The Truth comes out
Logan and Remy are flying north by northeast in a private plane owned by the gambler. It is rocked about by the turbulence and Logan is holding on to a strap for dear life as they go. Logan hates flying… end of story. Remy just looks over at him with an amused smirk upon his young face. Logan wants nothing more than to punch him right now.
"Don't like flyin', huh?" Remy asks casually.
"I'm fine. Just concentrate on what you're doing!" Logan says gruffly and gestures out at the sky before them.
"You've got a bit of sweat on your brow there." Remy says and chuckles.
"Ha-ha… very funny." Logan snaps. "Just keep your eyes on the-"
"On what? The clouds? Keep ma eyes on the clouds?" Remy asks cutting over Logan's words quickly with a n added chuckle and then the plane is rocked by turbulence once more.
"We're going up and down like a fuckin' yo-yo here! Where'd you get this thing anyways?" Logan then snaps as he struggles to maintain his cool, but that's a losing battle.
"Oh… this is ma baby." Remy says with a smile as he pats the dashboard lovingly. "Ah won her in a game… Jacks over fives."
"Great." Logan says and rolls his eyes.
"Relax… we're almost there." Remy says as he banks the plane and they dip under the cloud layer. "There it is… the island… Three Mile Island." And the clouds part to reveal the three huge and distinctive looking cooling towers for the nuclear reactor on the island as they glow in the pale light of the moon overhead.
"Hidden in plain sight." Remy says and shakes his head. "No one's gonna snoop around a nuclear reactor." Remy then says with a smile as he looks at Logan. "They all think it's gonna turn 'em inta freaks or somethin'." He then chuckles.
"Like you?" Logan says with a sarcastic bite as the plane shivers.
"Right." Remy agrees blankly as he looks out ahead and banks lower. The plane comes down to within ten feet of the river's surface. "Alright… are ya ready?" Remy then asks. "'Cause it's now or never."
"It's about time." Logan says as he moves and shuffles behind the seats. He opens the door and slides it back. "Hey! If this makes you feel any better… this is really gonna hurt." Logan then says as he gets ready.
"Yeah?! It kinda does… actually." Remy says with a smirk as he looks over his shoulder at Logan.
"Good Luck." Logan says to Remy as he prepares to jump.
"Likewise." Remy says and watches as Logan pushes out and falls from the door.
"Oh… Shit!" He screams and hits the water. Logan struggles to keep to the surface and watches as Remy banks his plane away up into the night sky overhead. Logan then let's the current of the river push him to the island.
Jean can't help but want to see more of what happened from Vanessa's view point though… so she spans the distance, which is nothing to thought… until she brushes against Vanessa's mind once more.
'Back again, I see.' Vanessa says and it is friendly, open… welcoming even.
'I'm trying to make sense of an event that happened back on March 28th of 1979… at Three Mile Island.' Jean says to Vanessa who goes ridge at first… the mental reaction to what occurred back then.
'I wasn't in full control of myself… but I witnessed everything.' Vanessa starts her mental voice small and tinged with pain.
'I know what it's like to have that mind-control drug used on someone I loved.' Jean says and flashes of her fighting Scott at the dam flit around the two astral forms of the women.
'You have more power than you can possibly imagine, Jean.' Vanessa says. 'I shall tell you my story then…'
Vanessa is standing in the lab area… her mind blank yet open to scan those around her as well as receptive to commands from Stryker. She had been brought out of her cell by Victor Creed and made cooperative by being dosed with the mind-control drug developed from Stryker's own son, Jason. She was to serve as muscle to protect Stryker should Logan show up and become too dangerous to control with words alone.
Stryker also has Emma Frost around as usual to help him control everyone else in a more subtle way so that everyone goes with what he wants to do… Track and subdue all Mutants. If he can use their gifts, then he will… if not… then Victor gets to have his fun.
