Chapter 28: Requim Part One

Chapter Twenty Eight: Requim Part One. 

Freedom was an interesting thing to think about as no matter what a person was like, there was a part of them that hungered for it, hungered for the ability to roam completely free outside of the box. Despite the fact that this freedom was something that was hard to obtain even for the best of us, when it was snatched from them it caused feelings of despair. Even the darkest wizard would feel that moment when they had the chance to break free from the chains that held them.

If you asked him, Tom Marvolo Riddle the self-styled Lord Voldemort would state that he had been biding his time. Secretly, deep down, he knew that he had been unable to break free of the location where he'd been contained. While he felt the vessel that he currently inhabited was inadequate, he still felt that because of his extraordinary mind there was still power that flowed through it. He looked up into a mirror and saw the sickening face of the weak wizard whose body he inhabited before him.

He was a foolish individual who stood up for those he'd fooled himself into thinking that he cared about. He was a spineless fool as well. To think that this weak bag of flesh was thought to be his most valuable servant, well that was the epitome of laughable to him.

There were those that feared him back in that world, those who did not even want to utter his name.

The fools in this new world would also learn to fear him. The name Lord Voldemort would be spoken in the hushed whispers by those who were foolish, arrogant enough to not think that he was anything but the greatest Dark Lord that ever lived, the most powerful wizard that ever lived.

He was the personification of magical power. He'd performed magical rituals that had been forgotten in the annals of history and magical feats that most would never dream about. Anyone who saw what he could do would classify The Dark Lord Voldemort as one thing and one thing alone and that would be extraordinary. The greatest wizard that ever lived, the darkest of dark lords who'd ever performed dark deeds, feared by all, it was an amazing thing for sure.

His snake like red eyes drank in his surroundings. He stepped forward and saw his robes sway from one side to the other.

He still wore the face of Sirius Black and that caused him to give off a malicious grin.

'A face means nothing, power means everything,' Riddle thought as he raised his hand.

He had no idea how much time passed but it was enough to allow him to stew and simmer. He raised his hand into air and then blasted the locks of the door that kept him from leaving this room. The walls seemed like they were about ready to break apart under the force of his power and the greatest Dark Lord who ever lived watched it happen in front of him.

'Soon,' he stated as he saw the locks shatter under his awesome power, the doors swung open and he made his way from the room.

He was coming for his enemy and he was going to take him down. There was no way that he was going to be taken out. There was nothing that would get in his way, nothing that could stop him now.

Soon he would find Harry Potter.

Once he navigated through this final set of doors.

He was coming for his enemy and he was going to take him down. There was no way that he was going to be taken out. There was nothing that was going to be in his way, nothing that was going to stop him now.

'Soon Harry Potter, you will see why you should fear me,' Riddle thought to himself as he prepared himself for a brutal fight in which he would finish Harry Potter off, once and for all, where he would prove who the superior one out of the two of them was. 'You escaped me for a short amount of time but you can't escape me forever. I will crush you beneath my feet. Lord Voldemort knows this much.'

Cruel laughter issued from him, Lord Voldemort feared no one, there was no one who equaled his power and his enemies fell before him like they were little more then insects. He was the greatest Dark Lord that ever lived and he could crush any number of enemies beneath his foot.

'Harry Potter will kneel before my power,' Riddle thought as he made his way outside and looked around at his surroundings.

It was a petulant mud blood city, swimming with weakness and mud bloods but it was a perfect place for a spineless child like Harry Potter to be. There was no doubt in the mind of the Dark Lord Voldemort, greatest dark lord who ever lived, he had his enemy underneath his thumb.

'Harry Potter, don't you think that you can escape me, we will finish what you started by daring to defy me,' The Dark Lord Voldemort, greatest dark lord who ever lived, whispered to himself mentally.

The Dark Lord Voldemort, greatest dark lord who ever lived, had no idea how soon that it would be that he would feel Potter rammed underneath his palm as he continued to make his way forward. He wanted to crush his adversary with the strength of his magical power, his eyes glowed with the extreme hatred he felt towards his foe.

He could feel the echo of Black's soul, the soul always maintained a connection to the body but the Dark Lord Voldemort, greatest dark lord who ever lived, knew that it remained inside that dimension which he and Potter both escaped. There was nothing in his mind other than thoughts of revenge. The blood that spilled would be beyond all measure and the Dark Lord Voldemort, greatest dark lord who lived, hastened his strides forward.

