Erik was seated in a chair in front of Ezekiel’s desk as Ezekiel asked, “Do you know why I wanted to talk to you?”
Erik shook his head as he said, “No, not really.”
Ezekiel gave a smirk as he said, “Come on Erik, a smart kid like you. You should have some idea why I wanted to talk to you.”
Erik studied Ezekiel for a few moments before he said, “My S.A.T. scores on the mock test?”
Ezekiel nodded his head as he said, “It was one of the reasons. But since you brought it up let's start with your mock S.A.T. test scores. You scored an almost perfect sixteen hundred, most colleges that you apply to will consider your application just on that alone. Have you thought about where you want to go?”
Erik thought for a few moments before he said, "M.I.T. but I doubt they would want someone like me.”
“Why would you say that? You are fifteen and incredibly smart. I would think most college’s would love to have you as a student.”
Erik gave a self-deprecating smile and there was a slight, hidden edge to his voice as he said, “A young black kid from the ghetto with a G.E.D.? Maybe if I was in high school taking honors classes still. But now?”
Ezekiel frowned a little before he asked, “You know, I never thought of that. Are you upset you were pulled out of school and brought here?”
Erik just stared back at Ezekiel with a slight glare.
Ezekiel let out a sigh and then said, “I will take that as a yes. Guess I really messed up your plans. You were already aiming for early graduation and getting into M.I.T.?”
Erik nodded his head in reply, but just kept his slight glare on Ezekiel.
Ezekiel smiled as he said, “You know that is still on the table for you, if you want to take that path. But maybe I could offer you a different path, a better path.”
Erik seemed to perk up a little, but still had a slight frown as he asked, “Like what?”
“Well that is part of the reason I wanted to talk with you today. Do you know why you are here?”
Erik paused at that question for a fraction of a second, before he said, “Because you wanted to talk to me?”
Ezekiel shook his head and said, “I like the way you dodged the real question, so let me rephrase it better. Do you have any idea why you were found and brought to this secret base?”
Erik went slightly on guard as he said, “No not really. I was just an orphaned kid living in Oakland before I was brought here.”
Ezekiel smirked as he said, “I know Fury is the only person who really looked into your background and didn’t find anything. Yet he still found you and brought you here. Do you know why?”
Erik's eyes narrowed the slightest bit as he said, “No, not really.”
“Because I told him you were important.”
Erik’s hands clenched just the tiniest bit as he asked, “Why? I am just some no name black kid.”
Ezekiel laughed as he said, "Erik… or would you prefer I call you N'Jadaka?"
Erik sat forward, he glowered at Ezekiel and his body was tense as he asked with an angry tone of voice, "Who told you that name?"
"No one from your fathers homeland, if that's what you are wondering."
Erik was still tense and his voice still had that angry edge to it as he asked, "Then how come you know that name and why wait all this time to bring it up now? I've been here for a year. Why now?"
Ezekiel let out a long tired sigh as he waved towards Erik as he said, "Relax, this is gonna take a while."
Erik sat back in his chair a little, but his body was still tense. Ezekiel shot him a glare as he said, "I said to relax kid, I won't tell you anything until you do."
Erik sat there, staring at Ezekiel for a few moments before he took a deep breath and slowly let it out as the tension left his body. When he was done, he looked like he normally did. But Ezekiel could still hear the tinge of anger in his voice as he asked, "Happy?"
Ezekiel returned a slight frown as he said, "Yes… Your first question might be the easiest to tell you, but the hardest one to believe. I have seen the past and the future. That is how I know your name and at the same time know what you were planning to do. You have a good heart kid, but your ideals are twisted, just like your fathers were.”
Erik bolted out of his chair, a finger pointed in Ezekiel’s face as he yelled, “You don’t know anything about me and my fathers ideals! What would someone like you know about my people's struggles?!”
Ezekiel laughed for a few moments before he asked in a mocking tone, “Why? Because I am not black?”
Erik glared back at Ezekiel as he said, “Exactly, you can’t understand because you aren’t one of us.”
Ezekiel shook his head as he said, “Just because my skin is a different color, doesn’t mean I can’t understand other people's struggles and hardships. I get it, you witnessed a lot of oppression towards people of African and African-American descent. Your father also did and it made him want to change the status quo. But he went about it the wrong way, and you want to go down that same path. I will tell you right now, that path only leads to your death.”