"How is the process going?" Colonel Stryker asks of the scientist working on the sedated form of Wade Wilson. She is busy working with his eyes at the moment. Vanessa feels an overwhelming sense of guilt and torture at the sight of this man on the bed before her… yet she cannot connect why she should feel this way about this man. That is the only hazy spot. Jean wants to know why that is, but before she can pry into it… "Is Weapon XI ready yet?" Stryker then asks and Jean's focus returns to the current memory streaming.
"The teleportation power has bonded fully. I'm adding in the genetic code for the optic lasers right now… so in a few more hours this new power will be permanent, sir." The woman says through her medical mask as she works.
"And you have the dosing collar ready so that he will be compliant to all my commands?" Stryker then asks.
"Yes… but you have to recharge the collar twice every twenty-four hours since his healing factor counteracts the effects of the drug." The woman then says.
"The upkeep will be worth it, so that isn't an issue." Stryker then says. "And once Deadpool is awake… you shall serve to test his skills, my dear. I call this sweet irony… that the man who loves you and went to every length to protect you will be the one to kill you." Stryker then says as he looks to the docile Vanessa with a dark smile.
'He was going to have your love kill you!' Jean says shocked by what she has seen. She knew Stryker had been determined to annihilate all Mutants before… but his dark twisted schemes began long ago poisoning his mind and heart until all he seen was enemies to kill and a war to win.
'After he caught me nearly six years prior to then, he made me an offer… I could see where either a 'yes' or 'no' answer led. 'No' led to my death if I never broke… breaking me seemed to inevitably lead to me seeking vengeance, justice, or sheer chaos.' Vanessa says with a sigh. 'But that's not me. I'm someone who will make a difference… for there are some dark days ahead, Ms. Grey. Some have come and gone mostly outside of my influence, but I have chosen to follow the most important one. The Phoenix… This is why I went willingly into captivity… because it allowed me to meet you.'
'Me?' Jean asks curiously though she dreads the answer.
'You carry a flame of IT within you…and you know what it desires.' Vanessa says.
'Freedom… at any cost.' Jean then replies. Her voice shakes as she can feel IT stir within her still though she lacks a physical form at the moment.
'Yes… and one day what happened there on that island will affect the future in so many ways…' Vanessa says then slowly and nods her head at some internal dialogue.
'Does your mutation allow you to see into the future?' Jean then asks curiously.
'The first ability I absorbed was an old woman's powers of precognition. She told me to take it… and let her have peace at last. So I did… and I seen where I'd go, what I'd do, and all the powers I would gather.'
'Do you have to kill every time to take a power?' Jean then asks.
'No… but the more blood I consume the stronger the bond and so the more powerfully I can manifest that ability.' Vanessa answers.
'Interesting.' Jean then says. 'There's a place in upstate New York… a school, The Xavier Institute for gifted children. You should go there ask for Charles Xavier. He should hear what the future holds.'
'One day I will…I have seen it…but today isn't that day.' Vanessa says. 'There was a hard line of future events that have been altered. I can feel the shift in time and now that which was so clear has faded away like a bad dream. Look back through the memories of the man whose mind you are dwelling in to the year 1973. You'll see what I am talking about.' Vanessa adds. 'Oh and one more thing… I see the flames rising around you… and green eyes like living emerald burning with sorrow and hope. When you see such a woman, know that your purpose has come.'
'Thank you, Vanessa.' Jean says wondering what she means. 'I shall call upon you again.' She then adds.
'I know… I have seen you returning to visit me.' Vanessa says with a friendly smile and Jean pulls back returning to Logan's mind as he goes about his daily routine in the woods of survival and hunting. She waits until he slumbers to probe his memories once again. She will sift his past to view the memories of the mentioned year and learn its mysteries later… but right now she desires to finish through this current line of memories…
Logan lays down in his sleeping bag upon the bed of piled leaves. His hazel eyes flutter to a close and suddenly the woods are gone, the hard stony ground is gone, and there is just the white room and the soft bed.
"Welcome back." Jean says with a warm smile as she lays next to him.
