About an hour before Ezekiel was supposed to arrive at the meeting place, he borrowed one of Hela's spare rooms to get dressed. While he normally just used a henge, today was different since he knew he would be searched. So he undid his normal henge and made his new Ezekiel henge appear naked. Afterwards he took out the clothes he prepared in advance and got dressed. Besides the clothes he placed a burner phone in his pocket that he didn't mind if it was confiscated.
When he walked out of the room he found Hela waiting for him in the dress she created. When he saw her in the dress again he paused and took a moment to look her over. She smiled as she watched his slightly flustered appearance before she asked, "Are you ready to go?"
Ezekiel nodded slowly before he said, "Maybe… Maybe you should change your dress slightly."
"Huh? What's wrong with my dress?" Hela asked as she looked down at herself and ended up twisting back and forth as she looked for some kind of issue.
"It's too distracting..."
Hela glanced up to see Ezekiel as he tried to look anywhere but at her. She smirked slightly before she asked in an almost teasing tone, "Are you sure? Wouldn't me being a distraction help during the operation?"
Ezekiel shook his head as he said, "No… Everything is already taken care of, you just need to keep me company."
"Then shouldn't I look my best?"
Ezekiel couldn't come up with a single good argument to make her change the dress and he would never admit out loud that he just didn't want other people to see her in that dress. Nope he couldn't do that because he didn't want to sound jealous, since they were just friends after all…
With nothing else to say on the matter Ezekiel ended up smiling before he said, "You have a point, you don't need to change… Let's head out and meet the others."
Ezekiel and Hela portaled over to the meeting point where Sakumo and the assault team were located. They were stationed in a warehouse about half a mile from where the yacht was docked. When Ezekiel approached, Sakumo placed down his tablet and said, "Everyone is ready and awaiting orders."
Ezekiel nodded before he asked, "No issues with the infiltration team?"
"Everything is proceeding as planned and we have control over their systems. But I ordered the infiltration team to stay radio silent for now." Sakumo said as he handed his tablet over to Ezekiel.
Ezekiel checked it over for a few minutes before he handed it back as he said, "Good, you and your men are free to get into position… Hold off on the ambush until I give the signal, I wanna see if anything unexpected happens."
Sakumo sealed the tablet away before he put on his mask and raised his right hand in the air. As he brought it down he said, "Move out!"
The next moment the entire warehouse that was just filled with people disappeared like ghosts as their after images faded away. Ezekiel then turned towards Hela as he asked, "Ready to go?"
Hela extended her elbow as she said, "Of course, James."
Ezekiel cocked an eyebrow as he asked, "If I'm James, who are you supposed to be? Miss Moneypenny?"
Hela smirked slightly and winked as she said, "With my role, I think I'm more like Honey Ryder."
Ezekiel shook his head slightly before he took her extended elbow and created a portal. The portal didn't lead to the harbor but to his office in Brooklyn and afterwards he created a new portal to the harbor next to the dock. As Ezekiel and Hela stepped out of the portal, ten heavily armed men focused all of their attention on them. Ezekiel didn't pay attention to any of them as he looked towards a middle aged man in a suit.
The man smiled widely as he said, "Welcome Ezekiel, I'm Jeffrey Stephenson. We talked over the phone a few times."
As the portal snapped close behind them Ezekiel nodded as he said, "Thanks for allowing the last minute addition."
Jeffrey's eyes glanced towards Hela for a moment before he said, "It was no problem at all, we're friends after all."
Jeffrey then looked towards Hela as he asked, "And you are, miss?"
"Hela."
Jeffrey paused for a moment before he asked, "Hela… Like the Norse god who ruled the realm of the dead in their mythology?"
Hela didn't react to the statement, but Ezekiel chuckled as he said, "The very same one… Her father has an unhealthy obsession with Norse culture."
Jeffrey nodded slightly before he waved towards the massive yacht behind him as he said, "If you'll follow me, we need to do a quick security check."
"What's the security check for?" Ezekiel asked with feigned ignorance as he followed after the man with Hela.
"We just need to check you for weapons, confiscate all electronic devices and to give you a meta power suppression device." Jeffrey said as he raised his own arm to show a high-tech device on his wrist.
"That seems a bit much don't you think? Didn't you say we were friends?" Ezekiel asked in a slightly displeased tone as he frowned.
Jeffrey smiled politely as he said, "It's for the safety of all our members that we do this. No one is allowed to skip this step, not even the current leader. It's something you'll come to understand once you join us."
Jeffrey stopped at a small temporary building where a couple of guards stood before he said, "If you'll please step inside, someone will assist you shortly."
Ezekiel nodded before he stepped inside with Hela and found a main room along with a couple of doors leading to smaller rooms. Within moments of entering, a man and a woman entered the room and split them up. Next was a relatively quick pat down, metal detector scan and then finally a bracelet was placed on Ezekiel's wrist. When he stepped back outside he found Hela with the same high tech bracelet on.
