Paint it Black

Posted on Mon Nov 11th, 2024 @ 7:42pm by Selene Gallio & Shinobi Shaw

2,020 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 5: Days of Fortune Past
Location: Secret Hellfire Location
Timeline: November 10, 1990

In the days that followed the Hellfire Gala, Shinobi found himself increasingly busy. With Operation Zero Tolerance going into full effect and the slew of meetings and introductions as the new Lord Imperial it was rare for him to have a day or night to himself. So when he finally had an evening alone, the silence felt strange.

His belongings from the Hellfire Mansion had been delivered to a grand country estate in Virginia the remaining Inner Circle currently resided at. Amongst his things were the white ball gown Kennedy had worn and the drawstring purse she had left behind. Left to his own devices, Shinobi was free to examine the belongings that had been abandoned.

Inside the purse was her driver’s license, a single credit card, a few dollars, and a strip of black and white photos of her and Jace together that had been taken at the Photo Booth in the arcade in Salem Center.

When he glanced at her driver’s license he noticed Kennedy’s date of birth, November 2nd, the same day that the Gala had been on. She had mentioned it in his room when she had received the invitation but the actual event had been forgotten during the Gala.

Her birthday... He'd never wished her a happy one. Though it turned out not to be very happy at all. Her present was going to be the world and he was going to give it to her. Now, days later, in the silence of his room with no meetings, introductions, or plans to make for the following day, his mind was free to wander. He draped the white ball gown over the back of a nearby chair and sprawled it across the seat. He went back to pick up the strip of photos, shadows of a past that were quickly fading. Shinobi wasn't sure whether he wanted to smile, cry, or rip the strip into pieces.

Without the recent structure and busyness he'd grown accustomed to, his heart became embroiled in a battle of eighteen year old emotions. Sadness and disappointment at losing Kennedy fought hard with the anger he had towards the X-Men. Her final words had haunted his daydreams and nightmares. Today, they had space to return to the forefront of his thoughts.

I could have loved you… I wanted to love you… All he’d needed was more time and she would have loved him. “Liked me better when I had nothing,” he murmured. “When I had nothing, I was nothing!” And then her kiss, that gentle kiss that he loved so much. That kiss of finality. A lone tear fell from his eye and ran down his cheek.

He turned to the white ball gown he'd draped over the chair a moment ago. “I loved you,” he said to the empty garment. “I wanted you to stay with me, to be by my side as my White Queen.” Was he losing his mind? Talking to a dress? “I want to put my hand out and touch you. I want to do for you and care for you. I want to be there when you're sick and when you're lonesome.”

He took a step backwards. "But we can't go back to the past. We can only move forward and make the best of what life gives us. In the end, we regret the chances we didn't take, the love we didn't pursue." Another tear fell from the corner of his eye and rolled down his cheek as his jaw quivered. Shinobi wiped it away, squared his shoulders, and held his head high. The look in his eyes changed to cold darkness and emptiness. "I would have given you everything!" His entire countenance reflected the death of his heart. "I would've loved you like no one else ever could!" Shinobi was filled with pain and anguish where once there was compassion and love. "I would've protected you forever!" Suddenly, there was no glimmer of Jace left. He was lost. Lost forever without her. The last thread that tethered him to any vestige of humanity was severed.

He turned his back to the dress, adjusting his shirt and tucking it back into his pants where it had ruffled out. “I can no longer protect you.” He walked over to the floor-length mirror and started at image. Anger…no, fury and wrath filled his heart, hatred for the X-Men and for what they had done...what they had truly stolen from him. He murmured to his reflection, "Jace Adams is dead. Only I, Shinobi Shaw, am left. They have what they came for, stolen from my very bed chambers. They will pay dearly for this. I will break them just as they have broken me. They will feel my pain. They will suffer my anguish."

"Here, here!" A honey rich voice cheered in response to his declarations as Selene stood in the doorway to his quarters. Always dressed in a raven's black the woman lifted her wine glass to him before she took a sip from it. "All hail the Lord Imperial."

The Black Queen took a few steps inside and glanced at the snow white dress draped across the chair. She turned her nose up at it and the person it represented. "There will be others My Lord, do not waste your breath on those who are beneath you. If you are looking for someone to warm your bed, that can easily be arranged." Her dark eyes looked at him with a touch of amusement and proposition. "But business before pleasure, I wondered if I might have a word with you, My Lord?"

Shinobi made no moves other than to turn and face the Black Queen and nod his head in approval at her declaration. "A warm bed is all that is left for me. There is only lust; physical desires to satisfy, carnal fantasies to fulfill. Never love. Never again. But yes, business before pleasure. What is it that you want? And close the door."

