Chapter Text
DATE: May 4th, 1996
TIME: 8:02 AM
LOCATION: Four Freedoms Plaza, Manhattan
POV: Kristoff Vernard
They were running. And for all their efforts, Kristoff couldn’t tell if they were running after Doom or away from him. On one hand, they had to stop Doom from escaping with the one experiment that could return Robin to his rightful universe. On the other hand, they had fled from Doom just a few minutes prior. Were they looking for backup? We don’t need backup, Kristoff told himself. We can take him on. I can take him on. I am Kristoff Vernard, also known as Kristoff von Doom, rightful heir to Latveria - and if I cannot defeat my own father…
Kristoff clenched his hands, still keeping pace with Robin. If I can’t defeat him, I’m a disappointment to everything Doom raised me to be. I am supposed to be Doom, in every aspect down to intelligence and technology. If Doom cannot defeat Doom, who can?
But despite his pep talk, he knew that as he stood, there was no reality in which he’d defeat Doom himself.
“You’re deep in thought,” Robin stated, his expression not changing. Somehow he had not broken a sweat yet, Kristoff noticed. Kristoff had not broken a sweat either, but he was also employing the use of advanced technology. They’d been running and climbing at top speeds for fifteen minutes, how was he not fazed at all…?
“I am,” Kristoff plainly responded in turn. “And? Do you have something to say about that?”
“Are you scared?”
Kristoff faltered. “Pardon?”
“You’re facing the man you once thought of as your father. The same man that, as I’ve gathered, may very well be the most powerful man in your world. I’ll repeat my question. Are you scared?”
“O-Of course not,” Kristoff frowned. “The rightful heir of Latveria and son of Doom doesn’t get scared. If I did-”
“Being scared is a rational response,” Robin sighed. “It’s okay. As long as you control it .” Robin suddenly stopped in his steps. “This is where we make our decision. Do we flee to recruit the Fantastic Four as backup too late , or do we face Doom ourselves, head-on?”
“Those are the only two decisions?” Kristoff asked hesitantly. Robin nodded.
Vernard’s face hardened. He was scared of facing his father. But he was even more scared of being a disappointment. And if he didn’t go after Doom, he’d be a disappointment to everyone . “Alright. Let us find Doom.” Robin nodded and jumped onto the ceiling and into the vent.
“What was that?” Kristoff asked incredulously.
Robin looked back down at him, small face in the vent opening. “I’m tracking him. It works best where there’s good airflow. Stay put and I’ll get back to you.” In a flash Robin was gone, and Kristoff stood there alone.
Kristoff didn’t know what delusions Robin had, but there was no universe that he’d simply stay put and let him do all the work. It’s my own father we’re tracking down. If anything it should be my responsibility, Kristoff thought stubbornly.
After a few seconds had passed, he stepped away from the vent and headed the other direction, towards the common room. Or the ‘induction room’, as the FF had now dubbed it. It was a large open area, and despite the many windows, there wasn’t enough natural light to brighten the interior, especially the high ceiling in the middle. They had innovative and colorful lights for this purpose, but for the moment all power was out. He looked toward the front, where there was a small platform almost akin to a mini stage. This is where he and the other modern FF members were ‘inducted’ into the Fantastic Four, from him to Ant Man, Lyja and even She-Hulk. It was informal, but it was an induction nonetheless.
“Kristoff,” a booming voice echoed throughout the chamber. Kristoff turned to find a shadow in front of the window. The figured magicked up a green spark in their own hand, illuminating their appearance. But Kristoff already knew who it was. Doom.
How did he miss him when he walked in? It made sense that his sensors didn’t pick him up - Doom’s armor was too advanced - but he should have at least sensed him there. Next to him, on the floor, was the invention they had all been chasing - the one key to sending Damian back home.
Kristoff lifted off his mask. “ Victor ,” he sneered. Doom was quiet. It was impossible to know what he was thinking behind that mask, which made him nervous.
“I take you in. Raise you as one of my own. And this is the thanks I get? Betrayal ?” Doom raised his voice, lashing out with a red band of magic that Kristoff dodged. Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. So he’s not trying to kill me yet. Good.
