Marvel's Strongest Mage

"Betty, could you please hurry up?" Daniel called from the living room, his voice tinged with mock impatience.

From inside the bedroom came her quick reply, "Okay, okay! I'm almost done!"

Daniel sighed and sank into the couch with a faint groan. Almost done usually meant another twenty minutes. Or thirty. Makeup, heels, earrings, hair—it was never just almost done. Still, he couldn't bring himself to be annoyed.

Because when someone takes the time to get dressed up just to go out with you—it means something.

To be fair, Daniel hadn't invited Betty Ross out tonight for romance. This was a strategic move, plain and simple. If the goal were purely social, he might've brought Gwen Stacy instead. She was sweet, lively, and happened to be the police commissioner's daughter.

But in terms of connections? Gwen couldn't compete.

Betty moved in elite circles—power women like Pepper Potts, political figures, defense insiders. Tonight's Stark Industries Expo would be crawling with high-level contacts. If Daniel wanted inroads into that world, Betty Ross was the obvious choice.

As he waited, his mind drifted—back to the meeting with Sunil Bakshi.

In truth, things were shaping up far better than Daniel had dared to hope. Norwich Energy Company had evolved in his absence, yes—but not in a direction he couldn't manage. Remarkably, its expansion still echoed the original blueprint he'd drawn up years ago. Irene Adler may have stepped down as CEO, but she remained the majority shareholder.

Which meant—so was he.

As long as Irene could be persuaded—or forced—Daniel could reclaim control over Norwich. And, to his surprise, the company had remained largely uninvolved with groups like Hydra or the Hand.

That was rare.

Any major power bloc not infected by secret cabals was a gift. Norwich was still clean. Still salvageable.

That meant the next step was the Arctic base.

Over the years, Norwich had quietly absorbed personnel from that secret base to fill corporate security roles, leaving the base skeleton-thin. No one really paid attention to it anymore. Its utility had declined.

But that was exactly what made it vulnerable—and easy to reclaim.

With the Bakshi family's help, Daniel had already begun reaching out to key holdovers, reactivating old loyalties in Reinhardt's name. The foundation was already laid. When the time came, Daniel would walk back into the Arctic base as if he'd never left.

The only constraint was timing.

He couldn't just vanish from New York—not with the military and S.H.I.E.L.D. both keeping tabs on him. There were too many plates spinning here, too many opportunities to ignore.

And tonight's Stark Expo was a golden one.

Betty's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"I'm ready."

She stepped out in an off-the-shoulder light gray dress, elegant and understated.

"How do I look?" she asked as she adjusted her dress. 

Daniel smiled and replied, "More gorgeous than any girl I've ever seen."

Betty blushed and said, "Let's go, then."

Both got into the car parked outside the apartment and headed off to Stark Expo.

While in the car, Daniel's thoughts wandered back to the main event tonight.

Daniel had given Sunil orders to short Hammer Industries using his "Dutch family" as the shell identity. On paper, it was a bold play. Most of Wall Street was bullish on Justin Hammer's company, especially after the military acquired a second suit and his promises of a new wave of exo-armor.

The buzz around Hammer was at a fever pitch.

Tonight's presentation was expected to send their stock soaring.

But Daniel knew better.

By tomorrow, Hammer Industries would be in ruins. Stark Industries' stock would spike. Hammer's would nosedive. And if he played his cards right, Daniel would be there with a net to catch the falling pieces.

If the markets had still been open during the expo, he would've performed a live short—timing it with the exact moment Justin Hammer unveiled his tech. The peak before the plunge.

Unfortunately, the American markets had already closed at 4 p.m.

Still, there was money to be made.

Another option would be to invest heavily in Stark Industries now and ride the wave tomorrow. The stock would jump. Profits would follow.

But Daniel preferred the short.

Shorting Hammer at its highest point, then swooping in to buy the devalued assets—it was cleaner, more surgical. He could dissect the company, reorganize it, repurpose it into something useful. Hammer Industries had value. They just needed someone smarter to extract it.

And as for Stark Industries?

It was untouchable.

Pepper Potts had turned out to be a formidable CEO. Under her leadership, Stark had funded the Iron Man project without a single crack in the books. That kind of quiet efficiency meant she was dangerous to underestimate.

You didn't take Stark Industries. You danced around it.

Unless Tony Stark died tonight—which Daniel highly doubted—Hammer Industries was about to be humiliated.

And Daniel was ready.

Still deep in thought, he barely noticed the car rolling toward Flushing.

If something did go wrong tonight—if events diverged from the original timeline—it might actually work in his favor. The bigger the deviation, the more likely it was that Odin's grip on Earth's fate was weakening.

"We're here."

Betty's voice interrupted him from his thoughts, and he realized that they had arrived at the Expo.

Getting out of the car, Betty took Daniel's arm and walked beside him into the venue, ignoring the stares and whispers around her. 

The Stark Expo was overflowing with elite players from across the industrial world—OsCorp, Pym Technologies, Roxxon Petroleum, and dozens more. Hammer Industries might've been the center of tonight's spotlight, but it was far from the only force in the room.

Daniel moved through the crowd with Betty on his arm, exchanging pleasantries, slipping names into conversations. Still, he couldn't help but notice one absence.

Pepper Potts.

She was nowhere to be found.

That didn't mean she wasn't involved. If anything, it meant she was very involved. She was likely coordinating the entire operation behind the scenes with Tony himself.

She knew Tony Stark better than anyone. If Hammer Industries was about to be dismantled, she was either pulling strings or preparing to collect the scraps.

This wasn't just a public relations battle.

It was a war.

And the spoils would go to whoever struck hardest.

Daniel and Betty entered Hammer Industries' pavilion just as the crowd thickened.

The presentation hadn't begun yet, but already the tension was electric.

"Sister Betty!"

The shrill voice came from behind. Daniel turned to see a petite girl with gray-green hair, nose ring, and a sharp-edged attitude weaving through the crowd.

Betty's eyes lit up. "Justina? What are you doing here?"

The girl shrugged, popping a lollipop out of her mouth. "Dad's busy doing whatever. I got bored. Figured I'd crash."

"Do not let him see you in that dress," Betty whispered, quickly pulling Justina to her side and glancing around.

Justina grinned, unfazed.

Then her eyes fell on Daniel.

"Who's this? Your new boyfriend?"

Betty laughed nervously. "This is Daniel. He'll be starting at Imperial soon."

"Junior, meet your senior," she added, giving Daniel a look that was equal parts playful and warning.

"Pleasure to meet you, Senior Justina," Daniel said, all politeness. "We're just here to admire Hammer's latest tech. Who knows? If they manage to rival Iron Man, their stock might skyrocket."

Justina stared.

Then she turned to Betty and blurted, "He's boring. He talks like an old guy."

"Stop it," Betty laughed, smacking her lightly on the shoulder. "He's not even a student yet."

"Exactly!" Justina said, grinning devilishly. "He's not a student yet, so it's technically fine if he's your boyfriend now. Just break up with him when classes start."

Betty's face flushed. "Enough. Just—stop."

Student-teacher romances were always taboo, even when unofficial. And though Betty wasn't technically Daniel's professor, Justina's teasing was sharp enough to sting.

"Alright, alright," Justina relented. "Anyway, show's about to start."

As if on cue, the lights in the exhibition hall dimmed.

The audience went still.

And just like that, the real performance began.

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