It was a cool, pleasant night, and the Witch of the Wilds was fully intent on enjoying it. She'd already brewed herself a pot of her favorite tea, leaned back in a large, fur-covered armchair, and kicked her feet up by the fire. She took in a deep breath, drawing in the beautiful aroma emanating from the warm cup in her hands before letting it out again in a relaxed sigh. She then snuggled back against the soft furs of her chair, sipping lightly at her tea as the fireplace crackled lightly before her.
As she pulled the cup away from her lips, she noticed something strange about her tea. The surface of her drink was disturbed by tiny ripples radiating from the center at regular intervals, causing her to arch a single thin eyebrow. Gradually, the ripples grew in intensity until she could swear she could feel the responsible vibrations running through her chair. Within moments, the vibrations became a thunder fast approaching through the forest.
The tranquility of the night was shattered at about the same time the front door fell to splinters on the floor. Without so much as a knock, in ducked a gargantuan green patchwork of a man, his beady black eyes fixed squarely on the woman still sitting before the fire. The witch sat for a long moment in stunned silence, baffled at the unexpected intrusion and more than a little curious as to what the giant brute intended to do now that he'd busted down her door. Oddly enough, he didn't seem too keen on doing anything but stand there and look menacing - which he did extremely well, to his credit.
Just at the moment the silence became painfully awkward, there was some racket from behind the monster. The witch could just see two hands - one gloved in purple and the other constructed in brass - attempting to pry past the mountain of flesh blocking the door.
"Oi, move outta the way, ya big beluga!" growled an all-too-familiar voice from just outside the doorway, accompanied by the strained grunts and futile scraping of feet that clearly told the story of a scrawny man trying to move someone well out of his weight class. After a good moment the immovable object decided to finally take a step aside, causing a very flustered-looking Dr. Junkenstein to come tumbling in, landing face-first right on the floor in front of where the witch sat.
"Ah, guten Abend, Dr. Junkenstein. What brings you here tonight?" she greeted casually, bringing her cup of tea up to her lips once more. She couldn't quite hide her amusement as she watched the scientist hobble unsteadily up to his feet a tad less gracefully than was normal even for him. She continued to sip at her tea while she gave the good doctor a moment to catch his breath. Finally, he straightened up a bit and pointed an accusatory finger her way.
"You!" he hissed out breathlessly, "You got a lot ta answer for, Sheila!"
"Oh? Well, I would be delighted to hear whatever it is you're talking about." she replied as calmly as ever, her demeanor the exact opposite of the frazzled man before her.
"Don't you play dumb with me! You oughta know exactly what I'm talkin' about! I just had a run-in with yer li'l gray sky-friends!" he shot back, turning that finger of his upwards as if to better illustrate his point. Both of the witch's eyebrows raised at that. Well, this was certainly going to be interesting.
"I see..." she began, a little more hesitant than before, "I take it you've met 'His Tallness' Mal'Kesh, then. A real charmer, that one..."
"Is that the bastard's name? Good! Now I have something to inscribe on his tombstone when I get my hands on him next! But don't you think that lets you off the hook! I might have a score to settle with that overgrown tree frog, but that goes double fer you! You left a few details out when ya gave me that crystal, didn't ya? Thought you'd pass the buck on to ol' Jamison Junkenstein, didn't ya?!"
"Ah, yes... Perhaps there were one or two tiny details I neglected to mention..." she admitted, lifting her cup up once more in preparation for taking another sip, "Honestly, I thought you would enjoy working with another scientist for once. After all, his research seems very similar to your own, doesn't it?"
"'Enjoy'?!" Dr. Junkenstein repeated incredulously, all the while frantically working to unbutton his lab coat, much to the witch's chagrin. "What the hell am I supposed to enjoy about this?!"
The witch spat out her tea the instant the doctor opened up his coat, revealing a large abdominal bulge in the man's normally scrawny form. Well, she certainly wasn't expecting that.
"E-err... Gained a bit of weight lately, I see," she joked awkwardly, though she was well aware that this sort of thing was no normal weight gain. While this bulge did look amusingly similar to a beer gut, she knew it couldn't simply have materialized there overnight. It seemed Dr. Junkenstein was quite aware of that as well.
"You know what this is, don't you? What the hell did that Mal'Kesh bastard put in me?!"
Oh, she sure wasn't looking forward to explain this one. The witch set aside the remainder of her tea, clearing her throat awkwardly.
"Well... These creatures - they call themselves 'extraterrestrials' or something like that - they're a very interesting group. From what I've been able to gather in my own limited interactions with them, these creatures come in two varieties. There's the short ones which, like your own creation here, are made artificially and serve as workers. The tall ones are a sort of noble class and seem to be in charge of everything. Unfortunately, these tall ones are unable to carry children of their own, so they've made a practice of, erm... impregnating other species with their young..."
