Heir of the Immortals Resurrection
Chapter 13
Entering the Neverland facility, Herald found himself in a medium-sized square room with white plaster walls and a tile floor. Sunlight shone through the black windows, bathing the room in a purple tint.
People hung from the ceiling, their feet somehow locking them in place. They varied in age, size, and height, but they all had pale skin. Their ears tapered to a point.
Moving through the bodies, he sniffed, "Graveyard soil and old blood. Vampires!" Pausing before one, he looked her over, she was young, maybe sixteen. Her black hair was draped towards the floor. Her skin was paperwhite, and like the others, her ears tapered to a point.
She was dressed in torn jeans and a blood-stained black T-shirt that somehow stayed in position even though she was upside down. "Why do these vampires look so different than the ones I've met before?" He shook his head, "That's not the question I should be asking myself. Should I kill them, or leave them alive?"
Raising a hand, he reached forward.
Suddenly, the girl's eyes snapped open, revealing a red Iris. Black veins traveled through the whites of her eyes connecting to the Iris. As she stared at him her round pupil changed to a vertical slit. She opened her mouth revealing elongated fangs along her top and bottom teeth.
With an animalistic hiss, she dropped to the floor. Claws emerging from her fingers and toes to click on the tile.
Around him more hissing filled the air, flicking his gaze from side to side, he found more red eyes staring at him thin serpent-like tongues lashing out to taste the air.
"Well, I guess I got my answer."
–XX –
Walking down the metal staircase leading from the roof, Mary paused on the landing. Pushing the door open. Before her, stretched a long white hallway, plastic beige railings ran the length of the walls. Bathed in pale harsh fluorescent lighting were two lines of people lining either side of the hallway.
There was a smattering of men and women wearing nurses' scrubs, or doctors' white lab coats. Moving into the hallway, she noticed IV stands between each individual that lined the hallway. Two bags of red liquid hung from the IV stand, tubes ran down from the bags and into the hallway occupant's arms.
Stopping before the first person in line, she looked them over.
She was 5'3" tall with paper white skin. Her ears jutted out ever so slightly from her head and curved to a point. Her dark hair was pulled back into a bun, two strands falling on either side of a heart-shaped face.
Mary admitted she would've been quite beautiful if it wasn't for the fact her nose turned up, her nostrils forming into slits. Leaning forward, she sniffed the woman coughing slightly at the stench of dirt and a metallic scent no one could mistake.
She drew back, her right hand rising to gripped the handle of her katana, "graveyard soil and old blood." Her Brown eyes narrowed, the blade of her sword sliding smoothly from its oiled sheath.
"Vampires," she hissed backing away.
Her gaze flicked between the two rows of the undead. She needed a way to take out all of them at once. Her eyes flickered upwards as she scanned the ceiling for cameras. Holding her blade horizontally across her body, she placed her left palm against its spine and closed her eyes.
She didn't see any cameras but that didn't mean they weren't there, which means she needs to end this quickly.
Since meeting and training with Herald, her powers had evolved, something about him pushed her power beyond their previous limits.
Her eyes flared with power as a blue aura danced around her blade. Releasing a breath, she forced everything else out. Silence filled her as only the beating of her heart thundered in her ears.
As the aura calmed, it formed across the blade like a second skin, a layer of fire danced along its edge. Taking a breath, she let it in and out, in, and out. On the third exhalation, she flicked her blade forward. In the blink of an eye, she flipped it over in the opposite direction and flicked it forward.
Two wire-thin crescent shape blades of fire swept through the hallway, cutting through one pale neck after another. As heads fell to the floor they burst into a pile of ash on impact. The bodies collapsed, the tubes in their arms falling to swing loose as the limb they were in burst into dust.
Flicking her blade out to the side, steam rose off the metal as she walked down the hallway. Turning the corner, she paused.
A door sat before her with a card reader where the handle was. Set into the wall beside the door was a small rectangular window. Through the window, she could see a woman lying in a bed, her face was relaxed, her dark hair splayed around her. While she was relaxed now, Mary could see stress lines along her healthy tan skin.
Stepping forward, she slid her blade back into its sheath, her eyes locked on the little girl beside the bed.
She was 4'6", long dark hair flowed down her back. Her small lips turned into a frown. Blue eyes snapped in her direction, two claws emerging from between her knuckles on her left hand, their metal coating gleaming in the light of the room.
'Harald, I need you here I found something that needs your expertise.'
While Herald had replicated her powers, he was more well-versed in using them in unorthodox ways, she mostly focused on using her telekinesis for combat and her telepathy to hide her presence. She placed her gloved hand on the glass, splaying out her dark fingers.
Head cocking to one side, the girl's claws slowly withdrew back into her hand.
–XX –
Floating in a translucent red sphere an inch above the floor, Herald watched the vampires all around him pound on the barrier. Saliva dripping from their open mouths as some tried to bite it.
