The real event had just started, with the main guest arriving at the venue. Emma watched Madame Charleston mingling in the corner with a concerned expression. Their eyes had already closed, and yet the lady hadn't approached. As if she knew the ploy.
On the opposite side of the room was Wilson Fisk, who also caught sight of Emma. But unlike Madame Charleston, he approached with a slight frown concealed beneath a confident smile.
"I didn't expect you to be here, Madeline," He said.
"There is no party in New York I'm not invited to", Emma giggled and allowed him to kiss the back of her hand courtly, exchanging pleasantries for the sake of public face.
"I'm almost certain you were not invited to this one" The big man rolled his eyes and requested the butter to refill their cups with a bit more wine, a conversation deserving of an appealing beverage, "Your boss called me, by the way… asking me what you have been up to. He didn't sound very happy"
"Ah, him… No man is happy when they learn their girls are sucking someone else's dick".
"Haha! Is that what you told him!?~" Fisk laughed so loud that he almost spit his drink, some guests stared at him as he recomposed. He didn't contain his laughter but there was a certain degree of concern. A berserk Sebastian Shaw was beneficial to nobody. The predicament was amusing; the predicament was dangerous.
"I couldn't think of any other way to destroy that connection to the very core; you know his ego is his Achilles heel; I couldn't have dealt a better blow than that", Emma spoke neutrally; she was over the initial euphoria of the moment, 'Now I have to destroy him, to the core'.
Fisk sighed and wiggled his drink, "The son of your ex steals your bitch… I can't begin to imagine his wrath when he knows who your current boy is".
"Me too~" Emma didn't take offence; rather, she laughed at the prospect of an interesting story in which she'd rather be the protagonist rather than an onlooker.
"Hope all goes well for you, it will benefit both of us financially. By the way, you're not here to mess with my business, are you?" Fisk touched on the topic he was actually interested in. Whenever she was involved, there was trouble.
"I promise you won't lose money" The blonde didn't explain further; that explanation was enough for him to know that she was certainly up to no good.
He sighed, "Who is that redhead?"
"...My colleague?" It took a while for the blonde to answer much to his chagrin.
"Are you asking me or telling me?"
"If we share the same boyfriend, what does that make us?"
"The fuck? I don't know… rivals? enemies? certainly not colleagues..." No amount of brain cells could allow him to understand the entanglement of this trio.
'That brat is living a life even I must look up to, dammit'.
"Oh please, rivals? You think she can rival me?" Emma blurted, giving a second look towards Jean, who was discretely getting in position to engage with Madame Charleston.
Fisk also gave Jean a second look.
"She looks a bit prettier actually".
"Do you want to die?".
"I was joking, you're the prettiest ever~"
"Your wife wouldn't be happy hearing that".
"As a man, you can never truly win. Just like your boyfriend".
"What do you mean?"
"Clearly, you've got no idea what he's up to".
"…"
"I'm only giving you one hint. Lourdes Chantel, Elizabeth Charleston, and Mariah Stane all have something in common: they have lost someone".
Emma frowned, "Lourdes? Who has she lost?" She seemingly caught a glimpse of his train of thought the next second, "Shaw is not dead yet, are you drunk already sweetie?".
"For how long, I wonder?~ the point is, your boyfriend has become Shaw's thorn for the last two weeks. He's made a few power moves".
"How? Was Ray always that perceptive?" Emma frowned when they met; although he was clever and crafty, he didn't know his way around the underworld.
"How do you think? He came to me looking for advice. I told him what to do, and sure enough, that brat will learn his way in life. With that power, he's fated to be a powerhouse".
"What is he doing, Fisk? I'm starting to get worried because he doesn't tell me anything"
"Another hint: He's being currently investigated by SHIELD".
!!!
"W-What…?" Emma gasped, that wasn't any good news. Even someone like her, who had thrived in the underworld for almost a decade, wasn't being investigated by SHIELD. There could be a file in a portfolio filled to the brim with documents and identities of prominent mutants in the states. But that was about it, a very shallow file.
"Three crime scenes in the last two weeks" Fisk continued. He took out some pictures from his pocket and showed them to her.
Emma picked them up and her hands shivered at the sight of them.
One was a building with bloodstained walls everywhere.
The second was a bit look-alike, but the walls seemed to have holes in them. The clear mark of power she knew very little about, but she knew who that power belonged to. The third was a completely collapsed building.
"What is this…?"
"Three of Shaw's underground cell hubs in New York. Not a single survivor… it was a mutant. The problem with this line of business is that you can't be too hasty; he's breaking the code; he's got SHIELD on his back".
She covered her mouth at the numbers in the document. At least three hundred dead… obtained by DNA test in the leftover blood at the site. Not one piece of flesh; in the third picture, the building collapsed after its foundations crumbled.
So much of the building was eaten out by that mysterious power that it just couldn't maintain its integrity.
"Ray…"
"He's becoming stronger, but at the same time, he gained some unwanted attention. This type of incident is not dealt with by the police".
"…" Emma frowned and returned the files, "Where did you get these documents? Your goons aren't this professional".
"That's rude, I pay them well–"
"Answer me, Fisk".
"The baldie contacted me~".
"Xavier!?"
"He showed up at my office with his power rangers. Handed me a copy and asked me for the identity of that mutant. When it comes to matters in the underworld, everybody knows who to ask. For obvious reasons, he isn't going to ask Shaw directly" Fisk smiled with pride, "He even offered me money for that information; imagine that~"
"What did you answer…?"
"I said I would think about it~"
"Don't do it…" Emma's voice was weak.
"Are you going to pay more than him?" Fisk turned towards her with his businessman expression, the face and the voice many witnessed before either dying or losing everything.
"You will become Ray's enemy".
"Is that what you think? I don't think that will be the outcome, Emma".
"Ah?"
The man laughed at her ignorance, put his hand on her shoulder and landed down to whisper something.
"Hahaha. I don't know, the way I see it... I'd just be giving him more food if I send them his way".
Emma was left rooted on the spot while her friend walked away, back to his bodyguards, this party was already finished; it was time for the other, more interesting party.
"All of this was classified information, so you owe me one, by the way. Consider it a friend's grace".
***
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Alright guys, just wanted to tell you that I'll be focusing mostly on this story from now on. I'll try to keep a schedule of two chaps a day except for the weekend. By the end of the week, I'll post one extra chapter for every 200 stones in webnovel. You guys from Scribble-hub and Fan-fiction-.net make an account and start sending them stones!
I will make go to the first world, STELLAR BLADE, really soon.