"Where are you going, William Stryker?"
Kurogai Alexander Blackwood stepped out of the shadows with a faint smirk. A moment earlier, his enhanced perception had picked up Stryker's movements — the man was preparing to slip away unnoticed. Unfortunately for Stryker, Kurogai happened to be nearby.
"You… it's you. Kurogai, the mutant."
For a moment, Stryker looked caught off guard. Then recognition flashed in his eyes. Blackwood had caused enough chaos to be remembered by name, even among high-ranking military officials. But what truly unnerved Stryker was the fact that he didn't recall Kurogai being part of Xavier's roster. Yet here he was, standing in the middle of the chaos.
"That… that giant of living flame outside the base — that was you, wasn't it?"
Kurogai's lips curled faintly. "Good guess."
That subtle confirmation made Stryker's pupils tighten. Suspecting the truth was one thing, but hearing it confirmed by the man himself was another entirely.
"I have a question for you, Stryker," Kurogai continued, his tone casual but his gaze sharp. "How did you find the location of Xavier's School and manage to capture Professor Xavier alive?"
By Kurogai's own calculations, this shouldn't have been possible. Magneto had already been dealt with, which removed one of Stryker's possible sources. Without him, Stryker had no means of pinpointing the school's location — and yet, here they were. The events unfolding shouldn't exist… and that was precisely why Kurogai had confronted the man instead of simply killing him.
"I don't… understand what you mean," Stryker said stiffly, though his eyes betrayed a flicker of recognition.
"Interesting. You do know something. Let's skip the part where you lie to me and get straight to the truth."
A cold glint passed through Kurogai's eyes as he wove an illusion into Stryker's mind. The man's resistance crumbled instantly.
"A man in black appeared before me," Stryker admitted flatly, his voice stripped of emotion under Kurogai's mental control. "He told me everything — the school's location, Xavier's vulnerability. I don't know why he wanted this, but I acted on it… and it worked. I caught Xavier, and from there, the rest of the plan took shape."
Kurogai frowned. "A man in black? Did he say who he was? Was this aimed at mutants in general, the X-Men specifically… or at me?"
The lack of details frustrated him. According to Stryker's memory, the stranger had appeared only once, delivered his instructions, and vanished without a trace. Whoever this "man in black" was, he was deliberate, calculated, and apparently uninterested in revealing his hand.
"This isn't simple," Kurogai murmured to himself. His instincts screamed that this was no random scheme. He filed the matter away in the part of his mind reserved for problems that required ruthless follow-up.
Stryker blinked as awareness returned to him. "What… what did you do to me?" His voice trembled with a mix of anger and fear.
Kurogai gave him a bored look.
"We don't need to fight, Blackwood. The dam's about to collapse — if you stay here, you're not getting out alive. Leave now, and maybe you'll live," Stryker said, trying to sound pragmatic rather than desperate.
"Collapse, huh?" Kurogai's smirk returned. "Then I'd better speed things up."
He walked past Stryker without another glance. Stryker exhaled in relief, thinking he'd been spared…
Then a flaming arrow tore through his chest, exploding into an inferno that consumed him where he stood.
"I said I'd speed things up," Kurogai remarked without looking back, "but I never said you'd be part of the plan."
He stepped into the chamber housing the Cerebro unit. Inside, Storm had just burst in, breaking Jason Stryker's control over Xavier and snapping the Professor back to reality.
"Professor," Kurogai greeted lightly, "it's been a while. I didn't expect to find you in such a mess."
Xavier gave a weary smile. "Kurogai… I didn't expect this either. Is Jean all right?"
"We're fine. But this dam's coming down — you planning to catch up here?" Kurogai's eyes briefly shifted to Jason, sitting motionless in his wheelchair, the deep scar on his forehead betraying years of experimentation. One of Kurogai's secondary objectives, standing right there, ripe for the taking.
"Yes… let's get out first," Xavier agreed.
They didn't get the chance to plan. The dam burst in a deafening roar, water surging through the corridors. In the original timeline, there might have been time to escape, but Kurogai's earlier battle had destabilized the structure beyond recovery.
"Damn it — what now?" Storm's voice was tight with panic.
Kurogai glanced at them, calm as ever. "You could come with me. I don't work for free, but my rates are worth it."
With a gesture, he tore open a swirling portal of shimmering light, the air crackling with power.