The XXX-Gene Ch. 53 (Marvel) (Patreon)

A/N: A serious convo is had~

-x-X-x-

Thaddeus hesitates for a moment before realizing there’s no point. Lie to Cessily? After everything they’ve been through? It might have been less than a day, but Thaddeus still can’t imagine doing so. Furthermore, he can tell just by looking into the other mutant’s eyes that she wouldn’t accept being cut off for her own safety.

In the end, the path forward is obvious. Emma is right. That said, Thaddeus lets out a sigh and looks Cessily dead in the eyes.

“Emma and I are a part of the Hellfire Club.”

Well, technically he hadn’t even had his debut yet, but still, he didn’t want to over-complicate things. This would be tough enough without confusing Cessily or-

“Who?”

Thaddeus blinks, a little caught off guard by Cessily’s confusion. The female mutant’s brow is furrowed, and as he slides his gaze over to Emma, he can see that she’s mildly surprised by the lack of knowledge as well. Finally though, the blonde chuckles.

“Ah. I suppose Xavier does like to hold his cards close to his chest, doesn’t he? For all that he considers himself an educator and teacher and you all his students, more often than not he acts more like your protector, shielding you from the truths of the world even if it comes at your expense.”

That gets a frown on Cessily’s face, though besides shifting in her chair a little bit, she doesn’t rise to Charles Xavier’s defense. She doesn’t take the bait. Instead, she focuses on what’s important.

“What is the Hellfire Club?”

Thaddeus and Emma share another glance, but in this case Thaddeus feels like Emma is the best one to explain it, so he nods his head in her direction, ceding the floor. Looking back to Cessily, Emma steeples her hands on the desk in front of her.

“On the surface, the Hellfire Club is an exclusive club for those of… high society. It started out life as a British Gentleman’s Club back in the nineteenth century, but these days has gone international.”

Cessily assimilates this information for a moment, before repeating what Emma had originally said.

“On the surface…”

Smirking slightly, Emma inclines her head.

“Indeed. Below the surface, the Hellfire Club has its hands in crime syndicates all over the world and is involved in dozens of illegal enterprises that have made its leading members even wealthier than their public, legal holdings would suggest.”

Cessily’s eyes widen at that, and she glances around the office for a moment, as if truly taking everything in for the first time. Emma gives her a moment before dropping the real bombshell on her.

“Of course, beneath even that, there is another layer. The true reality of the Hellfire Club… is one of mutant domination. The leadership of the Hellfire Club is made up of the Lords Cardinal, each one holding the title of a colored Chess Piece. There is a Black King and Queen who oversee a Black Knight, Bishop, and Rook. And then there is a White King and Queen who oversee a White Knight, Bishop, and Rook. Not all of these positions are currently filled however… and that’s the way our current leader, the Black King, likes it.”

Thaddeus already knows all of this, of course. After he and Emma had fucked in her diamond form back during that weekend where they’d worked hard to increase his telepathic abilities and supe up her psychic powers at the same time, they hadn’t JUST fucked. Emma had dropped a ‘hint’ in the form of letting him know that there were elements of the Hellfire Club out to get him, but that wasn’t good enough.

Eventually, after enough sex, she’d talked. They’d talked. It had been a lot, but Thaddeus needed to know. He needed to know who his enemies were, both in the immediate future and down the line. He needed to know who and what he would be fighting, if it came down to it… no, WHEN it came down to it.

As such, none of this is a surprise to him, even as Emma continues explaining things to Cessily.

“I am the White Queen, but there currently is no White King. The last one was not a mutant and was discovered to be conspiring against the rest of the organization. He was removed by the current Black King, who has seen it more fitting to keep the position vacant since, as it allows all of the power of the Hellfire Club to be consolidated in his hands.”

Cessily huffs and crosses her arms over her chest.

“Politics.”

Her disdainful tone makes it clear what she thinks of such things, but at least she doesn’t sound personally disgusted with him or Emma. Smirk growing, Emma inclines her head again.

“Quite. Though it gets even more convoluted then that. The Black Queen is even more power hungry than the King. She sent me to recruit Thaddeus in the first place because she recognized a potential in him that made her… ravenous. Her intentions are thus: She wishes to prop Thaddeus up as an eventual contender for the vacant throne of White King, positioning him against the Black King for an eventual victory that will see his counterpart toppled. Then, once that’s over… she would consume Thaddeus entirely, taking all of his power for herself.”

“What?!”

