"Are you a mutant?"
When Fisk asked me that question, I damn near jumped out of my seat in shock; my surprise clearly being noted by Fisk.
"No." I calmed myself after hearing the bombshell he had just dropped on me.
I had done a little basic research on mutants online, but nothing regarding them or the X-Men had come up, so I simply assumed they didn't exist in this world.
"That's not the reaction I had expected when asking that question...Now, I'm unsure whether you really are one or you really aren't." Apparently, he couldn't comprehend my state of shock.
I maintained silence.
"The reason I ask," he said, settling back in his chair, "is because an organisation I'm at odds with is run by one. Several, in fact."
I finished my glass whilst eagerly listening.
"Perhaps you've heard of the Hellfire Club?"
"Yes," I answered numbly. I was indeed familiar with the organisation run by Emma Frost and Sebastian Shaw.
Fisk looked at me strangely before continuing, probably not believing that I was fully aware of them.
"It presents itself as a private social club. Old money, exclusive membership, the kind of place where senators and CEOs go to feel important." He paused. "In reality, it functions as something considerably more significant. Political leverage, corporate espionage, blackmail on a scale that would impress even my associates."
"If you're asking me to take them down, I refuse." I interrupted his explanation. If he really expected me to take down such a giant organisation just for a fake identity, the man was out of his mind.
"-I want them weakened," Fisk corrected before continuing. "There's a distinction. I'm well aware that an organisation like that can't just be 'taken down' in the traditional sense; at best, it changes hands."
I looked at him with a serious expression as he continued speaking.
"Right now, the reins of that organisation are held by a woman named Emma Frost."
I did my best to keep my expression neutral upon hearing such a troublesome name.
"She's been a problem for some time," Fisk continued, his voice carrying irritation directed at Frost. "Every significant meeting I've had in this city for the past three years, every private conversation with a politician or a judge or a police commissioner, she's had access to." He tapped the side of his temple once. "Directly."
"She's a telepath."
Fisk looked at me.
"So you really do know of them," he said, without particular accusation.
"I know enough." I leaned back in my chair. "What exactly has she taken from you?"
"Nothing I can prove." His jaw visibly tightened. "Which is precisely the problem. She doesn't act directly. She simply knows things she shouldn't, and she uses that knowledge to steer situations in directions that benefit her and hinder me." A short pause. "Three deals collapsed in the past eighteen months that should have been airtight. Two men I owned who suddenly developed inconvenient consciences. One very expensive legal situation that resolved itself in a direction I did not anticipate."
"And the only way those things could have happened were through her interference?"
"Indeed," he confirmed.
I was quiet for a moment, genuinely thinking it through.
Emma Frost. White Queen of the Hellfire Club. One of the most powerful telepaths on the planet, operating behind the perfect cover of legitimate high society.
"Look, if you're asking me to kill Emma Frost, my answer is a resounding no; I'm already being chased down by S.H.I.E.L.D., I don't need another powerful organisation on my back."
Fisk raised a hand slightly, as if to dismiss the notion entirely.
"I'm not asking you to kill her," he said. "I'm asking you to make her afraid of me."
I stared at him.
Of all the things I had expected him to say, that wasn't it.
"Emma Frost," I said slowly, "is a telepath who has spent years reading the minds of every powerful person in this city." I looked at him steadily. "She already knows exactly how afraid of her you are."
"Yes," Fisk said, not trying to understate the humiliating reality. "She does." He met my eyes. "Which is why I need her to understand that the balance has changed. I'm not asking you to destroy her. I'm asking you to walk into her world and make it clear that I now have something she cannot read, cannot predict and cannot handle."
A short silence.
"You want me to be a message."
"An introduction," Fisk corrected. "A polite one."
I mulled over his words for a long while whilst staring at the city view from his massive penthouse window.
"What exactly makes you think I'm suited for this?" I asked him directly, wanting to gain some insight into his thoughts.
"Well, aren't you a psychic yourself? The way you knocked out those guards without even touching them." He answered with a slightly confused tone.
Oh.
I saw the misunderstanding now.
He thought my Conqueror's Haki was some sort of telepathy, and that I was knocking people out with that.
...Well, I guess Conqueror's counted as a form of psychic power, but I never really thought of it like that.
Telling him the truth wasn't an option. Telling him I had no mental abilities whatsoever and that Emma Frost could theoretically walk straight into my head unchallenged wasn't exactly a great negotiating position.
"You could say something like that," I said finally.
Fisk studied me for a long moment with the expression of a man who knew he was being given half an answer and was deciding whether to push.
He decided not to.
"Then you understand why I think you're suited for this," he said simply.
I turned back to the window.
The honest problem was that I had absolutely no idea whether my Haki would do anything meaningful against Emma Frost or not.
'Well, only one way to find out.'
"I'll do it. When's the job?"
Fisk smiled at my acceptance of his request, taking some time to finish his glass before explaining further.
"A month from now. There's a charity gala, you'll be attending with me." He explained briefly before suddenly remembering something. "Ah, and don't worry about cameras, it's a very private event."
A month from now was fine with me, not like I really needed time to prepare in the first place, though.
"And until then?"
"Well, it doesn't particularly matter to me what you do as long as you aren't messing with my men."
"Fair enough."
I stood up, with Fisk rising at the same time.
"Then, it's a deal." He smiled and shook my hand.
As I started making my way towards the elevator to leave, he added a few things.
"Your identity will be ready within the week; the footage will take slightly longer. Oh, and you'll officially be one of my employees, it's just for the sake of the identity, but you'll get a salary and everything."
I looked back and nodded; that timeframe was fine with me. Being called one of his 'employees' didn't sound very nice, but free money wasn't bad, so I accepted it.
As I walked into the elevator, I gave him a parting message.
"I'll be in touch."