With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-03-26T07:22:23+0000

Mr Zoat said:
15th June 2012
15:26 GMT +2
Earth 8096

I take a small sip of hot chocolate, listening to the sliding back of chairs and movement of feet as the other patrons clear out in something of a hurry.

Ah, this alternate universe. Not the classic 90's marvel we've seen so often (where he's marrying Rogue) but an earlier one, set in... The early-00's Marvel shows shared continuity? (Wolverine and the X-Men, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and... Hopefully not that abysmal Fantastic Four show loosely inspired by the movies?)

Latverians have a complicated relationship with their sovereign, but no matter how much better they think he is than the alternatives none of them want to be around when he's about to fight someone.

Someone wearing significantly heavier armour than the local citizenry marches around and takes up position opposite me, and in the corners of my eyes I see billowing green cloth and shining metal.

And of course he's trying to reach out to Doom.

"Lantern."

I look up at his metal faceplate. "Y-. I'm sorry, do you prefer 'your majesty' or 'doctor'?"

I wonder if he's wearing the classic tunic or something more formal? Always like it when Doom dresses classy.

And scan-. Yeah, that didn't work. But scan his environment because that mask isn't sealed…

Ah.

It's totally a Doombot, isn't it? For when he doesn't want to attend to something himself... Also the old standby for when someone defeats Doom.

"The ego of Doom is not so fragile that it would make any difference. Why are you here, Orange Lantern?"

"Tourism. I-" I reach for my satchel. "-have a visa, if you want to check it?"

Naturally he applied, entered legally and is totally obeying all laws. Because you do not start shit in Doom's country.

"Doom is aware of everything that happens in his kingdom. Doom is also aware than you have been attempting to arrange a meeting such as this for just under a year."

"I am grateful that you've found time for me, Doctor."

...More or less. If anything, Doom might be curious as to why he's pushing so hard.

Even if I am getting a Doombot. You found a way to block my scans, the weight as roughly what I estimate yours is and it even breathes. What it doesn't do is use oxygen.

"'Tourism'." I nod. "Doom is exceedingly sceptical."

A minor oversight, as most of Doom's foes do not have such extensive scanning capabilities. And the one or two that do, such as Stark, are too confident to employ it.

"I hope that by learning more about Latveria and it's culture, I would learn something that would help me to become more persuasive in my missives to you. I doubted that I would see you in person, but… Here you are. I'm carrying no weapons other than the ring, which in deference to Latverian weapon control laws I'm not wearing. If you wish for me to leave, then I will of course do so at once."

Yes, Doom runs his country tyrannically, but if you abide by Doom's laws, then Doom has no problem with you.

He continues staring down at me.

I gesture towards the counter, where the woman manning it is standing to attention.

Probably a mix of awe (Oh god, Doom himself is standing in my cafe!) and terror (Oh god, is this foreigner going to start trouble in my cafe?) Though I'm sure Doom would compensate her for any damage caused, and have it repaired on Doom's dime.

"Would you like a hot chocolate? It's really quite good. And so are the pastries; you would not believe how hard it is to get good food in America. Your farming and food adulteration policies should be the model for the world to follow."

Might be a bit… Impractical in some places, but definitely something to aim for.

Sadly, I suspect Western capitalist practices are fundamentally incompatible with Doom's standards.

"Doom studied in America for several years, as well you know. Doom is aware of the failings of American agriculture."

I nod, waiting politely.

"Since Doom is here, speak your piece. State your case."

In other words, 'Don't tell Doom what Doom already knows.' This is probably enough a waste of his time as it is.

"I feel that you have the capacity to be a tremendous benefit to humanity, and that your feud with Doctor Richards -not that I'm attempting to minimise the significance of what he did to you- is distracting you for making progress in that direction. So I was wondering if there was something that I could do that would help you in that regard."

Which, depending on continuity (and the current backstory at any particular point) ranged from 'tells Doom he got a single calculation wrong in college, leading to Doom suffering a tiny scar' to 'Caused Doom to be exposed to unnatural Cosmic energies in space.'

He keeps staring. If it was really him, I'd assume that his heads-up display was showing him something. Since it's a Doombot, I assume that it's awaiting instructions. Doom himself might actually be using it to speak to me now.

"Doom does not require assistance, especially not from you."

It would be gratifying if Doom actually took note of him at that moment. If nothing else, it means you interested Doom.

"Clearly. But it might be helpful; speeding certain projects up, or encouraging people to listen to you who might otherwise be prejudiced against you." I take another sip of hot chocolate, in case he wants to say something. No? Alright. "I'm not Doctor Richards or Anthony Stark. I know that I'm nothing like as intelligent as you. But that doesn't mean that I'm useless."

Yeah, M!OL's not even in the top ten of 'smartest people in the Marvel Universe.' Mostly because he has the Ring do all the complicated thinking whenever he Wants something done...

I put my left hand on the part of my shirt covering the ring.

"May I?"

A risky gesture, certainly. But asking permission from Doom first makes it likely he's not going to engage in any American foolishness.

"Doom will permit this."

I reach in and put the ring on, the environmental shield activating at once. But I don't don my armour.

Very wise. I wonder if he uses something modelled on SHIELD agent gear for light armour? He almost certainly uses something closer to Stark's armour designs (with permission from the creator, of course) for heavy armour...

"I found this in the Antarctic while bailing out one of my daughter's field trips." A small box materialises on the table in front of him. "My gift to you. And while I make no demands, I would respectfully recommend that you use it for something which demonstrates to the rest of the world that I already know; that you are a great untapped resource."

