Stark Attack - Marvel: Earth-USB Saga (Part 29)
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2025 8:53 pm
Probably the final chapter I'll post in 2025. Hope to end the year on a high note. Enjoy!
(Character references, when applicable, can be found in the second post.)
***
The nighttime road along the mountains was not for the faint of heart.
But Tony Stark’s industry didn’t build trucks for the fainthearted.
The vehicle which lumbered now across the rocky terrain was a mammoth 18-wheeler with state-of-the-art steering and endurance – as advertised by the large “Stark Enterprises” logo on the side of it. These advanced vehicles were necessary, of course, to transport the advanced and delicate weaponry across treacherous terrain, across the distance from the weapons manufacturing plants to the laboratories where they would be tested.
In the cab of the truck sat the driver, a lone woman eyeing the road ahead. She took her eyes off the road for but a moment to check her watch and ensure she was making good time.
This truck in question did not carry any deadly weaponry – but as with all her transport jobs, Taryn O’Connell treated the cargo as precious and her job as of utmost importance.
Taryn was a fit young woman with light skin and curly reddish-brown hair in a ponytail. She wore an olive-green jumpsuit that was unbuttoned at the collarbone, and brown boots. She had been working as a truck driver for three years, and had never failed a delivery yet.
Still, as she rounded the last of the mountain roads, she felt a slight wave of relief. The toughest leg of her journey was behind her. From here on, it would be smooth trucking.
As Taryn steered the truck towards an open roadway, a few miles out from the exit that would lead to the Stark Enterprises building, she saw some traffic cones blocking the roadway.
“Oh, come on…”
She pressed the brakes and glanced out the window. There was no one around. No sign of any construction, nothing to indicate any road maintenance.
“Damn teenagers again,” Taryn muttered as she opened the door and hopped out of the cab. There had been reports of young hoodlums setting up “roadblocks” to annoy the truck drivers who frequented the area. Taryn had never encountered any of their obstacles before, but she already hated those young ruffians.
She scooped up the traffic cones, one by one, and tossed them to the side. Then she headed back to her truck. “I swear, if those pranksters make me late…”
The sound was swift, short, a high-pitched whistle. Taryn felt a sudden sharp pain in her neck, just below her right earlobe.
“The hell?”
She reached for the spot, and her fingers closed around something slim and metallic. She plucked it out – a silver-tipped dart.
“What kind of crazy teenagers are…?” Taryn stopped as her vision began to blur.
She felt confused, addled… She tried to move forward, but her legs were rubber.
With a soft groan, she collapsed to the ground.
From the shadows of a nearby tree emerged a woman holding a tranquilizer gun – a large grey rifle with a long-range scope. She was Danika Trevani, an expert markswoman with light skin and short-cut blonde hair. She was tall and fit, dressed in a blue jumpsuit over a black sweater, dark blue gloves and boots, and a blue electronic headset.
Danika gave an “all-clear” signal. From behind the surrounding trees and bushes emerged other women – her teammates.
The first woman to step forward was Fiona McCormick. A demolitions expert, she was tall and slim, with light skin and shoulder-length reddish-orange hair. She was dressed in a black jumpsuit with red gloves and boots, along with a red belt and gun holster, as well as a red headset.
The next woman to emerge was Luz Delgado. An expert with electronics, she was a Latina woman with tanned skin and curly shoulder-length brown hair. She was dressed all in white, with a jumpsuit shirt that was opened to her navel, a weapons belt with several pouches, and a knife strapped to her thigh. Her headset was white as well.
The next woman was known simply as Mei Lin. A specialist at hand-to-hand combat, she was an Asian woman with apricot skin and jet-black hair that she had tied into a single, long braided ponytail. She wore a light green jumpsuit with a black torso, along with a grey weapons belt and headset.
The final woman to emerge was the team leader – Tyler Meagher, a light-skinned woman with blue eyes and long, straight brown hair. She wore a dark blue jumpsuit with short sleeves and knee-high light blue boots.
Together, these five women comprised a little-known organization called HEART – short for Humans Engaging All Radical Terrorism. They were mercenaries, soldiers of fortune who had banded together under a shared common goal: to use their skills for all manner of illegal work, as long as it netted them a profit. Their specialties were infiltration and theft, and they planned to put both skills to good use on this night.
Tyler glanced at her watch. “Excellent shooting, Danika. Now let’s get moving. Fiona – you’re closest to the driver in size and appearance. Get into her uniform, fast.”
“Copy that, boss,” Fiona replied. She approached the unconscious Taryn, grabbed her by the underarms, and dragged her into the bushes at the side of the road.
“Luz and Mei Lin,” Tyler addressed the other members. “Have you spotted any other obstacles between here and the Stark facility?”
