Who Dares Wins: Part 1
A Rival
by Samy Merchi
DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit work of fan-fiction involving characters created and owned by Marvel Comics Group.
ARCHIVED AT: http://mash.yok.utu.fi/corona.html
INSPIRED BY: NEW MUTANTS #49 "Ashes of the Soul"
STARRING:
The ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT Upstarts
CO-STARRING:
Sebastian "BLACK KING" Shaw
Selene "BLACK QUEEN" Gallio
ALSO STARRING:
Tessa MacDonald
Trevor "BLACK ROOK" Fitzroy
Adrienne "WHITE QUEEN" Frost
GUEST STARRING:
Janet "WASP" Van Dyne Paladin
AND STARRING:
Nicole Kidman as Emma Grace Frost
CONTINUITY: This story takes place
* in my Shadows of the Future timeline http://mash.yok.utu.fi/corona/xforce/index.html
* in year +3 (three years in the future)
* on Christmas Eve, December 24th
* exactly a year after FIRST AND TEN
* about half a year after APOCALYPSO
"We are all agreed, then?" a voice echoed in a dimly lit but immensely spacious meeting room some fifty stories above the streets of New York. Beyond the reinforced glass separating the meeting room from the cold winter air outside, a pour of snowflakes drifted down from the sky, wrapping the city up in momentary whiteness.
"We are."
"So am I."
"I have assessed the risk, and find it acceptable."
"As she stated, the potential rewards of this venture far outweigh the price we would have to pay should we fail."
"We will not fail. That is an unacceptable result. No matter the cost, we *will* triumph. Tonight -- the Inner Circle will *die*. Long live the Inner Circle!"
"o/~ A la la la la long long, li long, long long! o/~"
"Very funny, Cordelia."
***
"-- this Christmas Eve sees yet another of the traditional Christmas balls here at the illustrious Hellfire Club. Founded in the 1770s by Sir Patrick Clemens, a wealthy trading company owner, and the actress Diana Knight, the Club has remained a haven of 18th-century attire and codes of conduct, even while it has served as one of the most celebrated and famous meeting places for the rich and famous." The woman and her camera crew moved over to the steps leading up to the front door of the Hellfire Club mansion. "Excuse me, Mr Shaw?"
"Yes?" replied a young man in his twenties, with black hair and a matching suit, stopping in front of the steps and turning towards the reporter. "Do I know you?" he asked with a faint smile as the black-haired woman on his arm preened and postured slightly for the camera.
"Murphy Brown, FYI. I know, I'm taller than you thought", she smiled. "If you have a moment for our viewers --"
"Of course", Shinobi Shaw smiled charmingly.
"-- you are both related to some of the most influential members of the Club", Murphy spoke, now addressing her words to Shinobi and his companion both. "Your father Sebastian, and your sister Adrienne. As such, you have grown up in the shadow of the more -- shall we say, successful? -- members of your family. Does that ever bother you?"
"Oh no, not at all!" Cordelia Frost chirped perkily. "Frankly, Adrienne and Emma were always the ones in the family who ever wanted anything to do with the Hellfire Club", she smiled widely. "Maybe if I *wanted* anything to do with the Club, I'd be jealous, but I'm here just as a favor to her."
"You're so generous, Cordelia", Shinobi smiled a bit tiredly before looking at the camera. "Myself, I quite enjoy being associated with the club, but naturally, it does try my patience constantly being thought of as 'Sebastian Shaw's son'. However, since having run the club in my father's absence, I know how much work it is, and personally, I would rather fade into obscurity than take over that mantle again."
"Of course", Murphy smiled. "How about --?"
"It's coooold out here, Shinobi", Cordelia whined.
"It generally is during wintertime, Cordelia. Perhaps you should have worn some clothes over your lingerie", Shinobi replied in that worn-out, lackadaisical tone of his before looking to Murphy. "If you'll excuse us, I'll have to take the child inside before she wets herself --"
"I am *not* a child, Shinobi --!" Cordelia grumbled, her lips drawing into a pout as she started walking up the steps for the front door with the Shaw in question.
