Who: Archie and the Kappa What: The Kappa has a keen interest in the sciences and makes a generous donation Where: A secret underground lab When: Way backdated; before Archie brings Zari's dad back Warnings: It's Archie, Kayla, and a dead body. This is a very creepy log.
Archie was in the middle of going through a dead man’s things. There was a very generous mobster in town who seemed to have a need for the doctor’s services at least once every couple of months who dropped off a poor fellow without a face or fingertips. Archie had mused with the idea of making the faceless man a blind waiter or perhaps a comical assistant, but he wasn’t in the mood for novelties. He was going to take the suit, however. It was a classic black and red pinstripe that would look excellent with the help of a proper tailor.
Holding up the jacket to examine the cut, a pack of Chinese cigarettes fell out of the inner pocket. Archie swooped down to pick them up and popped open the top. Half a pack left. Archie looked around like he was stealing and then stuck one between his lips, leaned over one of his Bunsen burners and lit that sucker up. He puffed it indulgently and then glanced down at his watch. The mysterious benefactor was to be there in just seconds, so he grabbed his overcoat and headed outside of his underground laboratory.
This cold was just ridiculous and obviously the work of another Creation. Stupid, pointless, bothersome. He wondered silently if that’s how other mischievous Creations thought of him. It had been far too long since she had donned her second skin. Kayla had played pretty for the last few weeks, only really letting her fangs show when Melinda - excuse her, Lady Melbourne - lit up her bedroom. She was run ragged, stretched too thin by work to have the energy necessary to roam at night. But that wasn’t an excuse. If she wanted to stretch her proverbial wings, then she had to make time for it. That’s what one did with everything else important. Though it was a delightful coincidence that lead her to the mad scientist on the forums. Doing a bit of charity work would be good for her, she decided. Melinda would be proud.
The suit fit as if she had never taken it off. The tough, elastic material settled against her skin, moving with her as she stretched and breathed. It was like having another set of ribs that breathed with her, hissing in and out in gentle sequence. Though the cold nipped at her face as she scurried from rooftop to rooftop with graceful leaps, she could ignore it. She had to focus on the water in her, around her, through her. It was difficult, with the bitter cold, but she had practiced. She was lean, mean, and pulling at her tethers. She had to be out. It felt divine.
Her little trip had been quite productive. Not only had she flexed her might, but she also had made a new friend. He walked with her to the scientist’s given location, arm slung around her waist. They walked like lovers, his fingers fanned across the subtle peak of her hip bone and her gloved fingertips stroking the slope of his powerful jaw. Every step they took was graceful, as if they weren’t even aware of the bitter storm raging around them. Though her skin had puckered into goosebumps beneath the glove of her costume, she knew that this show of theatrics would be worth it. It had been so long since she’d been able to pull the glass shards from her mirror and see her reflection unmarred.
As they approached the entrance to the building, she spied a figure emerging from the snow. A devilish smirk crossed her blue lips as she hesitated in her stride, leaning back against the man that walked with her. His head dropped, guided by the slide of her fingers and the force of her will. She looked up at him, moving slowly so as to never once deprive her audience of a moment. Frigid snow melted on her lips as they parted, her warm breath ghosting on his ice cold mouth. After a moment’s pause, she pressed against him, capturing him in a sinful kiss.
With a moan that was soon lost on the winds of the storm, she pulled back, gaze shooting to the man awaiting her arrival. She and her companion cleared the short distance between them quickly, standing close enough so that they needn’t shout over the icy winds to be heard. “Hello,” she purred, lacing her fingers with those of her companion. “It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.” After a moment’s hesitation, she gestured to her companion. “I hope you don’t mind that he came with me.” Her voice was rooted with unspilled laughter, a vicious smirk overtaking her face. “But he won’t be a bother. He isn’t much of a talker.”
