CHAPTER 20: THE LAZARUS EFFECT, PART 5
The moral compass of Arnold Shortman has always served him well; never faltering in its perception or purpose, never failing to serve him the clear distinctions of right and wrong. Though it was not truly put to the test 'til he had become the Green Eye, facing all manners of foes and adversaries to the forces of good, he has still never been faced with any such moral dilemma that made him question himself.
Today, however, he has finally found one of those questions.
Following a visit to the man Thaddeus 'Curly' Gammelthorpe, known better to the world as the infamous supervillain called 'The Freak', Arnold felt an empathic sense that told him of a danger coming to the paralyzed killer. On his way out the door, the football head sensed a group of 5 men in suits and sunglasses, sent by the escaped 'Little' Nicky to apprehend and take with them the Freak.
The purpose of why was all too obvious: The Freak killed 'Big' Gino, 'Little' Nicky's son, and he wanted his revenge for this death, paid in full. The question came here to Arnold, pondering on which was the right road to take; two different choices to be made that would define his character:
One one hand, if he did nothing and allowed the Freak to be taken away and killed, 'Little' Nicky would have his revenge, a revenge rightfully earned to the man, regardless of his status as a notorious criminal. He knew that there was no chance for the Freak to be rehabilitated, and no one would truly miss the death of a mass killer.
On the other, if he allowed the Freak to be carried off to be killed, how truly does that make him any better or on any moral high ground? He spends many nights of his life stopping many similar crimes from occurring, so, how is it he can disallow others to carry out such an act, but forgive himself here for not doing the same?
The answer: He cannot. Thus, he finds that he knows what he has to do.
An issue here, however, is that he does not possess his costume, and there was no time to change to the alter-ego of the Green Eye anyways. This problem is a major issue regarding Arnold and his double-life, kept secret from the rest of the world, and for good reason to be kept that way...
...but his instincts make that point moot.
Elsewhere, as a fight sets itself up between Arnold Shortman and these minions of 'Little' Nicky, another experiment goes underway for the team at Membrane Laboratories on the project of using the Green Eye's blood to raise the dead; a task that these young men and women of science have worked at tirelessly for so long.
Under the forceful hand of Buckley Lloyd to continue their work, they are driven to rush their experiments even further to try to get some manner of reaction from the blood. Here, they are forced to try 3 different experiments all at once, each with a different body containing differentiating doses of the blood of the Green Eye.
None approve of such a rushed experiment, but they are not in a position to give approval or disapproval, nor would they be heard anyways. Though, there is still one of the scientists that voice their concerns to the head of the project: The dedicated and brilliant but discomforted Dr. Geoffrey Combs.
"Doctor, I really have to say, I don't approve of this at all. This isn't something we can just rush." The dissenting scientist said.
"I don't, either. But we don't have a choice. He's the one that gives us our jobs, and, now, our job is to make this blood work." Dr. Combs said.
"But we can just quit, we can just get out of here and look for new jobs-"
"Quit Membrane Laboratories, the most respected research industry in the business, and try to find some new jobs? We'd be lucky to get McJobs."
"Then what about the police? The law could sort this out."
"He is the law."
"Why? Because of that knight costume? Because he beats up some drug dealers every now and then?"
"He doesn't beat them up, he kills them. Do you really want to cross someone like that? For god's sakes, all he wants is his daughter back."
With the remnants of this argument wrapped up, the team once again put their focus on the job at hand, preparing 3 different samples of blood for each of the 3 bodies laying in wait. Once again, these bodies rested beyond a pane of glass made to withstand any means of damage, protecting them from anything these bodies might try to do.
"Recording now. Project Lazarus, Test 2. Proceeding to inject subjects with foreign blood samples, will stand by for effects." Dr. Combs said.
One scientist injects the 3 bodies with their respective injections, and quickly steps out of the room, allowing the experiment to commence. Dr. Combs, keeping a watchful eye over the test as it began, recorded his commentary as he observed the events unfolding.
"Injected about 300 milligrams of blood into the cadavers, test subject 1 a Hispanic male that expired in his 30s, test subject 2 a white female that expired in her 60s, test subject 3 a black male that expired in his 40s. Waiting for results to come to fruition." Dr. Combs said.
