The XXX-Gene Ch. 57 (Marvel) (Patreon)

A/N: Thaddeus tries to talk down the Black King.

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There really aren’t any good options here, are there? The temptation to attack Shaw right here and right now is present, but Thaddeus knows he can’t give into it. And not because of Shaw himself.

Funnily enough, Thaddeus thinks he could probably take Shaw, if it came down to it. Unlike Pierce, he knows what Shaw’s mutation is. He knows how powerful the Black King of the Hellfire Club really is… and he knows he can trump him with Rogue’s draining ability. All he has to do is grab onto the bastard and never let go and Shaw is toast.

But what then? What happens after Thaddeus defeats the Black King in battle? Well for one, Shaw would never accept defeat gracefully, so he’d have to kill him. For two, it would alert Selene to the true nature of Thaddeus’ abilities. Shaw was a threat, and a massive one at that, but he wasn’t the true enemy. It was the Black Queen who planned to fatten Thaddeus up like a pig for the slaughter.

Right now, Selene believed Thaddeus to be nothing more than a big, dumb brute with too much strength and not much else. She had no clue he was far more than she had planned for and that was thanks to Emma’s machinations. But if Thaddeus killed Shaw right here and now, then they would be alerting the Black Queen, an ancient sorceress tens of thousands of years old, to the truth.

Shaw himself isn’t the true problem. But he’s nevertheless made himself an obstacle in this moment and as Thaddeus considers how best to navigate this situation, he wonders briefly if he’s really going to have to bite the bullet, swallow his pride, and hand Natasha over without a fight.

Natasha, of course, continues to play her role to the hilt, even going so far as to press herself into his side and shiver fearfully. That’s when it hits Thaddeus like a lightning bolt, an idea for how to extract himself and Natasha from this situation without being so disrespectful that Shaw is forced (or rather allowed) to respond violently.

He’ll have to be careful in threading this needle, but maybe, just maybe, they can get out of this with everything still intact after all.

"Apologies sir, but I don’t think that will be possible.”

Shaw’s brow climbs and Thaddeus can see the violent brute lurking behind the thinning gentleman’s veneer that the Black King is currently putting up. His patience has its limits, but Thaddeus knew that already. They’d already been tested tonight after all, by one very foolish Donald Pierce.

“Oh?”

Inclining his head apologetically and as respectfully as possible, Thaddeus gestures to the destruction and death all around them.

“Natalie… she’s just a College RA. All of this… it’s way more than she bargained for. I’ll accept full responsibility for inviting her, but I think it’s best that I get her back to the University and tucked into bed before the shock fully sets in.”

Natasha, for her part, whimpers as she clings to Thaddeus all the harder, doing her absolute best to sell the bit. The show isn’t for Shaw, of course. Well, it’s partially for Shaw, partially for the audience they surely have by this point. After all, Shaw was a monster… but he was a monster who took perverse delight in pretending not to be a monster.

As far as Shaw knows, Thaddeus isn’t aware of who ‘Natalie’ really is. So his excuse of needing to get her out of this place after she witnessed people die and was herself shot at should be ironclad. Of course, Shaw himself does know who Natasha is… but the rest of the attendees do not either.

So unless Shaw is willing to expose Natasha’s status as a Black Widow in front of everyone, then he has no choice but to let Thaddeus and Natasha go for now, right? Oh sure, they’ll still be on Shaw’s radar after this. There’s no way the Black King isn’t going to be gunning for them, mostly to make Natasha into his personal pet assassin with Thaddeus just being collateral damage on the side.

But surely, for the night at least, Shaw can’t do anything too overt to stop them from leaving…

“Oh, that won’t be a problem seeing as she won’t remember the gorier events of tonight. In fact, I’m going to have to insist on you keeping her here for the time being until Tessa can make her way over.”

Thaddeus’ eyes widen as he realizes how outmaneuvered they truly are. Fortunately, Shaw doesn’t see this because he’s already looking away, his gaze sweeping across the ballroom for the woman he’s just name dropped. Thaddeus was of course aware of who Tessa was. Shaw’s assistant and secretary, his right hand woman.

Tessa was the reason that Thaddeus and Emma couldn’t just enter Shaw’s mind and make him think whatever they wanted him to think, both about the newest White Pawn and his date for the evening. Tessa was Shaw’s defense against other telepaths, being a psychic herself. She was insurance against any such heavy handed mental attacks, seeing as Shaw’s own mutation didn’t protect him from psionics.

