8 years ago

Bruce looked down at the chunk of ramen he was holding, grateful for the amazing taste as his stomach continued to grumble. His famished mind didn't even think of cooking it. Even an uncooked bar of instant ramen was better than no food at all. He rarely got to enjoy such flavours, and he was really making sure to make the most of this.

He leaned back against the wall as he continued nibbling on the bar, terrified of the moment it would disappear. These things always did. They never stayed, no matter how much he would wish for it.

He would once again have to look for pathetic jobs to afford more food.

"Get out of here boy! It's no place for little kids like you." Burce fell onto his knees in the middle of the street as the guard threw him out of the bar. He was just looking for a job. All he wanted was a place that would provide him the one thing he needed most. He didn't even care what he'd be doing, as long as it paid.

Anything.

"I think you have a hidden talent," said a voice behind the boy. Bruce tilted his head to find a short man wearing a white suit standing above him.

"Huh?" He asked, getting up as the man's smile broadened. He was wearing one of those baseball caps that didn't match his fancy suit.

"All I'm saying," the man started again, "is that we think you'd do a great job in our gang. The Chausse are very welcoming and we are- uhm- branching out."

The smile contorted into something very different as he leaned down towards Bruce.

"You won't have to go hungry anymore Bruce, we'll make sure you have a steady pay to afford whatever you'd like, all I ask is for you to come with me." The man tapped on Bruce's shoulder and squeezed it a little.

"You're only like sixteen or seventeen now, right? If you join us now, you will be showering in money in no time." He smiled looking into his eyes. Bruce couldn't deny the fact that this was an amazing offer, and unfortunately for him, an offer he could not deny. Life has not been kind to him and all he wanted was some food. Bruce finally nodded.

"Okay," he said, "I accept your offer."

.-.-.

Bruce walked into the Chausse mansion. It was still in construction but he could see how beautiful the place would be in the future. He could only dream about living in a place like that.

"What's the matter boy?" the white suited man asked as he slapped his back. He could only shake his head. It was just too much for him.

"This is your home now!" He said and dragged Bruce to an empty room.

"Wait here. Okay?" The man said before leaving. Little did Bruce know, that was the last time he'd ever see the man. A few minutes later a woman handed him a piece of bread. That was all he needed.

Bruce desperately devoured the bread, not even noticing the woman, who was laughing at his desperate attempt to savour the food.

A tall man wearing a lab coat appeared in the room, raising his eyebrow at the pair.

"I was told he's healthy."

The woman stopped laughing.

"He is just hungry, sir."

The man put his glasses on and looked down at Bruce who was staring at him intently. The look Bruce received was one a lab rat would get right before being sent out into its maze.

"I will see about that. No payment if he's not good enough." He walked closer towards Bruce, forcing him to look up.

"T-thank you, mister," he sobbed as he pulled the bread closer towards him. The tears dripped down onto the food making it soggy. Bruce didn't seem to care. He was holding onto it like it was the most precious thing in the world.

"There, there." Zivko smiled, patting his back.

"There's more of this. My name is Zivko and I'll take care of you."

Bruce nodded, placing his fate in this strange man's hands.

.-.-.

Bruce suddenly woke up on an uncomfortable bed. The old springs dug into his back, making him feel like he was lying on top of a sea of stones. His head was pounding with an agonising headache, and he could not remember how he got there. He searched his mind for any inkling of a memory. All he came up with was a blank.

He tried to list his body up but soon realised it was tied down to the bed, with tubes going into his blood vessels from every angle. The ropes were keeping him on the bed, with absolutely no leeway for movement. He was stuck in that position.

The bind dug into his flesh with the friction causing horrible burns on every inch of his body. Any attempt at movement would only hurt him more.

He wanted to scream, but he noticed a young girl sitting by his bedside. The girl he would soon know as David Boskovic was replacing the full blood samples with empty bottles.

What the hell is going on?- he thought to himself as he watched the girl.

She was not much older than him but had the eyes of a lunatic. She smiled at him.

"Good morning, sweetheart! Isn't today amazing?" she sang as she continued with her work.

"What are you doing to me? Where am I?" he asked, fear starting to rise in his chest. A feeling of unease grabbed onto him, with no intention of letting go.

He just wanted some food.

Not this.

He knew for a fact that this wasn't what he was promised. His gaze skipped over the few that were in the room. Most of which were large machinery that didn't look in any way friendly.

"Oh, don't worry, we won't harm you. We just need to make sure our employees are healthy and..." she paused for a moment, before smiling even wider.

"Fit for work."

