In Marvel As Dante

Dante

I appeared in front of SHIELD HQ with a snap, to much alarm and panic. Dozens of soldiers came pouring out, and I spotted several snipers shift into positions on rooftops.

I raised one hand and spoke loudly.

"I'm coming in, Fury," I said to a camera. "Still using the conference room?"

Silence.

A 'Yes' came from a speaker inside the building, and I vanished again, reappearing inside the conference room. The room was certainly not packed but fuller than I expected.

Logan, Scott, and Beast were on a video call, along with T'Chaka, while Fury, Captain America, and Tony Stark were settled in, mid-conversation. Without activating my Telepathy, I already sensed it. A mental blocker.

I caught Fury looking at me and saw that his eyes were stone cold. In fact, all of his face was. I'd never seen him so focused, so locked in.

"So, she told you."

"What happened in Siberia?"

"I did," I said. "I lost a bet to Natasha a while back and promised to save her sister. So, I did. There were a bunch of Widows there as well, all under some mind control, so I helped them as well. It was the moral thing to do."

"Moral," Fury scoffed. "And where are they now?"

"Safe," I said. "Seeing as the United States government and half of the world want them. It was the smart thing to do."

"You're lying," Fury said. "Or at least keeping things from us."

I scoffed. "Look who's talking. You have an entire R and D department devoted to capturing and killing me. And don't get me started on his new-age suppressors for mutants. Let's not forget stealing from the Wakandans and ignoring the widow's plight and your little Prometheus project. How's Armando feeling these days?"

Tony and Steve Rogers barely reacted, having likely been read into the secrets; neither did T'Chaka. It was Magneto who seemed the most expressive. He looked vindicated almost, looking at me as if saying, 'I told you so.'

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Looks like Wanda's visions aren't the only things you've been sharing. Still, I'm surprised he had the balls to tell you. And that some of you are still here." I looked at Steve and Tony Stark.

 "The demons need to go," Tony said. "Then, we can go digging through Fury's closet."

"That how you feel too, Cap?" I asked Rogers, who met my eyes and spoke with more resolve than I expected.

"I don't see eye-to-eye with Fury on most things, but how to deal with you is not one," he said. "Lines need to be drawn in the sand. We need to know if you're with us or…"

"Against you?" I chuckled. "You're the ones holding the secret meetings behind my back. Where's the trust? Hmm."

My comment got an eye roll out of Tony Stark.

"I can see that whatever Wanda told you has you shaken. So, I'll answer your questions. What do you want to know?"

"The deal. Tell us everything you remember."

"Didn't Wanda already tell you?"

"We want to hear your side."

I gave a non-committal shrug as I reviewed everything that happened with Shin but with certain changes. I told them I was always Dante Sparda. I told them about the deal I made under the threat of Annihilation, the concessions I made to ensure things don't get too out of control, the agents walking around, and why Quellitrax and his offspring are after me.

"So, you see, none of this is technically my fault," I said. "The only thing I'm guilty of is making the best of a bad situation. If anything, you should be thankful. I've been busting my ass off since day one. Most people would've sold you out by now."

"How magnanimous of you," Fury said, deadpan.

 "See, what did I tell you, Fury? The kid is not all bad," Tony said. "I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the super-secret agents, and the people trading is kinda worrying, but everything else lines up with what the Witch Kid told us."

Rogers nodded in agreement, but he still had some reservations. "Between SHIELD, The Wakandans, and Magneto, we should've at least heard of some of these agents. It's hard to miss a powerhouse of your stature."

"Yes, it is," I said. "Did you think I would've put Shin's name out there if I had much choice? The squid forced my hand, and Shin will probably come after me hard because of this, but you asked for the truth, so here it is," I grinned. "I can't imagine how much havoc he could wreak with total control of my body."

"What do you mean?" Rogers asked, clear trepidation in his voice.

"Uh, well," I started. "I'm only a tenth as powerful as I could be if I were willing to sacrifice much more of my soul."

"A tenth?" Magneto gasped, looking at me incredulously. Wolverine's eyes bulged, and even Beast shifted in his seat. Fury remained stoic, and Tony whistled.

"Over a certain percentage, I lose full autonomy of my actions. Most of what I have is because of what I am. Half-demon, half-angel."

"Angel?" T'Chaka spoke up. "Like the Christian God?"

