This story is an alternate reality, in which the Hellfire Club succeeded in recruiting Phoenix, although through peaceful means rather than violent, and every other mutant that they ever wanted to join their ranks. But things go wrong when the mutant sorceress Tai joins Emma Frost as a teacher at her school. All characters belong to Marvel Comics and are used without permission. "The Dragons and the Phoenix", Daniel Thomas, 1998. All Characters are property of Marvel Comics and used without permission. Part One: The Lords Cardinal Torches burned fitfully, casting poor light into the vaulted chamber. Roulette hated the setting. In some twisted way, it must seem very dramatic, but to the young blonde woman in the blue gown "Hellions, Forward!" the commanding voice of Emma Frost echoed in the dim room. Dressed in their victorian formal wear, the assembled young mutants stepped, in practiced unison, towards the raised dias where several, older mutants stood awaiting them. Roulette recognized some of them. Frost, clad in her white, leather corset and flowing, pristine cloak, stood ahead of the others. Behind her, dressed similarly to Emma, was Phoenix. Both women were extraordinarily beautiful, but the differences between them were obvious. Their fair skin was similar, but their eyes both said otherwise. Frost's eyes were pale blue, while Phoenix's were deep emerald green. Their hair was another conflict. While Emma's was platinum blonde, the Phoenix's was as red as the firebird for which she was named. Phoenix was clad in black leather as well, but she looked every bit as ravishing as Frost did. Next to Phoenix stood an older man, balding slightly, but still handsome. He was clad in a black waistcoat and white breeches. Roulette had never actually met him, but this could only be Sebastian Shaw, the brooding Black King of the Hellfire Club. On the other side of Frost was a man older than Shaw, perhaps in his mid fifties. He was incredibly muscular for a gentleman of his age, dressed in a white waist coat and breeches. Magneto, the Master of Magnetism stood with the others. A woman with raven hair and green eyes, as beautiful as Phoenix and Frost, dressed in red leather, was next to magneto. The Red Queen, from the London Chapterhouse. Beside her was a "It has been the tradition of the Hellfire Club for the White Queen to select proteges," Frost spoke again. "These students, her Hellions, must be baptized by fire and water, must enter the gauntlet and withstand its fury. Three of the Hellions have passed all the trials, and these three have been chosen, as dictated by tradition, to join the ranks of the inner circle." Roulette looked nervously at her teacher. Frost's gaze was expressionless. Firestar seemed equally so. Good, Roulette thought. Her dislike for that girl knew no limits. Angelica Jones might be more powerful, but Roulette more than made up for that in sheer ruthlessness. Empath seemed confident. For a moment, she suspected him of using his Psionic power to know the results ahead of time, but then Roulette dismissed the thought. Emma was far too skilled a telepath for him to know her thoughts. Beef and Thunderbird both seemed disdainful of the whole thing. Roulette knew that Thunderbird respected ceremony deeply, but he didn't respect all of his leaders. Phoenix had been an X- Man once, and not just any X-Man, but one of the original eight, one that he blamed for the death of his brother. Beef, by contrast, had little respect for anything besides brute strength. He was too new to the Hellions to really understand what was going on. Jetstream was serene, but Roulette knew that to be a lie. He was just as nervous as she was, because he'd told her so himself. Catseye, her eyes wide and her tail twitching from beneath her violet gown, was dazzled by the formality of it all. Roulette liked her, but she knew there wasn't any chance for the metamorph to join the inner circle, at least not now. After all, she didn't even know she was human. The poor creature thought she was a cat that could turn into a girl, not the other way around. When Emma recruited Catseye, she'd named her Sharon, and told the other Hellions that she was a genius. Well, sharon hadn't done much to prove that, but Roulette liked her anyway. At least she wasn't as helpless as Firestar. Tarot, by contrast, seemed very pleased. Perhaps she knew something. Roulette wasn't certain of the full extent of her powers, but the red head always was certain of things she couldn't possibly know. Magma was quiet and respectful, her still posture and the seriousness of her expression demonstrating clearly just how much she respected the ritual. Roulette remembered the ceremony two years ago, when Pryde had left their ranks to become the Black Bishop. Kitty was the oldest of the Hellions, the others had just been recruited, Thunderbird, Magma and Firestar weren't even members at that graduation. "I, Emma Frost, Designated White Queen of the Inner Circle, member by Birth of the Hellfire Club, petition the White, Black and Red Monarchs, for the admittance of these warriors into the inner circle of the Hellfire Club." The Hellions looked at each other in excitement. "Red Rook, approach the chosen three," Emma intoned. Alison Blaire, the Dazzler, stepped forward. She was dressed in a flowing red gown. She looked at each of the Hellions as she walked past them. Roulette's heart soared when she paused before her, but then she moved