Emerald Hill
In a small clearing of the island, the area began to sparkle and glow before flashing in the shape of another hedgehog; Silver the Hedgehog.
The time-traveler held out a Time Stone and put it away as he looked. Sonic should be around here somewhere. The Time Stones were always kind of finnicky when it came to finding someone's location-
And the form of a sudden blue blur rushed past him, kicking up dust and loose blades of grass. Silver batted away the obstructions and watched as Sonic ran across the grassy plains, traversing the many loop de loops that encompassed it.
"Yep, there's Sonic, alright." He muttered to himself as a green aura encompassed him as he flew to the blue blur's location.
Sonic, meanwhile, was quite euphoric, feeling the wind rush through his quills and fur and taking in the scent of the tropical environment around him.
It was like a good old trip down memory lane. This was the first place he and Tails started their first adventure on. He can still vividly remember the trees where the Coconuts would throw their, well, coconuts at them. The Buzzers and Mashers rushing to attack him from both above and below. And of course, Eggman's car with a drill on it which they trashed with ease. Good times, good times indeed.
"Sonic!" A voice cried out to him. He turned to see the flying form of Silver hovering next to him.
The blue blur skidded across the floor upon seeing his friend, his heels kicking up dirt as he made a total brake. Silver stopped shortly after he did.
"Silver!" he beamed, running up to the other hedgehog, "long time no see! Though I guess for you time is relative isn't it?"
"Very funny," Silver flatly said.
"So, what's the status of the future?" The blue hedgehog asked, immediately deducing as to why he was here, "Not good?"
The time-traveler sighed, "I wouldn't be here if it was." He muttered before pulling out the tattered flag his mentor gave to him, "it all has to do with this."
Sonic grabbed the flag and observed it for a bit, "Eggman building some secret club or something?" He asked with a raised brow.
Silver just shrugged, "I don't know," he muttered, getting the flag back from Sonic, "all I know is that this 'Doombringer' is the one who will bring our world to ruin."
"Doombringer,' huh?" Sonic muttered, "sounds like serious business."
"You have no idea," Silver grimaced, shuddering at the very memory of the void, "we need to find the others and tell them about this."
"Took the words out of my mouth, Sil."
The white hedgehog just thinned his lips at the nickname. Sonic was his friend and all, and definitely earth's greatest hero, but sometimes he really wanted to throw a mountain at him.
Sonic then put his hands on his hips, "So, where should the meeting be?"
"The usual spot." Silver answered.
Sonic then pulled out a wrist communicator, "One call to the Kingdom of Acorn coming up!"
Eggman Outpost Theta
The sun was setting on Soleanna, giving the skies a lush orange. It was a shame Doom could not see it in-person and only on the monitor of a camera feed. Eggman insisted he didn't go outside, let alone away from anyone's sight. He would have to make due.
Surprisingly, shortly after finishing his armor, Victor was called in for dinner. Eggman was not one to be totally inhospitable, it seems. He took the offer, of course.
He was not in Latveria, so he knew that dinner wouldn't be up to his standards, but he expected something far better than… this.
The room, tables, and chairs were all a featureless white, save for the circuitry and glowing lines that shined every now and then. Not exactly a welcoming visage, especially since he was the host, but he will (never) admit he was a bit too used to the grand gothic decors of his castle in Doomstadt. And for a tech-savvy genius like Ivo, it fits his occupation.
But what was truly inexcusable was dinner.
He knew robotic chefs could never truly replicate the feeling of good cooking that a human could, but at least they followed the recipes to the letter, doing the bare minimum. But this? This was an outrage.
He had requested a simple meal of soup, salad, and a side of bread. But what he got was anything but. The bread was so soggy, he was certain the dough was still raw, the soup was cold, and the salad was hot. How was that even possible!?
Just looking at it made his stomach churn. It was not only an insult to him, but to the culinary arts and quality of standards everywhere.
And yet, he still ate it, in spite of his dissatisfaction. Doom knew how important manners were and to deny a free meal, even one like this, would be a great insult to the host.