"Of course not", Shinobi smiled slightly as the two doormen opened the heavy oaken doors. He turned around a bit, and smiled for the camera, waving his hand slightly as camera flashes illuminated him and his date. "Merry Christmas, America."
***
"A celebration of the Christian god. How quaint."
"Now, Selene, let's not be petty", Sebastian Shaw said as he lifted a glass of wine to his lips and took a slow sip while watching couples occasionally enter the main ballroom from the foyer. "Just consider this a celebration of...peace and good will."
"That would be even less appropriate, considering our identity and goals, Sebastian", Selene commented with disinterest, slowly turning her eyes to scan the ballroom opening up underneath the balcony where the pair was standing. "Ah", she said as a small smile rose to her lips. "Our Black Bishop is here. And look who he brought along."
Sebastian's eyes narrowed slightly as they focused on the pair being announced down on the floor. "The little girl who would be queen", he said scornfully, wrinkling his nose a bit. "Even Shinobi's usual toys have more class than she does..."
Selene smiled sweetly as she turned her eyes away from the floor and to Sebastian. "What a shame that protocol demands you go greet your own son, hm?"
Sebastian sighed and placed his glass of wine down onto a table nearby, and offered his arm to Selene. "Shall we, then?" he said a bit wearily.
***
"Lady Janet Van Dyne, and Lord Paul Denning."
"WHAT?" Adrienne Frost gasped after swallowing the champagne in her mouth, having nearly spitten it out at the announcement ringing thru the ballroom. She forced herself to calm down, but withheld anger forced her body to become tense steel instead of the supple graceful liquid it had been. "Excuse me", she said flatly to the man he had been conversing with, and placed her glass onto the tray of a passing servant as she stalked towards the doors to the foyer.
***
"Hello, daddy dearest", Shinobi Shaw smiled, and then nodded to his father's companion. "Selene. You both, of course, know my...date." He seemed to hesitate over the word for a moment before smiling again. "The party seems to be taking off well."
"Naturally", Sebastian nodded and looked over to his son's date. "A pleasure to see you, Cordelia. Though I admit some surprise. I had thought the two of you couldn't stand each other. Especially after the incident when you cut off Shinobi's --"
Shinobi coughed subtly. "We were both children then. It's ancient history. Besides, I recovered."
"The wonders of modern medicine", Selene smiled with patronizing admiration. "In Nova Roma, the healing skills of the people were far more limited." Her smile widened slightly and she turned to glance at Sebastian. "In this day and age, even death seems to be a transient state from time to time."
"Isn't that great?" Cordelia smiled. "Just when we thought we'd never see someone again, they show up and prove us wrong?"
"It can be great, or very, very bad, depending on the situation", Sebastian smiled slightly as his eyes went to his son. "Wouldn't you agree, Shinobi?"
Shinobi's smile faded a bit and he looked hesitant for a moment. "Like you said, depends on the situation..." he said and loosened his collar with a finger a bit nervously. "If you'll excuse us, we're going to retire to my chambers for a moment to get over the trip before joining the party..."
"Of course", Sebastian nodded and stepped aside to give way to Shinobi and Cordelia. "Have fun", he smirked knowingly.
Cordelia restrained the urge to wrinkle her nose, and instead chirped perkily, "We will", before walking off with Shinobi and heading towards a side exit out of the ballroom.
Selene let her eyes linger on the pair for a long moments, maintaining her elegant smile. "Why you let your son maintain a position in the Inner Circle, I will never understand, Sebastian", she said neutrally.
"Two main reasons", Sebastian answered as he watched his son walk away. "The first one, simpler and less important -- keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."
Selene raised an eyebrow with a faint smile. "And the second one?"
"If he is ever to succeed me, he must be strong. And what better place for him to learn than the Inner Circle?" Sebastian asked. "He will either kill or be killed, Selene", he smirked, taking a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing servant. "Either way, I win."
***
"So THIS is your 'pressing engagement'?" Adrienne Frost growled at the man who had been announced as 'Paul Denning'. "You little toad, how *dare* you put her before me?"
