5: This War is Mine

  John watched the girl eat as if there were no tomorrow. Maybe she really haden in a long time, or maybe she simply had a big appetite. He didn't know, but it was certainly surprising how much she could eat in such a short time.

  Did it have something to do with her powers? Energy expenditure? Idle thoughts filled his mind as he pted a future from which he no longer knew what to expect.

  Mutants—John knew about them. When he was younger, he remembered going to see some of the movies iheater, but that was a long time ago. Fortunately, the serum and pound V had done more than just give him an iructible body and immeasurable strength.

  His mind was different. He didn't kly the magnitude of the ge, but now he could perfectly remember things he couldn't before. He didn't know if he would call it perfect memory, as there were still things he "fot" until he o remember them. It was then that his brain brought those memories back with perfect crity.

  That was the case with the girl in front of him. At first, he barely remembered some things, but right now he had almost pletely recalled everything he knew about mutants, which holy wasn't much since he had only seen the movies.

  And in the movies, this girl shouldn't be around 15 years old at this time.

  And much less be in the same universe as Captain America...

  "What's your name?" he asked, causing the girl to stop and look at him with embarrassment, realizing the strange spectacle she had been making with her hurried eating.

  She quickly swallowed and took a sip of water.

  "Raven, my name is Raven" she responded somewhat hesitantly. John raised an eyebrow.

  "No st name?"

  She shook her head. "I don't think I have one now" Her father had been quite clear with his words as he chased her with his rifle.

  "Well, I suppose that's obvious, but you call me Johe his heroiame, people also knew his civilian name. Raven smiled a little and nodded, her nervousness still there but slightly calmed.

  "Where do you wao start?" he asked, sitting down in front of her. John didn't kly what to do with the young "mutant" She was a variable, something that could derail all his pns, if it was still possible to carry them out. If she existed, how many others existed? How many others were on Red Skull's side? The Nazis' side?

  A fight that should have been simple could end very badly if he wasn't careful.

  He wondered if this was the work of V, a final "Screw you, did you think it would be that easy?" just to mess with him.

  Raven straightened up and looked at her now blue hands. It was very strange for her, feeling the ge. What was it? Why her? She still hadn't fully processed the events of the st day, so she didn't kly what she was supposed to do. But she was clear about ohing: she wao know what was happening to her.

  "What's happening to me?" she asked hesitantly.

  John sighed inwardly. It was time to improvise. Siants were in this world, he had to seriously ge his approach. It was still early enough iory to make signifit ges. Maybe... he could ge how the world perceived mutants if he pyed his cards right.

  Of course, his focus wouldn't suddenly shift solely to mutants. He was Captain America! His story was still in its infancy. Whether he could ge the fate of mutants or not was merely sedary in parison if the world ended up as a Nazi dystopia.

  "Well, how much do you know about biology?"

  Raven blinked and tilted her head to one side.

  "Bio-what?"

  John looked at her. Right, it was the 40s...

  He had fotten that women hadn't had real access to... well, almost anything iimes.

  Of course, there were special cases like Agent Carter and other women in the army, but aside from them, civilian women still had some serious issues. He didn't really know how serious since he hadn't thought about it until now.

  Raven must be around 15 years old. If her family was siderate, she should have at least goo primary schoht?

  "Let's ge the question. How much do you know about the human body and its evolution?"

  After that, John had to bee a teacher and give a crash course on human biology in two hours. Fortunately, he was quite good at expining, and it helped that he could remember all the important informatioim.

  "So, DNA dictates the traits we i from our retives?" Despite having only gohrough the first year of middle school before her parents decided it was too much of a waste, Raven was able to uand most of the expnation.

  It helped a lot that John was clear and expihings in a way that was easy to follow.

  "Yes, and that's what makes you special" he pointed out, causing a look of fusion to appear on Raven's face.

  John decided it was time to start ging the perception of mutants, beginning with what the mutants themselves thought of themselves. Sure, only Raven was here, but she could spread the knowledge to other mutants and so on.

