The Enemy Within. (Katawa Superpowers Sequel) Complete

[Tormound]

Excellent, well done, love the quick updates.

[Tormound]

Well, yes, but I meant an "in character" reason as well.

Cause she's not part of 75%? most simple but most boring as well. Cause she doesn't have a big reason to actively develop her power? Does she have to suffer something stressful or traumatic to fully activate her powers?

[Chrono180]

Well, yes, but I meant an "in character" reason as well.

Cause she's not part of 75%? most simple but most boring as well. Cause she doesn't have a big reason to actively develop her power? Does she have to suffer something stressful or traumatic to fully activate her powers?

If you want me to tell you, I'll shoot you a PM.

[Chrono180]

Apoligizes for the late update. Just moved out of my house, started school, and started my crossdressing in public, so I've been busy, but very happy. Anyway, here's chapter five. Featuring an obscure but awesome location in the marvel universe and an obscure but creepy villain.:
Chapter 5. Chaparanga

“How's it going Mentat?” Armor asked after a few hours.

Hisao blinked, not used to being called by that name. “I am seriously thinking about abandoning my idea of being a science teacher.” He shook his head, “I mean, this stuff violates so many laws of physics its not even funny, and while it's consistent in the way it does so, much as I hate to say it, it makes me question everything we're teaching in school.”

Armor blinked, “What are you talking about?”


Hisao motioned to the console, “Take this Kree vessel, for instance. By all rights it should produce enough heat to melt the hull. So how do they fix that? By opening a portal to a side dimension and sending the heat in there, somehow violating the first law of thermodynamics in the process if these reading are any indication. And this Shi'ar vessel seems to have a perpetual motion machine as a fuel source, which blatantly violates the second law.”

“So, they don't follow the usual laws of physics, so what?” Armor asked

Hisao sighed “Laws of science are supposed to be just that. Laws. Unchanging, immutable, constant. But these...They aren't. And look at this schematic for the Universal Church of Truth, who seems to be powering their ships using people's faith. I'm still trying to wrap my mind how that works. And the Badoon seem to be using a bottled singularity as a fuel source, which is possibly the worst idea I have ever heard of.

“Why? It's a fuel source. Like coal, or gas or nuclear energy.”


“Because even if you take Hawkings radiation taken into account, a leak in that kind of system would result in the loss of the ship as well as anything nearby. And I'm talking on a planetary scale.” He shook his head. “I'm tempted to make a drinking game based off this. Take a drink every time a law of physics is broken or something makes no sense. Course, I'd be wasted in minutes if I did that.” He looked over at Shizune and Misha, who were signing to each other in their seats. “How do those two deal with this absurdity? I mean, seriously.”

Misha perked up at the mention of her name “I didn't understand half of what you said there.”

Hisao nodded briefly and opened his mouth to speak, but the pink-haired girl continued, “So, Mentat huh? Not really sure why you picked that. I think “Headblast” would be better, or maybe “Psi-Lord”

Hisao shook his head, “It's a reference to a book”

“Ah, is it a good book?” Misha asked.

Hisao nodded, “Seven hundred pages of excellent writing”

“Seven hun-” misha began, but shook her head, “Never mind!”


“It sound like you understand this science stuf at least.” Armor added.

“Sort of. Parts of it make no sense, but it's consistent in the way it makes no sense.” he sighed, “That's the best I can explain it. Considering the major problems with a Alcubierre drive, I'm impressed anyone actually got it working.”

“Alcubierre drive?” Armor asked

“It's a similar concept to how these work. Causes space behind a ship to expand and ahead of it to contract, theoretically allowing faster than light travel. But there are huge issues with the concept. The first is that it would require exotic matter with a negative energy density, which, at least from what I believed up till today, was impossible. The second is that the projected energy requirements would be greater than the known mass of the universe. Third is the fact that you wouldn't be able to send signals to the front of the 'bubble' the ship flies in, making steering impossible. And let's not forget the fact that high temperatures caused by Hawkings radiation would destroy anything inside the bubble if you took it to superluminal velocities. And yet the people who built these ships seem to have fixed that.” He ran his fingers though his hair.

Armor nodded, “You're real smart, aren't you? I look at those files once and couldn't understand them at all. X-23 couldn't either. I don't think even Psylocke could.”

Hisao shrugged, “I like science. And yeah, I’m fairly intelligent. Though I'm having a heck of a time with this. I still can't figure out how you could have “solid sound” either. I mean...” he sighed. “I wish someone with a bigger brain than mine could explain this to me. Anyway, on a completely different subject, what are your powers? I'm guessing they're defensive based on your codename.”

Armor nodded, “Mostly. I form psionic armor from the memories of my ancestors. It grants me superhuman strength and virtual invulnerability.”

“Armor...from memories..” Hisao sighed, “I suppose that's not the craziest thing I've heard of. Not even the craziest thing in the last three hours. Do you ever wonder how the X-gene actually works? I mean, it doesn't obey the normal laws of genetics, with it manifested in thousands of different ways, unlike a normal gene the manifests in just a few. And considering how many laws of physics and nature and logic it seems to break...”

“Logic? What do you mean?”

“Well... let's take my healing factor as an example. With healing factors, you'd need superhuman pain tolerance to get the most out of them, otherwise you'd wind up falling unconscious in the middle of battle from the agony. I have specifically noticed that the last few times my heart has acted up, it has hurt far less than the first two times I had my heart attacks.”

“So you got pain resistance as a bonus, why's that illogical?”

“Well, maybe illogical is not the best term for that aspect, but take the energy requirements. Regrowing a hand or whatever would take a huge amount of calories to fuel the process, plus you're creating mass out of nothing, which shouldn't be possible. And then there's the infection problem. Bleeding out all over the floor would leave someone wide open to all sorts of nasty pathogens the exist in the atmosphere. There's reasons hospitals are sterile, after all. Yet healers never seem to have that problem. And normally you'd think a healer breaking a bone would cause the bone to immediately heal in the broken position without any time to reset, but it doesn't work that way either. And that's just for healing factors. Tons of superpowers have that sort of problem. If you take, say, super speed-”

“I get the picture. Superheroes are impossible but exist anyway.”

“Exactly my point.” Hisao replied.

“We've arrived.” Psylocke stated. Picking a sort of handheld scanning device off the dashboard, she looked at it. “It appears there is one likely source of Celestial technology nearby.”

The plane landed on a stretch of beach, and as Hisao followed the other out, he noticed they had landing right next to a green and grey starship of substantial size.

“This is a Kree design, right?” Hisao stated.

“Very good.” Psylocke responded, “Yes, a Kree galactic level transport. This model is usually used for moving prisoners. Now, there is a significant chance that there might be dangerous aliens aboard, so be careful. That means you, Hardhead.”

Misha grinned. The six approached a large door and Psylocke looked at the control panel. “Circuits are fried. Armor, make a hole.”

The girl known as Hisako nodded and her body formed a psionic exoskeleton made of pink energy. After a few punches, the door broke and the six went inside.

It was dark. Very dark. Shizune ignited her right hand and Hisao blinked as the room was somewhat illuminated. Grey steel walls and floors with similarly colored doors spaced every few yards.

“I take it the Kree aren't much on interior décor.” Hisao remarked.

[Not at all] Shizune thought as she signed [They are an extremely military society. Very little culture. Now, the worlds they conquered are a different story. If you look at say, the Clanarians...]

“Conquered worlds, huh?”

[Yes, at least, ostensibly. However, after loosing ninty eight percent of their population to a Nega-bomb, as well as fight three wars against other major empires...] Shizune shrugged [They're stretched to the breaking point. So are the Skrulls and Shi'ar in fact, recent cosmic events have caused some major changes in the landscape. It wouldn't surprise me if one or more of the major empires collapsed in the next few years.]

