This operation was hard to call a success or a failure. Although Little Baldy Charles had been snatched back, Beast had died, leaving a bit of a blemish.
In Su Ming's plan, Beast had been an irrelevant extra from the start. It did not matter whether he lived or died; he had come to save Little Baldy. Still, seeing the fuzzy blue lion turned into a lifeless doll was somewhat regrettable.
Multiple arteries had been damaged. Massive blood loss alone should not have killed Beast that quickly. More likely, Deathstroke and the others arriving had instead become Hank's death knell.
When Deathstroke and the others descended from the sky, Shadow King should have been busy torturing Hank. Faced with that sudden ambush from behind, the body Shadow King controlled did not react in time, but his mind did.
So, at the first opportunity, he used his powers to snuff out Beast's life, intending to take Charles and withdraw through the Shadow Plane once again.
The exact method was still unclear, but it had been either Psionic Power or Shadow Power. Against an unguarded controlled victim, neither of those powers could be resisted.
Shadow King simply had not expected that the people behind him would include not only Mutants, but also a Deathstroke wearing Captain America's face. Before he could take Charles into the shadows, he died on the spot, interrupting the plan.
Whatever he had wanted to learn from Charles, it had definitely been connected to his next move. He should be furious now.
But the one who killed one of his bodies was Captain America. What did that have to do with Deathstroke?
So Su Ming remained hidden in the dark and still held the initiative.
Shadow King was formidable, with powerful abilities and a sharp mind. But times