past her again. Dazzler repeated the process three times, moving back and fourth, pausing at random before the students. Roulette was ready to scream with the tension. And then Allison spoke. "The Red Rook has identified the chosen ones." Her voice was light, musical. "James Proudstar, step forward," The Dazzler announced. Thunderbird advanced. "Marie-Ange Corbet, step forward." Tarot joined Thunderbird. Roulette's pulse was racing now. "Angelica Jones, step forward." Roulette was ready to scream. FIRESTAR! FIRESTAR OVER HER! Only fear of Emma's telepathic chastisement stilled her tongue. the voice of the White Queen echoed in her head. Roulette accepted her defeat, but this was not the last of this. Once she was a member of the inner circle too, then Angelica would learn who should have been chosen. "The Chosen are presented," the White Queen spoke to the monarchs. "James Proudstar, Thunderbird, I petition for the position of Black Knight. Marie-Ange Colbert, Tarot, I petition for the position of White Bishop. Angelica Jones, Firestar, I petition for the position of Red Knight. Are the Lords Cardinal in agreement?" "The black monarchs shall be guided by the wisdom of the White Queen," Shaw said, and Phoenix nodded. "The White King gives his approval of the chosen," Magneto told her. "The Red Queen offers both her blessing and that of her absent King," the raven haired woman said. "And what of the court of the Lords Cardinal?" Emma announced. "Our loyalty is offered to our new brother and sisters," came the voices from the shadows of the room. "Welcome." "It is done. James Proudstar, take your place as the Black Knight." The Black King approached him, taking his hand and pulling him onto the platform. "Marie-Ange Colbert, take your place as the white bishop." Frost herself extended a hand to the girl. Marie allowed the White Queen to assist her onto the platform. "Angelica Jones, take your place as the Red Knight." The dark haired woman took Firestar's trembling hand. She's SCARED! Roulette was incredulous. Not only was the bitch a weakling, but she was afraid to join the inner circle. Some Knight she'd make. A wonderful thought came into her head. What if she happened to drop a bad luck disk. She could definitely humiliate Firestar with a bit of mutant magic, and the Hellfire Club would reject her out of general principle. But that was something that they should have done anyway. Emma's psychic voice was stronger this time, She felt strange suddenly, as if something were missing, like she was disconnected from herself. FROST HAD TAKEN AWAY HER POWERS! Jenny stood there, fuming to herself, and unable to act out her rage at being overlooked for that little bitch. The club members started chanting, but Roulette didn't know what they said. It was probably in Latin, but she didn't care. She'd be a Lord Cardinal one day, and then she and the flame hair, as Catseye called her, would have their day. "You really ought to learn how to control those two," Selene said to Emma at the reception following the ritual. "I thought you'd pick up on their bitterness," Frost replied to the dark haired woman. "Aren't our new Knights well liked by their former peers?" a second blonde woman asked, approaching the White and Red Queens. Emma sighed. Roulette's was almost excusable, but Empath should have been able to control his own emotions. He was a psionist! Emma had threatened to erase his soul for his mental outburst during the ceremony. How could the Hellfire Club possibly win their fight when the underlings thought that they should be the ones leading? "I'll speak to the boy, Elisabeth," Emma promised. "Manuel won't be as bothersome." "The minds of the chosen were unreadable," Elisabeth told her, "But their teammate's thoughts projected dozens of objections. Why were these three the ones to be selected?" "Since Magneto and Dazzler began taking a more active role with the students, they've increased their powers more than any of the others. Angelica is nearly as powerful as the Magnus himself, and she's only seventeen. James is much stronger than his boorish cohort, and much more intelligent. Marie's powers are as much magic as mutant. Her mind must work constantly to balance the two, and that's made her incredibly perceptive." Elisabeth accepted Emma's reply. "But Selene, Betsy," Frost asked them, "Where are the rest of the British Delegation? I was looking forward to speaking with The Black King and Brian again." "Brian is still working on the seduction of the Prime Minister's sister," Betsy said with disgust. "I told him that I'd use my telepathy to do it for him, but he gave me his miserable grin and said 'What fun is that?'" "How is Courtney taking this?" Emma asked quietly. "Oh, my dear sister-in-law is furious," the british woman said. "Mrs. Ross-Braddock is ready to cut out Brian's heart for this little escapade." She sighed heavily. "It is a defect of God's Humor that he directs our hearts to everyone but those who have a right to them." "I agree," Selene told them. "I would have slaughtered him had he been my consort, but Courtney seems to stretch her patience far greater distances than I could." "Psylocke and Captain Britain," Betsy mused, "the twin defenders of the English Realm. We're supposed to be the epitome of everything Britain applauds. Well, at least one of us made it." "Ladies," the Phoenix greeted as she approached the gathering. "It seems that this is the telepath