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[Assistant]
Mr. M - part 1
(New York City, District X, present)
Police Officer Gus Kucharsky lies in a hospital bed. His head is bandaged and an ECG monitors his heartbeat. Gus is quite weak and can only whisper to the shadowed figure sitting nearby. Gus asks Ismael if he’s been sitting there long. Ismael informs him that he’s been there a while and wanted to be there when he woke up. He stands and walks over to the bed and Gus asks what happened. “You don’t remember?” enquires Ismael. It’s kind of hazy, comes the reply. Ismael tells him that being shot in the head will do that to you. Gus’s eyes widen with surprise but Ismael assures him that he’ll live; the bullet just creased him. He guesses it bounced off his thick skull.
Gus tells him that Norma always said this would happen if they stayed in New York. She wanted to move to Georgia. She had folks there. He wants to know what happened, so Ismael decides to tell him. It was a pretty typical day. He was driving and Gus was riding shotgun, shooting his mouth off as usual.
(flashback)
“Good M-o-o-orning, District X.” Gus is riding shotgun with Ismael ‘Izzy’ Ortega driving as they tour the streets of District X, New York City’s eleventh precinct. The place has seen better days and their patrol car moves slowly through the litter-strewn streets. Gus hates this place. He compares the streets to a woman; mean, dirty and low-down but kinda fascinating. Sometimes you love her, sometimes you hate her, but you always have to come back for more. Izzy says he’s such a jerk.
A young boy waves down their car and calls Izzy’s name .He stops and asks what’s up. Mikey, or Mikhail to give him his proper name, informs him that his Uncle Gregor has fallen asleep again. Izzy sees Gregor asleep on a park bench with two kids ridiculing him. Izzy steps out of the car and puts on his cap, asking Gus to call in a 10-69. He asks Mikey if he’s called his mom and he says that she’s on her way.
Izzy wakes up Gregor, whose eyes open with a start. He is a bearded man with tired eyes. He is also a mutant and his hands and feet have become physically rooted to the park bench. Izzy grasps his shoulders, asking him not to move until his sister arrives. “Five minutes! I sit down for five minutes to read my book… Is that too much to ask?” Gregor is clearly exasperated by his mutation and Gus is equally annoyed at having to deal with this type of situation. He asks if they are cops or the social services. “Mutant weirdos.”
Mikey’s mother, Mitya, arrives and reaches into her purse, asking him if he forgot his pills. He replies that the pills are no good. She pulls out a pair of garden clippers and asks where Mikhail was when this happened. Gregor asks her not to blame Mikhail, as he was playing with friends. She tells him to hold still and carefully snaps each of the roots, freeing him. This causes Gregor a certain amount of pain and Mikhail hugs him as Mitya frees his feet. Another pair of good shoes ruined. Gregor apologizes to Mitya for being a trouble to her, as she prepares to disinfect his cuts. She thanks Gus and Izzy as they depart.
They head back to their patrol car, with Gus rhetorically asking Izzy if he knows why they call this District X. he continues to say that X marks the spot. The way he figures it, some city planner took a big fat marker and drew a big fat X on the map of Manhattan. He said, “That’s where we dump the trash.” Gus isn’t happy that all the ugly, twisted freaks are theirs to serve and protect. He calls headquarters and informs them they’re taking lunch, a 10-63. Izzy suggests that they eat healthy for a change. Jean-Claude’s place is across the street. Gus agrees and asks a kid to watch their wheels. The kid turns and says sure. His insect eyes freak Gus out a little and he doesn’t hesitate in saying so.
Izzy tells him to cut that out and Gus apologizes for using the ‘F’ word. He’ll put a buck in the cuss box. Izzy points out that doing so isn’t the point. These people aren’t freaks, they aren’t trash. They’re citizens, he explains. Before Gus can offer any more excuses, their attentions are diverted towards a beautiful young woman named Lorelei, with long pink hair which seemingly has a life all of its own. Standing outside a pole-dancing club, she’s on a cigarette break but asks the boys if they’re coming in. Gus acts all nice for a second but then he grabs her around the neck and says that it sounds like she’s soliciting for business. Izzy has to calm him down and lead him away. The girl’s companion tells her to get back inside.
Izzy asks Gus what’s with him today and he replies that it’s nothing a weekend’s hunting won’t cure. He guesses he just needs to kill something. They enter Jean-Claude’s café, the Café des Artistes, and grab themselves a meal. As they eat, Izzy continues to explain that it isn’t just what they see on the streets; that’s just the surface. This district has the highest unemployment rate in the USA. It also has the highest rate if illiteracy and the highest severe overcrowding outside of Los Angeles. Gus acknowledges the statistics but has a few things he wishes to point out. They also have the highest crime rates in the country for narcotics, prostitution, vehicular theft and burglary. That is smack in the middle of New York, which is supposed to be the safest major city in the USA. He tells Izzy he can call it what he likes; Mutant Town, Freak City, whatever. “This district is a cancer, and it’s our job….”
Gus stops mid-sentence as he notices a young man outside their window. He smears his body all over the window and appears to be going through several different emotions, as his body morphs through a series of rainbow colors. The two officers step outside, only to see the guy leaving with his girlfriend, who creates a small energy whirlpool with her hands. Izzy asks the waitress what those kids are on and she replies that they’re juicers. Toad Juice has been around for a few weeks and half the kids here are on it.
Izzy’s radio clicks on and headquarters asks for any available units to respond. They have an incident on McCarthy Avenue. They’ve received a garbled message but it may be false imprisonment. A woman reports that her sister is being held against her will by her spouse. Izzy confirms that they’ll check it out.
By the time they reach McCarthy Avenue, the weather has turned for the worse, as rain pounds the streets like bad news. They meet two women standing outside an apartment block and Izzy asks if one of them is Ms. Danziger. A young blonde woman introduces herself and informs them that her sister needs help. They head indoors, where she explains that her sister is being held prisoner. Izzy needs some background, so they move to Ms. Danziger’s friend’s flat.
Gus checks out a promotional poster for the flat’s owner, Patricia Hamilton: the Amazing Merwoman, whilst Izzy asks the questions. He asks why she thinks her sister is being held prisoner. Ms. Danziger replies that he hasn’t let her sister out in weeks, as he thinks men will fall in love with her. “Jealous type, huh?” enquires Gus. Ms. Danziner continues that it’s worse. He thinks any man who hears her voice will go crazy for her on the spot. He thinks she’s a mutant. Izzy asks if she is, but Ms. Danziger doesn’t respond to that. She says boys used to fight over her, a lot. One time, she explains, there was a stabbing over her. The boy who did it said she cast a spell over him; called her a siren.
After that, Jake Costanza turned up and proposed to her the day they met. They left for Las Vegas the next night and, a week later, she received a postcard saying they were married. It took her eighteen months to find out where she was. Izzy asks if they’ve been living here all this time. Her friend, Patricia, replies that they’ve been here for the last year. He told everyone she was mute. Ms. Danziger insists she isn’t mute. He’s just got this crazy idea in his head. Izzy asks if she’s spoken to her sister and she says yeah. Jake allowed her to see her. She looked terrible. She says
Jake isn’t working and they’re living off benefits. He chains her to the radiator when he goes for groceries. With the information they need, the cops head off to visit Jake and Izzy asks Ms. Danziger to stay put.
Soon, Gus is banging on Jake Costanza’s door, demanding he opens it. Jake edges the door open but keeps it on a chain. Izzy explains that they need to speak to his wife but he replies that she’s sick. Gus, hands on hips, makes it clear that they need to speak to her now! Jake checks out his service revolver and says just a minute before closing the door. Gus reckons that he isn’t going to open up and gives him one last chance. Immediately, before Jake has time to open up, Gus kicks the door in and both officers enter, revolvers at the ready.
Inside, they find Jake’s wife sitting on the bed in her underwear. She has her hands tied behind her back and a gag over her mouth. A metal collar is wrapped around her neck with a padlock at the back. The place is a mess and Jake looks physically drained. He pleads with the officers, saying that he has to do this. She’ll drive you crazy. Even her breathing, he adds, as he puts his head into his hands. “Even the sound of her breath passing between her lips.” Tears stream down his face. He’s clearly at the end of his tether. Gus is unimpressed and asks Izzy if he’s gonna cuff him. Izzy notices a chain and padlock wrapped around the radiator and turns to Jake. “You’re under arrest, Mr. Costanza. Please move away from your wife.”
(present)
Izzy peers through the blinds in Gus’s hospital ward. He explains that he went to cuff the husband. He turns and asks Gus if he is listening. He’s listening. Izzy proceeds to explain what happened, though his recollection is clearly a little embellished.
(flashback)
 “You went to take the gag off the wife.”
Izzy grabs Jake and twists his arm behind his back, holding a pair of handcuffs in his other hand. Gus unties the gag and asks Jake’s wife if she’s okay. She looks into his eyes and whispers, “Thank you.” Gus is immediately caught in her spell, as the words echo through his mind. Izzy informs Jake of his rights but Jake tries to warn Gus not to listen to her.
 “But before I could get the cuffs on him, he went berserk.”
Izzy leads Jake away, in cuffs, as Gus checks out the padlock on his wife’s collar.
 “He shoved me to one side and grabbed your gun.”
Gus, under her mental spell, turns away from her and heads towards the handcuffed Jake. He says to his wife that he shouldn’t have done that to her and pulls out his revolver, aiming it at Jake. Izzy puts his hand up, unaware of what was really happening.
 “He was too fast for us. He started shooting.”
Gus blasts Jake in the chest, the blood splattering over Izzy, who looks on in horror. Jake falls to the floor, dead. Izzy kneels down and turns to Gus. He can’t believe he just did that. Gus then walks back to Jake’s wife and aims the revolver at her. She smiles as he asks, “What did you do to me?”
 “Before we could stop him, he shot his wife.”
Gus lets loose another round and she collapses back onto the bed, with a large wound in her chest. Gus then turns the weapon on himself.
 “You tried to take the gun off him, Gus. That’s when he shot you.”
Izzy manages to reach Gus, just as he pulls the trigger. “Put it down,” he cries, as a shot rings out. Gus’s head turns as the gun goes off and he falls to the floor, unconscious. Izzy quickly calls in a 10-13 and tells headquarters that an officer is down. He requires urgent medical assistance and there are three casualties with gunshot wounds. Izzy then bends down over Jake and uncuffs him. He then takes Gus’s revolver using a handkerchief to prevent his own fingerprints from contaminating the weapon and places it into Jake’s hand.
 “There was nothing we could do.”
With the weapon now planted, Ms. Danziger and the Merwoman suddenly rush into the apartment. Izzy outstretches his hand and warns them not to come in, but they’re already there.
