69 CHAPTER 69 - THE ORIOLE BEHIND
The first thing I did after I got my list of Buckman's lifeblood was to first ascertain which one held the most potential and was probably a long term investment.
I don't want to sink him at once and leave him scared of death, no. What I wanted was for him to despair as he slowly drowns, bit by bit, and by the time he finally realizes that he is at death's door after fighting for his life, then and only then will his eyes open to see that he has already lost everything while fighting for his life.
'It's nothing personal. It's just good… business.'
As I walked through the hallway, I contemplated on what sort of approach I should use when dealing with Buckman.
'Start small-aim big? Maybe go hard or go home?'
There wasn't much to consider given what I wanted to do so maybe I don't really need modus operandi. Haphazard chaos for the win it is.
Since some of the others are out dealing with all the annoying complications that keep crawling up at every second, I don't believe anyone will require my assistance in the time being.
'What's the first thing we can hit? Give me something small.'
Looking at the first option, I grinned and shot off towards the privately owned dock of Edward Buckman.
….
I had half thought that this dock was perhaps a front for maybe drug or weapon trafficking but it looks like I'm underestimating this Buckman.
Some of the containers had extra layers to them and Buckman used those special containers to trafficked organs. Mutant organs to be precise.
'Well, I'm not one to spit in the face of evidence so at least his heinous crimes will serve for the greater good.'
Based on the location of the port, it was pretty easy to tell that this was one of Buckman's prized assets since it allowed him to move almost anything unhindered.
He was basically shipping anything he wanted from any continent due to the location of the dock facing the sea and the obvious fact that he had the sea guards and mariners in his pockets.
Despite his own organ trafficking, he allowed other of his business associates to use his docks for their continental trade, for some royalties of course.
'So how do I go about destroying a port while also using it for PR?'
"Ah ha!" I smacked my hands together as I came up with the most perfect plan for this scenario.
…..
30 minutes later.
Buckman's port was surrounded from all angles by police cars and helicopters after performing a city chase for the apprehension of some rival gang members who had no choice but to run towards any open route in panic.
It required a bit of mental manipulation from me as I instigated two known criminal syndicates into an abrupt war while also tipping off the police so that they would be quick to act.
Suggestions here and little manipulation there and I had half of the NYPD in hot pursuit of four heavily armed SUVs which the criminals used to escape into the port for reasons unknown to anyone but me.
Since what was supposed to be a closed end gang fight escalated into a city wide pursuit, the cops were forced to put on their mean pants and made a show of their power to the public as the whole city was watching them and they desperately needed good PR after the dwindling faith the public had of them after the recent mutant debacle.
The port was indefinitely forced closed and since it was part of the crime scene and location of an intense shootout, the police immediately put it under investigation and Captain George Stacy ordered his men to case the entire dock with utmost precision as he wanted to know why the criminals escaped here.
And who would have expected it?
A little mental nudge from me was all he needed to ignore all the phone calls he was getting from privately owned law firms and even the Chief of Police to take his men and vacate the private property they were illegally searching.
Minutes was all it took for them to start unearthing the hidden cargo of gun shipments, drugs and the icing on top.
Hell, I even gave the public front row seats as I also tipped off most of the news channel who were currently circling around the dock in their helicopters and transmitting it live to the citizens of New York.
"This is just the start."
I went through all that trouble just to make it look like an unfortunate but natural case of a police chase gone bad in order not to immediately tip Edward Buckman off that someone was onto him.
I even made sure that one of the groups I used for this whole intricately designed ploy also used this particular dock for the weapons shipment. If one could be said to be a coincidence then what of five?
°°°°°°
[Edward Buckman POV]
An extremely angry Edward Buckman threw his glass of wine at the huge screen in his office as he was one of the citizens who got a front row seat in watching the live event that was currently taking place in one of his privately owned docks.
"Fuck!" He cursed as the matter became increasingly complicated as those damned vultures had the gall to put his picture on their screen after he was identified as the owner of this dock.
Everything happened too fast that he simply did not have enough time to react before it all came crumbling down in chaos. The last thither needed at this moment was to be in the spotlight in a negative way.
He ignored his cell that was buzzing with messages and picked up another one to make a few calls as he knew the police were currently on their way to put him in custody as they had more than enough damning evidence and warrant to do so.
Unfortunately for him, this wasn't the only thing he had to watch out for.
°°°°°
[Vision POV]
I smiled to myself at the perfect smokescreen I created and in order to make it more darker and thicker, I made a phone call.
"You can start releasing those evidence pertaining to his publicly owned assets and companies."
{I am quite tempted to know how you got all that done so quickly but I have a feeling that you won't tell me. Anyway, I will be holding up my part of the deal}
I didn't say anything else to her and let her do her thing while I focused on mine.
Unfortunately for Buckman, while he has his hands full and his attention focused on wringing himself free of the net he was in, I will focus on making sure that he got more tangled in it as the investigation goes on. He'll burn himself out while thinking of a way to get out only to find himself completely lost when he realizes that he's in a maze of his own doom.
In the next few days, Buckman will be plagued with unending series of misfortune as a lot of companies and businesses he is involved with will shortlist him and vote him out due to the numerous charges that will soon be placed upon him once Raven starts uploading the lists of his crimes that I managed to dig out.
Since I don't want to passively wait for that to happen, I think it'll be best if I stir things up in the direction I want them to go.
°°°°°
[Raven Darkholme POV]
Buckman wasn't the only one caught off guard by the recent development, even Raven and her associate, Emma Frost, were.
"You said he had information on some of the members of the Hellfire Club, possibly all, right?" Emma asked absentmindedly as her gaze remained transfixed on the hot news currently being headlined across numerous newscasting channels.
"Yes." Was Raven's simple answer.
The possibility of what this meant sent a chill shiver down Emma's spine and even though she tried not to show it, Raven caught note of it.
As the White Queen of the Hellfire Club and also an accomplished businesswoman, naturally she wasn't a saint and her hands were just as bloody. What made her wary was the thought of what would have happened had Vision targeted her first instead of allowing Raven to pick.
All it took was 45 minutes and Buckman, with all his wealth and protection, found himself in police custody for a very damning case… and that wasn't even the end of it. It couldn't even be called the beginning after she was made privy to a few of the things Buckman had his hand in that she was blissfully unaware of until now.
"Does he know we are working together?" Emma asked after considering the thought for a moment.
Raven paused what she was doing and thought of it. 'Does he know of my alliance with Emma?'
"Probably, yes. At least that's the assumption I'm working with." She admitted.
Faced with that blunt reply, Emma started making some plans of her own. After all, she did not want to be caught unawares like Buckman.
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A/N: So yeah, the vote.
So I took the idea and slept on it before reviewing all the vote and comments, both here and on p@treon, and yeah I counted the votes too so double votes did not count.
Long story short, Natasha won't be joining and making the relationship a triad.
P@treon did carry the win for Natasha by 57% but even though I added that to the poll here on webnovel, it still didn't reach the total number of the Wanda solo party.
Someone said in the comments that harem always win voting poll and I have to say he was almost right, just off by a few numbers.
I also put in my thoughts, or the thoughts I had when I started writing this fic, into consideration and while it's a little saddening, just a tiny little bit, I just went ahead and push with the initial romance idea(which I've been putting off for who knows how long).
But you can hold my word on it that if I write another Marvel fic, Natasha will definitely be the love interest. She needs a proper loving, and no, Bruce Banner don't count 🤮.
Maybe I'll have a change of mind later down the line but till then.