corner." "Hello, Jean," Emma smiled. "Please don't complain about the outburst during the ceremony. I'll deal with it." "I rather thought that these two would have pointed it out," Jean smiled, "although I know that you couldn't have missed it." "Betsy," she smiled, "How's Brian?" "Drinking himself into oblivion every day that he's not cheating on his wife," she said dryly. "I'm going to petition for a reprimand. Maybe THAT will straighten him out." The four women chatted for hours about nothing at all, nursing champagne and discussing topics ranging from their hair care products to the last corporate takeover that Emma's Frost Enterprises had orchestrated. "Oh, Emma, I almost forgot," Phoenix said at a pause in the conversation. "Sebastian asked me to get a report on your last encounter with my former comrades, specifically, the 'death' of Wolverine." Emma didn't like to discuss the X-Men with Phoenix, at least not unless the red-head brought it up. "Well, I'm afraid that Charles is not going to be very likely to send his precious X-Men against me again anytime soon, but I think that they might just stop corresponding with you over this one." "What did you do?" Betsy inquired. "There was no choice to it," she said. "It was Logan's life or Jetstream's. I didn't want to hurt him, but he didn't give me any options. The animal attacked Jetstream and Roulette without provocation two days ago while we were in Manhattan. He smelled Hellions and decided to get in the first punch." "There goes Charles' dream of Peaceful Coexistence," Jean sighed. "We could repair it, but only from the very top. I wish I could make Charles understand that." "He wants a mutant to be subservient to a human," Selene shook her head in disgust. "When I commanded Antioch, no one ever thought that having powers was a bad thing. We had very few mutants running around the planet in those days, but quite a few magicians. You RESPECTED those blessed with the power, you didn't hate them for it." "We're at the top, Ladies," Emma pointed out. "We're not in control of the governments yet, just our lives and businesses." "Of course, in the case of my brother, some of us aren't even in that position," she added. "What about Mr. Taylor?" Jean inquired. "And his surrogate family? How are they adjusting to Dwayne's status as a black knight?" "Oh, they're doing quiet well," Emma Answered. "His girlfriend, Silhouette, and her brother are coming back to Snow Valley with us. They never really had the chance for an education, so I spoke with them and they're coming to the Academy. Although I do think that its strange that as soon as he joins, I discover him to be a costumed crime fighter who's in love with a mutant. " "Not all that strange, Emma," Elisabeth told her. "Warren Worthington, Sebastian Shaw, Brian, James and Myself are all hereditary members of the Club who just happen to be mutants." "Very true," Emma conceded. "There's Dwayne over there, with his housekeeper. She's coming with us as well" "Why is she here? A servant? We've given a housekeeper a membership?" Psylocke was startled. "Can you read her thoughts?" Emma suggested. "I challenge you to try." Elisabeth's hands went to her temples. The three others could see the violet butterfly forming around her head. An ancient woman, Vietnamese by descent, and clad in a long, flowing robe, turned to look at her. Emma laughed at Psylocke's facial expression. No matter how much she concentrated, the younger woman could not penetrate Tai's mental shielding. "She has applied for membership, and I think that she intends to join the Lords Cardinal," Emma told the other two while Psylocke continued to struggle. "She said she's going to offer us something invaluable." "As invaluable as the Phoenix Force?" Jean asked. "She didn't specify," Emma told them, "But she wishes to address us privately. I've given her permission to speak at tommorrow's court." "Now I am curious," Selene said as the woman approached them. She was perhaps eighty, but taller than all of the others. The scent of mint preceded her. "I would prefer," she said to the ashen faced Psylocke, "if you ask my permission before you attempt to invade my mind." "Apology extended," Psylocke inclined her head, both embarrassed that she had tried and even more so that she'd been caught.. "Accepted," she said. "Tai," Emma introduced her, "Allow me to present the Lords Cardinal Selene and Jean Grey, and you've already met the White Knight Elisabeth Braddock." "An impressive array of powers," she said. "What do you know of our powers?" Jean demanded, and then looked accusingly at Emma. "What I know I have gleaned from your presence, Avatar," she told Phoenix. "Frost has betrayed no trust." "Avatar?" "You are the host," she said. "A great power lies within you, the power of a consciousness that is not your own. You are the Avatar of such a power." The older woman spoke quietly, with a slight accent. Emma appeared to trust her, as did Selene, but Phoenix and Psylocke took an immediate dislike to her. Psylocke was afraid because of the ease in which the woman had blocked her scan, and Phoenix sensed something throughout her, a presence that was similar to the creature residing in her own soul. But this was a creature that she didn't like. And one that she did not trust. Daniel Thomas "...But I do not enjoy the killing...I AM NOT VIOLENT!! And I will put an arrow through the brains of anyone who says I am!!!"-Artemis (Artemis Requiem #4-DC)