Marvel - The Void

3rd POV:

Nexus sat in a fancy arm chair and watched as Alexander Pierce prepared himself for his day. He made himself invisible and also messed with Pierce's mind to not notice the applied pressure on the arm chair.

It was a trivial matter, tracking and reading the world securities minds. Most of them were what they seemed and what Nexus expected. Leeches who coveted that position to further their own agenda.

Pierce was the final one he visited and it was almost morning.

He on the other hand was a piece of work.

Alexander Pierce.

America's secretary of defense.

HYDRA highest agent in the government.

And that was not the only thing he found out.

HYDRA was S.H.I.E.L.D; S.H.I.E.L.D was HYDRA.

Nexus knew his history. Steve Rogers fought against HYDRA in the second World War. Even then Nexus knew that was not the end of HYDRA. That is not how these things went.

The only question was then where were they?

Apparently, in S.H.I.E.L.D's infinite wisdom, they decided to do the same thing they did with the Manhattan project. Absorb enemy 'scientist' (in this case agents) and add them to their own organisation, in exchange for a pardon.

Idiots and incompetents, Nexus determined.

HYDRA has been quietly influencing the world stage from there on out, manipulating it to suit their needs. Having learnt that while humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom, they fought fiercely to retain their freedom. HYDRA needed to find another way to subjugate the masses.

But in Nexus' personal opinion, it was all a lot of turd. He was not gonna give them that much credit, as most of the things that happened here also happened in some form back where he was from. From the look of things, things were repeating here the same way they were repeating themselves in his past life. 

And his world did not have HYDRA.

...

If anything he was the closest thing to HYDRA from his previous world. But while he did 'subjugate' the people, his war was against the leeches and the system. And he ruled a vast empire, unlike HYDRA who wanted to rule all of earth. The populace on the other hand enjoyed many benefits and freedoms.

That was neither here nor there, however.

What should he do with HYDRA?

They were leeches so they had to go, but herein lied the problem.

Everything S.H.I.E.L.D knew HYDRA knew, dutifully reported back by Alexander Pierce. HYDRA was already paranoid. But once they found out about telepaths, the security measures only grew.

For all that Pierce knew much and was high up in the HYDRA hierarchy, he actually knew v little about his own organisation, relatively speaking. At least compared to Fury and his organisation, minus the HYDRA being S.H.I.E.L.D thing.

HYDRA was also lead by multiple 'heads', Pierce did not actually know of any other 'head' from HYDRA. It meant HYDRA consisted of multiple groups, that did not necessarily all share the same goal. Nexus was sure that at least a few of these groups were just power hungry or had other agendas.

Worse. Unlike S.H.I.E.L.D who had both Data servers and physical data, HYDRA had mostly physical data. Their paranoia ran so deep that they unknowingly protected themselves against his greatest information gathering tool. His technomancy. A belief that was reinforced when they could not contact Raezen, when they attempted to get him to join. At least S.H.I.E.L.D still thinks that they could protect themselves against his attack. 

That was good. Let both parties not know about his technomancy.

All that is to say, that he needed to hunt them down manually.

And now the most important decision.

Nexus could kill Pierce. He and HYDRA were leeches.

His blood boiled to spill leech blood. And he will, especially after all he had seen Pierce do, when Nexus read his mind.

BUT.

Then he would lose a valuable resource, at least until he found a better way to deal with HYDRA.

Surely, Pierce won't mind being an agent for him as well. He was after all informed of some things happening in HYDRA and people sometimes came to report to him about new developments.

Until the time comes, he will hit up the most important HYDRA bases, get information, steal their stuff and save the victims and then, when HYDRA implements Project: Insight, the Triskelion will hit the more remote bases and HYDRA will suspect foul play from within. If Nexus was lucky, that would fracture HYDRA severely, but that was probably just wishful thinking on his part.

With a course now set, Nexus had his objective. 

In that case he best move fast. He actually does not have that much time until they play on launching Project: Insight.

Nexus watched as Alexander left his room.

Soon. Soon, his blood will spill.

Nexus teleported away from the room, before he gave in to the temptation.

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As it happens. Pierce did know about one HYDRA base that was relatively important to them. Like all spy agencies they needed tools and weapons. HYDRA was smart in sabotaging S.H.I.E.L.D's experiments as much as they could and absorbing what they could into HYDRA. There was a reason S.H.I.E.L.D could only boast about a few prototypes after all this time, they experimented with the Tesseract.

That was another thing.

The Tesseract and Loki's scepter.

Both agencies had interest in those objects even if they did not quiet understand what it was. That was also another thing Nexus had to look into. He should not have dropped the scepter after being done with it in retrospect. At least the Tesseract was gone from earth.

And one such base was this one. Housing the X-Weapon.

With his knowledge, Nexus could safely assume that it had something to do with mutants. Contrary to what he initially believed, most mutants could not actually use their abilities to fight, it only gave them convenience in every day life. In some cases, they were actually a hindrance. S.H.I.E.L.D was like that. Cataloging everything they could about mutants.

