The United Republic of Venezuela (CVnU Location)

@mercy_:

The Illuminati, blood-blooded clique, or a simple circle of friends, the Mutant Monarch had propelled himself from a mere slave, into a member of those aforementioned words, from a simple slave to a humble king, to a loveless genius, to a luck struck fool, there were many ways one could describe the Mutant Maestro; many ways to study him.

And today, perhaps, was one of the most important of his professional career within Venezuela.

An international press conference scheduled to last precisely one hour, and fifteen minutes long.

Why had the King of Mutant king been so adamant with time keeping?

For he was a busy man, and Mercy Sheridan -- A long time friend of the mutant, and affiliated, and in love with, his best friend. Was coming to visit. This took priority.

"Interview over, King Xenon -- FOX News appreciates your time,"

With a modest bow, the Shadow Sorcerer, dressed within a bespoken black suit, a traditional orange garment laced across of his left side and a powerful, and somewhat peculiar orange tie to match. A golden watch on his right wrist, and a stern gaze upon his face.

What had Miss Sheridan needed from him this day?

Upon cue, the conference was completed at exactly one hour and fifteen minutes, and on cue, Xenon stepped forth from the interview room, dropping the orange garb, and perfectly stepped in front of the Sanguine without warning -- Having planned the entire encounter.

"Mercy," a small, respectful inclination of the head was given to the woman, and a warm smile overtook his staunch features. "It has been far, far too long. Please, follow me," modestly addressing a long-time friend with delicate care, his right palm absently sought to press against her back and direct her through to a more secluded area, casting a quick, succinct gaze over his shoulder, checking if nobody had followed, and they hadn't.

The two entered a room, like a meeting room one would find in Avalon, save for a more lavish decor. Draped with exotic art and festooned along the walls with weaponry and fabrics, he moved to one side, and offered her the other side, setting himself down with the poise, and calmness of a king.

"This is the Prime Ministers official meeting area, I reserved it for us." He chuckled. "I missed you, Mercy. How have you been, how is Andres?" And how is the baby? He withheld, Andres had told Xandra about the child, and Xandra, had told Xenon. He wondered if Mercy was aware the Mutant Monarch had such knowledge.

@warsman:

"Mango?" Xenon inquired, stepping into his public briefing room, "no my friend, not at hand," he chuckled, "Who are you?"

@mercy_: @xenon_: HOLY SHOOT! You got Mercy writing! :D

@the_psyentist: You can tell you've moved up in the world when Mercy requests to RPG with you :P

@xenon_: Yeah. xD Especially when she's so busy.

@the_psyentist: What can I say? I'm amazing xP

@matthew_q_hardwell:

"Sir, there has been a sighting within the outer-areas of the country, agent Concrete has been dispatched to deal with it"

With a little chuckle, Xenon walked towards his balcony, taking in the soft air as he peered outside, watching the orb, and his eyes widened slightly as it flew towards him, manifesting a telekinetic barrier to halt it's advance, it merely crashed and left a single label in view. ''Hardwell Industries.'' Raising an eyebrow, it was placed into his mind, and would be looked into later, for now, however, he had other matters, he stepped back into his room...

@xenon_:

Raijin has no interest in hearing the word "no" and scowls at the Venezuelan king. He crosses his legs and starts to float in midair, incredibly bored all of a sudden.

"Who am I? Who are you?"

@xenon_

█ Meanwhile in the art hall. █
█ Seconds after the event. █

The young Duke of Corwall, used the distraction provided by his experimental craft to sneak up into the palace. While inside he immediately noticed the utter architectonic beauty that seeped from the building, every picture that adorned the walls was a masterpiece, every of it's countless decorations had it's place. Truly a majestic sight to behold, but he was not there for sightseeing.

