Chapter Marvel quote (because we don't ALWAYS have to do a poll): 

"I'm going to die surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy" - Gamora. 

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"We may have deactivated their hunger hormones, ma'am, but the Jacked do still need to eat and drink to survive." It was obvious that the young Jacker recruit had spent a long time working up the courage to speak to Ravenna, and his concern was legitimate. The two Jackers stood in the middle of the Hewkins' living room, watching as unending rows of uniformed Jacked walked by, their parched lips barely parted as they struggled under huge boxes of supplies from the attic and the basement. Their hair was glued to their foreheads with sweat and several of them stumbled around aimlessly despite the Jackers' best efforts to control them, looking mildly delirious. 

"They will complete their task, Jones," Ravenna replied coldly, crossing her metal-infused arms over her chest. "Mitchell may have given them breaks, but seeing as he is no longer here, they will work until one of them finds the Box or they're all dead."

"If you have a problem with that," she continued, looking straight into the young Jacker's terrified eyes. "Perhaps this is not the place for you after all."

"No! No, of course not, ma'am," Jones gulped, fidgeting nervously with his fingers. The last thing he wanted to do was give her a hint that he wasn't worthy or ready for the Jackers. In his world, you were either a Jacker or a Jacked, and he knew exactly which one he would rather be. 

"Whatever you're looking for, you won't find it! The other guy couldn't, and he was a lot scarier than you are, so what makes you think you can?" Meg stuck out her tongue mockingly, crossing her legs calmly from her position on the couch. When Mr. M first showed up at her house, she'd been too afraid even to speak to the intruders, but now, she did everything in her power to bother them. If they wanted to hurt her, she figured they would've done it already, and even she could tell that they were up to no good. Now, the best thing she could do was delay them until someone who could stop them arrived. 

"That fool Mitchell? Scarier than me? Now you've seriously wounded my ego, little girl," Ravenna sniffed menacingly as she approached Meg. "Apologize. Now." 

"You're really not very good at being the big boss bad guy, you know," Meg yawned. "My brother's way more intimidating than you are when I turn off his phone in the middle of a Princess Juliana video." Of course, she didn't mean a word of what she was saying. Ravenna, with her iron command over all of her subordinates, her half-metal limbs and the way she'd effortlessly ripped M's head right off his shoulders, was beyond terrifying. 

"Juliana? Isn't she that math girl from that little country- Arcana or something like that?" Ravenna mused, pretending she had no idea who Princess Juliana, her greatest enemy, really was. "And your brother watches her YouTube channel? What a loser." 

"Hey, metal lady! Only I make fun of my brother's nerdy obsession," Meg stood up, narrowing her eyes as she clenched her hands into fists. 

"Impressive attempt at faking courage," Ravenna rolled her eyes, stepping back from the couch. "You're trying to annoy me. I would be lying if I said it wasn't working, at least a little bit, but I'm not the kind of person you can stall for very long. Sooner or later, I'll find what I'm looking for, and then no one- not you, your family, or your government- will be able to stop me. Lucky for you, you're too important to kill and too dangerous to let go... you'll have the privilege of watching my plan unfold."

"Ma'am, I believe what's on the local news may be of slight interest to you." Ravenna turned around to see Jones staring down at his phone. 

"Give me that," Ravenna took the device from his hands, grasping it between her long, metallic nails as she looked down to see a recorded broadcast from the previous day. A suave anchor narrated a story over the block-text caption "BREAKING NEWS: LONG-TERM INTRUDER PRESENCE SUSPECTED IN LOCAL HOUSE." 

"...Local law enforcement has reason to believe that there is a hostile presence inside the Hewkin house. The last non-family member to enter and exit the house was Megan Hewkin's babysitter, Rosa McDaniel, who claims to have no recollection of what happened while she was inside. Megan was last seen leaving her middle school yesterday in a strange car that her friends confirm did not belong to either one of her parents. She has been reported absent at all of her usual afterschool activities and practices. Police suspect that she is being held inside her house against her will. Henry and Violet Hewkin along with their son, Chase, are currently out of the country, and all police attempts to contact them have been unsuccessful. And now, for a short commercial break." 

"Forget the Order- we've been found out by the local police," Jones bit his lip in frustration as Ravenna handed him back the phone. "This is almost insulting." 

