Doomstadt, Latveria; the ramparts of Castle Doom…
"Doesn't this just INFURIATE you, Victor?!"
"Of course it does, Lex! Why shouldn't it?!"
If it had got out that two of the most fearsome supervillains were meeting together, the law enforcement agencies of the whole PLANET would be at instant alert.
Of course — despite the host's considerable propensity of unleashing all sorts of things in the open against his chosen foes — this meeting between Victor von Doom and Lex Luthor was top secret. The control the dictator of Latveria had over his nation's population was absolute. And the current head of LexCorp, one of the world's most powerful multinationals, had his own way of getting in and out of places unseen.
And while the Fantastic Four and Superman would be immediately wary of the idea of their greatest personal foes coming together for a clandestine meeting…
…the object of such a meeting, however, would shock them all.
"Did you learn anything about what was going on with the Oni before we lost all our memories of Ataru and his friends?" Lex then asked.
Victor shook his head. "Nothing. Then again, there are next to no controls over the Men In Black that can be exercised by anyone at the national level, even myself…and while I do delve in magic, the International Confederation of Wizards does hold me at arm's length." He closed his eyes, breathing out through the grate of the mask he wore to hide his hideously-scarred face. "That, of course, must change."
"Agreed," Lex stated. "In nine years, Ataru Moroboshi has done more for the human cause than anyone else alive today! We know this, Victor! The powers he was able to persuade all those girls he went after to take are — though alien by nature of their arising on Yiziba — easily transmittable to potential children unlike the case with pure-born Yizibajohei. We would no longer be dependent on a Kryptonian — much less other alien-born heroes on the planet — to protect us from those sorts of threats."
"You've talked to Professor Essex?"
"I have. As you know, he made a clone of Jean Grey; Madelyne Pryor was the name she had taken in the end. After what Jason Wyngarde did to Grey when the Hellfire Club tried to subvert the X-Men, the chances were good that she would have committed suicide if she actually had destroyed that solar system in Shi'ar space."
"Yes. The Kasuga girl stopped that…and she interfered again when the good Doctor Grey decided to take her own life to free her friends of the threat of the Phoenix Force." Victor hummed. "How did Miss Pryor become a living person in the end?"
A chuckle. "Ataru's sister Chikage."
The ruler of Latveria perked. "I do not know her."
"She is Shadow. The queen of the Shadow Realm and an equal of Harry Potter."
A nod. "What power was Miss Pryor finally blessed with in the end?"
"From what Doctor Essex told me, Madelyne became Nightmist," Lex answered. "A manipulator of the shadows, though not a mage like Chikage or Pansy Parkinson. She may have also inherited some of Grey's psionic powers as well. A quite heady mix."
The ruler of Latveria nodded. While he still personally dreamt of the idea of making all of Earth fall under his rule, he knew such a quest faced insurmountable challenges from all quarters. He knew that Lex Luthor — the child of Metropolis' Suicide Slum that had become one of America's richest men through guile and sheer cold-bloodedness — could and probably WOULD oppose him were he to reach that limit. But if such was their fate, it was still far in the future. Lex — for all his hatred of Superman — was also a gifted scientist in his own right as well as a very successful businessman; he was someone Victor viewed as an intellectual equal and a kindred spirit. Unlike his deadly rivalry with Reed Richards, Victor von Doom welcomed the chance to deal with Lex Luthor. Lex, at least, was unencumbered by Richards' do-gooder streak.
"Another point for us," Lex then stated.
"Indeed," Victor noted. "So what do you plan?"
A sigh. "Right now, the Oni cruiser is still in low orbit over Tomobiki. I believe the Canadians' special defence squad — whatever they're called — are going to handle the direct negotiations to make them go home." That neither men had learned the truth about whatever was based on Ellesmere Island galled them both, but they were patient men and willing to wait for any chance to fall their way. "I'm sure the Yaminokuni will also go home; the presence of so many Yizibajohei probably has them shaking in their cloaks right now even if there is supposedly a claim of marriage between their crown prince and the Oni girl Ataru was 'married" to. Rumour also has it that the Shi'ar are on their way here; no doubt because of what Kasuga and Suzumiya did to make Galactus finally leave Earth alone. The Zentraedi are here to blunt that." Lex then smirked as he gave his host a knowing look. "There is also the problem of the other race whose peoples were discovered hiding in Tomobiki, Victor."
