Chapter 6

Hellfire Club Building, New York City

Emma Frost walked through the halls of the New York City Hellfire Club headquarters, escorted by the mercenaries they had hired as security. Even with these hired guns ready to kill her when ordered, Emma walked with her typical unflappable confidence; she had no doubt she'd have no trouble whatsoever taking these thugs down without any issue. The Inner Circle, however, were far more formidable enemies, but with the aces Emma now had up her sleeve, she was more than ready to make her move.

Sebastian Shaw glared coldly at Emma as she stood before the rest of the Inner Circle.

"Emma. Jason's told me about your treachery. Your desire to keep the bearer of the Phoenix **** for yourself. I must say, I'm very disappointed -- I expected better of you, especially since you know the consequences of betraying us. But I'm a reasonable man, Emma. I'll give you a chance to explain yourself. If you can convince me, I may let you walk out of here with your life."

"There's nothing to explain," Emma said, her voice confidant and strong. "I intend to take the Inner Circle down."

"She admits it!" Jason Wyngarde interrupted. "She needs to be executed!"

"Compose yourself, Wyngarde," Shaw continued. "Emma, you must really consider what you're saying. Your position in the Inner Circle and the Hellfire club is forfeit. Surely you don't want to lose your life over this, too? Choose your next words very carefully..."

"I'm not going anywhere," Emma said defiantly. "Your Hellfire Club was reprehensible, Shaw. All you and your lackeys cared about was profit above all else; you're all dragons, sitting on top of your piles of gold, hoarding wealth for yourself. I spend my money, Shaw. I enjoy the pleasures of life; those are the things worth pursuing. Not owning piles of money, leaving it in a vault somewhere for no other purpose than to keep it out of the hands of the masses. I may act in my own self interest, Shaw, but my interests are far less deplorable than yours; Wealth and power matter, yes, but unlike you, I actually plan to use mine."

Shaw cackled arrogantly. "My dear, surely you know you can't take on all of us. Even if you believe you can, there's no way you could control the Phoenix ****'s power without our help."

Emma chuckled. "That's not the only ace I have up my sleeve."

On cue, Juggernaut stormed through the wall of the Inner Circle's conference room, bowling over everyone in his way.

"You're up, Marko."

"YEEEEEE-HAWWWWWWW!" Juggernaut smashed and slammed his way around the room, making short work of the mercenaries who had swarmed in. Meanwhile, Emma had found herself face to face with Donald Pierce, the Hellfire Club's White Bishop.

"Give up, Frost. Your abilities are useless against mine."

"You know, I'm actually curious, Pierce," Emma said nonchalantly. "I've always wanted to see if I could get inside your head. You're more machine than man these days, after all. And if I didn't have better things to do, maybe I would. But if I were you, I'd be far more worried about my very big, very angry bodyguard..."

As soon as those words left Emma's mouth, Juggernaut's fist connected with Donald Pierce's head with ****. He proceeded to pound Pierce into oblivion -- there was no way Pierce could contend with the Juggernaut's raw strength, even with his cybernetic augmentations.

"Typical," Harold Leland scoffed. "Neanderthals like you have no grace. No intelligence. All you can do is punch your problems."

"'Zat so?" Juggernaut said, turning to face Leland. "Punchin' my problems has always worked for me. Want me to show ya?"

"I want to see you try," Leland grinned. Juggernaut charged at him, suddenly slowing down considerably.

"Looks like you're carrying too much weight," Leland grinned. "But please, by all means, continue. I enjoy watching you struggle."

To Leland's shock, Juggernaut continued trudging towards him. Even at his increased mass, Juggernaut's raw strength was overpowering Leland's mutant power. Thinking quickly, Leland increased his own mass, in the hopes of being able to absorb Juggernaut's blows.

It didn't work. Juggernaut struck Leland with a massive punch that would have sent most men flying; Leland, however, crumpled to the ground, breaking his hold on Juggernaut.

"Not gonna lie, that was a pretty cool trick," Juggernaut admitted. "But I guess I punched my problems away again."