Pierce knew that this was merely a clone of the original X-Weapon. Nothing more than that. A weapon they could use to dispose of certain undesirables. A weapon like the Winter Soldier.

Nexus surveyed the terrain. He was in Arizona. There was an abandoned mine somewhere. But there were many such mines here. He was looking for one that was hiding a HYDRA base.

Even now he could feel some of the surveillance systems used by them to observe the terrain.

Cute.

Nexus summoned a sword and gently slammed the tip into the earth sending out a small amount of energy. Echo location by sound was superb, but he found that that energy worked even better.

Seismic energy to be more precise. Sure he could do what he did in NYC and blanket the entire city in his energy to feel where everywhere was at once, but this way he also had a clear eye underground, something that his other ability did not allow him to do that well. Both ways had strength and weaknesses. One gave him eyes in the sky and the surface, the other eyes in the ground.

In no time at all he found what he was looking for.

Time to infiltrate the same way he did with Alexander Pierce.

---

Sarah pushed up her glasses. And scribbled something in her note pad. Some of the other scientist and doctors were scurrying around her in the lab seeing to their own tasks.

While Laura was a moderate success, the 'Overseer' wanted more of her. Except that was easier said then done.

Experiment after experiment. Dead fetuses, malformed babies barely clinging to life.

Enough.

She simply had enough.

There was no humanity in any of what they were doing.

That is not what she became a geneticist for.

James Howletts, now Logan, chromosome was damaged and she argued that they should settle for something 'not' a clone. She saw it as the most viable solution after 22 failed attempts to create a clone. Her boss, Dr. Sutter refused, but she went behind his back and did the experiment anyway.

She carried Laura for 9 months and then gave birth to the first successful 'clone'.

And then her boss wanted to clone Laura instead of repeating the same process with Howletts chromosomes again for more 'subjects'.

'She will do', Sutter had dismissed.

Laura was her daughter. Sutters accusation of Sarah becoming attached to X-23 has been realized. But she has tried her best, to play the long game since then. One does not just 'escape' these type of people. And Sarah was just one smart woman, she would not get far with a babe, in the forest, who knows how far away removed from society and in an unfamiliar terrain to her.

No.

There was only ever going to be one way Sarah's story was going to end. Laura on the other hand could fight. It will be a worthy sacrifice.

Her time has come.

They were done for now. Another unsuccessful attempt to clone Laura.

Sarah forced herself to appear calm, she counted herself lucky in managing to not sweat like a waterfall. Sarah made sure to memorize as much of the guards routine as she could. As well as the layout of the facility.

She left the lab with the other scientist and walked down the hallway. She was not foolish enough to immediately make her way to Laura's cell. No there was a small window between her going to retrieve Laura and bringing her to Kimura to train her.

Sarah passed by an invisible Nexus and garnered his attention. He quickly read her mind to see what she was up to.

Nexus rolled his eyes. She was not doing a good job of pretending that she was not up to something nefarious. It was an art to appear calm under stressful situations. Her expression instead appeared forced calmness. He would know the difference.

Just as well. Nexus began to follow her. The facility was small. But he needed to know more before he decided to go set for a course.

Hmm.

He could read minds, but it would help if he had it as an AoE ability as well, because this was growing tedious and was a waste of time. Or some form of system that would alert him to enemies and undesirables. He already had the control, but he needed to be logical about what system he implements.

Nexus put that on his growing To Do-/ To Improve-/ To Learn-List.

---

''Laura, how are you today?,'' Sarah asked after she opened the cell. A small girl jumped from her cell bed to rapt attention.

''X-23 ready to report,'' Laura blandly said.

Sarah turned around spying no one behind her back. She turned back towards Laura.

''There is no need for that with me, Laura. Neither Sutter or Kimura are here,'' Sarah lowly said to her. Laura had sharp senses, she would hear what Sarah would say.

''I'm managing,'' Laura relied after a while. It broke Sarah's heart to see Laura like this. Lying to her about her condition and situation. Forced to act like a weapon and treated like one.

''Today is an important day. (*Sarah packed her by the shoulders*) Laura, I just want you to know, whatever happens today, you are my daughter and i'm proud of you,'' Sarah told her lowly again.

Laura reluctantly nodded after a while, for a brief moment her blank expression shifted into a difficult one, having a inkling on why Sarah was saying such dangerous words.

''Ok...ok. Let us go then, before Sutter thinks we are up to something. Hm?,'' Sarah concluded before guiding Laura a little by her shoulder though the cell and then letting her walk by herself.

As they walked they passed by some guards who they did not acknowledge. The guards were on the way to the training room, so it was not remiss to encounter them here. It was only once the passed them and rounded the corner that the hard part would follow. Soon the passed by the door to the training room.

Sarah managed to memorize the guards routine enough that they slipped past them on multiple occasions. Their window was small, before Sutter and Kimura would suspect that something was wrong. Not only was Sarah forced to report going to pick up Laura, but they also were probably reported by the guards to have been seen on their way. They moved quickly.

The facility had two entrances. One through the mine and one though an opening leading to a road not to far from the other end of the entrance. Supplies had to come from somewhere and it would be tedious to bring in stuff through the long mine tunnel. Both were watched, but only one did not have another HYDRA facility somewhere close to the other end of the entrance. And one had less guards then the others.

