A/N: Happy March, everyone! We're back with a brand new chapter, going into detail on a key factor many have been asking about! So sit back, relax, and enjoy!
Iron Knight created by Batmarcus. Scarlet Spider created by Ghost Fire 6. Trickshot created by myself. Editing done by Ghost Fire 6 and Lord Zeppelin.
22:32, July 2, 1970, Alberta, Canada
Alarms blared throughout the facility, overpowering the panicked breathing of a dark haired scientist as he crammed documents into his briefcase. As he did so, he grabbed a picture off his desk, one of the scientist and a boy with features similar to his. Gunshots echoed in the distance, pulling the scientist from his ruminations. He shoved the picture into his coat pocket, slamming the briefcase shut as he hurried out of his office.
How had it all gone so wrong? Today was supposed to be a day of triumph, a day of accomplishment as they all accomplished what they had set out to do. And for a moment, all had gone according to plan. But then the subject rebelled, and now…
"There he is! Take him do-aghhh!"
"Oh god, he got Steve!"
"Pour it on him! Don't let him through!"
"What the hell is this thing?!"
The scientist heard the yelling of the security forces, followed immediately by gunfire, but he knew they wouldn't last. They had done too good a job, made too perfect a weapon. The scientist's only respite was to run, run as fast as he could through the hallways and corridors of the base. He knew his employers would call him a coward, would make sure he paid for abandoning them, but he would worry about that later. First, he needed to survive.
He shoved the door open, being met with the harsh, cold air of the Canadian wilderness. But as cold and harsh as it was, it was preferable to the sound of blood and panic that permeated the base.
The scientist pulled his jacket close, heading to where he thought the roads were. If he could get to the road, he could find a car, flag someone down, and-
SNIKT
Three blades protruded from his chest, piercing through his heart as he gasped. The blades were pulled from his back, and he fell to the ground. His strength fading as the blood poured from his chest, the man was able to look behind him, being greeted with the cold, red visor of Weapon X, blood dripping from both sets of claws. Clad only in the barest of undergarments, wires protruding from all over his short, hairy body, and a thick helmet with a red visor on his head, Weapon X betrayed no emotion as the man beneath him bled out. Weapon X skulked off into the night, removing his helmet as he staggered into the dark.
With the life gushing out of his chest, the scientist weakly looked to the picture clutched tightly in his hands, staring at the boy.
"Xander…"
November 23, 2002, Ontario
A man in his early 40's with thinning dark hair and a thin, shrewd face stared at the very same picture the scientist had clutched in his hands years prior. His face was a thin frown, his eyes burning with fury as he stared at the bloodstains on the edge of the photograph. "Doctor Rice? She's here, sir." His secretary stated over the intercom, Xander Rice pressing a button to let her in.
"Send her in." No sooner did he say that, did the door open. In walked a woman in her late 20's, dark hair tied behind her in a bun, green eyes hiding a hint of mischief.
"You wanted to see me, Doctor Rice?"
"Skip the pleasantries, Dr. Kinney. We both know why you're here." Rice spat, turning to face her. "I gave you a direct order that you were off the Weapon XI project. And yet I find out that you've not only been defying my direct orders, but you've been conducting your own off the books experiments. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I still say that I was right. We were going about the Weapon XI project all wrong. The samples from Weapon X were too degraded, too damaged. All the previous 22 attempts failed to yield anything viable because the original subject's DNA is too aggressive, it was rejecting the gaps we tried to fill in. It's why none of the embryos were viable."
"All for the better, if you ask me." Rice spat. "The X-Gene is too much of an unstable variable, it's too unpredictable. Attempting to replicate is a fool's errand, something I've repeatedly insisted to The Board."
"I know I was brought in to help map the mutant genome, to help fill in the gaps, but replicating it was never the way to go." Sarah explained, earning a scowl from Rice.
"Not this idiotic idea again…"
"It's like I told you, the Y chromosome in the original sample was too damaged, on top of thirty years of degradation. It's why none of our clones make it to term. I believe that instead of replicating based on damaged material, we modify the Y chromosome into an X chromosome, and fertilize an embryo using that material. This way, the egg and the sampe would fill in the gaps in each other, creating a viable subject. The mutant DNA would still be active, and you'd still have all the desirable traits that Weapon X had." Kinney explained, and Rice shook his head.
"And like I already told you, the Board wants a clone of Weapon X, not a Barbie doll. They'll never accept that, never-"
"Then it's a good thing I didn't wait for their approval. I already have a viable, perfectly fertilized embryo." The female scientist's statement echoed out through the room, and Rice narrowed his eyes.
"So that's what you were up to. How could you possibly think you'll succeed? The time it would take to cultivate a sample, find a suitable donor, test for compatibility… you'd have never accomplished it on your own." Rice taunted, only for his eyes to widen.
"Unless… no. You didn't. You wouldn't have…" He gasped out, his jaw dropping as his composure faltered. "My god. You used yourself as a guinea pig." Rice gasped out, Sarah's eyes hardening in defiance.
"I'm already a month pregnant, Xander. I knew you wouldn't go for it unless I gave you no choice, unless I already had results." Sarah stated, placing a hand on her stomach. "I've got all the standard symptoms, everything within acceptable margins. I suspect it'll be another few weeks before we can pick up a heartbeat, but-" Before she could finish her sentence, Rice stormed across the room.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?!" He yelled, getting in her face. "Weapon X is a monster, an unholy freak of nature. Do you know how many it killed?! I abided the Board's requests, squashed down my own biases as I facilitated this endeavor. I took joy in each failure, celebrated as each tainted fruit withered on the vine, all while hoping the Board would abandon it! And now you… you've given life to it's putrid spawn!" The scientist yelled. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you, why I shouldn't make you disappear?!" He demanded, Sarah's face defiant in every word.
"For starters, concern for your own skin. You've been trying to make a viable clone for what, over a decade at this point? How do you think the Board will react when they learn you went and killed the first result that's actually viable?"
"You think I don't know how to keep secrets?"
"I think you've got issues, which is why I made sure I didn't come in unprepared. I already emailed my results to them. The people we work for aren't nice people, Xander. What do you think will happen if they piece together that you're letting your daddy issues cloud your judgment?" Sarah taunted, and Rice narrowed his eyes.
"You're bluffing."
"Maybe I am. But are you prepared to take that risk?" The two glared at each other for what felt like an eternity, until Rice broke away.
"Fine. But don't expect a baby shower. From now on, this facility is your home. Your life as you knew it is over. You sleep here, you eat here, you live here. Contact with the outside world is going to be kept to an absolute minimum. And if that… thing… makes it to term, then the Board will have their weapon. And everyone gets to go home happy." He spat.
"I'll get my things." Sarah remarked, turning to leave.
"And Sarah?" Rice called, the two not even bothering to face each other. "If you ever cross me like that again, you'll wish I killed you."
"Something to look forward to, I guess." Sarah remarked, leaving the office. As the door shut behind her, Sarah let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding in. She looked down at her stomach, placing a hand over the life growing inside her.
"Well, that went well. We're in the thick of it now, X-23."
October 21, Undisclosed Location, 09: 16 PDT
"Mrrrr…" Laura grunted as her eyes fluttered open, wincing as her eyes readjusted to the harsh light of the room. She had a splitting headache, but as she went to nurse her head, chains rattled. She looked down to see her hands bound in shackles, her hands completely encompassed in a metal capsule. She tried to pop her claws, only for a beeping around her neck to precipitate a shock to her system, courtesy of the inhibitor collar around her neck.
"Well, look who decided to join us. Welcome back to the world of the living, X-23." A cold voice taunted over the intercom, Laura's blood running cold as she recognized it, heart pounding as she recognized the white, padded room she was locked in. "We kept your old room just the way you left it. Makes you feel nostalgic, no?" Kimura's voice teased. Laura's green eyes scanned the room, before settling on the large, two-way mirror across from her.
"I know you're there. Get in where I can see you." She growled.
"Oh, someone's a lot more verbal than she used to be!" Kimura taunted, as the door unlocked. Laura knew there was no point in leaping at the new entrant, as the inhibitor collar would kick in. Instead, she just sat there as Xander Rice entered, gray hair swept back, narrow face glowering at her.
"Welcome home, X-23. We've missed you quite a bit." Rice greeted, Laura glaring at him from the floor. "Come now, I'm sure you've got questions. Go ahead, ask."
"How did you find me?"
"We've been looking for you ever since you escaped from our sister facility at Project Cadmus. I must say, your exploits have been quite remarkable. I myself was personally a fan of your showdown with the so-called 'Masters of Evil.' Your performance against Sabertooth exceeded even my expectations."
"You knew where I was this whole time, didn't you?"
"You mean your so called 'normal life' in Happy Harbor? Yes, we've been aware of that for quite a while."
"So why wait until now to come after me?"
"As much as we wished to reclaim you, antagonizing the Justice League would draw unwanted attention. Much easier to stake out Doctor Kinney's family, wait for you to come find them yourself." The older scientist explained.
"Are… are they alive?" Laura asked, Rice raising an eyebrow, before resuming his stern face.
"Yes, they are alive. Your noble sacrifice enabled them to escape." Laura let out a sigh of relief at that.
"Thank god." Rice narrowed his eyes.
"Taking pride in your heroic accomplishments, are we?" He asked, removing a small remote from his pocket. He pressed a button, the collar activating to deliver a shock to Laura. "We'll have to dissuade you of that notion." The shock stopped, and Laura fell to her side, panting as she glared at Rice.
"You'll… you'll pay for that."
"No, animal, I won't." Rice growled, kneeling down to glare at her. "Your flights of heroic fancy are over, animal. You were born to be a weapon, nothing more, nothing less. You're a bullet to be fired at whoever I… whoever we choose. No matter what you, or that moron Sarah-" Laura's eyes went feral, as she sprang to her feet.
