That Was Kinda Freaky

I watched Laura's body go limp, my eyes wide in shock. I'd seen my fair share of tragedy, hell, I was responsible for a lot of it. But never before had I had someone I cared even the least bit about die. Why? Because I never had anyone I cared about until I joined S.H.I.E.L.D. But I couldn't let it affect me, not yet.

The situation was dire. The Juggernaut barely felt my punches. Punches that have made the Rhino bleed. It was hard to believe he was even human. My ribs were broken, and the pain flared up every time I moved, making putting up a fight even more difficult.

I don't want to do it.

I don't want to use what they taught me.

What they forced me to learn to become their perfect little soldier.

What they used to make me even less of a human.

But I don't have much of a choice, do I?

I slowly exhaled, closing my eyes and recalling it all.

=====================================================

(4 years ago, unknown Facility)

I fell to the ground, hundreds of tiny cuts littering my limbs.

I looked up at the man responsible for it, staring down at me with pure apathy.

Agent Samson, codename Slayer. One of the organization's very best, and my personal handler and trainer.

He spoke, his voice a deep rumble lined with indifference.

"Does it hurt? Good. Pain is the ultimate equalizer. Every human, be they a peasant or a king, kneels before pain. You can argue it is what makes them human, in the end. However, you are not a human. You are a machine, an amalgamation of our hatred towards the current world order. Pain is not a factor you are allowed to take into account"

He grabbed my hair and kneeled down, forcing me to look him in the eyes.

"Succumbing to pain is an attribute of the weak, and we did not create you to be weak"

He let go of my hair, causing me to once again fall to the ground. I quickly got back into my kneeling position, lest I incur his wrath.

He then continued, walking slowly around me as he spoke.

"Now, listen closely, because I won't repeat myself. What you will learn today is called Gate Control theory. A psychological theory that teaches that there are gates littering your nervous system. Those gates can be closed with enough training, leading to your pain fading away, therefore allowing you to continue fighting. It won't heal your wounds, but at least you'll be of some more use to us before you die."

He returned to my front, looking me in the eyes once again.

"You may be disposable, but we should at least get some gains from your death."

He finished his lecture by looking at the large wall to our right. I followed his gaze and my eyes landed upon the symbol we had been taught to both love and fear.

We spoke at the same time, his voice laced with loving obsession, and mine with fear.

"Cut off a limb and two more shall take its place. Hail H.Y.D.R.A"

=====================================================

I numbed my senses, tracking down the exact line of nerves my pain originated from. I closed every gate along the route, the aching pain in my chest fading away with each gate I closed.

I opened my eyes once again, the sunlight making me squint.

I adjusted to the light, seeing Spider-woman swing in and kick the Juggernaut before flipping backwards out of his range.

The guy with red goggles followed up by firing a laser directly at the Juggernaut's eyes, which only served to make him angrier.

He picked up a car and threw it at Mr. Goggles, who didn't have enough time to jump out of the way. Just before it hit him, though, the car stopped mid-air. I looked to the right and saw Jean with her hand in the air. She then swung her arm towards the Juggernaut, and the car followed her pathing. 

So Mr. Goggles is definitely Scott, then. Is Laura's entire friend group superpowered? And Jean has fucking telepathy?!

I watched the car sail towards the Juggernaut, who simply swatted it out of the way. Laura's friends continued to distract the Juggernaut as I got up.

Spider-woman landed near me as I watched the fight from the sidelines.

She walked up to me, slightly limping.

"He sure hits hard, huh?" She said, chuckling with a concerned edge to her voice.

"Sure does. I'm pretty sure he broke a few of my ribs." I replied, wincing.

"I like the new suit, by the way."

"Thanks. Bought it from the dollar store around the corner. The employee tried to rip me off so I called the IRS on him."

"I'm sure you did" She replied, giggling.

"Any clue how we can beat this guy?" I asked, my voice conveying my lack of optimism.

"None whatsoever."

"Shit."

I looked over towards Laura. She had been impaled for over a minute, not leaving much hope of her survival.

Spider-woman followed my line of sight, seeming to be similarly disturbed by the sight.

Then, by some miracle from God, Laura's body jerked, and her eyes shot open. We watched, our eyes wide in shock, as she grabbed on to the sign pole and pulled herself off of it, landing on her feet as the large hole in her stomach began to heal. In just 10 seconds, the only proof she was ever injured was the hole in her suit.

Spider-woman and I looked towards each other slowly, neither of us believing what we had just seen. We shrugged our shoulders, not knowing how to process that.

I turned to her and whispered a plan in her ear. She nodded and we both stood up, cracking our necks.

Time to get back to work.

End of Chapter 22~

Heyo! I'm sticking to my goal of 3 chapters a week so far. I actually had more content planned for this chapter, but it was getting long so I decided to split it into 2 chapters. Also first look into Elijah's past :D

Next chapter will be out by Friday. Please leave a comment and consider giving a power-stone or two if you enjoyed! See ya!