Not fake

Something was wrong.

Tenno Jac had gone into the orbiter section of the ship and Juil had followed her, the other lich at her heels. Kol Scop was brighter than the average lich, but that was not saying very much since the base stock that all of the clones had come form was far less intelligent than even the lowest IQ humans. That was intentional, since the Orokin had bred their clones to be big, strong and stupid. Intelligent slaves were dangerous. The Orokin had learned that the hard way just like so many others throughout the human histories that Juil had read. The male lich was not a deep thinker, but he was a bit more focused on immaterial things than most of the others. Like Juil, he had learned to read other languages besides Grineer and had loved it from the moment he had first picked up an ancient human holo novel. His Kuva Brakk was just as ready as always to bark defiance, but he did prefer to think before he fired now. He was still as deadly as ever, but not as rash.

He was thinking hard as Jac settled into the ancient Orokin style chair that was nestled into the huge room in the center of her new Orbiter. He didn't have his Brakk in hand, but he hadn't looked away form Elizabeth this whole time. Juil was watching Jac, but he was watching Elizabeth.

"Problem?" Elizabeth hadn't pressed anything, hadn't said much at all to either of them. Jac had gone through Esther's collection of warframes and had selected one, but she had to acclimatize somehow. Some kind to Tenno thing. The chair and the pod that was now encasing her would do that. Somehow.

"Trusting any Orokin is a bad idea." Kol said without inflection.

"True." Elizabeth smiled at his sudden non-expression. Said smile had precious little humor. "The golden overlords ruled all. The highest caste could, if they wished, do just about anything and their needs and wants were all that mattered to them. Nothing else. The Emperor and his family were supposed to be checks on them. We failed."

"Esther told us about Avalon." Juil said slowly. "How you alone survived of the Royal Family." Elizabeth nodded. "But she never said how or why."

"She didn't know. I woke up there after being shot. My reaction on waking is is not something I am proud of. I never wanted to go back to them. I never wanted anything more do with them." Elizabeth said quietly. "My family was rotten to the core, but even then, there were others in the Royal Family who were not evil, selfish pricks. Who tried to do the best they could. I paid little attention to any of that. I had my own duty and I really didn't care what happened to Orokin. The mere though of the Empire falling was ridiculous. Until it did." Her face was blank now but... Were her eyes shifting? Moving? Odd. "The Collapse was not quick since it covered the entirety of the solar system and that was a huge territory even for Orokin tech to cover, but it was inexorable. There were supposed to be safeguards, but they were gone. Either lost in time or destroyed by the Tenno. There was no coming back after that."

"Good." Juil, Kol and Jac all chorused and Elizabeth nodded. Was that a grimace that tightened the corner of her mouth for a moment? If so, it was gone almost as soon as it appeared. Juil checked her memory and yes, the woman and started to frown, but stopped.

Jac rose from the chair and there was something more about her. More… It was hard to define. More controlled? More resigned? More. When she looked at Elizabeth though, her face was not what Juil expected. Her face shifted from memories of pain and weakness to disgust!

"Where is she?" Jac demanded as she raised a hand and dark power flared from it.

"Jac." Elizabeth retreated a step, but did not raise defenses. Wise since both the liches had drawn their weapons on seeing Jac's hostility and aimed at Elizabeth.

"I was fuddled, confused. The pain and weakness that he hit me with while attacking the access made me easy to fool." Was Jac swelling? No, but the greenish power coming from her was increasing. "Do not make me ask again. Where is Ess?"

"'Ess'?" Juil inquired. "Who is that?"

"The heir." Jac said with a snarl as the power that she held flared again and now, it was sweeping around Elizabeth who had frozen in place. She wasn't defending herself. Odd. "The next Eldest. The crown either went to her or to Michelle. He wants it. Hence why she is here." She slowly shook her head. "That is not Elizabeth." At that, Elizabeth went utterly still and Jac smiled. It was more shark than friendly. "Maybe her body or a copy of it, but that is not the woman I knew. Not the godmother of my twins."

"I…" Elizabeth or whoever it was swallowed hard but did nothing. "Things changed, Jac."

"They always do." Jac was unmoved. "Even if you find the crown, it won't help. The bindings were broken. There is no access through that. Let her go!" That was a command.

"Jac… I…" the power flared again, but this time, golden energy swept from Elizabeth to counter it and she screamed as feedback crackled and snapped. "Kill me, Jac! Kill me now!" The woman managed through her screams. "Make… it… permanent!"

"I can't." Jac said weakly as the powers fought back and forth. "Juil?" She begged as her power continued to war with the other.

Juil and Kol opened fire, but the power that was surrounding Elizabeth shed their bullets like water.

"He has no idea what he is doing!" Elizabeth begged as she fell to her knees. "He sees me as a puppet! He has no idea! Jac! Please!"

"I… I can't…" Jac slumped as the power that was flaring around Elizabeth flared to full golden and then flashed out, only to hit something just in front of Jac.

