The XXX-Gene Ch. 59 (Marvel)

A/N: Sage's powers are kind of bullshit lmao.

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FUBAR. Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition. It was an excellent descriptor for the situation that ‘Tessa’ found herself in right now. To say this wasn’t how she thought tonight would go would be… an understatement. Things had gone so awry that it was taking everything she had to process what was happening. And considering one of her mutation’s side effects was a mind like a supercomputer, a photographic memory, and superhuman multitasking, that was saying something.

Shaw was dead. Sebastian Shaw, the entire reason she was here in the Hellfire Club in the first place, was dead. It felt surreal to think that even now. It felt like the world had stopped making sense, the ground pulled up out from under her feet. Of course, while he WAS dead… it wasn’t entirely accurate to say he was gone, now was it?

She tries not to look too much at the man who caused all of this. Chad Thaddeus Thundercock Cummings. Admittedly, before tonight ‘Tessa’ hadn’t thought the young man was anything but what he appeared. Tall, large, and freakishly strong. That was all he was supposed to be. Along with getting stronger through sex, of course.

Of course, she knew better now. He didn’t just get stronger through sex. He got more powerful. One of her abilities allowed her to see him for what he truly was, now that she’d had enough time in close enough proximity to him. Not soon enough to warn Shaw, unfortunately. But she now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt just how dangerous Frost’s new White Knight truly was. He had at least a dozen different abilities in him, and his potential was… more than she’d ever seen in anyone else. He could become anything. He’d already become something beyond her reckoning.

And that was to say nothing of what he’d apparently done to Emma Frost. Because… the White Queen had NOT been this powerful before. They had always been rather equal in their telepathic abilities, though ‘Tessa’ believed herself to be just a bit more equal if she was being honest. She’d been trained by Charles Xavier himself, after all. Emma Frost was powerful, but she was self-taught and it showed.

… It didn’t matter anymore though. The White Queen’s psychic abilities had ballooned since the last time they’d crossed paths and she’d been taken completely off guard when Frost had decided to take control of the situation. It was one thing for Frost to be able to still the minds of everyone else in the ballroom at the same time. ‘Tessa’ might not have been able to do so, but someone like Xavier could have, definitely.

However, it was another thing entirely for Frost to be able to still the minds of everyone else in the ballroom AS WELL as ‘Tessa’, just like that. The White Queen had blown through her psionic ‘firewall’, an invention of her own making, like it wasn’t even there. One of the main reasons that Shaw kept her around, as she had the perfect defense against fellow psychics, and Emma Frost had ignored it entirely and taken control of her mind regardless.

To say ‘Tessa’ was terrified would be an understatement. But she had one saving grace amidst this chaos. There was just one thing that might get her out of this shitshow with her mind intact. Her true allegiances.

… Truth be told, she’d been ‘Tessa’ for so long now that sometimes it was hard to remember being someone else. But before she was Tessa… she was Sage. Her early life didn’t bear thinking about, truthfully. Her original name was lost to time and deserved to remain that way. The little girl she’d once been was too weak to survive everything she’d survived.

By the time she’d become Sage, she was stronger. Strong enough to survive the wars she constantly found herself trapped in. Strong enough to hear Charles Xavier when he called out to her mind from that cave. One thing had led to another and she’d gotten Xavier out of the sticky situation he’d found himself in.

Funny… that was right around the time that the paraplegic telepath had begun forming his first iteration of his precious ‘X-Men’. And yet, even though she saved his life, Sage hadn’t received an invitation to the team. Instead… he’d seen another use for her. He’d kept her a secret and trained her to become his own personal spy.

At the time, Sage hadn’t really thought too much about all of that. It was only all these years later, all this time spent as ‘Tessa’, that she could look back and feel resentment over the manipulation. Back at the start, she’d felt gratitude towards Xavier. Even though it had been she who rescued him, it was his resources that got them out of the war-torn country they’d been in, and back to more peaceful parts of the world.

For that, Sage had been willing to follow his lead. He was her mentor, after all. And if he saw greater use in her remaining in the shadows rather than standing out in the light with his precious X-Men, then surely his vision for her was the right one… right?

