9196/Updating Doom

Updating Doom
Date of Scene:	14 September 2019
Location:	Doomstadt, Latveria
Synopsis:	Lex Luthor comes to Victor von Doom with a proposal. They reach an accord.
Cast of Characters:	Lex Luthor, Doctor Doom

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Lex Luthor has posed:
The world has been a busy place for the last year. After the fungus that tried to eat the planet (possibly literally) was dealt with, others took advantage of the fear of the fungus and the BlackSleep crisis to bring in 'alternatives' to superheroes.

This has resulted in quite a few developments in the world. With Doctor Doom having been focused on matters in Latveria for months, Lex was happy to bring his fellow Councilor up to speed on current events from his perspective.

The meeting time was later in the EST night; Lex had insisted on it so he wouldn't be missed in LexCorp Tower in the morning. With the Nexus wormhole system in place secretly, he was in no way interested in tipping that advantage off to any potential onlookers. Questions like 'where did Lex Luthor go?' would no doubt be asked by those who constantly tried to find a way around his charade.

It's 10:00 PM EST on the dot when the wormhole station in Castle Doomstadt registered 'incoming portal. L1.'

Out of it steps a warsuit clad Lex Luthor, helmet and faceplate on for now.

Doctor Doom has posed:
When Lex communicated with Victor, the King of Latveria agreed to his notion of bringing him up to speed. No doubt Doom was invested in his own kingdom and problems for the past few months. After all, Doom never does anything that wastes his time. Doom seems to be fully aware, despite the late hour, that Lex Luthor had arrived in Castle Doomstadt.

The King sits on his throne, dressed in his full armor as he always had done, his dark green hood and cloak also covering his person. He sits in a disciplined fashion, his hands resting on the arm-rest of his glorious throne, his back fully straightened and allowed not even the slightest lean. Those eyes stare at the warsuit-clad Lex Luthor, but he does not appear intimidated by his fellow Councilman's rather strong entrance.

In the throne room, lights have been lit to give a still regal kind of scenery.

"Welcome to Castle Doom." is all Victor says in greeting to his guest.

Lex Luthor has posed:
"Thank you." Lex replies, the typical voice synthesizer he uses for strangers turns off, so Victor can hear Lex himself through the helmet. "I apologize for coming in the armor if that raises any questions. I simply find the interface it uses very useful for information." Lex informs Victor as he starts forward towards the throne, "I assume you've been looking over matters with the Sentinels?"

Doctor Doom has posed:
Doom keeps his full attention on Luthor, the synthesized voice turned off so that Doom could hear him clearly. At the apology, Doom simply lifts a few fingers up into the air to show that Lex hasn't offended, at least not yet.

"Think nothing of it, Luthor." As for the Sentinels...

"Oh yes, the lesser man's attempt at combating what they do not understand. It is to my understanding that Magneto has taken a loud and radical approach to the issue." But Doom doesn't reveal his own plans in that matter.

Lex Luthor has posed:
"My contacts in government have actually told me that this is the US attempt to find an alternative to the notion of 'supergroups'." Lex stands there, his hand coming up as the palm suddenly reconstructs. A ring builds from parts on his arm, and a small holo-projector pops up with a standing Sentinel on it. "We've been studying them. They're a modernized version of the previous models. Nothing surprising. There's a set of blueprints from reverse engineering on the network. As you can imagine, I laughed when I heard that."

The palm goes back to resting at his side. "Using infamously anti-mutant robots for that is... short sighted in every conceivable PR way, but since Magneto has decided to be bullheaded and not coordinate with the rest of us for a long term strategy to kill the idea, I've been holding back and waiting to see if he shakes loose any more information. My original intention was to take Trask and question him... but the 'heroes' have used information from somewhere yet unknown to make him a wanted man without any need for interference from us. I'm considering having him disappeared when they bring him back to the US, though."

Doctor Doom has posed:
Doom seems to release a kind of deep-rooted sigh. Not quite irritation, not yet. But he watches the hologram of the full-height Sentinel upon it. "Of course they are. These so called 'heroes' are independant, minus groups such as the Avengers. A government often finds comfort in what it can control." He shakes his head lightly. "Even still, they were foolish enough to use a forsaken relic and a known mutant hunter. Even still, Magneto's actions are logical. I have long known that he has been obsessed with the supposed superiority of Homo Superior. But that too is his flaw."

Doom shakes his head. "I can assist with such a task, Luthor. I am in the ponderings of applying my robotic expertise to 'replace' Trask until our intentions with him are complete."

Lex Luthor has posed:
There's a moment of silence from Lex as he calls on the LexCorp satellite network for information, and Victor will get notified that Lex is accessing telecommunications from space for a good five seconds of rapid burst data, before he sighs himself. "When I discussed the matter with him, he was adamant about this course of action. I can't say that I blame Magneto for what he's doing, though now we have to plan /around/ him, instead of with him." Lex brings his armored arms behind his back as he begins to pace back and forth.

"I want to know what Trask was trying to do, and where he found the droid the Avengers and NYPD had. Something about this whole thing has set off warning bells in my head for months. I can probably find someone in the justice department to facilitate the turnover. From there, it'd be a matter of sneaking it in."

Doctor Doom has posed:
Doom watches Lex pace back and forth like the intellectual he is. But as they speak further about Magneto, Doom seems relatively pleased that Lex has reached the same exact conclusion. "Of course he was. He has followed the same logical process for years." But then it seems as though Lex is now sharing his plans with Doom about what he would like with Trask.

"Trask has not had the most positive view towards mutants. Perhaps he sought simply a different rout to previous goals. Neverthematter, sneaking it in will not be a problem."

Lex Luthor has posed:
"Trask being anti-mutant is nothing new. Using the Sentinels in a different light is nothing surprising... what I'd like to know is where these giant robots come from, and where the droid comes from. Those are answers only Trask can give." Lex muses aloud, before he turns to look at Victor, "I assume you are in accord then? Once Trask is found and brought back to the US, we'll use one of your bots to replace him for interrogation."

Doctor Doom has posed:
Victor looks upon Luthor as he lays out the plan before him after his musements. Eyes narrow behind his mask, before they relax. Doom rises out of his throne, his green cloak shrouding him as he descends down the steps leading to his symbol of power, until he stops but a respectful foot or two away from Luthor himself. Sure, Luthor was probably a bit taller thanks to his warsuit.

But Doom extends his hand. "We have an accord."

It seems these two members of the Light have banded together once again in their plotting.