Doom Is Amused

Levity had little hold on the heart of Victor von Doom. He did not suffer fools, and his rare humor tended to jests as dry as a desert tomb, and as dark as the spaces between the stars. Yet as Karla Sofen reported in on the latest developments, an exceedingly rare smile twisted the lips behind his mask, and a strange sparkle came to his brown eyes.

"Try as you might," he said, "Susan Storm's essential nature cannot be denied. I think, perhaps, it would be better for our purposes if we leaned into that aspect of her character."

Moonstone blinked. Not sure what the genius villain was getting at.

"I—don't understand," the blonde said. "Our plan was—"

"Your plan was to use the refinements to your powers I granted you to influence her slowly," Doom said. "Even your ridiculous breast implants were a part of the plan, to heighten her own sexual excitement and twist her interest away from her husband, that fool Richards. It seems so far you have been partially successful—but the Invisible Woman will not be enticed and manipulated so easily. So a change must be made."

"What...kind of change?" Moonstone said, suddenly insecure.

"You must give her more cause to worry about you. To...mother you. An appeal to her instincts. Several possibilities present themselves. Alcoholism, **** addiction, an unplanned pregnancy, a sudden accident that leaves you injured or crippled..."

Moonstone hissed. She didn't like where this was going.

"...you will, of course, be fairly compensated for your discomfort," Doom added.

The blonde rubbed her temples with her fingers.

"This is—this is not what I agreed to," Moonstone said. "I was only supposed to break up her marriage, not—"

"And you may yet succeed," Doom said, and though she could not see his smile, she could hear the dark, nasty amusement in his voice. "I will provide complete support for your new plan. Certainly a psychologist of your skills can imagine the perfect scenario that would trigger Sue Storm's maternal instincts most strongly. Something that will cause you to spend more time with her—to give you more time with her, more time to influence her."

Karla bit her lip. She shook. In her head, she could almost feel Doom's implants buzz, though she hadn't consciously activated them. He was too far away for her to influence, anyway. Although the sudden worry came to—that perhaps it wasn't she who activated them at all. If Doom controlled her implants...her powers...then she was entirely at his mercy.

"I'll...I'll think of something," the blonde villain said. "I won't fail you."

"Good. Then keep me informed of your plans and your progress."

Doom ended the communication—and only then did he allow himself a little chuckle. Moonstone's obvious misjudgment tickled him, the villain who prided herself on the manipulation of the mind completely buffalo'd by the Invisible Woman's better nature. He decided to allow this scenario to play out further—if for no other reason than that Karla Sofen's suffering amused him almost as much as the possibility that she might actually succeed.