xXx
Geraint stepped into the dark office and waited patiently. The tall chair behind the desk was turned with its back to the door. Its occupant gazed out the vast bay window that formed the back wall of the office. The window gave a spectacular view of the nearby woods, only slightly marred by the security measures about the perimeter. Silvery light from the night sky was the only interruption of the inky shadows that coiled about the heavy desk and lay thick across the carpeted floor.
"Yes, Geraint?" A soft voice came from behind the chair.
"Your contact from the Inner Circle has arrived, sir," Geraint said to the back of the chair.
"Yes… I know." The voice was just loud enough to be heard. "Inform him that my presence is not required for the demonstration. Tell him I have been unavoidably detained. I will speak with him later."
"Of course, sir. I will handle the demonstration personally." Geraint nodded curtly to the seat back. "We have not received word of the… other visitors as of yet. I will inform you as soon as we have sign of their arrival."
"Don't bother," the man in the chair said. Geraint could see one hand gesture idly at the scene through the window. "They have already arrived. They will be making their presence known any moment. Prepare the demonstration. I will be along later."
Geraint did not question. "Yes sir." He left his master to his thoughts.
xXx
Logan slipped up alongside the fence. This close, he could smell the current charging the air. Ambient static crackled in his unruly hair.
He examined the fence closely. His mind noted the transformers attached to the chain link fence at regular intervals, the concertina wire wrapped densely across the top. The whole length of fence was charged, but there were no alarms attached to detect a disruption in the current.
Snikt.
His claws extended with a thought. Logan gritted his teeth at what he knew came next. The standard grade metal of the fence parted easily beneath the force of his adamantium claws. Power surged down the blades, through the meat of his hand. It vibrated along his metal-laced skeleton for just a moment. Electricity seared its course through his flesh. The shock reverberated off his bones and radiated out every follicle of every hair. His entire body was alive with energy and frying from the inside out.
After a moment, the pain subsided to a bearable level. He carefully crept through the slit fence.
He smelled them before they arrived. Twin Dobermans howled their fury at an interloper on their turf. They charged across the yard at Logan, teeth bared in feral snarls. Logan met them with his own snarl. He flashed his canines and let the growl rumble up from deep within his chest. The ferocious dogs shuddered to an abrupt halt before Logan. The three circled each other warily, sniffing carefully at each other's scent to take measure of the opposition. Finally, the dark dogs bowed their heads with a submissive whine, and pushed up against Logan's outstretched hands. With an affectionate, pat he sent the pair scurrying back across the yard.
A heartbeat later, Logan joined the shadows stretching across the grass perimeter. He worked his way along the wall of the building until he reached the northeast corner of the facility. From his position of relative safety in a shadowed juncture between two buildings, he surveyed the field. Above him, a security camera whined quietly as it arced back and forth.
Dead center in its field of vision, a tall guard tower stood at the northeast corner of the fence. Logan counted three figures in the cupola perched atop the sturdy wooden struts. The three focused most of their attention on the other side of the fence, expecting any trouble to come from outside rather than within. Logan smiled.
"Time for a good old fashioned distraction," he muttered to himself. Logan launched himself with ferocious speed across the intervening space to the tower supports.
Yellow sodium light glinted off Logan's razor sharp claws as they snapped out of their housings. He released a guttural howl before launching himself at the nearest support. Within moments, the thick pole ripped to splinters beneath his onslaught. The structure above shuddered. Cries of surprise echoed down. Red dots sprang to life across the ground and tracked their way to Logan's broad back. He paid them no heed as he slashed at the connecting beam between the shorn pillar and the next support. Rifles stuttered to life above and dirt sprayed about Logan's feet, but he quickly sprinted beneath the structure where the guns of the guards above could not shoot him.
He listened for a moment to the cracking groan of over-stressed wood. One more beam ought to do it. A quick double fisted slash, and another pillar erupted into splinters. The entire tower shuddered once, then released a terrible groan and began to topple inward. Logan leaped and rolled as the remaining columns snapped beneath the weight of the cupola and toppled the whole tower to earth.
