Interlude 12

 

(Cindy Moon)

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She suddenly woke up with a killer headache, then she noticed that she couldn’t move. Cindy looked at her body, she was in a red jumpsuit with a number thirteen on her front; her wrists were held by leather scraps on the chair she was sitting on. With all her strength she pulled, breaking the restraints and she was free. That was when the fucking alarm blared and the lights turned completely red.

Cindy was instantly keyed up and looked around herself, finding an opaque viewing window and realized that she was going to need to run, but she didn’t see any door beside the window. When she focused her senses she detected multiple bioelectric fields behind it; people were watching her.

She raised her hands and then started shooting her organic webbing at the opaque window, covering it in its entirety. Looking up she checked for cameras in the room; she found five of them and webbed them as well. The people outside the room must be panicking as they suddenly disappeared from behind the one-way window. A hidden door revealed itself and many people in riot gear entered the room.

Riot shields and… were those stun batons? The electricity that Cindy felt coming from them indicated this.

“Muleup-eul kkulh-eola! Hangbog! (Get down on your knees! Surrender!)” One of them shouted threateningly.

Tilting her head, Cindy said, “Huh, I almost understood that; sounds like when mom was singing when I was little.”

Cindy shot two webs at the man who spoke and the one next to him, the sticky web adhered to the riot shields’ surface and the spider-girl pulled with all her might and the men lost their protection. Cindy imbued her fist with bioelectricity and threw herself at them. Avoiding the swing that was targeting her temple, Cindy moved low, then uppercutted the man whose chin was naked. 

Crack. Zap! The bioelectricity shocked the man. He fell down, and she evaded another hit with her Silk sense by catching the wrist holding the stun baton targeting her shoulder and fast like a cobra, struck the man’s neck repeatedly until she crushed his throat. 

As more and more men filtered into the room, Cindy started a deadly dance with them, she deprived them of their shield, used her web to hinder or strangle them, breaking their neck or hanging them. In just one minute she finished them all; then she started looting them, she took the shortest man's chestplate, arm guards and leg guards and strapped it to herself.

She tested her movement and the riot armor was a bit loose on her; she strapped it tighter once again and entered into camouflage mode. Cindy passed the door and… saw no one waiting for her; she looked up and jumped on the ceiling and began running on it, avoiding entering any obvious camera’s field. The spider-girl began looking for a room with a computer to gather intelligence.

From standing, Cindy started crawling on the ceiling avoiding the patrols of men, only attacking those that were isolated, electrocuting or simply twisting their necks. She didn’t try to justify her action as she killed her way inside the… research base? *Yes it is a research base.* Some of these people are willingly going after her, for reasons she didn’t know.

Cindy finally found a computer which was already open in a lab with some people strapped to tables. "Ah shit, I didn't expect that."

She saw their chests rise and fall, so they were all alive… When the spider-girl grabbed one of the medical charts, she understood that those people were all metahumans. This was too big for her, and she needed to mainly save herself, her mom and Al. She feared what happened to her father, but couldn’t let panic paralyze her. Cindy tried to reach for the link between her and Jean and ask her for advice, by the way she was really surprised to not have woken up at Egypt base already, in the hospital and already saved…

The link was there, but there was something blocking it. Now, she understood why Jeanie wasn’t here yet. Suddenly, Cindy felt a buzzing sensation and rolled to the right and preemptively threw some webbing in the direction of danger, only to see a familiar woman in a military uniform down on the ground. In her hand was a syringe filled with some kind of yellow fluid. Nari was trying to get up but was stuck on the ground.

“Mom…? Again? Why?” Cindy asked the struggling woman who stopped moving as she looked at her.

But she said nothing, her eyes were lidded and vacuous; Cindy frowned at this and suspected foul play. And to reinforce this feeling in her gut, an old wrinkled man with graying hair entered the room, he was Asian, wore a green military uniform with red shoulder marks and rank insignias on his left breast. “I’m sorry but your mom isn’t all here, Moon-Shi (Miss Moon).”

He looked from Cindy's mother to her and put on a disappointed expression. “I was certain that you would have been surprised by her a second time, it should have worked, but it seems you are wary of your mother right now.”

The man clearly knew about her danger sense, as if they had been planning around it. “Who are you?”

He shook his head sadly. “You don’t need to know that, Moon-Shi.”

Cindy heard enough, so basically that guy was responsible for everything that went wrong, he did something to her mom and she turned into the bitch of a shrew that they’d been living with for the last six years. It was all after she came back from a trip in South-Korea; Cindy remembered that her mother had come back home a week late. Her knuckles crackled as she formed fists. “Then you don’t mind if I bury you in an unmarked grave.”

