Marvelous Gamer - Chapter 9

AN: Hey guys.

I'm really sorry for the lack of update these last two weeks.

I did take a week to travel and relax since my birthday was on Friday 15. I was supposed to have a chapter out last week, but the shit public services here in Brasil prevented me from doing so.

There were power outages all week because the idiots the city hall hired to prune the trees on the streets were letting branches fall on the power cables every fucking day.

Anyway, I'll try to have a two more chapters out this week, one for each of my other active fics.

In this one we finally get the Hellfire gala, and Isaiah and Emma meet a few important characters.

Hope you guys enjoy this one.

Chapter 9

"Remember what I told you. Just act like a pretentious asshole and you should fit right in." Emma said as we arrived at the Hellfire gala, making me laugh.

"And you should remember what I said. There are some powerful mutants here today, so be careful with the telepathy. It is even more important for you to stay away from a woman dressed in all black." I say, making Emma give me a look that almost screamed 'idiot'.

"I know there should be a lot of women dressed in black, but this one is different, she has a presence that is unmistakable." I add before Emma can voice her opinion and actually call me an idiot.

"I still don't understand why you're so scared of this woman." Emma said, and I could feel how much it annoyed her to do so. She was used to knowing everything she wanted, and the fact that she couldn't read my mind really vexed her.

"I told you, she is a powerful, and more importantly, extremely old mutant. I'm talking pre-history old, and on top of that she is also a mage. She has a lot of power and even more experience. And I'm not even counting the soft power she has due to being one of the queens of Hellfire. Selene is one of the most powerful people in this world, and an extremely dangerous enemy to have, but she also mostly minds her own business, so we should try and not antagonize her." I explain again, and earn myself another one of what I started to call Emma's 'You're annoyingly impressive' look.

"One day you'll have to explain to me how you're gathering all this information." Emma says, giving me a pointed look when I grin at her.

"I already told you, I learned in another reality where this entire world is a work of fiction." I say, making Emma scowl at me.

It was funny annoying her like that. I've been telling the true ever since I met her, but she never believed me. Emma is a bit of a non-believer, and that applies to basically everything, so it isn't surprising that she doesn't actually believes me when I talk about learning about this world through comic books and movies. Hell, even Jessica is starting to believe me, and I only told her about fictional marvel a couple of times, but Jessica is a lot more open minded than Emma.

It took a lot of work for Emma to believe in the supernatural and alternate realities. And she only started believing when both Xavier and Reed showed her physical proof. Xavier with a shard of Cyttorak's gem, which was broken on their last fight with Juggernaut. And Reed showing her actual footage of the few times the FF ended up involved in some alternate reality nonsense.

"But the fact still stays the same. I would rate Selene in the top five most dangerous people in this world right now, so be courteous to her." I say a little more seriously.

"Is she more dangerous than Doom?" Emma asks, and I take some time to think.

When it comes to raw power, Selene is far more powerful than Doom, but I honestly think that Doom is more dangerous than her. I remember reading Battleworld in my previous life, so I know Doom can pull out some Batman levels of bullshit and defeat people far stronger than him. And when it comes to soft power, even with Selene being one of the queens of Hellfire, Doom is king of an actual nation state. The guy has an actual army at his disposal, an army that is fanatically loyal and possess high tech weaponry.

"No, she isn't. Selene is in the top five, but Doom is the undisputed first place." I finally say, shaking my head a little and making Emma shudder a little.

"I guess I can understand why you think so." Emma says in a soft voice, and I touch her hand softly, showing my support.

I don't need to be a telepath to know what she is thinking. She is replaying the fight with Doom in her head.

It had only been a couple of weeks since the fight, and while my fight with Magneto and his brotherhood was quite easy, the one in the Baxter building was a nightmare.

