One week had passed since Dark Phoenix had visited the research station. Life had been quiet on the two-hundred worlds she had conquered in these four years.
Morning had dawned on Phoenix's other homeworld, and a quiet wind blew over her garden. Flowers bloomed in all colors within its sculpted flower beds, a rainbow in the wild.
A handful of dome-shaped buildings stood across the landscape, connected by a network of stone pathways. To the west lay a pristine lake, its clear waters sparkling.
The demigoddess stood at the lakeside. She was garbed in her trademark crimson and gold suit. Her green eyes glowed faintly, which was just somehow a thing for powerful mutants.
A little girl rested in her arms, head relaxing against her shoulder.
"I wanna sea the sky," Rachel said, unsure of her words.
"And so, you shall," Phoenix promised. "I will take you to every sky there is in any world."
Rachel pulled her head back, giving a beaming smile. Phoenix started walking towards the nearest house, opening the door with a thought.
A living room met their eyes when Phoenix stepped inside. This space was large and mostly open, with sunlight pouring in from the windows. A jade-green carpet covered much of the floor, while a circle of couches around a table occupied the center.
She put her daughter gently down, and paid no attention while Rachel went over the couch for a lie-down.
An hour later, Dark Phoenix was heading to the planet Monia. She strode into an office, where a blue humanoid man sat in a round desk.
"Give me a brief report," Phoenix instructed calmly to Lano.
"Everything is going smoothly, Empress," Lano supplied in English. "The station is up and running, the cultists have been arrested, the mines are productive, etcetera."
Phoenix showed no interest. "I see. Any news of the military?"
"Nothing noteworthy," Lano answered. "Still the same counts as last time."
Dark Phoenix shrugged. "I have forgotten those to be honest, but I care not. Are your forces ready for combat?"
Lano grinned. "Most of them should be. One-hundred-ten ships were crewed last night."
Dark Phoenix raised her hand, opening another portal to a distant planet. The aperture showed a very different style of office and a grey-furred humanoid at its desk.
"Welcome, milady," Laper greeted in a light voice, while she crossed over. "To talk business, well, there's nothing we need right now."
"Good to hear," Dark Phoenix answered while closing the wormhole. "Have any new worlds been found?"
"Well, no. It has only been six days," Laper pointed out. Phoenix looked vaguely displeased, and created another wormhole.
She spent the next half hour crisscrossing the universe and checking in on her operations. She arrived now at the planet Kozeron - stepping through to yet another throne-room.
A green-skinned man of slight stature occupied it, brown eyes focused on the redhead. Several assistants flanked her.
"Greetings, mistress," Abretus said neutrally, in accented English. "To talk business, the summary is that the fleet repairs are going well and that I have no scarcities to report."
Dark Phoenix smiled. "Good. Anyway, how is the wormhole project?"
"Cautiously," Abretus answered. "My staff say it can be an easy access vector for diseases and enemy armies, and have hidden problems."
"True, I suppose," Dark Phoenix agreed lightly.
She raised a hand to produce another wormhole.
Another two hours had passed since Dark Phoenix departed Kozeron. Her attention was now on another star system, a planet called Xerath.
A wormhole opened up in the void between the planet and the system's sixth world — space itself opened up. A fleet emerged from the aperture, all cylindrical in shape and dark-gray from start to finish, tapering to a point at their fronts. A few showed scorch marks and cracks.
Dark Phoenix stood aboard one of the middle ones, accompanied by a few feline beings. They mostly had light-brown fur and stood half a meter tall.
Her stony gaze was fixed upon the planet ahead, and she watched the fleet descend.
The ensuing invasion was virtually won by the day's end. The ships had quickly landed around Xerath's only city, and one-hundred-thousand soldiers had overrun the place.
Now... the demigoddess floated above a plaza while enshrouded in her signature aura of illusory fire. Green bipedal reptiles bowed to her by the thousands, a sight that made her grin. To her mind-sense, the people radiated terror and pain.
"Let us see if I will need to enthrall them," she thought.
She lifted one of them to meet her, and with mild effort uploaded knowledge of English into his mind.
"This planet is mine now," Dark Phoenix declared forcefully. "You will serve as its regent on my behalf. Tell your people of my decision."
Parda's mind raced with questions, and he sputtered two. "How can I understand you? Who are you?!"
Dark Phoenix gave no answer, lowering him towards the streets. The descent took him a good two minutes.
Parda inhaled, still unsure of the situation, while his tail twitched. Parda opened his eyes, seeing confusion and fear in the eyes of his kin.
"The stranger says that our world is theirs now," Parda said, realizing after a moment that he hadn't spoken New Xerathian. "I mean, the stranger says they are here to rule us."
