Warning ⚠️: This book contains graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised.

"Mister Spencer. It has been awhile." Nathan visibly stiffened from where he was making his bed, green eyes growing wide at the familiar voice as he turned slowly to gaze at the figure who slowly pushed the hotel door shut behind them.

"How did you find me?" Nathan murmured as his eyes darted around the room for anything he could use as a weapon, his heart pounding loudly in his ears as he watched the male flick on the overhead light.

"You really thought that you could enlist into the military... Which we work for... And we wouldn't find out?" Axle ducked to avoid hitting his head on the doorframe as he walked into the bedroom where Nathan now stood, the raven haired male resting his hand on the lamp next to his bed in case he needed to use it as a weapon.

"So what happens now then? You here to kill me? Because taking me back isn't an option." Nathan narrowed his eyes as Axle released an amused chuckle which rumbled from deep within his incredibly broad chest.

"You may very well change your mind when you hear what we have to offer." Axle sat in an extremely ugly green armchair which creaked loudly beneath his weight as he crossed his large arms over his chest.

"I sincerely doubt that anything you have to say is worth my time." Nathan snapped which didn't seem to faze Axle at all as he tossed a large file at Nathan which landed easily on the bed beside him.

"Oh. I think you'll find that it is." Axle grumbled out as Nathan leaned over to pick up the file, a smirk crossing Axle's scarred face as Nathan's eyes widened from the moment he opened the large file.

"I'm listening." Nathan said as he sat on the bed, all danger forgotten as he pulled out a picture of the familiar brunette that he was willing to sacrifice every moment of his time for. A picture of the one woman he'd never stopped thinking about since the moment he was taken... Mikala.

_-*-_

"So, let me get this straight... You want me to go save your little experiments because you didn't properly have a plan C? Doing little side jobs was not a part of our deal, Maggy." The Boss gritted her teeth at the ridiculous nickname that Alaric had used, green eyes flashing with annoyance but she inhaled quietly to calm herself. She needed him, that much she already knew.

He was untouchable and they both knew it, not even the gun she had strapped under her desk could kill him. As far as she knew, nothing could... Which made him as dangerous as he was valuable to her.

"The plan did not go as we had planned. I cannot have my assets compromised when so many already are. I do not wish to alarm my benefactors by having so much product missing at one time." Alaric cocked an eyebrow as Magdalene leaned back in her chair, interlocking her fingers as she lay her hands on the desk in front of her.

"Calling literal people assets is dark, even for me... And I killed my wife. So that says a lot about you as a person. But then again you experiment on your own children so I can't say I'm surprised. The evil thing is kinda hot. Not gonna lie..." Alaric paused as he tapped his chin thoughtfully, the glass coating his body creating a very irritating clink as they collided, Magdalene very quickly losing the patience she so desperately needed with every grating sound that the glass made.

"What's in it for me?" Alaric finally answered, Magdalene sitting straighter in his chair as the male seemed to magically appear inches away from her, now leaned towards her as he had his hands placed on the desk in front of him for support, his golden eyes boring into her with the same dangerous glint that they always seemed to have.

"What do you want?" Magdalene gritted out, not daring to lean away from the much larger male despite the fact his face was barely a foot from hers, the light glinting off of what little glass was revealed beneath his hood. She temporarily found herself wondering why exactly the male was even using his alternate form to walk around right now, considering they were the only two in the room and everyone else already knew what he looked like.

"I don't like that people are recognizing me sheerly for the fact that your realm's version of me works here. Sure, I'm significantly more handsome but the more people talk, the more likely someone comes to ruin my plans. Which is why aside from you hurrying along my results... When this is all said and done... I want him." Magdalene didn't need clarification on what he meant but she silently cursed herself for allowing a moment of weakness that was long enough for him to read her mind.

"You want Doyle? For what purpose exactly? To kill him?" Magdalene found herself asking despite not necessarily caring, but she couldn't help but be curious as to why exactly it bothered Alaric to be mistaken for Doyle. Considering the two men did not look very much alike, the similarities of course were there, as they were the same people but from different realms, but the differences stuck out much more than the similarities did.