That daughter being Rogue, of the X-Men (the 'Wolverine &' incarnation?) Funny that while the other one romanced the older version, this one adopted the younger one.

He picks up the box, staring at it and presumably running some sort of scanner over it. It's not critically important because he's not actually here, but there's such a thing as keeping up appearances.

Satisfied, he opens it, revealing the small ingots of Antarctic vibranium I recovered from the Savage Land. I've… Chosen not to tell T'Challa that I copied the machines he uses for processing it.

...Aw, shit!

That's something significant. Antarctic Vibranium is bad news.

He stares for a moment, and then closes the box keeps it firmly grasped in his left hand. "Doom accepts this tribute, and shall consider what you have said. Now GO."

I down the last of the chocolate as I rise to my feet, leave the.. last of my Latverian currency as a tip along with the cup, pick up the pastry, bow deferentially to His Majesty Doctor Victor von Doom, King of Latveria, and then transition to my fallback point just outside of Latveria.

When Doom gives an order like that, you do not fuck around and find out.

I thought that went w-.

You have twenty one messages.

Because of course private communications aren't a thing in Latveria.

Naturally he put the Ring on 'airplane' mode for the duration?

Are they all from the same person?

Yes.

I wonder if the Avengers knew he was coming here?

Is it Janet?

Yes.

Because of course it is.

Janet Van Dyne? The might Wasp? Well, now.

Just call Janet.

Calling 'Jan-

"She's not going to the prom!"

...Oh, this is about Rogue? I mean, given her powerset, even protected by whatever countermeasures the smartest people on Earth can provide her, would she want to be around average teenagers?

-et'.

"Janet, hi, sorry I couldn't-"

Good luck getting any words in edge-wise, Paulie.

"She's not going to the prom, Paul! The PROM!"

"-pick up. And… Um, okay? Did she-"

To a social butterfly like Janet, that would be a disaster on par with Galactus stopping by for a Himalaya-sized snack...

"It's tomorrow! She can't not go to the prom! It's social suicide!"

"-say why? I-. If there's no one that she wants to go with-."

And I really hope she isn't interested in Gambit. He's just a little older than her in this one...

"It's because-. She doesn't want to go if she can't touch the guy she's with. I though the force field fixed that?"

"It's not a hundred percent reliable. It would cover hand-holding fairly reliably for a few hours, but after that-."

And anything more than that is right out. Can you just imagine M!OL serving as her father, giving the boy a shovel speech, complete with construct shovel?

"But it's not even that bad!"

"She's a bit fixated, but don't panic. I know someone she can go with."

Man, with these two as her legal guardians, she must have a lively home life...

"Ah, I don't think sending Leech to a mutant school-."

"No, not Leech."

Yeah, I don't think AoE anti-mutant-power powers are gonna go down too well at Xavier's. The few times he's attended, he either had enough control to suppress the AoE or technological assistance.

"Good, because he's not a bad guy? But she's kinda totally out of his league. Wait, you're not thinking of Sebastian-?"

"No? He's my age. Just-. Leave it with me. Just… Help her with her dress and whatever else she needs. I'll be back in about an hour."

Ick. Yeah, I'd rather see her with a teenage Gambit than the leader of the Hellfire Club's mutant inner circle.

"Okay. Okay. Consider it managed. Just make sure he's… Good."

"I will. Thank you, Janet. You're indispensable."

I mean, dating a villain can work - just ask Batman - but it can get awkward if they're on a team you fight regularly.

So, this is going to be our side-plot for the episode, eh? Or at least one of them. A fatherly and Avenger-y alternate OL raising an adopted daughter who can drain the life and powers out of people... I suppose having him in her phonebook makes some X-Men missions easier if she can call him in as the cavalry.

Vaermina · 2026-03-26T07:53:08+0000

Mr Zoat said:
15th June 2012
15:26 GMT +2
Earth 8096

You know... I'm starting to think the only versions of Paul that aren't massivly destructive to everything around them are those who don't have access to Orange Power Rings.

Because there is no fixing Doom so long as Reed Richards exists.

BR549 · 2026-03-26T08:01:35+0000

...what even is that hairstyle Wolverine and the X-Men Rogue has anyway? Sheesh.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Which, depending on continuity (and the current backstory at any particular point) ranged from 'tells Doom he got a single calculation wrong in college, leading to Doom suffering a tiny scar' to 'Caused Doom to be exposed to unnatural Cosmic energies in space.'

I forget what backstory, if any, EMH gave Doom and Reed, but EMH Doom was a key part in defeating that continuity's Skrull invasion, giving Tony the key pieces he needed for his Skrull detector to become a Skrull reverter.

"This world is mine to rule, and mine alone. These...reptiles may not have it."

Duke Long · 2026-03-26T08:09:24+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Even if I am getting a Doombot. You found a way to block my scans, the weight as roughly what I estimate yours is and it even breathes. What it doesn't do is use oxygen.

'is'

Mr Zoat said:
"I hope that by learning more about Latveria and it's culture, I would learn something that would help me to become more persuasive in my missives to you. I doubted that I would see you in person, but… Here you are. I'm carrying no weapons other than the ring, which in deference to Latverian weapon control laws I'm not wearing. If you wish for me to leave, then I will of course do so at once."

'hoped'?
'its'

Mr Zoat said:
"I feel that you have the capacity to be a tremendous benefit to humanity, and that your feud with Doctor Richards -not that I'm attempting to minimise the significance of what he did to you- is distracting you for making progress in that direction. So I was wondering if there was something that I could do that would help you in that regard."