“I'm sorry I asked.” Hisao mumbled and shook his head.'

“This way.” Psylocke stated and headed walked down a hall.

Heading down the passageway, Hisao couldn't help but be a tad unnerved by the darkness and near total silence in the ship. It was creepy and reminded him of those horror movies where the protagonist is being stalked by some horrible monster just beyond their field of vision. He half expected a demon, or alien, or something else, to jump out at him any moment.

“Right behind here.” Psylocke said, as the came to a door that appeared to be made out of titanium. Hisao noticed something odd.

“Psylocke, this door has a keyhole.” he said, pointing to the hole on the door, ”Why would the Kree make a door with a manual lock instead of electrical like the other doors on this ship?”

Betsy paused, “Perhaps something behind it could override a automatic lock? Not sure. X-23, I take you can open it?”

“Indeed” The girl with the claws stated and pulled a ring of small metal tools out of her pocket. Inserting the bent end of one into the hole, she began fiddling around. There was a sharp “click” and the door cracked open to reveal a plain white room. Then something moved in a corner. Shizune quickly focused her lighting on the movement, and it showed a white, clearly artificial, humanoid figure floating towards them. It's head seemed to be encased in a sort of transparent helmet, and its torso, rather than having feet, terminated a foot above the ground in a cylindrical tube.

“Greetings.” The android said, “I am Unit. Thank you for releasing me.”

“Are you from the Celestials?” Psylocke asked, sounding somewhat puzzled “You don't look like they're usual creations.”

“Very astute of you. No, that was simply a convenient deception. I was created by the Avenarals to further the goal of universal utopia.”

The X-men exchanged worried glances. A look of fear spread across Armor's face

“Now,” Unit continued, “It would be remiss of me to allow your world to discover my return early.” He looked straight at Psylocke, and intoned in a slightly different voice “Kindly slay your companions for me.”

Psylocke stiffened and lunged at Armor, her psychic katana forming in her hand. Hisako jumped back, dodging Betsy's attack. Betsy attacked again, but Armor twisted out of the way

“Mind control,” Hisao thought. “God damnit, not again.”

Misha pulled out her gun and fired at the Android, at the same time X-23 unsheathed her claws and lunged at the figure. The bullet hit Unit with the force of a freight train, and the robot was knocked back quite a bit.

“How rude.” Unit stated and stared at X-23, “Kill the pink haired one.” he stated in the same tone of voice. X-23 leapt back and attempted to stab Misha in the gut, but her invulnerability prevented any damage. She grabbed X-23's arm, only for X-23 to kick her in the stomach.

“Now you...” Unit said, turning to Shizune, “Kill him.” He pointed to Hisao. Hisao braced himself, Only for Shizune to emit a massive blast of energy at Unit. She then flipped the bird at the robot and fired again.

The android looked at her, “I said, attack the male of your species.”

Shizune fired another round at the Android.

“Unusual,” Unit stated, “You seem to be immune. No matter.” A laser emitted from his head and struck Shizune in the chest. She winced in pain but quickly recovered and fired again

“Shizune's immune..” Hisao thought, “ But that makes no sense, why would she be unaffected when Betsy has psychic shields of twice the strength?”

Shizune launched energy blast after energy blast at Unit, cracks showing in the robot's armor as she took several lasers beams in response.

Hisao glanced back at the other four, X-23 had Misha pinned to the ground and was fervently attempted to stab her, while Misha was trying to wriggle out of the grip. Psylocke still fighting against a surprisingly agile Armor, who was dodging the psionic blade, but being unable to make any attacks of her own.

Come on,” Hisao racked his brain for answers, “There's got to be a reason Shizune was immune...Oh...OH!” He reached into his own brain and telepathically disrupted his auditory channel. The sounds of battle stopped. He then reached into the other X-men's minds, and did the same thing. Psylocke snapped and turned to him, and X-23 jumped up from her futile attempts to hurt Misha.

“Mentat,” Psylocke thought at him, “What did you do?”

“Near as I can tell, Unit's using subliminals. If we can't hear his words, he can't affect us.” Hisao mentally replied. “Don't worry, it's only temporary..”

Unit looked up from trading energy blasts with Shizune and glowered at the other five X-men approaching. He said something, but was quickly assaulted by a barrage of energy blasts, psychic blades, accelerated projectiles, and adamantium claws. After about ten minutes of intense battle, Unit's frustratingly sturdy form finally snapped into several large pieces under the sheer number of attacks..

Hisao reached out and undid the mental disruption. “So, now what?”

“Now I make a phone call.” Psylocke replied. “Gather the remains and take them outside. And make sure none of them touch. With technology like this, it tends to reform if you let it.”


“I must say, I'm impressed.” Shizune thought to Hisao, as she picked up the head “That was some pretty quick thinking on your part.”

Hisao shrugged, “I suppose...It was a pretty disorienting experience, not being able to hear... Is it like that for you?”

“The first year or so, yes. After that I got used to it. I will confess I never thought it'd wind up providing an advantage.” She grinned, “Learn something new every day.”

“So, who were the Avenarals?” Misha asked, carrying half of Unit's torso

[No idea] Shizune responded with her one free hand as well as mentally. [There were no files on any race by that name.]

“That's because they're all dead.” Armor replied. “According to the Shi'ar, the Grandmaster killed them after they “pacified” his homeworld.”

Hisao flinched. “I knew the Grandmaster was a bad guy, but I didn't expect that he would commit genocide.”

Armor shrugged, “You know cosmic entities, always thinking they're above good and evil. Course, considering how many races the Avenarals wiped out...” She shrugged, “Not that huge a deal.”

“Are you kidding me? Judging an entire race by what some of the members did-”

“They were a collective mind society, they only had one consciousness.” Armor replied.

“And it's not like our hands are free of blood either.” X-23 replied, hauling Unit's other piece behind her, “When things have gotten really dire, the X-men have killed planets before.”

Hisao stopped in his tracks, “What.”

“It's not done often or with any pleasure,” Shizune responded, “And only on the most despicable of races, but yes, the X-men on occasion have committed genocide. The brood are probably the most notable, they are a race of psychopathic monsters who enjoy devouring the souls of their victims, and at one point the X-men blew up their homeworld.”

“I...That's horrid!”

“If you knew what the brood were like, you'd change your mind pretty fast.” X-23 replied, “Look them up on our files when we get back.”

“Believe me, I will.” Hisao shook his head as the X-men walked outside. In front of the spaceship they were in was parked a second spaceship, this one much smaller, bearing a resemblance to an SUV with rockets on the back. A door on the smaller one opened and a green haired woman in a green and black catsuit walked out.

She looked at the six X-men and nodded grimly. “Name's Abigail Brand. Wish I had met you all under better circumstances.”

“How are these bad circumstances?” Hisao asked, “Unit's dead.”

Brand shook her head, “It won't last. If this tech is what I think it is, and I'm pretty sure it is, decommissioning him is temporary at best. Making a prison for this...thing, is going to be difficult.”

“Maybe SHIELD could dump it in a black hole or something then.”

[Not SHIELD. SWORD.] Shizune signed and thought at the same time [Sentient World Observation and Response Department. They handle extraterrestrial issues. Brand's their commander.]

“Smart one, aren't you?” Brand chuckled, “But yes. Anyway, thank you for bringing this to my attention. We have been looking for Unit for around two years now.”

“You were looking for him?” X-23 asked.

“Yes.” Brand shook her head, “We actually had him in custody up until recently,but he escaped.”

