Undefeatable Team II

The restaurant was called 'Peak' in a massive building in Manhattan called 30th Hudson Yards, on the hundred and first floor. They were led in by the extremely polite staff.

"Good evening, Mrs Madeline and Mr..." A set of people, more than ten, received them. The restaurant was empty. 

"He's Mr Stark" Emma introduced him as if there was pride in her voice for some reason.

"I thought they said it was packed up" Ray stated, during the call they said they had no spot for bookings. Then she said her code and they said they'd find her a table... but the restaurant was empty. 

"I booked the whole restaurant, tontito~" 

"..."

"It is me we're talking about. Do you think I'd be able to eat comfortably if there are other people watching me? Hmph! I told you, Ray Stark, I'm not a pizza type of girl".

They were given a nice and big table right next to the glass screen where the whole night of Manhattan was visible. In neither life had Ray ever witnessed such luxury. He was starting to get curious about Emma, this woman was not a nobody.

He should have known. Nobody that owns a Ferrari F40 is a nobody. 

She sat there without saying a word, resting her head on her palms and looking at him with what he believed was a 'dreamy' look. 

"What?"

"I'm just contemplating, Ray... how horribly dressed we are for this setup".

"You choose the restaurant!"

"Who cares? It is just the two of us. And you erased my make-up. There was no way I would let anyone prestigious see me without make-up. Rich people conglomerate up here".

The more she spoke, the more out of place he felt. Eventually, people came with bottles of water, and flowers and put them on the table together with the menu. Emma didn't even look at it. 

"Could I order a Grilled smoked foie gras with Burnt rhubarb vinaigrette and hmm... a cup of sauvignon rouge Kistler, I'm not feeling picky tonight, sweetheart. Thank you?~"

'You're not feeling picky...?' He felt the urge to curse out loud, he didn't understand a single thing she just said, he knew some French but still, that was like an alien language. 

"As you wish, Miss Madeline. And the Mr Stark?"

Ray had a headache looking at the menu, and Emma giggled. 

'His broke ass is so cute... even though I'm purposefully acting haughty to rile him up, this is so fun... I have to take the chance, he won't always be like this'.

"The same that she had, thank you" Ray finally decided which the waitress nodded to, only for Emma to raise her hand in denial. 

"You're underage, Ray. Pick a choice of juice instead of red wine".

"Oh, Mr Stark is underage. My apologies, I should have advised you better. It is because Mr looks like a young man already" The lady giggled, and Ray smiled, too, dismissing her and telling her it was right. 

'Bitch, why are you flirting with him when I'm here?' Emma's dead glare scared the shit out of the waitress, who started to sweat, feeling her head heavy and a huge migraine. 

"Then do you have mango juice?"

"Yes, sir. Then please just wait fifteen minutes".

The woman retreated, staggering, and Ray let out a breath of anxiety.

"That's why I said I prefer a pizza parlour, it is easier to choose".

"If we ever go on a date and you take me to a pizza parlour, I'll drive off and leave you there, understood?~" She said menacingly.

He rolled his eyes, "Thanks for bringing me here, it looks spectacular-"

"If you hang out with me, luxury is all you'll ever see, sweethear-".

"But I'm not following, Emma. You know I did it; you won't report me to your boss-"

"Friend", She corrected, despising the usage of the word.

"Your friend. So?"

Emma served the two of them a cup of water.

"It is simple... make up for the losses. You know, my friend is powerful in New York. He's not a mutant. When I say power, I mean influence and prestige. Power that you don't possess" She emphasized.

"..." He let her continue.

"You are a strong mutant, as of now I can't find your weakness and I doubt he will be able to either. But you have another weakness. If you were to fight each other, you'd both end up losing. I'd rather become the middlewoman and make sure your relationship is prosperous.

What do you say?" Emma offered with a smile.

"Who is this friend of yours?".

"I won't tell you his name. But he's commonly known in New York as Kingpin. Whether we work together or not, it depends on you... but if you don't pay the debt, you owe him. You will have to fight a whole mafia syndicate, Ray," She said solemnly.

"And how much I owe according to you?"

"About thirty million dollars~"

"... you're mad" He sighed, that was just an unreal sum of money.

"That's how much they expected to net with this heist, sweetheart. And you killed their men too, so that's about it".

"There is no way I can make that money; I'd rather go to war" He frowned; it was not like they could kill him anyway. 

"If you go to war with them, you will be able to protect yourself. But you won't be able to protect Jean Grey, Annie Richardson, your classmates... your mother Veronica... it doesn't matter if you care about them or not, they're going to be targetted, they're your weakness".

Ray glared at her, but she raised her hands in defeat.

"I'm not threatening you; I'm warning you. This is going to happen, and I'm telling you ahead of time to prevent it. I can also foresee, for his side, you popping up all of a sudden in his office, without him being able to do anything, opening a hole in his brain, killing everyone in your path and messing up the balance in the New York underworld, creating a power vacuum. It is not convenient for anyone. So I'm trying to stop that and instead do something that may be better for all of us, work together~"

"How generous of you," He remarked with sarcasm. He felt it was more like she didn't want to lose this Kingpin; he was one of her allies.

'She'd rather not lose her allies and instead make new ones, huh'.

"Indeed. You know, Ray. You ended up being a lot more than I anticipated. You've got me intrigued, interested, and almost a bit wet, feel pride in yourself, not many can do that in the first time I meet them".

"..." He didn't know what to think about that.