"Madness," an elderly reptile hissed, in Xerathian. "How much more strife must our world endure?"
Nobody there seemed about to offer him any consolation. A few didn't dare to face their elder.
Most of the hour passed quickly. Dark Phoenix and Parda were now on the roof of a tower, where she looked out across her new domain.
"Tell me, Parda," she said without looking at him. "What goods does your world have for me? Do your people have any legends about treasures for my collection?"
Parda stared for a long moment, forcing himself calm. Even so, he felt his tail curl. "I'm not sure, I've never checked on that sort of thing."
Phoenix looked indifferent. "A question for later. Right now, we have your rule to work out." She looked at him, smirking. "I look forward to your rebellion."
Parda drew a slight breath. "Everything about you makes me sick." Particularly her confidence, he didn't say.
"Yes, yes, I am loathsome and vile and more," Dark Phoenix replied dryly.
The narrator decided to fast-forward a bit. Over the following two days, she forced him to cooperate on being installed as regent. Parda... obeyed reluctantly, fearing what a willing candidate might do. A crew of local workers had been tasked with making a military base north of the city.
At his family's home, Parda endured the rightful government's questions and protests, only able to apologize for the inconvenience. Meanwhile, Phoenix collected the planet's greatest treasure — a magic amulet that enhanced physical strengths three-fold — from a remote temple.
Parda was now doing his first management meeting with Phoenix.
"Let us begin. What social problems does this world have?" she asked.
Parda's tail tensed at the question. "The agricultural sector does not always produce enough food, but we manage. Why do you ask?" He doubted she actually cared.
Dark Phoenix smirked. "I have learned that grateful subjects are less eager to rebel."
Parda saw no reason to argue. "I suppose that's true."
"Next matter, what of science and technology?" she continued. "What problems elude your world's researchers?"
Parda pondered it. "I've heard that we're struggling with celestial physics. Otherwise, I haven't paid much attention."
Phoenix studied him. "Is that so?" She reached out to skim his mind, sensing faintly the dry warmth of anger.
Parda glared at her. "I was just a baker before this."
Another hour later, Dark Phoenix was heading via wormhole to the Hordanian research station. She had not cared to make a trans-galactic projection.
A handful of the quadrupeds hurried to greet their mistress, while she promptly asked about their status.
"There is little to report, your majesty," Karno replied. "We have continued observing parallel worlds, and the database has thirty entries so far. Otherwise, our progress has been incremental. A computer that uses a little less electricity, for example."
Phoenix looked indifferent. "My thanks are in order, then. Tell me, do these tiny advances seem worth disseminating?"
"In my opinion, no," Karno replied neutrally. "Perhaps in three months, if we make major upgrades to the systems."
"Agreed," Phoenix said. "Concerning the multiverse business, I trust that you are keeping back-ups of everything?"
"Naturally," Karno answered stiffly. "I take it you want to task it to others?
"Perhaps, for safety and efficiency," she answered. "I will deliberate on it for now. That will be all."
Karno knew to not argue the point, not after what she had done to D'Bari.
Phoenix smiled and turned away, opening another portal. As she walked through to her home, another question crossed her mind.
"On the matter of efficiency, should I collect the Infinity Stones?" Phoenix paused to close the wormhole behind her, then looked towards her house. "It has taken me years to claim all these worlds, and they are a pittance compared to this galaxy alone."
"I plainly need something faster than this if I am to rule the universe, and have time to enjoy my spoils. Yet clever Thanos and other potential opponents must be accounted for," she thought mid-walk.
The door opened for her, and she stepped into the living room. Phoenix spotted Rachel on the couch, with a blue-skinned attendant and a rice bowl.
"Greetings, Lady Phoenix," the blue man said. "Young Rachel was hungry, so I have provided her with the finest rice in stock. I hope this is no bother."
Dark Phoenix smiled. "Not at all. You have my gratitude." She looked at the girl. "Have you behaved yourself in my absence?"
Rachel smiled back... with a mouthful of rice, and answered with something half-understandable.
"Eat your rice, then speak," Phoenix instructed Rachel calmly.
Rachel kept chewing, then swallowed the food. "Yes I did. Can I have more?" she asked while taking another spoonful of rice.
"Tomorrow, perhaps," Dark Phoenix replied. "This day, I am simply tired from my work. I wish to rest now, Rachel."
She sat down next to her. The girl didn't speak, nor did the attendant.
The next morning, after breakfast, Phoenix was preparing to take off again.
"Where have I not been in a while?" she asked herself openly, confident that nobody would hear. "Perhaps Ebelgor or Karna's world..."
She smiled a little. "So many worlds I never knew about in my Earth days," she mused idly.