"Thank you for meeting with me Dr. Macalester. I hope I'm not taking too much of your time," a blond haired man said with a British accent, eagerly shaking the professor's hand.
"Not at all. I'm always happy to chat with a fellow archaeologist," Dr. Macalester replied.
"I'm not a real archaeologist, it's simply a hobby of mine," the blond man downplayed.
"Nonsense. If I wasn't luck enough to find a donor for my last expedition then I would be saying the same thing."
"Well, I appreciate the compliment."
Dr. Macalester gestured for the blonde man to take a seat as he slid into his own chair behind the desk. The blond man gave compliment to the various artifact decorations scattered throughout the small office, and they each gave anecdotes of what they thought the artifact represented to their respective societies.
"I really wanted to attend your talk about the Anansi Totems, but unfortunately I was very much out of the country searching for my own artifact and missed it," the blond man said.
"Ah yes! My latest and, dare I say, greatest expedition I've taken yet."
"Congratulations on locating one of the totems. I'm sure that was no easy feat."
"You have no idea! Most of the records are simply information passed down verbally from one generation to the next. European slave trade along with century of colonization have unfortunately caused a great loss of knowledge and cultural treasures."
"Did you ever find any leads to where the other totems may be?" the blond man inquired.
"There have been some rumors, but with my funding and time constraints I was really only able to locate the one. But I'm sure with time these artifacts will turn up and be contributed to museums so their stories can be shared with the world."
"Well, from what I have heard, they are more than just stories."
The blond man studied Dr. Macalester's face closely, looking for any hint of recognition of what he was implying.
"You're right," Dr. Macalester stated with a blank expression. "They're really more like legends, aren't they? Warriors with mythical powers granted to them by the totem...they're the equivalent of today's comic book heroes."
"So you don't think there is any truth to what these – legends – say about granting the wearer abilities?"
"Of course not! What would make you suggest such a thing?"
"Well, there have been eye witness accounts the Detroit Fire was started by a man wielding the power of one of the totems. The fire totem, obviously."
"Don't you think information like that would be all over the news?" Dr. Macalester dismissed. "I mean, magical items wouldn't be so far fetched in today's world of metahumans and the like. What reason would people have in covering up something like that?"
The blond man continued to stare at the professor intently.
"Perhaps," he finally emitted.
"Besides, if the power of the totems were real, I would be the first one to shout it from the rooftops."
"Very well, then," the blond man glanced at his watch. "I suppose I must be going. It was a pleasure to finally meet you Dr. Macalester."
"Likewise, Mr. Albert."
"Please, call me Julian."
The two men stood up and shook hands. Dr. Macalester ushered the man to the door and gave one last final wave before shutting the door. He locked it immediately and went back to his desk, reaching for the phone before he stopped himself.
That man knows more than he should; for all I know he just used this visit to plant some sort of bug or something, Dr. Macalester thought.
Rather than risk any sort of electronic communication, he grabbed his tweed jacket from the back of his chair and went out the door to talk Mari in person.
"What the hell are you doing here so early?" Mari yawned at him from her doorway.
She was wearing a slightly revealing tank top and boxer briefs, which left Dr. Macalester too flustered to respond.
"Uh...I..." he stammered.
"For crying out loud," Mari rolled her eyes.
The door closed in the professor's face and a minute later opened to a less revealed Mari in a orange blouse and black jeans.
"Better?" Mari asked, opening the door wide enough for him to enter.
"Thank you," Dr. Macalester murmured on his way inside.
The professor glanced around the room and noted the sparse furnishings. The walls were bare of any sort of pictures, paintings, or posters. The furniture merely consisted of a sofa and a TV being elevated by a pair of milk crates.
"Did you just move in?" Dr. Macalester asked.
"About six months ago; I've never really been the type to set down strong roots. I used to move around a lot," Mari confessed.
"What changed?"
"I did. Well, I guess I should say the totem changed me," Mari answered, subconsiously touching her necklace. "Once I was given this gift and learned that there were others like my sister or Eshu who wanted to use if for their own selfish reasons, I realized I would be just like them if I didn't try and do something to help others. Detroit was the only place I stayed long enough to really call home, so I chose it as my village."
"I suppose I feel the same way too. I always had trouble feeling like I fit in my own time. That's why I've always had a strong fascination with the past; like somehow I belong there."
Mari let out a long sigh and plopped into the sofa, laying down to where there was no room for her guest to sit down.
"Did you wake me up just to talk about how screwed up we are? Because my night job makes me too tired for all that this early in the morning."
"Actually, your night job is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about," Dr. Macalester divulged. "I just had a gentleman in my office that was asking about the totems. He seemed extremely interested in where they were located and if they really did imbue the wearer powers."
"So what?" Mari breathed.
"So...the last two people to ask for the totems seemed to have some sort of nefarious agenda," Dr. Macalester retorted.
"I asked you about my totem when I first learned about it's powers, and I didn't have any 'nefarious agenda' now did I?"
"He knew that the Eshu was wielding the fire totem, despite the pains Felicity took to remove any footage of the totem being used."
"What kind of guy was he? A warlord? A rich benefactor who wanted to fund your next expedition at the cost of an innocent woman being kidnapped?"
Mari shot daggers with her eyes at Dr. Macalester, who simply cleared his throat to deflect the criticism of how they first met.
"He said he was an amateur archaeologist who missed my original lecture on the totems," he faltered.
"You see? He's just another geek who gets his rocks off by learning about African history," Mari dismissed.
