Circus Tricks - Act 2 - Marvel: Earth-USB Saga (Part 26)
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2025 2:28 pm
Big shout-out and thanks to Tirepanted who helped me with the characters and story.
Character descriptions are in the second post.
Edit: I edited Black Widow's name (changed her birth name Natalia to her current one Natasha) to better fit with the continuity of Earth-USB.
Circus Tricks
**************
Act 2
******* Two days after the events of the Manhattan Courthouse... *******
From a small hill in the outskirts of New York City, Mary-Jane was observing ‘Tiboldt’s Circus’ with binoculars.
A show was currently taking place. The redhead was feeling a bit unnerved. Everything looked like a normal circus to her. Ticket sellers, balloon cart, popcorn, big colorful marquee, tents, caravans, circus trailers, and trucks.
“They look like normal performers to me. Are you sure they’re the Circus of Crime? I wouldn’t want to assault a group of innocent comedians.”
Kate nodded. “The circus is just a cover.” She scratched her chin. “I must say, I admire their gall. It takes guts to hide in plain sight just like that. It took me weeks – and Natasha’s help – to figure that one out.”
Mary-Jane saw the high number of cars and people who had come to see the circus act. “Their spectacle seems popular. A shame they don’t try and stay legit.”
“The earnings of this kind of spectacles are pocket change compared to what they make with robberies. Or mercenary work.”
Mary-Jane bit her lower lip. “So. How did you learn the hour and day when Jefferson’s agent is supposed to arrive? Scratch that. How did you even learn they’re the culprits?”
Kate smiled. “Let’s just say Felicia doesn’t have the monopoly on mugging silver-blond-haired scientists.”
“Dr Gregor? You’ve-”
“Black Widow intercepted her the same day as the failed press conference. Ironically, she used the same tactic as Tiboldt with the janitress. She ambushed her outside of her workplace. She’s been impersonating her for the past few days.”
Mary-Jane was feeling awed. She was impressed by Black Widow’s skill. Staying in-character while impersonating someone was the hardest part of any disguise. Being able to do it for days without anyone being the wisest was quite the accomplishment!
“And the real Gregor?”
“… is taking a few days off in a secret SHIELD facility. She’ll be released after we’ve dealt with Jefferson’s agent.”
They heard a car stop near them, using the cover of the hill to not be seen from the circus afar.
“Ah. The cavalry is here.” Kate commented.
She and Mary-Jane went to greet the newcomers.
Two women with red hair exited the vehicle – one in her twenties, and one a decade older.
Mary-Jane’s face brightened a little when she recognized the younger redhead.
Angelica Jones, Firestar.
The mutant grinned, and embraced her. “Good to see you again.”
Mary-Jane nodded. “You’re also part of the operation?”
“More like she forced our hand.” Natasha intervened.
Firestar shrugged. “There’s no way I’m leaving Jefferson a chance of worming his way out of a lengthy prison sentence.”
“And there’s no way I’m compromising this mission by working with amateurs.” Natasha didn’t raise her voice, her face didn’t move, but her tone still conveyed her disapproval.
Angelica stopped smiling, and glared at Black Widow. MJ could feel the tension in the air. Apparently, this was a dispute they had already had on their way – several times.
“You realize I can deal with the entire Circus by myself?” Firestar commented.
“You realize the goal is to be discreet?” Natasha retorted evenly. “If we brute-force our way, Jefferson’s agent will smell the trap and won’t come.”
Kate stepped in-between them. “We’ve already had that discussion before, and you’ve been outvoted Natasha. Speaking of which. I brought the other reinforcement I talked you about.” She gently urged Mary-Jane to take a step forward.
The latter attempted an awkward smile. “Uh. Hi.”
Natasha, however, wasn’t impressed. She glared at Kate: “What is the meaning of this? I agreed to work with you because the Circus of Crime is your investigation. But you didn’t tell me you’d bring a rookie with you! Is this ‘Bring-your-daughter-to-work’ day?”
MJ’s cheeks reddened, but she bit her lower lip to not retort anything. It was hard for her to not be intimidated by the aloof Avenger who had a decade of experience behind her.
So Kate jumped to her defense and remarked evenly: “Last time I checked, the Avengers didn’t do much to stop Taylor Woodward and her team of morons. In fact, I recall they ran circles around you. MJ took an active role in foiling their plans.”
Black Widow narrowed her eyes, but didn’t correct Kate. As bitter as those words were, they were also the truth.
“She’ll be your responsibility.” she finally said.
All-New Hawkeye took her words as a consent. “Alright, Team Redhead (and Kate). Let’s get down to work.”
Natasha nodded. She considered the dispute settled, and therefore briefed Angelica and Mary-Jane accordingly.
“We wait until the show is over. First step: We split up. Two teams. Angelica and I, Kate and Mary-Jane. Kate’s goes through the storage area, mine through the big top. We neutralize some of the core performers, and take their outfits. Second step: Kate’s team deals with Tiboldt and takes her outfit, while my team secures the area. Third step, we regroup and ambush Jefferson’s agent. Any questions?”
The others shook their heads.
“Then let’s get down to work.”
**************
Even though it was still daytime, the circus area was surprisingly easy to sneak into. Today’s show had just ended – most employees were busy cleaning the seats and the ring, or putting the equipment away, or resting, eating, and drinking after their performance.
Mary-Jane didn’t mind. Neither Kate nor Natasha were certain the low-ranked stage hands, workers, and extras were aware of Tiboldt’s criminal activities. If she could, she’d prefer to only mug the ones who were willing accomplices.
Most of the members of the circus were in the living trailers, while the area of the storage tents was empty.
MJ and Kate were dressed in casual clothes – if they were spotted, they may be able to bluff their way by pretending to be lost members of the audience, or curious fans who had wanted to take a peak.
At least, if they didn’t recognize Kate...
They swiftly took cover behind the canvas of a big tent when they heard voices coming their way.
A duo of male performers – a knife thrower and a strongman – were talking with a woman they couldn’t see yet.
“Already at work again? You didn’t even take off your stage costume!”
“I prefer to keep the bow. You know who’s supposed to come today. Madame asked me to make sure everything is ready to accommodate out guest.”
The knife thrower stretched. “Good luck with that. Sometimes, I don’t mind not being the Number Two…” He and his partner shared a laugh, and they went to have a drink in one trailer.
The female performer finally came into MJ’s and Kate’s line of sight.
“Lazy oafs…” she complained. “You’re not Number Two for a reason...”
When it came to appearance, minions came in two flavors – plain and professional, or wild and eccentric. This one clearly belonged to the second group.
The henchwoman was wearing black shoes, striped purple-and-black long socks reaching up to her mid-thighs, black leather shorts, and a purple-and-black striped long-sleeved top. A black eye-mask and a hot pink ‘square haircut’ wig concealed her identity. Arrows were embedded into the wig.
At least MJ hoped it was a wig…
Fashion statement aside, she could still see that woman was dangerous. The crook was slim, with fit arms and angular sharp-looking facial features. She was carrying a bow. MJ had no doubt she was a good archer.
“Fifi.” Kate whispered with gravitas.
“Met her at the courthouse. I assume the nickname is dumb, but the girl is trouble?”
“Pretty much. She’s Tiboldt’s Number Two.” Kate observed the crook from afar – Fifi was heading towards the storage tents. “Let’s grab her.”
“You mean we’re actually starting with the second-in-command?”
“What’s eating you all of the sudden?”
“Nothing. It just feels a bit weird to begin with the top of the hierarchy, that’s all. Is she dangerous?”
“She’s good with a bow – as good as me.”
“Then the trick is to not let her use the bow.”
Kate smiled. “I like the way you think.”
Kate and Mary-Jane began following the unsuspecting henchwoman.
Fifi went to inspect the area in which the circus equipment and the trunks were stored. She was checking that there were no intruders here to spy on the upcoming meeting.
A shame she never suspected the intruders were, in fact, stalking her in her blind spot the entire time…
Once she was done, Fifi inspected a totem pole, on which a sniper could easily position themselves. A sniper… or an archer.
“Looks like Tiboldt wants to take precautions.” Kate remarked. “And we’ve found where the meeting is supposed to take place.”
Taking cover behind a Chevrolet truck, she noticed a small fire extinguisher in its trailer. She snatched it. MJ raised an eyebrow.
“She’s hard-headed.” Kate answered the redhead’s unspoken question.
“You mean you already-”
MJ didn’t finish her sentence. Fifi was coming their way. She looked satisfied with herself, and was probably going to make her report to her ‘Madame’.
The crook passed next to the Chevrolet truck, absentmindedly glanced at it…
… and froze when she noticed the trailer’s fire extinguisher was missing.
A mixture of horror, anger, and understanding dawned upon her face. She grabbed a small cellphone to warn Tiboldt.
Kate jumped from her hiding spot, swung the fire extinguisher, and knocked Fifi out cold with one bonk to the skull. The crook groaned, and collapsed onto the ground.
“And stay down…” Kate nodded to herself when she saw the henchwoman was lying still. “MJ, help me carry her inside that tent, over there.”
She grabbed the armpits, Mary-Jane grabbed the legs, and they hurriedly took Fifi out of sight. They dropped their burden inside the tent, which was used to store spare runners and wire-strainers. There were also some empty crates – probably ones that were used to carry the canvas of the marquee.
Kate glanced at the unconscious henchwoman lying face down, grabbed one leg, and began to remove a shoe. She said to Mary-Jane: “You’ll take her outfit.”
“Why me?”
“She’s wearing a wig. Your hair is already short. It’ll be quicker if you do it.”
MJ glanced once more at the hot pink wig with arrows embedded onto it, leather black short skirt, purple-and-black striped long-sleeved top, and matching striped midthigh-long socks.
“And here I thought White Rabbit’s gang had it bad…” the redhead complained.
“Will you believe me if I tell you she wears this outfit by choice?”
They stripped the unconscious Fifi down to her black boyshorts and matching sports bra. Then, they used wires to bind the black-haired archer’s wrists and ankles.
While MJ was gathering the discarded costume, bow, and wig, Kate pulled some smelling salts out of her pouch.
“What are you doing?”
“Waking her up.”
“Isn’t that counterproductive?”
“I need to know more about today’s meeting. Just stay out of her sight.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s the type to hold a grudge, so it’s best she doesn’t know you stole her clothes. Just leave me her bow.” Kate snatched the weapon, then gently pushed MJ behind some crates. “Off you go!”
Once the redhead was out of sight, Kate woke the underwear-clad prisoner up.
Fifi jerked brusquely, and realized she was both half-naked and bound. “What?!” Her eyes narrowed when she noticed Kate. “You!”
“Missed me?” Kate greeted ironically. She patted the fire extinguisher next to her. “I trust this brings back memories?”
Fifi grimaced. Apparently it did. So she didn’t try to call for help.
“So why don’t you begin to talk?” Kate added.
“Keep dreaming!”
“Playing tough, uh?” Kate put away the fire extinguisher, and showed off Fifi’s weapon. “How about this then?”
The crook frowned. “My… bow?”
“Yeah. That’s a nice-looking bow you have there.” Kate pulled a small saw out of her Swiss army knife. “Would be a shame if I was to… saw it right at the middle? And then I could easily shove one half right up your-”
“Fine, fine, I’ll talk! Leave my bow alone! It’s not like I know much anyway!”
“I knew a fellow archer would have SOME common sense.” She ignored the prisoner’s hate-filled glare. “So? Who’s Jefferson’s agent?”
Fifi paled. “You know about the meeting?!”
“I know lots of things.”
Fifi realized she better not lie if she wanted her bow to survive in one piece. “Madame calls her ‘Spider’, but I have no clue about who she is. Except that she’s a ‘she’. Madame thinks she has no super-power, she’s just a well-trained mercenary, but we’ve never seen her in action. That’s all I know.”
“And the meeting? When and where?”
“At 1 P.M. Near the totem pole outside. I was supposed to take position there, in case the meeting went south.”
“I see.” Kate cut some duct tape, and smoothed a thick strip onto Fifi’s mouth. “Thanks a lot for the info. Oh, and the clothes too.” She added a few more strips, just to be sure.
