The Midas Foundation

The new head of the Midas Foundation is named Oubliette. Her father, the late Doctor Midas, named her after a medieval torture instrument. That was her purpose, to serve as his own personal weapon in his search to acquire the necessary dose of cosmic radiation in order to gain superhuman abilities.

She broke free of his reach, joining Noh-Varr in his quest. After they went up against Midas, Noh-Varr was captured by SHIELD. Oubliette escaped, waged an attack on DisneyWorld, and announced Noh-Varr’s presence to the world. Internet cults sprung up, claiming Noh-Varr as a star-god. Oubliette vanished from sight, working from the shadows and using the resources of the Midas Foundation to further her goal of freeing Noh-Varr.

The footage she watched on the plasma television installed in her high-rise office told her all the information she needed to know. The Cube, the superhuman penitentiary Noh-Varr was imprisoned in, has experienced a break-out. The Avengers were sent to quell the break-out, but no word has come yet. All contact with the prison has been lost.

She smiled at the news. Not long ago, she was approached by someone who had heard of the secretive Midas Foundation and also knew its new CEO was the same woman responsible for furthering Noh-Varr’s cause. This mysterious benefactor offered Oubliette the opportunity to deactivate power at the Cube for a small window of time, just the amount Noh-Varr needed to make his escape.

The glass behind her suddenly shattered, and Oubliette turned in surprise. The Gypsy Moth hovered through the broken window and her feet lightly touched the ground. Sand particles surrounded the area and coalesced into the form of the Sandman. A cloud of purple smoke appeared, signalling the appearence of Diablo. He looked at the shattered glass, then at Gypsy Moth, and shook his head.

“Was that necessary?” he asked.

“I’ve always had a flair for the dramatic,” replied Gypsy Moth.

The Sandman approached Oubliette and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt.

“Our boss wants a word with you,” he said.

“Release her, Marko,” said Diablo. “Noh-Varr said she’d come along willingly.”

Two security guards charged into the office, their guns drawn. They saw Sandman holding Oubliette by the collar and immediately opened fire on him. The bullets harmlessly passed through his body. He turned to face them, releasing Oubliette.

“Ms. Midas, are you—” one of the guards began. Oubliette lifted her hand up to silence him, then opened her desk drawer. She produced a gold pistol, and shot each of the guards in the head. Then, she turned to the three intruders.

“Let’s go,” she said. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”

EMPIRE

Part III: The Last Rebel

By Logan Polk and Dino Pollard

The Vault

The Cube isn’t the only superhuman penitentiary in existence, there are actually quite a few out in the world. The first, and still the most-famous, is the Vault. The guardsmen are encased in special armor, designed by Stark Enterprises, in order to give them the upper hand when controlling the prison’s superhuman population.

Unfortunately, they may have their work cut out for themselves today. The ground began to quake, and the guardsmen in the security towers immediately notice the source of it. Emil Blonsky, the gamma-powered behemoth known as the Abomination. They opened fire on him, but he shrugged it off as if it were nothing.

The tower shook harder, and the guardsmen found themselves losing their footing. They suddenly realized the Abomination was just a distraction to make way for the Absorbing Man, whose massive wrecking ball brought the security tower down. Sirens went off, as guardsmen came forth from the Vault. The Absorbing Man and Abomination were joined by the Radioactive Man and Siena Blaze.

“Good, I need a work-out,” said the Absorbing Man with a grin once he caught sight of the guardsmen. He grabbed a slab of the collapsed tower, and his body shifted into the same granite the tower was made of.

Radioactive Man stepped up first, however, and unleashed wave after wave of radiated heat. The guardsmen who caught the initial waves were disposed of quickly, their armor melted to slag. When the Radioactive Man halted his attack, Siena Blaze hovered in the air. Using her powers, she forced the administration building of the Vault to collapse.

More guardsmen came forth to quell the attack, and the four villains welcomed them with open arms. While they drew the attention of the Vault’s security forces, no one noticed the Living Laser. With his body transformed into a wave of photons, the Laser travelled into the Vault via the power system. He materialized inside, and deactivated the Vault’s generators. With the power offline, the prisoners of the Vault felt their powers returning to them. The world’s most-fearsome criminals broke free of their bonds, and joined their liberators in the attack on their jailers.

Ohmphalos

From SHIELD’s orbital platform, Noh-Varr received the satellite feeds of various television news networks.

{ …following the break-out at the Cube, other superhuman penitentiaries—the Vault, the Cage, Ravencroft, and others—have been similarly attacked… }

{ …no word from the Avengers, who disappeared after attempting to quell the riot at the Cube… }

{ …the President, among other world leaders, has been kidnapped by agents of the Cosmic Jihad cult… }

{ …the world’s heroes working overtime to apprehend the escaped convicts… }

{ …Reed Richards was unavailable for comment at this moment, as was Nick Fury of SHIELD… }

Noh-Varr smiled at the broadcasts. So far, everything had been going accordint to plan. The world’s heroes, alongwith SHIELD, would be too occupied with fighting the supervillain insurgency that they would be ill-equipped to launch an attack on the Ohmphalos space station. The sound of the door opening drew his attention away from the monitors, and he saw Sandman, Gypsy Moth, and Diablo enter with Oubliette at their side. He smiled when he laid eyes on her, and she at him. He stepped over to her, and looked to his associates.

