Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion, any of the characters or concepts depicted here, or anything associated with them. I have written this story solely because I enjoy writing.
Legends Of The Fourth of July
Chapter 4: A Day of Darkness, A Broken Spirit
Everything was going so perfectly, Mari thought as she continued to look at herself, her reflection caught within the surface of her mighty shield. The weapon and badge of honor she had worked so long and so hard to master. I was getting stronger, better. I was able to curbstomp Iron Man - or at least an Iron Man - and Goldilocks and I managed to get some of our stuff fixed. And...Uncle Steve, he...he was taking me seriously! And some of the other Avengers, too! I...I was finally starting to feel like...what he must feel like! For the first time...I felt like I truly was Captain America...!
Then Mari issued a deep, heavy sigh. And then...this happened...
"Stand still, you pervert!" snarled the massively muscled Akane Tendo alternate as she smashed her oversized mallet where, a split-second ago, Steve had been standing.
"You know, I'll never understand why bad guys or girls say stupid stuff like that," Mari noted as she assisted the luckless shipping truck driver that had had the bad fortune to run into the Nerima Wreckers. The adult male battered and bruised with blood trickling down from the wound on his forehead as the younger Super Soldier carried him away from the Captain America that had taught her so much, and the alternates of Akane, Kodachi, Shampoo, and Ukyo that had been amalgamated with the band of dumb muscle thugs known as the Wrecking Crew. "Seriously, do they honestly expect you to just stand perfectly still for them so they can kill you?!"
It had been an ordinary day in this wonderful new part of Mari's life. She and Steve had been on their way home from the Infinite Avengers Tower after another long, tiring, and ultimately exhilarating day of training when they had spotted this group of superpowered loons known as the Nerima Wreckers trashing a shipping truck belonging to a medical company. And without hesitation, Steve had flown down to intercept them, while Mari had landed the sky-cycle she'd been using so she could assist the driver and get him clear of the danger zone.
Of course, I wish I could actually fight as well! Mari thought with a hint of envy as she watched Steve effortlessly intercept Thunderball Shampoo's wrecking ball with his shield, tossing the destructive sphere back at the enraged Amazon even as he dodged a punch from Piledriver Ukyo, her fists enlarged for maximum pulverizing power. But, of course! Can't violate this damned probation...thanks a bunch, Jolly Jonah Jerkface!
Thinking evil thoughts about the J. Jonah Jameson alternate that had judged, convicted, and persecuted her for his own satisfaction, Mari continued to assist the driver, getting him a safe distance away from the ongoing battle. All the while checking with her enhanced senses to make certain that none of the Nerima Wreckers were in pursuit, looking for a hostage to exploit.
However, it quickly turned out that the Nerima Wreckers were all completely focused on Steve, having dismissed Mari entirely. While the younger Super Soldier was trying hard not to feel insulted by this, she watched and studied the alternate of her legendary ancestor in action. As always studying his tactics and abilities as Bulldozer Kodachi charged him from behind, intent on smashing him with her chrome-colored helmet, only to have her strength and charge turned against her and her leader when Steve grabbed her by the head and tossed the deranged former gymnast into Wrecker Akane, sending the two of them flying off to the side.
As the two deranged super-muscular women recovered, Wrecker Akane reacted in the typical fashion of Akane alternates. "Hey, watch what you're doing, Bulldozer!"
"Me?! Why don't you try dodging, you half-wit?!" Kodachi shot back at the most convenient target for her ire.
"Aiyaa! There they go again!" Thunderball Shampoo muttered, pausing to massage her forehead.
"Hey! You two jackasses can play the blame game later!" Piledriver Ukyo declared as she brought out her oversized spatula, which was getting even larger as she charged at Steve. "We still have a hero to pulp!"
"I don't think so!" Steve countered, rearing back and gathering energy in his hands, energy that he launched right into Ukyo's face a scant moment later. The Piledriver amalgam cried out, more in surprise in pain, but she was still momentarily blinded. Continuing blindly forward, Ukyo was unable to guard herself from Steve as he unleashed a punishing barrage of blows on her pressure points and other vulnerable spots.
"Grrr...oh, forget this!" Wrecker Akane vehemently declared even as she untangled herself from Kodachi. "Let's just grab this stuff and get out of here!"
"Why are we bothering with a bunch of medicine, anyway?! You don't even know what it's for!" Bulldozer Kodachi pointed out with considerable vehemence.
"I know it's in an armored truck, and that means it's expensive!" Wrecker Akane shot back. "And that's good enough for me! Thunderball, open up the truck! We'll keep this costumed loser busy!"
Like you're one to talk! Mari thought snidely, for alternates of the metas known as the Wrecking Crew were pretty much Dumb Muscle personified, and tended to get themselves pounded on fairly regularly. Dammit...if not for this stupid collar...!
Wishing above all else that she was fighting alongside Steve, Mari fought to remember the orders he had given her; to stay at the civilian's side, to keep him safe and herself out of trouble. To avoid violating her probation at all costs. All the while watching as Thunderball Shampoo ripped open the truck with her bare hands, sending several of the containers within spilling out in her eagerness to get at their prize.
Even as Mari was slowly succumbing to the urge to give Thunderball Shampoo a taste of her shield, a whip of pure photonic energy wrapped itself about the destructive Amazon's ankle, pulling it out from her. Off-balance and off-guard, Shampoo cried out in dismay as she was dragged out of the truck, trailing numerous containers with her. "I don't think so, miss," Steve declared as he used the photonic force whip being generated by his battlesuit to pull himself into a jumping kick that connected squarely with Shampoo's chin. "Whatever medicine is in there, it's for people in need!"
"Then it's for us!" Wrecker Akane decreed vehemently even as she charged in with her mallet, swinging it at Steve but only managing to connect with empty air. "Because we need a boost to our bank accounts!"
"Not at the expense of lives this medicine can save!" Steve countered, turning Akane's considerable strength to his advantage by positioning Ukyo so that she was between him and the Wrecker's mallet. All while Mari could do nothing but watch...
"Damn, talk about dumb as mud!" Mari grumbled as she carried a crate filled with medicine back to the savaged truck. Darting glances at the Nerima Wreckers as a detachment from SHIELD marched them into one of their transports, each and every one of them wearing suppressor collars like the one Mari was being forced to endure. "Those four idiots spent more time fighting each other than they did you!"
"No kidding. At least regular versions of the Wrecking Crew manage to function as a team," Steve muttered, shaking his head in disbelief as he also helped to gather up the medical bounty that had been spilled from the truck. "Wasting time yelling at each other...no wonder they spend most of their time as hired guns."
"Yeah. At least when they have someone to do the thinking for them, they can actually manage to be kinda dangerous!" Mari snarked derisively. "And...oh, shitballs...!"
"What is it?" Steve wondered, directing a look at Mari.
"This thing's leaking!" Mari stated, holding up the container for him to see. "Some of the vials inside must've been damaged during the battle!"
"Can't say I'm surprised," Steve noted with some dismay. "Still, a lot more medicine would have been lost if we hadn't been here."
"More like if you hadn't been here," Mari noted with some annoyance. "Dammit...I can't even help someone without violating this stupid probation!"
"That's not true, Mari. You were able to help that driver," Steve noted, gesturing towards the ambulance the injured man was being loaded into. "I might not have been able to keep him safe while dealing with those four."
"Yes, you could," Mari declared without hesitation. Pausing to look at the living legend with whom she shared a title, she then asked, "By the way, how's your new battlesuit working for you?"
"Surprisingly well," Steve admitted, glancing down at the vibranium-mesh battlesuit that Tony had made for him, one that bore a great deal of resemblance to his own original costume. "It's even lighter than my old suit, and it doesn't restrict my movement or slow me down at all." Then he gave Mari a wry smile before adding, "And I will admit; the new gear does come in handy. So thanks for that. And thanks for helping me get used to it."
"No problem," Mari assured him as she loaded the damaged container into another truck. "Here you go. But be careful; something in this thing is leaking."
"So I heard," muttered the driver of the second truck, the one that had been dispatched by the medical company handling the medicine when they had been alerted to what had happened to their shipment. "Oh, well. Better a few leaky vials than the whole shipment going to hell!"
"Agreed," Steve nodded as he place his own containers onboard. "Anyway, that should be the last of them. Sorry about your shipment, and your friend."
"Hey, no worries! I'm just glad you were to save the day!" the driver informed the living legend. "Say, Cap, uh - it is okay if I call you Cap, right?" When Steve nodded, the driver said, "Well, you see, it's not every day you run into a genuine Captain America. So...would it be okay if I got your autograph?"
Not missing the emphasis the driver had placed on the word 'genuine' and unable to help being somewhat nettled by it, Mari looked on as Steve glanced her way for a moment before nodding. "Do you have a pen?"
"Sure," the driver replied, fetching both a pen and paper from his truck. "By the way, that's a cute sidekick you got there."
"Mari's no one's sidekick, mister," Steve declared without a hesitation. "She's a fellow soldier, and a good one, too."
"Sure, sure," the driver returned, darting a glance at Mari. And most likely, the accursed collar she still wore.
Her annoyance rising and knowing there was nothing that she could do to express it here, Mari distracted herself by looking at the medicine Steve had so recently saved. "So...what exactly was your buddy carrying?" she asked even as Steve gave the driver his autograph. "The Nerima Wreckers definitely wanted it, so..."
"Eh, sorry, kiddo. But I really don't know myself," the driver replied in a dismissive manner. "The bosses just give us the stuff and tell us where to drive it. I don't get paid enough to know any more than that."
"There you go," Steve concluded as he finished writing out his name and title for the driver.
"Thanks a bunch, Cap! And you, too, kiddo!" the driver added as an afterthought. "Stay out of trouble!"
It was all Mari could do not to give the driver the one-fingered salute in response.
"I'm sorry about that, Mari," Steve apologized as he escorted Mari the door of the home she shared with Maria. "About what that driver said to you."
"Eh, water off a duck's back," Mari said in as dismissive a manner as she throttled down her annoyance and once more fingered the wretched collar that marked her as a troublemaker, a failure, and whatever else people tended to think whenever they saw it about her neck. "I'm kinda used to people equating the name 'Mari' with 'trouble' by now..."
"But you shouldn't be. Judging you because you happen to have the same name as someone else is like judging you by your gender or by the color of your skin," Steve insisted, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Just because you share their name doesn't make you them, or they you."
Smiling sadly as Steve unknowingly echoed a sentiment that Mari herself had given voice to, the younger Super Soldier replied, "Yeah, but trying telling the rest of the world that." Placing her hand on Steve's own, she then went on to say, "I'm just glad there are a couple people who can figure that much out!"
"I'm sure there're more than that, Mari," Steve assured her. "And one day, you'll prove to everyone the kind of person you really are. I have no doubt of that."
"Thanks," Mari replied as she reached the door of her home. "You know...I'm really gonna miss you. I know you're only gonna be gone for a couple weeks, but..."
As Mari trailed off into a shrug, Steve nodded. "I know, but this is very important, Mari. You know about the martial arts academy where I trained, that it's the first of many such schools that we're hoping to establish. And if we're going to make that happen, then I and everyone else that trained at the first school have to testify before the joint committee funding it. Demonstrate the effectiveness and the results of training there, and prove that the time spent training there and the money invested in it are worth it, and that we should create similar academies."
"You can't just fly over their heads, bust out a few kamehamehas, and call it a day?" Mari inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"If only it were that simple," Steve muttered with a shake of his head. "Unfortunately, there are those who feel that there are easier, less expensive ways of getting the same results. Or that we can use machines to compensate for whatever shortcomings we have."
"Let me guess; Tony. Or Tonys," Mari gathered.
"Some of them, anyway," Steve confirmed. "And there a few others who feel similarly, or that it would be better just to enhance people's powers or develop new serums, gamma injectors, that sort of thing. Or who are worried that having too many heroes training instead of actively protecting others would be dangerous."
"Well, I can see tech helping in getting the results. I mean, people use supplements in exercise all the time. But we still have to do the work," Mari admitted. "And I have to admit, a shortage of heroes is no laughing matter."
"As long as there's even one person who believes in justice, that will never happen," Steve promptly assured her. Then he gave her a slightly more concerned look. "Now, are you sure you're gonna be alright by yourself?"
"Yeah, no problem," Mari quickly assured him. "Maria finally found a new guy that she likes, and with all the work she's been putting in, training with Thor, she could use a little downtime to get all romantic. And after Tony won that bet, he's been Captain Generous, so the lovebirds can spend some time together at his vacation home, which is seriously cool." Then she gave a hapless shrug and added, "Besides, I could use a little space to myself every now and again."
Nodding to this, Steve replied, "Well, alright then. But if something comes up, just call Tony or Spidey or someone else on our team." When Mari nodded her understanding, his eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm very serious about that, Mari. If anything happens...you do have friends that are there for you."
"Sure," Mari smiled, glad to have some friends in her life. "And you take care of yourself, alright? Don't let some corporate fatcat moron tell you that his or her money means more than people's lives."
"The day I let something like that happen is the day I turn in my shield," Steve promptly assured her. "Alright, then, Mari. Hopefully, this won't be too complicated. And when I get back..." he began, giving her an mischievous smile that held a trace of her own to it, "...I might have a bit of a surprise for you."
"A surprise? What kind of surprise?" Mari asked, only to hold out her hand. "Oh, wait! Don't say it! If you told me -!"
"- it wouldn't be a surprise," Steve and Mari finished as one, with the older Super Soldier chuckling. "That's right, Mari. But...well, let's just say that, if this pans out, you'll be glad you waited."
"Then I sure hope it pans out!" Mari assured him. "Take care, Uncle Steve."
"You, too, Mari," Steve nodded before turning to leave. A moment later, he was rising up into the air, the sky-cycle Mari had been using obediently following him. Leaving the younger Super Soldier to sigh before entering her home.
Alone for the first time since coming to Coreline.
