Chapter 14

Much to my surprise, James and Victor came back with the Obelisk. I wasn't expecting them to find it that fast. We were careful to make sure we didn't activate it or expose the crystals. It would be a bad day for all of us. Astrid and I began to study how it works. The outer shell was made out of a material we could not identify. Internal scans would take a while, so I let Astrid handle that. I told Astrid everything I knew about the Terrigen Crystals. I focused on the Sentinel MK II project design and had to stop until I could study Raven's mutation. Astrid and I came pretty close to finishing it but decided to wait until we can design an adaptation feature using Raven's blood. I wanted to make them stronger, so it was a matter of quality vs quantity. I could make a bunch of them right now but that would mean I would have to create so many of them that they outnumber the opponents. I wanted to focus instead to the quality of the Sentinel. A Sentinel so formidable that one of them could take on a squad of powerful mutants. I was a long way from achieving that but that was my goal.

"So, what now?" Victor asked as he sat at a chair in my lab. I had the Obelisk placed in a glass container for Astrid to scan it.

"How about we just hang out for a bit?" I asked. We have been apart for a while now, so I wanted to spend so time with them.

"Sure" James said and started to leave the lab. We went back to the house and just sat down to watch some tv. Victor spoke after a while.

"Let's get a bite to eat," Victor said.

"Where?" I asked.

"Let's go to a diner" James said.

"Okay," I said. We got up and James volunteered to drive us. The diner he was talking about was a couple of minutes away. When we arrived, I just stared at the signpost. I guess James' definition of a diner is a bar. I chuckled and shook my head.

"What?" Victor said as he passed me.

"Nothing," I said smiling.

We entered the bar and the smell of cigarette and beer hit me hard. I had to take a small step back. I wasn't expecting it to be that strong. James and Victor walked ahead to sat at the open stools. They left one open for me in between them. I smiled at them. I don't know if they are doing it on purpose or not, but I feel happy that they are protecting me like that. I went up and took my seat.

"What are you having?" The bartender said as he eyed me.

"Beer" James said. Victor lifted his hand and made the number two gesture. I shook my head to say I didn't want anything. The bartender left and came back with two beers in hand. James and Victor started drinking their beers while I decided to look around the bar. I noticed a pool table that was open.

"Hey, wanna play some pool?" I asked.

"Sure," James said. Victor nodded and we all got up to make our way to the pool table. We started to set up the table to play cut-throat.

"Who goes first?" I asked.

"Ladies first" Victor said. For some reason that didn't offend me. I got mad not at what he said but at myself. What Sir said is true. No matter how I look at it. I really am I girl.

"Fine," I said sighing. I was 1 through 5 and broke the balls. None of the balls went in but they were all sort of scattered nicely. James went up next making him 6-10. He had a clear shot on one of mine and went for it. He made it and aimed for one of Victor's, but it didn't go in. We continued playing and having fun taunting each other as we played. It was nice being together and relaxing like this. It was cut short when a group of guys came close to our table.

"Hey there pretty lady. How about you come play with us? We promise we'll go easy on you," A disgusting looking man said. He looked like he was in a bike club. The same could be said about the guys behind him. They were all smiling at me.

"Yeah, come on. Let's have some fun," Another guy behind him said.

"No" I said.

"Come on now. We don't want to make a scene, do we?" The disgusting man said. James and Victor came to my side and look at the people gathered around.

"You don't want to do this, bub" James said. I internally smiled at him. He spoke just like he sounded from my memories.

"Hey! Take it outside!" The bartender shouted.

"Yeah, how about we take this outside?" The disgusting man said grinning. I sighed and looked at James and Victor. They were smiling looking at the group. I knew they wanted to get into a brawl and fight these guys. Everyone proceeded to leave the bar and I walked behind James and Victor.

"Last chance to change your mind," The disgusting man said as he took out a knife. The other people to follow his lead and took out weapons.

"No powers or suits" I whispered to James and Victor. They nodded and charged at the group. I just walked to our car and leaned on it crossing my arms. I was watching my brothers fight. I could have just erased their minds or manipulated them, but this is more fun for James and Victor. I could hear a lot of groans and moans from the group as they laid on the floor bloodied and beat up. James and Victor had their clothes ruffled up but any wounds they had were already healed. They were both smiling as they came to the car.

