"Probably both," Ethan Cole said with an easy smile that slowly widened across his face. There was nothing hurried or tense in his expression. Instead, he looked almost amused, as though the entire situation unfolding in front of him were little more than an interesting experiment.
Victor Creed—the ferocious mutant better known as Sabretooth—tried to struggle free. His face twisted into a savage snarl, veins bulging along his temples as his muscles strained with explosive force. His forehead darkened with anger, and his entire body trembled as he pushed against the invisible pressure binding him in place.
Yet no matter how much strength he used, the restraint never loosened.
Victor quickly realized something was terribly wrong. The strange force wrapped around every inch of his body like an unbreakable cage. His arms, legs, torso—every muscle he tried to command met the same invisible resistance. It was as though the air itself had hardened into steel.
Ethan didn't give him the chance to speak. Instead, he continued calmly, almost conversationally.
"It seems your plan was pretty straightforward. Capture me first so I can be used by whoever sent you. And if capturing me didn't work…" His smile sharpened slightly. "You'd simply kill me."
Victor's eyes burned with fury, but he still couldn't move.
"Unfortunately," Ethan continued, strolling a slow circle around him, "the people behind you are nothing more than rats hiding in the dark. Their intelligence network is sloppy. Honestly, it's nowhere near the level of any proper organization."
He paused beside Victor and tilted his head slightly.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to kill you."
The words might have sounded reassuring to someone else. To Victor, they felt like a threat.
"But since you were kind enough to come all the way here," Ethan added, "it would be rude not to take something useful from you."
His eyes glimmered faintly.
"Something like… your healing factor."
As he spoke, Ethan casually flicked his hand.
Victor's massive body suddenly lifted into the air as if he weighed nothing at all. The brutal mutant who could tear through soldiers like paper now floated helplessly, drifting through the room like a loose feather.
A moment later, he descended slowly onto a large testing platform in the center of the laboratory.
His body rotated in midair until he was lying flat on his back. The wild, clawing posture he'd been locked in earlier vanished as his limbs were repositioned into a restrained, clinical pose.
Ethan reached down and pressed a hidden switch on the edge of the platform.
With a sharp mechanical click, several thick metal restraints slid out from the sides of the table. They looked like braided steel cables reinforced with heavy alloy plates. In seconds they wrapped around Victor's wrists, ankles, waist, and neck, locking him firmly in place.
Only after the restraints secured him did Ethan release the invisible telekinetic force.
Victor instantly felt the pressure disappear.
His muscles exploded into motion.
"Damn you! I'll kill you!"
He thrashed violently against the restraints, roaring like a cornered animal. His claws scraped against the metal bindings, producing harsh screeching sounds as sparks flickered along the alloy surface.
But the restraints didn't move.
Not even slightly.
Ethan leaned against the side of the test bench, watching the struggle with casual interest.
"Don't waste your energy, Mr. Creed," he said calmly. "You're not getting out of those."
He bent down slightly, tightening one of the restraint belts before leaning closer to Victor's ear.
"Do you know what material those restraints are made from?"
Victor growled, baring his fangs, but Ethan continued speaking before he could respond.
"Adamantium alloy," Ethan whispered.
His voice carried a faint hint of amusement.
"I had them prepared especially for you."
Victor's eyes widened slightly, but Ethan straightened before he could react further.
"Oh, and one more thing," Ethan added. "I'm going to separate your healing factor from your body first. After that, I'll give you a little surprise."
He lightly flicked one of the metal restraints with his finger.
The alloy rang out with a clear metallic chime.
"Curious about the surprise?" Ethan asked.
Victor's eyes glowed with murderous rage, but Ethan continued as though discussing a casual business proposal.
"The surprise is also Adamantium."
He folded his arms and smiled faintly.
"Your dear brother—Wolverine—was given an Adamantium skeleton by William Stryker. That upgrade made his abilities far superior to yours."
Ethan's smile widened.
"So in return, I'm planning to do the same thing for you. I'll replace your skeleton with Adamantium as well."
He tilted his head slightly.
"That way you and your brother will finally be equals again."
