Author's Note: I just want to apologize for the confusion that happened recently with my last update of the fake chapter. See, what happened was that I wasn't sure how to continue my stories and I wanted feedback, so I had made temporary announcement chapters that I didn't realize were against guidelines for publishing chapters. Luckily, it was brought to my attention and the chapters weren't even up for an hour before I deleted the chapters. In response, I decided to make this chapter a little bit longer than the rest, reaching about 8.5 thousand words, so enjoy that. I'm going to put the Q&A/review comments at the end of the chapter as a result of that, so those of you who just want that don't have to sift through it all to get to the story.

P.S. Sorry about the hiatuses, but things are honestly pretty busy for me most of the time so finding time to write chapters has been difficult.


Aultcray Melromarc

The king sat on his throne, the three men he considered heroes in front of him. They had bags with gold in them, the rewards for helping in the defeat of the first Wave of Calamity. By all means, they should have been ecstatic. Melromarc and its citizens had been spared disaster due to their efforts. But the aftermath, the king's most recent attempt to get one over upon that cursed Shield Hero, Victor Von Doom was an utter failure.

The king closed his hand in a fist, It just doesn't make any sense. We won, we defeated that bastard in battle! Yet that man still turned his own defeat into what feels like a checkmate!

He knew the heroes were thinking the same things from their scowls towards the floor. There has to be some way to go against that man, that monster!

The king sighed, realizing he had to say something to the heroes. "The situation seems grave, our heroes. But do not let one failed attempt destroy your spirits," Aultcray stood, raising a fist in the air, "We will win, as the Cardinal Heroes always have!"

The heroes didn't look up at the attempt to raise their spirits. Aultcray sighed again, going to take his seat again.

Itsuki looked up towards the window, "I'm not so sure if these abilities are enough anymore." The others looked at him, to which he turned back to the king, "I mean, you all heard him! He's got what are essentially copies of himself so when he's defeated another one of him can just take his place."

Ren looked at Itsuki, crossing his arms, "I know it's a bit late for this, but I don't think he was kidding with what he said before." The heroes' attention was o the Sword Hero, "When we were in our room the first night, he mentioned his world. The people there had technology that allowed time travel and had magic that seemed equally as powerful." He returned the attention his audience was giving him, "He said he was a threat to people like that."

Itsuki groaned, placing the Legendary Bow on his shoulder, "He didn't really go into how powerful the people of his world were either, so we couldn't guess how much of his power he's even used."

"Agh!" The red hero let out, scratching his head, "Why is it this guy is so damn strong? That is beyond unbalanced!"

Ren placed a hand on his chin, "Well, he said he was a threat to those people with such advanced technology, right?"

"We already said that." Itsuki replied.

"He didn't say that he ruled his world like he said he would do here. That must mean that some people defeated him, right?" He turned to the window, "I wish we had a way to contact that world, then we could ask them how they beat Dr. Doom."

Motoyasu placed the bottom of the lance on the ground, "Yeah, but we wouldn't even know who to ask there. It's not like he told us who his arch nemesis was."

"Either way, he can be defeated. We just need to figure out what that trump card is and use it." Ren turned to the king, "It might not be next time, but we will defeat Victor Von Doom eventually."

The other two heroes were up again, Itsuki pulling back his bow as if he was preparing for battle and Motoyasu placing his lance confidently on his shoulder. The dark Cardinal Hero held his sword at his side, as he normally would. The king could only smile at their confidence and resilience. Their wills alone bringing them back on their feet and ready to move on. They were warriors at heart, and for that Aultcray was proud to call them his heroes.

The king stood, nodding to the heroes, "For now, you three should help the people as much as you can. Go your own ways, town to town, and help the Melromarc citizens as you can!" He bowed to the heroes, "Thank you for your high spirits despite this daunting news."

The future of Melromarc is not so grim after all. Aultcray Melromarc sat back down, hopes high and his nerves relaxed. The damned Shield will not win!

Raphtalia

Siltvelt

The screens above showed the streets of his kingdom. People were smiling as they talked among themselves, beastmen and humans alike. The group of children played in the streets, running after one another. A girl that trailed behind the rest of the children tripped over herself and would have landed on her face had one of the infantry Doombots not caught her by the nape of her furry neck.

The robot still resembled Victor, but only because of his metal face plate and the general metallic shell. Any trace of green that was on the primary Doombots was nonexistent with them, and the eyes were nothing more than green lights masking the cameras that rested in each of the Doombots' skulls.

The automaton placed her gently on her feet once more. She smiled at the robot, which translated through a monitor Raphtalia was observing. "Thank you, King Doom!"

Raphtalia smiled back at the girl and nodded with full knowledge that the girl couldn't see her. She turned to the window of the castle, seeing the city which was once filled to the brim with corruption and abuse of power now being something she could only describe as a paradise. Siltvelt had been expanded, the original walls being torn down and sent further into the fields to make room for the houses the children with no home could stay. The fields themselves were much more efficient, as more acres of harvests were created using a technology from her king's world that made harvesting much easier for all the hard workers. And the people that worked did work much more diligently than they had before.

