Ruined in the Shadows
Chapter 04
"Skylar?" Bruce asks, knocking on the door. "Skylar, I'm coming in." He appears in the doorway. His facial expression is sympathetic.
"So did you pull the short straw?" I crack, taking another swig of vodka.
"No... well, I suppose. But I wanted to come. May I sit?" He wipes his sweaty palms on his hands and gestures to the floor next to me.
"Sure, I guess." I shrug my shoulders and scoot over a little bit.
"Thanks," he mutters. He looks around the room. "Did you do that?" He asks in amazement, pointing over at the destroyed vanity and dressers.
"Yup!" I say with a blank look on my face. I take another drink.
"Oh." Bruce looks over at the bottle. "Can I have some?" He asks.
I know he is jus trying to make me feel better and stuff. No harm in that. I think it's kind of sweet. "Knock yourself out." I hand him the container, still looking straight across the room.
He takes quite a large sip. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asks plainly.
"No," I mumble. My eyes are fixed on the small door handle of my walk-in closet. I stare at the little rounded piece of brass. It has beautiful carvings in it. I wonder how much Tony paid for it. After a few more moments of silence, I finally crack. I move my gaze from the door handle to Bruce's shoe. "Hey, Bruce, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, Skylar," He says, looking down at me.
"It's kind of personal but whatever. When you tried to... commit suicide, what were you feeling?" I finally look up to make eye contact with him. I duck my head slightly, scared of his reaction.
Bruce just looks away. He clears his throat. "I felt so helpess. I was so angry with myself and what I had become. I was so depressed that I didn't even want to get out of the bed in the morning. My hold world was falling apart. I felt like such... a, a monster." He looks back to make eye contact with me.
I stare deep into his brown eyes. I never realized how pretty they are. "I know what that's like..." I whisper softly. I continue to stare him for another moment and then I look down at my hands on my lap. "To feel like you can't control anything. That your life is just... on giant ball of rage--"
"--Literally!" Bruce jokes.
I smile, my eyes still fixed on my fingers as I pick at my cuticles. "It scares me how powerful I'm getting. I mean, it's obvious to me now that I was able to take out all those doughboys. But how? And something I just wonder is 'Why me?' Why was I the one who was burdened with all of this?"
Bruce sits to think for a moment. "Maybe because someone, somewhere knows you can handle it."
I look back up at my friend. "Maybe you're right." I half smile.
Another few moments of silence pass until Bruce speaks. "Listen, I can't take it anymore. I gotta ask... well, not really ask but tell. We really need to run some tests on you."
"I thought you already ran tests on me when I was in a coma? Do you really need to do more?" My brows scrunch together.
"I really could only run a resticted amount of tests due to the fact you were comatose. It seems you only can access your powers when you're at a level of high energy so therefore I could not test the limits of your powers if you were out of it.
"Okay, sure." I shrug.
"Well, I would really like to do it as soon as possible... just in case."
"Alright, let's do it now. Do you have the stuff for it?" I stand up, holding out my hand.
"Now? Uh, yeah, I do. Tony made sure we were ready for you." He grabs my hands and lifts himself up.
We make our way down the hallway. I speed ahead, beating him to the elevator. I hit the button multiple times, excited to find out more about myself and what is going on with my body. We both step into the elaborate metal box together and Bruce hits the button to send us down to the basement. Thankfully, we'll get to avoid everyone else.
"Here we are," Bruce says happily as we enter his laboratory. He is in his prime.
"Wow, so shiny!" I say, giggling. "So what kinds of tests are we gonna be doing on me, Doc?" I have really perked up.
He picks up a clipboard. "We'll be running a number of tests that will hopefully measure the limits on your powers and abilities. I'll have you run on a treadmill, box, etcetera. But first I'll need you to remove your shoes, pants and shirt." He gestures with a pen toward my body.
"Whoa, Doc, you're gonna need to buy me dinner first," I joke. He gives me an uneasy look. "I'm kidding!" I take off my clothes and sit down on the cot next to Bruce's desk.
