5 Issue #5: X, The Incarcerated.

Advanced chapters in my Pat.reon.

Pat.reon.com/Saintbarbido.

::-------------------------::

(Kane's P.O.V)

It was cold where I woke up. The slow drip of water falling in drops above my head echoed out.

I sniffed instinctively.

Mmh. It was also moldy and dark. But my eyes were somehow quickly adjusting to the darkness.

"Huh. Thought I'd be dead."

A whisper escaped my lips.

I blinked, finally able to gaze around clearly.

For starters it was damp. The aforementioned mold covered the edges of a cell with a layer of green.

The cell was built upon by stacking boulders on top of each other.

From close by, the roar of an underground river made the boulders tremble and hum.

I see, that was where the water drops were coming from.

That was only half of the cell's design.

Iron bars, rusted with age Obstructed my front, leaving me confined in a dark, wet cell with chains attached to my wrists.

Not the best of circumstances.

Though I wonder, why let me live? The only reason I could think of, was that my gamble had paid of. I had preyed on Diana's need and succeeded.

"Thank you."

My voice resonated across the cell.

A moment passed. My chains clanged as I sat up straighter, facing Her.

Her scent was just too noticeable now. Besides my eyes could trace the curve of her chin.

"You said I was different."

Diana replied coolly.

"What made you think so?"

I narrowed my eyes. She was different somehow.

Colder perhaps. Though that doesn't mean much when I've only talked to her once.

"The fact that I'm alive says it all."

I responded, earning a single blink from her.

"It was but a mistake."

She unsheathed her sword.

"One that I can rectify immediately."

My chains rattled.

"Why are you really here, Princess? You seem to have questions."

I told her bluntly.

"Ask whatever you want."

Bam.

Diana grabbed the bars of the cell, causing the sound to echo out loudly.

I winced in pain as my sensitive hearing having been enhanced by the Spider bite, made the experience painful.

"Who. Are. You?!"

She demanded.

"I need to know who it is I defend. You promise me the outside world and the allure got the better of me, I admit. But I need more than that. Who are you really?"

She was...heated.

But then again, I cannot fault her. She has likely defied her people's rules and gone against the masses to keep me alive.

It makes sense she would look for a reason to make it all worth it.

I sighed, snapping off the chains holding my wrists by pulling on them lightly.

The chain links fell to the ground, ringing as the metal struck stone.

Diana watched it all without a word. She had seen my strength first hand. This wasn't surprising to her.

I casually delved into my trouser pocket, sighing when I failed to find my packet of cigarettes. I never lit one, only placing the cig on my lips without igniting it.

I ran my hand through my head.

"My name is Kane. Code name, X. I'm a harboiled Contract Killer who got stranded on your Island by mistake. I think our craft clashed at sea and I was the only survivor."

That was the most about me I'd ever told anyone. Surprisingly enough all of it was true.

The bars in Diana's grip twisted as she slowly exerted force.

"A hardboiled contract killer?"

She questioned, studying my face for deception.

"Hey, it pays the bills."

I shrugged before falling silent, matching her gaze with a bored look.

"Okay, I believe you."

She said, letting go of the bars and stepping back.

My brows rose up. That was fast.

"Now, let's discuss your situation."

Her demeanor changed.

"A man in Themiscyra warrants immediate execution. But luckily, killing is explicitly forbidden following the week after The Thesmophoria. Which means you have about 7 days until the council decides on your execution."

Execution? That's not very nice.

"Can't you guys let me go? We can even make a deal. I can kill someone for you and we can sweep all this under the rag."

I offered.

Diana shook her head.

"No. The Law is universal. The only way out of this is through the Council's vote and my mother's decision. I'll use this week to plead your case."

She smiled.

"Fear not Kane of man's world. We Amazonians are proud and valiant. But also merciful and kind."

An image of a raving bald Amazon came to mind. Yeah...nah.

I held up my hands.

"I can break out of here at any time. You saw what I did to the chains. What makes you think I'll sit around and wait to die?"

She wasn't making sense.

Unexpectedly, a grin spread across Diana's face.

"Remember what you said when I spared your life? 'Help me live, and I'll owe you a favor.' A peculiar way to phrase it, but I assume that was a promise?"

I tilted ny head, staring at her with mockery.

"I kill for money. That essentially makes me a deplorable human being. What makes you think I'll honor something as cheap as a promise?"

Diana's grin widened even further.

"That's precisely it. I'd wager on the Styx that your word holds weight. Since you owe me, I propose you stay here for the next seven days until I can clean up this mess."

Strangely enough, my initial thought wasn't to refuse.

Seven days would give me enough prep time to plan out my escape. Diana had merely extended my death. That I was sure of.

I was willing to bet on the Styx that I didn't possess Steve Trevor's plot armor.

So trusting on things working out or Diana simply handling it was not going to cut it.

'Six days to get better at handling whatever new abilities I had. Then on the last day...I'm bursting out regardless of what the verdict turns out to be.'

"I will need food. And water. Lots of both. If I'm going to die, at least I'll go out fully fed."

I made a stipulation, one that had her blinking strangely.

