7. Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown

Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD, had learnt one or two things during his long life. Some had practical uses, like his well polished survival and combat skills. Others were of a more esoteric variety, like his experience building IED's using products you could find at any American home. But if you were to ask him his most useful skills were those related to people.

Over the years Fury had met many people. Some good, some bad and all kinds of in-between. And this had given him a certain understanding on how their minds worked.

From experience alone Fury could look at one soldier, a spy or a politician and predict their actions even without knowing anything about them. The same applied to the megalomaniacs who seemed to plague the word ever since World War 2, whether they were small time crazies who wanted to destroy a city or powerful god-kings who terrorized entire galaxies. They all had a number of behavioural patterns that repeated no matter what.

Or at least that's what he used to think.

His talks with Ainz Ooal Gown, self proclaimed "King of Canada" had been surprisingly cordial so far. Even friendly, one could say.

This on its own wouldn't be enough to throw Fury off balance. After all, he had exchanged words with Doom and many other criminal masterminds. He knew that a monster could put on a facade of civility whenever it suited them. Except that this time it was not like that.

"Excuse me?"

"Like I said, Director. I don't have any problem with your inspection teams coming over, nor do I oppose the United Nations sending any experts they may want. I have nothing to hide regarding my people," The skeleton paused, a clearly calculated move to Fury's experienced eye "I promised to take care of the people of Canada after I was sworn in as their King and I will do just that. I would never lie after swearing upon my name"

Ah, interesting. He's got a hangup about his personal honor then? Fury could barely detect any change in the skeleton's posture or tone, but the "sixth sense" he had developed over the years made him sure he was right.

"Well, that's very good to hear. To be honest I wasn't expecting someone from your station to be so friendly, nor was I expecting for you to accept the proposal so easily," Fury knew that while it was probably useless, what with these super powered dictators usually being superintelligent instead of simply powerful, but small doses of adulation could make a job go much smoother if properly applied. Dealing with Doom had also taught him that.

"Well, if I were to be honest I don't really have any problem with your demands and pretending otherwise would be a waste of time. It's not like you will try to force anything harsher upon me, won't you?" Ainz's tone was friendly but Fury couldn't help but wonder if there was an implicit threat there. 'I am approaching with open hands. Will you return the favor?' was the unspoken question in Gown's words and once again Fury found himself agreeing with a megalomaniac.

Fury was no fan of dictatorships or authoritarian states in general, but Canada had been a problem for years. One they had purposefully ignored.

Now that a monster had openly taken the Great White North the powers-that-be had decided they were concerned about "human rights violations" and "the safety of Canada's population". Fury found their hypocrisy galling and his own even more so.

I guess that being able to deal with monsters like him as I do must have come at a price eh? Sometimes I wonder when was it that I left my humanity behind.

"I can't really promise you anything but SHIELD's cooperation. We don't like what you did but as long as the wellbeing of the people of Canada is assured we won't make a move against you," As far as promises went, Fury was giving both much and very little. While SHIELD was a powerful organization, it was not the only one of its kind and the United States alone had many groups that would take an interest in the new administration of their northern neighbor. On the other hand SHIELD also enjoyed a reputation worldwide that would give credence to Ainz's pretensions of being recognized as Canada's rightful ruler. If SHIELD vouched for him as safe then most governments would rather let another Doom be born than risk and all out war with an organization powerful enough to topple a country in a day.

"That should be enough for now. Why don't we adjourn for now? I'm sure you could use a break" Spoke Ainz genially as he got up from his place opposite Fury.

"I would find that idea agreeable… Your Majesty" It was better to stay on Ainz's good side for now. Though in all honestly it didn't bother him as much as it would have with other crazies. For a megalomaniac dictator Ainz was fairly a likeable one.

---

​

"So did you find anything?" Asked Fury.

Carol Danvers, also known as Captain Marvel, simply shrugged in response. As did the rest of Fury's "guards".

Fury had tasked them to gather as much info as possible while he talked with Ainz. And now that they were resting at the room provided for his party he had taken the chance to see what they discovered. All of it after a thorough search for bugs of course.

"Nothing? Truly?" While Fury didn't have any great hopes for Danvers, he had still counted on his own men finding something, anything about the mysterious conquerors of Canada. This turn of events had caught him completely flat footed.

"Yes, most of the guards here are not exactly the conversational type" Marvel gestured to the door of the room given to them, behind which they knew a duo of skeleton foot soldiers stood guard.

