The Phantom Oracle, Part II
At Magneto's Fortress…
Reaper walked into Magneto's metallic office to find the helmed mutant at his desk looking over reports from the human agency he contracted to create the Wraiths. Human experimentation was something of a specialty for them, and so the illegal business of their services was being well financed by Magneto.
"You called… again?" Reaper stubbornly asked. "I'm busy trying to start this war and you're interrupting my progress."
"When do you plan on experimenting on Phantom's daughter?" Magneto curiously asked, not glancing up to Reaper as he kept shifting through papers.
"Ugh…" Reaper sighed. "We talked about this already. After Phantom brings me the blood of Project Chronos, then I'll have all the samples needed to experiment on the girl. We have the equipment to do so here at the fortress."
"You're going to waste the serum on just the girl?"
"If it's a success then I'll send it to the facility near Vancouver to inject it to the Wraiths and then use it as the weaponized agent." Reaper explained.
"Then use another test subject alongside the girl." Magneto glanced at Reaper then back at the papers. "We have a small containment of the humans from Manhattan here at the fortress. I suggest you find a young boy around the girl's age to test in the experiment as well."
"Is that a suggestion or an order?"
"I'm telling you to find another subject." Magneto's tone turned stern. "We'll at least have two successful mutants from this."
"Fine, fine." Reaper shook his head. "Anything else?"
"What is Mystique's status?" Magneto curiously asked.
"I sent Nova with her to find Phantom and ensure he's keeping his end of the bargain. If he goes back on my word, Mystique will bring me the blood herself."
"Why did you send Nova?"
"Because I want Spider-Man out of the picture!" Reaper slammed his fist on his desk, sending a small surge of electricity beaming through the metallic desk. "Stop questioning my every move! You know how irritating that is?!"
Magneto stood up from his chair and towered over Reaper on the other side of the desk. He tore apart the metal from the walls and twisted it around Reaper, causing him to be restrained by the metallic beams.
"You'll remember who's in charge here, Reaper."
"Blasted fool!" Reaper supercharged his bracers and burst himself free of the metal. He then glared at Magneto. "You're going to regret that."
"Will I?" Magneto looked enraged, until suddenly, the iris of his blue eyes flashed red, and he turned away from staring at Reaper's eyes.
Reaper shook his head as he turned to walk out of his office. "I'll go find your plus one, the other test subject…"
Magneto sat back down at his desk, trying to feel for his head, it was throbbing with pain. He knew that Reaper was trying to control him; he knew that his helmet was the only thing keeping Reaper out of his mind.
At the House of Fox dojo… (Spidey's POV)…
Wolfe, Firewalker, Spidey, and Tiger watched on as Phantom spoke with White Fox. The tempered doorkeeper motioned them to sit around the edges of the dojo and remove their footwear. He seemed like a very stolid doorkeeper, who liked to respond with gestures and short phrases rather than to have a conversation.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Carmen." Phantom extended his hand for a handshake, but Reyes stared at his metallic bracer that emanated blue electricity. She seemed to not trust it, but reluctantly shook his hand.
"Welcome to the House of Fox." Reyes extended the greeting to the rest of the group, looking at them then back at Phantom. "Now I ask, what is Specter Haven, Mr. Phantom?"
She seems so polite, like… it's almost like she's expected this conversation for so long. I know Phantom mentioned the group outside the door but she's like genuinely interested in what he has to say!
"The best damned team in the world!" Wolfe grunted in a rather happy tone. "You'd be a fool not to join!"
Phantom shot him a glare.
Idiot…
"What the hell is wrong with you, man?!" Firewalker whispered to Wolfe. "Let Phantom talk!"
"Hey, how many females have you seen that outrageously beautiful?" Wolfe nudged back at him.
"Hmm… you got me there." Firewalker shrugged.
"Ugh… Pigs…" Tiger said to herself.
Carmen is a pretty damn good looking chick, I'm not going to lie… But I won't say that in front of Tiger. I'm already in the dog-house as it is…
"Uhm… before I answer, may I ask how exactly you saw a vision of me?" Phantom curiously asked her.
"I have a gift, Mr. Phantom. I sense that you already know this."
"Please, just Phantom… and I do. We share a lot in common, you see."
"Is that so?" Reyes turned to pick up and fold up the white mat and place it aside. She then grabbed her sheathed katanas.