"Now hold on a moment --" 'Paul' said, holding his hands up defensively. "I didn't --"
"It's all right, Paladin", Janet Van Dyne smiled, squeezing his arm reassuringly before turning her confident eyes onto Adrienne. "Ms Frost, I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding. He's just a friend of mine. There's nothing between us --"
"Oh, why don't you blow my cover in the middle of a tightly packed ballroom --" Paladin mumbled to himself at Jan's words, sighing faintly and deciding never to use this identity again.
"Well, that makes it even WORSE!" Adrienne snapped at Jan, and glanced to Paladin. "What, just her *company* is better than my company *and* the bonuses?" she glared.
"Look, not that I don't mind your, uh, assets, Adrienne", Paladin tried to pacify the situation, "but the fact is, she asked me before you did, and I have a pesky tendency to honor the deals I make..."
"So she's more important to you than I am?" Adrienne hissed.
"No, my *word* is more important to me than you are, Adrienne", Paladin smiled. "Look, you can book me for a Valentine's Day ball, or next Christmas, or whatever. I haven't made any plans for --"
"Oh, *stuff* it", Adrienne snarled, and whirled around on her heels. "I never want to hear from you again! You spineless little slimy worm! If I ever see you again, it'll be too soon!" she fumed as she stalked away.
Paladin sighed and shook his head quietly for a moment as Janet watched him sympathetically. "Ow!" he suddenly winced, hopping on one leg.
"That's for hurting my sister", Cordelia Frost smiled sweetly behind Paladin after giving his shin a swift kick. "Hurt her again, and the next kick will hit a couple of feet higher." Then, she walked off with Shinobi, exiting thru the same door Adrienne had used.
The door closed behind Shinobi and Cordelia, leaving them in a dark hallway with lamps lining the walls, flickering and emulating torchlight. "Nice touch. I almost bought it", he smirked, and then took his collar in his fingers, lifting it a bit closer to his lips. "We're in", he spoke into the golden stud.
***
"Copy that", a black man spoke into a similar golden collar-stud, and made a gesture to the driver of the limousine in the back seat of which he was sitting. "We'll be there in five minutes or so", he grinned widely, and lifted a long, thin champagne glass to meet that of his companion, a bright tinkle emanating as the flutes touched each other.
***
Despite being on the opposite side of the ballroom and dozens of people crowding the floor between her and her targets, Emma Grace Frost kept a close eye on Paladin and Janet Van Dyne. It just wasn't *her* eye. Being a telepath had its advantages when trying to see thru a crowd. She could easily take over the mind of one of the herd, and use them as her eyes while she enjoyed the delicacies of the buffet table.
"Emma?"
Emma blinked slightly and refocused her eyes on the dark-haired woman before her. "I'm sorry, Tessa. I was...elsewhere."
"I understand", Tessa MacDonald smiled. "Always have to keep watching out for your interests, don't you?" She picked up one of the sandwiches and took a nip from it. "That's what always made you the best White Queen the Club has ever had."
"Flattery will get you everywhere, my dear", Emma smirked and popped an olive into her mouth. "But I'm not the White Queen anymore. And if my sister has anything to say about it, I never will be again." She shrugged as if she didn't care. "I'm just here for the food", she smiled.
"You're here for far more than that, and we both know it, Emma", Tessa smiled wryly and took another nip from her sandwich. "But that's a discussion for a more private place than the buffet table of the ballroom."
"Perhaps", Emma smiled. "I admit I have...missed this place since Sean and those ingrateful children left me. But I would not go up against the desires of the entire Inner Circle to get back my rightful position."
"Oh, you wouldn't", Tessa commented as she brought her wine glass to her lips and took a very slow, long sip, as if teasing Emma by withholding the meaning behind her words. "Adrienne isn't exactly in the Inner Circle's favor..."
Emma raised an eyebrow slightly but otherwise her expression remained completely unchanged. "Is that so?" she said. "How...interesting", she commented and let her smile widen ever so slightly as she refocused her attention to the other side of the ballroom.
