Tony, Cap, Myself, and Reed Richards sat around a table in Avengers Mansion. The information we'd been given by General Aram had been brought up via holographic projection on the screen. It had been a full twenty-four hours since we'd returned from Serbia and now it was time to figure out what to do with the information we'd gotten.
Unfortunately, Doctor Strange had bowed out of the discussions. He technically wasn't a member of the current Avengers Roster and apparently had other things to do. The disturbing of ancient, Hyborian Age, Turanian Ruins by Mors Cruentia meant he had some checking up to do on a certain, Dormant God.
Erlik had been rendered dormant when his Avatar, the Living Tarim had been slain during the Hyborian Cataclysm, half-remembered only in name by nomadic tribes that were the ancestors of the ancestors of the Turkic Peoples of Central Asia, who used his name as a synonym for the Devil. However, the Lord of the Yellow Hand of Death was a God of Necromancy no less foul than Set himself, and the disturbing of Turanian Tombs would have caused whatever was left of Erlik to rouse itself from its dormant slumber, especially if Sacred Knowledge had been brought back by Mors Cruentia and was now being practiced in Mordvania and Carpasia.
When he put it like that, nobody begrudged Doctor Strange his absence. As for Thor, he had a similar emergency to deal with. Thor was a member of the Current Avengers Roster, true, but he was also the Crown Prince of Asgard, and that came with its own responsibilities. Apparently, Loki had shown up while Thor was out last night and practically begged for help, swearing oaths on any power Thor would name that it wasn't a trick. Thor heard him out and was stunned to find that he had a niece, a Demigoddess named Tess Black who hadn't inherited any apparent powers from Loki but who was now in trouble. Loki needed Thor's help to get her out of it, and whatever it was would also play a role in Ragnarok, so Thor had to agree. Accordingly, Thor wasn't here.
Reed, on the other hand, was seemingly just here because the information involved Doom, and when you dealt with Doom, it was generally good practice to consult Reed. After all, there was hardly anyone who knew Doom better than Reed Richards did. He wasn't a member of the Current Avengers Roster, nor did he seem very interested in becoming a member, citing family issues. When pressed, though, he'd admitted that Doom was a family issue and so he had a right to sit in on the planning session.
"So, we know that Doom, Mors Cruentia, and the Serbs have formed some sort of pact. Now the question is, what do we do about it?" Questioned Tony, opening the meeting.
"Should we do anything? By all accounts, this is a Scientific and Economic Pact, not a military alliance." I pointed out.
"That doesn't matter. A research and economic pact will strengthen all three countries significantly. If you think Victor Von Doom isn't going to be funneling the fruits of any joint economic and research projects towards Latveria's military, you're deluding yourself." Frowned Cap.
"Victor definitely wouldn't join such a pact unless he could get something he wants out of it. I have my doubts that Cogmium Alloy and Potential so-called Mystical Knowledge from ancient ruins are what he's after. Not truly." Concurred Reed.
"Still don't believe in magic, huh Reed? You know for someone who's literally met the Sorcerer Supreme and the Norse God of Thunder, you're awfully skeptical still." Teased Tony.
"I think there are cosmic forces in the universe we don't yet understand. That's all I'm willing to admit, as you well know." Huffed Reed.
"Can we focus here?" Queried Cap.
"Yeah. If you don't think the pact is the Goal for Doom, what do you think the Goal is?" I asked.
"If I had to hazard a guess? He wants Symkaria, Transia, and Possibly Lichtenbad." Hedged Reed.
"That would give him the same population base and territory size as someplace like Albania." I blinked.
"With a lot better of an economy and technical base to boot. If you think digging Doom out of his spot as King of Latveria is tough now, wait till he has over two million people and enough of an economy to no longer need to use primarily Robots for his military." Intoned Tony.
"That'd be too much of a threat for the Serbs to be on board, you'd think." Mused Cap.
"General Aram might be looking toward a potential unification with Bosnian Serbia thanks to technical aid. If he thinks he can build up enough high-tech forces to withstand a NATO counterattack, he might just be willing to go along. Ironically, of the three of them, it's Mors Cruentia who doesn't seem to get much out of the arrangement. Unless he plans to annex Albania or something, it seems like he's going to be fenced in by Serbia and Doom." Insisted Reed.
