Freedom, At Last
WASHINGTON D.C.
May 21st, 22:46 EDT
Chris had planned this for a while, but tonight was the time for him to escape Cadmus.
The nearly fourteen year old teen with short black hair and brown eyes sat in the corner of his cell, where he was held whenever he wasn't forced to undergo training and a twisted education from the people that kidnapped him and tried to make him out to be a weapon against the world's heroes, especially the group called the Justice League.
However, despite thinking that they have been able to mould Chris into becoming their mindless weapon, they really haven't.
He was able to keep his free will and break through the code words. It might have to do with what the scientists called his meta-genes. He was able to overhear them talk about them, how they gave him the super-strength, agility, endurance, reflexes, reaction time and enhanced healing from even the most severe and mortal wounds and illnesses. This was what caused him from going from having a skinny build to one that was a mix of teen athlete and bodybuilder. And also why he was able to keep from falling under the influence of code words.
Regardless, he fooled all of the scientists into thinking he was a drone under their command, but he still held a hatred towards them, they took him from his family and friends when he was just eight years old. He had demanded to know why they took him, but all he got in response was "Because you're special."
Of course, it took him a while, but with his knowledge of tactics and strategies, he started forming a plan to escape with the help of someone within Cadmus who revealed he was a whistleblower and had made contact with the Justice League not too long ago of this lab's whereabouts.
All Chris needed to do was wait, which was what he was doing now, as the corner of the cell was where a panel that opened to some circuitry and wires was located, but he can't do anything with it yet. If there was one thing he knew Cadmus had plenty of, it was arrogance. They thought they made a perfect cell to house someone like him, but there were flaws.
For one, the camera was located in the top corner above Chris, and it can only move horizontally from left to right of the cell, leaving a blindspot directly below.
And there was the fact that the corner he sat in was hidden by his bed, as the window that the scientists used to watch Chris was on the other side of the room.
Chris sat there for a while longer until he heard tapping on the window. He looked up over the bed and saw the whistleblower waving to him. It was a woman with her long blonde hair tied into a bun and she had a clipboard in her hands. He saw the room she was in and there was no one else.
The woman gave Chris a thumbs up and a one sided grin, telling him that it was time.
He nodded and started opening up the panel next to him.
She informed him a few days ago that while he was training, she put what was supposed to be his weapon from Cadmus behind it and that he was to rip or cut all the wires, as they actually supply power and control to his whole room, including the metal door that separated him from the rest of the lab.
Chris finally moved the panel and there was his weapon, a circular shield made of the rarest metal on Earth, and the whole galaxy really, the shield being the only thing known to be made of this metal: Vibranium.
When Chris removed it from its place, he saw circuitry and wires aplenty.
With a grin, he grabbed onto a bunch of wires and ripped them out with ease, thanks to his super-strength.
This instantly caused the lights and electronics in his cell to shut off and he heard the metal door groaning as it opened up. He saw the whistleblower run out of the room she was in, fleeing to meet up with the League.
Naturally, the alarms went off and Chris heard shouting as he grabbed the shield and charged at the door, using the shield to rip the door off its hinges.
He now found himself in some hallway and saw some armed men charging at him. They were about to fire at him, but he flung his shield at a wall and it bounced at all of the men, as Chris found himself having an beyond perfect spatial awareness, knocking their weapons out of their hands and hitting their heads, knocking them all out at once.
The shield bounced back at Chris, who caught it before charging down the hallway, a red flashing light going off as the alarm did.
"STOP!" He heard a familiar voice roar from behind him. The scientist in charge of his training and programming. "RACK!"
That was one of the code words they tried to implant on him, but it naturally didn't work.
"I SAID RACK!" The scientist screamed as Chris found himself approaching the exit when he turned a corner.
He gained speed and launched himself through the door with his shield before getting on his feet with a flip and then ran out of the alleyway that the exit was located in, finding the whistleblower waiting for him.
"Come on! The League is arriving soon!" She said before leading him out into the streets, causing people that were out to be confused, seeing a scientist and young man in medical attire with a shield running.
Eventually, they reached a park and it was there that the pair had met up with the core seven of the Justice League: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman.
"Is this him, Dr Rienhart?" Batman asked, looking directly at Chris.
"Yes, Batman, this is Christopher Daniels." The whistleblower said. "And the Cadmus lab is down a couple streets that way and we exited from the alleyway by the convenience store." She then pointed in the direction she and Chris came from.
This made Superman, the Flash, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter head to where the lab was while Batman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman stayed behind.
"Are you alright, Chris?" Wonder Woman asked gently and kindly.
"I am, now that I'm free from Cadmus. They tried to make me their mindless soldier to take on you and the rest of the League." Chris replied, causing her, Batman and Aquaman's eyes to widen in shock at this news. "But unfortunately for them, I was able to maintain my will and their code words don't work on me. Probably because of the abilities I gained."
