CHAPTER 72 - CLEANING UP AND MAKING ACQUAINTANCES

Seeing Domino sleeping peacefully despite everything happening inside this very same floor was actually a bit amusing. It made me wonder if her powers had anything to do with it but that wasn't much of a concern at the moment.

Apart from Domino there were four other test subjects which made me understand just how hard it was to have a successful experiment in new research. The place alone had burned over 5 billion dollars in just the past year and this alone and yet they had nothing substantial to show where the money went except the equipments.

"Well up you go." Based on the time, it looks as if she was just a few minutes away from undergoing the same procedures she and the other four do on an almost daily basis.

Ignoring the grunts and constant resounding booms, I went towards the place where the others were kept and sure enough they all felt anxious and hopeful after hearing the sounds of gunshots and fighting.

They all recoiled as they saw me carrying Domino but the worry they felt was practically visible to me.

'Another timeline inconsistency? It's not like it matters anyways in the first place.'

The doors to their cells opened but fear still had them rooted to the group, trembling to even take the first step of the freedom they dearly hoped for. "Are you guys going to move your legs or spend the whole day moping around?"

They flinched and we all just stood there looking at each other until one of them gathered enough courage and came out of the cell and like a magnet in a bucket of pins, the rest practically flew towards him and stood there while waiting for me to lead the way.

It was a simple gesture but seeing how I remained patient with them until they suppressed their fears released the trembling and fear that had been draped over them like an overpriced Italian silk.

"Let's not dally any longer and leave. You guys good with that plan?" They all nodded timidly while two of them yelped as they heard the sound of something exploding.

With a snap of my finger, a translucent barrier covered all of us and that immediately switched, or rather lessened it to a greater degree, as they now watched in awe the scene of Captain America America-ing his way through the whole base as if he had a bone to pick with everybody.

I think these kids just found their idol with the way all of them had their eyes glued to the destruction he was wrecking without giving one shit about who was on the receiving end of it.

"Captain America…" I heard one of the kids mutter under his breath but I said nothing and just directed them to a safe corner and we watched Steve wrap up his fight with half of this floor destroyed which made no sense whatsoever since the guy didn't have one speck of special ability.

He was a little surprised to see the kids around me and also a little awkward when he realized they were probably watching his fight for time, prompting him to glare at me. What can I say? Even though those fists were rated 18+ on a normal day, it still was fun to watch.

"Are they?..."

"Yeah."

"I see." He said with an understanding look as he hung his shield on his back. "Well let's get out of here."

I was about to nod and make a plane construct just for the sake of easing their mental strain only for my senses to register the camouflaged aircraft that just landed on the island with a group of peculiarly dressed people making their way over with haste.

"We got incoming." I said and continued as I saw Steve about to pull out his shield for a round 2. "They are not hostile." And only then did he relax a little. Seriously, this guy needs to chill.

I looked at Steve, silently asking if we should meet the new arrival, after connecting one of the island cams to the HUD in his suit allowing him to identify them from my database.

"It wouldn't hurt, right?"

I just shrugged nonchalantly and we then started making our way downwards to the base floor of the rather large building.

On our way down, I curiously eyed the five kids with us, even the one pretending to be asleep in my arms, and made a note of how they seemed to be taking the death they've seen in a more composed stride. Sure they were irritated by the blood and gore and some even felt their skin crawl upon seeing broken bones and spewed guts, but they managed it well and tried not to focus much on it.

As for the approaching group of X-Men, while it might have been something I would have looked forward to a while ago, spending some months in this world and also as Vision, let's just say that I'm feeling quite passive.

Hmm, talking about perspective, let's try a more extensive approach.

[376 Mind Partitions have been created]

'So there are still 376 people alive on this island. Perform a mind sweep and highlight those that fall under the 'irredeemable' tag.'

I felt a few minds having some sort of mental defense but for once I did not bother with the limits I've been putting on the Mind Stone and effortlessly broke through them and let the partitions scan the minds of everyone present here.

I'm well aware that I can't create a bloodbath here but that doesn't mean I should always limit myself because of that.

[202 individuals fall under the <Must Kill> tag – Irredeemable]

"Well most are hired weapons and a few deranged scientists but the numbers are honestly not what I was expecting." I sighed and turned to Steve and gave him a simple number. "202."

He looked a bit indecisive for a moment but at the end, like me, just sighed and got to work. He's already gotten the the information and location markers he needed from me and the X-Men downstairs were actually doing a good job taking care of some of them so he just had to start thinning the herd from our side as we go lower, which was also the reason why I didn't just carry everyone out of the building.

Why am I leaving Steve to handle the heavy lifting? Apart from his sense of duty and willingness to bear a burden, with me keeping an eye on the children will ensure that their safety is completely assured.

Under Steve's charge and some assistance from me, we made our way to our destination without having any time lag as every hostile we came across was swiftly dealt with.

The moment we made our appearance on the floor the X-Men were currently fighting on, the room fell quite as the remaining handful of armed men suddenly found themselves in the middle of two very scant, yet absurdly powerful group of super-powered individuals, and made the sensible decision of laying down their weapons without me even making the mental suggestion.

I could feel the relief from them after they confirmed the safety of the kids behind me before they turned their attention to me and Steve with their introduction following prompt.

"Hello, my name is Storm and these are my colleagues; Beast, Wolverine, Colossus and Cyclops." She said and gestured to the rest of the team as she introduced them.

"Steve Rogers."

"Vision."

Ours was a little reserved but that was the only thing we had for any kind of introduction to give. Most people, if not everyone, knew Captain America's true name and mine was just what it was.

'Maybe I should try getting a civilian identity. Hmm, could be useful.'

"Do you mind if we take a bit of your time? It's about the kids." She said while directing a glance towards the children, causing them to flinch a bit. I already knew where this was going so I just looked at Steve and nodded.

We followed beside the X-Men as we left the building before coming to the place where they landed their aircraft, the sight of which caused the rather gloomy children to appear stunned as they beheld the specialized aircraft of X-Men.

"Are these them?" Steve whispered as we followed the group, stopping as they reached their named craft – Blackbird.

The Avengers weren't completely out of the loop in respect to knowledge about certain things, one of which concerned the existence of the group of mutants in front of us.

"Yeah, probably here to take the children." Well that was their M.O and to be honest I'm a little glad they did. The Compound was not yet specified to take care of children so there was no way we could efficiently look after them, not to mention that the only one in the Compound close to their age group was Laura and she wasn't the best talker around.

At least with the X-Men I can trust them to actually look after the children and give them the semblance of a childhood rather than letting them stay in a militaristic environment like the Compound.

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