Weapon X: Man or Animal

Chapter 16 

Charles approached Logan calmly; an apologetic expression played on his features a mild attempt to put the now suspicious soldier at ease.

“My apologies, you just look like a man I met once. So what are you going by now rather then James?” Charles casually asked as he stood near the man who was still pretty clean cut compared to the present version no doubt struggling and nearly foaming at the mouth in his rage. Charles really did feel horrible for it, he truly did. But this was for Logan’s own good.

“Interesting fellow, this James ya mentioned.” Logan stated, a colder undertone spoke of the mans doubt. Charles knew that there was no remedying that now.

“One of the most interesting minds I’ve ever met.” Charles answered honestly, there were few minds that caught his attention and fewer still that were strong enough to hold his attention and reject his reading here and there. This was a rare instance where he wasn’t pushed from Logan’s guarded fragile mind. One wrong step, Charles knows he could shatter the man’s mind.

Groaning caught Charles’s attention as he turned around. The bodies! The bodies that were staring at him before were bleeding profusely and now shifting and moving towards him. It was like a horrible horror movie. Charles glanced at this version of Logan only to find him completely gone. That wasn’t right! A projection shouldn’t just disappear so easily without something giving way to it. It was almost like that projection of Logan was a ghost and nothing more. A firm grip on his ankle drew his attention downward. Staring up at him was a soldier, young and afraid looking, despite half his face missing due to the damage of a shot taken at short distance. A gurgled word that sounded awfully like help came from a flopping bloody mouth.

Charles let out a scream and kicked the hand away. Usually he wouldn’t react like that, not in someone’s mind, but the emotions he was getting from this old mind was nearly overwhelming. He was going to have to leave soon and he hasn’t even found the real Logan yet! Stumbling backwards he fell only to keep falling for a short distance until he landed in a puddle. Looking around Charles noticed faceless soldiers in a trench. He recognized this as one of the ones you would see in pictures in history books. This was World War One.

This time Charles found himself dressed in the same uniform with a gun harmlessly in his grasp.

“Well don’t you just lay there soldier! Get up ‘n get shooting. They ain’t gonna drop dead on ‘ere own!” A gruff voice came from a man who had his back turned to Charles, but he recognized the voice as Logan. Charles started to get up when ‘Logan’ crotched down and gave him a hard look. There was less innocence in this man then there used to be in the Civil War’s version. But this man saw more war and killed more people then that Logan probably ever thought he would have had to.

“Go by Patch, mocked for it too. But decided it was better then anything else.” Patch answered casually, but didn’t ask Charles’s name in return. Charles knew why, the man didn’t expect to know him long enough to pass names along. Sad fact, but unfortunately true in this war and the following World War.

“Why not your actual name?” Charles asked as he accepted the helping hand surprisingly offered. Somehow he knew that the elder brother would probably mock Logan for this if he saw.

“Shits and giggles mostly. Ain’t like it’s gonna matter for long, I’ll just use another one in the next war.” Patch answered with an uncaring shrug. It was fact and that was the end of the story there. Charles didn’t think he would be getting the story or the memory of how that name came to be; in fact he’s hardly come across memories just projections and landscapes. Odd.

“How do you know there will be another war?” Charles asked, but he knew the answer. He just wanted to know what Logan would have said.

“There’s always war, bub. Grow up. The world ain’t sunshine and daisies.” Patch grumpily said, Charles saw the resignation in the man’s eyes on that and Charles felt his gut clench in sympathy for the man. He’s seen too much already and was damaged for it. Charles hoped that one day he could somehow create a world where Patch’s prediction would no longer be true. Especially between humans and mutants.

“Rather unfortunate.” Charles said, a grunt was a sign of agreement.

“Victor wouldn’t agree, says we’re made for it. I don’t agree.” Patch grumbled out reluctantly, but added before Charles could voice his opinion,

“Why the hell’re you bald?”

“Shits and giggle mostly.” Charles echoed one of Patch’s earlier answers and gained a short, but honest chuckle from the man. It wasn’t often that Charles swore, but he’s been known to do so every now and again. You don’t read people’s minds without learning a lot about swearing and doing it properly.

~ Man ~ Weapon ~ Animal ~

X-23 was finished with playing chess against the mutant Nightcrawler after she defeated him at the game several times. She had to give it to him though; he didn’t give up easily and didn’t sulk about it. Standing up she too started to wonder why the man she learnt was Weapon X’s older brother wasn’t allowed down to where Weapon X was.

She casually approached the two men who were now glaring at each other with no ground gained in either direction.

“I wish to go down and see Weapon X now.” X-23 exclaimed calmly leaving no room for debates. This was what she wanted, and for once she was trying to decide what she wanted. However, it looked like she was doing wrong as every time before when she tried to think for herself. And she was known to try to think for herself sometimes. It was why she didn’t kill that boy she was assigned to kill by Doctor Rice.

“As I told Creed here, I was given orders to keep the two of you upstairs. I’m sorry but there’s no way around it.” Scott Summers said though more politely then what he said to Victor Creed. She sensed tension between the two of them, unknown why though.

“Unacceptable.” X-23 claimed staring steadily into the shades Scott Summer had to wear due to his mutation. She was aware of the basics when it came to X-Man’s abilities more than she was aware of what they looked like, but she knew that would come closer to when the time got closer and that was because she was meant to be sent in on the second time Colonel Stryker sent in Weapon X. Her order would have been to kill the X-Man. But that order never came and she was now here. Knowing that it was the X-Men who brought her here and that everyone she met so far was in fact an X-Man. Little about Doctor Hank McCoy was known though, so X-23 in turn didn’t exactly know much about him and that helped in her not knowing that it was the X-Men who brought her here rather than soldiers on orders. The same went for Nightcrawler.

