CHAPTER 126

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[Draul St. Cross POV] 

A week had gone by since the day we raided Mr. Sinister's base and ever since then, I buried myself back into research. It was quickly becoming a routine at this point.

I didn't hear anything from the X-Men, meaning they were most likely grieving Jean's death or they finally made the decision to stay away from me. Whatever it was, I was fine with it.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said about my research. Though I had some degree of success in my study of Nathaniel Essex's data he had collected over the years, there was a part of it that showed warning about possible physical mutation. 

The theory that he put forth was that it was because the cells of normal humans had to expand to accommodate the influx of information that the grafted DNA brought, thereby leading to possible physical mutations. 

This defect seemed to be of a low rate if the host to be grafted was already a mutant as the diversity of their DNA made it so that they could accommodate more than what normal humans were capable of – the growth index, was what he called it. 

Though the topic was concerning, I wasn't too worried since I was sure that Bucky and Steve's cells could handle the strain without any visible deformity. I still had to make sure though that the possibility of a defect was as close to zero as possible. 

Then the second problem, not in the least a minor one, crept up. I had the biological code of a slew of abilities I was sure that I could replicate, though the percentage of degradation was yet to be known, but the problem was that I couldn't find one that would suit them. 

I even tried asking them subtly what kind of ability they would have liked to have if they were metas and Bucky said he was fine with super strength, the same with Steve. It didn't help that they now had super strength so they weren't all that interested in having new abilities. So it was up to me to find an ability that went in line with super strength, something that was classic and suited their personality. 

And the only thing I could come up with was more super strength. And that was easily achievable with the Serum I gave them months ago. The Serum very much propelled them into the realms of super but it still had a limit on how far they could push it. Just that alone would not be able to break through the strength cap that would come soon when they reached the height of what it granted them, so I wanted something that even if not useful now, would be a boon to them in going forward. 

And yet I don't know why my mind kept giving me super strength. It was literally all I could think about when it came to them. Since I couldn't figure what I could really give them that would ensure they didn't change in the any way, I decided to go forth in the super strength direction and see what I could find. 

… And what I found definitely made my day. It was something so simple that it flew through my head for the past couple of days. 

Augmentation. 

It was something that was easily complimenting on super strength. Heck, without my augmentation, I would be far weaker than I currently was. And talking of augmentation, two people that could augment as well as I did came to mind. 

Sebastian Shaw and Roberto Da Costa – Hellfire Club's Black King and Sunspot. 

Shaw could augment himself to ridiculous degrees with kinetic energy so much so that it could be said that his ability was based on aspects. Aspects were terrifying to say the least. The sheer ridiculousness of being able to empower yourself with anything that acts against you or produce force and motion against you was a pretty damned ability. 

The problem with Sebastian Shaw was that he had a limit. At his base, his body was no different than a normal human and augmentation was basically just addition and multiplication of your base parameters. Now imagine someone like Bucky and Steve with superhuman physiques augmenting themselves. It would be a replica of me and the Hulk scenario all over again. 

The same could be said with Sunspot's ability. The ability to augment himself with light or photosynthetic energy. Both enhanced soldiers were walking earth-destroying nukes if we were to talk about the energies contained in their bodies. 

There are at an average of 37 trillion cells in the human body with each cell holding much energy than our body could ever use without bursting open. We use barely even 1 percent of the total energy in our body. Now imagine a superhuman who has over twenty times the energy as a normal human and was able to use 10% at his lowest. It was frankly terrifying, and that was what Sunspot's ability was. The boy could move as fast as light speed if he could channel more energy from his cells. 

The same could be said about Bucky and Steve. If they could channel the huge reserves of energy that was just sitting inside their body and increasing by the second, then they could give the Hulk a run for his money, not at the Hulk's strongest though, but you get the idea. 

Nobody else had as much potential in augmentation than the four of us; Sebastian Shaw, Sunspot, me and the Hulk. 

I could understand how Sunspot's ability worked since I could use it myself and Essex had data on how Shaw's ability worked, so all I had to do was figure out how to replicate it either through a serum or biological engineering. 

I was pretty ecstatic when I found out that the problem I was wrecking my brains for was already solved by my brain on the first day if only I had thought about it. 

There was no rush though as I wasn't pressed for time at the moment. It was best if I didn't rush it in case I may have missed something or get a new thought of improvements along the way. 

I shelved the research aside to focus on my runes which were coming along swiftly. I wasn't much for spell casting like Strange was as I decided to focus on the part of magic that my intelligence highly favored. I was still nowhere close to creating my own runic system because of my lack of knowledge and also my power. 

It was something the Ancient One had cleared me on. Using a runic system was more like a trade, though she didn't go too deep into what we as sorcerers were trading, I was able to understand what she was trying to say. 

