Chapter 20. What lies inside us
29th of February, 2008, Location: Somewhere near Waren, Germany
The sixteen-year-old form of Tom Marvolo Riddle hated the situation he got himself in as he trudged through the wet forest floor. His plan of action was supposed to be simple and easy. To find the main shard of his soul and judge if it deserved his help or should simply absorb it into himself.
For now, the young Riddle opted to take the older's shared knowledge and power for himself. Especially after the bloody shard led him on a wild goose chase through Europe. And here Tom thought that tracking his own soul would be much easier...
If it wasn't for the knowledge that he had taken from the absorbed filth in Knockturn Alley, Riddle wouldn't be able to even leave Britain, much less travel through multiple countries.
For a sixteen-year-old, the young man knew that he was quite strong and knowledgeable, but there was only so much that you could learn in five years of magical education, especially when he put so much focus on becoming immortal. As such the additional experiences and knowledge of the woman he drained, filled his almost non-existent knowledge in some fields.
Scowling as he stepped into yet another excrement from wild animals, he quickly drew his wand and cleared the filth again. Riddle was a patient man, but even he was slowly reaching his limits.
Taking a few slow breaths the man closed his dark eyes, waiting for his temper to settle down. He was close, he could feel it in the air around him.
Indeed he was as not even ten minutes passed before Riddle stopped before a seemingly empty forest clearing. Drawing his wand, Tom began to wave it in every direction as he tried to uncover what was apparently in front of him.
The process took him some time as he never really mastered this art of magic, but as soon as he performed the last wand movement, he felt a wave of magic washing over him like a breeze.
Tom stood there unmoving, observing as a large half-dome of blue light flashed into existence before him and illuminated the entire forest.
With another motion, Riddle focused as much magic as he could into his wand and stabbed it right into the dome of light. Instantly the magic structure shattered into millions of small light particles, falling to the ground like soft rain. Thankfully illusion-based wards weren't beyond his ability currently.
Smirking slightly, Tom Riddle strode towards the now visible small, completely wooden house. At least he kept on walking until he realized what the building really was.
Trees unnaturally bend to create shapes of walls, the roof made of thousands of leaves that didn't have any imperfections, and the complete lack of any things a normal wizarding or filthy muggle house would have. No doors, no glass windows, nothing.
Grimacing slightly, Riddle resumed his trek. Druids, he thought. Rare tribes of wizards that completely embraced nature and stayed away from any normal civilization, be it muggle or wizarding. Tom never really had done much research about them, but he understood that this small community was very protective of its members. So if his other shard decided to mess with them, then it was best to get away from here as quickly as he could once Tom investigated this place.
With a permanent frown on his face, Riddle walked through the door hole.
Like on the outside, inside the house was made completely of wood or things that the Druids gathered in nature. Shaking his head, the young man ignored everything and headed towards the second room from which a particular scent caught his attention.
Entering, Riddle scowled at the sight before him.
An elderly woman laid on the ground completely still, her blood staining the forest floor more and more with its bright crimson color. Such a pity and here Riddle hoped to reach his main soul shard in time.
Crouching a few feet away from the body, Tom pointed his wand at the dead woman, "Mors tempore," he uttered.
A small purple light escaped his wand, instantly encompassing the woman's body. Riddle watched as the spell glowed a few times, before retreating from the Druid and creating a few sparkling numbers right about her.
"One hour, twenty-seven minutes," Riddle whispered as his mouth curved into a small smile, "I'm close my dear soul, so close."
He might not have caught up to his soul once again, but at least this time, he knew that the main shard of Lord Voldemort was very close. A week or two more and his fate and destiny would be whole again.
Then the entire wizarding world would taste the wrath of Lord Voldemort for the second time, only this time there wouldn't be another Harry Potter to save them. Of that, I will make sure, he thought with a smirk and disapparated from the area, leaving only a loud crack echoing through the clearing behind.
1st of March, 2008, Location: Unknown
Daniel Whitehall's mouth twisted into a small smile as he read the reports about their last experiment. To think that one boy from the wizarding world and a seemingly small Shield mission would put the Doctor on the path of finally discovering the secrets of the Obelisk. An artifact that had the tendency to turn people into stone upon touching and led Whitehall to the woman that gave him his second life.
