Run Chad RUN! #1.1

So, new sources place the ETA for electricity to be over the weekend. I don't really trust them but what can you do?

In the meantime, I have written and edited(roughly) the following Snippet. Enjoy!

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Commissioned by @ChaosUntold on Patreon.

Disclaimer - I don’t own nor claim to own any of the IP of the giant multi Billion Dollar companies that might appear here. I just own any OCs that you see.

Director’s Office, SHIELD Triskelion [May 2011]

–Phil LOLA Coulson–

He was peacefully eating his lunch, free since the agency provided meals when his phone beeped and he sighed as he put down the spoon and looked forlorn at the very delicious looking spinach and quinoa salad, something that he rarely ate despite it being his favourite because most of the times he ate it outside the SHIELD cafeteria, he hated it, and since it was a limited run item, he was extra sad about the called by the Director scenario.

His shoulders dropped with yet another sigh as he pushed the yet untouched salad towards the egghead staring at him, “Enjoy.”

“Are you sure?” The boy asked him but he was already headed out of the cafeteria, sped walking as if a particularly insistent dog was nipping at his heels, which if you thought about it, could be used to describe Director Fury’s summons.

Once he was finally in the elevator, the SHIELD issued standard phone, though nothing was standard about the particular unit issued to him, finally stopped beeping and vibrating. He could feel that in his bones, such was the intensity of the vibrations. It could detect when he was in motion and if he was on his way to the Director or not.

The eggheads in the lab cooked up a piece of software that calibrated the intensity of the alarms based on the path taken by him towards where Director Fury’s office was. There was no way Director Fury used a phone that had GPS in it, even if it was made entirely by a SHIELD owned factory.

Within seconds, he reached the top floor, that twas publicly reachable at least. He knew for a fact that above this level there were multiple levels housing classified stuff that he had no access to. Most likely some defense as well as Jammer tech. He wouldn’t put it past Fury to install at least a single missile launcher system on top of the Triskelion.

“He’s waiting for you,” The secretary, one of the many assigned to Director Fury on a rotation basis told him as the door opened on its own and he entered the Lion’s Den, so to speak.

“Sit,” Director Fury said as he read multiple reports on his table. He sat down, as told, and took a look at the photos, clearly laid out on the table for his benefit. The Director liked to play games like that, even with his loyal agents.

He leaned forward a bit and looked closely at the photos. They were from multiple angles, clearly taken from any camera in the vicinity along with multiple snapshots of data that showed something moving through city lanes.

He could see that the maps were of Manhattan and the photos showed a blur, in all of the pictures taken. There were names written on the photos.

“Red Blur. Red Ghost. Red Guardian.” he parsed through the photos before coming to the only logical conclusion, “An enhanced?”

“Not just an enhanced, Coulson,” Director finally set down the files he was reading and threw it on the table, “The enhanced. The strongest one we have seen since the Hulk.”

The photo was of a facility, clearly military, in ruins, with fire smoke and far too many holes and craters to count.

“15 dead.” His neck snapped up at the statement. That was odd, if an enhanced had killed a dozen members of the military, there would have been a much hastier response, rather than a laid back, unhurried briefing in the Director’s office.

“No, it was not a government project, I checked. This means that someone was running an illegal experimentation facility in New Jersey, and no one knew. Stuff clearly too advanced for it to be a random lab.” Oh boy, that ought to anger Director Fury because that advanced word meant that it came under SHIELD’s purview, and for them to miss such a place was pure failure on their part.

“Except them.” 

Fury nodded, “Yes. Somehow, whoever it is, found a facility that would should not have existed, broke in, killed a couple of them, destroyed the rest, and left. As far as we can tell, the rest of the personnel in the lab killed themselves, before they could be discovered.”

“Poison?” he asked as he went through the earlier photos as well as the reports gathered by police officers who clearly thought that the victims had gone bonkers.

“Cyanide Pills. Whoever these people are, they are organised and have people fanatic enough to kill themselves.”

Finally, he set the photos as well as files down since it was clearly the end of the conversation, and he could always peruse these case files later on, “Orders?”

