"Doctor, could you please explain what I am looking at?"
When Lex Luthor had been called up to the CADMUS laboratory, he had been expecting to see the latest advances in the newest project. What he had not been expecting was to see was right in front of him.
"Well you see sir," the lead scientist, Doctor Desmond, begun, "this is result of Project Mercenary."
Project Mercenary, a goal created by the Light in the attempt to create a clone of the greatest mercenary on the planet, Deathstroke. If successful, then the Light would have a personal assassin that would not require payment and would follow all their orders to the tee. However…
"Then do explain why I see a misshapen baby in place of my future assassin?"
All Lex saw in front of him was a giggling, scarred, and hideous baby floating in a tube.
"Do you realize how difficult it was to retrieve a DNA sample from Deathstroke Doctor?" Luthor asked in a cold tone.
"I would imagine it would be very difficult," the scientist replied back.
"At least you are smart enough to understand that much," the bald headed man said without even looking at the other man. "But you have yet to answer my previous question: why is the subject so…scarred?"
"That would be due to the cloning process," Desmond said, "As we began to use the DNA samples you so graciously donated to us, we attempted to create several clones. However, each one quickly died and the only remaining one was, well, this one. And after several analysis, we have discovered that the subject possesses exactly 34 cancerous tumors."
"Kill it immediately." With that amount of tumors in it, the 'child' wouldn't even live to see its first birthday. Besides, might as well be…what's the word…merciful. Another failed project. He'd have to contact his colleagues and inform them of this and begin planning the next project.
"We tried sir."
At those words, Luthor paused. Looking at the man for the first time since they began to talk, the business man said, "Excuse me, what did you say?"
"Before you arrived, we had already attempted to smother it. However, a few moments later, the child began to cry. We then tried breaking its neck, but it continued to cry. Finally, we shot it three times: one in the head, one in the heart, and one in the throat. The result, it continued to cry."
"You…couldn't kill it?" the bald headed man asked as he looked back at the child who had now fallen asleep. "Could it possess some kind of healing factor?"
Desmond nodded at the question. "It could quite possibly be that sir," he answered, "Deathstroke himself does possess a healing factor, so it would not be unreasonable to believe that his clone would have it as well. The only issue is that I do not believe that this healing factor is the same as its original. In fact, I believe that it is much stronger and more capable."
For the first time since seeing the child, Luthor's eyes filled with intrigue. A personal assassin that is not only the clone of the world's greatest assassin, but also one that is more than likely completely invincible. He and his comrades could not pass up this kind of chance.
"I want you to focus on bringing up this one," the business man said, his eyes never leaving the sleeping infant.
"Yes sir," Desmond replied back.
"I want it to be well versed in all types of guns and weaponry. Swords, knives, revolvers, submachine, everything."
"Yes sir."
"I will contact the other members and ask them to lend their assistance." Luthor then placed his hand on the tank. As if it knew, the infant opened its eyes and observed the man in front of it. The bald man merely stared back, but he did so with a calculated smile. "You will be the greatest weapon for the Light." With those final words, Luthor turned away from the tube and walked away, Doctor Desmond following close behind him. The two men continued to talk as they left the area (or more like Luthor talked and the scientist nodded). But, to their unknowingness, the scarred infant watched them leave. It specifically looked at the bald man that smiled at it.
Project Mercenary, Five Years In:
"Again."
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
In a white tiled room, a small boy was strapped onto a chair. Attached to his hands were jumper cables that ran to the wall in front of him. As well as the jumper cables, two wires, originating from the same wall, were connected to the chair the boy sat on.
On the other side of the wall was a room filled with several individuals. Most of them sat at the control panel that operated many of the functions in the room in front of them. However, the boy did not know this as the window that allowed the people to see into the room was tinted so only they could see in and he could not see them.
"Once more."
A scientist pushed one of the buttons in front of him, allowing electricity to flow through the wires and electrocute the boy. The crackle of the electricity was overridden by the ear piercing screams of the boy in pain. Thankfully, the control room was able to block out a lot of the noise.
"As you can see Mr. Luthor, Project Mercenary is able to survive several fatal electric shocks that are not uncommon in an average electric chair," Desmond said in a proud manner.
Standing next to him, watching the young boy continuously get shocked, was indeed Lex Luthor. It had been a few years since he had informed the other members of the current project. At first, they had been unhappy that he had made a decision without their word in the matter. However, their complaints were subdued when he listed the potential pros this future mercenary would give them.
They agreed, but on the condition that most of the supervising would be done by him He would receive help on the matter if he required certain resources that only one of them possessed, but for the most part, he was Luthor's responsibility.
