can contact me at:
[sommert at consolidated.net]

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

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

Standard disclaimer: I don’t own any of the Marvel characters or other
characters from the numerous animes which are within.

Here’s a great reference guide for many character and objects in the
Marvel Universe.

[http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/index.htm]

Writer's forward: I had planned on doing this as part of chapter 2,
but since I haven't had the time, and I want to show I am still
working on the story, I'll release it as a standalone. I might combine
it at a future date, or I might do the rest of the interludes as
standalones as well. It won't be until the second half of the act that
the interludes tie together.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Saeko Mizuno was relaxing in her kitchen, enjoying some music, when
there was a knock at the backdoor. Curious as to what visitor would
approach from her back porch rather than the front, she went to the
door. Curtains covered the window above the handle, though she could
make out a large figure through a lacy haze. Not suspecting any
trouble, she simply opened the door, welcoming smile on her face.

"Greetings, woman, you are graced with the presence of his majesty,
Dr. Doom," the armored figure intoned.

All look of enjoyment left her features. "Oh, it's you, Vic."

While the faceplate of the armor was frozen in place, it still managed
to give off an ominous glare. "Ware your tongue, woman. I've
dispatched others who have shown a lack of respect for their betters."

Saeko remained unmoved. "Did they have sex with you, too? No? Well, I
think that gives me a certain amount of leeway, don't you?" She waved
him inside, then went to a cupboard. She opened it and lifted the top
off a cookie jar. Reaching inside, she pulled out a pack of cigarettes
and a lighter. Putting one in her mouth, she lit it and took a deep
drag. After a moment she exhaled the smoke in a large cloud.

"You still smoke?" Dr. Doom asked.

Leaning against a counter, she took another drag, then puffed the
smoke in his general direction. "Actually I hadn't touched one in
three years. I guess you bring out the smoker in me."

He remained silent for a moment, then said, "I'm here for the girl."

"It's not a purely social call? My goodness." Sarcasm, rather than
venom, dripped from the voice. "She's in her lab in the basement."

"Oh?" She had her own lab? How intriguing. He headed for the door
Saeko indicated, opened it, and went down the stairs to the basement
below.

While on the stairs he saw the entirety of the basement was taken up
by a variety of electronic, scientific, and mechanical equipment that
could be used for a variety of applications. Most of the machinery was
easily identifiable, but there were a handful of devices he would
actually have to examine to accurately determine their purpose. That
in itself was most impressive.

He took in the girl for the first time. No more than sixteen, she had
dark hair and features reminiscent of her mother. Currently she was
bent over some small device, using a soldering iron on it. She had a
set of goggles, high tech and no doubt magnifying her vision, on her
face as she worked.

Before he could do anything, Ami said, "Hello," while she continued her work.

Doom processed that information. "You are not surprised to see me?"

Ami continued using the solder for intricate work. "I've known you
were here since you entered the yard."

Doom appeared nonplussed. "Curious, I thought I had bypassed the
sensors you placed out there without you realizing they had  been
tampered with."

Ami paused at that, then finally removed her goggles and looked him
face to faceplate. Yes, she was the spitting image of her mother. "The
ones permanently stationed in the yard, yes. However, I have one
anchored in the another dimension that momentarily pops up in this one
at five second intervals, remaining just long enough to perform a scan
before returning to its home dimension. Unless you run a sensor sweep
during the tenth of a second it's here you'll never find it."

The girl was already experimenting with extra-dimensional travel. How
precocious of her. Doom didn't immerse himself in the science until
college. Of course he was learning magic at the time, and didn't have
the technical resources in his youth that the girl did. Still, her
obvious skill was cause for more hope still. He also made a mental
note to add a sensor to detect recent extra-dimensional activity to
his armor at the next available opportunity. Perhaps he could use some
of Ami's equipment, since he was a bit strapped for resources at the
moment.

But it was time to move along with his master plan. He had thought it
over for a while, having never given such a speech before. But he was
a genius as well as a master orator (and not a windbag, as that
Neanderthal Grimm referred to him). He had chosen and rehearsed the
speech that would have maximum effectiveness with a sixteen-year old
girl.

Clearing his throat, he intoned, "Know this, girl. I am... your
father." Yes, the dramatic pause was definitely the clincher.

Her response was, "I know."