"Don't say her name!" She tackled Rice to the ground, the remote falling from his hands as she tackled him onto his back. Laura's hands may have been in shackles, but she didn't need her claws to be dangerous. She pressed the link of her manacles to Rice's throat, pressing down on his throat. "You don't get to say her name! Not after what you did! Not after-"
Golden knives impaled themselves into her shoulder, causing her to wince and let up. This enabled Kimura to enter, yanking Laura up and shoving her into the wall. Kimura's hand wrapped around the mutant's neck, the younger woman glaring at her.
"That wasn't nice, X." Laura responded by spitting blood in Kimura's face, something which earned her another slam to the wall.
"Enough, Kimura!" Rice coughed out as he rose to his feet, the choke marks still around his neck.
"Come on, Doc, let me break her just a little. Like old times."
"As tempting as that sounds, we have a timetable to adhere to. I'd rather not derail it as we wait for her bones to heal." Rice ordered, reclaiming his remote from the ground. Kimura sneered, before tossing Laura to the ground. "Don't worry, you'll have your fun."
"Oh, I'm counting on it." Kimura remarked, as the two turned to exit.
"H… hey!" Laura yelled, getting their attention, rising to her knees. She glared at them, green eyes burning with fury. "I'm going to get out of here. And when I do, I'm going to burn this goddamn place to the ground, with both of you in it." She called, prompting Rice to just smirk.
"No, X-23, I don't think you will." And with that, the two left, shutting the door behind them. Rice rubbed his neck, wincing at the marks.
"Shouldn't have gotten too close, Doc." Kimura remarked.
"I had to provoke her. Had to make sure her time with the heroes hadn't stripped her of that killer instinct." The scientist explained, turning to the figure standing at the mirror, and offering the golden, blood soaked knives. The figure was Talon, the assassin who had attacked Taipei alongside Sportsmaster and Cheshire two months prior. "My thanks, Talon." Talon was silent, the short assassin looking in the room, red eyes betraying no emotion.
"What will you do with her?" He asked.
"What I should have done in the first place. The new Board may have wished to test the capabilities with Cadmus, but Weapon X was creating weapons long before them. We'll break her spirit, and then we'll wipe her mind. The less fight she puts up, the easier it'll be for the Faustus Method to take hold." Rice explained, looking at the mutant glaring at him from the padded room. "I'm sure The Light will be most pleased."
Chapter 22: Innocence Lost
Gotham City, 14:47 EST
The bell rang overhead as Artemis opened her locker, shoving her books inside as she retrieved her bag. School had been even more of a drag than usual. Since everyone's talks with Canary, things in her hero and personal life had been wilder than usual. She had begun wondering why she was more worried about Wally than she had been in the past, something she was desperately trying not to dwell on, to little avail.
Fortunately for her, the abrupt opening of a locker stirred her from those thoughts, Artemis looked over to see Jason next to her. "Hey." She greeted, but he didn't give her much attention. This wasn't the first time she'd gotten the silent treatment from him, but it would be the last. "Hey! The silent brooding thing works for Batman, not so much you." The archer stated, earning a sigh from Jason.
"Sorry. Just… a lot on my mind."
"Lot of that going around." She remarked, noticing the bandages on his hand. "What happened?"
"Hm?" Jason looked at his hands, the former street kid assuming a glassy stare. "I…"
And he kept punching. And punching, and punching, and punching…
"...overdid it while I was training on a practice dummy. That's why you gotta remember to put the gloves on before you start punching things." He explained. Artemis could tell that he wasn't being completely honest, but there was no sense in prying.
"Have you been to the Cave since… y'know."
"No. Feels kinda weird just going to hang out for no reason, y'know?"
"Yeah, I get that. Did you at least hear what Connor got up to?" She asked, referring to the rather lengthy recap Connor had sent in the Team's group text.
"You mean the whole bit about the space guys? And I thought Gotham was weird…" Jason remarked.
"Gotham is weird, but it can't always be where the craziest things happen." Artemis sighed as they both left their lockers, turned to the door only to find Cass staring at them and giving a slight wave.
"You have really got to stop doing that so much." Artemis said, taking a few steps back.
"No Laura." Cassandra said simply holding up her phone and showing she had tried to call Laura several times over the last few days and received no response.
"Yeah, actually I've been worried about that too. I haven't seen or heard from her since she left the cave that day." Jason said, looking to his own phone to see no calls or texts.
"She's never exactly been the best at texting back."
"True, but you'd figure she'd at least respond to the bit about the raccoon or whatever Francis said happened with Nolan. Plus, it's not like her to go days without at least checking in." The Teen Wonder explained, frowning. "I dunno, I've just got a bad feeling…"
"Well, I've got one solution for that…"
Mount Justice, 14:36 EST
Kaldur frowned, tapping his chin as he considered what Artemis, Robin, and Batgirl told him. "I have to agree with Jason. It's not like her to at least check in."
"She's never missed a Bumblebee's practice before. She'd at least give a reason as to why." M'gann agreed, and Connor nodded.
"Yeah, something doesn't smell right." Connor admitted.
"So then, why don't we go look for her? Just to make sure she's safe, and maybe we're all just overreacting?" Carter suggested. The full Team, sans Nolan, was gathered in the briefing room, discussing their awol teammate.
"The question is where? Laura didn't exactly tell anyone where she was going." Francis asked, and T'zari tapped his chin.
"She took the Zeta Tubes, did she not? Then there should be a record of where she went." He said, walking over to the console. He pulled up the logs, checking their destination. "Here. She left here for San Francisco two days ago."
"Is there a return listed?" Kaldur asked, and the Wakandan prince shook his head.
"Then that's where we start. No matter if she wanted to talk to us or not, she would have come back or gone to see Logan after this long." Kaldur stated, turning to Robin. "Take a small squad with you to investigate."
"Got it."
"The question I'm wondering is…" Cassie spoke up from next to Connor. "Why was she in San Francisco?"
San Francisco, California, 15:52 PDT
The Super Cycle flew over the Golden Gate bridge, flying into the city. Superboy, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Robin, and White Wolf were in the Super Cycle. "Oh man, this thing rules!" Kid Flash remarked. "And she could do this the entire time?!"
"We didn't ask!" Superboy remarked, as Robin pulled up his gauntlet computer.
"Only person named 'Kinney' in San Francisco is a Deborah Kinney. Last known address is just below us."
"Uh please tell me it's not where all that crime scene tape is?" White Wolf asked hopefully as Jason looked up and his heart sank at the sight of the house's entrance roped off by yellow tape.
"Shit, that's the place." Robin sighed, checking the address.
"Looks like a car crashed through here…" Kid Flash remarked, the Super Cycle squad dismounting and entering the house. The wood creaked as Robin looked around, seeking any sign of his girlfriend.
"Laura?! Laura, are you here?"
"Doesn't look like anyone's here right now." Wonder Girl remarked, as Superboy pulled out his phone and did a quick web search.
"Local news says it was a gas main explosion a few days ago."
"Does that look like a gas explosion to you?" Robin asked, pointing to the human-sized hole in the far wall.
"It's never the official story. Fortunately for you, you've got someone trained by a bonafide CSI with you." Kid Flash remarked, looking at the hole. "That looks like an entry point to me. See how the bricks fell away from it? Means someone blasted their way through here."
"Someone strong, looks like." Wonder Girl remarked, as KF went over the trajectory in his head, looking at the hole into the kitchen.
"Looks like a fight, someone got tossed through here, into the kitchen. Got knocked through a few cabinets, and…" Kid Flash bent down in front of the fridge, picking up a discarded picture. "Looks like it ended here, and… whoa."
"Whoa what?" Robin asked, the redheaded speedster turning the picture to show Sarah Kinney. "Whoa…"
"That looks exactly like her…" Superboy muttered. "Wait. Where did Laura say she got the name Kinney from?"
"She… she said it was to honor one of the scientists who named her." White Wolf recalled.
"From the looks of this she did a good bit more than just name her." Robin stated, snatching the picture. "Superboy, do you know anything about this?"
"I… don't." Superboy admitted. "I never knew much about what was going on in Cadmus outside my pod. I don't recognize this woman at all. Whoever she was, she didn't work on me." He explained, only for his brow to furrow. "Except…"
"Except what…?"
"I don't remember a whole lot before you guys came to rescue me, just bits and pieces. But now that I think about it… I remember them carting Laura in in her tube."
"What?" Kid Flash asked, as Superboy thought.
"This was… a month before you guys came and got me out, I think. Desmond thawed me out, said he wanted me on standby in case something went wrong. I… I watched a bunch of guys unload her off a truck. Said something about how they wanted her reprogrammed."
"Wait, she got to Cadmus after you were born? How's that possible? She's way more developed than you are. Uh, no offense." Wally asked.
"I… I don't know. I was under Genomorph control at the time, so it feels more like a dream. But if she was brought in…"
"Then Laura wasn't born in Cadmus." Robin concluded. "From the look of it, I don't think she was cloned either, at least not exactly." He added looking over the picture of Sarah staring up at them.
"This is her mother, it has to be, which would mean this is her family's home." White Wolf said, looking around before sniffing the air and pausing, "We have company." He added looking up towards the staircase.
Robin led the way up, and had to dodge to avoid being hit by a bat. He was about to drop into a defensive stance, only for Wonder Girl to stop him.
"Easy, boy wonder."
"Who the hell are you people?!" Debbie Kinney asked, bat at the ready. However, as she took notice of how the intruders were dressed, her shock morphed to confusion. "Wait a second… you're Robin. And Kid Flash."
"Guilty as charged." Kid Flash remarked.
"Why the hell are you in my house?"
"We're looking for our friend. She's about yay high, dark hair, kind of eternally grouchy." Wonder Girl asked, and Debbie's brow furrowed.
"Wait… are you looking for Laura?" She asked, and Robin's eyes widened.
