The Hellfire Gala - Part 3

Posted on Fri Sep 13th, 2024 @ 10:33pm by Shinobi Shaw & Charles Xavier & Kennedy Kelly & Emma Frost

Mission: Episode 5: Days of Fortune Past
Location: New York City
Timeline: November 2nd, 1990

The Conclusion

Shinobi sat down in the now empty chair as if he had all the time in the world. He didn't lean forward or put his hands on the ebony table. Instead he sat with his back straight, shoulders squared, and hands resting on the arms of the chair. He made eye contact with each person seated at the table before speaking. "Now I shall entertain questions." He never said that he'd answer any of them.

"Seeing as how Shaw Industries was the historical manufacturer for the Sentinel defense contract..." Donald Pierce stared at Shinobi without weakness. His sharp eyes shone with something akin to approval. "... are we right in assuming that the recent Sentinel attacks nationwide have been at your behest? And, if so, to what ends?"

"Attack is such a strong word for what we're doing here," said Shinobi. "Let's say that Shaw Industries started out by liquidating some old inventory as part of an investment round for some special interest groups. The liquidity allowed me to reactivate Operation Zero Tolerance and make some product advancements. Governments will pay more for the newer, more advanced Sentinels. Especially since they have seen the cleanup efforts after the attempted mutant attack on Washington DC. It's just business."

"As far as to what ends..." He paused a moment, thinking of how best to word the rest of his response. "The old ways are dying. It’s time for a new order, and I and my Hellfire Club shall lead it. And once the governments of the world realize what they have done, it will be far too late. In the game of power, one must be willing to do whatever it takes to secure one's place at the top. Morality is a luxury afforded to those without ambition."

Harry Leland rumbled in his chest before speaking in his deep baritone voice. "Nobody in this room is encumbered by moral strictures, so you can spare us the apologia and skip to the explanation. Seizing power is the grand tradition of our group. What you describe is more akin to global domination. I have to ask, hubris aside, what profit is there to be had in being the man who wears the crown? 'Tis better to be the man who holds the crown's debt."

"Semantics," he answered with a wave of his hand. "It's still seizing power, but on a much grander scale. You're still thinking too small, too narrow, too much like the old guard. Profit is always the bottom line, but you can't underestimate power and control and influence. Those are the currencies of the future."

He leaned back in the chair, relaxed but still in charge. "The crown isn't just authority, it's a tool. With it, one can dictate terms, shift markets, topple economies, and choose who profits and who doesn't. Debt is also a tool as you have pointed out. But it also makes you a slave to the one who calls it in. I will not be beholden to anyone."

"While profit is a goal, it isn't the only one," he continued. "This is about making sure the Hellfire Club isn't enslaved to anyone, shareholders or governments. Profit will come, but it will be on our terms. We must play the long game and set the board to our advantage. So tell me, would you rather hold just the debt of a crown or the debt of the world?"

"It does not sound as though you are acquiring debt markers," said White Rook Emanuel Da Costa, "but rather slave collars. That is a binary decision that even a fool can make. I just have one concern you have failed to address. Even if you manage to dupe most of the governments of the world, there is one ruler who most certainly will not take your bait." He looked up through the ceiling into the sky. "Magneto. The mutant nation he has founded in orbit will resist your plan tooth and nail. Was he not even the one killed my predecessor along with your father? How do you account for him and other free radicals like him?"

"I'm sure he will resist," said Shinobi, brushing off the slave collar and fool comments. "It would surprise me if he didn't. He has, however, been too busy as of late. If you've noticed, he hasn't been as vocal, or anything else for that matter, regarding the Mutant Registration Act. And he has closed orbital shuttling on Asteroid M, if my sources are correct. You see, he has a...," Shinobi paused and grinned wickedly, "...a weasel problem."

Wyngarde chose that moment to return to the chamber. Although he had regained his posh demeanor that somehow changed his appearance into the handsome man as before, he was missing the striking confidence that had commanded the room. He wiped the corner of his mouth again with his handkerchief as he took an empty seat. The mention of the weasel problem visibly discomforted him.

"As you all know, Avalon falls within my territory," Wyngarde said. "I am a founding member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and have been the de facto treasurer for Magneto's formal financial interests. Although I have not returned to Asteroid M for some time, I can assure you that all is well within my crown jewel."

Nobody believed him, of course. No amount of mentalism could hide the guilty-as-hell expression on his face. Fear bubbled out of him like a pot of water set to boil. Something had clearly gone very wrong and Wyngarde had a pretty clear idea of what it could be.

