[Aron's first person POV] [Safe base]

  I went straight to Stryker's office. Acc to what I've found from reading his memories, he kept a key and a security card. The key is for a locker in a local bank, where he kept an important data drive taining all the information about the inhumane researches he had carried out till now. Stryker was clever. Who would guess that such important files could be found in a local bank's locker? And it screams of a trap.

  Well, I got Phoenix Force. I'll just buro ashes.

  As for the security card, it open and override any security measures in his b and other hidden facilities. As far as I found out, he has six such facilities all over New York, all underground and secured with a biometric ser. If I want to iigate them, I'll hat card. Maybe one of the bs holds more information about me or it could also be on that drive.

  Now, some might think why haven't I just read his mind and uhe information? Well, I did try. I got some information, but the thing is there was a stroal barrier proteg his mind from my intrusion, almost like my psionic powers were blocked by an anti-psi shield. It blocked me from accessiain parts of his memories. In other words, he either had an anti-psi chip impnted in his brain or someone created that barrier using power strohan mihat was why I had to resort to torture to get the information I wanted.

  The thing that worried me was his st words. He was trying to reveal the name of the mastermind and he just uttered, 'All' before exploding. Is it All For Ohere is a possibility. If I be reborn in the Marvel world, then there is a possibility that All For One also be reborn in this world after his death. And my power is somewhat simir to him. Am I his e or a b-made human, made using his DNA? Fuck! Anyway, if he's in this world, then I... No, we have the biggest problem on our hands. God knows how many abilities he has sucked out till now.

  Sigh!

  I took the keys and security card from Stryker's office.

  [Manhatten]

  Using my super speed, I made my way to the local bank with a weird name written in a nguage I was unfamiliar with, where the locker was stored, phasing through the exterior walls of the building like a ghost. The pce was quiet, the cold fluorest lights buzzing above. My steps echoed softly as I passed through the vault area, careful not to set off any arms.

  Finding the locker wasn't difficult. Stryker's memories had given me all the details I needed. I slid the key into the lock, feeling the familiar click. The locker door swung open.

  But i wasn't the data drive I expected.

  I froze.

  Instead of a data drive, there was a sleek, bck mask—the kind worn by the Bck Cat. Its glossy surface gleamed uhe dim light. The st time I heard of her was in the neer, around three months ago. She stole a famous piece of art from the NY museum.

  I picked up the mask... A small card fell from the locker, nding softly on the floor. I crouched to pick it up, turning it over in my hand. There was a single line of text written on it i handwriting:

  "You're not the only one chasing ghosts. Let's py a little longer, shall we? - F"

  Felicia Hardy.

  I ched my jaw, resisting the urge to crush the card in my hand. Of course, Bck Cat would have gotten involved. If there was anyone capable of slipping into Stryker's hidden vaults ued, it would be her. She was a master thief, her skills unparalleled. But why would she take the drive? What did she gain from this?

  Someone hired her... That one killed Stryker must have known about this and decided to up the vault.

  I stood up, gripping the mask tightly in my hand. She had left it here on purpose, taunting me. A game of cat and mouse—and right now, I ying her game.

  But this wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

  [Arm!!]

  The sed the arm bred through the bank, my muscles tehe high-pitched screech echoed in the vault. Of course, it's a trap. But it didn't matter. I tried to use my psychic power to check outside. Well, there were too many guards rushing toward the vault.

  Armed guards—heavily armored and armed to the teeth—rushed in as if they'd been waiting for me all along. They were effit, their movements swift and coordihis wasn't just a random bank squad. No, these guys were military-level, likely Stryker's people or someone hired to deal with someone like me.

  However, my psychiion got cut out. I tried to turn to vapor, but it didn't work. Damn! I hate mutant suppression devices. Those fuckers are so annoying.

  I looked up and saw several of the guards positioning what looked like high-tech rifles, their barrels crag with blue energy. Anti-mutation devices. Damn it. Whoever set this up wasn't pying around. The entire building was rigged to suppress my abilities, turning this whole bank into a perfect cage.

  I adjusted the mask over my face, pulling it tighter, and pulled on my hoodie.

  "Surrender, Subject 43," One of the guards stepped forward, his rifle aimed at my chest. "Your mutation won't work here. There is no escape."

  "Oh," I snapped my fingers, summoning the Phoenix Force. "You sure about that?"