She launched herself at him, throwing an electrically charged haymaker at him. But before she punched his head off his shoulders, the old military man shouted in a panic, “Mongoose!”

Cindy’s fist stopped just shy of hitting the guy’s face. Her body stopped moving by itself and she began struggling while trying to do something to the man. “How are you doing this?! I’m trying to kill you!”

The old man stepped away from Cindy, sighed in relief and loosened his black tie. He had a victorious expression on his face and couldn’t stop from saying smugly, “While you were unconscious we implanted you with the same chip that is controlling your mother’s actions and thoughts. I just said the code word to stop you from killing me..”

Cindy’s eyes widened, she felt… violated somehow; they took her free will without a second of consideration. She realized that this old man didn’t see her as a human being, but as property that he could order to do anything he wished. 

In a smug tone of voice, the man touched her cheek when he came closer to her. “Soon, you’ll be our good little soldier, just like your mother.” He looked at Nari on the ground who had stopped struggling. “Aren’t you? My little pet?”

A haze of red fell over Cindy’s vision for a brief second, then she remembered what the man said; he implanted something technological in her. Then she laughed, took back her arm trying to reach for the man and said, “You shouldn’t have told me that. If it’s a stupid cybernetic control chip you implanted in me then… I can fry it like… this.”

Cindy focused on the energy inside of her and let it pool inside her head. BZZZTTTT. "Fuck that hurt!"

Her nose started bleeding and she almost fell on her knee but stayed up; she started to laugh as she thought about killing the clown before her who had stepped back from her again with googly eyes and his mouth open. When her eyes focused on him and her vision wasn’t blurry anymore, Cindy said with a carmine smile,  “Now, I can kill you.”

"No!" The man turned on his heel and started to run. In vain, Cindy shot him with her web, hit him on the back and reeled him in. She caught him by the neck and lifted him well off the ground while he beat his feet as if struggling would allow him to escape.

Grrrkkk! “U-unhand-”

Cindy tilted her head and smiled. Crack. With a simple rotation of her wrist, she broke his neck and let his body fall on the ground. She looked at the man in the military uniform with a glare. “Fucking North-Korean asshole. I recognize the dialect now.”

Cindy leaned against one of the occupied beds to rest herself to recover. Still reeling from frying the piece of hardware in her head, Cindy took over five minutes to recover, her nosebleed stopped as her healing factor finally kicked in and she was regenerating. Cindy turned toward the webbed Nari and said, “Mom, come here, I will-”

But there was no one here. “And she ran. How? Ah, a knife.” She noticed still glued to flexible and sticky webs on the ground.

Clicking her tongue, Cindy guessed, “There must be a brainwashing component inside the chip. That’s why she left…”

This situation was dangerous, she wasn’t free yet; her foes were devoid of ethics and morality, so they were dangerous, even more so that they had Al junior with them to use as a bargaining chip. Cindy knew what she needed to do. “I will find Mom again, but first… let’s do like Jean would, empty the fucking base of personnel by killing them all and look for Al junior and my wayward mom.”

Pushing herself from the bed, Cindy walked up to the computer and looked at the current date. She’s been here for four days already. She punched in the old computer screen, making it spark and explode; but she was still pissed off. She turned toward the dead body on the ground, moved up to it and kicked the head of the military man so hard that she decapitated it; then she left toward the exit of the clinic room holding all the sleeping metahumans here. If Jean had been there, she would have read them and seen who would be able to be useful and let them loose to kill people in the base.

But Cindy wasn’t a telepath, and she couldn’t take the risk that all those people were there voluntarily and had to fight them. All Cindy needed to do was hold out; she felt that Jeanie would come.

 

# # #

 

(Warren Worthington III aka Angel)

At the same time…
63°16'06.9"N 161°10'20.9"W
Alaska Base
Hangar

Warren had never expected to be recruited in the private military of a young woman two years his junior, and was richer than basically everyone on Earth. How did no one know that? He’s seen the numbers and the resources available in the accounting department.

The winged young man had been surprised by how organized the Ascendancy truly was: putting to shame whatever school Professor Xavier has created. For a man who was supposed to be for inclusion, there was a distinct lack of non-powered people in Xavier’s school for the gifted; while in almost all the installations of the Ascendency, normal and meta were working hand in hand. Xavier spoke a lot but did nothing. Sure, the X-men were being trained to fight and represent the best of meta-humankind, but they were more like show ponies for the cult of personality of Charles Xavier.

