The journey to Ketchikan
"Hi, I am Alex, Alex Alvarez"
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"Ahhh, good name. You can call me George, had a rough day, huh??", the truck driver chuckled, well my clothes were in tatters so that was self-evident, wasn't it??
"Come, I was going towards Ketchikan city, have some business to do in there. I'll take you along with me. What do you say??" he asked me, as we entered his truck.
"Sure, I guess. And thanks for helping me." I replied. Now, I didn't know where the hell I was and I didn't know this Ketchikan city so I was grateful. But, I was wary too. You see, I have never seen a truck driver using a double-barreled shotgun, and there were no signs of nervousness on his face.
"So what were you doing in the Tongass National Forest??" he asked me, as he was starting the engine.
"Well, me and my friends came here to camp out in the woods. You see, Angela, a friend of mine is into nature and stuff. So we brought her here on her birthday. Needless to say, she was exasperated, but shit happened, and I was separated from the group. And I have been wandering around in there, for the past two months. And I tell you, it was tough." I answered. Damn, where do these lies even come from? Am I a born con-man??
"And this little guy," he looked at Lucy, then at me and questioned.
"Firstly, she is a gal. Her name is Lucy", I replied.
"Meooowww," Lucy nodded.
"I found her in the jungle. Her mother died, so I adopted her." I said, caressing Lucy's fur, while she was lazing around in my lap.
"I see, well that's a good thing you did," he stated.
We drove in silence for the rest of the way, stopping once for petrol and once for burgers.
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On the way, I started reflecting on what I did in the jungle. The animals that died by my hands, I was sad for them and unhappy with myself. But the jungle is a cut-throat place, and many a time I was the one on the verge of being prey. The survival of the strongest is the law there, in the jungle. So I had to kill, maybe not for skills but for food. Though, I did get myself some amazing abilities.
I got <Echolocation[Adv]> (Beginner -> Amateur -> Advanced -> Expert -> Master, that's how the tree works) from a flock of bats that were unlucky enough to cross my paths. Being the dumb bats they were, they attacked me, and well let's just say harvest season came early.
I also got <Return[Beg]> from a weird-looking frog I killed. Well, the system told me that it was a wood frog. Well, it was a very bizarre ability. You see the wood frog freezes itself to death in the winters, it's respiration ceases. The heart doesn't beat anymore, but then it comes back to life in the springs. Crazy, right?? So, in times of crisis, I could just freeze myself and go into hibernation.
I found <Reindeer's eye[Beg]> from well, a reindeer. The reindeer could change the size of its pupils to better see in different conditions. It could also change its eye colour. So I got some mild night vision, and I could change my eyes to blue at night.
I got <Poison Resistance[Ama]> from some opossums. <Super strength[Beg]> from a dung beetle. Did you know that a dung beetle can pull 1,141 times its weight??
I got <Eagle eyes[Ama]>, <Jump[Beg]> from a Puma. But the best thing was <Metamorphosis[Exp]> which I got from a lot of frogs and butterflies. You could say that I had hunted for this ability, why? Because it helped me hide my wings. Using this ability I changed the structure of my back to insert my folded wings. It was an amazing ability. With enough nutrients, I could make a cocoon around myself and change my body structure. I could evolve myself.
I got <Claws[Adv]> and <Super hearing[Beg]> from some canines I came across. I didn't have Wolverine claws but I did have his brother's. I was also able to find a salamander and the guy had <Self-Regeneration ll>, I think it was an advanced form of the lizard. Thanks to this, my wings started healing at a faster rate, and now I could float around a bit.
I got <Climb[Ama]> from some monkeys, <Colour change[Beg]> from a chameleon, so I changed my hair to silver, a dream I had after I read TOG, #White(I don't like the guy but his hair looks cool). I got <Armour[Ama]> from some beetles. Let's just say that bullets couldn't do shit to me now, though my eyes were still vulnerable.
I got <Venom[Ama]> from some snakes. I also got <Infrared vision[Beg]> from these snakes.
After taking all these abilities, I had become strong, very strong. Now, I just needed to know where I was.
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"Hey George, do you have the recent newspapers. I really need to know what happened in the past two months." I asked.
"Yeah, you should find some in the back. Now I don't know what all papers I have and what I don't. But you should find some."
Thanking him, I climbed into the back and looked for the papers. Soon I found a stack, the papers were dated April 2007.
And most talked about only one thing.
'Tony Stark's scandals.', 'Tony Stark is a bad, bad man', 'Fucking playboy.', etc. Tony Stark had made headlines in every newspaper in that stack. Now that was an achievement. But I didn't care, I had already lost myself in various thoughts when I saw the name Tony Stark.
'I am in MARVEL, damn yeah, let's go. Partay!!!!', I was excited, a lot. Why? If I was sent here without any power, I would have killed myself. But, because I had a lot of powers, my life was going to be awesome, like really. Because my power was one which could grow. I could even get me some Thor's thunder, who knows?
Taking one of the papers in my hand, I went to George.
"Hey, George who is this guy," I questioned George. Well, I didn't know who or what Tony was in this world. Maybe it was an AU. Though it was looking very similar to what I knew.
"You don't know Tony Stark. He is the biggest and richest playboy in America. The guy owns Stark Industries.", George exclaimed.
Just then his phone started ringing. George took out his phone and stopped the truck. "Hey, sorry but this is an important call." Saying that he got off the truck.