Any time now...

BOOM.

Laura and Sarah ducked behind cover and watched as several guards passed them by, running to the lab. She counted 7. Shit that meant 2 stayed behind.

It was fine. They just had to neutralize them.

They quickly began moving again beginning to sneak when they finally reached the choke point guarding the mine entrance. Spying the two guards on the opposite sides, Laura and Sarah looked at each other and then decided to split up. Sarah snuck behind one guard and Laura behind the other. One benefit was that the guards were not looking at each other so Laura unsheathed her adamantium claws and stabbed her guard through the throat. Sarah on the other hand pulled out a scalpel from her pocket and began stabbing the man in the head.

She never killed before, but after all she had done and with the stakes involved there was no way she could hesitate.

Sarah moved to type in the code to the door, Laura joining her. it was not easy finding out the code, but she did it.

The light on the device flashed red and Sarah felt a stone settle in her stomach.

Slow mocking clapping could be heard as. Sarah turned around as guards began pouring into the choke point, Kimura at the head. A light opened up in a box above that was overseeing the choke point.

''Sutter,'' Sarah said pushing Laura behind. The man gave a mocking chuckle.

''You know, for the one scientist that managed to complete the X-Weapon project you are not that bright. Have you never wondered why the code was never changed? Why despite the guards routine being somewhat irregular, it was still regular enough for you to make an escape plan? Why do you think we never stopped you from treating X-23 like a human? Oh yes, we knew. Tell me 'Doctor' Kinney, where did you go wrong,'' Sutter preened.

Sarah swallowed, refusing to answer. Laura growled and stepped from behind Sarah and unsheathed her claws. Sarah tried to put her back behind her, but Laura refused to obey.

''Hope. All emotion must be eliminated from a weapon. And you are a weapon, isn't that right little bitch?,'' Kimura sadistically asked-

Nexus rolled his eye, from where he was watching, at these two dimensional characters. Just a bit more then he has ripped everything from Sutters mind as well as all the others. It was actually a good thing they gathered here all so nicely.

''Hate is an emotion too. You can kill me, but we both know Laura will survive and she will bear resentment,'' Sarah retorted.

''Correct. Which is why we were working on another way to snag its hope away. Come now. Did you really think we were keeping such a flight risk like you, informed of everything going on in the facility. There are contingencies,'' Sutter gloated and then pressed a button.

Sarah looked anxiously around waiting for something to happen, Lauras eyes darted suspiciously around too.

Sutter, came from his high, stopped gloating for a second and then frustratingly pressed the button again. And then again. Then he scowled.

''Someone is getting fired for this,'' he muttered.

''Was something supposed to happen?,'' Sarah asked, not being able to help herself. She always had an antagonistic relationship with Sutter. 

Kimura waited patiently until she would be given command to inflict pain on her little plaything.

''A weapon kills, when it is told to kill, regardless of its beliefs. We developed a trigger scent for X-23 to become violent. It was supposed to kill you here. Be that as it may, we can still achieve the directive even with this development,'' Sutter calmly replied, quickly remembering that he was still in control.

''Man you just love the sound of your own voice. I was wondering when you would stop monologuing,'' a voice suddenly rang out. He was done reading everyones minds.

Every person looked around surprised. 

''Impossible. An intruder. Show yourself and we may grant you a swift death,'' Sutter called out, surprised. The surveillance picked up nothing. Or if not a swift death, then they will brainwash the person and add them to their own.

''I'm up here. And I have to say, you are a nasty piece of work. Wrecking that girl with guilt and making her feel worthless, for you to be able to control her. Smart,'' Nexus called out a little louder. The people turned around to the sight of Nexus sitting on the flat of a broad blade, his feet dangling. The sword was inside the wall close to the ceiling.

''Shoot him,'' Sutter quickly instructed, he would not be mocked by some plebeian. Besides, he recognized this person from Pierces description. It would be a delight to dissect him.

Unfortunately no bullet was ever fired, as all guards were killed by swords bursting from inside out from the chest and head.

As for Sutter and Kimura? Nexus too had a sadistic bone when it came to leeches. He was playing with them. He banished the sword and he dropped on the ground close to Sarah and Laura.

''Kimura, take care of our intruder,'' Sutter commanded and for the first time since Sarah knew him, there was a crack in Sutter's composure. He turned around ready to type a message to the closest HYDRA operation base with a telegraph. Nexus let him, he already cut of the base in any manner from the outside world.

''She is able to control her density to the point adamantium won't cut her,'' Sarah quickly explained, pulling Laura back as she attempted to join. 

Yes, Nexus already knew that from reading Kimuras mind, the thought was appreciated anyway. Just as Kimura was a hard counter to most of Lauras ability, so to could he hard counter Kimuras abilities.

He always was a lover of fitting ends.

''So, you know my ability? I'm sure it will help you in defeating me,'' Kimura sarcastically insulted. She approached him and Nexus replied in kind.

