8 – Dr. Johannes Arzt

"koff… Doctor…"

"I'm here, Herr Nemo."

"Doctor, I'm in so much pain…"

"I know, Herr Nemo."

"Doctor, you've been so kind… so very kind… to an ailing soul without a friend in the world…"

"Only my duty, Herr Nemo."

"Doctor, I've… I've suffered so much… I just want to… koff… to sleep…"

"To sleep." Behind his glasses, the Doctor's grey eyes were cool. "I have heard that wish before." Still holding the patient's hand, he reached for his own personal box of equipment. "I will make it all better," he said, but his mouth twitched, as though suppressing a sob, or perhaps a smile.

Hardly visible in the sharp light, the needle gleamed in the Doctor's hand. "Now…" he rolled up the patient's sleeve, "We shall see…" The odd device on the patient's wrist caught his eye. "What is…"

"You shall see." Herr Nemo pressed a button on the wrist device. Suddenly the Doctor was surrounded by a light, and utterly unable to move at all. Mein Gott!

Herr Nemo sat up and stretched. He peeled off the makeup of old age and unbound his joints. Even his hair seemed to straighten up, more fiery red than before.

"That was an impressive bedside manner," he said crisply, in a much younger voice than before. "Right up until you lifted the needle of morphine to put me out of my misery, and then… to what? To dice up my body for your personal experiments? Or keep me alive so that I can tell you whether immolation or disemboweling is more painful?" He smiled at the silence. "Still ain't talking? Zero-point energy will do that to you. But perhaps you'll feel more moved to speak when I let on that I'm well acquainted with your work… Doctor Johannes Arzt. Wanted criminal on most of the European continent for … well, a prodigious number of homicides, several crimes against humanity, including kidnapping patients for your experiments on the nature of pain and fear – I read your thesis, by the way, very compelling… and for failing to wash your hands before performing surgery."

'That only happened once,' Johannes Arzt thought irritably.

"However," Herr Nemo went on, "I am not affiliated with any of the thirteen governments who have placed a bounty on your head. Rather, I am the head of a private sector – Noman Corporations, it is called in your language. I believe you are acquainted with it? I am Mr. Pine, the founder and CEO."

Yes, Johannes Arzt knew the name. He had heard many things about this man… not all of it merciful… if he had not been utterly frozen, a cold sweat would have broken out on his brow…

"Have you heard that I've started a project?"

Silence.

"Oh. Right. Zero-point energy. Ahem. I've started a project. Whether you've heard of it or not, you have a keen interest in it, I'm sure. I'm accruing about me a few, a faithful few, a band of brothers, a small army of non-supers who will be the most respected and feared band of mercenaries on the planet. Without the aid of a single superpower, they shall astound the world." Mr. Pine smiled, and went on monologing gracelessly, "I have a Heavy Weapons expert, a true Soldier, an Engineer, a Demolitions expert, a Sniper, an accomplished Spy, and a self-admitted Pyromaniac. But last week, in a training exercise, I realized it wasn't enough. I have someone who can lead, someone who can plan, but I need someone who can help the group to keep going. In dark moments, when all hope and far too much blood has been lost, they will need someone to give them the strength to carry on. I need a Medic. You are both morally aligned to my mission, if I have presumed correctly, and you are also preternaturally skilled in the field of medicine. You have an astounding ability to keep your experiment subjects alive, even when they should be past all medical hope. In between your reports of horrific deeds, you are accredited with last minute rescues that bring tears to my eyes. And I do believe it was you, because I double-check all my sources."

He lifted his wrist. "Now, I'm going to turn off the Zero-Point energy. I'm going to trust that you won't run away."

Dr. Johannes Arzt didn't run away. He was too busy thinking.

He'd been caught. Trapped. Cornered. Imprisoned at last. And he had heard of the Team that Mr. Pine was gathering – of course he'd heard of it, and he would have volunteered to join. He liked working with other people. It was lonely to be by oneself all the time. Not to mention the opportunity to flex his medical muscles. However, there was one snag:

Johannes was a Super.

He had the ability to heal others of their wounds with soft blue energy that both rejuvenated their bodies and revitalized their nerves, leaving them awake and whole. That was his only ability, and he hadn't embarked on a superhero identity when the Supers Invisibility Act was passed in his home country. He'd always seen it as rather a soft power, but he enjoyed it and used it when he could. It helped so much in his experiments, when a patient could be brought back to tell you what almost dying felt like. He couldn't bring people back from Death itself, but he hoped that one day, maybe…

"Dr. Arzt?" Mr. Pine asked again.

He started to attention. "Sir, I am… honored beyond expression that you think I am eligible for this project. Truly. I wonder, however… what sort of tests shall I have to pass to be fully accepted?"

"Well, we'll have to see how good you are at fighting… considering the number of police officers that you've butchered in your time, I think you'll do all right in that category… there'll be a vision and hearing test, of course, and colorblindness, too, very important… I suggested a blood toxins test, but our Demolitions man shot it down… literally… a simple DNA test that we'll administer so we have a record of it on file… and a short ethics test."

"And have all the other teammates passed these tests?"

"Well… that's the funny thing. I don't want anyone examining the team who isn't a member of the team. So you would have to administer all these tests yourself. … Mein Herr, why are you smiling?"

"Because I am looking forward to being a physician again, sir." 'Because I'm looking forward to being able to trick you, you insolent, Super-hating twit!' Johannes mollified his smile to a more serious expression, but his mind was still listing out all the ways he could tamper with his DNA test results to show that he was not, in fact, a Super.

"Of course," he said. "I will be honored to be a member of your team." He stood up and shook Mr. Pine's hand. "I will not let you down, Mein Herr."

Here you are! I'm sorry this one is so late (again). My Internet has been down where I live. But better late than never! I hope you liked this chapter.