Chapter 1 - The Survivor
Speech "Word"
Thought 'Word'
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May 22nd, 2002
Unknown Location, California
"Vitals Stable" Many scientists were rushing from station to station, monitoring different screens with many different statuses shown. Laying on a table in the middle of the plain white room lay a fit, young boy around the age of 13, asleep and unaware of the chaos of the room.
After many days of augmentations performed by the scientists to make sure that all the augmentations would work properly and to take their time with the sensitive and time-consuming procedures to make sure nothing went wrong and the subject survived the operations, and now they had finally reached the very end of all planned procedures that would create the perfect super soldier, even stronger than the famed Captain America.
The boy's body as severely scared form all the invasive surgeries they had performed and would serve as a constant reminder of what had happened to him.
"Begin the administer of the Serum" At the command the scientists initiated a series of syringes that were all linked to a glowing blue liquid. As they latched onto the boy's body and injected him with the mysterious liquid the head scientist told the others to initiate the walls and then to begin administering the radiation to feed the serum.
Walls made of reinforced glass and steel rose from the floor around the table the boy was strapped to and the roof above the boy opened up revealing a strange contraption that started humming.
After the walls finally closed the machine started emitting a bright light that filled the space within the makeshift cage of glass, and across the entire room sparks started spreading out from different electronics.
As the light reached a peak, something seemed to happen as shouting and panic started spreading among the scientists, and before the head scientist could ask what was happening, the computer next to him blew up and the light from the cage reached a new level.
Things weren't going to plan as it would seem based on the panic that could be seen across everyone's faces and then one after another the monitors started to short-circuit and blow up and from this sparks started spreading everywhere and eventually hit some chemicals laid about the lab causing a quick chemical reaction that caused a large explosion, and from that explosion, others came all caused by the initial explosion reaching and reacting with other chemicals.
This took out most of the scientists and everything not contained in the glass cage was engulfed in flame. this however did not mean that the glass cage went unscathed as the mysterious machine started to spark, with the light just getting brighter.
Unaware of everything going on, the boy slept in agony as every cell in his body was overcharged with radiation and the chemicals and augmentations kept mutating and enhancing his body.
The sparks on the large machine kept getting larger and larger until it inevitably exploded finally taking the lab with it any unlucky that survived the first explosion, the boy was flung from the table and collided with the wall which broke apart and fell on him keeping him safe from any excessive burns caused by the explosion due to this rubble acting as protection and the new changes still happening in the boy's body.
Elsewhere
Harold Hogan, better known as Happy, can be seen having a nice day off from his stressful job of guarding Tony all day, just driving through the city until he saw and felt a large explosion in the distance near the warehouses, Happy being the man he is, stepped on the gas and sped towards the explosion hoping he could help anyone he could.
On his way he rang up Tony, and after a couple of seconds of his phone ringing it went through and the voice of Tony came through.
"This better be important Happy, you just interrupted my me time, and you know how important that is." The arrogant and sarcastic tone of Tony Stark came through the phone, instantly irritating and making him question whether ringing Tony is really worth it. However, he threw that thought away quickly and focused on the situation at hand.
"Where are you right now" "Well someones not in a good mood, what happened to you? Someone spit in your drink?" "Tony, not now I need to know where you are, an explosion just went off in the city and if you're here I need to get you out now."
Hearing this Tony got serious, "I'm at home, where are you, do you need any help?"
"Thank god, I'm fine but I'm not sure about the people near the explosion I'm going to check it out, and for the love of god, Tony stay at the house. We don't know if the danger has passed yet." Knowing Tony was at home eased Happy's worry but he was still determined to make sure that the people near the explosion were safe.
"Alright, god what are you, my mom? Just hurry it up I'm planning on going out tonight and I need my chauffeur to take me, not feeling like driving right now, I'm feeling too lazy."
Hearing Tony return to his usual self, Happy wasn't shocked and just hung up, and focused on getting to the area where the explosion happened as safely and quickly as he could.
Back to the destroyed lab
"uhhh... What happened, why does everything hurt and why is it so dark?" The boy previously strapped to the table starts to stir awake, but was surprised by the situation he awoke to. His entire body hurt, it was dark but he could still somehow see with minimal difficulty, like it was the day, though he could tell it was supposed to be dark somehow, and the fact he was surrounded by what he could only assume was rubble confused him.
"Wasn't my final ceremony today? Where am I? Did an accident happen, is that why I'm surrounded by rubble, it must be, it's the only logical explanation for the situation I'm in." Sure of how he had ended up in this situation the boy started making his way, beginning by pushing the rubble on top of him to the side, moving it with no difficulty, something that did not go unnoticed by the boy.
"I'm so strong, is that what the ceremony did? Is it supposed to make me stronger, 'cause I feel like I can think and react quicker too." Tossing those thoughts to the side for now the boy focused on getting out of the situation, chucking more rubble to the side he finally managed to emerge from the rubble, and what he saw both shocked him and didn't, as he expected something like this from how he had woken up but seeing the situation is completely different to thinking about it.