Notice what he called the team? The X-men, as if the kids were his property and represented him; then there was everything he laid claim to with the ‘X’ of his name. X-gene, X-jet, X-car… the proof of his narcissism was plain to see. How could Warren have not noticed it before? Jean Grey and the other telepath, Chimera, had to work on him to remove all the compulsions and orders Xavier had given to Warren; it seemed that the man was really free and not so ethical with his telepathy.

This caused Warren to always wear his psionic blocker and enter the Anzu class for mental protection. This was something that baffled Warren at first, the Ascendency focused mainly on practical skills rather than Academic pursuit; Physical Training, Combat Training, Weapon Training, Combat and Tactics, they were the main focus. Mathematics, English and other languages, Physics and other academic subjects were completely optional depending on the entry level of someone who just joined.

The training of the Anzu and Dragoon aspirant was brutal and inhuman because as you broke they could put you back together with the medical technology that the organization possesses. Bone breaks, mended in a matter of hours, muscle tear? A localized application of regeneration serum and you were good after half a day and could get back to training the next day. Sergeant Johnson was a relentless man, who demanded of the newly arrived recruits to do their best and to push themselves to excellence; the Dragoons weren’t a place for slackers and the incompetents.

It had been almost three weeks since Warren joined this new organization, and this had been a brutal wake up call for him. As he was scouted directly by Jean herself, Sergeant Avery and Captain Castle had great expectations from him. Even more so that Jean had kept her word and changed his powers. Warren had now a limited form of shapeshifting that allowed him to retract his wings and look his ‘normal’ and dashing self. He had thought that it was all he would be given, but no, Jean Grey was an overachiever, he was stronger, faster, with enhanced reflexes and he was also able to manipulate light.

“Now you’re a real Angel!” Jean had said when she finished the procedure that engulfed him in a flame cocoon.

This wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, Warren had to relearn how to use his powers which had expanded in scope. The winged young man understood why some people followed Jean, she resolved their problems and offered them a fulfilling life and a goal they could get behind.

Warren was waiting in the hangar with some of the power Armored operators, the Anzu such as Jessica Jones, Wanda Maximoff, Chimera and a contingent of the cyber ninja called the Blackhawks for Jean to arrive. Everyone was discussing what they were about to do, it seemed that the North Koreans were about to have a bad day, taking over a country was also going to be the consequences of the leadership doing this.

Warren wasn't sure about all this, couldn't they just take Cindy back and be done with this?

"No we can't, Angel." A familiar voice said from behind Warren.

It was Jean who had somehow appeared from behind him. When he turned to her, Warren noticed how grim she looked; no, it was better to say she was furious. It was a controlled rage that was palpable but would only be unleashed methodically toward those deserving.

The girl used her telekinesis and floated past Warren and landed before everyone who noticed her presence. "Eternal General Secretary Kim has crossed my bottom line and he will pay for it. If you cannot stomach what we're going to do to everyone in a leadership position, I guess you need to get off this plane."

As if a mist was being scattered, a large aircraft appeared in the previously empty hangar. 

"Experimental stealth craft Black Hawk V2. This is what we're going to use as a command center while operating in NK. Follow me.” Jean said and gave her back to everyone, at the same time the hatch door at the back of the craft opened and the redhead floated inside.

The infiltration team followed Jean inside, and it was like the interior of a private troop transport; the seats were facing each other and there was space for some large vehicles parked inside. An armored tank with some kind of rotative turret out of a Star Trek show. The tank didn’t have any caterpillars, it looked strange to Warren. Jean moved to the cockpit and inside was empty, Chimera and the Blackhawk’s commander entered it after her.

Warren took it in stride and sat onto one of the seats and put on the safety harness. It was five minutes later that the winged young man felt the aircraft lurch forward. He felt the plane take flight vertically and with the thrumming of the engine at the back of the aircraft they were propelled toward wherever they were going. As they sped up the G-force began crushing their bodies, but immediately someone said on hidden speakers:

 

Cloaking System Online

Cruise speed achieved (Mach 4)

Molecular Bonded Shell at 100% Integrity

Satellite Guidance System Online

Inertial Damping system activated

 

The AI piloting the aircraft reported this with a pleasant voice. Warren felt the shaking stop and it was as if the aircraft stood still, but the thrumming of the engines was still there showing that it was still moving. Jean Grey exited the cockpit and slammed the door in anger. 

"Urgh, Chimera is getting out of hand lately. I wanted to pilot the ship." She walked toward the bank of seats near Wanda and Jessica and sat next to Warren, who said, "How is it going, Jean? Are you alright, here?"

