nextgenerationmarvel | From The Dead (Narrative, will be followed by threads)

It had been a delicate piece of work, feigning his own death, and even more delicate to ensure that he had the funds he needed to operate his long-term schemes while leaving the publicly-known, above-ground wealth of Shaw Industries alone, and keeping other Shaws from knowing. The financial chaos surrounding his estate provided a useful smokescreen, aided and abetted by close allies among the Shaw Industries top brass and elsewhere. But now the time had come to reemerge, to make his presence known. To let his wayward family know that Sebastian Shaw was not dead. To take the reins of the Shaw empire and shape the future.

Shinobi Shaw had been a treacherous little worm, and he needed to be eliminated. Alistaire had performed that function, though with a decided lack of finesse. Too much collateral damage. He would have to speak to the boy about that, though it was in his own interest to make sure that the incident be covered up. The boy's connections to Selene were far more problematic- Sebastian would have to determine where his loyalties truly lay and act accordingly. The Black Queen had been quiet as of late, but she was very much alive and would no doubt seek to undermine his plans once she got word of them.

Then there was the girl. Stephanie, a latterly-arrived bastard child from a fairly unremarkable liason with a Spanish woman. The girl had shown real talent, particularly for business. And she seemed to have admirably ambitious plans for a sizeable area of the city. Ones that he could support in its broad strokes, though there were many signs of excess sentimentality in its conception. Perhaps, though, it could be turned towards something genuinely useful, as long as it was remembered that the primary goal of the Club was to build a mutant elite and sustain it.

Worst of all, both of them had outed themselves as mutants, which would make things considerably more difficult. Stephanie had even gone so far as to say that he himself was a mutant, which would throw all manner of his past actions into a harsh public light if people cared to look. In his mind, they had both made a serious tactical mistake there, though perhaps it was understandable enough given the circumstances at the time. Sebastian was confidant he would be able to handle any issues relating to it.

There was potential, then, for the Shaw dynasty, but it would have to be carefully constrained and guided. The Shaw name had taken a frightful battering in the last few years and that would have to be put to rights. As for the Hellfire Club, the New York branch had faded into virtual oblivion. That would also have to be put to rights, though during his imposed exile, he had been created Lord Paramount of the international Hellfire Club, the ultimate authority of all the otherwise autonomous Hellfire Clubs around the world.

It was settled, then, that the children would have to learn how to manage affairs in their fiefdom of New York, but quickly, as Sebastian had a global empire to run and could not spare more than the necessary time. The girl could be trusted with the bulk of his interest in Shaw Industries- his men had positive reports on her skill, and Alistaire was well-known to be an excellent host. Perhaps the boy could turn his talents towards making the New York Hellfire club an essential destination for New York's elite again.

The rest of the ranks of the Club remained frightfully empty. New nobility would have to be created, possibly from the next generation of the traditional mutant elite, but possibly also previously unaffiliated individuals. Soon, Sebastian would reveal himself to the younger Shaws. And then the Hellfire Club's grand plans for the future of mutantkind could truly begin to unfold, with the Shaws at the forefront of it, just as it should be.

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Alistaire nods towards Stephanie as she defends him, not straying from Sebastian's gaze. He notes the stilling of the pendulum with particular attention. Grandfather's skin had thinned, it seemed. There was something... hollow.

It didn't look so much like he was holding back a smile as he was stopping himself from showing his teeth. And then the screens began to play.

Alistaire manages to hold off all but a faint twitching at the corner of one eye, as he takes the drink his grandfather had poured. He downs it in one smooth draw, before delicately wiping the corner of his mouth with a thumb. Oh Grandfather... what have you become?

"What a waste of cloth and wine..." is what he brings out of his mouth.

"I see what the shape of things are to be."

"Unfortunate, perhaps. But inevitable. Selene will understand my strength of nothing else." The pendulum begins moving again and Sebastian leans back slightly. Reginald came back as if from nowhere with packages. He looked at the carnage on the screen and looked almost as if he were viewing some strange modern painting- mild distaste without a hint of moral revulsion.

Alistaire's package included a deed to the Hellfire Club's primary New York property, as well as a promise of an exceedingly generous stipend. One of Sebastian's art collections had also been willed to him, to do as he desired with, as well as various smaller properties to be dispensed with as he pleased. It also included a custom-made Hellfire Club formal outfit, designed with Alistaire's sartorial preferences as far as the colonial styling permitted.

Stephanie's package included confirmation of her status as a board member of Shaw Industries, with a smaller stipend but a larger part of the Shaw stock portfolio. It also included deeds to numerous properties around the 11th street shelter, including relatively prime locations. Finally, it included a Hellfire Club formal outfit, cut a little more conservatively than the norm for the outfit and with the benefit of a cape.

"It's white." Stephanie noted, a safe banal comment to make. "You intend us to fill the entire Inner Circle, then?" That was quite a task, as the reputation of the Hellfire Club in mutant circles really wasn't what it was. But it did present opportunities. She could, perhaps, manipulate it into being something other than what her father intended it to be.

As for the rest of it, there was no doubting that it satisfied many of the needs she had regarding the area around the Shelter. With full access to her father's web of connections, it would make things so much easier. But it absolutely reeked of a bandaid solution- not unlike an abusive husband buying his wife flowers and chocolates after beating her. It did not pay back for all that they had gone through since he died, so much of it at his behest.

Alistaire grips the pommel of his cane as he peruses the contents of the parcel, giving the land deeds and outfit a particularly discerning eye. By all appearances, he's not taking any particular further note of his grandfather or aunt being in the room.

"Excellent cut."

"Clothes befitting Shaws." Sebastian replied smoothly, seeming to relax ever so slightly, as if he remembered that he was with family and not vassals he needed to terrorize. "As Shaws, you will live publicly and well. Indulge yourself as you wish, but with clear eyes and some discretion. I do not fault either of you your petty amusements." He took another sip of his drink and both Stephanie and Alistaire had their glasses filled.

He raised his glass in a toast. "To family. It is all we truly possess."

"To family." Stephanie managed to reply, raising her own glass in toast. He had never been a soft man, but there was a dangerously hard look in his eyes now. She wondered if perhaps he had died, and if somehow, the experience had changed him. It felt like him, but slightly changed.

She had little doubt that she would have to get involved in the Hellfire Club's grand games, but she would do her best to ensure that some good work was done along with all the inevitable Illuminati-scheming. As soon as her mind started functioning again.

Alistaire smirks. "Grandfather... I don't know any other way to live."

He joins the toast, giving Stephanie a look to signify the importance of the gesture as well. "To family."

The game is on.

From The Dead (Narrative, will be followed by threads)

Re: Gathering the Children (forward dated slightly, to when Alistaire is able to move some)

Re: Gathering the Children (forward dated slightly, to when Alistaire is able to move some)

Re: Gathering the Children (forward dated slightly, to when Alistaire is able to move some)

Re: Gathering the Children (forward dated slightly, to when Alistaire is able to move some)

Re: Gathering the Children (forward dated slightly, to when Alistaire is able to move some)

Re: Gathering the Children (forward dated slightly, to when Alistaire is able to move some)

Re: Gathering the Children (forward dated slightly, to when Alistaire is able to move some)