"So, any urges to leap over tall buildings in a single bound?"

Carter rolled his eyes. "Har, har."

Down in the tunnels, he and Newkirk were playing a game of gin at Kinch's desk. After declaring him in good health, Wilson had lifted his quarantine a few days ago. However, he was still serving his sentence in the cooler, so any fraternizing had to take place down in the tunnels. The guys took turns keeping him company since Klink wasn't budging on the length of his punishment and, as the colonel was fond of saying, thirty days in solitary was a cruel and inhuman punishment, to be inflicted only by a sadist.

"How's your leg?" Newkirk asked.

"S'okay. Looks pretty ugly now that the bruises have changed colour, but not bad," Carter replied. "How's Klein?" he asked as he threw down a card.

"Last I heard, he was on the mend," Newkirk replied.

Carter hesitated. "And Hoffmann?"

Newkirk scooped up Carter's discard. "Touch and go for a while. But his fever finally broke yesterday. And he hasn't been going faster than a speeding locomotive, so I think it should all be good."

"Looks like Stone Breaker was bunk," Carter said as he dropped another card.

"Least the batch they used on you lot," Newkirk concurred. He went quiet, his eyes darting away as if remembering something. But he quickly snapped out of it and grinned. "Ha! Gin!" he exclaimed, throwing down his hand triumphantly.

Carter blinked in surprise. "Wait. What?!"

"Read them and weep as the saying goes," Newkirk crowed. "All right, count them up, count them up."

"Twenty-one," Carter declared, frowning. How had Newkirk beaten him? Again? This was the third game he had won. "Are you cheating?"

"Me?" Newkirk asked, aghast. "You know I don't cheat my mates, Andrew. I won that lot fair and square."

"Sure," Carter scowled.

Newkirk frowned at the sudden tension in the air. He checked his watch and then tidied up the cards. "That's all for today then. Got to get to roll call. I imagine someone will be popping in to check on you soon." Carter stayed silent, still fuming over his loss. Newkirk cleared his throat. "Good night then." And with that he pocketed his cards and climbed up the ladder.

When he had gone Carter jumped to his feet and stormed down the tunnel. He didn't know why he was so mad. It was just a lousy card game and he was allowed to have rotten luck once in a while. Hell, bad luck was the norm for him. He knew that. At least, he did in his head. But an all-consuming anger burned in his heart and grew with every step. It swirled around his chest and flooded his stomach until it shot into his hand. With a growl, Carter punched the hard-packed dirt wall.

Resting his forehead against the wall, he took a few shaky breaths to steady himself.

This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. He needed to figure out what was going on and get control over it because, whatever it was, it was dangerous.

Slowly, Carter pulled his fist out of the deep hole he had made in the wall. He looked at his hand and flexed it, turning it from front to back. Not a mark.

Just like his leg.

Carter jammed his hand into his pocket and, with a little more self-control, started again on his way to the cooler.

"Bunk."

It had to be. Because he didn't trust himself with that kind of power.


Well, that's it. Done. Thanks for joining me.

I thought up a snippet of this story a decade ago and included it as a teaser in the last chapter of Whispering Sour Somethings. But then I never did anything with it. Fast forward a few years and I had forgotten whatever plot I might have come up with before. So, I went to the forums for inspiration. And I found it.

So, this story is a response to Challenge 197) Mutations Aren't Usually This Pretty - IronAmerica

HH/X-Men cross OR HH/Heroes cross. Give one or more of the main/supporting cast a superpower or two. Are there problems that come up because of this? Do the Germans start up a program to tap into this spectrum of new genetic goodies? Virtual brownies once again to whoever writes the best super battle!

Well, sort of. It's not a crossover, but I did give a main character a superpower. And the results... well... maybe not so pretty. At least for his soul.

Stayed tuned for the next installment of my "Mad Nazi Scientist" universe: Distant Sun

Until then,

Tuttle.