Jean turned her verdant gaze to Warren, he flinched away as he felt the… anticipation coming from her. She smiled, and it wasn’t a nice one, like she was used to giving everyone she liked. "Here and ready, I’m about to do real bad things to some politicians."

So it wasn’t anticipation that he felt, but bloodlust; it was the first time he was seeing Jean look this way, he was used to the geeky girl who liked to build things, not whatever terminator was sitting next to him. He gulped loudly and laughed nervously and decided to express his doubts. "Are you sure that what we're about to do is-"

Flame covered Jean’s hair with a fwoosh sound.It shut Warren up rather fast. "They dared touch what is mine Warren, now they will lose what's theirs."

“Warren, man, could you not trigger her?!” Jessica shouted from her seat.

“Gimme your hand, Jean.” Wanda said as she took Jean’s hand in hers.

The Angel boy didn’t seem deterred by how lit Jean’s fuse was. "But, Jean… taking over a country is what Magneto would do…"

The redhead nodded, she had an evil smile on her face and her eyes started glowing. "Yeah, Magneto would… and he would only focus on the metahumans. Okay, Warren… Here I am going to free everyone from the yoke of oppression and take care of them, feed them, and shelter them from any more harm. I will be taking responsibility for what I am about to do."

The winged young man sighed; this was the best he could get. "Said like that it sounds more reasonable…"

Jean interlinked her fingers with Wanda’s and looked straight at the tank, then a evil smile spread on her face that made Warren think he fucked up somewhere. "Good, I hope you've been training well, Angel. I have some tasks for you…"

With a mock salute, Warren said hesitantly, "I am at your disposal, Ma'am. "

They didn’t take long, only 1 hour and 13 minutes of travel to arrive in an area of the world where Jean didn’t have an outpost at. North Korea is located in eastern Asia. North Korea is bordered by the Korea Bay to the west, the Sea of Japan (East Sea) to the east, China to the north, and South Korea to the south. Warren noticed that they were hovering over the Ryongsong Residence, the presidential palace in North Korea and the main residence of the North Korean Supreme Leader, the city is generally made up of people loyal to the party and those who have a higher position in society.

Warren looked at Jean who suddenly held onto her head and seemed distressed as she said, “No one here is innocent, Warren. I can read them all. They’re all about keeping their status and riches, they don’t mind having the little people downtrodden and unable to feed themselves. It’s… it’s horrible.”

Jean stood up from her seat, there was some kind of red energy enshrouding her body as she called, “Clint!”

The cockpit door was open and the man arrived next to her right away. “Yes, Ma’am?” 

Jean turned to the black Armored man with a featureless black helmet. “I will help you, take everyone in a position of power after I make them all sleep. All high and middle level officials.”

The redhead started cracking her knuckles with a disturbing smile. “We’re going to have a mass Trial and some executions.”

Clint crossed his arms and argued, “That's all well and good, but how are you going to subdue the population, Ma’am?”

The evil smile was back. “Easily, I’m going to make it seem like it’s an internal coup happening.”

Vorp!

Another stunningly attractive woman with straight black hair in a hair bun stood next to Jean, she wore some kind of military uniform. She looked to be in twenties, and a no-nonsense officer. Warren was aroused but also scared, scaroused? Is it a word?

“Meet Song Ha-Yoon, another me.” Jean easily explained without adding details.

“What the fuck, Jean?!” Jessica shouted as she pointed at the other woman.

Wanda widened her eyes as she looked from Jean to that Song Ha-Yoon girl. “What the-”

“How are you doing that?!” Clint stepped back from the two women.

Jean finally deigned explaining with a laugh. “When you’re as powerful as me, being in two places at once isn’t difficult.”

Warren believed her, but there was something off, the new woman, Song Ha-Yoon, had different mannerisms and body language; this wasn’t something that could be done in a day. The asian looking woman sighed and said, “And you aren’t afraid to give me the biggest job.”

Jean nodded. “Not at all, I know you can do it. Here’s your jian and pistol, you still have Goldie with you.”

“Thanks, Jean?” The woman raised an eyebrow, acknowledging something between them, the loss of a name Warren presumed.

The redhead patted her counterpart on the shoulder. “Yeah, call me that, Ha-Yoon.”

Sigh. “Fine, so no Metahuman power, only Martial Arts and weapons in public?”

Warren understood that they were having a mental conversation between them and everyone was losing context. Jean nodded again and said, “You get it.”

“Let’s get to work.” Song Ha-Yoon said as she adopted a korean accent.

Jean raised her hand and a field of scarlet energy spread from her, Warren protected himself with his wings, but felt no shock. Then the hatch at the back of the plane opened and Jean took his arm and floated in the sky with him; he immediately saw Pyongyang under him and everyone followed them into a golden aperture opening.

