San Francisco, California
Trevin popped a Vicodin and swallowed it dry as he gazed out at the cold gray waters of the San Francisco Bay. It had only been a day since his tussle with The Owl, and his back pain was not going away on its own.
Shortly after he got his hands on the mysterious black bodysuit, he contacted Danny Uchida, a long time friend of Trevin's that worked at Livermore Labs. They were set to meet around 11:30 a.m. at the end of Pier 39. Out of all the people Trevin knew, Danny was his best bet on finding out exactly what he'd gotten his hands on.
The OsCorp logo was crudely covered up with duct tape to not attract any attention, although Trevin was slightly worried he looked like a hitman. He had a dark blue hoodie on, and underneath that, he was armed to the teeth with his gear and armor.
His eyes wandered from the open water to Alcatraz Island, which was now shut off from the public. The former prison turned into a tourist attraction for nearly 60 years, but in 1994, the ferries full of tourists stopped going to the island. Rumors swirled that it was bought out by any number of corporation or mysterious figure for a myriad of reasons. Nobody knew for sure, however. It appeared to be unchanged from the outside, and nobody ever saw boats, helicopters, anything going to or coming from the island. As he began to imagine the things going on there, his thoughts were interrupted.
"You look terrible." Danny's familiar voice startled Trevin, making him flinch.
They clasped their hands in a firm handshake. "You should see the other guy." Trevin triumphantly stated, despite the obvious signs he got his ass kicked pretty bad.
"I did see the other guy. A masked vigilante brought down the supervillain known as The Owl, the news said." Danny said with a little sarcasm sprinkled in his tone.
Trevin scoffed out loud. "SUPER villain! That guy was basically a homeless person. He could hardly even fly. He was hovering over the ground for like five seconds. Supervillain...no. Gliding vagrant is what I'd use to describe him."
Danny pointed at Trevins black eye. "Either way, looks like he got a cheap shot on you."
"A cheap shot or seven, yeah. Good to see you, Danny. How's Helena? Has she realized you bamboozled her into marrying you and ran off, yet?"
He held up his hand and pointed to his wedding band. "Still got her fooled."
"What about Emiko? How's she doing?"
Danny shrugged. "She went to go live with Mom in Chiba."
"Oh, damn. She's back in Japan?"
Danny nodded. "Sorry pal. She's going to have to somehow carry on with you continuing to not ask her out."
Trevin rolled his eyes. "As much as I love the small talk, I asked you here for a reason." He handed the case over to Danny. "Seems like a lot of people want their hands on it. Robbing OsCorp is a bold move. Especially for someone who's low on the totem pole like The Owl." Danny said, sarcasm still standing. He pointed to the duct tape. "What's with this?"
"I don't want to attract attention. I can't walk around with…" Trevin lowered his voice after looking around, "I don't want to be suspicious. Stolen OsCorp case, I can't go walking around advertising that."
"So you decided the best way to be inconspicuous was to dress up like the unabomber?"
Trevin shot a glare towards Danny. "Did did you come to talk shit or see what's in the case?"
Danny nodded and set the case on a bench behind them. He opened it up, pulled out the suit and held it up. "What the hell is that thing?" Trevin asked as Danny inspected it.
"Well… first, where did The Owl get this from? Some truck going to OsCorp, you said?"
Trevin nodded. "It was coming from some place called Clarke Futuristics, down in Los Angeles."
"Clarke? They deal with robotics." He took a closer look at the suit. "What would they be doing with this? … or with OsCorp for that matter?"
All Trevin could do was shrug. "I don't know who any of these people are, Danny. All I know is this thing is probably really valuable, and I want to sell it and be done with it."
"If you knew exactly what it was, I bet you'd be able to sell it for a lot more…" Danny said with an upward inflection, trying to make the implied question sound more appealing.
"I mean, I didn't think you would know exactly what this was without taking it to your lab and doing... Whatever science things you do in your evil castle. You know, with your jars with eyeballs and brains floating in them. Tesla coils everywhere. I know what your lab looks like."
Danny folded the suit back up and put it in the case, adding, "Don't forget my hunchback sidekick."