'Soon,' he repeated to himself, it was a mantra that kept repeating through his head.

The Dark Lord had no idea how soon that it would be although he kept making his strides forward and would feel Potter rammed underneath his palm. He wanted to crush his adversary with strength and power, energy that swirled within his eyes was extremely strong.

He had power, that much was for sure and Potter, no matter what would fail.

All he had to do was find the child.

There was a mere echo of the link that once existed between them but it was mostly blocked out. The Dark Lord Voldemort, greatest dark lord who ever lived hissed through his teeth like a snake in frustration at that fact.

'A minor setback,' he thought.

It was time for the final confrontation, the one that would show just how worthy and amazingly incredible he was and that was how history would describe him.

X-X-X

"Amazing," Lois commented as she looked off the edge of the balcony which she and Harry were standing on during their latest date.

I know, it's quite the view up here, isn't it?" Harry asked her and Lois smiled as she looked forwards onto the city below.

"I wasn't talking about the view, although that's very nice," Lois remarked and the wizard kept his smile half hidden but there was enough of it where Lois knew.

"Oh, what were you talking about now?" Harry asked as he grabbed her around the shoulders and she shivered at his grip.

"Oh, just….well just thinking," Lois concluded, wincing at how unbelievably lame that sounded.

'Keep it together, Lane,' she thought to herself. All of the theories that she had about him, she had no idea how true they were, although she had a pretty good hunch that they were correct.

It was getting him to admit it to her; that was the big thing.

Harry's smile got even wider, almost knowing as he led her into her apartment.

Lois paused and she looked over her shoulder to face Harry. She felt some tension go through her stomach. They had gone out a few times on business and from there several extremely personal dates. Things between them were getting pretty serious, about as serious as things can get between a man and woman without crossing that final frontier.

"Something on your mind?" Harry asked Lois as he placed his hands on the back of her neck and she grew rigid, closing her eyes.

"Well there are a lot of things that are on my mind," Lois offered as she led him inside her apartment. Chloe was not home yet, she must have been working overtime at the Torch. "But….come to think about it, this is the first time that I've had a man in my apartment."

Harry raised an eyebrow towards her and smiled.

"Really?" Harry asked Lois and she nodded.

"Yes, and it isn't for any lack of trying on their parts," Lois said as she pressed herself against the wall for a second and then left herself in that position. "Then again, I think Lombard's goal in life is to break some kind of record for sexual harassment lawsuits."

Harry thought about the sport's reporter and nodded. If he was not remotely competent at his job, Harry would have thought about a replacement. Then again, he was harmless and his antics at the office ended up with him getting the short end of the stick so really Harry found himself amused. Something had to lighten up the office atmosphere.

"So, I should consider myself to be very lucky," Harry offered her and Lois sat down on the couch and invited Harry to do the same.

"Yes, you're pretty lucky," Lois managed as she tried to not get lost in his green eyes. Granted, the reporter did not try too hard because it was easy to do so.

Harry could see that she was this close to breaking. Whether or not she would actually admit she figured out who he was or she would wait for him to do so, well Harry would have to wait and see.

"So do you want anything to drink?" Lois asked him but then she stopped and internally smacked herself in the head.

''Really Lois, offering him a drink….oh well you've got to start somewhere,' Lois thought. Then again she wanted a drink herself.

"Actually, I'm fine, Lois," Harry commented with a smile across his face which caused her to raise an eyebrow.

"Fine?" Lois asked him.

"Yes, fine," Harry confirmed for her as he placed his hand on the couch then edged it onto her stocking clad leg. He had to hide his smile but it was time to strike whilst the iron was hot. "You look a little tense, though."

"Tense, I'm not tense!" Lois yelped in a tense voice and Harry placed his hands onto her legs then slowly ran his strong grip over them. He trailed his way up along her sides until her finally reached her shoulders.

"I think you're very tense," Harry breathed into her ear and Lois closed her eyes, feeling pleasure fill her body.

She wondered if he had some kind of power that allowed him bring a woman to orgasm simply due to the sound of his voice. Something about that would not surprise Lois and she honestly didn't mind it at all. In fact, there was a huge part of her that found it sexy.

'Don't look in his eyes, don't look in his eyes, don't look in his eyes,' Lois mentally chanted to herself but Harry placed his hand on her cheek.