Humming, he swaggered towards the main hall where the king resides. The contrast between his punkish attire and the modern architecture was unbearable, guards could've spotted him from miles away. Luckily they had other matters to attend. The Prodigy stops in his tracks, for he can feel an attraction and looking to his left he saw the source: the Great Hall of Art, but the point of origin was not a statue or a painting, no, it came from an old, yet maintained piano sitting infront of the window. It had lured the Duke's young mind to it's seat. He elegantly moves up to the keyboard and sits down. With a crack of his fingers he let's his passion roam. Free at last, his play echoes through the great palace floor. He was damned to attract some attention, but in the heat of the moment he shows no concern...

@matthew_q_hardwell: All of me --_--

@xenon_: Don't blame me, senpai. ‎(ﾉಥ益ಥ）ﾉ ┻━┻

A Mercy post!

You're welcome I am so cool :P

@xenon_:

Hahahaha. I laughed when I saw he was playing it.

@cutthroatbitch: I don't see a Mercy post for you :o

@the_psyentist: I couldn't think of another piano related song, so my inner gay suggested this.

@matthew_q_hardwell: Bahahahaha!!

@xenon_: v_v

You know, you're....

@cutthroatbitch: Of course you don't care, that's why you haven't got a post.

People are getting excited about me posting?!? Now I know I really fell out of the game :(

We missed you :P

@cutthroatbitch: <3 <3 <3

@mercy_: You should let me terrorize you. And start slacking! Gosh! All you formally responsible people are making me look like probably the worst student we have around here...judging by conventions such as studying, non-procrastination, and doing everything in a timely manner.

@xenon_: :D

You know I'm open to terrorizing lol. All we've gotta do is work out a good story for it. Pfffft, I still am slacking lol. I owe two other posts with Natalia. And I'm the queen of procrastination, so don't worry about it.

I won't....

@xenon_:

Due to habit, she had arrived several minutes early, and had waited patiently as the King of Venezuela finished up his press conference. The audio had been piped into the room that they had settled her in, and she had casually taken note of the flair and aplomb that he possessed while handling the media, while still maintaining that relatable humble air about him.

"About to have that meet with Xenon, will be home soon, mon amour ♥"

Shooting off the quick text, Mercy slid the sleek black customized iPhone 5s into the pocket of her jeans and followed Xenon as he lead her to the decadent meeting room as she respectfully inclined her head in return.

"I see that they're sparing no expense," she joked, gracing him with a rare genuine smile. She was used to putting on airs and assuaging the worries and tension of others with a well-placed word or gesture. When you lived your life in the upper echelon, others were constantly looking to you for reassurance. There were few people who understood the aspects of the life that she lead, and even fewer who she felt at ease with. None so much as Andres and Valerie, but Xenon was one of the rare few who saw true and unfettered aspects of her personality.

"I've missed you, and Venezuela." She cast a gaze out the window, which afforded an exemplary view of the city. "It's remarkable what's been done here, I can't commend you enough for it."

She settled herself into a sumptuously upholstered chair and casually crossed one leg over the other, allowing herself to be at ease. "Andres and I have been doing better than ever. The island has been idyllic bliss. Eternally warm weather, white sand beaches, temperate ocean waters...it's a paradise. And to be able to have him back...it's a gift that I'll treasure always." None had paid witness to the distress, turmoil, and heartbreak that Mercy had experienced in the wake of Andres's 'death' moreso than Val. There had been nights spent weeping in her arms, even as Mercy moved forward with her life and the pain lessened. But Xenon...if anybody else had felt even a semblance of the pain Mercy had, it was Xenon and Cassius, and that unique emotion had created somewhat of a kinship.

"Unfortunately, pleasantries and exchanges are not why I'm here today. We've known each other too long for me to muddy this with pretenses or false airs. The attempted usurping of the Hellfire Club dynasty has come to my attention. I was...surprised to find your name among those named to its courts, and as White King, no less." The very position that Andres, his dearest friend, held. "What are your intentions with this, mon ami?" She laced her fingers together and cupped them over a knee, painting a picture of studied casual elegance.

