Mary Jane didn't sleep at all that night, guilt gnawing away at her conscience.
She couldn't look Levi in the eyes the entire day. It was hard to have fun trying to pretend that she didn't know anything and that their entire relationship was only because of a threat.
Around two in the morning, while Mary Jane was under the covers, trying to sleep, the door opened. Her heart beat faster, thinking that maybe it was Levi. He had come to her in the middle of the night to finally just talk.
The comforter was pulled off and it was his uncle, Rico Slater.
Rico stared at her, and she stared back, bright and wide-eyed.
"What the fuck are you doing," Mary Jane asked.
It was not the first time Rico was caught in the act of something illegal, the only difference was that he was caught by someone whose opinion he cared about. His eyes pulsed a light blue, and he raised his hand up.
His hands shook, and then he put it back down.
He couldn't do it.
"Don't be angry with me," Rico pleaded.
"You're an old ass man, in my room, in the middle of the fucking night, " Mary Jane screamed. "Uncle Rico if you don't say anything I'm going to expect the worst."
"Okay, okay Jane, just stop screaming."
Jane got out of the bed and made a beeline for her black dresser. She opened it up and put a cheap dollar store grounder on her arm. Useful enough so that she wouldn't accidentally tear his head off, easy enough to take off so that she could break his arm if it came to it.
She extended her arm, showing off her olive branch, proving she wasn't going to kill him.
"Thank you," Rico sighed.
"What the fuck are you doing," Mary Jane repeated.
"I… came to make you forget," Rico said. "I'm so sorry."
"You have the same power as Uncle Max?"
"No… he can't control memories… why would you think that?"
Mary Jane realized that she had misread Levi's journal, and relaxed a little knowing that Maximillian couldn't directly do anything to her, but there was still another problem.
If he couldn't control people's memories what could he do?
"I thought that he could… because...nevermind…" Mary Jane mumbled. "Why are you doing this? Why are you letting Uncle Max control you?"
"Rikka cut me off, and I have no more money," Rico said. " I need it. "
Mary Jane took off her grounder and laid it on top of her black dresser. She cracked her knuckles and walked towards him. Rico ran towards the door, but she got there first, trapping him inside.
"You were gonna mix my head up into a smoothie because you're broke? "
"No. Just erase last night."
Mary Jane gave him a soft tap on his leg, and he screamed, falling to the ground. He clutched his left leg and whimpered on the ground, pleading for forgiveness.
"Rikka made the right choice, you slimy fuck. If you try that shit on me, if you try that shit on Levi, I will kill you. "
Rico sat upon the ground, and he stared up at the small woman, in her little red shorts and a white tank top. Her mouth twitched, and Rico couldn't tell if she was angry, excited, or happy.
"I have no choice, Mary Jane. I have to -"
Mary Jane grabbed him by his right leg, dragged him across the shiny wooden floor, and threw him onto the bed.
"What are you doing," Rico shouted.
"Shut up. You don't want anyone to find you in here, and get the wrong idea do you?"
Rico was silent as Mary Jane walked around her room, slowly, staring at certain objects. She mumbled something quietly to herself, and after coming up with a plan, she knew what she had to do.
"Hey, Uncle, come here."
Rico shook his head no.
Mary Jane grabbed him by both hands, and he flailed around, but her iron grip was nothing against his own soft hands, weak from years of office work. Mary Jane took his hands and rubbed them all over various objects in the room.
She took his head and ruffled up his hair, trying to get traces of his hair all over the room.
"What are you doing," Rico complained.
"Completing the crime scene," Mary Jane whispered.
"Are you going to kill me," Rico asked.
"Not yet."
Rico tried to get away again, but he couldn't. He weighed the option of people thinking he had sexually assaulted a family friend if calling for help, versus possible death.
There wasn't a good option either way.
Mary Jane dragged him on the floor, his body sliding against the smooth and shiny wood, as he blubbered about being sorry, I won't do it again. Mary Jane rolled her eyes, knowing that he didn't regret anything.
He only regretted getting caught.
She got out a piece of paper from her desk, a pen, and wrote herself a note.
Rico is a gross fuck. If he wipes your mind or Levi's, smack his head against a fucking tree.
She left the note inside her purse, so she would see it every morning.
Once done, Mary Jane let him go, and she was almost done with her crime scene.
Just the final touches.
Without even blinking, she tore off the door to her bathroom, and it fell to the ground, shaking the 2nd floor and waking up a few people in the house.
"Stop," Rico pleaded. " Just stop."
Mary Jane prepared herself for a world of pain that she usually inflicted on her enemies. This was not going to be fun, but she told herself it would be worth it for Levi, for her own safety, and for all the possible future victims of Rico.
Again she grabbed Rico and dragged him over to the bed, and he twisted and turned, trying to get away from her. It was no use. She threw him on the bed, and got on it, leering down at him like the slug he was.
"Rico, you should have never hit me," Mary Jane said.
" What? "
Mary Jane smacked herself in the face, giving herself a black eye, and she cried, hot tears coming down her face. She pinched her nose and broke it, blood and snot pouring out and mixing with her tears.
"Stop Uncle Rico," she screamed.
"You stop!"
The final touches were her wrists and neck.
Crying and shaking, she slightly gripped her wrists and neck, leaving bruises.
"What is wrong with you," Rico screamed. "Are you crazy!?!"
"Stop doing this," Mary Jane screamed. "Don't hurt me!"
Mary Jane grabbed Rico and pulled him on top of her. He struggled to get away, but he was already trapped. Mary Jane screamed, which made him scream, and soon the entire house was in an uproar.
The first person to find them was Mary Jane's father and mother.
"I can explain," Rico said. "This is all a misunderstanding."
Mary Jane let go of his wrists and sobbed, not from fear but from the actual pain she inflicted on herself. Her father, David, said nothing, only seeing red. He was a quiet man, a family man, who was a dentist, never one for fighting unlike everyone else around him.
He said nothing as he pulled Rico off of the bed. He said nothing as he bashed his head into the floor, and Mary Sue didn't stop him. She watched David make Rico's nose kiss the floor, her eyes glowing gold, her mind coming up with different torture tactics she learned during private expeditions.
The next people to find them were her brother Dexter and Levi, who had to pull David off of him.
David didn't hear or see anything other than Rico. Levi was amazed at how strong David was, like a gorilla, flaring his nostrils, tearing at his face, trying to get close to Rico.
Within ten minutes, everyone in the house had learned what had happened.
Within an hour the police arrived.
Rikka stood at the top of the stairs at the main entrance, watching him in utter disgust. Rico knew that his daughter was already avoiding him because of his addiction, but she still cared about him. Now Rico didn't know if Rikka still cared about him, or even liked him.
Mary Jane watched as the police took him away, shaking in the cold winter air. Levi held her close, and she hugged him back, wondering if she would ever get caught. When she pulled away from him, Maximillian was staring at her.
She had taken his most valuable drone. Now it would be impossible for him to commit more crimes without those monsters smelling his lies. Mary Jane saw him staring at her, and walked right up to Maximillian, and gave him a great big hug.
Maximillian couldn't breathe, and he tried to speak, but no words came out and she squeezed the air out of his lungs. The small woman looked up at him, her eyes shining gold, and whispered to him softly.
"You're next."
She let go, and Maximillian coughed and wheezed, gasping for air. Maximillian wasn't going to let some small thing control his life. He was in charge, no one else. Maximilian sulked the rest of the week, as everyone fawned over Mary Jane, worried about her, a normal reaction to the crime that was perpetrated.
He would bide his time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike, once everyone wasn't looking.