The saga now comes with a characters description: viewtopic.php?t=10048
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Cut-throat politics
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Robert Kelly’s grand speech would take place in the campus of the Horizon Institute, a brand-new private university he had personally financed in New York City.
The building complex was vast, modern, and pristine-looking. It was clearly meant to be a display case for his presidential campaign.
In front of the main administrative building of the campus, Kelly’s technicians were setting up the platform and podium he would use for his speech.
The event would begin in three hours. The first sympathizers were arriving to have the best seats. The security cordon was already there. Among the regular guards of the security dressed in dark blue blazers and trousers, a group of women clad in grey and black tactical gear stood out. People were whispering in awe. Silver Sable Security had a bit of a reputation.
Taylor was leading her team among the crowd of sympathizers. Clad in casual clothes, they looked like any other group of onlookers. The black-haired woman was holding Sarah by the arm. The blonde had her earphones on, and music was blasting. It was the only way for her to bear being in the middle of such a big crowd. She wasn’t wearing an enhancer yet. Close to this many people, she would faint instantly if her empathy was enhanced. Charlotte, Screwball, Jenna, and Trapstr were following close behind.
The first step of the operation had been a success. Charlotte had sent Yuriko Watanabe and the police on a wild goose chase using Kate Bishop’s identity, and the Spider-Team was busy facing Madame Masque and her goons to rescue said Kate Bishop.
“So. What’s the plan to get in position? Who do we have to mug?” Charlotte asked.
Screwball rolled her eyes. “Of course you’d phrase it like that...”
“Students, obviously.” Jenna proposed.
The new campus and buildings of this private university were Kelly’s pet project. All students had been given a pass to witness his speech if they wanted. There were many young women they could impersonate.
This specific establishment drew inspiration from Japanese universities. Uniforms were mandatory. The girls were therefore wearing similar-looking student uniforms, and were numerous enough that nobody would notice a bunch of new faces, provided they wore the right clothes.
However, Taylor shook her head. She had an other plan.
“The idea is good, but it would take us a lot of time. I was intending to grab all our disguises in one fell swoop.”
She led her small group away from the main crowd and around a smaller building, outside of the security cordon but near the main building in front of which Kelly intended to make his speech.
“Hopefully, the old man’s intel was right.” Taylor commented.
“What does he have in store for us?” Charlotte asked.
“Robert Kelly financed this campus. He brought all the media tycoons for a reason. But building’s finishing isn’t over yet… Which gives us an opportunity...”
Taylor found the van she was looking for in an isolated part of the university building complex. A group of eight women were busy unloading buckets of paint from a big van. The workers were clad in black work shoes, blue work jumpsuits, brown tool belts wrapped around the waist, and yellow protective work helmets.
Screwball grimaced. “Painters?”
“A whole team. We can even use their van to hide them.”
Charlotte beamed. “Sold!”
“How did you know they’re all women?” Jenna intervened.
“Did I mention a lot of journalists are going to be here? For our dear politician, it’s a perfect opportunity to display how progressive he is. Most of the staff he hired is female.” Taylor shook her head. “Some people never learn...” She then shrugged. “Their loss. Get ready.” The black-haired woman glanced once more at the group of painters. “This is the riskiest part. These girls are no fighters, but if one escapes and calls for help, the whole operation falls apart. I won’t tolerate any slip-up. I want this to be done quickly and efficiently.”
**************
Quick and efficient, they were.
Taylor gave them the order to make their move when she saw two painters – a leggy light-skinned chestnut-eyed brunette with a neck bun, and a short dark-brown-eyed black-haired Japanese woman with a high bun – enter the van to rummage inside.
One painter was standing aside. She had walked away from her colleagues to smoke one quick cigarette before work without bothering them with the smell. She was a petite dark-skinned green-eyed brunette with short hair. She was also the first to go down.
From behind, Taylor wrapped her arms around the girl’s throat and neck. At the same time, she applied a tight sleeper-hold and forcefully dragged the brunette out of sight behind the corner of a wall. The girl’s cried for help were silenced by the hold. She passed out quickly. The unconscious woman was laid onto the ground, then a sleeping dart was jabbed into her neck.
Now, there were only five painters outside the van.
Sarah took a deep breath, and used her power to soothe all the remaining women’s emotions – dulling their sense of danger.
Her teammates moved all at once when Taylor gave the signal.
Some of the painters saw them run towards them but, because of Sarah’s influence on their emotions, didn’t worry about the danger in time.
With her blowpipe, Screwball shot a dart right into a tall green-eyed tanned-skinned redhead’s neck with a square cut. The woman’s sense of danger was still dulled. The fast-acting sleeping drug made her pass out before she was worried enough to call for help.
At the same time, Trapstr shot a white-skinned busty blue-eyed ponytailed blonde with a tazer gun.
With a neck-chop, Jenna knocked out a shaggy-looking dark-skinned brown-eyed brunette.
“Girls? Is there something?” the black-haired painter called from inside the van.
Charlotte threw a small gas bomb inside the vehicle, and slammed the doors shut. The POOF! of the bomb was muffled by the van’s frame. So were the coughs of the two painters trapped inside, and the dull sounds they made when their unconscious bodies fell onto the floor of the vehicle.
Sarah stopped using her empathy.
The two remaining workers of the painting team – a black-skinned black-haired brown-eyed woman with braided hair and a light-skinned hazel-eyed auburn-haired woman with a crown braid – blinked once, as their hampered emotions began to once again flow brutally. They felt fear.
They stared at the barrel of Taylor’s silenced pistol.
“We already have six sets of clean clothes. I give you five seconds to get on your knees. Quietly.”
The two women shared a glance. They saw the cold glimmer in Taylor’s eyes.
“Four… Three… Two…” the latter began to count.
The painters got on their knees and raised their hands.
“Good choice.”
Screwball jabbed one woman in the neck with a sleeping dart, and Trapstr knocked the other out with a stun gun.
**************
Taylor and her team stashed the unconscious painters in the back of their own van.
Each girl was zip-tied hands and feet. The wrists were bound behind the back. A zip-tie was also wrapped around the knees. The women were gagged with strips of brown tape forming an X, blindfolded with sleep masks, and with their ears plugged. A sleep-dart was embedded in each woman’s shoulder.
Two of them (the petite brunette and the short black-haired woman) were still fully-clothed, the other six had been stripped down to their undergarments. The tanned-skinned redhead was clad in a green tank top, a white sports bra, and matching sports boyshorts. The busty blonde was wearing blue hip-huggers with a dark blue waistband strap and a matching full-cup bra. The leggy brunette was clad in grey control briefs with a white waistband strap and a blue t-shirt bra. The black worker was wearing striped red-and-black boxer undershorts, a light pink tank top, and no bra. The auburn-haired woman was clad in anise green classic briefs with a dark green waistband strap and a matching seamless bra. The shaggy-looking brunette was wearing hot pink French panties with a white waistband strap and a matching pink-and-white bra.
The trussed up women were left in a pile in the van’s back.
Taylor, Charlotte, Sarah, Jenna, Trapstr, and Screwball all slipped into one set of clothes: a blue work jumpsuit, a pair of black work shoes, a brown tool belt wrapped around the waist, and a yellow protective work helmet.
Jenna glanced at the pile of restrained women, then at her leader. “Hey Tayl-”
“Code name!” Charlotte interjected.
“Right. Sorry. ‘Sparks.’ I wanted to know… Had these girls refused to surrender… Would you have shot them?”
“Yes.”
She, Trapstr, and Screwball exchanged an awkward glance.
“Harsh.”
“I was a black op. What do you think I did back then? Coffee and photocopies?” Taylor buckled her tool belt. “Just because I’m good at killing people doesn’t mean I like it. Or it’s my go-to solution.” She strapped her work helmet. “But never think I’m adverse to it.”
In-between Trapstr and Taylor, falsifying the painters’ access badges was child’s play.
“Everyone, take some buckets and tools to fool the guards. The scaffolding is already set up next to the main building. We’ll use it to enter from a window.”
Charlotte glanced inside the back of the van, at the two painters who were still fully-clothed in the middle of the pile of unconscious women. “Maybe we could take their outfits too…”
“Not now Charlotte.”
“But aesthetically it would look better...”
Taylor lost patience. “CHARLOTTE I said NO!”
There was a beat. Sarah winced.
“Today isn’t a game, Charlotte. This is very serious. We don’t have time to waste.”
For one second, Charlotte lost her smile. “O- Okay.” Then, she shrugged it off, and her mind wandered on an other topic.
As the others were unloading the van, Trapstr grabbed a computer disguised as a toolbox. She would use it later to hack the security cameras.
The tech expert tapped her chin, walked next to Taylor, and whispered: “You know, I’m no expert in the assassination of politicians-”
“Are you chickening out on us?” Taylor interrupted.
The other woman gulped. “Of course not! It’s just… Your plan seems needlessly convoluted. If we can position a woman on the roof, wouldn’t it be easier to snipe our target?” Trapstr cleared her throat, feeling a bit uncomfortable. “Easier and less… messy.” The tech-based supervillainess wasn’t stranger to violence – she had already helped Beetle during the latest gang warfare. But causing a stampede to kill a politician felt like a whole new level...
“The boss doesn’t want to create a martyr.” Taylor explained. “Picture this. I shoot Robert Kelly in the head. What happens next?”
Trapstr shrugged to confess her ignorance.
“Someone else takes his place. Turns him into some sort of hero, who died for democracy. And exploits his murder to gain supports.”
“I see.”
“Now, picture this: Kelly doesn’t die shot by a sniper, but because he’s trampled on by his own followers. What happens?”
“People will think anti-mutants are dangerous people who can’t be trusted.”
“Exactly. Boss gets rid of his number 1 target, and the whole anti-mutant side is discredited. We kill two birds with one stone.”
“So the boss is a pro-mutant.” Trapstr deduced.
“And it’s best you don’t try too much to discover his real identity. He doesn’t like snoops.” Taylor warned evenly.
“Understood.”
Trapstr glanced at Sarah.
“Nudge can riot a crowd that big?”
“With the Oscorp enhancer, yes.”
“And what about the painters? Or the other people we’ll mug? People will suspect something when they’re discovered.”
“SHIELD or the AVENGERS will know there was foul play, of course, but what can they say to the people? That someone managed to turn thousands of people into a frenzied mob with her mind? Outside of secret services, nobody knows Nudge even exists. The boss has friends in the medias and social medias. They will spread his side of the story. Then, the truth won’t matter anymore.”
They closed and locked the van’s doors to conceal the trussed up team of painters, then headed to the backyard of the main building.
**************
Felicia nimbly drove her bike in the middle of the traffic, and made a quick detour by one of her hide-outs to gear up. Sadly, she couldn’t replace her wrist launchers in such a short notice, but she grabbed a new set of bondage tools, clean kerchiefs, and two bottles of chloroform, as well as a new makeup kit with hair dyes. And, of course, the very indispensable fake 'Out of Order' sign. She threw everything into a backpack.