As if on cue, there was a loud crash as something was hurled through the apartment window. Upon closer inspection Mari noticed it was a cylinder, with smoke pouring out of it.
A smoke bomb! She thought.
Boom!
The other half of the cylinder burst open and smoke filled the room instantaneously, causing both Mari and Dr. Macalester to cough. Another crash, this time from the front door as whoever was attacking burst into the room.
A hand was placed on Mari's arm as someone tried to restrain her. An ethereal purple bear formed all around her as she activated the power of the totem, and she pulled her arm back with enough strength to send her would-be attacker flying across the room. A ethereal purple condor filled the room and flapped it's wings, pushing most of the smoke out of the window.
The lone intruder struggled to return to his feet, and with the smoke cleared the professor was able to identify the man.
"Julian..." Dr. Macalester started.
The blond man raised a gun and pointed it at Dr. Macalester.
"Thank you for leading me to the spirit totem, professor," Julian Albert sneered.
"Drop your weapon or I'll-" Vixen postured.
"Or you'll get the professor killed. I know you may be powerful enough to not get hurt; but him on the other hand," Julian pulled back the hammer on the weapon to accentuate his point.
"What do you want?" Vixen snarled.
"I want you to hand over that totem," Julian demanded.
"Why does everyone want this damn pendant?"
"Don't give it to him, Mari!" Dr. Macalester shouted.
"You hear that? Doc says not to give it to you. Now what do you want to do?"
"I will kill him," Julian threatened.
"Do it and see what happens," Vixen challenged.
Vixen's eyes glowed purple as the ethereal forms of several large animals surrounded her. Julian took a step back, a mixture of fear and awe splayed across his face.
"I'm sorry, professor."
"No!" Vixen charged with the speed of a cheetah.
A shot rang out, deafening all other senses as Vixen ran for the professor. But there was nothing she could do to stop it.
The professor let out a scream of pain as he dropped to the floor. Mari loomed over the professor to assess the damage as he continued to moan in pain. Blood flowed out of a wound in his gut, but she took the flood of swear words out of his mouth as a sign that it was not fatal.
Given that the professor was not dying that very moment, Vixen turned around to begin her counterattack; however Julian was nowhere to be seen. Even though she wanted to give chase, she knew that the earlier the professor received medical attention, the better his chances were.
"Damn it!" Vixen swore as she called for an ambulance.
Oliver Queen and Laurel Lance had grim looks on their face as Mari finished recounting her story.
"Is the professor okay?" Laurel asked.
"Yes," Mari answered. "He lost a lot of blood, but the doctors say that he should make a full recovery in a few months."
"I'm glad to hear that."
"Me too," Mari affirmed. "Anyways, I asked Felicity to do some digging and she found out Julian Albert was here in Star City. He most likely found the same information my sister did about the Water totem, but he might not know that it was destroyed in the fight with Eshu."
"I would offer to help, Mari, but we have a situation of our own to deal with," Oliver informed hoarsely.
"I understand," Mari said. "I just came by to let you know that I will be running around in your backyard for awhile."
"I'm sure Felicity could continue helping you with any logistical information you might need," Oliver offered.
"Yes! She's been a big help already."
The group fell into an awkward silence, as the couple felt shame for not being able to help and Mari for having been turned away.
"So...I'll go ahead and let you get some rest," Mari supposed. "Is it okay if I crash at the lair?"
"It's not a la-" Oliver grunted.
"Of course," Laurel interrupted, glaring at Oliver.
"Thanks."
She stepped outside and shut the door behind her. She closed her eyes and let out a breath she wasn't even aware she was holding.
It's not their fault they can't help you, Mari thought. They have their own battles they need to fight; and I have mine.
A loud buzz filled the hallway while the PA system was activated, jolting Mari to open her eyes. A tired voice called out a doctor's name through the speakers, and Mari waited until she caught her breath again. She dusted herself off and began the short trek to Team Arrow's lair, calling Felicity to let her know she was on her way.
The cool air of the fall morning was refreshing, and she let her thoughts wander to possible places Julian Albert would try to search for the totem. Before she knew it was in the hidden elevator at Palmer Tech going down.
The doors opened up and she saw Felicity standing by her workstation, a sub-machine gun in her hand pointed at a lanky man in a brown overcoat.
"Glad you made it!" Felicity shouted. "You were looking for a blond guy with a British accent, right?"
"Yep," Mari intimidated by calling upon the spirit of a gorilla in preparation for a fight.
"I'm sorry, but I think you have me confused with someone else," the British man objected.
"No we don't!" Felicity spewed.
"Well…" Mari hesitated.
"What's wrong?" Felicity groaned.
"I mean...he doesn't look like the guy I'm going after," Mari confessed.
"Well, I've never seen him before, so either way he's an enemy."
"Works for me," Mari agreed. "Tell us who you are, and what you're doing here."
"I am Captain Rip Hunter, one of the last remaining Time Masters. My crew and I are here because there is something drastically wrong with this time period and we need to restore the timeline to it's original state."
"Your crew?" Mari wondered.
Right on cue, five individuals stepped into the light; while Vixen stepped into a fighter's stance.
"Oh my God," Felicity crowed.
"What?" Mari asked.
"Ray...Sara…you're alive!"
Felicity dropped her weapon and rushed up to hug Sara Lance. She then turned to Ray Palmer, staring deeply into his eyes before breaking down into tears.
"I think I better call Oliver..." Mari whispered to herself.