@mercy_: I felt sad thinking of Andres dying just there >.< Powerful post!

Interesting.

@xenon_: It almost makes me wanna do a one-off blog post of how she dealt with it

@mercy_: Likewise. LOL xP It's really cool.

^ :3

@mercy_:

"There is no expense too much, for friends," he smiled, an honest smile from an honest man, at least, superficially. Xenon, as most in this rather turbulent world, had to deceive to survive. He had tried to live a good, honest life, but honestly... Only got a man so far, in truth.

"Thank you, Mercy. Venezuela if not the most habitable location for the human," referring to how they were killed, if caught in the country, for simply being human. "It is, a Utopia for mutants."

His eyes glazed a little in thought, and then darkened, his pain and suffering from the loss of Andres Knightfall, his best, and true friend, had sent the King into a very strange spate of depression.

Instead of mourning, he had switched his emotions off - Via the appropriately gifted Quantum Brain which the A-Lister had given him, it had given him solace from the distress...

....Yet it was temporary, and once the emotions emerged, the pain drove him into a self-forced isolation for a number of months, contemplating how he had let his best friend fall. "The return of Andres Knightfall is the most precious gift life has ever given us, my dear, your husband is the greatest man I have ever known." And they were true, simplistic words. They were honest. They were heartfelt, and frank. "When Andres died, I almost sought you out... But I couldn't bring myself to leave Venezuela, that man is like my brother, and I felt the loss.. As a brother, I apologize for not being there when you needed me, Mercy."

He let out a little sigh, knowing the next course of affairs. "Andres taught me pragmatism, at least, refined me. I learnt that through action, or inaction, I may cause great upset. My new love, and personal Queen, white or otherwise, Dr Steele, wanted me to fund her new Hellfire Club," he gulped, and then sighed, his eyes misty. "This goes against Valerie, whom you know is one of my friends," Xenon glanced back up. "Xandra would have gone ahead with this regardless. At least with me at the helm of the ship, I can try and avert disaster." Xenon smiled.

"Plus... Mercy, you know I haven't been in love before. Dr Steele is the first woman to have stolen my heart... I've longed for companionship, for a partner. And she was there. Beautiful, intelligent, you name it. Andres once loved her, and he would not love a woman lightly, I done the most practical thing, Mercy. I hope you understand."

@xenon_: Mercy caught the stark pain present in his eyes, that he attempted to obscure from his features, and she saw through to the center of it. That knowledge was only confirmed with his apology. Her own eyes darkened for a moment. She had him back, Catriona had him back, but that didn't erase the pain that his absence had brought.

She had never believed him truly dead. She knew his capabilities, his genius, his mind, all too well to believe that anything could truly kill him permanently, to believe that anything could erase his presence from all planes of existence. Mercy hadn't given voice to that belief, not even to Valerie. She knew that if anybody would have supported the notion that the majority of the world would have condemned as no less than delusional, it was Val - and she was perhaps realizing that Xenon would have, as well - but no, that was the one thing in her life she had kept from Valerie.

"No apologies necessary, there's nothing to forgive for what happened after he left us. We all deal with grief in our own ways."

Sighing, Mercy took in his words, fearing that this was more serious, and a more potent situation than she had initially believed it to be. "The pragmatic realization of this, Xenon, is that sooner or later, the Hellfire Club and those who seek to usurp it are going to come to blows. Whether they are behind closed doors, or it is all out war, surely there is no other conclusion. The Dark Hellfire Club was created for the express purpose of usurping the positions of the already-established Hellfire Club, and Alexandra Steele is nothing if not ambitious. Recklessly so, apparently."

Mercy had no ill will towards the Psyentist, at least not personally in regards to the shared history between her and Andres. The dissatisfaction and ill content harbored by her was over the attempted power play that was currently being constructed and played out before her very eyes. Mercy was no stranger to power plays and to backroom dealings. They had been her bread and butter alongside Valerie as the ruled the Upper East Side. But this was at an entirely different level.

