Doom was elated. If he could, he would have frozen that moment of time into a single eternity of triumph. But of course, as all mortal beings must, he pushed forwards. There was more to accomplish, and he could not shirk from his responsibility.
Queen Veranke personally congratulated him, coming down into the arena amid the riotous cheering.
Now, a week later, he sat at dinner with her. Veranke's chambers were located past the atrium where they previously spoke. The dining room was the same white metal as the rest of the royal chambers, and a bay window looked into space. They sat at a long table and Skrull domestics served a bountiful dinner.
"I must confess, I would not have expected that sushi would have been your choice for a celebratory meal," Doom said, deftly selecting a roll with his chop-sticks.
Veranke finished swallowing before she spoke, "I discovered it when I had to hide in Tokyo with the New Avengers. It's probably the only human cuisine I actually enjoy. Despite the infiltration ritual, foods still tasted the same as before."
She picked up another roll, and held it up as she regarded it thoughtfully before continuing. "We could mimic anything; appearances, powers, even memories. Yet the taste buds stayed the same; our races must have quite different palates."
"So it would seem," he answered, remembering the Skrull brandy.
Veranke put the roll down and rested her elbows on the table, clasping her hands in front of her face before she spoke, "Now that you have killed your nemesis, what will you do?"
"You know that nemeses refers to an implacable force of righteous judgment? It would be more accurate to say that Doom was Richards' nemeses."
"And now you have your vengeance."
He wagged his chopsticks as he spoke, "Justice; not vengeance. I am not so great as to be able say I have never taken vengeance upon a man, but what I delivered upon Richards was a righteous judgment."
"So you say, but many would argue that Reed Richards was a good man. One must ask how such a man need be put to death." she challenged, almost playfully.
"And Doom would describe those people as imbecilic. Richards was blessed with an incredible intelligence, nearly the equal of my own, yet his mental apparatus was deprived in the realm of wisdom. When men such as we are blessed with such power, how can we look upon the grotesque nature of our world and not strive to correct it? Richards spent his entire life upholding a corrupt system that desecrates men into numbers, using his inventions for the creation of personal wealth and to slate his personal curiosities. Even more damning, when a greater man came, with a vision of a Just world, Richards jealously fought against me," Doom answered, bitterly.
"While that is undoubtedly a judgment, how are you so certain that it was Just? What is justice?" she asked wistfully.
"A curious question from one who claims to believe in God," he answered, resting his utensils.
Veranke gave a half-smile, "That is exactly why I ask the man who does not believe in God to explain justice. So indulge me."
"Very well. Vengeance is merely inflicting harm on one who has harmed you, with no consideration given to higher order values. Any cretin with enough power can inflict revenge, but it takes wisdom to execute justice."
"You have not answered my question; there is a difference between knowing what justice is and is not," she teased.
"Indeed so. Justice, in and of itself, is not a value; it is a manifestation of truth and merit. Without these, any so-called justice is a profanity; little better than base retaliation. Justice occurs when the correct values are expressed."
Veranke smiled, "But without God, how are these values informed? How can one know they exist?"
"There is a natural order to the world. If there is a God, he would inform us to what is the Good through understanding the laws he laid the world upon. Good choices will lead to Good results and a natural harmony will reign."
"A rather intellectual pursuit to the matter of faith, I suppose…So you are confident that you can identify justice, but the application of it is not so easy," she replied.
"The manifestation of justice must always be retribution; all other concerns are secondary. Through the punishment of evil, the wrong-doer is excised and others are dissuaded from such acts, thereby resulting in good."
"I struggle to believe that you think beings are naturally good," she said.
Doom snorted in derision before continuing: "Hardly. Man is ignorant and lazy, but if you keep them from doing evil, they will eventually stumble into doing some good. Such stumblings will eventually become the habits of righteous living."
"Perhaps."
"You disagree?" he said, returning his gaze to the alien queen.
"In a theological sense. You have a rather absolute concept of good and evil-" she tapped her pursed lips for a moment before continuing, "-and a somewhat cynical one at that. You assume if man avoids evil, he will be good."
"You accuse me of Manicheism?"
"Only if I knew what such a thing was!" she said with a laugh as she leaned back.
