Creating the Doctor

Corvin felt that it was time to begin the design and construction of a new puppet. The next round of chuunin exams would be coming up and he wanted to be as prepared as he could be. For a puppet master, the best way to exponentially increase your battle prowess is to obtain another puppet. It meant more attacks from more angles, more firepower in general, more intimidation factor, and generally more options. Corvin was fast realizing that his key feature to battles would be his ability to put his opponents in checkmate through multiple attacks at once. To this end, he sat at his work table in his room at home to draft up the blueprints for a brand new puppet. At the time, Corvin only had two puppets. His first design was something he had made just out of the academy for practice. It was not very good and Corvin longed for the day when he could have enough puppets to replace it. He had named it Grey purely out of lack of originality. It was the feebleness of this puppet that pushed Corvin to design his second puppet. He named it Anima and had designed it to counteract a puppet master's innate weakness at close combat. If someone got past his puppets, he would be screwed. He thus created a puppet to not only protect him physically, but also to instill enough fear through sheer firepower that his opponents would be hesitant to come near him. Anima had proved to have significant close to mid range battle prowess. However, being inside Anima, Corvin placed himself in a certain amount of danger if he engaged personally. As it stood, all a person needed to do was stand outside of Anima's effective range and he would be helpless. Thus, the idea for a highly mobile combat puppet came to mind.

His previous puppets had a large amount of secret weaponry. Anima, for example, had more weapons that some genin squads had in total, and the power to defeat them to boot. This new puppet would need to forego a lot of that complexity. He needed a straightforward brawler. This puppet would likely wind up being his primary line of attack and as such he wanted most of the focus to be on it in a fight. This meant that secret weapons would be a waste of time on it. He needed it to have a single primary way of attacking that was showy and intimidating, but highly effective. Corvin had no doubt that he had the skills to create such a thing, he just needed inspiration to bring it to life. As he had done before when designing Grey and Anima, Corvin had gone to his bookshelf and taken out a few books at random and laid them out on his workbench. Flipping through the pages of his childhood books, study books from the academy, history books, and just about anything else could have the potential to spark something that would either lead to an idea or else lead to an idea that lead to an idea. He just knew that no matter the specifics, the beginning to the chain reaction that ended in his new puppet was hiding in the form of an idea sparked by one of these books. He poured over them for hours, but never quite got the right inspiration. 

Finally, as Corvin was halfheartedly running his fingers over the books on his shelf, he found himself thinking of some of the stories his granny would read to him when he was sick of superhuman shinobi. They were silly little fantasy tales, but filled with all the things that young children giggle at and enjoy. A faint memory pushed him to grab a dusty old book that he remembered hearing the story of years before. The story was about a superhero who major weakness was arachnophobia. His arch nemesis used that weakness against him and used his medical knowledge to meld with a spider giving himself eight limbs. It was one of the pictures in this dusty old fantasy book that sparked the idea Corvin had been waiting for. He went over to his desk and began drawing out the blueprint in his mind. The puppet would be humanoid. Humanoid puppets were generally the easiest to control since a puppet master generally does not have to think too much about what kind of movements they are capable of. The main aspect of this puppet was the way in which it was not humanoid. Coming from its back would be four arms which it could use for combat. They would have to be more than just normal arms however. Simply having more limbs might have scared his arachnophobic superhero, but it would do little to help in combat and even less to intimidate. 

Corvin began his drawing with the humanoid puppet having four typical arms coming from its back. He immediately decided that this would limit movement significantly. The arms were meant to be able to attack from the front, and with the arms coming directly from the back, reach around to attack the front would be difficult. He did some erasing and designed it instead as coming from the sides of a box like apparatus attached to the back. He still felt that the range of movement was too limited though. The arms of the puppet would be limited to being able to attack only in the way normal arms do. They were not as efficient as he wanted them to be. He considered making a mechanism that would allow them to twist around to face the back, but again it was still too limited. Then it occurred to him that he was going about it the wrong way. He was taking the concept of arms too literally. He erased the elbow and wrist of the four extra arms and instead created one fluid appendage. Rather than strict joints, the puppets extra arms would be able to twist and bend in any direction. It could attack and defend from anywhere it could reach. 