"So she was here." He stated, and Debbie let out a sigh.
"Of course it's a superhero thing…" She groaned out, as White Wolf stepped forward.
"I believe we got off on the wrong foot. Laura is our friend, she came here a few days ago, and we haven't seen or heard from her since then. Do you happen to know where she went?"
"I… I don't." Debbie answered. "She showed up out of the blue two days ago, saying she was my sister's daughter. She spent the day here with me and my daughter, and when she was getting ready to leave, we… we were attacked."
"By who?"
"I don't know. If she was a supervillain, she's never been on the news. But she… she talked like she knew Laura, and it looked like Laura knew her."
"Did she say a name?"
"Uh…" Debbie thought for a second, racking her brain. "It was something… Japanese, I think. Kiba… Kiva… Kima…"
"Kimura." Jason coldly stated.
"Yeah, that was it." Debbie answered, as White Wolf looked at Jason.
"Does that name mean anything to you?"
"Maybe. Back when we were in the Tower of Fate, Mysterio gassed us with some knock off fear toxin. Laura said she saw me as someone named Kimura, who 'made her who she was.' She never elaborated, and I never wanted to ask."
"Kimura…" Superboy muttered out, scratching his head. "That… that was the woman who brought Laura to Cadmus. Desmond was… scared of her. More nervous than I ever seen him before."
"Considering what happened in here, it's not hard to see why…" Wonder Girl remarked, as Robin turned back to Debbie.
"What happened after that?"
"Laura told us to run, and we did. I came back after I made sure my daughter was safe, but by the time I got back, Laura and that woman were gone, and my house looked like this. I… I told the police it was some sort of freak gas explosion, but no one believed me." She explained. "My daughter and I have been at a hotel, and I came by to get us some more clothes."
"We're sorry for the intrusion, and I promise I'll help deal with the damage, and your hotel stay. Do you know anything else that could help us find out where they went?" White Wolf asked, and Debbie frowned.
"This is connected to what my sister, Sarah, was doing before she vanished, I just know it."
"We believe that as well." White Wolf stated, as Debbie thought for a moment.
"I started hearing a lot less from Sarah after she took a job with this genetics lab in Canada. Sarah said it was real top secret, which was why she couldn't come visit more often."
"Do you know what the name of the company was?"
"Uh…Transigen, I think."
"You have our thanks, Miss Kinney." White Wolf thanked, giving a bow. "Please, contact the Wakandan Embassy, tell them that Prince T'zari sent you."
"Uh, thanks…" As the Team began to exit, Jason walked by Debbie. However, as he did so, she grabbed his wrist. "She's important to you, isn't she?" She asked, and Robin's eyes widened.
"I… I don't know what you mean."
"I know a lovestruck teenager when I see one. Just… tell me the truth."
"... Yeah. She means a lot to me."
"I… I just met her, and I don't want to lose her already. And I know you don't want to, either." Debbie said, looking Jason in the eye. "Please. Bring her back."
"I promise, I will."
Undisclosed Location, 16:16 PDT
Without anything else to do, Laura sat in the corner of her cell, looking at the faded pad. Out of all the places in all the world, this was the last place she ever wanted to come back to. It was her first memory, her first home, her first prison. This was where she would cry in the corner, after the harsh experiments Rice conducted. Where she would curse her tormentors and plot their demise, where she would sob as her wounds healed themselves and her bones knit back together.
It was where Sarah had taught her to read. It was where Sarah had read to her Pinocchio, where she would sneak in picture books and pictures of the outside world. Where Sarah told her of her sister, Deborah, and how it broke Sarah's heart to keep a distance from her. Where Sarah had named her Laura, and told her that she didn't have to be what they made her.
"What are you doing?" The voice asked, and Laura looked up to see Talon standing in the cell with her, his red eyes peering at her.
"Thinking about how stupid that mask is. Really went hard on the owl theme, huh?"
"It wasn't my choice. A lot of things weren't my choice."
"Trust me, you're preaching to the choir on that." The mutant cheerleader remarked. "Is there anything I can help you with, or are you just going to stare at me until Rice comes back?" She asked, the short assassin thinking for a moment.
"Why did you escape?"
"You really have to ask? You saw how Rice treated me back there. Multiply that by sixteen years, and that's my life. Being humiliated, treated like garbage, and dehumanized, all while I was being molded into their perfect weapon." Laura explained.
"Rice hates you. Why?"
"I asked myself that question for a long time. My first memories are him treating me like an animal. Eventually, I stopped asking why. If there's one thing I've learned since escaping from here, it's that some people don't need a reason to be assholes." Explained the mutant, earning more silent stares from Talon.
"How old were you the first time they made you kill?" Talon asked, shocking Laura. Her face fell, staring at the floor as the memories flooded back to her.
"I was… eight, I think. I thought it was a normal training session with my sensei, same as it had been ever since I could walk. But… but they made me kill him. Used some sort of trigger scent to drive me feral."
"You couldn't stop yourself?"
"Stop myself? I couldn't even think, I just saw red and then when I came too, there was blood everywhere."
"How did you… I mean, what did you do to cope afterwards?" He asked sitting down just outside her arms reach in case, and Laura noted how small he looked.
"I wouldn't have been able to, but I had someone there for me, someone who helped me get through, told me it wasn't my fault, even if it was in a small way."
"Dr. Kinney. The woman you almost killed Rice for mentioning."
"Yeah. She was my mother, she was the only one who made anything they did to me bearable. The only one who really cared about me."
"I thought you were a clone."
"I am, but… not really. I wasn't made the old fashioned way. From how I understand it, my mother made me by merging half of Logan's DNA with her egg. It's why I… why I look like her, but I have his claws and his healing factor. It was good enough for whoever runs the Facility." The young mutant explained.
"I wish I had someone like that." The Talon muttered, and Laura looked up, her head tilting to the side in curiosity.
"You… you don't have to tell me, but you aren't even a teenager yet are you?" She asked. There was a pause, from his body language she could tell he was struggling with how much to tell her at all.
"I… I can't tell you much, but no, I'm not. I'm sorry you had to go through all that though."
Through the security camera in the corner of the room, Rice and Kimura observed this conversation in the control center. "You sure this is a good idea, letting them talk like that?" Kimura asked, Rice's face betraying no emotion.
"What can we do? Talon was sent here to observe the process for the Light. He is under orders only to act if she gets… out of hand. They've invested no small amount of effort into him. If anything were to happen to him, they would be most displeased. Between Kinney's escape attempt, and that debacle in July, staying in their good graces is in both of our best interests." Rice explained. "If you had remained onsite like you were supposed to, we'd never be in this mess."
"I had personal business to attend to. How was I supposed to know the League's daycare would show up the second I went offsite?" Kimura protested.
"Regardless, all we can do now is try to make up for our mistakes. The boy can talk to her all he wants, it won't make a difference, once they trust us again he'll be out of here. And then he'll be their problem to deal with." Rice remarked, as Kimura looked at the monitor.
"You know, after all these years, I'm curious: why do you hate her so much?" She asked, Rice's eye twitching.
"It is merely business. Kindness has no place in raising a weapon."
"No, it's not just business. And you don't torment her because you like it. Trust me, I'd know. It's always seemed… personal." The enforcer stated, and Rice exhaled through his nose.
"What do you know of Weapon X?"
"He's not just a weapon, he's THE weapon. Simultaneously the greatest success and failure of the Weapon X program."
"I wasn't asking about the man. I was asking about the program." The scientist explained, staring at X-23.
"It was a black ops program, started by Department H. Canada wanted to try making their own super soldiers, something to rival Captain America."
"An oversimplification, but close enough. You see, my father was one of the lead scientists of the program. He was in charge of selecting candidates, making sure they could do what we had in mind. This was a noticeably more difficult task in the 60's, but eventually, he found the perfect candidate. A mutant, one who could heal from any wound, outlive any mortal, and had the capacity to defeat any enemy."
"The Wolverine."
"Correct. Mutantkind was still in its infancy in those days, but even then, my father knew he had found someone special. And so the man now known as Logan was recruited into the Weapon X program, to be molded into the perfect weapon. Not that he was told that, of course." Rice recounted. "The thing about Weapon X was that he was perhaps too perfect a candidate. When the day came to turn him into their weapon, he revolted, killing everyone involved with the program."
"Including dear old daddy."
"That… is right. I was only seven years old when my father was butchered in the snow. He inspired me to pursue the study of genetics. My father's early work with the X-Gene provided the groundwork for our own work here."
"So you decided to grow your own little Wolverine to torment, is that it?"
"No." Rice snapped. "Weapon X shattered my world, ripped my father from me before I had the chance to truly know him. The mere thought of another one of those beasts, those mindless animals, running around… it was enough to make me vomit. After twenty two failed attempts, I thought that our benefactors had seen the folly of their ways." He recalled, his face twisting into a sneer. "But then came Sarah Kinney. If it weren't for her experiments, Weapon XI would have died on the vine as it deserved."
"And so when good ol' X was born, you decided to use her as your own personal source of therapy."
"I won't deny, envisioning her as her source material has been oddly… therapeutic."
"You're a sociopath after my own heart, Doc." Kimura remarked, cracking her knuckles. "Well, time to go break up the chat group."
Back in the cell, Laura had been talking with Talon, telling him about what she had gotten up to since leaving.
"-and that's how I found out we're not supposed to execute people if we can help it."
"Really? And they just expected you to know that off the top of your head?"
"That's what I was thinking!" Laura couldn't quite pin it down, but there was something… unusually friendly about Talon. Like he was a sort of kindred spirit, and not simply because of his age.
Their little bonding moment was interrupted when the door opened, in walking Kimura. "Birdie. Out. Now." She ordered, Talon getting to his feet.
"You're not my boss."
