#command collar

A messy brow rose at the lack of enthusiasm. Even when he couldn’t be in his muscle form, All Might managed a bit of pep in his voice. Something more than just troubled teens must have been bothering the retired hero. Swiveling in his office chair, he faced the other man, leaning forward to show he had his full attention.

Control collar? Yeah, he was well acquainted with them since he, himself, had been subjected to one. If it weren’t for Present Mic, he’d still be strapped into it, getting shocked left and right for his rebellion. 

Wander quickly returned their soul in the proper place within their being and observed their surroundings. Nothing. Just the grayness of the yonderspace whilst no destination was designated.

It was quiet, still, gray, lonely, lonely, lonely, alone. Wander took in a sharp, shaky breath at the realization of the lack of the soothing hand on their head. Shakily, it was summoned back and immediately go to work calming them down. Soothing, petting and caressing their skull.

That was better.

Wander noticed a weight around their neck. When did this get here?

A magic hand was summoned at poked at the metal collar on their neck.

["HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN HERE? DID IT GET CAUGHT ON ME IN MY TRAVELS?"]

Once the command was accepted by the mysterious collar, a pair magic hands summoned themselves without Wander's control. They placed themselves before the unmoving monster's ribcage. The hands struggled for a mere second to expose the unwilling soul.

The soul is heavily damaged, however remains intact and stable.

(( Moving right on to the next m!a~ Accepted! ))

“J-Joey?” Manda’s voice was almost too quiet for the grenadier to pick up over his attempts at repairing the breakroom’s coffee machine. Hightower poked his head up, powdered coffee mix browning the tips of his neon-pink hair. His eyes widened when he saw Manda’s sad expression. 

“Manda?” Joe crossed the breakroom in a couple strides to look over her with concern, Rogue’s wrench still in hand. “Are you all right? What’s the matter?”

“I’m sorry-” she whimpered, feeling his arms pull her close into an embrace. “I’ve messed so many things up today, for you and- and for everyone else on the ship.”

“Hey,” he rubbed a circle against her back. “You don’t need to worry about that.” He set his chin on the top of her head. “I was just wondering what had you acting so strangely…”

She sniffled, “I lost a bet and had to test out this thing.” She drew back to reveal the collar to him, tears in her eyes. “I- I have to obey six commands before the restraints will unlock.”

Joe’s brow furrowed, kneeling down and gripping her arms tightly. “No one- did anything to you... did they?” His expression was torn between concern and anger looking up to meet her eyes.

“No! No I...” she gulped, shaking her head. “I was very lucky on that matter- I should’ve thought things through a lot more and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Well, what did it make you do?”

Manda took a deep breath, feeling the shame of her actions. “I slacked off on my work shift just... well, just taking care of Cat-Tower.” She wiped her eyes. “I had to steal from the girls... and from Rascal.”

Hightower’s eyes widened at that. “Wait what did you take from them?”

Manda sniffled, opening her bag. “A bunch of things from the girl’s barracks... and I had to try stealing Rascal’s glasses.”

He raised his eyebrows, “which I’m guessing you weren’t successful at?”

Manda gave him a watery laugh. “No... I wasn’t for that.” She motioned to the wrench in his hand. “That’s Rogue’s by the way.”

“WHAT?!” Joe yelped, nearly tossing aside the tool. “You gave me Rogue’s wrench?! Are you crazy? If she found out-”

“I know, and I would’ve totally explained it to you at the time but... well...”

“It was another command?” Joe grimaced. Manda simply nodded in response. The soldier let out a sigh. “Okay so that’s what- four of the commands?” He met her eyes. “What about the other two?”

Manda looked away, still feeling the Psionic influence compelling her to keep going. “I uh- I had to sabotage the Avenger’s engines. But Rex stopped me before I could do any damage to the power generators.”

“That’s- wow... How did he stop you?” Joe gave her another once-over to make sure the former ADVENT Captain hadn’t harmed his precious girlfriend.

“I guess... there’s a couple words that stop the current command besides completing it.” She shrugged. “Like ‘stop’ or ‘enough’.”

“Okay,” Joe placed his hand on her cheek, turning her so she would face him properly. “And what about the last command?”

Manda’s lips trembled, struggling to hold back tears. “I- I had to admit everything to you, Joey.” Her breath hitched. “P-please forgive me!”

“Hey...” Joe pulled her into a hug. “Of course I forgive you, Manda...” He sighed, “this collar thing forced you to do things that you’d never do.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I know you’re not a traitor. Not a thief or liar. And definitely not a slacker.” He chuckled, drawing back to gently brush away her tears. “I’m just glad that you’re all right, Manda.”

