HERO: Prologue 3 - Four Lost Boys
By One Above All
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Victor Creed's Origins
To be born a freak is no one's fault. To make yourself a monster is your own fault. This was the life of a boy named Victor Creed. Though it wasn't truly his fault, as usual the cause for a person to become so unbelievably violent stems from a bad parent. For Creed, it was his father Zebadiah Creed who was a very cruel man. His cruelness originates from his control over a sister location of major companies in the United States known as Adrenamix Corporation. This sister Location would be renamed during Zebadiah's management into Creed Works which not only made money through selling Adrenamix products, but through several exchanges within the black market. To a man like him, everything needed to be perfect in his world.
The Creed bloodline had been known to have an impressive quirk. Zebadiah having an emitter quirk that allows him to shoot a bullet through a penny size portal projected through his fingertips. This was a quirk passed down from father to son and it didn't matter who the mother was for if there was son then they would inherit the father's Finger Gun quirk. This was true for his first-born son Luther Creed who had been born on March 24, 2157, the only child that he would ever cherish.
To Zebadiah and to the dismay of his wife Victoria, Luther was his one true heir which made him absolutely irreplaceable in his eyes. Victoria Creed saw this as problematic as she would be in labor with his other children. During her nine months of pregnancy, she was only ever taken care of by her doctors and maids who work for their family. She had only seen her husband twice a week, believing that he was far too busy with his work. But truly, Zebadiah was letting his ego and financial power getting into his head as he would allow black market deals to be frequent as their sales of Adrenamix products and he would spend the night planning for further business operations to extend his influence in the Canadian economy. He would very easily accomplish this once he eliminates his competitor John Howlett. But before he could do that, he needed to prepare and evaluate his next to be born children. Victor had been born on March 24, 2160, Saul Creed had born on March 24, 2163, and finally Clara Creed had been born on March 24, 2166.
Zebadiah was a man that seek nothing but benefits in his life. He married to Victoria for he saw her as worthy of being his wife and to bear his children. He fought for his position as manager and built his own company through unethical methods, because he saw it fit. He chose Luther to be his one true heir and let the rest of his children be left for dead, because he sees his own reflection in his first-born son. For a horrible man like Zebadiah, everything can be controlled and be placed to his liking. But that all change we laid his eyes on his second son and he was disgusted by him. For his other two children, both Saul and Clara were given support, but were neglected as well for their weak quirks.
Young Victor Creed inherited his father's light brown hair but inherited his mother's face. Unfortunately, he was also born quirkless and this caused him to be bullied by other kids his age. He would be friendless all the way to the fifth grade and get involved in many fights with kids with unique quirks. To make sure that Victor didn't ruin his brother Luther, Zebadiah would have him enrolled into a different middle school once he was done with his elementary school.
Young Saul Creed had a similar appearance to his brother Victor but had blonde hair like his sister. Due to Victor's bad reputation, he would be ordered by their father to stay away from him while they were at school. This would become their routine for their whole childhood as they would avoid him each day in and he would be ten feet away from him as they waited for the school bus. His only saving grace to avoid his father's bad side was that he had a quirk, but a rather weak one. Saul was born with a quirk called Door Opener that allowed him to open any door.
At home, Victor wouldn't get a break either. He was tasked with several chores and had stayed locked in his room from all the grounding that he kept receiving. The only time he was ever allowed to leave his room was when it was time for dinner. Even on the dinner table, he could only show disdain to the image of his family. He saw his father eating his stake giving business tips to Luther, his younger brother refusing to sit next to him, and his poor mother constantly looking after his baby sister. There were times when he preferred to stay in his room, just so he doesn't have to hear his father banter and have his head being smacked around by his older brother. When Victor does leave his room for times when it's not dinner, he would help his mother with Clara. He would show extreme care for his little sister, especially since she was born with a blind left eye. A part of him hated leaving his mother and sister's side, but his mother told that he needed to go to school to make an education.
As he started the first day of the fifth grade, Victor was immediately cast out by all the other kids for being quirkless and for his bad behavior. He would sit alone in lunch and sit by his favorite tree at recess. He was prepared if the bullies would come and pick on him again. He had stolen a knife from a student from a nearby high school and used it to carve out a makeshift club from a tree branch. However, one day the bullies didn't come and instead heard their voices somewhere else on the schoolyard. He left his tree and walked to all the commotion that was happening. As he got there, he saw that the bullies were now picking on a new kid who entered in the third grade. This kid had long hair just like him except it was dark brown and he wore glasses. This boy was skinny and wasn't the healthiest either, on some occasions he would start coughing. This boy was asking them to stop, but they wouldn't. Unexpectedly, Victor stepped in to defend the boy. He wasn't a match for them, but instead of staying and fight, he took the boy to a hiding place in the school. He looked around to see if the bullies were still looking for them, but they didn't come and the two of them started to walk toward each other's next classes. And for the first time, young Victor Creed decided to socialize.
