Earth-9575’s Jean Grey, a violent creature of unquenchable desire, was cast from reality after her power was decimated. On Earth-998, Queen Madelyn I ruled a 19th century global Empire. On her deathbed she ordered her corpse burnt so she could rise from the ashes; when she did not return, many nations violently regained independence. Jean Grey-9575 came to Earth-998, posing as Madelyn Pryor. Now the Red Queen, she led the Empire to take back half the world. She sought the energies of Nate Grey, the ultimate telekine with a doomsday weapon for a mind, who had come to her reality from Earth-2098 (a divergent world sacrificed to restore Earth-998). Nate Grey proved dangerously unstable and she seemingly slew him, though he secretly survived. Forge gave her the means to travel to – but not return from – alternate Earths, but when he learned her true identity during their subsequent relationship, she had her agent Mr. Scratch kill him. For eight years, the Red Queen traveled to alternate Earths, targeting Nate Greys, and neutralizing Sinister’s cellular time bombs within them, and destroying defective incarnations. On Earth-616, a Nate Grey arrived from Earth-295 (“Age of Apocalypse”); as on Earth, the Red Queen guided the lonely Grey to collect the psychic residue of the deceased Madelyne Pryor, a clone of Jean Grey (the genetic mother of Nate) created by Mr. Sinister, seemingly resurrecting her but actually creating a doorway through which the Queen could act. The Queen initially programmed this construct to believe herself the resurrected Madelyn, and she formed a close relationship with Nate.
All who examined Madelyne believed her a reanimated corpse or a mere shadow/reflection of Madelyne Pryor's memories created by Nate Grey. Some saw the Phoenix Force or a reflection of the demonic inferno within her. The External Selene abducted Madelyn to gain power within the Hellfire Club, placing Madelyne as the new Black Rook. Madelyne seduced the Club's black King, Sebastian Shaw, and battled Shaw's aide Tessa. Nate decided that Madelyn was a mere extension of himself and tried to absorb her into his body, but she broke free, proving her own power and life. After a brief separation, Madelyne assisted Nate against the Great Beasts, Holocaust, and Stryfe (Nathan Summers-clone). Madelyne and Nate were assisted by the mysterious Ness, in their decisive defeat of the Psi-Ops. Having gradually entered her construct, the Red Queen had worked her way into and placed controls within Nate's mind. After testing her control of his power and confirming that he was not defective, she revealed her motives and used his power to return to Earth-998. The Red Queen intended to use Nate to restore the Empire, but Nate escaped, following the call of Nate Grey-2098, who revealed the Red Queen's origins. Combining their powers, the two Nate Greys duped the Queen into capturing and destroying the wrong Nate, while Nate Grey-295 -having at last realized his full power- destroyed the Red Queen.
