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Dante thought for a second and then shook his head. "Nothing for now."
"Then leave." Emma gestured to the door like sending unwelcome guests away. "And darling, don't bother me with alliance until you're on the same level as Stark International."
"I didn't come here for a permanent alliance. Look at this."
Dante's fingers weaved complex gestures. Golden light materialized from nothing, spinning and interlocking into mystical magic circles and sigils.
Emma took a sharp breath. She recognized the style of this ability from Selene's memories.
"You've trained at Kamar-Taj!" she exclaimed. "The Ancient One accepted someone with your... manipulative character?"
"Everyone's manipulative," Dante replied in the middle of his mystic spell. "The question is whether you manipulate for selfish or selfless reasons."
The golden circles expanded until one dominated the space between them. The hollow center blurred and then displayed black-skinned monstrous creatures, the monsters that went viral after the bank heist. Except these monsters weren't outside a bank. They patrolled a corridor covered in disgusting black tendrils.
Emma studied the creatures with fascination rather than fear. Enhanced strength and durability made them dangerous. It would also make them fearless killers under proper control.
The scene switched and then showed vials filled with black slime-like material with tentacles.
"This is Symbiote, the 'miracle cure' you wanted Felicia to steal," Dante explained. "Norman used symbiotes to create an army of enhanced soldiers. Now, he's distributing them to criminals." The magic window closed with a gesture, and he showed a solemn look. "Norman is about to tear this city apart. Won't you lend a hand to Ghost Spider?"
"Dear, you've knocked on the wrong door. I don't act for the greater good." She met his gaze steadily, though her mind already began calculating risks and rewards. "What delicious compensation can you offer to move Emma Frost?"
"Nothing," Dante said. "And everything."
Emma's eyebrow arched elegantly. "Elaborate before I lose interest."
"Help me dismantle Norman's operation, and you eliminate Oscorp as a major competitor," He explained with the patience of someone who'd already won. "You also put SHIELD in an awkward spot. They can't prosecute someone fighting monsters without looking like villains. Public perception matters to them."
Felicia clapped her hands together enthusiastically. "You also gain his favor. The only man to steal Death's heart. You probably won't know its worth until you meet Death for yourself."
Emma's mind spun with possibilities. The favor alone made this deal worth it. "You keep mentioning Death as though I should recognize her. Tell me about her."
Felicia put on her punchable smug face. "Death is someone you can never meet during your life, only in death. But I've met her. Hugged her. She even likes me—"
Dante's hand landed with a sharp smack on Felicia's butt, making her yelp. It was a warning for Felicia to not reveal too much.
Felicia gave him a pouty glare and slipped away from him. She dragged another to his side and put it with its back against him.
Dante reached out and rubbed her head from behind before settling back comfortably on his seat. "Death is a cosmic entity. Do you know about them?"
Emma shook her head slowly. The most ancient being in her knowledge was Selene, who was a 17000 years old mutant. And Selene was already beyond Emma's ability to challenge directly.
What followed was a brief lecture that shattered Emma's understanding of universal hierarchy. She had believed herself knowledgeable and informed about the hidden layers of reality most humans never glimpsed. But she knew nothing. Less than nothing. Dante described entities who have existed before planets. Beings who embodied fundamental concepts such as Death, Eternity, Infinity, and Oblivion. All of them made Selene seem like a child playing with building blocks.
The scope of power Dante described defied human understanding.
"They are powerful," Dante confirmed, clearly reading her thoughts through her expression. "I can say that with absolute certainty because Death is my girlfriend."
Emma's mouth opened, closed, then opened again. No words emerged. After making all those impressive claims, she found herself utterly speechless.
Usually, she was the one flexing superiority by flaunting her beauty, wealth, and influence to make others feel inadequate. Today, someone had turned those tables, and she had no counter. No clever comeback. Nothing.
"Why should I believe you?"
Dante touched the side of his head and muttered something under his breath.
Emma let out a trembling breath, not because she fell for his words, but because she could finally sense his thoughts.
"I am not lying about Death or other cosmic beings."
She sensed his thoughts agreeing in sync with his words. Lowering his mental defenses deliberately—that was Dante's final card to convince Emma.
She stayed in a thinking pose while trying to pry deeper. His mind closed off before she saw anything else, leaving her utterly unsatisfied. It was the same feeling as working herself to the edge, only to not release due to an interruption.
The worst feeling ever.
"What do you say now, Emma Frost?" Dante's smile was gentle. "A favor from me and all those other benefits. Is that enough to satisfy your hunger?"
She narrowed her eyes. "If you're that powerful, why do you need me? Just snap your fingers and make them boom."
"My power lacks control on a large scale. The collateral damage would be a thousand times worse than whatever Norman will accomplish."
Felicia's jaw dropped as she turned to look at him. "Darling, just how powerful is Death?"
He tilted his head and smiled. "She said one percent of her power can erase stars."
