Chosen Chapter 4: Maria Luiz, a mask fanfic

Chosen

Chapter 4: Maria Luiz

Trakker leaned against the counter and folded his arms over his chest. "You're right. It is completely weird. And I can't make you do something you don't want to. And yes, we're here to fight VENOM, not chase after some cryptid."

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The next day was first spent outfitting a rented boat with sonar and scanners, and then taking it out to probe the waters of the Amazon. The murky river was not going to yield its secrets easily to them. A search pattern was drawn up on the navigational chart, and the dull process began. They swept back and forth over the area the boat had gone down, moving downstream from there, knowing the current flowed as much at the bottom of the river as it did at the top. And the water was deep here...anywhere from two hundred to two hundred and fifty feet deep according to the readings and the navigational chart.

Hayes piloted the boat while the others took turns staring glassy-eyed at the monitors, hoping the readings would reveal the sunken craft and its valuable cargo. By the time the light of the day was fading, they were feeling somewhat defeated by the grueling task set before them. "Why can't someone else just come take care of the salvage part?" Hayes complained. "The cargo doesn't belong to us."

"The PNA is working on getting a salvage team down here, but until then, we'll keep looking for it. You know how sensitive this cargo is. And I'm afraid that if we just leave it there, someone one else will beat the PNA it." Trakker explained.

"Can we at least call it quits for the night?" asked Burns. He and Lopez were taking their turn at the monitors. "I think my eyes are starting to glaze over from staring at these things," he said with a gesture toward the screens.

Sector laughed, setting down his binoculars. He had been looking out at some of the other boats on the river. "I think we could convince Matt to put aside the whip for a while."

Trakker glanced over at him. "The beatings will continue until morale improves," he chuckled. And then he turned to Hayes. "Back to port. The crew is rumbling for a bit of shore leave."

"Aye-aye, Sir." He leaned over and marked the point on the chart with a pen. Then he spun the wheel and aimed downriver for São Miguel.

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Docking in São Miguel, the agents were surprised to find an old man and a small girl standing watching them from the dock. As they tied up the boat, the girl came forward and jumped aboard. She appeared perhaps about seven or eight in age and looked quite typical of the local children with her sandaled feet, cotton dress, and braided hair. A much loved plastic doll was tucked under her arm, its hot pink nylon hair wild with age and many, many washings.

"Hello," said Sector. Was the girl here to beg for candy or money? "May I help you?" he asked, not expecting her to understand the words but perhaps the sentiment.

She paused, looked at him carefully, and then turned away. "I am looking for someone. There is someone here I have a message for," she said in slow but perfect English. She walked along the outside of the cabin, looking up at Lopez with the same judgment, and then moving on. Trakker was not her target either, even though she gave him a longer look as she passed him as he headed into the cabin.

But on coming to Burns, her face lit up with recognition, and she reached out to him to take his hand. The others all watched from a distance, and then watched the old man as he shambled onto the boat and followed her. "I have a message for you," she said to Burns, both of her hands grasping onto his.

Burns looked to the others. Her presence had been puzzling enough, but why had she singled him out? "A message for me?"

"She wants to see you again."

"What? Who? Who wants to see me again?"

"The River Princess. You are the one who was in the water-beetle boat, right? She told me what you looked like. You're the Beetle-Guide."

"River Princess?" asked Sector.

"Yes, the Princess, who lives here. She's the Princess of the River and the Queen of the Fish."

A horrified look suddenly crossed Burns' face. He took the child by the wrist and led her away from the others up to the bow of the boat. The old man continued to follow along. "Who are you, and what's going on?" Burns asked, squatting down and facing her.

"She told me she found you in the river yesterday, under the water. You were in the boat that looked like a water-beetle." And then the child's eyes focused on something far away, her pupils dilating. She raised her tiny hand and spread her fingers. Her doll fell to the deck. Instead of two pink plastic legs, under its skirt was a mermaid's tail.

She pushed her hand in Burns' direction. "You touched me, through the glass. Remember?" The child's voice was deeper, slower. "You remember me, right?" Her eyes were now focusing on Burns, looking deep into his slate-blue irises.

The old man sat down on a nearby bench, watching the scene without concern.

As if in a trance Burns' raised his hand, spreading it against the girl's.

Her face broke into a wide smile. "You do remember! I have been waiting for you to return to the water."

"River Princess? Is that your name?" asked Trakker, suddenly appearing from behind Burns.

"Matt!" Burns gasped, not having noticed him leave the pilot's cabin.

"No. That is just what the men-of-land call me." She peered at him and then smirked. "You are the swimming man with the sunlight hair. I saw you...you and another man-of-land. You had a bubble on your head, a big bubble to breathe in."

