Bab 116: Chapter 117
Three Days Ago
Kevin Thompson (Kilgrave)
I took the hot goth chick's advice and approached conquering her more imaginatively. I initially thought she was a no-name girl with super strength, but the more I looked into her, the more terrifying she seemed. She owned the bar where I hit on her for the first time… and her family owned nearly a quarter of New York through Shell cooperations.
I'd hired a financial accountant and a private investigator to look into it, and their reach was crazy. If there was a group of people you didn't want to fuck with, it was them. They were like the Illuminati in real life, yet I'd never been more motivated.
By the end of this, the world would be putty in my hands if I managed to dominate Domina and get to her family. With any luck, they wouldn't have the same resistance she did, but even if they did, it would only take some imagination, as Domina pointed out.
Indeed, I did take some liberties before I approached her a second time. I started at the underground poker circles and cleaned out dozens of high rollers, either with pawns or by myself. After three days of playing, I had over 25 million waiting to be spent as I wished. Using my 'parents' identities, I placed a liquid bid on one of the more corrupt investment brokerages in New York.
They moved on dozens of properties Domina was after, and I had her point all her representatives to a sufficiently powerful board member as the new shot-caller. This naturally got her curious; curious enough to set a meeting, which I intended as an ambush. She arrived with her entourage of four businessmen to a boardroom filled with the best private security men New York had to offer.
"Imaginative enough for ya?" I cackled, drinking in the panic of the distressed businessmen. Domina, however, to my absolute shock, smiled and clapped.
"You work fast," she observed, strutting around the room nonchalantly. "I knew your suggestive abilities were considerable, but you move like you've been at this a while. I could've missed it if I didn't have eyes all over the city."
"What are you doing?" I asked, a bit of uncertainty creeping in.
"What does it look like?" she scoffed. "Judging. And I have to say… not bad."
"Kill all her men," I ordered immediately. It wasn't the first time I'd have people executed, but it was the first time I felt it was the wrong call.
'Stop being paranoid,' I thought, shaking off the uncertainty.
Domina might be strong, but she wasn't punching her way out of a gunfight.
My men did as ordered, and the most peculiar thing happened. Each man twisted a bangle on their arm, and they all vanished, leaving Domina to contend with a wall of bullets. They all passed through her body like she wasn't there.
My jaw fell to the floor.
"W-What the Hell…"
Domina let out an uproarious laugh before her hands blurred suddenly. When they came to a stop, they were splayed out, and the gunshots had ceased. One by one, my bodyguards collapsed to the floor with finger-wide holes in their skulls.
My stomach dropped, and my face lost all color. I froze in place as she walked up to me and grabbed me by the chin seductively.
"You shouldn't have done that," she said. "I love duplicity and traps as much as the next girl, but it's all useless when your opponent is so far beyond you," she said. "You can only get so far with being human."
"What are you?" I asked in a meek voice, and her smile warped into something ravenous.
"A demon."
Madripoor Yesterday
I walked out of a portal onto a helipad with my newest recruit draped in my arm. With a suit that oozed confidence and a smirk that could irritate the devil himself, Kilgrave stood beside me, the most confident he'd ever been, ready to use his powers to bend and break the world to my purpose. With the Russian and Albanian in line, I needed to secure a more potent and effective task force against our biggest threat yet---Jean Grey.
Sure, Dante's growth defied logic, and he was even more gifted than his brother, but he paled in comparison to the threat that was Jean Grey—the most powerful Psionic on earth. Kilgrave was the perfect counter to her because of how his abilities worked. He didn't rely on mind control via the Astral plane, but rather through microbes that attack the human nervous system. As long as she had a somewhat normal system, he should be able to hold her, if only temporarily. My secondary team could take care of the rest.
Hydra was only really here to run interference, not that they'd ever know that.
While we waited for Carl Creed, the new interim leader of Hydra, Kilgrave started to whinge about the weather.
"If I had known it would've been this hot, I would've skipped the waistcoat," he muttered, dabbing his sweating forehead.
"And miss out on the opportunity to make a statement to your enemies?" I questioned. "What have I told you about being a child of Belasco?"
"To always carry yourself like the world is watching," he grumbled out.
"Good," I nodded. "Adversity breeds excellence. Amazing as you are, you could use some tempering."
"Easy for you to say when the heat isn't boiling you. Why don't you just make me a demon like you promised? You already got my heart and balls." He smirked and I laughed.
"Has that ever worked for you?"
"Never needed it to," he grinned. "I'm used to people feeling however I want them to."
"And now that you can't do that, you're intrigued," I said.
"It'll make getting you that much more interesting." he smiled.
"We'll see, won't we."