At first, the threat of punishment was held over their heads to work harder, particularly in the mine shafts. Raphtalia herself had a few confrontations with Victor as she viewed some of his practices as cruel. In the end, all the resources gained from their work seemed to be put towards making work easier where he could manage. None of the workers ever worked themselves to death or had any serious injury that wasn't immediately attended to, which was already better than what most rulers would have done. Once he had enough drones, they eventually replaced workers in specific fields, like construction which had to be done anyways due to the people not knowing how the new technology was supposed to be installed.

Pipelines of 'wires' were added throughout the entire city which allowed power to flow through them in the form of artificial lightning into the city's defenses, and many other things that Raphtalia still couldn't believe were possible. Houses were able to heat themselves without wood or coal burning in fireplaces. Water was pure as it ran into the houses for people to use. The person using the water could even choose to have the water hot or cold or even somewhere in between, which to the raccoon girl she found that especially useful in baths. All the things Siltvelt had made even the most common worker feel like they were a king,

Yet, the real king of Siltvelt had only yells of frustration in his laboratory.

With a sigh, king's right hand woman opened the door to the armored man, cursing as he smashed the machine in front of him to pieces with his telekinetic abilities. The room was filled to the brim with gadgets and machines already, most of them successful. The only ones that weren't successful just had yet to be built. Above, the only light in the room seemed to be electricity being held in a glass ball, flowing freely and giving everything a shade of blue.

She hadn't seen his temper like this before, which only seemed to arrive when Dr. Doom's attempt at something failed. As the sophisticated machine was turned into scraps and was dropped onto the brick floor harshly, the girl stood at the door, a large part of her terrified. Another part of her understood the anger; he only wanted to go home to his people, to Latveria, and live his days like they were. If it were possible, Raphtalia would have wanted to return to the time when her parents were alive and have them at her side. If that seemed within arm's reach to her, to then be stopped by something she had been able to overcome before but couldn't at the moment, she might have been equally as angry.

"I have built this machine half a dozen times! I have memorized the size of every bolt down to the nanometer!" He slammed his fist on the small table in front of him, papers flying off and fluttering to the ground, "Yet I find myself stupefied as to why the dimensional transporter I designed myself and used successfully refuses to comply to my demands!"

The drones began breaking the machine down, looking to scrap the parts of the machine and recycle them for later. Dr. Doom looked down, the blue glow shining down on him as he reviewed the blueprints he made specifically for the machine. Raphtalia was about to take a reluctant step forward but was stopped when Victor raised his right hand, which also held the legendary shield on his wrist.

"I shall return to this once this failure is scrapped. For now, you and I must focus on our mission." He turned around, his usual stoic face visible underneath the faceplate. "Isn't that right, Raphtalia?"

With a smile, the raccoon girl nodded, "What is your plan, Dr. Doom?"

"It is simple, my dear. We will expand our influence beyond Melromarc!" The armored man scooped up his cape, "I shall leave Siltvelt in the hands of a Doombot in my absence and we shall leave for Shieldfreeden at once."

The girl's ears perked up, "Why are we going to Shieldfreeden? Shouldn't we focus out efforts on Melromarc?"

The armored man turned to her, almost scowling, "Melromarc, as it has been proven to us countless times, is refusing to cooperate with Doom in defending against the waves." The man turned to the entrance of the workshop, swinging it open with a single swipe of a hand, "As such, I will turn my attention to those more eager to accompany us on our journey!"

"So," the girl reluctantly replied, trailing behind him as they both approached the path towards the main hall, "Are we just forgetting about Melromarc and letting them gain more power? I'm sure you're well aware about how angry they are about finding out about our little secret."

"I'm sure they are, but they will not strike when they know not how many of my Doombots are available to strike. I want them to think they have a chance, for at least a little while longer." Victor stopped as he stepped foot on the carpet that spread down the hall towards the entrance of the castle which stood open. He placed both hands behind his back and tilted his head downward, "Do not worry, we will deal with Melromarc shortly after we make relations with the other kingdoms."

Faubley

Queen Melromarc

The woman couldn't help but frown at her spy, who was standing in front of the window as her dress was being fitted by her personnel. The more she heard about the new Shield Hero, the more she began to question the sanity of her spies.

"I apologize, but I thought I heard you say our new ruler of Siltvelt had a copy of himself after that battle." She frowned, making her doubt apparent on her brow, "Then he and his follower was stricken by lightning without any trace of them left on the scene." The queen shook her head, "Regardless, this isn't good. That man, Doom, has proven time after time that he is not the kind of man that one should consider lightly. With this news of this fight and his declaration weeks before, the Shield Hero is painting a target on his back that the king of Faubley is feeling threatened by."

"Shall I intervene Victor and give him a warning, my Queen?" The informant suggested, raising her head so her white mask could be seen.

"Absolutely not," The purple-ette ordered before sighing, "If you did that, I fear he might strike you down. No, the Shield Hero has proven himself resourceful on his own. When I am done here, I shall make way towards Shieldfreeden and Siltvelt rather than home, I must speak with the other nations about this situation and calm them down. Then, I must give proper apologies to the Shield Hero." The queen looked off towards the industrial city of Faubley below, the spy already gone from her squat on the window to continue her scouting of the Shield Hero.

