It was one hel of a mission but life still went on, it was just another day being an Unwanted. Sol walked for about half an hour until he reached the industrial section of the underground base.

He walked through explosions and shrapnel until he found the correct door. He knocked on it and let himself in.

The room stunk of feces, scraps of metal and trash were piled up to the ceiling. In the corner there were sparks flying everywhere, one of them caught a cloth and it set alight.

“Shit,” Sol said as he pulled the extinguisher off the wall. He went to spray it but it was empty.

“Of course,” he muttered. He chucked it on the ground and found another one. He sprayed the white foam over it and gave the person a weary eye.

“Immortal? Has it been 3 days?” the person asked.

The person was a member of the insectoid race. Her name was Ozark and she had two antennas sticking atop her head. She was oddly cute and stood just above 5ft. Her hair was wild, it was matted and braided in some places and completely burnt off in others.

“It’s been 4,” Sol recalled.

Ozark scratched her head then stroked her antenna. There was an awkward pause as Sol waited for her to speak. He looked around the whole room, it was in a complete state, monster hearts were in pickle jars and there was a huge bucket of eyeballs in the corner.

“You wanted the device- you seem different?” she asked, curiously, interrupting herself. Her antennas moved about wildy towards him.

Sol coughed to show his annoyance.

“Right, right- sorry.”

“Did you make it?” Sol asked.

Ozark nodded with a bright smile, “It was awkward at first but I think I’ve managed. I was hoping to just send an electric shock into your brain but you said no- right?”

“Right,” Sol said sternly.

She quickly threw a cloth over the invention she just described and brought out a box from the top shelf. She began to throw pots and pans out of it, and then finally brought out a half circular piece of metal with a piece of fur on one side. At the end was a piece of thin rubber that connected to what looked like a metal ring.

She walked up to Sol and instructed him to take his top off. Sol rolled his eyes and took his top off. Ozark stopped for a minute to look at him, not his muscled physique but the marks across his whole body. In other words, she was a freak for anything interesting.

She placed the piece of metal furside across his back and then placed it between two leather straps to hold it in place. She put the metal ring on his finger and took a few steps back.

“Right, you’ve grown a little so the measurements are off by a tiddle but it shouldn’t be too uncomfortable. The ring on your finger has a small button, if you press it- it should send an electric signal to the motor in the metal piece across your back. Then a small sharpened spike will stab your heart,” she leaned in close, “I added a bit of death magic essence for the real instant kind,” she whispered.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Sol blinked twice, “So press the button and it should kill me instantly?” he asked.

He had an idea for this device for a while but he was not gifted in the slightest to make it. Mercy had instructed him to find someone to do it for him and that’s when he met Ozark. She was a little bit crazy but her heart was somewhat in the right place.

“Basically, yes. There might be a little blood when it comes out so I would not recommend it in public,” she stated with two thumbs up.

A small smile crept on Sol’s face from her ridiculousness.

“Here we go.” Sol said as he pressed the button.

In an instant he went to Yggdrasil and then straight back to the Mortal Dimension. He was still standing which was strange.

He returned back to the living to notice Ozark an inch away from him, she was staring at the new tally mark on his body.

Sol coughed again and she took a few steps back.

“That was fast,” Sol said. “How long?” he asked.

Ozark glanced at the stopwatch that had magically appeared in her hand.

“1.237 seconds.”

“Wow, consider me impressed,” Sol remarked.

“Really?” she asked with excitement. She jumped up and punched the air.

Sol wasn’t sure how old Ozark was but never dared to question.

“The deal?” she asked. “I made you three more cause I heard you like to get swallowed a lot.”

Sol was surprised at her effort and speed. He grabbed his decapitated head from his storage pouch. Time wasn’t entirely stopped in his pouch so it was slightly rotten.

“Woahhhh,” Ozark said. She held it up to Sol’s head and gawked in amazement.

“What did you want to do with it?” Sol asked.

“I was banned from the black market by my superior so I don’t have access to dead bodies anymore, but with this I can start my life-long project!”

“What project?” Sol asked with complete confusion.

“Have you ever watched the movie Frankenstein’s Monster? Everyone always thinks that the monster is called Frankenstein when it’s clearly the doctor’s name,” She rolled her eyes. “Morons.”

“You want to bring me back to life?” Sol questioned.

“Noooo of course not- well, maybe. But really I just need to study your cerebral cortex. I never finished my testing.”

“It won’t work,” Sol said. “Unless you want a mindless drone.”

“Why?” she questioned.

“You’d need a soul,” Sol replied honestly, he was practically an expert on them. He then realised what he just did, he could imagine her trying to capture someone’s soul.

“Ah, sorry. I was thinking about something else,” Sol diverted.

Ozark grabbed his arm as he tried to leave, “Tell me,” she demanded.

Sol smiled awkwardly, she looked terrifying. He quickly explained the evidence of souls and how she would need to capture one. Otherwise it would just be a shell of flesh.

He quickly grabbed Ozark’s invention and headed out while she was deep in thought. The fresh air allowed him to finally breathe.

“She’s fucking nuts,” Sol said as he put his back against the door.

She was an amazing creator but she was a little crazy, it seemed the two went hand in hand.