24 Chapter 24 - A Deceptive Performance

Mikael now disguised as a blue skinned Malgus rushed forward delivering a series of punches and kicks that sent the guards crashing into the walls with bone shattering impacts. Mikael glanced down the hall as more guards came rushing around the corner and started firing in his direction. Mikael marched down the hall, the rounds bounced off the surface of the invisible sphere of energy that surrounded him as he threw the guards into each other as he went. The guards began to panic as their aim grew more erratic. Grenades flew through the air before exploding in front of Mikael as his disguised form walked through the smoke without any sign of harm.

The guards continued to fall back as he advanced towards the room that he felt the animalistic presence before. One by one Mikael dispatched the guards as screams filled the halls until eventually there was only silence. Mikael stood in front of the metal bulkhead as he sensed a few other presences on the other side. He reached out and pried his fingers into the gap before using using the force to pry the bulkhead open, making it appear as though he had done so with nothing but his own physical strength. Mikael stepped through the now open and ruined bulkhead as the few individuals in lab coats fell on their backs trying to back away from him.

His eye caught a camera hidden in the large room as he turned to look at the metal coffin like chamber on the other side. The scientist tried to slip past him as he walked towards the chamber only to fall on their face unconscious. Mikael saw a large vessel filled with a bubbling silver substance as he drew closer. Mikael turned to look up at the metal chamber as he peered through the viewport to see the bearded jawline and strange visor that covered the rest of the face of the man inside.

'Hey bub. Sorry for this but I need to put on a show.' Mikael thought to himself as he reached up and ripped the chamber open to reveal the familiar figure of James "Logan" Howlett dressed only in a pair of black boxer briefs. He tossed the metal casing aside as he backed up. Within seconds the figure began to stir within the now open chamber before the man turned his head towards Mikael. The disguised face of Malgus appeared to look shocked as the man burst forth from his bindings, silvery metal claws extending from the back of his hands. Mikael dodged the wild swings as the man roared loudly like a wild animal before throwing him across the room as he appeared to struggle. Logan lunged through the air towards him again. Mikael sidestepped the incoming missile of metal and flesh before he grabbed Logan by the back of his head and slammed him into a wall.

"Sleep." Mikael whispered as Logan's head slammed into the wall. Logan seemed to struggle for a moment until he soon fell motionless as Mikael pushed his power further suppressing the feral instinct driving him. Mikael let go as Logan fell collapsed on the ground before pulling some random pieces of the ceiling down to cover him making it appear as though he was buried in rubble from the collision against the wall. Mikael stepped away as he heard a voice come from behind him.

"Freeze Mutant! Surrender and you won't be harmed!" Mikael turned around to see a man in uniform flanked by two other guards that were pointing his weapon at him. Mikael quickly used his power to search the man's memories as he soon recognized him as William Stryker.

"Mutant? Earthling you will do well to not confuse me with another branch of your species again." Mikael answered in a cold voice. Stryker's face changed as he looked upon the face of Malgus and took in the words that were just spoken.

"I saw what you did to my men. If you're not a mutant then what are you?" Stryker asked as he pointed a revolver at Mikael.

"I am Malgus. Vanguard of the Kree Empire." Mikael answered raising his head with false pride.

"I've never heard of a Kree Empire." Stryker said as the two soldiers moved to surround him.

"Of course you haven't. You earthlings have barely explored your own solar system, how could you know anything about us." Mikael said with disdain.

"You're an alien? What the hell do you want?" Stryker asked as his eyes widened.

"I am here to see if your world is worth conquering. Last time we were here, we were found the effort of dealing with your powered populace not worth the reward." Mikael told him as the two guards looked back at Stryker with shock.

"But then I found the key. Why waste our resources to deal with your powered populace when you will do it for us?"

"What?"

"Yes, it was so easy to turn you against the so called mutants. Some mental suggestions here, whispers in the dark and soon your whole species turns against itself. Now their population is slowly dying out and soon you will no longer have anyone to defend you."

"You're saying you manipulated us into hunting mutants?"

"Hmm, indeed. I only needed to cause an accident here and there and pin it on your mutant populace. Just like I did with you." Mikael answered as he continued looking into Stryker's memory.