"It's good to be back." Logan says with a grin as he pulls her close. He can smell her sweet pea shampoo as well as the hint of vanilla that always seemed to come from her skin. It makes it all seem so real… but it isn't.
"Logan? What's wrong?" Jean asks as she feels the hesitancy in his limbs and mind.
"You're helping me remember my past… but… I don't know… I feel that something terrible is about to come up." Logan says with a heavy sigh. Jean caresses his face and smiles at him.
"It's okay… they are just memories… if you want me to stop then we'll stop and leave it a mystery still." Jean says and kisses Logan's forehead. Logan feels like a coward for entertaining the thought of stopping even for a second.
"No… I'm ready for this… I've gotta know so please… let's continue." Logan says as he pulls Jean close and nuzzles at her neck. He closes his eyes and feels her brush against his mind to pull at the threads of memory once more.
Logan makes his way stealthily across the island grounds towards a building complex at the center. He lets one claw on his left hand slide out and he slips it between the door and the jamb to cut the lock. He enters the building and makes his way through the corridors. He reaches an open area and quickly darts behind a forklift as he hears footsteps and scraping sounds approaching. He watches as two guards drag a teenaged boy with a thick blindfold on from an open entryway towards large metal double doors on the other side of the warehouse.
Once they enter the metal doors, Logan hurries towards that entryway… he can smell Stryker's scent and Victor's all over this huge room. He quickly finds himself in a stairwell and so Logan goes up two steps at a time until he hits the landing. He slips along the wall and peeks his head around and notices Stryker… alone and with his back turned to Logan's position. Perfect. Logan slowly slides the claws out on his right hand then makes his way slowly across the open laboratory floor. There are hospital beds along both sides, all empty… save for one and Stryker is looking at whomever or whatever is under the sheet. Almost there. Just a few more yards… and then Kayla will be avenged.
"Welcome back to the war, Logan." Stryker then says amicably as he lowers the sheet and turns a smiling face to his stalking would-be assassin. Logan stops and stands to his full height. His hazel eyes glare harshly at the smiling Colonel.
"Before I gut you… I wanna know why… why did she have to die?" Logan asks coolly as his features harden though his anger simmers just beneath the surface.
"You want to know the truth? Fine… you deserve to know if you are going to be so stubborn about it." Stryker says off-handedly. Logan starts to move forward and suddenly a woman with black hair in a posh cut is standing between him and Stryker. She didn't teleport… he just simply notices her there. She is dressed in a black leather outfit that hugs her voluptuous form like a second skin. Her golden honey-hued eyes are hard yet blank as she stares at him. Logan stops.
"The truth is this… I needed your healing ability and heightened senses for the pool." Stryker then says casually.
"The what?" Logan says incredulously.
"The Mutant Killer… Deadpool." Stryker then says and a wide grin slides upon his face as he walks around the hospital bed and pulls the sheet away to reveal Wade Wilson… now bald and with his lips sewn shut. The mouthy mercenary is out cold and appears to be sleeping.
"Jesus… Stryker, what have you done?" Logan asks harshly as he looks down at the scarred face and body of his former teammate.
"I have created a masterpiece." Stryker starts in a loving tone as he gazes down at his finest work. "Years of searching and refining… just to find the right combination of powers to create the perfect weapon." Stryker then says as he looks up to Logan. "My son was the first piece of the puzzle. His unique ability has allowed me to control the …uncooperative… tools that I needed to complete this master work.
"This woman before you provided the foundation. Her ability to incorporate the powers of others into her own DNA is quite miraculous. Agent Zero willingly offered his uncanny marksmanship… and Wade… well, Wade wanted to keep up with Victor… Bradley ran, but didn't hide very well. You walked away and I needed something to hook you, reel you back in. If I have learned anything about you… it's that nothing motivates the men of your family more than revenge. You have made my weapon unstoppable." Stryker says still wearing his smile. "I really should thank you, Logan. So here's your reward." Stryker then says and nods his head as he looks over Logan's shoulder. Logan takes the hint and turns around coming face to face with Kayla… alive and well.
