Karl Heisenberg was a tough guy.
Having been born in a Germany consumed by World War I, his temper was always a problem.
Fighting, cynicism and arrogance were some of the things that stood out in him from a young age, but there were also good things, such as intelligence, and his insight.
His parents, in a desperate attempt to keep their son from being dragged into the ranks of the already budding German army, decided to use their last card.
An old man whom Karl, to his chagrin, had to call grandfather.
The old man, like all Germans, to distant eyes was reluctant, hard and of very few words, but once you got to know him, he was something else. A real character, Karl would later say to himself.
But he would also say that going with him was the best thing his parents had ever done for him, and for that he would be eternally grateful. Likewise, he would never get to tell them, Karl was very much like his grandfather.
Grandfather Heisenberg lived on the outskirts of a Romanian village, a place extremely detached from reality, a world apart, where people were happy. They had no idea what was going on in the rest of Europe, Karl would question harshly as he grew up.
Owner of the Heisenberg Factory, a place few had the pleasure of visiting, the old man was highly regarded in the surrounding area for his great inventions with electricity and machinery.
Karl, like his grandfather, had an innate interest in such things, research and electricity, which intrigued him to no end. This became even more so when he finally moved into the factory with his grandfather.
Jason was on his way home from a long day at work, sometimes the refinery was working at full capacity. By the time an explosion sounded nearby. A totally curious Jason decided to approach the site.
The Heisenberg Factory. Said the sign in front of him.
A strange place, with an even stranger owner, he had been told.
Unable to quell his innate curiosity, he entered the place, but as soon as he managed to take a step, he was knocked down by a young man. The latter, without even a word, threw a punch at him, which Jason managed to evade just barely. That, apparently, had given his attacker enough time to immobilize him, placing himself on top of him.
-"What the hell are you doing here?". Roared the character bravely.
-"Let me... On li-". Jason began to complain.
-"Karl, stop it! Leave the boy alone!". Someone shouted in the distance.
-"But Grandpa!". Complained the other young man.
An old man with a blackened face slowly approached the position where the two young men were struggling. And with a simple stroke of his cane, he separated them.
-"Now Karl, what have I taught you?". He spoke again, addressing the long-haired youth.
-"Not to scare off visitors!". Karl exclaimed, looking down at the floor.
-"Good". The old man said simply, turning his gaze to the other young man.
-"Now, what are you doing here, boy?".
-"S-sir. I'm sorry for just barging in, but I heard an explosion coming from here". Jason stammered.
The old man just smiled in anticipation.
-"Do you want to see boy?".
-"What? Old man, what are you doing?". Karl protested.
-"Silence!". The old man exclaimed in a commanding voice, silencing his grandson's protests immediately.
-"Well. What do you say?". He asked, expectant for the young man's response.
Jason smiled sideways, somewhat nervously, then nodded his head.
-"Good. Let's go".
-"This is..". Jason began, only to be interrupted by the long-haired young man next to him.
-"Impressive. Shocking". He said, in his strange accent.
-"Spectacular". Jason was finally able to finish.
-"But... I don't get it. How did they get all that metal together?".
-"Wait, wait. The explosion...". Jason answered himself.
The old man smiled, and Karl did too, maybe he wasn't the uneducated idiot he thought he was.
-"Good. Now, stop slacking off and pick that up. What I need it to finish putting together something very important!". Old Heisenberg exclaimed, pointing to the large square piece of metal in front of them.
-"If you think you can do it?". He added, with a sneer, just before entering his workshop.
Jason and Karl looked at each other for a few seconds, in an internal struggle over who would make the attempt.
They looked like two dogs challenging each other to see who would take the piece of meat.
That was until young Heisenberg snorted in exasperation, and without further ado, bent down to pick up the piece of metal.
He got the shock of his life when he realized he couldn't lift it.
Jason let out an immediate laugh, as he pushed it away to try for himself.
A couple of minutes later, two tired young men were lying on the ground, looking at the piece of metal in disgust.
-"Maybe if... We try it together". Jason finally proposed.
-"Ha. Pathetic. Just.. We have to try harder". Karl replied, albeit somewhat hesitantly.
-"Come on. Let's at least give it a try".
-"Fine". Heisenberg grumbled with a snort, as he stood up, looking around, looking to see if there were any idiots watching.
Not noticing anyone, he decided to at least try.
But young Heisenberg had not seen well, for, hidden in his workshop, his grandfather was watching them with a small smile.
-"Okay. Here we are". Jason spoke, once they left the piece of metal in the workshop.
-"Here it is, Grandpa". Karl supported him, with a smug grimace, proud that he had managed to bring his errand.
