The Past and The Future!

Ben arranged a chamber shaped like a pod, surrounded by soft mats, and above it stood an apparatus. The chamber had needles loaded with a bluish-green serum loaded in. it was the same set-up used for a super-soldier serum for Captain America. During the starting years, during the dreams of broken memory fragments, he got a few about the marvel universe, for example, Spiderman's web-shooters. He used the idea to create a compound to mimic spider silk to some extent to create the compound to make armors he patented at Wayne industries, and other games he made.

The super-soldier serum was also something he remembered about. But for some reason, he felt this may cause his problem to solve, especially when the dreams started haunting him more. For this, he did a lot of research. And one of the main ways he got results was being a master hacker. he has even hidden the fact from Batman, but he makes sure he keeps his research from him, only showing a minimal, making the cameras play a part of the things he does.

Of course, he has to keep that at a minimum, as he isn't a master at deceiving people, and Batman doesn't have the title of the World's greatest detective for nothing. He use his expertise to hack many places, including ARGUS and CADMUS. it was very hard, and he had to create a completely different base under the Gotham sewers of all places, setting up computer parts for a while, risking meeting up Killer Croc, or other of Batman's rogues. Hacking GCPD cameras was easy, but Cadmus was hard as fuck. Especially with the info, he managed to get in 4 minutes, before he destroyed everything and fled the place, erasing as many traces as he could.

The details most beneficial to him were something called the Blockbuster, an incomplete super-soldier formula, and an analysis of Starro and Kryptonian DNA. The details he got on Starro and Cadmus's attempts at making little goblins with psionic powers were the main fuel. He was able to understand a lot about memory in the human brain and the emotional effects of different stimuli from their notes.

He scoffed at blockbuster though. At least, what it was now. A rip-off version of a permanent form of Venom, which Bane uses, made with a base of Mirakuru, and a way to advance human DNA structure to resemble Kryptonian. Boy, do they love Supes. Anyway, the serum he had now was derived after studying notes on Starro and the hivemind goblin's of Argus, combined with the discharge effect of Scarecrow's fear toxin, with Mirakuru as a base to improve the brain and heart at vital points, then other organs.

As for the radiation, he wasn't able to replicate the Vita-rays. But thanks to Argus's he was close. Right now, the rays were a combination of sunlight, and the reading of kryptonite radiation Argus had researched. The kryptonite found in Small Ville and other parts of America had led to some people becoming metahumans, which was their research topic as well. Other than making kryptonite weapons for Superman, that is.

But the experiment Ben had set up had a 100% rate to kill a normal human. So why was he doing it? Regeneration factor. Ben's regen got boosted after a while, especially when he started mimicking martial arts moves. It wasn't wolverine level, but he could heal transverse fractures in about a week. This gave Ben about a 60% survival rate. He had removed most of the serum's strength gaining properties and made it focused on the mind more. Though, as he had told Barbra before, this was an experiment only a fool would perform. Because the chance of becoming insane was about 60% for him. But because of desperation, he had no other choice. He looked at his, Jason, and Barbra's group chat, which they still hadn't answered for two days, and closed it.

He lay down on the chamber and said, "Friday, begin the injection, code-A7S-0919"

[Code acquired, beginning procedure] Friday said as the penicillin was injected. 30 seconds later, the serum was injected, some tubes drilling through the bone to inject in the bone marrow. The chamber closed with the rays as they shone through the visible opening, as the pain became intense for Ben, who started screaming. He couldn't think of anything, as his eyes began tearing up with blood, and the serum's effect was stopped somehow by the brain. Ben could feel it, but like hell, he was gonna let that happen. Even in that state, he focused on lowering the barrier. Somehow, someway, he wanted it to go. He didn't want to live with constant nightmares and broken memories, he has had ENOUGH.... and the shield broke, just as a headache induced Ben and he blacked out.