"W-who are you?" Logan says his voice nearly cracking as his eyes shimmer at the sight of the woman he loves standing before him. He wants to deny what he is seeing… it's a bad nightmare and he needs to wake up… but she's still there… alive and he can smell her familiar scent and hear her breathing. "Jesus… are you real? Or this a trick?" Logan then asks with a cracking voice.
"Oh… she's quite real, old friend." Stryker says with a sad smile then gives a disappointed shake of his head. "Did you really think that I'd let you walk away so easily, Logan?" Stryker then asks curiously as he steps around the bed and stops behind Vanessa Pyre confident in his protection. "You're a dangerous man, Logan… and you know well how I like to keep an eye on dangerous men." Logan tenses at the label. He feels crushed, devastated, in this instant. His anger starts to flare but he doesn't know how long it will last… and he wants answers.
"Was it all lies?" Logan asks Kayla. She opens her mouth to speak as her eyes begin to wavier.
"Tell him about the day you died, Silverfox." Stryker commands coolly from behind Logan and Kayla goes still, her face going neutral though saddened.
"Creed gave me a shot of hydro-chlorothiazide." She starts and her voice is a dull monotone. "It reduces the heart rate so low that one appears to flatline.
"So it was all lies." Logan says with a hint of a growl and his eyes sharpen into a glare at Kayla. His whole body tenses as though he is ready to spring into a murderous rage.
"Don't be angry with her, Logan. She's a real credit to your species." Stryker says with a wry smile at Logan's reaction. "Did you know that her sister as two abilities? She's a Metamorphing Psion with skin that changes into diamond. It really is quite lovely." Stryker then says making conversation. "Kayla's mutation is in her skin as well. Tacto-hypnosis. She has the power to influence people to do anything she says as long as she is touching them. Quite a useful tool in seduction wouldn't you say?" Stryker then smiles darkly. "I'm sorry… but it was never real, old friend."
"It was for me." Logan says as he falls to his knees… broken. Stryker almost feels sad to see Logan in such a state, but it was by his choice.
"I told you… if you went down this road that you wouldn't like what you'd find." Stryker then says with a solemn frown. Logan ignores Stryker and focuses his eyes on Kayla's.
"That story you told me… about the man who gets flowers for the Moon… I had it backwards. I thought you were the Moon and I was your Wolverine… turns out you're the Trickster… and I'm just the sorry Fool who got played." Logan says through his inner pain. He then chuckles darkly, "The worst part is… I should've known… but I ignored my instincts. I ignored what I really am… but I won't let that happen again. I AM an animal…" Logan then rushes forward and catches Kayla by the throat. "I am the Wolverine."
"He-he has-my sister, Emma." Kayla chokes out and Wolverine narrows a glare at her but he does not feel the spreading warmth that usually accompanies her touch. His grip lessens slightly. "He holds her hostage… a slave to his will. That's what he wants for all of us. Besides, if you run now, he'll keep coming." Logan steps away from Kayla and stands there in a moment of silence.
"Don't do anything foolish, Logan. Think this through." Stryker says as a nervous edge enters his voice as Logan turns slowly to fix him with a cold glare. Logan's claws pop out and he lounges forward… but Vanessa catches him in mid-air and flips him onto the floor. He swipes his claws at her legs and she steps back just out of reach. Logan rolls to his feet as Vanessa flips over him and swipes her claws down his back ripping at his flannel shirt.
Logan snarls in pain and turns swinging on Vanessa who dodges each claw swipe expertly. She catches his wrist, using his own momentum, she then turns him around but Logan whips his head back connecting with hers to stun her temporarily. He then turns and hits her with an elbow as he goes. He breaks free of her grasp.
"I knew you had it in ya to hit women, Jimmy. Looks like we are more alike than you thought." Victor says with a dark chuckle from the other side of the room. Logan growls at his vicious older brother and they charge in a mad dash to clash once again. This time Logan lets loose and he sinks both sets of claws deep into Victor's gut as he leaps at his little brother.
