2: Test and Trials

"Attention!" Colonel Chester Phillips' resolute voice echoed across the training field. Some recruits nervously swallowed, while others ensured they stood as straight as their bodies would allow.

The Colonel walked in front of them, his eyes as cold as iron, scanning them from head to toe as if examining a product.

The dozen or so tall, well-built men seemed to shrink a little under his gaze, all except for one, who remained stoic despite the heavy atmosphere. The colonel glanced at him and inwardly nodded.

He walked away from them.

"All of you have been chosen from thousands of volunteers, the cream of the crop that the United States has to offer. But make no mistake, this is just the beginning. From this day forward, for the next month, we will push your bodies to the limit. You will endure the most rigorous training and the most exhaustive tests, and at the end of it all, only one of you will be worthy of becoming the future of this country"

"General Patton once said that wars are fought with weapons, but they are won by men. And gentlemen, we have the best men, and that is why we will win" As he said this, his gaze swept over all the recruits one by one, each with an impressive physique. No one there stood less than six feet tall, all young and healthy, in their prime physical condition.

He smiled, his confidence in this operation slightly increasing. If these were the best men, soon they would be more than men; they would be super soldiers.

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John, who had been discreetly observing his new training companions, couldn't help but want to curse out loud. Where was he? Where was Steve Rogers?

He almost wanted to raise his hand and ask if someone was missing, but he had a role to play. Right now, he was a soldier in training, a good soldier in training.

If he wanted to execute his plan correctly, he not only had to be impressive, but he had to be the best among everyone present.

That day, after realizing where he was, why he had ended up there, and what his future objectives were, his mission, he set it in motion and began to outline simple and straightforward plans.

He didn't know enough about the Marvel universe to make a perfect and foolproof plan. He had only read some comics as a child and as an adult he only saw part of the movies.

He wasn't a genius with perfect memories that remembered every frame he saw, so even his memories of the movies were fading over time.

So his plans had to be simple and direct. He was the actor, and he had a role, but the script was incomplete, and they had only let him read it once. That sucked, but he could adapt.

The first thing an actor had to do was study the role. Without a script, there was only one way John could do this: learn from the man himself, from the legend, the myth.

That is, observe the real Captain America in action and become a better version of him by studying his behavior. It sounded easier than it was.

But he had encountered his first major obstacle: Steve Rogers was nowhere to be found. No, the military base where John was right now wasn't the first place he looked. That was at the exposition of tomorrow

Before being picked up by the military, John had gone to take a quick look at the products of tomorrow. The flying car was certainly incredible; he hoped to get one in twenty years.

But while doing a quick tour, he tried to find Steve, see what he was like, how he acted, what was the man behind the super soldier? But he didn't find him. At first, he thought it was just bad luck, that he had arrived at the wrong time.

In the end, he had to give up and follow the military group to the headquarters of the Strategic Scientific Reserve.

There he thought he would see him, that he could learn from him and study him in depth while carrying out his plan.

But looking around, he couldn't find him. Steve Rogers wasn't there.

John wasn't stupid. If Steve Rogers wasn't here, that only meant one thing: V had done something. V had prevented the real Captain America from being born.

That was his backup plan if things went wrong. Without Steve present, what was he supposed to do? How do you become a better version of someone who doesn't exist?

He closed his eyes for a brief moment, remembering the movie "The First Avenger" There were some confusing things, but the general script was in his mind.

If he wanted this world to have a future, he had to take the reins, do what the captain did... no, not just imitate him, surpass him.

The uncertainty was suffocating, but John felt that the weight of the world on his shoulders was stimulating.

If he failed, the Earth would be conquered by the Nazis, so he couldn't fail. And if he didn't want to fail, he needed to be more than a super soldier, more than Soldier Boy.

He swallowed hard, outlining a new plan. At first, he hadn't intended to steal Steve's place. He wanted to work alongside him and surpass him fairly. Not because he was a good person—John knew he wasn't—but he felt that if he cheated or played dirty against Cap, he would always be in his shadow. How could he be better than him if he surpassed him unfairly?

But with that option out of the equation, it was time to take the wheel and do things differently.

'This is risky. I don't know how compatible both serums are, but if I don't try, I won't be sure'

He hadn't injected himself with the V compound yet, not because he didn't want the power, but because he had read the army acceptance letter specifying that routine medical tests would be conducted on all recruits participating in the trials.

If he suddenly appeared being bulletproof, with super strength, and everything else, would the army just let him go?

John didn't believe so. So, for the duration of the training, he had to remain an ordinary human. He had been devising plans that could serve as an excuse for how he obtained superpowers, but now they no longer mattered.

He was going to get the super soldier serum and then inject himself with a good dose of Compound V, and that was damn worrying.

