Interludes: Mary Marvel
Disclaimer: This is solely a not-for-profit fan activity and does not intend to infringe on copyrights held by Time Warner, CBS, CTV, 20 th Century Fox, Alliance Atlantis Communications, DC Comics, Bloomsbury et al, or JK Rowling, Paul Haggis and Shawn Ryan, . Any characters that are original to this work remain the property of the author.
A/N: The Myriad of Possibilities Series primarily uses the background from the Harry Potter books but some elements and scenes have been borrowed from other sources – including the movies, Pottermore and my own headcanon – that will be covered where they fit into the narrative. The timeline of the DC Comics elements borrows heavily from Young Justice (2011) and may adapt elements and characters from the comics and several additional other media instalments – including but not limited to Smallville (2001) and Superman and Lois (2021) – and relocates events of Young Justice to the Eighties and early Nineties rather than the New Tens and Twenties as screened and includes several 'legacy' and original characters as a result. Any other recognisable characters belong to their copyright holders.
A/N: Thanks to Jon and 6f5e4d for their help on this chapter.
Chicago.
September 25, 19:30 CDT.
Mary was just entering her room after dinner with her sorority sisters when the evening's silence was broken by a high-pitched scream from outside. Rushing to her window, she pinpointed the scream as coming from the college's theatre complex.
"Power of Zeus!" Mary declared, switching her outfit for her hero costume and then climbed out of her window, then invoked the 'Speed of Mercury' to break her fall and fuel her flight towards the theatre.
When she rushed into the theatre, she was able to make it to the main auditorium without being intercepted just as a silver-haired man in tan jacket and pin-stripe trousers was making his way to the stage in response to a black-haired young woman in a purple blouse and skirt repeating her exclamation as she crouched over a red-headed young man in a sports jacket and jeans.
"No pulse!" declared the silver-haired man – who Mary recognised as Professor Basil Rasloff, a former movie actor and a senior member of the college's Drama School – as he joined his students on the stage. "Ron is stone cold dead! My god… how could this have happened?!"
How indeed, Mary thought to herself, then raised a finger to her comm-link to activate it. "Mary Marvel to Watchtower, patch me through to Chicago Emergency Services Dispatch."
"Patching you through," confirmed La'gann, the current member on monitor duty.
"Dispatch, this is Mary Marvel, Justice League Reservist E-Zero-Eight… I need police and an ambulance to the University of Chicago School of Drama… possible homicide."
"Understood, Mary Marvel," replied the dispatcher after a moment. "Units are en route to your location."
19:45 CDT.
Mary was trying her best to calm the witnesses particularly the leading lady, Susie Bates, who been rehearsing with the victim when he died when the firefighter-paramedics and a police unit arrived about ten minutes later.
When she saw the lead officer – a pretty thirty-year old woman who wore the rocker and chevron of a field training officer – Mary sighed in relief. Many officers of the Chicago were indifferent or even hostile to the superhero community, but this woman was the opposite. "Theresa, it's good to see you!"
"Mary, we really stop meeting like this!" joked the older woman. "What have we got?"
"I was in the neighbourhood when Kerry and Mister Rasloff discovered that the victim, Ron Buxton…" she said, indicating the body that the two CFD paramedics were working on. "… wasn't faking being dead for the scene they were rehearsing for a new play but was actually dead."
"Did you examine the body?" Theresa asked.
"Briefly," Mary admitted. "Ron doesn't seem to have any injures … no wounds, breaks, bruises or anything like that."
Theresa nodded, then turned to Susie. "Did you see or hear anything usual, Miss?"
She sniffed. "No, we didn't notice anything!"
"Ron was the best actor here…" offered another witness, a brunette man with a pencil moustache called Ben Vincent. "Everyone liked him!"
The junior paramedic, a stocky, slightly butch-looking woman, stepped over at that moment. "We're ready to load up now, Theresa."
"Any thoughts on cause of death, Mo?"
She shook her head. "Pretty much just what Mary's already told you… no vomiting or other signs of poisoning either. The ME will be able to tell you more after the post-mortem."
"Have them contact Ray Vecchio at the twenty-seventh," said Theresa. "He's the on-call detective for Violent Crimes today."
"Will do," agreed Mo and headed back towards the ambulance. When she got there, she clambered into the driver's seat and set off.
"Mary Marvel to Watchtower."
