Calm Before Storm - Marvel: Earth-USB Saga (Part 13)

[rufusluciusivan]

The saga now comes with a characters description: viewtopic.php?t=10048

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Calm Before Storm

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Compound XLR-6 was the most recent of the many secret bases SHIELD owned across the United States. Built near New York City, it was housing a major intelligence service. XLR-6 was a keystone of the organization’s espionage and information collection operations.

Felicia observed the building complex from afar with binoculars.

Compound XLR-6 looked like any average run-of-the-mill small military base, isolated from the city and surrounded by groves of trees and bushes to shield it away from prying eyes.

So this is where Charlotte’s team has their informant. Dahlia Walker. Officially, a SHIELD intelligence agent.

She sighed.

I hate the idea of getting in trouble with Nick Fury. But I certainly can’t let these buffoons get in the way of my heists forever!

Once she caught the mole, she could trade her identity to get him off her back… That and intel on whatever Magneto and his team were planning next.

Felicia grabbed a map of the compound, and studied it one last time.

Nick Fury didn’t know just how many information she had been able to steal during his dealings with her. Maps of most of his compounds, secret codes only he and a few higher-ups knew…

And she prayed he remained in the dark.

Felicia knew the layout of the base by heart, but she didn’t mind a final reminder. Once she was satisfied, she burnt the paper. She had no qualms destroying the evidence. It was a mere printed copy. The original file was safely stored on her laptop.

The cat burglar carefully approached the compound under the cover of the vegetation. She checked her equipment. There were of course some classics – make-up, hair dye and pocket mirror for the disguises; rolls of tape and zip-ties for unruly sentries.

However for once, Felicia was bringing a few gadgets with her. One tiny wrist launcher was strapped onto her left forearm. It was designed to shoot knock-out darts. On her other wrist, a similar launcher could shoot small bolas made of titanium ropes. Felicia usually didn’t like bringing such tools. However, she knew she was at risk of coming across a masked superheroine inside the compound. She maybe had lucked out with the Wasp, but this time she wasn’t going to ambush a lone woman in her house – the ones she’d encounter would be a lot more on their guard. And heroines tended to want to arrest anti-heroines first, and ask questions later.

While Felicia preferred to rely on her skills first and foremost, she knew most opponents of the “superheroine caliber” were simply beyond the level of a trained human, no matter how good she was – unless said human had a little technology on their side to tip the scales. Better be safe than sorry…

Alright. Let’s get started. Time to pull out the secret weapon.

Said ‘secret weapon’ was currently hissing inside a cat carrier. It had taken Felicia one hour to trap this raccoon – she wished she could have used a stray cat, but one would have looked out of place outside of the city.

“Yeah, yeah, you hate being locked up. I understand the feeling. Bear it with me, it’s almost over.”

She positioned the cage in a specific location, and opened the door. The raccoon jumped out, scurrying away to freedom.

It ran right into a hidden sensor connected to the compound’s security system. The raccoon hit the sensor dead on. It growled, and lost a bit of fur, but kept running away.

Felicia smiled, and hurriedly concealed the cat carrier, then hid herself behind the nearest bushes. Like a panther lying in wait, she observed the area.

She didn’t have to wait too long. Soon, her patience was rewarded by the sound of a small jeep approaching her location.

A woman jumped out of the vehicle, and went to inspect the sensor. She was wearing the standard uniform of SHIELD’s field agents: a black one-piece jumpsuit with a grey zipper and grey shoulder pads, grey gloves, grey metal bracelets to protect the forearms, and matching calf-long protective armored boots. An equipment belt was tied around her waist with, among other things, a holster for her gun and several pouches.

Jackpot!

Of course, had it been a man, Felicia would have attempted to steal the uniform all the same, but she much preferred mugging fellow women. It felt more logical that way.

The SHIELD agent grabbed the walkie-talkie strapped onto her belt.

“Agent Collins, reporting. I’ve reached the sensor. It’s a false alarm. I found some fur. Looks like it truly was a raccoon.”

Felicia didn’t move. She needed to wait until the agent was done talking. If she wanted her plan to succeed, she needed the compound to think it was just a false alarm. Animals directly hitting a sensor were a rare occurrence – rare enough to warrant a closer examination – but still banal enough to not put the base on alert.

Black Cat took advantage of the wait to get a better look at her ticket inside the compound.

Agent Collins had shoulder-long brown hair, chestnut brown eyes, and a white skin. Her figure wasn’t particularly remarkable but, like many soldiers spending a lot of time training, she was slim. Her stern demeanor reminded Felicia of army girls – she wouldn’t have been surprised to learn Collins was a former member of the US military.

Now, please be a dear, and follow the standard procedure... the cat burglar thought to herself.

“I do one quick patrol, then return to the compound.” the field agent concluded.

I just love when a plan goes without a hitch.

Collins cut the line.

Felicia pounced on the woman as she strapped her walkie talkie onto her equipment belt.

She wrapped her arms around the SHIELD agent’s throat and neck, and applied a tight sleeper-hold. At the same time, she wrapped her calves around the woman’s legs, and let herself fall into a seated position behind the bushes. Unbalanced, the field agent fell with her, and found herself in a position preventing her from struggling efficiently. Black Cat ignored her muffled attempts to call for help. She knew they were concealed.

Felicia’s grip was tight and not gentle, but she knew she couldn’t take any chance with a trained SHIELD agent. Collins frantically bucked widely, her body rubbing and hitting against Black Cat’s. The latter tightened her grip.

“Just relax and take a nap… It’ll be over soon…” she soothed.

When Collins passed out and became limp onto her body, Black Cat breathed out. She pushed the unconscious body away, stretched, and checked the surroundings. Their scuffle had gone unnoticed. Good.

Collins’ hair were a bit of a mess.

“This is why you tied them up on the job.” Felicia mused.

The agent was otherwise unharmed. She looked like she was just napping on the job.

“I love sleeper-holds...”

Once Black Cat was satisfied, she rolled the SHIELD agent onto her back, and unclipped her equipment belt. She grabbed the left leg to pull off the boot, then did the same with the right leg. She took off the gloves and the protective bracelets. Finally, she unzipped the jumpsuit, and peeled it off the woman’s unresponsive body. First she lifted the agent’s torso to slide the garment off the arms and upper-body, revealing the woman’s plain white t-shirt bra. Then she lifted the legs to pull off the garment entirely, revealing white cotton briefs and a pair of grey socks.

