Chapter 20

New Players

Earth 63, 2048, 9:03 PM

Nixullium's POV

As I came to I realized I was handcuffed to a table, I tired to shift but nothing happened. After the summit I had made an effort to master my powers, to limited success, but I knew how shift. That's why I knew something was VERY wrong.

The room was dark, apart from the single shielded light in the center of the roof. It looked like a police station interrogation room, except for the fact that it was metal of all sides and the walls looked like solar panels. I could feel some sort of energy coming off them, but I couldn't pinpoint what it did.

The wall across the room slid open and two men entered. They were wearing full body black armor that looked like a full body Kevlar vest with armor plating on their limbs and chests. Most strange though was their masks. It was a solid helmet with 3 eyepieces, the largest on the right eye with a smaller two in the center and on the left eye. They took up positions in the corners of the room.

One of them spoke, but the voice changer made his voice incomprehensible. It was clear it was on a frequency that only he could understand.

Then a new man in a black business suit entered, his silver cane banging on the metal floor. He was tall, his blond hair had the slightest hints of grey, but his blood red eyes gave away exactly who he was.

"Nixullium Umbra, you're a difficult man to find." Professor Connor Malcom said.

He pulled a chair out from under the table and sat down, placing his cane at his side. He looked at me straight in the eyes and I stared back, it was clear he was sizing me up. I was trying to do the same but for the first time in my entire life I couldn't get a read on him. All my time on the run had taught me to be observant, so it was troubling to say the least that I couldn't figure him out. He then produced a pack of cigarettes from his suit coat and slid them across the table to me. I paid them no heed, for all I knew they were laced with truth serum or poison.

"I will take it from here Sandman, you and Truck can wait outside." Connor said.

The two soldiers nodded, one of them spoke in their encoded voice and motioned to the door with his head. They left without making another sound.

"I take it those men are your hired guns?" I asked.

"That's such a malicious and derogatory term, they volunteered their services to me and I pay them for living expenses since they are never in the same place for long." Connor explained.

"You seem to have a lot of resources for a college headmaster, so let's dispense with the cloak and dagger crap, what do you want from me?" I demanded.

"Ah, straight to the point, huh, I'm not a smoker but I hoped that would break the ice a little, I want you to come to my school," he admitted. I stared at him for a solid second, letting his sentence settle in my head.

"Wait, you abducted me, to ask me such a ludicrous question?" I asked in disbelief.

"Let's be honest, shall we? You would never even talk to me if I approached you normally, and if my friend's report is anything to go by you were about to kill Councilman Malum" Connor said with a slight roll of the eyes.

I said nothing, clearly he wasn't unaware of my plans.

"You see Mr. Umbra I managed to find your personal file, took some digging but it seems you're supposed to be dead, or at least that's what you step-father claims" Connor said as he threw a thick folder on the table. I scoffed internally.

"You know what he did then?" I asked.

"Indeed I do, your mother met a very unfortunate end at his hands, believe me, I understand your pain." he said calmly.

I glared at him, "No, I do not believe you know how it feels., you don't know what it's like to see your mother get her throat ripped out by a man who had lied to you sense you were five, and hear her gurgling to me, trying to yell at me to run. Trust me, Mr. Malcom, you have no idea what I went through." I growled at him.

'Especially what happened afterwards…' I mumbled mentally.

"Oh I believe I do. Try having both your parents dissected by a medical team and, thanks to a psychic link, you feel all the pain they do. I felt every pull laceration and stab as my parents were gutted and then felt their minds slowly fade away." Connor said. I swore I was seeing things, but it looked as though his face became transparent for a split second. I brushed it off as grogginess from the chloroform.

"So Mr. Umbra, I'll make this short but simple. You have two choices once this talk is over. You can come to my school, learn to master your powers and help take down the people your step-father works for. Or, you throw your life down a hole and kill your step-father. You'll go to jail for life and his benefactors will have lost nothing. I had the same mindset as you once, but when I killed the doctor who butchered my parents I only felt good for a few seconds before the truth hit me. I had no family left and the doctor's master was still on track. Killing him didn't bring me happiness or peace, and it certainly won't give you those things either." Connor explained in a somber tone before laying a business card in the table and walking out. I looked at the card and growled.

'Trust me, I won't go to jail. I'll ensure that.'

The two soldiers came back in, one of them pressed a button on his wrist and spoke normally.

"Sorry, but you can't see where our safe house is, we're going to blindfold you until we get outside and teleport you back to where we got you." He said as he unhooked my cuffs from the table.

I felt the blindfold go over my eyes and the soldier sliding the card into my pocket. His grabbed me by the shoulders gently and said "Walk please."

I did as he asked and we walked for a while until I smelled fresh air. I then felt the teleport, it made my stomach turn. The blindfold came off and he took off the cuffs. I turned around to face him, making sure he wasn't trying anything.

"That's what kept you from shifting, I hope you make the right choice," he said before reactivating his voice scrambler and turning around. All of a sudden his suit became see through and he vanished into thin air, I could hear his footsteps only once before he was gone. I only barely heard the first thanks to a shifters sensitive ears.

I was alone, and needed to think things over.

Earth 63, 2048, 10:02 PM

3rd person POV

As Cyrus was locking up the lab he felt a rush of air, he turned around to see Calrok exciting a portal with two new arrivals behind him. They were in full body red armor with a black R patch on their shoulders. Their helmets looked like a triangular gas mask with a filter on the side and no eye holes. Small cameras were all across their faceplates, one of which was green lenses and the others red and black.

"Hello Cyrus. As you can see, Giovanni has tasked two special operatives for a new mission." Calrok informed him.

Chapter Edited And Proofread By FXCF.

Nixullium Umbra Is Also FXCF's.