Chapter Twenty-Five: Checkmate.

Shinobi Shaw was laid up in the hospital. He was hooked to machines as he was laid up, suffering from the accident that happened. The medical attention got him stable at least enough to get him hooked up to the machine, but there was no guarantee that he was going to survive the night. He was only barely aware what was happening around him.

The doctors and the nurses crowded over the younger Shaw heir. His medical bills would be high, but he could afford it. He was loaded. The Shaw heir gave a ragged breath when he tried to roll over.

The door opened and Sebastian Shaw stepped into the room. One of the doctors stepped towards him, looking rather somber.

"We're doing what we can for Shinobi, Mr. Shaw," the doctor commented in a somber voice. "But, he has suffered a serious injury. One of the bullets pierced a vital organ, and another got him in the head. He has lost a lot of blood, and he might never be the same again…in fact….he might have to be on life support for the rest of his days."

"That's a true pity, but I refuse to believe that there isn't any hope for my son," Shaw responded. He looked at the doctors. "You have given him the best medical care to stabilize him, but I can afford much better medical care, if you would allow me to have full access to him."

The doctors looked at Shaw. They didn't see any reason not to allow him access to his son.

"It's a pity that he got involved….the only crime my son made is that he made some poor choices, and was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Shaw said. A pair of doctors who looked like they had been flown in from a foreign land entered the room. "They are some of the best doctors in the world, and I'll make sure that Shinobi gets the treatment that he needs to get better."

"No," Shinobi murmured.

"This is the first time he's spoken since he was here," one of the nurses commented in a hush. She sighed. "He was such a handsome young man…it would be a shame of his looks and his mind rot away."

"Well, I think that you better allow me to treat him, and ensure that he gets much better," Sebastian said. He looked down at the young man, his look was fairly calculating when he stared down at his son.

The doctors didn't know any the wiser. Sebastian's team of doctors moved over to examine Shinobi.

The young Shaw heir had a moment of clarity, but he was put back under. One of the doctors checked his medication and he frowned.

"We're going to have to recommend a much stronger dosage to get him through the evening, Mr. Shaw," the doctor informed him.

"Very, well, I trust your expert judgement," Shaw responded. He leaned down and could feel his son's forehead.

It was rather cold.

"If you all don't mind, I'd like a moment to speak with my son alone," Shaw said.

"No," Shinobi murmured one more time.

"That's the only word that he's said, and he's said it twice," one of the nurses responded. She looked at the young man, and she felt a twinge of sympathy. That Dazzler chick obviously did him wrong. She was a mutant and she had used her powers to bedazzle her fans and rile them up to be sent after Shaw.

"No," Shinobi murmured, a bit more forcefully.

"He's recalling his ordeal with that psychotic woman that tormented him," Sebastian said. "Now, a moment along with my son, if you please."

The doctors and nurses left. Shinobi grew silent and his arm twitched, but he could not move other than that. The medication managed to put him down for the ten count, when it was finally settling in on him.

"The thing about chess is that there always needs to be sacrifices, Shinobi," Shaw muttered when he peered down into his son's eyes. "And you should have learned about playing a game that you haven't quite learned the nuances in just yet."

Shinobi was in a catatonic state.

"I know that you can hear everything that I said….but I want you to know, that the unfortunate woman who attacked you was not my call," Sebastian said. "Something less than sophisticated and not all that sloppy would not be the call of the Black King of the Hellfire Club. Trust me on that, Shinobi, trust me."

Sebastian leaned down to look in his son's eyes. It was very obvious that his son didn't trust him as far as he could throw him. Not that he could do anything about it, in his current condition.

"It seemed like the woman held a greater obsession for our pop princess than even you did," Shaw chuckled. "She's been committed, and she is still screaming that she'll end up finishing the job. I think that it's best to keep you under round the clock surveillance, for your own protection."

Shaw picked up the clipboard and looked over his son's medical report. It didn't look good.

"I'm certain that my doctors will make a suggestion to medicate you around the clock," Shaw said. "You will be able to do barely more than blink and maybe think, but your body will be so ravaged that you won't even move. But, the alternative is letting you die slowly and painfully, and I do not want that for you. Perhaps one day, you will understand why you weren't ready for the prestigious Hellfire Club."

Shaw left his son to think about what happened. He had a meeting with the rest of the Hellfire Club, but he would return to make sure his son got the care that he deserved.

