I was standing in an unfamiliar place surrounded by darkness. It might have been a forest, a city, or even another planet. I had no idea. The only thing I could think of was that I shouldn't be here. I had to leave. Now.

No sooner had the thought occurred to me that deep voice boomed out from behind me, freezing my blood in fear.

"There is no escape, little fool."

Turning around in terror, I saw a gigantic figure shrouded in shadows, glowing red eyes visible through the gloom.

"All your efforts are futile. There is nothing you can do to stop me. You have no hope, because dread it, fear it, run from it, destiny still arrives. Thanos still arrives."

The Mad Titan stepped out of the darkness, a feral smile on his scarred face.

Terror such as I have never known before seized me. I tried to move, but my legs were frozen to the ground.

Looking around, I suddenly realized that the darkness had disappeared when Thanos had stepped out, revealing my surroundings to me. It was a crimson dystopian wasteland, a graveyard of towers and buildings, the skeleton of a long gone civilization.

I shivered. Titan. I was on Titan.

Thanos walked up to me, still smiling, and laid his gauntlet-less hand heavily on my head.

"You will never be strong enough to stop me. You will fail to save your planet, you will fail to save your friends, you will fail to save yourself. You'll watch the world burn, and you will know it to be your fault. I will break your spirit, and then you will die. This I promise you."

And with that, he snapped his fingers.

I looked down and saw in horror that my legs were starting to crumble into dust. I looked up into his grinning face, into his soulless red eyes, and suddenly my fear turned into fury.

"And I promise you, scrotum-face, you will live to regret the day you messed with my planet. You will die by my hand, Titan. Your head will look great on my wall."

Thanos was no longer smiling.

With a growl, he raised his gauntleted fist, and an abyss opened beneath my rapidly deteriorating form.

The red eyes of the Mad Titan were the last things I saw as my disintegrating body fell down the unending darkness.

My eyes snapped open and I instantly launched myself into the air without thinking. Heart thumping and adrenaline running through my veins, all rational thought left my mind as pure animal instinct took over as I hurtled at breakneck speed towards the ceiling. Letting my body act on its own accord, I twisted in air and somehow managed to kick off the ceiling instead of crashing into it, somersault through the air and land on the floor striking the classic superhero pose automatically.

Whoa.

Heart still thumping from my nightmare, I stood up warily and looked down at my body, the memories of previous events rushing back to my mind. Clearly, the Serum had done its job. I was clearly a lot taller than before, closer to seven feet than six, where before I'd only stood at around five foot ten.

Despite keeping myself in the best shape possible, I'd always been more on the lean side, which was why I'd favored speed over strength. Now though…

I looked like I might give Thor a run for his money, physique wise. Powerful, perfectly sculpted muscles covered my entire body, giving me a sense of strength and stability I'd never known before. I had an eight pack, for fuck's sake.

But at the same time I felt… lighter, as if the gravity acting on me had somehow halved. Experimentally, I jumped to see how it felt. Immediately, I shot up at a much greater height and speed than I'd anticipated. Combining these two things together, the result which followed was inevitable; a dent in the ceiling the rough size and shape of my head.

I landed back on the ground with a groan and rubbed the top of my head. Surprisingly it didn't hurt that badly. Seems like the Serum increased my general toughness as well.

A good thing too, I thought ruefully. Otherwise I'd have a concussion right now.

Looking around, I was struck by the way I was able to see my surroundings. Standing in a dimly lit room, I could count each and every miniscule mark on the tiled floor, every slight imperfection in the wood paneling opposite to me.

The Serum had enhanced my vision as well, it seemed. The closest way I can describe the change was if I had spent my entire life looking at the world in greyscale, and somebody had just switched on all the colors. Everything seemed more vibrant, new and… important.

I looked around as I studied my otherwise unremarkable bedroom, drinking in the sensory feast my heightened senses afforded me. My eyes fell on the floor-to-ceiling mirror that took up the corner of the room.

