Marvel: A Tale of Shadows

He continued humming as he began finishing up downloading all he needed. Mutant research data, mind control methods and information, and several other pieces of information. But he frowned as he saw the data on the Weapon X project. Which consisted of apparently 23 'participants' with James Howlett being the first and his daughter Laura Howlett being the 23rd. He collected that data in case Laura had any issues while growing up.

After he finished that he put away the drive and watched on the cameras as his parents moved quickly to the hanger. He also saw that Wolverine and Captain America were closing in on the security room, apparently their tussle in the Hydra grunt ready room had them spooked. While on the outskirts of the fake town he saw the military apprehending Hydra grunts that were playing at being civilians.

Then right on que as Wolverine and Captain America arrived outside the security door he saw the X-Men's Blackbird fly in along with a red and gold suit of armor on one of the security cameras. While the various radio frequencies were filled with reports of an assault. Which he promptly jammed just to help out a bit more.

He heard the doors open and brought a hand up to his neck tapping on the device and felt an uncomfortable sensation around his neck. "You are almost a minute late, I expected you sooner." His statement was robotic sounding thanks to the device around his neck.

Wolverine was assaulted with the smell of blood. Flinching and scrunching up his face at the smell. His claws which were already slick with blood were at the ready while his legs were flexing ready to jump into action.

Captain America on the other hand was still stuck in the mindset of world war two. Groups of corpses were no stranger to him, neither were unexpected surprises. Which is why he was so composed and was able to quickly figure out what was going on.

"I assume you are or are working for The Reaper? I suppose this is the reason the information was shared so easily with us. You needed to use us as a distraction to steal something from Hydra." Captain America observed as he readied his shield.

After a moment of silence Ethan spoke, trying to hide his surprise. "I suppose for someone that worked in espionage during the second world war, I should not be too surprised. Am I going to be able to leave this room without issue?"

"Forget it bub!" Wolverine spoke up before dashing across the room. As he closed the distance Ethan tossed forward a gray bundle towards Captain America. Catching them both off guard, as Wolverine was distracted by the distinct smell of an explosive.

Captain America threw his shield toward Ethan. Who caught it easily in one hand and threw it to the back of Wolverine's head sending him into the explosive. He then ran to the door as Captain America had rallied himself and went to knock him out with a punch.

But Ethan just redirected the punch to throw him off balance into the room in the opposite direction of where he threw the explosive. Then he crouched and slid out of the room just as the explosive went off. It was not enough to cause damage but it was enough to throw them off. So he drew and fired his gun at the door control which caused it to close.

WA-CHOO!

The doors slammed loudly causing an echo down the hallway which was accompanied by a chorus of bootsteps. Ethan looked to his left to see a group of Hydra grunts running up.

"Hey you! There are two intruders in colorful suits. Did you see them?" The one in front asked as he glanced at the door and the damaged panel. Ethan discreetly turned off his voice changer, assuming they thought he was an ally since his gear, except for his mask, was all black.

"Ya, they came in and started kicking our ass. I had to close them in to contain them." He used a thick New York accent to hide his normal voice. "I hoped someone was coming to back us up."

"Thanks kid we got them from here, go open up the secondary security room. We can't have our surveillance down for too long." The grunts began forming up around the door and Ethan jogged down the hallway. He had already memorized the path to the hanger, he would get there in time.

He switched on his voice manipulator again, just in case.

—---------------------

Captain America glanced at Wolverine whose suit was scorched and his skin was visibly repairing itself. Then he looked at the closed door which was likely jammed. He saw that person shoot to where the door's keypad was before they entered.

He sighed and walked up to the large computer and saw a port for USB connections. He clicked his radio and plugged in a USB that had a red blinking light. As his radio buzzed on he spoke while looking at the cameras, "Tony, the drive-thingy is in. But I have a feeling we will have a lot of company soon."

"Perfect, a little late but-" He stopped mid-sentence. "Was there someone there before you? The radios and everything else is already taken care of."

"Yes, either the hacker known as 'The Reaper' or someone he hired was here before us. He killed everyone in the security room and then escaped. We will give chase as soon as we can." Captain America answered as he looked to the door where he could see the door being slowly melted open.

—------------------

It was odd walking through a Hydra base or at this point the base's hanger while not being shot at. He and his wife had gone through so many hangers dodging bullets it was strange for them not to be shot at. It was especially strange that no one was questioning them about the woman he had thrown over his shoulder.

"Which vehicle are we going to?" He asked as his wife, still a bit bitter about being tasered, grumbling something.

"Apparently it is a stolen experimental SHIELD aircraft." She then looked at a large brown sheet that was covering something in the corner of the hanger. "That should be it. Come on."

They walked up to it and looked around before ducking under the blanket. He and his wife clicked on their flashlights and looked at the aircraft. He whistled while nodding, "I like this, do you think I will be able to keep it once we are done?"

—-------------------

The guns flew in the air before being tossed into a pile while the Hydra goons were shocked for a moment before the soldiers seized them. Jean ignored them and continued walking towards the warehouse.

She could hear it all, the chorus of voices screaming for help. They were coming from deep beneath the ground. Probably inside the actual facility, both mutants and normal people. She could also hear the voice of a more sinister mind.

I could still escape. I might lose this facility but if I appealed to one of the others I could continue this research. I could even go into hiding inside the Canadian or South American facility. Worst Case scenario I have to head all the way to Sokovia to the storage facility. Regardless, I will have to escape the facility using a helicopter or something else.

Jean frowned as she pulled the doors off their hinges. Walking into the fake warehouse. "We have a problem, the head of the facility. A 'Doctor Faustus' plans to escape the place through a hanger. But I do not remember seeing them on the blueprints we obtained." As she walked she effortlessly tossed aside goons like they were nothing. For a while now she has felt completely in control of her powers, it was strange. She never realized she was so strong before.

"We will start making our way there now. Tony please direct us. Will you be joining us, Miss Grey?" Captain America asked over the comlink.

"No, they have a bunch of kidnaped people down there. I also think most of their mutants are under mind control, so keep that in mind when dealing with a mutant at this place." She answered before she walked to an elevator that opened up to a large group of goons.

They were stunned for a moment but she gritted her teeth and the whole group flew behind her flying through windows and into the metal walls. She stepped onto the large elevator and clicked the bottom floor button with her telepathy.

It was time to free those children and get them home to their families.

—------------------

He jogged into the hanger, unbothered despite his mask. As he ran in he started going to the corner where a brown sheet was fluttering. Halfway there the whole hanger shook and light began to spill in as the roof began retracting.

Seems that someone had organized enough to know they had to escape. That device might be a good distraction in case Iron Man gave them any issues. Either way it was always a toss up if they could escape unscathed.

As he jogged he saw a cart of strange black ores, he had this instinct that they would be useful. He also remembered seeing something similar recently. So he began pushing it, unperturbed since the cart was unattended.

As he got to the sheet he pulled it up and pushed the cart under. Immediately being met with the barrel of a submachine gun. But it was retracted a moment later as his mother looked at the cart he had brought with curiosity.

"I thought we had to leave right away. Why did you bring this?" She nodded to the cart.

"We can't and I decided I might as well steal something useful. Come on, help me move these containers aboard. We can take off in three minutes once the hangar door is completely open." He explained before moving a box into the aircraft.