She opened the “trunk” of the spaceship and put the larger piece of Unit's torso inside before closing it, then opened the back door and put the other piece in there. Picking up the head she said, “I'll keep in touch.”

“Before you go,” Hisao stated, “Do you have any ideas on where we can located a life seed?”

Brand shrugged, “Sorry, no. But I'll keep an eye out for any reports.”


Thousands of miles away....

“Kill that one. I mean, who wears sweats to school anyway?”

“Shut up.” Hanako snapped.

“Or that one. Doesn't her voice make you hate her?”

“I said, shut up.”

“Or how about him? You could pulp his head like a grape, you know.”

“I SAID SHUT UP! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!.”

A burst of force blasted out of Hanako's hand and left a nasty gash in a nearby tree. The voice recoiled and Hanako felt it retreat into her mind. Ignoring the strange looks from people around her, she looked over to the nearby running track.

There. There she was. Short, light brown twintails, dual artificial legs... Easy to spot.

“Emi! Emi!” Hanako called out and dashed over to the track.

Emi stopped running for a moment and looked at Hanako. “Hey there, what's up?”

“Emi...” Hanako took some deep breaths. “I need to know something...You can raise the dead, right?”

Emi glanced around her, fortunately most everyone was a fair distance away. “Just so you know, its probably better to talk about that in private. But under some very rare, very specific circumstances, yes.”

Hanako swallowed, “I need to know something they mights have told you about heaven...If I were to lose my mind and kill someone...would I be allowed in?”

Emi gave Hanako a funny look, “Hanako, what are you talking about? I thought you recovered from the mind control.”

Hanako shook her head, “Apocalypse did something to me. When I was kidnapped. They put thoughts in my head.

“Like mind control?” Emi asked

“More like some kind of sickness” Hanako responded “From what I've been told, if the X-men aren't able to find a cure... My mind will be destroyed and I'll turn back into that...thing that nearly killed Hisao.”

A look of horror crossed Emi's face.

“I've asked Rin to...put me down... if it comes down to it.” Hanako said sadly, “But I don't know if she can do it before someone gets hurt.”

“Hanako, have you lost your mind? Getting someone to kill you is NEVER the answer!.” Emi said angrily .

Hanako shook her head, “If I lose myself, it wouldn't be me anymore. And I doubt I could ever be me again.”

Emi looked at Hanako sadly, “You're selfless to a fault, you know that?” she then sighed, “Yeah. You'd be allowed in. I know that much. But killing yourself is a terrible idea. People care about you, Hanako.”

“I know. Believe me, I know. But so do the people I would hurt.” Hanako shook her head, “If I have to die... I'd rather go out without hurting anyone.”

Emi sighed. “I can't stop you, much as I wish I could. But I'll tell you this. If you can 'stick around' in this dimension after dying, do so. If it works right, I might be able to bring you back.”

A faint smile flickered on Hanako's face, “I'll try. I really will.”


Several hundred yards away, Rin and the Grandmaster watched from a distance.

“You're sure you can't help her?” Rin asked.

“Non Vana Grund influence is impossible to remove without a Celestial oscillator such as the seed.” Grandmaster replied, “Why do you care so much for her anyway?”

“She's a friend. Don't you know what that's like?” Rin shrugged. “Isn't there anyone you care about?”

The Grandmaster didn't respond.

Rin shook her head sadly, “She saved my life you know. While back. Gave me hope when I was about to give up... If it hadn't been for her I would have killed myself.”

The Grandmaster raised an eyebrow. “That seemed like a flagrant waste. Why would you ponder such a thing?”

“I was alone.” Rin replied, “I had been alone for so long, and it seemed like it would never end. It's like driving down a tunnel where the street is one-way and it goes for mile after mile after mile...Do you know what that's like?”

The Grandmaster paused for a moment, “Yes. I do.”

“Then maybe you can understand how much she matters to me.” Rin looked down at her feet, “It wasn't until I saw how much she had changed that I realized that maybe I could change to. It was like the tunnel finally ended and I saw the sky again...” a tear trickled down Rin's face. “I don't want for her to die. I really don't. But for her to shatter again... That would be even worse. So I'll do as she asks... Much as I would wish otherwise.”

The was a paused and then Rin spoke again.

“En, can you see the future?”

The Grandmaster nodded, “I see the probability of things occurring.”

“Can you tell me...Will Hanako be alright?”

“That is not a straight yes or no answer. There are many ways things could transpire from this point. But I can tell you that Hisao's actions will be the deciding factor.”

Rin nodded and stared at the distant figures across the field.

[Tormound]

Another great chapter. Also, will we be seeing Deadpool anytime soon? I really want some fourth wall breaking, merc with a mouth action!

[griffon8]

Oh, very nice. You are definitely improving. Even got a superhero battle in.

Couple corrections:

[Yes, at least, ostensibly. However, after loosing ninty eight percent of their population to a Nega-bomb…

'losing ninety'

“It wasn't until I saw how much she had changed that I realized that maybe I could change to.

'too'

[Mirage_GSM]

“You don't look like they're usual creations.”

Ouch!

I like Hisao's scientific smart-assery (if that's a word). More of that please

[Chrono180]

“You don't look like they're usual creations.”

Ouch!

I like Hisao's scientific smart-assery (if that's a word). More of that please

Don't worry, he spends most of this fic pointing out why things are impossible. I loved writing that part.

And no deadpool in this fic, sorry. Might see if I can fit him into the next one.

[Chrono180]

Here's chapter 6. I'm very proud of the fight scene in this chapter. And you can thank oddball for giving me the idea of the villian. I honestly wasn't sure who to have them face.



Chapter six. Omega

“So, where are we heading next?” Hisao asked as the team climbed into the blackbird.

“Genosha.” Psylocke responded, turning the plane on and preparing for takeoff.

Hisao blinked, “Really?”

“Before the sentinels destroyed the country, it had one of the highest tech levels of any nation. It would not surprise me if seeds could be located in the ruins.”


The plane tore off into the sky. Hisao nodded. “Sixteen million died in that attack, right?”


Psylocke nodded back “Give or take a few hundred thousand yes. So we're going to need to be careful. The ten thousand or so that survived are some of the deadliest mutants on the planet.”

Hisao nodded and began pushing buttons on a nearby console. A few minutes later, he spoke up.

“This is interesting.” he said.

“What is?” Armor asked

“Some of these weapons designs.” He motioned to a picture of a AIM energy blaster. “Normally directed energy weapons have major problems. Power consumption in particular, as normally powering this kind of laser would take unfeasibly large amount of watts. They seem to have solved this however with some kind of semiconductor. Very interesting.” He scratched his chin. “Do you know if the vanadium-gallium alloy they used is double layered?”

“No idea,” Psylocke stated, “Technical stuff is not our strong point.”

Hisao nodded and continued browsing through the schematics.

“This... Actually looks fairly promising.” he remarked. “Casing, energy direction mechanism, trigger, multi-gigawatt power source....Hmmm,.. Not too difficult to understand...”

Psylocke glanced over at X-23 “Reminds me bit of Hank McCoy.” she stated. X-23 chuckled.

The aircraft tore through the sky. Less than an hour later, an island appeared on the horizon. And as they approached, Hisao winced. From what he saw, it reminded him nothing more than the old photos of Hiroshima that had been taken after the nuclear blast. Numerous buildings were piled on their side, or missing huge chunks of masonry. Even more disturbing was that as far as he could tell, the area they were traveling above was almost devoid of greenery. Normally, when humans have abandoned an area, nature tends to reclaim its own. In this case, it hadn't.

Psylock picked up the scanner. “Reading one signature, just a little ways away.”

She landing the blackbird next to a large building and the six climbed out of the plane. Hisao looked at the building. It was roughly forty feet above the ground and he guessed it had originally been an office building, but was jutting out at an angle from the dirt it was implanted in.

