Something about an Orchid - Marvel: Earth-USB Saga (Part 17)
Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2024 8:38 pm
The saga now comes with a characters description: viewtopic.php?t=10048
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Something about an Orchid…
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Felicia was studying a map of Orchis’ compound Gwen had given to her, with MJ looking over her shoulder. Ghost-Spider was exchanging texts with Peter.
The three girls were planning their upcoming heist.
“No wonder Fury wanted me for the job. Best send the disposable pawn first, eh?” Felicia commented harshly.
Pretending otherwise would have been a lie, and an insult to Felicia’s intelligence. Gwen didn’t attempt to defend SHIELD’s decision. Even MJ didn’t attempt to.
“I agreed to play along, but I won’t undertake a suicide mission either, so you better have a plan, Miss Top-Student-of-the-Class.” Felicia added.
Gwen smiled a bit. “At least MJ’s nickname is shorter…” she joked. “But yes. I do have a plan.”
And probably one or two contingency ones as well. Felicia thought to herself.
That was the perk of working with Gwen. You could trust her to get all your bases covered. Ghost Spider was the planner of her team. Peter and Miles had the inventiveness and the panache. Gwen was the one who handled the boring practical details. Sure, she sucked at sarcasm and one-liners, but one couldn’t have everything...
“Frontal infiltration is bound to fail. The accesses are well-guarded – both by sentries and cameras. Roof and air vents are secured as well. So the idea is to use a Trojan horse.” With her phone, Gwen showed her two friends a picture of a delivery van, and added cryptically: “All compounds must be resupplied from time to time. If we were to intercept the delivery van, one of us could hide inside a crate.”
“And by one of us, you mean me.” Felicia intervened. It wasn’t a question.
“It’ll be a job for a contortionist. MJ isn’t supple enough. And I can’t take the risk to go inside an Orchis building.”
“Let me guess. Politics?”
Gwen nodded. “If news leak a mutant raided Jefferson’s facility…”
“… the anti-mutant agenda will have a field day.” Felicia finished the sentence. “I don’t need a picture. Just tell me how I avoid getting caught once I’m inside the building.”
“The storage area is located both near the cleaning closet and the locker rooms. There aren’t cameras in this part of the building. Jefferson often stores illegal goods here, so he doesn’t want to leave video footage. MJ will impersonate the delivery woman, so there will be a window of time during which you’re both inside the building. You’ll have to improvise. If there’s no opportunity, you’ll simply hide in the van again to leave.”
Felicia smiled and clasped her hands. “Sounds like a plan.”
Mary-Jane was grimacing and biting her lower lip.
Gwen looked apologetic. “We can’t ask anyone else, MJ. You’re the only person under Jefferson’s radar whom we can trust.”
“You’re the only one who can do it.” Felicia insisted. She figured out stroking the redhead’s ego a bit would do no harm...
“Fine, fine, I’ll do it!” Mary-Jane exclaimed.
“Thank you.” Gwen said with a smile.
Mary-Jane was a bit flustered and looked away.
Gwen showed them a room on the map. “The goal is Jefferson’s personal laptop. It should be in his office room.”
“I suppose the access is restricted.” Felicia intervened.
“There’s a pass card. If you can’t steal Jefferson’s, you may want to look for Alia Gregor. The head scientist. I planned the infilrtation today because she’ll be inside the building. Her pass card also unlocks the door.” Gwen glanced sideways at Felicia. “And she looks a bit like you.”
The cat burglar smiled. “A scientist with platinum blond hair? Just tell me she wears smarty glasses, and I’m sold!”
**************
The first step of the operation proved to be easy. Orchis could securize their building as much as they wanted, they couldn’t do much to watch the delivery van when it was outside their reach.
The trio intended to intercept a food supply delivery. Their reason was that the storehouse of such company wasn’t protected at all.
For trained women like MJ or Felicia, climbing the fence and discreetly reaching the van’s parking area was easy. For a web-swinging mutant like Gwen, it was a mere cakewalk.
They ambushed the delivery woman when she was leaving the warehouse. As the employee was sitting behind the wheel, just as she was about to close the door, Gwen shot her with a strong sleeping dart – SHIELD’s most efficient non-lethal weapon.
Five seconds later, the employee was deeply asleep, her forehead resting on the wheel. MJ and Felicia quickly carried her out of sight, behind some of the unused parked delivery vans.
With her medium brown hair, short functional ponytail, chestnut brown eyes, and round face, the delivery woman was plain and average – save for an exceptionally well-endowed chest.
She was wearing a white t-shirt, a yellow light jacket with the company logo, dark blue jeans, pink-and-white, sneakers, and a yellow cap with the black logo of her company.
Felicia stripped the brunette down to a plain black tank top, a faded pink t-shirt bra, white classic briefs with a pink waistband strap, and black socks with white polka dots.
Mary-Jane insisted they didn’t bind and gag the delivery woman. Since the sleeping drug would keep the woman out of commission for four hours, Gwen sided with her. For the sake of her red-haired partner’s sensibility, Felicia was forced to play along.
MJ changed into the delivery woman uniform.
At the same time, Felicia picked open the backdoor an other delivery van that wasn’t supposed to be used today, and Gwen laid the sleeping brunette inside. They closed the door to conceal her.
By the time they were done hiding the unconscious woman, MJ was in disguise. She put on the cap.
Gwen gave her a pen.
“To complete your disguise.”
MJ frowned. “There are a couple in the glove compartment.”
Gwen winked. “This one is special. It can shoot a sleeping dart. You just need to double-click.”
“Oooooh… Like in that James Bond movie… Cool!”
Felicia snorted a bit condescendingly.
Gwen glanced at her sideways. “Time for your contortionist performance.” she commented to Black Cat, with just a hint of sarcasm.
The cat burglar gulped. She didn’t like MJ’s smartass grin.
**************
Gwenpool, real name Gwendolyne Pool – no relation with Gwen Stacy – was everything Taylor hated in a masked heroine.
Loud. Brash. Zany. Convinced she was the funniest person of the world.
Taylor wished she didn’t need to associate with that nuisance. But Gwenpool’s cowl-mask concealed almost the entire head, and – contrary to her male namesake – she was a mere human with no super-strength.
The heroine was clad in a white cowl with pink eyes which also covered the top half of her face. The main part of her costume was a long-sleeved pink-and-white leotard. A belt with several pouches was tied around her waist. Two katanas were strapped onto her shoulders with leather straps. Her thighs were bare. Her pink-and-white boots were knee-long.
According to the intel on Agent Senai’s tablet, the Deadpool-wannabe was currently searching several abandoned buildings which had been deemed potential hideouts for Magneto’s syndicate by Nick Fury.
Taylor strongly suspected SHIELD and the AVENGERS had sent her on her own because nobody wanted to deal with her grating jokes.
Ultimately, the reason didn’t matter. Do not look a gift horse in the teeth, as the saying went.
“She’s about to exit the building.” Charlotte commented, looking at Agent Senai’s tablet, which showed her live Gwenpool’s movements.
Taylor nodded. “Jenna, Charlotte, watch the accesses to the street. Screwball, Trapstr, you’re with me.”
She went to wait in front of the service entrance.
The white-and-pink masked heroine exited the abandoned building.
She was greeted by the grim sight of “Guillotine” with a stern scowl.
“Wow! Easy there, Executioner!”
Taylor stayed in-character. “It’s Guillotine.” she retorted.
It wasn’t too hard for her to play the part of the French masked heroine. Being gruff and straight to the point was a second nature for the former black op.
“Yeah, that’s what I said!” Gwenpool grinned when she noticed ‘Yellowjacket’ standing next to ‘Guillotine’. “So. You ditched your previous partner? Relationship issues? Or maybe a threesome?”
Taylor didn’t attempt to hide the twitching of her left eye. The real Guillotine would’ve reacted all the same. “You’re on your own?”
“Yep!” Gwenpool made a ‘cool ninja pose’. “I’m ever the lone wolf…”
She was too busy showing off. It made her inattentive.
Taylor punched the heroine in the face. Guillotine’s metal gauntlets proved to be great blunt weapons.
“Shut your trap, you insufferable Deadpool-wannabe.”
Dazed, Gwenpool fell at Trapstr’s feet. With a huge grin, the latter tazed the heroine before she could recover. The masked heroine grunted, then her limp unconscious body collapsed onto the ground.
They dragged her behind a dumpster.
“Screwball.” Taylor called. “Put on her costume.”
“Why me?”
Taylor took off Gwenpool’s mask, revealing the face of a cute white-skinned blue-eyed blonde with chin-long hair and a square haircut. The tips of the hair were dyed pink.
“You’re both annoying and blond.”
Screwball glanced at Taylor’s gauntlet-wearing fists, then at the bruise on Gwenpool’s face.
“Okay.”
Taylor and Trapstr stripped the blond heroine of her costume, leaving her clad in white knickers with a pink waistband strap and a matching white t-shirt bra with pink shoulder straps and pink edges.
Screwball took off her current disguise, and slipped into the white-and-pink costume.
At the same time, the defeated heroine was thoroughly zip-tied hands and feet by Taylor and Trapstr. Tape was wrapped around her thighs, her upper-arms, and her lower-face as a gag.
Once they were done, Taylor threw the underwear-clad Gwenpool into a dumpster, and closed the lid to conceal her.
Screwball adjusted the mask to conceal her face. “I’m finished.”
“A perfect look-alike of the real deal.” Taylor dryly commented.
Screwball chose to take the comment as a compliment, and ignored Trapstr’s amused snort. “Okay. What’s the next stop?”
**************
The Orchis facility was a surprisingly lush and pristine-looking building complex in the outskirts of New York City. A uninformed person would’ve been forgiven to think this was the seat of a tech company or a science park.
The old Orchis favored menacing military-looking compounds. But Jefferson was a businessman first-and-foremost. And, like all good businessmen, he thought about marketing for his new Orchis. His new facilities served the same purpose as his propaganda on social networks and his many bribes – de-demonizing the organization.
Of course, the menace was still here. It was simply hidden. The fence around the property was maybe painted a pleasant green, but it was also electrified and supported by security cameras, and heat and movement detectors. Access was strictly monitored by security barriers and guards armed to the teeth. Many hidden computer-controlled automatic weapons, both legal and illegal, were scattered across the compound to deal with any intruder.
Hence why it had been so important to intercept the delivery girl far away from the compound… Even a mutant like Gwen would have a hard time entering the building complex.
Mary-Jane stopped the delivery van in front of the service entrance of the building. She took a deep breath. It was the last checkpoint.
She opened the window and gave her accreditation.
The guard in the booth grabbed the card. He glanced at Mary-Jane’s freckled face and red hair.
“You’re new?”
“Yes.”
“A shame. I was hoping it’d be Amanda like usual.” His eyes lingered on the redhead’s breasts. It was pretty clear why he preferred greeting the usual delivery woman...
MJ managed to grimace a smile. “Yeah. She got held up.”
The man shrugged. He entered the back of the van, and checked all the crates. However, he didn’t find the hidden compartment in which Felicia was concealed.
The guard exited the vehicle. “Everything is in order. You know the drill?”
Mary-Jane nodded.
The man opened the garage door leading to the storage room.
“Use the intercom when you’re finished.”
