Call Me… Doc Ock – Arc One: Origin
Chapter 23: Eruption
*CLANG*
From the first time I had seen him fight, I knew that Curwen was strong and fast, but…
'Holy SHIT! What is this guy on!?' It was all I could do to block that first strike. My arms went slightly numb, and I tried to pedal back, but Curwen would not have it. A gleaming dagger lashed out towards my stomach only to for Curwen to jump back to avoid a strike from one of my tentacles. Taking a moment to breath and get the feeling back in my arms, I glance towards Azelea and spot him and H2H dealing with the two armored men.
A flash of movement is all the warning I get before Curwen lashes out at me again with a swipe towards my neck. "I'll have your head-!" The man suddenly dodges back as a ball of pink energy passes by where he was a moment ago.
"You," Slade says, hand outstretched and frowning, "are getting to be a real pain in the ass."
"And you need to die." Curwen brandishes a knife in his direction.
While the two are glaring each other down, I slowly pull out a grenade with one hand while charging a bolt in the other. My two upper tentacles hold the sword and dagger at the ready incase either of the two men try to get close. I'm just about to take my chances and launch an attack when-
"CURWEN!" Everyone present turns to the new arrival and I barely hold back a dismayed groan as the scarred mutant Brashir comes charging into view. The man had a few cuts here and there, but the savage grin on his face is by far the most unsettling thing about him right now. "I AM NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YET!"
The one-eyed man only scowls at the sudden reappearance of the mutant. "How in blazes are you still alive?! I know I stabbed you in the heart!"
Brashir's grin turns a bit amused. "As it so happens, I was able to turn it and the organs around it into metal just before you dagger hit true." He cocks his head. "Truth be told, until then I could only turn my arms metallic. Your near-fatal blow gave me the push I needed to go past that. My sincerest thanks, by the way."
Slade rolled his eyes. "Brashir, could you please stop being so casual with the enemy and handle him while I deal with the boy? And by that, I mean kill him already and be done with it! I'd rather not have the Fittest on our backs because you decided to prolong a fight for your own entertainment!" With that, Slade turned his full attention to me balls of energy crackling in his hands.
The scarred man shrugged. "All right, I guess I've had my fun." Slade charged towards Curwen and the fight between them was on again.
Slade regarded me carefully. "Well, I can see you're more prepared compared to last time." He rolled his neck. "Alright let's get this over with." He suddenly raised a hand, and then before I could try to dodge out of the way, he threw a ball of energy at the ground. A blinding flash filled the area, and I found myself cursing along with several other people in the area.
"FUCK!" I furiously rubbed my eyes, to get some vision back into them. A sudden crunching sound from the left had me on alert and I barely managed to bring up the light shield before a burst of energy hit it and sent me flying back. My two lower tentacles managed to stop my fall and get me back on my feet.
"Oh, come on," Slade's irritated voice came through over the ringing in my ears. "When the hell did you even find something like that?!" One of my tentacles fires off a shot and the pink-haired mutant dodged around a wall giving me time to take cover behind a broken stairwell. From my hiding spot, I can spy Azelea and H2H dodging around attacks from the armored men. From the way the two armored men are moving it looks like I won't be getting help from them any time soon. Several yards away from them, Curwen and Brashir are currently engaged, with Curwen being forced on the defensive. Hopefully, they'll stay busy-
A sudden flash of light has me ducking back behind the stairwell just in time for a ball of energy to fly right through the spot where my head was. 'Shit! That was too close!' Another ball of energy comes near me, and I bring up one of the light shields to defend myself. The blast sends me off my feet and I catch myself again with one of my lower tentacles before taking cover behind an isolated section of wall.
'Dammit, I really need to focus! Let's see…' I lean out a bit before quickly ducking back as another ball of energy flies near my head again. 'Shit! Okay let's not go that way!' Looking around I then spot a few holes in the ceiling. Looking past the wall section I spot Slade moving closer for a better shot. I pull the pin out from the grenade and toss it near him with a tentacle.
