"Sample 14; negative. Sample 15; negative." The computer said and kept going as it tested each sample Bruce had been working on.
"One of these has to be close." Bruce said as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
He knew it was already somewhere around daytime, he just didn't know when. He didn't even bother going to bed, but had been studying both Ron and Captain America's blood samples. He had come up with several samples, and this was the most recent set he was testing. Like all the others he had made, he was running into nothing but failures. This was getting frustrating to no end.
"Sample 22; negative. Sample 23; negative." The computer said.
"The story of my life." Bruce said.
"Sample 25; positive."
"What?" Bruce asked himself and turned to the computer. It was there, clear as day. Sample 25 was positive. It matched everything of Captain America's blood sample. Everything was there. No matter how long he kept looking at it, he still couldn't believe it.
"I got it. I can't believe this." He said as a smile formed on his face. "I DID IT!" Bruce shouted with joy as he leapt from his chair with joy.
He had finally done it. He was able to recreate the Super Soldier serum. That meant SHIELD would get its army, and Ron's transformations could be stabilized. Ron. That boy had been an innocent in all this, and he had been cursed with his screw up. Flashes of the abuse he went through at his father, Dr. David Banner, began to flash before his eyes. His father, the great scientist; and who had seen his own son as an obstacle. How can someone be jealous of his wife giving affection to his son? Screw him. May his abusive and alcoholic farther burn in hell for what he did to him and his mother. Bruce had to pay for his father's mistakes by taking his beatings, but Ron wasn't going to suffer. Ron would not pay for his mistakes.
That's when he went straight back to work. He had an idea ages ago when he learned of Ron's fate with the earlier formula, and now decided to act on it. It would be a big risk, mainly to him. But it would be worth it. SHIELD would have an edge above everyone else, and Ron could try and live a somewhat normal life. Here's hoping he could just get everything done in time.
Rogers just kept on walking and didn't care where he was headed. He was pretty mad at that moment, but not completely at his team. He was mad at himself. He knew he wasn't in the forties anymore, but he still acted like it. He had expected those people to obey his orders and he should have known that compound would have been booby trapped. Hell, he and his old buddy from the Canadian army stormed a concentration camp and were able to free the prisoners there. He had no place here, and he knew it. He let out a deep sigh as he pulled the blue mask off of his face.
"Penny for your thoughts, Wonder Boy?" a very familiar voice asked. Rogers turned to see Shego leaning against a lamp post as she looked at him.
"You can tell Fury,"
"I'm not here on Fury's orders, Rogers." She told him as she began to walk closer to him.
"Then why are you following me?" Rogers asked.
"I wanted to get a better look at the all American butt of yours." Shego said, causing Rogers to blush. "Listen Rogers, you can't kick yourself over what happened." Shego told him.
"I was the one in command, so the blame has to be on me." Rogers said.
"The blame is on them. With the exception of Kim and me, none of those idiots have ever been on anything like that before. You're plan was a good one, it was just lacking the right people was all." Shego told him.
"But what if one of them gets killed?" Rogers asked as the images from Arlington began to flood his mind again.
"It's a risk, Rogers. But we all knew the risks when we signed on. Take it from me, Steve. You can't dwell on the past for most of your life. If you do, then the only thing that'll happen is life will pass you by. Trust me on this." She said.
"I just feel so out of place here. Everything's so strange." Rogers mumbled.
"How do you think I feel?"
"What do you mean?" Rogers asked her.
"Captain, I got hit by an irradiated rock from space. No matter what I do with the abilities I've been cursed with, people look at me like I'm apart of a traveling freak show. I'm as out of place here as you are." She said.
"You don't look like it to me." Rogers said.
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing about you looks out of place to me. I don't think there's anything strange about you." Rogers said and noticed the slight blush on Shego's face.
"I thought I was the one trying to cheer you up." Shego said with a small laugh.
"I'm just being honest." Rogers said as they both looked and gazed at the statue of Liberty that was standing proud in the night air. "Ever since I first saw her, all I wanted to do was to defend my country. I was proud to be an American, and I wanted to help her." Rogers said as he remembered his childhood years.