Ezekiel studied the bracelet for a few moments before he "attempted" to open a portal. He made it spark a couple times as he spun his hand in a circle before he frowned and said, "I really don't like this feeling… Having my powers forcibly suppressed makes me feel weak."
Jeffrey nodded in understanding before he said, "I understand the feeling, I was gifted with telekinesis and use it constantly for everyday things. But this is to help everyone feel safe when the group has a meeting."
"Besides, it's only temporary, a couple days at most while we're traveling on the ship." Jeffrey added after a moment of thought.
Jeffrey then smiled as he said, "If you'll follow me again, we can finally board the ship and I can introduce you to the others."
Jeffrey quickly led them both into the ship and they were greeted by a large crowd of people. It wasn't noticeable outside the ship but now inside you could hear the din background music and people talking. Ezekiel was slightly surprised by how many people were actually invited and before he could ask Jeffrey said, "These people are just here to keep us entertained after the meeting."
As Ezekiel glanced around he realized that the people on this part of the ship were mostly extremely attractive young women and a handful of men. It wasn't something he expected to see, since all of the information they gathered never mentioned anything like this. Or maybe this was so normal that they didn't even need to plan it…
Jeffrey led them to a set of stairs that were blocked by a pair of guards, the stairs led to another area filled with a lot less people this time before he said, "I'll have to ask you to wait here for now. You can mingle with the real guests up here…"
He winked and a lecherous grin crossed his face as he added, "Also if you get bored, you can grab some of the entertainment from downstairs and use a private room."
Ezekiel nodded slightly as he said, "I'll keep that in mind."
"Good, now if you'll excuse me I have a few things I need to do… I'll come find you when it's time for our meeting." Jeffrey said with a friendly smile before he headed towards an area with more guards.
After he left Hela leaned close to Ezekiel's ear and her hot breath tickled it as she said, "Why waste time with all of this, I could easily slaughter everyone on this ship."
Ezekiel smirked and gently patted Hela's arm as he said softly, "While I'm not against using your approach… We are here to collect information."
Ezekiel started heading over towards the bar as Hela confidently said, "Once they're dead I can gain any information you might need from their souls."
Ezekiel chuckled slightly before he said, "I appreciate the offer, but remember your role today, you're my date. You just need to sit back, relax and possibly enjoy a show."
Hela nodded as they reached the bar before Ezekiel ordered a couple drinks. As the bartender quickly made them drinks Ezekiel glanced around and spotted a few people he collected information from. He also spotted people not on the guest list, but possibly plus ones like Hela. After getting drinks, Ezekiel led Hela towards a small booth off to the side and sat down. Sure he could try and mingle with these people, but there was no need. Most of the people in this area weren't the ones he came here to meet, only a couple of them were and they were low tier members as far as he knew.
Ezekiel and Hela talked together for about ten minutes before a voice came over the ship's intercom and said, "Attention guests, please prepare for the ship's departure. While not fast, it's recommended you find a place to sit before we start moving."
The guests around the room started moving towards seats and quickly sat down before a few minutes later the ship moved. It wasn't a lurch or something that would throw you off your feet, but the few people still standing when it happened definitely felt it. Ezekiel continued happily chatting with Hela as he watched the port slowly get smaller through the large window next to him.
Over the next few hours Ezekiel and Hela were approached by different groups of people and chatted a bit. It was mostly unimportant small talk and introductions from people who were interested in meeting Ezekiel. Ezekiel chatted with everyone for a few minutes before he used a subtle sound based genjutsu to make them go away. Nothing crazy or overt, but just a slight compulsion to finish the conversation and go talk with someone else.
It was almost four hours after they boarded the ship that Jeffrey came back to find Ezekiel and said, "The others are ready to meet you."
As Ezekiel and Hela stood up, Jeffrey added, "I'm afraid you'll have to wait here Hela, the meeting invitation is for Ezekiel only."
Ezekiel flashed Hela a smile as he said, "Just hang out here, I'll be back in a bit."
Hela nodded before she watched Ezekiel disappear behind some people as he was led away. Hela turned back to look out the window and the sunset over the open water before someone asked, "Hey gorgeous, would you like to share a drink?"
Hela ignored the man at first but then he asked, "Hey baby, why the cold shoulder? Don't think I can afford you or something? How much do you charge a day, five grand?"
Hela slowly turned her head as the man kept talking and fixed a middle aged man with an icy glare before she finally said, "Talk to me again and I'll gouge out your eyes with a spoon."
The man flinched from the glare and her comment but still had a bit of confidence, almost thinking it was a joke, until Hela reached over and picked up a spoon she used earlier to eat a piece of cake. The man stared at the spoon for only a moment before he quickly backed away and after a moment dashed towards the security guards stationed at the stairs.
As the man attempted to get help from the guards, Ezekiel was led into a private room with a large round table in the middle. Around it sat people who ran most of the world's banking and credit card industry. No guards or staff were in the room and after Ezekiel was led inside, the room was sealed and some kind of privacy barrier powered on. Jeffrey showed Ezekiel to a seat before he sat down next to him.
