Call Me… Doc Ock – Arc One: Origin

Chapter 4: Armed But Not Quite Ready

Tired and exhausted, Isaac collapsed onto the ground. "This is preposterous! How does anyone do this?! Who in the world came up with all these stunts and how in the world can you just stand there not looking like you have been spinning and jumping around for half an hour?!"

Standing above him, wearing sweatpants and a simple t-shirt, Pascale simply smiles, amused, and simply states "practice and hard work, my precious baby boy, practice and hard work." At Isaac's darkening glower, Pascale's smile softens and sits on the ground next to him. "Isaac, I know that things seem difficult now, but I promise that what you do now will serve you well in the future."

Isaac simply grunts, turning to look at the wall at the opposite end of the room. They were currently in one of the unused guest rooms of their house. Otto and Pascale had converted the room into a sort of studio for Pascale to make use of during her off time. The furniture had been cleared off to the side. On one of the tables, was a cd player playing some tune that Pascale had referred to as "her dance/workout music."

"…I don't even see what the point in these exercises are. I mean the brutes that hounded me have been dealt with, the school has already made assurances to be more vigilant in the future and I'm going to be moving up a few classes anyway. Dad saw to all of that." Otto had indeed been working non-stop over the last few days after an incident with a few boys getting rough with Isaac. Due in no small part to his own experiences, Otto had gone on the warpath when he and Pascale had to be called in due to Isaac getting into a fight. Really as far as Isaac could see there was no need to worry about any more fighting involved at the school.

Pascale smile seemed to dim somewhat as Isaac sat up properly to face her. She sighed before placing a hand on Isaac's shoulder. "Yes, your father is doing all he can to prevent further altercations and no doubt will be making upgrades to your school's security, but even then, it is better that you be more prepared to defend yourself."

"I don't see why. It's not like I'm going to go looking for a fight." Isaac was quite certain of that. Really, what would be the point. While those boys had been the only ones to lay their hands on him, they had not been the only ones to show signs of resentment towards Isaac's intellectual capacity. As long as that envy had not resulted in physical violence, what did Isaac care.

Pascale nodded. "I know that, but just because you will not seek a fight, does not mean a fight will not come for you."

Isaac frowned in confusion at that. "What does that mean?"

Pascale's smile turned a bit sad as she responded, "what that means is that some people will go out of their way to antagonize you even if you do not feel as though you have given them reason to do so. Do you remember those men from the trip we took to see the Monument Valley at Arizona?"

Isaac actually scowled at that. Yes, he remembered those men quite well. The things they said some really awful things about his mother, after she had turned down their advances. One of them had gotten up to her face and likely would have done more if Otto had not stepped in and tased him. "…yes, I do," Isaac bit out.

"Then you know that there are people out there who will seek to hurt you even if you have done nothing to them at all."

"But why, why would someone choose to be hostile to me at random? What would they get out of it? It makes no rational sense."

Pascale simply shrugged. "People often do things that usually make no sense to anyone but themselves. And Otto and I won't always be there to help you. So, for now all we can do is make sure you're ready for when that day comes. Now come on, let's go through some stretches before the next few exercises."

Isaac groaned as he got up to his feet with his mother's help. Well, whatever. If his mother and father thought that this would help, he might as well keep at it.

In that moment, as the armored psycho stepped forward it felt like all my sense were muted; like every part of my body was numb.

'Move…"

Any attempt to take a step back only got a slight twitch. My own legs felt like weighed a ton.

'Move… move…'

Breathing was damn near impossible. I could feel myself getting light-headed.

'Move… move… MOVE…'

But no matter how much I tried nothing got a response from my body.

The man finally reached me. Looking me in the eye he raised his knife, preparing to strike. "For the crime of abandoning the Lord's Light, I will cast you down to the fiery pit with your devilish kin. May you forever burn in Hell vile spawn of Satan," he uttered.

Then he swung his knife.

In that moment everything seemed to slow down. I could see his knife approach my forehead. This close, I could tell that looked more than sharp enough to go clean through my skull…

…this was it…

…was this as far as I got in this life?