Both Emma and Jessica were actually injured in the fight, which honestly surprised me because Emma wasn't a front-line fighter, and Jess was on Alicia duty, so she also wasn't in the front lines. But Doom is basically a shonen protagonist, perfectly capable of pulling plot driven bullshit all the time. The Doombots found Alicia and Jessica, so Jess had to fight them off, getting injured in the process. While Emma had a traumatizing experience, and those were the words used by both Xavier and Angela, people with far more knowledge of the human mind than me.

Emma tried to shut down Doom's mind when she found out the guy didn't actually had any protection against telepaths, but Doom's mind was so regimented, so tightly controlled, that it had a natural defense against telepathy. In Xavier's own words, Doom's mind was 'a telepathic minefield.' And Emma walked right into that minefield without knowing anything about it.

It affected her confidence in herself and her powers, and, according to Xavier, Emma was in serious danger of becoming depressed. She defined herself in her power, she wanted to be powerful enough to be in complete control her life. It was a holdout from her homelife and her emotionally abusive father and older sister, and it didn't go away even with her fleeing her home. So, Emma was obviously shaken from having her power so utterly countered by a guy that wasn't a telepath.

I actually had a fight with Reed because of it, and I'm still annoyed with him. Apparently Doom attacked because he wanted to recover some of his tech that Reed had taken during their last fight, tech that the idiotic genius was keeping in the Baxter building instead of somewhere else isolated.

The guy put his family in danger because he wanted to study Doom's tech. And then he put my girls in danger, so I had a good reason to be mad. And I wasn't the only one. Johnny didn't really care, but both Ben and Sue scolded him like a child. It was actually pretty funny to see, but it also made me back down a little.

Reed and Sue were fighting a little too much for my liking, so I was seriously starting to worry Reed was going to go all Maker on my ass. I explained everything to Angela, and we asked them out on what was basically a double date, even if they didn't realize what we were trying to do. And, no matter how much Angela or I tried to keep things light and fun, the two of them kept fighting during the entire date.

So I was seriously starting to consider getting Widowmaker from the game store and setting her on Reed watch, with orders to kill the guy if he started to show signs he was turning into The Maker.

Don't get me wrong, I like Reed. The guy can be a bit scatterbrained when he isn't talking about science, and he can be a bit of arrogant every once in a while, nothing on Emma's level, but still some arrogance due to his superior intellect. But even if I like him, I still would order his death if I had to.

I have metaknowledge, I know how dangerous Reed can be if he goes off the deep end, so I can't let Reed alive if he starts showing signs he's turning into the Maker. This world already has enough dangerous superintelligent psychopaths, it doesn't need another one.

I might have to choose another assassin though. Angela will probably be annoyed with me if I choose Widowmaker. I still don't understand how her memories work. I specifically asked for Angela in her late twenties, which means she is far younger than canon Overwatch. But she still somehow has all the memories of her older self, even some future memories that weren't shown in the game or any of the animated shorts.

You can choose to specify either age or memories, but not both of them. If you choose age, they get all their memories, even the ones from the future, but if you choose memories, then they will have the age they had in their latest memories.

I almost jump in my seat when I hear the voice of the ROB.

"That makes no sense!" I comment.

It isn't supposed to make sense, I just did it to make your life harder because you annoyed me. So, for example, if you want an eighteen year old Annabeth, you get her with all her memories of Percy, which will make it impossible for you to ever 'play' with her. And trust me, it is impossible, not even I managed to take those two away from each other without actual mind control, and even that wasn't permanent.

On the other hand, if you want an Annabeth you can 'play' with, you would need one from the start of Titan's curse at the latest, which would make her very underage, so it would take years before you could 'play' with her. I'm willing to overlook a lot from my gamers, but if you ever touch an underage girl, I'll fucking end you.

"Why didn't you explain this to me from the beginning? Where's the tutorial for this shitty system?" I ask, a little annoyed.

I don't even comment on the underage thing since it's not my style. Hell, Jean has been flirting with me pretty heavily ever since we met, and I still won't do anything with her before she turns eighteen. And she's only three years younger than me.

