บท 17: Injured Cable
[Uncharted Island]
Bruce arrived at the location, Fury had mentioned. It's a somewhat big, barren island in the middle of the ocean, far from any civilization, but what stood there were old ruins and giant obelisks made of stone and metal. Well, that's what it looked like from above. Upon further scanning, he noticed a layer of holographic imagery over a protective dome.
'A cloaking field... interesting,' he mused.
Since he doesn't have an invitation, barging in might result in an unnecessary conflict. And if people were living in there then they must have noticed him by now. Not to mention, if Harley was among them then she would instantly recognize him and come out running or flying. So, he waited in the air for a few minutes, but when no one came out, he decided to break through the barrier.
Without hesitation, he dived down, creating a sonic boom as his speed reached a record high and simply punched through the barrier like it was nothing. This act, however, caused quite a ruckus and an alarm rang throughout the place, signaling that the island's defenses were activated, but to his surprise, there was no one on that island and he was surrounded by hundreds of turrets that opened fire on him.
'Tsk! A dummy trap island! Sigh, whatever, let's destroy these toys.' His eyes glowed with a red glint as he used his heat vision. The deadly heat rays tore through the defensive lines and rendered the weapons into useless metal junk. Multiple turrets exploded, leaving behind only ruined remains. It took barely ten seconds to destroy the defense system.
Suddenly, Bruce raised his right arm... A massive shockwave swept over the area as someone invisible tried to smash him, but all that happened was that Bruce was pushed a few meters, and for a flickering second, he blacked out. It was a psionic attack, aimed at the mind. If it were a regular human, their brain would have turned to a mushy potato, but Bruce's evolved body withstood it.
He scanned the surroundings as the smoke from the destroyed turrets lingered in the air. His senses were on high alert after the brief psionic attack. He knew the power behind it, and one name immediately came to mind.
"Cable," Bruce muttered.
As if on cue, a ripple in the air ahead of him shimmered, revealing a tall figure with glowing, cybernetic enhancements. Cable emerged from the cloaking field, his heavy metallic arm gripping a massive plasma rifle, his single glowing eye locked onto Bruce. A faint trace of energy crackled around him as he flexed his fingers, the residue of his psionic powers lingering in the air.
"Impressive," Cable said, his voice cold and calculating. "But you're not the first to break through our defenses."
"Why does everyone throw punches instead of talking? You don't even know if I'm an ally or an enemy, yet you attacked me," Bruce said in his gruff voice as he sighed shaking his head. "Why would you even do that...?"
Before Bruce could finish his sentence, Cable moved.
He fired the plasma rifle, a burst of blinding energy racing toward Bruce.
'Time to test the armor,' He sidestepped with incredible speed, the plasma bolt scorching the ground where he had stood just moments ago.
In an instant, Bruce launched himself forward, his suit's thrusters activating, propelling him toward Cable. His fists glowed as the nanites around his hands shifted, hardening into blunt weapons for close combat.
Cable met his charge head-on, his cybernetic arm swinging upward in a brutal arc. The two clashed in a resounding impact, the force of the collision sending shockwaves through the air. Bruce was thrown back slightly, surprised by the sheer strength of Cable's enhanced arm, but he recovered quickly.
Cable followed up with a telekinetic shove, the air warping as an invisible force slammed into Bruce. The Neodymium suit absorbed the brunt of the attack, but Bruce still felt the pressure push him back several feet.
"Psionics and tech," Bruce muttered. "Of course."
Cable pressed the assault, his plasma rifle shifting into an energy blade as he lunged at Bruce, swinging the weapon in wide arcs. Bruce dodged and blocked with precision. He was obviously holding back and was testing his suit's limitation, not to mention that he was the one controlling every aspect of his suit instead of using Jarvis. It was working better than he imagined. His armor's agility allowed him to evade the continuous attack. He parried a blow and countered with a punch to Cable's midsection, but his armored body absorbed the hit with little impact.
