Rick Myers was a 24-year-old recent graduate of NYU, and was looking at a bright future working at Horizon Labs. He had graduated at the top of his class with a degree in bio-enginerring, and hoped to one day find a cure for the world's worst ailments. He stood six feet tall, with short dark blonde hair and blue eyes, and was wanted by virtually every woman he came across, and some of the guys, too.
Usually Rick spent his time playing video games and hanging out with friends. But today Rick was cleaning out his recently deceased father's storage unit in Queens. Inside the unit was almost a century’s worth of family mementos, dating back to even before his family had immigrated from Germany in WWII, changing their name upon arriving in the United States to avoid persecution. German names were a cause for fear and panic back then, so Rick's grandfather had their name changed the second they set foot on American soil.
As Rick rummaged through the mountains of stuff, trying to decide what to keep, what to donate to charity and what to throw out, he came across a box that belonged to his great grandfather, who had died during the early days of WWII.
“Wow, I wonder what kind of stuff great Granddad was holding onto,” Rick said as he opened the box, only to find files and notebooks. At the bottom of the box, there was a tattered teddy bear. “Really, Grandpa?”
That's when Rick looked at the eye of the bear and noticed something familiar about it.
“No way...,”
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#7
FEB 15 |
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“America vs. Bieber”
Mason City, Iowa
The North Iowa Band Festival was in full swing, as people from all around the state, as well as others from the rest of the country, gathered together to celebrate music. It was a long, time honored tradition and brought people from all cultures together through a love of entertainment.
There were parades, car shows, orchestras and a carnival to help celebrate the heritage of the city. People were laughing, enjoying themselves and didn't have a care in the world…which made it the perfect time for evil to strike.
Jonathon Powers, a.k.a, the Jester, always had to be the center of attention. And in a large celebration such as this, it would take something massive to take center stage from all the sights. And the Jester had just such the thing to do so.
It started with a slight shaking of the earth, which felt like a small tremor. Then it started growing into a larger shake, powerful enough to start knocking things over. The rumbling continued until the trees in the nearby park started to shake rapidly, just as a booming voice was heard in the distance.
“Band competition? I always preferred solo acts!” the Jester laughed insanely as the trees parted, breaking in half and falling to the ground as the Jester's latest toy stomped onto the street, people started running in fear. A twenty-foot-tall Justin Bieber robot loomed over the crowd, before kicking a car over on its side as he walked along. “Why are you running? Don't you want to hear my greatest hit?”
“How about you listen to my greatest hit!” a heroic voice shouted as a flying shield hit the back of the Bieberbot's head, causing it to stumble a bit. The red, white and blue shield rebounded off and returned to the hand of its owner. Captain America stood on the sidewalk, ready to strike again. By his side was his young partner, American Ace.
“Captain America,” the Jester sneered as the Bieberbot turned to face him. “I was expecting a real challenge.”
“Are you sure we can win this fight, sir?” American Ace asked, nervousness in his voice.
“I've faced worse than this. I remember a time when the Avengers had to face an army of Backstreet Boys androids,” Cap replied as the Bieberbot reached down toward him. Cap jumped out of the way and tossed his shield, hitting the Bieberbot's forehead. The hero did a tuck and roll just as the shield returned his hand, while the Bieberbot stumbled back. “You draw his fire, I'll attack its weak spot.”
“Does this thing even have a weak spot?” American Ace asked. The young man rushed out in front of the Bieberbot and struck its leg with an extended bo staff, a weapon that he was still training with.
“You think you can harm me, boy?” Jester asked as he swatted at American Ace, who jumped away. “I'll crush you like an insect!”
Captain America focused his gaze on the Bieberbot, looking for any sign of weakness. That's when he noticed the perfect place to strike. Taking a running leap, Cap jumped and tossed his shield as hard as he could, hitting the back of the robot. The shield sliced right through the left knee, causing the robot's leg to crumple under its own weight.
“What? No!” Jester shouted. “My precious Bieberbot! Do you have any idea how much I had to pay the Tinkerer for this!”
“Next time you terrorize a festival with an annoying popstar, go American,” American Ace told him as the Jester caught him offguard, punching him right in the nose. Before he could land another punch, Captain America caught Jester's arm and uppercut him, sending the villain onto his back.
“You alright, son?” Captain America asked as the words reverberated inside of the young man's head.
“Son? Son? Son?”
“He is not my son! He is unpure! I want him destroyed!”
“Chase?” Captain America whispered, putting a hand on the young man's shoulder. “Snap out of it.”