***
"Look, 'Paul'", Janet Van Dyne smiled apologetically to Paladin. "I can tell that Frost seems to mean something to you. I'm not quite sure just how much, but *something*. And we're just friends. Why don't you go spend the rest of the night with her? I already got to make my big entrance, so if you'd rather go, I can manage quite well without you now."
Paladin frowned slightly and glanced over her shoulder at the door thru which Adrienne had exited, before looking back to Jan. "Are you sure --?"
"Sweetie, I've been handling parties like this since I was knee-high", Janet grinned. "I can take care of myself. *You* go take care of your business, and I'll deal with mine. Okay?"
Paladin grinned a bit, and gave a nod. "All right. Thanks, Janet. I appreciate this." He leaned a bit closer to give Jan a kiss on her cheek. "Merry Christmas", he smiled and turned around, heading off.
"Merry Christmas, Paladin", Jan smiled as she watched him walk away, and then adjusted her near-translucent red dress with white fur linings while listening to the next announcement.
"Lord Christopher Terrence Aaronson and Lady Martinique Jason."
***
At the announcement, Emma Frost's eyes widened. "Excuse me, Tessa", she said, and turned around, gracefully fading into the herd despite her bright white attire, and a few moments later emerging from said crowd near the doors to the foyer. Her head whipped around with a sense of urgence, which nonetheless didn't override her natural fluidity and elegance.
"Looking for me, Emma?"
She turned around and narrowed her eyes as she came face-to-face with Christopher Aaronson. "It *is* you", she said coldly. "I thought you were dead."
"Only the good die young, Emma", Christopher smirked ever so confidently. "Only the good die young... Which reminds me how very glad I am that I turned down your invitation to join the Hellions all those years ago -- it *has* been a while, hasn't it?" He grinned widely. "You look old."
"And you're as skilled as ever at annoying me", Emma replied in a voice that was to an antarctic blizzard as the sun was to a matchstick. "What are you doing here? You're not a member of the Club."
Aaronson just smiled, and whipped out a card from inside his jacket, handing it to Emma. "A cordial invitation to the Hellfire Club Christmas Ball, from the Black Bishop, Shinobi Shaw. We are conducting some...*business* together, and he saw it as a fit way to show his gratitude to invite me. Any other objections, *former* White Queen?"
"Don't push me, Aaronson", Emma said sharply before inspecting the invite carefully with narrowed eyes. Then, after a few moments, she handed it back with a wrinkled nose. "I push back, in more ways than you could possibly imagine."
"Oh, I can imagine several very pleasurable ways", Christopher smirked, and then glanced briefly to the brunette on his arm before looking back to Emma with an even wider smile. "Incidentally, let me introduce you to my avec. After all, as I hear it, you worked quite closely with her father --"
"-- Jason Wyngarde", the brunette smiled, extending her hand to Emma. "I'm Martinique Jason, his daughter. It's nice to meet you, Ms Frost. I've heard a lot about you."
"How nice", Emma replied flatly, not taking the proffered hand. "I, on the other hand, have heard nothing about you, if you indeed are who you claim."
"Oh, believe me, I can prove it", Martinique smiled widely. "If you'd like --"
"Later, Martinique", Aaronson interrupted his date. "Right now, I see someone I would like to say hello to..." He smiled sweetly at Emma. "If you'll excuse us."
"Fine", Emma said with a biting stare at Christopher. "Stay out of my way, Aaronson. I'll be watching you."
Christopher gave a playful smile to Emma. "I'll be enjoying it", he said, and then walked off with Martinique, out of the ballroom and into a lounge, and thru it into an empty restroom.
Martinique concentrated and used her powers to cloak both of them in illusions that made it appear as if they were Hellfire Pawn soldiers, in blue-red uniforms and with weapons. "Contact the others", she said.
"Ahead of you", Christopher replied as he reached for the collar-stud underneath the illusion and spoke into it. "We're in. We met Emma Frost on our way in, and she is suspicious, but can't know anything, as I kept my and Martinique's minds clouded with psi-static."
***
"Emma Frost, eh?" a man spoke into a golden collar-stud as he stood on a rooftop overlooking the Hellfire Club mansion. "Well well well, fun and games... She will be even less pleased to meet us than you... Shall we, my love?"
