Lion Hearted Girl - a role reversal At4W fanfic (reviewer!Margaret, ghost!Linkara)
Title: Lion Hearted Girl
Rating: TV-15 for swearing and violence
Word Count: 7,800 (approx.)
Characters: Margaret, Dr. Insano, Pollo, fem!Linksano, Lord Vyce, Harvey Finevoice, Iron Liz, Ninja-Style Dancer, 90’s Kid, ghost!Linkara, the Entity, Jaeris.
Disclaimer: I own nothing and mean no disrespect. Some lines in here are transcribed from At4W episodes themselves. If you’re reading this, you’re enough of a fan that you can probably tell where Lewis’s writing shows up. I don’t own those bits at all.
Warnings: Violence. Creepy comments from Vyce. If I missed any warnings please let me know and I’ll edit this.
Summary: What if Margaret and Linkara’s roles were switched? What if Margaret was the comic reviewer, and Linkara was the ghost in her magic gun?
A/N: Written for THIS PROMPT on the Kink Meme. Super thanks to the AT4W Plot Guide Tumblr, I used that a lot while writing this. Oh my god, this might be one of the longest fics I’ve ever written. Wow. I love Reivewer!Margaret so much.
Origin Story
Margaret is one of the youngest reviewers hired. Maybe … a little too young, at least at first. She’s opinionated and stubborn and not that skilled with lighting or editing yet. But she works hard, builds up a loyal fanbase, reviews crappy comics, and explains feminism properly. The quality of her videos goes up, and so do her viewing numbers.
Dr. Insano tries to make trouble. He thinks that just because she’s a girl, and a young girl at that, he can easily take her down. He’s wrong, and Margaret proves that with her “I am woman, hear me ROAR!” punch straight to his stomach.
Dr. Insano takes her much more seriously after that.
Mecharette
“I’m Pollo!” the other-her glares down at Margaret and cackles.
That’s her skin. That’s her skin, her from another dimension, stripped and worn as a disguise by one of her most loyal companions.
It’s a sight that’s going to haunt her for quite some time, even after blasting the evil robot away.
Afterwards, she and Pollo - the real Pollo, her Pollo - sit down for a talk.
“Have I done right, by you? I … I know I can be kinda selfish sometimes but I try, really I do, and I hope you can see that, Pollo.” Margaret says, still shaking slightly from the ordeal.
“You could list-en to my sugg-est-ions more oft-en, but over-all I am quite con-tent with our part-ner-ship.”
Margaret nods. “I’ll listen better. But you’ve gotta tell me when something’s bugging you, ok? You’ve gotta call me out when I go too far or do something wrong.”
“I prom-ise.”
Marsano
Dr. Marsano looks positively deranged, long tangled dark hair and eyes hidden behind spiral goggles. The bulky coat makes her seem a lot bigger than she actually is. It’s a trick Margaret has yet to master herself, drowning in second-hand jackets from Goodwill and plaid shirts that hide her breasts from leering fanboys on the internet.
Marsano reminds her a lot of Dr. Insano, actually, strangely enough. Though not quite as threatening, and easily defeated.
What troubles Margaret is Marsano’s final words: an ominous warning “All that he sees, he conquers.”
She laughs it off, of course, dismisses it as Marsano trying to scare a little girl with a spooky story. But … it gnaws at her mind, late at night.
Margaret is Missing
Three days. She’s gone for three days and three nights, she can tell from the watch on her wrist. But to her friends, she’s gone a whole month.
Vyce has her for three days and three nights.
At first he’s … perplexed. He doesn’t realize at first how young she is. He nudges her with his foot, commands her to stand and fight, and … her knees buckle and the floor rises to meet her. He must be at least seven feet tall, in huge, imposing armor. How can she fight him, alone, weaponless, on an alien spaceship?
Afterwards, he let his Shades handle her, study her in labs in non-invasive ways. He calls her a “cub” and ignores her for the most part. She doesn’t know whether to be insulted or relieved.
She is relieved when she finds herself standing back in her home, or, rather, staggering, falling towards Iron Liz for support.
“I’m going to kill him,” Margaret growls, as soon as she finds her voice again. “I’m going to kill him.”
Nobody asks her about her time away. She doesn’t talk about it except to discuss the Shades and battle plans.
Well, except once.
Liz pulls her aside after a few days, asks if she wants to talk about anything. Margaret cries a bit, hugs Liz, but once she’s dried her eyes and talked to Liz a bit, she clears some things up. No, Vyce didn’t touch her like that. No, really, he just wanted to fight her and she was too scared to move, so he had his Shades take some blood samples and that was it.
She’s ashamed, but she’s going to channel that shame and into righteous fury to defeat Vyce.
The Man in the Magic Gun
Everybody hates her. The house is full of fog and shadows and everyone has been screaming at her and telling her they hate her, that she’s done something terrible. Margaret stumbles and finds a book lying on the floor.
beneath the seas besides the flame
off the coast where the lost beast came
to bring the world misery and shame
a piece of the world is missing
Those words weren’t there yesterday. Margaret turns another page.
He didn’t get to heaven. Not even close.
Margaret shudders and turns more pages, which are stained with dark blotches that can’t be mistaken for ink or coffee no matter how hard she wishes it.
i didn’t get to heaven, it hurts every time i don’t go to heaven
they didn’t love me
Margaret looks up. A man wrapped in bloody bandages is standing above her.
“You …” she gasps. “They sacrificed you. To make a weapon … this weapon …” she looks down at her gun. “How old were you? Twenty-one? Twenty-two?”
He doesn’t answer. He points towards her, voice nothing more than a growling rumble.
“Your own … parents …” Margaret shudders. “I’m … I’m sorry.”
He points at the gun. The gun she carries. The gun forged from a man’s gruesome death.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t … I didn’t know …”
Or did she?
“Guilty …” the voice growls.
“No, I …” but memories are flooding in.
Standing in a crowd as a knife is held aloft and brought down again and again, blood fountaining up into the air … screams that lasted for hours …
“Guilty …”
“I … I knew?” Margaret holds the gun in shaking hands. She’s used it countless times, to deal with bad comic books, knock Insano on his ass, get out of tricky situations. She never thought that it was anything but a tool, a weapon to be used and put aside afterwards. There was a person’s soul in it the whole time, a man who’d barely reached adulthood.
“Guilty …”
“I’m … sorry …” Margaret holds the gun to her forehead. She can’t … she can’t ever apologize for something like this … for standing in the crowd while they brought the knife down onto the man’s chest again and again … so much blood … and it’s all her fault …
She pulls the trigger.
NO!
Margaret falls, the gun dropping from her hands, but there’s no pain, no wound.
Partner. Friend.
That’s the man’s true soul. Not this monster of hate and rage. He doesn’t wish her harm, and he wants this creature destroyed.
Margaret stands up, brandishes the gun. She knows the truth now.
She makes a pretty good speech, all things considered, fighting back against the creature’s psychic attacks. “You come at me with insecurity, self-doubt, and angst? You try to make me doubt who I am? I am the woman who defeated Pyramid Head! I am the woman who conquered Countdown! I am the woman who fought off the Vorsof and destroyed Mecharette! I am the liberator of Kickassia! I am a Starfleet Captain! I am a Power Ranger! I’m that girl with the hat! I am Margaret!”
The creature lurches towards her, growling.
“Hear me ROAR!” Margaret fires.
She fights a creepy bandaged doctor - really, those old nightmares of Insano dredged up from high school? How clichéd - and blasts the hate monster away once and for all.
The man in the gun doesn’t speak to her again. Margaret can be patient, though.
Lord Vyce
“This is the Earth’s Champion?” Vyce sneers as Margaret levels her gun at him. “I had hoped for someone taller.”
“Not all of us can be born giants, asshole.” Margaret scowls.
“So, the cub has matured at last. We needn’t fight, little one. This is beyond you or any of your companions. Let me keep you safe while I hunt the Entity. Let me teach you how to hunt, how to mate, how to raise young.”
Margaret feels her stomach churn and levels the gun at Vyce. “Over my dead body.”
Vyce growls. “So be it.”
The fight is … frightening. Margaret shoots, Vyce doesn’t seem to react. She hurls Pyramid Head from his Pokeball and Vyce destroys him.
“You are the flea that thinks itself a giant,” Vyce snarls, lifting Margaret into the air. “What a pity. If you only knew what you were truly up against.”
Margaret twists, fires Vyce’s weapon at his own chest, managed to dent his armor. He flees, leaving Margaret bloody and alone on the floor.
~*~
Ok, maybe the taunting is a bit much, but she’s pissed at this freak. Margaret is pretty sure Vyce did the alien overlord equivalent of “you should go to the kitchen and make me a sandwich” with his talk of mating and raising young and all. Not ok.
The plan goes well. Sure, there are a few moments where things get scary, blacking out, Vyce ranting about taking their heads, etc. But eventually Marsano comes through and everyone together manages to bring Vyce down. He’s not dead, of course, but he’s down.
Margaret gives him a few good kicks. When Harvey raises his eyebrows she glares.
“I’m allowed to be petty.”
Marooning Vyce takes some work. Again with the cryptic warnings. First Marsano and now this guy. Margaret has had it with mysterious villains spewing bullshit. She leaves Vyce on the ice planet and tries to put him out of her mind.
A Piece of the World is Missing
First it’s the Ninja-Style Dancer. Ok … dude is a bit of a loner, quiet … it takes a while for them to notice he’s gone.
Then Marsano. Margaret had just assumed the lady had left in a huff at some point and would come crawling back with her clothes half eaten away by acid and begging for the spare bedroom. But she doesn’t.
Then the Ninja-Style Dancer returns, bloodied, and hands Margaret a card that reads “A piece of the world is missing … Its voice is not its own” and just when Margaret turns to get help … Ninja-Style Dancer goes missing again.
~*~
The book begins to fill its blank pages. Margaret reads it and becomes more and more apprehensive and paranoid. An overwhelming sense of dread fills her bones.
People start popping up in the comments section claiming there’s something wrong with her videos, some static or whatever, hidden messages. Some of these clowns even try and send her screencaps, all blank of course.
“Not funny, guys. What is this, the new Rick Rolling?” Margaret rolls her eyes. Then she stares at the book, and feels a wave of cold come over her.
~*~
Harvey goes missing.
