Puppets
Victor Van Heiring
Important: Believe it or not, but there's a reason for Marionette's presence in this story. You see, there're three voices—the voice of justice, chastity and order (Robin); the voice of greed, power and chaos (Slade); and the voice of reason, reality and orderly chaos (Mary). The three of them are present for my basic argument underlying the plot—is the true survival behavior of any human being that of a stead-fast and entirely good hero? Should people follow more utilitarianism ideas (pleasure over pain—AKA: a man saves a surgeon in a plane crash instead of his son, because the surgeon can do more good in the world), or is it all a waste of time…should we just give up and let our wants and needs show before that of others? What should the true balance between good and evil be like…Marionette is just there to get Robin's thoughts out in the open, so hang tight…I'm probably going to kill her before the end of the story…but she makes for good fight scenes.
WARNING: there's a little gore here and there…that's why the rating is changed to M. I won't describe someone's guts hanging out through a cut in the stomach, but people do die in this story…no one important…
DISCLAIMER: You all know the drill.
CHAPTER SEVEN: Setting up
She was shivering, sitting on the edge of her bed, tucked into the corner where she could lean in safety. She watched the door carefully, long thing arms wrapped protectively around her knees to hug them close to her chest. She was wet, after having been cleaned up, and dressed with a loose short-sleeve shirt and a pair of white slacks tied tightly around her waist. The straight jacket was gone for now—she bit the last two men who tried to put it on and they knew better than to push their luck—and now the doctors were going over the results from her electrotherapy.
She could take the pain that came with being locked up and called insane—she could stand the difficulty of always listening to the orders of others—but she had to draw the line somewhere and that was when they started to electrocute her just because she was a little 'depressed'. In her mind, she had every right to be depressed. After all, she found out last night that it was Mark who was kidnapped last night and Mark was one of the few people who respected her just as much as she respected him. How dare Dane stand in front of her and tell her this news without so much as a flinch or a tear…she cried…even the big girls cry…
Fiddling with her still wet hair, she grabbed a few of the strands still left free and quickly braided them, reaching over toward her small bedside table for another elastic. Every single last hair was finished with now, long and smooth, falling down to her waist. Growing up after her parents died, her newer guardians told her that it was a sin to cut your hair. That's why it was so long…
One of the nurses stared in at her through the small grated window on the door to her room, shaking her head sadly. They would be back to try and place the straight jacket on again later, but they didn't worry as much. After testing Mary enough times and questioning her hard enough they concluded, with much certainty, that in Mary's chaotic mind she believed she was incapable of suicide. She was almost very much incapable of homicide as well except for one small detail that she tried to avoid most of the time, being a cannibal and all—you couldn't kill something you weren't going to eat…or at least eat part of.
"Mary?" The door cracked open an inch as the doctor called to her, opening it further as he and two other burly men slid into the room. "How're you feeling?"
She tucked her knees close to her chest again and hid her lower face behind them. "I…don't understand."
"Feeling." The doctor tried to explain as he stopped and stared at the long perfect braids she created. She was quick with her hands. "Do you feel any pain? Are you tried?"
She hummed thoughtfully to herself. "Maybe it is you who fails understand…I don't understand your reaction to my grief. I missed Mark…and you punished me for it. Should have I been happy? Should I have smiled like Dane did?"
"Mr. Jarak wasn't smiling."
"Not on the outside, he wasn't…"
Some days they never understood her logic. And tonight the majority of them were too tired to argue professionally with her. She was a little…stranger than the usual patients, but she would only stay in Jump City for another day or two before they returned her to New Jersey.
"It's time for bed, Miss Jacob." The doctor sighed, nodding to one of his assistants. The man stepped forward with a syringe filled with a clear pink fluid. "What do you say to that?"
She hissed at them, eyes narrow and dark as they advanced ever so carefully. "Let's hear what the devil has to say about it…"
Startled, she didn't actually expect anyone to react to that statement.
The wall next to her bed broke away, large chunks of the wood and metal hitting her and the other men in the room. Dust clouded the air and they all coughed and sputtered as it began to settle, Mary being the first to notice the robot commandoes which piled in through the large opening to attack the doctor. He didn't even see them as one brought back its hand, fingers shaved into claws, and then—
She closed her eyes and buried the rest of her face in her knees, her body racked with laughter. Mary could hear them yelling and screaming, heard the nurse take off in a panicked sprint down the hall as someone called security to her room.