Luz and Mei Lin were the team’s expert recon members, proficient in all forms of surveillance.
Luz shook her head. “Should be easy work from here on, boss.”
“Danika!” Tyler called. “Make sure you retrieve your dart. We don’t need to leave any trace that we were here.”
Danika nodded and hurried to comply. She picked up the silver dart from where Taryn had dropped it and carefully slid it into a pouch on her belt.
“Fiona, does the uniform fit?” Tyler called to the bushes.
Fiona poked her head up, zipping up the uniform, and gave a thumbs-up. “Ten-four, good buddy!”
Tyler sighed. “Is that a yes?”
“Yeah, boss.”
As Fiona laced up the boots, the other four members of HEART piled into the rear of the truck. They concealed themselves between the various crates and tarps within.
Fiona glanced down at the real truck driver, who was bound with grey zipties and gagged with a white cloth. She had been reduced to a white plunge bra and pink cheeky panties.
“Sleep tight, babe,” she grinned. “And don’t worry – we’ll make sure your cargo gets to its destination...”
**********************
Stark Enterprises was the largest industrial compound in New York, stretching across several acres of land just north of NYC. The compound in question boasted Stark Manufacturing, Stark Technologies, and Stark Laboratories. (Tony Stark was never shy about putting his name on anything he owned.)
Stark Enterprises’ crowning achievement, known across the Western world and beyond, was the Iron Man suit, an advanced piece of battle armor that Tony Stark himself wore in his public identity as the world-renowned superhero and Avenger. Stark had created a second suit for his friend and confidante, James Rhodes, who operated under the name War Machine. For the last several years, these two suits appeared to be the only ones of their caliber produced by the corporation.
Recently, however, rumors had percolated that the most brilliant minds at Stark Laboratories were developing a third suit of battle armor – one that would be every bit as developed as the Iron Man suit, and perhaps even more advanced. An advanced technological suit that went by the codename “Cybermancer.”
As soon as Tyler heard about this suit, she knew HEART needed to get their hands on it. A new suit from the makers of the Iron Man and War Machine models could fetch countless millions on the black market. The idea of wealth like that… The heist was a risk, but the reward would be more than worth it.
Fiona pulled the truck up to the front gate, giving a flirtatious smile to the guard on duty. He nodded and opened the gate.
“Fish in a barrel,” Fiona murmured as she drove on through.
A few signs pointed the directions to the docking and unloading bay. Fiona found a quiet spot away from the other trucks and parked the vehicle.
“We’re here,” she spoke to her associates in her communicator. “And about time, too – this uniform is starting to itch.”
“Well, you’ll have the opportunity to change before long,” Tyler’s voice responded. “Survey the area. Is there anyone around?”
Fiona glanced about, her eyes falling on the docking bay doorways that led right into the Stark Enterprises compound. “There are two guards posted outside the entrance point. Both women.”
“Excellent. You know what to do…”
*********************
The two guards flanking either side of the docking bay entrance were rather tired – understandable, considering the long shift they had been working.
Yet neither woman could be happier.
“This is the life,” Marilyn remarked. A woman of average height and build, she had an angular face, light skin, and black hair tied back into a neck bun.
Ruth nodded along. “I’ll say.” She was a tall woman with light skin, dark blue eyes, and blonde hair in a square cut.
Both women were dressed in the uniforms of Stark Enterprises security – blue jackets over white shirts, dark blue pants, and black ties, as well as peaked blue caps.
They were fairly conventional uniforms for security personnel – yet that was exactly what Ruth and Marilyn needed after spending several months in Orchis uniforms (and out of those uniforms, on more than one unlucky occasion).
Shortly before the collapse of Orchis, an event which had led to the arrest of several of their coworkers, Ruth and Marilyn had seen the warning signs and decided to jump ship. They managed to avoid any bother from the police and had landed new jobs – still as security guards, but no longer on the wrong side of the law. They were now on the payroll of Stark Enterprises.
“We should have done this years ago,” Ruth remarked. “Tony Stark pays well, we’ve got great benefits, and the hours aren’t that bad. And I’m really starting to like this uniform!”
Marilyn winced. “Ix-nay on the uniform talk, Ruth.”
Ruth raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t draw attention to our uniforms,” Marilyn said. “I don’t like being reminded of all those times… y’know.”
Ruth chuckled. “Oh, come on, Mari. We were only mugged for our Orchis outfits twice.”
“Speak for yourself!” Marilyn frowned. “I was mugged and got my uniform stolen four times. Half the reason I wanted out of the ‘henchwoman’ business is because I was tired of being forced to wear a face-concealing helmet. I hated being a prime target of infiltrators.”
“Well, cheer up,” Ruth replied. “Our days of being ambushed and stripped by superheroines are behind us. We’re good guys now! And we no longer wear face-concealing helmets,” she added.
