Matt Murdock regarded the door. It was not particularly different from any of the other smooth, cold metal doors in Magneto's complex, except that it was always closed. Matt could not begrudge Magneto his secrets, and knew it would not cost him much to gain his confidence.

    Only his soul.

    Matt walked along the corridor toward Magneto's study. He nonchalantly played his fingers over the surface of the hallway wall. He felt the hum of the electronics in the surveillance cameras located near the ceiling, hidden behind the Plexiglas partitions that segmented the hall. He discerned the familiar whine of the servos as they tracked his moments.  He expanded his senses outward, as he always did, towards the direction of that tantalizing door, but found only a deep, guttural rumbling emanating from far below blotting everything out, probably a generator of some sort, if not a machine specifically designed to jam his awareness.

    Matt sighed. The areas he was barred from were well shielded and the areas he was allowed to roam freely in betrayed nothing, except perhaps a somewhat peculiar uniformity of air pressure. Perhaps Magneto had more than the one undersea lair that had been destroyed. Matt knew he would never have the answer to many of these mysteries, even if he stayed here for decades. He walked on.

    Up ahead, over the acoustic shielding, over the drumming of the generator, he heard a raised voice. Female. Angry. Hurt. And now another voice, a voice that had become very familiar to Matt over the past six weeks: Calm. Rational.

    Patronizing.

    The door to Magneto's office opened abruptly. Shatterstar stalked out. Matt could feel the heat on her cheeks, the tension balled in her fists.

    They must had been talking about Archie Goodwin again. She was taking his death hard. Magneto's comfort was cold at best.

    At best.

    Shatterstar looked up sharply at Matt. Her eyes narrowed in recognition as she realized that he was wearing his Daredevil uniform for the first time since he arrived. She understood. Her features softened for a moment and she nodded. "He's waiting for you," she said and then turned away from Matt. She walked down the opposite corridor and never looked back at him.

    Daredevil entered Magneto's study.

    Soft, melancholy strings sang from the speakers beside Magneto's ornate onyx desk. He sat in a high-backed, leather chair, a pair of gold rimmed reading glasses amplifying his patrician features.

    "Schubert. 'Death and the Maiden,'" Magneto said nonchalantly as he continued to study the personnel files of the American Knight Corps open in front of him. "Appropriate, as our maiden continues to struggle with the unfortunate truths that death sometimes makes us confront. I would spare the child any more pain if I could, of course, but true insight must always come at a price." He glanced up at his guest for the first time since he entered. "Does it not, Matthew?"

    "It is time for me to leave, Magneto," Daredevil said evenly. He paused to await a reaction.

    Magneto continued to read his stolen files.

    "My arm is fully healed, and I thank you for the medical assistance, but I find that I can no longer stay here."

    A faint smile crossed the older man's lips. "Why so? Have you not found the accommodations to your liking?"

    Daredevil slowly walked over to stand in front of the desk. "It's you.  I have been thinking about some things.  This rest from the world you have given me has allowed me a chance to clear my head.  You see, I never really lost faith in the people."

    "The same ones who hunted you down?" Magneto asked casually, not looking up. "The same ones who were prepared to cast  you into prison?  Who released your worst enemies to take your place?  Who slaughtered your comrades?  Those people? I wonder if our dear, departed Mr. Goodwin would still share your sentiments."

    "Those people were innocent pawns who were being manipulated by a demon!" Daredevil said. " One can only place so much blame on them.  Yes, they chose to act that way, but I am a forgiving person."

    Magneto raised his eyebrows. "Or simply an altruistic fool." He closed the file, removed his glasses and sat back in his chair, starring intently at Daredevil. "One can only give Legion so much credit.  This travesty occurred because of a complacent people who were all too willing to be lead down the road to hell by whomever had the power to show them the way."

    "Maybe so," Daredevil said. "But it brought me great pride to see the JLA ignore all the obstacles that were thrown their way and face off with Legion.  It also struck me as odd how you just sat back and allowed Legion to run rampant.  You talk about how you want more for 'our kind,'  yet you felt nothing for those innocent people.  I cannot respect that and I cannot in my right mind remain here knowing that.  I belong in New York.  It is my home.  I made a promise to my father and I intend to keep it."

    "Your friends' success proves my point better than any other argument that I can make," Magneto said, rising from his chair.  "They used their great strength to strike down those who opposed their views, and ripped control away from the god whom the people had chosen to accept.  Having done this, your highly moral friends returned that power to a person of their choosing." He walked across the study to the open door. "Come, Daredevil. I want to share something with you."

    Magneto left the study and walked down the hall. Daredevil crossed his arms and followed.

