POV Peter Parker
"Help!" someone screams in panic, and I swing over to where I heard the sound.
When I arrive, I see a woman pinned up against the wall by a man.
"Didn't your mom ever tell you to respect women?" I quip.
But instead of the usual reactions such as fear, anger, panic, or something else, they freeze. Then the man lets the woman go with a blank stare.
"Uh? Well, thanks? Now go back and rethink your life?" I try to joke, but I was on edge.
"Sorry about this," says the woman with that same blank stare.
"Uh, about what?" I ask, but get ready to run.
"Tricking you. There is no crime here, but I didn't have a choice. I need the Guardian's help," the woman says.
"I'm confused. What is up with you two? And if you needed help, why not just put a light on a cloud?" I ask with confusion.
"I am controlling these two people from a distance, as I cannot risk being seen by those near me. If Shaw suspects I am planning to betray him, he will make sure I suffer for it. While I don't believe he could kill me, I don't dare underestimate him," the woman says.
"Mind Control? Shaw? Okay, this is definitely above my pay grade," I joke.
"Look, I don't love doing this or having to ask for help, but I didn't have much of a choice. Now, can you contact Batman or not?" the woman says.
"No need," Batman says as he appears from nowhere.
"BAH!" I scream in shock.
I hold my chest and breathe heavily.
"How do you keep doing that?!" I complain and genuinely want to know.
"I'm Batman," Batman says simply, as if that just answers everything.
'Should I start saying something similar when someone asks a question like that? Like I'm Spiderman! No, maybe that wouldn't work.'
The woman shows some reaction this time. Her face looked quite surprised as well.
"What do you want, Emma Frost?" Batman asks.
"How could you possibly know that?" the woman asks with confusion.
"There are a handful of Telepaths on the Planet that can control a mind from this far away. I know where the other two are, and they wouldn't use such roundabout methods to contact the Guardians. If you were using magic, then that would change who you are, but since you are using X-Gene-based Telepathy, you must be Emma Frost, CEO of Frost International. A company that is on the verge of bankruptcy," Batman explains calmly.
Even I was surprised by how much he knew. And by the dropped jaw of the mind-controlled woman, I think I wasn't alone.
"Well, it seems the joke about you being the world's greatest detective might have some truth to it," Emma responds.
"What do you want?" Batman asks.
"I want amnesty for any crimes I might have committed while a member of the Hellfire Club. I also want a small sum of cash. In exchange, I will give you everything on Shaw. Including the location of his secret bases across the world and where he keeps his money. I can also give you some incriminating evidence on Wilson Fisk, another member of the Club," Emma offers.
"You mean the only other members of the Hellfire Club," Batman says calmly.
"Uh... Y-Yes, but I do have some limited evidence against former members, but most are already dead or in prison, so there isn't much help I can provide there. But as a sign of good faith, I did turn over that evidence to help those now in prison get there," Emma says.
"Wait, I thought you were in danger or something," I ask.
"Well... Yes, to some extent, I am in danger. Shaw has his people around me, but those are minor; the real danger is the dirt he has on me. Nothing terrible. I have kept a fairly clean nose during my time in the Club. I only joined to make connections and make my company grow faster," Emma replies.
"Any pardons or similar will have to go through the president. If you want to make a deal, you will need to talk to Erik Lehnsherr," Batman replies.
"I know, and I know that Mr President has a vested interest in finding and imprisoning Shaw. But I can't just approach him; I need a proxy or someone who can set up a meeting. Thus, I reached out to the only hero I know of who would be willing to help me even in this situation," Emma says while looking at me.
I looked behind me, but I didn't see anybody. Then I point at myself.
"Fine, I'll set it up, but don't let me catch you mind-controlling anyone else," Batman threatens.
"But how will I contact you?" Emma asks.
"You won't, I'll find you," Batman says before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
'So cool.'
The two people being controlled return to normal, but look around in confusion.
'Well, time to get back to work.'
"Do you need some help?" I ask.
POV Shift Rio
After ending the little meeting with Emma Frost, I pulled up the info I had gathered on Shaw and the Hellfire Club.
"What'cha doin'?" Lucy asks while sitting on the arm of the chair.
"Refreshing what I know about Sebastian Shaw," I reply while giving Lucy a small kiss.
She blushes and looks at the computer.
"Wait, he's older than us?" Lucy says with surprise.
