X-Force: Beyond Omega

[Location: Unknown] [Bunker]

Cassandra Nova sat comfortably on a throne of cold steel. The air was thick with the scent of burning incense, though it did little to mask the scent of fresh blood. Before her, kneeling and bound in glowing psychic restraints, was a monk from K'un-Lun. His robes were tattered, and his breathing ragged, yet his discipline held firm.

The monk, a man with sharp, weary eyes and a body trained to withstand pain, barely flinched as a blade of telekinetic force traced along his arm, splitting flesh without spilling a drop of blood. Cassandra smirked at his resilience, leaning forward with a sinister smile.

"You monks," she mused, her voice a mockery of curiosity, "always so proud, so stoic. But pain is a language even the most disciplined minds understand."

The monk remained silent, his jaw clenched.

Cassandra sighed, rolling her eyes before pressing her fingers to his forehead. A searing pulse of psionic energy tore through his mind, an invasive force, unlike anything he had ever experienced. Visions of his home, the sacred gates of K'un-Lun, and the ancient legends of the first Iron Fist. All unraveled before Cassandra's insatiable hunger for knowledge.

When she was using Charles' body and learned about Jean's power, she wanted to have that power for herself. But trying to take over such volatile power would be foolish. So, she has been trying to find a way to weaken Jean's power and take it for herself. Finally, after years-long research and searching for power that might be able to suppress the Phoenix Force, she found a clue thanks to the Shield's database... The Legend of Shou-Lao and the first Iron Fist, a woman who fought against cosmic forces. But the information wasn't enough. That's when Danny Rand arrived at Hell's Kitchen and began to work as a vigilante.

Cassandra invaded Danny's mind, but she barely managed to get some snippets of information out of him before the power within him repelled her. That little information was enough for her to capture a monk.

"Ah... fascinating," she whispered, her smile widening as she picked through his memories like a thief in a treasure vault. "A city hidden between dimensions, warriors trained beyond human limitations, and the very essence of the dragon's power… all of it, real."

The monk gritted his teeth, sweat dripping down his forehead. "You... you cannot reach K'un-Lun. It exists beyond your grasp."

Cassandra laughed, the sound echoing unnaturally. "Oh, sweetheart, don't be so naive. There is no place beyond my reach. If it exists in a mind, I can find it. If it exists in this universe, I can touch it."

She flicked her wrist, and the monk let out a gasp as his body convulsed, agony wrapping around his nerves like barbed wire.

"Tell me about the first Iron Fist," she ordered with her usual sinister smirk. "The true source of his power. The secret even your precious Danny Rand does not know."

The monk, despite the torment, let out a strained chuckle. "You will never understand… The power of Shou-Lao is not something a parasite like you can control."

Cassandra's expression darkened. With a snap of her fingers, the psychic restraints tightened, threatening to crush the monk's limbs. But she didn't want him dead—not yet.

"Then let me educate you, monk," she whispered as she plunged her hand into his face, destabilizing his DNA and stabilizing it before his cells could break down.

"Argg!" Finally, the monk screamed, the pain beyond his tolerance. He could feel her fingers, both physically and mentally, reaching into his skull and touching his organs. He felt his eyes melt one moment and reform the next.

"Do you think I'm nothing more than a telepath?" She whispered, her fingers now digging into his brain, twisting the delicate gray matter in the palm of her hand. "Your brain is nothing more than a tool to me. Let's see how your training and discipline hold up against… pain!"

The monk tried to meditate, but it was difficult with his head split open and her fingers in his skull. He struggled, his discipline was shaken as agony racked through him, and she let him suffer.

"What you have endured thus far," Cassandra mused as she explored the structure of the monk's brain. "is nothing more than the tip of the iceberg. If I wanted, I could have taken the information the moment we met. But where the hell is the fun in that? Pain is the greatest source of information, after all. And it's even more fun to watch when there is nothing you can do but surrender and reveal the truth with your own mouth and then beg for death... That's when it becomes truly delicious. The sweet taste of despair!"

She flicked her finger and the pain grew tenfold, turning every one of his senses into an open wound that stung with salt, iron, and burning flesh. She even reached deep into the most primal parts of the brain, the parts of his consciousness where there was no memory, only pain and suffering.

The monk's breath hitched, the trembling in his body betraying the limits of his endurance. Blood seeped from his nose, his mind unraveling under Cassandra's relentless assault. He had withstood beatings, starvation, and tortures unimaginable during his training, but this was different. This was a complete invasion of his very being, his memories and will fraying like strands of an old rope.

Cassandra leaned closer, her expression one of sadistic delight. "Ah, there it is," she said softly, her voice dripping with mock compassion. "The cracks are showing. Discipline can only take you so far, monk."

The monk's lips quivered as he struggled to form words. His pride refused to let him plead, but his body betrayed him. His muscles spasmed uncontrollably as Cassandra twisted deeper into his mind, forcing memories to bubble to the surface—moments he had buried deep in his subconscious.

Images of his training in K'un-Lun danced through his mind. The great Shou-Lao, the undying dragon, roared in the recesses of his thoughts, a presence that once inspired awe now reduced to fragmented screams. He saw the faces of his masters, their teachings etched into his soul, now dissolving like smoke under Cassandra's will.

