X-Virus #2

Aboard The Space Station

The space station named after its owner, Maxwell Julian, orbits the earth with an ominous presence. Originally the billion dollar station was constructed to allow Maxwell News Network to be the first tv station to broadcast all day, every day from space. The station is state of the art, housing some of the finest super computers ever to exist. The station is completely self sufficient, relying on solar generators for power, and an oxygen recycling unit that allows it's inhabitants to breath fresh air. It also secretly stored weapons, to be used only for defensive purposes.

The station had been in operation for 4 months when the virus hit. Billionaire Maxwell Julian was on earth at the time supervising the construction of the first ship to be able to travel to other galaxies in search of new life forms. The project was named Endeavor, three ships were planned to be built. Out of the three, the Apollo was near completion, both the Gemini and Columbia were about three quarters complete. The project was a joint operation between Maxwell and NASA. The original plan was to have the Apollo launch with a crew of twenty-five, but things changed.

"Maxwell", the eerie voice echoed in Maxwell's head. "Maxwell don't ignore me, you need to start listening to me again."

"NO! Your not real, stop talking to me, your not real, I'm not insane, your not real, stop talking to me!" Maxwell's tone was that of a tired and drained individual. "I don't want to listen to you anymore, stop trying to tell me what to do!" He put his hands on his head in a feat of frustration trying to get the voice to stop.

"Of course your not insane Maxwell, we've gone over this before, I'm your friend. Now lets continue our conversations from before. Have you been tracking the movements of the humans?" The voice put emphasis on the last sentence.

Maxwell began looking out the viewing window at earth. "Yes." He replied

"Good, now what have they been doing?" The voice said.

"My satellites detected a helicopter leaving the Dome, heading east. They landed at an old temple and proceeded inside. I had the satellite scan the temple, and it detected a low amount of energy emanating from its interior. Several hours later a largo cargo helicopter arrived, and it appears they removed an unknown object from the temple. I scanned the temple again, but the energy source was gone. They took it with them!" Maxwell said.

"Hmm, Maxwell its time for you to do what we discussed before." The voice then added, "Its time for you to attack the Dome."

Project CA-1940

"As you can see gentlemen." Dr. Bruce Banner said as he gestured towards the large video screen. "The tests shows that the serum is near ready for human testing."

President Roth put his arm in the air to indicate that he wanted to speak. "Dr. Banner, I'm still a little unclear on the backgroundof this project."

"I'm glad you asked that Mr. President." Dr. Banner picked up a remote control and with the press of a bottom, what was being shown changed. "Project CA-1940 was originally intended for use in the third world war. With the rise of the Axis powers of Germany, France and Italy, and the use of mutants by the Axis powers became more frequent. I don't have to remind you of the mutant attack on Pearl Harbor." Dr. Banner pressed the same button on the remote to change the image on the screen. "It was decided that barring the use of mutants from the allies. A super soldier had to be created. After years of testing, and the Axis slowly taking over Europe. In 1940, a test soldier was created, his name was Captain America."

President Roth decided to cut in. "I can't say that I have ever heard of that name, what happened to him?"

General Fury abruptly interrupted the conversation. "After the first experiment was a success. They planned to create hundreds more. But an Axis spy killed the only man who knew the formula for the serum. He also destroyed the machine used to start the metamorphoses."

Dr. Banner began to continue were Fury left off. "With only one super soldier, they had no choice but to send him into battle immediately, unfortunately due to the lose of the serum and the transformation device, they had to scrap the project in favor of Project Weapon X. Captain America though began to push the Axis out of England, and then he just disappeared. He was presumed dead after an air raid struck near his location."

"Excuse me." Premier Checnev said. "But if the formula was destroyed, how is it that we have it now?"

Ambassador Lang then added. "What about the device used, isn't the serum useless without it?"