In simpler terms, if Asgard were to be destroyed, or it's connection to the world tree was destroyed, or the Allfather dies, the Norse runic system would be severely weakened  almost to the point of it being obsolete unless the user was manually powering it. 

It was why only religions held down by powerful gods had runic systems like the Greeks, Norse, Aztecs, Sumerians, Mayans and Yorubas. Sure they were other powerful gods in other mythologies like the Shinto Pantheon, Chinese Pantheon and Hindu Pantheon but they weren't as much focused in runes as the others, though I think the Hindu Pantheon had some ridiculous runes but their text were hard to find like others. 

That said, runes were a symbol of a powerful community and drumrolls… I ain't got none of that shit. I think one of the prerequisites of having a runic system was to belong to a community of gods since that was just what runes were – language of gods that humans transcribed. Anyone could power a rune as long as they had the required energy because each symbol of the god's language carries power the moment they are etched, ethereal things like belief and faith were needed to etch a working rune though. 

Things got complicated real fast as I delved deeper into the study that made me realize that I might have to go to either the Greek or Norse pantheon at some point if I'm ever to continue my study. Since there was no hope of me creating my own runic system since, newsflash: Draul wasn't no god, and the last time I checked, I didn't have a divine language or a council of gods to convene with. I was hundred percent sure that ain't no motherfucker on God's blue earth was praying to me so there was no way f-… You know what? Just forget about it. 

I get tired whenever I think of the requisites to create my own runic system. It also didn't help how irritated I was when I found that my dreams were squashed, once again, before I could actualize them. 

I even upgraded the Steve and the others suits. They all settled on some bracelets so I just retransfigured it and gave it back. No biggie. 

That was my highlight for the week. 

…. 

[Ororo Munroe POV] 

Ororo spent her days after the event at Essex's, thinking about her meeting with Emma Frost who she had reached out to a few days ago. 

To say she was nervous, albeit a little, was not a lie. She knew that what she was doing could possibly estrange from her team and the students but she felt like it was something worth doing. 

The times were changing and she wanted to make sure that the status quo did too. It was now or never, this was the best time to ride the winds of change and she was taking the chance. 

The next hour saw her leaving the Mansion in a semi-formal dress that consisted of a black trousers with matching shoes and a beige top. Though she wasn't one to keep in touch with the latest fashion, she knew how to make herself presentable in any setting and the current scenario called for a healthy mix of formality and informality. 

Emma Frost could as much as refuse to support her and that would be the end of it, or it could be seen as a business proposal to the White Queen where the said party could stand to earn something. 

Regardless of what it entailed, Ororo wanted to make the meeting a success, though she was surprised when Emma Frost called her and told her that they would be having an interested party joining them, while she was surprised and also skeptical, she nonetheless welcomed it. The more the merrier, as they say. 

She made her way to the front desk of Frost Pharmaceuticals and asked the receptionist for Emma's notice. She was immediately directed to the top floor where the office of the White Queen was situated. 

The doors slid open without her interference and ushered her in with a clear path. Ororo took a deep breath and walked in, resolving herself to see this through. 

Inside the large office were two women, both blonde, and while she recognized the White Queen with her signature while garb, the other blonde was totally a stranger to her. 

"Ms. Munroe… Can I call you Ororo?" Ororo nodded as it was better to be informal in this kind of setting. 

"Well then Ororo, you can call me Emma, welcome. Since you already know me, there won't be an introduction on my part but I think you would also like to know who she is, no?" Emma began and then pointed at the other blonde who nodded and then started to shape shift, turning into a familiar blue skinned woman. 

"Mystique." Ororo got up from her seat in shock as she growled, sparks of lightning cackling in her hands. 

"Calm down Ororo." Emma stood between the two enemies which earned her a glare from the weather mistress. 

"What is the meaning of this?" Ororo asked as her hands lost their lightning but she still labeled a stare at Mystique, not trusting the shape shifter for a second. 

"I was the one who reached out to her after I heard what you wanted to talk about." Emma started, seeing as how the hostility has toned down a bit. "Believe it or not, Mystique also wants the same thing as you do."

"I doubt terrorism and metahuman experiments are things I would want." Ororo glared at the White Queen. 

"Well I'm sorry but forgive me, who were the ones who made sure that metahumans were seen as people not to be taken lightly? Magneto's and I did while you sat back at your Mansion picking the children Charles wanted while leaving the rest. We gave them a reason to fight, while you gave them a reason to hide." Mystique was not having the hostility directed at her without replying back in kind. 

"And the experiments? Was that a part of your empowerment too?" Ororo was livid. 

"That… I didn't have a choice." Mystique's voice went down and then the room descended into an awkward silence. 

"How about we start from the top?" Emma Frost became the mediator between the two. 

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