When they were close enough to each other, Kimura threw a quick jab. Nexus simply caught it, pulled her towards him and then delivered a devastating punch that shattered the sound barrier, into her stomach.

Kimura collapsed and vomited, but before she could do or say anything more, Nexus grabbed her by the leg and spun around. He summoned one sword in his arm and cut the space in front of him. Massive amounts of water began pouring out of the portal. By the end of his spin, another sonic boom rang out as he threw Kimura against the strong water current. She made it through and he closed the portal, then dismissed the sword.

''...Was that... Where did you send her?,'' Sarah asked, already suspecting what she was about to hear. She has been speculating for a while how to deal with Kimura. They cautiously approached him. While he appeared an ally, he very well could not be.

''The bottom of the Mariana Trench,'' Nexus shortly replied.

''Devious,'' Sarah couldn't help herself but smirk slightly.

Whenever Kimura used her ability, to become denser, she also became heavier. In other words water was her enemy. Well deep water, as she could just reduce her density and then swim to the surface. But under all that pressure? That very circumstance that allowed her to circumvent her weakness, became her death sentence. She could either choose to stay dense enough to resist the pressure, sink to the bottom further and then drown. Or remove her density and immediately implode from all that pressure.

''Perhaps. We still have someone else to deal with,'' Nexus reminded and then started walking, the other two following him.

...

Sutter desperately clicked away on the telegraph. He has been doing that for the past few minutes. By now, he should have already received some response back.

Hearing a noise behind him, he quickly grabbed his gun and attempted to shoot. If he could just kill that fucking bitch of a 'geneticist' then he would at least consider this not a complete fuck up.

Only, he never got to fire a single shot. Tiny blades burst from the inside of his gun hand, turning it into mince meat. He screamed.

''He does look even more pathetic from up close,'' Nexus commented.

''Do you have any idea - ARGHHH,'' Sutter screamed in agony as blades burst from his tongue, cutting through his teeth.

''Do you want to do the honors?,'' Nexus asked Laura directly, complete ignoring Sutter by design. Sutter had an ego of self importance, he was gonna treat him as dirt, not of significance, discard able.

Laura was about to move and kill Sutter, but Sarah pulled her back. For her, Laura has already suffered enough, being treated like a weapon.

''You do the honors,'' Sarah insisted. Nexus shrugged and a blade sprung forth going through Sutters skull.

Nexus walked forward, looking at some of the documents. He would not get anything new from them, but as he was not going to kill these two he needed to appear a little uninformed. No reason to advertise his telepathy.

If there was one thing he would never do was mess with someones mind. Reading them was one matter. If they were innocent, he would keep their secret and leave them to their privacy. But he would never mess with or control someones mind, unless he absolutely had to. Or if they were leeches, then he would control them at his leisure.

He would never be like Miquella.

Sarah, for all that she was not innocent, had a guilty conscience and tried to do right in the end. That hit a little to close to home.

He turned around after a while of reading.

''You are fifteen? You look like 12 or 13,'' Nexus remarked, making sure his voice was incredulous.

''Her healing factor is powerful. Enough to keep her going through starvation. It was cheaper that way, they said. They stunted her,'' Sarah replied.

Nexus hummed before, cutting through the space with a small knife. He put his hand in and pulled out a plastic bag. He held it out for Laura, the smell of food hitting her nose making it twitch. She looked at Sarah.

''Don't look at her. After all you went through you have the right to be selfish and make your own choices,'' Nexus told her.

''What food is it?,'' Laura asked for the first time speaking to him. She learned early to not talk and make herself unassuming.

''Kebap. Don't eat it too fast or you'll vomit,'' he warned her as Laura took the bag and began nibbling on the delicious food.

''What are you looking for? Maybe I can help you,'' Sarah offered.

''You can't help me. I have my own plans and your rescue was just a happenstance. The real question is what you will do now?,'' Nexus partially lied, returning back to 'lock at the papers'.

''I suppose we would be on the run. I'm a geneticist and a doctor. I'm sure I could have treated people for a small fee,'' Sarah told him. And when that would not be enough, she would do what was necessary. Laura suffered enough.

Laura looked at her blankly but continued to nibble on her food, the sauce from the kebap staining her cheeks.

''No destination?,'' Nexus asked putting down the paper.

''No.''

''Not even Xaviers School for Gifted Youngsters?,'' Nexus asked her.

Sarah perked up a little at that and turned defensive.

''Oh, don't make that face. (*Nexus picks up a paper and holds it at her*) It wasn't hard to figure it out. X-Gene, X-Weapon, Xaviers School for Gifted Youngsters. HYDRA is not terrible creative when it comes to naming things. I suppose with all those X-Men, HYDRA attacking Xaviers school would be a little hard,'' Nexus reasoned. Though kidnapping still existed.

''You... are right. That was the plan,'' Sarah admitted.

''And you are aware that Xavier is a telepath?,'' Nexus suddenly asked.

'' I ... was not aware of this,'' Sarah revealed slowly.