Mary-Jane parked the delivery van in the vast storage room.
From the outside, the garage door was closed, leaving her alone.
The redhead checked if there were cameras. Gwen had been right. There weren’t any. Given the fact one needed to cross three checkpoints to reach this area, it wasn’t necessarily the proof of a security failing.
MJ entered the van, and released Felicia from her hiding spot at the bottom of a crate.
The cat burglar stretched her back. “Finally!”
“Stay hidden here. I’ll check the rooms nearby, and see if there’s an opportunity. If someone asks, I’ll pretend I need help to unload the crates.”
“Do I have the choice?”
Mary-Jane left without dignifying her with an answer.
Felicia grimaced when her partner closed the door. The car burglar didn’t like the idea of lying in waiting and letting Mary-Jane handle things on her own. It wasn’t like she didn’t trust the redhead. She just...
Okay, she didn’t trust the redhead.
Still, she had no other choice. There were many cameras in the building. It was best to acquire a disguise here and now.
Time passed.
Felicia began to feel worried. Mary-Jane was a decent infiltrator, but she had such a short fuse… She only felt safe when the redhead was at arms length. And even then, only barely.
At least, no alarm had begun to blare. It was a good sign, right?
The cat burglar ducked behind cover when she heard the faint sounds of a conversation getting closer to the door.
Two women entered.
One was Mary-Jane.
The other was a meek-looking average-sized woman with reddish brown hair, a light skin, and brown-green eyes. She was wearing a white cap, a light blue janitress long-sleeved blouse with rolled up sleeves, light blue trousers, and black plastic clogs.
Felicia smiled.
A janitress. Jackpot. Good work MJ!
Of course, she would never say it out loud.
“Thank you for helping me store the crates.” Mary-Jane was saying, leading the unsuspecting woman near the delivery van. “I’m filling in for the usual girl, and they didn’t tell me where I should put them.”
“They can be quite odious with their staff…” the janitress bitterly agreed.
They stopped next to Felicia’s hiding spot.
The cat burglar got ready to jump.
Mary-Jane beat her to the punch though.
She double-clicked on the fake pen, and shot the sleeping dart right into the cleaning lady’s neck.
The woman’s eyed widened. Then, they rolled back. She let out a moan, and fell behind. Mary-Jane caught her limp body mid-fall.
Felicia glared. “Did you really-?”
“You were about to hit her.”
“With a neck-chop. She’d barely have felt it.”
“Well now she hadn’t felt anything. And you don’t even need to bind her. The sedative will make her sleep for five hours.”
Felicia was tempted to argue for form’s sake, but decided against it. She knew MJ would have the last word in this argument. And she couldn’t let the redhead get the drop on her. Her (kitty) pride didn’t allow it!
Mary-Jane gently laid the janitress onto the floor, and allowed Felicia to strip her. The auburn-haired woman was divested of her clothes, and left clad in a light pink full-cup bra with a flower pattern and white lace around the cups, matching comfortable pink panties, and white socks.
They carried the janitress and seated her in a corner of the storage room, then covered her with a tarp to conceal her.
Felicia slipped into the cleaning lady’s uniform, while MJ finished unloading the crates to keep her cover.
Felicia adjusted the cap to hide her platinum blond hair. “That should do it…” Provided she walked under the right angle, the cameras wouldn’t catch on she was an impostor.
Mary-Jane checked her wristwatch. “I can’t stay much longer. Or else they might get suspicious. You sure you’ll be okay?”
Felicia realized the redhead was genuinely worried for her. MJ was always so easy to read, but for once Felicia found it endearing instead of painful. Still, things were getting a bit too emotional for her taste, so she chose to defuse the situation.
“Aw~ You DO care…” she joked, playfully pinching the redhead’s cheek.
Mary-Jane groaned, and broke free.
“Don’t worry about me. Leaving the building will be easier than breaking in. Nobody will question a guard taking a brief stroll outside…” Felicia added.
“But you’re not dressed as a-” MJ interrupted herself and shook her head. “Right. Of course.”
**************
Jenna was standing in the middle of the abandoned warehouse while only clad in socks, long boxer undershorts, a tank top, and a modest-looking sports bra. She warily glanced at the black metal goggles with red lenses she was holding in her hand.
“Soooo…” she trailed off. “You’re telling me that these things-”
“They’re called exospex.” Taylor rectified her.
“- exospex, right. So… They can… download additional superhuman powers… in me… but only one at a time...”
“Actually, we don’t want you to do that. You don’t know how to use them. But yes. They can do that.”
Jenna grimaced.
“I have so many questions right now. How does this even function?”
Trapstr rolled her eyes as she was sorting out some ropes. “And that’s why you’ll never amount to more than a henchwoman. You gotta learn to stop questioning those things!”
Jenna ignored her, and looked at the costume lying on the floor of the warehouse. It was designed to cover the entire body, only leaving the face visible – well, technically the lower half of the face, since the exospex were covering the eyes. The bottom half, sides, arms and armpits of the full bodysuit were a very light shade of grey – almost white-looking. The torso, shoulders, and head of the bodysuit were black. There also was a red t-shaped symbol on the torso. There also were black gloves reinforced with metal, and black thigh-long soft boots also reinforced with metal.
“And how did she even manage to fit her hair in that?”
She pointed at the woman whom Charlotte and Screwball were currently dragging outside, to load her into the van.
Isabel Kane, known by the alias of Smasher and real owner of the discarded costume, indeed had a mane of armpit-long brown hair. She was a tall white-skinned blue-eyed woman with a slim body. She was physically athletic, but was thankfully just a normal human once stripped of her gear.
In fact, in her current state she looked downright vulnerable, in a cute way. The unconscious woman was tightly trussed up with ropes. Her wrists, shoulders, thighs, calves, and ankles were for all intent and purpose completely immobilized. She could barely wiggle. She was gagged and blindfolded with package tape, and stripped down to white comfort briefs and a red racerback bra.
“Jenna.” Taylor intervened. “We just chose this costume because it’ll cover your entire body and head, and the exospex will hide your eyes. Let it go.”
The handywoman sighed, and began to slip into the full-bodysuit.
In the meantime, Charlotte showed Taylor a dot on Agent Senai’s Tablet. “Sparks! I think I’ve found the other one you’re looking for!”
**************
Felicia pushed the cleaning cart, and was careful to keep her head low.
She was playing the part of the meek low-ranked employee who ‘knew her place’. Most mercenaries of Orchis were petty bullies at heart, so she figured out they would feel a janitress was beneath them.
And she was right. Nobody was paying her any attention.
However, while it suited Felicia’s needs for now, she also was aware her current guise had too many limitations. If she wanted to roam freely all parts of the building, she needed to look like a guard.
Thankfully, Orchis believed in protective helmets. What better way to conceal her hair?
Gwen had given her the schedules of the guards, including the shifts.
Pretending to clean the floor, Felicia discreetly made her way to the changing rooms. She knew there wouldn’t be security cameras in that area. In spite of their many flaws, Orchis respected the privacy of their employees.
Broom in hand, the cat burglar glanced inside the women’s locker room. Luck smiled on her today, as there was only one guard changing herself. The cat burglar discreetly sneaked inside the room, silently dragging her cleaning cart and leaving it in a corner with the broom. She closed the door, and was careful to stay in the back of her unsuspecting prey.
The mercenary was sitting on a bench, next to her open personal locker. She had already stripped off her casual clothes, only keeping on her light pink t-shirt, black boxer undershorts, and white long sports socks with two black horizontal stripes. Her access pass was loosely worn like a necklace. The woman was busy folding her civilian clothes, and putting them inside a black sports bag at her feet. For some reason, she was still wearing her dull grey beanie though.
Sentimental value perhaps?
Felicia approached the woman from behind. The mercenary’s uniform was lying on the bench next to her. Reflexively, the cat burglar glanced at the name tag stitched onto the fabric. ‘Marilyn.’ Then, she got a better look at the woman’s body proportions.
Marilyn was of average height, with an average breast size and average curves. Like most mercenaries-for-hire, she was slim and well-toned due to her training. She’d be a decent fit. Her face was a bit angular, with a pointy chin. She was light-skinned. Her hair were black and armpit-long. Some locks were resting on her breasts. Felicia supposed she’d tie them up into a neck bun before putting on her helmet.
Marilyn was sitting crouched on herself, in a very dour-looking way. Felicia couldn’t get a good look at her face, but she suspected the woman had a sullen expression to match her attitude. The mercenary’s body language basically screamed she didn’t want to be here at work, and would very much prefer to stay at home and rest. Rough night maybe?
Guess one can be a tough mercenary AND hate mornings...
Felicia’s first impression was confirmed when she saw Marilyn groan to herself, and rub her face. Clearly, this was a woman who didn’t want to go to work today.
Well, her wish was going to be granted… though not in a way she’d have expected…
Felicia noticed the mercenary’s machine gun was left lying against the locker. Its butt looked as efficient at knocking a girl out as a blackjack.
Eh. Why not?
Neck-chops were a bit harder to pull through when the target was sitting.
She grabbed the weapon.
In front of her, Marilyn mustered up her courage, and grabbed her full red uniform jumpsuit on the bench. Thus, she bent on the side, exposing her neck.
It was basically an invitation.
Felicia hit the back of the woman’s head with the butt of the gun. The blow was swift and precise.
Marilyn barely had the time to grunt. Then, she was out like a light. She dropped her uniform jumpsuit, and her unconscious body fell from the bench and onto the floor.
“Hopefully you won’t mind if I fill in for you today…” Felicia commented with a smile to the woman lying curled up on her side. She put the machine gun on the floor.
Since Marilyn was already in her underclothes, Felicia immediately went looking for potential makeshift bondage tools. She searched Marilyn’s sports bag. The cat burglar resisted the urge to help herself in the woman’s wallet, and only grabbed the civilian clothes. She was rewarded with a balled-up pair of clean white socks, and a black neck scarf – both were put to good use as a makeshift gag. Felicia shoved the balled-up socks into Marilyn’s mouth, then tightly tied the scarf as an OTM gag. She couldn’t use the light jacket or the jeans, but the grey long-sleeved shirt in the bottom of the bag looked sturdy enough. She cut the sleeves and used one to cross-tie Marilyn’s wrists behind her back, the other to bind her ankles. She then cut the torso of the garment into strips, and used the makeshift ropes to better secure the mercenary’s wrists and legs.
“It feels a bit strange to not strip the woman I’m about to impersonate, but I didn’t have the time to wait for you to get dressed in your uniform.” Felicia commented to the unconscious woman as she was binding her.
After all, Black Cat was a thief first and foremost. If she could save time by not having to strip the girl, she’d do it – even if it felt off.
She left the beanie on. Given how worn out the garment looked, Marilyn was most likely wearing it because it had sentimental value.
Once the black-haired mercenary was tucked in, Felicia grabbed her by the armpits, and dragged her to her locker. She stashed the woman inside, seated in a corner, alongside with her sports bag. The platinum blonde also quickly took off her cleaning lady uniform, and left it in the locker as well.
“I’m even providing you some blankets.” Black Cat said to the unconscious mercenary with a wink. “Enjoy your beauty rest. And don’t forget to ask for a sick leave.”
Then she closed the door to give Marilyn some privacy.