Finally, his resolve shattered.

"Stop…" he choked, his voice barely a whisper. "Please… I… I'll tell you."

"Huh?! What was that? Speak louder, monk." She asked as she amplified his senses. "I cannot hear you!"

"STOP!" he screamed, his voice cracking.

Cassandra stopped, her predatory grin returning as she removed her hand from his skull. The psychic restraints loosened slightly, though not enough for him to move. She crouched to meet his weary, tear-filled eyes, tilting her head as if inspecting a broken toy.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" she said mockingly. "Now, start talking. The first Iron Fist. Her connection to Shou-Lao. Your base. Everything."

The monk took a shuddering breath, his body still trembling from Cassandra's brutal invasion. He had lost. There was no more fighting, no more endurance... only survival. With a defeated sigh, he finally spoke.

"Her name was Fan Fei," he murmured, his voice hoarse from the screams that had torn through his throat. "The first Iron Fist."

Cassandra's eyes gleamed with satisfaction. She waved a hand, and the psychic restraints loosened just enough to allow the monk to breathe easier. He would talk now, willingly or not.

"Go on," she commanded, her tone a mixture of amusement and hunger.

The monk licked his cracked lips, summoning the strength to continue. "She was born in K'un-Lun, a daughter of the Green Lotus House, trained in the sacred ways of kung-fu from childhood. From the moment she could walk, she was taught to fight, to master her body and mind."

Cassandra tilted her head, feigning curiosity. "And yet she betrayed her own people, didn't she?" She was already in his mind.

The monk flinched but nodded. "She saw something the elders did not… or would not. Beyond K'un-Lun's gates, she found early men... cavemen, weak, helpless against the beasts that preyed on them. She... she taught them. Gave them the knowledge they were never meant to have."

Cassandra chuckled. "Ah, a rebel. I like her already."

His expression darkened, but he did not stop. "For three months, she trained them. She taught them K'un-Lun's martial arts, believing she was helping them ascend beyond their savage state. But the elders... they saw her actions as the gravest of sins. She was discovered and declared a traitor, the worst criminal in our city's history. Her own clan, her own family..." He swallowed hard. "They abandoned her."

Cassandra nodded, savoring every detail. "And what did the oh-so-wise elders of K'un-Lun do next?"

The monk's eyes burned with pain, but whether it was from his injuries or the weight of history, Cassandra didn't care. "They brought her to the cave of Shou-Lao, the undying dragon. She was made to watch as her students, those she had trained, those who trusted her, were executed... burned alive by the dragon's fire."

Cassandra's smirk grew. "And that was their mistake, wasn't it?"

The monk let out a slow, shuddering breath. "Yes. In her grief, in her fury, Fan Fei broke free of her shackles. She charged the dragon, prepared to die alongside her pupils… but fate had other plans. With all her might, she struck Shou-Lao."

Cassandra leaned forward, her eyes glinting with wicked amusement. "And?"

The monk swallowed. "Her fist did not stop at the dragon's scales. It tore through its skull, all the way out the back of its head. She killed the undying dragon with a single strike."

Cassandra's grin widened, her mind already racing. "And in doing so, she bathed in its power."

He nodded weakly. "Yes. The dragon's burning blood coated her hands, searing a dragon-shaped mark into her flesh. That was how it began, the first to wield the Iron Fist."

She chuckled, reveling in the irony. "So, their greatest disgrace became the source of their greatest power."

The monk's gaze lowered. "The Thunderer, K'un-Lun's master, did not see it as a blessing. He called the dragon scar her mark of shame. He decreed that she was to be exiled, cast out, never to return to the sacred city."

For a moment, Cassandra was silent, her mind processing every word. Then, slowly, she leaned back, tapping her fingers against the arm of her steel throne. "And what happened to her after? Where did she go?"

The monk hesitated, but Cassandra's eyes flared with psychic energy, sending fresh waves of pain through his already broken body. He gasped before he could stop himself.

"I... I don't know," he stammered. "Her story fades after her exile. Some say she wandered the world, spreading her knowledge. Others believe she sought vengeance on K'un-Lun. Some elders say she fought against cosmic forces that threatened to destroy our world and transverse other dimensions, slaying the evil. But… no one knows for certain."

She sighed, disappointed. "A shame. But you've given me enough."

The monk's shoulders slumped, exhaustion overtaking him. He had nothing left to give.

Cassandra stood, stretching her fingers. "So… the first Iron Fist didn't just wield power. She stole it. She took something meant to be eternal and made it her own. That means it can be taken."

She turned her gaze back to the monk, her grin sharpening. "And now I know exactly what I need to do." She already found out how to enter K'un-Lun from his memories, including the traps and fake gates. But didn't find anything related to the dragon's location.

His bloodied lips parted, barely able to form words. "You… will never succeed."

Cassandra laughed, a rich, venomous sound. "Oh, sweetheart, I always succeed." She flicked her fingers and the monk's DNA shattered. His skin disappeared and his blood, organs, and skeleton fell down as a pile of red-stained goop. "Sigh! That was a nice little story. To think, a human was strong enough to kill a dragon... Hahahaha! If I can find her remnants, even a little trace of her DNA, then those fools from Genosha should be able to bring her back to life..."

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