Ch 1-Blame it on the boogie!
Another embarrassing failure, another defeat by the fantastic four.
With the day of shame over, Doctor Doom withdrew to his private chamber to heal his wounds.
Not any physical ones, or mental ones.
For the pitiful Richards will never amount to a great enough threat to ever actually hurt Doom.
Nor were they wounds to his ego or pride, for Doom did not fail this day!
His success was merely postponed for another date.
A more glorious date!
No!
What he was recovering from was a self inflicted injury.
For this was not a victory of the Fantastic Four against Doom!
No! Doom simply did not come up with a plan that was masterful enough to truly showcase the power and the glory that was Doom!
Knowing that on a subconscious level, Doom had obviously made flaws in his perfect plan so it could be torn down, and throw a few crumbs of false victory to Richards for Doom was magnanimous and merciful, so in its stead a glorious new plan would rise like a phoenix from its ashes.
That was the truth!
That was why he lost.
Doom was defeated not by the fantastic 4. But by himself!
For only Dr Doom can defeat Doom!
As Doom sat down in his chair and savored his wine, Doom flipped through the channels on his tv monitor and found something that caught his attention.
It was a broadcast of a magnificent trombone player.
Doom did not recognize him, but he could tell from the black and white image that this was before he was born, and Doom could tell from the way his heavenly music flooded Doom's glorious ears, Doom knew that this was a man of talent amongst talent.
"Despite living and performing in the middle of the most heated hotbed of the segregated south, Mr Armstrong regularly drew in crowds of whites to his performances."
A voice over narration said and it showed clips from a huge crowd that was gathered at a stadium, and most of the crowd was composed of white concert goers.
And all of them were star struck by the man's performance.
They looked at him like he was their god!
Their object of worship!
Doom then realized that this one's music, this one who had dark skin could turn those that hated his kind, into his devout worhsippers!
Doom closed the television and moved towards his work desk.
Dr Doom now had a new plan.
A grandiose plan!
One that would prove worthy of the glory that was Doom and finally deliver the world into his grasp and the best part of the plan was that it was all legal!
"And now the world will finally understand that there is nothing that Doom cannot touch." He said to himself.
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The doors to the castle's main entrance burst open as the X-men made their way through castle Doom.
"Spread out and search the perimeter! We need to find Dazzler fast and spring her out before Doom reacts to our presents."
"Then you have already failed Mr Summers." The voice of the Castle's master said from atop the stairway that was at the other end of the hall.
"We've come here for Dazzler, we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Cyclops said and put his finger above the button that would lower his visor's filters and shoot his laser eye beam.
"And please…choose the hard way." Wolverine said and popped out his claws.
"Second door from the left, then third door on the right." Doom said and descended from atop the staircase.
This took back the x-men, not just the fact the their apparent foes was not hostile and said were his hostage was being kept, but also of the fact that in Doom's hand was a coffee mugged, filled with the aforementioned drink.
"Well? You said you wanted to talk to Miss Blaire. As I said, second door from the left, then third on the right." Doom said.
"Wait…you're just…..gonna let her go, just like that?" Rogue said, confusion and surprise in her voice, the same held true for the rest of the x-men.
"Miss Blaire is free to come and go as she pleases. Now if you'll excuse me, Doom has important business to attend to."
Doom said as he walked past the x-men, down the second door to the left, and then walked towards the third door, all the while the x-men followed suit, still confused at this weird turn of events.
This was not what they expected to happen when they invaded Castle Doom.
Doom opened the door and there was Dazzler!
„Flash light
Red light
Neon light
Ooh, stop light!"
Who was…was inside a recording studio, singing lyrics to a song.
"That's a wrap miss." Old man Boris, dr Doom's right hand man, said from his seat at the recoding controls.
"I steel feel it needs work. I mean this beat is supposed to make me a star, so we gotta polish the baby till it shines!" Dazzler said as she walked out of the recording booth and Doom handed her the cup of coffee.
"Thanks Victor-baby!" Dazzler said with a cheeky grin, stunning the x-men who all looked at each other with the expression of: 'Victor-baby?'
"You are most welcome miss Blaire. Please take a short break, before we begin recording once more."
"Really? That's pretty cool of you then baby! Most cats I worked with jumped on my jam every time I tried to take 5."
