Fustercluck

There were sounds coming from the alley. Metal groaned against concrete. A sliding dumpster. Metal clanged. A trash can and it’s lid smashing into a wall. Bodies. Several meaty thumps. An alley cat, meow. Hiss. From a few houses away, barking. Muffled voices. Crying. A whisper. Silence, then the same phrase repeated. It came out the alley’s end loud, and not the least bit restrained.

”Where is Rachel?!” The voice? Gravelly, and absolutely fake. The reply? Whiny. Not faked.

“S-s-stoneface.”

More muttering. A scream.

To the outside observer, peering in, the scene would be a mess, unnatural, like the alleys contents had been tossed by a crashing wave. A dumpster on its side, trash scattered. Cans displaced, a lid lost. Four bodies, still alive. On the ground. Not conscious. Men, late 20s. Gang or mob. One man, still conscious. On the ground, with a woman in black looming over him.

Black pants, black shirt, black hoodie. Hood up. From behind, one could not tell age or sex or much beyond build and height… and even that was uncertain in the shadows. Black blended with black. She had made certain clothing was black, she had asked. Even the mask she wore was black. A domino mask borrowed (or stolen) from one of the x-men. There was also two streaks of black underneath each eye, and on closer inspection, maybe it was around each eye and extended beneath the mask as well. Maybe that was gross and the owner would not want their mask back? Who cared? The one notable thing other than the gothic horror show that was her wardrobe… was the small trickle of blood from one nostril, that ran down her face.

She stood over him and looked tough… but she was not feeling it. Use one of the wave always tired her. Not fatally, but she still felt as if she had ran far. The brooding darkness was an act. So was the confidence. But the bat in her hand was real wood.

Information gained… as much as it would do her any good… the woman drew back the bat, ready to knock the fellow out.

“Who the hell are you?!” He shouted.

Lenna did not know. Her mind latched on to the first nearby things she saw.

”Bat… man?”

She prepared to bonk.

New York City was loud. All the time. Noises from traffic, pedestrians, strays, and the industrialized management of city services. That meant that the odd trashcan banging or person screaming was not too out of place. It was when the sounds of destruction and upheaval came from the same place as the scream when you paid attention to it.

Ranger was out stretching his legs. He was enjoying a short break from raising his daughter, Noel was with her while Ranger had left to tie up a loose end for SUPER. He needed to make his way back soon, but years of having been trained to run toward the sounds of violence left him all but unable to do anything else.

This compulsion led Ranger to an alley that was a complete mess. Everything was everywhere but where it should be. A complete cluster.

In the heart of the cluster was someone wearing all black with a hood up and a bat in hand. The one in all black stood over the other person and spoke to them. As they did, Ranger slid into the alley. Careful to keep his footfalls quiet. If it was a mugging he would step in. Maybe the darkly dressed person had just beaten the other people strewn about the alley to help the other person.

Nope.

The dark clad person raised their bat.

Ranger surged forward and reached to grab the bat before it came down. ”Fun’s over, friend.”

His footfalls as he had entered the alley had been silent, but the rush forward to grab the bat from out of her hands had made a sound. Plus, there was the sudden recognition the still-conscious person had flash across his face, as he looked past for for any possible help he could find. He noticed the newcomer before she did… and that helped her notice the man, at all.

He wanted her baseball bat? She would let him have it. As his fingers wrapped around the wood of the bat, Lenna let her fingers spread out and release it. As she did so, Lenna ducked down and turned away from him, body moving in a circle so she could wrap around and behind the thug she had been about to hit. She hit them. On the back of their head. They fell forward, towards the newcomer. Unconscious. She had punched the “off-switch.”

Lenna’s eyes flicked up to the new man’s face as she took two steps back and away from them. Her arms? She raised them. Her time around the X-men had taught her that some people who come to crime scenes are there to help. And he might have thought her the problem… rather than the men unconscious on the ground all around them.

She spoke quickly. ”These men kidnap children. They are bad people. They took a friend. He is of better use to everyone unconscious. You would not like him when he is conscious.”

Her eyes finally found his face. It was a familiar one. But not by much… in her dark clothes, hood, and domino mask, he would not likely have the same type of recognition. At least, until she spoke. Then he might try and place the face behind the mask.

”I know you… wait. No. She did. Oh %^+k. Bye.”

Lenna turned to go.

Ranger secured the bat. One point to him. The perpetrator let go of the bat and slipped around to rabbit punch the person they were about to grand slam. Ranger dropped the bat and caught the man under the arms before the concrete redid his smile.

After letting the man down on the ground, Ranger was back up, bladed off, with one arm up between him and the batless bat-woman.