'from'

Mr Zoat said:
"I found this in the Antarctic while bailing out one of my daughter's field trips." A small box materialises on the table in front of him. "My gift to you. And while I make no demands, I would respectfully recommend that you use it for something which demonstrates to the rest of the world that I already know; that you are a great untapped resource."

'that which'?

Mr Zoat said:
He stares for a moment, and then closes the box keeps it firmly grasped in his left hand. "Doom accepts this tribute, and shall consider what you have said. Now GO."

', then closes the box and keeps'?

Mr Zoat said:
"It's because-. She doesn't want to go if she can't touch the guy she's with. I though the force field fixed that?"

'thought'

The prom! Hahaha, such a funny thing from American television.

Mr Zoat · 2026-03-26T08:40:47+0000

Duke Long said:
'is'
'hoped'?
'its'
'from'
'that which'?
', then closes the box and keeps'?
'thought'

Thank you, corrected.

The prom! Hahaha, such a funny thing from American television.

Those zany Americans, what will they think of next?

WereDragon · 2026-03-26T10:05:23+0000

Mr Zoat said:
His Majesty Doctor Victor von Doom, King of Latveria

There are few characters more dedicated to being Problematic On Purpose than Lex Luthor. Doom is one of them.

my daughter's field trips

Good for Rogue.

Janet

Don't know who that is and the little we see makes me uninterested in learning.

Mr Zoat · 2026-03-26T12:41:39+0000

WereDragon said:
Don't know who that is and the little we see makes me uninterested in learning.

Janet van Dyne. Wasp.

CrazyNoVa · 2026-03-26T12:42:00+0000

Mr Zoat said:
"It's tomorrow! She can't not go to the prom! It's social suicide!"

On behalf of everyone who's ever skipped prom night for one reason or another (which includes me), I just want to say: Screw you, Janet.

WereDragon said:
Don't know who that is and the little we see makes me uninterested in learning.

You mean Wasp? Because that's who she is. I'm telling you this, because odds are you might see her again next time we come back to this universe.

Steelplaza · 2026-03-26T13:00:28+0000

Doom is like that famous meme panel of Spider-man with Sauron. "But I don't want to cure cancer. I want to turn people into dinosaurs."

It's not like Doom is unaware of how he could "help humanity". Sometimes he even helps the people of Latveria just to prove he knows how to help humanity. But he doesn't pretend that altruism is his goal. He wants to dominate and rule the rest of humanity, not for their own good, but because it would satisfy his ego to do so. I don't think he's vulnerable to Paul-type persuasion on this matter.

lancelot · 2026-03-26T13:29:56+0000

Mr Zoat said:
"Okay. Okay. Consider it managed. Just make sure he's… Good."

"I will. Thank you, Janet. You're indispensable."

The only version I remember you Has you married to Rogue and not her adopted father. If this is a new one that's great. If this is a continuation of a series you already have maybe you should put to those previous episodes links up. Honestly that's probably the only problem with your side stories. Is that if previous chapters are more than a couple months old it's damn near impossible to find in this massive thread.

Jankl · 2026-03-26T13:46:13+0000

lars said:
Here's a list of episodes where you can find the alternative settings or lanterns so you don't have to sift through the threadmarks. Note that the list is still incomplete.

Red Lantern:
Ep 42
-Sororicide (Part 21)
-Sororicide (part 22)
Ep 84
-Uxoricide (part 12)
-Uxocicide (part 13)
Ep 99
-Will murder for personal satisfaction
Ep 109
-Liberticide (part 1)
-Liberticide (part 2)
-Liberticide (part 3)
-Liberticide (part 4)

Anti green Lantern:
Ep 42
-Mayday (part 3)
-Mayday (part 23)
Ep 83
-Encumbrance (part 19)
-Difficulty (part 15)
-Difficulty (part 16)
-Difficulty (part 17)
Ep 91
-Irritation
Ep 98
-Everything is awesome

Blue Lantern/Earth -14:
Ep 27
-Meanwhile, on Earth -14
Ep 33
-Doppelgänger story only
Ep 42
-Defector (part 5)
Ep 85
-Some time ago on Earth -14
-Doppelgängered story only

Yellow Lantern:
Ep 95
-Lantern corps, Ho!
-Lantern corps, Ho!
-Lantern corps, Ho!
Ep 98
-In Order
Ep 100
-Wyrm (part 1)
-Wyrm (part 2)
-Wyrm (part 3)

Indigo Lantern:
Ep 42
-Bereave (part 1)
-Bereave (part 7)
Ep 82
-Nobody Move (part 21)

Avatar The last airbender
Ep 42
-Avatar: Legend of Azula (part 1)
-Avatar: Legend of Azula (part 2)

My Little Pony FiM
Ep 42
-My Little Lantern: Avarice is Magic (part 1)
-My Little Lantern: Avarice is Magic (part 2)

Captain Planet
Ep 42
-Blight Up Your Life (part 1)

Kung Fu Panda
Ep 42
-Kung Fu Leopard (part 1)
-Kung Fu Leopard (part 2)

ElseWhen/ Jade Scott
Ep 74
-ElseWhen
-ElseWhen
Ep 75
-ElseWhen
-ElseWhen
-ElseWhen
Ep76
-ElseWhen
Ep 90
-ElseWhen
-ElseWhen

Common sense:
Ep 78
-Common sense (part 1)
Ep 82
-Common sense (part 2)
Ep 86
-Common sense (part 3)
-Common sense (part 4)
Ep 87
-Common sense (part 5)
Ep 110
-Common sense (part 6)
-Common sense (part 7)

