Chapter 36.5: Chronicles of Heartfelt City 2

[rufusluciusivan]

Warning: This is the second post. Be sure to read the first post beforehand.









**************

Gathering information about the White Masks became the sisters' top priority of the following days.

Tinker intercepted any message she could, planted a spyware to be able to read their e-mails, and searched all the websites she could find.

Angel spent nights trying to find clues about the White Masks. Often with Tinker; but also on her own in her phone, under her sleeping bag to hide the light. Her other sisters didn’t agree with her sleepless nights, but they had a hard time preventing her from doing it. They themselves couldn’t watch her all night without sleeping. Even when they were taking turns, she would always outlast them. She waited until they all fell asleep to keep on searching. When they tried to confiscate her phone, they discovered that she had hidden a few spare ones in the flat.

Unfortunately, Tinker and Angel didn’t find anything about the White Masks’ identities… These women were cautious to refer to themselves with code names.

However, thanks to Tinker’s spyware, they were able to intercept a conversation of e-mails between the White Masks and Sarah discussing their next operation.

**************

“The White Masks’ next target is called Mary Clide. She’s some sort of hitwoman and mercenary. Infiltration is a tactic she favors. She’s known to have killed several women when stealing their uniforms.”

Tina showed her sisters a picture of Heartfelt City’s central park.

“According to the message we intercepted, Mary is supposed to recover a bag of money in the park this afternoon. The White Masks intend to capture her there.”

“What’s the plan?” Soph asked.

“Ideally? We go there, open our eyes, and catch both Mary and the White Masks targeting her. But at the very least, our goal is to identify the White Masks. If we can get a good look at their faces, we will draw their portraits, and Tinker’s software will try to identify them.” Tina explained.

Thanks to Stasis’ and BB’s escapade, they indeed still had access to the municipality’s database. Including the one related to everyone’s ID cards.

“We’ll form groups of two or three, and scout the park. Take your sweatpants and tracksuits or some casual clothes, because those who can’t find proper disguises will pretend to be joggers or passerbys.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Angel commented. She was looking peppy, but a closer inspection would allow to see that she used make-up to conceal the dark circles under her eyes.

Stasis suddenly came from the kitchen, carrying a plate with glasses of soda on it. “Girls, I poured us some drinks. Can’t scheme without being hydrated!”

“You do realize that this kind of soda is so full of sugar that it actually makes you even more thirstier?” BB remarked.

Libido snickered. “Heh… heh… Thirsty...”

“Just enjoy it!” Stasis replied. “Sometimes, a woman wants to fill herself with sugar and nothing else. Don’t question it.”

They all clinked glasses, then drank.

“Mine tastes weird.” Angel commented. “You sure it wasn’t past its expiry date?”

Something clicked in her mind. NO soda could ever last past its expiry date with Stasis around. Angel’s eyes widened. She recognized the aftertaste!

It was sleeping medicine!

She glanced around. All her sisters were looking at her.

“You… You tricked me!” she exclaimed. “You all tricked me!”

“Sorry, but it was the only way. Well, other than restraining you to a chair…” Tina gently retorted. “You need to sleep, sis’. You’re taking things too personally.”

Angel tried to fight off the effects of the sleeping drug, but to no avail. It was a stronger fast-acting variant of the medicine she was taking to help her sleep. Her eyelids were growing heavy.

A part of her wanted to feel mad at her sisters. But another part couldn’t help but understand them. Angel didn’t keep her promises lately. She bribed Libido and Stasis to hide her so she could take part in a mission she wasn’t supposed to be part of, she didn’t stay in the car as agreed to confront potentially dangerous people alone, and afterwards she spent sleepless nights trying to find information even though she swore she would take it easy. In hindsight, she should have known that her sisters would end up forcing her hand at some point…

Before falling into a deep slumber, she managed to mutter: “Please be careful…” Then her head fell forward and she blacked out.

Mag and Soph, who were sitting at her right and at her left, gently grabbed her by the shoulders to prevent her from falling from her chair.

“BB. Can you put her in her sleeping bag please?” Tina asked. “Then we’ll take action.”

**************

One hour later.

Tina adjusted the green trousers of a city park worker and put on the dark green work boots. Next to her, Soph put on a green cap. Both sisters were disguised with the clothes of the workers tending to Heartfelt City’s public parks: A green cap with the blazon of the town, a green t-shirt, a yellow fluorescent reflective vest, green work trousers, and dark green boots.

They were currently in the back of a van belonging to the municipality. While the two sisters were finishing to put on their clothes, Marie was busy with restraining the two real owners of the van and the uniforms.

The true city park workers were women. The sisters ambushed them fifteen minutes ago while they were parking their van. Two handkerchiefs soaked with Tinker’s enhanced chloroform “convinced” the two women to take a nap, and to let other people take their shift. The van came in handy to have a place to strip and bind them without being disturbed by pesky witnesses.

The first worker was of average size, with a fit body, and had reddish brown hair tied up into a shoulder-long ponytail, amber brown eyes, and a slightly tanned skin. She was clad in a forest green t-shirt bra, light green knickers, and brown socks. The second woman was also of average size, but with a pudgy waist and thicker thighs and arms. She had armpit-long curly straw blond hair, blue eyes, and a white rosy skin. She was wearing light pink control briefs with a pattern of butterflies designed to trim down her waist, a matching compression bra, and white socks.

The two employees were bound back-to-back. Each woman’s wrists were tied in front of the other’s stomach. Their calves, knees, and thighs were bound together with ropes. Ropes were also wrapped around the two women’s waists to pin them against each other. They were gagged with tape, and a chloro-mask was tied over their mouth and nose. The sisters poured enough sleeping drug on the masks to make the workers sleep during a few hours. Normally, if their estimations were correct, by the time the employees would wake up, they would already be safe and under the police’s custody. (Though as a precaution, the sisters still bound them back-to-back, as they wanted to prevent them from trying to hit the walls or the floor of the van with their feet to call for help. Just in case they woke up earlier.)

“I wish they were three…” Marie commented when she finished tying the last knot.

“It’s true we’re often lucky to come across enough women to all disguise ourselves.” Soph commented.

“Trust me, not having enough clothes donors happens a lot more often than you may think.” Tina explained to her two sisters. “That’s why infiltrators were rarely sent in large groups.”

She grabbed two pairs of grey protective gloves in a toolbox, kept one to herself and gave the other to Soph.

“Besides, luckily this is a public park. This is the kind of mission that doesn’t require all of us to be disguised. Your casual clothes will be enough.”

Marie was wearing a light-green t-shirt with a red cross, black denim trousers, and grey sneakers.

Soph opened the backdoor and checked the surroundings.

Nobody in sight.

She, Marie, and Tina exited the van and closed its door to conceal its two slumbering occupants.

The sisters then split up.

The plan was simple. While Tina and Soph would play the part of park workers, allowing them to roam any part of the park without arising suspicion, Marie, BB, Stasis, Mag, and Libido would play the part of random passerbys. They were going to watch key parts of the park to find their targets.

**************

“I’m glad that Tina forced Angel to stay with Tinker at the flat. She’s taking things too personally.” Mag commented. “One thing is certain. These women and I are going to have a talk once I get my hands on them…”

Libido nodded.

The two sisters were dressed in sneakers, sweatpants and a tracksuit: Libido’s clothes were hot pink and Mag’s were colored like military fatigues. They were pretending to be stretching, but in reality they were carefully watching the area.

“It’s horrible. I’m suspecting everyone…” Mag commented.

Between an infiltrator and a group of vigilantes who had innocuous jobs the day, literally any woman in the park could be one of their targets.

Was it that chubby woman who was selling ice creams? Or the one next to her selling waffles? Or maybe the park warden herself?

A goth girl was sitting under a weeping willow. She was drawing. Two students in uniforms were chilling on the grass. A group of girls were taking selfies.

Well, at least she could rule out all the mothers accompanying their children and all the couples featuring a man...

Three joggers ran in front of them. Was one of them replaced?

The first woman was a tanned-skinned blue-eyed blonde; the second, a light-skinned woman with orange brown hair; and the third, a light-skinned woman with straight black hair.

“One! Two! One! Two! One! Two! One! Two!” Gillian was exclaiming to give rhythm to their jogging.

“Halt!” Edwige shouted.

“Thank Goodness… Finally!” Zoe whined. She was wheezing.

Unlikely. They are together, and the infiltrator we’re looking for is a lone wolf. But could they be White Masks?

“Alright. Now, ten stretching exercises!” Edwige ordered.

“Goodness… You two… You’ll be the death of me!” Zoe complained.

“Maybe we should go to a less public area, what do you think sis’?” Mag asked Libido.

However, her horny sister had a hard time remaining focused. She was hypnotized by the sight of the three women doing their stretching routine, bent forward and buns raised.

“Sis’! Remember why we’re here! We have to find our targets!”

“Of course… Wouldn’t want to be the butt of the joke…” Libido muttered.

“SIS’!”

“Missing them would indeed be an ass-tronomical mistake… We have to find who’s BEHIND this operation...”

Mag lightly slapped the back of Libido’s head. “FOCUS SIS’!”

**************

Stasis was paired up with BB. They were searching the eastern part of the park. They were wearing caps, casual flowery t-shirts, light blue jeans, and comfortable shoes. The kind of clothes tourists were wearing to enjoy a walk.

“Did you have to buy an ice cream?” BB commented.

Stasis looked at her, momentarily taking her eyes off the triple scoop cone with extra whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and chopped nuts. “What? Tina told us we should blend in. I’m blending in.”

BB rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, they heard Tinker speak in their earpieces.

“BB, Stasis, there seems to be some movement in your area.”

“Infiltrator or White Mask?”

“I’ve intercepted a message that had just been sent by the phone the White Masks are using to communicate with Sarah. They’re sending each other instructions. And they’re mentioning the abandoned shed in the middle of the park. They want to use it to hide the infiltrator once they caught her.”

“We’re on it. We’ll take a look. Maybe set up an ambush.” BB answered. “Warn the other sisters to cover our backs.”

“Already done.”

**************

The goth girl sitting under the weeping willow smiled discreetly when she noticed the two sisters who were heading towards the abandoned shed. One was tall and athletic-looking; the other was devouring an ice cream without any concern about a potential brain freeze, a rare gift that a lot of people probably envied.

Sarah was right. The team of sisters was onto them.

Well, they were in for a big surprise...

**************

BB and Stasis quietly approached the shed, making sure to not be noticed.

“The place looks empty. We’ll check inside.” BB said.

“Wait! You remember the Phantoms?” Tinker intervened in the earpiece.

“Sure do…”

“I have a bad feeling. This setup is reminding me of their trap. We’ve already been tricked once. This time, I’ll send my bots first. Stay under cover for now.”

Tinker used a silent drone to drop Ebony and Ivory on the roof of the shed. The two spider bots drilled a hole through the roof and peered in. She used their camera to inspect the inside of the small building.

“I don’t see anyone. Well, at least there’s no armed reception committee. You can enter, but open the door carefully…”

“Got it.” BB said.

As she was grabbing the door’s handle, Tinker’s bots moved their cameras a little. Tinker suddenly saw something else on the screen. She wasn’t able to see it at first because it was in a blind spot of her camera.

That device… It was… And a small almost invisible string was connecting it to the door...

“NO! DON’T OPEN THE DOOR! THERE’S A BOMB!” Tinker frantically shouted.

But it was too late… The door had already been opened...

BB didn’t ask any question. She literally grabbed Stasis in her arms, lifted her, and ran as fast as possible.

Ultimately, they were saved by the fact that the bomb was designed to explode a few seconds AFTER the string was broken, as the point was to kill the people once they’d be inside the shed. The designer of the bomb didn’t expect her victims to send bots to inspect the shed first...

When the bomb exploded inside the shed, BB jumped forward, using her tall stature to shield her smaller sister with her body.

BB and Stasis rolled in the bushes.

Stasis was the first to recover. Her ears were ringing and she had to concentrate herself to keep her balance, but at least her eardrums were still intact and she wasn’t wounded. She got up with difficulty.

“Talk about going out with a bang…” she muttered to herself.

Stasis then shook BB’s shoulder.

“Thanks a lot, sis’… You’re alright?”

BB groaned, but didn’t open her eyes. Since she shielded her sister with her body, she had taken most of the blast. Even reduced by the walls of the shed, the blast of the explosion had knocked her out cold.

“Oh shit!” Stasis started to panic. She frantically exclaimed in her hidden microphone: “BB’s down! BB’s down! I need help!”

She heard a collective gasp of horror in her earpiece.

“Keep calm, sis’! No matter what, keep calm! Marie, Soph, and I are near your position. We’re coming.” Tina answered.

Stasis looked around her. “Okay, okay… I… I can’t stay in the open with her… I’ll carry her in the bushes and hide there… I’ll wait for you…Be quick please!”

Carrying an injured woman was dangerous, but they couldn’t take the risk of being found and interrogated by the police. Or worst, by a White Mask willing to make sure that the bomb worked.

Stasis had a hard time lifting BB’s body. She was one of the physically weakest of the team. But to save her sister, she would surpass herself. Stasis clenched her teeth and carried her sister.

“Please don’t have internal bleeding…” she whispered.

************

Tina, Marie, and Soph regrouped with Stasis and the injured BB as quickly as they could.

Mag and Libido were staying in the open, still pretending to be joggers, to watch out for any potential threat.

Marie was giving BB first aid, while Soph was holding a shaking Stasis close to her and was calming her sister down. Tina was conversing with Tinker and Mag while using her hidden microphone.

“The police has been called. They’re going to search the area.” Tinker said after listening to the radio frequency of Heartfelt City’s police.

“We can’t let them find us…” Tina said in her own microphone. “They’ll ask too many questions… Plus, there’s the risk that one of them could be a sympathizer of Sarah. She would warn the White Masks, and they’d organize a little ‘accident’ for us...”

“BB is in no shape to run!” Stasis objected.

Indeed, she was still unconscious. Marie was able to give her first aid, but she hadn’t woken up.

“Then we don’t have a choice. This won’t help our case, but we need to grab a few disguises to flee the park.” Tina decided.

**************

A pair of policewomen were searching the bushy vegetation of the eastern part of the park, a little away from the site of the explosion.

They were both wearing the classic Heartfelt City police uniform: a light blue long-sleeved shirt onto which there was a name badge, dark blue trousers, a dark blue police cap, black shoes, and a bullet proof vest with the initials “HFPD” on the front. The cops also had a utility belt with everything attached onto it.

The first agent, a woman called Maud, had black hair and dark grey eyes. She was tall but lanky, and her skin was lightly tanned. Her hair were tied into a tight small low bun. The second agent, a woman called Anna, had light blond hair tied into two small shoulder-long ponytails, a white skin, and sky blue eyes. She was of average size and build.

Maud groaned in annoyance when she almost pricked her finger on some thorns. “Ugh! Remind me why we have to search an area so remote?”

“To search for clues left by the bomber.”

Maud cursed and chased away a few flies. “And remind me why WE are the ones doing the search here? It’s annoying as hell!”

“Maybe because captain Tarling heard about you making fun of her after the events of the trial.” Anna retorted. “I told you that SWAT officers had a lot of influence. But NO, miss Maud just had to ‘play the rebel’...”

“How was I supposed to know she’d find out that I was the one who posted the message on social medias?!” Maud groaned and shook her head. “Let’s just finish this chore quickly so we can regroup with the others…”

They were still inspecting the vegetation when there were a few rustles in the foliage.