The woman spoke and while her face was behind a mask… Her voice was familiar to Ranger. Very very familiar.

When the woman announced that she or some other woman knew Ranger and turned to run Ranger stammered before sighing. He wasn’t about to let her get away after dropping someone who was allegedly a bad guy.

Ranger was fast. Always was. Even before his mutant power manifested he could run quickly. Now with his power boosting his speed he could really move. His arm shot out like a cobra to snatch the back of the woman’s hood and pull her back. ”C’mon now, y’ cain’t jus’ hit an’ run.”

He chased her. Bad. This was bad. Why could he not leave her alone?!

Her caught her hood. As she turned back towards him, it fell away.

>>”C’mon now, y’ cain’t jus’ hit an’ run.”

She was starting to dislike cowboys.

”Why not?” Lennna seethed behind the domino mask and black face grease paint. ”No one wants to talk to you. And every moment I do, is a moment I am not saving someone from a kidnapper. So let go.” Before she made him let go.

Was he not? She sighed. ”No. you would not, would you? You are the type to hold on for more information when someone is in danger, so you can help them. So I guess you can help me find a man named Stoneface before he hurts more people. Go ahead, let me go so we can go.”

She was bluffing. She did not want his help. Though it might be helpful…

The woman turned to face Ranger. Her hood down but a mask still on her face. Her voice was so familiar to Rangere but he couldn’t quite place it. The muffling from the mask was distorting it just enough.

Ranger had to blink at what she said. She had sized him up well enough. While he could act and make split second decisions, he could and often would hold people to milk them for information to use when he sprang to action.

”Bingo. I’m the type t’ hold y’ f’r more information.” Ranger said, keeping a firm grip on the hood. ”Tell me about this Stoneface an’ why y’r not the bag guy in this situation.” Ranger gestured back to the bat and the other man.

”An’ maybe y’ could lose the mask.” Ranger said. It wasn’t a request. Either she would remove it or he would.

She had correctly summarized who he was. In layman’s terms, she had his number. He would not let her walk away,

>> ”Tell me about this Stoneface an’ why y’r not the bag guy in this situation.”

Had she not personally already explained to him what the situation was? Oh well. She could repeat herself.

”These men kidnap children. They are bad people.” Lenna stated. Her Colombian accent was thick, but there was the hint of the voice he knew buried on it. She sighed, and added: ”I do not kidnap people. I am not a bad person. Stone face is a crime boss. He does not have a stone face, I do not think. He is a bad person.”

There. Neatly summarized. Mostly. He wished her to remove the mask. He wanted to know her identity. The grease paint would still obscure features, regardless of the masks removal. She needed to speed this progress along.

She removed the mask. ”I avoided you for so long.” Lenna said, stuffing the mask in a pocket. She wiped at the paint with a sleeve… which only smudged it, and smeared it around, on her face and sleeve. Great. ”My name is Lenna. This is awkward.” Thees eez awkward, her accent said. ”I am the de-aged, alternative version of a woman you once knew, who cried when talking to you, then flew away. Awk-ward. My ex showed me that vision from a memory on an object, but— it lacked context.” She made a bitter face. ”It lacked sound. My idiot ex-boyfriend. You should give me context, but— my friend Rachel has been kidnapped by human traffickers, so talk while we move. And let go.”

She looked the cow boy in the eye.

The accent and the voice—even with the mask it was clawing at Ranger’s mind. So familiar. The more the woman spoke the more he felt he should be able to place it. She repeated that the man and the others associated with him were kidnappers. She told Ranger that Stone face was a crime boss.

Then she removed her mask as she said she had avoided Ranger for so long. He squinted at her then as she wiped the grease on her face it clicked. His eyes went wide a she confirmed, it was Lenna.

In Ranger’s subjective time, he had been with Lenna only a few years prior. Before he had been de-aged. Ranger released Lenna’s hood and slowly brought his hand back. She was an alternate version who was de-aged. Ranger had read about the alternate universe, how a female version of himself had crossed over and got herself involved in the hiring process of one of the Blac-Tac employees.

”Right.” Ranger said, before gesturing for Lenna to lead, ”Lead the way.”

Ranger worked to sort his thoughts. He had so many questions, but they could each have their time. ”Yeah, I can give y’ context. Maybe. I was also de-aged.” Ranger scanned the area—still clear— then pulled a SIG from his waistband and press checked, ”How can I help get Rachel back.” Ranger said and returned the sidearm to its concealment.

Right. After all of that… right.

Right.

That was his response.

Right.

Well. It was a lot to digest. And they had only truly met like 60 seconds ago, on bad terms. She could not fault him for being taciturn and monosyllabic. They would have to work towards syllables.