"No," I said. "My mother was from a different Reality entirely. The point is, there's no telling how much these agents have sacrificed—"

"And there's no telling how much you would as well if push comes to shove…is that what you're trying to say?" Fury asked.

"You know me so well," I flashed him a Cheshire grin. "So, any more questions?"

Indeed, there were. Tons of them. Magneto seemed awfully interested in the process I'd done for Pietro, as was Fury. I told them that it was a costly process, and could not be done without great preparations and consequences.

They also asked about how I intended to pay Shin since his reclaiming my soul wouldn't be in their best interest.

I told them I was working on a solution.

"As long as that solution doesn't include the Tesseract, because you're never going to get it," Fury said.

"Never is such a strong word," I said casually. "It could permanently sever the connection between Limbo and our world. Solve the demon problem altogether."

Fury narrowed his eyes. "And you could hand it to the god monster to save your hide."

"If you think I'd do something that myopic, you don't know me very well," I said.

"You're right," he said, his voice oozing venom. "We don't."

I supposed I couldn't blame Fury for his reaction. He was taking his well. After all, I lied and schemed behind his back from the moment I met him.

I raised my hand in mock surrender. "Alright. At the very least, do we get paid? I mean, Rin and I risked life and limb, and I want my money and monster parts."

Fury exchanged a look with Tony before he nodded. "We will credit your account as discussed and give you half of the monster parts, but Ulyetrix's body is off limits."

I raised a brow. "You can't really dispose of him or use him to fashion weapons like I can. Don't tell me you're trying to experiment with his DNA?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Fury said. "It's disappearing into our Vault, where all of the darkest artifacts shield has uncovered over the years end up."

"If you say so," I shrugged. I was expecting Fury to pull something like this. That didn't mean I wouldn't get the Alien's eyes and the Tesseract in the end. There had been no overt threats or promises, but I knew he was gunning for me now.

"What about Lumos's body, though?" I asked. "I'm not budging on that."

Fury had a genuine look of surprise that spoke volumes. "You don't know where he is."

"His body vanished moments after you did," Rogers explained. "We just assumed."

"Could he still be alive?" T'Chaka asked.

"Not possible," I said, "it's probably some Teleportation artifact that whisked his body away after the fact. Either way, the demons know now, and they'll be coming for us."

I turned to Tony, looking at the glow beneath his chest. "Seems like my idea panned out. I'll be stopping by your mansion later to get the reactors you promised, and don't try to set me up with that weak shit. I'll know."

We likely had further business to discuss. This version of Tony was more down the middle than I expected, but it was a welcome change. I wondered how far he'd come with his AI.

I turned to Fury next. "Now that the formalities are handled, let's discuss the demons. They're the big threat on the horizon, and they'll be rapidly closing in now that somebody important is dead. I want to take point."

I went into the details about my plan to hit all the relay stations with Yao, Rin, Jean, and a few high-ranking sorcerers in tow.

"What if Domina and this Enrique guy show up?" he asked.

"I have a trap for both of them," I said. "Rin and Jean will handle them while I continue with the mission. If we're successful, we should be able to stop the Cambion and other demons from teleporting in."

"And what about the demons stuck at our side," he asked.

"Most of them should be drawn to the destruction of their relay station. We get them all in one spot and pull the trigger," I said. "As for the stragglers, it will give your people something to do. The plan should buy us at least a year until they can invade us again."

Fury's face took on a complicated expression. I could tell he didn't trust me, but I wasn't giving him much choice. He had to agree or look like a contrarian, especially with how forth-coming I was being. However, I had no delusions that we were both approaching an inevitable confrontation. Hopefully, I'd have Six Eyes and be several times stronger before then.

"So, what do you say?"

"I'd like some of Magneto's people in the mix, and aerial support is never bad," Fury hemmed. "But I otherwise think it's a decent plan."

"Some of the members of the X-Men have also insisted on being present," Beast said over the video call. "They feel like they've not been pulling their weight."

"Does some members include Scott?"

Beast offered a tight smile, which I waved away. He wanted to keep an eye on me, which was fine. I couldn't care less.

I waved. "It's fine. Since all of our bases are covered, I'd be collecting my bounty, grabbing Colossus, and be on my way."

The next hour or so were some of the tensest of my life. SHIELD's people watched me like a hawk as I walked through the New York headquarters for what was likely the last time. I stuffed the thousands of refrigerated mutated carcasses into my inventory before swinging by the holding cell and grabbing Colossus. He was naturally not too glad to see me but was far less aggressive.