Sybarite:
Ep 81
-Sybarite (part 1)
-Sybarite (part 2)

Justice League unlimited:
Ep 85
-A long time ago on Earth 12
-A little later on Earth 12
-Some time ago on Earth 12
-Recently on Earth 12
Ep 87
-Recently on Earth 12
Ep 92
-Covert community (part 1)
-Covert community (part 2)
Ep 98
-Here's mud in your you
Ep 102
-Some time ago on Earth 12
-Most recently on Earth 12
-Still on Earth 12
-On Earth 12 again

He-man:
Ep 94
-I HAVE THE POWER! RING
-I HAVE THE POWER! RING

Fallout:
Ep 94
-Old World Dudes
-Old World Dudes
Ep 97
-Should Have Posted This Sooner
Ep 108
-Fallin (part 1)
-Fallin (part 2)
-Fallin (part 3)
-Fallin (part 4)
-Fallin (part 5)
-Fallin (part 6)
-Fallin (part 7)

Avengers EMH:
Ep 94
-Earth's Orangest Hero
-Earth's Orangest Hero

Angel Paul:
Ep 94
-Fratricide squad
Ep 98
-Clarity

WH fantasy:
Ep 95
-Warlantern Fantasy Battle
-Warlantern Fantasy Battle
-Warlantern Fantasy Battle
Ep 101
-Warhammered (part 1)
-Warhammered (part 2)
-Warhammered (part 3)
-Warhammered (part 4)

WH40K:
Ep 95
-Warlantern 40,000
-Warlantern 40,000
-Warlantern 40,000
Ep 104
-Kaising the Joint (part 1)
-Kaising the Joint (part 2)
-Kaising the Joint (part 3)
-Kaising the Joint (part 4)
-Kaising the Joint (part 5)

Black Lantern
Ep 96
-Repetition (part 13)
-Repetition (part 14)
-Repetition (part 16)
-Repetition (part 17)

Tangseid:
Ep 99
-When you're Evil
Ep 106
-Sauntering downwards (part 1)
-Sauntering downwards (part 2)
-Sauntering downwards (part 3)
-Sauntering downwards (part 4)
-Sauntering downwards (part 5)

Stargirl:
Ep 99
-Ringman (part 1)
-Ringman (part 2)

GATE:
Ep 103
-Gateway (part 1)
-Gateway (part 2)
-Gateway (part 3)
-Gateway (part 4)

Marvel:
Ep 107
-Meanwhile, on Earth 534834 (part 1)
-Meanwhile, on Earth 534834 (part 2)
-Meanwhile, on Earth 534834 (part 3)
-Meanwhile, on Earth 534834 (part 4)
-Meanwhile, on Earth 534834 (part 5)

Teal Lantern:
Ep 111
-I smile to see you want (part 4a)
-I smile to see you want (part 4b)

Edit 1. Formatting and adding links
Edit 2. Added more links
Edit 3. Added Black Lantern

Jankl · 2026-03-26T13:47:54+0000

m_d said:
In the first post of this thread there is a link to a post under Spoiler: Omake Index called List of Minor SI variants. It was last updated 19 June 2021, so it doesn't contain the Stargate ones yet since they started 1 February 2024. I would be unsurprised to find that there are readers of this fic who have their own indexes, but I don't know of any current public ones. The TV Tropes one and the Wiki linked on the first post don't appear to contain the sort of index you're looking for. You can search specific threads as a QQ member for keywords though. I might eventually post one, but I haven't gotten around to putting one together. If you can remember chapter titles you can also just open the threadmarks list and do a wordsearch there.

For convenience, here is guide to the Stargate ones I've found:
Starring (part 1) to Starring (part 22) all can be found under the heading of Episode 145: Unreal on the third post of this thread. The next time I'm aware of them coming back up are in chapters Starbate (part 1) to Starbate (part 4), all of which are in Episode 151: Working Relationship.

The Transformers ones:
Start in Episode 120: Krummkreuz with Plus Two (part 1) and Plus Two (part 2)
Continued in Episode 128: Feasibility Study with Transformed (part 1) to Transformed (part 7)
Continued in Episode 145: Unreal with Transformational (part 1) to Transformational (part 4)
Continued in Episode 148: Codominion with Meet The Eye (part 1) to Meet The Eye (part 12)
Continued in Episode 149: Equity with Equity (part 3) and Equity (part 8). The titling convention of this section is different because of the crossover nature of the episode. You can get an idea in the index by going off of the year the chapter takes place in. The Transformers ones are the ones in 2014.

For completeness-sake, here are links to all of the posts for both that I found behind spoilers with the dates and Episodes as given in the index. Please let me know if I missed any or if you have other corrections.

Episode 145: Unreal
14th August 2013
Starring (part 1)
Starring (part 2)
Starring (part 3)
27th August 2013
Starring (part 4)
Starring (part 5)
Ten Years Later
Starring (part 6)
Three Years Later
Starring (part 7)
Starring (part 8)
Two Months Later
Starring (part 9)
Two Seasons Later
Starring (part 10)
Three Days Later
Starring (part 11)
Starring (part 12)
About a Month Later
Starring (part 13)
Starring (part 14)
Starring (part 15)
9th October 1999
Starring (part 16)
Starring (part 17)
Starring (part 18)
Starring (part 19)
Starring (part 20)
11 October 1999
Starring (part 21)
Starring (part 22)

Episode 151: Working Relationship
3rd November 1999
Starbate (part 1)
5th November 1999
Starbate (part 2)
12th November 1999
Starbate (part 3)
Starbate (part 4)

