Morden Man

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

Because samples are pointless, and a waste of space, so they are half-assed or simply old posts that are linked for reference. Abolish samples when?

_{Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are purely personal and do not represent the viewpoints and beliefs of the roleplaying community as a whole.}

@Retired

I don't disagree with their necessarily being useless – I ran a game before where I just asked people to link to old posts so as to ascertain that they could actually write. So I'm sympathetic to that argument.

But yeah, like I said, if actually take the time to use it to write your first post, I think it can have some use. Though arguably your first post might not always be the most representative of what you'd like to do.

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

As much as copying a sample-post into the IC I'd assume.

@Tackytaff

I honestly didn't realise that anyone didn't use their sample post to just write their first post out. Why wouldn't you?

It's never really made sense to me.

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

I will. It makes me look bad.

So quick question: In mainstream DC continuity, the New God's come from Earth-4, often represented as "Jack Kirby's Fourth World". The Earth-4 is a universe entirely of it's own without the usual superheroes parading around (I imagine that they are what Kirby refers to as The Old God's who had died). Thanks to book tubes and mother boxes and what-have-you they can travel across the multiverse and frequently cross into whatever the mainstream DC Comics world is at the time. So here's the question, are The New Gods of this world unique to one particular universe, or are there infinite worlds full of different New Gods? Because if there is only the one set of New God's across the multiverse, then this games Darkseid has a nice head start.

@Nightrunner

I'm inclined to agree with @Lord Wraith on this one.

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

I'd complain about you burying my Gardner reveal, but I ain't ever going to be mad at anyone for posting twice in twelve hours.

Keep up the good work.

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

Castle Doom, Latveria

Reed Richards and Victor von Doom stood in congress on the roof of Castle Doom. In the distance Mount Sorcista loomed over the Latverian plains. Legend had it that the mountain was home to a demon sorceress that had once ruled Latveria with an iron fist. Though the city below them still bore the signs of conflict there was no denying that it was an architectural marvel.

Sue’s doubts had begun to bleed into Reed. He had thought with the help of Doom he might be able to repair their craft within the week. He was wrong. Yesterday the four of them had taken the decision to leave Latveria to seek help elsewhere.

Where else but New York?

First Reed had been forced to make a call that he suspected he might come to regret. In his world they had worked closely with SHIELD once. Indeed, the organisation had sponsored the ill-fated journey through space that had gifted them their powers. That relationship had soured not long after Fury had been ousted from his position.

Doom had assured him that Nick Fury was director of SHIELD in this world, too, which had been of great relief to Reed. Even across dimensions there were some constants. Nick Fury directing SHIELD seemed to be one of them.

Victor had put the call in to Fury himself – much to Reed’s surprise. It seemed that there was more to Doom’s “revolution” than he had let on. The thought of Victor Von Doom working with SHIELD rather than against them tickled the super scientist.

Fury and Doom’s prior relationship worked in their favour on this occasion. Had anyone else called the Director of SHIELD to inform them that dimension-hopping metahumans had crash-landed in the capital city of a hostile nation it might have been met with a pinch of salt.

Not from Doom.

Ben had carried the battered timecraft to the roof to expedite their extraction. He and Johnny were looking forward to returning to New York – even if it wasn’t their New York. Sue seemed more concerned for her brother’s well being than anything else. Not that Reed blamed her for that. Johnny seemed in slightly better spirits than he had been but he suspected that a return to New York would do him good.

Only Doom harboured reservations. It was clear that he trusted Fury, but he seemed worried by what would come of the Four should his world’s Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben return. It was a legitimate worry – one that Richards himself had not quite taken the time to consider.

The freshly-clean shaven Doom looked to Reed for one final affirmation. “You’re sure about this?”

“I don’t see that we have much choice. You’ve been more accommodating than we could have ever imagined, Victor, but I think Karadick will murder us if we don’t let you get on with your day job.”

A wry grin crossed Doom’s face. Karadick was a wartime general if ever there was one. Now that von Bardas’ forces had been defeated, he was ever looking for another conflict to wage. For the time being he would have to satisfy himself with skirmishes with Wyncham’s forces.

“One does not acquire a nickname like the ‘Green Bear’ without reason.”

From behind the men Sue, Johnny and Ben appeared. Sue approached them more easily, while Johnny and Ben kept their distance.

Storm threaded one of her arms around Reed’s back and rested her hand on his hip. She looked at Doom for a few moments, unsure what it was that had changed about him, before she noticed the mess of facial hair that had greeted them before had been removed.