Cessily’s horror on his behalf warms his heart. Thaddeus just smiles a wan smile as she looks over at him with wide eyes. Yes, learning of Selene Gallio and her ultimate plans for him had been… well, tough was a word for it. It took a while to properly process the fact that an ancient sorceress mutant with more than ten thousand years under her belt had chosen him for her next big meal.

He was worried about that eventual confrontation of course, don’t get him wrong… but as he and Emma had discussed, they were already making every possible effort to forego the Black Queen’s desired outcome.

Reaching over, Thaddeus grabs Cessily’s hand and gives it a comforting squeeze.

“You don’t have to worry about me, Cessily. Emma and I are on top of things.”

Gripping his hand and not letting him take it back, Cessily scowls.

“How, exactly? How are you preparing yourself for fighting this… this bitch?”

Thaddeus smiles.

“When she sent Emma to recruit me, she did so with specific intentions and expectations. The Black Queen is strong… and at this point, probably more powerful than all three of us combined. However, she’s not all-powerful or all-knowing. She doesn’t know the full extent of my mutant abilities, nor does she know exactly who I’ve been in bed with.”

Looking to Emma, he lets her pick up where he’s left off, something the blonde does easily.

“The Black Queen is unaware that Thaddeus’ power-boosting goes both ways. Otherwise, he would likely be locked up somewhere so that she could… drain him in a more carnal fashion. She also isn’t aware of the true extent of Thaddeus’ growth either. She wanted to keep him weak in some ways while growing his strength down a very narrow corridor. Needless to say, I have not followed her Will to the letter in that regard. Thaddeus is a very versatile young man at this point, and rapidly becoming a powerhouse in a number of different ways.”

All of that seems to give Cessily some solace. Her back straightens and she shoots Thaddeus a smile while squeezing the hand she’s holding.

“Heh, you can say that again.”

But after a moment, the smile drops and she looks back to Emma, frowning once more.

“… Are you sure you shouldn’t just go to Xavier for protection though? The X-Men have connections with other Hero Groups. Hell, Thaddeus himself has an in-road with the Avengers now. He used it tonight. They could handle the Hellfire Club right? You guys don’t have to do all of this alone.”

Emma’s smirk drops as well, and though she holds back the scowl that Thaddeus can tell wants to overtake her face, her features nevertheless gain an icy quality to them.

“That is not an option. Despite the animosity of the Black King and Queen, the Hellfire Club is not a threat to be destroyed. It is an asset to be taken and seized for our own ends.”

Squeezing his hand harder, Cessily has no problem scowling herself as she leans forward.

“Who says? You? You say you’ve sided with Thaddeus on this, but aren’t you using him just as much as the Black Queen wants to? When all is said and done and you’ve taken down the Black King and Queen, who comes out on top? You, right? Is Thaddeus supposed to even survive to that point, in your perfect vision of the future?! If you really cared about him, you wouldn’t be putting him in danger in the first place!”

Emma stiffens at the accusation, while Thaddeus blinks in alarm. He hadn’t expected Cessily to go on the attack like that, but perhaps it’s only because she’s confused about the situation.

“Cessily…”

At the sound of his voice, the female mutant turns to him, an imploring look in her eyes. But Thaddeus just squeezes her hand and shakes his head.

“This is as much my choice as it is Emma’s.”

Yes, she’d manipulated him into joining the Hellfire Club originally, all the way back at the start. But since then, Thaddeus had gone into every decision he’d made since with both eyes wide open. He knew full well what he was getting into and how dangerous it would be. And sure, yeah, ever since sleeping with the two Dominos, he’d actually gained a surprising number of ‘outs’ if he wanted to take them.

… But he didn’t want to.

“Emma and I are partners in this scheme, Cessily. We’re both risking everything. If any of our enemies find out what we’re up to, Emma and I are both dead. But if we can succeed, if we can take them down, then we stand to gain so much more.”

Cessily hesitates, looking torn for a moment. She glances between him and Emma before focusing back on him.

“… You want to be the head of an international criminal organization, Thaddeus? You want to… to control the Hellfire Club with her, no matter what it costs you?”

Thaddeus winces, hearing the unspoken ‘even if it costs you your soul?’. He gets why Cessily is laying it out like that. Trying to shock him out of his lofty goals and wide-eyed daydreams, perhaps. But… these thoughts aren’t any new to him. He’s had plenty of time to think about all of this already. And he’s made his choice all the same.