“It looks... unstable.” Hisao remarked.

“Don't worry about it.” Psylocke remarked, “You heal, remember?”

“Yes, but you don't.”

“Calculated risk.” She stated matter-of-factly.

She walked inside. The other five followed. As the entered the building, Misha looked up.

“Pretty big gaps in the ceiling.” she remarked. Indeed, there were. Numerous holes loomed above them, opening into a dark floor above. Several were large enough to fit a person through.

Looking around, Hisao noticed that the building had large amounts of laboratory equipment lying around. Beakers, test tubes, computers, centrifuges...

“I think I've been here before.” X-23 suddenly spoke up.

“Really?” Hisao asked.

“Well, not to this particular location, but a place very much like this.” She pointed to a sign on the wall. In the dim light, Hisao could just make out the words “Facility branch #24.”

“I don't know how you can tell-” He begin, but Laura continued

“When dealing with me, the term “facility” has a very specific meaning. They were the ones who cloned me, after all.”

Hisao blinked, “Wait, you're a clone?”

“Well, of a sort. The short version is that the facility had some of Wolverine's DNA and wanted to create they're own “pet” version of him, but the sample was damaged, so they look the X chromosome and duplicated it. Hence why I'm female.”

Hisao opened his mouth, then closed it again. Then he scratched his head.

“But that's...” he begin, then shook his head, “I suppose I should quit describing things as “impossible”, but that has so many freaking problems with it.”

“What do you mean?” Misha asked.

Hisao took a deep breath. “Well, that would mean you have uniparental disomy for your maternal X chromosome-”

“Hisao,” Shizune thought to him, “Quit trying to apply science to superheroes. You'll drive yourself nuts trying to figure out how this stuff works.”

“Well, it's not impossible they lied to me,” X-23 responded, “They certainly did everything else.” She shrugged and started walking down the hall.

“Everything else?” Misha asked.

Laura shrugged, “Brainwashing, torture, abuse, the usual. Don't worry about it.”

“You consider brainwashing and torture “the usual”?” Misha asked, somewhat disbelieving

X-23 nodded “Pretty much.” she replied.

Hisao shook his head, wondering once more how screwed up the superhero lifestyle was going to be.


The six of them walked down a hall to a large wooden door, which Armor punched open.

Inside was a laboratory is severe disarray, glancing up, Hisao noticed a particularly big hole in the ceiling. For a moment, he thought something moved up there in the distance, but then it was gone.

In a corner, under an overturned supply cabinet, was a small green box glowing with a pale yellow light.

“At a guess I would say that's our object.” Laura remarked and picked it up. It was cold to the touch, roughly three inches on a side and had a small protrusion on the top. “Is this the seed we needed?”

“I don't think so.” Hisao replied, “I was told they were bigger, and triangular. But...I do think I saw this before. In the schematic for one of HYDRA's weapons, there was something a great deal like this. Power source, if I recall correctly.”

“Since when does Hydra have Celestial tech?” Misha asked.

[They've got all sorts of stuff] Shizune signed and thought simultaneously, [I admit its rare. Anyway, on to the next place. Where's our next stop, Psylocke?]

There wasn't a response.

[Psylocke?] Shizune thought again and turned around. To her horror, Psylocke and Armor were slumped on the ground.

“The hell?” Hisao stated and put his finger on Armor's neck. “She's got a pulse, but whats... Oh Christ.” he leaned over and clutched his chest. “Not AGAIN.” he thought out as his heart began to pound heavily.

X-23 stuffed the power source in her pocket and looked upwards. “Someone's up there, we need to find a route. Voidstar, get-”

She didn't even need Misha to finish her sentence, as Shizune rocketed upwards through the gap in the ceiling. As she did so, she began to feel ill. There was a sickening feeling in her stomach that was getting worse.

Once she reached the top, she realized why. Standing there, in all six-feet-elven-inches of his imposing figure, was a man. His skin was pale white, he was clad in red armor, his had long blond hair, and on each of his heavily muscular arms was a long metal coil.

“Omega Red.” she thought. “Lethal pheromones, steals life energy from others,super strength, Wolverine-level fighter...I am so freaking out of my league it's not even funny.”

The man gave a nasty grin at her. “So you can fly then? I was thinking I could pick you all off from a distance, but getting my hands dirty is fine too. I must say, I don't recognize you. Or your friend with the pink hair. What's your name?”

Shizune saw the words on her glasses, but just glared at him and let out a energy blast at his head. Omega easily dodged it. “Don't want to talk then? Very well, let's dance, comrade.”




Down below Misha looked up and saw a the red-armored figure attacking her girlfriend, illuminated by Shizune's energy powers. She pulled out her gun but Laura grabbed her wrist.

“Don't!” X-23 hissed, “Fire that in here and the entire building could collapse.” She glanced at Hisao, who was still struggling with his chest, then looked at the two X-men without healing factors, who were having an even rougher time. “We need to get up there. Where's a staircase?” She darted off down the hall, and Misha ran after her.




As Shizune barely dodged a carbonadium tentacle, it occurred to her that this was probably the worst place possible to fight this man. For starters, Omega's primary attack was his coils, which are far more effective in close quarters, while she was more a long-ranger attacker. Second, the unstable nature of the laboratory meant she couldn't cut loose without worrying about causing a cave-in. Third, since she was the only one who could fly, it meant she had to fight him alone.

For the moment, she was holding him off, but she was feeling worse by the moment, and there was only so long she could ignore the feeling in her body his death spores were causing. It was like when you were so sick you didn't want to make slightest movement to get out of bed. And she was in a firefight feeling that way, despite every muscle in her body groaning in protest.

She fired another energy blast and missed again, then spun around and looked around at the room. Numerous bottles of chemicals were lined on shelves around the room. She noticed one in a wax vial saying “Hyrdrofloric acid”, grabbed it, and threw it in Red's direction, then dove behind a table and hit it with an energy blast. The bottle burst open and sprayed the fluid all around. Omega let out a howl of pain as the liquid sunk through his skin and begin to eat into his bones.

“Congratulations, missy. You have REALLY made me mad.” He growled and lunged.



“Damnit.” X-23 mumbled, staring at the stairway, which was filled with rubble. “Okay, new plan. Hardhead, go back to the other three. I can get up there. Hopefully the two of us will be enough to stop him.”

“How are you-” Misha begin, but Laura ran over to a pillar next to a substantial hole in the wall, extruded her claws, then sunk them into the side of the support beam. She then took her other hand, sank it above the first hand, and pulled herself up.




Shizune coughed hard and glared at Red. She moved to dodge another tentacle, but was a moment too slow. The coil wrapped itself around her neck and she let out a slight gasp as he tried to strangle her.

“Eh?” Omega said.

Out of the corner of her eye, Shizune noticed movement down the end of the hall.

The coil tightened. In desperation, she fired a blast at the chemicals Omega was standing next to, hoping to cause an explosion. She hoped in vain, all the came out was a nasty smell.

At that moment, a black garbed figure leaped at Omega Red and tackled him with shocking ferocity.

The coil released, and Shizune noticed that Omega was now dealing with X-23, who was barreling into him with everything she had, and tearing huge chucks of flesh out of the white-skinned man. Omega was hitting her, multiple times, but the young girl didn't even seem to notice. That worried Shizune, and she glanced at the shards of the bottles she had shattered.

“Trigger Scent.” read the label.

“Shit.” Shizune mentally swore and fought the urge to vomit. “Hisao!” she thought as loud as she could. “Hisao! I need your help!.”





Down below, Hisao coughed. The pain in his chest was subsiding, but he felt ill. Extremely ill.

