AN: This chapter might be a little off history wise, I'm going off strictly what I know of from the show, so I'm sorry if I muddle up a bit of the history. This Chapter acts more like a story within the story, I'm going off a random inspiration it will make sense as the story progresses.
Chapter 13 – The Master and The Puppet
~~~~London 1942~~~~
Nikola walked down the London streets, dressed all in black.
The streets were empty, no one dared leave their home in case of a blitz.
He felt the ground shudder as a bomb went off in the distance and he jumped into the shadows of an alleyway as a small platoon of soldiers came running.
This was ridiculous, the fact that he needed to go straight into the heart of danger to seek help to get out of danger. He had to sneak straight into the base camp, get down into their bunker, and find his contact.
She was his only hope.
He had screwed up, and he had screwed up badly.
He moved fast behind enemy lines, trying to stay as much in the shadows as possible, knocking out a few young soldiers keeping guard till he reached the entrance to the bunker.
He knocked out the guards and dragged them out of sight before sneaking in.
He made his way through the maze of ladders and corridors till he found the room he was looking for.
He snuck in, deftly silent.
The room was much more appealing that the rest of the bunker, it's walls were dry-walled and painted a dull beige, a desk in once corner, a chest of drawers in the other, and a cot.
He sat on one of the chairs, a homey touch for this rather abismal and oh-so-military quarters.
He pressed his hand to the light and it flickered to life.
He heard the door open and the sound of boots click against the concrete floor.
"Thank you Corporal, I want the data sent to Churchhill immediately," said the voice.
"Yes m'am."
The entity closed the door behind her and gasped.
"Hello Helen," said Nikola.
"You bastard! How dare you come here after what you've done!" she growled.
"Helen, listen to me, it's not what it looks like," Nikola stood up and dodged the item she threw in his direction.
"It's not what it looks like? You were planning on giving your death ray to every allied country! How is that not what it looks like?" she snarled at him.
"That was not my intention, I was deceived as much as you, please Helen, listen to me, we've been friends for years, you're the only one I can turn to," he pleaded.
"What did you think would happen with your cochamamy scheme, you could've killed hundreds, maybe even thousands of people because of your stupidity!"
"Not stupidity, just a lapse in judgement, I forgot that people are not up to my level of intelligence, and I made a mistake, but I'm not a traitor, look I'll prove it to you, I've made a device, I've made it for you, as a peace offering, Helen, it will help right my wrong, but I need your help, I need to get out of here."
Helen relented slightly.
"This better not be one of your tricks, Nikola, or so help me…"
"I know, I know," he groaned and stepped towards her. "I promise, I'll go into hiding, I'll keep to myself, I'll find someplace remote and secluded to finish my work, this is the last time I try to intervene."
He looked sincerely into her eyes.
"Ok, Nikola, I'll help you."
~~~~Present~~~~
Nikola snapped awake and shook his head.
It throbbed slightly, and his eyes couldn't focus very well.
What had happened?
He went to move and realized he was strapped down.
"Hey!"
He shouted out…or at least, he thought he did.
"Patient #901 is just coming out of anesthesia, it will take a moment for the drug to neutralize," Nikola moved his head in the direction of the voice and saw a tall, lean, and fidgety man standing beside a tall woman in a business suit.
"Excellent work Jeffries, that will be all," the man nods his head and moves to the system of medical technology and computers and starts typing.
"W-what do you want from me?"
The woman looked at him and smiled.
"Good morning Mr. Tesla, it is such a pleasure to meet you, I've heard many stories about you, you are a fascinating man," she walked up to him and he blinked trying to focus on her.
"Are you Cabal?" Nikola snarled.
She scoffs.
"Hardly, though I am a fan of their work, but their motives were complete trash, they saw people like you and your friends as threats to the Earth, while I see them as a key to turning the tides of war to a new balance, stopping all this pain and suffering. You see, I've believed ever since I was a small child that God put everything on this Earth for a purpose, therefore abnormals are not a construction error, just like mentally challenged can play beautiful music, or schizophrenics can be math geniuses, I believe abnormals are God's gift to humanity for a reason; the silver lining."
"Oh you're one of those people," Nikola muttered, his brain finally clicking into functionality.
"Not religious, are you?" she smiled cheekily at him.
"I'm a scientist, science is my religion," he sneered at her.
"Cynical; I expected you to be, but what you don't understand is that you are the most important piece to my plan, your gift is the key to peace, eternal peace, your sacrifice will save many, possibly all who live on this Earth."
"What gift? I'm a walking magnet with a brain, granted a very ingenius brain, but unless you think that I'm going to construct some doomsday weapon for you, think again!" Nikola barked.
"No, nothing so barbaric as a weapon, I believe you tried that idea once and it blew up in your face," she smirked at him, a hint of a laugh in her voice.
Nikola rolled his eyes and growled.