"Lois," Harry told her in a firm voice as he gently tilted her head up to look at him.

Lois felt his weapons of mass seduction locked onto her. A part of her mind snarkily commented that there should be some vintage seventies porno music playing in the background, the kind that Lombard might have in his greatest hits collection.

She shook her head, trying to summon all of the inner strength that she could, even though a knot formed in her stomach.

"Lois," Harry breathed hotly in her ear.

Yes, Harry," Lois panted at him and Harry smiled wryly at her.

"You asked if I was thirsty earlier, didn't you?"

Lois decided to keep herself calm although she wondered if this was going to go in a panty soaking direction.

"Yes….yes, yes, I am," Lois stammered as she tried to clear the cobwebs from her head. "I mean….yes I did…I want to do….I want to ask you if you are sure."

"You know, I might be a bit parched," Harry told her as he emphasized the word parched with a smile and Lois could have sworn that his fingers edged upwards, looping underneath the edge of her stockings.

Inhibitions were coming undone, slowly but surely.

Harry smiled and he saw Lois's blouse was partially unbuttoned. Her cleavage dipped down amazingly low and her nipples poked out from behind her blouse. The wizard traced his tongue across his lips as he drank in the visual treat that was her body.

'Okay, now he's torturing me but torture isn't supposed to feel this good, unless I'm one of those people who get off on that sort of thing which….I just might be,' Lois admitted to herself as his lips were up against her ear and his hands were on her thighs.

"Actually I'm pretty thirsty and I think that there is something that I'd like to have a nice long drink of…."

Lois mentally cracked and pushed him down onto the couch starting to kiss him with reckless abandon. The hot brunette was working her tongue into his mouth and he returned.

She ripped at his shirt, not caring how expensive it might be, pulling it off. She ran her hands down his body, tracing his chest and his abs, kissing her way down them.

Lois reached for his belt and yanked it off.

Her heart nearly stopped as she saw what he had beneath his belt.

Smut/Lemon Begins.

Lois saw his boxer's that went over his throbbing hard cock. No question about it, this was what wet dreams were made of. She placed her hand on his length and stroked him through his boxer's.

"Let's see, oh yes," Lois breathed as she pulled him out.

It was a work of art and that was putting it mildly. It was big and thick with pulsing veins. His balls were large as well and Lois saw that it was not fully groan.

"My god," Lois breathed.

Harry offered her a smile. "Well if you think so highly of me."

Lois shook her head and grabbed him, stroking him up and down, rubbing him. She wanted to see it grow in her hands.

Harry grabbed her blouse and unbuttoned it. She was so engrossed in his cock that she did not notice him removing her blouse.

His fingers traced the insides of the cups of her bra, feeling an amazing set of D-Cup breasts that were about to burst free.

Lois felt the moisture pool down from her thighs and Harry ran his hand down past her toned stomach, cupping the inside of her pussy, squeezing her and feeling juices spill from her. He could tell that she was losing herself to his fingers roaming her body.

His fingers went into her and he brought her dripping juices. Slowly, he popped his fingers into his mouth one at a time, feasting on the delicious juices that were dripping down from his fingers. He popped them in and out of his mouth, humming madly as he kept licking them from his fingers.

"So…good," Harry breathed and Lois's response was push his cock between her lips.

'You haven't felt good yet,' Lois breathed as she felt his cock go down her throat and she took him deeper. His fingers touched her body, giving little strokes that caused her carpet to be stained by the moisture that rolled down her.

Harry could tell that she was losing herself from his motions and he kept working into her, feeling her folds. His fingers stroked around in the inside of her, cupping her tight and delicious pussy. The woman closed her eyes and enjoyed the ride.

Lois felt a burning desire, the need for something to fill her, to quench this desire, this pulsing feeling that could be felt between her thighs.

Harry could sense it coming from underneath her and he smiled. He wanted to milk this out as much as he could. He placed his hand on her pussy, cupping it. He massaged her folds as she closed her eyes and Harry kept working her over. There was a long sigh as Harry kept working his fingers around the lips of her pussy.

Lois pulled off of him and she leaned back, legs spread.

"Please," Lois breathed and Harry grabbed her hips.

His throbbing length rubbed against her dripping hot slit and Harry teased her for a few seconds. His head was grinding against her slit and she closed her eyes as she anticipated his length pulsing inside her. Lois lifted her hips towards him, inviting him to enter the inside of her.