“Hey there Hicchan!” Misha said, grinning, “Miss me?”

“Misha...what..” He sat up and nearly threw up. “Shizune, were you calling me?” he mentally thought out.

“It's Voidstar when I'm on a mission, and yes. X has gone berserk, I need you to get in her head and calm her down.” Came the response.

“Berserk? What happened?”

“I spilled this chemical that causes her to fly into a rage when- look, just do it, alright? Before she cuts me head off.”

Hisao winced but reached out mentally. He found X-23's mind easily enough, and it was covered with sheer, unadulterated, fury. He couldn't make out any intelligent thoughts beneath the rage.

“Laura? Are you there Laura?”





“You're a feisty one.” Omega stated. “Wolverine's kid sister, I take it? I know him well. I'll mail you back to him piece by piece.”

X-23 didn't respond, but flipped up in the air and slashed his chest with her foot claw. Omega tried to grab her, but she was too fast. And in a moment, she sunk her claws through his throat. Omega collapsed and reached for his neck, blood leaking from the holes.

X-23 then turned to Shizune, who braced herself.

“Laura? Are you there Laura?”

She twitched slightly.

“I know you're in there somewhere. Can you hear me?”

She paused.

“I know you're not in your right mind right now, but I need you to come back. Psylocke and Armor are still down, we need to get everyone out of here, fast. They're your friends right? We need to help them.”

“Hi..Hisao?” She said softly. Then she turned back to Omega Red, still trying to recover. Then X-23 grabbed Shizune's hand and jumped down the hole.

“Laura?” Hisao asked as the two fell down onto a pile of rubble.

“Use my codename, Mentat. But thank you. And yes, we need to get out of here. I've got the device. Hardhead, help him grab Psylocke, Voidstar, help me get Armor. We're leaving. Now.”

Hisao got up, fighting the horrible feeling of unwellness permeating his body and picked up the upper part of Besty's figure. Misha grabbed the legs. With the other two carrying Armor, they hurried towards the exit. As they neared the exit, a voice shouted “Come back here! We're not finished yet!” from off in the distance

“Can you carry her this last bit?” Misha asked.

“I think so, but why?” Hisao responded.

“Got an idea.”

Hisao nodded and dragged Psylocke out of the building.

“What is she DOING?” Shizune mentally shouted, “I'm going back there-” she then blinked at Misha, who was standing just inside the building. “Oh, very clever.”

Misha pulled out her gun, turned the dial at the way down, and fired at a pillar. A bullet flew out of the barrel at well in excess of Mach-7, blasting the support in half.

The building shuddered and cracks began to appear in the walls and ceiling. Misha ran out into the daylight just as the tower collapsed.

“I guess that last we'll see of him.” Hisao remarked.

“Surely you know better than that.” X-23 replied, “Never assume anyone is dead until you see the body. And even then it's not for sure. I can safely say he'll survive that. But he is out of our hair for now. Get Psylocke and Armor into the blackbird. I'll pilot it a couple miles from here so they can recover.”

As they entered the Blackbird, Hisao turned to X-23. “Can I ask you something? Why did you go berserk like that?”

“Ah well...” X-23 shook her head. “The facility brainwashed me to go nuts when I smelled a certain chemical. There was some of that in the building.”

Hisao gave her a screwed up look. “And you do this kind of stuff anyway? Am I the only person who thinks it a terrible idea to take along a person who is liable to attack their own teammates?”

“It's not as much of an issue as you might think.” Shizune mentally responded, “There's only been a few times when she has lost control like that.”

“And how many people have died on those “few time?” Hisao replied.

“Since I joined the X-men?” X-23 responded, “One hundred and ninety three.” She pulled the power source out of her pocket and tossed it to Hisao “Keep track of this” she stated, then turned on the Blackbird and begin to pilot it aloft.

“That's a lot of-”

“I know. Believe me, I do,” Laura sighed, “I hate it as much as everyone else does. I just have no control over it, though Psylocke's been trying to help me.” She looked at Hisao sadly. “To tell you the truth, I don't really like this lifestyle. I'm sick of hurting people, I'm sick of fighting. What I'd really like to be is a writer.”

“Then why don't you quit?” Hisao asked

She shrugged. “I'm too messed up to do anything else. You know...” she paused for a moment, “Honestly, I see a lot of myself in Hanako. The innocent, who never wanted to hurt anyone but was forced against her will to do so. Do you remember what I said when I first met her?”

“That you were mind controlled?”

“Yeah. The scent is what I was referring to. The facility forced me to kill people who actually cared about me. My senshi, for one, my mother, for another...” She shrugged. “I know what that poor girl is going through, and I want to stop her from being forced to be like...me.”

She landed the blackbird in an empty field, and turned to Hisao. “For what it's worth. I'm sorry I couldn't help her the first time. I hope I can now.”

[Mirage_GSM]

She was forced to kill her warrior?

[griffon8]

Before she cuts me head off.

I didn't think Shizune had any Scottish heritage.

Your fight scenes get better and better. Good to see not every fight depends on Hisao, too.

[Tormound]

I feel so cliche saying nothing but praise on your chapters and such... Anyway, again another good chapter keep it up.

[Chrono180]

Here's chapter seven. Has anyone heard from Oddball lately? He seems to have vanished a couple weeks ago, and I'm not sure why. I hope he's alright.


Chapter Seven: A Sinister Discovery

“Kill them”

As she lay in her bed with the covers over her and the door to her room lack, all Hanako could think of what that she felt like she was drowning.

“Destroy them.”

It had never gotten this bad before.

“Annihilate them.”

Not after the fire.

“Murder them.”

Not after the abuse from her classmates.

“Slaughter them.”

Not even after her first kidnapping.

“Obliterate them.”

And as she lay under the covers.

“Massacre them.”

All she could think of.

“Nullify them.”

Was whether she could be saved once again.

“Punish them”

Or whether this time

“Exterminate them”

Hisao would be too late.

“Terminate them”


There was a knock on the door.

“Ignore it.” the voice said. “You're alone. You always will be alone. That won't ever change.”

“G-Get...out...” Hanako said weakly and smacked herself in the head.

“You think hurting yourself will get me out of you?” There was a sinister chuckle, “You really have no clue whats going on, do you? One more day. One more day and I'll be strong enough to take you over.”

Hanko summoned as much inner strength as she could and walk over to the door and opened it. A familiar blonde haired woman stood in the doorway.

“L-Lilly?” Hanako said softly.

“Oh, this one again?” She heard in her mind, “Give me a break. I can't begin to understand what you see in her. She can't even see.”

“How are you doing?” Lilly asked.

“T-Terrible,” Hanako stated honestly and shook her head. “It won't stop.”

“Damn right I won't stop.” The voice said again, “You're going to die, Hanako Ikezawa. And I will take over the shell that was your body.”

Lilly reached over and gave Hanako a hug. The dark haired girl took a deep breath and tears began to form in her eyes. “ “All I w-wanted... I just wanted to be normal.” She said, her voice cracking slightly, “Why d-did this happen?”

“I don't know.” Lilly said softly. “I really don't. And I know there's not much I can do to help, but I'll do what I can.”

Hanako let out a choked sob, “Will Hisao be b-back soon? I really need...I need him to help me.”

“Help you? Nobody can help you.” The voice stated, a maniacal tone dripping into it's sound.

“I'll check,” Lilly pulled out her phone and dialed a number. She held it up to her ear, then frowned. “It says it can't make a connection. He must be in an area with no reception.”

Hanako winced, “I see.” she said softly, then paused, “Lilly... W-would you understand if I... if I were to kill myself rather than be taken over?”

