Anything in Italics is what Kinney has written in her letter and I would love to thank everyone for the reviews that you gave me. Yay reviews anyway here it is. This is just another reminder that nothing belongs to me and the first six chapters will pretty much be taken from the comics with a few changes. I'm not sure if I will continue it after that or set it as a complete story, if I do continue I have my first plot twist set up and I've been doing a little foreshadowing in these chapters. Can you guess what it is answers on a postcard to…or just post it in your reviews. lol
Loss of Innocence
X-23 sleeps in the dark in the foetal position she is only around seven but already in her life she has seen more unhappiness then many will see in their entire lives. The light clicks on and it can be seen in her room is a bed with a simple cover, a table and a metal chair that is it. There are no pictures, no toys her room is more like a prison cell then somewhere a seven year old lives.
'Wake up 23' comes an order from Dr. Rice as he enters the room with her martial arts sensei Master Tanaka, he is in his fifties and has white hair but is still in better shape then most people ever will be.
…
The present day X-23 sits in Xavier's study with a new letter which had just received in the post, Xavier looked concerned that these letters had started to arrive and Wolverine was unsure if se should read them because of the damage they could cause her but X-23 wanted to know her history she just had to know.
'The process of dehumanisation was like nothing I had ever seen before, no fun, no excitement nothing that would make you think, hope or dream. They needed this they needed you not to be human you had to be a weapon'.
'I was awake as soon as I heard the lights in the corridor clicked on before my own' said X-23 as she rose from her bed and replaced the covers with perfect military precision.
'Child it is good to see you again, shall we begin?' asks Tanaka as he slowly sits down and crosses his legs and begins to meditate, X-23 quickly follows and begins to meditate along side her master. The meditation time passes quickly and son the two find themselves sparring.
X-23 gets her knee into her master's gut before he pushes it away with a sharp jab, X-23 quickly gains balance and throws her heel towards his head. Tanaka ducks and counters with a straight jab into her face which makes her stumble backwards a little. She comes back with a flying kick which her sensei blocks, sending her slamming into a wall.
Tanaka smiles at her like a proud parent smiles at a child doing their best, he bows and begins to speak in Japanese to her showing there is more then martial arts he is there to teach her, he is also a master of several languages.
'For all of those in the programme who treated you as a weapon there were a a few other then myself who treat you as a human, as a child. I thank god for them whether it was the personnel who brought your food who slipped some candy on your tray when they could or whether it was Tanaka who was the closest thing to a father figure you had.'
'Are you sure it was a good idea to bring an outsider in to teach her martial arts, surely a marine or one of our best operatives could have done it without the risk of a security leak' reasoned Rice as he stood with Sutter and Kinney looking through the glass screen looking out over the training area.
'Yes I am sure, there are maybe four people in this world that could match Weapon X in combat Tanaka trained all four as well as helping with a lot of Weapon X's training' said Sutter as he stroked his chin and looked onwards as the scene from below was reflected in his steel rimmed spectacles. 'How is she doing?' asked Sutter as he looked towards the beautiful Kinney and Rice who as ever had his face twisted into a sneer.
'Anya is showing peak fitness and well above average intelligence if this were in normal life she could get into Harvard on a sports scholarship then take quantum physics' said Kinney with pride about her daughter.
'Dr. Kinney this is the last time I will tell you it's name is X-23' sneered Rice before he turned to Sutter 'Her mutation has yet to show but we are keeping the conditions constant to ensure the onset of puberty as soon as possible.'
'Excellent could you give a projection of how long it will be till the next stage of the project can continue?' asked Sutter in a way that seemed more like an order.
'I suggest we begin now, lacing her bones with Adamantium now would save time and would probably cause her mutation to emerge, I have the blades ready and sharpened' said Rice as he smiled evily at the little girl who once again meditated below them.
'You can not be serious, there is no justification for your theory and it could kill her not to mention it would be horrific to do that to someone without a healing factor' cried Sarah Kinney as she seethed with rage at her associate and held herself back from wringing his scrawny neck.
'Your thoughts mean nothing, your judgement is clouded because your to close to your child' shouted back Zander as he altered his tone to emphasise the last word reminding Kinney that X-23 is around only because of her and that means what ever happens to X-23 can be traced back to her.
'You know the only reason I'm still here is because your team of psychologists recommended that I stay in contact with her on a regular basis for her development to reach its best' screamed Sarah as she forgot her earlier restraint and flung herself at Rice who easily fended her off with a well placed elbow to the face.