-"Well done youngsters". He thanked, patting his grandson's shoulder.
-"Now, Karl go and have a bath. We'll continue this tomorrow. We're still missing the long rod".
The young Heisenberg grumbled inwardly, but followed his grandfather's orders anyway. And, with a simple gesture, he said goodbye to Jason.
Thus, they were left alone in the workshop, a curious young man and a thoughtful old man.
-"Excuse me, sir. But, what was that piece of metal for?". Jason dared to ask.
-"A gift. For my grandson. I'm creating something to symbolize our house, something he can identify with, and also something to remember his old grandfather by".
-"Sir?".
-"Yes, young man?".
-"Why didn't he kick me out? I mean, in the village they say that...".
-"I know what they say about me". The old man cut him off with an angry expression.
-"Excuse me". Jason immediately regretted it.
-"You mustn't apologize young man. You didn't do anything wrong, in fact, you did something good".
-"I don't understand".
-"You see... My dear grandson can sometimes be a little... Temperamental, but he's a good boy. He doesn't have many friends. He doesn't get along well with young people his own age, because of that".
-"But today, with you, I saw him having fun for the first time. He... He deserves better than to be here, wasting his days keeping the company of an old fogey who has little time left".
-"I don't want him to spend the rest of his life locked up in a factory. Alone. Like me". He continued, looking out at the darkening sky with a nostalgic look.
-"He needs to have friends, or at least one. Someone to back him up, to get him out of this damn factory. Someone to talk to once I'm gone".
-"We all need to have a friend!". Jason exclaimed agreeing completely with what the man in front of him was saying.
-"Yes. Young man".
-"Come on Karl". Jason begged imperiously.
-"No".
-"Come on".
-"No. I'm not going to that stupid meeting or whatever".
-"It's not a meeting, it's something like, it's like... An event".
-"It's the same thing".
-"You know it's not".
-"I do".
-"Okay, I give up. Let's call it a meeting. Would you go?".
-"No".
-"Damn".
-"Come on, Karl. Since... Since... Your grandfather. You've been stuck here, locked up in this fucking factory".
-"Don't mess with MY factory". Heisenberg replied, raising his voice.
-"Besides... How can I not refuse, if the last time you did that 'event', you introduced me to that damn woman. Damn it Jason". He commented accentuating his particular accent.
-"Unbelievable. I've never in my life felt so... So... So insignificant!".
-"And her daughters! Jason, where did you get those from?".
-"Hey. Don't mess with them". Jason replied, with some amusement.
-"Oh yeah, right, I forgot. Nobody messes with the girls. You know they're not girls, right. In fact, I'm even sure that one of them has a record of you. Wait, who was it?". He continued, raising an eyebrow thoughtfully.
Jason frowned, and Karl, not remembering, let it go, for now.
-"And that's me not saying anything about your weird little group of friends. Come on, a crazy woman with a doll, a strange fatty, and I'm not even going to talk about her again, the cause of my misfortune. Damn it, man. What's it take? A head? And that's not the worst of it. She even seems to be getting more and more out of me!".
Jason guffawed, when Karl started rambling it was something else, too cool. Which led him directly and unintentionally, to remember the exact moment those two met.
Oh, those two would never get along. He dared to think, as he saw the etched image of the two of them fighting in his head.
If there was one thing Karl Heisenberg craved, it was power.
And Mother Miranda was the only one who noticed.
Maybe he did. He's a strong young man. She thought, as she watched her own son laugh along with his 'friends', or as she named them, his experiments.
She seized her moment, as Heisenberg was withdrawing from one of her son's 'meetings'.
-"Heisenberg". She called him.
-"Mother Miranda". The young man replied politely.
-"I have an offer for you. One that will please you greatly". Mother Miranda offered, and the young man's face in front of her glowed with hope for something better.
-"I hear you".
Mother Miranda infected him with the Cadou successfully, with great results. And so Karl Heisenberg became a walking magnet.
The young man was extremely happy with his new gifts, he felt rejuvenated, and with a lot of strength; but problems soon appeared, when he stopped to look around, coming across some pictures on the wall.
They were somewhat terrifying, mutilated bodies, people with wings, and other strange creatures.
Despite that, he continued to look around some more, coming across a picture of a young girl with an all too familiar doll on her lap, and next to it, a shield with the sun and moon.
There was another, which was something resembling a dragon, and, next to it, pictures of a flower shield and Dimitrescu Castle.
-"Oh. Do you like them?". A voice echoed.
-"What... How many people have you experienced?".
-"The whole town". Mother Miranda declared without preamble.