I didn't explain because I didn't want to. Maybe next time you'll learn not to piss off an omnipotent being.

"Fuck you, ROB!" I say, feeling the ROB leaving my mind as he laughs at me.

The ROB is always annoying, but his explanation was a little useful. I don't know enough about my system, and I'm pretty sure there are a lot of things I still have to learn, but his little comment did expand my list of potential assassins. Although, even with the now expanded list of fictional assassins I'm willing to spend my credits on, I still want Widowmaker. She's experienced, and only cost one hundred credits. The best cost-benefit in the store.

That's the reason I want her. No other reason at all, and no one will be able to make me confess otherwise.

"Are we leaving the car anytime soon?" I hear Emma ask, and I shake my head a little.

Her question brings me out of my distracted state, and I realize that we've been blocking the entrance and the car behind us has started to honk his horn.

"I'm sorry, I was a little distracted." I apologize to Emma without saying much more, which earns me a raised eyebrow and a brief annoyed look. I know how much Emma hates not being able to read my mind, so I always take any chance I have to remember her of it.

It's my revenge for her constant teasing.

I get out of the car and walk around the front. Opening the door to Emma as a gentleman should, I help her out of the car and then toss my keys to the valet.

We walk together towards the entrance of the building, drawing a lot of eyes as we do so. I know I look good, but I'm pretty sure all those eyes are on Emma. She looks gorgeous, perfect hair, blue eyes shining in the evening light, and in usual Emma style, dressed in all white.

"Good evening Sir, and welcome to the Hellfire ball." The guard at the door says.

"Good evening, I'm Isaiah Jones, and my lovely date for the night is miss Emma Frost." I say, earning a nod from the guard.

I'm one hundred percent sure that no other guess would need to say the name of their date, but I also know that I was only invited to this ball because of Emma. The invitation was quite unsubtle suggesting that Emma should be my plus one.

"Mister Shaw would like to speak with you tonight, mister Jones." The guard says after he checks my name on the list.

"I would be happy to speak with him. In fact, I'll do it as soon as possible." I say with a smile.

So, Shaw was the one that invited me. I was still confused as to who in Hellfire was actually interested in me, or, more importantly, Emma. I'm actually a little impressed, as far as I know, Shaw didn't know about Emma until much later in canon. If he did know about her since the start, it just shows how much of an asshole he is. The guy allowed Emma to live in the streets for months, sure, that didn't happen here, but it did happen in canon.

"Isabela!" The guard says, and a woman around my age quickly comes closer.

"Isabela here serves mister Shaw, but she will be available to you tonight, mister Jones. She will also accompany you towards his private room when you're ready to speak with mister Shaw." The guard explains.

Fucking Shaw! I think.

He is giving away important information, but he still gaining something from it. He's showing that he knows about Emma's power, giving us important information, while putting someone close to us so Emma can't tell me anything she learns from the minds of others.

It is a good plan, but he still doesn't know enough about Emma's power. She can connect directly to my mind and we can talk this way, or at least, she would be able to do it with a normal human. Maybe my system protection will allow it to work, the same way Jean's battle precognition did. Or maybe it won't. I'm pretty sure Jean's only worked because of the Phoenix.

The cosmic entity has already shown it can recognize my system, so it wouldn't be much of a stretch for it to bypass the system's protection of my mind.

I exchange a brief look with Emma, and see that she already realized the same thing I did.

"I guess we're in your hands tonight, Isabela." I say, giving the woman a smile, not showing my suspicions that she was ordered to spy on us.

"I'm happy to be your hostess tonight, mister Jones, miss Frost. If you would accompany me, I'll show you some of our most distinguished guests tonight." Isabela said, giving a perfect courtesy to us, and making Emma and I share a look.

"Lead the way." Emma said simply, and I just nod my head.

Isabela leads us inside the building and towards the richly decorated floor of the Hellfire club main base in Manhattan.

