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Chapter 129: The Incident
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Adam started the car and drove away from the facility, leaving the future to unfold without him.
Wanda broke the silence with a soft chuckle. "You know," She said, her accent coloring the words, "When we first t, I was sure you were a villain. That you'd co to exploit us sohow. But so far..."
She trailed off, gesturing vaguely. "We've just been leeching off you. Anna says it's the voices in your head telling you to do weird things. Is that true?"
Adam laughed, amused, "Anna's a treasure, but don't take her too seriously. It's not voices; it's my imaginary friends. There's a difference."
He glanced at her, his smile turning mischievous. "And don't think too hard about my motivations just yet. I might still be a villain, training you up for so nefarious purpose."
"Why do you think we visited Sir Eric Payne today? I'm clearly assembling a rogues' gallery."
Wanda's brow furrowed. "The drunkard? I still don't understand how he's supposed to teach us magic. He seems... lost. Broken."
"He is," Adam agreed. "But broken things can still be useful. I'm more interested in what he knows about demons than what he knows about spells."
"His magical knowledge is... questionable. But his experience with infernal forces?" He shrugged. "That's valuable. And even if it weren't, helping a lost soul is its own reward. And he seems to want the help."
Wanda was silent for a mont, then smiled; a genuine, unguarded expression that transford her young face, chuckling but keeping her thoughts to herself.
She's starting to feel like everything Adam says is music to her ears. Like they're... Synced.
His company. Anna's. Domino's. Everyone's. She can show her powers, and people clap. They don't scream. They don't reach for stakes.
It's like... family.
It's never not entertaining with them. She couldn't help but laugh softly, remiscing about her ti with them.
Adam reached over and ruffled her hair. "I probably know what you're thinking, but if I'm wrong, just don't go nuts on just yet, and if you need therapy... Tell ."
"Don't treat like a child! I'm almost as old as you! And no, my ntal is fine, at least I don't have imaginary friends whispering to my ears."
"You wish you could have my imaginary friends. They're mine and mine alone. No stealing in this house."
"Yeah, yeah, sure, I will preserve my sanity just for you, alright?"
"That's my lovely girl, but don't worry, if you go crazy, I can fix ya."
"I'm counting on it. Now fixing you... Dunno if that's possible."
"Fixing perfection? Now that's the definition of insanity."
"..."
He pulled the car into the VIP entrance of Cypher Enterprises HQ, the sleek building towering above them.
They got out, Wanda still smiling, Adam already ntally cataloging the day's remaining tasks...
And then the world exploded.
The two n had been waiting for hours. Dressed in maintenance uniforms, they'd blended perfectly with the background of daily activity around Cypher HQ.
Their bombs were masterpieces of low-tech cunning; no electronics, no signals, nothing that Adam's technopathy could detect.
Simple chemical tirs, activated by manual switches. Plastic explosives wrapped in ceramic casings to defeat X-ray scanners.
The vests beneath their uniforms contained enough C4 to turn their surroundings into a crater.
They approached Adam and Wanda from opposite directions, their paths converging at the car. Casual. Unremarkable.
Nothing to draw the attention of a man who could hear the whispers of every device within a mile.
Adam's Information Vision sparkled.
It wasn't the bombs he sensed; they were invisible to his usual scans. It was the n.
The way their eyes flickered. The tension in their shoulders. The almost imperceptible quickening of their steps as they closed the distance.
Ambush.
His hand shot out, grabbing Wanda and pulling her behind him. He spun, placing his body between her and the nearest attacker; and in that instant, the world turned to fire.
Adam felt as if he had reacted fast enough and was beginning to attempt to eliminate the suspects, either through srism or pure destruction.
However, they were sohow able to react to his reactions, sothing that shouldn't be possible... It isn't.
It seems that they didn't detonate them through their manual triggers, but soone else triggered the bombs through a chanism he can not yet understand.
The first bomber detonated twenty feet away. The blast was a force of compressed air and superheated shrapnel.
Adam's blood erupted from his pores, forming a crimson veil behind him; not just to protect himself, but to at least slow the blast, to buy ti.
Ti enough to turn.
His left arm; his cybernetic masterpiece; disengaged from his shoulder with a sharp hiss.
It fell, but didn't fall; thrusters ignited, and the arm transford in midair, plating shifting, components realigning until it beca a shield drone.
Its surface projected an energy barrier that snapped into existence between Adam and the explosion.
The blast wave hit. The barrier held; barely; its edges flickering with strain.
Adam's blood veil dissolved under the onslaught, but it had done its job. He was still standing. Wanda was still behind him.
High above, a familiar shape plumted from the sky.
The Null-Suit; his backup, always orbiting, always ready; fell like a teor. Its six chanical arms extended, wrapping around Adam and Wanda in a protective cage.
chanical Force flooded the suit's systems, enhancing its durability beyond normal limits. The second bombing followed right after.