It was with that thought that Corvin got the idea that he felt would make this puppet great. With the bending ability of this puppet it could indeed attack or defend anywhere that it could reach, but by making the arms the length of the rest of the puppets arms, he was limiting its reach. He drew the puppet with arms twice as long. He was satisfied, but only for a moment. He thought about the design of Anima's tail and trunk and the way it was able to extend out. He decided that such a design was perfect for these arms. He could decide on a specific length later, but for the moment he knew that they needed to reach out to significant lengths. If he could design these arms well enough, it was conceivable that each arm could combat an individual opponent all on its own. Next would be to decide what weapons to give the arms to fight with. He considered just giving them swords or kunai, but another idea struck him. He knew from some of the books he had read that it was possible to create blades from pure chakra. He also knew that he was able to produce a similar effect with the chakra shields on Anima. While effective, he knew that this option also allowed him to maintain the arms' ability to grab things. Rather than holding onto a weapon that could be potentially lost, this puppet would be able to grab and throw things and at a moment's notice create chakra blades to slice with. 

Corvin sat back and looked at the blueprint of his creation. He considered what role he needed the new puppet to fulfill, and felt that this design would accomplish that nicely. He just needed to make sure that the design was strong enough and sturdy enough to intimidate and take a beating. There were a few details he still needed to work out, but much of that would come in the creation process itself. The first thing Corvin needed to do was collect supplies for his puppet. In this respect, he was both very lucky and very unlucky. He was unlucky in that he did not have much money. If he did he would simply have paid the local puppet store to build his design. This also meant that supplies for him were limited to what he could get on his own. For most puppet masters, this means using a lot of wood. It is easy enough to go off into the woods, chop down sturdy trees, treat the wood properly, and get it into shape for your puppet. This is where Corvin is lucky however. With his magnet release kekkei genkai, he is able to grind out iron sand within the ground and use that as he wished. 

His first step was to collect a large amount of iron sand. He spent a couple full days doing little else but collecting the sand and piling it at the work station he would be using. It was extremely tedious work, but it had to be done. And as tedious as it was, it would pay off. Few people were able to create fully metallic puppets, but this would be Corvin's trademark. Once he had gathered iron sand for a couple days and felt satisfied that he had as much as he needed, the real work began. Working with a makeshift forge that the local blacksmith helped him to design for this exact purpose, Corvin would form the shape he needed with his magnet release and then hold that shape within the forge to bond the metal together. He did this to create many plates of various sizes and shapes that would form the various parts of the puppet, as well as to create the bolts and hinges and mechanisms he would need. Being able to move the metal without ever touching it insured that he never got burned, but more than that the ability to work with the metal in the unique way that he had made him able to get a sort of precision that no blacksmith could without decades of experience and somewhere in the ballpark of triple the normal time they would take with a normal project. Corvin's work would be nothing short of a masterpiece in the eyes of any blacksmith worth his apron. For Corvin, this was the easy part. It was just a simple step by step process for him. He would mold the shape he wanted with ultimate precision, check over it several times for any flaws, set it into the forge to bind together, pull it out still glowing hot, mold it even better creating more and more density in the metal as he did so, putting the metal back into the forge to bind the new adjustments, repeat those steps as many times as it took to get it perfect in his eyes, then cool the whole thing off in a barrel of a special liquid meant to cool the iron rapidly but not so rapid as regular water which could potentially shatter the metal. Each and every piece was done in this tedious, careful way. It took a great deal of time just to form each piece, and he did so one at a time. Even with things like small bolts and screws, everything had to be done one at a time so that he could easily inspect each one and avoid even the slightest flaw. Corvin's method also had the added benefit of having nearly 100% pure iron every time due to the way in which it is obtained. This all resulted in simply masterwork materials for him to work with.

