Read ahead at patreon.com/Draul_TheOminous.
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It was currently November, a week after Draul and the others left Russia, and so far Draul had not been able to locate where Stryker might be.
Even Fury had no luck and it also didn't help that some of the council were supporting the SENTINEL project. They thought that their work was subtle but it was either their arrogance or ignorance as they forgot who was the leader of the world biggest spy network.
All it took Draul and Fury was a few days before they dug up some stunk regarding some of the council members and they were just waiting for a buffoon to spark the powder before they blew their asses to hell.
No attack has happened yet but everyone involved knew that it was only a matter of time and they were just adequately preparing because neither Draul nor the two super soldiers at his side were easy pickings.
Speaking of Draul, he had also been keeping his eyes and ears down incase somebody else showed up.
Magneto.
Eric was a vengeful person so there was no doubt that when he recovered, the first person to taste his vengeance would be Draul, which kept Draul alert for any possible sighting of the metal master.
All in all, Draul was having a slow but stressful week.
Though Draul was not the only one having a slow week either, the same could be said for the other people he knew.
Like Fury.
…
Fury was on his toes ever since the plan to take over S.H.I.E.L.D reared itself inside his ugly head. He thought he was being really subtle but then again not even he could guess Draul thought of something like that.
The HYDRA event really rubbed him the wrong way, like the wrongest way anything ever did. And the worst part was that the people who were supposed to supervise S.H.I.E.L.D did nothing but the moment HYDRA was destroyed, they pounced upon the carcasses like vultures, each with their own agenda of interest in mind.
All they did was sit in their imported chairs and plan how to increase their political powers and wealth.
The friction between him and the council started when they wanted to destroy a small town with missiles just because they heard word that Magneto and some of the high ranking mutants of the Brotherhood were there.
It was only when he brought up the fact that there was a possibility that Magneto could stop the missile and just redirect it back did they finally relent.
It was then that he started keeping secrets from the council. He didn't even tell them when the planet was visited by aliens. He started making his own decisions, one he kept tightly under wraps, but with what was happening maybe he could finally make the call.
An Initiative he thought up when he first watched Draul destroying an HYDRA base with a blazing fist just days after he nuked the HYDRA he was kept captive at, and also survived the resulting explosion that was more than enough to kill almost anyone.
The idea became more pronounced… more ideal, when he saw how Draul, Captain Rogers and Bucky Barnes thwarted the plans of not one, not two but three different organization that could boast of world power in just TWO days.
Many people might call him crazy but he knew an ace when he saw one and now he had four people, no make that six if he could convince the two female spies Draul brought with him – one a Widow above her predecessors and the other her sister. They were a bundle of talents in a box and Draul just made Christmas come early.
The cold war with the council could also be said to be an event which was attached the same level of importance as his brainchild Initiative. All he had to do now was wait for the fool who would fall for the risky ploy he had set.
He wasn't stupid enough to think that such a move, on his part, didn't have a high chance of failure. If he failed, not only would he be incarcerated but those who followed him would also be done the same. But then again, he wouldn't be Nick Motherfucking Fury if he didn't have contingencies.
But then again, no one liked contingencies even if they were more important that the main plan.
The slow week to him was just akin to the calm before a typhoon. A get-your-kid-inside-the-house reprieve.
He had already gotten what he needed in order to put the council in their place or outright make their decision-making authority null. The first part was already a done deal but the second would only be possible if he could meet with the president and present a good enough reason to grant him, and in extension S.H.I.E.L.D, such degree of autonomy.
He definitely had his work cut out for him, but it was definitely worth it.
…
Other than Fury, there was someone else who had something in store for when the slow agonizing week ended.
Magneto.
…
[Eric Lensherr A.K.A Metal Gear Sol- Magneto POV]
The metal master was livid.
He was furious.
The event of that day continued haunting him like a nightmare every time he fell asleep.
'How dare he?!'
How dare a lowly experimental subject go against him like that.
He, who was a god to them, was opposed by some mere Alpha Level mutant. His name had been sullied since that day. Some even thought of taking his throne for themselves but how could he let these fools succeed?
He skewered them with the very arms they raised towards him. How dare they challenge his authority?
But he knew.
He knew the sole cause of this hubris; the mutant named Draul St. Cross.
He had read his files. A mutant with some type of Adaptive mutation, he even held promise for him to climb the ranks of those who were truly strong but that lowly experimented dog had the guts to bare his rabid fangs against him.
The mutant even did the taboo of taking his crown and had it not had been for his talented son, them he would have lost his crown.
What blasphemy!
He had thought that with such a lowly past that Draul had, he would have jumped at the first chance to be something greater than himself but he refused. He refused their offer of brotherhood.
Even with that refusal, he still held hope, hope that whatever blinded his eyes would be lifted when he was faced with the scorn in humanity's gaze but who knew that he would do neither but pick a fight with him?