I see a lot of important people, many of them I recognize due to my many internet searches, while others I recognize just from the similarities with their comics counterparts, and a few because I actually know them. Both Emma and I nod towards the men with the most unfortunate name in NY, Warren Worthington III, also known as Angel.

"Maybe we should give him something for Jean." Emma comments, and I can see our hostess trying to hide her interest in our conversation.

"Maybe. We should talk to him later." I agree with Emma, giving her a nod to show I understood what was left unsaid.

Emma probably talked to him in his mind, and now she was letting me know that she told him some of what we know about Hellfire so he can tell the X-Men. It also lets me know that she can't connect with my mind, or else she would've done so.

As much as I don't trust Xavier, I actually don't have a problem with Emma giving him information about Hellfire. Mostly because her comment made me remember some more knowledge of my previous life, and I remembered that Xavier probably already has a spy inside Hellfire, Sage.

"But maybe we should leave it for the after party. I'm sure Warren wouldn't mind waiting a little, so we can ask Jean what she wants. We both know how Jean can go a bit too far with her spending, we should ask her what she wants or else we might send something she already has." I say, earning a raised eyebrow from Emma, but she quickly nods her understanding.

We pay some attention to our hostess as she introduces us to some of Hellfire's most influential, as well as a few others that aren't actually connected to the club. Harry Leland, which, if my comics knowledge is correct, should be a bishop. I don't remember if he is the black bishop or the white one, but it really doesn't matter. What matter is that he is pretty high in Hellfire's hierarchy.

He is also a massive creep.

He spent most of the brief talk we had flirting with Emma. Emma is my date for the night, and as she constantly remembered me before we came, only for the night. Even so, Leland flirting with her is still pretty disrespectful, but I don't let it go to my head, and I also let Emma deal with it. I know she wouldn't like if I tried to interfere, and I can see she's having fun subtly insulting the idiot.

But I do interfere when Leland tries to get physical, grabbing Emma's arm while his eyes get a bit of a manic glint.

"It's been a pleasure, mister Leland, but miss Frost and I still need to greet a few of the other distinguished individuals that are gathered here this evening." I say, grabbing his arm and putting a bit of pressure on it, not enough to show my enhanced strength, but enough to hurt him.

Leland quickly let go of Emma's arm, and I let go of his. He also gives me a look of pure loathing.

"Isaiah is right, mister Leland. It's been a pleasure, but we do need to introduce ourselves to a few others. I believe I saw miss Potts and mister Stane earlier, and both Isaiah and I have a considerable investment in Stark Industries." Emma says, giving the man a pleasant smile, one that I know is one hundred percent fake.

We say our goodbye while Leland alternates between flirting with Emma and giving me hateful glares.

"So, are we introducing ourselves to Potts and Stane, or should we meet mister Shaw first?" Emma asks once we are far enough away from Leland.

"I believe I see someone else we should talk to." I say quickly, as my eyes settle on a familiar redhead accompanied by her boyfriend and her boyfriend's dad.

"Mister Osborn, Isaiah Jones, and with me is my lovely date, miss Emma Frost. It is a pleasure to meet such an accomplished man as yourself." I say as we approach the not-quite-yet Green Goblin. "Harry, MJ, nice seeing you two again in a more… dignified setting." I greet the younger crew with a bit more familiarity, and a hint of teasing. Which earns me a laugh from Harry and a blushing MJ.

I briefly met them at the club when MJ turned eighteen. Loud music, drinks and the fact that she was already breaking the law being inside the club, either using a fake ID or her boyfriend's money. It all made the birthday gal loosen up a little, and let's just say that MJ is an… amusing drunk.

"Miss Frost, it is a pleasure to see you again." Norman Osborn says, kissing Emma's hand. "Mister Jones, I heard good things from you, particularly from my financial advisor. If you don't mind me asking, how do you know my son?" He asks, giving me a firm handshake, a bit too firm.