He grabs a bunch of wires. "I'm going to put these electrodes on your body to monitor your vital sides." Bruces sticks them on my forehead, chest, arms, legs, abdomen--pretty much all over. "You can put that hospital gown on now." He motions to the dress on the bed next to me.
"What's first?" I ask, ready to get started.
"The treadmill." He leads the way to a high-tech treadmill in a different part of the room. "I'll let you know when you need to stop running."
"Running? Ugh! I hate running. It's so boring," I whine. "Can I play some music?"
"Uh, sure." He rubs his chin and readies his pen.
I skip over to the computer screen on the wall over by the door. "JARVIS?"
"Yes, Miss Skylar?" The artificial intelligence answers.
"Play Linkin Park, please!" I say joyfully.
"Yes, Skylar," he says.
In less than a second, "Roads Untraveled" by Linkin Park is playing and I slide on the tile with my socks back over by the treadmill. "Let's do this!" I hop on it and Bruce sets the settings.
After a few minutes of jogging, a thought pops into my head. "You know what?" I says in a choppy voice.
"What?" Bruce asks, not looking up from his clipboard or tablet computer. He is using it to track my heart rate and brain patterns.
"We're not that different, you and I." I gesture between us. I can feel my hair bouncing up and down against my shoulders.
"How so?" He finally looks up.
"Well, both our powers activate when our heart rate and adrenaline levels get too high. And we were both exposed to gamma radiation. I wonder why I never realized this before." I put a thoughful expression on.
"Yeah, I guess we are kind of similar. At least you have control when you're all powered-up though," he points out.
"That's not necessarily true. It seems like I'm in control and technically I am but it's not really me. It's almost like... the evil, vengeful side of me. It's not fun at all. But I guess it gets the job done. I saw the opportunity to save you all and the world so I took it. I didn't second-guess myself, because I care about you guys so much. You're the only family I have ever known."
"Well, that's very noble of you. I honestly don't know where the Avengers would be without you--wait a second!" Bruce's eyes widen.
"What? What is it?" I ask, frantic.
"It's your brain activity. Right when you began talking about the battle, it changed. Your brain waves started lighting up! I'm not exactly sure what happened." He pushes his glasses up farther on the bridge of his nose. "It just... changed." He looks off into space, pondering.
"Well, what should we do?" I start slowing my pace.
"There's really nothing we can do. I think we should move onto something else..." He begins to walk away.
"Oh, thank God!" I jump off the treadmill and follow Bruce. "What's next?"
"Boxing," he says.
"Aw, hell yes!" I exclaim, pumping my fist in the air.
Bruce takes blood draws blood to run tests. I then change out of my gown and Bruce takes off the electrodes. He has me put on a body suit that has built-in electrodes that he can monitor wirelessly. "Why didn't I just wear this while I was running?"
"I don't know..." he trails off.
I stand in front of the boxing dummie, strapping on my boxing gloves. "What do you want me to do?"
Bruce stands behind the dummie, facing me and looks me deep in the eyes. "I want you to think really hard." His voice is serious and cautious. "I want you think about all the battles that we have fought together--maybe even the ones that you have fought on your own. I need you to focus all your anger on this. Maybe even think about your fight with Steve. What ever you need to do."
I nod, filling my mind with these memories. I remember The Man and all the awful things he did to me. I think about Loki and his evil schemes that cost so many people their lives. I think about Arnim Zola's incredulous attempt at taking over the capitol. I remember the feeling of being lifted up into the sky and creating that orb of light. I think about my fight with Steve and how angry and frustrated I was. I begin to punch the dummie as hard I can.
"Yes, Skylar! Perfect!" Bruce exclaims, staring at his tablet.
Sweat seems to pour from my brow and hairline as I punch harder and harder. I can feel my adrenaline levels reach higher and higher. The sound of Bruce's voice cheering me on begins quieter and quieter. It's just muffled sounds now. I can feel my eyes start to glow white. I then stop punching. I feel the urge to attack something. I turn toward the right and hold out my arms. I fold my hands into a gun shape and shoot light all across the room, destroying the wall. I scream as I do so. When the light finally ceases, I feel light-headed and then I fall to the ground, unconcious.