"These fanatic worshippers of the Lady Lum as a living goddess, you mean?" Victor asked, his lips twisting into a smirk. "Yes, Lex. My embassy in Tōkyō picked up on it right away. They actually planted a COBALT BOMB in Tomobiki — young Miss Suzumiya got rid of it — as a way of forcing its citizens to continue to 'bow' to the girl."
Lex blinked. "Victor, that can't be allowed."
"Exactly."
"Any ideas?"
Victor smirked. "I have one."
The American's eyebrow arched…
Gotham City, New Jersey; the Iceberg Lounge…
"You have my thanks for hosting this meeting, Oswald."
"Since it was you who asked for it, Rā's, it was my pleasure."
The long-lived Arabian environmental terrorist nodded his thanks before he gazed on the small assemblage of villains now seated at various tables in the now-closed lounge. "I trust you all have recovered from what the Men In Black and their wizarding allies did to young Moroboshi?" Rā's āl-Ḡwl then asked, his dark eyes flashing with his own barely-suppressed anger over what he had just been made to forget.
"Yeah, we've recovered," one of the Flash's many foes, Leonard Snart — Captain Cold — snarled. Atop many of the Rogues who fought against Batman, many other villains who dealt with the Dark Knight Detective's allies in the Justice League had come to this meeting. "So what the fuck happened?! Ataru never meant any harm! None of those kids he helped to get powers never really caused any trouble! What provoked this?"
"From what Father's sources have discovered, Mister Snart, it was ultimately provoked by the man who murdered the Warlock's parents fifteen years ago," Talia āl-Ḡwl answered. "He is known to the wizards of Britain as 'Voldemort.'"
"He is dead."
Eyes locked on the woman in the shadows nearly. "Your proof, Miss Cain?" Rā's asked.
Stepping out of the shadows was a person who — until she had been encountered by Moroboshi Ataru — was one of the top-ranked assassins on the planet even if she was not many years older than the young Japanese boy who had once been the host to one of the truly deadliest beings ever to live. But after Ataru had encountered Cassandra Cain — who had never been taught to speak by her adopted father so as to fully focus her abilities to delivering death on anyone — she had become the Nexus, a being with the ability to sense all forms of information from technological sources as well as mystical and other forms of energy. Because of her origins as the adopted daughter of David Cain — and the suspected daughter of Lady Shiva — the current Nexus had sought to align herself more with the "heels" of Earth than any of the "faces." And like many who gained a whole new life for herself thanks to Moroboshi Ataru, Cassandra had made it very clear — and often PAINFULLY clear! — that any harm that befell Ataru would have very terrible if not FATAL consequences. The villains in the room knew that the deadliest of them all — the Joker himself — learned that once when he had tried to kill Ataru for helping make too many little girls around the world too damned strong!
Until all their memories had been blanked out a year before, the man born Jack Napier always CRIED whenever anyone mentioned Moroboshi Ataru's name to him.
"Margo Black was hired by the British magical ministry to deal with Voldemort and his people," Nexus stated. "We all know what she can do, don't we?"
«Ah, Miss Black!» Hector Hammond breathed out as his words echoed in everyone's minds. «A sheer artist when it comes to delivering death unto those who deserve it. I trust the British magicals paid the dear girl well, Miss Cain?»
"Quite well, Master Hammond," Nexus replied. Getting her Gift had literally helped Cassandra Cain overcome the horrid dyslexia she had suffered over the years. "But I can guarantee that this whole incident will provoke one thing."
"Ataru going out to get his own Gift, right?" Edward Nygma, the Riddler, asked.
"Most likely. Margo has a crush on him…"
Laughter filled the room. "Understatement of the century, Cass!" Selina Kyle, the Catwoman, then noted as people tried to calm down.
"True, her interest in him is obsessive to a degree that would be quite obnoxious to the being the Men In Black and the International Confederation ended up creating last year, Selina," Nexus stated with an amused smile. She liked Ataru both as a friend and as the man who had helped redefine her whole life…but given the amount of girls that wanted into his boxers like Tara Markova, Takino Tomo and Margo Black, Cassandra had long ago decided to let things remain as is. "After all, they made Ataru into a girl-chaser. A girl-chaser does not like being chased! Hence, his considerable reticence to accept Lum's feelings for him…" A smirk. "Which is truly choice irony given that Lum was actually the First of us all Gifted with his help."
