Chapter 35
X-23
At the Institute
Logan stood still as the Helijets above him descended for landing.
"Why does Fury believe you have anything to do with a SHIELD break in?" Charles asked rolling up next to him.
"I'm not sure yet, but if he thought I really did it, this sure ain't the way he'd be picking me up" Logan said.
The Helijets' ramps opened up letting out several SHIELD agents before Nick Fury himself came out.
"Logan, how nice of you to welcome me" Fury said sarcastically.
"Cut the crap patch what do ya want?" Logan asked with a slight attitude.
"What? I can't stop by to see an old friend?" Fury asked, he always found Logan's seriousness amusing.
"You never just stop by, you're here for a reason. Now you can tell me or Chuck here can tell me, you choose" Logan said wanting to get to the point.
"Is that true Charles, you gonna pick my brain?" Fury looked amused.
Charles shrugged, "I'd prefer not to"
Dean came running towards them.
"Well, what do we have here" Fury said spotting Dean, "The young prodigy"
"Fury" Dean greeted him.
"Didn't I tell you to go through the course again?" Logan asked.
"Yeah, I did" Dean said crossing his arms.
"How's Santa claws treating you?" Fury asked referring to Logan.
Dean laughed, "Still kicking my ass"
"And I'm going to again if you don't beat it" Logan warned him.
"That sounds like a challenge old man" Dean dared him.
Fury couldn't help but smile at the boy, his father would be proud of his determination, "As fun as it would be to watch you two go at it I have business to take care of. Logan let's go"
Logan went to approach him.
"Eh Logan if you need anything" Charles tapped his head.
Logan nodded and went on the Helijet without saying anything.
Nick Fury looked at Charles, "Professor" he then looked at Dean, "Kid, keep up the good work" he went back on the Helijet.
The Helijets then closed their ramps and took off in the direction they came from.
Logan was inspecting the sliced metal walls inside the base.
"The intruder had metal claws and had your D.N.A." Fury said.
Logan turned around with a surprised expression, "What?"
"I'm looking for answers Wolverine" Fury said walking down the hall.
"Someone's playing games with you Fury" Logan said as he followed him.
They stopped at a wide metal door with a panel.
"And that's why you're here, to help me find out what's going on" Fury said as he entered the passcode.
"How do you have a sample of my D.N.A. anyway?" Logan asked as the door slid open.
When the door opened Logan saw a small room with a large computer screen in the back and in the middle of the room there was a table with a blond woman sitting by it. Two guards were standing inside and outside the room.
When the blond woman saw Logan she seemed shocked, "Weapon X" she referred to Logan.
Logan growled and stepped up to her, "What did you just call me?!"
The guards aimed their weapons at Logan on instinct.
"Let's just take it easy" Fury waved down his men, "The doctor here has risked a lot by coming to us"
Logan calmed himself and stepped away from her.
"Please we're running out of time, we have to move fast" The doctor urged Fury.
"Right now I want you to relax and start at the beginning" Fury said.
"Ok" the doctor agreed and sat down, "Um, my name is Dr. Deborah Risman, I am—" she paused, "I was a scientist for Hydra, an organization that deals in information"
"Don't sugar coat it they're spies, and dropping operatives inside SHIELD walls is their favorite pastime" Fury said.
"That's why I'm here. An operative, X-23, was sent to infiltrate this facility but then went rogue on us" Dr. Risman said.
"So?" Logan asked not getting the big deal.
"Trust me, this is cause for concern" Dr. Risman said as she placed a disk inside the computer.
The screen displayed the Hydra logo.
"Why work for the bad guys?" Logan asked curiously.
"No boundaries, they gave me the chance to push genetics beyond anything conventional science had ever seen, beyond what any government allowed" Dr. Risman said looking at Fury, "My job there was to create a weapon, the perfect weapon" the screen showed a recording, "Based on data Hydra had stolen on a project codenamed 'Weapon X'"
Logan growled in response to that name. He hated his experimental codename, all it did was mock his inability to remember his past.
The recording showed the girl in her full uniform which covered her face in a mask. Around her several green robots came out of the ground.
"But I failed, time and time again. 22 times to be precise. 23 was the charm once we realized where to look for the answer" Dr. Risman said.