The cat burglar also quickly dissolved the dye on her hair in the sink – as the black ponytail over brown hair was a weird style. She could always dye her platinum blond hair once more if the need arose.
Then, Felicia jumped back on her stolen biker and hurriedly drove to Robert Kelly’s rally at the Horizon Institute – not bothering to change her biker clothes.
She was beginning to think of a plan.
Dahlia’s words were still fresh in her memory. Felicia didn’t know the details of the assassination ploy, but she knew the whole operation relied on taking control of the main roof. She deduced it was the roof of the building right behind the platform Kelly would use for his speech.
The easiest way would be to go to the roof itself and disrupt the entire operation. Attempting to warn the security detail would indeed be too hazardous. Felicia suspected Robert Kelly’s security detail wouldn’t believe her at face value – especially if they recognized her as Black Cat. She wasn’t exactly on good terms with Silver Sable Security...
Charlotte’s syndicate was small – four or five people according to her deductions. And among them, only Taylor was dangerous.
With MJ as my meat-shield… err… I mean as my ally, I have a chance. I don’t need to win. Only to stop whatever device they’ll use to control the crowd, make a lot of ruckus to catch security’s attention, and flee before I can be arrested with the rest of them.
Felicia reached the Horizon Institute building complex two hours before the beginning of the speech.
She parked her bike near the security cordon.
Now. Where’s Red?
The crowd was already big. Talk about finding a needle in a haystack! How could she find-
“This is an outrage! You can’t treat me like that!”
Of course. I only need to use my ears. I’d recognize that shrill angry voice anywhere...
It was indeed her favorite annoying redhead. Down on her luck, as always… Currently, she was busy arguing with a security guard. Arguing loudly.
How can this girl be an expert at infiltration?
“I know my rights! I’m a journalist! I demand to be let through!”
“Miss, you don’t have a pass. I won’t let you through.”
Mary-Jane hadn’t changed a bit, Felicia thought to herself. Same tomboyish appearance and layered side-swept pixie cut with nape undercut. Same red hair and unaesthetic freckles. Same cheap-looking second-hand clothes.
And still as dense as a brick.
Felicia nimbly stepped in, and grabbed Mary-Jane’s arm. “I apologize for my girlfriend, sir. She can be impossible sometimes.”
The redhead almost gagged. “How- How dare you?!”
“Come on, honey. No need to be ashamed of our love.” Felicia squeezed harder, to non-verbally instruct MJ to play along. “Now come. We’ll be on our way.”
She literally dragged Mary-Jane to a quiet corner.
The redhead broke free and massaged her arm. “So you really came.”
“You didn’t believe me?”
“I had doubts. Why are you dressed like a biker?”
“Really? There’s a plan to kill a man in motion as we speak, and that’s your biggest concern?”
The redhead took a breath and raised a finger to argue some more, but then interrupted herself. “Ugh. Fine. What’s going on? What do you want from me?”
“They’ll act from the roof up there. I don’t know how, but they’re supposed to cause a stampede with the crowd from there. The good news is they’re a small team, and only one is dangerous. The both of us can take them. Care to play hero?”
Unfazed, the redhead grabbed her cellphone. “I prefer to call the police, thank you very much.”
“Suit yourself.”
**************
The guards, one brunette and one redhead of the regular security detail clad in dark blue suits, allowed the “team of painters” to access the backyard of the main building and the scaffolding.
They were professional, Taylor would give them that. They checked each pass thoroughly. However, they were fooled by the forgery.
Unfortunately for the two security guards protecting the back of the main building, at this moment Taylor realized a minor hiccup in the plan. These two guards had a clear line of sight towards the scaffolding if they so much as turned their heads.
The unforeseen problem was however solved when a quick check allowed Taylor to see that, as far as the snipers on the roof were concerned, they were in a blind spot.
From behind, she conked the guards’ heads together to knock them out. The brunette and the redhead collapsed on each other with barely a peep.
The women were then put to sleep with darts, bound with zip-ties, their socks and some tape were used as gags, and they were stashed in a dumpster of the backyard.
They didn’t steal the guards’ uniforms – only their walkie talkies, in case there was a call from an other team and they had to pretend to be them.
Once the security guards were out of the way, the team climbed the scaffolding. Taylor had everyone move to the left side of the structure.
“This part of the façade is in their snipers’ blind spot. Trapstr, you good?”
The tech expert was typing on the computer camouflaged as a toolbox.
“Security system hacked. I’m feeding their cameras fake footage. Want me to disable the communication?”
“Only as a last resort.” Taylor looked above, at the open windows on the roof, mostly likely leading to some attic. “Screwball. Can you reach these?”
“Without breaking a sweat.”
“Use one to enter the building, and come open to us here.”
**************
One frustrating phone call later, MJ screamed a volley of surprisingly crude swearwords at her phone, and was answered by the line being cut off.
Felicia pretended to look at her fingernails. “So. How did it go?”
“They don’t believe me! Apparently, they have a lead on the syndicate! Given to them by a ‘reliable source’! Kate Bishop! What does she have that I don’t have?”
“I’d wager it’s the sunglasses.”
“They think I’m just trying to sabotage Kelly’s speech! They won’t lift a finger!”
Felicia clapped her hands. “Good. Now that the formalities are out of the way, maybe we can actually do something heroic.”
MJ glared daggers at her. “I just hate you so much sometimes…”
“Love you too, Red.”
She took Mary-Jane’s arm, to keep on playing the part of the love-struck girlfriend.
“So now honey, why don’t we take a stroll together?” she asked with the best lovey-dovey voice she could simulate.
MJ answered with a grimace of utter disgust.
**************
It took Screwball fifteen minutes to rally the third floor from the attic. She opened the window from the inside.
“Any problem?” Taylor asked.
“None at all. Only the outer doors and access to the roof are guarded.”
“Sarah. Wait for us here, and pretend to do some painting. I’ll come back to you once we’ve neutralized the sentries.”
The blonde nodded with a grateful expression.
Taylor led her team inside the building. Thanks to Dahlia Walker’s intel, she knew the inner layout perfectly.
As Screwball had announced, most of the building was empty.
Only the access to the stairs leading to the roof was guarded by two women.
One was a blue-eyed white-skinned blonde, with a short bob cut save for one long shoulder-long strand of hair resting on each cheek. The other was an African-American woman with dark brown eyes and black hair tied in two braids resting on her shoulders.
Taylor noticed these two weren’t wearing traditional security guard uniforms. They were clad in black combat shoes, silver grey uniform trousers, a black weapon belt, grey protective fingerless gloves, a white shirt, and a silver grey uniform jacket. A dark grey helmet – similar to the ones worn by SWAT officers – was protecting their heads. A black SSS logo was stitched onto the left breast of their jackets. On their equipment belt, they were carrying several weapons – including a handgun in a holster, a walkie-talkie, a knife, and zip-ties.
These two weren’t part of Kelly’s official security detail.
“Silver Sable…” Taylor muttered.
Charlotte worriedly looked around her. “Where? Did she come to have her revenge?!”
“Silver Sable Security.” Taylor rectified. “She leads a private security company. Small, but well-reputed. These two work for her. Kelly has hired them after our little stunt with Alice and Emilia. I never thought Sable would be willing to work for him. I guess after her failure to protect Oscorp’s secret prototypes, she was in desperate need of a job…”
“Will they be a problem?”
Taylor shrugged. “I don’t see them being any more trouble than their boss.” She glanced at Charlotte. “Which means you will not go near them.”
The chubby woman pouted.
“Trapstr, disable these two’s walkie talkie – but only these two.”
The latter typed a few commands on her laptop. “Done.”
Taylor grabbed a small canister, and threw it in-between the mercenaries. It released a thick smoke.
“Gas!” the blonde warned.
Her partner pushed a button on her walkie talkie. Then realized her device wasn’t working. “Communication is jammed!”
Taylor attacked them under the cover of the smoke. The blond mercenary didn’t have the time to react. Taylor hit her in the throat – the only true weak spot of her protective gear – with a chop. Her blow was strong enough to incapacitate the mercenary, but not too strong as to not crush the larynx. The blonde gasped, and fell on her knees. Having a hard time breathing, she wheezed.
“Bitch!”
The black mercenary lunged forward and punched. Taylor side-stepped her, grabbed her arm, and used the woman’s momentum against her to judo-chop her to the floor.
The mercenary landed on her back, the blow dazing her momentarily. Taylor took a knee, and wrapped her arms around the black woman’s throat. She squeezed. The mercenary gurgled and flailed, but the lack of oxygen soon made her pass out.
Once the black mercenary was out of commission, Taylor turned to the woman’s blond partner. The woman was taking deep breaths.
“Oh, you’re recovering. Good.”
Taylor put her to sleep with a chokehold.
The smoke began to clear out. Its formula was designed to dissipate quickly.
After the blonde passed out, Taylor dropped her onto the floor.
“Sleep darts.” she instructed Screwball.
The latter complied and injected both mercenaries with the strong sedative.
“We could have done it from the start.” Trapstr commented.
“Right. I trust you to hit the weak spot of their gear from afar.” Taylor retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. The other woman fell silent. The black-haired rogue spy added: “Screwball, Carpenter, you will take these two’s outfits. Guard the stairs, and look intimidating.”
She took Charlotte’s arm to lead her on the roof. Trapstr followed her.
The two remaining villainesses got down to work, and swiftly stripped the mercenaries off their equipment and clothes.
The blond mercenary was wearing zebra-striped black-and-white underwear: socks, hip-hugging panties, and triangle bra. Jenna grimaced out of embarrassment and disgust. The black mercenary was clad in white socks, a white thong, and a matching full-cup bra.
Screwball was tempted to film the scene with her phone.
“Taylor promised she’d make you eat your streaming equipment if you record anything.” Jenna reminded her.
The attention-craving blonde wisely relented, and instead pulled out some zip-ties. She restrained the black mercenary’s wrists behind her back, then wrapped an other zip-tie around her ankles, and a third one around her knees. Jenna did the same with the blond guard.
As an extra precaution, Jenna and Screwball used sturdier zip-ties – specifically designed to hog-tie prisoners – to bind together each mercenary’s bound wrists with her bound ankles.
The women were stuff-gagged and cleave-gagged with strips of the painters’ uniforms.
The two defeated mercenaries were stashed inside an empty maintenance closet of the floor.
Jenna and Screwball slipped into the women’s clothes, and took their position.
**************
Felicia groaned in annoyance when she realized the security guards watching the four entrance points of the restricted area were all men.
“I can’t believe it. I was told Kelly wanted to look progressive for the cameras. The staff was supposed to be all-female!”
“The staff in front of the journalists is.” MJ rectified her. “But the guys who screen the onlookers won’t be in the cameras’ lines of sight.”
Felicia cursed. “And there are too many witnesses to just conk one…”
“Oh the horror! You won’t be able to mug an innocent bystander this time!”
“Tone down the sass, Red. Let me try something.”
Felicia approached the guard. She and MJ were attempting to enter through an other checkpoint than the one in which the redhead had gotten into an argument with the guard.
