CHAPTER 38 - JOINING THE FOLD

After convincing him that he was out of the scope of Ross' experiments, Davis calmed down and listened to what I had to say.

First things first, "Here, take this. I've downloaded all the information from your experiments into it. I figured you should know exactly what was being done to you." 

I gave him a phone that I personally encrypted so if anyone ever tampered with it or hacked into it, I'll know right away. 

Though he still didn't fully trust me, he accepted the phone nonetheless. 

"It's bugged right?" 

"Oh definitely." He looked a bit surprised at how easily I confirmed it but didn't say anything else and kept it. 

"So what now?"

"You're pretty calm from what I'd expect from a hulk."

"A hulk? Like the big green guy and the other that wrecked Harlem?" I nodded. "Well, I keep getting the feeling that I have to stay calm no matter what, and also you were the one who knocked me out, right?"

'He remembered that? So less like Banner and more like She-Hulk. Good to know.'

"That aside," He scoffed at my deflection but I ignored it and continued, "I'll get straight to the point then: I want you to work under me."

This time the shock of Davis' face was very apparent for all to see. He definitely never expected that. 

"The goal is nothing concrete at this point in time, but basically it's me wanting you and a few others to form a group." I said. 

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and asked. "And the present purpose of this group?"

I clarified. "It's to stop cases like yours and maybe have you guys do a few little heroics. Anything younguns like you want." 

"And what about you? You're pretty strong right? Are you not going to do anything?" He asked. 

'Probably not dumb, at least street-wise.'

"You can consider me a benefactor of sorts. The mythical Aegis for all what you will be doing. I'll be your shield for any actions you take, obviously under my discretion of course."

He might be young, and not the Weapon H he used to be in the comics but he was still a hulk regardless. His potential was already in the big leagues if harnessed well. And from the flow of the conversation so far, he doesn't seem all that averse to it. 

"So henchmen?" He looked disgusted as the words rolled off his tongue which made me laugh a little as I shook my head. 

"I'm thinking more along the lines of a subordinate. Accommodation and living expenses are free, also you get paid. Heroes don't survive on good deeds after all, or mercenaries if you are the crazy type."

He fell silent as he mulled over the proposal and I knew I already had him. 

If he wasn't interested in having better powers than the subpar mutation he had before the experiments, he wouldn't have listened to what I had to say in the first place. 

Young people like him were very hooked on the idea of having super powers and doing the impossible, either good or bad. Davis apparently was the same. 

He finally looked at me with cold resolved eyes and made a request. 

"The people who tortured me, will I get to kill them?" 

Well, it's not as if I was expecting him to just forget what happened just because he was saved and he looks like he is quite the vengeful one. 

"You can't." His anger skyrocketed at that moment and it was just about to tip over until I completed my statement and it dispersed like sand in the wind. "Because I already killed them for you."

He looked at me for a few seconds until I gestured for him to check the phone which he did for a few minutes, reading through the news articles and also my own narrative of what happened in the base, and broke into a laugh. 

"I guess being an Avenger isn't so bad. So am I like what, a second hand Hulk?" His attitude mellowed out and he turned out to be just another young adult that had a lot of unnecessary topics to talk about. 

I have already sent news of Davis to Banner and even without monitoring the tracer I left on him, I know that with his guilt he couldn't bear to leave someone as young as Davis, who suffered due to his research, alone. 

He was currently on his way back to the Compound after his little sabbatical and since he was one of the smartest men I know, he could help me understand me more. 

Having him and Sarah working together on a few things I came up with was bound to reignite his nerdy brain. 

"So what should I call you, 'boss', 'sir' or 'leader'?"

"Just Vision is fine."

He looked at me and shrugged. "So I've been meaning to ask, but you're a mutant right? What kind of powers do you have?"

Right. The red default skin made was a dead giveaway to any ignorant person making them think I'm a mutant because no one thinks about a living robot walking in their midst nowadays. 

"I'm not a mutant." I left him with his confusion and went to the training area where Pietro was already waiting for me. 

I have missed training for a few days and I wanted to make sure he wasn't slacking off. 

When I got to the huge auditorium that functioned as my makeshift gym, one I specifically made for people in the superhuman tier, I saw Pietro around laps around the entire place while punching the numerous shock-absorbing mannequins I placed at different points around the place. 

This specific training helped both to measure his punching power and acceleration lag between each small angular distance. 

He was increasing his speed on a daily level which made his improvements greater than Wanda's. His speed was already over Mach 10 so I knew it won't be long before he hits his first speed block. It was also why I wanted him to be as prepared as possible and have an extra bag of tricks in his arsenal. 

He couldn't throw lightning bolts since he didn't produce the kinetic energy burst of lightning the Flash did so I had a few things in mind. 

"I can see you just crossed Mach 10, how about we kick things up a notch and make it less repetitive?" I called his attention as my invisible camouflage faded off. 

"Hey Vis. What do you have in mind?" His voice was steady, showing exactly how easy he found his present routine, inadvertently making me right once again. 

"How would you like to learn how to phase like me?" Truthfully I'm just winging this out of my metallic ass but it's worth a try. 

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