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Dante sat alone in the suddenly too-quiet private dining room and picked up the termination file Maria Hill had left behind. He flipped through it slowly. The crimes listed were real assassinations and covert operations. But they'd been done when she was a brainwashed weapon, not a free agent. The Mastermind had kept this file in reserve like a loaded gun, waiting for the perfect moment to pull the trigger.
Today was that day.
"Spirit."
The fiery skull came through a curtain of flame, hovering just above the table. For once she didn't seem confident. Something in the posture of the Demoness made her smaller than usual.
"It wasn't supposed to proceed this way," she said. "Someone discovered what Natasha was planning to dismantle the Telepath's grip on SHIELD. They moved preemptively to stop her."
Dante stared at her. "What was supposed to happen, then?"
"Natasha's suspension for a few weeks."
"And?"
"She would gain your sympathy and gradually shift into your circle, using this as a base to build trust… and a romantic relationship." The Spirit didn't seem proud to admit this. "Your fondness for her would've blinded you to everything. This was Fury's long-term operation to pull you into the Avengers Initiative."
He felt a flicker of disgust rolling through him. Fury had gone all in to recruit him. Even if Natasha had become fake lovers with him, he wouldn't have joined SHIELD. Nothing in this world could force him into that.
"I was already doubting her, but whatever." He gestured to her. "Go on."
"So… Natasha's original plan was to ask your help in freeing SHIELD after you two became lovers. But she couldn't endure manipulating you."
This would explain her zoning out during the dinner. She might've gone through it with anyone else, but with him… she felt like she owed him too much. The whole evening had been built around a purpose she had ultimately been unable to carry through.
"How much of her agreeing to it was you?"
The Spirit went silent.
"How much?" he asked in a firmer voice.
"I framed the choice where refusal felt like a failure of loyalty to her colleagues." The flame around her skull flickered. "I really wanted her to form a relationship with you. It would help me a great deal."
"As expected." He folded the file shut and began drawing a circle in the air. Orange sparks trailed his finger, and a portal to his bedroom snapped open. "I'm done with you two."
Even though Natasha had regretted it in the end, the fact that she had agreed to manipulate him still stung. He considered her a friend after everything they went through in Asgard. He joked with her and trusted her. If she'd just asked honestly, he would've helped her in a heartbeat. The SHIELD's mastermind would've come after him in the future anyway.
Instead she had chosen the route that destroyed trust. A big part of the decision was the Spirit's whispers, but she made the decision in the end. She had to be responsible for it.
"WAIT!" The Spirit screamed in a voice filled with urgency. "What about Natasha? Are you going to leave her to rot forever in SHIELD's prison?"
"Ask someone who cares."
Before, killing her would've been impossible. But with cosmic awareness, he could absolutely annihilate her existence from this universe. He might just have to pay for it with one day of rest, which was nothing in the grand scheme of things.
She shot forward and put herself directly in front of the portal. "You cannot do this!"
He raised an eyebrow. "Move. Don't make me use Death's powers to kill you."
Her flames flickered in panic. "I am sorry. I would kneel if I had knees. Please! You have to help Natasha!"
"Get your fake Youtuber apology out of here." He crossed his arms, glaring at her. "On second thought, why don't you manipulate me into doing your bidding? That comes pretty naturally to you."
She tilted her skull down. "I feel terrible. How do I convince you I am truly apologetic?"
"You don't. Move out of the way."
"I am begging you… oh great Death's Companion, please show mercy."
He stared at her flames, deciding how to make her truly feel sorry about her actions. After a long moment, he raised three fingers. "Three months of unconditional assistance."
"Three months?!"
"Or we forget about it."
He snapped to close the portal and drew another one on the side. The Spirit came to block this portal as well.
"One month."
"Three, or I'm leaving. I can teleport through mystical energy or ask my companion to get me out of here."
He had promised to save Natasha one more time. He planned to keep his word because they meant something. With how the Master in the shadows had threatened him over his affairs with the mutants, he had to get them down from their high horses. He had become strong so that no hero or villain could bully him or the people he cared about.
When this was over, he wanted nothing to do with Natasha.
"You…!" The Spirit growled. "Fine! I'll be your slave for three months."
