Chapter Twelve: Liberty Base
Genevieve’s eyes snapped open with a start. A faint glow
in their pupils had dispersed after a few short blinks. There was not much she
could remember before waking up to the tune of The System’s “Don’t Disturb This
Groove” on a waterbed no less. Her body wavering on the flotation mattress did
not help much for the intense headache she woke up with. Nonetheless, she made
an attempt to sit up. Doing so, she quickly discovered the black silk pajamas
she somehow got into. Surprisingly, they were just her size.
(Pop Culture Note: "Don't Disturb This Groove" was first released January 1987. It reached number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart, spending one week on top. It was later a hit on the pop chart during the summer of 1987, peeking at number four on the "Hot 100" in July.)
From the pajamas to her surroundings, Genevieve’s
headache intensified at the lavishness of the room she was in. If the System
was not enough of a 80s overload, the room’s reminiscence to some type of love
suite (complete with a working fireplace, a bar, an analog television set, a
functioning jukebox that played the System’s song, and a bear-skinned rug)
surely was. Her first inclination at this eyesore of a scene was that she did send herself back to the 1980s; it
was clearly the era that the room was established in.
How did I get here, she thought.
It was hard and painful for her to recollect anything
before finding herself in this room and in a pair of pajamas that did not
belong to her. All that she could manage to recall was a situation that
involved Mindy and the Livingstons. But what was it?
(Narrative Note: Never specifically mentioned in the story, Genevieve's memory loss was due to the piece of her extracted in her "dust state," which came from the brain. Only a fragment of one of her lobes was taken by Yve Ette and the Skrulls, so as not to do permanent damage to her mind.)
Suddenly, at the corner of her eye, she noticed an
automatic sliding steel door open, permitting the entrance of an old,
thin-looking man of average height with slicked back salt-and-pepper hair,
wearing a black suit and sunglasses. He danced along to the System on his way
over to the bar. He almost entirely seemed not to have recognized the fact that
Genevieve was there, at least not until he slightly turned his head to the
left.
“Oh! Excelsior!” He exclaimed in a voice that was very
energetic for his age. “How ya feelin’, kid?”
Genevieve dodged the question with one of her own: “Who
are you?”
“Agent Stan. I’ve been caretaker of Liberty Base for well
over fifty years. It didn’t used to be this swankin’, I can tell ya. The two
young agents that used to be stationed here practically transformed it into a
love lounge.”
(Biographical Note: "Agent Stan" is, of course, based on and inspired by comic book writer, editor, publisher, media producer, television host, actor, and former president and chairman of Marvel Comics Stan Lee. In collaboration with several artists, he co-created Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor, the X-Men, and several other fictional characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comics. Lee led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.)
Genevieve smirked, her eyes surveying the atmosphere once
more. “Obviously.” She then winced in pain, clutching the sides of her head.
“Ooh! My head! How the heck did I end up here?”
Stan was a bit bashful in answering that question. “Well,
uh…it’s not exactly a very ‘PG’ story, if ya know what I mean.” Genevieve shot
him an unnerved look at his questionable description. “Erm…well…let me put it
this way: you’ve seen the movie Splash,
right? It’s probably before your—”
“Yes. I’ve seen it. What’s your point?”
“Well, uh, you remember that scene when Daryl Hannah was
butt-naked at the Statue of Liberty?”
Genevieve nodded suspiciously. “Yeah?”
“Well…replace Daryl Hannah with you and, uh, that’s how
you ended up here…only you were
unconscious at the time.”
(Disney Note: Splash is a romantic comedy film directed by Ron Howard in 1984 starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah. It was notable for being the first film released by Walt Disney Studios' Touchstone Pictures label, which had been created that same year in an effort to release films targeted at adult audiences, with mature content not appropriate for the studio's flagship Walt Disney Pictures banner.)
Genevieve, shocked and embarrassed by this, hid her face
beneath her hands and muttered, “Oh, god.”
“I just thank Him
for gettin’ to ya before the authorities did.” Stan followed this with a
chuckle. “I don’t think I’ve seen so many different varieties of cameras flashing at your bare behind. I wouldn’t log into your Twitter anytime soon, that’s for
sure.”
Genevieve shook her head, her face still hidden. “Please
stop.”
“Sorry. If it’s any consolation, this base is sixty miles
beneath the surface of Liberty Island. Plenty of necessities to get you through
as long as I’ve been here. You’ll
never have to worry about showin’ your face – or butt – in public again.”
With a heavy sigh, Genevieve moved her hands away from
her disgruntled face. “What happened that got me here?”
Stan shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. What do ya
remember?”
“Just me and my friends being attacked by…” Her face lit
with recognition. “Sitwell and Blake! That’s right! Two agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
attacked the Livingstons, Mindy, and me!”
“No surprise there. I’ve known things have been shady
with S.H.I.E.L.D. ever since Nick Fury shared conspiracies with me at the time he
was stationed here.”
In Stan’s reference to the late director of S.H.I.E.L.D.,
Genevieve hung her head low. “I’m sorry to tell you this but…the people that
are behind this got him. He’s dead.”