She raised her head after the two other men in her room lay either dead or unconscious on the floor by her bed. Then she stood up and straightened her posture.
One of the five robots turned to her, gesturing to the opening in the wall. The clear evening air welcomed her, the dark starry night so inviting, but she shook her hand kindly and moved past them toward the door.
"I'll come as your master bids, have no worries about that, but I won't fight a child without my mask." She knew where they kept her suit. It was locked in a room just down the hall. "Give me a moment and I will do whatever your master asks of me…"
The robots had their orders. Moving to finish the task quickly, they marched from the room and jumped the small opposition of security guards which met her in the hall…
-R-
Flexing his left hand, he listened to the sore digits crack before balling his fingers into a tight fist. It hurt but it wouldn't handicap him in battle unless he crushed it again. The chances of that were slim anyway.
He avoided using the hand much during practice that day, making sure to flex it again every once in a while so it wouldn't lock up, and he avoided showing that it hurt least Raven or Cyborg suddenly decided to cast it. That was the last thing he needed…
The day went by somewhat peacefully. Now that he had an idea of what Slade could be up to, he didn't feel as 'left-in-the-dark' as he had been for the last couple of weeks. And the day was crime free as well. He almost expected, when night fell, that he had gone for at least twenty-four hours without facing off an enemy—quite a new record for the ever-busy Teen Titans.
Then the red lights flashed.
Automatically, the main consol came to life and the large screen switched on to show one large blinking red light hovering over the east side of the city. It was near the tower, situated over the city's main asylum.
"A crazy broke out?" Beast Boy asked, voice squeaking at the high pitch. "Dude…the crazies rarely ever break out!"
Robin shook his head. "Not unless someone else is doing the breaking..."
"…Come on, we don't even have any big names like Jonathon Crane or E. Nigma. Who could they possibly want?"
"Mary Jacob." Raven read aloud, staring at the new information which popped up on the screen. "Ex-cult leader and a terrible trauma patient."
Mary…The name rang a bell and Robin found himself biting his lower lip in thought….Mary…
"Oh!" He breathed out loud, the others hearing him. "Mary. I get it."
BB made a face.
Robin pointed to the screen. "Look—see the braids? It's Marionette, from the fight yesterday night. I guess either the AF or the police caught her."
"Yeah…the AF." Cyborg muttered. "What have they been up to lately anyhow? It's not too often that a government-run organization pops in and out of existence without us knowing about them…"
"Doesn't matter." Raven sighed, turning and heading for the hall. "We have to catch her."
She was right…but Marionette wasn't the only one they were up against.
-break-
Arriving at the asylum in record time, they were met with a grim sight. BB was the first to notice a hole blown in through one of the walls into a patient's room, and the police were still picking up bodies for the morgue. There were scarps of metal and broken pieces from Slade's robots laid out here and there around the asylum, but the girl, Mary Jacob, was out of sight—her and the crazy suit she wore the night before.
Three people dead, five other men and woman injured. No one else got out and the only thing that Mary took with her was her suit and a short list of odd weapons which belonged to her with the permission of the AF.
Speaking of which, the AF was there too…
"Whose he?" Robin asked, nodding at the young man arguing over one of the casualties. Short brown hair with a mean look to his eyes like he just had a night from hell…He had to work for the AF.
"Dane Jarak." The office explained, standing by his patroller with a pen and pad in hand. Scribbling down a few things, he only had to glance up once to recognize the young teen leader. "He's one of the 'higher ranking' members of the AF and was assigned to take down Slade."
Robin paused. "How do you know?"
"The Police Chief made sure everyone in the force knew." The man continued. "The government said your team wasn't allowed to know anything unless the AF failed to keep Slade's plan a secret. Now that that's out in the open…"
Beast Boy smiled. "Does AF really stand for Anti-freak?"
The cop nearly laughed. "That's just what the news decided to call them. They're really—"
"Why are you here?"
Cyborg and Raven where inside the building, examining the damage, while Starfire stayed back at the tower in case anything else came up. It was only Beast Boy and robin that received the honour to meet Dane face-to-face and neither of them really wished they had…
The man was indeed young, but not so young that he was a fool. He stared at Beast Boy a little odd—well…he was green—but only half-glared at Robin when the two faced each other.
The cop, sensing danger, moved elsewhere, as did Beast Boy who felt quite uncomfortable under his piercing stare.
"We have this under control." The man said blankly. "You can leave."