*Later*

Ben slowly opened his eyes and looked at the surroundings. 'Did... I die?' Ben asked himself seeing an unfamiliar place, but his attention was drawn to a child. About 10. On a pharmacy, buying medicine. Ben started seeing the kid as if watching a movie. The kid's name was also surprisingly Ben. Ben Rocher. The kid had it rough. He had a good childhood, but a short one. Both parents were cops. His Grandfather had retired from the military, while his grandmother had been a doctor. he was away with his grandparents for a while on a tour, as his parents couldn't leave their job, when he was about 7 when they got killed in a crossfire between a drug cartel they were raiding. He was broken, and Ben was crying himself, as was hit by the emotions with the same intensity. He managed to cope up and decided to become an officer as well, but the only support of his family then, his grandfather passed away because of a heart attack, making him feel lost once again. And the same year, his grandmother's health started deteriorating.

They were thankfully well off financially, as Ben kept his studies at full force to achieve something, but not for long. When he was 12, he had to take his grandmother to the hospital with the help of the neighbors, only to return to a ransacked house. The FBI investigated and found nothing. Even the land they had owned had somehow been sold to companies, and they refused to sell it back. The ones they had brought from were duds.

When he was fifteen, his grandmother also took her final breath, leaving him alone. He did do best to move on, even found a loving girlfriend, who helped him keep going, but it all crashed down later. He found his GF cheating on him with a boy from basketball club, as he stumbled upon them having sex in the locker room.

His mind went blank, followed by a sudden rage, as he rained punches on the boy, while she was trying to pull him away. He glared at her with hatred and left. He cried going back home and went to buy some alcohol he had managed to get but was kidnapped while returning.

The kid's dad was a local gangster. A big one at that, known for smuggling drugs. He was beaten badly till he couldn't even get up when the Cartel finally realized he recognized Ben's name. Because he was the one who orchestrated his parent's death. They were sent by their corrupt superior into the ambush with a few other officers as they had gathered much proof on them. Not only that. the heart attack of his grandfather was due to poison and his home was ransacked by his men to look for any proof in there.

Fucker even said his mother shot herself after his father died to refuse her body be tainted by these rapists. He pointed his gun at Ben and laughed like a madman, while his son and guards did the same. Ben forgot everything, his sorrow, his pain, his rage, everything. His body lifted up as the self-defense classes he took kicked in, as he stole the gun and shot the father and son in their hearts. They were dumbfounded, while Ben grinned at their faces. The Guards snapped out and unloaded their guns on Ben while the others went to their boss, while Ben couldn't survive the pain after four bullets and blacked out.

Ben meanwhile saw this with a blank expression on his face, as he remembered everything, he saw his own life after all. He next noticed a glowing ball fading away in front of him in the darkness. When 4 more balls came in front of him, followed by a bright light, showing a being covered in light, with wings of the same glow. He was completely covered in light, yet gave off a calm feeling. the five balls of light started transforming as well, and Ben was dumbfounded seeing them, because the fading ball transformed into him before he was reborn, and the other became the people he cared about the most, his parents and grandparents.

They turned to the being while the angel said, your wishes will transform ad provide him with gifts according to his life, the things he liked the most, among others. But in the start, he would be just slightly better than normal humans, and unlock your blessings with his own actions. They nodded, like a small light detached from the four of them and entered Ben's soul, making it stable. The angel also produced a ball, which entered him, and his soul started glowing even more.

His mother floated forward and hugged him for a while, and then finally let go with tears, even in her soul form, while his father placed his hand on Ben's head with a smile. His Grandmother and Grandfather did the same, and went back to the angel, as a tunnel opened behind Ben's soul as he got sucked away, and the Angel and his family disappeared as well.

Ben finally came to sense when he was left in the void. He felt he was crying seeing this, but he was too overwhelmed to care. He wanted to go and hug them, talk to them, but he couldn't as he got pulled away.

