Adopted Soldier

Phil and Marge weren't really all that bad in combat, but to the standards of the people in the Shadow Mercenaries, the two were laughably weak. Still, the reason they were part of the Shadow Mercenaries, wasn't because of their physical strength, it was their intelligence. The intelligence that create numerous weapons and gadgets that could be used effectively in battle.

So now they weren't able to do anything since they were without any weapons. The most they could do at the moment was to wait for a chance to sprint to the hidden base they made underneath the football field. On the other hand, Oliver and Specter were trying their best to fight Kris and Joseph.

Oliver was fighting Kris, while Specter was fighting Joseph. At the moment the two parties seem to be equally matched.

...

Oliver was having trouble getting near Kris who was firing relentlessly at him, with such speed and accuracy to boot. As he was running around trying to find an opening, Oliver started to pick up some rocks and threw them at Kris. Oliver threw the rocks of varied sizes, in the hopes of distracting Kris long enough so that Oliver could charge in. Yet the moment the rocks got near, Kris was able to accurately shoot at them. This was a shock to Oliver, who wasn't expecting that to happen.

He had now no idea of how to close the gap between him and Kris. In this situation, Oliver thought he could wait for Kris to run our of bullets, forcing to stop shooting and reload.

Yet Kris who kept on firing his gun was able to reload it without needing to stop firing. Making it feel like he never runs out of bullets. It was an amazing skill to have especially for Kris who does seem to have such an incredible amount of bullets on his person. The way he never runs out of bullets make it look like he was a walking armory.

This was the basic standard of an agent in the Shadow Mercenaries. All the mercs in the Shadow Mercenaries were one man army type people. This was also the reason why their organization was feared and was the stuff of legends.

After shooting for a while Kris stopped firing at Oliver. He looked at Oliver with a frown on his face. Oliver was confused to see Kris stop attacking, at that very moment he wanted to charge in, but he didn't do so since it might be some sort of trap. Now that both of them stopped moving, Kris glared at Oliver.

"Hey James, why are you going easy on me?" Kris asked obviously irritated.

"Why do you think I'm going easy on you?" Oliver unsure what this was about, asked. He did this so that he could rest, as well as slowly move forward. Hearing what Oliver said just made Kris even more irritated.

"Well like right now, if it was the past you, the moment I stopped firing you would've shortened the distance between us and attack. Also not once did you use that sword you're carrying. If it was the you of the past, you would've sliced some of the bullets, take a few hits, and then charge at me like a madman, not giving me a chance to distance myself from you. Yet now you're actually fighting safely, based on looks alone, your muscle mass has tripled, and your speed seems to be double of what it was. Yet you still haven't gotten near me. Based on what I have observed, I could only come to the conclusion that you are holding back and taking it easy."

"I don't really know what to say to that." Oliver shrugged his shoulders as he answered.

"Tsk, the way you look down on others thinking you're the best hasn't changed at all. Tell me, James, why did you side with the traitors?"

"You keep on saying they are traitors, but to me they're family." Oliver answered a bit irritated by the constant talk of his parents being traitors.

"What have they done to you, James?... Did they wipe your memory and replaced it? Hell, are you really James Bourne?" Oliver who heard Kris' question felt something burning within him. He couldn't understand it but when he was asked if he was really James Bourne, Oliver felt very irritated. He felt even more irritated than when Kris called his parents traitors. He couldn't understand it but something deep within him was boiling, seething, in rage. He then unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Kris.

"You keep on asking the same sh*t all the time am I really James Bourne?! How about you come and find out yourself, instead of barking all the time. Come I'll f*cking show you who I am."

Kris who suddenly felt an overwhelming, suffocating feeling of killing intent, felt his body shiver a bit. Still, instead of backing away in fear, Kris smiled.

"Oh, finally! Are you about to get serious? This feeling, this sudden wave of killing intent. This very heavy pressure, and that cocky way of talking. You really are James aren't you. If so then-"

Kris wasn't able to finish what he was saying, as he saw Oliver's silhouette disappear right in front of him. He then heard Oliver's voice from below.

"Like I said you bark too much." Oliver was about to slice Kris in two, but then Kris dropped a grenade and backed off. Oliver who saw the grenade unconsciously jumped backward as well. This created some distance between the two. Kris then proceeded to shoot at Oliver.