"Unless he isn't looking for anything as mundane as territory annexation. At least in this World." I offered.
"What do you mean? You think he'll try and build some sort of Space Empire?" Questioned Tony.
"What about time? Remember Kang? He could be trying to emulate Kang and build an Empire in time." Added Cap.
"Don't remind me about Kang." Grumbled Tony.
"No, actually, that wasn't what I was thinking. He'd never have the resources to conquer Space or Time, not with people like Kang, the TVA, the Shi'ar, the Kree, and all the others for competition. This Earth isn't the only Earth, though." I refuted.
"Alternate Universes? I've been to a few, You'd think the point about competition would stand as much there as it would for Time and Space, though." Pointed out Reed.
"Not necessarily. There are multiverses outside of our own. Normally, you run into issues trying to travel between multiverses. If nothing else, the Beyonders tend to take notice of anyone trying to do what they do and travel between Multiverses. However, there's a way to do it mystically that doesn't get their attention, but it's very specific. As far as I know, I'm the only one from our Earth who can do it, but if Mors Cruentia has the same source of power that I do, well I'll let you draw conclusions there." I informed.
"Other Multiverses? Is that possible?" Questioned Cap.
"Theoretically, with enough power, yes." Answered Tony.
"You'd need either a source of the Power Cosmic so big that you'd effectively be on the same scale of power as Galactus or some way to cheat the Laws of Quantum Physics like nothing I've ever heard of before, but it is theoretically possible. There's a reason the Beyonders tend to notice folks who can do that." Scoffed Reed.
"Again, Magic." I reiterated.
Reed pulled a sour face at that, but Cap and Tony looked thoughtful. Reed looked ready to argue at my assertion, but Cap cut him off.
"So, assuming that Mors Cruentia can visit these Other Multiverses to claim territory, what can we do about it?" Interjected Cap.
"Short of Killing him or figuring out some way to take away Mors Cruentia's Magic? Not much. The process is entirely internal, and while there's ways to channel it externally so you can bring groups of people through with you, the basic form of spellcraft where you just transport yourself is entirely internal." I shrugged.
"So let's assume that Mors Cruentia fiddling about in Other Multiiverses can't be stopped. How do we contain him to what he already has?" Queried Tony.
"We do our own travel to Other Multiverses, make allies, and gather resources. I've already made a head start on that by helping out a hidden society of Magic Users in another Multiverse. My Tower also is an Omniversal Constant. When I travel to another Multiverse, my Tower comes with me. I'm not great at that, though. I usually wind up separated from my Tower in the travel." I admitted.
"Fine, we'll table that discussion for now. What can we do about Doom?" Asked Cap.
"Well, if we can find proof that the Serbs intend to annex the Republika Srpska in Bosnia, we might be able to get NATO to apply political pressure on General Aram to break off the agreement. That should weaken the pact substantially. Serbia is the largest and most populous of the three Signatories with the most widespread military-industrial complex. Mind you, Victor has the best economy based on his sheer technological capabilities, so he and Mors Cruentia should be able to adjust with enough time. It should set their timetable back by a decent margin, though." Explained Reed.
"Which would give us time to engage in this Multiversal Arms Race that Johnny wants us to do, along with come up with some sort of counter to Doom's own expansion plans." Nodded Tony.
"I had a thought on that, actually. Don't you know Silver Sable? I'm sure she can be used to funnel advanced tech to the Symkarian Government that might allow them to withstand a potential Latverian invasion, right?" I pointed out.
"It's possible. I'm not sure what we'd be able to offer, though. There are restrictions on arms exports even to legitimate governments." Mused Cap.
"What if it wasn't arms? What if it was something like personal force fields? I have a prototype device for that which should stand up to the sort of weaponry used by Doom's forces, at least for a bit." Offered Reed.
"Is it mass producible? I know you, Reed, your stuff tends to not scale for production. You didn't use a piece of a cosmic cube or something to power it, right?" Smirked Tony.
"I'll have you know my technology is all perfectly reasonable." Huffed Reed.
"Right, that's why I'm a billionaire and you live off grant money." Snarked Tony.
"Guys, can we do the my super-science is bigger than yours thing some other time?" I pleaded.