"Of course. There's enough of me to go around already, two in the same realm would cause... Problems. As you have already seen. I intend to stay here... I quite enjoy the sunshine and steady access to clean water. Plus, have you tried ice cream? Delicious. Absolutely delicious. So should a third version of me find their way into this realm... Well... You don't want to know what would happen. It wouldn't be pretty." Magdalene had a feeling that Alaric wasn't being fully honest with her about his reasoning for wanting Doyle out of the picture but she didn't care enough to pry, nor did it put a dent in any of her plans for Doyle to be removed from the equation so losing one measly scientist would not affect her... Especially if Doyle completed the serum before David achieved Alaric's request. It would save her the trouble of having to dispose of Doyle herself once his work was over...

"You have yourself a deal, Mister Valencia. But, you may only have him when he no longer becomes of use to me." Magdalene watched as Alaric gritted his teeth, his eyes glowing from beneath his hood but his gaze was not focused on her anymore, he was thinking over her response... That much was obvious, but something told her he was thinking about more than the details of their conversation.

"You cannot keep her around forever, Evie. I know you think you need her but she's not even from this realm. She may be from a timeline very similar to this one but that does not mean you need her. The time turner has messed up your realm so much that any more... fixes... will not be put into place. Not until all foreign invaders are taken care of... Meaning... Should she mess up your plan... We would be... How do I put this... Screwed. Not even I can bypass a relativity disruption... Not yet, anyway. Not without taking every single person that hitched a ride with that reject of a time turner back to the realm they belong to... Or by killing them. But considering I don't want to waste my time on taking your new friend back to her realm... I'd say get comfortable with the idea of doing your dirty work by yourself again." Alaric didn't look at Magdalene as he straightened his stance, Magdalene narrowing her dark green eyes at the male who ignored her glare as he instead continued with his warning.

"That Eve has nothing left to lose. I've been to her realm. You may be evil but deep down inside you're still a mother. And you didn't let them harm him as much as they could've. So, I believe you still love your son. She does not. She does not care about anything or anyone anymore. She has become so consumed with revenge and hate that she..." Alaric paused much to Magdalene's annoyance as she waited impatiently for him to resume his speech, not wanting to prod him to continue for fear that he'd take the fact that she very much wanted to hear what he had to say as a sign of weakness.

A puff of red smoke erupted around them, causing a scoff of annoyance to escape Magdalene's lips as she had come to figure out just what it meant when that happened.

The door opened as the smoke cleared the room, revealing that Alaric had indeed teleported from the room. The older Magdalene stepped into the room, slightly lighter eyes scanning the room suspiciously before her ever fading gaze flicked to where her younger self typed on her computer as to not arouse any suspicion from the older woman.

"Here by yourself for once?" The older woman questioned as she sauntered into the room, her posture and stance reminding her younger self of a cat stalking her prey. She couldn't help but wonder if she too walked like that, but she brushed off the thought as she lifted her gaze slowly to meet the graying eyes of the woman in front of her.

"Did you find out the information I requested you to look into?" Eve asked rather sharply, thankful that her normal tone was always cold and sharp like a dagger as she did not want her doppelgänger to realize that her comment had struck a nerve. She realized that she was spending more and more time with Axle, but the male was a good way to relieve stress. Nothing more.

There had been countless men before him and there would be more in the future once her husband no longer became useful to her. Axle was no different. He was a pawn in her game of chess. They all were. He meant nothing to her.

"Ye of little faith, dear. Of course I got the information you requested... You are welcome." Older Magdalene tossed a large binder onto her younger self's desk, Eve cocking an eyebrow as dust billowed from the file as it hit the previously clean surface of her mahogany desk.

