Martin Mystery: Tangling with Shadowlaw
By: Ominae
Rating: T
NOTE:
All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon; all characters of Striker/Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa; all characters of Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. I exclusively own the rights to the characters Mark Sy and Patrick Chan.
Previously:
A trip down to memory lane. Mark Sy, then a 13 year old Center agent, had foiled an attempt by Shadowlaw soldiers and the Psycho Doll commandos in raiding an excavation site discovered by a Center scientific research team in the jungles of Malaysia back in 1998. What will happen to Mark next as he gets tangled up with the deadly terrorist group? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.
Chapter 2: First Move
2002
The Center, unknown location, somewhere in Canada - 9:30 A.M.
It has been 4 years since Mark had personally interrupted a Shadowlaw operation in Malaysia. He had been an ARCAM Striker for 3 years before deciding to rejoin the Center once more. Right now, he had been summoned by the Center to attend a briefing session with his old training pal, 14 year old Martin Mystery. Now 17 years old, he's about to make his comeback as a Center field operative.
A portal appeared and Mark emerged out of it, wearing his Xavier School uniform. A few minutes later, the same portal had another visitor, who Mark was really familiar with.
"Mark?"
"Martin?"
Both Center agents gave each other a high five before stepping down on the moving walkway.
"So what you've been up to this time?" asked Martin.
"Nothing much. Just got back to the Center after leaving the Strikers." replied Mark.
"How come?" Martin had a brow up in a bit of shock.
"I kinda miss the Center, I guess." Mark had stretched his hands upwards before they were subjected to a laser scan and handprint identification test.
"Martin Mystery, clear."
"Mark Sy, clear."
Billy then hovered near them and gave them their usual handshake. "Hey guys." said Billy.
"Hey Billy, what's new?" asked Martin.
"Nothing much. Hey, Mark! How's your first day back in the Center?" inquired Billy.
"Great to be back after 4 years as a Striker." answered Mark with a smile.
Soon enough, the moving walkway halted and the trio went up to the elevator, which soon took them up to M.O.M.'s office on the top floor. With the elevator to a halt, the two Center agents and Billy find M.O.M. sitting on her desk with her legs on the table and her hands cushioning her head on the chair.
"Uh... M.O.M., we're here." said Mark sheepishly.
"Oh!" M.O.M. quickly placed her feet down on the floor and her hands on the table. "Morning, agents. You'll have a briefing today about Shadowlaw's attempts against our personnel for the past few months now. I've been receiving reports from the Special Reaction Squad that some of our personnel were under attack from Shadowlaw soldiers worldwide."
"Shadowlaw's beens stepping up their attacks?" questioned Mark. M.O.M. merely nodded in agreement.
"What about Diana and Java?" asked Martin.
"Diana has a field trip, remember? And Java is out sick. So I'll have to stick with you two for the meantime."
"Okay." Mark gave a mock salute to M.O.M.
"But seriously M.O.M., didn't Mark take care of their meddling against us back in '98?" questioned Martin as he was in a bit of shock.
"Yes, but they're back in business after a year. Apparently, M. Bison was looking at mystical artifacts." And M.O.M. pressed a button on her table, lowering a projector screen with a projector. She clicked on her computer mouse and on the screen was a sword with a curvy gold-like blade and a brown handle. Next to it was a gold-like sheath.
"That's the Kris Taming Sari!" shouted Mark.
"The wha?" asked Martin. He apparently was not paying attention at Mark's words.
"It's a legendary Malaysian sword. Mark can fill you on the details." said M.O.M. calmly.
"This kris is like the Excalibur. It once belonged to a Melaka warrior named Hang Tuah in the 15th century. Many Malaysians believe that whoever has it in his or her possession would have tremendous amount of power." explained Mark. "I'm sure that this is the one that Bison's looking for."
"That's right. But thanks to Mark's suggestion and further knowledge on this mystical weapon, we were able to secure it safe and sound. It's now being stored in the base. The picture shown here is only a museum replica." M.O.M. then clicked on the computer mouse and a photo showed up with 12 familiar faces that Mark had met before.
"HOT LADIES!" shouted Martin as he pushed Mark out of the way and drooled at the projector screen.
"MARTIN MYSTERY!" yelled M.O.M. angrily. Mark hastily tackled him down and dragged him to a chair, despite many attempts by Martin to escape his grasp. Mark then sighed to himself and punched Martin in the belly, rendering him unconscious.