Scanners report that a billion people have vanished from the planet in the past few months.
Margaret searches the book for answers, for something.
I CAN SEE YOU MARGARET
Margaret drops the book, staring around. “Oh, it is on, now!.” She growls.
~*~
Whately appears, rants about his cult, about how they wanted to drive Margaret insane to spread the word of their god, spread the nightmares to the people.
Margaret hugs the book to her chest and wonders if she’s a Prophet to their dark god, the hungry beast that’s stolen her friends. Is she a Prophet, or another sacrifice?
She dreams of being chained to a rock outside a cave, a cave in which two glowing eyes can be seen.
“Huuuuuuuuuuuuu-maaaaaaaaaannnnnn …” it growls.
Margaret wakes in a cold sweat.
“… nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn …” hisses the beast.
~*~
It was 90’s Kid all along. The Entity. MissingNo.
She can’t defeat it. She can’t shoot it - she already tried and now the gun is gone - she can’t hit it … there’s nothing she can do.
Or can she?
“What are you going to do, after you absorb me?”
MissingNo tells her its plans, to devour the rest of the universe, and all universes, until it is one with creation. Until there is nothing but MissingNo.
“Ok …” Margaret nods slowly. “And then what are you going to do?”
MissingNo seems at a loss for words.
It takes some quick thinking, but eventually, Margaret makes the creature see that absorbing everything will only lead to boredom, and the real rewarding mystery is killing itself.
Margaret almost collapses with relief once it destroys itself, once her friends are returned. There’s a group hug that might last for hours, Margaret clinging to Liz and Harvey especially until she falls asleep. That final confrontation with the Entity left her drained.
It’s going to be a long time before she can bring herself to play a Pokemon game again.
Her Blue Soul
“Oh my god, you are so cute!” Margaret squees, kneeling down and picking up the Cybermat. It whirrs with delight as she pets it. “Awww, you’re so sweet.”
Marsano stares in horror. “But … but …”
“What can I say? Robots love me.” Margaret grins, then falters. “Well … most robots …” she shakes her head. “Anyways, I’ve been meaning to talk to you, Marsano.”
At first Marsano balks at the idea of staying as Margaret’s Scientific Advisor. But when Margaret points out that really taking over the world and ruling it would be stressful, and there’s the easier option of the holodeck on Comicron-1 to play with Marsano eventually agrees.
“Reluctantly, I accept your offer,” Marsano tries to sneer and nearly succeeds.
“Ok, cool,” Margaret walks away, still cuddling the cybermat. “Oh you’re so cute! Yes you are … yes you are …” she pauses. “Oh, and Marsano? NIMUE will be watching you. If you try and attack me again, or betray any of us, she has strict instructions to beam you to the planet we banished Vyce to.”
Marsano pales.
“Sweet dreams!” Margaret smiles cheerfully and heads off to her bedroom.
~*~
Mecharette comes back. Tries to hijack Comicro-1 and lay waste to the earth. They stop Mecharette, but Pollo dies. Or … perhaps not. Pollo’s consciousness is downloaded somewhere else, thank god.
But it wasn’t Mecharette. It was Vyce. Crazed from years in exile, living data like the Entity, still hell-bent on his quest to destroy the beast.
And, it turns out, unwilling to listen with Margaret insists that the Entity is gone. He demands she surrender and stop the self-destruct sequence on Comicron-1. Margaret tells him to go fuck himself.
Pollo returns at exactly the right moment, knocking Vyce back before he can kill Margaret.
It’s a very satisfying feeling, getting to kick Vyce into space and watch the tiny blip on the radar that is him drift farther and farther away. It’ll take him decades to get to Earth, if his robot body doesn’t malfunction first.
Exhausted, soot-streaked, and bruised, Margaret promises Pollo a new body and passes out on the couch.
Gun and Sorcery
Another month, another stranger in her house. At least this one is kinda hot, in a mysterious way.
But he wants Margaret’s magic gun. That cuts down on his hotness by … a lot.
“Just hand it over, darlin’ and nobody needs to get hurt.”
Margaret glares. “I’m not your ‘darling.’ Don’t talk to me like that.” No strange man gets to talk down to her in a Southern accent and expect to get his way. (It doesn’t matter how many seasons of Justified she records on her DVR, that’s her private business.)
He shrugs. “I hate to fight a lady, but so be it.” And then he pulls out a gun of his own and fires at her.
Margaret ducks behind the couch, firing back. He seems to be having difficulty with his weapon, muttering about dimensional differences. A cybermat trips him up, Margaret fires some more, and the strange man vanishes via some kind of pocketwatch.
Margaret stands up, grinning viciously, righteous anger coursing through her body. Her knees are shaking but she feels elated. She’s sick to death of strangers invading her house and trying to hurt her or her friends. She wants the stranger back so she can shoot him, as a warning to others who dare to cross her. “I have fought conquerors, robots, and monsters, and I have been victorious every time! There is nothing that can stop me now! NOTHING!”
The gun in her hand burns and a flash of light momentarily blinds Margaret. Horrified, Margaret pulls the trigger, and nothing happens.
“What did I do?” Margaret gasps, cradling the gun in her arms. “What did I do?!”
~*~
Never before has Margaret felt the true weight of her own ignorance when it comes to magic. Almost all of her weapons are useless, plastic toys that couldn’t defend her from a Chihuahua, much less that mysterious man with the braided hair.
When Harvey and Pollo look at her expectantly and she has no idea what’s happening, Margaret feels like she wants to cry.
Then, when Marsano tells her it’s as though her magic is being “suppressed” she gets an idea. Dr. Insano and his stupid Anti-Magic Field Generators. Good. She can go punch him up a bit and get her magic back. Margaret likes having a plan of action.
But even that proves fruitless. Dr. Insano folds easily enough, a knee to the groin, a few choice kicks and punches, and he’s cringing at her feet. It feels so good, so satisfying, to just beat the guy up again like the old times. He’s not a robot in her skin or a universe conqueror or a god, he’s just a man in a ratty labcoat who reeks of cheap booze. He’s … kind of pathetic, to be honest. She was actually scared of this guy, once upon a time? Wow. Margaret feels old, and not in a good way.
But Insano doesn’t know anything about her magic, and it’s not a machine after all.
Margaret is furious and right back at square one. She lashes out at 90’s Kid back at home for draining the BFG’s power cells recklessly. She feels awful afterwards and apologizes, but she can tell he’s still shaken up from the Entity possession. Clearing out for a while might help. So Margaret, outfitted with gadgets from Marsano and information from Cloak #1, heads off. Harvey and Pollo don’t want her to leave, want her to prepare more, at least, but there isn’t time and she needs to get this done already.
~*~
“You’re turning evil!”
No. No, it can’t be true.
But … it is. She’s been getting angrier, more reckless, ordering her friends and allies around, tossing threats at people. Just a few weeks ago she beat Insano within an inch of his life. She’s been arrogant, selfish, put her decisions before those of the fans or her allies.
She leaves the Wizard and starts her trek back home. The Wizard’s words echo in her head, in time with her steps. Right … left … right … left … going … evil …
Margaret blinks and stops.
A man is standing ahead of her on the path. A man in a ragged dark jacket with a torn stained white shirt underneath, wearing old and faded jeans. A man with a haircut a few decades out of fashion. Linkara. The man in the magic gun.
“Is that really you?” Margaret asks, cautious. The last time she had visions of Linkara, it was ghosts and Mecharette trying to drive her insane.
“Yeah, it’s me,” he smiles tentatively and waves a bit.
“How are you …” Margaret waves her hand.
“Does it matter?” he asks.
“Well, yeah, I really wanna talk to you more often like this, if it’s possible.” Sometimes Margaret feels so alone.
“Don’t worry about that right now, it’s not important.”
“Ok …” Margaret wants to protest but she’s too tired to pick a fight with a ghost.
They stare at each other, for a long time. Margaret takes a few steps forward, and Linkara does the same. They’re closer now, close enough to touch perhaps, but they don’t.
“I’ve, uh, made a real mess of things, haven’t I?” Margaret winces.
“Yeah,” Linkara nods.
“Well, what am I supposed to do? Act like a goody-two-shoes all the time? Never raise my voice to anybody? Never get angry at anything? I’ve kind of had it with the ‘women should shut up on the internet’ arguments for the past couple of years. Not to mention defending myself as a comics fan. I don’t need this from you too!” Margaret glares.
Linkara sighs. “That’s not what this is about.”
“Isn’t it?” Margaret snaps. “What, am I not supposed to get angry anymore? Take on my enemies and defend my home? I can’t wait around for some hero to rescue me, I have to do this myself!”
Linkara says nothing.
“What do you want from me?” Margaret yells, frustration mounting. “You never talk to me! You expect me to just read your mind or something? Yes, I make mistakes! Everyone does! If you aren’t brave enough to call me out on them, what good are you anyways?”
Linkara stares, wide-eyed and hurt. “You don’t mean that,” he says quietly.
Margaret squeezes her eyes shut. She isn’t going to cry, not now, not after all of this.
“Even Sailor Moon had Tuxedo Mask,” Margaret says softly. “Ok? Is that so much to ask for? Some encouragement now and again? I can’t read your mind. I just … don’t know what to do. What am I supposed to do to make things right again, between us?”
Linkara shifts from foot to foot, mulling over his words. “I want you to be better,” he says at last.
“Oh, that’s helpful,” Margaret rolls her eyes.
“You’re aware of it now, aware of what could happen to you.” Linkara says, deadly serious.
Margaret sighs, rubbing her face. “Yes.”
“I’ve been holding back, because I haven’t been certain about you, about what you could do if I really cut loose,” Linkara waves his hand in the air, light trailing from his fingertips.
“Maybe you shouldn’t,” Margaret watches the light, then looks Linkara right in the eyes. “Maybe Applos is right and I really am going evil. Maybe you should use that power of yours and snuff me out before I get worse.”
“You’re my partner, you’re my friend,” Linkara lays a hand on her shoulder. She can feel the weight, a warmth, but knows he’s not entirely solid. “You don’t leave your friend behind when they’re in trouble. You try to help them. You try to make them better.”
Margaret feels her eyes stinging. “What if you can’t help me?”
Linkara puts his other hand on her free shoulder. “Then at least I made the effort.”
Margaret gulps, trying to steady herself. “What’s the next step?”