Well, so much for the various responses he had planned out for her
denial. Had Doom been made of lesser stuff, he might have pouted
beneath his armor. But while others wouldn't know, he would. And
wasn't his opinion the most important one of all? "So, what did your
mother tell you of me?"

Ami considered that. "Well, when I asked her who my father was, she
said when she was studying at med school abroad she had a brief,
torrid affair with a suave, charming, but painfully egotistical
physics major. It was during one of the 'off periods' in your
relationship when you were expelled over some sort of accident. After
that she learned she was pregnant, but you had  gone to contemplate
your navel in some mountain place in Tibet and she had no idea on how
to contact you. So she decided to raise me herself. Eventually, you
became King of Latveria and she told me who you were, though she
called you 'that armored asshole', then started mumbling to herself
under her breath. She also lit up a cigarette, which was odd, since I
had no idea she smoked."

"She told you it three years ago, didn't she?"

For the first time since he entered the basement, Ami appeared taken
back. "Yes, how did you know?"

"Doom has his ways." Good, it was always to one's benefit to keep
everyone off guard, even family.

And, well, the details were accurate, when filtering Saeko's
temperamental nature and descriptions. Meeting her was also the one
thing in the world in which knowing that clod, Grimm, had been
beneficial. He and Richards had been going to a mixer. Richards had
invited Doom, and before Doom could disdainfully explain the
inherently frivolous and moronic nature of this mating ritual, Grimm
had the audacity to call Doom not just a stick in the mud, but implied
that he had no talent in picking up women. Just because Doom hadn't
sought a mate at this juncture was no reason to think he had an
inability in something that any commoner could do. Why, Doom even had
a girlfriend though he had left Valeria  behind in Latveria. So on
this one occasion Doom decided to accept the gauntlet thrown by Grimm.

True, at first the potential women were so insipidly stupid they
didn't realize their great fortune in capturing Victor Von Doom's
attention for even a moment, and had the audacity to refuse his
advances. But six beers later he had encountered the surprisingly
charming and delightful Saeko Mizuno. Not only that, she was smart
enough to hold an intelligent conversation with. And the sex, that had
been, well, most impressive. Of course their relationship had its ups
and downs, such as her disapproval for his long term plan for world
domination, and her simplistic desire to simply be a doctor and have a
'normal life' drove him crazy. And the woman had a temper and tongue
that could drive a man crazy. Also she had never really showed him the
proper respect he deserved, though despite that sarcastic streak he
was always under the impression that she *did* respect him, and even
when they broke up, she never saw anyone else. Eventually, they'd get
back together and the make up sex was always incredible. There were
times he wondered if he hadn't blown up the lab, and scarred his face,
how things would have turned out between them.

Blast, he was becoming distracted. Seeing Saeko in the flesh had
brought back memories he hadn't thought of for over a decade. Brought
them back like a hammer to the head. It was time to return to the
issue at hand. Now that the introductions were out of the way, it was
time to come to the crux of the matter. "I have come to acknowledge
our relationship, as well as have you assume your proper mantle."

"You mean you want me to help you reclaim your throne from its new
queen whom the populace adores and who has set Latveria upon an
economic fast track. The answer is no," Ami said firmly.

"She's a robot that wants to take over the world," Doom insisted.

"If she is, then when that time comes, I shall deal with it."

Doom raised an eyebrow. He was about to think of just how pompous that
sounded when he was hit with this horrible feeling of deja-vu. Well,
perhaps coming from the fruit of his loins, it was not so much pompous
as a mark of confidence and assurance. In anyone else though such
bravado would be not be warranted.

There was one more tact to try. One that no sixteen year-old girl
could resist, since all of them craved it even more than a cell phone
with unlimited texting. "Help me retake the throne and you'll be a
princess. I'll hold balls in your name for all the land to attend.
There will be lots of pretty dresses, too."

Ami frowned. "While I don't deny an odd certain sort of appeal for a
monarchial system of government, I neither wish to lead it, nor cement
the likes of you as the leader."

"What? Why on earth not?"

Ami explained. "Your intrinsic flaw is that you don't seek to lead for
the enlightenment of all, but rather because you feel you're entitled
to defacto leadership since you're the most qualified. It's for the
aggrandizement of your ego, and will eventually lead to ruin since its
inconceivable to you that anyone could be superior to you."

