CHAPTER 59
I left the site of the destruction I just caused and went to find Bucky and Steve who were facing off against 3 sentinels.
The moment I found them in a deadlock, I used my flames to propel myself forward with a loud burst and then made a large ice blade that covered half of my hand which I used to pierce into the thick metal coating of the one who was most damaged, killing it immediately.
The moment I landed, the ground around me and the other sentinels was set ablaze in a circular radius while whips made of flames shot out and bound them. I sent out a huge ice cone which pierced the through exterior but it was shallow, which wasn’t for long as Steve charged at it with his shield and forced the ice cone to pierce all the way through.
We killed the last one in seconds before we all feel down to the floor panting hard. While I wasn’t as tired them, this proved to be a heavy workout.
“I thought *huff* we were going *huff* to destroy some HYDRA bases in Russia. *Huff* This wasn’t part of the plan.” Steve was the first one to talk as he tried to get his breathing in order.
“If this is what you get up to every time you leave the house I now understand why you always try to spend most of your time indoors quack.” Bucky huffed.
“Oh you have no idea.” They really didn’t, but Bucky had a point. The stupid shit always happen when I’m pursuing HYDRA’s tail.
“Come on. We are through with this area, let’s move on to the next.” I brought out my phone and looked at the other two areas that were being swamped by sentinels.
Magneto’s side was almost cleared out while the X-Men were having trouble with their side. The X-Men were still newly formed with at most 3 years to their belt which kept them behind Magneto’s Brotherhood in terms of rep and strength.
“Who are those guys?” Steve and Bucky scooched over to my side to look at the situation.
“The dude who looks like an 80’s caped villain is the world’s most notorious metahuman terrorist – Magneto. He controls magnetic fields which grants his power over almost all types of metal. So it’s better if you and Cap steer clear of him. Those with him are part of his group which he calls the Brotherhood. They are a metahuman supremacist group who believe that humans are to serve under them since they are higher on the evolutionary chain.”
“In other words – a Hitler with powers, gotcha.” Steve said with a light tone but the frown on his face couldn’t be more pronounced.
“You think it’s a coincidence that the world greatest metahuman terrorists group are in the same country that harbors metahuman extermination machines? I think not.” Bucky hummed as he stared at the screen. “What about the other guys? Are they still part of the Brotherhood or are they the group you called?”
“They are the ones I called.” My voice wasn’t as pleased as I made it to be which they both picked up.
“What’s their deal then?”
“They help other metahumans all over the world and provide a sanctuary for them.” I said.
“Quite a noble cause if you ask me.” Steve nodded.
“It is.”
“But?...” Bucky looked at me with a look that said he knew what I was thinking.
“Their… Director, or is it Proprietor is a brainwashing extreme pacifist. Dude is psychic and I hate his mug.” I said and all I received was two ‘for real’s expression.
“Oh and get this. Magneto and him are best friends when they were young. Even now they maintain a frenemy relationship.”
“So a hardcore terrorist metahuman supremacist…” Bucky said while Steve completed.
“And an extreme brainwashing metahuman pacifist are friends,”
“Best friends” I corrected.
“I call bullshit!” Bucky exclaimed.
“Either way, we should go and help since we are through with these parts.”
I hotwired a car and drove us through the destroyed streets as we made our way to where the X-Men were currently fighting.
…
[Somewhere in an abandoned Railway Station – William Stryker POV]
“Fools.” At the front of a monitor sat a man with glasses as he peered into the screen while tapping away at the keyboard without stop. He was in his mid-forties with little patches of grey adorning his facial hairs.
His name was William Stryker.
He stared at the screen as he steeled himself. If this worked then he would have enough time to create the perfect weapons that would wipe out the filth of the human race.
Ever since all the heads of HYDRA were killed, the funding stopped and while his former mentor and partner didn’t know who really funded their research, he did.
HYDRA had approached him decades ago when they created the Weapon X program which unfortunately was busted due to their prized soldier turning on them at the last minute, but the achievement was still there.
He had been researching ways to create the perfect weapon for years now and he finally found it.
The SENTINEL project.
It was the perfect weapon against the mutant race that his mentor created. He was the one who told HYDRA about the research and as soon as they saw it, they were so happy that they immediately started funding the research in secrecy. And it was all going well until he heard the news that HYDRA had been taken down.
He started rushing the project all in the hopes of getting a working model that he would present to other interested parties to get the funding to create his perfect army.
With the amount of Adamantium he had, he would be able to create an army that was indestructible not like the fake poser that HYDRA called the Draugr. He had seen men who boasted more impressive regeneration than what he was told the Draugr could do.
He pressed on the button and released the working sentinels while he prepared to move and have them buy him time.
He had started trying to upload the Master Mold into their system but that was when he hit a snag.
His mentor and turned against him and sided with the mutants.
He tried to increase the upload speed by bypassing the need for distinction in the released sentinels and make them attack any mutant they saw or anyone who aided them but his mentor – no the traitor blocked him at every point.
