(-New York City-)

(-In The Not Too Distant Future-)

"What defines a person for who they are? Is it their appearance, their points of view, or their actions whether indirect or not? Either way, it mostly results in the same, sheer conflict."

New York City. Once, It was known to be one of the world's greatest centers for many possibilities. Possibilities such as commerce, multi-culture, art, technology, and open entertainment for all.

But not anymore.

Now, it was something else.

The Big Apple, the whole world itself, is plunged into a dystopian-like area. Everywhere the eyes can look is met with despair, misery, suffering, and death.

Numerous dark clouds obscured the entire atmosphere to prevent even the single tiniest ray of sunlight from hitting the big city. The only lightings above are the enormous hovering carriers that continue to patrol the city. The buildings were left broken and unsteady, leaving their structures to weaken over time to crack and crumble away at any moment. The streets are voided of any life. Nothing but remains of decayed bodies scattered across.

"This world was never meant to be this way. But our overwhelming struggles to accept the distinguishable have ushered us to this point."

Heading deeper into the dystopian city, one of its most national historic landmarks, Central Park, comes into the open view. But instead of seeing trees, bedrock, open lakes, and all its man-made structures, it's all covered in cold hard metal, which was used to construct a large facility.

"All prisoners are ordered to comply with genetic scanning, no exceptions." A voice of the Facility's speakers coldly announces, informing the many prisoners within numerous camps outside the building to comply with the command.

Sobbing and whimpering can be heard within the terrified crowd as they're forced to obey the order.

"Fear and hatred have been the cornerstones of our everyday life."

One of the facility's guards finishes scanning an imprisoned civilian's genetics before gesturing him to move along. The next prisoners are a father and his twelve-year-old daughter, both holding each other close as they proceed to approach the guard. And the guard proceeds to scan them.

For the next few seconds, the scanners indicate the Father is clear of all abnormalities. But when finishing his analysis of the girl, the scanner immediately beeps out in alert. Both father and daughter grow horrified expressions of the discovery of what she is. And what they'll do to her and others like her.

"And when confronted with the evolution of new changes, we use these cornerstones to reject it by any means."

Without any warning, the guard grabs the girl and hauls her away from her Father. "No, please, don't take her, please! Please, not my daughter, she's innocent!" he screams out, desperately trying to reach for his wailing daughter but he is held down by several more guards.

The imprisoned citizens couldn't do much of anything except watch the scene in front of them. They watch in horror as the guard attaches a hi-tech collar around the girl's neck like an animal before harshly hauling her over to one of the cells filled with people wearing similar collars as well.

(Entering Scott R. Morgan: Prototype 2 OST: Project Long Shadow)

Boom

Everyone stops all movements when the area experiences a sudden trembling near them, which is soon followed by an alarm sound.

"Warning, unregistered Mutant detected outside the Facility. All battalions prepare for immediate subduing of the target."

Everyone, including the guards, is left stunned by the declaration. An individual, who is of the same species as the collared girl, is banging on their front door without any consideration of what awaits him or her inside. This Mutant must be terminated.

(-Outside-)

The alarms continue blaring throughout the Facility as the spotlight towers survey the surrounding area, locating the target that's arrived at their perimeter in a fiery crater. The fire crackles with each second as the unknown figure within the fiery hole slowly emerges from within. As the being rises, the more the spotlights verify their target's appearance.

The person is a middle-aged man with sharp blue eyes and short mullet-style black hair with bangs that hang in front of his forehead. His outfit consists of a dark blue hoodie combat shirt underneath a tactical armor vest, black combat pants, and black boots.

But the most noticeable feature of this person was the large tattoo of numerous what looks to be claw marks intertwining one another that transits from his back to his arms. Despite the clothes disguising it, the tattoo remains visible as it ominously pulses a red-orange glow.

Fully emerging, the single individual glares at the sight before him. Numerous soldiers exit the armored vehicle and proceed to surround him. Their weapons are aimed at him and ready to fire if he moves.

"Attention, you Mutant freak," One of the soldiers, the Sarge, threateningly calls out to the said person in front of him. "Get you're ass down on the ground now or we will open fire!"

But despite the tense situation, their target remains silent before one soldier becomes trigger-happy when noticing the man's hands twitch.