"No one is." And that was that.

"And that attitude is why cannot support you in such an effort."

Doom had this horrible feeling, 'that was that' had been added to the
end of her statement. This was both frustrating and disturbing as his
subconscious began to wonder if this was what it was like when people
talked to him.

It was time to fall back to his last offensive. "I'm your father and I
order you to do it."

This time she snorted in derision before wordlessly turning around and
going back to work.

Well, that snort certainly came from Saeko, right down to the
exceptionally low nasal sound. He had been on the receiving end often
enough. How dare the child not only refuse him, but ignore him as
well. A daughter was not supposed to be like this. She was supposed to
be dutiful and obedient, but she was proving herself far too
independent minded, stubborn, and headstrong. Had he encountered such
a person to defy in this manner when he was in charge of his country,
he would have had her reeducated with one of his mental programming
inducers. But the idea of sticking Ami under such a thing had no
appeal for him, a first.

Well, there were more conventional ways to bring the girl to his way
of thinking. He was Dr. Doom, and she his child. Once she calmed down
and thought with a clear head, and he explained in detail why it was
appropriate she help him restore his rightful place as ruler of
Latveria, she would see thing his way.

"Cross the interface with the power source and it will add 20%
efficiency to the design," he told her before going back up the
stairs.

Reentering the kitchen, he found Saeko was sitting at table, a number
of cigarettes already snuffed out in an ashtray. Her smoking had
always been a source of irritation to him when they had  been dating.
Really, She was a doctor and knew damn well what she was doing to her
body. He hadn't developed a cure for cancer yet (only because he
hadn't put his mind to it), but she needed to be careful. He did not
want he to die stupidly.

Saeko gave him a half-lidded stare that he recognized as general
disapproval. Vehement disapproval entailed throwing things at him.

"The girl is appalling disobedient," Doom informed. her.

"Wouldn't help you with the coup, huh?"

Blast. This was what happened when you let a woman close. They
could... anticipate you. Even Richards wasn't as good as Saeko was at
it. He wondered if Reed had the same problems with Susan Storm.

"It will take some small measure of effort to bring her to my way of
thinking," he informed her.

As soon as he finished saying it, the look in Saeko's eyes changed. It
took him a moment to place it as it had been directed at him before,
though never by her, even at the most tumultuous times in their
relationship.

It was a very deadly look. It took him a second to understand its
origins. Mothers were always defensive of their young. Despite the
fact it was directed at him, his opinion of Saeko elevated once again.
"With talk. She is my daughter, after all."

Yes, that assuaged her, and was sincere. Being his offspring, well, a
different set of standards applied to Ami than the rest of humanity.
She was a Von Doom. That made her better than everyone else. Since
righteousness and the facts were on his side, it was inevitable she
would eventually see things his way.

Saeko said, "Since it sounds like you'll be staying for a while, I'll
make up the guest room."

Oh, he hadn't considered that, yet. It would make things more
efficient. He might even get to know the girl and figure out how to
more easily persuade her. And while he had safe houses, staying here
was more appealing on some indefinable level. "I accept your
invitation."

Saeko nodded, then added. "After you get settled in, why don't we sit
down and talk for a while? Catch up on old times. I can tell you how
my medical career is going, you can regale me with tales of your
despotism and how Richard's is to blame for it all. It'll be like old
times."

Doom grumbled under his mask, but said nothing. He'd show her. He
wouldn't talk about
the wonders of his leadership and how much better his country was
under his rule. And he wouldn't even mention Richards. Well, not a
lot. He really was responsible for many crimes against Doom.

Then something else she said registered with him. Like old times often
included... well, while their relationship had been volatile, it had
also been very physical, and truth be told, it had been a while for
him. Doom was no cheap slut who bedded every woman that came within
arm's length. He was very discerning, and none had met his criteria of
late. And Saeko was still quite fit. Motherhood agreed with her, to be
certain. While her outfit was loose, he could still make out her
womanly curves underneath it all.

But wait, maybe she just wanted to talk. Blast it. He had forgotten
how frustrating women were with their mixed signals. When was a talk a
code word for sex, and when was it just talk?

Well, it appeared he wasn't going to be bored, in any case. Perhaps
this delay in reclaiming his mantel of leadership wouldn't be the
impediment he had thought it would be.


[End interlude]