The Devil Wears Prada

Posted on Wed Aug 28th, 2024 @ 1:56pm by Charles Xavier & Emma Frost
Edited on on Wed Aug 28th, 2024 @ 1:57pm

Mission: Episode 5: Days of Fortune Past
Location: Astral Plane
Timeline: October 16th, 1990

Charles Xavier did not invade the sanctity of another person’s mind without invitation. Doing so was an assault of the highest order, something he taught other telepaths never to do. When he acted upon another person, it was always consensual, surgical, and restrained. There were too many variables for a cavalier approach to be justifiable, to say nothing of the ethical considerations.

The few exceptions were too terrible to dwell on for long.

Today, however, his students were in the crosshairs of a nefarious organization that prized itself in its corruption. He wasn’t going to psychically assault anyone. He was going to get to the bottom of matters that had been brewing in and around his home. Charles Xavier was going to insert himself between his students and disaster.

~Emma Frost~

His eyes, Charles pushed his mind through the Cerebro interface to zero in on Emma Frost’s penthouse in a Manhattan highrise. Of course she deflected him on instinct. Had this been a battle, he would have rolled up his sleeves and tried again, but his intentions were peaceful for the moment.

~Join me on the Astral Plane~

With the summons given, Charles Xavier left his body and assumed his astral form several layers beyond the fringes of the Astral Plane, far beyond the prying eyes of any but the most gifted telepaths. Clad in the light of pure thought, Xavier looked like a god shining in all his glory as he waited patiently for parley with an unknown value.

With the speed of thought, a nimbus of glowing stars coalesced into a feminine form of purest white. The form continued to evolve until it became the sensational Emma Frost wearing a gorgeous vintage dressing gown.

Emma sat at a small table with a beautiful tea set. She gazed up at the avatar of the Professor with an amused closed mouth smile.
“Won't you join me, Professor Xavier? I've got a delightful tea steeping right now. Or if you would prefer stronger stuff, I have an excellent Sherry I wager you would enjoy.”

“No.” Xavier blinked his glowing white eyes and the astral apparitions of carnal niceties vanished as quickly as they had appeared. “This is not a social call, Miss Frost. I know that the Hellfire Club is actively recruiting. What I want to know is why you and your ilk are doing so from among my students.”

“Ilk?" Emma's soft chuckle of derision expressed her thoughts on that choice of words. “It may not be a social call from your perspective, Professor, but I would suggest maintaining the niceties of respect. Being polite will gain you more than forceful ignorance. As the saying goes, ‘you'll get more flies with honey than vinegar’."

“Answer the question,” Xavier said, unfazed by her stalling tactics.

"As for why my social organization is recruiting from your student population, that much I can reveal.” Emma became more comfortable as she sat at the table. "I only recently discovered that a late lover of mine had fathered a child out of wedlock some years ago. That child was none other than your student, young Jace. As I had a vested interest in helping Jace acquire his proper inheritance, I made that happen. Miss Kennedy was simply a happy bonus because of her romantic interest in Jace. Truth be told, I'm far more interested in Miss Kennedy. Her value as the face of mutants in our volatile state politically is beyond measurable value.”

“Politics?” summarized Xavier with skepticism. “More like wealth and power.” While Kennedy had been effectively disowned by the Kelly dynasty, her name was still her own and would carry weight in certain circles. And what Jace lacked in a formal pedigree, he would evidently make up with a sudden windfall inheritance. That confirmed his suspicions. His eyes narrowed at the tacit admission that Emma had been the one to block his telepathic scans at the restaurant where Jace’s attorney had led them.

"Given your previous history of positive work on behalf of mutants,” Emma said, “I'm a little disappointed that you had not considered the gambit yourself.”

“We’re not talking about a game of cards,” Xavier retorted. “We’re talking about people’s lives, young, impressionable minds with their entire lives ahead of them. If Jace’s father was who I suspect, then your clutches run deep indeed. Kennedy is only just beginning to come to terms with her father’s very public death. I will not stand by and watch any of my students become pawns in the Hellfire Club’s political machinations.” His voice flared with reverberation as he said, “Leave them alone.”

Emma was unshaken by Xavier's attempt to frighten her. “Professor, such theatrics have never impressed me. My father was an unpleasant man at best, a monster at worst. Please don't take steps to remind me of him."

“Miss Frost, we both know from my past restraint that I am not given to theatrics. I caution you not to respond in the spirit of juvenile rebellion against a corrupt father figure.” Xavier’s voice softened but his resolve did not. “I am not your father. If the Hellfire Club plans to harm my students, I shall not be so kind as he was in my preventative measures. You deserve fair warning for what would happen.”

"Professor, I don't see how promoting somebody into the stratosphere of economic success is a detriment. Now if you would deny him what is legally his, that's between the two of you. Now if you insist on launching veiled threats my way, I would be disappointed to have to defend myself. Your reputation is less than stellar given the company you keep. I'm not personally associated with people who drop battleships on innocent people.”