When he looked around all he could see was the charred and broken remains of what seemed to be a large warehouse and if he looked closely he could see that through the smoke there were other warehouses and what seemed to be some people trying to put out the fire. He assumed these men were firefighters the scientists had taught him about, though this was his first time actually seeing them in person and not on a screen.
Standing up he noticed that he seemed taller than he was previously, a lot taller and buffer too. Checking himself out he noticed that his muscles seemed to have grown a lot and he felt a little excitement looking at them. He started flexing and posing checking himself out and his pride was bursting at the seams. After that, he finally noticed that he was naked and not wanting to stand out in the open naked he started looking over the rubble to see if he could spot anything that he could wear.
As he was doing this he finally noticed a metallic shine coming off of something not too far from him, intrigued he went over to inspect what he saw and was shocked. What seemed to be a large set of armor lay on the floor, there appeared to be a black suit in there that he could wear but the armor itself would be too eye-catching so he took off the armor and put on the suit.
After he put it on he felt it was a little loose, which surprised him as he had already surmised that this armor was made for him to wear after whatever procedure they put him through, the height and width would only fit someone that had gone through the same procedure as him, so it was the only logical deduction.
He assumed that they would've let him finish growing before giving it to him. Grabbing the armor pieces he started to make his way out, but before he passed the thick smoke cloud out into the public view of all the people looking at the wreckage, he heard what sounded like skidding tires from a car behind him and looked behind him he saw a chubby man getting out of a car with blacked out windows.
Looking at the man he thought it would probably be better to talk to him than get questioned relentlessly by everyone else at the scene, so he started to make his way toward him, and in no time he had gotten close enough for the man to see him and start making his way over to him.
"Hey! Sir, are you alright? What happened, do you know if anyone else made it?" The man, Harold Hogan based on his ID badge on his suit, started asking the boy all sorts of questions, but the only thing that confused the boy was that the man called him sir.
'He must be confusing me with an adult due to my new height and musculature.' "I'm fine, but I'm pretty sure everyone else died in the explosion that happened in the lab during my procedure, my designation is Subject 132, excuse me for asking but what's your name?"
"I'm Harold Hogan, but just call me Happy it's easier for both of us, if you are sure that no one else is alive I can take you to a hospital. And whats up with the Subject 132, don't you have a name?"
"I'm afraid not sir, I was taken when I was young to be trained into what I could guess to be a super soldier after the procedure the scientists put me through. I was given a designation and my name was forgotten after being called my designation for so long, I don't know my exact age but I assume I am in my early teenage years. I am also positive that no one except me survived." Suddenly the boy started acting very childish and posed.
"Because I'm just so cool and strong!!! *Flex*" Shaking his head the boy returned back to his previous demeanor, "Sorry for the outburst sir, it happens every now and then."
This shocked and confused Happy, how was this child so mature if he was only a young teen, and what was with that last bit, it's like his entire personality changed for a second. And if what the kid is saying is true then he definitely can't take him to a hospital, the government would be all over this kid. 'I Should probably bring him to Tony and tell him about the kid. He may be an arrogant and selfish bastard but he has a good heart, he won't just ignore the kid, especially if with super soldiers being involved.'
With this in mind, Happy proposed the idea to the kid, "I know a guy, he's called Tony and is my boss, but if I take you to him you won't have to worry about the government trying to dissect you and he could give us a good idea of what happened to you during the procedure these scientists put you through. If you want to come with me and meet him just get in the back of the car and be quiet, I've had an annoying past few minutes and need time to process all of this."
Waying up his options the boy agreed that meeting this Tony would probably be his best bet. Sure, sure he didn't know him, and it's a big risk but he knew for a fact that if the government got wind of him he would be done. "Sure, if this Tony can help me find out what they did to me then I'll come along, but if I smell anything fishy going on I won't hesitate to kill either of you."
"Charming, truly" With the treat in the air Happy was a bit more careful with how he talked to the kid.
"So kid, do you call yourself anything other than Subject 132, It's a bit too dehumanizing and doesn't really roll off the tongue very well."
"I'm afraid not sir, the scientists didn't see a reason to give me a proper name as they didn't know if I'd be able to make it through all the things they had planned, so they assigned me a number not to get attached and to remind everyone of how many tries this process has taken, at least that's what I gathered after eavesdropping on their conversations over the years." Hearing this Happy wasn't too shocked as he expected something like this, but he couldn't keep calling the kid a number so Happy presented a decent idea to the kid.
"What about I suggest and if you don't like it, tell me and we'll try another." Thinking about it, the kid agreed, he was a bit fed up with being called a number, and so 30 minutes of name-guessing went by on their way to Tony's house.
"Alright, what about Bruce?" "Don't like it." "Arthur?" "Nope" "John?" Hearing the last one the kid thought it over a bit more, he liked the simplicity and it seemed to fit him in his opinion, in reality, he just liked how it sounded.
