Ten Years After C-Day

Toshiaki remained where he was, facing Wilson.

"Thing?

"That hurts, Veach. It really does.

"I'm not a goddamn thing. I'm a human being.

"I'm no less human for my disabilities. I'm no less human for my X-gene. I'm no less human for trying to regain my body. I thought a Yamaku alumnus would understand that, of all people."

He knows my name...

It becomes apparent that I am talking to another former student of Yamaku.

"Coming from the man without hardly a body of his own to speak of."

[Boy, you guys post quickly! I had to alter my post, like, three times, and it's still not entirely relevant. Then again, I did take an awful long time to type it... 90% of which was spent just trying to remember the name of Wade's mom]

Wade listens carefully to the cyborg's speech, letting every painful, accusatory word sink deep into his mind.

'Shut up...' he mutters when the machine mentions how Wade betrayed the mutants. It was true, in a way - Wade really did act as a mutant hunter for a while, tracking down renegade mutants who were unwilling to register themselves. He ended up having to kill a lot of them, but it wasn't like he didn't give them a choice in the matter - the laws were clear, every single unregistered mutant was considered an enemy of the state. Wade was simply looking out for his kind's best interest, as well as for those of his family.

But just as he's about to repeat his order more loudly, the marauder behind him does so instead. For a few seconds, Wade merely absorbs everything the others are saying around him, noting that, apparently, the man that attacked him earlier has also lost his family to the cyborgs. Then again, who didn't? Regardless, the small pause did give him time to collect his thoughts.

'The Mutant Registration Act... It was never about experimentation! The SCP has been experimenting on mutants ever since we showed up, and it has never needed authorization to do so!' he yells out. Wade knew for himself that this was true - after all, he himself was created in an SCP laboratory by researchers attempting to recreate his father through cloning. 'It was about having a powerful force that could be easily united in case it was needed! Well, guess what - it was needed, but we were too busy fighting each other in a pointless civil war to notice!'

Wade raises his blade at the cyborg once again.

'But it's not like I can convince you, so let's get this over with. And one more thing - don't call me Wilson. Wade Wilson died alongside his family - his sister, Inna Wilson, age 29, his niece, Elena Wilson, age 7, his mother, Vanessa Morrison, age 43, and his father, Wade Wilson Sr., age 45. Remember those names, for their souls are what drives my blade. And also remember mine... Deadpool'

With a confident grin, Wade assumes his stance. 'Let's dance!'

"And you think it was acceptable then? The only good that has come of all this was the destruction of the corrupt SCP. So that this can never happen again.

"We mutants had a powerful force once before. You know what happened to them? They too were slaughtered, by cowards that feared that which they did not understand.

"The MRA was their final solution to what they saw as a problem. They tried to keep humanity from advancing, and ended up destroying themselves.

"The Sentinels went out of control. That bastard Trask didn't understand what he was dealing with when he programmed the AI to contain or destroy all mutants. The Sentinels decided to destroy the mutants at their source: humanity itself. Mutant or not.

"Those are the things that killed your families and so many others. I've been around the world these 10 years, hunting the Sentinels and the SCP that created them. In the early hours of this morning, we destroyed the last few, out in Siberia.

"That's what I mean, 'the war is over.' I come home today, 10 years to the day since Japan was devastated.

"I came to talk to you, Wilson. But it seems even now that I have your attention, you refuse to listen.

"I'm sorry about your families. My greatest regret is that anyone had to die for our species to survive. I will never live down that pain.

"If Wade Wilson the man is dead, then know too that Toshiaki Endō the man died ten years ago, when his family was murdered in cold blood and his body was crippled, ratted out by the Wade Wilson he trusted.

"I, Omega, will convince Deadpool the mercenary, in the only language he knows."

He cast his ACR to the side, it landing softly in the dust. He drew back into a double-handed stance, preparing for Deadpool's attack.

That...that really is Wade...

I suppose I really should help him then, so I can pay him back one for my second capture.

I sit back and listen to the rest of the clash of morals.

Regardless if that's true or not...you're not leaving here alive.

A deafening, explosive noise echos throughout the vicinity as the sound of sheer power erupts from the barrel of my rifle at the chest of the mid-ranged target.

Hideyo, while the trio argue, sees his chance.

He sprints down the steps into the Townsville Resitance's main base of operations - a dingy basement filled with computers and various pieces of medical equipment. The years spent hiding away with his two protectors had not been kind to him, the food had run out within three months and since then they'd been surviving on mere scraps. Thankfully, as part of his mutant heritage, Hideyo actually had no need of sustenance, leaving more for his comrades.