“Ah hhth yhh. Ah hhth yhh sh mhch.”
I hate you. I hate you so much.
Kate smiled. “I know.”
Then she knocked her out again with a neck-chop, dropped the henchwoman inside an empty crate, and closed the lid – though she left enough slack to allow Fifi to breath.
MJ was already mostly disguised. She finished pulling up the long socks. “I deduce there’s some history between you two… Something that goes beyond mere archery rivalry…”
“I told you I’ve been investigating on the Circus of Crime for the past few weeks, right? Let’s just say I beat her up and stole her costume in the process. She took it personally. She’s already tried to kill me twice since then.”
“Twice in a few weeks? She must be really angry.”
“You have no idea.”
MJ adjusted the second long sock. “How many sworn enemies did you make by robbing them of their outfits?”
“Just her and Masque.” Kate shrugged. “You never did?”
“No.” The redhead paused awkwardly. “I don’t know if I should feel relieved or offended.”
“And I don’t know if I should feel jealous or sympathetic.” Kate said with a chuckle.
MJ put on the arrows-embedded wig. She grimaced. “Going through doors may be a little tricky…”
“Look on the bright side. Thanks to that ugly thing, unless you talk everybody will mistake you for Fifi.”
“I suppose there’s a positive to everything…”
“Now come with me. I need you to lure an other performer.”
**************
The big marquee was empty. Walking a silent circus ring, surrounded by empty seats, was quite the odd experience.
Two female performers were patrolling the circus ring one last time. They intended to then take a break, and go share a drink with the others.
Molly and Roxanne respectively were the newest and second-newest recruits of the Circus, hired because ‘Madame’ needed extra muscles for her courthouse heist.
Roxanne Sutton had armpit-long dark auburn hair, a light skin, and brown eyes. Her face was diamond-shaped, with a sharp chin. She had a slim attractive figure. In the Circus, she was known as “Rocket the Human Cannonball”. Her outfit drew inspiration from early 20th Century aviators – leather pilot helmet and goggles, brown pilot jacket with a beige fur collar, a red aviator scarf, a black t-shirt, dark blue trousers, and brown boots.
Molly Maynne was white-skinned, blue-eyed, and auburn-haired. Her hair were curly and armpit-long. She was dressed in a blue sleeveless top with big puffy yellow pompoms and a white ruff collar, a white ruff skirt, yellow-and-black trousers with vertical stripes, blue soft shoes, a white eye mask, and an orange cone hat with a black pompom.
Once she was satisfied with their patrol, Molly stretched. “Well, that spectacle sure was something. Didn’t think I’d have so much fun with our cover story. And I think I did quite good, for my first time.”
“Yeah, but…” Roxanne eyed her partner’s costume. “Clown… You did have to go with clown…”
“I prefer ‘Harlequin’.”
“Still looks like a clown.”
“What’s your problem with clowns?”
“They don’t exactly strike me as ‘intimidating’.”
“I happen to like clowns. You’re gonna cry cultural appropriation ‘cause I wasn’t a clown before?”
Roxanne turned to face her teammate. “Just saying you could’ve gone for any other design, yet chose the less intimidating of all.”
Her partner stared back at her. “And yet, I fit in more than you, Miss ‘Look-at-me-I-can-ride-a-rocket-that-doubles-as-a-huge-phallic-symbol’. Because yeah, that’s the kind of talent one needs in a crime family!”
Angelica suddenly landed from the tight-rope walkers’ rope next to the duo, using her power to ease down her fall.
“Hello girls.”
She grabbed the startled henchwomen by the back of their skulls, and slammed their foreheads against each other. Roxanne and Molly groaned briefly, then collapsed unconscious on the ground with the former landing on top of the latter.
“Please don’t fight.”
Firestar checked to make sure the two mooks were truly unconscious, then signaled to her teammate the coast was clear.
Natasha used her Widow’s Line – the tailor-made cable she was wearing wrapped around her equipment belt – to climb down one of the pillars used by the acrobats and tightrope walkers.
Sneaking inside one place was quite easy when one could fly and cut a hole through the top of the marquee.
The two minions were stripped of their costumes, and down to their undergarments. A deep blue thong and a black lacy push-up bra for Roxanne, red-gold-white harlequin boxer briefs and a matching full-cup bra for Molly.
Black Widow swiftly bound their hands and ankles with her Widow’s Line. She gagged them with a few layers of tape. Then, she restrained the two women together, face-to-face, by wrapping some of her Line around their bodies. (“You’re webbing them.” Firestar snickered.)
At the same time, Angelica slipped into Rocket’s fake-aviator costume, helmet, and goggles. “You don’t mind wearing the dumb outfit?”
“Why should I?”
Natasha left the pair of trussed up crooks concealed under some seats, and put on Molly’s Harlequin costume. She wrapped her wrist launchers over the harlequin gloves.
“Being underestimated gives me the advantage.” Black Widow added.
**************
Tiboldt was sitting behind her desk, in the trailer she used as her office.
The Ringmistress checked her pocket watch – she thought such item had much more flare than a plain drab wristwatch.
‘Spider’ was bound to arrive soon.
Tiboldt was awaiting Fifi’s report. She was feeling slightly nervous. The Ringmistress was accustomed to being the one in control – she relished it.
But this time, she wasn’t the biggest fish in the pond.
Jefferson was like a beast at bay, but that made him especially dangerous. Tiboldt worked with wild animals. She knew how dangerous they were when cornered.
‘Spider’ was supposed to come chew her out for her failure, and come up with a plan to reach Sarah Summers in her prison cell.
But Tiboldt couldn’t rule out the possibility Jefferson would try to tie up his loose ends, and get rid of her. Maybe it was a trap.
Well, if he intended to double-cross her, two could play that game.
She wouldn’t make the first move, of course. He hadn’t paid her yet, after all. However, it wouldn’t hurt to be a little cautious, wouldn’t it?
The door of her office trailer was opened. Two of her performers entered. Bombshell and Gym-Nasty.
“You asked for us?”
Tiboldt fidgeted with her ringleader cane. “I have a task for you two.”
**************
Among the trailers of the circus, one in particular stood out. It was bigger than the others, and heated 24 hours per day. The snakes of the spectacle were stored there, in their vivariums, in-between spectacles and heists.
Mary-Jane – under Fifi’s guise – walked around the trailer. She was pleased to see nobody was lingering in the area. Most of the performers didn’t like the snakes.
There was however one exception. The snake charmer and tamer herself. Princess Python, third-in-command right under Fifi.
MJ observed her target from afar, through the window of the heated trailer.
Princess Python was busy tending to the various snakes of the spectacle, cooing and feeding them before putting them in their vivariums.
Kate had given her the woman’s description. Real name: Zelda DuBois. Some people also called her the Serpent Society Reject – but one should expect a fight to the death if they mentioned the derogatory moniker in front of her.
The crook was a busty curvy redhead, with luscious long hair, a light skin, and light green eyes. The kind of sexy woman that made MJ insecure about her own appearance. She was wearing black high-heels, black fishnet-stockings, and a dark green leather minidress that reached up to her mid-thighs and didn’t cover the shoulder. Her hands and forearms were covered by matching dark green long gloves, and on her head there was a small dark green hat with a black translucent veil.
Her reconnaissance over, Mary-Jane then regrouped with Kate.
“You sure you wanna use Fifi’s bow?” the redhead asked her partner.
“I prefer to not take any chance. I trust your skills, but DuBois was part of the Serpent Society. I don’t want to have you take unnecessary risks.”
Kate was hiding in a blind spot in-between some crates, ready to shoot at Zelda. She had borrowed Fifi’s bow – which Mary-Jane had been carrying as part of her disguise. As it turned out, the arrows embedded on the wig were the real deal – and just like Hawkeye’s projectiles, they had various effects. Some of them were actually even non-lethal blunt arrows. And one was, according to Kate, a ‘tazer arrow’.
Kate tested the bow, nodded to herself – apparently the weapon was top quality –, and looked at Mary-Jane. “Whenever you’re ready.”
The plan was simple. Kate couldn’t shoot Zelda through the trailer’s window – a broken window would clue all the crooks. Mary-Jane, with her wig and outfit, could pass herself for Fifi and trick Zelda into opening the door.
“Okay, here goes nothing…” MJ muttered to herself.
Kate took the ‘tazer arrow’, and readied her bow.
On cue, MJ knocked on the trailer’s door.
Zelda checked through the window, and opened the door. “Fifi? Why did you leave your post? Weren’t you supposed to check the meeting area?” Unfortunately for her, it meant she was now exposed.
“There was a change of plan.” MJ answered.
Kate moved from her hiding spot, and released her tazer arrow.
The projectile flew right next to MJ’s cheek, and hit Zelda. Upon contact, the arrow discharged a powerful electric shock.
“Urk!” Zelda barely had the time to grunt before she was knocked out cold. Her limp body staggered briefly, then she fell forward.
MJ caught her and eased down her fall to make sure she wouldn’t make too much noise.
“And lights off…”
She wrapped her arms around the unconscious woman’s waist, and carried her inside the trailer. She eyed warily the vivariums of the snakes, but was satisfied to see they were all closed. She laid her burden onto the floor.
Kate regrouped with her, closed the trailer’s door, and shut down the curtains.
Then she took a knee next to the unconscious Princess Python.
MJ raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to take her outfit?”
“What? You’re telling me you want to wear the skimpy fanservice-y costume?” Kate retorted with an amused chuckle.
MJ blushed. “It’s not that! I mean… What about the hair?”
Kate snatched Zelda’s hat. “It should help conceal my face and head fine. Besides, it’s not like you have a matching haircut.”
“Sure. Have the redhead be impersonated by the only non-redhead of the group. That’s totally logical.” Mary-Jane complained.
“Come on. You already mugged a snake-themed villainess once. You wouldn’t want to be known as a one-trick pony?” Kate playfully retorted.
“How do you know about Fer-de-Lance?”
“Gwen told me.”
“She did?”
“Of course. She can’t stop gushing about you.”
MJ bit her lower lip. She was as embarrassed as she was flattered. “She… does?”
Kate nodded. “Constantly.” She rolled Princess Python’s unconscious body to pull off her high-heels and to slide her fishnet stockings off her legs. However, she didn’t put a stop to her small-talk: “Honestly, if she wasn’t into Miles and you weren’t dating Peter, I’d have thought there were sparks in-between you.”
This time, MJ’s cheeks turned a surprising shade of red. “Can we not talk about that right now?”
“What? You didn’t agree to a date with Peter?”
“I agreed to a drink. This is embarrassing.”
“Come on! You’re part of the band now! ‘Girl talk’ while crime-fighting is a staple of heroines’ nights out.” Kate retorted while peeling off Zelda’s mini-dress, and removing the crook’s gloves.
Princess Python was left clad in her emerald green bandeau bra, and matching high-cut panties.
Kate glanced around her. She didn’t like the idea of leaving Zelda inside this specific trailer – Princess Python most likely knew this place like the back of her hand, and could break one vivarium to use the glass shards. She was the snakes’ tamer, she didn’t fear them. However, carrying her elsewhere in the open was even riskier.
She needed to be extra careful.
“Nothing personal.” she said to the unconscious redhead.
Kate fetched some sturdy strings in a storage closet. She crossed Zelda’s arms behind her back, then bent her legs so the heels of her feet rested against her own panties-clad buttcheeks. She bound the woman’s left wrist to her right ankle, then tied her right wrist to her left ankle. The result was a crook hogtied with only two knots – a time-saving and efficient practice.
She sighed. “I just made myself an other sworn enemy, didn’t I?”
Questions for later. She dropped her casual clothes onto the floor, and grabbed the leather minidress.
While Kate put on Zelda’s costume, Mary-Jane gagged the criminal with a few layers of tape – using the same roll as with Fifi.
Finally, MJ pushed the trussed up crook under a table to conceal her.
Kate adjusted her stolen hat and veil to obscure her features. “Firestar and Black Widow should be getting rid of their sentries as we speak. Time to pay a visit to Tiboldt.”