In the span of five years, he watched the young boy gets punched, shot at, corroded, and even set on fire. And each time this happened, his body healed to the point where it looked as if he never got hurt at all. Only one thing had remained the same since he first laid eyes on the boy.
"How come his scars do not heal?"
Indeed, in five years, the boy's scarred body had yet to heal and look normal. For five long years the boy looked like a pizza that had been nuked and freeze dried.
Desmond was quick to reply, "We believe that has to be due to his healing factor."
Luthor's eyebrow furrowed as he heard this. "His healing factor is the cause?"
"Yes sir. We believe that his healing factor is killing the cancer cells as fast as the cells are reproducing. This in turn causes his body to look misshapen and scarred."
"But does it interfere with his capabilities at all?" the business man asked coolly.
"As far as we can tell, no," the lead scientist replied, "We had him run ten kilometers and he was not tired by the end of it."
The small smile he was famous for grew upon on his face as Luthor said, "Excellent." He then watched as one of the scientist reached hesitantly to push the button once more. "Stop," he commanded, causing her to do so. She looked back at the bald headed man in confusion and a little in relief as he walked slowly to the control panel. Luthor then looked down at the console before asking, "What is the highest your machine can produce?"
"A-about 50,000 watts sir," she replied.
The business man smiled as he heard this. "Do it then."
The scientist's eyes widened as she heard this. He wanted to pump 50,000 watts into the child? Sure, he would heal from it, but still, to do such an act is horrendous.
Desmond was quick to notice his subordinate's lack of action as he said, "Doctor Spence, Mr. Luthor gave you an order. I suggest you follow through." His words were cold and harsh, and enough to make the point clear. Nodding, Spence reached for the dial and cranked the output to the highest setting before pushing the button.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
If the boy's screams did not penetrate the nearly sound protective room before, they did now. Everyone in the room watched as the room shake and rock his head around while he screamed in agony. Smoke began to pour of his body and his skin turned charred up.
Luthor then raised his hand to signal for the scientist to cease the electricity flow. If anyone was paying attention to her, they would notice that Doctor Spence was far too quick to stop the machine than one normally would.
Even as the flow stopped, the screams did not. Sure, they lowered in volume to whimpers and whines, but the noise was still there. The boy's skin was black due to the charring and it looked as if some of his body had melted from the heat radiating from the electricity. However, in a manner of seconds, his body once again healed and looked as good as new. This did not stop him from wheezing and coughing violently, spit failing to come out with his mouth so dry.
Luthor's smirk remained as he watched the result. "Excellent," he said, "But his near melted body made me think of something. I want you to heat the room up hot enough to where his body begins to melt." The horrified look on Spence's face was enough to tell how she felt about that.
However…
"As you wish sir."
Desmond reached over and pushed a couple of buttons and stood back. The group then watched as the room in front of them heat up and the boy's body turned to liquid, once again starting the screams.
Spence wanted to throw up, Desmond was observing the subject with a cold stare, and Luthor watched with such intrigue. He truly did enjoy this child's existence.
Project Mercenary, 12 Years In:
Walking through a small corridor was a group of five dressed in black. In their hands were several different types of armaments; knives, guns, swords, daggers, etc. As the group carefully progressed through the dimly lit corridor, they were huddled together and moved their heads like they were on a swivel. From their actions alone, it would seem that they were after something.
However, something was after them.
Before they could even react, one member of the group was quickly pulled up and away from their comrades. As soon as they realized what had happened, the blood curling scream of the individual rang in their ears. The very next moment after the screams ended, a body landed in the middle of the group. With one look alone, everyone could tell that this was their comrade. Though it was hard to tell how he had been killed. Not only was their throat slit, but several punctures were made in their chest. And there looked to be a blade wound in the top of his forehead.
As they looked at the body, a figure sneaked behind the black dressed person closest to the shadows. They covered the individual's mouth and dragged them into the shadows, muffling their screams.
The rest of the group immediately noticed another one of their comrades missing and huddled together once more, their backs together and their eyes watching every square inch of the corridor.
Suddenly, another something rolled right towards the group. Cautiously, the one closest reached down and picked it up to look at it. What was in their hand was the head of another of their comrades.
Then, a gunshot was heard and blood spurted onto the head holding individual's back. Quickly looking behind their shoulder, they watched as one of the only two other people besides them fall backwards with a small hole in the middle of their forehead. Turning around, the last two of the group watched as a scarred boy, wearing nothing but pants, ran towards them with two katanas in his hands.
