Chapter 40 - Spider’s Web

January 25th 2006 (3rd POV) Mackenzie's Home

"Huh. Who knew undoing brainwashing was so easy. All it takes is a mad Geneticist who can fundamentally change human's at the cellular level." Stepping back Makenzie undid his transformation and observed his work. Laying on the ground before him, her eyes blankly looking into space and her body completely relaxed is the former Hand operative that had tried to kill him days beforehand. 

 Moira's a weird character to transform into. Mackenzie had originally thought Moria's powers were technology separate from her body, but he was wrong. Moira's power forms inside of her body as a consequence of experiments she's done on herself. The equipment on the outside of her body are only conduits to help her hone and eject the energy outside of her body. 

In some ways transforming into Moira has taken Makenzie even farther from being human than Omnic's would have. But it's thanks to this expertise in manipulating human DNA that made unravelling the Hand's brainwashing so simple. That and the fact that the Hand's brainwashing is far more crude then Makenzie had anticipated. 

"Eww gross! How can she even produce that much drool?" Rapidly stepping back Makenzie almost bumped into the table behind him as he wiped his bare feet on the ground trying to clean off the drool that's pooling around the Hand Ninja's head. 

"Most likely undoing the brainwashing is causing her body's muscles to severely weaken. Her whole body is undergoing something similar to Bell's Palsy." Answering his own questions with knowledge he doesn't know never ceases to make Makenzie uncomfortable. 

Mackenzie in his mind has broken down his 'hero mastery' into 3 separate steps. The first step is surface level where he adapts to the specs of his new body. Reflex speed, strength, thought process. All these aspects make up the physical body of the character. This step is the easiest and quickest once he transforms he already calls subconsciously on their past experience to help him.

The second step is to move those experiences and memories out of his subconscious and really experience them. Like when he meditated as Genji and lived his life through his eyes. This step isn't hard but can be very time consuming and Makenzie has to take time to recenter himself in reality once the recollection ends.

The final step involved connecting some part of himself to them. Reaper is connected to his anger, Mercy to his compassion, Soldier to his sense of justice, Sombra to his desire to strike back at oppressors, and Genji to his desire to protect. Mackenzie has no real control over when this happens. He can try to meditate and ponder on what part of himself connects best to each hero but that isn't the same as truly forming a connection. 

So, far he's only reliably been able to tell that the connections seem to form in intense situations. The biggest problem with this step is that if Makenzie isn't careful he may start to lose himself. It was easy to manage at just one or two but as his connections kept forming Makenzie found himself being pulled in many directions when making decisions.

He's taken to reviewing memories of his first life at night before sleep to reinforce who he really is. 

"Tsk but to think the Hand uses such a second rate method. I doubt Hydra would use something so ineffective. What a waste of time." Walking around the Hand Operative Makenzie carefully avoided the drool before bending down and grabbing one of her arms. Carefully he inserted a syringe that injected a deadly toxin into her body. The process was quick and painless and she soon stopped breathing. 

Transforming into Genji, Makenzie gently picked her up and carried her outside. Moving a couple buildings over Makenzie deposited her body before pouring a small amount of gasoline over her and lighting her corpse on fire. Double checking to make sure nothing flammable was nearby Makenzie disappeared from the building offering a silent prayer.

Arriving back home Makenzie carefully filed everything he learned about the Hand's brainwashing and stored it on his computer. {Ping} Just as he was about to head back up stairs to continue expanding a familiar sound distracted Makenzie.

 Pulling up the article his computer had flagged he saw that the Daily Wire had just released that scientist Bolivar Trask would be coming to the whitehouse to pitch a new security item for identifying Mutants. Smiling at the good news Makenzie sat back down and continued researching. Trask was expected to arrive tonight by plane.

 The runway he was to be using wasn't released but considering the timing Makenzie wouldn't be able to make it in time for his landing regardless. Quickly purchasing a ticket for Washington under a persona for Widowmaker - he's been making them in his spare time - Mackenzie messed with the purchase dates and changed it so that it looked like he'd purchased the tickets weeks earlier. 

