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> Adventures in Parodyverse - Special Election, Part 6
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> Anna forced her way into the locked Operations room by pushing the steel sliding door open.  She wondered why Hallie made no effort to respond.  But that question was soon answered when she saw what looked like a bright red colored USB stick attached to one of the servers which made up Hallie’s hardware.
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> She walked up to the glass covered server case and carefully opened it.  Then she nearly reached for the USB stick...but realized that whoever put it there must have installed some kind of safeguard.  She didn’t want to be responsible for killing Hallie, so this would take some finesse.
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> The android pulled a cord from the back of her neck, plugged it into the server, and began listening.  Then she heard footsteps approaching from the ‘outside’...so she climbed into a small space beneath servers and closed the glass door behind her.
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> “Look sharp, I don’t remember this door being open.”  Beth Zemo announced as she entered.  She passed her stun weapon to Franz and motioned toward Lara.  “She’s going to wake up soon, so pay attention.”
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> Franz nodded and carefully dropped Lara into a chair.  The pair did their research, so they knew it wasn’t worth tying her up.  She could just change her location and leave behind the binds, getting out of it anyway.
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> Anna started to see what was going on.  Hallie had been divided - the software on that red stick didn’t harm Hallie, which would have caused her to defend herself.  It essentially put her to ‘sleep’...so anything she did was like sleepwalking.  Her conscious thought was suppressed.
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> ‘Wake up, Hallie,’  she tried messaging through the system.  Hallie ignored her.
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> It was that point Anna knew she would have to do the unforgivable.  She would have to break into Hallie’s system and take control of the intrusion systems in the mansion herself.  Hallie wouldn’t be happy about it.
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> Lara Night woke up and looked around the room groggily.  She tried not to move too much because her head hurt a lot.  She saw Franz was holding some kind of weapon, and she didn’t want to be hit by it.
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> Even so, Beth noticed her movement and looked directly at her.  “I wonder why Marv is so spooked by a toothpick like you?”
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> “I wish I knew.”  Lara whispered painfully.  “Why are you helping him destroy the Legion?”
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> “We’re not destroying the Legion.”  Beth explained.  “We’re dominating it.  It takes a little conditioning, but with a little extended exposure to the coaxing of Marv and the Spin--”
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> Then Beth suddenly smiled and laughed at her discovery.  “Ahhh...I see now...I know what Marv is afraid of.  You can get far enough away to clear your head...and you have the power to save the Lair Legion from his influence.”
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> Lara asked, “And what do you get out of it?  You can’t exactly take over the world that way.”
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> “Darling, I’ve outgrown that phase.”  Beth replied cooly.  “It’s not about taking over the world.  It’s about the world serving me.”
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> “So this is all your plan?”
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> “I didn’t need to plan.”  Beth responded.  “It was all done for me.  I just sit on the sidelines and watch until it goes off the rails, and the rest is mine.  Easy...no effort, no pain.”
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> Lara sighed.  She was still sitting still, making no aggressive moves.  “I can’t decide which is worse, Marv taking over or you taking over.  No offense.”
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> “None taken.”  Beth smiled.  “Marv has ambition but he lacks the discipline.  And I believe you’re wasting my time, Lara...keeping me busy.  What’s going on that you’re not telling me?”
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> The blonde super-hero tried her best to look innocent.  “You dragged me here unconscious.  What could I possibly know?”
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> Beth ignored her.  She looked around the room, and started to put the clues together.  Door forced open.  Pest android, as of yet eluding capture.  But what if she wasn’t eluding at all?
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> ‘Sorry, Hallie.’  Anna messaged through the system as she activated what she was attempting to wait till the last second to use.  
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> Alarms sounded all over the Lair Mansion, and the door to Operations slammed shut loudly.  A recorded announcement with Hallie’s voice started to play, ‘Intrusion alert!  All defenses have been activated!’
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> The glass door guarding the servers shattered.
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> “Ah, the clever android.”  Beth greeted Anna.
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> Without being asked, Franz reached under the servers and began to drag Anna out by her hair.
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> Rather than protest, Anna growled quietly and reached up as she was being forced out, grabbing the red USB stick.  This was no time to be careful...she ripped it out as she was pulled clear.
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> ‘Intrusion alert!  All defenses have been activated!’  Hallie’s voice announced again.
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> “Yes, yes, we heard.”  Beth dismissed casually.
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> The lights in Operations went out.  A green mesh feminine form appeared, which was filled in quickly like some kind of holographic coloring book.
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> “I don’t think you did.”  Hallie said calmly yet angrily.