After all, father did know best.

Alia, Kara, and Betsy met up with each other. None of them were shedding any tears over incapacitation of the younger Shaw, even though the plan was less than sophisticated.

"It seems like things weren't as rosy in the Shaw family as they would have had us all believe," Betsy commented.

The three of them walked up to one of the meeting places.

"It appears that Shinobi didn't know who he was dealing with," Kara said. "Shaw was playing a more detailed game then I think that he could fathom."

"Shinobi always thought more of his abilities than he was really capable of, that's just how he worked," Betsy said. "One date was more than enough….and well….I guess that's the end of him."

"Random crazed fan, that's almost poetic," Alia said. "The poor girl suffered."

"Well, there was a lot wrong with her," Kara said. She shook her head.

"That's the price of fame, I'm afraid," Betsy said. "You're going to attract all sorts of obsessed fans. Shinobi should have known better than to poke that bear in the eye. I guess he thought that people would turn on her in droves, because he outed her as a mutant."

"Shinobi has a rather detached view of reality," a calm voice stated. "He thinks that the world goes according to one he thought."

The girls looked up and saw a girl sitting in the chair, by the fire. She had blonde hair and was dressed in a tight form fitting black top and tighter black pants. She placed her hand down on the table.

Betsy obviously knew her. She gave her a very cool, "Hello, Regan."

"You've been busy, haven't you, Elizabeth?" Regan asked. She casually drummed her fingers on the table. "Taking care of the business interests after your brother's tragic accident…..and trying to figure out who killed him….it's nice to see you have a sufficient amount of time to come up for air and join the rest of high society."

"Yes, I've joined the Society," Betsy said. "And have you succeeded in getting my way inside the Hellfire Club?"

"My father continues to be a fairly annoying roadblock," Regan commented dryly. "But, he won't be around forever."

Perhaps it was Alia's imagination, but she could see something rather calculating and dare she say a bit cruel, in the other girl's eyes, not to mention her tone of voice. Maybe that was just her, though.

"And you haven't introduced me to your friends, that seems to be oddly rude for you, Elizabeth," Regan told the other girl.

"This is Kara Kent and this is Alia Evans," Betsy said. She kept her eyes on her.

'Stay sharp, she could be calculating, and she's obviously here for a reason,' Betsy thought to both Kara and Alia.

'I figured as much,' Alia said. She paused, and added, 'On both accounts.'

"Alia Evans….it's an honor to meet you," Regan said. "I thought that you would have been younger, but perhaps I got some faulty information."

"You may have," Alia agreed with a smile towards her. "But, what are you doing here?"

"I'm not here for a social gathering, in fact, I'm here to pass on information to your aunt, and she knows that it is," Regan said. She smiled and looked at Alia, who was looking at her. "Don't worry, I don't bite….well unless it's consensual."

"My bite can be harder, if you're playing any game," Alia said.

"Given that it's unwise to go against the will of the Black Queen, I can assure you that I'm not playing any games, Alexandra," Regan informed her. She spoke in a soft and low voice, smiling when she looked into the girl's eyes.

"Perhaps," Alia said, registering the use of her full name.

"Regan, you're early."

Rose turned up to meet the girl, who smiled.

"I've met your charming niece, and I have to say, I'm looking forward to getting to know her better," Regan said. "Much better."

Kara stepped in front of Regan, "Well, only if you behave."

"And you must be an Alpha," Regan informed her with a sweet smile. "No need to get territory, darling, just merely having some fun….I'm sure all of us have plenty of fun when we work together."

"Do you have the information?" Rose asked.

"Yes, right here…..it wasn't difficult to charm Shaw's secretary," Regan said. "Given who my mentor is, she taught me pretty much everything that I need to do,

Rose knew full and well who was Regan was being mentored by. And she wondered how much of what she was saying was Regan's words, and how much was the words of her mentor. It was one of those things that she did wonder.

"Shinobi being put in the state that he's currently in was not unwelcome, but it did interfere with our plans somewhat," Regan answered. "But his days were numbered. And my sister is back in the country…..and she has her own agenda."

"We're going to have to ensure that her agenda should line more up with our agenda," Rose said.

Regan responded with an extremely cryptic comment, "It doesn't matter, the balance of power will be shifting in a couple of days. Give it time, and it will occur."

Rose understood what that meant. Plans were already formulating in place. Alia looked at her.

