After returning to FBI Headquarters and reporting to Fury and Professor X,
Dante invited Wanda, Pietro, and Loki inside.
Fury and Professor X—looked at Dante's actions with mild confusion.
Hadn't he already reported the general details of the mission?
What now?
Still not done?
"Uh, these siblings are Wanda and Pietro, Magneto's kids."
That one line left Professor X completely stunned.
"And that one over there is Loki, God of Mischief from Asgard. The guy who opened the giant wormhole over Metropolis a while back. He's now a new agent who's signed a 250-year employment contract with our Federal Bureau of Investigation."
That second line left Fury looking like he just stepped on a rake.
Both men turned to Dante with matching expressions of "Excuse me, the hell now?"
Wasn't this supposed to be a routine HYDRA op with the X-Men?
How did we go from that to Magneto's children and a literal Norse god?
"You sure these two are Erik's?"
"Absolutely. First thing I did when I got back was run a DNA test—Magneto's genome vs. theirs. 100% match."
"DNA test?" Professor X hesitated. "Okay but… setting them aside for a second, how'd you get Erik's DNA?"
"Uh, kidnapping?" Dante shrugged. "It's a long and emotional story about fathers and children that I really don't feel like reliving right now."
After Dante gave a third-person, heavily dramatized summary that may or may not have included flashbacks and unnecessary narration, Professor X finally pieced together the whole story.
"I see… well, since they're Erik's children, let the X-Men handle—actually, no. Just send them to the FBI Academy. That place is crawling with mutants and kids with all kinds of weird powers. They won't stand out there."
Professor X turned to the twins.
"Don't be scared, children. Your father and I were very close back in the day. You can call me Professor X, or Dean. I'll take care of you from now on."
The man's natural kindness—and not-so-subtle telepathy—calmed the siblings, who didn't seem inclined to resist.
But—
"Sorry, Professor X. We want to… go with him."
Wanda and Pietro exchanged glances and pointed at Dante in unison.
Dante, who was happily minding his own business in the corner, froze.
"…Huh? Me?"
He pointed at himself, unsure whether he was hallucinating.
"Yes, Dante. We only trust him."
The siblings' tone left no room for negotiation. Professor X, ever the diplomat, found himself stuck. He looked to Dante like: "What the hell did you do to make them imprint on you?"
Dante scratched his head. "Uh, sure, they can follow me. I mean… the Academy's a good fit, and the kids there at least have some control over their powers. So if they mess up, the fallout isn't catastrophic."
He glanced at the twins.
"These two, on the other hand, had their powers awaken under extreme conditions. It's unstable. If something goes sideways, the cleanup's gonna be a nightmare."
Fury nodded and turned to Loki, who was poking at a weird ornament on his desk with all the interest of a cat.
"Alright, then. This mutant sibling pair and the so-called 'God of Mischief' are now part of Star Team, under your command and supervision. And stop touching my ornament! That's an artifact excavated from an Incan site! It's over six hundred years old!"
"Only six hundred?" Loki scoffed and tossed it back. "I've got goblets older than that stuffed in storage."
Fury sighed. He knew exactly how to handle Dante—dump everything on him. If it's messy, complicated, or has even a whiff of multiversal chaos, shove it in Dante's inbox and walk away.
Call it poetic justice.
Speaking of poetry, he was getting hungry.
"Charles, since this operation's wrapped, I'm taking you out to that new French place in Washington. My treat."
Without waiting for a reply, Fury spun Professor X's wheelchair around and peaced out of the Director's office at speed.
Leaving Dante standing awkwardly with his new entourage.
"Well then, dear Captain," Loki said as he stretched lazily, "how about prepping our new home? I did sign an actual employment contract. You promised free meals, housing, and a generous salary. Don't tell me you're backing out."
Dante let out a deep sigh.
Now what?
Take them home, obviously.
Luckily, there were enough rooms.
Although Ada might not be thrilled.
...
After getting everyone settled with food, beds, and a decent Wi-Fi connection, Dante finally earned a short rest day…
Which wasn't supposed to happen.
But Loki, ever the wildcard, had a surprise in store.
Although Wanda and Pietro's powers came from their X-genes, they were triggered by Loki's scepter. That created some weird feedback loop between the three.
Specifically, Loki could use residual energy from the scepter to help them master their abilities faster.
Of course, that didn't mean he could actually wield the Mind Stone—just that he could tap into some of the power leaking out of it.
Apparently, the guy didn't even know his stick had an Infinity Stone lodged inside.
Loki was smart, sure, but in some areas, he was just as thickheaded as Thor.
Maybe being Odin's kid did that to you.
No blood relation required.
Anyway, with his babysitting duties on pause, Dante finally had time to check out his new powers.
No need to test physical attributes—he'd already seen those in action.
Case in point: when they got home, Pietro got excited and went full speedster mode out of nowhere. His power spike could've sent him flying straight through the walls.
Dante intercepted him instinctively, no big deal.
Next up: Diamond Form and teleportation magic.
"Alright, Diamond Form first."
Dante muttered to himself and activated it.
The transformation started from the heart and rapidly spread across his body. In the blink of an eye, he became a full-on diamond man.
He flexed his fist. The strength boost was there—maybe one or two extra tons—but the real kicker was his durability.
Fire, ice, bullets? Nothing.
And the best part?
Near-infinite stamina.
"Sweet. Next up—teleportation magic. Where should I go…"
Dante scratched his head.
After a minute of indecision, he spun a globe, shut his eyes, and jabbed a random spot.
"Norway? Sure. Let's go see how lonely those Norwegian forests really are."
He activated teleportation magic, calculated the coordinates, and conjured a portal à la Doctor Doom.
Stepping through, he instantly landed…
"…What the hell?"
This… was not Norway.
There were no fjords. No snow. No trees.
Just a massive underground city.
Above him? A ceiling of pitch-black stone.
"Who goes there?"
A low, husky, incredibly sexy voice rang out from the shadows.
Dante frowned. There were people here?
What, lost hikers?
No time to analyze. He jogged toward the voice.
"Are you trapped here? What's your name?"
There was a pause.
Then—
"Yes. I'm trapped."
"And who I am…"
"Odin's eldest daughter. Commander of Asgard's legions. First in line to the throne. Hela, Goddess of Death."
(To be continued.)