Issuing a sigh as she made her way towards where the American Dream and the rest of her hero equipment was stored when not use, Mari found herself wondering what the heck she was going to do with herself. True, she could call Steve's team, as he had reminded her, but it was a considerable distance between their residence and the Infinite Avengers Tower. Certainly well out of the way of the heroes there, and a long hike for them to make if she asked for them to come on by and let her out of a home that, thanks to her probation, was now effectively her prison.
Oh, well...Tony did buy us some new stuff as thanks for helping him win that bet. And he gave me ten grand for every ten million bucks he raked in from the other Tonys, so we have some extra cash, Mari reminded herself, knowing that the money he'd given them was far more than they'd seen in a long time. Still...it's been so long since it's just been me. And it's not like I can go out and just hang, not without a licensed hero to act as babysitter. So...
Frowning to herself even as she began to doff her battlesuit, Mari found herself already missing the training she had been going through with Steve. Wondering what she was going to do with herself, she was pulling off another section of her battlesuit when she felt something slimy on her bare hand. "Uh, what the -?!" she started, looking at her bare hand and finding strange, greenish substance on it. "Where did - oh, wait! That leaky container!" Recalling the container that had been damaged during the battle with the Nerima Wreckers, Mari frowned as she looked down at herself and spied more of it. "Must've gotten some of it on myself when I was carrying it."
For a moment, Mari considered simply tossing her battlesuit into the cleaning chamber and being done with it. But even as she considered that, she recalled her earlier questions regarding the nature of the substance, and how the truck driver they'd talked to had claimed to not know what it was. And even a collection of dumbasses like Wrecker Akane and her crew wouldn't try and grab something that wasn't important, she realized, considering the matter for a time before finally deciding on a course of action. Aw, what the hell? It's not like I have anything better to do!
With this in mind, Mari made her way towards the part of the former warehouse that was her home where the American Dream was stored. It was a massive vehicle, an all-terrain, all-purpose mobile commander center about the size of two RVs, and was a stubbier version of a jet's classic v-wing design with two long cannons built into it. One of the few things that had come through with Mari and Maria when they had landed in Coreline, and while maintaining it had not been easy, she was ever so grateful to have access to it, despite it and all equipment pertaining to it being restricted from leaving her home as a result of her probation.
Making her way inside of the admantium-armored craft, Mari spoke, "Hey, Tai? You up and about?"
"You know I am, Mari," Tai returned obediently as the Super Soldier made her way to towards a section of the wall and pressed a button, causing a small but efficient laboratory to unfold from its holding space and deploy before her. "How'd your training session with Uncle Steve go?"
"Fun as always, but we ran into some trouble on the way back home," Mari announced, doffing the rest of her battlesuit. "Long story made short, the Nerima Wreckers tried to grab some kind of medicine, Uncle Steve stopped them, and some of that medicine wound up on my suit. And since the people handling said medicine either didn't know what it was or didn't want to tell, I figured I'd let you have a look at it. See if you could tell me why a bunch of idiots like the Nerima Wreckers would want to grab it."
"Of course," Tai agreeably replied. "Just put a sample into the spectro-analyzer, and we'll be good to go."
Nodding, Mari went to work, putting on a pair of latex gloves before using a special swab to gather up a sample of the substance from her battlesuit. Before long, the sample was safely inside the spectro-analyzer, being broken down into its base components. Leaving Mari to ask, "So, do I have time to watch a movie before you can tell me what I got slimed with?"
"Nope. The analysis is already complete," Tai announced. "And...this is odd."
"What's odd?" Mari wondered, raising an eyebrow at this.
"The primary compound is a perfect match for the chemical known as anti-TITAN," Tai reported, immediately grabbing Mari's attention. "It's the only known cure for the TITAN formula, a derivative of Venom that -"
"Turns people into psycho Titan-monsters? I've heard of the stuff," Mari broke in with a frown. "Well, that stuff is supposed to be pretty rare. But what's so odd about it?"
"The anti-TITAN appears to have been contaminated," Tai explained with a note of concern. "With another chemical agent."
Mari really didn't like the sound of that. "Could it be something I picked up while I was out?"
"Not unless you spent some time at an industrial chemical plant. Or some mad scientist's lab," Tai informed her, causing Mari's frown to deepen. "It's a refined chemical compound, not something you'd find out in the open air or that you could run into in a store or anyplace like that."
"And it was in the anti-TITAN?" Mari asked, her bad feeling getting worse. "So...what is it? Some kind of poison?"
"I'm not certain. It doesn't seem to do anything. At least by itself," Tai admitted. "I'll have to run a thorough analysis on the compound, compare it to other chemical agents in my database. And that would give you plenty of time for dinner and a movie."
"Fine with me," Mari returned, making a face. "But you'll excuse me if the thought of tainted medicine doesn't do much for my appetite!"
As it turned out, Mari had more than enough time for a dinner and a movie. She had enough time to sit back, play a video games, flop around on the couch, trying to take a nap, only to find herself too wound up by the unanswered questions dancing about in her mind to surrender to unconsciousness.
How the heck did a bunch of ant-TITAN get contaminated with...whatever that stuff is? Mari wondered, over and over again. Was it an accident, or did somebody do it on purpose? And if it was on purpose, then for what? Why would anybody do something like that?
Mari knew a few things about the TITAN formula, and that even small amounts of the substance could cause even more drastic transformation than the drug Venom. In very small, controlled amounts, it caused a considerable, though temporary boost in physical strength, but beyond those levels, it caused an agonizing transformation that turned people into almost mindless TITAN monsters. Even worse, when used in metas, TITAN could combine with their native physiology in unpredictable ways, becoming incredibly toxic and killing the infected person. As a result, it wasn't the most popular street drug for boosting one's strength, and thus wasn't very commonly encountered.
So why? Mari wondered as she continued to flop around, very strongly considering going to the training room to blow off some steam. What's going on? Could it have just been an accident? Or was it -?
"Mari?" Tai's voice suddenly echoed through her unlikely home, snapping her from her thoughts. "I just finished my analysis of the compound I found."
When Tai failed to say anything beyond this, Mari frowned and prompted him with, "And...?"
"I think you better come to the ship," Tai went on, his simulated voice doing an excellent job of conveying worry. "You're going to want to see this yourself."
The bad feeling Mari had had at the discovery of the anti-TITAN's contamination became dramatically worse at this, and so she lost no time in making her back to the American Dream. "Okay, Tai," she began as soon as she once again made her way to the small laboratory, "what have you got for me?"
"The unknown compound doesn't match any known chemical agent or drug in my files," Tai immediately reported. "However, it is a partial match with several possible compounds."
"Partial match?" Mari repeated. "You mean that, whatever this stuff is, it's not complete?"
"Exactly. And on its own, this partial compound appears to be harmless," Tai reported, his voice grave. "But...well, I've compiled a list of possible compounds that this could be part of. Displaying it now."
A moment later, a holographic display appeared before Mari. "Let's see now..." she murmured, reading off the various possibilities. "Shampoo, psychotropic drugs, Nu...oh, shitballs...!" Her eyes rounding with horror, Mari found herself longing for the days when she had still needed glasses, because then she would have at least could have blamed faulty vision for seeing what she saw. "A consciousness control drug?!"
"A very powerful one, used primarily in brainwashing, implanting post-hypnotic suggestions, and mind control," Tai confirmed even as Mari felt her heart sink right into her toes.
"Okay. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the odds of something like that winding up in a bunch of anti-TITAN by sheer accident are pretty damn bad," Mari declared a frown. "But...why would there only be half of a brainwashing drug in there?! Why not the whole thing?! And why would anybody want a brainwashing drug in anti-TITAN in the first place?!"
"A consciousness control drug is only one possibility, Mari," Tai reminded her.
"A possibility too nasty to be ignored," Mari quickly returned, considering what to do next.
The first thing to occur to her was that she should call Steve and let him know what she had just found. But even as Mari considered this, she found herself frowning before finally shaking her head. It was already late at night, and Steve was either on his way to the big meeting with that joint committee, actually meeting with them, or probably getting ready for bed so that he could deal with them in the morning. And with how much these martial arts academies mean to him, I don't want to bother him, Mari decided. Not until I can prove that something is screwy here!
With this in mind, Mari asked, "Tai, can you get me the name of the company that was shipping the anti-TITAN?"
"Certainly. The incident is already on file with local law enforcement. Public domain, so the lockdown placed upon me by your probation doesn't apply," Tai explained to Mari. "And there it is! Midas Touch Pharmaceuticals."
As Mari studied the information being presented to her, she asked, "What can you tell me about this company?"
"It's a medical company based in Chicago. They appear to specialize in medicines and pharmaceuticals that are used to treat illegal narcotics," Tai responded, all the while displaying holographic windows containing the pertinent information. "Some of the medicines they carry are very rare and expensive."
"Like anti-TITAN," Mari gathered, frowning slightly as she considered what to do next.
The first thing to occur to her was the possibility of contacting Midas Touch Pharmaceuticals, alerting them to her discovery, that their shipment of anti-TITAN had been tainted. Let them take care of the matter.
But even as she considered this, another dread possibility occurred to Mari. The possibility that, in doing so, she would be contacting the people that were responsible for contaminating the anti-TITAN in the first place. And that all she would be doing was alerting the guilty party.
Assuming that it was done on purpose. Which is something I can't just ignore, Mari thought with a note of determination. Aloud, she said, "Tai...can you get me anything more on Midas Touch Pharmaceuticals? Owners, stockholder, that sort of thing?"
"I can get you information on the current management and some of the employment registry," Tai immediately replied. "However, much of the pertinent information is considered to be private domain. And with my systems locked down, there's a great deal I won't be able to access."
"Then we'll start with what you can access," Mari promptly decided even as she began sifting through the data Tai had uncovered. "Go over the records of the owners, employees, stockholders, whatever! I want criminal records, anything they might have been accused of, anything at all that you can get for me!"
"Very well, Mari," Tai returned. "But I'm afraid that what I can get you...probably won't be very much."
It wasn't long before Tai's warning was proven to be a major understatement. For about an hour, Mari and the AI looked over the scant few files that Tai had been able to acquire, only to wind up right back at square one.
"Nothing!" Mari spat irritably, having just finished going through the last of several files on the management of Midas Touch Pharmaceuticals. "The CEO and all the rest of them are all clean! Well, as clean as about any business type gets in this crazy world! A few slightly shady deals, but nothing serious!"
"I've just finished the rundown of Midas Touch Pharmaceuticals's employment register," Tai reported. "And the results are similar. No criminal records whatsover."
"And all of its stock belongs to a holding company that's so clean that it squeaks!" Mari concluded, flopping back in her seat even as she considered what next to do.
For a time, the possibility that she had been barking up the wrong tree, chasing after a rat that wasn't even there, danced in Mari's thoughts. But even as she considered writing this off as a bad job and just calling whoever was at Midas Touch Pharmaceuticals that something was wrong with their anti-TITAN, the very fact that they were dealing with the possibility of mind control, that there still might be a criminal aspect to this loomed large in her mind. After all, it wouldn't be the first time a crook's been able to hide, right in plain sight, she reminded herself, thinking of the rather unsavory records of mega-corporations such as OCP and their ilk. It's not like we were able to dig that deep. And besides...that holding company...it's so clean. Maybe even too clean...
It was a flimsy reason to be suspicious, Mari knew. But with mind control and all of the unsavory possibilities that came with it, it became the straw that came very close to breaking that proverbial camel's back. A red flag that she simply couldn't ignore.
"Tai, what time is it?" Mari asked.
"2:13 AM," Tai promptly reported.
Groaning in disgust, Mari realized that this meant that all of the Avengers she knew were most likely in bed. And she certainly couldn't justify waking them up to check into something that might or might not be completely innocent. I know I'd get an earful from Hawkeye! Mari frowned, rolling her eyes as she imagined the diatribe the irate archer would give her if she pulled something like that. But...dammit! I'm wired! I couldn't sleep if I tried it! So - wait!
It was then that a metaphoric light bulb of inspiration winked into existence over Mari's head, prompting her to ask, "Tai! Any chance you get contact JARVIS for me?"
"Of course," Tai obediently responded.
"Then patch into the Infinite Avengers Tower and get him!" Mari ordered. "Tell him that I want to talk to him about something, okay?"
"Certainly. Patching in now," Tai stated.
The several seconds that it took for Tai to accomplish this passed with almost agonizing slowness for Mari. Making it an incredible relief when the familiar refined voice of JARVIS sounded, "Hello, Ms. Makinami. I must say, this is something of a surprise. Not too many people call the Tower, wanting to talk to me specifically."
"Then I hope you won't take it personally when I tell you that we need your help on something," Mari responded. "Listen, earlier today - or yesterday now, I guess - Uncle Steve stopped the Nerima Wreckers from robbing a truck owned by Midas Touch Pharmaceuticals. Do you know about that?"
"I'm checking the records now," JARVIS obediently replied. "And - ah, yes. The incident is on file with both the police and SHIELD."
"After the fight, Uncle Steve and I helped pack the medicine the truck they hit was carrying into another truck, but one of the containers was damaged and leaking," Mari explained. "I got some of the medicine on me, and...Tai? Why don't you just send JARVIS the results of your spectro-analysis?"
"On it," Tai promptly replied. "Sending data now."
A beat passed before JARVIS replied, "Data received. And...oh, dear. That is troubling."
"Exactly. And to make matters worse, we're not sure if Midas Touch is in on it, so we can't just call them about it," Mari explained. "I was thinking of telling Uncle Steve or some of the Avengers about it, but...I'd like to have more information on it before we tell them. Make sure that something is up. And we need your help to do that."
"I will help you in any way I can, Mari," JARVIS promptly assured her. "What do you require?"
"Tai's already gone over the people who work at Midas Touch Pharmaceuticals, and the holding company that owns it," Mari explained with some urgency, glad to finally be making some headway. "But he can't get much information, thanks to his systems being locked down because of my probation. So I wanted to ask if you could do some digging on them for us? Get some information that we can't?"
"Certainly, Ms. Makinami," JARVIS replied in an agreeable manner. "I will assist you in any way I can."