"I'm talking about your genetic gift, passed on to you as naturally as eye color, or bone structure, our inheritance of a once great race…"
"Well, that's where you're little scheme fails, you obviously didn't do your research well enough, or you would know that I lost my inheritance, my gift as you call it, and no matter what I do I can't get it back, not without source blood, and unless you have a stock of that hidden somewhere all you're getting is Magnet Man."
"You never did find the source blood did you? When destroying the Cabal, oh yes, I know all about what they did, see The Cabal and EscCor are sister companies, we learned much from their last experiment, and we managed to gain from their downfall. They were very ambitious, if a little confused," Nikola stared at her intently.
"You found the source blood?" he stared in shock.
"Just before destroying their last remaining facility," she grinned.
"You're still taking a long shot that it will actually work," Nikola sighed.
"Yes but Jeffries here is the world's leading geneticist, he and his team, under funding from EscCor of course, have perfected cloning, patent pending."
Jeffries looks up and waves awkwardly.
"And we have the leading expert on teratology on her way."
"Wait, Magnus? You leave her out of this!"
"She has her role in the cause, I can't change it."
"She won't do it, she won't go with your high and mighty plans for world peace!"
"If she wants you to survive she will, as I understand she has a soft spot in that 160 year old heart for a certain scientist," Laura opened a file and pulled out the photo. "And from what I can tell she is more than just a booty call for you."
Nikola growled.
"Helen would never risk the lives of the whole world for one person, even someone she cares about, that's her responsibility, her burden, she lost her own daughter because of this! She won't use me for the destruction of the world and I won't let her!"
"We'll see, you'd be surprised of how love and loss can influence a person."
She placed the photo back in the file and turned on her heel.
"Prepare him for the first stage!"
Jeffries nodded and typed a on his keyboard.
"Don't worry Mr. Tesla, you're doing this for a great cause."
Nikola clenched his teeth as his system was flooded with a hot seering pain.
~~~~Rome~~~~
Helen cradled the mug of tea as she sat across from Dorian.
"This is a nice café, I come here all the time," said Dorian as he drank his coffee.
"It's pleasant, Mr. Dorian," Helen looked at him, studying him.
"I actually asked you here to make a little proposition for you, Dr. Magnus, I hope you don't mind," he said after a moment of silence.
Helen sighed.
"You're not really from the Government are you?" she shook her head.
"No, I work for a company, called EscCor, have you heard of them?" he took out his business card and pushed it in front of her.
"Yes, you specialize in military technology, tracking devices and simulators, right?"
"Yes, but that is such a small superficial part of what we do, you see, we're working on something big, bigger than the military, and we need you're help."
Helen looked at him seriously.
"Me? What do you need me for?"
"You're familiar with The Cabal?"
She tensed at the name.
"Yes." She bit coldly.
"Their last experiment, the one involving your daughter, dealt with 6 humans with scrubbed DNA, perfectly flawless, and a template to create a team of evolved humans, with qualities from the most deadliest abnormals known to man all for the goal of saving humanity, right?"
Helen ground her teeth.
"Yes."
"Well what we're working on is similar to that, but with a much greater purpose, instead of taking humans and scrubbing them clean of genetic defects and flaws and making them into a super-creature, we're creating artificial humanoid forms, with abilities far more spectacular than the Cabal could imagine, creating an army of intelligent, obedient, and expendable soldiers."
"And what do you plan to do with them when they are finished, sell them to the highest bidder?" Helen glared, unimpressed.
"No, we plan to use them, not to cause hurt, but to cause peace, with this Super-Army, the world will be given a choice, either make peace and stop fighting, or die."
"So you're intention is to scare the world into peace, that isn't peace that's tyranny!"
"No, Tyranny would imply we would get control of the world, and domination is not the goal in this matter, it's a bluff, if they have no need to fight, they have no need for militaries and guns and tanks, and so the money that would normally go into these facilities would be free to go elsewhere, we could end poverty, hunger, pollution, we could stop the world from hurting itself, it's what everyone wants, we are just giving them an extra push."
"You could also cause chaos and rioting, did you ever think of that?" Helen glared at him even harder. "Too many people have been killed in pursuit of goals very much like this, you are no better than the Cabal!"
She shouted and threw her mug of tea in his face.
She got up to leave.
"I won't be any part of it!" she started to storm away.
"It's a shame though, Nikola was so depending on you, but you may have just signed his death warrant."
Helen stopped and bit her lip nervously.
She turned around.
"What?"
"Oh, did you believe what I said about him going back to the hotel? No, sorry, he's in our custody, see you and him, together, are the key to the success of this mission, he has what we need, and you know how to unlock it, so unless you want him to die, a very horrible and painful death, I suggest you come with me, and my little friends…"
All the patrons in the café stand up and flash their weapons.
"Quietly and cooperative if possible."
Helen sighed and raised her hands in defeat and winced and he stood up and pulled her to him.
"Walk."
He said forcibly and put a hand at the small of her back leading her out to a black car.