The calmness in Ethan's voice made the words feel even colder.
"Sounds tempting, doesn't it?"
Victor stared at him with pure hatred.
To Ethan, the expression looked like the furious glare of a wild animal trapped in a cage. Victor's eyes burned with murderous intent, and every muscle in his body strained violently against the restraints.
"You'll die!" Victor roared. "I swear I'll kill you! I'll rip you apart!"
Ethan didn't react.
Instead, he simply waved his hand dismissively.
"Relax," he said. "You should get some sleep."
His tone remained light and almost friendly.
"When you wake up, you'll discover a few… changes."
Ethan paused for a moment before adding one final thought.
"Oh, and for your own safety—and the safety of this experiment—you should really stop resisting."
He tapped the metal restraint beside Victor's arm.
"If you refuse to cooperate and the Adamantium injection fails, you probably won't die." His eyes narrowed slightly. "But you will become completely useless."
His voice softened again.
"I doubt that's the outcome you want."
Victor continued struggling, but Ethan had already lost interest in the resistance.
He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
Snap.
The sharp sound echoed through the laboratory.
Victor suddenly felt the world tilt.
The room spun violently as if gravity itself had twisted sideways. The lights blurred into streaks, and the walls warped into overlapping ripples.
His vision fractured.
The laboratory dissolved into layers of shimmering distortion, like waves spreading across the surface of water.
Victor tried to focus, but his thoughts were slipping away.
His consciousness faded rapidly, drifting deeper and deeper into a thick mental fog.
By the time his eyes lost their focus entirely, a faint red glow had begun to flicker deep within his pupils.
Ethan stepped closer to the table.
His voice became calm and steady.
"What's your name?"
"Victor Creed."
The answer came out flat and emotionless.
"What was your purpose for coming here?"
"Capture Ethan Cole… or kill him."
Ethan nodded slowly.
"Just as I expected."
He placed a hand lightly against Victor's forehead.
"From now on," Ethan said quietly, "you will obey my commands."
His voice carried an unusual resonance, calm yet impossible to resist.
"In the deepest part of your mind, you will acknowledge me as your master. My words will be the truth to you. This belief will be rooted in your heart where you cannot easily notice it."
Victor's face twitched slightly.
Ethan continued.
"Under normal circumstances you won't even realize it exists. But whenever I say the words 'please call me sir,' you will obey me immediately."
Victor's expression suddenly twisted.
A violent struggle flashed across his face as something deep within his mind resisted the intrusion.
But Ethan simply smiled.
He raised his finger and gently touched the center of Victor's forehead.
A thin wisp of crimson energy drifted outward from Ethan's fingertip, wrapping around Victor's head like smoke.
Ethan's consciousness slipped directly into Victor's mind.
Layer after layer of memories unfolded before him—years of violence, battles, rage, and survival. Ethan moved through them calmly, observing Victor's thoughts and subtly adjusting certain perceptions.
This was one of the telepathic abilities granted by the Phoenix Force.
At its most basic level, telepathy allowed someone to read thoughts. But at deeper levels, it could rewrite memories and alter a person's cognition itself.
The method was strikingly similar to the techniques used by Professor Charles Xavier, though Ethan's approach was far less forceful.
The process continued for more than ten minutes.
During that time Victor's expression changed repeatedly. At first his face was twisted with violent resistance. Then the struggle slowly faded into confusion, followed by an uneasy calm.
Finally, everything settled into stillness.
After more than ten minutes, Ethan withdrew his hand.
Victor's face had become pale.
Ethan studied him quietly before asking a simple question.
"Who am I?"
"You are Mr. Ethan," Victor replied calmly. "The person I will obey from now on."
A satisfied smile appeared on Ethan's face.
He snapped his fingers again.
The telepathic control relaxed.
Victor suddenly regained consciousness.
His eyes snapped open as his body tensed violently.
"Damn it! What did you do to me?!" he roared at Ethan.
Ethan looked at him calmly.
"At this moment," he said quietly, "please call me sir."
Victor's body trembled.
The savage fury on his face froze in place before slowly fading away.
A moment later, his expression became strangely calm.
"All right, sir."