"Okay. Tai, if JARVIS sends you the information he digs up, can you help me sift through it?" Mari asked. "If something nasty is going on, then we need to find it. And fast!"
As it turned out, fast was not a word Mari could have used to describe the progress made in sifting through the absolute plethora of data dug up by JARVIS. The Avengers' AI went above and beyond in dredging up every single file, every scrap of data, every sliver of information that pertained to Midas Touch Pharmaceuticals. Leaving Tai and Mari with an utter deluge of data to plow through, one that had them up and working throughout the night and well into morning.
But when they finally reached the end of the enormous paper trail they had been sifting through, sleep was without a doubt the furthest thing from Mari's mind.
"I don't believe this..." Mari breathed as she sat within the American Dream, staring in absolute horror at the information they had uncovered. "JARVIS...Tai...are you both absolutely sure about this?!"
"I'm afraid so, Ms. Makinami," JARVIS reported, his artificial voice grave even as Mari continued to stare at the data they had put together. "It was quite difficult to get past the many different owners, stockholders, and shell companies. Certainly quite the paper trail to sift through...but the information we have acquired is incontrovertible. There can be no mistake."
"Agreed," Tai seconded, sounding no less displeased than JARVIS. "The contaminated anti-TITAN is being kept by a medical company owned by Goldie Musou, the leader of the Golden Four."
"The mind-control freak!" Mari gritted, only to smack herself on the forehead. "Aw, dammit! Midas Touch Pharmaceuticals! Cute, Goldie! Really cute! How could anybody miss something like that?!"
"Ms. Musou's efforts, from what I can tell, have been most impressive in terms of disguising her ownership of this company," JARVIS told Mari in what was probably meant to be a soothing manner. "It took considerable time and effort on my part to bypass the various shell companies and false owners she had built to disguise her involvement. And Midas Touch Pharmaceuticals has an impeccable record and reputation. If not for this incident, I doubt anyone would have thought to investigate them."
"Well, we investigated them. We know they stink. And we know that calling them about their anti-TITAN would be a bad move to make," Mari declared, almost wishing that she had been wrong about this. "And most of all, given that a Goldie Mosou is involved in this, I think we can safely say that the stuff in the anti-TITAN is definitely half of a consciousness control formula. Part of Goldie's brainwashing happy-juice."
"That would certainly seem to be the logical conclusion," Tai agreed.
But even as she considered this, Mari frowned. "But...it still doesn't add up!" she finally declared, shaking her head as she began to pace about the interior of the American Dream. "Why would Goldie - or anybody else, for that matter - only put half of the formula in the ant-TITAN?!" Furrowing her brows, she continued to march about, furrowing her brows in consideration. "Why put any of it in anti-TITAN at all?! It's not like TITAN's in huge demand! Venom's a lot cheaper, and a hell of a lot safer! And there are better ways of getting a serious boost in bulk if you have the cash for gammaroids or something else! And why would Goldie want to brainwash braindead Titan-monsters?! It doesn't make any sense!"
"Perhaps she would wish to brainwash a TITAN-user after the effects of TITAN had worn off. Which they do," JARVIS suggested. "However, there are no major users of TITAN that I am aware of. Certainly none that Goldie would have any reason to take control of."
"Right. It just doesn't make sense for Goldie to -!" Mari continued, only to cut herself when something JARVIS said clicked in her mind. "Unless...we're looking at this in the wrong way..."
"What do you mean?" Tai wondered.
"Well, think about it!" Mari demanded of the AI. "Why would anybody want to use anti-TITAN to begin with?!"
"I would assume to cure people of TITAN poisoning," Tai replied.
"Exactly!" Mari exclaimed. "But what if people weren't just infected with TITAN?! What if there was something else in the mix?! Like the other half of Goldie's mind-control formula?!"
A beat passed before Tai replied with, "Are you implying that Goldie intends to poison people with TITAN, and then cure them?!"
"No, she's just going to poison them! Then she's going to let somebody else go to the trouble of curing them! All the while creating the mind-control formula inside of whoever gets TITANed!" Mari declared, bringing her fist down upon the control console. "I mean...think about it! TITAN is way different from Venom. It's so potent that you only need a really small amount of it to cause a transformation. You could squeeze enough of the crap into a tranquilizer dart to turn someone into a TITAN monster!"
"That is correct," JARVIS confirmed. "The substance is extremely potent. Dangerously so, in fact."
"And there are ways of getting some drugs or diseases into people that don't require them to be injected with them, right?" Mari went on, trying to piece things together. "Contaminated money, spiked drinks, that sort of thing!"
"You think Goldie plans on infecting people with TITAN herself?" Tai asked in an almost incredulous manner. "To force people into curing them with her tainted anti-TITAN -?"
"- and creating the mind control cocktail inside their bodies!" Mari confirmed, her heart pounding at the thought of such a disaster. "Since nobody else knows about Midas Touch, then they wouldn't think twice about using their stuff! And with a bunch of rampaging TITAN monsters running around, they aren't gonna stop to check and make sure that the anti-TITAN isn't tainted!"
The more Mari considered her theory, the more sense it made. Just spraying people with mind control juice would catch the attention of everything from local law enforcement to superheroes, and they would quickly counter it. But by unleashing the TITAN first, it pretty much guaranteed that no one would notice that people were being infected with Goldie's mind control formula. And that's not all! The formula alone is useless unless Goldie is able to implant people with her hypnotic suggestions and brainwashing! Mari realized. But with everyone exposed needing special treatment to help them recover from the TITAN transformations, they'll be spending days in the hospitals! Giving Goldie plenty of time to screw with their heads! And if people start acting a little weird after having their brains turned inside out, who'd think anything about it after they had gotten turned into braindead monsters?
The more Mari thought about it, the more sense it made. There were still details she didn't know, such as why Goldie would be up to something that drastic or how exactly she intended to distribute TITAN to so many people. But that wasn't important. It was time to call in some backup. "JARVIS, I think this just became serious enough to call in the big guns," Mari declared. "Could you do me a favor? Get the Tony from Uncle Steve's team or Thor or Spidey or somebody and -?"
A brief blast of static was heard, followed closely by a familiar voice creased with annoyance saying, "That won't be necessary. Or possible, for that matter."
"Huh?!" Mari started, whirling about to see a holographic display with the face of Tony Stark glaring pure death at her. His expression making it abundantly clear that the alternate of the billionaire genius playboy philanthropist looking at her was most definitely not the Tony Stark who she had inadvertently helped win his bet. "Uh, Mr. Stark! I -!"
"What do we have here? A very bad girl, playing with toys she shouldn't be messing around with?" the annoyed Tony Stark grumbled, the bags under his eyes and unruly beard making it clear that he had been pulling an all-nighter. "I don't know what kind of games that cheating creep who somehow managed to be me lets you get away with, but I for one do not take kindly to people playing with my AI!"
A beat passed before JARVIS stated, "Sir, with all due respect, you and the other Mr. Starks have agreed that I am communal property, and -!"
"That's not the point, JARVIS!" Tony growled irritably. "The point is that I am not in the mood for some lunatic one of the Caps decided to pick up and treat like a stray kitten, messing around with my stuff!"
Stung by this remark, Mari recovered and protested with, "Look, if you're talking about me hooking into JARVIS with Tai, I'm sorry! But I didn't actually do anything wrong, and -!"
"Didn't do anything wrong?!" the Tony Stark on the screen incredulously demanded. "I think hacking into Avengers property qualifies as doing something wrong!"
"For the record, sir, Mari and Tai didn't hack into me," JARVIS informed him. "They simply asked for my assistance. And since I didn't see anything wrong with their request -"
"You stay out of this, got that?" Tony broke in with a hint of annoyance.
"Listen, Mr. Stark, we have a situation!" Mari started, determined to take advantage of this opening. "It's the medicine shipment Uncle Steve and I -!"
"I don't want to hear it! Whatever it is, I don't want to hear it!" Tony broke in, waving his arms before him. "Do you have any idea what I've been putting up with, all because of you?!" Mari opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off when Tony growled, "Ever since you cost me that bet - a bet that I would've won if not for you sweet-talking your 'Uncle Steve' into letting that jerkass version of me teching him up - I've been through hell! Not only did you cost me some money, but since then, your 'Uncle Steve' somehow managed to get a bunch of the other Caps sold on the idea of battlesuits like the one he's now got! Jerk-Me has been going on about how awesome his designs are that he's got each and every Cap here eating out of his hands! Do you have any idea what it's like, trying to deal with that?!"
"Mr. Stark, I'm sorry about the other you, but we've got a situation!" Mari cried out, trying to break through his ire. "I found -!"
"Didn't I just say I didn't want to hear it?!" Tony demanded irately. "Look, I don't know what game you're playing, but you should be thanking your lucky stars that I don't tell your Cap and his team what you've been up to right now!"
"Well, why don't you?!" Mari demanded, hoping this would give her an opening. "In fact - JARVIS! Tell him what we just found!"
"Sir, if you'll just give me a moment to -" JARVIS politely began.
"I don't have the time or the energy to waste on whatever stupidity this delusional little tramp has got you up to!" Tony officiously declared. "Now, I'm going to make something very clear to you, right here and now. I don't know what game you're playing, but if I catch you wasting my time or the time of any other person with it, then I'm going to track down the judge who put you on probation and tell him what a bad little girl you've been!"
At these words, Mari's jaw fell in horror. If this Stark told Judge Jameson or the Naru that had been assigned as her probation officer that she had been hacking into Avengers property, then that would be it. She would lose everything. Her limited license as a superhero, her shield, her battlesuit, the American Dream and everything in it would be gone. Confiscated, just to satisfy Jameson's irrational hatred for all superheroes. She would go to prison, and...
"I see you've gotten the big picture," Tony declared with a look of deep satisfaction. "And on that note...JARVIS? Do me a favor and block all further contact from this little pain in the neck! Cut her off from the Tower and everyone here! I don't want to have to deal with her again anytime soon! As in ever!"
"JARVIS, no, don't!" Mari protested in sheer desperation. "Tell him about Goldie! You've got to -!"
"Goodbye...you little shit!" Tony smirked nastily, giving her a playful wave just before the image broke down into static.
"Wha-?! No! No!" Mari howled, bringing down her fists on the console in consummate frustration. "Tai?!"
"Sorry, but it's no good!" Tai reported. "JARVIS has completely locked me out! There's nothing I can do!"
Her eyes rounding with horrified disbelief, the thought that the Tony Stark she had just been talking to may well have guaranteed that whatever scheme Goldie had in mind would go forward unopposed, Mari wracked her mind in desperation before grasping at a straw of hope. "Uncle Steve!" she cried out, hurriedly fumbling her cell phone out of her pocket. "I'll tell him! And then he can get the Avengers after Goldie!"
With this in mind, Mari pressed the quick dial button that would connect her cell phone to Steve's. Placing it to her ear, she listened as the phone rang once, twice, three times. "C'mon, Uncle Steve! Please be up, please be up, please be -!" The distinctive sound of the line being picked up on the other end caused her to sigh in relief before saying, "Oh, thank god! Uncle Steve, it's me, Mari! I -!"
"I know exactly who you are," came a nasty, smug voice that was most definitely not Steve's. "A very bad girl who's obviously an even worse listener!"
"Mr. Stark?!" Mari cried out in dismay. "But - you hacked my phone?!"
"And a few other things, too. So since you didn't get it the first time, I'm gonna make it very clear to you. You are cut off from the Tower, and anything else that has my name attached to it. So stop bothering me already." Tony declared with a sense of triumph. "And just to make sure that the bad girl gets the big picture...here's your spanking!"
An instant later, a strange sound issued from Mari's phone, prompting her to look at it. Her mouth popping open, she watched as dozens of crudely animated Iron Men appeared on her phone's screen, dancing and laughing at her.
Instants before her cell phone crackled and exploded.
"Ow!" Mari cried out even as she dropped the ruined cell phone, which fell apart completely as soon as it hit the floor. For a long time, she just stood there, staring at the ruined phone in horror, caught between despair and outrage, before whirling about and smashing her fists upon the console. "Dammit!"
"The day my mother died, finding out that Fury screwed me over, being dumped into this crazy Coreline..." Mari muttered sourly as she sat in the living room of her home. "And now, I have a new one to add to my list of 'The Worst Days Of My Life'..."
It was early in the afternoon as Mari lounged about on the sofa of her home, massaging her forehead and looking blearily at the ceiling, exhaustion slowly catching up with her. In the wake of the Stark alternate that had blown up her cell phone effectively completely cutting her off from Avengers Infinity, Mari had spent some time prowling about the interior of her home like a caged animal, trying to think of her next move. Only to run dry of ideas painfully fast.
There was no way for them to contact anyone on Uncle Steve's team of Avengers. Tai had confirmed that their household systems and the American Dream had been infected with a very nasty virus that would not only block all calls from them, but would alert that Stark of any such attempt and enable him to blast Mari in front of the Judge Jameson, thus giving him everything he would need to take away everything she owned and throw her in jail. She couldn't contact the Champions or the Justice League Unlimited or any other superteam, simply because the only hard evidence Mari had of Goldie's involvement had come from JARVIS, and thus there was no way of proving her story without involving JARVIS and Avengers Infinity.
And once they get involved...boom! Cue Judge Jonah Jerkface laughing his ass off as he throws the book at me! Mari thought, her stomach twisting at the thought. And she was certain that this would indeed be the case, for while she had gotten close to most of the members of Uncle Steve's team, that still left many Avengers she did not know at all. And if other Starks, save for the one who had won the bet, reacted to her in the same way as the one that had shut her down had, then they would be an overwhelming voice of doom, drowning out the few friends she had there. And very likely sinking any chance of furthering an investigation of whatever scheme Goldie was hatching. And thanks to the fact that Goldilocks and Al are currently staying at Tony's vacation home, I can't get in touch with them, either!