Jiaying was her name, a woman that didn't age a day in over fifty years. A woman that could touch the Obelisk and make it light up with strange symbols. She was the only way for Whitehall to discover the secrets of the mysterious artifact, but of course, it was not to be. Hydra had fallen, he was thrown into a prison and the Obelisk was lost to him.
At least when they released him from prison decades later, he received information that Jiaying was spotted looking no older than at the time before his imprisonment. As such, Whitehall did the only thing he could.
He used the woman to recover his own youth so he would be able to continue his work. Unfortunately with his prolonged life, gone were any chances to find out more information about the Obelisk using the woman.
Until now. Now, I'm closer than ever, Whitehall thought as he set down the reports and looked at the transparent box in front of him. Seven short blue crystals laid inside, crystals that just like the Obelisk turned anything into stone when touched, or so Whitehall thought.
Over three weeks ago, some of Hydra's sleeper agents inside Shield were dispatched as a cleanup crew to Manama in Bahrain. Supposedly an enhanced individual held some people hostage there and had to be put down by one of Shield's agents.
For Whitehall, the discovery of an enhanced human was definitely interesting. Still, it got truly curious when their sleeper agents made sure to transport those mysterious crystals found near the dead enhanced, to higher up Hydra agents without Shield even noticing. Then the crystals were given to Whitehall to investigate their properties.
Truly the Doctor couldn't be any luckier.
Fortunately, none of the agents tried to remove the crystals from their case before they arrived at Whitehall's base. If they did then Shield would certainly discover them when their agents turned to stone. Whitehall might have lost two of his own underlings when they finally touched the crystals, but that was certainly worth it in the name of discovery.
After all, only one artifact in his life turned people into stone. The Obelisk, his life's biggest mystery.
Even though this single fact definitely wasn't enough for Whitehall to be sure that the two items were connected, he had something or rather someone, who could confirm it.
Logan Hunt, a boy with an inactive, practically unnoticeable part of DNA that showed so many similarities to the active one taken from Jiaying. They took the frowning boy away — Whitehall was very impressed by the boy's resistance to their chemical indoctrination —, and after knocking him out, his scientists prepared to check if Whitehall's presumption was true.
The small crystal touched the boy's single finger, with a machine ready to cut it off the moment the stone began to spread. Only it didn't, and just like Whitehall expected, Mr. Hunt and the mysterious crystal were so similar to Jiaying and the Obelisk respectively.
From there a series of tests and experiments began, trying to find out how Hunt's DNA and the crystals were connected.
For a whole week, they found nothing. The crystals were just that, crystals that without some additional component were completely useless, just like the Obelisk was.
It wasn't until one of his more idiotic scientists decided to cut the crystal in half and shattered it. What happened next might have killed a few of his people, but the outcome was certainly worth the small loss.
The poisonous mist released by the shattered artifact spread through most of the lab and affected one of the scientist's stations. A station where one of the doctors tried to find out more about the small sample of Mr. Hunt's DNA.
After a long investigation of the poisoned lab, Whitehall found out that somehow the mist affected the sample and changed it. From there Whitehall finally understood that the final component to the secret he wanted to discover so much was the mist and Logan Hunt, or at least his inactive part of DNA.
As such, for the first time in years, even though he knew what to do, Whitehall couldn't progress with his experiments. At least not before he had something to fall back on.
Whitehall and his team of scientists thought long to decide what to do next. It was only when the Doctor remembered that sometimes the best answer was right in front of you.
This time it was Subject Zero's adaptability and healing factor.
The girl and her body adapted to everything they threw at her, much better than any other subject ever did. Truly the dark entity inside the girl was magnificent. It never failed to heal the Subject or protect her from any harmful toxins inside her.
With that in mind, Whitehall and his team began to work on finding a way for Subject Zero to assimilate the mysterious part of Hunt's DNA. Not an easy task, and certainly something not possible if one didn't possess the girl's healing factor and magic.
Almost two weeks of constant failure and two experimental attempts on the Subject led to nothing apart from the risk that the girl's body might not handle another try. This of course didn't stop Whitehall, he could feel they were close and he was right. The operation performed five days ago succeeded and from what he read on the reports before him, the girl could touch the crystal just like Mr. Hunt could.
