Marc (Big Marcy)

Big Marcy frowned as he read the report. Millions of dollars in damage and dozens of casualties. He sighed as he put his report down. Things were not going his way.

After those two Adumbrae attacked their base, Big Marcy was forced to retreat to their much less furnished base. The stiff leather chair he was in paled in comparison to his FaeCarper Executive Chair. It did not even represent him right. Instead of the letters “BM” for Big Marcy, “DS&L” was inscribed into the chair.

Dawson Stevedoring and Logistics, LLC was one of the shell corporations that housed their bases. They made use of all kinds of organizations for their activities. For example, the Mother Core Disciples Charities, or more simply MCDC, was one of the backbones of their mainland operations. Through the work of this charity organization, they had a list of all the homeless people in western California. The most undesired of these homeless were used in various experiments.

Unlike most normal people, nobody cared if undesirables went missing. If somebody who was loved and cared for went missing, one of their loved ones would stick their nose where it did not belong. Rather than cleaning up the issue, it was best to prevent it. And this was decidedly the best way.

Of course, they could not simply just kidnap people the MCDC took care of. It was best to create a chain of organizations that obfuscated any legal attempt to investigate. Obtaining the undesirables was handled by Eloycira, a pharmaceutical company working on drugs to stop Adumbrae seedings. Big Marcy always vetted their ads. Their most recent success was one that featured a pill aimed at reducing stress. It turns out it worked as most undesirables were living a very stressful life and were willing to risk everything on this pill.

A knock on the door halted Marc’s ruminations.

“Come in,” he said.

Stella walked inside wearing a suit. “I’m glad you’re alright sir.”

Such a loyal attendant. Marc knew he made the right choice when he chose her several decades ago. Sadly, loyalty was not simply a quality one could buy. With the ever-growing feud between him and his brother, batches of Big Marcy’s men had sought to work for Mark. That was completely unacceptable, and Stella was quick to make examples out of them.

“I assume you’ve managed to defeat the intruders?” he asked her.

“I managed to kill one of the werewolf Adumbrae,” she said. “But the other one got away, as well as the bandits.”

That was certainly unfortunate. Even with Stella using her powers, she was unable to get rid of the enemy. What made matters worse is that Stella required time to recharge. If she were to fight again, she would not be able to become as large.

Big Marcy sighed. “At least we were able to salvage some stuff from the base at the docks. Still, it is upsetting that the BID is now getting involved.”

Stella did not respond.

“President Goodwin has already announced forces from the Palmer Node will be arriving,” he continued. “Large Scale ComExos are now patrolling the area of our deserted base.”

That was only part of the problem. Large Scale ComExos were more of a show of force rather than a comprehensive way to root out Adumbrae. What was more concerning were the smaller things that were coming in. He had recently seen footage of BID drones and spider bots patrolling the roads. They would probably be sending in Goldeyes as well. Both the augmented and the drones were forces they were not prepared to deal with.

Furthermore, it seems the bandits have grown in strength. Big Marcy wasn’t sure if the werewolf Adumbrae were part of their team, but the timing of the attacks was just too weird. As soon as their main attack force went to chase after the bandits, their base was attacked by the werewolf Adumbrae.

If they were part of the same group, then this solidified Big Marcy's theory. For some unknown reason, the Supplier was probably arming a group of attackers to sabotage their operations. Why would he do this? Sadly, Big Marcy did not know as Mark was the person who spoke with the Supplier. But that was not the only weird thing the Supplier did. Earlier this week, the Supplier had apparently ordered the kidnapping of two college law students, Erind Hartwell, and Amber Leska. There was nothing special about these two, at least compared to any other law students. Even more so, the Supplier has not said anything when Big Marcy reported that they were unable to capture them because of the attackers.

“Mark is sending multiple Adumbrae over to help improve our security,” Big Marcy said.

“But that’s not his actual reasoning,” she said, understanding him.

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“Yes, he will probably try to blame me for the attacks we have been receiving and then try to overthrow me,” Big Marcy said. “Mark will be splitting the Adumbrae up at our bases. Astrid and the local security will handle Finlay, Calder, Isabel, and Slinky. Meanwhile, Auron, Janice, and Mister will be arriving at our other Stevedoring base. It would be best if you go there.”

“I’ll make sure they won’t cause any trouble,” she said. “Will Leandro be fine in guarding the Eve by himself though?”

“Mark did not mention sending anyone there, but we will be increasing the Eve’s security regardless in light of recent events,” he responded. “Unfortunately, this means we will have to delay the fight at the Eve by a week until we assemble the correct security team.”

“The customers probably won’t be happy at that,” Stella commented.

“We will make sure to have the subsequent weekend host two fight nights,” Big Marcy said. “That will please them.”

“Understood,” Stella said. “I’ll be heading out then.”

“I will meet you there after I finish up some important matters,” he replied. Stella walked out of the room.