He showed a cold smile. "If you pull this shit on me again, I'll kill you. You might've been a Hell-Lord in your prime, but right now… you're nothing."
The Demoness was one of those people who only took respect for granted. After today, she would fully realize the worth of respect.
Her flames burned brighter, fueled by indignance, then calmed as she realized resistance was pointless. "How will we go through it?"
"We can't make hasty decisions. The Widows are under constant surveillance from SHIELD."
The Widows had to be secured before anything else. He had to come up with a plan and utilize numbers to ensure the Widows' safety. With his current list of allies, he had more than enough elites for this type of operation.
"We wait until they lower their guards," the Spirit said, nodding in agreement. "In the meantime, I shall keep you updated on Natasha."
"Don't bother. It's your job to keep her alive until I make my move."
The Spirit gazed at his back. "How can you be so cold to your bride? Do you not believe your loved ones deserve a chance?"
"She stopped being one when she agreed to you."
With those words, he stepped through the portal and closed it behind him. After sitting blankly at the bed for a few minutes, he went to the bathroom and washed his face. He wiped the water with a towel and observed himself in the mirror.
'Have I been too nice to everyone?'
He shook his head. What Natasha did had nothing to do with how he had treated her. If anything, she had regretted her actions because of guilt. He didn't have to change himself due to one woman when so many others loved him for who he was.
The door creaked open. The footsteps immediately confirmed it was the mutant with the sharpest nose.
He hung the towel and closed the faucet before turning around. "Laura."
She watched him from the bedroom with her arms crossed. "Do you want to play games?"
"What type of games?"
"Bedroom games."
He walked into the bedroom and quietly pointed to the door. It was cute watching her come up with new ways to seduce him, but he wasn't in the mood for sex with anyone. Much less his first time with Laura.
She clicked her tongue, pure disappointment on her face. "I heard about your visit to the arcade. I brought you some gifts."
"Bought or stolen?"
"I'm not like you," she said, grinning. "Silvija paid, but I asked her to buy them. Credit is mine."
"What gifts?"
He was curious what had Laura grinning ear to ear.
She reached out to the other side of the bed and picked up a massive blue gift box. She put it on the bed. "It's all yours."
One pull at the wrapping bow uncovered the box. He ripped the tape and checked the contents. Inside was a Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3's sitting under a stack of game discs for both consoles.
He pushed the box away and hugged Laura in his arms. "Thanks."
This was his childhood in a way. He was thinking of getting the consoles, but Laura had been one step ahead.
"You'll teach me how to play. Then we can play together."
"Of course." He reached into the box and pulled out a Gears of War 2 disc. "We can play this together."
"Let's go!"
***
At the Xavier Institute, the silence felt heavier than usual.
Ororo Munroe stood in the kitchen, stirring a large pot of stew she hoped would coax everyone out of their rooms. The mansion had changed in a crushing way after Jean's departure.
Scott hadn't come out of his room. Food left outside his door disappeared, which was the only evidence he was still inside. Bobby and Warren had been gone since yesterday evening without a message. Hank had locked himself in his lab, only the occasional crash of equipment conveying his living status.
Jean had been the heart of this place. Without her, nothing felt right.
Ororo stirred the pot and felt the same restless ache in her own chest. She, too, was finding it hard to justify staying here. Xavier's promise wouldn't be realized without taking a fight to SHIELD. More importantly, she wanted to soar freely like Jean and help those in need.
However, Xavier's condition was not great. The professor had a fever. While it wasn't serious, she couldn't leave while the X-Men were in shambles.
A sharp knock echoed through the mansion.
Ororo turned the heat down and wiped her hands on a dish towel before she went to answer the door. Everyone else was keeping to their own corners so she had to do everything by herself. Fortunately, she had been used to such a position.
She opened the heavy front door and found Erik Lehnsherr standing on the step. His sharp, authoritative gaze swept over her, then past her into the quiet halls. The long coat and straight posture made him look much younger than he was.
"The winter wind becomes spring near you," he said in a warm voice, despite his stern expression. "Ororo, how have you been?"
"Not as well as I'd have hoped," Ororo answered calmly. "Then again, fate has hardships for all of us. Only through overcoming them can we better ourselves."
"What hardships are you facing now?" Erik's brows drew together. "Why is the mansion silent? It's never the case."