“Just be mindful. Try to think a little bit more and be more aware of things.”
“I’ll try.”
“Doing is better than trying,” Linkara smiles.
Margaret laughs a little. “True that.”
Linkara hugs her, and she hugs him back. It’s odd, she knows she could probably walk through him if she chose to, but she can hug him now, feel pressure and warmth.
“I ready to go home now,” Margaret rubs her face on her sleeve, smiling.
“I’m already home.” Linkara smiles, and vanishes back into the gun.
Instead of feeling lonely, empty, Margaret feels warm, comforted. She’s never truly been alone, not with him at her side, on her hip.
~*~
It’s pretty scary, seeing what Holo-Margaret has become. Plans of holding Marvel Studios hostage with Comicron-1 to reverse One More Day, killing anyone who fridges a female character. It’s … ok, it’s tempting. Margaret can see how the hologram got this way. She’s dreamed about such things herself. But that’s not who Margaret is, not who she can let herself become. Not just for herself, but for her friends, her allies, for the ghost of a murdered young man who believes in her.
You can’t force progress, you can’t change minds with blackmail and a deathray from space. Margaret has to believe in a world that can do better, in writers and editors who won’t kill off women to emotionally motivate male characters. Who won’t use rape as a plot device. Who won’t cancel female-led comics and continue to torture Peter Parker.
~*~
October is … strange. Paranoia-inducing. They’re trapped, they turn on each other, convinced that the other is an imposter. Meanwhile, Margaret reviews Thing comics and does not appreciate the irony.
Just as they band together to defeat the weird monster, the mysterious man with the braid appears. 90’s Kid and Harvey want to shoot but Margaret tells them to wait.
“Who the hell are you?” Margaret growls. She’s had it up to HERE with intruders in her own damn house.
“Just someone doin’ what he has to,” drawls the man. Creepy men who break into your house shouldn’t be allowed to have sexy accents. It’s just not fair.
“I take it you’re responsible for what’s been happening?” Margaret glares.
“You ask a lot a’ questions, don’t you? I picked that thing up a couple months ago when I was fightin’ another person with a gun. Thought it might come in handy. It loosens people’s inhibitions a bit, really gets the rage goin’ … feeds off a’ it.”
“And you still want my magic gun?” Margaret is struggling to keep from shaking with rage. This freak loosed a paranoia monster in her house, on her and her friends.
He spreads his arms and chuckles. “Has that ever changed? Still, not until it’s good ‘n ready.”
Margaret blinks. “Ready?”
Something on the man’s wrist gauntlet beeps. “Oh … it is ready!” he grins. “Been busy these last few months, haven’t you darlin’? I don’t even hafta get you mad.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You’ve unlocked the gun’s full potential. Can’t ya feel it? Definitely ripe for pickin’ …” he looks almost hungry. “So we can do this the easy way … or the hard way,” he glares, obviously remembering how that went last time.
Which is when Harvey decides to try shooting. The mysterious man deflects the bullets with a bored expression.
Margaret yells for Nimue to engage new systems, which she does.
“I think it’s time you explained yourself, asshole,” Margaret snaps.
“Don’t have the time. Think I’ll take my leave now, darlin’ … that gun’ll be mine soon enough.” His expression changes, softening slightly. “I hear ya took out Vyce. Probably makes you one of the good guys. I’d ask for yer help if I could, but trust me … it just wouldn’t work out.” Then he tips his hat and vanishes.
“NIMUE, stop him!”
“Unable to comply.”
“Dammit!” Margaret punches the wall in frustration. It’s just not fair. More cryptic dialogue, and the knowledge that the creep can get into her house whenever he wants, his insistence on taking her gun from her … it just piles up to a new stack of paranoia.
~*~
Harvey looks troubled, after the fight. Margaret goes to talk to him.
“Hey …” she shuffles her feet.
“Hey, kid.”
“You, uh, missed the meeting.”
“I didn’t think it’d be good for me to be there.” He asks about NIMUE and the scanners.
Margaret fills him in, knowing that they’re only stalling, ignoring the elephant in the room.
“Are you ok?” Margaret asks at last. It’s obvious that he’s not.
“No, kid, I’m not,” and then Harvey tells her. How it doesn’t matter that the shadow creature was messing with them, that he was honestly that angry about the Hologram mess. “I was ready to put a bullet between your eyes,” his voice cracks slightly.
“But you didn’t,” Margaret tries to stifle the panic rising in her throat at the thought of Harvey turning on her like that. “That’s what’s important, you didn’t.”
“No, the fact that I was willin’ to was what’s important.” He looks away from her briefly. “I need to get away from this for a while kid, I need some time to think.” He mentions a concert tour that’ll take him around for a while.
Margaret doesn’t want him to leave. Now, more than ever, she needs her allies close. She needs her family close. But if he feels that strongly about it, she isn’t going to stop him.
“You think you’ll be back for Christmas at least?” she asks, horribly conscious of how child-like she sounds. Daddy, will you be back for Christmas?
He mutters “We’ll see,” and starts to head off.
She can’t let that be the end of it for who knows how long. “Harvey?”
He waits.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about the Hologram. Last month, before this all started, I said that I knew that I wouldn’t turn evil because you guys would be by my side. That opinion has not changed.”
Harvey hesitates, then keeps walking.
Margaret curls up on the couch, hugging the gun, and feels Linkara’s arms around her.
~*~
Harvey does come back for Christmas, thank god. He seems a little off for a while, gives Margaret a bone-crushing hug, but after a while he’s back to his old self. Whatever he did on his tour seems to have worked.
Margaret readies the defenses of the house, practices with all of her arsenal, and tries to keep the guys from destroying too much furniture.
Months go by. Maybe that asshole with the braid and the creepy threats and the totally-not-sexy accent gave up and isn’t coming back after all.
At least, that’s the thought that’s running through Margaret’s head as she walks down the hall.
BAM.
Margaret feels pain explode on her back, splattering out across her shoulders and down her spine, falls to the floor in a daze. She blinks, vision dimming, as the Gunslinger crouches over her.
“No …” she slurs, unable to do more than twitch her fingers as he grabs the gun from her belt.
“Thank you kindly, darlin’ …” he tips his hat again and vanishes.
Margaret blacks out.
~*~
Margaret knows she wasn’t out for long, a few minutes at most judging from the clock. She staggers to her feet and beams up to Comicron-1, livid. She gets everyone assembled.
“The Gunslinger has Linkara!”
“Who?” Harvey blinks.
Oh, right. They don’t know his name. They barely know there’s a ghost, actually. It’s an awkward conversation Margaret has never really gotten around to.
“The gun! The magic gun!” Margaret wants to scream, she’s so angry. She is going to fuck this guy up when she gets a hold of him. He took Linkara. God knows what he’s doing to the soul trapped in the gun. Experiments? A ritual to torture his soul even more than it was in the past? Why did he even want the gun in the first place?
Margaret paces as everyone gets to work. They have to find the Gunslinger. They have to find him and get Linkara back. Then she can start kicking the Gunslinger in the nuts and not stop until the new Star Trek movie is out.
They do find him, eventually. Margaret gives the order to hail the Gunslinger’s house-ship.
Harvey asks if that’s a good idea, since Comicron-1 can be stealthy.
“Oh, it can. But I sure as hell don’t want to,” Margaret grins, all teeth and no humor. “I want the sonuvabitch to know I’m coming. Hail him.”
She gives him one warning, and one warning only. He doesn’t respond, just increases speed. A thief and a coward. Well, he had shot her in the back.
They fire on his ship. Then, of course, their weapons malfunction.
Margaret beams over with Pollo. The Gunslinger is nowhere to be seen.
While Pollo hacks, Margaret looks around. Surprisingly, she finds her gun right away, not tied to any experimental devices or in the middle of a summoning circle like she’d feared. It’s on a table among several other pistols.
CLICK.
“Get outta my house,” the Gunslinger snarls.
Margaret gulps. “Pollo, a little help here?”
“Oh look. I have found the grav-ity con-trols.”
The entire room tilts. Margaret struggles to keep her breakfast down. At least it flings the Gunslinger away.
Pollo and the Gunslinger’s A.I. seem to be having a kind of trash-talk session as they grapple on turning the ship around. Margaret would be amused if she weren’t struggling to stand up and fire her gun at the Gunslinger. He gets to his feet and levels his gun at her.
“I said, get outta my house!” he snarls.
Pollo tilts the ship again.
Margaret leaps up and starts grappling with the Gunslinger. He knocks the gun from her hands but she manages to knee him in the groin - score! - in retaliation. He grabs her gun and pushes her aside.
“Give him back!” Margaret screams, tackling the Gunslinger. She gets a very rewarding look at his stunned expression as she manages to shove him to the ground. On the way she snatches the watch thing from his jacket pocket.
Ending up in her living room instead of Comicron-1 is weird, but explained by Nimue.
The Gunslinger teleports in right afterwards. He looks … ill. Desperate. He’s pointing his gun at her though, so Margaret points hers at the watch thing.
“The watch …” he gasps. “Give it back.”
“Try it, asshole, and it’s fried.” Margaret snarls.
“No! You can’t!” the Gunslinger yelps.
“I can’t?!” Margaret stares at him incredulously. “You invade my home, you attack me and my friends, you almost get us to kill each other, you perform kidnapping, and you wanna tell me what I can’t do?!” Margaret can feel her blood pulsing through her body, throbbing, burning.
“No … you don’t understand …” the Gunslinger wavers.
“Well, that’s what happens when you don’t explain yourself,” Margaret smirks and cocks her gun.
Several things happen at once:
1) Pollo yelps “Wait! Mar-gar-et!”
2) The Gunslinger screams and lunges forward
3) Margaret blasts the watch to smithereens.
The Gunslinger staggers, glowing oddly. “You bitch! I’ll kill you!” he dives towards Margaret and then vanishes.
Margaret smirks, slumping back. “Not likely, you bleach-blond idiot -”
“Mar-gar-et! You id-iot!”
“What?!” Margaret stares at Pollo.
“He is not our en-emy!”
~*~
And then begins the viewing of the Most Depressing Vlog Entries Ever. With every video, Margaret feels worse and worse. This guy, this Jaeris, was an internet critic, just like her. In his world, something like SOPA passed. He was arrested and thrown in prison for reviewing music online. He was freed by a Resistance movement; Jaeris was a freedom fighter. He gathered companions with magic guns, to fight the system. But … they died. All of them.
