Chapter 106: Stagnation

Unbeknownst to even ATC personnel, Captain America had been successfully thawed and resuscitated, no doubt a by-product of time, place, and potency of the SSS(Super Soldier Serum) of Abraham Erskine.

SHIELD faculties had been nearly untouched by their hands, the fear of setting off a chain reaction that not even the astute Cole wanted to have to attend to.

Cole had a healthy respect for the international super spy and his capabilities. He understood once he came on the one-eyed man's radar, the organization he helmed would come knocking. And he just wasn't ready for that eventuality; the best case was for him to choose the time and place.

Cole Stephens had grown from the waif who woke up in the dark alley, a cold corpse; his transplant had resuscitated the boy, and two individuals merged, having lost his precious memories.

The transplanted soul had clung to the once-upon-a-time heir to the formidable York Enterprise memories and sought revenge.

The youngest son had been beaten black and blue, his legs broken, the same action that had happened to Jeremy for daring to run. Threading his former body occupant memories of that time brought a tear tracing down his impassive face. He reached for that bead that betrayed his calm facade and looked at it. His hand shook, and he drew a breath, calming the vestiges of Jeremy.

'The pendulum has started to swing once more; though it has swung in my favor, there is no guarantee there would be no setbacks.' He thought to himself.

If this were just The Hand, things would be different; my actions would be directed and sharp, but the snakes were another thing.

They fooled countless iterations and sprung up at the hero's weakest, or worse, the hero's programmed agents that responded to codes that brought them under control. He recalled one case where Captain America was a secret Hydra spy.

In his mind's eye, Carmichael's weren't necessarily his first target. He understood their insignificance in the grand tapestry that was York's demise. Mama Carmichael had been a janitor; her role was instrumental in their death; she had given their killers access out of jealousy and hate for immigrant families aspiring to live and be better than her.

Alongside Social Services, the Chief of police and a family lawyer had stolen large sums of money from his trust at the behest of Sebastian York's half-siblings to fund their insane lifestyles.

Legal and his lawyers were now ripping apart his family's carefully laid scheme to defraud the company and his trust.

'Their attack on the towers was a way to re-capture me. Did they have a plan outside of my murder? What were their end goals? They had Rand Industries, probably even Oscorp, since Norman's demise at the hands of Spider-man.

Hands tucked away, peering outside the numerous slit-like windows that made up the black tower sequestered in the heart of Harlem, the handsome teen, unknowingly a topic of discussion with many factions, looked unconcerned over the constant motion of the city and its inhabitants.

"Isiah Bradley's sample had an unlocked area I wasn't aware of. With the added benefits of our serum, we can regress him back to peak health. Amazingly, gate technology, naquadah, and the potential of these symbiotes were breaking into an area no men have been."

He was excited. Cole understood. His life mission was unlocking the human genome, and now he did more than unlock what made us human but improved on what constituted humanity.

There still were the other serums that Cole was weary of, the sentry serum he was almost sure was a fluke chance of science; with so many different strands of serum he now had, he wasn't even close to making another Sentry.

"Replica program is nearly completed. What do you suggest we do with the donors?"

'Donors? Oh. He had forgotten about Swarm, The Hand soldiers, and some other idiots that troubled him.'

"Bring them on board," he paused, contemplating, 'Swarm is a problem, so I'll handle his induction personally; I think he would be a great force to have."

The Doctor nodded, understanding at least the mutate would pose a risk if he resisted their standard induction.

System notification-Milestone Achieved: Secret Command. Reward(s) Hyperion-class Satellite. Jolly Jack Candy Factory.

He hadn't forgotten about the Milestone Achievement. Milestones consistently award good rewards, and this one was in line with the others.

Mishomoto monologue ensued. Cole partitioned their mind into multiple segments, a feat he had capitalized on after the whole mind-rapist altercation with Xavier.

Another fracture broke off, theorizing the potential of putting a satellite in orbit. The ramifications were obvious, but his system would safeguard him personally. What would be the cloak? The mere thought had followed with a solution.

He sent Alfred the details. His artificial sidekick presence settled over him. The steadily growing intelligence read over the details and departed to take care of business.

'Who knew you could buy a satellite in space.' With the purchase being handled, he would repurposed it and have a space super-weapon ready to blast targets on the ground. Admittedly, he wouldn't shoot first but second if given the chance.