The man turned his head just slightly, enough to give the scientist a good view of his wide open, stone dead eyes. His jaw was slightly agape, his mocha skin tinged with blue and gray. The Kappa giggled, the sound joyful and carefree, as she looked back to the scientist. Oh, this was too fun. Archie stood motionless as the woman approached, his shoulders moving up slowly as she embraced her companion. She was showing off. He liked that. Once she was close enough, he tilted his head slightly to look the dead man in his eyes, giving a surprised and delighted smile. “Well aren’t you a breath of fresh air.” He murmured up to her and then tossed his cigarette to the ground, not even bothering to watch it fizzle in the snow. “You’re a talented puppet master. I might have a job for you down at the Kiddie Corner in the library.”
“As for you,” Archie grabbed the dead man’s face and turned it in his hand like a grandma squishing a child’s cheeks in. “A fine specimen. I bet you’d love to breathe again.” He smiled up to the Kappa and inched a gloved finger to make her follow him into the laboratory. It was situated underground, past an innocently looking door the lead straight down into a basement. Inside looked like everything a person would expect from a horror movie. Large beeping consoles with flashing lights. Bloody slabs covered with tools that could have been used for torture. Cages of animals, some of them alive- others alive enough. Archie seemed completely at ease in his environment. It made sense, of course, he spent almost all of his time there.
“Not my biggest laboratory, but it’s the only thing I can keep in the city without neighbors finding out.” He took off his overcoat and jacket, rolling up his sleeves as he gestured to an empty slab. “Put him there.” The Kappa was certain that she was more than a “breath of fresh air,” though her little show at least seemed to impress. That was, after all, the entire point. She smirked proudly as the scientist fussed over his delivery, quite pleased with herself for making such an appropriate choice. The man had been so very strong, young and powerful. He resisted her admirably, though in the end, he was no match for her. They never were.
With a chuckle, she followed the mad scientist down into his humble abode, taking care to time the corpse’s steps so that he didn’t trip on the stairs. It was difficult, walking a humanoid body like this. The chill had made it difficult to keep her hold on him, though the warmth of being indoors aided her as she went. Still, her attention was quite focused on the steps she and her companion took, not truly looking around the lab until they reached the bottom.
It was much like her first dream with Charlie, the night they had met. She gasped in mild surprise, a broad smile spreading across her face. The space was crude, poorly carved into its surroundings, but there was something absolutely delightful about it. “It’s cozy,” she cooed, though her pleasure abruptly halted when she heard the bark of a dog. Expression blanking, she turned, giving the creature a glare. She hated dogs. If she weren’t so preoccupied with her gift for the scientist, she may have put it down out of spite - thankfully, she had a job to do.
At the man’s command, the corpse began to walk to the slab, sitting down on the edge like a child at the doctor’s office. It then laid down, perfectly still. The Kappa refused to let the scientist see her weak, though she felt a wave of tension leave her as she released her hold on the corpse. Pressing a hand to the side of her head, she took a sharp breath before instantly relaxing. She would need several Advil when she got home - perhaps chased with a glass of wine.
She walked slowly towards the scientist, tilting her head. “You don’t need lightning, I hope,” she said with a playful half-smile. He casually caught her glare towards the dog and gave a sort of shrug as if they were just fast food toys he had laying around. “You can kill one if you want. In fact-” Archie walked around the slab with a small tray of instruments. “You’re welcome to kill anything here except the obvious. I haven’t tried bringing myself back to life yet.” A joke, though delivered as if he had actually intended on eventually trying out the experiment. He carefully checked the body, happy with the intact condition she had left him in. Nothing like the poor mobster victim on the other table.