Harry grabbed her breasts and teased her entrance, rubbing his thick head against her, teasing her.

"YES!"

Lois gave this declaration as Harry grabbed onto her hips and speared into her. Lois lifted her hips up, to meet his throbbing pulses between her legs. She closed her eyes and hung on as Harry plowed deep between her legs. She tightened around him and Harry kept plunging deep into her. The wizard grabbed onto her hips and kept slamming into her, one thrust after the next.

Harry indulged himself in her sexy body, working his throbbing length between her legs. Lois hung onto him as he kept plowing into her. The woman hung onto him, feeling the ride of her life as he kept pumping his hard dick in between her walls. Lois clenched her walls tightly around him and pumped herself up, feeling the amazing power of his thrusts between her legs. One thrust at a time brought her to new degrees of pleasure.

Lois grabbed Harry's arm and hung onto her. The young wizard kept plowing into her body, stroke after stroke, her hips went up against him as he buried into her.

The door opened and Chloe stopped and stared.

She saw Harry plowing into Lois and she felt her heart go aflutter at this. The blonde watched in wide eyes.

"Well, don't just watch, join the party," Lois breathed as Harry worked into her.

Chloe walked over numbly towards her older cousin and she felt like she was crossing some kind of taboo line. Of course, that made it far more exciting and it cause a far larger amount of pleasure to pulse into her body.

The sexy young blonde stripped her clothing from her and exposed her nice breasts and shaven pussy, the blonde walked over.

"Sit on my face and I'll….harder Harry!" Lois begged him as he worked deeper into her, her walls tightened around him.

Chloe did as she was told and Lois grabbed her thighs and pushed her tongue down her cousin's cunt.

"Damn, Lois," Chloe breathed as the woman's tongue licked the inside her pussy. The woman's tongue worked inside her.

"That's so fucking hot," Harry grunted as he speared himself into Lois's tight pussy.

Lois moaned as he worked her insides. Every thrust brought her to even more gleeful amazing. The wizard held onto her hips and kept pumping into her. The walls clenched his member as he kept working into her.

Harry ran his hands down her thighs as he kept hammering into her tightening quim. Lois breathed in and out as Harry kept pushing in and out of her.

Lois lifted her hips and allowed him to enter her again and again. Her walls closed around him, tightening her quim against his rod as he speared deeply into her. The woman was feeling the rush of him going into her body.

Harry spotted Chloe hanging onto Lois, her head rearing back and the blonde slurped her inner walls. He could see the lust burning off of Chloe's eyes and he felt the pulse of energy going through her. It was amazing, erotic, sensational, and everything else.

He kept pumping into her tightening pussy, with one thrust after another. The wizard's eyes flooded as Harry kept working into her. The walls worked around him, tightening around him. The wizard's eyes were insane and erotic as he worked deeper into her. His balls slapped against him.

Lois panted as Chloe grinded her pussy into her face and Lois returned fire, licking into her, using her tongue to work around the inside of the dripping pussy. The woman pushed her pussy down onto the mouth of Lois.

Harry speared deeper into her dripping wet pussy. The wizard kept working into Lois and he pumped himself into her so deep, so hard.

Lois felt her body swim with even more pleasure and the wizard kept working her hips up against her, with the walls working around him.

She collapsed with an extremely powerful orgasm.

"Time to return the favor," Harry breathed to Chloe and she nodded.

Chloe, mischief dancing in her eyes, crawled over so she was set up between Lois's legs. Her head was above her dripping quim.

She felt the very familiar sensation of Harry's mighty penis pushing between her walls.

'Fuck yes,' Chloe projected to Harry as she ate Lois's dripping pussy and tasted the juices. She kept sucking her pussy and licked around the insides.

Harry hung onto her hips and kept spearing into her tightening quim. The woman's eyes flooded with lust as Harry pumped into her.

His spear worked even deeper between her dripping walls, his meat spear pushed in and out of her, with a rapid fire fury. The wizard's eyes flooded with a lustful gaze as he cupped her body, working into her.

Lois shivered as Chloe licked her back to life and her pussy twitched back to life.

"Damn it Chloe, keep it up, oh lick my dirty twat," Lois breathed as she felt her snatch being given a tongue licking by Chloe. She could see Harry's large rod. "Ram her Harry, harder, FUCK HER UNTIL SHE CAN'T WALK!"

