Faculty Wing – Horizon University
The halls were quiet at night, only the low hum of cooling vents and the faint glow of holographic panels casting blue light across polished floors. Steel leaned against the wall outside the biology offices, arms crossed, eyes narrowed.
Essex's footsteps faded down the corridor. Too steady. Too rehearsed.
Steel muttered under his breath, "Essex… why does that name sound like it belongs in a comic I read back home?" He shook his head, though unease lingered like static in his chest.
Deadpool meta-cut:
"Bingo! We've hit the part of the story where the reincarnated comic nerd finally remembers the guy's a capital-V Villain. I give it three more chapters before someone finds a cloning vat with a sticky note that says 'property of Mr. Sinister.'"
Steel pulled out his comm-band, a sleek wrist device patched into his custom network. He hesitated before pressing the encrypted channel labeled Red Ledger.
A familiar voice answered, cautious but sharp: "You kept this line alive."
Steel smirked faintly. "Of course. Ghana wasn't the end, Nat. Just the beginning."
Silence stretched on the other end. Then: "You shouldn't be calling me. You know what the Red Room does when they find out someone tampered with their assets."
Steel's tone softened. "That serum I told you about — the Extremis splice with my bio-template. It's ready. Not just a patch job. A reversal. Your body, your choice. No strings."
Natasha exhaled sharply, the sound half laugh, half bitter. "You sound like you're selling hope."
"Not selling," Steel replied. "Offering."
Another silence. Then: "Why now?"
Steel's gaze flicked back toward Essex's door. "Because there's someone here, I don't trust. Someone who makes me feel like Ghana all over again. Like we're pawns on somebody else's board."
Deadpool meta-cut:
"Ohhh, cryptic paranoia! Ten points to Gryffindor. Also, raise your hand if you immediately pictured Essex in a dark room, swirling a glass of wine while monologuing about 'refining the human genome.' Yeah, me too."
Natasha's voice hardened. "Send the data. I'll look it over. But don't make promises you can't keep, Steel."
"I don't make promises," he said quietly. "I make backups."
The line went dead.
Steel's Quarters – Later
Alloy's projection hovered nearby, faint turquoise against the dark room. "You think Nat'll take the deal?"
"She'll test it six ways before she even thinks about it," Steel said, pulling up encrypted files. "That's what I want. She's cautious. She'll see if I missed anything."
Alloy's lens blinked. "And Essex?"
Steel stared at the name on his console: Nathaniel Essex, Professor of Advanced Biology. His jaw tightened.
"Too polished. Too clean. And I've seen that name before."
Deadpool meta-cut:
"DUN-DUN-DUN! Insert ominous violin sting here. Readers, please note: when a man reincarnated from a comic-reading universe recognizes your surname, it's basically the Marvel multiverse version of someone yelling 'RUN!'"
Steel shut down the console, the room plunging into darkness.
In the silence, a thought burned in his mind: If Essex is who I think he is, Horizon isn't a university anymore. It's been turned into a hunting ground.