"So did you pull the short straw?" I crack, taking another swig of vodka.
"No... well, I suppose. But I wanted to come. May I sit?" He wipes his sweaty palms on his hands and gestures to the floor next to me.
"Sure, I guess." I shrug my shoulders and scoot over a little bit.
"Thanks," he mutters. He looks around the room. "Did you do that?" He asks in amazement, pointing over at the destroyed vanity and dressers.
"Yup!" I say with a blank look on my face. I take another drink.
"Oh." Bruce looks over at the bottle. "Can I have some?" He asks.
I know he is jus trying to make me feel better and stuff. No harm in that. I think it's kind of sweet. "Knock yourself out." I hand him the container, still looking straight across the room.
He takes quite a large sip. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asks plainly.
"No," I mumble. My eyes are fixed on the small door handle of my walk-in closet. I stare at the little rounded piece of brass. It has beautiful carvings in it. I wonder how much Tony paid for it. After a few more moments of silence, I finally crack. I move my gaze from the door handle to Bruce's shoe. "Hey, Bruce, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, Skylar," He says, looking down at me.
"It's kind of personal but whatever. When you tried to... commit suicide, what were you feeling?" I finally look up to make eye contact with him. I duck my head slightly, scared of his reaction.
Bruce just looks away. He clears his throat. "I felt so helpess. I was so angry with myself and what I had become. I was so depressed that I didn't even want to get out of the bed in the morning. My hold world was falling apart. I felt like such... a, a monster." He looks back to make eye contact with me.
I stare deep into his brown eyes. I never realized how pretty they are. "I know what that's like..." I whisper softly. I continue to stare him for another moment and then I look down at my hands on my lap. "To feel like you can't control anything. That your life is just... on giant ball of rage--"
"--Literally!" Bruce jokes.
I smile, my eyes still fixed on my fingers as I pick at my cuticles. "It scares me how powerful I'm getting. I mean, it's obvious to me now that I was able to take out all those doughboys. But how? And something I just wonder is 'Why me?' Why was I the one who was burdened with all of this?"
Bruce sits to think for a moment. "Maybe because someone, somewhere knows you can handle it."
I look back up at my friend. "Maybe you're right." I half smile.
Another few moments of silence pass until Bruce speaks. "Listen, I can't take it anymore. I gotta ask... well, not really ask but tell. We really need to run some tests on you."
"I thought you already ran tests on me when I was in a coma? Do you really need to do more?" My brows scrunch together.
"I really could only run a resticted amount of tests due to the fact you were comatose. It seems you only can access your powers when you're at a level of high energy so therefore I could not test the limits of your powers if you were out of it.
"Okay, sure." I shrug.
"Well, I would really like to do it as soon as possible... just in case."
"Alright, let's do it now. Do you have the stuff for it?" I stand up, holding out my hand.
"Now? Uh, yeah, I do. Tony made sure we were ready for you." He grabs my hands and lifts himself up.
We make our way down the hallway. I speed ahead, beating him to the elevator. I hit the button multiple times, excited to find out more about myself and what is going on with my body. We both step into the elaborate metal box together and Bruce hits the button to send us down to the basement. Thankfully, we'll get to avoid everyone else.
"Here we are," Bruce says happily as we enter his laboratory. He is in his prime.
"Wow, so shiny!" I say, giggling. "So what kinds of tests are we gonna be doing on me, Doc?" I have really perked up.
He picks up a clipboard. "We'll be running a number of tests that will hopefully measure the limits on your powers and abilities. I'll have you run on a treadmill, box, etcetera. But first I'll need you to remove your shoes, pants and shirt." He gestures with a pen toward my body.
"Whoa, Doc, you're gonna need to buy me dinner first," I joke. He gives me an uneasy look. "I'm kidding!" I take off my clothes and sit down on the cot next to Bruce's desk.
He grabs a bunch of wires. "I'm going to put these electrodes on your body to monitor your vital sides." Bruces sticks them on my forehead, chest, arms, legs, abdomen--pretty much all over. "You can put that hospital gown on now." He motions to the dress on the bed next to me.