''Hmm, see, I don't mind what you planned on doing. But for now I still wan't HYDRA's existence to be kept secret. Xavier will poke his nose in your head and then the world will soon follow in knowing about them,'' Nexus exaggerated at the end a little. More like S.H.I.E.L.D was going to keep HYDRA a secret so the world won't panic. But he still did not want them to know.

Sarah tensed and even Laura looked ready to fight.

''I see. And what alternative do you propose?,'' Sarah asked cautiously.

''The good news is that my plan will get implemented in ... about 4 to 5 months. By then HYDRA will have been dealt a devastating blow. I suppose you can hide until then,'' Nexus told her. That was the estimated time for implementing Project: Insight.

Sarah could find herself agreeing to do that, but ... she was hoping not risking going through THAT.

''Oh, don't make that face. I'm not that cruel, to force you to live on the streets and face many other dangers. I will provide you a shelter and with supplies.

''How mighty generous of you. And the catch being,'' Sarah asked. She could accept him helping them, but no ones kindness could go that far without expecting something in return.

''Smart. Nothing is free in this world after all. You said you were a geneticist? A favor then. One day I will come and make use of that skill set. Is that agreeable?,'' Nexus attempted to secure her employment for his future company. Yes, she was quiet good in what she did, he could see that.

''Only my skill set as a a geneticist? No other skill set?,'' Sarah wanted to make sure.

''Only your skill set as a geneticist,'' Nexus assured her a little affronted. Then again she did not know him so she was excused for thinking him capable of that. He never participated in rape, but he did stand by and did nothing. he had his excuses and justifications. 

Never again.

Sarah starred at him for a bit and then at Laura. By now she was done with the kebap and just watching the tow argue. Always trying to fade into the back ground. Sarahs heart lurched at the damage done to her. She walked over to her a little and began wiping away the sauce from her cheeks. Nexus stroke her as an agreeable person, but she did not know him. She could refuse on that principle, but then she remembered that he could be sadistic.

Only 4-5 months, huh. She supposed she could take over Lauras education till then and then still go to Xaviers school, even if there was a telepath.

''We agree to your proposal. A favor for safe shelter,'' Sarah turned around, deciding to take a risk with this stranger.

''In that case follow me. The quicker we are done, the quicker we are done the quicker I can return to my work,'' Nexus told her and summoned a sword cutting through the air and opening a portal. He walked through the portal.

Sarah swallowed and grasped Lauras hand. For a moment she considered still attempting to run away, but Nexus probably had a way to track them down. They walked through the portal in the end.

They came out on the other side to the sight of a modest apartment. Sarah relaxed a little.

''Where are we?,'' Sarah asked him.

''In an apartment in Swiss. Here is a phone. There is more then enough food in the kitchen and the fridge, but if you need me for something write. But do not call until there is an emergency. You are not citizens here, try to stay inside. I suppose if you really must, you can write me on the weekends and I will bring you somewhere outside. Questions?,'' Nexus asked her.

It was no great loss to him to give her that apartment. He had a few safe houses throughout earth. And money was no problem to him. Once this whole ordeal is over he can file some papers to the buildings owner and 'move out' to find another place.

Sarah took the phone.

''No, no questions. We will not make trouble. Although ... What about clothes?,'' Sarah asked.

''Oh, clothes. I suppose I will drop by on the weekend and bring you to buy clothes,'' Nexus offered. It was in only a few days after all. Sarah nodded.

''Well, in that case we are done here,'' Nexus revealed cutting the air again and opening a portal.

''One more thing. What is your name?,'' Sarah stopped him to ask.

''Nexus''

''Nexus, I can not thank you enough for saving us. Thank you,'' Sarah thanked him.

Nexus just stood there a little and then nodded, before walking through the portal.

...

Now that, that was resolved, he had no longer a need to pretend to read the papers. Time to strip the base off everything to make it seem like it was abandoned. Dispose of the bodies, delete the security cameras footage, get rid off everything that could indicate to a battle. Get rid off the blood and other bodily fluids to the point not even UV-Light could detect it.

Nexus slaved away for quiet a while, aka 15 minutes, and then triple checked the facility. He even filled the hole left behind by the sword when he slammed it into the wall to make his entrance.

Once he was satisfied enough, he left.

Now he would nature take its course

---

Pierce picked up the phone and was notified that an old friend wanted to speak with him, he let them through and prepared himself. Old friend was a code for a spy needing to report something to him.

After a while a man came into his office.

''Is this room secure?,'' the man asked him.

''Yes,'' Pierce promptly replied. The man nodded.

''Yesterday our X-Weapon facility did not send out the regular telegraph communication. We went to investigate the facility and this is what we found,'' the man handed Pierce some photos and he looked through them.

''X-23?''

''MIA''

Pierce nodded, but not KIA, it was hard to kill X-23. He frowned at what he saw. Everything stripped bare, everything missing, every person missing, no signs of battle.

''UV-Lights?''

''Revealed nothing.''

''Camera footage?''

''Nothing. We also found out that the telegraphs cable has been cut.''

''I see. Dismissed, I will give out orders soon.''

The man nodded and stood up.

''Hail HYDRA,'' he whispered.

''Hail HYDRA,'' Pierce whispered back, then he watched the man leave.

