"Well, well, well, look who's in a pickle now." I laughed with teary eyes at Tony Stark while he slumped his shoulders in defeat with homicidal rage in his eye.
One may even gain immortality if they laugh as hard as I did today, not just live longer.
I collected myself and strutted down the halls of the temporary facility, making my way toward Hanson's lab.
I arrived at her door and gave it a solid knock, trying to sound all polite and stuff.
"Hey, can I crash the party?" I called out to the lab-hermit scientist.
The moment I swung open the door to Maya Hanson's lab, I was confronted by a wave of organized chaos that was comparable to a junkyard that had been hit by an earthquake. Equipment, monitors, and scientific instruments were arranged in a way that would cause Marie Kondo to have a breakdown. It was like a mad scientist's fantasy come true. Dear Stan Lee, did the place smell like chemicals floating in the air? It may have been barely noticeable, but it kept tickling my Kryptonian nostrils, giving me the uneasy feeling that if I stayed too long, I could grow an extra limb.
As I walked further into the lab, I could see Maya hunched over her workstation, her eyes fixated on the screen in front of her. She paid no mind to me whatsoever.
So I just made myself home and walked into a cage that was holding a raccoon codenamed Rascal, and I played with it before it breathed fire in my face.
"Whoa, hold your horses there, little dude!" I blurted out, my face on the receiving end of a fiery surprise. Clearly, Rascal wasn't too thrilled with my presence.
I was relieved that Maya was too preoccupied with what she was doing at the moment to notice my undamaged face, but now I was both surprised and intrigued and also concerned about the safety standards in Maya's lab.
"Hey, Maya! Looks like you've been doing some serious work here, but I gotta say, turning animals into fire-breathing creatures might not be the best idea," I commented, shooting a glare at the grumpy, mischievous raccoon.
"lady, Seriously. a fire-breathing raccoon?" I added, hoping to convey my concern while silently questioning the sanity of the situation.
"But hey, from what I see, you've made some serious progress in the synthesis of the serum; give me a rundown of progress so far," I said, momentarily distracted by a nearby contraption that seemed to be begging for my curious fingers.
I couldn't resist and started fiddling with it, unable to keep my hands to myself for even a moment.
"Alright, spill the beans, Maya! Give me the juicy details on how far you've come," I pressed, my eyes darting between the gadget in front of me, but Maya was still paying no attention to me.
'I guess she didn't even notice me," I mused to myself.
I took a few steps forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. And boy, did she react! In a split second, she jumped sky-high, reaching for a strange contraption pointing it at me like it was a wild west standoff with eyes full of sheer terror, but I couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh at the poor, scared scientist.
Maybe she still had PTSD from her days with her old employer.
"Hey, hey, hey, take it easy. It's just me," I reassured Maya, as she started finally removing her earphones and recognizing me.
"I didn't mean to give you a heart attack," I add, trying to ease the tension.
"Uhhh hey, so- sorry, I didn't mean to... I was knee-deep in my work," she said, starting to fidget nervously.
"No worries at all, Maya. It was my fault for startling you. I actually came here to check on the progress, and based on my brief encounter with our fiery friend, Rascal, it seems like you've made some real headway, am I right?" I inquired
The moment I asked Maya about her work, her face transformed into a grin so wide that it could give the Joker a run for his money. It was the kind of smile you'd expect from a mad scientist.
"Um, Maya, I hope that smile means you've made some incredible breakthroughs and not that you've accidentally summoned the apocalypse in your lab," I joked, though a hint of genuine concern lingered in my voice.
"What? Oh, no. Well, I'm still working on synthesizing your formula, but the raccoon is enhanced with my version of the serum. I used a distilled version of your formula to bring my own version to life, testing the limits and abilities so I can better work on Extremis 2.0," she started to explain.
"Oh, that explains it. But what about my version of the formula?" I asked.
"Well, your formula is light years ahead of mine. I mean, seriously, I can't wrap my head around how you came up with it out of thin air," she said, rushing to a terminal to show me.
"The nano-mite synthesizer catalyst your version uses makes it more adaptable to a whole bunch of other things, and it can do way more than just regeneration and give exothermic abilities. But here's the catch, the claytronics needed to make the primer work are impossible to create. The first version uses biological replicators inside our body to whip up the nanites, but this one will need something better, something way more advanced, to kickstart the replication process," she explained, explaining what I already knew.
