Weapon M Chapter 5, a X-Men + Harry Potter Crossover fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Marvel, not even X-Men.

A/N: Before I begin, I'll answer some reviews.

To those of you who replied about X23/Kitty Pryde - I will go with X23, as that seems to be the popular decision. While Kitty will be about their age and a close friend, she will remain merely as an 'X-Kid'.

Djebernaman - They intended to add both, but initially, his body couldn't handle it. Now, he will actively reject it. He can temporarily assimilate the powers, but they will be 'purged', so to speak.

Bolton101: Comic wise, you are quite right - Shaw can absorb any energy that strikes him, including projectiles, blades and electricity. However, I feel that Shaw's greatest strength is his mind, and so am limiting his power so as to give Harry a few weaknesses - while an invincible Harry can be entertaining, and while this fic will mostly focus on his emotional and mental weaknesses than his physical ones, I want my Harry to have some challenge.

Warberserk: as requested, here are Harry's current abilities (and their source):

Immunity to Pain (Ajax)

Increased Strength, Speed, Metabolism and Constitution (Super Soldier Serum/Weapon I)

Photographic Muscle Memory (Taskmaster)

Kinetic Energy Absorption and Storage (Sebastian Shaw)

Line of Sight Teleportation (Nightcrawler)

Retractable Wings (Angel)

Momentary Adamantium Skin (Colossus)

Potential Energy Manipulation (Gambit)

Phasing (Kitty Pryde)

Healing Factor, Heightened Hearing and Smell, Claws (Logan/Weapon X)

Adamantium Laced Claws (Weapon Plus)

Can also adopt foreign abilities temporarily through genetic injection.

Trained in martial arts, boxing/brawling, daggers/knives, explosives, shields, tasers, swords, pistols, rifles and snipers.

Hope that helps.

Thank you to all the other reviewers, I'm glad to see you are enjoying my fic.

Now, for the next chapter!

Chapter 5: First Encounter

Now ten years old, aged to sixteen, Weapon M sat, as usual, passively as a file was slammed onto the desk in front of him. His hand moved robotically as he pulled it towards him, flicking open the file. He scanned the document for a moment, before glancing up at his handler.

"Read it," Ajax commanded. "For this shall be a test, to better grasp your upper limits and send you on more suitable excursions."

The Weapon did not reply, but he began to flick through the leaves of paper. X23, the paper was titled, and proceeded to document the physical, mental and genetic details of the subject. A clone of the original Weapon X, the subject possessed many of the same abilities as her predecessor - and thus a few of the Weapon's own - with a couple of differences. The first was the placement of the adamantium. Like the Weapon, they had not had enough to coat her entire skeleton, rather lacing only the claws with the unbreakable metal. The other difference was the placement of the six claws - only two were in each hand, the third erupting from each foot.

X23 was bred in captivity, with limited mental and emotional growth, little more than an animal in many regards. Emotionally, her only bond was with the Doctor Sarah Kinney, the doctor who supervised his social training. She had also been trained to react violently when exposed to a trigger scent, codenamed Trig-X, aiming to tear apart anything exposed to it.

When he had finished, the Weapon closed the file, looking back up at his handler.

"We are about to inject your bloodstream with Trig-X," Ajax said calmly, pulling out the needle. "Your healing factor will purge it in four hours. Your task - survive. Anything short of eliminating X23 is permitted. No weapons are to be brought with you."

There was no visible reaction, but it was clear that the Weapon had accepted its instructions. Ajax leant over, administering the serum. "Prepare for exposure."

The Weapon stood in the entry pod, arms crossed ready to be ejected. It was an ingenious device, intended to release victims into X23's lair without exposing her to any of the doctor's. Unlike Weapon M, they had not been successful in breaking X23's spirit, thanks in no small part due to the counteractive intent of Doctor Kinney, and thus attacks on Department personnel had been common back when she had been kept in a regular cell. Their only ways to control the subject were Trig-X, in order to direct her killing intent, and Dr. Kinney, whom they were reluctant to expose to X23.

As such, the device was required to test the subject. Death Row inmates would regularly be deposited in the new cell, a vast expanse of artificial forest and cave systems, without any need to interact. It would serve just as well, however, to send in the Weapon, giving the Weapon a precious few seconds to prepare before the Trig-X kicked in.

"Encounter in T-minus three…two…one," Ajax said, before yanking down on the lever, dropping the Weapon into the cell. "Begin."

Ajax turned to his superior. "Well, Director? You wanted to see how the final product was? Well here he is - and this is without his injections or his weaponry."

