Bucky sighed, "Almost four days of it, Mo.", and Mo nodded, "Well, don't worry, we got some good stuff to train. After all, the base wants us to expend our energy, so we don't make senseless fights unless it's a dominance fight, which did happen earlier. ".
"I see...", Bucky glanced back. "Well, I guess I'm now really seeing why I'm here... though with you and me, seems like we can at least easily pass off as... normal.".
Mo smiled softly, "Yeah, we could, Bucky, but we're stuck here. And the others are too desperate as they want to escape and get out, but this place is ironclad. I tried my best myself, but Monger, he's right as the law, it's protecting the people from us...Unless there's a law change or something of a miracle, I can't even go home, back to Skull Island, to my colony...I bet it's the same for you.".
"Yeah... that... that's even trickier for me.", Bucky admitted as Mo nodded, "Well, listen, how about you meet the others at least, take your mind of some issues for a bit?".
Bucky smiled, "Yeah. That sounds good to me.", as he followed Mo to the table where the others were watching the entire fight in awe and amazement.
"Must say, impressed you lasted as long with Mo. Thought you'd break faster.", the fish-ape chuckled. "Of course, if he didn't cheat in a fight, you might have won.", he huffed as Bucky looked over to Mo. "He's sore that I shifted size to help beat him in the past." Mo smirked.
The fish-ape rolled his eyes, "Bah, details, details. So, name's the Missing Link, but you can call me Link for short.", with a nod. Bucky blinked in confusion, "Why do they call you the Missing Link? Looks like scientists made you in a lab.".
Mo laughed heartily, "Oh, my god, that's the first time I ever heard that thought actually coming out of a mouth!". Bucky sheepishly chuckled, "Sorry, I'm blunt when it comes to certain things.".
The cockroach man snorted as he cackled, wiping tears from his big eyes, "Oh, you made my day! You should see your face, Link!", and Link glared at him with a scowl while the gelatinous blob replied, "I thought Link already saw his face.", with confusion, pointing at Bucky.
"It's the whole theory of evolution, my good man. The missing link between humans evolving from primates.", the cockroach man explained as Bucky gave an 'oh' face.
"And this here is Dr. Cockroach. About as blunt as you can get in terms of naming.", Mo said. "I can see why." Bucky chuckled.
Dr. Cockroach nodded, "Indeed. Neither way, as my name indicates, I am a scientist, and a mad one at that. I used to be human entirely, but now I got a cockroach head, abilities of crawling on all kinds of surface, eating disposable stuff through I miss the finer things of life, and the immortality essentially while I still got my human body. Link calls me Doc, while B.O.B. here calls me Dr. C. Mo is the only one who calls me by my former human name, Richard.", with a chuckle.
Bucky can indicate a British accent in his voice, much like Peggy...Could Stark get along with him? He looked over to the gelatinous blob with a tilt of his head, "I usually see Jello, but never imagined a living blob of blue Jello.".
The blob waved, "Hi. I'm B.O.B., short for Benzonate Ostylezene Bicarbonate.", and Bucky blinked, "Whoa. That's a mouthful.". B.O.B. giggled, "I have a mouth, but I don't have a brain!".
"Okay there, Scarecrow.", Bucky teased as he looked at the grub. "And that there is Insectosaurus. Really big grub but is a big softy, well, so long as you don't bother him.", Link informed.
Insectosaurus bellowed happily, and Link replies, "He likes ya. And I am the only one who understands Insecto for some reason, probably because I lived here the second longest next to B.O.B. He was captured in 1958. I was captured in 1961. Doc here was captured in 1962. Insecto was captured in 1969. Mo was the most recent one, captured in 1973. So, now you are the newbie. What was today?".
Bucky exhaled, "October 1984 today...Almost Halloween time, well, in this world anyway.", with a sigh, "I was trying to save Susan, my niece...She's not a werewolf or anything...My brother, adopted brother...I promised Steve and Peggy, his fiancé that I was going to bring her back to them...Something happened in my other world that brought us here, and now...I can't see Susan again...or the rest of my family, my pack...".
"Other world? Wait, wait, are you saying that you came through a portal or something?", Dr. Cockroach blinked in surprise...Bucky frowned, remembering something now...Wait, Schimdt...the glowing door...
"Yes! It was a glowing door...Schimdt, one of the enemies of the war, he kicked me in the head. I was saving Susan from him as Schimdt kidnapped her from my brother's home!", Bucky nodded, his eyes widening.
"The war? You mean the Second World War.", Cockroach said as Bucky nodded, "Monger explained to me that we won it, or that the Soviets did.".
"Eh, bit of a mix; Germany and Austria were split in two between the spheres of influence between the US and the USSR. All of Eastern Europe has been behind the Iron Curtain since 1945.", Dr. Cockroach replied.