With some trepidation, I walked up to it, noticing as I did that my usual gait felt awkwardly out of place in my new body. This would take some getting used to, I realized.

Taking a deep breath, I looked into the mirror nervously. What if something had gone wrong?

What if my face ended up like the Red Skull's?

After all, the movies had never established exactly why the Serum had made Steve Rogers look like a Greek god and Heinz Schmidt look like an uncooked lobster.

Call it vanity, nut I did not want to look like an uncooked lobster, or any other crustacean, for that matter.

Anyway, looking in the mirror, it took me a few minutes to realize that the face in the mirror was my own. As used to I was to my lean, sallow-skinned face, with pale green eyes and lusterless black hair, that I almost didn't recognize the face staring back at me as my own.

Instead of my normal thin face, I saw a broad, chiseled face and a jawline that could cut glass. My skin, until recently an unhealthy yellow and slightly disfigured from acne (evidence of many sleepless nights spent working and my recent exit from puberty, respectively) was now completely smooth and flawless. The slight swelling on my brow where Brad had sucker-punched me had disappeared as well. Even my eyes seemed somehow brighter.

I was, simply put, handsome. Like really handsome. I looked like I'd just stepped out of Hollywood.

Happy with how my physical appearance had turned out, I moved away from the mirror and spied some clothes laid out on a sofa nearby. Probably John, I thought. I went over and put them on. Evidently John had gone shopping, because even though by rights all my clothes would be several sizes to small now, these fit reasonably well.

I'd just finished dressing when the door to my bedroom slid open and John stepped through, looking exhausted. Thanks to my enhanced vision, I could notice a lot of things about my friend, like the pallor of his cheeks, the slightest tremor in his hands and the redness of his eyes that showed me that he hadn't slept in a long time.

"Good morning John." I said brightly. "Actually, is it morning? Can't tell. How long have I been out?"

John yawned and looked up at me with bleary eyes, (he had to raise his head to look at me in the eye now. This was so weird.)

"It's four in the morning, Alex. And to answer your question, you've been out for three days."

"Three days?" I echoed, the smile dropping from my face. "Why? The Serum doesn't take that long to take effect! What happened?"

"That's what I've been trying to find out for the last… forty hours? Fifty? Anyway, come to the main lab, I'll show you everything I've found."

On the way to the lab, I noticed John walking like a man in a fevered dream, on the verge of collapse.

"Are you alright, John?" I asked, concerned.

"I haven't slept a total of five hours in the entire time you've been unconscious, Alex, so no, I've been better," He snapped.

I was surprised and, admittedly rather moved by the fact he'd been so worried about me.

"Okay, after you show me the results of the tests, you're gonna have a long warm bath and then at least eight hours of sleep, got it?" I spoke in a soothing voice.

He nodded slowly, a tired smile on his face.

"You don't need to tell me twice, North."

The door to the labs slid open and we entered, our arrival triggering the lights to automatically switch on. John walked over to the main frame and pulled up a window displaying two separate blood samples.

"Alright, look. The sample on the left is your blood before taking the Serum, and the one on the right is the Serum blood we got from the Soldier."

I nodded in understanding as I studied the samples. Like I'd noticed before, the cells in the Serum blood seemed in excess to what they should be, and they had the remarkable ability to strip all the nutrients and useful materials out of a foreign substance, all the while completely disintegrating any waste product that was poisonous or otherwise harmful.

"Now look at this."

John pulled up another screen.

"This is the Serum blood compared to your blood after the transformation."

I stared in amazement. My blood cells were at twice as many as in the Serum blood. What was more, my cells were clearly much more energetic, seemingly supercharged with some sort of energy.

John ran a few simulations on my blood, and I saw that my blood in more or less the same way as Brad's blood did, but just better. I absorbed nutrients from foreign substances quicker, produced nearly five times the energy and all in all performed like a much more powerful version of Serum Blood.

"How…" I asked, my voice hoarse with astonishment.