(present)
Izzy tells Gus that her voice just drove him crazy. Gus looks up from his bed with knowing eyes. “Thanks Izzy,” is all he says. Izzy informs him that Internal Affairs will be coming by tomorrow and he should just tell it like he told it. Izzy opens the door before Gus calls his name. He turns and Gus explains that he’s loved Norma more than anything but, in all the twenty-one years he was with her, even when they were first dating, he never felt anything like that.
(Eleventh Precinct Station House, later)
Izzy Ortega is back at the station when Chief Esposito calls him into his office. He asks how Gus is doing and Izzy replies that he’ll pull through. The chief rubs his chin and explains that he’s going to have to take him off normal duties while the inquiry goes through. In the meantime, he has a special duty for him. The feds are concerned about the crime levels in District X, so they’ve sent them a detective to look things over. He’s an officer with expertise in dealing with mutants and he needs someone to show him the ropes. He wants Izzy to give him the full tour. Izzy asks just who it is he’s babysitting. A voice comes from a man sitting on a leather chair. The chair spins around. “Long time since anyone called me a baby. The name’s Bishop.”


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[Assistant]
Mr. M - part 2
(McCarthy Avenue, District X)
Hanna Levy’s toaster has broken. She climbs her building’s stairway to Apartment 104 and knocks at the door. A slender, but muscular man answers and asks what he can do for her. She explains that her toaster has broken and he replies that he thought he detected the aroma of carbonized wheat germ.
Hanna knows Mr. M better than most. She knows his name is Absolon Zebardyn Mercator. She also knows that he can fix just about anything mechanical or electrical, though he doesn’t own a car, a stereo or even a television. She has no idea how he can tell the toast she burned was wheat germ.
Mr. M informs Hanna that he’ll have it working in no time. She looks around his room and sees that he is educated. His apartment has an old record player and is crammed with books, yet he rarely leaves his apartment, except at night. Hanna peers out the window and sees an ambulance parked across the street. She asks if he heard about the shooting. He has. She often hears him coming home in the small hours, stumbling up the stairs, leaving the taste of barrooms on the air. She’d like to tell him about her work, that she has a degree in social history and that she is a researcher for the North American Historical Review, a highly regarded journal. Seeing a fly buzzing around his apartment, she flicks her chameleon-like tongue out and grabs it. She quickly excuses herself. Clearly, the subject of her work never seems to come up.
Mr. M sees her out and tells her that her toaster will be ready in a couple of hours. She says she can bring him a blueberry pie if he likes, and he replies that that would be wonderful. He then returns to the toaster and places his down-turned palms over it. A glimmer of energy bathes the toaster and he places a slice of bread into it. He waits, arms folded as it cooks, despite the power cord being unplugged. He then eats the toast and looks across the street at the investigation being carried out at the Costanza’s.
(Apartment 2C)
Two detectives are at the crime scene, investigating the deaths of the Costanza’s. Forensics officers gather evidence, as one of the detectives asks if they’re clear what happened here. Standing beside a chalk outline with a pool of blood around the chest area, the forensics officer explains that they recovered the slug that hit the wounded officer from the ceiling. The trajectory is consistent with a struggle for the weapon, occurring right where he is stood. Back splatter patterns put the male victim right next to the end position of the body when he was shot. “You mean when he shot himself?” the detective asks. The forensics officer replies that it’s for the pathologist to determine. Off the record, his officers could be telling the truth but, if the relatives go for a private prosecution, there are enough consistencies… “Enough to make a case for unlawful killing?” asks the detective. “Enough for some embarrassing headlines,” replies that forensics officer. The detective grabs his colleague, Sam, and tells him they need to speak to the sister.
Downstairs, they chat to Bethany Danziger on the couch. She has a strange feeling about the case and thinks something just isn’t right. She needs some time to think it over. The detective asks where they can reach her and Patricia Hamilton, the Amazing Merwoman, offers her a place. She can stay as long as she needs. Bethany asks if she can speak to the two officers involved. The detective replies that they can arrange something. Officer Kucharsky is currently hospitalized, but he’s recovering well. Sam adds that Officer Ortega is on special duty with the Fed.
(eleventh precinct)
Back at the station, Izzy asks Bishop what the deal is. Why are the Feds suddenly interested in local crime problems? Bishop replies with a question, asking what Izzy knows about Daniel Kaufman and Frankie Zapruder. He tells Bishop that, between them, they run most of the rackets around here. That’s no big secret. Bishop says that word is a turf war is brewing. Izzy thinks it’ll just fizzle out, just like always. Bishop’s concern is that this time it could be for real. A gang war, smack in the middle of Manhattan involving mutants. That’s a nightmare! “Right,” replies Izzy, climbing into a squad car. “Mutants slugging it out in Manhattan. That could really damage the tourist trade.”
Their car sets off, with Bishop adamant that this isn’t just about public relations. They need to take them out of circulation before the lid blows; Zapruder, Kaufman and their lieutenants. If they don’t, a lot of innocent bystanders are going to get hurt, local people, citizens. Izzy replies that it can’t be done. They have a virtual firewall of legitimate businesses between them and the dirty money. Clubs, restaurants, imports, you name it. Bishop asks for a tour of who runs what in this town.
Soon, Izzy points to Vid U Like, a video rental shop owned by Frankie. He mentions that he has a car dealership too, but the tour is cut short as they spot a crowd up ahead. They pull to the sidewalk and Izzy steps out, asking what’s going on. A group of people are surrounding a guy named Manfred, complaining about the vermin being bred by the Falcone’s. The whole building is crawling with ‘em. “It just ain’t healthy,” a woman adds, “You hear me, Manfred? My baby gets bitten by one of those rat-things an’ gets rabies or plague or - or mad cow, I’m coming after you. My lawyer coming after you. Gonna sue you for every cent you got.”
Izzy and Bishop step between Manfred and the hostile crowd. Izzy asks if he’s the landlord, but Manfred replies that he’s the manager and he’s not going upstairs again. The creatures ain’t no rats. Izzy and Bishop head to the fifth floor and find the Falcone’s door is littered with graffiti. ‘The Rat Hole,’ is daubed on the wooden door along with ‘Beware of Vermin,’ and ‘Go home.’ Mrs. Falcone allows them in and they find her husband, Arturo, slouching in a chair, with several empty bottles of alcohol littering the carpet. He is quite hirsute and his body is covered with round boils, some covered with bandages and plasters.
Arturo is seemingly oblivious to their presence. His wife explains that it gets worse when he’s drinking. The only job he could get was garbage collector. He lost that when he got into a fight. His colleagues didn’t like the way he smelled. Now, she has to work eight-hour nights, cleaning offices for minimum wage to put food on the table and wine in his fat belly. Her harsh tone softens a little as she adds that it’s not really his fault. He can’t even get disability, as it’s not a recognized medical condition. Bishop asks exactly what his condition is.
Before she can answer, their two children rush through the room playing with toy guns and causing a racket, aiming them at the two cops. Mrs. Falcone slaps Primo across the face, telling him to show how she brings them up right, much to Izzy’s concern. His brother points to Arturo, as his condition becomes all too apparent. He grips the chair arm tightly and grits his teeth. One of the boils on his shoulder begins to quickly increase in size and, in a splurge of green liquid, a creature explodes from his shoulder to the sound of Arturo’s screams of agony. The creature has a hairy back, large red eyes and several long teeth. It looks like a ferocious mutated rat and it immediately moves towards Bishop.
Bishop momentarily steps backwards as the creature begins to climb up his leg. Not knowing exactly what danger the vermin poses, he quickly obliterates it with a blast of energy from his left hand. The blast unfortunately takes out the Falcone’s television set too. “Something you’ve been keeping from me Bishop,” enquires Izzy, rhetorically.
Mrs. Falcone slaps her other son and tells them to get to their rooms. As Arturo recovers in the armchair, Izzy apologizes for the television set. She explains that he wasn’t always like this. She grabs a framed photograph of them on their wedding day. She shows them what he hatched for her, a much cuter butterfly-like creature. Outside, the two cops make their way through the crowd and inform them that this isn’t police business. Izzy suggests they take it to City Hall and Bishop adds that they should try Pest Control.
As they drive off, Izzy mentions that Bishop’s tattoo isn’t just a gang thing then. He’s a mutant. Bishop asks if he has a problem with that, but Izzy is fine with it. He just reminds Bishop that he can’t go around blowing up people’s property. Bishop changes the subject and asks about Izzy. He says that Chief Esposito tells him that he left Cuba in 1980 when Castro kicked out the mutants. Izzy tells him that he was seven years old. His parents chose to leave, and it wasn’t just mutants. It was gays, intellectuals, writers and artists. “Your parents weren’t mutants?” asks Bishop. “They were poets,” replies Izzy. Bishop wants to see where Kaufman does business, so Izzy heads in the direction of Daniel’s Inferno, one of Kaufman’s clubs.
(Patricia Hamilton’s apartment)
Bethany Danziger, sister of the deceased Jake Costanza, looks at the poster that her friend has on her apartment wall. Patricia tells Bethany that it’s rather seedy; not really her kind of thing. Bethany replies that she’d love to see her perform. “One day perhaps, we’ll see.” Bethany then checks out her trophy cabinet. She has so many awards. Patricia explains that she was all set to represent England in the Olympics but, before that, she was disqualified from competition swimming by the Sports Council. “Why?” asks Bethany. Patricia splays her fingers to reveal webbing between each one. “Unfair advantages,” she replies. So, she came to the States, the land of opportunities, and now she performs in a nightclub in a giant fishbowl. Her expression says it all.
(later)
Patricia leaves her apartment and heads for work. Mr. M watches from his vantage point; a place where he seems to have a decent view of much that goes on in the area. By the time she reaches Daniel’s Inferno, Izzy and Bishop are positioned in their squad car outside. Izzy knows her, and didn’t think she was the type to work here. Patricia says hi to Lonnie, who sits at the bar and heads to the changing rooms. In the corridor, a young blue-skinned mutant is being strong-armed by two burly men. They brush past Patricia and take him into the back room where their employer, Daniel ‘Shaky’ Kaufman, is seated behind a desk. Another employee, Mr. Punch, stands, arms folded by his side.
“Hello Jazz,” Shaky says, politely. His face though shows he is in no mood for politeness. He breaks another in a long line of matchsticks in half and tells Jazz that he wants to get straight to the point. There’s a new drug on the street; Toad Juice, and he wants Jazz to tell him about it. Jazz says he don’t know nothin’. Shaky knows he sells Toad Juice for Filthy Frankie and repeats his request. He stutters as he speaks, possibly a side-effect of his mutation. Jazz says that he ain’t no squealer, and Shaky asks Mr. Punch to inform their friend why he should start squealing.
