Marie in Crisis
After parting ways with Spica and heading home, Marie noticed a call from Jeong Yuseong and picked up.
"Marie-ssi. Have you eaten?"
Marie had suspected for some time that Jeong Yuseong was the werewolf... Joker. That was why she'd given him her number in the first place. Yet he often called her out of the blue like this, completely casual. If he really was a werewolf, he'd probably try to steer clear of heroes altogether. The occasional contact made her wonder if she'd been wrong all along. Still, she hadn't fully shaken her doubts. When Joker had shown up at the hospital, Jeong Yuseong had been there too. A werewolf beating heroes to a terror site meant he'd been there from the start. Just another coincidence? Spica seemed to have taken a bit of a liking to that werewolf, but she hadn't seen their true nature—couldn't grasp the terror they inspired. They weren't human at all. Just monsters mimicking human emotions.
Marie felt a certain fondness for Jeong Yuseong herself. Not romantically—as a person. But if he turned out to be a werewolf for real, she'd kill him without a second thought.
Oblivious to her suspicions, Jeong Yuseong rambled on about this and that over the phone. He clearly had something on his mind but kept circling around it, never quite getting to the point. Still, the mindless chatter made the lonely walk home a little less dull, so Marie didn't press him. She played along, enjoying it.
Just as he seemed about to shift gears and spit it out—
Thwack.
"Guh!!"
A sudden jolt of pain exploded at the back of her head. Marie dropped her phone and crumpled to the ground. Distracted by the call, she hadn't braced for an ambush. That blow would've killed any ordinary person outright. They'd targeted her specifically as a hero.
Marie rolled, righted herself in a flash, and whipped around to face her attacker.
"Tch. I held back, and you just pop right up."
"You... Villain Alliance?"
In these times, who else would jump a hero?
"Bingo. Be a good girl and come quietly? Nah, didn't think so."
"No kidding. Attacking a hero in broad daylight—you guys must be really desperate."
"Your fault things are this messed up."
"Hey, quit yapping. People could show any second—grab her quick."
The street was empty for now, but it was a busy enough area that any commotion would draw a crowd fast. Made no sense for an ambush here. But when had villains ever made sense?
Determined to take them down right here, Marie surged with power. Three opponents. They weren't trying to kill her—just knock her out and drag her off. Better to capture them first, pry out whatever scheme they were cooking.
The three in front charged as one. Distance closed in a blink; fists flew with enough force to pulverize bones and organs of any normal human.
But they never touched her.
Thung.
"Gah!?!"
"What the—?!"
Their punches slammed into a transparent shield hovering in midair. Pain ricocheted back at them. Marie's barrier ability.
A defense specialist, she'd lost to Bomberman before—caught off-guard while shielding Jeong Yuseong. But dug in for defense? Good luck cracking her. Problem was, her offense sucked. How to subdue them? A big fight would summon heroes quick, but civilians might get hurt first. Couldn't risk it. Spica was nearby—maybe call her?
Then vertigo hit like a truck. She dropped to one knee.
"Ugh... what the..."
"Sheesh. All this trouble for one mid-rank hero?"
"...Not three. Four."
"Ding ding. Too late now."
Situation: critical. Her barriers blocked physical hits fine. But non-physical attacks like this? Wide open. Worst matchup imaginable.
Head throbbed, world spun like she'd chugged booze till blackout. Nausea roiled. Standing took everything.
"What're you waiting for? Subdue her already. You can't lose to some dizzy chick, right?"
"Yes, sir!"
Marie struggled to rise, fight back. Even at full strength, 4-on-1 was rough. Like this? Impossible.
Thwack.
Another blow to the head. Lights out. Marie slumped unconscious.
"Move it. Don't wanna draw eyes."
"Why bother kidnapping Marie? Can't we just off Spica?"
"Moron. It's about impact. Killing's not enough. Lure Spica with Marie as bait, film her begging for her mentor's life, post it online? Way bigger splash."
A hero's old YouTube clip—groveling for mercy from villains—had gone viral, sparking massive backlash. Hero morale debates exploded from there. Now imagine Spica, the hot rising star, doing the same? Shockwaves tenfold.
They'd tailed her for days, but too many eyes for a clean hit. Spotting lone Marie? Plan B: snatch her, bait Spica. Two-for-one.
As the others bundled the limp Marie, the vertigo villain scooped her dropped phone. Call still live—he hung up. Some guy yelling "What happened?!" on the line. Whatever. Irrelevant.
Now text Spica from this, reel her in. They knew she'd come running solo—no games. Marie was her girl.
"Marie-ssi? Marie-ssi! Something wrong? Say something!"
Mid-chat with Marie, a weird noise cut her off. Faint sounds trickled through after, but too muffled to make out. What the hell was going on?
I'd been calling her name forever when the line died. Bad vibes. Something went down.
Panicking, I barged into Seo Chaerim's room.
"Whoa! Bursting into a girl's room—no knock?!"
"Marie's in trouble!"
"Outta nowhere?"
"We were talking, heard a noise, then call dropped."
"Chill. Probably just got busy."
"Gut says no. Can you check the situation?"
Chaerim could dispatch monsters to scout the city. She'd sniffed out that Midnight ambush first, tipped off Hwang Yerang.
"Even if something happened, why's it your problem? You two close?"
Close? Tricky. Not that tight. But she'd saved my life, one of my few contacts. Of course I worried.
"Please. Just this once."
"..."
I hated asking her, but this felt urgent. She looked shocked I'd even beg—grumpy, but didn't shut me down cold.
"Fine. Hold on."
She swiped at thin air. Reality cracked, birthing a monster.
Chaerim's summons were always freaky. Past ones triggered pure revulsion. This? Tiny fairy-like thing. Black body gave it an eerie vibe, but cute enough for fans. Hard to clock as a monster.
She cradled it in her palm, stroked its head like old pals. Later I learned: fairy was her comms hub. Shared vision with tuned monsters, beamed her will real-time. Core of her monster network.
City full of her spies—she closed her eyes, synced deep. I waited, blood pressure spiking.
Finally, eyes open: "Looks like villains snatched her."