Each robot was equipped with something different. One had flamethrowers, another had plasma cannons on it's arms, another had buzz saws on it's hands, another had blades, another was holding a hammer, and the last with bare hands.
The robot with the buzz saws tried to shred her but she back flipped a couple of times to avoid it. Then she leaped out of the way of an incoming hammer.
The one with bare hands shot it's hands out like tentacles in attempt to grab her but she jumped onto the tentacles and jumped behind it.
While she was in the air she extended her claws on both hands and sliced the head off the robot with flamethrowers.
The robot with the plasma cannons shot at her but she jumped at the last second letting the plasma shots hit the headless robot's body making it explode.
She kept on running away from plasma shots until she turned around, leaped, and sliced one of it's plasma cannons.
In response the robot only shot with one hand.
The girl jumped off the wall and stabbed the plasma cannon robot in the face and sliced upwards damaging it's circuitry making it topple over. The robot then exploded.
"It was you, weapon—uh Wolverine" Dr. Risman used a different name, "Your healing factor was the key, therefore we acquired your D.N.A."
"You…cloned me?" Logan was baffled at the thought.
"Not entirely, I had to make a few genetic variations. Unfortunately that caused some instability" Dr. Risman said.
The robot with the hammer swung it's hammer at the girl.
She jumped over the hammer and sliced off it's head. Then made quick work of the other robots, slicing them to pieces.
Even after the robots were down she kept on slicing them up in a fit of rage.
"X-23 became volatile, dangerous. Our efforts to breed out emotion left behind explosive anger" Dr. Risman said.
X-23 jumped high up on one of the walls and sliced a hole through the wall. Behind it were all the scientists that were watching the test run including Dr. Risman.
All the other doctors except her ran out in panic.
X-23 ignored Dr. Risman and started destroying the room she was in.
The recording ended.
"I succeeded in creating the ultimate weapon" Dr. Risman said.
"But then you couldn't control it" Logan guessed.
"She's out there somewhere, and she must be found" Dr. Risman urged Logan.
Dean was wandering around the woods, going through the course once again.
As he walked around he felt strange, like he was being watched. He felt it before too but didn't see anything, or smell anything.
Meanwhile up in the trees X-23 was watching him carefully. She read all the files of the X-men and knew their strengths and weaknesses. The only one without detailed files was Dean, which caught her curiosity.
X-23 saw an opportunity to strike while he was alone. Two claws extended out of her left hand and she was about to strike when Storm came flying in out of nowhere.
"Great job everyone, that'll be all for today, it's almost dinner time" Storm said.
The whole group gathered and went back towards the institute.
X-23 retracted her claws, she would have to wait for a better moment to strike.
"Hydra molded her from birth, removing all distractions. Isolating her from any attachments, or love" Dr. Risman said.
"And yet you just let it all happen" Logan said in a disapproving tone.
"It was made very clear that I could leave if I disapproved, for her sake I chose to stay" Dr. Risman said reluctantly, "We trained her how to blend in naturally with others but when she watched other children having fun, witnessed loving families, unexpected hostilities emerged. When she was 12 they put her through the adamantium bonding process"
Logan's mind was surged with his broken memories resulting in him punching the computer screen, "Enough!" he shouted, "SHE'S A CHILD! Not a weapon! How do you sleep at night?" he asked her in disgust.
Dr. Risman closed her eyes and a single tear trickled down her cheek, "I don't, that's why I'm here, to help her, to try and undo some of the damage I've done"
X-23 was keeping close watch of every individual.
She looked through the windows of the lounge and saw Rogue reading a book on the couch.
X-23 then climbed to the roof and saw Ororo in her greenhouse room watering plants by creating tiny clouds over them.
For a moment Ororo felt someone's gaze upon her. She looked up at the skylight but saw no one.
X-23 moved to outside Kitty's room. She was on the phone talking with Lance when suddenly Kurt teleported inside her room and took her phone.
Kitty threw her pillow at him, "Kurt knock it off!"
X-23 noticed how colorful and comfortable her room was. She remembers her old room with Hydra, a plain empty white room that was cold and empty of anything. It felt like an endless void that would haunt her for as long as she stayed conscious.
X-23 growled in response to the painful memories and moved on. She found Dean and Jean in the kitchen washing the dishes they used for dinner.
