Dressed in my cozy fur-lined black winter jacket, I lay down in the thick cold snow after playing around for a short while. There were several snow angel imprints all over in addition to crumbled snowballs with a few remnants stuck in my hair. Next to me was Natasha who was in a similar state laughing her ass out after our brief snowball fight destroying the amount of effort we had put into maintaining our appearance but we barely cared at this point, what mattered more was having fun.
Having recently left home before getting enticed by the outdoor snow, we had been fooling around for a while therefore we were still in the estate. It was actually the first time we had a chance to freely fool around in the snow and not hardcore training or such. In addition, me being previously from an equatorial country and only traveling outside the country for business or school before going back home for holidays wasn't helping one bit. Therefore, I had no qualms about trying out a few new activities as we went.
Shaking off the snow out of my hair and clothes, I couldn't help but notice the moist stains and dampness that was causing me discomfort. I knew I was a bit underdressed for the weather but my environmental barriers helped regulate the temperature to ensure I would not suffer any cold illnesses. Yet, I still preferred living in warm and wet regions minus all the excessive humidity although that would give me a tan or sunburn now.
Shoving my thoughts aside, a quick flex of my will fix everything up leaving me back in pristine condition as I turned to address Nat who was doing the same.
"So, you ready to go or wanna continue messing around?" I asked her wondering about her opinion to determine our next immediate actions as we had more than enough time still on our hands. Worst case scenario, we could just teleport there if we are late.
"How about we try some downhill racing and stunts along the way? You haven't really had a proper stretch-out session in a while you know." Nat suggested with enthusiasm and an infectious grin plastered on her face causing me to subsequently nod and chuckle for a bit.
"Sure why not." I agreed while flexing my will to construct myself a pair of aviator sunglasses through which Eve projected my HUD overlay and highlighted the designated flight path to the estimated destination.
"So same old rules and whoever loses owes the winner a favor." Getting a thumbs up as a confirmation I flexed my will altering my outfit and reinforcing the fully black formfitting bodysuit I had worn underneath my jacket. My nanofiber gloves were now also black alongside the mounted vibranium wrist gauntlets which were infitted with various gadgets and a mini-computer to save my ass in worse-case scenarios. A black and green lantern symbol was adored just over my left breast covered up by my now thin aviator jacket which had its inner layering in dark green with traces of white alongside my utility belt and zipper to help reduce my eye-catching visage. I was in a simple yet sleek design with darker colors to avoid shining like a fucking lightbulb where I went and although I barely cared much, I still didn't want too much attention at the current moment.
Turning to Nat she was similarly in her green lantern outfit which was fashioned out of the same design as the original black widow outfit after a few changes here and there making our battle suits suitable for both comfort and combat outside of dire serious combat-related situations. Her using a lantern ring though wasn't surprising considering the amount of will and mental fortitude we naturally built up through all our hardships and the way that our suits highlighted our lean, athletic, hourglass figures made for a nice view. An appreciative glance at the slightly taller redhead next to me confirmed my thoughts as I gave her a cocky smile of my own as she turned to meet my gaze. Pushing down some slight unease in general, I sighed as I decided it was probably time for me to let loose a little after all these months of being lost in work. All in all, I was now a teen and it was my time to enjoy life after everything was on track as I still didn't have all the responsibilities that came with being an adult.
As soon as the signal was given by Eve, we both launched ourselves off the ground flying through the air. As I pushed myself through the air, the feeling of the wind brushing against my face, the weightlessness of moving freely through the air defying gravity alongside the rush of adrenaline that pumped through my veins from moving at a high speed was exhilarating. Flying was so much fun and the feeling of such freedom was addicting therefore, it wouldn't be a surprise that after all these experiences I would give up so much if I was ever grounded permanently once more. The smile on my face was mirrored on Nat's confirming all that I needed to know that she was having as much fun as myself. Deciding to make the experience more fun, I speed up and executed a series of barrel rolls alongside a series of tricks and aerial maneuvers to satisfy the adrenaline junkie in me.