"Yes. We were looking for our friend here." Trakker put his hands on Burns' shoulders. "This man is my friend," he said with a smile.

"A friend?"

"Yes." Trakker knelt down beside Burns and tenderly took the girl's hands, which felt cold and clammy even in the heat of the evening. "River Princess. What brings you to us? Why did you seek out this man?"

"Because he came to me in the metal water-beetle. I am lonely. There are no men-of-water here, and I need a mate."

"A mate?" Burns choked.

"Why a human? Why a man-of-land?"

"Your kind is most like mine. Our men take human wives sometimes, and sometimes the women take a man-of-land."

"Why not a fish? They live as you do, no?"

The River Princess frowned and pulled her hands away. "Do not insult me. The fish are stupid. And the pink dolphins are foolish and unfaithful." And then she looked back to Burns and smiled happily at him. "You came to me underwater, even though you breathe the air. We should be together."

The concern on Burns' face was sliding into panic and dread.

"I want to see you again. Come in your water-beetle boat. Or swim to me with the bubble-head."

There was silence, the girl looking at Burns hopefully. She fingered his hair and ran her tiny fingers over his face. "Please, come to me again," she pleaded.

"No!" he said suddenly, and he stood and pushed past Trakker, ducking into the cabin and shutting the door behind him.

The River Princess cried out painfully and then sobbed, a heart-breaking sound. She took a step toward the cabin, but stumbled. Trakker caught her as she fell and righted the child. The girl came back, blinking and looking dazed. The River Princess had relinquished her possession of the little girl.

"Wait here, Miss," said Trakker, patting her on the shoulder and seating her next to the old man. "Alex! See if they need anything," he called to Sector, who with the others was watching the scene from down the walkway. Trakker went into the cabin and found Burns, who sat collapsed into on of the chairs, coughing and looking quite pale. "Cal?"

"What?! Leave me alone."

"Calhoun. We're on the verge of contacting an unknown species here; a sentient, psychic humanoid species, and it looks like right now you're the key to it all. We could really use your help here."

Burns glared at him. "I signed up to fight VENOM. Not to be part of some inter-species dating experiment. You heard what she said. Why don't you go see if she wants Alex? He's your zoologist. Heck, he'd probably be more than happy to swim upstream and spawn with her," he spat.

"That's pretty cold."

"Yeah, well so is this River Princess thing. She's a fish! A humanoid fish. Legs and fins is just a weird combination and I'm just not attracted to it." Frustratedly he put his head into his hands and massaged his temples. "Sorry, but I'm sticking to my own species," he said grimly. "It was difficult enough just seeing her once, but now things have gone completely weird. I mean, who is this kid and why is she all possessed by this River Princess? And how do we know she isn't just making this up?"

Burns sighed, and he spoke again but with a softer tone. "Matt...I'm not trying to be unhelpful. Maybe you've been exposed to enough strangeness that you can easily wrap your mind around this sort of thing. But for me, this is just so far from everything I know and everything I was taught growing up. To me, it's all very wrong and very disturbing. Maybe someday I'll change and be a little more accepting, but today is not that day."

Trakker walked over and put his hand on Burns' shoulder. "It's all right. We're just here until either we salvage that cargo or the PNA clears the red tape and gets their salvage team down here. And then you can go home and forget all this ever happened." He squeezed Burn's shoulder in benediction and went back to where he'd left the girl.

The other three agents were crowded around her, their eyes wide with what the child was telling them. Burns' secret was no longer his alone. She was telling them everything, about the encounter in the river, about the River Princess talking through her just now. And noticing their leader there, they all turned to him with questioning, doubtful looks.

"Matt! Why didn't Calhoun tell us? Did you know about this?" Hayes asked.

Trakker sighed. "I found out last night, but he didn't want me to tell you. I promised him I wouldn't."

"Seriously? He saw something like that and he couldn't tell us?"

"He was that thrown by it." Trakker sat down on a nearby bench and looked out across the water. "He's just having a hard time accepting what was there and he just wanted the whole thing to blow past without anyone ever knowing...without really having to accept it himself." Somehow he could feel Burns glaring at him from inside the cabin.

"No wonder he was acting a bit strange yesterday," said Julio.

Sector tried to get more information on the River Princess from her, but all he could learn was that her name was Maria Luiz and that she lived with her family and her grandfather in an orange and blue house along the river. And her grandfather was insisting that it was time for dinner and that they had to go. So she said her goodbyes, and waved at Burns through the large cabin windows, her mermaid doll clutched under her arm again.

Burns turned away.

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Chosen continues in Chapter 5: "River Royalty"

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M.A.S.K. and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of DIC Enterprises, Inc and Kenner Toys. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.

This fic is dedicated to Ben Chapman (1925-2008), Ricou Browning, and Tom Hennesey (1923-2011)

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