Anna raised her head. “Did you hear that?”

Maud frowned. “Hear what?”

The two women stopped moving and pricked up their ears.

Nothing.

Maud shook her head and started to search the bushes again. “My poor Anna… You’re too paranoid for your own good! I mean, what are the odds that something is currently hidden in the bushes nearb-”

Each policewoman was suddenly grabbed by a pair of hands.

“Uh?”

“Wha-?!”

Before they could fathom what was going on, the women were yanked into the bushes.

“Yeeep!”

“Whap!”

They disappeared in the foliage, as if the bushes had swallowed them.

There were a few rustles and muffled grunts among the vegetation, but they were short-lived.

**************

Marie and Soph stripped the two unconscious policewomen of their uniforms. First they unlaced and removed the shoes, then they pulled out the trousers one leg after the other. Next, they unzipped the bulletproof vests, unbuttoned the shirts, and lifted the women’s upper-bodies to take off both garments before gently letting them fall back onto the ground.

Maud was wearing black socks with red polka dots, flamenco red bikini panties and a tangerine cami bra. Anna was wearing light pink socks, elegant white silk tap pants with white flowers made of lace adorning the bottom, and a white padded lacy bra with a woven flower pattern of white lace.

Since they were in a hurry, the sisters used the policewomen’s own handcuffs to tie each women’s wrists behind her back. Then, they took the few zip-ties they were always carrying on them to restrain the ankles and the knees. A roll of strong black tape was used to wrap-gag the two women.

Marie and Soph put on the police uniforms while Tina concealed Maud and Anna under some bushes, though she of course picked ones that didn't have thorns or nettles.

“We need something to carry BB…” Stasis said.

Soph and Marie exchanged a determined glance. “We’ll find something.”

**************

Mag and Libido were listening to Tina’s instructions, relayed by Tinker on their earpieces.

“Soph, Marie, Tina, and Stasis will take care of BB. You two must leave the park.”

Mag and Libido didn’t like the idea of running away on their own while leaving their sisters, but they understood that it was too risky to stay together.

“We won’t bother with stealing clothes.” Mag said. “We look like joggers, nobody will ask us questions.”

Libido nodded. She had completely forgotten about the three beauties wearing figure-hugging sports outfits. Her sister was hurt, she knew what her priorities were. “We can’t afford to waste time. Tinker and Angel will need our help to prepare the flat.”

They discreetly sneaked away.

**************

Amalia and Evangelyne were two paramedics sent to the site of the explosion. They were wearing green uniforms: green button up short-sleeved uniform shirts over white tank-tops, black belts, green trousers, and grey sneakers. The word AMBULANCE was printed in yellow letters on the back of their shirts.

Evangelyne was a tall leggy woman with a big bust size, a light skin, blond hair, and light green eyes. Her hair were tied into a ‘messy’ high-bun with puffy top fringes. Amalia was a brunette with a brown skin, and brown eyes. She was of average size, but looked smaller than she really was when standing next to her colleague. While she was smaller as far as bust size was concerned, she had curvy hips and well-toned thighs. Parts of her brown hair were dyed green. Her hairstyle was a low flat twisted bun.

While the explosion of the shed was big and impressive-looking, it seemed that there was no injured person. Therefore, the paramedics were currently on standby next to their ambulance. Police wasn’t done with searching the area though, and someone may need medical help, therefore they knew that they’d have to stay here for the next few hours.

“So… I see that you changed your dye?” Evangelyne said to her colleague. Since they were going to stay here for a long moment, she wanted to try to strike up a conversation, in order to pass time.

“Yeah! Figured out that green was totally my colour…”

Evangelyne thought that her colleague was looking like some sort of weird potted plant, with her brown skin and green locks of hair. However, she was wise enough to not express her opinion out loud.

“It’s definitively unique…” she commented.

"I know, right?" an oblivious Amalia said with a bright smile.

Suddenly, two policewomen approached them. Both had olive skin, hazel brown eyes, and black hair.

“We need your help! We have a wounded woman!” the first one said.

Evangelyne and Amalia immediately left their laid-back nonchalant stance, and gathered all their tools with cool-headed professionalism.

“Don’t worry. We’ve got this.” Amalia exclaimed.

“Take a stretcher with you. We’ll have to carry her.” the second policewoman instructed them.

“Got it.”

The two paramedics grabbed a stretcher, took their tools, and followed the women whom they thought were policewomen. They were led to the empty eastern part of the park, the one with the thick vegetation and bushes.

“I’m glad we didn’t come here for nothing.” Evangelyne commented. “I chose this job to help people, not to stand idly for hours!”

“Trust me… You may soon wish you came for nothing…” one policewoman glumly muttered to herself.

The blond paramedic didn’t understand the double-meaning. She thought that the policewoman was hinting that the wounded person was seriously injured.

**************

“There she is.” Soph announced.

Tina and Stasis were still at BB’s side, but since one looked like a park worker and the other like a mere walker, the paramedics didn’t suspect any foul play. Plus, Stasis was looking just like a panicked witness, and she wasn’t even faking it.

Evangelyne and Amalia put the stretcher on the ground.

“Okay. First, we’ll check her wounds.” Amalia said. “Then, we’ll carry her to the ambulance.”

Evangelyne nodded.

Marie and Soph approached each woman from behind before they could take a step forward.

“We apologize in advance.” Marie said. As a medic herself, she wasn’t happy to mug these two women.

Without giving their victims the time to turn, or even to ask a question, the two sisters each grabbed a very specific nerve between the shoulder and the neck, then applied a swift nerve-pinch.

Marie knocked out Evangelyne, and Soph knocked out Amalia.

Both paramedics froze, and their bodies shuddered briefly. Their eyes rolled back at the same time, as their minds were drifting into unconsciousness.

Amalia let out a small sigh, as if she was falling asleep. However, Evangelyne moaned louder. It was a long and sensual noise, as if she was aroused.

The two paramedics fell backwards, into the waiting arms of Marie and Soph.

In spite of their dire situation, Marie couldn’t help but blush because of the embarrassment. Her face was bright red. “Why does this always happen to me?” she complained. In her arms, Evangelyne was smiling vacantly.

However, her sisters weren’t in the mood to lightly tease her. They needed to carry BB to safety!

The sisters had nothing against the two paramedics, hence why they used a quick nerve-pinch to spare them a rough take-down. However, they could use their clothes and their ambulance to leave the park while carrying a wounded woman without arising suspicion.

“Stasis, you sure you want to pose as a paramedic?” Tina asked her sister. “It would maybe best if you swapped clothes with Soph... We will have to carry BB on a long distance, and-”

“I want to do it! She saved me, Tina. She… She shielded me! I have to do it!”

It was rare to hear Stasis talk without peppering her sentences with jokes and bad puns. It was even rarer to hear her talk while taking things seriously.

Soph and Tina exchanged a look. Then, without a word, Soph gently laid Amalia in front of Stasis. It wasn’t the most reasonable choice, but it was the one their sister needed.

Stasis smiled. Her eyes were teary. It was rare to see her so openly emotional.

“Thank you...”

Tina and Stasis stripped the two paramedics.

Once they’d be disguised, with Marie and Soph escorting them under the guise of policewomen, they could pretend that they were escorting a victim of the bombing to safety.

Amalia was wearing a colourful set of underclothes: her light-pink t-shirt bra and matching knickers were adorned with a pattern of small flowers that were yellow, white, red, blue, and violet. Her socks were white. Evangelyne’s undergarments were a little more… unusual to say the least. Her full-cup bra and panties were black, but messages were printed in white letters on them. On the front of the panties was written ‘Execute Order 69’ while on the back ‘Do it!” was written. ‘Use the Force’ was written on each cup of the bra. The sisters chose to make no comment. At least the blonde was wearing normal black socks...

They searched the paramedics’ tools, and found sturdy white bandages and strong medical tape. Since they were short on supplies, the sisters used these to bind the two women. First, they mummified with bandages each woman’s legs from the ankles to the knees, each woman’s wrists and hands, and each woman’s upper-arms and upper-body. Then, they used medical tape to reinforce the restraints. They also gagged the women by filling their mouth with some gauze, then wrapping a few layers of medical tape around the lower face and over the lips.

They left Evangelyne and Amalia with the two policewomen, reasoning that it would make the job of finding them easier for the authorities.

“I’m truly sorry. I promise you won’t stay like that for long.” Tina said to the four women.

They then gently laid BB on the stretcher. Stasis and Tina lifted her to carry her.

“Here we go…”

**************

Thanks to their disguises, they were able to flee the park in the ambulance without any more trouble. As they they were about to reach their destination, Tinker informed them that the police had found the two paramedics, the two cops, and the two park workers, sparing Tina the need to warn someone about them. For once, she was relieved to not have to do it. She was so worried for her sister that she couldn't think straight!

At their flat, Tinker, Mag, Libido, and Angel (who had woken up) were anxiously waiting for them. They had prepared everything for their sister. Tina and Stasis quickly carried BB inside, then Soph and Mag went to drive the ambulance away from the flat, as they didn’t want to draw unwanted attention. They were going to leave the ambulance somewhere for the police to find.

Tina and Stasis put BB on a mattress, then left some space for Marie, who was going to properly heal their sister. Since she was now, ironically, the one in the best shape thanks to her forced nap, Angel volunteered to be her assistant.

Stasis sat of a sofa. She was pale.

“You alright?” Tinker asked her sister. She sat next to her.

The latter nodded. “I’m sorry for your bots…”

Ebony and Ivory indeed had been destroyed by the explosion.

Tinker blinked. “Who cares about that right now?!” she exclaimed. “I’ll rebuild them… I’ll rebuild them even better! What’s important is to make sure that you and BB are okay…”

“I’m fine. But BB…”

“Thankfully, she and Stasis were able to get away far enough to avoid most of the explosion. Had they been inside, they were toast…” Marie intervened.

Stasis suddenly hugged Tinker. “Thanks to you! You saved our lives!”

Still not very comfortable with physical contact, her geeky sister blushed a little and stammered. She awkwardly returned the hug.

Then suddenly they all realized that Tinker was crying. “It’s not your fault, sis’. It’s mine. I should have seen the bomb sooner. Had I been more careful, BB wouldn’t have opened that damn door…”

Stasis reflexively embraced her tighter. “Don’t say that! Nobody could have guessed that these maniacs were playing with explosives!”

“The real culprits are the women who planted that bomb, don’t forget it!” Tina intervened.

Tinker nodded in silence, and let herself be embraced a little longer by her sister. Now, usually Stasis was more a trickster than a hugger, but these were exceptional circumstances.

After some time, Marie made her diagnosis: “She has a lot of contusions, maybe a sprained wrist and a cracked rib, but I can heal all that without needing to go to a hospital. I’m more worried about her ears… You see, her left ear was protected by Tinker’s earpiece, so it’s fine. But I fear that her right eardrum was damaged… I’m not sure yet.”

“Do your best.” Tina said to her. “We’ll see what we do once we’re done.”

**************

While Marie and Angel were busy patching BB up, the other sisters gathered around them. Including Mag and Soph after they came back.

Once Marie finished bandaging BB’s waist, they all breathed a sight of relief. Their sister was still unconscious, but she was out of danger.

They didn’t know if she could still hear with her right ear though. For that, they would have to wait for their tall sister to wake up. Tinker was already thinking about building hearing aid.

Tina, Soph, Marie, Mag, Libido, Tinker, Stasis, and Angel spent a long moment in complete silence.

“These women… We will put them down.” Tina then simply said. “We will follow our rules. But we will put them down.”

**************

The plan ultimately failed.

It was a shame, after all their efforts. They even staged a fake operation! Mary Clide wasn’t in the park, but the team of sisters were completely fooled. Maybe they should have been aggressive and should have tried to look for them and kill them?

Probably a bad idea. Magda had to be at her job at the courthouse today, Ellie was in her ice cream kiosk, and Louette needed to sleep after her night shift at the nightclub.

Well, at least their enemies weren’t able to identify them… There would always be other occasions. The only problem was that the sisters were probably going to understand that they were the victims of a trap. They would probably deduce that the White Masks were deliberately feeding them fake information, and would react accordingly.

Willow sighed and looked at the little shrine in her room.

There was picture of a woman, surrounded by yellow roses, pink carnations and gladiolus. The flowers symbolizing the remembrance of the departed.

And stitched to the nearby wall, there were articles of newspaper. One was singled out because of its title.

‘Killed for her clothes.’

The sentence that haunted Willow for years.

‘Killed for her clothes.’

People were killed every day. For a cause. For money. For power. For resources. For love. For revenge.

Her sister was killed for her clothes. For her CLOTHES.

How was the world supposed to make sense after that?

Willow clenched her fists so hard that her fake black nails cut her palms and drew blood.

She tried everything to overcome her grief. She tried burying herself in her studies. She tried religion. She tried drugs. She even tried forgiveness.

Nothing worked.

And then…

She heard Sarah’s message. It resonated in her. It gave her a purpose.

She saw the Night Angels take up arms to fight off the criminals. It gave her a plan.

After a training in computer physics, Willow was studying to become an orthoprosthetist when her sister died. She was hoping to combine her knowledge in electronics with what she was learning to create new prosthesis to help other people. And what about a new artificial heart as well?

Naive dream.

Destroying things was a lot easier than building them.

Building bombs was a lot more efficient at getting things done!

However, the tech-expert of the team of sisters was a problem. If the White Masks wanted to win, Willow needed to find a way to counter that tech-genius…

The goth girl grabbed a folder.

The letters ‘EMP’ were written on it.

**************

In the sisters’ flat, BB was still recovering.

Stasis was refusing to leave her side. She holed up in her sister’s room with a blanket, a literal pile of snacks and dozens of bottles of soda at her side.

The sisters were taking turn to watch them. Currently, it was Marie’s and Libido’s turn.

After the bombing, Tina thought that things couldn’t get worst. She was wrong.

“It’s Sarah. She’s posted messages on-line about the events of the park.” Tinker announced. “She’s… She’s twisting things to better suit her needs.” The tech genius was looking very pale. Her sisters deduced that, as always, Sarah’s prose was particularly hateful.

Tina, Soph, Mag, and Angel regrouped around her.

Tina briefly read the posts. Under a fake name, Sarah was denouncing the events of the park. She was of course purposefully NOT mentioning the fact that the sisters weren’t responsible of the bombing. On the contrary, she was making it look like THEY were the bombers. She wasn’t directly accusing them, more like insinuating and lying by omission; therefore TECHNICALLY, she wasn’t guilty of false accusations.

The Leader also insisted a lot on the fact that they mugged paramedics. She was commenting on how disgusting they were, taking advantage of the kindness of women who were dedicating their lives to saving other people. That it was a proof of their true hateful nature. That the glamour of infiltrators was just an illusion. In reality, they were heinous people preying on the innocent, and too coward to face people who could fight back.

“She’s trying to turn the public opinion against us.” Tina blankly commented.

“It’s infuriating to see her take things out of their context to twist them…” Mag said while clenching her fists in anger.

Indeed, Sarah’s tactic was clever. She was narrating the facts, but of course she wasn’t mentioning the reasons that forced the sisters to assault these paramedics – or even their other victims. Instead, she was imputing other motivations to them. She knew that the sisters couldn’t defend themselves: first because it would risk exposing them, and second because she could easily brush their arguments off by accusing them of lying.

"Assaulting paramedics indeed isn't helping our case..." Tinker said.

“This is bad.”

“Plus, the Phantoms will come across these articles sooner or later. It could help them locate us.”