Erik didn’t lose his glare and the anger in his voice was palpable as he yelled, “So I am gonna die with some panther claws in my chest too?!?”
Ezekiel shook his head as he said, “No, you die next to your cousin as you watch the sunset in Wakanda. Gotta admit, it was a pretty boss way to go. You pulled a spear out of your chest when he was offering to heal you.”
“I wasn’t completely sure before when you said you saw the future. But now I know you are full of shit, I would never kill myself. Now tell me how you really found out about me?”
Ezekiel gave a smirk as he asked, “Not a believer? Want me to prove it?”
Erik relaxed a little as he sat back down, his voice still had some heat in it as he said, “You can try, but no matter what you say it will just be more bullshit.”
Ezekiel smirked as he said, “Have a fun trip.”
“What ar…” Erik’s face went a little slack and his eyes were glazed over.
Ezekiel looked at the monitor on his desk as he said, “Now lets see about finding where Ulysses is hiding.”
The next hour or so passed pretty quickly as Ezekiel worked on his computer. He finally looked up when he heard a confused Erik ask, “What just happened?”
Erik’s face had drained of color, his eyes were wide and his hands were touching his chest as he looked at it. Ezekiel looked back at his computer as he said, “Proof.”
Over a minute passed before Erik asked his voice was low, “What was that really? It was like I was in a dream.”
Ezekiel glanced at Erik who was now looking at him. So he turned his full attention back to Erik as he said, “That wasn’t a dream. That is your future if you stay on your current path. Tell me, what did you feel while you were there?”
Erik was quiet for a few moments with his eyes closed as he thought back to what he just experienced. When he finally opened his eyes, he said, “Anger. So much anger. He was ruthless and didn’t care about anything except his goal, it was the only thing that mattered. Linda, she loved him and he… I killed her. Because she was in the way of my goal… I liked her, but I didn’t hesitate to kill her.”
Ezekiel nodded his head as he said, “That anger needs to be dealt with. Anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering. Suffering leads to… anger in another person and then the cycle repeats.”
Erik looked a little confused as he asked, “Is that some kinda Buddhist quote or something?”
Ezekiel shook his head as he said, “Something like that. So do you want to try the path you already saw the end of? Or would you like to try a different path?”
“The different path, is that really even a question?”
Ezekiel smiled as he said, “Well we need to deal with your anger first. Therapy would be the best way, but that takes time. Or we can also do a deep dive into your head and find the root cause. But instead of years, it would only take a few hours."
Erik took a few moments before he said, "Let's do the second one."
Ezekiel looked at the time before he said, "I need to prepare something first. How about you come here first thing after breakfast. I will inform your teacher and Steve that you will be with me most of the day tomorrow."
Erik nodded his head. He was still in a slight daze as he asked, "So what else did you want to discuss with me?"
Ezekiel smiled as he said, "Nothing that can't wait till tomorrow. The conversation will be better when you have a clearer head."
Erik seemed almost normal again, but Ezekiel could notice it better now. Even though Erik was thinking over what he had just seen. That hidden anger was just below the surface. Erik gave another nod before he stood up and left.
Shisui made his way over and asked, "That didn't seem to go as planned."
Ezekiel shook his head as he said, "I shouldn't have put it off for so long, but he seemed like such a normal kid. I know I didn't interact with him that much, but when I did he never showed any issues. Heck Steve see's him every day and never noticed his anger issue. The kid is great at hiding it, but his father is his soft spot."
Shisui gave it some thought before he said, "So what is the plan?"
"I will have Inoichi work with him tomorrow and help him get to the root of his problem. Target his fathers death and probably his mothers death also."
"Once that is done, we can move forward with something else I have been putting off." Ezekiel reached out and spun his monitor around to show Shisui the screen.
It was a satellite view of a boat that was currently land locked. It had a few people with guns on it patrolling on and around it. The view changed and it showed a picture of a man who had short cut gray and white hair with a neatly trimmed beard.
Shisui looked over to Ezekiel as he asked, "Finally going after Klaue? Do we need vibranium for something?"
Ezekiel nodded his head and said, "Darren figured out a way to make Hank's tunnel work. But he needs vibranium to do it. Plus we should figure out if we can use it for chakra metal."
vvvvvv
Erik showed up to Ezekiel's work area after breakfast and found that Shisui and everyone else he saw yesterday were missing. Ezekiel greeted him after he knocked on the door and walked him over to one of the couches in the room as he said, "Just wait here for a little bit, everyone will be here soon."