Pierce looked through the photos again.

Nothing, not even a sign of forced entry. Not even a sign of forced exiting, so it could not have been X-23. No sign of Sutter, Kimura or Kinney either.

This... was too clean, too methodical. And there was no way someone could have known about that HYDRA base and about all those security measures as well. Or else S.H.I.E.L.D would know by now that HYDRA still existed and notified him.

...

...

At least not one from the outside.

There have been cases in the past where one HYDRA head moved against another HYDRA head either to dispose of the head and seize more power or seize control of the resources.

Pierce scowled, it was the only logical conclusion. All, aside from S.H.I.E.L.D where to much of a plebeian for such a clean extraction.

Sutter betrayed him then, cut the telegraphs cable and went to the other HYDRA head, giving him everything that once belonged to the X-Weapon facility. 

A thought struck Pierce. It was a lot of equipment and personal. Things needed to be transported. That made noise. Perhaps... the other HYDRA post betrayed him too, though not in totality else that agent would not have come to him.

He needed to find an answer to that.

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Peter and Gwen came to Bells room. Unlike theirs, it was spartanic and quiet spacious, bereft of most things that would breathe life into a room. It had a bed, a table and his closet.

''You excited for the trip at Oscorp?,'' Gwen asked putting her things down in a corner. Peter doing so as well.

''If we actually learn something at the end of it, I will consider it a worthwhile investment,'' Bell replied diplomatically. Gwen rolled her eyes at his lack of enthusiasm.

''You know, I never asked, but don't you have your priorities all over the place? As thankful as I am for your gift, you should not be spending what little money you have on me or Gwen, when your room looks like this,'' Peter admonished.

Bell frowned.

''What do you mean? A) My room is spartan, this is by choice. B) Who said I have money problems?,'' Bell asked. Gwen rubbed her shoulder.

''I know your mother is a neurosurgeon, but things are only getting more expensive. Even Aunt May put her foot down with Uncle Ben, to finally start looking for a job. And my parents both earn money, but if anythings goes wrong, money would become tight. We don't mean that in any insulting way,'' Gwen tried to share her opinions without insulting him. From what she has seen, most people became defensive when it came to money or being called poor.

''We do not have money problems. I earn a lot of money,'' Bell assured them.

''What do you mean YOU earn a lot of money?,'' Peter asked confused.

Bell starred at them for a bit. He never really talked about himself that much. But he guessed if they were putting up with so much of his bullshit/personality he owed them at least some thing. It helped that even if he was reluctant to 'indulge' he liked having them as friends.

They were good people.

''Follow me,'' Bell said eventually.

---

Bell turned on the light to the basement. While his room was spartan, the more important part he kept here. There was a table with his PC, his instruments and his research he did here as well. Though he planned on moving some of the parts to a pocket dimension soon.

The room locked clean, cleaned regularly by him with a wave of his hands.

Aside from the papers, he hasn't touched any of the equipment for years. There was no need with his technomancy.

''Dude you have a man cave? I thought you kept the basement filled with stuff like the rest of us,'' Peter awed, though in is opinion Bell could do with some bean bags here and there.

''You can play instruments?,'' Gwen on the other hand had different priorities.

''I play these instruments and make the music, though I also use records and other techniques as I can't play all the instruments at once. Then I upload the music on my YouTube channel,'' Bell told them. His second YouTube channel, not his first and main one.

He needed some excuse why they were well off, to the world and a justification to mother from where the money came from, least she panics. The less connection there was between him and Raezen the better for his public life.

Both Gwen and Peter starred at him for a bit, never having known that fact about him. They both quickly brought out their phones, ready to type in a name.

''What is your YouTube name?,'' Gwen asked him eagerly, delighted to potentially learn more about him.

Bell contemplated his situation. He could not tell them and cite privacy, but... more importantly it would tie their friendship together more strongly. While a part of him liked that, another felt like shit for indulging.

In the end their hopeful faces broke his resolve.

''Ordinary Musician. Some songs are my own, some a cover, I guess,'' Bell shrugged defeated.

''You are Ordinary Musician? No way,'' Peter quickly gushed and showed him his phone, revealing he was already subscribed. Gwen as well.

''I guess. It is not big deal, do you want to get to doing our homework already?,'' Bell tried to change the subject, feeling very weird.

''Forget the homework, we will be done in two days anyways. Let us talk a bit more instead,'' Gwen pounced on the opportunity she saw. While Bell was uncomfortable, she was not gonna miss out on the chance to learn more about him. He was uncharacteristically forthcoming today.

Peter just now noticed what the papers on the wall actually contained.

''You are studying up on black holes;'' Peter asked, giving Bell the life line to change the subject. While this one was not that much better, it at least did not reveal much about him.

''Yes. A passing fancy,'' Bell replied. Both Peter and Gwen put their phones back, choosing to not pester Bell any more about this revelation.

''Nerd,'' Peter joked, Gwen gave a soft punch on the arm.

''We are all nerds here. Do you plan to become a scientist one day?,'' Gwen asked. She knew she wanted to become a geneticist and Peter do something with STEM.