"You guys had fun?" I said smiling.

"You bet" Victor said. James was just smiling. We decided to go home after that. We didn't want to attract attention to ourselves any more than we have.

"I got another thing you guys can do for me," I said as we approached our home.

"What is it?" James asked.

"I need you guys to track down somethings. James, I need you to track down some blood. Astrid will give you all the information about it. If you could also keep trying to get information on the Monolith too. Victor, I need you to track down a person named Erik Lehnsherr in Poland. He is going by the name of Henryk Gurszky and should be married or might be seeing someone. When you find him just put a tracker on his home. Don't let him see you. After that just come back" I explained.

"Sure, I'll head out now" Victor said and left.

"You know what you're doing right?" James asked.

"Yes, it's all to prepare for what's coming," I said looking at him. He seemed to accept the answer and left.

I asked Astrid to send the new upgrades to their suits. It was mostly flight adjustments to achieve supersonic speeds. I bet James will be so thrilled. I decided to focus on the Obelisk. I placed it in a chamber where it was sealed off completely. I couldn't see it since it was surrounded by metal walls but I had placed cameras inside so I could navigate the mechanical arms. I managed to force it open and it revealed the Terrigen Crystal inside. The scans revealed that properties of the Terrigen Crystal. I knew from my memories that Terrigen Crystals were the failed attempted by the Kree to make Primagen Crystals. The Primagen Crystals were used to lift the Kree from their primitive forms to what they are now. While it wasn't as pure as Primagen, Terrigen Crystals still had a lot to offer. It was a mineral that when introduced to water at the right temperature, would create a mist. This mist is then inhaled by a person and if they contained Kree modified genes then they would undergo Terrigenesis. They would be covered in a stone like material and form a cocoon shape. This is what I wanted to know more about. What happens to the person inside the cocoon? The mist seems to be able to activate some genes and if necessary, modify the human structure to support the genes. I thought about how I could apply this to humans. Astrid was getting close to perfecting the super soldier serum, so I could use that as a catalyst for the Terrigen Mist. I would need to continue studying this further before attempting anything. The last thing I need is to mess up because I didn't have all the information.

I really was thankful for Astrid. She could multi-task better than I could. She had successfully figured out how to apply Pym Particle's to our buildings. We could shrink anything we wanted now and make it portable. She upgraded the suits to be able to shrink as well. We didn't have the problem with the regulator since the nanites could essentially make something indestructible with vibranium. I thought about the Quantum Realm, but I really didn't want to mess with that stuff. I told Astrid about it, so she could research it more safely than I could.

While Astrid was doing all of that, I focused on creating a decoy Tesseract. I could steal it when the events of the Avengers happen and swap it with a decoy. I had to create a pretty convincing one. I still had left over energy that I took so all I had to do was create a similar look to store that energy. I decided to use a mixture of runes and glass to make the appearance. Once I completed that, I transferred the remaining energy over to it. The finished product was pretty good. It looked very convincing. I placed it in my pocket dimension so I could have better access to it if I needed it.

I incorporated the nano technology Astrid and I created to the technology we had. It required a lot of material, but it was completely worth it. The nanites would create anything as long as they had a design to follow. I improved my medical flatbeds to be able to use the nano technology and Pym Particles. It took a lot of work but the nanites could shrink even further now and they could perform surgeries that would be impossible to do before. They could essentially get rid of anything and repair any damage in the body. They would still need healthy tissue to work with so if the person was missing anything then the nanites couldn't do anything about it. I would need in the future battles I anyone is severely hurt.

Months passed before James and Victor came back. James was able to bring back a blood sample of Raven. Apparently, Trask Industries still had it. James was able to retrieve with ease with his suit. Victor also found Erik and placed a tracker on their house. I asked Astrid to begin testing with Raven's blood while I focused on the Terrigen process. James and Victor came to the lab to see what I was working on.

"Is this really necessary?" James asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"All this," James said as he gestured to everything in my lab.

"We haven't questioned you on your decisions, but it seems like you are about to play God by modifying people with that," James said as he pointed to where the Terrigen Crystal was. I was caught off guard by his question.

"I am not playing God, what I am doing is not for everyone," I said.