I don't think Osborn has already started experimenting with the Green Goblin formula, but the handshake makes me a bit suspicious. He is showing a more strength than should be possible, but not as much as I would believe the Green Goblin to have. Maybe the formula isn't exactly a one dose thing, or maybe my perception of strength is a little different due to my own super soldier serum, but I will still be keeping an eye on him.

Spider Man is just starting his career, a fight with the Green Goblin right now would be a death sentence to Peter.

"We met briefly during miss Watson's birthday." I say simply, earning a nod from the older Osborn.

"I would like to schedule a meeting with you, mister Jones. I heard you've been making a lot on bonuses; I believe the advice of the current most accomplished financial advisor in wall street would benefit my company. The compensation will be more than adequate, I assure you." Osborn says, and I can't stop myself from blinking in surprise.

When the fuck did I became the most accomplished financial advisor in wall street? I don't actually work.

That's what I get for letting the ROB launder my money, people actually start believing that I know what I'm doing in my 'job'. Sure, I could probably give some pretty good advice, Stark Industries, Rand Enterprises, and I know that Helen Cho from the MCU exists in this universe, whoever invests in her research should make a fair amount of money. But I don't want to help a supervillain make money.

"I'll wait for your call." I answer, giving Osborn a fake smile. Doesn't mean I'm going to help him though.

"So, you're the birthday girl?" Emma asks, looking at MJ.

"Birthday girl?" MJ asks, a bit confused.

"Isaiah told me a few interesting things about your birthday. I particularly liked hearing about the dancing." Emma says, making MJ blush.

"Isaiah!" MJ not-quite-shouts.

"What? It was fun." I say.

Drunk MJ ended up climbing the counter and started dancing. She was then joined by most of the girls there, which made thing a bit… cramped. A bunch of drunk teenage girls dancing in a cramped space, so the obvious thing happened. One fell of the counter, and then it was like bowling, them all started to fall.

"Does your girlfriend know you're here with another girl?" MJ asks, giving me an innocent smile.

If Jessica were just a little bit different, I would be worried, but she doesn't really care about it. Still, this just confirms something I knew for a long time.

Women are fucking evil. They just don't do equal force. A bit of light teasing and MJ goes straight for the nuclear option.

"Oh, Jessica knows, and she doesn't mind. Although, she will be a bit sad that I'm not going to join them later in the night for a bit more… fun." Emma says, making MJ blush again as she understands what Emma said.

Harry gives me a subtle fist bump.

Yeah, it is good when I'm doing it, but I don't exactly like the fact that we keep having threesomes. I tried to distance myself from Natasha after that first time, but how am I going to do it when my girlfriend is the one that keeps bringing her into our bed.

Sure, it is the fucking Black Widow, she's crazy hot. But it gets annoying having to answer her 'innocent' questions all the time. I'm pretty sure she already got a lot of information out of me, even if I tried to be as vague as possible.

She's just that good.

"Mister Osborn, it's been a pleasure, but I must take my leave now. There are others I want to meet tonight." I say.

I know Emma. If I let her keep talking with MJ she'll keep teasing the redhead, and her teasing can go a bit too far. So, one of two things will end up happening. Either MJ will hit back just as hard, and they will end up with the same weird friendship Emma has with Jean, or MJ will hate Emma, thinking she's a massive bitch.

I don't want MJ having an antagonistic relationship with someone so close to me. Mainly because she's friends with Gwen Stacy, the current girlfriend of one Peter Parker.

I'm thinking of setting up a team of my own, and Spider-Man would be a good addition to said team. The problem is that Peter just started his career, he probably wouldn't want to join a team, preferring to stay as the 'friendly neighborhood Spider-Man'. But I have a plan to change that.

My game store has a perfect copy of Spider-Man's powers, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to grant powers to others. Giving Gwen spider powers would be a good incentive to join my team, Peter would love to fight crime with his girlfriend, and I would get a Spider-Gwen on my team.

It's basically buy one spider, get one free.