A satisfied smile curled her dark red lips as she shut the door behind her and she sat down in one of the armchairs next to the fire. Selene took another sip from her glass while Shinobi settled into the chair across from her. "What do you know of your father? What did Emma tell you about him?"

"My knowledge of my father began with researching magazine articles and microfiche at the Salem Center Public Library," said Shinobi. "But all of that was biased as to what Editors wanted to put out. I know some of the practicalities of who he was; the projects he started, the positions he held, the company he grew, and so on. I know he had labs and such all over the east coast, some with personal research and others with project research. But not much outside of that."

“Yes, that’s all well and good but I was talking about the man more than his accomplishments.” Selene leaned back in her chair, her smile getting wider and wider as she spoke. “Sebastian was a brilliant businessman, he had intuition and skill that he welded like a blade. Combine that with his excessive wealth and he was unstoppable. You are ruthless like he was, that sharp eye and determination, I see that Shaw blood running through your veins.”

Selene crossed her legs in a slow provocative manner, there was a reason she was worshiped like a living goddess amongst her cult-like acolytes. “Now let me ask you, do you know how your father died?”

Shinobi remained wary as trust was hard to come by lately. "It sounds like the apple didn't fall far from the tree when it comes to ruthlessness." He still had lots to learn about being a brilliant businessman. He then caught her slow moving legs out of the corner of his eye and cast his gaze down to watch. A half smile came to his face and he didn't look back up until she continued speaking. "At the hands of Magneto," he answered simply.

“That’s an accurate but generalized description of his cause of death.” Selene paused and examined the viscous red liquid in her glass before taking another slow sip. “While your father was brilliant he had a few shortcomings that helped in his demise and I would like to help you from repeating the same mistakes.”

A proposition of assistance from the Black Queen seemed untrustworthy but at the same time she had proven to be a loyal servant to the Lord Imperial. She had taken her beatings at the Gala along with the rest of them, power respected power.

“Sebastian became too proud for his own good. The wealth and power he had accrued left him blinded to his own weaknesses. He thought he could do it all on his own and when I offered him help… well… he rejected it.” Selene stood up and placed her glass on the table next to her chair. Taking a few easy strides, she closed the gap between them before being bold enough to straddle his thighs.

“I have many friends in high places, Shinobi.” Selene sat down in his lap and the thigh high slit in the side of her dress parted, exposing a length of pale skin to him. “I want to introduce you to them. A simple face to face meeting to see if you… gel.” She placed her hands on his chest and slowly rocked her hips into him, creating a moment of friction between their bodies. “Let me help you.”

"The last thing I want to do is repeat his failures and end up dead," said Shinobi. He remembered how she'd stayed in the chambers and battled alongside him and he respected that. He continued speaking as she put her glass down and walked over to him. "Having youth on my side is a double-edged sword. I have years left to continue to grow my wealth and power, but I don't have the experience that's required for some things in this world." Then she straddled his thighs. "Oh, well now. Bold as ever, I see."

As he listened, he looked down at the ever widening slit in the dress. His heart beat a little faster as he saw the pale length of skin. He'd started to say something, only to be silenced by her touch and the push of her hips into him. He inhaled sharply and slowly exhaled as he placed his hands on her sides and looked into her eyes. She had most certainly raised his attention. "I accepted Emma's help to get where I'm at, but she's disappeared. You...you, on the other hand, battled alongside me and have stayed around." He could hardly finish a sentence at this point. "I say that warrants a simple...a simple face to face. I accept your proposition for a meeting on one condition. You close the deal properly, Selene." He moved his hands from her sides, down to her bare thighs. My god, he thought unreservedly, if this is what being a Shaw, being the Lord Imperial, gets me, I don't know what I'm going to do.

“With pleasure.” Selene said with an almost feline grin before she leaned down and kissed him. "He goes by many names..." The Black Queen tasted like wine and she advanced upon him a degree of confidence that could only be found in a more experienced woman. “… Ad Sinistram Apocalypsi…” Selene took his hands and guided them across her body until he cupped her breast and ran his hand up her inner thigh “...The Traitor to Akkaba…” She began to roll her hips again until the press of her body across his own created a firm and throbbing desire in Shinobi “...Atipayniq Ninay Punchuq…” Selene tilted his head to the side and ran her tongue across the length of his neck “...Lord Essex…” Her nimble fingers began to undress him as her eyes turned hungry for him "…And he has such wonderful sights to show you.”

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