  My body burst into fmes, burning like a bohe heat emanating from my body made the air around me shimmer. I raised my arms, feeling the raw power rush through me. It was time to py.

  The guards opened fire.

  I waved my hand and an invisible force field maed itself, proteg me from the bullets. Sure enough, those devices only suppress mutants, but Phoenix Force isn't a mutation. It's a itity. And a itity ot be suppressed by any manmade device. I snapped my fingers again and the force field expanded.

  The guards were blown away from me, crashing against the walls of the vault.

  "Die, motherfuckers!" I said unleashing the fmes.

  The vault erupted in fmes as the Phoenix Force surged through me, turning the cold, sterile walls into molteal. The intense heat radiated outward, and within seds, the floor beh my feet started to crad melt, sparks flying in all dires. I felt the power thrumming through my veins, an unstoppable force of destru.

  But, unlike Jean, I was in trol.

  The guards screamed, scrambling for cover as the fire engulfed them. Their high-tech rifles crackled and exploded uhe pressure, blue energy fizzling out uselessly. I smirked beh the mask, feeling no pity for them. Stryker's men or not, they were nothing but pawns in a bigger game, and I wasn't pnning to py fair.

  One of them mao get a shot off, a single beam of energy aimed directly at my chest. It hit the force field, but instead of dissipating, it created a brief ripple of energy before the beam was reflected back, striking the guard square in the face. His body crumpled to the floor, the helmet's visor shattering as he fell.

  "Pathetic," I muttered under my breath, raising my hand again.

  With a sihought, the entire building began to tremble. The walls groaned, metal straining against the heat and pressure. I could hear the arms bring louder now, a high-pitched wail that mixed with the crag of fmes and the sounds of colpsing infrastructure. It was beautiful chaos, a symphony of destru.

  I let the fire e everything. The fmes curled up the walls, lig the ceiling and spreading faster than any normal fire. In mihe bank was nothing more than an inferno. Smoke billowed from the windows, dark and thick, swirling into the night sky. The crag of burning wood and steel filled the air, punctuated by the occasional explosion of tech equipment overheating and busting.

  As the st of the guards fell, their screams lost in the roar of the fire, I took a deep breath, allowing the Phoenix Force to cool slightly within me. I gnced around at what I had doal annihition. The entire building would be reduced to ash by the time the fire department arrived, and by then, I'd be long gone.

  But Felicia… she was still out there, pying her little game.

  I ched my fist, the heat of the Phoenix simmering just uhe surface. She had taken something important, and I wasn't about to let her get away with it. The drive was crucial, not just for my mission but for uanding the deeper mystery behind Stryker's work and possibly my own ins.

  Still, as much as I wao hunt her dht now, I o stay low for the moment. A weird thought has been nagging me for some time now. I o check it out. I turo vapor and disappeared from that pce.

  ...

  [3rd person POV]

  [Location: Cssified]

  A group of doctors and stists were busy w on several things. The area was full of high-teputers, b equipment, and various maes. The atmosphere was tense, everyone focused on their respective tasks. A few soldiers patrolled the area, their faces hidden behind tactical masks.

  Uhat building was a hidden b and only a handful of people were allowed access. The b was state-of-the-art, filled with cutting-edge teology and equipment.

  There was a massive gss tube and i erson in some kind of liquid. His face was missing, eyes and o be exact, and there was a weird mask over his mouth. A mae was ected to the tube and a man was sitting in front of it, reading the monitor. It was her thaian Shaw, leader of the Hellfire Club.

  "Dr. Essex, how is uest doing?" He asked, gng at the man beside him.

  The man, Nathaniel Essex, was an expert iic research, mutation, and evolution. He was also one of the leading experts in xenobiology. He was wearing a white coat and had a bald head with sharp facial features. His eyes were red and had a creepy smile on his face.

  "He's stable for now," Essex replied, adjusting his gsses. "But the procedure is extremely difficult, even for someone like me."

  "I see," Shaw said, studying the monitor. "Any ce we start the phase of the project?"

  "We he key before we tinue. Find him for me and I'll give you what you want."

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  [13 advance chapters] [No double billing]...

  AN: Yeah, I know, some liked it, some didn't. But I won't be dragging the plot around All For One. He's the antagonist of the first volume that's it.