[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/HbXR9Uvl.png[/img][/center] [center][b]Glory Road, en route to Castle Doom Doomstadt Latveria[/b][/center] [color=LightSalmon]"I must say,"[/color] Prime Minister Klaus Limka of Symkaria commented, as the limousine carrying the visiting dignitaries turned onto the city's main thoroughfare, [color=LightSalmon]"Your workers have done a tremendous job in the reconstruction of Hassenstadt."[/color] Indeed, the ride from the airport into the city had been remarkably smooth. There was not so much as a pothole or a patch of rough pavement along the Glory Road. Several of the buildings along the way sported brand new façades, fresh paint, and clean gleaming windows. One never would have guessed that only a few short months ago, this place was a war zone. [color=Silver]"[i]Doom[/i]stadt,"[/color] Prime Minister Lucia von Bardas corrected him. [color=Silver]"Hassenstadt was the seat of power of a corrupt and incompetent regime. [i]Doom[/i]stadt is the birthplace of the future."[/color] [color=RosyBrown]"Hmph,"[/color] scoffed Minister Vilmos Egans of Kaznia, a corpulent balding man whose jowls seemed to flap when he moved too much. [color=RosyBrown]"I have seen the 'future' you and your Legion offer. And in my opinion, it looks a bit too much like the past for my liking."[/color] Von Bardas gave him a placating, even condescending smile, to assure him she could empathize. Kaznia had suffered long throughout the twentieth century, the political pendulum swinging back and forth from fascists to communists, with tens of thousands slaughtered each time power changed hands. Lucia had known that Egans would always be slow to accept the Way of Doom, given its superficial similarity to those old, backwards ways of thinking. [color=Silver]"I assure you, Minister Egans,"[/color] she said with as smooth and warm a voice as she could manage, [color=Silver]"We have no intention of making the same mistakes as the failed ideologs who came before us."[/color] [color=FireBrick]"Is that so?"[/color] asked Captain-General Tor Avruskin, the commander-in-chief of Pokolistan. [color=FireBrick]"Thus far, all I have seen is the same kind of rhetoric, the same heavy-handed militarism, the same sort of Nietzschean will-to-power nonsense that fueled the rise of Hitler and Stalin. How is your regime any different?"[/color] While Limka and Egans had both approached this proposed summit of nations carefully and diplomatically, Avruskin had made no secret that he considered Latveria and their "Legion of Doom" to be enemies of his people. While most of Eastern Europe had taken strides to modernize and leave behind the Cold War style of brinksmanship, Pokolistan and Latveria had remained bitter rivals over who was the dominant military power of the region. The Pokolistani military had never disarmed, had never stopped procuring and manufacturing weapons, and their soldiers were said to be on par with any of the first-world armies in terms of skill and discipline, if not in numbers or technology. There were even unconfirmed rumors that Pokolistan had secretly been operating a nuclear weapons program in spite of admonishment from the UN. Historically, Symkaria and Kaznia would have never aligned with a nation as militant or as aggressive as Pokolistan. But the fall of Markovia had opened the eyes of their leaders. To counter the Latverian threat, they would need to combine their resources and their military might. This summit was their chance to show a united front to the Legion of Doom. In their minds, it was likely their best chance to prevent a continent wide war....or even a [i]world[/i] war. [color=Silver]"To claim that the way of Doom is inspired by Nietzsche or Marx,"[/color] Von Bardas explained, [color=Silver]"would be akin to saying the works of Mozart were inspired by the first cave-dweller to bang rocks together. They may have the same primordial origins, but are refined and advanced so far as to be unrecognizable. The Way of Doom does not fixate on some farcical supposition of racial superiority as the Nazis had done, nor do we blame the myriad failings of the old world on differences of class or economics as the communists do. While yes, we do require rapid and forceful expansion to take hold of the levers of power, afterward, the people who embrace the Way of Doom find themselves far better than they were before."[/color] As the limousine rolled down the busy city street, Lucia rolled down her window and gestured to the citizens bustling about their jobs. While there were no smiles, no visible laughter, there was also no despair or hatred in their eyes. Each Latverian they passed carried themselves with a steely-eyed determination, a sense of purpose that none of the visiting dignitaries had seen in their own people. [color=Silver]"The Way of Doom gives these people something none of the old ways have ever managed: a [i]purpose[/i],"[/color] Lucia continued. [color=Silver]"It gives them not just a rose-colored vision of some distant future, but a plan of action for the here and now, a place and a function where they can truly make a difference in their community, in their country, and in the world. Every man and woman in Latveria knows the place where they belong, and knows how their duties will reap them lasting rewards, and every child is given the opportunity to shape themselves into the citizens they dream of becoming."[/color] [color=LightSalmon]"And for those who don't fit into your grand plan?"[/color] Limka asked, the question heavy with grim implications. [color=Silver]"Contrary to the bloodthirsty dictators of the past, [i]everyone[/i] fits into our plan,"[/color] Von Bardas corrected him. [color=Silver]"You will find no gulags, no death camps, no gas chambers or ovens, here nor anywhere else under our--"[/color] [color=RosyBrown]"Good God!"