While he worked to gain full access to the system, he also tried to keep in visual what was going on with his sentinels. A few had already been destroyed from the hundred he released. He had settled for quantity over quality because of the time he had – or lack thereof.
He was surprised when he found the mutant scum known as Magneto and his Brotherhood among those who were being attacked but he immediately took this opportunity to get rid of the biggest stain on mankind.
He commanded 50 of the released sentinels to converge on Magneto’s location while he commanded 40 to where the dog’s of S.H.I.E.L.D were located. He would kill all of them for setting back his plan by a few years. 40 sentinels should be more than enough to take care of them.
It was during this time that his attention was split that that traitor Trask was able to lock him completely out of the system, cutting the connection between the Master Mold and the sentinels. Right now, they were loose puppets.
Since trying to reconnect the Master Mold with the sentinels back again would be a meaningless endeavor, he loaded the Master Mold into the cargo and prepared to move out but not before sending the traitor a gift.
How fitting would it be to die at the hands of the thing he created?
He programmed one of the few sentinels he still had with him with the order to kill anything he came across and sent it to the location of the old base they used since he was sure Trask was there.
He had been prepared to leave but was forced to stop when he saw something, or rather a group of mutants but the mutants weren’t what caught his attention, no. What caught his attention was the face of a man he would never forget, a beast he taught he had tamed. He watch as the man brandished the claws he gifted him with in retaliation against the sentinels with a ferocity he would never forget. He still remembered his name.
James ‘Logan’ Howlett.
An almost immortal being.
He thought deep about what to do with this new finding. Whether to call back the sentinels and have them capture him or leave him be for the time being and collect back his once-lost prize.
He tried to call back some of the 40 sentinels that he sent to the last location and was stunned when he saw that all of them were dead.
‘Damned dogs!’
He had no choice but to redirect 10 more to the Wolverine’s location. Magneto and his group had already taken down 20 with some other being damaged which was mostly due to the Master of magnetism’s credit.
He wanted to recapture the Wolverine but he had to finally give up when the damned dogs arrived on the site.
The sentinel he sent to Trask would soon arrived and end that traitor so there was at least no complication on that front. He was ready to go as his sentinels were getting destroyed by the seconds.
He didn’t feel defeated as this setback only served to make him want to create his perfect army as soon as possible.
They may have won this time but the next bout would be his.
…
[Back to Draul]
We arrived at Logan’s location and without saying a word to them, began fighting against the sentinels.
“James is that you?” Cap asked as he saw Logan slashing at a sentinel.
“You know who I am bub?” Logan stopped for a minute and looked at Steve.
Steve for his own part was confused since he was sure no one could live that long unless he had the same experience he and Bucky had.
“I’m sorry you look like someone I knew back in '45. Maybe he was your dad or something.” Steve said as he bashed a sentinels’ head.
“You don’t look like someone who could remember what happened back in ’45.”
“Complications.” Steve sighed as he threw his shield as Bucky who caught and used it to block a sentinels lasers while I caught it from behind and threw it towards Colossus who pummeled it to the ground.
“What’s his name?” Logan asked Steve with a low growl.
“Pardon?”
“The name of the guy you knew who looked like me back in ’45.” This time Logan stopped to look at Cap while the other did the same.
“James ‘Logan’ Howlett. He and his brother Victor Creed were part of my team back then.” Steve said.
Logan drew in breath before he focused back on the fight since some of them were being pushed back. “After this fight, you and me are gonna have a talk.” He said before he went to help an overwhelmed Bobby.
“Hey Draul, do you know what his deal his?” Steve asked me as I killed the sentinel I was fighting.
“If I had to guess? Amnesia.” I shrugged.
“But people don’t live that long and still look like that do they? It’s not a normal thing nowadays is it?” Steve was beyond confused given the way he looked.
“He is a mutant Steve, there are some who could live for over a hundred years and still not look a day over 30. My advice is hear him out, it could be important to him.” I told him.
He went back to fighting but not before giving me an affirmation. “I was already planning to.”
I had already forgotten that Logan was part of the Howling Commandos, heck I had forgotten a lot of things from my past life, because it had being so long and my boosted memory wasn’t helping with what I knew before I got it. And besides I never really thought much about Logan’s situation since it wasn’t anything that had to do with me and besides he would’ve one day gotten it back down the line.
My thoughts were halted when I saw one of the sentinels trying to squash Thunderbird.
‘Really gotta up your game T-bird.’
Ice travelled from my feet to where the sentinel was in a straight line as it shot out ice vines which wrapped around it which gave John the chance to escape its grasp.
I formed an ice axe on one of my hands and used it to cleave off its head but it didn’t end there as the ice axe turned into a spear which I used on the neck opening and froze all its internal circuitry before breaking them.
I turned around to be met with shocked faces of the X-Men which was vastly more expressive on Scott’s and Bobby’s.
“What the fuck?” Scott muttered in a low voice which I heard but paid no mind to it only for Bobby to shriek.
“Aw hell naw. That’s it, I'm peace-ing out.” He stomped away as the last of the sentinels were taken care of easily.
“What’s his problem?” I couldn’t help but ask.