"You really need to hire a maid or something. The old files are simply atrocious... And incredibly irritating to access. I mean, really, darling... I transferred all of my older files onto an electronic filing system in my realm. Having a... guard dog protecting such important files is such a supervillain cliché." Magdalene tutted while Eve simply rolled her eyes, flipping open the binder before she pulled the papers within closer to her.

"Those files are too important to have saved anywhere... One hacker could steal my entire life if they wanted to. But of course I have my ways of stopping that... I just choose to keep my files on hand under the protection of my pet." Eve's dark eyes darted across the pages as she studied the pages for the specific information she was searching for, growing increasingly annoyed with how messy and confusing her ex husband's notes were.

"So, we have absolutely no way of contacting him then?" Magdalene questioned as she walked closer to her younger self, having already scoured through the notes in an attempt to gather what information she would need to follow through with her plans, before handing the files off to her identical counterpart. She had never met this man in her realm, nor did she know anything about him... Let alone this mysterious masked vigilante that her doppelgänger insisted upon recruiting... Obsidian. This whole realm was so much different to her own... Her plans could become complicated should more surprises make their way into this new realm.

"You of all people should know better than that. I always have a backup plan." Eve scoffed as she finally hesitated on the very page that Magdalene had skipped over due to how irrelevant and messy the notes were.

Eve slid open a drawer to her desk, pulling out a small pen and notebook, gently setting the dark green notebook onto the desk as she leaned closer to the file before smirking.

"He may have been a distraction, but there's no denying how smart Jonathan was." Eve kept her gaze focused on the file as she began to write out the phone number Jonathan had hidden amongst all of his mad ravings.

"How do you know the number will even work?" Magdalene scoffed but Eve ignored her as she gently lifted the black phone from its receiver, dialing the number rather quickly before leaning back in her chair while she waited impatiently for the man to answer.

"No, unfortunately Jonathan passed away some time ago. This is his widow. I would like to speak to you about an old friend of yours... Alaric Valencia?" A smirk appeared on Eve's blood red lips as she spoke, Magdalene cocking an eyebrow in her sheer surprise that the correct person even answered... Especially after all this time.

He must not be very tech savvy.

"Yes, you see... I have heard you know how to kill him. We'd like your help in doing so...." Eve chuckled darkly as she slowly tore the number from the notebook, letting it slide through the paper shredder beside her desk as she listened to the male's reply.

_-*-_

"Why they think I need your help is far beyond my understanding. You cannot possibly hold a candle to the research I've done within my time here. You, on the other hand... Well... Just what have you accomplished, Bellefree?" David rolled his eyes, not bothering to turn and face Doyle as he instead focused his attention on the microscope in front of himself.

"That's classified information." David's reply caused Doyle to scoff as he leaned back on the wall, watching David peer intently into the microscope at the sample within the Petri dish.

"We've done it... It worked..." David whispered as he raised his head, turning to look at Doyle who looked equally as shocked as David did.

"But I didn't replicate the Kronos serum yet. How did it work if there's no stabilizer?" Doyle hissed out as he shoved past David, peering through the lens instead as his face grew pale at the realization that David was correct.

"I built an artificial stabilizer. All I needed you to do was replicate the serum in its rawest form. It won't have the same effects as the Kronos serum but it will do for now. We can start work on what Alaric asked for... To give me more time on the research what the boss requested." Doyle's eyes darkened as his gaze flicked to David who gaged Doyle's reaction closely, the younger male taking a step back as Doyle straightened his stance.

"You built a stabilizer? How?" Doyle gritted out as his eyes seemed to darken to almost black, the male's reaction being exactly what David had been expecting. Doyle had a habit of getting angry if someone upstaged him in the slightest bit, so the fact David had built a prototype of something that had taken Doyle years to make would most definitely cause him to throw a toddler tantrum.

"It's not anywhere close to being what the Kronos serum is, but I read your notes and threw together something that could stabilize low level powers just enough to keep them from killing their host. I used the same methods that we used for the newer guards as well as the older guards, to create the perfect canvas before I applied the serum and stabilizer. They won't be as powerful as the lost assets but it'll buy us some time. As much as I hate you and everything you stand for, I have to admit that I wouldn't be able to replicate your work fully. Not without your notes... And a test subject that has the serum in their veins. Both versions..." David trailed off as the words felt bitter on his tongue, though the words were true it did not mean he enjoyed complimenting this monster.