Uh oh, she grabbed her katanas… She's about to go half Deadpool and attempt to unalive Phantom!
"I'd like to speak to you in private about the matter, if possible." Phantom politely requested of her.
"Oh, me too!" Wolfe howled out. The two of them just ignored him.
Yep, Wolfe's still being "that guy", the guy that's really creepy and is starting to creep on their next potential teammate. Calm down there, wolf-hound.
"But you told my doorkeeper, Monban, that you were here for a duel." Reyes strapped on the sheaths to her back.
"… as well as to ask you to join my cause." Phantom noticed that she was readying herself for a duel.
"Are we about to see Phantom's ass get kicked?" Firewalker whispered the question to Spidey.
Oooooh, that'd sure be something to see… but Phantom's is just as good at sword-fighting as Taskmaster… which is pretty damn good! But she's got TWO swords instead of just one!
"Jeez, I don't know… Phantom's really freaking good at swordplay." Spidey answered him.
Suddenly, another man in what appeared to be a modified stealth suit walked out from one of the doors in the rear of the dojo. "I'm afraid that that won't be possible, friend. I'm going to ask you to leave."
Who the hell is this guy?!
"Whoa, what gives?!" Firewalker blurted out.
"Ani, what is the matter?" Reyes glared at him. "These are my guests."
"I know who you are." The man named Ani pointed at Phantom. Phantom recognized the voice as the other male voice that spoke when they were outside the door. "Fox, he's the wanted fugitive named Phantom, he's the one that agency S.H.I.E.L.D. wants."
Well, I can't say I'm surprised. Phantom's face has been all over the news for weeks now ever since the Manhattan Incident…It was a matter of time before someone we met recognized him.
Reyes looked at Phantom, as though she was unconvinced by his statement. "Is this true?"
Phantom nodded. "It is. Although, I assure you, everything you've heard in the news is all false… I'm not a terrorist. There's a lot more going on than what they're letting you know."
"I should just call the authorities now. That bounty on your head can feed a lot of mouths!" Ani angrily told him.
Reyes swiftly shoved Ani away. "These are my guests, Ani! They did not come to me with hostile intentions!"
Thank goodness she's a pretty reasonable person! But I have a feeling there's more to this meeting than what we're seeing… I think that ability to see into the future has made her see what's happening now… maybe?
"And how the hell do you know that, Fox?!" Ani angrily asked.
"Because I do!"
Ani seemed appalled by it, but only gave Phantom a distrustful look before bowing to Fox and returning through the door he walked out of.
"I must apologize for the actions of Ani." Fox sincerely told the group.
"It's all right." Phantom assured her. "He has a right to be concerned."
"But, I can defend myself."
"I'm sure you can." Phantom caught the tone in her voice.
Fox faintly smiled to herself as she turned her back to Phantom and began to strap the sheaths to her back. "I'll honor your request for a duel, Phantom, and then we may speak in private."
"I understand."
"On one condition…" Fox turned to face Phantom, now with her katanas sheathed to her back. "I won't fight a man who hides behind a mask."
Seems like a strange condition… I mean, Phantom has a reason to be wearing a mask, c'mon…
"Why is that?"
"Because I don't trust men who feel that they should wear a mask to hide who they are." Fox's tone turned darker as she said this.
Phantom softly nodded. "I wear a mask because the man I was behind it is dead… and so my face has been left scarred… to the point I don't wish others to see it."
Fox ignored it, her silence still suggesting he take it off if they are to duel.
"I think it's about to go down." Spidey whispered to the others.
"Gosh… She is one hell of a woman…" Wolfe's jaw was practically hanging out. "Let's see how she handles the Phantom."
Stop drooling, Wolfe.
Phantom understood her terms. "As you wish…"
He took off his cloak, removing his hood, and slowly reached back of his full-head mask to remove it… revealing his scarred face to Fox. His hair was long, but he had kept it tied in the back much like Wolfe. His beard was the most distinct feature of his face, parts of it didn't grow in due to the scarring, but her eyes widened as she saw who he was.
"I…" Fox realized why he had kept the mask. "I didn't realize…"
It's like that moment you make fun of somebody's relative only to realize that they're dead or something… major guilt trip.
Phantom withdrew his sword from his sheath and gripped it tightly in his hand, pointing the tip at her. "Shall we begin?"