As the shattered bones of the ruined tower settled, Logan leaped onto the lopsided roof of the cupola and loped up to the side, which now formed its sagging top. He was dimly aware of the wail of alarms in the distance, but his senses focused on the cries of the guards within the rubble. One lay pinned beneath a ruptured support, unable to free himself from its immense weight. Another whimpered piteously from beneath a heap of collapsed roofing. Logan noted that one leg bent at a sharp, unnatural angle. He judged that the guard would live, if not walk normally again. The third guard was nowhere to be seen. Logan sniffed experimentally, scenting for him.
Twin blooms of pain erupted in his lower back. Logan growled in rage and twirled towards the source of the staccato gunfire. The remaining guard pushed broken slats away and lurched free of the wreckage. Blood streamed down the left side of his face, but the soldier ignored it and kept his assault rifle trained on Logan.
"That's low, bub. Shootin a man in the back," Logan growled. He could already feel his body forcing the hot lead slugs from his flesh. "Still, you don't have to die. Put the gun down and you can walk away."
He leaped as the guard's finger squeezed the trigger. Logan's claws sliced through the barrel of the gun. The weapon fell to pieces at the guard's feet. He didn't notice, his attention preoccupied with the claws slashing through his body armor and deep into his chest. A look of shock registered on the soldier's face as he slipped free of the claws and slumped to the ground.
Logan leaped free of the rubble and sprinted towards the nearest wall of the facility.
"Better get a move on, Remy. I hope all this ain't fer nothin." Logan launched himself up the side of the building.
Unseen, dark shapes separated from the shadowed recesses of the building and circled around behind him.
xXx
Remy waited patiently atop a rise overlooking the southern perimeter fence. He bided his time by watching the patterns of the guards as they passed along the inside of the electrified barrier.
Soon, a horrendous wrenching rumble from the north rewarded his patience. Guards lurched to a halt and muttered into their radios before they scurried across the campus towards the disturbance.
"As good as you promised, mon ami," Remy muttered with a smile. He reassured himself that the guards had all taken flight, then he hurtled down the rise towards the fence. Scant feet before he crashed headlong into the electrified chain link, Remy thrust his staff into the hard earth and vaulted high above the razor sharp wire. He executed a tight flip in the air and landed softly on his feet. A quick glance around assured that his maneuver had gone unnoticed, and he continued across the field to the high walls of the facility beyond.
Remy ignored the outbuildings and made straight for the central structure. With practiced ease, he avoided the security cameras and the few guards who remained at their posts. Prowling around the building's base, he finally found the object of his search. Steam rose lazily through the slats of the heating duct vent.
Remy smiled. "Easy as pie."
In moments, the grate was free. He slipped into the darkness beyond.
xXx
Logan gripped the edge of the building and muscled his body onto the flat roof above. He trotted past the modern day crenelations of air conditioning units and power generators that studded the rooftop.
The hair prickled tightly across his back, and his senses flared. Logan lurched to a stop.
Black shapes materialized from behind the roof's many obstructions. They formed a loose circle around him.
"Ninja?" Logan grunted. "Must be protectin somethin mighty important." The dark clad warriors slowly closed in. Ninjato slid free of their sheaths, and paired sais twirled in anticipation.
"Looks like you fellas mean business." Logan eyed his silent adversaries. "Alright then, let's get this over with."
Snikt.
Claws slipped free once again from their housings as Logan hurled himself at the ninja unfortunate enough to be closest at hand. The warrior raised his sword to ward off the attack, but Logan's backhanded slash shattered the blade into metallic splinters. His claws slid easily beneath the ninja's ribcage, then Logan tore him open.
He tasted the hot salty blood spattered across his face and smiled. There was nothing of humanity in that fierce grin, only the pure visceral joy of the kill. Another ninja leaped at him, his sword slicing through the air towards Logan's head. The feral beast watched in slow motion as the gleaming arc of metal descended in a shuddering crash across the top of his skull. Metal rasped against metal as the ninja withdrew the blade. Logan followed the retreating motion of the blade with the advancing motion of his claws. He impaled the warrior with two fistfuls of adamantium.
