I own nothing!
Here, in the shadows, he had finally accepted his talent for manipulation, and it was likely that nobody who could stop it would realize what he was doing until it was far too late. It was unfortunate, but humans needed to be saved from themselves.
Chapter 7: Assassination
Maybe the former Principal Kelly never would have begun to gain popularity if it weren't for a few things. Simple things, really, but ones that had massive impact on the world. Maybe it was because, on October 31, something happened.
The masked man slipped his hand into his pocket, taking out the gun he held in his hand. He'd be paid well for this. One million dollars from a gentleman who was anonymous, just to complete a task that was simple for the master assassin. He loaded the gun and strapped it to his wrist, before he would venture into the place he was headed, 114 Main Street. It wasn't hard to avoid being seen by the cameras, or avoiding being seen by the people.
People were amazingly unobservant when they didn't want to see something. He knew this, and used it to his advantage. It was Holloween, so seeing a man in a mask wasn't particularly alarming. He picked the lock of the door, carefully venturing into the main room. Clearly, Graydon Creed was a man of vast wealth, and from his speeches, a man of bitter hatred for any mutant, or for anyone who opposed him, not that it concerned the man in question, who called himself Eel. It had been his nickname when he was younger, and it described him well.
A quick glance around the room he was in revealed a few doors, and he chose one. The farthest one, he could hear voices coming from its direction. He walked through, blending with the shadows, and listened closely. It was just a phone call, but he wanted to wait. If Creed's death were known before Eel got away, Eel might get caught. The man finally hung up, and Eel allowed himself to edge into the doorway, slowly raising his hand. Eel cleared his throat sharply. Now came the best part.
Creed shouted, "Go away! I have business to do!"
Eel didn't answer right away. Instead, he waited for Graydon to turn around, irate at being interrupted. Graydon did after about ten seconds, and froze as he spotted the pistol attached to the wrist in front of him, aimed right at his chest. He slowly raised his hands, trying for a professional air, as Eel finally said, "Yes, you do have business to do, but I'm afraid it will have to wait."
As Eel said this, Graydon realized the seriousness of the situation, and changed in seconds from an alarmed businessman to a trembling coward. "Who…who are you? Who sent you? What do you want?" Eel considered answering, but decided against it. Instead, he grinned, and moved closer. "I'll give you anything! Don't kill me!" Eel smirked. It was always fun to listen to the people he killed plea for their lives.
He almost didn't say a word, because it was much more amusing to be silent. However, he had been payed to say some things, so he opened his mouth and let the words flow out with acting skills he'd accumulated over the years. "Graydon Creed, for opposing our species, Homo superior, I sentence you to death, by order of Nelson Raymond. I hate to do this to you, but you have become far too dangerous to survive."
He smiled, and carefully pulled the trigger. A stream of red light poured out of his right hand, hitting the man in the chest, and leaving a gaping hole in it. Graydon never even had time to scream.
Bullseye.
He would be paid well for this.
It was on the news. It was shocking, stunning. Graydon Creed hadn't been very advanced in his project, a potential mutant detector, one of the first. He'd made it fairly obvious from the start that he'd dreamed up military usage of it. Not that he announced it. Instead, his anti-mutant speeches and sentiments were well-known, and it was simply a logical solution for nearly anybody to reach.
No matter how far he'd made it, and despite the fact that it wasn't fully finished, a mutant had killed him. There was even footage of the man who did it. All that could be seen of him at the angle the camera viewed him at was the suit and the flash of red light his hands produced as he fired.
The second the news hit the press, it was like someone had set anti-mutant hysteria a notch higher. It wasn't as if school hadn't been stressful for some mutants, but now everyone suspected any mutant they saw to be the assassin. A few mutants even proclaimed that the nameless assassin was an example to follow. It wasn't hard to see why, and Mr. Kelly got bodyguards. Everyone began to vote for him at the voting booths, and his popularity went up by thirty-four percent. He was well on his way to office, and he had plans.
Danny himself was busy trying to retain his role as a teacher at the high school, but for the most part, he was left alone, having been a teacher for six years. He was worried, because nobody had found Desire, and he had suspicions. Things had started popping, but he didn't want it to be true. He was almost certain of it though.
Jean Grey had begun to experience power bursts, and he had been caught in one of them. She had been badly upset by something, what, nobody knew for certain. But as the power burst hit, he had felt a familiar cold rush of mist pass his lips, warning him of ghostly or spiritly influence. The sheer power of the surge sent him back against the wall. Jean calmed down on her own, but she was starting to radiate an ectoplasmic aura, something that made her slightly more noticeable for someone with a ghost-sense. Before, due to her telepathic barriers, he had been unable to sense her mental presence, but now, he could detect her spiritual presence.
He still wished that it wasn't her, but he was very sure of his assessment. He didn't tell anyone yet, instead spending his time looking up ways to destroy Desire without destroying the human vessel. So far, it wasn't working. There were guesses, hoped-for information, even a few incredibly risky schemes for it. One of the riskier ideas involved the use of blood blossoms. He was pretty sure that would kill Desire, but it would probably kill the human. At this stage, Desire was too weak for anything except the occasional energy boost, and it was incapable of controlling Jean, but it would only get stronger as the pressure on Jean rose.
Maybe he could work something out. But at this rate, it might be centuries. Going through the Ghostwriter's library was…difficult. Difficult here was defined as nearly impossible, because, as much as the Ghostwriter had an organization system, he had millions, billions of books. He had a copy of every book in the world, and more were appearing all the time. It had to do with his obsession, but Danny remained unsure as to exactly what that obsession was.
It had taken a very long time to find the sections of the library he needed, and it took even longer to find and read through the first potentially helpful book. Most seemed to base themselves in diagrams, and he was trying artifacts for possession. He knew that the old man who'd helped him into his new identity, Merlin, Embodiment of Magic (there was also a Morgana, but she had a different title) might could have helped, but he wasn't powerful enough. Maybe the Ancients could have done it, but nobody even knew if they still existed.
That aside, things were getting serious, and he hadn't told the politicians he met with about this development. He didn't want to be assigned the job Clockwork had been given by the Council of Observants so long ago, to get rid of (kill) the risk factor, and hang the consequences. He'd learned that, if this course of action were followed, the Disasteroid incident would have still occurred, and Earth would be destroyed, along with part of the Zone. He had come close, during that incident, to revealing his secret identity, but he had escaped by a hair's-breadth.
He kept his eyes open, and watched for alternatives. If he found a solution to this problem, the only issue would be getting the X-men, or even just Jean, to trust him enough to let him use his knowledge. It was impossible, after all, to use the same solution he'd experienced via Clockwork, because the pressure might release the personality she didn't even know she was suppressing. In the end, for now, his actions consisted of research, and hints. Hints that would hopefully alert Jean to her second personality.
Like it? Hate it? Review it! The Jean/Phoenix problem was hard to work out, because at first it was just a way to keep something going in the chapters, but in the end, it (pardon the joke) mutated. It changed into an idea, and idea that didn't really tie in with the rest of my story at first, but it is now pretty important. Also, I would really like to know if you want more of any particular character's POV (Point Of View). I might add a little bit of that later. Maybe some Jean stuff.
-MiaulinK
