Guiseppe Balsamo stepped from the rooms and walked through the streets. He had become aware that Doom possessed the Eye of Agamotto and he knew that he would need an ally to confront the coming of the Harbinger and prevent the Ascension. He had worked tirelessly since the fall of the Age of Heroes to ensure that the world was safe from the coming of the seven demi-gods that would end the world as they knew it.

He had taken many steps to ensure the survival of the world, even if it had meant betraying every man woman and child on the surface. It was he who had allowed the Phalanx to invade Earth, to bypass the galactic barrier through mystical means. If the Phalanx had been here and the Ascension had been completed the gods would have been met by a power they were unprepared for and they would have been defeated. The Phalanx would then have been trapped from their home-world by the barrier.

The sorcerer known as Cagliostro had done many things that could have been perceived as heinous, but that was the one thing he regretted doing, but he had known it was necessary. What he had not foreseen was the return of Doom to this time period and his defeat of the Phalanx, wiping out the species on a universal scale. Victor Von Doom was as merciless as he had ever been when the occasion arose, and even though he had been believed to be dead, he had survived and now he was the Sorcerer Supreme.

Perhaps, Cagliostro mused, it was as it should be that they could join forces and stop the Harbinger from coming to this world, or at least stop the Ascension. There was much to be done and he knew he had to search out his former student and convince him of the danger that was coming. That was why he had come to the Moon and taken rooms in New Attilan. It had been fairly easy, thanks to the Richards Space Programme. Travelling between the planet and the satellite had never been easier, thanks to the phenomenal mind of Reed Richards.

Doom was rumoured to live in the home of the Watcher some distance away and it would take some travelling to get to him, however he was a Master of the Mystic Arts and Balsamo knew that several spells could be cast to get him to Doom's home. He had waited a few days to see if Doom had been aware of his coming, but if he were aware he had not done anything and that suited him fine. However he was aware that he was being watched.

He could not see by who, or detect any mystical means, but there was someone out there, and to evade Cagliostro was no mean feat. He would like to find out who it was at a later date and he also knew if they meant him harm, he would be able to dispatch them.

There were tricks he could show them that hadn't been seen in nearly one hundred years...

Sarah looked at the man as he stepped from the building and smiled as he looked about. He knew he was being watched but he was unsure as to who and he had not seen her yet. She was the Moon Knight, and it was her job to remain unseen unless she needed to be seen. The Fist of Khonshu operated on the home of the Egyptian Moon God, having been returned to life at his hand and now she worked for Doom, who had also spoken with Khonshu.

It was Khonshu that had warned Doom of the traitor to humanity, the one who had betrayed them and Doom had spent time since then searching for the enemy to no avail. He had even gained the Eye of Agamotto to aid him in his quest and through it he had detected the coming of someone he had once known. He spoke of this Cagliostro with reverence, but he also spoke of him with concern, as he knew that he was here for one reason alone - he was here for Doom and Doom wanted to know what was going on, so he had sent Sarah to keep an eye on him.

She had accepted with good grace and had spent the last few days keeping an eye on him and now she could see the man walking towards the city limits and with no visible means of protection against the harsh, airless atmosphere of the moon. She gave an involuntary shiver at the very though of that, knowing it was that which had made her in to the Moon Knight, dying through suffocation on the barren surface, but she shook it off quickly and pulled the small communications device from her belt.

"Doom, this is Sarah," she said, speaking in to the device. Doom had just built it one night, using technology harvested from the Watcher's home.

"Yes, Sarah," came the voice, regal, proud and yet not at the same time, for the recent past had changed him for the better and she smiled.

"It would appear that Cagliostro is on his way," she said, following the mark until he left the city limits. "Walking towards you, he should be there shortly. If Xina is there..."

"I understand, child," said Doom. "You have done well, Sarah. Very well indeed. I shall call when I need you again."

"Yes, Doom," she said and the device clicked, indicating that Doom was no longer listening to her. She was unsure who this Cagliostro was, but if he thought he could catch Doom unawares, he was either very powerful, or very foolish.

"Cagliostro searches Doom out."

"An interesting turn of events. I did not think that Balsamo had such courage."

"Perhaps he has something we have not foreseen. This may be the turning point."

"No, he believes Doom will understand why he took the actions, but Doom will destroy him - take out the traitor and our cause will be realised. The Harbinger comes."

"You must go," said Doom, as he pulled his robes around him.

"But Victor," Xina started to say and he looked at her. It was now a scowl, nor a frown, yet it seemed to a loving glower at her and she nodded.

"It may not be safe for you here," he said. "I would not see you harmed in my place."

"I know," she said as she started to dress, "but I just don't like leaving you alone. Who is this Cagliostro?"

"He was once known as Guiseppe Balsamo, and he learnt the mystic arts from various places, including the fabled Darkhold. It was he who tutored myself in the arcane arts, and I had an aptitude for them that surpassed even his own, and his power was great. His talents include teleportation, astral projection, mystical energy manipulation and other incantations."

"How has he lived so long?"

"The Darkhold contains the necessary incantations to extend life, but as I understand it, the potion required the blood of a vampire. I have heard that Dracula is alive and well, so it is always possible that there are still vampires walking the earth."

"Your were his disciple?" Xina asked, and Doom nodded. "Can he beat you?"

"Perhaps. The Darkhold has been missing since the fall of the first age of heroes," said Doom. "He is the only one who knows the book's contents. However I am not the student he once knew, and my powers are greater now than they were. However I am not prepared to risk you, should it come a conflict. As yet we do not know his intentions."

"Be careful, my love," Xina said as she finished putting her boots on. "I'll be waiting for you."