John sighed. "As far as I can tell, your cells now contain an absurd amount of energy, even more than the absurd amount of energy present in the Serum Blood already. Which means that you're stronger, faster and smarter than even other standard Super Soldiers."

"B-but why?" I croaked. "What happened that…" my voice trailed off as I realized the answer to my own question.

"Vita Rays…"

John nodded.

"My thoughts exactly. When you said that Vita Rays were restoration magic, you were half right. They are restoration magic, but much weaker and diluted. Produced by machine, somehow. Anyway, they react comparatively weakly with the Serum, only stabilizing it and improving it slightly. But you had me bombard you with pure, unfiltered magic, which reacted much more strongly with the Serum."

I slowly sank down into a chair as I listened to him speak. Magic and its effects on the body was, after all, his specialty.

"The magic acted as a catalyst for an even more powerful transformation within you. It somehow supercharged the Serum, turning the dial of the enhancement all the way up to eleven, so to speak. It enhanced the effects of the Serum, making you even more powerful than we intended."

"Any side-effects?" I asked cautiously. This all seemed too good to be true, which immediately put me on guard. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst, as they say.

John shook his head.

"None, except for this."

He ran another simulation, in which extreme cellular damage was applied to my blood cells. I watched, transfixed as the shredded remains of my internal molecular structure started to reform, slowly at first, but then picking up speed as it rapidly reformed back into exact shape and form it had been before the extensive damage. There remained absolutely no evidence that there had been any stress on my cellular structure in the first place.

I didn't trust myself to speak. Luckily I didn't have to, as John went on.

"This simulation is in real time. You actually heal this fast. This is cellular regeneration on a level I've only seen when magic is involved. All the excess restoration magic in your body is constantly running through your veins right now. And because magic is basically interdimensional energy, it won't run out. That means you'll heal from nearly any injury almost instantly. And I think you're basically immune to every disease we know of, too."

I just sat there, stunned as I listened to John as he dropped bombshell after bombshell. All I'd been hoping for was Captain America speed and strength, for God's sake. I'd have counted myself lucky if I'd succeeded in that without any untoward incidents. But this was… just, so impossibly good, I was sure there'd be catch somewhere, a third eye or a second head. But according to John, the only catch wasn't even a catch at all, but an honest-to-goodness healing factor.

In barely a week, I'd gone from merely a competent human to a genuine superhuman, possibly the strongest person on earth, bar the Hulk, at least until Thor came knocking. Not bad for a kid barely legal to drink.

I smiled, I honestly couldn't help it. My plan so far had yielded greater results than I could've hoped for I stood up from my chair, my smile turning into a broad grin. This was it! I was finally on my way to greatness.

John took one look at my face and stood up as well.

"Okay, this was fun. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an urgent appointment with my bed."

"Really?" I asked, surprised. "You're going to sleep? Now?"

John sighed, and looked me hard in the eye.

"Ignoring the fact that I'm so tired that I've been seeing double of you for half an hour, and I'm still not sure which of you is the real one, I know that gleam in your eye, Alex. I know what comes next, and I'm really not up to that right now."

"Oh really?" I said, crossing my arms. "And what exactly is it that you think I'm gonna do now?"

"You're gonna go out and test out your powers and try to push them to their limits, just to see what they might be."

I blinked.

"Huh. Guess you know me better that I thought."

"Indeed I do. Now, I know you're excited and all, but can you please keep the inevitable crashing and smashing that will occur down? I really need to sleep."

I grinned. "Sure, John. Go sleep."

"Thank you Alex."

He walked away, before turning around to face me at the door.

"Don't do anything too crazy without me, okay?"

"Of course I won't! You worry too much, gramps."

John flipped me the bird, and went to get his well-deserved rest.

I grunted slightly as I lifted the small minivan over my head. I'd realized pretty early on that I was comprehensively stronger than any version of Captain America had ever been, comic-verse or movie-verse. Therefore, I'd left the traditional weights behind and settled for more… unorthodox equipment.

