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Chapter 145: The Demoness's Mysterious Plan
Gwen dropped off the SUV's roof in one smooth flip and high-fived Felicia with a loud smack like they had been teaming up for years. Felicia's symbiote suit trembled just from making contact with Gwen's Anti-Venom suit. Gwen looked at the two men still pinned against the hood and turned to Dante with her eyes narrowed.
"Mind giving me a quick rundown?"
"Someone knows Darling's identity," Felicia said in a flat voice. "Hired two goons to blow him up. Nothing much."
Gwen stared at her. "How is that nothing much?"
Felicia put a hand on Gwen's shoulder and held her gaze. "Jean and I are going to hunt down this mastermind operating from the shadows."
Jean stepped in and set her hand on Gwen's other shoulder. "You'll help us."
"Okay. Yeah." Gwen pumped her fist, caught up in their energy. "They'll pay for targeting my boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?" Jean's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Since when?"
Gwen went quiet for a few moments. "Forget I said that... Don't even think about reading my mind. I'll kick you in the face. I'm dead serious!"
"I don't do that," Jean whispered, shaking her head. "I'm not Emma."
"Screw Emma," Felicia made an annoyed expression. "I still don't like her."
The White Queen in Europe was catching strays here in Manhattan. She deserved some of it for bullying Felicia into cooperation using her sick father as leverage. She had redeemed herself for many things, so Dante didn't think much of it now.
Dante beckoned the cops, who had been waiting at a safe distance. "We should leave before every reporter in the city comes here."
"True."
He traced a circle in the air. The mystical energy built up behind the motion and ripped a portal to his room. Jean hopped through the portal first, showing her complete trust in him or her lack of caution. Perhaps a mix of both.
Felicia leaned her head through the opening and pulled back with an impressed grin. "Can it be permanent?"
"With some prep work, yeah."
She shared a knowing smirk with Gwen. Neither of them explained why they wanted a permanent portal. He could guess it had something to do with them having two rooms. The portal would allow them to move back and forth between their home and second room in Silver Sable International. The thought made him shake his head fondly. These two really wanted to spend more time with him and others.
He stepped through after them and closed the portal with a snap of his fingers.
Gwen grabbed a water bottle from the nightstand and plopped down on the bed. The symbiote suit retreated under her skin while she drank.
"Somehow you're almost how I imagined you to be," Jean said, taking off her mask. "Only a lot prettier."
She had become a Ghost Spider's devoted fan, which was quite ironic considering their power difference. Jean held an undeniable advantage over Gwen even though she had become deadlier with the Anti-Venom suit.
"Oh, come on. You're the prettiest redhead I've ever met."
The compliment meant a lot coming from Gwen, whose childhood friend was Mary Jane. MJ deserved a lot of flak for her actions, but her beauty couldn't be denied. It got her roles in movies and many opportunities as a fashion model in comics.
Felicia's symbiote suit disappeared as she sat beside Gwen. "That asshole ruined our date. I was so about to destroy Gwen."
"Woah, you're pulling that out of nowhere," Gwen shot back. "I can also say you were one combo away from losing that."
"Yeah, bullshit. We'll never know how that would've turned out."
"We never will."
They both sighed at the same time, perfectly in sync. They lacked the energy and motivation to do another match.
Gwen propped an elbow on her thigh and rested her chin on her palm. "This sucks. Who gets him home for dinner then?"
"My relationship literally depends on this," Felicia said. "So obviously me. You can have him tomorrow."
"As long as you agree for a rematch."
"You're going to lose."
"No you."
Jean smiled at the banter. She glanced at Dante briefly then back at the two of them. "Can I be friends with you two? I've never really had female friends my own age."
She was honest about it, putting it as a gap in her life rather than something to feel pity about. The closest female friend Jean had was probably Ororo, who might be in her late twenties like Silvija. The X-Men in this universe were short on girls at the moment after he had killed Xavier's spy, Teresia.
"I'll be happy to have you." Gwen gave him a warm smile. "You know, I've met a lot of good people after meeting you. Before, it was just me, MJ, and Harry."
Even though Harry seemed to be suffering from the death of his father, she still seemed to prefer her current relationships.
"I can say the same, honestly." Felicia tapped her forehead. "Jean, I'll be your good friend. Just stay out of my head."
"Mine as well," Gwen added. "There is nothing but weird things here."
Jean looked speechless. "I don't go uninvited. I really don't."
Dante moved to the table and pulled open the drawer. A row of bronze rings sat in the drawer, each set with a gem of different color. He took two and held them out for Felicia and Gwen.
Felicia chose the ring with a black gem. "Unusual time for a proposal. I'm kind of down to being… Miss Null."
She reminded him of his lack of last name, which he had to give proper thought and choose.
Gwen accepted hers with a faint blush on her face. "I don't think he meant it that way. It's too soon for a marriage proposal."
They were having the cutest misunderstanding, one he didn't mind turning into reality.