Sage wasn’t so sure anymore. Especially after the events of tonight. After years of training, Xavier had sent her to infiltrate the Hellfire Club. And when Sebastian Shaw had proven himself to be a singularly dangerous and ambitious member of said club, her mission had become ingratiating herself to him, attaching herself to his rising star as his trusted secretary and advisor.

But what did any of it matter anymore? All that time… wasted in an instant as Shaw bit off more than he could chew and got eaten for his troubles. Sage knows what Xavier would say if he was here, or if she had the chance to break away and get in contact with him. The mission wasn’t over. Shaw was just one piece of the greater whole. The Hellfire Club was still a threat.

… Except Xavier wasn’t here. And if she didn’t give them all something, Sage wasn’t sure she would have ever gotten the chance to break away and get in touch with her mentor. More than all of that though, in the end she just didn’t want to do this anymore. She didn’t see much of a point.

All of this passes through her mind in but a moment as her confession hangs in the air. Sage watches as Cummings and Frost exchange a glance. She watches as the Black Widow at Cummings’ side narrows her eyes at Sage’s words.

That bit was her fault. Not that Shaw had been at all obvious about where he got his information. Still, it had actually been Sage who recognized Natasha Romanoff for who she was and contacted Shaw to let him know, presumably with Frost being none the wiser. It was Shaw’s decision to ham-fistedly try to lay claim to her though. A decision that he’d stood by even after dealing with Donald Pierce.

Even if Sage had been the one to point Shaw in Natasha’s direction, it was the Black King’s personality that had ultimately led to his demise. Though to be fair, he clearly never expected someone so green behind the ears and untested to be able to deal with him so decisively.

“… Alright, we’re listening.”

Sage decides she won’t make the same mistake. It’s especially telling that its Cummings who finally responds to her confession. Not the White Queen, but her brand new Knight. He crosses his arms over his chest and frowns as he stares her down. Turning to face him properly, Sage holds her head high.

“You may call me Sage. As I said, I was trained and inserted as a spy by Charles Xavier, to keep an eye on things in the Hellfire Club and report specifically on the plans and actions of the Black King. We do not need to be enemies… now that Shaw is dead, my role within the Hellfire Club can be terminated. You can just let me disappear.”

Frost scoffs at that, making Sage tense up a bit.

“While it would certainly make sense for ‘Tessa’ to go down with her boss, considering her perceived loyalty to him, I’m not exactly hearing good reasons for why we should let you live. Xavier is no ally of ours.”

Sage frowns at that. Should she not say it? But truthfully, she can’t think of a good enough reason why she should continue holding her knowledge close to the chest. She might as well lay her cards on the table.

“… Considering Cummings is literally wearing one of his X-Men as a suit right now, I would think you at least have ties to the man.”

There’s a pregnant pause at that, before Cummings sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose.

“I would prefer if you called me Thaddeus, please.”

Before Sage can respond, the white suit he’s wearing suddenly shivers and morphs, and a head made of living, silvery metal forms on one of his shoulders to peer at Sage curiously.

“You know who I am?”

Sage inclines her head.

“Cessily Kincaid, aka Mercury. I am up to date on all of the Xavier Institute’s current mutants, yes. That alone should give you some idea of where my true loyalties lie. I recognized Ms. Kincaid the moment that she transformed in order to armor you for your fight with Pierce’s mercenaries. However, I did not tell Shaw about her. I kept her identity close to the chest at great risk to myself if he found out some other way.”

Another pause before Cummings, or rather Thaddeus, clears his throat.

“Yes… and in doing so, you set things up so that Shaw would be vulnerable when Cessily was forced to kill him in self-defense.”

His tone is leading and his eyes piercing as he stares her down. It takes Sage half a nanosecond to process what he’s just said and pick up what he’s putting down. Obviously, she wasn’t an idiot. She knew for a fact that it had been a combination of Thaddeus Cummings and Cessily Kincaid who had filled Shaw’s lungs while slaying him.

Hell, she wouldn’t have even had to overhear them all but talking about this coverup out in the ballroom to know how everything had gone down.

