Raptor

Chapter 1

1997

"How is the splicing coming?" The man's gruff, impatient voice asked as soon as he walked into the lab.

A scientist looked up and immediately straightened their stance. "Excellent sir, most of the subjects we are growing seem to be responding appropriately and are growing at a nice pace."

"Most?"

The scientist cringed a bit at his boss's tone. "Well, we did lose some but not many, the first three of the fifty died when we inserted the foreign genes, only six died when the fossilized DNA corrupted the embryo, and five a few days later when the DNA didn't bond property... You still have thirty-six that survived the first year and we can always make more."

"I wanted an army! I wanted to wipe out S.H.I.E.L.D.!" The man shouted and slammed his fist on the metal counter, causing a loud bang to ring throughout the room, from the back came shrieks and scuffling sound. "Take me to the survivors."

"Right away sir!" The scientist hastily turned and jogged back to the cells, hiding a copy of Jurassic Park on his way back, his boss didn't need to know where he got the information to make this project to work, though it was his boss's idea which made him question whether he got the idea from the same book.

Strucker came to a stop before crouching down to inspect two unmoving lizard-like creatures in a cage. "What happened to these two? They're dead!"

"I- the Ankylosaurus spliced children tend to fight... subject A-7 and A-8 must've killed each other." He felt ashamed for the failure as he realized he should've separated them. "But subject A-9 survived a fight with her brother subject A-10."

"Are you saying there are less than thirty-six?" Strucker was glaring at him. "I need these shifters to fight in the HYDRA army, not kill each other!"

"If it makes any difference, the Raptors and Tyrannosaurs are doing well..."

"Can you make them shift forms?" Strucker questioned as he jabbed one of the Eotriceratops in the side.

The scientist pushed up his glassed in stress before swallowing. "Well, we can't exactly make them do anything."

"I thought you were training them." He glared at the middle-aged man before him. "Even my son could do better than you in keeping them alive and well trained to obey commands... You and your team can't even make them turn human on command!"

"We have been working with the Quetzalcoatlus, they shift to human form usually." He motioned to three one-year-old children in the lowest corner cages staring up at them quietly. "But their wings are so big they tend to snap their necks when they try flying."

"Why? They can't be full grown yet." He glared at the remaining small boys as if it were their fault.

"W-well... you wanted large dinosaur DNA but Quetzalcoatlus was the largest, not meant to fly but to glide... their wings are already larger than their heads and body and when they try to take off they crash and usually snap their necks."

Strucker cursed and paced back and forth in front of the cages before coming to a decision. "Terminate subjects Q-1, Q-3, and Q-7. If they can't fly they are useless to us."

"And the others?" The scientist cringed under Strucker's gaze. "The carnivores have killed three of my men and aren't any closer to obeying even the simplest command."

"Keep working!" Strucker shouted, earning a shriek from subject R-1 as the young female raptor shook her head and backed away with a hissing noise while the others followed her lead. "Start with R-1, she's already established her role as alpha, break her and the others will obey."

He looked hesitant as he glanced from his boss to the delicate but ferocious baby Utahraptor. "Break, sir?"

"Yes!" He was extremely unhappy now as he glared down at the man. "You have until next week."

"B-but sir!" The scientist panicked at the short time span. "I can't, their just babies, if anything their training won't be complete until they're at least nine!"

"Then speed up their growth as well!" Strucker shouted, despite knowing it was already impossible to do that without harming the subjects beyond repair.

2015

"Strucker, we're under attack!" A HYDRA guard shouted as he staggered down the stairs and into the control room of the base.

He turned to the young agent with an unconcerned look. "Send more men out."

"But sir, we're... we're being slaughtered! The Avengers are getting past us!"

"I said, take more men!" Strucker waited until the man was gone before turning to his top scientist, a balding man with thick glasses by the name of Jamie. "How are the twins?"

"Fine, but they're growing restless just waiting here while the fight is outside." He nodded toward a dark corner where the Maximoff twins were leaning against the inside of a stairwell. "Let them out to fight, they signed up for it."

Strucker thought about it for a moment before turning down another hall and to a heavy metal padlocked door. "What about my father's experiment?"

"She will kill anyone who goes in there." Jamie replied instantly. "I wouldn't recommend it."

"Let her out. Let's see how the Avengers deal with Raptor Alpha." Strucker typed in the access code and the door slowly swung open to reveal a bloodstained floor that disappeared in the darkness of the room.

Jamie paled as a growl came from within and claws scraped the wall. "Sir, please, I'm begging you, close the door before she escapes."

"She was trained well enough not to kill HYDRA agents." Strucker replied confidently as a gray-white raptor with black streaks and spots along her back ran out before spinning around and turning human as she faced them.

"Where am I?" Her voice was a bit raspy, almost like a growl as her amber eyes scanned them. "You are not Strucker... nor my creator..."

"I'm his son." Strucker replied as he ignored the trembling scientist beside him. "I have a job for you."

She cocked her head to the side, her chin length hair brushing her face as she narrowed her eyes at them. "What is it?"

"Kill the people attacking the base." Strucker commanded. "Kill the Avengers."

Her form shifted and soon her raptor form was back and she growled before running off, a chorus of screams that were abruptly cut off following her into the distance. Apparently she wasn't going to just kill the enemy.

"I'll send the twins to take project R-1 down." Jamie offered.

"Send them... but don't take Raptor down." Strucker ordered before walking off.