"We shall", replied the woman beside him with a vicious sneer, before lifting him into her arms like he weighed nothing, then leaping off the roof and gracefully flying down to a dark alley beside the building. "I finish what I start."
***
"Got everything you need?" Shinobi Shaw asked as he opened a closet in his Black Bishop's chambers and took out a video-cassette-sized device, stuffing it inside his jacket before closing the closet and turning towards his companion.
"Got it", Cordelia Frost replied, patting the purse in her hand and smiling wickedly. "We're really going to do it, aren't we? We're going to do it?"
Shinobi sighed wearily, as if he were dealing with an over-eager child. "Yes, we are", he said, as he opened the door out of his chambers and waited for Cordelia to exit.
She walked out the door into a dim hallway with fake torchlight, and glanced up the corridor with a slight thoughtful frown.
"Having second thoughts?" Shinobi asked as he exited his chambers behind Cordelia and closed the door behind him.
"No!" Cordelia pouted angrily and clutched her purse a bit tightly against her small chest. "I'm just... It's just that..." She bit her lip and looked into Shinobi's eyes.
His expression gradually turned serious as he returned the gaze, looking into her different-colored eyes, one brown and one blue. He stayed silent for a long while, and then said, "Be careful, child."
"I'm not a --" Cordelia started halfheartedly, then just stopped and stared at him for a few moments longer. "You too", she whispered.
Shinobi smiled and turned around, starting to head down the corridor in the opposite direction from where Cordelia had looked a few moments earlier.
"Shinobi?"
"Hm?" he paused, glancing over his shoulder at Cordelia.
She bit her lip a bit harder, and then shook her head. "Nothing."
He walked off, and left her standing alone in the corridor. She watched him round a corner and disappear, and felt a chill run through her. Then, she turned around, and headed along the corridor in the opposite direction.
***
"Count Manuel Alfonso Rodrigo de la Rocha and Lady Monet Yvette Maria Clarisse Therese St Croix."
"That's 'Clarisse Maria Therese', not 'Maria Clarisse Therese'", Monet smiled sweetly at the herald as she passed him, the look in her eyes actually causing his heart to skip a beat as if a death sentence had been passed upon him.
Manuel smirked as he could feel the herald's unvoiced terror as clearly as he could differentiate between day and night. What pleased him even more was the knowledge that beside him was a woman who could crush the man -- and indeed, any man here -- into a pulp without even much effort. And she was all his. To give her a bit of repayment for the pleasure she gave him, he tweaked the herald's emotions slightly.
"Please, mistress!" the herald gasped as his eyes widened in terror and he fell onto his knees, crossing his hands and looking up at Monet pleadingly. "Please forgive me! I will never make that mistake again, I swear!"
Monet's lips drew back to bare her teeth in a wide grin showing just how much she enjoyed this. "Thank you, Manuel", she smiled, glancing at him.
"How do you know it was me?" Manuel smiled innocently and turned his eyes onto the crowd filling the ballroom floor. With a little mental push, he turned the tension level up a notch in the room. A calling card he had used ever since having learned to use his powers, and one which gave him as much pleasure as the herald's terror had given Monet. Of course, drawing as *little* attention as possible to themselves would be a good thing tonight, but vanity was one of Manuel's greatest failings. He knew perfectly well that at least one person would recognize his calling card and come gunning for him, but he wasn't going to sacrifice the rush of a dramatic entrance because he was intimidated. Not by a longshot.
"Because I know you, Manuel", Monet replied as she relished the looks of awe her consort was inciting in the herd of the rich, famous and *weak*. The two of them walked away from the foyer doors, heading thru the very middle of the ballroom floor, the crowd parting before them as if they were royalty whom no one dared to touch. ((Our information is correct)), she spoke telepathically to Manuel. ((The psi-baffles incorporated into the interior walls of this building prevent psionic powers from extending from room to room. I can not locate the others with my telepathy.))