"Oh, don't talk about your wife like that. Take the suit, take however long you need. I've got a bad feeling about that thing. The sooner it's out of my hands, the better."
A commotion broke out from the light crowd that had been near the waterfront. People started pointing out across the water. Trevin heard someone say "Iron Man", and his pulse increased. He and Danny shared a glance and then went to see what was happening.
High in the sky above the water, a figure was zooming through the air toward the pier, leaving contrails behind. "Coincidence?" Danny asked Trevin.
"I really, really doubt it. Whatever that suit is... if Tony Stark is after it then it must be a big deal."
The figure drew closer to the pier as Danny and Trevin slinked backward into the crowd. It started a slow descent from straight above everyone, warm air blasting downward toward the crowd. A circle opened up, making room for this person from the sky. He made landfall and Trevin got a good look at him. He was decked out in a green bodysuit and had a golden half helmet atop his head. He wore what looked like an equally golden jetpack on his back and had some gaudy wrist jewelry. Whoever this was, it wasn't Iron Man.
"Fear not, San Franciscans! I come in peace. I'm visiting your lovely city on this dreary morning to retrieve a container stolen from a dear friend of mine. It's about this big," he gestured with his hands, " it's black… and I know it's here in this immediate area right now."
People took pictures as he spoke. Trevin motioned for Danny to follow him as he tried his best to hide the case close to his chest. As the costumed man turned away from them, they both made a break for it through the crowd while his back was turned.
A sharp -wip- sound filled the air, and a beam of bright yellow light shot from behind them into the sky. "Don't move another step."
Trevin turned to see the man only just now turning around, his left arm raised up into the sky.
"I have eyes in the back of my head, so nobody try anything funny." He slowly walked towards Trevin.
As he was being approached, and the crowd started to clear a path between the two, Trevin did a mental checklist of what he brought with him.
Dart gun is at home. Two smoke bombs. No tear gas. One throwing knife. One short range EMP. No taser. Armor on, but won't protect me from whatever this guy just shot into the air.
EMP. My only bet, he deduced.
He leaned in and whispered something to Danny and then took a step forward. He reached behind his back and handed off a small pen shaped object to Danny, who slinked back into the crowd by the time the crowd had cleared an empty lane between Trevin and his costumed visitor.
"What you've got there, my friend, belongs to my employer. You must have balls of steel on you to rob Norman Osborn," The green and gold man that sort of looked like The Rocketeer was now standing a few feet away from Trevin.
"Well… if you want to get technical, I stole it from The Owl, who stole it from a truck," Trevin offered.
"Regardless, I've been hired to retrieve the very case you're clutching right there. Hand it over, and I'll be on my way. It's your lucky day, too. Cause if don't give me any trouble, you get to live."
Trevin sighed. "Look, man. I just beat down The Owl. I don't want to have to take you out too. I'm tired. Go tell Norman you never found me and we can both be spared what happens next. "
"The Owl," he scoffed. "You beat The Owl! You might as well brag about winning a race against F.D.R.! How dare you compare a street urchin to a professional like myself."
Trevin shrugged. "At least I've heard of him. I have no idea who you are, dude."
"Professional hitman, assassin, spy and thief. They call me Chance." The manner in which he said this sounded like a commercial.
"Chance? Like... Like from Homeward Bound?"
"Enough of this! Give me the case. I don't want to have to kill you, kid…I won't get paid for it." Chance stepped forward. Trevin held the case out slowly. He saw Danny move into position in his periphery. Once he saw Danny flick the pen on the ground, Trevin stepped forward.
God, please let those lasers or whatever be electronically powered.
"Alright, you had your… uh, chance." Trevin readied himself to charge, and then a cloud of smoke began to seep from the pen shaped object.
I grabbed the wrong fucking thing!
Trevin reached and felt and grabbed something from his belt that was the same shape and size as the smoke bomb. I must have put them in the wrong slots! Chance rocketed forward through the cloud of smoke without warning, tackling Trevin and grabbing him and the case. Trevin struggled to get out of his grip until they started ascending into the sky. With the excess weight, Chance's flight speed was much slower.
