Long Live the Queen [Solo]

It had been several weeks since River gave her life to do the impossible. In the new universe, the main base for the Syndicate had found a new home. Thanks to months of planning, swindling, and dealing, Poseidon had managed to secure the space he needed to literally transplant his operations from one side of the rift to the other. It cost River her life but the sheer magic and power that she was able to accomplish was utterly astonishing. Truly it was an inspiration for all mutant kind. Now, instead of starting all over again, Jorge was going to begin where he left off, more than enough to stomp SUPER into the ground.

Standing in the penthouse of the Sapphire Hotel, her personal quarters, the watermancer took a deep breath, smirking a little to himself. Their worlds were identical but Jorge could taste the difference in the air. It was subtle, of course. Most would argue that it was just a figment of his imagination. Maybe. Jorge wasn’t about to split hares with this idea. All he knew was that he was home and he would have a chance to ensure that he and his people had a chance against the humanities desperate attempt to survive.

Dressed in a suit, sans the jacket, the man with the ivory dress shirt and black slacks sighed as he took a sip from the drink he swirled in his hand. As he did so, he surveyed his new home through the tall, clear windows. Oh this city was just begging to be taken by someone like him. It was defenseless and filled with an oppressed society that was needed a leader. Poseidon was that leader and he believed it with every fiber of his coming.

Come tomorrow, it would be time for them to begin their operations. Soon enough the Syndicate will have it’s grip wrapped tightly around as much as it can get. This would be the beginning of something absolutely beautiful. A sharp smile pulled at his lips, a gratefulness for everything that was coming together. River was...a loss. Truly. But there would be time enough for him to mourn her. And besides, she gave herself for the single, most important cause. Mutants and their supremacy were all that mattered.

Another sip and Jorge sighed. Life was good to those who throttle it.

He turned, heading towards to kitchen to set his glass down and retire to bed when there was the sound of knocking on his door. His eyebrow perched in confusion. His guards knew better than to knock on his door unless there was something of dire importance. Briefly he wondered if there was something he needed to worry about and made for the door. Grabbing it by the handle, he pulled it open…

He blinked at the visage that awaited him. A woman, a little older than him, much shorter and with a sickly grin on her lips. Her raven hair cascaded down either side of her face and her eyes contained all the malevolence of a viper. He was dressed in a simple, darkly colored pant suit, a pristine white button-up shirt underneath. Casually she wiped the corners of her lips and sighed as she looked him over. Jorge didn’t see the look she gave him at first, but instead glanced at the splotches of crimson upon the lapels of her shirt.

Another glance and the two guards that were usually at his door lay dead on the ground, one having clawed at his face and the other bleeding profusely from the neck. Shaking his head, Jorge turned his gaze back to the woman, grumbled under his breath and opened the door wider for her to enter.

”Jayda…” he sighed in greeting. ”...you’re supposed to be dead.”

”And you, dear brother, are supposed to be in another universe,” she grinned, watching as he closed the door behind her. ”And yet, here we are.”

Jorge rolled his eyes, closing and locking the door. Jayda Cervantes, his wicked sister, was supposed to be dead. Actually there was a time where he thought she was dead, hence leading him to the life he led now. But a few years ago, Jayda had revealed herself as living this whole time and came to him wanting a cut of the action. She was bloodthirsty and psychotic...and brilliant. He couldn’t risk her being in the operation so he paid her a rather large salary to stay in Europe, in their home universe. And yet, here she was, crossing the border and now invading his newest venture.

Shaking his head he moved past her, marching towards the kitchen. He needed a new drink now. ”You didn’t have to kill my people,” he said with a grumble.

”You mean...your pet humans?”

Another shake of his head. ”You were always so unyielding in your ideals,” he smirked. Pouring her a drink he slid it across the counter to where she appeared, waiting. As she took it up, she sipped and he turned to his own drink.

”Without ideals, we’re no better than they are.” she purred, taking another satisfying drink.

Poseidon just shook his head. ”Well, I know you didn’t just come here to discuss moralities, sister,’ He opened a drawer, pulling out a check book. ”Let me guess, you’ve run out of playmates and glittering things over seas? Want to take your hand at the debauchery this world has to offer? Or are you just giving me your forwarding address so you can keep getting paid in a new universe?”

Jayda sighed heavily and purred, shaking her head.. ”Oh, mi hermano…” she sighed patronizingly. ”...you can’t pay off everyone. No, you misunderstand.” She stepped away, swirling her glass of scotch and peering around the large penthouse. ”I’m not here for a pay off. I’m not some leech, suckling at your blood.” She paused, smirking at the irony of her statement. ”No, Jorge, I’m here to become a useful member of the organization!”

With an eyebrow arched, Jorge stared at his older sister for the longest time. The only greater mutant supremacist than himself was Jayda, but she also was a bit more wild than he was. That was why he had sent her off. He needed subtlety in the organization, not the madness that Jayda could incur. So, after a second, the man snorted and shook his head.

