MUTOSTERONE

The M-Jet landed silently, cloaked in stealth mode, its sleek black frame blending into the early dawn mist. The landing gear barely made a sound as it touched the soft earth of Echelon Prime's secret base. Inside, the team exchanged glances. This was it. No backing out now.

Raven was the first to step out, crouching low, her dark wings wrapped around her like a cloak. Her sharp eyes scanned the perimeter—watchtowers, floodlights, patrol routes. He clicked his comm. "Perimeter is tight, but we've got blind spots. Stick to the plan."

Gregor cracked his knuckles, the sound like boulders grinding together. "Right. I'll handle the guards."

Elias grinned, pulling out a vial filled with an eerie green liquid. "And I'll make sure no one's drinking their morning coffee without a little surprise."

Elias slipped into the shadows, moving like a ghost. The base's water purification system was at the far end of the facility, near a cluster of storage tanks. Two guards stood by the fence, rifles slung over their shoulders. "Tsk, tsk, bad security."

Elias crouched, dipping his fingers into the soil. A thick, dark-green liquid seeped from his skin, twisting like serpents through the ground. It slithered toward the guards' boots, unseen.

The moment it touched them—BAM. One staggered, coughing violently, dropping his rifle. The other tried to raise the alarm, but his vision blurred—his knees buckled.

Elias walked past their unconscious bodies, smirking. "Sleep tight, boys."

Reaching the purification tank, he uncorked his vial and poured the toxin in. Not lethal—just strong enough to knock out anyone who drank it for at least twelve hours. "Water supply is compromised," he whispered into the comm.

Gregor approached the main compound like an unstoppable force. The guards stationed at the entrance barely had time to react before he grabbed the first by the collar and hurled him into a concrete wall like a ragdoll.

"What the—?!" The second raised his rifle, but Gregor was faster.

He stomped the ground—BAM. The ground shook, splitting the pavement, sending the guard tumbling. Before he could get up, Gregor's massive stone fist slammed down—knocking him out cold. "Front entrance clear," he grunted.

But more guards poured out from the barracks. Gregor grinned. "Finally, some exercise."

A squad of five opened fire—bullets pinged off Gregor's stone skin like pebbles against a mountain. He charged forward, barreling through them like a living bulldozer.

One tried to stab him with a combat knife—bad idea. Gregor grabbed the blade with two fingers and crushed it like tin foil. "You guys should've stayed in bed."

WHAM—he backhanded two at once, sending them flying. One last guard scrambled for his radio—before Gregor lifted him effortlessly and slammed him into the dirt. "And that's a wrap."

Up above, Raven perched on the highest watchtower, watching everything unfold below. Her sharp eyes tracked movement—enemy reinforcements heading toward Gregor's position. "Heads up, big guy. You've got more incoming."

"Good," Gregor grunted. "I'm just getting warmed up."

Raven flexed her wings, preparing for takeoff. But just then—a sniper on the opposite tower spotted her. The rifle fired—a bullet sliced through the air.

Raven dodged, diving off the tower in a free fall. At the last second—she snapped her wings open, catching the wind, twisting midair. The sniper cursed, trying to track her.

Big mistake. Raven flapped once—twice—then launched straight at him like a missile. The sniper barely had time to scream before Raven's talons grabbed him and flung him off the tower. "That's what you get for aiming at a bird, dumbass."

The heavy steel doors to Echelon Prime's main building loomed before them, reinforced with cutting-edge security. Raven smirked, spreading her wings. "So, where do we start?" she asked, her voice dripping with mischief.

Gregor—or "Golem" as they called him—cracked his rocky knuckles, grinning. "Easy. We start by taking them down."

He stomped forward, planted his massive hands on the doors, and—CRACK!—the metal buckled under his strength. With a deep grunt, he ripped them apart, sending twisted steel crashing to the floor. Alarms blared.

"Welp, so much for stealth," Raven muttered.

Elias—or "Venom"—sighed and rolled his shoulders. "You guys always make things harder than they need to be."

He stepped inside, took a deep breath, and exhaled a thick green mist that slithered through the air like living smoke. The gas spread quickly, seeping into vents, curling around doorways, creeping up the stairs.

The first wave of guards barely had time to react before their knees buckled, their eyes rolling back as they collapsed into unconscious heaps. Thud. Thud. Thud.

One after another, they hit the floor, weapons clattering uselessly beside them. Gregor watched as the remaining guards stumbled, trying to resist the effects of the gas.

"Should've brought gas masks," Raven snickered.

One particularly stubborn guard fought to stay on his feet, aiming his rifle at Elias.

BAM—Gregor's fist met his face first. The guy went flying into a wall, leaving a crater where he landed.

Gregor dusted off his hands. "Took care of that one for ya."

Elias rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks. It's not like I had it covered or anything."

Raven strolled past the unconscious guards, stepping over them like a cat avoiding puddles. "Alright, gentlemen," she said, flicking a stray feather off her shoulder. "Let's find what we came for."

They stood in front of Echelon Prime's host computer, a massive machine humming with raw data, security firewalls, and secrets waiting to be unraveled.

Elias scratched his temple. "Alright, so... who here knows how to hack?"

Silence. Blank stares. Gregor crossed his arms, looking at the others. Raven whistled, pretending to check her nails.

Elias sighed. "Come on, one of you has to know something, right?"

Gregor shrugged. "I can hack a vending machine if I punch it hard enough."

Raven smirked. "I once hacked my ex's social media. Does that count?"

Elias groaned, running a hand down his face. "We're infiltrating a high-security extremist base, and none of us thought to bring a hacker?!"

The comms crackled, and Professor's voice came through, barely masking his disappointment. "Just... just plug the device into the main console. It'll do the work for you."