Dr. Banner cleared his throat and then said. "Well the original creator of the serum had a copy of the recipe tattooed on his inner left ankle, it was discovered during his autopsy. It was written in Spanish." Banner again cleared his throat. "As for the machine, we found the schematics for it in an old military archive. We have constructed it, we just need a power source. Luckily we believe we have found something, we have to perform further tests though."

"Why do we need an outside power source? I thought the fusion generators that powered the Dome were powerful enough." Vice President Anderson remarked.

"The original power source used was a self contained omega molecule, very unstable, but very powerful. It was obtained from a meteorite that crash landed on earth in 1932, shortly after world war two ended." Dr. Banner continued, "When the original machine was sabotaged, the molecule imploded. If we simply plugged the machine into the central power net, it would likely overload the generators. Leaving us with no main power source. The power source we detected though may have enough energy to power the machine."

"So we'll be able to create hundreds of these super soldiers if the machine works?" President Roth asked.

"Technically no." Dr. Banner said. "You see, we discovered that the serum is not compatible with everybody. If we injected a normal human with the serum, it would possible kill him. A very rare gene is required for the serum to correctly function, when combined with the use of the machine. It's a mere coincidence that the original Captain America was compatible with the serum at all."

Inside The Lab

Peter Parker was still in awe over the large hibernation unit that was hauled into his lab. It was over 10 feet tall, the glass was opaque, on the front was a control panel, the keys were written in a language that even he didn't know. More detailed scans detected the power source as being located inside the control panel. The readings also indicated that the power used to keep the hibernation unit was off an unknown source.

"Otto." Parker shouted to a platform above him. "Dr. Octavius! I need your assistance down here." Peter began to wave his arms to indicate his urgency.

Doctor Otto Octavius made his way down to by means of a wall elevator. In his possession, a rather large notepad. "Yes Peter, what is it? I'm working on something." As Otto finished his statement, he glanced to his left, noticing the giant tube he was standing next to. "My god Peter, what is this?"

Parker managed a small grin. "To be honest with you, I'm not to sure, I think its some sort of hibernation device. It appears to be operational. I assume someone or something is being kept in stasis in this thing. I'd like your help trying to decipher the language on the control panel. I want to open this thing up."

Octavius was still starring at the 10 foot tall object towering over him. "Open it? I...don't think I want to know what's in this thing. For all we know it'll be the ruination of mankind as we know it."

"Or it could be the savior of mankind Otto, we're already at damnation's door, if you hadn't noticed, we're trapped in this cold metallic dome. Leaving this place for any reason is dangerous enough, but we..I went out and found this thing. It has a power source of almost unlimited power. If the thing inside of it is someone who can benefit us, then fine, but first and foremost we have to get the power source." Peter ended his almost rant with a chilling smile.

Dr. Octavius simply stood there wondering what to make of Parkers statement. "Peter, you seem to be hellbent on single handedly saving humanity. Remember what your Uncle always told you. With great power, comes great responsibility. He was my dearest friend. I miss him a great deal, but I can see him in you. Or at least I used to be able to." Dr. Octavius sighed and lowered his head.

"My uncle is dead, he was killed by a mutant attack years ago. And to avenge him, I swore I'd find a way to end the mutant threat, once and for all. If the power source located in this device can create 1000 super soldiers, then I will have done my duty to mankind and to my uncle." Parker then put his hand on the glass of the hibernation unit. "Frankly Otto, I don't care what or who is in this. I just want the power source."

The Kingpin

"This way Mister. Fisk. President Roth is ready to see you now." The presidents aide motioned towards a closed door.

"Thank you." Fisk replied as his stood up out of his chair and walked up to the door. As he turned the handle he felt a warmth come over him, he knew one day he'd be the owner of this office.

"Wilson Fisk, It's good to see you again. How's the wife?" President Roth sad in his sincerest voice.

"Mister President it certainly is an honor and privilege to see you again, my wife is fine, thank you for asking." He extended his hand to meet the Presidents already extended hand. "I hope everything is well with you."

