Cara LaceCara LaceDiva
Joined: 29 Dec 2011
Posts: 350
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re: Cara Part 11: The Daredevlette
 by Cara Lace on Sat Jan 09, 2016 2:42 pm
Daredevlette
“Ok Joanie, just like last time.” A disheveled looking young girl with her dirty brown hair in huge twin ponytails and dressed in filthy, raggedy clothes says to her equally homeless looking blonde companion. She sticks her dirt smudged face out of a dark alley and gazes down the sidewalk in the soft glow of the street lamps.
“Maybe we should chill for the night, Dee.” Joanie says with a shiver in the cold night air. “It’s cold and the shelter is gonna close soon.”
“Come on, Joanie. I’m sick of the stupid shelter.” Dee says with a sly grin. “One more and we can get a room at the Regal if you want! Just one more, okay?” Dee asks peeking down the street once more where she sees a couple exit a liquor store just a few doors down.
“Fine, whatever.” Joanie replies grumpy. “But I get the TV remote for the whole night!!”
“That’s my besty! Now hurry, the last customers just left. It’s just down the alley, the third door.” Dee says as she slips out onto the street and slowly saunters her way down the sidewalk toward the shop.
Joanie disappears into the alley behind the store and finds its back door. She quickly finds a steel trash drum and pulls a bottle of lighter fluid from under her tattered jacket. She sprays the liquid all over the contents of the trash drum, emptying the entire bottle. She pulls the drum from the middle of the alley to right in front of the store’s back door and then pulls a matchbook from her pocket. She strikes a single match and with a mischievous giggle she drops it into the drum. As it ignites instantly into a roaring flame, she pounds repeatedly on the door.
“FIRE!! Dudes your stores’ on fire!! Help!!” She shouts and then sprints down the alley out of site.
On the street, Dee meanders in front of the store and gazes through the window as the two men behind the counter suddenly turn and dart into the back room. She pulls a hood over head and slips into the store. She runs to the counter and leaps over it, hitting a button on the register and popping open its cash drawer. She grabs each stack of bills from their slot and as she turns to leave she notices a gym bag on the floor at her feet. The top is unzipped and she sees it is loaded with bundles of fresh cash.
“Jackpot, come to mama!” Dee says with a gleam in her eye and scoops up the bag by the strap, zips the top shut and heads for the door. Just a few steps from the door she stops barely in time when she sees three tall dark shadows approaching from the outside. She darts behind a nearby aisle display as the door opens and the three figures walk in and lock the door ominously behind them.
They are three very large men in expensive looking suits who look around the store briefly as the biggest and most menacing looking of the bunch checks his gold watch. Dee crouches down in the aisle with one hand clutching the gym bag of money and the other over her mouth.
“It is no wonder that this establishment has fallen to such ill-repute. The service here is terrible.” The large man says with a sneer as the two employees of the store return from the back room with soot on their clothes.
“Vito?!” One of the men gasps. “W-What are you doing here? We paid already this month.”
“It has come to Mister Falcone’s attention that you may be holding out on his profits.” Vito says as his men pull their pistols from under their suit jackets and hold them menacingly at their sides. “I tried to explain that you would never do such a stupid thing and that I would come down here personally to, uh, conduct an audit.”
The two store employees look at each other nervously. “S-Sure Vito, n-no problem. If you’ll give me till tomorrow morning I can h-have all our books ready for you to go over.” One of them stammers.
“Tommy, my boy.” Vito responds with a sinister smile. “I am afraid you misunderstand the kind of audit I am referring to.”
As if on cue, one of Vito’s men raises his gun and fires hitting Tommy’s companion in the leg. The man cries out in shock and pain as he falls to the floor. His blood sprays across Tommy’s arm who stands horrified at the site.
“Wait a minute! Wait a minute!” Tommy shouts in desperation.
“I like to call this ‘aggressive accounting’. I do hope you have a good insurance plan for your employees.” Vito laughs. “This one still has three limbs to go.”
As the scene plays out, Dee winces as the man wails in pain. Still hidden behind a display case in the aisle behind the brutal men, she peers out the store window looking for any chance of escape. As she looks, she sees Joanie’s spiky blond hair peering out from behind a dumpster across the street frantically waving her hand, motioning her to come on.
“Alright, alright!” Tommy pleads. “You can have the money; please just don’t hurt him anymore!”
Vito’s henchmen lower their guns as Vito grins at them. “You see boys? He can be reasonable.”
Tommy moves in fear behind the counter and his eyes widen to near panic when he realizes the gym bag of money is not there. In desperation he searches under the counter but finds nothing.
“What is this?! Where’s the money?!!” Tommy yells. “It was right here, I swear Vito! Wait, the fire, someone musta took it!!”