Fox withdrew her katanas, slowly approaching him and stopped a few feet away from him as she held her katanas up.
"I have a ten spot saying that Fox is going to win." Firewalker nudged Wolfe whose nod agreed to the bet.
I figured those two were going to put a bet on this!
Fox made the first move, swinging both her katanas in one direction at Phantom's side, but he swiftly deflected it and began attacking her in all directions to unbalance her defense. Fox however, was too quick and agile of a fighter, and quickly used both her katanas to deflect Phantom's attack style.
Phantom made a hard swing towards her head but she ducked and rolled across the floor, trying to attack Phantom's legs, but he swiftly dodged it by jumping above her swing. He then tried swinging the sword downwards on top of her but she crossed her katanas to block the swing, pushing him back with a kick and swiping him across the arm.
A short pause followed, Phantom glancing at the cut in his suit that was right between the armor plates, suggesting that Fox accurately found the weakness in his armor.
"Impressive." Phantom looked back at her with a smirk on his face; she returned the comment with a wink.
He charged at her with another swing of his sword but she leaned back, flexibly dodging the swing and bounced back by swiping her katanas down Phantom's side, but he continued to deflect it. Soon enough, she was beginning to copy his fighting style.
With every swing that Phantom did, she deflected and began attacking him with his own attack pattern, with the toss-up being that she had two katanas instead of one sword.
The two fighters began to exhaust themselves. Monban watched with an unemotional face and Ani appeared from the doorway to spectate the fight as well. Another brief pause followed their string of attacks, with the two of them pacing around each other.
"Ready to make this interesting?" Phantom breathlessly asked Fox. He supercharged his bracers, causing the sword to glow a tinge of blue as electricity flowed from his bracers to the sword itself.
"I thought you'd never ask." Fox charged towards him and disappeared right before Phantom's eyes, re-appearing at his side and tried to swipe his lower body.
Phantom quickly deflected it but she used her other hand with the other katana to swing down on the other side of his torso, causing a slice in Phantom's suit. She looked up at him and disappeared again, forcing Phantom to disappear as well.
"Aw come on!" Wolfe howled. "Stop playing these games!"
Spidey looked at the mat and could see the thread of the floor move as they stepped about. Phantom then re-appeared to look for her. From behind him, Fox reappeared jumping through mid-air to slice down upon him, but he quickly turned to deflect the attack, causing her to knock him down to the ground as she was on top of him.
Oh boy, I've been in that situation before…
"Whoa, Phantom…" Firewalker was shocked. "Get it!"
Phantom's sword dropped out of his hand as she knocked him down, but he quickly grabbed her waist and rolled her around as he sent a small, non-lethal shock of electricity to stun her. The shock caused her to drop her katanas and Phantom tried to pin her down.
She quickly got to her senses and buckled her body, causing Phantom to fall forward as she grabbed his waist and twisted her body around to slam him back-first onto the floor. It seemed to knock the breath out of Phantom for the moment, buying her time to grab her katanas and lean over him.
No way it's over that quickly! C'mon Phantom, you've faced worse before!
"Well, it looks like this match is over, folks." Firewalker crossed his arms. "Pay up, Wolfe."
"It's not over yet." Wolfe kept watching on.
Fox got on top of Phantom and crossed her katanas on his neck. "I didn't know that you had the powers I do. You've impressed me."
"I'm not done yet." Phantom faintly grinned as he disappeared while was still on top of him, grabbing her arms and stunning her again.
He knocked the katanas out of her hand as he moved forward and pinned her onto the ground, locking her arms behind her back and pressing her face on the mat.
"I don't need swords to win this duel, Fox." Phantom stated, gasping for air.
"Neither do I." Fox moved her hands that were behind her back and touched Phantom's chest, sending a surge of electricity to go through him, stunning him for a brief moment, letting go of her.
"What the?!" Spidey stated in shock.
She used electricity against him?! How?! What if… *gasps* what if she can absorb powers?! Jeez!
She rolled out of Phantom's grasp, running to grab her katanas, prompting Phantom to get up and grab his own that was a few feet away. Fox turned and ran towards Phantom, the both of them disappearing right as they were about to strike each other. A loud metallic clank was heard and then silence.
Ani quickly approached the mat with shock, thinking as though Fox was killed… but then the both of them reappeared into view. Fox had crossed her katanas across Phantom's neck, but Phantom had his sword's blade right at Fox's neck as well.
