Nathan watched as, in one fluid motion, Hybrid twirled through the air, keeping the spear between him and Deadpool at all times. The metallic clang of their swords colliding preceded a shower of sparks as the two warriors began. Hybrid jabbed again and again with his spear, faster than Nathan thought possible. Deadpool twirled his swords, parrying each blow away from his head as the Hybrid advanced on him, forcing him towards the windows.

Nathan pulled out his remaining pistol and took aim. Faster than a whisper, as if he had been watching him the entire time he fought Deadpool, Hybrid kicked off of the wall, the floor and finally ran along the ceiling towards Nathan. Every round he fired punched into the wall or ricocheted off of the hard marble floors, missing their mark. A slash from the pole of the spear caught Nathan in his hand, knocking his last pistol from his hand.

Hybrid attempted another slash to Nathan's face. He was faster than he'd expected but not fast enough. Nathan ducked his head and caught the spear by the pole and tried to jerk it out of his hands—to no avail. The Hybrid moved with the motion, keeping a grip on his weapon. He pivoted his body around, keeping hold of the spear with both hands. Nathan tried to grab the spear with both hands but by the time he had, he wished he hadn't. His feet came off of the ground and he found himself propelling towards the other side of the room face first. The Hybrid had flipped him over his shoulder using the spear to vault him across the room. Nathan tried to turn so that his feet would hit the wall but he wasn't quick enough. Upside down, he went into the wall back first. He landed hard on his head anyway.

He heard the metallic clangs of Deadpool making a second attempt at Hybrid. Nathan tried to focus but his head was spinning. As much as he could tell, Deadpool was gaining the upper hand in the battle, forcing Hybrid to retreat. It was as if he were watching some sort of choreographed martial arts movie. They turned, struck, parried, dodged, jumped and ducked as if they'd practice this battle a thousand times. Nathan caught sight of his pistol on the floor and was to his feet in a flash. He dove for it, snatched it, rolled, took aim and got ready to fire.

He didn't have a clear shot. He took the risk of hitting Deadpool if he fired now. He considered it for a split second, thinking that even if he hit Deadpool he'd survive because of his healing factor. He'd wondered if Deadpool could ever be killed and he'd come to two conclusions as to how. The first was to sever the connection his brain to the rest of his body so that his healing factor wouldn't kick in at all and the second one was to incinerate him entirely so that there was nothing to regenerate.

Apparently, Hybrid had known Deadpool from before. Nathan wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but he had a pretty good idea as he watched Hybrid strike with his spear. It became clear when he performed a move that Deadpool had taught him.

Hybrid was one of his pupils!

Just as a shot cleared Hybrid began bouncing noiselessly off of the walls again. He put his spear under a marble table and lifted it effortlessly in the air. He turned it up on its side and strafed behind it so that it acted as a human shield. Before the table landed on the ground again, Nathan saw it flying towards him. He fired two rounds and punched it with his free hand, shattering it into millions of pieces. Hybrid and Deadpool were already engaged in battle again, their blades clanging and sparking together in a ruckus. Nathan fired rounds at Hybrid, all of them missed crashing into the window behind him. The glass exploded on the balcony floor.

Nathan was about reload and start again but the MCA burst in through the door and through the balcony.

Here come the reinforcements…Nathan thought bitterly. His hopes for freedom had skyrocketed when he discovered that he knew the Hybrid from when he'd come to youth group with his brother. They had plummeted to the ground when he'd begun to attack them relentlessly.

Deadpool dealt him a kick to the stomach and he went flying backwards. He used his spear to stab vertically into the ceiling, swing around it like a gymnast and give Deadpool a refund kick to the chest. Deadpool disappeared as he flew down a hallway.

The booming rattle of automatic weapons being fired resounded and resonated in the living room of the condo. Contrary to what must've been instinctive, Hybrid kicked off of the wall and dove straight towards the onslaught the MCA was serving him. He twirled, pivoted and dodged in air unnaturally, as if he were changing the effects of gravity so that the bullets sailed harmlessly past him. He kicked off of the floor and the ceiling before his spear came down on the agent closest to him. Nathan could only watch in horror as the lance blade divided his perfectly in half.

He flipped his staff around, spraying blood in several directions and hit the guard in the side, before he even had the opportunity to fall to the ground. As if he'd hit the man with a wrecking ball, he flew into the wall and out of Hybrid's way. The remaining three before him fired simultaneously at him, from a mere five feet away—impossible to miss from such short range. Nathan expected bullets to tear through his flesh and kill him. He knelt to the ground and held out his hand—and the bullets changed their path and went around him. It was as if he made them ricochet and go everywhere. They went on a complete semi circle arc around him and continued their path behind him—to the MCA agents coming through the balcony. He watched as they tried to move dive out of the way, frantic for their lives but the bullets tore through their vests, sending cherry red sprays of blood into the air.