Big Marcy needed to have a new personal attendant to replace Jim Ambrose. He was leaning toward Wiggins. Marc made a note to make sure to visit him before he left. He would also make sure Wiggins always stayed by his side, rather than running off and getting killed like Jim.

Next, he needed to talk to Astrid before he left. He had already scheduled a meeting with her. Marc put his legs on the desk, showing off the gold buckle of his Tresmeni shoes. A few minutes later, and Big Marcy heard a knock on the door. He set his legs back down to be in a more presentable posture.

“Come in,” he said.

A four-armed woman wearing a sleeveless blouse and khakis came in. At each shoulder joint, two arms jutted out. The ones jutting out at the top were significantly larger and more muscular than the pair jutting toward the bottom. Her black hair ended in a ponytail. Behind her, a two-armed child with similar features held a small bird. Rather than just having two eyes, eyes were sprinkled out all throughout its feathers.

“Hello Marc, you requested me?” she politely asked.

“My brother will be sending Adumbrae guards from the Red Island to ‘assist’ us,” he said. “I just needed you to be aware of that, and keep them from doing anything harmful to our mainland operations.”

“Thanks for notifying me,” she replied. “I’ll make sure the facility is prepared for them.”

“Hello Big Marcy!” the child said enthusiastically. “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing fine Zoe,” he lied. One of his bases was just devastated and now swarming with the BID. Of course, Marc was not going to offload his problems onto her. “How is homeschooling going?”

“Mommy is teaching me a lot!” she said. “I do miss seeing my old friends though.”

“Yes, but you can make new friends,” Astrid responded. “Tell Marc about the new one you just made.”

“I call him Mr. Bird!” Zoe said. Such an unoriginal name.

“I can definitely see why you called him that,” Big Marcy said. While the child’s imagination and development were surely stunted, Zoe was a successful test for the Supplier. She was only ten years old and became an Adumbrae last year. However, children could not become Adumbrae by themselves. The Supplier introduced a new method to get children to become Adumbrae. Some of them failed and simply became mutants that were shown off at the Eve. And then, there was Zoe.

Still, convincing Astrid that they should turn her child into an Adumbrae was a… difficult task. Even though she easily became an Adumbrae herself, she was much less adamant about her child. But a little reminder about the frailty of her deceased husband and some close friends was enough to change her mind. Thankfully, she never suspected Big Marcy’s hand in some of her friend's demises.

“Do you want to pet him?” Zoe asked.

“I’m afraid not,” he said. “I do have to get going soon.”

“Aww,” she replied. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll be heading to another base of ours,” he said. “I and Stella need to get some stuff ready for visitors.”

“Oh, okay then,” she said.

Marc packed up the reports and stood up from his desk. “Have a nice day you two.”

“Goodbye Marc,” Astrid said. “I’ll make sure to tighten everything up before your brother’s guests arrive.”

“Bye Big Marcy!” Zoe said.

Marc strode out of the room and headed toward his private helicopter. Thankfully, he would be away from this subpar warehouse soon. They really should have renovated a better office for him here. Oh well, there was always next time.

As Marc exited the building, he was greeted by the sight of a luxurious five-star Gourmand helicopter.

“All ready to leave sir?” Arlo, the pilot asked.

“Yes,” he responded. “We should make sure to arrive before Stella does.”

“She’s not coming with us?” he asked.

“No, she is driving over,” Big Marcy said.

“All right then,” Arlo responded. “I’ll start her up while you get seated.”

Big Marcy entered his private helicopter and took a seat on his comfortable Lazuli Extordinare chair. This was a much better seat than the old squeaky one he was just in. The sound of helicopter blades soon drowned out the noise of cars in the distant streets.

As they approached high in the sky, Big Marcy contemplated the bigger picture. His brother was making moves on his territory. Another piece of their feud. It just was not fair. He had to deal with both the bandits and his brother. He wished he was the one to meet the Supplier - then their positions would be reversed.

Of course, life was not always fair or easy. But Marc did have plans to tilt the scales in his favor. He would make his enemies fight one another. He would let his brother and the bandits fight, and then steal the crown from whoever came up on top. Such a brilliant idea. He made sure to keep a mental note. Marc would need to contact all of his lead Adumbrae and let them know of his future plans.

Then, there was the question of making more Adumbrae. How many could Big Marcy squeeze out of his brother? He would need to make sure not to be too obvious in his schemes, but with his brother controlling the Red Island, he needed to make use of each opportunity.

Putting all that aside, Big Marcy took a look at the city down below. Everything seemed so small below compared to him. Of course, Big Marcy’s ambitions were larger than any of the desires of the insignificant citizens below. They could not hope to comprehend what was going on in the shadows.

“So, what are your plans now?” Arlo asked.

“Dispose of my brother and remove the annoying bandits,” Big Marcy simply responded.

“The simple goals, eh?” he said.

Big March nodded. Everything will be as it should be.