 

# # #

(General Ran Nam-Gi)

 

February, 23rd 1997
Pyongyang
The Mansudae Assembly Hall 

Nam-Gi woke up groggy and bound to a chair, he tried to remember how he got here and all he remembered was working late at night on paperwork and then suddenly getting hit by an all encompassing red light and then… darkness. Until there was a stage light that illuminated the podium he was sitting on. 

The general finally noticed that he had a sign around his neck with his full name and rank. Next to him, a woman with a sword at her hip stood, while looking at the camera before the podium she spoke clearly, "General Ran Nam-Gi, you stand accused of having received bribes, committed crimes against humanity, corruption and faking your military exploits. The sentence is…"

The woman finally noticed him, Nam-Gi thought that she was a beautiful little thing and that she must have attained her current position with her body. Her beautiful voice addressed him, "Oh General Ran, you're awake, good."

Bleary eyed, the man asked, "Who are you?"

The woman gave him a tight nod as she crossed her arms and said imperiously, "Song Ha-Yoon, the new Supreme Leader of North-Korea, obviously. Though we will soon rename the country: The Technocratic Republic of Goryeo, we will take back the ancient name that is part of our history."

With mouth agape, Nam-Gi understood what was happening; this was a coup! He looked frantically on his sides and saw that there were fifty or so people penned into cages. He even recognized the Supreme Leader who stood alone in a cage in his pink pajamas. The Leader looked stoically at the proceeding, his cage facing the podium. Nam-Gi decided to default on what he knew, the Leader was looking at him, so he blustered, “No, you aren't! You’re a pretender! You two bit whore! When I get out of this I will have my men run a train on you!” 

The woman, Song Ha-Yoon, looked barely impressed. "Not really a pretender, I am just deposing someone malevolent, a dictator who focuses on his supporters and his own self-interests. You live in a palatial home in the capital yourself, General, you know exactly what I mean don't you. This is a new chapter for our people, I’m taking out the trash tonight."

"This is treason." Nam-Gi raised his chin and flailed in his chair despite being bound to the armrests and legs of his chair. 

Song Ha-Yoon smiled and put a hand on the pommel of her sword. "Yes indeed, you and the old guard betrayed us all and now you're about to see me execute you."

Then as if she was changing her mind she took her hand off it and reached for her thigh holster, there was a silver pistol inside it. "Your blood will rust my blade, so I decided to just use my pistol."

Nam-Gi realized that he had chosen badly what to say, this woman wasn’t joking, he could see the murder in her eyes. She didn’t feel anything as she raised her pistol and started to cock it. There was only a neutral expression on her face.

The General started to panic as he saw the muzzle of the gun on his forehead. "Please no, I-I can serve! I can help you!"

She shook her head."Unfortunately, you cannot. Your sentence is… Death."

The new Supreme Leader slowly pulled on the trigger and… Bang! "Court adjourned."

The back of General Nam-Gi showed that the exit wound was leaking with brain matter and blood. His face was locked into terror and everyone started taking the situation seriously. Song Ha-Yoon then raised her voice to say, "Someone bring a mop!"

A bunch of janitors came, with a body bag and cleaning stuff. They started cleaning the entire podium for the next execution, they were earning good money for what was happening tonight. Then there was the fact that they were seeing history happen. They noticed how the new Supreme Leader didn’t seem to be bothered by what she did. "Okay. Next, bring me the rest of the generals and officers, leave the previous Supreme Leader for last."

The cameraman almost cut the feed, but Ha-Yoon snapped her finger and said, "Continue recording this."

Putting on a smile, Ha-yoon turned to the other officers in the cages. “Hello, sirs, ma’ams… are you ready to live forever? You’ll be immortalized in the history books as ‘the old regime’ isn’t that great?”

For the next two hours Ha-Yoon proceeded to trial everyone there for crime against humanity, bribery, corruption, murder, robbery, rape, drug dealing, smuggling. There was a mountain of body bags on the left, piled up by the janitors. Some rare officials were innocent and placed back into the cage, some even were sentenced to prison.

“And we left the best for last.” Her eyes turned to the man in pink pajamas who looked utterly ridiculous.

*There’s going to be memes of this in the 2000.* Ha-Yoon cracked a smile. The subordinated military goons that she took control of opened the cage and brought the previous Leader and put him on his knees on the podium.

"Nice to see you too, Mister Kim. Now, come get my bullet in your skull."

Kim Jong Ill saw that he wasn’t going to get himself any of that sham trial. And stood up in fury and shouted, "Assassin! Traitor! Who do you think you are?"