"Of course. I shall organize it. Some of my sisters agree with me."

Diana informed me with a nod.

The food was actually for nutrition during my week long stay. I planned on using that time well.

"Oh and one more thing...can you transfer me to a bigger cell?"

I needed something spacious for training.

Diana stared at me sternly.

"I trust you will keep your word, And not hurt any of my sisters? "

"Yes."

I responded after a short pause. As long as they didn't try to kill me first.

She sighed in relief.

"Then I'll shall handle everything you need."

Her steps faded away as she left, leaving me alone to ruminate on my thoughts.

I stared down at my fists. The muscles were jutting with veins. And my fingers...they felt strong enough to rip apart steel.

I jabbed them onto the floor, easily boring five perfect holes onto the stone ground.

My entire body sang with power. If the dregs of energy I was feeling before were like a car battery, I was now connected to the fucking power grid.

Strength pulsed within every inch of my skin.

Like an electric charge, crackling up my spine, feeding into my musculature.

Diana knew I hadn't lied when I said I could break out if I wanted. Fortunately for her, I wouldn't go back on my word.

In addition, another problem had to be handled first. I needed to secure a way out of the Island.

Without the means to high tail it, even if I left the Cell, I would still be stuck on the Island.

Mmmh. Maybe I could swim back to civilization? But could I handle the sea at its worst and survive?

Themiscyra was hidden in the Bermuda Triangle and the weather patterns here were crazy.

Let's put that plan under last resort.

In the meantime, the objective hadn't changed. It was all about survival.

Diana had informed me on the Senate meeting, and how I had six days until they made a verdict.

The seventh would technically be the day of my execution. Her promise only held until just before that.

7 days to my death.

6 days to my escape.

I like those odds. Beats running around a strange island with women chasing after you...actually, that doesn't sound so bad.

Focus.

In relation to my stronger body and the abilities I had,

A weird blue box had appeared a few seconds after I had woken up in the cell.

Throughout my talk with Diana, the blue panel had remained, relegated to the corners of my vision. It felt easily accessible. Connected to my intent.

I could chose to ignore it. Which is what I had been doing during my conversation with Diana.

But now. Now it was time to figure out what it was.

My new immediate goal was to new goal was to grow self sufficient enough that I could take out Diana.

She was my new peak.

I flexed my hand, feeling the sensation of strength in that single limb.

With this new power...escaping wouldn't be a problem.

I bet with careful planning, I could even take her on. She wasn't the Wonder Woman of the future yet but of everyone, Diana posed the most threat to me.

I raised a finger and pulled on the strange interface.

The blue panel unfolded into a row of structured texts and symbols, a caricature of my own body displayed before me.

My entire musculature seemed to have increased in proportionate size by about 20%.

My initial uninspiring 6'0 was now 6'2. Now that I mention it, my clothes felt tighter and constricting on the shoulders.

An effect of the Spider bite?

Luckily I had answers before me,

X~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~X

Spider-Man X.

MILES MORALES STRAIN: 100% d.n.a INTERGRATION.

Abilities unlocked:

Super strength.

Spider sense.

Web-creation.

Wall-crawling.

Enhanced Healing.

Enhanced Senses.

Enhanced Stamina.

Enhanced Durability.

Enhanced Flexibility.

Bio-Energy Manipulation.

X~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~X

That's kind of bare... Miles had even crazier abilities like Venom Blast, which let him produce a burst of electric charged energy to blast away enemies.

Or camouflage, where he could erase his presence from view by altering the pigmentation of his skin and patterns of his costume, effectively blending into his environment.

So why didn't I have access to those abilities?

Wait. That last entry on the panel. Bio-Energy manipulation.

Could it be that those abilities were linked with bio-energy somehow?

If that was the case, then I was glad. It meant, I wouldn't be confined to taking Miles' path alone.

Right off the bat, I was loving this power.

HOWEVER. I resolved myself to only touch upon it after I had mastered Spider-Man's other abilities.

Which meant, wall crawling (luckily I had experience with this), managing my strength, finetuning Spider Sense, (how the hell will I train this) and lastly web-creation.

The last had a lot of potential to be utilized. I was missing my efficient rifle, so maybe this could serve as a replacement until I got an actual replacement.

So this was real. The dead spider still in my pocket had really given me abilities.

Now that I wasn't concerned with my immediate death and could think on my situation, I found myself...excited.

Excited for what this world could offer me. A chance to achieve a long forgotten dream.

I cut off that train of thought. My first objective was leaving Themiscyra.

With the first step towards that goal, being training and getting a handle on these abilities.

Without a moment's hesitation, I dropped to the floor and seamlessly began a set of push-ups.

I had superpowers now. But control of my body had been thrown out.

I needed to adjust to my increased physical parameters. My profession demanded a delicate touch.

In comparison, right now I was like a toddler with the strength of a Gorilla. Uncoordinated and explosive.

Not a good combination.

In 6 days. I was going to escape. I had to be in full control of my new powers before then.

Only three days into my imprisonment, the Island found itself abuzz with more big news.

It begun with the presence of another man on the Island. A man by the name of Steve Trevor.