"Your poor wife and child. All I did was sabotage your car to trap you in the desert. Then when you delivered your baby, the device I put in your car made you believe he was a disfigured monster and so you stabbed him." Mikael told him as he pulled from Stryker's memories and used the force to create an illusion of his son on the ground in front of him.

"And your wife. All I did there was use that same device and put the suggestion into your head to make you snap her neck." Mikael continued as Stryker stumbled backwards his hand trembling as he struggled to hold his gun up.

"You're lying! That's not possible." Stryker yelled in denial.

"Isn't it?" Mikael looked at the two guards before he asked them. "Tell me are you two friends?"

The two looked at each other before turning back to look at Mikael. Mikael looked back towards Stryker again before returning his gaze to the guards as he placed a hand on his belt.

"Your friend is a traitor, a spy, an enemy. He seeks to harm you. Kill him." Mikael commanded as he looked between the two guards. They shook their heads in unison as the words replayed over and over through their minds before they looked at each other.

"Traitor!" They shouted in anger before pointing their weapons at each other and simultaneously pulled the triggers. The sound of deafening gunshots filled the room and the two guards collapsed in a heap in front of Stryker as he looked on in horror.

"Earthlings. So fragile and weak." The disguised Malgus said as he walked towards Stryker. "You're likely wondering why I'm telling you the truth right? It's because you cannot do anything about it. The population that has powers is no longer large enough to prove an issue to us and soon we will send the first of our armies to conquer this planet. This world will be ours. And it's all thanks to you."

Stryker screamed in rage as he unloaded his gun at Mikael only to watch as the rounds flattened against an invisible wall before falling to the ground. He started to back away as he tried to reload his revolver when suddenly he felt and saw a hand grasp his throat and looked up to meet the red eyes of Malgus. Mikael lifted him off the ground with the force as his hand mimicked the action to give the false appearance of him physically choking the man. Stryker began to struggle and flail in the air before with a jolt and crunch his body went limp as he crumpled to the floor. Mikael looked around the room before turning to stare up at the camera before it exploded.

He walked back over to the rubble and moved it to the side as he picked up the unconscious body of Logan before he vaporized Stryker's body with a blast of lightning and left the room. Mikael started to walk down the hallways destroying the cameras before the could see him until he found Stryker's office. After inputting the key code he found in Stryker's memory he walked inside. After putting Logan down on a nearby chair, Mikael walked over to the desk and accessed the computer. All connections to the outside were currently being blocked by Mikael's signal disruptor on his belt.

Searching through the system he found what he was looking for. First was the security footage, he quickly scrubbed the system while leaving a damaged but easily restored recording of his encounter with Logan and Stryker which fortunately for his plan also came with audio. He quickly compiled the footage and set it to be sent to Bolivar Trask upon the facility's destruction. After completing that Mikael also found the encrypted file containing formula for adamantium which was easily decrypted using Stryker's password. As he plugging in his comlink to download the unencrypted file he searched the facility for any other mutants. Once he learned that no other live mutants were remaining in the facility he activated the self destruct sequence.

Alarms and a system announcement began to echo through the halls as Mikael hefted Logan over his shoulder and sprinted out of the facility. As he left the facility and entered the confines of the forest his disguise faded away as he looked back to the lake that was now beginning to bustle with activity. Leaving behind the evacuating base Mikael vanished into the forest as he made his way back to the plane with Logan in tow and within a few minutes the group was back in the air and headed back to Xavier's institute.

As the group crossed the borders of Canada back into the United States in peace, in a waiting room at the Pentagon sat a lone brown haired brown eyed man. The man had a laptop open as he watched a video that was sent to his email. Sweat and shock covered his face as he pressed the play button again and again. Everytime he watched the video his breathing grew more erratic. He wanted to dismiss the video as a lie, some elaborate plot but he checked the video himself and there were no signs of tampering or modification. He tried to call his people but they all told him the same thing. The Alkali Lake facility was no more. William Stryker was dead. He sat there in a daze as his mind reeled at the information he had just discovered until a voice shocked him out of his stupor.

"Mr Trask, they will see you now." A young woman called out from her desk across the lobby. The man looked up with a jolt before he quickly put away his computer before he started to shakily walk towards the set of double doors on the other side of the room.