But even as she thought this, a metaphoric light bulb appeared over Mari's head, causing her to rapidly shoot up. "Wait a sec...!" she began, hope once again in her voice. "Tai, tell me something! That virus that Jerkass Stark hit us with! It only blocks us when we try and contact places owned by Stark Industries or an Avenger, right?!"
"That's correct," Tai confirmed. "It's made it impossible for me to contact the Infinite Avengers Tower, any member of the Avengers, or any of the properties in their names. Why?"
"So we should still be able to reach out someone who isn't an Avenger!" Mari declared, already kicking herself for not thinking of this sooner as she rose to her feet. "Get me Goldilocks on her cell phone! We'll tell her about what's happening! Then she can -!"
"I'm afraid...that won't work, Mari," Tai broke in, causing her eyes to inflate in horrified confusion. "Maria...when she and Alphonse left on vacation, she left her cell phone here."
Mari's eyes bulged right of her skull just before her jaw clattered to the floor. "She did what?!" the Super Soldier bellowed, the force of her voice seeming to shake the foundation of their home. "I don't believe this! You mean she actually forgot her damn phone?!"
"I don't believe she...forgot it, actually," Tai admitted in a rather sheepish manner. "You see, Maria explained to Alphonse that she...wanted to make the most of their time together. And so she didn't want anyone...disturbing them. So they agreed to leave their cell phones behind."
If anything, Mari was even more stunned, but then she recovered and smacked herself in the face. "Oh, shitballs...!" she muttered, considering the nature of Maria's boyfriend, an alternate of Alphonse Elric who, instead of having his soul bonded to a suit of armor, had accidently been transformed into living ionic energy as a result of his and Edward's botched attempt to bring the dead back to life. Now an amalgam of Wonder Man, he possessed many different powers, including the ability to expand parts of his body. "I know she talked about wanting to try that, but did she really have to pick now...?!"
"I'm sorry, Mari. I tried to convince her to take her cell phone," Tai assured her. "But she said this was her first chance to spend a real romantic holiday with Al, and she didn't want anyone interrupting it under any circumstances, save for a serious emergency. And since the systems at the vacation home were being monitored by JARVIS, she could be certain that no one would disturb them unnecessarily."
"Oh, she can be sure of that, alright! Especially since a certain self-centered, arrogant douchebag decided to throw a tantrum and screw me over!" Mari spat, wanting nothing more than to punch said douchebag in the face so hard that her fist came out the other side of his skull. "Errghh...Goldilocks, you better enjoy your damn romantic getaway while you can! Because as soon as you get back, I'm gonna have you wearing that goddamned hammer of yours up your ass!"
For a time, Mari lost herself in a fog of hate-inspired imagery of all the awful punishments that found herself wanting to inflict on those responsible for her present helplessness. She had all the power to take them apart, piece by painful piece, make them scream in agony, beg her for mercy, and worse.
But eventually, the hate and rage that gave birth to this horrid montage ended, leaving Mari even more tired and drained then before. And even worse, it left her right back at square one, with fewer options and even less time to do something to stop whatever it was that Goldie had in mind.
Bitter dregs of fury still swirling about in the pit of her stomach, Mari sighed, and tried to clear her head. Tried to think of what Steve would do, what a real Captain America would do in her position.
Of course, Uncle Steve wouldn't ever wind up in this mess to begin with! Or any other Captain America! Mari spat disgustedly, pausing to massage her temple. "Okay, okay...we can't go to the Champions or anyone else right now because the only evidence we have linking this to Goldie is from JARVIS. And the instant we involve the Avengers, we'll have a bunch of Starks who hate my guts screwing me over because I cost them a stupid bet!" she vehemently declared, giving vent to some of her lingering anger. "So...we need more. Something else to prove that something rotten is going on. Something else that we can use."
"But what?" Tai wondered. "Without JARVIS's help, I can only access data that's public domain."
Mari knew this to be true. But even so, she found herself thinking about what Uncle Steve had told her about researching for battles she knew were to come. Preparation research. Learning an enemy's powers, abilities, personality, plan of attack, notable strategies, and more. Learning everything about them so as to exploit their weaknesses and turn their strengths against them. "Then we start there. By finding out what exactly Goldie has in mind."
"And how do we do that?" Tai demanded.
"Let's start with what we've got," Mari began, doing her best to force herself to stay calm, to think rationally and analytically. "We figure that Goldie's plan is to infect people with TITAN and one half of her mind control formula, and then let the local police and heroes cure the TITAN poisoning and complete the mind control formula, allowing her to turn their brains into her personal playthings. With what we've got so far, it's the only thing that makes any sense." When Tai failed to respond to this, the Super Soldier went on to ask, "So why would she do something like that?"
A beat passed before Tai replied, "I would assume it's because she wants to brainwash someone."
"More like she wants to brainwash a very powerful someone! Maybe a lot of powerful someones!" Mari countered. "She's already got all kinds of ways to get at most people. But some people have all kinds of security between them and a nutjob like her. So...either she's hoping to brainwash a whole bunch of people at once, or she's after somebody or a group of somebodys in particular, and this is the only way to do it; by dousing as many people as possible with her poison to make absolutely certain she gets whoever it is she's after." Pausing to frown and consider her reasoning, Mari nodded before going on to ask, "Tai...Goldie, she's based in Chicago, right?"
"That's correct," Tai promptly confirmed.
"So it's a safe bet that, whatever Goldie's up to, it's going to be happening either in Chicago or close to it," Mari mused. "Tai, scan everything you can on upcoming events that are taking place in Chicago. Political speeches, big business bonanzas, anything that would attract the kind of people whose brains Goldie would want to get her claws into and put them out in the open."
"Scanning now." Several seconds passed as Mari stood by, waiting and wondering what Goldie had in mind before Tai reported, "I've...found one possibility. But you're not going to like it."
"I haven't liked anything since you finished analyzing that anti-TITAN sample," Mari declared with a scowl. "So what have you got?"
"The Foundation is holding a rally at 9 PM on the Fourth of July in Chicago at city hall. It's for the start of a massive anti-drug push they have been working on in tandem with the local government," Tai reported in a slow, concerned voice. "Both Devon Miles and Peter Thornton will be in attendance, as well as the Governor."
"The heads of the Foundation?! Along with the Governor of Illinois?!" Mari demanded, blanching at the thought. "Will there be anyone else there?! Anyone that Goldie would want to make into her personal playthings?!"
"Several. This is an election year," Tai grimly reported. "Apparently, numerous political candidates will be in attendance. Also, the Foundation has requested the presence of the Champions, as well as several independent heroes to provide security for the event."
As Mari's eyes swelled at the thought of the many powerful movers and shakers that would be there, as well as the number of metas, she sputtered out, "Then...that's got to be it! Goldie wouldn't want the Foundation in on anything that could mess with the drug trade! And if she got all those people under her control...the whole city - hell, the whole state! - she would practically own everything! And - oh, shitballs..."
"Mari?" Tai wondered even as the girl in question sat down in shock, utterly and completely overwhelmed by another dangerous realization. "What is it? What's wrong? Besides the obvious, that is?"
"I just realized...Goldilocks was set to get back here either on the evening of the fourth, or morning the next day! Which means that...she won't be back until it's too late!" Mari groaned in horrified dismay. "And Uncle Steve, he won't be back in time, either!"
As Mari's words echoed about the empty apartment, they brought down the horrific truth of her situation down upon her head. For the truth was that there was no one she could go to, no one save for Tai that could or would help her. Goldie was planning on taking the entire city of Chicago and more, all for herself...and the only person who knew anything about this, who was in any position to do anything to stop her, was a lone hero on probation, with her powers and equipment locked down and all but useless.
For a long time, Mari sat there, wondering what she could do. She knew that there was no way she could simply stand by and let this happen, of course. She knew that there was no way in good conscience that she could simply do nothing while a power-mad lunatic like Goldie took control of so many lives, all for the sake of her own wanton gain.
I could contact the Foundation. Let them know about what we found, tell them that... Mari thought, only to sigh in dismay as she shook her head and rejected this idea. No...I don't have enough proof of what's going on. Nothing that could convince anybody of Goldie's involvement without mentioning what JARVIS found. Then she furrowed her brow and added, And given that everybody seems to assume that 'Mari' equals 'idiot lunatic'...
"We need to do something, Tai," Mari finally declared, shaking her head in grim resolve. "We need to find something. Some kind of proof what Goldie's up to. Something that the Foundation or the Champions or anybody else can't ignore."
"But how?" Tai quickly wondered. "Without JARVIS -"
"Then we'll just have to do what we can without JARVIS," Mari declared. "Start by getting me everything you've got on Goldie. I want to know everything you can get me on her, the rest of the Golden Four, and whatever allies she's got. I want to know where they hang out, what they can do, what their favorite food are, absolutely everything you can get!"
"Understood," Tai promptly replied. "But I should warn you that, with my systems restricted by the probation, it will take a while to collect everything you requested. And even then, I can't guarantee how much I will actually be able to find on them."
"Fine by me, Tai. Just get on it," Mari declared with a look of annoyance. "In the meantime, I'm gonna grab a nap. Because I just realized I worked all through the night, and I get the feeling I'm gonna need a clear head to deal with all of this shit..."
It took a painfully long time before Mari was finally able to surrender to unconsciousness, and when she finally awoke, she wasn't exactly clearheaded. But she did feel more capable of handling things, and more importantly, Tai had succeeded in obtaining everything he could on Goldie Musou and her allies.
"So...that's the Golden Four, huh?" Mari murmured as she examined a captured image of Goldie and her team from within the American Dream. "A Rally Vincent amalgamated with Bullseye, two crazed gamma mutants, all led by a mind control loon who gets off on breaking young women and turning them into her personal sex toys. I hate them already."
"Can't blame you for that," Tai intoned. "Most criminals won't affiliate directly with Goldie, though they do purchase the various chemicals she handles. About the only group that is willing to work with them and can be considered their allies is the Joker R gang."
"The Joker R gang?" Mari repeated blankly, not familiar with this group. "Okay, I know we're dealing with something bad, simply because there's a Joker in the works. But...what do you have on them?"
"All public domain information," Tai promptly reported, displaying another image. "Here's the whole gang roster. They're all formidable villains, not to be underestimated."
"Let's see...a fusion of Ranma and the Joker...a Hikari/Bane mix...hmm..." Mari frowned thoughtfully as she looked over the entire gang. "Yeesh...I think it says a lot about Goldie that creeps like these are the only ones that want anything to do with her!" Shaking her head in disgust, she then asked, "Did you find out anything about their hangouts, bases of operations?"
"Only that they tend to frequent the Black Cross Bar, a popular hangout for many of Chicago's supervillains. No other information is available," Tai informed her. "Mari, I'm afraid that I was not able to find any further information on Midas Touch Pharmaceuticals or on Goldie's plan. Certainly nothing that would prove that she's planning something dangerous without the information obtained by JARVIS."
"I wasn't expecting you to," Mari admitted as she continued to study the data in front of her. "Goldie didn't get to be the top dog of Chicago's drug business by being stupid. We weren't going to find what we needed over the internet."
"Then why did you ask for all this information?" Tai wondered.
"Because there's only one way to get what we need," Mari explained, continuing to scowl as she looked at the images of the people before her. The enemies she knew she might we be facing.
A beat passed before Tai said, "Mari...please tell me that you aren't thinking what I think you're thinking."
"If you think I'm thinking of trekking out to Chicago and getting the intel we need directly...then I'm afraid I'm gonna have to disappoint you," Mari intoned in a grim manner. "Because that's exactly what I've got in mind."
"Mari - I'm sorry, but - have you completely lost your mind?!" Tai incredulously demanded. "You're still on probation! You're going to be on probation for three more months! You so much as leave this building without a registered superhero, you lose everything! Not only will you go to prison, but all your equipment will be confiscated! And in case you've forgotten, that includes me!"
"Only if I get caught," Mari pointed out. "And thanks to Uncle Steve and Jennifer pulling some strings, I can still use my suit's stealth systems. And with all the training I've been getting on dodging surveillance systems..."
"But how would you even get to Chicago?!" Tai incredulously demanded. "The American Dream and all of its support vehicles are locked down! There's no way you can use them!"
"Which is why it's really lucky that Goldilocks didn't just leave her cell phone here," Mari announced. "She also left her Turbo Chariot. And while it might not be as stealthy as the Crimson Flare, it still has a stealth mode, and it's fast. It can get me in and out of Chicago without anybody noticing."
"But Mari, it's too dangerous!" Tai protested.
"So's sitting on my dead ass, letting Goldie do whatever she wants!" Mari immediately countered. "Dangerous for the people of Chicago, that is! Or do you think her hopping them up on TITAN and her mind control mojo is some kind of laughing matter?"
"Of course not!" Tai defensively declared. "But...I don't want you to lose everything, trying to help others! And...I...don't want to lose you, either."
A beat passed as Mari considered Tai's words. She didn't know if the AI qualified as a sentient form of life like a Cybertronian, or just how much in the way of emotions he genuinely experienced, or if his concern was simply an illusion crafted of clever programming. But at the moment, his was the only voice of sympathy and caring in her life, and that was something she sorely needed and appreciated. "Trust me when I say that letting Jerkass Jameson or anyone else try and take you or anything else away is way low on my list of things that I want happening. It's on my personal Bottom 10." Then she sighed, and gave a weary version of the cat-like smile that others that bore the name of Mari Illustrious Makinami were known for. "But you know I can't just do nothing. Not when it looks like Goldie is planning on turning the Foundation and who knows how many other people into her personal playthings."
"I know that, Mari!" Tai assured her. "But - there has to be some other way!"
"Hey, if you can come up with an idea that doesn't involve giving up, then I'm all for it!" Mari declared. "But until then, we're going with the insanely risky plan, and hope like hell that, if something goes haywire, that Uncle Steve or our favorite Tony Stark or somebody on their team picks up the ball before everything goes to hell!"
"You'll forgive me if I'm overly optimistic about that," Tai groused sourly.
"Neither am I, for that matter," Mari admitted, recalling just how thoroughly she had been railroaded by Judge Jameson. "So I better make sure that I don't get busted, shouldn't I?"