The woman's only hope was that the man in question would be willing to give her an audience when the time came. For now, she was already packed and prepared to have an audience with the officials of Shieldfreeden.

Melromarc

Raphtalia

The two marched through the town, getting glares and stares that were either filled with awe or fright. Had the racoon girl not been accustomed to her King's feats, she might have been in just as much awe and fright as they were. Even if Dr. Doom did lose, it was still impressive that he held his own against so many men as long as he did. Three Cardinal Heroes, the rotten princess Malty Melromarc, and five royal knights would have been enough to kill almost anyone else in a fraction of the time. If only the shell he used wasn't the original Doombot he created, he probably would have won the battle.

The shell was enough to defend the village from the Wave, albeit not to Dr. Doom's likings. He was able to be hit during the fight, after all. During Raphtalia's sparring practice with Victor, the real Victor, even with her speed she couldn't get so much as a speck of dust on his shoes. She wouldn't know what it was that messed up to allow him to be hit then, but she could only imagine it was the body locking up. This time around, however, the Doombot he resided in now was built with much more refined materials and with more time put into it.

Any enemy would have to be extremely lucky to land a strike on the king of Siltvelt now!

Still, as they marched through the streets with all the citizens moving out of their way the girl was quickly becoming confused. "Dr. Doom, I thought you said we were going to Shieldfreeden."

The man nodded, his march unfazed, "I decided to take a detour." He made a sudden turn to the right, into an alley that was somewhat familiar to the demi-human, "Last night, you were grabbed from behind. That is something I will not allow again, so I'm inquiring about a third member to our party. Besides, if we are to eventually overtake this kingdom, having an extra member will only make victory that much easier."

As the two emerged from the alley, she realized why it was familiar. Ahead of them was a striped tent in a generally open area. As soon as she saw the tent, some of her nerves tensed up.

Inside, the slave trader himself, Beloukas, gave the armored man his classic white-toothed grin. "Ah, Lord Doom! Before anything else, I must congratulate you on becoming the king of a nation. It sure came as a surprise to me when I first saw it; then again, you look like the 'take charge' kind of guy." The man twiddled the cigar in his mouth, "And now I'm hearing stories about you being able to come back from the dead. What's up with that?"

Dr. Doom crossed his arms, narrowing his gaze at the short man, "I did not come here for gossip."

"Ah, I forgot how to the point you are. That's what I like about you!" The man with the mustache waddled over to a chair, taking a seat. He leaned back, the back of his head bumping into a set of eggs all laid on a purple cushion and perfectly aligned. "You and I met the merchandise before, so I'll leave it to you to find what you're looking for." He turned to Raphtalia, "You do know how to pick 'em well, it seems. You ever thought of selling that dame, she's probably worth a couple gold. Twenty if she were a virgin."

The racoon girl frowned, stepping forward with a stomp, "What do you mean, if I were a virgin?I am a-." She stopped herself, stepping back into place as Doom stepped forward instead.

"Do not comment such vulgarity towards my subordinate, slaver. You will respect my allies as they represent my title!" The armored man crossed his arms, nodding to the eggs behind the man in the hat, "That collection behind you is new, trader. Are you expanding your merchandise into décor now?"

The slaver cleared his throat, turning to the eggs, "Oh, those aren't decorations, my lord. These are genuine Filolial eggs, my good sir! Although, I made these eggs with the idea that there may be a chance that whoever buys them gets a dragon instead."

"A gamble then."

"Yes, but either way you'll be getting your hands on a great companion, both of which can fight with you and carry a cart full of supplies." The man inhaled then exhaled, smoke filling the air around Dr. Doom. "Let's say you get into a situation where you wanna get some people clear of a blast you want to create on a pesky troublemaker, it would come quite in handy when protecting that demi-human you've got there."

Victor turned to Raphtalia, who stood with an eyebrow raised, then returned his attention to Beloukas. "My goal here is to have proper protection for my subordinate. I would also rather avoid the purchasing of a slave if at all possible. The last time I had one in the midst of the Cardinal Heroes a fight broke out."

"Most meddlesome, sir Doom." The short man raised a hand, "How about this, to make up for my rude comments towards the girl, I'll let you purchase the egg for a meager fifty silver coins. We have a deal?"

The armored man stared down, considering the options. All of the other creatures would be slaves, considering them being beastmen or usually untamed. It would also be easier to mold a creature from birth to be how I want it to be rather than an adult. He hated to move on a gamble, but this time it almost seemed worth it.

"If it doesn't turn into a dragon, what would its uses be thereafter?"

The fat man shrugged, "It can lug around some of those extra valuables if you want, or it can carry you around the country. Though, that doesn't seem too useful to a man like yourself." The cigarette holder shifted to the other side of his mouth as he shrugged, "I suppose if you didn't want it you could try to sell it or you could cook it. The choice is yours, really."

The metal man reached for his pouch, taking his fifty coins and placing them on the table next to the shorter man, "Doom usually would not settle for a gamble, but I am short on time. Hand me that egg," the dictator pointed to one of the center eggs that laid in neat rows, "Do not pester me with any other trivial conversation, slaver."