“Nothing so primitive.” He replied in regards to the electricity. “I use a chemical I’ve formulated over the years. I used to think it was my brilliance that made it work, but as it turns out it’s simply my ability.” Nope. Noooooo hint of bitterness there. Not in the least. Archie pointed to two large vats of faintly glowing chemical and then held out a small vial of it in his hand. “See how brightly it shines in my hands, here-” He passed it to her. The second the cool bottle hit her hands it lost its glimmer. His invitation to kill made her face light up, blue eyes glimmering in the holes they carved into her aquamarine mask. “You shouldn’t promise me that,” she said, gaze flickering to the dogs with ill intent. “You’ll have far too many subjects and not nearly enough time to work on them.” The comment about himself wasn’t lost on her, nor was the way he said it. But she didn’t pry - after all, they were still just acquaintances. Instead, she glanced to the body on the opposite table, raising a brow behind her mask. It was terribly kept, missing a face and fingertips. How revolting. She imagined the mess it had created was just impossible to clean up. Idly, she considered asking Melinda about her blood-stain cleaning tips - they would come in handy someday.
As he began talking about his methods, she glanced his way, immediately interested. “Oh?” she asked, not in the least bit bothered by the idea that it was an ability and not mental power that created these creatures. Though the Kappa certainly appreciated hard work and grit, the ability she had was nothing short of Godly. Without it, she wouldn’t have half as much fun as she did. The demonstration was met with wide eyes and curious coos, her fingers tightening around the vial as the light inside of it dimmed. “Fascinating,” she whispered, glancing to him. “Let me try something.”
Popping the top off the vial, she gripped the glass, focusing on the liquid inside of it. It bubbled briefly before rising out of the glass, forming a perfect sphere in the air. The sphere drifted towards the scientist, moving in a smooth, controlled arc. At the end of its journey, it landed in his palm, with the Kappa watching eagerly. He nearly made a motion to save the liquid from bubbling over, but stopped the second it clearly had direction. Archie might have been a mad scientist, but he had respect for power and curiosity that kept his mouth shut and his eyes wide. His hand lightly outstretched for the liquid sphere to touch his palm and sit comfortably as if it were made of solid.
“You control liquids so beautifully.” The sphere shone brightly in his hand and the doctor smiled. She could see him figure out quickly how the dead body was moved with such delicacy. Moving just muscles at will was much more clumsy than blood. “Let me show you what i can do.” He lifted up a vial for her to drop the chemical into and prepared a syringe from his equipment table. “The dogs I brought to the bank were given drugs and enhancers to make them more violent, but generally unintelligent creatures are brought back with an interesting sense of primal bloodthirst.”
He seeped the chemical into the syringe quickly as though he had done it a thousand times before and slammed it into the man’s neck for faster results. Seconds after Archie emptied the chemical into the man’s blood stream, he gasped for air. His eyes flew open suddenly; the gray lifeless tone from before replaced with a bright green that matched the chemical. Archie took a step back as the man slowly sat up on the slab and let out an almost hungry growl in his direction.
“You got a feisty one.” Archie was grinning despite the clear and present danger that could tear him apart. As the scientist agreed to play his part of “Show and Tell,” the Kappa sat down on another slab excitedly, briefly wishing that she had a bag of popcorn. She watched as he worked, eyes wide and interested. The whole process was so neat and clean, making her briefly wonder if the blood splatters on the slabs and walls were merely decoration. With her elbows on her thighs and her chin in her hands, she watched on pins and needles. The liquid slid into the corpse’s bloodstream, filling him gently, until his eyes snapped open.
He was alive.
With a breathless gasp, the Kappa straightened up, watching intently as the creature sat up. His movements were jerky and clumsy, as if he were still trying to understand how limbs work. The low growls that rumbled in his throat filled the lab, shaking the bars on the cages and sending the animals there into disarray. The Kappa held her breath as the creature looked to her, unnaturally green eyes narrowing.
The creature let out a loud sound that ripped from his throat, extending a hand towards her. It was as if he were trying to speak, still getting the words right. He pushed off the edge of the slab, swiping angrily at the scientist as he stood. Snarling again, he reached for the Kappa, shouting and bellowing words that weren’t quite human.