“If only it was just that…” Tina bitterly commented.

“What do you mean?”

“The old Sarah was way too proud and short-sighted to ally with the Phantoms. She can’t stand them, she thinks they consider themselves superior to her. I don’t think she likes them more now, but she seems rational enough to realize that an alliance would benefit her.”

“I’m sure she won’t.” Angel intervened. “She’s still too irrational for that. She thinks they are not worthy. And I think the White Masks are like her in that regards...”

“So much for trying to reason with them then…” Soph commented.

“I’m certain we can reach to them somehow! I mean, as the Night Angels!” Angel objected.

“Don’t try to defend them, sis’!” Soph growled.

“They are not completely bad persons! They are not like Shen or Kuebiko!” Angel retorted.

“Funny that you mention these two. Because for all the White’ Masks’ and Sarah’s talk of fighting criminals, they often seem more fixated on killing us than on fighting the various drug dealers, human traffickers, corrupt cops, politicians, and gang members that plague the city!” Soph exclaimed, her voice louder.

“They are hurt! They aren’t thinking rationally!” Angel answered back, her voice also louder.

Mag suddenly grabbed Tina’s arm.

“Can I talk to you in private?” she asked in a whisper.

Normally, Tina would have intervened to stop Angel’s and Soph’s argument, but she could see in Mag’s eyes that the topic she wanted to discuss was urgent. They went to an empty room.

Mag closed the door. She didn’t want her sisters to listen to their conversation.

“We may need to do something about Sarah. Something drastic.” Mag bluntly announced. She was looking grim.

Tina clearly understood what she meant by ‘drastic’.

Ironically, while Soph was often the most vocal about violently beating up the evil doers they came across, Tina also knew that her brawling sister couldn’t kill in cold blood, except maybe if Kuebiko was concerned. (Now, if it was in a fight as self-defense, she probably wouldn’t feel bad. Soph wasn’t Angel. But she wouldn’t kill in cold blood.)

No. Out of all her sisters, if there was one who could maybe kill in cold blood to protect her family, it was Mag.

Tina carefully chose her words.“What you’re proposing… It’s a slippery slope, sis’. It’s dangerous.”

“I think Angel sympathizes with her too much.” Mag added. “You too. Even after what she did to you, what she did to Angel, you still think that she can be redeemed. She lived a traumatic event, she suffered a lot, she has a husband and a daughter, and that’s tragic. But you have to accept that some people are too far gone to-”

“We can’t start making exceptions to our rule.” Tina interrupted her sister. Her voice was gentle, but firm. “Because if we do, we’ll keep on finding excuses to do it more and more often. We can't be arbitrary. Sarah isn't worst than some of the other people we've stopped. Why would Sarah deserve to die, and not Shen? Shen has done far worst things and DOESN'T have the excuse of having lived a traumatic event. Why would we feel allowed to kill Sarah, and not Kuebiko who made it clear that she's evil incarnate?"

Tina shook her head, she didn't want to get angry. She wanted to stay calm.

"Why do you think I never killed Kuebiko? You think I didn’t want to snap her neck after what she did to Soph?! Trust me, I was tempted to do it. And if I didn’t do it, it wasn’t for her sake. It was for mine. For ours.”

“And what about Angel?” Mag insisted. Since Tina wasn’t answering, she added: “You and I both know WHY she’s taking things so personally with Sarah and the White Masks. These women were hurt by infiltrators. When Angel sees them, she thinks of all the people SHE hurt. She hasn’t forgiven herself. Not completely. Sarah will keep using that against her! And if the White Masks are anything like their leader, they will too! You saw how Sarah almost broke her last time. I refuse to let someone do that again!”

“You’re afraid, aren’t you?” Tina suddenly commented.

Mag reflexively retorted. “What? Of course I am not, I-” Tina’s meaningful gaze interrupted her. “Yes I am.” she admitted. “As far as Angel’s concerned, the threat isn’t only physical…”

Tina took her in her arms. “We’ll find something to protect our family.” she promised her sister.

Mag smiled and returned the hug. “Just like we always do.”

They returned to their three sisters.

Soph and Angel were tightly, and quietly, hugging each other. They were also crying. Near them, Tinker was looking angry. Her cheeks were red. She was looking at Angel and Soph. Her gaze was severe.

Tina briefly observed the scene.

“Okay. What happened?” she then asked.

“These two got fired up, and they said stupid things to each other.” Tinker explained. “Stupid things that we will put behind us and never mention again. Right?”

Angel and Soph nodded in silence.

Tina put a hand on each of her sisters’ back. “We’re going through a rough time. I know it’s hard for you. It’s hard for all of us. But we’ve went through rough times before, and we’ve always prevailed. We will once more. Together. As a family.”

Angel and Soph nodded in silence.

Mag put a hand on Tinker’s shoulder. “Didn’t think you had it in you to impose yourself…”

Her geeky sister blushed and stuttered. “Well, you two weren’t here, so…”

Mag chuckled. “Come here, young tiger!” She gave her sister a playful noogie.

Suddenly, Marie burst into the room. They at first were a little worried, but then they saw that their sister was looking overjoyed.

“Girls! Girls! BB has woken up!” she exclaimed.

Tina, Mag, Tinker, Angel and Soph immediately abandoned what they were doing and rushed at their sister’s side.

BB was sitting on her bed. “Hi girls…” she greeted them.

“Don’t pounce on her.” Marie intervened. “She’s still recovering. The group hug will have to wait.”

Her sisters complied, though it was clear that the embrace was only temporarily postponed.

“How are you feeling?” Angel asked her tall sister.

“Mostly fine. Marie gave me painkillers, the time for my ribs and wrist to recover.”

Tina then asked the question that was on everybody’s lips. “And about your… your ears?”

“There’s an unpleasant ringing ALMOST as annoying as the sound Stasis makes when she eats soup, but at least I can still hear with both of them.” BB answered with a smile.

“Hey!” Stasis exclaimed, jokingly pretending to be offended. But she wasn’t fooling anyone. They all saw how worried she was when BB was, and she could barely contain her joy now that she had woken up.

Tina allowed herself to sigh in relief. They maybe had suffered a defeat, but at least heir carelessness didn’t have any dire consequences. It was now time for them to plan their counter-attack.

**************

TO BE CONTINUED

[Trackman281]

Okay, next part, let's do this!

Already love it. The opening scene is fantastic and really sets the pace here, I must admit, I'm very excited to see what happens next.

The white masks are becoming more and more enjoyable, the line between light and dark is so very thin and my god this group walk down that thin line greatly, their certainly one of the most interesting aspects of this story I know that....Plus the eventual encounter between them and the night angels will be very interesting, especially when they find out that the night angels and the nine sisters are one and the same.

I loved the little description of Tinker, carefully weaving a spider's web of threads and leads, just like her spider bots and I also loved the little segment with Angel, now to a lot of people, it probably doesn't seem like much, but for those who have actually read the whole chapter and the confrontation between Angel and Reality....Well, then they'll understand why this is personal for Angel.

The next scene truly was a lovely scene, the way you described Tina's motherly style concern that she has for her sisters for outstanding, I also liked the way you handled Libido and Stasis in this scene, now they didn't actually say anything but it was their other parts that made me happy, naturally Stasis and Libido wouldn't be able to resist Angel's sweet pleading eyes and that's why they didn't say anything, plus, they never want conflict between each other so that's why they stayed silent, now Tina is not being mean to Angel at all (as you so rightfully pointed out). Tina is just very concerned for Angel. She's tired, she's running herself ragged, Tina is just doing what Tina always does and that put her sisters health and well being before anything else.

Haha! WOW! What a load of amazing continuation nods in the next scene, the HoloDecks, The Raven's and the Crimson Lancer's are all here (well, their remnants are anyway) and even the Golden Tigers are getting a shout out! Your attention to the lore of my world, never ceases to amaze me, you got the outfits correct and everything, thank you ever so much!

I'm loving the argument as well between Zoe and Ruby, this is exactly the sort of things that they would say to each other, got to have those faction war jabs, haven't you.

Haha! Loved Stasis little joke there as well, it's the little things!

HAHA! But I loved Stasis little "What's up gorgeous" joke, she just used on Zoe. NICELY DONE!

Loved the takedown of Zoe and Ruby, plus I see you got the exact detail of Ebony and Ivory correct, when it comes to how they tie up their victims, excellent stuff and I...........Wait..........Wait a minute.............Hahahahaha! Blooming hell, Stasis is breaking the fourth wall here on a whole NEW level! Honestly, well done. WELL DONE! This was pure genius! Excellent work!

And we finish up with a nice massive jab at Bianca, haha, this will drive Bianca nuts if she see's this........I LOVE IT!

Just thank the power of the boobs indeed! WOW! That scene was SUPER SEXY! That was great, you nailed Libido's character here perfectly awill nd BB was amazing too. I loved Ae-Cha's underwear choice and I know for a fact, that Libido certainly loved Margarita's underwear choice. Plus the way Libido tied the two women together......Not only was that incredibly HOT, but that is EXACTLY the sort of thing that Libido would do. Excellent job, this entire scene was just pure gold!

I also loved the little dialogue there between BB and Libido too, it felt very natural and definitely in character, plus we all know what Libido's like, give her a beautiful woman with very sexy underwear and her "urges" sometimes become too strong, this is why Libido is NEVER aloud to go assignments alone haha .......Plus, amazing work with her little nod about having the bathroom all to herself when she gets home, for those who know Libido, they all know exactly, what she likes to do after every assignment.

Oh Angel. I have both a very bad and a very good feeling about this.

The next scene was brilliant! Again, perfect dialogue between Libido and BB, it's these little moments that really show the sisters love for each other, their ways of how they like to have fun when their on assignments and it truly shares the bond they have for one another, is those little moments that really bring the story to life, it was wonderful. Outstanding work! Plus the takedown of the two guards were excellently handled.

Good grief, now THAT was a powerful scene indeed. The whole scene had me reading it with my eyes wide open, I was just wondering what was going to happen next, it was great! The white masks are truly in the grey, aren't they.......BUT.......I knew Angel would do the right thing, it's what she does, this first encounter was SO good! So well written, the dialogue even made me slightly fearful at one point, if left unchecked, these women could be both an instrument of evil and tool for justice........It's scary, but its a GOOD type of scary. Honestly, I'm actually not sure how to put into words, what I just saw. What an incredible scene!

A fantastic little ending scene as well to this first part, with Libido clearly thinking about all those women having a sexy, gang orgy instead of all that fighting, typical Libido, but that's why we love her. And of course, Stasis uploading the post, aahh, this will really annoy Bianca. Good work. The of course we have BB and Tina, just rounding things off, honestly nicely done. The sister's, properly sitting down now and looking into the white mask situation is a great way to us ready for the next bit. Indeed, they need to be properly handled and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Speaking of which. Onwards the next part!

The beginning of this next part is wonderful, I know Angel will always do the right thing, this assignment has indeed become very personal for her. Her sisters as well are only going to these lengths to do things, take turns watching her and hiding her phone at night. Purely because, they love her and they just want to keep her safe. Amazing stuff here, it's a small scene, but it truly highlights everything about the sisters and their love for each other. Well done.

The next scene is indeed a truly powerful. It was a risky one, but I think it paid off quite well. Tina and her sisters are just looking out for Angel. They don't want to see get hurt and they don't want to see her in harms way. They all understand just what this assignment means to Angel, but Angel herself is exhausted, she hasn't slept in god know how long, she needs rest. Her sisters are NOT being mean to her, they purely just want to help and protect her. But this is understood from Angel too as she we saw, that indeed understands why her sisters gave her some sleeping medicine. There is no anger here, just care for one another. Hopefully she'll get some well needed rest now. The sisters are just looking out and caring for her, as they've always done and always will do.

Very nice USB scene to follow with here. Not much to say other than, it was very enjoyable and Soph is right, the sisters are quite lucky to always find groups of women so they can all get disguises, this is a rare time where one of them actually goes without. Smart thinking on your behalf, nicely done.

HAHAHA! Loved the scene featuring Mag and Libido, firstly, I really enjoyed the scene because it's true, when your an infiltrator like the sister's you begin to suspect that every woman in a uniform you come across, could potentially be another infiltrator or a rival, it's a scary thought, but a real one none of the less. I loved Libido's lines and her little jokes about the three joggers bending over and stretching, plus Libido getting distracted by three beautiful women working up a sweat, is EXACTLY the sort of thing that Libido would do. Speaking of which...........I recognize those three women. Gillian, Edwige and Zoe. Now why would these three fine women be in Heartfelt City. Hhhmm, something else is going on it seems.

Also, I see what you did there......the goth girl under a.....Weeping "Willow".......I see it.

Oh yeah, Stasis getting a massive ice cream witht he works it seems, is simply Stasis......Well......Being Stasis and honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way.


I knew I was right about the goth girl and just so happening to be using a willow tree.

Okay well, my hearts in my throat in now. .......Risky scene, but my god I want to know what happens next, you've got me hooked!

Absolutely loved the entire next segment featuring Maud and Anna, Heartfelt's police department really should think twice before sending two female officers alone in a fully grown vegetation area, although to be fair, Maud really shouldn't have taken the micky out of captain Tarling, I mean what did she think would happen. ......Speaking of which, incredible job their with the continuation with the events at the courthouse and the call back of Tarling and her entire SWAT team getting taken down for their uniforms. Nicely done indeed! I also wanted to add, that once again, the little details shine through, I'm talking about the little scene of where Tina deliberately hides Maud and Anna's bodies in bushes that do NOT have any thorns or nettles. Now to some people, this might not seem like much, but people might not realize, that this IS EXACTLY the sort of thing Tina would do. Yes, she's an infiltrator, but she's not a monster, she doesn't want the women getting needlessly hurt, this is why Tina, takes extra care when hiding her victims, it's just who she is. This was perfection and your attention to detail was spot on!

Again, another small, but impactful scene that follows. Yes, Libido would happily lust and stare at gorgeous women in the park all day, BUT, her priorities will always change when her sisters are involved. So honestly, if Libido knew that any of her sisters were injured or hurt, they you could parade a garrison of butt naked women in front of Libido and she wouldn't even give them the time of day, because all she'd care about, is getting her sister to safety.......Honestly, well done in how you portrayed this, excellent job, your nailing this, you really are, I'm incredibly amazed with just how much detail you've payed attention to, you such a master at your craft, you really are!

Mmm, I do like the sound of Amalia having lovely dipped green dyed hair, thank you for that!

Hahaha! Perfect, I also like it that Evangelyne, let out a not so subtle sexual moan, when Marie applied the nerve pinch, it's understandable that Marie went red with embarrassment afterwards, who know why this keeps happening to her, she isn't doing anything different that's for sure. Well I guess it really is just luck of the draw for Marie.

First of all, the USB scene itself here with Evangelyne and Amalia is both wonderful and perfect, very enjoyable......BUT, that's not what I want to talk about here. It's actually Stasis here that really stood out for me...........YES, it is incredibly rare to see Stasis actually taking something seriously and not making bad jokes or puns, anyone who knows Stasis, know this. But this is different......BB is injured and she shielded Stasis from the bomb, so Stasis is really feeling this one. When the chips are down on the table, Stasis would do anything for her sisters, she understands that this is probably one of the only times in life where she has to be serious and she will be. She'll do anything to make sure BB is safe, you can count on that.