Marilyn rolled her eyes. “I guess…”
“Pardon me, ladies.”
The two guards looked up to see a redheaded woman in a truck driver uniform approaching them.
“I’ve got some cargo to offload, and I’m having difficulty carrying it by my lonesome,” Fiona said with a small, helpless smile on her face, jabbing her thumb behind her in the direction of the truck. “Perhaps a couple of strong women like yourselves could give me a hand?”
Ruth exchanged a glance with Marilyn, then smiled. “Sure, it’s our pleasure. Lead the way!”
Fiona nodded and led the two guards toward the rear of the truck.
She took the ring of keys from her belt and unlocked the door. “Surprisingly little security here, isn’t there?” she remarked.
“Oh, most of the security has been relocated to the labs,” Ruth explained. “There’s a high-tech new suit that’s being safely guarded inside the building, and our boss wants everything as secure as possible. We were the only ones assigned to cargo bay duty.”
“Your boss?” Fiona asked as she slid open the truck door.
“Bethany Cabe. Security Chief at Stark Enterprises. She knows everyone who works in the building. If any unauthorized people try to infiltrate the labs, she’ll catch them.”
“Sounds like a smart woman,” Fiona nodded. “Anyway, see if you can grab a couple of the boxes. Be warned, they’re pretty heavy.”
“We’ll be fine, ma’am,” Ruth nodded. “Come on, Marilyn.”
She climbed into the rear of the truck. Marilyn followed.
“Pretty dark in here,” Ruth remarked.
From outside the truck, Fiona chuckled. “And it’s about to get darker!”
So saying, she gripped the door handle and skid the truck door closed.
“The hell?” Marilyn whirled, reaching for her gun.
She grasped at empty air.
Moments earlier, Fiona’s dexterous fingers had relieved her and Ruth of their weapons.
The next moment, four women with night-vision goggles pounced on the two startled security guards, intent on relieving them of everything else.
*******************
Ten minutes later, Danika and Mei Lin were buttoning up the uniforms of Stark Enterprises security.
Nearby, Luz was utilizing some strong white zipties to keep the real guards out of commission. Ruth, stripped to a pink puka shell bra and white French cut panties, and Marilyn, down to an azure sports bra and grey hipsters, had also been gagged with silver bands of duct tape.
All the while, Tyler was listening in on the radio that had up until a few minutes ago belonged to Marilyn.
“Security is tighter than expected,” she told her team. “Fortunately, we’ve managed to break the chain’s weakest link. The element of surprise remains on our side.”
The truck door slid open, and Fiona poked her head in. “All done yet? My ass is freezing out here.”
Luz rolled her eyes as she pulled the zipties taut. “Your ass can wait another minute or two.”
Fiona stuck out her tongue.
“We are just about ready,” Danika replied.
Mei Lin nodded, tucking her long braid beneath the guard’s cap.
“Then let’s get moving,” Tyler said. “We’ve no obstacles to infiltrating now.”
“Except Bethany Cabe,” Fiona remarked.
“Who?”
“Security Chief,” Fiona explained. “She apparently memorizes the faces of everyone who works in this facility. She sounds like an expert at stopping infiltrators.”
Tyler nodded. “Sounds like we’ll need to remove her from the equation.”
“But how do we get close to her without her spotting us as imposters?” Luz asked.
Tyler thought for a moment.
“I have a plan. Listen…”
*****************
Stark Laboratories was always busy – but the added security presence made it feel more crowded than usual.
Thus, it was no surprise that some of the scientists, needing a break from the late and long work as well as the constant roaming security guards, would step outside the labs on occasion and stretch their legs.
Two of the scientists had chosen this moment to take one such break.
Katrina strode down the hallway, enjoying the lack of electronic machinery buzzing in her ears. “Peaceful, isn’t it?”
Her friend and coworker, Amara, nodded. “It’s nights like this I’m glad this company invests in soundproof walls.”
Both women were accomplished scientists who had worked their way up to Stark Enterprises.
Dr. Katrina Carlson was a chemist. She was a tall, slender woman with light skin and angular features, blue eyes and chin-length straight black hair. Her outfit was a standard white lab coat over a black dress and matching black shoes. An ID card was pinned just above the coat’s left breast.
Dr. Amara Perera was a biophysicist. She was a Sri Lankan woman with a medium build and tanned skin, brown eyes and wavy black hair that fell about her shoulders. She wore a white lab coat over a light blue dress with an ornate grey collar. She too had an ID badge pinned to her coat.
“I can’t believe how tight security is,” Katrina remarked.
Amara shrugged. “Dr. Endo’s project apparently costs tens of millions… They don’t want anyone outside this industry getting their hands on it.”
