“Sebastian, good to see you again.” Lex greeted the man in his thirties, an aristocratic socialite whom he had gotten to know over the past few months. Sebastian was one of those people who somehow seemed connected to everyone worth knowing. The kind of man who could casually arrange meetings between billionaires, politicians and celebrities over a glass of wine.
“Well well,” Sebastian replied smoothly, “I see you've once again managed to capture the attention of the most beautiful woman at the party.”
That was saying something considering the blonde woman standing beside him could easily rival professional models.
“Tessa,” Lex immediately said, turning toward her with a grin, “it seems your partner here doesn't consider you the most beautiful woman in the room.”
“Hm, if only I didn't work for him,” Tessa replied playfully, “I might've chosen to leave with you instead.”
Meanwhile, the girl Lex had spent most of the evening talking to quietly excused herself. Which honestly made sense. They had only met an hour ago and he was already getting dragged into another conversation.
Then again, some women at these parties did the exact opposite. They would linger nearby, subtly insert themselves into discussions and look for connections the second they realized someone influential was involved.
“So,” Lex continued casually, “how did that thing you mentioned last time go? The Mutual Rights for Metahumans Campaign?”
Being a metahuman himself, Lex was genuinely interested in the topic. One of the reasons he had become friends with Sebastian in the first place was because the man openly supported metahuman rights.
Metahumans apparently referred to almost every superpowered individual category including mutants.
Though Lex still wasn't entirely sure where people like Iron Man fit into all this.
Then again, Tony Stark was a billionaire. Billionaires probably operated under entirely different rules from normal people anyway.
Sebastian sighed faintly before taking a slow sip from his drink.
“We've encountered considerable resistance,” he replied calmly. “Especially from government officials unwilling to publicly acknowledge the crimes committed against mutant communities. It's difficult to fight prejudice when the people in power pretend the problem doesn't exist.”
There was frustration beneath the polished tone.
Controlled frustration.
Sometimes Lex genuinely wondered if Sebastian himself might secretly be a mutant. Though from what Lex had heard, mutants usually had obvious physical abnormalities. Different skin colors, strange eyes, tails, animalistic features and things like that.
At least that was what public rumors claimed.
Then again, Lex himself had gained powers without developing any visible mutations at all. Maybe his abilities simply weren't the same thing. Or perhaps the Essence of the Transcendent Self had overridden any physical changes entirely.
“There’s actually something I wanted your opinion on,” Lex said after a moment, lowering his voice slightly.
Sebastian immediately picked up on the shift in tone.
“Of course.”
He smoothly guided them toward one of the quieter private booths along the edge of the party. Tessa glanced toward Sebastian as if asking whether she should stay, but Lex gestured for her to join them anyway.
Once seated, Sebastian leaned back comfortably.
“What seems to be bothering you, Lex?”
“Well…” Lex paused briefly, choosing his words carefully. “Let's say certain metahumans start abusing their abilities. Wouldn't it be better to deal with them quietly before they end up damaging the reputation of every other metahuman out there?”
Sebastian’s expression sharpened slightly with interest.
“Certainly,” he replied. “I've personally advocated for regulations against dangerous metahumans for years. Unfortunately governments tend to twist those laws into excuses to specifically target mutants instead.”
Lex nodded slowly before continuing.
“You see, I've been hearing about a man in a purple suit frequenting clubs around the city. Every time he leaves with different women and afterward they either claim they were drugged or…” Lex paused slightly. “...that they completely lost control of themselves.”
Both Sebastian and Tessa became noticeably more attentive.
“I think he may possess some kind of ability,” Lex continued. “Something psychological. The victims describe it less like coercion and more like their bodies stopped belonging to them entirely.”
Sebastian’s fingers tapped lightly against his glass.
“Psychic abilities certainly exist,” he said calmly. “Telepaths, empaths, compulsions… there are many possible explanations. Someone like Professor X has made such abilities difficult to dismiss as fantasy.”
Then his gaze narrowed slightly.
“Do you want me to pressure certain people into investigating him?”
Lex shook his head faintly.
“The authorities are already ignoring it. And honestly, I don't think it's corruption.”
That immediately caught Sebastian’s attention.
“You believe they're being influenced.”
“I think so.”
Tessa frowned slightly at that.