"Do you know who it was that kidnapped you, young man?" Aquaman then asked, having an air of royalty to him, which made sense, being the king of Atlantis.
"All I know is that Cadmus took me from my family, I wasn't able to learn who planned my kidnapping." Chris shook his head.
"But there is a chance that Lex Luthor was behind it. He was the founder of Cadmus after all." Reinhart pointed out, making Batman's eyes narrow.
"We'll keep our eyes on Luthor and Cadmus from now on." He said before looking at Chris. "In the meantime, it would be best if we took you to our headquarters where we'll examine you and your shield and debrief you on what happened to you."
"Firstly, I must ask… how public was my kidnapping?" Chris asked, knowing that his parents and his friends must've been devastated when he was kidnapped.
"The whole country knew. Everyone tried to find you, but gave up three years ago." Wonder Woman replied. "Your parents were heartbroken."
Chris' expression saddened upon hearing this.
"But they'll be overjoyed upon learning that you're back." She then said, placing a hand on his shoulder, which made him smile slightly, knowing she was right.
THE WATCHTOWER
May 22nd, 01:12 EDT
After the rest of the League dealt with the Cadmus lab, finding very little, which meant they left in a hurry, somehow, the various news outlets broke the news that Chris was finally saved and found, and that Reinhart revealed some damning info about Cadmus, which caused Lex Luthor of all people to give a public statement.
As the world was reeling from all this news, Chris was on the Watchtower, looking down on Earth from orbit in the atrium.
He was out of the medical garb and was now in casual clothes: a black t-shirt, blue jeans and boots.
He was taking in the fact that he was now finally free, and Cadmus can't do anything against him now, since they've been outed for kidnapping him.
When he was taken to the Watchtower, he first went through a medical examination so that the League could understand what happened to him and was then given food and drink, as it had been a long while since he ate before he went over a debrief on all that he had experienced since he was taken.
Chris was currently waiting for the League, which included other members like Green Arrow, Black Canary and Captain Marvel, to finish with their meeting about all that they've learned and what to do from this point forward.
"Chris?" He heard a voice call to him from behind. He turned to see that it was Black Canary, who approached him with a tender look on her face, like a mother would with their child.
"Yeah?" He asked, wanting to know what she was doing here.
"The League would like to have you enter now. There's some things we want to go over." She said and led him into the conference room, where a large and long table stood in the middle, all of the seats filled with various members of the League.
"Mr Daniels, what you told us about you having meta-genes was correct. They were activated from Cadmus experimenting on you and were hoping to hone them for their goals." Batman explained, activating a hologram that formed in the middle of the table, showing a scan of his body that displayed information about his biology. "They hoped to use you as a super-soldier to take the Justice League."
"Well, they failed." Chris retorted.
"Indeed. You have superhuman abilities that make you a natural in combat and impervious from being under mind control, as though your body has the instincts to keep you safe." Batman replied.
"This led us to have a conversation. One that we think you should take part in." Superman then said, making Chris frown in confusion.
"What conversation?" He asked.
"About whether or not you want to partake in fighting crime and the villains that conduct them." Flash now said, leaving Chris surprised by the suggestion.
"Of course, you don't have to, you can live out the rest of your life as a normal citizen, but considering that you have abilities and knowledge that make you a good candidate for becoming a hero. We just want you to know that you have a choice." Black Canary pointed out quickly, reacting to his expression.
Chris stood there for a short while, going over the pros and cons of being a citizen or a hero. Ultimately, he made his choice.
"Initially, I wanted to simply go back home and be with my family in Happy Harbour. But there's still a chance that, even if they won't get control of me, Cadmus might want to get back at me for escaping from them. And I don't want to put my family and friends through that. So I feel like I should be a hero, not just to fight crime, but also so that no one else can go through what I did. I may not be an adult, but if and whenever you can allow me to join the League, I'm all for it." He told everyone.
His words actually moved some of the various Leaguers, including Hawkman and Hawkwoman, who both nodded to him respectfully.
"You can still partake in being a hero at your age, you know." The Flash assured him. "Some of us have sidekicks around your age."
"Do I have to be a sidekick to partake at my current age?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not exactly." Batman replied. "You mentioned Happy Harbour. We had our first headquarters just outside the area. You can reside there. You'd be close to your family and can train for whenever you're needed out in the field."
"Is there a catch to all of this?" Chris asked.
"No." Batman said simply.
"Of course, if you're gonna be out in the field, you'll need something to wear that isn't civilian clothing." Superman added.
"And what about the shield?" Chris asked.
"It's yours, so you can keep it. You do need a weapon after all." Wonder Woman replied. "You will also need a code name, or a hero identity, like the rest of us."
Chris thought about it and knew she was right, they all had secret identities, mainly to have a private life, but also to keep their enemies from taking advantage of their identities.
After thinking about it for a while, he came up with a name that suited him.
"I've got one… how does Winter Soldier sound?" He said.