After 5 minutes, he returned and we continued talking about the daily occurrences and happenings in America. Apparently, I was in the USA and am currently in Alaska.
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<The 5 minutes>
"What happened, Ricky?? Why are you calling me right now." George questioned after he left the truck.
"Well, I needed to know where you currently are, you see the boss is getting impatient. And an impatient boss is very bad for my health, George."
Hearing that, George shuddered.
"I see, well we are on the highway. Ten km to Ketchikan. I should reach the warehouse in half an hour, maximum." George stated.
"Great, hey could you send a picture of the ocelot. You know I am an animal lover, don't you."
"Ricky, I am currently travelling with the ocelot and the target. We don't want the guy to be alerted, do we?" George shouted.
"Whatever."
With that, Ricky cut off the phone line. George sighed and got in the truck.
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'Heh, so they think that they can take my Lucy away, do they?? Hehe. I did need to check what happens when I use synthesis on humans. Should I thank George twice now? Hmmm, Ahhh, I hate dilemmas.' (<Super hearing>)
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Soon, we reached the city. George asked me whether I want to visit his garage or not. I gratefully answered "yes".
We reached his garage in another five minutes. The place was in a very deserted area. And a normal guy would get creeps from the place. But I was not a normal guy, was I??
We entered his garage. Then he left, saying that he was going to bring coffee.
"Here you go, some coffee.", He came back after 5 minutes and handed me a cup of coffee.
"Thanks, man.", I could smell it, there was a sleeping drug in the coffee. But, what can that even do to me? I ate snakes for breakfast.
I drank the coffee, without caring one bit.
'So gullible', George thought.
Missing out on a lot of entertainment in life, I was happy to lay unconscious for George and whoever his friends were.
After I had gone 'unconscious', George shouted for his friends. And he and some other guy lifted me and Lucy and took us away to a separate room where I was bound to a chair, and Lucy was put in a cage.
"Wake him up.", Some guy in a black mask ordered another guy in a red mask.
The red masked guy slapped me on my cheeks, "Hey wake up, shitty boi."
"Ugh, what happened. Where is George??" I 'woke' up and looked around. Next, I looked at the ropes that bound me and tried breaking them, like the typical kidnapped guy I saw in movies.
A woman in a blue mask came and took my chin in her hands. "Hey boss, can I have him for a day before you sell him away.", chuckling, she asked Mr Black.
"George, could you update our friend here on the situation he is currently in." Mr Black looked at George and 'requested'.
"I am sorry, Alex. But I am involved in the slave trade and you are a specimen of a boy. You are someone who people will give money for. Now I asked the boss, and he will let you keep the cat if you agree to do whatever we say, will you??" George asked me.
"George, how could you? I trusted you, and you sold me away. I thought we had become friends.", I shouted at George.
"You are very gullible Alex, why did you think that you could trust me. Just because I helped you once. Just because I drove you here. You trust too easily, Alex. Take this as a lesson, never trust someone easily. Well, I asked you a question. Will, you agree to listen to our instructions?" George questioned.
"I don't have a choice, do I. Whatever I do, I will just be sold away. Isn't that the truth?" I sighed.
"I guess it is." George chuckled.
"Very well, I choose to not agree to your instructions."
"A poor decision, lad.", Mr Black stated. He continued, "Ricky, put a bullet in his leg and then we will see if he still has the rebel in him."
With that, the red guy took out his pistol and shot me in the leg.
"Ahhhhhhhh, hey George, is that the sound one makes when they are shot. You see I have never been shot before." I started laughing.
"WTF,", Ricky shouted and shot twice more. Both times the bullet wasn't able to hurt me and I continued laughing.
"Well, I think that's enough fun." I stood up and broke the ropes and the chair.
"What the hell, is he a mutant? Shoot him down, fast." Mr Black ordered.
With that five more people got in the room and started shooting at me. None of the bullets could hurt me and after seeing that Lucy was getting scared, made quick work of all the five plus Ricky. After that, I knocked out the other three.
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<George: POV>
I woke up after I was greeted with a whole bucket of water.
"What the hell?", then it dawned on me and I realized that Alex was a monster. I looked around and saw boss and Tracy tied up to chairs, then I looked at myself and saw that I too was tied to a chair.
"Good morning people. How was the nap? I hope it was good because this won't be.", Alex laughed.
I looked at Alex, the boy who I had kidnapped, and the boy who had just killed Ricky, Ethan and the others.
"You asshole. You killed them all." I shouted.
<Bang>
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<Alex: POV>
"Plus one.", I smirked. See, these guys were slave traders. And I didn't give a fuck about them. I was not like those Justice guys who didn't like to kill anyone. If you do bad things, you should be ready to meet some bad things yourself.
"Now I am very angry that I couldn't get any skill out of those five I killed. Also, you guys are poor AF, I was only able to get 750$ out of those five. You two have money?", I asked the girl and the boss.
"I have some, I can give you 20000$ right now. And I have more in the bank. Just let me live.", the boss pleaded.
"Where is the 20k."
"In the almirah in the room beside this, there is a safe. The money is in that safe.", I took the money in the safe, and started thinking about how this guy became a boss.
"I see, good answer. I liked how you didn't waste my time with bullshit. Oh, does anyone of you know of a way to get me a passport?"
"I do," Tracy answered. "I can even hack into banks and government systems."
"Very good. You may live, I did need a servant myself. You should be honoured. Now Mr Black. I don't really need you, do I?"
<Bang>