Spotting a snow-covered hillside in the distance, I speed up a bit while diving down from the clouds leaving a green light trail following me. Getting concerned over getting spotted and identified was thrown out the window long ago when I discovered Eve could cover my digital footprint as we had backdoors into the world governments satellites and as for the populous and eyewitnesses, it was just another rumor and conspiracy theory to be added to a longer list at the end of the day. Although this was the case, I wasn't currently foolish enough to think myself the strongest or completely undetectable on Terra considering the presence of the sorcerers and the super advanced tech civilizations and other unique cases around like the useless Eternals.
Disregarding common physics as my barriers were handling the kinetic energy and natural forces, I made ski constructs for myself which I used to glide over the snowy expanse as I touched down onto the sloping side of the hill. Not being confident in snowboarding or skateboarding this was my go-to option and the feeling of seemingly gliding at vast speeds over the empty field was amazing. The rush of speed was electrifying as I smoothly swerved from side to side before timing my speed as I hit a slight ramp launching my feet off the ground as I performed a backflip only to be greeted by the visage of Nat seemingly zooming past me on a snowboar of her own with a smile on her face.
On landing, I laughed as I tucked myself in adjusting my posture to be more streamlined, determined to keep pace, and chased after her zooming and swerving past a few obstacles and trees down the slope. We continued our game of chase over the Northern Atlantic and ended up in Budapest just twenty minutes after our departure. I know, cutting a nine-hour flight into a mere twenty minutes is very convenient although we could have arrived faster if we had just chosen to get here straight from the start or through teleportation. Along the way, we stopped to help a sinking cargo ship caught up in a storm in the middle of nowhere. Fixing and repairing their engine and hull damage took us a few minutes before we escorted the vessel out of the storm close to Portugal where the crew thanked us immensely. I might not be hero material by my own terms but seeing the joy and gratitude on the faces of stranded sailors who were almost completely losing hope was heartwarming reminding me of an old dream of being a superhero as a child. Naive it might be but the experience was somewhat peaceful and I might consider trying it out again later.
I had won the race on a fair note because there was no way I was going to let a free chance to ask for a date pass me by before I finally decided to be the irresponsible mad scientist and mess with an equivalent of unreality in this universe. The prospect itself is mind-boggling but no matter the number of scans and model simulated scenarios that we ran proved to me that although my tech could glimpse into the dimension, we lacked enough research into that specific field of expertise causing me to subsequently offload an entire course of theoretic physics straight into my brain. I could confidently say this was my achievement but theoretic and mathematical decryption of the equation focusing on what I discovered somewhat eludes me and after all this, it is better to assume that someone or something just decided to open the door specifically for me. It seemed like I was going to be the Albert Entrati of this universe and that thought sent a cold shiver of doubt and slight fear down my spine for a sec. As much as I had my doubts, my intuition didn't warn me of playing to someone's game or any danger so far and neither did Eve so I prayed to all that is holy that my range of choices would be a huge boon in the long run.
Existential crisis thoughts aside, currently we were waiting patiently by a hillside overlooking a facility that I discovered a week earlier. To no surprise, soldiers were streaming in protecting a bunch of equipment and captives. It seems my initial assumption of there only being one active Red's facility was a mistake considering the soldiers were wearing the same familiar outfits of black and red underneath their winter coats. I felt like hitting myself but honestly, I couldn't be blamed as no records had information about this facility after I went around destroying all of Red's remnants last time. Pushing my disappointment in myself aside, I continued looking at the map display before me showing the structural scans of the facility in addition to all the biometric life signatures.
In total, there were a hundred and fifty targets both hostiles and captives, and I was able to spot our two undercover targets through trackers. I had earlier managed to get one on each one of them through some drones that were in the area to monitor their vitals and ping me in case anything disastrous happened. Sending the details to Nat for her to examine I did one more quick check to ensure I was ready for the upcoming raid as I was in no mood to sneak in silently at the moment so guns blazing it was.
Constructing a few miniature drones from my ring, Eve took control of them ready to follow me and protect any rescued captives to let me have some fun unobstructed. Having gone through the same training module as me, Nat was also proficient in using the ring so I was not worried about her plus, we were damn super soldiers with above-normal human capabilities. Receiving a nod on understanding our mission, I flared my protective shields one more time in caution before flying out from my cover into the fray shooting a few energy blasts that easily punched holes through the nearby guards searing their insides and killing them instantly.
