The black dagger pressed hard against the back of Emma Frost's neck, its tip grinding against the flawless diamond surface. Around it, tiny fractures spiderwebbed through the crystal. Daniel had tried to wedge the blade between the facets, but Emma's diamond form was too quick—the cracks healed almost as fast as they appeared, leaving him with nothing but a smooth, unyielding surface to push against.
Breaking through would take time. And patience.
Daniel had plenty of both. He controlled the plane, the crew, and now, the room. He could wait.
Emma, on the other hand, was running out of options. She could only hope that someone, somewhere, would notice her absence and come looking. But by then, it would be too late.
"I know what you're thinking," Daniel's voice was a low murmur, his gloved hand tracing the line of her diamond-hard jaw. "But I won't give you that chance." His fingers drifted lower, along her neck, her collarbone. "So smooth. I've never seen anything quite like it. Truly… charming."
The touch was impersonal, clinical, yet it felt like a profound violation. Emma was used to being the one in control, the one who played with men's minds. To be treated like a porcelain doll, an object of curiosity—it ignited a fury deep within her. Her composure began to crack.
Just as her anger peaked, a searing heat flared from the point where the dagger met her skin. Her psychic senses shot to the back of her neck, and she realized what was happening.
The dagger was spinning.
Fast. Incredibly fast.
Diamonds are the hardest substance in the world, but they are not invincible. They are brittle. They fear heat, radiation, and sudden impacts. Emma's ability to shatter and reform her diamond skin was a defense against this very weakness.
But the combination of intense heat and a high-speed drill was something else entirely. It was a method used long before lasers to bore through diamond—using another diamond.
Daniel had seen her weakness. He'd distracted her with taunts and touches, and while her attention was diverted, he had activated his true attack.
The tingling sensation behind her neck sharpened into a distinct, piercing pain.
She met his eyes. They were cold, empty of emotion. He was a predator, and she was his prey.
The crisis had arrived.
With a final surge of pressure and heat, there was a faint pop.
The dagger's tip broke through.
The outermost layer of her diamond defense was breached. From that tiny pinprick, Daniel's psychic power flooded into her, an overwhelming torrent crashing against her internal defenses.
Emma's diamond form was, at its core, a physical manifestation of her own psychic energy—a power that bordered on godlike creation. But she only knew how to use it, not how it truly worked. This was a battle of will, of raw mental strength.
For a moment, she held him back. Emma was, after all, one of the most powerful telepaths on the planet, second only to Professor Charles and Jean Grey. She was a hair's breadth away from legendary status herself. Her diamond form could stand against even the strongest of foes.
But the shield was broken. And once he was inside her mind, the fight was over before it began.
The confrontation between two powerful psychics is brutal and swift. The winner takes all. The loser is left with nothing.
In a blink, the glittering diamond shell around her body dissolved, leaving her in a simple white slip dress. Her jacket was gone, likely consumed by the transformation. She opened her eyes, but the fire within them had been extinguished. They were blank. Empty.
Daniel had crushed her psychic defenses, penetrated the core of her being, and left his own mark—an unbreakable command to obey. It was a hypnosis so deep that no one would ever see it from the outside, but the woman who was once Emma Frost was no longer truly there.
The effort had cost him. Daniel sat heavily on the edge of the bed, his breathing steady but his mind taxed. He looked at the now-docile Emma.
"Tell me," he said, his voice quiet but firm. "What is Sebastian Shaw's plan?"
"He wants me to help Colonel Stryker attack the Mutant Academy," she answered, her voice flat and devoid of emotion. "While he unites other forces to attack Utopia. His goal is to kill Magneto."
Just one sentence, but it revealed a plan of brutal efficiency. Shaw knew that to get to Magneto, he first had to neutralize Professor Charles. As long as the Professor was free, he would warn Erik, perhaps even intervene directly. They were two sides of the same coin, protecting their race in their own ways—one through peace, the other through strength.
Many had tried to kill Magneto before. All had failed, in large part thanks to Charles's unseen protection.
Shaw understood this. By sending Stryker to attack the academy, he would tie up Charles, leaving Magneto vulnerable. It was a brilliant, ruthless strategy, and it put two of mutantkind's greatest enemies—Stryker and Shaw—on the same side.
"And your part in this?" Daniel pressed. "How are you supposed to deal with the academy?"
He had no love for most mutants. Many were reckless, unable to control their powers. Only the X-Men and the best of Magneto's followers had true discipline. But there was one he respected above all others: Jean Grey.
He knew something had happened at the academy recently, something involving Stryker and Professor Charles being "kidnapped." He had assumed it was another of Stryker's attacks. Maria Hill had later told him the truth: it was a ruse.
While the Chitauri were invading New York, another alien race, the Z'Nox, had been preparing their own attack on Earth. Professor Charles, faking his own kidnapping, had worked with Jean Grey and Magneto to secretly thwart the invasion. It was a victory no one on Earth even knew had been won.
And now, Stryker was coming for them again, this time with Emma Frost at his side. The consequences would be devastating.
"Me? Deal with the Mutant Academy?" Emma's face remained blank, but her words sent a jolt through Daniel.
"No. I have already contacted Jean. I'm meeting her in New York. I'm going to tell her everything."