PUPPETEER | ✓

CHAPTER 05

CHAPTER 05

"Hey kiddie!" a voice hollered, and Maggie glanced to find Harley Quinn waving at her, a maniacal grin plastered on her stark-pale face. "C'mon over here! Bein' a loner can getcha killed, ya know?!"

Maggie rose up involuntarily. The villains had rounded up around Floyd's box.

"Somethin' tells me a whole lot of people are about to die!" Harley tittered, swinging her sickeningly patterned sledgehammer. Chato Santana - or more commonly know as 'El Diablo' - rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, it's us. We're being led to our deaths," he stated pessimistically, and Maggie found herself unconsciously inclining her head in agreement. Harley gasped and nudged Maggie's shoulder.

"Don't be such a let-down, kid!" Maggie remained soundless. Digger Harkness - publicly labelled as Captain Boomerang - walked closer to Chato.

"Speak for yourself, mate," he grinned, harshly shoving Chato, who calmly disregarded it. "Hey," Digger gestured at the tats with one of his boomerangs. "What's that crap on your face? Does it wash off?" he laughed, and a rumble of chuckles rippled around the small group of inmates - excluding Maggie. But amusement flashed momentarily in her clear blue eyes.

"Hey, if you like a girl, can you like - light her cigarette with your pinkie? 'Cause that'll be real classy," Harley giggled, and Floyd joined in as he noticed how Chato's expression grew irritated.

"Hey, y'all might wanna leave old boy alone," he said, motioning at the tattooed man. "He could torch this whole joint. Ain't that right, ese?"

Chato shrugged. "Ain't got nothing to worry about from me. I'm cool, homie," Chato assured, and Maggie again nodded. Digger turned to face the nineteen year-old young woman.

"'Ey, are ya silently plannin' our deaths? I don't like your silence," Digger again put up his grin. Maggie briefly glanced up at the older man, before hugging herself and looking down at her black men flats. She hissed quietly when Digger started playfully jabbing her shoulder.

"Hey, stop it man," Floyd spoke up again. He stood by Maggie, feeling suddenly defensive towards the youngest member. "Now I don't know what you can do," Floyd aimed the statement at Maggie. "But I guess it ain't pretty since you're here."

Maggie didn't reply.

"What's wrong kiddie?" Harley called. "Cat's got your tongue?"

Her shoulders tensed, but before she could act out Rick suddenly hollered,

"Behold!" the group filtered out and approached Flag, who was holding up a tablet. "The voice God," the screen lit up, and displayed an ebony-skinned woman. Maggie involuntarily scowled - the same person who had thrown her into this ragtag suicidal group of pointless inmates.

"For those of you who don't know me formally," the woman started. "My name is Amanda Waller."

Her sight swept over the group momentarily. "There is an active terrorist event in Midway City," she announced, without any sugarcoating opening, such as "it's so nice to see you guys together" or "I assure you you will stay alive", but Maggie guessed that just wasn't how it worked.

"I want you to enter the city, rescue HVT-1 and get them to safety," she ordered. Floyd waved his palm slowly, earning the attention of the group and Amanda.

"I'm sorry," he interrupted. "For those of us who don't speak 'good guy', what is HVT-1?" he asked. Amanda was quick to answer,

"The only person that matters in the city. The only person you can't kill," Maggie raised an eyebrow. Didn't that mean she could murder everyone else? Not like she wanted to - possibly.

"Complete the mission, you get time off your sentence," Maggie glared at the woman, who seemed to notice but paid no heed. "Fail the mission: you die," Maggie shrugged. One less problem to the world shouldn't be much a penalty to Maggie. "If anything happens to Colonel Flag, I will kill every one of you," Maggie pondered, that should be easier.

"Remember, I'm watching," Amanda stated menacingly. "I see everything."

The screen flickered dead, and Rick said sarcastically, "there's your pep talk."

Floyd shrugged nonchalantly, holding one gun from his assortment of firearms. "Compared to your shit, she killed it," he replied easily, making Rick seem irritated. "So that's it? What, we some kind of Suicide Squad?" he suggested.

"I'll notify the next of your kin," Rick shot back, and soon enough they boarded the plae. Maggie plopped down freely, sitting with her spine rigid. She looked out the window, but not long after, she heard footsteps enter the plane when it was taking off. Turning about, she saw an Asian woman walk inside the aviated vehicle. "You're late," Rick notified her, and the woman said something in.... Japanese? Maggie utilized her telepathy and obtained the meaning: "I was busy."

Busy, hm? Interesting, Maggie concentrated, locating where memories are kept in the cerebrum. She accessed the portion.

☠☠☠

The setting was a nearly-empty metropolitan area. A group of formally dressed men were ambling down the street, their faces showing no care for the world - that was up until a flash of black and red materialized quickly in the speed of light, and swiftly she pulled her blade out. Maggie watched intently as blood streaked the streets quickly as the Japanese woman struck the criminals down quickly. The final man was pinned against a wall, the sword's metal pressed against his throat.

"Please have mercy!" the man begged in his native tongue.

"Where was the mercy for my husband?!" the woman demanded, fury seeping from her very person.

"I didn't kill him!"

"But you watched," the woman growled. "Criminals deserve to die."

☠☠☠

Maggie shivered compulsively as she ripped herself away from the memory, eliciting curious stares from the rest. She regarded them with a cold glare before she looked away.

"This is Katana," Rick introduced after a small stretch of silence. "She's got my back. She can cut you all in one sword stroke - just like mowing the lawn," he paused. "I would advise not being killed by her. Her sword traps the souls of her victims."

Maggie yet again hissed incoherently under her breath. Death, death, and more death. Why was it the only thing these people talk about? Was it because they were so-called criminals? Maggie frowned inwardly. Is that what I am? A cold-blooded killer?

But I'm not.

☠☠☠

A/N: Okay, I lied. No action yet - I just wanted a few chapters to show a couple of interactions between Maggie and the others.

BUT HEY I STILL DELIVERED!

Hopefully next chapter we'll arrive at the Midway City arc. Until then!