''It is possible. But we are still young, more or less. I have time to think about my options a little more,'' Bell told them.

''This is wrong,'' Peter said suddenly after looking at the papers a little.

Bell raised an eyebrow, but then indicated with his head to continue. He did not want to bother them,choosing instead to research by himself, but if Peter was offering.... Out of the three of them, he was the smartest, second was Gwen and Bell was third. Though Bell would not necessarily call himself smart or a genius since he was cheating.

Peter approached the papers and Gwen and Bell stepped behind him.

''Tell me how black holes are born,'' Peter said suddenly.

''It is a game of balance inside the suns core, radiation from fusion pushing outwards and gravity from its own mass pushing inwards. The game is kept up until one gives out and then the star will transform into a neutron star. But if the star is massive enough than it can fuse heavier elements until it reaches iron. Iron does not produce radiation, it builds up in the core and throws off the balance, as in there is less radiation. The gravity squeezes the iron, or core, until it collapsed into itself. A neutron star can still form, but far more likely is that instead it forms into a black hole,'' Bell explained the core principle of how black holes are formed.

''Correct. Carry on,'' Gwen said, by now having seen the problem herself.

Carry on with what? Bell would have liked them to be more specific. Its death?

''Something called Hawking radiation exists. Contrary to popular belief, space is not really empty, empty. Things are just so tiny that is seems empty. Quantum Physics. We don't completely know yet, but it is believed that matter and antimatter pop into existence and then eliminate each other. No knowledge as to why that would happen yet. But it is also believed that when that happens at the edge of the event horizon of a black hole, something happens that will disrupt that process. Matter and antimatter don't meet, stead on gets absorbed into the black hole and the other escapes out. They are called virtual particles and some believe that that is one way new stuff appears in the universe, we also don't have evidence for that. I guess that is why it is called theoretical physics,'' Bell shrugged his shoulders, making a small joke at the end.

''Yes, continue,'' Gwen told him.

''Anyway, when that happens the black hole gets smaller. At first this process is very slow, but the smaller the black hole gets the faster and more often this event occurs. The black hole becomes hotter and hotter, until the black hole disbands,'' Bell finished.

''THAT!!,'' Peter grabbed onto the last word, pointing a finger at him.

''Bell, up till the end you were right. But a black hole does not just disband. What is inside a black hole?,'' Gwen asked him.

''A singularity,'' Bell replied and Peter nodded.

''When a black hole reaches critical levels, it does not disband. It collapses into itself similar to how the sun collapsed into itself. Some believe the black hole keeps the singularity contained, some say that without the black hole the singularity 'shatters'. No one is completely sure, but even without evidence it is widely believed that such an event will be violent. Some even say that it would be violent enough to restart the universe. Another Big Bang. No one is completely sure, but we do know that even the smallest black hole we know off will only die in several googol years. By then all the universe will be long dead, so it might even be that we will never know for sure,'' Gwen explained.

A shudder went down Bells spine. While he only needed to provide the intent and the energy, the rest was done by his magic. For most of the things he did he did not actually study upon the subject, but black holes were terrifying, so he felt he needed to approach this subject differently.

And now he was very glad he did so. It meant he needed to be far more careful when using black holes then he initially anticipated.

''Though to be fair, I don't think it is the smaller black holes that will cause another Big Bang. I think it will be a super massive black hole, like the ones at the center of all galaxies. You know how they are formed?,'' Peter asked not seeing any paper indicating so on the wall.

''Yes. A star that survives its own death. It grows so big in size and keeps sucking in all the other gases around further increasing the gravity. There was never any balance to begin with. The gravity easily repressed the radiation to the point that a black star formed from the core. And now the star had a black hole for a core. The radiation is still there and yet gravity keeps pushing against it feeding it its own gas, thus growing bigger until it reaches critical mass and the gamma radiation makes the sun go boom,'' Bell recounted. He gave a small glance at them to see if they would disagree with his explanation, seeing none, he felt satisfied.

''These suns are theorized to have been the size of our solar system maybe more. Can you imagine the sight of it?,'' Gwen wondered.

''Born to early to see the death of the universe, born to late to see the birth of the universe, born just in time to realize how unimaginable serendipitious we are to exist,'' Bell summarized their thoughts.

''That is assuming people actually bother wanting to learn anything and not be stuck in their old ways,'' Peter scoffed.

''To be fair not everyone can grasp the forces involved. Sometimes it can be hard to understand the forces involved,'' Gwen tried to make a case, feeling a little bad for calling people stupid.

''Of course not. Different people have different strengths. But at the very least they should understand the core principle, even if they can't run the calculations and understand the more complicated intricacies of the subject. Look at Bell. he simplified it enough without dumbing it down completely. People should understand that much at least,'' Peter complained.

Bell thought that Peter was giving him to much credit there and had a warped perspective from being surrounded by people that could grasp difficult subjects easily and 'easily'.

While it took him days to put all those papers up, the actual time that passed inside his brain was close to a year until he could grasp all the calculations and theories. And even then he made a mistake. Enhanced processing speed made him a master of absorbing knowledge. But if he had to come up with this knowledge by himself, it would have probably taken decades. Perhaps even a century.

