Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Marvel Mayhem - Chapter Ten (w/ Commentary Notes from the Author, Sean Livingston)

Chapter Ten: Eyes Are Everywhere

            “You have to understand. We’re not here to destroy your planet. We’re here to make Earth a better place.”

            Tied to an antique wooden chair, the “Sitwell-Skrull” did exactly what Sean and Ciciley wanted him in their interrogation: reveal the entire plan of his alien race. It basically sounded like world takeover to the mother and son S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. But all of his other ramblings had no bearing whatsoever to them. What made it even more of a nuisance was how precise in voice and personality this doppelganger was to the actual Sitwell. The way in which he poured himself to the cause of his species sounded like something Sitwell would praise, especially with the news they heard about the agent being affiliated with Hydra.

            “Honestly,” the doppelganger continued, “our invasion could not have come at a better time. Your situation with Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. will get a lot worse. Our trusted source has foreseen it.”

            “You’ve got some sort of soothsayer on your side or something?” Ciciley questioned.

            “None of that crap matters, because you are lying through your extraterrestrial ass!” Sean yelled to the Skrull. “You talk about what Hydra plans to do. They make the same claim with their intentions.”

            “We do not plan to kill millions for our cause like Hydra does.” The Skrull retorted.

            Ciciley eyed the creature suspiciously. “What was that?”

            “As part of my cover, I obtained the knowledge and memories from the original Sitwell. In them, I learned of Project Insight – the top secret S.H.I.E.L.D. operation made in direct response to the growing supernatural forces that began plaguing Earth since the Chitauri invasion. Three heavily armed Helicarriers linked to a satellite and designed to proactively strike out against potential threats before they actually happen. Hydra intends to use this against S.H.I.E.L.D., targeting millions – including you, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Maria Hill, Stephen Strange…anyone who stands in their way.”

(Marvel Note: This interrogation scene purposely parallels the one that took place with the real Agent Sitwell in Captain America: The Winter Soldier by Captain America, Falcon, and Black Widow. Some of the dialogue from the "Sitwell-Skrull" remains the same as in that scene.)

            The sickening plot was almost too impossible to believe, yet it nonetheless sounded legitimate to Sean and Ciciley.

            Sean looked to his mother dubiously. “Did you know about this ‘Project Insight’?”

            “Nick never told me a thing about it.” Ciciley clarified, visibly furious. “Dammit! If that man were here right now, I’d slap him so hard, he’d grow a new eye!”

(Character Note: As a senior agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Ciciley holds a Clearance Level over Level 8, permitting her to hold access to Project Insight. Without the proper knowledge of it, there is no way she could use her clearance to oversee the project.)

            “Hydra stands as a larger threat than we realized.” Sean noted.

            “Now you understand why we are involved.” The Sitwell-Skrull remarked, reminding Sean and Ciciley of the other issue they faced.

            “No, no. You and your brother-in-arms over there,” she gestured to the dead body of the Blake-Skrull, “You both attacked us the second you saw my mother.”

            “She is not of this planet. She is not even human. Neither is the child you possess.”

            The Skrull’s allegations sounded like more ramblings to Ciciley. To Sean, it made him significantly curious of what the alien knew. There was still not very much known of Chrissy Livingston since she was discovered in John Saccheri’s Man Cave of Horrors. To gain information, even from the most foreign of sources, would bring the greatest of closure for Sean.

            “What is she, if not human?” He brought himself to ask.

            “She’s an—”

            Pfft!

            The shot was silent but Sean directly witnessed the attack as it fell on the Sitwell-Skrull. The penny-sized hole was blown right in between his eyebrows, and the bullet that put it there exited through the back of the head, leaving a slightly larger hole from its point. Red mist sprayed behind him and, instantly, the creature died.

            It did not take any investigative skill to determine the culprit. Turning to his mother, he spotted her with the silencer in her right hand, her aim trained on the head of the alien. He could not make sense as to where she kept the silencer concealed the entire time, but it was the least of his concern after what was done.

            “Why did you do that? We were just on the verge of finding out the truth about—”

            “About what? My mother? Your grandmother? I know enough about what my mother is, and I’ll be damned if I take the word of a shape-shifting alien asshole. You said yourself that he could’ve been lying about their plans. Don’t let them mess with your head, hon.”

