Call Me… Doc Ock – Arc One: Origin

Chapter 15: Meeting with the Apes Part 2

Azelea and I found ourselves sitting in what seemed like a conference room in one of the bigger structures of the bunker. The place was surprisingly well furnished, given its location. There was a wall of televisions on one side and on the other there were computer screens on the other. At the back of the room was a large projector screen that was currently rolled up. At the moment we were at a table with us humans on one side and… Peotor (the orangutan) on the other. Around us, the other apes sat at elevated seats watching us with curiosity, wariness or a combination of both.

…it's funny, given everything I've seen from the comics, shows, games and movies, one would think that a hidden society of apes underneath Central Park would not really throw me off, yet here we were.

Before I could even begin to think of what to say, Azelea broke the ice. "Okay… so who are you exactly?" His eyes darted around the place, one of his hands lit up with magic runes. The man was tense and looked ready to start slinging spells everywhere. Honestly, I couldn't really blame him, for all I knew these apes could likely be out to get me too. Hopefully, this Peotor was honest about his intentions.

"As I have said before," Peotor responded, "I am Peotor, my associates and I have a vested interest in Isaac's well-being."

Azelea frowned at that. "And why exactly is that? Why exactly is his well-being any of your business?"

Peotor clasped his hands together and leaned forward. "Because we owe Otto and Pascale Octavius a great debt."

My breath hitched, while Azelea sat up straighter. "Wait, what? A debt? What are you talking about," Azelea questioned.

"I mean exactly what I say," Peotor answered. "Those two rescued us from a terrible situation at great risk to themselves and my companions and I feel the need to repay that debt to the best of our abilities."

"Wait, hold on, hold," I burst out. "Start from the beginning, what the hell did my m-mom and dad do for you guys? What 'terrible situation' are you talking about?"

Peotor looked towards me for a moment, before he closed his eyes and seemed to curl up on himself for a bit. I then noticed that a lot of the apes, which had been making noises every once in a while, suddenly went eerily quiet. Looking around, most of them began to curl up as well, with a few rocking back and forth. I glanced at Azelea, and he looked concerned at the sudden change in behavior.

Turning back to Peotor, I voiced my own concern. "Um… okay, um… if that's… that's not something you guys wanna talk about, then we can discuss other issues if-"

Before I could finish Peotor and raised a hand. He shook his head a bit, then looked up at me again. "No, no, that is quite alright. I suppose that to help you understand we should speak about the experiments."

"Experiments," Azelea asked, his brow furrowed.

"Indeed, the experiments performed on us." The both of us turned our attention to Miklho, as the gorilla stepped forward, the speaker around his neck jostling a little. "Are you familiar with the scientist Abraham Erskine and his development of the super soldier formula."

'Oh, here we go,' I thought, pinching the bridge of my nose. 'Looks like I'm going to have to deal with that nonsense a bit sooner too.'

Next to me Azelea nodded. "Yes, we are quite familiar with Erskine's formula. Then again who doesn't know about it and Captain America's exploits? I don't think there's a single person in the country who is older than 12 who doesn't know about that."

"Then, are you aware of the many attempts to recreate the formula or, at the least, attempts to create an alternative?"

Azelea buried his head in his hands. "Oh God, am I ever," he ground out. Catching my curious glance, he then elaborated. "Alright, so to make things short, there have been a lot of people across the world who have tried to use substitutions for different parts of the procedure that produced Captain America. Some of these people had unknowingly used materials and substances that were… mystical in nature."

He began to massage the bridge of his nose. "Naturally, the Kamar-Taj couldn't allow for that and had to step in. We then had to do a total clean up and destroy any and all equipment, records or… materials involved in those particular experiments to ensure that others would not recreate them. As a consequence, the Kamar-Taj began to educate themselves on modern technology as a means to wiping any computer data revolving around these experiments."

"Wait," I leaned over a bit. "These guys have been getting involved in occult shit?"

Azelea sighed at that. "Yes, they have, and we had to make sure that whatever knowledge they uncovered didn't spread out." His face went blank. "The kinds of horror's they could unleash are… too awful for words…"

I couldn't help but shift uncomfortably in my seat; I tried not to think about it, but ever since I got these tentacles on my back, my thoughts have occasionally drifted to thoughts of what would happen if any of the evil organizations in this reality put me on a slab. Suppressing a grimace, I pressed the apes for answers. "Okay, so how exactly did you guys meet my parents?"

Igor the baboon stepped forward to answer. "It began some time before you were born…"

Pain, enduring, constant, unbearable pain coursed through Igor's bones as he lay in his cage. He had just been released from the last of the torture sessions for the day. One of many sessions. How many, he could not count; each moment of torment began to blend in with the next session after a while.

