Marvel: The Social Link System

Duncan and his mother have arrived at the hotel where the wedding celebration will take place. After Catherine said something to Paul, he departed. The mother and son duo then entered the hotel, where they were confronted by two armed ladies who had been waiting outside the reception room.

"Plagmann, Catherine." Duncan's mother said to the "Receptionists".

One woman then opened a file and took a photo from it, then nodded to Catherine. "Everything checks out."

"And him?" inquired the other woman.

"My son," Catherine replied.

The woman nodded once more before opening the door. Duncan had been perplexed by the scenario for quite some time. Even though he had never been to a wedding before, he is convinced that this is unusual.

Duncan uttered the question that had been lingering in his mind as soon as they both entered the room. "Who is this person who's ready to get married?" That security, that's not normal."

"The groom's father is rather something," his mother replied. "His son is a close friend of mine, and while his son does not follow in his father's footsteps and is fairly estranged from his family, he is still their family, so they've planned the wedding."

"And what is your friend's father doing that has caused them to impose strict security like this? You mentioned that he previously pinched off a crime boss, right?"

His mother just gave him a sidelong glance before responding. "His father is a rising crime boss. Everyone calls him Mr. Nefaria, so don't do anything idiotic."

Duncan hadn't heard of a crime boss named Nefaria in the Marvel stuff he'd seen, but he was cautious. Duncan's mother led him to a gathering of people in the corner of the room, where he noticed a large number of armed men.

The armed guys gave Catherine a quick glance before making way for her and Duncan. There, he noticed an Italian-looking man calmly smoking a cigar.

"Catherine," said the man in the center, his voice heavy with an Italian accent; he looks like a stereotypical mafia boss from Italy. "We haven't seen each other in a long time."

"Mr. Nefaria," Catherine smiled. "I appreciate you inviting me to Marco's wedding."

"It is entirely natural. He still respects you tremendously," Mr. Nefaria replied.

"How is Giulietta doing?" Catherine enquired yet again. "How is she?"

"She's doing fine," Mr. Nefaria added. "She has learned a lot in training."

Catherine simply nodded. "This is Duncan, my son."

"Is he his son?" Mr. Nefaria stated, and Catherine simply nodded. Duncan felt lost; he couldn't keep up with the talk with all the names being thrown around. "I'm confident he'll do well in life. You can contact us if you have any issues."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Nefaria." Catherine remarked this before walking away with Duncan and taking a seat at one of the tables to await the start of the ceremony.

"What was that?" Duncan inquired, his face set with a grimace. "You worked for him or something?"

"I once saved his life," Catherine replied. "Marco came to me in a state of panic when their crime family was still small. Mr. Nefaria's chest had been shot. I performed surgery on him, and his entire family thanked me."

"I thought you said Marco didn't like the life of a criminal."

"After that incident," Catherine replied.  "I later became Mr. Nefaria's personal doctor, though I'm not usually called."

"Does this have anything to do with your part-time job as a researcher?" Duncan inquired, cynically.

"That's something different." Catherine murmured.

As if on cue, a sudden announcement came from the altar, they urged the guests to take their seats so that the ceremony could begin. Of course, the visitors complied with the hosts' desires, and everyone, including Mr. Nefaria, began to take their seats.

The room was silent, and an organ tune began to play. The groom and the officiant waited on the altar; the groom appeared agitated and anxious at the same time, while Duncan noticed a hint of worry in the man's eyes as well.

The organ music remained loud, but the bride was nowhere to be found. Duncan observed the visitors, who appeared to be unaware of what was going on. Duncan turned to look at Mr. Nefaria, who was ordering his men to inspect the outside of the chamber.

Mr. Nefaria's command was followed by the henchmen walking towards the entrance. They walked out of the room, leaving the guests alone. Soon after, another notification came, and the family apologized because it appeared that the bride was having some difficulties.

While the family was making that announcement, Duncan heard gunshots from outside, but it appeared that only he could hear them. He looked at the wall and noticed that it appeared to be a soundproof room.

"Mum, I'm hearing something from outside." Duncan spoke quietly to his mother.

"What? I didn't hear anything," said Catherine. "What did you hear?"

"Gunshots," Duncan responded, and Catherine's pupils dilated.

"Are you sure?" Catherine inquired, and Duncan simply nodded.

Catherine then looked around and found another door leading to an unknown location. She then spoke quietly to her son. "Run towards that door if anything happens."

Duncan could only nod in response to her warning, but they both sat down to avoid looking suspicious.

They waited around 3 minutes and nothing appeared. Duncan could see his mother becoming increasingly concerned, her feet constantly moving and showed no signs of stopping.

The reception room's front door then suddenly exploded with a loud bang. The odor of gunpowder and smoke swiftly traveled throughout the room; shockwaves knocked chairs over, and guests staggered to the front.

Duncan's ear rang violently as a result of the shockwaves; the next thing he knew, he could hear gunshots, cries, and wails all around him. He rapidly recovered from his condition and went in search of his mother.

He grabbed his mother's hand and fled towards the side door of the reception area, ignoring the cries and shouts from the room itself, in between the gunshot onslaught.

A masked man of the assault team observed Duncan and his mother open the door and attempted to shoot them from a distance with his handgun. He shot three times and only hit the woman's leg before the two exited the reception room through the side door.

