American Comics: Multiverse of Madness

208. The Shadow King.

Considering how these two groups have fallen to their current state, Alex absolutely believes that Red Skull had a hand in it.

Although, back in the day, Magneto, as a mutant, was also part of the Evil Alliance. His dream was to create a powerful territory solely for mutants, where they could live peacefully and happily.

But a dream is just a dream. Whether it's mutants or Inhumans, the existence of these superhumans is inherently a threat to other villains. Moreover, these groups possess formidable superpowers, and if a few world-destroying individuals were to emerge, Red Skull might have nightmares every night.

There's no way Red Skull, a man with an extreme desire for control, would allow the mutant population to grow stronger.

Perhaps the newer generations of mutants aren't that powerful, and maybe some of them could even join Hydra. But Red Skull wouldn't want to gamble on that chance. If there's even a one-in-ten-thousand chance that one of them could become a superhero, it would pose a significant challenge to his rule. Therefore, Alex suspects that Red Skull secretly conducted experiments aimed at eradicating or suppressing the mutant gene.

In an era where Hydra controlled the world, genetically modifying crops with radiation would have been child's play. People consuming these foods over a long period eventually led to the decline of the mutant population—this seems plausible enough.

As for Magneto, at this point, do his thoughts even matter?

Magneto is old now. Even if he possesses the power to cause cataclysmic events, how much of that power can an aging man still wield?

Perhaps, if Magneto could see how far mutants have fallen from the afterlife, he might regret his collaboration with Red Skull and killing his own daughter back then. But all of this is meaningless now. The reality has been set in stone—there's no changing it. All Alex can do at this point is pay his respects to the dead here and then find the target of his visit.

As he made his way to the basement, all the high-tech equipment of the X-Men had been cleared out. Not only that, but even the alloy doors had been removed and taken away. Whoever was in charge here back in the day really left nothing behind. However, this made it easy for Alex to enter—there was nothing to block his way.

Walking slowly through the corridor, Alex could clearly sense the complex soul energy hidden within the place. Besides that, he also felt a considerable amount of mental energy lurking around him, as if it were probing his whereabouts, ready to forcibly invade his mind at any moment.

In response, Alex couldn't help but lower the brim of his hat, his gaze constantly sweeping through the darkness.

"It's been a long time since anyone came here."

Suddenly, a voice spoke behind Alex—it was the voice of a young girl. Hearing this voice, Alex's expression froze for a moment, and then his face turned a bit grim. He halted his steps slightly and turned to look in the direction of the voice.

In his line of sight, a young and beautiful girl was standing there, her face adorned with a warm smile. But what was terrifying was the gaping wound in her abdomen, with blood and viscera dripping down her legs, and the faint sight of metal lodged within her intestines.

Alex recognized her, or rather, this person had left a deep impression on him. Outwardly, however, Alex maintained his usual calm expression.

"I was wondering when you'd come out to see me."

Yes, this was the target of Alex's visit.

Baron Mordo enslaving the mind of the sorceress Agatha had been a wake-up call for Alex. With the Darkhold in his possession, Baron Mordo would likely be far more powerful than Alex had anticipated. Therefore, before dealing with Baron Mordo and the Darkhold, Alex decided to bolster himself further. So, he chose to make a detour to the X-Men's base and set his sights on hunting the Shadow King hidden within.

The Shadow King, also known as the "King of Shadows," was the first enemy of Professor X and, like Professor X, possessed formidable telepathic abilities.

Although, for most of the time, the Shadow King possessed the body of a mutant named Amahl Farouk, the Shadow King was actually a powerful energy entity.

Born from the abstract world of the astral plane, the Shadow King was a dark product of the conscious minds of sentient beings. He was born from the first nightmare, feeding on the shadows within the souls of all intelligent creatures, and constantly possessing hosts and switching bodies.

In short, he was a mental energy being slightly weaker than Professor X, but with additional abilities in soul energy and necromancy. And at this moment, he was sealed within the Cerebro in the X-Men's base.

"You don't seem surprised by my appearance?" the woman chuckled.

"I came here specifically for you, so no, I'm not surprised."

Looking at the illusion of Kitty Pryde, who was almost identical to how he remembered her, Alex gritted his teeth subtly. He couldn't understand why, despite all his preparations, the Shadow King could still read his mind.

Alex hadn't discarded the helmet he brought from the Wasteland Universe. This rare, precious artifact could block mental energy, and he had long since transformed it into a black top hat that he constantly wore. This not only prevented anyone from invading his mind but also made it match his trench coat.

But Alex was curious: if he had been wearing the hat all this time, how could the Shadow King still create the illusion of Kitty Pryde from his memory? Could it be that the Shadow King's power had grown strong enough to bypass the helmet's protection?

"It seems you know a lot about me, but why don't you drop the pretense and talk to me face-to-face, wizard?" Kitty blinked, taking two steps forward.

Drop the pretense?

Alex's eyes shifted.

Now he understood—the hat had indeed worked, and the Shadow King clearly wasn't aware that the hat could block his mental powers. At this moment, the Shadow King probably mistook Alex for a powerful dark wizard with strong mental abilities.

So, perhaps this could also explain the scene before him. Both Alex and the Shadow King might appear to be communicating face-to-face, but in reality, they were both separated by the veil of the mental dimension.

In other words, they had become each other's "mirrors." In Alex's perspective, the Shadow King didn't deliberately take on Kitty's form; it was just that Alex saw Kitty, so the Shadow King appeared as Kitty.

Similarly, with his mental energy blocked by magic and the hat, it was very likely that in the Shadow King's "view," Alex had taken on some other form—another kind of existence.

...…..

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