"No, but your actual bosses are going to be awfully pissed off if they learn you're not minding your manners." Kimura warned. Talon maintained a glare for a moment, before he stepped aside. He cast another look at Laura, before he left the room, leaving Laura alone with Kimura. "Making friends, are we?"
"Bite me."
"Oh, you've picked up a bit of spunk since you left! I like it! That's gonna make this much more fun." Kimura deviously grinned.
Chicago, 16:32 CST
"Park the ship here."
"You're sure?"
"Positive." Francis beckoned, as the Bioship hovered above the suburbs that housed the Williams residence. Those who hadn't gone to San Francisco were in the Bioship, and had just gotten off the phone with that squad.
"Need any backup?" Scarlet Spider asked, but Francis shook his head.
"It's a residential neighborhood, not a Hydra base. You can come if you want, but there's no danger." He declared. He nodded at M'gann, who opened up the bottom hatch. He descended from the cloaked ship on a zipline, landing in the backyard. Unclipping the hook from his belt, he walked up to the shed and knocked. The door opened, revealing an exhausted looking Riri.
"You got here quick."
"Alien bioship, you'd love it." He remarked. "How is he?"
"He's… I don't even know how to describe it." She answered, as Francis followed her inside.
The inside of the shed looked the same as it had when he had first visited the shed. The only difference being the dishes and the small bed that Riri had brought out over the last few days. In the center of the room was the cocoon. Except, Francis could see small red lines running across it, and the cocoon was now a shade of black.
"That's a different color. That's good, right?"
"I don't know."
"Those lines are new. Does that mean something?"
"How many times are you going to make me repeat myself?! We're untested waters here! It could mean anything!"
"What the hell is that thing!?" Scarlet Spider asked as he and the others having decided to follow Francis were now staring at the cocoon.
"Is Nolan in there!?"
"Yes, but don't panic. We know what we're doing. Kind of." Riri assured, none of them noticing how the cocoon began to pulsate steadily.
"What do you mean 'kind of'?"
"Well, an experimental super soldier serum is kind of untested waters…"
"Super…? I am so confused…" Artemis remarked.
"Look, let's just calm down. The last thing I need is my mom coming down here and-"
KRK
They all turned to look at the cocoon, "Is it just me or are those lines getting bigger?" M'Gann asked.
"He's not going to explode, is he?" Artemis asked with serious concern. They all brace behind Kaldur who made a shield of water just in case, watching as the lines pulsed brights and the cocoon began to shift…
Before it split open and burst, pieces of it beginning to fly off one by one. More of it broke away and slid off the figure in the center. There was a pause and then the figure sat bolt upright and took in several deep breaths.
"Okay wow, that was something else! I didn't think it would hurt that much!" Nolan said before bursting into laughter again and looking at the stunned Team. "Oh, hey guys! What's up?"
"Uhhhhhhhh…"
"Now, I know you guys have got questions. I think… Francis, were you here a few days ago with my dad? I could swear I heard you guys talking. It's hard to tell I was sort of having my brian rewritten a bit."
"Uhhhhh…" Miss Martian stammered out, as Nolan whipped some puss out of his eyes.
"Man, I feel great! Like I just got out of the shower."
"Uh, Nolan?" Artemis spoke up, covering her eyes. "Could you, uh… could you put some pants on?" And that was when Nolan looked down, and noticed everyone was covering their eyes. Except for Vision, though Nolan could swear Riri was peaking out.
"Oh. Uh, sorry about that."
Five minutes later, Nolan had put on pants, and had been filled in on the recent goings on. "So, Laura's missing?"
"Yeah. We think that whoever made her in the first place decided to take her back."
"Her being a Cadmus clone like Superboy never quite added up right, but I figured it was none of my business. Do we have any leads?"
"Laura's aunt said something about Laura's… creator, I guess, working for a company called Transigen." Aqualad explained. "We attempted to research them, but all we found was a corporate webpage."
"No surprise there. Even Cadmus still gives that if you look them up."
"We came here in case you had woken up. If not, you spoke so highly of Riri's skills I was going to ask if she could help us."
"Oh she absolutely could have. Riri's amazing, never let her tell you otherwise." Nolan said smiling over at the girl in question who went a slight shade of red, but smiled all the same. "You said… Transigen, right?"
"Yeah, they're listed as a small genetics company in Canada." Trickshot explained, and Nolan smirked.
"Give me a minute." The computer in the far corner powered on, immediately flashing through a series of screens. "Let's see here… Transigen LLC, registered in 1990. Can't seem to find any patents or direct contact information. Not even a CEO. Mailing address is a PO Box in the middle of nowhere, wow they have covered their tracks well. That's a shell corporation if I've ever seen one. Let's dig a little deeper…"
They all watched as the screen flashed through a series of images, Nolan not even looking at it. "Hm… interesting. Looks like there's some ties to the Canadian government in there. Department H… that's their metahuman division. Dig a little deeper… Weapon X, Weapon Plus…hm, looks like they're owned by a private entity now, someone who's gone to a lot of trouble to make sure there's no paper trail. And whoever they belong to now really does not want to be found. Too bad for them, because just a little more and… there it is! Laura's being held in a location known only as 'The Facility'. Way to make themselves just sound shady as hell. The base she's being held in is in Ontario. Already sent the coordinates to your phone, and to Robin's computer."
"Uh… I'm just gonna say it. What the hell was that?" Scarlet Spider asked, and Nolan smirked.
"That was two months of hard work paying off." Nolan explained, tapping the back of his neck. "Connection to the Stark Dataspine, routed through that computer, letting me dig into all their dirty little secrets. Not to mention any nearby technology, my brain is basically a super computer."
"Like it wasn't before…?" Miss Martian remarked.
"I decided to make it literal. Along with a few other improvements to myself."
"And… you're sure this was the best course of action?" Kaldur asked, and Nolan's smile faded as he nodded.
"Yeah. It's time for me to start really pulling my weight. Knowing dad has faith in me really helped me gain some clarity. I knew we could do this, and I'm better now than I was before. Trust me, I'm great right now."
"If you're sure, then I trust your judgment."
"Excellent, now I think we have a friend to go save. Although Vision, you and I really need to talk soon, because whatever that gem in your head is, it's singing some wonderful music to me right now."
"So uh… do you have a suit, or are you about to go fight a shady organization in your sweatpants?" Scarlet Spider, asked, and Nolan smirked.
"Let me worry about that."
Ontario, Canada
"Coming up on the San Francisco team." Miss Martian announced as the Bioship flew through the sky, coming up on the Supercycle team. The Supercycle matched Bioship's speed, as clamps seemed to emerge from the ship and latch on to the Cycle. The bottom opened, allowing the San Francisco team to climb in.
"How much longer?" Robin asked, impatience evident in his voice.
"We're about twenty minutes out, if the information Nolan got us was accurate." Miss Martian said.
"Which sounds like a whole ordeal…" Kid Flash remarked.
"We need to get there, make these assholes pay for taking her."
"Hey, as much as we all agree, running in headfirst isn't going to help anything." Superboy remarked.
"Superboy is correct. We need a strategy." Aqualad instructed, turning to Trickshot. "Any ideas?" He asked, and the archer tensed up.
"I…" Kaldur looked at the uncertain archer, to the Martian who was still clearly uncomfortable around the others. To the speedster and the other archer avoiding each other, to the demigod and the kryptonian leaning on one another. To the prince subtly avoiding them, to the bat and Spider both clearly lost in their own heads. To the Teen Wonder, his fists balling up as he no doubt imagined the acts of violence he would inflict upon the Facility.
"I understand we have all been through a great ordeal. I am harrowed by what we went through, just as I know all of you are. I understand you are doubting yourselves, that now more than ever you doubt what you are capable of. Trust me I share the same doubts. But our friend has been taken, by the same depraved minds that molded her into a weapon. She cannot afford for us to wallow in our own self pity, for us to doubt ourselves. So we need to pull together, and we need to take our friend back." Aqualad stated, letting his words echo throughout the ship. Francis closed his eyes as he thought, before his eyes snapped open.
"We're only going to get one shot at this, so we need to do this smart. We split into two teams. One team knocks on the front door, one team goes in and finds Laura. Whoever knocks is going to be taking the brunt of their defenses whatever those may be."
"Well, it's a good thing we know how to make friends, isn't it?" Superboy remarked, cracking his knuckles as Wonder Girl, Vision, Kid Flash, and Artemis all nodded.
"Second team goes in to the base itself. We find Laura, we get out, we make whoever did this pay."
"Best plan I've heard all day." Robin growled.
The Facility
"Grahhhh!" Laura yelled out in pain as Kimura broke a rib or two with a punch.
"Aw, come on X. You were so talkative earlier." She taunted.
"You used to hit harder. I think you're going soft." Laura spat, smirking up at her tormentor. "I've been knocked around by androids and superhumans since I got out of here. You're going to have to try harder than that." The mutant taunted, and Kimura sneered.
"Oh, you want me to try harder?" Kimura asked, looking back at the camera. "Rice, I'm going to go get my tools. I'm going to-"
"Belay that, Kimura. Report to the control center at once." Rice's voice ordered.
"Damn, I was just starting to enjoy myself. Fine, I'm on my way." She sighed before turning to face Laura again, "Don't worry X, our fun's not over. I'll be back." She said, striding from the room and leaving Laura alone, as she felt her bruised lip already shrinking and her ribs moving back into place.
"She really did use to hit harder, or maybe it's because I was smaller then?" Laura wondered to herself letting out a slow breath and wincing a little.
Kimura entered the control room, letting out a sigh as she did so. "What'd you do that for? I was just starting to have fun."
"Because we have some unexpected guests." Rice responded. "The southern proximity sensors picked something up five minutes ago. Nothing on radar, but-"
"But you want me to go take a look, just in case right? Don't want to send everyone scrambling if a squirrel just happened to trip the wrong sensor."