"What the- SHIT!" *BOOOM* Using the explosion as distraction I climb up one of the holes and to the floor above and look around. Off in the distance I can see more fighting going on and I jump behind a desk for cover. Taking a moment to get my bearings, I take one of the daggers in my hand and crawl around the desk to get a better look and-
"You!" A machete comes swinging for my head and I just managed to get the dagger up in time to stop it. Antione bores into me with a crazed look in his eyes and face covered in blood.
"Oh for… Look, as much as I would love to deal with you now, I- woah!" I bring up the dagger again to block another swing.
"You…," he growls, "you could have been… could have been my son."
A slight smirk makes its way onto my face as I block another swing. "Sorry buddy; but unfortunately for you, Pascale had better taste in men."
Antione's face twists in pure rage and suddenly I have to dodge or block a series of wild swings as the man goes into a frenzy.
"SHE WAS MINE! MINE! SHE WAS TO BE MY BRIDE! NOT SOME… WHORE FOR THAT COLONIZER TRASH!"
Something like ice and fire runs up my spine. "…you know what… fuck you."
"IF SHE CAN'T BE MINE, THE-GURKK." A tentacle lashes out and smashes him in the gut, interrupting another attempted swing and sending him flying into the air. Before he can land that same tentacle grabs him by the foot. I reeled him in and lashed out with spinning right kick to his chest.
"GRRRRK!" Blood leaks from the man's mouth as he's sent flying over to some old furniture. As I make my way over to him a bolt of magic forming in my hand, there's a sudden boom from down below, which snaps me out of my haze. With my mind clear, I suddenly remember what's going on the floor below and that Azelea and H2H were both in the middle of a fight.
"Shit!" I jump down a hole and quickly assess the situation. I quickly spot Azelea and H2H. Even from here, I can tell that the two of them are banged up somewhat and need help fast. A few yards from them, I can spot Curwen and Brashir still going at it, although the former is much worse for wear. Now where's Slade-
The brief flash out of the corner of my eye is the only warning that I get, and I quickly reach out with one of my tentacles to pull myself out of the way as a sphere of energy almost as big as me passes by and actually explodes when it hits the wall sending debris everywhere. Somehow, Slade managed to avoid the worst of the blast from the grenade, although his face is definitely a mess with scratches and burns on it.
"You…," he wheezes, "you are beginning to vex me." A ball of energy forms in his hand and he makes to throw it but is forced to dodge when I launch the dagger at him. I bring up both light shields and charge right at him. He dodges right and tries to blast me from the side, but he's forced to dodge as my lower right tentacle swings at him with the claymore.
"Goddammit!" He shoots towards my feet, but I pull myself up with my upper tentacles and then swing left to avoid his next shot. Even as I land, I reach out again with a tentacle to evade another shot. As I swing around the next few shots, I pull out the pistol and return fire. Slade swears before ducking behind a wall. As soon as the pistol runs out of bullets, he immediately comes back out only to grunt as a magic bolt from one of my tentacles hits him square in the chest knocking him off his feet.
Taking this chance to get close, I hold the claymore in one tentacle and a magic bolt in another. I need to take him down now and can't-
*BOOM*
"GAHH!" A burst of heat and pain washes over me as something hits me in the back, I barely managed to catch myself with my tentacles before I'm struck again and find myself flying through the air. With a smack, I land on my back, unable to help the groan that escapes my lip. When my vision stops swimming, I lift my head up and find Remy's bruised form hunched over with a…
'…is that… a fucking arm-cannon!?' That's the only way I can describe it. The object in his hand is clearly some sort of firearm, but the shape of it reminds me of the mega-buster but looked as though it was made from clay and gold.
"You…," the man started but coughed a bit, taking a few pained breathes. "You have ruined everything! We… were so close! We would have… all… the power in the wo-HRRRRK!" A ball of energy hits him in his left flank and the man is sent crashing into the wall with a hard smack. Slade staggers into view, looking haggard.
"All of you are starting to seriously piss me off," he growled. He outright stomps over to Remy and puts both hands together a ball of energy forming in his hands and quickly growing in size. "Now, to make sure that you stay done." The ball of energy in his hands took on a bright sheen. "Now to-"
"DIE!" Someone flew at him, a machete at hand.
