Call Me… Doc Ock – Arc One: Origin

Chapter 30: Homestretch

Frustration began to show on Nicholas Fury's face as he read the latest report. "First in New York, now in West Africa." He looked up at the numerous continuing news report of the disaster which had somehow relocated to Niger. "What the fuck is going on?" When this whole thing had started, he had initially considered the possibility that this was some clandestine experiment involving gamma radiation gone wrong. Now, the source of that gamma radiation, whatever it was, had somehow jumped across the Atlantic landed in the middle of the Saharan Desert!

"Sir!" A voice rang out, bringing him out of his thoughts. Fury turned to find an agent (Daniel Moore) running up to him, waving a manilla envelope. "Sir! I just got a preliminary report from agent Coulson and the others sent to Perrysburg, New York."

Fury crossed his arms giving him his full attention. "Alright, let's hear it."

Standing straight, Moore pulled out a set of papers and began to read off. "According to what witnesses were within the area, there were people traveling to and from J.N. Adam Memorial Hospital nearby."

Fury's brow furrowed. "A hospital?"

"Yes sir," Moore went on. "It was formally opened in November of 1912. It initially served as a treatment center for people with tuberculosis, then was converted into a place for treating patients with disabilities in the 1960's. Eventually, it was shut down in 1995 and has been abandoned ever since."

"And this is where that source of Gamma Radiation was originally coming from?"

Moore nodded. "Yes sir!"

"And what about these people that were going in and out of the area?"

Moore scratched the back of his head, suddenly looking unsure of himself. "Well, sir, there… may be an issue there."

One of Fury's eyebrows rose at that. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Moore shifted a bit before he finally looked Fury in the eye. "Well sir, when Coulson's group managed to get someone on site… the only thing they found were… corpses."

Fury's eye narrowed as he processed that. "Corpses?"

"Yes, sir," Moore nodded. "There were corpses all over the place. The thing that stood out about them was how some of them were dressed." Moore scratched his head. "Some of them were dressed in full on plate armor like they were medieval knights."

Confusion flashed across Fury's face at that. "Knights?"

"Yes, sir. Then there were the guys who were dressed in robes like something out of a cult. And finally, the group that… that looked like they belong in Ancient Egypt period piece."

"…do you have photos?"

Moore reached into the envelope and pulled out a set of photos and presented them. "Yes, sir."

Fury took them and began to look over them. As he went through the photos, incredulity began to creep up on his face. "What the fuck?" He looked back up at Moore. "Are we sure these are legit?"

"Sir… it's Coulson we're talking about here."

Fury had to nod at that. "Fair enough."

As Fury continued to go over every picture, Moore went on. "Also, sir, about those corpses, well… something seemed off about some of them."

"Yes, and," Fury asked, his attention focused on the pictures.

"Well, something was off about some of them."

Fury glanced up at Moore briefly before going back to the photos. "Go on."

"When Coulson's team got an autopsy, some of them… seemed to die in… unusual ways…"

Fury paused to look back up at Moore. "Unusual ways?"

Moore took the photos out of Fury's hands and shuffled through them before he pulled out several of them towards the back and presented them to Fury. The Director of SHIELD took the photos and looked them over for a moment before alarm took over him. "What the Hell?!"

Of the five photos in hand, one was of a skeleton, missing chunks of its ribs and charred. Another corpse had been impaled with its head crushed. A third had a hole burned through it, with the owner's face twisted in pain and horror. The fourth picture showed a corpse that looked like it had been torched from the inside out. And the corpse in the final photo looked as though someone had shoved acid down the victim's throat.

"Coulson's crew is currently going over the area with a fine-tooth comb," Moore went on. "However, while they managed to find some heavy ordinance, none of the weapons on site seemed line up with potential cause of death for those photos."

Fury's gaze snapped up to Moore. "Get Coulson on the line ASAP! I want to hear this from him."