"Where did you get Tony's suit?" Cable growled as he unleashed a flurry of strikes. Each swing of his energy blade hummed with lethal power, forcing Bruce on the defensive.
Bruce analyzed Cable's fighting style, his mind working at lightning speed. Each move Cable made was efficient, designed to maximize damage with minimal effort. But there were gaps—small windows in his attacks that Bruce could exploit.
As Cable brought his blade down for a powerful overhead strike, Bruce sidestepped and landed a sharp elbow to Cable's ribs, followed by a swift knee to the chest. Cable grunted, stumbling back for a split second. Bruce used that opening to propel himself into the air, hovering just out of reach.
"Your tech's impressive," Cable admitted, wiping a trickle of blood from his lip. "But you won't beat me with tricks."
Bruce smirked. "I've got more than tricks."
He raised his hands, and a barrage of micro-missiles shot from his armor, streaking toward Cable. The mutant warrior responded instantly, raising a telekinetic shield that absorbed the missile impacts in a series of bright explosions. But Bruce wasn't done—he zoomed in behind the smoke, appearing above Cable with a devastating hammer punch.
Cable's shield shattered under the force of Bruce's blow, and he staggered to the side. Not wasting a second, Bruce followed up with a rapid series of strikes, each punch landing with precision on Cable's body, pushing him back with each hit.
"Is this all you got?" Bruce's fist hit a jaw like a railgun slug, throwing the enhanced Cable backward with his head snapping to the right.
Despite the powerful punch, the man grinned. "Not quite." His right arm blazed to life, enveloping his entire hand in telekinetic energy, as he clenched his jaw and pointed his arm at his attacker.
Bruce found himself flying backward as if struck by an unseen force. He crashed into the dirt and rolled before regaining his balance and righting himself.
"Annoying telekinesis..." Bruce noted with amusement.
Cable all this time have been trying to use his telepathy power to attack Bruce's mind, but after the first psionic blast, it stopped working against him. It was as if an invisible shield surrounded his mind, keeping the psionic attack out.
"Ah! That classic expression... Why isn't my mind attack working against this bastard? Isn't that what you're thinking?" Bruce's question was simple.
"Doesn't matter. I'll simply blast you with..."
"Telekinesis?" Bruce finished for him with a smirk. 'Well, this should be enough for suit testing. Gotta tweak a few things, but that can wait.' He retracted his nanites, revealing his face, and the black outfit underneath. "Show me what you got."
Cable extended his right arm at him and instantly the gravity in that vicinity increased tenfold. But to his surprise, Bruce just stood there unamused. "Really? Telekinetic crushing? Come on..." He blinked before Cable with a crackle of blue lightning and grabbed his throat, pulling him up in the air. "Enough games. You are nowhere near your peak. Your cybernetics are damaged and your internal injuries aren't looking that good. Something messed up your mutation, huh?! Finally, Fury sent me. I'm not an enemy." He let Cable go.
"Fury?!" Cable asked.
"Yes. He lost contact with this outpost, so he couldn't get in contact with you," Bruce explained while looking at the area. The island indeed looked like a ghost island. No trace of even a single living soul. There was no sign that this area was ever inhabited. Even the outer shell was working and he thought it was a normal island but... It's nothing more than a lifeless graveyard for those who invade it.
"I see. We moved to another place and turned this island into a trap," Cable replied while adjusting his cybernetic arm. "And our communication lines are compromised. So, we couldn't take the risk."
"So, is Mystique with your group?" Bruce asked.
"Yes. Last night, a girl saved her and many other kids from a lab. We feared that Magneto might track us down here to get Mystique back. So, we had to move someplace safe, away from Magneto's influence," Cable explained with a shrug.
"That girl who saved them... Harley Quinn, right?" He asked.
"Yes. She's with the others at the new safehouse," Cable answered.
"Take me to her or tell her that Bruce Wayne is waiting for her here... Whichever you prefer."
Cable decided to contact Harley first...
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