Chapter 1 - The Escape

As if a pulse of electricity had gone through him, his eyes snapped open. After a moment of staring into a blinding light above him, they quickly closed again, and the boy grimaced.

The cool metal he felt on his bare back easily told him he was on some operating table. He scowled, before trying to move his hand to cover his eyes; the clangor of chains that rattled against the table forced him to snap his eyes open once more.

Alright, he thought, shaking his head as much as his chained down body could. They were keeping in locked up for some reason. Problem was, who were “they,” and why was he considered a threat?

A quick glance to his wrist showed in a small name tag resting on it. He scowled again, and attempting to jerk his hand up. The chains rattled; other than that, nothing happened.

He gave a shout, and jerked his hand again. A bright flash occurred, and the chains melted away, and he rolled off the table as the result.

The boy groaned, and shook his head. Maybe not his best idea. He raised his wrist to eye level in order to read the name tag, “Will.” The boy frowned, and sat cross legged on the floor, as though attempting to sort through all this.

Who was he? What was he? A quick attempt to scan through his memories gave him absolutely no clues, much to his annoyance. He glanced down, showing him only a simple pair of white, drawstring pants. He looked down at the name tag, and nodded. Alright, Will could work. It was a name, at least.

“Will,” the boy repeated, letting the name to roll off his tongue. He kind of liked how it sounded.

Still smiling to himself, he attempting to stand up, only to have his knees buckle under his weight and he fell to the floor with a deafening crash. Will gritted his teeth, before grabbing the edge of the table he had been chained to, and, by using his upper body, he raised himself to a standing position. He tried to ignore the beads of sweat that trickled down his brow as he forced himself to stay in the position, trying to figure out what was going out.

A loud screech of an alarm alerted him to danger; Will grabbed onto an adjacent table, trying to shuffle his way through the room decorated with scientific materials. All he had to do, he reasoned, was get to the door and run as far and fast as he could. The small problem that he could barely walk did not registered in his mind as he continued to shuffle his way out.

Almost to the door, he reached for the handle when it was flung open, and a fairly young man, garbed in a classic scientist’s white coat, stared at him in abet horror. Will frowned – as little as he remembered, he knew this wasn’t good.

“Move,” he ordered, raising his hand to push the scientist away, before collapsing to his feet; the hand he had moved had been the one holding him up. Funny, the thought hadn’t registered in his mind.

The scientist smiled, before kneeling in front of Will. “Will, it’ll be alright,” he offered, shaking his head. Will looked up to him, raising his eyebrows. “Relax. We were just running some tests on you, as to figure out why you had malfunctioned so badly.”

Will’s eyebrows furrowed. Malfunctioned? His memory might have a bit shot, but malfunction isn’t the word one would, should, use on a human. At least, he hoped not. “I what?” He echoed, hoping his face didn’t betray his confusion.

The scientist raising his eyebrow. “Well, you collapsed in the middle of the battle – in fact, we had to send Luke in to save you. Strange, huh?” The man gave a frown. “In fact, the head of the company was afraid that we were using you too much anyway – too much of a war hero can lead to bad propaganda, but you already knew that. Anyway, I’m just going to hook you back up to the machines, and, with any luck, you’ll be able to fight in the war again before the week ends. Great, huh?”

Will’s legs didn’t work as well as he would have hoped, so he settled with scooting away from the man, his eyes widening. “Luke? Machines? Fight?!” He exclaimed, looking around, and shuddered when his eyes noticed the deadly weapons that were hung on the walls alongside the scientific instruments. “What…who am I?”

Chuckling, the scientist shook his head, and stood to his feet. “You’re Will, the second prototype of ASSASSIN, property of the government’s military division.” Noting Will’s blank stare, the scientist gave an aggravated sigh. “The tech guys must have fiddled with your memory – I told them to not touch that! Anyway, we’ll have you running in –“

“Have me running?!” Will responded, grabbing onto the table edge and heaving himself to his feet. Within the minutes of nonuse, he was somehow more stable on his feet. He should have considered why he could suddenly use his legs again, but what the mysterious man had just said gave him more cause for alarm. “No! I’m just a normal teenaged …boy.” He trailed off, realizing he really had no idea what he was. “You’re just crazy.”

The scientist pointed to Will’s hand. “Alright. I’m crazy. Now, look at your right shoulder – what’s the number on there? Is it a two?”

Will had no response when he glanced to his right, noting the number. He wanted to shout that this had to be a dream – he didn’t even know his real name, much less why there was a number on his shoulder – when the scientist gave him a smile, and held out his hand.

“It’ll be alright. I’ll make sure the technicians fix you up right this time.”

Will shook his head, and shoved the scientist out of the way, heading to the door. He needed air. He just wanted to go home to his family (what family? His mind giggled in response. He quickly shook off that eerie feeling), and remember who in the world he was!

A shout rang by his right ear, and he turned around slowly, seeing the scientist pointing a gun at his chest. “Will,” he mumbled, shaking his head. “I do not want to do this. Do not make me.”

“Who am I?” Will retorted, shaking his head. “What in the world am I?”

Although silent for a minute, the scientist lowered his weapon and gave a sigh. “You’re the strongest assassin we have in our division. Best fighter out of anyone here. And that’s all that matters.”

Will shook his head, before spiriting out into the hall, and slamming the door shut behind him. The thought that he could barely stand on his legs before flashed through his mind, but was quickly pushed aside when the sound of bullets became louder, and closer.

A loud, obnoxious siren began screaming as Will ran down the hall of this…place. He simply assumed it was a laboratory of some sorts – he didn’t have time to think it through much further. Men in black suits poured out of the nearby rooms, and effectively surrounded him, their blank stares worrying him more than the large guns they wielded.

The scientist from before came from behind, and held his hands up in an attempt to be peaceful. “Now Will, these men are going to help you,” he began slowly, as though talking with a small child. “You don’t remember me? Nick? Your creator?”

Will swallowed, and quickly surveyed the men. Each had to be about six foot three, and two hundred pounds of sheer muscle. Their looks should have intimidated him, but all Will concentrated on was that they were in his way, and he needed them to move in order for him to escape.

“So,” Nick continued, unaware of Will not paying him any attention. “Let’s just get you strapped back into the machine, and it will be okay, alright?”

Will raised his eyebrow, and surveyed the men again. Hmm… about ten men, each with a fully loaded sub machine gun that could easily tear through him. Will simply smirked, and turned back to Nick. “Catch me if you can,” he offered, before leaping into the air.

He never remembered doing anything like this before. Granted, he couldn’t even remember who he was, but that was besides the point. Before he realized what was going on, the men were lying on the ground unconscious, and he gently landed back onto the ground with a grin. Alright – he was strong as the man, Nick?, had said. That was always an added bonus.

He flashed Nick a grin, before turning to the large window that stood behind the scientist. He ran towards it; Nick feebly grabbed his arm in attempts to stop him, but Will easily shook the arm off, and gave him another smile.

After that, he launched himself out of the window, and tumbled down onto the busy street.