SHIELD uniforms were designed to be easy to put on – in case there was an alert. Sadly for Agent Collins, it also meant they were easy to take off, including by an infiltrator looking for a disguise...

Just to be safe, Felicia shot a knock-out dart in the SHIELD agent’s left shoulder. The woman would sleep for the next two hours.

The cat burglar took off her wrist launchers and equipment belt, then peeled off her catsuit, only keeping her black undergarments. She didn’t hesitate to cut her outfit into strips – she had her suits made into a specific fabric meant to be sturdy enough to serve as ropes. Agent Collins was carrying a pair of handcuffs onto her belt, and Felicia had a few bondage tools, but she preferred to save them for later.

Black Cat bound Collins’ wrists behind her back, then used a second strip to tie up the woman’s ankles. To be sure the field agent couldn’t crawl for help, Felicia used a third strip to hog-tie her. More strips were stuffed into Collins’ mouth as a gag, and a thick strip was tied around her lower face. The defeated SHIELD field agent was left concealed deep under the bushes.

Felicia put on the unconscious woman’s outfit, admiring how the ‘one-size-fits-all’ SHIELD female uniform adapted itself to her body. The feeling of the material on her bare skin was pleasant – no wonder Collins only wore underwear underneath. I’ll have to find out what their suits are made of... The gloves and boots were a less decent fit, as they were too loose, but nothing that would hinder her movements. At least, she had an easy time concealing her wrist launchers under the protective bracelets. She clipped the belt around her waist, then emptied most of the pouches to put her own equipment inside – including tools to restrain women and several small bottles of hair dye. For the finishing touch, with the help of a small mirror, Felicia dyed her silver blond hair brown, to look more like Agent Collins.

Once she was satisfied with the result of her dye, Black Cat climbed into the jeep, and drove to the compound.

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

Felicia parked the jeep and was careful to enter the base through a secondary entrance.

The insides of the building were pristine-looking, with white walls, lots of artificial light, nosy security cameras at every corner, and plenty of expensive high-tech devices.

She didn’t regret the hours spent learning the layout of the place. It made her task of impersonating a SHIELD agent easier, as she wouldn’t be caught hesitating over which corridor to take.

This base was a minor compound. Felicia knew there were three layers of security. A ‘public’ area – or as public as a secret base could be – in which all agents could roam freely no matter their clearance. A restricted area, with a first level of clearance. And a part she affectionately called the ‘super restricted’ area, which required a specific badge reserved for the most trusted agents.

A part of Felicia was hoping she wouldn’t need to access the restricted areas to find Dahlia Walker. An other had a hunch it was wishful thinking.

For some reason, the SHIELD technicians manning the bases themselves weren’t wearing the same uniform as the field agents.

The outfit’s general appearance was similar: a one-piece jumpsuit with protective gloves and boots. However, the jumpsuit was blue, with white shoulder pads. The gloves and their protective bracelets, as well as the armored boots and equipment belt, were also all white.

Felicia didn’t know much the reason behind this distinction – apparently this was a recent decision of the board, and most SHIELD agents were a bit baffled by it.

Still, black-clad field agents were allowed in the non-restricted parts of the compound, allowing Felicia to roam freely even though she wasn’t dressed in blue.

The cat burglar was careful to keep her head low. She was aware security cameras most likely had some sort of facial recognition device. However, she also knew she’d be fine as long as they didn’t get a good glimpse of her face.

Felicia looked for a computer, with the intent of searching the staff list to find where Dahlia Walker was stationed. Soon, she located an unmanned console in a remote room, and used a specific password – an other thing she had stolen from Nick Fury.

She muttered a curse to herself when she realized she wouldn’t be able to get the information she was looking for on this console. The staff list was classified information. It was only accessible on the computers of the restricted area.

The pass she had stolen to Agent Collins didn’t grant her access to this part of the compound.

Of course, grabbing a fresh set of clothes and a new pass wasn’t much of a challenge for Felicia, but she definitely would have preferred to save the effort. Plus, the less people she mugged, the less angry Nick Fury would be when he would inevitably go after her.

Felicia sighed to herself.

Well, it’s their fault, not mine.

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

There were an awful lot of security cameras in the building. Not enough to cover all angles, but enough to turn the job of mugging a girl into a chore. Thankfully, Felicia knew of one place in which even SHIELD’s paranoid leaders weren’t allowed to spy on their employees.

The infiltrator’s best friend. The restrooms.

Felicia was careful to walk in as few camera lines of sights as possible, and went to the main female restrooms. She went inside one stall, locked it, and waited.

Several groups entered and left the room without Felicia taking action. She learned many things – apparently even SHIELD agents went to the restrooms in groups and liked to gossip about inane subjects like handsome boys or shopping sprees. However, she wished her wait was a bit more fruitful.

Eventually the cat burglar was rewarded by the sound of a lone female SHIELD operative entering the restrooms.

Felicia flushed the toilet, and left her own stall, in order to get a brief look at her potential target before the latter entered a stall. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the woman was a decent fit – close enough. And she was wearing the blue SHIELD uniform, therefore Black Cat knew for sure her pass allowed her to enter the restricted area.

Unaware she had just been selected to ‘donate’ her outfit and access pass, the blond SHIELD operative entered a stall and closed the door.

Resisting the urge to whistle to herself, Felicia moved to wait in front of the door. When she heard the flush, she cracked her fingers.

A blond-haired blue-eyed white-skinned SHIELD technician with thick square-shaped glasses and two nerdy-looking braids, clad in the blue-and-white jumpsuit Felicia was coveting, opened the door while buckling her equipment belt at the same time.

She was greeted by Felicia’s huge cat-smile.

The agent uttered a “Wha-”

Then Black Cat jumped her. Both women disappeared inside the stall. Felicia kicked the door close. At the same time, she literally punched the SHIELD agent a first-class ticket to slumberland, with a right hook to the left temple. The woman grunted, and fell seated onto the toilet bowl. She didn’t get back up. Her body slumped and her head lolled to the side, with her mouth agape. She was out like a light.

Felicia moved the lock to the ‘OCCUPIED’ position.

