Martin Mystery: New Allies

By: Ominae

Rating: PG-13

NOTE:

All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon; Yu Ominae is a copyright of Striker/Spriggan; John Vattic is a copyright of Codemasters and Free Radical. The character Mark Sy is under my jurisdiction and some parts of his life are based from my experience. The character Patrick Chan is also under my jurisdiction.

Previously:

The Center, ARCAM and MIT researcher John Vattic has recently discovered that historians from the University of the Philippines have accidentally revived a Berserker machine while they were looking for ancient ruins. M.O.M. has asked for assistance from John Vattic, ARCAM agents Yu Ominae and Patrick Chan to come and assist the agents. M.O.M. also had a surprise for Martin when she revealed to Martin that his old friend, Mark Sy, was also summoned in order to give a hand to the agents in their eventual investigation to the mystery of the Berserker. What will happen next? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 2: Help is on the way

The Center, unknown location, somewhere in Canada - 4:35 P.M.

"Hi Martin, M.O.M.! You guys need help?" stated Mark as he looked at everyone inside the office.

"Mark! Long time, no see. How's it going, buddy ?" shouted Martin as he ran towards and gave him a high five. "Hey Java, remember him back in '03?"

"Java remember!" beamed the civilized caveman, waving at him.

"Great man!" Mark chuckled and waved back at Java, "Hey, Java!" He faced his superior, acknowledging her presence. "How are things around here, M.O.M.?" asked Mark as he also gave a high five to Martin.

"Fine, Mark. The only reason why you're here is that we need your help. You see…." explained M.O.M., but not before she was cut off by Mark's reply. Martin quickly sat down in his chair.

"The Berserker has been revived? Yea, it's in the local papers and news channels. People are already panicking in the streets of Manila. A lot of people are wondering about the damn thing. It's a good thing that there wasn't any report of sightings of some sort for the past four days now." explained Mark.

"Okay then. But I want you to lead this morning debriefing to everyone here in the office." said M.O.M. as she motioned him to take her seat.

"Sure, thanks M.O.M." replied Mark as he sat down in her chair and began to operate her computer. Yu and Patrick left their chairs and walked near M.O.M.'s chair and stood behind him as Mark operated the computer. M.O.M. then sat down at Yu's now empty chair.

Mark then proceeded to click on the computer mouse. A picture was then shown with a strange robot. It had two glowing yellow eyes, had two robotic arms extending upwards with its clenched fists. In the middle of the robot, three glowing yellow pod lights are seen. At the back, it appears that it had rocket boosters, but the picture's quality is too hard to tell.

"People, this is the Berserker that was revived by accident last week by historians of the University of the Philippines during an archaeological dig in central Luzon somewhere near the district of San Fernando. A history student was able to take the photo with her Nokia 7250 cellphone, but not before the Berserker itself killed her. A detachment of San Fernando police officers were able to respond to one of the professor's call for help and unfortunately, three policemen were killed by this thing before it fled by using its rocket boosters." Mark then clicked on the computer mouse and on the projection screen; it showed a man in his late 30's. He wore a brown boonie hat and has a tobacco pipe in his mouth.

"This is Dr. Juan Martinez, one of the members of the archaeological expedition. He was the one who was once believed to have accidentally revived the Berserker machine. He was lucky to be alive; he only escaped with minor scratches. He retired after I graduated in 2003 from high school and was a history professor at the University of the Philippines before the incident took place. But based from compiled intelligence from both the Center's Manila branch and ARCAM's Philippine branch, he was last seen in Vancouver and in Manila, though he transits between the two countries as a visiting professor to Simon Fraser University. But this was the cover story for this incident just for the sake of appeasing the press." Mark then clicked on the computer mouse.

"Patrick, do you want to take over this part of the briefing?" asked Mark.

"Sure Mark, I'll take care of it." Patrick then walked near the projector screen and began to speak while Mark still continued to use the computer. The photo then showed a man in his late 20's with a black beret and was wearing a white polo shirt He was also seen carrying what it appears to be a GIAT FAMAS G2 rifle.