If only his host knew of proper table manners. He was gorging down a steak with the ferocity of a wild wolf. If he gorged down his food any faster, he would probably choke on his own meal.
He's had dinner with the Cimmerian King of Hyboria, yet somehow, he had better manners. And he was a literal barbarian.
Needless to say, Doom ate at his own pace, the mouthpiece of his mask having been retracted to allow him to eat the less than quality food. He reached for the glass of wine and took a sip, looking at how the non-organics either stood or hovered to the side of the table without anything to eat. Though the cube and spherical one were sipping coffee somehow.
As he reached for his glass of wine that tasted of artificial grape flavors, he noticed Sage glaring at him, as she's done ever since he met them all, but this gaze was less one of thinly-veiled contempt, but rather curiosity.
"Query," she stated, getting his attention, "why do you cover your face?"
"Sage!" Eggman called out, but Doom held up a hand to tell him he was fine with the question.
"I was wounded." He flatly answered, refusing to elaborate further and Sage could tell he was not in the mood for another question of similar nature.
Eggman leaned forward, wishing to change the subject, "on the matter of less… intrusive questions," he started, "what other suggestion do you have for my army? To make conquering the world easier for me, of course."
Doom sipped his wine before answering. "Robotic doubles."
"I have those already." Ivo grimaced.
"One can never have enough," Doom elaborated, "my Doombots were the perfect proxies and distractions for my meddlesome adversaries. Though they are often so advanced, they sometimes convince themselves that they are the real Doom."
With that, Eggman raised a brow, "how do I know I'm not talking to one right now?"
"Would you like to see my heart ripped out of its chest?" The monarch said in a dead serious manner.
The mood became quieter than usual. Orbot and Cubot twiddled their thumbs while looking to the side while Sage just had a look of disgust on her face. Metal Sonic didn't care. Eggman then harrumphed, "I'll take your suggestion, I suppose." He said, stroking his mustache in thought.
Doom continued on with his subpar food, finishing it rather quickly, though not at all bothering with the bread.
"I have a request of my own, Ivo." Doom asked, tossing the spoon into the now empty bowl. "I believe it is only fair you heed one of mine after all the favors I have granted…"
The air became even more tense. Sage narrowed her eyes while Metal ever so slightly primed his claws…
The not-so-good doctor, however, seemed to chuckle, lightening the mood, "You scratch my back…" he half-joked.
"I wish to know about your enemies." Victor folded his hands in front of him, "And I request books regarding information about your world's history."
Ivo raised a brow, "ignoring how that request was a two-parter, I'm a bit surprised you didn't ask for something more… pragmatic."
"If I am to help defeat your enemies, I must know them," Doom elaborated, "not just through their battle tactics, but through their histories, philosophies, and arts…"
Sage would never admit it out loud, but his statement was most logical.
Ivo smiled. Chatting with someone who even remotely matched his intellectual curiosity was as rare as it can be and he was so glad that was the case with Doom.
"I like how you think, Doom," he grinned, motioning to his daughter, "Sage, prepare several data packs for his cell. Updated history, of course."
Sage nodded and teleported away in a flash. Eggman got up and stretched his arms, "well, I'd say that was a fine dinner. Wouldn't you?"
Doom glared, "it was adequate." Was all he answered as he got up, Metal heading towards his side for it was his turn to escort him to his prison cell.
Metal was even less of a talker than Sage. Perhaps he was not built with a vocal processor. However, something in the automaton made him more on edge than the others. Metal seemed to carefully analyze his every move whenever he was around. Like how one would observe a colony of microorganisms under a microscope. There was an intent in his gaze. What it was, Doom does not know.
But he kept a close eye on him, likewise.
When Doom entered his cell, he noticed a few books on his bed, Sage floating next to it.
"As you requested, a few textbooks regarding our world's history." She flatly intoned, "several hard drives containing information on our enemies shall arrive to your cell, shortly."
Doom only nodded, heading to the bed and letting his finger trace over the many books that lay on it, Sage left him alone as Doom pondered on where to start first.