"Partly yes, but also if anything does happen I would rather have you on the lead." Rice admitted.
"I see, and what about X? If something does happen, what's to stop her from breaking out if I'm not around?"
"The Talon will be there, and even if he's going soft on her, we have other means of moving her. However, there are also ways to use her to our own advantage." Rice said, tapping a few keys to show Kimura the tanks of red liquid canisters near Laura's current location.
"Like I said, sociopath after my own heart, Doc. I'll go give this a look, be back in no time."
Facility South Side
White Wolf cracked his neck, as he stood beside his deversionary team. Superboy, Wonder Girl, Vision, Kid Flash and Artemis all stood around him.
"Alright, we move on 'go'. Superboy, Wonder Girl, make us an entrance. Once we're in, Kid Flash, Artemis, and I will cause some chaos. Wonder Girl and Superboy, stay outside and draw out more of their troops as the rest of us make our way into the fortress anyway we see how and try to meet the infiltration team within."
"No problem, we can handle anything and anyone they've got in store." Wonder Girl said with a slight smile as the others all nodded.
"Aren't we missing someone?" Artemis asked.
"He said we'd know when he's getting close. I dunno how long we want to-" Wally was cut off with a boom from above, and they all looked up as a humanoid figure dropped down to the ground.
The figure inside was tall, wearing a suit of armor that none of them had seen before. In fact this one was different from any they had seen him use previously. It was more streamlined and form fitting for a start. The arc reactor in the center was still a diamond in shape, however that was where the similarities ended. The suit consisted mostly of hexagonal scales. Most of the chest, arms, hands, legs and head were a deep navy blue with some slight black portions seen between the lines. Small portions on the upper legs, as well as the biceps, fingers, and faceplate were all gold in color. Along the backs of the hands as well as the palms each had a small glowing circle and the sharp eyes of the faceplate also glowed a soft blue white shade.
"Sorry, guys. I'm not late, right?" Nolan's voice asked from the small cloud of dust the landing had kicked up.
"Nearly, but you got here when it mattered. Nice suit, hope it can take some punishment." Superboy remarked.
"We'll find out, won't we? I'm going to go ahead and knock." Nolan stated, aiming his arm at the facility. A compartment opened up on his arm, a small missile emerging. The missile fired, impacting the wall and exploding. "Knock knock. Anyone home?"
"That a big enough distraction for you?" Wonder Girl asked, as White Wolf nodded.
"Indeed."
"You, uh… You knew no one was behind that when you fired, right?" Kid Flash asked.
"Of course. This thing's got some pretty strong heat sensors. Plus, that was more sound and fury than actual damage." Iron Knight explained.
Kid Flash looked at the hole they could all easily fit through and back to Iron Knight, "Dude, if that's your new definition of 'sound and fury', I'm kind of afraid of actual damage."
"Well hopefully you won't have to see it then." He shrugged before shooting forward beside Wonder Girl and Superboy through the hole.
"Here they come!" White Wolf ordered as soldiers began to pour out of the hole, led by Kimura.
"It's a little early for Trick or Treaters."
"Give us our friend back, and we'll leave without tearing this place down." Superboy warned, and Kimura scoffed.
"Oh, she went and got herself some friends, did she? I'll have to bring you to her in pieces."
"You'll find that awfully hard to pull off. Besides from what I remember of your reputation, gotta say, I expected someone taller." Superboy said, narrowing his eyes. "Leave her to me. Cadmus business." Before anyone could protest, Superboy leapt at Kimura, who braced for a fight.
"Here goes nothing…" Kid Flash muttered out, as the group began their distraction.
Facility West Side
The moment he saw the cloud of smoke rising from the South side, Aqualad nodded. Seemed Nolan had managed to catch up after all.
"Alright, our distraction is underway, we should be able to slip in with ease. Inside, we split into groups. Miss Martian, Robin, and Batgirl on one, Trickshot, Scarlet Spider, and myself on the other. Fan out. The first to find Laura raises the alarm and we all come running, we get her out and we go home."
"Sure, let's just get moving!" Robin said impatiently, leading the way to the edge of the base and grappling up the wall.
"Miss Martian, before he gets too far, set up a mental link." Aqualad instructed, and Miss Martian looked away.
"I…" M'gann still hadn't used her telepathy since the simulation. She couldn't bring herself to not think of what she had done to her friends. How they'd suffered trauma at her hands.
Trickshot picked up on this, and looked at Kaldur, who sighed. "We'll do it the old fashioned way, then."
"I already have one in, come on." Robin said through the comm unit the second the others had put theirs in.
"We need to catch up before he does something stupid." Trickshot sighed and together they all moved forward. Once they reached the top of the wall, Robin gave hand signals and they all nodded, the three person team going right as Trickshot, and Aqualad went left.
Rice observed them separating on the security monitors, a deep frown on his face. "Talon."
"Yes?"
"Stop them. Do not allow them to reach X-23."
"They've split into two teams of three, I can't clone myself. So given that the best thing for me to do would be to wait near her. She's why they're here anyway, saves me from wasting my time."
"I do not have time for your insolence, boy. Three groups, and you know where she is. Find the group approaching her, and force a retreat. And if they won't, well, I recommend you do what you were made to do."
"Oh, trust me, Rice, I know exactly what to do, and I'll be plenty Whelmed" The Talon said vaguely and when Rice turned to look, he was already gone.
"I hate it when he does that." Rice muttered to himself, turning back to the monitors.
Containment Cell
The moment the lights she could see outside the cell went a deep red, Laura couldn't help but be a little optimistic. Something was going on, which meant they would probably be focused less on her and more on whatever it was. Hell, maybe her friends had come for her, either way she had to try and find a way out.
She tried popping her claws and trying to cut her chains, but that was a no go. The ones on her hands couldn't pierce the shackles and the ones on her feet she couldn't angle to get the chains. She let out a frustrated growl, if she broke her ankle maybe she could slip her feet out. Then with the right leverage she could pull the chain holding her hands out of the wall. It wasn't ideal, but it was a start.
Just as she had resolved herself to a new plan of action, however, the door to her cell slid open. The alarm blared in briefly before it closed. Looking up, she saw Talon staring at her.
"The building's on high alert. Apparently a bunch of heroes are attacking the place." He said after a slight pause.
"So they sent you to watch over me and make sure no one can take me away, right?" She asked, not needing an answer. Kimura was likely busy, this was the only thing that made sense.
"Yeah, that's their plan."
"You know, you can't win right? I mean, I have no doubt you're good, but I doubt you're good enough to take on all of my friends. If any of the League came along, the odds go down further."
"I'm pretty sure you're right about that. I've seen what some of them can do in person, and on tape. Batgirl alone could probably feed me my teeth. You didn't let me finish though." He stepped forward so he was right in front of her and she noted again how short he was as he started digging in a pouch on his suit.
"I said that was their plan, but I never said it had to be my plan. I don't want to keep doing what I've been doing. I want to be free like you. So, if I set you free again, can I come along?" He asked hopefully, holding up a lockpick just outside the camera's view.
Laura frowned. "Are you sure this is what you want to do? Rice and his bosses aren't nice people. If they find out you tried to help me-"
"They won't do anything I haven't experienced before. Besides, you were nice to me when you had no reason to be, and a lot of your friends are here. The odds are at least kind of in our favor here. If you don't want me to come, I get it, I just thought maybe I would ask." He said with all the grace that Laura recognized as someone who didn't talk to people socially much, if at all.
"Alright, fine. But make it quick."
Elsewhere in the Facility, Robin ducked under a baton swipe from one of the guards, pirouetting and slamming his bo staff into the man's head, knocking him to the ground as Miss Martian threw up a telekinetic shield that blocked a burst of bullets, allowing Batgirl to leap out and sweep the legs of the two guards, knocking them out with swift strikes.
"Any luck on the computers?" Miss Martian asked Trickshot over the comms.
"Maybe, there's a lot to go through, but she has to be somewhere… I think I have it. It looks like she's at the bottom floor, under some sort of special guard. Doesn't say who."
"Doesn't matter, we'll get through them just like the rest." Robin said, setting off towards a nearby stairwell.
"Be careful, if we rush it, it might not end well for Laura or us. I'll keep digging; try and find if they have any special defenses apart from the guard."
"You do that." Robin replied curtly, as he stormed through the hallway. Any guard foolish enough to approach him swiftly found themselves on the ground, with new bruises, broken bones, and missing teeth.
"Robin's angry." Batgirl said carefully as she and Miss Martian followed the Teen Wonder down the hall.
"Can't say I blame him, Laura's our friend, but to him she's more. I can't imagine I'd be easy to calm down either if it were Francis. We need to stay with him, though angry people aren't usually the most rational."
"I'm plenty rational! Just less patient!" Robin called back to them from down the hall as he tossed a man over the railing before firing a grapple line and leaving him to dangle by one clearly broken leg.
"Sure." Miss Martian sighed, as Robin pulled on the grapple, causing the security guard to scream in pain.
"Ah! What the hell?!"
"Start talking, or I keep pulling. Where is X-23?!"
"What?!"
"X-23! Where is she?!"
"Robin, enough!" Miss Martian protested, grabbing his shoulder, but the Teen Wonder shook it off.
"We need to find her before they do… whatever they took her for, and we're not going to do that by playing nice." Robin stated. "Read his mind. Find out where they're keeping her." He all but ordered, and the Martian frowned.
"I… I can't. My telepathy… it hasn't been the same since the simulation. And… and if I'm not careful…"
"Then we do this the hard way." Robin growled, dangling the man. "Talk!"
"I… Okay! T-they always told us to stay out of sublevel 3! Only Rice and Kimura are allowed down there!"
"Good." Jason yanked the chord up, the man yelling as he was pulled up and laid on the ground. "Let's get moving." As he did so, he noticed Batgirl staring at him, disapproval evident even on her expressionless face. "What?"