**************
Natasha and Angelica came across their first real problem near the cart of the balloon seller.
The woman walking their way was tough, with a muscular athletic-looking figure. She was tall and black-skinned, clad in a trapeze artist outfit: yellow strapless bustier-like bodysuit, yellow-and-black armbands, and matching yellow-and-black long socks and soft shoes. Her black hair were tied up into a tight top bun, and a green mask was obscuring her brown eyes.
She was Gym-Nasty. Her stage name was particularly cringe-inducing, but for some reason she refused to change it. Still, she was a dangerous close-combat fighter. Strong and agile.
It was best to not be recognized by her…
Even dressed in a ridiculous outfit, Black Widow still was a mistress of disguise. From the few minutes she had spent spying on Harlequin and Rocket from above, she had picked up some of Molly’s mannerisms. She was careful to walk and stand the same way as the crook she was impersonating. Her face didn’t betray any emotion.
Angelica pretended to be busy searching something next to the balloon cart, so that the black-skinned performer wouldn’t get a good look at her face.
Gym-Nasty was in a hurry, and passed next to them with merely a sideways glance. “Out of the way, Clown.”
“Harlequin.” Natasha retorted, doing a decent imitation of Molly’s voice. Sometimes, it paid to listen to the crooks' innate banters.
“Whatever.”
“Says the girl whose stage name is a pun on ‘gymnastic’. And where are you going anyway?”
“Orders from Madame. Wendy and I must help Fifi secure the meeting.”
“I see.”
Black Widow also saw there was no witness. She aimed her wrist launcher.
A small stud hit the black-skinned acrobat in the neck, and 20,000 volts of electricity immediately coursed through her body. Gym-Nasty seized up, and was knocked out instantly. She collapsed to the ground.
Black Widow lowered her arm. “Then it means we need you out of the way.”
She and Angelica didn’t bother with Gym-Nasty’s outfit – they couldn’t impersonate a black-skinned woman, nor could their teammates. Natasha used her Widow’s Line to hog-tie the criminal performer, binding the ankles and wrists together, and gagged her with a few layers of tape.
They stashed the acrobat inside the frame of the balloon cart.
“We grab this Wendy crook next.” Black Widow instructed Angelica.
**************
Tiboldt was using the biggest trailer of the circus as her office. Currently, its curtains were drawn and its door was shut.
“Well, they say the journey is more important than the destination, but our journey was quite uneventful.” Kate commented.
On their way from the snakes’ trailer to Tiboldt’s trailer, their disguises weren’t even put to the test. They hadn’t come across anyone. Most were too busy drinking and eating. And some, they suspected, had probably come across Natasha and Angelica, and were now trussed up and stashed somewhere out of sight.
Mary-Jane nodded stiffly. She didn’t share her partner’s enthusiasm. “Should I go first?”
“With your wig and mask, yes.”
“Okay.”
Mary-Jane braced herself, and headed to the office trailer.
The disguised redhead froze when she suddenly heard a voice call her from behind.
“Hey, Fifi! Looking for some “alone” time with your Madame?”
It was the knife-thrower from before, a bottle of beer in one hand. He laughed at his own crude innuendo.
Kate discreetly walked behind Mary-Jane, to make sure her friend’s figure would obscure her frame.
Mary-Jane’s mind was racing. She couldn’t speak. If she did, she’d betray herself. She was already lucky she and Fifi had roughly similar builds and heights.
She couldn’t speak. So she glared. She was good at mean glares. She just needed to picture Felicia in the man’s stead.
The knife-thrower frowned. “What? Offended?”
MJ glared.
The crook began to feel a little ill-at-ease. “Come on Fifi, it was just a joke. Don’t take it personally.”
MJ glared.
The man began to sweat a little. “You- You’re not angry, right?”
MJ glared.
Then, MJ got an idea. She grabbed an arrow embedded onto her wig. A sharp one.
The performer got the picture. “I- I’ll be on my way!” He literally ran away.
Mary-Jane breathed in relief.
Behind her, Kate patted her shoulder. “See. I knew you were up to the task. Natasha couldn’t have done it better.”
“Thanks.”
The redhead then looked at Tiboldt’s trailer. She grimaced.
“Still, I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Don’t lose faith. Without her hypnotic hat, she’s just another crook with delusions of grandeur.”
“That’s the ‘hypnotic hat’-part I’m worried about.”
“We simply need to forgo subtlety. I trust you can do that.”
Mary-Jane wasn’t fully convinced, but she didn’t have much option either. She adjusted Fifi’s wig. (“Damn thing itches.”) Then she went to knock on the door of Tiboldt’s trailer.
One could hardly be less subtle…
“Enter.”
Mary-Jane opened the door, and walked inside. Kate followed her, but was careful to stay in her back. MJ’s frame was obscuring her.
Tiboldt was standing in front of a mirror, and was getting ready for her meeting. She was adjusting her green ringleader jacket adorned with a pattern of black stars, purple ruffled shirt, violet trousers, white gloves, and black boots. She was also wearing her black top hat.
The Ringmistress was a white-skinned slim woman – clearly, she was a gang leader who didn’t want to become complacent, and exercised regularly. Her slick black hair were shoulder-long, her face was diamond-shaped, and her eyes were light brown.
Tiboldt noticed Mary-Jane’s reflection, but was fooled by the wig and the costume.
“Fifi. Report.” she instructed without turning back.
Mary-Jane had been told to not be subtle, so she forwent subtlety. The trailer’s curtains were drawn. The door was closed. She rushed forward, and tackled Tiboldt like some American football player.
The Ringmistress grunted when a full-grown young woman crashed into her. Her hat was sent flying across the room.
The two women rolled on the floor.
“How dare you?!” Tiboldt grabbed Mary-Jane’s wig and threw it away. She saw the red hair. “Impostor!”
Kate rushed to take the discarded top hat.
Tiboldt managed to push away Mary-Jane, and grabbed a throwing knife concealed under her jacket.
“I’m the one in control!” the Ringmistress spat, aiming her blade.
Mary-Jane twisted Tiboldt’s foot. “Ow!” The pain made her drop her weapon.
Kate grabbed the top hat, and put it on her head.
There was a short beat.
The Ringmistress froze, and suddenly lost all bravado. She raised a hand in an appeasing gesture, and began to beg:
“Now, now, let’s not take hasty decisions...”
Kate smiled. “So... How does this thing work… aha! I think I got the hang of it!”
“No no no no wait-”
Kate activated the device.
Tiboldt fell silent mid-sentence, staring vacantly in front of her.
Mary-Jane observed the woman who was as still as a statue. “Did it work?”
“Only one way to find out.” Kate looked the Ringmistress in the eyes. “Take off your clothes.”
And the other woman actually complied. She took off her ringleader outfit: gloves, jacket, shirt, boots, and trousers.
Once Tiboldt was left clad in her underwear, she grabbed the hook of her bra to undo it.
Kate hastily raised a hand. “Wait wait wait! Keep the underwear! I don’t wanna see you naked…”
Tiboldt stopped and let go of her bra’s hook. She kept standing still, only clad in deep purple high-cut French panties with precious lace adorning the waistband strap, a matching purple lace-adorned plunge bra and black socks with red dots. Her blank face didn’t show any emotion – not even the slightest hint of embarrassment.
“Should’ve been more specific with your instructions.” Mary-Jane butted in.
Kate grimaced. “Yikes. This thing is a bit too effective for my taste.” She waved a hand at Tiboldt. “Just take a nap or something.”
The Ringmistress silently laid on the floor, curled up on herself, and began to sleep.
“Impressive.” Mary-Jane glanced at the snoring half-naked woman. “Do we restrain her?”
Kate nodded. “Better safe than sorry. I don’t know how long she’ll stay in trance.”
So they did. There were many circus accessories in a chest in a corner of the office trailer. And a few ones looked suspiciously similar to bondage tools. Kate remembered how devoted Fifi and a few other performers were towards their ‘Madame’. She remembered the knife-thrower’s joke, and the Ringmistress’ sexy underwear. She wondered if Tiboldt was hiding something.
Among the accessories, there were ropes. They tightly bound Tiboldt’s calves, thighs, shoulders, and forearms; and gagged her with a bunch of spare colorful scarves.
Then they stashed Tiboldt under her desk, seated in a ball-like position.
She had slept during the whole process. And she was still sleeping when they left her stashed. The effects of the hat were quite strong.
Kate began taking off her current outfit. “Well, now that we’ve made sure Tiboldt is unavailable, I can fill in for her.”
Once she had stepped out of Princess Python’s costume, she grabbed Tiboldt’s ringleader outfit and put it on.
“Time to meet this ‘Spider’ girl.”
She noticed MJ’s frown.
“Not Spider-Girl. ‘Spider’ girl. Or this ‘Spider’ woman, if you prefer. Wait, I mean-” Kate groaned. “Ugh! I bet Jefferson did it on purpose!”
**************
Wendy Conrad, stage name: Bombshell, was a good-looking woman with light-orange armpit-long hair, light blue eyes, a slim sexy figure, and a light skin.
Her stage costume consisted of red thigh-long boots, long black gloves, and a shiny red one-piece leotard.
Wendy entered the trailer of a small truck. She was in a bad mood. “I’m supposed to be chugging a mug of beer right now...” she complained to herself.
She’d follow the orders, of course – she knew better than to disobey the Ringmistress, even if she wasn’t as fanatically devoted as someone like, say, Fifi. But she didn’t have to like it.
Bombshell’s performance in the Circus’ legitimate spectacle was a fan favorite. And no, it wasn’t only because of the sexy costume. Wendy was a juggler. Except she didn’t juggle with balls. She juggled with bombs. Not real bombs, of course. More like fireworks disguised as ‘cartoon’ bombs.
But in a secret compartment of the truck, the Circus was hiding the real bombs and grenades Bombshell would use during heists.
Opening the hidden trap, Wendy grabbed a couple of grenades and detonators, and put them in a small bag.
“Better hurry…” she muttered to herself.
The boss’ meeting with ‘Spider’ was bound to begin soon. Wendy didn’t have much time to booby trap the area, and make sure Jefferson’s agent would blow up if she tried anything funny against the Circus.
Bombshell jumped out of the truck, only to find a fellow performer was waiting for her.
She groaned in annoyance when she saw it was Molly. “What do you want, Clown?”
Harlequin raised her arm to shoot at her with some half-hidden wrist-launcher.
Wendy had good reflex. She dodged the stud, and took one of her grenades.
“You little-”
A woman nimbly jumped from the truck’s roof, and landed behind her. Arms were wrapped around her neck and throat, and squeezed to cut her breath off.
“I learned that one from Black Cat.” a voice commented in her ear.
**************
Natasha looked at the squirming gurgling crook, who couldn’t break free of the sleeper-hold.
“Ever heard of the ‘Xanatos Gambit’? A plan which benefits you no matter the outcome?” She mentioned Angelica with her hand. “Either you got hit and were knocked out. Or you dodged, and gave an opening to my teammate. And you’re knocked out.”
Indeed, Wendy passed out.
Angelica held the limp unconscious body against her.
“Maybe you wanna take her outfit?”
Natasha pondered the options. “Her costume would less hinder my moves in close combat.”
Plus, there weren’t many clothes to take off. Angelica removed Wendy’s boots and gloves, then peeled off Bombshell’s one-piece leotard, while Natasha quickly took off her Harlequin costume.
Then, Firestar used strips of Molly’s costume to bind Wendy’s wrists and ankles, and to cleave-gag her. At the same time, Black Widow slipped into her new outfit.
They rolled Wendy under the truck to conceal her out of sight.
Then they headed to the meeting point. Hopefully, Bombshell hadn’t made them lose too much time.
**************
Tiboldt was supposed to meet ‘Spider’ in the outskirts of her circus. It clearly was a power move on Jefferson’s part – he was forcing Tiboldt to meet his representative on his terms, and not in her trailer where she’d have the field advantage.