"Good, good," Malcolm hummed. "And I suppose this will showcase X23 as well. She has never fought anyone stronger than her."

Ajax huffed. "We should have terminated her years ago."

"Tosh," Malcolm scoffed. "She may not be as efficient, or as… obedient, but she will make a good sidekick for the crown jewel of this program."

X23 lay crouched behind a large rock, staring at the hatch awaiting the intruders, having heard the signal half an hour earlier. Not that she referred to herself as such, after all - mother had ensured that she had some semblance of self, even if it was shaky at best. Laura. That was her name. Laura Kinney.

The sharp sound of the hatch sliding open caught her heightened senses, and the ten year old pinned her gaze at the falling object. Not that she looked ten, of course, having had her biological clock accelerated during her first few years of life, leaving her present body as that of a fifteen or sixteen year old.

She took in the shape of the being. He was younger than her usual victims, about her age, which was surprising, because that meant he must have done something horrendous. That's what mother said, after all - anyone who was sent into her cell had done something atrocious. On a second glance, however, she supposed she could see it. The impassiveness. The deadly focus. But there was something else. He was different.

"Hello?" she asked him. "Who are you? Are you like me?"

The boy turned to face her, and she saw nothing in his face, No life, no emotion, no individual thought. She gulped, inadvertently inhaling his scent.

It struck her like a hammer. The scent. The scent. She hated it, and she hated it, and she wanted it to go, and she wanted to stick her claws in and see it bleed…

And in that moment, Laura Kinney vanished, and was replaced only by X23.

The Weapon landed in a crouch, immediately stretching his senses out to survey the area. Forest… water… rocks… tunnels… heartbeat. X23.

"Hello? Who are you? Are you like me?"

He tilted his head, surveying his fellow weapon. Physically smaller - weaker, but more agile. Lesser skill set - reliance on claws. Two pronged strike - more weapons than him. Feral - jumpsuit was torn as opposed to his ironed, albeit bloodstained, uniform. Lingering scent of blood and grime. Heart rate steady, capable of speech, pupils standard - Trig-X not yet in effect.

He heard her gasp, and her heart rate sped up. Her pupils shrank as the iris grew, gaining a red tinged hue as the trigger took effect. He heard a growl form in her chest, saw a ripple in her throat as it entered the air.

He was already turning as she lunged forward, her two front claws cleaving wildly at the space where he had been standing. He watched the feral movements, a completely different approach to combat than he had been trained. Of course, little training had been given to him specifically for claw based combat, leading his use to be primarily based in quick stabs interspersed with punches, but X23's movements lacked finesse, lacked refinement, lacked style. It could be useful, of course, if he combined it with martial training and stockpiling mutation.

He kept an eye on the small girl, body and mind deceptively aged, scanning her movements as he committed them to memory and installed them into his own combat. Each move was broken down into individual muscle actions, and a plan of attack was formed. A sharp forearm strike knocked the girl off balance, a single claw following the attack, piercing her spinal column. X23 barked out a cry, falling to the ground immobilised.

The Weapon glanced down at the girl for a moment. She was paralysed for a moment, and vulnerable to a killing blow. But that was forbidden. He would take the time to put some distance between the two before X23's healing factor restored her spinal column. His eyes lingered on her bleeding form for a moment, a semblance of an individual thought attempting to form for the first time in nearly a decade, before he flicked his eyes up to focus on the forest ahead, disappearing in a burst of brimstone smoke.

X23 twitched in place, agony arcing through her frame as her spinal column knitted itself back together. With a growl of wild fury, she pulled herself onto all fours, all six claws extended. She smelt it and she hated it and she wanted it gone and she wanted to smell its blood….

Behind the haze of the Trigger-Madness, Laura the animal frothed with rage, a feral rage that called for vengeance and blood and the end of the one who hurt them…

And yet even below that feral nature, Laura the girl was curious.

But X23 was blinded to that. All that mattered was the scent… and making sure it died.

She growled out in fury as she breathed in the scent, before sprinting off into the forest. She would find the scent, and she would destroy it.

Ajax looked at his superior with smug satisfaction. "Incredible, isn't he? X23 is barely an inconvenience.

"We shall see," Malcolm said softly. "That was merely the initial lashing out. Now? Now the hunt begins. I have no doubt that each can handle anything the other throws out."

Ajax scoffed, but remained silent.

Weapon M quickly scaled a tree, using his claws to gain easy hold onto the bark of the tree. As he went, he pushed small amounts of potential energy into the bark, just in case X23 attempted to follow. Once he had reached the top, he began to break down the assignment and form plans.

