Cryo and other factions

Back to Professor Cryo's hidden schemes

Thousands and thousands of supervillains either make their home in the Cryosphere or at least go there on a semi-regular basis. Even those who don't directly work for Professor Cryo are within his sphere of influence, and can be easily nudged toward certain actions. When it comes to the major factions, though, the Professor needs finesse.

• Shadow tried to infiltrate the Cryosphere from the moment of its creation. Unfortunately for them, Cryo had been expecting as much, and was ready for them. The opportunities for infiltration that Shadow found were carefully engineered traps; when the time came, Cryo eliminated all of Shadow's agents within the Cryosphere. They have remained at odds ever since, but Shadow has never been very effective against Cryo.

• Nollius and the Professor see each other as potential rivals. Cryo, having defeated the world's superheroes twice, is the only human that Nollius considers a genuine threat; Nollius, with his immense magical might and resources, is a factor that Cryo has difficulties predicting on the long term. Both of them are quite aware that even if they manage to destroy the heroes of the world, they will still need to defeat each other before they truly rule the Earth. They have had little to no direct confrontations, but some of their agents have clashed at times. Seven times out of ten, Cryo comes out on top in those situations.

• Omnicorp has had many dealings with the Cryosphere that would be considered high treason if the truth came out. Cryo knows what an evil genius George Li is, and considers him no less of a threat than Nollius...But, unlike Nollius, Li can be useful.

• Global Might is a creation of Omnicorp, and Li has more control over it than anyone else (certainly more than Shadow), but Cryo has influence of his own: Not only is Global Might's HQ located in the Cryosphere, but one of their most useful members, Gatemaster, is a long-time ally of the Professor. This makes it easy for Cryo to hire the villainous team for various actions, or make certain demands (as in when he forced them to spare half of [[Golden Dawn] - see Golden Dawn vs. Global Might). Nevertheless, he knows they won't back him over Omnicorp...for now.

• The Combat Network maintains its HQ in the Cryosphere, but otherwise has little interaction with the Professor. Their goals of world domination may eventually put them at odd with Cryo, but they're still far from that bridge.

• Golden Dawn has many debts toward Cryo, up to and including their survival after their recent war with Global Might. Professor Cryo keeps Golden Dawn close, as they provide magical abilities and knowledge that he is often short of.

• Checkerboard remains a cypher for now. Cryo knows that they have a base in the Cryosphere, and that their leader, Checkmate, is both a tactical and technological genius...But the rest is a mystery that he is willing to discover with time. If Checkerboard begins making waves, however, Cryo will eventually take a much closer interest in them - a risk that Checkmate is himself prepared for. After all, Cryo's destruction is somewhere on Checkerboard's agenda.

Plot seeds:

• Good Night Li: Perhaps Cryo has concluded that Omnicorp has become too dangerous to be allowed to operate any longer. Perhaps it is simply a matter of opportunity, as he has discovered a resourceful individual who is determined to kill George Li. Whichever the reason, the Professor is empowering and equipping a villain determined to destroy Omnicorp's CEO - possibly by destroying all of Megalopolis.

• Race for the Arms: Sooner or later, Cryo will have to deal with Nollius. As such, he immediately sends agents of his when a magic-disrupting artifact (created back in the days of Wunderburg) is found in Megalopolis. But Nollius himself is interested in the object, and sends forces of his own. Magic and technology fight through the city, as both try to get their hands on the artifact (or artifacts - the dig may have found several together, after all).

• Cold in the Shadows: Like thousands of other Cryosphere villains, Masterwork has been studied by Professor Cryo. In Masterwork's case, his mix of phasing and regeneration powers have had an interesting side-effects - Cryo finds in his blood samples damaged nanomachines, whose phasing technology reminds him of Shadow's. He needs further samples for study, but Masterwork is currently locked up in Megalopolis...and Cryo doesn't want Omnicorp to discover whatever secrets are involved. The Professor thus sets out to kidnap the supervillain out of jail and subject him to intense tests - if he succeeds, he may very well discover the existence of The Necrosphere before Shadow is ready to deploy it.