Back at the Hillwood Home for the Emotionally Troubled, the group of 5 men under the employ of 'Little' Nicky Russotti prepared their way to take the paralyzed Freak with them, to be executed by their boss so that he may at last have his revenge. The group all entered the room housing the paralyzed Freak, all surrounding him as he laid in his bed.
The Freak knew that these men were no friends of his, but that did not stop him from not taking this situation as seriously as possible.
"Let me guess, the Make-A-Wish Foundation got my request to be in the next Men in Black movie? I always thought I had more charisma than Will Smith." The Freak joked.
"Shut the hell up." One man said.
The man then proceeded to pull out his handgun and placed it to the Freak's head, causing him to only smile. Before he could do anything else to the bedridden patient, another of the 5 men pulled his arm away from the Freak, taking his gun away from its aim at his head.
"The boss wants him alive." The man pulling the arm said.
"I know, but I don't want him trying anything funny on me." The armed man said.
"He's paralyzed, you idiot. He won't harm a fly."
"Not true. I ate one after it flew in my mouth." The Freak said.
"You shut up. And you, put away your damn gun and help me get him out of this bed."
Before the 5 men could begin to approach the Freak and take him away, the door to the room opened and closed, with the sound of glass shattering echoing in the room, followed by the light being snuffed out, save for the window giving in a shred of sunlight. The 5 men had no clue as to what could have caused this phenomenon, but their displayed guns assured that they would not allow anything else to come to them.
"What the hell was that?" One man asked.
"I don't know, but, if you don't keep your mouth shut, we might find out the hard way." Another man said.
Looking towards the one part of the room that still had some illumination, the 5 men saw a vague shadow leap across the light of the window, taking away this one source of light with it as it passed. Now, these 5 men were all helplessly trapped in this room with no sign of escape, or any idea what they were up against.
"Damn it, he took out the light." One man said.
"Then shut up and go open the window." Another man said.
As requested, the man slowly stumbled to the window to try to open it, trying not to trip over any objects that might lie in his way, but soon found himself stopping in his tracks as he found himself coming into contact with something that he should not have. Reaching out in the air, the man found a pair of glowing green eyes staring right into his; piercing into his very soul with judgement.
Frightened by this sudden appearance, the man quickly recognized the owner of these green eyes, as did the remainder of the 5 men, as well as anyone would in the city of Hillwood. Though the sight of these eyes were more than enough to send them back off their feet, the sound of a voice piercing into their very minds made this encounter far closer for comfort than they could stand.
You will not harm this man. He is under my protection. You will return to your boss and share this information with him. The Green Eye said.
This message would be more than enough to send anyone away, but these men are no ordinary men. These are the soldiers of mob boss 'Little' Nicky, and they are not persuaded so easily. As such, they share their defiance out loud just before they display it physically.
"Yeah, right. Screw you." One said.
The man raised his gun towards the pair of green eyes to eliminate this threat, but soon found the force of a human body being thrown against his own, knocking him straight to the ground. He tried to fight back by raising his weapon towards the body standing atop him, but soon felt a force grabbing his wrist and breaking it, forcing him to drop the gun.
The cries of their comrade sent the others stepping back in fear, but this only led the Green Eye to continue his attack. Though they could not see his body through the shadows, save for his piercing bright green eyes, the Green Eye gave an enthusastic smile behind the shadows.
It went unnoticed by the soldiers of 'Little' Nicky, but not by the Freak, who shared his own commentary on the fight with a smile of his own:
"You're in trouble now." The Freak said.
Back at Membrane Laboratories...
After a moment of waiting from the doctors, not much longer than they had to wait for the first body to reanimate itself, the others began to show their first signs of life as well as their predecessor. The recording equipment attached to the dead bodies, the polygraphs, the neuroimaging equipment, the EKG monitors; the equipment all began to show that these bodies that were once dead came back to life once again.
The bodies began to breathe again, with air filling their lungs and oxygen making their brains start to receive the energy needed to function once again. Their muscles began to twitch and move, making just ever so slight movements like their fingers or toes wiggling about.
