Chapter 15
Well, it's confirmed, when people said that SHIELD had money, they weren't lying. When it came to pricing some of the technology, Jax just threw out an outlandish amount as a joke, but they excepted it so fast that Jax thought that he accidentally lowballed himself.
His only consolation was that he sold them a severely weakened version of all of his products, so he would still have the upper hand in case anything bad happened.
Either way, if Jax was considered wealthy before, well now he had what he likes to call, "Fuck you" money. Jax was so rich, he felt like a kid who 100% completed a videogame and didn't know what else to do. But Jax did know what he wanted to do, and that was further his fastly growing empire.
Fury had come through in his favor, and with his new wealth, Jax had bought a satellite from the US government as well as the land and air rights around Umbra Tower, making it officially his territory, just like Stark Towers in the future.
"So, why did you buy a satellite as you're one favor?" MJ asked as she and Jada, who was visiting Umbra Tower for the first time, inspect the massive old satellite that Jax bought from the government.
"Well, while you can technically buy some cheap satellite, government satellites are a whole different level. I'm going to break this down, to make sure that they don't have any connection to it, then rebuild it with a Wolfe Reactor powered solar system, that way it'll theoretically be powered forever." Jax said as he continued tinkering with the satellite.
"Once the satellite is in orbit, I'll be able to make my own communications network, a surveillance system, monitor and study space, and once I install an anti-surveillance system, with the ability to keep its position constantly over Umbra Tower, I can jam any spy software from trying to watch us. I even added a small orbital laser that can even shoot beams from space!" Jax said proudly. He didn't know how he ended up on SHIELD's radar, but he was going to protect himself and his family.
"Huh, well that's cool. Now you can make me a new cell phone with you reactor thingy and make it so my phone will never die and my calls won't drop, right?" asked Jada, visibly losing interest in the satellite and getting excited by the thought of a new phone.
"Huh, I mean, yes, obviously that's an added perk, but the science and discovery are what's important here mom. Science!" Jax said, exasperated that she couldn't appreciate how owning your satellite could be.
"Yeah, yeah. MJ, we're getting new phones!" Jada squealed in excitement as MJ joined her.
Jax couldn't believe how the two most important people in his life couldn't appreciate how awesome this was and silently wished for a smart friend who could understand him. Suddenly, one of the walls turned into a television and began broadcasting a news alert.
Jax's curious glance turned into an excited smile as the news reported how Tony Stark had freed himself from captivity and would be hosting a Stark-Expo in a week for a huge announcement.
'Fuck, yes! If I remember correctly, he should be shutting down his weapons division which not only allows my weapons to flourish, but it should be the start of some major events!' Jax thought to himself.
Excited that he may have a chance to use some of the skills he's been learning through Slade's deadly training, Jax's mind went back to his lackluster suit and figured it was time to give himself a new suit. But, before he could make a new suit, there was one more important thing for him to do that he had been putting off for too long out of fear. The Corrupted nanobots.
After this, Jax rushed to finish the satellite, as the sooner it was in orbit, the safer he would feel. A few hours later, with the help of Jax's new Smart droids, which he programmed to help him and Walter in their projects until they had a decent science team, Jax was finally finished building his Umbra Satellite, which was more like a mini space station, capable of being lived in for a limited time for emergencies.
Jax had a few droids transport the satellite to the airfield that was attached to the underground hangar he had built in the base. The hangar was empty at the moment, but once Walter and his group of Smart droids finalize the designs that Jax drew up for a new star jet, he'll start producing a whole fleet's worth.
For this momentous event, Jax even invited his best friend, Peter, but his Uncle Ben got sick and he had to find a way to raise some money for his medicine. Jax offered to give him the money, but Peter didn't want any handouts and said that his sickness wasn't too serious. Not wanting to push it, Jax let it go, as he knew that the events of Uncle Ben dying may happen soon.
With the satellite on the launch platform, attached to a cheap, one-shot rocket, the rocket was ready for launch. Watching from the safety of his tower, Jax and the others waited with anticipation as the Smart droids that were doing the final checks cleared the area and the count down began.
As the countdown ended, the rocket blasted off, Jax watched the progress on a monitor, worried that something at the second and fuck him over. But, in the end, it was all just his paranoia, as everything went off without a hitch and the satellite officially entered orbit and was online.
The second that the satellite activated, Umbra Tower was virtually cut off from the rest of the world and from any surveillance that was surveilling it, which made many world powers nervous. At this point, it was known by the world powers that Umbra was a highly advanced weapons company that had technology that the world has never seen before, and was watching Umbra Tower in hopes of learning Jax's secrets and replicating the tech.
As much as it annoyed Jax that Jada and MJ only cared about his amazing satellite for new phones, but Jax did expect their reaction, so he had already made them their phones, each one with a near-infinite battery and a tracker connected to the satellite for emergencies.
With Umbra Tower filled with enough droids and artillery to go to war with a small country and the satellite jamming surveillance cameras, preventing Umbra Tower from being spied on, Jax finally felt safe enough to take on more ambitious projects.
Heading down to the deepest floor of Umbra Tower, Jax built an entire floor just for the veil of corrupted nanobots that he stole from Oscorp. Jax had built many containment chambers in this room just to prevent the possibility of this thing escaping to somehow become an Ultron and threaten the world.
Walking into the final chamber where he's housed the vial of corrupted nanobots, Jax walked up to the testing apparatus he made to test them. Using the apparatus, Jax had a dummy droid he made specifically for this called a Test droid, safely pour out the apparatus while he analyzed it through his monitor and found that the nanites were indeed "corrupted".