Felicia slipped into the mercenary’s red full uniform jumpsuit. She strapped the black protective pads on her knees and shoulders, and wrapped the black equipment belt with pouches around her waist. She strapped an other black pouch around her right thigh. She put on the black combat boots, and red helmet with a yellow protective transparent visor. She grabbed the machine gun, and was careful to wrap its shoulder strap and hold it in a way that obscured the name tag. Finally, she exited the locker room.
**************
The place was a huge car scrapyard. Nothing about it seemed remarkable, but Magneto’s agents had planted fake evidence suggesting he was using it to hide illegal weapons. Therefore, it was on SHIELD’s list of areas to investigate.
And now, it was on Taylor’s list of places to acquire a disguise.
“She’s still here.” Charlotte confirmed after checking Meseret Senai’s tablet.
Jenna adjusted her stolen exospex and glanced around the pile of cars behind which the team was hiding. She was shifting nervously on her feet. “I still don’t think it’s a good idea to go after a female Captain America.”
Taylor began to lose patience. “For the last time, she doesn’t have super-powers.”
Of course, the brunette’s mistake was forgivable. Shannon Carter, the superheroine known as American Dream, was indeed wearing a female version of Captain America’s famous blue-red-and-white costume. She was even carrying a similar-looking shield.
American Dream was a tall light-skinned woman with blue eyes, long blond hair, and a curvy statuesque figure befitting her pseudonym.
“And who exactly can stand in for her? We don’t exactly have a tall buxom blonde in our team.” Trapstr slyly remarked. She glanced at Screwball, who while blond and good-looking wasn’t exactly ‘tall buxom’ material either.
“Hey!”
Taylor intervened before it could escalate into a cat-fight. “Oh gee. If only we had a shape-shifter wearing an enhancer which allows her to take any appearance she wants… Oh wait.”
“And how do we defeat her?” Jenna intervened. “She’s a female Captain America!”
“For. The. Last. Time. She. Does. NOT. Have. Super-powers. We’re five, she’s alone. We’re disguised, she doesn’t know. It’ll be an easy victory.”
“You sure? Because she could be hiding her real power level…” Jenna insisted.
“Oh, for the love of- This is not Dragon Ball Z!”
Of course, their argument was bound to catch the attention of their prey.
“Uh. What’s going on here? Is there a problem?”
American Dream was a bit skeptical, but not really distrustful. Indeed, she thought she was dealing with a group of fellow heroines led by a SHIELD Agent. The fact Guillotine and Gwenpool were standing together was probably enough for her to justify why there was an argument in the first place.
“Do we have a lead?” she added.
Taylor expressed her frustration. She went all-out with her powers. In the blink of an eye, she covered the distance between her and the blond heroine with her enhanced speeds. Her hands were jolting with raw electric power. She grabbed American Dream’s shoulders and neck with both of her hands, and released a powerful surge of energy that knocked the blonde out instantly.
The heroine collapsed onto Taylor.
There was a beat.
“Savage.” Trapstr finally commented with a smile.
Taylor groaned bitterly as she was dragging the motionless American Dream.
“And you’re saying that like it’s something to be proud of…” She shook her head. “A great world we live in. You can train all your life to be the best in your field, and still lose to some schmo lucky to be born with superpowers.”
“I wouldn’t mind being part of the lucky few with great powers.” Trapstr commented with a shrug.
“Yeah. The kind of great powers that make you selected to be trained as a government assassin.” Taylor retorted as she laid Shannon Carter onto the ground behind some scraped cars.
Trapstr grimaced awkwardly.
“Way to kill the mood…” Screwball muttered to herself.
Sharp glare from her leader.
“I mean… Let me help you remove her outfit faster!”
Taylor nodded. They began to strip the blond heroine off her costume, peeling the full bodysuit off.
“Charlotte. Take her appearance and her uniform.”
American Dream’s undergarments were true to her pseudonym. The hip-hugging panties and matching full-cup t-shirt bra were red-blue-and-white, with a pattern of white stars.
Charlotte opened her mouth.
“I swear to God, if I hear one zany comment, I will shut your mouth with my foot.” Taylor warned.
The shape-shfiter stayed quiet. While she disguised herself, the others trussed up the defeated heroine.
They used some black electric cables to bind the blonde’s limbs, then hog-tied her. Thick brown duct tape was wrapped around her mouth and lower face as a gag.
Taylor and Jenna concealed the blond heroine by dropping her inside a scrapped car’s trunk, and closing it.
By the time they were done, a carbon copy of American Dream was standing in front of them.
“Good. Let’s go. We have a compound to visit.” Taylor summed up. “Trapstr, get the computer virus ready.”
**************
The helmet and transparent visors proved to be very useful to hide Felicia’s identity. Orchis clearly had lacked foresight when designing those...
Playing the part of the patrolling sentry didn’t pose any trouble. Felicia was used to impersonating guards, given how many of them she had mugged. When she passed next to Jefferson’s office room, she stayed in character. However, she also quickly observed the door.
As she and her teammates were expecting, one needed a specific pass card to open it.
Good thing Gwen had already planned ahead. Felicia smiled to herself.
Thanks Gwen.
Now, she simply had to look for Alia Gregor.
She headed to the scientific wing of the building.
Dr. Gregor was the only survivor of Orchis’s original founders – back when they were still a secret terrorist anti-mutant organization. All the other ones had been killed when the X-Men had foiled their genocidal plan.
Officially, William Jefferson had purged Orchis of all its criminal elements when he had seized the organization’s assets and reformed it into a legal private military company. Unsurprisingly, he had spent countless bribes to clear Alia’s name and keep her in his employ.
Though today, Felicia wasn’t complaining. She much preferred mugging Alia Gregor for her access card – and outfit – to trying to steal Jefferson’s card.
Plus, platinum blond hair and smarty glasses? This woman was just asking for it!
Thanks to Gwen’s map (courtesy of SHIELD), Felicia had been able to memorize the building’s layout. She didn’t have trouble finding the labs area.
She came across several pretty scientists in the corridors and the labs – and most of them were wearing smarty glasses. She however ignored them this time. She was aiming for a bigger prize…
Dr. Alia Gregor was in the main lab. She was talking on the phone.
The scientist was everything Gwen had promised: a light-skinned platinum-blond-haired woman with blue eyes and smart-looking square-shaped glasses, clad in black shoes, black trousers, a plain grey sweater, and a white scientist blouse. Her haircut was a professional-looking neck bun.
Felicia observed her target from afar, playing the part of the patrolling sentry, but didn’t strike. There were several cameras in the lab. Besides, she took advantage of the situation to hear Alia talk – she suspected she may have to mimic the woman’s voice soon.
“Scorpia agreed to work for us? Good. Mr. Jefferson’s lawyers will make sure she gets a safe conduct. What about Magneto and Woodward? … … ... Nothing? Mr. Jefferson was expecting Magneto to make a move after he directly targeted Charles Xavier. … … … Now, I know they’re an elusive team, but with both SHIELD and the AVENGERS after them, we should be able to still notice something if they make an other attempt against Kelly. Unless they have an other target? … … … Letting them move first is important. We want them to escalate things. Plus, Mr. Jefferson wants to retrieve Sarah unharmed. … … … Yes, I’ll be seeing him today. He wants me to conduct a questioning. In fact, I’ll have to retrieve some files for him.”
As the conversation was dragging on, Felicia began contemplating striking up a conversation with Gregor, to lure her into a secluded area.
However, before she could enact her plan, the scientist hung up and went to her personal office room. The cat burglar followed her. She was smelling an opportunity.
Indeed, Alia was in a hurry. She unlocked and opened the door of her office, but didn’t close it. She didn’t intend to stay for long.
Felicia checked nobody was looking, and entered after the woman. She silently closed the door of the office room.
Alia’s back was turned on her. She was searching through some files in a big folder.
“Firestar… Firestar…” she was muttering to herself.
The scientist was completely oblivious to the threat approaching her in her back. She grabbed one sheet of paper.
“Got it.”
Felicia pounced on her, and wrapped her arms around Alia’s throat and neck to apply a sleeper-hold.
“As curious as I am to know why you need data on Firestar, I must ask you to go to sleep…” she whispered to the struggling scientist.
Of course, Alia couldn’t voice her objections – not that she had a word in the matter anyway.
Once she was unconscious, Felicia dragged her behind the desk, and laid her onto the floor.
The cat burglar rubbed her hands.
“First things first…”
She snatched the scientist’s glasses, removed the lenses, and put them on her nose.
“Perfection.”
Felicia then lifted Alia’s upper-body to remove her white scientist blouse, and then pulled off the woman’s plain grey sweater.
“That’s quite the sexy lingerie you got there, Doc…”
Alia’s full-cup bra was indeed a lovingly-crafted hot pink work of art, adorned with white lace and a flower pattern on the cups. Felicia pulled off the shoes, and slid the trousers down the woman’s legs. Alia’s frilly high-cut panties matched the bra. Her socks were plain grey though.
Felicia didn’t waste time. There were a pair of handcuffs and a few zip-ties strapped onto her stolen equipment belt. She used them to restrain the unconscious scientist. She cuffed Alia’s wrists behind her back. Then, she zip-tied her knees up. Finally, she bound her ankles. She stuff-gagged Alia with her own grey socks, then grabbed the tape dispenser on the office desk and wrapped many layers of tape around the woman’s mouth, cheeks, and lower face.
Once she was done, Felicia pushed the bound-and-gagged Alia under the desk, and left her seated with her chin resting on her knees and her thighs pressed against her breasts.
She then took off Marilyn’s mercenary uniform, and concealed the garment, gear and weapon under the desk as well.
Next, she slipped into Alia’s clothes and scientist blouse. Finally, Felicia tied up her hair into a tight neck bun, hoping nobody would notice their length didn’t match Alia’s.
In doubt, she grabbed the folder and sheet of paper Alia had been looking for – they would help to perfect her disguise.
She locked the door after leaving, and headed to Jefferson’s office room.
**************
Gwen was right. Dr. Gregor’s pass opened the door of Jefferson’s office room.
Thankfully for me, Orchis is paranoid enough to have access-restricted doors, but not enough to add retinal scans... Felicia thought to herself.
She didn’t waste time, and sat behind Jefferson’s personal laptop.
Her ‘borrowed’ code cracker worked its magic once again. She accessed the laptop’s files, and searched for the folders about “Facility Great White North”.
There you are. What’s those videos? “Research subject 0-0-1.” Looks like I hit the jackpot.
She copied and pasted them on an USB key.
Noticing some fishy account files, the cat burglar stole those as well. She wouldn’t say no to some leverage for a good old blackmail…
Felicia pondered about searching the laptop some more, but she chose to not be too greedy. She turned the device off, and was careful to move everything back on their original places.
She grabbed once again the folder she had taken in Gregor’s office, discreetly left the room, and locked the door again.
It was time to leave using Gregor’s guise – and personal car – to regroup with Mary-Jane outside the compound.
Felicia began to walk the corridor, but was stopped just as she was turning around the corner.
“Dr. Gregor! Over here!”
Felicia froze.
A group was approaching her.
Half-a-dozen guards. And, in-between them, there was the big wig himself. William Jefferson.