This time, the scientists all step back once this happens, not wanting to be too close to the mayhem to ensue.
Back at the Hillwood Home for the Emotionally Troubled...
The 5 henchmen of 'Little' Nicky continued to keep up their battle, fighting against all odds and opposition, but their results showed how little those efforts really paid off. While they could see nothing in the shadows, the Green Eye could navigate his way through more than easily, beginning to take down these men as if they were not even present.
However, his advantage only pays off for a moment's time. The moment that followed brought with it something that put a stop to his own efforts. This something was that same strange feeling that he felt not only a day ago; that strange feeling that caught his attention just before he was sent into a flash of pain.
Though he knew what would follow next, the Green Eye had little time to prepare himself for the x-factor in his fight.
Back at Membrane Laboratories...
Leaping up from their place on the beds, the 3 bodies began to scream and wail, all while violently lashing out their arms. This time, however, where the lone body from the past experiment did only these acts, these 3 bodies began to fight among themselves; all attacking each other violently and brutally.
The sight of the 3 bodies battling one another was just as baffling to the scientists as their infernal wailing, none of them able to come up with a reasonable explanation for it. Although the wailing could be attributed to some kind of pain from the blood, the infighting was even more of a mystery to the lot.
"Why on Earth are they all fighting each other?" One scientist asked.
"I don't know. Perhaps... Perhaps the resurrection turns them violent and senseless; just lashing out at the first thing in sight." Dr Combs said.
Back at the Hillwood Home for the Emotionally Troubled...
Just as before, the Green Eye was sent down to his knees, screeching in agony from the sudden mental attack. He thought he was ready to fight back against the pain this time, but what he was not ready for was for this attack of pain to be tripled; a phenomenon even more confusing to the football head.
The henchmen of 'Little' Nicky did not understand this sudden change to the Green Eye, but they would be damned if they wouldn't take advantage of it. Quickly scuffling around the room, the 5 men searched out for the curtains to the window, looking for an opportunity to give them light to gain their advantage in the fight.
The Green Eye could still focus himself just enough to notice this act, but found himself unable to act on it due to the pain still eating his very mind.
Back at Membrane Laboratories...
The fight between the 3 bodies still kept up as violent as ever; body fighting against body with every fiber of their being and utilizing every piece of themselves to slay the other in their sight. Just as the scientists did not understand the reason for this fight, the 3 bodies did not understand why they were fighting one another, but all they cared to know was that they wanted the other destroyed.
Soon, one was on the set to be destroyed. The first test subject, the one that once belonged to the 30-something Hispanic male, began to expand and grow unnaturally; his muscles convulsing and bulging with his skin tearing at the seams to show the mutilation continuing.
Just as the first body did, this body exploded and splattered its remains all over the room, as well as the other two reanimated bodies still at battle.
Back at the Hillwood Home for the Emotionally Troubled...
Suddenly, the Green Eye felt a surge of pain pierce through this already overwhelming sense of agony flooding his mind, then felt the rest of the pain subside itself; dropping to a state much lower than before. Though the pain was much less than it was before, it was still at a significant amount, leaving him barely able to focus.
However, that one amount of thought brought back to his mind allowed him to spot one of the henchmen make his way to the window, grabbing the curtain and beginning to pull it open. Taking notice of this, the Green Eye pushed whatever concentration he had to ensure that this would not happen, needing to keep his identity safe.
Grabbing a ballpoint pen off the floor, the Green Eye tossed it towards the henchman pulling at the curtain; embedding the pen right into his hand. Though the henchman's efforts did manage to pull a portion of the curtain away to let in some light, all that he truly had to show for his efforts was the pain of his stabbed hand, accompanied by his own screams of pain.
With this minor crisis avoided, the Green Eye continued on his fight; now slowed to a struggle with his own mind being assaulted by this strange mental anguish.
Back at Membrane Laboratories...
The two reanimated bodies continued on their fight for a good minute, but this fight slowly began to turn itself to something just as violent and just as physical, but quite different from a regular brawl. The male body drove itself over the female body, beginning to force himself onto her in a manner of sexual violence.
