Chapter 14
Last chapter Mariko escaped the Team with the thanks of her friend Tony—you know the one that she said she dismantled? Yeah she lied about that. Anyway now she's in a helicopter bound for home. But how will M'gaan think now that she knows everything that happened to Mariko, will she tell the group what happened? Or will she keep it to herself? We'll find out in this chapter I suppose! ONWARD TO THE BATTLE FIELD!
"Miss Mariko; are you alright?" Tony asked once Mariko was safely inside the helicopter. Mariko sat quietly, glaring ahead.
"I let my guard down." She grumbled, Tony gave a confused look as Yukie whimpered and licked Mariko's hand.
"Miss Mariko?"
"When I get my hands on that Martian I'll make her regret she ever came to this planet!" She shouted.
"Miss Mariko what happened down there?" Tony asked, Mariko bit her lip and glared at her assistant.
"She read my mind; she managed to shake loos all my memories." She hissed then glared at the cockpit ahead, "Pilot!"
"Y-yes Miss Mariko." The pilot stuttered. Mariko growled.
"Hurry up and take me home! I wanna get out of this dead end city!" She shouted, "the stench is making me sick."
~0~
"M'gaan what did you see?" Robin asked, as Artemis piloted the Bio-ship. M'gaan shook her head.
"I saw everything; her past, how she sees the world—everything." She said, the group frowned. She wasn't giving a straight answer.
"What do you mean everything?" Kaldur asked. M'gaan was quiet for a minute then looked up at the group.
"Just that, everything. Mariko wasn't born a monster; she was turned into one." She said, Robin frowned, he just couldn't see it; no matter how hard a person life could have been there was no excuse for Mariko being what she was.
~0~
Once back at the Cave the Team explained to Batman that Mariko's story about destroying the American embassy in Japan was just that; a story. Batman scowled.
"It makes sense." Green arrow said, he happened to be in the main hall with Batman, "Mariko's threat was nothing more than a distraction."
Batman nodded and brought up the computer and an article about a stolen object from a space museum.
"The light's real target was something Cadmus." He said, "As to what it's for we aren't sure."
"She was distraction. Like when Klarion ripped the world into two dimensions." Zatanna said. Batman and Green Arrow nodded.
"Green Arrow and I are going to Cadmus to talk to Guardian and find out what exactly was stolen." Batman said.
"Meanwhile you guys are going to take a much need rest." Arrow said, with that Arrow and Batman walked off leaving the Team to themselves.
"Well I'm going home." Artemis said, "I wasn't a real fan of Japan."
The group nodded as all of them left except Robin and M'gaan, who was still in shock over what she had seen. Robin glared.
"If Mariko was just creating a distraction for us, then whatever M'gaan saw in Mariko's mind could have been a lie too." He said, M'gaan looked to him.
"You don't know what I saw; it wasn't a lie." She shouted.
"You can't be sure of that." Robin said, "Mariko's a sociopath she manipulates people. You can't be sure if anything she says is the truth."
"If you saw what I saw you wouldn't be saying that!" she shouted back; then as quickly as she said it Robin's mind flooded with images that M'gaan witnessed. Robin let out a howl of pain until M'gaan finished showing him. When she was done she walked away, having nothing more to say on the subject. Robin looked up and glared.
"What was that?!" He shouted, M'gaan stopped and looked over her shoulder.
"What made Mariko the monster she is today."
~0~
"You did good for me again Mariko," Savage said happily as he stood over Mariko in her room. Mariko smiled.
"I aim to please." She said taking a bow, Savage frowned.
"But something is troubling you?" he asked, Mariko looked up.
"Uh…yes actually. Before I was able to get away from Robin and his team of heroes, the Martian managed to read my thoughts." She said, Savage scowled, "I managed to find her before she was able to find anything out about our situation in making contact with the alien race otherwise known as The Reach…"
"However…?"
"However, Savage-sama she did find out things about me…things I kept suppressed for some time now." She continued, "She knows about me, she knows who I am, and everything."
"I wouldn't worry too much about that my dear Miko." Savage said Mariko gave a look of confusion.
"In having her know who you are may come in handy for you in the future." He explained.
"Savage-sama…? I don't understand…" Mariko said. Savage smirked evilly.
