Chapter 49

In a small village at the edge of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, there was a feast going on. It was a party held in celebration of the wedding of a young couple in the village. The whole village was celebrating, including the guests who were sitting at the edge and trying out the local cuisine.

"I didn't know you could cook fish in this way. I might actually start eating more fish if they all taste this good. Remember to add get this recipe before we leave, will you babe?" Savant who was in his Hawaiian shirt and shorts was eating the dish with relish. Sage just smiled after giving Savant a look.

"Mr. Savant, did you make me come to this remote shithole just to make me watch you critique food? I was told you have a deal for me." The third man on the table spoke up at this moment. He was wearing a suit and with the heat at the place, his face was looking very sweaty, annoyed, and impatient.

"Come on Mr. Valdez, this is your country and these are your own people, you shouldn't insult them like that. And if you don't understand that, you might not be ready for a deal with me." Savant spoke while he focused on removing the bones off the fish on his plate.

"I am one of the people who runs this country Mr. Savant, you should be aware of that before you tell me that you wasted my time to get me here just to say that." Mr. Valdez's voice calmed down significantly but his eyes were getting colder with rage and ruthlessness.

Savant looked up from the fish into Valdez's eyes, "You used to run this country, Mr. Valdez. Inviting you here was a courtesy I extended you as someone who has been at the leadership of this country for decades. But I stopped caring about you the second you showed me that you didn't care about your own people."

Valdez stood up furiously, and his bodyguards took out their guns and pointed them at Savant. While Savant just sat there casually still wrestling with the fish dish, Valdez continued to speak.

"It is not a smart choice for you to come to my country and threaten my position, Mr. Savant. Especially when you are in a remote place like this. I have heard there are cases of timber smuggles wiping out small villages to intimidate the locals. Tourists might find themselves in the line of fire sometimes."

Valdez raised his hand and the bodyguards put down their gun. "You see Mr. Savant, this is not America. Here, you can't rely on the law because in Brazil people like me are the law. So you should reconsider whether you want to make an enemy out of me or have me as your friend."

Savant shook his head and his face was filled with contempt and pity. "My girlfriend is very protective of me Mr. Valdez. I'm sorry about that but they pulled their guns at me first."

Valdez looked confused about what Savant was saying until he felt something was wrong and turned back to see his two bodyguards kneeling on the floor and struggling to get Sage's hand off their necks.

"As for the law of Brazil. It changed the moment you arrived at this table. As of this morning, you and your political party are the public enemy of Brazil and the whole world for all the shitty things you've done by abusing your power. Rodrigo Soares is going to be the next president of Brazil and his party is going to lay down the new law for Brazil, the fair kind."

Valdez lost his mind and screamed, "You son of a bitch. You set me up. You called me here just so I can't stop that piece of shit Soares."

Savant interrupted him, "I don't appreciate your language Mr. Valdez. As for setting you up, I did no such thing. There was mounting evidence against you and your party. Mr. Soares could have put you to ground himself but he needed a backing so that you don't weasel your way out of the situation. I just put him in contact with Doom.

In fact, you should be thanking me that I was the one who got to play the role of the distraction. If it was Doom, nobody would even find your ashes. Now sit down and stop making a noise, it's a celebration don't ruin the fun for the new couple."

Valdez wanted to shout again but he suddenly felt something cold on his throat and looked down. There was a knife on his throat and Sage was holding it. "You heard him. If you don't want to end up like your bodyguards, you'll shut up and sit down obediently until the police arrive."

Both Valdez and Sage sat back down on their chairs and Savant put a plate in front of Sage, "I pulled out all the bones for you."

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"Where are we going to go next?" Rodrigo Soares asked Savant who was drinking wine staring at Sage who was busy in some paperwork.

Savant spoke to Sage, "Do you want to go visit some African warlords and tell them about our lord and savior Doom who will come give them salvation if they don't lay down their guns?"

"Sure. Except for that Doom part, no way I'm doing something as embarrassing as that." Sage rolled her eyes.

But Rodrigo asked another serious question. "Are you giving away the reconstruction work in Africa to the others like you did here?"

"Yeah, I don't have the time or the energy put in any effort in all that just to make some more money. We just need to make sure that the money grubbers don't rip off the poor by using their slick words. The greedy bastards can have all their profits but only after the starting line for everyone is fixed."

Hearing Savant's words, Rodrigo had an excited glint in his eyes, "You think it is possible to make everyone equal like you said?"

"If you are so naïve to interpret my words like that, your political career is going to be a very tough ride Rodrigo. There is never going to be equality like you wish. Even among 'normal' humans, people are born unequal. No matter how much an average boxer works hard, he will never be Mohammad Ali.

The moment you take your first breath, that same breath is giving you life and shortening your life at the same time. Nothing about life is fair. What I want to do is make sure that if there is another Ali out there, he doesn't have to fight the world just to get an opportunity to show it."

Rodrigo nodded, "You mean you want to bring everyone at the same starting line but you won't do anything about those who used their means to get a head start. A few years ago, I'd be arguing with you about that but now that I am a father, I understand. I'd give my son a head start as much as possible and so will everyone who has the means."

Savant smiled, "And you are a firsthand example of how, given a fair chance, those who are capable can win the race despite the handicap of not having a head start. But for that to happen, I can't do it alone."

Sage chimed in with sarcasm, "Good thing we have our lord and savior, Doctor Doom who will undertake most of the work for that idea of ours."

"That's why he took the job, didn't he?" Savant chuckled.

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In a secret conference call between the representatives of the US and the countries in the alliance against Doom, there was a heated discussion going on.

"Your SHIELD was one third destroyed, your high level officials are being caught left and right for being a spy and the guy who represented you in a controlling position in Security Council of all places was found to be a Hydra agent.

The whole world is getting the news. Even imbeciles behind a computer screen are making jokes at your expense on the internet. You think the vote is going in your favor?" The British Prime minister lashed out.

"We all know it is who is spreading the news. And it is not just the USA which was infiltrated by Hydra. We all know about Doom going around bombing Hydra all over Europe. So you don't get to point us as the incompetent ones. You are just taking advantage of this situation to shift all the attention on us."

All of the US government was busy with damage control and minimizing the effect of its high level officials getting caught as Hydra agents. But no matter how hard they put out the fire, everyone had already seen their house being lit up in flames. And it was seen as a weakness.

The US president continued, "We will be back in form in no time. While it was a small setback, it is nothing that we can't handle. We have seen far worse and survived just fine and gotten stronger."

"We know that. But what we don't have is time. A day later, there will be a vote for the Earth Federation leadership. And right now in the world's eyes, we are the guys with a burning house and Doom is the guy who is fighting the arsonist. It is not a good look for us." The Canadian prime minister spoke out the main concern.

"What else can we do? Sending an assassin didn't work. Character assassination against Doom is just a joke when the man proudly admits everything openly all the damn time. So what are we supposed to do?"

The US president sighed, "I think I have a solution. You won't like it but if we want to defeat Doom, this is the only way I see it happening."