Hey guys. Sorry this part is a little slow. I promise it’ll get better. I’m still learning.
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Part 2
“Are you ready to serve your country Mr. Rogers?”
“Yes Sir.” Steve replied.
General Phillips lit his cigar and continued. “I want you to understand. I can’t tell you what you’ll be doing right now but I can tell you. It might very well be the most important thing anyone has ever done.”
Steve suddenly woke up. He’d been dreaming. He turned and started staring out the window of the bus. The same bus that, for the past 2 days had been driving him across the country to a destination he didn’t know. The day after meeting the general, he arrived at the address he’d been given and; was surprised to discover that, upon asking the driver if he was early, he would be the only passenger.
Steve took one last look at the streets he’d lived his whole life and climbed aboard.
It was evening on the third day before the bus pulled into its destination and Steve got off. There, waiting to greet him was General Phillips and a pair of MPs.
“Steve. Glad you could make it here.”
“Thanks general. But I’m still not really sure where here is to be honest. I mean, I saw a sign a ways back; were in Washington but besides that, I have no idea.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll know soon enough.”
He motioned to Steve’s bags and one of the soldiers took it from him.
“Um... thanks.” Was all Steve could say as they turned and headed towards what Steve assumed would be his quarters.
“Now Steve, if you’ll come with me. I’ll introduce you to somebody that should be able to explain everything to you a little better.”
As they walked, Steve looked around. This didn’t look like any kind of military base he’d ever seen before. Sure there were soldiers and other military personnel everywhere but Steve got the impression that something beyond the regular basic training was going on here. He could quite put his finger on it but he was sure he’d figure it out soon enough.
They arrived shortly at their destination. From the outside it appeared to be an office building and for a moment Steve wondered if they’d walked off base. Inside he was led upstairs and to a small office in the corner.
General Phillips knocked twice on the door before simply letting himself in. inside a man stood with his back to the door, staring intently at a blackboard covered in letters and numbers, the meaning of which Steve couldn’t even guess.
“Doctor. Rogers is here to see you. He has a few questions about what he’s doing here and I thought you might be the one to answer for him.”
Without turning around, the man responded. “Thank you Chester. That will be all. I’ll take care of everything from here.”
Before turning to leave, General Phillips turned to Steve, “when you’re done here come and find me. We’ll get you outfitted with everything you’re going to need.”
Steve nodded and the General was gone. He still had no idea what was going on and in his opinion everything just seemed to be getting stranger and stranger.
“Close the door and take a seat please son.”
Steve did as he was told. He was positive this man wasn’t directly affiliated with the military by the way he seemed to boss around the General but that was as much as he could tell about him. He would need to wait and see what answers thus man would give.
Finally jotting something down on the board the man turned around. A big smile on his face.
“Sorry about that. Thought I might be onto something and I didn’t want to lose it.”
“No problem.” Steve replied.
“Steven. It is Steven right? Anyway, I have to ask. How much do you know about what this base is? What you are here to do?”
“Well people usually just call me Steve and honestly Mr.……” he paused. Unsure what to call the man he was addressing.
“Oh I’m sorry. I’d completely forgotten. My name is Abraham. Abraham Erskine. And I’m in charge of this facility.”
“Ok. Mr. Erskine. Like I was saying, honestly, I have no idea what I’m doing here. I asked but the general would tell me a thing.”
Good good. I so rarely get to do this. Somebody always seems to ruin it before I get to talk. So excuse me if I get a little excited.” Erskine paused, seemingly trying to decide where to start. Finally he started, and when he did it all flowed out of him so fast Steve had trouble keeping up.
“For the past 10 years, only three of which have been here in America but anyway, I have been working on artificially increasing the regeneration and development of human cells in order to unlock and reach the true and absolute peak of human potential in all facets of their body. Leading to---”
He was going too fast for Steve to follow. He stopped him “I’m sorry doctor but I have to interrupt for a second. It sounds like you’re working on creating some kind of super soldier.”
“Exactly. Well, the long term goal isn’t strictly aiming towards military applications; essentially that is what I’m saying. I’m working to create not just super soldiers but super people. People that have attained the absolute best our human bodies are capable of.”