His flight set to leave in 3 hours Makenzie gave a quick call to Genji who's out patrolling letting him know where he's going and to inform both Mercy and Sombra if they ask.

Before Leaving his home Makenzie transformed into Kerrigan Widowmaker. Buying some extra clothing and luggage Makenzie returned home packed and left arriving at the airport with an hour to spare. Channelling what little seduction skills he could Makenzie breezed through security and boarded his flight bumped up to first class from his original economy class seat. 

Lounging back comfortably with the extra space provided to him Makenzie pulled out a laptop and started to do some research into what he could use as an alibi in case recent flyers were brought in for interrogation. Finding a new history exhibit Makenzie purchased a ticket and messed with the time to once more move the transaction to weeks prior. Makenzie then moved back to monitoring the news.

Unfortunately, the media in Marvel is as pointless as Makenzie's own so he didn't learn anything but he got small laughs out of how clueless they were. Halfway through his flight as Makenzie navigated to a weather sight to check if he should change once he arrived at the Washington airport it struck him that he's been ignoring natural disasters since his transmigration.

 Hurricanes, tsunamis, tornados, all of it. He might not know the exact date but giving out warnings to the government or SHIELD or even the X-men could help save thousands. Just off the top of his head Makenzie remembers 2 big earthquakes will be hitting Indonesia sometime this year. Sending a message to Sombra asking her to send out untraceable alerts of the two disasters to any relevant parties Makenzie released a sigh and closed his laptop.

He didn't know when the earthquakes would happen or even where exactly they'd hit but he'd try his best to establish an evacuation/rescue response team for when it inevitably happened. It seems he won't be able to put off making robots after all. He'd need them to save as many people as possible.

Closing his eyes he tried to take his mind away from the countless tragedies he had to stop before they could crash onto his shoulders. He might have a responsibility to help whoever he can but that doesn't mean he wants to or should have to spend everyday fretting over them. 

Deciding that now would be the best time to further assimilate, Widowmaker Makenzie slowed his breathing and focused on the slight prickling between his brow. Suddenly, Mackenzie found himself in a decrepit garden. The wood was old and splintered and broken pots laid across the ground. Old soil slowly got absorbed into the ground and water fell from what remained of a collapsed roof indicating it had rained recently.

 In front of him was a spider gracefully weaving its web. He watched hypnotised by the spider's elegance as it danced across its web. A shout from behind caused him to turn and take in the elegant manor behind him. It looked to be roughly 6 000 square feet. With antique windows and well maintained arches. It was painted in a splendid white that showed no hint of age despite the house's very old style.

Standing on the steps to a gorgeous deck were a man and women he recognized as his parents. His mother was a tall woman with black hair and deep brown eyes. She was dressed casually but elegance showed through in the way she carried herself. Her eyes were warm and Makenzie felt warmth surge through his stomach at the sight of her.

Next to her was a tall man slightly shorter than her but still standing at an impressive height. Unlike his wife he was dressed up clearly planning to go out soon. He had dark brown hair and cold hazel eyes that made Makenzie's stomach clench. The women spoke again and Makenzie felt himself stand up and start to run towards them.

The next instant his run turned into a jump as his body danced across a stage memories formed and disappeared around him as his body grew and his dancing became more elegant. His body danced with a sense of euphoria ignoring signs of exhaustion in favour of continuing to dance chasing after that sensation hoping for it to last even a moment longer. 

When the dance finally came to a close, Makenzie found himself standing over a man asleep in his bed. He duly notes that the man is his husband before he drives a knife through his throat and an ecstasy far greater than what he experienced when dancing rushed through his body.

From there everything else became a blur he desperately chased that feeling even after being granted back his emotions by Tracer and his brainwashing even broken, still lingered. The only thing stopping him from killing once again is an overwhelming fear of Tracer. Mackenzie didn't like that feeling, it isn't right. Tracer is a hero, people shouldn't be scared of her.

In his final moments as Makenzie is drowned by an overwhelming number of hideous aliens his thoughts drift to the little spider he woke by and how nice it would have been to watch it weave forever.