"Do you still want to help it?" Shego asked.
"I've been thinking about that ever since I woke up. I think about it everyday." He said.
"And?" Shego asked.
"I still think it needs my help." He told her.
"Then let's get back to SHIELD HO. With the most of SHIELD's secrets in the Chitauri hands, they're going to be a sitting duck." Shego said.
"You're right." Rogers said as he pulled his hood back on. "Black Widow?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it, Wonder Boy." Shego said as they made their way back to SHIELD.
"I can't believe that pompous ass Fury! How can he have the nerve to act like we were the ones that screwed up?" Hank shouted as he stormed back into his lab.
"You can't deny the fact that he has a point, Hank. If we had listened to Captain America,"
"God Damn it! Why the hell are you sticking up for that old son of a bitch? If anything at all, he's the one that screwed the pooch on this one!"
"I'm so sick of this bullshit Hank. It's always someone else's fault and never your own, isn't it?"
"When I'm right, it is!"
"I knew it. This is all about your damn ego and the fact that Fury passed us over on the Super Soldier project."
"No, it's about Fury having his head shoved so far up his ass that he can't see anything else!" Hank roared.
"Forget it. I'm done with this, and I'm done nursing your ego." Janet said as she began to walk away.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hank thundered.
"You're the genius, you figure it out!" Janet said as she slammed the door behind her shut with a loud echo, leaving her husband to sulk by himself.
"Piss on you." Hank muttered as he took the elevator to the lower lab.
Bruce had begun replicating the formula according to the data he had analyzed, and couldn't help but smile as he saw it slowly fill the test tubes in front of him. He had actually done it; he succeeded in recreating the formula. But at what cost? He began to rub the two healing scars on his body where Dr. Owen had shot him so many weeks ago. Dr. Owen and his other colleague were now dead, and look what Ron was subjected to. So much violence and destruction had happened, and all because of what he had created. It won't be in vain, though. He wouldn't let it.
As Bruce let his mind wonder while he waited for the formula to finished synthesizing, he almost didn't hear the phone on his desk blare like a dying digital swallow. Bruce quickly caught his balance as he almost fell out of his chair, and quickly grabbed the phone as his train of thought was derailed.
"Banner."
"It's Furry. How much longer until the formula is ready?" Fury demanded.
"Actually, it's already completed, General. I still have to do a few more final tests,"
"I want it ready for all twelve volunteers by the time I get there." Fury said.
"Do what?"
"You heard me, Banner. We have a code red situation, and the Avengers are AWOL. I need all twelve candidates ready ASAP." Fury said and terminated the connection.
Bruce just looked at the phone he held in his hands as his mind went over what Fury told him. He thought he would have more time, at least to be able to prove to Fury what the benefits to Ron controlling his Hulk state were. But Fury was on his way back, and Ron was with him. Bruce had done all this behind everyone's back, and only had the one sample so far. Only one phrase fit this situation, and Bruce already had it on the tip of his tongue.
"Oh shit."
"As soon as we get back, I need both of you to help Ross and Banner with whatever they need. If they want you to wipe their ass while they get those soldiers ready, you do it." Fury said.
"Okay, I really didn't need that mental image." Ron said.
"This is serious Stoppable. We'll be lucky if we see the sun rise." Fury said.
"General, what about Captain America and the others?" Kim asked the military veteran.
"Knowing Shego, she'll find some way to bring him back here. Even if she has to club him and drag him back." Fury said.
"Don't you mean drug him?" Ron asked.
"No, club him. As in upside his head." Fury said.
"General, sir, if you don't mind me asking. How do you know Shego?" Kim asked.
"SHIELD was one of the first people on the scene when that multicolor meteor hit Go City. We had them in our infirmary for days for quarantine. We were quite surprised when the room Shego was in was partially destroyed by green fireballs a week later. The government took interest, and we aided in the training and use of their powers. When they freelanced and formed Team Go, we kept tabs on them. Every so often we would need help for special Black Ops missions, so we would enlist the help of Team Go. Mainly Shego since she had the most leadership qualities and combat abilities.
