Cabal (Dark Illuminati) (Earth-616)

From Marvel Database

Contents 1 History 2 Paraphernalia 3 Notes 4 Trivia 5 See Also 6 Links and References

History

Following the events of Secret Invasion, Norman Osborn was placed in charge of what was formerly known as S.H.I.E.L.D. (now H.A.M.M.E.R.) as he was seen killing Queen Veranke. The 50-State Initiative fell under the Thunderbolts Initiative, itself under Osborn's control, and Tony Stark was now under investigation.

As Osborn returned to his new headquarters of the Avengers Tower, he met with Namor of Atlantis, Emma Frost of the X-men, Doctor Victor Von Doom of Latveria, Loki, and The Hood. Osborn stated to the Cabal that it was a new day and subsequently unveiled his plan for the new teams he was in charge of, and began the first meeting of the covert group set against the aims of the scattered Illuminati.

The new alliance was forged shortly following the Secret Invasion events. Thunderbolt (formerly Initiative) Agents hand-delivered a message to Emma Frost to meet at the Avengers tower. Osborn stated that under Iron Man's, Nick Fury's and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s watch, the Cabal members' agendas could not be achieved, but he was now going to give them all the opportunity to reach their goals.

Frost was recruited because Osborn wanted a telepath and she was the leader of a dying race as well as former leader of the Hellfire Club. Dr. Doom could get Latveria and an alliance could be forged between the two nations. The Hood was instructed to have each and every member of his syndicate register with the Thunderbolts and be assigned to teams. Loki would eventually gain full control of Asgard and Namor could finally mutually cooperate with surface dwellers.

However, as with any "evil" team, there were other deals happening. Namor and Doom were going to let Osborn's scenario play out until Doom could strike and gain full control of the land and Namor the sea. Loki wished to take all of Asgard, which could make Thor a target of the Thunderbolt Initiative and having a huge number of villains register to S.H.I.E.L.D. could change the tide of the super-human army of SHIELD. Emma Frost's plans with Osborn remain unseen, but has an alliance with Namor.

Far more sinister tensions were also brewing among the Cabal members. Norman Osborn had more potential enemies that even he could imagine. Namor and Dr. Doom were secretly working behind Osborn's back, aware that their plots against Osborn could erupt into the greatest battle ever seen, having formed a mutual alliance some time after the Civil War, involving Namor and his people moving to Latveria, with Steve Rogers fallen, the Illuminati fraught with chaos and mistrust, with both Stark and Xavier having failed to provide sufficient support for him, and the entirety of S.H.I.E.L.D. hunting him. Morgan le Fay desperately attempted to convey the fact that Doom would betray Osborn onto the latter, to Osborn's apparent lack of concern due to his Iron Patriot suit. Namor and Osborn's own disagreements also arose from the Cabal meeting of the Atlantean terrorists, and the former had departed the Dark X-Men, aiding Frost in her apparent betrayal of the Dark X-Men, due to their romantic relationship; Namor's other love with his cousin, the Agent of Atlas Namora, who is attempting to sabotage Osborn and his forces, has also weakened his Cabal relationship with him. Loki had been preparing to place "cracks" in Osborn's mental armor to hasten his eventual fall from power, using the Mighty Avengers for such a purpose. The Son of Satan, Doctor Strange and Doctor Voodoo joined forces to magically purge Dormammu from his vessel, the Hood. Loki visited the severely burned Robbins, revealing to him her desire to use him as an additional instrument to Osborn's collapse, and gave him a "second chance", thus indebting him to her; it is later revealed that Loki, Madame Masque and the Hood had journeyed together to Cuba and located the Asgardian Norn Stones to serve as a new power source for the Hood.^[1] However, the Hood's own deals with Osborn, and Namor's uncertainty that he should be of the Cabal at all, complicated matters even more. Loki, shortly after Thor released all the trapped Asgardians from their mortal vessels, contacted Victor von Doom and struck a bargain, later revealed to be that of offering the Asgardians a home in Latveria after having banished Thor; Loki is shown visiting Doom in secret meetings and proposing a more personal relationship between the two of them, showing amusement in the poisonous toxins placed in her food at the meal, claiming to Doom it meant he was taking her seriously.^[2] Even Emma Frost's relationship with Osborn was uneasy, being intially reluctant to become part of the Cabal due to her differences, and even when she accepted her place among them, she and Osborn were not seeing "eye-to-eye." ^[3] In addition, due to their romantic past, Frost has made a secret deal with Namor, vowing to protect the latter's psyche from Osborn when and if he betrays them, in exchange for Namor swearing to protect mutantkind.

As the X-Men and Dark X-Men prepared to face off, Emma revealed her role as a double agent, hardened through her discovery of Xavier's torture, defeating the Dark X-Men with Namor's assistance. She extended an invitation to Cloak and Dagger to join the true X-Men as they teleported to the newly created island base, Utopia. Both Frost and Namor's relationship with Osborn appear to be deeply strained at this point, with the former Green Goblin telling the Dark Avengers and Dark X-Men to bring him Namor's head and Emma Frost's heart and that Summers sees them do it.

Though the relationships of all of the other five Cabal members are filled with unease and tension, Norman Osborn himself is neither blind nor defenseless, with his H.A.M.M.E.R. resources, Dark Avengers, Iron Patriot armor, and the mysterious shadowy figure Osborn has used to threaten the Cabal if they sought to betray him combined together making him a formidable ally and enemy.

Paraphernalia

Equipment: None known.
Transportation: None known.
Weapons: None known.

Notes

• No special notes.
  

Trivia

• No trivia.

See Also

• Appearances of Cabal (Dark Illuminati) (Earth-616)
• Team Gallery: Cabal (Dark Illuminati) (Earth-616)
• Fan-Art Gallery: Cabal (Dark Illuminati) (Earth-616)
• Images that include Cabal (Dark Illuminati) (Earth-616)

Links and References

• None.