She expected the news to have broken the old man’s
fragile heart, yet it had the opposite effect on him. From her news, Stan
merely gave an amused chuckle. “Kid, if there’s one thing I know about Nick
Fury, it’s that he can’t be so easily wiped out. I just finished speaking to
him from the hideout where he’s recuperating.”
(Marvel Note: In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Nick Fury went into hiding within a S.H.I.E.L.D. dam facility, which Maria Hill had taken Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, and Sam Wilson to, following a rescue from Hydra sleeper agents. It was from this facility that they worked out their plan to take down the Project Insight Helicarriers, as well as S.H.I.E.L.D. itself.)
Genevieve’s eyes grew large at this. “That’s great!” Her
enthusiasm was swiftly extinguished once she had a realization of her own
surprise. “Although I’m a bit weirded out that I didn’t already realize that.”
“Well, how could you have known? Unless you’re an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and have
that kind of clearance.”
Genevieve deniably shook her head. “Well, no. It’s
just…well, you see…” She was not exactly certain how to open up to the old man
on being the Guardian of a parallel world centered on Disney cartoons. But,
after some hesitation and courage, she decided that – in his years of working
with S.H.I.E.L.D. – he could have heard weirder stories:
“I’m the Guardian of a place called the ‘Disneyverse.’ I
have remarkable knowledge of events that shroud every known universe in
existence, including this one. I know what was, what is, and what will be all
at once.”
There was a long pause from Stan, who merely stared at
the young woman for the longest time with a blank expression. Then, all of the
sudden, he exploded with laughter – a reaction Genevieve anticipated. “Sure,
kid. Whatever you say,” he remarked, pouring himself a drink from the bar.
Genevieve again sighed, rubbing her fingers through her
hair in aggravation. A few locks hung over her left eye, and she suddenly
realized how dark her field of perception became. Taking note of the hair
strands, she was surprised to discover they were black rather than their usual
golden hue. At this discovery, she immediately rushed out of bed, which
proved to be a bad idea right away at the second her head started to spin and
her body shuddered.
Seeing what she attempted to do, Stan rushed right away
from the bar and to her aid. “Whoa. Take it easy, kiddo. You have to stay in
bed.”
“Help me first to a bathroom. I need to see myself!”
Stan saw the defiance in her face and knew it would be
pointless to argue with the young woman. He guided her out of the room, through
the sliding steel door, and into a stone corridor – the bleak atmosphere of
which totally contrasted with the colorful room they exited from. There were six
other steel doors on opposite sides of the corridor; Genevieve and Stan walked
out of the one at the furthest end. Down the corridor, Genevieve could see a
larger area that interconnected three other rooms with the S.H.I.E.L.D.
insignia at the center of it.
Agent Stan led Genevieve to the second door on the right,
opening it to reveal a bright white room with a porcelain bathtub and sink, the
latter of which had a squeaky clean mirror for Genevieve to look in. At the second
she entered this area, she saw her reflection and shock filled her face at the
sight that beheld her: both her hair and
eye color changed. No longer was she a blue-eyed blonde, but she now was
brown-eyed with black hair, two genetic traits she once possessed in her life
as Sean Thomas.
(Authorial Note: The look for Genevieve's "mortal state" was inspired by a cosplay from Genevieve Marie Nylen that involved a black wig and brown contacts, which made her appear like a whole different woman. I was so amused by the difference the makeup made that I integrated it for her character to encourage the same reaction for other characters.)
“This can’t be
real.” She whispered.
Lightly pressing the tip of her right index finger
against the pupil of her right eye, she flinched once she realized that it was
her actual eye and not a colored
contact lense as she thought. She then proceeded in taking some water from the
sink, cupping it into her hands, and splashing it into her hair. After rubbing
her wet fingers through each lock of her drenched hair, she glimpsed at her
fingers – zero sign of any hair dye residue on her fingers. It was her actual hair!
Confusion overwhelmed her. “I didn’t make these changes!
How did I get like this?” In a state of panic, she snapped her fingers, only
to see that nothing happened after. She then shut her eyes real tight and
concentrated for a minute. She reopened them to find that, once again, nothing
happened. “What’s going on? Where are my powers? I don’t have anything now. I’m just…human.”
It was at that moment when she felt a familiar rhythmic
beating in her chest. Placing her right hand against her bosom, as if she was
about to recite the Pledge of Alliance, her eyes widened at what she felt.
“T-That’s…my heart. It’s beating normally again.”
Her hands went to her hair once more, only this time she
rubbed her scalp more than the strands.
“Everything feels
different yet familiar. Even my thought process is completely back to normal.
It’s just limited, select memories now. Not the unlimited cognition it once
was. I’m me again but…” She gazed at
her reflection once more. “…I’m not
me.”
(Character Note: "Unlimited cognition" is a crucial trait for the Guardian to possess, as it enables total recollection - or "mega eidetic memory" - of events and details from multiple lives and personalities, without the mental strain that it would put on an average human being.)
Stan did not follow any of what this troubled young woman rambled on about. To him, it sounded like she read one too many comic
books and her imagination clearly ran away from her.
