X-Men Evolution: Weapon neXt
by Ironraven, edited and betaed by BabyBeaver
I know, I know, it's late. I've been busy and there was a lot of beating on this to get acceptable by my standards. Sure, it was up to what I'd seen in Marvel when I stopped reading, but I demand better of me. And there is more to come which makes this snooze. Mwahahaha.
And please, shout at me if I screwed up names. *laughs*
-neXt
The plan was simple- get their trust, get information, and keep your eyes open for doors and Logan. Laura didn't think much of the "soft approach", but as Rogue had pointed out, until the neural override disks were removed, she and Alex were the only ones fully functional and there was no way to rule out that the termination charges couldn't be fired by remote. They would infiltrate this society, then escape.
"So, Ah gotta ask. Where did ya'll come from. Were yah born with host mothers, or in a fishtank, or what?" Rogue had volunteered to help in the kitchen after lunch- they figured if they fit in, they would be more likely to be shown the way out. She was just as bothered by how much the HYDRA facility reminded her of the Institute with the instructors away as Kitty and Kurt were.
"We came from the Lab."
"The Lab?" She looked confused.
"Yes, the Lab. Would you care to see it?"
"Won't we get in trouble?"
Francesca leaned closer, whispering. "Aubery would be mad if she caught us. Even more if the Doctor's people found us, but their security is not as good as it should be and they mostly use the machines."
-neXt
"Alexhavok, you do not wear your trophies."
Alex glanced up from the worktable where he was rebuilding one of the reactive targets- it was only fair, he bent it rather badly in their exercise. He had been shocked by how willing the S-4s and X-23bs had been to be injured. They just didn't care; Laura didn't mind if was a tactical necessity (in her opinion- it freaked him out), but some of them seemed to really enjoy it. It took Alex a moment to remember the S-4 with the mustache called himself Quincy. "My what?"
"The fangs of your kill, you should wear them." Quincy frowned- it wasn't good, it showed a lack of respect and pride. "They show you are a hunter."
Havok cleared his throat softly. "It wasn't a hunt."
Several of the S-4s grinned. "Then we must change that."
Alex blanched. "What do you mean?"
"We are running low on meat. Gospodin Kravinoff insisted we learned to hunt to live." They received bulk staples, canned goods and at times, fresh vegetables, not meat. "What do you say to boar?"
"Boar? Like.. pig?" Alex blinked. He'd never hunted before. He knew where meat came from, sure, he even fished, but... killing it himself? "Uh... Kitty and Kurt don't eat pork."
"Really? Then perhaps bear! Boar is a good hunt, they are fierce fighters, but bear is a great challenge- it hunts back."
"Bear? You want to kill a bear." Alex's voice was incredulous. He couldn't kill a bear. He couldn't kill in cold blood. He fished, sure, but fish aren't the same. A part of his mind whispered to him, neither are psycho inlaws.
Quincy grinned. "I'm sorry- we do not have sabertooth tigers."
-neXt
Remy watched them training, worn out from what Victor's sons called a 'warm up'. He rubbed his cheek, still numb from the backhand he'd gotten before- nothing was broken, and they'd had mouth guards (even if they'd had to take on out of the packaging for him), but he also knew they were holding back.
Damn, they were fast. The S-4s were faster than Sabertooth, quite a bit faster. He'd lived with that mad dog for almost a year, seen him fighting the X-men and others. Remy remembered when Magnus had had them do something, and when they came back some gang bangers were messing with Victor's bike. None of the three even had time to reach for their weapons before Sabertooth's claws had torn the throats out of two of them, and then stabbed through the ribs of the third. Remy shook his head at the memory of Creed literally ripping that fool in half.
And these kids were stronger. The lightest of the weight bars that had been left set up was four hundred pounds. He'd watched a couple of the too-tall Lauras working with that one.
He felt someone lean against the wall next to him. She looked up at him. "Ahhh... Ezri, right?" There were only a few he could tell apart easily, but Remy had made a point to remember little clues like the jewelry and trophies.
