Call Me… Doc Ock – Arc One: Origin

Chapter 17: A Slight Spark

"Alright H2H, extend upper left tentacle and grab the cup."

Upon my command, the android's eyes lit up and I watched closely as the metallic tentacle reached out towards the cup on the table in front of it. Carefully it closed the prongs around the cup and-

*crrracckkk*

-broke the cup. Shoulders dropping a bit, I stepped forward to examine the damage. Putting on some gloves and pulling out a magnifying glass, I examined the cup carefully. "…hmm… Definitely cracked in a few places. Although it hasn't completely come apart into shards, so that's a plus."

I was currently having H2H go through some basic exercises in handling delicate objects. I had just finished up assembling the latest version of Otto's titanium Octo-arms and had installed them into H2H. Before I completely sealed its back, I wanted to make sure that there were no hiccups in adjust H2H to its new limbs. The first few tests had been absolute disasters, and I had had to run through both H2H's programming and the hardware of the Octo-arms several times to see what the cause was behind each mistake.

Needless to say, it was very tedious work. It would probably have been a lot worse if I didn't have Otto's notes to check through all of this.

…I paused. "Would I be able to do any of this would be possible, if it wasn't born as Isaac."

…I haven't really thought about that before.

I… honestly, I was very lucky to be born as Isaac. Other than the murder attempts and the cults involving dark gods (would-be and actual).

With a thought, the tentacles in my back slither out from underneath my shirt. 'I already have innate superpowers, with possibly more. I might be a wizard, and I've got the potential brain power of Otto Octavius and more.'

Under most circumstances Isaac Renate Octavius would almost certainly be set for life. The only thing that put a damper in that outlook was…

'The death of Otto and Pascale… my-his parents…'

I was still trying to sort out how I felt about… that…

I… what was I supposed to feel. Every time, I dwell on that, I get this unpleasant knot in my gut. I mean technically, they were Isaac's parents, but I'm not Isaac.

'Well, technically I am. So shouldn't I… I don't know… be more… sad…'

Was I blanking things out? I-

"CREATOR."

Snapping out of my thoughts I turned to H2H. "Oh! Uh, H2H, what is it?"

"UNIT IS HAS LESS THAN 20 PERCENT POWER LEFT."

"Oh, right! You know what, power down for now." I ordered.

As H2H did as ordered and went slack, I put thoughts about Isaac's parents aside and decided to focus on my progress in upgrading H2H. The other big issue that I had right now aside from H2H's handling of delicate objects, it turns out that the latest version of Otto's Octo-arms were major power hogs. Before, I could have H2H active for at least 12 hours before having to worry about it having to switch out batteries. With the Octo-arms added to its system, I had at most two hours.

So, it was rather fortunate that the Octo-arms were not a permanent addition to H2H's frame and could be removed. That being said, how was I going to deal with the increased power consumption. I looked at the spare solar batteries on the table and frowned. Maybe… I could increase the amount of energy they took in?

I thought about it for a moment before shaking my head. As it currently stands, those batteries could only hold so much power. One of the major problems I had with making them stemmed from overheating. If those batteries got too hot, the frames they were contained in could start to break, at which point, they blow up…

"After that incident with the park statue, I don't want to risk that again." I grimaced as I thought about the statue. Even now there were still investigations going on about what had happened to it. "But still… I need to think about how I can improve the batteries." With that I stepped away from the table and looked around Otto's lab. "Maybe Otto had something that could help." A frown made its way on my face as I looked at Otto's notes. "Then again, considering he had trouble with powering the things to begin with, maybe not."

Yeah, that had been a major hiccup for me with the Octo-arms. Apparently, even Otto had been stumped by the energy consumption issue. Which is why he had left it here for it latter.

"I don't see what I can do right now, with everything here… wait…" I turned my attention back to the cardboard box, with all the things that Otto and Pascale had left for Isaac. Getting up and going over to it, I opened it up and examined everything inside. "Maybe…" I took the box over to the table and emptied its contents onto the table. "Let's see, the Ofo Rod, the shield gloves, the suit, and the journal."

The suit I put back in the box for now. Whatever the materials were made of, I didn't think I would need to worry about making another one like it for now. Given that the suit could stretch, I could probably get away with wearing it until maybe a few years from now. The Ofo Rod was also put back into the box. I couldn't really get it to work at the moment and would likely not do so for some time.

"That just leaves the gloves and the journal." I picked up the gloves and looked over the gems on the back of the hand. I slipped one on to my right hand.

'Guard.' *FISSHHH*

With the mental command the glove lit up and a translucent shield appeared over my arm. Looking closely at the back of my hand, I could see that the green gem is lit. Another command and the shield dissipated. "Okay so the gem is likely a power source for the glove. The question is, what kind of energy is stored in the gem, and is it something that I can recreate with everything I have here?"