Obviously, the new White Knight was expecting her to go along with the coverup. The bare minimum that would be expected of her if she wanted to survive tonight with her mind intact. It wasn’t like it was that much of a concession either.

“Of course. Ms. Kincaid did what she had to do. Shaw was a poorly restrained wild dog that had to be put down.”

There’s perhaps a bit more emotion in that last sentence then Sage was originally hoping to give, but admittedly… you try spending years and years serving a brute like Shaw and not develop a disdain for him. Sage had many regrets in her life. Enabling Shaw’s excesses and need for gratuitous violence would always be one of them. And perhaps that was why it was so easy for her to accept the second half of their plan as well. Their goal of focusing the Black Queen’s attention on Charles Xavier through Cessily Kincaid.

It wasn’t a half bad idea, all things considered. Selene was a mercurial creature at the best of times. She didn’t actually care about Shaw one bit on a personal level… but she would definitely be aggrieved that someone had taken one of her ‘toys’ all the same. Xavier would take the fall if everyone kept their stories straight. The Black Queen would assume this was an assassination by Charles and respond accordingly.

“Is she telling the truth? Moreso, is she really willing to play ball?”

Sage stiffens up as Thaddeus directs that question to Frost. She’d not truly forgotten that the White Queen was still in her head. But for a moment… well, she’d been able to trick herself into not worrying so much about it. Meanwhile, Frost looks at her with an icy gaze for a split second before shrugging almost carelessly.

“She’s willing to prop up the lie for us, yes. Even to Xavier. She doesn’t actually like him that much, despite professing loyalty to him. However, that doesn’t make her any less dangerous. She knows about you, Thaddeus. She can literally perceive the DNA of others at close enough range. That means she knows everything. Everything we’ve been trying to keep hidden.”

Sage twitches at that. Both at Emma’s cavalier reveal of her abilities, and her even more cavalier reveal of how big of a secret Thaddeus’ true potential is. The young man in question suddenly looks all the more conflicted, prompting Sage to offer alternatives to her untimely demise.

“If you don’t wish to let me go, then keep me as spoils of war. I couldn’t stop you from killing Shaw tonight. Nobody will be surprised if I suddenly show up working for the White Queen as her secretary. They will assume my mind has been crushed and turned towards the task of serving my new Mistress. Or, if you wish to truly spit on Shaw’s memories, you can simply assign me to your new White Knight instead. A true downgrade that will have everyone tittering.”

She delivers that last part drily, hoping it might appeal to them… especially to Cummings. She hasn’t been able to glean much of Thaddeus Cumming’s personality yet so far, but she understands that he has layers to him. There are multitudes hidden behind that façade of a big dumb brute. Still, she can deduce that he almost certainly has a weakness for beautiful women…

With that in mind, Sage goes for the throat.

“Alternatively, there is one final option.”

All eyes on her, Sage takes a single step back to show she means no harm and intends no threat. Than… she shifts. Self-Cellular Manipulation. It took some time, but she’s trained herself to have complete control over her own personal physiology. It’s not shapeshifting, alas… but she CAN change the color of her eyes and hair, as well as adjusting certain aspects of her… anatomy.

In a moment, she’s blonde with blue eyes and a bigger bust. Flashing a knowing smirk, Sage places her hands on her hips.

“You don’t have to let me go to kill ‘Tessa’ off. Keep me in whatever form you desire, if that is your wish. I will serve just as I did with Shaw until such a time as you deem the situation to have changed enough for my release.”

She wouldn’t give up their secrets. Sage makes sure Frost can see that in her mind. But… power like Thaddeus’ doesn’t get to remain hidden forever. And making him a White Knight has only put him on a path with more and more eyeballs. There’s no doubt in Sage’s mind that one day, everyone who cares about that sort of thing will know everything Thaddeus is capable of. On that day, Sage’s knowledge will have lost its value and letting her go will no longer be such a danger.

There’s a brief pause as the White Queen and her Knight exchange a long look. Having played all of her cards, Sage waits patiently to find out her fate.

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A/N: Me, reading the power section of the wikia article for Sage as I'm writing this chapter: "She can do WHAT?!"

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