Well, here we are, I've managed to churn another one of these out, which is great. I really enjoyed writing this one, hence why I wrote it so quickly—also because it's quite short. Anyway, thanks for your continued support and to everyone who reviewed.
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The ground shook with the force of an unknown source.
Logan sprinted through the desolate, deserted, decaying streets, hiding in the shadows of the ruins that were once people's homes and workplaces. The city had long since been abandoned by humans and now it was mostly mutants who lived there, running around like rats in the sewers. They were to be preyed upon by the weapons of mass mutant destruction that were unleashed onto the streets a few months ago. The first prototype for true Artificial Intelligence and they were using it to kill. How perfectly human.
The ominous rumbling of the ground underfoot made Logan slow down and hide himself as completely as he could in the shadows. He sheathed his claws, so that the adamantium wouldn't catch the light and alert anything to his presence. He felt the ground shake more with the approach of whatever super weapon was now heading in his direction.
Thump, thump, thump
They were like footsteps, the steady rhythm, and Logan thought he might know what it was.
"Damn..." He muttered softly, tightening his grip on the duffel bag he was carrying. He looked out of the alleyway he was hiding in and threw himself against the wall, pressing into it as far as he could manage. The cold surface sent chills into his spine but he ignored it. He saw the first signs of the heavy flood lamps that the weapons used to find mutants at night. Maybe the damn thing would just go away? No, probably not.
Still it never hurt to hope, no matter how pointless it was. Logan closed his eyes and rubbed his face. It was supposed to be an easy run, in and out of some old warehouse for food—that was all. He should have been back with the rest of them by now. Instead, he was running around the streets fighting his way through weapons and machines. It had been a trap, the warehouse. Yeah there had been food, lots of it, but there had also been a trip wire that activated three huge tank-like machines that kept shooting at him. He was hit by their over-sized ammunition more than once. His body was still shaking slightly from the effort it took to take them all out with a gaping wound in his chest cavity.
At least he got the food. That was something he supposed. Now all he had to do was get back.
The street outside his hiding place lit up with a bright search lamp. It move across the mess of the ground furiously with a red tint that told Logan this machine was none other than his most hated adversary, the P-NX29 Mark II. It was known more commonly as the Panther because of its appearance. It was a machine, but it had four legs, was lithe and flexible and deadly. It resembled a panther too; the designers even had it produced with a tail for balance and to sense minute vibrations in the ground. The motion sensor in its tail meant that if Logan moved while it was on, the Panther would be on him in seconds with adamantium claws and the guns on its 'shoulders' blazing.
Logan hated the Panther for all the reasons above, but for him, the worst thing about it was its speed. The damn thing was faster than he would have believed possible had he not seen it himself.
It was freaky.
Giant air-compressed cylinders for legs made it so the Panther could push itself off of the ground, leap and run better than anything made before.
Logan watched as the Panther's head, as big as Logan himself, appeared around the corner, looking in front of itself as opposed to the side where a certain feral mutant was waiting with a heaving chest. Logan hoped that it wouldn't turn around and see him, the Panther was tough; it wasn't like a living opponent, it didn't tire or fear its opponent and it didn't change its mind once it started attacking.
Logan could hear the wheezing of its mainframe as it scanned the area, discarding any information it didn't need to keep. It would continue searching the city until it found its prey. Suddenly, the Panther's head twitched and swivelled on its hinges. The lights suddenly flared and turned red as it saw Logan and classified him as a mutant. It gave a high pitched screech and pounced.
Logan barely scrambled out of the way of the huge claws that smashed the wall where he once stood. He spun on his heel from his position of evasion and snarled at the mechanical beast. He unsheathed his claws and bared his teeth.
"C'mon!" He challenged the machine, "Try it, I dare ya."
Did the Panther react to his taunt? Not at all—but it reacted to him. It pounced again, this time catching his leg as he moved out of the way. Logan yowled in pain as he fell to the ground with a thud. He twisted his body around and slashed out at the machine, tearing the metal away like it was putty. The deep wounds made sparks as electrical impulses tried to jump the gap between wiring. Moving his legs, Logan pushed himself away and he swiped again at an oncoming appendage. There were more sparks, more chunks of metal flying to the side. The leg was half hanging off by the time he scarpered away.