"Of course, sire." The man grinned wickedly, quickly grabbing the egg and handing it to the costumer who already tossed a small pouch of coins on the white table in the center of the makeshift room. Once the slaver handed Dr. Doom the egg, the transaction was complete, and the now-trio were on their way out of the kingdom finally to move towards Shieldfreeden.

The two exited the large tent and the raccoon girl was given the egg to carry in place of her master. They began their march once again, leading their way towards the demi-human based kingdom with haste. This unfortunately didn't include Dr. Doom using his levitating ability teleportation as they both feared the egg would be in danger if they did so. Instead, he had a small aircraft in the form of one of his previous inventions simply named the Saucer Ship brought to the now three of them by one of the infantry level Doombots with plenty of rations for the trip in advance to make their way towards their destination.

The Next Morning

Dr. Doom

The ruler of Siltvelt ordered the Doombot to land the aircraft. The robot, bound by the orders of its master, didn't hesitate to begin the descent. This order, however, was enough to awaken the racoon girl from her slumber in the next room. She was still tired, evident from the rubbing of her eye.

"Lord Doom? What's happened?"

"Nothing to be alarmed of, we simply need to stop is all."

The dictator turned to face her, the egg in hand. Of which was cracked and shaking.

It didn't take much time to land, the landing of which being soft. The egg was sat in Doom's room on top of a soft blanket in which the pieces of shell that were being broken off fluttered on top of. After a few pokes of a yellow beak, the pink feathers of the bird were becoming visible. Once the egg had been thoroughly cracked, the bird pushed in one strong movement and burst the shell clean off top!

This first person it laid eyes on was Victor, and thus it leapt on top of his head. Victor knew what this meant, "Imprinted." He answered.

Raphtalia let out a soft giggle, "Looks like it thinks you're its mother."

With a light hum, the armored man nodded, "All the better, it will be easier to train that way." Doom stood, marching towards the entrance of the room, "Come now, we must feed this bird. It is morning after all."

The demi-human happily stood and followed her leader out of the Saucer Ship. From there, they could see they had landed on top of a hill which laid right outside of Riyute village. The very same village the Shield Hero and his companion had saved in the Wave.

Quite convenient, if I should say so myself. The dictator mused to himself.

Even from the distance he was at, the ruler could tell the village had already begun rebuilding what once was and everyone in the village had begun to return to daily routines, evident by the crops which were growing once more. It was clear by how much progress that had been done that the village had received no support from the King or his men. This was yet another instance where the incompetence of those in charge poked at Doom's sides like thorns on a rose's stem. Those men that were responsible for destroying the small portion of the village with the inappropriate use of destructive pyre should have been held accountable for their irresponsible acts! If it had been Doom, those men would be worked until they starved or they fixed the village brick for brick.

Once they reached the town, which for the moment was vacant of people roaming the streets, they found themselves at the town's tavern where they entered to a room lit merely by the morning sunlight. They were greeted by the bartender, a woman donning a apron over a blue, long-sleeved shirt and a long, brown skirt that acted almost like the bottom half of a dress.

She smiled while her eyes widened, "Ah! Shield Hero! What a pleasant surprise to see you back in our humble village."

"Humble would be a misuse of the word, my dear." Victor beckoned to the door, "That fool, Aultcray, I bet hasn't even informed your village if he were to send men to fix the village his own men were responsible for."

The woman sighed, shaking her head, "No, I suppose he hasn't. We will make it through, don't even think twice about that." She smiled half-heartedly, "We're a strong group of individuals, after all!"

"Indeed, you are." The ruler of Siltvelt nodded towards her, "Is this tavern open for business?"

She nodded with a smile, "We have to have some form of income still." She pointed towards the tables, "Have a seat anywhere you like and I'll get some menus to you as soon as I can."

The armor-clad man began marching towards a seat in the center of the room, "Take your time to prepare, we will be in town for quite some time, I believe."

The three took their seats and Raphtalia raised an eyebrow towards the Latverian, "I thought you said Shieldfreeden would be our prompt goal, Lord Doom."

The man nodded. "Indeed, I did. However," He reached his hand up, gently lifting the filolial off his head and placing it on the table, "This little one hatching so soon has changed our plans. I was expecting it to be a week at least before it emerged."

"How long are you planning on our stay here in Riyute, then?"

"Once I can be sure that this little one can move on its own, then we will move."

"What about Shieldfreeden? We shouldn't wait so long over something like this if we are to-."

Doom raised his hand, stopping the questions of the demi-human immediately. He gave a pause as the bartender came by with the menus and the smile ever-present on her face.

"Luckily," the woman began, "this tavern was spared in the Wave, so all of our items are still available! However, because crops were destroyed some items' prices have been raised." As she ended the sentence, she began to become more nervous.

Dr. Doom nodded, taking a light hold of the menu and looking around at the menu. He nodded again and looked to the woman, "I will have an order of the vegetable porridge for the bird and the most expensive breakfast item you have for both me and my companion." He reached into his pouch of coins at his belt and placed two gold coins on the table and slid them to the woman, "I will give you nothing less than this for your services. In return, give the three of us your typical service you would give to commoners."

The woman was given back the menu and nodded furiously, slowly taking hold of the coins. She covered her mouth before replying, "T-thank you, my lord! We will do what we can. Thank you! Thank you!" She turned back to the counter and swiftly made her way through a doorway that was assumed to be the kitchen.