Once Ezekiel was seated, a man on the opposite side of the table smiled as he said, "I'm glad you could join us, Ezekiel."
Ezekiel leaned back in his chair as he said, "Well, you did make a pretty attractive, yet very vague offer…"
Ezekiel raised his arm to show off the bracelet on his hand before he added, "Even though I'm not a fan of the security measures."
The man smiled as he raised up his own bracelet as he said, "In this room, we are all equals."
Ezekiel narrowed his eyes as he said, "And yet you seem like the leader of this little group… That doesn't seem very far to me."
The man chuckled slightly as a few people around the room smiled before he said, "While I am technically the leader for today, each meeting has a different member act in this capacity."
"If that's the case, how does this whole thing function without a central leader and a goal to strive for?"
"For power, the only thing that truly matters in this world." The man said as everyone nodded in agreement.
"Shouldn't you be in government positions if you want to have real power?" Ezekiel asked even though he knew most politicians were owned by somebody else.
"Money rules the world and we control it, which means we control the world… It's also why we hold these meetings, to help us plan the next three months of the banking sector."
Ezekiel nodded in understanding before he said, "And you want me to fall in line with everyone else and not disrupt the market with my low processing fees…"
"Exactly… But you wouldn't be doing it for free of course. First you would be making more money from the fees and secondly we would give you a section of the market equal to everyone else."
"Even with smaller fees, I'm pretty sure I make more now than I would if I increased them, since I'm sure you would want me to give up market share… Last I checked I have control over more than twenty nine percent of the market." Ezekiel said with a friendly smile and a shrug.
The man returned the smile as he said, "That's the price of joining our group, we keep everything equal between members. With everyone on equal footing, there's no reason to upset the balance. It's another reason we have no set leader."
"What about the lower tier members I met in the guest area? Shouldn't they be in here also if everything is as balanced as you claim?"
The man laughed for a moment as some of the other people around the table smiled before he said, "It's nice seeing you act as we expected… This will make things easier."
"And how exactly are things going to be easier?"
"It just means the time we spent crafting different approaches on how to offer you membership won't be wasted." The man said before Ezekiel cut him off and asked, "Before that I'd like to ask a couple simple questions."
"Go ahead."
Ezekiel glanced over everyone at the table before he asked, "Does this little club have any connection with the Hellfire Club?"
The people around the table shared some looks with one another and after a few moments the person in charge asked, "Why would we have any connection with an underground occult and sex club?"
Ezekiel narrowed his eyes slightly as he said, "You guys are trying to control the financial market and don't even know about the Hellfire Club? Are you guys just playing dumb or are you actually dumb?"
People around the table erupted in anger at Ezekiel's question and he quietly smiled at all of them. It took over a minute for the leader to reign everyone in before he said, "I would appreciate it if you…"
The man glanced around the table at everyone else before he said, "And everyone else not stoop to childish name calling. We're all adults here, so act like it."
The leader cleared his throat before he said, "Now, if you would please explain why you think some occult and sex club is apparently important. I am sure everyone here, including myself, would appreciate it."
Ezekiel made sure to lock eyes with everyone as he slowly scanned the room before he asked, "I'm done wasting time here… If you're part of another secret organization, stand up."
Everyone in the room now had a slightly dazed look on their face after they locked eyes with Ezekiel. After Ezekiel spoke, a handful of people stood up before Ezekiel asked, "What group do you belong to?"
"Hellfire Club." One man said as the other three said, "Hydra!"
Ezekiel nodded before he stood up and created a portal to Mars and a moment later Inoichi and a handful of clan members stepped out. Ezekiel pointed at different people as he said, "Those guys are Hydra and that one is a Hellfire member. Make sure you scan them thoroughly."
"Understood… Do you plan to replace them with deep cover agents?" Inoichi asked as his team started to restrain everyone.
Ezekiel nodded as he grabbed the bracelet on his wrist and squeezed the locking mechanism before he pulled it off. As he stored it away he said, "Keep those bracelets on them, some of them have powers."
Inoichi turned around to start working as he said, "Yes, sir."
Ezekiel matched for a few moments before he headed towards the door he came through earlier and disabled the security measures. As the room's lock down feature ended he opened the door and found the previously full room almost empty. Over where he was seated with Hela earlier he found her, a middle aged man on the floor screaming as he clutched his face and one of the ANBU.
As Ezekiel approached closer he heard Hela's cold tone as she said, "Again."
Ezekiel watched in morbid fascination as the ANBU picked up a set of eyes and placed them back into the man's head before using medical ninjutsu to heal them. The man cried as he said, "Please, not again! I'm sorry! Just let me go, I'll never do it again I swear!"
Hela was completely focused on the man as Ezekiel approached closer and used the spoon in her hand to dig the man's eyes out again as he screamed and apologized again while sobbing. After she calmly placed them on the table she looked up to see Ezekiel and smiled brightly as she asked, "Are you finished already?."
Ezekiel glanced between the man on the ground and the smiling Hela for a moment before he said, "Well it looks like at least one of us is having fun..."