Raising his left hand, he sent out a pulse of power. The pale skin creatures around him flew in all directions. A force of will sent the tile floor buckling upwards as it transformed into spikes that stabbed into hearts and heads.
The spikes through the heart froze them in place. The spike through the head exploded, sending bone and brain matter in all directions to splatter across the walls.
A few vampires were lucky enough to land outside his attack. Red eyes scanned their brethren. As one, they turned to run.
Curling his hand into a fist, the black windows shattered. Sunlight streamed into the room. Animalistic screeching filled the air as blue fire spread across the remaining undead, reducing them to ash within moments.
Coles glimmered with blue flames sending the scent of burned pork into the air.
Herald wrinkled his nose at the stench that permeated the space around him.
'Herald, I need you here I found something that needs your expertise.'
'I'm coming,' Harald folded in on himself, his body twisting as he vanished.
Albus Dumbledore strode upon the carnage, his gaze flicking around the ash and broken bits of tile that littered the ground before him. Tilting his head back, he sniffed the air, underneath the scent of his minions, something familiar tickled his nose.
"And here I thought you were dead." Turning, he began making his way back down the hallway. Pomona would want in on this.
–XX –
Space distorted as Herald popped into existence beside Mary, his eyes surveyed his surroundings, taking in the door and the people behind it within a moment. Without a word, he strode forward. Placing his hand over the card reader the device flashed green before the door hissed open.
Entering the room, the child (Laura) if he was reading Mary's mind right rose to her feet. He glanced at her, a red outline surrounding her body freezing her in place.
Raising his left hand, a portal opened in the ceiling and a man fell out.
James Howlett rose to a crouch, three claws emerging from between the knuckles on either hand. The metal-coated bone blades gleamed in the light as he sniffed the air, his blue eyes instantly locked on Herald, "Where am I and how did I get here?"
"You are in an old weapon X facility that has been taken over by a secret magical society. As for how you got here, when we met, I replicated Clarence Ferguson's powers. Reaching out with my mind, I found your location and opened a portal beneath you," he glanced over Logan, taking in the sweatpants covering his body, "I'm just glad you had a semblance of clothes on."
Approaching the woman in the bed (Sarah Kinney) according to Laura's memories, Herald stretched forth a hand, only to fill three metal points pressing the side of his neck.
"Okay, that explains the where and how, why don't you tell me the why, bub, and make yourself visible while you're at it, I don't want to talk to a pile of clothes."
Herald raised his left hand to rub the back of his head, shifting his skin so he became visible to Logan, a sheepish smile spread across his face, "Sorry about that, I forgot I had hidden my features." His solid red eyes flicked around the room, "I probably don't need to anymore since I have control of the security systems now."
"I'll answer your questions in a moment, but Sarah," he gestured to the lady on the bed, "needs to be healed, and I would like you to calm down Laura," he pointed to the girl beside the bed.
Logan turned, his blue eyes locking on the ten-year-old who had lowered her claws at the sight of him, his scent calming her somehow. Logan slowly withdrew his claws from Herald's neck. His nose flaring as he sniffed the air.
Placing a hand on Sarah's forehead, Herald sent a pulse of Biokinesis and telepathy through her mind, pulling in her information while scanning her body for injury.
Sarah was born the oldest child to Ronald and Leslie Kinney. From a young age, her home life was rough. Her father was a drunk and her mother had been abused so much that she was afraid to protect her daughters. At the age of eight things grew worse when her father started abusing her in a new way.
To escape the abuse, she threw herself into her studies spending all the time she could either in the school library or the local library in her town.
This diligence paid off when she met Narcissa Black, a woman who came to the school to talk about future careers. Seeing potential in Sarah, she offered her a scholarship to a private school. For the next ten years, she flourished in the school now away from her father's abuse. She gained a master's degree in biochemistry and genetics.
After gaining her degrees, at the record age of twenty-three, she took a job at Mys. Tech. After working for two years she was let in on the secret of magic. With her knowledge of biochemistry and genetics, she was assigned to work with magic-user Pomona Sprout on a project that would push the boundaries of human potential. It was Sarah's contribution that allowed Pomona Sprout to complete her seed.
While working with Pomona Sprout, Sarah was able to study the materials used by the magic users. Using these materials, she was able to develop a serum that allowed a human to mimic the powers of a mutant during sexual contact. Revealing this development to Narcissa Black had unintended consequences.
Around this time, Pomona Sprout had lost the seed they had been working on. So, Lily Potter decided to take the project in a new direction. However, to do that she needed a test subject that could be used multiple times.
To that end, a recently arrived Albus Dumbledore used vampiric hypnosis and forced Sarah to test the serum on herself. To have the test subject arrive when they needed them, Hermione Granger was ordered to use her time manipulation powers to send Sarah and Narcissa into the past.