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

Ten minutes later, a freshly-changed Felicia exited the stall. The blue-and-white SHIELD jumpsuit was also one-size-fits-all. In fact, she was under the impression it fit her even better than the black-and-grey one.

Reminds me of my time as a model, when I was comparing outfits...

She adjusted the protective bracelets, under which her wrist launchers were still concealed, then her equipment belt, in which she once again had transferred her tools.

Felicia glanced inside the stall.

The blond SHIELD operator was sitting on the toilet bowl, clad in grey control briefs and a white full-cup support bra. Her glasses were crooked – Felicia hadn’t bothered to steal them. She considered ‘smarty glasses’ mandatory only when impersonating scientists. A knock-out dart was embedded onto the agent’s shoulder, who was snugly restrained to the toilet seat and pipe. To buy time, Felicia had used Agent Collins’ handcuffs to bind the blond operator’s wrists behind the pipe. She had used the roll of tape she had brought with her to secure the woman’s body onto the seat, wrapping tape around the blonde’s thighs, legs, and the ceramic bowl. Several layers of tape were wrapped around the woman’s mouth and lower face to ensure she’d remain quiet even if she woke up too soon.

While stripping the SHIELD operator, Felicia had noticed that in spite of her nerdy appearance, the blonde had the slim body of a well-trained woman.

“If even the nerds are hitting the gym, I better be careful…” she commented to herself as she was moving the lock to the ‘OCCUPIED’ position from outside the stall.

She adjusted her haircut, and left the restrooms.

“To think I’m doing all that because of Charlotte Beaulieu… Damn team of upstarts…”

A part of her wondered what they were doing right now...

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

The abandoned building was definitely creepy, with its bare walls and dim light.

However, Yuriko Watanabe – ‘Yuri’ for short – had nerves of steel. One had to, when they were both a police captain and secretly a masked heroine in a place like New York City.

She was a Japanese-American woman with chin-long black hair and a side-swept bang, brown eyes, a white skin, and an athletic build.

Yuri wasn’t wearing a police uniform – nor was she wearing her heroine outfit. She was clad in more discreet clothes: a black leather jacket over a red and black flannel shirt, tight dark denim jeans, and black shoes.

The police captain was waiting for an informant. Her investigation on this new all-female syndicate was going nowhere. She had been able to identify two of the criminals – Screwball and Trapstr. She suspected Jenna Duffi – code name Carpenter – gang enforcer and recent escapee was also part of the group. However, she had no clue on the leaders’ identities. They were apparently new faces in New York’s underground. Her superiors and the press were all breathing down her neck for results.

This gang seemed relatively harmless – however Yuri couldn’t help but think something was off. A gang featuring Screwball shouldn’t be as efficient… Clearly, she was missing on crucial details.

Hopefully, today’s meeting would produce results. Yuri knew today’s informant. She had already worked with her in the past. She was a woman Watanabe respected greatly.

Yuri tensed reflexively when she heard footsteps coming her way.

A woman stepped out of the shadows.

“Sorry for the wait. Masque is after me once again. I have to be careful.”

Yuri relaxed slightly when she got a look at the woman’s face.

Kate Bishop, code name: All-New Hawkeye, was a tall woman with a slender figure and a white skin. She had blue eyes and shoulder-long black hair kept tidy with a purple headband.

Kate was wearing her superheroine costume. She was clad in a light purple full-body jumpsuit, and black boots. The left sleeve of her suit was long, but the right part was leaving her shoulder and arm bare. Black fingerless gloves were protecting her hands. A white scarf was tied around her neck. Purple tinted sunglasses were concealing her eyes. Her quiver of arrows was strapped onto her left side, and her bow was carried across her shoulder.

“New look?” Yuriko asked.

Kate smiled, and playfully adjusted her sunglasses. “I like to change from time to time.”

“You said you have information about this new syndicate. Team Awesome.”

Yuriko said the name disdainfully. She was angry these women weren’t merely making a mockery of law enforcement – they were making a mockery of law enforcement WHILE using this stupid name to call themselves.

Kate nodded. “Yes. Found them completely by accident. Looks like they’re in cahoots with Masque – or that Masque is their latest client. She wants them to steal a precious artifact for her. The Jade Mask of Pacal the Great. You may have the time to secure the item and set up an ambush.”

“I think I may.” Yuri bowed her head slightly. “Thank you. Police is in your debt.”

“You’re welcome. Just doing my civic duty.” Kate answered with a small smile and playful salute.

Yuriko saluted back, then hurried outside the building to rally all her available men.

Kate Bishop watched the woman leave.

She heard Yuriko close the door.

Her smile widened, but also turned into a mocking grin.

“You’re welcome indeed…” she derisively commented once the police officer was out of earsight.

Then, suddenly, her face contorted, and her body jerked in awkward fashions. Her limbs shortened, her waist got bigger, her face became chubbier and round-shaped. Her black hair turned light brown, and her blue eyes turned amber brown.

Charlotte tapped the small ring-shaped device wrapped around her left shoulder, concealed under her outfit.

“I think I’m gonna love this little baby.”

Oh how great it felt to be able to fully change shape, without being restricted by her short figure or chubby waist!

Trapstr walked out of her hideout. “She took the bait?”

“Hook, line, and sinker.”

“Just like dear Katy…”

Trapstr opened the door of a nearby abandoned closet room.

An unconscious bound-and-gagged woman was stashed inside, seated against a corner – a white-skinned black-haired blue-eyed American woman, a bit taller than average, with a slender figure. Her hair were loose and shoulder-long.

She was only wearing undergarments – a purple sports bra, black sports socks, and lavender boyshorts. Her wrists were handcuffed behind her back. Her ankles and her thighs were bound together with zip-ties. Tape was wrapped around her lower face as a gag. A chloroform-soaked surgical mask had been tied over her mouth and nose, to make sure she’d stay asleep for hours.

The real Kate Bishop – aka All-New Hawkeye – who had been previously ambushed and stripped down to her undergarments so that Charlotte could impersonate her.

Trapstr put a device designed to change her voice in front of her mouth, and mockingly said with Clint Barton’s voice: “Kate, you have to come. Masque is back, and she’s after you again.” She chuckled to herself. “Oh the irony. She mugged a supervillainess for her costume, then we used said mugging against her to mug her for her own costume...”

Charlotte was busy looking at herself. “Maybe I shouldn’t have shape-shifted back... I thought it’d look cool… you know, to gloat a little... but I just ripped the costume.”

