The Doctor, William, and the Avengers dashed into the commons room as Doctor Doom put the last device on the TARDIS. “Victor Von Doom, you need to-!”
“Loki addressed you as a Time Lord during our planning stage, Doctor,” interrupted Doom, “so address Doom with the proper respect.” He pulled out a comms unit. “Loki, TARDIS is secured.”
“Excellent,” replied a smooth voice. “Standby.” Doom held onto one of the devices as they started beeping.
“OH NO, YOU DON’T!” shouted the Doctor as she grabbed another one.
“DOCTOR!” yelped William as he grabbed a third. The TARDIS, devices, and passengers then vanished.
The people and hijacked TARDIS reappeared in a gothic castle with dark-green decorating the walls. The Doctor steadied herself as William went somewhere to be sick in. “Oogh!” groaned the Doctor. “Stomach feels like it ate a bowl of pears!”
“I was anticipating only you chasing after your TARDIS, Doctor,” remarked Doom. “It seems I will have to have guest quarters arranged for your friend. Servants.” Two servants appeared. “Tend to the needs of the Doctor and her friend.” With a swish of his cloak, Doom stormed out.
“Erm, please…” said one servant in a thick Eastern European accent, borderline German. “You two come.”
“There’s no need to stumble with English,” assured the Doctor. The servants visibly relaxed.
“You speak Latverian as well as a native,” praised the second servant.
“No, you two just spoke English,” replied William.
“Wrong on both counts,” interjected the Doctor. “The TARDIS is translating. Any language, any point in history.”
“So you’re hearing us speak your native language?” asked the first servant as he cleaned up William’s sick evidence.
“Well, sort of,” replied the Doctor. “Anyways, your master said there’s rooms for us?”
“This way,” said the second servant as she and her partner led the way.
“They’re definitely in Latveria,” said Iron Man after he traced the teleport.
“Then, by my father’s beard, let us retrieve them!” insisted Thor.
“Not that simple,” replied Captain America. “Doom’s left us a message saying that if we enter Latveria, he’ll view it as America declaring war on us and respond in kind.”
“What else have we got?” asked Hulk.
“What about Black Panther?” quizzed Hawkeye. “He might have some insight.”
“Wakanda isn’t exactly friendly with Latveria,” agreed Black Widow. “But he needs a good enough reason.”
“We’ll have to tell him about the Doctor and her time machine,” said Iron Man.
“Agreed,” replied Captain America. “He’ll want to protect Wakanda’s history.”
After being given their rooms, the Doctor and William were taken to the dining hall where Doom was sitting with a man in green and gold. The meal looked and smelled amazing. “I see you eat well,” remarked the Doctor.
“My chef sets a superb table,” replied Doom. “He dares not do otherwise; he holds himself in too high a regard to make a mistake.”
“No threats of killing him if he fails?”
“Such threats are unnecessary.” The Doctor and William were seated as the green and gold man smirked.
“Y-You’re…you’re Loki!” gulped William.
“Loki Laufeyson?” asked the Doctor.
“You’ve heard of me then, Doctor,” replied Loki. “Good. And I’ve heard much about you. Indeed, I AM Loki of Asgard…and I am burdened with glorious purpose.”
“You say that as if you expect a round of applause,” remarked the Doctor as she sipped her drink.
“Have a care, Doctor,” warned Doom. “I did not bring you to my castle to play the clown.”
“Oh?” asked the Doctor.
“Indeed. It is here that Doom rules and entertains his guests, especially distinguished guests like Loki.” Doom gestured to Loki as the Frost Giant ate.
“Well, I apologize for my levity,” replied the Doctor. “Not to mention my curiosity.”
“What troubles your mind, Doctor?” asked Loki.
“Well, what a Frost Giant son of Asgard is doing in a Midgard country, for a start,” answered the Doctor. She then bit down on an apple.
“Oh, I have my reasons,” replied Loki.
“Would those reasons have anything to do with Thanos possessing the Time Stone? Not wanting to take your chances of the Mad Titan snapping your neck at birth?”
“You mock a guest of Doom, Doctor!” growled Doom. “Do not doubt that I AM capable of making your stay unpleasant, not only for yourself, but Dr. Davies too.”
“Lord Doom, I appreciate the thought, but there’s no need to get angry on my behalf,” soothed Loki. “She IS correct in that we both want an advantage over the Mad Titan.”