"I'll never be like you." Logan snarls at Victor as he slams the taller man down and removes a clawed hand to swipe at Victor once more… but Logan is attacked from behind as Vanessa claws his back and neck. The tattered flannel is rent from Logan's body and he spins in fury to backhand Vanessa. She goes flying backwards and hits the wall hard.
"This ends now, Stryker." Logan says as he turns to the Colonel once more. Stryker looks nervous as Logan gets closer.
"Not so fast, Jimmy!" Victor says as knocks Logan down and digs his long claws into Logan's sides.
"Activate the Mutant Killer. Now." Stryker commands the doctor. The woman complies and pulls out a syringe and injects it into the sleeping form on the bed.
"Let him go!" Kayla says as she grabs Victor by the neck. He just laughs at her.
"Your little trick doesn't work on me, Honey." Victor says as he releases Logan and spins to swipe at Kayla. She barely moves back in time to avoid the swipe of his bloody claws. She loses her footing and crawls backwards as Victor stalks her way.
"After this, Stryker… you and me need to settle our deal. I want unbreakable bones as well." Victor says as he spares a stern glance to Stryker who has moved behind Deadpool's bed.
"How about I kill you for real this time?" Victor says darly to Kayla as he stands over her.
"Victor!" Logan shouts and slams into the taller blonde man. The pair go crashing through the observation windows and fall to the warehouse floor below. Kayla gets up and hurries down the stairs. Victor and Logan trade blows and claw swipes until Victor begins to tire and Logan finally slams his older brother down upon the floor.
"Feels good… don't it? All that rage…" Victor says as he coughs blood up and Logan twists his claws in the blonde's guts causing him to groan in pain. Victor then gives challenging eyes to Logan. "Do it. Kill me. If you can… Brother."
"Logan!" Kayla shouts as Logan pulls his right fist free and menaces Victor with his metal claws. He readies to cut Victor's head off. "You're not an animal! You're a good man with a dark past… nothing less. Don't let Stryker win." Kayla pleads from nearby.
"You are an animal, little brother… just like me." Victor says weakly and smiles.
"I'm not your brother anymore." Logan growls at his defeated older brother and draws back his arm once more. His claws retract as he cries out in rage and punches Victor in the forehead rendering the blonde man unconscious but still alive.
"Logan? I swear I didn't trick you into loving me… it was real for me, too. I'm so sorry, please forgive me." Kayla pleads through her tears as she walks slowly over to Logan as he steps back from Victor.
"If I can't learn from my mistakes then I truly am an animal…" Logan says softly. He then turns fully to Kayla. "Are you alright? I'm sorry for hurting you earlier."
"I'll be fine, Logan… but my sister, Emma… she's being kept here somewhere. I have to find her and get her out of here." Kayla then says.
"I think I know where she might be." Logan says as he leads Kayla towards the large double doors where he seen those guards taking that blindfolded teen earlier.
"Weapon XI coming online, sir." The doctor says and Stryker watches as Deadpool sits up and cracks his neck.
"Excellent. Emma?" Stryker then says and Emma Frost walks out from the other side of the lab. Her face is blank like Deadpool's. "Let's give our guests a demonstration then, shall we?" Stryker says as he watches the doctor hand Deadpool the top to his uniform. The red and black form-fitting top slides on into place and then the Mutant Killer grabs the hilts of the twin katana blades sitting on a table near his bed.
"Adamantium swords… the best for my best soldier. Now… go kill all those Mutants down there." Stryker says with a smile as he points through the shattered windows.
Logan cuts through the lock on the double doors easily and once they enter, he and Kayla see a line of cages down this long hall. Which cage contains a young Mutant each one displaying different mutations like a frosty touch or bony spikes protruding from the skin. There's so many… easily over a dozen and mostly kids.
"That sick bastard." Logan says under his breath. He then pops his claws and runs down the center slashing all the locks as he goes. In moments, all the kids are freed and Kayla is looking the crowd over in desperate panic.