Jean took Gwen's ring and flipped it around, examining it from every angle. Finding nothing unusual, she placed it back in Gwen's hand. "It has some unusual energy…"
"It'll protect them from telepaths," Dante said, crossing his arms. "Even you'll need some time to brute-force through its defenses."
The rings acted as a counter-measure to protect his people from being mind-controlled. He had taken the gems and rings from Limbo. The end goal was enchanting an all-purpose ring inlaid with multiple protection spells, the creation of which would take a lot of time. However, the protection it offered would be well worth the effort.
Felicia put the ring and pressed a kiss to the gem. "Now I don't have to feel exposed talking to telepaths."
Gwen likewise showed no hesitation in sliding the ring on her ring finger. "No offense to you or Emma, but the idea of someone just… reading my thoughts? It irks me the wrong way."
"None taken." Jean gave a small shrug. "I know how invasive it can feel."
Without the unconscious barrier of telepathy, Jean mixed right in with the two. They began chatting, treating him like air. He dismissed his Skullfire illusion and fetched a silver gem from the drawer to enchant for Silvija while wondering how long they could talk before running out of topics. With how talkative Felicia and Gwen were, they probably won't.
Their conversation shifted from clothes to their superhero team names all the way to the university, lectures, girls' drama, parties, and finally the new semester starting next month. The two invited Jean to ESU on the spot. Jean hesitated but he gave her the permission to join the university.
The new semester year in Empire State University would be absurd with Gwen, Felicia, Ava, Laura, and Jean attending together. Anyone who tries to bully any of them might be subjected to a one-of-a-kind hell.
"By the way, am I not invited to the investigation?" Dante only asked after the three women took a break to have some snacks and soft drinks. "The guy hired people to kill me."
"Nope." Felicia shot him down on the spot. "Go find something nice to wear for dinner. My mom can be very picky about presentations."
"Something for tomorrow too," Gwen added. "Anything casual is fine. Bring some desserts if you want to impress him. He's been obsessed with sweet treats lately."
Their demands were like he wasn't going for dinner but to ask for their hands in marriage. The day might come since all the women he dated were in their twenties. He himself was twenty five—five years older than when his parents got married.
'Marriage will be… crazy.'
It might be pure chaos.
"Darling." Felicia snapped her fingers, bringing him out of his thoughts. She held her hand out, palm open for something. "Can I have your phone for a minute?"
"Why?"
"For no reason in particular."
He unlocked his phone and handed it over. "Pretty acceptable reason to look through your boyfriend's phone.."
She smiled. "You could've given it locked. I know your pin is 6996."
"I approve," Gwen whispered, giving him a thumbs-up.
Jean looked between them curiously. "Does 69 or 96 carry some deep meaning?"
Gwen and Felicia shared a speechless look. The silence was two seconds long before they both broke into laughter. Even he was a bit embarrassed about having such a meme pin code.
Jean seemed a little frustrated at being the butt of a joke, which she couldn't even understand. "Did I ask the wrong question?"
"You asked the wrong people."
"What is that supposed to mean?!"
"Um, it's a… position. You can look it up on Google."
Jean quickly pulled her phone out. A few swipes here and there, and then she looked up. Her face had gone scarlet red in embarrassment. "Why is this your pincode? What's wrong with you?"
"He is cultured. You're not," Felicia rebuked and returned his phone to him. "I've confirmed you aren't cheating on me."
"He is openly doing that," Jean retorted. "His other girlfriend is sitting right next to you."
All of them collectively ignored Jean.
Felicia got up from the bed. "When will you meet up with Natasha?"
She had peeped at the messages. Well, he wasn't concerned. All the bride jokes had been made over the calls. Besides, Gwen and Felicia already knew all of his girlfriends… except for Laura. But then again, they had yet to properly start a relationship. Right now, it was just a mix of adoration and lust.
He checked the time on his phone. "Still free for an hour."
"Great! Let's go on a shopping trip!"
***
Natasha typed a report on a Macbook about the days she was in Kamar-Taj. She was in a simple brown jacket with fur hood and jeans, rather ordinary clothes for the fancy private dining room around her. She had spent over three thousand dollars to reserve this room for her "date" with Dante.
She flipped her wrist. Still ten more minutes before the meeting time.
Her Spirit of Vengeance flickered into existence as a fiery skull hovering above the laptop. "You can feel it too, can't you? The chaotic undercurrents in your organization?"
After witnessing people being arrested for just looking up a classified file, Natasha had lost any remaining faith. The person controlling SHIELD from the shadows had buried their claws deep. She couldn't trust anyone on the inside except for Clint.
She typed a sentence and backspaced it all the way. "What options do you think I have?"
SHIELD was the closest thing she had to a home. She had nowhere else to go. Leaving meant being hunted down by them. She knew too much. A simple resignation wouldn't be allowed.