She took a few steps back into the alley, and grabbed her baseball bat. Then, she lead him five steps out of the alley, and stopped.

>> ”Yeah, I can give y’ context. Maybe. I was also de-aged.” He said.

Hey! They had achieved more than one syllable. Progress.

She watched him check his weapon. A gun would have been good to have on-hand, for her. She had been trying to go without those lately, though. Too easy to actually shoot someone.

Her head hurt from having used her big telekinetic push already, that day. Maybe a gun would have been a nice backup. She supposed she could always take one from a downed enemy.

>> ”How can I help get Rachel back.”

”A second set of eyes helps. A good mind. Good aim, and the sense when to use a gun and when not to. And give me your name.” She did not know it.

Lenna pulled out her phone and tapped on it, bringing up her contacts list.

”I used to have the addresses for a lot of kidnapping operations. But that was a year ago, and things change. Hold on—“ She put the phone to her head. ”Hello, Aura. Lenna. Can you get the current address for a man called Stone Face from your contacts? He kidnapped a friend. Need to find his operations….. Yeah. I can wait. I’ll be here.”

She ended the call. Looked to the man. Held up 1 finger. The phone rang a minute later. She answered. Said thanks, hung up.

Lenna looked to the man. ”Do you have a ride?”

Second set of eyes, good mind, good aim, and ability to make shoot don’t shoot decisions. Ranger nodded. That was easy enough to manage. Almost like he had made a career of it.

”Michael Hunter.” Ranger said, feeling odd giving Lenna his name. Someone who he had so much history with. Only, it wasn’t the same Lenna. Just someone who looked like her. A Lenna from another universe. ”I was a Ranger an’ on Task Force Green. I have those things in spades. ” His tone was flat, clear of any boasting or bravado. Matter of fact.

Ranger wasn’t sure to be impressed or weary that Lenna used to have all the addresses for kidnapping operations. Impressed because it was a large task. Weary since he still didn’t know this Lenna. He felt like he did, but had to remind himself he didn’t.

So Ranger waited while Lenna worked a contact—Aura. The name sounded familiar. Ranger mulled it over, he thought that was the name of a hooligan from when he first came to New York.

After the second call Lenna asked if Ranger had a ride.

Ranger nodded with a, ”Yeah. Not far.” and a thumb hook to indicate the direction.

Ranger set off to lead the way. ”Y’ know this universe’s Lenna, ‘r jus’ visions from y’r ex?” Ranger asked the question but his tone indicated he also was questioning his own question. That he got the story right, that her ex had shown him visions. Which given his wife’s power wasn’t much of a stretch.

Michael Hunter.

Mike Hunter.

Mike Hunt.

Obvious Alias aside, he was giving backstory. She listened. They could talk real names later and it would be a lovely conversation.

>> “I was a Ranger an’ on Task Force Green. I have those things in spades.”

Her math teacher sometimes talked of costumes heroes, super Sentai. He said it was the Japanese one that came first, and he drew little costumed figures in helmets forming math equations and being dumb. He grew sad once, because someone American had died. He had been a Green ranger. Also, a white one. This Mike Hunter had been a green ranger. Also, a white one. She did not know ranks, or military units or any of that from Adam, but she was not willing to assume he put on a green bodysuit and helmet, to fight bad guys. Although sometimes, army men do just that. Lenna simply made a mental note:

Gogo green ranger, check.

She made and finished her call. He had a ride. She followed with a quick “good.”

He asked a question as they walked

>>”Y’ know this universe’s Lenna, ‘r jus’ visions from y’r ex?”

”He could read memories on objects. I inherited her apartment, and stuff. Had her purse when I deaged. Of course, SUPER chased me out after a while because they thought I was a rogue agent, or something. But I kicked their asses. And eventually I got to go back for the stuff. Left the place, though. Stayed at the mansion for a while, until I found this worlds Lenna’s aunt and— why do I share this,” she turned to stare at him.

Usually, she did not monologue like this. To complete strangers. And never this much personal information, when she did.

”You lack the power to makes others spill their hearts truths, correct?” Lenna said warily. If he was making her speak truths, there was always a way to test it. ”I am wearing a green dress.”

She waited a moment, then said “no.” Her clothing was not green, and not a dress. It was not that. His power. Unless he could turn it on and off at will!!!!!

But, no. That was silly.

She eyed “mike hunt”. Unless...

Lenna described a power that reminded Ranger of Noel’s, only with less licking he imagined. Lenna had access to the apartment and things of the Lenna that Ranger knew. That made sense. This Lenna had had a run in with SUPER and handled them. Impressive, but if she was anything like the Lenna Ranger knew, that wasn’t surprising.