President Roth sat down in his chair as he motioned with his free hand for Fisk to take a seat. "I can't complain Wilson. But I am curious. We haven't seen each other in quite some time. Then out of the blue, my aide tells me that you had an urgent matter to discuss with me."

Fisk sat down. "Mister President, as you know, I was a successful business man before.. all of this happened. Now I have almost nothing. I want to be apart of something again. I want to run for a council seat."

President Roth had a puzzled look on his face. "Wilson I'm not sure I understand why this is an urgent matter. You don't need my permission to run. Why are you telling me this?"

"Well you see Mister President, I'm not just running for any chair, I plan to run against you, for your chair." As Mr. Fisk finished his sentence, he noted an almost relieved look on President Roth's face.

"Between me and you Wilson, I don't even know if I plan on running for re-election. So you may not have to even worry about running against me." The president let out a sly chuckle.

"I never said I was worried, I just thought it would be proper to inform you first." As Fisk finished his sentence, the phone on Roth's desk began to rang. "Mister President I believe that's my signal to go. It was my pleasure to see you again. Have a nice day." Wilson Fisk stood out of his chair and slightly nodded his head.

"Yes off course Wilson, always a pleasure. I hope to see you again soon." The president proceeded to pick up his phone. "Yes?" He listened for a moment and then said. "Yes please tell Doctor Banner that I would like to meet with him again as soon as possible. I have some questions for him."

As the president said this, Wilson Fisk has just closed to door to his office. As he approached the door leading out of the waiting room. A petite woman walked towards him and quietly said. "How did the meeting go?"

"It went very well Medusa. My concerns may have been ill conceived. He may not even be an obstacle after all. I am very pleased." He grinned as he turned his head towards Medusa and added. "How did the operation go? Did you get the data I requested?"

"Yes Kingpin, I ran into a few security guards, but after I left them stone faced, they weren't a problem." Medusa also began to grin. "I downloaded all data related to Project CA-1940. I also managed to dig up another file that was recently associated with the project. It's called Weapon X. I thought you would find it..interesting." She finished her sentence with a flirtatious smile.

"Excellent Medusa, you've never let me down." Fisk remarked as he took the data disk that Medusa was handing to him.

Bad Dreams

Captain Simmons had arrived home late again. He walked through the door, every time he was late, he expected to be yelled at, but Tracey never yelled at him, she was too good for him.

"Chris is that you?" She said from inside the kitchen. "Oh good your home, I made your favorite, pizza with the works." She was removing the pizza from the oven and began to slice it. "What do you want to drink? Water or water?" She began to laugh as she always did, she had an amazing sense of humor.

"Yes water sounds fine Trace." Simmons said. "I'm sorry I'm so late again, it's been another long day. For some reason I had to take a blood test, and your father wants me to be there when they open that giant tube we found in that temple. He wants me to bring you too, says its going to be a big day for humanity."

Tracey just looked at him and with a kind smile and said. "You don't have to be sorry for being late, I know your job is something that takes a lot of your time. Heck when I was young, my father was late all the time, my mom didn't quite understand, but I did. So don't worry about it. Let's eat though before the mushrooms on the pizza get cold." She smiled again and let out a small giggle.

Chris sat down and just looked at his dinner. "Trace you remember those dreams I had?"

"Of course Chris, have they returned?" She put her right hand on his left hand as a show of support.

"Yes, but this time they're worse. I'm some sort of dark being, and I can see myself hurting people, I cant stop myself, its almost like I enjoy it. It bothers me Trace. Why cant I stop having these dreams." He held onto her hand tightly and put his head down. "Sometimes, I see you...and I hurt you...I kill you and it's like I'm getting obscene joy out of it. I don't like it Trace, I think I need to go see Doctor Richards again." He had much remorse in his voice as he looked up and into his loves eyes.

"Don't feel so bad Chris. I know you'd never hurt me. So I see them as just bad dreams. Don't worry so much. If you need to see Doctor Richards again, then I'll make you an appointment for later this week." Tracey looked him straight in the eyes and said. "I love you and hate to see you suffer, we'll solve this issue together."