"Yes Sir!" Moore saluted than went off to do as ordered. Fury looked down at the photos then back up to the screens turned to the news coverage. "What the Hell is going on?"


"I must admit, I had been curious about the power of one of Earth's deities." The Ancient One brought up a shield in time to block a swing from one of Ogun's pickaxes. The sheer force behind the blow caused the ground beneath her to crack. Quickly redirecting the pickaxes aside, the Ancient One lashed out with a bolt in her left hand to the Vodoun god's ribs. The blast, enhanced by Yaroslav, sent Ogun back.

Undeterred, the possessed god stood back up none the worse for wear save a few scuffs here and there.

"You are truly fearsome." The Ancient One used the brief reprieve to steady her breathing; this had been going on for a few minutes and she was starting to feel the effects from contending with a god's strength.

"Miss, are you okay?" The Ancient One had to smile a bit at Yaroslav's concern. The chimp had proven invaluable throughout this whole ordeal, and she was quite certain that without his aid, she would not have lasted this long against the corrupted god.

"I'm quite alright Yaroslav," she replied, rolling her shoulders a bit. She could tell already that she was going to be a bit stiff for a few days. "No need to worry. So far nothing has happened that a few stretches and rest won't fix." Perhaps a visit to a doctor might be in order as well. Now that she thought about it, it was almost time for her yearly check-up at the clinic near-

A pulse from the Ofo Rod and her own instincts had the Ancient One raise a barrier and block a double swing from her adversary. Sliding somewhat from the force of the blow, the Ancient One immediately retaliated with several whip strikes. Ogun dodged around them and rushed at her. The Ancient One conjured several barriers and parried the god's double overhead strikes. She quickly followed up with a kick to his knees to throw him off balance before slamming both of her palms to stomach and letting off a bolt that sent the God flying back.

"…do try to keep focus," Shango chided. "Even with the Ofo Rod granting you protection from Mother Gaia, my brother's strength is not to be taken lightly."

"I'll keep that in mind." The Ancient One chided herself. Honestly, that was not like her. Taking a stance, she prepared to charge in, a low pulse of energy reverberated through the cavernous space they were in.

Yaroslav looked around in a slight panic, his grip on the Ancient One tightening. "W-what's happening?!" He looked to the corrupted God which had been preparing to charge them before it suddenly paused. "Is it his doing?"

"…no," Shango replied. "This is not my brother's doing. While he does have some control over earth's elements, this is not something he would seem capable of."

The Ancient One for her part, kept her focus on the corrupted god in front of them. When that pulse had started, Ogun had suddenly gone rigid before turning his gaze in the direction towards the others had gone off to. A frown came over her face as she tried to figure out what was going on before-

Suddenly, the corrupted god shot off towards the tunnel leading to the central chamber. The Ancient One immediately lashed out with a whip. The moment the mystical chain wrapped around one of Ogun's feet, she pulled with all her strength, bringing the god down face first.

As the god tried to get to his feet, the Ancient One immediately conjured more chains to keep him in place. For extra measure she ran forward and kicked the pickaxes nearby to keep them out of reach.

"Something is calling him," the Ancient One stated. "Given the current situation, I would surmise that that would be the dark god at the center of all this." She blinked as she processed that, before a smile crossed her face. "It would seem that Isaac and the others are making progress."

As if to emphasize her point the sounds of a running fight made its way to their position. She spotted several other mages from outside engaging an approaching crowd of undead.

"Ancient One," one of them called out upon seeing her. "The thralls suddenly went rushing into the cavern! Where doing what we can to contain them, but they've become significantly more tenacious!" From what she could see while some appeared to be haggard, they were mostly fine.

"All of you stand firm," she called out. "Vincent and the others have made progress in banishing the eldritch being that seeks to enter our world! We need to hold on for a little longer!"

"Yes, Ancient One!" With that, the mages redoubled their efforts and the Sorcerer Supreme put her focus back to containing the god in her bindings.