"Open fire!"

Without warning, the soldier violently fires at the mutant and the rest soon follow. Load after load, numerous bullets continue to hit the man's entire body, piercing his head, abdomen, and legs. Quantities of blood splatters on the ground as the soldiers continue their onslaught on their target.

"Hold you're fire!"

Finally, the soldiers cease their firing. The person falls to the ground almost as if succumbing to his fatal injuries. For the next few seconds, the body remains motionless and unresponsive, nothing but the person's excessive blood continuously seeps into the ground. Seeing this, the Soldiers lower their weapons as they confirm the target to be dead.

"Alright, the mutant is dead," The Sarge declares on his comms before turning to two of his troops. "You know what to do. Bag him with the rest of the mutant trash."

Obeying the order, the two soldiers proceed to approach while gazing at the mutilated corpse. Despite the body being unrecognizable, the two soldiers can see enough of the mutant's unusual dark grey skeleton. As they do get a closer look, they can't help but notice something unusual about this mutant.

Or rather, something familiar with the aspect laced within its body, almost metallic-like.

But before the duo could verify, a startling surprise awaited them.

"But sometimes, the rejections can never cease away, but return with unmeasurable force."

The mutant's mangled hand suddenly lashes at one of the soldier's throats.

"OH FUCK!" One unfortunate soldier startlingly exclaims as he witnesses his buddy effortlessly lifted off the ground. And what came next was the next shocking thing.

The mutant's whole body emits red-orange steam before something extraordinary happens next. All of the fatal wounds and mutilations from head to toe mend themselves back together at an almost instantaneous rate. Within another second, the individual is completely healed, devoid of any injuries whatsoever.

But unfortunately, his fast-healing didn't do much for his anger though at the person within his grasp.

"SOMEBODY SHOOT HI-"

Without any warning, the mutant individual launches his fist right through the soldier's chest, causing his death to be immediate. Veering around to the second soldier, who is deep in shock at what happened, he tightly grabs the man's chest with both hands.

"OH GOD, PLEASE, HELP ME!"

The soldier is met with a similar fate. But one with his entire body virtually rips in half by the bare hands of the mutant's surprising strength. The man drops the body before he glares at the sergeant and the rest of the troops. And what comes next puts them all in great shock and alarm.

Both of the mutant's arms suddenly transform into thick red-orange organic substances with spikes puncturing out of them. But his hands were the most intimidating. Both hands morphed into extensive four-fingered dark grey-talon-like claws.

"Who's next?" the Mutant threateningly growls out to the enemies before him, all while flexing his blade-like fingers in an intimidating manner.

The Sergeant lets out a deep scowl, raising his weapon at the mutant. "Take him down!"

Though some looked hesitant, they obeyed the order and fired their rifles at their mutant adversary.

But the said mutant made the first move by performing a robust pounce with his finger-bladed claws, ready for its first unfortunate victim. And that happens to be the Sargent himself.

Slash

It only took a second before the man's entire being was lacerated, leaving himself in bloody chunks before his men, all of whom were deeply shocked to see the brutal fate of their sarge. Before long, The male mutant quickly turns to them with fierce intent until he relentlessly sprints toward them.

"To have them see the discrepancy of any change…"

One soldier is stabbed through his chest by one of the mutant's claws before being tossed aside dead. The super-powered individual quickly veers around to lacerate another soldier by the abdomen, virtually slashing him from the lower waist.

Feeling more bullets piercing him from behind, the mutant instinctively performs a strong backflip jump over two soldiers. But being quick as he is, the soldiers fail to register the incoming claw sweep, slashing their heads off their bodies before tumbling to the ground.

"We must welcome it."

An APC vehicle rushes in with the intent to run over the super-powered being. But the said being easily sees this which prompts him to employ a different approach.

So his arms shortly transform themselves from finger-bladed claws to something robust. Now, his arms take the form of two massive fists layered in black-red-orange hardened skin with spikes protruding from his knuckles to his forearms.

"Embrace it."

Despite witnessing the transformation, the driver within the armored vehicle increases the speed to the max, not letting up his pursuit to ram the enemy at full force. With a quick bash of his newly formed arms, which produces a small shockwave, the Mutant reels back one of his arms. And without any hesitation, he thrusts it forward, meeting the incoming armored vehicle head-on.

