Whiplash

"Alright big boy, I've got some questions for you." Said Wukong as he stood in front of the weakened and downed giant.

"I kill human!" Yelled the giant in between breaths.

"Yeah, good luck with that. Now answer the question." As he said this, Wukong stepped on his staff that was crushing the giant's hand, making the latter grumble in pain.

"Where is CS2 being made?" To this, the giant looked on in confusion.

"Me not know." Said the giant as his breaths kicked up the dust on the ground.

"For some reason, I believe you. I doubt you even know how to spell CS2. Alright, then tell me where Clairvoyant is." If anyone knew where CS2 was, it was going to be the man creating it.

"Bossman is that way." Said the brute as he pointed west with his giant fingers without any hesitation.

"Oh, that was easy. I thought I would've been met with some resistance. I guess Hydra isn't as great as I thought." 

"No. Bossman tell us to tell you to go that way if you beat us."

"Really? Great! That makes everything much easier." He said with a smile, finally lifting his staff off the giant and giving it a swift punch, knocking it out instantly.

Wukong walked away and made his way back to where he left Lorna. He thought about what the red Goliath said. Obviously, it was a trap, but if it meant he could get closer to Clairvoyant and get the CS2, he was willing to take the risk.

He doubted the possibility of the elusive Clairvoyant being there. Considering this man played Shield for a bunch of fools while they chased him and he worked under their nose, it was highly unlikely that it would be this easy to find him.

However, it didn't mean that Wukong's determination wavered knowing this. If anything, he was happy he finally found something to go off of. 

As he made his way to Lorna, he met her coming toward him unscathed.

"It seems you're fine. For some reason when you left with the giant that was chasing you, the one I was fighting collapsed a few minutes later." Said Lorna.

"Yup, that's their weakness. They get weaker the further away from each other they are. And in better than fine, I'm great. I just found out that Hydra is waiting for us in that direction. And if memory serves me right, there's another warehouse down there we were going to hit next. That's probably where we'll find them."

"That's the same thing that the other brute told me. But you know it's probably a trap, right?" 

"Yes. But we can handle it. We've gone through 4 of these places including the Blood Brothers, these chumps are no match for us." He said as he laughed. 

"Blood Brothers? Is that their name? How do you know them? And come to think of it how did you know their weakness?"

Wukong cursed inwardly as he condemned his big mouth.

"Their name? Well, these guys are big-time supervillains. Anyone who's anyone knows about them and their weakness. I thought you knew their name too." He played off.

"No. I haven't heard of them." She said as she stared at him. This wasn't the first time she had caught him acting suspiciously. Hydra, CS2, Clairvoyant and now the Blood Brothers. She knew that there was something more to him. He wasn't just a regular teenage mutant.

She chose not to say anything about the first few times, however, they were becoming too frequent. There were too many things she didn't know about her 'partner'. For example, the Nimbus. What is it? Is it his ability? If so then what does that make his staff? It's uncanny to see a person with two mutant abilities. Such peculiar ones at that.

There were too many mysteries clouding this boy which made her wonder, was she really safe travelling with him?

"Boy, I'm hungry. The money we took from Mr Devon's savings has nearly run out." He said, changing the subject. 

"That's because you keep eating mountains of food whenever we go someplace to eat. I keep telling you we don't have enough money to satisfy your neverending hunger."

"Hey, that's not fair. I don't eat nearly as much food as I would like to."

"Whatever, let's make our way to our next target." She said, walking outside as they were met with Nimbus.

"Bring him out Nimbus." After saying this, the scientist's head shot out from inside the Nimbus.

"Alright bald patch, I'm going to need you to take us to the warehouse east from here." Said Wukong. However, he was met with silence as the scientist gazed in awe at the warehouse in front of them.

"This place, I know it." He said with widened eyes.

"Huh? How?" Wukong asked as he looked back.

"It's one of the places that's known for producing CS2."

"What are you talking about, we've searched this whole place." Said Lorna as she stared at him with scepticism. 

"No, it's said that it's underground. Hidden just in case of intruders and attackers."  

"Well great, let's go." Said Wukong, yanking the man out of the cloud as he led the way.

They walked through the warehouse as the scientist led them to an unknown location.  

"We should be careful. For all we know he might be leading us to our deaths." Whispered Lorna as Wukong nodded his head.

As they walked, all that was heard was the sounds of their feet tapping on the ground, until suddenly, they came to an abrupt stop.

"Why'd you stop?" Asked Wukong as the man faced away from him. 

"Because there is no hidden underground. Truth be told I've never even seen this place before today." After saying this, the scientist unzipped his lab coat and unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a metallic object embedded into his chest.

"This is a bomb, and with a verbal command, it will explode." Said the man as he showed a face of indifference.

Wukong and Lorna looked at the man as their hearts started to beat rapidly and cold sweat ran down their face. For some reason, it was as if something had been missing from this man. He didn't seem complete to Wukong until now. The cooperation, the demeanour and the lack of commitment to the organisation he had worked for, all ran through Wukong's mind.

He was nothing like the other Hydra members he had encountered. It was all a facade to trick them into thinking he was harmless. And they fell for it.

"Hey, let's calm down. We can talk this through. Remember how you helped us in our endeavour. Come on, we're practically teammates." 

"Helping you? I wasn't helping you. I was merely making you run around like headless chickens. These warehouses have nothing to do with CS2. All they produce is regular Centipede Serum. The CS2 is nowhere near here. And I only told you about them because I couldn't activate the bomb in that pesky cloud you had me in."

Lorna listened to the man as she thought of a way to save them. While the man was ranting, she slightly moved her hand as she stared at the bomb. However, she was having more trouble than she thought.

"Ah ah, don't even try it. I feel the slight tug in the bomb. It's made of adamantium so it won't be so easy for you to control it. And you don't even try to point that staff at me, keep it by your side." He said as he caught a glimpse of Wukong moving slightly.

"So what? Are you just going to blow yourself up to kill us?" Said Wukong as he tried to buy them more time. After a few seconds, the scientist exhaled deeply as he relaxed himself.

"Yes."

Wukong realised that there was no point in trying to convince him. The only way he could stop the impending doom was by force. 

As he stepped forward, everything went quiet. The air hung heavy with anticipation, each heartbeat echoing like a distant drum. His eyes locked onto the scientist, a fierce determination etched upon his face. He refused the grim fate looming before them. With every fibre of his being, he looked for a way to escape the coming chaos. He could swing his staff or expand it. However, in the time he was drawing his weapon, the man would've already triggered the bomb. He was too slow.

Time seemed to stretch, each passing second an eternity as he desperately analysed the situation. His mind raced through possibilities, grasping at fragments of hope. But then, in those deafening moments of silence, two heavy words shattered the stillness with brutal existence.

"Hail Hydra."

In the heart of the abandoned warehouse, a deafening BOOM was heard as the explosion tore through the silence, unleashing a cataclysmic force that shattered the walls and shook the very foundation of the decaying structure. Flames erupted, casting a hellish glow upon the wreckage. The air became a swirling tempest of debris and chaos, filled with the acrid scent of smoke and burning wood.

The force of the blast reverberated through the souls of any that witnessed it, a haunting symphony of destruction that echoed till the ends of the earth.

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Author's Note: Hello if you are enjoying the novel so far I would appreciate the powerstones. They really help. Alright, thank you all, Bye.