Mary Ledbetter and the Manipulative Duo

Mary had been waiting for a good ten minutes for Greg to show up by the time he finally rolled into the quiet street. Her jaw dropped when she saw his car. He pulled up and smiled, a smile she politely returned before opening the door and hopping in.

"This is your car?" she asked, sounding a little disappointed.

"Yeah. Hey...I know she doesn't look that nice, but it gets me around."

"Um...okay. Sorry...wasn't trying to be rude." Mary pulled the seatbelt across herself and clicked it securely in place.

The car was a worn-out Crown Victoria, and judging from the dodgy paint it was an ex police cruiser from the 80's. The interioir was as rough as the outside, but Mary decided not dwell on it.

"So...how far away are they?" she asked, changing the subject while Greg nursed his wounded pride.

"Two suburbs over. I can feel them...they're at it again. What's with the get-up?"

"I had a talk with someone today. We've got a contact inside the police force who want to help me. I mean...help us."

"What? Did you tell you Dad?"

"I didn't tell anyone. She already knew."

"She?"

"Detective Gonza. She called me...and we did lunch today. Then we went shopping and I bought this."

"Isn't that skirt a bit short?" he asked, seeming to disaprove of her showing so much leg.

"It is summer, Greg," Mary reminded him. "And I have this." She pulled her mask out. It was a simple design, large enough to cover the top half of her face.

"Really? A mask?"

"I don't want any of this getting back to Dad. And I don't want people recognising me."

"Is this Gonza woman going to help tonight?"

"I have her number. We can call her in once we know what these guys are up to."

Greg was silent for a while, but as they neared their destination he spoke again.

"We're almost there. Are sure you want to do this?"

"Yes. I can stop them hurting anyone else, and I might be the only one who can."

"Okay. Well..." he pulled the car over and parked it, reaching into the console to grab change for the meter. "...here we are. They're down that alley. "

Mary looked at the alley entrance for a moment, then steeled herself and pulled on the mask. "Then I better go find out what they're up to. You can stay here, if you like."

"And let you go down there on your own? No way!"

"Look, Greg...I'm a lot stronger than I look. They con't possibly do anything to hurt me. There is nothing to be worried about, okay? But you, on the ther hand...you can get hurt. So just stay, for me, okay?"

Greg frowned. "I'll be watching." He tried to sound reassuring, but only managed to make super-strong companion smile.

"Thank you, Greg. Now...time for me to go to work!"

Mary walked casually from the car. Before her fight with Uncle Jim she would never have come to this part of town, but she no longer afraid of anything that someone might try to do. Once she was in the shadows of the alley she slipped on her mask and crept down until she could see the two men she sought. Keeping out of sight, she found a nook and hid there for a moment, trying to listen in on their conversation. She wanted to know a little more before approaching them, having gotten only vague insights on them from Greg. Now that she had them in her sights, she was confident they would not get away.

Mary frowned. She didn't think for a moment anything these two men could do would pose a serious threat to her. Other, that is, than boring her to death. She had been hoping to at least learn which man had which ability before talking to them, but she wasn't prepared to wait all night for them to show her. Gonza had suggested just following them, hopefully learning enough to give the detective a reason to bring them in. Impatient, Mary had decided on a different course. She would simply asked them what they were up to.

Steeling herself with a quick and silent "C'mon Mary...you can do this," she stepped out of her hiding place and walked boldly into the light where both would unable to miss her.

"Hello, boys!" she greeted them. "I hear you two are training for something big. So...which one of you bends spoons, and which one does the fancy light shows?"

"And neither of you two look anything like Magneto. You don't hear me complaining, do you?" Mary put her hands on her hips, not really sure what the guy was getting at. "I know all about the hardware store robbery. You two have hurt people. Now you're going to pay. I want both of you to walk straight into the nearest police station and hand yourselves in. Tonight. RIght now."

As much as Mary wanted to make the first move here, she knew that if she did she would risk becoming the villain. That was a line she didn't want to cross. But if they attacked her, she was ready to give them a lesson they would never forget.

Mary looked down at the trash can, her hands not leaving her hips.

"That wasn't very nice!" she told them, clearly unphased in any way by what should have been a fatal blow. Now sure who was who, she picked up and emptied the trashcan, then punched out it's base. Leaping into Lance's path she lifted the bin and pulled it down over his head like a cheap straight-jacket, securing his arms tighly against his sides, and pushed him over. "Now who looks like an idiot?" she asked, giving him a light tap with her toe and rolling him back toward his friend. "So," she said, giving Alexander a smouldering look. 'You want to play toss the trashcan? How about a game of toss the dumpster instead?" Mary leant down and put a hand under a lage dumpster beside her, and lifted it into the air with one hand. She tossed it toward Alexander, sending it sailing over his head to come crashing down blocking the alle entrance. "Are you sure you want to keep playing? How about you just tell me what the hell you two are up to out here? Or should I just take you into the police right now?"

Mary let out an involuntary gasp as the light hit her eyes, blinding in its intensity. She blinked a few times, but the light was still focused on her. She had gotten it wrong. She had assumed that the man running must have been the light show expert, but it was now apparent he had somehow managed to hit her with the bin without watching.

Though the light was painful at first, Mary found that after a few seconds she could see at least well enough to know where both men were. She could see that the trashcan had not held the man long, and she realised if she didn't act fast both men would soon be gone. She still wanted to know what they were up to, and wasn't prepared to let them get away so easily. She ran up to the man who was blinding her, grabbed him firmly, and leapt to the roof of the four storey building beside them. Dumping him unceremoniously she looked down to see the metal manipulator. Taking out the cable-ties Greg had suggested, she leapt down took hold of his arms from behind, still having difficulty in seeing clearly. Easily overpowering him, she held both hand behind his back and zipped them together. Then she took him to the roof and dumped him there.

Before the light-show expert could pull another trick, Mary went back down to the street and ran to the nearest car. She didn't ntice there was someone inside it until she had already broken the passenger side mirror off the door.

"Oh...um...sorry!" she told the wide-eyed man. "But I really need this!"

That said, Mary bolted back into the alley and leapt up to the two men.

"Do you want to keep playing, scumbags?" she demanded, a little frustrated at how difficult this was proving to be. "Or are you going to start talking before I tear your arms off?"

To show them she could back up her threat, Mary tore off a piece of the nearby railing. Holding it in her hands, she pulled it in oposite directions until the metal groaned and snapped.

"Well? Ready to talk yet?"

Mary cursed as the world went dark, She dropped the mirror and waved her hands in front of her face. She couldn't see them, but she could hear them. She moved forward and grabbed both of them by their shirt fronts and hoisted them easily into the air, their feet swinging a foot off the roof.

"Take this stuff out of my eye!" she demanded, giving them a careful shake.

The darkness remained, and Mary started to feel strange. Her head started to spin, and felt a groggy...almost as if the darkness with settling over her consciousness. She swayed, dropping the man, and nearly lost her footing.

"What are you...what are you doing to me?"

With that question left hanging in the air, Mary Ledbetter collapsed unceremoniously.