"The Manichees were a fairly recent religion, from 1700 years ago; they were a syncretistic sect with a well-developed cosmology pitting the forces of good and evil in an eternal and balanced struggle. They were one of the major competitors of early Christianity and were widespread from the Romans to the Chinese. In the end, they were stamped out in the various regions by the Romans, Christians, and Muslims," he explained.
"Ah! An obscure, persecuted religious sect? I'll have to look into that," she said, almost with glee.
He continued, somewhat surprised at her interest, "Regardless, the word can now be used to describe those who overly reduce conflicts into simple binaries."
"Indeed? Then I do accuse you of such; the absence of good is akin to evil. If you do not teach man to do good, they will never overcome their base nature."
"And teaching them to avoid evil is akin to teaching them good," he countered.
"It is a portion of it, and the most useful for the lay-masses. But they could still conceal evil in their hearts, and you will simply create clever devils. At best, you would cause them to act good from fear," she said.
He looked at the star-filled bay window as he thought. "I fail to see how that's relevant. Does God not do the very same thing in every religious tradition?" He returned his gaze to her. "Surely you would not claim a higher sense of justice than God."
Veranke chuckled before speaking, "No need for such sharp rhetoric, Doom. But the traditions teach positive requirements, besides the negative ones. Fear of punishment is useful for children and idiots, but men will need more to nourish the soul. And if they are not uplifted, they will fall again."
Doom rubbed his chin thoughtfully before he spoke, "There may be truth to what you say. But it is a far more pressing problem to end their evil ways. Good will hardly flourish in a garden of evil."
Veranke rested her chin in her hand as she replied "Perhaps so-" she stood up suddenly, "I think that is enough entertainment of the metaphysical variety. Come with me."
Doom rose from his seat and followed Veranke. She led him to her private chambers, which he assumed were well appointed from a Skrull point-of-view.
Lavish silks draped around walls, and the room itself was a soft red, giving a warm ambiance compared to the cold grey and purples of the rest of the ship. Fur carpets made from exotic alien beasts dotted the floor under the furniture. A single comfortable seat faced the window, and a modest table of strange marble sat on the other side of the room. A dark-wood vanity resided in another corner of the room, and the nearby walls had drawers built in. Opposite of the entrance, a lustrous bed sat, draped in royal purple.
Queen Veranke undid a clasp near her neck, and her scintillating metallic cloak slipped off of her shoulders. With cat-like motion, she strode to the bed. As she set herself upon it, her form changed. In a shimmer of scales, her green skin turned alabaster, and her hair shifted to a rich blonde as she lolled her head back. Another moment later, and she was the exact copy of Sue Storm.
"Perhaps we should consider entertainment of the more physical variety," she said, coyly.
Doom stepped forwards, crossing his arms as she spoke, "You debase yourself with such form."
"Hmmm-" she said with another feline tilt of the head. "Something more regal then?"
A new flutter of scales crossed her body, white skin shifting to ebony. Her blonde hair glittered into pure white and she took the form of Ororo Munroe as she luxuriated into the bed.
"Better...But I would see you as you are," he said.
"You could ask for the shape of any woman on earth, but instead you would choose me to appear as a Skrull?" she asked.
"I merely ask that you appear as your spirit would have you appear."
This seemed to surprise her. As Veranke returned to her original form, she appeared almost demure.
"Perfect," he said, unclasping his mask.
"-and as you can see our hydroponics are fully self-sufficient," Viceroy Enj'Trl droned on.
The Viceroy lead Doom, Veranke, and her royal guard on a tour of the Skrull colony ship. It was the morning after their celebratory dinner. Queen Veranke had insisted on giving him a tour of the vast ship. Of course he would never give up the chance to gather important information about the craft.
He had given the Super-Skrull bodyguards their own names in his mind. There was the X-Skrull, who combined Cyclops, Colossus and Wolverine; the Sinister-Skrull who combined Scorpion, Doctor Octopus, and Green Goblin; the Mystic-Skrull, who was made of Ghost Rider, Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch; the Defensatrix-Skrull, who was a mix of Jean Grey, Emma Frost and Medusa; the Avenger-Skrull, who combined Thor, Iron Man and Captain America; and the Defender-Skrull, who combined Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Moon Knight.
The group made their way through a central walkway above the stadium sized hydroponics farm. The room was pleasant, with high ambient humidity from the water that misted through the chamber, and an aroma of fresh foliage replaced the odour of sterile metal through the rest of the ship. Here and there, Skrull workers walked up and down the rows of plants, taking measurements with various instruments.