The Kappa chuckled, looking to the scientist. “Isn’t he? He’s quite angry, I imagine. Can you control him?” “Not in the slightest!” Archie gave an excited grin and ducked away from the creature as if he had done it a thousand times before. “I’ve become moderately skilled with guns and tasers because of it. Broken a few bones, but I’m trained in-” the monster bellowed like a werewolf at the moon. “Medicine.” He took a sliding dive over the slab she was sitting so that he would be positioned behind the table.
The monster stumbled towards them as Archie gave small giggles like he was playing a schoolyard game. “Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu grrrhrgnnn,” the monster gargles. It pointed to the Kappa, gasping. “Killl. Kill.” With another bellow, it reached out to tackle her. Archie pushed away from the slab to give them room. He could go get his gun just in case, but he had a feeling she wouldn’t have any trouble with even an undead man. Most people would have been irritated by the scientist’s gleeful admission that he couldn’t control his creations at all. The Kappa, on the other hand, laughed with disbelief. “You’re joking,” she said, still chuckling, as he accounted his mishaps with tasers and guns. Raising a brow as he claimed to be proficient in medicine, she idly wondered if she would ever willingly go to him as a doctor.
She watched his sliding jump with a roll of her eyes, hopping off the slab. So dramatic. She stared at the creature as he fixed her with a look of loathing that would have horrified any normal person. The Kappa, on the other hand, simply looked annoyed. As the monster lunged for her, she held out a hand, stopping him dead in his tracks. Her mind was aching, but she had the control she needed. He couldn’t move, couldn’t fight her, and let out an angry bellow in defiance.
All the humor in her voice bled out as she stared the monster down, momentarily raising her voice. “Sit your ass down!” she shouted, ceasing his growls. When silence rolled over the lab, she took a step closer, jaw clenched, as she spoke in a threatening whisper. “Or I will find your family. Do you remember them?” The creature’s expression fell, recognition crossing his face. “I will bring them here and show them exactly what you’ve become. Would you like that?” He moaned in protest, but she continued. “And then I will kill them, one by one, just so that my friend here can resurrect them for the full set. Once you’re all dead, I can have my fun without worrying about petty things humans need, like...air, or food, or comfort.” She smirked, blue lips taut over pale skin. “Would you like that, hmm?” she asked again, cupping her palm to his cheek as she glanced to his left hand. “Your wife could be my own personal Barbie doll.”
After a few moments of silence, the Kappa released him from her hold, and the monster shuffled back to the slab. Sitting, he let out another groan, glaring at both the Kappa and the scientist with contempt. The Kappa grinned, glancing to her companion. “Oh he’s fine!” she crowed. “Come on out, dear.” “Did you just-” Archie stood up straight. “Reason with one of my experiments? Oh my where do I put in my vote for sainthood?” He smiled sweetly at her and then slowly approached the monster. It didn’t move at first, eyeing him with a certain amount of contempt that seemed to tell him that if she wasn’t here, Archie would have to start running for the gun cabinet. “See the interesting thing...” Archie ran his tongue across his upper teeth in thought. “Is they all desperately want to hurt me. With the exception of one or two little critters. You’d think they’d be grateful for what I’ve done.”
The monster gave him a warning growl. Guttural, horrifying. Archie grinned back at him and then looked to the Kappa. “I have a hard time believing the ability to control water drove you to have a killing streak.” He stood up straight and moseyed away from the monster. “So, what happened? Someone kill your sister? Nah. You’re not angry enough.” Briefly, her expression grew cold. “I don’t reason,” she said sharply. “I command.” She was, after all, the queen of this fractured realm. She commanded her subjects through a broken looking glass, moving them across the board with whispered touches. They bent to her because all people valued power, feared it. With fear in her arsenal, she would never be disobeyed.
Glancing to him with a shrug, she sat back down on the other slab, watching the furious creature absently. “Perhaps death is peaceful,” she said idly, kicking a foot. “Or maybe you just bring that out in people.” Smirking, teasing, she scooted back over the slab and laid down beside the faceless corpse, resting her fingers on her stomach.