The panther put weight on its leg but fell and hit its head off of the ground. Logan lunged at the creature with his claws in front of him. He landed on the machine's back and dug the adamantium deep, keeping himself close as it reared back in malfunction. He pulled one hand out of the machine and lodged it under the head, followed by the other. Logan pulled his feet under his body and grabbed the head while simultaneously dodging the one good appendage and enduring the tail that kept hitting his back and head, making his skull shake and teeth chatter.
Using all of his might, Logan heaved the head off the artificial shoulders, tearing the hardware on the inside. He growled with the effort of the task and gnashed his teeth in triumph as it came away in his hands. The machine screeched as it slowly ceased to work. It fell to the ground with a thud and Logan hoped off of its back easily. Looking at what he had done, Logan decided to not leave it in a salvageable state. He completely destroyed it so that it could never be put back together. Those things weren't cheap to make and what with the War going on so long, the government couldn't afford to keep making them surely?
Logan huffed and looked down at his leg, it was fully healed now, but his jeans were shredded and encrusted with blood. Damn.
He grabbed the discarded duffle bag and continued on his way back home, wishing that he would meet nothing else that tried to kill him.
He doubted that he'd be that lucky though.
--
The War had started sooner than anyone had expected. It arrived at their doorstep the day after David Hewitt was found in his office. People had come out to the Xavier manor to protest. The protest lasted a day and a half before someone brought a gun and started firing.
After that, it was a whirl of events which happened so fast that it was hard to decipher what exactly, was going on.
They barely knew what was taking place when the army invaded the manor and tried to round them all up. They never would have made it out—never would have even had a chance—if it hadn't been for the most unlikely person; Victor Creed. No one had ever expected much from him; he was accepted into the manor because Logan was there and he had vouched for him. They were a package deal, Logan and Victor, Victor and Logan; they couldn't have one without the other. Yet Victor had saved the day. When he heard the news about David Hewitt, he immediately called in a few favours and got some 'old friends' to help him out. By that night, most of the children of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters had been moved to a location somewhere in the Pacific where they would be safe.
Victor had, apparently, more friends than he let on because by the time they had gotten out they were met up with a group of mutants who transported them to a place where they could discuss their plan of action.
By the end of the week, they even had a following; a group of mutants who were going to fight with them. Before the War started, many of those people had hated them, they had fought against them, and they were ready to disown them. Afterwards, they held the X-men in the highest regard, looking to them like they would make everything better.
It took a few more weeks before the MPC and the UML found them. Things were bad in America, but worse in Europe they said. For some reason, there was a higher concentration of mutants in mainland Europe and there was a huge population of people who were trying to escape persecution. So they had been busy trying to save anyone they could overseas.
Storm, who had hoped for a peaceful negotiation, tried in vain to get the government to stop their aggression. It was too late—way too late. Eventually, even Storm concluded that Victor had been right; the humans were itching for a fight, and nothing anyone could do, would stop it. For a whole day, Storm went missing from the group. When she came back, her cheeks were streaked with dried tears and her eyes were puffy and red. Still, she held her head high and announced that it was time to fight back. Never before or since did she show her anguish to anyone, and from then on, she took her role as leader with unrivalled fortitude.
Even for Storm, whose strength was legendary, this was no small feat.
Life was hard and it didn't get easier. Every week, every day, there were tales of terrible things being done to mutants. They didn't even stand a chance, not with the collars in place. So one night Logan woke up to the sight of Storm standing over him.
"I have a mission for you," She had said, "But it will be dangerous."
Storm had stressed that he didn't have to do it, that she wouldn't hold it against him, that it was almost too dangerous—even for him. Storm told him that David Hewitt had given her the code to disarm the collars the day before his death. However, the device to do it was firmly locked in one of the city's best guarded vault. If they wanted it, they would need Hewitt. But Hewitt was dead and now they would be forced to break in to it. There was no hesitation when Logan promised to do it. He was planning on leaving their base camp that morning before anyone woke up. But before he could leave, Victor stirred and watched him with dark eyes.
"You ain't runnin' away, I hope." He said, "'cause that'd be mighty stupid, dontcha think?"