Kate was fidgeting with Tiboldt’s cane. Next to her, Mary-Jane was playing the part of the silent second-in-command, resisting the urge to adjust her wig.
“Angelica and Black Widow are late.” Mary-Jane whispered.
“They must be tying up some loose ends. Don’t worry about them. Stay in-character.”
“Whispering nervously? You should be.” a female voice suddenly intervened.
A figure stepped into their line of sight. They made a conscious effort to not jump. ‘Spider’ was quite good at infiltration – they hadn’t heard nor seen her arrival. Jefferson’s agent was also apparently good at theatrics. They were sure she had purposefully tried to look as ominous as possible, in order to immediately gain the edge in the conversation.
“Tiboldt. You have a lot of explaining to do.” ‘Spider’ added.
Jefferson’s Agent was indeed a woman, just like Fifi had told them.
A gorgeous-looking but icy blonde with blue eyes, a white skin, and shoulder-long hair. She was younger than what they expected – late twenties by her looks. Her slightly curly locks of hair, soft facial features, and sensual lips could almost make her look cute. Almost. However, judging by her fit body, the way she walked, and her stance, she was a highly-trained fighter. Her only visible weapons was the handgun strapped onto her hip, but she was probably carrying more.
“The whole operation was literally gift-wrapped to you. And yet, you sloppy amateurs found a way to botch it up.”
The blonde didn’t bother to conceal the vitriol in her voice. She wasn’t scared to be confronting two criminals alone – she clearly considered herself capable of making short work of Tiboldt and Fifi at the same time.
Mary-Jane’s first thought was that the woman reminded her of Black Widow. Even the blonde’s black biker outfit bore a passing resemblance with the Black Widow suit. Was it a camouflaged combat suit?
“Jefferson is furious. What do you have to say for yourself?”
No, MJ finally deduced. Not a camouflaged combat suit – more like a combat suit assembled from scratch with whatever this woman could find. Mary-Jane was used to having to make due with second-hand clothes. And apparently, so was that woman.
Kate raised her hands. She had come up with the same conclusions as Mary-Jane – and decided she wouldn’t risk a fight. So she’d play their trump card immediately.
“Well, you see...”
Suddenly, she tapped the Ringmistress’ top hat to activate the hypnotic device.
“… we also have a few questions for you, and you will answer truthfully to them.”
‘Spider’ froze.
Then, without any warning, she shot two darts at Kate with hidden wrist-launchers.
Kate gasped. “H- How?!”
‘Spider’ snarled. “Reflective contact lenses. Block the effects of the hat. You think I’m stupid enough to come without taking precautions?”
Kate staggered. She was beginning to feel dizzy – those darts were filled with a powerful knock-out drug.
Mary-Jane knew her best chance was to rush her foe, and try her luck at close combat before the blonde could use her wrist launchers again.
Behind her, she heard Kate collapse unconscious onto the ground.
Her foolhardiness – and unorthodox ‘WWE’-kind of move – briefly took ‘Spider’ aback. The blonde didn’t aim her dart-launchers in time.
‘Spider’ was, however, highly-trained in martial arts – one league above the redhead. She read through MJ’s feint, and side-stepped her move. At the same time, she grabbed her arm, and used the redhead’s momentum to throw her to the ground.
Then she took advantage of the opening to draw her gun.
MJ winced.
However, Jefferson’s mercenary suddenly looked to her left, and dodged something.
A small stud zipped through the air. Natasha’s Widow’s Bite.
MJ was impressed by the blonde’s skills – for her part, she hadn’t even noticed Black Widow had arrived, let alone opened fire. But that woman had been able to sense it somehow.
Black Widow and Firestar were rushing towards them.
‘Spider’’s eyes widened. “Natasha?!” she muttered to herself. “Then these two are...”
The blonde recovered from her surprised almost instantly, and pointed her gun at MJ’s face.
“You better not take an other step, Natasha!”
Black Widow and Firestar froze.
“Looks like I was right.” ‘Spider’ commented. “Stay still, or your partner is dead.”
Natasha frowned faintly when she finally got a good look at the blond mercenary. “Yelena? You’re Jefferson’s lapdog?” It was clear she knew ‘Spider’. And she didn’t attempt to hide the disappointment in her voice.
Spider’s – Yelena’s – face didn’t flinch, but it did pale slightly. “Still looking down on me. As always.” She raised her chin. “Yet I recall I snatched the Chaos Cube right under your nose. Right under everyone’s nose!”
Natasha’s frown deepened. “It was you?”
“Yes, me! The real Black Widow! Who else could’ve fooled SHIELD and HYDRA at the same time? Who else, but ME?” Apparently, Yelena had been longing for an opportunity to brag of her victory in front of Natasha.
Mary-Jane tried to ignore the gun pointed at her face, and exchanged a short glance with Angelica. They realized Natasha and Yelena had a long history together, and they were missing on a lot of context.
It was also clear that Yelena was hoping her gloating would get under Natasha’s skin – Mary-Jane saw right through the younger woman’s number. She was pretty good at smelling insecurity (being incredibly insecure herself).
But Yelena’s expectations were disappointed. Natasha’s scowl merely expressed a mixture of annoyance, condescension, and compassion. “You’re still not over it?” Black Widow commented dryly. “Let me guess. You hope you’ll get in our Motherland’s good graces again if you give them the Cube?”
Yelena’s cheeks turned from white to red. She was getting angry. “I’ll get back what I lost because of YOU!”
“And what does it have to do with Jefferson?”
The blonde shrugged. “I needed information and a contact broker, he needed an ally. He’s just a mean to an end.”
Natasha wasn’t impressed. “So now you're working with low-life crooks to help a slimy businessman kill a girl whose life he ruined. Quite the accomplishment. You must be really proud of yourself.”
Yelena’s eyes narrowed briefly. She was attempting to hide it, but Natasha’s words cut a lot deeper than she wanted to let on. MJ heard her swallow once to regain her composure. “I’m doing what I must. With the Cube, I can go back-”
“They won’t take you back. They’ll take the Cube and kill you.” And once again, MJ could notice a faint note of compassion in Natasha’s voice.
Yelena’s jaw clenched. Clearly, the older woman’s concern was infuriating her. Her eyes narrowed, and focused on Natasha.
Mary-Jane noticed the gun in the blonde’s hand was shaking faintly.
In a way, Yelena and Natasha had one thing in common. They were both underestimating Mary-Jane. Sure, MJ wasn’t an elite mercenary with a decade of training under her belt. But she was an expert damsel out of distress. And she knew how to seize an opportunity.
When Yelena’s willpower briefly wavered, MJ kicked her in the thigh, then rolled out of the way.
Yelena was unbalanced. Her gun fell from her hand.
Natasha aimed her wrist gauntlet. Angelica used her powers to set herself on fire.
Yelena threw a flash bomb – which she had been concealing in her left sleeve the whole confrontation, before Kate even revealed herself to be a foe.
Mary-Jane, Natasha, and Angelica all tried to avert their eyes, but it was too late.
By the time they recovered, Yelena was nowhere to be seen.
Besides, they now had an other problem.
The flash bomb had made a lot of noise.
Several performers of the Circus of Crime were already rushing to investigate. They wouldn’t be happy to realize a bunch of do-gooders had mugged their partners.
Natasha exchanged a glance with Firestar.
No need to be subtle anymore.
The crooks were led by Marie and Alice Marcel, the twin performers.
Natasha aimed her two wrists, and fired two Widow’s Bites. The studs hit the twins head-on. The two women had a few spasms, then collapsed unconscious onto the ground.
The others froze dead in their tracks.
Firestar used her power to levitate above the crooks. The flying woman on fire glared at them.
The bravest aimed their guns.
Angelica overheated the crosses of their weapons, forcing them to drop them. Huge fireballs then formed in her hands.
“Run.” she said with a terrifying grin.
They did.
**************
Mary-Jane called the police, while Angelica made sure no circus goon would attempt something against them, and Natasha reanimated Kate.
Once Hawkeye was awake, Black Widow immediately sent a message to SHIELD, telling them about the Cube and requesting them to chase after Yelena.
Natasha wanted to also immediately go after her, but Kate was still groggy because of the knock-out drug, and Natasha decided she couldn’t leave Mary-Jane and Angelica to deal with the situation on their own.
Even with all the girls they had mugged, the performers of the Circus of Crime still had the number advantage – should they overcome their fear, they could be a threat. Firestar was powerful, but not omnipotent, and MJ could be hit by a stray bullet in the crossfire.
Natasha hated the idea of leaving Yelena some head start, but she had to secure the situation here first.
Ultimately however, her worries were for naught. The crooks chose to flee before the police could arrive.
Once the officers were here, they took charge of the operation, and went to collect all the women Natasha’s team had mugged and left trussed up in various places.
It turned out that none of the girls their team had captured – not even Tiboldt – had been rescued by their accomplices when they had fled.
No honor among thieves, apparently.
Of course, they weren’t complaining. It meant they had plenty of prisoners willing to sell out Jefferson for a remission of sentence.
The police took everything in charge. Madame Tiboldt, and her elite girls were tightly handcuffed, and given some blankets to cover themselves. There was an awkward moment when Gym-Nasty protested she wasn’t in her underwear to a pair of skeptical policemen. Molly, from her part, eagerly accepted the blanket – in no parts because of the scornful gazes which Roxane, Wendy, and the Marcel twins were aiming at her skivvies. Kate noticed Fifi couldn’t take her eyes off Tiboldt’s half-naked body; and knew her suspicions were true.
The criminals were escorted in several police SUVs. (Kate made sure that Mary-Jane and Angelica didn’t show themselves when the crooks were taken in.)
Princess Python, her limbs still sore because of the hog-tie, was the last to enter a SUV. She glared daggers at Kate while she was being taken away. It was crystal clear All-New-Hawkeye could now add a third girl she had mugged for disguise to her list of sworn enemies.
Once the SUVs were gone, Mary-Jane and Angelica gave their depositions to the police.
Kate observed them from afar. “So you see. The rookies didn’t do half bad.” she commented.
Natasha nodded, but didn’t say anything.
Kate easily deduced why the redhead was silent. “I’m sorry we didn’t catch that… Yelena.”
“She’s not your average thug. She’s been trained to be a Black Widow. It’s not your fault.”
Kate shook her head. “It is. I got overconfident because I had Tiboldt’s hat. I should have anticipated there were ways of countering it. Had I been more careful, Mary-Jane wouldn’t have had to risk her life, and Yelena wouldn’t have fled.”
“We caught Tiboldt and her elite girls. We foiled Jefferson’s plan, and we’re now certain he’s going down. Yelena is a mercenary. A pawn. She’s alone, with no support. The SHIELD has sent its agents after her as we speak. She can’t evade us for long.”
Kate noticed a subtle wavering of Natasha’s voice when she said the words ‘pawn’ and ‘alone’. “You care about her.”
Natasha’s face didn’t flinch – two decades of training could do that. But she did hesitate, before finally nodding: “I think she and I are the only ones left. The only survivors of the Black Widow Program. The only remnants of the Red Room. She’s the only one who can… understand some things about me. And I’m the only one who can understand some things about her.”
“Red Room… Black Widow Program… Chaos Cube… I fear there are many things I don’t know…” Kate looked at the other woman. “But I know you’ll be chasing her. You need to make sure the Chaos Cube doesn’t fall in the wrong hands. I’ll help you. I owe you.”
Natasha didn’t look at her – she was looking at Mary-Jane and Angelica. “Thank you. But whatever happens… Don’t bring these two with you. Things become dirty whenever the Red Room is involved. They’re good girls. And good things should be preserved. It’s up to people like me to put their hands in the mire.”
Kate nodded. “Shall we make our leave then?”
Natasha’s face finally betrayed an emotion. She raised an eyebrow. “Oh? You guessed?”
“That you were about to discreetly leave the premises and try and catch up with Yelena? Of course. Why do you think I didn’t leave your side ever since I woke up?” She pointed at MJ and Angelica. “Let these two have their moment of glory. MJ deserves it, and Xavier’s Institute could do with the good PR.”
