What If Lindy had become The Sentry instead of Robert?
By Moonraker One
The Watcher stood poised over the multiverse. An unending cascade of images passed by his eyes. He moved his gaze across several of the images. A familiar scene played in front of his face. "In your reality," he spoke to an unknown listener, "a young, schizophrenic high school teen named Robert Reynolds sneaks into the laboratory of his professor, who is working on a top secret project known as 'Project Sentry.' Not knowing what the liquid he stumbles across is, young Robert steals it and drinks it, intending to get high. In that aspect, he succeeded; his body inherited an enormous power which turned the frail lad into a powerful being known as 'The Sentry.' Unfortunately, his tale is rather tragic."
Images of destruction on a massive scale then appeared. New York as well as several other cities destroyed by a shadowy presence flashed one after another. The Watcher continued. "Due to the nature of the power being controlled psychically by Robert's own mind, his darker personality known as 'The Void' gained control and led the golden guardian on a rampage, killing millions. After many years of struggling with himself, it all came to a close at the end of Norman Osborn's siege of Asgard when the Sentry was struck down by Thor, ending the rage of the void once and for all. His charred corpse was then tossed into the sun."
The cascade of images passed by until it stopped once more at a separate viewing location. "But I am privy to other realities, where events did not occur the same way. So, having bore witness to the tragic tale of Robert Reynolds, the Sentry, one inevitably asks, 'What if Lindy had instead become the Sentry?'"
Everything turned white all of a sudden as the Watcher, poised atop the multiverse, disappeared.
CHAPTER ONE
Pop!
Everyone turned to look as a test tube shattered when its contents detonated. The afternoon chemistry class's students couldn't help but stare as a young woman named Lindy Lee had accidentally mixed the wrong chemicals together. Some of them inevitably drew laughter from it. She frowned as she swept the pieces into a dustpan to dispose of. When she went to take the dustpan to the glass disposal, one of her fellow classmates politely offered to take it for her. He smiled awkwardly and blushed a bit as he quickly moved off, almost running into another student in his hurriedness. He's kind of clumsy, she thought. Robert's always kind of weird. She got back to trying the experiment again.
Robert Reynolds had a crush on Lindy. She always seemed to be the type to fall for jocks, but he secretly wanted her. So, he used any opportunity he could to get her attention. As he dumped the broken shards into the glass disposal, he looked through one of the doors, craning his neck around the corner, to see one of the professor's aides putting a glowing vial into a locking cabinet. The aide noticed him, and quickly shut and locked the door. As much as it intrigued him, he went back to his desk and stared at Lindy. She noticed him once or twice and he looked away quickly each time, blushing.
Being the final period of the day, all the students filed out of the school and towards the bus stop. Lindy lived a considerable distance away from the school, so her parents drove her to school. As she got in her parents car, she looked questioningly at Robert, who was walking away from the buses. He appeared to be slightly quivering and was scratching himself vigorously on the side of his head. She had seen films on drug abuse, so she immediately recognized the symptoms he showed. This, however, confused her; he always was a quiet boy who largely stayed to himself.
Robert's head twitched slightly as he walked home. The sensation of bugs crawling on his flesh started to come back. Shit, he thought. I have to hit it again. He partially blamed himself for his addiction, having listened to his friends. He tried to quit several times, each of which resulted in a blackout. After his parents took him to a psychiatrist and he was diagnosed with schizophrenia-which he told no one-the last thing he wanted was more blackouts. One of his friends having given him an impure dose nearly killed him. So, he wasn't going to trust them anymore; he wanted to find his own supplier. What intrigued him, though, was that chemical that the professor had locked in the cabinet. I have to see what that shit does, he decided.
"So, Lindy, what happened at school today?" her mother asked her.
"I mixed the chemicals wrong and it ruined the experiment we were working on in science class," she explained.
Her father almost turned around before he realized he was driving. "My god, are you alright? Did you get burned or anything?"
She shook her head. "No, nothing like that." She went through her pack. "Oh, and I got an A on the history exam."
"That's great!" her mother replied. "You always make us proud, honey."
"You were looking at that boy, Lindy," her father said, "do you know him or something?"
"No," she responded. "He's just a boy that goes to my science class. He's been having trouble lately. He always has these bloodshot eyes, and he's been itching an awful lot lately."
The mother folded her arms and sighed. "He's probably a stoner. His parents should be ashamed! How do you not notice these things?"
"Kids these days," the father replied. "I bet whatever he's on is just a gateway to even worse drugs. You just watch! One of these days, he's going to be found dead in a ditch, and his parents won't know how it happened."