"Very fitting. The only thing left to deal with is your uniform." Wonder Woman said.
"I believe I have some ideas about that myself." Chris grinned.
MOUNT JUSTICE
July 8th, 08:02 EDT
A now fourteen year old Chris was currently sitting in what was designated to be his living quarters.
He was looking at the two framed photographs on top of his drawer, smiling at them. The one on the left was him with his parents. That was nothing short of an emotional reunion. All three were weeping messes, especially Chris.
The photo on the right was him with his friends, Yuri Anderson, Tony Zhang and Scarlett Williams. Upon reuniting with him, the three took him to the pizza restaurant near the Happy Harbour high school to celebrate his freedom.
Of course, with the fact that he'll be a hero from now on, Batman actually allowed him to tell his family and friends that he'll become a hero known as the Winter Soldier. Naturally, they all, especially his parents, were worried, but when he explained why he wants to be a hero, they ultimately understood and accepted this, especially his father, who was so proud of him.
As he was reminiscing about his family and friends, he heard someone knocking on his door.
"Come in." He said and entered Wonder Woman.
"The rest of the team are here. Might as well introduce yourself to them." She said.
She was talking about what happened three to four days ago, when Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash infiltrated Cadmus headquarters on their own and ended up saving a clone of Superman from their control, along with confronting someone named Desmond, who ended up ingesting a formula that made into a villain called Blockbuster.
With that, the League decided to have them be a team doing covert missions and Batman decided to have Chris join them, as a way to have him be familiar with the superhero life. And there was to be another member of the team, but none of the League told him who it was.
"Lead the way." Chris said and was led out of his quarters and ended up in the mission room, a large circular room with a holographic computer, which also serves as the training area. It also had two Zeta-Tubes, which are used to travel to different places on Earth, especially the Watchtower and the cities where the various heroes operate in.
Wonder Woman had Chris wait in the distance as Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and who they call Superboy, all in civilian clothing, were being informed by Batman, with Captain Marvel, the Flash, Aquaman, Hawkman, Red Tornado and Black Canary alongside them.
"This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League. We're calling it into service again. Since you four are determined to stay together and fight the good fight, you'll do it on League terms." Batman told the four. "Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary's in charge of training. I will deploy you on missions."
"Real missions?" The one Chris knew to be Robin asked, sounding eager and hopeful. He was the only one to wear sunglasses, like he was going the extra step to keep his identity a secret, a policy of Batman's for sure.
"Yes, but covert." Batman replied.
"The League will still handle the obvious stuff. There's a reason we have these big targets on our chests." The Flash reasoned, pointing at the lightning bolt symbol on his chest. This made Chris give Wonder Woman a raised eyebrow, making her shrug.
"But Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter. Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly." Aquaman then said, making Chris' eyes squint, wondering how the bad guys have grown smart.
"The six of you will be that team." Batman then told the four.
"Cool. Wait. Six?" Robin questioned, seeing if he heard his mentor correctly.
Out of the shadows from one of the Zeta-Tubes walked Martian Manhunter and who Chris immediately guessed was another Martian, and a female one at that.
"This is the Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian." Batman told them.
"Hi." Miss Martian greeted the four with a wave.
"Liking this gig more every minute." Kid Flash, or Wally West, told Robin "Uh, welcome aboard. I'm Kid Flash. That's Robin, Aqualad." The two greeted Miss Martian. "It's cool if you forget their names."
"I'm honoured to be included." Miss Martian said.
"Wait, where's the sixth?" Robin asked Batman, who signalled Wonder Woman and Chris to step forward. "This is Christopher Daniels, or Winter Soldier as he is now designated as."
"Wait! The same Christopher Daniels who was kidnapped by Cadmus?" Kid Flash asked in shock, causing Superboy's eyes to widen in shock and surprise.
"Yep. They tried to make me their puppet soldier, but that backfired. Now I'm returning the favour to get back at them and anyone else who wants to cause families misery." Chris replied, crossing his arms.
Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad approached him and Miss Martian while Superboy stood.
"Hey, Superboy. Come meet Miss M and soldier boy." Robin told him, making him walk up to the group.
Once he was amongst them, Miss Martian's costume shifted, now being black instead of white and there was a lack of a cape.
"I like your t-shirt." She told Superboy, which made him smile.
"Nice to be with someone who can understand in some way what I've gone through with Cadmus." Chris told Superboy, who nodded to him before being nudged in the ribs by Robin and Wally put an arm around his shoulders, the two grinning at him and then at Aqualad.
"Today is the day." Aqualad said, which made Chris grin with everyone else, knowing he won't be alone when fighting evil.
Chris is pretty much Captain America in DC. This was inspired by a story by WerewolfDJ called Young Justice Experiment X. Btw, I hope you do more chapters.
I've put up a OC Green Lantern story, but I'm gonna focus more on this story first. The Green Lantern chapter was put up so that I can get back to it later at some point.