In the darkened control chamber, the Red Devil walked slowly through the empty stone passages. He could already sense something was off—but didn't leave right away. Despite the strange energy in the air, he could still detect a few life signs in the nearby control room.
So Whirlwind's mission had failed. Not surprising.
Red Devil hadn't expected much from him. According to what he'd been told, this base was clearly tied to one of the old Hydra branches, but Sebastian Shaw hadn't shared who exactly was involved. That's why Red Devil agreed to come in person—to see if an old "friend" from the war might turn up.
He placed his gloved hand against the heavy stone door and immediately felt it—sharp intakes of breath, tensed muscles. People. Nervous ones. All just behind that wall.
He smiled grimly.
A scarlet flash of light—and in the blink of an eye, the Red Devil teleported inside.
But the moment he appeared, his smile froze.
The "people" he'd sensed?
There was only one real person in the room.
Whirlwind.
Everyone else inside—exact copies of Whirlwind—were magical projections. Decoys.
And Whirlwind himself stood eerily still, eyes open but lifeless, like a man caught in a dream—or possessed.
The Red Devil narrowed his eyes.
He moved in a flash, grabbing Whirlwind by the shoulder and yanking him upright.
"What happened to you?" he muttered.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp stab just beneath his ribs.
A blade.
He jerked away instantly—vanishing in a puff of scarlet mist—and reappeared back near the doorway. His eyes were cold now.
Whirlwind had been fully controlled.
And the mental control required to do that wasn't something just anyone could pull off.
He ran through the list.
Professor Charles. Jean Grey. Emma Frost. Black Queen Selene.
All incredibly powerful psychic mutants. But the one closest to this situation… was Callisto.
Callisto, with her psychic tracking and awareness.
Red Devil growled low in his throat. "She betrayed us."
He spun, intending to teleport out of the room and regroup but the mist collapsed.
Instead of reappearing outside, he found himself pulled back—trapped inside the sealed space.
Someone had locked the spatial field.
Red Devil's eyes sharpened and he murmured, "…Magneto."
He hissed the name like a curse.
He could feel it—strong electromagnetic energy woven through the air. It was subtle at first, but growing. It wasn't just blocking him—it was canceling his teleportation completely, locking him inside.
That wasn't good.
He knew Sebastian had been worried about Magneto for a reason. Ever since Erik had broken out of government prison, his strength had grown enormously. Red Devil had once faced Magneto directly—and survived only by fleeing.
And now, that same presence was here.
Sebastian had already felt someone closing in. Tracks he'd carefully hidden were starting to show. Magneto was figuring things out—fast.
And he was closer than ever.
Red Devil's grip tightened on his twin blades. He slashed forward, trying to force his way out—only to see, too late, the triggered detonation.
The trap was set.
With a deafening roar, flame and debris exploded from the chamber overhead. A flood of energy and fire came crashing down around him like an avalanche.
He vanished—again—in a flash of red and blue light.
But this time, he didn't rematerialize in the control room.
Boom!
Above ground, everything shook. The upper levels of the base collapsed. Ice cracked. Rock shattered. Snowdrifts over ten meters deep caved inward.
A blizzard rolled in after the explosion—erasing every visible trace.
Only a low tremor was picked up by nearby sensors. A few geological teams took notice. But no one looked further. This close to the Arctic, earthquakes were chalked up to shifting glaciers or minor tectonic activity. Nobody suspected anything more.
Unless you had teleportation powers like the Red Devil, the collapsed passage was impassable.
That base was now locked away.
Back on the submarine, Daniel stood quietly on the upper deck, sea wind cutting past him. His expression was calm, but deep down, he was annoyed.
It wasn't the explosion that bothered him. It was the fact that the Red Devil didn't take the bait.
Daniel had hoped he would overreact—go after Callisto, revealing more of himself. But the Red Devil hadn't taken the risk. He'd sensed a deeper trap—probably assumed it was Magneto waiting for him.