“They’re all dead.”
Dimension-jumping killed them.
So Jaeris discovered that “great emotional stress” unlocks a magic gun’s full potential, and allows it to be used by anyone else. Unwilling to let others die for his cause, Jaeris resolved to go around collecting as many guns as he could to arm the Resistance back home.
And by destroying the watch, his “anchor” … Margaret has doomed him to being permanently stuck in this universe.
“He can never go home again.” His wife. His friends. That resistance movement. His world. All those guns, all that psychological torture he put people through to save their lives, to save countless lives with their guns … Margaret just ruined everything.
“I … I need to contact him … apologize …” even as she says it Margaret knows it’s stupid.
Marsano laughs at her. “Oh, yeah, I’m sure he’ll be in a mood to accept that!”
“But … I have to do something …” Margaret says faintly, sitting down. She can’t remember the last time she felt this low.
The incoming broadcast is a surprise, and an unwelcome one. Dr. Insano has taken control of Neutro. He’s preparing to take the world hostage. Once again, Margaret let herself be distracted and blindsided by another enemy.
“Oh, he picked the wrong day to mess with me. Let’s take that scientist down!”
~*~
She is really sick of Insano. He is the last thing she needs right now. Margaret tries to gather her thoughts with a comic during the hour Marsano takes to punch a hole in Insano’s defenses. It helps, a little, but Jaeris’s horrified, furious face keeps appearing in her mind. How can she ever make that right? Is he even alive, anymore? Did she … did her arrogance, her rage, cost a man his life? Marsano said there was a chance the acclimation could have killed him.
~*~
She takes a Cybermat with her onto Neutro. The little critter zips away to wreck havoc while she heads to confront Insano.
“Oh, look what the cat dragged in … and vomited up!” Insano grins, clearly pleased with himself over the lurid insult. He traps Margaret in some kind of force field.
Margaret crosses her arms. “Look, Insano, you don’t have to do this.”
It turns out he does. Something about a Mad Scientist Club Card. And he has actually thought about what he’ll do if he takes over the world: make people fight in gladiatorial arenas and have lots of kinky sex.
Margaret banishes the thought of Insano + sex immediately from her brain because oh hell no. She makes him the same offer she gave Marsano, about the holodecks. There, he could watch people fight for his amusement and get laid … to an extent.
Insano’s not sold on the idea. He doesn’t care about fake people, he wants to be worshipped by real people. “I’m Doctor Insano, bitch, and I’m going to rule the world!”
Well, it was worth a shot.
Margaret waits, and watches the force field deactivate, the lights flicker. The Cybermat is getting drunk on Neutro’s power: squee!
Insano, enraged, rushes her. Margaret is ready for him, countering his attempts at strangling her, but she needs an advantage, and soon. She has NIMUE beam them to her house.
Insano cackles gleefully and puts on some kind of gloves.
Margaret rolls her eyes and strides over to him. “Come on, Insano, knock it off already. We both know I’m going to -”
BAM!
Margaret flies across the room, rolling onto the floor, stars in her vision.
“Something wrong, Margaret?” Insano giggles. “You came here prepared to fight a madman, and instead you find … a god!”
Margaret rubs at her chest. “Did you seriously just punch me in the boob? Not cool, man.”
Insano hesitates briefly, at least having the decency to look slightly ashamed of himself. “Uh … let’s pretend that didn’t happen! Just try to take a swing at me, supergirl!”
Margaret does. She really tries. She tries the gun and Insano deflects the blasts. She tries to punch at Insano and hits the gloves, shockwaves going up her arms and rattling her bones. He knocks her down again.
Margaret nods to herself. “Right … it’s Morphin’ Time!” after a transformation sequence, she’s ready to take Insano on again.
They’re a bit more evenly matched now, she can at least grapple with Insano a bit before he knocks her back.
“Ooooh, that had to hurt!” he gloats. “Wanna go another round, sweetheart?”
“I’m just getting’ started, asshole,” Margaret snarls, heading in for another bout …
BAM.
A familiar pain spreads along Margaret’s spine and she collapses.
Above her she hears Insano complaining about having their fight scene interrupted.
“Shut up!” Jaeris snarls.
Insano shuts up.
Jaeris strides forward, gun leveled at Margaret.
“I can never go home again thanks to you! I can’t help my friends, my family, my wife!”
“I know! I know …” Margaret manages to push herself up onto her knees. With the way Jaeris is glaring down at her and keeping that gun steady, she doesn’t dare try to stand up yet. “I found out about your mission, and I’m sorry.”
“Little late for ‘sorry.’” Jaeris snaps. His eyes are wild.
“Ok, look,” Insano says hurriedly. “Obviously you two are having something of a lover’s quarrel, so, uh -”
“Shut it!” Margaret growls, holding up a hand not even looking at him. She takes a breath. “Jaeris, I made a mistake. A horrible, terrible mistake. Because I let my rage get the better of me. I realize that now. But I have resources. I have a ship in orbit with the best dimension-crossing technology in the multiverse. And I have a crazy-ass scientist who can help you get home.”
“Her?” Insano cackles. “That scientist couldn’t make water if you stuck her in room with a snowman and a blowtorch!” Insano shakes his head. “Look, I may not know who you are, but I can definitely be of more help than that dingbat.”
“I know about your mission, and I can help you,” Margaret says, feeling dread sinking in. If Jaeris sides with Insano, she’s toast.
“Join me, Fullmetal Alchemist!” Insano urges, “And not only can we take this world, I can take you where you want to go, but with an army of robots to crush your enemies!”
“I can’t promise you success, but I’ll sure as hell do everything I can to make it happen.” Margaret grits.
“I can promise you success!” Insano proudly declares.
Jaeries glances between them several times. He scowls. “What the hell can either of you do to convince me that you’re on the level?”
Margaret thinks for only a moment, then draws the magic gun. She holds it out, hilt to Jaeris. “Take it.” She tries to keep her voice steady. “Take my ship if you have to, to free your world.”
Jaeris looks at her for a long time, and Margaret realizes that Jaeris knows about the ghost in the gun, knows that the gun isn’t just another weapon in her arsenal.
There’s the faintest of nods, and then he steps back and turns his gun on Insano. “You remind me of some people I don’t like,” he drawls.
Insano sneers and fires at Jaeris with the gloves.
Jaeris darts out of the way.
“Anyone who opposes me will be destroyed!” Insano shouts.
Margaret calls up one of the defensive forcefields, but Insano just lightly taps it and walks through, tilting his head sarcastically.
Jaeris walks up to Margaret’s side. “You know, I think you need better forcefields.”
Margaret sighs heavily. “Yeah, that has become very clear to me.”
Insano rants and raves a bit, and concludes with “Eat death, you magical morons!”
Margaret and Jaeris surge forward together, without even speaking to each other or signaling. Jaeris manages to kick Insano, and Margaret lands a few punches, but they’re both knocked backwards into the kitchen.
“This guy’s tough,” Jaeris pants.
“He really isn’t,” Margaret frowns. “The gauntlets are his advantage right now … can you distract him for a minute?”
Jaeris grins. “My pleasure, darlin’ …” He darts out to distract Insano.
Margaret holds back an inconvenient blush and draws her gun. “When we last spoke you said that you were holding back, that you could cut loose … care to give a demonstration?”
And then he’s there, Linkara, standing at her side, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Delighted,” Linkara whispers, voice hoarse from lack of use.
Margaret fires, and the gun emits a white pulse of energy so powerful it half blinds her.
It knocks Insano down … and out.
Margaret smiles grimly. “NIMUE, beam this asshole out of my apartment!”
Insano vanishes, thank god.
“Well why the hell didn’t you just beam him out like that before?” Jaeris asks.
NIMUE explains that she couldn’t get a lock on Insano while the gauntlets were still working.
Margaret shrugs. “Yeah, you just kinda get used to that when it comes to Insano.”
Jaeris’s face darkens, and he glances away. “Yeah … guess I’m gonna hafta get used to it.”
Margaret’s joy at defeating Insano is replaced by guilt. “I wasn’t lying to you before, Jaeris. With the resources of Comicron-1, we can get you home, help you survive the trip, and help free your world.”
He stares at her. “Why the hell would you help me? I’ve done nothin’ but make yer life miserable since we first met.”
That’s true. Margaret has banished former enemies for similar attacks against her and her household. But … he had a good reason. She wouldn’t have believed him if he’d told her the truth a few months ago, and she certainly wouldn’t have given him the magic gun. She gets it. “You had your reasons, and they were good reasons. I don’t think you’re my enemy. I think you’re my friend.” Margaret holds out her hand. “And you don’t leave your friends behind when they’re in trouble. You try to help them. You try to make them … better.” Her gun pulses, warm at her side.
Jaeris looks down at her hand then back to her face. “I’m not ready to call ya that yet. I wouldn’t have needed to ask for yer help if ya hadn’t destroyed my watch.” He hands her back her dragon dagger. “I’ll talk with yer scientist. An’ if you need help … ya know where to find me.”
Then he beams away.
Margaret sighs, suddenly aching and sore as the adrenaline leaves her body, and sinks onto the nearest chair.
~*~
Spoony visiting is nice. Getting to tease him about dying so much and Doctor Who is a return to the status quo, a comfortable feeling. And it’s good to unwind with some gaming, even if he does beat her almost every round and declare himself the “Lord of Tekken” at every opportunity.
Spoony is concerned that she’s up for trusting Jaeris now, considering he shot her in the back and all. She tries to alleviate his big brother instincts, but it only goes so far. Spoony is always going to see her as the little sister to protect in situations like these; Margaret just has to accept that.
Linkara shows up, to give her an ominous warning about future evils on the horizon.
“Fortunately, there is also a new hope.” Linkara adds.
Margaret blinks. “Wait, did you just do a Star Wars thing -” but Linkara is gone.
Margaret slumps back onto the couch, musing on everything that’s happened over the past few months. Insano’s return, Neutro getting wrested away from her, a legion of cybermats, a paranoia monster, Harvey going through … something that he’s not talking about, talking properly with Linkara for once, and now a man she thought was an enemy and a thief who turned out to be an ally and a champion.
Margaret digs out her Firefly DVDs and wonders how soon it’s appropriate to invite Jaeris over for a marathon party at the house.