”That’s a bit out there,” he said with a sigh. ”So that’s what this is?” he asked, moving out of the kitchen and making his way to the window that looked out over the new, and yet familiar, city. ”A job interview?”

Jayda footfalls were silent as she stepped up next to Jorge, wrapping her arm around his shoulder (no easy feat considering how much smaller she was by comparison). ”Uumm…something like that.” She replied.

Poseidon sighed. He looked at her reflection and then back to the window to look outside. The city was sprawling. He had his plans, for each and every section. He didn’t want to jeopardize any of it, especially not by giving Jayda a role. Hrm, he guessed he could pretend to think about it and buy himself some time. Jayda was...flighty. She constantly changed her mind and there was every chance that she would forget about this and simply go off on her own without giving it a second thought. A few days in the hotel shouldn’t hurt too much. Surely he could figure a distraction for her.

A gave her reflection a slight smile the lifted the drink to his lips. A small sip followed before he spoke. ”I’ll...see what I can arrange. Give me a few days?” he asked. He looked at her reflection. She was smirking, staring at him, but not talking. After a moment passed, Jorge turned to look at her directly...and found that she wasn’t there. Her reflection was, but she wasn’t. As his mind quickly made the connections, his eyes widened as he spun -- but it was too late. ”SH*T...URK!!!”

The fangs dug deep into his neck. Jayda was behind him, psionic fangs digging deep into his flesh and spilling his blood into her mouth. She tightened her grip as Jorge flailed, trying to untangle her from him. When he finally gained some sense of who he was, he quickly began to melt down, turning into water, but he only managed to disengage from her before he felt a sharp pang in his head and immediately reverted him back to his human form. Jorge fell to his knee, holding his neck and limping back.

Jayda, meanwhile, just sighed and smiled as she stood above him. ”Silly man...” she cooed. ”...did you really think I was going to let you be the ****-of-the-Walk for much longer? You’ve done an okay job getting the cause forward, but you seem to lack the conviction to take us all the way there. You use humans, you pay off humans, you need to be ruling them.” She sighed, watching Jorge as he struggled to put distance between them. He kept trying to shift into water but his efforts were fruitless as every time he tried, a sharp migraine knocked him back to his natural state. ”You can stop trying that too…” she said. ”My psionic bolts will keep you pinned…” she knelt down in front of him. They had made their way to the kitchen. ”Like a bug on display. You’re not going anywhere, baby brother.”

She sighed as she advanced. She knew well enough where to bite him, the exact spot that would eventually lead to a bleed out. Oh but she wouldn’t let that happen, not yet.

”You see, I’ve been dismantling your organization for months now. Missing shipments, members vanishing from your employ, I even handled that piece of mutant *** that you were lending out to clients. Stephanie, that was her name. You’ll be happy to know,” she teased, ”that she and her sweet little cherub of a daughter are enjoying the time of their lives now, away from you. Not that I care. Honestly, I could ground the child into bone meal and keep her mother as a personal plaything, but...I knew just how much it would piss. You. off.”

Jorge could feel his life fading. The blood was spilling out of the gaping wound she had left on his throat. He gulped, still trying to put distance, trying to get to something, anything that could help. He struggled onto his feet, leaning back, weakly, against the kitchen counter, his hand blindly reaching back for anything to give him the advantage. If there was one thing he knew about his sister...she loved to monologue.

Jayda licked her lips and cooed again. ”Mmm, tasty. You see, my powers have grown. By tasting your blood, I get all your memories.” He grinned. ”I know exactly what you know, including how to run this organization and how to turn it into the lean, mean, human-grinding machine it needs to be.” She then paused, stroking her chin. ”And...with that…” he grinned wide. ”...I guess that means there’s no room for you.”

Closing the gap, the she-devil sighed as she leaned up next to Jorge, her lips near his ear as she muttered softly. Jorge gulped, feeling more life fading from him. It took him a moment but, eventually, he managed to zero in on the words that she whispered to him.

”Poseidon’s time is done…” she said. ”...long live Hera.”

”F-F-F***...you…”

She gave a hardy cackle and moved to deliver the final bite.

An arch of silver caught the air. Jayda hissed, feeling the slash of a kitchen knife cut across her chest and sending a spike of pain throughout her body. With a growl of disbelief she touched her palm to the wound and immediately snapped her eyes back to her brother. But all she saw was him shifting back into liquid, going for the drain. But she wouldn’t make it easy. Her hands snapped outward, curled into claws as she immediately caught him with her psionic grip. Painfully she held on, until, finally, she swept outward with both arms and scattered the droplets of water to all corners of the room. Water tinged with blood lay everywhere and Jayda sighed. She stood there, catching her breath and rolling her neck. There was nothing left of Poseidon now. Stepping away from the mess, she would call room service to come up with a dry cleaner to steam everything before her brother had a chance to reform.

”****er,” she grumbled. ”Let’s see how you come back from a good steam.”

As Jayda grumbled at the mess of water, she didn’t notice the small, insignificant amount that slunk weakly into the sink and down the drain.