Chapter 152 0152: Failed Mission
"There has to be a better way," Ironheart argued, glancing at Patriot's unconscious form.
"This is war, kid." Wolverine looked at Ironheart's helmeted face dead in her glowing blue eyes, "Death is the only final outcome."
"No." Demiurge shook his head, "They'll start suspecting you if you both return from the mission with your entire team lost." He was grasping at straws to keep his conscience clear.
"They won't." Wolverine's eyes showed a rare trace of sadness, "My daughter's among the victims."
That made both Wiccan and Ironheart shut up. They had presumed that Laura and Ms. Marvel had already been consumed by the forest since there were zero signs of life in Wiccan's barrier other than the people within that clearing.
"But we can't just..." Wiccan was still against the thought of killing Patriot. His mindset was that of a typical young superhero. Righteous, but misguided.
As Wiccan was still speaking, he heard the sound of metals rubbing together as Wolverine extended his claws. It was followed by those claws stabbing directly into Patriot's skull. Before either he or Ironheart could say something, Wolverine's dead-eyed gaze made them shut up, "Would you rather I guilt-trip you for my daughter's death?" He asked Wiccan who instantly felt a wave of guilt crashing down on him.
He didn't want to face it, but he was almost directly responsible for what happened to Laura and Ms. Marvel.
"If I wasn't looking for the right opportunity to get everything in one fell swoop, I could've saved them, couldn't I?" Wiccan mumbled as he looked down, his fists clenched.
"Get going, kid. I'll call for extraction." Wolverine didn't reply to Wiccan's monologue and changed the topic before turning around and walking into the woods.
"Where are you going?" Ironheart asked him.
"To look for my daughter."
...
A week passed since the failed mission in Sokovia.
"Sharon, is Logan here for our meeting?" A man pressed a button on his intercom and asked his secretary.
"I see him walking up to me right now, sir." She answered.
"Let him in." He said before releasing the button and leaning back in his seat.
Soon, Logan walked into the office of the man and nodded at the man in the seat, "Rogers."
Captain America was the one sitting in the chair. He was adorned in a black combat suit that seemed to have been molded from his original Captain America costume. Mjolnir was resting on his desk at the side, seeming like an overly showy paperweight. But Logan knew that it was the real deal. And Steve Rogers could harness its full capability.
"Come, take a seat, Logan." Rogers gestured to the seat in front of him.
"What do you need?" Logan asked as he took a seat.
"First of all, I would like to express my condolences to you for your loss." Steve said solemnly, "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to take time out to talk to you personally right when you came back."
"It's fine." Logan shook his head and said, "She might still be alive."
"Why do you think so?" Steve asked Logan with intrigue.
"Intuition," Logan replied with one word.
Steve nodded, "Well, I know firsthand how accurate the intuition of a war veteran such as yourself can be. I hope you can find her." He expressed his good wishes.
"Why'd you call me here?" Logan asked in his usual gruff tone.
"Ever the straightforward man, Logan." Rogers shook his head, "I'm going to be dealing the final blow to the Underground soon. With the current situation of our cosmos, having a united front is the most important thing in case we have to defend ourselves from the invasion of a more prepared planet."
Logan almost sneered at Rogers' words, 'Who doesn't know you're the one planning to invade the other planets...' He thought. It was an open secret when looking at how much Hydra was openly and covertly spending on Space fleets that they were going to be the conquerors in this scenario.
"I understand." Wolverine didn't show any of his thoughts outwardly.
"You have a very deep history with Charles," Steve said, "I want to know if you are up for the conflict. If you want, you can opt out."
Logan thought for a moment and shook his head, "I don't have any ties to that man after what he tried to do to Laura. I'd like to deal the final blow if anything."
"We'll see." Steve nodded, "You'll soon be called when the preparations are completed."
Logan nodded and left the room.
...
In the forest where Laura and Ms. Marvel had disappeared.
