PART THREE
THE WHITE QUEEN
It’s been a few days since Lex arrived in this new universe and he has made a few discoveries, the technologies here are near identical to ones at home and just who some of the heavy hitters of this world are, but that had to wait, he needed a Strip Club and someone to run it “Lex”
He looked up from his computer screen to see Vanessa entering the lab “yes”
“I have procured the Strip club like you asked”
“Excellent and the management”
“she’s waiting at the club and is eager to meet you”
“Alright, lead the way”
The two left and after a short limo ride the two arrived in Hell’s Kitchen to a rundown strip club that looked like it should have been condemned “is this it”
“What did you expect on such short notice?” Vanessa Replied as the two exited the limo, an annoyed look came over his face as he looked over the building “let’s go, she waiting inside”
Once Lex entered the club, he was greeted with a shapely blonde woman in a white suit standing with her back to the two of them “Vanessa”
The blonde woman said as she turned and the second, she was no facing the two for a split-second Lex noticed a look of surprise on her face before a smile appeared “well now, who is this?”
“This is…”
“Not Wilson Fisk” the blonde woman said interrupting Vanessa mid-sentence causing Lex to smirk “a telepath I see”
“And so much more”
The blonde slowly walked towards him as her hips swayed from side to side “Lex Luthor”
Lex smiled “a pleasure to make your acquaintance…”
“Frost, Emma Frost.”
“I must say Mr. Luthor, you are a hard man to read”
Lex looked over at Vanessa then back to Emma “so, what do you know”
“Everything really, Mrs. Fisk here reads like an open book… so you’re from a different universe”
“I am”
“Though I must say, the likeness is rather uncanny… so tell me, why have sought me out”
“I am in need of some assistance, there is an individual that may have traveled here with me and I would like to find him, but until I can find my way home, I must first establish a base of operations”
“And where exactly does a condemned strip club come into play”
Lex took a second and looked at the shapely Emma before him “you of all people should know Ms. Frost, that an attractive woman can make any man loosen their lips”
Emma couldn’t help but smile as she swayed her hips to the side “and you wish for me to reopen this establishment to gather intel for you”
“And make a hefty profit, I am still a business man after all”
“a man after my own heart”
Emma bit her lip “Venessa my dear, do you mind stepping outside for a second, while me and Emma discuss the detail of this arrangement”
Vanessa couldn’t help but sneer at the two of them before walking outside “so… Lex, what kind of arrangement were you thinking”
After a few hours of dealing and a few instances of flirting the two came to an agreement “well Lex, I believe our business here done, I’ve got some guys come in here in the next couple days, get this place… presentable”
“Excellent, call me when the construction is done, I have an idea of how to draw in a sizable crowd”
The two parted ways and Lex went back to Fisk Tower to tinker with some devices. One week later, Lex returned to the club to see that it had indeed improved but not by much “well Lex, what do you think”
“Well, at least it’s no longer condemned”
“it’s a working progress”
Lex walked to the center of the club and took a quick look around not really giving off any hint as to his feeling towards the place which infuriated Emma but also intrigued her “so what is this plan of yours to draw in crowds”
“I’m glad you asked”
Lex produced a device and showed it to Emma “on my world, with this device alone I was able to enslave all the heroes, but only a few in the beginning, had them perform in the club, sold it as a very convincing cosplay strip club”
“How devilishly igneous”
“Yes, but here in lies the problem, I am not well versed on the heroes of this world, Fisk did leave some impressive dossier, but not enough to really get started, so I ask if you have anyone in mind, a headliner if you will, some to kick off this new establishment”
A wicked grin appeared on her face “oh I think I have someone in mind”
“Excellent, you just need to get close enough and the device will attune to their brain waves”
“Alright, I’ll let you know when it’s done.”
The next day Lex returned to the club and was met with a redheaded woman wearing a form fitting yellow and blue suite “Lex just in time”
“Yes, it appears so”
“This is a… colleague of mine, Jean Grey, she just showed up with smile on her face”
“Yes, the device activates when the subject goes to sleep, think of it as a form of hypnosis, their subconscious takes over and they will have no memory of what transpires here when they wake in the morning”
“interesting”
“She will obey simple commands for now, the more complex the commands the more updates to the device I will need to implement”
“Lovely, shall we test it to see if it works”
An annoyed look came over Lex’s face which quickly disappeared “yes shall we”
Lex then turned his attention to Jean “Ms. Grey, why don’t you hop up on stage and give Emma here a demonstration of your dancing skills”
Jean, without saying a word nodded in acknowledgment and head towards the stage, she latched onto the pole and begin twirling around, accentuating her best attributes, after a few minutes she slowly stopped dancing and returned to the two “I must say that was quite entertaining” Lex said as he looked jean up and down.
“Well, I must be off, I’ll keep in touch when I found some more entertainment”
“wouldn’t be much of a strip club with only one dancer”
The two said their goodbyes and Lex made it back to Fisk Towers to continue going over the files Fisk had left on his computer “some very interesting heroes here”
He continued to scroll until he noticed a file that said Villains “well now, what do we have here”
He opened the file and was quite surprised to see just how many Villains were under his employee at one time or another”
At that moment Vanessa entered the lab “you’re back”
“I am”
He then motioned towards the list on the computer screen “do you know them”
“some”
She then noticed a familiar name on the list that read Typhoid Mary “some I wish I never knew”
Lex couldn’t help but smirk at her reaction to the list “fantastic, I need you to send out a message to the Villains on this list”
She sighed before asking “what message would that be”
“Open recruitment for jobs, hefty payday”
“Should I say for how long”
Lex didn’t reply right away as he stood up from the desk then looked towards Vanessa with a smirk on his face “indefinity.”
TO BE CONTINUED