Bucky exhaled deeply, "I hope my brother and Peggy really wins the war sooner...I don't want to get on Peggy's bad side ever...You see, back there, it was 1944, on October 19...", sitting down heavily...
Link whistled, "Dang!", and Dr. Cockroach frowns lightly, "So, you're really a man out of time...", and Bucky nodded, "I know...And to make it worse, I don't know how to go back home...Memories are coming back to me slowly, but I don't know how it was made or how it came to be, well, a portal...As from today, I only remember getting Susan out of something, fighting Germans, some sort of suction happening...clinging to a pillar...Schimdt kicking me in the head real hard...Susan screaming for her parents, being far away to run to us...then nothing...Next thing I knew was smelling an intruder dog who's scaring my niece, instinctively protecting her, seeing Susan in a good Samaritan's hands, telling him that I only wanted my niece back...then I was caught in a net, darted, and taken away...Susan was crying, reaching out for me...".
"Damn, that really sucks to hear.", Mo sighed as Bucky nodded. "It's even worse for Susan... I don't even know where she is now... I don't know where I even am...", Bucky closed his eyes. "If I had just stayed calm and not wolfed out...".
Dr. Cockroach replied, "Well, you can control your wolfing gift, I can see that, but sometimes, it could be instinctive. After all, Susan is part of your pack which makes her a cub to you, and we all know how wolves can be protective of their cubs. You heard an intruder dog, scaring Susan, a baby basically, and well, some dogs are not happy of wolves despite their biology family lines.".
"Yeah... well, clearly screwed everything up there.", Bucky said as BOB patted him on the back. "Aw, it'll be okay, Bucky. You'll forget all about her.".
Everyone gave him a look as Link leaned over, "BOB, it's his niece, he was trying to protect her, not a girlfriend that broke up with him.".
"What's the difference anyway?", BOB asked with a shrug, and Mo glared at him before sighing, "At least you have all the time in the world to learn about our sob stories and everything, Bucky, and come think of it, maybe we can be your new pack.".
Insecto bellowed out, and Link nodded, "Good point, Insecto. It can't be all bad. I mean, Susan is a baby, right? Is anybody taking care of her?", and Bucky exhaled, "Monger told me that Susan is in a good family...He said that it was the guy who was holding Susan, along with another toddler baby...".
Dr. Cockroach replied, "See, so she is in a good home...Sure, she couldn't be able to see her parents again, but she's safe, fed, and warm, and that's what you want for her, right?".
Bucky gave a small nod, "Yeah, at least she's safe... but I'd feel much better if I knew at almost all times that was the case... Especially if there's a chance that Peggy and Steve could make it to this place... or a way to get back...".
Dr. Cockroach sighed heavily, "I could make a crude portal if I had the schematics and everything, but two problems for that. One, there are millions of galaxies out there, and if your world is part of one of those galaxies, it's possible but very narrow. Second, you cannot recall what is the base of the portal or how it came to work. If I had an idea of what the portal needed, I would do everything to make it work and everything, and I mean it, Bucky, but I'm sorry.".
Bucky smiled bittersweetly, "Thanks, Doc.", suddenly remembering something else when he said that familiar phrase. "That truly means a lot, and yeah, scientists are almost never wrong...Trust me, I have experience...There was two genius scientists I knew back there...Howard Stark, a huge ego, but he's brilliant in what he does, and...Abraham Erskine...He was very humble and an incredible genius...I know Stark would do everything to give Steve and Peggy a way to get here, but I don't know if he can do it alone without Erskine...Erskine knew Schimdt and he would know what the portal needed and how it worked...He was murdered this morning when Susan was kidnapped...".
Much of the group gave another round of heavy sighs upon hearing that last bit. "I'm sorry, Bucky.", Dr. Cockroach apologized once more.
"Not your fault... none of us expected anything to have happened there, we thought he and Susan were perfectly safe in Paris. Never expected Schmidt to have someone get that far behind Allied lines to reach them.", Bucky replied.
Mo blinked, "Right, I heard about war spies...Damn...", before trading a look with Link, and then nodded, "Listen, Bucky, if you do good behavior like most of us, you can get rewards, and if you ask Monger politely, perhaps, you could get updates on Susan...After all, what else do you get to lose?".
Bucky looked at him, and sighed lightly, "I suppose you're right...", before hearing another speaker announcement, "Monsters, curfew time! Back to your rooms!".
"See ya in the morning, Bucky! Breakfast time is going to have another change again.", Link saluted as he sauntered off to his room. Dr. Cockroach nodded, "Indeed. Good evening, Bucky.", as he left the table. BOB waved, "Goodbye, Bucky. I hope you ain't a ghost tomorrow!", as he, well, slimed his way off to his room.