Mr. Punch, a large muscular man, covered from head to toe in scars, puts his face to Jazz’s and says that he may have observed that Mr. Kaufman is a little…agitated. He explains that his employer has an erratic metabolism. His body builds up a colossal amount of energy, which he is periodically compelled to release in bursts of extreme violence. Jazz has about thirty seconds. At this point, Shaky slams his fists down on the table, sending the matches flying. He stands and makes his way towards the cowering Jazz, who quickly caves in, saying he’ll start squealing. Shaky turns to Mr. Punch, who says he’s ready when he is. He braces himself and Shaky slams his fist into his torso. He follows this up with a knee to the stomach and a strong right cross, before grabbing Mr. Punch by the shoulders as he tries to catch his breath. Jazz is both petrified and bemused by the display of aggression.
Shaky straightens his long, black hair and thanks Mr. Punch. He seats himself behind his desk and asks Jazz to spill everything he knows about Toad Juice. A chair is made available to Jazz and he begins to tell his tale. He explains that it’s like an urban legend, only for real. He has homey’s who’ve seen this guy.
(flashback)
They call him the Toad Boy. His was so ugly, his old man did a runner the day he was born. The kid’s mom stuck around; loved him like a son, Jazz guesses. The kid grows older and just gets uglier. His mom works her fingers to the bone and he just sits around the house, watching the box all day long. One day, she comes home and can’t take it no more. She’s totally twisted and skitzin’. She hollers at Toad Boy about ruining her life and stuff. The kid is scared stiff,and the mom realizes this, so she gives him a big hug and starts kissing his tears away. Then it hits her. It’s like wham-blam, beam me up Scotty. She’s flying! See, Jazz continues, the kid secretes this stuff that’s like the ultimate high. His tears, his sweat, his spit, everything is loaded with the stuff.
Jazz tells Shaky that from that day his momma don’t work. She don’t go out, she don’t cook and the kid has to send out for pizza to stay alive. His mom is permanently blitzed. Pretty soon, she’s deep in hock. She’s been getting papers from the local bank and, when he says bank, he’s talking about one o’ Frankie Zapruder’s franchises. This bank has a tax on its loans an’ when that tax comes due, you better come through.
Frankie’s goons turn up at their home one day and find Toad Boy playing a video game, with his mom lying beside him, licking the sweat off his arms. They figure this is something Frankie has to see for himself. Frankie arrives with a third goon and one of them tests Toad Boy’s goods. He is soon impressed; his smile literally going from ear to ear.
(present)
Jazz says, “Compared to juice, acid is flaccid, crack is wack, shrooms are…er…” Shaky destroys another matchstick and orders him to cut to the chase. Jazz quickly gets back on track. He informs Shaky that Frankie writes off the debt, takes the Toad Boy in, gives him a home and sets up a factory. He collects the kid’s sweat an’ whatever. The secretions are distilled an’ soaked into blotters. It hits the streets as Toad Tabs. Shaky asks what the turnover is. Jazz hears that there’s enough for five hundred to a thousand tabs a day. They go for twenty bucks a hit. Shaky rubs his chin and smiles. “Twenty thousand a day? Gentleman, Kaufman Enterprises is about to acquire a new business.”
(Izzy Ortega’s home, evening)
Izzy relaxes on his bed, writing his journal by the light of a table lamp. He writes that they staked out the Inferno for a while. If there really is a gang war brewing, he saw no sign of it.
(flashback)
Izzy arrives home. His wife, Armena, is in bed and has left him a note to say there’s food in the ice-box. Esteban has done a drawing of him, which he finds stuck to the fridge. He does the usual things. He empties his gun and locks it away before checking on the kids. It’s a superstitious thing with Izzy. It’s fixed in his head that, the one time he forgets, something terrible will happen to them. Armena is reading Donna Tartt’s My Little Friend and asks how his day went. Izzy smiles, and doesn’t tell her much. What’s to say? He watched a woman half-crazed with exhaustion hitting her kids while her husband gave birth to a mutant rat? She reminds him to put it in his journal. It’s a vital part of his therapy, putting down his thoughts, the thoughts he can’t even share with his own wife.
(present)
He finishes his journal and gets ready for bed. How it kills him to come home to her, to hear her tell him she loves him and to watch her fall asleep, to see it happen every night. She can’t help it, he supposes. It’s a subconscious mechanism to protect her and keep her safe. A cocoon slowly spreads itself around his mutant wife, covering her from head to toe. Every night he looks at her, and he thinks about how he loves her, and how he hates this. There are a lot of people worse off in District X. The place is full of people who live their lives in pain. He knows he shouldn’t make a big deal of this; it’s such a little thing. He looks at his wife, and places his head in his hands as she drifts away. He just wants to hold her while she sleeps.


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[Assistant]
Mr. M - part 3
(Manhattan meat-packing district, early morning)
Toad Boy is awake and being attended to by two of Frankie Zapruder’s medical staff. They wear protective facemasks, as they absorb his sweat using swabs and catch his saliva in a bowl. A kettle-shaped object is possibly there to be used for ‘other’ bodily excretions. Toad Boy’s bodily output acts as a highly effective drug, which can be turned into Toad Tabs and sold on the street for huge profits.
Outside the warehouse, named Shed 3, is Daniel ‘Shaky’ Kaufman, Mr. Punch, Jazz, the bouncer from the strip club and two more of Kaufman’s goons. Jazz isn’t keen on joining them in their morning raid and Kaufman allows him to wait in the car. His goons are armed, and the eye patch-sporting bouncer carries a buzz saw. He goes to work on the door and kicks it through, followed by his heavily armed companions. Kaufman, squeezing a smiley face stress ball to help control his emotions, wants at least one of the warehouses’ defenders taken alive. His goons enter and open fire, easily taking out the surprised gunmen inside; employees of Shaky’s main rival - Frankie Zapruder.
The bouncer keeps his foot pressed down on the last survivor as he looks up at Shaky. The buzz saw provides the incentive to answer any questions put to him. Shaky wants the Toad Boy’s whereabouts, and he promptly gets his answer. They make their way to the makeshift medical lab where the staff have installed a bar heater to make Toad Boy sweat more. He sits on a dentist’s chair; his excess sweat dribbling down to a collecting hole in the floor.
Shaky and Mr. Punch lead Toad Boy away, and Mr. Punch informs Toad Boy that Mr. Kaufman will be taking care of his interests from now on. He asks for his mom, and Shaky orders someone to find her. She is found in a small room with only the bare necessities and a television set, and she is soon reunited with her mutant offspring. She calls him Tarquin as she runs to him, giving him a big hug. With her arms around his shoulders, she can’t help but stick her tongue out and take a lick at her son’s neck.
(The Ortega family residence)
Chamayra, wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt, enters her parent’s bedroom and prods at her mom’s protective bubble to wake her. Armena stretches and the bubble dissipates, leaving a residue on her bed sheets. Izzy sleeps in the next bed. Chamayra tells her that she and her brother, Esteban, have been up for ages, and have made breakfast. Armena heads to the bathroom whilst Chamayra, or Chamy, as her mom likes to call her, gathers the bed sheets to put in the wash. Armena thanks her, but asks her not to wake Izzy as he’s on the late shift today. The mischievous Esteban doesn’t care, and leaps onto his father’s back, telling him they’ve made pancakes.
Moments later, Izzy is awake and he joins his wife for breakfast. Armena is a grade school teacher, and she chats about the latest assignment she set. She then asks about the new fed guy. Izzy informs her that it turns out that Bishop is a mutant. He’s kind of macho, but he’s okay and she’d like him. She asks about the enquiry, and wonders if he could be in trouble. The barely awake Izzy snaps at her and defends himself, asking why he should be in trouble. He’s a cop. They used to be the good guys. Armena tells him not to bite her head off. She can see he is worried, that’s all. Izzy rubs his forehead and apologizes. He tells Armena that the sister could make things awkward. She’s going to see Gus today.
(Bellevue Hospital)
Officer Sam Klein and his partner show Bethany Danziger into Gus’s room and introduce them to each other. Gus is now in a wheelchair and his head is still bandaged following the shooting incident involving Bethany’s sister and husband Jake. They both died at Gus’s hands, but Izzy and Gus agreed on an entirely different story and are sticking to it.
She takes a seat and tells Gus that she’s truly sorry for what happened. Gus says he is too. He feels bad about her husband getting hold of his gun. He must be getting careless in his old age. Bethany guessed that something like that would happen one day, but says that Jake was always such a gentle person. “Yeah,” replies Gus, “But he had your sister chained up like a dog.” Bethany reveals that there’s something she didn’t mention earlier. She actually introduced Jake to her sister, bringing him home to meet her family. She and Jake were engaged, so she guesses she kinda had mixed-up feelings for the both of them.
Bethany mentions that she’s been approached by a lawyer, who says she should take out a private prosecution against the NYPD. She doesn’t know for sure how her sister died, but she’s at peace now, lord willing, so she doesn’t see the need to cause more trouble to anyone. She stands and heads for the door, letting Gus know that she won’t be needing him. Once she is through the door, Gus clenches his fists and grins from ear to ear. “Yes!” he cries in relief.
Gus’s overwhelming joy is brought to an abrupt end by a voice coming from the corner of his room. “It looks like you got away with it.” Gus looks over and sees a strange man, the man we already know as Mr. M. He asks the stranger how the hell he got in there. Mr. M replies that he is a witness. He lives opposite the Costanzas and the blinds were up the day Gus shot them. This allowed him a perfect view. So, he continues, he has a decision to make. Does he come forward and tell the truth, or does he stay out of it. Gus asks if it’s money he wants. Mr. M replies that he doesn’t want money. He wants to know if Gus is worth keeping quiet for.
Mr. M tells Gus that he knows she made him do it. He’s watched her, and she can make people do lots of things. He’s sure she wanted to die, but she could never have made her husband kill anyone. She needed a man with murder in his heart. That’s why she chose him.
(The Ortega residence)
Armena asks Chamy to get a move on, but she appears with a postcard from Aunty Laline. Izzy reads it, with Armena peering over his shoulder. “Brazil, huh? She gets around that sister of yours,” she says. Izzy replies that she doesn’t have to get by on a cop’s salary; or a teacher’s. Armena adds that she doesn’t have any kids. She pecks him on the cheek and asks him not to wake her when he returns home tonight.
Izzy dresses and, by eight o’clock, he finds the phone ringing. On the other end is a weary Gus. He has something to ask Izzy. He is worried about the shooting, and wonders if Izzy would rat on him if something came up. Izzy replies that of course he wouldn’t. Izzy asks about Ms. Danziger, and Gus lets him know that she was okay. He just needs to know if Izzy will stick by him, ‘Fidelis Ad Mortem.’ Izzy assures him that he’s sticking to the story before their conversation ends and he heads to the precinct.