"When we were forming a smaller version of SHIELD to police smaller threats to the world, I had two candidates in the running to be the head of it. Shego was one of them." Fury said.
"Who was the other?" Ron asked, getting a look from Kim.
"Think about it Ron." Kim said.
"Oh. That explains the eye patch." Ron said as he remembered Betty Director.
"Actually, she got that during a Special Ops mission in the Congo." Fury said.
"GENERAL, WE'VE JUST ARRIVED AT HQ!" the pilot announced.
"Stoppable, go to the rebirth chamber and make sure everything's ready. Possible, you're with me. I have to see how much longer it will be until the formula is ready." Fury told them as they piled out of the transport and back into the massive base.
Dr. Betty Ross was in her office, looking over some of her data to the rebirth chamber. So far, everything looked primed, set, and ready to go. All they needed now was the formula and a test subject. She let out a sigh and rubbed the bridge of her nose as she set the folder on her desk. Her head had been throbbing for hours, ever since the base went on to a full alert. She had a very bad feeling that something bad was going to happen, and that it might be soon. And with her headache, she might be it.
"Dr. Ross?" Fury asked her as he entered the room.
"General. What brings you here?" she asked him as she rubbed her temple.
"Aren't you and Banner getting the serum ready?" Fury asked.
"Ready? I didn't even know we had a working sample." Dr. Ross said, confused at what she was hearing.
"I just talked to, – where's Dr. Banner now?" Fury asked.
Fury stormed into the lab that housed the rebirth machine, only to find it empty. Everything was in order, which was what disturbed General Fury the most. Something wasn't right, and he was going to get to the bottom of it. No matter how many heads rolled.
"Where does Banner keep the volunteer files?" Fury asked Ross as she and Kim walked into the room.
"Over here. I see Bruce glancing at them every so often." Dr. Ross said as she headed to the large filling cabinet with Kim following behind her. Ross opened the cabinet and checked the tabs until she found the right one. "Here they are." Betty said as she grabbed one and Kim grabbed another.
"I don't know why he wouldn't tell me about finishing the – what the hell?" Ross asked as she opened one of the volunteer's files, and saw nothing but blank sheets of paper. "There's nothing in this one." Ross said in shock.
"It's the same with this one." Kim said as she saw nothing but empty sheets of paper.
Both of them started taking one file after another, looking for any trace of data about the SHIELD volunteers, but nothing. There wasn't anything in them. Only photos, but absolutely nothing else. The floor was soon covered in nothing but blank sheets of white paper and empty manila folders.
"There aren't any volunteers. All of these are fakes." Kim said to her commanding officer.
"You mean the formula isn't ready?" Fury asked as he walked to Ross who got onto one of the computers and logged into Bruce's data.
"It's complete. But I can't tell who he configured it for. It's all so - wait." Ross said as she started taking a closer look at it and cross referencing it with other files. "Oh God, tell me he didn't." Ross gasped as she looked at the screen in front of her.
"Dr. Ross?" Fury asked cautiously.
"The formula he's made. It's been formatted for Ron to use!" Betty said.
"Do what?" Kim asked as she looked at the screen in front of Dr. Ross.
All of them turned when they heard the lab doors open. Dr. Banner came in to the lab, sipping a cup of coffee and running a hand through his uncombed hair. As he glanced up and saw the mess of files on the floor, his eyes began to widen. "Uh-oh." Was all he said before Fury had him by the neck and pinned Banner's skinny butt to the wall and ignored the hot coffee that had just been spilled all over him.
"Are you mad, Banner? The Chitauri are most likely on their way here, and I need those Super Soldiers! DO YO REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?" Fury roared.
"Not if Ron is stabilized!" Banner shouted.
"What are you talking about?" Fury demanded.
"I thought you told him, Bruce." Betty said in shock, of both what Bruce had been doing and holding back the information on their newest friend. "We discovered that Ron's DNA gains damage when he transforms, and the damage increases each time." Betty said to Fury and Kim.