"I'm not seeing her, Logan." Kayla says and looks about ready to cry. "Emma isn't here."
"I know where she is." Vanessa says as she approaches. Logan lifts his clawed hands ready to fight. Vanessa raises her hands in show she is no threat.
"Really?" Kayla asks pleadingly.
"Yes." Vanessa says.
"Okay then… Kayla, get these kids outta here… you, take me to her sister." Logan says.
"But-" Kayla starts to protest.
"No arguing… let's go." Logan says.
"There's some access tunnels under this whole complex. There's one that leads under the river to the northern shore. Make for that." Vanessa says to Kayla who nods her head and the gathered group of Mutants hurries to the large main doors… suddenly a bald man wearing a red and black combat suit appears. He eyes the group eagerly and lifts his katanas up in a fighting stance that Logan recognizes.
"Wade? Hey, it's me, Logan." Logan says but gets no reaction.
"Wade! You don't have to do this!" Vanessa says as she pushes forwards to face Stryker's Mutant Killer. Deadpool simply rushes her and stabs one of his swords through her stomach. Vanessa manages to block the incoming swipe of his left blade and pushes him back with her telekinetic power. Logan catches Vanessa as she stumbles backwards.
"Maybe he does have to do this." Logan says with a frown as he looks at the dark haired woman's closing wound. "Kayla… get these kids outta here now. Lady… go with them."
"Emma is with Stryker. You find him, you'll find her." Vanessa says.
"I'll be sure to get on that as soon as I deal with Wade here." Logan says as he pops his claws. "Now go!" Logan shouts at the group. They hurry off back they way they had came. "What? No witty comebacks?" Logan says as he makes for the Mutant Killer. "Guess Stryker finally managed to shout you up, Wade!" Logan then says as he uses his claws to block the sword strikes. He then sees an opening and stabs Wade in the gut and runs his claws up but they catches on his ribs and stop.
"What the… You've gotta be shittin' me." Logan says as he realizes something about this new Wade. "Stryker laced your bones too?" Logan says and watches as the angry red slashes close and heal completely leaving scars. Daedpool just looks at Logan with that creepy unblinking stare and Logan kicks the Mutant Killer away.
Kayla and Vanessa lead the group of kids back into the warehouse room but suddenly they are under assault from soldiers with AK-47s. Vanessa does her best to shield the group telekinetically as everyone scurries for cover.
"Hold fire! Shoot on sight!" A soldier shouts and the gunfire dies down.
"I can help!" The blindfolded teenaged boy says from one side of the open double doors. "Just point me at them! I can do it!"
"Okay." Vanessa says and hurries over to Scott. She shields herself as she moves from cover to cover. "Ready?" She then asks and Scott nods. "Alright, stay behind me." She adds and Scott holds her shoulders. Vanessa then stands out in between the doors and stops all the bullets. Scott then lifts his blindfold and opens his eyes… they blaze with a red fiery light that blasts out like lasers. He swipes his optic blast across the observation windows of the lab above and takes out the team of soldiers. He then closes his eyes and returns the blindfold over his eyes.
"Did it work? I got them all?" Scott then asks.
"Yeah… That was some fine shooting." Vanessa says congratulating Scott.
"I do what I can." Scott says and blushes.
"Alright, let's go!" Kayla says and soon the group of kids is running across the warehouse floor to the tunnel access stairwell. They start down the tunnels but Kayla stops at a 'T' junction. "Keep going." She says to the kids and they start to head off down the left tunnel. Vanessa stays behind with Kayla and eyes the woman as she favors her left side.
"Where are you going?" Vanessa asks Kayla.
"Back… to find my sister." Kayla says.
"Emma?"
"Yes."
"Then I'm coming with you. Besides, you'll need my help since I know where she is." Vanessa then says.
"Please, take me to her." Kayla pleads as she grabs at Vanessa's shoulder.
"Follow me then." Vanessa says not needing Kayla to convince her and the two women hurry back the way they came.