Chapter 58: Regicide

Chapter 58: Regicide

A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!

To topple a king.

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Deep down, Thaddeus knew already what he had to do. He just wasn’t sure if he had the strength to-

Thaddeus.

Time almost seems to freeze as Emma’s voice echoes through his mind telepathy. Almost seems to, because in reality what actually happens is that their thoughts speed up. Time is moving normally outside of their shared mental connection, but for each fraction of a second, they have an eternity together.

I’ve locked down the ballroom and the surrounding area. After our weekend spent improving my powers, even Tessa doesn’t stand a chance against me. Nobody is going to interfere. Nobody is capable of moving a muscle right now.

Thaddeus would have blinked at that if he could have. Wasn’t Emma only a telepath? She didn’t have telekinetic abilities last he checked.

I’m not holding them in place physically. I’m holding them in place mentally. At our level of psychic power, blocking the connection from the mind to the body so they can’t send signals to move their appendages is child’s play. Making sure they all keep breathing is a little more taxing though, so let’s wrap this up quickly.

... Fair enough. Still, Thaddeus can’t help but spare a moment to send a feeling of apology in Emma’s direction. This had all gone to shit, and admittedly it was at least partially his choice. If he hadn’t brought Natasha as his date, if he hadn’t been unable to set aside his pride and let Shaw take her... none of this would have happened.

What’s done is done. All we can do now is move forward.

Still, that went both ways didn’t it? There was no putting the genie back in the bottle now. Forget Shaw... Selene was almost certain to learn more about him than they’d wanted her to know at this point. The Black Queen was their true enemy, and Thaddeus had just blown their entire subterfuge wide open regarding her.

Not necessarily.

What? What did Emma mean by that?

There’s still potential to salvage this situation, Thaddeus. Selene isn’t here right now, we are. And we are in control. The narrative is ours to shape. However, before all of that... we have to decide what to do with Shaw.

Right. Shaw was still under him and Cessily. Still trying to fight back, though at a snail’s pace right now due to the sped up perception of time. If not for Rogue’s mutation, Shaw probably could have used the energy he’d collected from Pierce’s blows to fully blast Thaddeus and Cessily off of him. The Black King could have gotten the upper hand. However, between Thaddeus draining some energy off of Shaw earlier and now every second he remains in contact at this point... it’s a foregone conclusion that Shaw will lose. The end of the road.

The question remained though, what to actually do with the Black King. Beating him was one thing. Killing him was another. But if they didn’t kill him...

I could alter his memories as I intend to do with the surviving guests of the Gala, Thaddeus. I could change his mind so that he thinks he simply decided not to be so aggressive in his poaching of Natasha, make him think he intended to contact her outside of the party at a later date completely of his own volition.

Oh. Thaddeus hadn’t thought of that idea. That was clever, and obviously if she could do that to Shaw and the party goers, she could do it to Tessa as well. It would clean up this situation nicely. Except... something in Thaddeus rebelled at the thought. It just felt...

Your instincts are correct, Thaddeus. There is always a risk of Shaw uncovering what we’ve done to him. Of him realizing that his actions are not his own and his memories have been tampered with. There’s a greater chance because of Tessa... a telepath is far more likely to uncover tampering done to her mind and we cannot remove her from the board entirely without leaving Shaw incredibly suspicious.

Damned if they do, damned if they don’t. Once more, Thaddeus’ thoughts begin to bend towards the clear solution... the final solution. Regicide.

... There is a quote from an exchange between two learned men of the nineteenth century that feels applicable here, Thaddeus. Never strike at a king unless you are sure you shall kill him. Or, to put it more succinctly... no half-measures.

Right. No half-measures. Shaw died. Right now. Funnily enough, once the decision has properly crystallized in Thaddeus’ mind, he stops feeling anxiety about it. He stops second guessing himself. Sebastian Shaw was already dead. He just didn’t know it yet. All that was left... was to finalize the details of his execution.

We can explain this away to Selene, given the right context. You need to kill Shaw properly though... fill his throat and asphyxiate him. Choke him out even as you drain him. Have him die from lack of air.