'Guards please escort Dr. Kinney to the infirmary' ordered Sutter as guards came and picked up the doctor whose nose was broken, Kinney was helped to her feet before she brushed off the guards hands and walked from the room under her own power although the guards followed closely behind.
'I wish you wouldn't get under her skin like that' sighed Sutter to his adopted son as they continued to watch the training.
'I don't even know why we keep her around, we have our subject and I can do the rest of the work with recreating a perfect clone' said Rice as he tried to get his 'arch enemy' thrown off the project so he could be running it again.
'I keep her around because she is just another way we have of controlling the specimen' informs Sutter as he smiles. 'Weapon training begins in ten minutes' said Sutter over the loud speakers to anyone who needed to know. 'If Dr. Kinney becomes a problem she can be dealt with' said Sutter as he flashes an evil smile towards Rice letting him know exactly what he means by drawing his finger across his own throat. 'How goes your research into a trigger scent?'.
'Excellently' says Rice simply as he watches the meditation finishing.
…
'Your martial arts training happened everyday to a set schedule as did your other lessons including weaponry and other more normal subjects such as maths and science. Tanaka was not like the others whenever you trained you could see the affection between the two of you he looked on you as the daughter he lost and you looked on him as the father you never had, he always encouraged you with praise and the parental touch you so needed and unfortunately I was unsure how to give'.
…
'Hello, Dr. Sarah Kinney' began Sarah as she answered the phone.
'Hi its Debbie' said Sarah's sister which caused Dr. Kinney to stop writing and listen.
'What do you want?' asked Sarah with an obvious angry tone in her voice.
'Look Sarah I'm sorry I should have believed you when you said dad was abusing you' cried Debbie down the phone as she sobbed at the loss of her sister's trust and love.
'Yes you should have' growled Sarah as tears began to well up in her eyes.
'I am so sorry' said Debbie who was now in floods of tears 'this isn't about us though, I have a daughter, Meggan. She wants to send a picture she has drawn to her aunt Sarah even though you two have never met.'
'And whose fault is that?' asked Sarah harshly.
'Look I get the point and I've said I'm sorry I invited you to thanksgiving and Christmas last year and you wouldn't come so please just let me send it to you' said Debbie as she crossed her fingers on the other end of the line.
'Okay, I'll be in touch but it would be best if you don't phone me here again' said Sarah 'yeah bye, yes I love you too' said Sarah as she hung up and rubbed her hands across watering eyes.
In the cold, stark whiteness of X-23's room, Sarah is reading "The Art of War" to X-23. As she reads, X-23 rests her head in Sarah's lap. Sarah notices Zander watching and motions for X-23 to sit up. Zander turns his attention to a computer read out and Sarah quickly reaches into the pocket of her lab coat and pulls something out before putting it within the pages of the book.
'Pinocchio leapt for joy for he was a real boy' said Kinney as she finally finished the last page of the book it had been so hard for her to read her daughter 'You see even though Pinocchio was artificially made he was a person and you should always remember it isn't how a life starts that creates a person it is who they are' said Kinney as she turns the last page of Pinocchio where she has scrawled 'I love you'. X-23 reads the message and looks up at her mother and mouths 'I love you too'.
…
X-23 sweats and drops to her knees before quickly bringing her hands up and catching the blade of a sword between her palms, it is Tanaka's Katana which he attempted to hit her with during weapons training.
He places his hand on her shoulder and begins to speak 'Well done my child I am very proud of you.'
Two guards and Dr.Rice burst into the room 'X-23 go with these men back to your room NOW!' ordered Rice as X-23 begins to leave she pauses for a moment to turn and bow before smiling at her sensei and leaving the room.
'This will be the last time Tanaka you will not treat her like a child an you will not touch her unless it is to strike her in sparing' ordered Rice.
'You will not speak to me like that ever again but I will respect your decision' said Tanaka simply as he bowed to Rice.
'And you think that giving her little life affirming quotes and praise in Japanese will go undetected, I speak the language perfectly' said Rice as he showed a lot of disrespect by turning his back and walking away from the bowing Tanaka.
…
'Where are we going?' asked X-23 as she looks up at Doctor Rice in the back of the van.
'You're being taken to a high security medical facility to be blasted with high doses of radiation to make your mutant power emerge so we can move forward with your training' said Rice in a sneering tone as he mocked the child. Zander sat down after looking out the window and stares down at the sliced dog tags hanging around his neck. He thought of his father playing with him in his early life and the love their family shared before images of Weapon X driving his claws through his fathers back, he had seen the images of security videos he had acquired once he had the proper security clearance of course in his memory Weapon X was a larger more animal like man. 'You're both animals' growled Rice as he spat on the small girl which caused her to flinch.
