"Who... who were those two people?!"
William's consciousness returned. As his eyes opened, bloodshot and trembling with rage, the truth he had just witnessed settled in like a sickness in his chest.
He didn't waste time questioning how Reid, who should have been an ordinary man, could awaken memories that had been sealed for decades. What mattered was that he had seen the truth.
His son hadn't died. Even his wife's death, and the loss of control over his son's powers, had all been manipulated from the shadows. His memories—his understanding of everything—had been tampered with.
For years, he had believed Jason was just a troubled boy. That the tragic double suicide was nothing more than a horrible accident.
But now he knew. His memories had been altered.
"Who was it?! Who did this to me?!"
His voice shook with fury as he lowered his gaze to the reinforced glass cell beneath his feet. Inside, Jason lay slumped in a corner, his mind broken by prolonged exposure to Joker Venom.
Yet, no matter how hard he tried, William couldn't feel anything close to love. Because in the vision, within that fragmented memory, he had seen it clearly. That child, the one who never smiled at his parents, had smiled when he saw the two men.
Maybe those people were the real masterminds. But his son... was still a murderer. He had pushed his own mother to kill herself.
He was still responsible.
Reid stepped forward and gently placed a hand on William's shoulder.
"You've already recognized who they are, haven't you?"
William took a deep breath and slowly began to calm down. As he forced himself to recall the memory, the faces came to him easily.
One was Erik Lehnsherr, better known as Magneto, the former leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants, now dead in Gotham.
The other was Charles Xavier, headmaster of the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and leader of the X-Men.
"Why should I believe you?"
Now fully composed, William had pieced it all together. But at the same time, he turned his attention to Reid.
"You were able to enter my mind. You have some kind of special ability too, don't you? So, should I consider you a mutant as well?"
William's eyes locked onto Reid, sharp and full of suspicion. He had already made up his mind. He hated Erik. He hated Charles. He hated his own son, Jason. And above all, he hated every single mutant.
They had destroyed his life, trapped him in a web of false memories for decades. The only way to erase that hatred was to eliminate every last one of them. So now, he needed to know who, or what, the man before him really was.
His suspicion and rising hostility were obvious, but Reid didn't flinch. He wasn't angry, nor did he act superior.
He knew that in the eyes of mutants, he had already made himself an enemy. And if he wanted to move against them, he'd need allies. If proving his identity would help win William's trust, then he was willing to go that far.
"This... is the answer you're looking for," Reid said, while handing over a set of test results he had prepared a long time ago. It was a DNA analysis focused on the XY chromosomes.
The results were clear. He was not a mutant. He was just an ordinary human.
"You need allies, Colonel Stryker. And clearly, someone like me, who's had their own conflicts with mutants, is your best option. As you've seen, you have no reason to hate me. Or unless..."
Reid paused, took a step back and pointed down at the glass cell beneath their feet, where the now-insane Jason Stryker sat.
"You're still planning to avenge your son."
William didn't answer right away. He could see that Reid was trying to manipulate him, but at this point, he didn't care. The truth was, he did need the man. He needed the resources and power of the LexCorp to begin his revenge against the mutants.
"He's not my son." He denied it, voice flat.
Once he realized Jason hadn't been controlled, but had killed his own mother of his own will, William no longer considered him his child.
"But I need your existing research on this mutant. And financial support."
He stated his own conditions. He needed funding, and he needed the mutant who, by blood, was still his son.
Charles and Magneto had used Jason to kill his wife and ruin his life. Now, he would destroy the mutants the same way—by turning one of their own into a weapon.
"No problem."
Reid agreed and handed over a folder containing part of the research Luthor had already completed. The documents detailed the technology needed to extract substances from Jason's cerebral cortex and use them to control others' thoughts.
"As for the money, they'll be routed into your account through Gotham's Joker Gang. Don't worry, the taxes are already taken care of."
Reid casually revealed his ties with the Joker Gang, but William didn't care. Instead, he went on.
"Prepare a lab for me in Gotham. I'll need it to plan our attack against the mutants. And don't worry about the government. I'll handle that myself."
Hearing this, Reid gave a satisfied smile.
"Good. I wish us a pleasant cooperation."
...
William left the LexCorp building with a mountain of research data and Jason in tow, heading for the lab that had been prepared for him in Gotham.
In the X-Men movies, William had used a modified Cerebro to nearly wipe out all mutants. But in this world, with mutants already heavily weakened and LexCorp backing him, the destruction he could unleash would only be worse.
Not long after, Luthor walked into the lab.
"Looks like everything went smoothly."
"Are you doubting my abilities?"
Reid turned to face him, tapping a finger against his temple.
"Don't forget, part of the intelligence in here came from you."
Luthor scoffed and looked away. "I'm just worried that the rest of the minds involved might drag down mine and cause you to make a mistake."
Reid wasn't bothered by his sharp tongue. He understood clearly: if Luthor had come to him in person, it meant there was something important.
As Luthor always put it, he had too much to do and no time to waste.
"Wolverine's been found."
"And?"
"Clearly, Charles hadn't made contact with that mutant who's a hundred years older than him."
Reid wasn't particularly surprised when he heard that. He hadn't predicted this outcome specifically, but he had prepared for any result.
Sabretooth had joined the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. As for Logan—Wolverine—who had many ties to the former, whether he had ever been part of the X-Men was uncertain.
But just like people such as Natasha and Hawkeye, Logan wasn't exactly a game-changer. Whether they found him or he had already joined the X-Men didn't really matter to Reid.
"What do you suggest?" Luthor asked.
"Pass the information to William. All we need is Wolverine's DNA sample. There's no need to waste resources trying to recruit the man himself."
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