“Find the enhanced person. Do NOT antagonise them, if they can do half the stuff the nerds in the labs think they could do, we DO NOT want them as our enemy. The soft approach should suffice. For now, the intel regarding the facility should be a good start.”

He stood up, buttoned his suit, “Alright, sir.”

“Dismissed.”

He nodded and left the office, a thick stack of papers in his hands and yet, aside from some blurs, he was sure that there was no clear picture in the stack.

Now, to find someone who could reach Mach speeds. How would one go about doing something absurd like that?

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Manhattan[June 2011]

–Chad Tannings–

With a smile on his face, he put his left foot forward, the heel barely grazing the ground as he moved on to his next step, the world moving in slow motion around him, the reassuring feeling of the wind hitting his face and only the sound of his own heartbeat to keep him company, Chad ran.

With a concentrated effort, he made a sharp turn and followed the mental map to the last known location of the latest dangerous car chase happening in Manhattan.

Sometimes, he wondered about the average IQ of these thugs. For a successful car chase to happen, they need an empty street or at least a large highway with empty spaces in the middle for evasive maneuvers. Why on Stan Lee’s green Earth would these people choose Manhattan of all places for a car getaway was beyond him.

At this point, the Subway was a better way to get out of the gridlocked island and then move on to their destination with a car, a much more efficient way, if only with a little more risk of being caught because of all the CCTVs but nowadays every single place was crawling with those.

As he turned on his heel, and concentrated on his lightning that surrounded his entire body, as if a suit of armour, he thought that maybe it was for the best that these small time thugs had little to no planning ability.

Organised crime was always a pain in the ass to deal with, especially as a non law enforcement member. Fisk was the shining example of that ugliness, hiding behind the veil of law.

The trio of police cars came into view, as did the thug holding onto a gun firing blindly behind him. The way he was holding the gun suggested little to no training and no aim as well because he saw no damage to the police cars as he passed them by and reached the side of the car.

It was always funny seeing humans in slow motion. In regular time vision, nobody ever saw the dozens of micro expressions forming on a human’s face before they settled on a major one, such as a frown or a smile.

It definitely looked odd and even tickled a part of his brain that screamed uncanny valley but this was not his first rodeo so with swift efficiency that spoke of previous practice, he took out the keys, which was very easy because the idiots had their windows wide open, took all the guns in plain view and deposited them to a nearby trash can. 

He took a moment to appreciate the slowly moving lid of the trashcan as the second he stopped touching anything, it slowed down immensely. The moment after that, he was right next to the car, the lightning all around him surging as he boosted himself for a moment and began circling the car, stripping it down as much as he could, while melting the doors shut. 

Checking that all of them were wearing seat belts, he let the lightning around him dim down to normal levels as he ran ahead and removed anyone in the way.

Checking everything for one last time, he flashed, huh, get it? right next to the spot where he expected the car to skid to a halt since they now had flats for tires, he loosened the hold on the lightning he had inside him as everything returned to normal time.

Many things happened at once that involved expletives of every kind, an accidental firing, and a lot of bruises, which ultimately culminated in the two thugs knocking themselves out, the rest of the two unable to escape because of their jammed doors, minor damage to the road because of the flat tires, some scared citizens because of his abrupt appearance and last but not least, “Another crime averted.”

He stated to himself as he stood there, hands on his hip, looking at the smoking heap of a car. He clapped his hand and was about to turn to the police when he stopped.

Wait! Smoking heap?

Involuntarily entering speed time, yes, that was what he called the state he would enter whenever he was drawing on his powers, he rushed to the car and broke all four of them and placed them on the sidewalk. Securing them, he hightailed it out of there.

Okay, maybe, he wasn’t all that experienced when it came to the use of his powers but come on, it had only been, what? A year since he was thrown into this reality.

Yes, his name was Chad Tannings and he was the fastest man alive. (lol)

That was a compliment in some areas and a weakness in others.

With that out of the way, he streaked out of the city and into his home base, New Jersey. It didn’t take much time to do so, especially with his powers but he was so glad he had chosen someplace outside New York to make his home.

The second he realised that his naked ass had been dropped in New York, in 2010, well, first of all, he panicked, cried, cursed, cried some more and then accepted his new reality of being in a death world without any support.