"So, who are you", Victor asked the new kid.
"Wh-what", the new kid said.
"Those jerks only go after me, but they were after you. So, who are you?"
"I just transferred here for the third grade. Oh, my name is James Howlett and I'm…", James stopped feeling hesitate, but Victor noticed.
"You're what", victor asked him.
"I'm actually quirkless", James confessed.
"So that's why those jerks went after you"
"Yeah. wait, you said that they would come after you. So. does that mean you're quirkless too", James asked him curiously.
"Yeah I'm quirkless, what about it", Victor said bluntly.
"It's just that you're the first quirkless kid I've ever met. Back in my last school, I was the only kid who didn't have a quirk, and everyone wouldn't be my friend because of that"
Victor looked at the boy. He was starting to believe that there was someone else who had felt the same pain as he did. Thus, Victor decided on what to do.
"Alright listen, I'll be your friend", he said to the young James who was surprised by this.
"Really, you will", James said nervously.
"Yeah, but only if you can keep up. We maybe quirkless, but we got shows that we're strong", Victor proclaimed to him as they reached James's next class.
"Oh, okay. I promise I won't let you down", young James said with slight shyness.
"Well alright then. I'll see you tomorrow", they both waved goodbye and after that day they two became a quirkless duo.
The two had been throughout their elementary school as a pair of quirkless idiots with a dream and they would get in trouble by fending off the bullies each day. For the first, Victor had someone to sit next to in lunch and someone to meet with him at his tree. Of course, there was one problem. James was a Howlett and Zebadiah hated the Howlett family. When the teachers reported to Victor's parents about his behavior improvement, they wanted to know why and how. The teachers told him that he finally made a friend with James Howlett. Victoria was happy for her second son, but Zebadiah was furious. After a scolding and a beating, he ordered Victor to never meet with the Howlett boy again. And as usual, Victor kept disobeying him. Every damn punishment was worth it just keep having those silly adventures with James. When the school year ended and summer break was about to begin, the two boys promised to have more adventures during the summer and travel through the Canadian wilderness. However, something happened at Creed Works and Zebadiah returned home in an angered panic.
"Damn it damn it damn it. Those bastards. There must have been a whistleblower among my employees. Once I get my hands on whoever it is, I'll kill them", he barked angrily.
"Zebadiah, what happened", Victoria said coldly.
"My company got raided by some militia and ruined my operation. I'm going to lose all my profits. I'll need to restart and do it somewhere off Canada", he said as he took out a bag and filled it with money from his safe.
"Were they just a militia or were they SHIELD", she said with a far colder tone.
"Wait how did you… IT WAS YOU", he barked at her angrily.
"You are an absolutely terrible man Zebadiah. All your black-market deals, illegal transactions, and your damn abusive beating on our son", Victoria yelled back at him.
"You bitch. I built an empire for this family and this is how you thank me. You've ruined me", he yelled.
"You've already ruined this family you bastard", she yelled back.
BANG. A gunshot could be heard from the outside of the house. Zebadiah had used his quirk Finger Gun to kill Victoria. Knowing that he needed to leave Canada immediately, he needed to collect the rest of his money that was in a safe upstairs. As he got up there, he was met with a shocking revelation. There he saw his safe open, his money piled on the floor, Luther stabbed to death, his dead body bleeding on top of the money, and finally Victor holding a bloody knife standing on top of his dead brother. Zebadiah was both grieving and angry.
"You killed my mother, so I killed your son", Victor growled at his pathetic excuse of a father.
"You damn mistake of a bastard", Zebadiah yelled as he pointed his finger at Victor who lunged at him with his knife.
BANG. This was a feudal attempt on Victor's part for he was immediately shot in the head and fell on his back with a bullet hole in his head.
Zebadiah then went to the dead body of Luther and removed his body from the pile of blood-soaked money. He picked up any stack that wasn't covered in blood and placed it in his bag. He was about to check if Saul and Clara were still around. He figured since there were already to many witnesses, he would have to get rid of them just to save money. Unfortunately for him, he heard loud engines and sirens near the house.
"Shit, SHIELD going to get here any second", he muttered and took what he had to leave the country.
Zebadiah made his way downstairs with a bag of money but was now worried due to SHIELD operatives already surrounding the house with their guns trained on the windows. A female SHIELD operative got out of her vehicle with a gun and a microphone. Holding up her microphone, she ordered Zebadiah to exit the house and surrender, but he refused and remained in his house. He was panting heavily and trying to think of a way to get out of this. He needed to think. He needed to find an opening. He needed a way, just anything. Unknown to him, something was occurring back upstairs.