Immediately after, Selene, the current Black Queen, jumped Juggernaut, attempting to drain his life ****.

"Huh... that kinda tickles," Cain said, brushing off Selene's attack. Still, Selene was getting stronger.

"Such power... I could feed forever..." Selene found herself enthralled by the power of Cyttorak. So enthralled, that she'd forgotten why she'd attacked the Juggernaut in the first place. So enthralled, that she failed to notice Emma, who used her abilities to incapacitate Selene.

Suddenly, an army of mercenaries stormed the room, surrounding Emma and Juggernaut.

"Focus on the psychic," one of the mercenaries said. "We have something to deal with the big one."

Smashing through the roof of the Hellfire Club building was the Hulk, who immediately roared at Juggernaut.

"Shit, I wasn't expecting this guy," Juggernaut admitted. "I'm gonna require a bonus if I have to fight 'im."

"Don't bother," Emma said. "You really need to do better than that, Jason."

"Shut up, traitor," Jason barked. "You'll never be able to control the Phoenix on your own. With my help, we could have had cosmic power at our fingertips..."

"Your plan would have failed, Wyngarde. There's no way you could have tapped into Jean's desires. Me? I know desire."

Jason scowled at Emma, ready to unleash his anger. "You'll regret--"

Jason stopped to note his surroundings. Emma had used the opportunity to move the fight to a psychic plane. Was she really in his mind?

"Fine. A psychic battle? This has been a long time coming. Your head or my head, I'll tear you apart."

Mastermind proved to be a challenge -- Emma had expected nothing less -- but in the end, it was the White Queen who was triumphant. In reality, Jason Wyngarde crumpled to the floor, a lifeless look in his eyes.

That left Shaw, who had been observing the fight. He stood, motionless, in the center of the room, an unflappable look on his face.

"Impressive, Emma. You're far craftier and more talented than I gave you credit for. But you know your hired goon's useless against me."

Juggernaut cracked his knuckles. "Care to test that?"

Emma raised her arm, signalling Juggernaut to stop. "Stay your hand, Marko. Shaw can absorb kinetic energy. Punching him will only make him stronger."

"Huh! S'a funny power. So what's your call, boss-lady?"

"I'll deal with him," Emma ordered. "Kiss your Hellfire Club goodbye, Shaw."

"Come on, Emma. We both know I've mentally trained to resist even your psychic attacks."

"On my own? Maybe. But my abilities, amplified by my Black Queen?" Emma asked, as Jean walked into the room, eyes blazing with psionic energy.

Emma & Jean hit Sebastian Shaw with a massive psychic wave, leaving him a lifeless husk, much like Mastermind.

"There's no stopping that, Shaw."

Emma and Jean stood tall over the defeated Inner Circle, while the Juggernaut towered over everything on the other side of the room.

"That was fun, boss lady. Would've been fun to scrap with Shaw, though. Beatin' up a guy who gets stronger after I punch 'im sounds amusing as hell."

"You do good work, Cain. Now, be a dear and clear out these bodies for me, will you? But please, leave Selene. Jean and I wish to talk to her."

"As long as you're payin'," Juggernaut said, clearing the rest of the Inner Circle from the room. As he left, Emma and Jean made their way over to Selene.

"As you can see, Selene, the New York branch of the Hellfire Club is under new management," Emma began. "Shaw, Pierce, Wyngarde, Leland... they have no place in the Inner Circle anymore, or even the Hellfire Club, for that matter. But you... I still see a place for you in our new Inner Circle. If you'll indulge me, I'd like to show you what my vision is."

Emma projected the vision into Selene's mind -- a new Hellfire Club, one that was even more lavish and opulent. Such beauty... such pleasure... surely this was the Hellfire Club of the future.

Emma extended her hand to the fallen Selene. "Join me, Selene. Join me and Jean, and help build the Hellfire Club into the beacon of extravagance it was always meant to be."

A wicked smile crossed Selene's lips. She had seen the future of the Hellfire Club, and she loved it. Reaching up, she took Emma's hand...