“You were the one who betrayed me first, by leaving!” Kristoff yelled.
“I died !” Doom roared. “Do you think I had any control over that?”
“No,” Kristoff said coldly. “But you did have control over the Doombots that decided to steal what was left of my childhood and reprogram me with your mind and your memories. Is that not your fault?”
Doom was silent. Almost pensive. “That was not my intention. You know this.”
At that moment he could hear a soft patter behind him, and Kristoff quickly looked back to find that Damian had hopped out of the vent and landed gracefully on the floor, saying nothing. Kristoff turned back towards Doom, who raised an eyebrow.
Kristoff furrowed his. “Well, it doesn't matter anymore. Because after everything you did, it was the Fantastic Four that took me in and gave me a family. A family that loved and appreciated me. And nothing you could say would make betray them.”
Doom was quiet once more, and the silence made Kristoff both curious and nervous. He has always been an enigma, his expressions completely unreadable. But for once he the emotion he sensed wasn’t seething rage… it was mourning.
“Fine,” Doom looked over his metal nose at them. “You have made your decision. I will let you escape with your life, in honor of our … past together. But after today, you are my enemy . You will get no such luxury.”
Kristoff took a deep breath, glancing at Robin. Are we really doing this? Kristoff’s expression said, and Robin nodded, with the hint of a smile. “I’m sorry, but we can’t let you escape either. You have something we need.”
Doom scoffs, the sound echoing through his metallic mask. “And how do you intent to keep me here, child?” He says the word harshly, like he’s trying to cover up an unknown emotion with anger, not that Kristoff can think of an emotion that Doom would have to cover up. All that man was capable of feeling was selfishness and anger.
He wants to scream, to run at his father head on, let his blinding rage consume him. It would be so easy to let that happen, so easy to throw it all to chance, but he hears Robin shift behind him and he steels himself. He wasn’t just fighting for himself anymore. He was fighting for his real family, his friends, including Robin. The boy was arrogant on a good day, but he was also compassionate when the need arose. Kristoff hadn’t thought those two traits could coexist before he met Robin, but it seems like his expectations were constantly getting blown through the roof as of late.
He had a friend to get home, and he was going to make sure that he makes it happen, no matter what.
And so he slows down, taking in Dooms movements. What is he doing now? What will he do next?
Doom expects him to give a frontal attack, like he always does, so that means most of his armor’s forcefields and protective spells have shifted to the front, leaving the back more exposed. Kristoff strikes there.
He lets out two small missiles that shoot towards Doom’s front and begins running towards him with a yell, but as he distracts Doom with all the thretrics, he sends three miniscule missiles behind Doom and directs them to hit him in the back. Doom is already gathering yellow magic in his palms, preparing for Kristoff’s frontal assault when the missiles hit their mark and the man stumbles forwards as the magic stutters out of view.
“Well, well.” Doom’s voice is icy cold when he rights himself up, eyes trained on his son. “It seems like you’ve picked up a thing or two during your stay here. The backhanded trickery Richards is prone to.” The room’s temperature seems to dip down and Kristoff resists the urge to shudder as a barrier forms around the three of them, trapping them into the room. “I guess I have no choice but to take you seriously now. Isn’t that what you wanted, son? ”
Kristoff would have flinched at that yesterday, but today he just clenches his fists and sends a blow at Doom, aiming for the weak spots on his armor. His neck. His knees. The crook where his elbows were. One of them was bound to hit. He charged them with enough power to break through some of Doom’s protective spells.
There’s a harsh laugh that echoes loudly in Kristoff’s ears as he watches Doom swat them out of the air in slow motion, disbelief etching itself onto his face. He had been sure that at least one of them would hit him. How could he have blocked so many at one? There had been at least twenty of them sent off at once.
As if sensing his internal dilemma, Doom scoffs, brushing off imaginary dust from his right shoulder. “I told you I’d take you seriously, didn’t I? That means that I will not hold back. You brought this on yourself, remember that. You could have let me leave, but you chose your own demise.”
Kristoff opens his mouth to respond, but he shuts it as he sees something sail past his head and let out a shrill beep as it nears Doom. The man easily avoids it, but it detonates halfway through his evasion, and it blows him back a few feet.