"This goes against Andres." Her tone was quiet as she spoke, but filled with impassioned anger. Not just Valerie, not just her. Her beloved would never voice his ill opinion of this, not to anybody's face, perhaps not even hers. But there was an essential understanding between the two of them, an inherent connection. It was what lead them so easily from simply being friends who occasionally slept together, to the realization that it was useless to fight against what seemed to be fated. This was something that he would brush off with a joke, or as a non-issue, but she knew that it affected him deeper than that. Andres wouldn't speak his anger on this issue, not to Xenon, but Mercy was more than happy to step in and do so for both herself and her beloved.

"I'm happy for you, that you've found love, that you've seemingly found happiness. I find it perhaps a bit worrisome that one of the first things she wanted from you was funding to allow her to initiate this war, an attempted coup that puts both of you in the line of fire - both literally and figuratively speaking. Perhaps she would have gone through with it either way, perhaps not. But regardless of that, you're the one who lit the flame with your finances. There's rationale behind attempting to avert disaster - or even lessen it. But it's naive to believe that you will be able to avoid it outright, when the express purpose of the establishment is to usurp the previous Inner Court. That's not magically going to change."

Her brow furrowed with slight irritation as he relayed his emotions to her, explaining. "I hope you understand what's been ignited here. Because it's not just some love. And I don't want to take away from what you're feeling, and what you're experiencing, if that's what this truly is. But you must understand the repercussions that your actions have. Yes, Andres did love her once, and no he does not love lightly. That does not give the world blanket approval for loving Alexandra, and excuse or smooth away the actions done in the name of love, or the betrayals committed." She shook her head slightly while momentarily pursing her lips.

"I understand the merits of love and companionship. And I intimately understand the merits of finally finding the person who lets you be the best version of you, who...completes you. I never understood what any of those things were before Andres. He's the person who allows me to be the best version of myself, who compliments my flaws and my weaknesses with his strengths, the same as I do for him. I don't think that there's anything I wouldn't do for him, Xenon, and I hope that's what you genuinely feel towards Alexandra because you're coming very, very close to burning bridges irreparably. The beauty of what Andres and I have is that he would never ask that of me. He would never ask me to betray those I love and care for, he would never ask me to betray my own morals. He would never ask me to put myself in the position that you have put yourself in. So truly, I hope that it's worth it. Because if it's not..." She let the sentence trail off, hanging in the air. Oh, how emotions were so useless to her. They whirled in a frenzy. Suspicion, hope, happiness for Xenon, but they were all cut with the knowledge that a war truly was looming over them. The life that she lived had never been one conducive to idyllic and serene existence, as this so easily reminded her. She should have known that wouldn't last, it was silly to believe that it would.

"For everybody's sake, I hope this works out the way that you were planning. But Xenon...I also hope you know that sooner or later, a time will come where you will have to choose a side, and live with that decision." Her tone was soft as she finished, and imbued with sympathetic understanding of his plight. But that understanding, and the fondness she felt for him, didn't cloud her pragmatism.

@mercy_:

"Dr Alexandra Steele is reckless, there is no denying that. However, had I taken Valerie's side, had I taken Dr Steele side or had I taken a natural stance, the consequences would be the same -- As you mentioned, Mercy. There will come a time that fighting will be forced upon us all. I am forced with a type of impasse, if you will." Looking out towards the window, he was a little unsure how to continue, this was a very difficult task, a difficult challenge.

"There is no way Dr Steele would have given up her plans, if not me funding it, Mercy, somebody else would have. My Queen is ambitious, and not just that, she is... Manipulative, I have no doubt she would have found another benefactor, this much is certain," he paused, reflecting on his words and actions, wondering just how far he was personally willing to go. "I cannot avert disaster yet I can mitigate it. Inaction is the worst form of action, at least in this instance. I can do more at the forefront of the Hellfire Club than I can, here, in the safety of Venezuela." Xenon paused, and looked her in the eyes.