Lois gave that sensation with an orgasmic joy with Harry pumping hard into Chloe from behind. He ran his hands over her, feeling her delicious flesh.

Harry rammed in and out of Chloe at super speed and he hung onto her.

The blonde's eyes closed as she felt orgasms explode through her body. It was so amazing as Harry speared into her body and his balls kept slamming against her. He grabbed her breasts and kept pumping into her.

Chloe collapsed with the pleasure and Lois, now revived, threw herself onto Harry.

Harry laid back and allowed Lois to bounce and down his throbbing cock. The dark haired woman bounced higher and higher on him.

"Take my tits, oh take them!" Lois screamed as Harry grabbed them and channeled a small pulse of magic through them.

That caused Lois's screams to get extremely prolific and her walls clenched his invading rod. She tightened her quim against him and pushed herself down on his rod, riding him over and over again. Her eyes closed with pleasure.

Harry watched her bouncing breasts with hunger and squeezed them. Her moans got louder as she went higher and slammed down. Her hips gyrated down onto him as her pussy clenched him.

He grunted and sprayed his fluids inside her.

Lois screamed in pleasure as she felt his warm and thick cum spurt into her walls, pumping inside her.

She closed her eyes and collapsed, her pleasure heightened as she felt the rush of her orgasm end.

Smut/Lemon Ends.

X-X-X

"There's something happening."

Jean was the one that offered this statement. She was walking outside with Harry, Rogue, Wanda, Kitty, M'Gann, Kara, and Gwen.

"So, is this some kinda Phoenix Force-y thingy?" Kitty asked her.

'Nice to know that I'm now classified as a thingy,' the Phoenix said dryly.

'Phoenix,' Jean told the cosmic entity, warning her to stand down.

'I said nothing,' Phoenix said.

Harry shook his head and he thought to the girls. 'I see the same thing now, so stay alert.'

"HARRY POTTER! YOU SHALL PAY FOR YOUR DEFIANCE OF LORD VOLDEMORT!"

Sirius Black or rather his animated corpse showed up. It was barely held together, in fact there was really no way to salvage the body once the spirit holding it together was exorcised.

Harry sighed in annoyance and flicked his hand at the body causing it to be blasted apart. Jean ripped the demented echo from the body and Wanda then blasted it with her hex powers.

Voldemort or rather what was left of his soul, was now confined to a racquet ball. Harry quickly put it in his bag after performing a few charms to make sure no one could get it out.

He heard a few whispers from the ball swearing vengeance but they faded fairly quickly. He was sure that Lockheed would appreciate the new chew toy.

"So was that the thing that you were talking about?" Harry asked dismissively.

Jean shook her head. "No it's not that….it's something else, although I don't know what it is."

The redhead wondered what was happening as she brushed her hair out of her eyes and placed her hands on the top of her head to try and block out the weird hissing sound.

"Well there's your answer right there," Kara said pointing them out.

"Get her, take the rest out!"

The Marauders were in the house.

"Really? The fucking Marauders again?" Kitty asked as Harpoon threw one of his namesake weapons at her but the brunette mutant ducked her head and it slammed into the wall behind.

"Yes...really," Rogue stated dryly as she drove him into the ground with a viscous ax handle smash.

"Fuck. Okay, I'll bite, what's Sinister up to….trying…." Kitty said but stopped as she felt dizzy because of the effects of Vertigo's powers.

That was until Kara flew up into the air above it and slammed a punch into Vertigo's face that snapped her head back due to the force.

Vertigo went down, a ringing sensation going through her brain that turned the tables on her. The mutant rolled her head around in empty to clear it and Kara smiled as she flipped her up into the air before kicking her in the stomach.

A huge bang echoed outwards as she ended up embedded in the closest wall.

"So any idea what these Peckerheads are after?" Rogue asked as she grabbed Blockbuster then rather casually broke his arm with a snap before sending him bouncing off the wall next to Vertigo.

"Don't know, they started this," Kitty stated as she grabbed Riptide and phased him into Harpoon causing both to black out and them fall to the ground with a clatter.

"I could have sworn we killed these guys," Jean said as she used her powers to knock Arclight down to the ground.

"Clones, they're the gift that keeps on giving!" Kitty yelled as she phased one of them head first into a trash can.

"Wait, did I see two Harpoons?" Gwen asked as she took out one of them with a flipping punch to the back of the neck where his skull met his spine.

