Undoing the Dumb 2 - (Marvel, VictorVonDoom!SI)
It's been six months since I got my Demonic Associate of the Royal kind, and only now I really knew how sloppy my clean-up effort had been after that tense day.
The next morning had given me the chance to speak thoroughly with Jezebel, and her answers were curt but enough to give me some insight on what I had been missing in dealing with the 'leftover astral particles'. I had to pass by the lab and use a specific spell to dispel those to prevent anyone from tracking those down.
Still, that wasn't how Jezebel ended up following me. No, despite my clumsy work, I had done enough to prevent an immediate response to my cheeky visit in hell.
The issue was that in my precog-tripping, I had ignored a particular element that I had not noticed through several of my scenarios: and that was that the day I picked for this move coincided right to the precise moment with Jezebel having a shouting session with her daddy. Something-something 'rocking things up and renovating for good reasons' which ultimately led to nowhere.
Well, should have led to nowhere as my arrival opened a portal she used to snuck out of her gilded cage. It sounded quite Disney, but since Marvel is owned by the company... I wouldn't call it a wild shot.
The first week was the most intense one as it was where most of our 'pattern' in handling the daily life at the State University would unfold. Jezebel could use a spell to go invisible, which is how she tracked me around after crossing the portal. The issue behind this 'universal solution' was that the spell was quite taxing when used too extensively.
A solution to this was shape-shifting, and so we mixed invisible stalking with regular stalking. And, at the same time, she also picked up new stuff from books and I helped her those things that Hell didn't teach her about.
While not a student at SU, Jezebel 'Hall' was a normal young woman that just took a liking for me. Reed picked up on my companionship and inquired, always in a teasing manner, if I was to introduce her eventually as my girlfriend.
Some would take it with a grin, others by giving out a punch. I just took it, nodded to him and then proceeded to quicken the process of finishing my education at the university. Differently from Richards who was not in a hurry due to Ben Grimm being a slow-learner as many others, I didn't see a point in lingering for too long.
I finished my studies with high grades and praises, and I was off to hit the road at 17. With my papers giving me a lot of influence, I was quite annoyed when my request to work at Stark Industries was shot down. I would later learn that the company had to shrink its workers' pool during this time, thus rendering my request quite an 'hindrance' than an interesting opportunity.
Howard was still the chief in charge as Tony should have been less than 10 at this point. And with that, any chance of finding employment there, for the time being, was not an option.
This was not the only option, but it was also not the only rejection I got, some of which even being born by personal reluctance to even push for it. The most obvious choice then would have been Dr. Strange.
Yes, surprisingly enough, Dr. Strange was far older than he looked to be and the man had just started his journey in his role as 'Dr. Strange, the Supreme Sorcerer'. Knowing my luck, involving myself with the guy meant getting back in the Mephisto's business which 'Mephista' didn't want to.
I actually sent a letter to be a technical assistant to Charles Xavier's school, but Mr. X rejected me since the 'school was selecting a specific group of educators and members of the staff'. Or, as I could translate it, we are still sticking with the 'Mutants-only school' idea rather than include non-mutants members to it.
Daily Bugle? I actually wrote that in the list of potential jobs as a funny cameo, but JJJ wasn't even in charge of the place and the Bugle was smaller than it will be in a few decades from now.
With several similar opportunities shot down, I ultimately found one of those 'crazy' ones standing out the most due to its hilarious connotations and potential.
What if I tried my hand in joining the Wild Pack?
At this point in time, the current leader was Ernst Sablinov, a renowned war criminal hunter. It was a group focusing on hunting down surviving Nazi and Hydra members, plus a whole lot of war criminals. While it wasn't the cleanest business, it was a place where I could make a few good friends and even get some insight on handling insurrections.
Like hell I was skipping on making Latveria my utopian fief once I had enough knowledge, resources and wealth to make it a goddamn heaven on Earth.
The process of sending my 'request' was a bit odder than most jobs, obviously, and it involved finding the right people in the Symkarian district of New York. Paying my way into the right place ultimately allowed me to send my work reference out.
It was then a time to wait and consider other options.
"I thought we were done considering other outlets for the time being," A bored Jezebel pointed out as we finally got back to our flat, a place that was fairly cheap and yet quite spacious due to the lack of furniture around. "You know, to take a break and rest a bit."
"Business isn't as free and available as it used to be," I pointed out, inviting the girl to sit with me with the lone couch in front of the TV. "The United States offer plenty of low-tier jobs, but for someone like me, who has big ambitions, I need to make lots of money fast and without printing money with magic."
