(Twisted Fates) The Phantom

Chapter 16: JS-35

Giovanni's voice resonated in Luke's head, "It's near the docks, an abandoned warehouse on Pier 17. That's where Nexus operates, where they conducted experiments on people... and worse."

Luke clenched his fists, determination burning in his eyes.

"I'll make them pay for everything they've done. This ends now."

South Baltimore, Pier 17, Scientistic Division Warehouse.

3:00AM

As Luke stepped into the shadows, his Phantom senses heightened, alert to any sign of danger. The entrance creaked open under his touch, revealing a dimly lit interior. The air was thick with the scent of decay.

Silently moving through the eerie corridors, Luke couldn't shake the feeling that each step brought him closer to the heart of the city's darkest mysteries

"Alright Nexus... let's see what you've got here."

Luke went to turn the lights on- they still surprisingly worked due to the generator.

"The smell is absolutely awful in here."

Luke continued to look around, everything looked compact and normal for the most part. There however was an odd looking broken cell. It had burn marks and blood stains all over.

"What poor bastard did they have in this cage." Luke used his Phantom Vision... no DNA readable.

"That's odd." Luke said as a filing cabinet caught his eye. "What do we have here?"

He checked the name files first... it had several, all still in tact. It doesn't have the newer members, only the older members.

"This wasn't the Syndicate back then, it was an alliance."

He read names such as Robert Miller, Antonio Gambetti, and a heavily scratched out name, along with the name Jin Mori.

"Jin Mori?" He looked into his file.

"Jin Mori, a brilliant scientist turned tormented soul. He was very sick, he was looking for a cure for himself, a degenerative disease for mutants. A fire power."

Jin Mori, alias Jackson Skull, unfolded a tragic narrative of a brilliant scientist turned tormented soul. Descriptions chronicled his involvement in the Scientific Division's unsavory experiments, specifically his work on a bio-weapon intended to enhance mutant abilities. The experiment went awry, resulting in a catastrophic accident that transformed Jin Mori both physically and mentally.

"Jin Mori was hoping to help mutants all across the world. Nexus wanted to exploit that for his own gain. He was an accident, they thought he was going to die like all other test subjects to this JS-35 compound. It worked as intended for him, maybe not for others."

Details within the file revealed the harrowing aftermath of the accident.

"His once vibrant hair turned an otherworldly blue, flames flickering around him, and his skin adopting a ghostly color. Mental deterioration accompanied the physical changes, plunging Jin Mori into madness and vengeful despair." Luke kept putting the pieces together.

The file spoke of his escape from the Division's clutches and subsequent hiding, driven by a profound hatred for the Syndicate that had orchestrated his tragic transformation.

It was a tale of scientific hubris, human suffering, and the birth of a vengeful force that would come to be known as Jackson Skull.