This is probably cliché, but whatever. Anyway I do not own these characters. All their rights are reserved to the creator of Hetalia. I am only using them for your (the readers') enjoyment. This story is kind of based off of a Spiderman plot, so if you feel like this is similar-ish to Spiderman, whoopee! But it's not a crossover due to the fact that I don't mention any of those characters. I should stop writing here.
Chapter 1
It was dream to be better than the rest. Ever since I was a little boy, I knew I was destined to do great things. All I've ever wanted were to show the kids that have always picked on me a lesson. In school, I was at the top of my class and people would call me names like nerd, freak, four eyes (because I wore glasses, of course), pimpleface, fat, braceface, gay, weak, baby, momma's boy (or something similar to that in my language). This, I all wanted to change. I feel… like it did change when I got into my first fight in high school, but alas, that didn't help anything.
Then, I went to college… in America and found people who liked things like me. They liked to do things like me and dressed like me, enjoyed the subjects I liked. I also met this boy. I loved this boy with all my heart, but in the end, he broke my heart. Being called gay was an insult, only because they used it as an insult. Of course, I couldn't help who I was… or who I still am. This boy was my everything and when he broke my heart, it seemed like everything collapsed around me. I couldn't eat or sleep for days. My roommate had to convince me to eat. I just sat there, in my bed, rereading my college textbook over and over again for weeks. The classes were a trifle to go to.
And then, I forgot him. I forgot who he was, brought up my grades, and pursued my career, my career in biotechnology. It has been my passion for several reasons. Biotechnology gives people chances. They can make the weak guys strong. Biotechnology can kill cancer cells, build up muscles, clone identical people, and turn a man into a woman… or vice versa. It really depends. It was a way to help people, a way to help myself.
I was doing a study on how snakes can help humans rejuvenate and look younger at even the oldest of ages. You see, we humans don't shed our skin. It just stays on us and as we get older and older, the skin starts to deteriorate and looks ugly, gross, and wrinkly. What if we were to shed that skin? Of course, it might seem kind of gross to our species at first, but it is just a question. If we were, we could go on looking young for as long as we live. My research is on reptiles mainly. I was also doing a study on tortoises and turtles to see if I could elongate our life span. Turtles tend to grow older than 250 years old. Imagine if I could be responsible for a breakthrough like that?
Boa constrictors. I believe they are the perfect snakes for my purpose. They are strong, they shed, of course, and have minimal diseases. Also, they can fit a whole large egg in their mouth. I just found that a bit curious. And so, I inserted a strain of their DNA into a mouse. It seemingly grew bigger and healthier. I waited a day. I knew I had to try it on a human subject, but… but that was kind of illegal, so I just tried it on myself.
And now, it is the present. I'm even more of a freak than I was in high school, pretty much. I look in the mirror at myself. Scales running up and down my body, white pointed teeth sticking out whenever I smile or open my mouth in general, a long tongue sticking out to detect the area, and… and violet eyes. They never go away. I have not seemed to gain any muscle either. It's still all chubby, ridiculous fat. However, as predicted, my strength is much greater… and maybe, just maybe, I could make the world pay now. First, I need to figure out how to change back to semi normal-looking.
At least, there is no one in the building right now, except for maybe custodians and guards. That is convenient. I sing to myself a little bit at the moment. Lately, I have developed the habit of talking to myself and smiling at odd things, even when I don't look like this. I wonder what's the deal with that? I guess I should clean up the lab a little bit right now. So basically, I am singing like Snow White while picking up things and cleaning out lab equipment.
"When the days are cold and the cards all fold," I start singing. I feel like a song called "Demons" most certainly would fit how I look at the moment. Besides, I like the song. My singing of course ceases when I realize that there is in fact another person and it most certainly is that boy that I have forgotten about. I glare at him with my now piercing violet eyes. Well, at least I am shrouded in the darkness of the empty lab. "Go. Or I'll kill you." It's not a bluff. I really have an urge to kill someone at the moment. Of course, maybe a lab is not the best place to do so.
The man that broke my heart is just standing there at the end of the room. Of course, I can't show him what I look like now. That would be terrible. Well, this is a laughable matter, of course. He isn't going despite my threat. Even though I have an urge to kill him, I was bluffing. The reason for that is of course, I don't want him to see me like this especially if he gets away from me. My laugh increases volume. I can feel it. "Why?" I ask in the midst of all my laughter. "Why?" Why is he still here? "Why did you break my heart?" I am still laughing, of course. It seems like the only sensible thing to be doing at the moment.