Avengers Mansion, Earth 9723
We take a slight detour in this tale to check up on Doom's homeworld where Earth's Mightiest Heroes are resting after a long day of bureaucratic interference…
Tony Stark sighed. SHIELD has been pestering him all day about the attack on Latveria with the F4 and was just annoying him for hours straight with no end.
Ever since Maria Hill became director since Fury's resignation, she had been constantly hounding the Avengers for the tiniest of things. If it wasn't pestering him about government registration, it was constant criticism over the tiniest of details, like which window was broken or which lamppost was bent at the wrong angle.
The only other heroes that got harassed this much were the X-Men.
With another sigh, he took another sip from his coffee as the others began to gather in the kitchen. Clint, T'Challa, Janet, and Monica, all gathered for dinner, courtesy of Vision, who made a rather lovely looking batch of steaks and baked potatoes.
Tony didn't join them for dinner, for he had lost his appetite after dealing with Hill. He just kept staring out the window and gazing at the setting sun. He then noticed T'Challa walking up to him, hands behind his back.
"Hey, T'Challa." He muttered, looking out the window to get a good look at the city, "not hungry?"
"Not today." The king glumly replied, "my mind has been weary as of late."
"Yeah, I know." Tony sighed, "The idea of Doom mucking about without us knowing scares me."
"Some of the other Avengers have been celebrating Doom's disappearance."
"They should know better…" Tony mumbled.
The two were then silent. Yes, no trace of Victor was left when the Norn Stone's energies consumed him, but they fought him long enough to know he was far more difficult to destroy than that. Even cosmic annihilation couldn't bring him down for good.
"Almost everyone we know, is searching for him," the Black Panther said, without having been asked, "Thor is in Asgard with Karnilla, searching for which realm the missing Norn Stone belongs to, Mr. Fantastic is attempting to lock onto a trail from the residual energy of the Norn Stone, and Doctor Strange is scouting the wider multiverse. Same with Captain Britain using their self-named corps."
"What about you?" Tony queried.
"I have been far too focused on politics, sadly." T'Challa dejectedly answered, "Wakanda has been under heavy scrutiny as of late, especially from Director Hill.
"Still bugging you about your Vibranium mines?" The billionaire asked.
"As usual." T'Challa smirked, "And you?"
"I haven't done much on my end. Nothing Reed hasn't been doing, anyways."
T'Challa noted that he seemed dejected at his statement. He put a hand on his shoulder, "We are doing what we can, Stark," the king reassured, "progress is never instant."
Stark just nodded and stroked his beard, deep in thought. What could he do that the others weren't doing? Every task they did were all of tremendous importance but a small part of him couldn't help but wonder if they were doing enough. Wouldn't
Tony then had an idea… A potentially bad one, but perhaps worth the risk.
"This is kind of a stupid idea, but…" Tony motioned him to come closer and whispered something in the king's ear. When T'Challa pulled back, he had quite the raised brow on his face.
"Stupid idea is underselling it, Stark." He muttered.
"I know, but I should note it's an absolute last resort," The billionaire sighed, "until we've exhausted all options."
"It pains me to say, Stark, but that may happen sooner than later."
"You're agreeing to it?"
"Not necessarily…" T'Challa clarified.
All of a sudden, Hawkeye seemed to drop in, "what are you two mumbling about?"
Tony sipped his coffee and moved away from T'Challa, "rich people stuff." He flatly answered, "you wouldn't get it."
Clint frowned, "Ha. Ha."
He had to admit, the possibility of them never finding Doom haunted him to no end. It haunted him so much that he couldn't even work on any new suits to pass the time.
Stark held up a faceplate of one of his many armors in one hand and tapped his desk with his fingers with the other. He thinned his lips with a sigh as he leaned against said desk in deep thought.
"Procrastinating, sir?" The sudden voice of Jarvis said, interrupting the billionaire from his malaise.
"Something like that," he muttered, "I just can't get my mind off recent events."
He put down the faceplate with a sigh, "everyone's doing their part to find Doom, but we've made no progress."