~~~~London 1942~~~~
Nikola walked in step with Helen along the underground system below London.
"You say this will lead me to the River?" he looked at her.
"Yes, my contact there will sail you to an island off the coast of Norway, from there, I have documents for your new identity already being sent there, luckily your executioners think you're still in New York."
"Yes, I sent them on a wild goose chase, some false data, and a crappy safe."
Helen sighed.
"You always did have a flair for the dramatic, I'll have some of my contacts handle the report of your death over there, from this point on Nikola Tesla is dead, you must understand that," she looked at him.
"I do, I do, and thank you," he said looking at her sadly for a moment.
"What's a fake death among old friends?" she muttered lightly, patting his shoulder.
"Helen, I-" he hesitated for a moment before kissing her hard, pushing her against the wall, needing to show her how he felt before she was gone forever.
He placed his hand on her waist, but she quickly pushed him away from her.
He breathed heavily, and saw as she fumed before raising her hand and slapping him across the face.
"Is this all a big joke to you, Nikola!" she cried out angrily. "Is this all you think about? You bastard! I am here as your friend, and I am helping you, just as that! How dare you!"
She slapped his again.
"Helen…"
"How dare you use me to settle your unresolved desires! Especially after all I've bloody done for you!"
"Helen, I-"
"Either keep it in your pants or I walk out right now, and good luck finding your way out of this mess yourself!"
He sighed sadly and she stormed off.
Feeling like his heart had just been ripped out and stomped on by the only woman it every felt anything for.
He sunk in as he watched her walk away.
She'd never understand…
~~~~Present~~~~
Nikola groaned back into consciousness again.
His body trembled from the force of the fluid they were wracking his system with, it was like they were pouring an elemental into his veins.
"He's just completed the second wash, we'll be starting the third shortly, he needs a moment to recuperate," said Jeffries, looking at his team.
Nikola whimpered slightly trying to move.
"It's ok Mr. Tesla, the wash is going to remove anything that could harm you later, it will be fine."
"Doctor Jeffries! She's here!" cried one of the team members.
"Really? H-how do I look?" he smirked nervously.
"Uhhh," said the young man.
"Nevermind, get to your stations, act normal!"
They nod and spring to their seats at the computers.
Laura Mongrove followed by Dorian, pulled Helen into the lab.
"Nikola! What have you done to him?" shouted Magnus.
"We are proceeding in a 5-step blood and systems wash, removing any harmful bacteria or abnormalities that could cause complications during his transformation," said Jeffries nervously but proudly, "It's completely safe."
"What transformation?"
Helen yanked her hand out of Dorians grip and rushed to Nikola's side.
"His transformation back into Sanguine Vampiris, of course," said Jeffries, laughing nervously.
"Turning him back into a vampire is the building block to our mission, his genetic make-up will be the template, the first layer, to which we will create our army," said Laura.
Helen snarled at the woman.
"How?" she spat.
Nikola was unresponsive, though awake, and could barely understand what was going on around him.
"How he originally became one of course, with a few modifications, and a much bigger dose," said Mr. Jeffries, pulling up the formulas and schematics.
"You have source blood?" asked Helen; she stroked Nikola's cheek in worry.
"You were not the only one in pursuit for The Cabal's research, we just got to the blood first," said Laura, holding up the vial.
"The main ingredient, the puppet, and the master, it's like art," smiled Laura.
"And what is your plan once Nikola is transformed?" asked Helen.
"Come this way, it would be much simpler to show you rather than describe," said Laura, having Dorian pull Helen away from Nikola.
Helen got pushed from the lab through some doors, down a hallway to a second set of doors.
Laura swiped a keycard and pressed the code and the doors unlocked and Helen was dragged inside.
She gasped at the sight.
In front of her, were rows and rows of babies; test tube babies…
"This Dr. Magnus, is the future!"
~~~~Old City Sanctuary~~~~
Will sighed staring out the window.
It was raining buckets out there, and so suddenly too.
They hadn't heard back from Magnus, or Tesla and they all had the sneaking suspicion that something had gone horribly wrong down in Rome.
Will jumped when he suddenly heard a loud cry.
He ran out of the office and to the source of the strained cries.
He got to the room where it was coming from and saw Big Guy and Kate.
"What happened?" asked Will.
"Guh guh! I went to feed Sparky and he ran out of the room…" said Big Guy.
Sparky cried again pawing at the large window desperately.
"I think he's got cabin fever, maybe we should let him out?" suggested Kate.
"He's not a dog with a weak bladder, he's concerned, look at him, he knows something's up and he doesn't like it, Big Guy you can sense these things."
Big Guy closed his eyes and made a low rumbling sound.
"Guuuuh, something's wrong…"
"With what? The Sanctuary?" asked Kate.
"No, he and Nikola are connected on a very strange level, something has happened in Rome, and he knows it," said Will.
"So what do we do about it?"
"I guess we…go to Rome…"