Ha-Yoon answered by raising her pistol and putting it in his mouth and pulling the trigger. Bang! "Someone who loathes you, bitch. Die."

Then she started laughing for another minute, wiped the muzzle of her gun on her bloodied uniform and holstered it. “Oh, this was cathartic.”

The Janitors immediately pulled the body, but were stopped by Ha-Yoon who told them to, “Put him on the pile and immolate the bodies. I want to watch that chapter of our people's history close, myself."

“Yes, Leader.” The chief janitor saluted.

*It was more to see if anyone would be revived, fucking marvel had a tendency to resurrect villains.*

 

# # #

 

At the same time…
Chagang Province
Huichon

A gigantic Raptor of fire was visible in the sky, flying slowly, beating its wings and the land under it flourished with life. The people who were slowly waking up witnessed the bird passing through; some of them took this as a good omen, others as something changing. They couldn’t settle on an opinion…

As I listened to the humans of North Korea’s mind; the soil and water were changed to be more arable and able to sustain life better thanks to my cosmic energy transmutation. I did that deliberately to make Ha-Yoon's life easier as she can't do things overtly like I do. We had a lot of plans but to succeed in them I had to break my promise on no overt killing. Miss Harkness was going to tan my hide because of it.

Let's take some holiday in Japan after this, I heard Kyoto is amazing at this time of the year. Maybe bring Cindy or Anna with me and stay in one of those hot spring hotels and we can pop Anna’s cherry there. Arriving in the mountain region that I felt was a psionic void like Jean Prime told me to seek out, I looked down at a particular Military base connected to a mountain ensconced with thick woods. A longer than usual airstrip showed the location of the aircraft hangars but this wasn’t the only thing here… There were tanks, fighter planes and some defenses there.

With a mental scan, I judged who was there against their will and who needed to get erased. I found the odd ten people amongst the soldiers, rank and files.

SKREEEEEEEEEEEE. I beat my fiery wings and simply blew up the vehicles and disintegrated everyone guilty there. Not caring for any of the bothersome stuff like those clearly bionic super soldiers who noticed me and shot at me. I circled the base still disposing of the trash and unwanted things…

Then I discovered where the psionic void originated from, it came from the top of the mountain. It was a machine that started siphoning the latent psionic energy of everyone in range; the machine kept sucking on the thought streams around. "Interesting, they didn't have the same resources as me, but they made a psionic blocker powered by a fucking dam, whoever retroengineered my tech is a fucking genius. Too bad I just had to find the biggest psionic void in the country through my telepathy."

I raised a hand and focused on the machine, I wasn't about to use telekinesis on it, no. I was going to… FWOOSH! Burn it with cosmic fire. Before my eyes the top of the mountain was slowly melting and the rock blackened beyond recognition, the metal of the psionic blocker simply disappeared not even leaving particles. 

My gaze focused on what was at the base of the mountain, a huge bunker, umbrella style like the HIVE. I could feel it, its rudimentary construction and how it was made of sub-par materials. Whoever made this was a good architect, once again showing that the Marvel Universe was full of low-key genius all around. Focusing my will completely, I made a construct in the form of a hand and punched the damn earth at the base of the mountain.

It was as if an angry God punched the mountain, literally. The shock completely destroyed the center of the mountain chain, exposing the damn base under it. Landing at what I think is the main elevator shaft, I continued mapping the entire base with my spatial sense using telekinesis. Wanda, Jessica, and Chimera exited the golden portal behind me as I stood before the concrete box that I dug out of the ground.

They placed themselves at my side, I held onto them with a telekinetic grip to make them float at my side.

“So this is it?” Jessica asked as she looked at the concrete structure in the earth. She was wearing her black and pink armored flight suit with the Anzu patch on her shoulder. 

I nodded. “Yeah, a bunker, it was five hundred meters underground, with an elevator shaft as the only access.”

Chimera observed the bunker and commented about her finding. “The layout… it’s a fucking lab.”

"Yeah, let's go see what it is about." I said as my mental link with Cindy was re-established. 

It was soothing to have access to my girlfriend's thoughts and presence in my head. I relaxed, letting go of the tension in my shoulders. <Cin, I'm here!>

I could see Cindy, she has been killing her way into the base. She didn't feel okay or at one hundred percent mentally and physically. <Fucking finally!> she shouted back.

