The Dreamless
Prologue: A Dream that Never Was
The Age of the Dreamless. Charles Xavier was never born. Erik Leshnerr never escaped the Nazi concentration camps. They never shaped the first generation of mutants. They never became the rallying points for either side of the cause. There was no cause.
Instead, other players rose to prominence. Those who would have developed under Professor X or Magneto went down very different paths. There were no X-Men; there was never a Brotherhood of Mutants. There was however the same struggle for power.
In this world, there was no Nathan Summers or Rachael Summers. Cyclops has never heard of Jean Grey. The original X-Men were never captured by the Island Krakoa so Vulcan never had the years of isolation which drove him insane. Bishop never came back from the future to stop Onslaught. Stryfe doesn't exist so the Legacy Virus was never unleashed on the mutant population. And most importantly, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were never born. So she was never able to wipe out the majority of Mutants in a blink of an eye.
The world never experienced the Phoenix Force and the Shiar left the planet alone for the most part. Apocalypse however, did bring hell to earth. In any world he is a force to be taken account for. However, in this world there were no teams of mutants prepared to withstand Apocalypse's fury. His Horsemen destroyed whole cities and killed the Fantastic Four, Avengers and any other group that got in their way. Eventually the US Government was forced to form a group to stop them. To stop Sauron, Mikhail Rasputin, Strong Guy and Polaris the government formed Freedom Force and appointed Mystique as the group's leader.
They eventually killed Apocalypse and became the darlings of the media and United States heroes. With the United States having such success with Freedom Force, the United Nations sponsored an internationally recognized law enforcement group. Thus M-Force was created. Led by Moira McTaggert, who brought together members from around the globe, to create the team. They also formed a training program for the next generation of M-Force; outsourced through Shaw Inc.
The ultimate power in the United Kingdom was the Hellfire Club. Led by Sebastian Shaw the group controlled almost every corporation and criminal organization in Europe. They also had Selene who ran the Omega Squad. Omega Squad was responsible for all the hostile actions for the Hellfire Club. Also the White Queen ran a legitimate, to the public at least, mutant school called the Hellfire Academy. She secretly brainwashed her students with Hellfire Dogma and trained them to be the next generation of Omega Squad.
After Apocalypse, the Horseman Sauron broke away and formed the Dark Riders of the Apocalypse. Their goal was to prepare the world for their lords' return. They tracked down any mutant they could and tested them in battle. If they lost they killed them, if they won then they were giving Amnesty and offered a place with them. While they did that the original Horsemen recruited Reaper as a replacement for Sauron and hid themselves away.
We enter a world where the Hellfire Club controls Europe with an iron fist. All while the general public has no idea how evil they are. A World where M-Force is internationally recognized as the law enforcement of Earth. We also enter a world where Mystique has duped the United States into giving her control of their own mutant group.
Mystique has recruited into Freedom Force; Destiny, Rogue, Domino, Grizzly, Toad, and Xtreme. She does the governments bedding all the while secretly gathering power to one day take over. Vulcan was an original member of Freedom Force but when he discovered Mystiques plan, she declared him a national threat and had him thrown in Prison.
Vulcan escaped with the help of his brothers; Cyclops and Havok. They now sit and try to figure out how to stop Mystiques before it is too late.
This world also has a secret group of mutants led by Exodus. Formerly of the Hellfire Club he defected and took most of the Hellions who hadn't been brainwashed with him. While leaving the Hellfire academy, Selene's Omega Squad attempted to stop him only to be killed in the process; Unus the Untouchable, Mimic, Magma, Northstar, Sage, Wild Chylde and Jean Grey where all killed.
Selene immediately forced graduation upon half of the remaining Hellions, which created a rift between her and Emma Frost. Shatterstar, Cypher, Franklin Richards, Multiple Man, Bedlam, Moonstar and Shinobi Shaw now made up the new Omega Squad. Leaving; Husk, Skin, M, Chamber, Sync, and Siryn as the remaining Hellions. The White Queen's mental stability suffered greatly that day, with Selene's forced draft and Exodus's stealing the majority of her students.
This is a world without dreams. Well, except for dreams of power, and domination. This is a world without great defenses and this is a world which is about to Experience something Sinister.