Hidden safely below deck, Tempest shut herself inside a broom closet, sound asleep. She doesn't know how much time had passed since she stowed away and didn't think the boat was gonna stop any time soon. Everything was quiet except for the occasional sloshing of ocean water against the ship and crew members hurrying past her closet. She finally stirs, hearing the steady footfall of boots approaching her. They slow, and soon come to a stop.. directly in front of her door.
Her breath hitches fearfully in her throat.
She presses herself against the back wall.
Someone was here...
The next few moments were a blur. The door flew open and Tempest's eyes were met with a man, blocking her way out. Nothing was said, eyes widened between the two. They stared at each other , neither knowing what to do. The man was on the taller side, a scratchy beard spread across his face. He seemed middle aged, his hazelnut brown hair was neatly pulled into a low ponytail. Finally, the man speaks, his words hinted with confusion.
"What in hell are you doing here??" He lowers his body to look down at Tempest, not making any attempt to approach her or go away. His voice was rough and low, and he spoke in a Russian accent.
Tempest answered with a dash to the door, squeezing past his tall frame and bolting down the hall towards the stairs.
"HEY- WAIT YOU STOWAWAY!-" she hears the man yelling from behind her, his heavy footsteps echoing down the hall as he chased after her. Other crew members heard the commotion and joined the chase, their shouts of triumph sounding amplified in the downstairs hallway. Everything was chaos, and Tempest wasn't going to let that distract her from the real problem. She had been caught.
As she sprinted she found herself faster, more agile. Her hood peeled off her head and flew behind her, revealing her fiery hair and small ears. Her tail uncurled and freed itself from her sweater, balancing her. She almost didn't notice how fast she was going, practically flying on her feet. In the midst of all this, the crew members on deck had grabbed guns. But not a single bullet came towards Tempest..
Darts!?
What really was on this ship?!
Soon she'd find out.. In the worst way possible.
A piercing pain stung Tempest's shoulder as she came to a halting stop, tripping over her feet and onto the ground. She slides into the walls of one of the shipping containers, a pained gasp escaping her lips. She immediately found herself surrounded by crew members, wielding assault rifles filled with darts. She even saw the man who found her amongst the crowd, his expression hardened into a smug smirk. Really only one man stood out to her though as he pushed through the crowd. However, she wouldn't have enough time to make out his appearance before her vision went black. All she saw was his uniform. Solid black and tactical.
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Hours passed, and when Tempest finally came to, she was handcuffed, sitting in a chair. A metal collar was fastened to her neck. Nobody was in the room, it was merely a metal box with a two way mirror implanted into the wall in front of her. She hadn't seen this room.. where was she?
A few moments later, Tempest was startled by a metal door to her right opening. The man she saw earlier stepped cautiously through. She could now see him fully.
The man was on the taller side, wearing a long black trench coat and a tactical uniform underneath. Combat boots, an armored vest, cargo pants and a black turtle neck with some fingerless gloves. He had a short brown haircut with grey poking through on the sides of his head. His face was a passive aggressive smile, square shaped glasses pushed up on his nose and his eyes were a dark green that pierced her very soul. She could see that he was indeed on the older side, around 50, and not in the best shape either.
He introduces himself, "I see you are our little stowaway.. I am Major William Stryker. It's a pleasure, little tiger." He explains with a smirk.
Tempest narrows her eyes at him, her voice coming out a little strained from hours of no use. "Where am I?.. What do you want with me?" She asks with a hard scowl, though Stryker could see the nervous hint in her eyes.
"You're on the ship, we're about to dock with Canada. That's where you were stowing away to right?" Stryker sneered, circling Tempest as she sat in the middle of the room.
Tempest swallowed the growing lump in her throat before responding. "I just wanted to leave Russia.. I cannot return there after what I did." She admitted, her eyes fixing on the metal-clad floor.
Stryker chuckled. "That's all you were doing? You have nowhere to go outside that country, child."
Tempest wanted to lash out at him.. but steadied herself. She didn't know what this collar was doing to her and didn't want to find out the hard way. "Can you please just let me go at the dock? I don't mean to cause trouble I just needed to get to Canada." She pleaded.
Stryker stops in front of her, considering her plea. "Hm.. I would.. but a mutation like yours could benefit me greatly. It's a shame really, you just chose the wrong boat to board, Little Tiger."
Her heart sank.
"My weapon X program is going to make you unmatched with power, and then I'll strip away your mind until you're nothing but a brainless war machine . Just don't struggle, and the process will be a lot easier." Stryker continued. His lips spread into an evil grin as he stared down at her. "You'll be one of the greatest mutant hunters known to man."
She wanted to scream, to struggle, to do anything in her power to run away from this psycho, but she found herself unable to move. The last thing Stryker said to her before she returned to unconsciousness made her heart drop.
"After all, all you are is an animal."
She felt a pinch in her neck, and everything was gone once again.
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A/N:
this has to be one of the best chapters so far, portraying Stryker was so fun!
I can't wait to write more on this story and I hope you'll join me!
Tune in for chapter three once it's out!
TYSM FOR READING!!!!
-Thing
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TIGRESS ~~ { An X-men Fanfiction } 🖤 { Oc }
FanfictionTempest Koshkin was normal.. up until her teenage years. That's when she became the farthest thing from. She always had a fascination with animals, big and small, though she specifically fixated on cats. She kept journals where she drew different br...