The Viceroy continued his explanation of the farm, "Energy is provided from the reactor, which overcomes the traditional problems of needing more energy to produce the food then it provides. Relative to weapons, shields or engines, the energy consumption of the farm is paltry."
Doom did not particularly care. He had grown weary with this visit, and he had become turned around during the lengthy tour. Fortunately his armour was creating a map of their pathway, but as near as he could tell, they had taken a rather illogical route. It was likely that they were steering around operationally sensitive areas. That was also useful information. As he ruminated on these thoughts, the Viceroy continued droning on as he led the group.
They made their way to the end of the catwalk, and walked up a short set of stairs, passing under an archway. The next chamber was a wide hallway lined with doors. The Viceroy described it as one of the many lift hubs on the ship. A good deal of Skrulls, both military and civilian bustled to and fro. As the group passed through the hub, the other Skrulls parted the way, bowing their heads as their Sovereign passed.
As the end of the hall, they came to a heavy-set door, and the Viceroy waved a palm over a nearby pad. The bulkhead door opened, and the group passed into what was obviously a control room of some kind. From the level they entered, the room was sunk into a terraced pit, each wall and level full of monitors and manned by Skrull technicians. A central set of stairs lead down from their platform. The opposite wall had large view screen depicting the Earth, with overlays of relevant data.
"And this is one of our observation decks. From this operational zone we can gather inelegance from across the whole globe. Anywhere one of our ships or your satellites can see is filtered to this data center," Viceroy Enj'Trl stated, proudly.
"Impressive," Doom said. While this was relevant intelligence for him, it was hardly surprising such a place existed. In fact, he would have been surprised if it did not exist. But he had to keep up the appearance of an impressed outsider, at awe with the achievements of his conquerors.
There was a short shrill of an alarm, and one of the alien technicians in the bottom data pit turned back and yelled, "Majesty, there's a rebel attack!"
"Where?" demanded Veranke.
"Latveria!" answered the technician.
"What!?" Doom spat. He shoved one of the royal guards aside as he charged down the stairs. His mind whirred; which group of fools would dare attack his homeland now?
The technician put the feed on the main screen. A group of over a dozen American super heroes where flying at high speed over the Latverian countryside.
Leading them was Ms. Marvel and Warmachine. The view was from inside Doomstadt on one of the main streets. It was obviously fed from a Skrull shape shifter living amongst the Latverian populace. Doom knew that there were several, so this did not perturb him. He had left them in place deliberately.
The recorder turned and dashed into an alley for cover before returning his gaze to the sky. Warmarchine had stopped in the air, and was unloading his cannon and rockets into the street below. Doom's patrolling robots and human guards attempted to rally and fight back, but they were scythed down by high-caliber fire from their air-born assailant.
He couldn't believe his eyes!
"No…" was all he could muster to say in that moment.
There were cries of terror as the rest of the super humans passed overhead. Bolts of energy, ice, and fire all fell on the fleeing Latverians, blasting houses and vaporizing fleeing victims. What servo-guards where left were attempting to draw fire from civilians, but they were just as quickly destroyed in the savagery of the attack.
A nearby explosion knocked the recorder on the ground. Stunned, he took a moment to lift himself up, turning his gaze towards the castle. Doomstadt burned in the foreground, and there were tremendous blasts of energy and explosions around the castle in the distance. Doom knew his defences well, and he could tell they would be swiftly overwhelmed by this surprise attack.
He felt himself trembling with rage as the call for vengeance boiled within him. It was clear that the Skrulls were impersonating known resistance super humans and they thought they could trick him. That they thought this would bring him closer into their fold was farcical.
He became dimly aware of Veranke speaking "...and we could have forces there to assist within the hour."
Doom wheeled around. She had her hand up to her mouth, her expression a perfect look of regretful concern. His choler grew uncontrollable when he saw that deceitful expression,
"You perfidious witch!" he yelled, firing a blast from his gauntlet.
One of the Super-Skrulls stepped in the way, the X-Skrull, and he took the blast on his chromium hide. Veranke's expression turned from concern to a disdainful sneer in a flash.
It was a trap. It was obviously a trap.
He realized that his odds of survival were now essentially nil. But he would at least have his revenge on the one who would dare to strike down his beloved people. He could do no less.