<Where have you been? It’s been five days Jean! Fucking five days? Can you imagine how I had to live like this? John MacLaine has nothing on me now.>

I flinched when I heard the whining and the venom in Cindy’s mental voice; there was something that was annoying her. With a sigh, I reported what I'd been doing, <I've been following the trail left by the asshole who ordered your kidnapping. On the way I had to fight and kill an army of Demons, Ninjas in silk red pajamas and take over a country to find you.>

Opening a hole in the elevator shaft by disintegrating the concrete, I and the others descended the full five hundred meters in the shaft at a slow speed. I destroyed the steel door and landed on the floor of the facility proper. What greeted the girls and I was utter destruction, the floor was covered in blood and the air smelled of shit and piss and twang of ozone.

“Damn, this place reminds me of the Egypt base after Jean killed everyone inside.” Chimera found herself remembering and commentating out loud.

With a smile, I remembered the time I spread fear, terror and played horror monster with Sinister’s troops. “Those were bloody good times! I had to kill my way through the clones, and sabotage the fusion reactors.”

Jessica laughed nervously, trying to forget that mental image; Wanda just shrugged her shoulders, she was used to me doing monstrous stuff. This actually worried me, the girl accepted all my quirks and I knew that I was no saint. Would Wanda still follow me if I became a mass murderer? Huh, I’m already one, so I guess that the answer is yes.

Wanda looked at me, held onto my hand for a moment, squeezing it, then she let go and walked forward. She mustered her magic and she cleaned the place of bodies, blood and other byproducts of Cindy's killing spree. The white walls, the concrete ground and tiles that were stained by blood retrieved their normal looks. There were a number of spider webs everywhere that Wanda didn’t bother touching.

I felt someone bounding at great speed toward us in the lobby we ended up in. This was a familiar mental signature and I realized that it was my girl!  

“Jean!” She bowled into me and I caught her, my arms closing around her.

Like a koala, Cindy wrapped her legs around my waist. I giggled and said, “I’m here, babe.”

Then she kissed me full on the mouth, her tongue invading my mouth and sucking on my tonsils. My worries and doubts were washed away, Cindy was back! My hands supported her weight as we kissed like people who hadn’t seen water for weeks; the drought in my heart simply ceased and it found itself quenched by Cindy’s love. I heard multiple coughs at different points in time but I didn’t care.

Then I heard Wanda chant her magic. “Water of Washi!” 

A portal opened over us, and a torrent of cold water bathed the two of us.

“Cold!” Cindy said as she let go of me.

She turned toward Wanda and shot a jet of sticky web at her; Wanda conjured a protective shield with her magic and the web stuck to the energy bubble. Wanda converted it to fire and the silk burned easily. Cindy’s fist crackled with blue electricity as she said between her teeth, “Never do that again, Maximoff!”

Wanda raised her chin and lit up her hand with chaos energy. “How are you going to stop me, Moon?”

Cindy was on a hair trigger, she had spent days in this facility killing everyone and attacked at a moment's notice; she didn’t look like it but she was exhausted, thirsty and famished. The half-Korean girl was going to eviscerate Wanda or get eviscerated by the Chaos witch. I placed myself between them and shouted, “Okay stop, no fighting!”

“But!” Cindy tried to argue.

I engulfed her into a hug and whispered into her ear, “I’m glad to have you back safe and sound, Cindy.”

She melted into my arms, but she suddenly tensed again. “But we’re not done, they’re holding my mom and brother in some kind of panic room that I can’t seem to breach.”

<Show me.> I asked.

Cindy focused her mind and what happened in the last five days here, it was a tale filled with blood, revelation and murders. Nari, Cindy’s mom, wasn’t a traitor like I thought. She had been brainwashed and turned against her family thanks to some kind of cybernetic chip implanted in her brain. I knew exactly who did the job, I could feel her thought, she was the smartest person that I felt near me since I met Gwen Stacy. Doctor Tramma was a North Korean national who was recognized for exceptional intelligence by her government. 

Doctor Tramma was supposed to have defected in the main timeline, why was she here? Huh, that means that she’s free for the taking, but if she’s evil… I don’t mind reprogramming her for my use. Like my mother told me before, waste not, want not. “Huh, let’s go; show me the way.”

As we passed through the corridors and other rooms, Wanda cleaned the place; Chimera went to help the metahumans who were kept captive in the medical ward, while Jessica followed us in silence. We ended up before a panic room in a lab full of prosthetics on display on racks and shelves. There was a humongous computer that wouldn’t be out of place in a museum, it reminded me of the computer I saw for the Manhattan Project.

If the woman can build Full-Metal Alchemist level prosthetics with technology from the seventies, what can she do with vibranium and my current technology? Damn, too bad she’s evil, I would just offer her a lab somewhere and churn out cybernetics for me… but no, I have to sculpt a new personality for the woman with better moral centers… that’s just my luck.