(Spoiler Note: The final chapter of Marvel Mayhem divulges more on the alien origins of Chrissy Livingston, establishing a major subplot to the World of Disney series that continues through World of Disney 3, The Disney Access, and World of Disney 5. It cultivates into the central story of the sixth installment, The Wonderful World of Disney, in 2018.)

            He knew that she had a point, yet it did not take away the fact that her action against the Skrull was unjustified, not only because of what it intended to reveal about Chrissy but the second dead alien body they were now stuck with. He looked on the corpse as it sat in the chair, the head hung back lifelessly with blood dripping from the front and back. The human features of the doppelganger melted away, exposing the dead Skrull’s true form. It still bore a few structural similarities to Sitwell.

            The commotion brought Chrissy, Elendriel, and Mindy out of the bedroom. They caught sight of the newly deceased Skrull, each of them with hands to their mouths in shock.

            “What happened?” Mindy was the first to ask.

            Ciciley exchanged a quick glance with Sean as if to tell him to keep his mouth shut while she spoke for them. She holstered her silencer into her right boot and explained, “The alien told us nothing we already knew.”

            “Well, what do we know?” Elendriel queried. “I have no idea what the hell’s going on anymore. We’ve got S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who are really Hydra, and Hydra agents who are really Skrulls. We’re being compromised from all sides.”

            “We know this: we’re going to stop all the mayhem.” Ciciley defiantly declared. “Its definite now that we can’t trust nobody – whether they are S.H.I.E.L.D. or anybody outside the agency. The only people we can trust are the ones in this room – with zero loyalty to Hydra...and entirely human.”

(Narrative Note: The term "mayhem" is used twice in the story, not counting its usage in the story title and chapter subtitles. Ciciley utters it in dialogue here, and it is later put into narrative in the final chapter.)

            The latter half of her declaration drew a look of ire from Sean. He hated the idea of lying to everyone, especially with what they learned about Chrissy.

            “What action should the five of us take now?” Chrissy herself inquired.

            “We go dark.” Sean saw the confusion in his grandmother’s face – the metaphoric nature of his suggestion went over her victory rolls. For this reason, he elaborated: “We go deep undercover. Disguise ourselves. Get rid of our S.H.I.E.L.D. credentials. Badges, clothes, whatever shows our affiliation. We alter our appearances – dye our hair, take on civilian clothing. And, most important of all, we get new names.” He centered his attention on Mindy. “You can use your abilities to help us keep a low profile, but a majority of the cover can be maintained by the rest of us – specially you, Elle, considering how good you are at disguises.”

(Marvel Note: This plan follows in reference to the same manner that Coulson and his team went "dark" in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. after the Hydra Uprising in the first season.)

            Elendriel acknowledged her brother’s praise with a smile. “But I’m not planning on taking any elaborate disguises. A woman can only go as a man for so long. I’m just going to lose my blonde-ness and that’s it. I’ve always wanted to be a brunette.”

(Biographical Note: The real Elendriel actually dyed her hair brown during production of Marvel Mayhem, so I incorporated it to her character for this story, as I felt the look worked, particularly in metaphor to the group going dark.)

            “Mama,” Ciciley addressed Chrissy. “You’ll have to switch out of those vintage clothes and into something more modern. If you can be picked out from the crowd in what you’re wearing now, it’ll be easy for Hydra to sniff us out.”

            Chrissy nodded, albeit reluctantly. “I…I understand.”

            “I’ve got some clothes you can try on, Grandmamma.” Elendriel offered. “Don’t worry. I’ve got nothing too liberal back there.”

            “Your plan’s perfect, Sean, maybe even flawless.” Mindy complimented with a hint of disparagement in her tone. “But I would suggest before we do anything that we dispose of the two dead Skrull bodies in this apartment.”

            He glanced at the corpses – the one of the Blake-Skrull lying over pieces of the shattered bookshelf and its contents, and the one of the Sitwell-Skrull sitting in the wooden chair. “I’m all happy for suggestions, Mindy,” he ridiculed.