Erik was about to speak when Ezekiel disappeared into a puff of smoke. Erik wasn't that surprised, he had seen Ezekiel do a lot of weird things since he had been staying in the base. He decided to just sit back and wait. He didn't have to wait long, within ten minutes, people started walking in the door.
It only took a few moments before he saw Shisui and Ezekiel walk in. He had seen more than double the amount of people here yesterday, currently there were only five people who were with Ezekiel. Ezekiel and Shisui were at the back of the group, talking to a man with blonde hair and a girl that looked like she could be his daughter.
Erik stood up from the couch as they got close, Ezekiel smiled as he pointed to the man and teenage girl as he said, "This is Inoichi Yamanaka and his daughter Ino Yamanaka. Inoichi, Ino this is Erik Stevens."
Erik reached out to shake Inoichi’s hand as he said, “It’s nice to meet you sir.”
As they shook hands, Inoichi smiled and said, “It’s always nice to meet a young man with manners. You know my daughter is single and just turned sixteen.”
Ino blushed slightly before she stomped on her dad’s foot as she said, “Hello, I’m Ino.”
Erik shook Ino’s hand for a moment, before Ezekiel said, “Alright, introductions are out of the way, so I will leave you guys alone to help Erik out.”
As Ezekiel walked towards his desk with Shisui, Inoichi said, “This will be easier if you lay down on that couch behind you.” He glanced at his daughter and asked, “Could you grab us some chairs?”
As Erik laid down on the couch, Ino walked off to grab some chairs for her father and her to use. When she came back, her father had her set both chairs next to where Erik’s head was and said, “Alright Erik, Ino is going to be the one to help you out. I am just here to make sure nothing goes wrong.”
Erik looked a little concerned as he asked, “I thought this was like therapy but quicker?”
Ino was already going through hand signs as Inoichi smiled at Erik as he said, “You think you can take short cuts and it will be easy? There are always risks.”
Before Erik could reply, Ino placed her hands on his head and he went limp on the couch. Inoichi chuckled to himself as he stood up to go read a book. He had to admit, Ezekiel might be onto something when it comes to messing with people.
Erik was seated in a chair in front of Ezekiel’s desk as Ezekiel asked, “Do you know why I wanted to talk to you?”
Erik shook his head as he said, “No, not really.”
Ezekiel gave a smirk as he said, “Come on Erik, a smart kid like you. You should have some idea why I wanted to talk to you.”
Erik studied Ezekiel for a few moments before he said, “My S.A.T. scores on the mock test?”
Ezekiel nodded his head as he said, “It was one of the reasons. But since you brought it up let's start with your mock S.A.T. test scores. You scored an almost perfect sixteen hundred, most colleges that you apply to will consider your application just on that alone. Have you thought about where you want to go?”
Erik thought for a few moments before he said, "M.I.T. but I doubt they would want someone like me.”
“Why would you say that? You are fifteen and incredibly smart. I would think most college’s would love to have you as a student.”
Erik gave a self-deprecating smile and there was a slight, hidden edge to his voice as he said, “A young black kid from the ghetto with a G.E.D.? Maybe if I was in high school taking honors classes still. But now?”
Ezekiel frowned a little before he asked, “You know, I never thought of that. Are you upset you were pulled out of school and brought here?”
Erik just stared back at Ezekiel with a slight glare.
Ezekiel let out a sigh and then said, “I will take that as a yes. Guess I really messed up your plans. You were already aiming for early graduation and getting into M.I.T.?”
Erik nodded his head in reply, but just kept his slight glare on Ezekiel.
Ezekiel smiled as he said, “You know that is still on the table for you, if you want to take that path. But maybe I could offer you a different path, a better path.”
Erik seemed to perk up a little, but still had a slight frown as he asked, “Like what?”
“Well that is part of the reason I wanted to talk with you today. Do you know why you are here?”
Erik paused at that question for a fraction of a second, before he said, “Because you wanted to talk to me?”
Ezekiel shook his head and said, “I like the way you dodged the real question, so let me rephrase it better. Do you have any idea why you were found and brought to this secret base?”
Erik went slightly on guard as he said, “No not really. I was just an orphaned kid living in Oakland before I was brought here.”
Ezekiel smirked as he said, “I know Fury is the only person who really looked into your background and didn’t find anything. Yet he still found you and brought you here. Do you know why?”