Realizing that the best option was not to fight, the two turn tailed and ran. The boy simply gave chase after them, stepping over the dead bodies with a look of indifference.
As they ran, one of the last two turned around and began to fire from their submachine gun. As the bullets made contact with the boy, his body jolted with every shot. Eventually, he fell over, riddled with holes that leaked out crimson colored blood. The one holding the gun looked at their comrade before giving thumbs up.
Blood then sprayed on the one being given the thumbs up as they watched their last comrade be impaled by a thrown katana. Looking quickly to the boy chasing them, they saw how he was on his knees and his arm was in a position that looked like he had just thrown something. And from the blood on them and the katana now lodged in their comrade's chest, they could support that theory.
The last individual dressed in black began to run away from the boy once more, with her pursuer resuming his chase, whilst grabbing his weapon as he passed the dead body.
Before the two knew it, the boy and person in black were in an open room that was nothing more than a dead end. Realizing their only option, the surviving member of their team raised their weapons, two sais, and took a stance. Seeing this, the boy took his own stance, raising his katanas up before charging in.
Once he was in range, he swung one of his weapons horizontally. The black dressed person parried this with their sai before jumping back. This action led the boy to try and close the distance between them, his weapons pointed forward to impale his opponent.
But once he was close enough, his foe simple jumped over him, while also stabbing their sais into his shoulder blades quickly. When they landed, they delivered a high kick to the boy's face, throwing him off guard, and allowing them the opportunity to strike.
The individual kicked the boy's back before grabbing onto their weapon, ripping them out and stabbing them right through the back of the boy's head. Retracting her sais, the person then kicked him once more, sending the boy crashing to the ground.
However, the black dressed person was not given a moment to breath as the boy flipped onto his back and jumped back onto his feet. The two holes in his head were immediately gone. He then raised his weapons once more and charged. The sai wielding person charged forward to meet their opponent. The two then met in the middle. Their weapons locked together as the boy's katanas were caught by the guards of the black wearing person's sais.
A contest of the strength then began as both tried to overpower the other. The black wearing person, however, was on the losing side of things as the boy constantly pushed forward with his weapons, causing the individual to fall to a knee. The blades of the boy's weapons were inching ever closer the persons face…
"Stop."
At the sound of that one word, the lights came on, illuminating the room. The boy, while not changing his position, did indeed stop the pressure on his opponent. He then looked up to see the familiar face of the bald headed man that watched over him.
"As much fun as it was watching you slaughter almost every one of them, I promised to at least return one assassin back to the league not in a body bag."
Knowing full well what the man said, the boy stepped back and allowed his opponent to stand up. His eyes then went up and down the person in front of him. Finally, he said, "So, just so you know, I purposely didn't kill you."
The lone survivor looked at her former opponent before shooting back, "Oh really? You left me alive on purpose?"
"Well, yeah. If there was anything that I was willingly going to let happen, it was to let a girl kick my ass," the scarred boy said, a cheeky smile adorning his messed up face.
The person chuckled as she heard this. They then pulled off the black mask that covered their face, revealing them to indeed be a young girl. Judging from her appearance alone, she looked to be about two years older, sporting thick black hair and olive green eyes. Her expression was nothing less than intrigued as she walked over to the boy in front of her. "And how did you know that I wasn't another guy? Those outfits don't exactly show off a girl's fine points."
"Simple," the no haired boy began, "the voices in my head said so."
This one statement through the girl for a loop as she asked, "The…voices?"
The boy smiled cheerfully as she asked this. "Yep," he replied, "They tipped me off that the only girl among the group was you and that killing you was both bad and not the best way to get it on."
The black haired simple stared at the boy before laughing. Once her laughs subsided to giggles, she smiled at the boy, "I like you. You are definitely more fun than most guys I kill. Besides…" She then turned around and walked away, before turning around and flashing him a flirty smile, "You couldn't kill me if you tried. Not to mention, I'm out of your league."
Crossing his arms, the boy nodded his head and shot her a smile of his own. "Oh, it is so on! The race to beat you and to hit that!"
High above, watching the two, Lex Luthor thought upon the simulation from earlier. While this proved that Project Mercenary was indeed a formidable opponent in combat, his one on one fight with the final assassin proved that there was still those above him. And he knew that this girl was nowhere near as skilled as Deathstroke is. And the fact that the boy was on a more level ground with the girl proved that more training was required. 'I'll have to ask Ra's if he could send a bit more men…as well as have this one as a helper. She might be able to keep him in line.' Luthor's smile grew as this thought roamed in his head.