Chapter 3

The Savage Land...

Things had been deteriorating rapidly recently on the who is in charge front. On one side you had Mr Sinister and on the other Frenzy and Quicksilver and they were not getting along.

Joanna and Pietro saw themselves as the protectors of Magneto's dream while Sinister...well who the hell knows what his aims are.

No-one but himself, that can be assured.

Point is Sinister had been becoming more and more dictatorial these last several weeks and Joanna and Pietro had found themselves more and more out the loop as pertains to decisions in running this emerging mutant nation.

Well it was reaching a rapid crisis point, mutant citizens picking sides, it seemed possible that a civil war was about to erupt.

The last attempt to prevent that didn't seem much like one with Sinister and his associates on one side and Pietro and Frenzy and theirs on the other in what is essentially a great throne room within the great ancient Citadel of unknown alien origin(the Kal-El of 5,000years ago built it as his base in the long war against Apocalypse but practically no-one knows that).

Those associates being for Sinister his Marauders composing first off of a young man with unruly long black hair holding what looks like a shillelagh in one hand. Strapped over his chest is an ammo belt but what it holds seems to be pieces of wood. He is Ramrod and his ability is that he can manipulate wood, make it grow into any shape, alter it to make it as strong as physically possible or as flexible. He can make, shape and alter wood into almost anything.

Next to him is a shorter boy covered in brown hair. He is the aptly named Hairbag. A bonus of his mutation is enhanced strength, speed and agility along with razor sharp claws on his hands.

Another one is a large muscular bald boy who ended up with the name Slab. He can alter his mass and density making himself superstrong and highly resistant to injury.

The next young male is a strange looking boy with purple skin and hair and whose arms were out of proportion to his body. There were too long. He is what Domino once referred to as the ironically named Gorgeous George and in essence he was a boy composed of what most closely resembled tar or putty allowing him to expand, morph and reshape his body in any way he wished. He was essentially a walking, talking pile of goop.

A teenage girl with green hair, dressed in a skin-tight outfit with a green and white swirl pattern upon it that covers everything except her right arm which is bare. She has the ability to project waves of psionic energy into her environment which affect the nervous systems of other living beings, distorting their physical perceptions and sense of balance. This power induces effects ranging from mild disorientation and vertigo to unconsciousness. Her name is therefore apt being Vertigo.

Then there is a quite well built young man in a brown trench coat with long brown hair tied in a ponytail comes up to her. His name is Harpoon. His mutant power is to manifest energy projectiles in the shape of harpoons, hence his name.

Next up is the young man with the long pink hair dressed in a long purple coat with yellow on the bottom part of the sleeves and yellow on the top part of the coat over a plain white costume. His power; super-sonic screams, hence the name Ruckus.

Next in the line is a powerfully built woman in her mid-20s with short black hair dressed in a metallic looking body suit that covers everything except her right arm. She the ability to create shockwaves, not unlike what Avalanche can do but the source of this power also imbues her with superhuman strength and durability, combined that with the fact she's a combat veteran she's an extremely dangerous opponent for anyone. Though in fact, when Sinister found her she was suffering from PTSD from her war experiences. Sinister 'fixed' that in a way that suited him. She is known as Arclight.

On the other side of this divide you had the silver haired, super-fast son of Magneto; Quicksilver in his aqua green costume with silver body armour on top.

Then you had Frenzy who was only 18 if you believed her. Magneto had always suspected she was older...she certainly acted it. She kept her brown hair braided and was dressed in a black leather sleeveless top, black leather pants and black boots. Her power was superstrength and her name came from what you saw when she lost her temper...which wasn't an overly difficult thing to make her do.

And with them was the Brotherhood...or what remained of it. After Magneto's 'death', which was still the truth as far as any of them currently knew, some had upped and left. Plastique's only loyalty to Magneto was to repay the gift of her powers. With him gone she had long ago left to carry out her own plans, mostly revenge on the Canadian government for locking her father up.

Neutron has also left, feeling no desire or obligation to create this mutant nation. He had much better ideas how to use his powers. Mostly getting payback on a certain web-slinging arachnid and a certain red and blue S-wearing do-gooder.

But you had many still on the team, like Pietro's 3 best buddies.