Fury sighed tiredly. He had hope that at least some of the self proclaimed King's forces would be of flesh and bone. Sadly lady luck had once again decided to let him hanging.

"Well, it's not like it really matters. Not yet at least," Fury took a sip from the mug of coffee Dougan , of all people, had prepared. Before continuing. "Anything the mooks may have let slip would have come in handy but the truth is that it isn't important as of yet. We won't be dealing with this problem anytime soon and that means proper field work can be carried out by the experts. No offense to you."

"No problem boss. My speciality is and will always be shooting at the bad guys" Answered Dougan with a cheerful laugh.

Dougan could be somewhat irreverent but he always found it easy to roll with any punch and overcome, or ignore, any problem that presented. Fury couldn't help but smile at seeing that his old comrade was just as unshaken by the latest events as he hoped he himself was.

Sadly for Fury his good mood came to an end, courtesy of one Captain Marvel.

"So then that's it? We talk, pack our things and head home? Are you going to actually leave that psycho in charge of Canada?" The disbelief in her words was clear as she questioned him and Fury, for once, couldn't exactly fault her for it.

"Yes," Fury's answer was short and to the point, something that surprised Marvel, who had clearly been expecting him to offer another answer. Either hints of a secret plan or at least an unbinding silence. Not a clear affirmation.

"Are you crazy?" The impact of Marvel's fist on the wall was enough for it to crack. For a second Fury cringed at the damage the hero's outburst had caused to the building before his eye went back to Marvel, who now stood in front of him, waiting for him to reply.

Most people may have felt intimidated by Marvel but Fury wasn't most people. If the self-proclaimed "Sorcerer King" who was an actual monster hadn't scared him then an angry woman, superpowered or not, wouldn't either.

"Then what do you expect me to do? Take him on my own with you people as support? In case you haven't noticed we aren't packing what one would call a heavy assault outfit," For emphasis he opened his arms, to encompass the room and the few SHIELD agents in it. "Or do you actually think you could take him?"

"If you have to ask then yes, I think I could," Marvel's frown hadn't disappeared but her anger had clearly been replaced by apprehension.

"No, you can't," Before Marvel could say anything he put up his hands, gesturing for her to wait "Dougan what did you notice while we were coming here?"

Dougan who had, alongside the other agents, been silently enjoying the act his superior and the hero were putting up sighed deeply.

"There was no damage. Whatever the bastard did to take out the government they couldn't even fight back. Now, that either speaks of a lot of planning or a lot of power. Don't you think so, boss?" At which Fury nodded.

"Exactly, this Ainz Ooal Gown either has a lot of resources we don't know about or he is simply that powerful. Either way could be catastrophic if we took him head on."

"That doesn't mean I couldn't take him, and even then we could always call for reinforcements." Insisted Marvel, but her face was now pensive instead of angry.

"And normally I would agree, but this isn't a second rate general trying his luck at running his own country or a reject from New York's superpowered freaks. If my hunch is right and I fear it is. This man, this creature, may be the second coming of Doom. We can't take him lightly"

"But just leaving the people here to suffer…" No matter how she acted sometimes, Marvel was first and foremost a good person. It was for this reason that she didn't want to let anyone under tyranny if she could help it.

"Lass, we can't do anything about it. The skeleton's got the place swarming with troops and who knows what else he has in wait for us. The director is right, we can't take any risks yet" Dougan spoke, his words causing Marvel to deflate more and more.

"Look, Danvers. We aren't just going away. I managed to get Ainz to accept ours and the UN's investigators and the entire military of the US and many others is ready to pounce the moment he does anything funny and he knows it too.Even if he is lying, and I don't think he is, he won't harm the people of Canada." His words were hardly recomforting but Fury only dealt in the truth with cases like this. He needed his people on point if they were to deal with the disaster that was Canada.

Still, I need to be careful. Powerful or not, Ainz Ooal Gown is undoubtedly a genius. I can't risk getting complacent when dealing with such beings.

---

​

What am I even doing? This was a question that Ainz found himself asking more and more as time went by. But sadly he had yet to receive an answer.

Currently Ainz was working through some paperwork at his office in Nazarick. He was mostly just skimming through most of it as it mostly concerned administrative duties others were best suited for handling or things he couldn't make heads or tails of. Like the new draft for a constitution.

Why do we even need that for? Weren't those abolished decades ago?

But as tiring as Ainz found this work to be it was much better than the alternative. Especially after the events of the previous few days.

