34: Vibranium

  The work ops increasing. Peggy looked at the stack of papers on her desk with that thought running through her head. Slowly, she took a sip of her freshly brewed coffee, letting its warmth flow through her body, briefly dispelling the m chill.

  She khat being S.W.O.R.D.'s vice director would take a lot of effort, but she had uimated just how much. Fortunately, she wasn’t doing everything alone, or she’d really have headaches—she was too young for that.

  “You seem stressed,” at the ued question, Peggy went o instantly. Her hand immediately moved to the hidden on she always kept close by, but before she could draw it and take off the safety, her brain reized the voice, stopping her movement halfway.

  “John!” She stood up in an instant, a big smile on her face.

  “I hope not to disturb.” John, who had been standing stealthily in a er, said as he began walking toward her with a mischievous smile on his face; clearly, his words weren’t sincere.

  “You almost gave me a heart attack.” Peggy pined with a slight pout on her face, but that slight annoyahin her faded as she felt John close the distaween them and pce his hands on her waist. The warmth of his body on tact had a better effect than the coffee in dispelling the chill of the outside weather.

  “It’s good to see you again, Agent. I hope you didn’t miss me too much.” Peggy wao say that she hadn’t missed him at all, but having him so ade it difficult to deny it. Her traitorous body was too eager to feel his touch again, and John could easily pick up on this. Still, he didn’t make the move, much to Peggy's dissatisfa, who finally moved closer herself, closing the distaween their faces and pressing her lips to his in a kiss that started off chaste but soon began to turn a bit more heated.

  "Should I leave?" The question, asked in an apathetic voice, made Peggy open her eyes and pull away from John in a panic. How had she not realized someone else was there?! Peggy couldn’t help but scold herself for being so careless; it seemed her instincts had lost some of their edge from spending so much time in an office.

  Seeing the acg look she was giving him, John shrugged with an “i” look on his face. After all, it eggy who had initiated things, so it wasn’t his fault, right?

  For her part, Raven, the one responsible for interrupting the intimate momeween them, couldn’t help but find Peggy’s embarrassed and mortified expression iing. It was rare to see su expression on the usually serious woman’s face, and Raven found herself enjoying seeing her break character, even if only for a brief moment.

  Maybe it was a bit petty on her part, but she still hadn’t fotten that whole i in New York, which had robbed her of sleep for several nights. Even if the older woman didn’t know about her part in keeping others from finding her and John during their "fun" moment in the office, for Raven, Peggy was still part of that i. And while she couldn’t "get back" at John, that sideration didend to the vice director of S.W.O.R.D., so, in her opinion, if she was going to be embarrassed, then the woman should be too.

  “Raven, this isn’t…” Peggy wao expiuation but didn’t know how. Her retionship with John was supposed to be secret, at least as far as she knew, so the fact that a team member had withis kind of unprofessional behavior on her part made her want to run and bury her fader a pillow.

  “If you want, I give you some privacy, but I’d advise you to take this to one of the rooms on the base. An office… seems like a bit of a risky pce for doing these kinds of things. After all, it wouldn’t be good if someone found you halfway through, right?” Raven couldn’t help but smile maliciously as she watched Peggy step back, her face shifting from deep red to a slightly bluish hue.

  “Raven, stop b her.” John sighed, deg to interrupt his assistant before she caused Peggy to have a meltdown or something.

  "Buzzkill," Raven rolled her eyes upon hearing him but eventually decided to listen and stopped b Peggy.

  John then had to spend the fifteen minutes calming Peggy down and assurihat Raven wouldn’t say anything about what had happened before the woman was finally able to return to her usual self.

  “Sorry for that embarrassing dispy, Raven,” Peggy, seated once again at her desk, said to Raven with a bit of red still on her cheeks. In respohe girl simply waved her hand dismissively.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve seen worse.” After saying that, Raven couldn’t help but blush and look away from Peggy, who raised an eyebrow, not uanding what the shapeshifter meant.

  Deg to interrupt the versation before Raven said too much, John wisely ged the subject quickly.

  “Let’s fet about this. How have things been going at the base?”

  Peggy could reize an olive branch when she saw one, and not wanting to tihe topic either, she quickly began to catch John up and answer his questions.

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  Later that same day, in Hank’s main boratory.

