Rise Of The New Blood

Chapter 3: ...My Shadows Follow

"So you have some kinda genetically cloned weapon?!" Cayden's voice trembled ever so slightly as he turned to face Bella, his eyes wide with a mix of curiosity and fear. The room seemed to close in around them, the dim lights casting eerie shadows on the metallic walls that surrounded them. The air hung heavy with anticipation, thick with secrets waiting to be unraveled.

Bella's gaze flickered from Cayden to the tube containing Weapon X-29, her expression unreadable. "Not me. Moreso, Hydra. They wanted another you, Mister Barone."

Cayden's heart raced as he absorbed Bella's words, his mind struggling to grasp the magnitude of what she had just revealed. A clone? Of HIM, no less?! Hydra's desire for another mindless weapon capable of untold violence sent a shiver down his spine, igniting a firestorm of emotions within him. Confusion, anger, and fear swirled together, threatening to consume him whole.

He turned his gaze back to the cylindrical tube, his eyes narrowing as he studied the unconscious figure inside. "Can he feel pain?" He asks. Bella shrugs. "I'm not sure if he even can be classified as a living being." Cayden's blue eyes narrowed as he took in the sight before him, his mind racing to comprehend the implications of Weapon X-29's existence. 

Cayden once more allowed the blade infused into his skeleton to protrude from his arm, in one swift motion, slashing the glass tube opened, causing said glass to shatter and the liquid to spill out onto the floor.

As the glass shattered, shards glittering like stars in the dimly lit room, Cayden's heart pounded in his chest. He watched with a mix of anticipation and trepidation as Weapon X-29 emerged from the broken confines of his prison. The clone's eyes flickered open, revealing a stormy gaze that mirrored Cayden's own. A surge of adrenaline coursed through Cayden's veins, his mind racing to decipher the intentions of this genetic duplicate standing before him. The clone extends his left arm, and a blade identical to Cayden's protrudes from his left hand. Cayden stands, ready to clash blades with this... this imposter.

A sadisticly calm smile crosses Bella's face. "You'll excuse me if I don't want to witness this," Bella said with a sadistic calmness as she turned away from the unfolding confrontation between Cayden and his clone. The air crackled with tension as the two nearly identical figures stood face to face.

Cayden's heart pounded in his chest as he stared into the stormy gaze of his Hydra-made clone.

"Your move." Cayden taunts X-29.

With a flicker of malice in his eyes, X-29 lunged forward, his movements mirroring Cayden's with an eerie precision. The clash of their blades reverberated through the room, the metallic resonance echoing off the walls like a symphony of violence. Each strike was executed with deadly accuracy, the sound of metal on metal filling the air as sparks ignited and danced through the dimly lit space. But as Cayden quickly found out, X-29 wasn't just a clone in his looks, as for the first time, Barone felt himself forced onto the defensive.

Cayden's heart pounded in his chest as he parried X-29's relentless strikes, his mind working in overdrive to anticipate each move. The dance of their blades was a deadly ballet, their movements a symphony of destruction that echoed through the room.

As they clashed, Cayden couldn't help but feel a strange mixture of familiarity and revulsion, as if he was living out a sort of internal struggle or some kind of other sappy, deep, metaphorical bullshit like that.

In the heat of the moment, Cayden saw his way out. He gets a firm grip on a wall of CPU towers and computing software. Cayden's muscles burned as he exerted his strength, the strain radiating through his entire body like a symphony of pain. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead, dotting the ground below him as he focused on the task at hand. With a final surge of energy, Cayden managed to bring down the wall of electronic equipment, creating a barrier between himself and X-29. The metallic crash reverberated through the room, the sound echoing like a thunderous symphony. Breathing heavily, Cayden took a moment to catch his breath as he surveyed the scene before him. The acrid stench of burnt circuits filled his nostrils, mingling with the scent of sweat and adrenaline that permeated the air. Cayden shoots his clone a small salute before darting out the doorway and back into the hallways of the Forge.