“I believe you Tommy.” Vito sighs. “However, my boys here are less than convinced and unless you produce Mr. Falcone’s money I am afraid your employee here is gonna reach the cap on his deductible.”
Vito’s men raise their guns at Tommy’s helpless clerk who wails and pleads for his life, desperately trying to cringe away despite his already shattered leg. As they start to squeeze their triggers, the lights suddenly go out in the entire store. Vito pulls his own gun out as he and his henchmen stand at the ready.
“I thought you said the Bat wasn’t around anymore Vito!?” One of the men says in sudden obvious fear.
“Shut up!” Vito responds.
“YEAHHHHGGRR!!!” His henchman screams as he is suddenly knocked to the floor. Vito spins around but sees only darkness. The unmistakable sounds of fist on flesh echo until finishing with the ‘Thud!’ of an unconscious body hitting the floor.
“LENNY!?” Vito shouts but gets no reply. Before he can spin around, he hears his second flunky being pummeled like the first and the crash of the front counter shattering as his body lands atop it.
“BOBBY!?” Only a muffled unconscious moan is Vito’s answer.
“Come on Batman!!” Vito shouts to the darkness around him. “Come get some!!!”
Vito begins to fire wildly into the darkness. He manages to get three shots fired before something smashes into his hand breaking a few bones and knocking his gun to the floor. Grasping his hand he whirls around to head for the door when he sees a menacing dark shadow standing there.
“Y-You’re not Bats!” Vito utters as the figure lunges at him and smashes a fist into his jaw. The gangster falls flat on his back as the stranger lands on his chest and pins him helplessly to the floor.
“Batman is too busy to deal with lowlifes like you.” The stranger says in a gruff female voice. “Tell your boss if he and the other families don’t leave my city they will WISH I was the Batman.”
“W-Who are you?” Vito asks pathetically.
The stranger leans in close to Vito’s face. “I’m the devil in your worst nightmares.”
The familiar flashing red and blue lights of the Gotham Police shine in from the street as three cruisers screech to a halt out in front of the store. From her hiding place, Dee peeks over the aisle rack and sees only the multiple men either unconscious or writhing in pain on the floor in the dancing police lights. Seeing her chance, she scoops up the gym bag and sprints for the back room and the back door. She makes her way down the alley and eventually doubles back across the street to join Joanie in her hiding place behind the dumpster.
“What the hell was that?!” Joanie asks
“Thanks for the help Joanie!” Dee says rather pissed off. “I could have gotten killed in there!!”
“Hey! I was about to do something but the cops showed up.” Joanie says defensively. “And, I wanted to call it night if you remember!”
“Never mind!” Dee says as she unzips the duffel bag and shows Joanie the stacks of money inside. “If we HAD called it a night, we wouldn’t have this!”
“Oh my god!!” Joanie gasps. “That’s a lot of money!!”
“I know, right?!” Dee responds excitedly. “Let’s get outta here.”
Dee moves to zip the bag back up but is startled as metal stick about foot long slices into the side of the bag. The pair turns suddenly and watches as a figure lands on her feet in the alley behind them. A very fit woman, with everything covered except her jaw in a deep crimson red costume with an ominous horned emblem on her chest and as the two girls sit paralyzed with panic, the figure walks up to them with an imposing stance.
“If Falcone’s men see you, you’ll be marked. Head to the East End Clinic.” The woman says with menace in her voice. “Stay in the lights and flag down the first officer you see.” She then scoops up the duffel bag and retrieves her weapon from it.
“HEY! That’s ours!” Dee tries to protest.
The stranger whirls around and launches the duffel bag into the air, its flies across the street and lands on the front stoop of the store. Almost like it was planned, the door opens and Tommy the store owner steps out and almost trips over it. Elated at the return of his money, he turns around and carries the bag back inside.
“No, it’s not.” The crimson woman says without looking at Dee, and then she springs up the side of the building like a master acrobat and disappears.
“Can we go home now?” Joanie asks.
“She can’t do that!! We got rights!!” Dee yells in exasperation.
“Let it go, Dee.” Joanie says heading off towards the clinic. “At least we aren’t in jail.”
Dee continues to grumble about her lost booty as her and Joanie make their way down the street, away from the commotion and lights. They turn down a dark alley and Joanie stops.
“C’mon, Joanie.” Dee says.
“Wait, I heard something.” Joanie says looking around.
“Yes you did.” Another sultry voice says from the darkness in their path. “Don’t worry; I’m a big fan of you both.”
“Who’s there?!” Joanie asks.