It seems my words made the man run off. Or maybe my laugh made him run off. It sounds more unsettling than the last time I laughed. The laugh reverberated off of the walls of the lab around me and I heard by an echo exactly what my laugh sounded like. It sounds more high pitch, a little bit insane like a mad scientist's laugh. I suppose that laugh would really be worth running from.
With that, I think that I will never see the man again. He didn't run off because I was going to kill him, I don't think. He ran off because of my laugh… or because he realized he broke my heart. I hope he ponders upon my words. My accent and voice should give him a clue about who I am unless he has met other people like me… foreigners. I know I couldn't become President of the United States, but I could become CEO of this company. Of course, that would come with a lot of work and a lot of force. A lot of force. I'm smiling just thinking about the force.
"Oh, excuse me. I don't think I've introduced myself. My name is Ivan Braginsky. At least, that's the name I had the last I checked. I can never be so sure anymore since that experiment. Everything seems so different. The colors of the Earth, my body, the objects around me, they are all different. I feel like I've been losing all of my memories, too, as I continue on each day. The bad memories seem to get stronger and the good ones seem to fade away as each day passes. It seems that I have even developed a problem of speaking to nonsentient beings or a nonexistent camera like I'm in The Office. Well, this is a bit concerning." There really was no use in introducing myself like that. If I really was talking to someone, I certainly wouldn't want them to know my thoughts.
I don't think this is too much of a problem. Maybe pacing will help me ponder on it a little more. Well, whatever, I will just continue cleaning up the lab and then I'll punch in my timestamp. I certainly want to get paid for this overtime. I should probably figure out how to look more human first. The scarf over there seems promising. It will at least help cover up the scales on my neck. I can't smile or open my mouth of course and I'll have to find some way to keep my tongue in my mouth. How about a mask? There's a box of those masks that protect a person from germs or dust on a desk. It seems logical to put it over my mouth.
"No, that was a terrible idea. All I can see is mask." Damn, like a snake, I use my tongue to grasp my surroundings. I end up falling onto a table that I just wiped down clean. And it breaks entirely under my body. Well, I've never been thin… It seems that I have attracted a guard with my loud breaking of tables and such. This is quite a predicament. I blink a little bit and decide upon removing the mask, so I won't break anything else with my heavy, six foot tall body.
The guard shines a flashlight in my eyes. I really really want to eat him, honestly. Maybe if I just hug him to death and then eat him, all will be fine. I won't get caught. Then again, I didn't murder my ex for reasons of him getting away and telling someone. What if violent hugging doesn't kill this man? Then, he'll get away and I'll be screwed pretty much. A different kind of killing would work better, I believe.
"Oh god, stop…" I groan after a moment of being blinded by a flashlight. I realize that I am still sitting on the debris of this table, but at this point, I do not care because my life has pretty much reached rock bottom at this point. I look like a snake, I am slowly going insane, my ex-boyfriend may or may not have seen me looking like this reptilian creature I am right now, and I am thirty years old and still not married. The flashlight turns off at this point, at least.
"Ah, Dr. Braginsky," the guard speaks, apparently not realizing the long tongue that constantly sticks out of my mouth all the time. Or maybe I have changed back. I walk over to the mirror and start inspecting my face. The scarf should cover my neck, but as for my mouth, obviously, I could not find a solution to that. My teeth have seemingly disappeared and my tongue… it looks normal as far as I can see. "What are you doing here so late?" he asks.
"I was working on an experiment and then I started cleaning up. I accidentally fell into a table, though…" I sigh. Well, I am smiling at the guard, so that is more than I could ask for. Regardless, I should probably head back home before something like this happens again. I grab my briefcase full of serum and I pick up the table pieces. I suppose I should just throw those away. There doesn't seem to be any other use for them besides being a table, but they are pretty shattered and I don't really feel like putting the pieces back together.
This is all strange, very strange. It is very interesting about how I look after I inject the serum into my veins, though. After all my years of being a biotechnician, I never actually saw anything mutate into something that's a cross between two animals without reproduction in some way, but the rat proved me wrong… and obviously myself. "I'll have to try this again…" It seems that my habit of talking to myself has still not gone away. Well, actually, it just started a month ago. Is it illegal if I experiment on myself? A month ago is when I first injected the DNA into my bloodstream.
