Call Me… Doc Ock – Arc One: Origin

Chapter 27: A New Look

From his post at the Bitfrost, Heimdall tapped his foot against the bridge that served as a gateway to the other realms. Normally, such a thing was not like him. He had served Odin for millennia as Guardian of the Bitfrost with dignity and diligence. However, the recent… development in Midgard had him on edge. The last time he had felt a level of dread anywhere near this had been when-

"Heimdall."

In an uncharacteristic display, the Guardian actually jumped at the voice. Whirling around he found himself faced with his king, Odin Borson.

"Odin." Heimdall bowed.

A flicker of concern passed through the Asgardian King's eye as he noticed his friend's tense posture. Walking up to him, Odin placed a hand on Heimdall's shoulder. "Heimdall, what troubles you, my friend?"

Heimdall looked his king and friend in the eye as he considered what to say. This hesitance in of itself only gave Odin more cause for worry. As long as they had known each other, Heimdall had always had a calm and stalwart demeanor. For him to be this unsettled did not bode well for whatever he would say.

"It… it is the disturbance on Midgard," Heimdall stated after a few more seconds.

At that, Odin's frown deepened. That wave of malice from Midgard had caused a great deal of alarm in Asgard and left most of its people quacking in sheer terror. Odin had been forced to step in several times when conflict had nearly broken out due to underlying tensions nearly erupting into full blown fights. Which reminded him, he would need to do something about the tension that had been growing between Loki and Sif, soon.

Putting the thought aside, he put his focus back on Heimdall. "Have you discerned the cause yet?"

Heimdall hesitated for a moment but nodded. "I did my king, but…"

"Yes," Odin encouraged.

Heimdall took a moment to try to put his thoughts into words. Eventually he sighed. "I only caught a glimpse of it but cannot truly describe it through words." He held up a hand. "It would be better to show you."

Odin looked at the offered hand, then back to Heimdall. Steeling himself he nodded and grasped it.

In whirlwind of raw hate and malice, a being that could only be called a monster glared at him with glowing green eyes of malice. It roared and moved to lunge at him-

Odin recoiled from the vision, his composure completely shattered as he stumbled and fell onto his back. As he stared at Heimdall in shock and horror, he found it difficult to put his thoughts to words.

After a long tense silence, Odin stood again and found his voice. "What in the Nine Realms was THAT?!"

Heimdall could only offer a strained smile. "I do not know Odin. I can only say that I have never felt such… evil in all my years."

That was a thought that Odin could echo. Not even Malekith of the Dark Elves had been shrouded in such raw hate.

Quickly gathering himself, Odin's face went hard. "It would seem that we will need to take a closer look at Midgard to determine what is going on." Placing a hand on Heimdall's shoulder, Odin offered him a slight smile. "My friend, thank you for informing me of this matter. I will determine what to do about this creature. Until then, I must ask that you keep to your post for now."

Heimdall bowed slightly. "As you command, my King."
Odin turned and quickly made his way back to the throne room. He had several matters to consider at the moment and would need to consult with his advisors.

"WHUH! HUH!" My body shoots up into a sitting position. 'Where- where am?!' I- wha- where?!

"ISAAC!" Turning to the voice I see a man with curly hair on one knee next to me. There's… concern?

I stare at him before- "A-Azelea?"

The man holds up a hand for me, slowly, hesitant. "Isaac, are- are you…"

I blink for a second. "Whuh- oh… ohhhhhh!" I look around and everything starts coming back to me. "Oh shiiiiiiiit!" I sagged a bit as I remembered everything that happened. "Oh fuuuuck! That sucked!" When I look back to Azelea, guilt wells up within me. "Umm… s-sorry about trying to… to blow you up."

Azelea let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness you're back to normal." He stands up and offers me a hand. When I grab it, he pulls me up and steadies me when I wobble for a bit. He looks me over before he stops at my face and blinks at my face. "…well, almost normal."

I raise an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Rather than answer my question, Azelea pulls out a mirror from somewhere and holds it up to my face.