"Oui, je suis Ezri." The X-23b's French had a perfect Parisian accent. Gambit had been raised speaking French, Creole and English alike, but this wasn't his French with it's Acadian roots and traces of Creole, this was the mother tongue like it was from the City of Lights. Her boyfriend, Uri, had spoken German just as well this morning as they introduced themselves. They were this little tribe's European experts.
"Can I ask you a personal question?" She nodded. "Why are you so tall?"
"Taller than Laura, that is what you mean, no?" Even in English, she kept a French accent, but she ranged it further south with a kiss form Algeria in it's shading. "It is because we are older."
Older. But they were her clones. How did that work?
-neXt
Aubry and Zachary stalked into the armoury. "Quincy, Thomas! What do you think you are doing?"
The two S4s and Alex looked up. The taller boys had been introducing him to the intricate details of how they hunted bear- hand to hand. Given Alex's size and lack of healing ability, they had given him a throwing javelin, a heavy thrusting spear with a crossgaurd, and something that was either a very short shortsword or an oversized dagger. He hadn't been sure of this, but there was no way to back out.
Tomas grinned. "We are getting a bear for Brianna and Yari's firstborn. Join us sister? Brother?"
There was a bestial growl deep in Aubry's chest. "You were going to take Alexhavoc with you?"
"Yes."
Two bounding steps brought Zachary to Alex, a hand edge striking the shaft of the heavy spear, snapping the aluminum shaft like it was dry pine. "Wrong."
Quicy shot a look at Thomas, one that clearly shouted 'what have you gotten me into now".
"Thomas, you and your mate challenged me twice in two days." Aubry slammed the S-4 into the wall like a badger attacking a cougar. "Do not think I don't know what you are thinking."
"I'm just taking him hunting. He is one of us now. And you are no longer the firstborn."
The backhand staggered Thomas with it's force, his head snapping about as he fell back against the wall, sliding down to his knees. Aubry had kept her claws in. "You and Gretchen stand with that traitor?"
Alex cleared his throat. "Excuse me? Who's a traitor?"
Zach's hand dropped onto Alex's shoulder like a meaty vise. "X-23. She betrayed her creators. She could have been the firstborn of a new world-"
"Don't tell him." Aubry's lips were pulled back in a snarling sneer. "It is unlikely his mutation includes mental augmentation similar to ours."
Alex glared. "I'm right here." Having Laura assume he needed protecting could be frustrating. Having her sister assume he was an idiot was just insulting. This bit of domestic violence reminded Alex just how alien they were.
Aubry stabbed her finger at Thomas and Quincy. "You two, go hunting. We need meat for a feast, and for a few days more. Go, now! I'll tell your mates where you are." The finger turned on Alex. "And you, Alexhavoc, you must learn the truth about your mate."
"What do you mean?" Alex squirmed, wincing as the meathook-sized paw pressed down on the flashburned shoulder.
"She means, we want you to read all of X-23's debriefs."
-neXt
Rogue had given up trying to keep track of the twists and turns. There were three possible reasons for this round about method. They were trying to keep her lost, they were hiding from someone, or there was no good way to get from the Lab from the quarters.
She paused when the others did. There was what looked like a warning sign, but it wasn't a caution sign she knew- it was a yellow triangle with a distorted hourglass, bigger on the bottom than on the top. She nodded at the symbol next to the door way. "What does that mean?"
Saif pulled the heavy, ship-like door open. "It means 'watch your step'. Or you'll have messed up toenails." Without further explanation, Frenchesca stepped through, quickly. She motioned across, her motions seeming oddly sped up. Saif gave a shake of his head, "Quick, for safety."
Rogue had seen several kinds of door that were a lot more than just holes in the wall. She took a breath- they did seem to be making a production of it, but she didn't think they were the kind who would play a prank- and swung through it. It might have hurt, but as she looked down, everything seemed to be there. The same warning sign was mounted by the door on this side to, but upside down. "What was that?"