The only thing that kept him going was spite and the chance at revenge… yes… revenge. The human, Ivan, their tormentor, for as clever as he was, was not without his foibles. He thought himself some sort of pillar of human intellect and poise, but Igor knew better. Ever since the changes made to him, he began to notice Ivan's shortcomings more and more.

He was prone to ranting and raving about his importance to the scientific community and the world as a whole. He was quick to rash behavior, especially whenever things did not go as he expected. He also tended to drink a lot of that poison, which made him sluggish and imbalanced. There were others, and Igor and his fellow captives took note of each one.

One of them, Pavel, had even managed to get free and attempted to escape. Igor did not know if Pavel succeeded or not. All he knew was that Ivan had not been able to retrieve Pavel, if the human's enraged drunken ranting had been anything to go by. However, it had been a long time since the attempt and Igor had no way of knowing how to contact Pavel, if he was still alive.

The thought of Pavel being dead brought about a pang of grief to the baboon. He had been one the few other apes that Igor could properly communicate with (when Ivan wasn't watching). Pavel was quite clever, but from what Igor knew about humans and the world outside this prison, he was not likely to find a better life than here. All that said, the idea that Pavel had found somewhere better was a comforting dream at the very least.

Slowly, exhaustion began to overtake Igor's consciousness. He would need to get what rest he could; the next day would only be filled with more pain, but he would endure. If only for the mere chance at-

*BZZZ* *SWISH*

Igor's eyes snapped open at the sound of the metal door opening. Slowly, cautiously he lifted his head. Had Ivan come back to the lab? Were one of the apes going to go through another round of torture? Igor inched away from the door to his cell. He… had been forced to endure much pain today as it was, he did not think he could endure more of it. All around him, he could hear the whispered chattering of his fellows. Most of it was fearful, and rightly so. After Pavel's escape, Ivan's cruelty had reached new heights and more than a few had ended up dead, or close to it. He could still remember when Miklho in particular had suffered greatly one time and had been unnervingly still when returned to his cage. Only his considerable constitution had seen him through the night.

"Are you sure this is the place, Otto," someone called out.

"Yes, Pascale, it is," a second person responded.

Igor froze at the two voices. Those were… those were new! In all of his time in this place, Igor had only ever interacted with Ivan. As far as he knew, Ivan had worked alone in his depravities. Igor tensed as lights shone into the holding cells. This might very well be a chance to escape.

As the two sources of lights got closer to his cell, Igor finally got a look at the unknown people. One was… a female, her skin a brownish color, dressed in dark colors. Next to her was a pale man, dressed in equally dark colors, with- Igor blinked as he spied the strange appendages sticking out of his side. What were those?

When the two reached his cell one of them turned a light towards him. The woman gasped. "Oh my goodness! Otto! Open this cage!"

The human man frowned. "Pascale, I do not think that that would be a wise idea. We have no idea how these apes might react to our presence. At the very least-"

"Otto! Open this cage, NOW," the woman shouted, causing Igor to flinch.

The man sighed. "Very well. If you insist." The man moved to a panel in front of Igor's cell. He looked it over before pulling out some strange device. Pulling out a wire, he attached it to the panel and began tapping away at it.

"Hmph! All that boasting about your brilliance, Ivan, and yet, your security is painfully lacking." Suddenly there was a buzzing sound as the cage open up and the woman stepped forward. Igor, in his exhausted, aching state, could do nothing more than shift away from her.

Seeing this the woman stopped. "Oh… oh, of course you would be wary of me." The woman knelt down; her hands spread open. "You must have suffered so much at the hands of that awful man. I am so sorry for everything."

Igor stared at the woman, he… did not know what to feel right now, to many emotions coursing through him.

As if sensing his internal conflict, the woman went on. "If only we had known about this place sooner! All of this pain could have been avoided, you could all be somewhere in the wild playing freely, Pavel could be here with you!"

Igor froze at Pavel's name. Deep within, something began to well up within him. Ever so slowly, Igor shuffled over to the woman.

"That's it, it's okay, come on," the woman gestured. When he was with arm's length, the woman reached out towards him. "That's it, I won't-AHHHHHH," the woman screamed out as Igor bit into her arm.

Rage. Pure and simple; as physically weak as Igor was, his rage was enough to drive his fangs into the woman's arm.

"PASCALE!" Suddenly, Igor was hit with a shock as one those strange appendages grabbed him and discharged an electric current. Losing control of his bodily functions, Igor was forced to let go of the woman's arm. The man immediately rushed over to her.

"PASCALE! PASCALE! You're arm!" Quickly, but gently, the man took the woman's arm and examined it. When he turned a cold glare towards Igor, the baboon realized that this might be the end for him.

"You. Low-Brow. Ape! How DARE you?!" The appendages attached to the man suddenly pointed towards Igor and the baboon closed his eyes in preparation for his end.

"WAIT! OTTO!" Igor's eyes snapped open to find the woman standing before him in front of the man. "Please, don't hurt him!"