Jaws dropped. "You must be joking!" Circe exclaimed.
"I'm not, Madame Circe," Nexus answered. "She became Tempest."
"My! My! My! Choice irony indeed, Cassandra," Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin and the owner of the Iceberg Lounge, breathed out through his cigarette holder. "So what have you learned of the people who planted this cobalt bomb in Tomobiki?"
Jaws dropped. "How the hell did you learn THAT, Oswald?!" the Riddler demanded.
"I have friends amongst the Yakuza, my dear Edward," the Penguin answered as he smirked at the riddle-master of Gotham. "They've always kept a wary eye on Tomobiki. As soon as news of this device — it was at least ten times more powerful that the one the Soviets tested in 1961 — got out thanks to their people overhearing young Miss Mihama speak of the device to her friends, including Miss Kasuga, I was alerted."
"DAMN…!" Captain Cold breathed out. "What do we know of these creeps?"
The Nexus smirked. "They're the most powerful members of the alliance of small powers the Urusians are also a part of. Their racial name is 'Niphentaxian' and their home planet is the second world of the Phentax system fifty light-years away from here. It's the tri-star system with many habitable worlds," she stated. "Since the Men In Black were the primary agency in dealing with this, I focused my attention on them. And — thanks very much to what Professor Rhetor is now forced to do — I got in."
People gaped. There were places Nexus couldn't access at this time — the mysterious Canadian group whose aircraft were now hovering over Tomobiki, for example — so when she DID get somewhere, it was amazing. "Way to go, girl!" Pamela Isley — Poison Ivy — whooped as she high-fived Harley Quinn (Harlequin). "What did you find?!"
"That the Niphentaxians have a huge problem with creating their own culture," Nexus stated. "How this came to be, it's not known. Is it a genetic deficiency? It is a deeply grained cultural prejudice? I can't say. What I can say is that they are perhaps the master builders of this whole galaxy. Hand them any technology — even stuff more advanced than what they have — and they replicate it. Because of this, leaders have had to use pseudo-religious influences to make the people do whatever they want. And the latest version of it…" She grinned. "Is the 'Church of Lum.'"
People gaped. "Oh, my heavens…" the Penguin breathed out. "I would assume, therefore, that these Niphentaxians fear your adopted race…"
"As 'They Who Must Never Be Named,'" Nexus finished. "Right now, the leaders of the MIBs — those that weren't involved in what happened to Ataru — are worried that if the news of Lum being Tempest gets to Phentax Two, they'll be an invasion."
"That cannot be allowed," Rā's āl-Ḡwl snarled.
"Agreed, sir," the Nexus stated. "As we speak, Lex Luthor is meeting with Victor von Doom in Doomstadt about this very issue. No doubt, those who have opposed groups like the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and the X-Men may be drawn into joining such an alliance." She then sighed. "I offer my services to liaise between them and you."
"What does Lex have in mind?" one of Superman's many foes, Gerard Shugel, the Ultra-Humanite, then demanded as he crossed his white-furred arms.
"A direct attack on Phentax Two in return." The Nexus then grinned. "In effect…
"The Mother of All Fight Scenes."
The others in the room slowly nodded…
A hidden base outside Omaha…
"Father!"
"Are you well, my child?"
Madelyne Pryor — Nightmist — smiled as she moved to embrace the man who had made her existence possible even if her very soul was actually bequeathed to her by the Great Crystal of Power on Yiziba. "I am well," the dark telepath — she could tap into the power of the Shadow Realm to unleash horrible psychic attacks on any foe; like others touched by the black borderlands of the Chaos, she could also move through it in a form of cosmic teleportation — stated as she shuddered with delight as Mister Sinister held her close. "Angry beyond belief at what happened to Ataru, but alright."
"And your powers?" the man born Nathaniel Essex in the mid-nineteenth century asked.
"Restored to full strength. In effect, I never lost them in the first place; I just simply lost all knowledge of them, thus couldn't use them even if I tried."
"Any of those who were Gifted thanks to Ataru hurt in the meantime?"
A shake of the head. "None. Fortunately."
"Did young Cassandra tell you who was exactly responsible?"
