Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 411 TEST SUBJECTS

My quest hadn’t failed so storming the actual castle wasn’t a prerequisite for it. Yelena and I ran toward the dying down fireball on the horizon as the other X-men and Ross moved to the edge of the camp. 

“Goddamn mutants!” Ross yelled. From the distance we couldn’t see the castle, but it was probably only a couple of miles to ground zero. “X, get your people over there. I want to know if there is anything salvageable of Sinister’s.” 

Xavier didn’t answer. The only thing I heard was the whir of his wheelchair as he headed down the hill. I considered flying over to the castle but I was on thin ice as it was. I followed and it wasn’t long until we were on the Blackbird hovering over the country landscape. 

The plane went slow, everyone had a myriad of emotions. Wolverine was excited of course, Jean was nervous, Scott was nervous and worried, Professor X was calm. Though he didn’t look like it, the old man was experienced. I was curious how much of his past lined up with the McAvoy version. Hopeful I could find out someday, we arrived. 

Scott hovered the Blackbird in the air and the side hatch opened. Wolverine didn’t hesitate as he jumped out. “You mind?” I asked Jean. Reaching out my hand she blushed but took my hand. I walked us out and floated her down. “I’ll catch you professor!” I yelled, but the Blackbird was already heading off to land outside the blast zone.

“Can you be serious, please, for me,” Jean said.

I opened my mouth, surprised by the comment. Holding back a retort I nodded and set her down on the ground. All around us were the remains of the castle. Gray stone scattered everywhere, it all radiated with heat. The center of the blast zone off a little ways I wondered where the Hellfire club was. Maybe just blowing it all up was good enough revenge for them. As people that only cared about wealth, it wouldn’t surprise me that destroying assets was their solution. 

“Feel anyone?” I asked Jean. Her hands at her temples she shook her head. I nodded as I extended my Observation haki outward. It didn’t take long to find the tunnels underground. Jumping to a brick wall I made it down and put my hands on a large boulder. Groaning, I lifted it up with a lot of strength. It didn’t want to budge, but slowly raised up to reveal a staircase underneath.

“Hey Shaggy, I found a clue,” I yelled to Wolverine.

“What the hell,” Wolverine said, peeking over a crumbled down wall. Using his metal claws like climbing gear to climb up it. I summoned my Soulsword. The weapon coalesced in my hand, casting a dim light into the bowels of the castle’s underground area. 

“You first,” Wolverine said. 

“What? There could be traps,” I said. 

“Which is why you should go first,” he said.

“You’re the immortal one,” I shot back. 

“For now,” he said. “Maybe this time will be the limit of my healing power.”

“What are you a cat now? Did you reach your life quota?” 

“I mi-”

“Gentleman, please,” Jean said. 

Wolverine chuckled, heading down into the dark depths of the stairway he continued to talk. “Jeanie, you need to start getting used to these life or death situations,” he said.

“Yeah, Blue Jean,” I said.

“Don’t call me that,” she said, but her haki felt a little better as we talked. 

“It’s natural to be scared,” I said. “And fight against nicknames that are inevitable.”

“Like Bastard, you bastard?” She asked. 

I barked a laugh, surprised by her audacity. “Exactly. Smell anything?”

"Formaldehyde," Wolverine said. I was tempted to fart, but held off. “Doesn’t smell good down here.”

“Woah!” I yelled, causing them both to stop. “Don’t step there. That one’s booby trapped.” Wolverine looked down but skipped the step. I did the same as did Jean.

“Find anything yet?!” Scott yelled down from the surface. 

“Holy shit he scared me,” I lied, trying to make Jean feel better as her haki spiked. “Yeah, there’s a guy named Waldo down here!”

Scott ran down the stairs, holding a flashlight. When he got to us he asked, “Who?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Wolverine said. “Looks like Sinister wants us to split up.” He came to the bottom of the stairs and a T-Intersection appeared. 

“Dibs on Shaggy,” I said. I looked at Scott. “You’re probably going to pick Daphne anyway.”

“You know that makes you Scooby right?” Wolverine asked.

“Shit,” I said, not thinking anyone would play along.

“Quit fooling around. Jean, you’re with me,” Scott said as he turned right.

“Called it,” I said as the duo began making their way down their hall. Wolverine laughed, shaking his head as he turned left. I followed behind him. “Do things always turn out like this?”

“Thereabouts,” he said. “It’s never a straight path to the bad guys.”