You see, the formula I provided to Dr. Hansen is just a piece of the puzzle in my future plan, and it has a crucial ingredient only I can provide.
This will not only make Extremis more potent and versatile to smooth my future plans, but it will also safeguard Extremis should it ever fall into the wrong hands.
Even Maya couldn't create it if I didn't provide the Unobtainium synthesizer catalyst, which I can easily make in bulk with the help of the molecular assembly machine back on the ship, but she already knows how to make the base version of the serum.
Helping Maya with her work and giving her the formula can already be called "risk," as can entrusting such power to a single individual.
But I am no fool to make such a rookie mistake; I have made a lot of safeguards and redundancies to keep the whole process of extremist synthesis under my sole control and command. Even deep within the formula are protocols that would always keep me ahead of anyone who tries to cross me; let's call it "a surprise tool that will help us later".
"Maya, you don't have to worry about the synthesizer catalyst; focus on the base serum synthesis and smoothing out everything for now, okay?" I assured her.
"Yes, but what about the recipients? They've got to be in tip-top genetic shape and in peak physical condition to stand a chance of surviving the whole process. We'll need an already-made super soldier, but you may as well pull one out of your ass as you did the other things." Maya chuckled and swiftly turned her attention back to her workstation, her fingers dancing across the keyboard.
"As I always say, Maya, you focus on your work, and I'll handle mine. Now, I'll leave you to it. Good luck," I said, giving her a playful wink. "Oh, and just a friendly reminder, no fire-breathing animals, alright? Did I make that crystal clear?" I added, shooting a glare in the direction of the mischievous raccoon.
Just as I was about to make my exit, Maya called out to me.
"Hey, Brightburn, wait," she said and paused while looking at me with deep eyes for a moment.
I arched an eyebrow in response. "Yes?"
She hesitated for a moment, her gaze piercing into my soul. "I've been meaning to ask you something," she said, her tone dripping with curiosity.
"Shoot," I replied, my curiosity reaching epic proportions to match hers.
"You," she simply stated.
"me?" I asked, confused and scratching my head at her not-so-question question.
"Yes, you. You came out of nowhere knowing everything about my research; you saved my son also from what I found out; you indeed crippled Aldrich Killian in the process," she rattled off, listing my supposedly "extraordinary" achievements.
"Also, you pull a groundbreaking formula out of nowhere; I mean, seriously, it would take a century and a quantum computer to calculate, so that leaves me with a lot of questions: who the heck are you? Where do you get your resources? What's your endgame?" Maya demanded, her frustration starting to show.
I just smiled and kept listening to her frustration-induced rant and nodding at everything she asked.
"just my formula would've had anyone settle for it, but not you; you don't even bat an eye to it like it's a Tuesday and not a groundbreaking discovery and you don't even show an interest in taking it; you want more, and this just makes me ask those questions," she finished.
"You know how they say life's too short? Well, they're not kidding. I mean, just think about it. one can never learn about all that exists in our own tiny galaxy let alone the rest of the universe. But me? Oh, I'm on a quest to uncover it all, Maya. Call it an insatiable thirst for knowledge." I started explaining.
I paused a little and added with my hands weaving around in a presenting manner "But here's the thing. humanity as a whole, well, they're like a bunch of kiddos playing in a sandbox, mistaking those little walls as the boundaries of their world. they always settle for what they have and what they can see. And that's precisely why I'm different. I've got my eyes set on horizons that most people can't even fathom. I believe there are no limits to what we can do or achieve, what we have here is nothing and I would never settle for nothing."
"As for my sources and true endgame, well, my dear Maya, that's for me to know and for you to lose sleep over," I said as I flashed her a mischievous smile.
Then I paused for a dramatic effect, locking eyes with Maya.
"Soon all of this will make sense, and all your other questions will be cleared out," I assured her before turning and leaving her lab.
I couldn't help but savor the sense of accomplishment that came over me as the pieces of my grand plan came together without a hitch. I had Ordis by my side, keeping a close eye on all the other moving parts. It was like watching a carefully choreographed dance.
I strolled over to the resident mad scientist, eager to see how their piece of the puzzle was coming along. to ensure that everything was running like a well-oiled machine.
Once I confirmed that all was in order and progress was on track, I jetted off to Antarctica, where the finishing touches of my still-in-progress base awaited me.
Dubbed "Terminus.", the base which would serve as the command center, the nerve center, and the heart of it all.