~ the end ~
Rating: TV-15 for swearing and violence
Word Count: 7,800 (approx.)
Characters: Margaret, Dr. Insano, Pollo, fem!Linksano, Lord Vyce, Harvey Finevoice, Iron Liz, Ninja-Style Dancer, 90’s Kid, ghost!Linkara, the Entity, Jaeris.
Disclaimer: I own nothing and mean no disrespect. Some lines in here are transcribed from At4W episodes themselves. If you’re reading this, you’re enough of a fan that you can probably tell where Lewis’s writing shows up. I don’t own those bits at all.
Warnings: Violence. Creepy comments from Vyce. If I missed any warnings please let me know and I’ll edit this.
Summary: What if Margaret and Linkara’s roles were switched? What if Margaret was the comic reviewer, and Linkara was the ghost in her magic gun?
A/N: Written for THIS PROMPT on the Kink Meme. Super thanks to the AT4W Plot Guide Tumblr, I used that a lot while writing this. Oh my god, this might be one of the longest fics I’ve ever written. Wow. I love Reivewer!Margaret so much.
Origin Story
Margaret is one of the youngest reviewers hired. Maybe … a little too young, at least at first. She’s opinionated and stubborn and not that skilled with lighting or editing yet. But she works hard, builds up a loyal fanbase, reviews crappy comics, and explains feminism properly. The quality of her videos goes up, and so do her viewing numbers.
Dr. Insano tries to make trouble. He thinks that just because she’s a girl, and a young girl at that, he can easily take her down. He’s wrong, and Margaret proves that with her “I am woman, hear me ROAR!” punch straight to his stomach.
Dr. Insano takes her much more seriously after that.
Mecharette
“I’m Pollo!” the other-her glares down at Margaret and cackles.
That’s her skin. That’s her skin, her from another dimension, stripped and worn as a disguise by one of her most loyal companions.
It’s a sight that’s going to haunt her for quite some time, even after blasting the evil robot away.
Afterwards, she and Pollo - the real Pollo, her Pollo - sit down for a talk.
“Have I done right, by you? I … I know I can be kinda selfish sometimes but I try, really I do, and I hope you can see that, Pollo.” Margaret says, still shaking slightly from the ordeal.
“You could list-en to my sugg-est-ions more oft-en, but over-all I am quite con-tent with our part-ner-ship.”
Margaret nods. “I’ll listen better. But you’ve gotta tell me when something’s bugging you, ok? You’ve gotta call me out when I go too far or do something wrong.”
“I prom-ise.”
Marsano
Dr. Marsano looks positively deranged, long tangled dark hair and eyes hidden behind spiral goggles. The bulky coat makes her seem a lot bigger than she actually is. It’s a trick Margaret has yet to master herself, drowning in second-hand jackets from Goodwill and plaid shirts that hide her breasts from leering fanboys on the internet.
Marsano reminds her a lot of Dr. Insano, actually, strangely enough. Though not quite as threatening, and easily defeated.
What troubles Margaret is Marsano’s final words: an ominous warning “All that he sees, he conquers.”
She laughs it off, of course, dismisses it as Marsano trying to scare a little girl with a spooky story. But … it gnaws at her mind, late at night.
Margaret is Missing
Three days. She’s gone for three days and three nights, she can tell from the watch on her wrist. But to her friends, she’s gone a whole month.
Vyce has her for three days and three nights.
At first he’s … perplexed. He doesn’t realize at first how young she is. He nudges her with his foot, commands her to stand and fight, and … her knees buckle and the floor rises to meet her. He must be at least seven feet tall, in huge, imposing armor. How can she fight him, alone, weaponless, on an alien spaceship?
Afterwards, he let his Shades handle her, study her in labs in non-invasive ways. He calls her a “cub” and ignores her for the most part. She doesn’t know whether to be insulted or relieved.
She is relieved when she finds herself standing back in her home, or, rather, staggering, falling towards Iron Liz for support.
“I’m going to kill him,” Margaret growls, as soon as she finds her voice again. “I’m going to kill him.”
Nobody asks her about her time away. She doesn’t talk about it except to discuss the Shades and battle plans.
Well, except once.
Liz pulls her aside after a few days, asks if she wants to talk about anything. Margaret cries a bit, hugs Liz, but once she’s dried her eyes and talked to Liz a bit, she clears some things up. No, Vyce didn’t touch her like that. No, really, he just wanted to fight her and she was too scared to move, so he had his Shades take some blood samples and that was it.
She’s ashamed, but she’s going to channel that shame and into righteous fury to defeat Vyce.
The Man in the Magic Gun
Everybody hates her. The house is full of fog and shadows and everyone has been screaming at her and telling her they hate her, that she’s done something terrible. Margaret stumbles and finds a book lying on the floor.
beneath the seas besides the flame
off the coast where the lost beast came
to bring the world misery and shame
a piece of the world is missing
Those words weren’t there yesterday. Margaret turns another page.
He didn’t get to heaven. Not even close.
Margaret shudders and turns more pages, which are stained with dark blotches that can’t be mistaken for ink or coffee no matter how hard she wishes it.
i didn’t get to heaven, it hurts every time i don’t go to heaven
they didn’t love me
Margaret looks up. A man wrapped in bloody bandages is standing above her.
“You …” she gasps. “They sacrificed you. To make a weapon … this weapon …” she looks down at her gun. “How old were you? Twenty-one? Twenty-two?”
He doesn’t answer. He points towards her, voice nothing more than a growling rumble.
“Your own … parents …” Margaret shudders. “I’m … I’m sorry.”
He points at the gun. The gun she carries. The gun forged from a man’s gruesome death.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t … I didn’t know …”
Or did she?
“Guilty …” the voice growls.
“No, I …” but memories are flooding in.
Standing in a crowd as a knife is held aloft and brought down again and again, blood fountaining up into the air … screams that lasted for hours …
“Guilty …”
“I … I knew?” Margaret holds the gun in shaking hands. She’s used it countless times, to deal with bad comic books, knock Insano on his ass, get out of tricky situations. She never thought that it was anything but a tool, a weapon to be used and put aside afterwards. There was a person’s soul in it the whole time, a man who’d barely reached adulthood.
“Guilty …”
“I’m … sorry …” Margaret holds the gun to her forehead. She can’t … she can’t ever apologize for something like this … for standing in the crowd while they brought the knife down onto the man’s chest again and again … so much blood … and it’s all her fault …
She pulls the trigger.
NO!
Margaret falls, the gun dropping from her hands, but there’s no pain, no wound.
Partner. Friend.
That’s the man’s true soul. Not this monster of hate and rage. He doesn’t wish her harm, and he wants this creature destroyed.
Margaret stands up, brandishes the gun. She knows the truth now.
She makes a pretty good speech, all things considered, fighting back against the creature’s psychic attacks. “You come at me with insecurity, self-doubt, and angst? You try to make me doubt who I am? I am the woman who defeated Pyramid Head! I am the woman who conquered Countdown! I am the woman who fought off the Vorsof and destroyed Mecharette! I am the liberator of Kickassia! I am a Starfleet Captain! I am a Power Ranger! I’m that girl with the hat! I am Margaret!”
The creature lurches towards her, growling.
“Hear me ROAR!” Margaret fires.
She fights a creepy bandaged doctor - really, those old nightmares of Insano dredged up from high school? How clichéd - and blasts the hate monster away once and for all.
The man in the gun doesn’t speak to her again. Margaret can be patient, though.
Lord Vyce
“This is the Earth’s Champion?” Vyce sneers as Margaret levels her gun at him. “I had hoped for someone taller.”
“Not all of us can be born giants, asshole.” Margaret scowls.
“So, the cub has matured at last. We needn’t fight, little one. This is beyond you or any of your companions. Let me keep you safe while I hunt the Entity. Let me teach you how to hunt, how to mate, how to raise young.”
Margaret feels her stomach churn and levels the gun at Vyce. “Over my dead body.”
Vyce growls. “So be it.”
The fight is … frightening. Margaret shoots, Vyce doesn’t seem to react. She hurls Pyramid Head from his Pokeball and Vyce destroys him.
“You are the flea that thinks itself a giant,” Vyce snarls, lifting Margaret into the air. “What a pity. If you only knew what you were truly up against.”
Margaret twists, fires Vyce’s weapon at his own chest, managed to dent his armor. He flees, leaving Margaret bloody and alone on the floor.
~*~
Ok, maybe the taunting is a bit much, but she’s pissed at this freak. Margaret is pretty sure Vyce did the alien overlord equivalent of “you should go to the kitchen and make me a sandwich” with his talk of mating and raising young and all. Not ok.
The plan goes well. Sure, there are a few moments where things get scary, blacking out, Vyce ranting about taking their heads, etc. But eventually Marsano comes through and everyone together manages to bring Vyce down. He’s not dead, of course, but he’s down.
Margaret gives him a few good kicks. When Harvey raises his eyebrows she glares.
“I’m allowed to be petty.”
Marooning Vyce takes some work. Again with the cryptic warnings. First Marsano and now this guy. Margaret has had it with mysterious villains spewing bullshit. She leaves Vyce on the ice planet and tries to put him out of her mind.
A Piece of the World is Missing
First it’s the Ninja-Style Dancer. Ok … dude is a bit of a loner, quiet … it takes a while for them to notice he’s gone.
Then Marsano. Margaret had just assumed the lady had left in a huff at some point and would come crawling back with her clothes half eaten away by acid and begging for the spare bedroom. But she doesn’t.
Then the Ninja-Style Dancer returns, bloodied, and hands Margaret a card that reads “A piece of the world is missing … Its voice is not its own” and just when Margaret turns to get help … Ninja-Style Dancer goes missing again.
~*~
The book begins to fill its blank pages. Margaret reads it and becomes more and more apprehensive and paranoid. An overwhelming sense of dread fills her bones.
People start popping up in the comments section claiming there’s something wrong with her videos, some static or whatever, hidden messages. Some of these clowns even try and send her screencaps, all blank of course.
“Not funny, guys. What is this, the new Rick Rolling?” Margaret rolls her eyes. Then she stares at the book, and feels a wave of cold come over her.
~*~
Harvey goes missing.
Scanners report that a billion people have vanished from the planet in the past few months.
Margaret searches the book for answers, for something.