  "Humans have evolved a lot throughout history. Despite our teological boom starting only a few thousand years ago, the truth is we've been around for millions of years"

  "During all that time, humanity has remained almost the same, with only some minor ges... That is starting to ge slowly but surely"

  Raven listetentively. The answers she was looking for were about to be given to her.

  "To make it easier to uand, you take me as an example. What do you know about a super soldier?"

  Raven nodded, but then frowned and shook her head. She khat Captain America was the only and first super soldier; they said that all the time. It was on his posters, in the neers, even on the radio.

  But what did that really mean? She couldn't say for sure.

  Seeing her doubts, John began to expin.

  "Well, you know how DNA dictates the traits of a human being? Their capacities, whether physiental?" She khat, as John had just expi, so she nodded.

  "The Project Rebirth that I art of was an attempt by the U.S. military to awaken and modify the best traits within human DNA—super strength, super speed, enhanced durability, as well as heightened sehey succeeded, but only with me. Due to the assassination of the lead stist, the project was abandoned"

  John took one of the metal shields he used as props and, with one hand, began to bend it easily until it became a small, perfectly pacted metal sphere, which he hao Raven.

  The girl took the sphere with wide eyes. Although she had heard that Captain America was the stro soldier, she had never really thought about what that meant until now. His strength was beyond human, beyond normal.

  Like her.

  "You could say I am a forced evolution, but you... you are natural" he said, pointing to her blue skin.

  Raven looked at herself once again. Evolution? Somehow, once she obtaihis expnation, her ge stopped seeming "monstrous and strahey say knowledge gives perspective, and those who don't have it tend to ignore what is in front of them, as if judging something as trash when it is actually an invaluable treasure.

  Raven didn't kly what to feel, but she preferred positive feelings over letting herself be carried away by ive ones.

  "You are special because of that. Just like you, there are others art of a cycle of natural evolution—humans, but much more than that. Meta-humans, if we want to give them an appropriate name"

  Mutants? What was that? No, if John had anything to say about it, they would have a better name, ohat didn't depict them as something "unpleasant," but as what they really were.

  "Meta-human..." Raveed the word softly and smiled. She liked how it sounded.

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  "Are you sure about this?" It might have been the fourth time he asked, but John wanted o firmation.

  Beside him, Raven, who now looked like a woman in her early twenties with dark curly hair, nodded emphatically.

  It was the day after their enter, and it was time for John and his team to leave New York for the military barracks to put on a special show for the soldiers.

  "I have nowhere else to go. Wouldn't it be better if I followed you?" she asked, looking at him with pleading eyes.

  John sighed. In any other circumstance, he would have said no, but in this situation, he couldn't just leave her to fend for herself. He didn't know what kind of disaster she could cause if he did.

  "Okay, but remember the rules" he said, making her smile and edly.

  The rules were simple, really: don't mention her real age, don't reveal her powers, and don't act without sulting him.

  ving Edward hadn't been easy either. The guy really thought he had kidnapped Raven from her family or something. her gaze on him had ged a bit, but he didn't say anything after John insisted. Would this be a small stain on his record?

  Fortunately, Raven's current disguise made her age quite well disguised. Although people thought differently iimes than they would iure, John preferred not to have the bel "cradle robber" on his list.

  Speaking of Raven's disguise, they had been experimenting a bit with her powers. She could mimiy appearance, even clothes, texture, hardness, and all other aspects. It was iing how it worked.

  While they were thinking about how to make her blend in, John had suggested "bining" that is, trying to add different types of traits to create a "new" person.

  She had used her inal face, the one she had before ging, but removiaiures that would make her look too young. Likewise, she had ged her hair color and shape, as well as borrowed certaiures from the bodies of the dancers who apanied John on his tour. Somehow, muscle memory and physical ability ied into her new features, and she was able to perfectly mimic their danents and flexibility.

  John then wondered what would happen if she copied him. Would it be a truly "perfect" copy? Would it be as strong and tough as he was? He hadn't suggested it because they were short on time.