"What? You mean, becoming the Hulk is killing him?" Kim asked as the shock hit her like a cannonball to her abdomen as tears began to form in her eyes. "But Wade,"
"Wade scanned him after one transformation, Miss Possible. We didn't notice the damage until after his last transformation." Betty told him.
"But if I give Ron the full serum, it should be able to stabilize him. He would be able to transform without sustaining anymore damage to his DNA. He might be able to keep himself in control when he changes." Bruce said quickly, trying to avoid the punch he knew Fury was getting ready to hurl.
"But there's also a large chance that besides stabilizing him, it would make the hulk stronger." Betty said.
"How strong?" Fury asked.
"I don't know. But stronger than any known weapon on this planet." Ross said.
"You sniveling little son of a bitch!" Fury growled as he gripped Banner tighter.
"General, we're detecting three boogies in coming from the East. All have a vibranium signature." An operative informed the general over the comm. System.
"I swear Banner, if we survive this, you're going to hang for this!" Fury growled as he let go and marched out the door with Kim following behind him.
"Betty,"
"Just don't, Bruce." Betty said, so angry at him that she couldn't even blink.
All Bruce could do was hang his head in shame as she exited the lab, leaving him with his thoughts. He looked up and saw the lone serum sitting, fully completed. All his good intentions had just been flushed down the proverbial toilet. He leaned against the glass that showed him the Rebirth Chamber, and slammed his fist against the thick plexi glass window.
"Hey, Doc." A voice said to him through the wall intercom.
Bruce looked up and saw Ron looking at one of the computers on the lower levels of the chamber. What was he doing in there?
"Ron, you do know those computers aren't for playing games?" he asked the young man.
"I know. I'm just making sure everything's ready for the volunteers." Ron said as he activated the machines.
"The volunteers? He doesn't know!" Bruce said as he looked at the serum on the table, sitting in the vial. "Ron, my computers say something in the chamber might be loose. Can you check it out for me?" Bruce asked the young man and quickly grabbed the serum.
"Sure thing, Doc." Ron said as he walked up the steps onto the platform as Bruce walked into room.
Ron casually walked into the chamber and started scanning all the components at the top of the inner chamber. Of course, Ron didn't have any idea what he was looking for in the first place. "Doc, what am I looking for?" Ron asked as he looked. When Ron heard the door to the chamber slam closed, he quickly turned and saw Dr. Banner locking the seal. "Doc, what are you doing?" Ron asked as he ran to the chamber wall.
"I'm sorry Ron, but this is the only way." Bruce said as he plugged the serum into a compartment at the side of the chamber.
"Doc, don't!" Ron shouted as fear began to take over.
"I'm sorry, Ron. But this is our only hope." Bruce said and activated the chamber.
"DOC, NO!" Ron screamed.
Ron could see the serum being pumped into the chamber as a gas, and it was quickly rising. Ron tried banging on the door, screaming for Banner to let him out. He started ramming the door with his shoulder, frantic to try and escape. But that's when he realized the gas was all around him, and he was breathing more and more of it in as he panted.
Soon his body felt like it was on fire, starting from inside and working its way outward. He collapsed to his hands and knees as the pain began to get worse. All he could do was scream as he felt his body almost tear itself apart. The pain was so great, he didn't even notice that his voice began to change and his bones cracked and popped as they grew in size.
Bruce looked at the screaming youth as his body began to change and warp in size. He was horrified as he saw Ron's shoulders widen and his muscles grow so fast that his clothes looked like they were shredded instead of torn. He was so distracted by the sight before him, he didn't even notice that Dr. Ross had returned until she came running into the la as she heard Ron's nightmarish screams.
"BRUCE, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Betty screamed as she ran into the room and saw Ron screaming inside the chamber.
Both she and Bruce watched in horror as Ron's muscles began to expand, and his skin pigment began to change color. His sleeves ripped as the cloth grew to thin to hold his arms, and then ripped down the middle of his back as his torso grew and broadened. The fog of the serum was soon growing too thick within the chamber. The last thing they saw was Ron's pants and shoes beginning to tear away as they kept hearing him screaming. Only brief glimpses of movements were allowed before it was swallowed by the fog. Soon, there was only one of the most terrifying sounds within the lab that frightened people the most. Silence.