The shooters' magazines eventually ran empty. Hybrid looked up at them and smiled, spear poised to kill. One ejected the magazine from the gun and reached for another one but he was dead before the magazine hit the floor. Hybrid whipped his spear horizontally in the air, catching the agent in the throat. He turned his swear and attempted a downward attack on the second agent, who blocked with his gun. Once, twice, a third time he was able to parry the attack as the third agent fumbled for another magazine in a stupor.

With an ornate twirl, Hybrid faked a horizontal attack but jabbed the end of his spear into the man's foot. The man screamed in pain and the Hybrid abandoned his weapon to take care of the last shooter, who had reloaded by now. He used his hand to point the weapon towards the man with the spear in his foot. The nervous shooter desperately pulled the trigger sending bullets barraging into his comrade. Hybrid jumped, while still keeping a tight hold on the man's rifle and arm, wrapped his legs around the man's neck, tugged him to the ground and snapped it like a twig.

He doesn't have that spear to fight now! Nathan thought, taking a chance. He leapt at him with all of the strength and speed in him. He punched him squarely in the chin but it was like hitting nothing. His punch had no impact on him as far as injury though he flew into the wall behind him. He kicked off of it and came flying back towards Nathan in a flurry of black. They engaged in hand-to-hand fighting and Nathan discovered that his speed was equally matched. He was still a little stronger than Hybrid—than Garrett.

He let his instincts take over as he mind fluttered from thought to thought. Garrett used to come to youth with his brother all the time, years ago. He stopped coming after a while and then he supposedly ran away from home, never to be seen again. They had found remains of his body in a city on the east coast, and he was said to be no more. Had he faked his death? Did anyone else know? How had he become the Hybrid, most feared and deadliest of all assassins? Who had he killed? Would he kill Nathan, though they had been friends? That answer seemed pretty apparent as he continued to punch and kick at him.

Nathan saw a window of opportunity in the fight, dealing him a horrible clout to the ribs, following by a successive jab and hook to the face, and finished off nicely with a kick to the gut, sending him tumbling to the floor. He couldn't waste any time, Nathan knew so he pursued him, ready to kill him where he lied. Hybrid had already made his way to his feet. He kicked a sofa at the corner of it and it flew at Nathan. Unable to anticipate such a random maneuver, the sofa smashed Nathan against the wall.

As he was lifting the sofa off of him so that he could get up a spear came through the cushions, missed his head by millimeters and penetrated the hard marble floor. Nathan summoned the strength in his arms and chest heaving the sofa off of him with his arms and legs, vaulting it off of him. The spear tore out of the floor and sent a puff of powdered stone in the air. As the sofa flew, Hybrid scaled it in midair, getting on the other side of it so that he did not also hit the wall. He dove forward towards Nathan and the fighting began again. He threw a jab, Nathan blocked. He gave him a series of punches to the gut and ribs doubling him over and pushing him back. Before Nathan could put up his guard, or react in anyway for that matter, Hybrid flip-kicked him in the chin. The next thing Nathan knew he was on the floor above them, crashing through drywall, metal piping, and marble. He landed on his back and stared at the ceiling, seeing stars.

He'd been dealt quite a wallop. He sat up, expecting to have to rush back into battle again. He looked at the whole from which he'd emerged. At the angle he was at, he could see that Hybrid and Deadpool were fighting again. For the best, Nathan figured. Those precious few seconds gave his healing factor time to rejuvenate his body. He lay still, letting his new mutation do its work. He concentrated so that the process would go as quickly as possible.

When he had regain enough energy to return to the fight he jumped to his feet and through the hole in the floor, back into the condo. Deadpool was slashing away at Hybrid but unable to hit him because of his uncanny swiftness. He was such a challenge of a fight because any part of the condo was terrain for him to tread on. He could run on the walls and even the ceiling with little effort, opening all kind of stance opportunity for him.

Nathan rushed to Deadpool's aid, trying to grab Hybrid. He easily evaded the attack and kicked him in the head sending him back the way he'd come. The distraction had been enough opportunity for Deadpool to sneak an attack in with one if his bokken swords. Hybrid took a quick look at his wound, and jumped away, attempting to retreat.

Oh no you don't!

Nathan reached out and grasped him by the heel. He swung him around, keeping his body low so that he would wreck into whatever stray furniture was in the living room. The crash and clutter was horrendous. Nathan let go of his heel and let him fly through the air and as expected, Hybrid came flying back towards him, bouncing off the wall as if he were light as a feather. Nathan jumped in the air, spun and kicked Hybrid into the mirror on the wall beside them. It was clearly not something that he'd prepared for as he crashed into the mirror and then to floor. Shards of the mirror fell to the floor around him. His next intension was clear.

