"You remind me of the babe
What babe? babe with the power
What power? power of voodoo
Who do? you do
Do what? remind me of the babe ..."
– David Bowie

The Avengers, and Thor, and all situations and characters thereof, belong strictly and solely to Marvel Comics. This is a fan-work, meant for enjoyment only, and not for any material profit.

The accident is Loki's fault. He is the one who chose to ally himself, not with Doom, who offered, but with some sort of extra-dimensional being named Thanos. Doom knows very little of this Thanos. He is a coward though, that much is obvious. Instead of invading Earth himself, he sent Loki to do it, at the head of an army of stupid, easily killed creatures called Chitauri. Loki failed, of course. He failed drastically and dramatically, and afterward, he was hauled back to Asgard in chains, by his stupid clot of a brother. The next Doom saw of him, his magical powers were gone. He wore bracelets of his father's making that sealed them away. Understandable of course, when he immediately set to work to remove them. Doom provided him with the workspace, the tools, the pentagrams and and arcane books of demonology. Some fools might say that he shares part responsibility for the burst of power, half-sealed, that has just caused such destruction. They would be wrong. The accident is Loki's fault. If he had allied with Doom in the first place, none of this would have happened.

The Latverian Embassy in New York is an architectural masterpiece of a building, as aesthetically pleasing as it is secure. The United Nations could take a lesson. Their so-important headquarters is as boring as a branch office in Biloxi, and dangerously vulnerable to attack by death ray, or doomsday device. Loki finds Doom there when he returns to Earth after his failed invasion (Doom is presenting a paper at the UN on the anti-recessionary effects of one-man government). He enters. – No explosion, or rip in the space-time continuum as the last time, but merely a press on the security buzzer at the front door. Doom brings up the feed and when he sees who it is, he opens the door.

"Odin is worthless." Thinner than he was before, worn fine by ill-treatment at someone's hand, that will no doubt have to be avenged, Loki still holds himself with the same tension. His voice crackles with the same anger, and still at the same sources. "Despite all I have done, still he cleaves to the Thunderer, as if naught will dissuade him. Protection for Midgard, faugh! The heir's place is in Asgard. Were it anyone else, All-Father would insist on it. But this is Thor. Of course, he may go where he will."

Thor, the oafish blond who's sudden elevation to Kingship precipitated Loki's initial rebellion. Doom has followed this story. Beings of such power as the Asgardians deserve his attention. "I thought your brother went back to Asgard."

Confirming nod from Loki. "He remained there long enough to witness my sentencing, and then he requested a boon: 'Father, oh Father, pray...'" – The twist of his face, the nasty tone to his voice: Rage seethes, always just below the surface. It is this, which makes Loki so easy to manipulate. – "'Allow me to return and help my dear friends repair the damage caused by the Chitauri!'"

And so Thor is back on Earth. How useful. As long as he is here, expect no diminution in his brother's rage. Doom smiles. "Won't you take a seat, Loki." He presses a button, summons a Doom-bot to bring food and drink. "This sentencing you speak of. Of what does it consist?"

It consists of banishment, to end when Loki repents. "Repents!" The fuming is palpable. "And for what, pray? I have done naught save what the Thunderer has done, many times, and earned naught but praise."

This is not true. Loki has done many things that his brother has not done, that he could not have done, because he lacks the imagination. Some of them have manipulated people, or caused them harm, but they have been grand schemes, of vision and creativity. And after all, one cannot make an omlet without breaking a few eggs.

The Doom-bot arrives. Latverian Tokay and Gateaux a la Doom. Doom serves his guest before himself. "I offered you an alliance once before."

A finicky sniff from the disgraced demigod. "I have not sunk so low as to ally with a mortal."

"No?" Doom looks at him. Their entire history hangs between them: Their first meeting and Loki's rejection then, his eventual alliance with Thanos, and the horrible downfall that resulted. Loki holds Doom's gaze for a long moment, his expression cold. Then he looks away.

It is thus that Doom won his alliance with the God of Chaos. His home, his belongings – And his genius intelligence and extensive knowledge-base. – are at Loki's disposal, to help him while he frees the power Odin has sealed. In return, Doom will ask one thing, a boon if you will, when the goal is accomplished. Doom imagines he will ask for the destruction of the Fantastic Four. With them out of the way, his other goals will be but child's play to accomplish.

And thus we return full-circle to the beginning of the story. Thus the workspace, the tools, the virgin's blood and vials of plutonium necessary for in-depth experimentation. Let us begin here, on a lovely morning in early spring: Loki is in Doom's laboratory at the Embassy. Doom, for his part, is in the reception room, in conversation with Tony Stark, of Stark Enterprises.

"A lawsuit, really?" Amusingly, Stark has shown up in full Iron Man regalia, to serve notice of his suit. Do please say that he is frightened of what might happen. "And for copyright infringement?"

A shrug of red-and-gold shoulders. "They say the Feds finally got Capone for tax evasion."

Al Capone? A low-level American gangster? Doom is insulted by the comparison.

"The last time you attacked Stark Enterprises, you left one of your bots behind. Careless, Doom. You shouldn't do that when all their best tech is stuff you stole."

Doom steals nothing. "I improved on some of your designs."

"You stole them." Stark folds shiny metal arms. Really, the flexibility of his suit is quite admirable. "I've got the Stark blueprints that'll prove it, and then it will be your butt in a Federal prison, diplomatic immunity or no diplomatic immunity."

Such rudeness is inexcusable, even from a fellow scientist like Stark. Necessary now to squash the intruder. Doom rises. He folds his own arms, his armor equally flexible, if not more so, than Stark's. "You will leave now, Mr. Stark. You will leave or you will be..."

...Thrown out... The words are on his lips, – The Doom-bots are already entering to carry out his wishes. – but they do not fall. No affirmative action is taken at all, by either of them, and yet there is a rending, wrenching sound, as of metal tearing. Stark's so-precious, unreplicable Iron Man suit falls to the ground in shards, and where the man himself was... Where Doom should see Tony Stark, genius billionaire, philanthropist and erstwhile arms manufacturer, he instead sees... Instead there is...

...There is a baby there instead.