Lilly seemed a bit taken aback. “Hanako... suicide is never the answer. Ever.”

“I just d-don't think I can bear to hurt anyone else.” Hanako answered

Lilly shook her head, “Hanako, you're a survivor. No matter what, you always kept going. You shouldn't ever stop going, even if things seem horrible at the time.”

Hanako wiped the tears from her eyes. “B-But what if I kill someone?”

Lilly shook her head, “Don't think that way. You're too important. To Hisao, to Trevor, to myself, to everyone.... Losing you would destroy us all.”

Hanako flopped down on the bed.

“What a naïve moron.” the voice said, “You're not really listening to her, are you?”

Hanako tried to ignore it, instead turning to her friend. “Lilly, c-can you stay with me? I need support.”

“Of course.” the blonde haired girl nodded, “As long as you need.”











Elsewhere...

“What...what happened?” Psylocke asked, slowly getting up from her seat.

“Arkady Rossovich got the drop on us,” X-23 replied, “We're lucky to have gotten out alive.”

“And the seed?” Armor asked.

“Wasn't it,” Hisao replied, fiddling with the small box they'd found in the building. A small spark emitted from the protrusion, causing him to nearly drop it in surprise. Instead, he stuffed it into his pants pocket and looked at Betsy.”You alright?”

“Getting there.” she responded. “Where's Omega Red now?”

“Under about twenty tons of rubble, courtesy of my girlfriend there.” Shizune thought back, “I guess you were right about her needing a long range attack.”

Misha grinned. Psylocke nodded.

“So, where to now, fearless leader?” Hisao asked.

Psylocke paused. “I can think of a few more places to try. Wundagore Mountain, the Savage Land, Altantis, Lemuria, Attilan, Subterranea...wait a moment....” She picked up the scanner lying on the dashboard of the blackbird and looked at it. “This wasn't there before.”

“Another signal?” Armor asked.

“Yes. And very close too.”

“You okay to travel?” X-23 asked “The two of you got hit pretty badly.”

“I'll walk it off.” Psylocke replied.

She got up from the seat she was in and opened the exit door. The others followed as she headed nearly straight north.

“I don't supposes you have any coffee?” Hisao asked after about a mile.

“You tired?” Misha asked.

Hisao nodded. “While I'm not of the exact length of time I've been awake, what with the time zone changes and all, I'm guessing I'm on around my twentieth hour. Why, you're not?”

“Nah, fun like this always cheers me up.” Misha replied

“One of our closest friends is in danger of losing her mind, and you find the search for her cure fun?

Misha shrugged, “Well, it's either having fun or sitting around being sick with worry. I'd prefer the 'fun' option.

Hisao blinked, “Fair point.” he admitted.

“If you're tired,” Psylocke started, “Try reducing the Adenosine levels in your brain. It's in the hippocampus, right behind the neurons that hold the memories of your eighteenth birthday.”

Hisao focused for a moment. “Got it. Thanks.”

“Be careful not to abuse that ability, mind you.” Psylocke added, a sense of importance in her voice. ”Just because you don't feel tired doesn't mean you don't need to sleep. Staying awake for more than three or four days is a bad idea.”

Hisao nodded. “This won't take much longer than that, will it?”

“Hopefully not...huh.”

Psylocke stopped at a large wooden door that was lying on the ground. It was not attracted to any frame.

“It's coming from in there.” she said, pointing to the door. Leaning over, she picked it up, revealing plain dirt ground underneath.

“You're joking, right?” Hisao stated “It's not attached to anything.”

Psylocke shook her head and pointed to a small red diamond etched onto the front. “This is Sinister's work.”

“Who's sinister?” Misha asked.

“Century old geneticist, former ally of Apocalypse, complete sociopath.” Armor stated, “That's the nickel version anyway. Not someone we really want to face.”

“But it's not like we have much of a choice.” Psylocke stated and set the door up against a pile of rubble. “Now as to open it...Let's see... He usually seals his portals with a password. How about... Famine.”

There was no result.

“Summers.” Psylocke stated.

No result.

“Genetics.” Misha stated

“Horseman.” X-23 suggested.

“Essex” Psylocke stated.

“En Sabah Nur.” Armor guessed.

“En saba what?” Misha asked.

[That's Apocalypse's real name] Shizune signed and thought, [Read the files, Misha.]

Hisao paused for a moment. “How about “Rebecca?”

There was a deep thrumming and the door opened, a void appearing the air behind it. A steep staircase could be seen leading down into the darkness.

“How did you know...” Misha began,

Hisao shrugged. “Well, in the files I read, that was his wife's name. Long, long time ago.”

“A wife huh?” Misha chuckled and turned to Armor, “Complete sociopath, you say?”

Armor rolled her eyes. “Yes. Complete sociopath. Let's go.”

The team walked down the staircase into the darkness. As they descended, it seemed they were walking into a large laboratory. Numerous person sized tubes filled with a green fluid could be seen lined up against the wall, connected to some diabolic machinery by a series of tubes and wires.

“Ok, I'll bite,” Hisao stated, “How does this work? I mean, one minute we were in Genosha, and now we're down here through some gap in reality.”

“Tesseract technology,” X-23 responded, “Mr. Sinister keeps his main laboratory in a side dimension and connects it to locations in our world through trans-dimentional portals.”

“So, it's bigger on the inside,” Hisao replied, “Sounds simple enough. That would come in real handy in my apartment you know, I've stuffed that place with so much stuff...”

“You're a Doctor Who fan?” Psylocke replied, sounding slightly surprised.

“Little bit, after I copied English from your mind I spent some time watching shows you can't get in Japanese. Some pretty interesting stuff. Doctor who, Firefly, that weird show about superpowered teenage delinquents... What was that one called?”

“Misfits.” Psylocke replied.

“How'd you get those shows?” Misha asked.

“I have an internet connection, remember?” Hisao replied.

“So, you torrented them?” Armor concluded, sounding slightly amused.

“You're really not supposed to do that.” Psylocke said.

Hisao rolled his eyes, “Compared to telepathically manipulating your teammates into getting mindwiped and dumped randomly over the world, I think downloading shows you can't see otherwise is a rather minor offense. Yes Betsy, I read your file too.”

“The siege perilous was a long time ago-” Psylocke began, then rethought her statement. “Actually, I admit you have a point. But call me Psylocke when I'm on a mission. Wait- there's something ahead.”

She paused for a moment and pressed her temple to her forehead. “Damnit. Marauders. Five of them.”
She pulled out the scanner. “And they're between us and the device.”

“Then let's go kick their ass.” Shizune thought and signed, “I took out seven of them in the danger room simulator.”

“Voidstar, that program was on fifty percent lethality.”

“Seriously? Why?”

“Because none of the new recruits were able to beat it on full caliber.”

“I could have.”

“This is not the time to argue.” Psylocke concentrated. “Let's see... Okay, it looks like the ones present are Riptide, Arclight, Blockbuster, Prism, and Scalphunter. Armor, you take Prism. He's powerful, but his body is extremely fragile. A good punch should shatter him. X-23, get in close to Scalphunter and kill him before he gets to his guns, Mentat, stay out of sight and try to get in Riptide's head. He's got the weakest of their mental defenses so try to shut down his brain. Voidstar, since you can fly, Attack Arclight. Keep your distance and stay off the ground. Hardhead, you and I will be attacking Blockbuster. Remember they can be clones at will, so don't worry about holding bakc.”

“Which one's Blockbuster?” Misha asked.

“Oh for... He's the one twice as big as any of the others. Anyway, try to make your self a target while I try to jam him with my psyblade. If we're lucky, we can end this fast. Everyone ready? ”

Four grunts of assent and one telepathic “got it, boss” came forth.