“Just someone who has a purr-fect opportunity for the both of you.” The voice says as its owner emerges from the shadows. The girls are dumbfounded as a glowing purple and black dressed ninja hovers into view on two floating purple disks beneath her feat. As if that were not strange enough, what little is visible of her face is covered with soft looking orange and white striped fur, and her eyes reflect in the moonlight with cat-like glow as her tail whips around playfully behind her.
“Who are you?” Dee asks in awe.
“Dude,” Joanie says dumbfounded. “WHAT are you?”
“I am just a simple admirer of your work. I have to admit the whole ‘distract them with fire’ routine is pretty smart.” The female feline answers with admiration. “You can both tuck your tails between your legs and go back to your shelter, but that room at the Regal is waiting for you. Enjoy it if you like and then we can discuss your future.” And with that, she floats up into the night sky on her disks and disappears.
Dee watches the strange cat woman as she flies out of site and stands for a moment pondering this latest development until finally she turns to Joanie. “C’mon, let’s go.”
“Fine.” Joanie replies. “BUT I STILL GET THE REMOTE!”
Morning
Morning in Gotham City is a lot like night with perpetual clouds that seem to hang over the city in a never ending dreariness. This is usually the safest time of day in the area called Crime Alley, as the criminals and gang bangers are usually sleeping off the previous night’s activities. Outside one of the many old and run down looking buildings, a black limousine pulls up and from it steps a sharp dressed woman with short, brilliantly bright red hair. Her expensive looking dress suit makes her seem incredibly out of place here on the roughest and most run down streets of Gotham City. As the car pulls away, she looks around nervously gripping her briefcase tight in her hand.
“Ok Ebony, no need to fret.” She says to herself softly. “You’re a grown woman and perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. You can do this.”
She looks around at the various doors on the building before her until she sees a tiny sign on one of them that reads simply, “Matters, PI”.
With a slight look of relief, Ebony opens the door and enters into a small waiting room with some chairs and a simple desk. Ebony stands for a moment and looks down the hall at the rather sparse arrangement of furniture and file cabinets. Along one wall are glass covered display cases filled with trophies and ribbons from various martial arts competitions dated a few years ago.
“Can I help you?” A voice suddenly says.
Ebony turns to see a young woman dressed in a modest business suit. Her short brown hair is neatly done and frames a strikingly pretty face. Only her dark sunglasses and white cane indicate that she is blind.
“Hello.” Ebony says a little startled at the woman’s sudden appearance. “Do you take walk-ins?”
“That depends, but consultations are free.” The woman responds and holds out her right hand. “Melanie Matters, private investigator.”
Ebony steps forward awkwardly and shakes the woman’s hand. “Ebony Cartwright, pleased to meet you.”
With pleasantries out of the way, Melanie moves slowly around the desk feeling her way to the chair and sits down across from Ebony. “What can I do for you, Miss Cartwright?”
Ebony pulls up a chair and sits placing her briefcase on her lap, which she opens and pulls out a file folder and then closes.
“I represent a consortium with diversified interests in the private sector both domestic and international.” Ebony begins in a most prim and proper English manner. “From time to time we scout the landscape for promising talent to put on retainer, and your record is quite impressive. Graduated summa cum laude from Gotham University with a law degree, former mixed martial arts champion and instructor, and now a very successful private investigator with twenty seven arrests and convictions this year that are a direct result of investigations you conducted.”
“Well I have a great staff that does most of the actual footwork.” Melanie says modestly. “I assume you are aware of my condition?”
“Yes, I am a Doctor by trade.” Ebony answers. “You developed a degenerative eye condition that has rendered you clinically blind. You retired from fighting, closed your school and disappeared from public life for a while, but then returned a hometown hero to open a private investigation practice in Crime Alley.”
“You’ve done your homework.” Melanie states.
“My employer expects no less.” Ebony responds with some pride.
“And your employer is?” Melanie asks directly.
“Global Confederated Investments is who I represent.” Ebony responds.
“That sounds like a venture capital firm or private equity group. Who sits on its board of directors?” Melanie presses.
“For now I’m afraid, Global Confederated Investments is the only name relevant to this discussion.” Ebony responds firmly but with a smile.
“Then let me be blunt…” Melanie begins.
“Please do, I find it refreshing.” Ebony says pleasantly.
“Why approach me, why not a larger, more prestigious firm?” Melanie probes. “You see I’m still building my practice and I’m very particular about my clientele.”
“My employer does extensive business in Gotham and I can assure you Miss Matters, that all we want is for you to continue to be an ethical, descent woman; a good private investigator.” Ebony says in her charming accent. “And for that… for nothing more than your exceptional skills and your discretion…” she pauses as she pulls an envelope from the file folder and slides across the desk to Melanie, “…you’ll be fairly compensated. I’ve placed an envelope before you, please be my guest. I’ve taken the liberty of having everything done in Brail.”