Barely into my teens…

Just to die… like this…

*BANG*

Suddenly with a flash in the distance something shot its way towards the old man in the armor. With superhuman reflexes, the old man turned and deflected what looked like a bolt of energy aside with his knife. I dropped to my knees, as I could suddenly feel everything again. Distantly, I could hear the men in the truck shout as they come out of the truck armed with guns, crossbows, and… were those swords actually glowing?! The old man standing before me growled as he looked into the trees where the shot had come from. "Who dares interfere with my holy mission," he roared into the night.

Slowly from the trees several men emerge seemingly from nowhere. Each of them wearing dark hooded robes with red trim. On the front of the robes were some strange red symbols that looked like a target mark. The old man spat into the ground, reaching for a second knife as he tensed up.

"Tch, of course… Clan Akkaba. What business do you have here? Come seeking to add more devils to your misbegotten bloodline," the old man growl.

The tallest of the hooded figures stepped forward. He lowered his hood revealing a mass of scars all over his head, two of them forming an x-shaped pattern centered on the bridge of his knows. Looking the old man in the eye, the dark-skinned man's face twisted into a vicious grin. "Isaiah Curwen, still alive after all these years. I would have thought you had finally croaked by now. And I see that you are still playing pretend with your merry band of zealots."

"DO NOT MOCK OUR HOLY WORK, DEVIL! What we do, we do in service of God! I will not tolerate anyone speaking against our righteous mission," the old man (Isaiah) snapped at him.

The scarred man rolled his red eyes. "Yes, yes, holy work, very important, I'm sure," he taunted, earning another growl from Isaiah. "While I'm sure that you think that you're a very important man, with very important work, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to back off. This one," he pointed towards me causing me to freeze up under his gaze, "is the prey of Clan Akkaba. More specifically, he is my prey, and I would very much appreciate it if you could make yourself scarce. Maybe you can go antagonize some DnD cosplayers or something, that seems about more your speed." He paused for a moment as he considered something. "…of course, there is a long-standing bounty for your head that quite a few people would pay handsomely for. So, hey if want, you can stick around, after I'm finish up some clan business, so I can collect."

Taking a up a stance, Isaiah pointed both knives at the man in front of him. "If you wish to take my life, you will find yourself both disappointed and then very quickly dead."

The man before him rolled his neck. "Well alright, if that's how you want it; then I, Kabar Brashir III, will be happy to put you down."

Nobody moved for a moment, I swear it felt some sort of weight came down on the entire area. I wanted to move, but somehow, I knew that doing so would mean a quick death. Finally, in the distance I heard a crack before everything exploded into noise. Before me, Isaiah flung one his knives at Kabar. Faster than I could see, the scarred man's arm slapped it aside with a clang, before taking as he met Isaiah in charge. Up close, I could finally see that somehow both of his arms had somehow morphed into fucking steel.

'What the fuck?!' At that moment, I found it really hard to process what the hell was going on. The two groups had descended into fighting with some of the nutjob knights firing bullets into the trees where the hooded figures, who retaliated with their own gunfire and in the case of one guy, bolts of energy out of his hands.

Right in front of me, Isaiah and Kashir quickly came to blows. Isaiah went for a low swipe at Kashir's legs, but the scarred man leapt back before going back in with left hook that Isaiah ducked under to his exposed flank. Isaiah then went to try and stab Kashir just below the ribcage, but the scarred man just managed to deflect the strike with an open palm with his right hand, while stepping back. Kashir then quickly charged back in with a kick that Isaiah barely blocked before being sent flying back aways. Reacting quickly, Isaiah went into a roll and got back on his feet before charging back at Kashir. The two then charged back at each other in another exchange of blows.

These guys… these guys… were definitely out of my league. I needed to get away, but… I knew that if I tried to turn and run, someone could take a shot at my back. But I needed to get away fast or I was dead anyways. My eyes darted for something, anything. That's when my eyes fell on my bike. It was then that I noticed something that had fallen out of the pack. Feeling some hope I inched my way towards my pack. It was then that noticed something crackling with sparks.

