Chapter Sixteen: Project Geo Base – 2012
Sean thanked God that the women’s locker room was empty
with the only exception being his mother, who he heard showering as he entered
with a fresh new uniform suited for a young
female. He couldn’t get over the thought of his mother having been de-aged to
practically a year behind him. When asked how the phenomenon occurred, Ciciley
could only tell him that it was “that damned freak.” Sean knew right away that
she had referred to Gigi, whose attack – the one that resulted in Ciciley
receiving a gash in her knuckles – also resulted in Ciciley absorbing some of
Gigi’s blood and extensively healing her. It was the strangest thing Sean had
ever come across, and that was saying a lot in a world with a man who turns big
and green when angry, a god of thunder that lives among mortals, a World War
II hero who’d been frozen in ice for over five decades, and a billionaire
playboy with an arc reactor for a heart.
(Authorial Note: The subtle reference to Thor in the rundown of Avengers team members and their "strange" traits is one of the few made to the God of Thunder in The Marvelous World. At no point in the story does he appear, keeping up with story between The Avengers and Thor: The Dark World, in which Thor's access to Earth - "Midgard" - is restricted.)
“I brought you some new threads.” Sean said over the
running water.
The shower walls obscured Ciciley from his view, which he
was highly grateful for. Even if his mother did regain her young, slender,
athletic physique, the last thing he needed to see was her naked in the shower.
“O.K. Thanks, hun. Just set them on one of the benches.”
She sounded a little weak to Sean, groaning slightly
between her words. At that point, he felt like he needed to move around the
wall and blindly check on her. But
before he could have done anything, he heard a long, weird noise that sounded
like a combination of someone blowing their nose, a creaky chair, and a duck
call. It was only when a foul odor had seeped into the entire locker did he realize who
made that noise – his mother.
(Editorial Note: This scene really pushed the story's "K+" rating, more from the indication of Ciciley's nudity in the shower than her detailed act of flatulence.)
Shielding his nose and mouth with his right hand and
using the other to fan the odor away from him, Sean didn’t hold back in voicing
his displeasure in his mother’s gas-passing. “Ugh! What the heck, Moms? That
was all over the place!”
Ciciley moaned. “I think what your ‘friend’ did to me
hasn’t finished its job yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“What I mean is that my guts feel like they’re shiftin’
on me! Like everything I ever digested is leavin’ me!” She moaned again – more
heavily than before. “Ohhhh, man! This sucks!”
(Authorial Note: Livingston worried just how far he went with this scene, knowing that "fart jokes" are the lowest form of comedy. What helped him to deem it necessary was the sci-fi aspect of the scene, as it made sense of Ciciley's total rejuvenation.)
Sean’s voice was muffled from his human gas mask. “It
sucks for you? What about me? I’m
surrounded by sixty-year-old fumes coming out of a twenty-year-old body!”
“Oh, shut up. I never complained when I had to smell your gas during every diaper I’d
changed!” There was another round of gas-passing that ended small, brief,
squeaky winds and Ciciley sighed with relief. “Whew! I think that’s it.”
“Ugh. Think I’m gonna be sick.” Sean heard the shower
come to a stop and saw Ciciley come around the corner of the section of the locker
room that he stood in. Seeing her dripping wet with a bath towel wrapped around
her from the chest down and looking as beautiful as she did in her old photos,
Sean couldn’t believe someone that looked so lovely could be capable of
creating the type of odor that had befallen the women’s locker room. “You just
brought the phrase ‘Out with the old and in with the new’ to a whole new
literal level.”
Ciciley glared at him. “You do know your alien friend
is to blame, right?”
“She’s not an
alien.”
“Oh, yeah? Then exactly what is she? She’s not of our
world, that’s for sure. For God’s sakes, Sean, look what she did to me!”
“You did this to yourself! You were the one who beat the
crap out of her! You turned yourself
into a freak!”
(Authorial Note: Livingston felt the dynamic in relationship between Sean and Ciciley shifted dramatically after Ciciley's rejuvenation. With the two characters now equivalent in age and still aware of their role as son and mother, it brings them to a point established from World of Disney, when Joanie discovered she was the mother of Sean Thomas. The only major difference Ciciley has over Joanie in this situation is the fact that her older, more experienced mind is in her younger, stronger body.)
