Chapter 29

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Mari was currently in the room she had at her Aunt Wendi's house, working on her newest fashion design, which happened to be the dresses for the girls on the team for the upcoming homecoming dance. She would've offered to make a tux for Rick, but he was still being an asshole. In fact, she currently had earbuds in to help drown out Rick's complaints about not getting his father's hourglass and Mari had noticed the way he'd been eying her totem lately. Honestly, Mari didn't know what Courtney was thinking, letting her cousin join the JSA, since in her opinion, Rick was showing more of the signs of a supervillain than a superhero, since he was constantly throwing tantrums that Courtney got her father's staff, Mari herself got her grandmother's totem, Yolanda got her godfather's suit, Beth got Dr. Midnite's goggles, Jen got powers from her father, and Chloe got both powers and her helmet from her father. Rick was the only one who didn't get any JSA swag at all.

He was really starting to sound like a spoiled, entitled brat. He wasn't the only one with a dead parent. After all, the whole reason Mari was living in Blue Valley was because both of her parents were dead and so was Courtney's dad, but neither of them pouted about it.

Anyways, Mari was so caught up in her work that she didn't hear her door get forced open as Rick stormed into her room.

"What the hell?" Mari asked as she turned around to see her idiot cousin barging in.

"Give me your totem." Rick said angrily as he moved to yank the totem from her neck.

"What?" Mari asked, right as she smacked his hand away.

"I'm tired of waiting for mom to give me the hourglass and I have just as much of a right to that totem as you do, since it belonged to my grandmother too." Rick said angrily.

"Not a chance you asshole. I'm not giving you my totem and you don't deserve it." Mari said angrily, since the totem wouldn't work for him anyways.

"Come on Mari. Why can't we share it?" Rick asked.

"You don't deserve this totem anymore than you deserve that hourglass and Aunt Wendi is never going to give it to you until you get your damn act together." Mari said.

"I'm tired of waiting." Rick said as he reached for the totem again, but this time, Mari grabbed his hand.

"Not gonna happen. Besides, it doesn't match your outfit. Now back off." Mari said.

"That totem belongs to me just as much as it does you." Rick insisted.

"And you're delusional. The hourglass belongs to your side of the family. The totem is mine." Mari said as she threw him back.

"It's the closest I'm going to get. Now I'm taking it, one way or another." Rick said as he then moved to punch her, but Mari quickly dodged and returned the favor.

"Did I never tell you I have a black belt in martial arts? And now, you want my totem so badly, here's a taste of what it can do." Mari said as she activated the totem and summoned the strength of a gorilla before she punched Rick straight out of the room.

"Mari." Rick groaned as he tried to get to his feet and winced in pain.

"No Rick, I'm done with your attitude and so is everyone else. You want that hourglass so badly, then prove that you deserve it." Mari yelled at him before she picked him up.

"Mari." Wendi said, seeing her niece beat the shit out of her son.

"Sorry Aunt Wendi, but I'm tired of letting Rick's attitude go. It's clear that it's not working, so maybe it's time for tough love. Rick, the only person who wants you on the JSA is you. Courtney is about an inch away from kicking you out. I get that you don't like feeling left out, but you've left us no choice. Your obsession with that hourglass is destroying your life and pushing everyone else away. I get that you're angry about your dad, but so is Courtney and she doesn't act the way you do. You're going against everything the JSA and your father stood for. You need to figure out a way to let go of your anger." Mari said.

"That's easy for you to say." Rick grumbled.

"No, it's not. Don't you think that I've been tempted to track down the drunk driver who plowed over my dad in the middle of the night? Or what about the monster who killed my mom because they wanted the same totem you just tried to take from me. Or how about my deadbeat older sister who abandoned me when I needed her the most? Trust me Rick, I have plenty of rage built up, but I'm not going to unleash it like that, because then I'm no better than the bad guys." Mari said angrily and Rick finally saw that he'd crossed a line, since just like how that hourglass was one of the last physical connections he had to his father, the totem was the last connection Mari had to her mother.

"I'm sorry Mari. I've just got all this anger pent up all the time and I don't know how to let it go." Rick said.

"Rick, your choices are either lose your friends and your spot on the JSA because you're insisting on holding onto anger that isn't doing anyone any good. I'm not saying you aren't entitled to how you feel, but now it's not doing you any good. I suggest that you focus your anger into your training. And also work on repairing your friendships." Mari said.

"I'll try." Rick said.

"And I'm gonna start looking into anger management classes for you, since you clearly need them." Wendi said and Rick nodded, knowing that he would benefit from it.

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