There were a couple things bothering Thaddeus about all of this though, and as he and Emma stand there staring at Saul's corpse, they're communicating those things back and forth between one another.
For one, Saul had implied in the conversation back at the Avengers' Compound that the Externals could sense one another. Specifically, he'd said they could sense when Thaddeus died and awoke as an External.
But was it only the first time it happened, or was it every time one of them died? Was it even tied to death at all or was Thaddeus supposed to be able to sense the other Externals as a matter of due course?
… Because he couldn't. Even setting aside the fact that both his and Emma's psychic powers are planet-wide at this point, trying to reach out without using telepathy in order to feel around for those connections he might be supposed to have to other Externals… it produced nothing.
What did that mean? Did he simply not understand how it was supposed to work, or was Selene somehow hiding all Externals by hiding herself in the way she was?
Should he have been able to sense when Saul died but because of something Selene had done, it had remained muted?
Finally, Emma breaks the silence between them.
"Ultimately… if we can't use our own methods, we'll have to rely on others, Thaddeus."
Thaddeus grimaces, even as he knows she's right. They're two of the most powerful people in the planet at this point thanks to his Reality Warping and Emma's possession of the Phoenix. And yet… the knowledge of a seventeen thousand year old immortal seems to be trumping that power, at least for this moment.
The only comfort to be had is that Selene had to run and hide from them. She'd said it herself; she wasn't nearly strong enough to face them full on just yet. And that meant they still had time.
"… You're right. We can't hide this or deal with it on our own, so…"
Emma nods, already knowing what he's thinking of course. And since both of them are in agreement, Thaddeus lets out a sigh and leaves the room for a moment to retrieve Ms. Marvel from the foyer.
The blonde Avenger's eyes go wide and her hands curl into fists the moment she sees Saul's body hanging from the wall.
"Wha- the magical headmaster?! What is the meaning of this?!"
Emma takes over with a cold tone and a crisp delivery of the relevant information.
"The woman we were meant to meet with today killed him and has fled the scene. Her name is Selene Gallio and she is the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club. She is also a seventeen thousand year old immortal sorceress of no small amount of power."
Carol's eyes flicker around the room, taking everything in… including Thaddeus and Emma. But in the end, there's no real reason for her to distrust them.
After all, she'd been spying on him and Saul alongside the rest of the Avengers, and as far as she'd seen, the two of them had had a perfectly amicable end to their conversation.
More, there would be no reason for Thaddeus and Emma to bring Ms. Marvel here and show her their own handiwork if they HAD had a part in Saul's murder.
Not to mention, just a quick glance at the records would show this place was owned by a woman matching Selene's description, not an old man matching Saul's.
In the end, Ms. Marvel slowly nods, her hands still clenched into fists at her sides but her body slowly relaxing from the immediate adrenaline of a potential fight. Seeing this, Thaddeus clears his throat.
"Unfortunately, she's using something to keep Emma and I from tracking her down. We've already searched the whole of the Earth for her… and her targets. But we can't find anything due to whatever obfuscating magic she's using."
The blonde Avenger's eyes narrow.
"Her targets?"
Emma steps back in.
"Other immortals, like her. He was one of them and by consuming his heart, she's consumed his power supposedly. She'll be going after the others now, aiming to take them down before we can find and stop her. Which is why we need help from both the Avengers and SHIELD to try and track her or the other immortals down first."
Its not the full story, of course. But it's enough of the story for their purposes. Finally, Ms. Marvel slowly nods… a bit reluctant to trust them even now but still getting on board all the same.
From there, things move… as quickly as they can, even if it still feels like molasses. Explaining the threat to the Avengers and also Director Fury takes a few hours, followed by getting Natasha to activate as many retired widows as can possibly be contacted on short notice.
They can't use telepathy to locate Selene or any of the other Externals and even trying to warp Reality itself to disable whatever she's done to hide them isn't working, much to Thaddeus' consternation.
He'd honestly hoped that he was so far beyond Selene that he didn't have to fear her anymore, but as this entire experience was proving, that wasn't quite the case.
Even having her on the run like they did was quickly becoming a cold comfort as they found themselves forced to rely on old school espionage and technology.
For all that mass surveillance was everywhere and groups like SHIELD and individuals like Stark were tapped into those systems… magic and tech didn't play nice, so it wasn't like they could rely upon cameras to do their dirty work.
No, rather, they needed to rely on people. Human eyes, human ears, simple word of mouth. To be fair, even if the Externals were a relatively small group in the grand scheme of things, there had to be stories about them from across the ages, right?
Especially the ones who had lived as long as Selene… but even the ones who had lived a lot less should have been recorded more frequently in the past handful of centuries as human records advanced more and more.
Indeed, it's not difficult for them to find evidence of potential Externals. A purple skinned 'demon' reported across the ages mostly located in Africa.
Reports of a man of similar description being burned at the stake in the seventeen century, guillotined in the eighteenth, and hung in the nineteenth. Even tell of a woman who may have been a deity or may have been immortal forming many of the Thieves' Guilds that existed throughout the past few hundred years.
And more. So many more. That was the real problem, truth be told. Thaddeus had long come to accept that his world was far, far stranger than he'd known growing up. Groups like the Fantastic Four and the Avengers were really just the tip of the iceberg when it came to how weird things got.