"Bruce, what did you do?" Betty asked him.
"This doesn't make sense. It was supposed to stabilize him." Bruce said.
"You didn't test it? Bruce, that was the most,"
"AAARRRGGHH!" Ron's deep voice shouted as a thick, large muscled arm broke through the glass, followed by another.
When both retracted back into the chamber, the entire chamber shattered into multiple shards as a large form within let out a horrific roar of rage and pain. The creature that came from within the chamber soon began to walk toward the two doctors as every breath it took sounded like a growl of rage. In his Hulk state, Ron was around eight feet tall. The creature before them was at least ten to eleven feet tall and was as broad as an Army tank.
"Oh my God." Bruce said as he saw the creature stand in front of him.
"D-Doc? What happened?" the creature asked him in its deep voice.
"Ronald?" Betty asked him.
"It worked." Bruce said as his eyes widened to where his eyes could almost fall out of his head.
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked them.
"Ron, look at yourself!" Betty said.
Ron looked at his bare chest and arms, and saw how much in size they had grown along with everything else. But one detail he noticed was that his skin was gray, and not green.
"What d-did you?" he asked them.
"We stabilized you, Ron. You're in control." Bruce said.
"Give me what you got!" Fury ordered as he and Kim marched into the control room as every one seemed to be working at the speed of light.
"The three bogies are still heading this way, sir. All base defenses are at red alert and all troops are in battle stations.
"Send in the fighters and helicarriers. We need time to try and get reinforcements in and develop a plan of attack." Fury ordered.
"Helicarriers and fighters are already in route." One tech reported.
"Sir, we have an incoming transmission from Black Widow." Another grunt said.
"On speaker!"
"Planning a fourth of July party, Iron Pants?" Shego asked him.
"The Chitauri are coming this way, Black Widow."
"What about the other Super Dorks?" Shego asked.
"There aren't any. Banner played everyone for a fool." Fury reported.
"I'll be nice and won't say I told you so. Me and Boy Scout are approaching the base, and should be there in less than a minute. Oh my God." Shego said.
"What's wrong?"
"INCOMING!" Shego shouted as a giant explosion rocked the whole base, causing a few of the control panels to short out.
"DAMAGE REPORT!" Fury screamed.
"A helicarrier just crashed near one of the docking ports. Three of the base turrets were destroyed in the crash."
"Sir! We're getting numerous casualty reports from the helicarriers. Most of our forces are either destroyed or damaged. Shrapnel is beginning to rain over the New York City area."
"That means there's nothing in their way. I want everything with a gun out there and shooting at anything that glows with an inner light." Fury said as he walked into his office and opened a hidden weapon locker. "You're going to need this Possible. It has vibranium tipped rounds. There aren't a lot, so make them count." Fury told her as he walked out of his office and handed her an advanced automatic rifle.
"I don't like using guns, sir." Kim told him.
"If you don't, then you'll die Possible." Fury said as he loaded the cartridge and cocked a bullet into the chamber.
"Sir! Shego and Captain America have just arrived on the base and are already directing the platoons." One grunt reported.
"Tell them we're fixing to join them. No one lets up until those Chitauri either leave or they're all dead." Fury said as he and Possible headed out.
"Is they're any chance we'll make it through this thing, sir?" Possible asked him.
"If there is, it's probably not that big." Fury said.
"At least it's a shot." Kim said and cocked the weapon.
PREVIEW! PREVIEW! PREVIEW! PEREVIEW! PREVIEW! PREVIEW! PREVIEW!
Ron Stoppable had everything going for him.
"Ron, are you happy?" Kim asked Ron as they held each other.
"As long as I've got you, KP; I'm the luckiest guy in the world.
But the world he knew,
"Where are you going today, Ron?" Kim asked as they ate their breakfast.
"Mom and Dad are visiting today. I'm going to meet them at the airport." Ron said.
Is about,
"Do you see him anywhere, honey?" Jean asked her husband as they stood at the entrance to the airport.
"I'm not sure. Wait, there he is." Mr. Stoppable said as he saw his son making his way to them from the parking lot.