(11th precinct station house)
By the time Izzy arrives for his 9 o’clock shift, Bishop is already there and he tells Izzy to turn around, as they have to visit a crime scene. They head to Shed 3, where the crime scene has been cordoned off by other officers. Bishop remarks about the door that was cut open. “Looks like someone forgot his keys.” Detective Sam Klein asks if he is Bishop and they shake hands. Bishop asks what happened here. Klein informs him that an anonymous called reported the sound of gunfire. They’ve got four bodies. The vics are known associates of Frankie Zapruder.
Bishop turns to Izzy and tells him that this is it. It’s starting. The disbelieving Izzy replies that this is hardly a mutant war. These guys are just thugs who happen to be mutants. They don’t exactly have Earth-shaking abilities. Maybe they have an extra digit or two, like the guy lying next to them, or maybe they just smell bad. “Like Frankie,” says Bishop. Izzy adds that he’s not exactly a super-villain. What’s he gonna do? “Break wind in our general direction and asphyxiate us?” Bishop isn’t impressed with Izzy’s levity. He tells him that there is a question of public perception. Being a mutant is like being black. You can be a black check out clerk, or the black heavyweight champion of the world… but the first thing you are is black. Same thing with mutants.
He turns back to Detective Klein and asks what this place is exactly. Standing under a row of meat hooks, he informs Bishop that it used to be a meatpacking warehouse. Most of these places closed down when the area went upmarket. Bishop runs his gloved hand across the wall where a hail of bullets had ended their deadly journey. “Looks like they did their slaughtering with machine guns,” he points out. “I think you should run some tests on these stains. On these meat hooks too.” “Executions?” asks Izzy. Bishop reckons they’ve found Frankie’s personal killing floor.
Klein tells them that there is some paraphernalia upstairs that they might wish to see. They head upstairs and into the makeshift medical lab which is now empty. They see flasks and vials alongside scientific equipment sitting on the tables. Klein says it looks like they were synthesizing drugs of some kind. “Toad Juice?” enquires Izzy. Bishop takes a closer inspection of a flask half-filled with green liquid. He thinks it could be. He’d like the residue from the flasks analyzed. Izzy says that, if this was Frankie Zapruder’s operation, he’s going to be pretty mad right about now. “Like I said,” adds Bishop, “It’s starting.”
(Frankie’s)
Sure enough, Frankie is livid. “I’ll kill him!” he swears; his odour becoming more unpleasant by the second. One of his bodyguards and Zelda hold their noses, as he rants and raves. One of them asks if they’re really gonna hit Kaufman. Frankie tells him they’re gonna hit him and shut him down. Then, he’s personally going to tear him apart. Then, he’s gonna eat him. Zelda can’t stand the smell, and Frankie confronts her. “What? What is it?” he asks, no longer caring about who she is. She tells him that it’s just that he knows how he gets when he’s upset. Frankie orders her from his sight. If she doesn’t like the way he smells, then she can take a hike. Zelda departs. Frankie informs his bodyguards that they’ll hit Kaufman, but not yet. They’ll give him a couple of days to let his guard down and, besides, Kaufman may find the Toad Boy more trouble than he’s bargained for.
(Shaky’s)
Kaufman has Toad Boy installed in his own medical lab, peddling away on an exercise bike to produce more sweat. His medics do the same job as Frankie’s did, only this time he’s gonna rake in the profits.
Watching through a window, Shaky asks Jazz why he didn’t inform him that Toad Boy gives off toxic fumes. “Toxic, oh yeah,” Jazz mumbles, “You don’t wanna inhale when you’re around that boy. Tha’s why you godda wear a mask if you’re sharing his space, y’know.” Shaky knows - now. He knows because the car which brought Toad Boy here had a little mishap. His driver, a reliable man who has never put so much as a dent in one of his cars, drove into a fire hydrant at seventy miles per hour. Apparently, he tells Jazz, he thought he was flying a space cruiser through a meteor storm. Jazz’s face drops.
Shaky continues to inform him that the car in question was a Mercedes S-600 sedan. Jazz replies that’s gotta be an expensive repair job. Shaky grimaces at the thought of five grand’s worth of dented German workmanship, all because Jazz neglected to inform him about the fumes. He grabs blue boy by the collar, and Jazz swears he’ll make it up to him. Shaky throws him across the room towards Mr. Punch, telling him that he will.
Mr. Punch puts his arm around Jazz’s shoulder and tells him that he will be handling the sales of toad juice at the Inferno Club. Mr. Kaufman expects him to pay back the five thousand within one week. He warns Jazz not to annoy Mr. Kaufman further. As he knows, his boss can be quite demonstrative. Jazz checks out the scars on his huge forearms. Punch points to his face and says he has no pain receptors so he doesn’t feel it when Mr. Kaufman hits him. He holds Jazz’s earring in his fingers. “You, on the other hand, are clearly a sensitive man.” He pulls at the jewellery, causing Jazz to shriek in pain.
(Daniel’s Inferno)
That evening, Patricia Hamilton, the Amazing Merwoman, performs in a large green liquid-filled tank in the center of the club. A fellow dancer hovers in mid air above the revellers, who happily dance to the music. Jazz is in position and carrying out a transaction, as, unseen by him, Mr. M watches from his seated position close by. A punter hands Jazz a stack of bills, and he hands over four stamps, which, when licked, transfer the toad juice onto the tongue to create an incredible buzz. Outside, Dana persuades her boyfriend, Joey, to enter the club. Joey is reluctant, as the Inferno is well known to be a mutant hangout. Dana says they can’t stop them because they’re Homo sapiens; that’s genetic discrimination. Besides, she adds, how can they tell? They’re hardly going to give them a DNA test at the door.
They make their way past the doorman and enter the club. Dana is impressed, and soon sees a couple of juicers relaxing by the water tank. She asks what they’re on, and the girl replies that they’re on ‘Planet Tee-Jay.’ Dana wants whatever they’re having. The girl points to Jazz; he’ll fix them up. Joey says he isn’t sure about this, but Dana is headstrong and tells him not to be such a wuss. She approaches Jazz and asks if they can score off him. Jazz replies that if she’s got bank, then he’s dealing. He asks them to step into his office; actually the restroom. Joey asks how much. The price is thirty dollars a tab, but he can do them a matching pair for fifty. Joey is hesitant as he thinks it’s a rip-off. Jazz focuses on Dana, and says that twenty-five will do just for her.
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Joey making a run for it, and he’s carrying his stash. He makes after him, while Dana checks herself in the mirror. “Joey, you are one ex-boyfriend.” She licks the stamp, as Joey rushes out through the fire exit, pursued by the blade-carrying Jazz, who wants his stash back. As he chases Joey, a hand phases through one of the club’s brick walls and grabs his forearm. A shock of energy sparks through him as he is taken to the floor by Mr. M. “Drop it,” he warns, as Joey rounds the corner to freedom. Jazz grabs his arm, which smoulders with the energy. Shaky’s gonna kill him now. He’s got to find the chick.
Inside the club, Dana feels a sudden high and prepares to enjoy herself, but suddenly she doubles over. Her body begins to spasm and metamorphose. She develops what appear to be roots. They sprout from every pore; through her face, her arms; her chest. All she can do is scream, as the clubbers retreat in horror.


[User]
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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Mr. M - part 4
A phone call from Bishop wakes Izzy Ortega. Bishop is at Shaky Kaufman’s club and Izzy gets ready to join him. His daughter, Chamayra, wakes up but Izzy puts her back to bed and heads to Daniel’s Inferno. There, Bishop awaits him. A doctor checks on the grotesque body of a victim of one of Jazz’s toad tabs. Her body is twisted and stretched so much that she is barely recognisable. Bishop informs Izzy that her driver’s licence shows her to be Dana Louise Hutton. Her family in Bay Ridge has been contacted. Guess she was slumming, presumes Izzy, and asks what happened to her. Bishop tells him they have a witness who says she was trying to buy drugs before this happened.
As clubbers hang around, shocked by the manner of Dana’s death, Bishop introduces Izzy to the club’s manager, Lonnie Shakespeare. He explains that he is running a legitimate business there and Bishop’s response is to ask if he said anything different. Izzy asks Lonnie if he is aware of any narcotics use among his clientele, but Lonnie replies that there are drugs in every club in the city. How can you stop it? “Toad Juice?” Izzy enquires. Lonnie informs him that it’s a local thing, but juicers are a mellow bunch. Basically, they see pretty pictures, they dance and they go home. It’s never been a problem. “It is now,” adds Bishop.
Lonnie isn’t so sure. He looks at Dana’s body and reckons it’s a mutant thing. He’s seen it before. There was a guy used to work at the Inferno who was a pyro. He could light a cigarette with his finger; party tricks like that. One day he spontaneously combusted. Nothing left but a pile of ashes. Same thing with Dana. She just drew one of life’s short straws.
Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Daniel Kaufman and his bodyguard, Mr. Punch. He asks what’s going on here and mentions a piece of junk in his parking space. Bishop informs him that the ‘junk’ is a classic 1970 El Dorado, and what’s going on is a suspicious death; possibly drug-related. Kaufman replies that there is no drug-taking in his clubs, but Bishop holds up a CCTV tape and says they’ll see. Kaufman isn’t impressed that Lonnie has been cooperating with the investigation so willingly.
Izzy hopes Shaky will be equally as helpful as his manager, and reminds him that incidents like this can look bad when it comes to renewing his liquor licence. “What’s your name, detective?” asks Shaky. Izzy replies that it’s Ortega but, before he can explain that he isn’t a detective, Shaky departs with Mr. Punch, telling Izzy he’ll remember it. Bishop turns to Izzy. “Detective?” Izzy fiddles with his jacket sleeves and grins, guessing that clothes make the man. If he was in uniform, he’d be out in the street handling crowd control.
Bishop turns his attention back to the doctor, who says they’ve done all they can here. The body can be moved to the morgue. Izzy, meanwhile, recognizes Patricia Hamilton and asks how Bethany Danziger is doing. She turns away, and replies that she’s catching the Greyhound this afternoon and going home. Later, Patricia sees her off, and they both appear saddened as they leave each others company.
(Eleventh Precinct Station House)
Chief Esposito is speaking with Izzy, now back in uniform. He informs him that Bishop seems pleased with him and has requested Izzy’s continued presence for the duration of his stay. He also says Izzy will be in plain clothes from today on. Bishop doesn’t want him wasted on crowd control - whatever that means. He advises Izzy that he shouldn’t let it go to his head. He hasn’t made detective yet, and he’ll continue to draw his regular patrolman’s pay.
“What about Gus?” Izzy asks. Chief Esposito turns to the framed photographs on his wall; a group shot taken in 1985. He replies that he’s recommended that Gus takes early retirement. His injuries are enough to warrant a line-of-duty disability pension. When Izzy asks if that’s what Gus wants, the chief turns and says that they have two citizens dead. His story that Costanza shot himself would be more convincing if there had been contact burns on his clothing. The firearms discharge review board will not be pursuing disciplinary action against either he or Gus, but his partner is outta there.