Dr. Junkenstein couldn't reply right away. For a long, tense moment, all he could do was stare back at the witch, his eyes practically bugging out behind his goggles and his mouth hanging open. When he finally recovered, he let out a burst of nervous laughter and began shaking his head.
"I-I'm sorry, I must have heard you wrong... See - silly me - I could have sworn you just implied that those creepy li'l aliens impregnated me."
"Y-... yes, that is correct."
Dr. Junkenstein's laughter turned from nervous to hysterical in an instant, his face twisting into a manic, angry grin.
"Then you got about ten seconds ta magic this thing outta me before I turn yer li'l cottage here into a smoldering crater!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Doctor."
That wasn't the answer Dr. Junkenstein wanted to hear. He immediately pulled his grenade launcher from its holster at his hip, aiming it squarely in the blonde woman's direction. Almost the instant he did, a black mist snaked across the floor, coalescing into solid form in the space between the doctor and the witch. The jack-o-lantern-faced wraith drew his weapons, aiming them at the peg-legged scientist. This act of retaliation was all it took for the doctor's large - and very protective - companion to draw his over-sized hand cannon and take aim at the Reaper. The witch's servant shifted the aim of one of his weapons towards Junkenstein's monster, and the standoff held.
"Now, now, gentlemen," the witch spoke up, "I'm sure we can work all of this out without violence."
"We sure as hell can," Dr. Junkenstein replied, never taking his eyes off the Reaper, "You can get this thing outta me, and I can walk outta here. Everyone leaves happy."
"As I said, I can't do that," she replied, raising a placating finger when the doctor started to protest, "I'm afraid nothing can be gained without paying a price. Those 'aliens' as you call them gave me that spark of life in exchange for a vessel for one of their young. As I recall, you also agreed to pay a price when I gave the crystal to you, correct? One request, no matter what it may be, and you would honor it. Isn't that right, Doctor?"
"Oh for the love of..." Dr. Junkenstein grumbled out through gritted teeth, so exasperated by what she was suggesting that he lowered his weapon. "I ain't gonna be no one's experiment, lady!"
"I'm sorry, but that's my request. I want you to carry out this experiment to its completion. Unless, of course..." she paused, her eyes shifting over towards the doctor's beloved creation, "You'd prefer to return what I gave to you?"
Dr. Junkenstein's blood ran cold at that suggestion. He couldn't let her take the spark of life out of his monster. He wasn't sure if his creation could survive the ordeal. He may have another crystal now, but he couldn't risk losing what he already had. Still, this wasn't the sort of thing he had in mind when he said he wanted to create life out of nothing.
He let out a defeated sigh. He sure hoped his monster appreciated all the shit he went through for him...
"Alright, fine! A deal's a deal, I guess..." he grumbled out, "But how long is all this supposed to take? I got things to do! I can't have this weighing me down for months! Besides, how the hell is this even gonna work?! I mean... How's it gonna... Er... I mean, I'm a bloke! I ain't got a... A... Well, y'know!"
The witch couldn't help but giggle lightly at how embarrassed the proud Dr. Junkenstein had become discussing such things. Watching this spectacle was almost worth spending her favor for the mere entertainment value alone, never mind her actual motives.
"My apologies, Herr Doktor. That's not my department."
"B-but!" he protested, his voice cracking slightly, "What am I supposed to do?!"
In response to his desperate plea, the Reaper ghosted closer until he was right in the scientist's face.
"You're a smart guy. Figure it out." he hissed out in his usual menacing manner. He then let out an amused chuckle as the doctor gave an uncomfortable groan.
"For the record, I don't like this one bit!"
"Duly noted. Enjoy the rest of your night, Doctor."
With that, Dr. Junkenstein continued his grumbling, but turned to leave the witch's shack, his monster following close behind. The witch waited until the crashing of trees and the thud of footsteps faded into the distance. Once she was sure that they wouldn't be interrupted again, she picked up her cup of tea and resumed her relaxation.
"Reaper, I'd like you to keep an eye on the good doctor. I'm almost positive he'll try to bend the rules as much as possible, and I can't risk any damage to the creature he carries." she ordered casually, taking a sip of her now barely-warm tea. The Reaper let a small growl rumble in his throat.
"A front-row seat to watch him squirm. Great." he hissed out before floating towards the exit. Before he had the chance to leave, however, the witch spoke up once more.
"Oh, and before you go, be a dear and fix that door for me, would you? There's a terrible draft."