Chapter 41 - Recovery

It took a few moments of discussion before Devin knew what had happened. He could only be filled with concern that he not only had no memory of what transpired, but also that this was a different form of what had happened in Sokovia. In Sokovia, when he had fought the berserker, that was a battle l.u.s.t that he was consumed by. This however was a whole different beast that he had been enthralled by. This was more of a murderous rage that wanted to bring down anyone that wasn't subconsciously recognized as a friendly.

'Alice.' Devin thought as he continued to listen to the others.

'Yes, master?'

'This was the spirits influencing me again. Wasn't it?' Devin thought as he tried his best to get even one memory from his rage moment.

'Yes. Remember, war was not a part of Human nature in the game. Humans were able to fight by entering a type of insanity called "Battle Rage" and the Dragoon Spirits feed off of that power. So, any emotions that link to that Battle Rage has the potential to be amplified in order to feed the Spirits. This includes a l.u.s.t for battle as well as your rage.'

Devin had been relieved that he hadn't experienced this problem during the whole adventure with the Fantastic Four or when he got the new spirit, but it was back.

'Alice will this get worse as I collect the other spirits?' Devin asked as he watched Rogue sit against the wall unconsciously from zapping his energy.

'Yes. The more spirits you have, the more you will need to feed. Though the higher the level of the spirits and the better your mastery of each, the lower the cost you'll need.'

'Great.' Devin thought as he also thought about the fact that there are six other spirits not unlocked. His attention focused again as Wolverine walked back into the room.

"Sorry guys. I found another squad out there and got distracted. By the way who's that woman I crashed into? She's out for the count on the floor out there." Wolverine said as he walked over and leaned against one of the desks that wasn't flipped over. It was at that moment that Rogue started to stir. As everyone grouped around her, she opened her eyes to look at everyone. When she spotted Devin she gasped and became nervous before she hid it behind a neutral face.

"Are you alright Rogue?" Devin asked with concern as she had been one of the friendlier members of the X-men that he had interacted with so far.

"Yes." was all she responded with as she looked him dead in the eye. Devin knew something was up and he knew that it had something to do with the fact that she had absorbed some of his power when she had grabbed his ankle earlier.

"Alright, now that we have that all figured out for the moment. What are you planning to do Miss?" Devin said as he motioned for the woman he had been fighting to speak up.

"My name is Yuriko Oyama. I was originally supposed to bring my late father's notes to a Mr. William Stryker as he said he would help me perfect my father's theory of bonding the metal, adamantium to bone. During our meeting I remember being stung by something then nothing until now except for small blurry colored memories. Like looking at a picture through frosted glass." the woman whose name was now known said. Devin knew her not by her actual name but her villian name of Lady Deathstrike.

"Well this is going to be a bit of a shock, but that process was tested, but only two people have ever survived. The first was our friend Wolverine here and the other..." Devin said as he tried to think of a good way to phrase what was about to be said.

"The other?" Yuriko said as a weight seemed to settle in her stomach.

"The other was you." Devin said as he figured it would be best to just get it over with. At first she just stood there while the thought processed then she whirled around and became sick next to the wall. The sound of retching and gagging invoking feelings of sympathy from some of the others.

"Has anyone looked at the door to the inner sanctum yet?" Devin asked as he decided to give the woman some space to calm herself.

"Already checking on it." Beast said as he was running his fingers over and over the buttons on the keypad for the magnetic tumbler locks sealing the doors. Thirty seconds later found the doors swinging open. As some of the group rushed in some hung back. two of those being Frost and Cyclops.

"Scott." Emma tried to speak but was cut off.

"You should have told me." Cyclops said in a cold tone.

"I couldn't. I couldn't risk my sister. He had eyes everywhere." Emma said in a slightly pleading tone for Cyclops' understanding.

"You should have told me." Cyclops said before he turned and entered the room leaving Emma and Yuriko as the last two before Emma took a deep breath and followed.

***

Through the doors was a massive spherical chamber with a path and a platform jutting out into the very center of the room. On the platform were Professor Xavier in his wheelchair, as well as a grizzled older man and a man in another wheelchair wearing a off-white hospital gown. The older man was holding a pistol to the unresponsive Xavier's head. Xavier seemed to be in a coma and didn't even look at who had entered the chamber.

"Welcome, now let's keep this as a nice civil conversation where no one moves and Xavier here won't die." Stryker said as most of the X-men tensed up.

"Let him go Stryker!" Cyclops growled as he entered the room.

"Forget that! Where's my sister!" Quicksilver shouted as he stepped to the front.

"The rest are nearby so don't worry. Though I do believe that there are too many people for this room so if you don't mind I would like for the majority of you to step out. The only ones I want to stay are Ms. Ororo, Ms. Darkholme, and Mr. Price." Stryker said as he he waved for the others to get out with the hand without the gun.