"Manipulate her." He said darkly. Mariko nodded then smirked; why she hadn't thought of that herself was beyond her. She decided to blame it on the shock of someone actually getting into her mind.
"Manipulate a mind reader," she mused, "Sounds like fun."
"Good; I hope you will enjoy this next project I need you for." Savage said, Mariko cocked her head to the side as two men in lab coats brought in a pod.
"Oh what's this?" she asked with genuine intrigue.
"What we 'stole' from Cadmus." Savage said, Mariko moved up to the window of the pod and wiped it clean of the fog. She went wide eyed.
"Match? You mean I actually get to work with him?…it?...uh…" she asked giddy. Savage nodded, Mariko smiled brightly then looked to the far part of the room, "TONY!"
"Yes Miss Mariko?" Tony asked coming into the room with his dog. Mariko smiled and began fiddling with her pony tail.
"Take this to my lab next door; I'm gonna have so much fun with this." She said, Tony nodded and wheeled the pod to Mariko's specified destination. Mariko then looked to Savage.
"Thank you so much for allowing me the chance to work with Match." She said with a bow.
"I trust you'll be able to dispose of the sidekicks this time." Savage said, Mariko looked up and cocked an eyebrow.
"I still get to keep Robin though right?" she asked. Savage frowned.
"We will see." He said.
"Good enough for me." Mariko said then followed Tony and his dog to her labs to begin prepping for their next move.
~0~
"Master Dick is everything alright?" Alfred asked (SEE I made sure to type Alfred not Wilfred!) Dick sat in the living room of Wayne manor what M'gaan showed him weighing heavily on his mind.
"Master Dick?" Alfred asked again, he sat up.
"Everything's fine Alfred; I've just been thinking a lot about something." He said.
"A girl perhaps?"
"Uh sort of but not in the kind of way you're thinking. This one's a bad seed." Dick said, "Mariko Miko."
"You mean the young computer genius that's working for the Light?" Alfred asked, Dick nodded.
"Miss Martian saw her past and showed it to me; now I'm starting to wonder how can someone who had it so bad possibly be working for Vandal Savage?" He asked as Alfred set a plate down in front of him.
"Not everyone can be so lucky to be saved by a man like Master Bruce." He explained, "If Vandal Savage was the one to save her from extinction, then to someone as twisted as she would think he was the good one."
"That actually makes sense." Dick said, "But why would someone like Savage even go to the trouble to save some random girl off the streets?"
Alfred shrugged, not having an answer to Dick's question. He sighed, it made sense; someone not knowing the difference between good and evil at an early age. Seeing that much hate and pain in her early years, of course someone like her would think Vandal Savage was the good guy. All because she was saved by him.
"If something like that can be done; maybe I can change her to see the good side." Dick mumbled.
"You mean change a girl's opinion about good and evil?" Alfred asked, Dick nodded, "It's not impossible, but it would take a decent amount of time."
"Then that's what I'll do. Her whole outlook is completely warped; I'm going to try and help her." He said, "It's the least I can do; I suppose."
"If you insist, Master Dick." Alfred said then walked away. Leaving Dick to his plotting.
~0~
Mariko screamed, as Match tore through her laboratory smashing anything that got in his way. Mariko had released him from his pod; hoping to try and see if she could pick his brain—literally—however the moment he woke up he flipped out and began crashing the place.
"What is with brainless morons and destroying machines!?" Mariko shouted, reaching for her belt only to be pinned down by Match. He growled as he lifted her from the ground and into the air.
"T-tony!" She shouted, "Get Match under control!"
"How am I supposed to do that?" Tony asked, in the background Yukie barked and growled at Match who began to get even more irritated. Mariko pointed to a small box on her desk.
"Cryptonite!" she shouted, "Get it!"
"Yes Miss Mariko!" Tony shouted back and went for Mariko's jewelry box and grabbed the necklace Savage had given her before Tokyo. Match immediately began to weaken to the point of collapse. Mariko gasped as she was released by Match and grabbed her remote control from her belt and pressed down hard on the button, zapping Match until he was unconscious.
"Useless Neanderthal!" She shouted, then huffed as she calmed down, "I've never once questioned Savage-sama's orders, but what on earth does he think I can do with this thing."