… And currently, she was walking around to the party’s shellshocked guests, specifically those who were clearly not an actual part of the Hellfire Club, and she was very obviously altering their minds and fixing their memories.

Admittedly, Thaddeus had gotten a bit tunnel visioned there for a moment. Shaw was a massive threat. Even if he likely couldn’t kill Thaddeus, there was no telling how much damage Shaw could do to the others. Cessily, Natasha, and Emma were all at risk right now. So yes, Thaddeus hadn’t paid much attention to anything but the predator right in front of his face.

As a consequence, he hadn’t really realized it… but of course. This was a Hellfire Gala. The authorities weren’t going to show up. No one in law enforcement had been called. There was already a clean up crew dealing with all of the bodies, bullet casings, and bullet holes, much to Thaddeus’ shock.

And with Tessa cleaning house in her own way, by the time the night was over, the only people who would remember what had really happened here would be the surviving mercenaries… and those who were official members of the Hellfire Club.

Thaddeus supposed he should have been pleased that Shaw clearly counted him among those members, even as just a White Pawn. But he was equally displeased to realize that now it wasn’t just that Natasha was in danger of being taken from him, it was that she was in danger of having her mind tampered with.

“… You know what, Tessa is going to be busy over there for a while from the looks of things. Emma! Be a dear and come over here, please.”

Straightening up, Thaddeus looks to the blonde White Queen as she sashays her way over. There’s a hint of apology in her eyes, but far more in her thoughts.

For all that he’s a brute, Shaw is very good at this game Thaddeus. He prides himself on being multiple steps ahead. Don’t fret though, he’s already signaled me not to actually wipe Natasha’s memories. He just wants an excuse to remove her from your presence so he can reveal his knowledge to her without letting you know.

So even now, Shaw didn’t realize that Thaddeus knew exactly who Natasha really was and what she could do. The Black King thought he was taking a gem off of Thaddeus that the younger man didn’t even know he had or something.

It was a cold comfort, admittedly. As Emma arrives at Shaw’s side, looking at them with an icy, superior expression on her face, Shaw is all smiles, a toothy grin stretching from ear to ear as he claps his hands together, creating a miniature shockwave from the motion. A mistake or a reminder of just how much power he currently had stored up? Did it matter?

“Right then. Hold the girl steady and let Emma make all of this nasty business go away. Then, we can get on with the party. Not to worry darling, you’ll enjoy the upgrade to my arm, I guaranteed it.”

That last part is directed at Natasha, obviously. Said right in front of Thaddeus’ face, it’s a massive insult… but then, Shaw clearly doesn’t think Thaddeus can or will do anything about it. And really, what can he do? He’d known that politely declining wasn’t likely to go well, but he hadn’t known just how poorly it could go.

He was right back where he started. By all rights, he should just give Natasha up. He should just let Shaw have her. She was a big girl; she could handle herself. And there was a lot of value to having someone on the inside too, really. Natasha had some resistance to telepathy as well, so she should be able to hide her true loyalties from Tessa.

And yet… and yet, Thaddeus can’t bring himself to do it. Logic dictates that he should. Every rational fiber of his being is saying he needs to let Natasha go. But he’s not some robot, at the end of the day. He’s still a person with all of the emotions and feelings that come with that.

“No.”

The single word rings through the air and all three of the people he’s standing with react in their own ways. Natasha tenses up against his side, getting ready for what comes next. Emma winces but inclines her head ever so slightly while reaffirming mentally that she ‘has his back no matter what’.

And Shaw? Shaw freezes for a fraction of a second, his wolfish grin becoming forced as he slowly tilts his head to the side.

“Excuse me?”

Thaddeus carefully and deliberately pushes Natasha behind him and slightly away, giving her room to get out of dodge again if… no, rather, when the going gets tough.

“I said ‘no’. I’m not going to let you just wipe her memories. And I’m not giving her over for you to have your way with either.”

Maybe, just maybe, everything that Emma knows about Sebastian Shaw is wrong, or through the lens of a woman dealing with a misogynistic bastard. Maybe Shaw will respect defiance from the little guy, just this once. Maybe he’ll have a soft spot for his fellow mutant that clearly didn’t exist for an irritant like Pierce.

… Yeah, Thaddeus had always known it was a long shot. Faster than even HIS eyes can track, Shaw steps into his personal space and buries his fist in Thaddeus’ gut. Cessily’s presence absorbs the impact, along with the fact that Shaw is holding back so Thaddeus isn’t thrown right into Natasha behind him, but the blow still breaks multiple ribs, causing them to pierce Thaddeus’ lungs and sending him to his knees.