My brain comes to a halt as I take in my reflection. "What the fuck...?" Taking the mirror out of Azelea's hand, I hold it closer and examine my eyes. Before all of this, they had were dark green with those strange green petal patterns. Now the iris was a brilliant neon green which faded into a prominent silver ring. Oh that, that was different and would be very hard to hide.

"Well," Azelea finally spoke, "looks like there have been some… lasting changes." Crossing his arms, the mage took a pensive look as he regarded this new development. "Given that you no longer seem to be possessed, I think that this might be the result of that energy that we used earlier."

"Huh, maybe, hey H2H," I turned to the android and had to hold back a wince as I took in its appearance. Poor thing had been through the wringer. It's legs just below the knees were reduced to slag. One arm was hanging on by a few wires and rods and there were scratches and dents all over its chassis. "Ah crap! H2H! Status!"

The android didn't respond, as it stood on the Octo-arms.

"H2H! Status!"

No response.

"H2H… H2H!" Walking up to I reached out to the android, only to jump back as one of the Octo-arms lashed out at me.

"WOAH! What the fuck?! H2H! What's wrong with you?!"

"Um… Isaac?" Azelea tapped me on the shoulder. When I turned to him he went on. "I think there might be something of a security protocol, or something like that?" He scratched the back of his head. "To be honest, I don't really remember what H2H was going on about what with all the chaos going on at the time."

"Security protocols?" My brow furrowed a bit before realization hit me. "Oh! Right!" I turned to H2H. "H2H; priority command: it was you who broke my Meissen Plate!"

The Android's eyes flashed, and the Octo-arms went still. "COMMAND HIERCHY RECONFIGURED TO DEFAULT!" The android then approached me. "CREATOR; UNIT HAS SUSTAINED HEAVY DAMAGE. REPAIRS ARE REQUIRED."

I nodded. "We'll get that done when everything here has been taken care of. H2H, report on readings from nanites in the past few minutes."

The android went a bit straighter. "CONFIRMED: AT 20:00, CREATOR'S BRAIN WAVES WENT INTO AN ERRATIC STATE; MUTATIONS IN DNA CAUSED CHANGE IN OVERALL CELLULAR STRUCTURE. AT 20:04, CREATOR BEGAN TO GO THROUGH A SEVERE INCREASE IN ADRENALINE, CATECHOLOMINES, EPENEPHRINE AND NOREPENEPHRINE IN BLOODSTREAM. AT 20:14, CREATOR BEGAN TO RADIATE SEVERE LEVELS OF GAMMA RADIATION. AT 20:25, CREATOR BEGAN TO UNDERGO PHYSICAL MUTATIONS. AT 20:32, CREATOR WAS EXPOSED TO HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF COSMIC RADIATION; PREVIOUS MUTATIONS WERE REVERSED. AT 20:33 UNDERWENT SECOND MUTATION. AT 20: 34, CREATOR'S BRAIN WAVES WENT INTO A STATE SUGGESTING REM SLEEP. AT 20:55 CREATOR AWOKE. AT 20:56 CREATOR ENTERED PRIORITY COMMAND."

"Wait, hold on!" Azelea stepped forward. "Did- did it just say Gamma Radiation?!"

"Yes, yes it did," I nodded.

He turned to me in both horror and wonder. "How the fuck are you alive then?! That shit should have you reduced to burnt and cancerous flesh!"

"That's because we're dealing with the mystical variant of Gamma Radiation."

Azelea blinked. "The what-now?"

I sighed. "Okay, to make a long story short; there is a mystical variant to both gamma and cosmic radiation. Cosmic Radiation in its mystical variant could be referred to as the light of creation. It can be used to create and empower. You remember the apes, right?"

Azelea nodded. "Uh, yeah, I do."

"Well," I went on, "they got their powers from the hidden mystical element within cosmic radiation.

"O…kay," Azelea said slowly.

"As for Gamma radiation, its hidden element, could be referred to as the light of destruction. It can only be used to destroy and mutate." I paused for a bit as I considered how to go about this next point. Did I really want to put Banner on the spot? 'Probably better leave that for latter…"

Instead… "In my case, given that I was currently suffused with the source of the Gamma Ray variant, I became the… murderous monster that you guys had to deal with." I couldn't help but shudder, as I recalled the things that went through my head while I was sharing head space with that thing. Honestly the worst part of that experience was the fact that I couldn't tell which impulses were mine or that of the OBA.