I CAN SEE YOU MARGARET
Margaret drops the book, staring around. “Oh, it is on, now!.” She growls.
~*~
Whately appears, rants about his cult, about how they wanted to drive Margaret insane to spread the word of their god, spread the nightmares to the people.
Margaret hugs the book to her chest and wonders if she’s a Prophet to their dark god, the hungry beast that’s stolen her friends. Is she a Prophet, or another sacrifice?
She dreams of being chained to a rock outside a cave, a cave in which two glowing eyes can be seen.
“Huuuuuuuuuuuuu-maaaaaaaaaannnnnn …” it growls.
Margaret wakes in a cold sweat.
“… nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn …” hisses the beast.
~*~
It was 90’s Kid all along. The Entity. MissingNo.
She can’t defeat it. She can’t shoot it - she already tried and now the gun is gone - she can’t hit it … there’s nothing she can do.
Or can she?
“What are you going to do, after you absorb me?”
MissingNo tells her its plans, to devour the rest of the universe, and all universes, until it is one with creation. Until there is nothing but MissingNo.
“Ok …” Margaret nods slowly. “And then what are you going to do?”
MissingNo seems at a loss for words.
It takes some quick thinking, but eventually, Margaret makes the creature see that absorbing everything will only lead to boredom, and the real rewarding mystery is killing itself.
Margaret almost collapses with relief once it destroys itself, once her friends are returned. There’s a group hug that might last for hours, Margaret clinging to Liz and Harvey especially until she falls asleep. That final confrontation with the Entity left her drained.
It’s going to be a long time before she can bring herself to play a Pokemon game again.
Her Blue Soul
“Oh my god, you are so cute!” Margaret squees, kneeling down and picking up the Cybermat. It whirrs with delight as she pets it. “Awww, you’re so sweet.”
Marsano stares in horror. “But … but …”
“What can I say? Robots love me.” Margaret grins, then falters. “Well … most robots …” she shakes her head. “Anyways, I’ve been meaning to talk to you, Marsano.”
At first Marsano balks at the idea of staying as Margaret’s Scientific Advisor. But when Margaret points out that really taking over the world and ruling it would be stressful, and there’s the easier option of the holodeck on Comicron-1 to play with Marsano eventually agrees.
“Reluctantly, I accept your offer,” Marsano tries to sneer and nearly succeeds.
“Ok, cool,” Margaret walks away, still cuddling the cybermat. “Oh you’re so cute! Yes you are … yes you are …” she pauses. “Oh, and Marsano? NIMUE will be watching you. If you try and attack me again, or betray any of us, she has strict instructions to beam you to the planet we banished Vyce to.”
Marsano pales.
“Sweet dreams!” Margaret smiles cheerfully and heads off to her bedroom.
~*~
Mecharette comes back. Tries to hijack Comicro-1 and lay waste to the earth. They stop Mecharette, but Pollo dies. Or … perhaps not. Pollo’s consciousness is downloaded somewhere else, thank god.
But it wasn’t Mecharette. It was Vyce. Crazed from years in exile, living data like the Entity, still hell-bent on his quest to destroy the beast.
And, it turns out, unwilling to listen with Margaret insists that the Entity is gone. He demands she surrender and stop the self-destruct sequence on Comicron-1. Margaret tells him to go fuck himself.
Pollo returns at exactly the right moment, knocking Vyce back before he can kill Margaret.
It’s a very satisfying feeling, getting to kick Vyce into space and watch the tiny blip on the radar that is him drift farther and farther away. It’ll take him decades to get to Earth, if his robot body doesn’t malfunction first.
Exhausted, soot-streaked, and bruised, Margaret promises Pollo a new body and passes out on the couch.
Gun and Sorcery
Another month, another stranger in her house. At least this one is kinda hot, in a mysterious way.
But he wants Margaret’s magic gun. That cuts down on his hotness by … a lot.
“Just hand it over, darlin’ and nobody needs to get hurt.”
Margaret glares. “I’m not your ‘darling.’ Don’t talk to me like that.” No strange man gets to talk down to her in a Southern accent and expect to get his way. (It doesn’t matter how many seasons of Justified she records on her DVR, that’s her private business.)
He shrugs. “I hate to fight a lady, but so be it.” And then he pulls out a gun of his own and fires at her.
Margaret ducks behind the couch, firing back. He seems to be having difficulty with his weapon, muttering about dimensional differences. A cybermat trips him up, Margaret fires some more, and the strange man vanishes via some kind of pocketwatch.
Margaret stands up, grinning viciously, righteous anger coursing through her body. Her knees are shaking but she feels elated. She’s sick to death of strangers invading her house and trying to hurt her or her friends. She wants the stranger back so she can shoot him, as a warning to others who dare to cross her. “I have fought conquerors, robots, and monsters, and I have been victorious every time! There is nothing that can stop me now! NOTHING!”
The gun in her hand burns and a flash of light momentarily blinds Margaret. Horrified, Margaret pulls the trigger, and nothing happens.
“What did I do?” Margaret gasps, cradling the gun in her arms. “What did I do?!”
~*~
Never before has Margaret felt the true weight of her own ignorance when it comes to magic. Almost all of her weapons are useless, plastic toys that couldn’t defend her from a Chihuahua, much less that mysterious man with the braided hair.
When Harvey and Pollo look at her expectantly and she has no idea what’s happening, Margaret feels like she wants to cry.
Then, when Marsano tells her it’s as though her magic is being “suppressed” she gets an idea. Dr. Insano and his stupid Anti-Magic Field Generators. Good. She can go punch him up a bit and get her magic back. Margaret likes having a plan of action.
But even that proves fruitless. Dr. Insano folds easily enough, a knee to the groin, a few choice kicks and punches, and he’s cringing at her feet. It feels so good, so satisfying, to just beat the guy up again like the old times. He’s not a robot in her skin or a universe conqueror or a god, he’s just a man in a ratty labcoat who reeks of cheap booze. He’s … kind of pathetic, to be honest. She was actually scared of this guy, once upon a time? Wow. Margaret feels old, and not in a good way.
But Insano doesn’t know anything about her magic, and it’s not a machine after all.
Margaret is furious and right back at square one. She lashes out at 90’s Kid back at home for draining the BFG’s power cells recklessly. She feels awful afterwards and apologizes, but she can tell he’s still shaken up from the Entity possession. Clearing out for a while might help. So Margaret, outfitted with gadgets from Marsano and information from Cloak #1, heads off. Harvey and Pollo don’t want her to leave, want her to prepare more, at least, but there isn’t time and she needs to get this done already.
~*~
“You’re turning evil!”
No. No, it can’t be true.
But … it is. She’s been getting angrier, more reckless, ordering her friends and allies around, tossing threats at people. Just a few weeks ago she beat Insano within an inch of his life. She’s been arrogant, selfish, put her decisions before those of the fans or her allies.
She leaves the Wizard and starts her trek back home. The Wizard’s words echo in her head, in time with her steps. Right … left … right … left … going … evil …
Margaret blinks and stops.
A man is standing ahead of her on the path. A man in a ragged dark jacket with a torn stained white shirt underneath, wearing old and faded jeans. A man with a haircut a few decades out of fashion. Linkara. The man in the magic gun.
“Is that really you?” Margaret asks, cautious. The last time she had visions of Linkara, it was ghosts and Mecharette trying to drive her insane.
“Yeah, it’s me,” he smiles tentatively and waves a bit.
“How are you …” Margaret waves her hand.
“Does it matter?” he asks.
“Well, yeah, I really wanna talk to you more often like this, if it’s possible.” Sometimes Margaret feels so alone.
“Don’t worry about that right now, it’s not important.”
“Ok …” Margaret wants to protest but she’s too tired to pick a fight with a ghost.
They stare at each other, for a long time. Margaret takes a few steps forward, and Linkara does the same. They’re closer now, close enough to touch perhaps, but they don’t.
“I’ve, uh, made a real mess of things, haven’t I?” Margaret winces.
“Yeah,” Linkara nods.
“Well, what am I supposed to do? Act like a goody-two-shoes all the time? Never raise my voice to anybody? Never get angry at anything? I’ve kind of had it with the ‘women should shut up on the internet’ arguments for the past couple of years. Not to mention defending myself as a comics fan. I don’t need this from you too!” Margaret glares.
Linkara sighs. “That’s not what this is about.”
“Isn’t it?” Margaret snaps. “What, am I not supposed to get angry anymore? Take on my enemies and defend my home? I can’t wait around for some hero to rescue me, I have to do this myself!”
Linkara says nothing.
“What do you want from me?” Margaret yells, frustration mounting. “You never talk to me! You expect me to just read your mind or something? Yes, I make mistakes! Everyone does! If you aren’t brave enough to call me out on them, what good are you anyways?”
Linkara stares, wide-eyed and hurt. “You don’t mean that,” he says quietly.
Margaret squeezes her eyes shut. She isn’t going to cry, not now, not after all of this.
“Even Sailor Moon had Tuxedo Mask,” Margaret says softly. “Ok? Is that so much to ask for? Some encouragement now and again? I can’t read your mind. I just … don’t know what to do. What am I supposed to do to make things right again, between us?”
Linkara shifts from foot to foot, mulling over his words. “I want you to be better,” he says at last.
“Oh, that’s helpful,” Margaret rolls her eyes.
“You’re aware of it now, aware of what could happen to you.” Linkara says, deadly serious.
Margaret sighs, rubbing her face. “Yes.”
“I’ve been holding back, because I haven’t been certain about you, about what you could do if I really cut loose,” Linkara waves his hand in the air, light trailing from his fingertips.
“Maybe you shouldn’t,” Margaret watches the light, then looks Linkara right in the eyes. “Maybe Applos is right and I really am going evil. Maybe you should use that power of yours and snuff me out before I get worse.”
“You’re my partner, you’re my friend,” Linkara lays a hand on her shoulder. She can feel the weight, a warmth, but knows he’s not entirely solid. “You don’t leave your friend behind when they’re in trouble. You try to help them. You try to make them better.”
Margaret feels her eyes stinging. “What if you can’t help me?”
Linkara puts his other hand on her free shoulder. “Then at least I made the effort.”
Margaret gulps, trying to steady herself. “What’s the next step?”
“Just be mindful. Try to think a little bit more and be more aware of things.”
