Marvel Nonsense

Chapter 18- Revelations

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

Jayla stares at Kaine, fuming with anger.

"YOU GAVE A MAN A VIAL OF MY BLOOD, SO HE CAN CLONE ME?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND?!"

"If you'd-"

"SHUT UP!"

Jayla slaps Kaine across the face, knocking him back a bit.

"Let me finish, Jayla."

"Fine!"

There's a short pause.

"I put in some of my blood. The effects are unpredictable, I just know that it'll fuck up Ben's plans just a bit."

"That doesn't help! What if the clone gets some kind of mutation that enhances her powers, or something?! Then what?!"

"Then we adapt."

He receives another slap, this one reinforced with a layer of ice.

"You did this. Now, we all have to fix it."

"Okay. We will. Let some time pass first. In the meantime, we have another recruit you wanted to pick up."

Jayla sighs, walking to the pilot's seat of the Quinjet, setting their course.

"He's called Boost. He's a speedster. I thought he could help. At this point... It doesn't matter. I don't care. We probably should keep this between us."

"You do you. You lead us."

Kaine removes his wrist gauntlets. He activates a projector, displaying a map of the world on the wall of the Quinjet.

"The aircraft is in... Oh god..."

"What?"

"That's where I was cloned. Where we were cloned."

Minutes later, Jayla is carrying Delia down to the ground, following Kaine down to the warehouse. He glides low, speeding between buildings and above streets. He lands in front of an abandoned-looking warehouse.

"It comes full circle."

Kaine walks to the door, touching it with his hand. He hesitates for almost a full minute, just holding his hand to the door. He then pushes the door open, walking into the building. Jayla flies directly inside, landing on the cold, concrete floor. Kaine is on his knees, looking down at the staircase, leading down to the hidden facility. He stands back up, walking down without a single word. Determined, we walk, looking down the dimly lit hallway, memories slamming against him like freight trains, reminding him of torture that he endured here. Had it not existed, his suffering would have ended before it began. Tears begin to form under his mask. He blinks them back. He kicks down the door, revealing the cloning pod. Yellow fluid still surrounding the body, which is fully grown and formed. It's Jayla's clone.

"Jayla..."

She walks in, her eyes widening when she sees the clone in front of her. Kaine walks to a nearby computer, pressing some buttons, draining the yellow fluid surrounding the clone, who Ben named Sapphiri, out of the pod. She instantly opens her eyes. Afraid, she punches her way out, her knuckles bleeding by the time she escapes, running away from them.

Kaine looks back at Jayla. She looks surprised, yet slightly sad.

"I'll get her," he says.

Kaine turns, running after Sapphiri. He finds her curled up in a corner, sobbing. He kneels down in front of her.

"Hi. There's no need to be afraid."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm here to bring you with us. We won't hurt you, I promise."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because I was once where you are now. Afraid. That pod you just came from was the same one I came from."

"Okay..."

The fear in her voice fades away. She slowly stands, wiping the tears away from her eyes. The two walk to Jayla and Delia.

"Jayla, see if you can find any clothes for Sapphiri around here. There should be some."

Soon, Jayla and Delia walk onto the Quinjet, followed by Kaine and a now fully clothed Sapphiri.

Jayla walks to the controls, setting course for the Helicarrier, then walking back, sitting down beside her clone. They are all silent, until the left wing is blown off by a missile. Sapphiri begins to panic, and Kaine looks out the window along with Delia, while Jayla tries to comfort the panicking clone.

"It's Ben. His aircraft is outside."

Kaine puts his wrist gauntlets back on, opening the hatch. He and Darla pull themselves on webs to Ben's plane. Kaine extends his stinger on his left arm, cutting a hole in the floor. He climbs in, greeted by the same room that used to contain the four clones. This time, Ben Reilly stood in the center, in his scarlet suit, and his black mask.

"You had to steal Sapphiri, didn't you? Well, you'll pay for it."

Before Kaine can reply, what seems like a ball of fire flies in through the hole in the bottom, then directly at Ben, knocking him into a wall, rendering him unconscious. The flaming ball lowers, and when the fire is gone, Sapphiri stands in the center.

She turns to Kaine and Delia. "So I'm assuming Jayla can't do that."

"No," Delia says. "She can't. But you can."

Kaine facepalms.

[Wow, amazing ending ~Em]