Another explosion. Another wave of fire and death.
The Null-Suit absorbed it. The chanical arms held. Adam, inside the cocoon of his creation, felt the heat, the pressure, the burning, and felt none of it touch the girl in his arms.
She's safe. That's what matters.
Before the dust even settled, before the screams of bystanders could fully form, the Null-Suit's thrusters ignited.
They shot skyward, leaving behind a scene of devastation that the news caras would capture from every angle.
The Cypher HQ lobby was a disaster zone. The front entrance, where Adam's car had stopped, was simply gone; replaced by a crater of shattered glass and twisted tal.
The building's automated security, overseen by Alice, had activated instantly; anti-personnel turrets erged from hidden panels, sweeping for additional threats; drones launched from the roof, their caras recording everything; internal barriers sealed off damaged sections, preventing secondary collapses.
Casualties were miraculously low. One dead; a security guard who had been too close to the initial blast.
A dozen injured, ranging from cuts and bruises to broken bones, all were soon receiving dical attention.
The building's AI facade, designed to welco visitors with holographic displays and helpful kiosks, was now a smoking ruin.
The low casualties were due to the way Cypher Corp works, run mostly by AI instead of human workers.
In his private office, high above the chaos, Adam Cypher was focused on only one thing.
Wanda sat on his couch, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, her face pale but composed.
She was in shock; anyone would be; but she was alive. Unhard. At least she wasn't too fearful, her trust in Adam is quite high.
The door burst open. Domino entered first, her expression murderous, a pistol in her hand.
Anna followed close behind, her green eyes wide with ice cold fury.
"Adam!" Anna rushed to him, her hands hovering, afraid to touch; afraid of what her power might do in her agitated state. "Are ya hurt? What happened? And Who?!"
"I'm fine." Adam's voice was calm, almost serene. He gestured at Wanda. "She's fine. That's what matters."
Domino holstered her pistol, her sky blue eyes scanning him for injuries. "Suicide bombers. Targeted you specifically. Not the greatest introduction to our daily life huh?"
Indeed, but Wanda has been sowhat used to their chaotic life, Adam always always doing so weird shit.
That's not what Adam's thinking about... They used no electronics. Nothing he could sense. Soone did their howork.
It naturally wasn't just any random party. The sophistication; the counterasures against his abilities; this required intimate knowledge of how he operates.
Multiple parties, he suspects. Working together. Or at least, sharing information.
Hydra. phisto. Anti-mutant extremists. Maybe even so of the business rivals he's trampled.
They're getting creative.
Moreover, this isn't the first one.
Suicide bombings... There've been a few across the world over the past couple of months. All aid at humans. Or human gatherings.
All in the na of mutants. Indeed, the suicide bombings have occurred a few tis outside the US, and apparently, 'Mutant terrorist groups' took credit for them.
They did nothing but raise human hatred against mutants, and it's worked miraculously well.
Adam never believed that it was done by mutants; he suspected other organizations, but he just wasn't sure which one. His investigation had led him to many many parties.
But this suicide bombing was different. This one, he mused, they can still use against him.
Soone'll take credit, call Adam a traitor to the mutant cause. Workin' with humans. Betrayin' his own kind.
The logic was depressingly evident. The attack would be frad as internal mutant conflict; a "traitor" punished by true believers.
Mutant hatred would spike.
Wanda looked up at him, her young face etched with worry. "It's okay... I'm fine."
Adam was silent for a long mont. His expression remained serene, but his eyes; those terrible crimson eyes; burned with a spark that was horribly ominous.
Then he smiled.
"But Wanda, this is a wonderful introduction to our daily life. It perfectly describes the chaotic path I walk. Hopefully, you can get used to it."
Pietro, who had just walked in, certainly didn't like the sound of that, and Adam noticed, so he continued, "Can always be a sheep farr though."
It's evident that Adam isn't in the greatest of moods for his words were sowhat harsh... His mind hurts severely.
The pri stupefy is still working its magic. He was still assimilating Reed's intelligence, finding it to be even more exhausting and painful than Doom's, his brain's killing him, but he still chuckled.
"Very well," He narrowed his eyes and murmured, almost to himself. "Let turn the world upside down. Yet again."
[Damn, half of Doom's intellect with half of Reed's, sounds broken!]
[Intelligence above all, oh how much I love the sound of that!!]
[Finally, the beginning of the Fantastic Four.]
[Suicide Bombing and it actually almost worked!? Wtf?]
[This is Marvel, you can never be too careful.]
[Fuck you, phisto!! I bet it's his doing!!]
[Marvel is so dangerous wtf?! Why is this not a wish-fulfillnt show!?]
[All of this is just an illusion and a setup for so CINEMA!!]
["Let turn the world upside down. Yet again." CHILLS. Absolute CHILLS.]
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