Unlike previous assignments, he could not reuse existing plans. This was neither an assassination nor a kidnapping, a theft nor a sabotage. This was purely survival, where killing was forbidden.

The Weapon analysed his own arsenal, comparing it to his hunter and the mission parameters, as well as the environmental restrictions. The healing factor of X23 afforded some liberties in his actions, but many tools were restricted.

The nature of the cell prevented extensive use of teleportation, with the thick forest restricting his line of sight, and the use of wings was practically impossible except for use as another attacking limb. Likewise, his physical speed was limited, due to the condensed space he found himself in. X23's use of claws as her primary attack would also limit the effectiveness of his kinetic stockpiling - unless she threw some forearm strikes or kicks, he would have nothing to unleash. Likewise, with nothing to hand other than the few loose stones that could be found, charging objects with potential energy could be used for little more than quick booby traps.

On the other hand, he would likely have to rely extensively on his claws and his memorised forms of hand to hand combat, lacking his other weaponry as he was. While it would likely lead to more brutal clashes than if he had his blades or his guns, his skills would serve their purpose. Furthermore, his defensive abilities would likely have to be used extensively as well - well timed phasing and flashes of adamantium skin would likely prove invaluable, as would the ability to escape encounters by quick teleports and phasing through walls. Especially if he could follow a cave system - he could phase through the floor into a tunnel with no entrance for a good distance.

The plan would have to be evasion, the Weapon decided. Now that the hunt had begun, hiding was not an option. Even were it not for the pungent stench of Trig-X flowing in his bloodstream, he had no doubt that X23's senses were easily capable of tracking him as efficiently as he could follow her movements. Likewise, an outright clash of strength would prove a waste of time - even if his fights were as easy as the initial clash had been, he would not be able to put her down - it would be game of playing for time, attempting to repetitively cripple X23 while preventing her from completely killing him. No, evasion would have to do - he would have to be on his feet, constantly moving, minimising contact.

His ear twitched as he heard her get to her feet, sprinting into the forest, the rustling of trees muffling his senses. He could tell vaguely where she was, but the specifics avoided him. Even that was not entirely reliable - her scent threw him off, covering the entire forest as it was. She would not have that problem, he knew - his scent was unique in this cell, and more than strong enough to triangulate his location.

He flashed over to a nearby tree in a flash of brimstone smoke, clambering over branches to slowly make his way across the treeline. Stage one - situated himself above a cave system.

X23 slowed her sprint, pulling herself close to the ground. It was close, the stench, so close, almost close enough to rip and tear and shred and bleed…

There was another scent… a familiar scent… like her scent, but not… perhaps his nose was as powerful as hers, and his ears… She should be careful. He wouldn't smell her, no, not over her scent lingering in the forest and his stench the vile stench destroy kill bleed… He might hear her, though. She would have to stalk, low and slow, so he wouldn't find her.

A momentary frown flickered over Weapon M's face. X23 had slowed… he couldn't hear her, only the faintest hints of her heartbeat. He would have to be vigilant.

The faintest whistling of wind underground told him he had found his mark. The Weapon dropped from the trees, the slightly hollow sound confirming his analysis. Below him was a cave system, and through it blew a slow wind, just enough to reveal its location. Step 2: follow the cave system, and prepare for an ambush.

He popped out his claws and fell into a defensive stance as he slowly crept his way through the artificial forest. The slightest rustlings of leaves caught his ear, the slight hint of lingering blood wafting through his nose. It was distracting, disorienting, and the scent made everything harder. It was pungent, and invaded everything. It was easy to see how X23's distaste could be turned into bloodlust.

X23 slowed nearly to a stop, body concealed by the forest undergrowth. There it was, the stench, the horrid stench, the stench must scream, must bleed…

The boy was powerful, and Laura the animal quivered in fear and anger and respect.

The boy was a mystery, and Laura the girl felt curious and interested and something else…

X23 leapt out from the undergrowth, claws extending as she struck her foe.

Weapon M noticed the X23's presence split seconds before her claws met his flesh. With a thought, his skin flashed into an adamantine substance, her claws scraping against it, successfully deflected before his defences fell. He spun around to face her, claws poised to strike.

His eyes scanned her form. She was even more feral than earlier, as if all her reservations had been removed - they had. Trig-X would completely override her higher thoughts. All that would matter was destroying the scent.

X23 was poised on all fours, all claws extended. The slightest twitch of musculature warned him of her upcoming strike, once again blocked by adamantine skin.

As he watched her movements, the Weapon realised that they had changed. Gone were the wild, maddened strikes - now came purposeful slices and stabs, all trying to hack him to pieces. It was still feral and lacking form, but was starting to look dangerous.