"So, it's only for people you allow?" James countered.

"You make it seem like I'm the bad guy," I said. I stopped what I was doing to face him.

"We're just making sure you don't go all crazy with power," Victor said with his arms crossed. I am actually surprised they both came to talk with me. I looked at the floor and thought about what I was doing. I was self-reflecting on what I've done so far. I guess it might seem like I am playing God a bit.

"I won't, besides I have you guys to talk some sense into me" I said smiling at them. I am glad that they spoke to me about it.

"James, the coming battles are going to be difficult. A lot of people are going to die. We have to prepare for everything and anything that might happen, but I won't do anything unethical," I said.

"I know, just don't lose your way," James said with a concern look. I could tell he was really concerned about this.

"I won't" I said smiling at him. I am glad that they spoke their concerns to me. It also made me aware of not losing myself in the process.

They left the lab and went to the house. I was still sitting in my chair thinking about what I have been doing so far. My drive so far was to protect my brothers and give them a better life. I don't want to see them suffering. I also can't just stand by when world ending events start coming our way. I was sitting quietly in my chair. I had lost track of time until Astrid asked if I was okay. I told her I was fine and continued my work.

It took a long time before I began to understand what was happening when someone goes through Terrigenesis. It seems like Terrigen Mist targets the genetic modifications that were done by the Kree. It activates, accelerate, and strengthens the dormant gene. I decided to look at my own blood to see what has changed. I was surprised to see my blood was very different. There was an outer skin in the blood cell that protected the cell. There was extra material inside the cell as well. I decided to look at my DNA to find it was also very altered. I took a vial of my blood and put in a scanning chamber.

"Astrid run a full scan on my blood and compare it to Raven's," I asked Astrid.

"Scanning," Astrid said. I saw as the process finished and the data being interpreted.

"What does it show?" I asked.

"Scans show similar genetic structure. The 'X' gene mutation can be seen on the 23rd chromosome. It has added alterations to it. Different kinds of material can be seen attached to the chromosome," Astrid said and displayed hologram pictures. I magnified some of the pictures further to see what Astrid was talking about. I noticed how the chromosome had different strands added to it.

"Dr. Howlett, there is a problem with your genetic structure," Astrid said as she displayed a 3-D of my DNA. She highlighted some portions of it.

"These represent the new genetic structure added to your DNA when you obtain new abilities. The genetic structure have begun to show early signs of destabilization. Based on the trend, any more addition would completely destabilize your DNA. You would die painfully as your cell begin to fall apart one by one," Astrid finished explaining.

"You have such a way with words…" I said.

"I learn from the best," Astrid said.

I stared at the hologram of the in front of me for a while before I dismissed it. I guess that's what Sir said is true. Even if I had access to more energy, I can't support any additional mutations to my body. I should have thought about the abilities more. There's nothing else I can do now but to accept the powers I gained now.

I asked Astrid to work on our three containers of nanites and improve their tech. I was focused my attention to see what Astrid has done so far with the super soldier serum. Astrid was able to figure out how to create it and improve on it. It would have taken me longer if I was working on it. I thanked her and started working on creating it. I made 3 vials for myself and my brothers. I ran tests on the serum before even thinking of injecting in myself. I made sure to ask Astrid to double check my work as well. Once she agreed with my findings and I went to the vibranium medical pod I created. Astrid and I determined that in order for the serum to actually work it would need to be injected on the limbs. I created more vials to make sure it was successful. I laid in the pod as the needles injected the serum to my limbs. I flinched from the pain, but it definitely wasn't as bad as getting injected with the vibranium and adamantium. I focused on my breathing and relaxed my body. The vibranium pod then closed and released water infused with various vitamins to help the body. My own mutation would help with what the serum is doing now but I just wanted to give it a helping hand to speed it up. I was a bit afraid that the serum wouldn't work because of my mutation but Astrid concluded that it wouldn't prevent the serum from working. In fact, she said that my mutation would speed up the process because it would start to create new muscle and nerve cells faster than normal. The pod started to drain and opened. I climbed out and looked at my body. I saw my muscles were more defined now. I walked over to a mirror to inspect myself. I was pleased to see the results, but I definitely don't look like some buff UFC female fighter. I would never hear the end of it from Victor if I did look like that. I went out to run around our home to see how fast I was. The results were as expected. I was faster and my stamina seemed almost endless. The serum would repair any damage to my muscle and with my mutation that speed would be almost instant. I could workout and see the benefits almost instantly.

