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Dante let Logan have a one-on-one conversation with his daughter in private. Their first meeting wouldn't be smooth. LLaura would hurl accusations about his absence during her worst years and might even try to stab him out of sheer anger. But it was a necessary challenge if Logan wanted any chance of becoming her real father, not just her biological one.
The alternative was Logan walking away, pretending he had never learned of her existence. Most people wouldn't blame him for that choice. After all, he hadn't known Laura existed until that anonymous text arrived. What's more, she was the product of a relationship that had lasted barely two months with a woman he had lost contact with two decades ago.
Logan was too responsible to make such a choice.
Emma approached Dante in the hallway, her heels clicking sharply against the floor.
"I'm going—"
"Nowhere," Dante cut her off with a smile. "You'll stay here and watch over our guests. Psylocke and I have some business to tend to."
Psylocke, who had been leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, straightened up. Her violet eyes fixed on Dante with visible confusion, silently asking what business they could possibly have together that excluded Emma.
"Our spar?"
Her eyes widened slightly before narrowing with anticipation. She turned toward Emma with a decisive look. "Do as he says."
The White Queen's ice-blue eyes flicked between the two of them, her eyebrows arching in disbelief.
"You want to spar with each other?" Emma asked, glancing at the door behind them. "While I stand guard here like some security guard? Is that what you're suggesting, Dear?"
She repeated her words with honeyed venom—it was a threat to both of them to reconsider their audacious decision immediately. The White Queen hired others to act as her watchdogs—she did not perform that function for anyone else, regardless of temporary alliances or mutual interests.
Her pride was too high for such trivial tasks.
Dante crossed his arms over his chest, meeting Emma's sharp gaze without flinching. "That's exactly what I want, Emma dear. Psylocke, what about you?"
Psylocke mirrored his stance perfectly, violet eyes piercing into Emma. "I looked after them the entire night. You can't manage half an hour?"
The implication was clear: Are you that ungrateful to your friend?
Emma's expression darkened. She had just been called incompetent to her face by her own friend, no less, and in front of a man who was clearly enjoying every second of this exchange.
"I won't be doing it," Emma stated firmly, taking the same tone as when Dante had pushed her to the edge of accepting her demise. "He brought those guests here. Let him fill in for your absence."
Psylocke's confident expression faltered slightly. She had apparently run out of ideas to argue Emma's logic.
So she turned to him for advice. "Dante?"
He leaned closer to Psylocke and whispered, "Say, 'I don't care about that. Dante didn't ask me to do it. You did.'"
Psylocke straightened up and delivered the line with perfect conviction. "You asked me to guard them last night. Now I'm asking you in return. It's between us."
Emma stared at the two of them, this utterly unlikely alliance colluding against her. In their quest to punch each other in the face, they were willing to sacrifice Emma's pride and dignity.
Dante smiled provocatively, waiting for Emma's next move. The small, reasonable request had somehow turned into a game of wits, which he was thoroughly enjoying. Watching the arrogant and show-off telepath squirm helplessly was always a pleasure.
Emma thought hard and suddenly revealed a sweet smile.
"You may leave," she said graciously, even waving her hand in a goodbye like a good friend.
The sudden shift set off alarm bells in Dante's head.
"What are you scheming?"
"Nothing~. Psylocke helps me a lot. I should accommodate my friend every once in a while."
Yeah. She definitely had something up her sleeve.
Psylocke turned toward Dante. The experience of minds like Dr. Strange, Taskmaster, Sue Storm, and Hyperion combined with his own enhanced intelligence made it quite easy to read Psylocke's silent messages.
"Do you dare walk directly into Emma's trap?" was what her eyes asked.
He smirked. "You think I'm afraid of her?"
Emma wouldn't go overboard with her petty revenge tricks. And even if she did try something, well... he had no reason to be afraid. She knew his strength more than anyone, she knew how he could utterly destroy everything she had built.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Psylocke decisively walked down the hallway, looking eager to have a training partner. He felt the same since she was the best available opponent to test his new limits in pure skill.
He waved at Emma with a smile. "I'll see you later, dear."
Emma stared at him with a blank look on her face. "Be careful not to slip on the stairs and fall to your death, sweetheart."
"Who will mess with you if I'm not around?"
He followed Psylocke because she knew the place better than he did.
The air grew noticeably warmer as they entered the academy's main gymnasium. The space itself was impressive, easily matching the facilities at Empire State University's complex, but with a considerably more open area dedicated to sparring.
"You want to spar here?" Dante asked, glancing around the empty gym.
Psylocke pointed toward a small, ordinary door in the very back corner of the room, half-hidden behind a stack of gymnastic mats. "Basement."
"I'm guessing it's a special training ground for Hellions."
"Correct."
They descended a narrow stairwell that seemed to go down much farther than a normal basement should. The temperature continued to rise, becoming comfortably warm near the entrance below. Psylocke looked more amused than concerned by this development, which told Dante everything he needed to know.
"Angelica?"
"Yeah, she comes here to train."
The underground training facility was on an entirely different level than the gym above. The space was almost half the size of the academy. In simple terms, it was massive. It had dedicated training rooms with names for every Hellion member to practice their powers in controlled environments. The center of the facility was a large open arena covered with mats.
Emma hadn't spared any expense on this setup to train her students. It seemed more advanced than early versions of the X-Men's Danger Room.
Something else surprised him more than the facility itself—the presence of the entire Hellions roster.
Manuel de la Rocha stood in the center of the arena with every single member of the Hellions arranged behind him like a proper team. All of them were dressed in their official uniforms—striking magenta and black bodysuits. The color scheme was probably a symbol of Emma's femininity and her dark nature. Sharon Smith, Catseye, was the only one ignoring the uniform code.