“I’ll try.”
“Doing is better than trying,” Linkara smiles.
Margaret laughs a little. “True that.”
Linkara hugs her, and she hugs him back. It’s odd, she knows she could probably walk through him if she chose to, but she can hug him now, feel pressure and warmth.
“I ready to go home now,” Margaret rubs her face on her sleeve, smiling.
“I’m already home.” Linkara smiles, and vanishes back into the gun.
Instead of feeling lonely, empty, Margaret feels warm, comforted. She’s never truly been alone, not with him at her side, on her hip.
~*~
It’s pretty scary, seeing what Holo-Margaret has become. Plans of holding Marvel Studios hostage with Comicron-1 to reverse One More Day, killing anyone who fridges a female character. It’s … ok, it’s tempting. Margaret can see how the hologram got this way. She’s dreamed about such things herself. But that’s not who Margaret is, not who she can let herself become. Not just for herself, but for her friends, her allies, for the ghost of a murdered young man who believes in her.
You can’t force progress, you can’t change minds with blackmail and a deathray from space. Margaret has to believe in a world that can do better, in writers and editors who won’t kill off women to emotionally motivate male characters. Who won’t use rape as a plot device. Who won’t cancel female-led comics and continue to torture Peter Parker.
~*~
October is … strange. Paranoia-inducing. They’re trapped, they turn on each other, convinced that the other is an imposter. Meanwhile, Margaret reviews Thing comics and does not appreciate the irony.
Just as they band together to defeat the weird monster, the mysterious man with the braid appears. 90’s Kid and Harvey want to shoot but Margaret tells them to wait.
“Who the hell are you?” Margaret growls. She’s had it up to HERE with intruders in her own damn house.
“Just someone doin’ what he has to,” drawls the man. Creepy men who break into your house shouldn’t be allowed to have sexy accents. It’s just not fair.
“I take it you’re responsible for what’s been happening?” Margaret glares.
“You ask a lot a’ questions, don’t you? I picked that thing up a couple months ago when I was fightin’ another person with a gun. Thought it might come in handy. It loosens people’s inhibitions a bit, really gets the rage goin’ … feeds off a’ it.”
“And you still want my magic gun?” Margaret is struggling to keep from shaking with rage. This freak loosed a paranoia monster in her house, on her and her friends.
He spreads his arms and chuckles. “Has that ever changed? Still, not until it’s good ‘n ready.”
Margaret blinks. “Ready?”
Something on the man’s wrist gauntlet beeps. “Oh … it is ready!” he grins. “Been busy these last few months, haven’t you darlin’? I don’t even hafta get you mad.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You’ve unlocked the gun’s full potential. Can’t ya feel it? Definitely ripe for pickin’ …” he looks almost hungry. “So we can do this the easy way … or the hard way,” he glares, obviously remembering how that went last time.
Which is when Harvey decides to try shooting. The mysterious man deflects the bullets with a bored expression.
Margaret yells for Nimue to engage new systems, which she does.
“I think it’s time you explained yourself, asshole,” Margaret snaps.
“Don’t have the time. Think I’ll take my leave now, darlin’ … that gun’ll be mine soon enough.” His expression changes, softening slightly. “I hear ya took out Vyce. Probably makes you one of the good guys. I’d ask for yer help if I could, but trust me … it just wouldn’t work out.” Then he tips his hat and vanishes.
“NIMUE, stop him!”
“Unable to comply.”
“Dammit!” Margaret punches the wall in frustration. It’s just not fair. More cryptic dialogue, and the knowledge that the creep can get into her house whenever he wants, his insistence on taking her gun from her … it just piles up to a new stack of paranoia.
~*~
Harvey looks troubled, after the fight. Margaret goes to talk to him.
“Hey …” she shuffles her feet.
“Hey, kid.”
“You, uh, missed the meeting.”
“I didn’t think it’d be good for me to be there.” He asks about NIMUE and the scanners.
Margaret fills him in, knowing that they’re only stalling, ignoring the elephant in the room.
“Are you ok?” Margaret asks at last. It’s obvious that he’s not.
“No, kid, I’m not,” and then Harvey tells her. How it doesn’t matter that the shadow creature was messing with them, that he was honestly that angry about the Hologram mess. “I was ready to put a bullet between your eyes,” his voice cracks slightly.
“But you didn’t,” Margaret tries to stifle the panic rising in her throat at the thought of Harvey turning on her like that. “That’s what’s important, you didn’t.”
“No, the fact that I was willin’ to was what’s important.” He looks away from her briefly. “I need to get away from this for a while kid, I need some time to think.” He mentions a concert tour that’ll take him around for a while.
Margaret doesn’t want him to leave. Now, more than ever, she needs her allies close. She needs her family close. But if he feels that strongly about it, she isn’t going to stop him.
“You think you’ll be back for Christmas at least?” she asks, horribly conscious of how child-like she sounds. Daddy, will you be back for Christmas?
He mutters “We’ll see,” and starts to head off.
She can’t let that be the end of it for who knows how long. “Harvey?”
He waits.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about the Hologram. Last month, before this all started, I said that I knew that I wouldn’t turn evil because you guys would be by my side. That opinion has not changed.”
Harvey hesitates, then keeps walking.
Margaret curls up on the couch, hugging the gun, and feels Linkara’s arms around her.
~*~
Harvey does come back for Christmas, thank god. He seems a little off for a while, gives Margaret a bone-crushing hug, but after a while he’s back to his old self. Whatever he did on his tour seems to have worked.
Margaret readies the defenses of the house, practices with all of her arsenal, and tries to keep the guys from destroying too much furniture.
Months go by. Maybe that asshole with the braid and the creepy threats and the totally-not-sexy accent gave up and isn’t coming back after all.
At least, that’s the thought that’s running through Margaret’s head as she walks down the hall.
BAM.
Margaret feels pain explode on her back, splattering out across her shoulders and down her spine, falls to the floor in a daze. She blinks, vision dimming, as the Gunslinger crouches over her.
“No …” she slurs, unable to do more than twitch her fingers as he grabs the gun from her belt.
“Thank you kindly, darlin’ …” he tips his hat again and vanishes.
Margaret blacks out.
~*~
Margaret knows she wasn’t out for long, a few minutes at most judging from the clock. She staggers to her feet and beams up to Comicron-1, livid. She gets everyone assembled.
“The Gunslinger has Linkara!”
“Who?” Harvey blinks.
Oh, right. They don’t know his name. They barely know there’s a ghost, actually. It’s an awkward conversation Margaret has never really gotten around to.
“The gun! The magic gun!” Margaret wants to scream, she’s so angry. She is going to fuck this guy up when she gets a hold of him. He took Linkara. God knows what he’s doing to the soul trapped in the gun. Experiments? A ritual to torture his soul even more than it was in the past? Why did he even want the gun in the first place?
Margaret paces as everyone gets to work. They have to find the Gunslinger. They have to find him and get Linkara back. Then she can start kicking the Gunslinger in the nuts and not stop until the new Star Trek movie is out.
They do find him, eventually. Margaret gives the order to hail the Gunslinger’s house-ship.
Harvey asks if that’s a good idea, since Comicron-1 can be stealthy.
“Oh, it can. But I sure as hell don’t want to,” Margaret grins, all teeth and no humor. “I want the sonuvabitch to know I’m coming. Hail him.”
She gives him one warning, and one warning only. He doesn’t respond, just increases speed. A thief and a coward. Well, he had shot her in the back.
They fire on his ship. Then, of course, their weapons malfunction.
Margaret beams over with Pollo. The Gunslinger is nowhere to be seen.
While Pollo hacks, Margaret looks around. Surprisingly, she finds her gun right away, not tied to any experimental devices or in the middle of a summoning circle like she’d feared. It’s on a table among several other pistols.
CLICK.
“Get outta my house,” the Gunslinger snarls.
Margaret gulps. “Pollo, a little help here?”
“Oh look. I have found the grav-ity con-trols.”
The entire room tilts. Margaret struggles to keep her breakfast down. At least it flings the Gunslinger away.
Pollo and the Gunslinger’s A.I. seem to be having a kind of trash-talk session as they grapple on turning the ship around. Margaret would be amused if she weren’t struggling to stand up and fire her gun at the Gunslinger. He gets to his feet and levels his gun at her.
“I said, get outta my house!” he snarls.
Pollo tilts the ship again.
Margaret leaps up and starts grappling with the Gunslinger. He knocks the gun from her hands but she manages to knee him in the groin - score! - in retaliation. He grabs her gun and pushes her aside.
“Give him back!” Margaret screams, tackling the Gunslinger. She gets a very rewarding look at his stunned expression as she manages to shove him to the ground. On the way she snatches the watch thing from his jacket pocket.
Ending up in her living room instead of Comicron-1 is weird, but explained by Nimue.
The Gunslinger teleports in right afterwards. He looks … ill. Desperate. He’s pointing his gun at her though, so Margaret points hers at the watch thing.
“The watch …” he gasps. “Give it back.”
“Try it, asshole, and it’s fried.” Margaret snarls.
“No! You can’t!” the Gunslinger yelps.
“I can’t?!” Margaret stares at him incredulously. “You invade my home, you attack me and my friends, you almost get us to kill each other, you perform kidnapping, and you wanna tell me what I can’t do?!” Margaret can feel her blood pulsing through her body, throbbing, burning.
“No … you don’t understand …” the Gunslinger wavers.
“Well, that’s what happens when you don’t explain yourself,” Margaret smirks and cocks her gun.
Several things happen at once:
1) Pollo yelps “Wait! Mar-gar-et!”
2) The Gunslinger screams and lunges forward
3) Margaret blasts the watch to smithereens.
The Gunslinger staggers, glowing oddly. “You bitch! I’ll kill you!” he dives towards Margaret and then vanishes.
Margaret smirks, slumping back. “Not likely, you bleach-blond idiot -”
“Mar-gar-et! You id-iot!”
“What?!” Margaret stares at Pollo.
“He is not our en-emy!”
~*~
And then begins the viewing of the Most Depressing Vlog Entries Ever. With every video, Margaret feels worse and worse. This guy, this Jaeris, was an internet critic, just like her. In his world, something like SOPA passed. He was arrested and thrown in prison for reviewing music online. He was freed by a Resistance movement; Jaeris was a freedom fighter. He gathered companions with magic guns, to fight the system. But … they died. All of them.
