Chapter 7) – Dancing In The Courthouse

After Tony had finished his introductory speech, he proceeded to play a video from his father's last Expo where he explained the original purpose behind why it was started and welcoming everyone to the year-long event.

<Where to now Mara?>

Pushing off from the banister, she was previously leaning on, Mara begins to walk away from the stage towards the side, [Tony will leave through the back entrance of the stage led by his bodyguard/driver Happy. He'll be surrounded by fans asking for autographs or women giving him their numbers on his way out to his car. When he gets to the car a woman will be waiting for him to deliver a subpoena. It basically means he needs to appear in court.]

<Are we going straight to the court location, or do you want look around Expo?>

Making her way round to the pick-up/drop-off point for the VIP's she decides; [I want to make sure nothing has changed due to us being here, so we'll check to make sure Tony gets handed a subpoena by a Federal Marshall before making the journey over to Washington for the court proceedings.]

Stopping behind a concrete wall, I cover Mara's ears with part of my body and extend a tendril over the wall so I can enhance her hearing. This allows her to hear Tony's conversation as if it was happening right in front of her. 

Tony: "What are you up to later?"

Marshall: "Serving subpoenas."

Tony: "Yikes."

Happy: "He doesn't like to be handed things."

Tony: "Yeah, I have a peeve."

Happy: "I got it."

Marshall: "You are hereby ordered to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow morning at 9 am."

Tony: "Can I see a badge?"

Marhsall: "You wanna see the badge?"

Happy: "He likes the badge."

Marshall: "You still like it?"

Tony: "Yep. How far are we from D.C.?"

Happy: "D.C? 250 miles?"

*Tyres Screeching*

With such a happy smile on her face, I did not even need to ask Mara if everything went as it should have. Clearly our next destination was Washington.

------

Unfortunately, the morning of the court hearing made us realise that the strategy we used for the Expo was not going to cut it this time. Security was magnitudes higher at the Capitol Building and to make matters worse, everyone seemed to know each other. This meant that we would not be able to just copy a badge, some suitable clothes and call it a day. No, we would have to become someone else entirely… Or at least, outwardly appear to be someone else. 

Hidden within the leaves of a tree on the site of the Capitol Building, I inform Mara of the current limits of our shapeshifting, <Although I cannot read someone's memories or learn their mannerisms without consuming brain, if can get enough genetic data from someone, morph your body to look like them. Due our bond though there are severe restrictions. First, they have be the same gender, so female. Second, decrease height as am not bonded with bones yet. increase it, but only slightly it looking unnatural, try and find someone near height. Third, change eye colour. Finally, organs, voice talk use an American accent unless is somewhat believable.>

Following my criteria, Mara first makes her way to the side of the massive building to get a closer look at the women present. After 10 or so minutes of sifting through the various people's appearances, and some deeper analysis of potential candidates with some of my tendrils, we manage to narrow our choices down to 4 women.

Not even a minute later, the 3rd option walks away from her group to answer her phone. To get more privacy she moves all the way down the steps, round a corner and into an alcove underneath the steps. Taking full advantage of her isolation, we suit up temporarily to quickly make our way over and knock her unconscious just before she could answer the call, without drawing any nearby attention.

In theory, I could layer my body over the unconscious woman in order to replicate her outward appearance, but to make the disguise as accurate as possible, the best method was to analyse her very DNA and replicate the cells onto Mara. After receiving Mara's permission to do so, I extend some sharpened tendrils to make small incisions all over the candidate's body and gather the necessary cells. After gathering said skin, hair, and muscle cells, alongside some near instantaneous examination, I was able to perfectly replicate her facial and body structure. I made the shapeshift as close to the real thing as I possibly could, but the differing bone structure, predominantly on her cheeks, meant her face looked slightly off.

Fortunately, without both appearances right next to each other, the differences would be indistinguishable and suit Mara's needs just fine. Alongside the facial changes, her hair changed from her natural burgundy red to a light blonde and the style was changed to a short bob cut that splits in the middle of the fringe and tucks behind her ears. Mara's clothing changed to the woman's grey blazer and matching pencil skirt, with the finishing touch being the visitor access badge attached to her right lapel.