"The first version wasn't quite as perfect as the second. It was more of a... Prequel... For what was to come. The grand finale is what happens with multiple injections with the Kronos serum. Unfortunately I only managed to inject myself once before I had to wipe all of my research..." Doyle's eyes remained dark as he watched David with an expression that unnerved the younger male, biting at the skin inside of his check to fight the sudden unease he felt at being in the same room as Doyle.

He knew what this man was capable of... He'd seen it firsthand. He'd felt the pain of Doyle's anger, having to deal with the loss of his family all because Doyle did not like to lose what he thought was his.

Now that he had powers... David could only imagine what exactly Doyle had planned... Especially for himself. After all... He was the competition in Doyle's eyes.

"I suppose I should alert the boss to our success, then..." Doyle's response shocked David, his unnaturally blue eyes wrinkling a bit along the sides as he squinted at the male in front of him who turned to make his way over to the phone on David's desk.

To be completely honest, David had mentally prepared himself for Doyle to yell at him or lose his cool completely and attack... Doyle being calm about David beating him in his own work was not what he had been expecting... At all.

"You got it to work?" Alaric's deep voice caused David to jump in surprise as he whipped around to face the much larger male who peered down at David, golden eyes glowing beneath his dark hood as his pointed teeth glinted in the light, the smirk taunting David's reaction but the scientist quickly cleared his throat as he narrowed his eyes at Alaric.

"Yes. We can now combine two strands of meta DNA. But without the Kronos serum, we will not be able to add any more DNA traces than two. I hope that is satisfactory for your end of the deal." Alaric gave no reply as he seemed to contemplate David's answer, the fabric of his trench coat making a groaning sound as the large male inhaled deeply before leaning against the wall next to himself.

"We shall see. I will let you know if you succeed. But for now..." Obsidian began to shrink in height, still towering over David by quite a bit as the glass seemed to slide back into his skin.

David cringed as he watched the transformation, wondering if the process of becoming Obsidian hurt... It definitely didn't look enjoyable.

"You get used to it. Can't be a leader and also show weakness." Alaric answered the question that David had yet to ask, the much taller male sliding off the hood as his neon green gaze shot to where Doyle talked on the phone a bit farther away.

"A leader?" David found himself questioning before he could restrain himself, noticing how Alaric seemed quite a bit more uncomfortable than he had looked before but all emotion was immediately gone from his face as his gaze flicked to David instead.

"Yes. But that was a long time ago. I want you to combine two DNA strands. That was my deal with Magdalene. You will update me on the results when you receive them." Alaric ordered in a much lower voice, David arching his eyebrows as he wondered what exactly the male could possibly want with a clone when he was the most powerful meta that David had met so far.

"Who's DNA would you like me to use?" David questioned as he walked over to the samples, watching Alaric closely as the male moved to pick up an empty vial before he lifted his thumb to prick it against his fangs.

"Mine." Alaric's answer annoyed David a bit as the male had basically already answered his question as he began to fill a vial with his own blood.

"You know, you should really come up with a better name than clones. They're not clones. Clone are genetically identical to one organism. Yours have two. Call them something like... Dyad. That's a lot cooler." Alaric put a lid on the vial before he handed it to David, turning his gaze back to Doyle who now watched the two from where he still stood in front of the phone.

"Get out." Alaric's eyes glowed gold as he flashed his fangs at Doyle who immediately straightened his stance, knowing better than to argue as he shot David a glare before he turned to leave the room.

Alaric's eyes flashed a solid bright blue as the door slammed shut behind Doyle, the sound of the lock turning made David a tad bit uncomfortable but he said nothing as Alaric turned back to him.