The man looked at their clothes. “I’m sorry, ladies, but unless you have a pass, the access to this area is forbidden until the end of the speech.”
“Come on. Can’t you do an exception for two young SINGLE ladies?” Felicia bent closer, and fiddled with the man’s collar.
The guard remained unfazed. “Are you trying to seduce me?”
“Why? Is it working?”
“Lady, I give you six out of ten at most. Now, please go away.”
Felicia wished she could have kneed him in the crotch, but there were too many witnesses. Instead, she hid her reaction of annoyance and outrage, and retreated. She and Mary-Jane walked away.
“So much for that…” MJ snickered.
“Oh shut up! It’s not like you’d have had more success…”
“That doesn’t tell us what we do now.”
“We try an other entrance point, obviously. But if all the guards are like this guy, there’s no use in going without a plan. We need a way to fool them...”
Luckily, most parts of the university building complex were access-free – only the area around the podium was restricted. Felicia was starting to think of a plan. One that involved getting the pass – and clothes – of a couple of girls allowed to attend to the speech.
A bunch of journalists would be an obvious choice. But Felicia had also noticed all students had been given a pass.
Of course, MJ wasn’t going to like it. But for now, the redhead still hadn’t deduced how this was going to end. Black Cat decided keeping her in the dark until she had no choice but comply would spare her time and a headache…
Felicia was careful to not let her real emotions slip up. She stopped walking, and started to pretend to think of an idea. MJ was focused on her partner, therefore she didn’t realize Felicia was making them wait near the female restrooms…
While still pretending to ponder on the solution, Felicia watched various women and students come and go.
Until...
“Look over there…”
Black Cat was gazing at two students – both in their early twenties, a few years younger than MJ or her, but still close to their size.
The uniform of the female students consisted of a blue long-sleeved button up light blazer, a button-up white shirt, a red-and-yellow striped bowtie, and a blue-and-black skirt with a checkered pattern.
The first girl looked like the typical “alpha female” of a pack of students. Her body language was oozing confidence and authority. She had midback-long auburn hair. Curtain bangs left her diamond-shaped face clear. Her skin was light, and her eyes were golden brown. Even though she was wearing the same uniform as everyone else, she had found a way to wear it in a way that highlighted her busty curves. She was carrying a black shoulder bag, and was wearing black sneakers and white socks.
By comparison, the second girl was plainer and meeker. She was by no means small or ugly, but when put next to her expansive friend, she looked almost invisible. The typical sidekick of an alpha female... Her hair were plain brown. Her haircut was a shaggy bob, with arched bangs, and a small ponytail in the back. She had chestnut brown eyes and a light skin. Her face was round-shaped and her size was average. Her socks were light pink and more kiddie-looking. Her sneakers were white and her shoulder bag was pink.
The two girls were chatting idly, and entered the restrooms. For having observed the door, Felicia knew there wasn’t anyone else inside currently.
She nodded, and smiled to herself.
MJ glared at her. “Oh no! I see where this is going!”
“You prefer to let Kelly get assassinated?” the cat burglar retorted. “Need I have to remind you what will happen if the crowd starts a stampede?”
“Why does this always happen when I’m forced to team up with you?!” Had the redhead had longer hair, she would have pulled them off. “Why does this universe hate me so much?!”
Felicia shrugged. “Bad karma?” she proposed.
“Ugh! Let’s just get this over with.”
“Taking the words out of my mouth. Here. Hide this in your bag.” Felicia gave MJ a small bottle of chloroform.
“What about you?”
Black Cat patted her own side-bag. “All good things come in pairs…”
“You knew from the start it would end like this.”
“I had strong suspicions, yes. Always go out covered, that’s my rule.”
Felicia pulled a fake ‘Out of Order’ sign out of her side-bag, and stuck it up on the door. The cat burglar and the vigilante then walked into the restrooms.
The two students were currently busy checking their faces and clothes in the mirror. Felicia noticed each girl had a pass pinned onto her uniform blazer.
Black Cat walked next to the plain-looking student, and pretended to rummage through her backpack for some kerchief.
“Hi! Getting ready for the inauguration, I see?”
The confident student answered in her and her friend’s stead. “Yeah! Just in case we’re caught by some cameras… A girl’s gotta be ready at all times!”
She didn’t notice MJ walk to the sink next to her – Felicia supposed the redhead, with her pixie cut and second-hand clothes, looked like the people this top student was always overlooking.
Felicia nodded, and grabbed a very specific thick kerchief. Keeping her hands hidden in the backpack, she poured a generous dose of chloroform onto it. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed MJ was doing the same in her own side-bag.
Black Cat kept talking to distract the two girls. “Students were lucky to be given a pass… I heard many people would do anything to get their hands on one…”
The auburn-haired student grinned brightly. “You bet!” It was clear she delighted in being part of the ‘privileged few’ allowed to attend to the event.
Felicia resisted the urge to smile. A bit of ego-stroking always worked… At least, she could see MJ was having slightly less qualms about mugging this girl and trussing her up in her undies. Maybe the redhead was bullied in high-school by this kind of ‘alpha female’?
“By the way. I’ve never seen you before. Are you here for the inauguration?” the plain student asked. It was the first time she spoke, and Felicia immediately noticed she was more insightful than her friend.
Thankfully, the confident student wanted to remain the center of attention, and immediately spoke again: “Are you journalists? Maybe you want an interview?”
Felicia got ready, chloroform-soaked kerchief still concealed in her backpack. She saw MJ change her stance, and knew her partner was also ready to act.
However, Black Cat couldn’t resist a quip. She threw a line. “No, we are new students.”
“Then where are your uniforms?”
Felicia beamed. Jackpot!
“You’re wearing them.” she quipped.
Felicia suddenly pounced on the meek-looking student, clamping her chloroform-soaked kerchief against her nose and mouth.
“Mph?!”
At the same time, MJ grabbed the auburn-haired alpha student from behind to chloroform her.
“Wh-mmmmhhhhtttt?!”
“Listen-I’m-just-trying-to-save-your-school-and-everyone-inside!” Mary-Jane whispered through gritted teeth. “You-have-to-trust-me-on-this!”
Of course, the girl wasn’t in the mood to listen. Being mugged for disguise tended to do that…
She bucked wildly in every direction, and attempted to scream. Given how much energy she had, Felicia guessed she was part of some sports club. She also stomped on the redhead’s foot several times. Mary-Jane grunted, and made odd-looking grimaces of pain, but didn’t scream or let the girl go.
Felicia wouldn’t have traded students with her, even for all of Fort Knox’s gold. The meek-looking girl she was mugging didn’t make things difficult. Her struggles were weak, same with her moans for help. Black Cat wished all her victims were as considerate...
The auburn-haired student was eventually overcome by the narcotic fumes. Her struggles stopped, and her body slumped into MJ’s arms.
The redhead laid the unconscious student onto the floor, took a step back, and exhaled deeply. Then she muffled a howl of pain with her fist.
“My! Foot! She! Crushed! My! Foot!”
Felicia, who was still holding the motionless unconscious brown-haired student under the shoulders, chuckled. “I wish I had a camera right now…”
MJ’s answer involved the third finger starting from the thumb.
“Fair enough.” Felicia eyed the two unconscious girls’ body proportions. “Let’s trade.” she concluded.
They exchanged students, then each dragged her girl inside a stall, and proceeded to strip her down to her undergarments.
While the shoes and socks didn’t seem part of the uniform, they took them off anyway, as it would help them look the part. Then they unzipped the skirts and slipped them off the girls’ legs. Next they removed the bow ties, unbuttoned the blazers and held the girls’ arms up and slipped them off. Finally, they unbuttoned the student’s shirts, and pulled them off as well.
The auburn-haired student was left clad in a black lacy bra with red lacy edges and hot pink bikini panties adorned with scarlet lace. The brown-haired girl was left wearing a white seamless t-shirt bra and blue modest-looking boyshorts with a dark blue waistband strap.
Time was of the essence – and Felicia had all the tools they needed. Zip-ties, rolls of tape, and clean rags. Force of habit, but she had suspected from the start they would have to resort to classic infiltration shenanigans.
They zip-tied each student’s wrists behind her back, then they used a second pair to bind each girl’s ankles together. Clean kerchiefs were used as stuff-gag, then they each tightened a thick scarf around their girl’s lower face to prevent them from spitting the gag. Felicia and MJ poured a bit of chloroform onto the cloth-gag, to ensure the girls would sleep for the next couple of hours.
Next, before exiting their stalls, MJ and Felicia stripped off their casual clothes, and slipped into the students’ uniforms, socks, and shoes.
“I feel like I’m back at university…” Felicia commented.
“Reliving your glory days of bullying students?” MJ slyly quipped.
“I’ve never been part of the ‘alpha bitches’. I had the looks, but not the attitude.”
MJ used sturdy white strings to secure the auburn-haired student to the toilet seat, wrapping a few layers around her thighs and the toilet bowl, then around her waist and the pipe. Felicia dragged the brown-haired student inside the stall, and seated her onto her friend’s lap, and secured her onto the other girl by tying a sturdy string around both their torsos. The meek student was left with her chin resting against her friend’s left shoulder, their bodies intertwined, and their breasts and cheeks rubbing against each other.
This would make for an awkward awakening, but from experience Felicia knew it was best to not leave too many stalls ‘occupied’.
Black Cat closed the stall’s door, locked it from the outside, went to retrieve the ‘Out of Order’ sign, and stuck it onto the stall’s door. She wasn’t afraid somebody would hear the two girls’ call for help – the chloroform would make them nap for quite some time. But she didn’t want someone to accidentally open their stall. “Nobody will question one out-of-order toilet in a university…” she joked.
She noticed MJ was busy writing something in a small notebook.
“What are you doing?”
“Keeping tabs. When this is over, I’ll send their location to the police, so that they can be rescued.”
“Why do you bother? Police will search the entire area once we’re done. They’ll be found eventually.”
“Well, maybe I want them to be found quickly!”
“Okay, fine, hold your horses…” Felicia adjusted the bow tie and pinned the pass onto her blazer. “We have an assassination attempt to prevent.”
**************
With their student uniforms, Felicia and Mary-Jane blended in with the crowd gathered in front of the podium. The number of people was growing bigger and bigger. The speech would begin in roughly an hour.
Felicia observed the main building’s roof. She didn’t see anything suspicious for now. She could even discern the figures of two snipers, but that didn’t reassure her. Taylor’s plan most likely involved neutralizing the sentries on the roof – maybe they had already been replaced by impostors.
No. The cat burglar knew she couldn’t count on the security detail. Taylor could defeat half-a-dozen trained guards at the same time and by herself with her powers. The only chance was to take her by surprise. First, that meant finding a way to enter the building.
The platinum blonde glanced at her partner.
Mary-Jane didn’t feel comfortable in a skirt. She didn’t like how parts of her legs were exposed.
“We’ve maybe passed the security cordon, but I don’t see us being able to get near the main building dressed like that…” the redhead commented while trying to smoothen her uniform skirt for the tenth time.
