Chapter Ten: Return of Stark(Canon Officially Begins)
Luke Blake POV:
Luke stood in Lewis' private lab at his penthouse in Hell's Kitchen—a private lab he had installed for his time away from B.L.A.K.E Industries. Though Lewis himself spent most of his time at his private lab there rather than here, both locations held state-of-the-art tools and technology for science regardless. Luke actually preferred it here over the lab building; it was quieter and more private — And he had access to a bed at his every convenience.. Only he, his siblings, and of course, the Master had access to the building in general, as the Master had bought it.
[Building Reference Image]:
Luke currently stood before a testing tube, watching the unconscious form of the Winter Soldier breathe through a tube. Each exhale caused bubbles to ripple through the nanite-filled, nutrient-rich liquid of the pod. OMNIS had a tendril attached to the back of the super-assassin's skull. Luke's eyes were closed in focus as he cleansed the best friend of Steve Rogers of HYDRA's influence mentally, strengthening his willpower, returning the man his memories, and stabilizing his fractured mind. All the while, OMNIS's nanites removed any technical irregularities HYDRA may have left as failsafes that Luke's telepathy couldn't bypass or had overlooked.
When Luke's process was finished, he used his molecular manipulation to strengthen the serum coursing through Bucky's body, making him near Steve's level of physicality while also reinforcing his mental walls. Psychic wards were set in Bucky's mind, rendering the soldier resistant to mental assaults. Luke also had OMNIS assimilate the vibranium arm, analyzing it for future plans to replicate it before having the AI create a new arm for the soldier — one made of flesh this time. Only, with a twist: He had OMNIS methodically push threads of vibranium into his nervous system, and Luke used these threads of vibranium to give Bucky the ability to turn his body into solid vibranium, giving him an even higher agility, energy absorption/release, and a near impenetrable defense at will. He also used a drop of his own blood to give Bucky a healing factor greater than he had before.
When he was finished, he ordered OMNIS to keep him unconscious until his body fully assimilated and adapted internally to the changes.
Then, he made his way out the lab, where Chris awaited him, standing protectively before the door like the dedicated guard he was. Chris said nothing, even when he took note of Luke's appearance—at least, for a brief minute, anyway. It didn't last long, though.
"I take it you've made progress on Project: 'White Wolf'?" Chris asked, as Luke walked into the foyer, Chris following Luke.
"I have. Soon, he will wake, and he will dawn the mantle," Luke answered, as Chris nodded once. "And with Harry soon to take the upgraded goblin serum, we may soon be able to develop The Master's team. Felicia has already taken the serum provided by Kingpin—when Redline encounters her in his patrols, he's instructed to convince her to join his team, either willingly or through psychic convincing; either or works. Spider-Man is also being considered, but honestly, I do not think he'll be picked to join the squad; he's just not the right pick.
"And the boy?" Chris asked, sounding curious as they walked to the room Robert and Crystal were applying the boy to finish his final year in high school. "What's the plan for him?"
"Crystal seems to have taken a liking to him… How else do you explain helping him do mundane tasks she could have done in milliseconds," Luke muttered, watching the two laugh at something Bobo said. "He will take the serum after he finishes school, maybe another year or two. We're not really in a rush for the Sentry to appear, at least, not quite yet, anyways."
"What will you do now?" Chris asked.
"Have Evangeline schedule a public announcement," Luke muttered. "The Master gave us a task: clean the world. Plastic and oil can both be converted into energy via the EnerGenesis Spheres, and there's a whole island of plastic just west of California and entire oceans' worth of oil spills. We'll go ahead and announce our plans to the public. There's also our trees the Master created. We need the recognition."
"It will be done," Chris said, walking off to do that.
Luke watched Crystal and Bobo interact for a moment longer before turning and leaving, his plans already forming in his head.
Obadiah Stane POV:
Obadiah Stane paced back and forth, his nerves standing on end as he awaited the call, confirming the kill he was certain would come.
It never did… The one confirming the kill, that is. However, the one berating him for losing the asset that was the Winter Soldier? That did come, and with it, followed a call from the S.T.A.R.K. Board, who berated him for using S.T.A.R.K. funds in an ill-advised manner.
By the time Obadiah had time to himself, he was livid.
Not only did the Winter Soldier fail, but he was blamed for the assassin's failure and the would-be assassin's compromisation. He wouldn't be surprised if Pierce sent someone to end him tonight.
Pouring himself a drink of scotch to calm the nerves, Obadiah looked up in time to spot the news, with lines like:
"Billionaire Philanthropist Tony Stark Found and Rescued by Military?"
"S.T.A.R.K. Hosts a Press Conference: Will S.T.A.R.K. Industries Step Out of Weapons Manufacturing??"
CRASH!
"Fucking Hell!" Obadiah threw his cup in outrage, before rushing out, failing to realize that, just then, Tony got a private message—one that struck evidence against Obadiah's plans, schemes, and latest colludings—all by an anonymous technopathic hacker, who, named was Crystal, though that last bit no one knew…
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine POV:
When Valentina received the call to return to the labs—that someone had broken into the labs and stolen something— expecting the worst. She rushed back to her lab at Organization X.E., where her head scientist, Professor Cornelius Worth, was awaiting her.
[Organization X.E Research Facility Reference Image]:
"Cornelius, what's the situation?" she asked when she entered her building, on the way to her lab. "Was anything important taken? What is missing?"
"Nothing of resultable value, Madame," the professor said, as they entered the lab to see everything as it should be; no hint of breaking in. "What is peculiar is what they took and how they did it."
Cornelius handed Val the tablet and she took a look at the data. Squinting her eyes, she realized something. "Everything is accounted for… almost everything, it seems," Val muttered to herself. "The Golden Serum…?"
