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Dante learned about Psylocke's new ability, which was kind of insane.
Her genetic ability came with two completely opposing sides.
Cast away her sense of self and suppress her emotions entirely to allow her body and instincts to take over. She would gain a power boost and insane combat instincts, becoming something closer to a machine than a human.
The second side was the polar opposite of the first, and what she had used to slay the demon lizard. Instead of emptying herself of emotions, she drew strength from heightened emotions. The more intense the feeling, the stronger and faster she became.
One discarded emotions and the other used them.
He was impressed that she had such a complex ability hidden in her genetic codes. "Don't use it willy-nilly. It'll exhaust you faster than your other state."
"Kyomu no Kata (Stance of Nothingness)," Psylocke whispered with a thoughtful look. "The Void State."
"Pretty straightforward name. What about the new one?"
Her violet eyes locked onto his, completely unblinking. Had any other woman looked at him with this same burning intensity while clinging to him like this, he might've misunderstood it as an invitation. It was exactly the kind of heated look that usually ended with a locked bedroom door and tangled sheets.
But this was Psylocke.
There was no playful flirtation in her expression. With her, everything she felt was written directly in her eyes. She wanted him to choose the name for her second state. It had to be him and nobody else.
"Drawing power from extreme emotions to burn brighter…" he whispered. "In other words, something that represents drawing power from your heart... Heart-Resonance State. In Japanese, it'll be something like Shin Kyōmei no Jōtai. Is that good?"
She stared at him, half-impressed, and a lot more curious. "Excellent name. Did you learn Japanese… for me?"
"No…"
He had grasped it through Jean's Resonance Link, who had learned a lot of languages just by absorbing the knowledge from another person's mind.
The faint disappointment in her eyes left him a bit confused about her priorities. "You can set me down."
He did so, allowing her to stand back on her own feet.
She showed an apologetic look. "Sorry for dirtying your clothes."
"Don't worry about it."
Psylocke turned away, looking toward the barren lands that stretched endlessly. "You know, you continue to surprise me."
"How so?"
"My hatred for the Hand… Now it feels like fuel instead of poison."
"There is a chance you could've awakened it on your own. Anyway, do you want to return?"
She shook her head. "I'm already healed."
Which meant she was still fresh and capable of training more.
"I'll walk you through more sword techniques later. Keep your focus on endurance training."
She needed a stronger physical foundation to safely endure the extreme demands her new abilities placed on her body. There was only so much he could reinforce with his Biokinesis without completely changing her biological structure. She had to build the rest the old-fashioned way.
"Got it," she said, the corner of her mouth twitching into a faint smile. "I'll train hard."
He nodded. "As you should."
"Umm… Do you know what future Illyana was talking about?"
"Haven't asked her."
It would probably be some major world event pulled from comics or the movies. He planned to have a thorough talk with her later.
He glanced back toward the rest of the group. Illyana stood in the middle of a circle formed by the others—her so-called "haters"—grinning like she was having the time of her life. He flew in slightly closer to hear what was being said.
"One at a time, alright?" Illyana said, casually swinging her Soulsword. "I'm not totally sure I can take the whole group together."
"One-on-one works for me," Laura said, cracking her fists. "I'm first."
He'd have loved to stay and watch the inevitable chaos, but he had more pressing matters. Emma still needed to be picked up. He also needed to ask Tony Stark what he really wanted from Silvija. This meeting didn't feel like random curiosity. It felt deliberate.
Dante resurrected the lizard demons and then returned to his room at Silver Sable International. Surprisingly, Raven was already waiting for him, seated in one of the sleek chairs with her legs crossed. His sudden appearance didn't surprise her in the slightest.
"Tony Stark is in your office."
He blinked. "Since when?"
"Ten minutes." Raven's eyes flicked over him. "Your secretary's humble advice: Don't meet him dressed like that."
He looked down at himself. Black Hawaiian shirt with dark grey skull print, which was paired with light-colored shorts. "This is a timeless look."
"It's the coldest month of the year."
"I have a miniature sun burning in my chest." He circulated the solar energy through his body. A warm golden glow peeked through the thin fabric of his shirt. "You should know that, though. I've hugged you a couple of times."
Raven stared at him, hiding her blush behind a poker face like she always did. "Be that as it may, this is Tony Stark you're about to meet. This meeting could open business opportunities for us. Looking a little more professional wouldn't hurt."
"Hmm. You're right. I do need him for a couple of things."
Stark was one of the few people on the planet who could help him build his advanced space station. He could have done it himself after a Resonance Link with someone like Reed Richards, but he didn't have the time investment to manage such a project.
Raven walked over to his closet and started looking through it. "Why don't you wear one of these suits?"
He glanced at the formal suit she pulled out and replicated it with an illusion spell. The fabric shimmered into existence over his body, perfectly fitted over his tall stature. "Better?"
Raven looked him over and nodded with an approving smile. "Much more appropriate for a CEO."
"Let's go then."
They rode the elevator up to the fifth floor. Raven stayed quiet throughout. Clearly her mind was elsewhere. He didn't need to read her thoughts to know she was thinking about Anna Marie, her adopted daughter. Sinister had almost certainly already gotten his hands on Rogue. Given the mad scientist's obsessive tendencies, Dante knew he would eventually have to face her soon. He only hoped that her mind was still recoverable when the time came.
Having Rogue, the mutant who could absorb anyone's powers, as an ally would be pretty huge.