Blob; the gargantuan teen in the wife beater top, with the grey waistcoat, cargo pants and brown boots and possessing immense strength.

Toad; the lanky wart ridden teen in his slime green costume with a silver hump-esque part on the back with his...well Toad-like powers. Agile, able to leap long distances, a long prehensile tongue.

Avalanche; in his costume of red and dark blue with silver boots, wrist guards, belt and shoulder pads and his power of generating shockwaves that allow him to create earthquakes.

Plus Pietro's sorta cousin; Puzzler, already transformed into her pure silver form which allowed her to break jigsaw like pieces of herself off and then command to them to do what she wanted. Oh, in this form she and her pieces were virtually indestructible.

Also here was a teenage boy with short brown hair and sporting a vaguely preacher-esque look. Black top with a white collar, black pants and boots with a long black coat on top. If anything Sandman had only gotten all the more preachy since Magneto 'died'. He even offered sermons on the evils of humanity and how mutants were God's chosen children...and his powers are self-explanatory really with the name. He could turn his body into and control sand.

Also on Pietro and Frenzy's side a Magneto true-believer in the form of a teenage girl with long brown hair. Unuscione was in her red bodysuit, black around the neck that had extra padding on the shoulders in greyish-silver and the sleeves were greyish-silver too. She wore black pants and boots. She can generate a forcefield around herself that she can shape and strike out with.

There were others on both sides. Sinister had gone out of his way to find and 'recruit' the lost children of Weapon X while Magneto had many believers and followers.

But for now you had 8 against 8...ok technically it's 9 against 8 but Sinister had no intention of lowering himself to dirty his hands unless he had no other choice.

Now they were squaring up.

"Alright Sinister," Frenzy says in her no-nonsense 'I will beat the crap out of you' tones. "This has gone on long enough. No-one put you in charge!" she snaps.

Sinister looks at her as if she is beneath his notice...which she is.

Pietro follows up...yes he's actually been taking this very seriously as much as that might amaze some people but he feels like the burden of his father falls upon him. "You've been making decisions without discussion. That was not what we agreed," he reminds the pale skinned, red-eyed man.

"Talking to you is a waste of my time," Sinister dismisses them. "You can't begin to fathom my thinking nor can I simplify it down to your level of comprehension."

"Huh?" Blob asks.

"He's saying we're too stupid to understand," Puzzler explains it to him.

"What!" Blob explodes. He hates it when people call him stupid!

"Oh you are so going down, pal, yo," Toad vows.

"Marauders, remove them from my presence," Sinister orders with a wave of his hand.

So much for those last ditch talks as the two sides itch to get this showdown started...

...only it never does as everything metal in the room starts to vibrate.

The wall explodes and streams of metal flow in, moving like liquid, wrapping and twisting around every individual until they are all held securely...which is when father and daughter float in through the hole.

"Magneto?" Sinister queries in true surprise.

"Father?!" Pietro exclaims in shock.

"Uncle Erik!" Puzzler cheers.

Polaris coughs. "Uh, hello I'm here too you know," she mutters, grumbling at not getting one mention.

Magneto lands on the floor, his stance one of controlled rage at this sight. "I had hoped that when the day came I departed this world my dream would live on and what do I find instead?" he asks, his voice as cold, dark and menacing as he can manage. "My mutant brothers and sisters at each other's throats."

"Now I can explain," Sinister begins...but is cut short as dozens of sharp metal spears suddenly surround him.

"Do not push me, Sinister...nor try to placate me with your lies," Magneto warns him. "If I so choose your little group here I can end in an instant...and while I know you are tougher to kill I also know there are fates worse than death so choose your next words carefully."

Sinister adjusts himself. "So good to see you alive," he says instead with a forced polite smile...mostly because he's been caught out and isn't in the best position to challenge Magneto right now.

Magneto's eyes narrow behind his helmet. "This fight is over," he decrees. "And I want everyone but Quicksilver, Puzzler, Polaris and Frenzy out of my sight, now!" he snaps as he releases them from his grip. "But Sinister later we'll have a talk, just the two of us," he promises.

"Can't wait," Sinister lies.

They all leave, exchanging hostile looks and muttered threats but apart from that they depart peacefully.

