Call Me… Doc Ock – Arc One: Origin

Chapter 6: A Little Bit of History Part 1

The first thing that greets me when I wake up is the alarm going off in my ear. Can I just say that I really don't like the sound of an alarm clock going off just a few inches away from my head. Yeah, sure I set the damn thing to wake me up in time, but it's still irritating to have the thing blaring in my ear. Reaching out to the clock, I had to feel around for a bit before I found the button and shut it off, getting sweet, sweet silence.

Staring at the ceiling, I took a moment to process all of last night. So… that happened. Witch hunters and Clan Akkaba. With the first group, the fact that they were after me at all to begin with, can only mean one thing: apparently, I may or may not be a mage in the making. That's the only reason I could think of for them to come after me. I racked my brain to see if I could recall anything about them or their apparent leader, Isaih Curwen.

Admittedly, most of my knowledge in regard to the Marvel Universe stemmed from cartoons, a few games and movies. I've read a few comics occasionally but hadn't really delved into the mainline comics. I couldn't say for sure, but with those guys being witch hunters, my best guess was that they were part of Dr. Strange's rogue gallery. I took a moment to rub my head to stave off the minor migraine that was building up. I really didn't need this right now. Although, on the bright side, this may mean that I can use magic. Perking up a bit, I could feel excitement well up at the thought. That would certainly be of use in the future. So far, it seemed like there were going to be some diverging points to look out for and any advantage was going to be appreciated if I ran to the witch hunters or Clan Akkaba.

A frown formed on my face as I was suddenly reminded of the second group that attacked me. Clan Akkaba: I couldn't recall what that was all about. What were they all about and why come after me? On top of that… I sat up and rubbed my back. Yep… that leathery feeling was still there. Getting out of bed I walked over to a mirror. Lifting my shirt up a bit, I turned around and looked at my back.

A strange green patch had formed over my back, mostly along my spine and lats. What really stood out was the light green circles close to my spine. Two of them where just near the bottom of the trapezius where the latissimus dorsi and rhomboids intersected. Below that were another set of circles at the midpoint of where the latissimus dorsi ran along to the erector spinae. Feeling them a bit, the circles seemed to be slightly elevated compared to the rest of the green patch on my back. There was no way I was going to be able to hide something like that from anyone for long.

Pulling my shirt down, I flopped back into my bed, covering my face with my hands. Ugh… why did I have to have something like this happen now. I needed something to distract me, settle my thoughts before I thought about all of this. Reaching over the side of the bed, I grabbed my bag from last night. Rummaging through for a bit, I grimaced. Quite a few of the solar cells that I made were cracked. I had wanted to take the time to have them charge up for a bit for the science fair, which was about three days away. Fortunately, about four of them had survived and could be used, but even still, I really should go about either fixing the rest or disposing of them. I really didn't want them blowing up in my face.

Of course, fixing the casing for the solar cells was easier said than done. Right now, I didn't have the tools on me to fix them. All of that was back in New Jersey. So, I was probably stuck with the four cells for now… unless…

I turned to the box in the corner of my temporary room. In it was some of the stuff that… Otto and Pascale had left for Isaac. Going over to the box, I brought it over to my bed and opened it up. There were a lot of things left over like photos, books, a few miniature statures that Pascale had made and… ahah! Near the bottom was the spare key to Isaac's old home. If the place had been left untouched, then that meant that Otto's old lab might be intact. If I could get the equipment in there to work, then maybe I could fix some of the solar cells in time for the science fair!

Nodding to myself, I was about to put the box away, when something caught my eye. Near the bottom under a mask was… Pascale's diary. …I… had not really put much thought to whether or not I should really read it at some point. Right now… right now, I was still trying to sort out Isaac's feelings. There was… there was a sort of ache whenever, I thought about anything related to Otto and Pascale. Did I want to pick at that sore point?

…you know what? Screw it! I was probably going to have to deal with this sometime anyway. Might as well take the time to do so now. With that in mind, I got into a comfortable sitting position and opened it up.

Opening the diary up to the first page, I began to read.

June 07, 1974:

Mama and Papa arguing again. They have been doing a lot of that recently. Ever since the Dubois family had asked about arranging a meeting between me and Antione, things have changed for the worse. I have decided to put my thoughts into this diary. The other girls at my school say that it is good for a girl to express her thoughts in a place that others will not see.

I frowned. Well, that didn't really seem all that interesting. Although that point about arranging a playdate with some boy didn't exactly sit well with me. I am not really a fan of arranged marriages. Considering the time period, it would probably have ended poorly for Pascale. So, it's good that that apparently never went through. Flipping through a few more pages, I stopped at another entry.

November 16, 1977:

I have decided: I am taking my leave of this situation. I cannot stand to be here anymore! Mama and papa have become unbearable to be around, Antione has become more and more adamant that he and I spend time together, and Remy is certainly not helping matters. So, I have decided to leave this place on my own. I have been slowly working out a plan and with the help of a few friends I will be gone from here when I become an adult next year.

…now I'm no expert in family dynamics, but this is sounding like the beginning of a very nasty situation that could lead to abuse. As I turn back to a few pages, there are some more mentions of the Antione guy and what I'm seeing is leaving me both uncomfortable and increasingly heated. …something, tells me that I might not like what I read next. Flipping past the next few pages, I stopped at another entry.

