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"You're even stronger than your reputation suggests, Mr. Mega. Perhaps a more serious method of extraction is in order."
"Do your worst. I'm like a Russian nesting doll. You may break me down, but there's four more of me waiting inside." What was a Russian nesting doll? "Pretty soon you'll be left with just a tiny little version of me."
Marvelous watched on as the two...Russians? proceeded to have discussions about torturing the man identified as Mr. Mega, until they resorted to tickling him. "Shit! Ah-ha-ha...Stop! Oh, God! Please, please! Ok, ok. I'm working for the American Secret Service. We need pictures of the new weapons you've been developing so we don’t—Please stop!"
"No. no, no. Not until you've given me every last bit of information." said the unnamed man.
"How could you possibly know I'm deathly ticklish behind my neck and ears?" Mega asked.
"Hmm, well, personal history does have its benefits, Mega. Oleg, we're finished here." said the unnamed man, then shot Oleg in his knees.
An ear-splitting scream, and Oleg dropped down to the floor. "Sorry to cut you down, old boy. Thanks for a lovely afternoon of letting off some steam. It was the bee's knees." said the unnamed man, now sounding slightly different.
"Owen Carvour, you limey bastard." sighed Mega. "I knew it was you all along. That accent sure could use some work, though."
The captain allowed himself a small smile as Mega and Owen exchanged some banter. He and Basco used to be like that before everything went south, and it pained him a slight bit, but Gai had insisted on tonight after what happened with the Super Sentai Derby, so he had to refrain from walking out.
It's time to save the world again,
It's time to get the girl again,
It's time to do or die, it's time to stay alive,
It's time to be a spy again.
It's time to dance with Lady Luck,
Be the jury and the judge,
It's time to put on your tux again!
Once a spy, always a spy, forever, forever,
The warmest hello to the coldest goodbye,
Remember, remember,
Spies never die!
Spies are...forever.
Everything seemed to flow smoothly, with some interruptions from a Cynthia and a Barb, then suddenly everything came to a screeching halt. As the Russian Affair came to a close, Marvelous couldn't help but think Agent Curt Mega is a fucking idiot.
He wouldn't have left Owen to die if he were Curt.
Everything after the song "Spy Again" was decent, an opinion Joe and Luka apparently shared. One thing the entire original crew could agree on was what was so bad about "Doctor Baron Von Nazi", and it took Gai to explain just how bad the Nazis were.
In Barb Lavernor, Marvelous saw Doc, their bumbling yet brilliant engineer, Gai, their bundle of energy, and Ahim, the sweetheart of the crew.
In Tatiana Slozhno, he saw Joe, his loyal and courageous first officer, and Luka, the beautiful and deadly yellow rose.
In an hilariously twisted way, Von Nazi reminded him of Warz Gill—both utterly incompetent idiots.
And in the Deadliest Man Alive, he saw the terrifying remnants of the past he left behind.
Lantia.
Kiaido.
Basco.
The last one, the impression had already been given the way he acted. Earlier in the show, the DMA killed one of his henchmen oh-so-casually and he definitely did not think of Sally when he saw that.
He thought of Sally when he saw that.
"Now, Mega, before I chop you up into my carry-on luggage...I'm gonna torture the living shite out of ya."
The sequence that followed was painful to watch, but at the same time, it was most gratifying.
I've been waiting for this moment for such a long time,
And wouldn't you know it, you're finally mine,
If you're hurting, please show it,
Don't be 'fraid to cry,
And just for my enjoyment, you will suffer, suffer, suffer,
Until you die!
So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show,
I've quite the evening planned,
I've cleared up your schedule, nowhere else to go,
Trust me, you're in good hands...
I'm a master of torture, it gets me high,
To show ya the horror of staying alive,
I'll prod ya, and poke ya, and bleed you dry,
And just for my enjoyment, you will suffer, suffer, suffer,
Until you die!
The captain's mind wandered off, imagining himself in Curt's place, imagining a red shawl and messy brown curls and deft, elegant hands all over him. What if, back on that fateful day, Basco had taken him instead of Navi? Would he have suffered, suffered, suffered until the privateer decided he was done with him?
"Why don't you just kill me already?" Curt asked.
"Can't you see?" the DMA barked, and continued singing.
How much I enjoy this?