Another photograph shows the chief looking younger, still a sergeant and with Gus’s arm around his shoulder. They appear to be best buddies. The chief explains that there are over sixty civilian complaints on Kucharsky’s record. None of them stuck, but it’s way too many. Looking at a photo of Gus shaking someone’s hand at a reception, he adds that the NYPD can’t use people like Gus anymore.
(later)
Bishop and a fellow officer are looking at the preliminary DNA results from the tests carried out on Dana Hutton. The officer wonders whose strings Bishop pulled. He never got his results this quickly. Bishop informs Izzy that the polymerase chain reaction test shows that Dana was indeed, not a mutant. Izzy says that if that wasn’t a mutation, then what the hell was it? Bishop replies that she suffered a massive genetic trauma; a reaction to the mutant DNA she ingested. “The toad juice?” Izzy asks. Bishop isn’t sure. They have to match her DNA to the flasks they recovered from the warehouse. Toad juice isn’t a synthetic drug. It’s a secretion obtained from a single mutant source. On a mutant, it has pleasant hallucinatory effects but, in a human at this dosage, the effects are catastrophic.
(Kaufman Enterprises)
Shaky Kaufman is upset. This kind of publicity isn’t good for his business. He dribbles with anger, as he pins Jazz to the wall. Jazz has to repeat what he just said about Frankie Zapruder telling him not to deal to non-mutants because of the side effects. “Suh-side effects? It blew her apart, you moron,” replies Shaky. Jazz thinks he must have made the dosage too strong. He collapses to the floor. Shaky says he hopes Jazz isn’t trying to blame him for his screw up. Unseen, hidden behind a small partition, Mr. M phases through the wall and listens in on their conversation.
Mr. Punch tells Shaky that he believes they can contain this. He explains that toad juice isn’t a prescribed drug, so he doubts he can be prosecuted; even if the juice is traced back to him. However, if the Toad Boy is found there, they could be facing kidnap charges. He suggests they cut their losses and get rid of the boy and his mother. Shaky replies that the first thing they do is to get toad juice off the street, before any more gets into the hands of non-mutants. Jazz gingerly points out one more minor detail he appears to have missed out of his explanation.
(Eleventh Precinct Station House)
Bishop, Izzy and the third officer are checking the CCTV footage from the Inferno. It shows Dana Hutton and her male companion, Joey, going into the men’s room with a third party, Jazz. There’s no video camera in there, but Bishop says they can assume this is where the deal was done. On screen, the boyfriend leaves in a hurry, without Dana. Bishop freezes the video and zooms in to reveal the bag he is carrying is full of toad tabs; at least a hundred doses.
Following him out of the men’s room is Jazz, who gives chase. Izzy recognizes Jazz as being a small-time dealer. He asks Bishop if he caught the kid, but Bishop tells him he didn’t. On screen, another man appears: Mr. M. One second he is there, the next he isn’t. Bishop zooms in again to show Izzy that the man in fact phased through the wall. The camera picks him up again in the alley outside the Inferno. The boyfriend is seen sprinting away, while Jazz lies on the floor having been taken down by Mr. M.
Izzy says they have to find that guy. Bishop adds that, if they’re lucky, he’ll sample the product and all they’ll find is an ugly corpse. If they’re unlucky, he’ll sell them on the streets. Bishop orders the boyfriend the priority, but also wants an all-points on the dealer. While they’re at it, they can pick up their mystery man.
(Kaufman Enterprises)
Mr. M slides through the wall and into the corridor. He then casually descends through the floor and into the lab where Toad Boy is being used as a living drug factory. Tarquin wants a rest. Mr. Kaufman promised him he could play on his game console when he finished, but the lab technician isn’t quite done yet. Mr. M suddenly appears, and projects a kind of vortex from his palms which sucks the air from around the two technicians. They collapse, and Toad Boy asks Mr. M if he killed them. Mr. M responds by asking if that would bother him. Sure, says Toad Boy, it’s wrong to kill people. Mr. M assures him they’ll be okay and hands him a gown. He should get dressed and they’ll find his mother.
Soon, Tarquin’s mother is found, but she doesn’t want to go anywhere. She believes Mr. M wants Tarquin for his ‘honey.’ Mr. M proves this is not his desire by placing his hands on the hapless boy’s head. Tarquin gradually transforms from the strange Toad Boy, back into the boy he really was before his mutation took hold. His mother rushes to him. “Tarquin? Oh, my baby boy!” He smiles at her, but when she licks his neck for a hit, he pushes her away. His mother turns to Mr. M, angry, and demands to know what he’s done to her son. His honey’s gone. Mr. M simply asks her to get her things together as they must leave, now!
They head outside and Tarquin checks his new reflection in a shop window. Mr. M must leave now, and tells Tarquin’s mother that he’ll give her some cash for a taxi. She remains furious, dropping her bag and shouting at Mr. M. They don’t have anywhere to go and she owes Frankie Zapruder thousands. Shaky Kaufman was looking out for them! Mr. M informs her that Kaufman’s finished with her. She’s a liability now. If she disappears, he’ll forget about her but, if she stays, he’ll kill her. The mother asks about her juice. She needs her honey.
Two of Shaky’s goons appear from the building, so Mr. M pushes money into her hand and tells her to take her son and go to the police. He’ll deal with the goons. The mother isn’t interested. “This isn’t my son,” she yells, rabid with frustration. The goons grab hold of Mr. M, who steps out of the jacket Tarquin’s mother has in her grasp. A large blond man asks him where the frog prince is, and shows him his concealed pistol. He explains that he doesn’t want to make a scene, so why don’t they go back inside and discuss this with Mr. Kaufman?
He places his hand on Mr. M’s shoulder, who asks him politely to remove it. His colleague asks Tarquin’s mother where the Toad Boy is, and she laughs at him. “Toad Boy’s gone.” The blond man refuses to remove his hand, so Mr. M reaches his own fingers inside the man's chest and, to his horror, Mr. M kills him.
(later)
Mr. M sits opposite Hannah Levy in his apartment. He tells her how he put his hand into the man’s chest and squeezed until his heart burst. Hannah doesn’t know what to say. It’s hard to believe. From what Absolon tells her, he has the power of…. Mr. M tells her she can say it. He has the power of a god. He raises his palm and a golden swirl of energy forms an image of an exploding atom bomb. He explains that he can alter the molecular structure of anything he touches. If he chose, he could set off a nuclear reaction in the air around them that would blow the world to sweet oblivion.
Hannah holds her head. She replies that the problem is that he doesn’t do anything with his power. He uses his amazing power to fix her kitchen appliances. She laughs nervously, but adds that it seems like such a waste. Absolon stands and tells her that he was raised in a small village near Ghent, in Belgium. They would bring their sick to him. He laid his hands upon them and they were no longer sick, though they often suffered from terrible nightmares for months after. Some said he was a saint. Others said he had the devil in him. He was a child. What did he know?
(flashback)
One day, he was out in the woods and came across his cousin, Rubin. An older boy was kneeling over him, forcing dirt into his mouth. He told the boy to stop, but he replied, “Or what? What will you do? Put a curse on me?”
(present)
Mr. M turns towards the window and says the boy laughed at him, so he reached out, put his hands on him and he cursed the boy. He turned him inside out. Hannah can’t believe it. Absolon adds that he tried to undo everything, but he didn’t know how. He lived like that for three days. He moves his hands over a withered plant on the window sill and the plant regains its posture, and blossoms within seconds.
His parents, he continues, hid him, then sent him to the United States to live with relatives. For thirty years, he has watched the world pass by, but he is tired of doing nothing. So, he tells Hannah, in the past three days, he has told a man that he has murder in his heart, he’s made a young boy normal and taken away that which makes him unique, and he has killed a man. He saved the life of another, yes, he’s sure of that. He was right to save that boy’s life.
(Greenwich Village, New York)
Joey Chambers relaxes on his bed as he chats with a friend called Sammy. He assures him he’s coming to tonight’s party and tells him that he and Dana kinda had a bust-up. He adds that he has the goodies for tonight. It’s totally new; picked up in Mutant Town. It’s called Toad Juice, and it’s da bomb.  “Telling you, dude - tonight, we’re gonna par-taay!”
(Eleventh Precinct Station House)
Bishop is in Chief Esposito’s office. He tells the chief that they have to go public with this now. The chief isn’t so sure. It’s going to draw a lot of attention. He asks again if he’s sure Bishop has the source of the toad juice. Bishop replies that they’re waiting on DNA tests. The mother’s confused. One minute her son’s the Toad Boy, the next he’s not even her son, and the kid’s not talking. He adds that whether he’s the source or not, there’s still a lot of juice out there. They’re gonna need to broadcast a warning to all major television and radio networks. A guy puts his head around the doorway and holds out a piece of paper to Bishop. They have an address for the boyfriend.
(Greenwich Village, Joey Chambers’ apartment)
Later, Bishop, Izzy and several fellow officers are taking his place apart, but there’s no sign of the juice. They do have his address book, though, and Bishop orders them to rip the pages out, share them and start dialling. Izzy calls Joey’s cousin who knows about the party. He can’t make it, but he does have an address.
(Washington Heights)
The party is in full swing and Joey holds center stage, informing his friends that the tabs are ten bucks apiece. A girl tells everyone not to drop their tabs yet. They can all do it together. Her boyfriend fancies a group trip. As warnings about the toad tabs are given out on television, the partygoers are oblivious to the fact it’s even on. One guy knocks on the bathroom door and finds Tony and Stella making out inside. He explains that they’re gonna miss the candy if they don’t come out, but Tony says he’ll live with it. The guy returns to the party and says, “Okay guys, let’s do this.”
Joey hands out the tabs to the gathered crowd. “This is ground control. Starting countdown.” He counts down slowly from ten and the expectant crowd look forward to what they expect will be a blast. The cops are on their way at high speed to the apartment, and reach it by the count of five. They exit their vehicles and dash towards the apartment. The countdown reaches one and then zero. Joey extends his tongue, and licks his tab. “Lift off!”


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Mr. M - part 5
(Washington Heights, New York City)
With the party that Joey Chambers has taken the toad tabs to in full swing, Tony and Stella have decided to grab a little private time in the bathroom. A thump on the door is initially ignored, but continued knocking forces Tony to break off what he’s doing and put on his shirt. He opens the door and one of his friends stumbles into the bathroom with tendrils emanating from his body; just like they did Dana. “Oh man - I’m having a really, really bad trip,” he cries, as Tony staggers backwards, clearly shocked.
Outside the house, Bishop, Izzy and some uniformed cops rush towards the door. As they approach, Tony and Stella come running out, warning them not to go in there. Bishop enters warily and, to the sounds of Blondie’s ‘Denis,’ he witnesses the horrific site of an entire room full of people, all dead from the effects of taking toad tabs, all dying in the same manner as did Dana.