"Our discovery was inevitable. We've been here too long- this mission was supposed to last hours, and it's dragged on into days." Ravenna replied. She'd known things weren't going to be on schedule ever since the Eagle had sent her to check on Mitchell, but even she hadn't planned for the Jackers to be here this long. This was suburban America, and they were accustomed to operating in the middle of the desert. Going unnoticed for long periods of time was much harder here. 

"Do you suggest that we abandon ship? Grab what we can and get back to base?" 

"No!" Ravenna hissed. "We must find the Box! What will we tell the Eagle? That we were inches away and then we gave up? He'll never let me live that down. I can handle the police- you take control of the Jacked, and make sure the girl doesn't go anywhere." 

From the look on Jones' face, he was beginning to seriously doubt Ravenna's ability to "handle the police" all by herself, but he thought it in his best interest not to question her. 

"Alright, Jackers, I want one more run of the attic, now! And would someone please start digging in the backyard?" Jones commanded, clapping his hands together. Just as he finished giving his orders, he heard a faint knock on the front door. 

"They're here," Ravenna grinned, looking almost excited. 

"That was... that was a friendly knock," Jones commented, trying to be optimistic. "Doesn't sound like the police. Maybe it's a next door neighbor or something." 

"Oh, it's the police, alright. They're playing nice because right now, they're just working off of suspicion. They don't have any proof that a crime was actually committed here." 

Before Jones could protest any further, Ravenna strode confidently to the door, absentmindedly picking a bloodstain off the white skull printed in the middle of her black t-shirt. Bracing herself, she swung it open to reveal two uniformed police officers. At first, their expressions looked almost bored, but the sight of the house, with the stuffing pulled out of the couches and coating the floor and the tiles yanked out of place and thrown against the wall in total disarray brought their focus back with a snap. 

The first policeman immediately reached for his gun, storming into the house, while the second stared in disbelief at the metal casings that ran along Ravenna's arm. "Who... what are you?" he gulped. 

"I'm a monster," Ravenna licked her lips just as the first police officer began to fire. Her long, metallic nails shot out of her fingers as she twirled them through the air, deflecting the bullets faster than they could be shot, until one of them flew back just the way it had come, lodging itself in his shoulder. The policeman stood, defenseless, one hand clutching his bleeding shoulder while the other shakily pointed a gun that refused to fire. He was out of ammunition. The confusion in his eyes made Ravenna smile- he had never seen anything like her, none of them had. She was about to do what the Order had never had the guts to do. She wasn't going to hide, pretending to be an innocent, cute little royal family like the VanderSchees did. Oh no, she was going to show this lazy world what true power was.  

"We need backup- now!" the second officer shouted into his radio, backing up against the wall. "Only one assailant spotted so far- tall, female, Caucasian, black hair. She's armed with... bulletproof metal claws. Sort of like- like Wolverine? No, sir, this is not a joke!" 

"A joke?" Ravenna scoffed, approaching him just as he lowered the radio. "Your people think I am a joke? Well, very soon, you will see just how serious I am. How real. How powerful."

"Stay back!" the policeman pulled out a taser, holding it straight out in front of him. "Do you have Megan Hewkin?" 

"Oh, I'm glad you asked, because I do," Ravenna grinned. "Although I'm not ready to release her quite yet- she's seen too much, you know. I want to reveal myself to the world- trust me, it's all I've ever wanted- but not just yet. I need some time and resources... which I will be acquiring very, very soon." 

Before she could continue her speech, the first police officer grabbed her from behind, pulling her wrists together as he attempted to handcuff her. Ravenna, taken by surprise, grunted in frustration as he successfully locked the handcuffs. 

"You're under arrest, freak," he gritted his teeth just as five more police officers stormed through the door, this time armed with bulletproof vests. 

"Oh, now you guys are just being a pain in the butt," Ravenna scowled, straining as she pulled her arms apart, snapping the metal handcuffs in two. She immediately felt a wave of electricity course through her and looked forward, frowning at the second police officer, whose taser was now activated and in her face. 

"Did you just try to handcuff and tase the most advanced humanoid cyborg ever created? No wonder the Eagle wants to destroy you all!" she scoffed, planting her boot in the middle of the police officer's chest and watching as he flew backwards across the room. The backup team of five moved forward as if on cue, raising their guns just as Ravenna crossed her gleaming hands across her face, lighting up with a knowing smirk. 

This wasn't at all how she'd planned it, but she was finally going public, and it was going to be very, very fun.