“They’re all dead.”
Dimension-jumping killed them.
So Jaeris discovered that “great emotional stress” unlocks a magic gun’s full potential, and allows it to be used by anyone else. Unwilling to let others die for his cause, Jaeris resolved to go around collecting as many guns as he could to arm the Resistance back home.
And by destroying the watch, his “anchor” … Margaret has doomed him to being permanently stuck in this universe.
“He can never go home again.” His wife. His friends. That resistance movement. His world. All those guns, all that psychological torture he put people through to save their lives, to save countless lives with their guns … Margaret just ruined everything.
“I … I need to contact him … apologize …” even as she says it Margaret knows it’s stupid.
Marsano laughs at her. “Oh, yeah, I’m sure he’ll be in a mood to accept that!”
“But … I have to do something …” Margaret says faintly, sitting down. She can’t remember the last time she felt this low.
The incoming broadcast is a surprise, and an unwelcome one. Dr. Insano has taken control of Neutro. He’s preparing to take the world hostage. Once again, Margaret let herself be distracted and blindsided by another enemy.
“Oh, he picked the wrong day to mess with me. Let’s take that scientist down!”
~*~
She is really sick of Insano. He is the last thing she needs right now. Margaret tries to gather her thoughts with a comic during the hour Marsano takes to punch a hole in Insano’s defenses. It helps, a little, but Jaeris’s horrified, furious face keeps appearing in her mind. How can she ever make that right? Is he even alive, anymore? Did she … did her arrogance, her rage, cost a man his life? Marsano said there was a chance the acclimation could have killed him.
~*~
She takes a Cybermat with her onto Neutro. The little critter zips away to wreck havoc while she heads to confront Insano.
“Oh, look what the cat dragged in … and vomited up!” Insano grins, clearly pleased with himself over the lurid insult. He traps Margaret in some kind of force field.
Margaret crosses her arms. “Look, Insano, you don’t have to do this.”
It turns out he does. Something about a Mad Scientist Club Card. And he has actually thought about what he’ll do if he takes over the world: make people fight in gladiatorial arenas and have lots of kinky sex.
Margaret banishes the thought of Insano + sex immediately from her brain because oh hell no. She makes him the same offer she gave Marsano, about the holodecks. There, he could watch people fight for his amusement and get laid … to an extent.
Insano’s not sold on the idea. He doesn’t care about fake people, he wants to be worshipped by real people. “I’m Doctor Insano, bitch, and I’m going to rule the world!”
Well, it was worth a shot.
Margaret waits, and watches the force field deactivate, the lights flicker. The Cybermat is getting drunk on Neutro’s power: squee!
Insano, enraged, rushes her. Margaret is ready for him, countering his attempts at strangling her, but she needs an advantage, and soon. She has NIMUE beam them to her house.
Insano cackles gleefully and puts on some kind of gloves.
Margaret rolls her eyes and strides over to him. “Come on, Insano, knock it off already. We both know I’m going to -”
BAM!
Margaret flies across the room, rolling onto the floor, stars in her vision.
“Something wrong, Margaret?” Insano giggles. “You came here prepared to fight a madman, and instead you find … a god!”
Margaret rubs at her chest. “Did you seriously just punch me in the boob? Not cool, man.”
Insano hesitates briefly, at least having the decency to look slightly ashamed of himself. “Uh … let’s pretend that didn’t happen! Just try to take a swing at me, supergirl!”
Margaret does. She really tries. She tries the gun and Insano deflects the blasts. She tries to punch at Insano and hits the gloves, shockwaves going up her arms and rattling her bones. He knocks her down again.
Margaret nods to herself. “Right … it’s Morphin’ Time!” after a transformation sequence, she’s ready to take Insano on again.
They’re a bit more evenly matched now, she can at least grapple with Insano a bit before he knocks her back.
“Ooooh, that had to hurt!” he gloats. “Wanna go another round, sweetheart?”
“I’m just getting’ started, asshole,” Margaret snarls, heading in for another bout …
BAM.
A familiar pain spreads along Margaret’s spine and she collapses.
Above her she hears Insano complaining about having their fight scene interrupted.
“Shut up!” Jaeris snarls.
Insano shuts up.
Jaeris strides forward, gun leveled at Margaret.
“I can never go home again thanks to you! I can’t help my friends, my family, my wife!”
“I know! I know …” Margaret manages to push herself up onto her knees. With the way Jaeris is glaring down at her and keeping that gun steady, she doesn’t dare try to stand up yet. “I found out about your mission, and I’m sorry.”
“Little late for ‘sorry.’” Jaeris snaps. His eyes are wild.
“Ok, look,” Insano says hurriedly. “Obviously you two are having something of a lover’s quarrel, so, uh -”
“Shut it!” Margaret growls, holding up a hand not even looking at him. She takes a breath. “Jaeris, I made a mistake. A horrible, terrible mistake. Because I let my rage get the better of me. I realize that now. But I have resources. I have a ship in orbit with the best dimension-crossing technology in the multiverse. And I have a crazy-ass scientist who can help you get home.”
“Her?” Insano cackles. “That scientist couldn’t make water if you stuck her in room with a snowman and a blowtorch!” Insano shakes his head. “Look, I may not know who you are, but I can definitely be of more help than that dingbat.”
“I know about your mission, and I can help you,” Margaret says, feeling dread sinking in. If Jaeris sides with Insano, she’s toast.
“Join me, Fullmetal Alchemist!” Insano urges, “And not only can we take this world, I can take you where you want to go, but with an army of robots to crush your enemies!”
“I can’t promise you success, but I’ll sure as hell do everything I can to make it happen.” Margaret grits.
“I can promise you success!” Insano proudly declares.
Jaeries glances between them several times. He scowls. “What the hell can either of you do to convince me that you’re on the level?”
Margaret thinks for only a moment, then draws the magic gun. She holds it out, hilt to Jaeris. “Take it.” She tries to keep her voice steady. “Take my ship if you have to, to free your world.”
Jaeris looks at her for a long time, and Margaret realizes that Jaeris knows about the ghost in the gun, knows that the gun isn’t just another weapon in her arsenal.
There’s the faintest of nods, and then he steps back and turns his gun on Insano. “You remind me of some people I don’t like,” he drawls.
Insano sneers and fires at Jaeris with the gloves.
Jaeris darts out of the way.
“Anyone who opposes me will be destroyed!” Insano shouts.
Margaret calls up one of the defensive forcefields, but Insano just lightly taps it and walks through, tilting his head sarcastically.
Jaeris walks up to Margaret’s side. “You know, I think you need better forcefields.”
Margaret sighs heavily. “Yeah, that has become very clear to me.”
Insano rants and raves a bit, and concludes with “Eat death, you magical morons!”
Margaret and Jaeris surge forward together, without even speaking to each other or signaling. Jaeris manages to kick Insano, and Margaret lands a few punches, but they’re both knocked backwards into the kitchen.
“This guy’s tough,” Jaeris pants.
“He really isn’t,” Margaret frowns. “The gauntlets are his advantage right now … can you distract him for a minute?”
Jaeris grins. “My pleasure, darlin’ …” He darts out to distract Insano.
Margaret holds back an inconvenient blush and draws her gun. “When we last spoke you said that you were holding back, that you could cut loose … care to give a demonstration?”
And then he’s there, Linkara, standing at her side, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Delighted,” Linkara whispers, voice hoarse from lack of use.
Margaret fires, and the gun emits a white pulse of energy so powerful it half blinds her.
It knocks Insano down … and out.
Margaret smiles grimly. “NIMUE, beam this asshole out of my apartment!”
Insano vanishes, thank god.
“Well why the hell didn’t you just beam him out like that before?” Jaeris asks.
NIMUE explains that she couldn’t get a lock on Insano while the gauntlets were still working.
Margaret shrugs. “Yeah, you just kinda get used to that when it comes to Insano.”
Jaeris’s face darkens, and he glances away. “Yeah … guess I’m gonna hafta get used to it.”
Margaret’s joy at defeating Insano is replaced by guilt. “I wasn’t lying to you before, Jaeris. With the resources of Comicron-1, we can get you home, help you survive the trip, and help free your world.”
He stares at her. “Why the hell would you help me? I’ve done nothin’ but make yer life miserable since we first met.”
That’s true. Margaret has banished former enemies for similar attacks against her and her household. But … he had a good reason. She wouldn’t have believed him if he’d told her the truth a few months ago, and she certainly wouldn’t have given him the magic gun. She gets it. “You had your reasons, and they were good reasons. I don’t think you’re my enemy. I think you’re my friend.” Margaret holds out her hand. “And you don’t leave your friends behind when they’re in trouble. You try to help them. You try to make them … better.” Her gun pulses, warm at her side.
Jaeris looks down at her hand then back to her face. “I’m not ready to call ya that yet. I wouldn’t have needed to ask for yer help if ya hadn’t destroyed my watch.” He hands her back her dragon dagger. “I’ll talk with yer scientist. An’ if you need help … ya know where to find me.”
Then he beams away.
Margaret sighs, suddenly aching and sore as the adrenaline leaves her body, and sinks onto the nearest chair.
~*~
Spoony visiting is nice. Getting to tease him about dying so much and Doctor Who is a return to the status quo, a comfortable feeling. And it’s good to unwind with some gaming, even if he does beat her almost every round and declare himself the “Lord of Tekken” at every opportunity.
Spoony is concerned that she’s up for trusting Jaeris now, considering he shot her in the back and all. She tries to alleviate his big brother instincts, but it only goes so far. Spoony is always going to see her as the little sister to protect in situations like these; Margaret just has to accept that.
Linkara shows up, to give her an ominous warning about future evils on the horizon.
“Fortunately, there is also a new hope.” Linkara adds.
Margaret blinks. “Wait, did you just do a Star Wars thing -” but Linkara is gone.
Margaret slumps back onto the couch, musing on everything that’s happened over the past few months. Insano’s return, Neutro getting wrested away from her, a legion of cybermats, a paranoia monster, Harvey going through … something that he’s not talking about, talking properly with Linkara for once, and now a man she thought was an enemy and a thief who turned out to be an ally and a champion.
Margaret digs out her Firefly DVDs and wonders how soon it’s appropriate to invite Jaeris over for a marathon party at the house.
~ the end ~