“Amazing how Suzi managed to talk Tony Stark into financing such a project,” Katrina remarked.
“I assume she batted her eyelashes at the boss a few times,” Amara grinned. “How do you think she got to be the head of the cybernetics division?”
Katrina rolled her eyes. “Cybernetics… big deal. That’ll just be the first division to go once the AI revolution takes over.”
“I don’t know… She described the suit as ‘post-artificial intelligence.’ Not sure what that means…”
“Ladies!”
Katrina and Amara glanced up to see a pair of women in security uniforms standing in a nearby doorway.
“You should not be in the hallway at this hour,” one of the guards, a blonde woman with an Eastern European accent, said sternly. “Why are you not in the labs?”
“Just stretching our legs, officers,” Katrina replied. “No need to worry.”
“We’ll need to see your IDs,” the other guard, a dark-haired Asian woman, said.
Katrina’s impulse was to argue, but the guards did not look in the mood for protest. Amara simply shrugged.
“Our IDs are pinned to our chests, officers. As you can see, our faces match the photos.”
“We need to ensure these aren’t forgeries,” the brunette guard replied. “Could you both step into this room for a moment?” She gestured at a small side office that appeared empty at the moment.
Katrina sighed. “I suppose not… But we don’t have much time off the clock. Can we wrap this up fast?”
The blonde guard grinned. “We’ll wrap things up fast. I promise.”
Katrina and Amara nodded. They followed the women into the small office.
“Do you need us to remove our IDs?” Amara asked.
“Yes,” the blonde guard chuckled. “And so much more.”
Before the scientists could react, hands clamped over their mouths and pistols rammed into their backs. They froze in shock.
“Now we can do this the easy way,” the blonde said, grinning as she held up a roll of duct tape. “Or we can do this the fun way.”
******************
It was only a matter of minutes before another two women of HEART had been “promoted” to new positions at Stark Enterprises.
Tyler and Luz dusted down their new lab coats and the crisp clothes that came with them.
“No offense, boss,” Luz remarked, “but you don’t look all that much like your ID badge.”
Tyler rolled her eyes. “As long as I hold a clipboard in front of the badge, no one will notice,” she reminded her associate. “Ninety percent of a successful disguise is in the uniform. Most people are too dumb to look beyond that.”
“Thank goodness for dumb guards and dumber scientists,” Fiona chuckled.
She, along with Danika and Mei Lin, had just finished binding the hapless Drs. Carlson and Perera back-to-back with black coaxial cables. Katrina was down to a cyan seashell bra and pink cotton panties, while Amara wore a violet full-cup bra and matching bikini briefs. True to Danika’s word, both scientists had been wrapped up fast.
“Now what?” Danika asked.
“Now,” Tyler replied, “we deal with this Cabe woman.”
*****************
Bethany Cabe was on high alert.
As the Security Chief at Stark Enterprises, that was precisely what she was there to be. Stark’s complex had no shortage of security measures, including cameras and alarm systems, but all would be irrelevant if not for the humans running them. To Bethany’s mind, no computer could ever truly replace a human guard.
That was not to say technologies couldn’t benefit security, of course. And Bethany had done her best to ensure Stark Enterprises had the best security in both human guards and security tech.
Bethany Cabe was a tall, svelte woman with light skin and sharp facial features. She had green eyes and long red hair that reached mid-back. Her skintight security jumpsuit was mostly blue in color, though the left sleeve and torso area were white, and the collar gleamed a metallic silver. Horizontal white stripes were marked along the uniform’s legs, with two similar stripes along her upper biceps – red along the left arm, white along the right arm. She wore a red belt, along with red wrist and ankle gauntlets. The letters “SE” were emblazoned in red above her left breast.
She was currently walking along the outer area of Stark Laboratories, ensuring that nothing looked out of place. No thieves had attempted to break into the building before tonight, not since Bethany had first earned her job as Security Chief. Still, her time working in the employ of an Avenger had taught Bethany not to take any chances.
Rounding a corner, she stopped in her tracks.
Approaching her were two women in security uniforms. Each one was clutching the arm of a woman in a lab coat, ushering them sharply forward.
“Hey, boss!” one of the security-dressed women called to Bethany. “We caught these two impersonating a pair of scientists. They were trying to infiltrate the compound!”
Bethany raised an eyebrow.
“Let us go!” one of the lab-coated women protested. “We’re not imposters. Please, this is all a mistake!”
“Check their ID badges,” the guard told Bethany. “The photos don’t match their faces!”
Impulsively, Bethany glanced at the lab-coated woman’s ID badge. There was no doubt about it – they didn’t match.
“Please, we can explain,” the woman in the white coat said. “Our ID badges were mixed up. We…”
Bethany held up a hand. “I don’t recognize either of you ‘scientists’ from our employee files,” she said. “But we’ll run a check on your faces and see if they match any on file.”