"Wait… the source?" Azelea looked both alarmed and confused.

I nodded, it was probably better to get this out now. "The source of the mystical variant of Gamma Rays: The One-Below-All."

"The… One-Below-All," Azelea repeated.

"Yeah," I said. "It… it is…" I stopped for a moment as I tried to mull over how to put this…

"It is the manifestation of the worst impulses within every single living thing across the multiverse," a new voice chimed in.

We turned to find the Ancient One approaching us.

Azelea stood up straighter. "Ancient One, what- what do you mean by that?"

"I mean exactly what I say, Vincent," she replied. "Throughout the infinite realities that comprise the multiverse, there exists one supreme being who stands at the pinnacle of existence."

"The One-Above-All," I said.

The Ancient One nodded. "Exactly. At a point beyond our capacity to ever reach, the One-Above-All stands as all that we could be at our best." She held up the remains of my necklace. "From them comes that that mysterious power hidden within cosmic radiation."

She looked at the stone with a wistful smile. "So much potential, hidden within… if I had known about this sooner… All the good that could have been done." Her voice became quieter. "Mistakes that could have been avoided…"

"Ancient One?" Whereas confusion crossed Azelea's face, a frown came over mine, as I was suddenly reminded of the potential issue with Dormammu. Provided that we cleared things up here with my "relatives," I was probably going to have to work on what to do if things went off kilter with the Lord of the Dark Dimension.

The Ancient One shook her head slightly. "But that is neither here nor there." She looked back up at us. "Right now, we are dealing with its… darker half so to speak, the One-Below-All." She then turned her gaze to me. "We have managed to purge it from young Isaac's spirit, thus preventing it from gaining a foothold for now."

"Hey, speaking of which." Azelea turned to me. "Isaac? Are… are you okay?"

I stretched a bit. "Yep, I'm good to go."

Azelea laid a hand on my shoulder, his expression now quite serious. "Are you sure?"

I looked at him in confusion for a bit, before I realized what he was getting at. Rolling my eyes, I lifted his hand off my shoulder. "Yes Azelea, I'm fine."

"Are you-"

"Look buddy," I interrupted. "I just had a conversation with the spirits of my mom and dad, who helped me to deal with a bit of an existential crisis that I was having. I. Am. Good."

"Oh." Azelea relaxed. "Well, that's good."

The Ancient One nodded. "It most certainly is, now there is the matter of-"

"YoU CANNot… eSCAPE FrOM… mE!"

Everyone present went on guard at the sudden chill. Just a few feet above us was a withered apparition clouded in that green miasma. Twin pools of malice-filled green glared at us.

"-that," the Ancient One finished. "It would seem that despite being repelled, the spirit continues to persist."

The spirit darted towards me, but before I could even blink, the Ancient One jumped in front of me and conjured several barriers to halt the apparition's progress. There was a crackling of power as the two forces collided. To my alarm, the Ancient One's barriers began to crack in the face of the monster's persistence.

"Yaroslav! Assistance please," the Ancient One shouted.

"Of course!" From the corner of my eye, the chimp came rushing out a ball of familiar energy in hand as it rushed at the malevolent spirit. Before he could strike it, the apparition disengaged from the Ancient One and then suddenly burrowed its way down into the Earth.

"Everyone on guard," Azelea shouted. Several mages had quickly arrived and moved to follow his lead. Barriers, whips and weapons of gold forming as they readied themselves for a follow-up attack.

A slight rumbling behind one of the mages standing near a line of trees drew our attention and everyone tensed as a pillar of green flame erupted. From the within pillar, balls of flame formed and shot out in mass and it was all the mages could do properly defend themselves under the force of each blast. Some managed to weather the strikes, while most had been knocked off their feet from the sheer power.

To their credit, the fallen mages quickly regained their footing and cast a series of offensive spells into the pillar of flame.