"I hate that guy." A laugh escaped David's lips as Alaric spoke, the much taller male's words surprising him a bit but he quickly released a cough in a vague attempt to hide his amusement.

"Aren't you him from a different realm, though?" David questioned as he picked up an eye dropper to get a small sample of Alaric's blood from the vial.

"That does not mean I have to like him. I'm vain but I'm not that vain.... Well... Maybe. He's creepy, though. He's always looking at me with those creepy eyes and that creepy stare. He's just CREEPY, man. If I could kill him now, I would." Alaric snarled before he rolled his neck, seeming to mentally prepare himself for something as David began to label to vial, not noticing the look of discomfort on Alaric's face as he continued to work.

"I don't think there would be anyone rushing to stop you. Well, expect for a few of his Stockholm victims. Now, I need to know who the second sample will be and soon... We don't have a lot of time." David put away the vial as he turned his attention to Alaric, pausing when he saw the look on the male's face.

"Sorry, voice in my head gives me problems when I do this." David opened his mouth to question what Alaric meant but no sound escaped him as he watched Alaric begin to shrink in height, cracking sounds filling the air as his face contorted and snapped into a more feminine appearance. His neon green eyes darkened, fading to a startling blood red while his tattoos began to fade as his skin paled.

"I didn't know you could do that. That was a little weird." David finally muttered as the woman in front of him shook out her short, curly, black hair before her blood red gaze flicked to David once again.

"I can turn into a giant, bulletproof, glass statue, but me turning into my dead ex wife is weird?" Alaric deadpanned, voice now a husky feminine one rather than the deep baritone that he normally had.

"Well, it's weird because your dead ex wife in this realm is part of the reason we had so many experiments escape. She's also the one we need to continue the experiments for the frontlines." David studied Alaric closely, slightly amused at how difficult it was for the meta to move beneath the trench coat that was now much too large for him...Her? Him?

"I'm fully aware of that. That is also why I made that weirdo leave. I know he's infatuated with her. It's a common thing with us I suppose. She's our muse." Alaric lifted another vial, repeating the process he had done earlier before he handed the now full beaker to David, clenching his fists as he began to slowly change back into his normal form.

"Then why did you kill her?" David immediately regretted the question as Alaric's eyes seemed to turn black for a moment before they flashed to neon green once again.

"Excellent question. Has an even better answer but unfortunately I don't have time to answer. Get to work." Alaric flashed his fangs in warning before he turned as if to leave but David cleared his throat rather awkwardly.

"Will her DNA even be different than yours? Since you changed into her and it's not her actual DNA.... Won't it just be your DNA twice?" David scratched the back of his neck as Alaric released a loud sigh of annoyance, rubbing his face as he mumbled something under his breath.

"No. I wouldn't have even revealed the fact I can do that if the DNA didn't work. Honestly, man. You could've just checked." Obsidian scoffed before an explosion of blood red smoke filled the room, causing a flurry of coughs to escape David's throat at the burning sensation that filled his lungs.

"Could've warned me to step back." David choked out as he rubbed at his eyes, his face slightly red now as he turned his attention to the Petri dish that he had yet to put away.

David bit his lip as he set the Petri dish aside, putting Alaric's DNA sample onto a small slide, peering through the microscope as he adjusted the dials on the side.

"Oh... Interesting...." David murmured as he hurried over to his desk, grabbing the phone before he dialed a number as he slid open a drawer to grab a keycard which lay concealed beneath a Dalmatian bobble head.

"Hey, it's me. I need you to get to my office... Now. You won't believe what I've got." David whispered, making sure that he was turned in the opposite direction of the security camera in his office.

"Yes, I realize how much trouble you have... Just get in here as quickly as possible." David groaned before he set the phone back into the receiver before he quickly turned to unlock a large filing cabinet next to blood samples.

The keypad blinked to life as David inserted the card, the male entering a password rather quickly before he slid open one of the drawers, removing a rather thick yellow folder before sliding the drawer closed once again.