Magneto takes a moment to calm his emotions.

"It's not the end of it you know," Frenzy reports.

"I can guess that," Magneto agrees.

"Y-you're alive?" Pietro stutters over himself.

Magneto sighs and removes his helmet with his powers, leaving it to float in the air. "Indeed I am, Pietro...which is a tale I'm not in the mood to tell right now," he informs his son. He turns to Puzzler. "Valerie, you have been well?" he asks after her, the granddaughter of his old friend from the camps he vowed to take care of.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Puzzler responds...still in complete shock at seeing Magneto alive.

Polaris folds her arms across her chest. "I knew you'd make a mess of this Pietro but I never imagine you would make one this big," she says sternly.

"Hey!" Pietro protests. "You were the one who left!" he argues back.

"Oh really? You want to go there...Pie-Pie?" she queries with a smirk.

Pietro pales at hearing that nickname that only one person ever used. "Y-you...how...?"

"Oh Wanda says hi...or more accurately to quote her she said that you better look after me because if you don't I'm to let you know that she's not the scared girl you left in the asylum any longer and that she's ten times more powerful than you remember her to be."

Pietro gulps. "10 times?"

"I think she was underplaying it," Lorna says with a smile of pure evil.

Pietro gulps harder because that smile is the same evil smile Wanda has. Good God, what have those two been getting up to.

Magneto must admit that that was more effective at shutting his son up than anything he could think of. "I want to know everything that has been going on since my greatly exaggerated death," he demands to know because if he's going to have a showdown with Sinister he needs to make sure he has all the information he can get.

What is clear that from what he saw flying in he's very proud of his mutant brothers and sisters at what they have thus far created but he can also see there is a very long way to go yet.

Magneto continues, knowing he must move hastily to re-establish his authority, "Then once that is done, while I need Frenzy here at my side, Lorna, Pietro and Valerie...I have a special mission for you..."

Limbo...

The woman formerly known as Patricia Swann and now the Black Swan, stood atop the battlements of Belasco's castle, dressed in black boots, tight black leather pants, a tight vest top that was very low cut and arm length fingerless black gloves. She brushes her long white hair back as she observes below Darkchylde putting down a rebellion against Belasco.

They happened from time to time in Limbo. One demon or another would get it into its head that it should rule this place instead, gather a few followers and try and overthrow Belasco. It almost always ended up with them dead and this time would be no different.

Darkchylde was leading the forces in defence, wielding a long handled double-axe with much skill and much brutality...and relishing the enjoyment of mercilessly slaughtering her enemies as she cut a huge swath through their lines.

Of course she was far that little girl that had been Illyana Rasputin now.

Because of the way time moves she was actually roughly 16 years old...though that's partially a guess because it is also hard to tell time in here. There are no days. Just a constant twilight over the scorched, cracked, strewn with fiery pits landscape of Limbo...though to be fair that is just what this part of Limbo looks like. It has other landscapes...though all of them are demonically twisted.

The effect of time passing on Black Swan has been none. She looked exactly like she always had, proud, tall, powerful, beautiful...and trust her she's a lot, lot older than she looks anyway.

Back to the girl who has once been Illyana Rasputin there's also the effects on the girl of 7 years of living here and of her teachings in the dark arts plus the fact Belasco rips pieces of her soul out. He had collected 3/5ths of her soul now.

The effect was clear on a girl who was now more demon than human. Along with her red spaded tail that had long ago appeared, her curved black horns had fully erupted on top of her head, her lower legs had become cloven, like goat's legs, red in colour, her eyes glowed demonic red constantly, her hands were more akin to claws now and a less obvious change was that her tongue had become long, forked and prehensile. It helped in speaking the obscure demonic languages needed to cast the darkest spells. Not to mention her canines had elongated into fangs.

And Black Swan wondered what Darkchylde's clothing represented. Her demonic side or her teenage human side because it was all very...revealing. A bikini top held together by looped chains over the clear signs she was turning into a woman. On both arms were long black gloves, over which was spiked pieces of armour on her elbows and her wrists. Around her waist more looped chains which held up flimsy black tattered triangles of fabric which covered her...well humans would call it modesty. Attached were two black tattered stockings covering her upper legs down to where they transformed into goat ones and on her knees the same spiked pieces of armour.