  When John tasked the stist with beginning resear the “increase” of matter through Pym particles, Dr. Hank Pym wasted no time and started the project immediately. Likewise, Ja, his assistant and the sed person who khe most about Pym particles, was also involved, tributing her own ideas as well as assisting in the more practical experiments.

  After all, to extract Pym particles in a “ventional” way required a long, borious process that took signifit time and resources. Hank was still w on making that process much simpler and more practical, but until he made progress on that front, the best alternative to obtaining rge amounts of Pym particles in an “immediate” and safe way was Ja.

  In some way that Hank still couldn’t uand, Ja’s body tinually produced substantial amounts of high-tration Pym particles, which were perfect for accelerating his researd bringing theory to reality soohan anticipated, making it possible for research that could take years to begin showis in much less time.

  Of course, extrag Pym particles from Ja hadn’t been easy, but with his iy, Hank had mao create a devito which Ja could safely and sistently discharge the particles for ter ste. These particles, uhose he extracted using the ventional method, were a bright yellow color. Hank didn’t know why this ge occurred—why yellow instead of red? Did it have something to do with tration and potency? Or was it something else?

  There was much he didn’t know, and every day the questions seemed to outhe answers. For others, this might have been frustrating, but for a stist like him, it was nothihan exhirating.

  He was eager to uncover all the mysteries of Pym particles.

  "Recharge ready, should we begin?" At Ja’s question, Hank came out of his thoughts and oward the girl, who had been recharging the Pym particle supply in the new mae created for the new project.

  In truth, Hank was quite pleased that the ihat gave Ja her powers had happened. Sure, at first it had seemed rather disastrous, but time had shown that it had actually been absolutely beneficial.

  Whether it was because it allowed him to join S.W.O.R.D. or because it gave him a way to obtain all the Pym particles he would need for his experiments through Ja, no matter how you looked at it, only good things had e from the i.

  Not for the first time, a part of him deep in his mind wondered how difficult it would be to recreate the i, but as quickly as it came, Hank drowhat thought. Not only was the risk too great, but it also wasn’t as if it was necessary. Although he had immense curiosity about the possibilities, Hank was still cautious about human experimentation.

  Even if the inteest subject was himself.

  'Maybe there’s another way that doesn’t require me to modify my entire geic structure.'

  Even with that idea starting to take shape inside him, Hank didn’t fet what he was doing at the moment.

  "Beginni number 79." Just as he was about to start the mae, the sound of the b’s huge metal doors opening made him stop, his brow starting to furrow. He had explicitly told Vice Director Carter that he didn’t want any interruptions during the tests. He hoped it was something important, or he would have serious words with her.

  "John!" Ja’s cheerful voice made Hank’s growing distent disappear. He quickly turned around to find that, indeed, it was el John who had arrived, along with Vice Director Carter, his blonde assistant, and the head of SWORD's stific division, Howard Stark.

  It seemed it was actually something important.

  "Looks like we’ve e at a bad time," John said, looking curiously at the new mae in the ter of the b. It looked a lot like the one Hank had prese the sce fair, where they had first met, but clearly much more advanced, refined, and probably much safer as well.

  "On the trary, el, I actually think this is a great time!" Although he would have preferred to have more time before Johurned, it wasn’t as if Hank had nothing to show. In fact, his advas were signifit enough to be presented.

  "So this is the secret project I haven’t been allowed to get my hands on. I must say I’m quite curious to know what it’s about," Howard ied the b with i. Although he had heard some things from Peggy and John, Howard had been quite busy to pay much attention to it.

  This artly because, uhe other stists at the base, Hank wasn’t under Howard’s direand, even though Howard was the head of SWORD's stific division. It ecial arrahat John had given the man as a show of good faith and a guarahat he could work on his research as he saw fit.

  Soon, the entire group gathered with Hank and Ja, and putting the greetings aside, John got straight to the point of why he had e.

  "Although not much time has passed and it might be a bit rude of me to ask, I would like to know if there has been any substantial progress in the research." Upon hearing this, Hank smiled fidently and pointed proudly at the new mae.

  "The truth is that things have gone much better than expected, and although I would like to take all the credit, the truth is that Miss Van Dyne has been a great help in making everything flow as smoothly as it has up to now." At his words, Ja was a bit surprised. She didn’t expect Dr. Pym to give her credit so suddenly. Although she didn’t know much about the man, she knew he was quite "proud" of himself and his achievements, so it was something ued from him.