"Then they are fools! Rest is essential to productivity! Have none of them studied the great Henry Ford? He made Saturday a holiday, he gave away a whole day out of seven for relaxation and because of that his company was at one point so large that it was the American economy itself!"
Doom angrily said and balled his fists.
If there was one thing that Doom hated more than Richards, it was the stupidity of humanity!
"Oh hey guys! What's shaking, besides Gambit's rear every time he knows that Rogue is sneaking a piqué?" Dazzler asked.
"I da nat steal look at da swap rats posterior!" Rogue said embarrassed and red faced.
"Ya don't need to steal from me cher. Ma behind is all yars for da taken!" Gambit said, grinned and Rogue gave him a punch in the arm, which made his smile grow even bigger.
"That's enough! We came here to rescue you. At least that's what we started out with." Cyclops said to her.
"Rescue me? From what? Didn't you all get my message?" Dazzler asked in confusion.
"Yeah, but…well, when your message said and I quote: 'Gone to Latveria to record an album' we thought it was code for ' I was kidnapped by Dr Doom." Jean Grey replied.
"Wha?Oh…yeah I guess that makes sense."Dazzler.
"Anyway, what's going on here Doom?"
"As Miss Blaire has said before Mr Summers. She is here to record an album that I am producing and releasing on my new record label." Doom said as he walked into the recording studio and…..and…..and strapped on a base!
"W…wait…what did you say? What are you doing? What's going on?" Cyclops asked stunned at what was happening, his mind was still trying to catch up with everything.
"As I said before Mr Summers, I am producing a record for Miss Blaire for my new label. As for what I am doing, I am unsatisfied with the baseline on this track and I am doing another track. As for what is going on, I am entering the entertainment industry." Dr Doom said as he played a few practice bars on the base.
"Wait….so what yer saying bub is that…..Dr Doom is now a producer?" Wolverine asked.
"Yes Mr Howlett." Doom replied.
"Damn son, you really are true evil!"
"Doom is Doom My Howlett. He is far above such petty concepts as good and evil." Dr Doom said as he started playing a funky guitar base track.
"Oh yeah! That's it Victor-baby! You're killing it! That's shinning up as bright as a…..as a….!" Dazzler said and rushed back in the recording studio and started improvising some lyrics.
"Come in cyclops, how is the mission progressing?" Professor X said telepathically to his x-men.
"Well professor, we blast open the doors and found Dr Doom carrying coffee to Dazzler, who was singing in a recording studio with an old European peasant as the sound engineer for an American funk song."
"…Cyclops, have you been struck by hallucinogenic gass?"
"Flashlight! Flashlight! Oh ho ho!" Dazzler sang as Cyclops looked at the image of Dr Doom playing a funky song on base, about a flashlight with Dazzler.
"I wish I were." Cyclops said as the first hit song of Doom Records was being worked on.
This was Dr Doom's new plan!
This was the damn of a new age!
It was the age of Dr Doom-Producer!
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''Keeps the reader turning the pages''- Pennie Mae Cartawick, author of 'Sherlock Holmes: The Gaslight Collection'
"Think of Lovecraft and Poe, and then put on 3D glasses." -Howard Lipman- Author of the 'Delphic Oracle' and Tesla's Tower'
What if in the struggle between magic and science, magic was the victor?
What if technology disappeared and magic became what was used to colonize the galaxy?
What if now magic is used to wage war across the stars?
The imperial fleet's only hope for victory is the 'Hero of the Empire' Metternich. Too bad that the man many consider to be their greatest hero, is in fact their greatest coward.
Metty once more finds himself in a desperate situation on the Planet of Volun 4. Newly promoted to the rank of Commodore, he must take command of the defeated 378th fleet cops and lead it to victory against a superior foe, and he must do that before the arrival of an even greater enemy force, while also keeping his secret cowardice hidden from his own troops, lest they turn on him.
Meanwhile rebellion stirs in the Occupied Territories, as a mysterious figure called 'Nobody' emerges to rally the rebels and lead them to victory against the Empire. But is he truly their salvation?
Enemies to his front, vengeful rebels to his rear and surrounding him are allies that may betray him at any moment.
Just another weekday for poor ol' Metty.
-BALADA: a Song of Stars by RMSolea.
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