As Saif came through, pulling the door after himself, Franchesca gave her meaningless explanation again. "Threshold. Come on, there are two more."
-neXt
Kitty blinked. "This is your network?"
If Katrina was supposed to be the best computer hacker they had, then the clones weren't ready for cyberterrorism and espionage. This network was only a few dozen computers and no connection to the outside. Kitty was an administrator, trained to defend not to attack, and it would be be nothing for her to compromise this.
It was a good thing, to- Kitty was starting to feel like there was no hope until she saw this sad little kludged together training rig.
Nathaniel rested his on his mate's shoulder comforting. "Don't ask me, I get confused with anything that doesn't have a gear ratio."
"It's ok, Nate." Katrina looked up at her mate. "Katherine, our computer systems are, if you'll pardon the expression, rubbish. We have no connection to the the outside world, synchronization issues on this side of the threshold. We get updates from the Lab, but the Doctor is afraid that putting us online would make us obvious. And most of us don't have the patience to deal with any kind of lag."
"But I stay current on theory, and when I am out in the world, I can practice." She gestured at a shelf of manuals and white papers in five different languages. Kat had insisted she be the one to show Kitty around she learned that the X-men had brought her equal from their own ranks. And both of them had giggled when they learned their mates were also mechanics, although where Kurt was practical, Nathaniel's talent was a bit more mad scientist-istic.
"You don't have to be embarrassed. You train with what you have." Thank god for that! "You should be glad you don't have the outside world. When we get home, I'm going to have like a ton of work to do. Viruses, bootlegs, and no one ever remembers to do their updates. Geez, I don't even want to think about what Timmy is downloading." She blushed bright red. Too late.
Kitty blinked at the sudden hug. She looked at Katrina. "What was that for?"
"You look like you need one."
Kitty didn't know how to respond. That was the kind of thing she'd use for an excuse for hugging a lot of unhuggable people over the years- Rogue, Hank, the Professor, Ray, even Logan. "Uh.. thanks."
"Kat? Do you want to ask her?"
OK.... "Ask me what, Katrina?"
"Well... we don't have another room. And all of you are in that one room." Kat stroked a hair from Kitty's face. "We were wondering, you know, if maybe you and Kurt wanted to join us... to share our bed."
It was the kiss on the cheek that did it. Kitty nearly jumped out of her boots. She pushed back on the X-23b's shoulders, backing away. "What? You mean, like, you know... Us... You. What? No. No, no thank you."
Shadowcat felt the twing in her head as the disk warned her. She really wanted to phase out, run away. She was just a little freaked out by this- if she was only half understanding it, then... Wow. Just... wow.
"I'm sorry, did we do wrong?"
-neXt
"I like how he drew Scott." Kurt looked at the mural. He really didn't like the implications. "Adam called his devil 'The Old Man', the same as the thing this spring."
"I know. That is why I asked if you could look at this." Laura was reading through the rambling notes that Adam had left behind. They were part manifesto, part insanity, and completely unsettling. "That and your theological perspective."
Kurt shook his head, his tail drooping. "X-24", he would not credit that madman with a name, "knew vhat we looked like." His tail flicked out, slapping at the almost perfect recreation of his own image. "How da hell could he know vhat! And vhy didn't he draw Storm unt Hank unt Logan?"
"He wouldn't have drawn Logan- they respect him too highly." She frowned at the drawing on the wall in silence, before she turned to stack of sketch pads. She shuffled through them quickly."Do you know if Hank or Storm ever had nightmares?"
"Nein, I don't think so. Nor Betsy or Magnus. Are you thinking vhat I think you're thinking?"
Laura looked up, a cold fury in her eyes. "Adam was operating in cooperation with whatever it was that was in Mansion. There are images of everyone who had a nightmare."
"Did he draw a picture of his 'holy ghost'?"
"Maybe. What should I look for?"
"I don't know, Laura. I just don't know."
-neXt
Alex closed the last of the folders. He'd skimmed most of it, there was only so much he could read about how Laura had been... trained. Abused. Tortured and twisted, her body, mind and soul. He'd read each of the post-mission debreifings more slowly. Each theft. Each killing.