  Hearing Hank, John raised an eyebrow. Although he had bet that they would work well together, he khat reality sometimes differed from what he expected. After all, his memories of Hank and Ja were mostly fusing and unclear. Things could have gone wrong, but he was gd they hadn’t.

  Hank then began to expin how he had used Ja’s "powers" to extract rge amounts of Pym particles, which he used to begin experimentation aing at an accelerated pace.

  For Howard, who hadn’t known much about Pym particles beforehand, it was a great surprise to learn of their true properties and potential. At the same time, he couldn’t help but regret not knowing about this earlier.

  "So that’s why you asked me t this," Howard said somewhat bitterly, as he took out a small wooden box made of finely carved oak.

  Hank looked at the box curiously, though he suspected what might be ihat didn’t stop him from gettied when Howard ope and revealed the tents.

  "Raw vibranium, well, crumbs of raw vibranium, actually. Barely a quarter of a gram." When Howard obtaihe vibranium, he had kept these small samples as a reminder before proceeding to refine everything else and create John’s shield. It was su insignifit amount that it was good for nothing more than being a simple decorative sample to show off to his stist friends.

  In fact, he had shown it off to John after giving him the shield, which is the reason why the captain knew of its existence.

  "Do you really want to do this? Do you know what this could mean, John? How it could ge the world?" At his question, John nodded seriously.

  "I know what this means, but we don’t have any other options, Howard. You’ve seen what Hydra do with an imperfect serum, the kind of monsters it has created and the destru they cause. If they actually mao perfect it and create a true army of supersoldiers, the world will fall to them in an instant. Even I would die fag so many enemies, and you know it."

  Howard remained silent for a moment. Of course, he uood. Of course, he could see that terrifying future without John having to tell him. But as the person who khe most about vibranium and its properties, he also uood that its potential could bee just as dangerous, or even more so, than a perfected serum.

  This could trigger another war in the world, even worse than the ohey were fighting now.

  "Don’t worry too much. I have no iion of letting the vibranium fall into the wrong hands. Doing this is just insurance, just a Pn B in case the worst happens. As long as Hydra is defeated in time, the vibranium will remain for SWORD’s exclusive use, and its produ will be meticulously trolled." Notig Howard’s doubts, John pced a hand on his shoulder, reassuring him as best he could.

  Howard finally nodded. Although he khat doing this was dangerous, it also represented a great opportunity for humanity and its future. At the same time, he couldn’t deny that he was eager to tinue his resear the mythical metal. The small amount he had found, despite all his efforts, had left Howard feeling quite frustrated for a long time. But now, those frustrations might be resolved if John’s pn succeeded.

  In the end, he was a stist, and his curiosity outweighed even his sense of caution.

  "The’s try it." Having made up his mind, Howard hahe box to Hank, who gdly took it.

  "Do you think you do it, Dr. Pym?" At John’s question, Hank looked at the small vibranium samples in the box before nodding slowly.

  "At this point, I’ve mao increase the size of various test materials with varying degrees of success, and although vibranium is a very special material, it’s still matter in the end. The Pym particles should be able to work on it successfully." Hank would have liked to sound more ving, but the truth was, he couldn’t say with plete certainty that they would succeed—not without trying first.

  Fortunately, there were four small samples with which he could do just that. He just hoped to succeed at least once.

  "Very well, in that case, you have my permission. Do it."

  With those words, Hank and Ja got to work at full speed. The previous sample that was going to be used for Test 79 was repced with one of the raw vibranium fragments, and the mae, which had just been recharged, had to be recalibrated. To be safe, Hank also added four extra "tanks" of Pym particles that had been previously stored.

  What happeo matter when it was "enrged" by Pym particles was that the greater the expected "growth," the more Pym particles were needed. Right now, Hank's mae, although better than its previous version, still wasn’t capable of perfeergy version. During the transformation process, at least 60% of the Pym particles used were lost into nothingness.

  Hank still didn’t know where they ended up, but such a waste of valuable material was one of the reasons he was grateful for Ja's existe least this way, it didn’t hurt as much to lose so many Pym particles during the experiments.