Natasha grabbed her communicator. “I’ll tell SHIELD to make room for one more person.”
Character descriptions are in the second post.
Edit: I edited Black Widow's name (changed her birth name Natalia to her current one Natasha) to better fit with the continuity of Earth-USB.
Circus Tricks
**************
Act 2
******* Two days after the events of the Manhattan Courthouse... *******
From a small hill in the outskirts of New York City, Mary-Jane was observing ‘Tiboldt’s Circus’ with binoculars.
A show was currently taking place. The redhead was feeling a bit unnerved. Everything looked like a normal circus to her. Ticket sellers, balloon cart, popcorn, big colorful marquee, tents, caravans, circus trailers, and trucks.
“They look like normal performers to me. Are you sure they’re the Circus of Crime? I wouldn’t want to assault a group of innocent comedians.”
Kate nodded. “The circus is just a cover.” She scratched her chin. “I must say, I admire their gall. It takes guts to hide in plain sight just like that. It took me weeks – and Natasha’s help – to figure that one out.”
Mary-Jane saw the high number of cars and people who had come to see the circus act. “Their spectacle seems popular. A shame they don’t try and stay legit.”
“The earnings of this kind of spectacles are pocket change compared to what they make with robberies. Or mercenary work.”
Mary-Jane bit her lower lip. “So. How did you learn the hour and day when Jefferson’s agent is supposed to arrive? Scratch that. How did you even learn they’re the culprits?”
Kate smiled. “Let’s just say Felicia doesn’t have the monopoly on mugging silver-blond-haired scientists.”
“Dr Gregor? You’ve-”
“Black Widow intercepted her the same day as the failed press conference. Ironically, she used the same tactic as Tiboldt with the janitress. She ambushed her outside of her workplace. She’s been impersonating her for the past few days.”
Mary-Jane was feeling awed. She was impressed by Black Widow’s skill. Staying in-character while impersonating someone was the hardest part of any disguise. Being able to do it for days without anyone being the wisest was quite the accomplishment!
“And the real Gregor?”
“… is taking a few days off in a secret SHIELD facility. She’ll be released after we’ve dealt with Jefferson’s agent.”
They heard a car stop near them, using the cover of the hill to not be seen from the circus afar.
“Ah. The cavalry is here.” Kate commented.
She and Mary-Jane went to greet the newcomers.
Two women with red hair exited the vehicle – one in her twenties, and one a decade older.
Mary-Jane’s face brightened a little when she recognized the younger redhead.
Angelica Jones, Firestar.
The mutant grinned, and embraced her. “Good to see you again.”
Mary-Jane nodded. “You’re also part of the operation?”
“More like she forced our hand.” Natasha intervened.
Firestar shrugged. “There’s no way I’m leaving Jefferson a chance of worming his way out of a lengthy prison sentence.”
“And there’s no way I’m compromising this mission by working with amateurs.” Natasha didn’t raise her voice, her face didn’t move, but her tone still conveyed her disapproval.
Angelica stopped smiling, and glared at Black Widow. MJ could feel the tension in the air. Apparently, this was a dispute they had already had on their way – several times.
“You realize I can deal with the entire Circus by myself?” Firestar commented.
“You realize the goal is to be discreet?” Natasha retorted evenly. “If we brute-force our way, Jefferson’s agent will smell the trap and won’t come.”
Kate stepped in-between them. “We’ve already had that discussion before, and you’ve been outvoted Natasha. Speaking of which. I brought the other reinforcement I talked you about.” She gently urged Mary-Jane to take a step forward.
The latter attempted an awkward smile. “Uh. Hi.”
Natasha, however, wasn’t impressed. She glared at Kate: “What is the meaning of this? I agreed to work with you because the Circus of Crime is your investigation. But you didn’t tell me you’d bring a rookie with you! Is this ‘Bring-your-daughter-to-work’ day?”
MJ’s cheeks reddened, but she bit her lower lip to not retort anything. It was hard for her to not be intimidated by the aloof Avenger who had a decade of experience behind her.
So Kate jumped to her defense and remarked evenly: “Last time I checked, the Avengers didn’t do much to stop Taylor Woodward and her team of morons. In fact, I recall they ran circles around you. MJ took an active role in foiling their plans.”
Black Widow narrowed her eyes, but didn’t correct Kate. As bitter as those words were, they were also the truth.
“She’ll be your responsibility.” she finally said.
All-New Hawkeye took her words as a consent. “Alright, Team Redhead (and Kate). Let’s get down to work.”
Natasha nodded. She considered the dispute settled, and therefore briefed Angelica and Mary-Jane accordingly.
“We wait until the show is over. First step: We split up. Two teams. Angelica and I, Kate and Mary-Jane. Kate’s goes through the storage area, mine through the big top. We neutralize some of the core performers, and take their outfits. Second step: Kate’s team deals with Tiboldt and takes her outfit, while my team secures the area. Third step, we regroup and ambush Jefferson’s agent. Any questions?”
The others shook their heads.
“Then let’s get down to work.”
**************
Even though it was still daytime, the circus area was surprisingly easy to sneak into. Today’s show had just ended – most employees were busy cleaning the seats and the ring, or putting the equipment away, or resting, eating, and drinking after their performance.
Mary-Jane didn’t mind. Neither Kate nor Natasha were certain the low-ranked stage hands, workers, and extras were aware of Tiboldt’s criminal activities. If she could, she’d prefer to only mug the ones who were willing accomplices.
Most of the members of the circus were in the living trailers, while the area of the storage tents was empty.
MJ and Kate were dressed in casual clothes – if they were spotted, they may be able to bluff their way by pretending to be lost members of the audience, or curious fans who had wanted to take a peak.
At least, if they didn’t recognize Kate...
They swiftly took cover behind the canvas of a big tent when they heard voices coming their way.
A duo of male performers – a knife thrower and a strongman – were talking with a woman they couldn’t see yet.
“Already at work again? You didn’t even take off your stage costume!”
“I prefer to keep the bow. You know who’s supposed to come today. Madame asked me to make sure everything is ready to accommodate out guest.”
The knife thrower stretched. “Good luck with that. Sometimes, I don’t mind not being the Number Two…” He and his partner shared a laugh, and they went to have a drink in one trailer.
The female performer finally came into MJ’s and Kate’s line of sight.
“Lazy oafs…” she complained. “You’re not Number Two for a reason...”
When it came to appearance, minions came in two flavors – plain and professional, or wild and eccentric. This one clearly belonged to the second group.
The henchwoman was wearing black shoes, striped purple-and-black long socks reaching up to her mid-thighs, black leather shorts, and a purple-and-black striped long-sleeved top. A black eye-mask and a hot pink ‘square haircut’ wig concealed her identity. Arrows were embedded into the wig.
At least MJ hoped it was a wig…
Fashion statement aside, she could still see that woman was dangerous. The crook was slim, with fit arms and angular sharp-looking facial features. She was carrying a bow. MJ had no doubt she was a good archer.
“Fifi.” Kate whispered with gravitas.
“Met her at the courthouse. I assume the nickname is dumb, but the girl is trouble?”
“Pretty much. She’s Tiboldt’s Number Two.” Kate observed the crook from afar – Fifi was heading towards the storage tents. “Let’s grab her.”
“You mean we’re actually starting with the second-in-command?”
“What’s eating you all of the sudden?”
“Nothing. It just feels a bit weird to begin with the top of the hierarchy, that’s all. Is she dangerous?”
“She’s good with a bow – as good as me.”
“Then the trick is to not let her use the bow.”
Kate smiled. “I like the way you think.”
Kate and Mary-Jane began following the unsuspecting henchwoman.
Fifi went to inspect the area in which the circus equipment and the trunks were stored. She was checking that there were no intruders here to spy on the upcoming meeting.
A shame she never suspected the intruders were, in fact, stalking her in her blind spot the entire time…
Once she was done, Fifi inspected a totem pole, on which a sniper could easily position themselves. A sniper… or an archer.
“Looks like Tiboldt wants to take precautions.” Kate remarked. “And we’ve found where the meeting is supposed to take place.”
Taking cover behind a Chevrolet truck, she noticed a small fire extinguisher in its trailer. She snatched it. MJ raised an eyebrow.
“She’s hard-headed.” Kate answered the redhead’s unspoken question.
“You mean you already-”
MJ didn’t finish her sentence. Fifi was coming their way. She looked satisfied with herself, and was probably going to make her report to her ‘Madame’.
The crook passed next to the Chevrolet truck, absentmindedly glanced at it…
… and froze when she noticed the trailer’s fire extinguisher was missing.
A mixture of horror, anger, and understanding dawned upon her face. She grabbed a small cellphone to warn Tiboldt.
Kate jumped from her hiding spot, swung the fire extinguisher, and knocked Fifi out cold with one bonk to the skull. The crook groaned, and collapsed onto the ground.
“And stay down…” Kate nodded to herself when she saw the henchwoman was lying still. “MJ, help me carry her inside that tent, over there.”
She grabbed the armpits, Mary-Jane grabbed the legs, and they hurriedly took Fifi out of sight. They dropped their burden inside the tent, which was used to store spare runners and wire-strainers. There were also some empty crates – probably ones that were used to carry the canvas of the marquee.
Kate glanced at the unconscious henchwoman lying face down, grabbed one leg, and began to remove a shoe. She said to Mary-Jane: “You’ll take her outfit.”
“Why me?”
“She’s wearing a wig. Your hair is already short. It’ll be quicker if you do it.”
MJ glanced once more at the hot pink wig with arrows embedded onto it, leather black short skirt, purple-and-black striped long-sleeved top, and matching striped midthigh-long socks.
“And here I thought White Rabbit’s gang had it bad…” the redhead complained.
“Will you believe me if I tell you she wears this outfit by choice?”
They stripped the unconscious Fifi down to her black boyshorts and matching sports bra. Then, they used wires to bind the black-haired archer’s wrists and ankles.
While MJ was gathering the discarded costume, bow, and wig, Kate pulled some smelling salts out of her pouch.
“What are you doing?”
“Waking her up.”
“Isn’t that counterproductive?”
“I need to know more about today’s meeting. Just stay out of her sight.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s the type to hold a grudge, so it’s best she doesn’t know you stole her clothes. Just leave me her bow.” Kate snatched the weapon, then gently pushed MJ behind some crates. “Off you go!”
Once the redhead was out of sight, Kate woke the underwear-clad prisoner up.
Fifi jerked brusquely, and realized she was both half-naked and bound. “What?!” Her eyes narrowed when she noticed Kate. “You!”
“Missed me?” Kate greeted ironically. She patted the fire extinguisher next to her. “I trust this brings back memories?”
Fifi grimaced. Apparently it did. So she didn’t try to call for help.
“So why don’t you begin to talk?” Kate added.
“Keep dreaming!”
“Playing tough, uh?” Kate put away the fire extinguisher, and showed off Fifi’s weapon. “How about this then?”
The crook frowned. “My… bow?”
“Yeah. That’s a nice-looking bow you have there.” Kate pulled a small saw out of her Swiss army knife. “Would be a shame if I was to… saw it right at the middle? And then I could easily shove one half right up your-”
“Fine, fine, I’ll talk! Leave my bow alone! It’s not like I know much anyway!”
“I knew a fellow archer would have SOME common sense.” She ignored the prisoner’s hate-filled glare. “So? Who’s Jefferson’s agent?”
Fifi paled. “You know about the meeting?!”
“I know lots of things.”
Fifi realized she better not lie if she wanted her bow to survive in one piece. “Madame calls her ‘Spider’, but I have no clue about who she is. Except that she’s a ‘she’. Madame thinks she has no super-power, she’s just a well-trained mercenary, but we’ve never seen her in action. That’s all I know.”
“And the meeting? When and where?”
“At 1 P.M. Near the totem pole outside. I was supposed to take position there, in case the meeting went south.”
“I see.” Kate cut some duct tape, and smoothed a thick strip onto Fifi’s mouth. “Thanks a lot for the info. Oh, and the clothes too.” She added a few more strips, just to be sure.