That was very interesting indeed. Given that Xavier had publicly condemned that action and had no association with Magneto whatsoever besides his appeal to their former friendship from long ago, Emma’s comments bore no semblance to reality. If she believed what she said, which Xavier doubted, then she crawled through the minds of some of his students in search of manipulation fuel. That thought incensed him more than anything. “You truly are a devil, aren’t you?”

“My goal is the same as yours,” Emma said. “The ultimate survival and success of our species. If you haven't noticed, the war has started. We're at a tipping point, and your efforts are noted but are limited in scope. But I would like to establish a detente—to work together rather than against. I think you would enjoy such a working relationship as opposed to the one you have with a certain master of magnetism."

Xavier shook his head. “Survival at any cost is not my goal. A sage once asked what profit is there to gain the world but lose one’s soul? Magneto lost his long ago, as I fear have you. Whatever game you think to play, leave my students out of it.”

Emma bristled at his words about souls. "Perhaps it's going to take someone who wants to save our people rather than waste time with meaningless gestures of outrage. Besides, souls are overrated.“

“Cheap words from someone who sold theirs.” Xavier shook his head in disgust. “Just stay away from my students.”

“I have no interest in culling from your student body. I have my own resources. As I said before, Miss Kennedy made her own choice without any influence on my part. As for young master Jace, I only showed him the light of his parentage. If you have an issue with that you should probably take it up with him.”

“I’m taking it up with you!” Xavier’s voice took on a rare snarl. “They are free to choose their own path, but I believe you are unworthy of them for they are better than you. Now leave them be or you will be made to.”

“More threats?" She looked up at his impression of The wizard of Oz with a total lack of concern. “Then take steps. I won't stop you from doing what you think is best. I won't interfere with your actions with the Hellfire Club. I wouldn't be upset if they were wiped off the face of the Earth. The Inner Circle is filled with all sorts of unscrupulous and unpleasant people. But don't tread there lightly, they won't be as forgiving as I am."

Xavier shook his head. The fact she kept accusing him of trying to intimidate her only showed her belly more. That tacit inadequacy would have drawn out his sympathy if not for her bewitching attempts to claim innocence of all that she has done and project her shame onto others. “Mirroring and manipulation will not absolve you of your sins. Your ill-gotten gains condemn you.”

Emma scowled. “Our people are dying everyday, being sent to camps for proper disposal, or crushed under the boots of robot assassins. Or even worse, being prepared for slavery. Yet you spend your time arguing with people who are on the same side. I think you need to look in the mirror to see who the true enemy is in this case. My hands are clean. Are yours?”

“Enough!” Xavier shouted. “Your wiles may avail you against lesser minds, but I see your tendrils even as you weave them. Every despot in history saw themselves as the hero the world needed. I know how you made your fortunes. I know the blood that was spilled to put you where you are. The only reason Project Wideawake was ended was because the X-Men stopped it while Magneto tore the Inner Circle apart.” He cocked his head as his true feelings came forward. There was no greater contempt Xavier felt than for a self-deluded telepath who answered to no higher power than themselves. “The difference between us, Emma Frost, is that I do not hide from the mirror with self-deluding grandeur. We both looked into the abyss and you blinked. You will never find absolution atop your mountain of blood money. Justice itself will see to that.”

Emma chuckled as the rant petered out.
“If you're concerned about the blood on my hands rather than the blood on your own. I can see why you're deluding yourself. I've paid the price to get where I am. I have lost more than you will ever have. You're clearly distracted by my representation, it always works even for the most keen of minds."

There was no blood on Xavier's hands. To persist in grasping at that straw made Emma into desperation incarnate. While he could not bring himself to sympathize with wherever she was coming from, Xavier did allow himself a modicum of pity for such a pathetic creature wrapped up in a façade of beauty, as if her feminine wiles had any bearing in this place. “You are neither the first nor the last to be so deluded, Emma Frost, to think your pain justifies your means any more than they do your ends. I just pray that you forsake your hubris long enough to pass my warning on to your bedfellows. I have spoken.” And then Xavier was gone.

“I paid the price, and I will continue to in order to make sure as many of my people have been freed from this future that you've helped create. You say I blinked when I looked into the abyss? I sure as hell did. I've blinked back bitter tears at the losses I have experienced. As mighty as your powers might be, you're nothing compared to what I have lost. As for my grandeur, it is certainly no illusion."

Words echoing into the void between sleep and awake passed over Xavier as he abandoned his astral form. He awakened back inside his body, feeling the cold sweat beneath the familiar weight of Cerebro’s helmet. Whatever the Hellfire Club was planning was terrible enough that their White Queen already had her apologia for it down pat. As if the Sentinels weren't enough of a problem.

Xavier sighed and prepared himself for another restless night of data analysis. Somehow, somewhere, something would reveal itself and unravel the entire picture.