Dante's POV
"How did it go?" Jean asked as I linked my hand around hers.
"About as well as you'd expect," I said.
"He didn't ask?"
I shook my head.
"Good, then," she nodded. "We have bigger problems to deal with. The Widows couldn't find Rogue."
I sighed. "Which means she's with the demons."
She nodded. Another problem was added to my plate.
"Anything else?"
"The teams want to see you."
"Which ones, exactly?"
"Everyone," she said, "but especially the Widows. Yelena wants them all on the rings, and a few of them want to know what's next."
"Huh. I'm surprised they didn't try to book it during the chaos."
"Petra tried," Jean confessed, "but Yelena executed her personally. The others are worried, though."
"Naturally," I said. "Killing dissidents isn't exactly a good look." I scratched the side of my head. "Where are they now?"
"On a rooftop across from SHIELD HQ," she said. "Everybody except the X-Men has cleared out from there. The Media is already on the prowl."
I groaned. "And here I thought we wouldn't have to deal with that until tomorrow."
"Price of saving the world," Jean shrugged, leaning into me, and I rolled my eyes. "I suppose I should get it over with."
"What are you going to say to them?" Jean asked.
I flashed her a grin. "You'll have to wait like everybody else."
"I could always read your mind," she pouted, and I wagged my brows.
"Now, where's the fun in that?"
The world blurred around, and in an instant, I found myself standing in front of a few bickering Widows arguing in Russian. Yelena stood in opposition, shutting down the naysayers.
Apparently, they'd heard I went to have lunch with Fury and were certain I was selling them off to the government.
They all looked pretty amazing, if a bit dirtied by the violence. Their Vibranium body suits were untouched, and they still had the weapons I'd supplied them sheathed at their waists.
"After everything you've seen today, how can you all still be so naive?" Yelena barked. "He doesn't need you. He doesn't need the government either. Selling you out is not worth the trouble."
"And I did give my word," I spoke up, stepping forward. Jean released my hand. "Where I come from, that means something…Well, actually it doesn't, but I'd like to change that."
"Dante," Yelena said with a touch of irritation and relief. "I didn't know what to think when Rin told me you had coffee and pie with Fury."
"Because you don't trust me?" I asked.
"Because you're not a coffee and pie kind of guy," she snorted, and Jean chuckled from behind me. That was true. I glared at both girls, but didn't argue back. I was more of an efficiency guy. Meat, veggies, and carbs in stacks shuffled down in between 12-hour stretches at the forge on the days I remembered to eat at all.
I shifted focus to the Widows. "I get it. You're afraid I'm going to be another Dreykov, and I admit, the threats and the rings have not helped." I slowly peeled back my Telepathy, sweeping through their minds. I saw it all. Years of senseless torture and conditioning. The abject fear of complete domination. There was more than a flicker of resentment for Yelena, even, nearly as big as the kernel for me.
"I know what it means to be betrayed. To be at the mercy of somebody more powerful than you, and for a while now, I've operated from a very defensive place, put contingency plans in place to ensure my allies were always loyal, but that's not how you inspire loyalty."
I paused, surveilling my audience. "I want you all to work for me full time."
"You want us to join your little costumed mascots?" A Widow, Yanni, spoke up, some disgust tingling her voice.
I shook my head. "The Avengers are the public-facing team. No, you'd be discreet."
"You want us to kill for you?" Yelena demanded, eyeing me with a look not dissimilar to Yanni. I saw that I was seconds away from losing some of them, and I recognized that this wasn't exactly the venue to talk, so I snapped my fingers, creating a portal to my living room in my dimension.
"Let's finish the rest of this conversation somewhere more private."
The ladies shared a look but followed after. Jean stayed behind after sending a mental message. She wanted to check in on the younger member of Xavier's school.
'I think it's your school now, babe. You've more than earned that right.'
She'd mentally blushed.
'I'll be back before dinner.'
'Alright. I'll open a portal before seven at the usual spot.' It was her former room in Kamar-Taj, where she'd felt safest, before everything.