(Frankie Zapruder’s office)
The headline in the Daily Bugle the following morning is ‘Drug Party Hell,’ with the article commenting that nineteen people died at the party. ‘Filthy’ Frankie Zapruder reads the article and reckons Shaky screwed up big time and that gives him a warm feeling inside. Zelda says that if he’s happy, she’s happy, and one of his goons Colin agrees. Vincent asks if they’re cancelling the hit, but Frankie erupts. No way. Shaky Kaufman stole his property. He lost them the use of their covert operations facility at Shed Three and killed a local employee. Frankie stands and opens a box on the table. He’s happy right now but, when this little Semtex special has been delivered, he’s going to be walking on sunshine.
(Chief Esposito’s office)
The chief shows Izzy and Bishop the Bugle headline. Bishop apologizes for not seeing the toad juice situation coming, but the chief reminds him that he doesn’t answer to him, and the toad juice thing was going to happen anyway. He asks if they have any good news for him. Bishop informs the chief that Lonnie Shakespeare is no longer the manager of the Inferno club. Since Kaufman sacked him, he’s been singing like a stool pigeon. Izzy corrects him, but Bishop shows his disapproval and continues.
According to Lonnie Shakespeare, Kaufman destroyed all existing stocks of toad juice and Tarquin Berdeaux, formerly known as Toad Boy, is no longer ‘manufacturing’ the product. The chief replies that they can close the book on him, and asks about Mr. M. Bishop tells him that Lonnie I.D.’ed him but doesn’t know his full name, only that he’s a regular at the bar. He watches the floorshow and seems to be a loner.
The chief wonders if he’s working for Frankie Zapruder and Bishop replies that it’s possible. He’s applied for a warrant on him for murder. Izzy asks if they can pin murder on him. The victim was one of Zapruder’s soldiers, and he was packing. Bishop points out that he never drew the weapon, so it was murder all right; telekinetically-induced heart failure. The chief is surprised and hopes Bishop didn’t put that on the affidavit. Bishop doesn’t offer a response to that.
The chief then asks about Kaufman. Can they expect him to retaliate? Izzy thinks it’s hard to say. Zapruder and Kaufman do this every few months. They throw a few punches at each other to show how tough they are, but he thinks they’ll back off and let things cool down. Meanwhile, over at the Wildkat club, Frankie’s Semtex does its job, and the place is ripped apart by a massive explosion.
Soon, Bishop, Izzy, police and fire crews are at the club. Bishop’s sick of this, but Izzy tells him to get used to it. It’s what being a cop is all about. Someone calls 911 and they get to clean up the mess. Paramedics treat the injured, including the pink-haired dancer Lorelei, as Izzy spots Kaufman who’s checking out the damage to his club. He is using Mr. Punch to expel his built-up anger, and the club’s bouncer asks Izzy to leave them alone. It’s just a thing they do.
Shaky turns and sees Izzy, recognizing him. “You’ve been making enemies, Kaufman,” says Izzy. Shaky ignores him and asks where Lara is. He spots her and she appears to be fine. Lorelei doesn’t appear too impressed that Shaky seems more concerned on his prize asset than with her own injuries. He wants to take Lara out of there, but Bishop tells him they need to talk to her. Shaky orders his men to watch her closely, and to being her to him when ‘Kojak’ is finished with her.
Izzy moves in to speak with her, and she introduces herself as Lara. She asks if he wants to know why Shaky Kaufman is so worried about a frump like her. Izzy comes back by saying he never said anything, but Lara continues anyway. She informs Izzy that she has the most exclusive client list of any working girl in this town. Actors, politicians, princes, tycoons; she even has a former president of the United States drop by now and then. Anyone who can afford the fifty grand price tag.
“Fifty grand?” replies Izzy, “You must be pretty special.” Lara then uses her powers to show just how special she is. Changing from the slightly overweight person she really is, she transforms into a Marilyn Monroe look-alike, wearing stockings and a pink negligee. She tells Izzy she can be anyone, or anything she wants. She then transforms herself into a robotic humanoid. Izzy’s perceptions are toyed with as Lara then changes into a wispy, angelic-looking heavenly blonde, and then into a dominatrix standing in the pits of hell. She then ceases using her powers abruptly and tells Izzy that, if he ever comes up on the lottery, he should drop by and asks for Lara the Illusionist.
Bishop sees Izzy sweating and looking shaken. He asks if he’s okay, and what Lara did to him. Izzy holds the bridge of his nose and replies that she just showed him why she’s worth fifty grand.
Bishop and Izzy leave the scene and drive through town. Bishop reckons there’s no way that Kaufman is going to take this lying down. He’s putting round-the-clock surveillance on him and Zapruder. Izzy hopes they can find the manpower. Right now, he adds, the department is stretched as thin as a featherlite on King Kong.
Bishop suddenly tells Izzy to stop the car. He looks out the rear window and sees Mr. M, who recognizes them as being cops. He makes a run for it and Bishop takes up the pursuit on foot. Mr. M is chased into a short alley with a dead end. Bishop aims his weapon at him and orders Mr. M to stand still and raise his hands. He’s arresting him for the murder of Wesley Dyson. If he attempts to escape, Bishop will open fire.
Though he can walk through walls, Mr. M chooses to blast Bishop with a blue/silver burst of energy from his hand. Bishop is knocked to the ground as Izzy looks on in horror. He keeps his own gun trained on Mr. M and turns to see if Bishop’s okay. Bishop asks him not to shoot. Anything Mr. M can throw at him, he can give back double. His eyes glow and he fires back the energy towards Mr. M, but he reacts by matching this energy with another burst of his own, causing a stalemate.
He apologizes to them both, but tells them that he isn’t ready to go with them. He opens his mouth and seems to draw the air from around the X-man. Bishop chokes and Izzy orders Mr. M to stop whatever he’s doing or he will shoot. Mr. M suddenly recognizes Izzy, but Izzy doesn’t recall seeing him before. As Bishop lies on the ground, catching his breath, Izzy order Mr. M to put his hands behind his head so they can talk about it. However, Mr. M isn’t ready to go with them and puts Izzy out for the count with a blast of energy. He kneels over his unconscious body and removes a postcard from his jacket pocket. It’s the one from Aunt Laline in Brazil. It has Izzy’s name and address on it.
By the time Izzy comes around, Bishop is already on his feet. He asks Izzy if he’s okay, and Izzy rubs his neck. He feels like he’s been hit by a convoy of trucks but, apart from that, he’s fine. Bishop says he’s never felt power like that. It was so effortless. He knows how to fight just about any mutant on Earth, but that guy… He wonders where he came from.
(Eleventh Precinct station house)
Bishop and Izzy return to the precinct and Bishop prepares to head home, but Izzy asks him out of the blue if he likes fried chicken and beans, Cuban style. Bishop guesses he does.
(The Ortega family apartment, later)
Izzy introduces Bishop to his family; his wife Armena and their two children, Chamayra and Esteban. Izzy’s young son immediately points out the M on Bishop’s face and asks if it’s there because he’s a mutant. Chamy tells him that his comment was rude, but Bishop replies that he is right. Esteban finds that cool and asks if he has superpowers. He explains that his mom does, though she just messes up the bed and has to change the sheets every day. His mother covers her face in embarrassment and orders both the children to bed; no arguments.
The three adults sit down for dinner and Bishop complements Armena on her culinary skills, and her wonderful family. She asks about his own, and his head drops a little as he replies that he lost his family. Armena is sorry for bringing it up. Izzy’s cell phone rings and he answers it, finding Gus on the other end.
Izzy tells him that he heard that they’re in the clear. Gus asks if he heard about his retirement. He thinks he should come round and celebrate. Izzy places his hand over the receiver and asks Armena if it’s possible for Gus to come over, but her facial expression tells Izzy that this isn’t going happen. He apologizes to Gus, but informs him that they have guests. He could visit Gus tomorrow if he likes. As he chats, Armena tells Bishop that the last time Gus came round he was drunk. He woke the kids, broke two of her best wineglasses and made a pass at her. Bishop says he would never do that, and Armena can see that he isn’t the type that would.
Izzy, meanwhile, says he could bring round a bottle of tequila sometime, and pick up some Tex-Mex on the way. Gus replies by saying that’ll be good and bids him a good night. Gus puts the phone down and stares at the bottle of whiskey on the table. He is a picture of loneliness and despair.
Later, Bishop and the Ortega’s sit down and relax in the lounge. Bishop asks Armena if she still supports the revolution, even though El Commandante rounded up mutants and put them into labor camps. That was a long time ago, replies Armena, and adds that he has since said that he is absolutely opposed to any form of discrimination, contempt, scorn or discrimination with regard to mutants.
Izzy points out that Cuba still has the highest per capita prison population in the world. Armena responds by reminding Izzy that the United States has the second highest and, while they’re on the subject, there’s only one place in Cuba where people are still held without trial, and its initials are Camp Delta. Izzy says there is no comparison. The United States is a democracy; Cuba is a dictatorship - period!
Armena is extremely animated and points her finger at her husband. “Your father was at the Bay of Pigs, fighting to preserve our country’s revolution against America’s so-called democracy!” Bishop tries to step in, and asks them both to slow down. He asks Armena which country she feels is hers now. Armena replies that she’s an American in her mind, but her heart belongs to Cuba. She wipes a tear from her eye and apologizes that she’s had too much wine. As Bishop raises a glass of Yardin’s 1976 red, he guesses one more won’t hurt and proposes a toast to the freedom to think and say any damn fool thing you want.
(the next morning)
The bottle of wine is empty and the kids are ready for school. Bishop has left and Izzy thinks he himself passed out. He has a rough hangover. Armena tells him that there’s some fresh coffee; they’re going to the park.
(the offices of Kaufman Enterprises)
Shaky reminds his men, as they tool up, that this is a hostile takeover. They move fast, and show no mercy. Their intention is to leave Filthy Frankie with no option but to hand over control of his operations to Kaufman Enterprises. Mr. Punch strongly advises against this course of action and Shaky acknowledges his opinion, but asks if he is with him. “Always, Mr. Kaufman,” replies Mr. Punch.
(McCarthy Avenue)
Mr. M has returned home and is feeling dejected. Hanna Levy tries to comfort him. He sits, leaning against the wall next to stacks of books. He tells Hanna that the police are accusing him of murder. He explains that he never intended to harm anyone. He doesn’t want to run again, but he doesn’t want to fight either. Hanna feels that perhaps he should go to them first and try to explain. Mr. M removes the postcard from his pocket that he took from Izzy. It has his name and address on it, and Mr. M, having recognized him earlier, thinks he is trustworthy and might help him.