"Thank you, Mark. I was about to explain that Shadowlaw has also attacked one of our bases in the outskirts of Britain."
"By who?"
"These girls lead the assault." pointed M.O.M. to the screen. "I'm sure that you're familiar with them already."
"It can't be. The Psycho Dolls." gasped Mark. "I thought they were under SRS custody?"
"They were. But unfortunately, they got away while they were being transported."
"I see." frowned Mark. He then slapped Martin on the head to wake him up. Martin soon woke up groggily from the blow that he received to his stomach.
"Anyway, I've received a video from a man named Vega."
"The Vega de Cerna? The ex-matador turned Shadowlaw operative?" Mark was shocked in hearing this strange news.
"Yes. He sent us a message via CD. Apparently, he asked us for some help."
"How did he know about us anyway? And how did the package find its way here?" asked Mark skeptically.
"Your guess is as good as mine." replied M.O.M., shrugging her shoulders.
"What kind of help does this psycho want?" sneered Martin with his hands folded on his waist.
"Just watch!" replied M.O.M. angrily. She then took a CD in her hands and inserted it in her CPU. Later, a Caucasian-looking man appeared on the screen with a blue background on without his mask and his claws. He was only wearing a simple polo shirt on. The screen only showed him to his chest area.
"Greetings. I come merely in peace. Today, I am asking for your help. I have heard that a Center agent named Mark Sy had tangled with some Shadowlaw forces back in Malaysia in the year 1998. I am now appealing to him and anyone who can help him to assist me with this task."
Vega then showed a photo of a young woman, a Caucasian, with blonde hair and pigtails and was wearing a sky blue garrison uniform with a sky blue East German-like overseas cap.
"Please help me save this beautiful soldier. She is now being hunted down by her former master, M. Bison and his pathetic Psycho Dolls. Her life is and will be in very grave danger unless you can assist me . You'll find some details on the CD too. Please take care of her as soon as you can find her." Vega then gave a short bow before the screen went blue.
After the video stopped, M.O.M. navigated her way in the CD's computer data and a lot of windows came popping up, showing various photos and memos.
"Wow, she sure is a beautiful soldier." chuckled Martin to himself. He then gave a whistle, which M.O.M. did not appreciate as her brows were raised up.
"Apparently, this data includes the plans that Bison has regarding on another attack. The target seems to be one of our research facilities somewhere in the outskirts of London."
"Where and when was the first base that was attacked by Shadowlaw forces?" inquired Martin.
"At the same sector as the second base was last year. The attempted target is hidden from plain sight like the first one, but I don't know how they managed to locate it." replied M.O.M.
"Only Shadowlaw could do it. They probably had access to global positioning satellites." said Mark mockingly. "So what's next, M.O.M.?"
"You're going to Britain right away. I'm going to make contact with Delta Red after you guys leave."
"You mean, THE DELTA RED of Britain?" gasped Martin.
M.O.M. nodded at his question in agreement.
"Aren't they an anti-terrorist team?" inquired Martin.
"Yup! But what makes these guys different from the rest is that they try to use martial arts as much as possible. They're under MI-6." answered Mark.
"Coolness!" shouted Martin.
"As for the location of the mysterious lady, her last location appears to be in Britain also." emphasized M.O.M.
Billy pressed a button on his hoverchair's console and a portal materialzed near M.O.M.'s office door.
"Orders?" questioned Mark.
"Make contact with Delta Red, find out when Shadowlaw plans to attack one of our bases and rescue the woman that Vega showed in the photo."
"Okay. Let's go." said Martin as he and Mark ran through the portal.
"Don't forget, Mark. Your clothes are in the hotel that we assigned you to. The laptop's there too!" shouted Billy.
"Thanks, my man." Mark gave a thumbs up before he was completely inside the portal. In a few minutes, the portal disappeared and was seen no more.
"I hope those two can take care of things." thought M.O.M. as she left the office and went inside the elevator.
Delta Red Headquarters, MI-6 Building, Britain - 5:50 P.M.
The two Center agents had checked into their hotel room after they materialized in British soil. From there, Mark had a few minutes to dress himself in civilian clothes from his school uniform before the two agents were escorted by an MI-6 agent, who was waiting for them in the hotel lobby and drove them to Delta Red Headquarters, where they were met by the entire Delta Red team lead by Colonel Wolfman. Behind him were Rita Luwanda, a half-cyborg and human named Matthew McCoy, the small George Ginzu and Commander Watson, the head of the Delta Red team.