Felicia grinned. “You’re taking the words out of my mouth.”
“I didn’t mean we should steal the outfits of- Oh, forget it!”
“Already done.”
Felicia glanced around her, and noticed a remote area near a secondary building in which tons of equipment and crates were stored. A few women of the staff were coming and going, but it was clear the area wasn’t really watched – all eyes were on the podium.
“Besides, I think I found the solution…”
Mary-Jane bit her lower lip. “What if I just cause a commotion near the platform?”
“It won’t work. They’ll arrest you and get on with the speech.” Felicia decided to be honest and earnest – a tactic she rarely used. “It’s too late to get cold feet now, Red. We don’t have much time left. My way is the only way. Either you’re with me till the bitter end, or you leave now.”
Mary-Jane glanced around her, and saw the families attending to the rally.
“I’m with you.”
Her grimace was a telling proof she knew things would end up badly for her.
For once, Felicia didn’t have the heart to make fun of her. She gently grabbed her shoulder, and said: “Relax. If there’s one thing my anti-heroic life has taught me, it’s that SHIELD always clean up the mess and give full pardon after you save the day.”
**************
Deep in the middle of the labyrinth of empty crates and spare equipment, two women were busy. One was part of the security detail, the other of the technical staff.
Elena, the security guard, was rummaging through the audiovisual equipment and cables inside one crate. She didn’t attempt to hide her bitterness:
“I can’t believe these jerks of Silver Sable Security… I’m supposed to ensure Mr. Kelly’s safety… I shouldn’t be wasting my time with maintenance…”
Next to her, Yumi shrugged, as she was sorting out electric cables. “Yeah. Technician is such a useless degrading job.” she retorted. Yumi was indeed a technician herself.
Elena blushed slightly. “I didn’t mean your job is degrading! Or unimportant! I just meant it’s not fair these jerks treat us like that. We are Kelly’s official security detail. He hired these upstarts from Silver Sable Security two weeks ago, and since then they’ve been acting as if they owned the place! They keep ordering us around as if we’re their lackeys!”
“I see your point. I don’t like them much either.” Yumi confessed. “They’re so pretentious. And they convinced Kelly to cut corners on the technical staff, so now we’re undermanned because of them!”
“Yeah, they’re the worst!” Elena smiled, delighted to have found someone who shared her loathing of Silver Sable Security.
She and her partner began to complain together.
Elena was a young woman with a slender physique, a fair skin, brown eyes, and neck-long blond hair styled like an inverted bob. As a guard of Kelly’s regular security detail, she was wearing a dark blue button-up blazer over a white button-up shirt, a black tie, dark blue trousers, and black heeled dress boots. She also had silver stud earrings – though those obviously weren’t part of her uniform.
Yumi was an Asian-American woman with short black hair and dark brown eyes. Like all members of the technical staff, she was clad in a black cap, a grey shirt, an orange reflective vest, grey work trousers, and black work shoes.
“Plus, I’m pretty sure their reputation is overblown. I bet you and I could do a better job than them!” Elena concluded.
Yumi scratched her chin. “I do attend judo classes…”
The blond guard threw a few punches in the air. “Criminals and other intruders better beware! The dynamic duo is ready to catch them! Aya! Yah!”
**************
When Elena threw her last mock-punch, Felicia moved out of her hiding spot behind a pile of empty boxes, and took advantage of the guard’s unbalanced stance to dispatch her with one hit of the hand’s edge in-between the neck and the left shoulder. The neck-chop knocked Elena out instantly.
At the same time, Mary-Jane jumped over a crate, behind Yumi, and grabbed her Vagus nerve. The nerve-pinch made the woman moan faintly, then lose consciousness.
The two wannabe heroines limply fell at the same time in the arms of their muggers.
Felicia and MJ dragged them behind a bunch of empty crates and boxes, and laid them onto the ground. Each began to steal the outfit of the woman she had knocked out.
Black Cat took off Elena’s black shoes, revealing the woman’s hot pink socks. Next, she slid the trousers down the blonde’s legs after unbuckling the belt, displaying Elena’s light pink tanga panties adorned on the edges with pink lace. Finally, she unbuttoned the uniform blazer and held Elena’s arms up to pulled it off. She loosened and removed the tie. Finally, she unbuttoned and took off the white shirt, leaving the blond guard clad only in a pink t-shirt bra.
Mary-Jane took off Yumi’s protective shoes and slipped her work trousers off her legs, displaying the Asian-American woman’s green socks and white classic briefs with a light green waistband strap and light green edges. Next she pulled off the woman’s cap, reflective jacket, and shirt. Yumi was left wearing a light green demi-bra.
MJ and Felicia also stole the two women’s socks, because the long socks they stole to the students wouldn’t match their new uniforms.
With so many electric cables around, there was no shortage of improvised restraints. Felicia and Mary-Jane made good use of them. In no time, Elena and Yumi were thoroughly trussed up. Each woman was bound hands and feet. Her shoulders were also immobilized, as well as her thighs and her calves.
Some rolls of black duct tape were also lying around, therefore each woman was gagged with a few layers of tape.
Finally, it was easy to locate an empty crate big enough to contain two unconscious underwear-clad bodies at the same time. Elena and Yumi were stashed inside, face-to-face and lying on the side.
Mary-Jane and Felicia quickly got dressed – the former putting on the technician uniform, the latter slipping into the security guard outfit. They threw their discarded student uniforms with Elena and Yumi in the crate.
Mary-Jane closed the lid, though she didn’t fully lock it to make sure the two women could still breathe. She and Felicia however moved other taller crates around, to better conceal the duo. The redhead took a few more notes on her notepad.
Felicia adjusted her stolen tie. “Now, we’re allowed to enter the main building.” she remarked.
“The back entrance?” MJ deduced.
“The back entrance.”
**************
April and Jade were stationed on the main building’s roof. The sniper and her teammate were meant to protect Robert Kelly during his speech. The pair was becoming more and more nervous the closer the moment of the speech was getting.
“Everything clear?” Jade asked in her walkie talkie.
She was answered by a chorus of: “Everything clear.” from all the guards of the regular security detail.
Except for one. The pair stationed in the backyard, in front of the scaffolding.
Jade tensed.
“Candice? Everything clear?” she insisted.
A voice finally answered: “Everything clear. Sorry for the delay. Had to check the passes of the team of painters.”
“Good. Don’t frighten me like that next time.”
“Sorry.”
April, the sniper, was a stocky light-skinned woman with dark blond hair and blue eyes. Jade, her aide, had a slim figure, reddish brown hair, green-brown eyes, and a white skin with a slight tan. Both women had a similar haircut: a tight low bun to make sure their hair wouldn’t get in the way.
The sniper and her teammate were wearing black caps, earpieces, dark grey tactical vests over black shirts, thick equipment belts, black fingerless gloves, black trousers, and black shoes. April was holding her sniper rifle, while Jade was watching the area with binoculars.
“For all their claims of being elites, Silver Sable’s goonettes sure left us regular security detail the most stressful job…” April complained.
“Tell me about it. I heard how much money they were asking. They got some nerve!”
“Bunch of upstarts…”
The two sentries were so focused on their discussion and their watch, they didn’t notice the three threats approaching them, in their backs.
“Kelly’s speech will begin soon. You see something suspicious?” April asked.
“Nothing.” Jade answered.
Taylor stretched her arms, Trapstr pulled out her tazer.
“Then again, who would be stupid enough to attempt on the life of a presidential candidate?”
April felt arms being wrapped around her throat and neck. Jade felt a tazer pressed against her neck.
Taylor squeezed, Trapstr pressed the trigger.
Gurgle! Zap!
The limp unconscious bodies of April and Jade were laid onto the roof, then injected with a sleeping drug.
Taylor shook her head. She wasn’t impressed by the general competence of Kelly’s security detail – whether the elite mercenaries or the resentful regular guards.
“Trapstr, Blender, you take their clothes. I’m fetching Nudge.”
Taylor left.
Charlotte smiled with hope. “Does that mean I’m in charge-”
“Trapstr is in charge.” Taylor interrupted her from afar.
“Dang it.”
Charlotte and Trapstr pulled off the caps, vests, shirts, belts, shoes, and trousers. April was reduced to her lime green boyshorts, aqua blue sports bra, and yellow socks; and Jade was left clad in a pink t-shirt bra with white straps, white knickers with a pink waistband strap, and grey socks.
The sentries were restrained hands and feet with zip-ties, and gagged and blindfolded with tape.
Charlotte put on the uniform of April, while Trapstr slipped into Jade’s outfit.
They dragged the two trussed up women in a blind spot of the roof, and concealed them behind an air vent. Then, they took position.
***************
In the backyard of the main building, there still was a scaffolding, as the paint job wasn’t finished yet. The painters weren’t there however. Nor were the guards supposed to secure the access to the backyard.
“Fishy…” MJ commented.
“I have a pretty good idea on why there are no workers or guards here…” Felicia added with a nod.
“You want to search the area?”
“No time for that. Besides, they’ve probably sedated all the women they neutralized.”
The two partners noticed an open window on the third floor. They used the scaffolding to discreetly enter the building through it.
“I think we found out how they got inside…”
The corridors of the building were empty – which was logical since it was supposed to be its inauguration. Guards were watching the accesses – at least the guards who had not been neutralized, but nobody else was inside.
Except, most likely, the very syndicate Felicia and MJ were looking to stop.
The two partners were discreet, and chose to go straight to the roof.
However, they hid behind some crates of furniture when they noticed the stairs leading to the roof were guarded.
The two women were dressed as mercenaries of Silver Sable Security.
“They didn’t neutralize all the security detail yet.” MJ whispered. “Maybe we won’t need to intervene.”
Felicia shook her head. “Look again.”
On second glance, the two ‘mercenaries’ indeed looked familiar. One was a slim blue-eyed blonde with a shaggy bob cut; the other a blue-eyed brunette with freckles and a bushy ponytail.
MJ groaned in annoyance. “Screwball and Carpenter.”
Near them, two discarded painter outfits were lying in a corner on the floor.
“Luckily, we won’t start with the most dangerous members of the gang. Follow my lead.” Felicia instructed.
As discreet as her namesake, Black Cat carefully approached her preys.
**************
Jenna nervously adjusted her weapon belt, then glanced at her partner. “Hey, Mary.”
“Screwball.” the blonde interjected. She hated nothing more than being reminded that she used to be a ‘Mary Smith’, a nobody, before she embraced her persona.
“Right. Sorry. Screwball. You know... I’ve been thinking. About everything. Working for Sparks is very different from working for White Rabbit… Sparks is willing to train me… Lorina was just a jerk… But now... Don’t you fear things are going… too far…? I mean… This goes way beyond mere heists…”
Screwball shrugged. She was too busy swiping on her phone.
Jenna frowned. “Taylor said-”
“I’m not posting anything! Just checking my views!”
The brunette sighed. “There’s no discussing with you…”
A female voice commented next to her. “Try me, then!”