“That would explain why nothing substantial has happened despite repeated incidents.”
Lex leaned back slightly before continuing.
“There’s more. The girls also mentioned that he wasn't alone. One of the women with him had superhuman strength.”
That caused a brief silence.
Sebastian’s relaxed demeanor faded just slightly.
“That complicates matters.”
Tessa spoke up a second later.
“There may be someone who could help with this.” She glanced briefly toward Sebastian before continuing. “A close associate of ours. Emma Frost. She's resistant to that sort of manipulation and considerably experienced when it comes to psychic abilities.”
Lex had heard the name before. Mostly vague rumors involving extreme wealth, beauty and influence.
Honestly, that described half the people Sebastian associated with.
“That might still not be enough,” Lex admitted. “If this man already has enhanced people under his control, confronting him directly could become messy very quickly.”
Sebastian remained silent for a few moments, clearly thinking.
Then he smiled faintly.
“In that case,” he said smoothly, “perhaps this is fortunate timing.”
Lex raised an eyebrow.
“There’s an exclusive Hellfire Club gathering in a few days. Private guest list. Influential people, investors, politicians, philanthropists…” His smile widened slightly. “And naturally, a fair number of mutant supporters.”
“A gathering of mutants?” Lex asked.
Sebastian chuckled softly.
“Not exclusively. Though you could certainly say the organization is sympathetic toward mutant interests. Especially toward the discrimination mutants often face.”
Lex considered it briefly before nodding.
“Then I'd be happy to attend.”
“Excellent.”
The conversation gradually shifted afterward toward lighter topics and another round of expensive drinks arrived shortly after.
Not that the alcohol did anything for Lex anymore.
At first he found that mildly disappointing. Back in his old life, drinking occasionally helped numb stress or quiet his thoughts after difficult days.
Now his body simply erased toxins before they could even properly affect him.
Though honestly, considering everything else he had gained, losing the ability to get drunk wasn't exactly a tragedy.
Eventually the party continued on around them while Lex quietly drifted back into his own thoughts.
The real reason he had approached Sebastian instead of personally hunting down the purple-suited man was fairly simple.
Lex wasn't arrogant enough to believe immortality automatically made him invincible.
Regeneration didn't magically grant combat experience, tactical skill or immunity to bad decisions. Walking blindly into a situation involving mind control and unknown superhumans sounded like an excellent way to create a disaster.
Especially in a world like this one.
For all he knew, the purple-suited man could already have dozens of powerful people under his control.
And if hostages became involved?
Things could spiral out of control very quickly.
No, involving experienced people first was simply the smarter option.
Even if part of him hated admitting that.
So the obvious thing to do at this point was training. As the party continued, he decided against taking another girl back to the hotel like he usually did, instead simply leaving early. Coming back to the hotel and changing into something more casual, he headed out again, slowly changing his face in less crowded places until he took on the appearance he usually used while training.
He had decided to simply use this face for mutant or rather metahuman activity so as to not expose his shapeshifting ability. Too many faces would obviously become easy to identify, but just two or three? Not so much.
So other than his usual identity of Lex Everhart, he had created another identity, one he still hadn't bothered naming yet.
Arriving at a motel and changing into cheaper clothes, he took a taxi to his usual spot. Of course, any decent detective should still be able to connect both identities as long as they even suspected shapeshifting. But it was the best he could do for now.
Coming back to the familiar building, he paid the taxi and entered, only to see another person waiting for him.
A young blond man with pale skin, wearing a leather jacket and carrying a look that screamed delinquent like nothing else.
“Well well well, look who finally showed up.” The guy, who was probably some gang member, said with a smirk.
“And who might you be?” Lex asked in an exhausted voice. He really didn't want to deal with someone right now.
“Name’s Pyro. From the Brotherhood.” The blond replied. “A little birdy told me someone's been doing quite the property damage here.”
He gestured toward the numerous holes in the building, most of which had been caused by Lex trying to train his telekinesis.
“Oh? And do you or your Brotherhood happen to own the building?” Lex jabbed back.
Pyro’s expression twitched slightly.
“Look here, I don't have time to waste on you.” He pulled out a phone-like device from his pocket and pointed it toward Lex. “This thing right here can tell me who's a mutant and who's not.”
Lex’s eyes briefly focused on the device.