Behind me, Nat was following close by showing her masterful display of marksmanship through a pair of twin pistol constructs killing the remaining few mobs outside. Constructing a large spiked boxing glove, I launched myself through the front metallic doors demolishing the structure as I entered, a huge smile plastered on my face as I saw the few mobs who came to check up on the disturbance outside being flung forcefully across the room dying or with many of their bones fractured.
The sound of the alarms blaring was music to my ears consequently causing the entire facility to go into an uproar. This was enough of a diversion for our soon-to-be allies so all we had left to do was slaughter our way and have fun. Constructing a pair of skates, I skated down the hallway past the oncoming gunfire and constructed twin desert eagles Mark XIX and let it rip returning gunfire of my own.
I moved unloading 50 cal rounds through the soldiers who decided to appear along my way enjoying the chance to run rumpant with infinite amunition. Turning over the corridor, I continued forth sending three more guys off with three subsequent headshots to meet Mistress Death as I laughed with Nat covering my flank. We were moving like a fucking meatgrinder mercilessly destroying all opposition as 'Drip Too Hard by Lil Baby' blasted through my headphone constructs setting the mood for my mad dance. Luckily I could recover some good hits and God knows how much of a struggle I went to rebuild my current rather small playlist. I'm still really tempted to just time travel to the future and download music from the internet but my remnant two brain cells hold me from being irrational due to consequences.
Maintaining my speed, I constructed a pair of chains in quick succession which I manipulated to coil around their legs and bodies as I passed by them. Pulling the poor fools off their feet, most of them hit the ground headfirst before I subsequently made spikes appear on the chains digging deep into their flesh as I yoinked them off causing them to scream like some weak-willed women. I laughed and continued on leaving them to bleed out to death as I had ensured all the wounds inflicted were lethal. I spanned the chain around by my side before launching it to the unsuspecting soldiers by the end of the corridor with force as I turned to dodge the grenade from the m32 launched directly at my anticipated spot. Well, that damn soldier had some aim but sad for him, my spiked chain tore through his neck before he could even blink before I let go telekinetically grabbing the armed grenade and completing my spin, and with the momentum built returned it to sender.
I subconsciously constructed a sphere around my intended victims as the grenade exploded to prevent potential structural collapse after all this facility was built into a hillside. Nat wasn't far behind efficiently dealing with her own group just as swiftly. Constructing a small knife, I threw it to the guy who thought he was sneaking around and could get a clear shot at us when we were distracted. The unlucky guy didn't know we had scans far exceeding advanced UAVs currently deployed.
Clicking my tongue at the disappointment of the fight, I couldn't help but feel dissatisfied by our one-sided slaughter. More than a few minutes had passed by and I had been cycling through ways to possibly kill and make this more fun. Months of hardcore training under Eve made me addicted to fighting strong opponents but this couldn't be helped fighting a bunch of foot soldiers this easily. It seemed inefficient and a huge waste to use my hands so I kinda stuck to midrange and ranged weapons through the fights. I wanted the satisfaction of a glorious battle and Irene's warning told me that this would be worthwhile. Groaning in frustration, I purposefully let my guard lower for an instant to draw out the presence stalking me before my senses flared in alarm as the wall to my left crumpled.
Instinctively I leaned back trying to duck over the fist that was quickly emerging from the wall and aimed to squirely hit me straight onto my chest. Not having enough time to successfully evade, I concentrated my will into reinforcing my shields my mind running calculations knowing well if this attack would hurt like a bitch if I was unguarded. Getting flung back by the force, I countered and began levitating as looked at the 5-foot 7 stacked guy draped in full body armor across from me who emerged across me. Giving him a quick once over Eve pinged me with the results of a scan that she had taken alerting me of the presence of several genetic alteration signatures along with cellular degradation due to instability, a mish-mash of technology implants, and something I hoped to see at least once since I reincarnated.