"Good Heavens! These things have gotten much more vicious!" Sol quickly dodged around an overhead swing from an undead thrall wielding a rough-looking club. Just as he managed to send it flying back with a swing of his own conjured hammer, he yelped as he was forced to jump back to avoid a spear from another thrall. "Vincent! How much longer?!"

The mage cop conjured two shields before he threw one out in an arc to behead several thralls approaching him while deflecting several arrows. When the flying shield came back to him, he threw it back out to the group of thralls shooting at him from a distance. Looking behind him, he saw that Isaac's unconscious form had managed to break through the wall, exposing another hidden room with another corpse bond to a slab. "Isaac has just busted through into another wall! We're going to deal with the body bound to the slab! H2H! Sarah! Cover us!"

"CONFIRMED."

"On my way over," Sarah called out. She then turned to the three former cultists. "HEY! You three! Get over here and cover us!" She didn't look back as the three fought their way past the thralls. She could, however, hear them just fine.

"This is insane!" "Why?! Why did I let myself get involved in all of this?!" "Where did they get all these bodies?!"

"HEY, ENOUGH!" The three jumped at Sarah's sharp voice. "If you three have energy to complain, then you have energy to fight! So enough with your whining! Get back to fighting!"

Reluctantly, the trio did just that.

"Okay, just like before," Vincent breathed. With a gesture of his hands, a stream of water was conjured and washed over the flame. Moving with Isaac's tentacles he cast another spell towards the spike in the corpse's chest and pulled it out when the bindings vanished. "Alright! That's another one down," he shouted as he followed Isaac's body as it moved back out into the chamber.


A scream of fury ripped through the area as I freed another soul from its bindings. I made a mad dash for the buildings furthest away from where the roar came from and just managed to get inside when a ball of energy washed over the spot I had been.

Looking back, I caught a glimpse of the possessed Remy and holy fuck, he looked a lot more Hulkish than before. His form had bulging muscles tearing through the garb. His skin had taken on a brownish green tint. What stood out more than that though, was the cracks along his skin. Before he looked as though his skin was merely flaky. Now, the cracks in his skin were glowing. As he turned, I ducked down and made my way out.

"WHERE ARE YOU LITTLE BRAT?! I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD ON A SPIKE!"

Ignoring the monster's screaming I pushed on. I didn't know how long I could keep going before that thing caught up to me. I did not want to fight that thing! I needed to-

A low growl had me jumping into a room. It was all I could do to calm myself down as the sound of padded paws made their way over to my position. Peaking out through the opening I came through; I quickly spotted a gamma wolf sniffing the ground at an intersection. Of course, it was much bigger than before and was now letting off flames from its maw. As it turned towards my direction, I quickly ducked down and bit back a curse as the sound of it approaching got louder. Looking up I could see steel beams in the ceiling above. I quickly latched onto them with my tentacles and pulled myself up. I held up one of my tentacles before me and inspected it, more specifically the gem-like protrusion in the center. I took a moment to focus and-

*snikt!*

The gem shot outwards into the form of a blade that extended past the claws. 'Okay…' I looked down as the wolf slowly padded into the room I was in. 'Let's hope this works.' I waited with bated breath as the wolf sniffed its way towards my position. 'Come on… come on…" As soon as it was beneath me, I used both my legs and preoccupied tentacles to kick off from the ceiling with my tentacle blade aimed for the gamma wolf's head. The wolf's head snapped up to me just in time for the blade to lodge itself into its brain. One of my other tentacles came out and shoved a blade into the gamma wolf's throat and the beast went limp.

I withdrew my tentacles and clutched a hand over my chest, my heart pounding loud enough for me to hear it! "Holy SHIT! That worked! Okay… okay… so… those can be dealt with so-"

"THERE," the monster snarled. Suddenly there was barking followed by a roar of fury and rumbling. I immediately went out of the window and jumped to a building across and pulled myself through an opening. Now even a few seconds later, the building I was in practically exploded as the One-Below-All in Remy's body tore his way into the room I was in.

