Make Me Feel
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Notes: I would like to thank Repto for once again reading and reviewing. I would appreciate anything that anyone has to say and am fully willing to hear it. Questions, suggestions, and flames are all welcome. Thank you for reading. You make me feel special.
Chapter 3
Zachary had been in New York City for a little over a week now, and he had still not been able to meet Doc Ock. During this period of time he had decided to do some research on the man, and was amazed by everything he managed to read and learn. Everything he managed to learn fueled his desperate need to meet this man, while it would most likely stop anyone else dead in his or her tracks.
The thought that this man might be able to find a way to cure or stabilize his own condition had struck him and the thought still lingered in his young and confused mind. He didn't want to approach the man and ask him to cure him, that would just seem…rude and possibly heartless. No, that wasn't what he wanted to do. This man, Doc Ock, Otto Octavius, whatever he was supposed to be called, he just…called to Zachary. It just felt to Zachary, that if he did not meet this man, he would never seem complete. He couldn't describe the feeling in words; there was no possible way to. It was so complicated and so simple that it was impossible to truly understand it.
During this stretch of time Zachary's 'problem' seemed to be continuing to spread. Small flakes and patches seemed to be appearing on the upper part of his left arm and his shoulder. He noticed that the patches would start out small and start to grow until they reached another patch and joined it. At some point Zachary had started to think of it as a stone rash. A rash that left no feeling in the areas it grew. But he also began to notice the stone areas not only were stronger, they were also resistant. The stone skin could not be cut, bruised, burned, or even smashed. He at some point became curious to exactly how strong it really was and wandered into an alley. While in the alley he turned to one of the brick walls and used his stone arm to punch it as hard as possible. If he had used his human arm, his hand most likely would have broken every bone. But in this case, he punched a hole straight into it and it started to create cracks going in every direction. Like what happens when you break a glass windshield of a car. He had quickly run off, not wanting to be caught by anyone for inflicting such damage to an innocent wall.
Finally Zachary's chance came just a few days after the wall incident. He had been walking down a large public city street to the library to do more research. He had been just down the street from a local bank when one of the front walls seemed to explode open. Huge chunks of concrete and glass flew everywhere and people on the street went insane with panic and fear. Everyone began running in the opposite direction of the bank, people shoved passed others and screaming and crying from small children could be easily heard.
A figure came stalking out of the hole in the wall and Zachary froze when he saw the figure had four mechanical tentacles whipping around behind its back. Two of the tentacles clawed tips clutched a large moneybag each.
People went running and screaming passed him, but Zachary didn't seem to notice. His attention was focused on Doc Ock. Zachary was shook from his daze when a red and blue figure came swinging down from a nearby skyscraper. The figure and Doc Ock immediately became engaged in battle and Zachary was the only person still close enough to see them. All of the other pedestrians had migrated to safer ground.
During his research Zachary had come across Spider-Man many times but his attention had always remained on Doc Ock. For some reason he didn't find any interest in the Spider, and he wasn't even sure why. For some reason the bug just didn't seem to call to him.
He continued to watch the two men duke it out, with an array of web slinging and tentacles slashing. He then noticed they were continuing to go higher up the sides of the buildings and Zachary knew he needed to keep up with them if he was going to be able to approach Ock.
He scanned the surrounding area to see if there was anyway he could get to the top of a building quick enough. All he could find was a fire escape on the side of a building but that would have to do for him at the time. It took him a moment to be able to raise himself up onto the damned thing, but when he did manage he took no time at all to begin going up the metal stairs as quickly as his legs would allow him.
By the time he made it to the top he was out of breath and incredibly tired but he only stopped to breathe for a quick moment. He feared he might have taken to long scaling the side of the building and went around the top until he caught sight of the two battling men. Both seemed to be wearing down and nether seemed to be willing to call it a draw. Zachary continued to watch them fight for another ten or fifteen minutes and was relieved to see them finally part ways for the time being.
Doc Ock began to make his way over to the building Zachary was on and had yet to notice the young boy. Zachary literally threw himself to the stone floor and hid behind the short stone ledge. He held his breath every time the building shook as the 'villain' used his extra limbs to climb up the side. Zachary hunkered down as much as he possibly could without fusing with the rough stone ground.
It was a good thing he did so because less than a second after he did, Doc Ock came over the ledge and onto the roof. He sailed straight over the boy without even seeing him and continued on his way after lowering himself onto his own human legs. With his back still turned he walked across the roof and as he approached the center of the rooftop Zachary decided it was time that he made his move before he lost the chance forever.
He licked his dry lips and he could feel his heart beat better than he could ever remember. Taking a deep breath he gathered his nerve and he spoke.
"That was amazing."
