No-One But You (The Zephyr Endeavor)
Chapter 61: We're From America (Part 1)
As expected, the "quick" Surveillant Council meeting started turning into a full blown investigation, because the group was backwards mapping everything they knew about "Rae-Ann" and Ezekiel Stane.
Tony Stark was the one with the most information, so he was running the show and currently taking them all down memory lane.
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"You see the little map he drew for Victor Strange on their first little outing, down in China Town?"
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Tony was giving everyone in the room data, images, and a thorough timeline to look at. Stark felt it was time to start clearing up some discrepancies within Ezekiel's life.
The map he drew Victor when he identified himself to him was a great start. It showed the Surveillant Council some hand drawn symbols of organizations that he worked with, so Tony was backward mapping from that specific point.
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"He's got HYDRA drawn up on that thing, after that he's got S.H.I.E.L.D, Stark Industries, the X-Men, the Ten Rings, his father's Chessmen symbol and the Tao Mandalas."
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Now, having the Tao Mandalas was interesting, because Ezekiel Stane didn't supply jack shit for the Mystic Arts. They watched the video recording of Ezekiel's conversation with Victor, and it seemed like he drew the Mandalas because he wanted to learn more about them.
That was Charles Xavier's theory anyway. The mutant tapped his mind into the equation, and that was the result.
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"Right. I think he's always been interested in reconstructing a similar energy. My question is, who's he really been gathering information for? Ezekiel was taught to do what he does, so does he even know who's at the root?"
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Tony was in a zone, but the rest of the Council was listening and following along. He brought up a grid of pictures, then he flipped a few of them out of his way.
He stopped on a picture of Ezekiel's father. Obadiah Stane's ghost was back to haunt him once again, but Tony carried on and pushed forward…
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"Think about it. Obadiah Stane groomed his son to do A, B, and C since birth, but do we really think that this dickhead was the actual ring leader? Ezekiel couldn't have been running shit the whole time, cuz once upon a time… he was a baby. We identified him and took him into custody when he was nineteen. Are you guys with me on this?"
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Steve Rogers was following along, and his eyes returned to the hand drawn image of the chess piece. It was the symbol for the "Chessmen", yes, but what else did it mean? And, the criminal activity conducted by the Stane family is what kept organizations like the Chessmen up and running, but digging up the root was the key.
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"OH, and why did Obadiah Stane hire Deadpool to kill Ezekiel? What happened between Ezekiel and his father before he died? Did he hire Wade to kill him before his death? Or after? How could he hire him after, cuz he's dead? These are just simple questions that keep me up at night, sometimes…."
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No big deal. Tony gave the group an exhausted expression, because honestly the cluster of questions that he had were just the tip of the iceberg. Tony had a million more where they came from, but whatever.
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"So, looping back to the energy thing… here's my theory…"
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Tony cleared away the image of Obadiah Stane, the drawings, the data, and all the rest of that shit, and he pulled up a simple image of Ezekiel Stane.
He placed the somber picture of him all on his lonesome, then he drew a giant question mark toward his left. Tony put a giant circle around the question mark, then he turned back toward his comrades.
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"I think Obadiah Stane has always been working for something big, something smart, and something hard to trace. I think our infamous father and son had a falling out, he sent Deadpool in to cover his tracks, and now this big guy right here has been trying to get Ezekiel back…"
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Tony turned back to his theory, then he pointed at the big ugly question mark. The inventor started rubbing his hands together as he thought over a few other things, then his eyes migrated back over toward Ezekiel's picture.
He looked very sad and lost in that photo. It was actually his mugshot, so Tony's face slipped into a small frown. He had far more to say on the subject, but he took a second to let the information pass amongst the group.
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"Now that I'm doing the math, we really can't wait for you to ease the information out of him anymore Charles. I think something big has been monitoring him just like we are, and we gotta get those questions answered as soon as possible."
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They needed the questions answered like, yesterday, actually. Tony scratched the back of his neck as he delivered that final thought, because the Council was still conducting a deliberation session, then they planned to vote on their next step.
Historically speaking, Xavier has consistently advocated for the information in Ezekiel's mind to be shared in his own time. They all knew he was a treasure chest of information that was vital for his survival, so revealing anything naturally gave the "White Jackal" some massive anxiety.
His life was connected to what he knew, but Tony was more or less interested in knowing what was locked further within. He gave him the Mind Stone, remember? But, for now, the Infinity Gem has been dormant. It's been storing itself up for winter, actually, so now it was time to harvest up the goods.
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It always came down to the whims of the vote tho, so Tony spun in place for a sec before he took a seat beside Steve.
Chapter: END
Thanks for reading.
NOTE: this chapter references something that happened here -The Zephyr Song (Part 10)