The Good Doctor: Origins Ch. 07

Echo had come to him as an orphan. Giovanni had discovered him rather by accident and took him in as a member of the Corps, even though he was only ten at the time. Now, at fourteen, he promised to be a master mentalist and a vital addition to the Corps.

The boy could project images onto the minds of nearby people. When Rob had proposed projecting a full sized Base onto the minds of people almost half a mile away, Echo had his doubts. Wraith knew the boy's potential though, and worked with him nonstop to prepare him. When the day of the attack came, Echo was still apprehensive, but Wraith had promised to help. So while the Base moved into position, Wraith calmed the boy's mind and lent him some of her energy and Echo had performed exceptionally, projecting not only a convincing image, but audio as well. Without him they wouldn't have gotten past the Bio-B0ts, and now they were destroying their production line.

Brick came up beside her just as she was finishing toasting the computer.

"All set on this end?" he asked.

She nodded and pointed to a door on the far side of the room, "That's where they come out when they're done." She explained. While her mind was linked with the computer, she had learned everything about the production of the Bio-B0ts. There were one hundred and fifty outside of the building battling Nimbus, Sublime, Turbo, and Nurse Sweet and the line had been interrupted just as it finished the twentieth of another wave of one hundred and fifty.

"How many?" Brick asked, walking towards the door.

"Twenty." She replied, floating after him.

"Bring it on." '

"Indeed."

The door flew open and the pair entered.

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The scene was chaos; fire and lighting and ice were flying everywhere and red lasers were zooming in every direction. The shouts of people and clang of metal were in the air as well as the sounds of gunfire and the smell of blood.

"Get these things organized!" Trapjaw shouted at Engineer as he barely dodged a jet of flame aimed at his head.

He recognized its origin as the bitch nurse who had betrayed him.

"Make it so." He hissed and headed off in her direction.

Nurse Sweet saw Trapjaw advancing and she turned to Sublime, "Keep these bastards off of me; I've got some business to take care of."

Sublime nodded and sent a blast of icy air at a Bio-B0t, freezing it still before she blasted it apart with her gun.

As he approached, Trapjaw unwound the chain that wrapped around his shoulder, his fury blazing in the blue eyes hidden behind his mask.

"Hey, Ugly." Nurse Sweet taunted, hitting an oncoming Bio-B0t with a blast of flame, sending it reeling back where it was zapped by Nimbus who swooped in from above.

"Hello, Bitch." Trapjaw said, narrowing his eyes and gripping his chain tightly, "How's your boyfriend? I haven't seen him around."

"Oh, he's around, don't you worry." She said, and raised a palm in front of her.

A blast of scorching air buffeted Trapjaw and he had to shield his eyes from its heat. After it subsided, he noticed the bitch was no longer in front of him. Her location was soon revealed when he noticed a glint of flame out the corner of his left eye. He jumped back and sent his chain flying, narrowly missing Nurse Sweet's right arm.

"Gotta be quicker than that." She taunted and sent another jet of flame.

Trapjaw yanked on his chain deftly and Nurse Sweet jumped as the jaws at the end missed taking a chunk of her calf by mere inches. The sharp teeth gave a glancing blow though, and she yelled at the pain.

"Oh, I'm quick." He said and sent the chain flying.

This time, Nurse Sweet was too slow and the chain wrapped itself around her neck. Trapjaw gave it a yank and she let out a gasp as her windpipe was cut off. He smiled as she fell to the floor, her hands wrapped tightly around the chain...but she wasn't trying to get it off. Searing pain lanced through his palms and he dropped the suddenly white hot chain as the smell of burnt flesh filled the air, his not hers he noticed.

Quickly, Nurse Sweet unwound the chain and gasped for breath. Taking advantage of the moment, Trapjaw grabbed the cool end of the chain and began to run, trying to buy enough time for the metal to cool off.

"No you don't." he heard her choke, and a searing heat scorched his back, burning off his suit and exposing his skin beneath.

Trapjaw roared in pain and dropped to his knees. He managed to turn around, expecting another jet of flame to come hurtling at him, but was surprised to find Engineer firing some sort of laser gun at the bitch. She dodged his poorly aimed shots and became distracted as a Bio-B0t flew itself at her. Trapjaw could tell he was badly hurt, so he grabbed the end of his chain and limped off to find somewhere to nurse his wounds.

'This is going badly.' He thought as he surveyed the scene around him from a safe distance.

Everywhere, Bio-B0ts were falling and the Corps was becoming more and more practiced in there maneuvers as they learned the best way to take them down. If only they hadn't fallen for the trick, the Bio-B0ts would have been more organized at the time of the attack and would have taken the Corps down in no time. Instead, the Corps had attacked from the rear hard and quick, throwing the Bio-B0ts into confusion as their basic survival programming took over. As luck would have it, the flying grey haired bastard had zapped Engineer's tablet before he could issue an organizing command and the Bio-B0ts never regained composure.

'Disaster...' he mused, the pain in his back becoming slowly unbearable, 'I hope Miss. White is having a better time.'