The following scene was absolutely filled with emotions and brilliant writing from your self. these are indeed exceptional circumstances and whilst Stasis is indeed more of a prankster than a hugger, that doesn't mean Stasis is against hugging, oh no, quite the opposite as we can clearly see. The entire scene with Stasis and Tinker was actually really sweet, the sisters will always have each others backs, always protect each other and always care for each other and my god, you absolutely got it all one hundred percent correct with this scene, well done, it was a very sweet scene and a well needed scene.

I must admit, my heart is still in my throat here for BB. I remember once, tirepanted said after seeing Bridget captured by the Sarah (ironically) in that amazing story of your "Protecting One's Lifestyle", he said, that it is scary seeing one of your own characters in danger, whilst you yourself have no control over it and in this instance, you are not the writing it.......I fully understand what he means by this now as seeing my beloved BB in danger like this, really has me on the edge of my seat, hoping that she's going to be okay.......Honestly, what a powerful, perfect and amazing story this is!

Oh crap.......This Willow woman is certainly the one to fear in the group......*sigh*.......It's difficult and it something that the nine sisters always seem to find themselves facing. They're always on the wrong end of the spectrum, the nine sisters are always the one's being targeted, yet ironically, they're the one's who always make sure that their victims are safe and get found after a few hours, they don't kill, now fair enough, they can get rough and absolutely apply brutal and unrelenting takedown, if they need to (as we saw with Soph, when she beat down all those Golden Tigers), but they still don't kill. Yet they always get targeted by people who are after the wrong infiltrators, some infiltrators are flat out scum and deserve to be thrown away for life, like Helen was, but the sister's..........The sister's just want to be happy, they just want to be together, they just don't want to see any innocents suffer..........Yet as I say, they're always the one's being target for all the wrong reasons.......Strange how the world works.

HOLY HELL!.......WOW!........What an amazing final segment, it's far too awesome for me to say everything I want to say in one long paragraph, so please, allow to to pinpoint everything that just makes this ENTIRE segment, just sheer PERFECTION!........

1. It was such a sweet sight seeing Stasis with her pile of snacks and drink, refusing to leave BB's side, this is a rare thing to be seen of Stasis, but because it is such a rare thing to see this side of Stasis, this is what makes it even more sweeter, it really does show, that at the end of the day, when the cards are down on the table, Stasis will always protect her sisters and that's a guarantee.

2. Now the confrontation between Angel and Soph went exactly the way it would always go. They'd raise their voices, say a few things and get angry.......BUT......Then they'd calm down, embrace each other in sweet, long and loving hugs, apologize to one another, then immediately be fine again. Now I know that emotions are running high for them, but at the end of the day, they only really have each other that they rely on and I thought that their scene afterwards of them two cuddling whilst making it up with each other, was very sweet and very nice to see.

3. Now before anyone say's anything about Mag's comments, they do need to know that, Mag will do everything and anything to protect her sisters, they are a family, Mag honestly would never kill unless their was an absolute, genuine, no other way around it excuse. I can fully understand why Mag puts this idea passed Tina, about killing Sarah off, purely because they are dealing with a threat that the likes of which they've never dealt with on such a grand scale. Mag probably would be capable of doing the deed, but she's not a monster, she's only realized that this might have to be an option because of the threat that Sarah poses on her sisters and herself. All Mag is doing is protecting her sisters, because obviously, they are all a family and at the end of the day, nobody can blame Mag for toying with this idea. Because if anyone like Sarah was targeting my sisters in real life, then I'd be doing everything in my power to make sure that my sister's are safe.

4. Good god, you were giving me a heart attack all the way through when BB got injured, I always absolutely worried like hell for her safety........BUT.......Thankfully, much to my sheer delight, BB is is perfectly fine and she'll make a full recovery AND I'm extremely pleased that she can still hear properly out of BOTH her ears, this also brings joy to my heart........Aaaww, my poor BB, she had me worried there for a minute.

Damn it, I've reached the end. Well, what a truly, TRULY, fantastic next installment, your attention to everything is flawless as ever. The way you took your time and include so many continuations of so many gangs, characters, events and other things that only people who have actually read all of my chapters would understand. Honestly, you do me the absolute world of honour by taking your time and including all of these things!

You truly have nailed everything perfectly too. You captured all the nine of the sisters unique and different personalities tremendously well, you've done such a fantastic job and you retained all of their characteristics wonderfully. I'm going to keep on and on when it comes to praises about writing the nine sisters as a whole, simply because, writing all nine of the sisters themselves, especially when they all have to appear in scenes together can be a challenge at times, you need to make sure that they all have enough lines, enough screen time and they say things that fits with their character.......I don't just think you've an outstanding job in getting all nine of the sisters correctly. I KNOW you've done an outstanding job, with the nine sisters naturally being the main part of all these chapters, getting them right is the key to any of the chapters success and my god. You really, REALLY have done a fantastic job. You've done a fantastic job, you really have and I am extremely proud, extremely delighted and extremely honoured in the way you've written them so spectacularly. Honestly, if at any point in time, your ever having any doubts, let me be the first to say, that I think your doing a fantastic job and I will NEVER regret giving you permission to use my characters, I promise.

Thanks again!

[tirepanted3]

Fresh off the first chapter, a worthy follow-up. Tina and her team have certainly been getting the royal treatment lately.

A meatier part for Stasis (and to a lesser extent Libido) in this chapter, and you use her well. She brings the comedy as expected, but not so much that it undercuts the drama. Her brief team-up with Tina was quite funny, with a lot of in-character bad jokes (like the Up Gorgeous line) that felt totally on point.

Good job showcasing the contrasting personalities of the different heroines as well - some more moral, others less so. Poor Angel - she means well and wants to be there for the team, but her emotions keep getting in the way.

Solid USB scenes as usual, particularly in the park scene. I really liked the mugging of the two park workers at the beginning - brief, but sets a good tone for the undercover work. I also appreciated Soph and Tina's commentary about how there aren't always enough uniforms to satisfy all the infiltrators. (I notice that you didn't describe the underwear on the two park workers, though - not that I mind, just pointing it out for consitency. )

A nice cameo by Gillian, Edwige, and Zoe. More cross-pollination between the different universes, it seems.

The scene with Evangelyne and Amalia was a highlight, particularly little details like how Marie feels bad about mugging other paramedics, even with a method as harmless as a nerve pinch. And Stasis getting a bit more emotional than usual. Nicely done.

I'm really enjoying the writing crossovers here. Trackman has produced some excellent characters, and you recognize their attributes very well. Fun story, and I look forward to more.

[rufusluciusivan]

To trackman: I think that the White Masks are more interesting versions of Sarah, in the sense that it's easier to sympathize with them, therefore it makes the story more morally grey.

Comparing Tinker to her favorite bots seemed logical. Reminding Angel's past experience with Reality was important, since this story will feature Angel's moral dilemnas, doubts, and character development, that were introduced with this story. While I didn't have Reality in mind when writing the White Masks, I realize now that they share similarities with Reality in terms of their effect on Angel.

A tricky part of this side-story: I want this story to feature conflicts between the sisters: Tina disagrees with Angel overworking herself, all the sisters agree to trick Angel to force her to take some rest, Mag and Tina don't agree on what to do with Sarah, Angel and Soph don't see the White Masks the same way... However, at the same time, the sisters have to stay in-character and they have been consistently portrayed as deeply loving each other. Hence why it's tricky to have them argue with each other. Therefore, I chose to follow one rule: no matter what the topic of the argument is, I either have to make it clear that it's born out of concern for each other or I have to use the argument to illustrate that in the end they still deeply love each other (such as with Angel's and Soph's dispute at the end).

Willow's name and her association with weeping willows was NOT chosen by chance. I tried to be a little more symbolic this time. I found it fitting for a character who's motivated by grief over a loved one's death. (Well, grief and unbounded rage.) Same with the outfits of the White Masks: their 'angry theater masks' symbolize the fact that, while they genuinely think they're fighting for justice, they are in reality fueled by anger and resentment; and their black-and-white colour-scheme symbolize the fact that they see the world in black and white.

Since a good chunk of the story us rather intense and serious, the scenes with the remnants of Heartfelt City's gangs were here to bring comedic parts to help ease the tension. While the scenes featuring Zoe, Ruby, Ae-Cha and Margarita aren't my favorite of this part when it comes to uniform stealings, they are the ones I find the funniest. The jabs between the sentries just wrote themselves, and both Stasis and Libido were on fire!

I try to replicate your style and your attention to details, hence why I add little moments of 'sisterly affection' here and there, such as with Libido and BB.

The first confrontation between Angel and the White Masks is one of the key parts of the story, so I'm glad you found it powerful. As you guessed, it will play a part later when they'll discover Angel's true identity... Who knows how they will react? The White Masks are indeed walking on a thin line; but, since they have sympathetic motivations, their methods need to be too brutal and to be going too far, or else the sisters may end up looking like the bad guys if they tried to stop them.

Very nice USB scene to follow with here. Not much to say other than, it was very enjoyable and Soph is right, the sisters are quite lucky to always find groups of women so they can all get disguises, this is a rare time where one of them actually goes without. Smart thinking on your behalf, nicely done.

Little meta comments like that are easy to come up with, but they often hit the bull's eye in my opinion!

Of course the sisters would suspect anyone of being an infiltrator. They know by experience how often this stuff happens in Heartfelt City.

Gillian, Edwige, and Zoe were only here for a quick in-joke, but I'm sure that Libido appreciated getting an eyeful of the three slim fit women. Now, was it foreshadowing of them having found work at Heartfelt City or was it just a cheap private joke? Only time will tell.

I try very hard to replicate your attention to detail. For instance, I figured out that mentioning the fact that Stasis bought an enormous ice cream would be the kind of detail you'd add to give more personality to the scene.

The three uniform stealings happening in the park were my favorite uniform stealings of the part. Once again, I tried to replicate your attention to detail when I mentioned that Tina carefully chose the bushes under which she hid Maud and Anna (and the two paramedics) to not harm them. This is the kind of behaviour that's regularly pointed out in your stories.

Having the sisters put into perilous situations has one huge advantage: it allows to illustrate how much they care for each other, including the ones that are usually more here ' for the jokes' such as Stasis or Libido.

Mmm, I do like the sound of Amalia having lovely dipped green dyed hair, thank you for that!

You're welcome. It's free.

who know why this keeps happening to her, she isn't doing anything different that's for sure. Well I guess it really is just luck of the draw for Marie

Blame the running gags.

I must admit, my heart is still in my throat here for BB.

I hesitated before making it look like that BB could potentially die or be crippled, because she's not my character and this is not my story so I don't want to shake up the status quo too much, but since I wanted this arc to be more intense than the previous side-story, I had to show that the antagonists were dangerous - and for that one character had to be in mortal peril.

Stasis is often here to bring fun, and she excels at it, but paradoxically it also makes the emotional scenes centered around her all the more powerful.

This Willow woman is certainly the one to fear in the group.

Louette is maybe a tattooed woman with hair dye, piercings, and attitude, is she the biggest threat of the White Masks? Maybe not...

It's true that the world is often unfair with the sisters - and Soph explicitly mentions it when she argues with Angel when she complains that, with all the criminals plaguing Heartfelt City, Sarah and her followers often seems to go after the sisters - even though they're far from the worst. It'll be interesting to see how the White Masks will react to their argument that they do everything in their power to not make the innocent suffer...

To finish with the points you pinpointed in your conclusion:
1) Consider it a testimony of how I like Stasis' character. Being able to showcase her more 'emotional caring' side so openly was a delight in this part. I thought that the detail of her holing up with her sister and a literal pile of snacks and sodas was the best moment centered around her that I was able to come up with in this story.
2) Indeed, to respect the personalities of the sisters, a serious argument between two of them could only end up with them making it up with each other.
3) As we discussed it on PM, Mag indeed stroke me as the sister who could maybe be capable of killing in cold blood if it's to protect her family. Now, between fantasizing about doing it and really doing the deed, there's still a gap. Will she cross that line? I remember what you said to me, but for now I'll keep the suspense.
4) I hesitated between revealing right now that she was (mostly) unharmed or waiting until the next part, but I ultimately decided that it was best to end the part on a positive note. I didn't want to make you feel TOO worried!

Thanks a lot for all your compliments! Writing an other author's characters is tricky, so it's always both a relief and a joy when I hear that it's working. Hopefully, the next part(s?) won't take too long to be posted. My top priority is to finish this story before you post your next installment!

To tirepanted: Thanks! Writing trackman's different characters is a delight because of their contrasting marked personalities.

Stasis is often here to bring fun, and she excels at it, but paradoxically it also makes the emotional scenes centered around her all the more powerful. She and Libido were indeed inspired when taking out these gang members...

I want Angel to be the heart of this story. The antagonists are basically tailored to suit her moral dilemnas and character development.

The goal is to try to finish this side-story as quickly as possible. Since the stakes are higher and more personal for the sisters, I want this story to be resolved before trackman posts his next story. (Hence why I still have to catch up with your story - for now, I'm using my 'USB-related time' to write this installment. I'm experiencing a few difficulties in real life - nothing serious, but it's consuming a good chunk of my time and (more importantly) of my energy and motivation. I'll try to catch up this week. I really apologize for being so slow, especially with how quick you are.)

A nice cameo by Gillian, Edwige, and Zoe. More cross-pollination between the different universes, it seems.

Yep! Or more precisely a little in-joke this time.

I enjoyed a lot coming up with Evangelyne's and Amalia's scene. In general, the three uniform stealings happening in the park were my favorite USB-scenes. The detail of the sisters (and especially Marie) feeling bad about assaulting paramedics felt natural.

(I notice that you didn't describe the underwear on the two park workers, though - not that I mind, just pointing it out for consitency. )

This was a mistake! How could this escape my notice in spite of several re-readings?! Thanks for pointing it out to me! I'll rectify it.

[Trackman281]

the sisters have to stay in-character and they have been consistently portrayed as deeply loving each other. Hence why it's tricky to have them argue with each other. Therefore, I chose to follow one rule: no matter what the topic of the argument is, I either have to make it clear that it's born out of concern for each other or I have to use the argument to illustrate that in the end they still deeply love each other (such as with Angel's and Soph's dispute at the end).

This is very true, no matter what, the sisters will always love each other deeply and they'll always be concerned for one another and they'll ever only want to see each other safe. ...........Now yes we did see Angel and Soph have a bit of an argument, but as we all saw, they were soon in each other's arms, hugging it out and reminding each other of what is truly important, and that is each other. ...........You did a fantastic job illustrating this and you did a fantastic job with them immediately making up and showing their love for each other again straight afterwards.

It is true, that the sisters never argue in my chapters, purely because of those reasons alone, plus, although it is very rarely spoken, the sisters at times just view it as it's the Nine of them against the whole universe.

You know I was just so blown away with how amazing this chapter this was, that I completely forgot to add a couple of other things as well in my review, so please allow me to add them on here.

1. Tinker can always rebuild Ebony & Ivory, it's fine, plus it is as she said, they are just robots and she can always build them again, whilst making them better in the process, but Tinker only really care's her sister's safety, because as we've all seen and her Tinker say numerous times in the past. Yes, Tinker does indeed enjoy making gadgets and robots, she also loves making all of these things for her sisters, so she can keep them safe, this is her way of keeping them safe.

2. I forgot to mention as well, that I really enjoyed the underwear choices here for some of the victims as well, both humorous and quite sexy too if I;m being honest.

3. Marie would indeed, not be too keen to mug paramedics, with her being a medic herself, it was a nice little attention to detail of Marie's character and I thought it was great they you remembered.