That was before he saw the note that told him to enjoy being a speedster in this new and exciting (read: dangerous) universe. After that, he was ecstatic as he found himself bearing super OP powers.

Alas, like most things, things didn't happen like he wished them to. He did get the powers and from the speeds he was reaching right now, he got the real deal, no broken connection or nerfed powers or anything like that but at the very beginning?

When he was confused, cold, and scared? Knowing that your super speed, while still super, was not as fast as you wanted it to be? Those were some sad times.

Shaking his head, he banished those thoughts and continued to run, going through trees, roads, lawns, and houses right up until he reached, “Home Sweet Home.”

The lightning cloak all around his body cleared up, revealing a handsome (in his opinion), chiseled jaw wielding young Caucasian male with a Hoodie and some shorts on, with flip flops.

Transitioning from an absolute scary 6 '5 monster made of lightning to a Short King 5’3 with flip flops was not jarring at all. Well, it was, in the beginning but now, it was buttery smooth.

Flipping the board on his way in, that read : Welcome to CJ Trailer Park, he waved at some of the familiar neighbours, including the ones that reeked of crime, as he finally reached his home.

Sighing, he fished around for his keys and stepped forward to open the door, only to find that it was already opened. The sound of gun boots hitting the small amount of paved roads around here reached his ears as he sighed and turned around, coming face to face with….The Coulson.

He waved the key at the man, “I assume you’re the one who broke into my stuff? Find any cash lying around? I can sue you for stealing if you did find any, you know?”

“Hello, Chad Tannings, was it?” Agent Phil freaking Coulson, in the flesh, doing the whole soft approach thing.

“Yours truly. What can I do for you, suit man?” He nodded and then sat down on the steps leading up to his trailer. The steps creaked but he knew they were reliable. After all, if there was one thing that was constant in his life, it was this trailer and all that came with it.

“An odd name for someone with no records, at least not real ones.” The man said as he stood a safe distance away, wary but not outright suspicious or hostile. That is probably why they sent Coulson instead of, you know, John Garett, Melinda May, Victoria Hand, or Stan Lee fordbid, Fury himself. He could not imagine a single way those would go well, for SHIELD at least.

He made a show of looking around the park, noting the reduced crowds and noise, especially around his trailer, and then replied to the unasked question from Coulson, “Aww, man! The guy told me that the paper would hold up to scrutiny. Then again, what could I expect from a druggie, am I right?”

Coulson did not take the bait but instead took a file from his suit and then offered it to me. “I know my rights. You have a badge on you?”

The man smiled at him, “As a matter of fact, I do. Which one would you like? FBI? Homeland Security? CIA? NSA?”

He whistled at that before reaching forward and taking the file from the man. Rifling through pages of sightings, of testimonies, of blurry photos, of maps with routes taken, he reached the end of the file which triangulated his approximate location to this trailer park, he tossed the file to the side like trash.

Flashing his teeth at the man, he said, “I can’t read.”

Ah, it was so fun messing with the suits, especially since he knew that in the end, he was going to cooperate with SHIELD, just not in the way they liked.

After all, if he really worked with them in the way they wanted, he would not have been able to kill those sons of bitches last month, which was what probably drew SHIELD’s attention in the first place.

He was just so angry seeing what they were doing and what they had succeeded in doing that by the time he came to his senses, he had destroyed the base, killed some of the absolute monsters in that place and the rest had committed suicide, taking the poor victims with them, all just so they could hide their involvement in the whole damned thing.

HYDRA.

A menacing around must have escaped around him, resulting in a crackle of lighting which snapped him out of it as he found himself looking at Coulson in slow motion.

With a sigh, he turned it off and found himself face to face with a startled Coulson who took a step back and began looking around because of the sudden thunderclap and change in his expression but did not take out his gun.

That was a good sign.

Leaning forward, hands on his knees, he asked the man, “So, what can I do for you, suit?”

The man was probably surprised by everything but remarkably kept his calm about the whole thing before asking, “We just want to talk.”

“Who’s we?”