“…I fail to see how you two can work together,” remarked William.
“What, pray tell, do you mean?” asked Loki.
“You’re both power-hungry and won’t suffer anyone above you. One of you is going to stab the other in the back at some point.”
“You’ve done your homework, Dr. Davies,” said Doom. “While we will work together to puzzle out the TARDIS, only one of us will possess it. You, Doctor, being the owner of the TARDIS-.”
“You can exclude me from your mad schemes, Doctor Doom!” hissed the Doctor.
“You cannot resist, Doctor,” replied Doom. “In these lands, all things obey Doom.”
“With your TARDIS, the power will be absolute,” continued Loki. “We shall command all of space and time.”
“I’ve always found domination a rather unattractive prospect,” remarked the Doctor.
“…Shall I be forced to compel you, Time Lord?” At Loki’s threat, the Doctor stood up.
“The Daleks couldn’t make me, what makes you think a Frost Giant or a petty dictator can make me give access to the TARDIS?”
“The Daleks are nothing like me or Doom.”
“There’s always someone like you, whether it be the Daleks, Sontarans, Thanos-!”
“ENOUGH!” bellowed Doom. “…I trust the meal was to your liking?”
“Oh, very much so,” replied the Doctor.
“Good. Because now we must tend to business as Dr. Davies’ life is now in your hands.”
“Excuse me?!” protested William.
“You heard Doom correctly. Your survival depends on the Doctor’s cooperation.”
“You’re wasting time, Doom!” replied the Doctor.
“Loki and I require the key to the TARDIS.”
“I already told you, no!”
“…You have until midnight to change your mind. Servants!” Two different servants arrived. “Bring the Doctor and her companion to their quarters and clear away the table. My compliments to the chef as per usual.”
“Pass along mine as well,” said the Doctor. The servants bowed and obeyed.
The Doctor examined her room. It was tasteful, but still a cell. She patted her pockets. “…No sonic,” she muttered. “Must have left that in the TARDIS. …Right, better do it the old-fashioned way.” She checked the small vanity and found a pair of hair sticks. “…For all your smarts, Doom, you fell to the stereotype of the perceived inherent vanity of women.” She took the hair sticks and started picking the lock. …It turned out to be a bit more technological than she thought as it shocked her through the hair sticks. “OW!” she yelped as she pulled her hands back. “…Then again, Doom, perhaps you ARE smarter than that. …But are your guards?” She learned quickly that she hated such an act, but… “EEK! GUARD! HELP!” She stood on the chair by the mirror, clutching her skirt. A guard then burst in.
“What is it?!” asked the guard.
“A mouse!” she said. “Under the bed!” The guard turned to his companion outside the cell and nodded his head. The two guards then began checking the bed as the Doctor stepped down.
“I don’t see any-!”
“AI-CHAVEETCH!” shouted the Doctor as she pressed her thumb into the man’s right-side ribs, causing him to collapse. The other guard picked up on the escape attempt and wrapped his arms around her from behind. The Doctor stamped her foot onto the guard’s, causing him to cry out and let go, then she maneuvered herself behind him and used the man’s collapsing against him by using a knife-hand strike on his neck, knocking him out. She then took their keys. “Venusian Martial Arts, gentlemen,” she said. “I do hope I didn’t hurt you too much.” She then left the cell through the open door.
William sat in his cell, leaning against the wall with his arms folded. He had to admit, this was NOT how he intended his day to go. First being called by the Avengers about a mystery patient, then discovering that said patient was a mad woman alien that allegedly travels through time and space in a blue box, now he’s a prisoner in Doctor Doom’s country. He just wanted to get to Dartmouth and get that Epic nonsense out of the way. As he was about to rant to himself, he heard somebody going “pst!”. He looked around and saw the Doctor’s face through the door’s window. “Doc-!” he said.
“SHH!” hissed the Doctor. “I’ve got the keys! Come on! To the TARDIS!” she whispered as she opened the door.
“Doctor, you’re a lifesaver!” whispered William.
“I don’t think of myself as that particular kind of candy,” joked the Doctor. “Come on!” She and William rounded a corner…and found themselves in front of Doom, Loki, and several guards.
“…Stefan, you were right,” remarked Doom. “The Doctor DID go to rescue William. You have corrected your mistake admirably.”
“Thank you, Lord Doom,” replied the man the Doctor knocked out with her thumb.