"Too far." She warned, and Robin narrowed his eyes.
"We don't have time to play nice, Batgirl. Save the lectures for when we're back home." He all but spat, before jumping down the staircase, his cape fluttering out to slow his fall. Batgirl and Miss Martian looked at the man on the ground, before leaping after him.
Outside Team
Kimura groaned, not in pain, that wasn't something she'd actually felt in a long time. No, this was irritation. No matter what attack she threw at the Boy of Steel, he was living up to that name as nothing worked. Fortunately for her, nothing he had done was keeping her down either. This could go on for a while.
"That all you got!?" Superboy growled, cracking his neck and glaring at her, "You know when I heard you had managed to take Laura on, and how Desmond and others would talk about you, I expected a challenge."
"Oh I'm just getting warmed up!" She shouted, leaping forward and tackling Superboy, sending them both tumbling over the side of the wall and into the forest.
"Superboy!" Wonder Girl called out, making a move towards him only to have to block a volley of bullets from the troops below.
"Stay focused! Superboy's got this, it'll take way more than that to keep him down." Iron Knight said, his arm turning into a small cannon and firing several small pulses at them, causing several of them to fall over twitching.
"What the hell was that?" Kid Flash asked as he rushed through them, knocking several over.
"Basically? A blanket taser."
"Oh, dude, you have got to show me that when this is over."
"Less talking, more fighting. There can't be too many more troops inside." White Wolf ordered.
"Don't be so sure, scans of this place show it's got quite a few sublevels less than Cadmus, but still, who knows what's in there." Iron Knight sighed.
"Laura's in there, that's what matters." Artemis said, receiving nods as they all pushed forward into the complex.
Sublevel 3
After several attempts, the shackles on Laura let out a satisfying click as they clattered to the ground, Laura rubbing her wrist. "Finally…" She muttered, popping her claws for the sake of it.
"How'd you get out of here the first time?" Talon asked, Laura tensing up as she recalled that day.
How Sarah had come to her, one day in June, while Kimura was away. She had said that Laura was about to be shipped off somewhere else, that if they didn't leave now, Laura would be doomed to spend the rest of her life as a weapon. The two had made their way through the service corridors, Laura fighting her way through any guards that stood in her way, taking a care that had been secretly installed into her by Sarah to maim, rather than kill, anyone in her way. And they had almost been free, making it into the woods, only for Rice to appear and…
She couldn't dwell on the past. All that mattered was the here and now.
"We got out through the east stairwell. It should be close by. Let's hurry up and-"
The door exploding off its hinges cut Laura off mid sentence, claws popping and knives being drawn as they turned to the door. They watched the figure in the shadows…
Only for Laura to let out a sigh of relief as Robin stepped through the door. "Laura!"
"Ja… Robin!" The two embraced each other, Laura breathing a sigh of relief as she held Jason tight. However, the embrace was cut short as Jason spotted the room's other occupant.
"What the… That's a Talon!" He yelled, pulling out his bo staff.
"Easy! He's on our side!" Laura reassured, but Robin narrowed his eyes. "How do you know what he is?"
"Talons work for the Court of Owls. Really long story short, they're like if the Illuminati had a bird fetish. Batman and Nightwing drove them out of Gotham years ago. Nightwing said he fought a Talon in Taipei, but I didn't expect to see one here…"
"He's helped me. He's… he's like me, Robin." She reassured, as Robin stared down the Talon.
"Got anything to say for yourself?"
"I was made for the same purpose she was: to be a killer. But I don't want to keep doing this. If you don't trust me, I understand that, but I promise I just want to be free, like she is. Also, to be fair here, if I wanted to attack you, I've had a solid five or six chances since you walked in."
Robin stared at him for a moment, taking note of the fact that he stood about a head taller than his potential opponent. He was unsure. The Talons Batman and Nightwing had fought before had also hurt them enough that Bruce hadn't gone out the next night, and that was no small feat. Still, as he looked at the Talon, he saw the boy made sure his hands were at his side, away from any weapons. Laura also seemed concerned that Jason was going to attack, and that sealed it for him.
If Laura trusted this kid, then he was probably worth trusting, and if he wasn't, well they did still have back up.
"Fine, but you even think of trying something funny and I'll leave you wherever we drop you."
"So, I can come then?" He asked hopefully.
"Yeah, I suppose. Come on, if we can get outside we can all get clear, but before that we need to make sure this place comes crashing down." Robin said, hugging Laura again before letting go as Miss Martian and Batgirl entered.
"Laura!" Miss Martian wrapped her fellow cheerleader in a hug, lifting her off the ground.
"M'gann…ribs…" Laura wheezed out, as Trickshot, Aqualad, and Scarlet Spider rounded the corner.
"Oh, thank god, you guys found her." Scarlet Spider declared, noticing Talon. "And… you found… a scary bird…"
"He's coming with us. It's a long story."
"At this rate we're going to need a bigger ship…" Aqualad muttered. "Are you well enough to fight?"
"Born ready."
"Then let's get moving, and-"
"That will be far enough, my young friends." The voice of Rice boomed over the loudspeakers.
"Who the hell is that?" Trickshot asked, and Laura frowned.
"Xander Rice, the sadistic son of a bitch who runs this place."
"He like to hear himself talk?"
"Yep."
"Oh joy, a monologue…"
"You know, X-23, when I think of all the trials and tribulations I've faced over the years, I cannot help but think of you as my greatest source of anguish. You, an abomination of science, born of an animal and a woman with delusions of grandeur. If Sarah Kinney had simply minded her place, you would have died on the vine like the rest of your ill fated siblings. Even then, all you had to do was be worthless, to be a waste of resources that would have been disposed of. But no, you didn't just meet expectations. You surpassed them! A perfect killing machine, one that could be pointed wherever we wanted. No matter who we pointed you at, you succeeded, leaving a trail of bodies in your wake." Rice monologued, causing Laura to tense up and avert her eyes.
"Laura…what's he talking about?" Robin asked, and tears welled up in Laura's eyes as Rice spoke once more.
"She didn't tell you? Your little friend has quite the impressive kill count. In all honesty, once her count reached 50, I stopped keeping track. She was simply too effective to be denied. I was almost proud at one point. Then Sarah stepped in again, intent on living out some infantile fantasy of playing house. She actually thought of her as her daughter, if you can believe it. Insisted on smuggling her out, trying to have a shot at a normal life. It was almost amusing."
"...shut up."
"That's why it was all the more satisfying…"
"Shut the hell up!"
"...to watch you gut her in the snow." Laura's eyes snapped open, burning with fury.
"I'm going to find you, Rice, and I'm going to carve you up piece by piece! I'm going to make you pay for every torment you inflicted, for every year I suffered here, for every life you made me take!"
"There's the animal I created! Baring her fangs, claws thirsting for blood! How lovely to see you finally drop the hero facade, and show your friends who you really are!" Rice taunted, as Scarlet Spider noticed the sprinklers above head become primed.
"Is he going to pull the fire alarm on us?" The arachnide muttered under his breath, as Laura's blood ran cold.
"No…"
"You can already smell it in the pipes, can't you? Already chipping at your sanity, feeling those base instincts taking control…"
Scarlet Spider's Spider Sense began to pound in his head as he stared up at the sprinklers. "Uh, guys? I'm getting a bad feeling…" Laura became more visibly panicked, running over to the camera.
"Please, Rice, don't! I…I'll do anything! I'll stay here, I'll do whatever you want, kill whoever you want! Just please, don't do this!"
"I'm afraid we're well past the point of negotiation, X-23. For what it is worth, I hope you enjoyed seeing your friends once more." With that, the intercom shut off… as a yellow mist began to come over the sprinklers.
"No!"
The first time she'd been exposed to it, Laura reckoned she must have been around seven years old. Her sensei, a man whose name she had never learned, had trained her in every form of unarmed combat known to man, and the two had formed a type of bond. She had barely smelt it on his gi that day, and the world had gone red. When it cleared, Laura stood over her sensei's body, drenched in his blood.
The second time had been her first mission when she was ten, to assassinate a state senator candidate. She'd made it through his guard easy enough, they had hesitated to shoot a ten year old girl. When she got to the man however, he had begged for his life, trying to show her a picture of his daughter. She hesitated, but Kimura had hidden a capsule in the man's pocket. When she woke up, the man was in pieces. She had stopped hesitating after that. Quick death was better than being torn apart.
And the last time had been last June, when Sarah had tried getting her away from the Facility. They were almost free, but then Rice was there. He had doused Sarah in it when she and Laura had gotten separated, so that when they met up in the woods outside… Laura swore she could still feel her claws sinking into her mother's chest, could feel Sarah holding her tight in a hug as she bled out in the snow, blood forming a crimson halo around her.
Laura didn't know the official name. Some sort of scientific mumbo jumbo made of chemicals she could never remember. But she did know that she had been conditioned from birth to respond to that scent. She knew what Rice and Kimura called it.
Trigger Scent.
"Is that gas?" Robin asked, but Scarlet Spider shook his head.
"The danger's not from that."
"Are you sure? It reeks…" Trickshot remarked as they were all covered in it. "Like rotten fish wrapped in sulfur…"
Laura was backing away, trying hard to cover her nose, desperately trying to keep the scent at bay.
"Get back!" She yelled, tears in her eyes as the others looked at her.
"Laura? What's wrong?" Miss Martian asked, walking closer as Laura dropped into the fetal position.
"Get back, please!" She sobbed, curling into a ball.
"It's ok, we're here now. We're going to-"
SNIKT
Miss Martian gasped as she felt a cold piercing in her chest, looking down to see Laura's claws buried in her chest. "Laura…?"
But Laura wasn't there anymore. Instead, the green eyes that had belonged to their sarcastic, grumpy, caring, compassionate friend were gone, replaced with a feral, almost animalistic fury.
