Today is Sunday, so no work today. I sat on the couch, sipping coffee and flipping through the news. The usual talking heads yammered on about economic collapse, politics, and celebrity drama until something more interesting caught my attention.
"Explosion in the Bronx! Authorities are investigating what they're calling a coordinated attack on a suspected criminal organization's safe house. Eyewitnesses reported a massive fire, followed by a series of explosions that rocked the entire block. The NYPD has not yet made any arrests, though unconfirmed sources suggest the involvement of the notorious mafia boss, Hammerhead. Meanwhile, sources indicate possible ties to Hydra, the international terrorist organization."
I smirked. Nice to see the cops finally doing some work. But that bullshit about no arrests wasn't surprising. Yuri must have captured some of the Hydra agents during the shootout and investigated the situation from behind the scenes. Still, I gotta pay her a visit and check out for myself if she's using the opportunities wisely. If she's doing things well, then it's all good, but if not...
Anyway, I wonder if Natasha recovered the tech from Hammerhead's base in the Bronx. Considering her skills, it is not that hard. She'll handle this just fine, no doubt about that. I hope she's more careful this time.
After finishing my coffee, I was about to take the cup to the basin, but that is when I heard the doorbell.
I wasn't expecting anyone today. I tried to use my super speed to check out, but it didn't activate. I quickly tried to use my psychic ability to look who it was, but it failed. My mutation isn't working. What the fuck is happening? Power nullifiers! Someone came after me, I see. If I'm not wrong, they have this place surrounded, and considering it's far away from the city, they had it easy. Plus, I'm pretty sure they aren't friendly or else, they wouldn't have gone that far. I could hear footsteps surrounding my house.
The doorbell rang again...
Now isn't the time to panic.
I've been prepared for a situation like this. After activating the microphones and the hidden cameras, I grabbed the untraceable phone and earpods that the Beast gave me when I left the academy and quickly went to the basement. There was a little tunnel that led out to the other side of the lake behind my house. It was an underground escape tunnel that I built for escape situations. And the house is rigged with explosives. Not to mention those explosives I've planted around the area. I took the trigger and went into the tunnel, locking it from behind.
As I crawled through the narrow escape tunnel, the cold earth pressing against me, I held the trigger tightly in my hand. It's just a normal switch, nothing else. Just a single push on it and the entire house would explode. Now, my question is... Who are they? Are they related to the cloning? Or, perhaps, they belong to some kind of shitty government group? Wait! Was the government behind my cloning? Whatever it is, I've left a burner phone in my room. I'm sure someone will call using that and they will definitely try to threaten or act smart.
The tunnel stretched beneath the ground for about 200 meters approx. I could already see the faint light of the end ahead. When I reached the exit, I stopped for a second, listening. Silence. Good. No one was here—yet. I tried to use my power and create a tiny shard of ice on my finger top and it worked. Just to be sure, I used my psychic power to scan the area. All clear.
I carefully lifted the hatch and slipped out, crouching behind a thick tree. From this vantage point, I had a clear view of the house. They were closing in, surrounding the building with military precision. A group of black-suited operatives with what looked like high-tech guns surrounded the area. Definitely not local thugs. There were three military trucks with weird machines on the back. Those must be the Mutation nullifiers that were blocking my mutations.
Suddenly, I noticed one figure standing apart from the rest. He wore a long black coat, his hair streaked with gray. He was barking orders into a comm. William Stryker. Everyone knows that fucker. He's pretty famous in the news. Last month he got his own team of operatives who work to capture rogue mutants and superhumans.
I clenched my fists.
As far as I remember from the comics and movies... This guy was infamous in the mutant world, leading countless operations to capture or exterminate mutants under the guise of national security. Stryker didn't just hunt mutants—he experimented on them, controlled them, and twisted them to his purposes. He had something to do with my cloning, didn't he?
I put on my earpods. Let's see what that bastard is barking.
Stryker paced in front of the trucks. "I want a clean sweep," he ordered through the comm device. "Find him. Our spies didn't see him leave his house, which means he may be within its walls, in which case we have him. Go!" He looked at his watch, his jaw tightening.
His men were searching inside the house and some of them were looking around.
He was serious. This was a full-scale takedown.
Soon, one of his men came out of the house with the burner phone. Nice. Now, let's talk, shall we? Just as I expected, Stryker dialed the only saved number and raised the phone to his ear. My phone began to vibrate. I used my super speed to run away from that area, but made sure to stay within the range and then took the call.
I took a deep breath and pressed the answer button, keeping my voice calm and measured. "Hello?" I said casually as if it were any other day.
"Where are you?" Stryker's voice was harsh, demanding, with an edge of impatience.
I smiled to myself. "Ah, Stryker. I was wondering when we'd finally get the chance to talk. Been a fan of your work, you know? Especially the part where you capture and torture mutants. Real classy stuff."
There was a brief pause, and I could hear the tension in his silence. "You think this is a game?" he growled. "You're trapped. No powers. Nowhere to run. Even if you run, we'll find you. But if you cooperate, maybe I'll consider leaving you in one piece."
"I'm not really a 'cooperate' kind of guy, Stryker. But tell you what—how about you cooperate with me? See, the thing is, I've got my finger on a little switch. A switch that will turn my house and the entire area into a lovely crater. You think you and your little operatives in there are going to survive when I blow this place sky-high?" I chuckled darkly.
The silence on the other end was deafening. I imagined him weighing his options, calculating the odds.
"You're bluffing," he said finally, though there was a note of uncertainty creeping into his voice.
"Am I?" I glanced at the trigger in my hand. "I'd hate to ruin your fun day, but I'm willing to bet you don't want to find out. You've already lost the element of surprise. Maybe you should call your little hunting party off before things get messy. But then again, when will I ever get a chance to remove the enemy of the mutants in the entire world again..."
"Wait!" Stryker stuttered.
"Nope!" I pressed the trigger.
The world seemed to freeze for a moment as I pressed the trigger, and then all hell broke loose. A massive explosion erupted from my house, followed by a series of smaller, rapid explosions. Flames shot into the air, accompanied by thick black smoke, engulfing the entire property. Stryker's voice vanished from the other end of the call, replaced by static.
I ran back to see the scene. There ain't no way, I'm gonna waste this view.
Through the chaos, I could see Stryker's operatives scattering like ants, diving for cover as debris rained down. The high-tech trucks were caught in the blast, flipping over like toys as the shockwave rippled through the forest. The sound of metal tearing and glass shattering filled the air.
I smirked. "Who's bluffing now?"
Stryker's men were burning as the flames and explosions consumed them. I was standing at a safe distance, still watching the fun. But what surprised me was Stryker. He lost half of his body, and that bastard was regenerating at a fucking quick pace. Of course, Logan's DNA or Victor's DNA. Interesting.
The fun has just begun. It's time to stop my delivery job and change my current profession to something more fun and bloody. I can't live a normal life anyway. The peace was fun as long as it lasted. Now, time to kill some motherfucking government agents and expose them.
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