Using her abilities, Narcissa instigated a meeting between Sarah and James Howlett a.k.a. Wolverine a.k.a. Logan. Through prior preparation, it did result in the child they wanted, and Sarah was able to replicate Logan's powers increasing the chance that her child would have regenerative abilities.
Using hidden assets of the company, Narcissa contacted Lily Potter and informed her of her future selves' actions enough to gain her help, having been ordered by the future Lily not to give her counterpart any more information the necessary to keep the timeline intact.
By the time Narcissa and Sarah were back in the present the child (Laura Kinney) was ten years old. During this time, Narcissa had been draining Sarah's life force to keep her compliant, the woman (Sarah) having become disillusioned with Mys. Tech after what they forced her to do.
The repeated draining of life force left her weak. Even though it pushed her healing factor to grow stronger, she was never left alone long enough to recover fully. Eventually, they were brought back to the Neverland facility. Sarah is used to make Laura compliant in the experiments and training the facility put her through.
Pulling out of her mind, Herald's lips twisted then his eyes widened.
Mary approached him, placing a hand on his right shoulder, "What is it?"
"Sarah was changed to mimic the powers of Logan after intercourse so that Laura would have a greater chance of developing a healing factor."
"So, is she a mutant, or a mutate?"
A mutant is someone born with an X gene, a special gene that changes their bodies in unpredictable ways. A mutate was a normal human that gains powers through an unnatural process that changes their bodies.
"From what my Biokinesis is telling me, whatever process they used copied Logan's X gene and grafted it onto her DNA, but the process wasn't smooth and may cause problems in the future."
"Logan, come here!"
The stocky Canadian turned to him from where he crouched near Laura, his muscles bulging, "What is it?" He rocked backward as Herald shoved the information he had gotten from Sarah into Logan's mind. Grunting, he rubbed his temples, "You're awful rough with your powers you know that."
"The scar tissue around your brain makes it difficult to affect your mind."
Nodding, Logan climbed to his feet, hesitantly placing his hand atop Laura's head. His teeth ground together as she tensed beneath his palm. "So," he said softly, "this girl is my daughter."
Laura's blue eyes widened as Herald inclined his head.
"Yeah, I would give you more time to spend with her, but this really isn't the place. Now, if you don't mind, I need to take a look at your X gene and fix Sarah. I will then give her an infusion of life force, which should get her back on her feet."
Logan stared at him for a long moment, "I don't trust you, we haven't known each other long enough for that, but if you wanted to harm me, you could've teleported me anywhere, so do what you need to do, but…" The claws on his left hand emerged, "try anything funny, and we'll see just how durable you are."
Placing his left hand on Logan's chest, he placed his right back on Sarah's forehead. Reaching out with his mind, he encompassed the two in his Biokinesis. Inside his mind, their DNA strands floated side-by-side. Carefully, he began shifting Sarah's X gene to match Logan's.
After about five minutes, he released a breath allowing his hands to drop, "There, it's done." Turning away from Logan, he focused on Sarah. White energy flared around his right hand, forming into tendrils that snaked their way into her body.
Sarah sat up with a gasp, her green eyes flicking around. In a moment she crouched on the bed, bone claws emerging from between her knuckles.
Harald glanced at Logan, "I'll let you handle this."
Sniffing, Logan moved forward, Laura almost glued to his leg, "Sarah…"
Sarah's green eyes snapped to Logan, "James." She swayed, a hand flying to her head, "What happened?" Her bone claws slowly retracted into her hand.
"Narcissa Malfoy used her abilities on you to drain your life force so that you would quit opposing them as they used Laura for their experiments."
Sarah stopped swaying, her eyes focusing on him, "Who are you?"
"Herald Edward Gallio," he bowed at the waist, "at your service."
Logan snorted as Sarah wrapped her arms around her daughter, "So, what happens now?"
"I think it would be best if you took them back to the Institute, there are others here that need to be rescued."
Mary backed away from the window, bumping into Logan, "Yeah about that, we've got company."
The space in the room was now tight with five people. Flicking his hand, Herald opened a portal in the form of a red oval against the wall. Pale red light bathed the occupant as Herald glanced at them, "This will take you to the Xavier Institute," he turned to Logan, "do you mind if I send the others there?"
"It wouldn't be much of a sanctuary for mutants if I did."
Sarah scooped up Laura in her arms and almost sprinted towards the portal not caring where it took her as long as it took her away from the facility.
Logan paused as he approached the portal, "I could stay you know."
"I would prefer you go and make sure Laura is safe, she needs her father."
"Thank you," Logan stepped into the portal.
As the portal vanished, the metal door to the room exploded inwards, crashing against the far wall and landing on the bed in a shower of plaster.
Albus Dumbledore strode into the room, his head held high, a confident smile on his narrow face, yellow eyes locked onto Herald and his fangs flashed. "I heard rumors that you were dead, I'm glad they were false. Now I can kill you myself."
Harald heard Dumbledore's words but he didn't respond, his eyes locked on the woman just behind the man, "Flora?"