Episode 120: Krummkreuz
21st May 2013
Plus Two (part 1)
21st May 2013
Plus Two (part 2)

Episode 128: Feasibility Study
16th October 2013
Transformed (part 1)
Transformed (part 2)
Transformed (part 3)
17th October 2013
Transformed (part 4)
25th October 2013
Transformed (part 5)
Transformed (part 6)
Transformed (part 7)

Episode 145: Unreal
5th February 2014
Transformational (part 1)
Transformational (part 2)
Transformational (part 3)
Transformational (part 4)

Episode 148: Codominion
14th June 2014
Meet The Eye (part 1)
Meet The Eye (part 2)
15th June 2014
Meet The Eye (part 3)
22nd June 2014
Meet The Eye (part 4)
Meet The Eye (part 5)
28th June 2014
Meet The Eye (part 6)
Meet The Eye (part 7)
12th July 2014
Meet The Eye (part 8)
13th July 2014
Meet The Eye (part 9)
Meet The Eye (part 10)
15th July 2014
Meet The Eye (part 11)
Meet The Eye (part 12)

Episode 149: Equity
16th July 2014
Equity (part 3)
Equity (part 8)

Darko · 2026-03-26T14:01:50+0000

Mr Zoat said:
and that your feud with Doctor Richards -not that I'm attempting to minimise the significance of what he did to you-

Which was basically nothing.

Mr Zoat said:
Wait, you're not thinking of Sebastian-?"

How the hell is Paul close to that guy?

Chojin Patriarch said:
Which, depending on continuity (and the current backstory at any particular point) ranged from 'tells Doom he got a single calculation wrong in college, leading to Doom suffering a tiny scar' to 'Caused Doom to be exposed to unnatural Cosmic energies in space

The most common have been Reed trying to tell him that he made a mistake, but Doom ignoring him and getting angry, to Reed not understanding what he wrote because it incorporated mystic elements.

The only time someone actually sabotaged his experiment was win an issue where Ben Grimm smudged some of his writing.

Doom's machine did work perfectly and managed to send him to Hell.

He just didn't put much work into his defenses when Mephisto got his claws on him.

Honestly I think the reason Doom hates Reed so much is because he's intimidated that Reed is smarter than him.

Think about it.

Doom's childhood was terrible.

His mother dies the same day that he's born, he grows up in poverty and belongs to a group that is persecuted by the government, he and his dad are hunted and Victor wakes up with his father's dead body hugging him.

That would mess anyone up and no amount of willpower will let anyone power through that, since trying to power through trauma like that will just make it worse.

But through all the misery and pain, Victor has his intellect.

It allowed him to survive, it allowed him to build weapons to defend himself, it allowed him to be noticed by the US Army who offered him opportunities he didn't have before.

As far as Victor is concerned his intelligence was the greatest thing he had.

Then he meets someone that's smarter than him in the form of Reed Richards, so his most precious resource is no longer the greatest thing around.

Reed at this point has no negative feelings for the guy that will devote his existence to making his life a living hell, but to Doom that doesn't matter.

Victor grew up with a dog eat dog, survival of the fittest mentality, so the fact that Reed exists is enough for him to hate him.

Kinda like how a thug will beat up someone they think is strong just to assert their dominance.

The person they are beating up has done them no harm and may not even consider harming them, but the fact that they potentially could harm them is enough justification for the thug to beat them up.

Victor could have met Bruce Banner, Hank Pym, T'challa, Tony Stark or any other genius that is radically different from Reed Richards and it would have still ended up with him devoting his life to tormenting them.

Heck, in a What If? he and Tony became enemies.

To summarize my point, Victor von Doom hates Reed Richards because Reed got better grades than him.

...yeah...

Honestly, Victor's life is just sad, and not like in a Shakespearean way, but just sad and pathetic.

SolidJJ was right, Doom was going to turn out bad no matter who his roommate was.

Chojin Patriarch said:
I mean, dating a villain can work - just ask Batman

Hahahahaha!

...

...wait, you're serious?

Ahh, Batman's love life with villains either ends in an emotional trainwreck or him getting raped.

Even the Batman in this story only married Talia after she quit being a supervillain and had little chance of going back since both her father and the Shadows were dead.

CrazyNoVa · 2026-03-26T14:36:05+0000

lancelot said:
The only version I remember you Has you married to Rogue and not her adopted father. If this is a new one that's great. If this is a continuation of a series you already have maybe you should put to those previous episodes links up. Honestly that's probably the only problem with your side stories. Is that if previous chapters are more than a couple months old it's damn near impossible to find in this massive thread.

Really? I can find them just fine by looking through the threadmarks and cross-referencing them with the TV Tropes recap page.

Steelplaza · 2026-03-26T14:38:17+0000

Darko said:
Which was basically nothing.

Yes, but saying that wouldn't be diplomatically productive. This is the SI taking his usual pragmatic attitude that if Doom can be brought around by not arguing with him about Reed Richards, then they ought to not argue with him about Reed Richards.

RoninSword · 2026-03-26T14:50:47+0000

Mr Zoat said:
5th March
14:36 GMT -5
Earth 8096

Mr Zoat said:
13th June
08:36 GMT -5
Earth 8096

Mr Zoat said:
14th April 2012
14:59 GMT -5
Earth 8096

Mr Zoat said:
22nd April 2012
10:26 GMT -5
Earth 8096

Here are the other ones where he's adopting Rogue and at some point started dating Hela.

Vaermina · 2026-03-26T23:02:54+0000

Steelplaza said:
Doom is like that famous meme panel of Spider-man with Sauron. "But I don't want to cure cancer. I want to turn people into dinosaurs."