“Go have some fun,” he said. “The world’s your oyster, and you’ve served your purpose. You’ll be honored as heroes in the new world order.”

“It’s been a pleasure,” said Diablo with a grin. He turned and Sandman and Gypsy Moth followed him. The door closed behind them, leaving Noh-Varr and Oubliette alone.

“Idiots…” muttered Noh-Varr. “Once the revolution is over, they’ll be the first to die. Can’t have scum like that running around.”

“Did you like my present?” she asked.

“You were the one who caused the power failure?” asked Noh-Varr.

“I had some help, but yeah, it was me,” she replied. “What took you so long to come for me?”

“I had my priorities,” said Noh-Varr. “Like finding Plex and my new home.”

He motioned to the large bay window, which overlooked the Earth.

“Like the view?”

“Beautiful,” she said. “So what’s next, spaceboy?”

He smiled and picked up a garmet box off a nearby chair. He handed it to her. She opened it and smiled at what she saw inside. It was an exact duplicate of her leather exterminatrix outfit, complete with the bandolier and a golden gun.

“The businesswoman look doesn’t suit you,” he said.

“Definitely not,” said Oubliette.

“And now you’re in charge of the Midas Foundation,” said Noh-Varr.

“Guess daddy didn’t have time to change his will after I turned on him,” she said. “The Foundation’s all yours now, spaceboy. What’s the plan?”

“Follow me,” he replied. He led her out the door and into another room. At the center of the room was Plex, and all around it were several world leaders and wealthy businessmen, standing in a comatose state. Their eyes were blank, devoid of any sort of free will. Oubliette looked over them all and smiled. She also noticed the presence of a large video camera.

“My new friends and I have been keeping busy,” said Noh-Varr. “Time to speak to the masses. We ready, Plex?”

{ Whenever you are, Noh-Varr. }

“Good,” he said. He turned to the camera, and a red light on it turned on, activated by Plex. “Don’t bother changing your station, this message is being broadcast over every single radio, television, cell phone, MP3 player, computer, and movie screen on Earth. My name is Noh-Varr, and I’ve taken control of the world’s most powerful leaders—presidents, dictators, oil tycoons, prime ministers, software moguls—you can see them standing here behind me. I’m claiming this planet in the name of the Kree Empire. Your system is one of fear, greed, and stupidity. Your world is run by thieves and murderers, and ‘good’ depends on who has the biggest bombs. Millions of your people are without shelter and food.

“And I’m here to change that. This planet will be the new Hala, the capital of the new Kree Empire. If you accept this change willingly, you will be spared and you’ll be welcomed into a better world. I’m going to show you people what paradise looks like, even if I have to destroy every last one of you.

“Noh-Varr out.”

The camera’s red light faded away. Oubliette began to clap.

“Nice speech, spaceboy,” she said. “What now?”

“With Plex’s help in modifying the technology on this space station, I’ve sent out a message that will hopefully be picked up by the rest of the Kree Empire,” said Noh-Varr. “Kree forces will come, armed to the teeth, and we’ll turn this world into paradise.”

“And the spandex-clad defenders are too busy fighting for their lives to stop us,” said Oubliette. “Beautiful.”

“There’s still one problem,” said Noh-Varr. “A refugee from the Shi’ar Empire is somewhere on Earth, and she’s apparently part of the royal family.”

“Is she going to cause trouble?” asked Oubliette.

“I doubt it,” replied Noh-Varr. “She’s just one person, and I’ve already sent operatives to apprehend her. It won’t be long now.”

Oubliette wrapped her arms around the boy who fell to earth, and she looked up at his eyes.

“You’re on top of the world, baby,” she said before pressing her lips to his.

Avengers Mansion

She was born Cal’syee Nermani, part of the ruling royal family of the galaxy-spanning Shi’ar Empire. However, she goes by a new name, now—that of Deathbird. For a long time, she was banished from her royal bloodline. Her avian characteristics branded her as an evolutionary throwback, an outcast.

She fought back. She attacked the Empire on numerous occassions, attempting to usurp the throne from her younger sister, Lilandra. But eventually, Deathbird saw the error of her ways, or at least she appeared to. She was welcomed back into the royal family, and she was given Hala to rule over.

After thwarting the Phalanx attack on the Empire alongside the X-Men, Deathbird was lost in space with the X-Man called Bishop. The two remained that way for quite some time, arriving on different worlds, and even being thrust into a possible future. The pair became drawn to each other, and Deathbird found herself falling in love with the X-Man. Eventually, the duo arrived on Earth, and Deathbird chose to stay with Bishop, even fighting alongside her former enemies in the X-Men. Time passed, and Bishop left the X-Men… left her. Feeling spited, Deathbird left the X-Men as well, with no true purpose.