He had thought that Draul was an Omega like him but he was yet again proven when one of his men who was a sensor told him he had the same energy readings as that of Alphas.
Eric was outraged.
Not only was his authority challenged, but it was challenged by that of a lesser being no less.
He would wash out this stain on his name with the man's blood.
But first he had to recover. He was not a fool, although his arrogance was warranted, he was no fool.
The mutant was strong and that was a fact. He was able to keep Magneto at bay and even used the disadvantage he had to end the fight in his win.
He would get stronger and show them why his might was absolute.
…
In a totally not so forgotten place, someone Draul knew was also having a slow and frightful week.
…
[The X Mansion]
Jean Grey was someone who would consider herself a normal mutant as far as circumstances and abilities go, but recently she couldn't help but refute those thoughts.
As far as she knew, her psychic ability had always been a source of pain for her ever since she developed it.
Unlike the Professor who had a thorough clamps on his abilities, hers as a psychic were very different.
She didn't know when it started but she could always hear the thoughts of those around her, a very unsettling thing despite what people might think.
To her, other people were an open book to the point that just a glance at someone was enough to spoil the entire volume of the life they've lived so far.
She had always hated this aspect of her ability to the point that it one day started going out of control.
Her psychic ability got so strong that she could use it to affect everything else around her. As if been able to read minds was not enough to break her, the world decided that since she was getting the hang on it then it wouldn't be a problem to throw another at her.
She had been scared of what to do if her ability someday went on a rampage when she was out which it almost did on some occasions.
This first time she lost a semblance of control was in school and somehow, everyone knew she was the cause. The words 'freak', 'mutant', 'witch' were thought that flew through the students' mind every time they saw her.
It would have gotten worse had it not been the Professor who had showed up and helped her gain control of her abilities.
Turns out that all she had to do was learn to not fear her ability which the Professor helped her do. She moved in with him to the Mansion since she would just be drawing more attention to herself if she continued going to school and not to talk of the depressing fact that her parents were scared of her and didn't want anything to her since she was a mutant but that turned out to be the best decision of her life.
She found people who didn't hate her for who she was and she was finally able to start a real relationship since she could finally block out other people's thoughts.
Her life was fulfilled as far as she as concerned.
But why?
Why was the only thing she could dream of every time she slept was the same burning Inferno which was followed by a… call, as something she couldn't make an identity of, rose from the flames.
She didn't understand what the sound at the end of her dream meant, but as if instinctually, it came to her.
A call to return.
One that promised vengeance.
One that promised destruction.
It was always the same dreams haunting her every night since that day.
The day she saw something that no one else should have.
The day she saw what laid beneath the human skin of the mutant know as Draul. Even until now, she still couldn't attach a persona of identification to what she saw.
Was it a thing?
A being?
Or some kind of spirit or entity?
Anytime she tried to give it a tag, or label it a name, she'd shiver as if something was warning her against it, and every night she'd dream the same dream of fire and destruction.
Maybe it was a premonition? The Professor did say that Draul was someone who relished destruction so maybe this was some kind of premonition of what was going to happen?
The dreams and the fear it brought got to a point where she couldn't fall asleep anymore and was taxing on her daily life that she had to resort to pills and medications from Hank.
It was due to her haggard looks which took the notice of the other staff members who in turn grew worried for her and told her to open up about what she was going through before she finally did.
Let's just say not everyone took the news well – especially Scott.
To say he was angry would be an understatement as he almost destroyed the danger room with his lasers. Some of the other didn't take the news too well either, mostly the Professor and Ororo.
Even when she tried to tell them that the visions might just mean nothing in particular, they didn't listen, well most didn't, especially Scott, who outright proposed that Draul's mental link to his abilities be cut off which the Professor said would be a daunting task even for him as Draul's mind was protected more than anything he had ever seen.
The Professor however said he would get help which set most of them at ease, again most, not all.
Ororo had approached her that day and asked her when she started having the dreams and she told her the truth. Not like she could have told everybody that she had been having the same dream for months now which she was sure would trigger them, again especially Scott, who was most likely to go on a revenge kill-trip to find Draul which was something she didn't want. While she loved her boyfriend and most time appreciated his protectiveness, he usually was prone to lose himself in his emotions.
She didn't know the type of help the Professor was going to find in regards to Draul but she trusted him nonetheless.
But she needed one too.
She might not have told anybody but the control she had over abilities were slipping. But she wasn't overly worried as that could be attributed to the anxiety that was the result of the constant nightmares she had. It was something that could happen to any mutant if their mental state were as rattled as hers has been lately and it didn't help that she was a psychic which meant that most of her powers came from her exerting her mental influence on objects.
…
All in all, it was a slow and excruciating week for everyone.