"Yeah, you did," Harry confirmed darkly.

"It would have to be clones," Kitty moaned as she slammed her hand through the chest of one of her enemies then phased it solid. "That's like the most played out plot in comic books, right up there with evil mentors, robot duplicates and mind switching."

"Stay focused," Harry warned his girlfriend and Kitty nodded, she was staying focused as well as she could even though her knees knocked together.

Her heart hammered against her chest as she dodged an attack. Two of the Harpoons blew each other up in the crossfire.

"Oh! they're clones! That explains why they keep coming back!" Kara shouted as she used her heat vision to give Blockbuster a hot foot.

"Sinister, he's replicating them, making them stronger," Jean offered as she crushed another Vertigo's mind causing her to collapse to the ground like a puppet who had their strings cut.

"You think," Harry breathed heavily and Jean raised an eyebrow.

I don't think, love, I know," Jean told him as she kept slamming her enemy's around with even greater telekinetic fury.

Jean was really going to town on these clones, the Phoenix's fury burning through her body felt amazing.

"What's their plan?" Rogue hissed as she noticed some of the clones started to become fixated on her. It was starting to creep her out.

A bone rattling punch to the jaw brought her enemy down and Rogue winced as she felt this Blockbuster was stronger.

Harry saw the arrival of SHIELD.

'Fashionably late as always, Nicky boy,' Harry thought to himself. He readied himself for another fight and he slammed his arms against the back of the head of his adversaries.

"I think that they're after the third key," Rogue said, she felt her mind get a little fuzzy.

"Oh, and what is that?" Kara asked as she used her ice breath to send a group of Marauder clones into their own personal ice age.

Rogue used her strong will to snap herself back to something that resembled reality. "Actually I think that someone is me."

"You….but…."

Harry knew why, he saw him, a brief hint of him anyway. It was Mesmero and he slipped off into the shadows.

It was a good thing that Rogue was able to keep it together.

'Help me make sure she can keep it together, Jean,' Harry told her through the link.

'Right,' Jean told him as she locked her thoughts onto his.

Both of them created an overlapping shield that would hopefully protect Rogue's mind from further harm, at least that's what the idea was. If Mesmero tried to worm his grimy fingers into her mind, he would be in for a few surprises.

"And now they're leaving, well what's left of them," Gwen said as she watched them but Harry felt tense.

"They gave up a bit too easy," Harry responded to them.

"Too easy, with that fight?" Gwen asked him with a raised eyebrow, wondering if Harry was being a pessimistic asshole again. Truthfully he was too paranoid for his own good, and it was quite honestly one of his most annoying character traits.

Kara felt compelled to jump in and defend Harry. The blonde placed her hand on the top of her head. "Well don't you find it the least bit odd that Mesmero left the building just before the Marauders did?"

Kitty looked thoughtful. "Yeah that's weird."

"Rogue, you're fine, nothing's going to happen," Harry said as he pulled her into a tight hug.

"Rogue, you're fine, nothing's going to happen," Harry said to her as he pulled her into a tight hug.

Kara and Harry both heard the same beacon and they knew what it meant.

Rogue heard it as well with her somewhat sharper hearing and she was surprised. She could have sworn that Kitty heard something too given the expression on her face but if she did, she did not say anything.

Milton Fine watched. Everything was going according to plan. Soon the true face of Krypton would return.

X-X-X

Mister Sinister was not the patient type, especially when his carefully laid plans crumbled into dust before his eyes.

"And let me state for the record. Again. That I knew that this plan wasn't going to work," Mystique offered condescendingly. She could not resist rubbing this one into his face.

Sinister, despite the slight, remained calm, almost scarily so. "Dear Raven, do not despair, I still have a plan that will work."

Mystique had heard that one more than a few times before from different employees, it was attempt for them to try and show that they still had things under control even though most times they were close to losing their minds. She knew that if something happened to Sinister, her debt would be paid by default, so it was prudent to give the sadistic idiot more than enough rope to hang himself with, and she saw the look in his eyes that indicated he was trying to keep things under control.

Even though it was completely obvious by all indications precisely how much he was losing control. Mystique could not help but smile at that thought. Her eyes continued to flash with something akin to excitement. Her red hair flipped back and her eyes danced.