We continued to banter for five more minutes before they finally arrived. A helicopter carrying a squad of men. Three of them were dressed in tactical uniforms, while the largest of them was a brute in an ill-fitting suit that hugged his muscles a bit too tightly.
"You're the boss, I take it," Kilgrave said to him, and he frowned at him before turning to me.
"I know you," he said. "I saw you at a meeting with Whitehall last year. I was told I was meeting the head of the Hand. If this is another one of their stupid tests…"
"No test," I said. "It's a whole new generation, Carl Creel, and I'm offering Hydra a chance to be a part of it."
Carl sneered.
"The noose is closing in. SHIELD knows all of your secrets. You're running out of places to run. Only Madripoor is safe, and it's only a matter of time before they send their executioner, Arsenal."
Carl looked confused.
"You must've heard of him. The new superhuman that Pierce discovered. He's the Clairvoyant that told Fury where to look. He's the reason why Whitehall, Pierce, and Strucker are dead. You're next, Creel. Join me, get your revenge, and help Hydra climb to new heights."
Carl made a complicated face as he considered my words carefully. After a long moment, he shook his head.
"Hydra is nobody's pawn," he boldly proclaimed.
"Oh well," I shrugged, patting Kilgrave's shoulder. "It was worth the try. Do your thing."
Creel immediately went on alert and raised his hand to signal his men, but it was too late.
"Stop," Kilgrave said, with a Cheshire grin, and they froze. Two of the three accompanying agents had their fingers on the trigger.
"Kneel."
They all fell to their knees with a neutral, complacent look. I watched on in amazement as he looked back at me for approval, wagging his brow. My smile only deepened. The boy had no idea how powerful he truly was. Only really powerful Alpha and Omega level telepaths could pull off something like this, but it always came at considerable effort. But for somebody like Kilgrave, whose ability were entirely focused on manipulation through words, it was as easy as breathing.
I had a lot planned for Kilgrave, but ultimately, it was up to him to survive. As I said, he could use some tempering, and I could think of no better adversary than Dante and his little girlfriend.
"You're mine now," Kilgrave grinned as he spoke to the subdued agents. "You should've taken her up on my offer."
Jean
Today
As soon as Dante vanished through the portal, I got to work, placing a call to Fury.
"You've seen the news?" I asked.
"I have," Fury said.
"I'm going to need that team yesterday," I said. "Banner and his formula need to be secured and evacuated in the case of an attack. Dante prefers that we maintain the formation of the Hulk naturally, though I'm not sure how likely that'll be with the death of a United States General."
"We knew this was coming," Fury grunted. "I just thought we'd have more time. I take it Dante has gone after the formula?"
"And Tony Stark," I added. "He's stuck in the middle of the chaos downtown."
"I've already routed a secondary team to their position," Fury confirmed, "but it will take some time to get the primary team to your location. Kurt hasn't been to Pennsylvania."
"Tell him to get back to headquarters," I said. "I'll be opening a portal to the research building."
"I'll set it up."
I sensed something at the edge of my perception as I opened my mouth to respond to Fury. "I'll leave the portal open," I said. "I have to go. Something is wrong."
With a wave of my Sling Ring, a portal opened up beside me, and I stretched second hand, reaching telekinetically into the room where Banner, Betty, and their assistant were arguing.
After the news of Betty's father's death. Bruce had decided to pull the plug and get rid of the formula, which was in a tequila-soaked waist bin along with several hard drives.
The container shuffled to the side by several feet. Everybody in the room jumped.
"What the hell!" Bruce exclaimed. I guess the cat is out of the bag.
"Relax," I sent to them telepathically, calming them down. "You're in no danger. I've been sent to help you."
"What is happening," the assistant said in a jittery, slow voice.
"Telepathy," I answered. "I'm one of those mutants you're so afraid of. And a team of other mutants and humans are on their way. Your formula is far more important than you realize, Doctor, and you'd be surprised by the lengths people will go to get it."
"Are you one of those people?" Banner asked. "How do I know I can trust you? As far as I know, you could be working for the government or the people that attacked General Ross."
"I'd be as paranoid if I was in your shoes," I said. "But trust is a luxury you cannot afford. Besides, power is not an issue for me. I'm a telekinetic and a telepath. You do the math. They'll be coming for you, whether you believe me or not."
"Bruce," Betty called. "What is going on? What do they want?"
In the corner of my mind, I sensed a group of demons, humans, and mutants portal in front of the research building. The suddenness of it reminded me of how the Dreamrunners Dante fought moved.
"They're here," I announced to Bruce. In that same moment, SHIELD's team came through the portal. Kurt led the charge alongside Captain America, Clint, Natasha, and Coulson.
"We're out of time."
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Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone