Underground prison facility, near central city, 2001
"Is all that necessary for a child?" A government soldier asks his superior as they look at the tiny prisoner sitting sedated in the middle of his empty cell. His hands and feet were bound with heavy cuffs and chained to the ground. A long mess of wild dark red hair fell over dark eyes that struggled to stay open. He looked like a normal child save for the brown monkey tail that would twitch periodically.
"If you saw what his father's people are capable of you'd understand." The superior officer, General Wade Eiling, a solemn faced older man responded holding a folder. "If that boy possesses even a fraction of the power we saw back then, then he could be a powerful weapon for the U.S. army.
"But general, wouldn't he be more likely to work for you if we started grooming him instead of this?" The soldier questioned.
"I see you didn't read his file…" Eiling grumbled with disappointment. "That boy would sooner kill us all, than fight our battles.
That's why it's imperative we 'correct' this attitude before we can even think about using him, let alone loosing those chains." He handed over the file he was holding so that the young soldier could have an idea of who he was looking at.
Test subject No. 75
Name: Sage Grey
Age: 6 years old
Known abilities: Super strength, highly durable body, energy projection, and flight
Notes: subject resembles a human except for monkey like tail and extreme physical capabilities. The subject's temperament is highly volatile and unsubmissive. Testing has shown that the subject's cells seem to accelerate themselves when recovering from extreme duress resulting in increased strength after recovery.
Hybrid child of a human mother (geneticist Jenna Grey) and an alien father, who came to earth as a scout for a planet conquering race known as the Saiyans. The Saiyan abandoned his original mission and fought alongside the army in a cataclysmic battle to defeat the very invaders he called to this planet. (Photos show men with tails fighting in the air and large-scaled artillery being fired at them in a secluded area of a mountain range littered with craters and impacts.) All Saiyans met their demise in battle at XXX coordinates. Further investigation revealed half-human child being the reason for the Saiyan's defection. Target was acquired after the demise of Jenna Grey…
"According to this he should be honored to work for you." The soldier said confused as he flipped through the papers. I'm sure it's what his parents would have wanted."
"Those records don't tell the whole story…" Eiling said. "And despite his young age the boy remembers the truth clearly."
"What do you mean?"
"His father was forced to sacrifice himself to ensure our victory over the other Saiyans, and well as for his mother… let's just say she didn't die of natural causes. That boy holds the key to creating a new breed of superior soldiers, we had to take 'measures' to ensure he was under our control."
"But we won't be able to get anywhere until he cooperates." The soldier speculated.
"Presicely. Once we break him our operations will progress much more smoothly. Unlock the door, I'm going to speak with him."
"Sir." After entering a passcode and undoing a series of heavy latches, the cell door opened and Eiling walked in and sat in a chair set just in front of the boy.
"Rise and shine Sage." Eiling said kicking him awake.
That kick jolted Sage awake, the first thing he saw was Eiling. The boy lunged and went nowhere as the restraints held him in place.
"I see you slept well." Eiling smirked. "I'm sure you remember what we talked about, are you ready to take me up on my offer? Fight in the army for me and we'll make it so you can get out of those chains. I-" Eiling was cut off when Sage hocked a huge loogie in his face. He took a minute to wipe his face off
"I guess you're fond of your current situation. Well even if you won't work willingly with us, there are still ways to get your co-operation. Get him ready for testing." Eiling nodded to the soldier who hit sage in the back of his head with his rifle, but the boy remained awake staring at Eiling with eyes full of hate. The soldier hit him again and failed to knock him out as Sage's glare remained unbroken. A third full powered blow knocked him out and shattered the rifle in the process.
Sage woke up strapped to a table with a throbbing headache. Sensors and wires were attached to his body. He could hear the beeping and whirring of various machines but bright lights overhead blinded him so that he could hardly see the man in a lab coat approaching him with shock prods. After attaching them to his temples, Sage was electrocuted time and time again. At first he laughed it off, he'd grown accustomed to this level of pain. "That all you got old man!?"
"It seems his pain tolerance has increased again since last time." One of the lab workers told Eiling as he read data printed from the feed just outside the testing room.
"Turn up the voltage then." General Eiling responded nonchalantly. As the voltage was raised Sage looked towards the window from which Eiling watched and smiled a big toothy grin. "Tch! Little shit…double the output and decrease the intervals between shocks, we'll see how funny he thinks that is."