"Ah, Lieutenant Sy. I'm glad you're here." Commander Watson took his hand out and shook hands with the Asian Center agent. He was now wearing a white jacket that had the Glock logo on it with a dark green shirt, blue Oakley jeans with a black cap that had the words "POLICE" on it with his white rubber shoes. Martin was wearing an orange shirt with a sky blue jacket and dark blue pants with red sneakers. Colonel Wolfman then introduced the entire Delta Red team to Mark and Martin.
"Lieutenant?" quipped Martin.
"Remember, I completed my military training and I received the rank fair and square. I was granted the rank of 2nd Lieutenant after my training was completed from the rank of Probationary 2nd Lieutenant." sneered Mark.
"Oh!" Martin was then in complete silence.
"Come on in, Lieutenant." Colonel Wolfman escorted Mark and Martin to their briefing room with the rest following behind.
Briefing Room, Delta Red Headquarters, MI-6 Building, Britain- 6:20 P.M.
Mark Sy and Martin Mystery were seated alongside the rest of the Delta Red team. Commander Watson and Colonel Wolfman were standing on both sides of a projector screen. On the screen was the same 12 women that Mark had encountered.
"I'm sure that you two are aware of these 12 assassins that Shadowlaw has in their hands." said Commander Watson as he began the briefing session.
"Of course, Commander. Back in '98, I was the first Center agent to encounter them back in Malaysia." said Mark in reply. The rest nodded at his answer.
"I see, Lieutenant. We were told by your superior that one of your facilities was attacked by Shadowlaw forces." stated Colonel Wolfman.
"Yes sir. However, our facilities in Britain are hidden from the public eye and all. Still, our boss is kinda worried on how Shadowlaw had located our bases." elaborated Martin.
"In the past few years Colonel, Bison was already obsessed in finding mystical artifacts that can be used by his organization. Center intelligence has informed us that Bison has taken an interest in the occult." added Mark.
"We need your expertise regarding mystical artifacts that Bison plans to obtain from excavation sites. I believe that we can work things out here. MI-6 intelligence has reported that Bison had Shadowlaw scouts scour the British mainland in searching for these excavation sites that some artifacts were rumored to be hidden in." said Commander Watson calmly.
"Yes, Commander. As you may know ladies and gentlemen, I'm in the process of finalizing research data on the Psycho Dolls. I'll have them forwarded to the concerned agencies as soon as possible." answered Mark while drinking his glass of water.
"We're all looking forward to your research data, Lieutenant." replied Colonel Wolfman. Mark then stood up from his chair and gave both Commander Watson and Colonel Wolfman a salute.
"I'll have an escort arranged to bring you back to your hotel." Colonel Wolfman returned his salute before he whispered to Matthew McCoy. Matthew then took out his radio extender and began to communicate with the other recipient. Afterwards, he whispered back to Colonel Wolfman with the news.
"Your transportation has already arrived. I'll try to see if we can meet again some other time." said Colonel Wolfman.
"Thank you sir. But tomorrow, we're going to start our investigation." Martin then shook hands with Colonel Wolfman and Commander Watson while Mark did the same.
The two Center operatives were escorted out of the building by George Ginzu and Rita Luwanda. As they came near the 2002 Land Rover Range Rover SUV, they said their thanks to the two Delta Red operatives before they entered the vehicle. Martin sat next to the driver while Mark sat behind him. Martin then gestured to the MI-6 agent to drive them back to the hotel. Their vehicle soon came to life as the driver pressed his foot on the vehicle's accelerator, driving away from the Delta Red building. Unknown to the two agents, they were being watched by a team of Psycho Doll commandos on the rooftop of a nearby building.
"Commander Juli, do we get those two Center agents now?" asked one of the Psycho Dolls. She was aiming her Heckler and Koch MSG-90 sniper rifle, peering at the moving 2002 Land Rover Range Rover SUV through her Stinger Gen 3 Day-Night vision scope.
"Not yet Fevrier. We have to wait for orders, so be patient. Enero, anything from Master Bison?" answered Juli while using her binoculars.