Then she turned to the guard who had made the accusations. “Good job… We’ll confirm if these two are imposters and…”
Then she paused. “Wait… I don’t recognize you either… Hmmmpphh!?!”
Her head was jerked sharply backwards as a chloroform pad was pressed over her face.
“Surprise!” Danika chuckled as Mei Lin tightened her grip over Bethany’s nose and mouth.
Bethany tried reaching for her weapon, but Tyler and Mei Lin each grabbed one of her arms. Luz and Danika each grabbed one of her legs. Together, the four women lifted Bethany up and off the floor.
Squirming helplessly, the Security Chief of Stark Enterprises was carried into a nearby supply closet, slowly but surely losing the battle against the chloroform pad that refused to budge from her face.
******************
Tyler’s method had been tried a few times in the past, and had always worked. It was colloquially known by the women of HEART as “multilayered infiltration.”
The plan was simple in concept and slightly more complicated in practice. It involved mugging and replacing some security guards, then mugging and replacing some other employees of the building they were trying to infiltrate. The women disguised as security guards would then pretend to “catch” their disguised cohorts and expose them to a more senior security official as imposters. The security official, usually on the lookout for any suspicious activity or unfamiliar faces, would invariably let her guard down, assuming the “imposters” had been caught. It was in the brief moment before she recognized that her own women had been replaced by imposters as well that HEART would take her down.
In a world filled with superpowered men and women, Tyler prided her non-superpowered team on always staying at least one step ahead of the conventional wisdom. And once again, they had succeeded.
Bethany Cabe now lay in a corner of the supply closet, stripped to a sapphire blue sports bra and white bikini panties. Her wrists and ankles were secured with white zipties, and the chloroform pad had been secured over her nose and mouth with a strip of green duct tape.
Fiona was currently in the process of wriggling into her uniform.
“Why does Tony Stark insist his high-ranking female employees wear such skintight outfits?” she complained.
Luz gave a smirk. “Gosh, what a mystery…”
“And why do I have to be the one who wears this uniform?” Fiona added. “The rest of you get comfortable clothes.”
“Because you’re the closest to Bethany Cabe in appearance,” Tyler replied. “The uniform doesn’t come with a face-concealing helmet, and you’re the only redhead on the team.”
Fiona sighed as she snapped the belt around her waist. “Cursed by my gorgeous hair,” she murmured.
“Let’s get to the labs,” Tyler said, checking her watch once more. “We still need to steal the most valuable outfit of all…”
*******************
Suzi Endo could not remember another night when she was so excited… or so nervous.
As head of research for Stark Enterprises’ Cybernetics Department, she had undertaken a lot of work over the last several months, and the last few weeks in particular. Long, sleepless nights often had her working into the early hours of the morning. (Luckily, the department’s coffee machines never seemed to run out of supply.)
It had been a lot of work, but by morning… all would be worth it. The project she had dreamed about ever since her days as a college undergrad was about to come to fruition. The suit she had spent years trying to design was almost ready for the public.
She took a step back and looked at herself in the reflective metal surface of a metal door.
Staring back at her was a tall, slender Japanese-American woman with fair skin, brown eyes, and long black hair that fell between her shoulder blades. She was dressed in the suit of her own creation – a skintight violet bodysuit made of comfortable yet sturdy chainmail armor, fitted with silver forearm gauntlets and knee-high silver boots. More silver armor covered her shoulders and waist, fitting around her torso.
Suzi reached for the last part of the armor – a metal headdress with reflective silver visor – and fitted it over her head. She lowered the visor over her eyes. In the corner of her vision, she could see a set of computer data monitoring the costume’s readouts: ALL SYSTEMS NORMAL.
I’ll bet this is how Tony felt the first time he put on that suit.
Suzi had been inspired by the Iron Man costume years ago, and had always dreamed of the opportunity to create a mechanized suit of her own. After landing a summer internship at Stark Enterprises, which she eventually parlayed into a full-time position, she finally got the chance. She was given the time, the money, the resources – and she had taken full advantage of them. Now, she was more than plain old nerdy Suzi Endo. Now she was Cybermancer.
She turned and glanced at the only other worker in the lab at this hour. “Phil, how do I look?”
Phil glanced up from his computer. He eyed Suzi’s costume and rolled his eyes. “You look… purple.”
After spending years as a woman in the tech field, Suzi had grown used to passive-aggressive remarks from her male colleagues. Phil had also not made it a secret that he resented her promotion to head of cybernetic research the previous year.
Suzi walked over to Phil’s desk and glanced down. “Looks like you dropped a pen there, Phil. I see it rolled behind the filing cabinet.”