Which, ironically, wasn't too far from the truth.
If he had walked into Daniel's real layout, escaping wouldn't have been so easy.
Still, the setup hadn't failed. Half-successful... was still success.
Now, Daniel needed Sebastian Shaw to believe the whole operation had been sabotaged by Magneto. That would keep Shaw on edge—distracted. Paranoid. He might even reveal more cards out of fear.
Shaw made the mistake of meddling in things out of his depth—and worse, striking at Daniel's people. Whether intentionally or not, the fact that his agents had tried to remove the base was enough.
He'd crossed a line and Daniel had no intention of letting that go.
He had another reason too. He knew Shaw might not survive Magneto's hunt.
In raw power, Magneto had surpassed most of Earth's enhanced beings. Only Jean Grey—empowered by the Phoenix—could truly outmatch him. Shaw might be strong, but not enough.
If he died, Daniel needed to make sure Norwich Energy's secrets died with him.
If that meant delivering the final blow himself, so be it.
That's what it meant to live in the shadows—any risk of exposure meant you killed… or got killed.
And even worse? Shaw might still be carrying technology that originated from this very base.
A super-submarine—advanced beyond anything Earth had seen—using energy systems from old Hydra designs buried in the base's lower vaults.
Daniel couldn't allow that to stand.
He'd destroy everything Shaw had taken.
The cruise ship days resumed.
Repairs were done quickly, and a few days later, Daniel and Elektra arrived back in the Netherlands. Not long after, Daniel slipped into Germany—and then flew to Switzerland.
But before that…
Under cover of night, he visited a hidden valley 100 kilometers northwest of Berlin.
Nestled deep in the forest, a forgotten bunker was being rebuilt beneath the earth—once an abandoned command post, now his new backup base.
Daniel liked it.
Yes, the region had some foot traffic—hikers, campers, occasional soldiers on field drills. If left unguarded, the place could be exposed. But with some help, it could stay hidden.
"I'll place an enchantment around the valley," Daniel told the handful of loyal personnel. "We'll spike the moisture. Fog will cover the entire area each morning. Add fake markings and subtle signs at night to scare away visitors. With proper security, no one will find us.
The thick woods surrounding the area suited Daniel well.
The Allies had discovered this base after WWII, but there'd been nothing to uncover—just ruins and overgrowth. Over time, it faded from memory.
Now, it was his again.
Didier stood beside him, breathing heavily, propped up with support.
"I never thought I'd return here," he said, smiling faintly. "Not in my final days… but it's a good place to be buried."
Daniel didn't respond right away.
Over the last few days, he had tried stabilizing Didier's condition. But the man's foundation was too fragile. There was no magic that could reverse his age—only buy a few more years.
Still, Daniel couldn't fully hide his frustration.
"I'm not giving up," he muttered. "There may still be a way."
"Even if that's true," Didier said quietly, "Emma Frost didn't touch me because she knew that. She counted on time. She never needed to act... everyone knew I wouldn't last much longer."
Daniel nodded.
And it was true.
That's exactly why Shaw had made his move—and sent the Red Devil.
Emma wasn't involved. But her silence allowed it. As far as she was concerned, waiting was safer. Killing Didier would draw attention—cutting him off naturally caused less suspicion.
Still, Daniel didn't forgive that either.
It was still weakness. Still betrayal and that would cost her.
Didier turned to him again. "What about our people? Should we stop contact with the outside world for now?"
"Temporarily, yes," Daniel replied. "We need silence until Shaw is dealt with. Once he's out of the picture, we'll reach out again—carefully. Slowly rebuild our control in Norwich. Especially at headquarters."
He looked west—toward the sweeping Atlantic skies. Beyond it, the Great Lakes region of America.
That's where Norwich Energy's true power center stood.
A place Daniel intended to reclaim.
Emma Frost may be Irene Adler's adopted daughter…
But she had nothing to do with him.
And everything that was his—
He was taking back.