'Wait is that… yes!' It was several of the solar cells I had been working on. A few of them were cracked and… yes… 'this could work!' Slowly reaching into the pocket of my jacket I took out a pair of glasses and put them on. These glasses had the fun little feature of rapidly adjusting to light and I was going to need to be able to make a bright flash without blinding myself. Keeping an eye on the fighting I slowly took the parts from my bike that I could fit into my pack. Once that was done, I took two of the cracked solar cells and cocked my hand back. Someone must have noticed me because they shouted at me, "HEY!"

Everyone started to turn towards me, but by that point I had already flung the solar cells at the two men fighting closest to me. "THINK FAST ASSHOLES," I shouted as they grabbed them midflight. This turned out to be a mistake as the pressure caused the solar cells to brake and then explode right in their faces.

*BOOM*

The blast sent Isaiah and Kashir flying back while everyone else started to curse at the sudden flash of light. I quickly turned and ran into the woods as fast as I could. Behind me I could hear someone shouting to go after me, but I didn't bother to see if anyone was following. I don't know how far I ran, I only kept going until my lungs felt like they were on fire. Once I managed to find some cover, I quickly checked my GPS map. At the moment, I was near the north-east corner of the park. That meant that the NY 109th precinct was the closest police station. Taking out my phone, I quickly dialed their number.

'Come on, come on, come on!' Taking a quick look around, I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin at any moment. I usually didn't mind having to wait for someone to pick up the phone, but right now, my irritation with the wait time seemed to spike as my heart seemed ready to bust out of my chest.

"Hello, you've reached the NYPD 109th precinct. My name is Eliza, how can I help you?"

"Oh, thank fuck! Miss, you have to help! I'm currently at the Northeast end of Flushing Meadows Corona Park! There's been a fight and gunshots being fired! Send help, please!"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Slow down! What going's on again?!"

Feeling increasingly frustrated and irritated, I repeat myself: "I said that I'm Flushing Meadows Corona Park, a little south of Meridian Rd and 131st street! There's a fight going on and- OH SHIT!" I ducked for cover when I heard a gunshot. I swore I could hear something whiz right pass me.

"Was that gunfire?! Okay, sir I need you to keep calm and find a place to hide! I'm sending someone your way!"

"Just hurry the fuck up! I don't have time to-" was as far as I got before a blast sent me flying into the air. I landed on my front with a hard smack. Curling up at the pain, it was all I could do to breathe. It took a moment for me to get my head together enough to look around. In the distance, I could see one of the hooded figures walking towards me, a ball of red light in their hand aimed directly at me.

"Nice try with those explosives. I have to say that I didn't expect much when Kashir and I were sent on this assignment. Just goes to show you, one shouldn't take any prey lightly. Now, I'm not usually one for formalities once I'm on the hunt, I usually just take my target down quickly and cleanly, then move on." He slammed his foot onto my phone, which I must have flung by accident. "However, given that this hunt was passed along to us directly by The Fittest, I am required by our custom to inform you of who will be your executioner."

The figure in front of me then used their free hand to pull back their hood to reveal a man with pink hair and eyes. A derisive smile on his face, he gestured to himself.

"I am Roderick Slade of Clan Akkaba and I will be sending you to-" The man was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a gun firing off in the air. We both turned see a cop pointing a gun at my would-be killer.

"ON THE GROUND NOW!" When the pink-haired man didn't comply, the cop shouted again. "I SAID GET DOWN ON THE GROUND NO-urkk!" The ball of energy in Roderick's hand shot forward and sent the man flying into a tree with a hard smack.

"That was very rude. Now as a I was-" he quickly spun around and shot a ball of energy sending off my feet and cutting off my escape attempt. My head swam a bit. I could only watch as Roderick stepped up to me, then placed a foot on my chest to keep me still. "AS I was saying, I am Roderick Slade of Clan Akkaba and I will be sending you to you maker. Farewell."

As a ball of energy began to form in his hand again, I found everything slowing down. I couldn't hear anything beyond the crackling produced by that ball of energy…

…this was it…

…I was about to die…

…just like that…

…again…

…

THIS IS BULLSHIT!