The nanites looked to have been made for medical purposes but developed a habit of spawning more nanites, which to the scientists at Oscorp probably seemed like a huge red flag, causing them to abandon the nanites. But, Jax was no average scientist and saw this more as yet another boon.
Thanks to the nanites naturally developing a habit of spawning, Jax didn't have to go through the tedious task of learning how to accomplish this feat, and merely had to study these nanites and modify them for his purposes. The first thing on his agenda, a new suit.
Jax had MJ, who had dreams of becoming a fashion designer, to help him design his new suit, and Jax had to say, MJ was a natural. Jax was so impressed that he even offered to fund her starting her own clothing brand, but MJ denied, stating that she wished to finish college first and that she wanted to spend as much time with Jax as she could.
The suit heavily resembled the armor from the videogame, Crysis, since they also used advanced nano suits for their soldiers, but Jax changed the helmet to resemble a sleeker version of Predator's helmet, with the black tendrils for added intimidation.
The armor was made with a special non-magnetic alloy that Jax made and was painted in vantablack to help absorb all light and had dark purple accents. This made it so that he won't easily get fucked by Magneto and helps cover his weakness to light-based attacks.
Just like Ironman's suit in the future, Jax's Darkclaw armor quickly retracted, so that he can easily wear it should an emergency pop up randomly.
"This suit is scary-looking Jax..." MJ said as she watched Jax wearing the Darkclaw armor and testing it out in the training room he had built.
Retracting the armor, Jax walked up and hugged MJ with a sympathetic look. "I know sweetie, but it's to help intimidate those who try to hurt us. You that battle I had with those mutants that night, and how tattered my armor got. There's no telling what stronger enemy is out there, and I want to be prepared." Jax said, giving MJ a reassuring kiss.
That next night was a big event for Umbra Tower, as Jax sent out the announcements that he'd be holding his own Expo, showing off a few of his inventions and getting a chance to show off before the Stark Expo. Plus, Jax invited several big names to the event, including Tony Stark himself, hoping to get friendly with the future Ironman. Jax had even announced a sort of science competition where the winner will receive a 5 million dollar cash prize and contract to work for Umbra. Needless to say, word got around.
Umbra Tower has changed drastically since it was first built, with the help of the Builder droids, making the whole compound larger and more secure. Everything considered "Top Secret", had been moved in the secured lower floors, and everything else was safe enough to allow the public to view and gawk at.
"Is everything ready and secure?" Jax asked Gonjo, his Jounin Commander of his shinobi, who have recently increased their numbers, thanks to the first three shinobi working so hard in scouting for prospects.
"Yes, my lord. We have security on all lower floors increased and have already instructed the droids at the gate to not shoot the guests. But, my lord, I have to ask. Are you sure this is the best decision? Though we're being careful, this all seems to be happening kind of fast, and opening the gates could be inviting in trouble." Gonjo asked, concerned that his young master might be getting ahead of himself.
"I understand the concern, Gonjo, but we need to do this. Even though we came out with some amazing tech, SHIELD and the government is hiding my achievements. And if I do the Expo after Starks, even if I have more advanced tech, he's going to overshadow me. Yes, I have the SHIELD contracts for funding now, but unless I start making some headlines and start gaining some traction, Umbra will forever be stuck under SHIELD's thumb. Even the competition is only to help gain more publicity." Jax said as he looked out of the window of the tower.
Jax had recently started a public fundraiser to revitalize East Harlem, donating the most money. Some had come forward complaining that if he did that, then the already high rent prices would skyrocket, so Jax resolved to buy most of the buildings and promised that he would revamp the area and drop the rent of those to a livable price. Jax wasn't doing this just out of the kindness of his heart, this was just politics.
"As you wish sir. Do you want one of our shinobi to follow you and Lady MJ to school for protection?" asked Gonjo.
"No, that'll be fine. I and MJ will be finishing school early soon, but before I leave, I have some unfinished business to take care of with some people." Jax said in a dark tone, as three people whose faces haunt him now and then flashed across his face.
After that, Jax and MJ got ready and made their way to school. As they walked in, Jax found out that his plan for the expo was a success, as the whole class began clamoring around him, asking for details. You don't want to know how many dumb questions Jax had to answer and respond to.
"No, mayonnaise isn't an instrument and would not be appropriate for the expo. Guys, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but all of your questions will be answered tomorrow night at the expo! You're all invited!" Jax said like a winning show host.
To this, the whole class cheered and started tweeting, allowing Jax and MJ to get to their seats, but before they could, some people blocked his path, making him have a stormy expression.
"H-hey Jax... Look, I don't know how else to say it, so I'll just come out and say it. We're sorry for what happened, bro. At first, we were just joking around and then things got out of hand... like someone took over us or something." said Johnny, scratching the back of his head from the awkward moment, as the whole class was now looking at them.
Everyone knew the three were bullying Jax badly and that something bad had happened, but they never got the details as things died down soon after that.
"Yeah, I know you'll never forgive us, but-" Luke tried to speak but was startled by a sharp glare from Jax.
"No... you three, and your little friends are the ones I will never forgive! Went too far?! Do you fucking think?! No, I hate you three, especially you, Eddie. I will forever do everything in my power to make sure you have a horrible, and cursed life for what you did to me!" Jax yelled, starting to get emotional, not realizing that he was looking more feral by the second.
Jax was so upset, that he didn't even realize that he had used one of his mother's most powerful spells, Curse. The curse was not like Jax's other spells in the sense that it wasn't a visual or an attack spell, but it was no less powerful. Through the power of darkness, Johnny, Luke, and Eddie's shadows became marked by the Curse, which was a power that brings chaos and great misfortune to those it was marked by.
Had Jax known how monumental this moment was, he would've never gone back to school to avoid running into these three again.