No-One But You (The Zephyr Endeavor) - Part 2
Chapter 48: Whatta Man (Part 8)
Ezekiel Stane was sitting in a small office with Charles Xavier, and he was finally introduced to a young mutant named Jean Grey.
The Jackal had heard of her, and he looked into the fact that her psychic abilities placed her in an "Omega level" classification. She was an Omega level mutant, to be more specific…
Xavier explained that he already introduced Jean Grey to the inner workings of Ezekiel's mind, and together, they planned to keep Victor Von Doom's abilities at bay.
The Jackal wasn't surprised to hear that Charles had already tapped into the message that Doom left within his subconscious mind, and he was also aware that the ruler of Latveria was digging around for information about Wade Wilson.
…
"I'm actually terrified for the two of them to fight. It's clearly inevitable, and Wade never listens to anything that I say. It's like he, half listens? I don't understand it…and half the time, I can barely understand him. He frustrates me more than anything or anyone I've ever encountered…"
…
But… Ezekiel loved him. He really did, and all of that stored up emotion toward Wade felt as if it were pouring out at the seams. He actually felt like crying in that moment, but he didn't.
Thankfully, Ezekiel didn't have to hide any of that from Xavier. They had developed a good amount of trust at that point, so he took his advice about utilizing Jean Grey to build stronger "walls" within his fragile mind.
Jean Grey used that word when she spoke about what she helped Charles build in his head. She said his mind was… fragile, and Ezekiel wasn't sure how to take that information.
He expected himself to be stronger than that, but he wasn't…
Maybe, his father found out he was actually "fragile" and that's why he decided to have him killed or put up for auction. Ezekiel was more traumatized by that than he even knew, so he did his best to just continue his efforts with S.H.A.D.O.W…
…
"Ezekiel… I'm going to step out of bounds for clarification purposes only, because the amount of intrusive thoughts Wade Wilson has going on in his mind is something that I've never encountered as well…"
…
Real talk. Charles decided to give Ezekiel Stane a bit of insight on the person he was in a "legit" relationship with, because the mutant now understood that Wade Wilson was trying to keep himself together.
Say what? The baby Jackal glanced up at Xavier for a moment, and he quietly processed what he said. He briefly wondered if Wade had been talking to Charles. He had to have been, because the mutant had never spoken about him in that context before…
Jean Grey was looking into everything that Ezekiel was thinking in that moment, his intrusive thoughts were always very poised. His thoughts were beautiful, actually…but she kept noticing some additional activity going on within his mind.
Jean decided to change the subject, because something was happening at the root, and it could no longer be overlooked…
…
"My next concern is with the artifact that's been deeply rooted within your mind. I believe it's called the Mind Stone?"
…
Now, how on Earth did that get laced around the stem of Ezekiel's mind? Jean Grey and Xavier could both see that the "Mind Stone" had branched itself off as if it were Christmas lights, decorating the branches of his mind as if it were a tree…
…
"Oh, right. That. Tony Stark used his nano technology to fuse the Mind Stone within my mind… he did that a while ago, and he basically uses it to keep tabs on me. I've been trying to understand how to use it, but…"
…
Yeahhhh, Ezekiel sometimes felt the pull of the Stone, and he sometimes THOUGHT he understood what he was doing with it, but overall… he was at a complete loss with the Mind Stone.
It actually felt… foggy. Ezekiel couldn't really explain the sensation. He noticed the expressions between Jean Grey and Charles Xavier changed shortly after the whole Mind Stone thing was brought up.
It brought Ezekiel a great deal of stress to discuss it as well, because his "connection" to Tony Stark was built around a shit-ton of trauma, hostility, confusion, bitterness, awkwardness, and shame.
His father abused Tony, and… in some sense… Tony actually abused Ezekiel's father too. So, there was this crazy dysfunction in every aspect, and it was extremely difficult for Ezekiel to have the Mind Stone in his head…
He wanted to either control it and utilize it on his own, or have it removed….
…
"I think that's enough for today. We've covered far too much ground, and I know Wade is waiting for you…"
…
Xavier could feel Wade's anxiety through the door and down the hallway. You see, the infamous Deadpool was excited to share what he had accomplished, and the man was anxiously awaiting Ezekiel's return.
Wade was actually pacing himself a path throughout the entire building, so Xavier thought it was best to end the conversation.
Chapter: END
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