As strange as this phenomenon was to the observing scientists, it did not compare to what followed through next. Rather than try to fight off the advances, the female body also tried enact her own sexual violence against the male body; both trying to force themselves on one another, but neither fully commencing an act in unison.
"I... Doctor, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" One scientist asked.
"I am. It seems that not just violent tendencies are increased, but also more... primal ones as well." Dr. Combs said.
Back at the Hillwood Home for the Emotionally Troubled...
The battle between the Green Eye and the henchmen of 'Little' Nicky began coming to its close; these hardened men under the employ of the ruthless mob boss growing tired under the intense fight that they were engaged in. Were it not for the sudden pauses that the Green Eye had suddenly taken in this battle, it would surely be over with them lying unconscious on the floor.
The Green Eye still faced his own mental assault of this strange and foreign pain, but had no explanation for this sensation that prevented him from finishing the job in his usual quick manner. His concentration began to buckle under the strange feeling of pain, forcing his fast movements to slow down, but he still pushed on through the fight as if he were never stopped.
Then, he found yet another attack on his senses, and one even stranger than the pain. This time, coupled with the pain was a sense of pleasure; coming to him in a movement of waves and overwhelming all other thoughts. His body began to grow hot and flustered, and his loins felt a certain strain that had no reason to be doing so here.
He understood what this certain feeling was due to his own personal experiences, but how he could be feeling it here was beyond his understanding. What made this sensation even more strange, however, was the fact that this familiar pleasure seemed to be double what he normally felt during such an instance, another question without an answer.
Nonetheless, this sense of pleasure mixed in with this pain sent him to the floor, falling to his hands and knees, his hands clutching at the floor in hopes to find something to grip onto. Even though he got no such help, he found himself moaning in ecstacy on the floor, barely able to contain himself.
Predictably, none of 'Little' Nicky's henchmen had any idea what to make of these orgasmic sounds coming from their enemy. The slight sliver of light let into the room from the cracked curtain let in some light into the room, just enough to make out an outline of the Green Eye, but seeing him groaning on the floor did not give them any more answers to their questions.
"What the hell is he doing?" One henchman asked.
"Jerking off?" Another henchmen asked.
"In the middle of a fight?"
"Hey, who knows what these superhero types do? I heard of one guy out there who eats pubes."
Back at Membrane Laboratories...
The bodies continued in their act of forceful coitus; each one trying to force themselves onto the other in some strange game of mutual rape that had no clear winner. The scientists still had absolutely no clue as to how this phenomenon could be answered, and had less of an easier time observing the act, but they would never turn away from this spectacle in a million years.
Soon, the two reanimated bodies became close to fulfilling their climax, signaled by their own sounds growing louder and movements intensifying. However, underneath these sounds of pleasure between the two bodies, the scientists noticed that the female body's sounds began to turn from moans of pleasure to screams of pain; the transition moving slowly but very noticeably.
Taking advantage of the female body's weakened state, the male body forced itself over hers, forcing her to the ground and placing himself over top of her. Though the male body was now in the lead of its advances, the female body was in far too much agony to fight back again; holding its head in pain and continuing to scream.
"Shit, the second one's gonna blow, too." One scientist said.
Heeding the their fellow scientist's warning, the rest of the team stepped back, preparing themselves for another burst of blood and organs to splatter against the glass. Of course, no one could reasonably prepare themselves for such an occurrence, much less one that would happen between two undead bodies trying to rape each other any more than you could.
Soon, just as the climax came for these two reanimated bodies, the female body exploded just as the first one did; taking its second departure from life far more violently than the first time. As the body had exploded, the third and final body was left alone in its chamber; the last man standing among the undead.
With no more other victims to unleash its rage upon, the body began crying out in pain again, with no outlet to control itself with.
Back at the Hillwood Home for the Emotionally Troubled...
Once again, the Green Eye felt another surge of pain come over his body, subsiding once again to a lower state than before, along with the senses of pleasure subsiding as well. Now, the pain seemed to resemble the first time he had felt it, but, this time, he was ready to compensate for it.