“You shaved.”

“Kristoff’s doing,” Doom said as he ran a hand over his newly smooth face. “He was of the opinion that a beard was unbecoming of a head of state. I was convinced that there was some merit to his argument – after a great deal of debate.”

“Shame,” Sue said mischievously. “It suited you.”

They stood in silence for a few moments and it dawned on Reed and Sue that they had never once needed to engage in small-talk with Victor von Doom.

Thankfully Doom had questions of his own. “You’ll seek out Lex Luthor once you return to America, I presume?”

Reed pinched the bridge of his nose as he ran through the list of super scientists that could help them. As much as he hated to admit it, Luthor was probably their best bet. He wasn’t sure whether this universe had a Tony Stark or an Amadeus Cho but he made a mental note to himself to check once they had left Latveria.

“The thought may have crossed my mind,” Richards conceded.

“Be careful, Reed. There are rumours about some of Luthor’s associations.”

Ben Grimm cupped his hands together and called out to them. “Heh, I don’t know if you’re in any position to cast aspersions on anyone else’s character, Doom.”

“I’m with ugly on this one,” Johnny nodded.

It seemed the pair had been listening in despite their attempts to separate themselves from all things Doom-related. The prospect of niggling Doom proved too seductive for Johnny Storm. He marched over ready to deliver a barb he had clearly rehearsed in his head long before.

“You so much as dream about going all Doombot on these poor people and the next time you see me I’ll make barbecue out of you and that scar-faced general of yours.”

Doom seemed to take the threat completely in his stride. “I don’t doubt you for a moment, Jonathan.”

The docility of Doom’s response seemed to take Johnny off-guard. He stood flabbergasted until his sister came to his rescue.

“What about you? What will you do now that your revolution is over, Doom?”

“Well, I thought I might start small,” Victor said with a smile. “Universal healthcare, perhaps.”

To hear Doom say it you would think achieving such a thing could be done overnight. It would take him a week at the very most. Then there would the von Bardas’ trial to oversee. If Karadick failed to bring Wyncham to heel before then he suspected the trial might prove to be more eventful than first anticipated. But Doom would cross that bridge when he came to it.

The thick white clouds above Castle Doom began to part and a Pegasus-type SHIELD helicarrier appeared above them.

“Looks like our ride’s here,” Johnny said with a gesture up towards the Pegasus.

It had entered into Latverian airspace twelve minutes ago. Its cloaking technology was not advanced enough to fool even the most rudimentary of Doom’s scanners. As it lowered gently towards the roof of the castle, Reed looked towards Doom and smiled earnestly at him.

“Thank you for your help, Victor,” he said as he extended his hand towards the Latverian.

“You don’t need to thank me,” Doom said as he shook Richards’ hand. “In this world, you and I were like best friends. I gather our relationship is somewhat different in yours, but spare this encounter some thought when you return home. Perhaps your Doom might yet surprise you.”

They bid Doom farewell, each with vary degrees of sincerity, and approached the Pegasus as it set itself down. Its ramp lowered and a dozen SHIELD operatives poured out onto the roof to ensure it was secure. Once they were satisfied, twice as many SHIELD scientists came jogging out to observe the wreckage of Reed’s timecraft.

The man running the show was last out.

“The name’s Guy Gardner,” the ginger-haired SHIELD agent said with a grin. “I’m guessing you’re the sorry sons of bitches I’m here to collect.”

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

MB, Byrd and I discussed it and were in agreement that Thor has a more direct claim to Enchantress and that (after a great deal of explanation on his part) Wraith's plans for June Moone were nuanced enough not to be considered an amalgamation for amalgamation's sake.

Feel free to press on, Wraith.

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

I'll admit, I am not in love with making Magneto a hero. The idea in and of itself is not bad. I just don't know that it's compelling enough to effectively render a villain of Magneto's stature redundant. One "Xavier" (whoever that might be) advocating for mutant/human coexistence ought to be enough.

Now if you were to posit that Xavier dying turned (or kept) Magneto good, à la Age of Apocalypse, that's something I could fuck with.

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

Castle Doom, Latveria

The wreckage of the Fantastic Four’s time craft smouldered at the centre of Castle Doom’s throne room. In front of it stood Reed Richards and Latveria’s self-appointed interim president Victor von Doom. For the past two days Reed had slaved over the craft in an attempt to figure out what anomaly had seen the four of them shunted across dimensions. To his credit Doom had spared no expense in attempting to aid Reed’s research.