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Rachel White stood over the dying man, blood pooling on the floor from the bullet wound in his chest. He had tried to kill her, but still she felt bad for killing the old man.

"Coooommmmeeee....releasssseeeee meeeeeeee....."

The voice frightened her, but Miss. White was sent here to complete a job, and she intended to see it through. Holstering her gun, she exited the surveillance room to find herself back in the Bunker.

"Yesssss.....YESSSSSSSS...." the voice was growing excited then.

Miss. White walked briskly toward the stairs leading up the stone ring suspended from the ceiling. When she reached them the voice cried, "YESSS YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS......GOOOD GIIIIIIRLLLL......RELEAAAAASEEEEE MEEEEE......"

A strange energy filled the air as she ascended the metal steps. If what Trapjaw told her was true, all she needed to do was touch the area inside the ring and Slade would be free. Soon she found herself in front of the ring and the energy in the air nearly crackled in intensity.

"DOOOO ITTTT.....NOWWWWWWWWWWWW....." The voice nearly screamed.

Miss. White held out her hand, thoughts of Trapjaw racing through her head. Maybe if she did this thing, he would finally realize how much she mattered, maybe then he would lo.......pain lanced up her arm and a scream rose in her throat.

"YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" A voice shrieked.

Black lines were racing up her arm and the scream that had been welling inside her died before it was released. The pain was unbearable...what was happening?

"A body, so warm and soft and....mineee." The voice was inside her head now, consuming her every thought.

Images of Trapjaw raced through her mind, but they were becoming fuzzy and darkness played at the edge of her vision.

"Sleeping with the boss?" The voice taunted, "Pity, he might miss you when you're gone."

The blackness was becoming thicker, almost taking over her entire visual field.

"Don't worry; your death will have been for a noble cause."

She couldn't breathe and the images of Trapjaw were fading fast. She tried to call out to him but the words were stuck in her throat. Blackness now covered her eyes and only a single image remained. It was Trapjaw the one and only time she saw his eyes light up in a smile. She couldn't even remember when it had been...maybe it never happened...but the image soothed her as he mind shut down and the blackness inside her took over.

"Die now. Your work is done." was the last thing Rachel White heard before she faded into oblivion.

*************************************************

Gizmo Lady lay unconscious beneath him, knocked out by a rather nasty blow to the head. Rob stood up, panting. The fight had been long and rough, tiring even him. Rob could only assume that this poor Lady had been the subject of some insane experiment just like he was. It was probably because of some sort of kinship he felt toward the unconscious woman that he decided to let her live.

"Rob!" he heard someone shout, and turned to see Brick and Wraith coming towards him.

They were a little beat up and Wraith had a nasty gash on her left cheek, but other than that they seemed fine.

"Hey guys." He breathed, still trying to catch his breath.

"We found the production line and destroyed it, along with the remaining Bio-B0ts; are you ok?" Brick asked.

"Fine, let's go help the others."

Wraith eyed Gizmo Lady but said nothing as the trio raced back towards the steps that would lead them to the fight upstairs; or would have, if there was still a fight upstairs.

Rob, Wraith, and Brick were treated to shouts of joy as they neared the battlefield where they had last seen the Bio-B0ts. Sublime had a nasty limp and Turbo was sporting a sling made out of his shirt, but the Corps was all accounted for. Well almost all, everyone but...

"Where's Nurse Sweet?" Rob asked, noticing her absence.

"I just saw her." Sublime said, looking around for her friend.

"Nurse Sweet!" Rob called, scanning the area with his enhanced sight.

The remains of Bio-B0ts were everywhere, and a few fires burned in the fields, evidence of Nurse Sweet, but there was no sign of her anywhere.

"NURSE SWEET!!" He yelled louder.

Again there was no answer.

"When did you see her last?" He asked Sublime, trying to remain calm.

"She asked me to watch her back while she wasted Trapjaw. Last thing I knew she was sending some wicked flames at his back." She explained.

There was no sign of Trapjaw, dead or alive, and Engineer seemed to be missing as well. Using his sight, Rob counted exactly one hundred and fifty bodies in the field; all of them were Bio-B0ts.

"They took her." He said softly, coming to the realization.

"What? How do you know?" Brick asked, laying a reassuring hand on Rob's shoulder.

"There's no sign of her, Engineer or Trapjaw." He explained as he shook his head in frustration.

Nimbus cleared his throat, "I admit I did see a helicopter take off not too long ago."

Rob turned to him, "Search the area from the air, and try to see if you can tell where they went."

Nimbus nodded and took off; though Rob was doubtful he'd find anything. His mechanical brain was working overtime to try and stop the flood of emotions from overtaking him.

"We'll find her." Brick said, "They're weak and couldn't have gotten far."

"I know we'll find her." Rob said, trying not to sound as if he was about to burst into a rage...or tears.

A crackle of static came from the Base and Hax's voice came over the intercom, "Hey guys, there's an alarm coming from HQ. Say's there's a fire in the bunker."

The Corps jumped into action, each member climbing the ladder quickly as they could. Rob was the first one in and he quickly made his way to the control room.

"Fire this thing up, Hax." He said and the small man obliged.