Felicia was left speechless.
Again, his mind opened with just enough time for Emma to sense that he wasn't lying.
She smirked. "You're a cunning fox."
The confirmation made the offer even more tempting. The connection with Death, such a powerful being, alone made him worth befriending.
He laughed, taking the slight as a compliment instead. "You'll go mad if you go deeper."
The mysterious man splashed cold water on her plans. How could she not be tempted about his other secrets?
"I have conditions," Emma said in a short moment of contemplation. Her smile was like that of a shark smelling blood. "First, a favor. You'll kill one person for me. No questions asked."
He raised a finger. "I won't kill my friends, allies, or my family."
"Acceptable limits." She walked over and sat across from him. "I want samples of symbiotes, dead and alive."
"As long as you swear not to use them like Norman."
She pursed her lips. "Always prepared with a condition for mine. Hmph, third, I'm an equal partner in this arrangement. No one orders me around. This is non-negotiable."
"I wouldn't want it any other way." He laughed. "I'll need your mind to plan things."
A pressure was lifted off her chest. The worst possibility was that she'd be used as his sharp sword. That just couldn't be the case.
"Lastly, you handle SHIELD if they come sniffing around my activities during this collaboration."
"SHIELD." Dante frowned slightly. "Why are you concerned about them specifically?"
This was also an opportunity for her "children" to sharpen their combat skills in actual field operations. With Dante as an ally, she wouldn't need to hide her mutant abilities.
"I'm not afraid, dear. I simply prefer to avoid unnecessary bloodshed." Emma's smile turned cold. "Their secret weapon is quite the hassle to deal with."
"Secret weapon? A mutant?"
"An unkillable little mutant girl." She studied his face, watching recognition flicker across his features. "Judging from that expression, you know about her."
"I might have an idea." He didn't hide it.
"How delightfully mysterious you are." Emma reached forward and pressed a button under the table. "Let's discuss the rest over coffee. I have excellent pastries as well."
Felicia shifted her chair to right beside Dante and faced Emma. "Thank god, this boring talk is on pause."
Within minutes, the twin butler and maid arrived with coffee and an assortment of French pastries. While having a nice time, Emma brought up her plan to involve Hellions, the young mutants group under her wing.
He had a strange look in his eyes, as if he knew something but couldn't reveal it to her. "Alright…"
"What's with that look?"
He shook his head. "Just an ominous feeling."
"..."
"Emma, can you arrange a lab for me? I'll need it to prepare some countermeasures against symbiote."
Emma owned three cutting-edge research facilities in New York. Letting him use one wouldn't be that big of a deal.
"In return," she said, setting down her coffee cup. "I'd like you to introduce me to Silver Sable sometime. I've heard fascinating things about Symkaria's queen. So I'd like to change the impression from the other day and pave the way for cooperation in the future."
Dante's expression went completely blank. "Absolutely not."
Felicia glanced at him and chuckled with a hand on her mouth. "Darling's girlfriend… it's an understatement to call her territorial. She insulted Death yesterday."
It seemed Emma had underestimated Silver Sable's capability. "What does that have to do with my request?"
"You're naive," Felicia said, shaking her head. "Her boyfriend, who is already in a relationship with Death, suddenly wants her to meet a gorgeous woman. What would a jealous girlfriend think in that situation?"
Emma's eyes flew wide open in surprise. "You're saying… she'll think Dante wants her to be friends so that later—"
Dante covered his face with a palm. "Can we not talk about this?"
Felicia nudged him teasingly. "You reap what you sow. Hehe, pay the price of being with two hotties."
Emma glanced at Dante's annoyed expression and chuckled. "Should I mention your relationship with Felicia to this possessive Silver Sable?"
"There is nothing between us!" Dante and Felicia declared simultaneously.
Surprise flashed on Dante's face as he looked at Felicia. Her straightforward denial was the last thing he had expected from someone who flirted as naturally as breathing.
"I know when to stop," Felicia said, though her smile turned predatory in the next moment. "But if I decide I want you, I'll steal you properly. You won't even realize you've been robbed until you wake up in my bed."
"Keep bluffing."
"No, I am not. You might be Death's boyfriend, but I'm New York's best burglar. I steal things. Did you forget your thirty-five grand?"
Dante grabbed the back of her collar. "Give it back."
"No. It's my payment for all the times you touched me weirdly."
"You…"
Emma sipped her coffee, watching them bicker like an old couple. Felicia clearly had some budding feelings, and Dante too. However, Felicia had enough self-awareness not to plunge herself into the hot love triangle. Dante also seemed to be holding back because of Silvija, the capable woman who had a vice grip on this unstoppable man's heart.
If Emma wanted to control him, she had to control Silver Sable… she shook off the thought before it progressed further. Antagonizing this man would never end well for her. She didn't need to either as they had just become allies.
'I'll make you my subordinate one day.'
And that would be her revenge for all the humiliation.
***
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