It's not like Doom is unaware of how he could "help humanity". Sometimes he even helps the people of Latveria just to prove he knows how to help humanity. But he doesn't pretend that altruism is his goal. He wants to dominate and rule the rest of humanity, not for their own good, but because it would satisfy his ego to do so. I don't think he's vulnerable to Paul-type persuasion on this matter.

The only time you really ever get "Hero" Doom is in universes where Reed Richards never existed.

CrazyNoVa · 2026-03-27T00:27:39+0000

Vaermina said:
The only time you really ever get "Hero" Doom is in universes where Reed Richards never existed.

Or in Axis.

Stsword · 2026-03-27T02:51:27+0000

Doom was Iron Man for a while- Tony was dead and Doom's face was fixed.

But Riri was pretty much the only person who believed he was being sincere, Tony came back from the dead, and Doom's face got ruined again, so status quo is god as is usual.

However I don't think it really matter here- I don't get that this altPaul is trying to get heroic Doom, but rather pragmatically evil Doom like Lex and the Sivanas etc.

That this Paul is fine with Doom being a pathetic narcissist as long as he's a useful pathetic narcissist.

Mr Zoat · 2026-03-27T06:20:02+0000

31st August 2013
09:23 GMT -5

Artemis is… Waiting for me outside of the laboratory Theodore Kord set aside for Wallace's alchemy studies. Her arms are folded across her chest, and she's giving me a mild glare.

"This is totally your fault."

"It wouldn't surprise me. Could you please tell me what 'this' is?"

"Three different types of emotion drug, plus the blue potion bottles from 'Doom'."

"He's locked himself in the laboratory?"

"No, the door's open." She gestures grandly in its direction. "Wanna open it?"

"Not… Any more? Artemis, what's going on?"

She looks around the corridor, taking a deep breath. "Uhhhhhhh…" Then she rolls her neck and briefly closes her eyes before facing me.

"He didn't talk to me about dropping out. First, I mean."

"Ah. Well, it did appear to be a spur of the moment thing rather than an actual plan. And since I was there and had useful input, we talked about it. It's all at the planning stage-."

"It was. He talked it over with Ollie yesterday."

"Still planning. Unless he's… Actually committed. Um. In.. which case I can encourage him to spend a little more time on it?"

"No! I don't-. Hate the plan. I just wanted him to talk to me about it first."

"Um…"

"Yes, I know there's nothing you can do about that now." She looks around again. "Jade's not with you?"

"While the League of Shadows did have an alchemy module, she was more focused on things useful to an assassin and saboteur rather than narcotics."

"But wasn't the whole point of her coming back to Earth to let you two spend some time together?"

"Yes, and we have. But our areas of work don't really overlap, we're still needed and she is supposed to be on holiday. Unlike us Orange Lanterns, the Darkstars are supposed to stay mentally healthy."

"So she wasn't taking breaks?"

"Jade wanted to prove that she could function in a non-criminal combat role. She's probably been pushing herself a little harder than is entirely wise."

Artemis gives me an 'are you serious' look.

"I've been getting better."

"Yeah, what was with that whole 'rent the restaurant' thing? You could just have asked him after you fixed him, or gone to the police station afterwards."

"I… Did I tell you about the time I worked with Superman?"

She snorts with amusement. "Are you name-dropping?"

"I only worked with him the once."

"Uh…" She thinks for a moment. "I don't think so?"

"He stopped some children climbing over a fence into an electrical substation to get their ball back, and… Patiently explained why it was dangerous at their level. Most of what I do with the Orange Lantern Corps involves delivering extremely deadly force at whatever the Reach is throwing at us this week. Which means that I tend to assess things as if it was a war, even when that's not really appropriate. And that's… The sort of thinking that resulted in Yellow Lantern Batman."

"So you're… Trying to be nicer?"

"Yeah. 'What Would Superman Do?' Unless it is a war zone, in which case return to default setting. I'm sort of hoping that taking a little extra time with him might.. help him kick his drug habit. Probably wasn't efficient, but almost certainly won't result in him taking over the world with an army of emotion-deprived super humans."

She frowns. "Yeah, what's up with that?

"Ah, rough guess, getting to the headspace where he became 'Nice Guy Batman' required a very specific set of stimuli, which wasn't replicated post-Anti-Life. Instead, we had a giant mess to clean up and he was forced to work with someone who messed with his head. Or Sinestro might have booby trapped his ring."

That warrants a blink, and a slight air of suspicion. "Really?"

I shake my head. "It's not very likely, but it's technically possible. And so are a bunch of other things, none of which are particularly likely. Because I don't want to be responsible for this, but I know that I am."

"Right… Wait. If Superman showed you that, what did you show him?"

"A Spider Guild world."

"They're the cannibals, right?" I nod. "So did the lesson take a while to bed in..?"

"I didn't want him to think that I act the way that I do purely out of malevolence. And there was a chance that he had a better idea."

"A better idea than..?"

"Bombarding them from orbit until they issued an unconditional surrender. Then executing their ruling class and indefinitely occupying the planet."

"Ah… Did he?"

"Well, they ended up getting annexed by a sept already under allied control rather than occupied, so I suppose that you could say that he contributed to one. He also helped in saving their larder."

There's a very small shudder.

"Ah, changing the subject. You don't think Batman's gunna mandate doses of happy for everyone, do you?"

"Ramping up enough to dose five billion people daily would be difficult within the predicted repair time of human civilisation."

"How about just some people? Even if it's not chemically addictive, it could still be used to condition people."