Erik's eyes narrowed the slightest bit as he said, “No, not really.”
“Because I told him you were important.”
Erik’s hands clenched just the tiniest bit as he asked, “Why? I am just some no name black kid.”
Ezekiel laughed as he said, "Erik… or would you prefer I call you N'Jadaka?"
Erik sat forward, he glowered at Ezekiel and his body was tense as he asked with an angry tone of voice, "Who told you that name?"
"No one from your fathers homeland, if that's what you are wondering."
Erik was still tense and his voice still had that angry edge to it as he asked, "Then how come you know that name and why wait all this time to bring it up now? I've been here for a year. Why now?"
Ezekiel let out a long tired sigh as he waved towards Erik as he said, "Relax, this is gonna take a while."
Erik sat back in his chair a little, but his body was still tense. Ezekiel shot him a glare as he said, "I said to relax kid, I won't tell you anything until you do."
Erik sat there, staring at Ezekiel for a few moments before he took a deep breath and slowly let it out as the tension left his body. When he was done, he looked like he normally did. But Ezekiel could still hear the tinge of anger in his voice as he asked, "Happy?"
Ezekiel returned a slight frown as he said, "Yes… Your first question might be the easiest to tell you, but the hardest one to believe. I have seen the past and the future. That is how I know your name and at the same time know what you were planning to do. You have a good heart kid, but your ideals are twisted, just like your fathers were.”
Erik bolted out of his chair, a finger pointed in Ezekiel’s face as he yelled, “You don’t know anything about me and my fathers ideals! What would someone like you know about my people's struggles?!”
Ezekiel laughed for a few moments before he asked in a mocking tone, “Why? Because I am not black?”
Erik glared back at Ezekiel as he said, “Exactly, you can’t understand because you aren’t one of us.”
Ezekiel shook his head as he said, “Just because my skin is a different color, doesn’t mean I can’t understand other people's struggles and hardships. I get it, you witnessed a lot of oppression towards people of African and African-American descent. Your father also did and it made him want to change the status quo. But he went about it the wrong way, and you want to go down that same path. I will tell you right now, that path only leads to your death.”
Erik didn’t lose his glare and the anger in his voice was palpable as he yelled, “So I am gonna die with some panther claws in my chest too?!?”
Ezekiel shook his head as he said, “No, you die next to your cousin as you watch the sunset in Wakanda. Gotta admit, it was a pretty boss way to go. You pulled a spear out of your chest when he was offering to heal you.”
“I wasn’t completely sure before when you said you saw the future. But now I know you are full of shit, I would never kill myself. Now tell me how you really found out about me?”
Ezekiel gave a smirk as he asked, “Not a believer? Want me to prove it?”
Erik relaxed a little as he sat back down, his voice still had some heat in it as he said, “You can try, but no matter what you say it will just be more bullshit.”
Ezekiel smirked as he said, “Have a fun trip.”
“What ar…” Erik’s face went a little slack and his eyes were glazed over.
Ezekiel looked at the monitor on his desk as he said, “Now lets see about finding where Ulysses is hiding.”
The next hour or so passed pretty quickly as Ezekiel worked on his computer. He finally looked up when he heard a confused Erik ask, “What just happened?”
Erik’s face had drained of color, his eyes were wide and his hands were touching his chest as he looked at it. Ezekiel looked back at his computer as he said, “Proof.”
Over a minute passed before Erik asked his voice was low, “What was that really? It was like I was in a dream.”
Ezekiel glanced at Erik who was now looking at him. So he turned his full attention back to Erik as he said, “That wasn’t a dream. That is your future if you stay on your current path. Tell me, what did you feel while you were there?”
Erik was quiet for a few moments with his eyes closed as he thought back to what he just experienced. When he finally opened his eyes, he said, “Anger. So much anger. He was ruthless and didn’t care about anything except his goal, it was the only thing that mattered. Linda, she loved him and he… I killed her. Because she was in the way of my goal… I liked her, but I didn’t hesitate to kill her.”
Ezekiel nodded his head as he said, “That anger needs to be dealt with. Anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering. Suffering leads to… anger in another person and then the cycle repeats.”
Erik looked a little confused as he asked, “Is that some kinda Buddhist quote or something?”
Ezekiel shook his head as he said, “Something like that. So do you want to try the path you already saw the end of? Or would you like to try a different path?”
