00048. New person in the base

00048. New person in the base AnnouncementHere is the new chapter for the week, hope you enjoy.

Hank had taken Ezekiel’s advice and after meeting Darren Cross, he offered him a special job that wasn’t working for Pym Technologies. Darren at first seemed a little disappointed, but still said yes to the offer because Hank was an idol to him.

But then Darren was tested. It was something Fury, Peggy and Hank had come up with to screen potential members. The process was extremely thorough and once completed, Darren was actually excited to join whatever the project was. He still needed to be vetted, Ezekiel did part of it and went though pretty much any digital trance of Darren’s life and pulled it apart. He went through school records and anything else he could get his hands on. While that was going on, a few other people were talking to everyone Darren knew, teachers, friends, classmates, parents, the guy who owned a deli next to campus he liked to eat at. When they were satisfied with everything, a giant report was submitted to the person doing the psych exam.

While the psych exam was harsh and asked very uncomfortable questions, Darren still passed the psych eval with flying colors. So even though Fury didn’t want to allow a possible future villain to join the group. He was out voted by Ezekiel, Tao, Hank, Bill, Peggy and Steve.

Steve had actually said, “I see no reason we can’t give the man a chance. Ezekiel said he looks up to and idolizes Hank and at some point thought of him as a father figure. The only reason he would turn into a villain is because of how Hank would treat him.”

Steve smiled towards Hank as he said, “If you don’t treat him terribly, I see no reason for him to have any type of change in behavior going forward.”

Ezekiel nodded his head before he said, “Honestly I think he will end up being a great asset to us. I do think we should implement psych eval’s for everyone going forward though and have a check up every three months. Just to make sure everything is fine, what does everyone else think?”

Everyone voted for that motion to pass.

vvvvvvv

Ezekiel walked through the base towards the area Hank used for his laboratory, he had used clones to make the area bigger for the quantum tunnel he was making with the help of Bill and a recent addition to the base. Ezekiel still hadn’t met the man, he was busy with his own projects. But he heard the man was apparently floored when he met Steve, being dead yet still alive and looking like you haven’t aged a day in sixty years has that effect on people.

Ezekiel made it to the room and walked through the open double door. It only took him a moment to find Hank, Bill and Darren in front of a computer that was seated on the observation deck. Ezekiel walked towards them and as he got closer he heard Darren as he said, “I’ve run the model four times now, it’s stable.”

Hank shook his head as he said, “It’s honestly amazing. I can’t believe you came up with a working model in such a short time. But I still don’t see how you were able to do it. It’s so close to my model, yet your model is stable. What did you change?”

Darren beamed as he said, “I changed out some of the component metals with a vibranium composite mix. I had the idea to use vibranium after meeting Steve.”

“His shield gave you the idea?”

Darren nodded his head as he enlarged the model a little and selected all of the components that he changed out. Bill spoke next as he said, “Honestly it’s not a bad idea, but where are we going to find what looks like sixty pounds of vibranium?”

Darren looked back at Bill and smiled as he said, “It’s actually only about twenty pounds, all of those are hybrid metals.”

Hank nodded his head as he said, “That does sound a lot more reasonable, but I think that’s pretty much all the vibranium the world currently has. I don’t know if we could even get it all. That doesn’t include asking Steve if we can melt down his shield...”

Hank looked at Darren as he said, “Could you make some changes to use less vibranium or maybe some other type of hybrid metal?”

Everyone was so absorbed in their conversion that they hadn’t noticed Ezekiel until he said, “I heard you were in the market for some vibranium, I might know where to get some.”

Hank was the first to react and turned around, he had a smile on his face as he asked, “You never knock, do you?

“Not when you leave the door open. Plus you nerds wouldn’t have heard me knocking.”

Bill reached out and shook Ezekiel’s hand as he said, “Takes one to know one.”

Ezekiel smiled back as he asked, “Really? I’d expect something more witty from you.”

Bill had a sheepish smile as he said, “Sorry, I’ve been surrounded by Mary and Ava half the time. I think their childish behavior has been rubbing off on me.”

Ezekiel patted Bill’s shoulder as he nodded and said, "That's a good thing, it will keep you young."