Once again, I found myself with the possibility of being limited by the tech available to me. "Let's… set this aside for now." I took off the glove and placed it on the table. Taking a seat, I took hold of the journal. "And what do you have to show me, huh?" Opening up, I found another message from Pascale:

"Isaac, I do not know if you will ever see this message, and truth be told, it is my hope that you will not need it. However, I understand that the world can be unkind and fraught with dangers. So therefore, I have taken the time to compile all of the mystic arts that I have uncovered over the years. I can only hope that you can make use of it to keep safe."

"Know that I will always love you, mon chèr petit étoile."

Love Pascale.

Taking a few breaths, I carefully turned the page and found an index: "Conjuration, Enchantments, Necromancy, and Voodoo." With a trembling hand, I turned the page and began to read…

A portal appeared in the lab and Vincent Azelea stepped through it, with a scowl on his face. It had been two days since Remy Laveau had left the department and had somehow vanished from the Master's surveillance. While Vincent had not been happy with the potential cultist's disappearance, he had at least thought that it would be sometime before the man showed up again.

Apparently, his hopes were too high; the man somehow showed up again without warning and had made a formal request to the station to see Isaac to speak with him in person. As the man did not have a record against him, they could not exactly say no. So, they had instead called Rudolph and Janice to get their opinion. Sadly, due to the Masters' soft screening of magic from the conversation, they could not come up with a reason to advise against granting Isaac's Uncle from seeing him. As such Rudolph had signed off on it.

Now it was a matter of whether or not Isaac would want to see the man. Looking around, Vincent frowned in confusion when he noticed that he was alone in the lab.

"Isaac!" Vincent began to walk around the lab looking through each row. "Isaac! Hey, Isaac where are-," Vincent stopped mid-stride as he came to the workstation near the back. On the table was a deactivated H2H. Walking closer he could see that its frame was still open.

Getting closer, he then noticed that the slot for Isaac's Solar-Cells was empty. "Well, that's odd." Vincent scratched his head. "He usually has H2H with him. If the android is here, then where's Isaac."

Growing concerned; Vincent pulled out his phone. "Let me give him a call just in ca-" Vincent froze mid-dial. His head snapped upwards several runes flashing into place around his hands.

"ISAAC!" Vincent opened up a portal and immediately charged through it into the main living room. Head snapping back to and forth. 'Where was it?! Just now! I could barely feel it, but it was definitely there a second ago! Where?!" A sudden feeling, like a spark.

'A spark… a spark of magic!'

Another spark had him whipping around towards the back. Vincent immediately rushed towards it.

"ISAAC!" Vincent quickly made his way towards the back and found himself before Pascale's studio. "ISAAC! ARE YOU-?!" Vincent's words died on his throat at the sight before him.

Isaac turned to him, surprise on his face. In front of him on a table was a piece of wood being held over a pot where a small fire was going. "Oh, hey Azelea," his head tilted in confusion, "what's with the shouting?"

"I was looking for you," Vincent shouted, "why didn't you answer your phone?!"

Isaac stared at him. "…you didn't call…"

Vincent paused. "Wait… I didn't?"

"No, you didn't."

"Wait, are you sure?"

Isaac lifted his phone. "See here? No calls today!"

"Oh, right, I should have called a bit earlier." Vincent stopped, the shook his head. "Wait! Never mind that! We need to go now!"

"What, why," Isaac asked, looking alarmed.

"I just sensed a spark of magic somewhere in this room! Someone is here!"

"Spark of magic?" Isaac's brow knotted in confusion, before suddenly he broke out into a grin. "Oh! Don't worry about that; we're good!"

Now Vincent felt confused. "What? What are you talking about?"

Isaac, looking more excited by the second lifted up his left hand. It was covered in an industrial glove, which he quickly pulled off. Isaac then brought his index and middle finger against his thumb. Looking Vincent in the eye, Isaac snapped his fingers and-

*FSSSST*

Vincent felt his jaw go slack as he stared at the ball of light that manifested at the tip of Isaac's index finger.

"Huh, when… how did you-?!"

Isaac pulled out a worn-looking leather journal. "My mom left a journal, that had a list of all the spells that she had learned of during her travels. There wasn't much, but she put a lot of effort into explaining how to get them to work." Isaac held up the ball of light at his finger, staring at it in wonder. "So far I could only get this one spell and the heat-proofing enchantment to work, but both have been really helpful."

Vincent blinked. "Wait, heat-proofing enchantment?"

"Oh," Isaac perked up, "yeah, that." He pointed to several objects nearby. Vincent looked towards them and walked over. It was mostly pieces of iron and wood neatly piled together. Picking up a small block of wood. Turned it over for a bit and felt his eyes widen when he spotted the red-colored symbols on the other side. 'That is definitely an array for heat proofing.'

Vincent turned back to Isaac. "When did you… where did you…?"

"Apparently, mom had some stuff in the lab that might help me with jump starting whatever magic potential." Isaac said pointing over to several clay pots in the corner. Now that he was paying attention, Vincent noticed the smell of herbs. 'Wait, that's… star anise and calendula. A bit of cinnamon, actual cinnamon, and…'

Confused, Azelea turned to Isaac. "Is that… dandelion?"

Isaac nodded. "Yup; it's supposed to help with opening my psychic senses."