Settling into a chair, I crossed my legs and used Telekinesis to pour myself a drink. I offered the women a chair and a glass of their own, but nobody accepted.
"Down to business then," I rubbed my hands before willing the glass to my open palm. "No matter how you slice it, some people just have to die. Case in point, everybody we just put down today. But to answer your question, Yelena, murder for hire will not be your primary preoccupation. Monitoring, investigations, and acquisitions will be— for the planet, and our pockets." I leaned back into my chair.
"I've been sitting on a nest-egg for some time now, and it's high time I put it to use. I'm considering starting my own company. It'll focus on finishing the work Dr. Hanson started with Extremis and offering a few other protection services for the general public against otherworldly services. All non-lethal, of course."
I was thinking of a personal shield, mass-teleportation system, or a sort of impenetrable bomb shelter.
"You're shifting from Hero work?" Yelena asked.
"After everything that happened today," I began, "showing up and stopping the bad guy isn't going to cut it anymore, and somebody has to make sure everyday people get some measure of protection."
Yelena folded her arms. "I didn't think you had this side?"
"What side?"
"Kind."
I hummed. I certainly appreciated the sentiment, but it wasn't why I was doing this. I was going to be making even more enemies when I left Earth. The least I could do is prepare the planet for the next disaster. Plus, I had people that I cared about here. The money wasn't a bad incentive either.
I spoke after a beat, flashing a smile. "Did I also mention that you'd be paid seven-figure salaries?"
That got some of their attention, but Yanni still seemed unsatisfied.
"But you'd want us to kill again?"
"Only if you want to," I finally admitted. "I'll give you all of the pertinent facts about your target and why they have to go. But if you don't feel comfortable, I'll take care of it myself."
"What if we don't want to work for you?" asked a smaller Widow. She was blonde with intense blue eyes and a soft face. Dozens of men have paid in blood for underestimating her.
"Then shop at the open market. SHIELD might actually pay you what you're worth, if they don't try to take you apart to learn how you work. The same thing is probably true for just about everybody else. You could probably do the lone wolf thing for a while, but only as long as you remember that you need to answer to me."
Something nearing a smile and sneer propped on Yanni's face as she drew herself up.
"It all comes back to control with you, doesn't it?"
And that seemed to rile up some of the girls.
"I've seen how you treat that girlfriend of yours, like a pet. We are nobody's property."
I should've removed her head for even suggesting that, but that would be what she wanted. I could see it plain as glass in her mind. She wasn't thinking past the moment. Her summary execution would probably mean gutting nearly every Widow here as they came to her defense. I'd probably lose Yelena, too, and the respect of my new allies.
In my earlier days, maybe I'd have chewed her out, but now, I didn't see the point. She wasn't long for the team. She was going to slip up eventually, and it'd be one of her own that would carry out the execution.
"Yet you have my power flowing through you," I said slowly, rising to my feet and setting down my glass. "And I offered you all a way out before you took the serums."
"We never agreed to be monitored for the rest of our lives," Yanni pointed out.
"Then what would you have me do? The weakest among you can cut through entire platoons of Marines and recover from injuries that would topple apartment buildings."
That seemed to fan their egos, though they recognized the blatant manipulation. I continued anyway.
"You're walking nukes. And I armed you. It would be irresponsible if I didn't at least know where you were. And that's all the rings are. I swear."
"Besides, if he wanted us dead, he'd do it personally. He wouldn't need a bomb or some other bullshit device," Yelena pointed out, and I really did appreciate the backup.
Yanni looked like she had more to say, but knew better than to push the issue further. Nobody else was backing her. On some level, they agreed with me.
"It'll take a few days to make the rings," I said. "Give me your answers then."
I snapped my finger and reopened the portal. "Until then, enjoy your commissions. I'll have somebody wire you your million by tomorrow."
The girls marched out of the dimension with smiles on their faces, but I stayed, prepping for a conversation I'd been looking forward to for a while.