Sinister meanwhile, only considered this battle for what it was and that was a temporary setback at best. He was not about to lose himself, not when he was this close to the finish line.

Rather he turned to Mesmero and decided to place the blame where he felt it was most deserved. His nasty gaze burned into the face of the mutant that stood in the shadows.

"You had one simple job, that was to ensnare the girl's mind and bring her here," Sinister told Mesmero and the mutant bowed.

"Well if you had been able to give me a more durable distraction, maybe she would have been brought before you and the temple would have been unlocked to release the Great One," Mesmero told him a nasty sneer on his at face as he looked at Sinister. "Perhaps you should consider putting blame where it is due and that is on yourself alongside your pathetic clones."

Sinister looked at him, disbelief swimming through his eyes and there was only one statement that popped out of his lips. "You dare?"

"Yes, I dare but you've blundered this entire mission and it's hardly a fault of mine," Mesmero said as he stood in front of Sinister.

"Without Apocalypse, you would be nothing but an afterthought," Sinister stated harshly and Mesmero raised an eyebrow.

"And you would be something?" Mesmero asked.

Mystique said nothing, all she did was sit back and enjoy the show for what it was. And it was quite the show to say the least. Her eyes followed Sinister and Mesmero, watching the two of them bicker back and forth like it was a Tennis Match.

"Well isn't this a nice little picture?"

Their gaze turned to Norman Osborn as he showed up, dressed in a suit.

"You must have lost your mind to come here," Mystique said as she prepared herself to attack but Sinister gave her a warning look.

"I can tell you that I'm as sane as I ever was," Osborn stated to her and that was a statement that everyone was skeptical about. "It seems like no matter what, at the end of the day, you keep failing to take him down, again and again and again."

"We haven't failed," Sinister said to him.

Osborn corked his eyebrow. "I consider your lack of ability to defeat Arcane to be that of abject failure."

Sinister remained calm and he placed his hand on the top of his head and surveyed Osborn. "I could have sworn that you were equally unable to defeat him as well."

Osborn said nothing at least not at the moment. His gaze locked onto Sinister's face as the two of them proceed to attempt to stare each other down. Neither backed down for the second but Osborn was calm and collected, almost scarily so.

"You might think that you have me but you're wrong," Osborn said as he dodged an attack from Harpoon in the shadows at super speed.

Harpoon felt a fist impact through his chest and he slumped over Norman's hand. Osborn followed it up by slamming him into the wall with a cracking crunch then left him there to slump bonelessly to the ground.

"I have power beyond all measure, beyond anything your pitiful mind is capable of even dreaming of," Osborn told Sinister.

Sinister would be a liar if he was not curious about this. From what he found out, the goblin formula was a botched effort but now Osborn had evolved into something entirely different. His beady eyes fixed upon on Osborn.

"So, an interesting turn around," Sinister stated as he faced Osborn fully. "But do you mind telling me how you received this burst of power?"

Osborn remained extremely calm. "Well that's something for you to determine. Although with each passing failure, your master will not be too happy with you."

"Am I failing?"

Sinister's bravado was obvious although there was a sense that bravado was a mask that he was hiding behind. Sinister and Osborn locked eyes on each other and neither would back down.

"I think that the two of us could together quite effectively," Osborn said to him and this caught Sinister off guard.

He raised an eyebrow. "You expect me to trust you, don't you?"

Osborn's sneer crossed over his face as he decided to take the bullets out of his gun and he watched the person in front of him. "Well you're running out of options, aren't you?"

Sands spill out of the hourglass, Sinister's eyes flashed with a tiny bit of desperation and there was a look in his eyes that none of the Marauders had ever seen before.

"You know Apocalypse must come for the world to be forced to survive," Osborn said as he stared down Sinister. "I can help you."

Sinister paused once more.

"Can you now?" Sinister asked him and Osborn's gaze fixed on them.

"This is a limited time offer," Osborn told Sinister and his warning gaze burned into his face. "I have a plan that will bring all our enemies down."

Sinister would accept his help for now but prepared to make a fall out plan for when this alliance inevitably went pear shaped.

X-X-X

"I know we have a problem, it's just….Jean sensed it," Harry told Lara as he made his way to the Fortress after she summoned him.

"He's coming," Lara told him.

"Yes, I know Apocalypse, but we're keeping an eye on Rogue, she's the third key, I don't know how but she is," Harry replied to her.

