57 Project : Blood Diamond

Samuel Sterns/The Leader

In his lab, Sterns worked carefully, putting the final touches on the chemical he'd been putting together for the past few minutes. As he worked with the blue liquid, John Garrett walked into the room.

"Hey, Big Head!" Garrett said jauntily. "All done?"

Sterns held in his anger. Garrett was rude, uncouth, and useless. The only use he had, as far as Sterns could tell, was that he had men under his command. The HYDRA leaders had some sort of use, but Garrett? Sterns only held his control with great discipline, an easy task for a genius of his caliber, and something Garrett didn't deserve.

"Yes, I believe I am," Sterns looked up as another person walked into the room. "Young Raina. You have the final component?"

"Yes, Doctor Sterns," Raina said with a bright smile, the young black woman wearing a pretty silk blue dress with flowers all across it.

"You sweet talking my girl, Sterns?" Garrett asked with a grin as Raina handed Sterns a blue vial.

Sterns held in his thoughts on that. "Raina has been helping me. She really has quite the gift for genetics," Sterns poured the contents of the blue vial in with other chemicals. "Sadly, synthesizing this has been quite difficult, and some of the versions I've created broke down. But this is the final and completed serum. Thankfully for you, I've gained quite a bit of experience in alien genetics recently," Sterns poured all of it into a glass and handed it to Garrett. "Go ahead and drink that."

"What, just like that?" Garrett eyed the blue fluid within the glass. "I thought it would be a bit more... complex. Although I do like that one of my fellow death cult members is handing me kool-aid."

"Yes, very quaint," Sterns sighed. "Now, please leave."

Garrett blinked at Sterns. "Thought you'd be more excited about this stuff, Sterns. You know this Jesus juice can bring the dead back to life, right?"

The gamma-enhanced genius smirked. "Yes, I do. And while I'm sure less intellectual minds would find that interesting, I foresee far better things in my research."

After a moment, the other man shrugged before drinking the blue liquid. For a moment, nothing happened. Then Garrett gasped, his back twisting as he stumbled. Raina and Sterns watched him calmly as he fell to his knees, eyes wide. "What... what is this?"

"Power, I suppose," Sterns said simply.

"With Dr. Sterns help, I've been able to make incredible progress in my research," Raina added with a sweet, cold smile. "With all of the enhancements already in your body..."

Sterns turned and walked away, leaving Garrett to heal. Raina followed.

As the gamma-enhanced genius walked through the halls, he could hear Garrett laughing deliriously in the background. All according to plan. When Sterns had realized that there was a sort of genetic memory in the blood of whatever alien the vials Garrett had given came from, he'd come upon a plan.

Garrett was an issue. For all of his crudeness, he had men and resources that he'd allowed Strucker to use. Garrett gave Strucker manpower that the leader of HYDRA wouldn't otherwise have. But, if Garrett became so obsessed that he decided to cut ties with Strucker... well, Sterns hadn't had to work very hard to make sure the serum he'd given Garrett would give him an extra dose of the genetic memories within them.

"Raina," Sterns said as they walked together.

"Yes, doctor?" Raina asked politely.

"Is Project: Blood Diamond ready?"

"Of course," Raina said, following Sterns through the castle. "The subject is now under our control, and the crystals have been placed in the particle infusion chamber. She's been injected with the purified serum you created, though I should warn you we had to use the only one you created."

"Wonderful," Sterns said with a smile. "Do you know the story of how HYDRA obtained her?"

"They found her in Mexico, right?" Raina asked.

Sterns chuckled. "Yes, they did. And that was when HYDRA came into conflict with another organization. When HYDRA took her, this organization attacked them. Now, I haven't found any records of what that group was called. But they followed this young woman wherever HYDRA hid her, calling her 'Black Sky'. HYDRA and this organization killed each other across America, all over her."

Raina stared at him, surprised. "Why did this organization stop?"

"In an ingenious maneuver, HYDRA faked her death in an explosion," Sterns smiled. "But make no mistake. If this organization is still around, and they find that she is alive? I do believe they would do anything they could to capture her."

The pair walked into a room. Inside, the subject of their conversation was sitting placidly on a bed as scientists roamed around her.

"Are you ready, my dear?" Sterns asked the blank-faced girl.

She'd changed since he'd last seen her. Still thin, almost painfully so, but her once matted black hair was now clean and combed. She wore white patients clothes and looked up at Sterns. Sterns noted that unlike others, she didn't seem to notice his massively enlarged head, only meeting his eyes placidly.

"Estoy feliz de cumplir," the young woman said.

"Ah, my dear girl," Sterns said fondly, shaking his head. "Such a sweetheart now. Please," he gestured to the large gray metal tube that had opened up to reveal a space large enough to sit in. "Enter the chamber."