“Alia. I’ve been looking for you. I see you grabbed the file.” the businessman commented.
Felicia kept a cool head – she was a consummate actress and manipulator after all. She gave him the sheet of paper – both to stay in-character and to distract Jefferson’s attention. “Of course.” Then, just in case they had seen her exit the office room and had suspicions, she added: “I checked your office room to see if you were here. Looks like we missed each other.”
Jefferson grabbed the folder, and read its first sheet. He was focused on the files. Her impersonation of Alia’s voice fooled him.
“Perfect! Come with me. My board meeting will begin soon.”
Felicia remembered Alia’s phone conversation she had overheard.
“Everything’s ready for the questioning?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Felicia pondered for a moment. She was confident Marilyn wouldn’t be found before the next shift change, same with the janitress in the storage room, and only Jefferson could unlock the access of Dr. Gregor’s office room.
It was best to play along – at least for now.
Jefferson and his escort led her to an interrogation room. The businessman politely invited ‘Alia Gregor’ to enter then followed her while his guards waited outside.
At the center of the room, there was a high-tech interrogation chair. A woman was restrained in the device. She had short neck-long hair, a white skin, and green eyes. Her waist, torso, legs, and arms were bound to the chair with thick straps. Metallic restrains were completely encasing her hands and her feet. Some sort of metallic muzzle-like device was covering her mouth, but with a tight wire netting to allow her to talk.
Felicia recognized the redhead who was held prisoner.
Firestar.
A mercenary was watching the captive. She was a tall slim athletic white-skinned woman dressed in a similar uniform as Marilyn. Her nametag read ‘Ruth’.
Jefferson went to Firestar.
“I hope you appreciate your accommodation.” He touched the metal encasement trapping the redhead’s right hand. “These little marvels are coated with a chemical that neutralizes your powers… They’re quite expensive, you know?”
His comment was met with a harsh glare and a deafening silence.
“You may wonder why you’re here. It’s quite simple actually. Not many facilities have the means to restrain a mutant as dangerous as you. So I generously offered my help to the police...”
The red-haired heroine kept glaring at him with undisguised contempt.
Jefferson didn’t mind the cold shoulder. “In a way, I should thank you. Had you not caused the premature fall of Orchis, I’d never have been able to take control of its assets. Secret terrorist organizations are a thing of the past. Now, private military companies can be just as influential – and, cherry on the cake, they’re perfectly legal.”
Firestar ultimately lost patience with the smarmy businessman. “Spare me the gloating and get to the point. What do you want from me?”
“I thought it’d be the occasion to ask you a few questions about your dear professor and his institute.”
“I won’t tell you anything. You’ll have to torture me.”
“Of course not. We are civilized people. Dr. Gregor has come up with a nice truth serum formula… One tiny painless injection, and you’ll tell us everything.” The businessman checked his phone. “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to bear witness to your testimony. I have an important board meeting scheduled. Dr. Gregor, Ruth, I leave everything in your capable hands.”
Felicia answered with a polite nod. The mercenary saluted.
Jefferson left the interrogation room. He took his guards with him, leaving ‘Alia Gregor’ and Ruth alone with the prisoner.
Felicia’s mind was racing. Of course, she couldn’t concoct the truth serum, not even to keep her cover.
She glanced at Ruth. The mercenary was checking something on her phone, and hadn’t realized something was off yet.
A quick scan of the room allowed the cat burglar to notice there wasn’t any surveillance camera. Jefferson apparently didn’t want to leave any proof of what was going on during his interrogations. The implications were worrisome at best, but today Felicia wasn’t complaining.
Obviously, the best solution was also the simplest. Jefferson had taken all the guards with him. She just had to put Ruth out of commission and leave the building using Gregor’s guise before Jefferson returned. But what about Firestar? Felicia didn’t feel like leaving her a captive of Orchis.
Luckily, there was a perfectly good set of clothes at hand...
Felicia suppressed the urge to sigh.
What’s the thing with me and breaking out redheads lately?
She glanced at the guard. “Okay. Let’s begin.”
Firestar mistook her comment. “Do your worst.”
The mercenary pocketed her phone and stepped forward. “Ma’am. First, I have to warn you about a possible breach of security. I’ve been trying to contact Marilyn. She’s not answering.”
“You’re her partner?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Don’t worry about her. I know what happened.”
Ruth frowned. “What?”
“She got mugged for her uniform.”
Felicia kneed Ruth in the guts. The blow dazed the mercenary. The wind knocked out of her, she bent forward and staggered. Felicia nimbly moved in her back, and wrapped a tight sleeper-hold around the mercenary’s neck and throat. She squeezed. Ruth flailed and gurgled, but her struggles only managed to tire her out quicker. Soon, she passed out due to the lack of oxygen.
“Just like you.” Black Cat added while holding the limp unconscious body.
That finally got a reaction out of Firestar. “What the-?! Why?!”
Felicia winked. “I thought you of all people would have caught on.”
“You’re not Gregor!”
“Nope.” She laid Ruth onto the floor. “And I’m also the reason her partner is stashed trussed up in her own locker. And the janitress is taking a nap in the storage room.”
“Who are you?”
“Many things. Right now, I’m the one busting you out.”
Felicia carefully unstrapped Firestar from her interrogation chair.
The redhead breathed in relief. “Much better…” She stretched. “What’s the plan?”
She was straight to the point, and didn’t waste time with needless questions. Felicia took an immediate liking to her.
“The classic You take her uniform.” she explained.
“I love it.”
The two of them swiftly stripped Ruth of her protective helmet with a yellow protective transparent visor, the black protective pads on her knees and shoulders, her black equipment belt and pouches, her black combat boots, and her full uniform jumpsuit.
Ruth was a blond-haired woman with dark blue eyes and a square haircut.
“You have experience with Orchis uniforms… I guess the stories are true.” Felicia joked.
Firestar simply chuckled.
They stopped once the mercenary was down to her blue exercise bra, white hip-hugging panties, and black socks.
At that moment, they heard a groan. Ruth was coming to her senses.
She was greeted by the face of a pissed off Firestar, free of the device neutralizing her powers.
Felicia smiled at the mercenary over the redhead’s shoulder. “We can do it the easy way or the hard way. Which do you prefer?”
Ruth wisely chose the easy way. She let herself be restrained onto the interrogation chair. Felicia and Firestar used the straps to bind the mercenary’s torso, waist, forearms, and legs. They didn’t bother with the metal encasements since these were tailor-made for Firestar. They used the underwear-clad woman’s socks to stuff-gag her, ignoring Ruth’s muffled squeaks of protest. A ripped strip of Firestar’s casual clothes was turned into a cleave-gag.
The powerless mercenary could do nothing but watch as Firestar was slipping into her uniform and equipment, and using her helmet and visor to conceal her identity.
Felicia clapped her hands.
“Perfect! And before I make my leave...”
She took a black marker, and drew a Hello Kitty head on Ruth’s forehead.
“With the compliments of Black Cat! I hope you feel honored. I usually don’t leave my autograph. Tell your boss he should protect his laptop better.”
She ignored the woman’s muffled insults and threats.
Firestar and she exited the room.
“Why did you do that?” the redhead asked once nobody could hear them.
“I work for people who don’t want mutants to be accused of this heist. And everyone knows Black Cat works alone.”
“Jefferson’s the type to hold a grudge-”
“Please. As if these losers had the ghost of a chance to catch me. And besides…” She playfully fidgeted the USB key. “… I have leverage.”
Firestar smiled in connivance. “I know a man who’ll be interested to buy your information…”
“Duly noted.” Felicia answered with a grin. “Now, my loyal ‘Ruth’. Why don’t you escort me, the one and true ‘Alia Gregor’, to my personal armored car?”
Firestar mock-bowed. “With pleasure.”
**************
The guard at the main entrance jumped from his chair when he saw Felicia and Firestar reach the door.
“Doctor Gregor?! Why are you-”
Felicia silenced him with a glare. “I have an important errand. Are you questioning me?”
The sentry hastily saluted. “Of course not!”
“Good. And if you value your job, you’ll keep not questioning me.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“And you’ll remember your place next time.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Ruth will escort me. Back to your post.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“And stop saying: ‘Yes, ma’am’.”
“Yes- Understood, ma’am.”
Felicia and Firestar managed to keep a straight face as they exited the building, as they climbed into Alia’s personal armored car, and as Firestar turned the engine out.
Then they burst out laughing.
“Good grief, the look on his face!”
“You took way too much pleasure in making him squirm…” Firestar mock-reproached.
“Guilty as charged. Now, let’s regroup with my teammate.”
**************
Mary-Jane was waiting for them inside the delivery van, at a safe distance from the Orchis compound. She was nervous and agitated. Her fingers were drumming on the wheel.
Felicia of course had a ton of fun banging on the door to startle her.
“GAHK!” MJ literally jumped on the seat, and hit her knees against the wheel. “Ouch! What the Hell?! You jerk!”
“You take hitchhikers?”
Massaging her knees, the redhead noticed Firestar. “Who…?”
Felicia winked. “Careful. You might get replaced. I contemplate making her my new sidekick.”
“I’m not your sidekick-”
“Drive us away, sidekick!” Felicia interrupted her once more.
MJ’s answer was an inarticulate gurgle of pure rage.
**************
Firestar prevented Mary-Jane from strangling Felicia during the trip back.
Then, she asked them to drop her to a specific building. Apparently, this was some sort of safe place from which she could contact Charles Xavier.
“We’ll keep in touch if you need my help. And also for the intel.” she told Felicia.
The latter grinned, dollar signs dancing in front of her eyes.
MJ glared sideways at her. “What’s she talking about?”
“Nothing of consequences. Hurry up. I’m sure Gwen is worried for us.”
Mary-Jane huffed, but since Gwen wouldn’t agree with her breaking Felicia’s kneecaps to make her talk she was forced to comply.
**************
Jenna, Screwball, and Trapstr paused in front of the tower.
“What now?” an exasperated Taylor groaned.
“This isn’t exactly like going after Spider-Man…” Trapstr commented. “The security systems of this place are-”
“We have Charlotte to bypass any retinal, facial, and digital scan. I have a jammer specifically designed to bypass everything else. The computer virus we’re carrying has been programmed by the best scientists the old man could hire. You’ve literally ambushed superheroines to steal their outfits, and you’re having second thoughts now?”
“Minor superheroines. We’re talking about the big hitters.”
“They’re not in the tower. They’re outside, looking for clues on the old man.”
“They’re still so many leagues above us...”
“And that’s why we’re the ones going inside, and not the old man’s heavy hitters. We are below the AVENGERS. That’s our strength. They don’t expect second-grade rogues like us to pull off such a heist. And yet, here we are. This whole convoluted game of cat and mouse served only one purpose. To give us access to this compound. We go in, mess up with their tech, and go out. Simple and plain. Then, the road will be open to deal with Kelly and Orchis.”
“Bored now! Let’s go!” Charlotte suddenly intervened.
Charlotte being Charlotte, she was indeed too out-of-touch with reality to feel fear - or even the weight of the moment. She moved in front of the main door, and used the facial and retinal scan.
Her shape-shifting powers, enhanced by Oscorp’s device, did their job. The security system mistook her for American Dream.
The door opened.
