Editing The Titans (Hybrid 70) (section)

==='''Ralph Dibny/Mastermind'''===

"And that's why Mr. Boglin couldn't resist himself. That's why...he shot his mistress, cleaning woman and wife!"

"AND CUT! That was beautiful Ralph. Absolutely beautiful. And in half the time too." Ralph Dibny visibly relaxed as the cameras turned off. They were on set, another modern-day mansion that had been "STRICKEN BY MURDER!" (the title of this season opener) and they'd just finished filming the denouement. "Love and Death" had been good for his career. Some actors looked down at TV roles, especially after doing film, but Ralph had made more friends and had a better time on "Love and Death" than he had doing big budget films. There, he'd always been the secondary character. Still interesting, still full of fan recognition, but here, he was the star. Here, he was Beauregard Chance, detective par excellence in the great city of New Orleans. And the fans loved it. He started heading back to his dressing room. Sue said she'd meet him on set somewhere when they were done, but he didn't see her. They had finished in record time though, so it wasn't surprising. As he was walking to his room, he Sue's phone sitting on the table outside. That was a bit odd, but he picked it up and put it in his pocket. He'd tried and tried to get her a role on the show, not even something huge, but just something so that they could be together more often. After the scare with her medical problems, he felt that it was all the more important that they spend time together. Then, as he was about to open the door, he thought he heard something. He wondered for a moment, then opened his door.

Inside his room was one of his co-stars, Terry Case. Case played the young and brash young police detective on the series, who always clashed with Chance, but eventually came to his senses. Terry Chance was also having sex with his wife. For a moment, Ralph literally went blank. He had no recollection of who or what or why, and then he was standing in the doorway again, a look of shock and sadness on his face. The anger, it would come later. Sue said something, something he didn't remember the words of, probably some excuse, some explanation. Ralph didn't hear, and then he ran. He ran off the set, out of the building, down the street. He just ran and ran and he didn't know where he was going. It wasn't important. He'd loved Sue more than anything. Anything. They'd met at some social gala, and at the time her family hadn't quite approved of her seeing a actor. But he'd become famous, well-known and well-loved and he'd always known he wanted her. They'd seen each other rarely in secret while he was working his way up, but eventually he confronted her father and impressed him so much that he'd agreed to let them marry. It had been the happiest day of his life. Things had seemed so perfect, especially after he'd been cast as the star of "Love and Death". Then Sue had gotten sick, and she'd needed a kidney. And he'd given it to her. Things had gotten good again. And now this. He'd always had a sharp mind, so much so that the police consultant had told him that he'd probably make a good detective himself. This, he knew, would break him.

And it did. The divorce case was short and brutal. On Sue's phone had been records of her affairs with two other cast members of "Love and Death" and she hadn't had a leg to stand on. The only fly was that Ralph actually missed court several times, unable to attend. But it went through. Then he quit "Love and Death" and locked himself in his house. The gossip columns had a field day and his friends and associates said it would blow over. It would only be a couple months at most. Ralph Dibny had not come out of his house a year and a half later. He'd been having food delivered, his trash picked up at his front door. And he'd seen no one. His friends had tried to visit him at first, but when he'd pushed them away, often with harsh words and once with force, they hadn't come back. Ralph Dibny was finally alone with his betrayal and mistrust. 

Until a rough-looking man in a Hawaiian shirt with strange hair and a five-o-clock shadow came knocking on his door. A limo was parked behind him, on the street. James Howlett hammered the door again.

"MR. DIBNY! DO ME THE FUCKIN' HONOR OF AT LEAST ANSWERING YOU GODDAMN DOOR!" He heard sound from inside the house. It sounded like someone was moving around. Maybe he was waffling. Thinking about whether or not to see who this brash stranger was. James decided to push it a little, and shouted some more. "IF YOU DO NOT COME TO THE DOOR, I WILL REMOVE YOUR DOOR FROM ITS HINGES. THEN I WILL COME IN." Finally, though James had wondered if that last statement might have put Dibny off, the locks behind the door began clicking and finally it opened. Ralph Dibny didn't look so good. He was in a robe, unshaven, and didn't smell particularly good. Howlett smiled. "Mr. Dibny, my employer would like to speak to you. May he come in?" Dibny looked at him incredulously, and finally, with an air of defeat, he stepped aside and made a sweeping "come in" gesture. The limousine doors slid open, but not like normal doors. Then moved to the side, creating a double-wide exit and a ramp slid out from under the car. And Anthony Stark glided out. Ralph Dibny at least was surprised about this plot twist. 

After the two men had been settled in the sitting room, Stark spoke. 

"I will be frank, Mr. Dibny. You trust no one. Not after the person you trusted the most betrayed you. This is correct, yes?" Dibny scowled at him, but under Stark's calm and unyielding stare, he eventually spoke. His voice was raw, as if it had been used more for screaming than speech.

"Yes, yes that's true. Even now I'm wondering why you're here."

"I could beat around the bush, Mr. Dibny, but that would only make you more suspicious. I'm here to offer you an opportunity to never feel like you are about to be betrayed again." Dibny looked confused.

"I don't think I follow, Mr. Stark. How can something like that be? I mean, anyone else and I'd think this was a prank, a setup. But we've met, Mr. Stark, and I know who you are. You were interested in Sue back before we married." Dibny's eyes were narrowed now, and he was staring at Stark.

"Ms. Dearborn may have been a conquest I pursued, but I was never successful. As I recall, she only had eyes for some penniless actor." Dibny's face scrunched up in rage.

"I should have felt my nose twitching. It always does when something bad happens. But that, that was too much. THAT WAS THE FINAL STRAW." He seethed with rage while Stark waited patiently and James wandered off to the patio to smoke a cigar. 

"I'm sorry Mr. Dibny, for bringing her up. But back to my original offer, what if you could see into the minds of others. Fully controllable, fully understandable. What if you could know who would betray you. All it would take was a simple thought." Now Ralph was really confused. 

"How, how is that possible?" Stark smiled at this.

"You will be injected with a nanite cloud. It will bond with your mind and nervous system, and spread out around you. Similar to another project I worked on, only this time, the nanites will read brain patterns. Easiest will, of course, be emotions. But with practice, you will be able to read minds." Stark didn't yet tell him about the third function, the colonization process, by which more complex nanites could be manufactured and sent into the minds of others, influencing their brain patterns. Thankfully he was immune to it all, and the nanites that powered Quinn and Howlett would make them highly resistant to that function. He wasn't sure about Grant. That had been an experiment, and for all he knew, the energy coursing through his body would repulse the things. It was certainly a theory. He turned back to Dibny, and waited for the man's answer.

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Once a brilliant but betrayed actor, Ralph Dibny has shed his mistrust for others with his new powers of telepathy. Serving as a information specialist and public face for Stark's new initiative, Dibny's powers and style have earned him the moniker of Mastermind (though admittedly he has personally admitted that that particular distinction properly belonged to Stark)