Dean was looking at the sparkling dish he was holding, it was so clean he could see his reflection so he started fixing his hair.
Jean smirked and used her telekinesis to splash him with water.
Dean yelped from the surprise then started chasing Jean around playfully.
"They've rebuilt the computer that was destroyed in the breach last night" Fury said as he walked Logan to a Helijet that would take him home.
"And?" Logan asked.
"The last files accessed were on the X-men" Fury said with a serious face.
That meant her next target was the institute, which means he doesn't have a lot of time.
"I wanna go in alone" Logan demanded.
"No forget it" Fury knows that Logan won't be able to take out the clone, it's too personal for him.
Dr. Risman stopped Fury, "Wolverine's right, your agents are no match for her. It has to be him" she insisted.
To be honest Fury was a little short staffed at the moment. Jessica Drew now aka Spider-Woman was on mission, and Hawkeye and Black Widow were still a couple hours away.
Fury looked down in defeat then at Logan, "You got one hour, then we're comin in fast and hard you got it?"
Charles was rolling through one of the many halls of the mansion, on his way to Logan's room to see if he had returned.
He heard something coming from the next room, "Logan?" Charles said as he approached. He entered the room and found a brown haired girl with her head down crying.
Charles approached her, "Hello?" he didn't recognize her.
She lifted her head and looked at him with teary eyes.
"What's your name?" Charles asked curiously.
Then in a matter of moments her attitude went from sad to angry. She stopped crying and before he could react X-23 threw a disk on his forehead sending an electric charge into his body that rendered him unconscious.
X-23 kept on moving. Next she went to Jean's room where she found the door already open.
X-23 peaked inside and saw Jean searching for something through her drawers. She quietly sneaked in and placed a disk on her forehead rendering her unconscious.
She then relaxed and looked around the room. She picked up a teddy bear that was on the bed and examined it as if she didn't understand it's purpose.
X-23 then went to her dresser where there were a couple of different perfumes. She picked one up and sniffed it but was disgusted with the strong aroma. She then picked up a picture frame of Jean and Scott.
Behind the picture frame was a wall of pictures of all her friends here at the institute doing different things.
X-23 couldn't relate to any of this, all these objects that are considered normal are foreign to her.
"Hey Jean can I borrow—"
X-23 turned around and saw Evan standing there with a surprised expression. She leaped and dropkicked him through a wall before he could react and placed a disk on his forehead.
She dropped her guard and almost got caught, something she won't do again. She then heard someone approaching and jumped up to the ceiling and waited.
Forge walked down the hall, "Hey who's breaking stuff up here" he looked around but there was no sign of anyone, "Man where is everyone" he went to enter Kurt's room, "Hey Kurt did you hear—" he paused when he saw Kurt and Kitty on the ground, unconscious, with disks on their foreheads.
Forge backed away in fear but then he heard someone growl behind him. He turned around and X-23 jumped him.
Elsewhere in the mansion Dean and Scott went looking for everyone. They entered a room and found Charles on the ground like the others.
"Professor!" Scott hurried over to him and saw he was unconscious.
"That's the same thing I found on Jean" Dean said. He recognized those disks from his days at Hydra, he knew what they were for. Infiltration.
Suddenly they heard someone opening the other door to come in but it was locked.
They both hurried over.
Scott held up his hand and counted down. 1. 2. 3. They opened the door, Scott holding his visor and Dean holding a lightning bolt.
They were about to fire when they saw it was Rogue.
"Whoa stop it's me!" Rogue said jumping back.
They both exhaled in relief and let her in before locking the doors again.
"What's going on?" Rogue asked.
"Someone's infiltrated the institute, they've already taken down the Professor" Scott said.
"Oh no" Rogue said spotting Charles on the ground.
Scott inspected the disk on Charles's forehead, "It's small but I think I can get it off without hurting him"
"No don't!" Dean stopped him, "Those things are wired to explode"
"How do you know that?" Scott asked him.
"It doesn't matter, you two have to get out of here and get Logan" Dean said.
"No I'm not leaving without the others" Scott refused.
"Me neither I'm staying" Rogue insisted.
Dean didn't like this, they weren't trained for something like this, but he didn't have much of a choice, "Fine let's go find this person then" all three of them walked out.