(Frankie’s)
Two of Frankie’s men are standing guard outside his club, when three cars pull up in the street and around a half dozen of Shaky’s goons exit the vehicles, all armed. The two guards are shot down in a hail of gunfire, without mercy.
(the Ortega house)
Izzy tries to lessen his hangover by drinking coffee. Bishop calls him and gives him the news that Kaufman and Zapruder are shooting up the town. He’s outside his house. Izzy quickly grabs his jacket and joins him. On the way to the park, Esteban watches him leave with Bishop and tells his mom. “Terrific,” she says, “This was supposed to be his day off.” They return to the house and Esteban asks if he can make a sandwich. Armena storms off to the bathroom, replying that he can do what he wants; she’s going to take a shower.
Soon, Esteban has his sandwich but, as he bites into it, he notices his father’s pistol, still in its holster, hanging off the back of a kitchen chair. Chamayra watches a shoot out on television. Over at Frankie’s, Bishop notices news helicopters overhead. They stop their car at the police line and Izzy reaches inside his jacket for his pistol. He realizes it’s not there and shouts to Bishop that he’s left it behind. “We’ll get another,” Bishop replies, but Izzy is frantic. He informs Bishop that he left it out, loaded. The kids will be back. Bishop tosses him the car keys and tells Izzy to take his car.
Izzy tries calling his house as he drives home, but Esteban ignores the ringing phone and removes the pistol from its holster. Armena is in the shower, and cannot hear it, and Chamy is watching the shootout on television. No one hears the phone. One person, however, does see the problem. Mr. M, standing in the street outside the house, spots Esteban in the window, aiming the pistol at him playfully. “Pow! Pow!” cries Esteban, clearly enjoying himself, but Mr. M looks on in horror. He dashes inside the building and heads up the staircase.
Chamy finally hears the ringing phone during a quiet moment. She heads into the kitchen, as Mr. M phases through their front door and into their apartment. She picks up the phone and recognizes her dad’s voice, but immediately she sees her brother aiming the pistol at her. “Pow!” he goes again, “Pow!” Chamy can see the gun is real and doesn’t know just how to react. As Mr. M approaches the kitchen, he hears a gunshot ring out from inside.
On the other end of the line, Izzy is horrified, and Armena also turns as she hears the shot. Mr. M pushes the kitchen door open and finds Chamy lying on the floor, with the smoking gun lying beside her, and she’s not moving.


[User]
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[Assistant]
Mr. M - conclusion
(The Ortega apartment)
After accidentally shooting his sister, Esteban Ortega curls up against the wall, horrified at what he’s done. Absolon Mercator, better known as Mr. M, has phased into the Ortega’s apartment after seeing Esteban playing with the weapon. As the gun smokes on the apartment floor, Mr. M promises Esteban that his sister will be all right. He phases his hand inside Chamayra’s stomach, removes the bullet, and seals the skin up as he removes his hand.
As soon as he has finished, Chamayra’s mother, Armena, enters the room brandishing a kitchen knife. She swears she’ll use it if Mr. M doesn’t get away from her daughter. He puts his hands up and promises that she will be okay. Chamy wakes up, and appears none the worse for her experience. Izzy then arrives, and asks Mr. M just what exactly he’s doing in his home. Armena informs Izzy that he hurt Chamy. Izzy grabs Mr. M by the collar and angrily enquires, “What did you do?! ” Mr. M steps backwards, and replies that he didn’t do anything. He departs, not wishing to exacerbate the situation.
Armena asks Izzy to let him go, and to see if Esteban’s okay. Chamy wonders what happened. She was watching television, and now she feels funny inside. Esteban stutters, “He-he touched Chamy, mom.” Armena hugs her daughter as Izzy notices the discharged weapon on the floor, the bullet lying beside it.  He turns to Esteban and asks if he shot Mr. M. Esteban lies, and says he did. Izzy hugs him, and swears they’ll get him.
(Frankie’s)
Meanwhile, Shaky Kaufman and his boys; Mr. Punch included, are shooting up the street outside Frankie’s. The place is a war zone, and there are casualties. Mr. Punch notices the police approaching. Shaky wonders how they got there so fast. Before he has time to think about it, Frankie Zapruder emerges from the shell-shocked building carrying a small rocket launcher. With little warning, he fires it at his main competition, only for Mr. Punch to selflessly place his body between Frankie and his boss. The rocket strikes him in the chest. “I f-felt that one, Mr. Kaufman,” is all he can utter, before slumping to the asphalt, dead.
Shaky kneels next to Mr. Punch, who is as close to the man as anyone. He screams as he walks away, but no longer has an outlet for his aggression. He approaches Frankie Zapruder, but before he gets there, S.W.A.T officers order them both to get down on the ground and surrender.
As they are led away to waiting police cars, Shaky warns Frankie that he’ll be coming for him. Frankie smiles, and replies that she should lighten up. He’ll find himself a new boyfriend once he’s inside. Good-looking guy like him will have his pick.
Bishop watches the proceedings, standing next to a detective named Jerry. He thanks Bishop for the call. Without a planned alert, Kaufman and his boys would have been long gone before they arrived. Bishop is thankful that at least they get to arrest someone this time. He excuses himself, and makes a call to Izzy. He asks if the kids are okay, but Izzy informs him of what’s gone down. Bishop promises they’ll find Mr. M and put him away.
Mr. M, meanwhile, is heading back to his apartment in a hurry. He catches his breath against a telegraph pole, and looks down at a street artist’s painting. It is an impression of Mr. M himself, with a glowing energy around him and Mutant Town’s buildings leaning away from his body. The artist looks up at him and is amazed that the man in his picture is really there in person.
(Hanna Levy’s apartment)
Hanna is about to eat a large bug from a large glass tank where she keeps an assortment of insects and bugs, when Mr. M phases through her doorway, apologizing for not knocking. She asks him what’s happened, and he replies that there’s been a revelation. He’s seen the light and now everything makes sense. He seats himself in her chair and explains that all these years he’s tormented himself, asking himself why everything he does turns to disaster. But, he continues, that’s the way it’s meant to be. That’s what he’s there for. Mutant Town is a waiting room for the lost, the hopeless, the sick and the corrupt. Hanna asks what it’s a waiting room for. “For an act of purification,” Mr. M replies. “I’m not a healer. I’m a destroyer.”
Hanna says that’s not true. He’s a good man. Mr. M removes his hat to reveal his head covered in worm-like tendrils. “I’m a monster!” Hanna is shocked by this revelation. Mr. M explains that good or evil; that doesn’t come into it. He was put here to end the misery. He’s going to wipe Mutant Town off the face off the Earth. He grabs Hanna by the arm and tells her to run; run for her life. He ushers her out of her apartment door and she heads downstairs and out of the front door. There, she meets Bishop and Izzy, alongside several other police officers.
“Where is he?” asks Izzy, not wishing to beat around the bush. Hanna informs him that Mr. M intends to destroy Mutant Town, and she thinks he can do it. Bishop figures he has to try and absorb his power, and Izzy asks if he can do that. Before, Bishop said he was too strong. Bishop suggests Izzy evacuates the area. However, Izzy has an idea. He asks Bishop to delay Mr. M for as long as he can. He’ll explain when he gets back, before jumping into his car and speeding off.
Waiting for the clock to strike 4 o’clock, Absolon Mercator sits cross-legged in his apartment, in a meditative position. Bishop enters his room, and Mercator apologizes, for Bishop is too late. Blue energy pours from Mr. M’s body, and Bishop holds out his hands to absorb as much as he can. He struggles to contain this massive outpouring of power, and soon finds himself screaming as Mr. M lets loose. With Mr. M at the epicentre, a massive shockwave of energy extends outwards from his body, and all around him, buildings crumble and fall. A whole neighborhood is destroyed as he cleanses this area of New York of its ‘disease.’
As the dust begins to settle, Absolon Mercator sees Hanna approaching him. As she arrives, he breaks down in tears and says he is sorry. Hanna holds him by the shoulders and asks whether he would take it back if he could. Absolon replies that he would, and means it. Suddenly, their surroundings fade away, and they find themselves sitting in his apartment, as if nothing untoward had happened. Absolon looks out of the window and sees that everything’s still there. He doesn’t understand.
Izzy Ortega introduces him to Lara the Illusionist, who admits that this was one of her better performances. Absolon wonders where his power went. He could feel it, and it was no illusion.  Bishop is leaking energy, and replies, “You felt it. I’d say Miss Illusionist here was cutting it pretty fine. Another minute and you would have killed me.” He opens the window, and releases all the absorbed energy into the early evening sky. It hurts having to expend so much power so quickly, but he has little choice. Bishop closes the window, and asks Absolon if they can arrest him now, or do they have to do this all over again?
As Mr. M is led away in handcuffs into a squad car, Izzy asks Bishop what is to stop him simply leaving any cell they put him in. “Beats me,” replies Bishop. Hanna says he won’t leave. He doesn’t have anywhere to go.
(The Ortega apartment)
Izzy returns home and asks Armena how their daughter is. Chamy is okay and sleeping, and Izzy asks about the tests. Armena informs him that she’s fine. They examined her and say he didn’t touch her. He hugs his wife with relief, and takes a look at Chamy sleeping soundly. He then calls in on Esteban who is still awake. He has a confession to make.
(Eleventh Precinct holding cells)
Absolon Mercator sits quietly as a visitor arrives to see him. It’s Izzy, and he has come to apologize to him. He explains that his son told him what happened, and he just wanted to say thank you. He hands Absolon a photograph, and leaves with Bishop. Bishop asks if they’re going to have a problem with him and Izzy replies that he thinks it’s going to be okay. Absolon takes a look at the photograph. It is of Chamy, smiling, alive and well.


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[Assistant]
Underground - part 1
In District X, a young boy named Primo Falcone and his brother, Matti, are trying to sell mutated vermin for twenty bucks a pop. The creatures are inadvertently created by their father, Arturo, and they figure they can make a few dollars. The rodents are gross; like rats but with glowing red eyes and hair along their back. They are kept in small cages so they don’t escape. It’s evening and quite chilly, but the boys persist in trying to hock them to disgusted passers by. Suddenly, Primo spots Izzy Ortega in his patrol car, and the two boys make a run for it.
As they sprint along the sidewalk, Mattie trips and a rodent manages to escape, fleeing into the sewer. Matti isn’t giving up this one, and he reaches his arm inside the hole to try and retrieve it. Something inside the sewer grabs the rodent, but remains silent. Ortega and his new partner, Nancy, are soon right next to the boys.
Inside the sewer, unseen by Matti, is a mutant named Winston Hobbes. He has ultra sensitive eyes, adapted to seeing in near darkness. His hands and feet are equipped with strong claws for tunneling, and he subsists on insects and small mammals. He is also able to consume and digest soil. Winston is ideally suited to the world he inhabits, and in many ways he is content. Yet, he is drawn to the surface world and dreams of the time when darkness will fall upon the city. Until then, he watches and waits.