Mara ignored the still buzzing phone of the unfortunate woman on the floor and made her way into the courtroom. With a façade like she had been acting for years, none of Mara's excitement was outwardly visible on her disguised face. Internally she was gushing over the 'face-slapping' that was about to occur throughout the session, but like any good infiltrator, her face was dead-pan. While waiting for the proceedings to begin, we decided to hide in a bathroom stall to ensure no one recognised her disguised form and tried to interact with Mara. Waiting until the last minute and making sure to be one of the last to enter, we made our way into the courtroom. Picking out a place to stand from the limited options and with a clear enough view to watch the show, we also needed to made sure to steer clear of the small group the woman we were imitating was associating with outside the building.

The entire reasoning behind the hearing was to try and force Tony Stark to give up his Iron Man suit. The senator in charge of the hearing, senator Stern, demanded that Stark hand over the suit and all technology for military application. Unfortunately for him however, throughout the proceedings Mr. Stark cracked jokes and dismantled all arguments put forth, essentially having them dancing in the palm of his hand. Thoroughly embarrassing those who went again him.

Even when the senator brought in Lt. Colonel James Rhodes, one of Mr. Stark's best friends, to try and use a specific section of his report to incriminate Stark, as well as images of attempted copies of the Iron Man suit, nothing justified Tony having to give up his property. Eventually, Tony used his AI companion J.A.R.V.I.S.'s software to hack into test video footage of the Iron Man 'clones' other countries were working on to prove that all of them were at least 10 years off his equipment. This footage also showed Justin Hammer's attempts at creating the suit, embarrassing his corporate rival.

Tony eventually closed the hearing with; "…I'm your nuclear deterrent. It's working. We're safe. America is secure. You want my property? You can't have it. But I did you a big favour. I have successfully privatized world peace." Holding up what was known as a 'peace sign' on both his hands, Tony walked out of the courtroom to raucous applause and cheering from everyone witnessing the event live, Mara included.

------

"Hahaha! That was a textbook definition of face-slapping! Damn, that was so much better to watch in person. If all the movie events are like this, I don't think I'll be able to keep a smile off my face!"

Mara was currently lying down on roof of an office building just outside of the Capitol Building premises. We had to run out of the Capitol building fairly quickly as the group we were avoiding, the ones previously talking to the woman who's face we were wearing, noticed us. Once we exited through the main doors we entered the Capitol building through, we took an immediate left.

When we were somewhat out of eyesight of the disbanding spectators, I partially transformed Mara's legs into the suit form, so they were sufficiently strengthened, for us to leap straight onto the closest roof. With the momentum in the jump, I needed to ensure I absorbed the impact of the landing as to not fall through the ceiling.

Once she had emptied her system of built-up laughter and giggles, I double checked that the plan had not changed; "Mara, are we still heading to Monaco, or do you have something else in mind?" 

Thinking for a second, she soon replied, "Technically, the Hulk is going through his origin story right now somewhere in Rio de Janeiro, so we could head over there and see that. But honestly, at the moment, he's stressed and unhinged, so I don't really want to get involved in that mess. Plus, the government are after him, meaning that if we get involved with him it'll just paint a target on our forehead. So, yeah, let's not do that. We'll stick to travelling over to Monaco next. If I remember right, we have about 2 weeks until the race. We'll get there a week early to scout around and familiarise ourselves with the circuit as well as where the broadcast towers will be situated. Although I don't mind revealing myself to the ones watching it live in Monaco, I would prefer not to be on every news channel."

"So that gives us a week until we need to be in Monaco. Do you want to do anything specific during this time or just see what happens?"

Nodding, she continues, "We should practice fighting probably. We haven't had to fight anyone yet, but since we have to fight Whiplash, it would be best to be co-ordinated. Can you, like, read my mind so we're in perfect synch or do you need me to tell you everything I want to do?"

"It's not the same as reading your mind, but I can feel your intentions through your muscles and skin. Think of it like walking. You don't consciously tell your legs to move, they just instinctively do. It's pretty much the same thing. Say you want to punch something, but it's out of your reach, I can feel what you want to do, so I can extend my body to project the punch further, if that makes sense? It's the same if you want to use tendrils or create any other type of weapon with my body, just imagine what you want to do, and I will make it so."

Mara stood up and started stretching her limbs while continuing, "Although that sounds easy, we still need some actual practice, so we don't make fools out of ourselves during our big moment. Remember, we need to look badass, intimidating, powerful, sexy and above all… badass!"

"You said badass twice."