            With a smirk, Mindy looked to the corpses and snapped her fingers. In an instant, the bodies of the dead Skrulls vanished from the room, leaving no trace – not even their blood remained. The supernatural deed was met with much approval from the Livingstons, as it saved them much time and trouble.

            “Impressive.” Elendriel expressed. “But, uh, where did you send them?”

            “Can’t say.” Mindy declined. “It’s a complicated process that’d take too much time to explain.”

--------------------

            The journey Natalie hoped in making to Asgard seemed like a bust; but that did not stop her from enjoying herself onboard the Milano. It’s not every day when a girl gets to travel in space, she mentally rationalized. Although her knowledge of the ship’s crew exceled in ways that were still unclear to her, she still made introductions for herself and Walter to one member they had yet to interact with: Drax the Destroyer. Walter kept his distance from him, opting instead to spend time with the lively twig Rocket carried into the cargo hold with. In actuality, the twig was the last member of the team: Groot.

            The Greg Kihn Band’s “Jeopardy,” one of the songs from the second “Awesome Mix Tape” Quill’s mother made for him before her passing, played over the ship’s stereo system. The cassette tape rolled in the player embedded in the wall of Quill’s living quarters. Between the music and the assortment of characters even wilder than those he was used to at the Muppet Theater, Walter began to feel more at home, which was rather odd for him. Regardless, he still wanted to return to his real home – if there even was a home to go to. For all he knew, Richman had shut the theater down and kicked everyone out. Thoughts like that were what brought him down to Earth (so to speak).

(Marvel Note: The complete list of songs on Peter Quill's second "Awesome Mix Tape" are unknown, so the noted tunes in this chapter are exclusive to Marvel Mayhem. Whether or not one of them or both will be featured in Guardians of the Galaxy - Vol. 1 will be purely coincidental. The only notable song is "I Want You Back" by The Jackson Five, which Quill played at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy.)

            Regrettably, Walter was not going anywhere too soon, not with Natalie distracted by the animate twig that was Groot. The pot he was kept in sat upon a steel worktable, and he danced along with the music, much to the delight of Natalie. She and Walter sat in front of it, watching it with mixed reactions.

(Marvel Note: "Dancing Baby Groot," which was first featured as a mid-credits scene in Guardians of the Galaxy, became popular among fans of the film, turning into an Internet meme and even toys.)

            “He’s so cute!”

            Walter shook his head at how easily amused she was. “Really? It has to be the number one weirdest thing I’ve seen all day.”

            “Hey, I thought I was the number one thing.” Natalie teased.

            “You’re a close second.”

            Natalie snickered at him, pleased to see how much he began to warm up to her. Refocusing on the dancing Groot, she smiled wide. “Oh, I just love how precious this little fella is!”

            “He’s not called ‘Precious’!” A certain raccoon grumbled angrily from nearby, stomping over to the worktable. “His name is Groot!”

            “I Am Groot!” The twig exclaimed in a tiny, squeaky voice.

            Natalie just absolutely adored it, picking up the pot and wiggling her nose at the twig. “Awww! He’s like a widdle baby!”

            Aggravated by her treatment of Groot’s diminutive form, Rocket snatched the pot out of her grasp. “What’re you still doing here anyway? Haven’t you found a way to reach Asgard with your ‘mystical powers’?” He made it sarcastically clear how disbelieving he was in her supernatural abilities.

            “I’m still not ready for another attempt in teleporting myself and Walter.” Natalie hopelessly admitted. “I could take us out of this realm entirely and into a whole different one, not knowing whether or not if I could get us back.”

(Spoiler Note: This is exactly what occurs in World of Disney 3 when Natalie accidentally transports herself, Christina, and Genevieve into the Star Wars realm. Thankfully, they are among other Guardians who have the ability to take them back home.)

            “Maybe you need sleep.” Walter suggested. “Sean was pretty overworked before what happened to him – maybe the half of his mind that’s his is interfering with yours.”

            Natalie’s face opened with fulfillment. “That’s a brilliant idea, Walter!”

            The Muppet seemed bemused by her reaction. “I’ll take your word for it, ‘cause I don’t know what I just said.”