Yet unlike before Oliver didn't back away and instead charged forward. At this moment his fear of getting hurt was replaced with something else, as the adrenaline rushed throughout his veins. Olive with his inhuman reflexes and kinetic vision was able to dodge and sliced apart some of the incoming bullets.

He allowed some of the bullets that weren't aimed at his vitals to hit, as he continued to mindlessly charge forward. After a few moves, he was once again at close proximity of Kris. Seeing Oliver get so close again, Kris was about to use the same trick as before and dropped a grenade, but this time instead of backing away, Oliver stuck closely to Kris.

Knowing he would be in a disadvantage in this distance with the M4A1s, Kris discarded them and took out two Beretta M9s. Kris entered a close range combat stance with his guns. The reach of Oliver's sword made it good for mid-range attacks. So to surprise him Kris charged forward as well and tried to shoot Oliver in close range.

Sensing the change in tactics, Oliver quickly kicked Kris away. When Oliver's kick hit Kris' stomach he flew backward creating some distance between them. Seeing the distancing enemy, Oliver quickly chased the flying figure of Kris, yet as he flew backward because of the kick, Kris was still able to shoot at Oliver making it hard for Oliver to dash at full speed.

"Sh*t the hell happened to your power! That f*cking hurts, and I'm wearing the latest ballistic vest created by our organization. Yet your kick hurt more than a f*cking rifle shot! Still this style of fighting, this intensity, you really are James!"

"Like I said stop barking!" Oliver was about to charge forward again, but Kris signaled him to stop.

"I give up, James. With your style of fighting, I won't be able to win. This is a mismatch... Now and before I really can't beat you... I don't know why you're helping the traitors, but I'm sure you have a good reason for doing so. Still, James, how about coming back to HQ, to the Shadow Mercenaries. I'm sure if you meet the others we can sort things out."

Oliver was about to answer, but someone interrupted him.

"He can't do that since the current leader wants him dead." The one who spoke was Phil, who suddenly appeared behind Oliver.

"The leader wants him dead? That doesn't make sense, why would he want to do that? I don't know about you, but I know what relationship James has with the leader, and I'm sure he wouldn't want to kill James."

"He's his nephew." Kris was shocked to hear Phil say that, and that shock was shown in the expression on his face.

"If you know that, then how come you're telling me he wants James dead?"

"James is Gabriel's son."

"Wait, what! Gabriel's son!" Kris knew about James being the son of Hektor's sister Patricia, but he didn't know who the father was. Yet now Phil was telling him James was Gabriel's son, this made the whole wants to kill James theory more plausible. Oliver who was listening in the conversation was confused. Did his dad just say he was the son of another man?

"So do you think the leader wants James to live?"

"So what is it you want us to do?" Another person suddenly intruded in the conversation. It was Joseph, who tossed a beaten down Specter on the floor. The fight wasn't fair since Specter didn't have the whole force of his nanomachines.

"Do what you want, I'm just giving you some facts. I can't really stop you from doing anything." Phil shrugged his shoulders.

Kris started to think, now that Specter was out of the equation and he was paired with Joseph it was now possible to capture the traitors and James. Still was that the right move to do. It seems like there was something deeper at play here, and their leader was manipulating them.

Hektor might be the leader of the Shadow Mercenaries, and the members listen to him because of the rules. Still the members of the Shadow Mercenaries were people with huge egos and great strength. So the idea of not being told everything and being manipulated like puppets didn't really sit well with either Kris or Joseph.

"Fine, I'm going to retreat for now and do some digging. How about you Joseph?"

"I guess I'll do the same."

"Very well. If we find out that you've been playing with us Phil, then the next time we meet, we won't try and capture you, we'll f*cking kill you." After saying that both Kris and Joseph retreated.

Once their figures disappeared from sight, Oliver faced his dad.

"Hey, dad, what were you guys talking about? Please, can you tell me, do those people have something to do with the dreams I keep on having? Also, why did you say my real dad was Gabriel? Am I really James Bourne not Oliver Minx?"

"I'm sorry son, but we have no time for that now. I promise once this is all over I will explain everything to you. Also about you being James Bourne or Oliver Minx, didn't you already answer that yourself?"

Hearing what his dad said, Oliver was stunned for a moment before he started to mumble something under his breath.

"I am who I am."