I didn't bother looking back; I was already running as I followed the trail of green fire to the next soul. That was two down and two or three more to go. The building suddenly started shaking as I was moving, and I had to use my tentacles to steady myself.

"What the hell?" Once I got my bearings I went into a crouch and moved to an opening to see what was going on. My eyes widened at the massive ball of energy floating in the air. Beneath I could spot Remy's twisted spirit beneath it with his hand raised up.

"IF YOU WON'T COME OUT, I'LL JUST DESTROY YOU NOW!"

The monster launched the ball of energy, and I felt my blood freeze as the buildings it passed through were vaporized. As the monster turned in my direction, another ball of energy quickly forming and growing in its hands, I ducked back and got moving. There was no way in Hell I would survive that!

The sound of barking from the gamma wolves only pushed me further. I caught a glimpse of them and bit back a curse as they headed towards the flame I was running towards. 'Fuck!' I needed to get over there fast! That last one I only took out because I had managed to get the drop on it. I was not going to win an open fight with those things!

The air rushed around me as I flew towards the third source of flames. Behind me, I could hear the sound of building being blow up as the source of gamma mutates tried to smoke or snuff me out. I did my best to ignore the monster's roars as it became more and more destructive. I had to get to the next soul. I-

I stumbled a bit as I reached the edge of the rooftop of the building. Looking down I could just make out the next flame. With the sound of barking just behind me, I braced myself and jumped down. As soon as my tentacles caught me on the ground I sprinted forward and skidded to a stop.

"Come on, come on!" I looked back. More buildings were being vaporized, and the barking was getting uncomfortable close. A fizzing sound caught my attention and turned and leapt forward as the ward on the ground went out. As soon as my fist smashed open the glass, freeing the spirit within, I was moving.

"DAMN YOU!" I barely slipped into a building before a ball of energy passed by where I was and hot damn! The sheer heat! How the fuck I wasn't melting I didn't know but I-

A snarl was the only warning I got before something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. One of the wolves caught up and was already leaping towards me. My two upper tentacles lashed out and managed to smack it aside. As the wolf landed and shook its head I was already moving. Swinging up a building, I barely managed to get across the roof and leap off the other side before something crashed into where I was only a second ago.

"THERE YOU ARE!"

I didn't look back; I kept moving with my tentacles as crashing noises went off behind me. A sudden light behind me and I reached out to my left with a tentacle and swung out of the way as a ball of energy passed by where I was. I didn't bother to look back. I kept moving.

"I WILL RIP YOU TO SHREDS!" It was all I could do not to look back as I could hear the sounds of stomping and smashing. 'Move! Move! Move! MOVE' A growing shadow beneath me gave me a split-second warning and I just barely managed to fling myself through an opening in the building next to the one I was on as the hulking monster crashed through the roof. As the building went crumbling down.

I immediately jumped down to the ground as I reached the last of the four sources of green fire. A few seconds later the ward in front of it fizzled out and I rushed forward and slammed my fist through it and-

PAIN!

That was all I could feel as something hit me, and I was sent flying through the air. I was dimly aware that I was floating through the haze of agony. I hit the ground and-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!"

Ithurtithurtiuhurt! HURTHURTHURTHURTHURTHURTHURTHURT!

"GOT YOU!" Green eyes full of malice over a terrible grin bore down on me, as I tried desperately to get back up through the pain.

Couldn't move. PAIN! PAIN! PAIN!


"ISAAC!" Vincent could only stare in horror as Isaac's entire right side seemed to buckle inward like it had been hit by a wrecking ball.

"VINCENT," Sarah screamed. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

"Something has happened to his Astral Form!" Azelea rushed to his charge's side as he immediately examined the body. "DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT!" Vincent immediately went to work trying whatever spells he could to fix it. "I NEED SOME HELP DAMMIT," he snapped to the other mages.