Now, she has a purpose. A purpose that has brought her to the gates of Avengers Mansion. She saw Noh-Varr’s broadcast, but she was unable to get to the X-Men. Still, she knew the technology contained within Avengers Mansion would serve her purposes just as well. It was just a matter of getting inside.

In her hand, she held a small baton. With the push of a button. it extended to a full-length staff. An energy scythe formed at one end of it. That, alongwith the mechanical wings she wore in place of the feather wings which were removed some time ago, were both souveniers of her time with the X-Men.

Her wings lifted her into the air, and she effortlessly crossed over the gates of Avengers Mansion. She lowered herself to the ground, and her feet touched down. Her eyes surveyed the area, and small gun turrets emerged from the ground. They began firing at her—lasers, of a non-lethal variety. She had always scoffed at these terran heroes and their moral codes against killing. For her, it was practically second-nature.

She dodged several of the blasts, and used her scythe to block the ones she was not able to avoid. A few blasts hit their mark, one singed her shoulder, another struck her leg. She leaped across, her wings giving her an added boost, and she disabled one of the turrets with the scythe. She sidestepped another, and her wings took her into the air again. She dive-bombed, tearing it apart with her scythe. She moved to the front entrance and slammed her foot against the door. Being of Shi’ar origin, her strength was slightly above that of the average earthling, something she reveled in.

Inside, she heard alarms go off. The sound of “intruder alert” pierced her ears, but she blocked it out as best she could. She moved deeper into the mansion, searching for the control room, or perhaps an Avenger. The news reports said they were unreachable. Deathbird assumed they were dead. The Kree were warriors, and they wouldn’t hesitate to kill an opponent. She imagined Noh-Varr was no different.

She moved down to the lower levels. If the Avengers were anything like the X-Men, that’s where she figured she would find the communications equipment she needed in order to get her message out. Down in the sublevel, she found an elderly man sitting before a monitor. Displayed on the monitor was the image of a man with short brown hair that was gray at the temples. His face was unshaven, and he wore an eyepatch.

“The situation is bad, Colonel Fury,” said the old man. “We—”

{ Jarvis, who the hell is that? }

The old man, presumably Jarvis, turned in his seat. He gasped when he laid eyes on her.

“Deathbird,” said Jarvis, remembering her from the Avengers files. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to help,” said Deathbird.

“If I recall correctly, you’ve tried to kill the Avengers in the past,” said Jarvis. “Forgive me for not trusting you.”

{ Last I heard, you were runnin’ around with the X-Men. What happened? }

“It’s none of your concern,” said Deathbird. “Where are the Avengers?”

“We’ve lost contact with them,” said Jarvis. “They’re not answering their ID cards.”

“Which means they’ve either been captured or killed,” said Deathbird.

{ Isn’t she a peppy one? }

“I’ve already taken the liberty of contacting reserve Avengers,” said Jarvis. “They’re doing the best they can to assist in quelching this mutiny.”

{ Jarvis, that little shit took over my space station. I got my operatives stretched really thin. I need more than that. What about the west coasters? }

“We haven’t found a way to reach them, either,” replied Jarvis.

“Forget your heroes,” said Deathbird. “If you want to defeat Noh-Varr, you need assistance from the only ones capable of defeating the Kree.”

{ An’ who might that be, princess? }

“The Shi’ar Empire,” replied Deathbird. “I must make contact with my sister.”

{ Since when do you care so much about Earth? }

“I don’t,” said Deathbird. “But that doesn’t mean I want to see it fall into the hands of a disgusting Kree.”

{ Let her make the call, Jarv. }

“But Colonel—!”

{ Our options are wearing thin, pal. Now let her make the call. }

“Thank you,” said Deathbird. She pushed Jarvis rather forcefully from the chair and stood over the control panel. Her fingers danced across the controls, as if it were second nature.

“I take it this isn’t your first long-distance call?” asked Jarvis.

“It’s not a call,” replied Deathbird. “I have no desire to speak to my sister. Instead, I’m sending out an emergency message. Requesting the presence of the Shi’ar to quell a Kree outbreak.”

An alarm went off, and Deathbird and Jarvis both looked up in shock.

“What’s happening?” asked Deathbird.

“Intruders,” replied Jarvis. He turned to the monitors, viewing the surveillance feed from the cameras on the mansion’s perimeter. He saw nothing there, save for a destroyed fence. “Oh my…”

The door to the room opened with a hiss, and Deathbird and Jarvis turned to face it. Jarvis breathed a sigh of relief once he saw who stepped inside the control room.

“Oh thank heavens…” he said with a sigh. “Captain, you frightened me half to death.”

“Stay out of this,” said Captain America. Behind him stood Iron Man, Warbird, the Vision, Cannonball, Captain Marvel, and Namor.

“Run,” said Deathbird.

“I beg your pardon?” asked Jarvis.

“I said run, old man,” replied Deathbird. “Or they’ll kill you as well.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Jarvis.

“Deathbird,” said Captain America. “By order of Noh-Varr and in the name of the Kree Empire, you are sentenced to death.”

Deathbird’s hand struck one final key. On the monitor, the words “MESSAGE SENT” flashed.

“Of course I am,” she said. “But I won’t be alone.”