They searched until they heard some commotion not too far away. They entered the room that was still smoky from some kind of explosion. Once it cleared they saw Ororo was out as well.
"This is impossible! The Professor, Storm, Jean! Not even Logan could take us all out" Scott said.
"I'm going to highly disagree with that" Dean said looking around the room cautiously.
Suddenly two sets of claws sliced vertically then horizontally in a box letting Dean drop down the hole that was just made, "Whoa!"
X-23 jumped out of the hole in the floor and aimed a kick at Rogue.
Rogue dodged it and went to hit her but X-23 jumped over her, then jumped away from an optic blast from Cyclops and kicked him in the chest sending him flying back.
Rogue charged at her with a right hook but X-23 ducked and hit her with an uppercut that sent her flying back.
X-23 then ran at Cyclops who shot an optic beam. She jumped over it and kicked him in the face knocking him back.
Rogue took off a glove and went behind X-23 in attempt to catch her by surprise and absorb her.
X-23 sniffed the air and smelled her coming. She jumped back and over Rogue. When she landed she grabbed her sleeves and ripped them off as she pushed her towards Scott.
"No!" Rogue said as she collided with Scott accidentally absorbing him and knocking him out.
Rogue felt the surge of his power and his personality in her mind.
With her momentary confusion X-23 placed a disk on her forehead rendering her unconscious.
Dean's hand came out of the floor and grabbed X-23's leg, "You're not done with me yet!" He came out of the floor and started swinging her around like a rag doll. Smashing her into anything he could find.
X-23 popped a claw out of her foot that caught Dean by surprise.
The claw cut his hand resulting in him letting her go.
X-23 rolled across the floor and faced Dean. She then extended her claws on both her hands.
"So what are you anyway? Logan's number one fan?" Dean asked.
X-23 grew an angry expression at the sound of his name. She grabbed something from her pocket and threw one of those disks at him.
Dean summoned a lightning bolt to his hand and threw it.
The lightning bolt hit the disk making it explode and spread smoke.
X-23 jumped out of the smoke and slashed at him.
Dean blocked one attack with his gauntlet then ducked underneath the next and kneed X-23 in the gut.
X-23 swept one of Dean's legs to keep him off balance and spun around for an elbow attack.
The elbow hit Dean on his left temple and knocked him down.
X-23 jumped on top of him and went to place a disk on his forehead.
Dean grabbed her hand and held it back.
X-23 then went to slash with her other hand but he grabbed that one too.
"Not gonna be that easy" Dean pushed back her hand making X-23 accidentally place the disk on her own forehead.
The surge of electricity temporarily incapacitated X-23.
Dean kicked her off sending her flying back.
X-23 flew into the wall cracking it.
"Let's see if you heal like Logan" Dean threw a lightning bolt at her.
The lightning bolt struck the disk making it explode. The explosion made a hole in the wall and sent her in the next room.
Dean got back on his feet, "Well glad that's over with" he dusted himself off and went to leave.
As he did he heard a noise coming from the rumble.
Dean looked back and saw X-23 push through the ruble and walk back through the hole in the wall.
"God damn" Dean said looking upon a gory sight.
The front part of X-23's head was completely blown off. There was nothing but a metal skull staring into blank space. Then it started growing back, first the eyeballs, then the inner layer of tissue, then the outer skin layer.
X-23 cracked her neck in a similar fashion to Logan, "That. Hurt" she glared at him with hatred.
"Yeah I bet it did, it blew your face off" Dean said sounding surprised. He knew that those things were also explosives but he didn't know to what extent.
X-23 charged at him in a furious rage.
Dean raised his guard, "Here we go again"
Logan finally made it back to the Institute. As soon as he stepped off the Helijet he ran as fast as he could inside.
When he went inside he found the place completely empty. Not good.
Logan went upstairs and checked all the rooms. He found some of the X-men unconscious with those disks on their foreheads just like Fury said happened at the facility.
'This doesn't look good' Logan thought as he went back downstairs to check. He found the Professor in one of the rooms, "Not you too chuck" then he heard some commotion in the next room so he hurried over.
He found Dean and X-23 duking it out on a one on one, they seemed evenly matched.
"Games over" Logan said standing in the doorway.