“How long have you been doing this, anyway?” I asked, our voices echoing in the hall. My Observation Haki was everywhere. I didn’t feel anything too odd around us. Logan sniffed loudly. He could hopefully sense when anyone got close as well. 

“Few years? Six maybe,” he said. “Kind of all blurs together really.” 

“Ever gone up against Sinister?” 

“Not that I recall,” he grumbled. “Magneto a few times. A few terrorists. Most villains that people don’t know about.” A noise sounded ahead, causing us to stop in place, but when nothing happened we began jogging again. We came to another intersection.

“Up, down, or straight?” Wolverine asked. There were more stairs leading up to a crumbled exit, stairs down or the hallway straight ahead. 

“Don’t want to split up again?” I asked. 

“Nope, I’d hate for you to have an accident,” he said. He didn’t ask again and started running down the stairs. I followed behind, watching everything with my Haki as I did so. I was starting to think there was nothing there, but as we came to the lower level I felt eerie items ahead. Large vats of liquid, a computer, but no real people. 

We began running. Logan getting excited again as he got on the scent. Speeding up, the concrete floor below us had no booby traps or anything. Noise ahead, Wolverine extended his claws, but I put my arm on his shoulder. 

“It’s Daph and Freddy,” I said. The duo we had split from hadn’t found anything either. It made sense to me now. If you split up, naturally you would end up going the same direction eventually, otherwise there would be a bunch of corridors leading nowhere. 

“Nothing?” Scott asked. 

“Somethings in here,” Wolverine said pointing to a door. “Any traps?” He asked me.

“I don’t see anything,” I admitted, trying to feel everything ahead. There was a large tank and a computer. For some reason the buttons on the computer were being typed. Curious if instead of a haunted organ that automatically played, this guy had an automatic keyboard I wanted to find out. “Just…stuff.”

“Alrighty,” Wolverine said. Brandishing his claws he roared and sliced once across the metal door, then the other way, making an X shape. Pushing into the door we piled in to see a man sitting at the large computer. 

My eyes wide, I stared at his back but couldn’t feel anything. No Haki in the man, he was a blank slate, as if he were using Zetsu or something to keep it hidden. I had no idea what was going on as he continued to pound away at the keyboard. 

“Perfect,” the man said. He executed a few more keystrokes then swiveled around in his chair to face as. 

Mostly as I remembered, Mr. Sinister really did look like a vampire drag queen. Shortcut black hair, goatee, skin as pale as paper, black leather clothes with spikes jutting out of the shoulders and around his neck. He looked like he had just gotten done with a Rocky Horror Picture Show cosplay as his black eyes stared at us. A glowing blood red diamond painted on his forehead his eyes didn’t focus on any one of us. 

“You all got here five minutes before I had anticipated,” Mr. Sinister said. “But no matter.” His voice sounded like a foghorn. As if he had missed some required hormones during puberty to get through his voice cracking. 

His face turned toward Wolverine. “Wolverine, how good to see you. How many decades has it been, my boy?”

“You know me?” Wolverine growled, disbelieving him.

“Ah, memory lost still? No matter. I couldn’t harm you even if I wanted to,” Mr. Sinister said. No emotion in his voice, it was freaking me out that I couldn’t sense anything about him. I noticed the large blue vat on the far wall. A body floating inside I considered attacking, but I really wanted to know what this guy’s deal was. 

“I don’t know you,” Sinister said, his cold eyes staring at me. I felt a shiver in my spine.

“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” I said.

“Ha,” Mr. Sinister said. “No matter. The stars of the show are here.” His eyes turned to Jean and Cyclops. “So long I have wanted to meet you both again.”

“Uh…Mr. Sinister you are under-”

“Enough Scott,” Sinister said. “How I yearned for the day we would be brought together once more.” He said the words and the three went rigid. Their Haki no longer leaked anything as the words filled the air, and the trio dropped to the floor as one. Shocked, I brought my Haki and Nen to the surface of my skin. My Soulsword appearing in my hand. I could see that my companions' eyes were open, but they couldn’t move. 

“What the fuck did you do to them!” I yelled, unable to come up with a funny name to call him. He had too many weird aspects to focus on one.

“Oh my, what’s that?” Sinister asked as he stood up. A black cape falling behind him I took a stance ready to fight. My Observation Haki focused on Wolverine, Jean, and Scott. I didn't know what happened to them, but they felt conscious. Just unable to move. 

