Multiverse Networking

Chapter 5



The storage room Jenny Calendar had discovered was full of unicorn statues and figurines.



Some bigger than she was, and other were smaller than her pinky finger.



The elfin hybrid stared at the unicorns in confusion.

Why would President Lera have something like this?

Were they magic?

The Orcish thief wondered.



She was just reaching out to touch one when she caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye.

Then she heard Marian Casta’s voice in her ear “I wouldn’t do that if I were you girl.”



Jenny turned around and found the blonde vampire gazing upon her coldly.

“Sorry…I was just…hmm…exploring” the redhead said unconvincingly. Unnerved by the vampire’s rapid movements.



Marian smiled, her fangs prominently displayed.



“So..find anything worth stealing?” she asked with false sweetness.



The elf/Orc hybrid stared into Casta’s brilliant blue eyes. Normally she would deny her thievery if caught, but somehow she knew lying to the vampire would be pointless.



“Please…just let me leave…I haven’t taken anything…I won’t take ANYTHING…just let me go” Calendar pleaded.



The vampire smiled smugly as she replied “when I feel like it.”



*****



Ororo Munroe woke up slowly.



She was still in Jean Grey’s bed but there was no sign of her friend.



Then Storm heard a growling sound.



The black mutant jerked her head to the side and beheld a strange creature.



It was clearly a voluptuous and fit woman, naked and pale, but there was something indefinably feral and animalistic about it.



When the creature noticed Storm watching her, it made a grunting sound deep in its throat and then leapt upon the bed. It sliced off her garments with its claw like nails, cutting deeply into her flesh in the process.



Storm cried out and tried to push the creature off her, but it was far too strong. The wind rider also tried to use her mutant power against the creature, but her power wouldn’t answer her call.



Then the creature looked deeply into Ororo’s eyes, and she saw to her horror and shock that it had Jean’s face.



It kissed Storm deeply, its inhumanly long tongue exploring her mouth, reaching deep into her body, touching her very heart and soul in a way nothing was ever meant to.



Ororo screamed, a deep primal sound that seemed to hold more fear and loathing than a single human could contain.



*****



“Ororo…wake up…wake up.”



Storm came to in Jean Grey’s arms, her body covered in sweat and her heart thudding madly.



“What…what…happened” the white haired woman asked, still disturbed and disoriented by her nightmare.



“You were just having a nightmare,” the woman known as Phoenix said soothingly, as she lay a gentle hand on Ororo’s head.



Ororo had to make an effort not to flinch from her touch.



“Jean…did you…” the wind rider began to ask. Then she fell silent.



“Did I what?” Grey asked in honest confusion.

There was no lust or malice in Jean’s face. Just exhaustion and concern. Nothing like what Storm had seen in the creature’s eyes.



“Nothing” Storm said weakly.



“It was just a dream,” the wind rider told herself.



“Even with the Phoenix Force inside her…Jean would never do something like that” the X-Woman assured herself.



Not sure if she believed it.



*****



Marian Casta sat in Jenny Calendar’s lap.



The tall vampire looked surprisingly small and vulnerable in the large woman’s lap. But despite appearances Marian was far stronger than Jenny.



In more ways than one.



As the elfin hybrid sat on the President’s bed with the blonde former human laying across her legs, Marian used her vampiric powers to keep the mortal woman passive as she sucked the blood from the wounds she had made in Jenny’s neck.



Casta eagerly drank down the blood, making strange gulping noises as she consumed the exotic beauty’s fluid. Holding the hybrid physically by the shoulders and mentally with her powerful gaze to keep her still.



“Hmm…she’s delicious…a pity there aren’t more half-breeds like her” the undead blood sucker thought.



However, despite the exotic flavor and tastiness (as a vampire judged such things) of the blood, Marian stopped a few minutes later when she sensed that the amount of blood in Jenny’s veins was reaching dangerously low levels.