"Go ahead," said La'gann.
"I just stumbled onto a possible homicide," Mary replied. "Can you do a deep dive on the victim… Ron Buxton, nineteen, sophomore at the U of C?"
"No problem."
Theresa's radio crackled a few moments later, "Twenty-one Sixteen from Squad, we have a lead on your eight-oh-four."
"Go ahead, Squad," replied Theresa.
"Fifty-two Twelve was approached by an informant that has reported that the victim was being targeted for eight-forty-one. The suspect is heading inland on Irving. Black Honda Accord, tag Robert Charles Whiskey One-Three-Niner."
"Ten-four!" confirmed Theresa, signalling her partner, Eddie Johnson, to get in the car. "On our way!"
"Speed of Mercury!" cried Mary and took off into the air, following Theresa's car onto the main road.
"I d-d-d-don't know n-nu-thin' about no murder… Honest!" stammered the suspect – identified as one Arthur Colleta of Four-Hundred East Forty-First Street in the city from his licence – after Mary had forced his car off the road and pulled him out of it. "I only drove over there to pick up my monthly payment from the kid, that's all… Then, I hear the kid conked out before I could even collect! Even my partner thinks I plugged him!"
Karen shared a glance with Theresa and when the officer gave her an enquiring glance, she gave her shake of the head, the Wisdom of Solomon wasn't as infallible as the Lasso of Truth, but she was pretty confident that the man was telling the truth.
"Arthur Colleta, you're under arrest for blackmail," Theresa told the suspect, as Eddie manoeuvred him so he could apply cuffs. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you."
Karen stood and watched as the two police officers manoeuvred the crook into the back of their patrol car. As Eddie closed and locked the door behind him, Theresa's radio crackled again. "Twenty-one Sixteen from Squad… we've just been informed of an alarm activation at the Industrial Arts Workshop in Little India."
The two officers shared a glance, then turned and looked at Mary.
"I'll check it out!" Mary declared. "Speed of Mercury!"
"Squad, Twenty-one Sixteen… Mary Marvel is responding to the alarm, can you send units to support?"
"Twenty-one Sixteen, confirmed," replied the dispatcher. "Units from the twentieth are on the way but…"
21:00 CDT.
A loud whirring sound immediately caught Mary's attention as she approached the workshop and she sped towards it.
To her horror, when she flew in through a large picture window, she saw the potential victim was strapped to an enormous table saw, and he was gradually edging towards the whirring blade.
Deciding that there was no time for subtlety, she thrust her palm forwards. "Power of Zeus!" she cried, sending a bolt of lightning towards the saw blade, shattering it instantly. She sighed in relief, but this dissipated when she crossed to the prospective victim and then checked him over…
Despite her best efforts, he was dead anyway.
23:30 CDT.
"Well, it's official, both deaths are suspicious… so, I'll be taking over the investigation," confirmed Ray Vecchio after Mary joined him in the Violent Crimes bullpen. "Ron Buxton was killed with a doctored facial cream, and the fake saw was designed to scare Michael Heimes to death."
"Scared him to death?" Mary asked, puzzled.
"According to the medical examiner he had a serious heart condition," said Ray, glumly. "I hope there isn't any more… I've already got ninety-five open cases. The last thing I need on my plate is a serial killer."
"Well, anything I can do to help," said Mary. "Do we need more manpower?"
Ray shook his head, "What I need is a clue… Other than them being students, I can't see any connections and my snitches are coming up empty. Elaine, have you dug up anything?"
"So far, nothing beyond the obvious that they're both drama students," replied the third member of their group, Administrative Aide Elaine Besbriss.
The detective perked up. "I hadn't thought of that… have they been in any of the same plays recently?"
"I don't think so," Mary replied.
"I'll check," said Elaine, and worked her computer for a few minutes before looking up again. "Not recently or in any major capacity."
"Well, there goes that idea," groused the detective. "Back to square one."
"Maybe not," Mary interjected. "It might be nothing, but they were both rehearsing for their first lead roles, right?"
"That's right," Elaine confirmed.
"It's not much…" Ray agreed. "But maybe… Is there any crossover between the plays?"
"Obviously, the university's staging both," Elaine began. "Winter Snow and Poison Please… nothing obvious…"
"Hang on," said Ray, speaking up for the first time. "That sounds familiar… can check whether there's any crossover between actors on previous productions."