But it is still strange why my ex showed up to my place of work at… midnight of all things. Oh, the invention of watches. How useful. It is not like I do not like seeing his face. I am just reminded of the time he ripped my heart into shreds whenever I see him. I still absolutely adore him, yet, I feel deep inside me that he must die in the most twisted and torturous way possible. It pains me to think that I am smiling at this thought. I used to be so innocent, so pure. Something changed and I don't know what it is. It used to be just a hating that I could deal with that I could move on with my life about, but not so much anymore.
I hate everyone who ever crossed me. Of course, I live an Atlantic Ocean and all of Europe away from them now, so it might be a bit harder to make them pay. At least, I could just make my one true love regret ever breaking my heart. He is my one true love. He always has been. Of course, I could travel to Alaska and cross into Russia through there, but then, I'd be on the wrong side of Russia and Russia frankly is something you can't drive across in a week. There is snow and various terrains and not to mention, the country is just super huge.
My bags have seemed to simultaneously packed themselves, but then I remember, that yes, I packed them. This is getting worse. At least, I live alone… keep to myself. I've been alone for awhile now. It hasn't been the same for me since I graduated college. Always alone, in a big empty apartment. Maybe if I improve myself, I won't be alone, but frankly, this serum I have developed has turned me into a freak of nature.
This angers me, but not so much that I'll be violent about, not yet anyway. I need to find someone insignificant to pay… For now, I should just focus on getting back to my lonely flat, high up in the tall buildings of New York City. My job insures that I get a big apartment instead of some shoebox apartment that every other nameless man has in New York City. No one knows my name. I live in a great place, yet no one knows my name. They only know my boss. Who cares about the rest of the people in his biotechnical company? Someday, I'll make even Mr. Frigit himself pay. The big bad CEO doesn't even have more than a bachelor's degree and he started this.
"Nothing ever goes right. You try and try and try and it gets you nowhere. In the end, you end up depressed, crazy… talking to an imaginary figure just like I am doing. All you can do to cloud this utter and terrible position your life is in… is to smile. Smiles are happiness, right?" I always thought they were happiness. The last thing I remember of my sisters before I left Russia was the smile on their faces. They were so full of joy. We were throwing a going away party for me. It was just the three of us. I never really had many friends. My sisters were my friends. The last real smile I had was in college. "Smiles keep me from killing myself. Especially now. You don't know what it is like to be a mutant… or maybe you do. Just keep on smiling, I tell myself, and it will be okay."
People are looking at me. I know why they are looking at me. I'm the classic mad scientist they all dream about in their nightmares. Everyone seems against me these days and everyone needs to pay. I don't know how they will pay, but I'm pretty sure I will be capable of world domination with my brain. There are no heroes and villains. There are only villains. If you can't beat them, join them. The villains are always so much more powerful anyway. Rich, brilliant beings. It would make me smile, really smile if I had power. I don't like being a faceless man in a giant corporation…
"I should be the top."
"You know, I couldn't help but notice that you really like talking to yourself, man," a shorter man tells me. It makes me flinch a little bit, honestly. People don't usually speak to you if you talk to yourself in New York. They think you're crazy. I've noticed that many people just walk by each other without ever bothering to say hello. Of course, I don't want to talk to this man. He is my ex… and he was waiting outside of the building for me, for some reason.
"It's a new thing," I reply to him, eying him a little bit suspiciously. There is no reason for me not to be suspicious. He is just talking to me casually after all these years like I am just some stranger and it is maddening. Do I really look so different or is he as dumb as I remember? He is really dumb. That is one thing that I do remember. I only expected him to get a bachelor's degree and go no further. It seems I am correct, but I don't really expect a doctor of whatever to wear what he usually wears to work. He doesn't look like a professor or a scientist or a doctor doctor for that matter, so I will assume he's only gotten his BA or BS.
I dated him while I was in graduate school. He was on his second year of undergrad school. I've always been much older than him, and especially today, it seems like he just radiates youth even after probably graduating from his college, our college. We are just staring at each other in this moment of silence, staring and staring. "I love him…" That's really how I feel, even now, after so many years. This little pretty, young thing standing in front of me just takes me back a little bit.
"Who?" It seems I have been caught talking to myself again while we stare at each other awkwardly. I really should get going and without answering my ex-boyfriend's unnecessary question, I storm off. It seems like the best course of action, especially with planning world domination and all. I don't think I have time to get caught up in a romance, especially a romance that already ended up breaking my heart into millions of pieces already. Unless he wants to be my queen, or co-king, I do not want to get involved. He's always been so about… doing the right thing.
When I think about it now, it makes me sick. If I get involved with him, it will ruin my plans. I know it. In the end, he will be my downfall.