Darting across the room in the dark once again, the Green Eye laid his vengeance upon the 5 henchmen yet again; able to move at a relatively normal speed once again. The advantage seemed to be in his own hands once again, and the fight soon to be won and over with.
However, the Green Eye still found one last distraction in his own battle. Rather than seeing the 5 henchmen standing in his way during this fight, the Green Eye began to see flashes of a what appeared to be a laboratory, with 2 mutilated bodies to his sides and a group of scientists watching him from behind a pane of glass.
As he tried to understand what these visions meant, the henchmen took this opportunity to strike back once again, all ganging up on the downed football head as he continued to feel these flashes of visions coupled with the agony that conjoined itself with them.
The 5 henchmen continued to beat at the Green Eye, but his mind was in another place completely; unable to focus on the fight at hand.
Back at Membrane Laboratories...
"Last one standing. Should be any second now." One scientist said.
Just like the scientist said, the third and last body standing continued to scream in pain, clutching at his head to try to alleviate the pain being forced onto him. While all the scientists were watching in wait for the body to explode just as the previous ones had done, this one did not show any signs of detonation, a symptom not unnoticed by Dr. Combs.
"Wait. Something's different." Dr. Combs said.
With each passing second, the body's screams began to deteriorate; growing down to mere pained yells rather than agonized wails. The body began to breathe more deeply and heavily, as if he were trying to recover from the pain he was being forced through. His tight grip over his head began to loosen; his fingers loosening themselves from their fists.
Soon, the body had stopped screaming altogether.
Back at the Hillwood Home for the Emotionally Troubled...
Suddenly, the strange sensation of pain left the Green Eye not with another surge of pain, but with a quick subsidization. The visions that blinded him from the fight and his enemies had disappeared; putting his mind back into the battle where the body needed it most.
Now, seeing that he was suffering a trampling from the 5 henchmen, the Green Eye had no more distractions from his battle, and handled it accordingly.
Leaping up out of the mob-like attack, the Green Eye threw a 360-degree kick around the 5 henchmen's faces, knocking all of them on their backs. Landing firmly on his feet, he then jumped atop two of the downed henchmen, landing his knees right into their chests; ensuring no more fight would come from these ones.
The next henchman in his sight was the one with the ballpoint pen still in his hand, giving the Green Eye an idea to use this to his advantage. Rushing to the henchman, the Green Eye pulled the pen out from his hand and landed strategic stabs onto his right leg, with each of his moves gaining a scream from the enemy and falling to the ground.
The following henchman brought out a knife, slashing at the vague specter of the Green Eye in the dark, hoping to land a damaging slash into his opponent. Moving twice as swiftly as the henchman, the Green Eye grabbed his arm and bent it backwards, breaking it at the elbow, and throwing him to the floor.
Finally, with one last henchman to tend to, the Green Eye ran towards the remaining henchman and launched himself towards him, driving the enemy into the wall and crumbling the drywall behind him. Having knocked all manner of breath out of his lungs, the Green Eye pulled the henchman up off the ground, leaving him panicking between his breaths.
"Don't kill me, man, don't kill me!" The henchman pleaded.
"I'm not gonna kill you. I want you to do me a favor. You're going to send 'Little' Nicky a message for me. The Freak is not to be touched. He is under my protection. Got that?" The Green Eye asked.
"Okay, okay, man, you got it, just let me go!"
Complying with his request, the Green Eye dropped the henchman on the ground, disappearing into the shadows soon after. Once the henchman hit the floor, the lights to the room turned on, showing his 4 comrades on the floor and the door quickly shutting, with no sign of the Green Eye remaining.
Soon after, the door opened yet again, only this time to have security guards accompanied by police entering the room. The 5 henchman were all handcuffed in seconds, with none being left the opportunity to get a second wind and manage to escape.
They knew they had failed, and they knew 'Little' Nicky would not fare so well with their failure.
"Take them away, boys." The Freak joked.
Back at Membrane Laboratories, the scientists continued their observation of the one remaining body; all still in shock and awe of the spectacle of science they had born witness to. The body, with no more pain or suffering in his system, sat himself into the hospital bed it was laid in, slowly contemplating what had just occurred to him.