Richards was no closer to working it out. Worse still he had begun to suspect that he was overstaying his welcome. Karadick and his men bristled with thinly-veiled disdain whenever they came into contact with them. It was clear they considered them an unnecessary distraction from the nation-building taking place.

Reed wasn’t sure that he disagreed with them.

Sue had seemed to settle in around the castle without incident – as one might expect of a woman capable of turning invisible at will – but Ben stood out for obvious reasons. They’d had to separate Johnny from one of Karadick’s men during dinner the night before. The swelling to his face had gone down some but it was clear there was still something not quite right about him.

It fell to Ben Grimm to broach the subject with him.

He found Johnny stood alone on the stairs overlooking the throne room. Doom and Reed were knelt in front of the time craft inspecting it for damage. Grimm’s heavy feet climbing announced his approach slightly earlier than he would have liked.

“You alright, Matchstick? You’ve seemed a little out of sorts these past couple of days,” Ben said as he placed a supportive hand on Johnny’s shoulder.

“I’m fine," Johnny said as he knocked Ben’s hand off with a shrug.

“Well, sure you as hell don’t sound fine,” Grimm said with a heavy sigh.

Johnny’s head dropped as he felt a sudden pang of guilt. He knew he was being unreasonable. It wasn’t Ben’s fault that every time he closed his eyes he saw his best friend being torn to pieces. Why had he survived when so many others had died? That question had gnawed been gnawing away at him with every waking moment.

Tears began to form in Storm’s eyes. “I can’t get Peter’s screams out of my head, Ben.”

He fought them at first. He willed the tears not to fall from his eyes with everything he had. It was the sympathy in Grimm’s eyes that broke him. Big droplets rolled down his bruised cheeks and splashed onto the stone floor beneath them.

Storm gritted his teeth and wiped the tears away with the back of his forearm.

“That son of a bitch Darkseid killed everyone we loved and we’re just sat around here like nothing’s happened. It’s not right. We need to get back there and make that bastard pay for what he did.”

“You think I don’t want a piece of Darkseid?” Ben growled. “I’d give my left arm for a shot at that grey-skinned punk. But Reed and Doom’s time doohickey is on the fritz and until they’ve figured out how to get us back to our own world there’s nothing you or I can do.”

Johnny nodded gently by way of acceptance and the two of them turned to face Reed and Doom again. Ben reached out and placed his arm around Johnny and this time Storm accepted it without complaint.

Storm gestured to the pair of geniuses at work. “If you ask me, Reed’s still getting a little too chummy with old Vic.”

“I don’t know, Johnny, this Doom doesn’t seem quite so Doom-ish,” Grimm murmured without conviction.

Everything they had seen of this world’s Doom was at odds with the Victor von Doom they had encountered. Ben had loathed him since the first time they had met in college so to see a Doom that was not conqueror but liberator, adored by his people for his common touch, was difficult to reconcile.

Luckily Johnny had no such difficulty making his mind up about their host.

“Once a Doom always a Doom,” he declared without an ounce of self-doubt.

Ben let out a little laugh at Johnny's stubbornness. “Heh, I can’t fault your logic there.”

Below them a soldier entered the hall and beckoned Doom away from the craft with news of an emissary from Wakanda. Victor made his apologies, which Reed accepted gracefully, and left the scientist to his work. He tinkered around for a few moments before the sound of footsteps behind him caught his attention.

Sue Storm smiled down at her kneeling fiance.

“You and our host seem to be getting on very well.”

Reed climbed to his feet and offered a shrug by way of defence. “Yes, well, it’s easy to forget because of all that came afterwards that Victor and I were friends of a kind once.”

A sceptical look crossed Sue’s face.

“Alright, friends might not be the right word but there was a … kinship there once upon a time,” Reed stammered as he tried to explain. “There aren’t many people on Earth that possess the kind of intellect that Victor and I po-”

With one threatening index finger Sue silenced him.

“Don't you dare finish that sentence, Reed Richards.”

She could see the gears turning in Reed’s head as he realised that he had again managed to have a ‘Reed moment’ – so called because of his unparalleled ability to put his foot in his mouth. Old people had senior moments, Reed had Reed moments. This was one of them. And luckily for him, Sue Storm was about the only woman alive who found them endearing.

Richards lifted his hands into the air and smiled apologetically at his fiance. “Seven PhDs and I’m still no closer to cracking social interaction.”