He gathered up the pieces of glass with his hand, the ones that were big enough to throw and he hurled them at Nathan. Flipping backwards once, twice, and performing a spiral dive, he managed to leave the attack unscathed. They engaged in battle again. Nathan punched, blocked, and punched again—pain! He'd been stabbed in the ribs with a shard of glass that Hybrid had been holding back. He countered with a punch to the jaw his foe would not soon forget. He reached for his butterfly knife, unsheathed it and let it fly, aiming for Hybrid's throat. As if he had the power of telekinesis, Hybrid held out his right hand and the knife changed its course. He caught it and threw it back at Nathan, who had just enough time to put his hand up.

The blade penetrated the skin and it was stuck in his hand. He growled in pain and snatched it out, unable to keep from watching as the wound closed up and healed so that there was not so much as a scar to show for it.

"That's handy," Hybrid admired as he too watched the wound seal up. Nathan shot a look over to his left to see that Deadpool was once again up and ready to fight. At last, they would have the opportunity to double-team him. It was clear that it was going to take that much. It was no wonder Hybrid was known to be so deadly—you couldn't catch him if he ran.

"Two against one? It just doesn't seem fair!" he taunted them. He pulled two sais from his belt and twirled them with skill. All of this sword fighting was making Nathan wish he'd brought more than just a butterfly knife to this fight, he would get slashed to ribbons if he jumped in. His eyes darted around.

Forget this! Where're my guns?

Deadpool lashed out and Hybrid crossed his blade. The clanging noise was almost rhythmic as their swords sparked and danced through the air. Nathan's pistols were nowhere to be found, so he settled for one of the agents'. Nabbing the pistol he turned and aimed. He was concerned for Deadpool's safety for only a second, and then Hybrid kicked him across the room. Nathan pulled the trigger as fast as the gun would allow, keeping it trained on Hybrid's midsection. Once again the bullets seemed to pass through him and go into the wall. Shooting at him was completely useless, Nathan figured.

Suddenly an idea came to him, but it would involve him getting all slashed up or end up with missing limbs. While Deadpool's healing factor would regenerate lost parts for him, Nathan was certain that his would not fair as well. He'd have to hope he'd get lucky and Hybrid would only stab him.

The array of bullets that Nathan sent Hybrid's way was just enough time for Deadpool to recuperate and strike again. Nathan searched frantically through an agent's pack, looking for the one thing that he was sure would stop Hybrid on his tracks.

YES!

He pulled the darts out and uncapped them, ready to strike. He didn't waste any time, he leapt through the air at Hybrid, completely disregarding the pain he knew was coming his way. He grasped the needles in his hand and placed his thumbs at the end of them. He landed behind Hybrid and went for it, with all of his might, only to end up with his sais stabbed deep within his belly. But that was all the time that Nathan needed. He jabbed the needles into Hybrid's soft neck flesh and pumped him full of sedatives.

When Hybrid pulled the sais out of Nathan's gut, he thought for sure he'd bleed to death before his healing factor kicked in. He'd twisted the blades on the way out, opening the wound to nearly three times the size it would have normally been. Nathan grasped the wounds, as if he could hold the blood in. He fell to his knees, lightheaded and watched as Hybrid plucked the needles from his neck. Deadpool struck him on the head from behind, knocking him to his knees as well. Just when everything started to fade to black, Nathan could feel the tingle in his stomach. He still didn't know if he would make it.

Everything faded and the last thing he remembered seeing was Lindsey reaching out for him, begging for his help. He was, once again, unable to answer her call and he slipped into unconsciousness.

Deadpool looked down on his two fallen pupils. He had trained them both and trained the well. He was worried that even with Nathan's help he would be unable to stop Hybrid. The kid had far surpassed Deadpool in everyway. He was so lethal and so deadly, the MCA didn't dare send a routine combat squad to pick him up, and they had to use mutants to do their dirty work.

You fight fire with fire, he thought. He looked around. He had precious few seconds to accomplish what he needed to. He pulled down the rope from the grappling device above and coiled it up. He drug Nathan, who was alive but unconscious and Hybrid, who would be out for a long time, considering the dose of sedatives that Nathan had given him, to the center of the room. He positioned them in a sitting position, back-to-back and began to bind them together. Around and around he coiled the rope, around his pupils.

He pulled down the next rope, cut it in half and bound each of their feet. They weren't going anywhere quickly if they woke up. Both of them would be far too weak to break out of the ropes holding them. Even Nathan, with his superior strength wouldn't fully recover from the wound that Hybrid dealt to him for another hour or so. Such a wound would've killed an ordinary man in seconds.