The world went black for him.

.-.-.

He woke up after what only felt like a second, but Bruce knew it was much longer.

Much much longer.

His body definitely aged.

He was floating around in a pool of bright green liquid. It felt weirdly sticky against his skin. He tried looking up, and around to be able to see the outside world, but to no avail. All he could see was the slimy liquid, and his own naked body.

There were cuts and rips all over it, and the liquid seemed to be pulling on the skin, ripping it even further. Suddenly, he started to feel an agonising pain. The cuts were slowly disappearing from his body, being replaced by fresh pieces of skin. He was healing.

Impossible.

He watched his hand as new bruises took place and healed slowly. He was convinced he must be dreaming, until another wave of that agonising pain hit him, making him curl up, screaming at the top of his lungs.

It felt like his entire skin was set alight. The burning fire quickly spread through his tissues into every part of his body. Molten magma flowed through his arteries, making its way into his heart.

There wasn't a part of him that wasn't in excruciating pain.

Until it suddenly stopped.

All of the agony he went through disappeared in a snap. He was once again floating in the liquid, this time feeling nothing.

Until it started burning again.

And again.

Again.

He spent hours, weeks, months in this hell. Years of continuous suffering. Years of never-ending torture. Never dying, but not really living.

.-.-.

Bruce finally woke up to find that most of the sensations were gone. All that remained was a slow, tickling feeling.

He was once again tied up to a bed, but this time there were chains around his whole body. His eyes widened as he watched in terror- Burce wasn't a kid anymore. He was a grown man. In fact, his body wasn't lean and hungry anymore, he was much bigger. He had more muscles than he could wish for.

There was a tall woman standing above him, along with an even taller, scrawny looking man. Bruce recognized him.

That was the man in the lab coat who told him he would be taken care of. The woman looked down with unfeeling eyes, as if she didn't care about what had been going on at all.

"The experiment has been a success! I told you I would do it, Adrienne!" the man exclaimed as the woman nodded.

"Good work, Zivko," she said simply.

"I didn't think you had it in you."

The man smiled at that.

"The test subject ended up being the perfect match for our serum. Although, it did take longer than I had-"

Bruce started to rattle the chains.

"What did you do to me?" he yelled over the madman, doing what he could to break them. Bruce realized he was strong beyond belief. His rattle made the entire bed move as if there was an earthquake. The woman grunted.

"You need to work on his manners. I don't want a soldier who doesn't show me the proper respect."

With that, she left and Zivko was left by Bruce's side.

"That wasn't nice," he laughed as Bruce watched in confusion. "You're going to ruin my reputation with the directeur if you keep going like that. This wouldn't be good. No, no, we need to work on it."

He laughed maniacally, almost scaring Bruce. To think a man like that had complete leeway with Bruce's body, was terrifying. The last thing he saw before passing out again was Zivko's solemn face staring straight into his soul.

.-.-.

"Welcome back," David said right after Bruce woke up as she played with a syringe. He pushed on the chains again.

"What are you guys doing to me? Please let me go," he cried but David shrugged and put her palm over his mouth.

"Don't make any noise! I am going to do a secret experiment on you and my brother can't find out. Zivko can be such a prude."

She pouted but it only made Bruce rattle even more. "Can't you boys ever fucking listen?" She face-palmed before injecting Bruce with something, almost making him pass out. He was tired of it. He didn't want to spend most of his life unconscious and chained.

What David didn't know was that Zivko had upped the dose for Bruce earlier that day. The dose she used wasn't enough to knock him down for long enough and for the first time in five years Bruce woke up and he wasn't chained.

He had forgotten how to move. David was on the other end of the room working with some chemicals. She had earphones on her and was humming to the song I wanna dance with somebody. Bruce knew for a fact that was his last chance of escape.

He never felt this alive.

David continued to hum and dance to the song when she heard a loud noise.

"What in the-" she yelled and quickly turned around. The window was broken and Bruce jumped, and with that, ending his five years of torture.

"No no no!" David shrieked as she looked through the window. Some guards tried to stop the man but they were brutally killed by someone who was built to be a living weapon. His movements were too fast to even comprehend.

The men were left mangled, with their guts spilling out of their bodies.

Eventually, with the help of her brother, David managed to make the whole thing look like an accident. Adrienne only kept them alive because they were valuable but she wanted Bruce back. At any cost. Bruce on the other hand never forgot what he had to endure. He became the masked man to get his revenge. When he saw David in the restaurant where he was the bartender of, he felt his blood boiling.

He had to- bloodbath.