  In the end, Raven had obtained a new identity as a young inhabitant of New York whom John had randomly met and decided to take with him out of the blue... If that didn't souly like the best excuse, there was little time to work with, so he had to improvise.

  He hoped to get a better identity for her ter, ohat could withstand the scrutiny of the "curious." For now, they would have to go with this until then.

  What a mess.

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  Raven looked at the base they were sloroag with mixed emotions. This was the first time she had been so far from home. She had been living in New York all her life. She had heard of distant pces before, but she had never had the opportunity to go.

  Now she was here, alongside Captain America! Of course, how she got to this pce wasly how she had wished it would be. But dwelling on that served no purpose at all. She preferred to focus on the now and not to depress herself by remembering how she was forcibly expelled from her home.

  With curious eyes, she looked at all the people around her. Most of them were soldiers and logistics personnel. It was a rge base, and they soon began to walk around the ptil they reached the stage where John would have his enter with the soldiers.

  She saw the ons, the tanks, and the vehicles. It was fasating in a certain se was like seeing a different world. Even though she khey were at war, she never really thought about what it truly meant until now.

  She adjusted the trench coat over her body, a real one and not a copy that John had gotten for her during the journey. After all, it was easier to maintain tration oransformation if she just focused on keeping the shape of her body.

  She g John from the er of her eye, who was talking to "Edward" whom she had barely seen once. Soon, everyone began to hurry to prepare for the presentation.

  She even saw John helping out, either carrying props or setting up the stage. She couldn't find much to do herself apart from helping where she could. She didn't know anyone, but she had always been good at adapting, and soon she mao do some simple tasks to keep herself busy.

  In no time, the pce began to fill up more and more with soldiers. The stage was set, and John prepared to go up. Not knowing what else to do, she stayed behind the stage with other people, watg him. Somehow, his face seemed much more serious than before. She didn't know if it was because of her new powers or something else, but she had started to bee quite good at reading people's expressions and body nguage.

  .

  John stepped onto the stage and looked at the clustered soldiers, sitting on the ground, standing, perched on some vehicle or tank. They all had tired expressions, and he could see some with obvious bandages ohese men were important. John knew he could go to war alone, handle everything himself, eveoughest missions.

  But what sense did that make? Of course, if he wao end the war quickly, that would serve, but John didn't pn on doing that. He was an actor; he needed an audience. What was the point of perf if there were no eyes to watch?

  And these soldiers, they would be part of many others who would see him otlefield.

  For some reason, that thought made him hesitate for a sed.

  But it was just a brief sed. He had already made that decision, and ging it now wasn't an option.

  Still, he couldn't help but feel a bitter feeling within him. What had ged? Had he been carried away too mu ret months?

  He cleared his throat and smiled, looking down at the soldiers who were looking at him with boredom and even mockery. It was normal. To them, he was just a circus monkey, a who did propaganda to fund their ons.

  But that would ge soon, once he showed what he was really capable of, once he went to war. He approached the microphone and began to speak.

  "I know most of you are here for the dancers, I mean, I don't bme you, Have you seen those legs?" he said, pointing behind him where the girls stood in a row, smiling.

  The soldiers cheered and whistled at them, clearly agreeing with him.

  "But before you enjoy their incredible dance moves, I must give a little speech" this time there were some boos.

  "I know, I know" he raised his hands, calming them down more easily than he expected.

  "I know many of you just want to have a good time after risking your lives on the front lines, and I won't be the oo deny you that. So, I won't beat around the bush. I just want to say a few words to you" he said with all the siy he could muster.

  "Despite eople may believe, I know the true heroes are here, in front of me. Your effort and sacrifice are a great inspiration to me and all the citizens of this try. It inspires us to stand tall and keep fighting for what is right because we know that no matter how difficult htening the future may seem, as long as you stand, as long as you keep fighting, this world will see a future where dignity, honor, and justice bee a reality for us all"

  "So, today, I thank you on behalf of every man, woman, and child in this world. I express my deepest and si gratitude for your efforts, for your struggle, and for your sacrifices.... Thank you very much!" he bowed slightly.