Trapstr groaned, and slammed the closet door shut, leaving Kate alone in the dark. “I don’t think she’ll mind. She’ll have bigger problems to worry about.” The tech expert started to type on her cellphone. “Like for instance Madame Masque herself… who will soon receive a tip that the woman who humiliated her is neatly trussed up, like some early Christmas present waiting to be opened...”

“Hardcore.”

Trapstr shrugged. “Bah. Don’t worry about her. Around the same time, Spider-Man and his friends will receive an anonymous tip warning them of her predicament… and that Madame Masque is on her way, so they better hurry.”

“Which means?”

Trapstr rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses at her partner’s obliviousness. “Aren’t you supposed to be the leader? You’re the one who gave us our lame name.”

“I am. And, as any good business owner, I let my subordinates do all the ground work, and only show up to reap the rewards.”

“Fair enough.” Trapstr finished programming her messages. “It means the Spider Team will be busy all day fighting Madame Masque. And now that dear captain Watanabe is on a wild goose chase as well…”

“… nobody will be able to stop us in time.” Charlotte finished.

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

Felicia used her stolen pass and uniform to enter the restricted area of compound XLR-6. It was surprisingly similar to the non-restricted one – same white walls, same expensive consoles, there even weren’t more security cameras...

She was careful to keep a low profile. She knew a few codes SHIELD was using, but she didn’t want to draw unwanted attention.

Many blue-clad agents were busy. Nobody paid attention to her. She still had her hair dyed brown, and wasn’t regretting her decision. Platinum blond would have stood out too much.

Felicia located an isolated console, and logged in with her stolen password. This time, she could access the staff list.

“Let’s see… Dahlia Walker, Dahlia Walker… Got it! Intelligence operator. Working in Sector 5.”

Felicia rolled her eyes.

“Of course…”

Sector 5 was the part of the compound she nicknamed the ‘super restricted’ area. Even the badge she had acquired when mugging the blond SHIELD technician didn’t grant her access to this part.

“Typical of SHIELD. They had to have a restricted part inside a restricted part...” Felicia complained to herself.

Nothing that a good mugging for disguise couldn’t solve, but she was starting to run low on options – and time. The absence of the real Agent Collins was bound to be noticed soon.

It was time to take a gamble. Among the codes she had stolen from Fury, she considered one her trump card.

It was the code used by higher-ups when they wanted to requisition a subordinate for an important mission.

In her hands, it would make a perfect tool to lure a victim into a trap...

Felicia went near the door giving access to Sector 5, and pretended to check on a nearby console, waiting for someone to open the door. Her plan was to go after the first woman to exit the ‘super restricted’ area, trick her into following her to a camera-free room, mug her, then steal her access badge and her outfit if necessary.

A solid plan.

Unfortunately, the first woman who exited the door was not a random agent of SHIELD.

She was a masked heroine, wearing a white tiger-themed full-body jumpsuit.

Right… Almost forgot SHIELD employed her...

The woman closed the door with the pass card she was wearing on a necklace.

Felicia pondered her options. Mugging a masked heroine was a risky endeavor. However, she didn’t know if an other opportunity would present itself in time. It was now or never.

Felicia followed her new target. She knew this woman by reputation.

White Tiger – real identity Ava Ayala – was a tall Hispanic-American woman who had a tanned skin, a thin but muscular build, brown eyes, and black hair. She was wearing a white full body costume which concealed her entire figure, including the head and face, apart from a long high ponytail of black hair. The heroine costume was a form-fitting white tiger-like suit with black claw markings on the waist and shoulders.

Ava was also wearing an amulet shaped like a tiger head, gave her strength and speed. She was a trained elite martial artist and acrobat in her own rights, but the amulet enhanced her capacities.

Gotta make sure she can’t use it.

Felicia waited until they were alone in a corridor, then sped up to catch up with the tiger-themed fighter.

“White Tiger? I need you. We have a Code 49-3.”

Code 49-3. The code used by higher-ups to requisition a subordinate for an important mission.

White Tiger knew the code. She stopped walking, and turned to look at her.

Felicia resisted the urge to smile. Sometimes, it paid to sporadically work for Nick Fury. It allowed her to spy on him, and learned precious things for later.

“What’s the problem?” White Tiger asked.

Her demeanor was gruff and concise. However, she had been fooled by Felicia’s lie. She thought Black Cat was a high-ranked SHIELD agent undercover.

The tiger-themed heroine wasn’t supposed to have enhanced senses, but just in case she could read body language to spot lies, Felicia chose to tell ‘technical truths’.

“There is a mole in this compound. They’re working as an informant for a criminal syndicate. I need your help.”

And voilà! Not a single lie – though of course the heroine’s help wouldn’t exactly be what she expected...

“This is a serious breach of security. How would they communicate with their accomplices?” White Tiger remarked.

“Maybe they’re using one of the camera-free storage rooms.” Felicia proposed innocently.

“Logical. We shall warn the commander-”

“No! If we do so, the mole will hear of it and destroy all evidence! I suspect they have hacked into the entire system!”

White Tiger hesitated. However, Felicia knew the proper code, and behaved like a high-ranked agent undercover – most likely of a higher rank than White Tiger herself.

“You’re right.” the latter finally said. “It’s best to catch them on the act.”

Felicia mentally blessed SHIELD’s obsession with authority and secrets. “We could set up an ambush. I know the place we have to go.”

White Tiger nodded. “Good idea.”

Once again, Felicia put her knowledge of the compound’s map to good use. She led the unsuspecting heroine inside a storage room of the remote part of the base.

White Tiger looked at the crates around her.“They’ll use this room to contact their accomplices?”

“Yes.”

In truth, she had no idea. But she and her target were alone in the same camera-free room. If her ruse was unveiled now, it didn’t matter.

White Tiger didn’t react – apparently, Black Cat was a good enough liar to fool her.

“Now, we lie in wait.” she proposed to White Tiger.

The latter nodded, unaware she would expose her back to a foe.

Felicia aimed her left wrist launcher, still concealed under the white protective bracelet, and silently shot a small dart into White Tiger’s neck. She hit her target.

The heroine immediately grabbed the dart embedded onto her skin and removed it, but it was too late. The knock-out drug was flowing in her body.

