Unlimited || Bucky Barnes

The Power

The screen went black again. I heard a grumble that echoed through whatever I was standing in. The coolness of the air sent chills up my spine. It smelt foul in here. I focused my thoughts on the noise, trying to see in the darkness.

It was big. And wild. It was-

Oh no.

The grumble got louder but I was frozen in my spot. I couldn't run. I couldn't hide. I had to fight this thing with my mind. I could almost envision the beast. Large and furry. The gruffs it kept giving me were getting more and more menacing. My heart dropped as I felt the pounding of its feet, its claws scraping the rock as it thrusted forward. It sounded like a cave by the way it echoed all around me and rang in my ears.

How was I supposed to survive a bear attack without moving?

It felt impossible, but Bruce seemed to believe in me. It appeared like the bear was going to stop in front of me, but it didn't. It kept charging at me, its eyes starting to illuminate as it got closer.

I held my hands out and tried to envision how I was going to win. How was I going to defeat the bear without moving?

I was going to stop it in its tracks.

I was going to bring the cave down on top of him.

I held my hands out and clenched as hard as I could. The cave was thick and strong. I was going to have to focus a lot harder and a lot faster to survive quickly. I shut my eyes and left the bear out of my mind. Bringing down this cave was my main focus. I could feel the roughness of every single grain that complied it up. I could hear the scratching of the rocks together. My face scrunched up as I could feel everything crumble around me.

I was doing it. Even if it was a simulation, this was the biggest thing I've ever done. I kept crushing the rocks and breaking down every grain, making the cracks get bigger and bigger.
This power was so surreal. I felt it coursing through my veins. It was all going to go down on top of him in-

"Stop! Stop! Now!" Bruce yelled through the intercom, stopping the simulation. He pried the door open the best as he could, for it seemed like it was stuck somehow. I mentally gave it a little shove and it popped off with the help of Bruce's yank. He was horrified as he tore off the brain receptors on my face. I stepped out of the box and looked back at it. My eyes widened as I was surprised that I didn't kill myself.

The box was almost completely crushed above my head. If I had been in there any longer, it would have collapsed on top of me.

I won't ever forget his expression when he turned back to me. His face was furrowed in deep concern. I could sense his pulse was racing throughout his body. His mind was flustered. I sighed deeply and awaited the scolding that was coming to me for destroying his tech.

"I'm sorry Dr. Banner, I didn't mean it," I implied, "I was just-"

"Reacting to the simulation," he interrupted. "I know. It's fine Darby. This test was to see what you were capable of and that's what you did." He rubbed his neck and turned to the screen. He swiped his fingers up and the measurements were now on a bigger screen so that I could see. He took a deep breath and rubbed his chin.

"Come take a look," he gestured for me to walk over. He raised a finger and explained the readings. "These were your brain waves before the simulation started."

The first set of waves was a steady line that went up and down in a consistent pace. Then the next set of waves showed up. They were bigger and more spiked, yet still consistent.

"These waves were from the cup simulation, and as you watch here," he pointed out as the waves began to change once more, "this is the moment that you put the fire out," he paused a moment before continuing, "Now this, is where it gets interesting."

The last wave pattern was erratic and unsteady. The spikes were reaching the top of the screen as if they were ready to break out of the glass.

"This is the moment that you began to break down the rocks. Until then, your movements were purely incased in the simulation. But watch here," he hesitated before the waves began to settle and were almost a horizontal line.

"This is when the box began to crush. Your mind was so sharply focused on bringing the cave down on top of you that it shut down everything else, including your sense of reality. You were so instinctively focused on your goal, that you forgot it wasn't real. Therefore, you brought the box down with you. Now this experiment alone has led me to the conclusion that you must be trained here."

"But why? I don't want to train. I still don't even know what I'm doing here," I abruptly blurted.

"I know and I'm sorry. All your questions will be answered but now, you need to remain calm. With an untrained mind, your skills are purely emotional and unstable."

"So now I'm unstable?" my voice started rising.

"No, no, listen," he sheepishly peeped. "What I mean is that this example shows that your powers are much deeper than we thought," he raised a hand up to the box to prove his point. "The fact that your brain went beyond the simulation purely means that..." he trailed off.

"Means what?!" I pleaded.

"It means your powers are unlimited."