"Pascale, that thing attacked you, it is clearly beyond saving!" The man made to step around the woman, but she stepped in his way again.

"Otto! Please, don't! He was only acting out of pain and grief!"

"It. Attacked. You," The man ground out as he made to move around her, but again she moved to block him.

"I know that, but he's only acting this way because of that monster, Ivan!"

"Pascale, you are currently bleeding," the man shouted.

"I am well aware of that, Otto! I am also aware that these poor things have been through much worse!"

The man glowered at the woman, but she held firm. Eventually, the man let out a growl of frustration before backing down. "Very well! Do what you must, but if it attacks you again, I will do what I must."

"That… is fine," the woman nodded. She turned to Igor and approached him again. The baboon could do nothing as she-

Igor blinked, as slowly the woman circled her arms around him gently. "I am… so, so sorry! I… cannot even begin to understand all that you have been through. Taken from your homes, tortured for days on end, subjected to all sorts of cruelties at the hands of that awful man. I am… so, so sorry! I wish… I wish we could have done more for Pavel. I wish we could have saved him and all of your friends. I am… so sorry for everything!"

As she began to rock the both of them back and forward, Igor suddenly felt something wet hit his head. With what little control he had over his body, he turned his head up towards the woman's face and saw… that her eyes were wet.

…was she… was she crying… for him, them? Igor found himself at a total loss, a new wave of emotions that he couldn't even begin to identify warred within him.

"Pascale," the man spoke up again, "if we are going to get all of these apes out of here, then we need to go now! We also need to get your arm looked after."

The woman turned to the man and nodded. She then let Igor go and shuffled back. "I… know that you have no reason to trust me… but I swear that I want to help you." She held up her good hand to Igor. "Please, let me honor Pavel's last request."

Igor stared at the hand before him. Back and forth, his eyes darted between the hand and the woman's face. He felt… fear. This could be a trap. But… he looked the woman in the eye. After a few seconds, slowly, he took the woman's hand.

The woman offered him a gentle smile. "Thank you, Igor. I promise to do my best to help you."

"After that, we quickly made our way to their residence and stayed hidden for the time being," Igor finished.

"I…," I was at a bit of a loss at what to say. What could I say?

Fortunately, Azelea picked up the slack. "Hold on, given the number of apes here, I doubt that you would have been able to go anywhere without people taking notice. So, I have to ask; how exactly did you not raise any suspicion while moving around?"

"Ah, well the answer to that is quite simple," Peotor stated. "If you may recall, we were subjected to experiments meant to produce super-soldiers. In our case, Ivan had us exposed to Cosmic Radiation."

I sat up straighter. "Wait, Cosmic… Radiation," I asked.

Azelea turned to me. "You know what that is?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I've read some reports on what few cases of living organisms have been exposed to it. For the most part, anything exposed to it dies, but over the years, archeologists have discovered fossils that exhibit signs of exposure to Cosmic Rays. These fossils rather than dying from radiation poisoning, instead displayed signs on unusual but benign mutations." 'Of course there's the fact that in the right circumstance, that shit can give you superpowers.'

Peotor nodded. "Indeed, Cosmic Rays can in fact empower those exposed to it. Such as the four of us," he gestured to Miklho, Igor, Yaroslav and himself.

"Empower you," Azelea pressed. "How So?"

The four apes looked at each other before nodding. Peotor lifted up his hand, which let off a sudden blue glow. Suddenly, something flew towards it, and he held it up to reveal a screwdriver. "I have developed the ability to control magnetic fields." He then turned to the other apes.

The three nodded before Miklho stepped up. "I have been granted some enhanced strength and geo-kinesis." There was a sudden small rumbling before a spike or dirt shot upward from the floor. Miklho placed his right arm on it before the earth flowed like liquid to encase his arm.

Igor the baboon stepped forward. He shut his eyes, and his body seemed to tremble. Slowly, but surely his body began to expand, contract and morph before we found ourselves looking at the guy who stole my necklace! "As you can see, I can change my form," he said in a somewhat scratchy voice. "I can also apply this ability to others for a short period of time."

Finally, Yaroslav the chimp took center stage and held up his hands. A ball of light appeared in his hands. He then shook them a bit before one turned into a ball of flame and the other a ball of compressed electricity. "I can control the output and forms of energy around us."

"Oh… oh wow," Azelea breathed. "Um… so can… can the rest of the apes here… do anything?"

Peotor shook his head. "No, of the apes that lived through Ivan's experiments, only Miklho, Igor, Yaroslav and I have-"

"WAIT," I suddenly snapped out. Everyone looked towards me, but I was suddenly focused on the chimp. "You- you're Yaroslav?!"

The chimp, taken aback, nodded. "I am indeed Yaroslav. Is something the matter?"

I pointed a finger at him. "You're the one my mother mentioned in her diary!"