"Splendid", Manuel replied as he picked up two glasses of champagne from the tray of a passing servant, and handed the other one to Monet. ((Who are here?)) he asked telepathically as the two of them continued their walk thru the ballroom and exited thru the same door Aaronson and Jason had used a few minutes ago, into the lounge. From there, they took a right turn and went into the pool room which only had about half a dozen people there. Manuel's lips drew into a wide smile, and suddenly all the people decided they were very very bored with playing pool and left the room.
((In the rooms we have passed through, Sebastian Shaw and Tessa were sharing a dance in the ballroom, and Selene was watching from the balcony. I have not detected Adrienne or Fitzroy -- or Emma, for that matter)), Monet replied. ((The first two must be elsewhere, hopefully in their chambers.))
"And Emma?" Manuel asked, quirking an eyebrow as he took a sip from his champagne flute.
A graceful leg clad in a thigh-high white boot crossed fluidly over another, and a white-gloved hand pulled on the string of a lamp standing beside a recliner. The lamp blinked on, illuminating the recliner and the blonde sitting in it. "I'm here."
***
"Well, it's about time", a Hellfire Pawn in blue-red uniform said as Shinobi Shaw walked into view from the shadows of the faux-torchlit corridor.
"Do you have it?" another Pawn asked, his arms crossed over his chest as his narrowed eyes, barely visible thru the eyeslits of his mask, inspected Shinobi.
"Of course", Shinobi asked and pulled a video-cassette-sized metal device from inside his jacket, handing it to the second pawn, then making sure he had a thumb-sized object in his pocket. "You do know how to use it, right?"
"Yes", the Pawn said, uncrossing his arms and taking the device, putting it against his side and it vanished from sight as he slid it into the pocket of the jacket underneath the illusionary Pawn uniform. "Right, straight, left, down, left, straight, left?"
"Right", Shinobi nodded. "Be clear..." he said and glanced at the Rolex on his wrist. "Five minutes from now."
"Five minutes, check", the first Pawn said and glanced at her wrist, the illusionary uniform parting for a moment from it to reveal a wristwatch underneath, before the illusion slid over the wrist again.
"Good luck", Shinobi said, and straightened his jacket slightly before glancing back the way he had come. "Now, it's showtime for me. If you'll excuse me..."
The two Pawns nodded, and ran off down another corridor, quickly vanishing into the darkness, leaving Shinobi alone in the silent hallway.
***
KNOCK KNOCK
There was no answer for long moments. Cordelia Frost glanced at the two Pawn soldiers standing beside her, guarding the door to the White Queen's chambers. She sighed impatiently and paced up and down the corridor for a bit, glancing at the door as if waiting for it to be opened. When no such thing happened, she stomped her foot against the floor and glanced at the Pawns. "Look, guys, I really have to get in there! My sister is in a bad mood tonight, and I'm afraid she might do something to herself --" Her expression changed into that of a vulnerable child and a small tear came to the corner of her eye. "I just couldn't bear to lose another family member, after mommy...and daddy... Please? Won't you help me?" she pleaded.
The Pawns glanced at each other, and then one of them gave a sigh and a shrug. "All right", he said and stood in front of the door. "Stand back." He took a step back, and prepared to kick the locked door in.
"Yes, can I help you?" Paladin asked as the door opened and he stood in the doorway.
"You!" Cordelia blinked, taken momentarily off-guard, her eyes widening. She stood there for a moment, all her plans dashed. But she was nothing if not quick of wit. Suddenly, she ran into his arms and embraced him tightly, smiling widely. "You made up with her! This is so great! I'm so happy for you!" She paused and then seemed to realize something, a slight blush coming to her cheeks as she looked worried. "I didn't...interrupt you, did I --? I can go --?"
"No, it's all right. We were just talking", Paladin answered. "Do you need to see Adrienne?"
"Yes, please", Cordelia smiled brightly. "I've got the most *won*derful piece of news! She'll be thrilled to hear it! I can't *wait* to tell her!"
Paladin nodded to the two Pawns, and then stepped aside, letting Cordelia enter the chambers, closing the door behind her. "This way", he said and led her thru the living room into the study. He peeked in the doorway into the study. "Adrienne, Cordelia is here to see you."