4. I also noticed of how Sarah herself might even see potential in the Phantoms after all, she'd have to be careful, because while yes, the old Sarah (leader) may have seen them as unworthy, there's a reason why the phantoms are doing what they do, plus, the Phantom know as "Jetset" as we've all seen in her previous appearances, isn't exactly the nicest person to talk too.

5.. HECK YEAH!!!!! While BB may still need a little bit to recover, you know that as soon as she does recover, the sisters are going to do just that. They are going to immediately pounce on her and give her one hell of a group hug, you know it's coming!

I try very hard to replicate your attention to detail.

Please take a deep breath, sit back and admire the awesomeness of your writing here. Your doing an outstanding job, I trust you thoroughly and take it from me when I say, that I am extremely pleased, honoured and I'm really, REALLY enjoying this.

[rufusluciusivan]

1. Of course! Their rebuilding MAY even be featured in the next part.

2. Glad you noticed. I found it funny to have some of these tough gang members wear nerdy and/or silly underwear. I hesitated to keep it with Evangelyne, as I was afraid it would be a too big mood whiplash, but apparently it didn't bother people as much as I feared it would.

3. A detail indeed, but I thought it would suit her personality.

4. Or maybe Sarah hasn't changed a bit as far as the Phantoms are concerned. Though one thing is certain, a conversation between her and a Phantom would be interesting to witness... Oops! Am I revealing something?

5. I wanted to end with a group hug, but it wouldn't have been realistic. They did hug her in spirit.

[meditions142]

Great sentry take outs in this one.

First off, love Zoe being taken out. Love the exchange with Stasis saying “Hey! Up’Gorgeous!” Then Zoe responding “What’s ‘Up’Gorgeous’?” Then after shooting the knockout gas ball I love Stasis' “Why thank you, dear. You’re not too bad-looking yourself!” All lovely Zoe can say is “Ah… oh... uh…? oh… uhm… uh…? nyuhhhhhhhh...” and she's off to sleepyland!

Then we get the multiple examples of boob distraction. I love Margarita being seemingly hypnotized by Libido's assets. Cool that BB takes out both girls with simultaneous sleeper holds. And the of course Libido enjoying Margarita's g-string is nice.

I also very much liked the description of Libibo watching Tina take out the the red haired ponytailed sentry from a distance. I like the description "from afar, Libido could only imagine the sound of the neck-chop and the sentry's grunt". I just think there is something so cool about a good old fashion hand gagging a sentry to keep her quiet then taking her out with a chop to the junction of her neck and shoulder.

Then there is the great scene with the (presumably) cute little blonde sentry. She turns to see BB but is so shocked and embarrassed to be staring at Libido's ample cleavage that she just stands there. BB can simply reach out and grab her neck with the electric glove. Love how fast acting the shock is that it instantly knocks out the blonde.

Absolutely loved that whole series of sentry knockouts!

[rufusluciusivan]

The parts with the gang members were supposed to be secondary, more of an excuse to come up with a situation leading to Angel's meeting with the antagonists, but I'm glad they left such an impact on you.

The 'Up'Gorgeous' joke was in my opinion a little forced, but it had to be done at least once. A call-back to Stasis' silly prank phone calls.

It's true that we've rarely seen a character use her sex-appeal to distract a sentry, so I'm glad I could come up with a rather original situation, and Libido was the perfect character for that. Simultaneous sleeper hold is a little unrealistic, but I thought that BB could do it because she's just THAT tall and strong. Of course Libido will appreciate it when a sentry wears skimpy underwear. Plus, Margarita's reaction was clear: Libido's assets clearly were NOT leaving her indifferent.

The parts with the red-haired sentry and the blond-haired sentry were actually added at the last minute, just a way to have a little ellipsis to build up the suspense between Angel's two parts. (That's why these two women have no name.) But I guess we can't complain since it brings us two more sentry knockouts...

[rufusluciusivan]

Part 3: Attacks and counter-attacks

**************

“You have a visitor.” Leonie announced.

Sarah had a small reaction of fear. Was it Simon?

“It’s not them.” Leonie added, to her Leader’s relief.

The visitor was a woman. Now, without her jetpack it was hard to recognize her, but she was in fact the high-ranking member of the Phantoms known as ‘Jetset’.

Sarah didn’t even try to hide her grimace of disgust.

Jetset reciprocated. The Phantom too couldn’t stand the deranged redhead, but her Prophet had sent her to relay a message. She would accomplish her mission.

However, Jetset didn’t bother with salutations or courtesies. “I think you know who I represent.” she coldly announced.

Sarah too didn’t try to be polite. “So, the high and mighty Phantoms finally leave their ivory tower to mingle with common folks…” she commented with a mocking tone of voice. “What do you want?”

Jetset clenched her fists. Mentally, she imagined herself driving her fist down into Sarah’s face. The thought was giving her solace. “We’ve heard about the successes of your little field agents. The White Masks. They are showing great potential. Helen Jacomy... Bonnie Corday… By themselves, your White Masks were able to capture two top targets in record time, and had the Alpha Prey’s team not intervened, they would have killed them.”

Sarah interrupted her: “Get to the point. I’m a busy woman. Being an influencer is no easy job.”

Only her Prophet’s orders prevented Jetset from grabbing Sarah’s head and slamming it against a wall. “We want the White Masks to join forces with us.” she said.

“An alliance with you?” Sarah scoffed.

“We can offer them our support in exchange of their loyalty.”

Sarah glared daggers at her. “Loyalty? To YOU? You have no legitimacy in taking part in OUR fight! You always thought you were better than everyone! It looks like you were wrong.” Suddenly, she smiled mockingly. “Speaking of which… When was your last success anyway?”

“We have experienced… difficulties lately.”

Sarah laughed. “A convenient excuse… Well, we don’t need your help. The time when you could look down upon us is gone. Don’t worry. We will succeed where you failed. We will do what you couldn’t do.”

Jetset’s right eye twitched. “Suit yourself.” She turned to leave, but couldn’t help but add: “However, don’t come crying when you’ll end up biting on more than what you could chew.”

**************

“I’ve searched some files at the courthouse. The woman who assaulted you is called Mary Clide.” Magda announced to the other members of the support group.

Cassie was now feeling enough at ease with her new support group to directly discuss the traumatic events of her mugging.

“A nasty piece of work.” Magda added. “Wanted for several murders. She was arrested once, but she managed to kill the cop escorting her, and stole the woman’s uniform to escape.”

Cassie nodded. “She’s a monster. Someone has to put her out of commission!”

Louette looked sideways at her. “What would you say if I proposed you to put her out of commission?”

Cassie reflexively smiled. She didn’t know if the blue-haired woman was joking or not. “You’re… You’re speaking hypothetically, right?” she finally asked.

Her friend didn’t answer.

A little ill at ease, Cassie added: “Well… Of course I would! But… There’s no way I’d be able to do it...”

“What would you say if I told you there was a way to make sure she would never harm someone again?” Louette asked.

Cassie hesitated. “Are you joking? Or are you-”

“-serious? I think you know me a little now. I would never joke about something like that.”

Cassie blinked.

Putting Mary Clide out of commission… Making sure that she would never harm someone again...

The idea was sounding tempting. Very tempting. She had fantasized about it often.

“With you?”

Louette nodded. “Together, yes.”

Cassie swallowed, and pondered her options. She was aware that she was at a turning point of her life. Depending on her decision, her existence would drastically change forever.

Her friends of the support group were intently looking at her. She could see in their eyes that they wouldn’t hold it against her if she refused. They would accept her decision, no matter what it was, and they would still be her friends.

Cassie took a deep breath. These women did so much for her these past few weeks. She wanted to be with them. She wanted to help them, the same way they were trying to help her.

“Tell me more about it.”

Louette, Ellie, and Magda smiled. Willow nodded.

Then Louette spoke: “Well… Do you remember the White Masks?”

**************

In the sisters’ flat, a group meeting was taking place.

BB had recovered enough to leave her bed and to attend the reunion. Stasis still insisted to put a dozen of pillows on her armchair.

Angel also looked a little better. She had had a few good nights of sleep while watching BB.

Soph was lifting a small dumbbell while listening, Marie was fidgeting a rolled gauze, and Libido was fidgeting a ball-gag.

Mag was sitting on her own. She was looking grim. Tina still remembered her conversation with her sister, during which Mag was contemplating killing Sarah to protect her family. She suspected that Mag had bought a gun in secret.

Tinker was exposing her new plan:

“Right now, we have three priorities. First, we need to find a way to neutralize Sarah. I’m working on trying to hack her social accounts, but somebody is protecting them. This confirms my suspicions: There is a tech-expert working for her among the White Masks.”

Tina briefly glanced at Mag, wondering if her sister would mention the ‘drastic’ solution she discussed with her.

Mag, however, remained silent.

“But you can leave that to me. I’ll find a way to hack her accounts. I have a few ideas to put an end to her influence.” Tinker concluded.

“So what’s priority number 2?” Libido asked.

“To find the White Masks.” Tina answered.

Tinker nodded. “I have an idea to try to locate them. After the trap in the park, we now know that we can’t trust the stuff they’re SAYING on their cellphone. However, we can still try to pinpoint the location of the phone when they send messages or calls. Let’s pretend that we didn’t understand, and try to see if there is a location that comes back often.”

Her sisters agreed that it was a good course of action.

“And what is priority number 3?” Angel asked.

“To help BB recover!” Stasis exclaimed.

Their tall sister blushed slightly. “I’m fine…” she protested. She could indeed leave her bed and walk. However, she was still convalescing.

“We’re not leaving you the choice.” Marie gently retorted with a smile. “You’ll spend the next days showered with affection and care. Deal with it.”

BB couldn’t help but smile. Her sisters all chuckled.

**************

Tinker got down to work, searching the Internet with Tina’s and Mag’s help. Marie and Stasis were helping BB recover from her injuries. Libido and Angel were therefore taking care of the everyday aspects of their life: buying the food and cooking the meals.

It took Tinker a few days of careful analysis but, ultimately, she found one place.

An apartment building.

Roughly a third of the calls made with the White Masks’ phone happened in this building.

A quick search allowed her to find out that one of the apartments was rented by a woman masking her identity. Probably rented by a White Mask.

The second she announced her discovery to her sisters, Tina took a decision:

“We’ll pay this place a little visit. However, this time, we’ll be more careful.”

Which would of course mean, acquiring a few disguises.

**************

Camila was a real-estate agent. Today, she was supposed to go check an apartment before putting it up to sale.

Camila was a Latina woman with a tanned skin, purplish-brown short hair that were styled in a pixie cut, and hazel eyes. She had a round face, and a body of average size.

She was wearing a light brown business jacket over a white button-up shirt, a matching light brown business pencil skirt with a brown and golden belt tied around the waist, brown pantyhose, and black high-heels. She was carrying a beige satchel.

Camila was whistling as she was walking on the streets. She passed next to a parked van.

The vehicle was equipped with a sliding side door. The latter was silently opened when the real-estate agent passed next to the van. However, Camila didn’t notice it.

Suddenly, a hand was clamped over her mouth, and an arm was wrapped around her waist.

Camila’s eyes widened. “Whmmt?!” she exclaimed.

She was yanked inside the vehicle, whisked away from the street with no one the wiser.

The sliding side door was quickly closed.

The van briefly rocked back and forth, then went still.

**************

Tina and Mag removed Camila’s belt, business jacket, button-up shirt, and business pencil skirt, as well as her tights and her high-heels.

The unconscious barefoot real-estate agent was left wearing retro white control briefs and a matching retro bullet bra.

Camila’s wrists were zip-tied behind her back. A second pair of zip-ties bound her ankles, and a third one restrained her knees. The real-estate agent was gagged with a black ball-gag with air holes in it.

The two sisters laid Camila onto a blanket and covered her with a second sheet.

Then, Tina put on the real-estate agent’s clothes. She struggled a little with the high-heels, but as an infiltrator she had trained to walk with these. She grabbed Camila’s satchel.

Mag and she exchanged a glance.

“For our family.”

Mag grabbed a backpack that Tinker gave them, then the two sisters left the van and closed its backdoor.

**************

Tina entered the building first. She knocked on the concierge lodge’s door and entered.

“Hello!”

The concierge of the building was a woman called Luz. She was tall and skinny, with a pale skin, chin-long Venetian blond hair with a high ponytail pulling the front hair out of her face, and ocean blue eyes.

Luz was wearing comfortable casual clothes, in case she had to clean something or to get dirty. She was clad in grey-and-white sneakers, light blue denim dungarees, and a white t-shirt with elbow-long sleeves.

Currently, the concierge was sitting on a chair while reading a newspaper. She put it on the table when she saw Tina.

“Hello. You’re the real-estate agent here to check the empty apartment?” Luz said. “I recognize your clothes.”

Tina smiled. Apparently, Camila gave a description of her clothes to allow the concierge to recognize her. A very useful stroke of luck! “Yes I am.” she answered.

The concierge nodded. “I’ll open the door for you.”

Still sitting on her chair, Luz moved her hand to grab the keys on her table.

Mag suddenly barged inside the room. She fired bolas with one of her wrist-launchers.

Luz yelped, as the ropes wrapped themselves around her arms and pinned her back onto the chair.

Tina took advantage of the concierge’s surprise and shock. (Because indeed, no ordinary woman was expecting to be assaulted by a woman using a futuristic-looking rope launcher.)

Tina gently blocked Luz’s head with one hand, and clamped a kerchief soaked with chloroform over the concierge’s mouth and nose with her other hand.

Luz tried to struggle, but her arms were pinned against her sides by the ropes, and she was tied to the chair. She could only flail her legs uselessly.

“Mhhhh! Mhhh! Mhhhhhh!”

“Apologies, but we’re actually looking to enter in a different apartment.” Tina said to the woman. “That’s why we’ll need your guise and your keys… and also for you to stay out of commission for the next hour. Nothing personal.”

“Mph?!”

“Don’t worry. By the time you wake up, everything will already be over.” Mag added.

“Mhhhh... Mhhhh…”

Luz’s eyelids slowly closed. Her body relaxed. Her respiration became slow and regular. She was deeply asleep.

Tina and Mag (temporarily) untied her, the time to remove her outer clothes, then they sat Luz onto her chair once more. The concierge was clad in light blue socks, a black bra with white, yellow and pink print flowers; and leila blue hipster panties with pink and red print flowers.

Tina bound Luz’s wrists behind the back of the chair with ropes. She wrapped a rope around the waist and the back of the chair to prevent her from getting up. She tied the concierge’s ankles to the chair’s legs. Tina found a tape dispenser among the stuff in the lodge. She put a clean piece of cloth into Luz’s mouth, then secured it with the tape.

Mag put on the concierge’s clothes. Then, she grabbed the keys. She also took Tinker’s backpack.

She and her sister left, and closed the lodge’s door to conceal the slumbering Luz.

**************

Mag and Tina didn’t encounter any obstacle on their way. They stopped in front of the apartment’s door.

“We’re in position, sis’.” Tina said in her hidden microphone.

Mag put the backpack on the floor.

“I’m on it!” Tinker answered.

Ebony 2.0 and Ivory 2.0 exited the backpack and deployed. As Tinker promised, they were rebuilt even better. Thanks to some soft rubber parts added to their legs, they were almost completely silent. Including when they were crawling through vents, which they did right now to access the inside of the apartment.

This time, Tinker took the time to fully inspect the room before allowing her sisters to open the door. And she was right to do so.

