In Marvel as Dante Chapter 21

I was too tired to let myself stew in rage at Shin's antics, so I focused on the portal. It was finally closing.

The dark portal shrunk until it was a dot in reality and vanished.

A few Angel Lifts and Demon Pulls later, I found myself at the base of the Stone Seal.

Standing there, I was starting to second-guess my choice of Ophion over Arbiter.

But then I reminded myself that Arbiter was twice the cost of Ophion, and choosing it would've probably gotten killed in the fight against the Brute.

It took over twenty Demonic Energy Burst strikes, and my hands were raw at the end, but the stone seal finally shattered, and the chain fell into the endless Sea.

The Bronze statue in the distance turned its head in my direction, and suddenly, I found myself back on the Blackbird like I never left, a layer of sweat covering my brow.

Congratulations: You've unlocked the Epic Skill: Paradise Simulacrum (Basic)

Visit a ntal plane fashioned by the Legendary Sparda for limited periods during which no ti passes in the physical world. You can bring people in and out of your ntal Slice of Limbo at will.

Available once a week for 12 hours.

"Fuck . That was intense," I gasped.

Shin's antics pissed off, but I had nothing to do with that anger for now. He was Multiversal-level. Unless I sohow found a way to match that power, I knew I'd be under his thumb for a while.

Since I arrived in this world, it'd been one ordeal after the other. At first, I thought I'd been incredibly unlucky, but I was starting to suspect Shin had a hand in it.

He'd let an Eldritch Outer God follow for the heck of it. Who was to say reality manipulation was beyond him?

Everything I'd gone through could've been a plot to bring closer to Jean years before I intended to make contact.

I was certain he still wanted alive, at the very least. However, my stay in the Marvel Universe would be one big fighting ga if Shin had a say in the matter.

Too bad I wouldn't be letting him have his way.

If there was sothing Dante and I had in common was that we didn't take shit from anybody.

"Are you okay?" Jean turned to , a mix of concern and surprise in her eyes.

I'd gone from an open, albeit dangerous, book to completely shut in the span of a second, not to ntion that my stats had also gone up by a few points.

Na: Axel Warren (Dante Sparda)

Species: Nephilim

Class: None

HP: 120/440(Health Point)

SP: 220/400 (Stamina Point)

AE: 50/ 240 (Angelic Energy)

DE: 20/240 (Demonic Energy

Strength: 21 3

Dexterity: 22 3

Vitality: 42 2

Endurance: 37 3

Angelic Energy: 22 2

Demonic Energy: 21 3

Abilities

Skills

Shop (Locked) One of Two Keys

Devil Arms

********

Souls: 62

Even Wolverine seed to notice the change as he sniffed the air and looked in my direction.

"You're different," he announced. "What did you do?"

"People underestimate the benefits of ditation," I shrugged, a bit more confident in my seat.

I didn't think I could beat Logan and Ororo because I now had Ophion and could throw a superpowered punch, but I had a new skill that ensured Jean or Xavier would only get into my head without a fight.

I wasn't exactly sitting pretty, but I was getting closer.

Scott brought his hand to the side of his visor. "What's going on, Jean?"

"His mind," Jean said, "it's walled off."

"Take your hands off that visor, Scott," Storm ordered before she looked in my direction.

"Walled off? How is that possible? Didn't Hank say he wasn't a telepath?"

"He did," Jean confessed, looking genuinely bewildered. "But I can't read his mind."

"And that's how I want it," I folded my hands and narrowed my eyes. "You and the Professor have no business in there in the first place."

"He's obviously trying to hide sothing," Scott declared, throwing what I assud was a dirty stare. I could only see half of his face. "The professor needs to scan him, and suddenly, he's protected?"

That comnt got everybody looking at suspiciously.

I snorted. "So, I am the bad guy because I don't want to get skull-fucked by so bald guy?" I got so surprised looks for my colorful language.

“I've experienced enough of that for one lifeti and will not be letting anyone inside my head, no matter how nice their students promise they are. Strap up to a polygraph, or send away. It ain't happening."

Despite my warning, Jean was the first to speak. "The professor is not like that. He—"

"Not. Gonna. Happen."

She pursed her lips and frowned, clearly upset. Surprisingly, it was Dr. Hank that ca to my rescue.

"Telepathy is not the only way we can determine your honesty. Body language, voice inflection, and years of experience have turned Charles into a human lie detector. If you're uncomfortable with telepathy, we don't plan to force you, though I'd point out that assenting to it would certainly help your case."

"I'll take that under advisent," I said.

Everybody mostly stayed quiet until we reached the hidden hangar of the Blackbird jet.

I tried playing it cool when I saw the basketball court open up, but I found myself peering out the window.

"I've seen it hundreds of tis, and I still haven't gotten used to it," Storm said, and I smiled.

"I don't think you can get over a hidden launchpad underneath a basketball court."

"If you're already drooling, then your mind will explode when you see the Danger Room," Scott scoffed.

"Oh yeah?" I asked. "What's so special about it?" I, of course, knew what the Danger Room was, at least topically. The particulars were still a mystery to . I was not much of a science guy, but the thought of hard light constructs got my juices flowing.

"It's the best training facility in the world," Scott declared, confidently folding his arms. "It simulates complex scenarios, enemies, and terrains. Dr. Hank can even program in enemies, so we're never entering a situation completely flat-footed. It's why we're the best team in the world."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Wow," I muttered, genuinely impressed by the Danger Room, but the phrasing ensured Scott and a few other X-n thought I was impressed by them. "So, you can create hard light avatars of every bad guy the X-n have ever fought?" I turned to Beast, who was carefully landing the plane.

"More or less," Dr. Hank answered. "Although we'd need exhaustive data on the target before creating a combat clone."

"What sort of data?"