Last-Emperor

@the_championess: @clara_mass:

For a moment there came no movement from the Last Emperor. No shrug nor blink. No heave of the chest as he breathed nor a single sound. Only stillness. Only the cold mystique that cut through the air like a steel blade. "Hahahaha, what feelings?", Impero mocked, his rasped laughter flowing out the slit of his mask. "In any case", he paused, mouth pulled back into the subtlest of smirks behind his expressionless mask. "It seems your talent for meddling with things beyond your... understanding is alive as ever", he said, the microcircuit in his mask warding of all the non-EM energies mingling round his ex-wife, be they reality bending, telekinetic, psychic - all non-EM energies fell to the word of his mask's neutralizing frequencies.

"Gods... what are gods? Godhood is attained by those who impose their moral order upon the world. On the less remarkable who foolishly accept socially imposed notions of moral responsibility. Shape the world, be a god", Impero said, his sharp eyes following Clarice's every stride like arrows with a target. "Anyone can be a god. Most of the world simply hasn't realized it. Apparently", he taunted, arms still folded behind his back, posture still calm, his mask still hiding his every smirk and facial tic. "As for my blood", Impero began, his voice colder now, darker, "I will see to it that they're freed. This dimension you speak of may be beyond the reach of your powers, but no game is easier to play than fooling gods", he promised with cold self-assurance, his thoughts on the bastard lavaliere he'd forged and the role it'd play in breaching the dimension that held his children.

"And while I tend to that", Impero smirked, sly as his mask caught the massive surge of energy headed their way, "You can tend to the powerful presence coming your way", he laughed, his body fading as he teleported away to parts unknown.

@clara_mass:

The Phenom - Impero - did not sit. Instead, he stood with both arms regally folded behind his back, and his posture poised and cold like a predator's. "Perhaps", he answered, his tone measured and calm, the dark slits of his alabaster mask drawing Clarice's lilac gaze to him. "Or perhaps empire claims are beneath me now", he rasped, a cunning curl of the lips hidden by the white shell of his mask. Stepping forward, his stride as mystifying as his gaze was piercing, the Last Emperor's mind pulled back to thoughts of the bastard lavaliere he'd forged - and his plan for it. "Ah... I'm afraid I never answered your first question", he paused, the microcircuit in his mask shooing Clarice's non-EM reality warping energies from him with neutralizing frequencies. He wasn't immune... only highly resistant. "I'm doing... well".

"And what of yourself?", Impero asked, the deep and commanding timbre of his voice cutting cutting through the air like a blade as he swore he could hear it. The resentment in her voice. He'd chosen Lara Kelly, an nGoddess, over her. And just as ice water ran in his veins, resentment sat heavy in Clarice's heart. And it amused him. "Which of the seven deadly sins possessed you to venture outside your own universe? Greed? Gluttony? Both?", he asked, taunting laughter flowing calm and low out his throat. "Surely you didn't flee to this new world because Olympus needs it's darling little queen here - a universe away", he taunted, his voice smirking as much as his lips. "So", Impero paused, amusement giving way to cold self-assurance, "What do you want?".

@clara_mass:

As he sat motionless in his chair, his face hidden behind the alabaster shell of an expressionless mask, Impero smirked. How cold of him, to find amusement from his ex-wife's humiliation and lowered status in the world's power structure. It was a testament to the ice water running in his veins. Ego. Power. Things that touched the hearts of men and women alike, and none was more touched than Clarice. "This is no game, my dear", the Last Emperor rasped, his tone measured and calm, his mystique cutting through the tension in the atmosphere with ease, "This is cosmic truth", he reassured. "If the risk you take of being part of your little group is as great as you claim... then is this not a perfect opportunity for you?".

"The artifact I am searching for, the cosmic truth I seek will give you what you have lost. An empire. Olympus. The power to pluck Olympus from our universe and bring it here. The power for you to build an empire of your own upon the Olympus of this universe", Impero paused, his hands resting face down on his lap, his body language poised, even regal. "Power.. power is all that matters. It is what inspires generations to write legends, it is what causes a son to murder his father, a daughter her mother. Because good and evil do not exist, they are social constructs created by lesser men to hold back the few superior ones. There is only power, my dear. And those too weak to see it", the Last Emperor asserted.

"That is what I offer you. Power. Unlike any you have ever wielded". Pausing once more, as if to allow his words to echo deep in her mind, to tug at the strings of her ambitious heart and persuade her to ease his quest for a truth beyond the Lavalieres of cosmic legend, he continued. "Or is power not enough?".