"However, ARCAM intelligence has received credible information that this man, Gio Valdes, is the one responsible for operating the Berserker. From what we've heard, Gio and his group has accidentally discovered the machine before the archaeological team arrived. An informant told the ARCAM Philippine branch that they have located an ancient transponder that would actually revive this thing. We still don't know where he is right now, though the Center has relayed information that he has a cell of assassins based in Vancouver as the group is trying to make an influence abroad. So, the Center and ARCAM has recently taken this new piece of information very seriously. Until now, we aren't sure on the name of this self-proclaimed terrorists for now. So, any questions?" asked Patrick as he wiped his forehead with his handkerchief

"Yea, I do." said Martin as he raised his hand, "Are there any supernatural properties with this thing? I mean, I heard that it came from an ancient civilization, but I hardly heard any stories about its paranormal characteristics? And by the way, what's so special about this Berserker?"

Yu then quickly answered his question, "You see Martin, the Berserker is a mindless machine. When it is released in an environment that has people, the machine sees them as the enemy and does not think twice, which is quite similar to many computers today. I've fought with one and believe me, I've seen the wonders that this thing can do. Imagine what would have happened if the thing was released in an urban district like Moscow, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Manila, Ottawa and maybe Washington D.C."

"The frantic chaos!" exclaimed Diana, as she was shocked to hear what Yu has said. "Not only will many people will be slaughtered, but the authorities within the police and in the armed forces won't be able to stop it."

"But with the exception of the transponder's discovery, things may be a bit different." added Yu.

"That's correct" replied Patrick. "Conventional weapons can't destroy this thing. We must either destroy it by eliminating its head or its transponder, though we've got some rumors floating around that the Berserker may be immune to one of these potential weaknesses. Center intelligence has also found out that Gio has some other plans for the machine, especially since we've heard rumors that he wanted to upgrade the machine by making a device that would enable him to take control of zombie from carcasses, whether they are fresh or old with the help of the Berserker."

"Jave feel scared!" remarked Java as he started to feel scared.

"Don't worry! Everything's going to be fine." commented Diana to Java as she tried to assure Java on the situation with a smile.

Mark then raised his hand near Patrick's body while his eyes came into eye contact with him, which meant that he wanted to finish the rest of the briefing. "Also, Gio has raised an army of psychic soldiers, which consists of contracted mercenaries from all over the world through genetic enchancement. The Manila branch of the Center has also informed me that he financed the unit through drug smuggling on various markets in Japan, the US, Britain, Ireland and in Canada. So we need to be careful on our toes here. One wrong move and we could get in big trouble with these guys. This is why John also agreed to join us, he had some experience battling these genetically-enhanced soldiers in Russia during a black-ops mission."

"Thank you for the information guys and thank you, Mark, for leading this morning's briefing session." said M.O.M. as she motioned Mark to look for a seat. She then took her seat and began to do some typing on her computer.

Mark looked around M.O.M.'s office for a seat, but he couldn't see one.

"By the way, where can I sit down?" asked Mark as he frantically tried to look for a seat.

"You can sit here next to me." said Diana as she was excited while she patted the chair next to her. "You remember me, Mark?" she then extended her hand.

"Diana. Of course I do. It's been a while since we've last worked together. I hope you're doing well." said Mark as he shook her hand.

"But of course." replied Diana as she blushed. As usual, Martin didn't bother to pay attention as he looked at the ceiling with his hands folded with a jealous face.

Mark then sat down on his chair while Diana smiled at him.

"Any questions then, everyone?" asked M.O.M. while she was tapping her fingers in her table.

The office was then quiet.

M.O.M. placed both her hands on the sides of table while she stood up and said, "Good, then let's start. I'll have you guys deployed right away. With the exception of Mark, Yu and Patrick, the rest must head to Vancouver by airplane by tomorrow Saturday and stay there for at least two weeks. We can't allow risk some of Mark's relatives and associates to be suspicious by your sudden arrival in Vancouver if I let you all use the portal. The three gentlemen have arrived in the province for at least a week before today. All of you will be staying in one of the mansions of Mark's relatives. He consented to the use of the place, since his aunt will be away for three months for work overseas in Hong Kong and China. The mansion will be your temporary base of operations until I further communicate with you guys for further instructions. You will need to check on Dr. Martinez and question him about the recent attacks. He may be able to shed some light on this incident. Expect some further communication on this matter."