Without hesitation, the girl rose up and walked over to it, standing inside and lying back as the three large rectangular lights on either side of her glowed within the chamber.

"Are you sure this will work?" Raina asked. When Sterns scowled at the perceived insult, she hurried to continue. "I trust your calculations, Doctor. But it seems... fantastic."

Sterns slowly softened. "Yes, I suppose it does. But the chamber has been tested before, and I believe now we have found the perfect material to make use of and a subject most likely to survive the process."

Strucker came through the door then, followed as always by Rana Williams in her Aberration form. Sterns held in a sigh of disappointment at the sight of Rana being so loyal. What a waste. Such beautiful power, all wasted in servitude to... Well. To each their own.

"Excited, Strucker?" Sterns asked as the chamber closed around the young girl within it.

"In many ways, yes," Strucker admitted. "I was first put on this project by Whitehall himself. While Creel was quite the success, his abilities were far too... temporary, for our tastes. Seeing what you make here will be interesting."

For once, Sterns didn't feel distaste towards Strucker. In this, both men were in total agreement. While Strucker could never match the incredible brilliance and magnificent intellect within Sterns, he was still a scientist.

"I suppose we should begin," Sterns said with a smile. "One hundred percent."

"One hundred, sir?" the black haired scientist at the massive cube device next to the chamber asked, shocked.

"Did he stutter?" Strucker said with a frown.

"N-No sir," the scientist leaned down, his face distressed, and began to activate it. The gray cube held all the materials they'd chosen within, ready to be used for the process.

Sterns looked into the window on the chamber, where the girl was staring out calmly. "Now, according to all our research, a person who is already enhanced will more easily accept further enhancements. Raina, why do you believe that is?"

The young woman smiled. "Because their genetics are more capable of withstanding and healing side effects?"

A crude answer. Sterns felt disappointed, but he easily hid it with fake pride. "Indeed, my dear."

Raina smiled, easily fooled. Sterns had her pegged. She wanted to be special, to become someone with power and beauty. Raina's sin was greed. It made her dangerous, but it also made her easy to draw into the influence of others. All Sterns needed was time with her.

He put away that thought to focus on the Particle Infusion Chamber. The panels behind the device began to glow.

"I am saddened we lost our original choice for this experiment," Strucker said. "But losing Ruby Hale and gaining this young woman may have been to our advantage."

"Does she even have a name?" Rana asked, standing next to Raina. Despite their similar names, the two couldn't have been more different, Rana towering over the smaller woman.

"Hm," Strucker said, adjusting his monocle. "I'm not sure."

Suddenly the girl within the chamber grimaced, gritting her teeth. Raina frowned, sharing a glance Sterns, who simply smiled.

The girl shouted, then roared, a surprisingly intimidating sound. Strucker stepped forward with a fascinated look in his eyes.

"How much?" Sterns asked the scientist at the controls.

"Fifty-nine percent infusion!" the man yelled, with far more emotion than Sterns really felt was necessary for what amounted to a medical procedure.

The girl shouted again, eyes snapping open. As they watched, her eyes began to change color.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Rana asked, the gamma-enhanced woman staring.

"It's the DNA of the material imposing itself," Sterns said calmly. "How much?"

"It's accelerating! Seventy... Eighty... One hundred percent, that's all of it!"

The lights across the machine shut down, the panels behind it turning off as well. The chamber opened and the girl was revealed.

She was panting, her chest heaving as she sweated, soaking her clothes. The thin young woman stared around angrily, hissing.

Rana still in her monstrous form, stepping in front of Strucker, only for him to shake his head and step forward.

The girl's eyes glowed a bright yellow. No, they didn't glow. It was more like... they'd become that way. They had turned into smooth topaz-like gems, the light making them glitter.

"Show us," Strucker said softly. "Show us what you can do."

She twisted her wrists. From each hand, in between pinkie and ring finger, and her middle finger and index finger, four blue-green crystals shot out, two for each hand. They were shaped like curved blades, claws of crystal. The girl grunted in pain as blood poured from the holes the claws ripped in her hands to come out but didn't seem too bothered otherwise, the bleeding stopping almost immediately as the wounds healed around the claws. She focused once more, and a ripping sound was heard as she stumbled out of the chamber. From her back, shoulders, and along her arms, more crystals sprouted, piercing her skin and ripping at her clothes. She closed her eyes, and all the crystals pulled back except the ones in her hands, leaving her clothes to flutter to the ground as she stared at them with calm eyes. All the holes in her skin sealed, then healed over in moments.

"Incredible," Strucker said, gently removing his coat and stepping forward. He eyed the blood on her body and claws before chuckling. "Truly," he said, putting his coat around the girl. "You are a Blood Diamond."

The girl stared blankly, her claws glittering in the light as topaz colored gems gazed upon them.