The Masquerade

Ext. Bialyan outskirts - Evening

 

*Wide shot facing sunset. Ten figures trudge down a dusty hill towards a riverbed where a handful of rafts await them. Two of their number bear an unsavory burden of a mangled body, yellow outfit barely clinging to the mass.*

 

Sportsmaster/Lawrence Crock: If this leg falls off, I'm not picking it up.

 

Rick Flag Jr: Yes you are, soldier. Waller wants everything we can salvage of Javelin there. If you refuse, then I'll be booking your head's flight to the moon.

 

Torque/Dudley Soames/The other half of Javelin's transportation (irritable): Remind me again WHY? Must've missed that briefing.

 

Thinker/Clifford DeVoe (hurridly): A.R.G.U.S has reason to believe he had low-level meta traits. Before his life of crime, his Olympic achievements indicated steroid use, though tests yielded negative. A.R.G.U.S gathers further research will reveal his cells have slightly enhanced stamina and longevity. A perfect stepping stone for A.R.G.U.S' super-soldier project.

 

Soames (getting a better hold of his load of disjointed arm): Teacher's pet...

 

Unknown Soldier: Hauling Javelin like a bag of fertilizer could've been avoided if *gesturing to Swagman* Crocodile Dundee here had thrown him the right WEAPON when he was surrounded by Bialyan automatic rifles...

 

Swagman: Firstly, oi take that comparison as a compliment, and secondly... *barely stifling a guffaw* ... Sorry mate, but... (snort) ... In the heat of the moment, oi just couldn't remeember which weapon JAVELIN was skilled with. (snort) Scout's 'onah.

 

Rustam/Kattuah (to no one in particular): End me now and spare me from these imbeciles.

 

*All arrive at water's edge, Soames and Crock dumping Javelin in the dirt. Flag Jr. dictates into portable recorder*

 

Flag Jr: Mission objective completed; Bialyan secret weapon dispatched. One casualty; Javelin. Escape boats ready to b-

 

DeVoe: Hold there, Flag. Our flight must be paused, in light of new information my scanners have collected.

 

Flag Jr: What is it?

 

DeVoe: My sensors are not fully operable, having taken damage in our conflict. However, a quick sweep of our company strongly indicates an... abnormality.

 

Flag Jr: Meaning...

 

DeVoe: An impersonator, sir. I have detected inorganic material in motion within our ranks since our departure from the capital.

 

*Entire party stands still, the cleverer of them stricken, the less intelligent simply confused*

 

Magpie/Marge Sorrow (cautiously): What you're saying is... Someone's a robot?

 

Crock: Or a vegetable?

 

Flag Jr: Quiet! Let me think...

 

*Another pause*

 

Swagman: ... Mineral..?

 

Unknown (shaking head): We just got rid of Harkness, and now THIS comedian...

 

Plastique/Bette Sans Souci: DeVoe, if you're damaged, are you sure your scanners aren't just picking up YOU? I know you don't look in a mirror often, but a whole man, you are not.

 

DeVoe (shrugging off San Souci's insult): New data analyzed. Foreign matter is a mixture of manmade chemicals that match a compound, manufactured by Dagget Industries: Renuyu.

 

Sorrow (noticeably disturbed): No... I've... I've heard of that somewhere before, on a job I took in Gotha... That's what Clayface is made out of!

 

*Weapons fly out and aim at the nearest squaddie to their owners.*

 

Soames: I'm looking at you, Crock!

 

Flag Jr. (threatening a detonator with several switches): EVERYONE LAY DOWN ARMS! Or I let loose the fireworks!

 

Swagman: Nothing doing, Ricky. Oi'm positive Bialya has a roight to bear arms when you 'ave reasonable suspicion a shapeshifter is at 'and.

 

Kattuah (brandishing his Psi-Scimitar): We can root out this perpetrator if you fools use your brains. There must be a way to test everyone's... legitimacy.

 

Sans Souci: I say we all take a swim in the river and see who turns into silt.

 

Sorrow (accusatory) : Oh you'd like that, wouldn't you? No way is anyone moving from this circle.

 

Soames: All you schmucks hear the bird-woman? Any of you try to use a power, or even twitch too much, my Tommy gun turns you to bean-dip.

 

Crock (as though a lightbulb appeared above him): Ask me something only I would know!

 

Swagman (cocking a revolver from his arsenal): Crock, eeveryone 'ere knows eeverything you know too, and more.

 

Crock (growling): Keep that up, and I'll shove this discus straight up your-

 

Swagman: But let's stop beating around the bush. Realistically, we're only looking at two possibilities; Flag and *nodding at Unknown* Cody Banks here.

 

Unknown: I have a shotgun aimed DIRECTLY at your head.

 

Swagman (continuing): Clayface would want ta become oither one of the 'igher-ups; the team leader or you, Unknown, our reesident Suicide Squad VOLUNTEER, *clears throat* which by all accounts makes you more wrong in the 'ead than any of us...