White Tiger turned and rushed towards Felicia, having identified her as a threat. She didn’t waste time with needless talks.

She’s fast!

But Black Cat was fast too. And her next gadget was already drawn from a pouch on her equipment belt and aimed. Felicia blinded White Tiger with a hard light from her flashlight.

The Hispanic heroine groaned in pain, and was stopped in her tracks.

With her second wrist-launcher, Felicia shot a small bolas at White Tiger’s legs. The device wrapped itself around the heroine’s limbs as she was running. The Latina lost balance, and fell on her knees.

“What?! You-!”

White Tiger angrily loosened the ropes with the claw-like fingers of her costume.

Unfortunately for her, the effects of the knock-out serum started to kick in. She staggered when she tried to get up.

Magically enhanced strength and speed didn’t mean immunity to sleep darts – at least not when they were using this formula. Felicia knew her darts would be able to knock out Gwen, and suspected White Tiger had a similar resistance. Her suspicions were apparently right.

Felicia pounced on the heroine before the latter could properly get up, and wrapped her arms around White Tiger’s neck and throat. She applied a sleeper-hold.

Better not make the ‘cat-nap’ joke… She may take offense...

Thankfully, with the knock-out serum dulling her senses, the tiger-themed heroine only had the physical capacities of a human – a trained athletic human, but a human nonetheless. Black Cat was well-trained too, and was at an advantage against an opponent who had been both startled and temporarily blinded.

Today, the Cat was stronger than the Tiger. After a short but intense struggle, the Hispanic heroine let out one last moan, and her unconscious body slumped into Felicia’s arms. Whether it was because of the sleeper-hold or the sleep-dart, the anti-heroine didn’t care.

“Looks like I will emphasize my ‘cat’ theme.” Felicia commented to the limp unconscious woman. She laid the unresponsive body onto the floor. “Nothing personal, by the way. I wish I didn’t have to mug a fellow feline-themed fighter. Alas, beggars can’t be choosers.”

Felicia first removed the White Tiger Amulet. She was careful to not touch the artifact directly – only its string.

“Come on, be a nice little magical artifact… and don’t blow up in my hands... Cat is close enough to Tiger, right? Plus, I’m doing it for a good cause. In a way.”

Whether the artifact was sentient and deemed her worthy or not, it didn’t blow up. Felicia felt relieved when she delicately put it on the ground.

Next, she swiftly snagged and pocketed White Tiger’s access pass. When she saw it had a picture, she decided stealing the heroine’s identity would make things easier.

Therefore, she peeled off White Tiger’s form-fitting full body costume. She started by unzipping the top half, then slipped the suit off Ava’s arms, upper-body, waist, and well-toned legs.

“Still, all things considered, I think I’m gonna love the anonymity your suit gives me.”

White Tiger was left clad in hot pink hip-hugging panties with bright scarlet red lace around the waistband strap and a hot pink little bow, and a black plunge bra adorned on the cups with red lace flowers and with a hot pink small ribbon bow in-between the cups. In spite of their fancy appearance, the undergarments were also practical – they didn’t hinder the movements at all.

Black Cat raised an eyebrow.

“Uh. Looks like under the tough silent persona, there is a woman who likes to feel sexy. Who knew.”

Felicia glared at the defeated black-haired woman, lying on her back in her intimate lingerie. In recent times, she had tried to avoid assaulting superheroines – especially ones who had ties with the Spider-Team. Too much hassle. She knew Peter would never let her live it down. But today was a case of absolute necessity.

Black Cat sighed. That’s ‘Future Me’s problem I guess...

Besides, she had already mugged Wasp and Silver Sable, so having second thoughts now would be ridiculous...

She grabbed a few zip-ties she had concealed in a pouch of her stolen equipment belt. The restraints were thin, but made of an extremely sturdy plastic – it was a technology she had stolen from the AVENGERS themselves.

White Tiger was strong and agile – like her namesake. Better not take any chance.

Felicia used her last strips of tape to gag and blindfold Ava. She bound the Hispanic superheroine’s wrists behind her back, then used an other zip-tie to restrain her ankles up. Next, she looped a third zip-tie around the wrist-cuffs and ankle-cuffs, and tightened the hog-tie, leaving the woman lying on her left side. White Tiger’s body was flexible, and Felicia knew the heroine had had worst during her training, so she wasn’t worried for her. Still, when she saw the half-naked woman lying tightly restrained, she knew...

… Peter will never let me hear the end of that one.

Felicia stripped off of her outfit. With a grimace, she grabbed her cellphone and hid it in-between her breasts. It gave her traumatic flashbacks of the time she impersonated Coachwhip, but alas Aya’s outfit didn’t have any pocket. Then, she slipped into the White Tiger suit. When she covered her face and head, she was pleasantly surprised that the face mask didn’t hinder her sight or breathing. This was top quality costume! Villainesses and henchwomen should take example!

Black Cat snatched White Tiger’s scrunchie, letting the Latina’s hair fall loose, and used it to copy the heroine’s high ponytail. Then, she grabbed a bottle of black dye in a pouch of her discarded equipment belt, and dyed her ponytail to match Ava’s hair color. She wished she didn’t have to leave all her equipment behind, but White Tiger wasn’t carrying a belt and she couldn’t hide the wrist launchers under the costume. Hopefully, this would be the last change of clothes she’d need…

She located an empty crate, and dropped the thoroughly restrained Latina tiger-themed heroine inside. She closed the lid to conceal her, albeit leaving it slightly open to let air enter.

Glancing at the discarded Tiger Amulet, Felicia hesitated. Ultimately, she decided against taking it. The device was magical or mystical or whatever. And from what she knew, there was some sort of ‘chosen one’ scenario at play. She certainly wasn’t going to take the risk! White Tiger didn’t always outwardly wear her amulet. Hopefully, nobody would catch on that detail.

Cautiously, Felicia pushed the amulet out of sight with her foot.

She was happy she didn’t lose any toe in the process. Infiltrating a SHIELD compound with missing toes would be troublesome...

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

Impersonating a feline-themed heroine proved to be easy to Felicia. As Black Cat, her way of walking was already feline-like. Her actress performance as White Tiger was flawless.

She used Ava’s pass to access Sector 5, the area of the base in which the mole was supposed to work.