The three had whiled away the years coming up with their own way of fighting back against the cyborgs, designing a virus to take the bastard down. Due to the half mechanical and half organic nature of the 'borgs, Hideyo had had to spread his knowledge between medical and technological, coming up with two separate viruses, one organic and one computerised, to deal with each aspect of the abominations. Based on his studies of cyborgs that had been killed in the immediate vicinity, Hideyo had discovered that the cybernetic aspects were constantly being rejected by the immune system of the human body, and as such the cyborgs had a cocktail of drugs flowing through their system which prevented total system failure. Theoretically, Hideyo's organic virus would spread through the system like wildfire, neutralising key aspects of the serum's chemical makeup and essentially turning it into a hindrance rather than a help. The computer virus, on the other hand, exploited a fairly mundane part of the system: timing. All of the cybernetic parts worked on a strict time frame in order to keep everything regular and work in tandem to work towards the ultimate goal. Hideyo has worked on the theory of clockwork, if a single cog was out of time the entire infrastructure would come crashing down, and that was what he hoped to achieve. With his virus he had attempted to replicate a common human disease: arrhythmia. In theory, if he could cause the central circuitry to operate on a different schedule to the rest of the mechanical aspects of the 'borg, everything would come crashing down. He hoped.

Opening their only working fridge, he removes the dart that the latest batch of the viruses, the first batch in which he had managed to successfully design a delivery system that was both digital and organic. The catch was pretty huge though, it had to be delivered in a very hard to reach spot: the back of the neck. That spot was the only place in which veins and circuitry were close enough together to successfully spread both viruses at once. It would take a real sharp shooter to get it on target.

Veach... you better have good aim. We only have one shot at this.

Grabbing their only rifle that would allow for a dart to be shot from, Hideyo races back upstairs, not bothering to check on plan B, and shouting to the female part of his team to get upstairs.

He slides across the floor at the top of the stairs and comes to a stop near Veach, just as Toshiaki drops into combast stance. Luckily, the cyborg remained with his back to them.

Breathless, the SCP grabs Veach's attention, "Ignore that bullshit he's sprouting. Takeshi tells every cyborg the same lie: The SCP Foundation is evil. Our very name defies that logic. Secure, Contain, Protect. Those cyborgs are no mutants, they're abominations created by Takeshi to form his "perfect world". Take this, shoot it at the spot where the shoulders meet the spinal column. You see the small crack between armor plates? You've got to get it dead on." Before handing the gun over, Hideyo looks Satoshi dead in the eye, "Your girlfriend can still be saved if we make it out of this alive."

The low-powered bullet glanced off his chestplate, scuffing the dark exterior.

"What's this, Veach?"

As he spoke, the severed halves of the N2 grenade slowly began to roll through the dust, toward the front entrance of the grocery store.

"You really want to kill me, now that you know who I am and what I've been doing to protect the remnants of humanity?

The halves flew together in an instant, rejoining just outside of the door, detonating on impact with a blinding flash.

"I thought better of you."

As the flash subsided, the entrance was revealed to be completely blocked by the rubble.

"What's more, this is a duel. Do not interfere."

Omega remained absolutely still the entire time, waiting for Deadpool's attack and listening to Masuda's speech inside the store.

"No mutant" that, you fucking traitor.

As soon as the shot ricochets from the cyborg's armor, Wade turns back towards the marauder. 'Do you mind?!?' the man yells out. While he was certainly not a stranger to dirty tactics that could be considered "cheating", he was never particularly fond of other people trying to interfere with his fights. Mostly because that usually got them killed. That appeared to also be the fate of the mysterious marauder that disappeared from sight after the explosion of the grenade, presumably relocating underneath all the rubble.

'Well, then... Where were we...' Deadpool asks as he reassumes his stance, wondering about how to approach the attack. 'Alright, cyborg, since this is a fair duel, let's make a fair deal. If you win, I'll listen to whatever it is you want to talk to me about. If I win, you're going to tell me exactly where Rose and Slade Wilson are. Deal?'

Of course, Wade had no intention of making any kind of deal with a filthy cyborg, but he still needed that intel. Omega seemed like he enjoyed talking quite a bit, so maybe there was a chance to extract some kind of information from him like that...

Toshiaki Endō wrote:The low-powered bullet

[Ha-BULLSHIT! Yeah, the ballistic plate in military body armor can't stop a 7.62mm rounds and sometimes (not a lot but sometimes) goes through the kevlar vest. It's alright if it is deflected off an angled armor plate but it would likely knock you down. Don't call it a low-powered bullet. XD]

I jump back from the falling rubble and grab hold of the man with the dart rifle.

"What in the hell are you talking about, old-timer?"

{Omega's working with a lot more than Kevlar and ceramics here. Compared to the likes of Sentinels, you might as well use a slingshot.}

Omega snickered, the result being a painful mechanical grating.
Still talking. Always the mouth.

"Duel? Yes.
Fair? Not likely. Maybe only if we consider that you can't die.

"If you suddenly care about 'fairness' now, I'll go ahead and tell you."
He prepared to speak, but he hesitated.