"If you think that we're gonna leave when our teammates are still in danger you are out of your-" Cyclops said as he was cut off by Storm.

"Cyclops, he has more than enough hostages so let's just follow along for now." Storm whispered as Mystique waved for the others from the brotherhood to leave. Soon only the three mentioned were left.

"So what now? Is this the part where you give us this great lecture about how you are doing this for the greater good and how this is some kind of divine order from a higher providence or some bullshit?" Devin asked as he looked at Stryker with a bored look. Stryker's response was for him to point his gun and pull the trigger. A severe pain lanced through Devin's right thigh as the slug entered his leg causing Devin to grunt in pain as both hands clasped around the hole in his leg as Storm and Mystique both crouched in anticipation of who might be shot at next.

"Your mouth should remain closed you irritating child." Stryker growled as he leveled the gun at Xavier's head again.

"Our what? You think that I don't know how this is gonna work out? You're gonna sit here and bl.u.s.ter about a bunch of garbage. It's the same with all insane and delusional old men who try these schemes." Devin said with a smirk on his face as he advanced a few steps forward with a limp. A shot to the left arm was the response that was given by Stryker.

"I already told you to shut up once. At this rate you won't live to see those children that were crying for you earlier." Stryker said causing Devin's vision to begin turning red. A deep breath and remembering that raging wouldn't help right now allowed Devin to martial his emotions into check. A grin then crossed his face which caused a frown to cross Stryker's.

"What are you smiling about?!" Stryker demanded.

"Well I'm smiling because it shouldn't be too much longer before I have you pinned under my heel. Though to be honest I wonder is your son even conscious of what is happening right now?" Devin responded as he limped a couple steps closer. He was now about twenty feet from the trio.

"My son doesn't have any significance on what is happening right now and how exactly do you plan to get me under your heel exactly when I am the one with the gun?" Stryker demanded as he waved the gun from one person to another.

"Since he's the one keeping Xavier in check right now then yes, he's significant. As for my plan why would I tell you that?" Devin said was the biggest grin split his face and began to unnerve Stryker.

"Stop smiling! Even you wouldn't smile in face of your own death!" Stryker yelled as he finally aimed at Devin's head.

"Try me bitch." Devin said as he kept the smile going and looked Stryker in the eye. Silence descended in the chamber for a minute before the sound of a gun went off. Devin ducked and the bullet passed overhead and in-between the two women as Devin dashed forward and grabbed the gun just as it discharged again this time nicking Devin's calf. A solid punch to the stomach incapacitated Stryker as Devin tossed the gun over the edge of the platform.

Movement from the corner of his eye caused him to look over and look directly into emaciated face of Stryker's son. It was then that Devin felt a sensation of falling before everything went black.

***

Storm was waiting for a chance to either rush Stryker or to use her powers to try and save the professor, but what she wasn't counting on was for Devin to bum rush Stryker after getting shot twice. After he hit the elder man he turned and looked at the unknown man in the other wheelchair and froze which confused Storm. Both Mystique and Storm rushed over and checked on the Professor and Devin only to see Devin blankly staring at the unknown man. After a couple shakes the Professor seemed to revive from his trance.

"Professor, are you alright?" Storm asked as she crouched in front of Xavier. He seemed to look around confused before his attention snapped to and he remembered what had happened and who was involved.

"Ororo, where is Stryker?" Xavier asked as he looked at one of his long time students and teachers.

"He's right behind you. Devin knocked him out after he took you hostage." Storm said as she stood up and prompted Xavier to turn his chair and look at the slumped form of Stryker.

"Mr. Price are you alright?" Xavier asked after noticing that Devin was standing nearby and not moving. It was then that he noticed who was sitting in front of Devin.

"Oh no. Mr. Price is in trouble!" Xavier spoke to Storm.

"Why? Who's the guy in front of him?" Mystique asked as she searched Stryker for any other weapons.

"That is Stryker's son, Jason Stryker. He's a powerful mutant that can cause others to see illusions through eye contact. He was once one of my students, but he disappeared after he went to meet his father for the first time after he was dropped off at an orphanage as a baby." Xavier said as he made his way over to between the two men.

"So what is he doing here?" Mystique asked as she then moved to restrain Stryker with his own belt and laces from his boots.

"Stryker was creating a mind controling substance by harvesting a protein from Jason's brain. Due to me being too strong for the drug to work on me he had to have his son affect me directly. I'll need to help Mr. Price escape the illusion before he suffers permanent damage." Xavier said as he reached to touch his head and enter Devin's mind, but before he could Jason started to convulse and shake while releasing a horrible screeching noise like a dying parrot. Soon the convulsions turned into thrashing as blood began to pour from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Soon he fell silent at the same time that he became still in his wheelchair. Seconds later Devin shook his head and looked at the now dead man that had invaded his mind.

"Did not know who you was f.u.c.kin' with." Devin growled before he turned and saw the shock on his audiences faces.