Scattered around me were objects of various weights and sizes, such as motorcycles, refrigerators, cinderblocks and even a pickup truck. So far none had proven a challenge, except for the last one. Even then I'd been able to raise it half off the ground before it put too much strain on me. Although I believed that with practice I could lift even heavier weights, it seemed for now my strength level was being able to lift around two tons.

Not at all shabby.

I put the car down carefully and cracked my knuckles. I pulled out my personal tablet and entered in my score for the strength test. Then I closed it and headed out to the circular running track that around the grounds surrounding my base. Setting a timer on my Stark tech smartwatch, I took off on the track.

Einstein's theory of relativity states that the faster you move; the slower time moves for you. I'd always had trouble wrapping my head around that. Until now, that is.

The entire world around me slowed down, and then collapsed in on itself as though I was looking at it through a telescope. I shot across the track faster than most cars on the highway. I was running faster than I'd ever gone before, and with a thrill I realized I wasn't even close to my top speed yet. Pouring more energy into my legs, my shout of glee was lost in the wind as I run even faster. I was so lost in the adrenaline rush that I didn't even realize that I'd already crossed the finish line twice. I finished the third time, and looked at my watch.

Just under two minutes. I'd run three miles in under two minutes, and I wasn't even winded. I ran some numbers in my head, and was slightly surprised by how quickly I was able to work out my average speed; ninety-five miles per hour. While absolutely unbelievable in itself, I was more interested in how quickly I'd calculated that.

I knew the Serum increased brainpower, but just how much, especially for a genius like me?

Picking up the tablet again, I first happily added in my speed test results, then opened up the Stark apps folder that came pre-downloaded with it, and opened the Stark IQ Test app. The IQ test was considered official in most of the major companies, and it was completely cheating proof, as you couldn't click away from it until it was done, and it used the front camera to detect how many people were looking at the screen. If there were more than one, you automatically failed the test.

The home screen showed my current IQ score, 254, classified as Super-Genius. That was an actual class of intellect in the MCU, to accommodate such people as Tony Stark who transcended mere genius. I'd also learned that the geniuses of my universe, like Stephen Hawking for example, also had a much higher IQ in the MCU, bordering on 300 in the case of Dr. Hawking. Tony Stark stood at 290, while a was some way behind in the 250 neighborhood.

At least, I had been.

I clicked on the fresh test option and began the test.

I finished in less than three minutes, which prompted the app to inform me that it was a new record. I waited a few minutes as it calculated my result, and then with a little jingle, it displayed a single three-digit number; 376.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. My IQ had gone up by more than a hundred points. I refused the option to send my result to the leaderboards, no need to gain any notoriety right now, and closed the tablet.

I thought for a moment about my next move. I needed Vibranium for the Arc reactor, but for that I needed to find Klaue. I sighed. I was at an impasse right now. The most I could do was train myself more as I searched for Klaue.

Although right now I needed to cool off, and with that in mind, I took off for a leisurely stroll through New York City.

I walked through the city with no real destination in mind, taking in the scenery with my enhanced senses and slightly enjoying the lustful eyes of most women and some men on me.

Sauntering up 42nd and Madison Avenue, I passed a construction site, subtly ignoring the stares of the people around me when something, some primal instinct made me turn around and look at the construction site.

The building was nearly two thirds done, I judged, and seemed to be just another addition to the endless myriad of skyscrapers that was the New York City skyline, nothing special. I couldn't understand what drew me so viscerally to this specific building. Then I saw the sign at the gate of the fence.

THIS IS THE SITE OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE BAXTER BUILDING, APPROVED BY THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

Shit. Oh Shit.

Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit…

I tore down the street, not caring as people fell over themselves to stare at the mountain of a man run faster than a cheetah through the city.

The ground had just been pulled out from under my feet.

I knew there would be something that would end up blindsiding me, I knew it.

The Fantastic Four were here.

Who else?

Hey guys! Standard apology for the late as fuck upload. Can't be helped. Anyway, you know the drill, Review, Fav and Follow!

Peace!