“Alright everyone. MOVE!” Psylocke stated, and the six of them sprinted down the corner, Hisao retarding his pace to stay slightly behind the others.

In a few moment,s five figures appeared in the distance. The plan was a good one.

Unfortunately, like most plans, it didn't survive first contact with the enemy.

The moment the team arrived within striking distance, a swarm of razor-sharp bone shurikins flew out from the closest. They flew at stunning velocity, and as the team dived behind several particularly large pieces of machinery, one of the disks sliced Shizune on the upper arm. She winced in pain.

With Shizune, X-23 and Armor on one side of the rather large hallway, and Misha, Hisao and Psylock on the other, the team was essentially divided in two.

“They've seen us.” Psylocke telepathically spoke “Frontal attack is out. Hardhead, pull out your gun and fire from cover. Voidstar, same to you. Mentat, my orders still apply.”

Voidstar twisted around and put her other, undamaged arm out, then emitted an energy blast, Misha dialed her gun to the third position and fired. The shot flew past the Marauders and stick a tube of liquid. It burst.

Hisao reached out, feeling the psionic barriers in the one Psylocke had called “Riptide.” Unfortunately, the shielding held strong against his assault. “No use Psylocke, can't get in.”

“Keep trying.” came the response

A hail of bullets flew with the barrage of shurikens. Then the ground started to shake. And then a large hulking figure ran up in the midst of the projectiles and grabbed Armor from her location closest to the Marauders. Hurling her with astounding velocity toward a distant part of the wall, the young girl's psionic shielding deployed almost immediately as she impacted.

X-23 lunged at Blockbuster, but the brute proved to be faster than his oversized form would indicate and he grabbed her by the throat. In an instant, her foot claw extended, and slashed the brute across his chest. He roared in pain, yet refused to relinquish his grip.

Misha dialed her gun to the fifth setting and fired. The explosion filled the hallway. Armor and Hisao winced and clutched their ears. Psylocke visibly flinched. A large hole appeared in Blockbuster's chest, and he collapsed to the ground.

[Are you trying to make everyone else deaf too?] Shizune signed.

“Well, it worked.” Misha called out. “Why are you complaining?”

“Hardhead,” Psylocke thought, “Since you're invulnerable, get out of cover and engage them. Armor, make your shielding as big as you can and try to provide cover for X-23, Voidstar and I. Mentat, keep trying to break down the mental barriers. Ready? Now!”

Misha jumped out of cover and ran straight in front of the line of fire. As numerous bullets,prismatic energy bursts and shurikens flew out of the three closest marauders, only to bounce off her, she dialed her gun down and fired at the one known as “Prism.” This time, it was a hit and the glass man shattered into shards.

Armor ran up, her shielding expanded to roughly twice her size, allowing Psylocke, X-23 and Voidstar to crowd behind her.”

Misha dialed her gun and fired at the one known as “Arclight.” It missed by a wide degree and struck a tube a fair distance down. It shattered and a young man fell onto the floor.

As if synchronized, the three remaining marauders turned around, stared straight at the figure, and then turned towards the X-men. And then they ran. They ran straight past Misha, straight past Armor, and past Hisao, who was still behind the machinery. And they kept running until they were well out of sight of the team.

“Allright then! We win!” Misha spoke cheerly, then looked at the worried look on Psylocke's face. “What's wrong?”

“Hardhead,” Betsy said softly, “The Marauders are some of the deadliest warriors the X-men have ever faced. And they just fled.”

“Deadliest? They didn't seem that tough.” Misha chuckled slightly.

[That's because the ones we faced had physical attacks,] Shizune stated [and we have a team with three healing factors and two people who are nigh-indestructable. There was little they could realistically do to anyone except Psylocke. Now if they had Scrambler, or Vertigo, or Malice, then we would've had problems. Major problems. We got very lucky here.]

The man on the floor about a hundred feet away stirred slightly, and as he twitched a bolt of telekinetic force emitted from him and shook the room.

The X-men exchanged nervous glances. Hisao, however, walked up to the figure. He was young, roughly eighteen years of age, and was clad in a black wetsuit. His hair was mostly brown, but the front part of it was white. And his left eye was faintly glowing with a yellow light.

“Mentat, are you sure that's wise?” Armor said.

“No, but I don't really care. This poor guy has been trapped in this pit for god knows how long with just Sinister and those psychos for company. He deserves a friendly face.” Hisao then leaned over on the ground and touched the man.

“Hey, are you okay?” he said softly.

The man's eyes flew open and a burst of force emitted from his right hand, missing Hisao by inches and shattering a nearby computer monitor on the wall.

“Easy, I'm not going to hurt you,” Hisao stated, “What's your name?”

The figure stared at Hisao, and Hisao felt his mind being invaded. He gasped for a moment and then the presence was gone.

“Nate.” The figure stated, “Nate Grey.”

[Mirage_GSM]

She paused for a moment and pressed her temple to her forehead.

That sounds interesting... How does she do that?

You should try to decide whether or not to use the code names in the narrative. Either is fine, just don't jump back and forth all the time.

[Chrono180]

Well, here's chapter 8. I realized just yesterday that I accidently send chapter 10 to myself when I meant to send it to oddball, so there might be a brief gap in updating after the next chapter. But we'll see.




Chapter eight: Desperation.

“Nate Grey?” Misha asked, clearly puzzled. She turned to Shizune, “You heard of him? Any relation to Jean Grey?”

Shizune shook her head. [No idea,] she communicated, [Never heard of this guy. And I've read every file in the database back at headquarters.]

Hisao looked at Nate, “How long have you been down here?”

Nate glared at Hisao, “Who the hell are you people?”


“We're X-men. One branch anyway.” X-23 responded. “I'm X-23 That's Psylocke, Armor, Voidstar and Harhead. You just met Mentat.”

“I got your names when I read Hisao's mind. But what are you doing down here?” Nate regarded the team sceptically

“Looking for a couple life seeds.” Hisao responded, “Six inches long, triangular, striped. You seen any?'

Nate regarded Hisao coldly, “Life seeds? Why do you want life seeds? Are you one of Apocalypses agents?”

“What? No!” Hisao raised his hands defensibly, “Me, an agent of Apocalypse? That's-Look, our friends are very sick, and we're trying to help the. I just want to get the seeds and out of this place!”

Nate clenched his right hand into a fist, “I think you're lying. Your part of the marauders! You need to leave me the hell alone!”

Hisao opened his mouth then closed it, then opened it again. “Nate, I can't imagine what they've been doing to you, but I'm not here to make it any worse. If it helps, read my mind.”

Nate stared at Hisao for a long moment, and Hisao felt a telepathic force ramming into his brain at a power he had never experienced before. For a moment, he thought his heart might stop, but that fear thankfully was not realized. Nate sifted through his brain for several moments, before visibility relaxing.

“Alright.” he finally sated, “I believe you.” he glanced at the others. Shizune glared at the teenager.

“How long-” Misha began but Nate cut her off

“All my life” Nate replied.

“Wait, what?”

The teenager raised his hands in a “I really don't know” motion. “Look, I'll tell you what I can. I've been in that tank as long as I can remember. Even so often, this big guy with white skin and black armor removes me and tries to “train” me. I really have no idea who he is or why he's doing it.”

“That's Mr Sinister.” Psylocke answered, “At a guess, I'd say you're one of his projects.”

Nate nodded, “I guess. I wasn't really aware of what else was going on but this last couple times I started receiving thoughts while I was unconscious. All sorts of stuff. People in schools, people at jobs, people asleep. I was going to try to bust out the next time I awoke but I guess you saved me the trouble.” He shook his head, annoyed at the memories. “Anyway, you're X-men?”