Ciciley was stunned by her son’s harsh words. When she
had a chance to retort, the both of them heard the locker room door fly open
and saw Nick Fury stomp his way inside. “What is goin’ on in here?” As soon as
he saw Sean, he grew increasingly upset. “Livingston? What the hell are you
doing in the women’s locker?”
Sean stammered on a reply, but his mother thankfully
stepped in to address the S.H.I.E.L.D. director. “Take it easy on him,
Nicholas. I’m the reason why he’s in
here.”
When Fury’s one good eye finally focused on Ciciley, it
grew wide with a reaction of surprise that Sean didn’t think the director was
capable of. “Ciciley? Is…Is that…you?” She nodded with a grin. “What happened?
H-How did you get like this?”
“You know the magic woman whose butt I kicked earlier?” When
she saw Fury nod, she gestured to herself and added, “Well, she did this to me.”
Fury’s astonishment increased with that news. He knew
Gigi was qualified in teleporting people between worlds with her magic, but he
didn’t think she was in reversing the ages of sixty-year-olds. “Oh, my god,
Ciciley…you look exactly as you did when I still had both my eyes.” Sean could
see the director – his boss – eyeing his mother’s young, half-naked form with a
deeply captivated look on his face. “You…You look…great!”
(Narrative Note: There is a possible romance teased in this scene between Nick Fury and Ciciley. It is exemplified in Marvel Mayhem from the scene inspired by Captain America: The Winter Soldier, in which Ciciley discovers Nick Fury's assassination.)
Sean then looked to Ciciley, who appeared flattered from
the way that Fury had been looking at her. It all made him feel a bit
disgusted, which was why he spoke up immediately. “O-kay! I think it’s time we
focused on bigger things right now.”
He heard his mother snicker. “Not that!
I mean the fact that Gigi’s back in the Disneyverse right now, trying to get
Cap and Stark back.”
“What about Banner?” Fury asked.
The mentioning of the man whose alter-ego was a tall,
green monster brought out a curious revelation in Sean. “She didn’t mention him
before she left…that’s weird.”
“Maybe she’s scared of what his ‘friend’ will do to her
once he realizes that she’d abandoned him in some parallel world.” Ciciley
wickedly said.
“She doesn’t know that Banner turns into the Hulk.” Fury
noted.
Ciciley laughed. “Ah. Keep her out of the loop and let
the surprise come when it’s least expected, eh? Nicholas, I do believe you’re
reverting to your old tactical skills.”
Sean didn’t appreciate the joy his mother had taken in
Gigi’s misfortune of not knowing what Banner was liable of doing as the Hulk. What bothered him even more was the idea that something might’ve
happened to Banner in the Disneyverse – something that Gigi didn’t want to tell
him before her departure in fear of worrying him, Fury, and the rest of
S.H.I.E.L.D. It was at that point Sean hoped she would return sooner with Cap
and Stark to explain why Banner was left out of her plan. Was it just
absent-mindedness on her part or was something actually wrong with Banner?
“When she returns, we’ll get to the bottom of things,”
said Fury, who appeared to have read Sean’s mind. “There’s still more that she
has to tell us – mainly about the sphere and the other world, and especially
about herself and where she comes
from.”
“As long as she doesn’t get hurt.” Sean added, which got
him some suspicious stares from Fury and Ciciley.
“That depends on how much of the truth she’s willing to
tell us.” Fury told Sean. “I just hope you haven’t been too compromised from
this mission to do what needs to be done. Do I still have your loyalty, Agent?”
(Character Note: There is a "father/son" relationship integrated into the interaction between Fury and Sean. This is meant to tease readers with the notion of Fury actually being the biological father of Agent Sean Livingston. However, there has yet to be any confirmation on this.)
Sean remained silent for a brief time, but he finally
nodded and said, “Yes, sir.”
Fury nodded in approval. “Good.” He then coyly looked to
Ciciley and said, “I’ll, uh, see you
later.”
Ciciley smirked as she watched Fury walk backwards, not
taking his eye off of her as he exited the locker room. It amused Sean that
the entire time Fury was in the locker room flirting with his mother that the
S.H.I.E.L.D. director didn’t seem bothered by the foul odor in the room. It was
something that the young agent found even weirder than everything else that had
happened in the past few hours.
He focused back on his mother, who began waving him off.
“Scoot,” she said. “Need to get my threads on.” It was one order from her that
he didn’t mind acknowledging, leaving the funky locker room without any
hesitation.