It would also have the added benefit of keeping Gwen alive. It would be a lot more difficult for the man standing in front of me right now to kill Gwen if she had powers. Gwen surviving would change a lot. In canon, her death was a moment that changed Peter, he became a lot more mature after that tragedy, so it might take some time for Peter to grow up a bit more. Although, Gwen might change that just by being alive. Women have a way of making men more mature.

Gwen surviving would also mean that MJ and Felicia might never be involved with Peter.

Just an observation, nothing more.

"Of course, I also need to met a few business associates. I'll ask my secretary to set up a meeting so we can talk business." Norman Osborn answers, in a pleasant tone.

"I'll be looking forward to it." I say, giving the man a smile. "MJ, Harry, see you two later." I add.

After Emma says her goodbyes, with a last bit of her usual dry remarks towards MJ, we both move on.

I see a few others that I would like to talk to, but it's about time we met Shaw, and see what the guy wants with Emma. So I ask our hostess to guide us towards his private room, and she does so while Emma and I keep making small talk. Or at least that is what our hostess hears.

Emma is actually passing me information from the minds of a few of the more important guests. Sometimes it takes a bit of work to understand the double speak, but we manage.

She points out a few important people like Paris Seville, the current white queen. A woman with a vast media empire, with connections to both Hollywood and major news networks. I don't remember her, so maybe she wasn't a canon character, or if she was, then she was pretty minor in the comics.

Another woman she points out is Lourdes Chantel, and this one I remember. A mutant teleporter and Shaw's current lover. It is weird that she's not in Shaw's room right now, but maybe there is a reason for it.

"Wait here please, I'll announce you to mister Shaw." Our hostess says when we reach an ornate door.

"I really hate this situation." I say, looking at Emma and running my hands through my hair. And it seems she realizes what I'm trying to say.

"I'll admit that I'm not exactly comfortable either, but I'm sure we'll manage." Emma answers in a cold tone that surprises me, but then I realize that she's got her 'game face' on.

Hellfire might have another white queen at the moment, but the true white queen has arrived.

The door suddenly open and we both see the opulent inside of the room. The amount of wealth in display is truly staggering. I'm pretty sure the net worth of this room is higher than my entire one, and I'm pretty fucking rich these days.

Neither the expensive furniture, golden chandelier, nor the vases and sculptures draw my attention, what does is the two paintings on the walls.

One of the few things that are the same in this world and my previous one, are the artworks lost during WW2. I've always liked renascence art, so I immediately recognize Portrait of a young man, the masterpiece by Raphael that was lost since the invasion of Poland. And I'm pretty sure the other painting is a Botticelli, not one I recognize, but his style is well known to me.

This immediately makes me a bit nervous. It can't be a coincidence that those two paintings are here, Shaw knows I would enjoy them, which raises the question of who told him that. The only ones that know this about me are Jessica, Angela, Sue, Ben and Reed, not even Johnny or Emma know about it. Angela is literally incapable of betraying me, and I can't believe any of the others would do so.

The most likely scenario is that Shaw has a telepath under his employ, and he's been spying on my friends. Now the question is which telepath. There are many in canon who would be powerful enough to touch the minds of my friends from even outside of the city, but most of those would also be quickly found by either Emma or Xavier.

"Beautiful pieces, aren't they?" Shaw asks as a way of greeting, seeing where my eyes were drawn to.

"Indeed. Raphael was a genius, as was Botticelli." I answer.

"It is a pleasure to meet you face to face, mister Jones." He says, extending his hand.

"I can say the same, mister Shaw." I say, giving him a firm handshake.

"Miss Frost, it is an honor to meet such a lovely lady." Shaw says, turning towards Emma, taking her hand and giving it a kiss.

"Mister Shaw, I heard some interesting things about you." Emma says as a way of greeting.

"And I'll be happy to answer any questions you have." Shaw says in a tone that was supposed to be pleasant, but the guy is creepy as fuck, so everything he does just feels wrong. "Please, join me. Would you like a drink?"

