Betsy's corruption

"Um, I thought I was going to be meeting with one of the X-Men today." The Corruptor said, giving a confused look at Mark.

He knew that while his remark had cut Betsy deep, she was far too proud to show it, Betsy Braddock was someone who felt like she always had to keep up the appearance of power in front of those she didn't consider a friend.

Something that would make corrupting her much more fun.

It amused him when their demeanor was so very different from what was going on inside their minds.

Especially when they were as haughty as Betsy was.

Ultimately, for him, it didn't matter if it took a long time or a short one, he just loved when the ones who radiated power broke.

Heck, Mark Hanson had been one of the most beloved people in congress, as the many awards from years of advocating on behalf of various pro-mutant groups could attest to.

But all it took was a few conversations with The Corruptor before he was embezzling from his re-election funds and paying for hotel rooms to take female staffers so he could fuck their brains out.

That fate probably didn't await Betsy, but he was hoping for something spectacular when he finally corrupted her.

Truthfully, he didn't think she'd take too long, but that was fine for him, the important thing was that she could get him to Krakoa and instantly give him credibility among the X-men.

For Betsy's part, she told herself that it was a mere mistake on his part, he clearly hadn't kept up with the changes the X-Men had been through and his intent with that statement obviously wasn't malicious.

Unfortunately for her, there were no shields of any kind that one could put up to keep the Corruptor from knowing everything about them with just one single look into their eyes.

"I am one of the X-Men, perhaps you've heard of me: Betsy Braddock." Despite her cool demeanor, she kept an edge in her voice that told him that she was unhappy with him already.

"Oh, Psylocke...you look, um, very different." He said in a surprised voice, he knew that he was getting even further under her skin with that comment.

"I am...I am no longer Psylocke." She said, with a bit of annoyance in her voice now.

He knew that her annoyance was merely a symptom of the vulnerability he clearly saw in her eyes and her little stammer at the start of her statement was another give away, even if she didn't realize it, he already had her in the palm of his hands.

There had been so many recent changes had left her with so many questions and that put her in the perfect position to be corrupted by him.

"Finally ditched the old identity for something new?" He asked her, trying to appear surprised at this revelation.

The Corruptor wasn't the best actor, but he was good enough to get the job done.

"Not exactly new... I'm Captain Britain now." She said, now making no effort to hide her rapidly growing annoyance at him.

"But, I thought that was your brother." He said, every word out of his mouth nudging her towards his final goal.

"It's complicated, I don't have the time to explain it." She said.

"To be honest, it sounds to me like you might think that you don't actually know who you are." The Corruptor declared, trying to sound blunt yet sympathetic.

Normally such fake sympathy would have sent Betsy over the edge and pissed her off, but, after everything she'd been through recently, she had to admit there was some truth to that statement.

This whole encounter had really rattled her.

How could this stranger have figured her out with barely any interaction?

Maybe, Betsy thought, she wasn't nearly as good as portraying confidence as she used to be.

Before today, Betsy would swear that she'd been around for so long, that she had encountered it all.

But, the Corruptor was quickly proving that thought to be wrong.

In a way, it made sense, if Betsy didn't know herself, how could she truly know everything.

"So, what happened to the Psylocke name?" He asked, still trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"Look, that time of my life is over, someone else is Psylocke and now I'm Captain Britain, so we can all move on now, I was told you need help getting to Krakoa." She weakly said, still trying to end this part of the conversation.

She was right where he wanted her and he was ready to go in for the kill.

Normally this would have taken a long time, but a soul as confused as hers was ripe for corrupting.

"You were once a model, then you were a superheroine and, in both circumstances, you had an identity of your own, people admired you, now you've clearly lost that identity and I'll bet that you know that you're simply living in the shadow of your brother." He said with a sad head shake.

Despite her previous confusing, The Corruptor's words were enough to push Betsy right over the edge.

She had finally dropped the mask and she was about to explode in anger.

Just as the Corruptor wanted.

"NO, I'M NOT, I GAVE KWANNON THE PSYLOCKE NAME AND I HONOR MY BROTHER WITH THIS NEW NAME, I KNOW EXACTLY WHO I AM!" She screamed as she slammed her fist down on Mark's desk.

The Corruptor had gotten to her.

"Then who are you?" He asked her, wanting to push her even further.

"I'm Betsy Braddock." She responded, bitterness in her voice.

"And exactly who is Betsy Braddock?" The Corruptor asked.

"Whoever I want to be, I am not beholden to Kwannon or My brother or anyone else." She answered.

"I did everything for them." She said as she calmed down somewhat.

"And what have you gotten for it?" He asked her.

"Sleepless nights wondering what the hell I'm doing in this world." She responded.

"Because they're riding your coattails, just like the X-Men." He said.

Once again, Betsy had to agree with him.

Before this meeting, she would have never thought such a thing, but everything the Corruptor said made complete sense.

"You deserve to carve your own path in this world." He said.

"You're right, I need to go back to being the person that I want to be, no more letting others take from me or live vicariously through me." She said, the confidence returning in her voice.

That was just what he wanted to hear.

"And who do you want to be?" He asked, that confidence in her voice already told him that he was gonna like where this was headed.