 

Unknown (expression darkening): 'Least I have a mission in life. You kill for kicks and grins.

 

Flag Jr: Stay on topic! We're finding Clayface here; you can discuss your collective morality when you're rotting back in your cells in Louisiana, and Waller has her Swedish super-soldier.

 

Clock King/Fugate: Erm, I believe Javelin was from Poland...

 

Everyone else: SHUT UP FUGATE.

 

Sorrow: When I worked with Clayface, I think... He had trouble using contractions, even though he could replicate speech patterns. Who's used contractions recently? Hey... "Who's"! I'm clear!

 

Soames: That's a hill of haggis, lass!

 

Crock (pointing hurriedly in Sorrow's direction): No, no, I heard that actor guy he used to be... Basil something?.. He was a stickler for grammar and wouldn't use 'em in his pictures.

 

Kattuah: Wait... Crock, point that way again...

 

Crock (pointing): ... What?

 

Kattuah (scimitar blazes more intensely): What is that... upon your wrist!

 

Crock: Uh-

 

*A drop of tan, soupy substance drizzles down his forearm and lands on the sand. His thought-process being superior, DeVoe begins backing away before the rest put together what they're seeing. Pandemonium suddenly erupts amongst the villains. Swagman unloads two rounds at Crock's vicinity, one meeting its mark, the other lodging itself into Flag's neck. Both fall to the ground, and Unknown tackles Swagman. Before DeVoe can reach out with his mind to telekinetically pull them apart, he is cut down by a slash from Kattuah's blade, melting him from his shoulder clean through to his waist, partially reducing him to slag. Sorrow tries to intervene, but Fugate holds his pistol between her shoulder blades.*

 

Fugate: I've got your back, Rustam! We can be partners!

 

*An enraged Sorrow flips over the barrel of Fugate's gun and socks him squarely in his minute hand. He crumples, and she continues to beat him.*

 

Sorrow: I'm going to clean your clock, you little-

 

*Soames sprays them both with his firearm, and they lie still. Crock, trying to recover from his chest wound, lobs a spear at Sans Souci, who has been trying to sneak around to a boat. She kicks the projectile mid-air, making it divert into Unknown's shotgun, which triggers and blasts Swagman's right arm clean off, sending him sprawling in the dust. As Sans Souci continues her flight and finishes Crock with a step on his ribcage, Unknown musters his senses and hurtles into Soames, twisting his head 180 degress, back to its original position. The shock is enough to end Soames, but Unknown is himself stopped by a stab through the spine by Kattuah.*

 

Sans Souci (guarding the boats): Rustam!

 

Kattuah (turning): Plastique. You and I both know it takes MY mind to control MY Psi-Scimitar. So... I am in truth addressing Clayface.

 

Sans Souci (wryly): Come give us a hug. I think you'll find my powers work just fine too.

 

*They both rush at one another, Kattuah thrusting his flame into Sans Souci's abdomen as she curls up into a leap and knees him in the jaw, knocking him flat on his back. As he twists the blade into her further, she ignores the pain and grips his scalp with both hands, her explosive powers surging through him. He gives a final war cry before both are enveloped in a concussive blast that shakes the ground. The dust settles, and Sans Souci rises from Kattuah's ashes, taking a moment to pat the dirt from her gloves before limping to the rafts. Swagman stumbles over a dune after her, croaking out weakly.*

 

Swagman: Wait! I saw you use your powers. Oi trust you...

 

Sans Souci (without turning, and continuing to start up the boat): And I know you're you because..?

 

Swagman: OI'M MISSING A SHAGGIN' ARM, MISS!

 

*Swagman tosses himself into the raft with her, and they float away from the massacre. A few seconds pass, before the broken remains of Javelin's corpse writhe and morph into a column of mud, then into a young girl with short black hair. She glances about herself nervously, and starts a brisk pace towards another raft. But just then, the lifeless hand of DeVoe lashes out, gripping her ankle. She seems to cramp up, her face strained and limbs stick-straight. DeVoe too bubbles into a mound of clay, which twists into a grotesque man dressed in theatrical garb fit for the opera. He... I... grimace.*

 

Myself: Thought you were in the clear, did you not? I must have given you a great fright when "DeVoe's scanners" picked up on a hoaxer in our midst. You see, by the time I intercepted your group, I only had time to dispatch and impersonate one of you; and who could better plant the seed of suspicion than a telepath? It worked out brilliantly that these buffoons would destroy themselves, at the same time revealing to me whose guise you had adopted.

 

Girl: How... did you... follow...

 

Myself: How did I follow you? Dear child, how does one follow one's own stride? You ARE me. We are linked, you and I. This... "Annie"?.. you think you are? It's a role. A little persona I had tucked away that managed to escape... But only for a short while. I'll give you credit for infiltrating Task Force X to evade me, but that just goes to show... Deep down, you know you're running from reality.

 

*I increase my hold on her, calling her back into my consciousness. She fades.*

 

Myself: And the show goes on.

Done