A rifle was fastened to a chair, and pointed in the direction of the door. A complex array of wires was connecting it to the door’s handle. Opening the door would cause the firearm to open fire on whoever was entering.

“It is a trap.” Tinker announced to her sisters. She described the device.

“At least there’s no bomb this time. I guess they didn’t want to take the risk of hurting the other tenants of the building…” Tina commented.

Tinker used Ebony and Ivory to carefully cut the wires with small built-in shears, neutralizing the trap.

The spider-bots then inspected the apartment one last time.

They also opened all the drawers, and were right to do so as they were trapped with poisoned needles.

Of course, poisoned needles had no effects on robots...

“You can enter.” Tinker finally announced to her sisters.

“I’m starting to think that this apartment was nothing but a trap.” Tina commented. “I don’t think we’ll find any clue about the White Masks.”

They didn’t notice however, the small invisible camera in a corner of the ceiling. One that was carefully analyzing their every move.

**************

The sisters didn’t fall for their trick a second time, but at least they didn’t notice their contingency plan – the camera.

Willow took notes about everything she saw. Especially the two spider bots.

**************

The sisters didn’t find anything in the apartment. It turned out that the place’s sole purpose was to serve as a trap.

“I guess they took the time to regularly use the phone in this building and rented this apartment for the sole purpose of misleading a person trying to trace their calls… It’s a little convoluted, but it could have worked.” Tinker said. “I don’t think I’ll be able to find anything about the woman who rented the apartment. I suspect the White Masks have their own tech-expert, and she’s no slouch.”

Tina nodded. Her expression was stern. She exchanged a glance with Mag.

“Our first counter-attack is a shot in the dark, but at least it doesn’t have dire consequences for us.” she said. “Let’s return to the flat.”

**************

The woman had a body of average size, perhaps slightly more muscular than average since she had to be physically fit for her job. Her skin was light, her black hair were shoulder-long, and her eyes were brown.

She was lying on the ground, half-naked as she was only clad in her underwear.

There were choke marks on her neck. Her eyes were wide open.

Louette sighed, then gently closed her eyes.

“We’ve arrived too late.” she glumly commented in the hidden microphone on the collar of her jacket.

The White Masks had been tracking down Mary Clide for quite some time, even before they recruited Cassie, as Clide was one of their priority targets. However, the infiltrator was a slippery one. Once again, they had missed her.

“Magda, you see something with Willow’s drones?”

“No.”

Louette remained silent. She held back tears of rage.

“You’re alright?” Magda asked Louette.

“I’ll be fine. I just hope that Willow will soon finish building her new flying drone. The one with automatic machine guns. It’s time that we step up our arsenal.”

Louette glanced one more time at the corpse.

“It’s the second time we arrive too late.” She clenched her fists and muttered to herself. “Next time, I’ll bring my hunting rifle…” She then asked Magda: “What about our other targets?”

“I’ve received a message from Ellie. She says she managed to find some traces of the team of sisters. One of them bought ice creams several times at her kiosk. Thanks to her information, Willow was able to pinpoint an itinerary they often use. She wasn’t able to find their hideout, even with her drones, because they use small alleyways and underground parkings to lose potential pursuers. But she was able to find a potential location where we could ambush them.”

“Good news. But it will take us quite some time to get ready. And about Knipperen?”

“Willow wasn’t able to find anything yet. However, thanks to Ellie’s and my intel, she was able to pinpoint an area where we could ambush her sister Blink…”

“It’s better than nothing. Blink will be our next target then. With some luck, we can use her to lure her sister out. We’ll just have to make it more discreet…”

Louette then promised to the dead woman:

"We will avenge you. Someone will pay for what she did to you."

**************

Blink was happy.

She had just finished visiting Shannon. Life was good.

The infiltrator made a detour by the park. She was in the mood to grab some ice cream, and to enjoy the smell of the vegetation.

It was the evening, but the kiosk was still open.

She recognized the vendor. It was the same woman as the last time: Ellie.

“Good evening!” Blink said. “I’d take one ice-cream cone. Chocolate, please.”

The short chubby woman smiled. “You seem happy, ma’am.”

“Why wouldn’t I be? I have the loveliest daughter of the world!”

Ellie nodded. “I envy your happiness.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is Heartfelt City, ma’am. Women such as I must always be wary. I was actually assaulted once. By some adrenaline junkie. She stole my clothes and locked me into a cabinet. I spent an entire night there. This is the sort of experience that changes a woman forever...”

Blink was feeling a little uncomfortable. It was as if she had a bad feeling, but she didn’t know why. She could see in Ellie's eyes that a part of her mind was still trapped inside that cabinet, desperately gasping for air.

Ellie gave her the ice cream.“Here you go!”

“Thanks…”

Blink paid the vendor and hurriedly walked away.

She didn’t realize that Ellie was still watching her. The chubby woman had a sinister smile.

Blink decided to forget about her walk in the park, and to return home immediately.

She left the park, then entered the alleyway that was her favorite shortcut.

She felt like she was being followed. She froze when she heard a noise.

Her bad feeling was suddenly amplified…

“Well, well, well… Look who’s here!” a woman exclaimed.

Blink was a professional. She immediately realized that she had fallen into a trap.

Therefore, she wasn’t surprised to see a group of six women block her path. Six other women were standing behind her to prevent her from fleeing.

“Who would have known that Blink, genius infiltrator and master thief, was nothing more than a sugar mama?”

The thugs laughed and made kissing faces.

“Big mama is so proud of her little daughter…” one of them mocked her. She had a mohawk hairstyle, black hair, a white skin, and brown eyes.

“If you dare touch her, I will END you!” Blink growled.

“Don’t get your panties all in a bundle, mama bear. Our employer was clear. She wants you and only you. We have no interest in your brat!”

Blink threw the remains of her ice cream at the woman’s face. “How dare you insult her?! I will-”

She suddenly heard a buzzing sound. Over her, there was a drone.

The infiltrator realized that her enemies had tracked her down even since she had left Pierce’s home. She felt a sudden surge of hopelessness.

Still, she refused to go down without a fight!

The leader of the pack used her hand to clean the ice cream on her face. "GET HER!" she barked.

The thugs attacked her at the same time.

Blink punched five of them silly, and brutally kicked in the guts the woman who insulted Shannon. However, then one thug managed to knock her out from behind.

She fell face first on the ground.

“Sh- Shannon…” Blink muttered. Then everything went black.

**************

While the sisters’ efforts to locate the White Masks were their priority, it was only one half of their counter-attack.

The other half of their counter-attack took place on the Internet.

Felicity and Tinker had joined forces to post messages to counter Sarah’s smear campaign. They had managed to rally some followers as well, and the Internet had been turned into a battlefield. They were also working to hack Sarah’s social accounts, with the intent purpose of taking control of them to ruin her reputation. It was a dirty tactic, but the sisters decided that the Leader had asked for it. However, as of now, they hadn’t succeeded. The computer expert that was on Sarah’s side, probably the tech expert of the White Masks, was good.

Four days after the infiltration of the apartment however, Tinker was interrupted in her work by a call on the computer.

“This is Blink’s frequency!” she exclaimed.

This caught the attention of all her sisters, who gathered around her.

Tinker picked up the call.

The interlocutor immediately spoke:

“Team Tina? I need your help.”

The voice looked like Blink’s, but the tone clearly wasn’t hers. The woman had a posh mocking tone of voice that Blink would never use with the sisters.

“It’s Blink’s sister. Knipperen.” Tina deduced.

“In the flesh.” They could hear the infiltrator’s smile in her voice.

“What do you want? How did you get that frequency?” Mag immediately asked with a wary tone of voice.

“How do you think I did?” the other mockingly asked. “I stole the information, of course! But don’t worry. I don’t intend to hinder your operations, or to bother your perfect little lives. I have way more important things to do... No, I’m calling you because my sister’s in danger.”

“The White Masks?” Tina asked.

Knipperen chuckled.

“You girls are quick and smart, I’ll give you that!” Even when complimenting them, she was sounding condescending. “The White Masks are trying to lure me out. That’s actually how I know that Blink is in danger. They’ve willingly leaked just enough information to push me to investigate.”

“Knowing them, it’s probably a trap.” Tina commented.

“Of course it is one! That’s why I called you.”

“Yeah. Why risk your life when you can send us to the front instead?” Mag asked with a harsh tone of voice.

Knipperen answered while using the tone of voice a teacher would use with a slow-minded student: “Listen. They are expecting ME to come. They will be on the lookout for any LONE disguised woman. They won’t be expecting a TEAM of disguised women. They think I’m too arrogant to ask someone for help, especially your team.”

“Maybe we don’t want to help you.” Soph intervened.

Knipperen chuckled. “And leave Blink to die? I know you’re not like that.”

The sisters exchanged quick glances. Knipperen was maybe insufferable, but she was right. They wouldn’t let a friend die if they could help her.

“I have a general idea of the area where she is. It’s in the eastern industrial district of Heartfelt City. Also, I have a deadline. Tonight. Midnight.”

“I can scan the area with satellite images, but we’ll need a more precise location if we want to find her in time…” Tinker objected.

“Maybe I have something!” Stasis suddenly intervened.

She showed them a web page on her phone.

It was Stasis’ social account. Or, more precisely, the one she was using as a Night Angel. (Her ‘Spider-Woman related’ picture with the unlucky Zoe and Ruby was indeed trending.)

One of the recent comments had been made by a woman saying to the Night Angels that she and her friends were going: ‘to finish what the Night Angels started and to get the city rid of a gang’.

“The White Masks… They are trying to communicate with us… Well, with the Night Angels.” Stasis explained.

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Soph asked.

Stasis looked a little uncomfortable. Reflexively, she was glancing at Angel.

“It’s okay. I’m not mad.” the latter said. “I know you were trying to look after me. I... I promise I won't go overboard this time.”

Stasis smiled. However, Angel's sisters were still worried that she may have a hard time restraining herself...

“But if the White Masks truly sent this post…” Mag started to say.

“Tinker… Can you trace it?” Tina asked.

“Of course! Let’s just hope that this doesn’t lead to a trap...”

“They’ve been using a different phone than the one we’ve tapped. And they have no reason to try to trick the Night Angels. So we may have a chance...”

Tina crossed her fingers.

“The picture’s been sent from the area Knipperen gave us!” Tinker showed them a satellite image of a group of abandoned factories. “I think I can pinpoint a precise group of building.”

“Then we have a better lead.” Tina concluded. “Everyone, brace yourselves. We move immediately.”

“Perfect. Then I leave everything under your care. I trust your capacities.” Knipperen suddenly intervened.

“What?! You’re not going to help us?!”

The woman had already hung up.

“Good riddance!” Mag exclaimed. “We don’t need her!”

Tina had already moved along. She gave instructions: “BB, you will stay here and monitor us.”

“Okay.”

“Tinker…”

Her geeky sister took a step forward. “I’m going with you! Knowing the White Masks, a bomb is most likely involved. You’ll need me to defuse it!”

Tina smiled. “I was going to tell you to come with us…”

“I’m coming too!” Angel intervened.

Tina took her and Tinker in her arms. “We’re ALL going. Marie, Soph, and I will be the front line, and you will follow us. I have a plan.”

**************

The bag covering Blink’s head was harshly removed. She was tied to a chair, and she had been stripped down to her underwear.

The infiltrator coughed and stared at her captors.

They were all wearing white angry theater masks to hide their faces.

“Greetings. ‘Blink’. Or should we say… Evie Ward.”

“The White Masks!”

They were five.

“I see that you already know us. Perfect. Then we can skip the introductions.” the leader said.

“For years, you’ve hurt women for your own personal gain. Now it is time to pay for your actions.” the short chubby White Mask added.

“I did it for my daughter!” Blink defended herself.

“Because you think she would want your BLOOD MONEY? If she did, she’d be as rotten as you!”

“I never killed anyone! I never killed any of the women I mugged!” Blink objected.

“What about the people who would have died if Annie Keys’ bombing succeeded?” the chubby White Masks harshly asked.

“Had your plan worked, you would have become one of this town’s most heinous criminals. But since it failed, people are free to admire you as if you were some sort of dashing anti-heroine who fights gangs… They think you’re great, and you don’t deserve it.” the blond White Mask added.

“I bet you believed that as long as you weren’t killing anyone YOURSELF, then you wouldn't bare any heavy weight on your shoulders…” the leader of the White Masks concluded. “Well, tonight it’s time to pay the tab.”

Blink gulped. “L- Listen. I know I did terrible things. But I’m trying to change and-”

“Some people don’t DESERVE to change. The women who die because of people like YOU deserved to live. You DON'T.” the leader of the White Masks interrupted her. “There’s a bomb under your seat. It’s programmed to blow up at midnight. With the entire building.”

Blink’s eyes widened in horror. “You… You monsters! What about your guards?”

“These women? Please! They are scum. We’ve recruited criminals of this new gang that tries to absorb the remnants of the town’s former top syndicates. A good chunk of these guards were formerly associated with the drug smuggling rings or the Golden Tigers’ human trafficking business… Nobody will miss them.” the leader of the White Masks said.

“We’re killing two birds with one stone. We’re getting this city rid of an infiltrator AND a gang.” the chubby White Mask giddily added.

“We chose to be fair. Your sister has received some clues that COULD allow her to come here. But I wouldn’t count on it. We’ll be on the lookout for her.”

“Besides, I bet she won’t come. She’s an even worst scum than you.”

“No wait-” Blink tried to say.

The White Masks tightly gagged the infiltrator: first by stuffing several pieces of cloth into her mouth, then by wrapping a copious amount of tape around her mouth and lower face..

“Enjoy your night of terror.” the leader concluded. “The fear you’ll be experiencing during the next few hours is exactly the same one that all your victims felt when you left them locked up in the dark…”

Blink moaned in her gag.

The White Masks left the room.

Two sentries were waiting outside.

“Do not ungag her under any circumstance.” Louette said to the guards. “Her buyer will come at midnight.”

“At your command!”

The five White Masks then left the building.

**************

During the night...

Chrissie and Ramirez were on night patrol.

The former was 26 years old, had white skin, lapis blue eyes, and long caramel blond hair tied into a bun so her helmet could fit over her head easily. The latter was 27 years old. She had long dark golden brown hair also tied into a bun. Her skin was tanned and her eyes were teak wood brown.

The two female motorcycle cops were wearing bright blue trousers with a yellow line going down each sides of their legs, long black leather boots going over their trouser legs and up to their thighs, equipment belts, dark blue police shirts on with dark blue police motorcycle jackets on. They also had a badge with their name on it. Since it was the night, they weren’t wearing sunglasses however.

Currently, Chrissie and Ramirez were taking a coffee break under a street lamp. They were standing next to their bikes. Their white motorcycle helmets were hung onto the handlebars of their vehicles.

Ramirez blew on her coffee. “I can’t believe that Evans was corrupt all along…” she commented to her colleague. “She looked so honest and professional!”

“Personally, I’ve ALWAYS suspected that there was something fishy about her!” Chrissie answered. It was of course a big lie, but she didn't want to lose face in front of her colleague.

Ramirez rolled her eyes and took a sip of her coffee. “Riiiiight...”

“Ow! My butt!” Chrissie suddenly exclaimed.

Ramirez spit out her coffee. “Can you please not discuss the state of your intimate parts in front of me? It’s very embarrassing and-” The cop suddenly froze and winced. “Ow! My butt!” she exclaimed.