"Excuse me, is everything alright? You're looking offly pale." Jolted roughly back into the present Makenzie took a deep breath to calm his rapidly beating heart. A worried flight attendant stood next to him. Nodding his head to convey he's fine Makenzie waited for the flight attendant to walk away before slumping into his seat exhausted. 

Looking at the time There were only about 20 minutes remaining of the flight meaning he'd been asleep for roughly an hour and a half reliving the life of Amélie Guillard, the Widowmaker. Mackenzie spent the rest of the flight relaxing in his seat allowing the feelings generated by Amélie's memories to dissipate into the air as the plane began to unboard.

Pulling out his phone while disembarking Makenzie looked at the news and found out that Trask was staying at the Holiday Inn. A quick hack got him the room number and he curiously looked at the reason his appointment was pushed off. Apparently his appointment got cancelled due to a mass hack that hit every government agency individually. Sombra really didn't hold back.

Laughing lightly to himself at how perfectly things worked out he made his way into the city happy. He'd be able to enjoy the trip after getting rid of Trask tonight. Checking in at his own cheap hotel Makenzie briefly stopped in his room before exiting quietly from the fire escape after disabling the alarm and checking for any cameras. Making his way quietly through the city Makenzie ignored the brash language coming from drunken men on the roadsides beelining towards his destination.

Arriving at the Beacon Hotel Makenzie entered the building and began making his way to the top of the building. Arriving on the penthouse floor using a special keycard he'd swiped from a passing cleaner Makenzie quietly snuck through the remaining levels until he arrived on the roof. Summoning his rifle Makenzie lay prone on the ground, his eyes glued to room 3567 straight across from him on a slight incline.

The wind was moving at about 30 km/hour and Makenzie recalibrated his aim to match the conditions. Spotting Trask speaking on the phone while at the table Makenzie patiently waited for him to get more comfortable.

Trask is on the phone arguing loudly with whoever's on the other end probably about his appointment getting rescheduled to tomorrow. He spent nearly 20 minutes on the phone before he took a deep breath and ended the call. Trask moved slowly into the kitchen before coming back out with a glass of wine.

Glancing around his room he seemed to only then realise the curtains were open and hastily pressed a button on the remote all guests are given to access their rooms features. Smirking softly to himself Makenzie tapped the side of his head and his Infra-sight goggles lowered onto his eyes as the curtains closed.

 Watching Trask continue to move around as he drank wine. Mackenzie had to wait nearly an hour before Trask finally set himself down on what he assumed is a recliner and stopped moving. Giving it a couple minutes in case he got jumpy again Makenzie took a deep breath before pulling the trigger. The sound was almost completely suppressed by the wind but Makenzie watched through his goggles as Trasks body lurched before going still.

Ecstasy coursed through Makenzie once heat began to fade from Trasks body. The intense feeling left Makenzie reeling. Compared to Amélie's memories it was nothing but the sheer pleasure almost overwhelmed Makenzie caught completely off guard by it. Panting softly Makenzie stood up and jumped off the side of the Beacon using his grappling hook to swing onto a nearby museum. 

Slipping away into the dark of night Makenzie hurried back to his hotel room before dropping his transformation. Head in his hands Makenzie sat with his back to the door contemplating the euphoria he felt upon killing Trask. He knew it was just a side effect of transforming into Widow but it didn't make him feel any less dirty for taking pleasure in killing another human. 

Sighing Maknezie stood and made his way to his bed. Regardless of personal feelings he accomplished his goal. Sentinels would never come to be in this world. 

Authors Note: 

Been awhile sorry for no updates. I've been getting adjusted to my new workload at Uni and it's not been fun. Nobody told me this but apparently you get multiple midterms in each class not just the one. So, I've been writing huge tests pretty much every 3 weeks. 

Let me know what you think of the chapter. I tried to expand a little more on Makenzie's power without making any changes to how his power functions. As for Trask I was rewatching some clips from Futures Past and remembered how little I like him. Just to clarify he wasn't in Washington to pitch the Sentinels. Remember the Mutant detection device he used in the film? That's what he was going to pitch. The Sentinel project is still just a concept at this point and Sombra will make sure it stays that way.

I'll be posting a chapter around the same time tomorrow for my other story so look forward to that.