Murder of Mark Perkins

Mark Perkin's body as found by Natasha Romanov (pictured) the morning after his murder.

## Basic Info

### Associated Media

Agents of Heels: Misadventures of Agent Romanov

## Involvement

### Major Outcomes

Death of Mark Perkins, personal grudge held by Natasha Romanov against Tatsuro Maeda

The Murder of Mark Perkins is one of the early and instigating scenes in the beWilder game *Agents of Heels: Misadventures of Agent Romanov.* Mark, who is the live in boyfriend of Natasha Romanov, was murdered in their shared residence at Cedarfield Heights. Natasha wrongfully makes the connection to the Maeda Cartel as the culprit, when in fact she was the one to kill him in a stupor after being infected earlier that day.

Natasha's desire for revenge is the impetuous for her solo investigation of Tatsuro Maeda and his cartel, drawing her into the plot of the early section of the game, and later the larger conflict between Heels and Poison Ivy.

## Description

After returning from a mission on the other side of the city, where she was unknowingly infected by an mysterious goo, Natasha Romanov attempts to relax at home. Feeling strange, and peculiarly hot all over her body, she watches from her window as her neighbour Maluk and his trashy girlfriend Sam get busy publicly in their housing complex's shared garden. Losing herself in the voyeurism she starts to please herself, not knowing the sensation strengthens the infection within her. She watches on as they make love, witnessing the whole event, but it not satisfying her.

Her immune response not yet active enough to stop the infection taking control of her body, the infection makes her seek out more action for her, to fuel it's growth with more rushing endorphins. As with the advanced stage of infection control, her eyes begin to glow green and her memory of what happens is shot. Under the infection's control she moves from her bedroom to her living room where she finds Mark watching TV on their couch.

Still under the infection's control, Natasha seduces a surprised and skeptical Mark. She climbs on him after pulling down his pants and she leads them as they make love on the couch in a seated cowgirl style. The act and the stimulus it gives the infection causes the young and as yet unassimilated parasite to go out of control. After both reach climax, Natasha grabs a nearby screwdriver in a rage and kills Mark without hesitation. She then returns to her bedroom in a hazy.

The next morning, some 12 hours or so later, Natasha finally wakes up, now released from the infection's hold. With no memories of the night before, but feeling strange and unwell, she steps out into her living room to find Mark's murdered body. She calls Heels for support before investigating herself.

Later, after back-up arrives on the scene, Natasha along with General Miller and Scout theorizes the event as being a reprisal from Maeda for her earlier investigation into a tip involving him. She takes it personally, vowing to get back at Maeda which leads her into conflict with his cartel before getting roped into the larger dispute between them and Heels.

***Side*** ***Note***: In the original version of this event, Natasha sprouted tentacles during climax, which she used to kill Mark with. This was edited out due to overwhelming request and feedback in subsequent versions, replaced by a black out along with Natasha's climaxing[*citation needed*]. Natasha remembers in a flashback later in the game that she was the murderer and she used a screwdriver to do it.

## Involvement

Mark's murder, and the subsequent wrong assumptions that the Maeda Cartel was the culprit, leads Natasha to pursue Tatsuro Maeda and his cartel in the opening act of the game's story. Nat's personal grudge drives her to but heads with Maeda and draw his attention to her as he attempts to seduce her into his organization.

### Key Participants

* Natasha Romanov, Unwitting Culprit
* Mark Perkins, Victim

### Additional Participants

* General Miller, Reinforcements
* Jack "Scout" Morgan, Reinforcements
* Tatsuro Maeda, Wrongly Identified Culprit.

## Outcomes

The outcomes of this event are fixed and do not involve any player input.

Mark's Murder is only a minor trauma for Natasha Romanov, given she is a trained and seasoned spy and lives the life of espionage. Despite being close with Mark and noticeably affected by the happenings, their relationship was for the most part a part of her cover story (unbeknownst to Mark himself). She is able to compartmentalized the events into a small part of her mind and go on with her work/life regardless.

To what extent her part in the incident, and the greater infection that caused it, affects her in the long run has yet to be seen.

## References

1. ↑ Stated by Natasha Romanov in *Agents of Heels: Croft and the Coveted Seal*