Marvelous Martial Arts (A Marvel Story)

Mason stood outside Minx’s building, waiting for her. She had gotten herself a flat in Hell’s Kitchen when she set up her tattoo salon. It was not the safest neighborhood, but it was also the place where a tattoo artist would never lack clients.

Before long, Minx stepped out, dressed all in black, as always. However, Mason noticed that she had her tattoos covered, and her usually black lips were red tonight. It was not that she looked any less beautiful, but she was a lot more conventional than usual.

Again, not that Mason minded, but as she stopped before him, barely reaching his chest, he grinned and asked, ”What’s up? I intimidated you into dressing like a normie?”

Minx, who had been about to greet him, froze before giving him the finger, ”Piss off, loser.”

Mason grinned and hugged her, before saying, ”You look beautiful, of course. I’m happy we’re doing this.”

”Then you should have invited me before.”

Mason snorted, surrendering, ”I already admitted my guilt before; you don’t need to hammer it in. Shall we go, madam?”

Minx rolled her eyes, but still started walking.

They walked silently at first, neither of them sure of what to say, until Minx finally grunted, ”Fuck, we got to address the elephant in the room. A superhero, seriously?”

Mason shrugged helplessly, ”What can I say? I’m that awesome.”

”Awesome? You got folded in half by a giant green monster.”

Mason turned to look at his childhood friend, who was currently evading his gaze. He first thought she was teasing him, but he realized that was not it. She sounded angry. And worried. She clenched her little fists, adding, ”Do you have any idea how worried I was when I watched the news? I thought you were dead, for fuck’s sake!”

Mason stared silently as she continued venting, ”I had to call your sister, and I only made things worse because she didn’t know if you were still alive either.”

She finally looked at him, her eyes turbid as she first looked at his eyes, before avoiding his gaze, staring at his chest instead as she added, ”And barely a day later, here you are, like nothing happened.”

Mason was at a loss for words, so he did not say anything, opting to stop and take Minx in his arms instead. This time, she latched onto him, her fingers digging into his back as she moaned in his chest, ”You could have told me, dick.”

This made Mason sigh, and he finally had something to say.

”I didn’t mean to hide anything, nor was it a matter of trust. Honestly, I awakened my powers right there. I’m not going to bore you with the details-”

She leaned her head out of his chest, her mascara a little botched as she cut him off, ”You think details about your superpowers could bore me?”

This made him smile, the two naturally breaking the hug as he resumed, ”I have been following a special training, which was the reason behind my physical changes. It was only while facing the Hulk that I reached the next step in my training and awakened those powers. And I assure you, I did not want to get folded in half by a giant green monster either.”

Minx laughed despite herself, running her fingers over her eyes as she said, ”Then you shouldn’t have taunted it. Shit, you ruined my makeup.”

”You still look too good to be in my presence.”

She gave him a side eye. ”Stop being cheesy; we’re there. Fuck, I should go back and fix-”

Mason laughed, grabbing her by the hand and leading her towards the restaurant, ignoring her protests.

Inside, the host gave him a look, like he was familiar with him but could not quite place him. It was not very surprising.

Although there were people who had filmed the battle with the Hulk, those were all of bad quality, and although the news had apparently shown a picture of him, it was one that was dated before he took over and went through his transformation, so he looked quite different.

Adding to that the ‘DC effect’, which was that people never expected to see a superhero in regular, everyday life, Mason had yet to be recognized as Solis by strangers, which was a relief.

Sitting down at their table, left with the menus, Minx stared at the prices and whispered, ”I still think this is way too fancy, richboy.”

Mason, who had grown up visiting luxurious establishments his whole life, even as a passenger, shrugged, ”It’s fine, I just wanted an evening we could spend together. The kind of people who come here would be too proud to bother us if they recognized me.”

He did not remind her that he was inviting her, as that would do more harm than good.

She still looked bothered, but she changed the subject, ”So, you’re a superhero.”

”Surprised?”

She looked up at him, only daring to say what was on her mind when she saw the mirth in Mason’s eyes. ”Honestly? Yeah, very much so. Sorry to say, but you were a wuss growing up. I was the one protecting you back in school.”

Mason smiled, although those memories of old Mason were not really ones he held fondly. He and his predecessor were the antithesis of each other in many aspects.

He ended up shrugging, ”It was about time we switched roles then, wasn’t it?” The double meaning one only he could understand.

She did not answer that. ”And what are your plans now? Continue with this… training of yours? Join the army and become the new generation of Captain America? Or wander the streets at night, terrorizing the bad guys like that freak Daredevil?”

Mason snorted at that last one, and said, ”I’ll continue training, of course. I’ve also taken over my master’s dojo, and taken my first student. As for what the future holds, who’s to say? I’ll see where life leads me.”

Their conversation was momentarily stopped by a waiter, and after giving their orders, Minx said, ”It still feels insane. Say, still not interested in getting inked up? I could make you a sun; it would fit.”

”Bit tacky, don’t you think? And no, I’m still not interested.”

She pursed her lips in faux-disappointment, ”You’re no fun.”

Mason smiled but said nothing, not biting on the obvious bait. The two smiled at each other when the waiter from earlier returned with two glasses and an expensive-looking bottle of wine.

As the two looked at him, he presented humbly, ”1986 Chateau Pichon, an excellent vintage aged in oak, which the Chef insists on gifting. We hope you enjoy your evening with us, Mr. Tunt.”

Mason gave him the perfunctory smile his mother had taught him to give in the event of such gifts, internally wondering whether it came from his name, or if they had recognized him.

Across him, Minx looked at the interaction with a bland face, but Mason could tell how she was feeling, so the moment the waiter left, he poured them both a drink, revealing, ”You know, our positions switched in more ways than one.”

Minx raised an eyebrow, grabbing her glass as she asked, ”Trying to get me drunk, richboy?”

Mason smiled, ignoring the jab as he swirled his wine, and said, ”I have not been perfectly honest with you. You want to know the real reason why I stopped reaching out to hang out?”

She said nothing, waiting for his response.

”Because I was intimidated. I thought that if someone we knew saw us together, their first thought would be ‘why is she hanging out with this loser?’.”

Minx blinked at the admission, and momentarily forgot about her glass, her brows furrowing as she said, ”That’s stupid; who cares what people think.”

Mason grinned, leaning back in his seat, and took a sip of the expensive wine. He couldn’t tell the difference between boxed wine and a grand cru.

He had said the truth, though he had been speaking about Old Mason, not himself. He tilted his glass her way, saying, ”You said it, so stop looking like you don’t belong. I’m still the same old Mason who couldn’t muster up the courage to approach you when you were in a group. I’m still the same old Mason you tried to sacrifice to the devil.”

A harmless lie.

Minx looked touched at first, until she heard his last sentence. She tried to scowl, but was unable to contain a pearl of laughter. ”Won’t you ever let go of it?”

Mason smiled, ”Never.”