"An incident happened. It's better you hear it from Professor."
She might show some bias toward Dante in her retelling of the events. Even though he had claimed a mutant's life, she couldn't fault him. Everybody involved in the situation had been wrong and right for various reasons.
Ororo stepped aside and let him in, closing the door softly behind him. Erik took the stairs to the Cerebro room.
"He isn't there," she said. "Professor X is in his room."
Erik checked his watch. "What happened for him to be there this early?"
"A fever. It's improving."
Erik accepted the explanation with a curt nod and followed her to Charles's quarters. Ororo opened the door and flicked on the lights. Xavier laid on the bed tucked under a thick blanket.
"Charles."
Xavier opened his eyes and sat up, which meant he wasn't sleeping. He had been thinking.
"Erik," he said in a warm voice. "My friend."
The two had decades of friendship despite all the prior disagreement. SHIELD's oppression had brought the two closer into becoming real friends.
Ororo closed the door and made her way back to the kitchen. These two would converse while she finished preparing the dinner for everyone. Perhaps Erik would find a way to bring in more mutants, which their academy sorely lacked at this moment. Some fresh blood might clear everyone's sorrows.
A sudden crash from Charles's room stopped her cold.
"That punk killed Teresia?!" Erik's voice boomed.
Ororo's eyes widened. She turned the heat off and rushed back upstairs.
"Don't, Erik. He—"
"He killed your student—he killed an X-Men—and you're lying there. How can you accept that, Charles?"
The conversation continued. Ororo's high-heels held her back on the stairs, forcing her to fly over them.
"Returning violence with violence is not the right way."
"But it will be mine. Stay and rest, Charles. I'll handle the brat."
Ororo landed outside the room and swung the door open, but Erik wasn't present. A cold wind blew in from the open window. She moved to the window, yet Erik was nowhere in the view. He had already flown off to find Dante.
"Professor, we have to stop him."
Charles sighed. "I don't think I can, Ororo. He has never listened to me."
For some reason, Ororo felt like this was the outcome Charles wanted. Otherwise, Charles wouldn't give up on convincing Erik this easily.
She closed the window and pulled out her phone. "I'm going to stop him."
"Ororo—"
"No, Charles. You have no right to stop me."
Walking downstairs, she called Jean since she didn't have Dante's number. Having access to complete control over electromagnetism, Erik was the most dangerous mutant on this planet. She had to warn Dante and possibly get him to teleport somewhere.
"Miss Ororo!" Jean said cheerfully. "I miss you so much here. You have no idea—"
"Jean, is Dante near you?"
"He left for Felicia's home half an hour ago. He's having dinner with her parents."
For a moment, Ororo thought this would save Dante from a conflict with Erik. Then she realized Erik's network of mutants. Even Raven Darkhölme was working under him. Finding Dante wouldn't be hard for Erik.
"Text me Dante's number and Felicia's address."
"Miss Ororo, what happened?" Jean's voice was filled with worry. "Is he in more trouble?"
"I can't be certain of the possibility. But if Erik reaches him tonight and neither of them chooses to stop." She flew up in the air and gazed at the bright city under the sky. "Half of Manhattan might be leveled."
Dante fought by overwhelming his opponent through skills and raw power. Erik, on the other hand, fought by raining down everything in the environment upon his enemies. Against someone of Dante's durability, the destruction Erik would do might be unprecedented.
"Erik." Jean gasped. "Shit, I'm going to help him."
Jean hung up in a hurry. Ororo's phone buzzed a few seconds later with the address and Dante's contact. She opened the address in Maps and flew in the direction of Felicia's home. She dialed Dante's number and waited for him to pick up. The first two calls went into voicemail. He picked up the third one.
"Dante."
"Is that you, Miss Ororo?"
They might be close to each other in age, but he always showed her respect.
"Yes. Please, leave Felicia's house. Erik is chasing you."
"Erik? Magneto?"
Ororo nodded, only to realize she had been on a phone call. "Yes. You must leave everything."
"He can come," he said in a firm voice. "I don't want to run away."
She really wanted to yell at these stubborn men. "Dante, this won't end well for the city."
"Then stop him. If he shows up at Felicia's home, I'm going to kick his ass."
***
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