“Ah hhth yhh. Ah hhth yhh sh mhch.”
I hate you. I hate you so much.
Kate smiled. “I know.”
Then she knocked her out again with a neck-chop, dropped the henchwoman inside an empty crate, and closed the lid – though she left enough slack to allow Fifi to breath.
MJ was already mostly disguised. She finished pulling up the long socks. “I deduce there’s some history between you two… Something that goes beyond mere archery rivalry…”
“I told you I’ve been investigating on the Circus of Crime for the past few weeks, right? Let’s just say I beat her up and stole her costume in the process. She took it personally. She’s already tried to kill me twice since then.”
“Twice in a few weeks? She must be really angry.”
“You have no idea.”
MJ adjusted the second long sock. “How many sworn enemies did you make by robbing them of their outfits?”
“Just her and Masque.” Kate shrugged. “You never did?”
“No.” The redhead paused awkwardly. “I don’t know if I should feel relieved or offended.”
“And I don’t know if I should feel jealous or sympathetic.” Kate said with a chuckle.
MJ put on the arrows-embedded wig. She grimaced. “Going through doors may be a little tricky…”
“Look on the bright side. Thanks to that ugly thing, unless you talk everybody will mistake you for Fifi.”
“I suppose there’s a positive to everything…”
“Now come with me. I need you to lure an other performer.”
**************
The big marquee was empty. Walking a silent circus ring, surrounded by empty seats, was quite the odd experience.
Two female performers were patrolling the circus ring one last time. They intended to then take a break, and go share a drink with the others.
Molly and Roxanne respectively were the newest and second-newest recruits of the Circus, hired because ‘Madame’ needed extra muscles for her courthouse heist.
Roxanne Sutton had armpit-long dark auburn hair, a light skin, and brown eyes. Her face was diamond-shaped, with a sharp chin. She had a slim attractive figure. In the Circus, she was known as “Rocket the Human Cannonball”. Her outfit drew inspiration from early 20th Century aviators – leather pilot helmet and goggles, brown pilot jacket with a beige fur collar, a red aviator scarf, a black t-shirt, dark blue trousers, and brown boots.
Molly Maynne was white-skinned, blue-eyed, and auburn-haired. Her hair were curly and armpit-long. She was dressed in a blue sleeveless top with big puffy yellow pompoms and a white ruff collar, a white ruff skirt, yellow-and-black trousers with vertical stripes, blue soft shoes, a white eye mask, and an orange cone hat with a black pompom.
Once she was satisfied with their patrol, Molly stretched. “Well, that spectacle sure was something. Didn’t think I’d have so much fun with our cover story. And I think I did quite good, for my first time.”
“Yeah, but…” Roxanne eyed her partner’s costume. “Clown… You did have to go with clown…”
“I prefer ‘Harlequin’.”
“Still looks like a clown.”
“What’s your problem with clowns?”
“They don’t exactly strike me as ‘intimidating’.”
“I happen to like clowns. You’re gonna cry cultural appropriation ‘cause I wasn’t a clown before?”
Roxanne turned to face her teammate. “Just saying you could’ve gone for any other design, yet chose the less intimidating of all.”
Her partner stared back at her. “And yet, I fit in more than you, Miss ‘Look-at-me-I-can-ride-a-rocket-that-doubles-as-a-huge-phallic-symbol’. Because yeah, that’s the kind of talent one needs in a crime family!”
Angelica suddenly landed from the tight-rope walkers’ rope next to the duo, using her power to ease down her fall.
“Hello girls.”
She grabbed the startled henchwomen by the back of their skulls, and slammed their foreheads against each other. Roxanne and Molly groaned briefly, then collapsed unconscious on the ground with the former landing on top of the latter.
“Please don’t fight.”
Firestar checked to make sure the two mooks were truly unconscious, then signaled to her teammate the coast was clear.
Natasha used her Widow’s Line – the tailor-made cable she was wearing wrapped around her equipment belt – to climb down one of the pillars used by the acrobats and tightrope walkers.
Sneaking inside one place was quite easy when one could fly and cut a hole through the top of the marquee.
The two minions were stripped of their costumes, and down to their undergarments. A deep blue thong and a black lacy push-up bra for Roxanne, red-gold-white harlequin boxer briefs and a matching full-cup bra for Molly.
Black Widow swiftly bound their hands and ankles with her Widow’s Line. She gagged them with a few layers of tape. Then, she restrained the two women together, face-to-face, by wrapping some of her Line around their bodies. (“You’re webbing them.” Firestar snickered.)
At the same time, Angelica slipped into Rocket’s fake-aviator costume, helmet, and goggles. “You don’t mind wearing the dumb outfit?”
“Why should I?”
Natasha left the pair of trussed up crooks concealed under some seats, and put on Molly’s Harlequin costume. She wrapped her wrist launchers over the harlequin gloves.
“Being underestimated gives me the advantage.” Black Widow added.
**************
Tiboldt was sitting behind her desk, in the trailer she used as her office.
The Ringmistress checked her pocket watch – she thought such item had much more flare than a plain drab wristwatch.
‘Spider’ was bound to arrive soon.
Tiboldt was awaiting Fifi’s report. She was feeling slightly nervous. The Ringmistress was accustomed to being the one in control – she relished it.
But this time, she wasn’t the biggest fish in the pond.
Jefferson was like a beast at bay, but that made him especially dangerous. Tiboldt worked with wild animals. She knew how dangerous they were when cornered.
‘Spider’ was supposed to come chew her out for her failure, and come up with a plan to reach Sarah Summers in her prison cell.
But Tiboldt couldn’t rule out the possibility Jefferson would try to tie up his loose ends, and get rid of her. Maybe it was a trap.
Well, if he intended to double-cross her, two could play that game.
She wouldn’t make the first move, of course. He hadn’t paid her yet, after all. However, it wouldn’t hurt to be a little cautious, wouldn’t it?
The door of her office trailer was opened. Two of her performers entered. Bombshell and Gym-Nasty.
“You asked for us?”
Tiboldt fidgeted with her ringleader cane. “I have a task for you two.”
**************
Among the trailers of the circus, one in particular stood out. It was bigger than the others, and heated 24 hours per day. The snakes of the spectacle were stored there, in their vivariums, in-between spectacles and heists.
Mary-Jane – under Fifi’s guise – walked around the trailer. She was pleased to see nobody was lingering in the area. Most of the performers didn’t like the snakes.
There was however one exception. The snake charmer and tamer herself. Princess Python, third-in-command right under Fifi.
MJ observed her target from afar, through the window of the heated trailer.
Princess Python was busy tending to the various snakes of the spectacle, cooing and feeding them before putting them in their vivariums.
Kate had given her the woman’s description. Real name: Zelda DuBois. Some people also called her the Serpent Society Reject – but one should expect a fight to the death if they mentioned the derogatory moniker in front of her.
The crook was a busty curvy redhead, with luscious long hair, a light skin, and light green eyes. The kind of sexy woman that made MJ insecure about her own appearance. She was wearing black high-heels, black fishnet-stockings, and a dark green leather minidress that reached up to her mid-thighs and didn’t cover the shoulder. Her hands and forearms were covered by matching dark green long gloves, and on her head there was a small dark green hat with a black translucent veil.
Her reconnaissance over, Mary-Jane then regrouped with Kate.
“You sure you wanna use Fifi’s bow?” the redhead asked her partner.
“I prefer to not take any chance. I trust your skills, but DuBois was part of the Serpent Society. I don’t want to have you take unnecessary risks.”
Kate was hiding in a blind spot in-between some crates, ready to shoot at Zelda. She had borrowed Fifi’s bow – which Mary-Jane had been carrying as part of her disguise. As it turned out, the arrows embedded on the wig were the real deal – and just like Hawkeye’s projectiles, they had various effects. Some of them were actually even non-lethal blunt arrows. And one was, according to Kate, a ‘tazer arrow’.
Kate tested the bow, nodded to herself – apparently the weapon was top quality –, and looked at Mary-Jane. “Whenever you’re ready.”
The plan was simple. Kate couldn’t shoot Zelda through the trailer’s window – a broken window would clue all the crooks. Mary-Jane, with her wig and outfit, could pass herself for Fifi and trick Zelda into opening the door.
“Okay, here goes nothing…” MJ muttered to herself.
Kate took the ‘tazer arrow’, and readied her bow.
On cue, MJ knocked on the trailer’s door.
Zelda checked through the window, and opened the door. “Fifi? Why did you leave your post? Weren’t you supposed to check the meeting area?” Unfortunately for her, it meant she was now exposed.
“There was a change of plan.” MJ answered.
Kate moved from her hiding spot, and released her tazer arrow.
The projectile flew right next to MJ’s cheek, and hit Zelda. Upon contact, the arrow discharged a powerful electric shock.
“Urk!” Zelda barely had the time to grunt before she was knocked out cold. Her limp body staggered briefly, then she fell forward.
MJ caught her and eased down her fall to make sure she wouldn’t make too much noise.
“And lights off…”
She wrapped her arms around the unconscious woman’s waist, and carried her inside the trailer. She eyed warily the vivariums of the snakes, but was satisfied to see they were all closed. She laid her burden onto the floor.
Kate regrouped with her, closed the trailer’s door, and shut down the curtains.
Then she took a knee next to the unconscious Princess Python.
MJ raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to take her outfit?”
“What? You’re telling me you want to wear the skimpy fanservice-y costume?” Kate retorted with an amused chuckle.
MJ blushed. “It’s not that! I mean… What about the hair?”
Kate snatched Zelda’s hat. “It should help conceal my face and head fine. Besides, it’s not like you have a matching haircut.”
“Sure. Have the redhead be impersonated by the only non-redhead of the group. That’s totally logical.” Mary-Jane complained.
“Come on. You already mugged a snake-themed villainess once. You wouldn’t want to be known as a one-trick pony?” Kate playfully retorted.
“How do you know about Fer-de-Lance?”
“Gwen told me.”
“She did?”
“Of course. She can’t stop gushing about you.”
MJ bit her lower lip. She was as embarrassed as she was flattered. “She… does?”
Kate nodded. “Constantly.” She rolled Princess Python’s unconscious body to pull off her high-heels and to slide her fishnet stockings off her legs. However, she didn’t put a stop to her small-talk: “Honestly, if she wasn’t into Miles and you weren’t dating Peter, I’d have thought there were sparks in-between you.”
This time, MJ’s cheeks turned a surprising shade of red. “Can we not talk about that right now?”
“What? You didn’t agree to a date with Peter?”
“I agreed to a drink. This is embarrassing.”
“Come on! You’re part of the band now! ‘Girl talk’ while crime-fighting is a staple of heroines’ nights out.” Kate retorted while peeling off Zelda’s mini-dress, and removing the crook’s gloves.
Princess Python was left clad in her emerald green bandeau bra, and matching high-cut panties.
Kate glanced around her. She didn’t like the idea of leaving Zelda inside this specific trailer – Princess Python most likely knew this place like the back of her hand, and could break one vivarium to use the glass shards. She was the snakes’ tamer, she didn’t fear them. However, carrying her elsewhere in the open was even riskier.
She needed to be extra careful.
“Nothing personal.” she said to the unconscious redhead.
Kate fetched some sturdy strings in a storage closet. She crossed Zelda’s arms behind her back, then bent her legs so the heels of her feet rested against her own panties-clad buttcheeks. She bound the woman’s left wrist to her right ankle, then tied her right wrist to her left ankle. The result was a crook hogtied with only two knots – a time-saving and efficient practice.
She sighed. “I just made myself an other sworn enemy, didn’t I?”
Questions for later. She dropped her casual clothes onto the floor, and grabbed the leather minidress.
While Kate put on Zelda’s costume, Mary-Jane gagged the criminal with a few layers of tape – using the same roll as with Fifi.
Finally, MJ pushed the trussed up crook under a table to conceal her.
Kate adjusted her stolen hat and veil to obscure her features. “Firestar and Black Widow should be getting rid of their sentries as we speak. Time to pay a visit to Tiboldt.”