Halting her stretching and looking at me like I suddenly have two 'heads', she matter-of-factly stated, "Yeah, that's cause it's the most important one! Also, while we're training, help me out with the one-liners. I've got a few in mind, but I dunno which one to go with."

------

The 2 weeks between Tony Stark's hearing and the Monaco Grand Prix flew by. During said fortnight, Mara and I had mostly synchronised our thought process when it came to combat so we were both confident in the interlude up to the race. The only thing we had to be concerned about was the heat generated by the whips, since heat was still my only, confirmed weakness. Fortunately Whiplash, who we were going to fight, was an ordinary human with his power coming from his suit. So, with him not having superhuman reflexes or speed, there wouldn't be a problem. We could have probably defeated him without any training, but it is better to be overprepared than under.

On the dawn of the grand prix, Mara was not sleeping under a bridge using my body as a hanging bed, nor was she sleeping on top of a building using my body as a makeshift tent. No, she was sleeping on 1500 thread, 100% Egyptian cotton, king size bed sheets. One may wonder how she was able to afford such luxury, and the simple answer is that she couldn't. One might then think that she had stolen said excessively luxurious sheets, but that would also be incorrect. No, Mara did not simply steal some sheets. She stole an entire superyacht so that she could wait for the race in maximum comfort.

After arriving in Monaco, followed by 4 days investigation and planning, we had already pinned down the location of the towers we would need to disable so she took it upon herself to treat the remaining 3 days until the race as a holiday. Needless to say, she couldn't afford a hotel, let alone rent a superyacht, so she 'borrowed' one in the dead of night and drove it out into open water to relax away from civilisation. How did she steal the boat without the key? Well, Carnage had an ability called Technopathy which I had naturally inherited after assimilating him into my being. All it took was me sending a tendril into the key slot and the yacht burst into life. 

With the sun climbing higher and higher into the sky, and Mara none the closer to waking from her dreamland, I decided I would have to force her up otherwise she would miss her time to shine. We still had to drive the boat back into the harbour, or at least somewhere close to it, so that we could get into the best position for the start of her plan. 

Moving her body slightly with my form, I use her preferred communication method and create a head before stating, "Mara, you need to wake up."

"Mhmmm… 5 more minutes…"

Thankfully Mara was a very light sleeper once disturbed, and when she stated a time like that, she would generally commit to it. So, just a few seconds shy of exactly 5 minutes later, she gave a big stretch, even when she didn't have to after our bond, and rubbed her eyes before asking; "What time is it babe?"

Glancing over at the clock sat on top of the bedside table to get an exact time, I answer, "5 minutes past 9."

Narrowing her eyes at me she retorts, "5 past 9, what?"

Recalling the conversation, we had last night and realising she wasn't going to let this go, I give her the answer she wants; "5 past 9… Honey."

Her narrowed eyes immediately relax, and she beams a radiant smile, "Perfect~ Thanks for waking me up darling~"

Last night Mara and I had a conversation about displaying more affection for one another. Her reasoning was that an emotional bond was just as important as a physical bond, which I was inclined to agree with. After all, the more connected Klyntar and host are, either physically or emotionally, the stronger they become. She also said that she would only give me her maidenhood if we were more openly emotionally invested with each other. Since her reproductive organs are… well… organs… when it comes to the organ bonding stage, I need access to the area. Although the access does not necessarily need to be willing, forcing such a bond would irrevocably damage relations between me and her, thus going against my very reason for being. To this end, Mara said that I should be more proactive with showing affection, thus the decision to increase pet name usage. 

Although I had used them intermittently throughout our time together as I adapt to suit her personality, Mara said that I still use her name too often when she has essentially never used my full name ever since she gave me one. She argued that El, being a shortened version of Elysium, constitutes as a pet name and therefore she never uses my actual name. Thus, from this point onwards she told me to actively avoid using her name unless absolutely necessary. Before she slept for the night, she even wrote a list of names I could call her and ones that she will probably use.

These included, but were not limited to: Babe, Honey, Dear, Love, Darling, and Beautiful. The list of names she might call me including the ones she already uses were as follows: Babe, Baby, Dear, Love, Darling, Handsome, and El. She said that these were nicknames traditionally used by married couples and any would be acceptable. Additionally, I could also surprise her with new nicknames if I so wanted, but since names were still relatively new to me, I decided not to get that advanced until I was thoroughly versed with the existing selection of names.