And her medical file. He didn't understand all of it, but he would do his homework.
Despite all of it she wasn't a monster, no matter what she said. Unlike Aubry, whatever she was.
-neXt
Rogue looked into the vat of goo. Inside floated a small child, probably about four years old. She'd seen pictures of a very young Kitty - it was a copy of her roommate. She swallowed hard. There were four more copies each in their own jar. There were others- a brown haired boy with bandaged eyes, another one broad in the shoulders and stocky; a blond girl and a redheaded one, each wearing what looked like smaller versions of Magnus' telepathy-dampening helmet. A black young man. A litter of red furred wolf girls. There were five of each. "Where did you get your genetic material?"
"You'd have to ask the Doctor."
Rogue didn't need to ask. She always half grumped that she and Kurt couldn't cut class when there was a blood drive in the gym. She hadn't been that serious about it, she hated needles, but when you are being surly and rebellious you have to stay true to form. Jean and Scott had both been three quarters of the way to their gallon pins when they'd been outed. One of the grounds for blocking donation quickly became being a mutant. Rogue had seen the bruise on her arm, and the matching ones on Kurt, Remy and Alex.
She felt her throat work and swallowed hard against the burn. Her jaw clenched tightly as she rubbed her arm. "Did you... Did..."
"The Doctor wanted it." Saif looked down, smiling at the tiny mutants under glass, running a claw tipped finger along it tenderly. He looked every bit like a proud and eager older brother. "He was very happy to meet you, genetically- he'd been wanting to study an adaptoid."
Rogue glanced over at that word. "Adaptoid, huh? Ah've been called worse." Her grin seemed bold enough, but it was hollow. She didn't like the idea of someone having a tissue sample of her, or of Kurt. Any of them. There was a lot of the tubes- she's seen more on the level below, rows of them. "How many are there here now?"
"The Doctor was able to make successful copies of twenty four mutants."
The number snapped Rogue's head around like the crack of a whip. Twenty four, five each that was one hundred and twenty, along with the X-23s and S-4s... that was a hell of a lot of mutants. "There aren't that many X-men. Who else do you have?"
"I don't know them all."
Oh, not the answer she was really looking forward to. "Are there more X-23s?"
Franchesca shook her head sadly. "Not yet. But if Brianna's child is all that we think it will be, then..."
Saif set his hand on her shoulder, gently. "Then the future is ours."
Author's notes:
Great, psychotic clones who are breeding and are talking about the future. Talk of treason, ghosts from the past, and one hell of a proposition. A creepy-ass mad scientist lab without scientists and with lots and lots of copies to the count of five. And still no Logan. Uhm.. yeek?
And yes, I know my use of the term adaptoid might not be totally canonical, but it is the closest label I can find for her. And yes, Alex just got the data dump from hell. What else did he get?
Send the clone, those scary clones... Figure people might need a program:
Aubry & Zachary; Brianna & Yari; Christina & William; Dorothy & Uri; Ezri & Tomas; Francesca & Saif; Gretchen & Ryan; Helen & Quincy; Ida & Paul; Jian & Oscar; Katrina & Nathaniel.
Yes, there is another Katrina in another story in another order of probability- for those who have read Age of Wolverine there may be a clue here as to who Scott's killer and who that Logan's mole is. Remember, time and space may change a great deal, but people only so much. Or I might be sending ya'll off on a wild goose chase. If you've got a theory, PM me or toss it in a review on AoW.
If your jaw the desk at any time during this... well, wait for the next chapter of neXt. You'll be shot out of a cannon.
-neXt
Logan groaned. He'd hangovers before, but this one felt like someone had shoved a cherry bomb up his nose then it lit off. He reached up to rub his forehead, and his fingers froze. What was-
"The last one blew up when you tried to take it off, Logan."
He recognized the shape- a neural override disk.
"It wasn't pretty, and my ears are still ringing."
He inhaled. The scent matched the voice. "Mystique."