Issue #4

Over the next few days, Jack and Stella spent time learning the plans of their targets. They had managed to find out where each of them would be the day before the gala and had come up with a plan to strike.

But things rarely proceed as planned. Two days before Jack and Stella were going to kill off the members of the Inner Circle, they actually fell due to infighting.

With Shinobi being a shame to his name, he did not believe in subterfuge. He purposely went against the X-Men, New Mutants, X-Force, Fantastic 4, The Defenders, Hero 4 Hire, Mercs for Money. Pretty much anyone who caught his sight.

But even though he was able to assassinate his father, fighting others head to head was not his strong suit. Shinobi's Inner Circle would lose battle after battle. After so many losses, they lost their faith in him.

And due to word of Emma wanting her position back as well as rumors of Sebastian Shaw actually surviving his assassination, the White King and both Queens abandoned their positions.

Hearing of this news, Jack, Stella, and Emma all hurried to the New York HQ to force Shinobi out of the club. But when they arrived, instead of meeting Shinobi, Jack and Emma saw a familiar face.

"Emma. It is good to see you again, my darling," Sebastian said as he sat on his throne

"I'm no longer your darling, Sebastian. And I thought your son had managed to kill you," Emma smiled as she walked into the room with Jack and Stella

"I taught the boy everything he knew. He couldn't kill me even if I wanted him to. The moment he heard that he failed, he fled as far as he could," Sebastian replied carelessly

Sebastian looked at the two people with her, especially Jack as a flash of understanding crossed his eyes. Emma sat in her old seat before looking at Sebastian across the table. She studied the people with him as he was doing with hers.

"Let's just get down to business. We both want our old seats back. I say we split the Inner Circle. You can decide all the Blacks, I will get all the Whites. We split the 'funds' 50/50 as well," Emma proposed.

While she was willing to kill the recent Inner Circle, that was because they were unreasonable and foolish. Shaw was a businessman and could help her maximize the profits she would receive.

"That is fine with me, Emma. I already have my 3 members here? Where is your 4th?" Sebastian asked while pointing to those around him

Surrounding him were two former Black Queens, Selene and Madelyne Pryor. Besides them was a man with a green mohawk that Jack and Emma couldn't recognize as a former member but if he was someone that Sebastian had chosen, he was useful.

"They are at my home. I will bring them along next time to be my White Bishop. As for my Rook, that would be my daughter, Stella. My King shall be my fiance of course," Emma told him of her members

Hearing that the girl standing beside Emma was her daughter confused Sebastian but he didn't dwell on it. The man next to him was a time-traveling descendant of his after all.

"I see. Well, you know Selene and Madelyne. The former shall be the Queen while the latter shall be the Bishop. The man right here is Fabian Cortez. He is a descendant of mine. From the far future," Sebastian gave a short explanation over his members

Emma nodded without caring too much. While she was wary of both of the women given their... history, she was not worried about Shaw allowing them to go wild. He wouldn't keep wildcards by his side.

Fabian was even less of a concern for her. No matter what his powers were, Emma felt that Sebastian was lacking when compared to her side of the Inner Circle.

After they got done transferring control of all the assets of the club into their names, the groups began making some last minute changes for the Gala. The pair needed to make sure the rest of the club knew about the changes and were not as stupid as the last group that tried to take over.

The details were sorted out in an hour before both groups split up to head back to their respective homes.

As Jack and the others boarded their private jet, Emma flashed Jack a teasing smile.

"Are you worried about us working so close to an ex of mine?" Emma asked wanted to see Jack's jealous side

But to her disappointment, Jack flashed her a smile of his own before shaking his head

"Nope. I'm better than that old man in every way," Jack said confidently

"Good. I also think that way," Emma replied before planting a kiss on Jack's lips

"Ugh! Sorry. I was just about to lose my lunch," Stella said from the pilot's seat. Seeing her parents being so loving was sweet but she didn't want to personally see their PDA.

Jack laughed and was about to respond when he felt his cellphone vibrate. Jack reached into his pocket to see that it was Sue calling him.

"Hey, Sue. What's up?"

"Really?"

"Oh, wow. Be there in a minute."

"Sorry, ladies. Emergency with the Fantastic Four," Jack said before kissing Emma on her lips and phasing through the floor

Jack flew all the way toward the Baxter Building and phased through the walls. Hey arrived to see Ben and Johnny trying to kill each other while Crystal tried to stop them. When the 3 of them saw Jack, they all greeted him for a moment before turning their attention back to each other.

"Hey, Jack."

"Sup, Frosty."

"Snowcone. Sue and Reed are in the other room with the kids," Ben said while pointing to a metal door

Jack nodded in greeting before he walked to the door. As the doors slid open, Jack was able to see inside. Sue and Reed were looking on in amazement while Valeria merely had a look of curiosity on her face while she was holding on to Bean.

What they were all staring at was the young Franklin Richards with a small galaxy universe floating between his hands

(These last few chapters have been a bit of a rollercoaster with the twists one after another. And I feel sorry for that. So here is a chapter with even more twists since I wish I did this earlier to mess with your emotions.)