The vampire let go of Jenny’s shoulders and got off her lap.

Made weak from blood loss, Calendar fell back against the bed.

The wounds in Jenny’s neck continued to gently ooze blood, until Marian placed her hand against the holes and they closed up.



“I could heal the wounds completely…but the scars will warn other vampires that your mine” the blonde vampire whispered. Her blue eyes glowing faintly as she proclaimed her ownership of the woman.



Jenny was tired and scared, and didn’t want to hear anymore about vampire dominance games right now.



Desperate to change the subject she asked, “Why does the President collect unicorn statues?”



“Because she never go over her own unicorn running away after she lost her virginity,” the vampire stated. A faint smile upon her lips as though the memory pleased her.



“Of course if you tell anyone Chrissy will rip out your tongue” Marian continued in a coy tone.



Jenny assumed the vampire was joking and made herself laugh, but when the vampire didn’t respond she gulped nervously and said weakly “so…what kind of food do you have in this place?”



*****



The President of Iberia was alone in her study.



President Chrissy Lera was usually not one who sought out solitude.



She was usually surrounded by people, friends and followers, lovers and allies, and even strangers and business acquaintances. Chrissy counted on people’s support and input, ideas and effort, and (in the case of people like Marian Casta and Jenny Calendar) love and physical affection.



For the dark elf enjoyed the company of others and didn’t even sleep alone if she could help it.



This is not a quality usually associated with dictators.

However, anyone who spent any time with the imperious drow quickly learned that although Lera surrounded herself with people for comfort and support, she could not seem to resist the urge to tell such people what to do.



For the ebony elf was always convinced that she knew what was best for people. Regardless of what the people in question thought.

This was a trait she had picked up from Marian Casta and her own dear mother (and now as a result, both women were forced to live under the self-righteous dark elf’s domination) and it meant that Lera valued her own judgment more than anyone else’s.



Thus, when Chrissy was sometimes faced with a difficult decision, she wanted to be alone with her thoughts.



Such was the case now, as Chrissy Lera sat alone in her Spartan office at her desk. Gazing at her computer screen with an intent expression upon her face.



The cybernetic implants in the elf’s eyes and brain allowed her adept mind to process the information she was viewing far more quickly than a normal woman could. However, she still couldn’t seem to find any answers to her problem.



Her best intelligence agent, Melanie Brooks was convinced that Iberia’s neighbor the Republic of East Asia was getting ready to invade. But all her other information sources, including the usually very efficient Ministry of Security, said that such an event was extremely unlikely.



Someone was trying to deceive her, but who?

The worried drow wondered.



*****



Doctor Hank McCoy was very frustrated.

All his attempts to use Shi'Ar technology to stabilize the portal and make it safe for human use had failed.



Thanks to his efforts the portal now seemed to be stable. However, all the mechanical probes he had sent through had been destroyed as they entered it.



There appeared to be no scientific reason for this phenomenon, but it continued to occur regardless.



After the 6th probe was destroyed, the X-Men known as Beast decided to take a break. He was accomplishing nothing at the moment; perhaps if he did something else for a few hours he could bring a fresh perspective to the project.



So McCoy started reviewing the data he had collected on Sophie and Emma Frost. Hoping he would discover something new this time that would allow him to revive them.



*****



Within the fortress like head quarters of the Ministry of Defense (in the Iberian capital) an important meeting was taking place.



For within the hardened bunker beneath the building’s ground floor, Minister Rosenthrall was meeting with the representative of the group responsible for upgrading Iberian weaponry.



The Iberians had plenty of guns, tanks, fighter jets, armored infantry, and bombers. More than enough to beat the Republic of East Asia in a conventional war. But the Republic was known to possess at least two nuclear weapons, and possibly many more.



Even Lera’s undead troops couldn’t stand up to that kind of firepower, and Iberia’s capital and other major cities had no defense against it either.