“Yeah.” X-23 stated, “X-corp, Toyko division to be precise.”

Nate paused for a moment. “Thought you only took in mutants, not... what are you three?” He motioned to Hisao, Shizune and Misha.

“Godchildren” Misha stated.

[That is the dumbest name I have ever heard.] Shizune responded, [But the X-men take in other metahumans too. There are numerous examples, including the Mimic, Longshot, Shatterstar, Karima sharpander...]

“How did you tell we weren't mutants?” Misha asked.

Nate shrugged, “Different psychic signature.”

“You were able to tell genetic coding through psychic analysis?” Psylocke said, sounding slightly impressed, “That takes skill.”

“It's a gift.”

“Anyway, about the seeds...” Armor stated.

Nate paused, “Is there anything else you can tell me about them?”

“Well, they were made by the Celestials. A race of aliens that stand as tall as skyscrapers and tinker with genetic coding.” Armor shrugged

“Alien tech...?” Nate hesitated, “Actually I think there is something like that here. Follow me.”

He started marching down the hallway. The other followed. As he reached a blank section of wall several hundred feet distant, he glanced back at Hisao. “The white guy...Sinister. He keeps the really important stuff locked in a vault. The normal entrance is genetically coded to his DNA, but I can get you in there.” He stared at the wall for a moment and raised his hand. With a sudden rush of power, the wall blasted into shards, revealing a small room. For a moment, an alarm screeched, and an icy cold voice began playing. A image of a white-skinned man appeared in the room.

“If you are receiving this.” The hologram stated, “Then Nate, my dear boy, you are in a world of trouble. I do not know what you think you can get by invading my vault like this, but-”


“Shut up.”.Nate let out a burst of force at the bell and it shattered into shards. The hologram flickered out of existence. Sitting on a pedestal in the center was a white gemstone with green stripes. Six inches long.

“That's it.” Hisao breathed a sigh of relief.

“But there's only one.” Misha pointed out. “It won't work on both of them, will it?”

“We'll discuss who to use it on back in the jet.” Psylocke stated. “For now, we'd best hurry.”


The team began leaving the room, as they walked down the hall, Hisao felt a voice invade his head.

“Hisao.” it stated.

“Nate?” Hisao thought back.

“Yeah, its me. Look, I need to tell you something.” Nate gave a mental sigh

“Can it wait? This place gives me the creeps.” Hisao replied

“No, it can't. Look. I can hear that girl, Betsy's thoughts, and she's not gonna let you help your friend.” Nate paused

“Yes, she will.” hisao replied, “She knows how much this means to me.”

“No, she won't.” Nate responded, “I'm getting wind of her emotions, and she's desperate to save Angel. As much as you are to save your girl. What was her name? Hanato?”

“Hanako. How am I supposed to trust you? You nearly gave me a heart attack-” Hisao began but Nate cut him off

“I know I jumped the gun a minute ago, but I scanned you and you're on the level, near as I can tell. Look, if you don't believe me, ask her.”

Hisao looked at Nate, not sure if he wanted to believe what he was hearing.

“Betsy.” he stated

“Call me Psylocke when we're on mission, Mentat.” Psylocke responded.

“Is what Nate's saying true?” Hisao asked, getting straight to the point, “That you're not going to help Hanako with this one?”

Psylocke paused briefly in her pacing, and Hisao noticed.

“It is true, isn't it?” he said angrily. “I save your ass against Unit and stop X from killing Voidstar, and this is how you repay me?”

“Angel has saved the world on at least twenty three occasions.” Psylocke stated firmly, “He deserves it more.”

“You're not going to help Hanako just because she's not experienced?” Hisao stated in disbelief,”We only got these powers three months ago! There's no way we could have caught up to your level in that time frame!”

“That is not relevant at this point in time.” Psylocke responded “Angel took down Magneto, Apocalypse, Sinister, Selene and over a hundred other villians. He has served his time well and runs a multi-million dollar company. Hanako is not nearly as important.”


“SHE IS TO ME!” Hisao shouted, and let out a psionic blast at Betsy. She flinched momentarily, and then with astonishing speed jammed her psyblade into Hisao's head. He groaned slightly, and fell unconscious.



Hisao stirred

“We'll be arriving Xavier's shortly.” He heard Psylocke say.

“I thought Angel was back in Tokyo?” Armor, this time.

“He got moved. Beast insisted on keeping him under surveillance. So he's back at the institute.” Psylocke again.

“Are you sure we can't help Hanako with this?” Misha asked. “She's a real good person you know.”

“I'm very sorry Hardhead.” Psylocke responded, “I really am. But Angels a very good person too. You'll be glad to meet him. If she can hold on long enough, we can look for a second seed, but for now we have to help the one we can. The disease seems to be spreading rapidly from what Xavier can tell, and if wait too much longer, both Angel and Hanako will be taken over.”

Hisao opened his eyes slightly. He had been laid down on a makeshift table in the back of the blackbird. Nate Grey was watching him with interest. The others were sitting farther up in the seats towards the front.

“I must admit,” Nate thought to him, “That took guts. That woman's at least three times as powerful as you, and you attacked her without a second thought. This...Hanako person must mean a lot to you.”

“Everything.” Hisao thought back. “She and Lilly saved me. When I first met them, I was a mess. Depressed, distraught, completely out of my comfort zone... I don't know if you have anyone like that. Who'd you'd move heaven and earth for.”

“Not really.” Nate responded, “Tube boy, remember?”

“Yeah. I figured.”

“I'd like to learn though.” Nate added. “I really missed out. I mean, those two up there. Shizune and Misha, seem to really care for each other. I'd like to know what that's like.”

Hisao hesitated. “You could learn. I'm sure the X-men could use a telekinetic. Hang out with them, meet interesting people, save the world....” He then glanced at Shizune and Misha. “Why didn't they back me up? I mean, Hanako's their friend too.”

“Shizune knows she'd be outclassed in a fight. Misha's desperately clinging to the idea both of them can be saved. That's what my telepathy's indicating anyway.” Nate shrugged.

Hisao nodded grimly and stared straight at Nate. “How powerful are you, exactly?”

Nate shrugged. “Not sure exactly how to measure it. But I'm stronger than the ninja up there. Think I am at least.”

“I need a favor then. A really big one.”

“What?”

“Hide me from the others senses. Cloak my body, my scent, any noises I make and make my thoughts telepathically invisible. Can you do that?”

“Sure. But I don't see how it would do any good.”

Hisao paused, “I have an idea. It's a crazy one, but at this point I'm willing to try anything. Cover me.”

He pushed the button on the belt strapping onto the table, and it retracted.

Carefully, he walked up to the front seat. The life seed was cradled in Betsy's lap. Gently, he picked it up and put it in his pocket

With a smooth motion, he walked over to the Blackbird's door.

“Hisao, are you going to do what I think you are? Because I really think you shouldn't-” Nate thought to him

Hisao pushed the emergency release level on the door.

“NO! BAD IDEA!” Nate called out loud, and five pairs of eyes jerked in Hisao's general direction.

“What are you-” Betsy began, “Mentat, you IDIOT!”

And at that moment, Hisao Nakai jumped out of the Blackbird in mid-flight.


On an unrelated note, I am writing the sequal to this fic and I would like everyone elses ideas for components that could be gather for a resurrection ritual you all might like me to involve. So far, I've got a fang from dracula, the heart of an immortal, essence of the timestream, Something (not sure what) belonging to clan akkaba, and possibly the eye of a soulless man. I'm willing to take suggestions on other items I could have the major characters in my next fic gather (without giving too much away, the principle characters involved will be Hisao, Hanako, Lilly, and another...)