X-23 faced Logan.
"What are you after kid?" Logan asked.
X-23 leaped towards him and tried slashing but Logan dodged and then blocked a kick from her but was still knocked back.
X-23 then ran out of the room in a hurry to get away.
"Let's get her" Dean said hurrying to go after her.
"No, you stay here and make sure everyone else is ok. I'm going to handle this personally" Logan said.
"What? What're you talking about I can take her!" Dean angrily.
"Maybe you can, but this is something I have to do alone. Use this to deactivate the devices" Logan passed him a small remote as he ran after her.
Dean caught the remote and shook his head, 'I could have taken her' he told himself.
Logan tracked her scent to the lounge but there was no sign of her.
"C'mon talk to me!" Logan said.
Out of nowhere a statue piece flew at him. It hit him in the chest knocking him down.
He has to let her get her anger out on him, it's the only way to get her to open up. Which means he can't fight back.
X-23 charged at him.
Logan got up just in time to dodge a kick and then a left handed slash.
X-23 slashed again with her right hand but Logan ducked underneath it.
Instead of continuing to attack X-23 leaped backwards to the top of a bookcase, stabbed her claws into the ceiling and pushed down the bookcase with her feet.
Logan leaped out of the way and crashed into the TV. He looked up and dodged a stab to the face just in time.
As Logan got up X-23 leaped backwards and kicked a piano towards him.
Logan slashed the piano in half but then took a kick to the chest which knocked him back into a wall. He got right back up and dodged several more attacks as she chased him all the way to the entrance.
X-23 then swept Logan's legs from under him, then leaped to the staircase, then to the chandelier on the ceiling and sliced it off sending it crashing down.
Logan narrowly avoided it by leaping out of the way. He got back up right as she landed in front of him, "I know what happened to you, no one should have to go through that, especially a child" he said with a sad face.
"I AM NOT A CHILD!" X-23 finally screamed at him before she tried stabbing him with both of her clawed hands.
Logan caught her hands, he was getting through to her, "You are, even though they tried taking that away from you"
X-23 kicked his chest and jumped off it. She landed a few feet away from him then ran at him full speed and kicked him out the door.
Logan was sent tumbling down the front stairs.
X-23 came at him again.
"But why come after us?" Logan asked.
"Not them, just you" X-23 said with hatred in her voice.
"I don't understand" Logan said, he had nothing to do with her creation after all.
"This is your fault!" X-23 slashed at him and Logan dodged, "Everything I am is because of you!" she jumped for a flying kick but Logan ducked underneath her.
"You're mixed up, I didn't know anything about this" Logan said sincerely.
Even though X-23 could tell he was telling the truth she refused to believe him, "You—You're lying!" she jumped at him and kept trying to slice him to pieces but he kept dodging.
X-23 then popped a claw on her right leg and slashed his chest with it.
Logan jumped back, he didn't expect the foot claw. The red scar healed within seconds. He's had enough playing around, he extended the claws on one of his hands.
X-23 charged at him with all her might but Logan caught her two claws in his three and held her in place.
X-23 tried pushing his hand back but Logan couldn't be moved, he was stronger than her.
Logan then threw her on the ground, "No, I'm a victim" he showed her his claws, "Just like you" he retracted them, "I'm the one person on this planet who understands you"
X-23 was heaving, she was tired, physically and emotionally. How could she hate him when it wasn't his fault? But she didn't stop slashing at him.
Logan could see her eyes started to tear, and her movements were slowing down dramatically. He grabbed one of her hands and held her close, "And maybe the closest thing you have to family"
With the sound of that word she couldn't help but be crushed, "No" she looked down in shame as she cried, "I…I can't have a family! I can't!"
Logan looked sad as well, "Your feelings don't fight them anymore…let em win" he whispered.
X-23 embraced him in a tight hug as she sobbed.
At first Logan didn't know what to do but then he wrapped an arm around her and let her let it all out, "It's gonna be ok kid"
Then suddenly they heard the sounds of Helijets approaching.
X-23 backed away as she heard the sounds and looked scared.
Logan looked back and saw they were closing in on their position, "Go" he said to her.
X-23 stared at him, not knowing what to say.
"I'll take care of em, get out of here, now!" Logan urged her.