"Can do," Elaine agreed, then smiled. "According to an article for the Chicago Sun-Times, the last time they were performed as movies, the same actor – Basil Rasloff – performed the lead role in both productions …"
Ray gave a whoop of triumph. "I knew they sounded familiar!"
"And he's the director for the current plays!" Mary exclaimed. "He must be the killer!"
"Uh, we may have a problem…" said Elaine.
"What is it?" Ray asked.
"Rasloff had three big roles in Hollywood not two."
"Why's that a problem?"
"Because, the university is also doing a remake of that, and Frank Morris, another student, is in another remake at the moment," Elaine replied, pointing to the end of the article.
"Holey Moley!" Mary exclaimed. "We need to find him… and fast!"
"Elaine, can you…?"
"Checking for a cellphone for Frank Morris, aged 19…" Elaine finished.
Sensing the urgency of the moment, Mary decided to draw on her own resources. "Mary Marvel to Watchtower."
"Go ahead," said La'gann.
"I need you to find out if Frank Morris, 19… a student at the university has a cellphone… and ping it! His life could be in serious danger!"
"Neptune's beard… I'm on it!"
While they waited, Ray got on the phone to the police's computer section and gave them the same instructions.
Predictably, the vast computing resources of the Justice League produced the result before the overburdened police department. "Morris' number is three-one-two five-five-five two-one-nine-four… His cellphone last pinged at the building site for the new maths building over in Hyde Park."
"I'll call the third," said Ray, reaching for the phone. "Get them to send units."
"I can get there faster," Mary declared, and headed for the nearest window.
23:40 CDT.
Mary started to scan the building site as soon as it came into sight. It didn't take her long to find Rasloff. He was at the controls of a purple crane, and a brown-haired teen in an orange sweater and white jeans was tied to the hook, suspended over a bed of spikes that Rasloff had set up.
"Bah! Young upstarts… with your 'method acting'…!" sneered Rasloff. "Long hair, mumbling voices, filthy clothes… you think you know everything… but you're trash!"
Mary, realising that this was a confession, slowed almost to a hover so that she could stay out of sight until he had finished his rant.
"How dare you and the other two ever hope to play my greatest roles… you think I could allow three amateurs to ruin the most famous characters of my stage career?" Rasloff continued rhetorically. "You like to skydive Frank… I've arranged one last fall for you!"
"No, please…" Frank stammered.
"You'll hit the spikes so fast… death will be painless!" Rasloff assured his victim as he released the hook, dropping him towards the spikes, but Mary accelerated quickly and was about to snatch him out of the air merely inches from the spikes.
"Mary Marvel!" Frank exclaimed. "Thank goodness you got here in time!"
"Sorry I cut it so close," Mary said as she manoeuvred him down to safe ground. "But I wanted to hear Rasloff's confession."
"Arghh!" exclaimed Rasloff. "I won't let it end like this!"
He's insane… Mary thought. I've got to take him down fast before he hurts himself. "Power of Zeus!"
A bolt of lightning streaked from Mary's hand, slipped in through the broken windscreen of the crane and struck him in the chest, knocking him out. That'll keep him out mischief until the police get here…
October 26, 09:30 CDT.
"Good work on the Rasloff Case. He's not going to be getting out of that mental hospital for a long time if ever."
"I couldn't have done it in time without Mary's help, Lieutenant," Ray admitted.
"Does that mean you're reconsidering taking a partner?" asked Lieutenant Kelly, curiously.
"Maybe," Ray admitted. "But let's be honest, sir, it would take someone very special to put up with me…"
"That's true," admitted the Violent Crimes commander, and then walked off. "That's true…"
Northwest Territories,
April 26,
Team Year Twelve.
A stocky, elderly man trudged through the ice, looking for clues.
After a moment, he went down on one knee and scraped away the loose snow with a bare hand until the eye of a caribou frozen under the ice was revealed…
Then, the old man heard something and began to look around. After a few seconds of searching, he rose quickly to his feet and then began to walk up-hill to get a better look, but before he reached the summit, he heard the sound of a rifle bolt locking into place. "You're going to shoot a Mountie?" he said, his voice even. "They'll hunt you to the ends of the Earth."
His answer came as the sharp crack of a gunshot rang out across the quiet gulch and he fell to the ground.