At first, all I could feel was a sudden well of anger at the absurdity of the situation. This was immediately by a sharp pain in my back as something shot forward and smacked the pink-haired man off of me.

"Gyaack," the killer was sent flying back and landed with a hard smack on the ground. He quickly got back up, a ball of energy in his hand. When his eyes landed on me, a look of shock crossed his face.

Slowly getting up to one knee, it took me a few deep breaths before I became aware of a very strange sensation along my back. It was then that I noticed the… tentacles?

Slowly curling in front of me in a half-embrace were… were four fucking tentacles! Each one looked like they were made of green glass, yet somehow were twisting and bending luck rubber. At the end of each one were mandibles with three prongs that clicked every once in a while. In the center of the mandibles, I could see what looked like a white glowing gem. Slowly I reached out to one the mandibles and tapped it at one of the joints. I actually twitched as I felt it somehow. Patting my back, I could feel where the tentacles sticking out of my fucking back!

"…what. The. FUCK?!"

"…well, I'll be damned…" My attention immediately returned to Roderick, who now had a wary look on his face. This time he had both hands together with another ball of energy floating between them.

I… was not sure what to do at the moment. I considered trying to run again but a dull throb in my right leg told me that I would not get very far. I tried to reach for my pack, only to realize that it was not there. With a quick glance, I found it several feet away from me with the straps torn apart.

I glanced back at Roderick. By this point, he was back on his feet and the energy ball was half as big as him.

"Okay… I see I that I can't be too careful with you." He nodded. "Yes, you definitely need to go now. Farewell." With that the ball of energy shot out of his hands. I tried to move but stumbled.

Everything seemed to slow down again as the ball quickly closed in on me.

'This is really it, huh?' I really couldn't begin to think of anything else and closed my eyes, ready to move on to the next life.

However, just before the energy ball hit, a circle of light appeared in front of me, stopping it dead in its path.

I blinked, stupefied. "Whuh?"

"WHAT?!" Roderick's face twisted into shock and anger at this sudden turn of events.

"That will be quite enough of that," a voice spoke up.

Off to the side, two men in strange garbs came along. One of them was dark-skinned with a clean-shaven head. His right hand was making a gesture which seemed to be controlling the circle of light in front of me and his left was holding what looked like a chain of light. The other man, who seemed to be of Chinese descent had his hands folded behind him as he stepped forward.

Roderick, looking like he swallowed a particularly sour lemon, took a step back. "What the hell are the Masters of the Mystic Arts doing here?"

The Chinese man scoffed. "Considering that we have a residence close by, I would think it would only make sense that we would take action when Clan Akkaba and Isaiah Curwen cause trouble."

Roderick bit his lip as he glanced around. His eyes fell on me for a moment.

"I would not try that if I were you." The Chinese man stepped forward as he brought his hand forward. Glowing symbols burst out his hands forming a circular shape.

Roderick growled, clearly frustrated at this sudden bout of misfortune. He took a deep breath and then his head snapped up.

"FITTEST," he roared. A pink beam of light suddenly enveloped him.

"WAIT!" "OH NO YOU DON'T!"

The two men lashed out at Roderick with whips of light, but he disappeared in a flash.

The Dark-skinned hissed in annoyance. "He's gone. The others too it would seem," he noted as more pink flashes lit the area up. Soon more men dressed like the two suddenly began to show up. One of them, a man with curly hair, rushed over.

"Master Wong! The servants of Clan Akkaba disappeared. We have managed to subdue and restrain several of Curwen's order, but the man himself seems to have disappeared. What are your orders?"

The Chinese man, Wong, thought for moment, before he glanced at me then the cop over by the tree. After a moment, he nodded, he pointed towards the cop. "Vincent, you and Master Drumm attend to the officer. I will look after the boy."

The two men, Drumm and Vincent, nodded before moving to the cop's side. Wong stepped forward to look me over. His stern expression softened somewhat as he took in my disheveled state. "Good evening young man. It would seem that you have had quite the difficult night." He offered me a hand. "Allow to provide you with some assistance."