"Can you, Wyngarde?" asked Janet Van Dyne. She had been silent so far, but she saw which way the wind was blowing. "You showed us figures from the start of this fiscal quarter. What might your holdings reflect year to date? I wonder..." She trailed off, but her lingering question stung like a poisoned dart.

"Jason, you act like none of us listen to the rumor mill," Emma clicked her tongue after chiding him. "Avalon is currently in shambles thanks to strategic sabotage" She spoke to the Inner Circle with an unmatched air of confidence. Emma would remind all of them why she would remain the White Queen. "It's part of the reason why you rushed forward with this self-proclaimed promotion before the fiscal year ended, what's happening on Asteroid M today will be your financial ruin tomorrow. Before the numbers dropped you made your power play... I'll commend you for such a bold and devious move but we aren't that stupid, at least not all of us." Emma glanced around the room remembering which members agreed to Jason's claims without a scrutinous gaze.

"So Magneto has been taken down a notch or two?" Selene shifted in her seat, the playful posture for partying was gone and the business woman she was appeared. Despite her Black Queen title, she was a snake like the rest of them and knew when it was time to slither towards the next move. "We know that won't last forever, but it does create a window of opportunity to make some true power plays that no one, not even Magneto, can recover from. But that window of time is short. You mentioned reinstating Operation Zero Tolerance with product advancements - how soon can that happen?"

Shinobi chuckled at the exchange between Jason and Emma before turning to face Selene. "The first wave of Prime Sentinels have already been deployed," he said. "They were at the Arlington Memorial Bridge as a clean up effort after Freedom Force. The second wave is at the end of completion and should be ready for deployment in the next two days. I also have my Omega Sentinel, who is quite the weapon. He thwarted an attempted robbery at one of the facilities and was on site at the bridge. What did you have in mind?"

Kennedy’s complexion turned pale as she listened to all of them talk in such a casual manner about such catastrophic events. They called it business but people were dying, injured, and enslaved by the sentinel program.

“Jace…” Kennedy gasped his former name with a hiccup of both sorrow and shock. “What have you done? Sentinels are evil, they’re used to enslave us.” She shook her head in disbelief over how dirty his hands had become in such a limited amount of time. “Those people died at Beat Street because of you? The attack in Washington D.C.? That was a peaceful protest. Innocent refugees live in Avalon! Your own family rejected you because you were a mutant and now you’re profiting from your own people’s demise.”

Kennedy stood up in outrage over the continued ramifications of what he had done “The Omega Sentinel, that’s the former First Class member. He’s yours? Jace, that’s a kidnapped person turned into a machine! He almost killed Bobby. Why would you do that? Bobby was your friend too.”

"Shinobi," he said, correcting Kennedy as he turned to address her. He didn't quiet his voice or change his tone so that the rest of the Inner Circle could still hear him. Then he continued, "Bobby Drake is a feckless man-child; a toddler trapped in an adolescent's body. I have no use for him or for the X-Men. They don't live in the same world as the rest of us do. They live a positive, hopeful, happy-go-lucky, Leave it to Beaver, utopia. They would shackle themselves to those who disagree with them all in the name of tolerance and peace."

Those who knew of the X-Men laughed in agreement. The team was regarded as a nuisance at best.

"Humans cast me aside because I was different, because I didn't fit into their agenda," he continued. "Canadian mutants captured me because I was different, imprisoned me, and then tried to have me killed by their pet Wendigos. All because I didn't fit into their agenda. Then Professor Xavier kept me at his Institute and made me a foot soldier in his Peace Corps. That is, until he needed me to fit into his agenda and break into a compound and steal from Reverend Stryker. His hands are not as clean as he likes everyone to think." Shaw was remembering more of his conversation with Magneto in the Savage Land.

"I am Shinobi Shaw. I am the Lord Imperial. I am a general in this war against weakness. I have seized greatness and am no longer shackled to anyone's agenda or mediocrity. I am no longer a foot soldier in another man's war. I will no longer cower like a dog before those who disagree with me. I will not be shackled by tolerance or weakness." He ended his current address with two words, "Never again."

Those words rang loud in Wyngarde's ears. Somehow, somewhere this young upstart had spent time under Magneto's shadow. There could be no doubt. Once Wyngarde recognized it, Master of Magnetism's aphorisms were dripping off of Jace. Shinobi. Now it all made sense. This was a counterstroke that he had never seen coming.

"Never again," Wyngarde repeated, his tone defeated and his head lowered. He was beaten without any doubt about it. "I withdraw my challenge."