As a result of this deplorable situation President Chrissy Lera and her agents had been trying to buy chemical and nuclear weapons to use as a deterrent should the Republic of East Asia ever become aggressive, since they had learned of the Republic’s nuclear arsenal.



Imperious Industries, which was a rising power in the international arms trade, had answered the call, and the company had agreed to not only sell Iberia nuclear and biological weapons, but also to build the facilities for Iberia to make more of their own.



Imperious Industries was making excellent progress, and within a few short months the nation of Iberia would have large quantities of deployable nuclear and chemical weapons (such as nerve gas and napalm).



However, it appeared that the Lera government no longer had that kind of time.



Which was why the Minister of Defense was attempting to negotiate with the Imperious Industries representative to get deployable nukes within the next couple of DAYS.



But the woman was an unexpectedly shrewd negotiator, and Rosenthrall, despite the discipline, power, and strength of will she possessed, wasn’t very good at haggling (much like her mistress, she preferred dictating).



Moreover there was something strangely disturbing about the Imperious Industries commercial sales associate.



Sales associate Susan Zweller was short and skinny, with virtually no bust to speak of and features which could more accurately be described as cute than pretty. Wearing a finely tailored blue suit that did little complement her pale skin and long blonde hair.

However, her eyes were cold, and her body language conveyed only what she wanted it to.



Susan fixed her icy blue gaze on Rosenthrall and said pleasantly “I believe we can meet all your new requirements…although I am afraid there may be some price adjustment.”



Then she smiled pleasantly.



Yes, it would be easy to believe that Zweller was nothing more than the simple saleswoman she appeared to be, at least if you didn’t know that all the telepaths who had tried to read her mind since she had come to Iberia had died screaming.



*****



Esme of the Stepford Cuckoos was not enjoying her time in Iberia.



Ever since the blonde telepath had exited the portal in the dirty alleyway she had been wandering the capital city of Neroka.

She had tried to go back through the portal but the way was blocked for some reason. So, at the moment anyway, she was stuck on this world.



However, it wasn’t as alien as she had expected.



The city looked liked many metropolis’s on Earth (her Earth anyway) and most of the people she saw were human.

Of course there were still quite a few obvious non-humans in Neroka, the Mind Flayers (which Esme carefully avoided) being among the most exotic. But compared to Mutant Town in New York City this urban environment seemed rather tame.



Not that Esme had any in depth understanding of the city, due to the fact that nobody here seemed to speak English, and all the signs and posters she saw were in some unknown Asian language.



So the tired, hungry, and irritated member of the Stepford Cuckoos wandered Neroka aimlessly.



Esme somehow avoided running into Neroka’s criminal element (which the even the dreaded Iberian security forces had been unable to completely eradicate) but she eventually run into something far worse.



She was stopped when she approached a large old (gothic looking) building, which was surrounded by the black armored troops that seemed to be everywhere in the capital city.



“Present your identification” the soldier said in its cold mechanical voice (in Chinese).



Esme stared at the Iberian soldier in confusion, and didn’t verbally respond. So the soldier repeated the message in several different languages.



When it asked in English Esme replied, “you don’t need to see my I.D.” as she reached for the soldier’s mind.



But there was nothing for her to reach. What passed for the soldier’s mind was nothing like a human’s.



“Invalid response…present your identification” the black armored creature replied mechanically.



Esme stared at the soldier in fear and confusion.

“Is this a robot?” she wondered.



She turned to run, but the soldier caught her arm in one of its black-gloved hands before she could go.



Its grip felt like a steel vise.



“LET ME GO YOU MORON…DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM” the blonde telepath cried out in outrage and fear.



“Your actions indicate you are an intruder…as such you will be processed” the soldier said coldly as it dragged her off.



Towards the Ministry of Security Headquarters.



*****



Akmed was fairly mellow as Mind Flayers went.