**************
Natasha and Angelica came across their first real problem near the cart of the balloon seller.
The woman walking their way was tough, with a muscular athletic-looking figure. She was tall and black-skinned, clad in a trapeze artist outfit: yellow strapless bustier-like bodysuit, yellow-and-black armbands, and matching yellow-and-black long socks and soft shoes. Her black hair were tied up into a tight top bun, and a green mask was obscuring her brown eyes.
She was Gym-Nasty. Her stage name was particularly cringe-inducing, but for some reason she refused to change it. Still, she was a dangerous close-combat fighter. Strong and agile.
It was best to not be recognized by her…
Even dressed in a ridiculous outfit, Black Widow still was a mistress of disguise. From the few minutes she had spent spying on Harlequin and Rocket from above, she had picked up some of Molly’s mannerisms. She was careful to walk and stand the same way as the crook she was impersonating. Her face didn’t betray any emotion.
Angelica pretended to be busy searching something next to the balloon cart, so that the black-skinned performer wouldn’t get a good look at her face.
Gym-Nasty was in a hurry, and passed next to them with merely a sideways glance. “Out of the way, Clown.”
“Harlequin.” Natasha retorted, doing a decent imitation of Molly’s voice. Sometimes, it paid to listen to the crooks' innate banters.
“Whatever.”
“Says the girl whose stage name is a pun on ‘gymnastic’. And where are you going anyway?”
“Orders from Madame. Wendy and I must help Fifi secure the meeting.”
“I see.”
Black Widow also saw there was no witness. She aimed her wrist launcher.
A small stud hit the black-skinned acrobat in the neck, and 20,000 volts of electricity immediately coursed through her body. Gym-Nasty seized up, and was knocked out instantly. She collapsed to the ground.
Black Widow lowered her arm. “Then it means we need you out of the way.”
She and Angelica didn’t bother with Gym-Nasty’s outfit – they couldn’t impersonate a black-skinned woman, nor could their teammates. Natasha used her Widow’s Line to hog-tie the criminal performer, binding the ankles and wrists together, and gagged her with a few layers of tape.
They stashed the acrobat inside the frame of the balloon cart.
“We grab this Wendy crook next.” Black Widow instructed Angelica.
**************
Tiboldt was using the biggest trailer of the circus as her office. Currently, its curtains were drawn and its door was shut.
“Well, they say the journey is more important than the destination, but our journey was quite uneventful.” Kate commented.
On their way from the snakes’ trailer to Tiboldt’s trailer, their disguises weren’t even put to the test. They hadn’t come across anyone. Most were too busy drinking and eating. And some, they suspected, had probably come across Natasha and Angelica, and were now trussed up and stashed somewhere out of sight.
Mary-Jane nodded stiffly. She didn’t share her partner’s enthusiasm. “Should I go first?”
“With your wig and mask, yes.”
“Okay.”
Mary-Jane braced herself, and headed to the office trailer.
The disguised redhead froze when she suddenly heard a voice call her from behind.
“Hey, Fifi! Looking for some “alone” time with your Madame?”
It was the knife-thrower from before, a bottle of beer in one hand. He laughed at his own crude innuendo.
Kate discreetly walked behind Mary-Jane, to make sure her friend’s figure would obscure her frame.
Mary-Jane’s mind was racing. She couldn’t speak. If she did, she’d betray herself. She was already lucky she and Fifi had roughly similar builds and heights.
She couldn’t speak. So she glared. She was good at mean glares. She just needed to picture Felicia in the man’s stead.
The knife-thrower frowned. “What? Offended?”
MJ glared.
The crook began to feel a little ill-at-ease. “Come on Fifi, it was just a joke. Don’t take it personally.”
MJ glared.
The man began to sweat a little. “You- You’re not angry, right?”
MJ glared.
Then, MJ got an idea. She grabbed an arrow embedded onto her wig. A sharp one.
The performer got the picture. “I- I’ll be on my way!” He literally ran away.
Mary-Jane breathed in relief.
Behind her, Kate patted her shoulder. “See. I knew you were up to the task. Natasha couldn’t have done it better.”
“Thanks.”
The redhead then looked at Tiboldt’s trailer. She grimaced.
“Still, I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Don’t lose faith. Without her hypnotic hat, she’s just another crook with delusions of grandeur.”
“That’s the ‘hypnotic hat’-part I’m worried about.”
“We simply need to forgo subtlety. I trust you can do that.”
Mary-Jane wasn’t fully convinced, but she didn’t have much option either. She adjusted Fifi’s wig. (“Damn thing itches.”) Then she went to knock on the door of Tiboldt’s trailer.
One could hardly be less subtle…
“Enter.”
Mary-Jane opened the door, and walked inside. Kate followed her, but was careful to stay in her back. MJ’s frame was obscuring her.
Tiboldt was standing in front of a mirror, and was getting ready for her meeting. She was adjusting her green ringleader jacket adorned with a pattern of black stars, purple ruffled shirt, violet trousers, white gloves, and black boots. She was also wearing her black top hat.
The Ringmistress was a white-skinned slim woman – clearly, she was a gang leader who didn’t want to become complacent, and exercised regularly. Her slick black hair were shoulder-long, her face was diamond-shaped, and her eyes were light brown.
Tiboldt noticed Mary-Jane’s reflection, but was fooled by the wig and the costume.
“Fifi. Report.” she instructed without turning back.
Mary-Jane had been told to not be subtle, so she forwent subtlety. The trailer’s curtains were drawn. The door was closed. She rushed forward, and tackled Tiboldt like some American football player.
The Ringmistress grunted when a full-grown young woman crashed into her. Her hat was sent flying across the room.
The two women rolled on the floor.
“How dare you?!” Tiboldt grabbed Mary-Jane’s wig and threw it away. She saw the red hair. “Impostor!”
Kate rushed to take the discarded top hat.
Tiboldt managed to push away Mary-Jane, and grabbed a throwing knife concealed under her jacket.
“I’m the one in control!” the Ringmistress spat, aiming her blade.
Mary-Jane twisted Tiboldt’s foot. “Ow!” The pain made her drop her weapon.
Kate grabbed the top hat, and put it on her head.
There was a short beat.
The Ringmistress froze, and suddenly lost all bravado. She raised a hand in an appeasing gesture, and began to beg:
“Now, now, let’s not take hasty decisions...”
Kate smiled. “So... How does this thing work… aha! I think I got the hang of it!”
“No no no no wait-”
Kate activated the device.
Tiboldt fell silent mid-sentence, staring vacantly in front of her.
Mary-Jane observed the woman who was as still as a statue. “Did it work?”
“Only one way to find out.” Kate looked the Ringmistress in the eyes. “Take off your clothes.”
And the other woman actually complied. She took off her ringleader outfit: gloves, jacket, shirt, boots, and trousers.
Once Tiboldt was left clad in her underwear, she grabbed the hook of her bra to undo it.
Kate hastily raised a hand. “Wait wait wait! Keep the underwear! I don’t wanna see you naked…”
Tiboldt stopped and let go of her bra’s hook. She kept standing still, only clad in deep purple high-cut French panties with precious lace adorning the waistband strap, a matching purple lace-adorned plunge bra and black socks with red dots. Her blank face didn’t show any emotion – not even the slightest hint of embarrassment.
“Should’ve been more specific with your instructions.” Mary-Jane butted in.
Kate grimaced. “Yikes. This thing is a bit too effective for my taste.” She waved a hand at Tiboldt. “Just take a nap or something.”
The Ringmistress silently laid on the floor, curled up on herself, and began to sleep.
“Impressive.” Mary-Jane glanced at the snoring half-naked woman. “Do we restrain her?”
Kate nodded. “Better safe than sorry. I don’t know how long she’ll stay in trance.”
So they did. There were many circus accessories in a chest in a corner of the office trailer. And a few ones looked suspiciously similar to bondage tools. Kate remembered how devoted Fifi and a few other performers were towards their ‘Madame’. She remembered the knife-thrower’s joke, and the Ringmistress’ sexy underwear. She wondered if Tiboldt was hiding something.
Among the accessories, there were ropes. They tightly bound Tiboldt’s calves, thighs, shoulders, and forearms; and gagged her with a bunch of spare colorful scarves.
Then they stashed Tiboldt under her desk, seated in a ball-like position.
She had slept during the whole process. And she was still sleeping when they left her stashed. The effects of the hat were quite strong.
Kate began taking off her current outfit. “Well, now that we’ve made sure Tiboldt is unavailable, I can fill in for her.”
Once she had stepped out of Princess Python’s costume, she grabbed Tiboldt’s ringleader outfit and put it on.
“Time to meet this ‘Spider’ girl.”
She noticed MJ’s frown.
“Not Spider-Girl. ‘Spider’ girl. Or this ‘Spider’ woman, if you prefer. Wait, I mean-” Kate groaned. “Ugh! I bet Jefferson did it on purpose!”
**************
Wendy Conrad, stage name: Bombshell, was a good-looking woman with light-orange armpit-long hair, light blue eyes, a slim sexy figure, and a light skin.
Her stage costume consisted of red thigh-long boots, long black gloves, and a shiny red one-piece leotard.
Wendy entered the trailer of a small truck. She was in a bad mood. “I’m supposed to be chugging a mug of beer right now...” she complained to herself.
She’d follow the orders, of course – she knew better than to disobey the Ringmistress, even if she wasn’t as fanatically devoted as someone like, say, Fifi. But she didn’t have to like it.
Bombshell’s performance in the Circus’ legitimate spectacle was a fan favorite. And no, it wasn’t only because of the sexy costume. Wendy was a juggler. Except she didn’t juggle with balls. She juggled with bombs. Not real bombs, of course. More like fireworks disguised as ‘cartoon’ bombs.
But in a secret compartment of the truck, the Circus was hiding the real bombs and grenades Bombshell would use during heists.
Opening the hidden trap, Wendy grabbed a couple of grenades and detonators, and put them in a small bag.
“Better hurry…” she muttered to herself.
The boss’ meeting with ‘Spider’ was bound to begin soon. Wendy didn’t have much time to booby trap the area, and make sure Jefferson’s agent would blow up if she tried anything funny against the Circus.
Bombshell jumped out of the truck, only to find a fellow performer was waiting for her.
She groaned in annoyance when she saw it was Molly. “What do you want, Clown?”
Harlequin raised her arm to shoot at her with some half-hidden wrist-launcher.
Wendy had good reflex. She dodged the stud, and took one of her grenades.
“You little-”
A woman nimbly jumped from the truck’s roof, and landed behind her. Arms were wrapped around her neck and throat, and squeezed to cut her breath off.
“I learned that one from Black Cat.” a voice commented in her ear.
**************
Natasha looked at the squirming gurgling crook, who couldn’t break free of the sleeper-hold.
“Ever heard of the ‘Xanatos Gambit’? A plan which benefits you no matter the outcome?” She mentioned Angelica with her hand. “Either you got hit and were knocked out. Or you dodged, and gave an opening to my teammate. And you’re knocked out.”
Indeed, Wendy passed out.
Angelica held the limp unconscious body against her.
“Maybe you wanna take her outfit?”
Natasha pondered the options. “Her costume would less hinder my moves in close combat.”
Plus, there weren’t many clothes to take off. Angelica removed Wendy’s boots and gloves, then peeled off Bombshell’s one-piece leotard, while Natasha quickly took off her Harlequin costume.
Then, Firestar used strips of Molly’s costume to bind Wendy’s wrists and ankles, and to cleave-gag her. At the same time, Black Widow slipped into her new outfit.
They rolled Wendy under the truck to conceal her out of sight.
Then they headed to the meeting point. Hopefully, Bombshell hadn’t made them lose too much time.
**************
Tiboldt was supposed to meet ‘Spider’ in the outskirts of her circus. It clearly was a power move on Jefferson’s part – he was forcing Tiboldt to meet his representative on his terms, and not in her trailer where she’d have the field advantage.
Kate was fidgeting with Tiboldt’s cane. Next to her, Mary-Jane was playing the part of the silent second-in-command, resisting the urge to adjust her wig.
