Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 393 END GOALS

Jean Grey used her iPad-like scanning tool on me. Wearing white Tyvek protective gear she was hidden behind a face mask, trying to protect herself from radiation. Hank McCoy was in the lab with us so I couldn’t hit on her. Not the first time an X-Men was exposed to radiation they had me swallowing pills and destroying my clothes as soon as I got back. Hisako volunteered to stay in town, fearful of my green glowing body for some reason. 

“Give it to me straight,” I said, muffled by my own white mask. “Am I turning into the Grinch?” 

“No,” Professor McCoy said. He was Beast in the original comic, a big blue furred man that looked like Sully from Monster Inc. For now he looked like a normal person. Big body, long black hair, he was rather muscular for a nerd. I was pretty sure he actually was a doctor, but most everyone called him Professor. 

“Actually the glowing has stopped,” Jean noted. I brought my arm up and noticed that she was right. I had stopped glowing. “What the hell made you decide to jump into a currently exploding building?” 

“I don’t know, bored?” I asked with a shrug. They gave me a look. “What? I thought that’s what we are supposed to do. Saving people, fighting things. Any idea what the hell happened there anyway?” 

“Yeah, it was all over the news before Logan rushed you here like a Mama Bear,” McCoy said with a chuckle. 

“He was speeding rather quickly,” I noted. Jean turned on the TV. The news was focused on ground zero of the Baxter Building. “They said that there was an unofficial project going on with Gamma Rays.” 

“Oh fun,” I said. I guessed that was the thing that would give the Fantastic 4 their powers. But gamma rays were also what would give Bruce Banner his Mr. Hyde alter ego of the Incredible Hulk. “Any lasting effects?” 

“I thought there might be,” McCoy admitted. “But it seems to have left your system fairly quickly. Logan will be pissed the Mustang will have to be scrubbed, but looks like you dodged a bullet. I want to monitor you overnight, but for now you have no radiation readings on you.” 

“Perfect, so I’m unkillable,” I said. 

“No, you very well could have died,” McCoy said. 

“But I didn’t,” I pointed out. 

“But you could have,” McCoy retorted. 

“Well I’ve only died like 3 or 4 times, so pretty sure I’m immune now,” I said.

“Whatever,” McCoy said. “Just swallow these pills every 4 hours. You start shitting blood, call me.”

“Thanks doc. Your bedside manner…5 stars,” I said. 

I must have sounded sarcastic because he added, “I could have made those suppositories, so you’re welcome.” 

I nodded as McCoy left. Miss Grey stayed behind, wrapping up my clothes in a red bag that had the hazmat symbol on it. “So uh, Nurse Grey. Do I get a sponge bath or anything special?” 

“Nope,” she said. “You get to hang out here all on your lonesome.” I was in nothing but scrubs. Practically naked and afraid, I began to plan my escape from the quarantine as I felt a group of people heading down the hall outside my room. They stopped on the other side fo the door, talking to McCoy. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but I could tell that McCoy didn’t like them. 

“What’s wrong?” Miss Grey asked. 

“Nothing just…” I left it, watching the interaction outside. Slowly the door opened to reveal my 2nd favorite cyclops, Nick Fury. Shaved head, black skin, goatee, he was my favorite Samuel Jackson inspired Nick Fury. Beside him was a man in a suit and behind him were 2 people I guessed were supposed to be bodyguards. 

“Weston,” Professor McCoy said, walking back into the examination room. “Mr. Fury has some questions for you, if you wouldn’t mind. You don’t have-” 

“Yeah that’s fine,” I said with a wave of my hand. “I hear you’re the one paying for all the fun stuff around here. What can I do for you, Mr. Fury?” 

“I don’t pay for it, the American taxpayer does,” Fury said. He seemed like the no nonsense type as he walked closer. The man in the suit followed, but the 2 guards in skintight clothes did not. Seeing the clothes reminded me I had my Gantz Armor. I was tempted to sell them to him, but it would probably be best to have them made by someone else. I would have to get in touch with this world’s version of Mei soon. 

“Either way, you help keep the lights on,” I said. He frowned but nodded. I kept looking into the patched eye, forcing myself to stare at the actual eye as he studied me. 

“What did you see at the Baxter Building?” He asked. “Walk me through it.” 

“Uh big machine thing going weewooweewoo. Giant volleyball spinning like it was possessed. On fire mostly. Lots of smoke. Big red button. Hit it, all hell stopped breaking loose. There were 5 scorched bodies on the ground. 4 people that looked unharmed. I grabbed the 4 then got the hell out of there.”