And now the Doctor had everything he needed to move onto the next stage of his plans.
Raising from his chair, Whitehall addressed the only other person in the room who patiently waited for him to finish his musings, "I'm pleased with the effects. If we continue like that, Project Destroyer of Worlds might be unnecessary."
The other scientist's eyes grew a bit wider, but not a word left her mouth.
"Of course that's still too early to decide, at least not before we take the final step," he continued and motioned for the scientist to follow him out of the room, "Ms. Nixon, please inform the team to prepare the chamber and the boy. We will be moving with our plans immediately."
The woman, Nixon nodded stiffly, "Right away sir. We will be ready in fifteen minutes."
Whitehall smiled lightly, "Good. And please make sure that Mr. Hunt is completely clear of any toxins or chemicals. It would be a pity if such a small detail wasted our resources," When the woman nodded, Whitehall addressed her for the last time, "Dismissed."
The moment only soft clicking of heels accompanied the Doctor in the empty hallway, his mouth slowly settled into a smirk. Today, I will finally know your secrets and with them, Hydra will advance to heights never seen before.
1st of March, 2008, Location: Unknown, A few minutes earlier
"Transfiguration pretty much lets you change one thing into another or even make something out of nothing. Probably one of the hardest magical branches apart from some of the less popular ones," I explained to the girl sitting next to me as the feather in my hand transformed into a small metal spoon.
"So it doesn't have any limits?" Laura asked as she studied the object in my hand.
It brought a smile to my face when I noticed she no longer shied away from magic. Yeah, Laura's posture was still a bit stiff every time I used it, but she no longer flinched or looked away like she did a few weeks ago. Who knew, maybe she would be able to learn how to control her magic properly when we got out. Though with the Obscurus inside her, I had no clue how it would affect her spell casting.
"It does," I finally replied, "I only know a few of the limitations. Honestly, I only have one and a half years of magical education behind me, and even though I managed to mostly complete the third-year curriculum, there is still a lot I have to learn."
Laura tilted her head, "You seem pretty knowledgeable to me."
I couldn't help but snort and ruffle her head a bit, "Trust me I'm far from that. I only sound smart because I had an additional teacher that showed me a lot of things that many wouldn't learn during their whole lives."
"You mentioned this teacher a few times already. Who is he?"
Tapping my chin, I grinned at her, "A sarcastic, sadistic old man. I will say no more, you will meet him once we get out. I bet your reaction will be hilarious."
Laura scowled and crossed her arms, "Well, if yo-" I quickly cut her off with a finger to my lips when some footsteps outside our cell registered in my mind.
"Someone coming," I whispered, nodding towards the door.
The girl stiffened and scooped closer to the wall behind us. Even though in the last three days or so we only had one visit where some guards took Laura away only to throw her back a few hours later completely unharmed, the young girl probably still remembered her last serious operation. As such another visit from the guards at this point was slightly surprising.
Sighing, I ignored the clicking of the locks and observed as the two usual guards stepped inside our lovely cell, "Boy, get up! Doctor Whitehall is waiting," the taller one grinned in my direction.
Withholding a scowl, I stood up and ignored the look Laura was giving me. Obviously, my vacation had ended and now it was my turn to have some fun with Hydra. Though the mention of Whitehall almost stopped me momentarily. It was very rare for the Boss to ever show himself to us and I really didn't want to know what his resurgence meant.
I grimaced slightly at the thought of the last time that Whitehall was present for the experiments. I would love to say that it can't get any worse, but I know better than to jinx myself like that.
The guards led me to another wing of this Hydra's base, curiously it was protected by far the largest and thickest armored doors I had ever seen. I frowned. Where the hell were they taking me to? The usual experiments and operations happened in a wing in the complete opposite direction.
Not that long after we passed through the armored doors, we arrived at another just as advanced, but much smaller door. This time I couldn't hide my scowl when I recognized the red-haired woman in a white coat waiting there.
Whitehall might be responsible for all the pain I and Laura went through, but this woman was the one inflicting it. She was definitely one of the lucky ones to secure herself a spot on my shit list.
The woman finally noticed us and raised her gaze from the tablet in her hands, "Throw him in," she ordered, not even sparing me a glance.