    "Only when your friends had again achieved power and control over the people, did they regain the mass's loyalty," Magneto said as they entered the hallway that contained the door whose threshold Daredevil had never before been allowed past. "The people whom you say you have so much faith in did not raise a finger on their own behalf. Instead, they merely waited for one master to be replaced by another. It is a simple enough equation."

    A few feet from the door, Magneto gestured with his right hand and the door swung open before them. "Now, as ever, the people follow only power. They only understand power. And that is what I shall show them."

    Daredevil followed Magneto into a huge, empty chamber. The entire far wall reflected sound waves back strangely. The density of the material was unique and it took Daredevil a few moments to recognize it: Reinforced pressure glass. Moreover, from this location on the outer edge of the installation, Daredevil got his first clean read of the tensile pressure vibrating through the entire superstructure. This gave him an indication of the size of Magneto's base and it was considerable. Daredevil expanded his senses beyond the far wall, expecting high pressure. Instead, he found nothing. Nothing at all.

    Hard vacuum.

    "High orbit...?" Daredevil whispered.

    "The trojan point to be specific," Magneto responded and approached the glass, looking out over the earth. "Do not mistake my allowance of Legion to run free as complacency. I have been very active during the crisis.  I have been watching, ever so closely. Had Legion been successful in destroying the Justice League, he would have merely been sparing me that onerous duty.  Then, while the demon revelled in his triumph, I would have struck swiftly and decisively."

    Magneto lifted gently into the air to improve his vantage point. "All was prepared for that eventuality. From the ashes of the fallen JLA and the destroyed Legion, I would have begun to build my own dynasty.  However Legion's fall is not without its own benefits.  Your friends' victory over Legion has reaffirmed the people's belief that they must follow the victorious. True enough. And someday the victor will be me.  Meanwhile, Legion's influence has destabilized much of the world. Matters have now been set in motion that are far beyond the influence of your friends. What I have done is position my forces so that, no matter the outcome, our cause will be triumphant."

    Magneto swivelled in the air, now hovering twenty feet above Daredevil, and looked down at him. "On one point you are quite right.  I do feel nothing for the 'innocent people' trampled by Legion.  I care about humanity itself, and not for the meek individuals who leave their destinies in the hands of others.  Whether you choose to admit it or not, the world is forged by people with power.  If you wish to shape mankind's destiny, you must take that power, bend the people to your will, and become a force of fear and awe."

    Magneto turned back towards the huge windows. "Alexander knew this, as did Tamerlane, Charlemagne, Napoleon, and so many others."  Magneto stretched his arms out as he hovered before the shimmering, sun drenched panorama of Earth. "I shall seize that power, I shall rule this world, and I shall shape the future of mankind."

    "I will never help you," Daredevil said. "Watching Legion in action was liking watching W.W.II all over again. The world you describe is no different from theirs. If that is the kind of world you desire, then you are no better than Legion. Or Hitler."

    When Magneto became angry, Daredevil detected it as the electromagnetic field unpleasantly bowing the air around Magneto's body. Daredevil smelled slight whiffs of ozone and felt a distant, dull tingle as energy arced between Magneto and the metal walls of the chamber.

    Magneto spun slowly around and loomed over him. "If I am a devil," he said, "it is due to the failures of the weak and pitiful masses of humanity which you so adore.  I shall have no masters deciding my fate, I shall control my own destiny, and if I must beat the world into submission to do it, then so be it!"

    Daredevil stared stonily back at the raging maelstrom hanging above him. It slowly ebbed and lowered to the ground in front of him. Magneto smiled. He turned away from Daredevil and resumed his appreciation of the world beyond, his hands clasped behind his back. "Return to them, if you wish," Magneto said, finally. "Return to your comrades, do your best to protect the people, and continue to hide from the truth.  I wonder if you will find your resolve as strong as it once was. You've seen behind the veil, you've seen the black heart of the people you care so much about.  I wonder if you will ever look at them the same.  In time, I believe you will return."

    Daredevil sensed the door behind him open again.

    "Shatterstar," Magneto said, "please be so kind as to see that our guest is transported back to New York."

    Shatterstar nodded, motioned for Daredevil to follow her, and walked out, never once looking at him. Daredevil stopped at the doorway and looked back at Magneto.

    "It our duty to use the gifts God has given us to help mankind advance," Daredevil said. "We may very well be the next step in the evolution of man, but that doesn't mean we are meant to subjugate them.  Good-bye, Magneto.  I can only hope you will someday see the err of your ways and make amends. You would make a powerful force for justice."

    Daredevil walked away and the door to the observation chamber slid smoothly shut.

    Magneto did not stir and continued to carefully regard the teeming planet before him.

    "And perhaps I already am," he said softly.