Would he turn into a deformed monster? Would cancerous tumors grow all over him? He wasn't a scientist, but even an average person knew that playing with genetics was risky. If Compound V and the super soldier serum were incompatible, it would be game over. The consequences would be devastating.

But at the same time, high risk can also bring great reward. If it worked, if both serums were compatible...

What would he become?

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While john thought, The colonel stepped aside and gestured with his hand towards a woman approaching.

"This is Agent Carter. She oversees all operations of this division. When she is present, you must obey her as if her words were mine. Understood?"

At the colonel's words, many tried to hide a contemptuous smile. Carter could see the disdain in their eyes as they looked at her, their lascivious gazes scanning her body as if she were an object. It almost made her frown, but she had endured worse.

"Yes, sir!" a firm and sonorous voice responded to the colonel's words. Some soldiers couldn't help but glance at the recruit who had answered without hesitation. He was the only one who didn't look at Agent Carter with disdain or doubt the colonel's words.

Colonel Phillips turned to him and nodded, his voice roaring again.

"I said, understood!?" At his shout, the recruits quickly stood at attention and responded in unison.

"Yes, sir!"

Agent Carter looked at the recruit who had responded first. He seemed young, but his gaze was hard and firm. Their eyes met, and she didn't see contempt or mockery in them, only respect.

He nodded to her, and she couldn't help but return the gesture with a small smile.

From the sidelines, an old man who could easily go unnoticed watched the interaction with interest. His tired eyes focused thoughtfully on John.

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The trials, the trials were tough.

John found himself on his bunk bed after a long day of rigorous training. His body was aflame, and he had to grit his teeth to avoid a grimace of pain.

He sat on the lower bunk bed and pulled out a small leather-bound book with blank pages. There was nothing in it.

His bunkmate saw the book and laughed mockingly. "What's that, John? A diary? I didn't think you were a sissy"

The other recruits laughed along with him, and John smiled.

"It's a chronicle. We're soldiers, Ryan, and we're at war. If we don't leave something behind, who will remember us in the end?" It was both true and a lie at the same time.

John needed to work on creating the character, leaving behind a background, a story that would be put in museums about him. If he didn't leave something behind, what would his legend be tainted with rumors? It's better if he wrote his own story, or what the people of this world would believe was his story.

Nothing too complicated; all lies eventually come apart, so he had to add some truth to each writing.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Still, he wasn't writing as John, the failed actor who cheated on his girlfriend and drank until he got lost to avoid facing the consequences.

Now he was John Benjamin Vogelbaum, a young recruit enlisted in a special squad aiming to become the best test subject for the creation of the first super soldier.

If he wanted people to remember him as a symbol, a superhero, he had to start leaning the general narrative in his favor.

And there was nothing better than a man's "private thoughts" for that.

So he took a pen and started the first strokes. He didn't know what repercussions this would have in the future, but he hoped they would be decent. Anyway, even if it didn't work out as he hoped, it wasn't the only way he would leave his mark on this world.

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"Come on! What are you waiting for?" Colonel Phillips shouted in the training field as he watched the recruits go through the obstacle course. He saw some lagging behind, stumbling, and couldn't help but click his tongue.

"Some are disappointing, but others are incredible, aren't they?" he spoke to the man beside him, a man with white hair dressed completely differently from all the military present.

Abraham Erskine, better known as Doctor Erskine, adjusted his glasses and watched the soldiers pass through obstacle after obstacle, his stoic face showing no emotion at the display of physical prowess.

"I'm looking for more than just strength, Colonel, you know that" he said.

As he spoke, he saw at the front how one of the recruits lost his grip on the climbing obstacle. It was a fall of at least two meters that would hurt if not fracture something.

A hand shot out and caught the recruit, preventing his fall. He helped him back into the race, and with a genuinely concerned face, seemed to inquire about his condition.

The recruit who had fallen regained his composure and smiled, thanking the one who had helped him, and soon they both returned to the race. The one who helped had been leading but fell behind when he saw the other needed help, thus losing his first place.

"What's his name?" Erskine pointed to John, who was running alongside the other man.

"That? He's one of the best, nearly perfect physical condition, health at its peak, and young. He was one of the first to volunteer for the project. His name is John Benjamin Vogelbaum, a war orphan who enlisted in the army a year ago. He worked as a field medic in several missions before coming here" said the colonel as he looked at the boy's file.

Erskine blinked.

"A medic? He doesn't look like one." John was tall, with a good build and a serious look, a soldier through and through that you'd see on propaganda posters firing at enemies.

"It seems his father was a doctor, a medical chemist or something like that. He must have wanted to follow in his footsteps in his own way."

Doctor Jonah Vogelbaum had been somewhat famous before the Nazis killed him while researching a medical compound in northern Alaska.