"It's only been a day, sir."
"That's one day too long," Stark exasperated, "we need to find a way to… speed things up."
Silence, save for the sounds of beeping from various monitors across the workshop.
"This is the prelude to one of your ideas, isn't it?" The AI seemingly snarked, much to Tony's annoyance, therefore he didn't answer.
T'Challa's stance on the matter was strange, but he knew a man as smart as him might be compelled to take the logical action. That only left a few other candidates. He'll save Reed and Strange for last.
But he knew there was one person he knew who would immediately approve of something like what he planned… All he had to do was set up an appointment.
"Jarvis, prep my suit." he commanded.
"Late night patrol, sir?" the AI asked.
"A sudden visit." He clarified, "page in Xavier's Mansion for me."
Kingdom Valley
Twilight was beginning to settle on the valley as the last bits of light were slowly creeping down the horizon. And in the sky, disturbing the peaceful clouds, flew in a G.U.N. dropship.
"Arriving at Kingdom Valley." said the pilot of the vessel Team Dark was in. Speaking of, they had already gotten ready to deploy. Shadow cracked his neck, Rouge put away some bombs, and Omega's internal systems flared to life as could confirm he was now armed to the teeth.
"Commence airdrop in five… four… three… two… one."
The door to the gunship opened and all three rushed out before the pilot could say, "Happy landing, Team Dark."
The three leapt off and aimed towards a stone platform at the edge of the water. Even from up here, they could see the ruined buildings and gigantic lake that encompassed the valley.
Letting her wings slow her descent, Rouge landed with the style and grace of a ballerina, her heels clicking against the aged bricks.
Shadow activated the jets beneath his air shoes, letting him slow his descent to a reasonable speed. At the right height, he deactivated them, and landed with a bit more force than her, forcing him to kneel a bit.
Omega then landed with the grace of a bunker buster, just barely activating his thrusters to just ever so slightly soften his landing. On impact, his pedes shook and cracked the stone platform beneath them.
"Careful, Omega!" the thief yelled, "this whole place is fragile."
Omega just turned his head at the bat, "CAREFUL IS NOT IN MY DICTIONARY."
"Who taught you how to have a sense of humor?" She remarked before turning around, pulling out a digital map on a tracker, letting it beep for a few seconds.
She painted northward, "if we head over there, there should be a water vortex that leads out of this ravine. That should lead us to the location."
"AND EGGMAN'S BASE." Omega added.
"Possibly," she smiled.
"Then let's get moving." Shadow said, almost an order.
So the three proceeded, but Shadow's ears then twitched hearing a brief rush of water. His fur stood up again as though he got goosebumps. That didn't happen until three hours ago. He looked behind him to see if anything was wrong, but he could see nothing besides the ruins that dotted the lake.
"Shadow?" Rouge asked, getting his attention, "What's the hold up?"
He gave one last gaze to his surroundings, "I thought I heard something," he answered.
Rouge thinned her lips, "don't tell me you're getting paranoid already."
Shadow didn't answer her and just rushed forward, the other two following suit. The sooner they got out of the valley, the closer they were to solving this mystery.
Had they stuck around, they would have seen half a man's head emerging from the water, watching Team Dark go on their way. His eyes were as cold and calculating as a serpent's own. He quickly submerged himself back into the water and proceeded to follow them in the depths…
G.U.N. Supermax Prison
Years after Prison Island was reduced to a wasteland thanks to Eggman, G.U.N. had been forced to construct a new supermax prison to house some of the world's most dangerous criminals, terrorists, and villainous masterminds. The cells have been filled quite nicely thanks to the efforts of Sonic and the Freedom Fighters, along with the likes of Team Dark, though they didn't try to give them all the credit. The organization has been facing lots of scrutiny ever since the incident with the Ark or especially the Black Arms invasion and they always tried to save face whenever possible.
Deep in the confines of the labyrinthian hallways, was the special containment wing, housed for the most dangerous, insane, and ruthless of their prisoners.