Logan quickly explained that he was going on a mission, that he would be back soon and that there was nothing to worry about. With a disbelieving scoff Victor started packing.
"You ain't goin' anywhere without me," Victor had told him, "I'm yer big brother, who else would look after you?"
And so, on that death defying mission, Logan's assignment became just that little bit easier. They returned to the camp one piece, though just barely. In the time they had been gone, not much had happened but everyone gathered around them as they handed the device over to Storm. After no more than a few seconds, the device had bleeped and collars all around the world fell off.
That day, the War had begun in earnest.
For the first time, mutants had the ability to fight back. Something that became both revolutionary and disastrous. The mutants started fighting out of hate and anger, they weren't co-ordinated, they hadn't a goal. It became the task of the UML and the MPC to travel around the world, trying to rescue or recruit everyone that they could. Meanwhile, the X-men stayed mostly in America and tried to run things as efficiently and effectively as possible. On other missions, they managed to salvage some gear from the now destroyed Xavier mansion and they found two young mutant twins in the ruins. They said they travelled from the south to find the X-men after being hunted for weeks. When they arrived, they found nothing but ruins, but, having no other course of action, they stayed there for days. It was then that the X-men came and took them away to their new HQ. These two mutants became very important to the War. Their mutation was a joint mutation; together, they could sense the exact location of every mutant alive. They were like an organic Cerebro, only not only could they find mutants, but they could contact them too. They told countless numbers that they should get to safety, find the UML and the MPC and the X-men. They let them know that they'd be alright, that there was a plan, that the mutants would not face annihilation. These were all things that could not be promised, but Storm figured that a inspiring lie was better than a desolate truth.
With the twins on their side, the X-men could contact different factions. For the first time, they were united, fighting towards a common goal. For the first time, they became deadly.
Battles became more intense as they changed into equal struggles as opposed to utter massacres. They lost battles still, but they won a lot also. After only two months of fighting, they had captured Massachusetts for mutants only. It became a safe haven for mutants to travel to and soon, it was almost as populated as it had been before the War.
Regularly, Storm made contact with the human government through Hologram, a mutant who could project anyone's image to anywhere in the world. She would repeat a question she had asked since the War began.
"Are you ready for peace yet?"
But they were not and their answer reflected that. Storm would walk away, disappointed, but unsurprised. It was not long after that, when the news on the television heralded disastrous news for the mutants. The government created a new policy to deal with 'the mutant threat'. It was called Project Wideawake. The X-men were silent for a long time after this news. Victor, not knowing what was going on, questioned loudly what the big deal was. Logan quickly took his brother to the side and told him;
"You weren't here, so you couldn't have known but try to keep it down, yeah?" Logan had demanded before explaining, "Project Wideawake was somethin' that the government were plannin' a few years ago now. It was in the very early stages when we heard about it and there was very little information on it, but Mystique caught a look at it when she was snoopin' around."
"Yeah, well what is it?" Victor had asked impatiently, crossing his arms in agitation.
Logan sighed, "It's a government funded massacre. It's legal slaughter."
"Of mutants?"
"Yeah, of mutants." Logan agreed, "We thought that with the peace agreement between mutants and humans, we had avoided it... But apparently not."
The grim atmosphere in the room didn't lift all afternoon, but that didn't stop them from preparing for the worst. They built walls, set up look-out posts, moved most of the mutants to the basements of buildings and with the help of those who were capable, they created an underground tunnel system. Using the tunnels, they could travel easily from place to place, a multiple of small networks. This became their most vital tool of survival when Project Wideawake was brought into action and the first machines, the Sentinels, started to roam the streets with the objective to kill.
More and more machines were sent in to the city in an attempt to get rid of the 'vermin' but they never succeeded. They were losses—occasionally, but they had made rules, they were careful and they never let young or inexperienced mutants outside unsupervised.
Life wasn't easy—it was damn hard; living on rations and always looking over their shoulders—it was damn hard. But they were alive, even four years after the War had started. That was an amazing feat in itself. The fact that they had thrived was mind-boggling. Logan couldn't help but feel scared; things were going so well, surely they must be well over-due for a disaster?
He hoped not, but then, who knew?