"Yeah, he might be the oldest human on the planet. Or pretty close to it. The oldest records I was able to find are from 1856, where he appeared in a photograph of the soon-to-be President James Buchanan," I say while pulling up the photo.
"He looks pretty old in that photo. How can you be sure it's him?" Lucy asks.
"I've compared it to several other photos he's appeared in, and the computer gave an 89% match. Moreover, he repeats similar situations every so often. He will grow old and then fake his death before reappearing much younger. That being said, I don't think that was his plan, but rather what he had to do. There were limited sources of power he could use to maintain his youth. My investigation has shown that he has been the head of eleven different power companies that all went bankrupt. Each one coincides with the death of one of his identities," I explain.
"Could he have been alive far longer than even that photo?" Lucy asks.
"It's possible. There are a few historical records that could be related to him, but nothing can be proven. Most records from that time have been lost or destroyed. Some might have been destroyed on purpose, but I can't prove that," I reply.
"Why haven't you captured him yet?" Lucy asks.
"I would if I could. But I don't know where he is. The last sighting was in Argentina about 4 months ago. Since then, nothing. And even my Compass can't lead me to him. Which should be impossible for him to do," I say with narrowed eyes.
"Why is that? I thought you said the Compass can't lead you anywhere, not within the same universe?" Lucy asks with genuine confusion.
"Correct, hiding from the Compass alone isn't that hard, especially if you know how it works, but the issue is that from the many versions of Sebastian Shaw I know of, there are very few that know how to utilize magic. And most of those versions are from universes where it makes sense. Such as the Pirate, Morgana, Steampunk, Pony, Muppet, and Medieval versions of our reality. But most of those universes have low technology levels, and that is why he uses magic. Shaw uses technology and his powers, but magic? Only if there were no other options," I explain.
"How many versions of our universe exist?" Lucy asks.
"A lot. Though from what I can tell, our universe is a bit of an outlier. But we still exist within what I call the Marvel Multiverse. And in that Multiverse, there are a lot of different universes. If you count the universes outside our multiverse, then it becomes practically infinite," I comment.
Lucy looks a little confused, but she nods after a moment.
"So how do you think he is hiding from the Compass?" Lucy asks.
"There are a few theories. For one, he could have stumbled upon a pocket dimension and then built a base inside that dimension. Pocket dimensions are rare but not unheard of. Though they usually don't last without someone controlling them or becoming their lord, but it's possible he did that. Another theory is that he got help from a magic user to make his hideaway. This seems unlikely to me, as most magic users are dead, and those that used to exist would be highly unlikely to help Shaw. At best, they are more likely to kill him or try to betray him and steal his power. He could have subjugated a mage, but he could only manage to control a weak mage; others would just flee. And if they are that weak, they can't create a pocket dimension or anything like that. There is also the slim chance that Shaw did all the work himself, and he has truly become a skilled mage, but I highly doubt it. The last theory would be that the pocket dimension isn't Shaw's but rather owned by someone else, and Shaw managed to trick them into letting him stay there," I explain.
"Why do you think he can't be a mage?" Lucy asks with a cute head tilt.
"Selene helped," I answer.
My answer seems to confuse Lucy even more, so I elaborate.
"Selene was left a magic house by a professor who died at some point recently. In that house was a large library which contained books on many different topics, mostly magical. One such book was the Book of Mages. It contains a fairly comprehensive list of all mages that have ever been known to exist and the last recorded information about said mages. It's even enchanted so that if you capture the magic signature of the mage, it records and will be able to tell you when that mage has died. It was from this and the comprehensive records kept by Professor Blood that we have confirmed the deaths of most magic users on Earth and possibly in the Universe. That book, combined with my knowledge, has made me estimate that there are perhaps fewer than 100 magic users in the entire universe. Thus, Shaw being one of them seems highly unlikely," I reply.
"Hmm, can I learn magic?" Lucy suddenly asks.
"Huh?" I ask with confusion.
"Well, you've been teaching Lara, Selene, and Schmendrick how to use magic, so I thought I would ask to join in," Lucy asks.
"Uh... Sure, I don't see why you couldn't. I will say I don't know if you have the potential to become a mage. Lara, Selene, and Schmendrick all have good potential, though, to be honest, only Schmendrick has the potential to become a master wizard," I answer honestly.
Lucy smiles and hugs me before holding my hand with a smile, like a true pervert.