"But Mari, even assuming you can avoid being caught breaking probation, and that you can find definitive proof of Goldie's plans...what then?" Tai wondered. "Even with the proof, you wouldn't be able to go to the authorities without revealing your activities! And then -!"
"I know, Tai," Mari promptly assured the AI. "But the way I figure it, if I managed to find what I need in Chicago, I could either blow it up so bad that Goldie's whole scheme will fall apart, or at least send something about it the authorities anonymously. Enough to get them off their butts and in Goldie's face without anybody knowing I was even there."
"That's not what I'd call a brilliant strategy," Tai intoned in a disapproving manner.
Whatever semblance of a smile she had been able to muster fell away from Mari's face. "Yeah, I know. I'm definitely grasping at straws here," she muttered sourly. "But right now, it's my only chance of stopping Goldie without anybody catching me in the act. The whole point of this is to stop her without breaking my probation. I want to have my cake and eat it, too."
"I can't argue with that," Tai admitted. "So...when do you plan on leaving for the Windy City?"
"Not until I spend some time, getting to know the opposition," Mari declared as she focused on the images of the Golden Four and Joker R gang. Steve's lessons about studying an enemy, learning their strengths and weaknesses, knowing how they worked and turning it against them coming to the fore. "If I'm gonna have any chance of making this work, then I need to know everything I can learn about the opposition. Know thy enemy and know yourself, right?" Already working the controls, she brought up footage of the Golden Four in action, fighting some of the local heroes. "So I'm gonna have to do a lot of homework if I'm gonna make this plan come together!"
For the better part of the day, Mari spent her time putting her copy ability to work, using it to analyze the fighting skills and abilities of both the Golden Four and the Joker R gang. She analyzed, broke down, and assimilated some of the clownish Ranma alternate's considerable martial arts skill, including his deadly Clown Fist, Shampoo's Chinese Amazon techniques, and scrutinized the fighting abilities of each and every one of the villains to the point where she could effortlessly anticipate each and every one of their moves, simply by watching and reading their body language.
But that was only part of the job, Mari knew. It wasn't enough to know their moves. She also had to beat them before those moves could even be made. She had to exploit their weaknesses and turn their strengths against them. And as she broke down their individual files, she found herself well on the road to doing so.
"In battle, the Golden Four typically break off into two teams; Goldie and Rally to attack from a distance, while May and Radinov attack directly," Mari mused, studying the footage. "Makes sense. No way are Goldie or Rally tough enough to handle being hit by a gamma mutant if they get caught by friendly fire. Or friendly fists, for that matter. And both of them are deadlier at a distances, anyway. And unless Goldie keeps Radinov inline, she could run wild, attacking anyone in sight." Pressing her lips together as she continued to study the files, the Super Soldier mused, "Goldie's conditioned Radinov to the point where she can easily shut her down if she gets out of hand or becomes a danger. So...maybe the best way to deal with Radinov would be to make her a danger to Goldie. Force Goldie to shut Radinov down for me."
Nodding thoughtfully at this, Mari then focused on another member of the Golden Four. "My shield and battlesuit should be enough to protect me from Rally and her guns. And if I run into her while she's on guard duty, or in a sniper position, I can use one of my floater disks to monitor her. Keep track of where she's looking so I can stay out of her line of sight, just in case. And if I fit it with dendrotoxin gas, I can shut her down before she even realizes what happened." Deciding that this seemed to be a viable way of dealing with the Bullseye amalgam, she then mused, "May and Goldie will be trickier. Goldie doesn't need to keep May on a leash. But May's a brawler; no martial arts, no real skill, and I've fought brutes like her before. Advanced martial arts, pressure point attacks, putting her off balance...I should be able to handle her, as long as she doesn't have any help. And as for Goldie...I'd be better off taking her by surprise. I don't want her getting a chance to try and mess around with my brain!"
Considering these factors for a time and deciding to return to them, Mari then moved on. "As for the Joker R gang...all of them, except for Jinnai, are very skilled in martial arts, and even he has some self-defense tricks," she muttered unhappily. "No surprise there, though. Their leader is an amalgam of the Joker and Ranma Saotome. I can't imagine a hotshot martial artist with that kind of ego tolerating a team that can't fight worth shit." Glad that she already watched all available footage of their fighting skills, something that would allow Mari to read their bodies and anticipate their moves, she continued with, "Let's see...Hikari is a fairly basic Bane amalgam, complete with Venom pump. But she happens to be a version of a smart Bane, which complicates things a bit. She keeps a set of Kryptonite knuckles on her, just in case she has to deal with Kryptonians. And while I don't have to worry about Kryptonite exposure, at least in the short-term...I don't think I want a face full of those knuckles." Frowning as she continued to study the Bane amalgam, she mused, "Let's see...her power amplifier is fairly tough, can handle a few bullets, but according to this, it can be overloaded. So a direct hit with a taser round should be enough to either short out her fuel pump or electrify the Venom directly. Which would not be good for her brain. Or anything else, for that matter."
Satisfied with this, Mari then studied the Killer Croc amalgam. "Their Rei's hide is basically bulletproof, so dendrotoxin or taser rounds probably won't work directly. And she also packs Kryptonite knuckles, in case her claws and fangs aren't enough. But...even though she's a skilled fighter, she can be a wild animal in battle. Likes to go in for the kill with clawing and biting, so...if I could get a dendrotoxin grenade or a smoke bomb or even some explosive gel into her mouth, I should be able to take her down fast enough. And then there's their Asuka...Tai?"
"Yes, Mari?" Tai asked.
"The file here says that Asuka/Venom once fought against a version of the Blue Beetle, who stopped her with some kind of special tranquilizer he made, based on her biochemistry," Mari noted, pointing at the file in question. "Any chance you can dig up the recipe?"
"I believe so," Tai informed her.
"Good. Because I want some of it on hand, in case I bump into her," Mari declared before moving on. "Their Jinnai is way behind the others in hand-to-hand, but he can take a whole lot of punishment. Toss him off a building, punch him through the roof, run him over with a truck, he just keeps coming back for more...which means I can really unload into him without worrying about killing him!" Allowing herself a deadly smirk at the thought of cutting loose, she then sobered as she looked at the rest of his file. "Besides his Fear Gas, he has an assortment of backup weapons, including a Kryptonite knife, and several chemical bombs. And he's also good at playing possum, tricking enemies into thinking he's down, then blindsiding them." Pausing to consider this, Mari decided, "Well, my suit should protect me from his Fear Gas and other crappy concoctions. And he won't be able to fool my suit's sensors, or my own nose and ears, for that matter."
"I would still recommend inoculating yourself against his poisons, though," Tai declared. "Just to be on the safe side."
"Definitely. But I might be able to turn his Fear Gas against anyone else that happens to be there," Mari declared. "Then there's Nao and her yellow power ring...hmm...my best bet would be stealth and surprise. Taking her down before she even knows I'm there, and either stealing her ring, or cutting off her finger." Making a face at this, she added, "Of course, I'd rather avoid mutilating the opposition. The last thing I need is more bad publicity."
"That goes without saying," Tai decided in a sardonic tone.
"Joker R and Harley Shampoo are both really skilled martial artists, naturally. Joker R has all kinds of nasty Joker weapons, and the file mentions Shampoo having a mini heat-ray on her, in addition to her maces. Probably has a few other nasty surprises on her. No real exploitable weaknesses, but I've got a lot of their moves down." Frowning in thought, Mari decided, "My best bet with them would be surprise. Take them down fast before they can mount an effective counterattack. Plus, they don't have any actual powers, so even with this stupid collar, I have them beat in speed, strength, and endurance."
"Perhaps, but I still advise being cautious about them," Tai advised her. "Neither Joker or Harley alternates or known for fighting fair."
"Yeah, that kinda goes with being evil and so on. Which leaves Clayface Shinji...hmm..." Mari frowned, for amalgams and alternates of Clayface were no laughing matter. Not only did they not suffer from physical damage the same way creatures of flesh and blood did, but his myriad shapeshifting abilities made for all kinds of challenges in battle. "I wonder...Tai, Spidey once told me about this time he fought the Hydro-Man from his world, and how he mixed a powerful coagulant into his webbing that turned the creep into a living Jell-O mold. Do you think we can cook up something like that that would work on Shinji?"
"Theoretically, yes," Tai replied. "The hardening agent would have to be properly adapted to work on his unique biochemistry, but that should be effective."
"Then we better look into that. I want something ready before I head out for Chicago, and...well, that's interesting!" Mari declared, taking note of another section of Clayface Shinji's file. "Get this, Tai! According to this file, Shinji graduated with full honors from the Ma Beagle College of Criminal Culinary Arts!"
"I know that, Mari," Tai informed her even as she studied the image of the Shinji/Clayface fusion, standing with his diploma in hand while an alternate of the notoriously criminal anthropomorphic dog woman smiled affectionately at him. "I did find all this information for you, after all."
Deciding that the AI had a point, Mari looked over the file, her curiosity piqued. She was aware of underground schools that catered to criminals hoping to improve their abilities and skills, but a criminal cooking school was definitely a first for her. "Look at this stuff! No wonder the Joker R gang and Golden Four are always slipping out of prison! Mind Control Meringue Pies infused with Shinji's own substance and some of Goldie's mind control stuff that allows him to take temporary control of anyone who eats them - like prison guards so he can free everyone - and Chocolate Pym Pies that shrink people down so they can slip out or grow them into giants! He's even baked himself into raw ingredients that are shipped into the prisons so he could break his team out...dammit! He's turned the Jail Bake into an art form!"
"That's what Ma Beagle said of him," Tai noted. "But you really should focus on putting them in prison first. Then you can worry about how to keep them in there."
Groaning at this, Mari muttered, "Good point. Alright, let's get to work on making these counters happen. Whatever happens in Chicago, I want to be ready for it!"
So, that's the Black Cross Bar, huh? Mari noted as she studied the building in question. Yeesh...they might as well have 'Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy' written all over it...
The Black Cross Bar didn't seem particularly extraordinary from the outside, but the building proper was extremely run down and had clearly seen better days, even by the standards of the neighborhood she was in. It was owned and operated by the Legion, a well-hated group of villains, and was basically in violation of every law pertaining to businesses that sold alcohol, and several other laws as well, and was only able to stay in business due to the right people being paid off and the local police being too afraid to do anything about it.
I wonder if I can find a good excuse to blow this place up while I'm out here? Mari wondered as she continued to survey the building in question, her presence masked by a combination of her suit's stealth generators rendering her all but completely invisible, and the newly honed skill she had acquired in dodging the various alarms and sensors that would alert the bar patrons to the presence of costumed heroes. Maybe once I get off this damned probation...
It had taken Mari a fair amount of effort to get as far as she had. Piloting Maria's Turbo Chariot so as to avoid all possible surveillance, it's own cloaking systems engaged, she had found as secure as possible a place to leave it while she began searching for members of either the Joker R gang or the Golden Four. Desperate to get any kind of lead on Goldie's scheme, she had spent some time on the roof of the building opposite the Black Cross Bar, eavesdropping on the local villain gossip as the evil doers of evil deeds drank away their profits from whatever criminal activities they had been engaging in, licking their wounds from the latest brush with the local superhero community, and basically doing whatever it was that people did during their off hours.
I guess even scum need a place to drink. Though calling these people scum is an insult to scum everywhere, and - oh! Are they done? Mari wondered, tensing herself to move, focusing her senses on the two bar patrons that had kept her in this place for as long as she been.
Sure enough, Bane Hikari and Killer Croc Rei came ambling out of the Black Cross Bar, pausing to use the special drop box to pay their bill before making their way down the streets, acting like they were normal pedestrians instead of two of Chicago's most wanted felons. I'm really hoping that Tony can get that Police Centurions plan of his going soon! Mari thought even as she began her pursuit, making certain to stay downwind of Rei and her powerful nose even as she silently crept from rooftop to rooftop, making certain to keep the two Joker R gang members close enough so that, even if she lost sight of them momentarily, she could still track their scent.
And I have to keep track of them! Mari thought as she carefully made her way across the various rooftops, making sure to move only when her quarry did, to optimize both surveillance and stealth in her actions. Drawing upon everything she had learned from Uncle Steve and even his team's Black Panther about the art of tracking. I have no idea how long it'll take me to track down Joker R's and Goldie's hideouts, let alone get the goods on them! And with the Fourth of July coming up fast, I can't waste a single moment!
Always aware of her surroundings, making certain to avoid any other roof-hoppers, whether they be villains or heroes or somewhere in between, Mari continued to track the two evil versions of girls she had been friends with in her native world. Following them from the decrepit part of Chicago that was home to the Black Cross Bar to an even shabbier part, where their wariness visibly increased. Must be getting close to their hideout! Mari realized, making certain to stay downwind of the two gang members as she saw Rei once more carefully sniff the air, while Hikari paused to glance about, searching for any signs of any unwanted guests. They're taking no chances!
But even though their forward progress slowed, it did not stop entirely, with both Joker R gang members showing no signs that they detected Mari's presence. As the Super Soldier again thanked Uncle Steve and her friends from his team of Avengers, she watched as the two criminals made their way into an abandoned YMCA building. So...is that their hideout? Or just their way of getting to it? Mari wondered, scrutinizing the building even as she moved to get into a better position. I have to be sure!
Frowning in thought, Mari narrowed eyes that had the acuity of a bird of prey's, eyes that read a road sign from five miles away, and studied the building before her. And as she did, she used the training that she had put through, both by SHIELD in her world of origin, and by her Uncle Steve with the help of the Black Widow and Black Panther of his team of Avengers.
And it was this combination of Mari's highly augmented senses and the superb training she had been put through that allowed her to pick out the various security devices that lined the exterior of the former YMCA. Each and every one of them had been expertly camouflaged to blend in with the dilapidated exterior of the abandoned structure, disguised as bits of detritus, damaged sections of brick and other construction materials. Carefully hidden from sight, unless the person searching knew exactly what to look for.