“I am Phil Coulson from Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics–”

“Too Long, suit. Too long. I’m sure you have some corny abbreviation for your agency, just like the other three letter soup agencies.”

“Yes, we do. SHIELD. Now, can we talk?”

He snorted and stood up, wary of any attacks but confident enough in showing Coulson his back, “Like you guys haven’t swept through every inch of my place, please, do come in.”

Welp, time for the SHIELD intro. Just in time for everything.

All according to the plan, well, someone’s plan. He couldn’t plan even if his life depended on it.  What he could do was roll with the punches and for now, the punches were coming from Coulson which were just light taps in comparison to the hammer that would be Fury, with whom he foresaw a rapidly approaching meeting.

He internally cackled at the thought of meeting the One eyed Cyclops.

Ah, he couldn’t wait.

“Ah, I don’t have tea or anything else. Water?” he offered to the guest of honour who tactfully rejected it.

“Suit yourself,” he said as he guzzled down two bottles before sitting down in one of the ratty patio chairs, which were free, in front of Coulson.

“So,” he began, “What does this SHIELD want with me, Mr.Suit?”

“It’s Phil,” Coulson corrected him but he was just having too much fun doing his usual annoying thing, “We want to talk to you about your activities, Mr.Tanning.”

“Ah,” He made a show of agreeing, instead of doing the whole song and dance by skirting around the issue but instead, “You caught me. I smoke weed. But Hey! I know my rights, it is well below the limit so the most you can do is confiscate it and make me spend a night in jail.”

It was fun watching the man struggle to maintain composure because his target was just not cooperating with the conversation and was just too damn powerful to apply any kind of meaningful pressure on.

“Mr.Tannings,” Phil took a breather before continuing, “We know who you are and what you do for most of your day. We know why, despite having powers that many would call godlike, you struggle to pay your bills and live in this trailer park. You could use your gifts to get profit and live lavishly but you don’t.”

His smile left his face as he listened to Phil talk about his life story as if he knew anything about what he had been through. It has been a tough year and not just on his body but also on his psyche.

Had it not been for his ability and willingness to eat anything that he found to be mildly edible and the enhanced physiology that he got when he became a beacon for the Speed Force, he would have long since died.

“Now,” Phil continued, unknowing or uncaring of the change in his expression, “SHIELD has excellent resources that can help you train, get the proper training necessary, and fulfill any special needs you might have. All of it, free of cost if you agree to–”

“Agree to what? Become a government lackey? Sorry to say, Agent Phil but if I was interested in doing that, I would not have gone to great lengths to hide who I was, and would have instead taken mercenary jobs. So, please, if you don’t have anything productive to add, please let me be. You and I both know that you won’t make an enemy out of me.”

“And why do you think that?” Phil set the files down and asked him. Not gonna lie, Phil’s calm stare was kinda unnerving, even for someone as fast as him. Sure, he was not as strong as the Hulk but with the right speed, he could easily punch nearly as hard as a baseline non enraged Hulk, and he was a very big threat to anything or anyone with just his speed alone. They didn’t even know that he could phase, and with the way his training was going, the day he could successfully do it with confidence was not that far away.

“Because,” He leaned forward, letting the Speed Force bleed into the outside world for a bit, red lightning crackled all around him, lifting things all around him as Coulson stayed in the same position without a change in his expression and yet, the little things did not go unnoticed by him. The slight twitches, the hand shaking for a bit, heading for a gun and more, “I can disappear.”

With that, he let the energy bleed off, as he reclined back in his chair, the lights in his small trailer flickering back to life, “I could give you a laundry list of things that I can do but you already have a list of stuff I can plausibly do, courtesy of your army of analysts, but the thing that will threaten you or anyone in power the most, will be my ability to disappear. I can leave, anytime I want, and unless you can blanket bomb an area dozens of miles in radius without making a single peep, you will not be able to get me.”

Phil sighed, took the files back in his hand, and stood up, “I see that we have made a mistake. I suggest we reconvene at a later day. I suggest, tomorrow, in Manhattan?” Saying that, Phil smiled at him, left a card on the counter and f*cking left.

He was left, sitting there, all bewildered, confused looking as the agent left, without getting what he wanted.

“Son of a bitch…..”