“Ha! And now who’s discussing the state of her… intimi- antama- antamite pirts… I mean partimate arts… I mean-” Chrissie’s voice was starting to sound slurred.

“You’re drunk or something?” Ramirez asked. However, just like her partner, she was starting to feel dizzy. “What… What was in that coffee?”

A voice suddenly intervened. It belonged to a woman who was hiding in the shadows. “Don’t blame the coffee. Blame the darts.”

Ramirez was able to pull the pieces back together. “Our… Our butts…”

“Exactly.”

The two motorcycle cops’ eyes rolled back, and they fell into a deep slumber. Each one had a small dart embedded in her left buttcheek.

**************

Marie caught the falling Chrissie and Tina caught Ramirez. Both sisters had used a pen to shoot a sleeping dart at her victim. (Marie had used hers, Tina had borrowed a spare one to Tinker.)

The two cops were snoring.

Marie was smiling.

“Tina! You saw that? For once, she didn’t make any weird moan! Finally, I-”

Suddenly, in her sleep, Chrissie let out one long soft sensual moan. 'Aaaaaaahhh...' Marie blushed when she realized that, because of the way she was holding her, Chrissie’s cheek was resting against her breasts.

“Oh come on!” she exclaimed while changing the cop’s position.

“Curious… The other didn’t react that way when my dart hit her… It's supposed to be the same knock-out serum...” Tina commented, as Ramirez was staying silent and still even though her cheek was pressed against Tina’s chest.

“This is so unfair!” Marie complained.

**************

Tina and Marie dragged the two motorcycle cops into the back of a rent-up van. Though they weren’t conscious and therefore couldn’t comment on it, Ramirez and Chrissie were by now familiar with the process of being dragged into a van to be stripped of their uniforms.

Soph was waiting inside the vehicle's back.

“I take it that everything went without a hitch?” she asked.

“The only things hurt were Marie’s innocent ears.” Tina said while gently laying Ramirez on the floor of the vehicle.

“Tina!” Marie exclaimed with bright red cheeks, as she was laying Chrissie next to her partner.

“Sorry sis’, but you’ll always be the newbie that we have to haze…” Soph commented as a joke.

“That is most unfair! I’m older than you! I should be the one hazing you!” Marie jokingly played along.

However, the sisters quickly became serious again. They needed to make a few light-hearted jokes to fight off the stress, but they knew that this mission was very dangerous – and Blink’s life was at stake.

Soph helped her two sisters strip the motorcycle cops of their uniforms.

Chrissie was wearing an orange bra with transparent straps, mellow yellow tanga panties, and pink calf-long socks. Ramirez was clad in a spring green push-up bra, apple blossom green boyshorts, and white ankle-long socks.

In order to save their zip-ties, the sisters had brought a good amount of ropes, and had prepared some rope handcuffs as well.

While Soph and Marie were busy putting on the cop uniforms, Tina quickly bound Chrissie and Ramirez. Each woman’s wrists were bound behind her back. Each woman’s ankles were bound together. A third rope was wrapped around the knees, and the fourth around the shoulders. They were each gagged with a clean kerchief and two strips of tape in an X pattern.

Chrissie and Ramirez were left seated in a corner of the van, resting against each other.

The vehicle was big, way too big for just two cops, but the sisters knew that they’d have to stash ten more women or so inside before the end of the night.

Once they were in uniform, Marie and Soph exited the van. They grabbed the motorcycle helmets that were hung onto the handlebars, then got onto the bikes and drove off.

The van followed them from a distance.

**************

The small shuttle bus was transporting the night shift of a factory located in the same district as the warehouse in which Blink was locked.

The workers were all women. They were twelve. They were all wearing the same uniform: black protective shoes, dark grey coveralls, and a yellow safety helmet.

Their driver was a woman as well. She was called Coraline. She had short brown hair with blue tips, brown green eyes, and a slightly tanned skin. She was wearing white sneakers, light blue jeans, a blue t-shirt, and a matching blue driver cap.

Coraline stopped the bus when she saw two motorcycle cops blocking the road. She opened the automatic door of the bus.

“Is there a problem, officers?”

One policewoman approached the door.

“Don’t worry. It will be over quick.”

Soph opened a backpack.

A swarm of robotic bees and wasps flew inside the shuttle bus through its open door.

“What the- Ouch!” The driver wasn’t able to say anything more before a wasp stung her, injecting her with a knock-out serum that would put her out of commission for a good chunk of the night.

The workers shouted in fear and surprise. They tried to get up and escape but, in the tight enclosed space of the shuttle bus, they weren’t able to avoid the swarm of robotic insects.

There was a short concert of: ‘Ow!’ ‘Eek!’, ‘Yeek’, ‘Ouch!’, and ‘Aïe!’ It was followed by the sound of twelve unconscious women falling back on their seat.

Then by silence.

**************

Ramirez and Chrissie weren’t going to feel lonely when they would wake up, that was for sure!

The nine sisters dragged the twelve workers and the driver into the van. To save up space and to make sure that the women wouldn’t be piled up, the workers and their driver were stashed seated next to one another.

Seven workers (two blondes, four brunettes, and one redhead) were stripped of their clothes. They were wearing practical undergarments: comfortable work socks, t-shirt bras, and boxer briefs of various colours - blue, red, green, grey, or white. Mag, Angel, Soph, Marie, Libido, Stasis, and Tinker put on their clothes.

Tina stole the outfit of the bus driver. Coraline was wearing aqua blue socks, a light blue longline bra of which the straps were adorned with little flowers and light pink Brazilian panties with red polka dots and a white little bow.

All thirteen women were bound and gagged the same way: the hands were bound behind the back with ropes. One rope was wrapped around the upper-arms, one was wrapped around the thighs, and one was wrapped around the ankles. They were gagged with a few thick strips of tape each.

The van was left in a quiet secluded area of the district, to make sure that it wouldn’t be found too soon, before they could rescue Blink. They would call the police later.

So far so good. BB said in their earpieces.

**************

Louette was watching the surroundings of the abandoned factory in which Blink was locked from the roof of a building. She was holding a double-barreled hunting rifle. She was also wearing a cartridge belt. Willow, Magda and Ellie were with her. They were monitoring the goth girl's drone. Cassie also insisted to come. She was looking unsure however.

"Do you think Knipperen will come?" Cassie asked her friend.

Louette caressed her rifle. "I hope she will."

Cassie couldn't help but grimace.

Louette noticed her reaction. "I know it can be hard for you to accept it, because you're a kind person. But these women are not like you. And they would take advantage of your kindness to hurt you. This is the only way to remove their threat once and for all. Having them arrested is inefficient. They'd just escape again, after hurting or killing a few innocent cops and wardens in the process."

"Just like Mary Clide..." Cassie muttered.

"Exactly!"

The blue-haired woman saw a shuttle bus drive through the district, but paid no attention to it. There were too many women inside for a lone infiltrator such as Knipperen...

Suddenly, Madga spoke: "We've seen something with the drone! There's a commotion at the other side of the district. Willow suspects that a lone infiltrator has tried to mug a night watchwoman."

Louette didn't like the idea of stopping watching the abandoned factory, but if it truly was Knipperen...

"Let's take a quick look. Then, we'll return here."

The White Masks left the roof.

Therefore, they didn't notice that the shuttle bus wasn't stopping where it should have. As if the mugging of the night watchwoman was a distraction...

**************

Tina parked the shuttle bus in a concealed spot near the abandoned factory in which Blink was maybe locked, at least according to Tinker’s tracking software.

And indeed, they could see that the building was guarded by a group of women.

“I recognize these dumb fetish leather outfits… They’re members of that new gang that absorbed the HoloDecks, the Crimson Lancers, and the Ravens.” Tina commented. “I heard that we managed to have half of the gang arrested when we ruined their smuggling business. I guess that this is the other half…”

“They’re not going to think we’re a threat dressed as low-ranked factory workers.” Soph intervened. “Let’s take advantage of it.”

“You sure?” Angel asked, slightly worried for her sister.

Soph gently squeezed her sister's shoulder and playfully 'mock-punched' her arm. “Please! I eat punks like them for breakfast!”

“We may need to be a little more subtle than that…” Tinker objected

“To heck with subtlety! We need to be quick and efficient! We don’t have much time.” Soph objected. “Tinker, can you jam the frequency of their walkie talkies?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s settled. The factory is abandoned, but its walls are thick and the area is empty. No one will hear the screams.”

Tina gave up. “Suit yourself! They’re yours.”

While Tinker was using a device looking like a big remote control to jam all walkie talkie frequencies, Soph approached the group of guards. Just in case, Marie and Mag were following her.

There were six gang members. They were all wearing the same outfit: long black leather boots, a black leather jumpsuit, a black leather headband, and a black utility belt with handguns and combat knives.

Soph could see that the sentries were arguing with each other. However, they stopped bickering as soon as they saw her, Marie, and Mag approach.

The leader of the pack of thugs took a step forward. She was tall and athletic-looking, with a mohawk hairstyle, black hair, a white skin, and brown eyes.

“You’ve lost your way? Your factory isn’t here, sweet cheeks!” she exclaimed.

“We were sent here to gather some supplies.” Soph answered with a (fake) candid expression.

The thug snarled. “You daft? This building is empty.”

Once more, Soph played the part of the ingenue. “Then why are you guarding it?” she asked.

The sentry lost patience. “Girlie, you and your pals better scram! This is a private property. Or else me and the girls will have to teach you a lesson in pain…”

The thug and her accomplices laughed mockingly. Apparently, in spite of their rivalries, one thing could bring the members of these gangs together: The perspective to bully and beat up people weaker than them.

Soph smiled harshly and cracked her knuckles. She was going to enjoy this! “Play my music, sis’. Please.”

Marie sighed and switched on an i-phone.

All aboard…

Soph took a battle stance.

Here comes the pain train!

Soph punched the leader of the pack in the face. The woman grunted, and fell on the ground.

Here comes the pain train!

The other criminals were surprised by Soph’s sudden assault. They weren’t able to react in time. Before they could gather their wits, Soph kicked another sentry in the stomach. The woman grunted, and fell on her knees, then face first on the ground.

Here comes the pain train!

Soph noticed the grunt who was a little more intelligent and reactive than the others. The criminal put her hand under her jacket to grab her firearm. With two strides, Soph was on her before she could pull out her weapon. The thug's eyes widened in fear. The clone smiled.

Here comes the pain train!

Soph kneed the sentry in the stomach and finished her off with a neckchop that knocked her out cold.

Here comes the pain train!

Another criminal tried to pull out her gun. Soph kicked her in the jaw. Not hard enough to break something, but hard enough to make the woman spin and fall on the ground, knocked out.

Here comes the pain train!

The fifth and sixth sentries were tough criminals. However, after seeing how easily Soph dispatched their four accomplices, they hesitated. They exchanged one quick glance. That would be their mistake. Before they could take a decision, Soph was in front of her.

Here comes the pain train!

The clone almost gently grabbed the two women’s heads… and conked them together. Out like a light, they both fell on the ground.

Here comes the pain train!

The very first sentry had recovered from Soph’s punch. She tried to sound the alarm with her walkie talkie… and realized with horror that Tinker had jammed the frequency.

Her eyes widened when Soph towered over her.

“No! Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait…” she tried to beg.

The last thing she saw before being (painfully) sent to slumberland was Soph’s fist, then a dozen of stars.

**************

The sisters made sure the half-conscious beaten up thugs wouldn’t wake up before a couple of hours with a few sleeping darts.

Then they spent the next fifteen minutes stripping, binding, and gagging the six women.

Apparently, these gang members were fully okay with the strange leather fetish of their leader, since they were all wearing black leather undergarments: a leather bandeau bra and leather panties. Well, except a brunette who was wearing a pink kiddie-looking bralette with white little daisies, and matching knickers.

To restrain the sentries, this time, the sisters used their white zip-ties. One for the wrists and one for the ankles. Black ball-gags were used to silence the thugs.

The sisters then threw the underwear-clad criminals into a nearby dumpster to conceal them. While they let the lid slightly open to allow some air to enter, they didn’t care that there was already garbage inside.

On the contrary, a satisfied Soph commented: “They will feel right at home.”

Soph, Stasis, Mag, Libido, Marie, and Tinker all got dressed in the leather jumpsuits. Tina couldn’t help but smile when she heard several of her sisters complain about the ‘damn leather’.

“You know, usually I consider not having enough uniforms for all of us a bad thing…” Mag commented. “But this time, I’m wondering if Tina isn’t the lucky one…”

“I can’t let you say that! These outfits are amazing!” Libido purred. She was enjoying the feeling of the leather. She quickly glanced at the dumpster. “In fact, I’m tempted to get my hands on one of these sets of leather underwear as well…”

“Should have thought of that earlier, sis’. Now, they’re all smelly.” Marie commented.

“You’ll have to find an other excuse next time to strip a woman naked…” Stasis joked.

After a small laugh to relieve the tension, the sisters entered the building, ready to save their friend.

**************

The White Masks realized that the attempt mugging of a night watchwoman was a distraction. A ploy to remove them from their post on the roof.

"We've been had! Knipperen has asked people for help!" Magda realized. "I'm sure there is a second team!"

Ellie cursed.

Willow fowned.

Cassie looked at all of them with an hesitant expression.

"It's not too late! We can still set up an ambush near the abandoned factory!" Louette retorted. "Let's return to the roof! Immediately!" She clenched her hunting rifle. "I haven't said my last word yet!"

**************

The two guards stationed in front of Blink’s cell door were called Charlene and Kim. They were wearing the same leather outfit as the outside sentries: long black leather boots, a black leather jumpsuit, a black leather headband, and a black utility belt with handguns and combat knives.

Kim was a muscular woman, who had broad shoulders and was standing at an above-average height compared to other women. She had brown shoulder-long shaggy hair with multiple bangs, and dark green eyes.

Charlene was of average size and build, though she looked smaller than she really was when standing next to her partner. She had dark auburn hair swept to the side, the other side of her head being shaved. She had amber colored eyes, a sharp angular face, and was wearing light red square glasses. Her ears were pierced.

“Shouldn’t have we stayed in the room with the prisoner?” Charlene asked.

Kim shrugged. “Why? Watching her squirm is funny for some time, but it gets old pretty quickly.” She suddenly belched loudly and chuckled. “Oops! Ha! Ha! Shouldn’t have eaten spicy Thai food...”

“You HoloDecks are pigs…” Charlene commented while frowning her nose.

“Well, and you Crimson Lancers are prudes!” Kim retorted. “I mean, you girls pretend to be tough criminals, and yet you’re shocked by a natural body reaction?!”

“Well, I’m getting some fresh air!” Charlene said while walking away.

Kim laughed. “Sissy!”

The other woman gave her the middle finger. “Go fuck yourself!”

Charlene turned around a corner and disappeared from Kim’s field of vision.

Suddenly, she let out a small: ‘Urk!’

“Also having trouble digesting the Thai food?” Kim commented with another mocking laugh.

No answer.

“Hey bitch! Don’t you dare ignore me!”

Still no answer.

“Oh! I’m gonna teach you a lesson!”

Kim walked away from the cell door and turned around the corner.

She came face to face with a smiling Soph.

“Uh?”

Stomach punch.

Uppercut.

Sweeping kick.

Choke hold.

And Kim was out like a light.

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall…” Soph commented.

**************

With Stasis’ and Marie’s help, Tina stripped the two women of their clothes. She was going to use Charlene’s clothes to disguise herself, and would give Kim’s outfit to Blink. (It would be too big for Blink, but it was better than nothing.)