"Wizards from Britain and rogues in the 'Men In Black' group. It was ultimately instigated by Voldemort, the Warlock's arch-enemy." Nightmist then grinned. "Who is no more. Margo Black was hired by the British government to terminate him."
"Excellent. I'll have to experiment on some of these 'wizards' to better understand their abilities and how they interact with normal humans," Sinister coldly noted as he returned to his main work station. "Arrange with Cassandra to find some way to get hold of Voldemort's corpse. If Miss Black was involved, I'm sure the Martin sisters were there as well. Hopefully, the younger Miss Martin didn't destroy the DNA."
"I'll pass it on." The pretty clone of Jean Grey — the main difference was the hair style; Madelyne had straight hair styled in a bob at her shoulders while Jean's hair was wavy and extended to mid-back — then smirked. "What are you up to?"
"Retribution, my dear," the British-born evolutionary specialist stated. "What Ataru did over nine years did far more for my work than anything I've been able to research in the last CENTURY! I have no desire to allow a group of primitive WIZARDS — to say anything of some clandestine super-government agency — to interfere in that. My observations on you alone — especially in the wake of your being 'born' thanks to young Miss Hirosaki — has given me many insights into the human genome and how various forms of energy can interact and influence it. To have that wiped from my MIND in an instant by those strutting poppycock busy-bodies…?!" A snarl escaped him. "Not again!"
"Agreed."
Sinister's eyebrow arched. "So quick to agree."
"Father, you know my feelings for Ataru and his family."
The geneticist nodded…
Three years ago…
"Damn! Damn! DAMN!"
Shuddering with a tsunami of frustration as he gazed on the unmoving nude woman on the diagnostic table in the middle of his lab, Mister Sinister could only shake his head. Damn! All that work to get hold of a DNA sample of the most powerful Omega-level mutant alive today — KNOWING that with the cosmic power she was bonded to, she stood a very good chance of going totally insane and killing herself — and yet…
Nothing.
NOTHING!
"What happened…?!"
"A friend of mine learned an interesting truth about Jean Grey. And the Phoenix."
Sinister gasped on hearing that strange voice, and then he spun around…
…before blinking on seeing the young Japanese girl — appearing to be on the cusp of puberty — standing close by. Draped in a solid white hooded cape with red stylised crucifixes on the shoulders, she had a very slender face and deep royal blue eyes with bangs of dark lavender hair spilling out from under her hood. Black slacks and black shoes stuck out from under the cape, but there were no other details he could see.
Yet her eyes…
They were ANCIENT.
"I apologise for intruding on your experiment, Professor Essex," she then said as she walked up to stand beside the diagnostic table holding the empty clone shell Sinister had created. Waving a hand over it, she concentrated as a black, miasmic fog formed around it, instantly chilling the room as she passed it over the unmoving clone. Noting she was doing some sort of scan — A psychic? Sinister then wondered — of the physical shell of the woman he intended to give the name "Madelyne Jennifer Pryor" to, the ancient geneticist turned to peer once more at his young-yet-old visitor. Odd. He was familiar with almost every mutant alive today…but this girl…
Those ageless eyes focused on his. "I'm not a naturally-born meta."
He blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Your thoughts were transmitting out a little too loudly for me to ignore," she stated with a polite smile. "I rather detest the words 'mutant' and 'mutate;' by those terms, I am seen as one of the latter. Where I live now, what is happening to the human race was just an extension of the Cycle of Evolution, the Endless Show of Life. The advancement of the species that was there to a new level of Existence. It is NOT the creation of a new species as people such as Eric Lensherr like to believe." A sigh. "Your creation here is quite a work of art, Professor. But sadly, you were a little too dependent on Jean's mental state to help Madelyne truly come alive. And the Jean Grey that had lived as such since the whole affair with Stephen Lang and his interesting robots…was not her."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
And then…
"Then…what is she?"
"The living embodiment of a primal cosmic entity called 'the Phoenix Force.' You'll recall the incident last year when two girls my age named Infinity and Weaver persuaded Galactus to forever leave Earth be." At Sinister's nod, Hirosaki Chikage — the Monarch of the Shadow Realm, known more commonly simply as Shadow — added, "The galaxy that Weaver found for Galactus to explore was a neutron galaxy contained in a sphere that was located in what is called the Nexus of All Realities. The Phoenix Force is the guardian force of the Nexus. And…" A chuckle. "Thanks to my friends, it needed a place to reside as the crystal it once inhabited was destroyed for Galactus' benefit. It chose Jean Grey."