"Sir that much could kill him, or at least cause lasting damage to his organs."
"Remember he's a powerful alien too. This little shock won't kill him, only his spirit. Now turn it up." Reluctantly doing as instructed the level of voltage was increased, and at Eiling's command it rose again. And again, until finally Sage's laughter turned to cries of pain. "Not so tough now are you?"
"I…can…go…all…day!" He squeezed out through gritted teeth.
"So can I. Double the voltage again!" Eiling yelled getting more frustrated.
"He's just a kid! If we push any farther-"
Bang! The scientist was shot in the head slumping over the counter.
"I don't need anyone around too soft to do their job." Eiling pushed the body out of the way and raised the dial himself. He didn't stop where he said, instead he kept raising the voltage higher.
"(He's really going to kill me this time!)" Sage thought as the pain became unbearable, he felt his consciousness slipping away.
"General his vitals are spiking to drastic levels! He can't take much more of this!" One of the other scientists said reading the data.
Eiling was stopped only when the power flickered off and on, before all of the machinery short circuited.
"Dammit! Have someone go check the power grid! This shitty old prison building won't stop my work." Eiling looked at Sage "I will break you."
Sage lay on the table barely conscious. He was thankful for whatever caused that power outage but a throbbing headache kept him from even struggling.
"(It's only a matter of time before he gives up.) Hurry up and get the machines back on!" Eiling commanded
"(If General Eiling succeeds in taming this thing we'll have a powerful weapon at our disposal!)"
"(This is getting beyond cruel I'm not sure if I can go through with it…but I'd be a fool to go against Eiling now.)"
"Huh?" Sage thought he was hallucinating.
Despite the fact everyone was working quietly to restore power to the machines (except for Eiling who was still barking orders), Sage could hear all of their voices. "What is this? I'm hearing things now?"
"(Great Sage initializing…now online. Host is hearing the thoughts of those around via telepathy. This is due the awakening of psychic powers.)"
"Who said that?!" Sage looked around for someone, but no one was even paying attention to him at the moment. "I think I'm starting to lose it…"
"(Don't worry host, you haven't gone insane. I am Great Sage, I will assist host from here on out.)" The voice came from inside Sage's mind.
Sage wondered if this great sage was trying to imply it was better than him with its name choice, but he let it go for now. "Assist me? How?"
"(Would host like to escape?)"
"You can really get me out of here?"
"(Yes)" Great Sage responded.
"Alright what do I do?"
"(Just ask.)"
"Just ask?" Sage thought for a minute…he looked around and then he had a sudden epiphany. "(Hey you, let me out of here!)" He thought staring at the nearest worker.
The scientist stopped what he was doing, with a look devoid of all thought on his face. He walked over to the bed and undid Sage's restraints.
"Did that really just work?" Sage asked standing up surveying his surroundings. As he viewed the items surrounding him it was like a brief description of them would pop into his head. ("What's all this?)
"(This is an ability of great Sage; appraisal.)
"That names right on the nose huh… I can get a summary of stuff just by looking at it? Nice."
"(Host should move quickly, this is still a hostile environment.)" Great sage reminded Sage of his situation.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" Sage and the scientist he controlled were startled to see Eiling take notice of them from across the glass. He immediately drew his gun and fired several rounds through the glass, but Sage commanded the scientist to take the shots for him.
"(What the-? Dr. Banks betrayed us for the alien?)"
"(Why would he sacrifice himself for that monster?)"
Not only could Sage sense the thoughts of nearby people reacting to his escape attempt, but the other members of the security team throughout the facility.
"(Were those gunshots? I heard Eiling yelling too.)"
"(Look at the cameras subject 75 is loose!)"
"(We have to subdue him. Get troops down there immediately!)"
"Subdue me? There's no way I'm staying here!" With a forceful push he sent the meat shield through the glass crashing into Eiling, they smashed into another machine giving them a nasty shock. He rushed for the door blasting the scientists in his way aside like they were ragdolls with his raw strength.
"Destroying their equipment ought to set them back a bit" Sage started to blast the machines with his ki, but great sage stopped him.
"(This equipment is easily replicable; it won't be much of a setback for them. Host should prioritize escape.)"
"Ok got it." Sage agreed cancelling his attack. "But how do I get out of here? Whatever this bunker is made of is pretty sturdy." He realized after having failed trying to blast down the heavy doors with ki blasts.