One particular inmate was having quite the scene. Walter "Ixis" Naugus was making quite the ruckus in his cell. More than usual, anyways. He attempted to scratch away at the padded walls in front of him. Whether it was his usual crazed state or in a fit of rage, the guards could not tell.
Agent Madonna put a hand on her chin with a curious gaze at the feed from the observatory overlooking his cell. Naugus had been doing so well as of late when it came to his behavior. Irate? Absolutely, but a crazed state like this hasn't been seen in a long time. She wondered why he would relapse like this.
The camera feed of his cell - an enclosed glass cube - showed him jumping up and down at the camera, no doubt trying to get their attention.
"The prisoner is attempting to speak, ma'am." A soldier told her.
"Patch it through," she ordered, the soldier pressing a button letting them hear his words.
"DO YOU NOT FEEL IT!?" The sudden loud voice through the speakers made everyone wince, "THE OUTSIDER IS HERE! THE OUTSIDER IS HERE!"
She pushed a button, letting her communicate with the wizard, "calm down, Walter," she sternly said, "or we'll be forced to use sedatives."
The wizard just seethed, "How can you stand there knowing the end times are coming?"
The blonde sighed, taking her finger off the button. Just another one of his crazed ramblings. She told the guards to administer the knockout gas and be done with it. The guards nodded and one of them pressed a button, releasing the gas into the cell.
From his cell, Naugus only clenched his fists, trying to hold his breath to resist the gas but to no avail. "Doom… is coming to us all…" He muttered before the gas knocked him out.
Xavier's Mansion
Tony sat across a table in a dark room, said room illuminated only by the moonlight outside. His hands were neatly folded in front of him as the figure on the other side tapped said table with her fingers in boredom. Her fingers and hands were pretty much the only thing visible thanks to the darkness of the room.
Tony smacked his lips, "I know that I don't approach you with these kinds of things," he began, "and I know the last time I did this… ended badly."
The woman kept tapping her fingers on the table, as if just telling him to go on. He continued, "and I also don't approach you given your…" he paused, as if searching for the right word, "... history."
She stopped tapping her fingers. Tony took that as a sign to get on with it, "but ironically, it's your history that has taken me to you," he put his folded hands on his chin, "you're the perfect candidate for this should the opportunity arise. I half-joked about it to McCoy, but he didn't seem amused."
"I cannot blame him." the woman spoke, her British accent notable.
Stark furrowed his brow, "Me neither."
"You sound desperate." she let out what sounded like an amused chuckle.
Tony furrowed his brow, "to tell you the truth, I'm definitely getting there," he kept speaking, "Reed and Strange are still working on finding Doom, but something tells me they aren't gonna get any results." He tapped his fingers together as he let out a small exhale, "and what little I can do won't be of much help either."
The woman stayed silent as he finished what he had to say. "Doom is out there, somewhere. He could strike when we least expect it. You've worked with him before so if anyone knows as to how he thinks besides us, it's you."
"Don't expect me to help you search for him." She said, trailing her finger across the rim of an empty wine glass.
"I won't, I won't," Stark clarified, "and just letting you know, this is a last resort thing-"
"Get to the point, already." She interrupted.
He sighed once more, "I feel like kind of a jerk for plotting this behind everyone's back… but we need to be prepared."
He leaned forward, his tone deathly-serious, "Should this opportunity come, my only question to you is… are you in?"
After a pregnant pause, the woman pushed back her chair and walked to him in the shadows, her heels clicking against the floor giving off a slight echo in the room.
She spoke, revealing more of herself with every step, "I'm quite glad you approached me on this, Stark," she whispered, her tone almost flirtatious. She finally stepped out of the shadows, revealing her all-white outfit that looked like it came straight out of a BDSM convention, her platinum-blonde hair and ivory skin complimenting said outfit,
She finished her words with a smirk, "there truly isn't a better candidate than yours truly."
Tony smirked as he stood up from his seat, "I'll take that as a 'yes' then?"
She nodded, holding out a hand for him to shake, so he did as she finished what she had to say.
"This Illuminati thing should be quite fun."