"Astrid, can you prepare the vials for James and Victor. Walk them through the steps," I asked.

"Certainly, what should I tell them when they ask where you are?" Astrid asked.

"Tell them I went to talk with Erik," I said. I activated my suit and started to fly to his location. I asked Astrid to continue to analyze the Terrigen crystals and help my brothers out with the serum injection.

I arrived at Poland to where Erik was living. I hovered over his house and descended somewhere further away. I deactivated my suit and watched the house from a distance. I closed my eyes and focused on my energy. I could fell the minds of three people in the house. I opened my eyes and made my way there. I knew Apocalypse would resurface soon I just didn't know when. I was jeans and a black sweater. I knocked on the door and waited for the door to open. The door opened and Erik saw me. I held my hands together behind my back as he watched me.

"Hello Erik," I said to him. Erik was very surprised to see me here. I didn't have to be a mind reader to see what he was thinking. His facial expression said it all. He was afraid.

"You've come to get rid of me?" Erik said. Before I said anything, I heard a woman's voice call in the background. She made her way to Erik but stopped dead in her track when she saw me.

"Magda Gurzsky, it is a pressure to meet you," I said smiling. That statement put Erik in a state of more alertness. From his stance, I could tell he was prepared to defend her at a moment's notice. I could feel him reaching out to manipulate any metal around the house. Before anyone did anything, we all turned to the sound of someone calling from behind Magda. Erik's eye widened in response.

"Papa!" I heard a little girls voice call out. She ran to Erik but was interrupted when her mother grabbed her. She looked confused by her mothers' action and looked at Erik and me.

"And you must be little Nina," I said smiling at her. Magda put Nina behind her as to shield her from harm.

"Let's take this conversation somewhere else, shall we?" I said to Erik with a serious expression. I didn't wait for his response and turned to walk into the surrounding forest. I walked far enough where Magda and Nina couldn't hear us talk. I turned and saw Erik behind me. His body language said it all. He was ready for anything. I just stared at him for a bit until he spoke again.

"Just leave them out of this. They have done nothing wrong," Erik said. I raised my eyebrow at him. I was glad he turned the same as I predicted.

"Relax, I'm not here for a fight" I said smiling at him. He looked shocked as he was processing what I said.

"Then what are you here for?" Erik asked.

"To save them from dying," I said. Erik looked shocked once more.

"I'm sure you're aware that I can see the future right?" I asked. Erik was silent as he was processing what I said.

"So, what you're saying is they're going to die?" Erik said in a silent voice while he stared at the ground.

"Yes," I said in respond. Erik looked up and made eye contact with me. His eyes were pretty much begging me to help him. I knew he cared deeply about his family. I didn't have to be a mind reader to know about that.

"I have a plan, but it will involve a bit of suffering from your side," I said carefully.

"Whatever it takes," Erik said resolutely.

"When the time comes, I'll save them but to you it would seem like they actually died," I said.

"Why?" Erik asked in a confused tone.

"Because I need you to pay a role. That's what I meant when I said you'll suffer. You'll experience the loss but once say your full name the memory of this event will resurface. The man who you'll be with will be our enemy. I'll need your help fighting him. Your family will be safe under my care," I said.

"Where?" Erik said.

"In my home. They'll be safe there. You have my word," I said.

"And this guy. Who is he?" Erik asked.

"Another idiot trying to rule the Earth. You'll get to know him," I said. Erik raised one of his eyebrows hearing what I said.

"So?" I asked with my hands in my hip.

"Anything for them. I'll do it," Erik said.

"Good, otherwise I would have just forced you," I said smiling.

"That's reassuring," Erik said smiling.

We said our goodbyes and I left. I was still in the area since I knew En Sabah Nur would wake up soon. I would need to be quick after helping Erik's family. After I save them, I would need to transport over to Charles' house to prevent it from exploding. I stayed around for a bit until I felt a wave of energy pulse followed by small tremors. I made my way to Erik's house and stayed in the forest waiting for the events to occur.