As they were on their way out, Rob noticed a swarm of police cars coming down the road towards the ruined building, attracted by the smoke of the fires and the alarms that must have sounded when the Base rammed the building. It wouldn't be hard to follow the giant Mobile Base back to Corps HQ, but Rob had a feeling they had bigger problems than the Dallas PD.

Trees were mauled over as the Base raced through the forest and back to the bunker. Hax didn't say a word to Rob the whole trip, and Rob was grateful for the silence. He vowed that he would hunt down Trapjaw and that slime, Engineer and make them pay for taking his life away and for the experiment too.

In a few hours, the Base was back at HQ and rumbling down the long tunnel that led to the Bunker. Rob could see orange flames at the end of it and a sinking feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.

"What the...." Hax said and the Base shuddered violently as it came to stop just feet from what appeared to be a woman standing at the mouth of the tunnel.

"Stay here." Rob told Hax and he made his way out of the Base and down the ladder. As Rob made his way to the woman, her features became more defined. She had ashen grey skin with lines of black where her veins should have been. Her hair was completely black as were her lips and eyes. She wore skin-tight black pants and a matching black tank top. Rob swore she had seen this woman, who stood calmly with her hands at her sides and her head cocked to the left, before.

"Victorious, were we?" She said in a voice that sent chills down Rob's spine.

"We were...who are you?" He asked, his hand reaching for his sword.

"New body, new name." She said, "I'm not really sure what you should call me. Let's just go with Slade for now."

The sword was unsheathed and powered up in seconds.

"What happened to Giovanni?" Rob demanded, advancing on the woman he now recognized as the same woman who had fucked him and then kidnapped him just a few short weeks ago, the last memory he had as a human.

"Dead by now, I'm sure." She said with mirth in her voice, "Now put that toy away before you hurt yourself."

The sword powered down and no matter what Rob did, he couldn't get it to power up again.

"What do you want?" He asked, "What do you want from the Corps?"

"Your deaths would be nice, but I doubt I'm strong enough to take you all on right now." She said matter-of-factly.

"Then why are you still here?" Rob demanded, still advancing.

"I just wanted to see if that moron Trapjaw could be bothered to actually succeed at something."

Rob was right in front of her now, "Nope." He said and threw a right hook.

The girl moved lighting fast and before Rob could blink, he was against the wall of the tunnel with the woman's hand around his neck.

"Not strong enough for ALL of you," She hissed, "But certainly strong enough for YOU." Her hand tightened, and if Rob breathed air he would have choked.

The rage that had been building inside him after he discovered Nurse Sweet was gone broke at that moment. He could feel the energy coursing through him as he shoved against the woman. Lighting crackled and she was flown back. Rob's eyes glowed blue and energy rippled along his body in waves.

"YOU'VE TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM ME!" he shouted, and the woman barely dodged a bolt of energy that flew from Rob's fingers.

"Powerful." The woman said, dodging another bolt, "Engineer built you well."

Rob raised his palm and a burst of blue energy flew at the woman, hitting her square in the arm. She shrieked and grabbed it, fury in her eyes.

"You will all die!" She hissed.

Rob answered with another bolt of energy, but it missed as the woman vanished in a puff of black smoke.

"Rob!" someone was yelling, but he didn't hear them.

The Good Doctor was rushing through the Bunker, using his sight to find Giovanni's body lying on the floor in the surveillance room. The room was filled with fire and smoke, but it didn't bother Rob.

"Giovanni..." He said, his rage subsiding as he knelt before the dying man.

A quick check of Giovanni's vitals showed that he was still alive, but fading fast. Rob knew that there was nothing he could do for the man but ease his passing.

"Rob...." Giovanni said, his voice barely audible even to Rob's enhanced hearing.

"Don't talk, I'm here." Rob said, laying a reassuring hand on Giovanni's chest.

"Slade....the Bunker....stop...."

"Shh, I know, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop them. We took down Ark Chemicals and we'll hunt Slade down, don't worry."

Giovanni tried to raise his hand and it took a moment to figure out that he wanted to place it on Rob's head. Rob reached down and took the man's hands, resting his fingers on his forehead.

"You're in charge of the Corps now, Rob." Giovanni's voice filled his head, "You must not let Slade gain power, or he will destroy everything."

"He's a she now." Rob smiled.

"Well SHE must be stopped then. The world may not want our help, but it's up the Corps to remain strong in the face of such odds. Lead them, Rob and finish what I started thirty years ago."

"Don't worry, Chief, I'll waste them for you."

"Smart ass." The voice was quieter now, and Rob knew he was almost gone, "Bring...Corps...glory..."

Rob nodded as he felt Giovanni's hand go limp. Rob folded them on his chest and closed his eyes before vowing over Giovanni's body that he would do everything in his power to take down evil as well as find the woman who meant more to him then he had ever realized.

And there, surrounded by fire and smoke, with a fallen friend beneath him, the Good Doctor rose, his white lab coat billowing around him.

END ORIGINS

Hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing!!! Rob's story is far from over, and I intend to bring in some more characters, both bad and good, in the coming additions.

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