Interesting.
Honestly, he probably should've expected something like that existed.
“So I'll stop beating around the bush and tell you straight.” Pyro continued aggressively. “Join the Brotherhood. For your own good before the government gets to you.”
To be fair, the irritation in his voice wasn't entirely unreasonable. He had spent the last two days sitting inside an abandoned building waiting for a lead that increasingly looked fake, so of course he was frustrated.
“If I don't?” Lex questioned calmly.
Sure, there might've been other people nearby. Maybe even Brotherhood members waiting outside. But unlike the purple-suited man, the Brotherhood was at least straightforward.
The purple-suited man could control people, take hostages and make authorities ignore him completely.
The Brotherhood of Mutants meanwhile was a known mutant terrorist organization.
Dangerous, yes.
But understandable.
The only problem was that a device capable of identifying mutants apparently existed. He really should've expected that. The government probably had similar technology too.
Though knowing the range of the device would've definitely been useful.
“If you don't?” Pyro smirked slightly.
Flames ignited from the gauntlet-like device on his wrist before spreading outward across the floor, forming a circle of fire around Lex.
“Who knows what the government might do once they find out about you?” Pyro asked mockingly. “Maybe they'll…”
The flames suddenly intensified.
“...burn the place down.”
At that point Lex had genuinely had enough of the brat.
Of course, he wasn't actually planning to seriously hurt him. He mostly just wanted to intimidate him enough that the Brotherhood would stop bothering him.
So instead of backing away, Lex calmly walked forward, directly through the flames as if they didn't exist.
Pyro blinked in surprise.
Lex stepped out of the burning circle and stopped directly in front of him. Being a few inches taller, he naturally looked down on the younger mutant.
That only irritated Pyro further.
“You think you're tough?” Pyro snapped.
Immediately, all the flames making up the circle surged violently toward Lex’s back.
Heat exploded across his body.
If not for his immunity to pain, Lex probably would've screamed. Third-degree burns instantly spread across his back beneath his clothes as flesh charred from the heat.
But without pain clouding his thoughts, his expression barely changed.
Instead, he simply raised his hand and slapped Pyro across the face hard enough to send him crashing onto the floor.
Pyro stared at him in disbelief for a second.
“You…” he growled while scrambling back to his feet. “I'll remember this.”
Then he turned and ran.
Lex didn't bother following him.
Instead, he quietly sat down nearby. It only took around a minute for the damage across his back to completely heal.
To Pyro though?
There had never been any damage at all.
After running several streets away, Pyro finally glanced backward.
And immediately felt his stomach sink.
Lex was standing completely unharmed.
No burns.
No damaged skin.
Not even his clothes looked affected.
“What kind of monster did I just provoke…?” Pyro muttered, instantly regretting his decision.
Pyro might've been arrogant, but he wasn't stupid.
He had come here on Magneto’s orders after the Brotherhood had been informed about a mutant training inside these abandoned buildings a couple of days ago. Looking at the destruction, they had concluded that whoever was responsible was at least a Beta-level mutant, maybe even Alpha-level.
That was why Magneto had sent him.
Pyro had enough firepower to handle things if they went wrong and needed more experience recruiting people into their cause.
But now, looking back toward the building from afar, Pyro realized he had definitely fucked up.
However, unbeknownst to either Pyro or Lex, a particular mutant from the Hellfire Club was also there, positioned farther away on the rooftop of the next building.
He called himself Xensor.
His mutation allowed him to see through walls, hear conversations across long distances and even smell microscopic particles in the air.
And he had seen everything.
That was the whole reason he was there after all.
Shaw had specifically ordered him to watch Lex.
It had all started a couple of months ago when Emma Frost met Lex at a party and discovered that she couldn't read his mind.
No, that wasn't entirely correct.
To Emma, it felt more like he didn't even exist.
Naturally, she became intrigued immediately and a few discreet calls here and there were enough to gather some information on him.
He had appeared in New York in July, as they couldn't find any records of him existing before that, and had been staying at The Peninsula ever since.
But the most interesting information was that he possessed a credit card from MU Bank.
What was MU Bank, you might ask?
Emma didn't know.
Even Sebastian Shaw only vaguely remembered it as a bank so prestigious that even people like him would struggle to meet one of their employees, let alone open an account there.