**************
Felicia smiled. Sneaking on these two had been too easy. Then again, she wasn’t up against the brightest bulbs of the bunch either.
“Hello, girls! Not very attentive, I see. Talking and checking phones. Classic sentry mistakes.”
Jenna grabbed the gun strapped onto her belt.
Felicia’s fist hit her in the chin – at the exact spot that wasn’t protected by her helmet. The henchwoman fell on her butt with a groan.
Screwball swiftly rolled out of Black Cat’s reach, nimbly got back on her feet, and began to run. She intended to warn her teammates.
From her hideout, MJ extended her leg, and tripped her. The blonde comically landed on her stomach with a ‘splat!’.
Felicia sat on Screwball’s back, and applied a viselike sleeper-hold. “Good performance. Call the circus when you wake up, they’re looking for clowns. But for now, it’s curtains for you.”
Screwball gurgled a retort and kicked the floor with her feet, but unfortunately for her she couldn’t do much else. Soon, she was taking a nap.
Jenna massaged her jaw to recover her spirits.
Just in time to feel Mary-Jane clamp a chloroform-soaked rag over her lower face. The henchwoman was still in a seated position. She couldn’t properly repel the woman attacking her from behind. She attempted to call her teammates for help, but the hand-gag muffled her cries. She eventually succumbed to the narcotic fumes.
MJ laid her limp body onto the floor.
“Good teamwork.” she commented. “What do we do with them?”
Felicia checked her watch. “We take their outfits.” she decided.
“Can we afford the time?”
“If we hurry, yes. The helmet will conceal our faces, help us fool their teammates. They only have one fighter we should be wary of, but she’s more than a match for the two of us combined if we don’t take her by surprise.”
Mary-Jane nodded, and began to remove Jenna’s mercenary gear. Felicia did the same with Screwball. They took off the black combat shoes, silver grey uniform trousers, black weapon belts, grey protective fingerless glovess, white shirts, silver grey uniform jackets with the black SSS logo, and dark grey helmets.
The brunette was left clad in a light pink t-shirt bra with a pattern of flowers, and vertically striped green-and-white boxer undershorts. The blonde was of course wearing her own brand of underwear: a tacky white sports bra with fuchsia borders and shoulderstraps and her logo on the right cup, and matching white-and-fuchsia boyshorts with her logo.
“A little trip down memory lane?” Felicia remarked. “I mean, you’ve already mugged both of these clowns.”
Mary-Jane couldn’t help but grin a little. “Sure did… I believe they’re even wearing the same undergarments...”
They didn’t waste time when they restrained the two criminals. They used the zip-ties strapped onto their stolen equipment belts. (Well, technically the equipment belts Screwball and Carpenter stole first.) One for the wrists, and an other for the ankles. For the gags, they simply tied a chloroform-soaked piece of cloth around each woman’s lower face. They knew at least Screwball was agile enough to free herself without much trouble, but hoped the chloroform would keep her out of commission until they were done.
Next, they got dressed in the mercenary gear. MJ briefly wondered where the two real mercenaries were, but they didn’t have the time to search for them. They probably wouldn’t be of much help anyway.
“We hide our clothes. And also their painter outfits. These two could free themselves and look for a way to dress up. Better not help them.” Felicia instructed.
Once they were done, they dragged the unconscious criminals in the stairwell, and left them lying in a corner. Then they ran to the roof, aware they didn’t have much time left to prevent the worst.
**************
On top of the roof, Sarah was staring at the enhancer with the facial expression of someone who was about to skydive without parachute. She knew the moment she’d strap the device around her bare skin, her empathy would be increased – both her influence and her perception. With normal powers, sensing the emotions of a crowd was already unbearable. With enhanced empathy, it would become a torture.
Taylor was standing next to her. She could hear the people below. The speech was about to begin.
Until now, the operation had been a rousing success. Yet, the former secret agent couldn’t help but feel ill-at-ease. What they were about to do wasn’t something to be taken lightly… Even by a rogue black op...
Taylor was no stranger to killing – nor was she adverse to it –. She had done it many times when she was still a government pawn. But causing a mass stampede felt like a whole different level...
“It’s a bit late to have second-thoughts.” Sarah commented. “You said it yourself. We must pay our debt to Mr. Eisenhardt. He helped us break Charlotte out and escape our pursuers.” She paused. “Escape my pursuers…” she corrected herself. Both the Canadian and the American governments were after Sarah. They still hadn’t given up on the pursuit.
Taylor was a bit startled. Even she sometimes forgot her teammate could sense her mood with her empathy. Still, she asked: “You… sure you want to do it?”
Sarah wasn’t a fighter – that Taylor had known the moment she had rescued the blonde from the government facility she was locked in. Sarah didn’t have the stomach for violence. Since she could feel other people’s pain, it wasn’t surprising.
The blonde glanced at the mass of people cheering with a sad expression, then she looked at the lone male figure climbing the platform.
“It’s because of people like Kelly I was locked in a facility. I didn’t do anything wrong. They locked me, studied me like some sort of animal… They robbed me of my life... made sure I couldn’t become anything else than what I am right now…” Even when she was angry, Sarah barely raised her whisper-like voice. It was as if after spending so much time hearing everyone’s emotions, she preferred to keep hers numb. “Mr. Eisenhardt says I can make a difference. He says I can make things better.”
She was parroting Magneto’s rhetoric, Taylor thought to herself. But alas, Sarah was the kind of person who went along with the flow… Usually, it was Taylor. Today, it was Magneto. If Sarah wanted to follow the old man’s directions, Taylor felt she didn’t have any legitimacy to stop her.
The former secret agent nodded. “I’ll wait at a distance. It’s best I don’t distract you with my own emotions.”
Robert Kelly arrived in front of his podium.
Sarah strapped the enhancer around her arm.
**************
A maelstrom.
A maelstrom of sensations so strong I gag in pain.
That’s what I perceive right now, with my enhanced empathy.
But it’s okay.
I accept the pain. I embrace the pain. I deserve the pain.
What I’m about to do is neither moral nor fair.
Mr. Eisenhardt said I can make a difference. He said I can make things change. But he never said it would be so hard...
I focus my attention on the lone figure of Robert Kelly.
I remember the facility. I remember the years spent as a lab rat. I remember they're still chasing after me. And they would still chase after me if I was law-abiding. They would have an easier time if I was law-abiding...
It wasn’t because of him, but it was because of people like him.
They said they wanted to turn me into a weapon. For justice they said.
They got their weapon...
The crowd goes silent. Kelly begins his speech.
That’s my cue to act.
I begin bending the emotions of the crowd. The enhancer is truly a marvel of technology. I never would’ve even dreamed being able to influence so many people at the same time. It feels like redirecting the flow of a river. How many are they even?
So that’s the power Mr. Jefferson was longing to harness in the facility. The power to turn any crowd into docile lambs… or on the contrary to thrust people into frenzy until they trample each other in a display of unfettered violence...
I cry.
It’s not out of pain.
Cut-throat politics - Marvel: Earth-USB Saga (Part 14)
-
rufusluciusivan
- Posts: 1556
- Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2017 5:08 pm
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rufusluciusivan
- Posts: 1556
- Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2017 5:08 pm
Re: Cut-throat politics - Marvel: Earth-USB Saga (Part 14)
Because of something like 5.000 meager letters, I had to split this chapter into two parts... Make sure to read the first part beforehand.
**************
When Felicia and MJ arrived on the roof, Robert Kelly’s speech had already begun. They didn’t bother listening to him – he was using the same themes as always. Instead, they scanned the area.
“You know how they intend to control the crowd?”
“Not really.”
Their blood froze when they began to hear loud screams from the crowd below. Clearly, something was rousing their anger. Something unnatural.
A stampede was beginning.
Kelly stopped talking mid-sentence. He had realized something was clearly wrong. His rehearsed speech turned into calls for calm.
But nobody was listening.
“It’s started.” Felicia commented.
“Here!” MJ suddenly exclaimed. She was pointing at a lone blond woman, standing at the other side of the roof, her attention focused on the crowd below.
Without waiting for her accomplice, the redhead rushed towards the blonde.
“Hey you! Stop that right now!”
Felicia resisted the urge to groan, and ran after her partner. So much for the sneak attack…
At least Mary-Jane had been able to distract the woman from the crowd. With some luck, their foe needed complete focus and eye contact to do… whatever she was doing to rouse the mob to frenzy.
At least it wasn’t Taylor!
The blonde looked at them.
Felicia recognized Sarah Summers. Aka Nudge. The member of the gang who was somehow a bigger priority than Taylor in the eyes of the many agencies investigating on the syndicate.
MJ and Felicia couldn’t help but share a glance.
Sarah clearly didn’t look the part of the supervillainess, with her pale skin and the huge dark rings under her eyes. She was wearing the outfit of a painter. No fancy costume or mask here. The blonde blinked several times very fast, and they realized it was because tears were rolling down her cheeks.
“Who’re you supposed to be? The Crying Banshee?” Felicia exclaimed, figuring out it was best to start the fight with a few quips.
The blonde recoiled, as if she had been slapped in the face. For some reason, Felicia’s and MJ’s mere presence seemed to affect her.
“This’ll be easier than I thought…”
Felicia took a step forward.
Then it befell on her all at once.
Fear. Horror. Despair.
Felicia gasped. That feeling... Contrary to her namesake, she wasn’t a scaredy cat. Few things could phase her. But right now, she had never felt so terrified in her life – except once, when Kraven and his posse had hunted her.
The rational part of her mind was telling her reaction wasn’t logical. There was foul play. But her emotions didn’t listen to her reason. They were screaming she didn’t stand a chance. Screaming she had to flee.
It took Felicia a superhuman effort, but she glanced at her teammate. She noticed MJ had fallen on a knee, head between her hands, an expression of absolute terror on her face. She was shaking.
Black Cat glared at Sarah. It’s her! It’s her doing! She’s influencing our emotions!
An empath. It was the team’s secret weapon. An empath somehow powerful enough to influence an entire crowd. No wonder all these agencies were looking to get their hands on her. Such power…
Well, I certainly won’t let her tell me what to feel!
**************
Trapstr adjusted her binoculars. “Oh oh…”
Charlotte stopped fidgeting with the sniper rifle. “Is that the good kind or the bad kind of ‘Oh oh’?”
“The worst. You may wanna call Taylor.”
**************
Knowing the nature of the threat helped Felicia fight off the tampering of her emotions. Most people probably wouldn’t have been able to resist that woman’s empathy.
But Black Cat wasn’t anybody. Years of intense training, daring heists, and dangerous fights had honed her spirit. She prided herself with her nerves of steel, and her control of her emotions.
She could still feel the utter fear, the boundless terror, the crushing despair. But she knew they were fake emotions, artificially imprinted by that woman’s power.
Felicia stood up, and took a step forward.
Sarah frowned. She increased her empathy.
Felicia ignored the waves of negative emotions. She channeled all her willpower, and lunged forward.