As this went on, the Ancient One stood in front of me her gaze sharp as she gauged the situation. A ball of green fire slammed into her barrier and the Ancient One actually slid back somewhat from the force. With a mix of serenity and focus on her face, she clutched the cracked necklace in her hand and drew on what power was left in it. Suddenly, the golden barrier flickered to that kaleidoscope of colors, and the Ancient One repelled the ball of fire back at the pillar. I had just begun to relax when a clinking sound reached my ears. I looked down, and my eyes widened at the sight of the grenade with a missing pin.

"GRENADE," I shouted as I jumped away, activating the light-shields on my gloves. Everyone else immediately scattered as a blast went off sending debris and shrapnel flying everywhere.

Slowly, I got back up and looked around. Luckily, it looked like everyone with the potential blast range had gone to ground and put up defenses to protect themselves. A bit further away I could see both Azelea holding a barrier, standing guard in front of H2H and Yaroslav.

"Is everyone okay," someone piped up.

"Yeah, I think I'm good."

"Okay, seriously, can we start doing a sweep on any loose munitions on the ground," Azelea complained. "We do not need to give that thing any-"

"ISAAC, BEHIND YOU," Yaroslav shouted.

Spinning on the spot, I suddenly found the ghostly form of Logos rushing to me, the twisted ghost reaching out to me at its fast approach.

"YOU aRe MINE!"

Time seemed to slow down. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Ancient One and several other mages moving to defend me. There was noise everywhere. I couldn't make anything out, my mind freezing at the sheer hateful madness in those eyes.

'…move…'

I could feel my feet moving, but not fast enough, nowhere near fast enough.

'…move… move…'

The ghost was almost within arm's reach.

'…move… move… move…'

A sudden chill went up my spine, as I felt a ghostly finger touch my flesh.

'…MOVE!'

As the ghost made to grab me… suddenly… a pleasant heat bloomed in my chest… and flowed into my back…

"AARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!"

From my back, that strange sensation, but somehow more potent, surged as four limbs lashed out and grabbed onto the spirit, before discharging a pulse of energy through its form.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

The monster screamed and screamed as the current of power surged through it.

Without thinking I lashed out with a kick, and the ghost was sent flying back.

With the threat of repossession apparently no longer an issue, I finally took notice of my tentacles… and the new look they had.

Where before they looked like they had been made of a green glass-like material, now they had a sleek armored look to them. Each one was covered in gleaming silver segmented chitin that was wrapped around each section. Between each segment I could see a faint neon-green material underneath that glowed as the tentacles moved around. At the ends of each tentacle, four prongs, longer than the previous ones and slightly thicker, clicked together almost threateningly. And in the center of the prongs, the gems in the center had gone from a round bead to a slightly pronounced four-sided pyramid shape.

Feeling a slight pulse in my chest, I pulled at my suit and saw another one of those gems on my chest. From the gem I could see that same chitinous plating flowing around my torso.

"Well… that's convenient."

"Isaac…" Azelea's voice caught my attention, and I turned to see him and several other mages looking at me in wonder.

I shrugged. "Cosmic Rays, go figure."

A sudden raspy growling had us turning back to the malevolent spirit and wow did it look pissed at the sudden development.

"YOu aCCurseD… gRRaaaaHHH!" It tried to approach again only for it to somehow stumble mid-air, its form flickering in and out of reality.

The mages of the Kamar-Taj quickly came around me, spells at the ready for the monster.

The Anicent One stepped forward, her face set in stone. "It would seem that the spirit is not long for this world." A few gestures and several blades of light formed around her, pointed at the hateful ghost. "Let's send it on its way."

"This…"

At the sound of the new voice, we all turned, and my lips curled in disdain at the sight of my "relatives," most of them battered, bloodied and bruised. All of them could only look in horror at the evil spirit they had brought into this world.

"This isn't…" I will admit, part of me rather enjoyed seeing the look of despair and disbelief mixed with dread on Remy's face. The rest of me just wanted the man to be gone. "This wasn't… this can't be what…."

I was about to make a remark when-

"YoU…"

Movement from the corner of my eye brought my attention back to the twisted spirit of Logos. It was rushing to the cultists!