Naturally, this led to further investigation.
When they still couldn't find any records of Lex existing before July, Sebastian immediately assumed he was likely an heir to one of those ancient and powerful hidden families.
Someone like that would definitely be useful.
Emma meanwhile suspected something else.
A mutant.
Because Lex hadn't been carrying any visible device that should've blocked her telepathic powers. Of course, it was still possible he had some kind of implanted technology like the government agencies dealing with metahumans used.
So Shaw arranged for a few discreet people to follow him and quietly report his activities.
That very night, they discovered Lex slightly changing his appearance before heading toward an abandoned building. Nobody actually saw what happened inside, but there were definitely loud noises and afterward the entire interior looked destroyed.
Sure, the building was abandoned already, but now it genuinely looked like a battle had happened inside.
Combined with his face-changing ability, this confirmed that Lex was indeed a metahuman.
The only remaining question was whether he was specifically a mutant or not.
Of course, they could've simply brought him to one of their facilities where they had a massive mutant tracking system.
But Tessa, or rather Sage as she was known within the Hellfire Club, suggested a much better plan.
A plan that would accomplish not one, not two, but three separate things at once.
The Hellfire Club already suspected the Brotherhood had a spy amongst their lower ranks.
So instead of stopping the leak, they simply fed carefully selected information through it.
Some truths.
Some lies.
They mentioned an unknown wealthy metahuman secretly training in abandoned buildings and estimated that he was probably a Beta-level mutant, possibly Alpha-level.
That alone was enough to attract the Brotherhood’s attention.
More importantly, the Brotherhood possessed portable mutant detection devices. Only a few members had them, but Pyro happened to be one of them.
If they approached Lex, they would unknowingly confirm whether or not he possessed the X-Gene.
And lastly?
The Brotherhood would almost certainly approach Lex aggressively and leave a terrible first impression.
Three separate goals accomplished through one operation.
And just now, Shaw had received the message confirming that the plan had worked perfectly.
Lex was indeed a mutant.
Which not only meant that he could become a huge asset to the Hellfire Club…
But hopefully another member as well.
For Lex however, the day couldn't have gone much worse.
First there was the purple-suited mind control freak to deal with and now this Pyro guy and the Brotherhood too. At this point he was already considering just leaving New York entirely and moving somewhere else for a while.
Maybe Los Angeles.
Maybe somewhere quieter.
Though running away this early felt a little excessive.
Getting an actual home was also still on his list of priorities. Once he had a private place of his own, he could finally try summoning Sharon Rogers and that sword as well. Honestly, the Vibranium blade alone looked ridiculously useful.
The problem was that he currently had nowhere safe to keep things like that.
Summoning alternate universe super soldiers and legendary weapons inside a hotel suite sounded like an excellent way to create problems for himself.
Then there was the identity issue.
Someone like Sebastian Shaw probably knew ways to obtain perfect fake identities, maybe even completely real ones created through hidden channels.
But Lex didn't trust him nearly enough to ask about something like that yet.
Another thing he realized after tonight was that his telekinesis still had plenty of room to improve.
Stopping physical objects was one thing.
But if he could learn to manipulate air molecules directly using telekinesis, then people like Pyro would become significantly less dangerous. No oxygen meant no flames.
At least in theory.
Then there was Magneto himself.
The leader of the Brotherhood.
From what Lex had heard, Magneto could control metal and was considered one of the most powerful mutants alive. Which honestly sounded absurdly dangerous in the modern world.
Cars.
Buildings.
Weapons.
Entire cities were practically built from metal.
Lex currently had several possible choices ahead of him.
He could simply disappear.
Change his face properly, move to another city and continue enjoying life somewhere else without getting involved in mutant politics at all.
That option still existed.
But only as a last resort.
Another possibility was joining some organization capable of protecting him from the Brotherhood. Though honestly, joining one mutant organization just because another one might become a problem felt a little excessive.
Especially when he wasn't even sure whether the Brotherhood would actually continue bothering him after tonight.
No, right now wasn't the time for drastic decisions.
This was the time for precautions.
And thankfully, he already had an idea that could immediately improve his situation.
The Gacha.
He had already experimented with it once and understood the basics now.
Which meant there was absolutely no reason not to roll again.