“No! Don’t come too close! I can’t- I can’t-”
The blonde recoiled in fear, lost balance, and fell on her butt before Black Cat could even throw a punch.
“It’s too much! I can’t handle it!”
She curled up and began to sob herself.
“It’s too much… I can’t… I can’t...”
The pressure on their emotions vanished.
Felicia stood awkwardly, suspecting foul play. Eventually, she realized it wasn’t a trick.
“Uh. Team Felicia wins?”
She didn’t feel very proud of her victory when watching her opponent crying in a fetal position, however. That girl clearly wasn’t a fighter. Had she been coerced into joining the gang?
Behind her, Felicia heard MJ moan to herself. She could easily picture the redhead massaging her temples, trying to recover from the ordeal.
Or maybe she was moaning in pain because Black Cat had dubbed their duo ‘Team Felicia’...
In the distance, she heard the crowd was calming down. Robert Kelly was urging them to stand down, and instructing his staff to keep the situation under control.
Just in time… Just in time to prevent a stampede...
“I… I believe… We just saved the day… Red…” Felicia commented while also trying to catch her breath.
She carefully approached the sobbing blonde. Sarah was having little spasms.
“Not good. I think she’s having a seizure.”
Felicia moved the young woman’s body into a lateral recovery position.
“She needs medical attention… Help me carry her...”
MJ didn’t answer.
Felicia was alerted by a faint grunt of pain, and the sound of a limp body falling onto the roof.
Her eyes widened.
Oh no!
During one fraction of second, Black Cat understood how sentries felt when she knocked out their partner right behind them, and they knew they were next.
Reflexively, she turned.
MJ was indeed lying on her side. Her back was turned, so Felicia couldn’t see her face – hopefully the redhead was only unconscious. Next to MJ, a black-haired woman was standing. She was dressed like a painter, but had the combat stance of an elite black op.
Felicia recognized Taylor Woodward.
Not again...
Felicia didn’t have the time to react. Her reflexes were still dulled by the brutal tampering of her emotions.
And Taylor’s speed wasn’t human.
The woman’s fist connected with Felicia’s jaw. Black Cat saw stars, and fell onto the roof.
Half-unconscious, lying on the side, she faintly heard a conversation:
“… who are they?”
“… redhead… don’t know… other one… Black Cat herself…”
“… found Carpenter and Screwball…” (Felicia winced. Even from afar, she could recognize Charlotte’s grating voice. Please! Anything but that!) “… woke them up… released them… clothes... stolen…”
“… mission… failure...”
One voice got closer. It was Taylor. “...’ll carry Sarah. We’re leaving.”
“What do we do with them?” an other female voice – Trapstr? – asked.
“Stun them. Let them take the fall.”
Through half-closed eyelids, Felicia saw Trapstr take a knee, and look at her in the face.
The tech expert smiled. “Oh, still not unconscious? Even better! Consider it payback, for sending me to jail. Now I’ll return the favor.”
Felicia wished she had a witty repartee, but she only managed to let out a slurred mumble.
“Adorable.” Trapstr commented. She pressed a stun gun against Felicia’s neck. “How the mighty Black Cat has fallen...”
She pressed the trigger.
Then everything went black.
**************
When Felicia and MJ arrived on the roof, Robert Kelly’s speech had already begun. They didn’t bother listening to him – he was using the same themes as always. Instead, they scanned the area.
“You know how they intend to control the crowd?”
“Not really.”
Their blood froze when they began to hear loud screams from the crowd below. Clearly, something was rousing their anger. Something unnatural.
A stampede was beginning.
Kelly stopped talking mid-sentence. He had realized something was clearly wrong. His rehearsed speech turned into calls for calm.
But nobody was listening.
“It’s started.” Felicia commented.
“Here!” MJ suddenly exclaimed. She was pointing at a lone blond woman, standing at the other side of the roof, her attention focused on the crowd below.
Without waiting for her accomplice, the redhead rushed towards the blonde.
“Hey you! Stop that right now!”
Felicia resisted the urge to groan, and ran after her partner. So much for the sneak attack…
At least Mary-Jane had been able to distract the woman from the crowd. With some luck, their foe needed complete focus and eye contact to do… whatever she was doing to rouse the mob to frenzy.
At least it wasn’t Taylor!
The blonde looked at them.
Felicia recognized Sarah Summers. Aka Nudge. The member of the gang who was somehow a bigger priority than Taylor in the eyes of the many agencies investigating on the syndicate.
MJ and Felicia couldn’t help but share a glance.
Sarah clearly didn’t look the part of the supervillainess, with her pale skin and the huge dark rings under her eyes. She was wearing the outfit of a painter. No fancy costume or mask here. The blonde blinked several times very fast, and they realized it was because tears were rolling down her cheeks.
“Who’re you supposed to be? The Crying Banshee?” Felicia exclaimed, figuring out it was best to start the fight with a few quips.
The blonde recoiled, as if she had been slapped in the face. For some reason, Felicia’s and MJ’s mere presence seemed to affect her.
“This’ll be easier than I thought…”
Felicia took a step forward.
Then it befell on her all at once.
Fear. Horror. Despair.
Felicia gasped. That feeling... Contrary to her namesake, she wasn’t a scaredy cat. Few things could phase her. But right now, she had never felt so terrified in her life – except once, when Kraven and his posse had hunted her.
The rational part of her mind was telling her reaction wasn’t logical. There was foul play. But her emotions didn’t listen to her reason. They were screaming she didn’t stand a chance. Screaming she had to flee.
It took Felicia a superhuman effort, but she glanced at her teammate. She noticed MJ had fallen on a knee, head between her hands, an expression of absolute terror on her face. She was shaking.
Black Cat glared at Sarah. It’s her! It’s her doing! She’s influencing our emotions!
An empath. It was the team’s secret weapon. An empath somehow powerful enough to influence an entire crowd. No wonder all these agencies were looking to get their hands on her. Such power…
Well, I certainly won’t let her tell me what to feel!
**************
Trapstr adjusted her binoculars. “Oh oh…”
Charlotte stopped fidgeting with the sniper rifle. “Is that the good kind or the bad kind of ‘Oh oh’?”
“The worst. You may wanna call Taylor.”
**************
Knowing the nature of the threat helped Felicia fight off the tampering of her emotions. Most people probably wouldn’t have been able to resist that woman’s empathy.
But Black Cat wasn’t anybody. Years of intense training, daring heists, and dangerous fights had honed her spirit. She prided herself with her nerves of steel, and her control of her emotions.
She could still feel the utter fear, the boundless terror, the crushing despair. But she knew they were fake emotions, artificially imprinted by that woman’s power.
Felicia stood up, and took a step forward.
Sarah frowned. She increased her empathy.
Felicia ignored the waves of negative emotions. She channeled all her willpower, and lunged forward.
“No! Don’t come too close! I can’t- I can’t-”
The blonde recoiled in fear, lost balance, and fell on her butt before Black Cat could even throw a punch.
“It’s too much! I can’t handle it!”
She curled up and began to sob herself.
“It’s too much… I can’t… I can’t...”
The pressure on their emotions vanished.
Felicia stood awkwardly, suspecting foul play. Eventually, she realized it wasn’t a trick.
“Uh. Team Felicia wins?”
She didn’t feel very proud of her victory when watching her opponent crying in a fetal position, however. That girl clearly wasn’t a fighter. Had she been coerced into joining the gang?
Behind her, Felicia heard MJ moan to herself. She could easily picture the redhead massaging her temples, trying to recover from the ordeal.
Or maybe she was moaning in pain because Black Cat had dubbed their duo ‘Team Felicia’...
In the distance, she heard the crowd was calming down. Robert Kelly was urging them to stand down, and instructing his staff to keep the situation under control.
Just in time… Just in time to prevent a stampede...
“I… I believe… We just saved the day… Red…” Felicia commented while also trying to catch her breath.
She carefully approached the sobbing blonde. Sarah was having little spasms.
“Not good. I think she’s having a seizure.”
Felicia moved the young woman’s body into a lateral recovery position.
“She needs medical attention… Help me carry her...”
MJ didn’t answer.
Felicia was alerted by a faint grunt of pain, and the sound of a limp body falling onto the roof.
Her eyes widened.
Oh no!
During one fraction of second, Black Cat understood how sentries felt when she knocked out their partner right behind them, and they knew they were next.
Reflexively, she turned.
MJ was indeed lying on her side. Her back was turned, so Felicia couldn’t see her face – hopefully the redhead was only unconscious. Next to MJ, a black-haired woman was standing. She was dressed like a painter, but had the combat stance of an elite black op.
Felicia recognized Taylor Woodward.
Not again...
Felicia didn’t have the time to react. Her reflexes were still dulled by the brutal tampering of her emotions.
And Taylor’s speed wasn’t human.
The woman’s fist connected with Felicia’s jaw. Black Cat saw stars, and fell onto the roof.
Half-unconscious, lying on the side, she faintly heard a conversation:
“… who are they?”
“… redhead… don’t know… other one… Black Cat herself…”
“… found Carpenter and Screwball…” (Felicia winced. Even from afar, she could recognize Charlotte’s grating voice. Please! Anything but that!) “… woke them up… released them… clothes... stolen…”
“… mission… failure...”
One voice got closer. It was Taylor. “...’ll carry Sarah. We’re leaving.”
“What do we do with them?” an other female voice – Trapstr? – asked.
“Stun them. Let them take the fall.”
Through half-closed eyelids, Felicia saw Trapstr take a knee, and look at her in the face.
The tech expert smiled. “Oh, still not unconscious? Even better! Consider it payback, for sending me to jail. Now I’ll return the favor.”
Felicia wished she had a witty repartee, but she only managed to let out a slurred mumble.
“Adorable.” Trapstr commented. She pressed a stun gun against Felicia’s neck. “How the mighty Black Cat has fallen...”
She pressed the trigger.
Then everything went black.
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meditions142
- Posts: 1947
- Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2018 2:51 pm
Re: Cut-throat politics - Marvel: Earth-USB Saga (Part 14)
Great chapter!
It starts with a wonderful mass take out of the painters. Such a cool scene in that so many methods were used to knock the women out. A sleeperhold, a dart, a tazer, a neck chop and gas.
I also really liked the fact Sarah was using her mental powers to soothe the women's emotions and dull their sense of danger. I really liked the description of the take out of the redhead while she was being effected by Sarah's powers: "With her blowpipe, Screwball shot a dart right into a tall green-eyed tanned-skinned redhead’s neck with a square cut. The woman’s sense of danger was still dulled. The fast-acting sleeping drug made her pass out before she was worried enough to call for help." I love the fact Sarah was able to dull the woman's thoughts enough that even after being darted she didn't get too concerned.
Then we get the final scene in the attack where the remaining two women are forced to get down on their knees and then are knocked out. I also like that in the middle of it their emotions came back when Sarah stopped using her powers.