Robin narrowed his eyes. "Can—but won't. If anything happens to this city, it's our duty to stop it."
The man rolled his eyes, sneering. "Like you have any idea what you're doing. Do you even know what Slade is up to?"
"I know as much as you know."
"Is that a fact?" Dane's eyes scanned Robin, making him doubt even himself. Maybe there was something he was missing… "I doubt it. If you were smart you'd give up the hero gig and use your talent as a cop or some other profession concerning the law."
Obviously standing around yelling at each other wasn't going to do either one of them any good. So, shaking his head, Robin stormed off past the man to find BB and gather the others. The escapee could be anywhere at the moment and every second taken was another second wasted. She could be with anyone…
For some odd reason, getting the dreadful sense in the pit of his stomach, he wondered if the psychopathic woman was anywhere near Slade at that current moment…The thought came out of the blue, but it was rare for him to be wrong when such dire times were at hand. Maybe it was a technique he picked up from his first mentor…
-M-
Freedom was a silly thing to focus on, seeing that even now she had little of that, but she enjoyed it anyway. How often does one escape an asylum? She certainly never tried it on her own before. There was always Dane or Mark or Frank to keep her in check, but this time, with some mechanical help, she was out of there in a flash.
They led her to an old mall on the far side of the city. Ruined with a broken wire fence surrounding it and graffiti here and there over the painted scraped walls, it almost felt inviting to someone who sought refuge. Mary found it quite believable that a man such as Slade could hide well in a place like this and keep it 'creep-free' of the homeless people and punks who might have (with great misfortune) wandered there. It was hard for her to imagine Dane's men or the Titans scanning every inch of each run down building. They were more likely to check the docks where supplies could be easily found or more secluded sites just outside the city limits.
Her three remaining escorts dispersed once she entered the shattered glass doors to the front lower half of the building, one signaling to her to follow after. She did. They traveled to what she believed to be the center of the building and stopped near one of the plainer walls. Painted to blend in was a small door with a large key pad built above the broken doorknob. It, however, wasn't locked. The robotic man pushed it opened and led her down a dark set of stairs.
It was the emergency security rooms.
At the end of the stairs was a hall, the far end of which was illuminated dimly by a yellow light around the corner. Lining the left side of the hall were temporary holding cells and on the right a few doors to separate offices. One of the cells, she noticed as she passed, held a small pool of blood, splatters of such here and there as though someone—the injured—tried to stand and lean against the wall or bars for support.
Mark came to mind…
Mary rounded the corner and stopped where she stood to take the semi-large room into focus. It was filled with set up machinery and there, in the center of the room, was a make-shift operation table. Strapped down and undoubtedly unconscious, lay Mark, and there, across his chest, neck and temples were healing incisions.
"You…you…" For once in her life, she was lost for words. Mark was one of her constant captors, true, but Mark was also something of a friend and a reliable ally when it came to their job. He respected her and she had respect for her. Why, then, was she serving the man who was…well…she actually had no idea what Slade was doing to her friend.
Pulling off her white mask, she squinted at the shadows.
"I can hear you breathing…" She whispered meekly, trying to pinpoint Slade in the dark. "Tell me why you hurt him."
The man didn't answer. Instead, he stepped out into plain sight and folded his hands neatly behind his back.
"You're not the one giving orders here." He stated plainly. "But to give you an answer for the sake of a level head…I'm doing more good than bad for your…friend."
"Then may I ask, how so?" She wanted answers…but she knew who was master here.
He stepped up to the young man, tilting the patient's head to one side to show his right temple. There were stitches where the mastermind sewed him up… "I've been enhancing him. Whether he takes this as a new opportunity or as a condemnation depends on his view on the people he hunts and what Dane thinks of him when they meet again."
"Hm…" She hummed, stepping closer and placing her hand on the side of Mark's pale face. "Might I also ask how much longer he is to remain in your…care?"
"He leaves tomorrow night…the same night you will confront Robin." The man turned away, strolling toward his machinery. "I have plans on how to lead him here alone, and that leaves you with the entire mall as a fighting ring."
"And of Dane?"
She heard a faint laugh. "I plan on him coming. After all…he has to pick up his friend…"
-V-
YAY! Another chapter done! I wish Robin was as consistent as this…Oh well, maybe he'll work more on his stories now that next week and the week after are devoted to Christmas vacation….two weeks, I love that. Oh—Merry Christmas! (NOT Happy Holidays…). And a Happy New Year!
Signing out,
Victor Van Heiring