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REBORN DARK PHOENIX

PRESENTS

ULTIMATE MARVEL: REMASTERED

Prologue: Tomorrow is Born

*Rockies Mountain Range. Alberta, Canada*

October 22, 1943. Night.

"Hrrgh! Hrrgh! Hrrgh!"

The mountain ranges of Alberta, Canada were a beautiful sight to behold, especially tonight.

The hills and mountains were blanketed in snow, fresh from the previous night's storm. The night skies were now cloudy, a gentle snow falling to the earth. While it wasn't anything particularly heavy or brutal, a strong wind did gust through the air, sending a chill through the body of any living creature it touched. The scenery was gentle and peaceful, untouched by man for many years. Throughout much of the year, the forests and woods and valleys would be covered in snow, hiding the wonders of nature's vegetation under the thick white powder.

"Hrrgh! Hrrgh! Hrrgh!"

Trudging quickly through the snow, wind and extreme cold was a naked and hairy man. His long hair danced in the winds, and he had the gun of one of the soldiers in his hand. He grunted heavily and continuously as he headed farther and farther away from the base he called his prison. He had no idea where he was going. He had no idea where the hell he was; in fact, his mind was swarmed with fragment of thoughts and memories, making it hard to concentrate. What he did remember most clearly was a city on an island, destruction all around him as a rifle was slammed into his face. Everything after that was a blur, a painful blur.

All he remembered for certain was his name.

"Hrrgh! Hrrgh! Hrrgh!"

All he knew was that he had to keep moving, head to cover. Because his tormentors were no doubt on his tail, hunting him down, ready to throw more pain and torment onto him.

Several hundred yards away, two platoons of Canadian soldiers, dressed in thick winter fatigues, chased after the man, following his tracks in the snow. All of them were heavily armed, with their sergeant leading them on the hunt. Their orders were to bring the subject, designated as Weapon X, back to base dead or alive. They could all, however, assume that the lead scientist in charge of this project would much rather have their target alive; the red haired, bearded man prided himself in his work at the base, a well-known fact. He had immense power as well as support granted by the government, and as such, Abraham Cornelius wasn't a man to anger if it could be helped.

Their target was of a lot of worth to the military and government. In fact, he had much worth even to the entire Allied war effort, apparently. What with the breakthroughs in science in the last few decades, the Americans had begun to look towards other methods of defeating the Nazi and Axis war machines. Canada's Allied Command didn't want to be left in the dust, and the Prime Minister had agreed. This had led to the formation of a new covert military project, mirroring America's Project: Rebirth. Select military commanders of both projects were aware of each other's efforts, with secret US funding enhancing Canada's efforts. Doctor Cornelius had been placed in charge of efforts in doing what was thought as impossible as of a couple of months ago, due to the death of America's premier military scientist.

Cornelius was tasked with creating Canada's first super soldier. Since months before the Allied invasion of Sicily, when the discovery was made of an external force driving the Nazis, the Allied leaders and highest military commanders had decided to create a new weapon to fight back. And while America had succeeded in their efforts first, Canada's project efforts continued to be driven. As of recent, their efforts were bearing fruit, to the pride and joy of Doctor Cornelius. Efforts, tests and funding were doubled, with the goal of full operational status and readiness for deployment by June of 1944, the set time period the Allies had established for what was known as Operation Overlord.

This was Canada's answer to Captain America. These soldiers, as such, could not let him escape into the Canadian wilderness, and they couldn't mow him down with gunfire when found, if it could be helped.

"Up there, sir!" one of the soldiers suddenly called out, pointing towards a hilly rise. The rest of the platoons' men could make out the escaping subject in the distance, scaling the snowy hill with relative ease.

"Keep moving, men!" the sergeant ordered, the soldiers doubling their efforts to chase the target down. "We let him get any further, we'll lose him in the woods over the next rise!"

"Sarge, I have the shot!" another soldier called out. As he ran, he kept his gun trained on the far off subject, the figure in his crosshairs.

"Do not fire! Maintain Delta Rocco formation!" the sergeant replied. He then spoke into the platoon radio. "Alpha Team to X-Station: we have eyes on the target. I repeat, we have visual, we got him!"

"About damn time, sergeant!" came the exasperated reply of Doctor Abraham Cornelius. "How far out?"

"He's already up the hills' rises, sir! We're trying to cut him off before he reaches the woods, but we're still several hundred yards away. My men and-"

"No, that's unacceptable! You cannot let him reach the wilderness! I will not allow your failure to jeopardize this entire project and all our efforts! I don't care what you do, but the subject must return to the base! Do not mess this up, sergeant! Or it's on your head!"

"Sir, we're trying, but with the distance he's putting between us, the only viable option is gunning him down!"

"Then shoot him, dammit!" came the response. "You're within range; put him down!"

"Put him down?" That was a shock the sergeant and his men. "Sir, is that-?"

"You have your orders, sergeant!"

"Good enough for me, sir," one of the soldiers said, aiming at his distant target. His gun came alive as he opened fire moments later, the gunfire shattering the night's calm. The soldiers could see that many shots peppered the snow off in the distance, sending the white powder into the air. But the aim was true nonetheless, however, as the subject was hit several times, crashing down into the ground. "I got him, Sarge!"