I teleported in front of the Brotherhood's little hideout in an out-of-the-way campground outside the city.
Sabertooth, who'd been on night duty, immediately looked in my direction and sniffed the air once more to be sure it was me before he advanced, body tensing.
He was seriously considering it–attacking me, that is.
It mainly had to do with me coming between his thing with Logan. There was also a bit of jealousy mixed in, too.
In his eyes, I was just some snot-nosed brat who had more power than sense and was playing at being a mastermind.
Sabertooth knew he'd fail, probably taking a beating from me, but he wouldn't die…probably.
I wasn't in the mood to entertain him or antagonize the Brotherhood before my talk with Magneto, so I focused on the little nugget of doubt in the back of his mind and pushed it, making it nearly all-consuming. He gritted his teeth, his resilience commendable, until I entered his mind and convinced him he had a head-splitting headache.
He shattered like glass, dropping to his knees faster than he could blink, sweat pouring out of him.
"W-What did you do to me?" Sabertooth wheezed out, horror in his eyes, before suddenly slumping over. I winced.
Whoops.
So much for favorable negotiations.
I wasn't as precise with my telepathy as I was with my telekinesis. The bump in energy control and affinity, oddly, didn't make it better. I was used to dealing with fairly strong foes, not vicious killers with minds like tofu.
Motion drew my attention to the Cabin. The door swung open, and Wanda came running out, a determined look on her face.
I didn't need to read her mind to know that she was spoiling for a fight, especially after what Quellitrax showed her.
"Step back from him," She ordered, hands glowing red.
What is with the Brotherhood and aggression? I suppose in this case, it was kinda warranted.
I acquiesced, but only took a small step back. "He wanted a fight. And I preferred not to wake up your entire camp."
She kneeled over him and ran her hand over his head, red chaos magic wisping out. I took in a short breath. It was easy to forget how dangerous Wanda was.
Chaos magic was big trouble, and I bet she was just a few years out from figuring out just how much.
She'd probably make an excellent substitute for Corvus as my second soul offer. She had the potential to be planetary and well beyond that. And Shin's enhancements will make certain she climbs that high, not that I'd ever make the introduction.
I let out the slightest snort. Wanda didn't catch it.
That'd be signing my death warrant. And I took no small comfort in the fact that she probably hated Shin as much as I did. Quellitrax might've inadvertently found me a reluctant ally against the mad god.
"You came here in the middle of the night. What were you expecting?" she asked, channeling some energy into Sabertooth's head. Giving her friend mental trauma probably didn't help my cause.
"Understanding?" I shrugged. "We did just beat back a slaver society of demons that has been tormenting Earth for hundreds of years."
"Yeah, and your father was partly responsible for them," she pointed out. "Do you ever think of how many people die during your pissing matches with gods and demons?"
A sudden heat rose in my chest, and my eyes narrowed to a slit. "All of the time. But I only bother myself with the people I've directly harmed with my actions, not the agents and monstrosities Eldritch gods and ancient evils send after me because I won't turn over my soul and sell out our planet."
I gave her a flat stare. The chaos mana faded as Wanda looked up at me, taken aback.
"And for your dig at my Dad, he might've come through with the rest of the older demons, but he didn't open the gateway in the first place, humans did. And I don't see any other demons standing guard and protecting the planet for over 500 years. He paid with that loyalty with his life and my mother's, by the way, leaving me and Vergil to grow up alone in the system."
Wanda's mouth was open now, but I wasn't done lecturing.
"Finally, I don't go around blaming you for the sins of your kind. Don't do the same for me."
"Well put," Magneto said, floating over to us from the opposite side of the camp, from the general direction of a campfire far off in the camp.
He had a self-assured smile and was still draped in his signature cloak and helmet, despite the hour, making me wonder if he'd kept it on all the time, or if he'd put it on just for me. I didn't know which I found more amusing.
Call the man whatever you want, but he certainly knows how to make an entrance.
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