"HEY, STOP IT!"

At my shout, the mages turned back to the ghost and immediately began to let off a barrage of spells. The ghost of Logos managed to avoid them as it charged at my "relatives." The group began to run in panic at the phantom's approach.

"N-no NONONONONONONONONOOOO!" Remy stumbled and fell. Before anyone could do anything, the ghost latched onto him and-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A burst of green smoke and fire erupted and the mages quickly put up barriers to weather the blast.

When the smoke and fire cleared somewhat, I recoiled at the sight that greeted me. Floating in a miasma of vile power, the thing once known as Remy looked itself over with malicious green eyes. It lifted a hand to its face. It, like the rest of its form was covered in bulging green veins that visibly pulsed with power. A slight twitch in the arm was followed by cracks appearing in its skin.

"HmMMMmm, tHIs bOdy wIll NoT HoLD foR, BUt IT WiLL dO…" It turned its hateful gaze at us. "ALl OF yOU, wILl PErisH! I WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING!"

The mages responded by launching bolts, glowing blades and other assorted spells, forcing the possessed Remy to dodge around them in the sky.

Eventually, with a mighty roar it projected a wave of power which deflected the offensive spells. With one last hateful glare, it shot off to the east, the red clouds following in its wake.

"Oh, that's not good…"

"So far authorities have been working round the clock to get a handle on both the sudden spring of shootings and the potential disaster in West New York.

Somewhere in a mall in San Francisco, California. A crowd had gathered in around a cluster of televisions. Every screen was focused on the disaster going on in New York. Most of the people present had felt something off about the whole affair, but for a group of girls sitting at a table… they could see more than the crowd could.

"This… this is definitely some kind of demon." One girl with white and brown hair in braids piped up.

"Are… are we sure it's a demon, Collete," another girl with blonde hair said. "I mean, yeah, that's a lot of malice, but this doesn't smack of the usual M.O. for one."

"Well then what the hell do you think that is Glynis," another girl retorted. Among the group she stood out the most with her bright pink hair.

Glynis shrugged. "I don't know Megan, but I really don't think it's a regular demon, and-"

"One: be quiet; two; demon is a catch all term that has been twisted by the masses, so calling it a demon doesn't really narrow it down." Another voice interrupted.

The three girls turned to the fourth member of their group. The last girl had her dark hair done up in pigtails.

The other three glanced at each other. Eventually, Collete started up the conversation again. "Well alright then, what do you-"

"A God." The black-haired girl responded.

The other girls' eyes widened at the declaration.

Collete raised a finger. "Wait! Woah! A-a god?! Don't you-"

"I'm certain," the raven-haired girl interrupted again. The normally reserved girl had a deep frown on her face as she watched the report on the television.

The other girls looked back at each other, then the dark-haired girl before focusing on the live report.

Within the nation of Wakanda, Prince T'Challa tossed and turned as his dreams were plagued by strange visions. At first, he had been shrouded in darkness. No matter where he turned there had been nothing as far as he could see. Then, there was a flash of light, and his vision was assaulted by a barrage of colors and landscapes both familiar and bizarre.

A mighty roar caught his attention, and he spun on the spot. Off in the distance he could see… a horde of beasts charging off in some direction. Even from his vantage point, T'Challa could tell these beasts were far beyond the ordinary; their feathers, furs and scales were awash with colors that could not possibly be ascribed to any animals of his world.

Another roar caught his attention, and he looked a bit further beyond to find another horde of beasts rushing towards the previous group. Soon the horde met and there was another flash of light.

When his vision returned, he found himself staring at a massive black panther. Its gaze caught his attention and somehow in his heart he knew that he stood before the patron of his people.

"Bast…" His voice barely above a whisper as kneeled in both deference and wonder to his Goddess.

The deity stared at him before turning her attention to his left. T'Challa followed her gaze and was met with the oddest sight: A figure stood with their back to a brilliant light. The swaying behind them were… tentacles?

T'Challa turned to his Goddess only to find her gone.

"T'Challa…"

What was that?