"Jan's right, though I wouldn't have put it the same way. Reed, can your shields be made mass producible?" Asked Cap.
"I'll have to downgrade them somewhat to be economical. It will take the defense down from over a dozen shots from the Force Rifles used by the Latverian Army and Doom's Servo-Guards to maybe a half dozen, and against a Doombot, they'll get one shot at most before the shield overheats." Informed Reed.
"Is it doable, though?" Pressed Cap.
"It should be." Confirmed Reed.
"Good. If you can make the design mass-producible, my facilities can produce them." Grinned Tony.
"In the meantime, I'll contact Silvije. Jan, if you can head to one of these Other Multiverses to gather some resources, then I think we have what sounds like the start of a plan." Intoned Cap.
"Right. I've got just the place to head to." I nodded, thinking of a few Sci-fi settings I could try.
And with that, the meeting broke up. I headed upstairs for a quick bite to eat. Jarvis was a pretty mean cook and I hadn't really had a chance to try any of his food so far. He served me some sort of hash that used roast beef instead of corned beef that he whipped up in a jiffy alongside fried eggs on toast. It was damned good and I told him so.
"It's a Norman Hash, I learned to make this back in England. However, while I appreciate the compliment, it's unnecessary. I'm merely doing my duty." Demurred Jarvis.
"Still, I appreciate it." I grinned as I wolfed down the rest of the plate.
It really was very good, gravy, onions, and potatoes over roast beef. I think I had a new favorite breakfast dish and briefly wondered if Bartholomew could make something similar as I cleaned what was left on my plate. Once that was done, I resolved to head back to my Tower and get a jump start on the Multiversal Arms Race, like Cap had said. I was about to head out, thinking about planeswalking to either Star Wars or Star Trek when I got back to my Tower when I got a page from Jen Walters. Calling her back, it seemed she'd heard I was back in town and wanted to give that date she'd offered a try.
"What do you think? Tomorrow night? I know a place that has the best Noodles in New York City." Offered Jen.
"Everybody thinks they know a place that has the best of some kind of food in New York City." I pointed out.
"This is real, it's a place called the Silver Lotus. Colleen Wing and Misty Knight say that it's the best place for Noodles in New York City and I believe them." Insisted Jen.
"Well, if people who hang out with Iron Fist and Shang-Chi say it's the best, then I should at least give it a try." I agreed.
"Great, I'll swing by Avengers Mansion at seven or so?" Questioned Jen.
"It's a date." I agreed.
And just like that, I would be postponing my attempt to get a jump on the Multiversal Arms Race at least until after my date. Cap probably wouldn't have approved, but then, Cap doesn't seem like he's dated anyone since he went into the Ice, even though I knew he had based on my reading of Comics back on my Original Earth. Besides, it seemed like although my mind was impermeable to supernatural forms of mind control, I was still able to be swayed by the siren call of booty. Funny how that worked out. Tony would get it, at least.
As I thought about that, however, a frown crept over my face. What did it say about the state of this Universe that I wasn't sure if Tony understanding my predicament was a good thing or not? Shaking my head, I put that thought out of my mind for the time being. It was honestly probably best not to think too hard about that and refocus on the important facts. Those being that I had a date with the Sensational She-Hulk.
And as I headed out into the New York City Morning, I couldn't help but break out into a massive grin at that. . .
XXXX
AN: The next chapter is already up on my Patreon, so check the link in the threadmarked post if you guys feel like throwing me a couple bucks to get chapters in advance. Everyone who does is super appreciated and I can't thank my patrons enough.
Here we see the planning for how to deal with the Doom-Mors Cruentia-Serbian Pact, along with a bit more of a personal thing for Jan vis-a-vis dating She-Hulk. Notably, the plan for dealing with the Alliance involves more of Jan Planeswalking to other Multiverses combined with a bit of beefing up the Symkarian Army.
As to dating She-Hulk, well, Jen is known for her varied short-term relationships and flings. She's literally dated everyone from Juggernaut to Thor over the course of Marvel's History. This probably isn't going to last too long, but hey, at least it's something. Jan could just devote everything to being a Sorcerer and not even bother with a personal life, that's what Mors Cruentia is doing, after all.
At any rate, the next chapter will be the Date with She-Hulk, featuring a surprise guest!
Stay tuned. . .