"Then again, should I? Wade Wilson would deserve to know. But does Deadpool?"
Not that it makes any difference to me if he knows, but hell, maybe it'll get through to his better half.

[Damage-wise, yes. Force-wise, however, not so much. There's a reason why most military sniper rifles use it. The force behind it gives it a lot of power and distance. Basically, especially with the lack of ability to penetrate, you're dealing with all of the force slamming into one spot. Unlike a bullet like the 5.56 that fragments the moment it hits flesh, the 7.62 holds together much longer. That factor also comes into play with the bullet's size.]

Chiharu had been preparing some supplies in the back room when Hideyo came running through the halls of their base yelling for her to follow him.

She swiftly got up and grabbed a bandolier of jerry rigged EMP grenades, an infrared strobe light, a first aid kit, and makes her way upstairs. As she entered the room, the N2 grenade goes off at the main entrance, causing her to hit the deck and waiting for the dust to clear and her auto-hypnosis techniques to kick in. In mere moments she's back on her feet, moving through the room crouching low enough for her long black hair to drag across the dust covered floor as she makes her way over to the two men on the floor nearest to the rubble. After quickly checking both of them for wounds <Clear>, she crouches over Veach to be able look at him directly as she says ,"Listen to Masuda. Be patient and don't miss. I need to borrow your rifle.", she then grabs the barrel of the rifle and waits for him to let go.

[I would have to agree with Satoshi, the kinetic force would put you off balance at least, unless of course your chassis is heavier than lead.]

[So I did the math too, just to check and came up with a very similar answer of delta V of 2.04 inches per second, I would like to apologize for my earlier surprisingly inaccurate estimate.]

[Well then I'm curious. Since you clearly know about this and I always thought the force of the round is what did this, what causes someone to have the breath knocked out of him for around six minutes when he's shot by an AK round and it just gets stopped by the ballistic plate and vest?-No I'm not trying to be a smart ass, this is a legitimate question I have. ]

My lack of trust gets the better of me and I immediately set the safety on and pull back on my rifle.

"Rule one, don't touch Shiina unless I give permission."

I pull down on my scarf to allow for better communication with the side-effect of revealing my identity that everyone already seems to have noticed by now anyway.

"How did you know I dated Hatsuhara-or anyone for the matter? Why would I give a damn about her? And what makes you think I'm good enough to do this? Don't you guys have someone else for this?"

Truthfully, the three line marks on the left side of the stock and the hog's tooth around my neck symbolize a degree of skill but the markings are on my side of the stock and the hog's tooth is a US military sniper tradition. It is unlikely that these two know what that symbolizes ten years after the internet was a thing of the past.

I also have a small heart carving right next to the three lines to symbolize for myself that I have yet to settle my rivalry with Kuriko the fact that Masuda used to be a Yamaku teacher and could have spotted me with her often.

I just want a reason to keep my rifle on me so I can get out of here in once peace but the thought that the people here are in just as much danger as I am finally overrides my overly-defensive sense of security.

A couple seconds after my line of questions and I find myself sighing and handing over my rifle.

"You're taking point so I can watch you."

No way in Hell am I letting you shoot me in the back when I miss this...

{Some of the energy not transferred as unidirectional kinetic energy is dispersed into the target. When the only underlying structure is the person's body, that energy penetrates into the body, creating shock waves that can cause injury.

With a laminated material, that energy disperses mostly across the surface instead of into the material. That's why, for example, bulletproof glass resists much better than single-pane glass.}

[A ~775 lbs solid chassis takes a lot more force to move than a ~160 lbs man wearing a  ~60 lbs vest over his squishy internal organs. Basically, bullet hits vest, vest distributes force against the chest, and chest gives way inward. In other words, What he said ^]

"And what makes you think I'm good enough to do this? Don't you guys have someone else for this?"

"We are all that we have, we get what we can and use it the best we can. Whether you understand it or not, we ended up in the same shithole and we need each other to dig ourselves out."

"You're taking point so I can watch you."

With that, her time next to her old friend was over, and she darted across the room over to Hawke with the rifle in her arms. Upon arriving at his corner of the store, she puts her left hand on Hawke's shoulder as she asks him, "Are you alright?"

Chiharu Kinai wrote:"We are all that we have, we get what we can and use it the best we can. Whether you understand it or not, we ended up in the same shithole and we need each other to dig ourselves out."

"So, in a simpler answer, 'you're a marksman so that makes you the only one here'..."

When the girl turns I sling the dart rifle over my shoulder and follow her but something clicks in me.

"Kinai-san..."

I stop. A chill runs down my spine at the realization and then I continue to follow after the girl again.

"You're...are you who I think you are?!"

If it were not for the cyborg and Masuda saying my name, it would take a close friend from the past to recognize me through talking with the degree of harshness in my voice.