The only remaining link to the little girl she had been was the snowflake necklace her brother had once given her that she still wore around her neck.

Black Swan only stays and watches the battle long enough to tell her what she already knew. That Darkchylde would be victorious.

Soon enough Black Swan watches the girl-demon sorceress kneeling before her Master in the throne room. A stone throne sat on the skulls of Belasco's vanquished enemies.

"You have done well, Darkchylde," the red skinned Lord of Limbo, Belasco praises her as he sits on his throne...and whoever sits on the throne of Limbo has all the power of Limbo channelled through them...which is what triggers those attempts to usurp it. The lure of that power.

"You honour me, Master," Darkchylde says in return, showing her total devotion.

"You shall know my gratitude," Belasco promises. "But for now leave me. I need to speak to Black Swan in private."

"As you command," Darkchylde says rising to her cloven feet and departing...as do the varying other demon underlings including this purple skinned oaf with a white horn on its head and a gargoyle like demon with wings that Black Swan supposes count at Belasco's lieutenants...though she wouldn't trust them. After all they are demons.

Black Swan now remains alone with the Demonic Lord. The white-skinned woman folds her arms across her chest. She's not intimidated nor does she fear him. She is more powerful than he can possibly understand.

"My patience grows thin, Black Swan," Belasco tells her, gruffly.

Black Swan arches an eyebrow. "Over what in particular?"

"The day we strike at the Star Child."

"Darkchylde's not ready because you haven't taught her to create the weapon yet," Black Swan says in her own defence. She has been telling him for months what he needed to do. He just hasn't been listening.

"Do you even begin to realise the power of a soulsword?" Belasco asks her, referencing the specific weapon she's wanting created. It is a weapon capable of killing him...probably killing her too.

"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't," she retorts. "The Star Child is not a mortal man. No ordinary weapon can kill him. If it was easy I would have done it myself," she points out.

Belasco glares at her.

"Facts are facts and prophecies are prophecies. If you think you can defy the one that says he will destroy you, then go ahead and kill me...or try to at least," Black Swan dares him.

Belasco glares at her some more.

"Or you can listen to me, someone who has done nothing but demonstrate she speaks the truth and do what is required to win," she argues it out with him.

Belasco leans back into his throne. "It's not an easy spell to enact," he says, conceding Black Swan's position. "I need time to make the preparations."

"Then I'll leave you to it," Black Swan says, trying not to sound too smug before she leaves. In the corridor she runs into Darkchylde and takes a moment to study the face. Even through her demonic appearance you can still see what would have been a beautiful teenage girl, though perhaps not in the traditional sense, yet with a wide forehead and planed cheekbones and had once upon a time had smoked-glass blue eyes she would have been endlessly pleasing to look at. Even as she is there is an attractive aura about her that can't be ignored, her face framed by the long strands of her blond hair, a toned, athletic body that is transitioning into the curvier one of a young woman, a sensual sexuality that would make many lust after her...though none would ever touch her. Black Swan had made it her business to ensure that that piece of virtue remained intact for reasons that are her own. Belasco had agreed and made it a decree...mostly because Black Swan thinks he is saving Darkchylde for himself.

Though even if a man could get close to her as Darkchylde herself once put it, showing a sliver remains of the original girl, she would and she said it in a full gloriously thick Russian accent, 'Tear them apart, like the bear does the baby goat'.

"I saw the battle," Black Swan mentions.

Darkchylde snorts in disgust. "Pathetic dogs," she calls them. "I desire a real challenge," she complains that the victory had been too easy. She had wanted them to suffer a lot more before they died but she was a highly skilled warrior even before you add in her mystical training and they, to be blunt, weren't. Just a rebellious mob is all they were. She's put down a dozen just like them before...and enjoyed the slaughter just as much. There's nothing better than a merciless slaughter of her enemies to work the kinks in her joints out and help her loosen up. Not to mention it's a good stress relief.

"You'll get one soon enough," Black Swan promises on the challenge front.