Manda buried her face in the crook of Hightower’s neck, sobbing and trembling with emotion. His arms instinctively wrapped around her, caressing her back and waiting as long as she needed. 

The tiny recruit could feel the Psionic influence lifting from her -once and for all- like a weight off her chest. The collar unlocked with a ping, prompting her to draw away from the embrace to catch it.

She placed the collar into her bag, motioning to the wrench. “Guess I-” she took a breath. “I’d better get this stuff back where it belongs.”

“I’ll go with you.” He tugged at her wrist before she could turn away. “In case that thing acts up or... in case you need help explaining what happened.” He got to his feet with a grunt, his expression turning dark. “And besides... whoever put this thing on you-”

“Joey, please.” Manda placed a hand on his chest. “I know what I did was misguided...” She took a deep breath. “But this whole thing was never with malicious intent. I promise you.”

“Still...” he pouted, “whoever’s in charge of this experiment deserves a piece of my mind!”

Manda sighed, but a smile crossed her face. “Okay... but help me return all of these first?” She hoped that would at least help him cool his temper.

Joe nodded, pulling Manda into one last hug before they made their way out of the breakroom hand-in-hand.

“You know...” Joe brushed some of the powdered coffee mix from his hair with his free hand. “I really think that I was making some progress on that coffee machine.”

“Well, you certainly smell like a big cuppa Joe.” Manda paused and then snorted at the play on words.

Hightower groaned but smiled. “Good to see that you’re back to normal. Nerd.”

Command [6] of [6] *Completed*

Manda was in tears as she made her way into the depths of Engineering and then into the underbelly of the ship. Whoever was controlling her, undoubtedly wanted the Avengers and XCOM to fail. 

The Psionics drove her body forwards despite her pleas for it to stop. She hadn’t passed by anyone on her way. Any other day it seemed that the corridors were bustling with people!

She approached one of the main power generators, grabbing a crowbar from a nearby tool kit. It was too easy… where was the engineer who should’ve been attending to the machine?

Where was everyone?!

Her hand was shaking, tears still falling from her eyes as she lifted the crowbar, preparing to strike the generator.

“Manda STOP!” A strong pair of hands pulled her back as the Psionic control wore off from the cut-off word. “What are you doing?!”

It took a moment for her to regain her senses, shaking from fear. “R-Rex?”

The former ADVENT Captain looked deadly serious; the lighting from the power generators gave his green eyes an intense glow which wordlessly said ‘explain yourself’.

“I- it’s this damn thing!” Manda pulled the neck of her uniform top to one side, revealing the collar. “I can’t take it off until the six charges are dr-drained and the only way they get drained is with direct c-commands.” 

 She sobbed into her hands, dropping to the ground on her knees. 

“P-Please don’t tell the Commander!” Her breath hitched. “I didn’t mean to let things go so far! I don’t want to get sent away. The Resistance is my only chance of f-finding my family and I love everyone h-here and I don’t want to hurt anyone!”

There was a long pause before Rex knelt down next to her and set a hand on her shoulder. “I’m not going to tell the Commander, Manda.”

She looked up, trembling underneath his hand. “R- really?”

He nodded. “I know she would understand that you’re not acting yourself-” he tapped the collar around her neck and then looked Manda in the eyes. “But the last thing the Commander needs on her plate is to deal with something like this…”

“What should we do?”

“Well, who put this thing on you? Where are the commands coming from?”

Manda looked off to the side, wiping her eyes. “It uh-” She took a deep breath. “It’s an experiment from one of the scientists…” She fiddled with her fingers. “I lost a poker game against them and they made me into their guinea pig.” She cleared her throat. “We were trying to understand how the Elders use the Network to control people… and if there might be a way to free your people without having to remove everyone’s chips.”

Rex looked surprised and then serious again. “While that is a noble cause Manda… I did just stop you from dropping us into the Pacific.” He shook his head. “And there’s no telling what could’ve happened if someone wanted to take advantage of your lack of control.”

She sniffled, nodding in agreement and trembling at the truth in his words. “I wouldn’t have been able to s-stop them.”

Rex nodded, taking his hand off her shoulder and standing back up. He gently helped Manda to her feet, giving her a moment to compose herself before he spoke. “Now... there is someone who probably wants to know what’s going on.”

“Wh-Who?”

Command [5] of [6]