"This is your only shot, junior! Hand the case over or prepare for re-entry!" Chance shouted as they slowly rose above the ground.
Trevin clicked the EMP activator and gripped Chance by the throat. A low electronic -vwump- emitted and Chance's jetpack shut off 20 feet above the ground. The pair went hurtling towards the pier below, Trevin still holding his death grip around Chances throat who was trying to force some words out. He spun Chance around between himself and the ground just before they crashed. It didn't help the impact that much as Trevin had the wind knocked out of him and was pretty sure he just dislocated a rib. The case went flying a few feet away.
Chance grabbed Trevin by the hair and punched him in the face a couple of times before flinging him backwards and standing up, albeit labordly.
"What did you do to my suit?!" He cried out, clicking his wrist bracer a couple of times with nothing happening.
Trevin climbed back to his feet and saw Chance trying to take his helmet off. The thick gold visor covered half his face. There was no way he could see out of that thing without some sort of video feed.
The EMP must have made whatever camera system he's got shut off… he's blind!
Trevin delivered a swift kick to the chest of Chance, and then another. Chance raised his other arm and pointed it in Trevin's general direction. A small dart shot out and zoomed a few feet away from Trevin, hitting the wall of a building behind him.
"Tranq darts, huh? That seems pretty tame for an assassin." A hissing sound came from behind him. He turned around to see smoke steaming up from the ground where the dart landed. "Acid?!"
Chance shot another dart as an answer. He missed again. Trevin charged and delivered a knee right into Chances face. He was back on the ground, still blind. "You fucking tried to murder me!" Chance clicked a button on his wrist bracer. His jetpack made a clicking sound but was not igniting. Trevin pulled out his throwing knife and sliced one of the tubes that stuck out of the jetpack. It started spraying fuel everywhere. "You're not going anywhere! Now you have to deal with me!" He returned the favor of punching Chance in the jaw numerous times until he saw him spit out blood.
It's been about a minute. That EMP is going to wear off any second now. I need to get out of here before this guy blasts a laser through me.
Chance was back on his feet in seconds and struggled to take his helmet off in the midst of the chaos. "You're dead!"
Trevin decided to count his losses. He flipped Chance off and ran for the case. He picked it up just as another dart went zipping by. A swelling electronic sound was heard from behind as he ran. He looked back to see Chance aiming his wrist blaster in his direction. Trevin dove behind a garbage can as he saw a beam of energy shoot past, barely missing him. The blaster got covered in the fuel, and within an instant, Chance was engulfed in flames. He ran around screaming while the few people who hadn't run off yet panicked, not knowing how to help besides shouting for help. Trevin watched in astonishment as he finally wound up falling over the railing and into the ocean.
"Well, that guy was a dick. I… I don't feel so good."
Trevin felt light headed. A warm trickle came from his nose. He tapped his lip and looked at his finger. Blood. As soon as he saw Danny coming back toward him, he took a knee and hunched over on the ground. Before he knew it, Danny had his arm around his shoulder and was quickly walking him off of the pier. "Cops are coming. We need to get out."
They hustled across the street where Danny's car was parked. The moment he sat down, Trevin passed out.
A white wall was the first thing he saw when Trevin opened his eyes. He shot up to a sitting position and winced. "Agh!" His entire body ached. He felt his ribs, and noticed that he'd been bandaged up. He looked around the room he was in, and saw a picture of Emiko, Danny's sister. This must be her old room. I wonder if she'll ever come back to the U.S. Man, she sure was cute... Suddenly, all the memories of what had just transpired came rushing back. Falling from the sky. The suit. Chance.
That dude was on fire. Did he die?... did I kill somebody?
He left the room and walked into a hallway he'd been in before. Pictures of the Uchida family lined the walls. Danny and Emiko with their parents wearing traditional Japanese garb. Black and white photos of ancestors. He stepped into the bathroom. It felt like he hadn't gone pee in five years. After he relieved himself, he washed his hands and face and took a look in the mirror. His short black hair was matted with dried blood. His face looked younger than he was, but he felt so much older. He rinsed his hair under the faucet until it felt clean. He sighed and made his way to the living room where Danny and his wife Helena were sitting.