Darkchylde's glowing eyes brighten further. "The Star Child?" she queries, her tail swishing in eagerness to fulfil her destiny...as she's been told it is; to be the one to destroy this...practically Legend. The Star Child is like the demonic version of the boogeyman. She has seen powerful demons practically cowering in fear from nothing but a prophesy of the man.

Black Sawn smiles at the enthusiasm. "In time...though it is unfortunately a waste you must confess."

Darkchylde cocks her head to the side quizzically.

"Oh come on, I've shown you his image. Both the demon and teenage girl in you must have some ideas over what you could do to that body," Black Swan says suggestively.

A lust filled smile starts to adorn Darkchylde's face.

Black Swan smirks at spotting it. "Like I said, it's a shame in that one sense but survival needs must take priority. For us all to live he must die. You must kill him," she says.

"I shall," Darkchylde vows.

Black Swan reaches up and takes the snowflake necklace in hand, stroking her thumb over the cool golden metal. "You make sure to never lose this, yes?"

"As you instructed," Darkchylde says, recalling Black Swan's specific instruction to always make sure she keeps the necklace on her at all times. "Though I do not recall where I got it from," she admits that its origin is a mystery to her.

"I know," Black Swan says. The demonic sorceress in front of her practically remembers nothing of her pre-Limbo life. It's to be expected. She was a young girl and 7 or so years in here is like an eternity. Her memories of her previous life, at best, must be like a distant dream by now. "Just keep it...for its importance will be revealed at a crucial time, you understand?"

"No...but I will do what you instruct," Darkchylde says, understanding that for as long as she can remember Black Swan has been her teacher, 2nd only to her Master and that she is to obey the white-skinned woman.

"Good girl," Black Swan praises her...though the girl does not understand at all. There's a reason that necklace is important, something Black Swan has been working on since Illyana arrived so long ago.

Like she has said previously, you can't imagine where she's been or what she has seen or the tangled weave of ploys and plans she has been putting into place.

No-one, not Belasco, not Darkchylde, certainly not Kal-El can really imagine the true purpose of what she has planned.

Abergylid, Wales...

It's the perfect, picturesque image of a Welsh mining village...or it had been before the mine was shut down many years ago.

Now it was the classic image of a village in slow, gradual decline with empty properties, some beginning to tumble down from neglect, fewer and fewer people...but that fact had made it a very good place for the 12-year old Megan Gwynn to grow up unnoticed.

And it's not too hard to notice her with her pink hair, her pointed ears, her pink on black eyes and most noticeable on her back her multi-coloured wings that in many ways resemble a butterfly's.

Megan lived with her grandparents whom she loved dearly but there was many a day she wondered about her parents, who they were.

It was natural for an orphan as she believed she was.

But Megan also found she could find joy in the simplest of things, running through the hills near her home, trying to fly...which never ended well. There had been many a bruise or graze as a result of her attempts.

Right now another attempt is ending with her tumbling head over heels down a hill until she comes to a rest, lying on her back, frowning, making her cute little nose wrinkle.

A nose that has a butterfly land on it.

Megan sighs. "O, Mrs Butterfly, sut ydych chi'n gwneud yn edrych mor hawdd?" she asks.(That's 'Oh, Mrs Butterfly, how do you make it look so easy?' in Welsh, I think.)

Megan briefly wonders if she could get her new insect friend to give her lessons.

"Well if she can't help you we can," new voices say in harmony.

Megan rolls over on to her stomach and finds herself in the company of two young women. One brunette, one blond, dressed casually. "Uh...hi," she squeaks, at the fact she's been caught. Even though mutants are out now Megan's spent most of her life hiding herself away.

The two women smile.

"Don't be afraid," the brunette says. "I'm Martinique," she introduces herself.

"And I'm Regan," the blond introduces herself.

The two step forward and bend down.

"And we would never hurt our little sister," Martinique assures the girl.

Regan nods her head along in agreement. Yeah, it had taken awhile after they first discovered that they had a sister but they got here in the end...and boy, oh boy their sister's thoughts were so wholesome Regan almost wanted to vomit...but they're here so they might as well push on with the family reunion they planned.

Megan looks at them confused but with an undercurrent buzz of excitement at what they're saying. Her face lights up and her wings flap a little. "Sisters?! O.M.G!" she squeals.