Doom turned back to the racoon girl, who was smirking, "That was a lot more than double of what anything would have cost."

"Consider it a boost for them. They are having enough struggles as it is building their homes to what they once were. Finances should be the last of their concerns."

"If only the heroes could see this side of you, I'm sure they would change their tunes about us."

"Their opinions are no concern of mine. I do what I know I need to and what is right." Victor began to scratch the head of the bird, which in return earned him a few coos. "Their standards of right and wrong have no sway on me."

With a deep breath, the racoon girl crossed her arms and leaned back, "So, what are we going to do about Shieldfreeden?"

"Please, my dear, Doom already has that being taken care of as we speak."

Shieldfreeden

Raphtalia

When they reached Shieldfreeden, she was quite surprised by the whole experience.

They landed right outside of the city and marched in like travelers normally would. As they marched closer to the city, they were able to paint a better picture about how the city looked. For Raphtalia, the entire city looked similarly sophisticated when compared to Melromarc. Although, the architecture was quite different.

Buildings were generally between two to four levels high and all of the buildings seemed to have rooftops that rose about another story tall. The buildings generally looked the same throughout with very few buildings looking unique from another. In fact, Raphtalia couldn't see any capital building or castle to speak of!

Dr. Doom hummed a bit before pulling his cloak in front of himself, "This reminds me of the streets of Rome in my world."

"Rome?"

"A place where, in my world's history, some of the more sophisticated of people came about. Paintings, architecture, and many philosophers came from Rome and places related to it, though not as notable as philosophers in Greek history." The armored man had the lead, marching down a stone path which lead to a stone wall with a raised wooden gate where a guard stood at attention, "Let us hope they can have the same level of civility as the Romans did when they were not at war with another nation."

Raphtalia was about to ask what he meant by that, but she knew now wasn't the time to talk. The guard had noticed the two by now and it was now time for Victor Von Doom to leave his impressions.

The guard spoke up, slamming the butt of his spear on the ground, "State your business with the great city of Shieldfreeden, traveler!"

"It seems you cannot recognize royalty when it is in front of them! I will give you a single warning and a single chance to correct your mistake." The armored man narrowed his eyes at the guard, who was notably young.

Said young guard stepped back a bit, obviously shaken by the sudden burst of retaliation. He was about to speak up, even turning his spear towards Victor. Raphtalia took hold of her sword hilt, ready to deflect the spear and counter with a blow of her own. This interaction was interrupted by a guard above who was on patrol along the city walls.

"Herald, you dunce! That's the leader of Siltvelt, the Shield Hero! Bring him in at once!" The man turned to the small group, a nervous smile on his face, "I apologize, my lord! I will be down to greet you properly."

The younger guard scrambled to the side and fell to one knee with his head lower than his shoulders, "I apologize, my lord! Please, forgive my ignorance and my insolence!"

"That's more like it." Victor mumbled before taking his journey towards the city. As they entered the city, the guard from above came sprinting towards the hero and the demi-human. The man himself was a demi-human, as seen by the fluffy tail that sprouted from his backside.

As he reached them, he practically slid on the ground as he bowed on one knee, "Lord, Doom! Shieldfreeden happily greets your arrival. Please forgive the young one at the gate, he was not in the city when your message. We were not aware that you had actually gotten our message so soon."

"You sent us a message?" Raphtalia spoke up.

The man nodded, "To all of the Legendary Heroes, in fact. We wished to give you all a warm welcome into our world, despite the fact that the king of Melromarc summoned you all into the world illegally."

"Siltvelt never got those messages. When did you send them?"

"The messages should have arrived just recently, actually. We delivered them to the king of Melromarc, so it should have gotten to each of you." With a sigh, the guard scratched the back of his head, "Although, from what you've told us from the screen the king might not have been eager to disclose it." The guard shook his head, bringing a smile to his face, "Nevermind that, my lord. What brings you here if it was not for the message?"

Doom gave his attention to the guard, "I wish to speak to your king, guardsman. I have important matters to discuss with them."

"Certainly, my lord." The man stood, taking the lead into the city, "Although, I must correct you my lord. We have no king."

"No king? A republic then?"

The guard chuckled, "Perceptive as ever, my lord." The guard, crossed his arms as they marched, "Indeed, we are made up of representatives in a senate of sorts. They look out for the best interests of us and now that the heroes are involved, the interests of the rest of the world."

The armored dictator nodded, observing the town and the people who stared in awe and the few older citizens that bowed with respect towards the Shield Hero. Raphtalia had to admit that the it was a good change of pace to go to another country as a guest and be welcomed rather than being accused of being every name under the Sun. One of the most standout things about this nation was that the demi-humans and the humans seemed to live together in peace. Some in the distance that hadn't noticed their group were talking amongst themselves and some were even laughing together. It was very similar to Siltvelt, actually.

It didn't take long for the three to reach their destination. A larger structure that was white with columns along the front at the top of the step which led to the front doors of the building and a dome roof made it clear that it was an important landmark. It stood alone in the center of open space where people in business attire had their conversations when they weren't taking notice of the Shield Hero and the entourage around him.