"It's time for the Hellfire Club members to rejoin our society," Rose said. "And for that to happen, certain weeds will need to be pruned."

Shaw joined the rest of the Hellfire Club representatives. The news involving his son had momentarily distracted him, but with the Hellfire Club, he couldn't afford to keep his eye off of the ball. The Black King looked at his fellow members. Leland and Pierce were always loyal to his cause, they needed him after all. Wyngarde might be calculating, but he didn't have the ambition to pull things off.

"We have a new member of the Club to introduce, but first, the alarming news that our Society counterparts in Europe intend to move in on our territory," Shaw said. "As you know, this is a problem."

"Surely, they wouldn't be that much of a problem," Wyngarde said. "They have never decided to move their operations outside of Europe."

"Things have changed," Shaw commented. "We need to ensure that our power remains properly consolidated."

It was obvious that the Hellfire Club was very much a good old boy's club, and there were some concerns whenever the status quo would be broken.

"But, we will need to move forward with our plans," Pierce said. He cleared his throat. "And the recently vacated role of the White Queen has been filled."

The door opened as if right on cue. Shaw's assistant led a beautiful woman inside. Her gorgeous blonde hair came down in a curtain across her face. It was half draped over her face, showing her splendor and her beauty. She wore the attire that was expected for a member of the Hellfire Club. She wore a tight white corset, with a nice jacket over the top of it. She wore a thong and sheer white stockings. Gloves and a choker device was placed on her neck as well.

"Gentlemen, I present to you the lovely Miss Emma Frost," Shaw remarked.

"The daughter of the recently departed Winston Frost?" Leland asked. She nodded. "It is a pleasure for to be a part of our society, and as the White Queen, I'm certain that you will rise through the ranks rather quickly."

"I endeavor to do my best," Emma said. One could see that she was plotting. Then again, that wasn't anything new.

The Hellfire Club was all about plotting. Eventually older members were put out of their misery and taken out by the younger members of the club. Shaw, however, had managed to beat his son to the punch.

His assistant left the room for a second, but she returned. Seconds later, she brought back some drinks for them.

"Let us toast our newest member of the Hellfire Club, and our new White Queen, Emma Frost," Shaw said with a smile. He took the drink that his assistant had offered to him and he drank it. The fellow men inside the room drank as well.

Shaw could sense a slight burning his throat. His associates sensed the same burning sensations going through the back of their throats.

"What is going on here?" Shaw asked.

"I thought that it would be painfully obvious, Shaw, it's a coup."

The alluring Black Queen turned up. Selene had been at this game far longer than all of them and had to dupe them.

"Emma, thank you for playing your role, in relaxing their minds, and ensuring that they would take the drink," Selene said. "I have taught you well."

"Why would you poison us?" Shaw asked. "What would have to gain?"

"Your fortunes, which you have signed over to your mistresses, who now work for me," Selene said. Her tone was calm and extremely sweet. She looked down into the beady eyes of Shaw. "You thought that you could trust them, trust that they wouldn't betray you. But that trust got betrayed."

The fever was going through Shaw and he was sweating like a madman.

"There has to be a way out…." Shaw said. He slumped down on the table and he dropped down onto the table, with a breath coming out of his body.

"Oh, I'm sure that you expect an antidote of some sort," Selene said. She smiled. "Well, I'm afraid that's not really possible. Well it is possible, but it would be a waste to waste it on someone who would be dead one way or another, sooner rather than later."

Shaw couldn't even speak. His throat was swollen and he could barely breath. His fellow Hellfire Goons were not in a better state as well.

Selene would have gotten around to it, but babysitting her Granddaughters had been a full time objective. One of them, she had to keep on an extremely short leash to be honest.

"Well, quite a day to spend the first day in the club," Emma said.

"Well, Shinobi was taken out by his own stupidity, so we need not worry about him," Selene said. "Did your pet relay the information she needed to?"

"Yes," Emma confirmed.

"Excellent, you've done well, Emma," Selene said. "Would you care for a drink?"

Emma frowned. She didn't want to show a lack of trust, but at the same time, trusting Selene blindly might prove to be her fatal undoing.

"No thank you," she politely replied.

Selene smiled. She thought that she chose well for her protégé. She actually didn't intend to poison Emma. She didn't wrong her after all. But the fact she was cautious given what that she saw, proved that she was a rather able recruit to the Society.