Oscorp, New York...

There is something Norman Osborn and his friend have in common. They have had to learn patience.

They have had to learn that not all their plans pan out as they think or hope they would.

Especially the ones that pit them against Spider-Man. How the irritating arachnid keeps winning is a mystery frankly.

In response they've learned the need to take a longer term approach in dealing with him and once they've dealt with him their hand will be so much freer to finish their plans for New York as a whole...assuming they ever win this war against Fisk. Tubbo just doesn't know when to quit.

Point is they have a grand plan and they are already one step forward in the that plan courtesy of the 4 clones, floating in their liquid filled tubes. They were not yet done. That was taking longer than expected. It could easily be the end of the year, perhaps into the start of next now before they were ready. There had been a few problems with the accelerated growth and they had had to slow it down or risk losing all 4 of the clones.

Point is the 2 disfigured ones, the one with 6 arms or the mutated face of the other...or the perfectly healthy female all had their parts to play but what had really caught Norman and his friend's attention was that the near perfect imitation was now old enough for Norman to recognise who it was.

"Peter Parker," Norman says the name of his son's friend. "I should have seen it," he remarks to his friend.

"I know. Me too! I'm sooo disappointed in myself," the Green Goblin berates himself.

But no, really. It all makes so much sense now, all the strangeness around Peter, how Spider-Man seemed to know certain things.

Now that Norman and his friend know, they can use this knowledge but that brings us back to patience. It had to wait until the clones were ready but they could at least start putting a few pieces into place for that time.

It also brings some ideas in how to manipulate the female clone.

Ah, well, stuff to think over.

Norman strides around the secret lab and stops near the tank with the dark red/brown tar like substance inside. He taps on the glass. "Coochy coo," he says, sounding more like the Goblin than Norman.

The tar like substance tries and attacks him. It's a symbiote. The new one they've been making. It was still pretty small.

Norman grins...that insane Goblin grin. "Aw, don't you worry my sweet little Carnage Warnage," he coos. "I know what you want. You want to find and reunite with the rest of yourself. The girl whose blood sample we used in your genetic structure. Patience. You have to grow big and strong first and then your time will come and then finally, victory over the Spider will be ours! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Academy of Tomorrow...

Emma is storming through the hallways of her school on a mission. Trying to find her sister. She's even slipped into muttering curses as she goes. It's so unlike her...but then again it's not been a normal few days has it?

What with Apocalypse nearly turning the world on its head...plus Superman revealing himself as an alien.

Now Emma must admit that surprised her...yet it also explains everything.

Truth be told she hasn't quite decided what her response to it all is.

For right now she thinks her main aims stay the same...and that means heading back to Bayville with the Hellions before the new school year begins and continuing her attempts to lure Scott over.

After all if she can lure him into her bed, which she finally did manage on the cruise back home a few weeks ago, she can definitely lure him to join her permanently.

Emma must admit she probably has a bit of a stupid smile when she thinks back to their time together on the boat. It was a more profound experience than she imagined finally having Scott Summers to herself. Now if she could just get him to stop being so uptight and relax a bit more...

Oh well, thoughts for another day.

Damn Adrienne and the fact because they're family her telepathy doesn't work. She stops one of the Instructors short. "Have you seen my sister?"

The short woman with brown hair and glasses shakes her head. "Not today, I'm afraid, my Queen."

Emma throws her arms up exasperated. Adrienne isn't answering her phone either. Sisters! Emma could definitely live without them. "Where the hell is she?!"

Elsewhere...

Well it's not hell where Adrienne is but it's close. She is down on one knee in front of a throne upon which sits the Black Queen, Selene Gallio herself. "You summoned me, My Goddess," she says in a tone of deep reverence and fealty.

"Indeed," Selene replies coolly. "The next few months are vital to my plans...and to your revenge on your sister."

"I have done everything you asked of me and shall continue to do so," Adrienne assures her beloved Goddess.

"You have served me well," Selene comments. "When we both have what we want you shall be rewarded."

"Thank you, my Goddess."

"I summoned you here because for our plans to work we need Shaw back in the mix and not distracted by his financial woes thanks to SHIELD. That being the case...Shinobi!" she yells.

