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"I think I left my stomach behind." Remy winced as he hugged his stomach as the transportation sequence ended.
"Where are we?" Jean asked as she looked around.
"…in the Watchtower." Amira said with large eyes. The X-Men looked around and found themselves among the greatest gathering of superheroes ever assembled.
It was an awe-filled moment. Fortunately such moments pass quickly.
"Blue Devil! Hellboy! Stop fighting! Etrigan! Spawn! That goes for you too!" Jon Stewart, the Green Lantern of Earth shouted.
"Aquaman! Namor! Don't make me separate you!" Wonder Woman shouted.
"Captain Marvel if you don't stop bugging me I swear I'm going to—" Superman threatened.
"Black Panther! Stop hitting on Vixen! She's my girlfriend!" Jon shouted.
"World's greatest heroes, huh?" Scott asked.
"You're one to talk." Amira pointed out.
"There is no way we're this bad." Scott objected.
"Scott," Jean sighed. "Two words: Tater tots." Scott looked down.
Nick Fury sighed and Maria Hill looked cross. "Terrific, just what I needed: A visit to the cape and cowl circus."
"We'll have you back at SHIELD headquarters in a minute." J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter said as he operated the control.
"By the way Ms. Hill, do tell Mrs. Waller that we said hello." The Question called right as the transport sequence started up. Hill looked surprised but disappeared before she could say anything.
"Now then, we need to have a few words with you Mr. Rotherot." J'onn said.
"We need to know everything you learned from Pierce's mind." Batman said as he appeared behind the X-Men, terrifying them. "Everything."
Gilaad gulped and started to wonder if this was such a good idea. Under the eyes of the Martian Manhunter and the Dark Knight, Amira almost felt sorry for Gilaad. Almost.
&&&
As Gilaad was being grilled, the other X-Men were allowed to check out the Watchtower, grab a bite at the commissary or get some workout down in the various gyms.
Most of the New Mutants headed down to the pool area. As they were heading in, Fire and Ice, better known as Beatriz Bonilla da Costa and Tora Olafsdotter were just heading out.
"Cousin Roberto?" Fire blinked as she saw him among the other New Mutants.
"Bea?" Roberto asked back as the older woman swung him up in a hug.
"Look at you!" She said as she held him. "The last time I saw you, you were just a kid! Now you're fighting bad guys!"
"You mean like my dad?" Roberto muttered. He was still angry at discovering that his father was a member of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle.
"I know…I'm sorry sweety." Bea said as she hugged Roberto again. Ray snickered but was smacked upside the head by Amara.
"Wow…" Bobby said as he practically drooled over Ice. "I'm Dobby Brake and I'm meased to pleet you! I mean, um…" Ice smiled which was enough to make the boys—plus Amira—weak kneed. It was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. She was just too damn cute.
"Boston Brand? Dead Man?" Dead Girl asked as she stared straight ahead at apparently nothing. "Wow, I've always wanted to meet you!"
"What—?" Sam asked.
"Don't ask." Bea sighed. "Just don't ask."
As the ghost and the zombie started talking, two of the League's more infamous members showed up.
"—I'm telling you Booster, no one will ever believe that we had to fight off a horde of pastel colored talking ponies! They'll think that we were just eating your Booster-Ohs again!" Blue Beetle complained.
"That's why we have to market the idea! If we get a movie going—" Booster Gold started to say.
"I can direct!" Jamie volunteered as he clapped his hands. "And be the extras."
"Whoa check it out Ted—I mean Beetle. We've got some fans here! Please please, no need to crowd around I'll be happy to give you all autographs."
"Cool! Maybe I can trade them in for autographs of Batman." Amira quipped. Booster pouted.
"Just because I'm not all dark and angsty doesn't mean I'm not a super-hero too!"
"That does seem to be the trend nowadays." Blue Beetle sighed. "It's always the dark types that get the most fans. Hey Booster, who am I? Hnn. Grr. I am vengeance! I am the night! I am the victim of poor socialization!"
"Uh, Beetle…" Booster winced as he pointed behind him. Beetle's face fell.