Once all of the metallic materials were collected and set into the appropriate pieces, the next step could begin. Corvin separated the creation process between the head, torso, individual arms, individual legs, the box for the back, and the four combat arms. The head was easy enough to form the general shape, but Corvin spent arguably the most time on it. He insisted on getting the face of his humanoid puppets to look as not only lifelike but believable as he could. Again, Corvin was able to excel in this area due to his unique ability to control the metals he was designing the puppets with. His puppets' faces were almost capable of emoting they were so precisely done. Everything from the way they appeared to blink to their eyebrow movements was done with time, effort, and care. Corvin would not allow any puppet he designed to be anything less than perfect to the tiniest detail. He formed the metal pieces into the general shape he desired and used the forge to get it solid where it needed to be. Again, Corvin's control over the metal was essential to his process as he was able to set up the mechanics behind the eyes, eyebrows, and mouth while not having to get into awkward positions or use complex tools to reach within the head to do so. Not until every mechanism was to his liking did he stop, thus the process took quite some time. Once all the mechanisms were in place, Corvin glued on the wig for the puppet and set the head aside.

Next came the arms. Again, the plates for each arm were set into place. Unlike the head which could be mostly one solid piece, the arms had to be separated into forearm, upper arm, hand, and elbow. Each required its own plates, and each had to be connected with the other in a way that allowed for both realistic movement and sturdiness. An arm can have perfect movement and fluidity, but if it could be yanked apart by a handshake then it was useless. Hooks and mechanisms were placed with the utmost care to get each arm into the proper shape and have the proper movement. Corvin connected chakra threads to the arms when he felt they were complete and moved them around, got them to punch a few things, and got a general feel for them to make sure that everything was perfect. The part that took the longest on the arms without question was the fingers. Corvin wanted them to have the strength and yet the dexterity of real fingers. He wanted his puppet to not only be able to punch someone, but he wanted it to be able to serve tea with fine china if he so desired. He needed that level of control and detail with them, where most puppets viewed the fingers as purely aesthetic. Indeed, some created the hand as one solid fist and did not even worry with fingers. This was simply not Corvin's way. Everything had to be perfect.

The next step was to form the legs of the puppet. Much like with the arms, the legs had to be done in separate parts, forging the thigh, calf, and foot separately and connecting them with intricate and sturdy mechanisms. Again, the purpose was to create fluid, lifelike movement while maintaining a firm connection. Unlike with the fingers, Corvin did not put much value in the toes of a puppet. He viewed them as useless and instead made the foot one solid piece. The puppet would spend the vast majority of its time up in the air as most puppets do. Hovering above the ground does not require any balance from the foot, which is the only real reason toes would be needed, and even then there are far better ways to do it. The legs still needed to be well made in order to not only support the weight of the puppet should it be knocked down but also in order to withstand the blows of giving a kick or blocking an attack. As before, each piece is molded from the various pieces he had made before and forged together in the way only a Magnet Release user can perform. Once the legs were completed and assembled, Corvin did much as he did with the arms. He used his threads to make the legs perform kicks and leaps, being sure to not just watch for any imperfection, but also listen for any grinding that should not be there or any unnecessary clinking. 

Next in like was the torso. This piece was at the same time the easiest to make and the most important part of the puppet. He forged the metal pieces together that he had designated for the torso, and made sure to leave a wide enough hollow to allow for the mechanisms that the box on the back will require. The torso also required the strongest pieces since it was most likely to take the hardest hits. Once everything was forged and ready, Corvin connected the head, arms, and legs. He made sure to be as tedious and careful with every connection as he could be. A single misplaced bolt could mean the difference between a masterpiece puppet and a liability. Once completed, he had the puppet do a little dance and tested it out with a few punches and kicks. Everything seemed to be in order for the last and hardest step of this process.

The remaining pieces of metal, if Corvin's calculations were correct, meant that each arm could be as long as 20 meters each. This meant that he would be required to make some simple seals to go with his mechanisms to hold the excess slack. He had become quite skilled with these simple seals and sometimes wondered if he should do more work on sealing techniques, but every time he thought about it the concept just did not appeal to him. In truth, these simplistic seals to hold slack for weaponry was all he required. Further study and training would be a waste he felt. Putting the idea aside, he decided a break was required. He had been working tirelessly without food or sleep for almost a full 24 hours. He went into his home to make a bit of food before hitting his bed and sleeping for a few hours. That night, he had another dream of someday controlling a puppet army the envy of all the world. He dreamed of single handedly protecting the village from an attack by another village. When he awoke, he had a renewed vigor for finishing his puppet. He had seen it as well in his dream mowing down countless enemies. 