American Ace blinked a few times and felt his bleeding nose. “Sorry, he just—he just caught me offguard, that's all.”
“Go to the restroom and stop the bleeding, I'll get this clown to the proper authorities” Cap told him.
“I'm a Jester, not a clown!”
Rick had rushed back to his apartment with the teddy bear under his arm, as he searched his pocket for his apartment key.
“Come on, dammit,” Rick muttered to himself as he finally found it. He finally found the key and shoved it into the lock, gaining access to his apartment. He rushed in and headed to his bedroom closet, furiously digging through it until he found an old box filled with childhood memories. Baseball cards, his first Playboy, a workhat from his first job at KFC and several other mementos.
After several minutes of searching, Ricky finally found what he'd been searching for. It was a locket, handed down from father to son for the last few generations. He always thought he was too masculine to wear a locket, but his father insisted he keep it. But the locket was forever locked, with a diamond shaped key that would allow access. A diamond shaped key that looked exactly like the eyes of the teddy bear Rick had discovered at the storage unit.
Rick pulled the eye out of the bear and carefully stuck it into the locket, opening it and discovering the contents inside, which a small folded piece of paper. “The hell?”
Later, Steve and Chase had changed back into their civilian clothes and decided to enjoy the festival. The two strolled down the sidewalk as Steve looked over at his young partner.
“Are you sure you're alright?” Steve asked as he took a bite out of his candied apple. “You've taken harder hits than that.”
“Yeah, it's just that for a second there, I thought I might have... remembered something,” Chase said as he looked down at the ground. “But now it's gone.”
“I know its rough not remembering your past,” Steve told him as he looked over at the young man, “but it'll come back to you, just give it time.”
“What if I remember, and it's something bad?” Chase asked. “What if I was like, molested or something? What if I have amnesia because I don't want to remember?”
“Whatever happened to you, I promise you, none of it was your fault,” Steve told him as he put an arm around his friend's shoulder. “And no matter what you went through, if and when you remember, you've got friends who are going to get you through it.”
In a secret base thousands of miles away, the Red Skull was watching his most hated enemy on a hidden monitor, one of thousands he had all around the world. Each one specifically designed to keep track of Captain America's movements. Destroying the all-American soldier had become an obsession with him, above all else. Even above his dream of world domination. Before anything, Captain America had to be destroyed, not only physically, but mentally.
“The project is nearing completion,” a German scientist said as he sat at the table. “In 72 hours, it will be finished.”
“Then in 72 hours, Captain America's downfall will truly begin,” Red Skull replied. “I have been planning for this moment the second I discovered his ultimate weakness. One that not even he knows he possessed. I have tried breaking his body. I have tried breaking his mind. I have even tried breaking his spirit. But soon...I will destroy all three in one motion.”
“What if he brings the boy with him during the final confrontation?” the scientist asked.
“What if he does? The boy will die just as horribly,” Red Skull replied. “Such is the fate of all who ally themselves with my enemy.”
“So, we'll enjoy the rest of the carnival, get a good night's sleep and head to Chicago first thing tomorrow morning,” Steve told Chase as they watched the battle of the bands while they sat in the bleachers. “I think taking a night off has been good for us, that fight the Jester notwithstanding.”
“You still haven't told me what's in Chicago that's so important,” Chase told him as Steve stared away.
“I'm not sure if you should know just yet,” Steve replied with a sigh.
“What? We're partners, we're supposed to be honest with each other,” Chase said as he looked at the older man. “We're not supposed to be keeping secrets from each other. If something bad's about to go down, shouldn't I know about it?”
“You're right,” Steve told him. “I should have told you the second you agreed to become American Ace. I've been training you, getting you battle ready for a fight that you didn't even realize was coming. I'm going to die, Chase.”
“You're what?” Chase asked. “What? How? You're Captain America! You can't die!”
Steve took a deep breath and told Chase the entire tale about Immortus, and his claim that Captain America would be dead within a year. And how fast the clock was ticking.
“But...you're not dead yet,” Chase told him, staring at Steve sternly. “You don't have to die. The future's not set in stone.”
“Chase, I've defeated Nazis, aliens, mutants and Canadian pop stars. But I just have this feeling that no matter how much I fight it, I'm not going to be able to beat the Grim Reaper,” Steve replied as he stared forward. “And in the offchance that something does happen to me...the world needs a Captain America. We're going to Chicago to get my replacement.”
Rick studied the piece of paper intently, not sure what to make of it. It was an equation, but he had no idea what it added up to. “What does it do? And why did Great Grandpa go through all through all the trouble of hiding it where no one would ever find it?”