The guard turned to the other two, his smile still present, "Here we are, at the Senate's Congregation. I will be outside and ready to show you to a place to rest for your stay here if you so wish, my lord." The Siltvelt leader and his right hand began up the steps before the guard spoke up again, "I must warn you, however, the council is rumored to be ready to go to war with Melromarc for going against the international laws regarding the summoning of the heroes. You may wish to dissuade them from this course of action."

Doom turned towards him with a glare, "You misunderstand my motives, guardsman. War is precisely my goal in coming here!"

Victor turned forward once more, marching into the building and past guards who did little to try to stop his interruption of the council. Raphtalia didn't blame them. Once they made it to a larger set of doors that stood at a height of almost double that of her master's, Raphtalia took her steps forward and smiled at Doom. "Ready to start a war?"

"We are here, are we not, my dear?"

With that, the dictator and his right hand made their way inside with Raphtalia at the front to open both doors. Once they were both open, she stepped to the side, letting Doom take the lead and following behind. The demi-human looked around, getting a view of the representatives as they sat at multiple levels in a large circle and facing the center of the room. In the middle was three men, of which were already staring the two of them down as they marched forward. It didn't take long for the rest of the crowd to follow suit, their conversations coming to a half once they were in the middle of the whole congregation.

Dr. Doom stood proud, cloak in hand as he spoke up to the three older men with enough volume for the rest of the crowd to hear. "You know my name, councilmen. You have asked for an audience and in return I will have you all as an audience for me. I have a proposition for you all, if you would listen."

The middle councilman in front of the leader of Siltvelt cleared his throat, nearly matching the volume of Victor, "Usually, we would have a process for these kinds of things. However, given the circumstance that you are the Shield Hero, we will hear you in this manner. You may proceed, Lord Doom."

Victor turned to the rest of the council, "I am sure you are all aware of my arrival to Melromarc. From the beginning, I was met with nothing but insults and disgust for action I did not commit. I was given insufficient information to complete my mission, falsely accused of sexual misconduct, and arrested for defending myself against another of the Legendary Weapons which I was summoned with illegally by Aultcray Melromarc. Despite every reason I had to lash out against the king, I held back for there were those who still adored the king for the few good deeds he was capable of." Doom turned back to the three elders, "If only this were the end, I would not be standing here today. I fought against the Waves of Calamity at Melromarc and defended its citizens against their own soldiers who were willing to sacrifice a village of innocent farmers and families in order to kill a monster which would have been dealt with by my hand regardless.

"It was after I saved every individual from that village that the king had assaulted my companion with me today. A citizen of mine and the most highly decorated and loyal soldier in my army who has been at my side nearly since my arrival was grabbed by the guard. I had given the king a second chance, and he did not take it seriously."

The council began to mumble to each other. Some of them nodded to one another while others had their arms crossed, angry about the mistreatment of one of the Legendary Weapons. Raphtalia knew what was coming next, the council needed to know the goal of this speech.

One of the elders, the one to Raphtalia's left, spoke with a raspy voice, "We apologize in the king's place, Shield Hero. But why did you feel the need to interrupt our meeting for this? We have important matters to discuss."

Raphtalia stepped forward, nodding to her master, "That is because of some of the information the king intentionally left out for all of the Legendary Weapons." She placed her hands behind her back and stood tall while the attention was placed on her. It was nerve wracking and her hands had become clammy, but she had to continue now, "He intentionally left out that the other nations of this world were being targeted by the Waves of Calamity."

Someone from the crowd slammed their foot on the ground, shouting out in frustration, "That king is using the Waves as a power move against us! He plans on wiping us out without needing to lift a finger!"

Another person spoke out, "That bastard needs to pay for his crimes! Why is this even an argument?"

The middle elder stood and lifted a wooden staff before slamming it against the ground. The sound of wood hitting concrete echoed throughout the congregation, hushing the crowd and settling the noise. Once the noise pollution hit a minimum, the middle council member nodded towards the Shield Hero.

"I can certainly see your frustration, Shield Hero. However, we cannot make a decision today."

Raphtalia was about to step forward to retaliate, but was stopped by the shield donned on her master's right forearm. He stepped forward, staring down at the man, "Why is that, councilman?"

"Simply put, the queen of Melromarc has already asked to see the council about this matter. As Melromarc is supposed to be a matriarchy, she assumed full responsibility over the events of the previous month and wishes to discuss these matters personally." The old man, sat back in his seat with a sigh, "As much as I want to partake in retaliation, out of respect for the queen we must allow her to speak on her own behalf."

Dr. Doom nodded, crossing his arms, "When did the queen say she would be here?"

"The queen comes from Faubley by ship, we should see her within the next two days at the earliest." The man lowered his head, "I apologize for any inconvenience this may have for your plans in helping our nations fight against the Waves of Calamity, Shield Hero."

The hero chuckled, causing some sweat to fall from the heads of the elders, "It is not an inconvenience. I am making progress as we speak, councilmen." Victor turned away from the council and made his way back to the entrance of the room, "Victor Von Doom will be staying in a tavern within close proximity until the queen arrives."

The two left the congregation to their own devices and returned to the guardsman that brought them to the building in the first place.