"Two targets escaped to the kitchen," the masked man informed his companions. "Go after them, someone."

The onslaught of gunshots lasted for a brief time before the attack crew realized no one was moving. The masked men's leader then proceeded slowly towards the mound of bodies in the middle of the room, towards a specific corpse.

It was Mr. Nefaria's body, who was shockingly still alive. The man is surprisingly still breathing, but fortunately, he is not holding any weapons.

Mr. Nefaria glared furiously at the masked man before speaking weakly. "Who… Are you...?"

The masked man just stood there staring at him. After that, the man raised his weapon and pointed it towards Mr. Nefaria.

"Wilson Fisk sends his Regards."

The masked man then pulled the trigger, puncturing Mr. Nefaria's head with a bullet and killing him instantly.

—

Duncan and his mum were fumbling into the kitchen passageway. They were hurriedly fleeing the masked men who were pursuing them. Catherine had been shot in the leg, and she was severely restricted, causing them to move slowly.

The bullet appeared to have struck a major blood vessel in her leg, and she was rapidly bleeding. Her blood continued to trickle on the floor, making an obvious trail.

"I'm not going to another wedding!" Duncan exclaimed desperately as he struggled to carry his mother across the corridor. He slammed the exit door open and dashed away from the kitchen.

He could see that the chefs and cooks had already been killed, implying that the masked guys had already arrived in that area. He must be careful not to stumble onto one of the gunmen.

As he walked out of the kitchen, he heard a shout from the left side of him.

"There! Kill them!" yelled a gunman. Duncan shuddered at the command and dragged himself and his mother back to the kitchen, narrowly dodging the gunfire from the passage outside. He panicked when he saw the previous masked man that was chasing them from before had just entered the kitchen. He dashed to the corner of the kitchen, where another door was still closed.

He kicked the door open while still holding his mother. He could hear gunshots from a distance, but he tried so hard to ignore them and concentrate on getting away.

"What the heck is going on!?" he cried to himself as he entered what appeared to be the pantry. He was still dragging himself and his mother towards another door, contemplating how to get out of this dilemma.

He eventually came to a halt. He dragged his mother, who was pale and bleeding a lot of blood, up against the pantry wall. He took an unused knife from the area and hid next to the door he had earlier kicked.

He took a deep breath as he heard footsteps approaching. The footsteps kept getting closer and closer before Duncan finally saw the masked man walk past him. Duncan plunged the knife in his hand from behind the masked man's throat and squeezed the masked man's mask firmly around the mouth area to stop the man from screaming any louder.

With a gurgling sound, the masked man collapsed on the floor, blood spilling from his open throat.

"Oh, my lord..." Duncan could hear his mum squeezing some words out.

"Are you all right, Mum?" Duncan pondered as he unfastened his tie.

"Duncan, run," she begged. "Leave me alone; you have a chance to flee."

"Mum, you sound so cringy right now." Duncan remarked this as he wrapped his tie tightly around his mother's thigh to stem the bleeding. "The cops should be here any minute; we just have to wait a bit."

Making sure the bleeding had been reduced, Duncan then grabbed another unused knife in the pantry. He walked back toward the door, hiding beside it in preparation for another attack.

But, before long, he could hear more footsteps approaching. It wasn't simply one man's footsteps; it was the footsteps of many others. Duncan could only swallow his saliva as his thoughts raced to come up with a way out. With that many people, he doubted he could fight them all, and given his mother's condition, he doubted he could outrun them.

"Duncan," his mother said meekly. Duncan glanced back to see his mother was pale as death. He noticed his mother had closed his eyes, which made his heart race faster. He dashed towards his mother, obviously trying to wake her up.

"You need to stay awake, mum," he pleaded, tenderly slapping Catherine's cheek in vain.

"Shit," he muttered to himself. This isn't a good sign; his mother has passed out, he can hear the masked men approaching, and all he's got is a fucking kitchen knife.

He seemed so... helpless.

Duncan lowered himself to the floor and held his head, trying to think of something, but nothing came to mind.

He was about to give up because he couldn't leave his mother here or flee so many people, and he even considered slicing his own neck to prevent being killed by someone in desperation.

But then he noticed an ethereal blue butterfly descend on the tip of his knife.

[Is this all there is to it then?]

In his head, he heard a menacing voice. He could feel the pain emanating from his brain intensifying tremendously.

[You have died once, and yet you choose to die again?]

The pain became more intense as the voice increased louder, but it was still bearable.

[Do you not feel frustrated by your lack of strength, having observed so much yet have done nothing?]

"Of course... I do… "Duncan was gripping the ache in his head.

[Do you not feel helpless when danger lurks yet you have no power to stop it?]

"...Yes…"

[Do you not have the will to act because you are afraid of being seen?]

"I… don't…" Duncan fought the anguish, but he was on the verge of collapsing.

[If you are afraid… Then...] the voice repeated itself. [Let us forge a contract, and I shall grant you the power of the Unseen.]

He forced his eyes open in his final moments of power. His pupils had turned yellow, and his face was coated in blood-tinged sweat.

Duncan was wearing a deathly grin. "Fine… Speak your vows."