Blood gushed from the slash across Logan's scalp and turned his vision red. He gave himself to the fury that boiled from his veins.
He leaped between the next pair of attackers, his claws rending first metal, then cloth, then flesh. The two toppled away and Logan whirled towards the next threat. Another black clad shape stood calm before him, sword leveled at Logan's throat. He batted the sword away with a backhanded strike, driving his claws towards the ninja's abdomen.
Logan lurched in surprise; his left arm was caught. A black cord wrapped around his forearm, held by one of the ninja. Another cord lashed out and coiled around his right forearm with a snap. The ninja on the other end pulled the line taught; Logan growled as his arms threatened to pop out of joint.
Logan twisted his torso sharply, pulling both arms close to his chest and hauling the ninja off balance. Swiveling, he lashed out with both arms. With a deft twist of his wrists, his claws severed the bindings with a snap. The two ninja lurched back, and Logan leaped past them towards higher ground. He scrabbled his way up the sloping roof of the central building. At its pinnacle, a long panel of glass formed a sunroof to a spacious chamber below. Logan eyed the dirty glass warily, then smiled.
The ninja were swift to follow They surrounded Logan once again. Black cords lashed at him. Logan reached out and deliberately grabbed hold of each line as it snaked towards him. Two, then three, then four lines wound tightly around his arms and torso. He twisted his arms around each cord, pulling in as much slack as he could before the ninja at the other end pulled the cord taught. The fifth cord found its mark, and then the sixth. Satisfied that they had him restrained, the ninja began pulling sharply at each cord, squeezing him, trying to pull him apart.
Logan released the slack he had gathered in the lines as he leaped. His claws led the way. The glass pane of the sunroof shattered, and he plummeted to the floor several stories below. Unprepared for his jump and his weight, the ninja were yanked off the roof by their cables, following Logan through the skylight.
Logan hit the floor. Hard. Flesh collided sharply with concrete. His skull clanged dully as it smacked against the unyielding surface. Ninja rained down with sickening crunches. Logan's adamantium laced bones didn't shatter with the impact. The ninja were not so lucky. Logan stood, wiped the blood from his face, and quickly shed the lines binding him to the twisted corpses.
He froze, every muscle suddenly tense. His olfactory sense revved into overdrive. The scent that drifted to his nose was achingly familiar; the crispness of newly turned pages, a gentle cleansing shampoo, the scent of herbal tea. Yet there was another layer atop the familiar, smothering out the scents that hinted at hidden memories. The intoxicating smell of exotic spices, the acrid burn of sweat. And death. Death permeated the entire mixture and sent cold shivers down Logan's spine.
He turned towards the source of the scent. Standing amidst the fallen bodies of the ninja was a tall Asian woman. Her long black hair was swept away from her sharp, delicate features. It cascaded down her back. Her lithe form, taut with muscle, was wrapped in the black garb of the ninja. Her black eyes pierced Logan and seemed to burrow deep into his soul.
The woman did not look familiar to him, but a flash of recognition hit him as Logan recalled the familiar root of the scent.
"Betsy? Is… is it you?" he mumbled, stunned. His hands dropped to his side.
The woman ninja pivoted and snapped a savage kick into Logan's neck. Black spots swarmed across Logan's vision.
She followed up with a swift barrage of punches. Her knee snapped up and rammed into his groin, and Logan collapsed to the ground in shocked agony. The last thing he saw before the darkness overwhelmed him was her foot descending towards his face.
xXx
Huge incandescent light fixtures flickered to life high above, nestled among the pipes, wires and heating ducts that crisscrossed the chamber's lofty ceiling.
"Well done, Ms. Braddock. Well done." Magnus stepped out towards the black clad woman in the center of the room, Geraint at his side. Geraint waved to a squad of attendants. They rushed an elaborate gurney across the floor, lifting Logan's short and bulky form and strapping him to it. They locked down each deadly hand with metal bands across the wrists.