Tony shrugged, Mariko smoothed out her oddly shaped pony tails and looked to Match,
"Well whatever, I'll know better than to take it out of his pod from now on." She said, "Take him back to his pod. Hurry up now."
"Yes Ma'am."
Mariko sat in her chair and thought for a moment; how could she manipulate Miss Martian? It wouldn't be too hard considering how long she had been inside her mind, and how much she saw. Then there was Robin to deal with. How could she get him on her side. Didn't he know that brilliance like theirs deserved one another?
"Hmph; I shouldn't have to explain it to him!" She shouted, "He should be smart enough to figure out that brilliance admires brilliance!"
"Is that so?" Klarion asked appearing next to her. Mariko frowned.
"Creep; you left me there." She said, Teekl hissed at Mariko from Klarion's shoulder. Mariko growled back, making Teekl let out hiss of fear. Klarion scowled, petting Teekl to calm him down.
"You asked me to keep Zatanna from making you say anything against the Light; you said nothing about Miss Martian and the others." He said, Mariko huffed.
"I suppose you're right about that." She said, "That's no excuse for up and leaving, talk about rude."
"Yeah yea whatever; so how's the plan with Match?" Klarion asked, though he knew full well it wasn't going so well.
"If I could just find a way to control him I might actually be able to pit him against his younger brother Superboy." She said, "But there's no way I can do that without getting into his head, literally."
"Oh yeah I bet that's hard. Not a lot of clay in there to mold with yaknow." Klarion said with a laugh, Mariko rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah real funny Jigoku Shonen." She grunted, "So what are you up to today?"
"Bored as usual; though seeing you against Match is funny to watch." Klarion explained. Mariko glared.
"Why don't you make yourself useful and help me out!" She hissed. Klarion shrugged.
"Don't want to." He said.
"You're a lot of good," She said then stood up and began walking to her closet. "Oh well."
"What are you up to Mariko Miko?" Klarion asked as Teekl slide down into his arms, Mariko walked out of the wearing a lolita styled knee length dress. She walked to her vanity mirror and sat down.
"I'm going to find my favorite bird themed hero of course." She said brushing out her pony tail and lotus shaped pigtails into a downward pony tail. She then fixed her eyes with blue colored contacts, "And what better way to do that than with cosplay?"
"You'll never learn will you?" Klarion asked smirking. Mariko frowned.
"Sure I will, as soon as you learn you'll never beat that Lord of Order you hate so much." She said, Klarion glared as his palms ignited with a small ball of energy. Suddenly a low growling sound came out from behind the door to Mariko's left.
"I wouldn't advise you do that Mr. Klarion." Tony said walking back into the room "My Yukie gotten really attached to Miss Mariko."
"Yukie-chan! Come here girl!" Mariko said with a grin. Yukie instantly stopped growling, and barked happily as she ran to Mariko. She giggled and looked to Klarion.
"Relax; he wouldn't kill me. I provide him with his entertainment. Isn't that right old friend?" She asked, Klarion huffed but nodded all the same.
"Sure; whatever." He said, Mariko nodded then stood grabbing a leash to attach to Yukie.
"Tony I want you to stay here, provide Klarion with entertainment." She said sitting on her bed and putting on a pair of roller skates, "In the meantime I'm borrowing your dog."
"Miss Mariko? Where are you going?" Tony asked, Mariko looked over her shoulder.
"To find Robin, and find out who he really is." She said, "Come on Yukie girl, let's go for a walk."
Yukie barked happily and took off, dragging Mariko behind her. Tony balled his hands into fist as Mariko left with Yukie. Klarion smirked over Tony's shoulder, noticing his sudden foul mood.
"Well aren't you a jealous boy." He said, Tony looked over his shoulder and smiled.
"What are you talking about Klarion?" he asked, "I'm not a jealous person."
Klarion huffed sitting cross legged in the air. Teekl meowed as he jumped into Klarion's lap.
"Please, you're as obvious as Luthor's bald head." He said "Admit it."
"Admit what?" Tony asked, Klarion rolled his eyes but smirked; this would prove most entertaining after all.
This was more filler than I intended, oh well such is life right? Anyway next chapter we'll see how Mariko plans to get Robin, and if he'll take the bait. Well good night all I'll see you on the battle field tomorrow! I look forward to reading your reviews in the morning. 'See you later armadillos—unless I see you first. Haha!'