“I’ll get it later,” Phil replied, not looking up from his computer.
“Oh, allow me.”
Suzi grasped the bottom of the cabinet with one hand, and then – without so much as a deep breath – lifted it six feet off the ground.
Phil looked up in shock.
“That… that cabinet weighs two tons…”
“Three and a half, actually,” Suzi corrected him. “But with this suit I’m wearing, it’s light as a feather. Ten years of technological advancements, all woven into this outfit.” She smiled down at him. “Now, I’ll ask you again… how do I look?”
Phil glanced at the filing cabinet that Suzi was still holding above her head. “You look… amazing. Like a real superhero.”
“Thanks,” Suzi grinned. “Now would you mind fetching me a drink? All this work has made me thirsty.”
Phil nodded and quickly stood up. “Sure thing.” He quickly scurried off.
Suzi lowered the filing cabinet and straightened up. She had more tests to run – more data to accumulate to determine the extent of her suit’s powers – but for the moment, she was feeling more optimistic than ever.
This suit is going to change the world.
It was a major breakthrough in scientific research. Cybernetics were already being used to help disabled people walk, but she had taken the development to the next level. Wearing her suit, an ordinary person could rival Captain America for sheer strength.
She liked the sound of that.
Still, she would need to run more tests on the suit’s endurance and flight capabilities… The night wasn’t over yet…
“Ms. Endo?”
Suzi turned to the voice. She was surprised to see a pair of women in lab coats entering the room.
She didn’t recognize these women – they were probably from a different department. This building sure had a lot of different labs…
“You are Suzi Endo, correct?” one of the women asked. She had shoulder-length brown hair and a stern expression.
“The one and only,” Suzi replied. “Pardon my current state of dress… I’m testing out my new costume.”
“And a valuable-looking costume it is,” the woman replied, eyes gleaming.
The next moment, three other women stepped through the door. Two of them were wearing standard security uniforms; the third was in a more unusual uniform and – to the best of Suzi’s recollection – appeared to be Stark’s chief of security. Beth something?
“Can I help you?” Suzi asked. “We’re trying to keep this area relatively uncrowded. Need peace and quiet to make sure the costume works as planned.”
“No need to worry,” the brunette smiled, striding forward. “We’ll be happy to test the costume for you.”
Suzi raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me? I think I can test it on my own.”
“Alas, plans have changed.”
At that, all five of the newcomers drew guns from their belts and pointed them at Suzi.
The cyberneticist took an instinctive step back. “What the hell?”
“Your costume,” the brunette replied. “Hand it over and you live to see tomorrow.”
At this, a bolt of white-hot anger flashed through Suzi.
“Screw you! This suit is my life’s work. You think I’ll just let you steal it off my back?”
The woman dressed in Bethany Cabe’s uniform – whom Suzi could now deduce was not the real Bethany Cabe – chuckled.
“Sweetie, we’ve been stealing suits off women’s backs all night! It’s basically half the job.”
Suzi scowled. “You’ve all just made the biggest mistake of your lives. With this suit, I can take all of you down without breaking a sweat.” She raised her fists.
“I’m afraid the suit won’t help you… not for the next few moments, anyway,” Tyler replied.
She nodded at Luz, who grinned and pressed a small stud on her wristwatch.
The lights above flickered for a moment.
Suzi raised an eyebrow. “What was…?”
Then she glanced at her fists. Suddenly, the suit had stopped humming with power.
“What did you do??”
“Just a mild electronic disrupter,” Luz explained. “Momentarily shorts out all electric equipment within a twenty-foot radius. Whipped it up earlier this evening.”
Suzi glared at her. “Nice try. But it’ll take ten seconds for the suit to repower itself.”
“And it’ll take five seconds to render you unconscious,” Tyler deadpanned. “Isn’t that right, Mei Lin?”
Wordlessly, the team’s hand-to-hand combat specialist lunged at Suzi. The cyberneticist barely bad time to react – Mei Lin was a blur of fists and feet, striking three pressure points in immediate succession.
With a groan, Suzi crumpled to the floor. She did not get back up.
“Correction – four seconds,” Tyler mused. “Good work, Mei Lin.”
The Asian woman nodded. “These… ‘superheroes’… So weak without their toys.”
“Now, as we planned. Get into her costume. You resemble her the closest, and you’re the only one who can smuggle that suit out of here without getting bombarded by questions.”
Mei Lin reached down and grasped Suzi’s arms, then dragged the unconscious computer whiz behind a desk.
“Hey, boss-lady,” Fiona piped up to Tyler. “This little wristwatch-bracelet device is beeping like crazy.”
She held out her arm, displaying the red wristband she had stolen from Bethany Cabe. Small red letters spelling out “ALERT” were flashing across it.
