“Mr. Jack Allison was it?” asked a lithe-looking black man wearing wire-rimmed frames and a long white Doctors lab coat.
“Ayup.” Said Jack.
“Follow. I’ll give you a tour of the facilities.” The Doctor said and they were off, through the entryway and out into the main lab which was abuzz with activity. Various lab-coated individuals flitted about the space, wearing safety goggles and testing things: some with tubes and vials, others with a dropper, slides, and a microscope, in all cases accompanied by another technician with a clipboard.
“Welcome to ADPP industries Mr. Allison. I hear you’re interested in my serum.”
“Interested?” Said Jack, speeding up to walk side-by-side with the Doctor. “Hell, more than interested Doc. We need this for our men in the field, yesterday. It’d give us a real leg up over the other merc outfits in the market right now.”
“Ah yes, for your... Slurpee Group.” The Doctor mused.
“Slurp Squad Security Inc.” Jack said, maybe too forcefully, as the Doctor abruptly stopped walking for a moment and shot him a look. “Respectfully,” Jack added with his hands up in a placating gesture.
The Doctor made an audible harrumph but they continued walking, silence as their new companion.
Once they reached the elevator, Jack watched the Doctor undergo a brief retinal scan and fingerprint scan, then he watched him input a special code. Once done the elevator hummed to life. Jack didn’t know how many floors raced past them as they shot up the transparent tube, but he knew they exited on the top floor.
The Doctor then led him to his office door, where a similar biometrics and keypad tango played out to gain access. With the door unlocked and the two of them inside, the doctor motioned Jack to sit down in either of the twin leather seats, before taking his place behind a massive, brushed aluminum and glass desk.
When both were seated, the Doctor leaned down on his right to input a code into a panel Jack couldn’t see. It must have been a safe because after the keypad beeps, Jack heard something hiss and click before the Doctor reached in and withdrew something. A neon-red liquid sample in a glass vial, which swirled with highly active bubbles. He set it on the desk followed by his two elbows as he leaned forward, hands steepled, eyes centered on Jack.
“You’ve heard of the Berserker state, I presume?” He asked, “that trance-like state of rage first recorded by the Vikings? A state in which could make any man immune to all physical blows, fear, compassion, causing them to transcend in totality into the perfect killing machine? Well, ask yourself, what is it that makes a man truly angry?” Jack could tell the Doctor was loving this, really enjoying hearing himself speak. “And how do we not only harness that emotion but maintain it? Those questions, we believe have been definitively answered with the synthesis of the serum before you.” Jack stared awe-struck at the swirling vial. “Does it not scare you, Allison?” asked the Doctor, “To be in the presence of rage incarnate? ”
“Hell no, I ain’t scared,” said Jack and to prove it, he shot out of his chair, uncorked the vial and downed it, paying no heed to the doctor’s shrill protests.
“You fool!” was the last thing Jack heard before his world went dark.
After some time, it could have been seconds, minutes, hours. Jack opened his eyes and saw red, the entire world drenched in the bloody shade. He looked at the doctor who had at first been crouched over him, but was now backing away from him, slowly.
Curiously, the doctor had two voices, one that was far off, muffled as if Jack’s ears were covered in cloth. He thought he could make out words like “Stop!” and “Get away!” and “Security!” But Jack couldn’t be sure, and besides, he wasn't interested in the muffled voice.
He wanted to confront the one that was clear as day. The one that was grating his nerves. The one that was saying foolish things like, “Ducktales is Canon!” Roaring with fury, Jack charged.