"Most of those who know me, Yu and Patrick in Vancouver would not expect anyone else in my aunt's house or near the places that I go to. Sorry for the inconvenience, but that's the risk that we have to take." Mark then placed his hand behind his back and wanted to giggle, but couldn't due to fear that everyone in the room will look at him in an angry manner.

"I must stress this point, though." M.O.M. went on to direct her statement to Mark, one of the Center's best Shadow agents. "This would be another of the Center's joint operations with ARCAM after Mark here had negotiated with the board of directors on my behalf." M.O.M. then squinted her eyes at Mark, making him sweat

"Let's just hope that this would be one of the official missions that we do with the ARCAM Corporation, not like the last episode that took place after you came back on duty as a Shadow, agent Sy."

"Does she know about the last mission back in 2002?" Mark began to sweat a bit before wiping it off with his arm.

"FINALLY! Some vacation!" Martin couldn't help himself since he began to dance in the office.

"Martin! We're suppose to be in Vancouver in order to wait for further instructions, not to relax!" Diana started to become irritated with Martin already and wanted to punch him in the face. M.O.M. glared at Martin, making him cringe on his seat.

M.O.M. then turned to the direction of Mark, Yu and Patrick.

"Billy should escort you to the portal now." She then pushed a red button in her desk that opened a portal near the office door.

"All right, meeting dismissed." M.O.M. then pushed the same button that materialized another portal near her desk.

As Mark approached the portal, Diana tapped him in the shoulder and said "Excuse me Mark, can I ask you something?" The first portal disappeared after Yu and Patrick just before Mark did. Martin, Java and John were being lead to another portal by M.O.M.; Martin and Java would be transported back to their dorms and pack up while John would be transported back to his hotel room in Montreal. Their portal also closed when the three went in. Billy was busy and had to attend to M.O.M. while Diana and Mark sat down and began to had their conversation.

"What is it, Diana?". Both Mark and Diana took their seats while M.O.M. was talking with Billy.

"M.O.M. did mention something about your past and I was wondering on what is the ARCAM Private Army?"

"Think of it as the Special Operations Command used in various police and military forces. It's the overseeing branch in ARCAM's paramilitary forces. I was with them after I left the Center."

"I heard that you had some problems when you were a Striker."

"Yeah." Mark ran a hand on his hair. "It was in Britain when I lost most of my ARCAM Special Private Army comrades to the British SAS."

The SAS? They're suppose to be good guys. "I thought they were good guys."

"That's what they want you to think." glared Mark. "The situation was so bad that we..." Mark gulped his saliva. "we were forced to shoot down one of our wounded comrades in order to relieve him of his misery." The Filipino croaked a bit, not wanting to remember the event. "It made me so bad that I was sick for a day when I vomited after I was back from the mission."

"I see." remarked Diana. "Anyway, I have to go."

"I was told by M.O.M. that you guys should arrive in Vancouver airport by tomorrow morning, so I'll see you then." said Mark. He was then calm after he was finished speaking to Diana.

"Okay. Thanks." She then placed her hand in her shoulder. "Remember, you can talk to me anytime you want, okay?"

Seeing that Mark was about to leave, M.O.M. simply pushed the same old red button to make a third portal. She seemed sorry when she overheard the conversation of both Diana and Mark.

"Sure. I have to go. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow." Mark waved to Diana before stepping into the portal. Diana waved back at him before he disappeared from view after going in the portal and it completely vanished from Diana's sight.

"See you tomorrow, Mark. I just hope that we can be good friends." thought Diana as she went in the portal. Moments later, she reappeared inside her dormitory in Torrington Academy. She saw her bag on top of her bed and she grabbed the note on top of it and the note said,

Di,

Java took care of your things after we were back in our rooms. See you tomorrow.

Martin

She crumpled the note and tossed it in her garbage can. Diana immediately grabbed her suitcase from her closet and began to pack her clothes for the trip to Vancouver tommorow Saturday. In her mind, she can't stop thinking about the problems that Mark had. She hopes that she can help him one day, somehow.

Chapter 2 END