Shaw guides us towards the chairs, and I fucking hate how comfortable they feel. Comfortable enough to be almost distracting, which I'm sure is on purpose.

"Thank you, but no. We still hope to meet a few others tonight, so it isn't the time for drinks yet." Emma says, and I nod my head in agreement.

"Fair enough, business first." Shaw says, giving Emma a respectful nod. "Isabela, leave us." He commands, and the woman quickly leaves the room. "I believe we can talk a bit more freely now?"

"And what would you like to know, mister Shaw?" I ask.

"I just believe we could help each other in our 'side jobs'." Shaw responds in a bland tone.

"I don't believe so. After all, we don't deal with any kind of pure energy, which I believe is your specialty." I say, making his eye twitch. That's right, you're not the only one that knows about us. I also know about you.

Someone less familiar with Emma wouldn't recognize the surprise behind her ice queen look.

"I've been reliably informed that my tech would protect me against miss Frost's abilities. Although, your own tech is far superior to mine." Shaw comments, which confirms his access to a telepath.

"Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, or maybe we just gathered this information a long time ago." Emma says in a bland tone.

"Surprising, I didn't realize I was so dangerous that I would be under surveillance." Shaw says with a smirk.

"We aren't exactly worried about you, just those who you interact with. A certain black queen." I say, and Emma gives me a look that just screams 'you're saying too much'.

I know she's right, but Shaw is too fucking smug for me not to say something. I know shouldn't let the guy get to me so much, but I just don't care at the moment.

"You're wise to be worried about her." Shaw compliments me, and it actually sounds genuine. "But, we have strayed away from the topic of our conversation. I represent a group of likeminded individuals, a group that is interested in using our power for the betterment of those worthy, and I believe your own group would be a good addition to mine, specially miss Frost and miss Zigler." He says, and I can feel my anger growing. I don't know why this guy is affecting me so much.

"And who do you consider to be worthy, mister Shaw?" Emma asks, and when Shaw smiles at her I finally realize why I'm getting so angry with the guy.

I don't actually have anything going with Emma. We flirt a little, but that's mostly it, and I'm pretty sure Emma only does it to piss off Jean. But I can't deny that I want her. I never really felt jealousy when other guys approach her, but that is mainly because I never felt threatened by them. Shaw is someone that Emma was actually involved with in canon, I guess subconsciously I felt that he has a shot. That might be the reason for my anger.

"I'm nothing like Magneto, miss Frost. I, and the group I represent, only believe in maintaining the natural order. There has always been those who are worthy and those who aren't, a natural order to the world in which those with the proper talent and lineage guide the lesser masses. My group just seeks to maintain that order." Shaw explains, and I'm not really surprised.

Hellfire is currently going through the change from a rich men club to one primarily run by mutants, and Shaw comes from money, he inherited his company from his dad. So, it isn't really surprising that he has an elitist view of the world.

Emma looks at me, and I can see right through her ice queen mask, she is quickly losing patience. Emma hates her father, and Shaw's whole demeanor is quite similar to Winston's. I never even met the guy, but just from what I heard about him from Emma, I can imagine Winston Frost trying to do something similar to Shaw if he had the power.

"I'll have to refuse, mister Shaw. We have some fundamental differences in our way of thinking, in our plans for the future. I believe I would be a poor choice for your group." Emma says in a cold tone.

This is just one of the things that I learned about Emma since I met her. She believes quite firmly in meritocracy. Open competition, and only those with the skill and drive will succeed, that's Emma's life philosophy. It isn't something that one can learn from the comics, and it was something that once again showed me that, despite my game system, this world isn't a game, my friends aren't NPCs.

It was also quite attractive.

"Indeed, mister Shaw. I believe no one in my group would agree with you." I say, and a quick look of anger appears in Shaw's face, but he quickly controls himself.