My scowl hardened when the door slid open and the guards roughly shoved me in. Dickheads, all of them. As soon as an occasion appeared I would fucking shove their heads into a wall.
Cursing under my breath, I stood up and took a quick look around my new prison.
Great, another shithole, I thought when I noticed the complete lack of any equipment or furniture. The only special thing about this room was the small steel hatch in the ceiling.
"I apologize for the rush and not meeting you face to face, but we're on the clock here," The familiar voice of Daniel Whitehall resounded through the empty room, "Today you just might solve the mystery I chased for my entire life, so thank Mr. Hunt for helping us."
"Not like I had any other choice," I murmured back, but received no answer.
Instead, Whitehall left me with a few last words, "Good luck Mr. Hunt. Begin."
As the voice went silent, I flinched and backed towards the wall when the hatch above me opened. What were they planning now? I could count the times I was conscious for experiments on the fingers of my one hand and never before did it involve an empty, sterilized room.
I didn't know how long I just stood there, scanning every inch of the room. Only when a loud crack echoed around me, my gaze snapped back to the hatch and the object that entered through it.
A small dark blue crystal fell to the hard floor and shattered completely. Grey mist exploded from it in every direction, covering the room completely. I shielded my eyes, my heart hammering in my chest as I rummaged through my head trying to figure out what was going on.
Only when I recalled who was behind all of this, did I realize what the crystal was.
Terrigen crystal, or rather an impure one that initially was created by Jiayang's group. But how! How does he even have them! I screamed internally, hugging the wall furthest away from the center of the room as my mind couldn't accept what just happened.
I wasn't an Inhuman, I couldn't be! So why would Whitehall waste a subject that he worked on for so many weeks?
I shook my head, that wasn't important now. I had to survive this somehow. I would survive.
But how! It already hit me, I will be dead in a matter of seconds!
I snapped my eyes shut, trying to calm my breathing. Magic had to help me now, maybe I could somehow push the poisonous mist outside my body, or maybe wizards were just immune.
Whatever hopes or plans I had were completely crushed when I felt something form at the tips of my fingers.
My breaths came out faster and faster as I opened my eyes and looked down at the black, cocoon-like substance slowly advancing towards my arms. When it began to cover the dirty shirt I had on, my every thought stopped.
Wait, I'm not turning into stone, this is the same thing Quake went through.
Suddenly my breathing stopped and I chuckled. The chuckles turned into outright laughter as I no longer cared about the cocoon that slowly covered my entire body. Somehow, against all odds, I was an Inhuman going through his Terrigenesis. Whitehall might have just given me the thing I needed to escape.
My mad laughter continued to echo through the empty room until the cocoon finally reached my head and stopped me from continuing.
2nd of March, 2008, Location: Unknown,
I didn't know what was happening to my body, I couldn't even feel it. Even though I was pretty sure that my eyes were closed the moment the cocoon consumed me, now millions of colors flashed right in front of me. They exploded, changed, and danced in every possible direction.
Still, my mind was capable of realizing one thing.
The longer I stayed in this weird state, the more and more colors changed to deep blue or green. I had no clue what the change really meant, but I was pretty sure that it was important.
Maybe hours or even days passed, but finally only the blue and green remained around me. This time I could also feel something happening to me, like completely new energy resided inside me.
It began to grow stronger and stronger, ripping apart my now responsive body. And so to gain the release from this building pain, I pushed the energy outwards.
Cracks resounded all around me as the energy exploded and finally settled down.
My eyes snapped open to the sight of the same empty room that now had dozens of chunks of my black cocoon lying around. I breathed heavily as my legs could barely support me. Whatever the Terrigenesis did to me, it drained almost all of my strength.
Everything in my vision was slightly blurred and the muscles all over my body burned. I really didn't remember any of that happening either to Quake or any other Inhuman in the show. Like always life just decided to punch me in the face when something most likely good finally happened to me.
Backing off towards the wall, I slid down and took a few calming breaths. Soon they would come and I had to somehow find out as much as I could about what happened during the Terrigenesis. Who knew, maybe the process did something to me on a much deeper level. For now, I could only feel the new energy inside me that was slightly connected to my magic, nothing else.