"Been reading Brave New World?"

She nods. "Is that a high school book in Britain?"

"Not as a set text, but I think I got my copy from the school library. We're a way off producing soma, and interfering with the human endocrine system can have all sorts of knock on effects that aren't immediately apparent."

"Didn't you used to regulate your hormones with your power ring?"

"Yes, but that was because I felt that being dispassionate when in charge of a lethal mind-altering weapon was a good idea, and I could undo any other effects. Ah, bit of a personal question, but… Do you use oral contraception?"

"Uh… Yeah? Okay, yeah, I know it's hormone based-. Wait, does that have side effects?"

Oh dear.

"Yes, it-."

The door opens, and Wallace emerges. "Hey guys. I think I know where the people making these are getting their stuff."

Darko · 2026-03-27T06:25:54+0000

Mr Zoat said:
worked with him the once."

"the one time"

Mr Zoat said:
He stopped some children climbing over a fence into an electrical substation to get their ball back, and… Patiently explained why it was dangerous at their level

That does sound like him.

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-03-27T07:03:56+0000

Mr Zoat said:
31st August 2013
09:23 GMT -5

Artemis is… Waiting for me outside of the laboratory Theodore Kord set aside for Wallace's alchemy studies. Her arms are folded across her chest, and she's giving me a mild glare.

"This is totally your fault."

What, because Kid Flash is doing lab work? I mean, he does take after Barry, who is a forensic scientist for the Central City Police. OR do you mean something more general, Artemis?

"It wouldn't surprise me. Could you please tell me what 'this' is?"

"Three different types of emotion drug, plus the blue potion bottles from 'Doom'."

I mean, if Wally can replicate those... Something that can effectively overheal in large quantities could be useful? Worst case, it just gives him a different example of doing healing potions.

"He's locked himself in the laboratory?"

"No, the door's open." She gestures grandly in its direction. "Wanna open it?"

Well, that's healthy behaviour. Or is he more in a 'ignoring her in the name of focusing on research' mode, possibly at superspeed?

"Not… Any more? Artemis, what's going on?"

She looks around the corridor, taking a deep breath. "Uhhhhhhh…" Then she rolls her neck and briefly closes her eyes before facing me.

Remember, Arty, OL can be a bit dense unless you're completely direct.

"He didn't talk to me about dropping out. First, I mean."

"Ah. Well, it did appear to be a spur of the moment thing rather than an actual plan. And since I was there and had useful input, we talked about it. It's all at the planning stage-."

Ah, it's about school. She was looking forwards to graduating alongside him and that won't happen now?

"It was. He talked it over with Ollie yesterday."

"Still planning. Unless he's… Actually committed. Um. In.. which case I can encourage him to spend a little more time on it?"

If anything, he can just take that gap year and go once things are more stable. All it really costs is time, after all, since I don't doubt OL is covering their college fees.

"No! I don't-. Hate the plan. I just wanted him to talk to me about it first."

"Um…"

And there's the real core of the issue. If they're a couple...

"Yes, I know there's nothing you can do about that now." She looks around again. "Jade's not with you?"

"While the League of Shadows did have an alchemy module, she was more focused on things useful to an assassin and saboteur rather than narcotics."

So more of a focus on poison and explosives. Makes sense.

"But wasn't the whole point of her coming back to Earth to let you two spend some time together?"

"Yes, and we have. But our areas of work don't really overlap, we're still needed and she's is supposed to be on holiday. Unlike us Orange Lanterns, the Darkstars are supposed to stay mentally healthy."

They don't have to be together every moment of every day. Some occasional distance can be healthy.

"So she wasn't taking breaks?"

"Jade wanted to prove that she could function in a non-criminal combat role. She's probably been pushing herself a little harder than is entirely wise."

Well, that's a given. She's probably more than proved herself worthy to her teammates and other colleagues.

Artemis gives me an 'are you serious' look.

"I've been getting better."

Still prone to missing things obvious to other people, OL.

"Yeah, what was with that whole 'rent the restaurant' thing? You could just have asked him after you fixed him, or gone to the police station afterwards."

"I… Did I tell you about the time I worked with Superman?"

If anything, it helps him put a human face to the 'capes' so that they're not lofty gods flying far overhead but instead know that even they can feel things.

She snorts with amusement. "Are you name-dropping?"

"I only worked with him the once."

"Uh…" She thinks for a moment. "I don't think so?"

Honestly, that feels even more obnoxious. 'That time I worked with Superman' could be a big thing for some minor capes...

"He stopped some children climbing over a fence into an electrical substation to get their ball back, and… Patiently explained why it was dangerous at their level. Most of what I do with the Orange Lantern Corps involves delivering extremely deadly force at whatever the Reach is throwing at us this week. Which means that I tend to assess things as if it was a war, even when that's not really appropriate. And that's… The sort of thinking that resulted in Yellow Lantern Batman."

There's that 'human face' thing again. Supes is good at bringing himself down to people's level so they can see past the tights and cape and muscles and see the 'man' in Superman...

"So you're… Trying to be nicer?"

"Yeah. 'What Would Superman Do?' Unless it is a war zone, in which case return to default setting. I'm sort of hoping that taking a little extra time with him might.. help him kick his drug habit. Probably wasn't efficient, but almost certainly won't result in him taking over the world with an army of emotion-deprived super humans."

And don't say that couldn't happen. This is the DC Universe, where weird shit is the norm.

She frowns. "Yeah, what's up with that?

"Ah, rough guess, getting to the headspace where he became 'Nice Guy Batman' required a very specific set of stimuli, which wasn't replicated post-Anti-Life. Instead, we had a giant mess to clean up and he was forced to work with someone who messed with his head. Or Sinestro might have booby trapped his ring."