Boom

"Acknowledge it."

The mutant's hammer-like fist overcomes the hardened automobile so easily that he propels it off the ground flying away into the air until it coincidently crash lands on another incoming group of soldiers, who let out a surprised yet horrified scream before being harshly tramped.

Boom

An explosion soon erupts from the impact, creating a fiery environment, which gives the intruding Mutant an ominous appearance as he slowly walks up to the facility. With no more obstacles to sway him, he can move on to his objective.

"Blacklight, Reporting in, I'm heading to the facility now." The mutant calls in with his comms.

"Confirmed, Blacklight," a voice says, answering to the mutant named Blacklight confirmation. "But you need to be quick. It won't be long before the carriers get sent to your location."

"Right, understood."

With a determined look, the super-powered individual's speed suddenly grows into a full-blown sprint. Each step he makes embeds the ground with cracks as he continues dashing toward the facility at highly uncharted speed.

"Otherwise…"

With enough momentum built up, Blacklight dramatically leaps high in the air. His eyes lock on the facility below him, and he positions his body with his massive hammer-like fists at the ready. He makes his move.

"We'd allow our destruction to be inevitable."

Whoosh

In a burst of harsh speed, Blacklight thrusts himself forward. His body functions as a bullet diving straight at increasing speed to the target with his massive hardened-spike fists directing the path.

With no time to waste, Blacklight makes his mark now.

Boom

The wall shatters once Blacklight makes his impact, resulting in the entire facility violently rumbling and the imprisoned occupants looking in shock and stunned at the mutant intruder, who rises from the made crater of the ground.

It wouldn't be long before more groups of soldiers would come into the room and surround Blacklight, weapons already aimed at him.

"Everyone, weapons up! Shoot him down!" Their guns immediately fire out their bullets at their intended target.

But unlike last time, thanks to his healing factor, Blacklight doesn't get pushed back. He glares at the group before him until his body begins to morph while easily enduring the bullets piercing him. The hammer fists turns into a one-arm weapon with numerous small blades protruding from its edges with a tip-like spear at the end.

Blacklight thrust his arm forward at surprising speed, unleashing a long whip-like appendage with bladed edges toward three unfortunate soldiers, piercing through their chests. Without hesitation, he executes a quick upward thrust, which results in bisecting the three soldiers' abdomens through their heads. He then turns to his next targets.

Manipulating the surprising flexibility of the extensive appendage downward, Blacklight swings his whip-bladed arm toward five more Soldiers in a horizontal sweep, virtually slashing through their midsections in one move, thus eliminating his enemies on the ground.

Now for the ones above him.

Not halting his combo, Blacklight maneuvers his whip-like arm toward the remaining soldiers above him by virtually cutting the industrial steel grate support beams, resulting in them plunging to their deaths. All while the grate floor debris collapses, causing extensive damage to the surrounding area, leaving it impossible for any more reinforcement to assist their dead soldiers.

With no more enemies, Blacklight retracts his black-red-orange spear whip into his forearm before it shifts back to normal.

"That's no less than what you assholes deserve." The Mutant coldly remarks to the enemies he just killed.

It wouldn't be long before Blacklight turns to focus on his objective at hand. Located from afar, is a massive titanium vault.

Without a moment to waste, Blacklight makes a direct dash toward it with both arms instantly morphing into his hardened-skinned spiked hammer fists as he drives them into the door center.

Boom

The double-hardened fist easily demolishes the reinforced vault out of its hinges, open to be accessed by the one who desires to gain entry. Entering the room, Blacklight spots the item in front of him. The item in question is an enormous circular cone-like device with wires connected to rows of similar-looking server racks.

"There you are." He states before immediately heading over to it.

"Blacklight, come in." the person within the comms calls out.

"Yeah, what is it?" The said person asks as he unplugs the wires from the servers.

"The carriers are inbound to your location in ten seconds." It urgently informs, alerting the Mutant of the time limit he has. "Did you get the package?"

"Yeah, I have it secured." Blacklight firmly replies. "I'm heading out of the compound right now."

"Alright, but be careful. You're strong, Blacklight, but you're not invincible."