What was surprising is that Ranger’s power had been able to act. This Lenna wasn't an adapted. Ranger stowed that away for later. Was she just a human or was she a mutant?

After Lenna had wound herself up talking about herself to answer Ranger’s question, she cut herself off and asked why she was sharing all of it, staring at Ranger as she did.

Rangers shrugged at her. Then answered her follow up question with a simple, ”No.”

Lenna then told a lie. Testing to see if Ranger was compelling the truth? The way she was talking about a power being used on her, yup. Certainly not an adapted.

”No, I don’t have a power t’ compel speech ‘r ensure the truth is spoken.” Ranger said as he pulled a keyfob out of his pocket and clicked it. The lights on a murdered out Ford Mustang flicked on and the engine roared to life. The sound gave away that it was far from stock. It was a Hellcat Tamer. ”An’ if I did… The Lenna I knew, I wouldn’t’ve been able t’ use a power on.”

Ranger opened the driver side door to the Hellcat tamer and looked back to Lenna. ”Not sure how y’r ex’s power worked, but the power I know t’ see memories can… Alter y’ a little. I was close t’ the Lenna from this universe f’r a while. Might’ve picked up some of that.” Ranger shrugged. It was a thought.

No. Right. She believed him. Yes.

No.

He once again insisted he had no such power, and added an interesting detail. Or at least, it would have been interesting if the detail had been new. She knew aura, who knew the original her. She had asked. Aura had shared. Lenna 1 had been a Null. That was a special human who nullified mutations in a small area around themselves. It seemed a useful power, but with some baggage. Identity issues for those around her who dealt with it often. It cancelled who they were. Aura disliked Nulls. However, she had liked Lenna. Being aware of how one’s presence works on others is important, and Lenna had been self-aware, respectful, and had tread with care.

She nodded at Mike, to confirm she understood the statement he had made. She uttered a quick word: “Null.” That was all she said on that subject, for the moment. She grew thoughtful.

Her other self was interesting, and reconfirmed details were good. She could ask more later. It did not tell her what she really wished details about, mainly her self before the deaging process, a self which had seemingly been SUPER, a good dancer (according to Aura), and a woman with few friends.

Strange to know more of a woman you never were, than to know details of who you once had been… hell, she even knew more of Lenna 1’s mother than her own mother. Or father. She had a large gap between her past and that woman’s present (past tense). A gap of ten years. She supposed maybe a lot of details between the two women were similar, but… she shook out of her reverie as she approached his vehicle.

He had unlocked his vehicle with a roar. It was most assuredly a vehicle. Car was not the description word. That roar had been a sound of fiery steeds, nightmares.

He opened the door to let her in.

>> ”Not sure how y’r ex’s power worked, but the power I know t’ see memories can… Alter y’ a little. I was close t’ the Lenna from this universe f’r a while. Might’ve picked up some of that.”

She shrugged one shoulder. She did not think his power could do that. ”I do not think I saw this world’s Lenna. I learned of her from Ty, and Aura. I saw my old self, and a second face she had worn to conceal her identity.” Lenna said.

Loads of things were interesting about that one, and maybe the change had been to hide from people who knew the other her. Like him. This was Movies levels of shit.

”Three different versions of me, in two bodies. ‘Plum loco,’ to use a phrase.” She made a face, and sat down in the vehicle. Buckled herself in. Turned and slid the bat into the back seat. She had really leaned on the Spanish accent, there, had she not? She kept it up. ”Phrases like ‘things transcending time and space’, similarities… dios mio, how stupid. I grew up watching westerns, Mike. Conditioned socially to trust a Texan, right? Like Star Wars, too. If you were small and green, I would probably call you master and try to carry you on my back.” She laughed at herself. She could be such an idiot.

She looked at him, and told him the address. Some warehouse in some area that was shadowy, my, how original. Near the water, and shipping lanes, she probably should have suggested it first, without thinking too hard. Almost blindingly, dumbly obvious.

”I am so glad I checked first, for a location soooo obvious.” She said scathingly, giving herself shit as she covered embarrassment. ”You probably know the way already. Been there two, three times? Not even going to think about it. Here is a distraction. Two questions. What is your power, and can I borrow a gun?”

Crazy, that is what this was. ‘Plum Loco.’ She would not kill, if it could be avoided. A gun was still a good tool to have.

Lenna shot down Ranger’s theory. Which was fine, it had been a guess. Powers were so different in form and function that even two powers that showed memories would likely work very differently in how they affected people.