Raphtalia wasn't happy about having to wait that long, but she was happy to see if she could get a little bit of downtime with her master. Perhaps, they could even play a few games while they…

No, Dr. Doom wouldn't ever play a game with me. She looked to her master and puffed a cheek in frustration, He's too serious all the time.

Ryute Village

Dr. Doom

The day was only just ending, and immediately the growth in the filolial was present. In the morning, the bird could fit in the palm of Victor's hand. Now, however, the creature was about the size of his head. This was somewhat helpful, however, as now it could help carry items for the villagers as both Victor and Raphtalia helped the villagers in the reconstruction.

Victor would ensure that large objects wouldn't fall on unsuspecting victims below and help push large carts to and from different parts of town. A very simple endeavor for a man who could lift things with his mind with ease. He even taught a few of the men and women who were working on reconstruction superior methods of building to help maintain structural integrity in the case of more trauma being applied to the buildings. Unfortunately, the materials being used were still flammable, so they still had to be wary of that. Reconstruction, in almost every regard, was on its way to being done by the time he and Raphtalia decided they would head out the next day.

The three of them, Dr. Doom, Raphtalia and the filolial began their way back to the Saucer Ship where they would end their day and wake for the next.

Ren Amaki

The boy sat at a tavern. Alone. Like he wanted it.

He had been sitting there for only an hour now, trying to come up with a new strategy to level up. He was scratching on a piece of parchment with a piece of wood that was burned on one end. He had a candle in front of him to keep the charcoal end of the wood black and to maintain his utensil.

As he thought of strategies, he just kept thinking back to the Shield Hero. His attitude towards the rest of the heroes, condescending as always. Even when he lost a fight, he still had something up his sleeve! It was like they were on a four-way chessboard and he was always five steps ahead of each of the heroes.

It all started the first morning Ren had woken up. His armor reflected into the boy's eyes as he stood on the balcony, a book in hand. That man had been gathering information the second he came to the world!

Ren opened his inventory, dumping the book Doom handed him on day one. It spawned in the air, landing in the lone wolf's hand. He opened a page to the text, which consisted of strange symbols consistent of dashes and dots that laid in patterns above and below and in the middle of the same line. The boy could only groan as he slid the book to the side. There was no way he was going to be able to learn an entire language by himself!

That impossible task was probably the single-most impressive thing Victor Von Doom did in Ren's eyes. It was clear he was able to learn the language, too, otherwise he wouldn't have recognized the second princess. The other heroes didn't even know there was a second princess!

Thinking back on everything, the original accusation and the second confrontation to the king, Dr. Doom claimed that the king and first princess were scheming against him. It didn't seem too farfetched.

I mean, the king did intentionally leave him out of the introductions and acted very harshly towards him upon initial impressions. Ren scratched his head before shaking it slightly, That still doesn't excuse everything else. Taking a slave, overthrowing a nation which was never even in the original game as an option, assaulting the king on multiple occasions. No matter what, he still did those things and they were still unspeakable.

Ren sighed, leaning back and stretching his arms out before taking a sip of his drink. It was watered down ale, which didn't taste too good but was enough to keep him awake and to keep him sober. He looked back at the parchment to consider his options.

He wanted to go and find dungeons, but none of them guaranteed him good loot, nor did they give him much variety in a fight. Otherwise, he could go around town and ask about issues they're having, but most of the time they only offered quests that didn't involve killing things which didn't offer much EXP, which is the thing he needed most right now. So, he was sitting at a tavern, waiting for a rumor to stumble his way as he had no other known options and he couldn't get the Shield Villain out of his head, which he also couldn't find an answer for!

With a sigh, the boy decided it might be best to get some rest. He placed the charcoal in his pocket and rolled up the parchment to throw in a fire somewhere as it was full of useless scribbles and amateur doodles. He turned around with the roll in hand overhearing conversations.

As he did, a man burst into the tavern with sweat falling down his face and scuffed clothes.

"Hey, hey, hey! Somebody help! There's a situation a bit of ways from here, at a village over the mountains!"

A few drunkards began laughing as one of them leaned towards the man, spilling his pint on the wooden floor, "What? Did yer sheep get eaten by a wolf er somethin'?"

"A dragon is near a village!"

The drunkards shut up, leaning back towards their table in an attempt not to get involved. Ren, however, began to stand.

"Please, someone! It hasn't attacked yet, but once it does it'll burn the whole village to the ground!" He looked around, not noticing the boy walking towards him as he panicked, "I-I'll pay whatever it-."

"How far away is it?" Ren asked.

The man stepped forward with desperation oozing out of his expression, "A-a couple of days away. Just over the mountains though! I ran all the way here, never stopped, I have a family there. Please!"

Ren placed the sword on his shoulder, smirking and nodding to the man, "Sir, you'll have the help of the Legendary Sword at your back when we get back to that village." Ren placed a hand on the man's shoulder, lowering his gaze to the outside where the day had turned to night already, "I'll slay your dragon."

Then, I will be one step closer to Dr. Doom's level.

Itsuki Kawasumi

He was staked outside of the noble's house, waiting for one of his companions to complete his command to alert the noble to lead him out of his house. The plan was simple, get the noble out where Itsuki could strike him with the bow, take the money he had been taking from the NPCs in the impoverished part of town, turn in the quest and level up on any of the monster enemies he met along the way. Easy.