“What happened?” Luz asked.
“I’d imagine that at least one of the Stark employees we incapacitated has been found,” Tyler mused.
Fiona listened to the voice coming through her communicator. “Ms. Cabe! We’ve found a couple of security guards trussed up inside a delivery vehicle. They were missing their uniforms.”
In the background, Fiona could hear the voice of one of the docking bay guards, ranting angrily. “The fifth time! This is the fifth time it’s happened!”
“Maybe they’ll get you a special jacket,” the other guard’s voice replied.
Tyler glanced at Fiona. “I assume you can handle this?”
Fiona smiled. “Sure thing, boss.”
She spoke into the communicator, doing her best impression of Bethany Cabe’s voice. “All units, return to position. We’ve secured the lab perimeter and apprehended the infiltrators. All is taken care of.”
The voice at the other end responded. “You got it, boss. Will relay the message.”
Fiona shut off the communicator and turned to her cohorts. “Piece of cake.”
“Amazing how people are willing to believe anything if it means they can avoid doing their own jobs,” Tyler mused.
Mei Lin stepped out from behind the desk. She was now fully dressed in the “Cybermancer” costume.
With her foot, she shut the door of one of the cabinets. Crammed inside was the real Suzi Endo, stripped to a black racerback bra and white cotton bikini briefs, bound with green zipties and gagged with silver tape.
Danika smiled at Mei Lin. “You look amazing.”
Mei Lin lowered the visor over her eyes. “I know.”
“Can I get one of those suits, too?” Fiona piped up.
“There’s only one such suit available in the world,” Tyler interjected. “And now it’s ours. By tomorrow, we will auction it off to the highest bidder – I hear AIM wants to get their hands on a Stark suit, and who knows how much they’ll pay for it.”
“What do you suppose AIM would do with this suit?” Luz asked.
“Study it… probably create more,” Tyler responded. “But that’s none of our concern. For now, we need to exit the building.”
At that moment, a young man burst into the room, holding a bottle of water. He spotted Mei Lin and ran up to her.
“Ms. Endo! Sorry for the delay… The water fountain was broken, had to go to the cafeteria… Here you go.” He held out the bottle.
Mei Lin stared at him, her eyes hidden by the mirrored visor. Her face was cold, impassive.
The young man gulped. “Please… I was only joking before…”
“Beat it, kid,” Fiona said stoically. “We have some tests to run on this suit. Get out of here unless you want to be a practice target.”
The man gulped again, glancing around at the five women staring intimidatingly at him. “I… Sure… I gotta get home anyway…”
He hurried off.
Fiona chuckled, then turned to Mei Lin. “Killer stare you gave that boy… even if he couldn’t see your eyes. Probably scared him out of a year’s growth.”
“Enough time-wasting,” Tyler said in annoyance. “Let’s get out of here. Mei Lin, do you feel like leading the way?”
Mei Lin smiled and flexed her muscles. She made a fist and aimed at the wall. Almost instantly, a hard-light laser beam burst from her wrist gauntlet, leaving a sizable charred hole in the metal
Danika chuckled. “I think she feels like it.”
******************
While HEART’s infiltration of Stark Enterprises had been quiet and covert, their exfiltration was somewhat… louder. With Mei Lin wearing the Cybermancer suit, there wasn’t much the team needed to fear at the moment.
After all, the security cameras would all show a woman who looked vaguely like Suzi Endo – and dressed in her priceless outfit – attacking security personnel and leaving a trail of unconscious guards behind her, alongside a woman who looked a fair bit like Bethany Cabe leading some other women to follow in her destructive path.
Like other covert ops teams, HEART was proficient in silent infiltration. But the women were not above more assertive and public displays of violence when the opportunity presented itself.
Before long, they had made it outside, to the employee parking lot.
Four of them piled into a security van, which Mei Lin promptly lifted off the ground. She then activated the suit’s rocket boosters, allowing her to fly herself and her associates over the fence.
“This is amazing!” Fiona chuckled, glancing out the window at the ground far below. “When do I get a turn with the suit?”
“Not before me,” Luz replied. “I’m the electronics whiz of the team, remember? I want to take a look at what makes this supersuit tick.”
Fiona rolled her eyes. “Whatever, nerd.”
“No one is getting a ‘turn’ with the suit, girls,” Tyler interrupted. “We are auctioning it off, remember?”
“Oh, come on! You really want to hand this over to AIM?” Fiona asked. “They have enough suits of their own. The dopey yellow costumes and goofy masks they wear… We can make better use of this outfit than they ever will.”
“Hate to agree with the team comedian, but she’s got a point,” Luz added. “With this suit in our arsenal, we’d be able to pull off so many more heists… I think we should keep it.”