Rick pulled out his laptop and started doing a Google search of what he could make out from the equation, plus his grandfather's name to see what came up.
“Sir!” a man at a monitor said as he turned toward the Red Skull. “We just got a ping from an internet search. The key words you told us to key an eye out for...someone's searching for some of them.”
“Ha! I told you my paranoia would pay off,” Red Skull said as he looked at the monitor. “Impossible! Trace this back to its source. I want to know who this person is, and if they can be of use to me.”
“And if they aren't?”
“Then kill them and whoever else is there,” Red Skull replied. “If this is what I think it is, then my lifelong dream of world conquest may be here sooner than I anticipated.”
Later that night, Steve and Chase were asleep in their motel beds, sleeping peacefully. It was close to midnight as Chase started tossing and turning as he started having a dream that seemed horrifyingly familiar.
“He is not my son! He is unpure! I want him destroyed!”
“But he's your son.”
“I have no son. Get this...filth out of my sight.”
“Daddy, please!”
BANG!
Chase bolted awake, covered in sweat and breathing heavily as he looked around. He saw Steve sleeping in his bed and rushed to the bathroom, flipping on the lights as he stared into the mirror.
“Who am I?”
Rick had fallen asleep at his desk after searching the internet for hours. All he could find was the story of his great Grandfather's role in WWII, and how he had helped create one of the greatest heroes of all time. But he still hadn't put 2 and 2 together about the equation, which was safely tucked away in the soul of his sneaker, which was resting comfortably with its partner next to the door.
Rick had a habit of always forgetting where he put things, so by putting it into the bottom of his sneaker it'd be there safely waiting for him when he got ready to go out in the morning. As he slept, he didn't hear the door to his apartment being picked. By the time Rick opened his eyes, it was too late as the ether-covered rag had already placed itself over his mouth, putting him back into dreamland.
Steve had woken up early, as usual, and was getting his morning exercise started as he noticed Chase's bed was empty. Steve normally had trouble getting the young man up before noon, let alone five in the morning, so he quickly deduced that something was wrong. “Chase?”
Steve opened the door and saw Chase sitting on the terrace in his pajama bottoms, just staring into blank space. “Are you alright?”
“I'm starting to remember,” Chase whispered, and continued talking in a calm voice as he recounted what he saw in his dream. “I remember...my dad tried to kill me. He had me shot and tossed into a river. I felt the sting of the bullet in my chest. I felt the coldness of the water. It really happened.”
“I'm sorry, kid,” Steve said as he sat down next to Chase, “but at least it's a start. Maybe more memories will start coming back. Maybe happier ones will start to follow.”
“He said I was unpure,” Chase whispered in a lower tone. “What does that mean? Is there...something wrong with me?”
“You had a full exam before you signed up to travel with me, the doctors found nothing wrong,” Steve replied. “A little asthmatic, but we've got that covered, right? You're still in perfect shape.”
“Then why did my dad hate me enough to have me killed?” Chase asked. “What if he finds out I'm alive and comes after me again?”
“Chase, listen to me, you're my friend and partner,” Steve said as he looked at the young man. “We're in this together. If someone wants to hurt you, he has to come through me. And Steve Rogers always protects the people he cares about. I don't care if Galactus himself wants you, no one's touching a hair on your head.”
“Thanks,” Chase smiled a little. “Who's Galactus?”
Rick woke up in a darkened room, tied to a chair. He had been stripped naked and he felt like he'd been worked over several times. His ears were ringing as his eyes tried to adjust to his surroundings. Eventually he could hear voices somewhere near him.
“We tore his home apart but we found nothing,” a voice said. “We searched him several times, he had nothing on him, or in his clothes. He's clean.”
“I doubt that,” a gruff German accent said as a gunshot was heard, followed by a body hitting the ground. Rick saw something moving in the darkness as a figure stood in the shadows. “Rick Myers…the great grandson of a former ally. I hadn't realized that the turncoat had any family, otherwise I'd have burned their bones the second I knew of their existence.”
“Please, I just want to go home,” Rick pleaded. “I didn't even know my great Granfather.”
“All you need to know is that he was a genius,” the voice replied, “and he left something very important behind. Something which I believe you stumbled upon. Something very important that I've been yearning for the last century. You have it and I want it!”
“What? What are you talking about?” Rick asked as the Red Skull stepped into the light and came face to face with him, his disfigured form just inches from Rick. As Rick stared into the face of the person staring at him, he nearly emptied his bladder right there in pure fear.
“You have the super-soldier serum!”
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To Be Continued...
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