“No!” Kennedy took a step back from Shinobi as she slowly shook her head in disbelief. What he had done and what he had planned to do… it was terrifying. “This isn’t you! Jace, you aren’t like this.”

Her eyes darted around the room and the Inner Circle that all gazed at her with apathetic almost bored expressions on their faces. “No, this isn’t you!” Her eyes went wide as Kennedy realized that she was trapped in this room with all of them. The Professor was right, the Hellfire Club was a group of dangerous, heartless monsters.

“No, this isn’t you, you aren’t like this.” Fear turned her voice into a sob of denial as panic began to make her heart race. “This isn’t you.”

Kennedy continued to slowly back away and towards the door. Shinobi took a single large step towards her with hand outreached. Her blue eyes found his and Shinobi saw nothing but terror in her eyes. Kennedy’s voice finally escalated to a scream when she realized he had no intention of letting her go “Don’t touch me!”

Shinobi turned to the Black King, "Jason, I am in need of your skills. Make her compliant so that we can celebrate downstairs when the formal announcement is made to the Pawns." He sighed, "She just needs time to love me and this life I'm offering to her."

"Yes, My Lord." Jason bowed his head in submission, at least he could prove useful while he groveled and recovered from tonight's catastrophe. The Black king advanced on the lithe blonde with outstretched hands like a fiend from a horror movie.

Kennedy recoiled and pressed herself against the unopened door. Her fingers pawed at the doorknob but she was panicked and fearful of Jason’s touch and it made her too clumsy to open the door and run. As his hand touched her forearm all the fear and hesitation left her. Kennedy was suddenly happy to be here, and concerns she once had left and she merely filled with a pleasant feeling of belonging and peace. She looked across the room at Shinobi and that warm, exuberant smile from early in the night returned to her face. Those beautiful blue eyes of her sparkled as nothing but sweet adoration filled them. “Shinobi,” She cooed as she walked back to him, without a second glance she sat down in the seat next to his, silent and compliant.

Selene merely smiled as she watched Jason work, he truly was a master of illusion. He could make any want or desire into reality. “Bravo Shinobi, she will make an excellent White Queen.”

Emma silently seethed over the salt Selene was trying to rub into her own wound. Emma had brought Shinobi into this place, she was the one who rescued him from that narcissist’s school. If it hadn’t been for her, he never would have risen to power and in his first play of power he knocked Emma off the board for some girl. Too proud to admit any form of defeat and too skilled at a cold gaze, the former White Queen merely lifted her nose into the air so she could look down at Selene.

Shinobi continued with the business at hand. "The loss of the Mark I and Mark II Sentinels in East Harlem and Seattle is regrettable," Shinobi began, his tone measured. "They represented a significant investment in the early days for my father and the Hellfire Club. But those events, unfortunate as they may seem, were entirely necessary. After all, we now have the more advanced Prime Sentinels in production and deployment, technology far beyond what came before. Progress is often messy, and discovery requires experimentation." He paused, letting his words sink in before adding with a casual shrug, "As to the lives lost that she mentioned, better to be at the devil's side than in his path."

“Too our Lord Imperial!” The Black Queen said while raising her wine glass into the air. “And his brilliant plans to bring the Hellfire Club to greatness!”

"Yes, yes..." Wyngarde raised his glass in reluctance before he led Kennedy away. "Come, my sweet. Let us make you more comfortable..."

Shinobi reveled in the moment. And with Kennedy seated next to him, it was even better. Though, he'd wished it was of her own volition that she was there. That position also made it easy to see when she got up. "No, she stays with me. When I told you to put her under, it was not so that you could make decisions for her. Nor was it meant for anything else," he added with an angry tone in his voice. "She is not your prize. The reason she is even here tonight is because I hand-delivered her invitation. She is my personal guest. And as such, she will remain next to my person...for her own safety."

Kennedy abandoned her seat next to Shinobi and opted to sit in his lap instead. With a rustle of white taffeta from her ball gown she found a position in his arms and in that moment it felt like their night in SoHo all over again. "Shinobi has always taken care of me and defended me." She reached out and caressed his cheek. "He's my person."

"My Lord, there are some limitations to the illu..." The Black King attempted to interject.

"Come now, Jason, let our Lord Imperial enjoy the evening..." Emma cut him off before he could explain any further "Leave the shop talk for tomorrow."

Kennedy rested her head under his chin and the faint sweet smell of her perfume filled his nose as the warmth of her body pressed against his own." We'll have a beautiful life together, travel the world side by side." She tilted her head upwards and Shinobi felt the brush of her soft lips against his skin. "I have always wanted to go to Paris with someone that I loved."

Fin