Now for the fun part…he thought dryly. Using his bokken sword he hacked off his left hand. He cried out in pain as the healing factor restored the limbs. He continued to do this, cutting little bits off of his body and placing them strategically around Nathan and Hybrid. At last he began to place incendiary explosives all around them. His new plan was working more perfectly than he thought.

If we're dead, they won't come looking for us…this is the only way…

He looked down and saw that Nathan was stirring to consciousness and opening his eyes. Deadpool kept his gaze fixed on his pupil as their gaze met.

"Deadpool? What's going on?" Nathan asked. His equilibrium must've been off or something. He couldn't see or focus on anything with his head spinning the way that it was.

"Glad to see that you're still among the living, for now," he heard Deadpool his quite diabolically.

"What're you doing?" Nathan demanded, realizing for the first time that he was tied up. He knew that he was tied back-to-back to someone. Though he couldn't see who it was, he had a pretty good idea.

"What has to be done, my friend. The MCA will continue to hunt us unless they think we are dead. The squad they sent here with us is dead, but it won't be long before a replacement comes to check on their progress. If all they find are pieces of us, they'll think that we were all incinerated in the blast!"

Nathan looked around and saw that there were bombs set around him—one on each side and one in front of him. There wouldn't be much, if anything at all, left of him if Deadpool ignited the charges. Here and there were limbs and different body parts that could've only come from Deadpool. His plan was suddenly made clear to Nathan.

"You're going to blow us up and you're going to escape!"

"You always did catch on pretty quick, Nathan. Your ideas of living a normal happy life were too good to resist! Now, you've provided me with the perfect opportunity to achieve it!"

"So you're going to use me, kill me so that you can have your perfect life? What about our training? What about being partners?" Nathan asked. He didn't have anything in him left to hurt, so anger was the only emotion that he could feel bubbling up within him.

"Nathan, you fool. I've been using you from the very beginning!" Deadpool tugged off his mask and Nathan nearly leapt from his skin. It was as if he was looking in the mirror, for Deadpool wore his face.

"How?" was all that Nathan could manage.

"When I brought you in I took detailed, 3-D pictures of your head. While you were away in Sheol, undergoing your treatment I was busy having my face redone!"

"You planned on stealing my identity? That's ignorant, Deadpool! You can't go around wearing my face. The MCA will come looking for me!"

"Not if you're splattered all over this condo!" Deadpool shot back. "Sure, I'll have to lay low for a while, but once they discover that you and Hybrid are dead, and they assume that I'm dead from the pieces left of me, I'll be able have my freedom!" he laughed.

"I trusted you! You were my leader, my mentor!" Nathan protested.

"Oh, you're breaking my heart! You've got sixty seconds to make your peace with God, Nathan. Have a nice rest of your life!" he taunted and he was gone out of the window, never to be seen again.

Panic began to swell inside of Nathan as he looked down at the timer. Sure enough, he had fifty-two seconds since Deadpool had given him sixty.

I'm not dying like this…not today.

His strength had not returned to full yet and he was unable to break the ropes. He fought and struggled with everything that he had, not able to break them. He had to think of something fast. The bombs' beep-beep countdown chime didn't help his thought process. He reached back with his hands to feel around for something in Hybrid's pocket or pack—anything, a knife a key, a piece of glass—wait! He felt the familiar shape of a shuriken in his hand. Even though it cut into his fingers and he could feel the blood start to trickle down his wrists. He hacked away at the ropes with everything that he had in him. He dared to glance at the timer and he roared with frustration. He had thirty-one seconds left.

The first three rounds of the rope were cut, he didn't have the strength to break them but they were loose enough now to wiggle out of. He cut the ropes around his feet with a little more ease and jumped to his feet. He looked down at the timer and then to Hybrid. He had precious few seconds to make a decision before it was too late. Should he take him with him? Save him? Should he run for it, hide and save himself?

In the small frame of time given him, Nathan scooped up Hybrid, and positioned him over his shoulder. With twelve seconds left on the clock, Nathan bolted for the door. He ran down the all with all of his might, passing the elevator and hoping for set of stairs. It set off the emergency alarm as he busted through. He cleared one flight of stairs before the blast went off, shaking the whole building to the foundation. He found the nearest fire escape and went down it, carrying Hybrid the whole way. He had to find some place to lay low for a while, but he was out of ideas. He'd never been to Puerto Rico before. The sky suddenly broke with lightning, thunder and rain. Nathan had known a storm was coming.

He ran, his healing factor keeping him steady with his pace until he got to an abandoned house in the slums of the city he was in. He plopped Hybrid on the floor and dropped from exhaustion. He wasn't on the floor for more than a few seconds before he fell asleep.

Again the same nightmare…unable to save his beloved…flooded through his thoughts.