"Bats is standing right behind me, isn't he?" Beetle moaned.
"Yes." Batman growled as he glared at the League's resident clowns.
"Gotta go!" Booster gulped as he and Beetle ran off.
"That was a strangely out of body experience." Jubilee blinked.
&&&
Meanwhile, Scott, Jean and the older X-Men were visiting the control center of the Watchtower, going over the situation.
"Things have gotten more and more chaotic as of late." Mr. Terrific commented,
"Considering all the nutjobs who tangle with us—especially as of late—I can sympathize." Scott commented.
"The situation is much larger than you realize." Mr Terrific elaborated as his fingers flew over the control console. "Over the past few months, there has been an increasing trend of cooperation and coordination between villains who have had no prior dealings with one another." As he spoke, images taken from security cameras flashed on screen for the X-Men's benefit.
"Two months ago, Slade led an attack that freed the inmates at Arkham Asylum. Last month the Teen Titans were attacked by the Metabreed and your old friends the Hellions defeated the New Warriors."
"Frost." Amira growled. She should know. She helped free the Metabreed and deliver them into Emma Frost's hands.
"She's also undoubtedly responsible for the raids the HIVE Academy students have launched on Dakota City and Middleton, directed at Static and Kim Possible."
"In another incident, Mr. Freeze, Solomon Grundy, Mysterio, and Madam Rouge—formerly of the Brotherhood of Evil—attacked the Fantastic Four. Since its New York, we can assume that the orders originated with Wilson Fisk, despite the different rogue's gallery."
"Just last week, the Sinister Six raided the Avengers," J'onn spoke up. "We suspect Norman Osborne may have been involved as the Green Goblin also put in an appearance."
"I can't believe all this has happened." Scott blinked.
"Happened? Son this is going on as we speak—" Jon Stewart pointed at the various monitors. In each one a battle was taking place between a member of the Justice League and a super-villain.
The Shade and Ebon of the Metabreed were fighting Cloak and Dagger in New York City, Johnny Rancid was battling Kid Razor in Cleveland, and The Creeper and The Joker were going at it in Gotham City.
There were more: the Atomic Skull fighting Captain Atom, Bane battling the Hulk, Goliath duking it out with Giganta, and—most confusingly—Dr. Light fighting Dr. Light. The former was a most capable female member of the Justice League while the latter was an incompetent villain who often plagued the Teen Titans. The identical names were a sort of running jokes among the Leaguers.
"The number of attacks and thefts are considerable and the battles—whether we win or lose—cause considerable damage. We are lucky that there haven't been any casualties either among our ranks or among innocent bystanders. But we have been unable to apprehend any of the villains for questioning."
"How is this all happening?" Scott asked in amazement.
"That's what we hope your teammate will be able to tell us." Jon said.
&&&
"Is this one of the men you saw?" Batman asked Gilaad as J'onn scanned his mind.
"No."
"Is this?"
"No."
"What about him?" Gilaad shook his head.
"No."
"So far we've identified virtually the entire Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club, plus several other prominent members." Batman said, his eyes narrowing. "But I find it strange that you have no memory of just who is in charge of the Hellfire Club—their Lord Imperial."
"From what I can determine, whoever it is has managed to cloak himself—or herself—from the minds of his subordinates. While they know who the Lord Imperial is, anyone scanning their memories will not be able to see him or her."
"That speaks to either incredibly advanced mental powers, technology, or magic; if not more than one of the above." Batman said. "Still we have enough to go on for now. Sooner or later the Lord Imperial will reveal himself."
&&&
A short while later, after Batman and J'onn were done shifting through Gilaad's memories, they assembled in the conference room with the rest of the X-Men and the Big Seven—as the founders of the Justice League were known—plus the Question who started the report by talking about the origins of the Hellfire Club.
"The Hellfire Club originated sometime in the mid-Seventeen Hundreds." The Question reported. "It used to have chapters in North America, Europe, and Asia. But when their new Lord Imperial—whoever it is—came to power, he united the chapters to form one enlarged Inner Circle more resembling that of an actual chess board. There is one king, one queen, two knights, two rooks, and two bishops of each color, plus several pawns."