Melanie deftly reaches down and takes the envelope in hand. She opens it and removes a slip of paper which she places flat on the table and then runs her fingertips over its surface. Ebony watches with a grin for Melanie for react, but her stoic facial expression never changes.
“You don’t seem convinced.” Ebony says almost sadly.
“Like I said, I’m particular about my clientele.” Melanie responds leaving the slip of paper on the table before her.
“I understand your concerns, Miss Matters.” Ebony says diplomatically. “Perhaps you could review one of our cases before you make a decision?”
Melanie sits for a few seconds before responding. “Sure, ok. What harm could it do?”
“Excellent.” Ebony says standing up and placing the file on the desk. “Everything you need is in this file, including my contact information.” She picks up her briefcase and straightens her attire. “Thank you very much for your time, Miss Matters. I will be in touch.”
“Goodbye, Miss Cartwright.” Melanie says as Ebony exits through the office door.
Melanie rises from her chair and moves swiftly and easily across the room to the balcony door and steps out into the open morning air. It is dank and stale as usual but Melanie focuses and filters it out as she concentrates on Ebony standing on the street below. She smells her perfume. She hears the unique sound of Ebony’s expensive shoes on the pavement as she shuffles slightly in place. She feels the displacement of air as Ebony’s hand waves to signal her driver. And as Ebony steps into the vehicle Melanie hears her voice speak into a cell phone. “It’s done.”
As the car drives away, Melanie returns to her desk and the file folder Ebony left for her. Bound in the folder is a group of documents and newspaper clippings along with a computer disk in a case with a brail label that reads ‘Security Footage’.
“Let’s see what we can see.” Melanie says softly to herself as she runs her fingertips over the news articles. Her face stares straight ahead, unflinching, almost as if it were set in stone. Though robbed of her normal sight, Melanie has other ways to see. Like hundreds of others across Metropolis and Gotham, Melanie was gifted by a fateful encounter with an Exobyte. It gave her incredible mental powers that she taught herself to use differently than any other, by using it to enhance her normal senses. Sound, touch, smell or taste; she can use them all well beyond any normal human being. With the detailed information she can glean from them, her mind then forms a mental image that covers much more than just a normal field of vision. As she spends the next hour gliding her fingertips slowly across each news clipping, she can feel the very ink on the paper by the extra thickness it adds and this lets her make out each letter and read its words.
The articles are various stories covering the collapse of the Styger Robotics Plant in Metropolis and the subsequent attack by Brainiac. Styger Industries CEO Jenny Styger invented her armor that day and became Iron Beauty, and then together with the Justice Girls they saved Metropolis and fought Brainiac to a standstill. In all the adventure and heroism of the event, the cause of the Styger Robotics Plant collapse was never determined and ruled an accident. Jenny Styger was ordered to make restitution to the families of her workers who were killed, and she voluntarily paid twice that from her own pocket.
Styger Industries has survived since then and even grown thanks to a new contract for security and combat drones with the United States government. A contract she won out from under Lex Luthor and Lexcorp.
“Interesting.” Melanie says softly laying down the last piece of paper and leaning back in her chair for a moment. In her deposition Jenny Styger maintained the facility was attacked by an unknown assailant with Meta powers, but lack of any evidence halted the investigation. Melanie picks up the computer disk and removes it from its case, then with familiarity she opens the drive on her computer and inserts it. It spins for a minute then a window pops up ready to play a video.
“Play.” Melanie says and the screen flickers to life with grainy images of a loading dock in chaos. Flames roar and huge arcs of buzzing electric current branch out everywhere from a source that is out of the picture frame. Melanie’s powers attune her senses to the point that she can feel the very pixels on her computer screen as they fire with energy and while she cannot see the video, she can form a representation of it in her mind. As such, she often can detect things that even forensic technology can miss. The sound is deafening and static filled along with a scream of pain that seems to go on indefinitely. As she concentrates, Melanie’s mind literally filters out layers of background sound. Piece by piece her extraordinary mental senses dig through the symphony of chaos. A tiny flash in the color spectrum that would be undetectable to the naked eye whisks across her mental image, the color of red.
“Pause.” She commands and the computer complies. “Rewind ten seconds and resume playback.”
Melanie turns the speakers up and leans in closer as the audio resumes as instructed, and underneath she hears it again…
“Natasha! Report! Is the target dead yet?!”
“You told me this would be a simple job, comrade Luthor! You said nothing about Meta powers!!”
“What are you blathering about? I paid you to do a job and I expect it to be done! I do not want excuses!”
