Chapter 028 – Ice Queen

[2009 – June]

Hardly a day had passed and Elijah had already caused great waves among both the students and teachers. An equally intriguing and concerning development was his newfound relationship with Jean.

The two mutants with the most potential Charles had ever met, somehow ending up together after only a few hours of contact. Even his curiosity was aroused by such a thing. It also made Charles hopeful of his chances to recruit the young man into his X-Men, as Jean herself was already a recruit.

Not to mention the results of the Recruit Challenge that clearly proved Elijah's enormous talent and power. He had only awoken his power the night before but what he could do with it already, was simply unprecedented.

Still, the aged Professor had hoped that a certain former student of his wouldn't have caught wind of Elijah's appearance that fast, but if there was one thing Emma was good at then that would be information gathering.

Not only because she was an incredibly powerful telepath that could even measure up against himself, but also because as the White Queen of the Hellfire Club she controlled a wide intelligence network, which practically spanned the whole globe.

Charles wasn't fond of this group of businessmen and women, as they had plotted against mutantkind many times in the past, while also having been a thorn in his side when it came to keeping peaceful relations with humans and advocating coexistence, especially the late Sebastian Shaw, former Black King of the Hellfire Club.

Still, since Emma had taken over the organization, Charles could accept the fact that it proved to be a valuable chess piece in the grand scheme. Emma and himself may not always see eye-to-eye, but he trusted in her ability to act for the good of mutantkind, or at least be covert enough in her more unlawful endeavors.

When Emma had contacted him and demanded to meet with Elijah, Charles had been forced to agree or otherwise damage their already shaky alliance.

And while she had tried to keep her frosty tone and her emotions in check, being her old teacher and an excellent manipulator himself, Xavier had easily noticed the suppressed anger in her voice.

So here he was, waiting in his office for the young Elijah to arrive, as his former student was glaring at him while waiting to meet her half-brother.

At this point, Charles just hoped that this meeting wouldn't end with Elijah leaving the school, as his hands were tied if he decided to do so with Elijah being even more immune to his powers than Emma herself.

…

Ice Bitch.

That is what most people called her behind her back or when they thought she couldn't hear them. It was what they thought she was: a manipulative cold-hearted bitch. And they were right most of the time.

But that didn't mean they knew who she was, knew what she had gone through.

Growing up with an abusive father, being sold to the Hellfire Club as a toy, and enduring endless shame and humiliation, before she finally managed to escape and found relative safety under the Professor for a short period of time.

Ultimately deciding to enact her revenge, Emma schemed, manipulated, whored, and killed her way into the upper ranks of the Club, before ruthlessly taking it over and eliminating any rival without mercy – cutting the roots and salting the fields.

Her tribulation didn't end there though, as she seemingly still hadn't lost enough.

Eventually, she even had to kill her own elder sister after her father had decided to choose his heir through a process of elimination. In the end, her beloved brother thankfully had the guts to shoot him and end their father's tyranny.

And yet, even in death, that old scumbag managed to anger her, having hidden away her half-brother from the rest of the family.

Emma had lived through a lot and paid the price for her survival and success in more than just blood and death. Sacrificing her pride, peaceful sleep, and her innocence, to get where she was now.

But through all that she had still kept a part of her alive, a part that could love and care for others. Obviously not some strangers or the world in general, but for her family.

Her remaining brother and sister were the most important to her. And while Cordelia had often been an annoying brat who she sometimes had wanted to strangle in frustration, Emma was very protective of her family.

So finding out that she had another half-brother that knew nothing about his heritage, but was suddenly endangered due to awakening as a powerful mutant, Emma couldn't not act and try to help him.

The simple fact that Xavier had even tried to hide him from her, nearly made her consider breaking their alliance and going on a warpath with the older telepath.

She might not have fighters capable of taking on the X-Men on her side, but severely harming the scheming Professor's financial and political interests was easy enough with the Hellfire Club and Frost International under her control.

Still, Emma considered herself a rational person, so no matter how angry she may have felt, she knew how to rein in her emotions.

And so it came that she personally arrived at the mansion to meet her half-brother via teleportation, enabled by Clarice, a mutant girl that Emma had freed from one of the Hellfire Club's higher-ups on her path for vengeance.

Turning towards Charles, Emma asked icily, cold anger still brewing inside her: "What is his power?"

Xavier sighed before he answered calmly: "He can create and manipulate energy barriers, though I am not sure if that is all."

A minute frown appeared on her flawless face, as she stared down the Professor and questioned: "What does that mean? Don't tell me you haven't scanned his mind for all clues. I know you, Charles."

"I can't, and neither can you. His mind is protected by an impenetrable barrier and he didn't tell me more than that. Maybe you can convince him to tell us more, you know how dangerous some mutations can be and he just awakened his powers."

Scoffing internally at his attempted manipulation, Emma still couldn't help but be curious about Elijah.

Possibly more than one ability and being able erect barriers that could even keep someone like Charles Xavier out of his head. She slowly started to understand why the aged Professor hadn't told her about her brother.

From the information she could gather through her telepathic powers and spies, Elijah seemed to be an Omega-level mutant, the strongest kind of mutant there was.

Without even meeting him, Emma could already feel something akin to pride bloom in her heart.