"Dante," the Demoness said one word like it was a magic word that would get rid of every one of her problems. "Leave SHIELD and join him."
Dante was working towards protecting the people. Even last night he had confronted a powerful foe, the aftermath of which wiped out Oscorp Island. Joining him wouldn't betray her goal of making up for her past actions. No, she might do more good with him than SHIELD.
"I'd love to, but I can't."
"Why? He has amassed more strength in this city than SHIELD's maximum capacity. If you include Asgard, even the mutant community would need to treat him with respect… and he is the companion of a cosmic entity."
The Spirit listed Dante's strengths, but this rejection was never about his worthiness.
She shook her head. "SHIELD has files on Yelena. All Widows I freed are on their radar."
Right now, the mastermind needed her in SHIELD, so she would stay here and keep doing her best. If she walked away, the Widows' past might get leaked to the public and ruin their current normal lives. Or something worse. As strong as she was, she couldn't protect everyone.
"You humans are troubled creatures," the Demoness said, the flames of her skull flaring up in rage. "You possess the power to kill anyone, yet you chose to live like a bird trapped inside a cage."
Her words stung—the truth always did.
"A small sacrifice," she whispered. "For my sisters."
She would die for them. They would do the same for her.
"Why are you so determined for me to go to him?" she asked. "What's in it for you?"
The Spirit remained quiet for a moment before speaking in a softer voice, "I'll be frank with you. Dante's assistance will speed up the process of restoring my true form."
Natasha appreciated the directness. It changed her opinion of the Spirit slightly. Just slightly.
She saw her phone's display light up. An unknown caller. She accepted the call with a swipe.
"Who's speaking?"
"Felicia Hardy."
Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Something happened to Dante? No, that's not possible."
"Gosh, stop assuming the worst. I don't want to imagine my love getting hurt."
"It comes with the job," she replied with a relieved smile. "Anyway, why are you calling me?"
"Did you hear about the accident at the arcade today?"
"Yes. Are you chasing the culprit?"
"They are targeting my boyfriend. My claws will reach their throat tomorrow," Felicia said in a voice lacking her usual warmth. "I have a phone number and a dream. Will you help me turn it into reality?"
Natasha thought for a moment and nodded. "Send me the number."
"Thanks, Natasha. I owe you one."
"Don't worry about it."
She hung up and received the number in her text. Finding the details of someone through a phone number and tracking them down wouldn't take much effort for someone in her position.
The Spirit's flames burned brighter. "I have a way for you to leave SHIELD and join Dante without putting the Widows in danger."
"Which is?"
"It shall work this way…"
The Spirit laid it out in one long explanation. Natasha was left sitting there, resenting the heat in her face.
"No, I'm not going to use Dante like that."
She owed him too much to emotionally manipulate him. More than she could repay him. Manipulating him according to the Spirit's plan would be a new low, even for her.
"He said he'll come to save you," the Spirit whispered gently. "Your colleagues at SHIELD are being moved around like pieces on a chess board. Are you not going to free them?"
The Spirit's flames dimmed down.
"Do you think they don't deserve the freedom you bestowed upon the Widows?"
"Fuck you," Natasha muttered under her breath. "Don't start manipulating me now."
"It's between being stuck in a limbo or actually doing something to stop the evil in SHIELD. What choice will you make?"
The Spirit's gentle whispers were just like a demon. She made it seem like Natasha would be abandoning her SHIELD colleagues if she didn't take action. The fiery ball used to be a demoness before she became a Spirit of Vengeance—Natasha had no doubt about it now.
"Natasha, my sweet child," she murmured in her ear. "You're not exposing him to any danger. If anything you're bringing his hidden enemies to the surface."
"..."
"He'll forgive you over this. I firmly believe he will thank you. That is the type of man who wants you to be his bride."
Natasha flipped the laptop shut and sat there. A few minutes flew by like nothing. The Spirit went quiet, letting her decide.
'I'm sorry, Dante.'
She took the phone and dialed Nick Fury's number. The rings were tamer than the sound of her heart hammering in her ears.
Fury answered in his usual gruff tone, "Romanoff."
Natasha took a deep breath. "Director Fury… I've been thinking about your recruitment proposal. After giving some thought, I'm ready to move forward with it."
"Really?" Fury said in a surprised voice. "Don't feel like I'm forcing you into this. I do no such thing with my agents. You have full freedom to say no."
Fury was not lying for once, but she was.
"I'm not forcing anything. Fighting him and beside him… I've developed a very positive impression of him. A talent like him not working for SHIELD is… it's such a waste, don't you think?"
Her sweet words were full of lies and deceit. She might begin loathing herself at this rate.
"Well said, Romanoff," Fury commended, already believing her lies. They were the exact words Fury wanted to hear at the moment. "When do you start?"
"I'll be meeting him in a few minutes. We can start then."
Fury hummed in his throat before speaking, "I'll deploy the qualified agents. Try to be non-lethal."
"I know, Director Fury."
***
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