  There was silehen John straightened up and smiled.

  "Now, I'll let these beautiful women thank you in their own way" he winked, and the music started along with the appuse and cheers from the crowd. The dancers came to the front of the stage as Johed.

  He reached Raven's side and couldn't help but take a deep breath.

  "What did you think? Do you think I did well?" He had never asked ahis before because he had hought too much about his previous speeches, but this was different. Speaking face to face with those people who would likely die because of him felt mueaningful than speaking to a group of civilians only to have them spend their money on bonds.

  "I think it was very sincere. I'm sure they liked it" Raven said. She could see the faces of some soldiers, and while most barely showed any expression during the speech, some of them were more expressive as they listened. From what she could tell, there were some small smiles on their faces.

  john nodded with some hesitation and looked at the sky, which was starting to cloud over. It looked like it was going to rain.

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  The show ended, and Raven had returo where they would be staying until further notice, while John walked through the barracks watg as ambunces arrived with more and more wounded soldiers. The tents were full, and thanks to his enhanced hearing, he could hear their cries of pain and agony as if they were right o his ear.

  It was strangely heartbreaking.

  John hought he would feel any kind ret for his as. When he arrived in this world and spent a month in training before being a super soldier, he had been quite sure of the path to follow.

  The sacrifices that o be made.

  "Brings out the worst and the best in you, huh..." Who would have thought? The one who had never sidered himself a good person actually had some sce within him.

  How foolish.

  Because just as that small spark of sce had illumihe bzing fire that was his desire for success had dohe same.

  Regret, sorroain, he could allow himself to feel them in private, as hypocritical as it was, but no matter what, it wouldn't interfere with what he had already decided to do.

  And so what if thousands died because of him? In the end, he would save millions. In the end, he would create a better world. When all was said and done, his name would be hailed for eternity, and the ashes of those who died would be the foundation and pilr upon which a more prosperous tomorrow would be built.

  Maybe when that moment came, V wouldn't even have t him down; he would have earned himself a VIP pass to hell.

  "It's a bance, just pe" he only had to make the weight of his as lean towards the right side.

  "John!" a voiapped him out of his deep thoughts, and he looked up to see a familiar face, the red hair was quite distinctive.

  "Hey, Agent" he raised his hand, feigning surprise, though the truth was he had been expeg to meet her soon.

  She approached him with a small smile.

  "I saw the presentation, I didn't expect to see that side of the Great Captain America" she said, emphasizi words, and John feigned a grimace.

  "I thought it was the right thing to do. I didn't e to sell bonds, not today at least" he said wearily, causing his shoulders to slump a little.

  "And is that all you want to do? Give shows and jump on stage to sell bonds?" Carter said with some reproa her voice.

  "Do you think I'm a dang monkey, Agent?" he suddenly asked, lookiraight in the eyes, sileng her.

  "I didn't mean-" Carter began, but John cut her off.

  "Because I do. I think I'm just the circus monkey when I could be more, do more. I see this pce, the men fighting for their lives every day, and I 't help but wonder what the hell I'm doing"

  Johured towards the tents, the amburansp the wounded, and the soldiers with bandages c their bodies.

  "Every day sihe serum entered my body, I wonder if what I'm doing is right. Are my as really helping? Is this all I do for this world? Is this the only way?"

  Agent Carter looked at him and shook her head.

  "This is not your only option," she said softly. As they spoke, activity in the area increased, with more wounded arriving every moment. John frowned, and seeing how he looked at the soldiers, Agent Carter had an idea.

  "Do you know what happeo them?" the agent asked, catg John's attention.

  "Something horrible, I imagihey seem to have traveled to hell" he said, watg as they pulled a man without both legs out of one of the ambunces.

  "Surely they did. A few days ago, Hydra sent a ype of troops never seen before to the front liwo hundred of our men entered them, ahan fifty returned" Agent Carter expined grimly.