The circular red, white and blue shield with the big star in the middle hung there, held in the grip of an oddly dressed large man in matching colors. Wait, was he shifting? Suddenly, his shield was gray metal instead of star spangled and his face was a skull mask! Then he was red, white and blue again. He stood there, his shield effortlessly holding off the torrent of energy. Then the golden energy faded, the oddly dressed man vanished and a voice sounded as a familiar form stepped out of a green portal to stand in front of Jac, his arms folded across his chest.

"Fool." Victor was not amused. "You tamper with things of which you have no knowledge. We learned not to cross her. You may think you have her controlled. You do not."

Another flash, this one of a dark shade of red and a woman stood beside Victor, her garb as otherworldy as the previous man's had been. She wore a red, no, scarlet, bodysuit hat left very little to the imagination and a matching colored headdress that had two points on either side of her scalp. Her eyes, however, flashed with scarlet fire and Elizabeth screamed as the golden energy was pushed back by energy that looked wrong.

"Not too much, my dear." Victor warned and the woman in red nodded as Elizabeth collapsed to her knees. "Elizabeth, be strong. We come."

The power in his voice thundered around the room as Elizabeth looked up to meet his face and smiled. Her lip was bleeding where she had bitten it, but she did not speak before golden energy grabbed her again and she vanished. Both Victor and the woman who stood at his side seemed worried as Elizabeth disappeared.

"I couldn't get a trace." Jac said quietly as the residues of power faded. "Wanda?"

"No." The woman slumped a bit. "I am sorry, Jac. I couldn't get past the fields." Jac waved the apology aside even as both liches aimed at the woman in red who ignored them! Jac gestured urgently and both lowered their weapons. They did not holster them. Her face was ashen, scared almost. "He brainwashed her? What is he, crazy?"

"He is a fool." Victor said flatly. "There are things that no one tries to manipulate. Even I know better that that. Elizabeth is one of those things. He may be able to control her for a time, just as AIM did." Wanda winced hard and Victor nodded. "He will not be able to hold her for long and when she gets loose, she will seek vengeance, just as she did before." He trailed off as Wanda slumped, her head falling. "Do not say it!" He commanded. "What happened was not your fault."

"No." 'Wanda' agreed. "But I do bear some responsibility for what Elizabeth did. I saw her, tried to help her and what happened…" She sighed again and Jac stepped to her side, holding out a hand.

"She didn't blame you." Jac just held her hand out and after a moment, Wanda took it. "You tried to help. Go. We will likely need you and the others before this is done, but you are not to blame. Thank you, Wanda."

"You are welcome, Jac. I hope to talk to her. Try to make some sense of what happened." Wanda gave Jac's hand a squeeze and then released it. "I will be around." Then she was gone in a flash of red.

Jul and Kol just stood as Jac looked at Victor and both seemed to communicate on some level far beyond speech.

"If he does manage to turn her…' Jac said after a moment only to break off as Victor scoffed.

"AIM tried to 'turn' her as you say." Victor said flatly. "They failed. I knew better from the lessons I gave her. I knew her powers could not be controlled by any of us. She has a way to handle such. No one else has a chance. I did not try to control her."

"Which means that you are one of the few people that she will trust to a certain degree. You said you would come for her and you keep your word." Jac said firmly. "My fear is that if he cannot control her, will he unleash her?"

"That…" Victor nodded slowly. "...is my fear as well."

"'Unleash'?" Juil inquired carefully.

"Elizabeth bears power that frightens anyone with any level of sanity." Victor's tone was flat now. "When I first met her, she was functionally immortal, incredibly smart and with the power to bend reality to her will." At that, Juil went utterly still and Victor nodded. "She scared me." He admitted. "If she had wanted my throne, she could have taken it easily. She did not. She came to me a supplicant. She wanted to learn how to rule, since she had no idea how to do so. I saw a lost princess, hurt and grieving. She knew what I was and what I would do. I had and have a reputation for evil, but there are limits. She was useless to me as a tool and very dangerous. I could not kill her or banish her back where she had come from, so, I taught her what I could and she was…" He trailed off for a moment, lost in memory. When he spoke again, it was gentler, sadder. "She was incredible. The best student I have ever had. She did not cheat with her powers and she learned everything I taught her. She did not press me, she did not try to change me. She did not covet my power. She accepted me for who and what I was. That is rare."

"Indeed." Jac said quietly when Victor paused. "When I met her, her first act was to cook breakfast for me." Victor nodded as both liches stared at her in shock. "She was very worried about me, and she was kind, but more than that, she understood responsibility and consequences. Far better than any Orokin I ever heard of."

"Lorinos Orokin has made a serious error if he has attempted to warp her to his will." Victor's tone held caution now. "Others have tried. When she was my guest, a group took her from my lands and tried to warp her to their service. They failed and when I found them, their entire base had been transformed into a horror. Every one of the scum who had been there had been altered into other, truly terrifying forms. The only being who was the same was Wanda, who you just met and she needed help to cope with what Elizabeth did."

"What happened?" Juil asked, still careful.