X-23 backed away then turned around in a full sprint.
A spot light shined on Logan as one of the Helijets landed
Fury walked out of the Helijet and was accompanied by two people.
On his right was a voluptuous woman with dark red hair dressed in a skintight full body black suit. Black Widow.
On his left was a man dressed in a dark purple suit with a bow and quiver on his back. Hawkeye.
"I see you brought your muscle" Logan said tensing.
"Logan" Fury warned him.
"Forget about her, she's been through enough" Logan said.
Hawkeye's bow was in his hand with an arrow drawn in seconds, "Just give me the word Director"
"You think your puny arrows are gonna stop me Barton?" Logan laughed purposely, he always looked down upon the human archer.
"Oh I got something special just for you tiny" Hawkeye said with a cocky grin. He always hated Logan for always being so smug.
"Clint wait" Widow stopped him, "Logan let us pass, letting the clone escape will only put others in danger"
"No she won't, she's no longer under Hydra's control. She's just a scared little girl looking for answers, that's why she came here" Logan said.
"Oh and I guess since the clone talked to her daddy everything's all better now?" Hawkeye asked.
Logan extended his claws, "You wanna go Clint?" he dared him.
Hawkeye was about to say something when Fury cut him off, "Barton, lower your weapon please"
Hawkeye reluctantly did as he asked.
Fury walked right up to Logan, "I can't just let this go, what if you're wrong and she goes on a killing spree?"
"I'm not, but if she does, I give you my word I'll rejoin SHIELD and help you take her in" Logan offered his hand, he was betting on the kid's better nature.
Fury looked in his eyes and saw he was completely serious, "Fine, we'll play it your way"
Hawkeye looked majorly disappointed, "Director permission to speak freely"
Fury walked past him and back into the Helijet, "Denied"
Hawkeye looked enraged, "I can't believe this" he muttered.
Logan retracted his claws and waved at him, "Bye bye, bird boy" he said with a grin.
Hawkeye stayed quiet and went back on the Helijet, one day he'll get him and he won't even see him coming.
Widow lingered a little longer, "You're sure about this Logan?"
"She's just misguided, I was the same once" Logan said.
"That may be true, but you weren't raised as a weapon. You had a life" Widow said.
"It doesn't matter if I can't remember most of it anyway" Logan muttered with a frown.
"Let's get going Natasha" Fury called from inside the Helijet.
"I hope you're right about her Logan" Widow walked back into the Helijet and it took off.
"I hope so too" Logan said.
He then went back inside and found everyone gathered in the lounge.
Dean spotted Logan, "What happened?"
"I handled it" Logan said plainly, "Is everyone ok?"
"Yes, we were lucky no one was badly hurt" Ororo said.
"I hope you have an explanation for all this" Charles said.
"I do" Logan said plainly.
"But you seem reluctant to share" Charles noticed.
"It's complicated" Logan said.
"Not complicated enough to the point where you can't explain why there's a copycat of yours who came after us I hope" Dean said expecting something.
Logan sighed, they deserved something after all they went through, "I was cloned by a secret organization. The clone decided to track me down and came to find me, none of you were the target"
Most of them simply couldn't think of a reply.
"So…another strange day in the life of the X-men" Dean summarized.
"That seems to be the case" Scott said chuckling.
Charles looked upon his students, even after what they went through they kept their cool. Their ability to handle problematic situations has become quite impressive.
"So what happened to her anyway?" Rogue asked.
"I…let her go" Logan said.
"Say what?" Evan said, "You mean you didn't off her?"
"That means she will come back" Kurt said fearing those disks.
"I didn't off her because she was manipulated, she's innocent. And no, she won't. At least for a while" Logan said.
"I guess that settles things then" Charles said.
Logan turned around and walked away slowly holding his head. This whole mess was giving him a giant headache.
"Hey Logan, just out of curiosity what was the name of that organization?" Dean asked.
Logan stopped in his tracks, "Hydra"
Dean's heart skipped a beat from hearing the word.
Logan's hearing heard that. He turned around and saw the boy almost looked pale. Something about him seemed off…what was he hiding?
Author's note: I think I was pretty fair, I wanted Dean and X-23 to have their little one on one but still let Logan have his moment with her. As always thanks for reading and have a great day!