Lindy shrugged. "I feel sorry for him; he always looks so lonely."
"You can't be sorry for these people," the mother shot back. "That's how they stay in the cycle of abuse."
The only cycle that Robert felt at that moment, walking solemnly home from school, was the cycle of scratching to make the withdrawal symptom bugs go away, and then them coming back again. On his way home, he saw two familiar figures approach him. Both of them were former friends of his, and his main suppliers. He frowned as he looked at them. "Damn it, guys, after you damn near killed me, I don't want any more of your stuff," he warned. "I'll find my own stash." He continued on.
The taller and scruffier looking of the two draped his arm around Robert. "Now, don't be like that, Reynolds," he coached. "We got the same bad shit you did. We've got some better stuff this time around." The other circled around to Robert's other side.
"Just fifteen dollars. I'm being nice. You can get some of our best yet!"
Robert stopped. He was adamant. "I am done with you guys. Leave me alone. I'm not going to almost die again."
The shorter one pushed Robert backwards. He stumbled but caught himself. "You don't burn bridges, Reynolds. You don't know what you're doing."
The taller one gestured with his thumb. "You're jonesing. How do you expect to find a stash in time to make the symptoms go away?"
"I'm done!" he shouted.
They left, grudgingly. "You're seriously going to regret it."
He walked on. As soon as it's dark, he thought. Whatever is in that tube, I'm going to take a shot of; it has to do something.
He tried his best to stifle the evidence of withdrawal symptoms. If his parents noticed again, he'd be looking at several weeks of grounding. Fortunately, his mother somehow didn't notice him desperately trying to ignore the painful itching. Also, his father was still at work. "How was school, Robert?" she asked.
"Good," he lied. "I'm improving my test scores in math; it's up to an 89 now." He headed upstairs.
"Are you going to eat?" she asked. "I've got a meal for you."
He put on his best fake smile. "Can I take it upstairs? I have so much homework to do."
She smiled and nodded, and he took his food upstairs. Once he was in his room, he vigorously scratched his arms and neck. Somehow, he managed to put down the food without spilling a great deal of it. From there, it was a simple matter of waiting for his father to come home, and putting on the act once more. After they fell for the act, and then fell asleep, he climbed out of his room through the window, and down the ladder on the side of the house to the ground. He froze in place several times, listening carefully to make sure no one could hear him. He knew most of the shortcuts through town, and that meant that he would be able to pass through several yards unhindered and it would put him on school grounds in a matter of minutes. Slowly pushing his bicycle out of the back yard, he wheeled it about fifty yards from home, then started pedaling. Turning off the sidewalk and into the woods led him through the first shortcut. He passed through several areas of bushes before exiting the woods near the rear houses of an expensive subdivision.
Lindy, sleeping with her window open to get some fresh air, heard a crunch. She pulled herself from the bed and approached the window. She saw Robert, on his bicycle. The way he was going, she knew exactly where he was headed: the school. Yet, she didn't understand why. Perhaps, she figured, he headed there to meet for a drug deal. Being the caring soul she was, she wanted to help him by talking him out of it. Quietly, she crept downstairs as quiet as she could, and exited the front door.
Robert made his way to the school in surprising time. The back door had no security padlocks on it, just the basic door lock. This enabled him to enter with one swift kick. The whole time, if he hadn't been single-mindedly focused on getting high, he might have marveled at the lack of security on the premises. The office sat five doors down the hallway on the left. He opened it with another kick. The locked cabinet presented only slight difficulty; the glass was old and already had a crack in it from the air conditioning. Possibly the biggest high of his life and so far, absolutely no hindrances had presented themselves. The vial in his hand, he didn't want to drink it right inside the chemistry lab, because if he passed out they'd suspect him right away. So, he went outside; that way, he would at least not be in the chemistry lab. Stopping out behind several bushes, he popped the lid off and tilted his head back. This was it; a mere moment away from heaven.
"Robert! What are you doing?"
He almost tripped from surprise. Shocked and extremely embarrassed, he looked and saw a familiar dark blonde-haired girl standing opposite him. "L…Lindy! I…What are you doing here?"
She folded her arms and adopted a stern look. "I came looking for you. I knew you were headed to the school. Apparently, you are a junkie, just like I thought."
He shifted his feet several times, embarrassed. He ducked eye contact. "Come on, Lindy, I know I've got a problem, but if I don't get high, I feel bad. You don't know what it's like to feel bugs crawling on you that aren't there."