"Telepaths are some of the most troublesome mutants out there; the powerful ones can easily neutralise the most devastating mutants. I know a few... and yet, they'd be totally helpless against you. That alone is enough reason for me to nurture you and give you a chance".

The food came as she explained. Ray looked at it, and his eyebrows twitched. He almost thanked Oblivion over the fact that he didn't need to do it because that piece of shit on the plate wasn't going to fill him up. 

Emma almost burst out laughing when she saw his expression, 'Looks like we will have to go to some burger shop afterwards, what a kid~'

Ray sampled it and gasped; the portion may be miserable. But it was exquisite, that was undeniable. 

"It is delicious".

"Of course, it is, fool... you can't expect someone who eats burgers and pizzas to know anything about proper cuisine" She served herself some wine and also served him his orange juice like a total lady. 

Ray didn't say anything but felt extremely comfortable with her behaviour.

'She's certainly high-class, as much as I hate to admit it'.

"As I was saying, Ray. I'm willing to pay your debt with Kingpin... in exchange, work with me. How is that?"

"How would that work? What do you want me to do?"

"You will work with me until you pay me the debt. I won't rush you. Although I reckon you and I together won't take long to raise that much money. After that, we split everything we do half and half~".

"... what do you want me to do? and how do I know what you're doing is good or bad?" He inquired and earned the most dull and bored look from Emma yet.

"Do you care about good or bad, or do you care about making money and becoming powerful?" it was as if she was asking: 'Are you boring or interesting to hang out with?'.

Such a question, in the current setup they were at, watching Manhattan from high above, felt very powerful for him. He couldn't help but recall, in the deepest corner of his mind. A long time ago in a past almost erased from his mind. 

How he would have wished someone would have come up with an opportunity like this. He stopped there and Emma watched him divagate and mumble things.

'Lana,' she heard that name mentioned before Ray came to a decision.

"Money, I want money and power... I want it. But I have moral standards. If it is something that goes against my principles, I won't do it. Simple as that, I won't follow your orders blindly".

"Killing a bunch of people is not going against your principles?" She sent him a sidelong glance, referring to the goons he murdered.

"They're a bunch of crooks; who cares if they die?"

"What if they had starving families-"

"They're a bunch of crooks; who cares if they die?" He reiterated, his eyes cold and black as the abyss she had previously witnessed.

"Twisted moral standards... I like how you think, Ray~" She delighted and ate her Fois Gras,

"So you believe yourself with the right to judge the value of a life, correct?"

"The value of a life is relative. I care about my people; you don't care about my people. You care about your people, so it will always be a conflict of interest. I don't give a fuck about those crooks or their families. Let alone, it is not like death is such a scary thing".

"..."

"I understand, I'll explain your objectives clearly and then you decide whether you participate or not. So, do you accept my proposal or not? If you accept it I'll transfer the funds right away to Kingpin and then I'll make the call and you will be cleared. Although we won't be completely off the hook, we'd still need to do something else".

"What?"

"The purpose of this heist wasn't as financial as it was strategic. Kingpin is a shareholder in a metallurgical industry called Charleston Industry, which does business with Russia and China. Right about now, that American branch of the industry is facing the threat of bankruptcy, and they needed the funds they had stored in that branch of the Bank of America to keep afloat. His purpose was to get rid of those funds, collapse the corporation, inject capital, acquire shares, become the chairman, and then pump it up with the same money he stole, which is now laundered. Successfully plundering the corporation and gaining a 'piece' in his board".

The way she spoke elated his blood; she made it sound so easy, but there was so much money and power involved that he almost felt hungry for it.

'I want in', He thought, but he knew he couldn't just rush in without knowledge, 'I can't fully trust her. Nothing she does is for my sake, it is for her sake'.

"So it is not about money?".

"Once you've had enough money, it becomes about power, Ray. Kingpin is trying to enter the corporate game; he's tired of being just a mafia boss with a lot of drug money and bitches. He's also a bit of a family man and wants to leave a legacy behind" She shrugged her shoulders in exasperation.

'Family man? A drug lord? What a joke'.

"Good for him".

"So I'll pay your debt to him. But we still need to give Charleston Industry a huge blow" She casually spoke about paying thirty million dollars for the sake of a boy she had just met, but he was a boy with potential she couldn't ignore.

"So my plan is to murder the CEO, you like that?"

"A-Ah?"

"Murder the CEO, Carter Banks, who is actively trying to repress Kingpin into acquiring shares as we speak. If we get rid of him, things will be a lot easier for Kingpin. But he's not someone easy to kill, mind you".

"Is he a bad person?"

*RUMBLE!*

A powerful and dense aura descended on the table. Ray felt it like a sudden weight was being placed on his shoulders, and although it was mild, it was present. Emma's eyes turned cold.

"Ray, can you stop thinking like a kid for a minute? I don't hang out with kids".

"Tch, you're so irritating, can't I ask?" He frowned.

"I'll pay your debt with Kingpin, and I'll help you launder the three million dollars you have under your bed in exchange... you will help me kill Carter Banks. We will start working together, making money and becoming powerful together. Who cares if he's good or bad? Are you in or not? Tell me"

Emma Forst stretched her hand forward with a neutral expression. This was his last chance. If he rejected, she'd stop wasting her time with the likes of him. 

Ray didn't give it much thought. 

He shook her hand, and she visually rejoiced, "Yay!~ then I'll make the call right awa-"

"..."

"..."

"Ugh! Ray, my phone!"

"Sorry..."