"What?" Adrienne blinked and pulled off her glasses, chewing thoughtfully on the stem for a moment before nodding to Paladin who was standing in the doorway. "Okay, bring her in..." she said and leaned back in the plush chair behind her desk.
"ADRIENNE!" Cordelia squealed as she ran into the room and hopped in place for a few moments excitedly. "You won't BELIEVE what happened I can't even believe it myself it's so incredible and cool and it'sthelastthoughtthatwould'veevercometomeifI'deverhaveeventhought --"
"Slow down, Cordelia", Adrienne sighed, chewing the stem for a moment before standing up from the chair and sitting on the front edge of her desk. "What happened?" she asked.
"Shinobi."
Adrienne blinked. "Shinobi what?"
Cordelia bit her lip and glanced over her shoulder a bit nervously at Paladin who was in full bodyguard mode, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the conversation. "It's kind of private", Cordelia said, blushing a bit as she looked back to Adrienne.
Adrienne quirked an eyebrow, and then nodded to Paladin, who left the study and closed the door behind him.
"Now", Adrienne said, "what's Shinobi done this time? Suffocated between the breasts of one of his toys?"
"No!" Cordelia snapped with a pouty expression. "He asked me to MARRY him!"
Adrienne's eyes went almost as wide as saucers.
"I...I think I'll say 'yes'", Cordelia smiled shyly, lowering her eyes to the floor demurely for a moment. Then, her smile widened and she looked up into Adrienne's eyes again. "Aren't you GLAD for me?"
Adrienne picked her jaw up from somewhere near the floor. "Um..."
"I know", Cordelia smiled and embraced her sister, squeezing her tightly. "I was speechless at first, too! Don't you think this is *too cool*?"
Adrienne remained silent for a moment, and then asked, "Is Shinobi at the club?"
"Yeah", Cordelia smiled widely. "I just left him in his chambers like, five minutes ago. I wanted to come over and tell you right away!"
"I see", Adrienne nodded and put her glasses down on the desk, reaching for the phone and picking it up. "You don't mind if I call him over here? I'd love to congratulate him as well..."
"Not at all", Cordelia giggled and sat down onto the edge of the desk between Adrienne and her glasses. Subtly, she reached into her purse, took out a pair of glasses and carefully put them down next to Adrienne's glasses, then took Adrienne's glasses and quietly put them in her purse. "Is he answering?" she asked, looking over to Adrienne to make sure she hadn't noticed the switch.
"No", Adrienne shook her head, and waited for a few more moments for the phone to ring in Shinobi's chambers, before sighing and placing the receiver back down. "Oh well", she said and picked up the glasses on the desk. "He's not there. I suppose I'll have to rejoin the party and look for him..."
***
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you where you stand."
"Because quite frankly, Emma, I don't think you could accomplish that", Monet St Croix smiled as she sat down on the edge of the pool table and crossed one leg over another. "One-on-one, against me, you might have a fair chance. But against me and Manuel?" she smirked. "I wouldn't bet my money on you."
Emma Frost slowly moved her eyes onto Manuel de la Rocha who was standing beside Monet near the pool table, his hands in the pockets of his pants. "I should kill you both", she said sharply, standing up from her recliner and raising her chin as her eyes, blazing with anger, looked down her nose at the pair. "You stole Monet away from me."
"Untrue", Manuel said nonchalantly as he took a sip from his champagne. "She would have left you in any case. I could sense her frustration, her ambition, her boredom, every single thing why she would never have remained in Generation X." He smiled slightly. "And you *know* that no one knows peoples' hearts better than I do."
"He is right", Monet just shrugged her shoulders as she watched Emma. "Surely, you must not have had any delusions as to my involvement with Generation X. We both *always* knew, from the very beginning, that I would leave when playing hero would cease to amuse me."
SLAM!
Emma grabbed Monet's shoulders, and slammed her against the wall of the pool room. "BECAUSE OF YOU, JONOTHON AND ARTIE ARE *DEAD*!" she snarled, a furious expression taking over her face. "You BETRAYED us! Turned coat to run with the MARAUDERS, of all people!" Suddenly, her expression softened. "I've missed you", she whispered, before pressing her lips against Monet's, and kissing her passionately.
