Chapter Text
“Elara, look at this,” Reed said, gesturing to the screen before him.
Elara Voss rubbed her eyes tiredly. SHIELD was running her ragged lately. She could only guess what Reed had found now.
“What is it?” she asked, rolling her stool towards his.
“Just look. This anomaly that popped up on our scanners is giving off-the-charts readings.” Reed brought a hand to his chin, seemingly deep in thought.
“So? Another incursion point, most likely.” Elara grabbed her now-cold mug of tea, taking a slow sip. She needed rest. Lots of it. Multiversal instability had been escalating for weeks now; she and Reed Richards were tasked with mapping whichever multiversal incursion points they could. After that, Stephen Strange or another SHIELD specialist would attempt to eliminate the rifts. Part of Elara wanted to study them more, but she admitted they were too dangerous to allow. Best to get rid of them quickly, lest unwanted beings enter their universe.
“I don’t think it’s another incursion point,” Reed insisted, shaking his head. “The energy is too powerful. Plus, it’s coming from an abandoned Doomtech site within the old borders of Latveria. It’s no man’s land now. I think whatever this energy surge is, it’s intentional. Someone is messing around with something they shouldn’t be.” Reed shoved back from his desk, pacing around the lab.
“Oh, come on, Reed.” Elara rolled her eyes, already guessing where this was going.
“It’s Doom. I know it.” He pointed a finger at her accusingly, as if this were all her fault, somehow.
“You, me, and the rest of SHIELD all know he’s dead. The ruler of Latveria is one of his Doombots that his steward manages. At this point, Doom is nothing more than a ghost story.” Elara was firm. The people of Latveria still believed Doom to be alive and well, but SHIELD spies had confirmed his disappearance years ago. If the citizens of Latveria realized their current ruler was a mere AI replica of Doom, chaos would erupt.
“Don’t underestimate him, Elara. You don’t know what he’s capable of. This has Doom written all over it.” Reed’s voice was unwavering. He truly believed Doom was behind this.
“I’ve read the reports. I think I understand him well enough: a dangerous megalomaniac. An ego-driven scientist, not unlike someone else I know.” Elara narrowed her eyes at him.
Reed barked out a laugh. “Trust me. He’s not just a scientist. He’s spent his entire life combining science, magic, and tech. I hate to admit it, but he’s nearly impossible to defeat. If Doom is back and plotting again, we need to act now , before he gets too powerful.”
Elara waved her hand. “I’m just a theoretical physicist. That’s out of my scope.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. We need to find out more about what it is first. I think it’s time to call in the higher-ups.”
Nick Fury studied the screen intently, several other SHIELD agents standing behind him.
“You’re sure this is significant?” he asked, glancing over at Richards.
“Yes, sir. Dr. Voss and I have been monitoring it since this morning. The signature is only growing stronger, and it’s not moving,” Reed replied.
“Do a deeper scan on it. Find out what it is. If we can get a better reading on it, we’ll know what we’re sending our team into.” Fury ran a hand over his head, sounding exhausted.
“With all due respect, sir,” Elara began, clearing her throat, “I think we may be jumping the gun. We’re in Symkaria, miles away from this ‘no man’s land’ outside Latveria. I’ve seen nothing to suggest that this anomaly is significant enough to warrant a team being deployed.”
Fury tilted his head to the side, considering her words. He looked back and forth between her and Reed. “But you’re certain it’s significant?” His question was directed towards Richards.
“Yes, sir, the readings are–”
“The readings are slightly higher than we’re used to seeing from other incursion points, but that doesn’t mean it’s not the same thing. Reed is just obsessed with his ghost stories.” Elara smirked, crossing her arms and leaning back against her desk.
Fury raised a brow. “Ghost stories?”
“He thinks Doom is behind it,” Elara chuckled, expecting Fury to join her in laughing at Reed. Instead, his face slackened.
“Get me Strange. Now.”
“It’s worth investigating,” Strange admitted hours later, stroking his goatee.
“You know more about Doom than most of us,” Fury exclaimed, pacing around the room just as Reed had earlier. “You know how his powers work. Could this be him?”