I am too taken aback to pay closer attention to the man she approaches.

A man I thought about many times in the last decade and assumed to be dead because of his disability.

She keeps her hand on Hawke's shoulder as she looks back at Satoshi with her head tilted slightly to the side and her eyebrows raised as she asks a question in a flat tone that sounds much more like a statement.
"Who else is smart enough to evade both mutant hunter and cyborg forces, keep this guy alive for 8 years, and help an SCP scientist devise a way to end all this?"

Toshiaki Endō wrote:
"Then again, should I? Wade Wilson would deserve to know. But does Deadpool?"

Without any warning, Wade rushes towards the cyborg, swinging both blades directly at him with all the force he's got. Of course, that attack was never supposed to connect, and is quickly blocked by Omega's energy blade - the one thing that Wade's katanas couldn't cut straight through. Deadpool increases the pressure to decrease the cyborg's chances of slipping out. 'Don't fuck with me, metal scum! If you know something, just tell me already!' he yells out, losing his patience.

The man was getting sick of the machine's games. Slade and Rose were his only family left, and the more Wade realized that the cyborg really knew where they were, the more desperate he was getting to get that information as soon as possible.

"..."

I look down at the man.

"What's so special-..."

"..Hawke?..."

I look like I was just startled and then frozen in time with how surprised my facial expression is.

Omega swung his blade up into a horizontal block, guarding against the overhead strikes.

Stupid. Thanks for giving me a nice circuit.

He energized his blade, sending several hundred thousand volts looping through Deadpool's blades and upper body. Such a shock would cause all his muscles to fully contract, freezing him in place, healing factor or not.

He kicked him away and pulled back into guard.

"I told you, you won't win this fight. So I'll tell you now."

He heard the voices of Chiharu and Hawke from behind the rubble, as his devices were well within earshot of them.
Them too… why?
Good thing I canceled the strike when Wilson ran, at least.
No more innocent lives taken.
No revenge – not even against Wilson and Masuda – is worth that.

He lowered his blade, looking Deadpool straight in the eyes.
"Slade… is dead.
The Sentinels got him when we were in South America, a few years ago.
I'm sorry. He was a good man and a fierce fighter."

He ran his hand across the length of his blade, that which Slade had once carried. That which would continue to fight on, he had sworn.

"Ravager… hasn't spoken to me since.
Last I heard, she was still in Jump City."

"Hello, Veachy." Hawke says with a grin, before his face takes on a darker shade. "No time to play catch up. We've gotta get rid of that 'borg out there."

Hawke's hand raises to his shoulder and lightly touches Chiharu's hand, "I'm good. Don't worry about me, Mephistopheles is the only thing that matters."

"We need to get onto the roof, Wade, or 'Deadpool', needs our help. He may be an internationally renowned badass but that cyborg out there is an internationally known killing machine... Takeshi must have fucked up his conditioning because he makes no distinction between who or what he murders. He doesn't act like the rest of them. He's got some sort of vendetta against the SCP Foundation... I'll fill you in later. They're... well, they were. I guess it's just Hideyo, Chiharu and me now. Anyway, bare bones of it is they protected the world from dangerous mutants, and protected peaceful mutants from the dangerous world."

Hawke picks up the dart gun, and motions towards the stairs leading to the upstairs, "We can get up to the roof over there. I know you've got a thing for rooftops, buddy."

"Right,"
She turns towards Mephistopheles as she says, "Masuda, stay with them or get downstairs, I have to run an errand."
She then looks towards Hawke and Veach as she walks to the backdoor to say, "I hope you guys can watch my back."

She sets the strobe light to begin charging, cracks open the door as she makes sure the back alley is clear before she silently makes her way over to a corner down the street behind Deadpool. She stays behind the building in the cover of shadows and watches the scene on the street unfold from the reflection of a store's windows across the street, waiting for the right moment to make her move.

Wade's body freezes up as the electricity's tensing every muscle of his body, overloading his brain with pain signals that clear everything else. Once he's kicked aside, the young man can do nothing except fall flat on the ground, unable to move. It takes him a few seconds to start regaining his senses, and the first thing that pops into his mind is a single word.

Stupid.

Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid!

He fell right into the cyborg's trap, like a complete idiot! Of course, that was the first time he had ever seen an electrified blade, but he should have expected something like that from a cyborg that was after his head. Once he finally regains control over his body, Deadpool can do nothing else than sit up, coming face to face with his opponent's blade, one wrong move away from certain death.

When he learns of Slade's death, Deadpool can do nothing but sigh quietly. So, one more member of his family was dead... That meant his only living relative was now Rose, who was probably in the same situation as him - all alone, and an ocean away from anyone close to her. 'Jump City, huh... That's on the West Coast... Not too far from here, if I can get a plane... You wouldn't know where I can find one, would ya?'