They shared a laugh and Sue placed a tender kiss on her finance’s cheek.

“It’s good to hear you laugh again,” Sue smiled. “Everything has been so dark since Darkseid arrived, I’d almost forgotten what laughter sounded like.”

Reed nodded in agreement.

“We’re going to find our way back, Sue. You have my word on that. We’re going to do whatever it takes to bring this nightmare to an end, no matter how long it takes.”

They held one another there in the throne room. For the first time in two days Reed’s mind was quiet. The unending matrix of algorithms and equations and possibilities that flew through them gave way and in their place settled a rare stillness. He thought only about Sue and their love.

On the staircase above them he spotted Ben and Johnny watching on. Reed offered them a curt nod and the pair nodded back. On this spot less three days ago, Sue had been all that stood between them and death at Superman’s hands. She had protected them when all else failed, as she always did.

It was why the doubt he sensed in her gaze cut him deeper than any knife ever could.

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

Castle Doom, Latveria

DOOM.
DOOM.
DOOM.

The chant continued as Victor von Doom stepped away from the balcony and into Lucia von Bardas’ presidential office. A satisfied smile adorned Victor’s boyish face. The crowd had been baying for Lucia’s blood when Doom had begun his address but he had impressed on them the need to rise above violence. She would stand trial for her crimes against Latveria – and if found guilty she would spend the rest of her life in prison. Doom was determined that his revolution would not go the way of Kahndaq.

Doom’s second-in-command General Karadick did not share his enthusiasm for turning the other cheek. The Romani man they called the “Green Bear” had been fighting von Bardas since before Victor had been born. On those rare occasions that Doom allowed intellectual pretension to distract him from the business of revolution, it fell to Karadick to refocus his mind.

Karadick more than any other in Doom’s inner circle held sway over the revolutionary’s opinion. And the Bear suspected that Latveria might live to regret granting von Bardas the luxury of a trial.

His spoke in snarl more than words. “Are you sure about this, Victor?”

Victor nodded.

“Latveria has seen more than its fair share of blood these past twenty years, General. Let its people witness mercy for a change. It will do them some good.”

“The Marquis escaped with around a thousand men,” The Green Bear asked pointedly. “Will we show him mercy, also?”

It was Clyde Wyndcam that had given Karadick the scars across his face. For two years Karadick had been Wyncham’s captive. In that time he had undergone all manner of torture and never once had he revealed the liberation movemenet’s secrets. His resolve was legendary – supplanted only by his desire to exact bloody revenge on the Marquis.

Before Doom had a chance to respond a soldier appeared with a message for them.

“The Americans are here, General.”

“Show them in,” Victor said with a smile.

The doors to the presidential office swung open and through them stepped Reed Richards, Sue and Johnny Storm, and … a golem of some kind. The floor shook beneath the golem’s footsteps and the green-clad soldiers eyed it suspiciously as the four approached Doom.

For Doom’s part there was no sign of hesitation. All the regality he had exuded atop the balcony melted away and he cantered over to Reed with a broad smile on his face. His arms wrapped around Reed’s shoulders and he patted him on the back with genuine warmth.

“It is good to see you again, Reed Richards.”

One of the golem's large orange fingers prodded Victor back from Reed. “Hey! Ease up there, Doom.”

A roomful of guns cocked all at once. Doom commanded the men to be at ease with a wave of his hand and glanced towards the orange creature stood before him. The voice was familiar to him. Deep, gravelly, with a thick New York accent that could only have belonged to one man. As hard as it was to believe it, Victor’s mind came to only one conclusion.

“Is that you, Ben?”

Grimm shrugged. “Yeah, well, I know I ain’t exactly much of a looker but it’s nothing you haven’t seen before so I’d appreciate it if you kept your grubby little mitts to yourself.”

“What happened to you?” Doom said, laying a sympathetic hand on Ben’s rocky chest. “I returned home before the launch with Franklin’s blessing. He assured me that there would be no complications but when I tried to contact him there was no response. I feared the worst.”

Johnny Storm’s bruised face soured. He had been trying to contain his anger, to hide his contempt for Doom, but he could contain it no more. His breathing hastened and his fists clenched. Heat began to emanate from his every pour and without warning Storm’s arm was engulfed in flames.

“Alright, I’ve had enough of this little song and dance. We want answers. What kind of sick charade is this? You were meant to send us back through time but this isn’t the past. Not any kind of past I recognise. So you’d better start talking or things are about to get real hot in here.”