She approached him. "If you don't get cleaned up, Robert, you aren't going to live to see senior year. Are you okay with that?"
"Well, what do we have here?" an unexpected voice cried out. The two from earlier, the ones who'd sold Robert a bad stash, approached. "It looks like Bob came out looking for a high after all! I thought you'd be here."
He stammered backwards. "What the hell are you guys doing here?"
The tall one replied, "I need money for more stuff. I figured a school would have something worth stealing."
"Damn it, guys," Lindy shot back, "can't you leave him alone? I'm trying to talk him out of a huge mistake here."
They ignored her. "Hey, whatcha got there, Robert? Let me see."
He tried to pull back against his former supplier. "No! I found it first!"
The tall one stomped on Robert's foot, causing him to release the vial. "I can't believe you'd go so far as to drink some chemical whipped up in a school chemistry lab!"
His friend gave him an idea. "Let's see what it does…on her!"
Lindy backtracked. "You assholes leave me alone! I'm not involved in whatever business you have with anyone!"
Robert saw them walking towards Lindy with bad intentions. In a desperate attempt to control the damage, he jumped on the back of the one closest to Lindy. He struggled to knock the guy off his feet, but got bashed against a tree and he fell semiconscious. She attempted to run from them, but got caught. "You're in the wrong place, girly!" As the shorter one held her in place, she screamed. Attempting to bite to prevent the vial being shoved in her mouth, she avoided the liquid for almost a minute. Then, the taller one punched her in the abdomen, causing her to open her mouth. Before she could recover, he shoved the vial in her mouth and tilted it backwards. They let her go as soon as the vial was empty.
She could see and feel nothing at first. It was as if she stood in a black emptiness. Then, all of a sudden, golden light surrounded her and entered her, emanating from every part of her. Her vision returned to the normal world as every cell of her body felt ready to burst as a tingling energy entered them. Within a few moments, the golden glow of her body reached almost daylight levels, and every part of her felt burning. Robert gained consciousness and took off running. The two were too entranced by what was going on to move. It was the final mistake they would make in their lives.
She tried to yell for them to run, but before the words could come out, her cells could take no longer and she, as one mass of glowing energy, exploded. Robert, having gotten almost clear of the area, was thrown several feet. Both of the dealers were vaporized immediately. The school was rocked by the blast, and the sound could be heard all the way across town. Once the dust started to settle, the golden energy that had exploded coalesced into a glowing mass, and out of it formed, once more, the body of Lindy Lee.
As she stood up out of a crater that had formed, she stumbled around a bit. As everything became clearer in her vision, she brushed dust out of her eyes, and noticed her hand. It was much bigger than she remembered. "What the…" she thought out loud. Looking down at her body, she noticed her entire frame had become much bigger. Where she was previously a diminutive woman possessed of small frame, she stood now an Amazon-esque six feet three inches. She had muscles that would put female bodybuilders to shame, and her previously flat, uncurved figure now more closely resembled an hourglass. What the fuck is going on? She wondered. As the police sirens echoed, she decided to take off running, to flee before unwanted attention came.
The moment she ran, there was a blur and she came to a stop after tripping and smashing through several trees at high velocity. Looking behind her after standing back up, the brief couple steps she'd taken had put her a quarter mile from the school. She looked at her hands once more. That formula thing…it gave me…abilities? She dashed once again. This time, she focused her eyes, and the blur went away, allowing her to see her surroundings. She weaved through the forest at unimaginable velocities and within three seconds, found her house. Just as quickly, she dashed into her room.
She paced back and forth. I can't look like this, she thought. I'll attract too much attention if I look like this! As if to respond to her thoughts, the golden energy evaporated from her body and rematerialized as a sphere of power inside her mind. It returned her to her small form, and she quickly removed her torn clothes, and put on a nightgown. Somehow, as she fell asleep, the information came to her in the form of a voice.
"I am the part of your mind that has been asleep all this time," the gentle voice spoke in her brain. "You see, all humans have the potential to be psychic, but it usually takes something to activate it. The serum you've been given has granted you incredible powers and you can use your psychic power to activate it at will."
"Who are you?" she thought.
"The power of the serum responds to the user's personality. You genuinely want to help people. So the part of your conscience that is your desire to help has been given shape. I am, a sentry of sorts. I watch over the people. I am you; my power is yours to use. You see, because I am you, I cannot act without your body. So, think of me as the better part of you, empowered."
She suddenly thought of Robert. "Wow," she thought. "Imagine if drug-addicted Robert Reynolds had taken the serum."
She had no clue of the events to unfold.
TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 2