As a data analyst for the Ministry of Security he spent most of his time sitting in front of computer screens, looking at classified information and filing reports.



Other than the people he devoured, he was rarely cruel or violent, and his main goal in life was to eventually be promoted to a managerial position.



So he was not the sort of person you would expect to confront a dangerous fugitive.



But when he was walking across the city to get to work, he saw a disheveled looking human male that looked suspiciously familiar.



Akmed was not very good at distinguishing among humans based on their appearance, but he thought the man looked a lot like the mental image he had received of Thrintun’s killer.



The human noticed Akmed watching him and disappeared from view, but by then the illithid had already reached for his mind.

The man’s consciousness was unprotected and Akmed quickly learned two things.



His name was Logan, and he had recently killed one of Akmed’s kind.



With a short burst of psychic power, the Mind Flayer stunned the human mutant, and then he summoned some soldiers to carry the mutant for him.



“Now I’m sure to get that promotion!” Akmed thought joyfully.



*****



Esme was getting desperate.



All of her attempts to reach the guard’s mind had come to naught, and as the soldier dragged her into the building she found herself surrounded by the very creatures (Mind Flayers) that her Mistress had warned her about.



The section of the building she was led through reminded Esme of a police station, but she had little chance to get a good look before the black armored soldier dragged her into a small windowless room.



The walls and ceiling were a stark white, and the room was bare except for a little desk with a chair in front of it and one behind it, and the small (electric) lamp on the desk (which was the room’s only source of illumination).



For sitting behind the desk was a Mind Flayer wearing a black suit. His facial tentacles slowly quivering as he observed the woman.



The soldier forced Esme to sit in the chair then he let go of her. Standing to her immediate right.



The illithid reached for her mind, but the Stepford Cuckoo instinctively blocked the psychic probe.



“Ah…a human psionic…how delightful…my name is Rexion girl…what’s yours?” the Mind Flayer telepathically responded.



“I don’t have to tell an ugly freak like you anything!” Esme said aloud.



The dim light in the room was constant, but for some reason the shadows around Rexion’s face seemed to deepen as his tentacles abruptly stopped moving.



“Arrogant fool…before you leave this room you shall tell me ALL your secrets” Rexion replied in a cold mental voice.



Then he assaulted Esme’s mind with the full weight of his psionic power. Esme groaned as she felt her mental shields weakening.

While Rexion’s power was dwarfed by telepaths like Xavier or Cable, his psychic strength was far greater than Esme’s individual power.



The dreadfully alone member of the Stepford Cuckoos realized that she lacked the power to keep her mind from being violated.



This knowledge infuriated and terrified her.



So she grabbed the lamp and threw it at Rexion’s face.

The room was plunged into darkness and the illithid screeched in pain as the lamp hit him in the right eye (lamp shade first) and then shattered upon the floor.



“XJ9…grab her,” Rexion cried out as he rubbed his swelling face.

The black armored soldier (who had no trouble seeing in the dark) reached out and grasped her shoulders. Holding the angry, terrified young mutant in place.



Rexion didn’t know how badly he was hurt.



All he knew was that he was having trouble seeing out of his right eye, his head hurt like hell, and he was going to make this human PAY for it.



“XJ9…break her left arm,” the illithid intoned coldly.



XJ9 fulfilled his superior’s command without hesitation, and Esme screamed in agony as one of the soldier’s hands moved from her shoulder to her forearm, and then squeezed until the bone within shattered.



“STUPID HUMAN…I WAS JUST GOING TO INTERROGATE YOU AND THEN SEND YOU TO A DETENTION CENTER…BUT NOW I’M GOING TO EAT THAT MISERABLE EXCUSE FOR A PSIONIC MIND OF YOURS WHEN I’M DONE” Rexion telepathically shouted.



“Yes…there’s nothing quite like it is there…consuming another’s essence…making it a part of you…touching them more intimately than a lover.”