-"What? What have you done to me?". Heisenberg suddenly growled, stiffening.
-"I've given you what you've always wanted. Power".
-"But at what cost?". He narrowed his eyes at the young man.
-"I own you. Everyone does".
-"What?".
-"Oh, dear Heisenberg. It's not only you who are my test subject. No".
Heisenberg opened his eyes, finally understanding what the pictures pasted in the lab meant.
-"It can't be... You are... A monster. Jason... He...".
-"No. He has no idea". The woman in front of him carelessly exclaimed.
-"And I want to keep it that way". She suddenly closed the distance, at an impossible speed, glaring at him menacingly.
-"I'm no use to anyone". Heisenberg spat.
Then Miranda rushed toward him, pinning him against the wall with enormous force, squeezing his neck.
-"You don't know what I'm capable of doing. You owe me Heisenberg. And from now on, you're under my command. Do you understand?". She threatened, using his strength to squeeze her neck tighter and tighter.
-"He must not know. Never. And that, is an order". She finished, releasing him.
A panting Heisenberg, but still intent on continuing to fight and not giving up was stopped again.
-"Unless you want to see him suffer". The woman stated with utter malice.
Heisenberg was intensely testing his new powers, with his sights set on taking revenge on the ruthless person who had made him that way.
Until a loud knock sounded on the door of his workshop.
He grabbed his much-prized hammer and opened the door with a simple wave of his hand, running into a visibly irritated Jason on the other side.
-"What's wrong?". Heisenberg asked dryly.
They had been somewhat estranged lately, mainly because Heisenberg was on the one hand, very much into his own thing, and on the other, he couldn't look him in the face and lie to him so deliberately.
Therefore, whenever they met, Karl was hard on his friend.
Heisenberg was afraid, yes, afraid, something he hid under his haughty and overbearing attitude.
He was afraid, afraid for his friend.
He wanted to tell him the truth, the harsh truth about the monster of a mother and what she had done to his friends, but he couldn't, he would suffer too much for it.
But, apparently, the designs of fate had already flipped the coin, and Heisenberg would later discover that fate definitely did not want him.
-"I couldn't go to see them off. I couldn't...". Jason said, fervently shaking his head.
-"What are you talking about Jason?".
The aforementioned looked up, putting on a stony face.
-"I'm leaving". He said without further ado.
-"What?". Heisenberg was incredulous.
-"I just want to know one thing. And that's the reason I came".
-"You knew that? And don't you dare lie to me. Did you know it?". (Little reference hehe).
Heisenberg was for the first time speechless, and Jason pressed him.
-"Did you know what SHE was doing. what she did with my friends?". Jason continued, his eyes red-rimmed and his voice hurt.
Heisenberg took a deep breath, knowing that his answer would cause him to lose the one person who put up with his very strange mood, who was his partner in crime, and above all else, who was his best friend.
-"Yes".
Jason's face immediately darkened, rancor seeping into his face, as his posture stiffened.
He looked at his friend one last time, before turning away.
By the time Jason spoke the next words, the sky was already dark, the moon in full bloom, and the wind was beginning to blow bravely.
A remarkable sight, and all too beautiful to behold; which gave a sort of backdrop to the change that had taken place in Jason.
The once cheerful and charismatic man was gone, and now, all that was left was a simple container completely angry with others, and what was even worse, angry with himself, with his actions, with what he had done and also with what he had not done.
-"Goodbye. Heisenberg".
Heisenberg's face darkened with pure indignation.
-"You're leaving? Just like that?". He asked crudely.
Receiving no answer, and watching his friend slowly disappear into the dark forest, Heisenberg suddenly burst out, his anger welling up in him.
-"You're a coward, do you hear me? You're a coward Jason!". Heisenberg shouted, but his friend was gone.
After Jason's departure, Heisenberg spent all his time in the factory, experimenting with robotic implants in people, seeking to manufacture an army of mechanical soldiers, the soldats.
He didn't care about anything anymore, the lives of the people he was experimenting on were just a means to an even greater end. Revenge.
The 'meetings' between the hierarchs were the only times he ever left, something that irritated him to no end.
Just witnessing Jason's idea quickly become Mother Miranda's property caused him discomfort.
Not only that, but seeing the faces of the people Jason loved and spent his time with were an indelible reminder of his biggest mistake.
And even worse, having to see the face of the person who was to blame for all this, who was to blame for all the suffering of himself and everyone around him, unable to do anything but obey.
She would pay, one day she would pay. Heisenberg repeated to himself, fiercely wishing to see the day when Mother Miranda would finally fall by his hand.