Steve didn’t really know what to say. This sounded like something out of a science fiction story but here he was. In the middle of a United States army base being told he was part of a program to create super soldiers. It might take a little while to get used to the idea but Steve already knew where he stood. He’d asked for a chance to serve his country and this was it. Even if it sounded farfetched and impossible; he was going to go at it with everything he had.
“Doctor Erskine. Where do I sign up?”
For the next 7 months Steve followed a strict regimen dictated by Dr. Erskine designed to facilitate the eventual transformation process. It included: What to eat, What to drink, when to Exercise. All this was on top of training in military tactics and weaponry as well as basic hand to hand combat. He discovered that, along with him, there were 26 other men taking part in the experiment. Unlike him, most had already been part of special sects of the military and were transferred to this project due to their already exemplary skills. As soon as the Doctor perfected the formula, they wanted be able to be able to begin creating an army and the 27 of them; they would be the first.
While the first prime objective of the base was the creation of this formula, there were remarkably few outside of the subjects and the high level personnel that knew the truth. To everyone else, this was simple another military base training the soldiers of tomorrow. One section of the base was even designated for the training and housing of African American soldiers. Generally they were separated from Steve but he had had the opportunity to spend some time with a few of them.
One day, in early September, Steve was called in to for a meeting with Dr. Erskine. He had been checking himself out in the mirror at the time. While still nothing special, he could see a huge change from the skinny man he had been when he arrived. He could probably give his friends some competition in their friendly wrestling matches. That is, if he ever saw either of them again. He was thinking about them when he arrived in the Erskine’s office. These meetings weren’t rare. Several times a week he would meet to discuss how things were doing, and so Erskine could evaluate his progress.
“Doctor?” Steve asked as he stepped into the office. “I was told you were looking for me.”
Erskine rose to greet him.
“Yes yes Steve I’ve been expecting you.”
The office was usually cluttered but, as Steve looked around now, the room
seemed to have had a tornado pass through it. Or at the very least, had a bomb go off.
“Is everything ok?” motioning to the mess. “What happened?”
“That, son, is exactly what I want to talk to you about. Sometime last night, after I had finished for the night. Somebody broke in here and, I suspect, tore my office apart looking for notes and information on my work.”
Nobody said anything for a minute before Steve asked “Who would even know to look for it?”
“Do you remember the day you arrived, I told you that, of the 10 years I have
invested in this research, only the last 3 have been here in the States?”
Steve nodded
“I began this research in Germany; under the supervision of the fuhrer second in command. When I learned that they intended to pervert my research for their own twisted desires I fled here. But, I fear, they have found me and now will seek to discover the work I stole from them so many years ago.”
“Well, do we have any leads? Is there anything I can do? Is that why you ca—“
“No I’m afraid whoever did it has gotten away without leaving a trace. Unfortunately, however, one of your fellow volunteers, Clinton McIntyre, was killed last night not too far from here. We assume that he may have walked in on our thief who then killed him to facilitate his escape.”
“Clint… but wait. Wasn’t he supposed to be the first—“
“Yes he was. And that bring us to why I called you here. Steve. I want you to take his place. I wanted you in the first place but the military wanted Clint. I’m getting close, I think some time in the next few weeks it should be ready. What do you think Steve?”
“Thank you. I appreciate it but I have to ask. I’ve been thinking about this for the last few months but… what am I doing here? Everybody else was chosen because they have something special. Clint, Jessie, Mac. They’re all the best of the best at what they do. I just feel, a little outclassed to say the least.”
Erskine stood there silently for a minute. “Steve you have something that not one of them has. Something that sets you apart from everyone else. Chester saw it. And I saw it the day you showed up at my door. You have heart. And that’s more important that anything those other guys have any day.”
“In that case doctor—“
“Call me Abe”
“Ok, Abe. In that case. It would be my honour.”
It was another month before Steve was called in again to Erskine. He arrived earlier than was expected because, as he approached the door he hear a furious argument coming from inside. He could hear Erskine yelling.