She deflated as that was one of the ideas she offered to me. And I had to explain to her that this would have only caused a whole lot of economic issues in the long run. Especially with the kind of monetary capital I had to get to complete my plans.
"So..." She yawned as she got herself in a comfy lap-pillow position. "You're planning to just keep on working?"
"Until working becomes unimportant to produce money, Bel."
That being said, I wasn't exactly planning to pull a Richards and just neglect my friendship with Bel. I've introduced her to Cinema stuff and she was, much to my immense chagrin, a Trekkie and not a Star Wars fan.
I took her out to see other sights of New York, made her see the Central Park and all and... I guess those really felt like dates. It just never went anywhere as our situation was already fairly intimate. Maybe it was her nature, or my lack of care for physical contact if it was well-accorded between each other, or even the fact that I treated her as a life partner without going the extra step to lean in for kisses and more, but...
Jesus Christ, are we now a couple?
The question just popped into my mind, and it kept on appearing from time to time as these few weeks went on and it appeared that my hope to become a cool merc had gone down the drain. Well, that was until, one day, I got caught off-guard by someone ringing at the door.
Bel was right behind me as I moved to check who it was. Two tall men wearing dark clothes greeted me.
"Victor?"
I nodded.
"Mr. Sablinov is interested to meet you. Follow us."
Another nod, and as I gave a smile to the now-invisible devil girl, I left the house with her to follow where I was being taken. Turns out that our destination was the Central Park, a specific section that was far off from the more visited areas and one that had been quarantined by a few other shady-looking thugs.
In the middle of that spot was a small bench and, sitting there, was Ernst Sablinov himself. His hair had greyed out, and his blue eyes retained the same sharpness that made him a dangerous killer. He gave me a quick look as we approached and nodded as the guards stopped to guide me to him.
It was a 'solo trip' but where I expected for the conversation to start tame, I was surprised by a request from the crafty old man right as I sat besite him on the bench.
"Tell you friend to reveal themselves," He sharply remarked, the pseudo-Hungarian accent that was Symkarian caught me off-guard but I... kind of didn't hesitate in glancing in Jezebel's general direction. I could sense she was as surprised as I was, but she realized what I was silently asking and she dropped out of her invisibility spell.
She was still looking like a devil girl, but at least was putting on some proper clothes to avoid some awkward circumstances.
"...Who is she?"
"A friend. A trusted one," I replied calmly. "She comes as part of the bundle."
"Two for the price of one?"
"I would say four at the price of one since I can bring a scientist, a manual grunt and a magical user with just myself."
Bel scoffed. "Showoff."
The old man didn't say much for a moment, seemingly thinking about it and then gave me a tougher look.
"Why do you seek to join the Wild Pack?" Ernst inquired. "You are Latverian. Symkaria is the country where most of my soldiers come from. Our nations have been foes for long."
"I am Latverian, yes," I nodded in agreement. "But to say that what call itself 'Latveria' represents me would be a massive misunderstanding. King Vladimir is a monster and the Fortunov Royal Family took notes on Hitler's ideology. While they aren't exactly rounding up jews and creating concentration camps, they have been slaving the Romani, the Gypsies and those that they deem inferior to their might. My plan is, through effort and patience, to get enough resources to help my people overthrow this monster and create an utopia."
Ernst nodded at this, thinking some more about it and then reaching to pat my shoulder.
"I read from your letter that you are an orphan, young Victor. Tell me, how did it happen?"
"My mother was... a witch. She was a normal magician, but as the king's men started to harass our camps, she used dark spells to try and push them away. She sold her soul to the devil for a brief glimpse of power but... that made her hurt us more than those she sought to kill. She forced herself to stop and... some of the king's men got to her," I remembered the sight, my hatred of that pseudo-nazi bastard still raging over that event. "My father... after what happened with mother, he took me out of the country. He had tried to save face when he was asked to save the king's wife from the terrible ailment consuming her, but the illness was too much and we were forced to be exiled. We trailed to the alps and the cold ultimately claimed him."
...
"I am sorry to hear that, Victor. I can't give you what you wish at once, but I can tell you wish to work for it. And I shall give you work. Training? I shall forge you. But I need your consent for this, yes?"
I offered a smile and I turned to see that the elder was offering me a hand to shake with.
"Yes, sir."
AN
An interesting spin to things since Latveria and Symkaria are bordering countries with a troubled diplomatic past. Maybe that can be fixed and, at the same time, Victor can get his harem going as a certain young woman is starting her training to take revenge on her mother's killers.