They had come to a draw.
Holy cow! I knew it! They're both too good of fighters to best each other! Damn!
"No… freaking… way!" Firewalker was surprised, glancing at Wolfe, whose jaw was hanging down in awe.
Phantom and Fox let go of their death-holds on each other, and Fox politely bowed to Phantom, and he returned it to her.
"That was one hell of a fight!" Spidey got up, prompting the rest of the team to as well.
I think Phantom's finally found his match when it comes to sword-fighting… Taskmaster may be a bit better but this woman knows how to handle herself!
"She sure knows how to fight." Tiger agreed. "I didn't think Phantom had found someone just as good until now!"
Fox placed her katanas back in her sheaths and Phantom placed his away as well. She approached him with her arms crossed. "Very well, Phantom, we may speak in private now."
Ani stopped her by approaching them. "Fox, I do not think this is a good idea. His fighting skills are impressive but…"
"He's honored his word for a duel, and so I shall honor mine with speaking to him." Fox hushed him.
Yeah, that's right… Shut your trap, ninja man.
Fox looked back at Phantom and motioned him to follow her out of the room. "This way."
"Aw, can I come too?" Wolfe smiled a crooked smile as he approached her. Fox's eyes widened at Wolfe's stature towering over her, but she politely shook her head.
"Ha, cock-blocked!" Firewalker laughed.
Phantom followed Fox out of the room, followed closely by Ani. Monban walked over to the group and offered them tea.
"You have sweet tea?" Firewalker curiously asked. Monban just shook her head and left to grab the team some tea in a backroom that looked like a small kitchen.
"Well, now we wait." Spidey looked at the others. "You think she'll join us?"
I hope she does… She's a really good fighter and it'll be interesting to see what else she's good at… She'll make fighting Magneto that much easier… I can see it now!
"Tough decision." Wolfe commented. "She'll have to leave all of this…"
"I had to leave my crew, you left your wolves, I see the same situation here." Firewalker added.
"Whatever she has to say to him and how he reacts is going to determine how it's going to go." Tiger told them. "I've never seen Phantom fight that hard before, even with Taskmaster."
"You saw how she copied his attacks?" Firewalker pointed it out. "Imagine we fight those bad dudes with a chick like that on our side!"
"Ugh… I don't want to wait on their conversation." Wolfe sighed, crossing his arms. "I can tell she likes Phantom already."
"How'd you figure?" Spidey asked.
"I can sense it." Wolfe shrugged. "She doesn't trust him but I think she's willing to. I have no clue. I don't understand females."
"I can see that." Tiger shook her head.
…Burrrrrrrn….
Somewhere in Chicago…
A small thunderstorm was beginning to thunder above as the day carried on. Powerman and Iron Fist disembarked off the Aven-Jet to go searching for Nova within the city, just before it started to rain.
"The storm's distorting the GPS locator." Powerman mentioned to Iron Fist as they stood on a rooftop looking over the city skyline.
"I do not think it should be that hard to find him. He likes to fly in the sky, after all."
"If he's smart, he'll stay hidden until he's done with whatever he's up to here." Powerman put away his communicator and took out a pair of binoculars to search around. "I think we're going to have to pull our weight having to find him, the locator isn't going to do us much help here."
"If only we had Tiger and Spider with us, we would have been able to cover a lot more ground that way." Iron Fist crossed his arms.
"I told you to stop mentioning them."
"We do not have the slightest clue as to where they are, they could be dead for all you know."
"Well, we'll worry about that later." Powerman put away his binoculars. "There's something wrong with Nova, he wouldn't have taken Selena like that. I'm going to get to the bottom of this."
Powerman and Iron Fist began to walk towards the edge of the building when suddenly, a red glow emanated from below them, and out of nowhere… Nova rose up in front of them.
"N-Nova?!" Powerman couldn't believe that he had been hiding there the whole time.
Nova looked at them menacingly as he landed in front of them near the edge of the building. "I'm getting tired of you two trying to follow me around."
"Nova, what is the matter?" Iron Fist stepped forward. "We just want to help."
"Where's Selena?" Powerman cut to the point.
Nova calmly chuckled to himself. "I'm done listening to both your lies. I'm not your friend, anymore… And don't worry about your precious girlfriend; she's going to be taken care of."