“Sorry sis', but no leather underwear for you…” Stasis said to Libido.

“Dang it…” a dejected Libido answered.

Indeed, Charlene was wearing navvy blue socks, malibu blue tap pants, and a sapphire blue cami bra; and Kim was clad in white sports socks, black boyshorts and a matching sports bra.

Tina put on the leather clothes. (“Looks like I can’t escape it.” she commented with a grimace.) Stasis and Marie used zip-ties to truss up Kim and Charlene: they bound the ankles, knees, elbows, and wrists. (They used double the amount on the muscular Kim, just to be safe.) They wrapped tape around the women’s lower faces as gag.

The sisters stashed the two criminals into a nearby storage closet. Their bodies were pressed against each other because the place was rather cramped. Maybe it was going to help them appreciate each other's company a little more... The door was closed to conceal them.

“I think it’s best to make sure that there are no other sentries in the building.” Soph commented while massaging her knuckles.

Mag nodded. “Tina, you and Tinker can rescue Blink. The rest of us will clean up this place.” she said.

“Okay.”

**************

Blink was terrified.

She was afraid for her life. She knew that she didn’t have much time left before the bomb would explode.

And more importantly, she was terrified of what would happen to Shannon. She was terrified of never being able to see her again.

Blink was struggling against her bond, but it was no use. The White Masks’ knots were flawless. She had tried to warn the guards, but the gag was too thick. She was the only one who knew about what was about to happen, about the danger they were all in, and she couldn’t do anything about it! The leader of the White Masks wasn't lying when she said that Blink would experience terror...

The guards had left her alone in the small room. They were tired of watching her squirm.

How much time do I have left? HOW MUCH?!

Blink raised her head when she heard some muffled noises from the other side of the door.

What was going on?

Then, the door was opened.

Blink's eyes widened in surprise. The woman was wearing the leather clothes of a gang member, but her face was familiar.

“Thnh?!”

Tina smiled in relief. “We’re in time!”

She was accompanied by one of her sisters. Blink recognized Tinker.

The prisoner frantically tried to shout through her gag. She wanted to warn them about the White Masks’ bomb.

“Don’t worry!” Tina said to ease her. “We know there’s a trap. It’s a bomb, right?”

Blink calmed herself, and nodded.

“Tinker, can you inspect the room? I’ll remove the gag.” Tina looked at the amount of duct tape. “Sorry Blink. It will hurt a little.”

Blink shrugged. A way to show that it beat dying.

“The bomb is under the chair. A nasty little machinery. It’s programmed to explode if Blink steps out of the chair.” Tinker explained as her sister was ungagging their friend.

Blink paled.

“Don’t worry!” Tinker added. “The woman who built this bomb is good, but she clearly was expecting your sister to come by. Not a tech expert like myself! Plus, I’m not exactly alone...”

Tinker opened her backpack, and allowed Ebony and Ivory to come out. The two spider-bots deployed little pliers and shears. They assisted Tinker when she started to tinker with the bomb’s wires.

It took her a few minutes, but she managed to defuse the bomb.

“There you go… The thing is harmless now.”

Tina had finished untying Blink. The latter got on her feet. Tina supported her, as Blink's legs were tired after being bound for several hours.

“Th… Thank you!” Blink said. “It’s the second time you save me…”

Tina smiled. “There’s no need to keep count. We would never abandon a friend in need.”

Blink shook her head. “I WILL repay you Tina. One day, I will. If you ever need my help... Just call. I'll rush to your rescue.”

Tina gave her Kim’s uniform. “Let’s start with rushing out of here…”

Blink smiled, and put on the clothes.

[rufusluciusivan]

Warning: This is the second post. Be sure to read the first post beforehand.


































**************

Tina, Blink, and Tinker exited the cell, then the building, without encountering any thug. Apparently, the place was already cleaned up. They regrouped with the other sisters in front of the abandoned factory.

"We've ALMOST waited." Stasis commented as a joke.

"Well, that was fast..." Tina remarked.

“We’ll give you the location of all the punks we knocked around.” Soph said to Tina with a satisfied smile.

“How many were they?”

Soph’s smile widened. “Not enough.” she cockily answered.

Tina laughed and ‘mock-punched’ her sister’s shoulder. “Of course.”

“What do we do about the women inside the building?” Angel asked.

Tinker shrugged. “The bomb is defused and harmless now. We can leave them inside their storage closets.”

“Or their trash cans.” Stasis intervened.

“Pardon me?”

Stasis pretended to be traumatized. “What has been seen… cannot be unseen…” she commented.

"Hey! Don't make me look like a monster!" Soph jokingly retorted.

The sisters and Blink shared a laugh, a way to relieve the tension now that they were safe.

"Let's return to the shuttle bus. We'll use it to leave the district." Mag proposed.

Tina nodded. "Let's be quick. I have to notify the police about the women we left in the van, and about the criminals in the abandoned factory."

Angel nodded vigorously.

"Maybe we can wait a little while longer before warning the police about the criminals..." Soph proposed. "The time for them to learn their lesson..."

They walked away from the building. Outside the coast was clear. The streets were empty.

However, as they were near the shuttle bus, the sisters couldn’t help but briefly stop and look around.

“You feeling the same thing I’m feeling?” Mag asked.

“I have the same hunch.” Tina said with a nod.

"Something is not right..." Tinker concluded.

Suddenly, BB shouted in their earpieces. “TAKE COVER!”

The sisters didn’t waste time asking questions. They had trained themselves to react immediately if given an order through their earpieces. Reflexively, they ducked and took cover, dragging Blink with them.

There was a gunshot.

And a bullet hit the ground, right where they used to stand. It would have hit Libido in the chest had they not moved.

“The White Masks! I see them on the satellite images! They’re on one of the roofs!” BB added.

Blink, Libido, Tinker, and Mag took cover behind the shuttle bus. Marie and Soph jumped behind a small wall. Tina, Stasis and Angel ducked behind a dumpster.

Tina was almost hit by the second shot, but she dodged just in time.

**************

Louette reloaded her double-barreled hunting rifle.

“Didn’t know you were that handy with a shotgun…” Ellie commented.

The blue-haired woman smiled. “Thank my dad! Though I wish he was a soldier. Had I been trained to use a sniper rifle, things would have been over by now.”

Cassie was looking nervous. “Isn’t it a little… too much?”

“Remember that these women are all like Mary Clide.” Magda intervened, as Louette was taking aim again.

The blue-haired woman added: “The security guard that Mary murdered deserved to live a lot more than these women.”

**************

The sisters were trying to find a way to escape their opponent when they heard a woman shout from the roof:

“Hiding, are we?! I relish the challenge! Picking you out one by one will be all too funny!”

Soph became bright red with anger, and got up. “Come out and fight me in the open like a woman!” she shouted back.

Marie jumped her and tackled her onto the ground. She made them take cover just as Louette opened fire again. The bullet hit the spot that Soph’s head was occupying one second before.

“Thanks…” she said to Marie.

“She’s provoking us. In the open, we stand no chance against a rifle.” her sister explained.

“We don’t want to fight you!” Tina shouted.

She was answered by a gunshot that hit the dumpster behind which she was hiding.

“Listen! We could negotiate!” she still added.

This time, the leader of the White Masks answered. She shouted: “Tell that to the woman Mary Clide murdered!”

“We don’t associate with people like her! We can’t be held accountable for her actions!”

“So? We’re just going to punish you for yours then!”

“We never killed anyone!”

“That’s a lie and you know it! We found bits of information about you on the dark web! You’ve been seen all around the world! And I’ve met Theron once, before she died! I know that you killed all her family! You can’t trick me!”

Tina saw Angel become ghostly pale.

Of course… The actions of the Company were once again coming back to haunt them…

“Tina, it’s no use! We can’t reason with them!” Mag intervened from her own hiding spot.

“But-” Angel tried to say.

“She’s right.” Tina interrupted her. “At least not like that. Not while we’re at their mercy. Tinker! You have something we could use as a distraction?”

“I fear they’re too far for me to activate my swarm…” the latter answered.

“Then we could-” Tina started to say.

"I will surrender myself!" Angel interrupted her.

Her statement was met with a deafening silence.

"Are you CRAZY?!" Soph then shouted, voicing all her sisters' mind.

"We're in that situation because of me!" Angel retorted while looking at them intently. "I was the one who killed those people for the Company! I AM the one they're looking for! I will offer them my life in exchange of yours."

Without any warning, Angel got up. Stasis and Tina immediately jumped her to tackle her to the ground. A gunshot was heard and the bullet hit the spot where Angel's head used to be.

At the same time, Tinker activated her swarm. As she was expecting, the White Masks were too far away, out of reach. But, by having the bugs fly in every direction around them, she was hoping to throw the aim of the shooter off.

Mag pulled out a gun and, thanks to BB's instructions, she shot in the direction of the roof where the White Masks were hiding. This specific firearm, that she bought in secret, only shot plastic bullets, but she could use it to force the shooter to take cover, at least momentarily.

However, they still couldn't escape without exposing themselves...

"There's no way we're letting you sacrifice yourself!" Tina angrily exclaimed to Angel.

"I'll knock you out with my green balls if I have to!" Stasis added as a warning.

"This is my decision! I just want to save all of you!” Angel said while trying to struggle.

Tina looked her in the eyes. "I'm warning you Angel. If you get up again, I will get up as well, and we will die together."

Angel stopped struggling. "You... You can't do that! You're cheating!"

“You started it!”

"But in the open we can't all escape a shooter unscathed!"

Tina was afraid.

The situation looked inextricable.

However...

However, the confrontation was suddenly interrupted.

By one of the favorite tricks of a magician. Smoke.

More precisely in that case, smoke bombs.

Several small balls were thrown on the ground, in front of the sisters’ hideouts. They released a thick smoke that blocked the light of the street lamps.

Blink frowned. “Sis’?” she muttered to herself.

Tina didn’t waste time. “We don’t question things! We scram!”

She and Stasis grabbed and restrained Angel, and literally dragged her with them.

The sisters and Blink all jumped inside the shuttle bus.

Marie didn’t waste any time. She sat behind the wheel, started the engine, and drove off before the smoke cleared.

**************

Louette screamed in frustration when she saw the shuttle bus drive away. Out of reach. She shouted a volley of insults featuring, among other things, the sisters’ mother, a lot of pointy objects, and a fist.

“We were so close! SO CLOSE!” the blue-haired woman exclaimed.

Willow was grimacing.

Magda grabbed Louette’s shoulder. “Calm down!”

“I’m tried of failing to go through with what we do! I’m tired of showing up too late! Helen Jacomy and Bonnie Corday are still alive. Mary Clide is still on the loose. She's killed another woman. And we’ve just failed to get rid of NINE infiltrators!”

“Louette. We better flee as well. Police is bound to come here soon.” Ellie intervened.

“Next time… Next time…” the blue-haired woman whispered through gritted teeth.

Cassie was looking at them with an unsure expression.

**************

Concealed in a dark alleyway, Knipperen smiled.

“Well, as you can see, I did my yearly good action…” she commented.

“MFFFF! MMMHHH! MMMM!” her interlocutor answered.

“Yes I know. It’s not like me to do that… But what can I say? Blink is still my sister. I can’t understand her naive dream of starting a family. And I CERTAINLY can’t understand why she wants to play the heroine lately. But I couldn’t let her die…” Knipperen smiled. “Plus, now she’ll owe me one.”

“Mhhhhh…”

“Thank you for your clothes by the way. I didn’t really need them for my little distraction earlier, but I couldn’t resist…”

Knipperen was currently wearing the uniform of a night watchwoman: a black cap, a beige uniform shirt, black trousers, an equipment belt, and black shoes.

At her feet was lying an underwear-clad woman who was only wearing white control briefs with black polka dots and a matching full-cup bra. She was hog-tied with brown ropes and cloth-gagged with a magician scarf that was preventing her from spitting the handkerchief and socks filling her mouth. The bound woman was tall and slightly pudgy, had braided golden blond hair and green eyes, as well as a fair skin and a round face.

The woman sobbed in her gag.

Knipperen shook her head. “Now you’re just embarrassing yourself. Women like you should know their purpose.” She adjusted the uniform she had stolen.

The infiltrator checked to see if the coast was clear. The White Masks had also left, as the police would arrive soon.

Knippered winked at the helpless woman. “Anyway. I’m leaving. With some luck, the police will find you too. Maybe.”

**************

In the sisters’ flat, even though they had managed to escape unscathed, the mood was somber.

Blink was recovering on the sofa, with a blanket and a hot tea. She was keeping quiet however. She knew that her friends needed to settle things between themselves.

Angel was sitting in silence on an armchair. Her sisters were gathered around her, save for Tina who was phoning the police. They were looking at her.

As long as the sisters were escaping the White Masks, they didn’t have the time to dwell on what happened, and on what Angel tried to do. But now…

Tina finished her phone call, then regrouped with her sisters.

Soph was the first to act. She took a step forward, towered over Angel… and raised her hand, as if to slap her.

Angel winced in anticipation.

However, Soph couldn’t bring herself to hit her. Her hand was shaking. “I am so angry at you right now… You have no idea how much…” she muttered. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

“What were you thinking?!” Marie exclaimed.

"How could you take such an uncalculated risk?!" Tinker added.

"You promised you wouldn't go overboard!" Stasis said.

"I thought you were among the resonable ones in our family." BB concluded.

“I’m sorry… I panicked…" Angel explained. "I didn’t want to lose any of you because of my mistakes… I didn’t want any of you to die because of what I did. I thought that I was the only one who should pay for my crimes... Your lives-”

"Stop it! Not another word!" Tina shouted. There were tears in her eyes. "Don't act as if your life meant less than ours! Your life matters to me… it matters to US! I don't want you to die for me! WE don't want you to die for US! We want you to LIVE for us! To live WITH us!"

"I-"

"You can't make amends by dying! But you CAN make amends by doing good around you. Like you're already doing. I'm not saying it's easy! But you can't give up now! Not after all the progress you've made!" Tina added.

Mag put a hand on Tina’s shoulder to gently interrupt her, then spoke: “Angel, I’ll be speaking for everyone here when I say that we all know that your heart was in the right place. And we know that things are especially difficult for you whenever the White Masks or Sarah are concerned. But we can’t let you throw your life away, even for us.”

For once, Mag (and not Tina) was actually the calmer and the more collected of the group. Mag added:

“When you came back after that mission with Maryse, when you renounced your old identity to become ‘Angel’, it was as if a long-lost family member had returned to us. There are so many things we still want to catch up with you. So I’m asking you… WE’re asking you… Please, don’t ever again try to throw your life away as if it wasn’t worth anything.”

Angel sniffled and wiped her tears with her arm. “I… I’m sorry…” she said with a choked voice.

Her sisters gathered around her, and embraced her. Soph’s hug was the tightest.

Angel returned their hug. “You all mean the world to me… All of you, and Maryse… You saved me...” she muttered. “I just want you to be safe…”

“You don’t have to do things solo, sis’. That was the Company’s way.” Tina said. “We’re a team now. Together, we’re unstoppable.”

The hug lasted for a long time.

During it, Mag whispered in Tina’s ear: “Tina. We can’t go on like that forever. Angel is in a pretty bad shape, Soph is no better, Stasis has barely made a joke ever since what happened to BB, and the others don’t have a lot of strength left either...”

The latter nodded somberly. “I will talk with Tinker and Felicity… We’ll try something slightly different to deal with the White Masks.”