"Hey, pal. Are you doing okay?" Danny got up and went over to Trevin, putting his hand on his shoulder. "What happened? Is that Chance guy dead?"
Danny ushered Trevin over to the couch and motioned for him to sit down next to Helena. She smiled at him. "Hi Trev, you're looking pretty good for someone that fell out of the sky." He put his arm around and gave a half-hug. "Hi, Helena. Good to see you again. I see you've somehow not gotten sick of Danny and his terrible sense of humor yet."
"Oh, he has his uses. I'll keep him around for now." She said with a smirk.
"He got away. From what I saw online, eyewitnesses said Chance got out of the water shortly after and was arrested. Two bad guys in two days. That's some record you got there."
"Yeah, I'm a regular superhero here. My power lies in choosing incompetent villains. Well, it's good to know that I'm not a murderer. That dude had some serious tech on him."
"Not as serious as what's in that case you've been carrying around. I did a little digging while you were taking a cat nap. It took a lot of digging but I found out exactly what that thing is. Clarke Futuristics got their hands on this technology sometime back in the 80's. They've been trying to perfect it for years. Things kept going wrong. This suit… it's made of nanomachines. Billions of them. You need a skilled hacker to get access to the full reports, I was only able to scratch the surface...and find some of these test videos. Come look."
Danny grabbed his laptop and sat down next to Trevin. He pulled open a folder with a few different video files. He pulled one up. It was black and white surveillance footage. It was a figure in a large room that had several objects places around it, such as concrete blocks and mannequins. The figure was wearing a suit very similar to the one Trevin stole, but had minor differences in details. It pointed its arm out toward a mannequin an a rush of light spewed forth like it shot a ball of plasma. The mannequin exploded into pieces. The figure proceeded to do this to the other objects in the room, except on it's second to last target, it aimed its arm just like the previous times and the figure exploded in a bright white flash. Body parts went flying around the room."
"Jesus, dude. Thanks for the warning, that was gruesome!"
"Sorry, that's my bad. This one isn't so graphic." Danny pulled up the next video. It was the same security camera point of view, but the room was set up differently. Instead of various objects, there was a brick wall. There was another figure in another slightly different suit. They walked up to the wall, and punched straight through it. They tore a large hole using only their fists. Behind the wall was a large safe, which they picked up with seemingly no problem and moved it out from behind the wall. After setting it down, the figure collapsed on the ground and the video cut out.
"You see, they've been trying to perfect these suits but there's always been some sort of damage to the wearer. Whether it's sapping up the body's energy, giving them heart attacks, overheating them, or just blowing them up... It looks like these trials have been killing people for years. I think, Trevin, the suit you got, is the first working model."
"That must be why it was on its way to OsCorp. They probably paid a shitload for a prototype."
Danny nodded. "That's what I'm thinking too. The little amount I could dig up referred to this suit as 'uphb24.x' and it looks like it's been marked safe. If that's the one that was lined up in the report as being shipped out."
Trevin began to ponder the benefits of such a suit, granted it didn't make him melt or something like that. "Oh," Danny added, "Chance was able to find you because the case had a micro-transmitter in it. I found it and destroyed it before driving back here. As far as they know, the suit never left San Francisco."
Helena got up and left the room. "Have fun with this, boys. This is all out of my league."
Danny leaned in and whispered to Trevin. "I think, if you keep this thing - after making sure it's safe, you use it? You could be on par with Iron Man."
Trevin sighed. "I don't want to be the next Iron Man. I don't want to go solve world problems."
"Just something to consider. Either way, I think you should find someone to help you get into the Clarke Futuristics network and find out exactly what that suit can do."
"If I put my mind to it… I'm pretty sure I can do it myself. I'd need to get into their facility down in L.A. though."
"Whatever you end up doing… You need to take a break first, my friend. You've been banged up pretty bad the past couple of days. You are just a man, after all."
Trevin laid down on the couch and meant to agree, but before he realized it, he was back asleep.
Next Issue: Trevin heads south to Clarke Futuristics with trouble in tow in… City of A-Holes!