He starts healing immediately, of course, but not before coughing up a thick glob of blood onto the ground at Shaw’s feet.

Grabbing him by his hair, Shaw pulls his head back and sneers down at him.

“Defiance? After you just saw what I do to disloyal traitors. What is mine is mine. And what is yours… is also mine.”

Shaw sneers down at him.

“Consider your membership to the Hellfire Club revoked. Frost. Wipe this idiot’s mind so I can throw him out.”

Hah… so even now, Shaw was going to let him live, albeit as an amnesiac from the sound of things. Another out that Thaddeus could easily take, given the Black King was relying on Thaddeus’ ally to do the mind wiping. And yet, it would still leave Natasha in Shaw’s hands… and cut Thaddeus off from the Hellfire Club at the same time.

Reaching up, Thaddeus grabs Shaw’s wrist and activates Rogue’s power. He starts to drain the Black King right then and there… and the man doesn’t even notice. The sheer amount of energy he has stored up seems to be almost infinite as Thaddeus fully heals and then continues collecting power from the Black King.

This lasts until Shaw, sneering, winds up and kicks Thaddeus right in the face, sending him skidding backwards across the floor. The kick was enough to knock out several teeth and shatter Thaddeus’ jaw, but of course that starts to heal immediately as well.

Cessily is just beneath the surface, bubbling with anticipation, but Thaddeus has her hold off for the moment. They need surprise on their side if this is going to work. Sure, Shaw has already seen his armored form, but that doesn’t mean he understands exactly what it means.

“Frost!”

At Shaw’s barked command, Emma, who has been hesitating, slowly shakes her head. Seeing Thaddeus’ desire to fight, she doesn’t bother trying to pretend she’s wiping his mind.

“I… can’t. Something is blocking me from his mind.”

Shaw’s eyes widen and his nostrils flare in outrage. He looms over Thaddeus for a moment, watching him heal before calling out another name.

“Tessa!”

The Black King’s secretary hurries over as fast as high heels allow. She doesn’t even need orders to immediately look down at Thaddeus and begin trying to invade his mind. Unlike Emma, Tessa is actually trying… but just like Emma previously, the new psychic runs up against the Porcupine Defense.

“I… cannot breach his defenses. It is as thought his mind has been calcified in some way.”

Shaw’s jaw clenches for a long moment as he looks between the two female telepaths before his gaze finally lands on Emma.

“We will be having words about your recruitment methods later, Frost. Exactly who did you let into our midst? Never mind…”

Turning his gaze back to Thaddeus, Shaw stomps forward, a glint in his eye that promises extreme violence even beyond what he’s already shown so far.

“I see you have some sort of healing factor as well. I suppose we’ll be testing its limits then.”

The Black King positively glows with energy as he raises his fists and begins leaning down, clearly intending to beat Thaddeus to death. It won’t work, of course… but Thaddeus doesn’t intend to let Shaw find that out the hard way. Instead… it’s time. He shifts into the liquid diamond form that he’d gotten from fucking Mercury and Emma for the first time outside of testing… and surges upwards, swimming around Shaw’s fists.

Cessily swims with him, her body and his all but merging together into one being with two separate minds. They’re like puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together despite constantly changing, despite their liquid nature.

Shaw shouts in anger as they slam into him, covering him from head to toe and taking him to the ground. Immediately, Thaddeus goes back to draining the man, even as Shaw punches and kicks out, struggling mightily.

It’s not that he doesn’t manage to break free in places. He blows parts of Thaddeus and Cessily back from his body over and over again. But he simply can’t push all of what they currently are off of him. He might be one of the strongest men on the planet right now after how much kinetic energy he absorbed from Pierce. It just doesn’t matter in the face of what Thaddeus and Cessily are doing.

There’s nothing Tessa can do to stop them either, and even if she tries, Thaddeus expects Emma to block her. In this moment, Thaddeus has already won. He can feel Shaw getting weaker, even if that weaker is still insanely strong. Still, at this point the Black King is a dead man walking.

Except… should Thaddeus go for the kill? All the previous reasons for not letting Shaw live still ring true, but Thaddeus knows it would be crossing a line all the same. The fallout will be biblical no matter what he does, but which scenario does he want to live with?

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A/N: Peace... Peace was never an option.