Angelica Jones was also present, despite not technically being an official member of the team. She wore a simplified version of the uniform without the black part. The nervous expression on her face was saying she wasn't entirely sure why she was here.
The only person conspicuously absent was James Proudstar—Thunderbird II. He had probably found a different path in this timeline, or someone else got to him before Emma.
"That's the guy who got you?" asked the tallest member of the group, a muscular man with short, curly black hair and a serious look.
Jetstream—real name Haroun al-Rashid—had a mutant ability that allowed him to generate thermochemical energy through his skin and use it for rocket-propelled flight.
He crossed his arms and looked Dante up and down dismissively. "Doesn't look that special."
"Don't underestimate him," Roulette warned, stepping forward slightly. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. "He's a seriously skilled martial artist, and he's completely immune to Empath's psychic manipulation. My discs will still get him, though!"
As if to emphasize her point, she manifested two floating psionic discs. Dante remembered their effects. The black disc floating near her left hand created bad luck for her enemies and the red disc floating near her right hand boosted the luck of her allies, all by creating a probability field around their targets.
Roulette's powers could be stupidly powerful or completely useless. Probability manipulation was notoriously finicky like that.
Angelica nodded in quiet support for Roulette. She had also been present when Dante sent Empath flying with one flick.
"Dante is very powerful!" Sharon said enthusiastically from the back of the group. Her form began to ripple. Her skeletal structure expanded with a series of cracks and pops.
Within seconds, she had transformed into a purple-furred panther form, easily weighing over five hundred pounds. Her face had become like a saber-toothed cat with a broad maw full of sharp fangs. The most intimidating part was still her razor-sharp talons—they looked sharp enough to cut through steel.
Unlike a panther, her form was enhanced like a werewolf walking on all four—she was built to brawl, not hunt.
"But Catseye has very sharp claws... will cut warm Dante if needed. Catseye is strong too."
Despite inhabiting a body that could maul a grizzly bear, she still sounded adorable. It seemed like she didn't actually want to hurt him, but was trying to convince herself she could.
Tarot stood slightly apart from the group, quietly shuffling her tarot deck. She seemed more interested in her cards than the team.
Psylocke turned to him, and he understood her silent gaze: "What did you do to make all these children want to fight you?"
Dante's lips curved into a smirk. "Here for revenge?"
Empath stepped forward, consciously taking on the role of team leader. As confident as he wanted to appear, there was still a flicker of fear in his eyes when he looked directly at Dante.
"No," he said, lifting his chin. "We're here to challenge you as a team."
A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, betraying his true thoughts: "So what if you can defeat me alone in a hallway? I'll crush you with the power of numbers. How dare you humiliate me in front of my team? Now you'll pay for it."
"That's such a cute thought," Dante said in a tone dripping with contempt. He swept his gaze over the rest of Hellions, meeting each of their eyes in turn. "All of you want to fight me?"
Roulette tossed her ponytail over her shoulder and laughed. "The Queen has forbidden us from fighting the X-Men. Miss Psylocke refuses to go all-out against us during training. You're literally our only chance to engage a powerful opponent in a real team fight scenario."
Unlike Empath, she seemed to be excited about using her powers in a fight.
Catseye tilted her head with a conflicted look. "Catseye likes warm Dante. Catseye also wants to make Emma proud." She scratched the ground with one claw. "Dante... train with us? Please?"
It seemed everyone except Empath shared similar feelings. They weren't here to be Manuel's lackeys in a revenge scheme—they were here to improve their team coordination and test themselves against a strong opponent.
A look of anticipation brightened Psylocke's normally stoic features. She seemed to be looking forward to his battle against the group of young mutants.
Dante shook his head slowly. "You guys will improve your coordination and get valuable combat experience. But what will I get out of this? Nothing."
The room fell silent for a moment.
"Fishing for benefits, huh?" Manuel laughed scornfully. "Alright, I'll bite. What do you want?"
His manners suggested he didn't consider the possibility of his entire team losing to a single opponent.
Dante raised one finger. "If I win, I get to command your team for one day, at a time of my choosing."
They exchanged glances. These mutants were young and relatively inexperienced, but they had incredible potential for growth. Just Roulette's probability manipulation could turn the tide if she could make the effect stronger. Angelica had great potential for large-scale destruction. If anything, he could always use them for lesser tasks.
He absolutely wouldn't fight them without benefits.
"I won't put you against an unbeatable enemy, and I won't let you die either." He looked at Empath. "Deal?"
"You'll have to convince the Queen," Empath replied. "She oversees where we use our powers. SHIELD is a major pain in the ass."
Dante waved his hands dismissively. "Your Queen won't mind."
"Alright," Manuel agreed, though he didn't look entirely convinced.
Dante walked toward the center of the arena, rolling his shoulders to loosen up. Solar radiation began to flow through his muscles, warming him from the inside out.
"Come on, then. Let's get this over with."
He still had problems to worry about. SHIELD was partially solved with Laura's cooperation. As for Norman, he would go on a solo hunt to reclaim Venom's fragments as soon as Natasha relayed the facility locations. Norman already knew "Skullfire" was acting against him after the Oscorp Island incident. He may as well go all out in disrupting the billionaire's plans.
'Skullfire is such an easy name. I'll set up a public interview to change it.'
He hadn't decided on a replacement yet, but it sure as hell wouldn't be simple like Skullfire. Maybe something that actually fitted his powerset.
'My powers come from Nexus and Null, so Void Nexus? Sounds a bit edgy.'
Mister Nexus for more friendly vibes, Death Nexus to quietly add his relationship, Silver Nexus for Silvija or Black Nexus for Felicia. The options were endless. He would need to give it a proper thought.
***
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