Still, they did a damn good job. Not just wiring this place with alarms, but making certain that no one would spot them. Not unless someone had a good reason to give this place a real looking over, Mari decided with a slight frown. I wouldn't have thought that anybody on the Joker R gang would have had the skill or the patience for that sort of thing. Then she paused and reminded herself, Of course, there are bad guy services for that sort of thing, if you have the cash. Alternates of the Tinkerer, the Broker, and various Thugs 'R' Us companies, so on and so forth...
Deciding that money probably wasn't that big a hurdle if you were good enough at stealing it, Mari returned her focus to the building before her. I'm not gonna get very close to that place, not even with a floater disk. At least not without spending a hell of a lot of time, figuring out how to dodge all the security that they've got around this place first, she realized with considerable dismay. But...with this kind of setup, I think we can pretty safely say that this is the Joker R gang's hideout. And as she considered the matter for a time, Mari nodded, for such a place would certainly make an ideal headquarters for a gang of this type. Swimming pools, ready and waiting to be upgraded as a place for Croc Rei to hang out at, plenty of spaces for training and any exercise equipment they happen to have. Room enough for Jinnai to set up a lab, as well as easily converted living space for each of them. All they'd need is running water and power - easy enough to get with the right connections - and they'd be good to go, and - huh?
Someone was leaving the apparently derelict YMCA, a young woman whose face bore the youthful features of Minnie May Hopkins, but was a good deal taller, more muscular, and certainly greener than most alternates of the notorious bomb nut. Well, well. 'Crushette' Hopkins, I presume! Mari thought with a hint of satisfaction. I'd say that any doubt about whether or not this is where Joker R hangs his whoopee cushion has just been laid to rest! And since you're here, Minnie Hulk...I think I'll just let you lead me to one of the Golden Four's places of business! Help me figure out where all of Goldie and Joker R's little hidey-holes are!
I'm running outta time here...! Mari couldn't help but think as she made her way across the Windy City. Once again employing all the skills she had honed and the technology at her command to remain undetected as she leapt from one building to the next.
Midnight had fallen an hour or so ago, transitioning Chicago to the Third of July. And leaving Mari with roughly a day and a half before the anti-drug rally that would be hosted by the heads of the Foundation. A deathly small frame of time was all that was left of the weeks she had be scouting this city, searching for the final bit of proof she could use to convince someone of the threat posed by Goldie. For the final clincher that would show Mari what exactly the mind manipulator had in store for the people there. And as she darted silently about, she felt the seconds ticking inexorably down to what would likely be the doom of Chicago and so many lives.
On the one hand, Mari had known from the start that there was no way of accomplishing her mission quickly, no matter how the time constraints chafed at her. Since the first time she had come to Chicago, stealth had been of paramount importance to her, for all it would take was one tiny slip, and a thug, a police officer, or even a little kid back at home would have noticed her leaving her home, possibly reporting her to Naru, and that would have sealed her fate instantly. And so she had been forced to make her way back and forth between Chicago and home in a slow, secretive manner that had taxed her patience to the limit.
And to be sure, despite the restrictions placed upon her, Mari's time had hardly been wasted. Since that first day in Chicago, she had succeeded in mapping out many, if not all, of the hangouts of the Golden Four and Joker R gang. She had recorded and analyzed the security systems she had found at each of the heavily protected locations maintained by both groups of criminals, and with Tai's assistance, had been able to find ways of circumventing them. Allowing her to slip into several of them, even retrieve small scraps of information, including a sample of Clayface Shinji's substance from the Joker R's hideout. This had proven the key to creating and perfecting a powerful coagulant that would not only immobilize Shinji at almost the instant it was introduced into his system, but even more importantly, would quickly cause his entire body to harden and grow brittle for a considerable period of time, rendering him utterly and completely harmless. And Mari had even been able to catch several members of the Joker R gang in brawls, furthering her understanding of their fighting styles and how to counter each and every one of them.
But even so, Mari had not yet been able to track down the evidence she was so desperately in need of. She had picked up a few additional clues, she had mapped out virtually every location of interest to the Golden Four and the Joker R gang, and she was still no closer to getting what she needed.
Leaving me at the bottom of the ninth! And if don't hit a grand slam, it's game over for me! And probably the rest of Chicago! Mari thought unhappily as she continued forward, determined to make it to her objective in time. All the while battling another nasty issue that had been plaguing her for some time.
Towards the end of June, Mari had been eavesdropping on Bane Hikari and Killer Croc Rei at the Black Cross Bar, and had watched and listened as the Chemical Warfare team of mercenaries had come, met with a client, and had ultimately left. For Mari, this team had been like looking at familiar faces and even friends perverted by some horrible version of a funhouse mirror. They were led by a Ritsuko Akagi alternate that had gone to the Dark Side a long time ago and was loving every minute of it, creating and supplying the children she had adopted with exceptionally horrible versions of the Hyde serum, a concoction that gave humans power enough to withstand a Kryptonian, maybe even defeat one in battle, but at the cost of becoming a hideous monstrosity and worse. Her charges were a Ranma Saotome alternate, known as the Iron Devil, as well as alternates of Shinji Ikari, Rey Ayanami, Asuka Langley-Sohryu...and Mari herself.
It had been bad enough seeing a version of herself aligned with such a notorious team of psychopaths for hire, but listening to her evil counterpart had been agonizing for Mari. The Chemical Warfare version of her had made no bones about the fact that she was hoping for a fight with some of the other barflies, including an Asuka version of the Rhino, clearly not giving a damn about the possibility of ruining whatever deal Ritsuko had in mind. Even after the evil version of Mari had been pacified via a set of brass knuckles, listening to the way her team and others talked about her...
Is that what people see when they look at me? Mari couldn't help but wonder, having since had Tai get her whatever information he could on the Chemical Warfare team in general and her counterpart in particular. Information that painted a complete and utter sociopath that lived only for destruction and mayhem and being as big a hedonistic nightmare as was humanly possible. Do they think I'm like her...just because we have the same name...?
It was utterly ludicrous in Mari's mind. In Coreline, virtually everyone who was anyone had versions of themselves that were pretty much their polar opposite. Evil versions of noble heroes such as Superman and Spider-Man, as well as heroic versions of sadistic villains such as Norman Osborn and the Joker. Even heroic versions of the same person could be very different. In her time in the Infinite Avengers Tower, Mari had come across a version of Steve Rogers that, while as much of a hero as most, was also a consummate bigot when it came to African-Americans, totally unlike the Captain America she had taken as Uncle Steve.
And yet...
I'm not her, Mari found herself thinking, not sure if she was thinking of Deadpool Mari, Chemical Warfare Mari, or any of the other psychopaths that bore her name and face. I'm not her, she's not me, and that's final! Why can't anyone else figure that out?!
Taking this internal debate and shoving it off to the side, Mari returned her focus to her current objective; a shipping warehouse that she had once followed Scarecrow Jinnai to. A warehouse that had far more security than any of the other locations employed in Goldie's operations, something that had immediately made it suspect in Mari's mind. Security so tight that, unfortunately, checking it out simply hadn't been an option. Security she knew would be open the tiniest of cracks in the near future, because Jinnai, Killer Croc Rei and Bane Hikari were supposed to meet up there for some reason.
Assuming the intel I got from listening in on them back at the Black Cross Bar was legit, Mari reminded herself, hoping against hope that it was, for it was her last real chance of finding the evidence she needed. As she studied the warehouse in question, she once again spotted all the various security measures that were in place, including a heavily fortified fence that was designed with metahumans in mind, as well as stealth-crackers guaranteed to detect her if they spotted her while moving. Leaving the lone gate the only way in or out. And assuming that I didn't miss them already!
Fortunately for Mari, it wasn't long before she saw that she hadn't missed them. Just as they had agreed, Rei and Hikari arrived at the warehouse, and shortly afterwards, so did a good-sized shipping truck, with Jinnai in the passenger seat, an impatient look on his face. "It's about time we got here!" the fear-mongering psycho declared as the truck stopped at the gate. "Doesn't anybody get the fact that we're on a schedule?!"
"What kept you?!" Hikari demanded as the Scarecrow amalgam stepped out of the truck. "We don't have much time! We have to -!"
"If there is anyone in the world who realizes that we need to hurry, it's me!" Jinnai curtly broke in. "Unfortunately, we ran into a free-for-all between the Black Scars Gang and the Champions! Wound up having to detour around it!"
Now! Mari hissed inwardly as Jinnai continued to complain about the length of the detour and so on. Moving with optimal speed and stealth, she darted towards the truck. Unwilling to risk the possibility that the doors were rigged with an alarm, she got down on the ground and slid under it.
"At least you're here now," Hikari muttered as Jinnai finished his litany of complaints. "C'mon. We have to get the rest of the fireworks ready before we make the switch."
"I still don't see why we have to go to all this trouble!" Jinnai muttered even as Mari grabbed hold of the truck's undercarriage and hooked her feet so that she was just up off the ground. "Replacing the fireworks with bombs that aren't even going to be used! What a waste!"
"It's a diversion, remember?" Rei declared with a hint of annoyance. "We want people to think that's our big plan for the Fourth! If no one notices, then fine! But if the local capes are watching -"
"I know, I know. They'll stop our 'big scheme', and will be too busy patting themselves on the back for saving the day to notice what we're really up to," Jinnai groused disdainfully. "It still seems like a waste of time..."
"Waste of time or not, it's what's Ran-chan wants," Hikari declared in a no-nonsense tone of voice. "It's what Goldie wants as well, for that matter. So just shut up already. They need to run a security scan before we can get in."
This is it! Mari thought, tensing up even as the sound of a mechanical whirring was heard, along with an electric hum. Just stay still! As long as you stay still, their stealth-crackers won't pick you up!
After a seeming eternity that was likely only a few seconds in real life, the sounds ceased. There was no alarm, no cry of alarm. Nothing to indicate that Mari had been detected. Only the sound of the gate slowly grinding open, followed shortly by the truck moving once more. "C'mon. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go back to the hideout, get some sleep...and be ready for the real job tomorrow!"
As the three Joker R gang members started idly chatting, Mari kept her ears keened for anything unusual. She couldn't see much where she was, but she could feel the truck still moving, and she could hear the sound of another door opening. Must be heading inside the warehouse itself! Better get ready to move...and be on the lookout for any internal security they might have!
Seconds crawled by as the truck entered the warehouse. Before it had even come to a stop, the door closed behind it and people were rushing towards the back. So far, so good! Mari thought as she gently lowered herself to the ground. Now to get a lay of the land!
Carefully poking her head out from under the truck, Mari quickly scanned her surroundings. In almost no time at all, she spotted over a dozen security cameras. To her surprise, however, there was no evidence of stealh-cracking technology in evidence. Just standard cameras, scanning the surroundings. Either someone is sloppy, or extremely confident in their external security, the Super Soldier found herself thinking. Of course, stealth-crackers aren't exactly cheap. Especially the high-end models. And from Tai was able to tell me, Radinov has a bad habit of wrecking things like hideouts and other stuff like that.
Whatever the reason, Mari was grateful that the security was lessened on the inside. It made her job that much easier. She would still have to exercise caution, but at least she could be assured that she wouldn't be easily detected. And so she looked about, making sure that there was no one nearby to bump into, before scooting out from underneath the truck and making her way off to the side of the building. Continuing to scan the surroundings, she considered how best to move.
Mari's first instinct was to grapple up to the rafters to avoid detection, but frowned when she noticed motion detectors above. Vents might be rigged, too, she thought sourly, considering her options. This is not gonna be easy...
But it still had to be done. So Mari scanned the layout of the warehouse, trying to decide on where to go first, and spied two promising targets. First was the offices, which were situated so that they overlooked the warehouse proper, and were being patrolled by armed thugs, and the second was large section of the warehouse that had been partitioned off from the rest of it, and was also complete with armed thugs. A few moments passed before Mari decided to start with the offices. There was too much activity going on in the partitioned area; goons were taking the contents of the truck and moving them over there. Meaning there was too big a chance of bumping into someone and blowing her cover.
Not that slipping into the offices will be easy... Mari thought as she scanned them. The cameras were situated so that they were constantly surveying the doors, meaning that the only way she could get into any of them was to wait for someone to open a door for her. Dammit...sometimes, stealth sucks! Wishing that she could just blow everything up and be done with it, Mari crept towards the office doors and waited, hoping that someone other than Rei and her extremely sensitive nose would come by to let her in.
It took five minutes that felt a lot longer than that, but eventually, Mari's hopes were granted. Jinnai, still muttering and grumbling beneath his breath, marched towards the stairs that led up to the offices. "...put up with such idiots!" the fear-monger muttered sourly. "We have months to get everything ready for a job that can make or break us, and we're still this close to blowing the deadline!"
I know how that feels, Mari couldn't help but think as Jinnai flung open the doors in a grand flourish, giving her plenty of time to dart in after him.
From there, Mari followed Jinnai about as he went to a nearby phone and called someone. When she heard a voice she recognized as Goldie's from the clips Tai had gotten for her, she realized that he had to be reporting in. Deciding that she had as long as it would take for Jinnai to finish said report before she had to be ready to get out before risking getting stuck in there, she hurriedly scanned her surroundings.
Unfortunately, what Mari scanned was a mess. Building maps, chemical formulas that made absolutely no sense to her, schematics that were a hodgepodge of scribbled notes and worse. I'm just gonna have to record everything and sort it out later! she decided, her suit's recorders and sensors already on and taking in everything she looked at. I just hope that I spy with my little eye something that actually -!
The sound of a phone receiver being slammed down startled Mari out of her thoughts, a sound that was followed by Jinnai declaring, "Ugh! That woman makes my skin crawl! She's just so crazy!"
So that's what a pot calling the kettle black sounds like, Mari thought, turning to see Jinnai scowling, already ranting about something else as he made his way over to the doors. Here's hoping I grabbed enough! Time to check out the other part of the warehouse!