Jenna, Trapstr, and Screwball had no choice but to follow her and Taylor inside the compound.
**************
Something about an Orchid…
**************
Felicia was studying a map of Orchis’ compound Gwen had given to her, with MJ looking over her shoulder. Ghost-Spider was exchanging texts with Peter.
The three girls were planning their upcoming heist.
“No wonder Fury wanted me for the job. Best send the disposable pawn first, eh?” Felicia commented harshly.
Pretending otherwise would have been a lie, and an insult to Felicia’s intelligence. Gwen didn’t attempt to defend SHIELD’s decision. Even MJ didn’t attempt to.
“I agreed to play along, but I won’t undertake a suicide mission either, so you better have a plan, Miss Top-Student-of-the-Class.” Felicia added.
Gwen smiled a bit. “At least MJ’s nickname is shorter…” she joked. “But yes. I do have a plan.”
And probably one or two contingency ones as well. Felicia thought to herself.
That was the perk of working with Gwen. You could trust her to get all your bases covered. Ghost Spider was the planner of her team. Peter and Miles had the inventiveness and the panache. Gwen was the one who handled the boring practical details. Sure, she sucked at sarcasm and one-liners, but one couldn’t have everything...
“Frontal infiltration is bound to fail. The accesses are well-guarded – both by sentries and cameras. Roof and air vents are secured as well. So the idea is to use a Trojan horse.” With her phone, Gwen showed her two friends a picture of a delivery van, and added cryptically: “All compounds must be resupplied from time to time. If we were to intercept the delivery van, one of us could hide inside a crate.”
“And by one of us, you mean me.” Felicia intervened. It wasn’t a question.
“It’ll be a job for a contortionist. MJ isn’t supple enough. And I can’t take the risk to go inside an Orchis building.”
“Let me guess. Politics?”
Gwen nodded. “If news leak a mutant raided Jefferson’s facility…”
“… the anti-mutant agenda will have a field day.” Felicia finished the sentence. “I don’t need a picture. Just tell me how I avoid getting caught once I’m inside the building.”
“The storage area is located both near the cleaning closet and the locker rooms. There aren’t cameras in this part of the building. Jefferson often stores illegal goods here, so he doesn’t want to leave video footage. MJ will impersonate the delivery woman, so there will be a window of time during which you’re both inside the building. You’ll have to improvise. If there’s no opportunity, you’ll simply hide in the van again to leave.”
Felicia smiled and clasped her hands. “Sounds like a plan.”
Mary-Jane was grimacing and biting her lower lip.
Gwen looked apologetic. “We can’t ask anyone else, MJ. You’re the only person under Jefferson’s radar whom we can trust.”
“You’re the only one who can do it.” Felicia insisted. She figured out stroking the redhead’s ego a bit would do no harm...
“Fine, fine, I’ll do it!” Mary-Jane exclaimed.
“Thank you.” Gwen said with a smile.
Mary-Jane was a bit flustered and looked away.
Gwen showed them a room on the map. “The goal is Jefferson’s personal laptop. It should be in his office room.”
“I suppose the access is restricted.” Felicia intervened.
“There’s a pass card. If you can’t steal Jefferson’s, you may want to look for Alia Gregor. The head scientist. I planned the infilrtation today because she’ll be inside the building. Her pass card also unlocks the door.” Gwen glanced sideways at Felicia. “And she looks a bit like you.”
The cat burglar smiled. “A scientist with platinum blond hair? Just tell me she wears smarty glasses, and I’m sold!”
**************
The first step of the operation proved to be easy. Orchis could securize their building as much as they wanted, they couldn’t do much to watch the delivery van when it was outside their reach.
The trio intended to intercept a food supply delivery. Their reason was that the storehouse of such company wasn’t protected at all.
For trained women like MJ or Felicia, climbing the fence and discreetly reaching the van’s parking area was easy. For a web-swinging mutant like Gwen, it was a mere cakewalk.
They ambushed the delivery woman when she was leaving the warehouse. As the employee was sitting behind the wheel, just as she was about to close the door, Gwen shot her with a strong sleeping dart – SHIELD’s most efficient non-lethal weapon.
Five seconds later, the employee was deeply asleep, her forehead resting on the wheel. MJ and Felicia quickly carried her out of sight, behind some of the unused parked delivery vans.
With her medium brown hair, short functional ponytail, chestnut brown eyes, and round face, the delivery woman was plain and average – save for an exceptionally well-endowed chest.
She was wearing a white t-shirt, a yellow light jacket with the company logo, dark blue jeans, pink-and-white, sneakers, and a yellow cap with the black logo of her company.
Felicia stripped the brunette down to a plain black tank top, a faded pink t-shirt bra, white classic briefs with a pink waistband strap, and black socks with white polka dots.
Mary-Jane insisted they didn’t bind and gag the delivery woman. Since the sleeping drug would keep the woman out of commission for four hours, Gwen sided with her. For the sake of her red-haired partner’s sensibility, Felicia was forced to play along.
MJ changed into the delivery woman uniform.
At the same time, Felicia picked open the backdoor an other delivery van that wasn’t supposed to be used today, and Gwen laid the sleeping brunette inside. They closed the door to conceal her.
By the time they were done hiding the unconscious woman, MJ was in disguise. She put on the cap.
Gwen gave her a pen.
“To complete your disguise.”
MJ frowned. “There are a couple in the glove compartment.”
Gwen winked. “This one is special. It can shoot a sleeping dart. You just need to double-click.”
“Oooooh… Like in that James Bond movie… Cool!”
Felicia snorted a bit condescendingly.
Gwen glanced at her sideways. “Time for your contortionist performance.” she commented to Black Cat, with just a hint of sarcasm.
The cat burglar gulped. She didn’t like MJ’s smartass grin.
**************
Gwenpool, real name Gwendolyne Pool – no relation with Gwen Stacy – was everything Taylor hated in a masked heroine.
Loud. Brash. Zany. Convinced she was the funniest person of the world.
Taylor wished she didn’t need to associate with that nuisance. But Gwenpool’s cowl-mask concealed almost the entire head, and – contrary to her male namesake – she was a mere human with no super-strength.
The heroine was clad in a white cowl with pink eyes which also covered the top half of her face. The main part of her costume was a long-sleeved pink-and-white leotard. A belt with several pouches was tied around her waist. Two katanas were strapped onto her shoulders with leather straps. Her thighs were bare. Her pink-and-white boots were knee-long.
According to the intel on Agent Senai’s tablet, the Deadpool-wannabe was currently searching several abandoned buildings which had been deemed potential hideouts for Magneto’s syndicate by Nick Fury.
Taylor strongly suspected SHIELD and the AVENGERS had sent her on her own because nobody wanted to deal with her grating jokes.
Ultimately, the reason didn’t matter. Do not look a gift horse in the teeth, as the saying went.
“She’s about to exit the building.” Charlotte commented, looking at Agent Senai’s tablet, which showed her live Gwenpool’s movements.
Taylor nodded. “Jenna, Charlotte, watch the accesses to the street. Screwball, Trapstr, you’re with me.”
She went to wait in front of the service entrance.
The white-and-pink masked heroine exited the abandoned building.
She was greeted by the grim sight of “Guillotine” with a stern scowl.
“Wow! Easy there, Executioner!”
Taylor stayed in-character. “It’s Guillotine.” she retorted.
It wasn’t too hard for her to play the part of the French masked heroine. Being gruff and straight to the point was a second nature for the former black op.
“Yeah, that’s what I said!” Gwenpool grinned when she noticed ‘Yellowjacket’ standing next to ‘Guillotine’. “So. You ditched your previous partner? Relationship issues? Or maybe a threesome?”
Taylor didn’t attempt to hide the twitching of her left eye. The real Guillotine would’ve reacted all the same. “You’re on your own?”
“Yep!” Gwenpool made a ‘cool ninja pose’. “I’m ever the lone wolf…”
She was too busy showing off. It made her inattentive.
Taylor punched the heroine in the face. Guillotine’s metal gauntlets proved to be great blunt weapons.
“Shut your trap, you insufferable Deadpool-wannabe.”
Dazed, Gwenpool fell at Trapstr’s feet. With a huge grin, the latter tazed the heroine before she could recover. The masked heroine grunted, then her limp unconscious body collapsed onto the ground.
They dragged her behind a dumpster.
“Screwball.” Taylor called. “Put on her costume.”
“Why me?”
Taylor took off Gwenpool’s mask, revealing the face of a cute white-skinned blue-eyed blonde with chin-long hair and a square haircut. The tips of the hair were dyed pink.
“You’re both annoying and blond.”
Screwball glanced at Taylor’s gauntlet-wearing fists, then at the bruise on Gwenpool’s face.
“Okay.”
Taylor and Trapstr stripped the blond heroine of her costume, leaving her clad in white knickers with a pink waistband strap and a matching white t-shirt bra with pink shoulder straps and pink edges.
Screwball took off her current disguise, and slipped into the white-and-pink costume.
At the same time, the defeated heroine was thoroughly zip-tied hands and feet by Taylor and Trapstr. Tape was wrapped around her thighs, her upper-arms, and her lower-face as a gag.
Once they were done, Taylor threw the underwear-clad Gwenpool into a dumpster, and closed the lid to conceal her.
Screwball adjusted the mask to conceal her face. “I’m finished.”
“A perfect look-alike of the real deal.” Taylor dryly commented.
Screwball chose to take the comment as a compliment, and ignored Trapstr’s amused snort. “Okay. What’s the next stop?”
**************
The Orchis facility was a surprisingly lush and pristine-looking building complex in the outskirts of New York City. A uninformed person would’ve been forgiven to think this was the seat of a tech company or a science park.
The old Orchis favored menacing military-looking compounds. But Jefferson was a businessman first-and-foremost. And, like all good businessmen, he thought about marketing for his new Orchis. His new facilities served the same purpose as his propaganda on social networks and his many bribes – de-demonizing the organization.
Of course, the menace was still here. It was simply hidden. The fence around the property was maybe painted a pleasant green, but it was also electrified and supported by security cameras, and heat and movement detectors. Access was strictly monitored by security barriers and guards armed to the teeth. Many hidden computer-controlled automatic weapons, both legal and illegal, were scattered across the compound to deal with any intruder.
Hence why it had been so important to intercept the delivery girl far away from the compound… Even a mutant like Gwen would have a hard time entering the building complex.
Mary-Jane stopped the delivery van in front of the service entrance of the building. She took a deep breath. It was the last checkpoint.
She opened the window and gave her accreditation.
The guard in the booth grabbed the card. He glanced at Mary-Jane’s freckled face and red hair.
“You’re new?”
“Yes.”
“A shame. I was hoping it’d be Amanda like usual.” His eyes lingered on the redhead’s breasts. It was pretty clear why he preferred greeting the usual delivery woman...
MJ managed to grimace a smile. “Yeah. She got held up.”
The man shrugged. He entered the back of the van, and checked all the crates. However, he didn’t find the hidden compartment in which Felicia was concealed.
The guard exited the vehicle. “Everything is in order. You know the drill?”
Mary-Jane nodded.
The man opened the garage door leading to the storage room.
“Use the intercom when you’re finished.”
Mary-Jane parked the delivery van in the vast storage room.
From the outside, the garage door was closed, leaving her alone.