Manuel smirked as he watched the show for a few eyeblinks. Then, the smirk faded in an instant. "ARRRRGH!" he shouted, and recoiled from the psychic equivalent to a nuke, stumbling backwards, tripping over his own feet, and falling down onto his back onto the floor.
"How DARE you?" Emma snarled, whirling towards the downed Manuel and unleashing another psychic shockwave amplified by her fury towards him. "I taught you everything you know! It will be a cold day in hell when you can stand against me in psychic battle, Manuel...!"
Manuel gritted his teeth as he drew on every psychic reserve he had, his eyes starting to glow a bright crimson as he utilized even that small ounce of concentration he normally used to keep his eyes from glowing when he used his powers. "Far from...everything, Emma..." he growled as his body shook under the strain of the psychic battle against his mentor. "I was a...child then... And I've learned...a trick or two...since then..."
"Like distraction", Monet sneered as she grabbed Emma from behind, putting a hand to the side of her head and preparing to break her neck.
"Really?" another Emma Frost asked as it blinked to existence beside Emma and Monet. "Foolish child, I was distracting people with my telepathy when you weren't even *born* yet. Is that the real Emma Frost in your hands? Or am I?" Yet another Emma blinked into existence on the other side of the pool room. "Or I?"
Monet wrinkled her nose, and with a quick heave, tossed the Emma in her hands at the other one on the other side of the room. As they hit each other, they blinked out of existence, and she flew for the third beside her, only to pass thru the psionic illusion with no effect and coming to a hover in midair behind the illusion as it, as well, faded out of sight.
"Bull in a china shop, my love", Manuel said as his eyes stopped glowing and he took a deep breath before letting them widen a bit, looking at the room in a wholly different way, much like thru infrared scopes, a variety of colors swimming before his eyes and he started sifting thru them, looking for any inconsistencies which could reveal Emma's psychic camouflage effect and betray her location. "You are a telepath as well. Use that."
Monet's eyes narrowed, and she landed back down onto the floor and extended her telepathy outwards. She knew she wasn't as powerful *or* as experienced as Emma was, but she wasn't going to let that stop her as she begun a psionic hunt for her former teacher.
"UNGH!" Manuel wheezed as something hit the back of his head, and he stumbled forward, collapsing onto the floor, unconscious.
Emma let her psionic invisibility fade after having slammed her elbow to the back of Manuel's head, and glared across the room at Monet. "Earlier you said I'd have a 'fair chance' against you one-on-one, Monet. Care to test the odds?" she hissed.
***
"Manuel. Monet. Come in", Shinobi spoke into his golden collar-stud as he walked up a stairway back towards the ground floor from the basement where he had met up with his two accomplices. "You should have checked in by now. Is something wrong?"
There was no reply.
"Proceed to the rendezvous point, Shinobi", a voice spoke in the mini-receiver in his ear. "Find them and report ASAP. We are coming in."
"On my way", Shinobi nodded, and then let go of his collar-stud as he reached the ground floor, looked around, and then headed into the corridor leading towards the pool room.
***
"Ah, the Black Rook. How nice to see you", Selene smiled as she slowly sipped from the glass filled with some kind of red liquid. "I thought you would dally with the maid all night instead of paying proper respect to appearances. It *is* approaching midnight."
"I know", Trevor Fitzroy said with a slightly disgruntled expression as he walked slowly up the steps to the balcony overlooking the ballroom, his hands in his pockets. "Are all the others already here?"
"Sebastian is down in the ballroom", Selene replied as she looked down from the balcony in the direction of the Black King and his companion, Tessa. "Shinobi and Adrienne are in the building, but not here yet. I trust they will know well enough to show up, considering that even you did", she smiled.
"So all we are missing is my opposite color", Trevor said.
"I'm certain our precious White Rook will show up in time", Selene smiled and took another sip.
"He just did", Trevor replied, looking down towards the foyer doors.
Selene turned her head in that direction as well and her smile went almost from ear to ear. "How delightful. He brought her."
"Lord Roberto Da Costa and Lady Amara Juliana Olivians Aquilla."