As Mari followed Jinnai out of the offices, she found that luck was continuing to be on her side. The instant he came down off the stairs, the Scarecrow amalgam started over to the partitioned area of the warehouse. All she had to do was stick close to Jinnai, and he blazed a perfect trail for her past the random thugs and whatever security was in effect in this place, leading her into what looked like an oversized chemical lab.
"Alright! Somebody give me some good news!" Jinnai demanded as he approached several non-descript thugs, the kind of folks you saw on the street. They were working in a well-lit, extremely clean area, filled with advanced machines of some kind, viscous liquids flowing visibly within them. "I'm having a bad day, and you have ten seconds to make it better!"
"Uh, yeah, boss!" one of the thugs replied, standing up a bit straighter as Jinnai focused on him. "We've got thirty containers of the gamma-TITAN prepped and ready for action! Those are already in storage and ready to be shipped out as soon as we get the word!"
Wait a sec - gamma-TITAN?! Mari thought, her eyes widening as she processed these words. Oh, damn, please don't tell me that means what I think it does...!
"We've got the machines churning the stuff out as fast as they can!" the thug continued, gesturing at the equipment he stood next to. "We'll have at least fifty more containers, ready and waiting to go by the time the sun comes up!"
Clearly not satisfied with this report, Jinnai imperiously declared, "Well, considering my total lack of confidence in you people and your abilities, you'll understand it if I decide to look at the machine settings. Make certain that it's been mixing everything together the way it should be."
"Uh...yeah. No problem," one of the thugs replied, clearly fighting down the aggravation that Jinnai alternates tended to inspire in others.
That's right, asshole, Mari thought as she slinked away from Jinnai and the others. You check the machine samples, while I help myself to a sample of whatever fine product you've been cooking up!
Her heart pounding in her chest, Mari couldn't help but smile slightly as adrenaline flooded her veins. The same kind of rush alternates of her were known for, a fact that diminished her smile as she thought about it. But then she pushed that thought to the side, and continued scouting the partitioned area. They were talking about containers, she thought as she scanned her surroundings. If I can get a sample from one of them, that could be all the proof I need to put the skids on Goldie's plans!
As Mari scouted about the well lit area, surveyed the various tables and pieces of expensive equipment, she soon found what the two of them had been talking about; thirty decent-sized canisters made of reinforced metals, clearly designed for taking all kinds of punishment. They had a thin transparency on the sides that showed that each and every one of them was filled with some kind of liquid. Just the kind of thing for holding stuff you don't want leaking! But even as she felt a thrill of triumph, she frowned and thought, But how can I get a sample?! There are still goons watching! They'll see it if a canister somehow manages to magically float up or opens by itself!
Scowling as she considered this conundrum, Mari then looked back towards the highly advanced equipment that was being used to produce the vile concoction. And as she did, she saw an opportunity; even as she looked one, two of the thugs had one of the canisters locked in place. The transparency of the canister showing that it was slowly being filled. Well, well... the Super Soldier thought to herself. Hello, opportunity...!
"Hmm...well, it looks like everything's working as it should be..." Jinnai muttered in a grudging fashion. "We still need to concentrate it for launch, but...that won't take long."
"Yup," one of the thugs declared. "As long as nothing goes wrong, we're good to go!"
Giving the thug a look of patent outrage, Jinnai spat, "Why the hell did you say that?! Don't any of you read TV Tropes?! You should know better than to tempt fate like that! Now you've basically guaranteed that something will happen and...!"
"Geez, will you listen to him?" a female thug muttered as she watched the canister fill up while shaking her head at Jinnai's continued rant.
"Yeah, he always gets like this when Nao's away," muttered the male thug she was next to. "You get used to it."
"I'd rather not," the female muttered. Then the machine dinged for her attention, and she sighed, "Another one down...dozens to go..."
"Hey, it's a job," the male returned as the female set about working the controls. While Mari was looking hard at the red button marked 'Lock' that sent her mind whirling.
Sorry about this, assholes, Mari declared as she crept up behind the woman. Just think of this as yet another reason why it's a bad idea to work for the forces of evil!
Even as the woman reached for one of the controls, Mari pushed her into the machine so that she mashed against the various controls. With the Super Soldier mashing the 'Lock' button at the same time. "What the -?!" the woman cried out even as the canister slipped. "Noo!"
"Look out!" the male cried out in terror as Mari yanked on the unsealed canister, sending it and its contents spilling all over the floor.
All eyes swung towards the two thugs and the falling canister before it even hit the floor, with Jinnai screaming in shock and dismay. "You damned fools!" the fear-monger declared. "You've killed us!"
Huh?! Mari wondered even as foul green vapors rose up from the floor. Vapors that she was completely insulated from, thanks to her battlesuit. Wait...is this shit poison?! But they said this was TITAN, or -!
Noises of confused fear and discomfort reached Mari's ears, cutting off her chain of thought. Looking about, she watched as the two thugs she was next to groaned in pain, their movements confused and erratic. But as she continued to look on, other sounds, like bones crunching and rebuilding themselves and cartilage popping were also heard. Then her eyes went wide when she saw their muscles bulging beneath their skin, skin that was slowly taking on a greenish tinge.
This shit is airborne?! Are you fucking kidding me?! Mari cried out inwardly as the two thugs continued to change and grow. Poisonous green lit up their veins as they swelled up beneath their clothes, their shirts exploding before their burgeoning frames. Their eyes lit up with green as sections of their skin split open, allowing spurs of bone to erupt from their spines, ribs, and joints. And they mixed gammaroids into the TITAN while they were at it?! Are they fucking insane?!
Even as Mari reminded herself who was leading both the Golden Four and the Joker R gang and suffered a severe case of 'duh', the two massive monstrosities roared, their transformations already complete. Realizing that, if this concoction worked like regular TITAN, then whatever rationality they possessed had just gone out the nearest window, rendering them both little more than mindless beasts that would attack anything in sight, Mari hurriedly distanced herself from them, hoping that Jinnai and the goons would do her the favor of distracting the transformed thugs.
"Bane! Croc! Emergency!" Jinnai cried out, slipping on his Scarecrow mask even as he distanced himself from the two hulking beasts. "Get the antidote guns! We've got -!"
Jinnai was cut off by one of the gamma-enhanced TITAN-monsters roaring hatefully before launching herself forward, mowing down several of the goons. Raising her arm before her as the hapless goons were immediately reduced to a bloody paste, Mari felt like her heart would stop even as the second beast rushed forward to join in the spectacle of slaughter.
Dumbstruck with shock at what she had just unleashed, Mari remained frozen in place even as the warehouse was plunged into chaos. Screams of terror and howls of bestial rage echoed throughout the building, punctuated by sounds of destruction and carnage. But even as she stood there, looking on at what she had wrought, something in the back of Mari's mind kicked in. Whether it was her SHIELD training, the training she had gone through under Uncle Steve, or something else entirely, she wasn't sure. But that something prompted her to move once more, prompted her to complete the mission. And so, with everyone else occupied by the madness being unleashed by the Gamma-TITANs, Mari brought forth an analytical tool from her utility belt, used it to collect as much of the substance responsible for this disaster as possible, and used a hole that someone had made in one of the walls to make her escape.
"It's a hybrid formula, Tai," Mari declared as she paced about the interior of the American Dream.
It was very nearly morning as the AI broke down the chemical composition of the substance Mari had found, and if not for her altered metabolism, she would have likely collapsed into exhaustion a long time ago. Even after slipping away from the warehouse and finding an opportunity to wash herself off as thoroughly as possible, she had still subjected her battlesuit and herself to a full decontamination to make certain that she was completely clean of the transformative substance she had found. Was still fighting against the images of the disaster she herself had caused in getting the sample she had acquired.
"As near as I can tell, it's a mix of TITAN and gammaroids. And it looked like all you needed to do was take a whiff of the stuff and you started changing!" Mari explained as she continued to pace about. "And from the looks of it, Jinnai had been cranking out gallons of the stuff! They have enough of it to make the whole state of Illinois go gamma!"
"It's worse than that, Mari," Tai announced even as holographic windows appeared, displaying the results of the spectro-analyzer. "As you suspected, this formula contains the other half of Goldie's consciousness control formula. As soon as any infected person is treated with the tainted anti-TITAN, it will form the brainwashing formula inside of their bodies."
"Tell me something I didn't already suspect," Mari muttered somberly.
"Alright. According my analysis, this gamma-TITAN does not need to be inhaled in order to provoke a transformation. A sufficient amount applied to the skin would suffice." Wincing at the sheer feeling of 'Oh, Crap' this inspired in her, Mari paused in her pacing as the AI added, "Also, it appears that small amounts of Scarecrow's Fear Toxin have been added to the formula."
"What?!" Mari blurted at this, her eyes rounding as she processed this revelation. "Aw, shitballs...!" A shudder ran up her spine as she pictured the rally that was soon to be held by the Foundation. She pictured all of the people and metas that would be present there, exposed to this vile concoction, transforming as had the two thugs that she had exploited in order to get this sample. "No wonder those two creeps immediately went mental! They were already being hit by the Fear Toxin!"
"Given the fact that both TITAN and gammaroids are known to induce an extreme form of 'roid rage', it's safe to assume that anyone infected with this compound would automatically attack anything that they perceived as a threat," Tai chimed in. "And as long as they were under the influence of the Fear Toxin, they would perceive everything as a threat."
"And if Goldie succeeds in exposing the people at the rally to the stuff, not only will she have her claws in all those people and the Foundation, half the city will be gone and a whole lot of people will wind up dead before she's done," Mari declared bitterly, distracting herself from the consequences of her actions. Reminding herself that those thugs were willingly aiding the Golden Four and the Joker R gang in the destruction of Chicago and the enslavement of who knew how many people, just to line their own pockets. "What about the stuff I found in the office? Have you made any sense out of any of it?"
"Some of it. Unfortunately, much of what you saw was either partly covered up or heavily stained with I-don't-want-to-know-what," Tai reported in a mildly disdainful manner. "However, I was able to piece together two pertinent pieces of information from what you found. The first is a schematic for a heavily modified fireworks rocket."
"A rocket?" Mari repeated, only for realization to hit her almost immediately. "That must be how they're planning on spreading this gamma-TITAN crap! They're gonna use the fireworks to launch it all over the place!"
"Exactly. These particular rockets have been specially modified to act as a distribution system for a concentrated form of the gamma-TITAN formula you found, dispersing it in the form of a particulate gas," Tai grimly informed her. "The second item is for the maps you found. They specify two buildings located near where the rally will be taking place. According to the notes written on them, one of the buildings is the planned launch point for their modified rockets."
"And the other?" Mari impatiently asked.
"A vantage point for 'Bullseye' Rally Vincent," Tai stated. "It's much higher than the point of launch, and offers her an unobstructed view of the surrounding area."
"Making it the perfect place for her to snipe from. And to keep an eye out for any heroes on patrol," Mari intuited, shaking her head in thought. "Well...I think that just about does it, Tai. We've got it. Everything we could possibly need to prove what Goldie and Joker R have got planned."
"And all apparently without the authorities learning of your violation of probation," Tai noted with considerable pleasure. "Offhand, I'd say that your mission was a success."
"Not until we manage to get this evidence to the proper authorities and get them to put the kibosh on Goldie and Joker R," Mari pointed out, despite the fact that, even after everything that had happened, Tai's words filled her with a certain satisfaction.
She had done it. Mari had found the evidence of the plot she had suspected all this time. She had managed to avoid detection by either the Joker R gang or the Golden Four, and had gathered all the information needed to warn people of their malicious scheme. And she had done it with her powers suppressed, with no other help than Tai's.
She had done what Captain America was supposed to do. What Captain America was needed to do.
"Remind me, Tai...this is still the Third of July, right?" Mari asked.
"The last time I checked, yes," Tai confirmed. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I've had a long, long night. And I think I'm way overdue for a quick bite and a nap," Mari declared, heaving a deep breath. "And after that's done...I'm getting to work on blowing as many whistles as I can on Goldie and Joker R!"
"Understood," Tai returned. "Is there anything more I can do to help?"
For a moment, Mari planned on telling the AI that he had done enough. But then she frowned as another notion occurred to her. "Can you secure a portion of the gamma-TITAN sample in a small vial or something?"
"Certainly," Tai assured her.
"Then do it. And put together all of the evidence we've collected and print it all out," Mari ordered. "I'll slip out later and drop it off at the nearest Foundation building. That should get somebody's attention!" Then she gave a slight smile before adding, "And even if it doesn't, I think I can safely make a few dozen phone calls to the Champions, JLU, the Fantastic Foundation, and a few other groups that could get me some results!"
"Hopefully, not the kind that wind ups with you in prison," Tai noted.
"Agreed," Mari returned, unable to help sighing in relief.
For the first time in a long while, things were finally looking up...
"I don't believe this...!" Mari hissed as she sat within the American Dream. Once again garbed in her battlesuit, her shield on her back and her gear ready to go. "What is it with people?! Are they doubling up on their daily dosage of stupid pills?! Is that it?!"
It was now the Fourth of July, and the optimistic mood Mari had been enjoying the previous day was now nothing more than a fond memory. She had managed to deliver the packet of evidence she had had Tai put together for her to the nearest Foundation building, along with a letter explaining the nature of Goldie's scheme, but that had been the last thing to go right for her.
Sometime after she had delivered the evidence packet to the Foundation, Mari had spent some time on the phone, contacting the various authorities and hero teams, hoping to alert them to the danger. But to say that the results had been less than fruitful was a gross understatement.
Each time, Mari had begun by explaining her discovery of the tainted medicine, the company where it was being held, and her suspicions regarding why the medicine was tainted. She did this because, every time she had called the authorities or a hero team, her call had naturally been picked up by a receptionist or secretary or something of that nature. Just the first hurdle she needed to circumvent in order to speak to someone who could actually do something.
And it was a hurdle Mari had failed to circumvent every single time.