--
Logan sighed in relief, two more kilometres, three more battles and he was finally home. He turned the corner and hopped over the rubble and climbed down the steps that were once the way to the basement but were now the opening to one of the mutant's tunnels.
Logan travelled down and down until he made it inside to the inner areas of the tunnels. People still lived up in the actual buildings, but they weren't as safe there and Storm stressed that it was dangerous. It would only be a matter of time before something came crashing through their windows at night.
Still, they couldn't force anyone to do anything they didn't want to do.
"Took you long enough," Victor's voice broke through their thoughts, "What did ya do? Fall asleep?"
Logan glanced to the side, "They've upped the number o' machines. The whole damn city's crawlin' with 'em."
"You're gettin' old, grandpa, that's all." Victor scoffed lazily from his chair. His feet were up on a small footstool and he looked like he had been sleeping.
He had been waiting up for Logan—not that he'd ever admit it.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Victor." He said absently as he dropped the bag full of canned goods. "What were you doin' all day?"
Victor shrugged, got up and rummaged through the produce that Logan had brought back. "Didn't do much." Victor admitted, "Is this all you got?"
"The warehouse ain't goin' anywhere," Logan grunted, "An' it's full o' food. But it was gettin' dark and I didn't want to worry anyone."
Victor grinned. "Ya think they'd care?" He asked with a barking laugh.
Raising a brow, Logan looked at his brother, "Shut up." He said.
Victor didn't stop looking amused as he threw down a can of sweet corn back onto the table.
"How's Storm doin'" Logan asked.
Victor shrugged. "She's tough, fer a broad, isn't she?"
Nodding, Logan agreed with him. "Yeah but this war is killin' her. I don't know how long she can keep it up. This goes against everythin' Chuck ever taught her. War is our territory, it ain't hers."
"It ain't a lot o' people's territory, Jimmy, there's a reason so many people die."
Logan opened his mouth to speak but just then, a door to the side opened and Storm appeared.
"Ah you're here, good. I wanted to have a word with you. Come in."
Storm led them into a sitting room, but there was no one in there so it would do for a private talk. Storm sat down on an old, well-used chair. She crossed her legs and waited for the two feral mutants to sit down. With half a glance towards each other, they seated themselves and waited for the head of the X-men to speak.
"I have reason to believe that David Hewitt's death was a set up."
Logan and Victor looked at each other. "What do you mean?" They asked in unison.
There was always something 'off' about the way that Hewitt died. I mean, they claimed that it was mutants, but there was no real proof; the doors had been locked, and there was no evidence on camera but that just means that someone came prepared. We never found the mutant who supposedly killed Hewitt and maybe that's because he doesn't exist."
Logan scratched his chin. "Yeah, maybe..." He admitted, "But we don't have any proof. I mean conspiracy theories are all well an' good but there's no point in wastin' time over 'em."
"If we could prove that it was a set up, it would change everything. This whole war is based on David Hewitt's murder, if that murder was a set up..."
"Then the war would end." Victor finished.
Storm nodded, "Exactly."
"But we still need proof." Logan pointed out. Storm smiled at his statement, looking smug, like she knew something they didn't.
"I was in contact with Sage," Storm said with a smile, "She came across something on a computer from the Project Wideawake HQ."
"They actually left something damning on a computer?" Logan asked in surprise.
Storm shook her head. "Not exactly," She admitted, "But it's said that taxes are the most honest thing in any organisation."
"Taxes?"
"And expenses." Storm added, "We found there was a discrepancy with the numbers. On the night of Hewitt's murder, a huge sum of money—almost one million dollars—was transferred to a private account in Geneva. Sage is trying to trace the money as we speak, but she says it's almost impossible to trace with all the transfers and security locks that were put on it."
"If anyone can do it, Sage can." Victor said confidently.
"Whether she does or doesn't, we now have a place to start from, a starting point for the end of the war."
"You think they paid someone to kill him?" Logan asked.
"It makes sense, considering what we've seen." Storm said, "Money being transferred to a private account in Geneva rarely means legitimate business. Not to mention that they don't have the expense labelled as anything in particular."
"But what about motive?" Victor asked, "I mean, they wouldn't be doin' this fer the kicks, would they?"
