Mystique got us to our first destination in just about an hour. North Dakota, right on the Canadian border, greeted us unfriendly, with a light but unpleasant autumn drizzle. I didn't feel like getting out of the Bruck, even though my rear end was sore from sitting on the cold metal bench for so long.
Magneto could only manipulate metals, so the aircraft she built was made of almost 99.9% metal. We had only recently started adding softer, warmer elements to it, and now all I could do was regret not bringing a cushion for my backside.
Groaning, I got to my feet, gripping the railings, and approached where Sabretooth was sitting. She seemed to be the last member of the Sisterhood I hadn't mentioned yet. I think Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver—Magneto's children—would join their father's organization later, if they ever joined at all. After all, let's not forget, I'm not in the original Marvel universe.
The girl didn't differ too much from her male counterpart, except she was about ten times more beautiful, but she still had that same nasty and wild personality. Magneto somehow managed to keep this crazy bitch in check, something I genuinely admired.
If I were the leader of the team, I would've kicked Sabretooth out a long time ago, or quietly taken her out to spare everyone else from the hassle. Morally, she wasn't much different from Masquerade, though she was obsessed with one specific person.
No wonder I didn't communicate much with her. But I had to admit, her usefulness couldn't be ignored. Because of her healing factor, she seemed like the perfect donor for me. Sabretooth had an excellent healing factor, which allowed her to recover quickly after I borrowed her abilities.
Given that my team only consisted of three mutants, it wasn't surprising that we needed every possible enhancement we could get. Magneto was a powerhouse on her own—her omega-level abilities could easily obliterate her target.
Mystique had the Mind Controller, Bubble, and Sabretooth under her command. As for me, I had only Blind Spot and Toad. Of these two, only Toad was a top-tier fighter. Blind Spot, on the other hand, had no physical superpowers, only psionics.
I removed my glove and touched Sabretooth, keeping my hand on her for a full 35 seconds. Her thick brown hair turned gray, and her complexion paled as she sagged, as if she had suddenly aged forty years. A grimace of pain froze on her face, though she didn't even let out a faint groan. Sabretooth really had incredible endurance, but she still felt pain.
Based on our previous training, she could withstand longer physical contact with me, but the longer I touched her, the longer it would take her to recover. I figured 35 minutes would be enough for me, and by the time Mystique's team reached their destination, Sabretooth should have recovered.
I could have touched someone else, like Bubble, to borrow additional abilities, but that would have been unnecessary. All the other members of the Sisterhood would take much longer to recover.
Mystique didn't land the Bruck on the ground, so we had to descend in the best airborne military tradition—without parachutes, heh. Toad picked up Blind Spot and leaped into the open door without hesitation. I donned a camouflage protective helmet used by airsoft players, grabbed a heavy black bag with my right hand, and jumped through the gap after her.
For Toad, jumping was as natural as breathing, so she easily covered the three or four meters and landed on her feet. In my past life as a shinobi, I could jump like a mountain goat, so I had no trouble with it either.
Sabretooth's abilities had significantly altered my body. I gained an incredible healing factor and some modifications that were almost as effective as a vampire's abilities. My strength, agility, speed, and other body parameters were significantly enhanced. Even though I had to release the bag's straps and roll to the side, my body suffered no harm.
The Bruck hummed faintly above us, rising higher and soon falling completely silent. No matter how hard I tried to observe, I couldn't detect the masked craft in the air. Only Sabretooth's animal-like sense of smell allowed her to detect the faint scent of machine oil and metal, but even that disappeared quickly.
"Move it, ladies," I said, picking up the bag. "We're on a tight schedule, don't forget."
We couldn't wait for Mystique to get her team to their target—it would take too long. So, we couldn't start the attack at the exact same time. Fortunately, we didn't have that complication. In my hands, in the bag, was specialized equipment created by Magneto to jam all signals within a certain radius.
At a steady pace, aligning with Blind Spot's abilities (as I had recently called her), we moved through the cleared young forest toward the target. Luckily, it was illuminated as if it were inviting us in. A secret government facility, as is often the case, was disguised as something else.
In this case, it pretended to be an ordinary pharmaceutical lab located near a small provincial town with about ten thousand residents. And, as far as I knew from the information Mystique had gathered, it was partly true, so we weren't too concerned about the upper floors of the building. The real interesting stuff was hidden underground.
Our plan was simple—a straightforward breakthrough with a fight. Blind Spot suggested a more elaborate plan, and I even thought her version could work, but the problem was that it would require time, and we didn't have that luxury. Thirty-five minutes, or even less, considering the time to reach the base. After that time, I would lose a significant portion of my power and abilities.
Toad once again picked up Blind Spot and, with a run-up, jumped over the tall concrete fence. Her long red tongue shot out toward the nearest guard tower and knocked the guard off her perch. I jumped right after her—not as high or gracefully, but effective enough. Once on the ground, I ripped open the bag, threw the zipper aside, and activated the jammer. I wasn't worried that someone could break it. The metallic thing was extremely durable and strong.
The locals hadn't realized what was going on yet. The security here, though excessive for a pharmaceutical company, was clearly sluggish in this sleepy kingdom. We barged in through one of the back entrances, scattering a couple of guards on the way. No, the girls weren't rushing to stop us with weapons at the ready. They had just stepped out for a smoke, and here we were. It happens. It happens.