“Are your force blocking droids really necessary?” Maul gave the ten machines that surrounded him a glare. “I don’t plan on escaping, at least for now.”
Ultron had dragged him onto an advanced ship while they were still underground. He never got to see the skies of this cursed planet, a wise choice from the droid. Maul’s top priority was the extinction of the force repelling lizards that lived on this word.
“They are a shield, a veil to block your old master’s sight,” Ultron jumped the scout and began his descent into Coruscant's atmosphere. A swift course docked the ship with Doom’s tower, where he stood, ready to receive them. “You’ll be free of them soon enough, now let’s go meet my friend.”
Maul shook his head and followed the A.I. to the loading ramp. He doubted this machine’s ‘friend’ and their abilities. Sidious was a force of nature. Even these cursed lizards might not be enough to separate him from the force. The ‘friend’ in question was at the foot of the ramp.
“Greetings, you can call me Victor,” Doom stepped forward, hand extended. His face held an arrogance that brought visions of Palpatine into Maul’s head. “Let’s move to the study and get more comfortable before we get to business.”
“The only comfort I need is the return of the force,” Maul scoffed as he met the cocky man’s grip. “I…”
Despite lacking a connection to his greatest source of power, Darth Maul prided himself on his instinct toward danger. Ultron’s main body visited him once and his soul screamed at him to run. This experience was similar. A cold hand wrapped around his heart, extended from the depths of the man before him.
“You’ll have your power back soon enough, and a new job, if you’re willing,” Doom laughed and released Maul’s hand. He waved toward the building and led the way inside. “My master has given me too many tasks, so I’m looking to delegate.”
“Mmhmm…” Maul grunted as he took in the stark, simple decor. It didn’t fit the outward portrayal of the man in front of him, but it matched the warrior Maul sensed behind the mask. “What kind of delegation? I have no interest in rotting in this droid's care any longer, but I have none for you or your hidden master either.”
“My Master is away, but you should be thankful towards him,” Doom shared a wide smile as he opened the way to the study. “Without the information he provided, I would have considered you too dangerous to release into the galaxy.”
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Maul stepped into the room. Walls covered in physical books, stone benches under lizard filled trees, and a small fountain that hid a holo display. The cold nature of the rest of this place softened in this chamber. It was lived in, despite the lack of clutter.
“And what did he share?” Maul took a seat beside the fountain and closed his eyes. Even without the force, this space called to him as a place of meditation. “Some nonsense about my mother… perhaps some information on my childhood?”
Ultron described his master as soft-hearted. No doubt the tragedy of his past led the fool to pity him. He needed no pity. His past gave him power, rage and hate that constructed the foundation of his path. Doom gave a quiet snort and sat across from Maul.
“No. That, I could have found on my own,” Doom activated the holo display and projected a series of images. Maul as a child, images of his mother, brother, and virtually all other beings he’d ever spoken to. “What he told me was your future, a tale of survival and vengeance unfulfilled.”
“My future…” Maul’s eyes flashed. Sidious had ingrained in him a core belief. He was destined to rule and no other fate would do. “Not even my old master can see events with clarity, things change and flow as the powerful act.”
“I would agree, but my Master has predicted much of the last five years,” Doom shook his head and summoned a new set of files, this time with information on the Mandalorians. “Let’s move to my proposition, so you understand what’s being offered to you.”
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Dan stormed into the battle zone that was downtown Chicago. Aimed for the central figure of the invading force, he let his heat vision play across the alien ranks. The air filled with ash, pushed aside by the force of his passage. The alien commander roared, eyes fixed on Dan as he reduced his men to carbon on the wind.
“Superman!” Immortal kicked the alien leader back and raised a hand in greeting. “Thanks for your help, this is the fifth time this guy has assaulted the city!”
“They’re called the Flaxens…” one of Robot’s drones rained laser fire onto the invader’s sheided armour. “Their dimension experiences time much faster than ours, each battle they bring new technologies to bear.”
Dan nodded as he continued to purge the lesser troops. Tanks and soldiers blackened and flaked away, until the city settled into a dull half-silence. A gaze burned into his skin, thrown from the young Mark. Confused anger, directed at the ‘man’ who exposed his father as a villain.
‘I’ll have to have a talk with the kid…’ The last soldier fell and Dan turned his attention to the Commander. The alien brute opened a portal, wrath in his gaze as he turned to flee. ‘Let’s do it now… Venom, get ready to digest a portal device.’
As the alien stepped into the gateway of violet light, Dan blurred into action. He cut an arc past Mark’s startled form, hand extended to catch the back of the half-viltrumite’s neck. Fist extended toward the alien commander’s back, Dan dragged his captive hero through the portal and into a new world.
“Even more advanced than I thought,” Dan pulled his fist from the Commander’s spine and tossed the corpse aside. Mark twisted in his grasp, so he flicked a wrist and rolled the boy onto the ground. “Sorry about that, but I wanted to talk to you about your dad…”
“What about him, you already showed everyone he was a liar…” Mark eyed the spot behind them, where the portal irised closed. “How are we supposed to get home?”
“Don’t worry about that,” Ven waved his hand and released a small wave of Venom’s clones, eyes focused on the armed forces that closed in from the horizon. “Are you going to help with these guys, or wait here until I’m done?”