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> Beth sighed impatiently.  “This has grown so tiresome.”  She tapped the emergency teleport switch on her belt.  It had been deactivated by Hallie.
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> Franz pulled an Electro Magnetic Pulse weapon out of his jacket and aimed it at Hallie’s computer system.  He dropped it when Anna suddenly lifted him effortlessly and threw him against the opposite wall like a rag doll.  He crumpled to the floor and passed out.
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> The Baroness produced another surprise.  She held up a small box with a single red light and a small display.  “You wouldn’t dare jam this.”  she warned.
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> Hallie analyzed the device.  It was a detonation transmitter, but one that worked in reverse.  If the transmission stopped, something could blow up.  Or it could be a bluff, transmitting to nowhere.
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> “Now, I couldn’t care less about Marvellous Marv’s plans, I have some of my own.”  Beth said.  “Release my teleporter.  If he’s going down in flames, I’m not going with him.”
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> “Lock down Hatman’s office, please.”  Lara Night asked Hallie, ignoring Beth entirely.  “Everyone under the influence of Marv is in there.  I’ll handle the rest.”
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> “Excuse me!”  Beth angrily interrupted.
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> Lara coldly added, “Oh, and please release her teleporter.  She can go home, I don’t really care about her.”  She turned and walked through the now open Operations room door.
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> Beth drew her stun weapon and pointed it in Lara’s direction.  Her teleport unit was working now, so she had a choice of what to do - stun Lara, blow up the mansion, or simply leave.  She hesitated to do any of those for a second, she wasn’t sure whether to waste time punishing Lara.  Maybe she even admired the younger blonde a little.
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> As Anna watched silently, the Baroness shrugged slightly, deactivated the detonator, and hit her emergency teleport.  She would let Marv take the fall for this one all on his own.
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> Anna looked at the opposite corner, and noted that Beth had abandoned the unconscious Franz.
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> ---
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> Marv watched, bored, as the Spin whispered something over and over again.  He was trying to imprint a solid memory upon the Lair Legion, so when they awoke they would be highly reluctant to disobey Marv’s orders.
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> Once he controlled the Lair Legion, he had an arrangement with Gothametropolis mayor Velma Klein.  Use the super-heroes to finally put a stop to the heavy influence of organized crime in the gothic city.  Fame was what he would get out of it, supercharging his new political career.
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> A green glow flashed into the room.  The resulting hologram that appeared looked angry.  “You are so screwed!”  Hallie said.
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> “Damn that German megalomaniac.”  Marv mumbled out loud, “Can’t she do one thing right?”
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> He turned pale then as he realized the appearance of Hallie, those very words, the look of the room he was in...it all happened in a dream he had, a prophecy.  Right before...
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> The door blew off its hinges and smashed in two, tumbling into the chairs in front of Hatman’s desk.  Even before Lara Night entered the room, powerful bolts of lightning attacked both Marvellous Marv and the Spin.
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> “No...”  Marv whispered as his muscles seized, and consciousness slipped away from him.  He tried as much as he could to stay awake, to cling to one thought and project it at Lara, but the shocks were too disruptive and devastating.  He could feel he was getting closer, like he was going to make it...
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> ...until Hatman clobbered him with a wooden in-box filled with paperwork.  Sheets of paper flew all over the room.
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> “Good work, Lara.”  Hatman complimented her as the rest of the Lair Legion began regaining their bearings and rising to their feet.
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> Lara smirked slightly and said, “Don’t worry.  I’m not going to say Lair Legion Line Up.”  Her smile disappeared when she saw Marvellous Marv stand up again, rubbing his head.
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> “After our last encounter, Hatman--”  Marv said quickly as the room darkened again, “I thought you’d know better.”
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> There was a bright flash, causing everyone present to cover their eyes for a moment.  When they could see again, the Lair Legion found themselves in a rainy alley in Gothametropolis.
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> “Idiot.”  Lara commented.  “He knows I’ll just bring us all right back--”
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> “Not quite.”  Con Johnstantine interrupted.  “You see, luv...you’re dreaming.  We all are, trapped in one of Marv’s visions.”
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> “And we’re powerless.”  Liu Xi Xian pointed out.  She had just been experimenting.
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> A large shadow appeared around the corner.  It stopped, and looked down the alley as if it heard Liu Xi speaking.
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> “Oh, this is too good.”  the Human Tank said with an evil smile.
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> TO BE CONTINUED?
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> -- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2009 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
> --    reprinted without permission.  
> -- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
> --  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
> --  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin
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