"Yes, you are correct, Madam," Cornelius agreed. "Whoever stole it hacked the cams, left no trace, and was in and out quicker and more effective than any of our trained operatives. We only know they were here because today was inventory check day, and we just happened to re-check all data on the serum, the serum itself—and all things pertaining to it. It was all gone."
"Who would want that useless vial…?" Val murmured, deep in thought, before shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts.. "Let them have it. In the meantime, I have a meeting with Fury about my latest data on HYDRA. Increase security around and within the premises. The last thing we need is to alarm S.H.I.E.L.D. of a possible data breach."
"At once, Madam," Cornelius rushed off, two armored agents at his tail, leaving Valentina still deep in contemplation.
'Whoever did this was thorough and capable. They went all the extra mile… for a dud?' Val thought, before a horrifying thought came to her. 'What…what if it wasn't a dud?'
Shaken by the thought, Valentina swore she would get to the bottom of this—but for now, she had a boss to prepare a conference meet with.
After all, not just anyone can get a meeting with the Head of S.H.I.E.L.D., but as a Level 6 agent for S.H.I.E.L.D., tasked with undercover infiltration to HYDRA and Leviathan dealings, Valentina wasn't just your everyday, run-of-the-mill S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.
Taking a final look at the data pad, she walked off to prepare for her meeting.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. Triskelion
Nick Fury P.O.V.:
"And this source was taken just a few hours ago, sir," Agent Maria said, showing the captured footage of Luka's encounter with the masked assassin. "We've already wiped all traces of the footage from public and private servers, sir. And we believe the masked assailant is the one known as the Winter Soldier."
As Fury watched Chris and Crystal battle the Ghost of HYDRA, his curiosity peaked upon noticing Lewis Blake protecting the boy he went all the way to Florida to retrieve.
"Who is that boy? Why is Lewis so set on protecting him?" Fury questioned, as Maria tapped on her tablet, bringing up all data on the boy alongside the on-going video.
"His name is Robert Reynolds— a 17-year-old minor with nothing of note to his background and origins," Maria revealed. "His mother is a neglectful drug abuser, and his father is a physical abuser and also neglectful. He doesn't have anything significant in his records aside from that. I would say there's nothing important about him.
"He isn't a genius; nor is he even the slightest bit athletic. He is abnormally… well, norma, Sirl."
"And yet someone as smart and as powerful as Lewis Blake has taken interest in him and, the moment he does, not only does an averagely built individual turn into near perfect build for his age, but the Ghosts of HYDRA takes efforts to take him out?" Fury narrowed his gaze. "I'm not saying the boy was the target, but I'm beginning to feel as though Lewis Blake knows something we do not and I do not like the feeling."
Silence passed as Fury saw Lewis finally display a power — likely teleportation, by the way all those involved vanished without entirely connected physical contact. The scene only served to confirm Fury's belief that Lewis was Redline.
"Add this to the Level 8 file, REDLINE," Fury instructed, as Maren nodded, doing just that. "We now know he has teleportation and multi-subset teleportation powers… Increase his clearance level requirement of file to Level 9."
"Yes, sir," Hill acknowledged. "I must also remind you that you have a conference with Agent Fontaine today at 10."
"Yes, yes, yes—please don't remind me," Nick exasperated. "The only reason she's still an agent to begin with is because the Board vetoed my request to fire her. I wonder what useless info she's gleaned from a dying Russian spy network this time."
With that thought, Fury left to prepare.
Luke Blake POV:
Meanwhile, Luke had just finished his public press announcement of his plans to harness plastic waste into renewable energy, starting with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch off the coast of California and Hawaii. He also released his plans to do the same with oil spills in various forests and weedy areas around the world as the oceans themselves, after getting the go-ahead to begin operations in various governments around the world, who were offering to pay him hundreds of millions to do this for their countries — Each.
These countries included the U.S., United Kingdom, China, Russia, Germany, and more.
He was already getting paid handsomely for his clearing of nuclear-poisoned areas around the globe already — he was already in the hundreds-of-millions bracket. Now, with these new deals, he would soon be entering the billionaire status.
But that isn't why his name is circulating and trending — at least, not entirely, anyways.
No, the reason why he's trending so is because of the words he chose in the final moments of his conference.
" 'I will be opening a university soon to train the next generation of the greatest minds on Earth, regardless of whether said person is a mutant or regular genius'? 'We should have open arms to all sapiens, whether neo or homo, regardless of ether'?" Crystal critiqued. "You couldn't have worded it differently? There is a 67.8998% chance that you will lose favor with the public for the choice of wording you picked, Luke."
"Yes, well, the Master was very clear on the position he wanted the public to view him on, regardless of my wording," Luke said, walking into his building. "And, wording or not, our stocks still have increased ten-folds since the start of the press, so we succeeded in winning the niche we wanted, anyways."
"That is true," Crystal tapped away at her tablet. "Our stocks are higher than they've ever been and our introduction of the seeds have also boosted public perception of B.L.A.K.E. H.T. Industries tremendously. And, with STARK back and Obediah exposed and imprisoned for various crimes you had me send to both the police and Stark when he returned to the city, we should be smooth sailing from here. In fact, I predict Obadiah won't survive long in there. He'll likely get killed off discreetly in that place."
"Hmm…so is the price of dealing and failing HYDRA. What a monstrous organization," Luke contemplated. "Have Chris start up a private black ops research and covert defense organization. With the super soldier serum we analyzed, upgraded, and replicated, we should scout out worthy test subjects."
"At once," Crystal tapped away, messaging Chris, who agreed.
"With that settled, I believe we have a meeting with a certain professor, no?" inquired Luke. "Let's get going… to X-Mansion."