"They tried to warp Elizabeth. It didn't work." Victor's turned dry. "So they tried harsher methods. It still didn't work. So, they tried to get Wanda to 'alter' her and that didn't work because Wanda realized that if she did anything at all, she would likely end our entire reality. Wanda refused and the morons hurt her. Elizabeth took extreme exception to that. She unleashed her power, only for a moment, but long enough. I will say that even AIM can learn. They left her alone after that and so did everyone else."

"I get that she was and is powerful. She was Orokin, but not highest caste." Juil was still confused. "I have never understood what she was supposed to be."

"May I answer her?" Jac inquired of Victor who nodded. "I was very curious when I woke up in her care and she was very kind in explaining things to me in a way I could understand."

"Be my guest." Victor agreed. "I am finalizing the search patterns and will start them as soon as the forces are in place." Jac gave him a nod back and took a moment before speaking.

"The Royal Family were originally supposed to be the checks on the power of the Orokin government. What was called a 'constitutional monarchy'." Jac explained. Victor snorted but did not interrupt. "The idea was that the government ran things, but if they got too out of hand, the monarch could take steps to keep them doing what they were supposed to do. The golden overlords evolved and things changed, but the monarchy remained. They had no power to curb the highest caste except in extreme situations and such a situation would have resulted in horror almost beyond belief, so most worked very hard not to let it happen. As happened to humans throughout history, power corrupted and the royal family declined."

"That does seem a recurring pattern in human history." Juil said when Jac took a breath. Jac nodded, her face sad.

"No matter how well intention-ed a ruler may be, their descendants never seem able to hold to that." Jac looked at Victor who seemed oblivious. But then he spoke.

"And no matter how evil they may act…" Victor sounded as if he agreed. "...things change. Nothing made by man will last forever. Even my works will fade in time."

"A very long time for yours." Jac was smiling when she said that and Victor snorted.

"You are confusing." Juil said of the man in the green cloak. "You speak as if pragmatism is the only way, but you act as if you are selfless. I know evil. I have seen it and you are speaking as such, but you are not acting as such."

"Perhaps it is an act to confuse you?" Victor inquired. Was that snicker that came from him as Juil sputtered.

"If so, it is working." Kol scoffed. "But I know who you are, Your Majesty."

At that everything seemed to freeze. Victor was a statue. Jac was just as bad. Juil wasn't sure she was breathing as Kol reached down, holstered his pistol and pulled something out of his belt pouch. Was that a book? If so, it was flimsy.

"May I please ask for your autograph, Your Majesty?" Kol inquired. Coming from such a hulking, frightening form as the lich, such an earnest, childlike tone should have been ludicrous. It wasn't. Juil put a hand to her face, but did not interfere.

"I shouldn't." Victor said as he stared at the comic book that had his image on the front! "There are ripples that are created simply by my being here that cause problems for many. You may or may not remember my presence here. I must keep it to a minimum. Add to that, such as what you hold if signed by persons of renown always sell for large amounts and would be well documented."

"Not mine." Kol replied. "I won't sell it." That was an oath. "I don't understand. If she did seek such learning, why you?"

"I asked her the same." Victor was musing now and then he held out a hand for the comic. Kol gave it to him. Kol fumbled for his pouch again, but Victor shook his head and a pen simply appeared in Victor's other hand. "I asked her the same again when I found her in that ruin, sitting beside Wanda who was all but gibbering. The poor dear was badly traumatized by what happened." He signed the comic, handed it back and the pen vanished. "Elizabeth said that she knew what evil was and what pragmatism was. She knew the difference. She knew the basics of rulership. She slipped for a moment and it cost the ones who took her a great deal. She was, to put it bluntly, terrifying."

"So why teach her?" Juil asked as Kol stared at the comic, almost in awe. At the signature, 'Victor Von Doom'. "Put it away, Kol." Jac and Victor both chuckled at that. That was almost pure 'Momma is not happy'.

"Elizabeth? She was polite. She was worried, that was clear from the moment I met her. But never about herself." Victor allowed. "There were other rulers that taught her. Who I asked to teach her things I could not. Who agreed after a time when they had met her and she had explained. When I showed what I found in that ruin. None of us wanted her unleashed, least of all Elizabeth herself. She cried herself to sleep that night and for a week after. I feared for her, hence why I allowed mortal enemies to assist her through her recovery. She was better, after and with so many warding her, no one dared to try that again. If Lorinos does unleash her, remove all inhibitions from her… We will need all the help we can get."

"What did she do?" Juil asked, very quiet.

"I do not suffer such insults as my guests being abducted. My forces were closing in on her location when they registered a massive blast of unknown energy. When my troops arrived, they found Elizabeth and Wanda having a tea party in a deep crater surrounded by hundreds of stuffed animals. The crater was all that was left of the base. In her delirium of pain and fear, she had turned the entire base complement of troops, robots and other defenses into stuffed animals. Then she served Wanda tea to calm both of them. The forces at the base were aware of what she did. They were all screaming. Those who still exist still scream even now, years after they shifted back to their normal forms."

"That is…" Juil actually gulped. "Bad."

"That is putting it very mildly."