“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “Stay back, dude. I didn’t take a vow of pacifism like these bitches.”

“Oh, you have such fire in you,” Sinister said. “But these three belong to me. Always have, and always will.” He studied them at my feet. I waited, sweat beading down my face. This guy felt like he knew all of my secrets. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it felt like if I did face him how I currently was, I would lose. Not only lose but become some messed up test subject inside of a rat cage. 

“But, lucky for you all, the time for the awakening has not arrived,” Sinister said as he clapped his hand once. He turned around, busying himself at the computer again. I considered blasting him, but again that fear creeped up my spine. This guy was an enigma in my book, and I would be damned if I let two out of the three people at my feet get hurt. He could have Scott though. 

Considering how to use Cyclops as a human shield, Mr. Sinister spun around again. “Interesting. You have many powers, Weston is it?”

“No, that’s my evil twin,” I said. “I’m Easton.”

“Yes, yes,” he turned back to the computer. “You use humor as a masking method for the pain of your parent’s death. Three months ago? Interesting. Many powers. It seems not all of my little experiments have gone to waste.”

“You don’t mean…” I said, honestly unsure what the hell he meant. 

“So many projects,” Sinister said with a sigh as he began to rock from side to side as if there was an idea bouncing around his head. “So little time. I must prepare. Apocalypse comes.”

“W-what do you know about Apocalypse?” I asked, hesitant but intrigued.

“OOooh, there is recognition in that name in you,” Sinister said, whirling around again. I shifted my stance, ready just in case. “Tell me, have you seen it? The end of the world?” I didn’t answer. I had seen the end of a lot of worlds. “No matter. My plans are coming to fruition. So many years spent searching and testing. Finally I can reap the rewards and continue to find the sublime and supreme. The ultimate evolution that we humans will become.”

“Evolution?” I asked. “What kind?” 

“The only kind,” Sinister said. Cackling to himself it sounded like Dracula and a goose laughing. “We must reach our potential to save the world.”

“So you’re…a good guy?” I asked, confused. 

“Good, bad? No, I am simply a man. Affiliations to any sort of moral leaning code are figments of people’s imagination. What hurts one, will harm another. So who is to say?” He asked. Despite sounding off his rocker, the guy was making some sense. I hated how often that happened with the villains.

“No, I must prepare. So many years.” His eyes darted to the X-Men at my feet. “They will wake up soon. Please bid them farewell. When the time is right, all will be made clear.” Instead of saying anything he clicked his heels together, bowed slightly and walked away. Punching in numbers in a keypad a hidden door opened and he walked in.

When the door shut behind him I let out a long sigh. My legs shaking, I didn’t know what the fuck just happened. Either way I was lucky to be alive. I had thought Orochimaru had no soul. That thing was like a vast expanse of wrong wrapped in a terror tortilla.

“Fucking hell, I need a vacation,” I said, but still didn’t say World Escape. The mysteries of the world finally picking up, I was excited to figure them out in real time instead of reading them in a comic. Life was so exciting when I didn’t know what was going to happen next. 

Checking the pulses of the three at my feet, their eyes moved from side to side. “Scott, your body is extremely cold from whatever that pale bastard did to you. I’m going to make you and Wolverine snuggle up for warmth.” I began to move them slowly but Wolverine actually growled. His mouth ajar he was only able to use his vocal chords.

“Oh good, you are alive,” I said. “I’m gonna not do my normal thing and go after that guy. I think staying here to watch over you is the best bet.” I nodded, happy with my decision. I began to move them so they were laying down on their backs instead of in a big pile around me. “Scott, I expect this to go on my permanent record that I didn’t act like an experience hog by killing the final boss.” His haki pulsed annoyance which told me they were waking up from whatever spell Sinister put them in. 

Finally a moment to look around, my eyes were drawn to the elephant in the room. An 8 foot tall by four foot wide human sized vat stood at the corner of the room. Inside was a dark liquid. My Haki unable to sense inside of it, I sighed and walked over. 

I had plenty of experience with vats by that point. They could only mean one thing. A big red button on the front I hesitated but pushed it. An alarm sounded, machinery at the base of the vat began to whir and the liquid started to drain down. 

When it was all gone a girl was revealed. She had dark red hair and was the spitting image of two women I had seen recently. Jean Grey and Madelyne Pryor.