Existence erasure. Admittedly, none of them knew enough about it to know what it actually meant. The nuances were lost on them. So when they experienced it the second time, panic was all they felt.
All they had been thinking of was implications about what Isaac was selling and what it would do to the outside world and never once did they stop to consider the implications of Isaac himself.
They did not understand what existence erasure meant, but they were slowly understanding the implications of it.
Natasha Romanoff. THE Black Widow. They just saw her being reinstated from a marble and then being uninstalled in the next second. Their brain lagged for a moment as if someone finally pressed 'play' on it with the instant buffer it experienced, and then skipped a few circles of reasoning as it cut up to the latest frame as if someone increased the resolution.
"N-Natasha…"
"See," Isaac pointed at a stunned Yelena, "Exactly what I mean by influence. Now should we talk prices, or should I give you a minute?"
He knew what he was doing, they all realized. From the beginning, all he had been doing was spinning a yarn that led to this moment – An exchange. A trade.
He was still playing the Merchant bit.
"… Give us a minute." Ororo finally said, needing a breather after the latest revelation.
None of them felt like staying inside the shop, not after what they've just seen, and quickly left. Their brain hit a hard reset as soon as they stepped outside and breathed in that contaminated New York air.
Yelena started hyperventilating while Mystique had a classic 'oh shit' expression. Ororo looked serene, if not for the crease on her brows that showed just how much she was affected by this. This has long gone past what the three of them could handle.
"What… What the hell is that man?" Yelena wheezed as she finally got her breathing under a semblance of control.
"A reality warper, most likely." Mystique replied, finally losing the amused mask for good.
"Wait what?" Yelena looked astounded. "I thought those were purely theoretical? No X-gene could have grown that strong, can it?"
"How would we know?" Mystique countered. "It's the only explanation I have for what he just did. It's not like anyone knows the limitations of the X-gene."
"Is he even a mutant?" Ororo found herself asking. She was not a sensor like the Professor or Jean but she doubted he was one. It was probably because of how easily he alluded to magic.
"Does it even matter?" Mystique scoffed derisively. "What? Were you thinking of giving him a recruitment spill?"
"How does one even begin to fight someone that can erase your entire existence?" Yelena found herself asking, partly out of paranoia, but stopped when she saw the weird looks they were giving her. "What?"
"Why are you thinking of fighting?" Mystique questioned in disbelief. After getting parts and parcels of her memories about the (real)Black Widow, she had been constantly trying and failing to reconcile the fact that she thought Yelena was somewhat of a rival all this while.
"What? Do you really expect me to believe that we're just going to let a reality warper in a pawnshop do what he wants without oversight?"
"By oversight, I'm guessing you mean interrogation." Ororo questioned rhetorically, weathering the dead stare from Yelena with belaying ease. "And you won't stop and think for a second about the same 'interrogation' Natasha and Barton carried out that got them erased?"
"And what do you suggest we do then, huh?!" Yelena half screamed at Ororo as she was the only one feeling the mental uprooting of having a sister she never had. Natasha was supposed to be the one in her place, was supposed to be living her life, and yet she had lived a whole life without anyone named Natasha only to remember that she lived half a life with one. In a way, it felt worse than what the Red Room ever did.
"We treat him like he has been treating us – politely. And besides, he's made it clear that he is a Merchant and that any interaction between us will have us either buying or selling something." People, her mind reminded her, people. She sighed mentally.
The fact that Isaac was incredibly willing to talk was a huge weight off their chests. It was almost never this smooth when it came to dealing with other people with powers.
Fortunately for them however, the bigger decisions weren't theirs to make. Ororo would be reporting this to the Professor the instant she returned to the mansion, same with Mystique to Magneto and Yelena to Nick Fury.
.
...…
[The X-Mansion]
"This is unprecedented." Charles said with a thoughtful frown on his face. "And how certain are we that he is not an alien or something else?"
"I don't know." Ororo truthfully answered, nursing a cup of tea in her hands. "All I can say is that he is really powerful, Charles. I haven't seen anything like it. Not with the ease with which he did it."
"So we don't really know if he's a reality warper." Logan said. "So what? We got a guy that can just hit the snooze button on people? Gotta be fun at a rave."
"What he is doesn't matter in this scenario, Logan, what matters is what he says he is. As well as the fact that we don't have to fight a pointless fight for one. We already figured out where the cures are coming from, the only thing left is how we decide to approach Isaac."
"But you just said he's selling people—"
"That broke his rules."
"That doesn't make it any more sensible, or acceptable."
"It doesn't. But the tradeoff is being polite, I believe that is a bar we can manage." She said with a tone of finality.
The room fell silent as they all watched Ororo act slightly differently than her normally reserved self.
"If you want to say something, by all means, say it." She said as she put down her cup.
"It's just that's it's a little bit strange, seeing you defend someone this questionable this strongly." Jean responded softly.
"You wouldn't understand." Ororo simply said.
.
...….
Mystique had wasted no time in returning to Magneto and the Brotherhood after her little confirmation excursion.