There was a big ass door at the end of the cyber-lab, my probing with telekinesis told me that it was at least fifteen centimeter thick steel with rock walls that make up the room; hmm, a filtration system with a water tank somewhere and some rations. Wow, this doctor was ready for bears! The people in there with her had their arms and legs modified, it reminded me of Cyberpunk 2077 mods, Gorilla arms and some gazelle looking legs.

Jessica only looked at the door for one second before walking before it and said out loud, “I will show you how it’s done, Cindy.”

Turning my head toward my girlfriend, I saw her relax; Jessica was our strongest tank after Gwen and Hans; she was going to pry this tin can open real fast. Cocking her fist, Jessica struck with the power of a freight train crashing on the doors. Her arm pierced the several centimeter thick steel door, fortunately, her vibranium mesh flight-suit protected her from any injuries.

My best friend started prying open the fucking door by disforming it; when she was done, we saw three women, Nari who was training a gun on Al junior’s head. 

The woman in a black and purple suit with very Asian black hair styled in a Hime cut yelled, "Stay back!" 

"Big sis!" Al junior cried out with a hand toward his big sister, pleading.

Before anyone could start any violence; I threw a pain bolt at Nari who was made to throw away her pistol. I made it melt with a bit of phoenix fire and Cindy shot two spider webs at her brother and pulled him toward her. “Al, everything is going to be okay!”

The little boy was too shocked to answer her; I scanned his mind, and discovered that he would need a lot of counseling later. This was my fault, if I had taken the Hand seriously, none of the Moon would be in that situation. My eyes fell on the vaillant Doctor who looked at me with fear in her eyes, walked forward, I stared at her and said, "Hello Doctor Tramma, I've been waiting to meet you. Oh and isn't that Nari and little Al with you?"

Jessica loaded Nari on her shoulder and looked at the proceeding with an interested expression. 

“What more do you want? You got the kid and project Geomi.” Tramma pointed at Cindy. “Get her out and…”

I shut her up with a TK hand on her mouth. “You don’t command me, Doctor. It would be unfortunate if I had to put your brain in a jar to get at your genius.”

I was thinking about it, she was really evil for someone so brilliant… She had an abundance of genius, but she had no heart and didn’t shy away from human experimentation. Doctor Tramma must have seen something on my face because she immediately raised her hands and said, "I… surrender."

Her lab assistant slash bodyguard did the same, following her lead. With a tilt of my head, I smiled; maybe I wouldn't have to reprogram her too much. "Good."

Cindy disapproved and immediately said, "They were experimenting on meta, Jean."

I dismissed her worries… "Don't worry, Cindy the woman will soon have… a change of heart. Let's get Nari squared." My eyes fell on the good Doctor who stepped back away from me in fright.

Cindy wasn’t done with me however… "Jean… what about my dad? Could you save him?"

I lowered my eyes and said, "I'm sorry. I tried to get him back, but Death didn’t let me.”

"No…" Cindy closed her eyes and started crying.

I understood and went to hug her; this was on me, I let it happen… and didn’t take enough care to protect my loved one.

 

# # #

(Cindy Moon)

Alaska base
Aeronotic’s lab
Barracks
Morning

 

Cindy put her brother to sleep. Her mother was transported to Egypt base where she was going to be unfitted with the chip that has been controlling her for so long; even then, Jean told her that Nari will need to be followed for the rest of her life by a psychiatrist. She knew that Jean was going to take good care of her and her little brother, but… a little voice in her head kept saying that everything was Jean's fault.

Even then, Jean kept looking at her with guilt and thanks to their mental link, Cindy understood that her girlfriend thought the same as her; that she should have protected her and her family more. That she shouldn’t have accepted the invitation from Colleen Wing. There were a lot of ‘what ifs’ happening in Jean’s head. There was also the fact that she destroyed a part of Japan and conquered North Korea to find Cindy. 

In a sense this was terribly romantic, but the other part of her was tired of Jean’s little fuck ups. How many of her friends needed to die for her to straighten up? Lifting her head, Cindy saw a crying Jean standing in the doorjamb. The half-Korean girl realized that she didn’t put any filter between them… but maybe this was a good thing. Jean needed to be told bluntly the truth about her actions and the consequences of them.

Jean was before Cindy and holding onto her. “I know, I made a mistake but-”

Cindy put her hands on her girlfriend’s shoulders and pushed her away. “Jean, let's have a talk.”

Jean said nothing for a moment, sniffled and whined, “I hate those words.”

 

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A/N: Oh no... Cindy!

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