「 The Professor & I 」VOLUME II

(320) Outnumbered

Lynn's POV

Bearing an amused smirk, I adorned the silver helmet and was spontaneously delivered into a dense forest. The dark of night had precluded satisfactory vision but numerous figures could be discerned amongst the shadows casted by tall wood onto a wide glade.

Murmuring was apparent, albeit indistinct, and the leaves rustled, though seemingly without the help of wind. I scanned the area briefly, feeling breathless already, and suddenly realized that the mysterious persons loitering together were oddly resonating with the same heartbeat.

A deeper examination confirmed my dreadful hypothesis of his identity as the one Jamie Madrox—or, infamously, Multiple Man.

Appalled by the audacity and craftiness of Erik's grand plans, I ransacked his underling's mind, expectedly horrified by my finds. The land now occupied by one man really was once the rally ground of hundreds more mutants, fiery and bitter. Once again blinded by the pain and rage, Erik zealously acquired himself no less than a battalion equipped with the most diverse and lethal of weapons.

Atop the small cliff overhanging the planar arena rooted Erik and Wanda in the front row, the most fully-suited of the heinous bunch. A step back, John stood in the gap of his two leaders and Marko was staggered along the same line to the right of Erik, cradling that disgusting helmet, while the rest of the formation consisted of three others unknown.

"They wish to cure us. But I say to you we are the cure," Erik propounded avidly and the hideous crowd roared into perpetual and vivacious cheers.

"The cure for that infirm, imperfect condition called homo sapiens," Erik preached in resentment.

"They have their weapons. We have ours," he announced proudly as he and Wanda exchanged sinister smirks.

"We will strike with a vengeance and a fury that this world has never witnessed," he rehashed in a vicious tone.

"And if any mutants stand in our way, we will use this poison against them," he warned and to say he wore a savage expression was a serious understatement.

"We shall go to Alcatraz Island, take control of the cure, and destroy its source," he proclaimed with deliberately climatic intonations.

"And then nothing can stop us," Erik declared scarily and my heart quivered, pumping energetically.

Increasingly exhausted, I nervously skimmed the vicinity again, spotting almost equal numbers of Trask's men. The elite squadron sought camouflage amongst the trees, trekking cautiously, as they formed a human perimeter around the supposedly precarious gang.

"This is a decoy, Lieutenant. Do not believe what you see," I advised sincerely but the stubborn man merely jolted his head in a vigorous motion, as if to shake off a clingy substance.

"This is Team Leader to Bravo One. We are green to go," he adamantly reported and with a nod, he extended his arm forward.

"Freeze, mutants!" An authoritative voice fiercely shouted.

"Get your hands in the air! Hands in the air!" Another ordered agitatedly and a furious commotion erupted on the flatten terrain.

Soldiers charged into the open space, aiming their rifles discriminately. Spotlights affixed to the ends of their guns choppily illuminated the scene and the threatened victims were seen slowly raising their arms as instructed but the platoon quickly observed a strange phenomenon never before encountered.