S.H.I.E.L.D. Meets the O.S.S.

Untold Past

Years ago, not too long after getting her bionics, Ruby Gonzalez fled from her home after her family discovered them. She left Venezuela and didn't stop until she reached Central City, a place for a new start. She was going there to visit a friend of hers named Jennifer Sheeran, another bionic superhuman. The two were going to lay low until they could get used to the new life. "Gonzalez, welcome to Central City." Jennifer told her as she arrived at her apartment. "It's not much, but it'll do for now." Ruby didn't mind that there wasn't much to the apartment. Where else could they go? "So you know why I left Venezuela." Ruby told her as she unpacked her stuff. "Why'd you leave?" Jennifer shrugged, clearly not wanting to talk about it. Ruby laughed and shook her head. "Just remember that your stuck with me." She said. "So I'll have time to ask or think about it." Jennifer had the ability to read minds, which could get frustrating when you don't want to know anything. "Yeah well, it's because my family finally found out I like girls." Jennifer said. "They didn't exactly take it well." Both them laughed. "Okay, isn't that what you expected from them?" Ruby asked. "Why's it something you didn't want to say?" Jennifer tried to contain a laugh but couldn't hold it as she looked at Ruby. Ruby then realized why she wouldn't say anything and started laughing with her. "Wait, they thought we...?" She asked as she laughed. "Yeah, I couldn't believe it." Jennifer said. The two of them eventually calmed down and unpacked the rest of Ruby's stuff. Ruby then noticed something fall off a cabinet that she accidentally bumped into. She apologized and picked it up, it was a magazine about a machine. "Particle Accelerator, is it safe?" Ruby read. "Think we should check it out, it happens tonight." Jennifer shrugged and grabbed the magazine. "I've heard people think about it." She said. "Not all of them were good." Eventually the decided to watch the particle accelerator from the apartment. Ruby found it amazing that she could see all of Central City. "We can still make before the countdown ends if you wanna go still." Jennifer said to her. Ruby nodded and they grabbed their stuff and headed out. About halfway there, Jennifer suddenly stopped and began looking around. "You okay?" Ruby asked. "Someone's about to come out." Jennifer said. "I can hear their thoughts." Just then, a man stepped out and walked towards them. "And what're you two doing out by yourselves." He asked. "Not your concern." Ruby replied. Jennifer rolled her eyes. "For the thousandth time, I'm going with you to Argus." She said. "And neither is Ruby." The man was an Argus agent that was in a way kind of like S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra. "That's just it." He said as three other agents appeared. The man pressed a button on a small machine, sending a strange wave across them. "That's an EMP." Jennifer said to Ruby. "How can you tell?" Ruby asked her in confusion. "Because our bionics run on the technology in our necks." Jennifer replied. "I stopped hearing their thoughts, our bionics are gone." Ruby knew she was right. She had started feeling weaker and wasn't sure what to do. Just as the group started to lock them in handcuffs, two crystals immediately slammed into two of the agents, killing them on strike. The remaining agents looked around with guns armed. Another crystal slammed into one agent from behind, leaving only one left. The agent walked into an alleyway, in which a hand grabbed his neck. The man began coughing and breathing heavily. Ruby saw the man's body rot until it was nothing but a skeleton, then dropped onto the ground. Ruby and Jennifer felt their bionics power up as they saw a boy walking out of the alleyway. "Who are you?" Ruby asked. "Al-Alex." He struggled to say. Ruby nodded and slowly walked towards him. "Okay Alex, are you okay?" Ruby asked. Alex shook his head and looked afraid of something. Ruby walked up and tried to go to him, but Alex backed away. "You don't need to be afraid of us." She told him. "I don't want to hurt anyone else." Alex said as his hands began to glow. He looked at them with wide eyes and began shaking his head again. "Not again, I gotta get out of here." He said as he started to leave the scene. Just then a sharp pain came to Alex's head and he started hearing a loud ringing sound. As he yelled through the pain, an energy blast came from his body that caused destruction to nearby buildings. "Oh my god." Ruby said. "It's okay, no one has lived there for months." Jennifer told her. Ruby turned away from the destruction to look at Alex, only to discover he had ran away. "He wasn't afraid of us." She said. "He's afraid of himself." Just then, thunder and lightning cracked through the sky and became a massive storm. "Let's head back to the apartment." Jennifer said heading back. Ruby nodded. "You go ahead, I'm gonna make sure he's okay." Ruby told her. Jennifer nodded and wished her luck. "Be careful, this doesn't seem like a regular storm." She warned. Ruby nodded and headed off to look for Alex. She saw something move on one of the staircases and climbed up. As she climbed near the top, Ruby heard a giant explosion from the distance. The explosion caused the ground to shake, collapsing the staircase. Ruby tried to catch herself on the building but missed and started falling. Just then she stopped in midair, some type of energy was holding her. "I've got you." Alex's voice spoke from below. Alex used the energy to get Ruby safely to the ground and suddenly fell to his knees. "Woah, are you okay?" Ruby asked. She then noticed that some of his veins were glowing in his arm. "What is that?" She asked him. Alex didn't answer, but instead looked behind her. The dark matter from the explosion was heading towards them. Alex walked past Ruby and released an energy that sucked away the dark matter, while putting it inside him. As the last of the dark matter was removed from the city, the glow spread through his veins. Alex once again landed on the ground, this time seeming in pain. "Okay seriously, what's going on?" Ruby asked. "It's my powers, they're killing me." Alex answered. "I need your help." Ruby looked at him and nodded. After a while, the two of them found a triangular pyramid case with a clear crystal inside. "Okay, open the case and hold it steady." Alex said. "But don't touch the crystal." Ruby nodded and opened the case. Alex put his hands out and released more energy, putting it into the crystal. The glow faded from his veins and the crystal began to glow a bright pink. Alex released the power until there was nothing left. "Close it." He said. Ruby closed the case and it suddenly flew into the air and into space. "That power isn't needed, not here anyway." Alex said. He pulled out a small crystal out of his pocket, it was a multi-colored crystal. "What's that?" Ruby asked. "Something to contain my memory of the past few years." Alex answered. "My memory of my powers, in case they come back anyway." He explained that the crystal would send him to another earth so he could have a fresh start. He wanted Ruby to keep the crystal, this way he wouldn't be tempted to know. "If I do get my powers back, I want you to put the memories back into me." He said as he activated the crystal. Ruby watched as the crystal released an energy into his head, taking his memories. During the transfer, the crystal slipped out of his hand. Alex looked at Ruby and then vanished. Ruby stood motionless for a moment and then grabbed the crystal. "Don't worry." She said. "You have my word." She put the crystal into her pocket and headed back to the apartment.