Hank pointed to Darren who had stood up and said, "I don't think you two have met. Darren Cross, I would like you to meet Ezekiel."

Darren reached forward to shake Ezekiel's hand as he said, "It's nice to meet you, Hank said you are the one who is funding everything."

Ezekiel smiled back as they released hands and said, "I do a lot more than just give everyone money. I also find things. Things like vibranium, I overheard you are in need of some?"

Ezekiel found two issues with that though. The first was while Ulysses did steal the vibranium from Wakanda, he stole it for . At least that is what Ezekiel thought about the matter. So since that vibranium was for N'Jobu, it means it should now belong to his son. If he wanted to use the vibranium, he would need to talk with Erik. Something he has been putting off since he was brought here.

Ezekiel stopped at the gym door for a moment, as he reverted to his normal carefree smirk and walked into the gym. Inside he could see Steve and the kids as they ran around the track. Ezekiel took his time as he walked over to where some towels and water bottles were and waited for them to finish up their run. Everyone noticed him pretty quickly, but everyone stayed focused while they finished running two more laps before finally starting to slow down and walked the last half of the track.

Ezekiel greeted everyone with a smile as he asked, “How was the run?”

Mary was sprawled out on the ground as she said, “It was terrible, I hate running.”

Ava was laying next to Mary and just nodded her head in agreement. Grant, Hope, Erik, Cessily and Laura didn’t seem to have an opinion on the matter as they were resting on some of the benches next to the track.

Steve looked like he hadn’t been running at all as he walked close to Ezekiel and said, “It’s a little unexpected to see you here, did something come up?”

Ezekiel nodded his head as he said, “Nothing important, I actually came to find Erik. I wanted to chat with him about something.”

Erik perked up at hearing his name and looked over, but didn’t say anything as Steve said, “Erik? We are almost done, but he could sit out the rest of the workout.”

Ezekiel shook his head as he said, “It’s not a rush. He can finish his workout with you, clean up and then come see me in my work area afterwards.”

Steve glanced over to Erik who was looking at him and Ezekiel. He smiled and asked, “You catch all of that?”

Erik nodded his head as he said, “Yes, sir.”

Steve nodded, then looked back at Ezekiel. Then he let out a sigh as he caught sight of Ezekiel already nearing one of the doors for the gym. He turned back around and he could see most of the kids smiling at him. Steve gave them a playful glare as he asked, “You think that was funny?”

All the kids nodded back and Steve let out a little chuckle as he said, “It might have been for you, but it was kinda rude. Alright, that was enough rest. It’s time to do burpees.”

All the kids let out a groan, but started to get up.

vvvvvv

Erik walked to the door to Ezekiel’s work area and knocked on the door. After a few moments, a young man with black hair opened the door. Erik had seen him a few times, but only ever with Ezekiel. From what he understood, he was somehow related to Ezekiel. Apparently there were a lot of people that were related to Ezekiel who were at the base. But he wasn’t sure how, since most of them looked nothing alike.

The man smiled and stepped back out of the way as he pointed to one side of the room as he said, “Ezekiel said you would be stopping by, he is over there waiting for you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The man shook his head as he said, “Don’t call me sir, you are making me feel old. You know I am only like a year older than you right? Just call me Shisui.”

Erik took another look at the young man in front of him before he said, “Sorry, it’s a habit. I just assumed you were older since you weren’t with me and the other kids.”

Shisui smiled as he said, “Don’t worry about it Erik.”

Erik nodded in return as he said, “It’s nice to meet you Shisui.”

“Same to you.” Shisui stepped out of the way as he said, “I won’t hold you up any longer.”

Erik nodded his head in reply as he walked past Shisui and went to the desk Ezekiel was sitting at. When he reached it he said, “You wanted to speak with me sir?”

Ezekiel smiled as he looked up and said, “You don’t have to use sir with me, honestly I think Steve is the only one who really appreciates it properly. Just call me Ezekiel.”

Erik looked a little unsure as he asked, “Are you sure?”

Ezekiel nodded as he said, “Completely, now sit down and let's have a long overdue talk.”