"Move out!" The sergeant yelled out quickly. The team of soldier raced on and up the snowy hill, their weapons at the ready. After several minutes, they arrived at where the subject's body had been gunned down, welcomed by the sight of bright red colored snow surrounding an unmoving, face down body. At the sergeant's orders, one kicked the stolen gun aside as the rest quickly turned the body over onto his back, checking the wounds and condition. One of the soldiers quickly confirmed the lack of a pulse, confirming the subject was dead.

"Headshots and body shots near the lungs and heart area," one soldier remarked. "Yep, he's definitely gone."

"Of course, I shot him," the soldier who shot the subject said, confidence in his voice. "I never mess up when putting down the enemy. He's no different; he won't be waking-"

"Oh, my God!" another yelled out in shock. All eyes and guns quickly trained onto the subject's body, but the soldiers found themselves in shock at what they saw. The wounds they had seen, the very same gunshots one of their own had made only minutes ago, were closing before their eyes. The bullets were slowly being pushed out of the subject's closing wounds, the streaks of blood thinning. It was as if the flesh was slowly healing itself from its injuries.

"Holy-!" one of the soldiers exclaimed, recoiling in shock.

"Did-did you guys see that?!" another one asked, shock in his voice.

"Sergeant, what is the target's status?"

"Uh, we-we have confirmation, doctor," the sergeant replied, speaking into his radio. "But there's been a problem. He's gunned down, yes, and-"

"Grab him and bring him back to the facility before he wakes up."

The team of soldiers were instantly confused at the orders of the doctor. They exchanged glances of curiosity and surprise, with the sergeant looking at the subject's body

"...Sir," the sergeant replied. "We shot him in the head. He was struck with body shots various times. His wounds are…his wounds-"

"Exactly, young man. Now bring him in quickly, now!"

The sergeant hesitated for another moment before quickly ordering his men to grab the subject's body. Blood slowly trickled off the closing wounds, the body was dragged through the snow by three of the soldiers, the rest with their weapons at the ready. With that, the soldiers began heading back to the base.

None of the soldiers noticed the single stone-like obelisk standing several meters away, cloaked in the snowfall, its glowing red eye watching the men return to the base.

*Weapon X Facility, Sub-Basement Level Nine. Alberta, Canada.*

August 19, 1946. Three years later.

"Most of your research, if not all, will be dedicated to our efforts. Now, as I think you're probably aware, I wasn't exactly open to receiving you onto this project, young man. I've been very selective of who can join onto our work here. But those in power believe that you can contribute quite a bit to our research and experiments. So, here you are at Project: Weapon X. I'm curious to see just what made my superiors anxious to make you my right hand man."

Doctor Cornelius, head of the Weapon X Project, walked down the halls, followed by a young black-haired man. He wore professional clothing, a black suit with a white tie. He had just recently finished his college career, one of a number of men in Canada that had escaped drafting into World War II, as it was now called. He was devoted to his career as a biologist and a member in the budding field of genealogy. He was quite gifted in the field in terms of intellect and his studies, something that the government had apparently noticed just a month ago. After his graduation, members of the Defense Ministry and an American general approached him, offering him recruitment for a joint science and defense project. He had accepted, and soon found out the real nature of what this project was about.

Needless to say, he was understandably quite skeptical.

"I don't know, sir," Malcolm Colcord replied, a curious expression on his face as he scanned all the labs they passed. "I was a huge Captain America fan, watching all the reels in the war. I think that creating another super soldier is something that scientifically would be a great accomplishment, don't get me wrong. But I read that all efforts to recreate the Super Soldier serum thus far have failed. Erskine's original notes are incomplete, and with the death of Captain America, we don't have any viable tissue to work with. I just don't think that duplicating the process or serum is possible."

"Your enthusiasm could use some work, young man," Cornelius mused dryly. "And you're right, the secrets to the Serum died with both Captain America and Doctor Erskine. But now that you're a full part of the project, Colcord, I believe that you should now definitely know the truth. What we do here is far much more than just seeking to create another super soldier."

This sparked some interest in the young man. "Really?"

"Indeed."

The two men soon found themselves walking into a very large laboratory, filled with scientists in white lab coats, tending to various pieces of equipment, large and small. There were also a large number of well-armed soldiers standing in various places, scanning the lab for anything that they would need to respond to at any moment. What caught Colcord's attention the most, however, was the large pool built into the floor, set at the center of the laboratory, filled with greenish water. There was a trio of soldiers near the pool, ready to act any a moment's notice.

"This whole project, all of Weapon X, was Canada's response to America's super soldier," the doctor began. "Captain America broke scientific limits, Colcord, and our own people didn't want to be left behind in the dust. Thus, Project: Weapon X was formed. At first, it was our attempt to create our own version of Captain America, our own super soldier."

"...At first?"