At his questions about her motives, she glanced to him, gaze harder than diamond. “Why must I have been made?” she asked, sliding one hand from her stomach to her side, ghosting the palm over her hip. “I’m not the product of my environment, if that’s what you’re trying to “deduce.”” “Everyone is a product of their environment. You’re too smart to have been born with the sort of disabilities that come along with homicidal joy.” He saw the dangerous gaze, but Archie seemed like the type of man who would poke a bear with a stick. Not the smartest thing he could do, but his curiosity had its towering peaks. “Take me for example. I’ve always resented my parents for taking me out of Musings and my ability to bring people back made me spend all day with dead things. Killing wasn’t fun until I realized I don’t think about most people as anything but objects that I operate on every day.” Archie wasn’t trying to impress her with his sob story. He was actually slightly convinced she’d try to hurt him if he kept pressing.
But, he just couldn’t help himself. “Plus, you know. You’re given a power like mine and you don’t have much of a choice but to be a bit like a monster. Helping people be damned.” He walked over to her and rested his elbow on the palm of his hand as he put his chin on top of his fist. “I will give you credit, though. I don’t believe you were ever all rainbows and delicate flowers.” Archie was obviously baiting her, now. The compliment tied to a subtle jab made the Kappa wary, her expression stony behind her mask. The dark makeup surrounding her eyes that burned holes into her skull made the blue of her irises seem to pop, unnaturally bright and sharp. Her fingers slid across her thigh, banding just above her knee, before retreating up to her abdomen once again. Blue lips parted, she arched her back, heel sliding over the cool slab. “You can’t kill objects,” she reminded him, gaze falling on the furious zombie across the room. His rage, torment, and fear were palpable, a blanket she wrapped around herself. With a low sigh of pleasure, she pressed the heel of her hand over her belly button, looking up to the scientist as his rollicking rambles made their way back to her.
She stilled a moment, just watching him, before reaching out to wrap her gloved fingers around his slender wrist. If she focused, if she tried, she imagined that she could snap it. He was just so delicate, like a china doll. Her thumb glided over every bone in his wrist, as if trying to find them all, as she began to sit up. Mind seeped into the water of her body, she moved unnaturally, hips pushing back while her shoulders rose. It kept her hand on his arm perfectly stable, never once wavering, while the rest of her shifted and slid like a rickety child’s toy.
Sitting facing him, she smirked, staring him down intensely. “Do you really want to walk down this road?” she asked, leaning forward until her breath ghosted against his idle fingers. “Or would you like me to tell you a story about rainbows that leak bile and flowers that snap your fingers off when you look too closely?” When she grabbed his wrist, he looked down with interest and a little amusement. She was just as powerful as he assumed. Archie just needed to know for himself. “No. You must excuse me. I like to test.” He smirked simply at her so that she understood he knew better, but curiosity always won out. He kept his gaze locked on hers until she decided to let go or break his wrist. Either choice was up to her entirely. It would have been so easy to stop his heart then. But that would be pointless lashing out, an attack made out of frenzied anger. It was pathetic. And so with an ounce of regret, she released his wrist. “Test your science projects,” she said coolly, sliding back onto the slab and sitting delicately. Curiosity was fine and dandy, but when it glanced too close, the queen had to protect her palace. “I’ll bring you more if you’re terribly bored.” “I always appreciate donations. I’m going to start operating on my subjects more. Sew in shock collars so they don’t go against my orders. I haven’t yet figured out how to make a super mutant, but I’m getting there.” He whisked away from her, busying himself with some supplies around the main operating table. Archie didn’t speak for a moment and then he looked up at her. “I think I might be jealous of you.” The look on his face seemed confused. “The mask implies you lead a double life. I’ve forgotten how to do that.”