A circular portal opened as Laura stepped out of it. Adorned in her Alex-inspired yellow and black Wolverine suit, she was looking ready for a fight.n--o(/V(/e(.l).B(.1-)n
She didn't say a word and started running in the direction of the military base, the very place that Logan and his team had been escaping from previously.
[You're currently in an insurgent camp that has been testing an item that can turn normal humans into Inhumans with superpowers...] Alex gave her the backstory of the place. The reason Hydra only needed to send Wolverine and a team of young enhanced people was because this place had nothing to do with the main resistance force of the Underground. Sadly for them, they still couldn't get the Terrigen essence due to Wiccan/Demiurge's betrayal.
Soon, Laura was out of the forest and was confronted by a military barricade. After the loss of their plant manipulation Inhuman, whom Wiccan took away with himself to the Underground, they had to change tactics and set up a temporary barricade as they licked their wounds.
Seeing Laura, the soldiers guarding got alert and pointed their guns at her, "Halt!"
[Can we solve this peacefully?] She asked Alex as she raised up her hands in surrender, letting them think that she was giving up.
[Nope] Alex read their minds and told her, [They have strict orders to kill anything that comes out of that forest. Apparently, the loss of the Inhuman that was maintaining the forest has mutated the fauna.]
[But I'm human...] She said.
[Doesn't matter to them. At best, they'll capture you and experiment on you to see what makes you tick.] He told her.
[So no peace, huh?] She sighed.
[I could turn you invisible if you want to disappear without a fight.] He told her, [But that would make teleporting here meaningless, I want the story to be that the original Laura that died here has miraculously come back to life with the help of her 'special suit'.] He'd already talked to Laura about some of his actions here.
Hearing Alex's words, Laura was reminded of a conversation that he'd postponed previously, saying that they had to get going, [You killed her, didn't you?] She asked him with slight disapproval.
At the same time, she took a battle stance and charged at two of the guards before hitting the backs of their heads and incapacitating them. The rest of the people weren't even able to react to the speed of Laura's new Low Cosmic Physique as she moved to the next two people. She grabbed one of their napes and released an electric charge that put the man out of commission.
As for the other guard, she used Alex's other manipulation ability, ‹Basic Blood Manipulation› to momentarily block the blood flow to his brain. He instantly fainted.
[What?! Do you think of me as some monster?] He asked with an offended tone as Laura continued fighting the guards.
[Yes?] She asked, [I guess you're more alien than a monster, but you could be considered as a monster too.] She took his words literally.
[You're a smartass, huh?] Alex spanked her ass, making her shriek lightly. Still, she didn't stop her actions for a moment and was almost done with the tenth guard.
[Alex!] She chided as she reached the last guard, his spank had come when she was in the middle of a fight.
Alex ignored her and activated ‹Advanced Camouflage›, saying, "An Inhuman is approaching, I don't think we should fight them." He had a bad feeling about this newcomer.
He guided her to take the long route and move along the outer walls of the facility, confident that his ‹Advanced Camouflage› was enough to prevent almost any kind of detection. As long it wasn't some kind of observation method relating to Cosmic energy, Alex didn't have to worry.
[Couldn't you not have killed her?] She was still hung up on the state of the original Laura from this reality.
[For fuck's sake...] He said, [She's still alive, I kidnapped her and a friend of hers and put them both in your original Earth. They both can enjoy each other's company in that zombie-infested wasteland. Maybe they'll become besties or something more.]
[Oh, so—] Laura's appreciative thought was interrupted as she felt a belt wrapping around her waist and pulling her backward. She was pulled at such a speed that she was sure that if she wasn't superhuman, she would've broken her spine.
Her eyes widened as she saw an invisible shockwave striking her previous location and destroying a large section of the ground.
Alex dispelled the camouflage and revealed Laura's battle-ready figure as a white-clad Inhuman descended from the air. Somehow, this Inhuman had seen through ‹Advanced Camouflage›.
***
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