Hopefully, there wouldn’t be a ‘super duper secret’ area to infiltrate…

Sector 5 looked surprisingly mundane. Felicia had imagined secret weapons, huge machinery, and bizarre labs. She came across white corridors leading to dozens of office rooms.

Intelligence services suck! Why couldn’t their mole work in a scientific compound?

The silver lining was that those office rooms were individual. Nobody was going to interfere with her little one-on-one with Agent Dahlia Walker…

Felicia looked for the office room in which her target was working. Her prayers were answered when she came across a door with a plate reading Dahlia Walker’s regimental number.

No need for an other change of clothes – and potential new diplomatic disaster with the Spider Team.

Felicia entered without knocking, and scanned the room.

It was your typical office room – nothing here could have reminded Felicia she was supposed to be in a top secret base. There wasn’t even a security camera – though whether it was because Dahlia disabled it or not, she couldn’t tell.

Dahlia Walker herself looked like a typical office drone – plain-looking figure, frizzy medium brown hair, unremarkable brown eyes, and round-shaped glasses. If it weren’t for her blue-and-white SHIELD suit, she could have passed herself for a mousy secretary.

The SHIELD agent frowned. “White Tiger? Is there a problem?”

Felicia locked the door. “More like a mole infestation.”

Agent Walker paled immediately. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She attempted to get up from her chair.

Felicia pinned her to it, and showed the claws of her costume. She chose to keep playing the part of White Tiger. If Dahlia Walker knew she was an intruder, she’d probably sound the alarm to try and force her to flee.

Felicia impersonated White Tiger’s gruff speech pattern. “I think you know pretty well. And if you value your tongue, you’ll start speaking now.”

Dahlia immediately panicked. “I needed money! I-”

“I don’t want excuses. I want answers. Who are they?!”

“A new all-female syndicate! All the women who had recently broken out of prison! Plus two!”

“I read the newspapers, Walker. I’ve heard of their heists. I even know their dumb nicknames. What can you tell me the journalists can’t?”

“Blender’s not the real brains behind the team!”

“Wow! What a shocking reveal! Even more that that time I found out water is wet.” Felicia pinched the woman’s cheek (prompting an ‘Ouch!’). “You better start telling me things I don’t know.”

“Her name’s Taylor! Taylor Woodward! She’s the leader! Canada’s deadliest secret agent. Or at least she used to be...”

“I also knew that! This is your last chance!” the fake White Tiger warned. “And by the way, I also know who they’re working for!” The reveal was her trump card to destabilize the mole.

It apparently worked. Dahlia Walker somehow managed to become even paler.

Felicia didn’t give her the time to recover from the shock. “What’s Magneto’s game anyway? They pretend they’re art thieves, then they steal a scientific prototype. His gang performs petty heists, but at the same time they pay a mole in SHIELD. Why would they bother if they were small-time crooks? Something doesn’t add up.”

“I don’t know! I swear-” Felicia pinched the woman’s other cheek. “Ow!” Then her nose. “Ouch!”

“Do I need to pull out my claws for real?”

“Magneto has a plan! A big plan! He wants them to go after Kelly… Robert Kelly… Everything else was a diversion... They want to strike during his big speech today…”

Felicia took a few seconds to process the information.

“They sure are confident. Kelly doubled security after some of his supports and their staff had been mugged and impersonated. He even hired Silver Sable Security.”

She wiggled her fingers, pretending to want to pinch Walker a few more times.

The latter spilled the bean: “They’re going to use the crowd… cause a stampede… have Kelly trampled to death by his own followers… right in the middle of his speech...”

“How?”

“They were talking of getting control of the main roof, but that’s all I know! I swear! They didn’t tell me more!”

Felicia read in the woman’s eyes she wasn’t lying. “Given how quickly you fessed up, they told you way too much already...”

Dahlia’s cheeks reddened. “They’ve already made their move anyway! They’ve even managed to lure police and the Spider Team away! You can’t stop them!”

“We shall see. The speech hasn’t begun yet.” Felicia glared at the mole in the eyes. “One last question. What’s the deal with Sarah Summers?”

“I- I don’t know… I heard… I heard the higher-ups of SHIELD are interested in finding her… So is CIA… and the FBI… and Canada’s Secret Service… But they didn’t tell me what’s the deal with her.”

“I see.” Felicia raised her first. “Thank you for your cooperation.”

“No wait-” PUNCH!

Dahlia’s limp body was left slouched in her chair. Black Cat took off the woman’s boots, and removed the laces. Those were surprisingly sturdy. She used them to bind the mole’s hands behind the back of her chair. A tape dispenser was on the desk. After gagging Dahlia with her own black socks, she wrapped several layers of tape around her mouth to secure the gag. She used the remaining tape to bind the agent’s ankles together.

During the entire process, Black Cat was complaining to herself. “Magneto and an assassination attempt against one of the country’s most famous politicians… Charlotte Beaulieu is the biggest airhead I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting... Why couldn’t her team stay involved in silly minor heists?! Why do things always have to be so complex?!”

She shook her head.

“Kelly’s speech is only in a few hours… Three or four, I think... At least I have a little time to think of something…”

Of course, right at that moment, the alarm loudly blared in all the compound.

Felicia sighed. “Curse my big mouth.”

She heard in Agent Walker’s walkie talkie: “Attention all units! Intruder in the base! She’s either wearing a black or a blue uniform!”

So they had found Agent Collins and the blonde locked in the restrooms… But not Ava.

White Tiger’s full-body-covering heroine suit would be her ticket to leave.

Given the number she had done on them, Felicia knew the agents of the base wouldn’t be in the mood to listen to her – even if she claimed to have information on an assassination attempt against Kelly. It was preferable to leave the compound first, and decide how to prevent the assassination attempt second.

“To the parking.” she chose.

Thankfully, Sector 5 had a direct access.

It would take her five minutes top.

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

Five minutes later, Felicia was taking a jeep, and pretending to go search for the intruder outside. Nobody dared to stop ‘White Tiger’.

Ten minutes later, she was driving in the middle of nowhere, with the base far behind her.

For a secret organization, SHIELD was using vehicles which were quite easy to start without a key. And with a GPS tracking system easy to remove. Maybe they too had to face the horror of budget cuts…

Felicia was driving and phoning at the same time. She knew it was forbidden, but she suspected no police officer would ask White Tiger driving a military jeep to pull over.