@clara_mass:

An alabaster mask devoid of expression, and a man empty of emotional vulnerabilities, Impero cut a cold and emotionless figure. Partially shrouded in the shadows that surrounded him, he sat neatly, his enigmatic eyes almost smirking at the sight of her, his ex-wife, Clarice Michelle. Her mannerisms, the confidence and sass with which she had his crony catch the designer purse she'd thrown his way, it drew the subtlest laughter from the Last Emperor, "You haven't changed one bit have you, dear?", he taunted, head subtly tilted to the side, an air of cunning hanging around him. Theirs was a contentious history. Their affair was fiery, they'd built the foundation of the Iberian Empire together, and in the end? He'd tossed his first and only wife aside.

He'd replaced her with a woman Impero was confident Clarice resented and hated even more than she did him; Lara Kelly. To the world she was Lady Liberty, but to the Last Emperor, she was his lover, a treasured part of his inner circle, and the woman he'd intended to reshape the Prime Universe with. But a disastrous and accidental excursion from Prime to the nU had separated them. And in the setting of a new universe, Impero would do what he did best; form alliances - even with his enemies. "Oh I didn't mean to become difficult to find. It simply - happened", the Last Emperor shrugged, a smirk hiding behind his mask. "I'll to keep this brief, I understand that you're a busy woman, Clarice. And I a busy man", he reminded, the ice water running in his veins betraying no emotion in the face of the woman he had so cruelly betrayed.

"There are not many things greater than your hatred for me. But I know of one", the Last Emperor paused, "Your love for power is greater than any hatred and resentment you have for me. Or so I think", he shrugged. "And I have discovered something of truly cosmic power. But one thing stands in my way. Your little group, L.O.V.E.", he highlighted. "Confronting your group myself would have been interesting. And while occasionally pleasing, I don't usually sully my hands with that kind of grunt work. All I need from you is that you simply keep L.O.V.E.'s attention away from me and once I come into possession of my... artifact, I will give you what you want. Power".

@clara_mass:

Where exactly? An abandoned safehouse belonging to no one in particular. Inside, shrouded in darkness, Impero stood in wait. Arms folded behind his back, his posture one of poise and predatory calm, he strode forward, into the light as his Masquerade agents turned to meet his sharp gaze. "Hahaha.. so, it seems the universe has presented us with an opportunity we cannot pass up", the Last Emperor rasped. Those of the Masquerade said nothing. Features behind gas masks and full body suits, they were anonymous specters, mute psychopaths who were guided by Impero's whim and nothing more. They never spoke, not unless told to by their master.

Instead, they roamed the corners of the safehouse, ice water running in their veins as Impero strode towards the center of the room. There were two chairs, one table. One for Clarice and of course, one for himself. Clarice had become a member of L.O.V.E., and the faction of heroes was one that had suddenly become a point of interest to him. And so, from behind his mask's alabaster visage, Impero's piercing eyes cast their gaze upon the door to the safehouse. Stepping forward, the floor creaking under the weight of his body, he slid into his seat, "Get the door. She's here", he commanded, the measured and deep timbre of his voice cutting through the air with ease. "Make her feel.. welcome", the Last Emperor smirked.

@_animus_:

Thomas' mention of Jean, of the man now known as the God in the Iron Mask, drew the subtlest of smirks from behind the Last Emperor's mask. Jean was a longtime rival of his, a man he'd both worked alongside with - and against. "It is why you, not him, are here, Mr. Newcastle", Impero answered, playing the verbal game of ambiguity. "Perhaps you need more time, to dwell on this venture. To decide whether or not it appeals to you. And once your decision is made, do reach out to me", Impero insisted, stroking the ebony orb he now held in his palm, "Remarkable where one can find the secrets of the universe", his laugh rasped, reminding himself of the absurdity of a Lavaliere residing in Cassius Knightfall.

"But I suppose it was quite clever. Who would've thought... certainly not I", he admitted without a shame, his cold self-assurance never wavering. "I wonder where else the universe keeps it's secrets".

@_animus_:

Watching as Thomas inspected the ebony orb, Impero's composure never broke, and the calmness never left his voice. "Is information not valuable, Mr. Newcastle?", he quipped, subtle wit at the edge of his tongue. "This", the Last Emperor paused, grabbing hold of the orb, light reflecting on it's glossy surface, "Is a library. But instead of containing tales told to school-children, it holds cosmic truths", soft laughter escaping him, "I dare say I've outdone myself. In here lies what was analyzed from the the Lavaliere during our experiment. The quantum information from it's most fundamental structure and properties". Allowing the revelation to stir in Thomas' mind a second longer, Impero continued.