The first step was creating the box and mechanisms within the box. The method for having this much slack would require more space than the box had, but fortunately he was able to put a good deal of it into the torso as well. He tediously set each and every bolt, triple checking everything. Nothing on the puppet was more important than this mechanism. A single failure in the ability to extend and retract these arms could cost him the fight, which may very well cost him his life. Every gear was placed one at a time and everything set well with the seals. Corvin knew that it was about more than simply function. The mechanism had to function harmoniously. It had to act as a unit, not as a series of moving parts. He worked tirelessly for several hours getting everything just right. On more than one occasion he tore it all apart and started fresh because the harmony of the mechanism was not quite right. Finally, he got it the way he wanted and was able to meld the box onto the back of the puppet. Rather than fitting on like a book sack, the box was indeed a solid part of the torso itself. 

Next, Corvin went over and began the process of forging each individual link in the combat arms. By creating the arms out of a vast series of micro links, he was able to get the full range of bending motion he desired while making it every bit as strong as he desired. The work was exhausting and unbearably tedious, but Corvin knew that the results were more than worth all of the work he was putting into it. Finally, after hours of work, Corvin had four twenty meter long roughly cylindrical three inch wide combat arms laid out. Now he needed to create the appendages at the end. Each arm got four of these appendages and each appendage was roughly three inches long by one inch wide. They needed to be made strong enough and with a strong enough connection that he could use these to grab his opponents. The appendages themselves were simple to make and did not take some time, but Corvin made sure to take his time with connecting them and making sure each connection was strong. He did not connect them directly to the combat arms, instead connecting them to a mechanism that allowed them to spin at rapid rates. This mechanism also served as a conduit for which Corvin could feed his chakra into and create the chakra blades he desired. Once the appendages were connected onto the mechanism, the mechanism was connected to the combat arm with every bit of care and tediousness as everything else on the puppet. Corvin connected his chakra threads and tested each combat arm. He grabbed at things, lifted things up, and created the ten inch diameter spinning chakra blade at the end of each combat arm. It shone a bright blue just like Anima's chakra shield. 

Corvin was finally able to then connect each of the arms into the slots on the sides of the box on the puppet's back. They fit perfectly and could go all the way in to the point of the appendages on the end touching the box itself. This made it easy to transport should he need to transport the puppet around as opposed to having the four combat arms flailing about like noodles. The mechanism he designed worked perfectly. Unless he pushed them out through his chakra threads, the arms did not extend and similarly could not retract without his say so. He lifted up his puppet and gave it another once over for any mistakes, and another one after that. Corvin's philosophy was that you simply could not be too careful. Once he was satisfied with his eyes, he wanted to test the puppet out for himself. He connected his threads and had it move every part of its body. Everything was perfect. He extended the arms to their full length and spun the chakra blades. He practiced swinging the blades around in tandem and found that it was strangely intuitive. He could not help but giggle to himself in amusement at his creation. He did not think he would ever quite get over the sensation of bringing something from his mind to paper and from paper to real life. He marveled at his puppet. He went into his closet and got out one of the cloaks he had bought for use with his puppets and placed it onto the puppet. It was a perfect match for his own. It was a long black cloak with red trimming, a high collar going up above his mouth, and a hood that he made sure to put up on the puppet. He considered how he had come up with the idea of this one, and decided to name it The Doctor in tribute to the villainous doctor who had melded himself with a spider to thwart an arachnophobic superhero. He just hoped that his doctor would have more success than the fictitious one from his story book. Only time would tell, but Corvin felt that with time and practice he could make this puppet into a legend someday. Already Corvin was thinking of other puppet designs to compliment this one, trying to remember if any of the puppets from his dreams could be brought to life to fight along side this one. For now, he felt that between the Doctor and Anima he was already a formidable opponent.

(WC: 4032, Rewards: The Doctor puppet, any other rewards you feel are merited from a project of this size and nature)

Approved
+20 stats
+40 Jp

Thank you, I know it was a lot to read.