For several seconds that seemed to last an infinitely longer time, Wolverine and Pietro stared at each other, mere feet of snow separating the two men. Finally it was Wolverine who broke the silence. "Maximoff. I wondered exactly what they wanted you for," he jerked his thumb towards the woman and her soldiers.
"They wanted me, because they realised my potential." Pietro smiled, and Logan was quite alarmed to see the glimmer of insanity in Pietro's eyes. "They realised that I could become their greatest weapon. And now I am the instrument that will usher in the apocalypse of the world." As he was speaking, Logan was casting a critical eye over Pietro. Outwardly the young man looked identical to the last time Logan had seen him, albeit he was now fully fit and wearing an expensive designer suit. But there was something in his eyes that made Logan feel that there was something wholly wrong with Pietro. It was like a deformity, but physically nothing was wrong with Pietro.
"You talk big, but you could have simply been brainwashed by them," Logan countered. "What makes you think that you are so good all of a sudden?"
Pietro didn't reply, at least not with words. He darted forwards, almost faster than Logan could follow, and struck Logan a blow with the palm of his hand. Logan was picked up as if by some giant invisible hand, and hurled backwards to land in a snowdrift that painfully broke his fall. Luckily he hadn't injured anything vital, but he was winded and as he lay on the floor trying to regain his breath, Pietro came to stand over him.
"As you can see, I have changed since our last meeting," the wide smile still hadn't left Pietro's face. "I am more than a match for you, or anyone else in the world for that matter. And I am Hydra's instrument of death."
At this point Warren moved forwards to address the woman. "So you are the new head of Hydra, I presume?"
The woman turned her head and regarded him for a while before speaking. A dark cowl covered the woman's face, so Warren couldn't see any of her face but he thought he could make out two eyes glimmering in the darkness. "That is correct. And you are the founder of Hydra, Warren Worthington. I have waited for a long time to meet you, although I wish it could be in slightly happier circumstances." The way the woman said this implied that she was perfectly happy with the way things were at present.
"If I might, could I find out who has taken over the running of my organisation after I left?" Warren asked politely, prompting another moment's thought before an answer came.
"My name is Viper, and I am the director of Hydra. I resurrected your organisation and I have been running it for the past five years. We have been very successful, although I have transferred much of our resources away from money-making schemes and towards terrorism schemes." She began to turn away, when Warren's voice stopped her.
"Why?"
"That's a good question," Viper said, turning to regard Warren from under her cowl. "We aren't some religious group, dedicated to terrorism because we believe it will bring us the freedom from our oppressors, whoever they might be. Neither are we some extremist movement that utilises terror to demand concessions from other countries. Rather, we commit these acts because we love the terror they cause. We are terrorists for terrors sake, dedicated to tearing down the fabric of the world as we know it."
"That's got to be the worst reason I have ever heard!" Logan growled as he got to his feet, Pietro watching him carefully only a few feet away.
"Terror is its own reward and we going to leave our mark on this world, Logan," she said, brushing past his question. "It is unfortunate that you will not live to see it, but then again you should not have chosen to get involved in our business." She turned on her heel, gave some directions to the soldiers in Russian, then walked off into the night. Pietro and the soldiers herded Logan and Warren along behind her, Pietro keeping a careful eye on Logan's back. Despite his age, Logan was still a formidable adversary.
Only mere tens of feet away a man lay concealed in the snow, watching the procession move off. Lance had been watching the proceedings with his binoculars, that is until he spotted Pietro amongst the crowd of people. He still couldn't believe that his best friend was alive and fighting for the other side. Before he'd dropped his binoculars in shock he had seen several people he recognised. On one side had been the infamous Wolverine and a man Lance had identified as Warren Worthington, a wealthy billionaire.
Dragging himself out of his stupor, Lance forced himself to get to his feet and follow the group, making sure that he himself was not seen. The group walked on for about fifteen minutes until they came to a small lake. They stopped at the side of the lake and Lance wondered what they were going to do, when suddenly the lake began splitting in half, revealing an underground chamber. Lance was taken aback again - it was like something out of a James Bond movie.
As the group began to descend into the underground chamber Lance got up and, once the last person had vanished inside and the lake had begun closing, slipped inside himself. The interior was sparsely lit and Lance hit the walls several times before he made it out of the chamber. The corridor he came to was bare and metallic, and the lights on the wall reflected dully off the other walls, creating more darkness than they drove away.
Lance drew his pistol and advanced slowly down the corridor, his every footstep echoing like an explosion to his ears. After travelling a long way, he came to an intersection where the corridor split three ways. Lance was just pondering which way to take, when he felt the muzzle of a gun graze the small of his back.
"Don't move!" a harsh voice said. "Drop your gun!" Lance obeyed and let the Beretta fall to the floor. "Now, move!" the speaker gave Lance a hard shove in the small of his back as he directed him down a corridor.
Logan was shoved into a dark and dank cell by two of Viper's soldiers, before the door was slammed shut behind them. He lay on the cold stone floor, weariness flooding his body and he closed his eyes and let unconsciousness take him.
Viper and two of her soldiers meanwhile led Warren into a laboratory room. "Do you know Warren that we managed the greatest breakthrough in genetic science ever, and no one will ever credit us with the discovery?"
"Really?" Warren said with a tone of polite indifference that provoked a short, harsh laugh from Viper. She was about to say something when a loud beeping came from her belt. She pulled out a small communicator and flicked it on.
"Viper speaking."
"Madam director we've captured another prisoner, this one inside the base."
"Take him to detention cell A-12, I've got more important matters to attend to."
"But that's Wolverine's cell, are you sure it's…"
"I know that it's Wolverine's cell and if you don't take him to that cell block then you will shortly be missing several vital organs. Do I make myself clear?"
"Of course, madam director." The communicator fell silent.
"Now, as I was saying, follow me and I will show you the greatest breakthrough in genetic science ever." Viper led Warren through the room, the two guards tailing them, until they came to a thickset steel door. Viper placed her palm on a flat screen, which hummed for several seconds before emitting a beep and the first door slid open. Viper then pulled back her cowl and stepped forwards for a retina scan.
Warren was struck by her appearance - she had pale skin and very high cheekbones. Her short hair was an emerald green colour, as was her lipstick and her eyes. The retina scan completed the second door slid open with a hiss of pressurised gas and Viper stepped into the room beyond, gesturing for Warren to follow.
A tall tank that was lit by half a dozen floor lights dominated the room. Warren studied the tank, but couldn't make out what was in it for several seconds. When he did, his jaw dropped and he almost fell over as his mind reeled. Viper laughed as she saw Warren's expression.
"I knew you'd be impressed," she said smugly.
Thank you so much for still reviewing my story karakin, I know I am really slow at updating but there will not be another delay as long as last time again.