Rumble in the Canadian Rockies

Logan ducked to avoid a barrage of spikes being thrown at him. He looked to his left to see Charlie lunge at Drego. A mutant with the power to grow large muscles throughout his body. He looked back at his original target, Spike. A spike hit Logan in the leg, immediately sending him to his knee. He removed the spike and threw it aside.

"Akroma!' Logan yelled as he saw her with her back to a mutant named Screech, he has the ability to use his voice to subdue his opponent. "Akroma watch it! You've got loud mouth on you." As Akroma turned around, she was overpowered by Screech's powerful yell. She tumbled to the ground and let out a loud cry.

"I'll take care of him Logan." Crystal shouted as she reached out with her hand to manipulate several large pieces of glass that were laying on the ground nearby. She has the ability to control glass. She can take a large piece of glass and separate it into several small, sharp, dangerous pieces. She moved her hand in a motion towards Screech, which caused the fragments of glass to do the same. Screech turned his attention to the incoming threat and let out a yell that caused the glass to shatter into smaller pieces. He then turned towards Crystal and smiled from ear to ear. She just looked at him and made another motion with her hand. The small pieces of glass that Screech had shattered, reformed and before he could even stop grinning, the glass severed his torso from his legs.

Colossus who had been grappling with a mutant named Multiple Man, was having difficulty with the 3 other copies of him. He was punching at each copy, trying to find the real one. Before he knew it, there were 10 of them. Colossus became frustrated and raised his arms up in the air. He brought them down with great force, smashing the ground. This caused the copies to revert back to the original.

"Logan." Colossus yelled. "Do you need help?"

Logan removed a spike from his right arm. "No, go help the fur ball." After saying that, he let out a vengeful scream directed at Spike. He dodged two more sharp spikes that were thrown at him. He moved to the left and then the right. With his katana blades in hand. He proceeded to deflect anymore spikes thrown at him. With a final leap he turned his blades facing down. A slight sound of sharp metal cutting into flesh could be heard. Logan removed the blades from the now lifeless Spike. Who proceeded to fall face first to the ground.

Colossus made his way over to Charlie, who was still battling Drego. Drego had already increased his muscle mass by well over 200 percent. Colossus snuck up on Drego and pinned his arms behind his back. Drego struggled to be set free, but Charlie used the advantage to sink his large claws into Drego's chest. Drego let out a loud scream and used his rage to throw Colossus overtop of him and onto Charlie. They both fell to the ground. Drego looked around to check on his allies, he saw that both Spike and Screech were lifeless and that Multiple Man was unconscious. He made his may over to Multiple Man, picked him up and heaved him over his shoulder. He increased the muscle mass in his legs so that he would be able to run at far beyond normal speeds. Akroma had just recovered and took flight with her sights set on Drego. Drego saw this out of the corner of his eye and waited for her to get close. She didn't know what was about to happen to her. As she got within arms reach of Drego, he turned to her and grabbed her neck with his enormous hand. "Your gonna need those wings honey, if you ever plan to get up to heaven." He started to squeeze her neck, teasing her before he was good and ready. And then He was ready. The sound of her spine cracking was as loud as thunder. His hands let go of her and she fell to the ground. Drego started to laugh as he started running again.

"NO GOD DAMN IT!" shouted Logan as he looked up from checking on Charlie and Colossus. Crystal had followed him to check on them as well. "No I...I was letting them go, we did our damage to them. Why the hell did she try to chase them down?" Logan muttered.

Crystal walked over to Akroma's body and kneeled next to it. Tears began to run down her face as she realized that she should have tried to stop Drego from getting away. Maybe she would have succeeded and she would still be alive.

"Should we follow them?" Colossus asked in a cracked voice.

"No." Logan said. "We'll never catch up with them. But one day we will. Then we will make them pay."