“I think she is taking care of that herself. I am getting out of here!”
As the audio stops, Melanie ponders the implications of what she just heard. She knows that no technology will be able to pick up on the words she heard in the recording, and that her word alone would not be admissible in a court of law, let alone that revealing it would also reveal her abilities. She closes the video window and opens another containing her personal files. She cross references the name Natasha, a Russian accent, and the color red. Almost instantly her results are displayed…
NATASHA VORISLOV – RED LANTERN – EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. LAST KNOWN LOCATION- GOTHAM CITY, BURNELY DISTRICT.
Melanie leans back in her chair wish a slight grin on her normally stone serious face. “Looks like my ‘staff’ will be working tonight.”
Meanwhile, morning at the Regal Hotel
Dee throws open the lavish curtains and lets the dreary morning light of Gotham City flood the expensive hotel room. She gazes out across the city with a scowl of frustration and anxiety on her face.
“Wake up, Joanie.” She says with a sudden turn to her partner still asleep under the plush covers of the room’s king sized bed. “We’re getting out of here.”
“Unngh….” Joanie murmurs. “Just five more minutes… I don’t wanna go to school.”
“We don’t have time.” Dee says slipping her clothes on. “Weird ninja kitty never showed last night. We gotta split before someone comes with the bill.”
Just then there is sudden soft knock at the door and Joanie sits up suddenly with a worried look. Unsure of what to do, she and Dee exchange nervous glances for a moment. Then both hear a familiar and soothing voice in their minds.
“Relax girls. It’s me, the ‘weird ninja kitty’.” The voice says.
Dee looks at Joanie who just slowly shakes her head no in response, but Dee shrugs and unlocks the door. It opens and their mysterious friend enters wearing a large brimmed hat and long black trench coat. The door closes by itself behind her as she removes her hat and grins at the two girls in a pleasant, yet menacing way. Without her mask, the girls see that she is truly a human cat hybrid. Her mannerisms are graceful as she almost slinks into the room and sits on the large couch before them.
“So, how did my girls like the room? Comfy I hope?” The stranger asks.
“Great.” Joanie says. “I watched like four movies last night. Uhm, there might be a charge for that.”
“Charming.” The feline says with pleasant disdain. “And you Dee?”
“Yea it was cool.” Dee says cautiously. “Speaking of names, we never did catch yours.”
“Cautious and brave, I like that. I am Kitt Gloves.” She replies. “I’m glad you decided to take me up on my little offer.”
“How did you do that with the whole talking in our head thing? I heard you but I didn’t ‘hear’ you.” Joanie asks timidly.
“Just one of my many skills.” Kitt says as she settles into a very cat-like pose on the room’s expensive couch. “Skills that allow me to offer you both a rare opportunity, one most people never get in their lifetime.”
“An opportunity?” Dee cuts in while giving Joanie the ‘Shut up’ look.
“Beyond any you’ve ever imagined.” Kitt says with a sinister grin. “You see, my associates and I are looking for some new talent. People who have surpassed common ‘street thug-ery’ and are ready to take things to the next level.”
“The next level?” Joanie wonders out loud.
“And what do you mean ‘we’?” Dee adds.
“You’ve heard of Exobytes, yes?” Kitt responds.
“Yea, figures half the city gets super powers and I missed out.” Dee grumps. “If that’s what you’re getting at then there’s been a mistake. Joanie and I don’t have any super powers. We barely got out of that crap last night alive.”
“Yes, I was there.” Kitt says with the face of a kitten, reaching out she touches Dee’s shoulder. “You ran into an Exobyte hero last night. Some self-righteous, brainwashed bully took it upon themselves to deprive you of your right to survive simply because luck made them more powerful than you.”
Dee looks down with a scowl. “Joanie and me could have had a new start with that money. We coulda got a place and got ourselves right, you know?”
“It makes you angry.” Kitt states.
“Yea, it does.” Dee agrees.
“And what about you, little Firestarter?” Kitt asks turning her head to look at Joanie.
“Me? Well, uhm… yea. I mean it’s not like we were hurting anyone. That money was gonna go to bad guys anyways. They were gonna probably do something worse with it I bet.” Joanie stutters uncomfortably in Kitts gaze.
Kitt smiles with satisfaction and stands up before the two girls. Twin disks of purple energy form under her feat and she lifts off the floor to hover in the air. An aura of swirling purple energy forms around her as she stands powerfully in front of them. “So the question isn’t whether or not you have super powers, but whether or not you ‘want’ them.”
“What do you mean?” Dee asks incredulously. “You can’t just GIVE a person super powers.”