"Mom! Dad!" Ron called out.
To be shattered!
"The United States was stunned today as the Middleton International Airport was bombed earlier this morning. Taking credit for the horrific event is the known international terrorist known only as the Mandarin. According to police and firefighter reports, there are no survivors"
"Have you heard anything, Wade?" Ron asked as he walked up to one of his oldest friends.
"Yeah. I was able to get some information from a friend of mine in the FBI. They're not going to look into the airport bombing." Wade said as he bit his lower lip.
"What?" Ron asked.
"They no longer think it's one of their top priorities." Wade told him.
"H-how can they do that? Are they nuts?" Ron asked as he started panting.
"Ron, calm down." Wade said.
"No, I'm not remaining calm! All those people are dead, Wade! They're dead, and no one thinks they mattered! THAT'S JUST NOT RIGHT!" Ron said as he kicked a small table; knocking the leg out from under it.
As its contents fell, the small device landed with a thud and emitted a beam of energy so powerful that it caved in a wall of Wade's room and knocked both young men off their feet.
"What was that?" Ron asked as he looked at the wall in a daze.
"A new weapon I built. I've designed it to where it's non-lethal to people, but it'll give them one massive pinch." Wade said as he stumbled to his feet.
"That's non-lethal?" Ron asked.
"I still have to fine tune it. But I was going to shrink it down to make it more compact." Wade told him.
"Shrink it down, huh?" Ron asked as an idea slowly began to form in his head.
When all else has failed,
"Look at yourself, Ron. You can't keep doing this!" Kim said as she doctored more of Ron's wounds.
"I have to." Ron insisted as he hissed in pain when Kim applied the iodine to one of his wounds.
"I think you should listen to her, Ron. You're not bullet proof." Wade said.
"Maybe we should be." Ron said.
"What are you talking about?" Wade asked him.
"I think it's time Team Possible got an upgrade." Ron said.
The brave must take a stand
"I refuse to believe these reports." The man said as he stroked the long mustache that hung from his narrow face.
"They are all eye witness accounts, sir." The man said as he began to shiver when he noticed the scowl that began to form on his superior's face.
"I refuse to believe that one person has declared war on me, and is becoming a growing threat to my organization." The man growled as he began to crumple the paper in his hand.
To fight for what's right!
The man just looked at his weapon, and saw that most of it had melted. It was nothing more than scrap. He threw the object away as he looked up, and tried his best not to scream in terror as he saw the monster in front of him. He watched helplessly as he saw it bash one of his comrades across the face, breaking most of the bone that lay underneath the skin. The two remaining men opened fire at their attacker, but every single shot was simply bouncing off of him like they were made of rubber. The monster stretched his arms in front of himself at the two gunmen, leaving his palms open.
Unable to believe what he was seeing, the attacker fired a giant blast of energy from both of his hands that sent both men flying though the air and slamming against the hard wall. His breathing began to quicken as the monstrosity turned toward him and glared at him with those glowing white eyes and the small glowing circle in its chest. His pants quickly became damp as the creature walked toward him, breathing like some kind of monster. Sounding like Darth Vader's breathing mask.
"W-what are you?" the man whimpered as he saw the creature tower above him.
The creature bent down and grabbed the man roughly by his shirt collar, and hoisted the man into the air like he was a mere cardboard box. In a low, digitized, voice that sounded so cold and terrifying; it said
"I AM IRON MAN."
With that, he flung the man aside like he were a piece of garbage.
From the warped mind that wrote Eastbound and Down, and the Secret Identity series.
IRON WILL
"So does this mean I'm the sidekick now?" Kim asked her boyfriend as he led her to the area that housed the armor that he and Wade had constructed.
"No way, KP. We're partners, all the way. But I had Wade make a special suit just for you." Ron said as he pressed the remote control to open the chamber that contained the new armor.
"I don't know Ron. I don't think I can – ooh." Kim said as she saw the new mechanical marvel in front of her.
"You like it, KP?" Ron asked her with a grin.
"Kim like her new toy." She said with a broad smile.
"I thought you would." Ron said.
COMING SOON