Unfortunately, I had no time to continue my musings as the door to the chamber opened and two guards rushed towards me with a syringe in hand.
I tried to struggle, push them away, but I just didn't have the strength to do it. And so as the knock-out serum — as I aptly named it — began to course inside me, I let go of the control over my body and let the sleep claim me.
4th of March, 2008, Location: Unknown,
I was prepared to wake up inside my cell with Laura hovering over me, trying to find out if I was still alive. Only I didn't. No, I woke up to sirens screeching in my ears in a transparent containment room inside a lab.
It only took me a second to push the last of doziness away and when I finally noticed what was going around me I couldn't help but widen my eyes to the limit.
The redhead responsible for mine and Laura's pain was dashing all around the lab along with two other scientists, collecting things as if their lives depended on it —Which going by the echoing siren just might be the case —, while two guards were stiffly waiting by the open door to the hallway, looking in every direction they could.
An attack? I thought as I remained lying down to not alert anyone. I could feel that all of my strength returned to me so maybe, just maybe this might be the chance to get out if I played it right.
I didn't need to wait long for my chance as not a moment later a thunderous bestial howl resounded through the entire base. Everyone in the lab stilled as my mind raced.
Laura, Obscurus, it must be! How, what happened?!
Just like before I didn't get a chance to continue with my thoughts as this time along with the howl, several explosions echoed through the entire base. The other occupants of the room immediately snapped into action while I only took a deep breath and prepared myself for what I was going to do next.
Magic crackled around my fingers as I rolled off the table I was lying on and instantly threw an overpowered exploding charm at the wall that would give me a clear shot at the two guards.
It's now or never, I grinned as another round of screams went through the lab as parts of the destroyed wall flew in every direction.
Not giving even a second for the guards to react I threw two quick cutting curses towards guards that were trying to gather their bearings. The two light green lights flew true and found their targets as the guards' heads exploded in a shower of gore.
Good, now for the cannon fodder.
A small transparent shield flashed in front of me as one of the scientists regained his bearings and tried to throw something at me. I smirked and grabbed the object with my magic before transforming it into a spike and throwing it right back.
Like with my previous spells, my aim was perfect and the spike speared the man right through his heart. I made quick work of the other man in the room before advancing towards the redhead. No escaping today from me you bitch.
She stood in a corner, her legs shaking as she tried to grab something from the table next to her. Not that it would help her in any way. The time of revenge had come, no matter how quick it would be.
"Doctor Nixon, you don't know how long I have waited for this moment," I said as my magic grabbed several items in the room and just like before transformed them into much smaller spikes, "You really made a mistake following a man like Whitehall."
Without another word, I pushed the dozen or so spikes towards the woman and watched dispassionately as she slid to the ground, blood dripping from almost every part of her body.
I didn't feel as good as killing Whitehall probably would, but this at least got some weight off my shoulders. Nixon was a vile bitch and the world would be a much better place without her.
Sighing, I turned away from the dead woman and walked towards the massacred guards. Rummaging through their stuff I grabbed the handgun along with two magazines and some keys. Better to be safe than sorry, and I wasn't sure how many bastards would try to stop me on my way towards Laura.
I snorted. Now I was ready to run towards rampaging Obscurus, while not that long ago I didn't even want to be in the same room as her. How the time changes you...
Calming my rising nerves, I stepped into the hallway and scanned it for any movement.
Nothing... Weird. Did they really evacuate everyone from this wing already?
No matter, I thought as I dashed towards the howls. I promised to help her and she was still probably my safest way to get out of here. Who knew how many Hydra agents awaited outside.
I crossed multiple hallways, never stopping. Sometimes I managed to spot a scientist or even a guard running in the other direction, but I ignored them just like they did. If they thought I wasn't the problem now, then I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Of course, to just prove my point that life hated me, I came upon the same colossal armored door on my way. The explosions and howls were definitely behind it and I had to get through.
First I tried to smash the touchpad in the wall in hopes that maybe it would work. It didn't, no surprise here. Scowling, I began to throw every offensive spell I knew at the door and only received a small dent in return.
Gritting my teeth, I tried to force a transfiguration on the door.