The hardest part about doing these missions was the waiting. In the original game, it never took this long for a follower to finish a command! But, now it was taking longer, as if it were simulating the real deal. It was a neat little detail for those wanting the most realistic games, but that was never the goal for Itsuki. Especially not with stakes like these. Not with that bastard Doom to contend with.

He still didn't get it, he didn't know how he was so powerful from day one! He had magical abilities and spells that he had never heard of, and that were never present in the game for the Shield Hero. It was almost as if he had been levelled up to the max as soon as he entered, like the God of this game, the creator, gave him a boost. But that couldn't be it either!

There were things that were completely separate from this game, like robots and drones. Assets from other sci-fi games as well as completely original assets.

That's it! Dr. Doom is a hacker, he has to be! He modded his game and added his stupid characters and his own model into the game. That absolute cheater! Itsuki growled to himself as he thought it through.

Noise sounded from the house and the Bow Hero reeled back the string and stressed the base as much as he could. A line appeared in front of him, predicting the trajectory of the arrow that would be launched from the weapon. The noble eventually burst through the door, making his way into the forest still donning his sleepwear. He was screaming for help, that intruders were in his home.

All Itsuki could think about was how messed up this whole situation was. Dr. Doom is a bully through and through, using his power to pick on others. He was picking on the king, he was picking on the other heroes and he was picking on me! I'll kill this troll, without a doubt in my mind.

He let go of the arrow, landing a clean strike at the man's neck. The arrow stayed lodged in his neck for a few seconds until he hit the ground, thus prompting the arrow to burst into light. Itsuki was furious, so much so that he didn't even notice his vision flicker in a slight red across his HUD.

"Victor Von Doom, you're going to face justice. My way!"

Alright! Time For Q&A (Note that some of these are from some time ago, sorry for taking so long for the update, again),

Two common questions/comments I've had;

Could Doom transfer the Legendary Weapons over to Raphtalia, Filo, etc.?

A: I'm not so sure if that would be possible. My understanding of it, or at least how I'm representing it in this story, is that the real Legendary Weapons are tied to a person's mind/soul. Hence why when Doom takes over the minds of his Doombots, the shields they all have in his place become the Legendary Shield. This would also mean that his own powers for swapping consciousness with other living things could be hampered. Victor is powerful, but he can't literally bend reality to his will without cosmic items/powers like the Beyonder's powers and/or the Infinity Gauntlet. Even Thanos can beat people like Dr. Doom if Victor doesn't have an infinity stone. I'm trying not to give credit where it isn't due. This world is a completely separate universe than Victor's(Like going from Marvel's Universe to DC's Universe), not just another dimension (Earth-616 to Earth-1610 for example.). The laws of physics, magic, and other things in the Rising of the Shield Hero's universe are vastly different than the Marvel Universe's.

Mirellia and Dr. Doom shipping?

A: I might be able to see some flirting here and there, but ultimately I don't think that's going to happen. Namely because this isn't Doom's world and he does not plan on staying. It was established very early on that his goal was to return home and return on his original mission to best Reed Richards once and for all. Vic has damn near an obsession with proving his superiority to Reed and him not being able to accomplish that just isn't Doom. A romance between Mirellia and himself would only be a distraction towards that goal, something he knows he doesn't need and probably doesn't even want.

Review Responses;

Unwashed heathen: I see what you mean, but at the same time it wouldn't be nearly as satisfying to have Doom just begin slaughtering Melromarc immediately after the second chance was thrown out the window. Trust me, Doom's threats will not be empty. I fully intend to use Doom to the best of his abilities to make this into something different. Otherwise, what would be the point of just recreating Rising of the Shield Hero with a new coat of paint?

Danish Zaidi: I somewhat agree that he would kill the king, but I don't agree that he would kill the Heroes. Victor is an interesting person, he's not really a villain, he's a hero at heart. He knows that the heroes are simply misguided and need to be taught a lesson. Even the heroes of the Marvel Universe aren't ever killed by Doom, he's not really a killer in the same sense that someone like the Penguin is for example. Even extending towards the King, if he did kill the king, the people of Melromarc and the other countries would simply hear about a hero murdering a king. Not really the smartest thing to do in that situation.

JakeWJElliott2: See the above response.

Juan Sotomayor: First of all, love the name. Rolls off the tongue. To your actual comment about the summoning circle, I mentioned before how this universe's magical laws, much like physical laws, are being assumed to work differently than Doom's world. Some things work the same, just because they're very similar to the universe of the Rising of the Shield Hero. I'm not really sure about the specifics on Doom's technology/sorcery in the field of multiversal communication/transportation but for this I'm just going with a version of this that says his original methods don't work here.

: Less surprised, sure, but compared to the world of espers some of the things in the Marvel Universe are simply wild. I mean, in a one-shot comic where Deadpool kept the Venom symbiote, he met up with the Beyonder at a random bar, got drunk, got his powers, fought a bunch of people on Battleworld or something then got a cosmic weapon that literally erased that one-shot comic from existence. I'm sure if Itsuki heard a story much more tame from the Marvel Universe, he would be plenty surprised and very doubtful.