The redhead checked if there were cameras. Gwen had been right. There weren’t any. Given the fact one needed to cross three checkpoints to reach this area, it wasn’t necessarily the proof of a security failing.
MJ entered the van, and released Felicia from her hiding spot at the bottom of a crate.
The cat burglar stretched her back. “Finally!”
“Stay hidden here. I’ll check the rooms nearby, and see if there’s an opportunity. If someone asks, I’ll pretend I need help to unload the crates.”
“Do I have the choice?”
Mary-Jane left without dignifying her with an answer.
Felicia grimaced when her partner closed the door. The car burglar didn’t like the idea of lying in waiting and letting Mary-Jane handle things on her own. It wasn’t like she didn’t trust the redhead. She just...
Okay, she didn’t trust the redhead.
Still, she had no other choice. There were many cameras in the building. It was best to acquire a disguise here and now.
Time passed.
Felicia began to feel worried. Mary-Jane was a decent infiltrator, but she had such a short fuse… She only felt safe when the redhead was at arms length. And even then, only barely.
At least, no alarm had begun to blare. It was a good sign, right?
The cat burglar ducked behind cover when she heard the faint sounds of a conversation getting closer to the door.
Two women entered.
One was Mary-Jane.
The other was a meek-looking average-sized woman with reddish brown hair, a light skin, and brown-green eyes. She was wearing a white cap, a light blue janitress long-sleeved blouse with rolled up sleeves, light blue trousers, and black plastic clogs.
Felicia smiled.
A janitress. Jackpot. Good work MJ!
Of course, she would never say it out loud.
“Thank you for helping me store the crates.” Mary-Jane was saying, leading the unsuspecting woman near the delivery van. “I’m filling in for the usual girl, and they didn’t tell me where I should put them.”
“They can be quite odious with their staff…” the janitress bitterly agreed.
They stopped next to Felicia’s hiding spot.
The cat burglar got ready to jump.
Mary-Jane beat her to the punch though.
She double-clicked on the fake pen, and shot the sleeping dart right into the cleaning lady’s neck.
The woman’s eyed widened. Then, they rolled back. She let out a moan, and fell behind. Mary-Jane caught her limp body mid-fall.
Felicia glared. “Did you really-?”
“You were about to hit her.”
“With a neck-chop. She’d barely have felt it.”
“Well now she hadn’t felt anything. And you don’t even need to bind her. The sedative will make her sleep for five hours.”
Felicia was tempted to argue for form’s sake, but decided against it. She knew MJ would have the last word in this argument. And she couldn’t let the redhead get the drop on her. Her (kitty) pride didn’t allow it!
Mary-Jane gently laid the janitress onto the floor, and allowed Felicia to strip her. The auburn-haired woman was divested of her clothes, and left clad in a light pink full-cup bra with a flower pattern and white lace around the cups, matching comfortable pink panties, and white socks.
They carried the janitress and seated her in a corner of the storage room, then covered her with a tarp to conceal her.
Felicia slipped into the cleaning lady’s uniform, while MJ finished unloading the crates to keep her cover.
Felicia adjusted the cap to hide her platinum blond hair. “That should do it…” Provided she walked under the right angle, the cameras wouldn’t catch on she was an impostor.
Mary-Jane checked her wristwatch. “I can’t stay much longer. Or else they might get suspicious. You sure you’ll be okay?”
Felicia realized the redhead was genuinely worried for her. MJ was always so easy to read, but for once Felicia found it endearing instead of painful. Still, things were getting a bit too emotional for her taste, so she chose to defuse the situation.
“Aw~ You DO care…” she joked, playfully pinching the redhead’s cheek.
Mary-Jane groaned, and broke free.
“Don’t worry about me. Leaving the building will be easier than breaking in. Nobody will question a guard taking a brief stroll outside…” Felicia added.
“But you’re not dressed as a-” MJ interrupted herself and shook her head. “Right. Of course.”
**************
Jenna was standing in the middle of the abandoned warehouse while only clad in socks, long boxer undershorts, a tank top, and a modest-looking sports bra. She warily glanced at the black metal goggles with red lenses she was holding in her hand.
“Soooo…” she trailed off. “You’re telling me that these things-”
“They’re called exospex.” Taylor rectified her.
“- exospex, right. So… They can… download additional superhuman powers… in me… but only one at a time...”
“Actually, we don’t want you to do that. You don’t know how to use them. But yes. They can do that.”
Jenna grimaced.
“I have so many questions right now. How does this even function?”
Trapstr rolled her eyes as she was sorting out some ropes. “And that’s why you’ll never amount to more than a henchwoman. You gotta learn to stop questioning those things!”
Jenna ignored her, and looked at the costume lying on the floor of the warehouse. It was designed to cover the entire body, only leaving the face visible – well, technically the lower half of the face, since the exospex were covering the eyes. The bottom half, sides, arms and armpits of the full bodysuit were a very light shade of grey – almost white-looking. The torso, shoulders, and head of the bodysuit were black. There also was a red t-shaped symbol on the torso. There also were black gloves reinforced with metal, and black thigh-long soft boots also reinforced with metal.
“And how did she even manage to fit her hair in that?”
She pointed at the woman whom Charlotte and Screwball were currently dragging outside, to load her into the van.
Isabel Kane, known by the alias of Smasher and real owner of the discarded costume, indeed had a mane of armpit-long brown hair. She was a tall white-skinned blue-eyed woman with a slim body. She was physically athletic, but was thankfully just a normal human once stripped of her gear.
In fact, in her current state she looked downright vulnerable, in a cute way. The unconscious woman was tightly trussed up with ropes. Her wrists, shoulders, thighs, calves, and ankles were for all intent and purpose completely immobilized. She could barely wiggle. She was gagged and blindfolded with package tape, and stripped down to white comfort briefs and a red racerback bra.
“Jenna.” Taylor intervened. “We just chose this costume because it’ll cover your entire body and head, and the exospex will hide your eyes. Let it go.”
The handywoman sighed, and began to slip into the full-bodysuit.
In the meantime, Charlotte showed Taylor a dot on Agent Senai’s Tablet. “Sparks! I think I’ve found the other one you’re looking for!”
**************
Felicia pushed the cleaning cart, and was careful to keep her head low.
She was playing the part of the meek low-ranked employee who ‘knew her place’. Most mercenaries of Orchis were petty bullies at heart, so she figured out they would feel a janitress was beneath them.
And she was right. Nobody was paying her any attention.
However, while it suited Felicia’s needs for now, she also was aware her current guise had too many limitations. If she wanted to roam freely all parts of the building, she needed to look like a guard.
Thankfully, Orchis believed in protective helmets. What better way to conceal her hair?
Gwen had given her the schedules of the guards, including the shifts.
Pretending to clean the floor, Felicia discreetly made her way to the changing rooms. She knew there wouldn’t be security cameras in that area. In spite of their many flaws, Orchis respected the privacy of their employees.
Broom in hand, the cat burglar glanced inside the women’s locker room. Luck smiled on her today, as there was only one guard changing herself. The cat burglar discreetly sneaked inside the room, silently dragging her cleaning cart and leaving it in a corner with the broom. She closed the door, and was careful to stay in the back of her unsuspecting prey.
The mercenary was sitting on a bench, next to her open personal locker. She had already stripped off her casual clothes, only keeping on her light pink t-shirt, black boxer undershorts, and white long sports socks with two black horizontal stripes. Her access pass was loosely worn like a necklace. The woman was busy folding her civilian clothes, and putting them inside a black sports bag at her feet. For some reason, she was still wearing her dull grey beanie though.
Sentimental value perhaps?
Felicia approached the woman from behind. The mercenary’s uniform was lying on the bench next to her. Reflexively, the cat burglar glanced at the name tag stitched onto the fabric. ‘Marilyn.’ Then, she got a better look at the woman’s body proportions.
Marilyn was of average height, with an average breast size and average curves. Like most mercenaries-for-hire, she was slim and well-toned due to her training. She’d be a decent fit. Her face was a bit angular, with a pointy chin. She was light-skinned. Her hair were black and armpit-long. Some locks were resting on her breasts. Felicia supposed she’d tie them up into a neck bun before putting on her helmet.
Marilyn was sitting crouched on herself, in a very dour-looking way. Felicia couldn’t get a good look at her face, but she suspected the woman had a sullen expression to match her attitude. The mercenary’s body language basically screamed she didn’t want to be here at work, and would very much prefer to stay at home and rest. Rough night maybe?
Guess one can be a tough mercenary AND hate mornings...
Felicia’s first impression was confirmed when she saw Marilyn groan to herself, and rub her face. Clearly, this was a woman who didn’t want to go to work today.
Well, her wish was going to be granted… though not in a way she’d have expected…
Felicia noticed the mercenary’s machine gun was left lying against the locker. Its butt looked as efficient at knocking a girl out as a blackjack.
Eh. Why not?
Neck-chops were a bit harder to pull through when the target was sitting.
She grabbed the weapon.
In front of her, Marilyn mustered up her courage, and grabbed her full red uniform jumpsuit on the bench. Thus, she bent on the side, exposing her neck.
It was basically an invitation.
Felicia hit the back of the woman’s head with the butt of the gun. The blow was swift and precise.
Marilyn barely had the time to grunt. Then, she was out like a light. She dropped her uniform jumpsuit, and her unconscious body fell from the bench and onto the floor.
“Hopefully you won’t mind if I fill in for you today…” Felicia commented with a smile to the woman lying curled up on her side. She put the machine gun on the floor.
Since Marilyn was already in her underclothes, Felicia immediately went looking for potential makeshift bondage tools. She searched Marilyn’s sports bag. The cat burglar resisted the urge to help herself in the woman’s wallet, and only grabbed the civilian clothes. She was rewarded with a balled-up pair of clean white socks, and a black neck scarf – both were put to good use as a makeshift gag. Felicia shoved the balled-up socks into Marilyn’s mouth, then tightly tied the scarf as an OTM gag. She couldn’t use the light jacket or the jeans, but the grey long-sleeved shirt in the bottom of the bag looked sturdy enough. She cut the sleeves and used one to cross-tie Marilyn’s wrists behind her back, the other to bind her ankles. She then cut the torso of the garment into strips, and used the makeshift ropes to better secure the mercenary’s wrists and legs.
“It feels a bit strange to not strip the woman I’m about to impersonate, but I didn’t have the time to wait for you to get dressed in your uniform.” Felicia commented to the unconscious woman as she was binding her.
After all, Black Cat was a thief first and foremost. If she could save time by not having to strip the girl, she’d do it – even if it felt off.
She left the beanie on. Given how worn out the garment looked, Marilyn was most likely wearing it because it had sentimental value.
Once the black-haired mercenary was tucked in, Felicia grabbed her by the armpits, and dragged her to her locker. She stashed the woman inside, seated in a corner, alongside with her sports bag. The platinum blonde also quickly took off her cleaning lady uniform, and left it in the locker as well.
“I’m even providing you some blankets.” Black Cat said to the unconscious mercenary with a wink. “Enjoy your beauty rest. And don’t forget to ask for a sick leave.”
Then she closed the door to give Marilyn some privacy.