"What do you mean?!" Powerman stepped forward, but Iron Fist held up his hand to keep him back.
"Nova, I do not understand. We are your friends, we have never lied to you about anything!"
"You've talked behind my back! You've made fun of me, and I'm just a freak to you two!" Nova clenched his teeth hard, holding his helmet as though it was hurting. "You were once… friends…but now… enemies!"
"This isn't the Nova I know." Powerman calmly told him. "You're not the real Nova."
"Shut up!" Nova lifted up from the rooftop and blasted at the spot where Iron Fist and Powerman stood, they both jumped out of the way, avoiding the debris that fell out as a result.
"I know Spider and Tiger are here in the city!" Nova yelled at them. "If you think hiding them from me is going to help, you're dead wrong!"
"We didn't even know they were here!" Powerman yelled back, prompting Nova to shoot another blast at him, but he jumped out of the way again.
"What do you want with them?!" Iron Fist loudly asked.
"I want Tiger dead!" Nova blasted towards Iron Fist who ran out of the way once more to avoid the debris from the rooftop.
"You're not going to go after them… and once I'm through with you, you're going to tell me where you took Selena, Nova." Powerman cracked his knuckles as he slowly approached Nova.
Nova's eyes were beaming red at him at this point. "You won't be able to defeat me, you're nothing but a big, stupid, pathetic excuse for a hero."
This pissed off Powerman, causing him to charge towards Nova and tackle him off the rooftop, causing the two of them to fall down the building, smashing hard onto the street below. Iron Fist looked down to see what was going on.
"Hold on!" He called down. "I'll be right there to help!"
Iron Fist turned around to come face-to-face with a blue-skinned mutant with red hair. She wore a whitish suit and slowly approached him with menacing yellow eyes.
"Well, well, if it isn't another one of Spider-Man's mighty teammates." She taunted him as she approached him.
"W-who are you?"
She chuckled to herself. "Oh, you naïve boy, I forgot you don't know who we are."
Iron Fist readied his fists at her and stood in stance to fight her. "Are you the one controlling Nova!?"
"Ha, no… that bastard is far away from here, thank goodness." She shook her head. "My name is Mystique… and you're going to tell me where the Phantom is…right now."
"Ph-Phantom?" Iron Fist looked around. "I didn't know he was here…"
She smiled as she used her powers to disguise herself as Iron Fist himself. "Tell me now, young man."
Back at the House of Fox dojo… (Phantom's POV)…
White Fox escorted Phantom to a backroom within the dojo, which revealed to be a much larger place than Phantom had expected. There was a sort of shower room as well as a meditation room, where he saw whom he presumed were Fox's students meditating in as they passed by the glass windows of the room.
In the backroom, Fox shut the door after Phantom walked in, keeping Ani from entering. Phantom examined the room. There was a small bed in the corner where the shoji sliding walls divided it to be a personal area for what he assumed was Fox's bed. There were multiple paintings of a white fox, all in the same artistic style with "C.S." as the initials on the lower right corner of the paintings.
There was also a vanity, where Phantom glanced to see multiple necklaces, all depicting the head of a fox. He could also see what appeared to be a ring box with a diamond ring in it.
Fox noticed that he was looking around and quickly tugged on his hand to a small table with two mats on opposite ends. There was a ceramic jug and two small cups on the table. Phantom quickly realized it's where she wanted to have their conversation.
"Please, sit." Fox politely asked of Phantom, who nodded and sat down on one of the mats with his legs crossed to properly sit at the table's level.
I'm not sure if I'm sitting at this table correctly… the table is really small, and it's almost at floor level with the mat… Hmm…
Fox excused herself for a moment as she walked behind a privacy screen. Phantom continued to look around the room, taking short glances at the privacy screen, where he could make out her silhouette undressing herself and putting on something else. He then began to watch and as he did, her silhouette seemed to pause and look at his direction, causing him to look away.
What's the matter with you Phantom? You can't resist a little temptation these days?
She finished dressing and walked out in a pure white kimono with an intricate design embroidered in a softer white and her hair tied back in a knot.
"Sorry about that." She sat with her knees down on the mat and looked at Phantom's bare face. "May I offer you some tea?"
Ah, tea, my favorite!
"I'd love some, yes please."
She took the jug and poured out the warm water into both tea cups and faintly smiled at Phantom as she gave him his cup and she took hers.
