Edmund was tired, annoyed, aching, and damn glad to be back home. Carter Howard was dead, though the bastard hadn't gone quietly. After his trip down south, Edmund was going to get a change of clothes and call in to Minnie and Julian that the job was done. Edmund hadn't anticipated someone was already waiting for him in the room. Eddie was about to use his powers when the voice said: "I wouldn't." Eddie heard the click of safety's being taken off. How the hell did a bunch of guys with guns sneak into his room!?
"Who the hell are you and what do you want?"
The man took out a cigarette and lit it. "Who I am isn't important, who I represent is. I believe you're familiar with Mr. Delacroix?"
Edmund stopped whatever comeback he'd been preparing upon hearing that name. The man was a fairly minor New York Congressman. At least, that's what he had most people believing. "What does he want with me?"
"Not you, Mr. Leland, your boss. My employer's people have informed him that the Hellfire Club's been looking into things regarding the upcoming election. Mr. Delacroix finds this..disconcerting. He dislikes outside figures involving themselves in his arena of influence. He had an arrangement with the late Sebastian Shaw, but felt that perhaps Mr. Gallo will stick to his own affairs. The situation must be corrected."
"Gallo? Julian Howard runs the Club now, there's no Gallo in it." Edmund knew there was little point in lying or bluffing these people.
The man across from him just smiled. "It matters little what your king calls himself. Mr. Delacroix desires a meeting, a new agreement drawn up. I suggest you make you this known."
Edmund was getting pissed off. He knew Delacroix's rep, the guy was a political boogyman that made the CIA look upfront in comparison. "Are you threatening me? Are you threatening my friends? Because I can promise you and your boss that won't go over well."
The man causally removes a folder from his jacket and slings it across the nearby table. Edmund picks it up and his eyes widen. In it were documents of of all sorts of under the table agreements the Howards had ran run over the years, including less than legal ones. Behind those was made Edmund begin to clench his teeth. There was a photo of Minnie along with a complete dossier detailing her involvement with the Howard family as well as her status as a mutant. Finally there was a another photo of a young boy standing next to a tall pale woman. Edmund knew them instantly, the boy was Julian, the woman was his mother. Attached to the photo were doctors' tests, including parental DNA.
"How the fu..?
"Again Mr. Leland the 'how' isn't important. What is is this: If your 'king'," the man says the title with the amount of respect one would say "shit". "doesn't cooperate completely with us, the documents will be exposed to the media, this intelligence on your friend goes straight to the L.O.H.N., and these paternity tests are on a one-way trip to Genosha. Are we clear?"
For a moment Edmund is deadly quiet before speaking. "What's to stop me from just killing you here."
The man gulps, but continues. "These are just copies, Mr. Delacroix has the real ones. Even so, you'd find these copies are far more sophisticated than your average forgery. Kill us and it all goes out. There's no reason we can't be civil, but we also want your boss to understand just who he'd be fucking with if he chooses not to cooperate with us. You can keep these copies, we'e got others."
The men calmly made their exit, leaving Edmund alone in his room. Edmund breathes heavily, holding back his anger. He quickly dials the number on his cellphone and hopes the other line is there.
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