------

By the time we arrived near Port Hercule, the cars were all on the starting line of the track and the teams were ensuring that all race preparations were complete. Although Mara had stolen the superyacht, she did return it in the same condition as when she commandeered it, minus the sheets of course. Those were dropped into the water as she quite aggressively stated, "I'm not having some random person sleep while smelling me!"

As she parked the superyacht, we made sure not to hang around the area and promptly made our way to the top of an apartment building overlooking turns 16 & 17, where the interruption was due to take place.

From the apartment building we were stood on top of we could also see the starting line and sure enough, like Mara said, just before the race was about to start, Tony Stark came out to replace the driver of the Stark Industries team's car. Just after we had re-confirmed the locations of the broadcast towers, the red lights above the cars on the start line lit up one-by-one until they were all finally lit. Accompanied by Mara's commentary - "It's lights out and away we go!" - the red lights went out and the cars went speeding off, signifying the start of the race.

Instead of watching the cars race round the track, we were both looking out for Whiplash in his bright orange steward uniform. Mara couldn't remember if the movie said what lap he finally made his move on or whether she just forgot. She did, however, remember the place where it happened, so all we had to do was 'keep our eyes peeled' on the patch of track between turns 16 & 17.

Only about 5 laps into the race, a man wearing bright orange steward overalls walked onto the track, removing his protective helmet, and exposing his shoulder length black hair interspersed with grey streaks. Without stopping for even a second, he continuing walking right into the path of the speeding race cars. Recognising this as Whiplash's entrance, we immediately got to work disabling the farthest broadcast tower that could clearly see the stretch of track he appeared on.

As we went around disabling the broadcast stations, Whiplash finally burnt through his overalls activating his makeshift Iron Man imitation. He extended his whips before attacked the first car, a red Ferrari, to pass him when he was combat ready. Slashing into the car diagonally, just before the driver, and cleanly cutting through the nose section of the speeding vehicle. The Ferrari proceeds to front flip in the air due to the momentum pushing down on the front of the car from the attack, and only stopping once it impacts the wire mesh fencing installed to protect spectators from any danger coming from the track.

Within 15 seconds of that incident, Tony comes blazing round the corner completely unaware of what was waiting for him. In a similar fashion to the Ferrari, Whiplash slashes through the nose of Tony's car, but this time horizontally, send the car soaring through the air, performing a somersault before landing and coming to a stop upside down before reaching the meshing. 

Increasing our speed slightly, we were able to disable all the broadcast towers just as Whiplash had finished walking over to Tony's car and slashing through the driver's seat, effortlessly cleaving it in half. Evidently, he had not anticipating that Tony had already escaped the flipped car as the seat was empty. Stark then crept up behind him and hit him over the back of the head with a piece of debris from the wrecked Ferrari, which was the first casualty in the attack.

Mara was biding her time, waiting for the perfect moment to drop in and introduce herself as all the preparations were complete. And she didn't have to wait long.

Straight after Tony had hit whiplash with the alloy plate, he was launched back and into a wrecked car. This new wrecked car was the result of the slower cars trying to stop in order to avoid what was happening ahead, but the cars behind them not reacting in time, causing a huge pileup of cars further made worse by their exploding fuel tanks.

Not letting the golden opportunity slip her by, Mara launched herself off the top of the apartment building we stood on and landed right next to Tony's prone form. 

"Hey there Mr. Stark, you wouldn't happen to need a hand now, would you?"

Whiplash who was previously slowly walking towards Tony, froze in confusion at our unannounced appearance.

Tony rolled over in his prone position to see who had spoken to him before blindly accepting her offer. "Sure kid. I'll take all the help I can get right now."

With an exhilarated grin sporting her face, Mara turns away from the now slightly relaxed Tony, to face Whiplash who had just broken out of his daze.

As she stared down Whiplash, I began her suit form transition. Starting from her feet, and flowing up her legs like tides of water, replacing the combat suit clothing form with my dense natural body. When I made my way to the top of her neck I performed her favourite part of the suit transformation, eating her head. After hours of contemplation and internal debating with herself, Mara finally settled on an iconic one-liner from another of her favourite movie franchises. Even knowing said franchise also existed in this universe from the references used in the various Marvel movies, she simply couldn't help herself. Using our distorted voice caused by both of our voices overlapping in suit form, punctuated with a face splitting smile, she enthused out:

"Mmmm~ This is where the fun begins~"