[/color] Minister Egans cried out as the limousine approached Victory Square. On either side of the road, spaced out in a regular grid pattern, were row upon row of four-meter-high metal poles, sharpened at the end to form tall stakes. While the street, sidewalks, and even the ground around these stakes were impeccably clean, the stakes themselves were stained a deep rusty brown-red. The color of dried blood. Some, however, did not merely bear old stains, but had rivulets of fresh blood pouring down their shafts. Wriggling from the tops of these poles, impaled from pelvis to mouth, were dozens of men and women. Egans turned his face away, while Limka looked for a bag to be sick into. Even the stern-faced Avruskin went pale as they drove amid the grisly scene. Lucia von Bardas looked at the carnage with the casual half-interest as one might look at a new restaurant still under construction. [color=RosyBrown]"This is barbaric!"[/color] Egans blustered, full of indignant outrage. [color=RosyBrown]"As if 'Doctor Doom' was not enough of a monster for you to cling to, now you draw inspiration from Vlad the Impaler?!"[/color] [color=FireBrick]"I agree,"[/color] Avruskin said, trying to regain his composure, [color=FireBrick]"What sort of 'purpose' to these poor souls serve?"[/color] [color=Silver]"Those 'poor souls,'"[/color] Lucia said with a sour expression, [color=Silver]"are enemies of the Latverian people. The worst types of predators and degenerates that the old world creates and ignores. You call Viktor von Domashev a monster? I doubt you know what such a thing even is."[/color] Lucia motioned for the driver to slow the limousine, and she pointed towards one of the bodies, a fat bearded man whose eyes had gone vacant after what must have been hours, if not days, of abject agony. [color=Silver]"Do you see that creature?"[/color] she said, not even addressing the victim as human. [color=Silver]"That is Yvgeni Sokolov, a serial rapist and murderer. The [i]Former[/i] Prime Minister of Latveria rerouted police forces to hunt down critics and dissidents of his own regime, while Sokolov brutally ravished and slaughtered over seventy innocents. His oldest victim was no more than fifteen."[/color] The three foreign dignitaries' expressions turned, still revolted by the punishment, but any pity for the man flushed away. [color=Silver]"And that one,"[/color] she said, pointing to a middle-aged woman whose face was a mask of horror, [color=Silver]"is Katrina Zeitel. She was a former KGB agent, and later the head of Minister Fortunov's secret police. The things she had her men do to the people who displeased Fortunov are the stuff of nightmares. And that is to say nothing of the fortunes she made using her thugs to carry out human-trafficking, abducting innocents and selling them to rich and powerful foreigners to fulfill their perverted desires."[/color] She listed a handful more and their horrific deeds, before deciding the point had been made. [color=Silver]"Each of these creatures was either ignored or even encouraged by the previous regime, and each of them now serves as a warning to anyone who has such vile urges themselves. The Ministry of Medicine is willing and ready to provide the necessary corrections for those whose mental sicknesses cannot be solved with simple therapy."[/color] None of the three foreign leaders followed up on her comment; the surgical scars across Lucia's face and neck, the quiet whirr and buzz of cybernetic servos beneath her skin, answered any questions they might have. [color=Silver]"I realize that some of our practices may seem distasteful, even outrageous, to outsiders,"[/color] she said as the limousine accelerated, suddenly turning a corner away from Castle Doom, [color=Silver]"but I assure you, the Legion of Doom will in time build a better world. A world where the predations of corrupt old men and rich degenerates will be nothing but a distant memory. A world where every citizen can carry out their purpose with dignity and honor. A world where the 'super-heroes' of the west will be an amusing distraction, rather than an unaccountable ruling class. And if we must take drastic steps to bring that world about, then so be it. We will take whatever means necessary to see the Way of Doom done."[/color] After the limo had driven another block or so, it reached what appeared to be a vacant lot, in which stood three Legion soldiers. Each of them stood before a neatly-dug trench, approximately two meters long and two meters deep. Each of them had left a shovel sticking up out of the earth by the trenches they had dug. And as the limo came to a halt, each of the soldiers leveled their rifles and surrounded the car. [color=LightSalmon]"What--...what are you doing?!"[/color] Prime Minister Klaus Limka sputtered. [color=LightSalmon]"This was supposed to be a peace summit!"[/color] The doors to the limousine swung open, and the soldiers pulled the three dignitaries out. [color=RosyBrown]"Y-you can't do this!"[/color] Minister Vilmos Egans protested. [color=Silver]"As I said, whatever means necessary,"[/color] Lucia von Bardas said as she casually strolled towards the three fresh graves. [color=Silver]"Your nations believed you could form an alliance to oppose us, to stop the Legion of Doom before it could break out across Europe. Every man and woman in Latveria has a purpose, my friends. And now, [i]your[/i] purpose will be to show the world that the Legion of Doom cannot and [i]will[/i] not be stopped."[/color] [color=FireBrick]"Do you even know what you're saying?!"[/color] Avruskin bellowed defiantly as the soldiers forced him to his knees. [color=FireBrick]"Pokolistan will never stand for this! If you do this, we will declare war on--"[/color] The sound of Lucia's laughter was like a slap across the Captain-General's face. [color=Silver]"Ohhh, my dear, simple man,"[/color] she smiled coldly, [color=Silver]"Latveria declared war on all three of your nations the moment you touched down at the airport. READY!"[/color] The three soldiers shoved the foreign leaders face-down into the dirt. [color=Silver]"AIM!"[/color] The soldiers raised their rifles and disengaged the safeties. [color=LightSalmon]"W-wait!"[/color] Karl Limka pleaded. [color=LightSalmon]"Symkaria can b-be a valuable ally! P-p-please, just listen, I beg you--"[/color] [color=Silver]"Doom does not beg,"[/color] Lucia von Bardas sneered. [color=Silver]"FIRE!"[/color] With a trio of muzzle flashes and an instant of pain, Prime Minister Karl Limka of Symkaria, Minister Vilmos Egans of Kaznia, and Captain-General Tor Avruskin of Pokolistan were plunged into oblivion.