"OH, COME ON!" Slade jumps away, avoiding Antione's strike. The maniac swings again and Slade ducks under it. On and on this goes, Antione swinging and Slade avoiding. How he can do so after those hits to the chest eludes me.
It takes a few more moments for me to get my bearings and I slowly get up into a crouch. Looking around I observe the situation. Slade is being attacked by my 'relatives,' Curwen is engaged with Brashir and off in the distance I can see Azelea and H2H still fighting against those two armored men. As I head over to help them, I stop for a second over Remy's form. I eye that arm cannon for a sec and immediately decide to take it.
"Thanks for the 'gift'." I salute him, getting a groan in response. I then quickly made my way to Azelea and H2H. As I get closer, I can spot a few cuts on both of them here and there. Charging up a bolt of magic I sneak up behind the guy swinging at H2H. Once I'm close enough, I launch it.
"HEY! THINK FAST!"
"Whuh- SHIT!" The armored man tries to dodge, but H2H, grabs him with an Octo-Arm to hold in place. My shot strikes the man head-on, and he staggers. "GUH!" Before he can get his bearings, H2H takes hold with another Octo-arm and lifts him up and slams him into the ground several times until the man goes completely still.
With him done, H2H finally turns towards me, its eyes go from red to green. "CREATOR, UNIT IS IN NEED OF REPAIRS."
A quick look over shows that there are some tears in his frame and one of its arms has been nearly torn off. I wince at that 'Yeah that's gonna require some serious repairs, but later.' Right now, we needed to get out of here. "H2H, arm yourself, however you can, we'll likely need to fight our way out of here," I ordered.
"CONFIRMED." The android looks over the armored man's form and picks up his shield with its useable arm and the mace with an Octo-arm.
I turn to Azelea and see him dancing around the other armored man, who's wielding a spear. Azelea lashes out with a mystical whip, but the armored man slips past it and rush forward. As Azelea leaps back to avoid the man's strikes, I pull out a grenade and prime it. Just as Azelea reaches a wall, we lock eyes for a second and his go wide at the sight of my grenade. He rolls to the side as the knight rams his spear forward punching through. I quickly toss the grenade at the man and take cover behind a desk. He startles as he feels something hitting his head.
"What the- OH SHI-!" *BOOM*
Next to me, Azelea takes a moment to catch his breath as all the fighting goes on around us. "…you should be a lot more careful with those," he says after a few seconds.
I shrugged. "Well, with almost everyone here trying to kill me, I figure I might as well use them, right?"
"While I can understand that we're in a life-or-death situation, I would like to remind you that we are in an abandoned facility with a decaying structure," Azelea countered.
Before I could respond, the desk we're hiding behind snaps in two as something crashes through it, forcing the both of us apart.
We both end up on a crouch and stare at the object, said object being a badly bruised Isaiah Curwen.
"God… damn you!" He hacks up something from already bloody lips and good lord does his face look like it's taken a few hits. There are dents in his armor and one of his own daggers has been rammed into his leg. From the direction he came from we find Brashir standing tall, a triumphant grin on his face.
"With this, I claim victory Curwen." He blinks when he spots us. "Huh, I see that you two are fresh from battle as well." He perks up. "Then I suppose that means it is just us now." He approaches, his arms taking on a metallic sheen.
Azelea steps in front of me. "Isaac, I need you to-"
"Okay let me stop you right there," I interrupt him. "Considering that there are several groups within the area that want to kill/sacrifice me randomly spread out through the area, me trying to run now would probably go badly for me so how about-"
"What I was going to say," Azelea interrupts me in turn, "was to provide support. Trying to run, would be bad, so we might as well take care of these guys here and now."
I blinked. "Well… o-okay, that sounds like a good idea."
"Right then." Azelea makes a gesture and a shield forms in his left hand, while a whip extends from his right. Across from us, Brashir tenses, eyes flicking between the two of us.