Diana, Kara, and Alia arrived outside of Starr Enterprises, where they were going to attend a business meeting with the owner of the company. Rose was going to attend the meeting, but she had to back out at the last minute.

Alia really didn't mind attending to be honest. She needed to learn the family business and also the ins and outs. The Evans family was the heritage that she wanted to learn about, and they were very successful. There were a couple of failures, Petunia being the most obvious, but you can't have a perfect success rate.

"Looks like things are going to be just fine with Alison," Kara said. "People are already moving onto the next outrage."

"There was no proof, other than some maniac's word, and he doesn't even remember saying it now," Alia reminded her.

Diana nudged her sister, with a grin on her face, "And I suspect that the Free Dazzler campaign you were involved in helped a little bit."

"Now, Diana, my involvement could not be proven in that," Alia said. "I really don't need to get involved with that. She does have her devoted fans."

Kara smirked, 'Just ask Shinobi."

"Well it's not like anyone is going to ask him anything for a long time," Alia said. She turned towards the group. "So we have this meeting with Karen Starr…..and then I need to go meet with Circe."

"You need to go meet with Circe?" Diana asked. She sounded like there was a bad taste in her mouth when she spat that name out.

"She did offer to help me recover my mother….and she does owe me a debt," Alia said.

"Yes, she's never done you wrong, I know," Diana said. The past between herself and Circe was well documented well and she had talked about it. "It's just as well, as I have a lunch with Doctor Sandsmark….and I need to check out pretty soon."

Alia was caught off guard by a surprising guess.

"Gwen?" Alia asked. "It's good to see you!"

Gwen smiled when she saw Alia, "It's good to see you as well."

"So what are you doing here?" Kara asked.

"Well, I'm working as an intern here," Gwen said. She shook her head. She really hoped that this intern job went much better than the last intern job. Her old boss going insane didn't really bode well for her future employment. And trying to kill her when her old boss found out that she was his arch-nemesis.

"I don't want to keep you from your work," Alia answered. "In fact, we're meeting Karen Starr here….she's working with SLE on a big project."

"Well, I won't keep the three of you," Gwen said. She smiled and allowed them to take the elevator.

Alia, Kara, and Diana were at the elevator. Kara looked like she could pass as Alia's personal assistant, and Diana was dressed like she could be his bodyguard. They exited the elevator.

The three of them ran into an attractive blonde who was filled into a female business suit. She looked extremely busty and she didn't have a bad set of legs either. The business suit was extremely tight around her.

Kara blinked and she looked at her. She looked like she could be Kara's older sister, it looked uncanny. She couldn't keep her eyes off of the woman's breasts, there was some kind of amazing magnetic pull that was drawing her eyes in that general direction.

"Hello, you must be Alia," Karen said. Her eyes were diverted towards Alia, and not towards Kara looking at her breasts.

Not that she was not used to people looking at her breasts. In fact, it's second nature.

"Yes, I am," Alia said. She shook the woman's hand and offered her a light kiss on the top of her hand.

Karen was taken off guard by this young woman kissing her on the top of her hand, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant to say the very least.

"This is Diana and this is Kara," Alia said.

Karen blinked, when she noticed Kara.

"Sorry, you remind me of how I looked when I was a teenager," Karen said. She laughed it off. "It's amusing how spooky the world can be sometimes, isn't it?"

"Very," Kara replied. She didn't really what to make it.

"So, the Society has aggressively recruited me," Karen said. "And they make it really hard to say no."

"Are you really saying no or just playing hard to get?" Alia asked her.

"Well, they've worn me enough to do business with them," Karen said. She found herself drawn to Alia's very familiar looking eyes and demeanor. They reminded her of someone who she used to know. "It's a project that will revolutionize global communication."

"Oh, Rose mentioned something about it, but perhaps you can explain it to me a bit more?" Alia asked.

Karen smiled, and was glad to. There was something really familiar about those green eyes. She didn't want to jump to the wrong conclusion though, not wanting to weird Alia out.

Still, the fact that Kara looked like a younger, slightly more innocent, version of herself, with the same name as her real name, that caused things to be really interesting as far as she was concerned.

"My office is down the hall, there should be plenty of room there to conduct business," Karen offered.

Alia smiled, looking her over. That caused shivers to go down the older woman's spine.

"I'd like that."

To Be Continued.