He raised his own claws to block the strikes, using X23's own form against her, rapidly scanning for an opening. This was wasting time - he needed to phase away, enter the cave system, but he couldn't give any opening, couldn't hesitate for even a second. A second was what it would take to enact his plan.

The Weapon rolled under a feral strike, slashing a claw along her Achilles tendon, causing her to drop to the ground with a pained grunt. In that split second of contact, he imbued her bleeding flesh with a miniscule amount of potential energy, giving her flesh a slight pink hue.

While the injury failed to keep her down, with her lunging at him, managing to slice a large gash in his thigh, the subsequent explosion sent X23 flying, tumbling just out of reach, giving the Weapon just the opening he needed. He phased his body through the ground, reappearing in the cave tunnels below.

He looked around with a grunt, and began moving once more. It was a successful tactic, but he couldn't linger - the cave only had one entrance, and he didn't want to be cornered.

Staggering forward as his leg slowly healed, the Weapon made his way onwards.

"I told you she couldn't beat him," Ajax said.

"I don't know," Malcolm hummed. "Sure, the Weapon is more powerful, and could easily kill X23 if he were permitted, but she did get a substantial strike in. That's more than most can do. More than you can do."

Ajax grunted. "Fine. We will begin initialising cooperative training."

"Good," Malcolm smiled, turning back to the monitor.

X23 growled in agony as she crawled away, a large chunk of her leg slowly reforming from its destruction in the explosion.

The scent the stench the damned stench was still present, faint and disguised, but there. The caves. She would reach the caves and make it hurt make it scream make it bleed…

The Weapon knew something was wrong as soon as he exited the cave. The time was nearly up, his detour in the cave having saved about an hour of clashes. The trigger would be nearly dissipated, and, with luck, he wouldn't have to encounter X23 before that happened. But he knew that wouldn't happen. He could smell it in the air, his scent mixed with that of the trigger, lingering in the air. It wasn't him - no, he had healed.

He shifted into a defensive form, fists balled, as he slowly edged his way into the forest. There - a soft padding sound. Were there animals? He doubted it. X23.

No sooner than the revelation was made, she lunged out of the bushes, knocking him over as her blades embedded deep into his shoulders. He growled in response, teleporting behind her, striking with a brutal kick.

X23 rolled with the strike, settling on all fours, her front claws extended and bathed with his blood. He readied himself for her charge, phasing through her strike just enough to grab her arm from behind, flipping her over his shoulder.

She landed with a sharp grunt of pain, swiping out with her legs, toppling over. The Weapon rolled, narrowly dodging the claws as they embedded in the ground. Kicking himself up, he sent an elbow into X23's stomach, once more receiving a hiss of pain. He felt his shoulder wounds closing up, and settled back into a defensive stance, wings extended and curved.

She charged at him again, and he leapt over her, a sharp flap of his wings giving him the momentum to pass over her, before the wings settled back into skin.

X23 hissed at him, and swung up a kick, foot hooking around to strike. Noticing this, the Weapon hardened his skin, ready for the foot to shatter on impact.

But that wasn't what happened. Somehow, under all the bloodlust and trigger-madness, X23 had analysed him, and had learnt his abilities. And so, moments before the kick collided, his eyes widened as he saw the singular claw extend from between her toes, sailing towards him.

He collapsed to the ground, screaming in agony as the claw struck true, impaling his brain through his eye socket, completely demolishing the eye within. He collapsed to the ground, and all went dark.

His screams continued.

A/N: That ending? That's been in my head since before I started writing this fic. It is important, and will begin the next phase of this story.

So, how did you like my portrayal of X23? The weapon, that is, not the girl - she will be getting the limelight later.

I believe that this is my first chapter that is particularly important story wise other than just giving Harry powers, as this is going to set the tone for X23 and Harry's interactions later on. And yes, Harry will gain a personality, beginning next chapter.

Also, all that with Logan's Merry Band of Mutants last chapter? Yeah... that will take a while to play out. A couple more chapters, at least. I need to establish a few things while Harry and X23 are still in the facility (like Harry's personality - duh), so it will take them a few in universe years to locate the facility. Don't worry, I will have the odd section with them here and there, giving updates on there progress. But Harry and X23 will be remaining in the facility for a little while longer.

New question - who do you want in the 'X-Kids'? I've got a few in mind (including Kitty Pryde, of course), but I'd love to hear your thoughts. Pop me a review!

Seriously, please favourite, follow and review. The more I get, the more people will read, and the more motivation I will have to write. This all benefits you in the end!