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Liason
Jan 17, 2012 19:55:36 GMT -5
Post by Victor von Doom on Jan 17, 2012 19:55:36 GMT -5
(Or, A Missive From Doctor Doom to Magneto With A Needlessly Suggestive Subject Line)
A telephone call probably would have sufficed. But Doom did not want to insult the man, and all due formality seemed called for, even for a brief meeting. And the phrasing was very formal indeed.
Hopefully the ostentatious sealing wax wasn't too much, emerald green and bearing the tyrant's own seal. No, Victor thought, there was no need for such false modesty -- there was no such thing as "too much" in such a context. The letter would be delivered by one of Doom's trusted couriers, and then let Magneto take it as he would. Long-distance teleportation, Doom's own private jet, or a more prosaic means of transport -- whatever might please him, so long as he came alone.
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Magneto
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Liason
Jan 17, 2012 22:02:50 GMT -5
Post by Magneto on Jan 17, 2012 22:02:50 GMT -5
(May I just say: Yay! Needless Suggestiveness!)
The fingers in the purple glove flexed lightly as a pen, seemingly of its own accord, jotted down a short message.
Charles,
Have gone for the day. Will be back either late tonight or tomorrow.
-Erik
By no means a wealth of information, but it was all Erik thought necessary. Or perhaps, though he would be unlikely to admit it, even if he was standing on the street in front of the building that was marked as his... their home, in the still-dark of the morning, leaving a note from a distance that he really could have written without his powers while still inside... perhaps it was just all he was prepared to give right now.
He grasped the helmet... Magneto's helmet... his helmet... in both hands and looked down on it with a fondness usually only brought out by the man he was leaving behind, if only for the day.
Lately, Erik had been feeling... not strange. No, not strange at all. In fact, he felt as if everything that had gone before had been 'feeling strange'. Now he felt...
Right.
Strong.
Eager.
He smiled as he raised the helmet, then lowered it onto his head, completing the costume he'd already donned... the same costume that not too long ago he'd been packing into a box ever so meticulously, almost but not quite ready to abandon it for good.
Now, as he stood there, his cape moving lightly in the wind, his vision restricted by his helmet in a way so familiar that it was hardly a restriction at all, he clenched his gloved hands into fists.
He was far from ready for a true retirement... he wasn't some old man who should just stay back with a nice cup of tea and a game of chess while letting youngsters do the dirty work, manoeuvring them as if they too were pieces on a board.
He was Magneto.
As he rose off the ground with an elegance that was rare even by superhuman standards, Erik laughed in a way he hadn't since the first time he moved that giant dish all those years ago.
Oh yes... he was indeed still, and forever, Magneto.
And that was exactly who was announced to Victor von Doom when he arrived.
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Liason
Jan 17, 2012 22:34:02 GMT -5
Post by Victor von Doom on Jan 17, 2012 22:34:02 GMT -5
(( Needless suggestiveness: ooh baby. ))
The scattering of Doom's underlings heralded that arrival loud and clear. (How could he convince them not to do that? Not every arrival of an individual in a costume meant that the castle was under attack!) Tybalt was safely off training -- how odd that he remained a stranger after these months, a foreign body in the smoothly running organism that was the palace on a good day. And it was a pity, because if the foreign arrival in such kingly colors did not fill him with awe and terror, Doom's appearance would have dazzled him.
It did not seem prudent to wear the same armor as he did day to day when inviting over the mutant master of magnetism, even for a pleasant chat. He greeted him alone, though not entirely unarmed, and did not insult him by making the presence of his robot guards immediately known.
"How good of you to respond to my summons. Doom has heard tell of your inactivity as of late; it seems such statements are rumors and nothing more. Come inside. All of Latveria welcomes you."
Victor could spare him the whole "face of a demigod, cunning of a demon" thing. That was the helmet of someone who meant business.