It takes Thaddeus only a second to make the logic leap. They were going to pin the kill on Cessily. In a way, she WAS Shaw’s direct counter, though Thaddeus had his doubts on whether she could have done the Black King in without his help. Still, Shaw worked on kinetic energy, taking blows and using that power to deliver back even stronger hits. Cessily though, did not have to fight with brute force. She could at any time she wanted shove herself down someone’s throat or into their orifices and spread through their body, killing them that way.

That said, pinning this on Cessily was... dangerous.

“I’ll be sure to include that in my report.”

“Do so.”

Emma’s clipped tone makes it clear she’s splitting her focus right now. As does the slow movement taking over the room as people come out of their frozen states and stare in differing degrees of horror at Shaw’s body. Thaddeus can only assume that Emma has done her due diligence already in altering their memories of what occurred. Fortunately, their duplicity was close enough to the real deal to be easily accepted, Thaddeus figured. That was why Emma had had him kill Shaw the way he did in the first place.

Suddenly stepping forward, Emma lifts her hands wide.

“It would seem tonight is a night for change. A night for... shake-ups. Some of you might be tempted to flee at what you have seen tonight. But this is the Hellfire Club and we are, all of us, made of sterner stuff. This is the Hellfire Club... and here, you keep what you kill.”

Turning, Emma regards Thaddeus and for a split second he fears she might actually intend to name him the Black King right then and there. From the slight quirk of the side of her mouth, she’s amused by his second of panic.

“Strength begets strength. Power and conviction is to be rewarded. Thaddeus Cummings... I name thee my White Knight. Do you accept this position and all the responsibilities that come with it?”

Nobody says a word. Nobody would dare after what just happened. Thaddeus lets a moment pass before nodding his head stoically and speaking in a gruff tone.

“I do.”

Emma smiles wickedly as she turns back to the crowd.

“So be it. Before all of you, recognize my Knight’s ascension. May he continue to serve the Hellfire Club loyally and with as much conviction as he showed tonight.”

There’s a pause and then Emma turns back and gestures almost dismissively at Shaw.

“Have your pet clean up this mess, my pet.”

Thaddeus’ eyes widen slightly... but before he can even consider whether he wants to ask Cessily to do that, she’s already moving. Everyone sees for a moment as the ‘killer’ of the Black King flows halfway off of his body, covers Shaw’s corpse, and a moment later pulls back to reveal nothing left behind. Not even bones.

“Tasty.”

He tries not to shudder too hard, even as Emma, now the highest ranking member of the Hellfire Club in the ballroom, finally calls for an end to the festivities. The party is finished just like that, and their group departs through one of the side doors into a more private setting. Finally, Thaddeus asks the most burning question on his mind as they settle into the smaller room.

“... Why is she still with us exactly, Emma?”

Tessa hasn’t said a word in all this time, and Thaddeus figures that’s because Emma has been controlling her carefully. However, when everyone else in the party had come out of their minor bit of memory modification, Tessa seemingly had as well. And yet, she’d remained quiet and withdrawn, not doing a single thing or taking a single action against them. Thaddeus knew that meant Emma hadn’t really let her go like she had all of the others.

The White Queen hums as she looks over at Tessa curiously.

“That’s the interesting thing. Before I could modify her memories, she asked me not to, telepathically. Told me she had something to say. She was frantic enough, positively shouting in the depths of her mind... so I deemed it worth us hearing her out. Well, Tessa? Your loyalty to Shaw was unquestionable, so I’m curious what you’re going to tell us now that could possibly stop me from doing what needs to be done.”

There’s a pause as the slightest change comes over Shaw’s secretary and right-hand woman. Tessa had seemed free before, but now Thaddeus can tell she’s ACTUALLY free of Emma’s influence, able to move and speak of her own volition. The raven-haired telepath swallows thickly for a moment, her eyes flicking between all of them before she finally speaks.

“My true loyalty was never to Sebastian Shaw. I was a long-term undercover plant sent to spy on the Black King and the Hellfire Club... by Charles Xavier.”

Oh. Well now.

-x-X-x- The Vote: [X] Alright, hear her out, out of consideration for Cessily if nothing else - 93%

[ ] Nope, she still knows too much, especially about their plans to turn Selene's attention towards Xavier. Alter her memories - 7%

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