The scientists continued to stand idle without a word to voice their thoughts, but Dr. Combs was not so silent in his own observations of the discovery. Instead, where his comrades remained quiet regarding the calm stance of the reanimated being, Dr. Combs already began making his own notes.
"Test subject 3 has sustained reanimation with no further signs of aggression. Proceeding to interview subject for retained consciousness and memory." Dr. Combs said.
One scientist objected to Dr. Combs' words, trying to stop him from approaching the body.
"Dr. Combs, are you insane? We don't know what that body's capable of-" The scientist said.
"And we won't until we go find out. Find out what was in test subject 3's sample and begin a further study of it." Dr. Combs said.
"Doctor-"
"I mean it. Get to work, now."
Ignoring his comrades' pleas and giving his own orders, Dr. Combs stepped inside the room holding the reanimated body and remains of the other 2, approaching the last one standing and sought out answers regarding his rebirth. The body seemed to acknowledge Dr. Combs' presence, but did not speak towards him.
"Sir? Can you understand me? What is your name?" Dr. Combs asked.
The body took several deep breaths to recover his mind, then finally spoke; his voice an exhausted, gravelly echo that just barely sounded clear from his lips.
"My name... is Frank." The body said.
Outside the Hillwood Home for the Emotionally Troubled, Arnold, out of his persona of the Green Eye, calmly made his way away from the building, distancing himself from the past fight and leaving no clue to his true identity. With the experience gone and over with, he tried to take a moment to reflect on what had happened.
What began as his attempt to defend the helpless Freak from an attack by 'Little' Nicky's henchmen turned into another of the strange instance of feeling a strange mental assault of pain, all too similar from the one he had suffered before. This time, however, he also had visions of some manner of laboratory, giving him some idea of what the causes of this were.
His mind began to contemplate on what this place could have been, but his thoughts were quickly turned to the ringing tone of his cell phone. Taking the phone in his hand, Arnold found he was receiving a call from Lila, taking his thoughts somewhere more pleasant for a moment's time.
Answering the call, Arnold put the phone to his head.
"Hey, Lila, what's up?" Arnold asked.
"Oh, hey Arnold, I was just wondering if you were running late." Lila said.
"Late for what?"
"You know, we said we'd have another little get-together at the cafe. Did you forget?"
"Oh! That's right. I'm sorry, I got caught up with something else."
"Oh. Well, we can schedule one for later-"
"No, no, it's okay, I just finished up what I was supposed to do. I'll be right there, I promise."
"Are you sure? You sound really out of breath."
"I'm fine, really. I'll be right there."
"Okay, if you say so. I'll be right here."
Hanging up his phone, Arnold then pushed aside all thoughts of the battle and his visions to get himself towards his next destination: His date with Lila. Putting all thoughts and feelings of pain and fighting aside, the football head put all his energy towards making his way towards this date on time.
Most importantly than keeping his promise, he hopes that this date will put his mind off more troubling topics.
Elsewhere, some time later, the henchmen of 'Little' Nicky soon found their way towards the city jail, resulting from their capture by law enforcement and failure to apprehend the Freak. The leader of the 5 took a phone call to 'Little' Nicky, reporting on their status.
"Hey, boss, uh... bad news. We didn't get the Freak. The Green Eye showed up." The henchman said.
"The Green Eye was there?" 'Little' Nicky asked.
"Yeah, boss. I don't know what the hell he was doing there, but he beat the shit out of us. We couldn't even see him, he made the room dark and-"
"I get the point. Did he say anything?"
"Yeah, uh, he said... He said that the Freak was under his protection."
'Little' Nicky went silent on the other end of the line, processing the message as it was sent to him.
"Boss?" The henchman asked.
"Someone will show with your bail soon. I'll handle this one personally." 'Little' Nicky said.
"So you-you're not mad?"
"You can't send a dog after a wolf and expect the dog to win. We'll need more if we're going to get the Freak."
"What's that mean?"
"It means, my friend, that I'm going to be getting a 'wolf' of our own; hire some outside talent."