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Magneto
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Liason
Jan 17, 2012 23:27:27 GMT -5
Post by Magneto on Jan 17, 2012 23:27:27 GMT -5
Had Erik meant any harm whatsoever, robot guards wouldn't be the least bit of help against it. If anything, they'd provide more shrapnel for him to throw. However, there was no need for such nasty business today. This was to be a civil, pleasant meeting. Between two people who, should they put their mind to it, could probably achieve world domination together... well, faster world domination than they could on their own, anyway. "I was more than happy to accept your kind invitation, doctor," Erik replied with a curt nod and smile. Because that was what it was... accepting an invitation. Nobody 'summoned' Magneto. However, Erik took no true offence. It was just one of those things you had to deal with around Doom... a bit of megalomania... and the referring to himself in the third person, which Erik personally found just slightly more annoying. "And let me assure you that any so-called inactivity was time well-spent re-establishing myself in Paris."
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Liason
Jan 18, 2012 8:39:21 GMT -5
Post by Victor von Doom on Jan 18, 2012 8:39:21 GMT -5
Doom's own armor was suitably enchanted to negate such things (and wouldn't that just have been rude) but even the most robust of Doombots would have been more hindrance than help.
"Indeed. You are looking very well, Magneto." Doom's tone was slightly less bombastic for this; he was standing opposite the closest thing he might have to a peer, if still not a personal equal. And indeed Magneto did; all his information had painted a portrait of an aging revolutionary, still in full control of all his powers and maturing well but tiring of the business of politics and perhaps impatient. Now he looked better than he had ever seen him. How puzzling.
"Was your journey a pleasant one?"
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Magneto
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Liason
Jan 18, 2012 10:19:06 GMT -5
Post by Magneto on Jan 18, 2012 10:19:06 GMT -5
Erik received the compliment with a nod, knowing that he indeed looked well.
It had actually been a bit of a surprise to him while donning his costume. He'd always been physically fit, but to still find the red fabric of flexible metal bulging lightly over undeniable muscle that should by most standards be near-impossible in a man his age had been a very pleasant surprise indeed.
"Very pleasant, thank you."
Another surprise, to be honest. It wasn't until he'd begun his descent over Latveria that Erik realized just how swiftly and easily he'd covered the distance, with no true sign of fatigue.
"I trust you have been keeping well, doctor?"
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Liason
Jan 18, 2012 11:40:21 GMT -5
Post by Victor von Doom on Jan 18, 2012 11:40:21 GMT -5
Victor nodded, almost imperceptibly. The torchlight cast strange shadows, and Magneto's distinctive silhouette didn't help. Even Doom could not always trust his own eyes.
"Doom abides as always, Magneto. My country is more prosperous and ever, despite the usual threats from beyond its borders. How fares Xavier and his school?"
An unlikely alliance, on the surface. His guest's extremist position was well-known -- and firmly founded. But stranger things had certainly happened.
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Magneto
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Liason
Jan 18, 2012 12:41:02 GMT -5
Post by Magneto on Jan 18, 2012 12:41:02 GMT -5
"Both are well, thank you." Erik paused for a second, then abided, much like his host. "Despite the usual threats from those who fear power superior to their own."
Megan's words still rang in his mind, clearer now than they had been when first spoken.
I don't know what he's planning, but he's got it in for us. All kinds of us-es. Anybody who's ever put on a costume and stepped outside the usual constraints of society. Mutants, metahumans, vampires, people who use magic- even just... just humans in suits.
He really ought to pay that girl a visit soon... see what else she had learned.
After all, a general needed knowledge of his battlefield.
"Some of the old alumni and faculty have returned and Paris has proven rich soil for new students."
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Liason
Jan 18, 2012 15:08:06 GMT -5
Post by Victor von Doom on Jan 18, 2012 15:08:06 GMT -5
"These usual threats are why I wished to speak to you, Magneto."
There was a time and a place for third person, but rarely in matters that directly concerned Victor the man, rather than Doom the tyrant.
"Such pressing matters as nuclear armament and metahuman-induced destruction will not discriminate between the mighty and the low."
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Magneto
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Liason
Jan 18, 2012 17:39:23 GMT -5
Post by Magneto on Jan 18, 2012 17:39:23 GMT -5
Erik nodded, he'd expected as much.