Getting Eric's attention from whatever he was doing was easy enough and she wasted no time in getting to gist of it, just so she could drop everything at his feet and skedaddle along the way.
Unfortunately, that was a pipe dream.
If anything, she could almost feel the familiar tremble of his excitement as he listened to her speak. It wasn't that she couldn't understand the reason for his excitement. A neutral broker, possibly alien, one that was powerful enough to remain neutral, with possibly a wide array of goods to trade with.
She could see it. She could see the advantages and the possibilities it opened up, but she could also see the flip side. The chaos.
Words of a possible cure almost drove them to premature action. One could only imagine what would happen if the Merchant, as he called himself, remained truly neutral. This was a scenario where no one came out on top, except the Merchant with his profits and his particular brand of chaos. This was beyond sinister, or it would be, and the worst part about it all was that it was premeditated.
The Merchant only cared about selling things but couldn't just be it. Tgere had to be something else he was gaining from it.
The way she saw it, the more people knew about the shop, the more it would spiral into automated chaos, why? Because the damned man would sell to ANY body. They literally saw a high school student walk in and walk out of the shop with who knows what.
"It looks like I will have to pay this Isaac a visit."
Mystique rolled her eyes. "As long as you're on your best behavior. I don't have the amount of bail money for whatever sort of jail time that is."
He glared at her but she just slinked one leg over the other. If none of them wanted to see the big bold red sign on whatever this was about to become, then the least she could do was keep making a joke about it until it starts blowing up in their faces.
"While we're at it, are you guys coordinating outfits? You and Fury can rock the coat and cape but I don't think Xavier can. Mobility issues, you know."
"Your jokes are getting distasteful by the day, Mystique." He chided.
"Good. It means you can still identify humor. At least when this whole thing blows you'll see the 'I told you so' coming from afar." She said and got up to leave. "Eric, whatever you do, don't be foolish. Let them give whatever speech and regulations they want to give."
"Raven–"
"Just don't be stupid, Eric." She said as she walked out of the door. "I really don't got bail money."
The door slowly closed behind her as she left, leaving Magneto to his thoughts as the room fell into silence.
.
... …
Back at Junk 'N Stuff, a few minutes after the women left, the door swung open as a man in a hooded cape walked in.
"And good day to you, my good sir." Isaac said, looking up from his book the moment the man came into view. "What can I help you with today?"
The man came to a stop in front of the counter and shared a look with Isaac before reaching into the flaps of his coat and bringing out a dark lump that he placed between them.
"Hooh, now this is a pleasant surprise, a chunk of pristine refined vibranium. That's quite a lot on budget cuts." Isaac whistled as his glowing eyes scammed the stone. "I'm guessing you don't want what's on the shelves if you're spending this much?"
The figure finally spoke. "You assume correctly, shoppe keeper."
"Well then, don't leave me in suspense. What can I hook you up with?"
"My need is the procurement of an artifact that will allow me safe travels, to and from a Hellish dimension. The quality is a guarantee, I presume."
Isaac smiled. "Only the best. And since we are going for the top shelves, let me roll out these ones for you."
—Necromancer's Gate Ring (Diablo): An infernal ring fit for those that dabble in arts of disembodied souls crafted with the ability to open controlled portals to the demon realm (or realms, depending on which one you know).
While it obviously requires mana to do so, in case you are short on this crucial life juice, there is another alternative… you guessed it, souls.
The look, or rather the shift, of the man's masked face showed his dissatisfaction but Isaac remained unperturbed, even growing more ecstatic.
—Perfect Amulet (Devil May Cry): The combined parts of an ancient amulet that can effect a full portal creation between the human world and the demon world.
It works best for being with infernal or demon lineage and also has the hidden effect of amplifying demonic and hybrid physiology. While this is all good and true, it also comes with one little teensy caveat: powerful enough demons can sense its activation.
*If you're not strong enough to style on demons, why even bother going to Hell?
The man's hum turned appreciative but Isaac wasn't done.
—Purgatory Teleportation Card (DC—Lucifer): A get out of hell—
*Take this card. You'll have a limited time once inside purgatory, and once the picture completely fades your souls will be decimated; blah, blah, blah—Isaac, tell Constantine I stole his line.
Hey Doomy, you better take this card, love Luci. (One and Only).
Isaac sighed as he shifted the card towards the man who looked at him because of the description that came with it.
"It's probably one of your best bets when going to Hell. Every word in there is a guarantee." Isaac sighed despondently. "I'm going to report him to management one of these days. Yeah right."
The man nodded and took the card, looked at it all over and pocketed in under the flaps of his coat.
"What of the change? Do you want me to keep them in store credits or do you want to buy something else?"
"Weapons."
Isaac's smile widened into an impossible grin. "Well, if you're interested I have this thing called the DOOM Series. Tested and trusted when it comes to dealing with hellspawns."
"Intrigue me."
.
...…
[SHIELD Ground Base]
Nick Fury, along with Maria Hill and Phil Coulson looked at Yelena after she finished narrating what was the farthest thing from a recon mission.
"What the fuck did you just say?"
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