I actually really liked the scene with the guards at the entry to the backyard. It is fun scene in that we see the stolen clothing tricking the guards. It is also great that the plan had not been to knock the two women out. Love the way Taylor takes them out. Clearing, since the women had been fooled they have no problem turning their backs on the team. This allows Taylor to do the classic "bank their heads together" to knock them out. Great description too: "The brunette and the redhead collapsed on each other with barely a peep."
And then we have the wonderful touch of them being shot with darts to keep them asleep. Definitely like this concept and we even got the Felicia's great comment on it when MJ asked if they should do a search: “No time for that. Besides, they’ve probably sedated all the women they neutralized.”
Then Elena and Yumi scene was of course great. Love Elena and Yumi discussing how they could subdue intruders only to be immediately knocked out. Great too that Elena got a neck chop and Yumi got a nerve pinch. Love picturing them simultaneously slumping into Felicia and MJ's arms.
Such a fun chapter!
It starts with a wonderful mass take out of the painters. Such a cool scene in that so many methods were used to knock the women out. A sleeperhold, a dart, a tazer, a neck chop and gas.
I also really liked the fact Sarah was using her mental powers to soothe the women's emotions and dull their sense of danger. I really liked the description of the take out of the redhead while she was being effected by Sarah's powers: "With her blowpipe, Screwball shot a dart right into a tall green-eyed tanned-skinned redhead’s neck with a square cut. The woman’s sense of danger was still dulled. The fast-acting sleeping drug made her pass out before she was worried enough to call for help." I love the fact Sarah was able to dull the woman's thoughts enough that even after being darted she didn't get too concerned.
Then we get the final scene in the attack where the remaining two women are forced to get down on their knees and then are knocked out. I also like that in the middle of it their emotions came back when Sarah stopped using her powers.
I actually really liked the scene with the guards at the entry to the backyard. It is fun scene in that we see the stolen clothing tricking the guards. It is also great that the plan had not been to knock the two women out. Love the way Taylor takes them out. Clearing, since the women had been fooled they have no problem turning their backs on the team. This allows Taylor to do the classic "bank their heads together" to knock them out. Great description too: "The brunette and the redhead collapsed on each other with barely a peep."
And then we have the wonderful touch of them being shot with darts to keep them asleep. Definitely like this concept and we even got the Felicia's great comment on it when MJ asked if they should do a search: “No time for that. Besides, they’ve probably sedated all the women they neutralized.”
Then Elena and Yumi scene was of course great. Love Elena and Yumi discussing how they could subdue intruders only to be immediately knocked out. Great too that Elena got a neck chop and Yumi got a nerve pinch. Love picturing them simultaneously slumping into Felicia and MJ's arms.
Such a fun chapter!
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meditions142
- Posts: 1947
- Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2018 2:51 pm
Re: Cut-throat politics - Marvel: Earth-USB Saga (Part 14)
Hi Rufus
As I sometime do, I went back and re-read the story. I do that as sometimes I come across something I had not picked up on as much the first time.
The thing that I wanted to touch on from my second reading is how much I like your character development of Taylor. You do a great job of showing Taylor being a very much ruthless person given her background. I love the little dialogue when Jenna asks if Taylor would have shot the two women if they didn't surrender. First she simply answers "yes" seemingly indicating she doesn't have qualms about doing what she has to. Then we get her comment: “I was a black op. What do you think I did back then? Coffee and photocopies? Just because I’m good at killing people doesn’t mean I like it. Or it’s my go-to solution. But never think I’m adverse to it.” Taylor will kill even innocents if she has to.
We also get her contempt for the guards they have to deal with. As you note, "She wasn’t impressed by the general competence of Kelly’s security detail – whether the elite mercenaries or the resentful regular guards." Clearly she knows they are inferior to her.
Also, you set her up to show that while she will want to avoid killing, she shows little concern for the women she has to deal with. An example of this was when she dealt with the two women who were guarding the entry to the backyard. Clearly, she knew she had to neutralize them once she realized they could see the scaffolding and would know the painters were not at work. However, the women had been tricked and, not having any concern, had apparently allowed the team to get behind them. There was therefore multiple ways the women could have been put to sleep in a relatively gentle way (at least as gentle as knocking someone out can be). However, Taylor used the rather violent method of knocking the women out by banged their heads together. Clearly a very effective way to knock two women standing next to each other out. However, it probably ended up giving both women concussions. Again, showing that Taylor seemingly doesn't care too much about the women she needs to deal with.
I really like you character development of Taylor.
As I sometime do, I went back and re-read the story. I do that as sometimes I come across something I had not picked up on as much the first time.
The thing that I wanted to touch on from my second reading is how much I like your character development of Taylor. You do a great job of showing Taylor being a very much ruthless person given her background. I love the little dialogue when Jenna asks if Taylor would have shot the two women if they didn't surrender. First she simply answers "yes" seemingly indicating she doesn't have qualms about doing what she has to. Then we get her comment: “I was a black op. What do you think I did back then? Coffee and photocopies? Just because I’m good at killing people doesn’t mean I like it. Or it’s my go-to solution. But never think I’m adverse to it.” Taylor will kill even innocents if she has to.
We also get her contempt for the guards they have to deal with. As you note, "She wasn’t impressed by the general competence of Kelly’s security detail – whether the elite mercenaries or the resentful regular guards." Clearly she knows they are inferior to her.
Also, you set her up to show that while she will want to avoid killing, she shows little concern for the women she has to deal with. An example of this was when she dealt with the two women who were guarding the entry to the backyard. Clearly, she knew she had to neutralize them once she realized they could see the scaffolding and would know the painters were not at work. However, the women had been tricked and, not having any concern, had apparently allowed the team to get behind them. There was therefore multiple ways the women could have been put to sleep in a relatively gentle way (at least as gentle as knocking someone out can be). However, Taylor used the rather violent method of knocking the women out by banged their heads together. Clearly a very effective way to knock two women standing next to each other out. However, it probably ended up giving both women concussions. Again, showing that Taylor seemingly doesn't care too much about the women she needs to deal with.
I really like you character development of Taylor.
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rufusluciusivan
- Posts: 1556
- Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2017 5:08 pm
Re: Cut-throat politics - Marvel: Earth-USB Saga (Part 14)
meditions142 wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2024 12:39 pm Great chapter!
It starts with a wonderful mass take out of the painters. Such a cool scene in that so many methods were used to knock the women out. A sleeperhold, a dart, a tazer, a neck chop and gas.
I also really liked the fact Sarah was using her mental powers to soothe the women's emotions and dull their sense of danger. I really liked the description of the take out of the redhead while she was being effected by Sarah's powers: "With her blowpipe, Screwball shot a dart right into a tall green-eyed tanned-skinned redhead’s neck with a square cut. The woman’s sense of danger was still dulled. The fast-acting sleeping drug made her pass out before she was worried enough to call for help." I love the fact Sarah was able to dull the woman's thoughts enough that even after being darted she didn't get too concerned.
Then we get the final scene in the attack where the remaining two women are forced to get down on their knees and then are knocked out. I also like that in the middle of it their emotions came back when Sarah stopped using her powers.
Mass-muggings always have a special flavor, maybe because they're rarer - from a writing standpoint, I consider them a chore. They require a lot more efforts than scene with only two or three damsels, and you have to balance out giving a decent description of each girl and not breaking the pace of the story. That's why I don't write many of them
Given the diversity of profiles in Taylor's team, it was a given there'd be a variety of methods to knock women out.
Sarah's powers have two variations. There's a subtle version, the one she used against the health inspectors in a previous part, to subtly nudge people by fidgeting with their emotions. And there's a blunt version, like the one she used against the painters or Felicia, to respectively numb or overload an other personn's emotions. With enough focus, she can dull any woman's fear and sense of self-preservation until she's been turned into a sitting duck waiting to be mugged. That's what happened with the red-haired painter. It takes strong willpower to break free of her empathy.
I actually really liked the scene with the guards at the entry to the backyard. It is fun scene in that we see the stolen clothing tricking the guards. It is also great that the plan had not been to knock the two women out. Love the way Taylor takes them out. Clearing, since the women had been fooled they have no problem turning their backs on the team. This allows Taylor to do the classic "bank their heads together" to knock them out. Great description too: "The brunette and the redhead collapsed on each other with barely a peep."
[/quote}
Those two poor guards were quite unlucky. Barely an afterthought in Taylor's plan... They weren't even that dumb, like your typical incompetent guards - their opponents were simply a league above them.
The "bank their heads together" is a very funny image, even though it's probably one of the less realistic methods to knock people out fiction has even come up with...
Sleep darts are great tools to justify why the women don't wake up even though the whole operation lasts a couple of hours.And then we have the wonderful touch of them being shot with darts to keep them asleep. Definitely like this concept and we even got the Felicia's great comment on it when MJ asked if they should do a search: “No time for that. Besides, they’ve probably sedated all the women they neutralized.”
The irony was strong with these ones. They shouldn't have gloated they were a match to stop intruders. Alas, women in USB stories will never learn to stop tempting fate...Then Elena and Yumi scene was of course great. Love Elena and Yumi discussing how they could subdue intruders only to be immediately knocked out. Great too that Elena got a neck chop and Yumi got a nerve pinch. Love picturing them simultaneously slumping into Felicia and MJ's arms.
I really like Taylor's character. In many aspects, she's like a more positive counterpart of Emery from my very old Utopia saga.meditions142 wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2024 5:40 pm Hi Rufus
As I sometime do, I went back and re-read the story. I do that as sometimes I come across something I had not picked up on as much the first time.
The thing that I wanted to touch on from my second reading is how much I like your character development of Taylor. You do a great job of showing Taylor being a very much ruthless person given her background. I love the little dialogue when Jenna asks if Taylor would have shot the two women if they didn't surrender. First she simply answers "yes" seemingly indicating she doesn't have qualms about doing what she has to. Then we get her comment: “I was a black op. What do you think I did back then? Coffee and photocopies? Just because I’m good at killing people doesn’t mean I like it. Or it’s my go-to solution. But never think I’m adverse to it.” Taylor will kill even innocents if she has to.
We also get her contempt for the guards they have to deal with. As you note, "She wasn’t impressed by the general competence of Kelly’s security detail – whether the elite mercenaries or the resentful regular guards." Clearly she knows they are inferior to her.
Also, you set her up to show that while she will want to avoid killing, she shows little concern for the women she has to deal with. An example of this was when she dealt with the two women who were guarding the entry to the backyard. Clearly, she knew she had to neutralize them once she realized they could see the scaffolding and would know the painters were not at work. However, the women had been tricked and, not having any concern, had apparently allowed the team to get behind them. There was therefore multiple ways the women could have been put to sleep in a relatively gentle way (at least as gentle as knocking someone out can be). However, Taylor used the rather violent method of knocking the women out by banged their heads together. Clearly a very effective way to knock two women standing next to each other out. However, it probably ended up giving both women concussions. Again, showing that Taylor seemingly doesn't care too much about the women she needs to deal with.
I really like you character development of Taylor.
She used to be a government-trained secret black op and assassin, but at some point she grew disgruntled with her role as a pawn and what they made her do in the name of the "greater good". Still, with such background, it's pretty clear she's colder and more brutal than someone like Black Cat.