"Grah!" Laura attempted to drive her claws into the Martian's head, only for a webline from Scarlet Spider to yank M'gann back to be caught by Trickshot.
"M'gann, are you-?"
"I'm… fine. Martian hearts… are on the right…" Miss Martian grunted out, as X-23 growled.
"Rughhhhhhhh…" She growled, tears streaking down her face. "Run… RAGHHHHHHHHHHH!" She leapt at them, only for Aqualad's waterhammers to slam into her, knocking her into the wall.
"What's going on? What's wrong with her?" Robin asked as the snarling girl stood again and sprinted towards them.
"It's whatever those sprinklers released, they're driving her nuts!" Scarlet Spider yelled, a spin kick slamming their friend back into the wall.
"Into the hallway, now!" Aqualad ordered, slamming her with a waterhammer as they spilled out into the hall.
"Is beating the hell out of her the only option?!" Talon asked.
"She could take down every single one of us, bar maybe Batgirl on her worst day. And now she's all hopped up on whatever that stuff was!" Trickshot stated.
"Got one of those fancy foam arrows?" Robin asked hopefully
"Left it in my other quiver."
"Miss Martian, can you calm her down?" Aqualad asked, and Miss Martian tensed up.
"I… I can't. If I do it wrong, I could make her a vegetable! I won't risk that again!"
"You have to! From what little she told me about this, she can't stop herself right now. She will keep coming until we're all in chunks!" Talon said, but the Martian was still unsure.
"I…"
"M'gann, listen," Scarlet Spider spoke up. "I know you're still messed up from that whole simulation business, but you're the only one who can stop her. None of us blame you for the simulation! Things just got out of control. Like Laura's out of control now. You know she would do the same for you if she could."
Scarlet Spider's words sunk in, and Miss Martian clenched her fist. She thought of the simulation, thought of how she'd made things so much worse. Then she thought of Laura, her friend who had become a cheerleader more for her than anything else, currently trapped inside her own head.
Trickshot squeezed her shoulder, and she nodded. "Hold her still."
"Easier said than done…" Talon muttered, as Batgirl stepped forward.
"Handle it." She stated, as the crazed, freshly healed Laura staggered out of the room. She roared, before leaping at Batgirl. X-23 swiped at Batgirl, hand and foot claws a whirl of steel flesh. Batgirl managed to avoid each and every swipe, before eventually blocking one. She delivered a series of quick strikes to various points around Laura's chest and shoulders, her arms going limp, before delivering a series of blows to her legs, dropping her to her knees. X-23 growled and thrashed, but her legs and arms didn't respond.
"What did you do to her?" Scarlet Spider asked.
"Pressure points. Can't move. Won't last long."
"I don't need long." Miss Martian stepped forward, kneeling in front of Laura. She placed her hands on the temples of her feral teammate, eyes glowing green as she entered Laura's mind.
What M'gann felt as soon as she entered Laura's mind was…it didn't even qualify as a feeling. More like a collision of base impulses and instincts, directives and desires.
Kill. Kill. Kill Kill Kill kill kill kill.
To say it was intense was an understatement. Subconscious, ego, id, superego… all were buried under those primal instincts. But M'gann could still feel those things underneath, still feel her friend. She braced herself, before diving in further.
KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL
The feelings grew more intense, harder to push through, but M'gann wouldn't be deterred. She pushed harder, piercing through the red, intense emotions…
Until she was in a snowy landscape, the same one that was outside the facility. It was tinged with red, the same whispers all throughout the air, begging her to kill. M'gann looked around, before seeing Laura kneeling in the red snow, sitting beside another version of herself still dressed in the uniform she had worn in Cadmus. M'gann approached her, seeing the body of Sarah in the snow.
"Laura…?"
"You shouldn't have come after me." Laura, or rather the representation of Laura's conscience, stated, her tone flat and lifeless. "I wanted to be something else. I wanted to be like him, wanted to be something other than a killer. I… I wanted to be a hero. I wanted to live. But all I'm good for is being a killer, a weapon to be pointed at something else."
"You're more than that, Laura. You know you are." M'gann stated, sitting across from her. "You're my friend, my teammate. You're not a killer, you're-"
KILLER MONSTER WORTHLESS WEAPON SAVAGE ANIMAL
The impulses grew louder, howling in M'gann's ears like the wind.
"I'm nothing… I'm just a killer…"
"You're not!" M'gann declared, grabbing Laura's shoulders. "You're a hero! You're kind, you're funny! You're not what they made you! You're our friend!" Miss Martian pleaded, as representations of Logan, Jason, the Bumblebees, and the rest of the Team appeared around her. "Your mother wanted you to live, Laura! She wanted you to escape this place!"
"I…"
KILLER MONSTER MURDERER WORHTLESS WEAPON SAVAGE ANIMAL ABOMINATION TOOL SLAVE
"You're stronger than them, Laura! Fight against the programming, do what you want to do!"
"I…" The landscape began to shake, the red snow turning white and the voices dying down as Laura looked directly at M'gann. "I AM NOT THEIR TOOL."
M'gann stumbled back as she broke the connection, panting as Trickshot caught her. "You good?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She reassured, as Jason looked at the stirring Laura.
"Did… did it work?"
Laura groaned, blinking a few times and shaking her head. Batgirl and Aqualad stood at the ready just in case. Laura looked up at them and let out a few trembling breaths and smiled even as tears welled up in her eyes.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry."
"Oh thank god, it worked." Scarlet Spider breathed out, as Robin knelt beside her.
"Are… are you ok?"
"No, I'm not. But… but you're all alive, you don't know how much that means to me. I… I didn't kill anyone." Laura choked out, looking at M'gann. "M'gann, I'm-"
"It's fine. Shapeshifters heal fast." M'gann reassured.
"The… the Trigger Scent… did you…?"
"I didn't remove it, not completely. I just… helped you suppress it. But it won't take control of you again."
"That's better than the alternative." Laura said, hugging Robin.
"We should get out of here." Trickshot said after a moment's pause.
"No." Laura said, anger evident on her face. "I have some business to take care of."
Outside the Facility
Superboy caught Kimura's fist, seizing her arm and flipping her over his shoulder like Black Canary had taught them. She rolled down the hill, rolling to her feet. "Not bad, Superboy! I gotta give Desmond props for making sure you know how to fight!"
"Desmond couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag. I learned from the best." Superboy stated.
"Oh, I like you, but I could do this for hours more, kid. Something tells me you don't have that kind of time. Not if you actually want to try and save X, anyway."
Superboy narrowed his eyes. She was right, he would be of more use to his friends back in the thick of things than he would here. He needed to put her away, he wasn't going to kill her, but maybe he wouldn't have to. Glancing around while staying on his guard, he sighted the lake nearby. He smirked a little while developing a plan. He jumped forward, tackling her and slamming them through a few trees.
"You know, kid, I like your spirit. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you like this as much as I do."
"I don't. Unlike Laura, you are nothing to me. I refuse to lose to someone beneath me!" He shot back, and that dropped the smirk from Kimura's own face as they came to a stop near the lake.
"Arrogant little shit aren't you?"
"Takes one to know one."
She growled before jumping at him again, he leapt to meet her and punched her in the gut. As she gasped out in pain, Superboy grabbed her by the back of her head and the belt of her suit. He spun as if getting ready to throw a discus and hurled high into the air where she came crashing down into the center of the lake with a satisfying impact splash. He waited until he saw her emerge from the water panting.
"Enjoy your swim!" Superboy shouted out to her, smirking as he heard her scream in rage before he jumped back up towards the Facility.
Facility Control Room
Rice fumbled with the key to the gun locker, inserting the key with shaking hands and opening it to reveal the guns inside. Lacking any kind of formal training, he opted for the handgun, cocking it and chambering a round as he headed to the door. However, a pair of glistening metal claws pierced the door, slicing it open to reveal X-23, flanked by the Inside Team. "Hello, Xander." She growled, light glistening off of her claws as she took a step towards Rice.
"Stay back!" Rice warned, aiming the gun with shaking hands. "I brought you into this world, and I swear-" The gun was knocked from his hands, pinned to the wall beneath the trigger by a feather like blade as Talon entered through a side door.
"If you had any kind of spine, you would have killed me years ago. But no, you always preferred to have someone doing the dirty work yourself. It's why you hired Kimura, isn't it? Couldn't even find the nerve to torture me yourself." X-23 taunted. "You know what one of the first things my mother told me was, Rice? She told me you were a sad, pathetic man, one who took his daddy issues out on anyone he could find."
"Your mother had a knack for finding all the right ways to piss me off. Watching you kill her is one of my fondest memories." Rice spat, and Laura narrowed her eyes.
"Do you know why I don't have a code name? Why I insisted on using the name you all but branded me with? Why I clung to that reminder of everything you did?" Laura asked, grabbing Rice by his shirt and pulling him close. "It's because I wanted you to know it was me. I wanted you to know it was only a matter of time before I came for you. I wanted you to wake up in a cold sweat each night, not knowing if that was the day I came for your head. I wanted you to jump every time you heard even so much as an unexpected creek in your own home."
"Should we stop this?" Trickshot muttered, but Robin shook his head.
"She needs this." He whispered back, as Laura sneered in his face.
"Well, I'm here now, Xander! The day you've always feared is here, I've come to finish what you started years ago. I've come to do it my way." Laura reared her fist back, claws popped as Xander tensed up. She drove her fist forward…
And into the wall next to Rice's head. "I'm not your weapon. I'm not your experiment. You are the last person who will ever think they own me. No one owns me!" Laura yelled, letting out all the years of anger, pain, resentment, and sorrow. "I'm not a thing! I'm not an animal! I'm the daughter of Logan and Sarah! I am a hero, I don't take lives, I save them! I'm not X-23! I'm Laura fucking Kinney, and if you ever come near my friends or my family again, you're going to wish I killed you!" And with that Laura tossed Rice onto the ground, storming away from him.