“Yes, Cessily. I don’t have any intentions of diving off the deep end, and I think Emma and I would both like to clean up the organization once we’re in charge…”

That gets a silent nod from Emma herself before Thaddeus continues on.

“… But at the same time, I don’t want to go and hide under She-Hulk’s skirts or rely on Charles Xavier to protect me. I want to live my own life and forge my own path. I know Emma is using me, but I’m using her too. The two of us have a mutually beneficial relationship built on using one another. I trust her because I know her ambitions, and I know I’m uniquely suited for making her dreams a reality.”

There’s a long pause after that, leaving Thaddeus to wonder if they might have been TOO honest with Cessily. At the end of the day, it wasn’t as though they could wipe this conversation from her mind if she decided to turn on them or anything like that. Her thoughts were too inhuman and too slippery for telepathy to grasp onto.

Perhaps telling Cessily everything hadn’t been the best idea after all-

“Okay.”

Thaddeus blinks, raising an eyebrow.

“… Okay?”

Smirking a little bit, Cessily shrugs.

“I’m in. I said it before. You’re stuck with me, Thaddeus. I’m not going to betray you or your… partner to anyone. Not the X-Men. Not the Avengers. If this is what you want… then it’s what I want too.”

She’d said as much earlier, before him and Emma had spilled the beans, but he hadn’t truly understood just how much she meant it. Less than twenty four hours and he’d somehow gained Cessily’s undying loyalty. It seemed he was pretty good at that, to be quite honest, but this… this had to be a record even for him.

“Well… alright then. Happy to have you on board. From what Emma has told me, we’ll need all the help we can get against the Black King and Queen.”

Cessily perks up at that, looking back to Emma. At least the blonde behind the desk looks a little bewildered as well.

“Great! So what’s next?”

After pausing to collect her thoughts for a moment longer, Emma clears her throat and rallies.

“Ahem. Well, there’s an event coming at the end of the month. A Hellfire Gala where Thaddeus will be making his debut as a member of the Hellfire Club. He won’t be the focus of the event or anything, he’s not that important yet, but he will draw some attention. My hope is that his newfound Luck along with the other skills he’s gathered along the way will see him through, but there’s still plenty of possibility for disaster.”

Taking that in, Cessily nods after a moment.

“I’ll go with him.”

Before Emma can say anything to that, Cessily quickly elaborates.

“He can wear me, perhaps under a normal suit. I can disguise myself as a second skin and give him an additional layer of protection. And if the worst comes to worst, I can become a suit of armor at a moment’s notice.”

Emma slowly nods but Thaddeus frowns.

“That will put you in danger, Cessily…”

“I don’t care. I’m going.”

Her tone brooks no argument, and Thaddeus just sighs in the end, knowing there’s no point in fighting her harder. He shakes his head even as a rueful smile slides onto his face… but the smile drops a moment later when Emma speaks up.

“Of course, if she’s going to be hidden under your suit, you’re still going to need an additional plus one.”

Thaddeus blinks and looks at Emma, confused. The blonde at least has the good grace to be grimacing after dropping a bombshell like that on him.

“I thought I was going as your plus one, Emma.”

Shaking her head, Emma sighs.

“Change of plans, which is part of the reason I wanted to talk to you on top of debriefing you regarding the events of the last forty-eight hours. I’ve been… informed that I will be attending this Gala on the arm of the Black King. He does not care that I had my own date for the evening already, nor was I foolish enough to bring you up to try and dissuade him. It would be better if the two of you kept your interactions… minimal for the time being.”

Oh. That would do it, he supposed.

“This isn’t altogether a bad thing. It means that the Black Queen is definitely NOT attending, and that means she won’t be able to tell from a glance that you are more than she was expecting you to be at this point in time. Still, your attendance is necessary all the same, and I’m afraid you’ll be showing yourself off. Being alone might work… but having a beauty hanging off your arm couldn’t hurt.”

Giving him a smile, Emma nods.

“I’ll leave it up to you whether you wish to go it alone or bring a date. With Ms. Kincaid at your back, you won’t truly be alone… but if you wish to have further back up, then I leave it to your discretion.”

Well damn.

-x-X-x-

A/N: I know there's a whole lot of other women that Thaddeus could ask to be his date, but all of the others are a bit too heroic or inexperienced for Thaddeus to trust them to not go off the rails at a Hellfire Party lol.

These are the three that made the most sense to me. Sorry if I didn't think of a reasonable argument for any of the others.