A/N: While this chapter takes inspiration from Supergirl vol 1, issue 1, which also supplies the chapter title, the location is intentionally transplanted to the Chicago location of vol 2 (merging the fictional Vandyre and Lake Shore universities and using RW UofC locations).
A/N: The Myriad of Possibilities Series primarily uses the background from the Harry Potter books but some elements and scenes have been borrowed from other sources – including the movies, Pottermore and my own headcanon – that will be covered where they fit into the narrative. The timeline of the DC Comics elements borrows heavily from Young Justice (2011) and may adapt elements and characters from the comics and several additional other media instalments – including but not limited to Smallville (2001) and Superman and Lois (2021) – and relocates events of Young Justice to the Eighties and early Nineties rather than the New Tens and Twenties as screened and includes several 'legacy' and original characters as a result. Any other recognisable characters belong to their copyright holders.
A/N: Thanks to Jon and 6f5e4d for their help on this chapter.
Chicago.
September 25, 19:30 CDT.
Mary was just entering her room after dinner with her sorority sisters when the evening's silence was broken by a high-pitched scream from outside. Rushing to her window, she pinpointed the scream as coming from the college's theatre complex.
"Power of Zeus!" Mary declared, switching her outfit for her hero costume and then climbed out of her window, then invoked the 'Speed of Mercury' to break her fall and fuel her flight towards the theatre.
When she rushed into the theatre, she was able to make it to the main auditorium without being intercepted just as a silver-haired man in tan jacket and pin-stripe trousers was making his way to the stage in response to a black-haired young woman in a purple blouse and skirt repeating her exclamation as she crouched over a red-headed young man in a sports jacket and jeans.
"No pulse!" declared the silver-haired man – who Mary recognised as Professor Basil Rasloff, a former movie actor and a senior member of the college's Drama School – as he joined his students on the stage. "Ron is stone cold dead! My god… how could this have happened?!"
How indeed, Mary thought to herself, then raised a finger to her comm-link to activate it. "Mary Marvel to Watchtower, patch me through to Chicago Emergency Services Dispatch."
"Patching you through," confirmed La'gann, the current member on monitor duty.
"Dispatch, this is Mary Marvel, Justice League Reservist E-Zero-Eight… I need police and an ambulance to the University of Chicago School of Drama… possible homicide."
"Understood, Mary Marvel," replied the dispatcher after a moment. "Units are en route to your location."
19:45 CDT.
Mary was trying her best to calm the witnesses particularly the leading lady, Susie Bates, who been rehearsing with the victim when he died when the firefighter-paramedics and a police unit arrived about ten minutes later.
When she saw the lead officer – a pretty thirty-year old woman who wore the rocker and chevron of a field training officer – Mary sighed in relief. Many officers of the Chicago were indifferent or even hostile to the superhero community, but this woman was the opposite. "Theresa, it's good to see you!"
"Mary, we really stop meeting like this!" joked the older woman. "What have we got?"
"I was in the neighbourhood when Kerry and Mister Rasloff discovered that the victim, Ron Buxton…" she said, indicating the body that the two CFD paramedics were working on. "… wasn't faking being dead for the scene they were rehearsing for a new play but was actually dead."
"Did you examine the body?" Theresa asked.
"Briefly," Mary admitted. "Ron doesn't seem to have any injures … no wounds, breaks, bruises or anything like that."
Theresa nodded, then turned to Susie. "Did you see or hear anything usual, Miss?"
She sniffed. "No, we didn't notice anything!"
"Ron was the best actor here…" offered another witness, a brunette man with a pencil moustache called Ben Vincent. "Everyone liked him!"
The junior paramedic, a stocky, slightly butch-looking woman, stepped over at that moment. "We're ready to load up now, Theresa."
"Any thoughts on cause of death, Mo?"
She shook her head. "Pretty much just what Mary's already told you… no vomiting or other signs of poisoning either. The ME will be able to tell you more after the post-mortem."
"Have them contact Ray Vecchio at the twenty-seventh," said Theresa. "He's the on-call detective for Violent Crimes today."
"Will do," agreed Mo and headed back towards the ambulance. When she got there, she clambered into the driver's seat and set off.
"Mary Marvel to Watchtower."
"Go ahead," said La'gann.
"I just stumbled onto a possible homicide," Mary replied. "Can you do a deep dive on the victim… Ron Buxton, nineteen, sophomore at the U of C?"
