A soft ding broke the silence. The phone's screen lit up for a moment, then went dark.
In the dim room, Daniel's eyes opened, a flicker of thunder behind them fading as quickly as it appeared. He sat cross-legged on the floor of a quiet wooden house. The fire in the stove had died down, but the room remained warm. In the other room, Elektra slept soundly, undisturbed.
Outside, a blizzard howled.
The world was a whirlwind of white, sweeping across the majestic snow-capped peaks of the Swiss Alps. Daniel was on the Matterhorn, staying in a hotel halfway up the mountain, surrounded by other tourists trapped by the storm.
For most of them, it was an adventure. Christmas, trapped on a mountain closest to Santa Claus—what could be more exciting? The hotel was decked out in festive lights and Christmas trees. But now, after a lively banquet, the excitement had settled. The hotel was quiet.
Daniel would be staying for a few more days. Anyone tracking him would see a simple itinerary: a trip from Paris to the Blue Bank, followed by a ride on the Glacier Express into the heart of the Alps. A quiet Christmas vacation.
A perfect cover.
He didn't need to read the text message. The moment the screen flashed, his mind had already absorbed its contents.
Professor Charles was walking into a trap.
He had been invited to a Christmas banquet in Washington D.C., hosted by the Department of Defense. The guest list was a who's who of the super-powered world: Tony Stark, Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four, Nick Fury, and even General Ross.
On the surface, it was a holiday gathering. In reality, it was a conspiracy orchestrated by Colonel William Stryker, an ambush sanctioned by the highest levels of government. Their plan was to eliminate Professor Charles on his way back, using weapons of mass destruction.
But the plan was destined to fail. Thanks to Emma Frost, Professor Charles already knew everything.
Simultaneously, Stryker would launch a raid on the Mutant Academy. The well-trained young mutants there were a prize many had coveted for a long time.
Strangely, Professor Charles hadn't made any obvious preparations. He had even sent Jean Grey away to an unknown location, leaving Wolverine and the others seemingly unaware of the coming attack.
Daniel suspected Charles had a much larger game in play. He wasn't worried about the academy.
His focus was on the Caribbean Sea.
There, on the hidden island of Utopia, Sebastian Shaw was preparing to unleash his own storm. He planned to destroy the mutant sanctuary and kill Magneto once and for all.
Shaw had amassed a private fleet over the years—smuggling vessels, decommissioned destroyers and cruisers from Britain and France, all retrofitted with modern weapons and crewed by retired naval officers. This time, he wasn't acting alone. Through Colonel Stryker, he had secured the cooperation of the Mexican and Brazilian militaries. Their reward for joining the assault? All the wealth on Utopia.
It was a comprehensive plan. But before the main attack, Shaw needed to neutralize Magneto. Otherwise, any missile barrage would be turned back on his own forces.
But Shaw was walking into a slaughterhouse. He didn't know his entire plan had been compromised. Emma had leaked it to Charles, who had, in turn, passed it to Magneto.
Failure was already a foregone conclusion.
Shaw was now in South America, waiting for the signal from the U.S. that Charles had been dealt with. Then, he would launch his assault.
Everything was on the brink. And Daniel, hiding in the Alps, was right where he wanted to be. He knew S.H.I.E.L.D. was monitoring him—they watched all known superheroes. But he had a perfect alibi.
The night he'd infiltrated the nightclub, Natasha Romanoff had overheard Shaw and Stryker's plans. Nick Fury was aware of the threat, but his attention would be divided.
Daniel had no intention of intervening in New York. With Charles, Jean, and Emma—three of the world's strongest telepaths—all in one place, his presence would be a reckless gamble.
His target was in the Caribbean.
He had only one goal: to ensure Sebastian Shaw died. Whether by Magneto's hand or someone else's, it didn't matter. As long as he was dead.
And if, by some miracle, Shaw survived this, Daniel would hunt him down himself. No loose ends.
The only real complication was the Red Devil. Killing a man with an instant teleporter at his side would be difficult. Daniel would have to watch closely.
For now, his other plans were in motion. His agents within Norwich Energy had their orders.
The only thing he hadn't accounted for was the company's most valuable secret—the advanced technology that had been moved from headquarters years ago, on the same day Irene Adler had stepped down. Emma didn't know where it went, only that it had something to do with a meeting between her mother, Charles, and Magneto.
That technology was likely the source of the X-Men's advanced aircraft and Shaw's undetectable nuclear submarine. That submarine, along with the Red Devil and Shaw's mind-shielding helmet, made him nearly impossible to track.
Daniel slipped out of the wooden house and into the blizzard. The wind whipped around him, but he was unfazed. After half a century in Jotunheim, a snowstorm was nothing. He wore a specialized gliding suit, a wing of dark fabric spreading from his back. It caught the wind, and he shot into the sky, faster than any conventional aircraft.
He had left Mjolnir behind.
It was a calculated risk. The hammer radiated a unique energy signature, one that S.H.I.E.L.D. constantly monitored. As long as the hammer remained in the cabin, their sensors would register his 'presence' here, in a quiet Swiss lodge, while the real Daniel was half a world away. His time at the Triskelion had taught him their methods well.
He flew over the Alps, toward the Italian border. From there, he would catch a flight to Rome, and then another to the Caribbean.
The storm was about to break.
Tonight, Stryker would make his move on Professor Charles. The Mutant Academy would be under siege.
And as soon as the news hit, Sebastian Shaw would launch his own war.