I'd never avoid this,
'Cause, buddy, I'm a different breed,
This is my calling,
And though it's appalling,
I love making people bleed!
Things went downhill quickly after the DMA killed Von Nazi and revealed himself to be Curt's old partner Owen. That alone was enough to cast a new light on everything he did up until now, but then the bastard began to unravel his grand design, to have all the world's secrets, backed by an evil organization called Chimera. After revealing that he has a whole computing system taking up a facility on a Pacific island, he shot one of Curt's new partners dead, and left, but not before leaving him with a choice.
"Are you gonna go after me? Or are you gonna go after the machine? I think I know which one you'll choose."
Ultimately, Tatiana chose to destroy the system, while encouraging Curt to go after Owen, the two parted ways, Curt fought Owen, Tatiana met Barb at the facility and the two girls went into action, and,
I've nothing left to say to you,
So long,
Farewell,
Auf Wiedersehen,
Adieu,
Goodbye...
...
"Time to take yer final bow, Marvey-chan," said Basco.
"My team is destroying your island facility as we speak. Your surveillance network is fried, there'll be no encore tonight." said Marvelous. "For you."
Basco smiled. "Perhaps ye've destroyed dat island facility. But what o' the others?"
"There's more?" Marvelous asked.
"'Ow does it feel t' know ye'll ne'er catch up wi' us?" Basco said.
"It's not too late to fix this." said Marvelous. "If you agree to give up Chimera, I'm sure the agency can pull some strings."
"YE STILL DON'T SEE, DO YA?!" the brunette bellowed. "There won't be any agency t' go aft to once the system be global. I'm goin' t' single-handedly dismantle everything ye've ever believed in."
The raven swallowed, and said "We used to share those beliefs. Think of the missions we served. The lives we saved. The impact we had on this world. Together. Two of the greatest spies to ever live. And you consider that. Ad you look me in the eyes, and you tell me you don't believe we're making a difference."
"Th' future be happenin', luv. And it's nay goin' t' wait fer ye." Basco calmly spoke. "What use will one man be, when a box in a room can do 'is job in seconds, huh?"
"Sounds boring." said Marvelous.
"Yer a caveman. And I just invented fire." Basco said smugly.
"I'll stop you." Marvelous returned.
"Ye'll do yer best." Basco replied. "Once a spy, always a spy, forever...whatever...the warmest hello to the coldest goodbye, remember...I remember. Spies never die...A new world awaits us, Marvey-chan. A world wi'out agencies, a world wi'out spies...wi'out secrets."
"Some secrets aren't yours to share." Marvelous gave his former partner one last look in the eyes, and said "What about our secret? The time we shared. The feelings we had. For each other. Are you ready to share that with the world?"
"That secret died th' night ye left me fer dead." said Basco, sorrowfully. "Here's some advice, Marvey-chan...It's called moving on. Do give it a try." Just then, a bullet barely passed the brunette's face. "Y'know, killin' me won't take th' system offline. So what are ye doin'?"
"Taking your advice." said Marvelous.
Marvelous was baffled at how fast Curt was to move on from Owen's second death, considering Basco had died and had left him to suffer(, suffer, suffer) for ten years, ten years spent trying various ways to kill himself. At first he'd tried the noose, the most basic way to kill a pirate, but unfortunately, the rope was rotten and there was no more rope on the Galleon. He had chased a crimson butterfly to the ledge of a cliff, and had gotten saved by his crew. He'd tried to get a death verdict at court, only to be declared innocent. He'd lured so many enemies to the Galleon in the hopes one of them would kill him, but it only resulted in the ship getting wrecked in the latest attack and him still alive.
He had burned his red coat after taking out another enemy, and banished all traces of red from his vicinity shortly after.
Perhaps that was the difference between a pirate and a spy, or between theater performances and real life.
No matter. He's not Agent Curt Mega. He's not even a man. What he is, is a perpetual groundwork machine that just won't die. A computer box of living flesh, made to be broken. How long would it take until he loses his mind? How long would it take until he finally snaps? How long would it take until he's even allowed to snap?
Even the living hell he experienced in the brothels would be preferable to his current state. He missed his deadliest man no longer alive, who'd always provide him with a true challenge, a sense of life. No fake smiles, no showy facades, nothing, just themselves, and the ring of their swords.
Without further thought, he threw himself off the railings.