Presented in the same pose as the cover of Illuminati #1, this group was revealed to include Namor, Doctor Doom, Emma Frost, Loki, The Hood, and Norman Osborn.
Loki (a personal ally of Doctor Doom around this time), as the Scarlet Witch, though agreeing to deliver a message from Hank Pym in outer space to the British intelligence agency, asking them to stop all international air traffic, was not willing to breach the mystical barrier Dracula had erected sealing in Britain for some reason; though Dracula himself was uncertain why this was so, he claimed that he predicted that this would be so.
Osborn promises to take care of the Mighty Avengers, and other issues are discussed, such as the unsuccessful hunt for Tony Stark, the pouring in of the Asgardians into Latveria (which Loki argues was in accordance to her agreement with Doom), the reinstating of Doctor Doom as monarch, the massing mutants from San Francisco, the problem of Mister Negative, the Punisher's assault on the Hood, the dismantling of Camp Hammond, and various other issues.
Loki seeks to use her own Avengers to weaken and break Osborn, a goal shared by Doom and Namor, and gathers all of them once more in her previous guise as the Scarlet Witch.
[10] Nevertheless, the Cabal meets again on the psychic plane with the aid of Emma Frost, prior to the events of Utopia, but after the Asgardians have been moved to Latveria.
Doom tells the Cabal that he has already told Osborn how to storm the Baxter Building, to which Loki remarks that the events in America are always of interest, although admittedly less so now that the Asgardians have been successfully moved to Latveria.
[11] Loki (still in her female form) also reveals to Osborn that she was responsible for granting the new Enchantress of the Young Masters her mystical powers, apparently because of the mischief such would cause.
Namor and Doctor Doom were secretly working behind Osborn's back, aware that their plots against Osborn could erupt into the greatest battle their dimension has ever seen should all not go to plan, 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.
Afraid of exposure due to Wiccan's magic threatening to reveal her true form, Loki was forced to leave swearing all their deaths.
T'Challa objects, saying that, as he even rejected a seat among the Illuminati, an alliance of honourable men, he finds no reason to affiliate himself with the villainous Cabal.
Though Namor ends the meeting and leaves the Panther without conflict, T'Challa is shortly assaulted by Doctor Doom and his Doombots, resulting in his near-demise, to be replaced with his sister Shuri.
Loki assures him that Odin is gone and Balder is weak and easily manipulated to her purposes, as well as addressing Doom's concerns for Thor by promising to personally deal with her adopted brother.
The meeting ends with Doctor Doom agreeing to Loki's terms of moving the Asgardians to Latveria, for unclear reasons (later revealed to apparently be the chance of stealing the power of immortality from the gods), with Loki promising to grant him the one thing he lacks, seeking to become absolute ruler over the divided Asgardians.
As the events of Utopia begin to unfold, Loki, having been restored back to his male form after abandoning Sif's body, and Doctor Doom together watch the mutant situation heat up, pleased that things are now getting "interesting".
Loki then goes to prepare his own gift for Doom, talking to an Asgardian named Endrik, casting a spell on him that makes him fall into a sleep.
Balder doesn't believe him at all and declares that he share die for his deceit, to which Loki admits that it is his fault for bringing them to Latveria and asks for a fair trial before death.
Meanwhile, Frost contacts Osborn through a secure channel, reminding him that they "had a deal" and asking him to call Daken off, to which Osborn, protected by state-of-the-art psychic shields and flanked by Ares and Venom, asks her why would he comply, as well as claiming that though he knew nothing about Daken's activities, now that his curiosity was piqued, he insisted Emma enlighten him.
It is primarily because of their growing mistrust of Osborn, with Namor's discoveries of the Sentry slaying the Atlantean terrorists but initially containing his rage [29] but later joining the Dark X-Men because of his romance with Emma Frost, who convinced him to join the Dark X-Men and psychically enters his mind, seeking to uncover the answers to some of her questions.
[30] Frost extended an invitation to Cloak and Dagger to join the true X-Men as they teleported to the newly created island base, Utopia.
[31] Elsewhere, Namor and Reed Richards reach the tomb of Captain America, but discovers no dead body of their fallen comrade, to the shock of both men.
The ensuing conflict is so colossal that the entire football field is obliterated, and Loki and Osborn have successfully created the inciting incident they had sought, beginning the Siege of Asgard.
The Dark Reign is thus forever ended after the failed Siege of Asgard, with Norman Osborn, the Hood, and Taskmaster all eventually apprehended and placed in custody (with Osborn's Green Goblin person mocking him as he says that had it not been interfering, he would not have failed so miserably), Frost and Namor remaining with the X-Men and battling alongside the mutants through the events of Second Coming and beyond, Loki physically destroyed but his spirit not bound to Hela, and Doctor Doom remaining ruler of Latveria and attempting to further his ambitions by seizing Wakanda's vibranium to amplify his mystic powers to levels untold and to build an unstoppable army, thus allowing him to conquer the world.
Maria Hill later attempts (apparently unsuccessfully) to persuade the President and his Cabinet to contact the Fantastic Four and the X-Men to aid the Avengers against the Hood's forces.
During the reborn Illuminati's quest to save Earth from the incursions (multi-dimensional planet crashes), the moral cost begins to overwhelm the members, except Namor.
[49] When the final incursion occurs,[50] the Cabal manage to escape the destruction in a specially-designed 'life-pod', unaware that they have been 'followed' by the new Spider-Man of the Ultimate Earth, who sneaked into the pod while invisible.
[51] An alternate universe variant of the Cabal from Earth-2099 appear in Marvel 2099, consisting of Norman Osborn, Bruto Olafsen, Manfredi, Chief Woland, Crossbones, and Carnage.
Doom, bearing the Hood's cloak, has fought and slain Robbins, and has imprisoned Emma Frost and Loki as half-naked slaves chained to his throne.
At the end, Dr. Doom fantasizes about the day where he will dispose of Namor as well, and take his place as ruler of the entire world, over both the lands and the seas.
Wesker proposes that the Cabal aid him in conquering his Earth as it lacks superheroes, but they are unable to find a power source to open a portal.