The Marvels

Ep. 43 | Iterum

After Maggotzilla terrorized the Santa Monica Pier and the nearby city, the clean-up crews had spent days collecting debris and dragging it all to a junkyard. Even what was still partly intact had to be taken away for safety concerns, and nothing was ever reclaimed after Celestro generously financed the rebuilding, and because of that, the MZ-2017 junkyard looked like an apocalyptic universe's horrific version of a carnival.

Lady Marvel stood in front of the team as they surveyed the yard. Busted boardwalk supports lay tangled on the sidelines, and up ahead was a massive pile-up of the remains of booths, rides, and other pier things, ranging from completely destroyed to only slightly dented. A giant clown head with a gaping mouth sat next to cracked funhouse mirrors that lined up too well: the crews that brought this stuff here definitely had fun positioning it. Lady Marvel knew there was a framework of a warehouse building underneath it all, as evident by the doors and the deceptively good structural integrity of a bunch of trash, and if the outside looked this...interesting, then she could only imagine what lay behind the doors.

The New Humans were inside. She heard them cheering and shouting at each other, interrupted by sharp bangs of sound. They could be setting off firecrackers or firing guns. Knowing them, either was equally plausible.

"I don't get it," Flamethrower said, breaking the silence that had settled since leaving headquarters. "I mean, sure, they hate us and would love a fight, but their powers are so weak."

"Not when they're hopped up on super-steroid," Lady Marvel said.

Flamethrower's face scrunched up in surprise. "Still," she mumbled. "The steroid can only do so much. They won't win, and they've got to know that!"

Lady Marvel shook her head, mad she hadn't made the connection sooner. She'd known that some of the New Humans were up to something, and she knew about the rumors of a circulating super-steroid, but she'd never entertained the idea that those two things were related. She understood now that David took the vial Vidya had stolen in the name of evidence, and he'd reproduced the formula and enticed the New Humans with it by promising a fight. They already hated the Marvels with a psychopathic passion: a confrontation like this, no matter the risk, was their dream come true.

"Alright," Lady Marvel said. "Try not to kill anyone."

"It's the New Humans," Echo replied. "They're not going to give us much of a choice."

Would you be able to deal with that much blood on your hands?

Lady Marvel closed her eyes. Opened them. "Try anyway," she said flatly.

She and Phase went in first, going through a wall—and through the clown head in front of it—instead of the doors to catch them off guard. Together they took out as many of the few guns as they could so the other three were less likely to get shot, and within seconds, Lady Marvel nodded at Phase so he would tell the others to come on in.

And then, ladies and gentlemen, for the very first time as a team, the Marvels fought the New Humans.

It was chaotic. Flamethrower was right, the New Humans had no chance of winning, but they did have numbers, sheer will, no restraints on physical violence, and the most random powers. A guy with detachable arms—they weren't prosthetics, they were literally his arms—was throwing and swinging them around with incredible accuracy. A woman with electric capabilities was pulsing the old fair lights that were draped around, casting the whole shitshow in a changing neon glow. There was even a teleporter, but after a few seconds of watching him travel, it was clear that his range was only a few feet.

As she fought, Lady Marvel's eyes snaked up the staircase that led to an upper level. She'd looked for David the moment she walked in, but he wasn't here then and he still hadn't shown up. He was either on that upper level, or he wasn't at the junkyard at all. Only one way to find out.