"Wait a minute," Vincent pressed, "you couldn't get the Ofo Rod to work. In fact, you clearly said that you couldn't feel anything, when you tried to sense it. What did you do differently?"

Isaac blinked before he scratched his head, suddenly looking awkward. "Um, yeah… so apparently, my mom suspected that my first attempts at magic wouldn't really work out so well…"

Taking a deep breath, I took in the heavy scents of burning herbs coming from the pots in the corner of each room. I had made to clear out the corners of any flammable material to prevent any accidents. On a table, was a radio currently playing a cd with rhythmic beats.

I was currently in a basic t-shirt and sweatpants. "Alright, so clear my head, don't think, just feel."

That had been Pascale's words. Somehow, she had suspected that if Isaac had any magical potential, it would be stymied by overthinking things. So pretty much the same issue that Strange had during his training.

Her solution: dancing. In this case, while the music was playing and the scents were wafting through the air, I needed to stop thinking about doing magic and focus on the music, the smells and what I was feeling.

Taking a few more breaths to take in the scents. I began tapping my foot. As a set of drums began to pick up pace in the background, everything else began to drown out.

"Don't think."

My hips swayed, side to side.

"Just listen."

My feet began to move in a pattern.

"Breath in and out."

My arms began to swing back in forth in time with my steps.

"Just feel."

Huh… Isaac… had never really… let himself… feel…

"Now… move!"

And then… I was dancing… Twisting… Turning… Hopping…

Strings began to play, adding to the sound of drums.

Twist, turn, hop, flip, step and flip.

Don't think, just listen, breath, feel and-

…there was… something was building…

Don't think, just listen, breath, feel and…

It was… warm, like sunlight…

Don't think, just listen, breath, feel and…

Slowly, the warm sensation began to grow warmer….

Don't think, just listen, breath, feel and…

I was in the middle of a turn, when that warm feeling shot up my hand-

*FSSSSST*

As my left hand swung forward, a ball of light shot out and hit the wall a light crack.

It took a few moments before I could shake myself out my shock and stared at my hand.

Taking a deep breath, I drowned out everything and began to move again.

Don't think, just listen, breath, feel and… there.

I stopped and held up my hand. On the tip of my index finger… was an actual ball of light!

Slowly, my face broke into a grin. "Hooolyyyyy Shiiiiiiiiiit!" Bursting out in laughter, I swung my finger around watching as the ball of light followed it along.

"Magic… actual fucking MAGIC!" Elation made its way through me as I whooped.

"HELL YEAH, FEAR ME MORTALS! REALITY BENDS TO MY WHIM-!" A slight smokey scent caught my attention. Turning around it was then that I noticed, a light flame building from a stray brush underneath the spot where the ball of light hit the wall.

"AH CRAP!"

"Fortunately, I had a fire extinguisher nearby to put out the flame before it got out of control."

Azelea stared at me, his face completely blank.

I blinked. "Um… Azelea." I waved a hand in his face. "Azelea. Azeleaaaaaa." No response. "Azeleaaaaaaa. Earth to Azelea!" When he didn't respond I poked in the nose.

"ACK!" The man jumped back startled.

"You… okay?"

"Whuh, I," Azelea began but stopped. He stared at me for a moment. "…you know what; I'm… I'm just gonna roll with it. So, congratulations I guess," he offered. "Have you done anything else?"

"No," I shook my head, "so far all I've done is stick to working on the ball of light and using and painting these arrays for heat-proofing."

"Oh, well as much as I would have liked for you to wait for me before doing any of this, I glad you didn't try anything from that journal without some supervision."

I nodded. "Yeah, I didn't want to do anything that could cause serious damage."

Azelea nodded in approval. "Yeah, that's good. Got enough to be dealing with as is with everything going on with the people after you. We don't want people asking questions about mysterious explosions or something like that."

That reminds me. "Hey, speaking of which, is there any news on 'those people,' or anything I should know?"

Suddenly, Azelea grimaced. He looked me in the eye for a bit before his shoulders sagged.

"As a matter of fact, yes," he sighed. He then squared up and gave me a serious look. "It's your uncle, Remy Laveau."

Aaaaaaaaaand just like that, my good vanished. "Alright, what is it?"

"We had to release him as he technically didn't do anything actionable," Azelea began. "When we released him, we decided to have one of our mages tail him to see where he was going. To our alarm, he somehow just vanished without a trace."

'Okay, that's… alarming.' For the man to disappear when he had mages tracking him raised a few alarm bells.

"Of course, we were concerned about how he gave us the slip," Azelea went on, "we gave the area a thorough check and found nothing that let us know how he disappeared. So, we began to make plans to bump up security around the place, when suddenly just a few hours ago, Remy shows up and formally asks to speak to you directly."

I couldn't help but scowl at that.

"Yeah," Azelea nodded, "that's what I was thinking too. Now me personally, I think it would be better if we just brush him off. Somehow though, I don't think we can really ignore this forever."

Azelea crossed his arms. "So, Isaac, what do you want to do about this?"

That… was a good question.