Elias blinked. "Wait, that's it? You mean we didn't have to break into the most dangerous facility in the country just to realize we don't have a hacker?!"

Professor sighed. "Yes, Elias. That's exactly what I mean."

Gregor grinned and patted Elias's shoulder. "At least we got some good cardio in."

Raven plugged in the device with a dramatic flourish. "Boom. Hacking complete."

They all watched the loading bar slowly crawl across the screen.

3%... 4%...

Gregor sighed. "So... who wants snacks?"

They stood there, staring at the painfully slow progress bar.

5%...

Elias groaned. "This is taking forever."

Raven sat on the floor, tossing a knife in the air and catching it. "So, anyone wanna play 'Would You Rather'?"

Gregor leaned against the wall. "I'd rather not be here."

7%...

Elias started pacing. "We just infiltrated a high-security extremist base, knocked out half the guards, and now we're standing around like idiots while a USB stick does all the work?"

Raven shrugged. "I mean, it's efficient."

Gregor nodded. "Less work for us."

12%...

Elias groaned louder. "At this rate, we'll die of old age before it finishes."

Raven grinned. "You could always use your poison gas to speed things up. Maybe choke the computer into working faster."

Gregor snorted. "Yeah, or I could just punch it. That always works on vending machines."

Elias facepalmed. "I swear, this is why mutants get a bad reputation."

23%...

Gregor pulled out a protein bar and started eating it aggressively.

Elias raised a brow. "Where the hell did you even get that?"

Gregor shrugged. "Pocket snack."

35%...

Raven stretched out on the floor. "You guys ever wonder if chickens think we're their pets?"

Elias froze. "...What?"

Gregor chewed thoughtfully. "Huh. That's deep."

49%...

Professor's voice suddenly came through the comms. "Can you all please act like professionals?"

Elias sighed. "Professor, we are literally standing here watching a loading bar. What do you expect us to do? Write a thesis?"

Professor paused. "...Fair point."

58%...

Gregor started doing push-ups. Raven began playing tic-tac-toe on the dusty floor. Elias just sat down, dead inside.

79%...

Raven perked up. "Hey, wanna bet on when it'll finish? I say two more minutes."

Gregor grinned. "I say five."

Elias crossed his arms. "I say it's gonna freeze at 99% just to mess with us."

98%...

99%...

The screen flickered.

Elias stood up, eyes wide. "Oh no, I jinxed it."

100%.

Professor's voice came through. "Alright, it's done. Get out of there."

Elias threw his hands up. "Finally!"

Gregor stuffed the rest of his protein bar into his mouth. "Let's bounce."

Raven grinned. "See? That wasn't so bad."

Elias glared. "We just wasted half an hour having an existential crisis over chickens."

Raven shrugged. "Good times."

The moment the data finished uploading, the team bolted out of the building like their asses were on fire.

"MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" Raven shouted, practically yanking Elias by the collar as Gregor barreled through anything that dared to stand in his way.

Alarms blared. Red lights flashed. The whole base was waking up, and not in a good way. "Who the hell designed this place?!" Elias huffed as he dodged a security drone. "Why are there so many damn hallways?!"

"Less complaining, more running!" Raven snapped.

Gregor tore through a metal door like it was made of tin foil, then waved them through. "After you, dumbasses!"

They burst onto the tarmac, where the M-Jet was waiting, its sleek, futuristic design gleaming under the morning sun. The jet had a sleek, obsidian-black body, sharp aerodynamic wings, and a Hall of M insignia glowing faintly on the side. The cockpit pulsed with blue light, its Nexus-built AI prepped and ready to fly.

"Go, go, go!" Raven yelled as they sprinted up the ramp.

Just as the last of them leaped inside, the M-Jet's autopilot sealed the hatch and lifted off, escaping the base just as security forces poured onto the runway, too late to stop them.

Inside, they collapsed onto the floor, gasping. Then, as the adrenaline wore off, their exhaustion turned into pure, uncontrollable laughter.

"We actually did it!" Raven cackled, kicking her feet in the air.

"And no one died!" Elias added, smug.

That's when Professor's voice cut through the comms. "Team, report. Were there any casualties?"

The laughter died instantly. Elias and Raven slowly turned to Gregor. Gregor slowly turned to Elias.

Gregor cleared his throat. "Uh... casualties as in...?"

Professor's tone darkened. "Did. Anyone. Die?"

Raven waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, come on, Professor. You worry too much. Everyone's fine."

Elias nodded. "Yeah, worst case, they've got some headaches and nightmares about a walking rock punching them."

Gregor shrugged. "Hey, if they didn't wanna get knocked out, maybe they should've been better at their jobs."

Professor sighed heavily. "I swear, you all are going to give me a stroke."

"Oh, relax," Raven grinned. "We're heroes now!"

"Heroes don't poison entire water supplies, Raven!"

"First of all," Elias interjected, "it was non-lethal. Second of all, hydration is important, and I technically forced them to drink water, so I think I deserve some thanks."

Gregor chimed in. "Yeah, and I technically just gave them naps, which means we're promoting good sleep schedules."

Raven smirked. "Basically, we're public health advocates."

Professor muttered something about early retirement. "Just get back here in one piece," he grumbled. "And if I find out someone actually died, you're all writing apology letters."

Elias snorted. "'Dear unconscious soldier, sorry we wrecked your base. Hope you had a nice nap.'"

Raven grinned. "'PS: Stay hydrated, loser.'"

Gregor nodded. "'PS: Sorry, not sorry.'"

Professor cut the comms. The three of them burst into laughter again.

"Damn, we're good," Elias grinned, leaning back.

"We're the best," Raven corrected.

"Also," Gregor yawned, "I'm starving."

As the M-Jet streaked across the sky, heading back to Hall of M, one thing was clear: They were absolute menaces. But at least they were successful menaces.