Entering the room comes Shinobi Shaw, son of Sebastian Shaw, enslaved minion of Selene, evidenced by the magical bracelet stuck to his wrist which literally allows Selene to turn him in her slave. It can bypass freewill, allow Selene to hijack his body if she so wishes. You learn just to, at least, make it appear you do what she commands just to avoid that.

"Shinobi will return with you. Come up with an appropriate reason," Selene orders, not bothering to think of one herself. That's way beneath her. Point is Sebastian will definitely be interested in where his son has been and what he has been up to and that will bring Sebastian back into the game.

"As you command, my Goddess," Adrienne agrees with sycophantic devotion.

Shinobi barely restrains the urge to roll his eyes...only because he doesn't fancy another one of Selene's punishments. How he loathes the woman. If only he could get this damn bracelet off somehow.

Following Shinobi in comes the equally enslaved Tess Mercer and Selene's long deceased daughter Margaret Isobel Thoreaux, whose spirit is currently in possession of the body of Clark's once upon a time first crush and friend Lana Lang.

"When do I get out?!" a distorted voice complains, accompanied by banging on glass.

Selene looks to her right, to a mirror on the wall, within which is the image of a wraith like entity. "When I decide you've earned it, Emplate," she snaps at the brother of Monet St Croix, Marius, still trapped in the hellish dimension his two younger sisters sent him into, only able to contact the outside world through Selene's magical mirror. "Don't forget you failed me," Selene reminds him of what happened last time she released him. He was suppose to destroy Emma. He failed to do that. "I rarely give second chances," she points out but has decided she can still use him. Still she won't just release him when he demands it but only when it suits her.

Emplate seems to go into a huff at that.

Selene shakes her head. Yes, she had many pieces in place already and had more to move. She would get what she desires...and no-one but her truly understands what that is.

Lets just say few people will like it...especially that bastard son of Jor-El. So he's revealed his origin to the world. Makes no difference to her. Governments, countries, empires rise and fall and she has outlived them all and will continue to do so.

When all is said and done Selene will be worshipped again as the Goddess she truly is.

Bayville High...

To mere organic creatures, Brainiac's façade of becoming the Principal probably makes no sense but that's the flaw of organics. They have such limited intellects, contained in those primitive electro-chemical computers they call their brains. They couldn't begin to fathom how Brainiac calculates its actions.

Gaining this job, creating this identity of Milton Fine was ridiculously easy.

And it has Brainiac where it wants. Close to Kal-El, in Kal-El's life, where it can study him, learn his weaknesses, learn how to force him to free General Zod from the Phantom Zone...all as Brainiac is programmed to do.

The one True Kryptonian will be freed.

A new Krypton will be born.

And Earth and humanity will fade away into the dust of history where they belong. Such a primitive, pathetic race. Not fit to be in the shadow of a Kryptonian.

Why Kal-El feels the need to use his great gifts to help them truly baffles Brainiac. It makes no logical sense as far as the Kryptonian AI can calculate. It's beneath a Kryptonian to waste time on such a primitive species. If Brainiac had emotions the act would sicken it.

Kal-El is just as weak and flawed as his father.

Which is why he'll lose and Brainiac will succeed.

Brainiac's already done the calculations. Victory is assured.

Author's Note: I felt a need to catch up with many people before I wrapped this story up which is why we see Magneto's return to the Savage Land and the visit to Limbo. It has to be so wrong the fact that even in her demon form Illyana is just too sexy and alluring. Just see the classic Darkchylde pose from X-Infernus for proof. I'm now feeling so much guilt for what I've done to poor sweet little Pixie, exposing her to her 2 big sisters...and you know her wings have changed over the years. They started out multi-coloured resembling a butterfly's wings but now they're pink and more elongated, closer to a dragonfly's. Don't know why but just thought it worth a mention. And yes, well if Norman was going to grow clones, sooner rather than later he'd figure out that Peter is Spider-Man...and aw, cute little baby Carnage. Don't you want to give it a hug. Yep, Emma's sister is working for the Black Queen and that spells trouble with a capital T. Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews. Next up; The Professor gathers everyone together for some insight of what he saw in Apocalypse's mind as this story reaches its end(I never intended for this story to be all that long).