Peve jumped in with a few words of her own. "Whilst Apocalypse is concerning, there is another enemy, one of the ghosts of Krypton has returned."

Harry and Kara exchanged an anxious look with each other. Both of them felt their hearts skip a few beats. They would need to know everything before they gave the Team full disclosure. The two of them nervously waited for the bombshell to drop.

"We believe that an agent of Zod's made his way to Earth from Krypton but he's working with one of the gravest threats that Krypton has ever experienced," Alura said and she let out a lengthy breath even though the action was far from necessary given that she was an artificial intelligence construct.

"Troubling, well don't just leave me hanging in suspense," Harry said as he crossed his arms over his chest after stretching his shoulders.

Alura decided to jump in and tell him what the Council had found out. "We caught an energy signature, it's very low level but it's coming from an area within New York City."

Harry had a very bad feeling about this although he could not figure what it was. His eyes locked forward as he asked the extremely obvious question. "Exactly where is it coming from?"

There was a few seconds where Alura ran over to try and get the energy signature.

"I'm not going to mince words, this project started at a good idea at a time but it's the definite example of how good ideas can be corrupted," Lara said in a wistful voice and Harry listened to what his mother was about to tell him. "The BrainInteractive Construct was supposed to look over the entire Kryptonian race, to help us, to allow us to evolve to be as strong as possible and as they said, Krypton was supposed to last for a million years."

"And that didn't happen," Harry stated to her.

"No, it didn't happen, as we well know," Lara said as she thought about it and the tragedy of the situation. There were many tragedies that took place on Krypton but the corruption of that system was one.

"Zod got his mitts on the BrainInteractive Construct and decided to destroy the planet," Alura informed him.

Kara balled her hands up into fists up where they lay at her hips but said nothing. The fact of the matter was that the General was one of the most horrific figures in the entire history of Krypton. He started as one of the most respected which made things even more galling. The blonde tried to keep things optimistic and she could tell that Harry was going to comfort her. The wizard snaked his arm around her waist.

"Zod caused the deaths of many and I'd imagine that he was behind the destruction of Kandor as well," Lara said to them as she pushed her hair back out of her face and offered a prominent sigh. Her hologram flickered with an expressive glance.

That was one of the many tragedies to befall Krypton, the destruction of Kandor was a horror beyond all horrors and something that left an ugly mark on everyone who had friends and family inside the City. Kara thought about it, her eyes shut and Harry pulled her into a tight one armed hug. The blonde's smile crossed over her face as Harry kept holding her in his tight grip.

"And now he's coming to Earth….I thought you said that his body was destroyed before he was exiled to the Phantom Zone," Harry said.

He saw how Sirius's body barely stood up after being possessed by Riddle….well he was the one million shot that defied each and every bit of logic. That was just the way that he rolled. He wondered what would happen with Zod but Lily, who was quiet, spoke up.

"I won't lie Harry, I'm concerned about this one, as feared as Voldemort was, he was a monster among idiots," Lily told Harry. "He had a moderate amount of power."

Harry smiled as he thought about that. How easy it was to flatten him like a soda can this morning.

"But while Voldemort killed many, his deaths were far less than what General Zod was responsible for, Voldemort was a glorified serial killer with a wand, Zod was a ruthless army general who caused genocide within days on a galactic scale," Lily said.

"And even if he does have this sick pleasure of making other men kneel before him, he's still extremely dangerous," Lara told Harry and he nodded in a stoic manner. "I wouldn't take him lightly however."

"We have to find out where his minion is holed up and take the fight to him," Kara said in a fierce voice but Harry shook his head.

"Don't get impulsive, Kara," Harry warned her and Kara crossed her arms with a pout about to protest but Harry silenced her with a mere look. "I know you want to take down who did this, I would be the same but we got to have a plan."

Kara smiled even if it was strained. "Right….a plan…that's kind of your forte, isn't it?"

Harry smiled back at her. "Yes, it kind of is."

There was some pretty good news as well, despite everything, Harry had a pretty good support network in place that would allow him to work through everything. He had a group that was amazing, actually that was not the only thing that he had to do.

'Harry, we've got a problem,' Jean thought to him.

'Of course we do,' Harry thought but he figured that this might be different than the other problems that he talked about.

'The Goblin's alive, he's attacking the city, and…..he's been upgraded,' Jean told him through the link.

Harry sighed, that most certainly qualified as a problem.