"No problem."
Theresa's radio crackled a few moments later, "Twenty-one Sixteen from Squad, we have a lead on your eight-oh-four."
"Go ahead, Squad," replied Theresa.
"Fifty-two Twelve was approached by an informant that has reported that the victim was being targeted for eight-forty-one. The suspect is heading inland on Irving. Black Honda Accord, tag Robert Charles Whiskey One-Three-Niner."
"Ten-four!" confirmed Theresa, signalling her partner, Eddie Johnson, to get in the car. "On our way!"
"Speed of Mercury!" cried Mary and took off into the air, following Theresa's car onto the main road.
"I d-d-d-don't know n-nu-thin' about no murder… Honest!" stammered the suspect – identified as one Arthur Colleta of Four-Hundred East Forty-First Street in the city from his licence – after Mary had forced his car off the road and pulled him out of it. "I only drove over there to pick up my monthly payment from the kid, that's all… Then, I hear the kid conked out before I could even collect! Even my partner thinks I plugged him!"
Karen shared a glance with Theresa and when the officer gave her an enquiring glance, she gave her shake of the head, the Wisdom of Solomon wasn't as infallible as the Lasso of Truth, but she was pretty confident that the man was telling the truth.
"Arthur Colleta, you're under arrest for blackmail," Theresa told the suspect, as Eddie manoeuvred him so he could apply cuffs. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you."
Karen stood and watched as the two police officers manoeuvred the crook into the back of their patrol car. As Eddie closed and locked the door behind him, Theresa's radio crackled again. "Twenty-one Sixteen from Squad… we've just been informed of an alarm activation at the Industrial Arts Workshop in Little India."
The two officers shared a glance, then turned and looked at Mary.
"I'll check it out!" Mary declared. "Speed of Mercury!"
"Squad, Twenty-one Sixteen… Mary Marvel is responding to the alarm, can you send units to support?"
"Twenty-one Sixteen, confirmed," replied the dispatcher. "Units from the twentieth are on the way but…"
21:00 CDT.
A loud whirring sound immediately caught Mary's attention as she approached the workshop and she sped towards it.
To her horror, when she flew in through a large picture window, she saw the potential victim was strapped to an enormous table saw, and he was gradually edging towards the whirring blade.
Deciding that there was no time for subtlety, she thrust her palm forwards. "Power of Zeus!" she cried, sending a bolt of lightning towards the saw blade, shattering it instantly. She sighed in relief, but this dissipated when she crossed to the prospective victim and then checked him over…
Despite her best efforts, he was dead anyway.
23:30 CDT.
"Well, it's official, both deaths are suspicious… so, I'll be taking over the investigation," confirmed Ray Vecchio after Mary joined him in the Violent Crimes bullpen. "Ron Buxton was killed with a doctored facial cream, and the fake saw was designed to scare Michael Heimes to death."
"Scared him to death?" Mary asked, puzzled.
"According to the medical examiner he had a serious heart condition," said Ray, glumly. "I hope there isn't any more… I've already got ninety-five open cases. The last thing I need on my plate is a serial killer."
"Well, anything I can do to help," said Mary. "Do we need more manpower?"
Ray shook his head, "What I need is a clue… Other than them being students, I can't see any connections and my snitches are coming up empty. Elaine, have you dug up anything?"
"So far, nothing beyond the obvious that they're both drama students," replied the third member of their group, Administrative Aide Elaine Besbriss.
The detective perked up. "I hadn't thought of that… have they been in any of the same plays recently?"
"I don't think so," Mary replied.
"I'll check," said Elaine, and worked her computer for a few minutes before looking up again. "Not recently or in any major capacity."
"Well, there goes that idea," groused the detective. "Back to square one."
"Maybe not," Mary interjected. "It might be nothing, but they were both rehearsing for their first lead roles, right?"
"That's right," Elaine confirmed.
"It's not much…" Ray agreed. "But maybe… Is there any crossover between the plays?"
"Obviously, the university's staging both," Elaine began. "Winter Snow and Poison Please… nothing obvious…"
"Hang on," said Ray, speaking up for the first time. "That sounds familiar… can check whether there's any crossover between actors on previous productions."
"Can do," Elaine agreed, then smiled. "According to an article for the Chicago Sun-Times, the last time they were performed as movies, the same actor – Basil Rasloff – performed the lead role in both productions …"
Ray gave a whoop of triumph. "I knew they sounded familiar!"