The seductive voice seemed to come from everywhere in the pitch-black room. However, it was not unfamiliar to Esme, and the Stepford felt a flare of hope despite the terrible pain she was in.



Rexion searched about frantically, both with his eyes and his psychic senses. But something was blocking him, and he couldn’t sense the speaker’s mind.



The barrier was subtle and unlike anything Rexion had encountered before. Moreover, even though Mind Flayers were supposed to have excellent night vision, his had never been very good, and with one eye swollen shut it was even worse.



He could see nothing in this darkness.



There was a cracking sound and the smell of rotting flesh, and the headless XJ9 fell to the ground.



“I cannot blame you for what you do…for it is one of my greatest pleasures…to take another’s strength of body and spirit…and make it your own.”

The voice continued in a knowing whisper.



Rexion knew one of his kind shouldn’t be afraid of the dark, but he felt that fear now.



Then the room was bathed in light from an unknown source, and he beheld the speaker.



Her eyes were as crimson as a drow’s, but her tall form was curvaceous and pale and her hair was dark as midnight. She wore a corset and panties, complemented by leather boots and shoulder length gloves (all in black), along with a cape that gave her an imperious air.



But the most disturbing thing about her was that her mind was closed to him, and that she gazed upon him with an expression of amusement.



The woman reached out and lightly grasped one of his facial tentacles, saying softly “like you…though they hate me for it…it’s a pleasure I cannot deny.”



Rexion did not beg as so many of the people he had interrogated had, nor did he courageously fight or at least defy her.



He simply didn’t have time, for just as he was replying the woman draw his mental and physical energy inside herself in a method far more elegant and efficient than the eating of brains, and Rexion turned to dust.



As he was consumed.



Her body still coated with the dust of Rexion, the psychic vampire turned to regard Esme.



The blonde was staring at the body of XJ9.



His helmet lay in shattered fragments upon the floor, and his head was exposed.



Esme wished it wasn’t, for XJ9’s head was merely a mass of rotting bone and flesh. What was worse though, was that the headless body looked as though it was still trying to move. Its arms and legs slowly flexing as though it had forgotten how to walk.



“How delightfully perverse…cyborg zombies…not very comely admittedly…but surprisingly effective” the psychic vampire said.



Esme stared up into the crimson eyes of her patron and mistress.

She wanted to yell at her mistress for sending her to this dreadful place. She wanted to demand that the woman heal her, and she wanted to demand (or beg for) a way to get out of here.



But she did none of those things.



For Esme was not stupid, and had just gotten a potent reminder of just how deadly her mistress was. Moreover, she had never needed her help more than she did now.



After her earlier act of defiance (trying to refuse to go through the portal) she would need to humble herself to satisfy the woman.



“Thank you for the rescue mistress…I hope I shall prove worthy of it” Esme intoned. Trying to keep the pain out of her voice.



Selene, mistress of magic, and once and future witch queen, merely smiled.



*****



The Stepford Cuckoos had never felt more alone.



Their sister Esme was missing.



This was not the first time she had disappeared. She had been running off on her own more and more frequently over the last couple of weeks. The other Cuckoos had assumed that she was sneaking off to see some boy, and while they didn’t approve of that, they weren’t too worried by it.



But this time was different.



All the times she had disappeared before they had sensed her presence, but this time they couldn’t.



Esme seemed to truly be gone.



They had asked others on campus for help finding her. However, with Todd Williams dead and Logan missing, nobody seemed to have time to look for a girl who was probably (so everyone thought) just sneaking off to be with her sweetheart.



With the two most dominant members of the Stepford Cuckoos comatose or gone, Celeste, Mindee, and Phoebe had never felt more vulnerable or uncertain.



Their grievances with their former teacher no longer seemed important (for the moment at least). They wanted Emma Frost’s help and guidance.



They needed it.



But Emma Frost was currently in no condition to help anyone. So the girls resolved to heal their mentor.



No matter what it took.