"Project Wideawake is a governmentally funded operation. They only receive money for as long as they are needed. With the agreement with David Hewitt, they would not be needed. They would lose their funding and would be shut down. The UML said that with all the funding going towards Project Wideawake during the war, there would be a huge possibility for profit."
"You mean this is about money?" Logan growled.
Storm looked sad and angry. "Yes. It's all business. What's more, Hewitt mentioned something to me the day he died. He said there were people who were in opposition to him, powerful people."
"An' you think he meant the guys in Project Wideawake?"
"Yes."
"So what can we do about it?" Logan muttered mostly to himself.
"We need to find proper evidence. Something tangible."
Victor crossed his arms and scowled. "An' where do you suppose we find this 'tangible evidence'?"
Storm hesitated and Logan suddenly knew why. "You want to storm their HQ."
Storm looked almost guilty, but she nodded firmly. Logan knew from that look that Storm had made up her mind. Whether she had their support or not, Strom was going to make a move. Of course, there was no way Logan would allow Storm to do something like that on her own; she was too important to the world and to him as well. But he also knew that she needed this to be done. Even if they found nothing, even if it was a failure and there was no conspiracy, Storm needed this. She wouldn't be able to keep fighting otherwise.
"We'll go." Logan told her.
Storm seemed surprised. "No," She said, "I can't ask you that, it's dangerous and not to mention there's no guarantee we would find anything anyway. This is my responsibility, not yours."
"Don't be a complete dumbass." Victor snorted.
Storm looked vaguely insulted until Logan backed his brother up. "He's right, Storm. Yer too important to the X-men—to everyone. We'll go. You need to run things from here."
"I can't..."
"Yeah, you can. It's nothin'. Trust me Storm, we've bin in sticky situations before and we always came out smellin' o' daisies. We can handle it." Logan assured Storm.
Storm looked unsure, but she was definitely considering it. "You're sure?"
Both Logan and Victor nodded their heads. "O' course." Victor said.
"So where are we goin'? Europe? Asia?"
Shaking her head, Storm replied. "Not quite. There's no need to go that far."
"Then where?"
Storm quirked a smile. "Not far. Nevada."
"Nevada?" They asked simultaneously.
"Monument Valley. They have their main labs in one of the rocks there."
Victor thought for a moment. "We could do a lot more than jus' find some evidence; we could blow the whole thing sky high."
Storm wanted to say 'no'—Logan could tell. She wanted to say that it would be better for them to get in and out without any fuss or detection. And yet, she was having trouble. She was hesitating, because she felt exactly the same as they did. Eventually, she did the best she could in such a difficult situation.
"Do what you deem necessary." She said, looking towards Logan with a gaze that was full of meaning. She was asking him wordlessly to be responsible and to not get carried away in the delirium of getting the chance to destroy the hated Project Wideawake.
Login gave a barely visible nod. He would do what he needed to do. Storm could trust him.
She looked relieved. "Thank you." Storm smiled, "You're definitely in line for a medal after the war."
Victor looked unimpressed. "Make it two—and a large sum of money too. We aren't doin' this out of charity, you know."
His brother ignored him, "Can we borrow a car?" Logan asked.
"Of course." Storm said, standing up. "And don't worry; I won't expect to get it back. But please, Logan, keep in touch. We've already lost so many friends; I don't want to lose anyone else."
"Take it easy, we'll be fine." Logan assured her as he grabbed the car keys off of a table.
"Will you leave in the morning?"
Victor scoffed. "We're leavin' right now. Ain't no need fer sleepin'. We're gonna blow Wideawake sky high; ya can't put somethin' like that off. C'mon, little brother, it's time to raise some hell." Victor had left the room before anyone could object. Logan looked tired, like he might have appreciated to sleep in a bed for the night. Yet he didn't object. He just looked at Storm, shrugged and gave a fleeting smile.
"See ya." He said as he followed his brother out of the room and then the safety of the tunnel system. They would get into the car and they would drive non-stop until they made it to Monument Valley. Logan didn't know how long it was going to take for them to get there but one thing was certain; Victor could damn well drive himself because he was sleeping.
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Well that's another chapter out of the way. I have no idea when I'm going to get another one done but I'll try post it as soon as I can. Thanks for reading!