Again Victor’s troops burst into action and this time he commanded them to stand down with but a look.

“My god,” Doom murmured as the light from Johnny’s flame reflected off his black eyes. “You are incredible.”

Sue Storm reached a comforting hand out towards her brother and calmed him with a single touch. “Johnny.”

Reed looked disapproving at Johnny and then let out a sigh.

“I didn’t but want to do this now but it appears I have no choice. We are not your Reed, Ben, Johnny and Sue. I mean, we are, but… Christ, where do I begin? The shuttle. The shuttle’s coating was not sufficient. We were bombarded by cosmic rays that changed us, made the four of us into what you see today, and once we made it back we set out to use our abilities to help people. We did that for... well, years, Victor, until something awful happened, until our world was attacked by a force so unstoppable that you helped us travel back in time to avert it.”

Ben cleared his throat and then offered his own, simpler explanation for their sudden appearance in Latveria. “What Stretch is trying to say here is that we’re from the future, dummy.”

There was no look of surprise from Doom. He merely lent against the gaudy desk that once belonged to Lucia von Bardas and considered the implications of Reed RIchards’ tale. He knew Richards to be a man of his word – indeed, he had considered him a close friend during college – so did not discount it as quickly as he might otherwise from someone else. No, Richards was telling the truth, he decided. And in this case the truth was more dangerous than a lie.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Doom ran a hand through his thick beard.

“If what you’re saying is true then your presence here, every word you speak, changes the natural order of things. Every tiny change you make in the present – your past – risks making your future worse.”

Ben shook his head gravely. “It don’t get much worse than things were when we left, Vic.”

Before Reed had a chance to expand on the comment, a soldier came marching through the doors of von Bardas’ office. In his hand was a communication device that looked as if it had been pieced together from old car parts.

“Forgive my interruption, General, but there’s an urgent call for you. President Kelly’s attache wants to pass on his congratulations.”

One of Sue’s eyebrows cocked. “President Kelly,” she whispered under her breath. She couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t right.

“Kelly can wait,” Doom said by way of dismissal. “There are more important matters at hand.”

Sue stepped forward and gave voice to her reservations.

“Victor, at the risk of sounding even more deranged than we must already sound, what is today’s date?”

“4th July 2018.”

Reed shook his head. “That can’t be right.”

“You may have beaten me to the Kirby Award, Richards, but I assure you that I am still capable of telling the date correctly,” Victor laughed.

Ben Grimm’s jaw dropped as the significance of the date settled in his mind. It had been 4th July when they had fled from Darkseid. Doom’s machine was meant to send them back in time but here they were on the date they had left in a world that bore no resemblance to their own.

“If we’re not in the past, then where the hell are we?!”

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

Castle Doom, Latveria

The six armed guards stationed outside of Ben Grimm’s cell gripped their guns anxiously as another explosion shook the castle. They were right to be anxious. An array of vibranium fastenings had been set up to keep Grimm immobile but that didn’t stop him from raging against them noisily. Even if the castle was under siege, it was the “golem” kept captive inside that they feared more than anything else. It had hospitalised twelve of their colleagues at the crash site.

Little did they know that it was Susan Storm that was the real threat to their health. Masked by one of her constructs, Reed and Sue made their approach. When they were within three feet of the guards, Sue dropped her shield and fired a battery of hard light spheres in their direction. Beside her Reed’s fist swelled to the size of a small car and struck the remaining guards. They were out before they knew what had hit them.

Once they were inside Ben’s cell, Reed fashioned his finger into a key and unlocked the fastenings.

Grimm spat out the gag in his mouth and sent a warm smile in Reed’s direction. “What kinda time do you call this, Stretch?”

“Don’t thank me, Ben,” Richards smiled as he gestured towards Sue. “I’d still be every bit as indisposed as you if not for Susan.”

“Heh, I should have guessed.”

The three of them made their way out of Grimm’s cell and stalked through the subterranean passages beneath Castle Doom in search of Johnny’s cell. A chance encounter with three more guards resulted in the “golem’ dispatching them with a vicious thunderclap and they pushed on through the darkness.

Behind a locked lead door the sound of Johnny roaring with anger drew them in. Ben knocked the door free from its hinges with a punch and they poured inside ready for a battle. There were no guards inside. Only a beaten Johnny Storm, left eye all but clamped shut with swelling, tugging against his restraints while attempting to ignite his powers.