Izzy pulls Matti to his feet and asks what he thinks he’s doing. There could be anything down there; including rats or needles. “You want to get AIDS?” Izzy asks. Nancy asks him to lighten up as he’s scaring the kid. She enquires as to what these things are anyway. Matti then recognizes Izzy as the cop who nearly busted their pop. Izzy asks after Arturo, wondering if he has a job yet. Primo says he’s pretty much the same. Matti adds that he still gets mad sometimes. Izzy introduces the boys to Nancy, and explains that their father creates the vermin as physical manifestations of his current emotional disposition. Nancy stares at one of the caged creatures. “Nice.”
She asks if they shouldn’t be home now. It’s gone ten ‘o clock, and Primo replies that they’re on their way now. As they leave, Primo asks Izzy to thank Bishop for the TV. Mattie adds, “Yeah, 42-inch plasma flatscreen with digital stereo. It’s awesome.” Nancy is surprised at this, and says Bishop must be a generous guy. Izzy agrees, but his demeanor seems less than friendly. Nancy asks him why he’s been such a grouch and if it’s because he’d rather be playing detective with Bishop than patrol the streets with her. Izzy replies that Bishop has bigger fish to fry. He was never going to stick around here.
They climb into their patrol car and Nancy asks about Gus. From what she’s heard, he was truly one of the good guys. Izzy turns and informs her that he’s not great company right now, but he can tell her that she’s a better cop than Gus was, and a heck of a lot prettier. Nancy tells Izzy that, firstly, she doesn’t go out with cops. She once dated a cop and spent the entire evening discussing the grossest corpses he ever found. He said it was good to go out with a girl he could empathize with. Secondly, Izzy’s married, and she knows he’s just teasing. She knows he and Armena are the definition of ‘happily married.’ “Right?” Izzy looks away. “Right.”
(the Ortega apartment, later)
Izzy is filling in his journal, when Armena asks him to leave it. They have ten minutes before the babysitter arrives and he promised to read to Esteban. Izzy rubs his eyes and wanders off to Esteban’s room. The inquisitive Armena picks up the journal and takes a look inside. In it, Izzy describes events surrounding Gus Kucharsky’s death.
(flashback)
The journal explains that Gus had lay on his couch for three days and nights, before the mailman figured something was wrong. Izzy writes that he wishes he’d let him come round that evening. He should have heard the desperation in his voice. If only he hadn’t listened to Armena. She never liked him; too rough around the edges. Gus just didn’t fit in with the politically correct crowd of pseudo-intellectuals she like to hang out with.
(present)
As she reads, Izzy returns and finds her leafing through the journal. Armena turns and says that there she was, thinking Izzy was blaming himself for Gus, when it looks like it was all her fault. Izzy is furious that she has read his private thoughts and tries to recover it. Armena reluctantly gives it back, and their row is halted when Chamy appears to inform them that Carrie’s arrived. Armena points her finger at her husband, and tells him they’re going to talk about this. She wanders off to greet Carrie, a fellow mutant. She explains that she and Izzy are going to the O-Zone gallery, and she has the number if she needs them. She asks the kids to do as Carrie says, and then take a taxi to the gallery.
As they arrive at the O-Zone, Armena says she can’t believe that Izzy’s sister is putting an exhibition on here. They’re in spitting distance of Mutant Town. That’s the point, replies Izzy. It gives that edge of authenticity. She’s promoting this guy named Pietri as a man of the people. Apparently, she found him living on the streets. A voice from across the street causes them to turn. Bishop wanders over to them and tells them he was waiting for them to show up. He thanks Izzy for the invite, but Izzy replies that it was Armena’s idea. He never figured Bishop was a connoisseur of the arts.
They enter the gallery and Bishop hands his coat to an attendant. Izzy quickly spots a painting on an opposite wall. “Oh my, that painting. Is that who I think it is?” Bishop turns and sees a painting of Absolon Mercator, better known as Mr. M. Bishop thinks it’s too close to what Mercator almost did to Mutant Town. It shows him, arms outstretched, with buildings leaning away from him and what appears to be energy extending outwards from his body. Izzy checks the signature, and sees that it was painted months before they even heard of Mr. M. Armena cuts in, and introduces Izzy’s sister, Laline, to Bishop. She organized the exhibition. Izzy asks to meet the artist. Laline is surprised by this request, as Izzy normally doesn’t show much interest. She figures it must be the subject matter. She guesses all that violence and disaster brings out the policeman in him.
Laline calls to Nemesio, and Izzy offers his hand. As Nemesio extends his own hand, he sees blood covering Izzy’s palm, and pulls his own hand back. Before he can explain, Bishop motions to the painting of Mercator, and asks what he knows about the man featured. Nemesio replies that he saw him once, here in the city. He has the power to destroy them all, or save them. Laline explains that Nemesio has visions. Everything he paints actually happens. Bishop replies that this didn’t. Not yet, says Nemesio. Bishop tells him that the future is not a fixed path. They can alter their destiny. Nemesio offers him a challenge. Standing in front of a painting of the underground-dwelling Winston Hobbes crouching over body, he asks, “Do you think you can prevent this?”
(later)
The guys leave the exhibition. Laline tells her brother that Bishop and Armena seem to get on well. She guesses he has a lot in common with her. This angers Izzy, and he grabs his sister. “And I don’t?” Laline asks when he became so sensitive. She just meant with them both being mutants. Bishop asks if he can give them a lift. He’s parked just round the corner. Laline tells them she has a limo ordered. She has to keep up appearances. As they head to the car, Bishop spots someone he recognizes across the street.
As he approaches the man and his companions, one of them, the drug-dealing Jazz, turns his head away and tries to look inconspicuous. Bishop asks Dzemal if he remembers him. Dzemal does, of course, and the two men shake hands. Bishop asks how things are with him, and he replies that things are very good. Bishop eyes the two juicers next to Dzemal, and knows full well that Dzemal is just fronting. He says it’s good to see him and returns to the Ortega’s. Armena asks if he knows the boy, and Bishop replies that he helped him out a few weeks ago. He got in some bad company, but he’s a nice kid. He kind of set him up so he could get away from them. “Ever the good Samaritan,” says Izzy, with a hint of sarcasm which Armena picks up on. He tells Bishop that Dzemal doesn’t seem to be doing so well. It looks like he’s sleeping rough. Bishop thinks it’s just that he’s a grunge.
As they round the corner, Jazz puts his hands around Dzemal’s throat, and enquires as to how come he’s so up close and personal with the cop. One of the juicers tells him to forget it. They’re hurting and need some juice. Jazz informs him that as he said before: there is no more Toad Juice. It’s gone forever. The source doesn’t exist. He’s got some rock, some dust, and can let them have some whiz real cheap. That should hold ‘em. As he hands over the drugs, Dzemal asks if he can owe him, assuring Jazz that he’s good for it. Jazz replies that he used to good for it. Dzemal begs, and Jazz reluctantly hands over a bag, but says that this is the last time.
Dzemal ushers away, and Jazz tells the two juicers that he’s on his way down. He doesn’t have a crib to call his own. One of the juicers adds that they heard he’s living in the tunnels now. “The tunnels?” replies Jazz, “Man… that is all the way down.” Dzemal indeed makes his way to the tunnels, using the flaps of skin under his arms to glide to the rail tracks. He heads towards the tunnel. The graffiti on the wall reads ‘All hope abandon ye who enter here.’ Waiting in the shadows are all kinds of scary looking creatures.
Meanwhile, Bishop reaches his car and asks Izzy how things are at the precinct. He tells Bishop that things are pretty quiet with Toad Juice now off the menu. Filthy Frankie’s looking to pull twenty-five to life for first degree murder, and most of his boys will be keeping him company. The same goes for Shaky Kaufman’s goons. The only one walking away is Shaky himself. He wasn’t armed, and says he was an innocent bystander. They can’t find any witnesses to say otherwise.
They get in the car and Izzy adds that Mr. M is back home too. The D.A’s office took their word and dropped all charges. Bishop replies that he wishes he could be sure about him. Izzy points out that he saved Chamayra’s life, and Armena says she wishes she’d listened to him, instead of just waving the knife around. She feels really bad about that now and says they should go and make sure he’s okay. Bishop tells her not to worry. They’re keeping an eye on him.
(Daniel’s Inferno)
Mr. M returns to the Inferno. He notices a poster for the Amazing Merwoman on the way in without her name on it. The place is almost deserted. The barman says hi, and Absolon seats himself at the bar. He enquires about Patricia, who he enjoyed seeing perform. The barman informs him that she doesn’t work there anymore. The place has gone down the toilet since Mr. Kaufman fired Lonnie. If he wants to see the Merwoman, he should head to Lonnie’s new place. He’ll find most of the Inferno’s clientele there too. Absolon asks where it is, and the barman informs him that it’s a couple of blocks east on Calley Avenue. It’s called Shakespeare’s. Original, huh?
Mr. M stands and prepares to leave, but a woman sitting beside him asks him to stay and have a drink with her. Absolon agrees, and gets a double scotch. He tells the barman to give the lady whatever she’s having. She is attractive, with short blond hair swept back from her face. The barman says that’s water with a lime twist, right? This surprises Absolon, but the woman says she never drinks when she’s working. She then laughs at herself, and assures him it’s not that kind of work. He shouldn’t worry. He doesn’t have to pay for her company. As Absolon drinks his scotch, he soon forgets who he’s talking to. In the stranger’s place, he sees both Patricia’s face, and Hanna Levy’s too. She hasn’t visited him since he went crazy and almost blew up Mutant Town.
She says his first name, and asks if he’s okay. He hasn’t told her his first name, but appears too drunk to register this fact. She grabs him around the waist and leads him outside to clear his head. She leads him to her car, and says they can take a drive down by the river.
(the East River)
Lit by the moonlight, the riverside is quiet. Absolon and the woman stand looking at the river. She tells him she loves to watch the river by moonlight. Absolon tells her she’s very beautiful. Yes, she smiles. She wanders to the car, explaining that it’s colder than she thought. She asks him to wait while she gets her gloves form the car. When she returns, she doesn’t say a word. She points a silenced pistol at the back of Absolon’s head, and pulls the trigger. Absolon falls onto his stomach, and the woman kneels down behind him. “Did you really think I was going to let you put your filthy mutant hands on me?”
She stands again, and releases several more bullets into her victim. Absolon lies still. He hears her footsteps on the jetty as she walks to her car. He hears the sound of the car door opening and closing; the purr of the engine. Music and laughter drift across the water from a rich man’s yacht, growing fainter. The warmth of the whiskey is wearing off, and he is growing cold. The moonlight is fading. Darkness falls.