He was mentally fatigued and was forced to take a break from studying up on black holes for a while. It has been days since he touched the subject.

Though movies and games thankfully only took a few weeks, being now forced to make his own games from scratch, after having ran out of material from his previous world. He was still enjoying massive success, the only thing that changed was his upload schedule. And even then, not by much.

''Bell, can you play us something please,'' Gwen requested suddenly, no longer being able to help herself.

Bell released a small breath. He could do that, he could look at it as a transaction. They did after all help him. It made it taste less worse, for touching an instrument again outside of business.

''Any specific request?,'' Bell asked them.

''Do you do everything by yourself? Or do you work with others?,'' Gwen asked taking a seat on the ground alongside Peter.

''By myself. Why do you think my upload schedule is so sparse?,'' Bell asked her, taking a seat at the drums. It was not like he or Melina needed a lot of money, just enough to live comfortably. Granted his second channel also enjoyed success.

''Then we don't want to trouble you too much. Just do what you feel most comfortable with,'' Peter told him kindly.

They... were too good to him, trying not to make him uncomfortable. In their minds it was probably different to play to a camera and a live audience.. Though he would have liked it more if they made a specific request as that would have taken the burden of choosing to indulge off of him.

''Are you sure, you don't want to do the homework instead?,'' Bell asked for the final time.

''As Gwen said, we will be done with it in two days anyways. Unless you don't want to,'' Peter told him. Bell nodded.

He grabbed his guitar and after thinking about it for a moment he chose a song to preform. He opened his laptop and his recorder and let a track of instruments play, minus the guitar which he would play live.

His fingers moved, the first few notes sounding wrong, but then photographic memory and muscle memory kicked in and then it sounded as if he never stopped playing in the first place.

He chose to perform his cover of 'Sweet Dreams' again.

Both Peter and Gwen noted how Bell seemed to relax, his shoulders and his expression less tense the more the song went on.

He looked at ease.

His usual blank expression returned immediately after the song stopped and Gwen was disappointed.

---

''Are you kids done? Bell it has been a while since I heard you play, you can still play as wonderful as I remember,'' Melina told them, the moment she saw them walk from the basement. She had made food for them and left them alone when she noticed that they all hang out in the basement, after she arrived home.

Today she tried a different dish, with any luck this one would be Bells favorite. Her sweet child never made any demands. And he insisted that he had no favorite food, as all food made by her was his favorite food.

''I did not want to bother you, mother. I always made sure to play when you are not home so that you have silence and rest when you return. Besides you know my YouTube channel you can just look it up, if you want to hear me play,'' Bell diplomatically replied taking a seat.

''But it is not the same. It is a different experience to hear you play live,'' Peter said taking a seat at the table.

''Thank you Aunt Melina, '' Gwen said taking a seat as well, Peter nodded vigorously, embarrassed he forgot his manners.

''He is right, Bell. I made sushi this time. Hopefully you all like it,'' Melina told them, waiting for them to taste the dish and more importantly carefully watching Bells face.

She was disappointed when he ate with the same apathy as always.

''By the way, have you done the chores?,'' Melina asked. Bell simply raised an eyebrow at her.

''Right. I forgot. Photographic Memory,'' Melina murmured. peter almost choked.

''Photographic memory? I wasn't aware you had that Bell,'' Gwen remarked in his stead.

''The subject never came up between us,'' Bell shrugged. He already has resolved himself that Melina will try to reveal stuff about him to his friends at this dinner. He was not gonna get angry at this.

''It is true. He can also draw,'' Melina conspiratorily loud whispered to them.

''When you say draw do you mean as an artist and/ or a hobby? Or just passable for school?,'' Gwen loud whispered back.

''I mean honest to god real talent. Wait a moment, I still have his paintings,'' Melina quickly bolted up the stairs and then came back.

She handed them a painting of his. It depicted the starry sky under the Aurora Borealis. Another of a naked man and woman, the muscles well defined, the curves enough to be considered perfect. Another depicted fire. And yet another depicted a devastated landscape, horror in the face of the corpses littering the battlefield. He never stayed at only one subject it seemed.

Gwen and Peter looked at them carefully. They were of much higher quality then the stuff they were forced to paint at school. 

''For some reason he stopped painting a few years ago. He seemingly lost all interest,'' Melina lamented.

Yes, Bell thought to himself, he was getting to familiar with the joy of painting and expressing himself. He was indulging to much in personal pleasure and it had little business value.

''I have not lost all interest. I grew up and I had responsibilities. I need to do good at school. And a hobby is meant to reduce stress. Making music can do that just as well AND make us money. Perhaps one day I shall pick up the pen again. But for all that I can manage my time well, even I have a limited amount of it,'' Bell gave a reason that would sound plausible.

The three starred at him, a difficult expression on their face.

Bell ignored it. 

It was fine, if they changed their minds. It was fine if the good will of him saving their lives would run dry and they grew apart again.

It was fine.

He needed to repent.

No one could ever understand.

No one would ever understand.

No one.