“Their deaths are on your head. You had no right going forth with anything
without me there. You might as well have—“
Steve knocked. Suddenly every voice in the room quieted.
“Come in.” came the familiar voice of General Phillips.
Inside was Dr. Erskine, who was giving General Phillips a look that said “we’ll finish this later” and four men in military uniforms Steve had never met and another dressed in a black trench coat and matching fedora. He stood in the corner and, when everyone introduced himself, he simply remained quiet.
“Steve. Tomorrow is the big day. We’re ready to go ahead with our first human trial.”
Steve nodded that he understood.
“Good, tomorrow at 0700 hours somebody will take you to where you need to go. Until then, you are free to do what you please. Dismissed”
Steve turned and left. As he returned to his quarters he noticed that the base was strangely empty. Passing by he noted that the African American section was completely empty. But glancing in one of the windows, there stuff was all still there.
He returned to his quarters, climbed atop his bed and finished the sketch he had been doing of his friends; when he’d last seen them.
The next morning Steve woke to a knock at his door. He opened it to find a pair of soldier standing there.
“Let me just get dressed.”
Within an hour Steve was led into a part of the research building he had never seen before. Down into the basement and to a laboratory build deep below ground. He was strapped to a metal in a larger room. Through a viewing window he could see the men from yesterday save Erskine. Erskine beside him, doing last minute adjustments to the straps and inserting various needles and tubes to his body.
“I’m sorry Steve. I can’t tell you it won’t hurt. I honestly don’t know. But I’m here for you. Are you ready?”
Steve nodded and Erskine gave the thumbs up to the men behind the glass. Pushes a button and begins the process. At once Steve can feel the liquid flowing through the tubes into his body. At first it is simply numb but soon it begins to burn. His whole body feels as though it’s on fire. The searing pain is too much for him to handle and he screams out.
“This isn’t right. No, this shouldn’t happen.” Erskine says as he checks and rechecks the doses and procedures occurring. Trying desperately to find out what’s going wrong.
“Wait...” Erskine says. “Of course, how could I be so stupid?” He turns to the
machines and makes last minute adjustments. Changing doses, generally rewriting the formula on the fly. “There. Done.”
The pain in Steve’s body begins to leave. No longer is the searing pain eating away at him from the inside. His scream subsides and he lies silent. But his body is changing. As though inflating, muscles begin to form where no muscle was before. Steve is transforming from the frail young man he had been before into the perfect human specimen. The straps holding him down buckle and snap as they try to hold him down but to no avail. There, lying on the table is the pinnacle of human perfection, where before little Steve Rogers one lay.
“Steve? Steve are you ok?” Erskine’s voice brought Steve out of his daze. He hadn’t realized it but it seemed the transformation had caused him to black out?
“Did it work Abe?”
“See for yourself son.” Erskine smiled. After all his work he had done it. He turned to face the General and at the last second, saw the gun the man in black had drawn.
A Shot rang out in the basement. For a second chaos filled the room as everybody tried to discover what had just happened. Erskine fell to the ground clutching his chest. The man in the black coat stepped into the lab. Keeping his gun trained on the high ranking military personnel.
Finally he spoke. “This man stole our work.” His German Accent unmistakable. “I am here to take it back so if you’ll excuse me—“the man turned to point the gun at the near comatose Adonis lying on the table but he was gone. Instead he was coming right at him. In the moment of confusion, Steve charged. It had taken him a moment to overcome the effects of the transformation but he was fine now. He saw the man shoot Erskine. Saw him turn his back to Steve. So he took his opportunity. He charged the man and dove. Knocking the gun from his hands as they both crashed to the ground. The force of his head impacting the floor knocked the man out instantly and within moments the General was there to hold him down as well.
Steve got off him and turned to the Doctor. Lying dead or dying on the cold floor. He jumped down next to him. Clamping his hand over the bullet wound.
“Medic!” He screamed. But to no avail. The good doctor was dead.
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Part 0 and Part 1 can be found
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fan_fic/news/?a=23963
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/TForbes/news/?a=24020
There we go. Part 2. Thanks for reading. Same as before comments questions queries below.