  John silently gazed at the wounded in the distance.

  "What happeo the others?" he asked.

  "Dead if they were lucky, but most likely captured. There are reports that Hydra is using our men as sves, f them to work for them" she replied.

  John furrowed his brows deeply.

  "And what is the army doing about it? Are they going to rescue them or-" his words were cut off by Agent Carter.

  "No" she said, shaking her head and looking at him seriously.

  "The army won't do anything for them. They have no pns to save them"

  John stood still and silent. Without saying another word, he began to walk with firm steps towards the main station of the barracks.

  Watg him go with determination shining in his eyes, Agent Carter couldn't help but wonder if she was doing the right thing.

  But there was no other way. Hydra had advaoo far; rumors spoke of ons never seen before, capable of turning a man's body to dust instantly with a single shot.

  on soldiers could never win anymore. They needed something more, something stronger.

  And John was all they had. Sighing inwardly, the agent began to follow him. There was no time fret; war never waited for anyone.

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  Johered with hurried steps and stood in front of el Philips's desk. the man was signier after letter for families who had lost one of their own on this day..

  "el" John's voice made him pause and look up to meet his gaze.

  "Well, look who it is, America's favorite dancer! What do you want now, boy? I don't have time to waste; I have another dozeers to sign" bitterness crept into his voice towards the end.

  John gnced quickly at the map behind the el, though he already had a mental image of it. It was better to firm than to rely on memories that he wasn't sure were still reliable.

  "I came to inform you" John said, causing the el to look at him again with fusion.

  "What do you mean?"

  Joh his gaze and spoke loudly enough for everyone around to hear. Agent Carter stood behind him, listening ily, as she wasly sure what he was going to do.

  "I know many of the men for whom you're signing those letters are still alive. I know you have no pns to rescue them"

  The el stood up immediately.

  "Watch your words boy! Do you think it's so easy to open your mouth and speak without knowing?!" His palm crashed against his desk, making a loud sound.

  "Do you think it's my choice to abandon those men?!" the el asked loudly.

  John looked directly at him.

  "No, I don't believe it's your choice. I believe you have no choice, and that's why I'm here" John took a deep breath.

  "The st time we met, you told me you didn't need me, that one man was useless to the army. But you were wrong and I won't wait any longer; not anymore."

  The el smirked and asked sarcastically with a low ugh.

  "And what will you do, soldier? Will you take that silly shield of yours and go 50 kilometers behind enemy lines? Veo one of the most fortified territories in the world where hundreds of men die daily? All by yourself?" He ughed aloud, and some of the soldiers around joined in.

  "Yes, sir, I will" John's voice cut through their ughter, causing everyoo look at him as if he were foolish.

  "I know you don't trust me, and I don't care. I know you have no choice, but I do. I will do this, and I hope you won't stand in my way"

  The el's expression turned into ce.

  "Have you gone mad?! This isn't a game or one of your stupid shows! This is a battlefield where thousands of lives are lost every day! Dang steps and flowery speeches won't work here, soldier! This is war!" The el breathed heavily before sitting back down and speaking seriously with a thick, heavy voice.

  "Now get out of here and stop this nonsense. You have another show to give tomorrow. Remember your pce, boy. This war is for real soldiers, not dancers" the el stopped looking at him and began signing doleters once more, paying no more attention. All the other soldiers and army members around chuckled uheir breath auro their duties almost simultaneously.

  Agent Carter at his side was the only one who didn't ugh.

  John o her and turned away, starting to leave.

  "It is, sir. But don't fet that This war is mioo"

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  Note:

  What do you think? I'm still w on the speeches, it's actually more plicated than I thought. As always, your critiques, advice, and suggestions are wele.

  I think that the preparation time has been enough, the war is ing and with it the really iing things begin!

  The update of SuperSoldier is now avaible on Patreon (patreon.maCruzader) If you don't want to wait for a public update, you take a look at it n.n