Chapter 21

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"What is that?"

As they made their way back to the aircraft, the group passed by a room filled with an array of advanced technological equipment. Mark's attention was suddenly drawn to the center of the room where a pool of unusual liquid shimmered under the fluorescent lighting. Feigning curiosity, he pointed toward the pool, his expression neutral but his mind alert.

Logan, more commonly known as Wolverine, offered a complex and somewhat troubled expression before replying.

"That's the place where I was experimented on," he said with a grim tone. "The bubbling silver liquid you see beside it is adamantium, the metal that was forcibly bonded to my bones."

He went on to explain further. "According to Stryker, the metal can only remain in liquid form under extremely high temperatures. Once it cools, it becomes completely indestructible."

As he finished speaking, Logan cast a scathing glare at Stryker, who at that moment was being restrained by Colossus. Stryker, cradling his right hand, the same hand that had recently been pierced by Wolverine's claws, responded with a sardonic sneer.

"You should be thanking me. Without my intervention, you'd still be fighting with nothing but broken bones for weapons."

"Then let me show you just how thankful I am with those bones," Logan snarled in response. In a flash, his adamantium claws extended from both hands, poised to strike again.

However, before Wolverine could act on his rage, he was halted by the calm but authoritative voice of Professor Charles Xavier.

"Logan, do not kill him yet. We need him alive. His testimony is critical if we are to expose the truth behind the assassination attempt and persuade the President to abandon his aggressive policy toward mutants."

It was revealed that Stryker had used the teleporting mutant Nightcrawler to orchestrate an assassination attempt against the President. The aim had been to provoke a full-scale conflict between humanity and mutants. In only a few days, the President was scheduled to make a public statement, declaring mutants a global threat and issuing an executive order to launch a military offensive.

Thus, it was imperative for the X-Men to gather irrefutable evidence proving that Stryker had engineered the entire crisis. Only with such proof could they hope to avert an impending war.

While Xavier and Wolverine were engaged in this critical exchange, Mark had already sprinted toward the adamantium pool. He quickly scanned his surroundings and located an appropriate hollow tube, along with an adamantium injection apparatus. With swift precision, he inserted the device into the bubbling liquid.

After allowing the liquid metal to cool, Mark gripped the newly solidified form and squeezed. The tube shattered under the pressure, revealing a long, thick, and exceptionally solid adamantium staff, an improvised but deadly weapon.

When Mark activated the 'Goku Template,' he was granted a magical weapon, the power pole, a staff capable of changing size and form. However, outside of that enhanced state, he possessed no weapon at all. While Saiyans traditionally preferred hand-to-hand combat, Mark believed that, given his current power limitations, wielding a weapon would provide him with a tactical advantage.

He justified this by recalling how, in a future timeline, Trunks, the warrior from the world of Dragon Ball, used a sword when battling androids far stronger than himself.

Adamantium, known within the Marvel Universe as one of the most durable substances in existence, is virtually unbreakable once cooled. It can only be manipulated in its molten state, which requires extreme temperatures to maintain. Even at temperatures as high as 500,000 degrees Celsius, the metal shows no signs of melting.

Faced with such a rare and invaluable resource, Mark was determined not to waste the opportunity. Ideally, he would have preferred to forge a more lethal weapon, such as a sword or a spear. However, due to the lack of appropriate molds and the urgency of the situation, this was not feasible. Dismantling the entire machine to extract more adamantium was also not an option. Once the machinery shut down, the metal would solidify and become unusable.

Therefore, his only practical choice was to create a staff.

But before he could admire his newly forged weapon for long, a sudden shift in Professor Xavier's expression prompted immediate concern.

"Everyone, we have a problem," Xavier announced, his voice filled with urgency.

"What happened, Professor?" asked Storm, visibly alarmed. She had never seen Xavier wear such a grave expression, not even during confrontations with Magneto.

"Erik is outside the base. He's under attack," Xavier reported.

"And he's close to being overwhelmed."

The group gasped in collective shock. They knew from firsthand experience just how powerful Magneto was. If someone or some group had managed to bring him to the brink of defeat, then they were undoubtedly a formidable threat.