Sweat ran down my forehead as I gave everything I had into the spell. Just when I noticed the change happening, my control slipped and the spell fell apart.
"Fuck!" I screamed and threw a wild punch towards the door. And just like that something snapped inside me while blue and green light filled my vision.
Looking around as the light almost instantly died down, I noticed that I was no longer standing in front of the armored door, but on the other side of them. In a completely empty hallway in which sirens and howls still blared around me.
"How in the hell," I murmured before my gaze snapped towards blue and green cracks just floating there in the air behind me. It looked like someone just cracked the reality and left behind small rifts that slowly began to shrink before disappearing completely. And that someone was me.
Sneaking a glance at my hands I noticed a faint blue-green aura covering them. So that's my Inhuman ability? To somehow teleport using the weird energy inside me?
Shaking my head I banished those thoughts from my mind. I had no time for them now. The howls were getting quieter and quieter. I had to catch up.
And so I ran, dashing through ruined rooms, passing corpses that lacked a limb or more parts of their bodies. It was like a murderous hurricane went through this base, and I wasn't really wrong. A hurricane summed up the Obscurus pretty well.
I even passed the room in which my transformation took place. My breath lurched when I noticed it was completely destroyed and with even more remains of the stone-like cocoon.
Mouth dry, I walked inside and crouched down to pick up one of the fragments.
Even though I wasn't in the right state of mind back then, I remembered perfectly how my cocoon looked. Pure black without any pattern or blemish on it. This? This shit had small, grey smoky clouds all over it.
It's a joke right? She can't be an Inhuman too, I thought as the cocoon slipped from my hands. Something definitely didn't add up here.
I flinched when a particularly loud roar echoed through the room, At least I am close, I chuckled.
Again I began to follow the destruction and howls. As the minutes passed I noticed that I was going higher and higher which definitely meant that one of the exits was in this direction. Or so I hoped.
Just a little bit more, I repeated internally as I neared the large hole in the wall that finally led outside the base. The rays of sun entered through the hole and I sighed in relief. At least I wouldn't need to search for the Obscurus in the night if it decided to escape.
"Alright, not going back now," I muttered and finally peeked through the hole.
There I finally saw it. The Obscurus was massive, floating in the air above the forest and dashing in every direction towards the soldiers shooting at it.
Poor fools, I thought with a smirk, a smirk that was almost instantly wiped out when a large blast hit the floating mass of a black smoke-like substance. The Obscurus let out a primal roar as it centered on the one responsible for its pain.
I followed its gaze and almost gasped when I noticed two men with their wands drawn. Of course, the fucking wizards would be there. Guess Whitehall either informed them as soon as shit hit the fan or they were here when Laura unleashed the Obscurus.
I took a deep breath and thought about my options. I could just escape alone and be on my way, hoping that Laura would survive or the wizards wouldn't try to find me. Which was unlikely, but possible. I could wait and hope for Laura to win, which I really didn't want to do as I remembered when in one of the clips I watched, multiple wizards managed to overpower the Obscurus and destroy it.
Or I could use this whole situation and take those fuckers out when they didn't expect it.
And here my two sides waged war between themselves. One where I promised myself to never take unnecessary risks again after last Christmas and the other where I promised to get Laura out of this hell.
I just stood there for at least a few minutes, listening to the battle going on outside. My fists clenched as I finally came to a decision that would somewhat placate both of my sides.
I would go out there, covered in every masking magic I knew and try to take those wizards out. But, if it became obvious that I could do nothing to help, I would just escape and watch this battle from far afar, hoping that Laura would win.
Nodding to myself, I began to weave the magic around my body and smirked as I saw myself disappear.
Sneaking outside, I avoided everything that would even have a chance of giving away my position. I had to get to the other side of the battlefield and get a clean shot with a spell or transfiguration on the other wizard.
During my sneaking, I couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at the battle between the two remaining wizards and Obscurus. Those two fuckers had to be some sort of powerhouses even if Laura's Obscurus couldn't be too powerful due to her age.
They shielded her every attempt to attack and in response threw dozens of spells back at the dark entity. Sometimes when the Obscurus let out a particularly loud roar, I feared that maybe it finally couldn't take more damage.