"Let's get out of here."
"What do you want to do with him?" Aqualad asked, and Laura sent a glare back to Rice.
"I don't give a damn. I'm done thinking about him. Let him burn with this hell hole if he wants." She said before turning to Talon, "You did find it, right?"
"Yeah, this secret fortress is like any other. Built in self destruct to hide anything they never want found. You say the word and I'll get it started."
"Then let's go." She stormed out, and Talon looked at Aqualad.
"How long…?"
"Twenty minutes. That should more than suffice for anyone in here to get out." Aqualad stated, and Talon nodded as the Atlantean looked at the scientist. "She has given you more than you deserved. I advise you not to waste it."
"Self Destruct, activated. T-Minus 20 minutes." The automated loudspeaker announced, as the Team began to file out. However, Robin had hung back, alone with Rice, glaring at the scientist.
"What? Lingering around to deliver the last scathing quip? Here to rough me up a little more?" Rice taunted, but Robin just narrowed his eyes.
"She's important to me, and you just put her through hell. Every bone in my body is telling me I should break every bone in yours." Robin seethed out, pacing over to the gun embedded in the wall. He removed it from the feather, walking over to Rice. Rice's blood ran cold as Robin pointed the gun at his head, narrowed eyes burning with fury.
"You… you wouldn't. You… you're supposed to be a hero! She just said you're supposed to save lives, not take them!"
"You're right, and it's by her mercy you get to live. Although, I'd wager not for very long." Robin sighed, setting the gun in front of Rice. "But I'm going to guess that the people you work for don't take kindly to failure."
"You… you're right! I… I can tell you who I work for! You have no idea how far this goes!"
"And I don't give a damn about that right now. Nor do I really care about what they'll do to you when they find out what happened here. I mean you lost them two weapons and a fortress." Robin stated, turning around and heading to the door. He was about to leave, before he turned back. "Not everyone deserves to be saved." And with that, Robin left, leaving Rice alone.
Outside
Artemis fired an arrow that incpacitated the last soldier, as Kid Flash knocked out one behind her. "I had him."
"Uh, sorry. Just… did it without thinking."
"... Thanks for the save."
"Oh for Bast's sake…" White Wolf muttered as he knocked out his last opponent.
"That should be all of them." Iron Knight announced, as Superboy staggered out of the woods.
"Good." He grunted out, as Wonder Girl flew down next to him.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah. You should see that psycho…" He grunted out, as Vision floated down next to them.
"We should proceed inside. The others will require our assistance and-"
"Coulda used you five minutes ago." Scarlet Spider's voice called out, as the others emerged from the hole Iron Knight had blasted into the fortress, Laura leaning on Miss Martian and Trickshot.
"Laura!" Artemis declared, and said mutant smiled.
"Hey, guys." She greeted, clearly exhausted.
"Are you ok?!"
"I… I think I will be." She stated, smiling as she saw her friends gathered around her. "I… I wanna go home. But first… I wanna see the fireworks."
Control Room
"T-minus 1 minute to self-destruct." The automated voice announced over the loudspeakers, causing Rice to sigh as he slumped in his office. He poured the scotch he had kept in his desk for special occasions. He supposed this qualified. A lifetime of work gone. He could have escaped, might even have managed to stay away from them for a while, but he knew better.
There was no real escaping them, at least this way it wouldn't be drawn out. There would be nowhere he could hide, no hole deep or dark enough to protect him, for the Light would always reach him. Better to face his end with some semblance of dignity.
"T-minus 30 seconds to self-destruct." Rice downed the remnants of the glass, leaning back in his chair. He stared at the picture of him and his father, the same one his father had clutched with his dying breath almost 50 years ago. He supposed it was hilarious, in a cosmic irony sense. Two generations of Rice men, both brought down by their sheer hubris in thinking they could tame nature.
"T-minus 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…" Rice leaned back, closing his eyes as he thought of his father. "3…2…1."
Outside
The bioship hovered outside, Laura watching as explosions rocked the Facility, fireballs consuming it from the inside until there was nothing left. And once the explosions stopped, she let out a sob she didn't know she'd been holding in, Jason's hand on her shoulder.
"Are… are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm…" She choked out, looking at the burning fortress. "I'm finally free."
Epilouge One. Mount Justice, 02:16 EST
"Recognize: Batman, 0-2." The Zeta Tube announced, as Batman emerged from the tube into the Cave. He knew that the Team had gone to reclaim X-23 from her abductors, and that Captain America had received a more detailed briefing. However, the Dark Knight hadn't expected to be summoned to the Cave himself by Robin, who simply said that he had something he had to see for himself, and to bring Nightwing just in case.
He stopped for a moment pulling up a holographic keyboard before hitting a few keys. The Zeta Tube came to life again as Nightwing stepped through, seeming confused.
"So, please tell me you have some idea of what's going on here? Because it's not like Jason to be so vague with, well, anything." Nightwing said, following his former mentor down the hall.
"I have no idea, but he sounded conflicted. Not sure of how to put it himself."
"Which makes it a little worse." Nightwing sighed as they stepped through the doorway to a small room off the living area and had to pause for a second to make sense of everything.
On a table in front of them was an assortment of bladed weaponry laid out in neat rows. On the other side of the table, Jason sat in his full Robin costume beside Laura who looked tired, but determined. Behind them seemingly trying to look as small as possible was a Talon. One Nightwing recognized as the one he had fought a few months back.
Batman was ready to attack, but Laura stood up, stepping protectively in front of him and blocking the Talon from view.
"Hang on, he's not a threat." She said, holding her hands up.
"I have a few bruises that only just healed that say otherwise." Nightwing shot back.
"Sorry about that." The Talon said awkwardly from behind Laura.
"Just give us a few minutes, okay? It's been a long day." Jason sighed
"Explain now." Batman ordered, not dropping his guard.
So they did. Together the three of them explained all that had happened inside the Facility, and how the Talon had aided them. Assisted Laura in her escape, how all he wanted was to be free of his masters. There was a slight pause.
"How do we know this isn't some sort of ploy to get us to drop our guard?" It was surprisingly Nightwing who asked this, looking the Talon over.
"Batgirl approved him. No malicious intent that she could see." Jason responded.
"Miss Martian went through his head, with his permission. So far as she can tell, no subconscious programming. He's a kid who's been through a lot for his age, he just wants to live his life how he pleases."
Batman weighed the options. There was a chance he knew something important, and even if not, a child with the level of skill Nightwing had told him about was better off where he could be watched than loose on the world. But even so.
"Take off the mask, I'm willing to work things out for you, but I won't if I don't know who I'm dealing with." Batman stated.
"Do I have to, while he's here?" The Talon asked, surprisingly pointing to Nightwing.
"It's not a negotiation." Batman added simply.
"Wow, you are just as rude and calculating as they said. Fine, but just don't get mad at me because you're going to enjoy this." He sighed before reaching up and tapping a panel on the back of his neck.
There was a soft hiss of air as the helmet became looser on his head. He reached up, hesitating a little. Laura reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring nod and a smile. He let out another breath and pulled the helmet off. Robin, Batman, and especially Nightwing, gasped.
He had mid-length, messy, jet black hair. His skin had the pale tone of someone who didn't go out much during the day. His bright, expressive blue eyes seemed to shine with nerves and intelligence. Nightwing couldn't believe his eyes. It was himself staring back at him in the Talon uniform. Younger, of course, and paler, but that was undeniably his face as it had been years ago, not too long after he'd become Robin.
"Hi. People who bother to give me a name call me 'Zach' and uh… I'm sort of your genetically altered clone." He admitted awkwardly, looking at a shocked Nightwing, who just stared open-mouthed.
"Wasn't expecting that." Jason muttered.
Epilogue 2.
Ontario, 05:52 EST
"Well, they certainly made quite the mess, didn't they?" Lex Luthor remarked, as he walked through the smoldering ruins of the Facility. He supposed he was where the project directors office was, looking at the burnt corpse sitting where the desk had been. "You always did enjoy playing with fire, Xander. Something I suppose you and your father had in common…" Lex sighed out, before tapping the headset he wore. "I'm on site."
"And?" Vandal Savage's voice asked on the other end, as Lex looked through the rubble.
"A total loss, like we expected. Mercy's dealing with the surviving guards, but I don't expect too much resistance on that front. Kimura's being airlifted to Infinity Island, so hopefully Ra's will be able to put her to use." Lex explained, heading over to the charred bookshelf.
"And the Talon?"
"It appears they took him with them. From what Kimura told me, he actually bonded with X-23, if you can believe it. The Court of Owls won't be happy to hear that, but I'm not too concerned with them." Lex recounted.
"As for our operation, I'm not too concerned. The boy only ever knew that the Court pledged allegiance with Ra's, and from there, Batman will likely extrapolate that Ra's had commissioned the boy's creation in exchange for the Court's own loyalty. Not too far from the truth, I suppose, but the important detail is that the Light will remain hidden for now."
"Good. Phase Two is at too critical a juncture to risk discovery. Our diversion with the Masters bought us time, but after our recent encounter with Hydra, we need to minimize risk."
"I agree. Fortunately, we have Klarion's little… 'distraction' to look forward to. Should buy us enough of an opportunity to put things in place." The billionaire stated, gripping a statue on the shelf. He pulled it, and a panel slid open to reveal a wall safe. Lex went over and typed in the passcode, the red light turning green as it opened.
"Are the samples intact?" Savage asked, as Lex pulled an attache case out. He opened it, gazing at four vials full of blood inside.
"They are. I doubt we'll have much use for them in the immediate future, but… well, you never know what opportunities may arise." Lex mused, as he looked at the labels.
Labels that read X-24, X-25, X-26, and X-27.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed! I'm sure you've all got questions, but know that they'll be answered in due time! See you all next time!