Insecto bellowed as lights by a helicopter attracted him, stomping his way over to his room, and Mo smiled, "We have an hour to ourselves to entertain and such before it's lights out. If we are in order, your room is next to mine.".
"I suppose it's better than nothing at least.", Bucky gave a small smile. "Got anything in mind?", with a hum. "Well, normally there's not too much to do, other than sparing with each other, at least Link and myself or playing card games.", Mo explained.
Bucky blinked, "That gotta be boring!", and Mo shrugged, "After a long time, yeah, but like I said, if there's good behavior, there's rewards. Why, last month, I got a shelf of five thick books lined up with stories. Richard got his toy box privileges. Link got his training equipment, have been saving up good behavior for years since I beat him, so on a deal, he uses my jungle gym while I use his training equipment. BOB...well, he got a toy ball as he's so easy to entertain himself. And Insecto, he gets sweets like nectar and such.".
"And out here?", Bucky asked, and Mo replied as he led Bucky to their rooms, "The card games, the radio, the tv, but only on two channels, maybe three if we're lucky, the sparring bets, and the occasional birthday party.".
"Slightly better than most prisons at least, or the ones I heard of in my time. Have little idea what prison reform has been like in the last 40 years.", Bucky said. "Certainly not much, from what I've heard, sadly.", Mo sighed.
Bucky nodded and glanced ahead at the door that's opening up to him, revealing a New York apartment room with military touches including books of war, and a bunk bed.
Mo whistled, "I guess your rank worked on Monger for a bit, and you were really polite with him, so this is a major reward...", and Bucky replied, "He's a general. I may be nonexistent now, but like my general once said, 'Once a soldier, always a soldier.', and sure, I was a normal citizen before I signed up for war, and now after this...I'm a ghost to the outside world, a monster here, but I'll be always a soldier.".
"It'll be alright... besides, you've got at least 40 years of history to catch up on... there might be some parts you may not like though.", Mo bit his lip.
"I can handle it, I'm sure.", Bucky chuckled. Mo nodded, "Okay, just remember that I warned ya, man. See ya in the morning, Bucky.", with a smile as he skipped on to his room that is next door.
Bucky smiled softly, "See ya in the morning, Mo!", and Mo waved a hand without looking back, going into his room, and his door closed on him. Bucky sighed deeply as he walked into his room, the door closing after him, and went to grab the books from the shelf, heading to his bunk bed.
Before he would even settle in, he heard Monger's voice from the wall speaker, "Two last things, Barnes. When is Susan's birthday?". Bucky sighed heavily with a bittersweet smile, "She's a June baby. Born on the 6th, in 1944.".
Bucky then chuckled as Monger didn't give a response. "Yeah, that day. Even crazier... she was born in Normandy, right on the beaches.". He knew that probably would mess Monger up a bit. "They're... special... like myself.".
"Ah.", Monger seemed to have put it together then. "You'll have to tell me more sometime in the future then.", with a hum. "I'll let you know if I get more of my memory back. Still a lot of holes in my head... And the second thing?", Bucky replied.
Monger replied, "As you are now part of the base, you are entitled to a new name. Shadow Beast in place of Sergeant Barnes.".
"I see.", Bucky nodded as he sat on the bunk bed. "Shadow Beast...", he said the name himself as he was just trying to hear it from his own lips. "I guess I can get used to that.",
Monger's voice replied, "Good. And Barnes...no, Bucky...I am one to make no exceptions. But King Kong is right. If you are on good behavior, I might consider one of your rewards as an update on Susan. After all, you are a US citizen and soldier no matter which world.".
"Thank you, General.", Bucky said as he looked to the floor for a moment with almost a thousand-yard stare. "But I swear, if anything happens to her...".
"Trust me, we'll make sure to have some eye on her. Last thing we want is to give you any major need to break out. Not that it'll be likely for that to happen.", Monger responded.
Bucky sighed, "Don't worry, like Mo said, I have all the time in the world to practice my control and all, and it would be different if she is far older to defend herself, but right now, she's practically helpless!".
Monger's voice replied, "It won't be the same, but her adopted family will look after her. I looked into the records of the Murphy family, and they're all clean. Susan will be fine, Bucky.", and Bucky exhaled, "Thanks for checking...I would be sick if I knew they were Nazi or something else...And General, you may not have fixed everything, but know this, there will be a day, one day that the world is ready for us, all of us...I may have only known the others for a half hour at best, but I can tell that they are good. I hope you are on our side when that day comes, sir.".
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see there.", Monger admitted though privately wondering if that would actually happen, or if he would even be alive for that day.
Bucky leaned back against the bunk and just started to read one of the books he had since he didn't feel tired at the moment. 'Peggy, Steve... forgive me for letting her go...' He thought to himself, still feeling guilty that he lost Susan, despite the Murphy family being on the up and up, according to Monger.