"You know how science can turn out often times," Cornelius mused. "In seeking one thing, in looking to make one thing, something else is discovered altogether. Accidents happen that can profoundly change the world. That's how we have penicillin, after all; not many people know that an accident created it. And that, Colcord, is the beauty of it all. Science creates paths one didn't even know existed."

Colcord frowned in curiosity. "What do you mean?"

"We discovered...we created something spectacular."

"A super soldier?"

"No...something much better that a super soldier."

This poked at the young man's curiosity even more. What was better than a super soldier?

"Look at this, lad," Cornelius said as he brought the young man to a table, where a pair of scientists were studying culture dishes. The doctor gestured to one of the microscopes. "This is a normal human genome, untouched and-"

"A genome?" That was a word Colcord didn't remember learning in graduate school...

"What makes us...well, us, for lack of a better term."

Colcord wasn't entirely sure that was all that it was, but he accepted the term. No doubt, it was a new term the scientific community had coined in their studies and discoveries, maybe after his graduation. Just another thing to familiarize himself with in this new field. Colcord looked through the microscope, seeing a large group of string like objects, swimming around lazily. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't exactly all too exciting.

"Well...I can't say that it's all that impressive," the young man said after several moments.

"And I agree completely, Colcord," Dr. Cornelius nodded. "What you see is what makes a human being just that: a regular human being. The genetic strands, the threads you just saw there, have been mankind's staple ground since the beginnings of our evolutionary process. It hasn't changed, or evolved, probably due to the fact that there hasn't been a necessity for the human genome to adapt, to change."

"I see."

"Now...this genome," the doctor continued, pride creeping into his voice, as he brought Colcord over to another microscope. "This is what we made when tampering with Mister Howlett's genealogy."

Colcord looked through the microscope, and was surprised at what he saw. The culture dish still had a large number of the genetic strands present; the difference here, however, was that many of the strands were clumped together, tangled and mixed.

"It's different from the first genome," Colcord said with surprise. "Was it damaged in the experimentation or-?"

"No, Colcord," Cornelius smiled. "This is more than mere tampering. Something entire new here has been created."

"New?"

"This is a mutated strain of the human genome. It's something new, better than what the baseline genome is."

"...Mutated."

"Yes. This genome...we call it the 'mutant' gene. And we created it, Colcord, right here in this lab. Man has created its first genome, the greatest scientific breakthrough in all history, and this is it."

"Well, what does it do?" Colcord asked.

"Well, that's another surprise," Cornelius chuckled. "It actually depends on the individual carrying it. In Mister Howlett's case here (we're still studying this, of course), it's resulted in a highly advanced healing factor, animalistic senses...but the potential is quite limitless. And once the mutant gene spreads, we'll be seeing all kinds of-!"

"Wait a minute," Colcord interrupted. "Spreads?"

"Of course."

"How is it going to spread?"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll find some way to expose it to the population. Hell, Howlett's presence in D-Day alone would've been enough for it to spread. And when it is, who knows how it'll affect others, but it-"

"Why would you want it to spread?" Colcord asked. "If this is such a breakthrough, wouldn't it be better to use it for your own projects? Why spread it?"

"For survival," Cornelius said matter-of-factly. "You do know that eventually, mankind will become extinct, right? Just like the dinosaurs before us. It's been accepted by most of the scientific community; we just don't know how it will happen. Hell, the world war we just fought may have been our own natural selection, or at least the first step towards it. The beginning of the end of mankind."

"Well, isn't that optimistic?" Colcord deadpanned.

"But...but," the doctor continued, ignoring the young man's reply. "Instead of creating something to kill ourselves much faster than how nature designed, as Roosevelt and Truman did with their bomb...we have found, created, a way to survive ourselves. And we did it right here, Colcord, in the Weapon X Facility."

The doctor walked over to the green pool, Colcord following after him. There was a metal grate pathway over the pool, something Colcord didn't notice earlier. He followed the doctor onto it, his curiosity about the pool growing with each step.

"And we won't just survive, Colcord," Cornelius continued with a grin, looking into the pool. "But we'll evolve. And we'll make it all happen from right here. Here, we can now control the fate of mankind, and of a new species. And it all began with James Howlett, Weapon X."

Colcord followed Cornelius' gaze, and gasped in great surprise at what he saw. Within the greenish liquid, with a mechanized mask of some sort covering the lower portion of his face, floated a man. His hairy body was naked, with tubes stuck into his arms and back, and some even procured from the mask. Several red streaks covered his knuckles, evidence of bruising or scarring. His long, black hair obscured bits of his face, but it was clear that the man was unconscious.

"We've created a mutant race. And Weapon X here, Malcolm...is Mutant Zero."

And with that, another new universe is born! Welcome, everyone, to my version of the Ultimate Universe. I will be deploying major changes from Earth-1610's continuity to create something different and unique here. I think we can all agree that in terms of origins and continuity, the Ultimate-verse has a few flaws and contradictions, even with what is given in the "Ultimate Origins" miniseries. As such, there may be drastic changes. Also, some Ultimate events will be changed, and some will remain the same. Either way, I hope you enjoy what I build here.

Next, SHIELD's origins. Until next time, readers.