Even Mark, now returning with his adamantium staff in hand, was visibly stunned. This development was not something he had anticipated, even with his knowledge of the original storyline. Now the scenario had taken an unpredictable and dangerous turn.

Standing outside in the snow-covered landscape surrounding the base, Mark's eyes widened as he took in the sight of those engaging Magneto in combat.

"What the hell… S.H.I.E.L.D.?" he muttered incredulously.

Among the combatants, he immediately recognized a woman wielding a familiar vibranium shield, an unmistakable match for Captain Carter, the British counterpart to Captain America as depicted in the comics. Nearby, a man fired arrows with deadly accuracy. It was Hawkeye, or more formally, Clint Barton.

A young woman with vibrant red hair, perhaps only sixteen or seventeen years old, was exchanging blows with Mystique. Her agility and martial skill matched Mystique's own, suggesting that she might be Natasha Romanoff, also known as Black Widow, perhaps during her early days after defecting from the Red Room and joining S.H.I.E.L.D.

Behind them stood a bald African-American man wearing an eyepatch, and beside him a white man with a receding hairline. Mark recognized them as Nick Fury and Agent Phil Coulson, respectively.

Hovering overhead was a Black woman, enveloped in radiant energy as she launched concussive blasts downward. Mark immediately understood who she was: Maria Rambeau, the founder of S.W.O.R.D. in this universe, who now served as this reality's Captain Marvel.

If these individuals had appeared one by one, Mark might have struggled to identify them due to their different ages and timelines. But appearing as a team, their identities were unmistakable.

His mind raced. Why was S.H.I.E.L.D. even here?

Then it hit him. He slapped his forehead, mentally chastising himself for his oversight.

Despite the scenario's strong resemblance to a standalone X-Men narrative, the events were actually taking place in Earth-838, a broader Marvel Universe where the existence of S.H.I.E.L.D., Avengers, and other major organizations was already well-established.

Given that a sitting President had just been attacked by a mutant, how could S.H.I.E.L.D., an agency specifically designed to intervene in global crises, not get involved?

By the year 2000, Nick Fury had already assumed the position of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director and had begun transforming the agency into a dominant force in world affairs. His authoritarian instinct to monitor and contain all potential threats would never allow a conflict between mutants and humans to escalate uncontrollably.

Even in the main universe, where no mutants existed at the time, any super-powered individual would be placed under surveillance, cataloged, and evaluated by S.H.I.E.L.D. Mark now realized that the same protocol would apply here.

What did surprise him, however, was the presence of this universe's Captain Marvel. Unlike Carol Danvers in Earth-616, who left Earth in 1995 to police the galaxy, Maria Rambeau had apparently stayed behind, becoming Earth's protector instead.

Differences in personalities, timelines, and circumstances clearly resulted in radically different outcomes for the same characters.

Just like how Captain Carter's appearance was unexpected at this time. In the main universe, Steve Rogers had crash-landed a plane into the Arctic and remained frozen until S.H.I.E.L.D. recovered him in 2011. Meanwhile, Captain Carter in this universe had been sealed away in another dimension while preventing Red Skull from unleashing Hydra through the power of the Cosmic Cube.

Suddenly, a loud boom echoed across the snowfield.

Captain Marvel, Rambeau, had punched through a military helicopter, sending Magneto crashing into the ground. Seizing the opportunity, Hawkeye loosed a specially designed non-metallic tranquilizer arrow, striking Magneto and rendering him unconscious.

At the same time, Mystique was subdued by Captain Carter, who threw her shield with pinpoint accuracy, knocking the shapeshifter unconscious.

Nick Fury, witnessing the successful operation, turned toward the entrance of the base where Professor Xavier and the others were emerging.

"You must be Professor Charles Xavier," Fury announced authoritatively.

"I am Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. I am placing you and your students under official custody. You are to come with us for questioning in connection with the attempted assassination of the President."

He paused for effect, his single eye scanning the group.

"Do not resist. I trust you've already seen what happens to those who do."