Facing the reality of her situation with mixed feelings,
Genevieve despondently walked out of the bathroom and down the corridor,
returning to the door that she believed to be for the bedroom. Unfortunately,
the door led to an entirely new room, one that was dimly lit. Its main purpose
looked to center on fitness.
Its sole occupant – a young woman with black hair, olive
skin, and a super toned, athletic physique – performed a series of bench-presses off
235lbs at the darkest corner of the room. It was a feat that truly amazed
Genevieve, who saw that the girl looked to weigh a lot less than what she was
able to press on that bench.
“Welcome to the Lion’s Den.” Without lifting her head or
looking Genevieve’s way, the young woman managed to address her while still
weight-training, zero strain in her alluring voice.
“I’m so sorry.” Genevieve said. “All the doors look the
same.”
The fit young woman giggled. “I know, right? The people
that designed this place made it so effin’ confusing.” She set the weight back
on the rack and sat up. There was barely an ounce of sweat dripping off her
body.
Genevieve noticed how appropriately dressed the girl was,
donned in in a white sports bra, tight grey shorts, and white tennis shoes. She
also took notice in a slight resemblance to Ciciley with
her olive skin and black hair. The only exception was in her eyes, which were brown
rather than blue.
“Yamila!” Genevieve heard Stan blurt out, walking in and
standing beside her to greet the young woman that had an exotic name to go with
her attractive face. “Yamila’s been stationed here ever since she was born.”
(Biographical Note: "Yamila" is based on and inspired by figure and bikini competitor Yamila Rodriguez, a Facebook friend of mine. Yamila's character was originally written in mind for Marvel Evolution, next year's sequel to Marvel Mayhem. In fact, by this point in the development of Mayhem, I knew a sequel was imminent and already knew of the characters I wanted to be in it.)
Yamila smiled big. “Stan’s been the coolest babysitter.”
That one bit of information Stan shared about Yamila
being stationed at Liberty Base since birth stuck out like a sore thumb to
Genevieve. “How and why has S.H.I.E.L.D. kept a little girl holed up in a top secret
base her whole life? Are you some type of experiment? A bionic woman?”
Yamila laughed at her highly imaginative assumptions.
“No. I’m no special secret of theirs. I’m simply the daughter of one of their
best agents – Ciciley Livingston.”
If it was not obvious before, it certainly was with that
confirmation. Still, it came as a surprise to Genevieve for reasons she did not
withhold in verbally expressing: “I was under the belief that Ciciley has only two children – Elendriel and Sean.”
Yamila’s jaw dropped, astonishment registering in her
demeanor. “I have…a sister and brother?”
(Authorial Note: Yamila's character had an entirely different role planned before I made her a "surprise member" of the Livingston clan. This role, as mentioned before, was intended for Marvel Evolution. It centered on a twist that I was to introduce in the sequel, which depicted Agent Sean dying and receiving a blood transfusion from his mother that reincarnated him as Yamila. This was ultimately dropped in fear of reusing World of Disney's plot devices for the Marvel Universe trilogy, as it already has the Guardians of the Disneyverse involved.)
Watching how she took in this news, which was exactly that to her, Genevieve grew curious. “What year were you born?”
Yamila stammered on her response. “I…I have no idea.”
“If I can recall, the day was New Year’s Eve and the year
was 1988 when Yamila came into the world.” Stan stated.
“She’s twenty-six!” Genevieve exclaimed upon figuring the
math. “That makes her the youngest child of Ciciley!”
She soon heard Yamila sniffling, visibly becoming
emotional of the prospect in having a big sister and brother. Her beautiful
brown eyes filled with tears. “This is the happiest day of my life,” she
whispered.
A quick, loud buzzing noise sounded throughout the base.
Stan recognized what it had meant. “We got visitors.”
He headed out of the Lion’s Den, moving at a pace that
was quite unexpected for a man his age. Quite a lively soul this dude has,
Genevieve thought while following after him. She saw how he headed into the
larger area she spotted earlier and trailed him into one of the three
interconnecting rooms.
This new room was lit only by the mass assortment of
monitors that took up its space, each one displaying live feeds of areas from Liberty
Base and above the surface on Liberty Island. One monitor displayed the inside
of the secret elevator that led straight into the underground base, only
accessible by those who were currently or formerly stationed there. Genevieve
and Stan noticed on the monitor how the elevator was occupied by
six characters – five adults and one infant child. Genevieve instantly
recognized them as Ciciley, Elendriel, Chrissy, Mindy, Sean, and Karter –
albeit Elendriel, Chrissy, Sean, and Mindy looked notably different from the
last time she had seen them. Elendriel sported brown hair, Chrissy wore contemporary
clothing, Mindy had blond hair and blue eyes (lucky her), and Sean was dressed in civilian attire that included a
dark blue long coat.
“They’re all safe.” She noted in relief. “And
they’ll be much safer here.”
Stan gazed more closely at the monitor, blinking rapidly
with disbelief. “Holy mackerel! Is that Ciciley? Are my eyes playing tricks or
has she gotten younger – and skinnier – than when I’d last seen her? She must
have one helluva plastic surgeon!”
(UP NEXT: What Goes On Inside a Muppet!)
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