"And I thought the Royal Flush gang stuck to a theme." Flash quipped. "How many villains can base themselves on a game anyway? It's getting so that soon we'll find ourselves up against the Yahtzee Crew or the Monopoly Mob." He withered when Batman sent a patented Bat-Glare at him. "Nevermind." The Question continued.
"When the combined, enlarged Inner Circle was formed, several prominent members who held seats in the lesser chapter Inner Circles found themselves downsized. Thus there has been a struggle by those who lost power to regain it and those who gained power to hold onto it. There are alliances and truces formed and broken at will among the various competing members of the Hellfire Club. Only the best become part of the Inner Circle."
"It's a power struggle." Amira realized, her eyes narrowing.
"So what we're seeing is a bunch of villains organizing and directing strikes against heroes in the hopes of earning enough brownie points to become a chess piece?" Rogue asked. "That's insane!"
"At least with the villains fighting each other it should be easier to take them down. Divide and conquer." Kurt said.
"Not necessarily." Amira pointed out. "Such struggles often result in the strongest and most ruthless gaining power. Besides, when you have such people working together in a group, you can bet that they're all holding something back for themselves. But when they're fighting for themselves you can be sure they'll use anything and everything at their disposal to come out on top. And take it from someone who grew up during such power struggles, those competing don't care who gets in the way and can be even more destructive and dangerous than they can be when they're working together. They may be divided, but they are not weaker."
"Many of the rises and falls of fortune affecting world villains and organizations can be attributed to success or failure in the political maneuverings in the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle." J'onn continued. "For instance, our intelligence suggests that Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, the head of Hydra, was a member of the European Chapter of the Hellfire Club but lost his seat during the reshuffling. And since Destro recently acquired a seat that explains why Cobra was able to supplant and eventually absorb Hydra and establish itself as the world's most dominant terrorist organization."
"Brother Blood lost out in the struggles to Emma Frost, so she managed to take over the HIVE Academy in addition to her own Massachusetts Academy, plus the villainous Bang Babies." Wonder Woman added.
"Lex Luthor beat the Brain and Monsieur Mallah, so he became head of the Brotherhood of Evil, comprising of the Teen Titan's rogues gallery in addition to Grodd's Secret Society of Supervillains." Superman chimed in.
"Just who else is in the Inner Circle?" Ororo asked.
"You are already familiar with Sebastian Shaw, Harry Leland, Emmanuel DaCosta, Donald Pierce, Selene, and Emma Frost. Additionally, we've identified several prominent business leaders—and sometimes crime lords—such as Norman Osborne, David Xanatos, Vlad Masters, Maxwell Lord, Lex Luthor, and Wilson Fisk—the Kingpin. We've also identified several other very powerful and ruthless men: Dr. Doom, Mr. Sinister, Magneto, Slade and Ra's Al Ghul." Batman answered coldly. The X-Men looked stunned and horrified at such a powerful assemblage of villains. The Question carried on.
"We believe that their appointments are also due to their connections, in addition to their own prowess. Take Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of crime. He has underworld connections to all sorts of scum and goons and since The Pride was destroyed, he's probably the biggest crime boss in the entire country, if not the Hemisphere."
"Likewise Slade has connections to adversaries of the Teen Titans, just as Luthor has ties to opponents of the Justice League. Magneto also undoubtedly has access to considerable resources and individuals some of whom you have encountered, some you have not. Destro has ties to various terrorist networks and organizations, Vlad Masters has connections to paranormal groups like Wolfram and Hart, Selene has contacts with magic users, and Xanatos has Illuminati connections."
"Who ever thought that the Question's habit of making connections would turn out to be so useful?" Shayera Hol once known as Hawk Girl wondered rhetorically as everyone struggled to absorb this information.
"Something tells me that things are going to get worse before they get better." The Flash said.
"If they get better." The Green Lantern corrected.
"Why do I get the feeling that whatever the Misfits are doing, it's mere childsplay compared to this?" Scott groaned.
He had no idea just how right—and how wrong—he was.
&&&
A/N: References and phrases used by Booster Gold and Blue Beetle are inspired by author LM.