“Can’t I?” Kitt answers descending to the floor once more as her levitation disks and aura wink out of sight. “STAR Labs, Project CADMUS, Styger Industries, all of them are all studying everything from the Exobytes to the mists that have shown up around Gotham and Metropolis. What do you think they are trying to do?”
“Keep us safe?” Joanie sheepishly chimes in.
“Or keep us controlled?” Kitt counters. “We just want to be a counter balance to their unlimited power.”
“Who watches the watchers?” Dee says as more of a statement than a question.
“Exactly.” Kitt responds with a grin.
“So what do you want us to do?” Dee asks seriously.
Kitt smiles and hands a business card to Dee. “Just meet me here tonight at ten o’clock. I will show you our ‘facility’ and introduce you to the rest of our girls.”
“Girls? So you’re like the Justice Girls or something?” Joanie asks with a little excitement.
“Oh, we’re not like the Justice Girls at all.” Kitt says with a sinister smile as she dons her hat and coat and heads for the door. “Some would say, we’re a little darker.” And with that, the door closes softly behind her.
Dee stares at the door for a moment then, in a mockingly weak voice says, “..keep us safe?..” then whirls around to scowl at Joanie. “Can you BE more embarrassing?!”
“Hey sweet!! All six Star Wars movies are on in a row today!” Joanie responds flipping through the hotel copy of the TV Guide and paying no attention to Dee at all.
Exasperated, Dee lunges across the room and snatches up the TV Guide and flings it across the room. “Don’t you get who she is, Joanie?! I looked her up online; she’s a big time player. They say she’s like ancient, and she’s worked with the Society and maybe even Lex Luthor himself!!”
“I get it Dee.” Joanie responds with a frown. “I’m not stupid.”
“This is our chance, our one chance to finally make it!” Dee says excited. “No more homeless shelters, no more going hungry and running from gangs. We can finally MAKE this city give us what we’ve deserved all along.”
Joanie smiles. “Hey, you’ve kept us going this long. I totally trust you. As long as you know what we’re doing then that’s good enough for me.”
Dee looks down at the card Kitt gave her and smiles mischievously. “I know exactly what we are doing.”
“Aw man...” Joanie says after turning the TV back on. “…Jar Jar Binks… I forgot about him. Lame!”
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
Kitt Gloves glides effortlessly through cloud filled skies of Gotham City and approaches Robinson Park, specifically the Pillars of Hades. The result of some villainous plot by Brother Blood long ago, the park now houses a series of huge stone pillars floating hundreds of feat in the air above it. Motionless and stationary, they have remained so long that they are simply accepted as a feature of Gotham City now.
However, atop the highest pillar is a small hidden doorway. A portal unseen by mortal eyes and protected by powerful magic. Kitt smiles with satisfaction as she descends to this portal and steps through into an ancient realm of stone and lava, blood and bones. A cave like place that is so horrific a normal mind would recoil in terror and fold in upon itself, yet Kitt Gloves strolls through its paths as comfortable as a happy shopper walking in Glenmorgan Square. As she exits the entry chamber she enters the main inner cave, a vast area divided into three levels.
“No, no more please!!” a voice wails in sheer agony as Kitt climbs a winding stairway to the upper level. “I don’t know anything, please stop!!”
Kitt reaches the top of the stairway and smiles at the site. A huge throne sits atop a pile of human bones and on it sits a much unexpected site. A girl, almost a child, with deep crimson skin, terrifyingly elegant demon wings and set of powerful looking demon horns stares with mild amusement at the helpless naked man suspended from his ankles by a chain of barbed wire above a pool of bubbling hot lava.
“Mother, I’m hurt.” Kitt says to her. “If you needed information why not just ask me to read it for you?”
“I’m surprised Kitt, you know me better than that.” The demonic girl responds. “The She Devil doesn’t torture for information. She tortures for fun.” A sudden and casual flick of her wrist makes the chain disappear and the agonizing screams of the naked man plunging into the molten lava below slowly cease as he burns alive into ashes.
Kitt watches and sighs slightly. “Shame, a steak sounded good right now.”
“There will be plenty to eat soon enough. Besides, you need to watch that girlish figure of yours.” The demon responds sternly.
“So, the She Devil?” Kitt asks. “It’s been some time since you went by that name. Not since your battle with the old gods. Are you sure you want to use it again?”
“I am quite sure.” She Devil answers with certainty. “It’s time for mortals and immortals alike to learn that name again, and tremble in fear at its mention.”
“I love it when you get all evil.” Kitt says slinking up and perching on the arm of She Devil’s throne. “What about Menace though? She won’t be thrilled about losing her position. She may fight you.”