"I like it." "I'm the great and powerful John now." Hearing this Happy let out a chuckle at John's antics. However, a sudden thought came to Happy, 'Why does he trust me when we just met?'
"Hey, kid." "It's John!" "Alright, John, why do you trust me?"
"Well, out of all the options present to me, only one would lead to me not being in the hands of some scientist in a government lab, and even then it's a bit of a gamble on whether or not that will happen, and that was following you. I could have gone to the authorities but the government would have taken me in at the first chance they got after finding out about me, same happens if I go to a hospital or try and sneak away."
Happy couldn't refute the kid's words, the chances of the government coming after him in almost all scenarios are very high. Seeing Tony's estate in the distance, Happy was that their long car ride was finally over and he could dump the kid with Tony, he needed a nap after all of this.
"Well John, looks like we've reached our destination. You're gonna either hate or like Tony, you won't love him, that's close to impossible, he's too obnoxious." John let a little chuckle at this, preparing himself to meet the man who could help him.
As they entered the estate's driveway, John was captivated by the beauty of the mansion. With its all-white color and modern and sleek design, John couldn't help but appreciate what was in front of him as the designer had done an amazing coming up with the design and putting it into reality.
Happy parked the car in front of the door to the estate and in front of said door was who John assumed was Tony, based on the arrogant and obnoxious look on the guy's face.
Opening the doors, Happy and John got out of the car and made their way up to Tony at the door. "You took your sweet time, what took so long, finally found the woman of your dreams?"
Happy just rolled his eyes and gestured to John, "I wish but no, I took so long because I met this kid, his names John but I doubt you're gonna use that."
"Nice to meet you sir, I've been told that you can help me figure out what a bunch of scientists did to my body. If that's not enough motivation I am a child and the scientists were trying to create a super soldier and I think they succeeded, that should tickle your empathy and curiosity right?" "Ye, you arrogant asshat, help me out." John's demeanor was completely normal if not a bit mature, until the end where his demeanor became more childish and wild.
"Wow, ain't that a story Jekyll, I'll be the judge of most of that but I will admit you've got my curiosity, and that's the one thing I just can't resist. Let's take this to my secret lair big guy."
Turning to Happy, John made an expression as if asking whether he should go or not. "Just follow him no one can really predict what Tony does and when he gets interested in something he won't stop until he figures it out, I'm gonna go rest on the couch."
Deciding to trust Happy, John made his way inside and followed Tony down into his workshop, but not before being stopped midway by a woman with some files in her hand.
"Tony, is that Happy? Is he alright, I heard he was in town when that huge explosion happened. By the way, I've got some forms you need to sign for a couple of companies that wan- Tony who's that? You didn't bring someone random off the street did you?"
"Pepper, chill Happy's fine he's gone to rest on the couch and this is my new science experiment, he's a real Jekyll and Hyde case."
"I can still hear you."
"I know I just don't care, now if you will excuse me pep, I need to go do something come along big guy, and just leave the forms on my desk I'll sign them at some point."
Pepper could do nothing but watch as Tony and this strange man made their way downstairs, knowing Tony wasn't gonna sign the papers she just took them back with her into the living room to speak with Happy.
In the workshop Tony had John stand in a clear and came back with some sort of handheld scanner, John assumed that it would be used to scan his body, to give them a good idea of what's different about him.
"Jarvis, analyze results"
"Right away sir." From seemingly nowhere a robotic voice sounded out greatly surprising John and causing him to get into a guarded position. Seeing this amused Tony quite a bit, but after a couple of seconds of soaking in the stupid expression on John's face, Tony explained what was going on to him.
"Relax, that's Jarvis, an AI I designed and he's analyzing your body composition and checking what's different and what's going on in there because I doubt whatever they did will settle that quickly and will probably cause more gradual changes over the years but nothing compared to the initial results if my guess is right."
Hearing this John settled down and went to find a seat to relax whilst they waited for Jarvis to finish analyzing the results, well he did, Tony just went to planning on new designs for his company.
After a few minutes, Jarvis finally announced that he had the results and got both John and Tony's attention.
"Well, what's the verdict, Jarvis?"
"It's bizarre sir. Whatever these people did Mr.John's body is..."
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And that's chapter 1, I wanted to do more but I felt like I should at least as get the first chapter out as proof of concept and to finally get some proper feedback.
I won't promise any definite release times for other chapters but due to the easter break from college I will probably get a few more out no promises though I've got other stuff to do and I like to take my time writing these so I don't mess it up and can think of more plans and where I want to take this story.
I do have a question though, OC love interest or make the love interest someone that already exists. Vote Here:
[OC]
[Already Existing Character]
And if you have any suggestions leave them underneath here and please provide a reason for why you think they would work, as if you don't I'll probably just ignore it.
[Female Love Interest Suggestions]