"I would council you to take some time to explore your options. My group isn't the only one with a similar world view, and many of the others prefer to use more… permanent measures to deal with powerful groups such as yours." Shaw says coldly, in a thinly veiled threat.

I look at Emma, and she gives me a small nod. I can see the barely held back anger in her, a state that is quite similar to my own. But I'm not going to let it distract me.

"Well, mister Shaw, could you do me a favor and tell those groups that, if someone threatens my girls, I'll also employ some permanent measures." I say in a calm, cold tone, holding back my anger. "We'll keep your offer in mind, but I believe our answer won't change."

"I see I can't change your mind." Shaw says, looking at Emma and completely ignoring me. "We will see each other again one day, and I will make the offer again. Hopefully you'll be more receptive in the future."

"I don't believe so, mister Shaw. In fact, I'm quite certain that, even if we do meet again, you won't be making another offer." Emma answers in a cold tone, and I know her enough to realize she's quite literally contemplating murder right now.

"A good evening for you both then." Shaw says, raising from his seat.

"And a good evening to you, mister Shaw." I say, drawing his attention to me as I stand. He was so focused on Emma that it seemed like he forgot about me.

"Be careful, I heard the streets are dangerous these days." Shaw says as he opens the door for us.

"They are, but we are used to the dangers of New York. We can deal with whatever threat comes our way." Emma says, making Shaw scowl at her.

Nothing more is said, as we leave the room and Shaw closes the door behind us. The girl from before is missing, I guess Shaw doesn't see the need to have her close to us anymore.

"So, your girls?" Emma asks, giving me a smirk.

"That's what you focus on? Not that idiot threatening us?" I ask in a tired tone. I should've known Emma would go straight to teasing me about that comment.

"Like you said, he's an idiot. I'm more interested in knowing when I became your girl. I can understand Angela and Jessica, but I'm not that easy, mister Jones." Emma says, again with that flirty smirk.

"Don't worry dear, men always think they can claim women. They never realize that we are the ones that claim them." A smooth, seductive female voice says.

We both stop walking and look at the open door to our right. Looking at us is a pale woman with black hair and blue eyes, she's wearing a black dress that somehow looks classy, while still showing the most amount of cleavage I ever seen in my life. Not to mention the cape.

Fuck! I thought we could avoid Selene, but I guess it is now impossible.

"My lady, it is an honor to meet you." I say, bowing deeply to the immortal sorceress.

"Such manners." Selene says as if talking to a child, and, in the height of my twenty, nearly twenty-one years, I guess I might as well be a newborn to someone like her.

"I heard much about you, miss Gallio." Emma says, and I almost jump at her. If she keeps talking in that dismissive tone, she'll end up getting us killed.

Shaw was just as capable of killing us both, but Selene might actually do it because she's old enough to not give a fuck.

"You can call me Selene, dear; both of you. I'm sure we'll be quite close in the future." Selene says with a laugh, which actually makes me even more nervous.

I don't want to be close to Selene. I want her as far away from me as possible.

"May I ask what you want from us, lady Selene." I ask, trying to be respectful.

"Just Selene, dear Isaiah. As for what I want, let's just say I wanted to see the up-and-coming talent with my own eyes." Selene says, bringing her hand close to my cheek and letting a long, red nail touch me in a gentle caress.

"When you see dear Agatha, tell her I said hello." Selene adds, and then walks away, leaving Emma and I stunned as we watch her go.

"So, she's is the one you're so scared off?" Emma asks, and I just nod my head. "She's intense, and seems far more dangerous than Shaw." She adds, and I just nod again.

I don't really pay attention to what Emma is saying. The only thing going through my mind is.

Why the fuck would I ever meet Agatha Harkness, and how can Selene be so sure that I will meet her one day.

AN 2: Lot of important characters making an appearance.

And Isaiah gets some confusing information from Selene.

Next chapter will probably have various different POVs, as we see what is happening with a few other characters.

I will see you guys in the next one.