Robin lands in front of Kristoff, legs bent slightly and passive domino mask focused in the direction of the supervillain. “It is not wise to brag about your victory before you achieve it. You could be setting yourself up for humiliation.” He advises, shifting his arms up, waiting for Doom to react.
His katana seems to have disappeared, hidden in one of his many compartments in his belt, but he doesn’t seem bothered by his lack of a weapon. Kristoff supposes that fighting a man who has a nearly impenetrable suit of armor and who can use magic with a sword is rather counterintuitive.
Doom regards the small boy standing in front of his son cooly. “Perhaps,” he concedes, “But that only applies if my opponent was actually a challenge. You and Kristoff are child’s play.”
“Tt. Vernard,” Robin tilts his head back towards him, a slight smirk tugging at his lips. “Your father just insulted the fact that we are children. Are we going to just take that?”
“Absolutely not.” Kristoff replies, clenching his fists. Even if they can’t beat him, they’ll sure as hell make him work for his victory, hard. They weren’t just toys that could be tossed aside when someone loses interest. They were real live people who had value. And they would show their value, thank you very much.
Doom doesn’t let them attack first again, and they dodge with ease. If he wanted an easy victory, he’d have to find someone else to fight with.
-
He can’t be sure if five minutes or five hours had gone by, but he was getting out of breath. His suit tells him that it had been forty minutes since they started fighting, and he’s confused. Confused that they lasted that long and confused that he was already getting tired.
A brief glance at Robin tells him that the younger boy is also starting to get tired. This fight had to be twice as hard for him; he had no idea what Doom’s abilities or skills were so he had to try and learn on the go. Taking that into account, he was performing marvelously. But the fact that Robin was a ten year old boy with absolutely no superpowers was becoming painfully clear.
He hid it well, his impassive face didn’t betray much and his reaction times were almost as quick as they were when he initially started fighting, but Kristoff can see how his chest is rising and falling just a little bit too fast and how he pauses longer and longer when he’s out of range. He’s an extremely talented fighter, but he was still human. Kristoff could not say anything bad about how he was faring, even if he wanted to. He had an enhanced suit and he was still exhausted. The only reason he hadn’t dropped dead yet was because of the suit’s reflexes. He wasn’t arrogant enough to believe that it was his own power keeping him alive.
He looks to the doors, where Doom’s forcefields had sealed them all inside - and sealed everyone else out. At this point, the Fantastic Four had found their location, and each member was trying in vain the breach the field with no result. He could see Reed turn heel and run down the hall, probably on his way to gather or create a new invention to fix this. Kristoff made eye contact with Sue, who had her hand up on the force field, worried. She alone looked more concerned for his well being than Doom had ever been.
Kristoff flinches and returns to the fight when he hears Robin’s pained grunt as he’s nailed in the stomach by Doom’s elbow. He flies back across the room and slams into the wall, sliding down onto the floor. Robin was younger than him and he didn’t have any enhancements to help him. It was Kristoff’s job to make sure he got out of this fight alive. It wasn’t even his fight, but Robin had been kind enough to help him, despite his terrible attitude towards him.
He notices Doom throwing a pulse of energy towards Robin, who was still unsteadily pulling himself off the floor, and he throws himself in front of him. The energy hits him in the chest, his armor unable to contain it all. He feels a sharp painful sensation curl up his body and then his armor sputters to a stop and gives out, dragging Kristoff down with it.
“Kristoff!” he hears Robin call out his name faintly, but he can’t muster the energy to respond. He focuses on rebooting his suit, hoping that the younger hero picks up on what he’s doing and distracts Doom so that he can fix his suit and continue fighting.
Thankfully, Robin seems to pick up on exactly what Kristoff was doing and he vaults himself over Kristoff and begins a flurry of attacks that pushes Doom back, away from Kristoff.
“I really don’t know why you are interfering, child.” Doom rumbles loudly, blocking Robin’s kick with his forearm. “I’m your only way to get home, so you really shouldn’t be actively trying to get on my bad side. However,” He ducks another kick aimed at his head, “If you cease your attacks and come with me quietly, I may forgive you.” He offers, voice silky smooth.
