| AU: Omit Flowers |
[05 Jun 2011|04:45pm] |
Doom would forever swear that if Kristoff had been left to express his concerns alone, he probably would have humored the boy's desperate pleas, even though Doom had the situation under control. But when Richards said "You should listen, Victor," with his infinite self-righteous condescension, the only way was forward. Full power.
And so, with that sentence, Richards killed Doom's son.
Because Kristoff had been convinced by Richards' malicious manipulation. The foolish idea that countless innocents would die unless Richards redirected the power back on Doom, killing him. Even though Doom in fact had everything perfectly under control. The boy should have known that. Known better. Never been deceived by Richards. But it was one of those fits, brought on by Kristoff's cursed genetics flaring up, no doubt. He was deceived, and while Richards dithered about whether or not to kill Doom to save the supposed innocents at completely imaginary risk, Doom's son had been a man, however deluded, and acted as he saw fit.
Kristoff had found another room, sealed himself in it, and worked in frenzy to safely -- for both Doom and the civilians -- redirect all the power and radiation there. Doom had found all of his efforts, previously under such perfect control, disrupted. And afterwards, he had found his son covered in radiation burns, gasping out "Please forgive me, Father. I love y..." as he died of the poisoning and internal injuries.
Doom burned Kristoff's body in full armor, on the same funeral ground where he'd helped the boy burn his mother's years ago. Richards -- RICHARDS! -- had asked to come to the funeral. "He did a brave thing. And after all, he was technically my --" but Doom had cut him off. Richards would not be allowed to claim Doom's son at such a time. He would pay for what he had done.
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| At Some Point |
[17 May 2011|03:04pm] |
Something in those dark young eyes hardens as they watche a man tremble and try to explain a 'misunderstanding.'
"Hans," Kristoff Vernard addresses the footman quietly as they stand, watching the man in the yellow jumpsuit and restraints. "You're a good man." Kristoff paused for a moment to let that fact sink in for the man against the wall. "Leave us. I'll have the robots for any assistance I need."
Now the prisoner's eyes get wider as he's left alone with the young Latverian lordling. Then, Kristoff breaks the silence coldly. "You probably cannot comprehend what your masters have done."
"Nope! Definitely not! Look, kid--"
"I am Dr. Kristoff Vernard, Regent of Latveria. I am no man's 'kid'."
"Right. Sorry," he squeaks.
"What the people to whom you connected did to me... Do you even know what it's like to watch someone you love suffer?"
"...If I say no, are they going to be behind the curtain so you can illustrate?"
A long, long pause, from Kristoff. "No. Of course not." The prisoner breathes a sigh of relief. Kristoff adds "I intend to do nothing but contain and feed you for the time being." And he relaxes further.
A cold smile crosses the boy's face. "But just wait until my father gets home."
************
The next day, Kristoff came down. According to the security automata, the prisoner had drunk plenty of water but only had a little of his food. He was crying.
"The security recordings archived everything you blubbered all night," Kristoff said harshly. "It wasn't much, I must say, but it certainly seems it was all you know. I can certainly agree with you there. Those --" as the prisoner didn't speak Romany, he had no idea what the next few words were "-- are not worthy of a scrap of loyalty." He looks to the robots. "Remove the shackles and escort him to the craft."
The man in the yellow jumpsuit blinked as the robots complied. Hope rose, then turned cold. "Is.... is he home?"
"No," Kristoff said coldly, striding along. They board the craft, some of the robots weapons trained on the prisoner. During the brief trip to the border, Kristoff speak. "If you ever see your employers again, tell them I am well aware that they know what they did, and I will repay them for what I had to watch. And since I am sure they love no one more than themselves, I won't even have to lose my honor."
"Right. Yes. Okay. But won't Doom..."
"He will forgive me when I explain that this will set his enemies against each other."
"Oh. Great!" The prisoner says, standing at the border. "Um... how?"
"When SHIELD uses the confession of everything you did, which I transmitted to them this morning, to go after your employers. It will be backed up as evidence when they arrest you if you don't get very far away right now. Do excuse me, did you mistake sparing my father the foul taste of empty vengeance for weakness?"
The prisoner didn't hear any more after that. He was running.
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| Flashback: More than a year ago: Blinded From Science |
[30 Apr 2011|01:10am] |
Kristoff had not spoken with the Master in some time. Doom had made it clear he did not wish to see him for a while, and Kristoff had focused on his dissertation. But he had found out, through various means, what had happened to him It had taken a great deal of care and resources, but he managed to get in.
"Sire? I'm getting you out of here."
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