            Natalie soon spotted Quill walking through the cargo hold and making his way to another portion of the ship. Halfway through, he was stopped by Natalie, who gracefully caught him by the shoulder to get his attention. “Is there somewhere I can take a snooze?”

            “I can let you sleep in my quarters, as long as you don’t mind the music.”

            Just as he had laid down the condition, the music from his mix tape switched. Gary Wright’s “Dream Weaver” elegantly (and ironically) played from the speakers, bringing a comforting smile in Natalie’s demeanor.

            “Oh, I don’t think that’d be any problem,” she established.

            The raven-haired woman departed from the cargo hold while Quill and Rocket had done the same. Walter felt alone for a mere second before Drax emerged, looking directly in Walter’s direction.

            “Greetings, strange creature made of fabric,” the intimidating alien addressed.

            A loud gulp sounded from Walter. His body grew tense, particularly once he noticed the knives holstered at the knees of Drax’s navy blue pants.

            Walter could barely manage to stammer a single-term salutation. “H-H-H-Hello?”

            Drax sat beside him by the worktable, his form ever so massive compared to the pint-sized Muppet. “I hear you come from Quill’s planet that he speaks so much of. Tell me – are there more fascinating creatures like you there?”

            Walter wasn’t sure where to begin.

---------------------

            Natalie rested herself on the bed of Quill’s living quarters, letting the meditative lyrics to “Dream Weaver” drift her off to unconsciousness. Both her mind and the one of the man she shared it with searched for a level of serenity that enabled focus on surroundings outside of the Milano.

            Focus…Focus…Focus…

            Multiple voices, including hers and Sean’s, rang through her inner senses – all repeating the same word.

            She felt and saw herself, or her subconscious, depart from the ship and into the cosmos. Several stars and planets streaked by her as she moved in hyper speed. She was not certain where her subconscious was taking her, but she trusted it enough to let it take her there.

            Many wonders filled her vision. She had seen systems and galaxies that she could not begin to identify. Not a single one of them had any similarity to the solar system she hailed from. In a matter of seconds, she began to travel into a region of space filled with an assortment of nebulas, each one more colorful or darker than the other. She sensed the speed of her flight increase from one wormhole she shot through before moving onto the next. And then there was nothing but blackness – not until she saw a single star ahead that grew bigger and bigger as she moved toward it.

(Authorial Note: I used the galactic montage seen in 2011's Thor to recreate the feel of traveling through a wormhole into Asgard in this imagery. Much of it matches with what can be seen in the closing credits of the film.)

            The star then widened and flattened. Natalie soon realized that she was soaring right into field of clouds that seemed almost endless, until she came upon a mountain with the formation of a beautiful crystal structure at its summit. She made a dizzying change of course, turning upside down and ascending beyond the clouds. On the other side was a small planetary body that existed in another dimensional plane. It was not round like the Earth, did not spin on its axis, and did not revolve around a star. It was a flat, asteroid-like mass that had a top surface with a gravitational pull, similar to that of the Earth’s, in order to keep the citizens and their cities from floating into the void of space.

            There was no doubt about it to Natalie: this was Asgard.

            Her subconscious moved within the boundaries of an observatory on the edge of the planetary body, connected to the legendary Bifrost Bridge. From here, Heimdall – the all-seeing and all-hearing Asgardian and guard of the Bifrost Bridge – watched over multiple universes outside of Asgard’s. She hovered right in front of him. His eyes were closed as if he himself had been meditating.

            But then they snapped open, their golden hue shining brighter than the armor that matched with it.

            “Come.”

            The echoing voice of Heimdall was enough to wake Natalie out of her slumber. The music stopped and all was eerily silent in the Milano. She sat right up and immediately spotted Walter standing at the entrance to the quarters and looking on her with curiosity and concern.

            “Everything okay?” He asked. “You’ve been asleep for nearly six hours.”

            It did not feel that long at all to Natalie. The journey – that realistic journey – she went on in her dream (if she wanted to call it that) seemed like just under a minute.

            “I know,” she muttered in a heavy breath.

            “You know that you’ve been asleep for six hours?”

            “No. I know…how to reach Asgard.”

(UP NEXT: Shades of The Dark World!)

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