Sinister blinked. "Really?"
"Yes. At the time this happened, Jean was dying of radiation poisoning. The Phoenix Force came together with her and fashioned a body for itself that was a direct DNA clone of Jean. Her soul was also copied into the clone. Jean's original body was placed in a preservation sphere which remained buried in the waters off Long Island until Infinity sensed what was going on with Phoenix and managed to retrieve her. Both are now united as one being…and fully recovered from what Jason Wyngarde did."
"So it is possible that Scott Summers and Jean Grey will have a child?"
"One you desire to help deal with En Sabah Nur."
Sinister stiffened…before he nodded. "Yes."
A hum. "Well, such a child may not come about if those who would destroy the host of the Phoenix Force have their way," Shadow declared. As Sinister jolted, the Queen of the Shadow Realm smirked. "So we'll have to do something about it."
"How?"
She sighed. "Allow me to tell you of a planet named Yiziba…"
Sinister tried not to blush too much — which would be quite apparent on a face that was as white as a ghost's — as Nightmist hugged him from behind, acting like any playful daughter would with her father. Remembering how the current incarnation of the Shadow Herald came into being — when the Lady Shadow herself had taken Mister Sinister and the empty shell of Madelyne Pryor's body to Yiziba where she was literally given life by an entity that was as old as the Phoenix Force itself! — he tried to ignore the tears in his eyes when he recalled what the newly-christened Nightmist had said when she emerged from the Crystal, as living as one born of a mother's womb:
"I am Nightmist, Mister Sinister. The Crystal showed me how you created this body for my line. For that, you have my eternal thanks." Her eyes then twinkled.
"Please be my father."
For the first time since well before he could remember, the man born Nathaniel Essex had cried.
And in the end, it was truly fortunate that he had won the Lady Shadow's attention.
Meeting Chikage's half-brother Moroboshi Ataru gained him the chance to meet many of the girls who had been Gifted by the Great Crystal. Analysing their DNA and how the energy of mesonium that was BILLIONS of years old transformed them into something FAR much more than even the naturally-developing mutants — "naturally-born metas" to use the Yizibajohei parlance — or mutates — "chance-gifted metas" — that he had seen on Earth. In meeting Ataru, he had learned of the young man's adopted sister, a being who was more ruthless than he — if such was possible! — and just as knowledgeable when it came to understanding the human body and soul. And by doing so, Mister Sinister began imagining new and even more brilliant ways to better force evolution to create even MORE powerful beings than no one could ever dream of…even more powerful than his former benefactor, the nearly-immortal Apocalypse.
Along the way, Sinister had been surprised to note that his adopted daughter had come to fall in love with Moroboshi Ataru…but unlike people such as Tara Markova and Kasuga Ayumu, Madelyne Pryor had come to feel very powerful MOTHERING instincts for the young lad. And with Negako — who, for all her immense knowledge, really had scant experience when it came to dealing with raising a child! — agreeing to this, Madelyne had become Ataru's spiritual "big sister," ready to help in whatever way as he went forth to locate more and more girls to help become Yizibajohei…which benefitted Sinister as much as it did all of the girls that Ataru had found over the years.
And then…
Then…!
"Indeed. They invaded my home and wiped my mind!" Sinister snarled. "All on the sole reason of trying to APPEASE alien beings seeking to conquer us…but who, in the grander scheme of things, are mere SMALL players! They'll need to learn otherwise!"
"How so?" she asked as she gave him a warm hug.
A smirk. "I've already placed an idea into Victor von Doom's mind, my dear. He's meeting with Lex Luthor right now. No doubt, Cassandra overheard it; I've learned of a rather interesting meeting Oswald Cobblepot is holding right now in Gotham City. Many so-called 'supervillains' are in attendance." He sat back in his chair. "We shall take a page from your own adopted people's book, Madelyne. The reason the Yizibajohei are so feared in this galaxy is that they refused to allow others — ANYONE! — to make them 'conform' to some pre-conceived notions of 'order.' We must do the same."
"The Mother of All Fight Scenes?" she then purred.
"Indeed. The Mother of All Fight Scenes," he affirmed as we…
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