Sebastian Shaw set down his champagne glass and slid it across the table toward the U.S. military colonel. Under the flute, a black Swiss bank card glinted—a silent promise of payment.
"Colonel, I'm sure if we work together, we'll catch many more mutants," Shaw said smoothly. "You'll earn plenty of credit, and we'll simply buy the mutants you capture as trophies." His voice was friendly, but his eyes were sharp with ambition.
The colonel barely glanced at the card. He leaned back, lips curling in faint disapproval. "All captured mutants are government prisoners. You're bold—planning an unsanctioned extraction like this."
But Shaw and Emma Frost recognized the real game. The colonel wasn't refusing—he was angling for the best deal, or he wouldn't have shown up.
"We're not interested in government prisoners," Shaw replied. "If you keep them, fine. But for those who—'disappear'—during custody, we'll handle their aftercare. Consider it cleanup."
The colonel tapped the table, a bureaucratic mask slipping into place. "Defense budgets are strict. Compensation will be by the book."
Shaw nodded. "As long as quality's there, price is no problem." He extended his hand. The colonel, after a tense pause, shook it firmly.
"When you have a job, notify us early," Shaw said, patting the colonel's hand before releasing him. "We expect to be ready when called."
"I'll be in touch," the colonel replied, standing. "That's all for tonight." Emma saw him out herself, masking the exchange with a professional smile.
Elsewhere in the study, Natasha—in her disguise, still scantily dressed from her infiltration—hid behind the desk, the only real concealment in the room. Nearby, Daniel (Zhou Yang) watched, unseen, as Emma Frost prepared to activate the bookshelf's secret mechanism
Daniel knew that even his magic couldn't fully mask Natasha from Emma if Emma's psychic field swept too close—especially in such closed quarters.
Not wanting to risk either of them, Daniel quietly slipped away, dispelling Natasha's invisibility.
When Emma entered moments later, she paused. She could sense Natasha's presence but, catching Daniel's intent, let the agent remain hidden—subtly guiding her own people not to notice anything unusual.
Daniel realized Emma understood exactly what was happening. She had no qualms about letting Natasha spy on Shaw—after all, Shaw's ambitions had crossed the line. With S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers closing in, Emma had nothing to lose by letting someone else watch his back.
Outside, Emma gave the colonel—revealed to be Stryker—a friendly farewell, careful to avoid lingering or drawing attention.
Piecing things together, Daniel saw the full picture. Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost, both mutants, were striking secret deals with Colonel Stryker to help capture more mutants.
Why? Because while mutant leaders ruled the top of the Hellfire Club, the foundation was ordinary humans nursing immense ambition. Many billionaires, scientists, and politicians longed for what mutants seemed to offer—lasting youth, strength, even immortality.
In this world, mutants had become rare prey—worth millions, sometimes more, dead or alive. Captured mutants vanished into hidden labs, dissected for secrets or used as sources for black market organs.
It was nothing new to Daniel—he'd seen it in WWII, with Wolverine's own brutal fate serving as just one example. Once, mutants like Logan had been called "monsters"—now their bodies were commodities.
Some Hellfire leaders, even Sebastian Shaw, considered their own powers tools for business, detached from any real sense of kinship with mutantkind.
On the U.S. side, men like Stryker built entire careers and fortunes hunting, killing, and selling mutants—cashing in under the cover of government secrecy, then peddling whatever they couldn't use.
And as this shadowy trade grew, so too did the threat to the world's most powerful mutants—Charles Xavier, Magneto, even Emma Frost herself.
No matter which side claimed a higher purpose, Daniel could see the truth: this was a hunt, and the prey were his people.
But he had no intention of letting this cycle continue.