“So you’re the one that dragged them to the elevator?” Fury asked. 

“Yeah. Didn’t want to stick around to explain crap,” I said. “I assume I made the right call with the big red button and all?” 

“That’s what we think,” Fury said. “Richards and the others still aren’t awake. So we need all the information we can get.” He turned and began whispering to the man in the business suit.

“Really? Seems kind of small fry, doesn’t it?” I asked. 

“We take buildings blowing up seriously, especially in New York,” Fury said. I nodded, of course they would. After 9/11 anything big blowing up was bound to make the news and the general population pucker their asses. He continued to talk to the suit who then nodded and headed out. The 2 guards outside followed the man in the business suit. 

To my surprise Fury stayed behind. He turned to me, studying me for a moment. Then his gaze turned to McCoy and Grey. “You mind giving us a moment? I want to talk to Mr. Walker about something.” 

Grey looked to McCoy who got angry. “Absolutely no-” 

“Woah there, buddy,” I said, stopping McCoy. “I can answer for myself.” I locked eye with Fury. “Absolutely, we can have a moment.” 

“Weston, you really shouldn’t,” Grey said. 

“I have a feeling I should,” I said, intrigued by the Haki from Fury. “It’s fine. You 2 were just leaving anyway.” McCoy and Jean shared another look, hesitating as they walked away, but didn’t shut the door. Fury walked over to the panel and pushed the button to close it. 

“Thanks,” Fury said. His hands moving to his back he leaned against the wall as he studied me for a moment. His Haki was a mix of conniving, manipulation, and a hint of intrigue. 

“I reviewed your file on the way over here,” Fury said. Walking back and forth in front of me, I guessed it was to save me from looking into the wrong eye. “Got your powers from a chemical spill.”

“Yep, parents and sister dead too,” I said.

“Wasn’t going to mention that, but okay,” Fury said. “What do you think about this school?” 

“Uh…it’s cool?” I asked, confused. 

“You were normal before all this. Then suddenly you got a power that messed with you on a molecular level. Now you can fuse things together. Congrats on breaking out of the habit of fusing people to you by the way,” he said. “And now from the reports I am getting in, you can fly. Seems you have more than 1 power. Which is rare.” He let out a sigh when I didn’t say anything. “What do you think of the mutants?”  

“I like the mutants,” I admitted. “As a whole they aren’t as bad as people portray them on TV. I mean…I’m a mutant.”

“No, you aren’t,” Fury said. “You ever heard of Homo Superior?” 

“That like Mother Superior from the sound of music? Or bigger, stronger gay people?” I asked, knowing full well what it was. 

“As in a new species. One of Professor Xavier’s colleagues has coined the phrase. He believes mutants are the next step in the evolutionary track of the human species. Calling themselves homo superior.” 

“What about it?” I asked. 

“These people were born this way,” Fury said, stopping as he turned to face me. “You, have been made this way. You and I don’t have the mutation in our genes to give us a superpower. Whatever happened to you changed you. You aren’t like those outside.” 

“True,” I said with a nod. “I’m guessing you had my blood tested and I don’t have the X-gene or whatever?”

“You do not,” Fury admitted. 

“So, I’m special because I’m not a mutant?” I asked. “Are you like…grooming me?” 

“No,” Fury said, but I doubted it. “I simply want to remind you that you are human first. You did good today, saving those people. I could have blocked you testing to join the X-Men, but I wanted to see what a person that wasn’t a mutant could do.” Again that was a lie. He just admitted to reviewing my info on the way over. I let the lie go. “Now it looks like you can fly and have a few other powers. Which is why I am telling you all this.” 

“Because…you want to make a group of superheroes that aren’t mutants?” I asked, pretending to not know the answer. 

His Haki leaked surprise, but his face didn’t show any of it. “I am…considering forming another group. People that work with the X-Men, but aren’t the X-Men.”

“Got anybody else in this group?” I asked, perking up. 

“One or 2 possibilities, but nothing official,” Fury said. “Why? Are you interested?” 

I thought about it for a moment. Get on the ground floor at the Avengers? Tempting, but I didn’t want to be a government lap-dog. In Avengers Civil War I would have sided with Captain America. Not America. For now I wanted to get the lay of the land. Let the X-Men lead me to quests. 

“For now, no,” I said. “But I’m not opposed to it in the future. Sounds like the group is severely lacking in manpower right now, so the X-men sound more lively.” 

“Which isn’t wrong,” Fury said. “But things are happening out there kid. Big things. I can feel it. Be in the game as long as I have you get a nose for these sorts of things.” 