"So, what is 'Specter Haven'?" Fox got to the point. "I've heard this name in my dreams several times."
Specter Haven… She obviously knows the name… so that means her power to predict the future really is pretty honed as far as what I've seen goes…
"I assume you realize by now that you and I are one of the same, with the mutual ability to disappear in the fashion that we do."
"I did notice that." Fox nodded and looked down at the table. "I… assume you were also part of the… experiments then…"
"How did you know?"
Fox made a hard-pressed smile at him while looking around the room. "I knew in my mind that there were others like me… these… apparitions who had powers like me… I've foreseen them; I've heard their whispers in my mind… their names revolving around the Specter Haven name."
Whispers… If that's the case then a part of me thinks that some of the Vitruvian serum used in my experiment was also used in whatever serum Chronos used to experiment on her.
"You were part of Project Chronos, were you not?"
"And you were part of Project Vitruvian." Fox looked at him with a stern tone. "If you were sent by the agency to take me back…"
Yep, all three of the mutants have all assumed I'm here to take them back to wherever they came from… that's just great. Well, I don't blame them for not trusting me.
"Fox, I'm not here to take you back to anything."
"Are you sure?" Fox's tone became a little hostile. "Men's hearts hold lies and secrets far darker than anything else in this world."
"I'm not here to lie to anybody." Phantom tried telling her. "I was wronged in my experiment…"
"Not like me." Fox's tone angrily told him. Phantom could see the raging fire in her eyes meaning Project Chronos was a topic that wasn't a good one to talk about.
Dare I ask what happened?
"Do you mind if I ask what happened?" Phantom politely asked. "I'm not here to take you away, I promise you… I just… I wish to learn."
"For what purpose?"
"To stop the man responsible for what's become of us." Phantom tried to appeal to her better reasoning but she stood up off the mat and began pacing around her room, seeming as though she was trying to figure out how to explain herself to him.
"The man who did this to me… is long dead now."
"What do you mean?" Phantom calmly stood up as well and approached her.
She looked back at him. "I am who I am because I was betrayed, Phantom… Do you know what betrayal feels like?!"
More than most do… Betrayal is what made me into the Phantom…
"I do, actually."
She looked up into his eyes, as though testing to see if he truly knew or not, then she slowly backed off and approached her vanity, looking at the boxed ring.
"The love of my life sold me to the agency that… did this to me…" Fox angrily told him, still staring at the ring. "My fiancé… sold me… like a slave."
Phantom listened on, not wanting to interrupt.
"I disappeared… became a missing person… because the man who I thought I could trust… betrayed me…" She turned to glance back at him. "I'm not sure if you can be trusted either."
I understand her feelings and her quick wit to not trust me. I don't know what she's gone through but there is a level is animosity that she holds towards what happened… and I don't wish to tamper with that if I can help it… I just need her help so that we can move through it.
"Fox… I'm not…"
She held up her hand. "I want to see your future, Phantom."
"What will that prove to you?" Phantom crossed his arms.
"Our futures are decided by what kind of lives we live… If we live a righteous path, then we live terrible futures… if we live humble paths, we live prosperous futures… If we live a deceptive path, we live a destructive future…" Fox cryptically answered.
I guess it's her way of being able to read my mind and my intentions. Instead of seeing what kind of thoughts are going through my head, she sees the end result of my decisions… interesting.
Phantom nodded and approached her. She held up her hands to grab hold of his head and within seconds… Phantom created a mental connection to her and she had created something similar with him… with her own special powers.
He began to see visions from Fox's past, a young handsome man who seemed to love her, and proposed to her at what appeared to be a college campus. She seemed to be a lot happier back then, different from who she was now.
She looks fairly younger in this, she's only 28 according to her record now… so this was years ago before the experiment.
And then it changed into a dark and stormy scene, where the same man was dragging her with her mouth taped shut and her wrists and ankles tied by rope. The young man took her to a strange group of individuals standing next to unmarked vehicles. Phantom recognized one of the figures as Magneto judging by the recognizable helmet he had over his head and one of the other figures was Taskmaster, who had his arms crossed seeing him bring her to him.
Of course… Taskmaster and Magneto… Looks like Taskmaster did have some sort of involvement with Project Chronos.
"Here's your test subject." The young man shined his evil smile as he shoved her towards them. "I do believe I deserve some compensation."