“Always concerned for Mother.” She Devil says with a smile. “This is why you’re my favorite, Kitt. You don’t need to worry, I created Menace and I can destroy her just as easy and she knows it. She has failed me over and over again and I no longer have the luxury of time to wait for her to become competent. She will accept her new position as one of my remote Lieutenants or she will die.”
Kitt tilts her head slightly to the side in a somewhat worrisome look. “Is everything that you create so easily destroyed?”
She Devil gives Kitt a look of genuine affection. “I created Menace but you and your sisters are my children. We share a bond that cannot be broken even if I wanted to. So, no, not everything I create is easily destroyed.”
Kitt nuzzles her head on She Devil’s shoulder and purrs. “Our new group is coming along nicely.”
“Call it by name.” She Devil says with a grin. “After all, marketing is everything. The Justice Girls Dark, has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”
“I like it, and it will drive Super Power absolutely crazy!” Kitt answers.
“That’s the point.” She Devil says in a sinister tone. “How many do we have so far?”
“Not including those left from our original group?” Kitt responds. “Out of thirty recruits, eight have survived the process, and I have two more showing up tonight.”
“Perfect.” She Devil grins. “If those two survive we should have enough to start with and the Justice Girls will never know what hit them.”
“And by the time they do….” Kitt begins.
“The world will already be mine.” She Devil ominously finishes.
Ten O’Clock: Gotham Burnely District
The dreary, cloud covered day has given way to the dark and menacing Gotham night. Most citizens know to stay clear of many areas of Gotham after the sun goes down, but for criminals and villains it’s time to go to work. Lights in the various apartment windows of the Burnley District flicker as its citizens sit behind their locked doors, hoping not to attract the attention of the gangs or worse.
High atop the Monarch Playing card building a figure in dark red stands motionless, her strong jaw displaying fierce concentration as she stares off into the night sky. She is the same figure who Joanie and Dee encountered in the alley the night before. Over the last year she has made lives of the criminals in Crime Alley very unpleasant and the various gangs have given her various names. Everything from ‘The Woman in the Mask’ to ‘The Masked Devil’ to ‘The Red Bitch’, but this woman is Melanie Matters, and she prefers ‘The Daredevlette’.
As her senses reach out across the Burnley District, Melanie uses her mental abilities to sift through the cacophony of sounds that assault her eardrums. Having been at this a mere forty five minutes, she has already stopped two muggings and a construction site burglary, but still no sign of her prey.
Suddenly her head tilts slightly to one side, and in a moment she leaps off the building and fires off a grappling cable that attaches to the next building over. It retracts and pulls her to the wall which she deftly climbs to the roof and sprints toward the opposite side. She moves like liquid mercury with perfect precision and absolutely no fear as she again leaps off the roof and with a somersault she lands on another and keeps moving. After several more buildings she comes to a stop on edge of the old Monarch Theater, overlooking Crime Alley itself. Crouching silently she senses the scene playing out below.
“Dude, we are so gonna get killed here!” Joanie says looking back and forth down each direction of the alley.
“You really think anyone here is gonna be a match for Kitt Gloves?” Dee responds with a cautious smirk. “Provided she shows up…”
“You two really don’t trust anyone do you?” Kitt interrupts as she appears suddenly from a shadowy door frame of the abandoned theater hovering on her disks and in her full ninja uniform, her tail whipping playfully behind her. “I don’t blame you. The world has not been kind to either of you.”
“So will you do it?” Dee blurts out. “Will you give us super powers?”
“Such eagerness,” Kitt grins under her mask “but let’s talk business elsewhere. Come.”
Kitt leads the two girls into the shadows and then stops for a moment, turning to glance each way down the alley one last time and then disappears. From her perch above, the Daredevlette springs over the side of the building and lands silently in the alley below. Like a statue, she stands for several moments as her mental powers investigate every inch of the doorway that the trio was standing in. The door itself is rough to the touch and coated with years of rust and dirt, the same is true of the thick chain and padlock that secure the doors handles. It is clear that the door has not opened in many years. To most others this would be a dead end, but Melanie senses a slight heat difference from a single brick in the adjacent wall, much like that from an electric current. She runs her fingertips over the brick for a moment and then gives a slight push. The brick gives way and a secret passage opens in the pavement with stairs leading down. Quiet as a ghost she precedes down, each step precise and accurate as the pitch blackness does not affect her ability to know her surroundings.
At the bottom of the winding staircase is a long dark hall that looks as if it were carved through the very bedrock itself. Melanie can sense the maze of air conduits running along the ceiling and walls and the sound of muffled screaming draws her attention to an air vent. Melanie opens one of the multiple pouches on her belt and produces a small screwdriver which she uses to remove the grate over the vent, and replace it after she slips inside. Slowly and deliberately she crawls towards the voices until she comes to another grate overlooking a large cavernous room beneath her. A lagoon full of dark water ripples gently in the center of the cave fed by a canal that stretches through a tunnel into Gotham Harbor. Various machines and containers line the cave walls and Melanie’s quarry stands in front of two particular chambers.