Felicia slipped into the mercenary’s red full uniform jumpsuit. She strapped the black protective pads on her knees and shoulders, and wrapped the black equipment belt with pouches around her waist. She strapped an other black pouch around her right thigh. She put on the black combat boots, and red helmet with a yellow protective transparent visor. She grabbed the machine gun, and was careful to wrap its shoulder strap and hold it in a way that obscured the name tag. Finally, she exited the locker room.
**************
The place was a huge car scrapyard. Nothing about it seemed remarkable, but Magneto’s agents had planted fake evidence suggesting he was using it to hide illegal weapons. Therefore, it was on SHIELD’s list of areas to investigate.
And now, it was on Taylor’s list of places to acquire a disguise.
“She’s still here.” Charlotte confirmed after checking Meseret Senai’s tablet.
Jenna adjusted her stolen exospex and glanced around the pile of cars behind which the team was hiding. She was shifting nervously on her feet. “I still don’t think it’s a good idea to go after a female Captain America.”
Taylor began to lose patience. “For the last time, she doesn’t have super-powers.”
Of course, the brunette’s mistake was forgivable. Shannon Carter, the superheroine known as American Dream, was indeed wearing a female version of Captain America’s famous blue-red-and-white costume. She was even carrying a similar-looking shield.
American Dream was a tall light-skinned woman with blue eyes, long blond hair, and a curvy statuesque figure befitting her pseudonym.
“And who exactly can stand in for her? We don’t exactly have a tall buxom blonde in our team.” Trapstr slyly remarked. She glanced at Screwball, who while blond and good-looking wasn’t exactly ‘tall buxom’ material either.
“Hey!”
Taylor intervened before it could escalate into a cat-fight. “Oh gee. If only we had a shape-shifter wearing an enhancer which allows her to take any appearance she wants… Oh wait.”
“And how do we defeat her?” Jenna intervened. “She’s a female Captain America!”
“For. The. Last. Time. She. Does. NOT. Have. Super-powers. We’re five, she’s alone. We’re disguised, she doesn’t know. It’ll be an easy victory.”
“You sure? Because she could be hiding her real power level…” Jenna insisted.
“Oh, for the love of- This is not Dragon Ball Z!”
Of course, their argument was bound to catch the attention of their prey.
“Uh. What’s going on here? Is there a problem?”
American Dream was a bit skeptical, but not really distrustful. Indeed, she thought she was dealing with a group of fellow heroines led by a SHIELD Agent. The fact Guillotine and Gwenpool were standing together was probably enough for her to justify why there was an argument in the first place.
“Do we have a lead?” she added.
Taylor expressed her frustration. She went all-out with her powers. In the blink of an eye, she covered the distance between her and the blond heroine with her enhanced speeds. Her hands were jolting with raw electric power. She grabbed American Dream’s shoulders and neck with both of her hands, and released a powerful surge of energy that knocked the blonde out instantly.
The heroine collapsed onto Taylor.
There was a beat.
“Savage.” Trapstr finally commented with a smile.
Taylor groaned bitterly as she was dragging the motionless American Dream.
“And you’re saying that like it’s something to be proud of…” She shook her head. “A great world we live in. You can train all your life to be the best in your field, and still lose to some schmo lucky to be born with superpowers.”
“I wouldn’t mind being part of the lucky few with great powers.” Trapstr commented with a shrug.
“Yeah. The kind of great powers that make you selected to be trained as a government assassin.” Taylor retorted as she laid Shannon Carter onto the ground behind some scraped cars.
Trapstr grimaced awkwardly.
“Way to kill the mood…” Screwball muttered to herself.
Sharp glare from her leader.
“I mean… Let me help you remove her outfit faster!”
Taylor nodded. They began to strip the blond heroine off her costume, peeling the full bodysuit off.
“Charlotte. Take her appearance and her uniform.”
American Dream’s undergarments were true to her pseudonym. The hip-hugging panties and matching full-cup t-shirt bra were red-blue-and-white, with a pattern of white stars.
Charlotte opened her mouth.
“I swear to God, if I hear one zany comment, I will shut your mouth with my foot.” Taylor warned.
The shape-shfiter stayed quiet. While she disguised herself, the others trussed up the defeated heroine.
They used some black electric cables to bind the blonde’s limbs, then hog-tied her. Thick brown duct tape was wrapped around her mouth and lower face as a gag.
Taylor and Jenna concealed the blond heroine by dropping her inside a scrapped car’s trunk, and closing it.
By the time they were done, a carbon copy of American Dream was standing in front of them.
“Good. Let’s go. We have a compound to visit.” Taylor summed up. “Trapstr, get the computer virus ready.”
**************
The helmet and transparent visors proved to be very useful to hide Felicia’s identity. Orchis clearly had lacked foresight when designing those...
Playing the part of the patrolling sentry didn’t pose any trouble. Felicia was used to impersonating guards, given how many of them she had mugged. When she passed next to Jefferson’s office room, she stayed in character. However, she also quickly observed the door.
As she and her teammates were expecting, one needed a specific pass card to open it.
Good thing Gwen had already planned ahead. Felicia smiled to herself.
Thanks Gwen.
Now, she simply had to look for Alia Gregor.
She headed to the scientific wing of the building.
Dr. Gregor was the only survivor of Orchis’s original founders – back when they were still a secret terrorist anti-mutant organization. All the other ones had been killed when the X-Men had foiled their genocidal plan.
Officially, William Jefferson had purged Orchis of all its criminal elements when he had seized the organization’s assets and reformed it into a legal private military company. Unsurprisingly, he had spent countless bribes to clear Alia’s name and keep her in his employ.
Though today, Felicia wasn’t complaining. She much preferred mugging Alia Gregor for her access card – and outfit – to trying to steal Jefferson’s card.
Plus, platinum blond hair and smarty glasses? This woman was just asking for it!
Thanks to Gwen’s map (courtesy of SHIELD), Felicia had been able to memorize the building’s layout. She didn’t have trouble finding the labs area.
She came across several pretty scientists in the corridors and the labs – and most of them were wearing smarty glasses. She however ignored them this time. She was aiming for a bigger prize…
Dr. Alia Gregor was in the main lab. She was talking on the phone.
The scientist was everything Gwen had promised: a light-skinned platinum-blond-haired woman with blue eyes and smart-looking square-shaped glasses, clad in black shoes, black trousers, a plain grey sweater, and a white scientist blouse. Her haircut was a professional-looking neck bun.
Felicia observed her target from afar, playing the part of the patrolling sentry, but didn’t strike. There were several cameras in the lab. Besides, she took advantage of the situation to hear Alia talk – she suspected she may have to mimic the woman’s voice soon.
“Scorpia agreed to work for us? Good. Mr. Jefferson’s lawyers will make sure she gets a safe conduct. What about Magneto and Woodward? … … ... Nothing? Mr. Jefferson was expecting Magneto to make a move after he directly targeted Charles Xavier. … … … Now, I know they’re an elusive team, but with both SHIELD and the AVENGERS after them, we should be able to still notice something if they make an other attempt against Kelly. Unless they have an other target? … … … Letting them move first is important. We want them to escalate things. Plus, Mr. Jefferson wants to retrieve Sarah unharmed. … … … Yes, I’ll be seeing him today. He wants me to conduct a questioning. In fact, I’ll have to retrieve some files for him.”
As the conversation was dragging on, Felicia began contemplating striking up a conversation with Gregor, to lure her into a secluded area.
However, before she could enact her plan, the scientist hung up and went to her personal office room. The cat burglar followed her. She was smelling an opportunity.
Indeed, Alia was in a hurry. She unlocked and opened the door of her office, but didn’t close it. She didn’t intend to stay for long.
Felicia checked nobody was looking, and entered after the woman. She silently closed the door of the office room.
Alia’s back was turned on her. She was searching through some files in a big folder.
“Firestar… Firestar…” she was muttering to herself.
The scientist was completely oblivious to the threat approaching her in her back. She grabbed one sheet of paper.
“Got it.”
Felicia pounced on her, and wrapped her arms around Alia’s throat and neck to apply a sleeper-hold.
“As curious as I am to know why you need data on Firestar, I must ask you to go to sleep…” she whispered to the struggling scientist.
Of course, Alia couldn’t voice her objections – not that she had a word in the matter anyway.
Once she was unconscious, Felicia dragged her behind the desk, and laid her onto the floor.
The cat burglar rubbed her hands.
“First things first…”
She snatched the scientist’s glasses, removed the lenses, and put them on her nose.
“Perfection.”
Felicia then lifted Alia’s upper-body to remove her white scientist blouse, and then pulled off the woman’s plain grey sweater.
“That’s quite the sexy lingerie you got there, Doc…”
Alia’s full-cup bra was indeed a lovingly-crafted hot pink work of art, adorned with white lace and a flower pattern on the cups. Felicia pulled off the shoes, and slid the trousers down the woman’s legs. Alia’s frilly high-cut panties matched the bra. Her socks were plain grey though.
Felicia didn’t waste time. There were a pair of handcuffs and a few zip-ties strapped onto her stolen equipment belt. She used them to restrain the unconscious scientist. She cuffed Alia’s wrists behind her back. Then, she zip-tied her knees up. Finally, she bound her ankles. She stuff-gagged Alia with her own grey socks, then grabbed the tape dispenser on the office desk and wrapped many layers of tape around the woman’s mouth, cheeks, and lower face.
Once she was done, Felicia pushed the bound-and-gagged Alia under the desk, and left her seated with her chin resting on her knees and her thighs pressed against her breasts.
She then took off Marilyn’s mercenary uniform, and concealed the garment, gear and weapon under the desk as well.
Next, she slipped into Alia’s clothes and scientist blouse. Finally, Felicia tied up her hair into a tight neck bun, hoping nobody would notice their length didn’t match Alia’s.
In doubt, she grabbed the folder and sheet of paper Alia had been looking for – they would help to perfect her disguise.
She locked the door after leaving, and headed to Jefferson’s office room.
**************
Gwen was right. Dr. Gregor’s pass opened the door of Jefferson’s office room.
Thankfully for me, Orchis is paranoid enough to have access-restricted doors, but not enough to add retinal scans... Felicia thought to herself.
She didn’t waste time, and sat behind Jefferson’s personal laptop.
Her ‘borrowed’ code cracker worked its magic once again. She accessed the laptop’s files, and searched for the folders about “Facility Great White North”.
There you are. What’s those videos? “Research subject 0-0-1.” Looks like I hit the jackpot.
She copied and pasted them on an USB key.
Noticing some fishy account files, the cat burglar stole those as well. She wouldn’t say no to some leverage for a good old blackmail…
Felicia pondered about searching the laptop some more, but she chose to not be too greedy. She turned the device off, and was careful to move everything back on their original places.
She grabbed once again the folder she had taken in Gregor’s office, discreetly left the room, and locked the door again.
It was time to leave using Gregor’s guise – and personal car – to regroup with Mary-Jane outside the compound.
Felicia began to walk the corridor, but was stopped just as she was turning around the corner.
“Dr. Gregor! Over here!”
Felicia froze.
A group was approaching her.
Half-a-dozen guards. And, in-between them, there was the big wig himself. William Jefferson.
“Alia. I’ve been looking for you. I see you grabbed the file.” the businessman commented.