"T'Challa…"

Who was that?

"T'Challa…"

Was… was this some-

"T'CHALLA!"

The first prince of Wakanda woke with a start, his body moving automatically to grab at the hand shaking him. A dagger hidden within his robe was grabbed and swung just short of that the neck of the person shaking.

"My Prince!"

T'Challa blinked. "Nakia!" Removing the dagger from her throat, T'Challa regained his composure and took stock of himself. He had been reading some books in the library when sleep took hold of him. Looking out the window he could see that it was night, he could see the stars from here. However…

T'Challa blinked as he began to focus on the north-western skyline off in the distance…

"What in Bast's name is that?" It was probably somewhere near the Atlantic Ocean, but he could just make out with his vision… a gathering of red clouds and… a strange green light.

For some reason, T'Challa felt a chill run up his spine. He did not know what was going on, but he knew that it was no good.

"Nakia… what is going on?"

"If you are referring to that red cloud, then I am here to inform you of a disturbance that had occurred some time ago." She pointed at the red cloud. "That storm was seen at the sight of a major disturbance near the east coast of America. We do not know its origin or purpose. What we do know is that there are readings of gamma radiation emanating from it and that it has relocated to Niger. King T'Chaka has called for the full council and has sent me to retrieve you immediately."

T'Challa stood up and smoothed his robes out. His mind went on the alert and his face turned stern. "Very well, lead the way." He would think about the dream later, right now there was a potential crisis in the making.

"Where did it go?!"

That had been the main question that Azelea had roared at the cultists that we had rounded up. In the immediate aftermath we had regrouped to assess our physical and mental state. Both Vincent and Sol were interrogating the cultists, who still looked horrified at what they had wrought.

"I… I don't know," one of them managed to get out.

"BULLSHIT!" Azelea grabbed them by the collar and lifted them up. "YOUR CULT HAS SPENT CENTURIES TRYING TO BRING THAT MONSTER INTO THIS WORLD! YOU HAVE TO KNOW SOME MORE!"

"WE DON'T KNOW, I SWEAR," the guy wailed.

"VINCENT!" Sol grabbed him by the hand and pulled him off. "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Azelea growled at Sol. But as Sol stood firm at his aggression, Azelea relaxed.

"There's no need for to so rough Vincent," the Ancient One said as she walked up to us. "I know exactly where our adversary is likely to go."

Azelea perked up. "Oh, you do?" His head tilted. "Where?"

"Why, I would imagine at the location of the original ritual," she responded.

"Oh!" Azelea rubbed his head, looking sheepish. "Yeah, that makes sense…"

The Ancient One nodded. "It most certainly would." She turned to me. "Well, Isaac, I know you must be tired of all this so let's get you-"

"ANCIENT ONE," a voice shouted, and we all turned to see Kaecilius coming out of a portal looking like he just got put through a blender. "The beast! It just appeared at the cave and plunged right into the sphere! Almost immediately after, undead abominations rose from the ground and started attacking!"

Everyone present immediately went on alert. The Ancient One frowned. She glanced at me. "Isaac… I was going to ask you to leave this to us… but somehow… I get the distinct feeling we'll need your assistance."

I nodded. "Alight, let's go and get this over with."

Azelea made to interject. "Wait! Hold on! You can't just-"

I grabbed his arm. "Look, Azelea. Things have gotten out of hand as is! If that thing gets loose, we're all fucked! So, we need every means capable of dealing with it." To emphasize my point, my newly enhanced tentacles shot forward in front of me, glowing with power.

Azelea's mouth opened for a moment, but at the look at my face, he relented. "This is so fucked up!"

I turned to Yaroslav. "Hey, Yaro. I know you've been through a lot already, but can you help out too?"

The chimp gave a thumbs up. "Of course, my friend! Your mother and father have done much for me and my associates! Let us go and confront this monster once and for all!"

I turned back to the Ancient One. "All right let's go."

She gave a slight bow. "Thank you for your help." She opened a portal. "This way please."

I turned to H2H. "H2H! Follow!"

"CONFIRMED!" The android came up next to me and all of us stepped through the portal.