  Soon, the preparations were plete, and everyone focused their attention on the tral ptform where the vibranium sample had been pced.

  "Starting the test in three..." Hank took the activation lever firmly with his hand, the sweat starting to drip from his forehead, his mouth feeling dry.

  "Two..." he tihe tdown as he began to slowly lower the lever, making the sound of the mae ing to life reverberate through the room with increasing iy. At the same time, the yellow glow of the Pym particles p the device began to increase, illuminating the surroundings with its ethereal light.

  "One!" With the st number eg through the room, Hank pulled the lever down all the way. The yellow glow intensified suddenly, and a beam of particles, almost golden, shot toward the tral ptform at a dizzying speed. The vibrant energy lit up every er, filling the space with aric hum as the particles verged in the ter with a blinding fsh.

  Everyone, except for John, had to squie the protective goggles they were wearing.

  Ha his vision flicker; the iy of the light had been far greater than during the previous 78 tests, which could be a sign that something had gone wrong. The man couldn’t help but think the test had been a failure, but before that thought could start to eat away at his mind, a haed on his shoulder in a friendly gesture.

  "gratutions, Dr. Pym. It seems that this time everythi perfectly." Hank didn’t uand what Joh at first. It wasn’t until his eyes stopped seeing vague images and could refocus that the words hit him, sending aed tremor through his body.

  "It’s... it’s incredible! It really worked!" Howard excimed upon seeing the ptform, or more precisely, upon seeing the enormous dark "rock" with fshes of blue energy running across its surfad pulsing through its "cracks." What had once been a small fragment, as small as a grain of rice, had now bee something as rge as a car, causing the ptform it ositioned on to nearly fill pletely, threatening to make its supports colpse due to the added weight.

  "It's really impressive," Peggy said in a whisper. Even if she theoretically k ossible, seeing it happen iy was mueaningful and impactful. Though also w—the task of keeping this hidden from the govers was going to be a pain in the ass; she could already see it.

  For her part, while Raven was also amazed, her surprise was much less. After all, she had seen far more "fantastic" things while apanying John and the team. In fact, she was more excited about the possibilities this would bring for her.

  The metahuman hadn’t fotten her s about her ck of strength, and although she hadn’t mao talk to John about it as she had wanted, she had heard about his pn to "create" more vibranium on the way to the base, which put her in a much better mood pared to when they left Warsaw.

  Although it wasly what she was looking for, the potential ons that could be created with the vibranium might be what she o return to the front and fight alongside John as she had at the beginning of everything. So, to say she was happy to see that the project had been successful would be an uatement of her current joy.

  Sensing the joyful atmosphere surrounding the people in the room, John allowed a smile to form on his face, though inside, he didn’t feel so tent.

  It was something tradictory—this was what he had pnned, what he had wao happen. So, why wasn’t he beaming with joy like everyone else? The reason was simple: the creation of more vibranium undoubtedly couldn’t remain hidden forever. Sooner or ter, the secret would be exposed, and when that happened, many problems would e to him.

  Problems like Wakanda.

  ‘Well, it’s not as if it’s relevant at the moment. Besides, once Project Assion succeeds, even if all of Wakanda tries to e against me, it won’t matter.’ Thinking this, his smile became a bit menuine.

  With this first step pleted, it was time to move on to the sed and most important one.

  But before that, he could well allow himself a celebration. After all, this might be his st "Festivity" in this life.

  "I think this calls for a toast—what do you say?!" At his suggestion, Hhed and immediately agreed with his pn, ready to fete of the best bottles he could find. Hank, who was overstimuted by his ued success, also agreed, and though Peggy tried to stop them, she eventually ended up with a gss in her hand.

  Later, when everyone had returo their quarters, she and John resumed their private meeting in her room.

  Of course, before leaving, John made sure to put the vibranium in a safe pce; even if the size of the raw mineral made it difficult to steal, he wasn’t foolish enough to leave something so valuable unattended.

  He had learo be more cautious with his things.

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  Note:

  As always, pseudostific talk is challenging—unfortunate for me, sihe chapter will also have some of that, hahaha.

  Remember to leave your ents, critiques, and suggestions. I'll be reading them, and if you notiy mistakes, I'd appreciate a heads-up so I correct them. See you in the chapter!

  chapter: SuperSoldier #35 Assion.

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