'What the hell is going on here?' screamed Sarah as she forced her way passed the guards into the main room where X-23 lay on a table half naked and still soaked from her little dip in the tank. Zander waved his hand telling the guards to leave.
'Oh relax, your daughter is fine Kinney she had a little problem but she is fine now' said Rice as he lied through his teeth.
X-23 thrashed around in the tank filled with water and the unmistakeable red wisps of red that was coming from her cuts which were along the length of her body where they had started the procedure with an opening round of surgery. The radiation was blasted at her little body, she screamed at the top of her lungs before her heart beat slowly dropped to a loud continuous beep on the monitors. There was a tense few seconds before the adamantium and an electrical charge was passed into the tank through the water. The heart beat began again and the cuts on X-23's body where the base coating of Adamantium had been put on her bones and her blades had been inserted.
X-23 fully healed but heavily sedated lies on the table as Kinney stands next to her and lays her hand across her chest, X-23's eyes open suddenly as the claws shoot from her hands and feet as she screams in pain, the tears flow down her cheeks as Kinney tries to comfort her daughter before she realises she cant and has only one choice. Kinney covers her ears and crouches on the floor below the table now tears rolling down her cheeks.
…
'It was this point when your claws burst through the skin, this very point that I realised tat nothing could stand in the way of Rice and Sutter's plan of turning you into a killing machine.'
…
'You cant do this, if you must go through at least let someone else do it you're to involved' yelled Sarah as she stood before a scrubbed up Rice.
'You are the one who is too emotionally involved, now either help me or get out this is a surgery theatre not a Broadway show' laughed Rice cruelly as he placed his mask on.
…
'Please sir this is inhumane' begged one of the surgery assistants.
'Shut up, I said no anaesthetic now pass me those forceps' ordered Zander. 'This is for my father Weapon X' growled Zander at the strapped down X-23 as he pulls on the claws removing them one by one causing her to scream and cry like no other child has ever. The assistants to the surgery could do nothing but stand by and try to fight the tears much as Dr. Kinney was doing in the corridor as the guards held her back. 'Sharpen these then give them another coating with Adamantium' ordered Zander as he drops the claws onto a tray 'I'll be getting a coffee page me when they're ready to be put back in' said Zander as he tossed his gloves at the bin and left the room where Kinney was still being held back by guards.
'You inhumane Bast…' screamed Sarah as she was being held back before Zander cut in.
'Yeah yeah yeah I'll remember that when I'm collecting my Nobel prize' laughed Zander as he walked past her giving her the finger.
The next day, X-23 has fully recovered and is "playing" with her new claws, popping them in and out.
'I couldn't believe the physical recovery you had made, it seemed that your healing factor surpassed even that of the original Weapon X.'
Sarah looks at her daughter before casting her eyes down at the brightly coloured drawing of two women a little girl and a dog on a sunny day whiuhc was drawn by her niece Meggan it was her, her mother and her aunt Sarah walking her dog patches.
'Looking at that picture reminded me of what I had done to you and what you could have been if not for me'
'Congratulations you have saved this project' congratulated Sutter 'How goes the trigger scent?'
'It is complete and I'm planning a test for tomorrow' said Sutter as he pours the contents of a vial onto the blade of Tanaka's katana.
The next day Tanaka speaks to X-23 'you have done well, today is my last day with you because I have taught you all I know. I'm sorry for what I helped them do to you now all I can say is good luck' said Tanaka as a tear appeared in the corner of his ancient face, he bowed at the girl who was dressed like a ninja from head to toe in black. She returns his bow as he draws his sword, her eyes narrow and she lets out a low animalistic growl as her claws erupt from her hands as she lunges for her surprised master.
X-23 kneels over the corpse of her friend blood splashed across her face and clothes, her claws are died a light red from the blood on them. Tanaka lies dead on the floor large gouge marks in his chest through which his organs and bones could be seen.
'Please sensei get up, please don't go please. I'm sorry' says X-23 as she shakes her masters body before grabbing his near by sword and driving it through her own chest.
Sarah who had not been in the room watching enters the room to see her daughter, she is carrying 'the art of war' but hidden inside is a new book 'Grimm's fairytales'.
'God no please no' cries Sarah as she pulls the sword from her daughters chest and crouches down holding her body. 'What did you do to her!' screamed Sarah as she cried tears running down her cheeks. X-23's wounds healed and she groggily sat up and hugged her mother.
Dr. Sutter who sits in the observation booth and simply smiles to Zander 'I'd say this test was a complete success'.