Enero was typing away at März's portable laptop computer, which she borrowed, before adjusting her headset. "Commander, he has given out orders to continue our surveillance activities on the two agents for the meantime." replied the Spanish-speaking Doll.
"Do we have to get them? But seriously though, that Philippine guy is quite cute." frowned the Japanese Doll in her fluent English while clutching her sheathed katana.
"I agree, Satsuki. Maybe there's a way that we can get that handsome boy to work for Shadowlaw." added one of the Chinese Dolls holding her quarterstaff
"If there would only be a way, Jianyu. But they're no pushovers. We've already targeted them a few years ago, so there's no way we can get him or his friend to join Shadowlaw." replied Juli as she kept on observing the Range Rover enter the main road. "The girls are right, Mark Sy does have a cute face." Juli began to blush, but quickly fought off her feelings while seeing the Range Rover disappear from the view of her binoculars.
Hotel Room, Intercontinental Hotel, Downtown London, Britain - 9:30 P.M.
Mark and Martin had concluded their dinner from the The Coffee House Restaurant. They were now lounging in their hotel room, killing time before going to bed. Martin was channel surfing for news and entertainment, while Mark was typing away at the Center laptop that Billy had provided for the duo. It had wireless internet built inside and the wireless connection was provided by the Center's satellites, so there was no need for them to get internet service from the hotel. Suddenly, his Yahoo e-mail had an interesting message. He clicked it and the mysterious letter had the following,
My friend,
This e-mail has an attachment on the plans regarding a fake assignment that the beautiful soldier, or Killer Bee, has been ordered to do. The Psycho Dolls will be awaiting for her at the designated location where she will have her doctored assignment. I hope that the data included here will be of great help.
Truly yours,
An Anonymous comrade
"Martin, we got some good news!"
"What is it, Mark?"
"Take a look at this!" Mark was then clicking on the attachment on his e-mail and streams of windows were popping up on his laptop, showing the pictures of the target area and the satellite view of the area that the mysterious woman would go to.
"So when does our target appear?" questioned Martin as leaned next to Mark's chair, eyeing the various pictures that the anonymous person has provided.
"Said in a few days. Our friend was not that specific. I suggest that we conduct an investigation of the affair first before we make any moves." Mark then saved the attachment on his laptop and closed it before putting on his pajama top.
"Good idea. Right now, I'm kinda tired." Martin then yawned and went off to his bed.
"Night Martin." Soon enough, the room was in darkness as Mark clicked the lights off before settling himself on his bed for the next day.
Streets of London - 10:30 A.M.
The two Center agents had recently left their hotel room after breakfast to take a walk around downtown London while conducting their investigation. The hotel clerk had informed the two that someone from Delta Red will make contact with them in a few days. The two agents were wearing the same clothes as they had yesterday.
With that in mind, Martin Mystery and Mark Sy were now walking around from the City of London to the West End District, checking out the various shops while keeping vigilance on important updates from M.O.M or from Billy. So far, the two agents had not received any updates.
While they were walking around a residential district, Mark began to converse with Martin regarding some information that he had acquired from the e-mail last night. "According to our mysterious contact, the Psycho Dolls were believed to have used this area as possible refuges from the police. Problem is we don't know if that's true or not."
"I would have to agree with you." concurred Martin. "For one thing, this area doesn't appear to be a area prone for crime. This would be a perfect place for Shadowlaw operatives to have their safehouses."
"But the thing that bothers me is that who sent us that data and how does he know my e-mail address. It's not that I just give it out to the public."
"I think I can help with that kind of information." informed a voice with a Spanish accent.
"Who said that?" asked Mark as he looked around to look for the sound of the voice.
"Over here." The mysterious figure leaped down from the rooftop of one of the buildings and landed on the roof of a 2002 Hyundai Elantra automobile.
"Oh my god!" gasped Mark. He did not expect the mysterious man to appear before him.
The man had his face mask on, as well as his mounted claws on his right hand. With the sunlight shining on the trio at the deserted residential area, his claws were gleaming as the sunlight was reflected on his sharp blades. He did not wear any casual clothing except for his yellow and violet striped pants, red cloth-like belt and brown shoes. His chest was exposed, but had a tattoo of a violet snake all over his body and arms. He had his hair made into a ponytail.
"It can't be! You're..." stuttered Martin.
"Yes!" smiled the man under his mask. He placed his claw near his mask before resuming, "I am..."
Chapter 2 END