"I know," said Doom and kissed her. Then he created a portal to take her back to her apartment in the city and then he was alone, waiting for his tutor to arrive, thinking back to the man he had been back then. It had been a different time, when he used technology to it's limits and he had created a time machine, and used it to go back to learn the mystic arts to free his mother from Mephisto, eventually doing so with the help of Doctor Strange, and embarrassing the demon in the process.

So much had passed since then. He had gone from dictator to villain, to monarch, to vigilante to hero to traitor to saviour. He had gone through so much, endured great events and he had survived it all and now he could sense that there was much coming together. Khonshu had warned him at the start of 2100 that he had been used, and that the Earth had been betrayed to the Phalanx.

Were the two events connected? Possibly, but how he had yet to discover and there were signs and portents that something big was occurring. Cagliostro would be here soon enough. He had to get clear of the city and teleport himself over to him. He knew that Cagliostro had done so in the past by tapping in to the magical energies of Earth, but the moon took some adjusting to, which was one of the reasons he would have waited so long.

Then he felt it and he turned, awaiting the arrival of Guiseppe Balsamo and then he was there and the two men faced each other for the first time in centuries.

"Guiseppe Balsamo."

"Victor Von Doom? You are not what I imagined without your armour."

"I no longer need it," Doom said. "It serves no more purpose to me."

"So you accept your true power," said Cagliostro. "It pleases me to see that, my student..." He paused and he could see that Doom was unimpressed, and that his usual charm and charisma would not work on one such as him. Von Doom's arms went behind his back and he stared at the sorcerer and Cagliostro felt as if the man's eyes were boring in to his very soul.

"What do you want of me, Cagliostro? I do not believe you have simply called by to discuss old times."

"I have come to seek your aid, Doom," he said. "I need the aid of the Sorcerer Supreme and finally there is one worthy of the name."

"You seek my aid?" mused Doom. "Interesting."

"If you had not deposed Garokk, I would have been forced to take him down myself."

"Garokk was an amateur at best and a fool at worst," said Doom, a thin smile crossing his lips. "But he did have great power as Sorcerer Supreme. As I do now."

"I know," said Caglisotro. "I watched and saw how you dealt with the Phalanx, and I believed you dead."

"I have been told I was brought here to combat them directly," said Doom. "I have yet to ascertain who that was by."

"Kulan Gath," said Cagliostro, without pause, and Doom raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know this?" he demanded.

"Because he is one of two sorcerers who survived the fall of the Age of Heroes. I was one, he was the second and he was joined by Ghaur, the Deviant High Priest. They used my powers, my knowledge of the Darkhold... I thought I was doing to benefit mankind."

"Set," said Doom. Ghaur had tried to unleash Set once before, but the heroes of Earth had stopped him, his heads cut off and spread throughout the multiverse and his body destroyed when the pocket dimension he had been trapped in was destroyed. He would regenerate in time, but it had not happened yet.

"No," said Cagilostro. "Set is defeated, but his sons are another matter."

"Sons," said Doom, confused. Ghaur's plan had failed, had it not? "Explain?"

"Set regenerated and was freed by Ghaur in a reality where Earth's heroes failed. The seven sons of Set now move to conquer as many realities as they can find, and this one is soon."

"Incredible," said Doom. "How is it that you cannot stop them by yourself? Your powers..."

"Are not enough. They have summoned the Harbinger to this world and once he arrives the Sons will follow and begin the Ascension. I could not stop them from sending a signal, and it was all I could do to bring the Phalanx..."

"WAIT!" commanded Doom and Cagliostro stopped. "You betrayed Earth?"

"The Phalanx could have stopped the Sons..." Cagliostro began, but Doom was no longer listening.

"Treachery!" he called, drawing on his power and Cagliostro knew he had erred. Doom was not listening and he began to prepare to defend himself when he felt something. "You concocted this story to defend your actions, and I will have vengeance!"

"Hold!" a voice commanded and even Doom stopped in his tracks.

"Khonshu," said the Sorcerer Supreme, recognising the voice. "I have found the traitor! I do not understand why you stay my hand."

"I said nothing of a traitor, Von Doom. I pointed you in the right direction, because the Harbinger is coming and you will need Cagliostro to defeat him. Set is an enemy of mine from long ago, and I will not see his sons succeed where he himself failed."

"This is all true?" said Doom. It was inconceivable that the Sons of Set were at large taking over a dimension at a time. The higher powers of the universe would have surely done something about it. "Why has none stopped them?"

"Because there is nothing to stop. They do not break any laws of the universe, they are simply expanding their empire and this world is next. You are not ready."

"But what of Set?" asked Doom. "Where is their father?"

"Trapped within a version of the Eye of Agamotto," Khonshu said, "where he and the human called Wendell Vaughan fight for all eternity. It resides in a secret place within this domicile. There is a war coming, Von Doom. Prepare."

"Is this why you returned the Moon Knight?" Doom asked, but Khonshu was gone and Cagliostro was amazed by what had just happened.

"So what do we do now?" he asked, as he saw the look in Doom's eye.

"We are at war," said Doom, after a moment. "The Sons of Set are due, the Harbinger is coming and there are forces that would destroy this world. Your actions will be judged later. Right now we need one thing - we need to find the Darkhold."

"It has been long lost," said Cagliostro. "The floods, the Phalanx..."

"Then you will find it," said Doom and Cagliostro knew that he was not being given a choice. It was a chance for redemption, or at least a start of it. "I will find the Harbinger and his allies. You used the Phalanx to thwart their plans, they used me to thwart the Phalanx."

"How do you know?"

"I just do," said Doom, "and they will learn that nobody uses Victor Von Doom without paying a severe price..."