Realm D2010
Tony couldn’t remember the last time he had so much fun –
at least not since his last birthday party (what he initially thought would be
his final one). The “Snuggly Duckling,” a pub that Flynn decided to take Stark,
Rapunzel, and Pascal (Rapunzel’s small, scaly chameleon friend) to, was one
place Tony never thought he would step foot in. From the outside, the place had
a cute name and even appeared comforting; however, once they stepped inside, he
and Rapunzel discovered that it was the complete opposite with a large group of
cutthroats occupying the place.
(Marvel Note: The reference to Tony's "last birthday party" comes from Iron Man 2. Suffering palladium poisoning that was slowly killing him, a drunken Tony Stark threw his party at his Malibu home, escalating into a brawl with his friend - Colonel James Rhodes - that ended with him taking his Mark II armor and restructuring it as his "War Machine" armor. Tony eventually created a new element that saved his life and reconciled with Rhodes.)
It was only when Tony noticed how uncomfortable Rapunzel
was inside the pub when he caught on to why Flynn brought them there – to scare
Rapunzel into going back home and possibly get Stark killed in the process. The
thugs were baffled and even cautious between Rapunzel’s long golden hair and
Tony’s iron suit. Had it not been for the fact that wanted posters of Flynn
were inside the pub, the thugs would have certainly done inexplicable things to
Rapunzel and Tony. Unfortunately, Flynn’s plan backfired on him and he found
himself being fought over by the greedy thugs that wanted to turn him in.
While the thugs were occupied with fighting over Flynn,
Tony thought it was a great idea for him and Rapunzel to make a break for it.
But, much to Stark’s surprise, Rapunzel wanted to rescue Flynn. In order to please
the young girl’s request, Tony put his iron suit to use and combated with the
thugs. That was when the “fun” started for him as he engaged in an intense
brawl with the thugs, his iron fists and repulsor blasts sending several of the
men flying in all directions. For a while, it seemed as if Stark had gained the
upper hand against the thugs; but a cheap shot from a group of thugs had turned
the tide when they slammed a table against Tony from behind.
Now the thugs had Tony pinned. A freed Flynn stood nearby
with Rapunzel, and they both looked on anxiously, fearing the worse for Stark.
One hook-handed thug loomed over the pinned Stark, raising his hook high above
his head. He then brought the hook down with swift speed…only to stop it just
an itch from Tony’s face. Surprised that he wasn’t dead, Tony stared blankly at
the one-handed thug as he joyously told the Iron Man, “That was a great fight!”
(Authorial Note: Livingston opted to give a basic, dialogue-free summary of the Snuggly Duckling scene, thinking it would play out the same way as it had in Tangled, only with Iron Man involved. Once he got to the surprise twist with the hook-handed thug, he proceeded with the Tangled-adapted narrative exclusive to The Marvelous World.)
The other thugs around Tony laughed in agreement with the
hook-handed thug as they unpinned Stark and actually helped him up his feet.
“Uh…thanks?” It was all Tony could say in response to the confusing display. He
glanced over to Flynn and Rapunzel, who looked as surprised as him over the
sudden turn of events.
“Where did ya get such fancy armor?” The “Hook Hand” thug
asked while knocking at the right shoulder of Stark’s iron suit.
Tony shrugged, not knowing how to explain tech to a group
of thugs with such low-intelligence. The best he could say was: “Held captive
in a cave for nearly a year and the idea just came to me.”
(Marvel Note: Stark's response is the actual origin of how he became Iron Man, as shown in the very first Iron Man film installment.)
His answer earned him some laughs from the thugs.
Meanwhile, Flynn was exasperated from the high praise
Stark was getting after engaging in battle with the cutthroats. “You’ve got to
be kidding me,” he muttered. Unfortunately, his muttering reminded the thugs that
he was in the room, and they suddenly began to advance on him.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Guys! Guys!” Tony stopped them. “He’s
with me. I need his help to know where I am.”
“Me, too.” Rapunzel said. “I need him to take me to see
the lanterns, because I’ve been dreaming about them my entire life. Find your
humanity. Haven’t any of you ever had a dream?”
It was deathly quiet in the pub. The hook-handed thug
removed a large axe from his back and towered over Rapunzel. His face then grew
sad as he softly said, “I…had a dream…once.” He then hurled his axe over at a
corner, nearly decapitating the head of an accordion player who began playing
as if on cue.
(UP NEXT: The Hulk's rampage continues!)
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