You can do it, Laura, I repeated as I finally reached the other side of the battlefield. The taller wizard with blonde hair had his back to me and if I did this correctly then he was a dead man.
Touching a smaller, fallen branch next to me, I focused on the image in my head and pushed my magic inside the wood. The object fought a little against the invading force, but this time I didn't falter and finished the transformation.
The black blade I created was at least two feet in length and sharp enough to cut through skin like butter, I was sure of it.
Smiling, I grabbed the blade with simple levitation and slowly began to guide it towards the wizard. All the while keeping it close to the ground so no one would notice it.
When the blade was no further than ten or so feet away I gave it a strong tug and threw it straight at the wizard's head. I wasn't taking any risks with the man possessing some sort of magical armor.
As the man was busy firing his own barrage towards the Obscurus, he never had a chance to react or even see the dark glinting blade that went straight through his brain. He only fell forward in a heap.
Dead.
I smiled when the other wizard noticed the loss of his teammate, and outwardly grinned when he was too slow to react to the Obscurs that didn't care that one of his attackers died.
The Obscurus completely consumed the man and I flinched slightly when a loud cracking of bones echoed through the forest.
Gulping, I noticed the dark entity releasing the corpse of the last wizard. Now, it was only me and it. I had no plans of leaving the safety of my cover and spells so Laura had to somehow push the Obscurus back inside her. I might be slightly insane, not suicidal... At least not any longer.
I crouched behind a tree, watching as the Obscurus floated from one victim to another as if it studied them. It definitely became less erratic in its movement and so I held onto the hope that maybe it was calming down and would finally let Laura take over.
After another few minutes, it finally settled down and a few parts of the dark substance began to slowly form the body of a human. Legs, torso, arms, and finally head. Hell, even the clothes stitched themselves back with the specks of black cloud, even if their state left much to be desired.
As the last of the Obscurus entered Laura's body, I dropped my spells and began to approach the heavy breathing, crouched girl.
"Laura," I said, my voice the only sound in the clearing.
The girl's head snapped in my direction and her eyes widened when she noticed me, "Y-you are alive!" she stuttered out her voice breaking.
Frowning, I stopped for a moment, "Of course I'm. Maybe a bit banged up, but definitely alive."
Still, Laura didn't calm down as tears began to fall from her eyes, "I-I thought something went wrong during one of their experiments and I lost you too. You didn't come back for so long."
Long, but I wa-, I grunted when Laura's small body impacted mine, and her arms encircled me in a tight hold. Her sobbing was the last straw and so I awkwardly returned the hug, "Hey, hey, everything is alright. We are finally free."
This didn't stop her sobbing, but I guessed she deserved to let it all out.
After all, I thought as I looked at the massacre around us, It is mostly thanks to you that we are Free.
And that's it for today's chapter and the Whitehall Arc.
As you all saw, Logan and Laura are finally out. Whitehall made the mistake of rushing too quickly with his experiments, and it bit him in the ass. Well, it probably wouldn't if Logan didn't mess with Laura's collar, but how could he know that? And yes, both of them are Inhumans. Logan is a natural one, with Laura being an artificially made Inhuman with the use of Logan's DNA.
What happened to Whitehall? Is he alive? Well, we will find out one day, or not. For now, our duo of escapists needs to figure out where on Earth they are.
With that said, thank you all for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed the longer chapter. Let me know what you think through reviews and if you have more questions, just join my discord. Link Below.
Discord: discord. gg/ b7JaQcpuc7
Have a good day/night.
Now for a small SPOILER that some of you probably already figured out. If you don't want to know then just wait for the next chapter, it will be fully revealed there.
So Laura is my Universe's version of X-23. As this universe doesn't have mutants, I created a special backstory for her that would leave Laura with somewhat similar abilities (Well, not really) and how she gained them. To be honest, I didn't plan to include Laura until I created Subject Zero. I just thought it would be pretty ironic for another Logan to be a reason for giving her special abilities and helping her get out. Especially now that MCU is going into the whole Multiverse shit. Man, you don't know how excited I'm for that.
So yeah, Laura here is an OC based on Laura Kinney/X-23. Just don't expect them to be too similar. I'm still not fully sure of her role in this story, but I have some ideas. Let me know if you have some of your own, I always love to hear them.