“I believe you. And I’m all for helping mankind,” I said. I didn’t clarify that it was for a price. Fury nodded and reached out to me. I shook his hand with a smile, excited to possibly get recruited to the Avengers already. I didn’t get a quest to join so I guessed that I was still on the right course. 

As he walked out Miss Grey and McCoy walked in. Worried and annoyed about the intrusion I waved them off. “What did he want?” McCoy asked.

“Just tried to sell me candles so they could send the CIA choir to Disney for a competition,” I said. They gave me a surprised then annoyed look. “What do you think we talked about?” I asked, laughing. “Government crap. Started stroking my dick and telling me how special I am to recruit me. Apparently I’m quite the catch.”

“Pain in the ass is more like it,” Grey said with a frown, but inside she was chuckling. 

“Got that right, now about that date…” 

—

“All better now?” Logan asked as I walked to the parking lot. 

“I have cancer,” I said. Logan stopped chewing his cigar for a moment as I stared at him. “It’s inoperable. Jean said they could have got it if you drove a little faster, but….I don’t blame you.” I continued to keep my face straight for long seconds but I cracked and he threw his cigar at me. 

“Fucking hell, you’re an ass, you know that?” Logan barked. I started laughing loudly. “Screw this. You have already earned the codename Bastard.” 

“See, glad you agree,” I said, passing his cigar back to him. He snatched it and chewed it harder, grumbling as he began walking to the parking lot. I could feel his worry dim as we continued to talk. “Anyway, thanks for getting me here.” 

“Course,” he said. He side eyed me. “Got any other powers you were hiding?” 

“Maybe a couple. Still learning,” I said. Jean Grey had given me a whole mind delve after I admitted to learning how to fly. She wasn’t able to dig in too deep psychically with my resistance, but I said that I felt whatever had given me my Fusion power wasn’t done yet. I might get more powers. 

We got to the parking lot and Logan pointed at the motorcycle with the sidecar. “Fuck no,” I said. 

“You contaminated my other ride,” Logan growled. “Get in.”

“I’m not. I’ll just freaking fly,” I said.

“You probably shouldn’t,” Logan said. But wasn’t too hurt. “Fine, you know where you’re going?”

“Actually, I was hoping to take a break from the X-Men work,” I admitted. 

“What?! You just started a few hours ago!” He yelled. The little man was quick to rage. The anger was a different kind of rage than I was used to. Not violent, just…ready to do violence. I could feel his Spiritual Energy was angry, but it was a hot inferno, an inferno that could get much larger. Logan was an angry man, but not violent. It was an interesting distinction. 

“You know my backstory?” I asked. “Family gets killed in a crash. Weird goop gets on me. I wake up as the freaky glue stick.” Logan nodded, chewing his cigar harder. “That barrel, the one with the goop, it had a symbol on it. A hexagon with a dot in the middle.” 

“You mean…” 

“Yeah, I saw it last night. Oscorp. That is who spilled whatever on me. That is who owns the distributor who owns the shell company who owns the other shell company who owns the foreign exchange that owns the other distributor that owns the shipping company whose truck drove into my parent’s car.” 

“What about it?” 

“So I want to go find out who the hell did what to me,” I said, like it was obvious. “Look, I don’t know your history. I don't know what you’ve been through.” But I could guess. “It’s like some need to know. Maybe they didn’t cause the death of my family. The death of everyone I cared about. But they played a part in it. Hell I could still be a kid too scared to touch people if I hadn’t figured out my power. They are doing something and I need to know why. How they are doing whatever they did to me.” 

Logan turned, getting on the motorcycle. “Fine, do what you want. You, Hisako, and I are at the apartment for the next week at least. You stop by daily. Do some training. I’ll cover for you with the professor. But you let me know what you’re doing before you do it. Capiche?” 

“Capiche? Who the hell says capiche?” 

“I fucking do,” he said, starting up the motorcycle. “I’ll meet you at the apartment. The place has a link to our system. I’m sure I can pull up some information on Oscorp.” He revved the engine a couple of times. 

“Thanks,” I said, truthfully. 

“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “And you sure as shit better pull that cancer thing on Hisako. If I find out I’m the only one you tried it on, I’ll be pissed.” I laughed loudly. Logan winked and began backing up. As he left I decided I really liked Logan. Lifting off the ground I wondered if I could see Anne off. Looking at the time I knew I already missed her flight though. Tabi enjoying her time at the school. I left her alone too. No worries once more I couldn’t help but wonder what the hell I would find at Oscorp.