Magneto motioned for one of his mutants to go pay the young man with a brown envelope, where he opened and counted out the money.
"Nice doing business with you!" The young man sneered as he walked away back into his vehicle.
What a heartless son-of-a bitch… Why in god's name would someone sell their fiancée to someone?... Bastard… A true kiss of Judas…
The scene changed to where Fox was in a cage, half-dressed, with what appeared to be scientists walking around the cage, examining her.
"You sure this serum will work?" One of the scientists asked the other.
"I'm sure. It's been fitted with some of the serum from Project Vitruvian before we destroyed the Vitruvian serum, I'm sure it'll work."
The scene changed again, to a scene where Fox was crying to herself in the darkness of her cage…
I'm willing to bet the heartless monsters who worked in the experiment tortured her and perhaps even went as far as violating Fox for the duration of Project Chronos… Damn it… I see now why she is the way she is…
Suddenly, Fox forced him out of her mind.
She shoved him backwards after making the connection. She looked surprised, as though she didn't realize that Phantom had a power to read minds and see through her memories like that.
"H-How?" She asked him, not believing in what had happened.
"Fox… I…" Phantom was at a loss for words.
She looked down at the ground and angrily took the boxed ring and threw it at a nearby wall in rage. "I… I… didn't want to relive that!"
I feel horrible for having violated her privacy like that… I didn't mean to create a mental connection… it just happens sometimes!
"I… see what you mean now." Phantom solemnly told her. "I didn't mean to…"
"No…It's all right…" Fox shook her head, trying to look away from him. "I… I could barely see images of your future…"
"What do you mean?"
Fox turned to look at him. "Your future hasn't been decided yet… I can't see it."
I'm not sure if I am to interpret that as a good thing or a bad thing. Not being able to see your future is often a saving grace… but still.
Phantom couldn't understand what that meant, but Fox gathered herself and held her hand towards the table, gesturing for them to return to it. They sat back down and Fox just stared at him. He didn't know if it was a stare of awe or anger towards him.
"I can see that whatever's happened to you has caused a great deal of pain…" Phantom calmly told her. "Did you… return to kill him? Your fiancé?"
Fox shook her head. "I wanted my revenge… so I took it."
"Wouldn't you want to take it out on the man responsible for your experiments?"
Fox's gaze turned to confused. "You're talking about the man who was in charge of Project Chronos?"
Phantom nodded.
"But… that would mean leaving the House of Fox… the place I'm responsible for, Phantom. I have a duty here."
We all have a duty to something… you're not the only one, Fox.
"I've recruited Wolfe and Firewalker, two mutants like you and I, part of the same group of experiments that turned us into who we are." Phantom took a sip of his tea. "We've all left our homes to fight the man who did this to us."
"Why?" Fox looked at him with a strange look. "Why fight him, Phantom?"
"Because if we don't, the world you and I know it as will no longer be safe, and he will have turned all of the people we know into… mutants… into his own apparitions."
Fox didn't seem convinced about it. "I need… to think on it."
Author's Note: A lot went into the chapter as far as thinking it through went. I really just want to solidify the trust between her and Phantom, once she warms up to the idea of trusting him, only then will she be able to trust the others like Wolfe and Firewalker, Spidey and Tiger, and so on.
I appreciate the reviews, I hope the chapter is somewhat how you all pictured it in your minds, I had to look through some terminology to find the correct meaning of some things but I hope I didn't portray the Japanese culture in some bizarre or inaccurate way, that's not my intention to, so sorry if I did :(
As always, feedback is appreciated:) Thank you!
Reviews:
Guest: Lol, well I'm not sure if everybody was kung-fu fighting but Fox's kicks were fast as lightning for sure! I mean, it was a little bit frightening… but they fought with expert timing! :D Thanks for the review, I hope it turned out as you expected it to be!
Sport21: I think with everything going on, including what Reaper has in plan (to kill of Tiger) is going to create one huge scene for both Tiger and Spider in the near chapters! Lol :D thanks for the review!
The Night Hunter: I'm going to see what I can do to clear up what's going to happen with S.H.I.E.L.D. in the coming chapters, and I think I made a good father/daughter-like relationship with Ava and Phantom, keeps it from getting weird. And lol, you're spot-on with Phantom and White Fox getting closer! Thanks for the reviews!
Burke23: I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE! xD