"With this information, I can now create an Infinity Stone of my own. Manipulate the bits of quantum information to grant it attributes that are to my liking. A bastard gem.. but of my creation. All because of information", he smirked rather slyly, his mask hiding his every facial tic, "Information I am willing to share. My only request is that you aid me in capture the missing piece of this puzzle".

@_animus_:

"Everything", Impero answered calmly, his breath escaping from the slit of his mask to mist in the cold air. "Please, Mr. Newcastle", he continued, stepping aside to reveal a sealed door built into the icy mountainside. "Come with me". Stepping forward as the doors slid open, Impero resumed, "Things have taken a surprising turn since our joint experiment", he paused, striding through a hall of bleak grey, the air warming as the doors sealed themselves behind them. "My initial disappointment has given way to a newer pursuit", he rasped, never once looking over his shoulder to glance back at Thomas, his eyes always peering ahead, and his arms always folded regally behind his back.

"The Lavalieres are powerful cosmic artifacts, true", the Last Emperor said, the sight of yet another door drawing his steps into a steady stop. An instrument of some sort, coated in metal and hissing with steam as it emerged from the wall, scanned him. The metal door opened, and the instrument retreated back into the wall. "They grant those who wield them dominion over fundamental aspects of nature and life", Impero paused, as if to allow his words to echo a second longer in Thomas' mind. Striding into a larger hallway, one decorated with legendary artifacts, inventions, and all manner of esoteric paraphernalia, Impero finally stopped at the sight of an altar, one a solitary black orb sat at the center.

"There is information in that orb, Mr. Newcastle. Information.. the greatest power in the universe", he asserted, turning round to fully face his associate. "And it is information that I am willing to share. For a price".

@_animus_

Research Facility, Antarctica

Cold, cruel, and harsh. It was the frozen continent, where sheets of ice stretched to forever and frost clung to everything that moved. And it was the Last Emperor's de facto home. Outside the entrance to his underground base of operations, Impero stood in wait. His garments fluttering in the air, and his posture calm and regal, he folded both arms behind his back as he gazed into the distance, his eyes searching beyond the horizon for a silhouette. Be it a vehicle's or Thomas'. Together, they'd conducted a recent experiment in the Brick, one that drew from the depths of Cassius Knightfall's being, the remnants of a primordial power. The cracked shard of a forgotten Infinity Stone.

And whereas Thomas kept the shard for himself, Impero kept hold of the information recorded from the experiment. Cassius was of no use to him, as was the shard. Instead, the Last Emperor sought to create an Infinity Stone of his own, a bastard among the rest of the cosmic gems. And a feat he would need Thomas to make possible.

@cassius_knightfall: @_animus_:

At the sight of Thomas eyeing the cracked shard with a thinking man's interest, Impero'd grown silent, more-so than usual. The shard hissed as twinkling dust escaped from it's cracks, but the Last Emperor seemed distracted. Turning round, his sharp eyes fell upon the papers marred in calculations and physical theories with disdain. The sneer behind his mask was uncharacteristic, and his body language reflected upon his perceived failure and years of planning supposedly gone to waste. This was no Infinity Stone. And it was no hypothetical programming glitch whose power he could harness. To Impero, it was nothing. A waste. A shard leaking with a power he dismissed as nothing.

Still, the Last Emperor kept his composure, turning to round to hold the U-Constant Extractor in his sights. "In a way", he rasped, finally answering Cassius' question. Arms folded behind his back, his mind worked on salvaging this disappointment. And perhaps as a testament to Thomas' own intellect, the Newcastle's suspicion that Impero would salvage the underwhelming turn of events was proven true. "Though we did not acquire exactly what we were confident we would, we did prove something", Impero paused, calmly striding towards the U-Constant Extractor, his eyes never removing themselves from it's towering metallic ring, "That you are more or less what we thought you were - an anomaly. And that my machine can, to some degree, draw out the impossible from it's source".

The masked mastermind's technology had managed something. It had recorded the quantum information comprising the half-dead shard. In the U-Constant Extractor's memory banks lied the information needed for Impero to forge an Infinity Stone of his own. A bastard stone less powerful than the others but still of great use. Smirking behind his mask as a newfound ambition coursed through his mind, the Last Emperor's plans were not at a complete loss. "And that we can create something truly special from all of this. I need only the heart of a god for everything to come together", he declared, shifting his gaze from Thomas to Cassius. "Please, feel free to tour the Brick", he insisted, his tone cool and polite, "This is your home now".

"Thomas", he said, gesturing for the devious Newcastle to follow him out the door and into a private study. There was much to discuss.