“Come on Peter, of all moments, why did you choose NOW to ghost my calls?!” Felicia complained to her phone. “I know we split up, but I thought there were no hard feelings…”

Of course, she suspected his real reason was that he was in no position to answer her call. She remembered Dahlia had mentioned a diversion was supposed to distract the Spider Team.

“Great. The only goody-two-shoes who could vouch for me are unavailable. SHIELD is after my hide. Police won’t listen to me. Why do I even bother trying to do good?”

To be fair, the ‘anti’ part of her anti-heroine’s mind was tempted to leave Robert Kelly to his fate. She didn’t have any love for the man or his ideas. She could let his security detail do its job – and if they failed, then his loss!

However, the plan wasn’t to just go after Kelly.

A stampede... Causing a stampede in the crowd… How many will be hurt? How many could die? Some of these people come with their children...

“Damn you Peter…” Felicia muttered bitterly. Even when he wasn’t physically here, he still managed to appeal to her good nature…

At least, she would also do it to get rid of competitors. Her cat burglar honor was safe.

“So, how do I save the day?”

Felicia was painfully aware she couldn’t drive the streets of New York in a stolen jeep, clad in White Tiger’s costume. Plus, it was only a matter of time before the real Ava was discovered.

Thankfully, Black Cat knew there was a rest area not too far away. Hopefully, she could steal a car there...

… And if the opportunity arose, a fresh set of clothes.

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

Felicia drove to her destination, but didn’t park the jeep in the rest area itself. Instead, she concealed the vehicle in a nearby grove of trees, and finished the trip on foot.

The rest area was small and isolated. It didn’t even have a shop. Just a few parking spaces, some vending machines, and public restrooms.

Felicia hid behind some bushes, and waited.

Minutes passed slowly. The cat burglar knew each second was precious, but she was also disciplined enough to not rush blindly into the unknown. She wouldn’t achieve anything if she screwed up things now.

Her patience was eventually rewarded by the loud sound of a bike’s engine.

A lone biker parked her motorcycle, and jumped onto the ground.

The biker then took off her white helmet, revealing the face of a woman with shoulder-long honey brown hair, a lightly tanned skin, and chestnut brown eyes. She was slim and tall, with small breasts. She was wearing black knee-long leather boots, form-fitting blue jeans, a brown belt, and a black leather jacket.

Felicia raised an eyebrow. Biker chick. Why not?

A bike was indeed the fastest inconspicuous mean of transport she could use. With one, she was certain she could reach the place of Kelly’s speech in time – early even – no matter how the traffic was.

Felicia left her hiding spot.

“Good day citizen. I’m requisitioning your bike. And your clothes. It’s a matter of national security.”

The biker chick glared at her. “Where do you come from, freak? The circus?” she retorted.

Felicia was a bit taken aback. Since she was impersonating a superheroine, she expected more cooperation from civilians. “Uh. Hello. I’m White Tiger. Great heroine. Shouldn’t you be, like, admiring me? Delighted to help good fight against evil?”

The biker snorted. “Everybody knows White Tiger wears an amulet. Phony.”

How is it that a random biker chick is more insightful than an entire compound of SHIELD agents?! How much of our tax money is used to finance these clowns?! Well, not mine of course. But still...

Question for later.

Felicia raised her hands in front of her chest. “Fine, you got me. I confess. I’m not White Tiger. I mugged her, trussed her up like a turkey, and stole her clothes.”

The biker stopped laughing when she realized Felicia wasn’t joking.

“And guess what? You’re next.” the cat burglar added.

The biker gasped.

Felicia pounced on her. The two women rolled behind some bushes.

The sounds of a brief one-sided scuffle followed suit.

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

This biker chick was no Hell’s Angel. A submission hold and a punch to the temple, and she was out like a light. At least it was quick. Sure, she’d have a headache, but no lasting injury. Just how Felicia liked her takedowns.

She stripped the biker chick off her leather jacket. She also pulled off the black t-shirt with a white skull the woman was wearing under, revealing the biker’s black sports bra. Next, Black Cat slipped off the boots and the socks, then struggled a bit to slide the form-fitting jeans down the biker’s legs. Underneath, the woman was wearing black biker shorts. Felicia didn’t bother with those.

“I hope you’ll be grateful I didn’t leave you butt-naked.” she commented to the unconscious woman.

She took off the White Tiger costume and cut it into strips with a switchblade the biker was keeping in a pocket. With her makeshift ropes, she stuff-gagged and cleave-gagged the woman, cross-tied her wrists, and bound her thighs and her ankles.

Felicia dragged the bound-and-gagged biker further into the foliage, and moved branches in front of the woman to conceal her figure.

Once that problem was taken care of, Felicia slipped into her new outfit. The jeans were a tight fit – she suspected her backside would get a lot of attention, but she was too short on time to be picky. The t-shirt was also tight, as Felicia was bustier than her victim, but at least she could hide it under the jacket. Thankfully, the boots were close to her size. She tied her hair into a low bun, then put the helmet on, and grabbed her new bike.

Stripping, binding and snagging the clothes of this random woman had given Felicia the time to ponder on the current situation.

She had realized she could still find one potential ally.

Though the mere thought was making her wince in anticipation...

Still, while playing heroine was cool and all, living through the heroics was even better. Felicia wasn’t going to take any chance. The stakes were too high for a solo act.

She needed a meat shield... err… ally.

The cat burglar took one deep long breath to enter a state of zen, and dialed a number on her cellphone.

“Hello?” Mary-Jane Watson’s familiar voice asked.

Felicia renounced to make a joke. The redhead would most likely hang up immediately.

“MJ. I need your help.”

There was a long pause. “How did you get that number?” Good. MJ had recognized her. Or maybe not good, depending on the point of view...

“Peter gave me.”

“Oh my gosh, he’s SO dead!”

“He figured out we’d need a way to contact each other, after what happened with Kraven.”

“I’m hanging up.”

“People are in danger!”

An other pause. Felicia could almost picture the wheels turning in MJ’s head.

“Who, where, and when?”

“An entire crowd. At Robert Kelly’s rally. Get there as soon as you can. They’ll strike during Kelly’s speech. We only have a couple of hours. Meet me at the main security checkpoint. I’ll explain everything. Just come. Please.”

“Fine. I intended to go there and find a scoop anyway. But I want to be clear. I’m not doing it for you!”