David's gaze flicked to the security camera, his eyebrows arching as he grabbed a chair, moving it beneath the camera as he climbed up to examine the cracked lens.

"Who...?" David murmured as he slowly ran his finger over the glass, realizing that the glass was completely shattered from the inside, out.

"Alaric." David deduced as he slowly climbed from the chair, taking the opportunity that Alaric had given him to comb over the file he had laid out on his desk.

The clock behind his desk ticked loudly as he poured over the file, making sure he had every single detail memorized before his accomplice got there, the ticking seeming to grow louder the more he waited.

The rattling of the doorknob to his office alerted him that he had forgotten to unlock the door from when Alaric had locked it the first time, the male quickly hurrying over to let Doctor Banner into the room.

"Only twenty minutes. You rushed." David teased as the old male shot him a glare, watching as David quickly locked the door behind himself once again before he began to make his way back towards his office.

"I'm seventy years old, David. Give me credit where credit is due. It's not easy to run on these." Doctor Banner rubbed at his legs as he hobbled after David, glancing at the chair placed beneath the security camera as he entered.

"She won't be happy about you smashing that camera, Bellefree." Doctor Banner commented as he leaned heavily on David's desk, not bothering to glance at the file quite yet as he knew David well enough to expect a long and detailed explanation about what exactly he needed the older male for.

"Alaric did that. Which is why you're here, actually. Did you know he was a shapeshifter?" David kept his voice low as he peered through the microscope once again, adjusting the dials on the side to get a closer look.

"I thought that was quite obvious in the way he turns into a-" Doctor Banner began to say but a groan of annoyance from David cut him off as the younger male motioned his fellow scientist over.

"Just take a look at this and listen to me. I knew he had physical matter manipulation, but not straight up shapeshifting. He turned into his ex wife. Weird, I know. But... The point is he almost completely changed his DNA to match her. While I was waiting for you, I've been reviewing files and I reviewed both samples side by side and they're almost completely different. There's no indication at all aside from one singular DNA strand that they're even the same person. The only thing that matches is the evolved cell within the strand. The one that shows they've unlocked their powers? That's a perfect match of course, but otherwise I couldn't look at these two samples and think they had anything to do with each other... Nor would I look at them and think they were from the same person." Doctor Banner was silent as David rambled on, the older male only peering through the lens of the microscope as he listened intently to what David was saying.

"I know what you're thinking, David. But you will never get back what you once had. Not really. Damian and Ella are gone... And as for your unborn daughter... Well... You never got the chance to me her. I understand that you want to see your children grow up but you get to see that in Madelyn. I will never be able to get back what was taken from me and neither will you. I miss my son despite never being able to meet him but that does not mean I would try to clone him. What happened.... Was tragic beyond all belief and I morn with you. Truly I do. But you cannot bring your children back. You cannot replace them like that." Doctor Banner's words caused David to stiffen from where he stood, taking a large breath before he slowly straightened his stance.

"He was only two years old, Banner. I stayed up countless nights at his bedside just to make sure he was breathing... Just to look at him and admire how beautiful my son was. Just as I did and still do with Madelyn. I love Madelyn to no end and am in no way saying she's not enough. She's more than enough. But Doyle robbing me of seeing my boy grow up and have a family of his own someday... It's unforgivable. But that's not why I called you here. I'm saying... Perhaps with Alaric's DNA we could begin trials to try and mimic the ability of full DNA shape shifting. You and I both know that there has only been one instance of that aside from Alaric but without her here, we can't replicate it. Maybe with this... We can figure out how to stop their DNA from completely degrading. Physical matter manipulation was an amazing step up but this would be a stride. We could possibly even actually save lives with this... So... Will you help me?" David finally turned to Doctor Banner with a pain in his eyes that the older male understood to the most heartbreaking extent.

After all, some scars may fade but they will still be there in the end. A small memory of what once was.

"Of course, David. Of course I will." Doctor Banner agreed after a moment, something in his voice causing David to falter as his words seemed to hold an underlying promise for the future.