The elevator chimed. The doors opened to reveal Tony Stark standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows, hands tucked casually in his pockets as he gazed at the city outside.
He turned at the chime, looking every bit the arrogant genius Dante had seen in MCU movies with that trademark half-smirk and those eyes evaluating everything in his line of sight. This was Tony Stark before the cave, before that incident changed him forever.
"Mr. Stark," he said with a friendly smile. "Welcome to Silver Sable International."
Tony took off his sunglasses. "You're the CEO?"
Dante turned to Raven with an amused look. "He still doesn't recognize me. Was there even a point in changing?"
Raven gave him a blank stare. "Enjoy your meeting, Boss. I've got a mountain of unfinished things, no thanks to your promotion."
She stepped back into the elevator without another word and disappeared.
Tony watched the doors shut and let out a low whistle. "Reminds me of how my assistant treats me."
Dante took his eyes away from the elevator and smiled at Tony. "It's complicated."
The word couldn't describe his weird relationship with Mystique.
Tony smirked, completely misunderstanding the situation. "Women. Can't live with them, can't live without them..."
"There are always exceptions."
He had met a lot of these exceptions in his new life.
Tony tilted his head. "Speaking of exceptions. You have to be what, twenty-four? Twenty-five? Running a company like this at your age is either a sign of extraordinary talent or extraordinarily good luck."
Dante walked to the chair that belonged to Silvija. He gestured for Tony to sit. "I didn't earn it through skill. Someone handed it to me."
"Knowing your shortcoming is half the battle," Tony replied, confidently dropping into the chair across from the desk. He crossed one leg over the other. "I'd offer to pop open a few bottles if this were my office, but I'm guessing you're more of a 'protein shake in a fancy glass' kind of host. That type of physique doesn't build itself."
"I only drink on occasions. Besides, business discussions should be done with a clear mind."
His body was too optimized to get drunk naturally. He could theoretically adjust that with his Biokinesis, but he had never been particularly fond of drinking even in his previous life. There was no motivation to change that.
Tony nodded slowly, clearly turning something over in his mind. Before he could speak, Dante leaned forward and cut straight to the point.
"So, Mr. Stark. What does a man like you need from Silver Sable International?"
Tony's eyes sharpened with an appreciative look. "Time is a very precious resource. That's why I like direct men."
"I don't like wasting my time either."
"Let's start from the beginning. I ran into your boss's boyfriend yesterday." Tony paused, still processing whatever he had witnessed. "Man, demon, walking disaster, or whatever we're calling the flaming skull guy. When he left my office, I dug deeper and saw some things that… let's just say they broke my brain a little."
"Oh?"
"Alien organisms who possess us. Portals. Magic spells. A man controlling metal like he is some magnet. How the hell does any of this work? Is it natural? Some kind of serum? Some experiment gone wrong?" Tony paused for a breather then continued, "Don't even get me started on the time reversal thing. If time reversal is real and reproducible, then causality is not a closed system, which breaks essentially everything we know about how the universe operates at a fundamental level. That's interesting but fucked up."
Tony kept going, gesturing animatedly as he fired off scientific theories about spatial folding and quantum management. Dante sat there, completely speechless. Even he, the one using sorcery and being associated with everything on Tony's list, hadn't thought this deeply about the mechanics of his portals and Magneto's powers.
Tony let out a self-depreciating chuckle. "Oops. My apologies. The nerd gets loose sometimes."
"You're right to feel curious, but you're forgetting one thing, Stark. This is magic. If it followed the same laws we understand as humans, wouldn't that defeat the entire purpose?"
Tony raised one finger and held it in the air while he processed Dante's words. He lowered his hand and nodded slowly with a serious expression. "Fair point. The definition of supernatural is that it exists outside or natural law. So trying to reduce it to natural law is inherently self-defeating."
"I'm glad you understand—"
"But knowing I can't explain it with existing physics doesn't make me want to understand it any less. If anything, it makes it worse. Dad didn't wire me to leave a problem alone." He let out a long sigh. "Call it a nerd's curiosity or a billionaire's unchecked obsession, but I need to know more."
This obsession got Dante curious enough to take a glimpse through telepathy. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't help it. This was exactly why he had avoided telepathy until now. Having such a convenience at hand would push him to use it more often. If left unchecked, he would grow completely indifferent to reading people's minds like Emma had.
'Ah. Tony is paranoid.'
After the large-scale battle in The Avengers, Tony had developed severe anxiety around extraterrestrial threats. The Tony Stark before him was dealing with the same issue here except he wasn't thinking with the mindset of an Avenger but the mindset of a weapon manufacturer. The Tony Stark before him wasn't someone with trauma and the fear of losing people. He was without responsibilities. He was control obsessed, distrusted everyone, and followed the ideology of "peace through overwhelming force".
Tony treated the "alien-tech" (magic and mutants) as a problem. He had a compulsion to reverse-engineer everything and made rapid-defense systems in case he came under attack. His helplessness against Skullfire yesterday only amplified this obsession.
Tony also had plans to create militarized exosuits, automated drone armies, heavier firepower, and serum that could produce superhumans.
Dante leaned back in his chair. "This side of the world is very dangerous, Mr. Stark."
"Even so." Tony locked eyes with him. "Tell me about your turf. That's the least you can do after you stole Whitney and her superhuman serum right out from under me, Skullfire."
Tony leaned back in his chair with that signature smirk. The sharp, hungry glint in his eyes made it very clear he wasn't leaving this room empty-handed.
***
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