He was mid-”flame on” when his sister noticed his bruised face. “Johnny! Are you alright?”

Reed helped Johnny out of his fastenings and lifted him to his feet.

“I’m fine,”[color=#e06666] [/color]Johnny mumbled through bloodied lips. “But I can’t promise I’m not going to burn that double-crossing son of a bitch Doom alive when I get my hands on him.”

Of the four of them, Johnny had coped with Darkseid’s reign of terror worst. His famous sense of humour and easy charm had all but gone. Now there was only anger in its place. It made him all the more difficult to contain. Reed was worried about him and he was even worried about what Johnny would do if they found their way out of this.

“We don’t know that’s what has happened yet, Johnny. Any number of thing could have gone wrong. Mine and Victor’s calculations could have been wr-”

There was another explosion. This one was louder than the last and where once the castle had shook it now seemed to crack under the force.

Sue gestured to one of the large cracks that had appeared in the ceiling above them. “I think this debate can probably wait until after we’re not at risk of being buried alive, boys.”

Ben cracked his large orange knuckles.

“You want I should smash our way out of here, Stretch?”

“No, this place is already coming down around us. There’s no telling what will happen if we start punching holes through walls. We go out the old-fashioned way,” Reed said as he broke towards a stairway in the distance.

With the help of Sue’s forcefields the four of them crept through the castle’s myriad underground tunnels. At Reed’s insistence, Johnny had used his powers to feel for heat signatures as they travelled through them so as to avoid any more unnecessary violence. Eventually they managed to creep out through a sewage tunnel that lead into a Doomstadt sideroad.

The streets were filled with pink and black-clad soldiers loyal to von Bardas clashing against civilians of all creeds garbed in deep, royal green overalls. At every turn the soldiers were pushed back. They were better equipped and more organised, but the sheer numbers amongst the green masses forced them to retreat.

So momentous was the occasion that Reed, Ben, Johnny and Sue were paid no attention by the swarming green civilians. They streamed through the streets of Doomstadt towards the city centre and against his best instinct’s Reed urged his friends to follow after them. The explosions seemed to halt as they grew closer to it and the last few volleys of gunfire fell silent.

The soldiers set down their weapons when it became clear their cause was defeated. In the centre of Doomstadt they were pelted with rotten fruit by the green-clad civilians but great care was taken to ensure no harm came to them.

In the distance Castle Doom, where the Four had been captive all but twenty minutes ago, loomed over the crowds. The pink banners tousled along its walls came tumbling down and deep green ones were lowered in their place.

The crowd roared and Sue looked to Reed with a confused look. “What is happening?”

On the castle’s main balcony a broad-shouldered man with facial scars appeared. He was greeted with a roar of approval from the crowd. The roars turned to jeers when he presented to the crowd a woman in regal pink.

With a wave of his hand he silenced thousands.

“Lucia von Bardas, you stand accused of betraying the people of Latveria.”

Von Bardas spat in his face and the scarred man’s dismissive backhand in response was met with approving roars from the onlookers.

“I am the people of Latveria,” von Bardas growled from her knees. “I could no sooner betray them than betray my own flesh and blood. You have no authority here, Karadick.”

“I don’t,” Karadick said with a satisfied smile. “But he does.”

Reed and Sue’s eyes met nervously as a sense of mutual dread set in between them. The curtains on the balcony began to part slowly and a figure walked through them. The roar of the protesters turned almost deafening as a handsome brown-haired man lifted his fist to greet them.

DOOM.

Ben Grimm’s rock-like features twisted with confusion and he squinted at the scruffy, bearded young man. “Who in blue blazes is that?!”

DOOM.

This time the chant was so loud that it felt like the entire city was rocking. Richards squinted in the young man’s direction and inspected his features. It had been so long since he had seen the dictator’s face. They had been rivals at Metropolis University long before the two duelled for the fate of the world. He tried to look through the beard at the face beneath it. It was the brown obelisks masquerading as eyes that confirmed his fears.

There was no replicating that kind of ambition.

“That’s him,” Reed said as he felt that gnawing insecurity in the pit of his stomach that only his nemesis could induce in him. “That’s Victor.”

Doom placed a grateful hand on Karadick’s shoulder and then silenced the crowd once more. He stepped forward to address the crowd. His mouth opened to speak but he faltered for a moment. For half a second the obelisks met Reed’s eyes in the crowd. There was no hostility in the look. In fact, Victor offered him a knowing smile and then set about delivering the most important speech in Latverian history.