He wasn’t asking for sympathy or advice. Just a strange observation from a strange man. “Interesting,” she murmured, crossing one leg over the other and folding her hands atop her knee. The idea of implanting a controlling device into these fascinating soldiers was intriguing. If he could control them, or at least force them to listen, his power would be near-unstoppable. At the question about super mutants, she raised a brow behind her mask. “If you resurrect a Creation, would the resurrected still have their power?” She paid no mind to what the zombie heard - she could kill him if they needed him silenced.
Bobbing her foot idly in the air, she looked around the lab, slowly familiarizing herself with it. Charlie simply had to see it. Just as her mind began to wander, the scientist’s voice pulled her back into reality. Mildly puzzled, she regarded him for a moment. She was temporarily stunned, unsure of how to react. “Don’t be,” she finally said with a mild scoff. “You are as you are. This mask,” she said, delicately touching her fingers to the green material that ghosted above her cheekbone, “isn’t my second identity. The woman beneath it is. The skin I wear every day is a coat. I believe it’s I who should be jealous of you.” Her blue lips curled in a light smirk. “There is no distraction for you.” “I haven’t had the chance to resurrect a creation yet. But, I assume so. I plan on conducting a test on that very theory soon.” Archie smiled to himself. He’d need to kill a creation that had obvious powers. Lightening bolts, metal manipulation, something fun. A glance up at the monster still behaving himself across from them with an expression as if to tell it that its time was not going to be very long on this earth. Archie had no use for idle monsters.
He finally turned back and walked over to the Kappa. “Tell you what.” Archie seemed as though he were about to make an offer between neighbors. “If you ever want to ditch the facade and are in the market for a decent hideout, you let me know. You’re strong. If any one of us could break out and stir up trouble, it’s you.” “You should,” she replied blithely as he mentioned resurrecting a Creation. As if on guard, she twisted away from him slightly, shooting him a look that clearly warned against attempting to use her.
At his friendly offer, she grinned. “That’s kind of you. When I no longer have a use for my social coat, I’ll trade it in for something that’s a little more...me. And I’ll take you up on your offer.” He exchanged a look with her as if to say she didn’t even have to threaten him. Women like her were too interesting for him to reanimate anyway. She was destroying and rampaging just fine on her own. Across from them the once violent man started shaking as if he were back out in the cold. Archie pulled his sleeve up to look at his watch and then tapped the glass surface. His zombie began to cough, pound his chest as if it would bring more air into his lungs. “They’re collapsing.” Archie informed the undead man flatly. A sudden lunge towards the reanimator without a flinch for a response. The man couldn’t even stand on his legs. All he could do was crawl towards Archie’s pant legs.
The reanimator raised his hand in a silent count down. Five, Four, Three, Two, One. He made a circle with his fingers as the zombie’s heart failed and his muscles relaxed into death. “Not a natural death, but close to it. Fascinating.” He swooped down to check the man’s pulse just to make sure and then stood up straight to walk over to the Kappa. “You’re welcome here anytime you wish. For now, I must retire to my books.” As the reanimated corpse began to flail, the Kappa stayed back, watching the scientist work. It would have been far too easy for her to intervene, and insulting besides. He needed a chance to control the situation, to control his rabid pet. And so she didn’t lift a finger, even as the creature clawed at his pantsleg and threatened to overpower the bean pole of a scientist.
His proclamation that the creature had died wasn’t a surprise to her - she could feel his empty chest, the absence of a heartbeat. Stepping down off the slab, she watched him curiously. “Of course. I’d hate to keep you from progress.” Her blue lips quirked in a small smirk at his invitation, which she accepted with a nod. “But I might someday soon. I have a friend that would probably love your work.” Taking a few steps backwards, she waved briefly to the strange scientist as she saw herself out of the underground lab.
The bitter cold nipped at her as she emerged, wrapping both arms around herself as the strands of her brown wig whipped around her face. It had been some time, but she was back in the game. And it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have an ally, however strange he may be.