Slow Motion From the Shadows ((Emma Frost first & then others))

[vesper_verde]

Marcelo Jaoquim Alencar da Silva double-checked that everything had been in order before he left the penthouse. This business meeting was vastly important. It had many aspects he had to juggle in both parts. He had gone through the right channels to get this meeting at Frost International.

Sage and Stephanie had given him pointers on things outside of the realm business. The business end he could handle; everything else that mattered he would take pointers on. He had a ring on his right hand to block cursory telepathic scans. He was assured if Emma Frost really wanted in his mind, she would get there. So, he had to be careful not to think of things, even in passing, about his secret identity. The ring would help remind him.

He walked confidently into Frost International in his tailored dark gray suit. The appointment had been set. He had made sure it was before school started at Stephanie's alma mater and it was with Emma Frost herself. Patrolling had been light the night before so Marcelo moved smoothly into the building.

He caught his reflection in a surface. There was a brief satisfied smile at what he saw. His double-breasted wool suit fit perfectly. His white, cotton shirt helped his emerald green silk knit tie stand out as an accent. He reached up and adjusted his cotton pocket square slightly with the hand not holding his leather briefcase. His silver cuff links caught a sparkle of light from the motion. His newer leather ankle boots, thankfully, did not squeak as he strode across the small expanse of floor to the reception desk.

"Bom dia," he greeted the receptionist with a smile. "Marcelo Alencar da Silva to see Ms. Frost."

Comments

[ngm_parents]

"You do realize the gargantuan thing you're taking on here?" Emma asked. "Sebastian Shaw is a powerful man, throne or not. Deposing him could possibly just make him a more vicious, animalistic enemy." She opened the top drawer of her desk, pulled out a small tube of expensive hand cream, and squirted a small glob onto the palm of her already soft hands. A gentle floral scent wafted into the air. Gently, Emma massaged the lotion in.

"Then again, death doesn't seem to take with him either, does it?" she asked as she placed the tube back into its home. "You'll have no choice but to destroy him utterly and entirely. Social standing, monetarily, all of that. You're already aware, I know, but it doesn't hurt to reiterate these things." Emma studied Marcelo carefully. Did he have what it took to bring Shaw down? Had stronger men already not tried to do the same?

Then again, there were different kinds of strength, and Marcelo didn't seem to be going into this chin first.

Certainly that was promising.

"Goodness, why not just pump him full of drugs and a mild strain of the Legacy Virus and shuffle him off to Madripoor?"

[vesper_verde]

"It is a massive undertaking, and one that must be done carefully. But it must be done. I doubt he will get more vicious than he currently is, but if he's animalistic, then it will just show how much we've won." He settled back into his chair more. Marcelo idly watched her and her expensive hand cream. He took another sip of the scotch. It wouldn't do to have such a good drink not serve its purpose.

He nodded with her assessment. His voice held every bit of determination he had. Taking down Shaw, while very hard, was nothing compared to his goal of destroying Brazilian gangs. He needed Shaw down to nothing so he and Stephanie can have peace. Even if it was just that front. "Monetarily, social standing, political connections, associates, and so on. He needs to lose it all. And at the end, he needs to know an idealistic Brazilian had a hand in it. He needs to lose everything and why he lost everything. Drugs and the Legacy Virus can be circumvented. He can come back from a tiny South East Asian country. It's all too good for a man who had his own daughter violated. I want him dismantled."

[ngm_parents]

"Oh no, I meant sending him there after you've well and thoroughly wrecked his life. Not before. It would be the drug-filled icing piping through the cake that is his destroyed life."

Emma studied Marcelo thoughtfully.

Finally, after what may have been too long a pause, she asked, "What do you require of me to aid you in this?"

[vesper_verde]

"Drug-induced haze could mean he forgets how he ended up there. I need him clear on exactly how he got where he will be." It was about power and the proper application of it to Marcelo's mind. Any power Marcelo would have over Stephanie's father would be gone if Shaw didn't know what happened.

As she studied him, he drank his scotch. It did feel a little awkward how long she was quiet, but as silence was sometimes Marcelo's domain, he did not seem all that ruffled about it.

"Your input, for one. The more people I have who have worked and dealt with Shaw and his associates, the better my ambitious plans work. Your telepathic skills when it becomes time. I have it on knowledgeable authority that you are one of the best. While I will be avoiding drawing anything sinister into my confrontations, there are others on Shaw's side I have to worry about." He didn't sound like he was trying to appease her at all. Just reporting what he had been told by two people he highly trusted.