“You heard the lady.” She heard Victor Creed say, a cruel sneer cross his features. It was worse than the sneers she got from doctors. It concerned her for some reason and she didn’t know if it was for herself or for Scott Summers who now tensed and unfolded his arms. Ready to defend himself if need be. The situation was deteriorating.

~ Man ~ Weapon ~ Animal ~

Charles found himself shooting at faceless shoulders who tried to cross ‘No Man’s Land’ alongside Patch until an explosion happened about six feet from where they were standing. And for a second he heard the worried exclamation of ‘Jimmy’ somewhere. Victor Creed’s voice, it sounded human and worried for his sibling. Charles opened his eyes and found himself laying flat on a floor in a cabin. Frowning slightly this was why he didn’t always like fighting against things in people’s minds sometimes. This happened when he had to help Erik with some horrible memories from the camp, Auschwitz and Shaw.

Standing up Charles noticed that it was such a beautiful and inviting home. The emotions he felt here echoed it, which did help put Charles at ease. He didn’t realize how tense he was. Walking around Charles could feel the love Logan had for someone here wrapped up with the betrayed hurt he most have felt when it came to his sibling. Yes, Charles was well-aware of Africa. Victor’s mind helped him with that piece of the puzzle.

Charles was looking at pictures when a feminine voice caught his attention, but she wasn’t speaking to him,

“Why is the moon so lonely?” Charles turned around and saw Logan sitting on the couch and a woman holding a beer. They didn’t notice Charles so he was free to watch when it dawned on him instantly. These weren’t projections, this was a memory.

“Because she used to have a lover.” The woman’s voice said when Logan asked her why. Charles was interested to listen to this story so he too simply stood by and silently hoped that this won’t end in sex. He didn’t want to watch that, he gets enough of that from wet dreams and fantasies from hormonal teenagers and his own young life style back before the X-Man.

Charles focused more on the memory and noticed they were slightly ahead of where they were as she explained,

“His name was Kuekuatsu and they lived in the spirit world together.”

“Oh, this is a true story.” Came Logan’s taunt, but it did little to stop her. She was obviously used to his little comments, but Charles noticed the gentleness Logan had for her.

“Mm-hm. And every night, they would wander the skies together. But, one of the other spirits was jealous. Trickster wanted the Moon for himself. So he told Kuekuatsu that the Moon had asked for flowers; he told him to come to our world and pick her some wild roses. But Kuekuatsu didn't know that once you leave the spirit world, you can never go back. And every night, he looks up in the sky and sees the Moon and howls her name. But... he can never touch her again.” Her story seemed to strike a cord with Charles, it was a sad story but there was something touching about it. The way she said it.

“Wow. Koo-koo-ka-choo got screwed.” And with that Logan nearly shattered the tenderness of the situation, but Charles seemed to expect that.

 “Kuekuatsu… It means the Wolverine.” Charles heard before a growling snarl caught his attention outside the door. He didn’t even get the chance to really think about the story that now explains why Logan had the mutant name Wolverine. Frowning Charles knew by feeling alone that he was going to be leaving this memory and possibly meeting another projection soon.

Steeling himself he walked towards the door and exited the building and leaving one of the happiest memories Logan had behind. He silently willed Logan to hold on to that memory. Even though Charles knew that it would be up to Logan to hold on to it. Looking around Charles didn’t see anything not even the cabin. Just darkness that surrounded the small snowy area he stood in. This wasn’t right. Not even a landscape plucked out of Logan’s memory.

“You shouldn’t be here.” A young voice caught his attention as he spun around to see young James Howlett standing nervously like he was expecting something to jump out and attack him.

“Why not.” Charles asked kindly, trying to alleviate the boy’s anxiety. He didn’t feel as shattered as before. But there was something in him that wasn’t as innocent before. Tainted somehow.

“He’ll hurt you bad.” James answered, gripping his red housecoat in a scared manner.

“Who?” Charles asked, knowing that the answer was going to be bad. But he had to push forward, always forward. Charles didn’t know why he kept feeling like he had to run and not stop. To keep going and not rest. Like he wasn’t allowed to or didn’t know how to.

“Him… Get out! Run!” Young James loudly warned and took off into the darkness as fear drove him faster. A loud growling came from behind him and the heart stopping sound of snikt echoing out into the darkness. Charles turned around to see none other then Weapon X, he looked exactly the same way he did when he was sent to attack the mansion. Charles’s heart nearly stopped.

Teeth were bared, claws gleaming and Charles could spot his own fear in the red glass that reminded him a little bit of Scott’s visor. A step forward, Charles stepped one back. Claws were angled upwards towards him. Charles could nearly see his reflection in those claws. It was something that haunted him, but he could never let Logan know that. He didn’t want to burden the man further.

“Logan…” Charles said, knowing it was pointless as those claws snapped upwards towards him. Pain! He could feel pain in his chest and noticed that there was an X carved right into his chest. The only reason Charles wasn’t impaled on those claws was all thanks to the wires he tripped backwards on. The room he was in was a laboratory you were closer to finding in Frankenstein movies.

He knew where this was though! This was where Logan lost his humanity! Weapon X let out a grim savage grin as he lunged towards the fallen professor. Charles could sense the glee from the man, he was happy to put some of the hurt Weapon X went through onto everyone else. And in this case onto Charles. It was enough to jerk Charles out of Logan’s mind altogether.

The first thing Charles noticed was that there was a lot of blood.