Corrupting Influence
Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to Marvel or DC. I own Farrah/Persiana and Leon/Crisis.
Chapter 4: Hunting History
Miriam Delgado was the metahuman Mirage. She was a lowly street urchin living in one of the neighborhoods in Brazil, trying to raise her young daughter Julienne, when she was thrust upon an undercover assignment by Amanda Waller, a high ranking official within the espionage and intelligence community. Having disguised herself as a lieutenant, and, under the duress because of her daughter's disappearance, Mirage completed the assignment and was reunited with her daughter with the help of Crisis.
Presently, Miriam was working with what she could with her powers in one of the least noble professions; prostitution. She had just finished with a 'client' at a wealthy hotel when the bartender passed her a note. Miriam looked at it and her eyes widened in surprise. She discretely put the note away and, with a flick of her black hair, the illusion-making meta-human made her way to the back of the restaurant.
There were a few seats in the back and, two of those seats were currently in use. Fire, disguised in her human form with a flashy green dress, and Crisis, disguised in a business suit, were sitting and having a drink. Leon looked up from his seat and saw Miriam lower the illusion she had on herself before putting it back up. He adjusted his glasses,
"Hello, Miriam."
Bea studied the woman for a moment,
"So, you are Miriam Delgado, the woman known as Mirage in these parts."
Leon offered a seat to the woman, and Mirage sat down,
"I have heard of you as well, Ms. Da Costa. I am sort of surprised to see you back in Brazil. But, you must be homesick."
Bea smirked bitterly,
"I assure you, this is not about me, although, for what I read of you, you're career path is a little more…risky, shall we say?"
Leon looked at the two of them,
"Is there going to be a problem, ladies?"
Both women looked at Leon and then nodded. The red-eyed commando said,
"That's better. Now, Miriam, I wouldn't be asking unless this was important. We're tracking down the remnants of Axis America after their stint in Kasnia, and we could use your help."
He placed four photographs of the villains they were looking for. He pointed to one,
"This one, the Red Skull; he's the leader. The others are some of his stronger lieutenants."
Mirage studied them for a moment,
"No, I'm sorry. I would definitely remember if I did see them."
She then said,
"But, there was something I did find unusual."
At this, both Howling Commando members listened intently. Delgado continued,
"Well, a few weeks ago, there was this man that came to the local neighborhood. Well, as you know, these locals are distrustful of strangers and were ready to kill them. That was when one of them said something and then, they all backed away and allowed them through. The local militias seemed to know who they were, or at least recognized them from some place."
Leon shook his head,
"This is going to be a problem. Do you know where they were headed, or what they said?"
Mirage answered,
"No, but I only know this because Julienne told me so."
Bea said,
"We will need to speak with her."
At this, Miriam glared darkly at the green-haired woman,
"No. I won't let you near her."
She looked disheartened and was about to erupt when she inhaled and exhaled deeply, calming herself. Mirage then said,
"Forgive me. It is just that I am a little upset about what happened with Julienne the last time, and I do not want her involved with anything like this."
Bea seemed to soften a little,
"I understand. But, we need to talk to her."
Leon then offered a suggestion,
"What if I talk to her?"
Mirage looked at the red-eyed powerhouse,
"You?"
Leon nodded,
"Sure. She's seen me before. She has no reason to be afraid of me. Of course, the only other person she's seen is Deadpool, and we all know how that'll go if he's in the room."
Mirage chuckled at that,
"I suppose so. All right, you can speak to her."
Crisis smirked,
"Thank you. And, once we are finished, we'll move you two to a safe house."
Mirage asked,
"You have one here, in Brazil?"
Bea said,
"Well, let us just say that, while we have been talking, it is being taken care of."
Meanwhile…
At that precise moment that that conversation was occurring, a fierce gun battle was taking place on the other side of the city. Punisher, War Machine, and Deadpool had broken through the front gates of one of the more prominent drug cartels on the South American continent and were dealing with a group of heavily armed guards. However, these three proved that the guards had no idea what they were facing. They had been accustomed to fighting police, and other local militias just as armed as themselves, but, three men who had seen their fair share of war and killing, battle-tested and battle-hardened men who had fought worse than the guard had ever comprehended…it was effectively a one-sided fight.
Deadpool emptied a clip from his machine gun,
"Yeah! Hurray! I finally get to kill something!"
Castle took a position near a fountain and used it as cover as he picked off people left and right. The whole mansion was on alert status with guards pouring out of every door of the compound.
Meanwhile, Fury was leading Satana, Arsenal, Persiana and Troia inside the mansion, to find the head honcho of the drug family and get him to surrender. They were going to be needing this place at any time and need to secure it fast. Fury said,
"Fan out and find them! I want them hunted down!"
Satana saw some gunmen coming her way and feigned a yawn,
"Oh, please. Really?"
She raised her hand and mystical chains wrapped around them, causing the guards to lose their guns. The chains burned hot against their skin and the sorceress smirked lecherously,
'Who's in the mood for spicy food?"
Meanwhile, Arsenal and Troia were moving on the second floor of the mansion. Troia deflected bullets with her bracelets and launched beams of dazzling energy. Though they were not as powerful as they were if it had been nightfall, they were strong enough to kill. Arsenal covered his girlfriend by firing his bow and arrows at whatever moved,
"You all right?"
The princess did not even turn around as she smacked a guard that tried to come at her with a knife,
"Do you say that to all the women in your life, or just me?"
Arsenal looked back,
"Well, you do have a cute ass."
Troia turned around, holing a knife in her hand. She then threw it at Arsenal. Roy froze for a moment, until the knife sailed past the red-head's head and into another guard. Roy sighed in relief,
"I'm glad you weren't aiming that thing at me."
Troia mockingly sulked,
"My aim was a little off. Next time, I'll be sure not to miss you."
She then watched as Roy tried to respond, but, when she saw no response, she kissed him and smacked his backside, a sneaky smile on her face.
Eventually, everyone managed to find the drug dealer and cornered him in his office. The drug dealer himself was on his knees, glaring at Fury, angrily yelling in his Brazilian accent,
"Do you know what you're doing? You're messing with Intergang!"
Fury then executed the drug dealer and coldly said,
"Disable all the phones and get this place secure. Hide any bodies, and grab any weapons. This is temporary until we get a new lead or until the Red Skull comes to us."
His voice was like ice. The one-eyed solider knew this had to end, and it had to end quickly…
Next Chapter:
A talk with Julienne reveals some startling information on the Red Skull. Stay tuned, fellow readers!