Ben was now in a part of slums... he didn't recognize the area, but he recognized the buildings far away. He was in Jump city. And he recognized the kid in front of him as well, it looked just like how he did now, just smaller. And the kid was getting kidnapped. A strange start, but ben knew what he was seeing. Red-X's memories. The scene changed to a high-tech facility. Many kids were running in an area as if their life was o the line, X being in the front. He looked exhausted but kept going. There were many guards stationed around carrying weapons and wearing black and yellow suits, which had 7 hexagons on their chests. The symbol of Hive, as Ben remembered from the comics.

He saw the next three years of X's life. A gruesome training regiment, designed especially to push him to his limits, as he had shown the most potential. He went on a few missions, most being theft. His 5th client was a weird one, as he wanted him to steal something from the titan's tower, and he managed to do it. He stole the Red-X suit. The client, which turned out to be Slade, 'brought' him from the facility and trained him as his apprentice.

He acted like his puppet, making a show where Titans hated him, yet they had some sort of truce against other bad guys. X treated everyone else indifferently, except Robin. He didn't care about the other titans either. The most intimate he had ever been was with Jinx of the fearsome five. He didn't get along with others because of his lack of powers. But to X, she was his ticket out of the jail called Hive.

But he went from one to the other like a slave. X was still able to get himself a place, where Ben first woke up and kept it from Slade. Now, he wanted the Titans as his ticket out of Hive as well as Slade. And he did just that. He secretly malfunctioned Gizmo's bag, causing it to explode after he threw it, making a smell of smoke settle everywhere. Beast Boy followed the scent and was able to infiltrate the hive base.

X used the opportunity to sneak into the base, which he was already mostly familiar with. He wasn't allowed in some sections, but he winged it, reaching the data room where the agents were transferring data. He knocked out the guard who was in the blind spot to others and deleted his, and many others' info, including the fearsome 5. He didn't know if any other bases had it, but he didn't care.

He sneaked back out, dropping by close to see the titans trying to escape a flood trap Beast Boy had set off. X had only one thing he loved the most, thrill. But he wanted it with his freedom. he didn't want to live and die in Jump city without going out once. And the only problem in that was Slade.

X had to obey him because he was actually learning from him. He planned to escape only when he managed to surpass him. This was technically not possible, since Slade was well known in the world by Deathstroke. A supersoldier experiment that went wrong, called the mirakuru. X could only surpass those who were peak human, not enhanced.

Then came the last day. He was sparring with Slade and got his ass kicked. Going to change, Slade offered him a drink, which while being suspicious, he accepted. Big mistake. Slade was talking shit in his creepy way, and in a rush, X drank the glass and went home. The glass contained nanites he had once inserted in the other titans to manipulate Nightwing when he was around as Robin. But with the tracking and pain factor, the new ones were supposed to reinforce X's skeletal structure.

And it would have, except one problem. X did have powers. He could channel some sort of energy inside him which improved his senses and healing. It was weak, but something he hoped to hone as much as he could. And the energy was also responsible to eliminate any substance that would be harmful to him slowly. And this caused an error in the nanite's path, creating a severe electrical shock, killing him.

Ben saw X's life, but unlike before, he didn't feel his emotions as he did when watching himself.

He snapped out finding himself in a white place filled with fog.

"Took you long enough." Ben heard behind him.

He looked back to see Red-X standing there in his suit.

"Well you may already know, but the name's Red-X, or AGT-0919, as the called me in hive. Whatever suits you" X replied shrugging his shoulders

"Well, I'm Benjamin Tennyson, but you probably also know that, cause we are in my mind right now aren't we?" Ben said.

"Ding, Ding, Ding. We have a winner. Though you are partially right. you see, I'm technically not the real Red-X, just a psychic imprint left in your head to make you completely integrate into this universe, so you don't feel alien. That's why you didn't feel any emotions watching my life, as it technically wasn't you." Red-X replied.

"Well, so what now?" Ben asked, he was feeling weird because he felt like his emotions were being suppressed.

"Now you wake up after my memories integrate with yours, cause fuck this shit I'm out," Red-X said and the fog started surrounding them and Ben got hit by sudden drowsiness and Blacked out.

*Stay tuned for more....*