Felicia kept a cool head – she was a consummate actress and manipulator after all. She gave him the sheet of paper – both to stay in-character and to distract Jefferson’s attention. “Of course.” Then, just in case they had seen her exit the office room and had suspicions, she added: “I checked your office room to see if you were here. Looks like we missed each other.”
Jefferson grabbed the folder, and read its first sheet. He was focused on the files. Her impersonation of Alia’s voice fooled him.
“Perfect! Come with me. My board meeting will begin soon.”
Felicia remembered Alia’s phone conversation she had overheard.
“Everything’s ready for the questioning?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Felicia pondered for a moment. She was confident Marilyn wouldn’t be found before the next shift change, same with the janitress in the storage room, and only Jefferson could unlock the access of Dr. Gregor’s office room.
It was best to play along – at least for now.
Jefferson and his escort led her to an interrogation room. The businessman politely invited ‘Alia Gregor’ to enter then followed her while his guards waited outside.
At the center of the room, there was a high-tech interrogation chair. A woman was restrained in the device. She had short neck-long hair, a white skin, and green eyes. Her waist, torso, legs, and arms were bound to the chair with thick straps. Metallic restrains were completely encasing her hands and her feet. Some sort of metallic muzzle-like device was covering her mouth, but with a tight wire netting to allow her to talk.
Felicia recognized the redhead who was held prisoner.
Firestar.
A mercenary was watching the captive. She was a tall slim athletic white-skinned woman dressed in a similar uniform as Marilyn. Her nametag read ‘Ruth’.
Jefferson went to Firestar.
“I hope you appreciate your accommodation.” He touched the metal encasement trapping the redhead’s right hand. “These little marvels are coated with a chemical that neutralizes your powers… They’re quite expensive, you know?”
His comment was met with a harsh glare and a deafening silence.
“You may wonder why you’re here. It’s quite simple actually. Not many facilities have the means to restrain a mutant as dangerous as you. So I generously offered my help to the police...”
The red-haired heroine kept glaring at him with undisguised contempt.
Jefferson didn’t mind the cold shoulder. “In a way, I should thank you. Had you not caused the premature fall of Orchis, I’d never have been able to take control of its assets. Secret terrorist organizations are a thing of the past. Now, private military companies can be just as influential – and, cherry on the cake, they’re perfectly legal.”
Firestar ultimately lost patience with the smarmy businessman. “Spare me the gloating and get to the point. What do you want from me?”
“I thought it’d be the occasion to ask you a few questions about your dear professor and his institute.”
“I won’t tell you anything. You’ll have to torture me.”
“Of course not. We are civilized people. Dr. Gregor has come up with a nice truth serum formula… One tiny painless injection, and you’ll tell us everything.” The businessman checked his phone. “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to bear witness to your testimony. I have an important board meeting scheduled. Dr. Gregor, Ruth, I leave everything in your capable hands.”
Felicia answered with a polite nod. The mercenary saluted.
Jefferson left the interrogation room. He took his guards with him, leaving ‘Alia Gregor’ and Ruth alone with the prisoner.
Felicia’s mind was racing. Of course, she couldn’t concoct the truth serum, not even to keep her cover.
She glanced at Ruth. The mercenary was checking something on her phone, and hadn’t realized something was off yet.
A quick scan of the room allowed the cat burglar to notice there wasn’t any surveillance camera. Jefferson apparently didn’t want to leave any proof of what was going on during his interrogations. The implications were worrisome at best, but today Felicia wasn’t complaining.
Obviously, the best solution was also the simplest. Jefferson had taken all the guards with him. She just had to put Ruth out of commission and leave the building using Gregor’s guise before Jefferson returned. But what about Firestar? Felicia didn’t feel like leaving her a captive of Orchis.
Luckily, there was a perfectly good set of clothes at hand...
Felicia suppressed the urge to sigh.
What’s the thing with me and breaking out redheads lately?
She glanced at the guard. “Okay. Let’s begin.”
Firestar mistook her comment. “Do your worst.”
The mercenary pocketed her phone and stepped forward. “Ma’am. First, I have to warn you about a possible breach of security. I’ve been trying to contact Marilyn. She’s not answering.”
“You’re her partner?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Don’t worry about her. I know what happened.”
Ruth frowned. “What?”
“She got mugged for her uniform.”
Felicia kneed Ruth in the guts. The blow dazed the mercenary. The wind knocked out of her, she bent forward and staggered. Felicia nimbly moved in her back, and wrapped a tight sleeper-hold around the mercenary’s neck and throat. She squeezed. Ruth flailed and gurgled, but her struggles only managed to tire her out quicker. Soon, she passed out due to the lack of oxygen.
“Just like you.” Black Cat added while holding the limp unconscious body.
That finally got a reaction out of Firestar. “What the-?! Why?!”
Felicia winked. “I thought you of all people would have caught on.”
“You’re not Gregor!”
“Nope.” She laid Ruth onto the floor. “And I’m also the reason her partner is stashed trussed up in her own locker. And the janitress is taking a nap in the storage room.”
“Who are you?”
“Many things. Right now, I’m the one busting you out.”
Felicia carefully unstrapped Firestar from her interrogation chair.
The redhead breathed in relief. “Much better…” She stretched. “What’s the plan?”
She was straight to the point, and didn’t waste time with needless questions. Felicia took an immediate liking to her.
“The classic You take her uniform.” she explained.
“I love it.”
The two of them swiftly stripped Ruth of her protective helmet with a yellow protective transparent visor, the black protective pads on her knees and shoulders, her black equipment belt and pouches, her black combat boots, and her full uniform jumpsuit.
Ruth was a blond-haired woman with dark blue eyes and a square haircut.
“You have experience with Orchis uniforms… I guess the stories are true.” Felicia joked.
Firestar simply chuckled.
They stopped once the mercenary was down to her blue exercise bra, white hip-hugging panties, and black socks.
At that moment, they heard a groan. Ruth was coming to her senses.
She was greeted by the face of a pissed off Firestar, free of the device neutralizing her powers.
Felicia smiled at the mercenary over the redhead’s shoulder. “We can do it the easy way or the hard way. Which do you prefer?”
Ruth wisely chose the easy way. She let herself be restrained onto the interrogation chair. Felicia and Firestar used the straps to bind the mercenary’s torso, waist, forearms, and legs. They didn’t bother with the metal encasements since these were tailor-made for Firestar. They used the underwear-clad woman’s socks to stuff-gag her, ignoring Ruth’s muffled squeaks of protest. A ripped strip of Firestar’s casual clothes was turned into a cleave-gag.
The powerless mercenary could do nothing but watch as Firestar was slipping into her uniform and equipment, and using her helmet and visor to conceal her identity.
Felicia clapped her hands.
“Perfect! And before I make my leave...”
She took a black marker, and drew a Hello Kitty head on Ruth’s forehead.
“With the compliments of Black Cat! I hope you feel honored. I usually don’t leave my autograph. Tell your boss he should protect his laptop better.”
She ignored the woman’s muffled insults and threats.
Firestar and she exited the room.
“Why did you do that?” the redhead asked once nobody could hear them.
“I work for people who don’t want mutants to be accused of this heist. And everyone knows Black Cat works alone.”
“Jefferson’s the type to hold a grudge-”
“Please. As if these losers had the ghost of a chance to catch me. And besides…” She playfully fidgeted the USB key. “… I have leverage.”
Firestar smiled in connivance. “I know a man who’ll be interested to buy your information…”
“Duly noted.” Felicia answered with a grin. “Now, my loyal ‘Ruth’. Why don’t you escort me, the one and true ‘Alia Gregor’, to my personal armored car?”
Firestar mock-bowed. “With pleasure.”
**************
The guard at the main entrance jumped from his chair when he saw Felicia and Firestar reach the door.
“Doctor Gregor?! Why are you-”
Felicia silenced him with a glare. “I have an important errand. Are you questioning me?”
The sentry hastily saluted. “Of course not!”
“Good. And if you value your job, you’ll keep not questioning me.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“And you’ll remember your place next time.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Ruth will escort me. Back to your post.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“And stop saying: ‘Yes, ma’am’.”
“Yes- Understood, ma’am.”
Felicia and Firestar managed to keep a straight face as they exited the building, as they climbed into Alia’s personal armored car, and as Firestar turned the engine out.
Then they burst out laughing.
“Good grief, the look on his face!”
“You took way too much pleasure in making him squirm…” Firestar mock-reproached.
“Guilty as charged. Now, let’s regroup with my teammate.”
**************
Mary-Jane was waiting for them inside the delivery van, at a safe distance from the Orchis compound. She was nervous and agitated. Her fingers were drumming on the wheel.
Felicia of course had a ton of fun banging on the door to startle her.
“GAHK!” MJ literally jumped on the seat, and hit her knees against the wheel. “Ouch! What the Hell?! You jerk!”
“You take hitchhikers?”
Massaging her knees, the redhead noticed Firestar. “Who…?”
Felicia winked. “Careful. You might get replaced. I contemplate making her my new sidekick.”
“I’m not your sidekick-”
“Drive us away, sidekick!” Felicia interrupted her once more.
MJ’s answer was an inarticulate gurgle of pure rage.
**************
Firestar prevented Mary-Jane from strangling Felicia during the trip back.
Then, she asked them to drop her to a specific building. Apparently, this was some sort of safe place from which she could contact Charles Xavier.
“We’ll keep in touch if you need my help. And also for the intel.” she told Felicia.
The latter grinned, dollar signs dancing in front of her eyes.
MJ glared sideways at her. “What’s she talking about?”
“Nothing of consequences. Hurry up. I’m sure Gwen is worried for us.”
Mary-Jane huffed, but since Gwen wouldn’t agree with her breaking Felicia’s kneecaps to make her talk she was forced to comply.
**************
Jenna, Screwball, and Trapstr paused in front of the tower.
“What now?” an exasperated Taylor groaned.
“This isn’t exactly like going after Spider-Man…” Trapstr commented. “The security systems of this place are-”
“We have Charlotte to bypass any retinal, facial, and digital scan. I have a jammer specifically designed to bypass everything else. The computer virus we’re carrying has been programmed by the best scientists the old man could hire. You’ve literally ambushed superheroines to steal their outfits, and you’re having second thoughts now?”
“Minor superheroines. We’re talking about the big hitters.”
“They’re not in the tower. They’re outside, looking for clues on the old man.”
“They’re still so many leagues above us...”
“And that’s why we’re the ones going inside, and not the old man’s heavy hitters. We are below the AVENGERS. That’s our strength. They don’t expect second-grade rogues like us to pull off such a heist. And yet, here we are. This whole convoluted game of cat and mouse served only one purpose. To give us access to this compound. We go in, mess up with their tech, and go out. Simple and plain. Then, the road will be open to deal with Kelly and Orchis.”
“Bored now! Let’s go!” Charlotte suddenly intervened.
Charlotte being Charlotte, she was indeed too out-of-touch with reality to feel fear - or even the weight of the moment. She moved in front of the main door, and used the facial and retinal scan.
Her shape-shifting powers, enhanced by Oscorp’s device, did their job. The security system mistook her for American Dream.
The door opened.
Jenna, Trapstr, and Screwball had no choice but to follow her and Taylor inside the compound.
) And some classic lines, like when she knocks out the Orchis agent:
)