There was also the opportunity for the satellite to help him push his influence into space.

Now where to setup his candy factory. The system rewards amused him. He should purchase another plot of land in Harlem and see what his newest enterprise would bring him; knowing it was a secret base for Batman Beyond Joker only made him wonder what the lair was like.

"So this MGH issue," Mishimoto said, alerting his full attention by a single known abbreviated word.

"Come again, doctor," said Cole.

"M.G.H," he repeated, his eyes glimmering in realization; the young man before him had known about it beforehand, as the technicians in the field recently made the discovery.

Cole nodded.

Dr. Mishomoto cleared his throat and continued. "The drug should be handled with extreme caution. Unlike the serums, this drug makes it terrestrial, and I'm afraid its manufacturing isn't amenable to the donors."

"Have there been any missing mutants?" Cole asked, dreading the answer that he was about to hear.

"Quite a lot, young man, that brought it to ATC's attention. Originally, we expected the serial killer."

Cold interrupted, "Is there no headway on the suspect?"

"None. We know a task force was created to capture him, but outside some heat mutation, technological cloaking is also possible."

Cole nodded, his mind whirring with ideas of who it could be; without himself being a target, he could not determine the mutant killer. Come to think of it, why wasn't the X-men involved?

Cole grabbed at the air and shifted a file to the doctor.

The Mutant Growth Hormone, or MGH, has been marketed and available even before the start of the super-hero age: Wilson Fisk had access to it before he became an influential crime lord, and it was also available before Dr. Stephen Strange studied magic.

After these events, biochemist Dr. Henry McCoy, working for the Brand Corporation on Long Island, developed an experimental serum that purportedly acted as a catalyst to activate latent mutations, with effects similar to the MGH.

"This may have been a re-discovery of the MGH or a different chemical compound altogether; as the head of the medical wing, I implore you to investigate further; someone is making and selling this drug, which means either multiple donors, which I doubt, or mutant experiments are happening in mass."

If Cole had been privy to Agent 13's mission, he would have understood that the Secret Empire was operating either at Baron Von Strucker's behest or that the hidden organization had already broken away from its master.

At that moment, Reese materialized inside the room, taking it upon herself to take his empty chair.

Mishimoto sputtered to a stop.

A distant part of him chuckled, but he introduced the two.

He thanked the doctor, and Mishimoto took his leave. He checked the time, waiting for night to fall before he headed out; there were some leads he wanted to check up on.

He pulled up a partial status sheet to see if he had any upgrades. It had been a while since he checked his progress.

Abilities

X-Gene: Host mutant factor has awakened.

Thermokinesis, Fear Inducement, Superhuman Strength.

[Unexposed]Terrigenesis

Unique physiology: The Host's mutant abilities, alongside your latent human nature and the new ghost-like powers, have caused the Host to develop a unique physiology.

[+1] Holder of the Hero-Villain System.

[+10] Criminology: Deception. Stealth. Infiltration. Demolition. Enhanced Investigation.

—>[+9] Occultism: The Host is knowledgeable about various mystical concepts due to his training with the All-Caste and formal training as a Catholic priest.

[+9] Superhuman Senses: The Host has supernatural senses, which allow them to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel better than the average species member.

[+19] Superhuman strength-Class 50: The corrupted energies of the Lazarus pit flow through your unique physiology. Your extraordinary strength grants a blow that can deliver devastating damage and is known to shake the Earth.

—> Raging Strength: Berserker, this ability is throttled by the Host's Rage—the potential to lose yourself in the haze of battle. The longer you fight, the more significantly your strength grows.

—> Super-Leaping: The Host can make extraordinary leaps in the air thanks to his strength.

—>Superhuman Stamina: When fighting, the Host appears almost untiring, a force of nature that does not stop until defeated.

—>Superhuman Durability: While not invulnerable, the Host is still challenging to injure.

[+12] Skilled marksman, assassin, and expert tactician, Gadgetry

[+9] Martial Artists: Dim Mak Expert, Rain Taijutsu Specialist.

—> [+10] Mechanical Aptitude: An acute understanding of and utilization of high-tech equipment, robot engineering, and advanced weaponry.

[+2] Bio-engineering: Chemistry

[+8] Business Management: A.T.C., Wayne Enterprises, Lexcorp, Iceberg Lounge.

[+4] Computer Operations: Computer Hacking.