Kitt Gloves, with arms crossed, waits patiently for the container before her to complete its task. Beside the feline ninja stands a new figure in sleek looking black armor. Only the soft pink glow of the visor contrasts the ominous black exterior and the nature of the armor is obviously aquatic. Powerful yet slender, the wearer is a female and together the pair listens without remorse to the painful cries of Dee and Joanie from within the two cylindrical metal containers standing before them.
“Ten bucks says they don’t make It.” the girl in black offers.
“Don’t judge just yet Black Mantagirl. I’ll bet at least one of them makes it.” Kitt responds. “The blonde one is questionable, but Dee is something else.”
“Did you use the ‘offer you can’t refuse’ routine?” Black Mantagirl asks.
“Well, unlike you not everyone volunteers so willingly.” Kitt replies with a smile.
“Did they put up a fight?” The water warrior continues.
“Please, like they could.” Kitt answers grimly. “Their trust in me was so deep that their minds were wide open. I reached in and switched them both off the moment we arrived.”
Kitt tilts her head to one side for a moment and Black Mantagirl recognizes the look. She turns her head looking around the room and then turns back to Kitt. “What is it?”
“Just a second…..gotcha!” Kitt says with a lethal grin as she raises her right hand and her purple aura glows intensely while above them a small section in the maze of air ducts rips away from the rest and floats down to the floor behind the pair of villains. As they turn, the aluminum conduit rips apart and the pieces fly to opposite sides of the cavern, leaving Daredevlette to fall on her butt to the floor.
“You’ve got some skill, staying hidden from me for that long...” Kitt says. “…but don’t pretend you are in MY league.” With another flash of her aura, Kitt attempts to assault Daredevlette’s mind and read it for information.
“Ungh…” Kitt’s eyes wince a moment. “You’re blocking me? That’s impressive.” Kitt says surprised. “Fine, keep your secrets. You will take them to your grave.”
Black Mantagirl steps up behind Kitt, her armored gaze would be powerfully intimidating if Melanie could see it. “Let’s see if she can block this.” She says raising a hand into the air and immediately a swirling vortex of rock and debris engulfs the crimson heroine, pelting her from all sides. With her heightened senses, Daredevlette is able to twist and dodge the bigger rocks circling around her, but she knows she cannot evade them all for long. As the two villainesses laugh at Daredevlette, they are caught completely off guard when she suddenly releases a powerful wave of mental energy directly at them. Kitt raises a barrier of her own mental power against Daredevlette’s attack but even with that, her feet still slide backward across the floor for a few meters. Black Mantagirl is knocked off her feet and into the air, crashing into a control console on the far wall. The swirling tornado of rock surrounding Melanie suddenly stops and the debris falls to cave floor once more.
“Enough!” Kitt shouts forcefully. “Clearly I have underestimated your strength, but you underestimate my experience. I’ve been doing this for hundreds of years!”
Melanie gasps suddenly as an invisible force crushes down around her chest and abdomen. Its grasp is so strong it envelops her arms as well, pinning them to her side and lifting her off the floor as she struggles to breathe.
“You fight street thugs and vermin…” Kitt seethes holding the helpless Daredevlette suspended in place with an upraised hand and her eyes glowing with the same fierce purple as her aura. “…Cowards who use guns and risk their souls for things as trivial as wealth!” Kitt tightens her fist and Melanie grunts in pain as air is pushed from her lungs. She manages to raise a thin counter barrier of her own mental power but it is barely enough to allow small breathes as she fights to keep Kitt from crushing her completely.
“I have been in battle with gods and demons! Who are you to challenge me?! You are not worthy of my notice!” Kitt rages as Black Mantagirl returns to her side.
“Not to mention you really pissed me off too.” The black armored warrior says raising both hands into the air and on both sides of the Daredevlette the cave floors erupt producing two perfect half-spheres of solid rock.
They hover for a moment as Kitt smiles ominously. “Be honored human, that we bothered to bring your end.”
Black Mantagirl suddenly claps her open palms together and the two halves of rock slam together to make one, with the Daredevlette at its center. Kitt then summons an impossibly powerful burst of mental energy and launches the rock like a bullet from a gun out of the watery cave entrance. It skips and bounces along the surface of the water, disintegrating a little with each impact as it goes. Before long Melanie is left bobbing helplessly in the open ocean as the mental barrier that saved her life finally gives out and consciousness slips from mind.
To be continued…
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