fandomhigh | Ethics [Thursday, October 5, 1st period]

When the Ethics class arrived in the Danger Shop, they stepped into an entirely different world.

An incredibly dry, hot one. That smelled really bad.

Anakin waved his hand around the room. "Welcome to the embodiment of gluttony," he said, "the palace of a Hutt."

He concentrated on the controls on the far side of the room, and the simulation sprung to life: dozens of beings drinking, eating, and dancing, with all activity centered around a vile slug of a beast laying on the raised dais at the front of the room.

In a place of honor on the wall was a man, face twisted in a silent scream, encased in silver. Anakin ignored it as he walked past to point at the creature on the dais. "That," he said, nose wrinkling in disgust, "is a Hutt. This particular version was named Jabba, one of the most powerful crime lords in the galaxy." A grim smile turned the corners of his mouth up. "At least until he met my children."

He shook his head. "That is neither here nor there. Today is an interactive experience for you, class. Take a good hard look around. See the effects that gluttony can have."

His eyes went flat. "Touch any of the dancing girls and you'll regret it. That's a promise."

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Jabba chuckled, long and low, then explained. "Because the law enforcement officials are cheap," the droid translated, "and his family hates the dry heat, and stays away."

There was a pause. "It really is quite clever, young master," the droid said. "The Hutts prefer humidity and they really are each other's worst enemies."

Victor nodded. It did make sense. However... "But why settle for bribing the enforcement officials here? Clearly, you have a significant amount of power here. Why not go the rest of the way and take the planet for yourself? Be a king, bend the law to your will rather merely remaining as a criminal who slips past the law with petty bribery?"

Jabba rumbled out a long reply, then laughed again.

"He says he hasn't had to bribe officials in decades," the droid repeated, "and being actually in charge of Tatooine is far too much bother. His influence extends to many hundreds of systems. He has no interest in learning how to make sure people get fed or watered."

Victor scowled. "Then you are, effectively, the lord and master of the people on this desert planet. You have influence over hundreds of planets? That's billions of people who are nothing without you. Their dependence upon you builds your strength, makes you so much more than the slug you presumably were before them. If you don't nurture them, then you undermine a significant part of your power base. And considering that you don't look like you can even move under your own power, I imagine those people are a larger part of that power base than you realize."

This was probably the first time Victor had exposed this side of himself in Fandom. Sure, he had no problem with the idea of tyrants making people bow to their will, but that meant that those people were yours to take care of.

It may have been a bad idea to expose this side of himself to Jabba the Hutt, of course.

Jabba stared at him.

The pushed the button that yanked the trapdoor back and dumped Victor into the woefully rancor-free pit beneath it.

Call him a slug, huh?

Victor smiled to himself when he landed. He was glad to see that he could make an enemy of a self-important ruler so easily. He forced his will upon the situation and stood his ground until his literal ground became a hole.

Someday he would return to Latveria and do the same, only with weapons that would turn the tide in his favor.

For now, though, he was just going to inspect this pit to find any defects with it.

The pit was dark and smelled like some kind of animal spent far too much time cooped up down there.

The walls were made of dirt and the only door was huge, heavy metal and completely closed.

There were a couple of skulls on the ground for ambiance. Nice place Jabba had here.

Jabba, meanwhile, was laughing up a storm far above him.

Victor discovered all of these things rather quickly. "Better designed than I would have suspected," he said.

There didn't seem to be any pressing danger to him, so he sat and waited. Victor had a lot of patience. He could wait for days. Fortunately, it would only be until Skywalker released him from this simulation.

At the end of class, the giant gate creaked open and Anakin stood on the other side, lightsaber out and glowing and a huge smile on his face.

He'd kind of gone to town in an imaginary rescue scenario. Dork.

"My son figured out a way out," he told Victor helpfully.

Victor gave Anakin a strange look. He wasn't sure why the teacher had a weapon out. "Your son presumably had a reason to escape and didn't know that he would be released shortly. If an escape scenerio had been assigned, I would have released myself."

"Sure you would've," Anakin said, closing the lightsaber down, then ending the program.

The lightsaber disappeared along with the rest of the scenerio.

Victor shot Anakin a dirty look, angry beyond words that his abilities were being questioned. "Next time, assign it. You'll see."

"Watch your anger, young one," Anakin snapped. "Wrath isn't for another few weeks."

"Clearly, I can't wait for that lecture," Victor said.

That's right. VICTOR VON DOOM MADE A JOKE!!! It probably would have sounded more like a joke if he bothered to use a sarcastic tone. Sarcastic tones were beneath him.

Anakin gave him a flat look. "Funny."

"I try," Victor said, still fuming as he turned dramatically and started to walk off.

Because Victor von Doom was always to have the last word. That was funny in this class, but it wasn't a joke in the classical sense.

Ethics [Thursday, October 5, 1st period]

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Re: Talk to Jabba the Hutt!

Re: Talk to Jabba the Hutt!