Three adamantine-coated claws popped out from each of his knuckles almost making me nerd out but with all the scans I was pretty sure this wasn't the iconic g-man from my childhood memories I was facing. It was a deteriorating mishmash failed clone of the Weapon X Project Wolverine and he was going to be the first powered opponent I was going to face outside of controlled training scenarios.
Knowing well the claws could potentially harm me, I smiled anticipating a good fight before landing and constructing myself a pair of combat knives. Subconsciously getting into a fighting stance, I tauntingly beckoned for him to come at me.
Ducking under the unrestrained rabid dog's wild lunge at me, I moved slashing at his open midsection cutting through his armour and drawing blood. inflicting a slightly deep injury causing him to grant which healed in a few seconds. So, he has the regeneration factor too but he feels the pain also. As he turned around to swing his claws once more, this time I ducked back farther from reach before accelerating and kneeing him in the face and driving my two knives into the back of his neck. A quick shield construct appeared to my right blocking his incoming clawed fist as I began to pull hard at the twin blades to ovicirate his spine in different directions. Something about this fight was bringing out my primal sadistic nature as I disapproved of the vile remote controlled monstrosity before my eyes although its wild nature is what drove it forth more. The unnatural glow of the right eye couldn't be hidden from me and a quick scan had Eve trying to locate the transmitting signal. Turning my blades once more before making them change shape within the clone, I kicked out while augmenting my blades meaning to slice straight through the ribs when I was obstructed by his adamantine skeleton. This caused me to violently stop almost breaking my wrist only for another hasty blow accompanied by shrill screams of pain to slam into my barrier as I left my constructs stuck in the shredded flesh.
We continued throwing hands for a short while delaying for time. Throwing and evading savage blows the clone began learning slowly as time passed by. Wolverine's genes were a fucking cheat because as the fight continued the easier it became for the clone to instinctively learn how to fight better. I could tell this was probably its first battle and I wasn't going to pass off the chance to spar a little so I was holding back a lot to avoid giving away much information to my enemies. Getting a ping on Eve completing her task I willed for the constructs stuck in his back to shift forms and enter his body destroying all internal organs starting from his heart before moving to form an impenetrable opaque bubble to cover the head cutting off the visuals, signal and oxygen. Not wanting to waste a perfect sample of alloy material delivered with open hands to me, I used a power of the ring I long thought I wouldn't require. Focusing my will, I pulled all the adamantium off the skeleton magneto style and compressed it all into a floating sphere which I sent to my subspace.
Looking at the remnant corpse I couldn't help but have a slight feeling that this won't be the last time I get into such a bizarre fight with clones. With all my movie and comics love and knowledge, I couldn't figure out who was responsible for the genetic failure I just fought therefore, I just shrugged and atomized the remnant corpse. I don't feel like knowing if a corpse can rise back from the dead and get a lucky jump on me.
Turning I flew towards Nat's location past the destruction and bodies along the way deeper into the facility to find her safety nestled into the protective hug of two adults. One was a well-built 6 foot 3 male with broad shoulders giving off an imposing presence. Next to him was a classic elegant beauty with a lean and toned figure in a slick combat suit. Her features were refined and her long dark hair was comparable to that of Natalia who was joyfully crying in their arms. Before me stood two of the best agents the Soviet Union had to currently offer, Alexei Alanovich Shostakov also known as Red Guardian evident by the circular shield with a red star at its center, and Melina Vostokoff codename Black Widow. Ignoring all this they were also Natasha's parents and as a loving best friend it was my duty to make her happy.
Looking at the family reunion before me I smiled giving myself a mental highfive and a proud pat on my back. I decided to move past them for now and avoid being a third wheel remembering a distant memory of the past. As fragmented as my past memories have been, I still remember once hugging my family who mainly consisted of my loving mother and a younger female cousin who we adopted due to some circumstances. I really hope she moved on from my death and is finally living a happier life. Sighing I decided to just continue moving on to make myself more useful pushing down those feelings so as not to disturb the tearful family reunion. Young or old, in the end, if given a second chance a normal person will still have lingering desires and regrets no matter how much they may lie to themselves. I'll just go back to therapeutic slaughtering of my enemies, yes that's a good idea, and adding ice cream at the end would just make this better.