Blacklight dismisses the last statement as he grabs the spiral-shaped device with both hands. Without a moment to waste, he lifts the heavy compartment without an ounce of struggle over his head and proceeds to leave.

"I hope it's worth the trouble for this device, old man," Blacklight mutters out. It was crazy, this plan. Blacklight had doubts about this even before this mission started. But the one reason he still carried it out was because of his best friend. His companions believe in the plan. And if they believe, Blacklight will help achieve it by any means necessary.

Escaping the trashed compound, Blacklight attempts to make a beeline sprint. And again, thanks to his unique biology, the heavy device over his head isn't hindering his super speed.

Boom

Blacklight comes to a halt when a sudden spotlight envelopes him. He lets out a scowl as he looks up to see one of the enormous carriers ominously hovering above the mutant. Seeing this airborne aircraft as the bottom hatch opens up has Blacklight anticipate what comes next.

The carrier releases several pods that plunge to the ground in front of Blacklight to block his escape. The mutant narrows his eyes at the pods as he places the heavy device aside before positioning himself in front to protect.

Blacklight comprehended what he was getting himself into when he entered the den. And the Lions are about to make themselves known.

Boom

Boom

Boom

Boom

The pods burst open, releasing their occupants to confront their target. What came out was something that was part of an old program developed years ago, equipped with the means of hunting and destroying people like Blacklight.

But these recent ones were different from the ones in the past. They were different and more deadly than before.

Tall humanoid robots with gray reptilian-like synthetic skin covering them head to toe. But what makes them so terrifying is their faceless expression with their eyes ominously glowing orange.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr,"

One of the humanoid robots lets out an animal-like growl as it instantly gazes at Blacklight as if it knows what he is. Or rather who he is. And it recognizes this mutant's threat level to be omega level.

Not long the rest soon followed as well and commenced their program to eliminate the threat.

Without warning, the robot's bodies suddenly transform their skins into various unique characteristics. One morphs into organic steel skin, the other transforms into a fire-emanating being, the third takes the form of an unusual diamond-hard skin, and the final robot turns into solidified rock skin.

Despite this new outcome of odds against him, Blacklight didn't look deterred for a second. But rather more determined than before. "You're in my way." He coldly expresses as he raises his right arm forward. "So I'll just make this quick."

With that said, Blacklight's whole arm morphs into another singular form. Between his elbow is an elongated double-ended blade, with the top being a dark grey sharp serrated edge that transcends to the massive grey-bladed edge at the bottom.

"Come on then," Blacklight determinedly commences as he slides his arm blade across the ground, which produces sparks. "Let's do it."

He is not gonna let anything stand in his way. Not the dictators, not the robots, and especially not fear of completing the mission set off to him.

"But if we could help it, we could show them a better path. A path that can allow all living species to come together and help understand one another. And unify the world to make it a place for all to live in peace with one another in coexistence."

The robots let out a roar before they simultaneously propel themselves toward their single target. Seeing this, Blacklight similarly roars out as he lunges toward the robots with his arm blade stretched forward.

"But first, who would be the one to show them? Who could teach them how to cooperate?"

Times commence to slow down as both sides are inches from each other. But Blacklight comes to be the main attention.

"Perhaps you could teach them how Blacklight, You and you're family can become the beacon of hope for your generation from the past. Show them the path to peace, Dante. You and your resilient orphans."

(Ending Scott R. Morgan: Prototype 2 OST: Project Long Shadow)

To be continued…

If there's anything to learn when it comes to producing a story is learning how to start it off.

This is what I did with this Fanfiction story, that's been cropping in my head for a while. My first Marvel story, involving none other than the X-men.

I hope you guys enjoyed this little prologue chapter. Because now's the time to enter a world where mutants are deemed to be hated and feared just for being born differently. Are both sides forever destined to hate each other? Can there be any understanding between them? Only time will tell as we tread through one chapter to the next.

Let me know how I did in the comments of any grammar errors. It would help me so much to do better in the next chapter.

Also, as I have stated in all my stories, I do not own anything related to the Marvel Universe. Only the OC characters are mine and my own.

Ps: My OC character, Blacklight, was heavily inspired by one of my favorite video games since middle and High school, Prototype and Prototype 2. So expect references from these games and more in future stories and chapters related to this one.

Goodbye, for now.