"You may not understand, nor be willing to understand, but... I am doing this for you, Andres, Valerie, all of you. I cannot sit idly by, and allow not only my love, but my friends, to fight, without trying to push back both sides. I will personally facilitate as much peace as possible. There is no side picking here, at least, not in the typical sense. I will pick the action which will cause the least harm, to myself, my loved ones, and the world....

... If Dr Steele ignites my ire, I will retract my funding for the Hellfire Club, and pull back my guards stationed there. I have the funding and resources to shut the establishment down -- Forever. Trust me," he reclined back, resting. "I will do my best to stop disaster, and if not, I will be sleep better knowing I tried, that much is certain. I have lived a short, if not weary life. I'm tired of fighting, tired of seeing my friends fight, and die. There is much evil within the Dark Hellfire Club, more so than the original, authentic club, as you would say. There is a saying, which, not explicitly could be applied here, but partially...

....Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer, Mercy." He paused.

"I just hope that isn't why you are here, and I hope, that statement never applies to yourself, and I."

@mercy_: @xenon_:

Damn now i cant torture Mercy shes bros with Xen

@xenon_: Will get to this soon, having dinner in a moment.

@mercy_: No rush, been fun so far :)

@xenon_:

Raijin takes some mangos and leaves, having put his fingerprints on all of Xenon's bathroom mirrors.

FLATTERER!

@warsman: Oh shit, I missed that. Sorry! I'll reply when I get on Xenon.

@pyrogram:

@xenon_:

"Oh, there's no doubt that she would have, mon ami. But the difference is that you wouldn't have been involved. You're a grown man, you're a king; I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I have any sway over you, or any pull. You've chosen your course of action, as was your prerogative.But it was your choice all the same. And your assurances that you give, I believe that they are what you believe, but I perhaps do not have the faith and optimism that you do that it would be enough to truly cripple the Dark Hellfire Club. And I know how swaying love can be, so I do truly hope that if it comes to that, you do your best by us. You're a noble man, Xenon, and an altruistic one. However pragmatic you may be, that is what lies at your core. And while it can be a pro, in many cases it is also the con that will get you killed, especially when coupled with fond sentiment for somebody.

This would be less frustrating, and less upheaval-inducing if he was power hungry. If he was not the innately good man that he was, even if swayed by a misplaced sense of altruism and the newfound emotion of love. It would have been far easier for the Sanguine to sit here and level pure logic at him, and lay down the facts as simply as she could. But he viewed what he was doing to be for the betterment of all, and there was simply no arguing with that.

"I've never viewed you as an enemy, Xenon, and I have no plan to ever do so. Because no matter how pragmatic Andres may be, either him or myself being forced to take action against you would be a blow to him. I would never willingly bring him any hurt, it would be like intentionally bringing hurt to myself. But I need to be very clear here." She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "If the two factions go to war, and you make legitimate moves against me or mine...that will be a very clearly burned bridge. I know that you have no intention of doing that. You are a good, trusted friend of this family, and have never been anything but to us. But this new faction, it's powerful, and they have weight behind them. Weight, influence, finances and firepower. Nothing that my faction doesn't have, and in spades, but enough that a true war would be detrimental to both. And I don't pull my punches when it comes to war." The last was said solemnly as the flashes of the last seconds of Stark's life played before her eyes, eliciting no emotional response whatsoever.

Non-Judging Breakfast Club FTW

@mercy_: Possesses...

@mercy_: Beautiful ;)

@rafael_romeiro: Merci, mon amour <3

@inner_demon: NOPE

@valerie_huntington:

@mercy_: LMAO that is the perfect depiction of the four of them. Nate looks worried they're all about to do something immoral. Serena looks like she already did something immoral and doesn't want anyone finding out. Chuck looks like he can't wait for everyone to find out about the immoral thing he did. And Blair looks like she's looking for a reason to do something immoral.

God I love them.