Ranger nodded and moved to get in the driver seat of the Hellcat tamer. Lenna’s Colombian accent thickened and she dropped a little spanish to describe her situation. She was right though. Three different versions of her from two different bodies was plum loco. Ranger was in a similar but different boat. Hee had been de-aged so there was his old life and his new life, but also his time as Noel had filled his head with scattered memories from different people.

”Good sense that makes.” Ranger said with a small smile, ” Probably works out better t’ trust a Texan than a Yank anyway.” Then adopting a less joking tone Ranger added, ”I can relate t’ the issue of so many versions of y’rself. I had my old life before de-agein’, this life… An’ A head full of memories from other people’s lives.”

Lenna provided the address, Ranger nodded and put the car in gear before launching into traffic. Over 600 horsepower was rather excessive in New York City, but it meant he could maneuver through traffic with ease. Small body, high acceleration, and incredible braking let him slide the vehicle anywhere he wanted.

The location was obvious, but sometimes the bad guys throw curveballs. That time it worked out in their favor. No surprise. What was surprising was Lenna’s ‘distraction’. What were his powers and could she borrow a gun?

”It’s… Complicated.” Ranger cast a glance at Lenna, ”I can be strong, fast, see in the dark, and can be durable. Not all at once an’ I don’t exactly control it. At least not on a conscious level. It’s how I stopped y’ earlier. Caught y’ faster than a normal human could have moved their arm.” Ranger stopped at a red light and looked Lenna in the eyes. He had to remind himself he didn’t know that particular Lenna, but it wasn’t like she could likely hurt him with the gun and he could probably stop her if she used it on others she shouldn’t. ”There’s a Glock in the glove box ‘r a Maxim PDX-S under y’r seat.” Lenna could have her choice. 9mm handgun or an AR pattern rifle in 7.62x39 with a 4 inch barrel, PDW style stock, and an Aimpoint.

”If y’r not an adapted like the you from this universe, what can y’ do?”

>> ”Good sense that makes.” Ranger said with a small smile.”

She met the smile with a small one of her own. Nodded at his joke. Listened to his own problems, and just how he could relate to those she had. Yep. These things were quite the fuster cluck… at least, she thought that was the phrase someone had tried to teach her, for when things went FUBAR, sideways, pear-shaped, awry. Bad. Their lives seemed to be messy.

Oh well.

—

The car impressed her with its speed and mobility, but Lenna focused more on the man, and less on the city lights blazing by.

His power was complicated. Fast, strong, durability, utility. But out of his control. She clenched the knees of her pants as Lenna digested the information. This made his powers largely reactionary. Or else, a wild card. He was a joker. But also, a former ranger, whatever that was. He had a gun.

Fun.

They stopped, and she met his eyes. She did not glance away. He seemed to be reading something about her. He decided it was good, whatever it was.

>> ”There’s a Glock in the glove box ‘r a Maxim PDX-S under y’r seat.”

She thought on it a moment. A bigger gun was tempting to the old Lenna, who she had been before she had woken from being deaged, and made a decision about starting fresh from who she had been. No kills. The Glock appealed to who she currently was. Smaller. Still deadly. It was more limited than the Glock, but they weren’t getting into firearms comparisons or psychological analysis any further, that specific night. She reached into the glove box with a quiet thank you.

Glock, acquired.

She did a routine check of the firearm, to make sure she knew the status. All the important details, loaded or unloaded, etc. She was careful, textbook safe. It was clear she respected the weapon. Not some silly person who ‘wants a gun!’ No, she was someone who knew about guns, and would be careful. Someone who used it for self defense, and had put in time to know how to use the gun well. Someone he could seemingly trust. As far as this gun went.

He asked what her power was.

>>”If y’r not an adapted like the you from this universe, what can y’ do?”

If she had wished to be secretive, Lenna would have said an age-old refrain. ‘Luck manipulation.’ It told everything, and nothing, about what her power could do. Make shots go wide, by subtly shifting aims. Bump objects and events in her favor, with her mind. By funny coincidence, this was the same lie OG Lenna told members of the Order when she lead. The ones who could not handle the truth. ‘Oh, power stopped? Unlucky.’ Lenna did not know this detail.

They were being honest, this night. She did not give the lie.

”I move things with my mind. I can levitate. I carry up to the weight of a grown man. 200? 300. I prefer to use this on the small scale, though. To nudge things in my favor. I call it ‘luck manipulation’, to trick idiots. They get overconfident. Think small. They don’t expect it, when big things happen. Just sooo lucky. I swear.” she shot him a sarcastic smile from across the car.

There was one more thing she could do, but she was kind of low on energy for that. Should not use it more, so why mention it at all? If she did wind up using it? Look, a miracle! So lucky. Suerte.