May 10, 1978:

I need to put this down. I do not know where to put this else. I do not know who I can talk to about this. I-

It was here that I noticed that there were a few splotches on the page. It took a moment for me to recognize them as tears and I felt something in me go cold. Throughout Isaac's memories, he had never seen Pascale cry even once. She got upset, sure, but I don't really recall seeing her cry. Taking a deep breath, I continued on.

-Apolline. I thought I could trust her but, apparently, I was a fool. I do not know why she would betray my trust. Why would she even want to be with someone like Antione, when he is such a contemptible man is beyond my thinking. If Justine and Mary had not been there when he tried to-

The ripping noise snapped me back to reality. I suddenly felt my tentacles moving, the weird sensation snapping me out of the red haze that had come over me. …I… …seriously, fuck this guy, fuck Apolline, whoever she is, and you know what, fuck everyone who allowed that situation to develop as badly as it did. I really did not want to read anymore about that particular situation.

…crap. Tentacles. Shirt. A slight tug on my shirt was enough for me to know that it had been ruined in the back where the tentacles sprang out. I really needed to learn how to keep that under wraps. Looking at them now, it looked like the gem in the center of the prongs were glowing. Reaching out to tap it, my whole body twitched when my finger made contact with the orb. That was definitely going to take some getting used to. Also, that orb felt really hot. Like it was going to-

"Isaac?"

My head snapped to the door of my room. 'SHIT! Rudolph!' He cannot see me like this right now!

"Isaac? You okay in there? I thought I heard something rip in there."

"I'm fine," I replied hastily.

"Are you sure cause that sounded like something got ripped apart." The door was opening! I had to think of something! My eyes went to the diary.

"I'M READING MY MOM'S DIARY!"

The door immediately stopped. "I don't… I don't want to sound rude, but I'd like a little privacy please!"

"…shit! Shit! Shit!" Rudolph's muttered cursing went on for a few more seconds. The door closed somewhat. "O… kay. Uh, yeah. Okay. Um… uh, yeah. Soooo, I got a call from the NYPD. They just gave me an update. So far nothing on those guys, but they told me that we should be careful. So yeah… I'm going to order some breakfast. Anything you want?"

"…pancakes would be nice."

"Yeah… okay…" the door closes.

Letting a breath of relief, I fall on to my back. That had been way too close. Looking back at my tentacles I frowned. I needed to put these away before anything else. But how? Reaching out for one of them, I tapped one of the prongs, twitching again at the odd feeling. Well obviously, I could feel them, which meant that they were connected to my nervous system somehow. Maybe if I focused on them? Taking one of them in my hand, I concentrated on that strange sensation for a moment. Come on… come on… Suddenly I straightened up as the tentacles retreated into my back. HOLY SHIT! That felt weird! Using the mirror to look myself over, I saw that my back was relatively fine.

After switching to a different shirt, I turned my attention back to the diary on my bed. Did I want to continue reading that? …while part of me wanted to avoid any more incidents like that, I knew that there was no way Pascale would leave her diary to Isaac if there wasn't something that was important to know.

Sitting back down on the bed, I took the diary back up and skipped a large chunk of it and opened up a random page:

March 11, 1987:

He actually proposed! Otto actually proposed to me!

I perked up. Huh, well it seems that Otto and Pascale have been together already by this point. I could go back but something told me that reading about my parents' early romance period would be extremely awkward. I grimaced at the thought. Yeah, it was probably better if I moved on. I did not want to read anything that might leave unpleasant mental images in my head. Skipping a few more pages, I went on.

July 21, 1989:

…wait a minute, that's a few days after I was born! Now much more interested in what she had to say, I pushed on.

I must admit that while I love my baby boy with all my heart, I am quite certain that I am very much against having another child. Childbirth is quite unpleasant, even with the medication that they gave me.

I winced. Oh, I really don't think I want to dwell on this section too much. Skipping forward a few entries.

April 4, 1990:

I had hoped against all odds, but it would seem that it was for naught. Oh, Gods above. My baby boy has the eyes. I had thought that it would not appear in him, but it has. I need to prepare. Hopefully, Yaroslav can help me this time.

That was alarming. Apparently, these peepers of mine are really fucking bad. I flopped back into bed and stared at the ceiling, somewhat annoyed now. I really wish that Pascale had told Isaac about whatever the hell was going on with these eyes. Something told me that they were going to be a problem in the near future, what with the witch hunter and clan of probable mutants on my ass. My brow furrowed. And who the hell Yaroslav?

Looking through the diary, I didn't really see anything that stood out. Mostly it was just mundane stuff. A lot of it was about me and everything that had happened before… before… I took a deep breath. Come on… come on… don't fall apart now. Once I got myself under control and rubbed my eyes a bit. I leafed through the diary a bit more. So far nothing seemed to stand out. It was just empty pages and- wait, what's this?

On the last page was something in another language: Είδωλο της Γνώσης. What was… Huh? Okay what was this and why would Pascale put it here at the end of the diary. It was clearly another language. I'm not sure which one at the moment. The only language that I do know are English, French, Latin and Spanish. Considering that both Otto and Pascale had made it a point to teach Isaac to be able to speak and write in the aforementioned languages, it really stands out that Pascale would use a language that Isaac wouldn't immediately recognize.

Well, it seems that there is a mystery afoot.

AN: I had wanted to go a little further than this, but I was not really feeling up to writing when I started writing this chapter. So sorry if it feels like nothing really happened. Hopefully, things will begin to pick up by the next chapter.