"You've changed quite a bit since the last time I saw you," Magnus observed, watching Braddock.
She nodded, flushed with the excitement of combat.
"The question that remains for me," Magnus added, "is how your psionic talents dovetail with ninja training. I want to see how that works."
Geraint smiled. "You will have ample opportunity to witness the extent of Ms. Braddock's abilities. This was simply a demonstration of the combat training we have been able to instill in the subject using the rigorous techniques of the ninja clan." Geraint walked over to the gurney and checked each restraint to ensure Logan was as secure as possible. "This fellow is a fugitive, actually. He's had some mental tampering done to him, and he's cunning enough to elude one of our rivals for years. He will serve as a test subject so you can see how Braddock's mental interrogation techniques work. By the time she's done with him, he'll tell us everything he knows about his former masters."
"And what will become of him once the demonstration is complete?" Magnus asked.
Geraint suppressed a chuckle. "We sell him back to our rivals," he said. He glanced sharply upward, his eyebrows contracting. Magnus turned, eyes searching, some other less obvious sense probing.
He nodded, and reached out his hand. Energy throbbed through the air about him. Magnus closed his hand to a fist, and a section of the metal heating duct wrenched free and floated down to the floor. The tube landed with a clang, and Magnus flexed his hand. The tube squeezed tight in the middle and both ends ripped free to reveal Remy bound tight within the rent metal duct.
"I see I am just in time for the party," Remy said with a ready smile.
Braddock was at his side in a moment. She knelt by his head and pulled sharply on his long brown hair. Remy winced but would not cry out. "Apologize," she murmured.
"My most humble apologies, monsieurs," Remy quickly spat out as Braddock wrenched on his hair again. "An I apologize in advance for any damages my friends and I may cause when we bust out of dis place."
"Silence him," Geraint sighed.
Braddock's fist cracked into his temple, and Remy's skull rebounded from the hard floor. Consciousness fled.
xXx
Forge crouched in the corner of the dim room. The terminals, monitors and control panels that encrusted the wall cast their own fitful illumination on the cold metal floor. The display lights flitted across Forge's Native American features as he woke the machines from their lethargy. Once the central processor hummed to life, Forge sat before the main terminal and got to work.
He pulled the glove off his left hand. He flexed the plastic and metal replacement for his lost appendage, then pulled two filaments from a compartment built into the back of the hand. He snapped the filaments into jacks on the control panel and data began to flash past on the monitor at an incredible pace.
While the computer whirred and electronic data flowed from the main databanks into Forge's memory storage, he looked up at the camera in the ceiling. Its one-eyed gaze fixed directly on him. Forge pulled a flat metal pad from his belt pouch and lit up the display. Camera feeds from all over the facility registered on the small pad, and Forge reassured himself that the cloaking device that hid him from the security systems was still in effect.
The computer beeped, alerting him that the download was complete.
Forge snapped to attention as boots echoed down the hall to his left.
"Just in time," he muttered to himself. He pulled his filaments out of the main terminal. The marching feet grew louder as they progressed down the corridor. Forge swore to himself. He left the computers running and dodged into the opposite corridor. Away from his extraction point.
xXx
Logan awoke to nothingness.
He sniffed cautiously to gather clues about his location. Nothing.
He opened his eyes. Again, nothing.
His ears were silent, and the chill that should have prickled the hairs of his body did not.
There was only thought.
Only Logan.
His thoughts formed into a vision of himself, floating in the nothingness, alone. No, not alone. Something prowled through the void. Something visceral and lethal, something all too familiar. The thing materialized. Logan stared at himself, at a dark shadow of himself. Huge, muscled, weirdly alien and familiar.
The thing leaped, canines bared in a silent howl. Claws burst from its hands as it crashed into Logan. He fought back with adamantium; the shafts of metal rammed through his chest. The beast grinned, feral, as the claws lanced through Logan's heart and his lifeblood gushed over both of them.
Finally, a sensation. Pain. Unimaginable pain.
His scream went unvoiced.