Strange shrugged. “It could,” he allowed, seeming deep in thought. “Either that, or someone got hold of his tech and knows how to use it.”
“I’d believe that before I believe he’s back,” Elara said, resting her chin on her palm.
“Don’t underestimate him,” Strange warned. “That’s how he’s bested us before. We’re already dealing with an influx of incursion points that we can barely control. His reappearance is not what we need at the moment.”
“Surely he’s not that powerful,” Elara insisted, but there was doubt in her tone now. Strange had fought Doom before. If he was concerned, maybe that meant the stories about Doom weren’t as exaggerated as she thought.
“Pull up SHIELD files on Doom,” Fury ordered, waving a hand at the screen in front of him.
In moments, a holographic display popped up, the words Dr. Victor Von Doom appearing at the top. Below, there were two images. One depicted Doom as Elara had always seen in other reports: robed, masked, and armored. The only thing visible was his eyes, dark brown and glowering. The other photo, however, showed a man.
“That’s him?” Elara asked, gesturing towards the second picture. “He’s just a man?”
“Again, don’t underestimate him,” Reed warned. “That was him before the armor. Still just as powerful, no matter how ‘human’ he might look.”
Elara turned back towards the hologram. Victor Von Doom’s image stared back at her. The only similarity between the two images was his eyes, just as cold and calculating in both pictures. His hair was dark and slicked back, not a strand out of place. A neatly-trimmed mustache and goatee framed his face. His arms were crossed over his chest; he was wearing an undoubtedly expensive suit, not a speck of dust or wrinkle to be seen. The image screamed that this was a man who exuded perfection and confidence. Just the type of egotistical jerk Elara couldn’t stand. Her nose wrinkled.
“Why does he wear the armor? He looks confident enough about his appearance in that picture,” she said drily.
“We attended university together. That’s how he looked back then. There was… an accident during one of his dangerous experiments. Now, he’s masked. Doom is vain. I have no doubt he was injured and strives to hide it.” Reed shrugged and glared at the images. Elara could sense the disdain there.
“He’s mastered levels of sorcery that even I sometimes struggle to counter,” Strange admitted with a sigh. “We can’t let him rise to power again.”
“Okay, but why would he be messing with multiversal tech in some abandoned facility? He has an entire castle,” Elara pointed out.
“He can teleport and astral project. I highly doubt he’s there in person. Most likely, he’s holed up in his castle and dictating things from afar. Perhaps whatever he’s doing has the potential to be volatile, and he doesn’t want it anywhere near his home,” Strange explained.
“We’re not going to get anywhere until we can find out what this energy signature is,” Reed interjected.
“Richards is right,” Fury agreed. “Run those scans and get back to me.”
Strange and Fury left, taking the rest of the SHIELD agents with them. Elara turned to Richards, exhaling slowly. “So… you think this is Doom?”
“That’s what I’ve been saying.” He raised an eyebrow in challenge.
“Alright, well, I’m sorry, but by the time I was in college, everyone thought he was holed up in his castle like a recluse. And when I joined SHIELD, I learned that he was presumed dead. So many people have used him to fearmonger over the years. It’s always a ruse.”
“I know, Voss. But trust me, I know him better than most. It’s just like him to come back at a time when we’re already preoccupied with all of this multiversal instability. We’re vulnerable.” Reed sighed, closing his eyes briefly in frustration.
“I’m sorry for not believing you, then. I’m still not fully convinced it’s him, but maybe it is. Only one way to find out.” Elara stood, brushing past Reed and tapping a few keys on the holographic keyboard.
“I’m just going to isolate the signal…” she mumbled, using her hands to enlarge the display and zoom in on the focal point of the anomaly. “...Extract the signature…” She swiped a few things off the screen. “Run diagnostic.” With a final tap, the computer chimed, beginning to analyze the code of the disturbance.
“I hope it’s something we know how to deal with,” Reed mumbled, watching Elara work from afar.
“It will be.” She rested a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“And if it’s not?”
“If it is him…” she began uncertainly.
“If it’s him, then his name checks out. We really are Doomed.”