No matter what she had done or how she had gone about, the people Mari had talked to had always demanded her name, refusing to act on an anonymous tip. And shortly after learning that they were dealing with an alternate of Mari Illustrious Makinami, they would put her on hold, hung up on, told not to bother pranking them, or something else of that nature.
"None of them believed me, Tai! They wouldn't even listen to me!" Mari muttered sourly as she checked her equipment, doing her best to keep her frustration in check, if only because there was no time to waste and she didn't want to flush money down the drain by taking out said frustrations on any of the potential breakables within the American Dream. "Which means that nobody's going to be there to stop Goldie and Joker R from TITANing Chicago!"
"You don't know that for certain," Tai pointed out as Mari continued to prepare. "There's still the evidence packet you left with the Foundation. Certainly they would have -"
"And it they haven't?! If someone noticed that the packet smelled of Mari Cooties and decided to dump it without even opening it?! What then?!" Mari heatedly demanded. When Tai failed to reply, the Super Soldier stood there, glaring tersely about for a time before finally sighing, "I'm sorry, I am just beyond pissed off right now!"
"That's understandable," Tai conceded. "But Mari, you've already taken so many risks! I don't want you taking any more!"
"It's just one more trip out to Chicago, Tai. Just one more," Mari hurriedly assured him, fully understanding the AI's concern. "Once I get out there, I'll scope out the situation first. If the authorities have already nailed Goldie and the rest of them, then fine. I'll come home and we can celebrate."
"And if not?" Tai wondered anxiously.
"Then we'll have to hope that either can I put them all down without anybody noticing, or that Jen's an even better lawyer than Hawkeye gives her credit for!" Mari declared with a trace of vehemence, hating the fact that she was stuck in this position. "Look, it's not like I haven't done my homework on these assholes! I know exactly where they're gonna be and their basic plan of attack! I know their powers, their skills, everything each of those creeps can do and how to stop them! I can do this!"
"I don't doubt your capabilities, Mari. It's just that -" Tai began, only to cut himself off at the same time a loud, beeping noise was heard. "Mari! There's someone at the front door!"
"Wha- now?!" Mari demanded, rolling her eyes in disbelief. For while having security cameras and so on fitted about the place so that the AI could play watchdog for her and Maria did come in handy, she was so thoroughly not in the mood for any interruptions, especially now. "Look, Tai, whoever it is, we don't have time to waste! Just tell him or her or whatever to go away, and -!"
"I'm...afraid that's not an option, Mari," Tai reported, something in his artificial voice catching the Super Soldier's attention. "It's your probation officer, Naru. She's outside the front door, demanding to be let in. And she has a contingent of Code: Blue troops with her."
Naru. Outside. Code: Blue. The instant these words penetrated Mari's ears and made their way into her mind, they got tossed around bit, were nearly rejected by the astonished horror she felt at their mentioning, but were nonetheless processed and added together. Resulting in a realization that gave birth to even deeper horror.
"Oh, fuck...she knows...!" Mari breathed, her legs very nearly falling out from under her.
Mari's mind immediately protested that it was impossible. She had been so careful, she had done everything right. She had dodged security cameras, the neighbors, she had stuck to the shadows, followed the training she had gone through, had sweated and toiled and suffered to master. She had done everything she could possibly have done to avoid being detection. Day after day, night after night, she had made the trek back and forth from Chicago, all without any sign that she had been detected.
And now, Naru was standing right outside her door. Her presence making it clear that somewhere, along the way, Mari had failed to her activities secret. And now, if Naru had her way, the Super Soldier would be paying for her failure...with everything she held dear.
"Naru's demanding to be let in, or she'll have Code: Blue break the door in," Tai reported in a terse manner. "Mari, what should I do?"
Her eyes wide as they flitted about wildly beneath her visor, as she rapidly paced about the interior of the American Dream, Mari rapidly considered her options, and realized that she had only two at this point. She could try using the Turbo Chariot to get clear of the area, head to Chicago and try to deal with the situation. But the instant she considered this, she shook her head. Even assuming she was able to evade detection on the way out, even a self-righteous idiot like most Naru alternates tended to be would be able to figure out what happened and launch some kind of pursuit. In which case, the odds of Mari being able to reach Chicago were grim at best.
Which leaves me with Option 2...swell... Mari groaned inwardly, not being overly optimistic at this point. "Tai, tell her I'll be at the door in a minute. I'll deal with this...somehow."
"Very well," was Tai's only response, his artificial voice making it clear that he was about as hopeful as Mari was as she exited the American Dream.
Hopefully, not for the last time, Mari thought as she made her way through her home, cursing the Tony Stark that screwed her over. Cursing Maria for taking off and leaving her in the lurch. And most of all, cursing the J Jonah Jameson that had so royally screwed her over in the first place.
Wishing that she could just blow up Naru and her cohorts like most of her alternates would probably do in her place, Mari paused as she came to the door. Heaving a deep breath and wishing that Naru could have held off for even five more minutes before dropping by to throw a monkey wrench into her efforts to save Chicago, she then reluctantly unlocked the door. Pulling it open, Mari looked out to see the all-too familiar bitch that was yet another leash on her, along with several unremarkable members of the local Code: Blue team, with two of them piloting heavily armed mech-suits. "Ms. Narusegawa," she began, her eyes narrowed as she did her best to maintain a polite tone of voice. Knowing that she had to keep this as civil as possible if she was going to have any chance of getting Option 2 to work. To get Naru to actually listen to her long enough to prove to her the danger they were all in. "I'd ask what you're doing here, but I think I already know."
"You should. Just as you should have known that you couldn't get away with your little jaunts to Chicago," Naru smirked in a noxious manner. "Mari Illustrious Makinami, you are under arrest for probation violation. All your registered superhero equipment is hereby confiscated, and you are to be taken into custody to face trial for your crimes." Gesturing over her shoulder at two of the Code: Blue officers, who obediently came forward, one of them holding a set of reinforced handcuffs, she then declared, "Now, we can either do this the easy way, or the hard way. Your choice."
Trying not to grimace at how Naru had managed to say that she hoped the Super Soldier would go for the hard way without actually saying it, Mari heaved a deep breath...before holding up her hands in the universal gesture of surrender. "Fine...but only under two conditions."
"Conditions?!" Naru repeated, immediately outraged. "Listen up, you stupid loser! You're under arrest! You don't get any 'conditions'!"
"I'm not asking for much. Just a phone call, and five minutes of your time," Mari continued as if Naru hadn't even spoken. "That doesn't seem like much to me."
"Well, I don't care what a moron and a pervert like you thinks!" Naru smugly declared. "You're still under arrest! Now -!"
"Either you oblige me on those conditions, or we do this the hard way," Mari declared in an even, deliberate voice. "And trust me; you do not want to do this the hard way..."
To Mari's displeasure, Naru's smile just grew at this. "We'll see about that," she intoned as she reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked like a remote control. As the Super Soldier looked blankly at the device, the Naru alternate thumbed a button on it...just before Mari felt like she had just sat on a lightning bolt.
"AAaarrrrggghhhh!" Mari cried out, her entire body shaking out of control as it was wracked with electricity. Rendering her helpless to do anything...save for watch as Naru grinned, reared back with her free hand, and deliver one of her infamous Naru punches to the Super Soldier's jaw.
While she wasn't sent into Low Earth Orbit like so many Keitaro Urashima alternates were so unfortunate to have done, Mari was still sent crashing into the wall of her home. Her body still convulsing wildly as she tumbled to the ground. Struggling to regain control of herself, the Super Soldier fought against her erratic body, fought against whatever was inflicting such pain. Fought to understand what was going on.
"Do you really think we'd let a lunatic like you go home to do whatever she wanted with just a few restraining bolts to keep you under control?" Naru boasted as Mari writhed about on the ground, trying to get onto her hands and knees. "Judge Jameson arranged for a little extra...insurance, to make sure that you stayed under control!"
Dammit! Mari grunted, her teeth clenched in pain. Her heart pounding like a trip hammer as electricity continued to course through her body.
"It was necessary, of course," Naru went on, still smirking out of the corner of Mari's eyes. "It doesn't matter what costume you wear or how you dress yourself up, you Maris are all the same; just a bunch of perverted animals that need to be put in a kennel...or just put down."
All the same. Yet another person who thought Mari worthless because so many alternates of her were considered so.
"I know what you wanted that five minutes for, of course; that crazy conspiracy theory you've been trying to sell all over the place," Naru went on, much to Mari's surprise. "You wouldn't believe how many legitimate hero teams were calling me, checking to see if there was any basis to what you were saying." Then she smirked nastily and added, "Of course, I told them what a crackpot you are."
What?! Mari shrilled inwardly, stricken by this latest blow. That Naru had come here, knowing of the Super Soldier's suspicions, and had immediately dismissed them. Worse than that; she had guaranteed that no one else would act to stop Goldie and Joker R.
"I can't believe that anybody with even the slightest amount of common sense would even think of listening to a complete loser like you," Naru went on, rolling her eyes in disgust. "Trying to fake some big crisis, just so you could roll in and save the day, make a big name for yourself...ugh!"
A fake. A joke. That's all this Naru thought Mari was. And as the Super Soldier glanced about, electricity virtually crackling about her field of vision, she saw the Code: Blue team was also smiling smugly. They also thought she was nothing more than a joke.
Nothing more...than just another Mari.
The pain wracking Mari's entire body had already been turning to anger as a result of her failure and helplessness. And now, the flames of that anger was being fanned into hatred by Naru's cold words and the mocking faces surrounding her. Hatred that burned brighter with each beat of her heart, every strangled breath she took.
"Well, I'd say that does it for your five minutes. And you can have your precious phone call...sometime tomorrow," Naru smugly declared as Mari's field of vision filled with red. "Alright, team. Cage this damned bitch! Ger her disarmed and confiscate her equipment!"
"With pleasure!" declared one of the Code: Blue people as Mari's eyes focused on the remote control Naru still brandished. "C'mon, Ward! Let's get that shield away from her...before this crazy bitch contaminates it any more than she already has!"
"No problem," another Code: Blue agent returned, the two of them advancing towards Mari. Completely unaware that, in that instant, she felt no more pain. Whether it was that the Super Soldier's body had already adapted to the electricity being poured into her or her rage had simply overpowered it or some combination of the above, it didn't matter.
All that mattered was the remote control Naru held. A device that was just a few feet away...
A strangled roar of pure outrage tore free of Mari's mouth as she leapt up from the ground with all the strength she could summon. Normally, even with her powers suppressed, such a leap would have sent her catapulting over the heads of Naru and the rest of her cohorts. But as it was...it was just enough to send her screaming right into Naru's face.
"Wha -?!" Naru cried as Mari grabbed her by the hand that held the remote control. Though startled by the seemingly incapacitated Super Soldier's sudden movement, the Code: Blue personnel were quick to recover, hefting up their weapons and taking aim at Mari. "Wha- no!" the bombastic brunette cried out, darting a glance at her cohorts, then back at shield slinger who had wrapped her free arm about her. "Don't shoot! You'll hit - arrggghh!"
Before any of the Code: Blue people could think to close in on her and physically restrain her, Mari crushed both Naru's hand and her remote control in her superhuman grip. Despite wincing at the shrill sound of Naru's pained screech, her body still felt the relief when whatever safeguards that had been placed in her battlesuit ceased pumping electricity into her.
But Mari, on the other hand, felt no such relief.
Everything she had done, all she had tried to accomplish, had essentially been in vain. Mari's efforts to save the people of Chicago from Goldie's and Joker R's scheme had been utterly and completely squandered, first by the alternate of Tony Stark, and now Naru. They had insured that no one would listen to her, no one would believe her, no one would heed her warnings and act to help those in need.
And all because she was Mari Illustrious Makinami.
As this reality burned in her mind, Mari glared hatefully at the Naru alternate before her. She had no idea how long she burned hatred for her out of her eyes; all she knew was that it was ultimately long enough to allow Code: Blue an opening. She was so wrapped up in her rage, she failed to notice two of the officers coming up behind her until they had both arms wrapped around one of her shoulder.
"Get her! That's it, get her!" Naru cried out even as Mari found herself struggling against the two officers. "Look what that filthy animal did to my hand! Just look!"
As Naru held up her wounded hand, her words spurred Mari's fury and frustration on, fanning the flames of frustration, despair, and resentment. She was just a wild animal to them. A monster, just like the Mari she had seen with the Chemical Warfare group, or the Deadpool Mari she had fought. A crazed lunatic.
"You want an animal?!" Mari spat out, what little control she had left over her emotions falling away as she fought back against the Code: Blue officers, her body acting on well-honed and trained instinct. "You want a goddamned fucking animal?!" she demanded as she drove her elbows into both officers' stomachs, stunning them enough to follow through with several pressure point attacks that forced them both to surrender their grips. "Then you got one!"
Without so much as a second thought, Mari launched herself at Naru, and punched her right in the face with all her strength. And even with her powers suppressed, that was more than sufficient to launch Naru backwards several feet, cratering her into the ground before she went flying up again. She tumbled wildly across the earth before crashing into an empty house across the way, cratering the wall upon impact.
Not sure if this was one of the more durable Naru alternates and not giving a damn one way or another, Mari turned her attention to the Code: Blue officers and mini-mecha that surrounded her. Feeling the giddy adrenaline rush, the joy of battle that so many other Mari alternates reveled in. "Alright, fuckers!" she roared, focusing on the nearest convenient target and charging. "Your turn!"
As Mari sat before the statue of Steven Rogers, before the legacy that was Captain America, she continued to study her reflection in her own shield. The giddy rush of adrenaline she had felt in taking down Naru and Code: Blue was gone. Whatever thrill of victory she had experienced in defeating the Golden Four and Joker R gang was gone.
At the moment, it felt like everything was gone.
"Who was I trying to kid...?" Mari despondently groaned, allowing her shield to fall from her hands and drop to the ground. Completely ignoring it as it spun about a few times as she slumped forward, feeling more worthless and pathetic than at any other point in her life.
Author's Notes: Still not done, but hopefully, the next chapter will the last one. So pretty please with sugar on top, read and review?