Maybe it's six of one, half a dozen of the other? And really, damn the Anti-Life for costing us 'good guy' Grey-and-Blue Batman...

That warrants a blink, and a slight air of suspicion. "Really?"

I shake my head. "It's not very likely, but it's technically possible. And so are a bunch of other things, none of which are particularly likely. Because I don't want to be responsible for this, but I know that I am."

Unfortunately, you didn't have a lot of candidates, and the next option was 'Yellow Lantern Scarecrow'. That's a bad day for everyone.

"Right… Wait. If Superman showed you that, what did you show him?"

"A Spider Guild world."

A firm reminder of why the fight against Evil is never-ending.

"They're the cannibals, right?" I nod. "So did the lesson take a while to bed in..?"

"I didn't want him to think that I act the way that I do purely out of malevolence. And there was a chance that he had a better idea."

I suppose the former part did work. He knows now that there really are people that bad out there, and you can't be a nice guy with everyone.

"A better idea than..?"

"Bombarding them from orbit until they issued an unconditional surrender. Then executing their ruling class and indefinitely occupying the planet."

Which could have been unpleasant, but honestly better than they deserved.

"Ah… Did he?"

"Well, they ended up getting annexed by a sept already under allied control rather than occupied, so I suppose that you could say that he contributed to one. He also helped in saving their larder."

And remember, the Spider Guilders like their food still alive. Apparently it tastes nicer.

There's a very small shudder.

"Ah, changing the subject. You don't think Batman's gunna mandate doses of happy for everyone, do you?"

I don't think he would. You know the trust issues he has around things he doesn't understand fully, and the magical nature of these drugs...

"Ramping up enough to dose five billion people daily would be difficult within the predicted repair time of human civilisation."

"How about just some people? Even if it's not chemically addictive, it could still be used to condition people."

See, now that's an evil idea.

"Been reading Brave New World?"

She nods. "Is that a high school book in Britain?"

The novel by Aldous Huxley, as a reminder.

"Not as a set text, but I think I got my copy from the school library. We're a way off producing soma, and interfering with the human endocrine system can have all sorts of knock on effects that aren't immediately apparent."

"Didn't you used to regulate your hormones with your power ring?"

Hey, with so many lovely young ladies around, wouldn't you? Especially with a Ring that greatly affects desire and acquisitiveness?

"Yes, but that was because I felt that being dispassionate when in charge of a lethal mind-altering weapon was a good idea, and I could undo any other effects. Ah, bit of a personal question, but… Do you use oral contraception?"

"Uh… Yeah? Okay, yeah, I know it's hormone based-. Wait, does that have side effects?"

A fair comparison... Also, how does her Danner-enhanced biology interact with said medications? Because if it reduces or negates its effectiveness...

Oh dear.

"Yes, it-."

The door opens, and Wallace emerges. "Hey guys. I think I know where the people making these are getting their stuff."

Ah, awkward moment interrupted by plot!

Well, if I understand the subtext right, Wally could find himself in for a surprise at some point if they're not careful.

Which does make me wonder how Danner and Garrick formulae would interact in a fetus, although I know the former isn't technically inheritable. I'm sure OL will address the issue at some point, ideally when Wally isn't listening...

Duke Long · 2026-03-27T07:14:31+0000

Mr Zoat said:
"Yes, and we have. But our areas of work don't really overlap, we're still needed and she's is supposed to be on holiday. Unlike us Orange Lanterns, the Darkstars are supposed to stay mentally healthy."

'she'

Not understanding the bit at the end. Is it just him being alarmed by her not knowing that there are side effects? I suppose that is an alarming thing. You'd hope people would check that sort of thing before taking a drug.

Vaermina · 2026-03-27T07:20:21+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Oh dear.

"Yes, it-."

The door opens, and Wallace emerges. "Hey guys. I think I know where the people making these are getting their stuff."

I guess we'll have to wait to see if he goldfishes finishing that sentence.

Mr Zoat · 2026-03-27T08:32:00+0000

Darko said:
"the one time"

It's a perfectly cromulent expression.

Duke Long said:
'she'

Thank you, corrected.

Not understanding the bit at the end. Is it just him being alarmed by her not knowing that there are side effects? I suppose that is an alarming thing. You'd hope people would check that sort of thing before taking a drug.

Naturally, I have never been proscribed oral contraception myself, but it is my understanding that most people who take them don't know all the side effects.

Neruz · 2026-03-27T09:23:24+0000

Duke Long said:
Not understanding the bit at the end. Is it just him being alarmed by her not knowing that there are side effects? I suppose that is an alarming thing. You'd hope people would check that sort of thing before taking a drug.

You'd be surprised how often people take drugs without bothering to read even the likely side effects.

Steelplaza · 2026-03-27T12:17:58+0000

Darko said:
That does sound like him.

We actually saw that incident in this story. Or at least, OL briefly summarized it for us right after it happened. Him working with Superman was a whole arc, "Uncomplicated Good Deeds" or something like that.

NightmareWarden · 2026-03-27T13:22:52+0000

Does the purple healing ray "heal away" the effects of contraceptives? To fix fertility?

Steelplaza · 2026-03-27T14:22:59+0000

NightmareWarden said:
Does the purple healing ray "heal away" the effects of contraceptives? To fix fertility?

Surgical like a vasectomy maybe, but hormonal treatments likely not. It's just another valid body state. A purple ray shouldn't "heal" that any more than it "heals" being angry.

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