On the bloody floor, Victor somehow still held on to life even with a hole in his head. As brain matter ooze out from the back of his head and his own blood forming into a pool, the only thing moving on his body was his pupils. They flickered with little life and flashes had appeared to Creed. As he slowly breathed through his nose, he had seen visions of events that he had been a part of, but never remember being there. He saw a fragmented memory of his family, but they weren't rich and instead poor. A memory where he fought in the American Civil War alongside an adult James Howlett. Then, they fought in the first world war, second world war, and the Vietnamese war. Finally, the last fragmented memory was of him fighting the adult James who had three sharp metallic claws on each hand. All that was left was random spastic flashes of people getting slaughtered by clawed hand that Victor recognized were his own hand. The people he was killing, their screaming, their spilled blood, and their slashed bodies on the ground. It was all getting to him and was violently shaking as his body was undergoing some kind of change. His hair grew longer, his muscles grew buffer, his canines turned into sharp fangs, and his nails turned into retractable claws.
Victor Creed was on the verge of breaking out and let out a lion like roar. Zebadiah and the SHIELD operatives jolted as that roar was heard from outside the house. Victor then got up like a resurrected corpse and leaped from the top of the stairs to see his father's shock. He then snarled like an animal and slowly took steps toward him. Zebadiah was scared beyond belief.
"Victor, you're supposed to be dead. I fucking shot your damn head", he yelled as he tried to shake shots, but due to his fear he didn't have good accuracy.
With each bullet hitting his body, Victor was getting more and more bloodthirsty. Once his murderous intent had reached its limit, he then got on all fours and pounced at his father. Victor's claws dug deep into Zebadiah's lungs and his scream could be heard from the outside. Victor tears into his father and rips him into a bloody mess. Flesh, clothe, and organ was splattered and smeared all over the walls. His father's corpse was now hardly recognizable. His claws covered in so much blood.
Now that his father is dead, Victor had slightly cool down and started to begin the process of accepting that he is now a murderer. Was he happy? Damn right he was. In his mind, either his core beliefs or this new animal like behavior told him that it was right and a part of him believe it. Before he could think any further, the door busted open with the SHIELD operatives entering the house. The female operative got closer to Creed, but out of Instinct he hurled himself through the window.
"Victor Creed stop. We can help you. Damn it", the operative yelled to Creed, but he was far too deep into the wilderness to hear her.
The female operative then took off her helmet to reveal herself as Director Margaret Carter.
"Forge, was it really necessary to have a squad to retrieve Victor Creed", Carter said to Forge who took off his helmet to catch his breath.
"To be fair, we just got through with arresting a bunch of black-market workers and shut down a corrupt corporate facility. So technically, we needed the squad if we ever going to get through traffic. And second, you don't know Sabretooth like I do. The guy is an animal``, Forge snarky remarked.
"You do realize he is currently just a kid, right? He still doesn't understand anything", Carter shot back.
"So, then what do you want to do? He was supposed to be quirkless, so getting him was supposed to be easy. Yet, we just saw him regain his mutant abilities from our original multiverse``, Forge counter back.
Carter just sighed and looked back to the woods that Victor had runaway to. She was going to give Forge an order to get everyone ready to leave, but then she heard a sound from the upstairs. She walked up the stairs and found what she could only guess as Creed's first kill. She was going to examine the body, until she heard whimpering from the closet. She opens it to find Saul crying silently and holding his sleeping little Clara. She then decided to give Forge his orders.
"Forge, have cleanup crew prepare two graves for Victoria and Luther Creed. For Zebadiah, have them prepare a crematory and dump the ashes somewhere remote. For these two, put them in child services within the SHIELD holding list", She ordered him.
"And what about Victor? Can really leave him to the Canadians to deal with``, Forge remind her.
"We'll give him one year of freedom, then when he needs financial assistance, that's how we'll bring him in. Before the Canadian government do anything with the Creed family fortune, SHIELD would have full claim to all of it as evidence to the black-market investigation", Carter finished.
After Director Carter and Forge picked up the two children, the SHIELD operatives moved out to let the local law enforcement handle everything else. As SHIELD left the country, Victor Creed ran through the wilderness, clawing through several small trees, and scaring several animals with his snarls. Once he reached the nearby river, he stopped to dip his face in it to wash away any blood. Once the blood was off, he could see his reflection in the red water and realized what kind of changes happened to him. He could see his teeth turned into fangs and his nails turned into claws, even his light brown got longer and turned to a dirty blonde. He wondered if this was his quirk and that the doctor was wrong the whole time. He then took off his shoe to check his pinky toe and moved it around a bit. He tried to find the second joint, but then just snapped the toe and grinded his teeth at the pain. To his surprise, the pinky toe reformed itself back in place. He wondered how many more quirk mutations he might have, but then his thoughts were brought his more enhanced senses. There was a scent in the air, it was blood and it wasn't his, Luther's, or his father. The blood he was smell was familiar and it was close by, but there was only one other house that was built this far into the forest.
"James", Victor said to himself as he hurries to the Howlett mansion.