It wasn't as though Earth had just started getting strange in the twenty-first century either. It had always been that way; it had always had individuals of immense power that seemed to be utterly beyond the reckoning of mortal men.
The problem, of course, was that none of these findings led them to where any of these individuals were right now. Eyewitness reports could give them last known locations, but more often than not it turned out to not be an External at all.
Indeed, there were plenty of beings on Earth that were immortal or invulnerable or simply long-lived but weren't actually part of the incredibly small group of Externals.
As days go by after the discovery of Saul, Thaddeus can feel in his bones that they're wasting too much time.
Whatever Selene has done to hide herself and the other Externals, it's not likely that she's effected by it as well. They haven't come across any more bodies missing hearts yet, but he can sense that it's only a matter of time.
What they need is a breakthrough. Of course, when it finally comes… it comes from the most unlikely of sources, and the most unwanted of places.
"The mansion was attacked. Charles was taken… Apocalypse has returned."
Storm looks more shaken and jittery than Thaddeus has ever seen her if he's being honest.
She looks like she's just been through hell and back. Maybe that's why he'd taken mercy on her and allowed her in even after the whole mess with Emma and the hardline stance that the X-Men had taken regarding her.
Now, he and Emma stare rather nonplused at the dark-skinned mutant woman as she explains why she came to them. Sharing a glance, Thaddeus asks the obvious.
"Who or what is Apocalypse?"
Storm shivers for a moment before licking her lips and answering him.
"He… he's a monster. His original name, from what we know, is En Sabah Nur and he's nearly five thousand years old. He's Egyptian… Ancient Egyptian in case it wasn't obvious.
He's also an extremely powerful mutant. Once, he claimed he was the original mutant… the father of mutantkind. We know better now though, we know there were others before even him, stretching back eons. However, there's proof that he was still the first of a new generation of mutants all the way back then."
Thaddeus narrows his eyes. A five thousand year old mutant? That sure sounded like an External… but to be fair, there were other mutants who were seemingly immortal without being External. Wolverine was one of them for instance, always coming back from his injuries and supposedly nearing a couple hundred years of age.
Emma leans in, face thoughtful.
"What did he do, exactly? Why did he attack the mansion? For what reason did he take your leader?"
Storm shudders, biting her lower lip some more and looking haunted. Again, it's the most vulnerable and afraid that he's ever seen her… it's unnerving if Thaddeus is being honest.
"Apocalypse is obsessed with recreating his Horsemen. You would recognize them as the Four Horsemen from the bible, but in reality they are simply Apocalypse's greatest assets. The first time around, he attempted to recruit me and a few others… but ultimately, we turned on him and fought him off, driving him away."
Fidgeting in remembrance, Storm lets out a shaky breath.
"… We'd thought or rather hoped that he might have gone dormant again… he tends to do so for centuries at a time based on the histories we've found, whenever he feels like he needs to wait out the rest of the world for whatever reason. Only, this time it was barely a decade or so before he came back…"
Thaddeus arches a brow, even as Storm's face scrunches up in anguish.
"I wasn't even good enough for him this time. He's taking only the best… Charles was among them. And… this time he seemed almost hurried. Harried, even. Like something was chasing his heels, and he needed protection rather than to build up his forces for another assault."
Now that was interesting to hear. It wasn't like they expected Apocalypse to come outright and say to his enemies that he was being hunted by his fellow External. (if he even was an External in the first place)
But it certainly sounded like he might be being pushed by fear from what Storm was saying. And that could mean he WAS an External and Selene WAS coming after him.
This was it. The breakthrough they'd been waiting for.
Selene might have hidden the Externals from their telepathy, but Apocalypse was being too loud, too vocal, and too open with his actions for them not to be able to track him down. And if they could track him down before Selene could get to him…
"I shouldn't have rejected you, Thaddeus. I should have taken you up on your offer ages ago. I got too comfortable. I thought I had enough power… but I wasn't strong enough."
Blinking, Thaddeus pulls out of his thoughts to see Storm staring at him with hope in her eyes.
"... You could make me stronger though. Please... please fuck me. Take a copy of my power, enhance my abilities… and help me defeat Apocalypse once and for all.
I know the X-Men have managed to get off on the wrong foot with you several times. And I know I've acted sanctimonious about the use of your mutation in the past. I don't care how you treat me. If you want to humiliate me, then that's fine too. Just please… help me."
Thaddeus stares back at the somewhat broken woman in front of him. He never in a million years thought that he would see Storm of all people begging him for sex like this.
This Apocalypse fellow might be more dangerous than he'd been thinking.
Which… well, it was a bit of a wake-up call. Here Thaddeus was, thinking solely in terms of finding Selene and using Apocalypse as a tool in that way… but a five-thousand-year-old mutant was no laughing matter either, was he?
Storm was right. They would need all the power in the world both for Apocalypse and his Horsemen… and for whatever came after.
But she's also right that he and the X-Men don't exactly have a very good history. Part of Thaddeus, a part he tries not to listen to too hard, feels very good right now to see Storm all but begging him for his help.
The question becomes… is he going to really make her beg? Or is he just going to give her what she needs so they can move on?