“Angelica and Black Widow are late.” Mary-Jane whispered.
“They must be tying up some loose ends. Don’t worry about them. Stay in-character.”
“Whispering nervously? You should be.” a female voice suddenly intervened.
A figure stepped into their line of sight. They made a conscious effort to not jump. ‘Spider’ was quite good at infiltration – they hadn’t heard nor seen her arrival. Jefferson’s agent was also apparently good at theatrics. They were sure she had purposefully tried to look as ominous as possible, in order to immediately gain the edge in the conversation.
“Tiboldt. You have a lot of explaining to do.” ‘Spider’ added.
Jefferson’s Agent was indeed a woman, just like Fifi had told them.
A gorgeous-looking but icy blonde with blue eyes, a white skin, and shoulder-long hair. She was younger than what they expected – late twenties by her looks. Her slightly curly locks of hair, soft facial features, and sensual lips could almost make her look cute. Almost. However, judging by her fit body, the way she walked, and her stance, she was a highly-trained fighter. Her only visible weapons was the handgun strapped onto her hip, but she was probably carrying more.
“The whole operation was literally gift-wrapped to you. And yet, you sloppy amateurs found a way to botch it up.”
The blonde didn’t bother to conceal the vitriol in her voice. She wasn’t scared to be confronting two criminals alone – she clearly considered herself capable of making short work of Tiboldt and Fifi at the same time.
Mary-Jane’s first thought was that the woman reminded her of Black Widow. Even the blonde’s black biker outfit bore a passing resemblance with the Black Widow suit. Was it a camouflaged combat suit?
“Jefferson is furious. What do you have to say for yourself?”
No, MJ finally deduced. Not a camouflaged combat suit – more like a combat suit assembled from scratch with whatever this woman could find. Mary-Jane was used to having to make due with second-hand clothes. And apparently, so was that woman.
Kate raised her hands. She had come up with the same conclusions as Mary-Jane – and decided she wouldn’t risk a fight. So she’d play their trump card immediately.
“Well, you see...”
Suddenly, she tapped the Ringmistress’ top hat to activate the hypnotic device.
“… we also have a few questions for you, and you will answer truthfully to them.”
‘Spider’ froze.
Then, without any warning, she shot two darts at Kate with hidden wrist-launchers.
Kate gasped. “H- How?!”
‘Spider’ snarled. “Reflective contact lenses. Block the effects of the hat. You think I’m stupid enough to come without taking precautions?”
Kate staggered. She was beginning to feel dizzy – those darts were filled with a powerful knock-out drug.
Mary-Jane knew her best chance was to rush her foe, and try her luck at close combat before the blonde could use her wrist launchers again.
Behind her, she heard Kate collapse unconscious onto the ground.
Her foolhardiness – and unorthodox ‘WWE’-kind of move – briefly took ‘Spider’ aback. The blonde didn’t aim her dart-launchers in time.
‘Spider’ was, however, highly-trained in martial arts – one league above the redhead. She read through MJ’s feint, and side-stepped her move. At the same time, she grabbed her arm, and used the redhead’s momentum to throw her to the ground.
Then she took advantage of the opening to draw her gun.
MJ winced.
However, Jefferson’s mercenary suddenly looked to her left, and dodged something.
A small stud zipped through the air. Natasha’s Widow’s Bite.
MJ was impressed by the blonde’s skills – for her part, she hadn’t even noticed Black Widow had arrived, let alone opened fire. But that woman had been able to sense it somehow.
Black Widow and Firestar were rushing towards them.
‘Spider’’s eyes widened. “Natasha?!” she muttered to herself. “Then these two are...”
The blonde recovered from her surprised almost instantly, and pointed her gun at MJ’s face.
“You better not take an other step, Natasha!”
Black Widow and Firestar froze.
“Looks like I was right.” ‘Spider’ commented. “Stay still, or your partner is dead.”
Natasha frowned faintly when she finally got a good look at the blond mercenary. “Yelena? You’re Jefferson’s lapdog?” It was clear she knew ‘Spider’. And she didn’t attempt to hide the disappointment in her voice.
Spider’s – Yelena’s – face didn’t flinch, but it did pale slightly. “Still looking down on me. As always.” She raised her chin. “Yet I recall I snatched the Chaos Cube right under your nose. Right under everyone’s nose!”
Natasha’s frown deepened. “It was you?”
“Yes, me! The real Black Widow! Who else could’ve fooled SHIELD and HYDRA at the same time? Who else, but ME?” Apparently, Yelena had been longing for an opportunity to brag of her victory in front of Natasha.
Mary-Jane tried to ignore the gun pointed at her face, and exchanged a short glance with Angelica. They realized Natasha and Yelena had a long history together, and they were missing on a lot of context.
It was also clear that Yelena was hoping her gloating would get under Natasha’s skin – Mary-Jane saw right through the younger woman’s number. She was pretty good at smelling insecurity (being incredibly insecure herself).
But Yelena’s expectations were disappointed. Natasha’s scowl merely expressed a mixture of annoyance, condescension, and compassion. “You’re still not over it?” Black Widow commented dryly. “Let me guess. You hope you’ll get in our Motherland’s good graces again if you give them the Cube?”
Yelena’s cheeks turned from white to red. She was getting angry. “I’ll get back what I lost because of YOU!”
“And what does it have to do with Jefferson?”
The blonde shrugged. “I needed information and a contact broker, he needed an ally. He’s just a mean to an end.”
Natasha wasn’t impressed. “So now you're working with low-life crooks to help a slimy businessman kill a girl whose life he ruined. Quite the accomplishment. You must be really proud of yourself.”
Yelena’s eyes narrowed briefly. She was attempting to hide it, but Natasha’s words cut a lot deeper than she wanted to let on. MJ heard her swallow once to regain her composure. “I’m doing what I must. With the Cube, I can go back-”
“They won’t take you back. They’ll take the Cube and kill you.” And once again, MJ could notice a faint note of compassion in Natasha’s voice.
Yelena’s jaw clenched. Clearly, the older woman’s concern was infuriating her. Her eyes narrowed, and focused on Natasha.
Mary-Jane noticed the gun in the blonde’s hand was shaking faintly.
In a way, Yelena and Natasha had one thing in common. They were both underestimating Mary-Jane. Sure, MJ wasn’t an elite mercenary with a decade of training under her belt. But she was an expert damsel out of distress. And she knew how to seize an opportunity.
When Yelena’s willpower briefly wavered, MJ kicked her in the thigh, then rolled out of the way.
Yelena was unbalanced. Her gun fell from her hand.
Natasha aimed her wrist gauntlet. Angelica used her powers to set herself on fire.
Yelena threw a flash bomb – which she had been concealing in her left sleeve the whole confrontation, before Kate even revealed herself to be a foe.
Mary-Jane, Natasha, and Angelica all tried to avert their eyes, but it was too late.
By the time they recovered, Yelena was nowhere to be seen.
Besides, they now had an other problem.
The flash bomb had made a lot of noise.
Several performers of the Circus of Crime were already rushing to investigate. They wouldn’t be happy to realize a bunch of do-gooders had mugged their partners.
Natasha exchanged a glance with Firestar.
No need to be subtle anymore.
The crooks were led by Marie and Alice Marcel, the twin performers.
Natasha aimed her two wrists, and fired two Widow’s Bites. The studs hit the twins head-on. The two women had a few spasms, then collapsed unconscious onto the ground.
The others froze dead in their tracks.
Firestar used her power to levitate above the crooks. The flying woman on fire glared at them.
The bravest aimed their guns.
Angelica overheated the crosses of their weapons, forcing them to drop them. Huge fireballs then formed in her hands.
“Run.” she said with a terrifying grin.
They did.
**************
Mary-Jane called the police, while Angelica made sure no circus goon would attempt something against them, and Natasha reanimated Kate.
Once Hawkeye was awake, Black Widow immediately sent a message to SHIELD, telling them about the Cube and requesting them to chase after Yelena.
Natasha wanted to also immediately go after her, but Kate was still groggy because of the knock-out drug, and Natasha decided she couldn’t leave Mary-Jane and Angelica to deal with the situation on their own.
Even with all the girls they had mugged, the performers of the Circus of Crime still had the number advantage – should they overcome their fear, they could be a threat. Firestar was powerful, but not omnipotent, and MJ could be hit by a stray bullet in the crossfire.
Natasha hated the idea of leaving Yelena some head start, but she had to secure the situation here first.
Ultimately however, her worries were for naught. The crooks chose to flee before the police could arrive.
Once the officers were here, they took charge of the operation, and went to collect all the women Natasha’s team had mugged and left trussed up in various places.
It turned out that none of the girls their team had captured – not even Tiboldt – had been rescued by their accomplices when they had fled.
No honor among thieves, apparently.
Of course, they weren’t complaining. It meant they had plenty of prisoners willing to sell out Jefferson for a remission of sentence.
The police took everything in charge. Madame Tiboldt, and her elite girls were tightly handcuffed, and given some blankets to cover themselves. There was an awkward moment when Gym-Nasty protested she wasn’t in her underwear to a pair of skeptical policemen. Molly, from her part, eagerly accepted the blanket – in no parts because of the scornful gazes which Roxane, Wendy, and the Marcel twins were aiming at her skivvies. Kate noticed Fifi couldn’t take her eyes off Tiboldt’s half-naked body; and knew her suspicions were true.
The criminals were escorted in several police SUVs. (Kate made sure that Mary-Jane and Angelica didn’t show themselves when the crooks were taken in.)
Princess Python, her limbs still sore because of the hog-tie, was the last to enter a SUV. She glared daggers at Kate while she was being taken away. It was crystal clear All-New-Hawkeye could now add a third girl she had mugged for disguise to her list of sworn enemies.
Once the SUVs were gone, Mary-Jane and Angelica gave their depositions to the police.
Kate observed them from afar. “So you see. The rookies didn’t do half bad.” she commented.
Natasha nodded, but didn’t say anything.
Kate easily deduced why the redhead was silent. “I’m sorry we didn’t catch that… Yelena.”
“She’s not your average thug. She’s been trained to be a Black Widow. It’s not your fault.”
Kate shook her head. “It is. I got overconfident because I had Tiboldt’s hat. I should have anticipated there were ways of countering it. Had I been more careful, Mary-Jane wouldn’t have had to risk her life, and Yelena wouldn’t have fled.”
“We caught Tiboldt and her elite girls. We foiled Jefferson’s plan, and we’re now certain he’s going down. Yelena is a mercenary. A pawn. She’s alone, with no support. The SHIELD has sent its agents after her as we speak. She can’t evade us for long.”
Kate noticed a subtle wavering of Natasha’s voice when she said the words ‘pawn’ and ‘alone’. “You care about her.”
Natasha’s face didn’t flinch – two decades of training could do that. But she did hesitate, before finally nodding: “I think she and I are the only ones left. The only survivors of the Black Widow Program. The only remnants of the Red Room. She’s the only one who can… understand some things about me. And I’m the only one who can understand some things about her.”
“Red Room… Black Widow Program… Chaos Cube… I fear there are many things I don’t know…” Kate looked at the other woman. “But I know you’ll be chasing her. You need to make sure the Chaos Cube doesn’t fall in the wrong hands. I’ll help you. I owe you.”
Natasha didn’t look at her – she was looking at Mary-Jane and Angelica. “Thank you. But whatever happens… Don’t bring these two with you. Things become dirty whenever the Red Room is involved. They’re good girls. And good things should be preserved. It’s up to people like me to put their hands in the mire.”
Kate nodded. “Shall we make our leave then?”
Natasha’s face finally betrayed an emotion. She raised an eyebrow. “Oh? You guessed?”
“That you were about to discreetly leave the premises and try and catch up with Yelena? Of course. Why do you think I didn’t leave your side ever since I woke up?” She pointed at MJ and Angelica. “Let these two have their moment of glory. MJ deserves it, and Xavier’s Institute could do with the good PR.”
Natasha grabbed her communicator. “I’ll tell SHIELD to make room for one more person.”
), but the USB scenes are fun and memorable as ever.