The talks with Director Fury had lasted an entire two days, with every second of them being utter hell for Ainz. Regardless of how irrational it was Ainz couldn't shake the feeling that Fury had him figured out and was waiting for the smallest mistake to expose him as the fraud he was. It was for this that Ainz couldn't find it in him to deny any of Fury's proposals. From the inspectors to the open emigration for any Canadian who wanted to leave the country.

In truth Ainz didn't particularly care for those but he feared accepting such things had made him look weak in front of the foreign officers, or worse, in front of the NPC's themselves.

But that issue was finally done and Ainz could finally go back to his usual routine. The addition of all of Canada's to Nazarick's lands not having changed much as far as his usual workload went.

I can never thank Demiurge enough, if it weren't for him and Albedo I would be lost.

And that was but the sad truth. While the last few months since coming to this new and strange Earth had taught him much no lesson was as important as his own inadequacy. Yet he had to try and become as good as his subordinates, those form Nazarick and the new ones, expected him to be.

Or at least lie until it became the truth.

But for all that Ainz didn't hold himself in high regard, especially when compared with his infinitely more competent subordinates, he couldn't fall to admit he wasn't completely useless. While his didn't hold a candle to Demiurge's many of his own plans had actually worked. Some better than others of course.

Actually that reminds me. What are those children doing? I shouldn't let them alone without checking on them every once in a while. Especially after what happened last time.

---

​

The raven haired beauty looked to the sky, where the arachnid themed "hero" battled against another of the pitiful insects who terrorized the pathetic humans of the city and sighed in tiredness. It looked like she still had much work to do that day, but a mission from the Supreme one couldn't be put on hold.

"[Fly]" Once she caught up to them she would teach the insect its place.

---

The handsome man looked up from where he stood besides his "mistress". Her talk with their hosts interrupted by laugher.

Since her induction to "the club" his mistress had been eager to participate in all their activities and had slowly, but surely amassed quite a lot of influence amongst the lower and middle ranking members. A few careful applications of magic helping a lot.

But now the time was coming to show their true worth, he just hoped they wouldn't disappoint their lord.

---

​

"Enemy to the left" Spoke impassively the girl, her cute face never changing as she opened fire with the heavy rifle. A robot exploding under the force of the round.

"Good shot. Now cover me as I go talk with our friends" Spoke the, as she liked to call him, engineer. The man was very relaxed for someone in what was, for all intents and purposes, an active warzone. Though the girl admitted that his armor probably meant he was right at not worrying.

"Roger," Answered the girl and not for the first time thought about her room and all the things in it. It had been awhile since she had time to enjoy anything cute. But one does as they must, for that's the Lord's will.

The head of another robot disappeared as she fired once again.

She just hoped the mission would be over soon.

---

​

"P-please… stop… make it stop!"

The demon watched his latest guest. The man squirming and trashing from the pain.

It was a very brutal, very unartistic way of doing the job. But sometimes one had to swallow their pride upon their craft and focus on efficiency alone. He just hoped he wasn't being a disappointment by not doing both.

I still have a long way to go to reach Him.

But he knew better than to lose himself in contemplation. He had a job to do and he would do so.

"On the lastest news, the new government of Canada has been officially recognized by almost thirty countries already and there is talk about a UN convocation to give Ainz Oal Gow Canada's former place in the assembly. This meeting is to happen next month and-"

The demon turned off the TV, while the mangling of the name annoyed him he couldn't help but once again marvelling at the way the simple device allowed him to monitor the public's beliefs and reactions. Or even better, shape them.

He had followed his master's manipulations of the public and all of the world's powers through it as he was currently deep undercover. And even if he wasn't present to see it in action his master's intellect shone like a star.

"Truly you are a thousand years ahead of me"

"N-no more… please no more" Begged his guest. It was for nothing of course, but the demon liked to let them speak as long as they weren't too loud. He was considerate as that.

"Shhh, it will be over in… Five more days," The demon said as he looked at his watch. "Rest for now".

On a whim before leaving the room he turned on the TV once again and was pleasantly surprised.

"... Victor von Doom and the President of Genosha have both announced their intent to visit Canada. Both military officials and a number of well known heroes have expressed worry about this, the fear of an alliance between…"

Truly your mind exists in a realm of its own.

"Sasuga Ainz-sama."

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AN: And another one bites the dust. Hope you are liking the story so far and now that the intro is done we can get to the fun part of writing various viewpoints with a little less constraint.

Remember, anyone interested in "claiming" a character to explore feel free to inform me so I can add you to the discord server.