"And he's the director for the current plays!" Mary exclaimed. "He must be the killer!"
"Uh, we may have a problem…" said Elaine.
"What is it?" Ray asked.
"Rasloff had three big roles in Hollywood not two."
"Why's that a problem?"
"Because, the university is also doing a remake of that, and Frank Morris, another student, is in another remake at the moment," Elaine replied, pointing to the end of the article.
"Holey Moley!" Mary exclaimed. "We need to find him… and fast!"
"Elaine, can you…?"
"Checking for a cellphone for Frank Morris, aged 19…" Elaine finished.
Sensing the urgency of the moment, Mary decided to draw on her own resources. "Mary Marvel to Watchtower."
"Go ahead," said La'gann.
"I need you to find out if Frank Morris, 19… a student at the university has a cellphone… and ping it! His life could be in serious danger!"
"Neptune's beard… I'm on it!"
While they waited, Ray got on the phone to the police's computer section and gave them the same instructions.
Predictably, the vast computing resources of the Justice League produced the result before the overburdened police department. "Morris' number is three-one-two five-five-five two-one-nine-four… His cellphone last pinged at the building site for the new maths building over in Hyde Park."
"I'll call the third," said Ray, reaching for the phone. "Get them to send units."
"I can get there faster," Mary declared, and headed for the nearest window.
23:40 CDT.
Mary started to scan the building site as soon as it came into sight. It didn't take her long to find Rasloff. He was at the controls of a purple crane, and a brown-haired teen in an orange sweater and white jeans was tied to the hook, suspended over a bed of spikes that Rasloff had set up.
"Bah! Young upstarts… with your 'method acting'…!" sneered Rasloff. "Long hair, mumbling voices, filthy clothes… you think you know everything… but you're trash!"
Mary, realising that this was a confession, slowed almost to a hover so that she could stay out of sight until he had finished his rant.
"How dare you and the other two ever hope to play my greatest roles… you think I could allow three amateurs to ruin the most famous characters of my stage career?" Rasloff continued rhetorically. "You like to skydive Frank… I've arranged one last fall for you!"
"No, please…" Frank stammered.
"You'll hit the spikes so fast… death will be painless!" Rasloff assured his victim as he released the hook, dropping him towards the spikes, but Mary accelerated quickly and was about to snatch him out of the air merely inches from the spikes.
"Mary Marvel!" Frank exclaimed. "Thank goodness you got here in time!"
"Sorry I cut it so close," Mary said as she manoeuvred him down to safe ground. "But I wanted to hear Rasloff's confession."
"Arghh!" exclaimed Rasloff. "I won't let it end like this!"
He's insane… Mary thought. I've got to take him down fast before he hurts himself. "Power of Zeus!"
A bolt of lightning streaked from Mary's hand, slipped in through the broken windscreen of the crane and struck him in the chest, knocking him out. That'll keep him out mischief until the police get here…
October 26, 09:30 CDT.
"Good work on the Rasloff Case. He's not going to be getting out of that mental hospital for a long time if ever."
"I couldn't have done it in time without Mary's help, Lieutenant," Ray admitted.
"Does that mean you're reconsidering taking a partner?" asked Lieutenant Kelly, curiously.
"Maybe," Ray admitted. "But let's be honest, sir, it would take someone very special to put up with me…"
"That's true," admitted the Violent Crimes commander, and then walked off. "That's true…"
Northwest Territories,
April 26,
Team Year Twelve.
A stocky, elderly man trudged through the ice, looking for clues.
After a moment, he went down on one knee and scraped away the loose snow with a bare hand until the eye of a caribou frozen under the ice was revealed…
Then, the old man heard something and began to look around. After a few seconds of searching, he rose quickly to his feet and then began to walk up-hill to get a better look, but before he reached the summit, he heard the sound of a rifle bolt locking into place. "You're going to shoot a Mountie?" he said, his voice even. "They'll hunt you to the ends of the Earth."
His answer came as the sharp crack of a gunshot rang out across the quiet gulch and he fell to the ground.
A/N: While this chapter takes inspiration from Supergirl vol 1, issue 1, which also supplies the chapter title, the location is intentionally transplanted to the Chicago location of vol 2 (merging the fictional Vandyre and Lake Shore universities and using RW UofC locations).