“Don’t waste time acting tsundere on me! Just come!”

“I swear, one day I’ll shove my stun gun right up your a-”

Felicia hung up. She knew Mary-Jane. The redhead would come.

She put on the helmet, got onto the bike, and drove off. She heard the sounds of jeeps driving in the distance.

The cat burglar smiled to herself. Good luck trying to find the fake White Tiger now...

Still, she couldn’t help but be annoyed by the situation. SHIELD should have been her ally in this endeavor. But because she infiltrated their compound, she now had to settle for Mary-Jane as her only help.

Felicia cursed Charlotte, Taylor, and the rest of their team. Foiling their plan would save innocents, but it would also be a good way to get some revenge!

Of course she did it first and foremost for revenge.

At least, that was the lie she was telling to herself...

[meditions142]

While I often am a fan of the more subtle knockout techniques, I have to say I really like the scene in the bathroom the the blonde haired technician. Just such a perfect action scene. So well described "At the same time, she literally punched the SHIELD agent a first-class ticket to slumberland, with a right hook to the left temple. The woman grunted, and fell seated onto the toilet bowl. She didn’t get back up. Her body slumped and her head lolled to the side, with her mouth agape. She was out like a light."

Love the line "a first-class ticket to slumberland".

I also really like the concept that Felicia shot the woman with a dart to keep her asleep.

Just such a fun scene!

[rufusluciusivan]

While I often am a fan of the more subtle knockout techniques, I have to say I really like the scene in the bathroom the the blonde haired technician. Just such a perfect action scene. So well described "At the same time, she literally punched the SHIELD agent a first-class ticket to slumberland, with a right hook to the left temple. The woman grunted, and fell seated onto the toilet bowl. She didn’t get back up. Her body slumped and her head lolled to the side, with her mouth agape. She was out like a light."

Love the line "a first-class ticket to slumberland".

I also really like the concept that Felicia shot the woman with a dart to keep her asleep.

Just such a fun scene!

Glad you liked the "punched a first-class ticket to slumberland" joke. It's a one I really like, and I'm pretty sure I must have already used it at some point in some way...

The detail of a sleeping dart being shot to make sure she stays unconscious longer has a lot of appeal - and it's a good narrative tool, since even in fictionland, being knocked out with a neckchop or a sleeper hold isn't as long-lasting as being chloroformed or put to sleep with a dart.

[simon4343]

apologies

[rufusluciusivan]

the only thing i would say is everyone should be treated the same on here ..the problem with non face to face forums is there is so much room for misunderstanding and misinterpretation and not knowing if someone is being ironic or tongue in cheek or genuinely believe in what they say.....

(Simon. I believe this post isn't on the right thread?)

[tirepanted3]

Belated response here, but I'm starting to catch up. And happy I am, as this was an enjoyable chapter. While I knew some of the basics going in, there were a few surprises and a lot of fun to be had.

Certainly a Felicia-heavy chapter, not that I'm complaining, of course. And a SHIELD compound is ripe for infiltration purposes, so it's about time they got a piece of the action. I especially liked how the story managed to incorporate both the black and blue SHIELD uniform designs from the comics.

The classic infiltration/exfiltration story was well-served here, and a nice refresher after the more complex dealings of the previous chapter. And of course, it came some memorable quips.

Better not make the ‘cat-nap’ joke… She may take offense...

Even though the story is not told in first-person, we get some funny inner-monologue from Felicia.

All in all, Felicia's personality is quite compelling here. It's interesting to see her grapple with the moral questions about how far she should go to protect civilians. And it's fun to see her in a story where she engages in an infiltration without being upstaged by Taylor's team, engaging in impressive tactics (such as the takedown of the White Tiger), but still being made to look foolish on occasion (like her failed attempt to convince the biker chick she's the real White Tiger).

Speaking of Taylor's team, the scene with "Kate Bishop" was fun as well. So apparently her mugging of Madame Masque is canon in this universe as well? I suppose that makes sense, as Masque has been mugged by pretty much everyone at this point, regardless of universe.

And of course, the Felicia/MJ banter at the end is a good tease. I've missed those two getting on each other's nerves...

[rufusluciusivan]

Belated response here, but I'm starting to catch up. And happy I am, as this was an enjoyable chapter. While I knew some of the basics going in, there were a few surprises and a lot of fun to be had.

Certainly a Felicia-heavy chapter, not that I'm complaining, of course. And a SHIELD compound is ripe for infiltration purposes, so it's about time they got a piece of the action. I especially liked how the story managed to incorporate both the black and blue SHIELD uniform designs from the comics.

Glad you liked it. I figured out that if I include SHIELD, I might as well feature the two uniform designs!

The more I write Felicia, the more I appreciate her. Quips almost write themselves given her personality.

It's true she was given a moment to shine in this story. For once, she's not getting upstaged. I'm sure it was good for her ego - she still got it, she just had bad luck.

While my favorite scene was with Agent Collins (and the racoon gambit! ), I also really liked writing the scene with White Tiger - especially the jokes that Felicia knows Peter will never let her live it down and that White Tiger secretly likes wearing sexy lingerie.

Speaking of Taylor's team, the scene with "Kate Bishop" was fun as well. So apparently her mugging of Madame Masque is canon in this universe as well? I suppose that makes sense, as Masque has been mugged by pretty much everyone at this point, regardless of universe.

Well, of course her mugging by Kate Bishop would be canon in Earth-USB. When mainstream scenes give you gems, you keep them! Not that it changed anything for Kate... Poor girl was victim of the classic "mugged offscreen" trope. So disrespectful.

... Maybe she'll come back. Who knows? She sure has a revenge to take now!

All in all, Felicia's personality is quite compelling here. It's interesting to see her grapple with the moral questions about how far she should go to protect civilians.

I'm sure a small part of her regrets the time she was a villainess who didn't care about such moral questions, but in the end she will do the right thing... but will also always try to land back on her feet and get something out of the whole ordeal. Still, for better and for worst, Peter did manage to soften her.

And of course, the Felicia/MJ banter at the end is a good tease. I've missed those two getting on each other's nerves...

I've missed it too. But I can promise you that if you're looking for MJ and Felicia sniping quips at each other, then you won't be disappointed by the following parts! Can't wait to read your thoughts on the next chapter. It's a big one, and I hope it'll meet your expectations.