The sound of dripping water roused the Professor from unconsciousness...
His blurred vision gradually sharpened as a figure emerged from the darkness.
"William..." He spoke the name softly.
Instinctively, he reached out with his telepathy, only to slam into an impenetrable wall. Dizziness washed over him as he realized the strange device clamped to his head was blocking his powers.
"This is called a neural inhibitor. It keeps your abilities in check," Stryker said, tapping his own temple with a smirk, "How does it feel to be powerless, Charles?"
He had waited years for this moment. Previously, the sheer might of mutants, especially Professor X's unpredictable telepathy, had forced him to tread carefully. Now, that restraint was gone.
"What did you do to Hank?" The Professor thought of his companion, his voice urgent.
"He should be thanking me." Stryker sneered, "I freed him from that beastly fur. He's normal now."
Charles tried to move his arms, only to find himself strapped tightly to the wheelchair. The memory of what he'd seen before blacking out sent a chill through him.
"William, why are you doing this?" The Professor attempted reason, knowing the root of Stryker's hatred, "You wanted me to cure your son, but mutation isn't a disease. It's genetic evolution, humanity's next step."
"Shut up, Charles!" Stryker's composure shattered.
His bloodshot eyes burned with venom as he glared at the helpless old man, "Spare me your sermons! You turned my son into a monster. After returning from your school, he took pleasure in torturing my wife and me as he twisted our minds. He blamed us for everything..."
"...Our heads were filled with nightmares, screams haunting us day and night. In the end, my wife... she drilled into her own skull to silence the voices!"
The usually ice-cold colonel trembled, his voice thick with grief and rage. He blamed mutants (and Charles) for his family's ruin.
The irony was cruel. A man who'd dedicated his life to studying mutants had fathered one himself. Fate had mocked Stryker, and in his torment, he'd vowed to eradicate every last mutant. Only their extinction could bring him peace.
"As much as I despise your kind, I can't deny mutants have their uses." He nodded to his secretary, a Japanese woman with an impassive face.
This was Yuriko Oyama, codenamed 'Lady Deathstrike'. Like Wolverine, she had been enhanced with adamantium as part of Weapon X. A living weapon obedient to Stryker's will.
"That distress signal from Los Angeles, it was a trap?" The Professor's mind raced, piecing it together.
"Obviously." Stryker circled the wheelchair like an artist admiring his masterpiece, "I know your kind. Mutants aren't invincible. In some ways, you're easier to break than ordinary humans."
"Take you, for instance... a hypocrite draped in morality, preaching peace. Luring you in was child's play. A coerced circus performer sends a cry for help, and the noble Professor X dispatches his students like knights to the rescue... And with the young mutants gone, dealing with you became trivial."
Stryker polished his glasses, gazing down at the powerless old man. The legendary Charles Xavier, the omnipotent telepath, was now his prisoner.
The colonel studied the Professor's eyes, no longer fearing mental intrusion. The neural inhibitor's blue glow pulsed on the bald man's head, caging the world's most powerful mind inside a frail body.
"Of course, you're not the endgame. Neither is Erik Lehnsherr. My goal is the extinction of mutants."
Hatred burned in Stryker like a furnace. Only vengeance could soothe him.
"I've dealt with mutants as long as you have. But the real challenge was always finding them... After all, how do you hunt what you can't see?" His glasses glinted coldly, "That was until I realized... you were the answer, Charles."
Panic surged in the Professor. His telepathy battered against the invisible walls of his mind, but the inhibitor was an unbreakable cage. The world's strongest telepath was locked inside his own skull.
"Pity. Conventional suppressants were too weak for you. So I had to improvise."
Stryker gestured, and soldiers shoved forward a hollow-eyed man in loose linen clothes. Surgical scars crisscrossed his scalp, and metallic tentacles snaked from his neck into his brain... It was a grotesque sight.
"Meet Subject 143. His cerebral fluids can override free will. It's still experimental, of course."
"Jason?" The Professor gasped in horror, "My God, William, this is your son! What have you done?!"
Stryker's face was stone. His pain and rage had hollowed him out; no emotion remained. "No, Charles. My son died. What stands here is another mutant freak like you." With a final icy glance, he strode out...
The school's mutant children awaited his attention. Once they were dealt with, Magneto would be next.
And Charles Xavier's mind? It would become Stryker's ultimate weapon.
Outside the containment room, Stryker spotted Sean in his white lab coat. The young man had recently arrived at the Alkali Lake base to assist in mutant capture and research.
"Congratulations, Colonel. I hear you've bagged the famous Professor X." Sean's smile was, as always, mild and pleasant.
Stryker frowned, eyeing him warily, "Stay in designated areas, Mr. Cyphers. This place is crawling with dangerous mutants. You never know when one of those beasts might lash out."
"Of course. I know my boundaries." Sean nodded amiably, "I always follow the rules."
Watching the young man walk away, Stryker turned to his men, "No one enters that room without the correct codes. Shoot intruders on sight, including me."
He knew of Mystique's shapeshifting abilities. With his orders given, Stryker boarded a helicopter bound for Westchester.
Tonight would mark the end of mutants...
.....
Yuriko Oyama...