"I'M CURRENTLY PREOCCUPIED," Sol shouted back as he cut down several more thralls.

"I- DAMMIT! I'M SWARMED," Sarah yelled, as she swung a blade over the crowd of thralls.

"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" Vincent began to panic as he did what he could. "I-!"

"I can help!" Vincent snapped to the voice and found one of the cultists standing over him. She hesitated at his sharp glare for a moment before she steeled herself. "I- I can help!"

"What can you even do," Vincent growled out.

The woman hesitated again but square her shoulders. "Y-you said something about an astral form, right?" At Vincent's nod, she went on. "I-I think I may have something." She pulled something out from her robe; it was glass vial with a clear blue liquid.

Vincent conjured a blade and held it to the woman's throat. "What. Is. That?"

The woman held up her hands in surrender. "I- I'm not much of a mage, at least when it comes to direct spells, but I am good for brewing, and this can help!"

"How," Vincent bit out.

"There was… a story among Clan Logos about someone who-who had managed to produce an astral form. T-they had experimented with it and had reached out to the astral plane. One day during their experiment, t-they had somehow damaged their astral form, and the damage was reflected onto their body."

"And?" The blade pressed against the woman's throat.

"T-the mage had tried all different methods to fix their body for years, but the damage remained despite their best efforts. Until another mage in our tribe came up with this concoction." She tapped on the vial. "It apparently repairs damage done to the soul. And when the mage took it, it had restored not just the astral form, it had undone any long-term damage that had come from the initial incident." She held the vial out to him. "Use this on the boy!"

Vincent's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "And just why would you have something like that?"

The woman flinched at Vincent's sharp tone but went on. "I-I am not a mage with any real potential. I have always been seen as a burden and a failure for my lack of talent. So, I tried my best to be useful in other ways. One of those ways was brewing potions from our records so that we would always have some in case we needed them. Since the ritual we were conducting involved the soul, I… thought to bring some just in case…"

Vincent regarded her for a long moment. "And just why should I trust you right now?"

The woman made to speak but-

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE VINCENT," Sarah roared out. "WE NEED TO HELP ISAAC RIGHT NOW! USE THE DAMNED THING!"

Vincent grit his teeth before he snatched the vial out of the woman's hand and popped it open. Carefully propping up Isaac's head he gently opened his mouth and poured the vial's contents into his mouth.


Through the haze of pain, I could make out the form of Remy's twisted spirit charging up a blast overhead. This ball was much larger than before, and I had no doubt that it would wipe me out like this.

The monster's hateful grin stretched wider. "NOW COMES THE END FOR YOU!"

Just before it could bring its hands down there was a sudden flickering in its form and the ball fizzled out as the beast brought its hands up to its face. "NOT MUCH TIME BEFORE THIS BODY GIVES OUT…" It turned a glare at me and lifted its foot. "LET'S JUST END THIS…"

As it positioned its foot above me, I closed my eyes to prepare for the worse and-

My eye snapped open as a cooling sensation swept through me. The haze of pain began to clear, and I got the feeling in my right side again. My eyes glanced at my arm, and I watched in amazement as a bluish-silver light spread over it and then the rest of my body. My right hand twitched and curled up into a ball.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" The monster's face twisted in confusion before, realization passed over its face. It looked up as if seeing something and growled lowly. "ONE OF THOSE FOOLS… SO THEY USED THE ELIXER OF-AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!" The monster screamed out in sudden pain as it was suddenly sent upwards with superhuman force.

When the monster had taken its eyes off me, I had taken that opportunity to strike. Given that it had lifted its foot so high, I had lashed out with my tentacles… at its vulnerable manly bits.

I immediately got back up and launched myself with my tentacles. The barking of the gamma wolves told me that they were hot on my trail.

I don't know what happened, but I would save questions for later. I pressed forward there was just the mage at the center of all of this… time to end this!