“The different path, is that really even a question?”
Ezekiel smiled as he said, “Well we need to deal with your anger first. Therapy would be the best way, but that takes time. Or we can also do a deep dive into your head and find the root cause. But instead of years, it would only take a few hours."
Erik took a few moments before he said, "Let's do the second one."
Ezekiel looked at the time before he said, "I need to prepare something first. How about you come here first thing after breakfast. I will inform your teacher and Steve that you will be with me most of the day tomorrow."
Erik nodded his head. He was still in a slight daze as he asked, "So what else did you want to discuss with me?"
Ezekiel smiled as he said, "Nothing that can't wait till tomorrow. The conversation will be better when you have a clearer head."
Erik seemed almost normal again, but Ezekiel could notice it better now. Even though Erik was thinking over what he had just seen. That hidden anger was just below the surface. Erik gave another nod before he stood up and left.
Shisui made his way over and asked, "That didn't seem to go as planned."
Ezekiel shook his head as he said, "I shouldn't have put it off for so long, but he seemed like such a normal kid. I know I didn't interact with him that much, but when I did he never showed any issues. Heck Steve see's him every day and never noticed his anger issue. The kid is great at hiding it, but his father is his soft spot."
Shisui gave it some thought before he said, "So what is the plan?"
"I will have Inoichi work with him tomorrow and help him get to the root of his problem. Target his fathers death and probably his mothers death also."
"Once that is done, we can move forward with something else I have been putting off." Ezekiel reached out and spun his monitor around to show Shisui the screen.
It was a satellite view of a boat that was currently land locked. It had a few people with guns on it patrolling on and around it. The view changed and it showed a picture of a man who had short cut gray and white hair with a neatly trimmed beard.
Shisui looked over to Ezekiel as he asked, "Finally going after Klaue? Do we need vibranium for something?"
Ezekiel nodded his head and said, "Darren figured out a way to make Hank's tunnel work. But he needs vibranium to do it. Plus we should figure out if we can use it for chakra metal."
vvvvvv
Erik showed up to Ezekiel's work area after breakfast and found that Shisui and everyone else he saw yesterday were missing. Ezekiel greeted him after he knocked on the door and walked him over to one of the couches in the room as he said, "Just wait here for a little bit, everyone will be here soon."
Erik was about to speak when Ezekiel disappeared into a puff of smoke. Erik wasn't that surprised, he had seen Ezekiel do a lot of weird things since he had been staying in the base. He decided to just sit back and wait. He didn't have to wait long, within ten minutes, people started walking in the door.
It only took a few moments before he saw Shisui and Ezekiel walk in. He had seen more than double the amount of people here yesterday, currently there were only five people who were with Ezekiel. Ezekiel and Shisui were at the back of the group, talking to a man with blonde hair and a girl that looked like she could be his daughter.
Erik stood up from the couch as they got close, Ezekiel smiled as he pointed to the man and teenage girl as he said, "This is Inoichi Yamanaka and his daughter Ino Yamanaka. Inoichi, Ino this is Erik Stevens."
Erik reached out to shake Inoichi’s hand as he said, “It’s nice to meet you sir.”
As they shook hands, Inoichi smiled and said, “It’s always nice to meet a young man with manners. You know my daughter is single and just turned sixteen.”
Ino blushed slightly before she stomped on her dad’s foot as she said, “Hello, I’m Ino.”
Erik shook Ino’s hand for a moment, before Ezekiel said, “Alright, introductions are out of the way, so I will leave you guys alone to help Erik out.”
As Ezekiel walked towards his desk with Shisui, Inoichi said, “This will be easier if you lay down on that couch behind you.” He glanced at his daughter and asked, “Could you grab us some chairs?”
As Erik laid down on the couch, Ino walked off to grab some chairs for her father and her to use. When she came back, her father had her set both chairs next to where Erik’s head was and said, “Alright Erik, Ino is going to be the one to help you out. I am just here to make sure nothing goes wrong.”
Erik looked a little concerned as he asked, “I thought this was like therapy but quicker?”
Ino was already going through hand signs as Inoichi smiled at Erik as he said, “You think you can take short cuts and it will be easy? There are always risks.”
Before Erik could reply, Ino placed her hands on his head and he went limp on the couch. Inoichi chuckled to himself as he stood up to go read a book. He had to admit, Ezekiel might be onto something when it comes to messing with people.