"(Just ask him.)" Great sage responded simply.
"Oooh right! Psychic duh!" He looked at a scientist cowering in fear and grabbed his head. Reading the man's mind, Sage learned all about the layout of the building, its residents, security, and some useful information about the outside world before his informant passed out.
"Alright let's go stretch my legs a bit." Sage burst out of the underground lab navigating through long corridors of the prison built under a military base. Armed guards tried to stop him, but swift movements and unnaturally powerful strikes sent them all flying, others were blown away with his ki blasts or psychic pushes. Whatever weapons they had were useless because they turned them on each other when they got within Sage' range of influence. Great sage also instructed him to quickly destroy any and all security cameras he came across. After making it halfway to the southernmost exit Sage stopped and turned around.
"(Host is almost free, why are you stopping?)"
He could hear the thoughts of many other prisoners held captive in the facility too. Despair of a life behind bars, those in unbearable agony, others lamented the punishements of crimes they didn't commit…while there were those who deserved to be locked up, this facility was beyond inhumane.
"There's so many others being held here! I can't just leave them to rot," Sage answered.
"(It is not recommended to attempt freeing everyone. Not only are there more soldiers, but some prisoners may also be threats to the host's wellbeing.)" The Great Sage said.
"I guess we'll have to see how it plays out." Sage says ignoring his AI's warning and heading deeper inside the facility.
"I've lost sight of subject 75! Over half of the security cameras are offline! He was last spotted heading towards the southern exit!" A guard shouted from the control room. He was directing everyone to Sage's last known location but froze in terror when the control room's door was blown off of the hinges.
"Hey what's up?" Sage asked with a devilish grin.
"Y-you! How did you get in here?" The guard asked going for his earpiece to call for help, but he was blasted to the ground.
"Don't even think about it." Sage walked over to the screens and saw the remaining camera views, many of which showed prisoners, both man and beast, being treated cruelly. Some going through tortures just as bad if not worse than his own experiences in the name of building the army's power, while others were beaten for no reason at all. "You guys call me a monster, but can do stuff like this so easily? I bet you don't even lose sleep watching this…" Sage's disposition grew colder.
"E-everything we do…is for the good of-" Before the guard could justify himself a larger ki blast turned him into a smoldering spot on the floor..
"Disgusting…now there must be a mass release button. Where are you?"
"(Host this course of action is not recommended, the potential threat is too high)" Great Sage warned again.
"Which button?" Sage asked.
"(The big red one)" a hint of annoyance could be heard from the voice in his head.
Sage pushed the button and prisoners all across the building were startled to see their cell doors swing open. Sage breathed in deep and turned on the intercom "JAAAAIIIIL BREAAAAK!!!!!!" Within seconds the whole building was filled with chaos as prisoners and guards engaged each other. As Great Sage predicted several of the prisoners were hostile beyond reason, brutally slaughtering everyone in their path. "That's that, now we can go…"
"(It is recommended host take route with lowest probability of encountering others. Several prisoners released are much stronger than host is currently.)" Sage didn't like being told what he couldn't do, but no need to take any unnecessary losses before even getting out of prison. He decided to follow Great Sage's advice this time and took the route least traversed. Sage was running down a long hall taking down the occasional guard in his way, until he hit a corner and was face to face with two prisoner's stolen guns.
"Dang…" He braced himself, but one of them lowered his gun.
"That voice, you're the one who opened all of the cells aren't you kid?"
"What if I am?" Sage asked.
"Then we owe you one, and I always pay back my debts." The man said with a cool smirk.
"Snart we gotta get going, I can smell the pigs catching up." The bigger one said. He had an animalistic glare, and Sage could feel bloodlust coming from him. It wasn't pointed at anyone in particular, but the whole world around him.
"Since we're going the same way how about we work together?" Sage asked. "I can hold my own."
"Alright, but if you slow us down, we won't hesitate to leave you behind." Snart said.
"The name's Snart, Leonard Snart. The big guy is Mick Rory."
"Mmmm." Mick grunted and nodded to Sage.
"Sage Grey." Sage responded with his own name. A group of pursuing guards rounded the corner while they were talking, and Sage fired a ki blast at them before Snart or Rory could even aim. "If you guys slow me down, I won't hesitate to leave you behind" Sage chuckled pressing on.
"Kid's tough," Mick said following after Sage.
"Maybe we could find a use for him," Snart added.