They wanted to steal his research, but Doctor Jonah was smarter and destroyed everything before they could get to him. The last the colonel heard was that the place where he died seemed to have been hit by a dozen bombs, leaving only a deep smoking crater.

Erskine took John's file, studied it for a moment before looking back at him in the distance.

It wasn't strength he was looking for, but a good man, and maybe he had found one.

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"Let's go, let's go faster, ladies! Pick up the pace! No one gets left behind!"

The recruits ran with the sun at its highest point, sweat dripping incessantly from their foreheads.

John took deep, short breaths. Exercise hadn't been his strong suit in his previous life, but fortunately, this body had perfect muscle memory and conditioning, so he didn't have to suffer more than he already was.

Soon, the soldier leading them stopped them, pointing to a tall metal pole painted white and then to the fluttering flag at its top.

"This flag marks the halfway point! The first one to bring it back to me can take a ride back to base with Agent Carter" the soldier said with a smile, gesturing to Carter, who had a furrowed brow as she looked at him.

The recruits cheered with excitement and, like a pack of wolves, surged towards the pole, crowding around it, attempting to climb it with just their hands.

John watched from the side, remembering this scene. It seemed he could add a little shine to his character.

The recruits tried their best, but they all failed quickly. The soldier in charge laughed and mocked them.

"No one in 17 years has brought down that flag, boys! Let's get back on the road; we still have half the course to go!" he urged them to get moving again.

John approached the pole without hurry and looked at the flag at its top. Time for a good performance.

The commanding soldier saw him lagging behind and shouted, "Vogelbaum! Hurry up!"

John simply leaned over and released the lock holding the pole in place, then it began to fall to the astonishment of everyone. He approached it leisurely, reached its top, and took the flag.

Unperturbed, he went to the soldier leading them and handed him the flag.

"Here you go, sir" he nodded to him, then got into the vehicle, letting his tired legs relax a bit.

The Agent Carter looked at him with a smile, and he nodded back at her. It seemed like everything had gone perfectly.

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"So, what do you think?" It had been a month since the training began. The Colonel had already chosen the best possible candidates in his mind, but the final word rested with Doctor Erskine.

The older man looked at the recruits not far from them and hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"I think I might know who it could be, but I need to be sure, truly sure"

The Colonel laughed, realizing who he was looking at.

"You want a sure test? Well, I can give you that."

The Colonel took a box of grenades and pulled one out, inspecting it carefully to make sure he had the right one before approaching the recruits, removing the pin, and throwing it towards them.

"Grenade!" Like a flock of headless chickens, they all started running. Some even screamed, others tried to hide or cover themselves, everyone except one.

John lunged for the grenade and grabbed it in his hand. His gaze swept the area in less than a second, then he quickly assumed the best position he could and used all the strength he had to make a throw into the air. The grenade flew a dozen meters before landing in a completely clear area where everyone watched, waiting for the explosion.

But nothing happened.

The Colonel smiled and patted Doctor Erskine on the back.

"So, what do you say? Does he have what you're looking for?"

The doctor looked at John for a moment before smiling.

"Yes, I believe he does"

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"The Colonel said he wanted to speak with me" John entered the study, seeing shelves filled with books, wondering how many of those would disappear over time.

He approached Doctor Erskine's desk and took a seat, looking at the man who was observing him carefully.

"Do you know who I am?" At his question, John furrowed his brows and responded somewhat hesitantly, "I only know you're one of the lead scientists on the project"

Erskine nodded and pulled out a half-filled old bottle. "You could say that, but I'm also the project leader; everything is under my supervision" As he spoke, he took out two glasses and began pouring carefully into them.

"When I started this, I thought it would be difficult, finding someone suitable who could be the one. I went through many tests and met many people, but none of them convinced me" He offered the glass, and John took it, smelling the familiar aroma of alcohol.

"Then I found you, and I thought, is this the person I've been looking for?" Doctor Erskine took a long sip.

"Today, I finally found the answer to that question," he said, looking at John seriously. "I want you to be the one who becomes the hope of this world."

John took a sip of his drink and looked at Doctor Erskine with seriousness and confidence. "I won't disappoint you, sir"

Erskine smiled, patted his shoulder, and continued speaking. "I know. I can see it now. You're a good man, John. Before, I feared what might happen, but now I believe hope truly never dies."

He became more serious. "Before anything else, I have to warn you about something, or rather, someone"

He had chosen John; he would be the first and would mark the beginning of a new era, but that would also make him the main target of their enemies.

He deserved to know what he was up against.

So, Doctor Erskine began to talk about Hydra and their leader, Johann Schmidt, the first failed super soldier, and his greatest mistake.

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