The older man whipped around and looked at him almost startled. All four of his tentacles raised above his head and turned to 'look' at him. Two still held the moneybags and the other two opened their claw like heads and Zachary could see red lights in side. They looked like eyes, and they were staring at him.
"What are you doing, where did you come from?!"
The older man seemed enraged that he had failed to notice the teenager's presence. The two tentacles that had opened their heads seemed to leer at him.
Zachary sat up slowly from his hunkered down position but he did not stand. He could tell the other man was edgy and weary and he didn't want to give him a reason to lash out at him.
"I watched the fight. You were amazing. I wanted a chance to meet you in person. Sir."
Zachary kept a close eye on the older man's body language. He waited to see if there was any sign the man might try to assault him. He had thrown in the 'sir' because he felt it be best he was as respectful as possible.
The other man frowned in thought for a moment and Zachary could see he had mixed emotions. He wasn't sure what they were, but he suspected it had to do with the unexpected praise.
The other man looked at him from behind his dark glasses and seemed to think over his words for a moment.
"Are you aware of what I'm capable of doing to you?"
"Yes."
Zachary didn't even have to give his answer any thought at all. He was fully aware of what the man could do to him, but for some reason he either didn't care, or wasn't scared. He wasn't even quite sure which it was.
The older man raised an eyebrow and seemed to be unsure what he was supposed to think.
"And you're not scared?"
The idea this could possibly be a trick question came to Zachary's mind. If he answered no, the other man might become offended or it would hurt his pride. If he answered yes, he was frankly unsure of what might happen.
"Well, part me is. I know you could kill me in horrible way on spot. But, the other part just…I don't know. It just… insists that I have to know you. I can't really explain it. I know that you might be the only person who might understand what's happening to me without any fear or disgust."
Zachary could only shrug after what he said. But it seemed he had managed to peak the other man's interest. He knew that Ock was a scientist and he was fully aware that scientists love to figure things out. He could already tell that the man in front of him was no exception.
"And what pray tell, would be happening to you that would result in such rejectful reactions?"
Zachary could here the curiosity that had managed to leak into the older man's voice. He had the man's attention and he was a bit more relaxed. This was definitely a good thing.
Zachary slowly pushed himself onto his knees and stood up. He didn't want to make any threatening movements. He removed his trench coat and then the long sleeved black shirt he was wearing. His black leather glove soon followed after.
He saw the other man's eyes go wide behind his dark sunglasses and the two tentacles holding the money set their load down. The other man swiftly walked over to Zachary without saying a single word. He took the boy's left arm with his human hands and the robotic arms came around to watch as Ock began to study the arm and everything attached to it.
Zachary felt a sharp pang in his chest when he noticed he couldn't feel the other man's hands unless he touched and area without his stone rash.
Ock was completely absorbed in his examination his face carried a look that a child might have if they had just found something they thought was one of a kind and spectacular.
Ock snapped out of his study of the stone limb when he remembered that it was attached to the young man standing in front of him. He looked up at Zachary and his face didn't seem to show any real emotion. Just the look someone will have if they are suddenly fascinated by something.
"How long has it been like this?"
He sounded, to Zachary, exactly like a doctor trying to make a diagnosis.
"About a month. It started out as a couple patches on my arm, but then it started spreading. It's weird; I can move it just fine without any problem. But I don't have any feeling in it whatsoever."
Ock nodded his head as he listened to Zachary speak and he glanced up at the kid's face when he mentioned that he had no feeling in the stone areas.
"None?"
He looked almost skeptical at the idea.
Zachary nodded. "None. I tried everything. It's also, like, ten times stronger and resistant. I tried cutting it, burning it, smashing it, but I didn't feel anything and it stayed perfectly intact."
The older man seemed to think something over and came to a decision. He finally released Zachary's arm and took a step back while looking at the boy's face.
"I think it might be best if you were to come with me. I would like to run some tests and look into this. Being a doctor I am curious and think it would be in your best interest to come with me. But I'll warn you, you will have to do something for me to have my full services."
Zachary stopped and thought for a moment.
"What would I have to do?"
The older man looked at him and gave a small chuckle in the back of his throat.
"Nothing extreme. You'll just have to stay and work for me."
For some strange reason the catch didn't phase Zachary one bit. It actually made him quite happy. He took a quick look at the older man's face and a small smile worked its way onto his face. He held his hand out in front of him and his smile grew into a grin.
"Sir, you have yourself a deal."
Ock also began to grin and firmly shook the young man's hand. This time it was the human one, and Zachary was pleased he could feel the older man's touch.
"Good, now redress yourself and I'll take you to your new living quarters."
Zachary was more than happy to comply and allowed himself to be picked up and transported by his new guardian.
End of Chapter
Hope you all like it. Please review. I don't even know what I'm going to put into the next chapter. Thanks for reading!
Stray-