"What's first?" I ask, ready to get started.
"The treadmill." He leads the way to a high-tech treadmill in a different part of the room. "I'll let you know when you need to stop running."
"Running? Ugh! I hate running. It's so boring," I whine. "Can I play some music?"
"Uh, sure." He rubs his chin and readies his pen.
I skip over to the computer screen on the wall over by the door. "JARVIS?"
"Yes, Miss Skylar?" The artificial intelligence answers.
"Play Linkin Park, please!" I say joyfully.
"Yes, Skylar," he says.
In less than a second, "Roads Untraveled" by Linkin Park is playing and I slide on the tile with my socks back over by the treadmill. "Let's do this!" I hop on it and Bruce sets the settings.
After a few minutes of jogging, a thought pops into my head. "You know what?" I says in a choppy voice.
"What?" Bruce asks, not looking up from his clipboard or tablet computer. He is using it to track my heart rate and brain patterns.
"We're not that different, you and I." I gesture between us. I can feel my hair bouncing up and down against my shoulders.
"How so?" He finally looks up.
"Well, both our powers activate when our heart rate and adrenaline levels get too high. And we were both exposed to gamma radiation. I wonder why I never realized this before." I put a thoughful expression on.
"Yeah, I guess we are kind of similar. At least you have control when you're all powered-up though," he points out.
"That's not necessarily true. It seems like I'm in control and technically I am but it's not really me. It's almost like... the evil, vengeful side of me. It's not fun at all. But I guess it gets the job done. I saw the opportunity to save you all and the world so I took it. I didn't second-guess myself, because I care about you guys so much. You're the only family I have ever known."
"Well, that's very noble of you. I honestly don't know where the Avengers would be without you--wait a second!" Bruce's eyes widen.
"What? What is it?" I ask, frantic.
"It's your brain activity. Right when you began talking about the battle, it changed. Your brain waves started lighting up! I'm not exactly sure what happened." He pushes his glasses up farther on the bridge of his nose. "It just... changed." He looks off into space, pondering.
"Well, what should we do?" I start slowing my pace.
"There's really nothing we can do. I think we should move onto something else..." He begins to walk away.
"Oh, thank God!" I jump off the treadmill and follow Bruce. "What's next?"
"Boxing," he says.
"Aw, hell yes!" I exclaim, pumping my fist in the air.
Bruce takes blood draws blood to run tests. I then change out of my gown and Bruce takes off the electrodes. He has me put on a body suit that has built-in electrodes that he can monitor wirelessly. "Why didn't I just wear this while I was running?"
"I don't know..." he trails off.
I stand in front of the boxing dummie, strapping on my boxing gloves. "What do you want me to do?"
Bruce stands behind the dummie, facing me and looks me deep in the eyes. "I want you to think really hard." His voice is serious and cautious. "I want you think about all the battles that we have fought together--maybe even the ones that you have fought on your own. I need you to focus all your anger on this. Maybe even think about your fight with Steve. What ever you need to do."
I nod, filling my mind with these memories. I remember The Man and all the awful things he did to me. I think about Loki and his evil schemes that cost so many people their lives. I think about Arnim Zola's incredulous attempt at taking over the capitol. I remember the feeling of being lifted up into the sky and creating that orb of light. I think about my fight with Steve and how angry and frustrated I was. I begin to punch the dummie as hard I can.
"Yes, Skylar! Perfect!" Bruce exclaims, staring at his tablet.
Sweat seems to pour from my brow and hairline as I punch harder and harder. I can feel my adrenaline levels reach higher and higher. The sound of Bruce's voice cheering me on begins quieter and quieter. It's just muffled sounds now. I can feel my eyes start to glow white. I then stop punching. I feel the urge to attack something. I turn toward the right and hold out my arms. I fold my hands into a gun shape and shoot light all across the room, destroying the wall. I scream as I do so. When the light finally ceases, I feel light-headed and then I fall to the ground, unconcious.
5/23/13