The line "Just because I’m good at killing people doesn’t mean I like it. Or it’s my go-to solution. But never think I’m adverse to it." sums her up well. She doesn't enjoy killing. She's killed people back when she was a black op, and she has grown tired of it. She prefers to avoid it. But if push comes to shove, she'll kill without hesitation - even innocent people. And she's certainly adverse to the idea of using brutal ways to non-lethally dispatch people.
Yes indeed, she's pretty cold, and she has little patience for zaniness or incompetence - hence why she doesn't think highly of the guards she and her team mugged without trouble. However, she does have a soft spot for Charlotte and Sarah. Especially for Sarah, as she sympathizes with her plight - but more will be revealed eventually.
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meditions142
- Posts: 1947
- Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2018 2:51 pm
Re: Cut-throat politics - Marvel: Earth-USB Saga (Part 14)
rufusluciusivan wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2024 7:14 pm
Sarah's powers have two variations. There's a subtle version, the one she used against the health inspectors in a previous part, to subtly nudge people by fidgeting with their emotions. And there's a blunt version, like the one she used against the painters or Felicia, to respectively numb or overload an other personn's emotions. With enough focus, she can dull any woman's fear and sense of self-preservation until she's been turned into a sitting duck waiting to be mugged. That's what happened with the red-haired painter. It takes strong willpower to break free of her empathy.
Those two poor guards were quite unlucky. Barely an afterthought in Taylor's plan... They weren't even that dumb, like your typical incompetent guards - their opponents were simply a league above them.
The "bank their heads together" is a very funny image, even though it's probably one of the less realistic methods to knock people out fiction has even come up with...
Okay, you have me getting more and more intrigued with Sarah's powers. So she has two levels. While I know it falls short of hypnosis, I do like the idea it will "numb or overload an other person's emotions. With enough focus, she can dull any woman's fear and sense of self-preservation until she's been turned into a sitting duck waiting to be mugged. That's what happened with the red-haired painter. It takes strong willpower to break free of her empathy." It almost sounds a little like the Force where, as Ben Kenobi said, it can be powerful on the weaker minded.
Given the description of that power I would love in a future story to see Sarah use it perhaps to deal with a guard. You could picture the team needing to get past a guard and get her uniform. Sarah could use the blunt version of her powers to overload the guard's emotions so that she would let one of the team walk right up to her. Then she could simply reach out and knock the unresisting woman out with a nerve pinch.
You definitely do have to feel for those poor guards. They had basically not been, as you say, "dumb guards" but they were totally out matched and ended up getting knocked out in a pretty rough (yet still funny) way.
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rufusluciusivan
- Posts: 1556
- Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2017 5:08 pm
Re: Cut-throat politics - Marvel: Earth-USB Saga (Part 14)
Contrary to Taylor's powers, Sarah's powers technically don't have a straightforward "USB"-related use. Taylor can taze women with her bare hands thanks to her electricity-based powers or knock out several women in a row with her enhanced speed if she truly goes all out. At first glance, Sarah's powers are more suited for a social manipulator. Therefore, it's a fun challenge to come up with scenarios in which her powers have a USB use.meditions142 wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2024 7:42 pmrufusluciusivan wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2024 7:14 pm
Sarah's powers have two variations. There's a subtle version, the one she used against the health inspectors in a previous part, to subtly nudge people by fidgeting with their emotions. And there's a blunt version, like the one she used against the painters or Felicia, to respectively numb or overload an other personn's emotions. With enough focus, she can dull any woman's fear and sense of self-preservation until she's been turned into a sitting duck waiting to be mugged. That's what happened with the red-haired painter. It takes strong willpower to break free of her empathy.
Those two poor guards were quite unlucky. Barely an afterthought in Taylor's plan... They weren't even that dumb, like your typical incompetent guards - their opponents were simply a league above them.
The "bank their heads together" is a very funny image, even though it's probably one of the less realistic methods to knock people out fiction has even come up with...
Okay, you have me getting more and more intrigued with Sarah's powers. So she has two levels. While I know it falls short of hypnosis, I do like the idea it will "numb or overload an other person's emotions. With enough focus, she can dull any woman's fear and sense of self-preservation until she's been turned into a sitting duck waiting to be mugged. That's what happened with the red-haired painter. It takes strong willpower to break free of her empathy." It almost sounds a little like the Force where, as Ben Kenobi said, it can be powerful on the weaker minded.
Given the description of that power I would love in a future story to see Sarah use it perhaps to deal with a guard. You could picture the team needing to get past a guard and get her uniform. Sarah could use the blunt version of her powers to overload the guard's emotions so that she would let one of the team walk right up to her. Then she could simply reach out and knock the unresisting woman out with a nerve pinch.
You definitely do have to feel for those poor guards. They had basically not been, as you say, "dumb guards" but they were totally out matched and ended up getting knocked out in a pretty rough (yet still funny) way.
I'd say less powerful than the Force, as she can't implement thoughts.
I'm taking notes about your idea with the guard. The following parts are already fully mapped out (and even mostly written) but in a more distant future...
Indeed Sarah herself would never be the one to deliver the nerve pinch. She's not a fighter. She would need an other teammate to do it for her.Personally, out of the three newly-introduced characters, Sarah is my favorite.
Those two guards were indeed a clear case of Overshadowed by Awesome... But the protagonists of USB stories are meant to be formidable women. It's logical they make short work of even elite agents of law enforcement.
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esercito sconfitto
- Posts: 7975
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Re: Cut-throat politics - Marvel: Earth-USB Saga (Part 14)
just some thoughts
1) thanks for the College girls, the two mugged by Felicia and MJ... I can't explain how much I adore the mugging of female uniformed students without self-incriminating myself in front of the Rainbow Permanent Court
sitting in this board ( hi, Blue-Cynthia! 
) so you can understant if I skip to the second point ...but thanks anyway
2) Rufus, don't dare to deny this tale is NOT mirroring some very recent events... killing a politician, Robert Kerry, a presidential candidate, and guess what, not by a shot in the head , not this time
3) the van with the painters, the two still clothed in the bodypile are a serious offence to the integrity of the board you can't believe how shocking and painful is to have a rarity like 8 girls tied up in a van ...and 2 of them aren't stripped 
therefore, next time the answer is "Charlotte, YES "
Charlotte glanced inside the back of the van, at the two painters who were still fully-clothed in the middle of the pile of unconscious women. “Maybe we could take their outfits too…”
“Not now Charlotte.”
“But aesthetically it would look better...”
Taylor lost patience. “CHARLOTTE I said NO!”
4) again, the painters van... cars and vehicles filled with girls stripped to their underwear are a typical feature of Tirepanted stories, at an incredible extent...( I am an expert about this, because I was so impressed that I created a series of drawings with all the vehicles from the stories by Tirepanted ) ...was this a homage?
don't stop. But please consider a story with Kate Bishop and Yelena Belova, my preferred couple
1) thanks for the College girls, the two mugged by Felicia and MJ... I can't explain how much I adore the mugging of female uniformed students without self-incriminating myself in front of the Rainbow Permanent Court
sitting in this board ( hi, Blue-Cynthia! ) so you can understant if I skip to the second point ...but thanks anyway 2) Rufus, don't dare to deny this tale is NOT mirroring some very recent events... killing a politician, Robert Kerry, a presidential candidate, and guess what, not by a shot in the head , not this time
3) the van with the painters, the two still clothed in the bodypile are a serious offence to the integrity of the board
you can't believe how shocking and painful is to have a rarity like 8 girls tied up in a van ...and 2 of them aren't stripped therefore, next time the answer is "Charlotte, YES "
Charlotte glanced inside the back of the van, at the two painters who were still fully-clothed in the middle of the pile of unconscious women. “Maybe we could take their outfits too…”
“Not now Charlotte.”
“But aesthetically it would look better...”
Taylor lost patience. “CHARLOTTE I said NO!”
4) again, the painters van... cars and vehicles filled with girls stripped to their underwear are a typical feature of Tirepanted stories, at an incredible extent...( I am an expert about this, because I was so impressed that I created a series of drawings with all the vehicles from the stories by Tirepanted ) ...was this a homage?
don't stop. But please consider a story with Kate Bishop and Yelena Belova, my preferred couple
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rufusluciusivan
- Posts: 1556
- Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2017 5:08 pm
Re: Cut-throat politics - Marvel: Earth-USB Saga (Part 14)
I actually began writing the draft of this stroy before the attempt against Trump of July 13th, so believe it or not it's a coincidence. Though for a long period of time the victim was supposed to be the mayor of New York. I changed it to presidential candidate when I chose to use the Marvel character Robert Kelly, mostly because it's a reference to a real arc of the X-Men series in which Kelly runs for the presidency.
Taylor is a professional former black op. Charlotte is a whacko on a perpetual state of sugar rush. As much as it pains me, since this is the USB and all, I trust Taylor more than Charlotte to know the best course of action during a heist. Though joke aside, it's meant to illustrate Taylor's dry no-nonsense professional approach. She doesn't care about the aesthetic of a van completely full of trussed up underwear-clad babes. If stripping additional girls is a waste of time, she won't bother with it.
The van full of painters wasn't supposed to be an homage, but given the number of times such scenario has happened in the stories of the board, I'm not surprised it evokes some other scenes.
Can't say yet if Kate Bishop will reappear and manage to turn the tables or Yelena Belova will make an appearance. (Though I agree it would feel natural for Black Widow to appear in a USB story.)
Taylor is a professional former black op. Charlotte is a whacko on a perpetual state of sugar rush. As much as it pains me, since this is the USB and all, I trust Taylor more than Charlotte to know the best course of action during a heist.
Though joke aside, it's meant to illustrate Taylor's dry no-nonsense professional approach. She doesn't care about the aesthetic of a van completely full of trussed up underwear-clad babes. If stripping additional girls is a waste of time, she won't bother with it.The van full of painters wasn't supposed to be an homage, but given the number of times such scenario has happened in the stories of the board, I'm not surprised it evokes some other scenes.
Can't say yet if Kate Bishop will reappear and manage to turn the tables or Yelena Belova will make an appearance. (Though I agree it would feel natural for Black Widow to appear in a USB story.)
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meditions142
- Posts: 1947
- Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2018 2:51 pm
Re: Cut-throat politics - Marvel: Earth-USB Saga (Part 14)
Definitely looking forward to seeing Taylor use both her electricity and speed.rufusluciusivan wrote: Fri Oct 18, 2024 7:24 am
Taylor can taze women with her bare hands thanks to her electricity-based powers or knock out several women in a row with her enhanced speed if she truly goes all out.
I particularly like the idea that she can grab a woman and knock her out by releasing electricity through her hands. As you described it in your character bio section of you "Here Comes a New Challenger" post "If she grabs a person, she can release a powerful jolt of electricity to knock them out – a bit like if she was using a stun gun." I would love a scene where she sneaks up on a woman (perhaps a guard) and casually grabs her on the shoulder and knocks her out with a jolt of electricity.