"Hmm… how to approach this." He rolls his neck. "The Kamar-Taj mage is definitely an issue, but the boy is quickly growing to be a problem." He glances at H2H, standing behind me at the ready. "And of course there is the machine to consider."
He shrugs. "Oh well, at least I can definitely expect a better fight from you than those other two." He looks at me in particular with a frown. "Honestly, seeing the way you went up against Roderick, I can only imagine how things would have gone with that woman."
Azelea's brow furrowed. "Woman? What woman?"
"But of course, Roderick is no fun, and he had to blow up the entire building."
"Building?" In the back of my head, something was beginning to click into place. "Hey! What building are you talking about?!"
Brashir blinked. "Hmm… oh some kind of lab in Battery Park."
Somewhere in my mind, something snapped.
Down below, in the lowest point of all reality, the thing that was once Logos raged about destroying everything within reach. More to the point, the affects of the concoction were beginning to fade, meaning that the chance to make it above would soon be closed to it again!
"So CLosE! wE wERe SO cLOSe! ThE VesSEl waS RIGht ThERe! tHEN WE woulD bE Free of ThiS PlacE!"
More destruction that was all it could do, all it knew. Without a proper vessel to guide its impulses there was no way for the monster to-
'KILL! KILL! KILL!'
The monster froze mid-stride. Its gaze snapping up at the sudden rush of rage.
The monster's face twisted in malevolent glee.
"THERE!"
The form of Logos, former advisor to Rama-Tut dissolved into a sickly green mist and ascended.
Vincent Azelea felt his blood freeze. As a New York cop he had been provided with information regarding the incident regarding Otto and Pascale's unfortunate passing. While the exact cause of the explosion had not been indicated, everyone involved in the investigation had agreed that foul play had been involved.
Looking back at everything that's happened since meeting Isaac, Vincent felt like kicking himself for not considering that Clan Akkaba or Curwen's knights being involved. Steeling himself for a fight, he stepped forward. "Isaac, I know that you-"
"You… killed them."
Vincent and Brashir, both preparing to strike, froze as Isaac spoke. Everything about his voice just now sounded… wrong.
"I-Isaac?" Concern flooded through Vincent as he regarded the boy with his head down. Keeping the suddenly wary-looking Brashir in the corner of his eye, Vincent approached his charge. "Isaa-"
*BOOOOOOOOM*
A massive pillar of green fire and smoke erupted from nearby, sending everyone stumbling to the ground. Vincent snapped to it, a mix of awe and terrible foreboding filling him. Before he could so much as turn to grab Isaac, the pillar suddenly crashed down onto everyone in a whirlwind, blocking Vincent's vision.
"ISAAC! ISAAC!" Vincent tried to reach out for the boy but could not seem to find him in this maelstrom.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!" In the distance, Brashir could be heard struggling to keep on his feet.
"KABAR! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" Slade's voice could barely be heard over the rushing winds.
Vincent nearly stumbled as the very earth seemed to shake. He nearly fell when something grabbed him. Grabbing on to the lifeline, he found himself being supported by H2H via one of the Octo-arms. "H2H, what's going on?" The android did not answer; it's gaze focused on something in the distance. Azelea followed its gaze and felt a pit in his stomach. Just a few yards away from them, Isaac was standing in the center of the storm, as the pillar of green flame and mist forced its way into his mouth!
"ISAAC!" Vincent made to reach out to his charge, only for the boy's body to explode outward. Sending everything flying back.
"…ohhh, fuuuuuuck." Slowly, Vincent got to his feet. As his vision began to clear he took in all the damage around him. Looking up, he could see the pillar still had gone far past the roof and high into the sky. The sight of it alone filled him with dread. 'That… oh that's not good. We need to deal with this n-'
A sudden crumbling noise brought his attention back to Isaac, his head bowed still.
"I-Isaac…" Slowly Vincent approached him. "Isaac… are you going to-"
The boy's head snapped up to meet his gaze. Ice-cold terror filled Vincent's veins.
Over a wide terrible grin, far wider than any human face should be capable of, were glowing green eyes, full of malice and hate.