"I share your concerns, doctor."
He'd already seen those he considered his people rounded up and destroyed once... Erik was not prepared to do so again.
In the past an alliance between Doctor Doom and Magneto had, although contemplated, never been a given. Now, however, matters were very different indeed. Erik had never been above at least a truce to stand together against a common enemy.
"I fear our people may very well be in very real danger."
It was clear from Magneto's tone that 'our people' meant more than either Doom's citizens of Latveria or Erik's usual Mutantkind. If what he had gathered so far was true... this could affect the world.
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Liason
Jan 18, 2012 20:43:09 GMT -5
Post by Victor von Doom on Jan 18, 2012 20:43:09 GMT -5
"Doom would be content to leave corrupt American capitalism to tear itself apart, if not for recent developments." At least the trampled wreckage would welcome its new ruler with desperate eagerness. The same could not be said for a world devoid of life, or, God forbid, already crushed beneath another man's heel.
"I cannot yet say if I will intervene personally, but in any case, it is good to know who shares one's concerns. This country has become a haven for what lesser nations could never accept. In a true crisis... it shall be open to your brothers and sisters as well as mine."
Vampires, however, would never be welcome. It was difficult to maintain a strong stigma against the unnatural in a nation ruled by a wizard in a robot suit, but a mutant whose powers were exclusively destructive was the exception to a general rule. Destruction was all undead vermin were capable of, and they were the traditional scourge of the area -- such traditional ways were not worth preserving. The last vampire to prey on the Latverian populace was now being kept in pieces in various jars.
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Magneto
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Liason
Jan 18, 2012 21:12:00 GMT -5
Post by Magneto on Jan 18, 2012 21:12:00 GMT -5
((I now have a mental image of Lugosi's Dracula as one of those head jars from Futurama...))
"I would not usually concern myself about the fate or dealings of other minorities," Magneto pointed out. "But it would seem that in this particular case the majority of the world's populace is at risk and I thank you for your kind offer."
For a moment Erik fell silent, as if contemplating something.
"Should things come to a true war... I should say that between your technical prowess and my not insubstantial gift." Erik gestured to his own armour, the metal bonded at a molecular level. "We should be able to mount quite the defensive force."
Magneto didn't feel particularly eager to raise an army of new, improved Doombots (because that would only lead to the dear doctor using them after the battle was done), but should push come to shove he would rather have a strong robotic force in the front lines than risk any actual (especially mutant) lives.
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Liason
Jan 18, 2012 21:30:17 GMT -5
Post by Victor von Doom on Jan 18, 2012 21:30:17 GMT -5
(( Hee, my main mental image of Doom + Dracula is him cussing Dracula out on the moon. He's totally got a collection going. ))
"After the main conflict is borne out, we may go our separate ways and return to opposing one another at every turn. But for now, I would certainly rather be your ally in Eastern Europe. Only a fool would needlessly oppose you at such a crucial time, with more pressing adversaries at his gates. I have gifts of my own, and by our might combined, we shall easily be..."
Unstoppable.
"Formidable."
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Magneto
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Liason
Jan 18, 2012 23:55:36 GMT -5
Post by Magneto on Jan 18, 2012 23:55:36 GMT -5
"I would rather think of us as being usually on different positions regarding most situations, rather than being on entirely opposite ends, but you are quite right doctor."
In fact, either man's position on most conflicts where they had crossed paths had been something along the lines of the following:
The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it.
It wasn't that they actively hated each other or truly disagreed, it was that they were both captains and the world was a single ship.
"Hopefully our alliance in this matter will help prevent unnecessary bloodshed."
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Liason
Jan 19, 2012 10:54:01 GMT -5
Post by Victor von Doom on Jan 19, 2012 10:54:01 GMT -5
That was true. Doom only had one nemesis, and if the conflict that was sure to come got rid of him as well, without Victor having to lift a finger -- it would have been very unsatisfying.
"Hopefully. You have my word. I will see to it. Are you free to receive the hospitality of an ally, or are you needed elsewhere?"
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