He extended his hand, focusing a magnetic field around the X-Skrull, and with a sharp motion, he flung the alien to the side. The massive creature smashed into the wall, crushing several of the Skrulls still at their stations.
As Doom stormed up the stairway, the Avenger-Skrull stepped forwards. It had already begun spinning its hammer, but Doom fired a plasma blast from his other gauntlet, knocking the weapon out of the Skrull's hand as he tried to shield himself with it. A follow-on blast to the creature's legs took him down he raised his shield.
Returning his attention to Queen Veranke, Doom saw that she had barely moved, clasping her hands behind her back, supremely confident in her praetorians. A metallic tentacle caught him in the face with a blow, and the Sinister-Skrull leapt forward. A Scorpion-like tail came from the Skrull's back, heading straight for Doom's face.
He caught the tail with one hand, the large underslung blade mere centimeters from his eyes. He electrified his gauntlet, and jolt of current leaped and arced up the tail, causing the Skrull to jerk and crackle. In a quick twisting motion, Doom turned around, flinging the alien over his head like a fish caught on a line. The creature landed in a heap, smashing consoles in a shower of sparks.
Doom turned quickly, but was caught by ruby blast. The X-Skrull launched a powerful optic beam. He blocked it with one hand as his shields drained, and the Mystic-Skrull launched magical red chains at him. As he held the optic blast at bay with one hand, Doom summoned his own magical forces, and dispelled the incoming red bands with a dismissive chop.
Alarms blared as his shields steadily drained from the optic beam, and Doom deftly twisted out of the way, launching a heavy plasma blast at the X-Skrull. The blast struck the visor of the alien, shattering its ruby band, and the alien's optic beam became wide and unfocused for a moment, frying a few Skrull technicians before he managed to cover his face with his hands.
More crimson chains flew at Doom from the Mystic-Skrull. As he prepared to dispel them again, a tentacle from the Sinister-Skrull caught his hand at the wrist, fouling the precise moment. His arm was wrenched painfully backwards as he was entrapped by the chains.
The magical chains mimicked the crimson Bands of Cyterok effectively, seeming unbreakable as Doom was pulled down to his knees. He tried to turn his free hand toward to the Mystic-Skrull to fire a blast at him, but another metal tentacle lashed out and grabbed his wrist. That arm was likewise painfully pulled back.
He found that he was entirely unable to move as the group of aliens loomed before him.
He searched his memory for a spell to break something like the Crimson Bands; even if he electrified his armour to get the Sinister-Skrull to let go, he was now fully immobilized by the magical bindings. He felt the familiar brain tickle of a telepath seeking entrance into his mind, no doubt originating from the Defensatrix-Skrull.
Suddenly, his head was wrenched back, and the Defender-Skrull rested one of his curved blades on his neck.
Doom was not a man who felt fear, not in the conventional sense of the word, but he felt the weight of tragedy set upon him. The thought that humanity would have to go on without his guidance filled him with sorrow. His only regret was that he could not exact vengeance for his beloved Latverian people.
Queen Veranke came down the stairs, clapping in a slow mocking manner. "A valiant effort, Doom."
"How did you know?" he said, fixing her with hate filled eyes.
He saw the X-Skrull pull himself out of the wreckage. The creature was breathing raggedly. At least he managed to wound that beast.
"Well, to say that I ever truly trusted you would be inaccurate. No one would be fool enough to do so. My suspicions where roused when I showed you Tony Stark. Everyone 'knows' that he died when we invaded, yet you seemed more surprised that he was Skrull then that he was alive. From that point, I decided you would need a test."
"Duplicitous hierodule," he cursed.
She gave a short chuckle before continuing, "There's another word I'll have to look up sometime. Regardless, you did an immense service to the Empire. The destruction of Wakanda merited reward, so it was only right that you should see the death of Reed Richards before your schemes came to naught."
She kneeled down, and rested a hand on his metallic cheek as her voice took a softer tone, "It is unfortunate that you were unable to see past your own pride, Doom. However, I will ensure that you receive an appropriate death," she said before standing and turning away.
He felt the overwhelming psychic pressure of the Defensatrix-Skrull push down on his consciousness. He resisted, preparing to cast her efforts from his mind, when one of the Defender-Skrull's massive fists cracked into his face. He briefly tried to shake off the concussion before the telepathic incursion pushed him into the darkness.