Avenging
Act IV
The Hate Monger and the Peacemaker
Interlude 1
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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.
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Saeko Mizuno was relaxing in her kitchen, enjoying some music, when there was a knock at the backdoor. Curious as to what sort of 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 such 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 stairway 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 wide range 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 successfully 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. 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. It had required a bit of consideration, 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 that you were expelled over some sort of accident. Shortly after that she learned she was pregnant, but you had gone to contemplate your navel in some mountain in Tibet and she had no idea on how to contact you. So she decided to raise me herself. Eventually, you became the 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." It was always to one's benefit to keep everyone off guard, even family.
At least the details were accurate, when filtering Saeko's temperamental nature and descriptions. Meeting Saeko was the one thing in the world in which Doom's painful acquaintance with that clod, Grimm, had been beneficial. Grimm and Richards had been going to a mixer, and Reed had invited Doom along. 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 that juncture was no reason to imply he lacked an ability that any commoner could manage. Why, Doom even had a girlfriend, though he had left Valeria behind in Latveria. So on this one occasion Doom accepted 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 be a mere 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 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 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 in leadership ability 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 others felt like when they 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 this defiance in another when he was in charge of his country, he would have had them 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 around 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 things 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 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 her 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 appallingly disobedient," Doom informed her.
"Wouldn't help you with the coup, huh?"
Blast. This was what happened when you let a woman get 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 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]