Kristoff freezes, scared that Robin would actually abandon him, before he hears a loud scoff and the sound of a fist connecting with metal.
“You really are an imbecile if you actually believe I’d fall for that.” Robin’s stuck up voice rings through the air, and for once Kristoff finds his I’m-Better-Than-You tone of voice amusing. “You are an absolutely despicable man and I could never face my own family if I accepted aid from a snake such as yourself. You prey on the weak and then toss them aside once they have no use to you. You don’t care about anyone, and that will be your doom.” Kristoff can hear the boy’s voice lace with amusement when he says ‘doom’ and he internally groans. “I have learned of the importance of teamwork and family, and those are both far more important than power. So save what is left of your pride and stop begging a child to do what you want. It’s embarrassing.” Robin finishes with a snarl and jumps away from where Doom tried to swipe at him.
He glances back at Kristoff and he nods at him, slowly turning his suit back on so that Doom isn’t altered. Throwing his cape back, Robin throws a pellet of smoke behind him and sprints towards Kristoff and slides behind him before lifting him up with as much strength he can muster, aiming Kristoff towards where Doom was hidden in the smoke. Squeezing his eyes shut, Kristoff lets a missile fly towards the smoke, praying to whatever was out there that it would make its mark. There’s a brief silence before he hears the telltale sound of an explosion and the clatter of armor falling to the ground and he opens his eyes widely. Just as the smoke clears, he sees his father fallen on one knee, visibly tired.
“You… fool ,”he breathed heavily. “You know I’m impervious to all physical attacks. Why keep fighting in vain?”
“The missiles weren’t the attack,” Kristoff smirked, raising a hand over a button on his arm. “Just a distraction to weaken your defenses. This is my attack.” Doom’s eyes widened, and at that moment he scanned his armor to find a miniscule bug that had hacked into Doom’s systems - a technology of his own creation. But Doom was too late to do anything. Kristoff pressed the button, and a second later the front panel of Doom’s mask popped off, revealing his face. Kristoff knew that face. It was one he’d seen when he was younger. One he only allowed the closest to him to see. And one he would never, never allow his enemies to view. Doom’s shocked face quickly contorted into rage, as he frantically pulled down his hood to cover himself.
“You imbeciles!” He seethed, his scarred face hidden in shadow. “You’ve only doomed yourself. You’ve made your choice, now live with it.” With that, he kicked the machine out the window - Damian’s only hope. And before the children could glance up at him again, he took off out the window as well, and vanished in the horizon.
“No!” Robin jumped forward, but there was no hope. They were at least a hundred stories up, there was no way the invention would survive that. Robin sat there, at the edge of the window looking down, and Kristoff sank to the floor in relief. He did it. For the first time in his life, he successfully drove off his own father. He was free now.
“Robin,” Kristoff began. I’m sorry about the transporter-”
“It’s alright,” Robin said curtly, finally looking away from the edge. Robin’s face was always unreadable, but even then Kristoff couldn’t detect a glimpse of disappointment.
“Are you sure?” Kristoff asked. “I mean, it’s your home…”
“The device was already broken, remember? Back when we first fought. It was stupid of Doom to have used it as a bargaining chip before checking if it was functional ” Damian looked up at the newly risen sun, and Kristoff joined him. For the first time all week, the world seemed at peace. “Besides. If I was stuck here with your family the rest of my life… it wouldn’t be so bad.” Kristoff lets out a rare smile, and while Robin didn’t completely return it, he could see the edge of his mouth slightly rise. “We did it.”
“We did it.” Kristoff agrees tiredly, pushing himself against a pillar. “Though I don’t want to do that again any time soon. I depended far too much on luck.”
“Me too.” Robin agrees, leaning his head back against the wall. “I definitely need to work on my endurance.”
Kristoff lets out a bark of laughter, shaking his head. Robin eyes him with confusion, but the corners of his mouth turn upwards once more. They both sit in gleeful silence, basking in the sunrise of a new day, as the forcefields keeping out the rest of the family finally gave out.