—>[+9] Ectokinesis: The user can create, shape, and manipulate energy unique to spirits and ghosts.

—> [+8] Astral Projection Portal: By manipulating Ectoplasm energies, The Host can project his consciousness, manifest onto the astral Plane, and create portals. However, the Host can only use the astral Plane to port to places the Host haunts.

—> [+14] Thermokinesis: The ability to manipulate and control the motion of molecules, slowing them down or speeding them up, thus changing temperature in the surrounding area with the power of the Host mind. It is an ability on a broader spectrum than simply being pyrokinesis or Cryokinesis. By its nature, this Mutant ability can be affected and altered by other attributes and abilities. This is considered a mutant ability.

[+5] Pyrokinesis: Create and control fire, manipulate heat in your immediate vicinity with your mind.

Force Multiplier: Roy Mustang Glove

—>Heat Vision: The ability to release massive amounts of thermal energy stored within the body through the eyes in focused beams of heat.

[+9] Cryokinesis is the ability to control and manipulate frost, Ice, snow, and cold temperatures.

Force Multiplier: The Glacial Stone-Inactive

—> Cold Vision is the power to emit beams of freezing energy from one's eyes, opposite to Heat Vision.

—> [+10] Transformation: Originally, when Daniel and Kurt's ghost merge, Daniel's body becomes covered in ectoplasm that gives him various superhuman abilities; because of the unique nature of the Host, this transformation involves all personas, significantly increasing Haunt's parameters.

Red Hood Armor Symbiosis: The joining of your ectoplasm|Bio-Electricity and Haunts armor Amplifies Host parameters to an undefined amount.

Red Hood Cowl: Heightened Mental Resistance.

[0] Claws: Haunt has razor-sharp claws on each finger that can easily decapitate enemies.

[0] Metamorphosis: You can manipulate your ectoplasm to create tentacles, cobwebs, spikes, blades, and other appendages.

Adhesion: The haunt can stick on walls.

[+7] Inhuman Optimal Healing Factor: Granted by the system and augmented by Chi and Ectoplasmic energies, you can heal from extreme mental or bodily trauma in minutes.

Red Lantern Mantle: The first Lantern has been chosen; the Host now bears the responsibility of holding the Mantle of the Red Lantern Corps.

The First Ring- Atrocious: You wield the first Red Lantern Ring ever created. The boundless Rage of Atrocious fuels your powers. Furthermore, unlike the more scientific Green Lantern Ring, the Red Lantern Ring uses vast amounts of magic in its construction.

A Red Lantern's ring is one of the most potent weapons in the known Universe. Red Lantern's ring can affect and use fundamental forces of the known Universe, including electromagnetic energies such as gravity, radiation, heat, light, and powerful blasts of concussive force.

The ring can also create fields of power formed from a red energy spectrum. However, such use is limited by the user's skill, knowledge, and imagination.

—>[+16] Rage Suppression: Said to be a rarity amongst Red lanterns, holders of this power need not the baptism of the blood ocean. You can control all the Red Lantern ring's degrees of intensity; lanterns under you have limited access to your passive suppression.

—>Rage Empowerment: Your new mutant ability, Raging Strength, synergies with your plasmoid blood. Under the influence of the Ring[Activated], Rage itself becomes your strength.

—>[+9] Chi Manipulation: Host's mastery of martial arts and hidden innate parameters have unlocked one of the most sought-after abilities in the Universe. You can wield and manipulate the natural forces of life and control your steadily growing Bio-electrical energy.

—> [+3] Augmentation: The Host Chi can enhance physical and supernatural parameters and significantly boost healing and recovery time.

[+6] Fear Inducement: Your presence has shown itself as a fragment of fear. The physical manifestation of your presence takes the form of an incorporeal bat-like thing. The target of your inducement perception may be altered, causing them to have waking nightmarish dreams pulling taut on their deepest fears. Your presence can now affect the waking and spiritual domain, causing the Host to become ominous, dark, foreboding, or even monstrous. This is considered a mutant ability.

'Stagnation.'

He hadn't progressed in weeks. He had been whole meeting after meeting, and he had to personally test new items or secure bases or objects like the Hyperion satellite. The system was beneficial, but there wasn't a workaround for its items.

"I need my own Pepper Potts," said Cole, startling the doctor to silence.

Reese gazed at her progenitor, smiled, and returned to the computer, her hands flashing across the keyboard inhumanly fast.