Tyler frowned. “Perhaps we shall discuss this once we’re back at the hideout.”
***************
It took about an hour for the women of HEART to return to that hideout. A few double-backs to throw off any possible pursuers made the journey longer than it otherwise would have been – but better safe than sorry.
“Another successful heist!” Fiona grinned. “Let’s turn on the TV… I’m sure the Stark heist is all over the news.”
So saying, she grabbed the remote and switched on the television.
“And leading the news tonight, a daring theft that has taken New York by storm...”
Fiona grinned as she plopped down on the couch. “Grab some popcorn, girls. We’re on everyone’s mind!”
“…The theft, of course, of the famed Chaos Cube.”
Fiona sat upright. “The what now?”
Danika and Luz approached, staring at the TV as the face of a young blonde woman appeared onscreen.
“SHIELD is working tirelessly to apprehend this woman, identified as Yelena Belova. She is considered extremely dangerous. Any sightings of her should be reported to the nearest…”
“What the hell!” Fiona scowled. “Who is this woman? How dare she take tonight’s top story!”
Luz rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you write the network a letter.”
Danika frowned as she eyed the picture of Yelena. “She looks… familiar…”
Fiona scowled, and began scrolling through her phone. “No one’s talking about the Stark theft! All the news outlets are concentrating on this dumb Chaos Cube.”
Tyler approached, brow furrowed. “Maybe that ‘Chaos Cube’ isn’t so dumb.”
She grabbed the phone out of Fiona’s hand. Fiona started to protest, but Tyler ignored her.
“Very intriguing,” she mused. “I’d heard a thing or two about this Cube… Something related to the Kingpin last year. It sounds… valuable. Very valuable.”
Mei Lin smiled. “I think I know where this is headed…”
“Indeed,” Tyler nodded. “Girls, I think I’ve found the target of our next heist…”
*******************
The water is rising.
I’ve been stuck here… minutes? Hours? I can’t tell. Time has come to a standstill, and I can’t move a muscle.
It was sheer luck that I landed faceup at the side of the river. It prevented me from drowning right away. But the water is covering most of my body now, outside of my face. I don’t have much time left.
I can feel the drug starting to wear off… can just twitch my toes. But it’s too late.
I wonder who will find my body.
I wonder what Natasha will say.
How could I have been so stupid?
I can feel the water washing over my nose and mouth now. This is it. Another minute and I’m a goner.
As the tide rushes over me, I stare up at the night sky through the watery filter. It looks… peaceful. Beautiful.
The moon illuminates the blurry sky above me. A brilliant shade of white and silver.
A lot of silver.
Wait… that’s not the moon.
I can see the silver form standing over me. It’s a person.
That Surfer guy I’ve heard about? What would he be doing here?
No… it’s a woman. She reaches down, grabs my shoulders, and pulls me up.
Air. Sweet, wonderful air.
My savior comes into view. A tall, light-skinned woman with long white hair. Cold blue eyes. She’s wearing a shiny metal grey armored bodysuit, with matching gloves and tall boots. A weapons belt with several pouches is strapped around her waist, and a holster is strapped to her thigh.
I recognize her from the news. Silvija Sablinova, aka Silver Sable.
“Yelena Belova,” she says. “You’ve created quite a bit of trouble for us, you know that?”
I can barely shrug my shoulders. How does she know me? And how did she find me?
Silver Sable looks me over, and seems to figure out that I’m not exactly in position to talk. “Ah. Paralyzed, I take it? I’ve seen this before.”
She reaches into one of her pouches and removes a small needle. Before I can react – not that I could react – she jabs it into my neck.
A jolt rushes through me, and everything goes dark.
*****************
I wake up some time later, and the first thing that hits me is that I can move again.
Well, sort of. My wrists are handcuffed behind my back. But I’m no longer paralyzed.
I’m in the rear of what looks like a surveillance van. Silver Sable is standing over me.
“Where’s the Cube?” she demands.
It occurs to me that Sable probably searched me while I was unconscious. That annoys me.
“Where’s the Cube?” she repeats.
“How did you find me?” I ask.
“Elaine managed to slip a tracer on you before you knocked her out.”
Elaine? Oh yes… Scorpia. The woman I fought with at Avengers Campus.
“Scorpia works for you?”
“Indeed she does,” Sable replies. “Although lately, she spends all her spare time making out with Claire… I have the most incompetent assistants…”
She paused. “Thanks for not stripping her of the Scorpia costume, by the way. That thing would cost a fortune to replace.”
“I don’t understand. Are you with the police?”
“Of course not,” Sable replies. “I’m a mercenary-for-hire. William Jefferson hired my firm to retrieve the Chaos Cube. We dispatched Scorpia to handle it, but she obviously wasn’t enough. So I have to do the job myself.”
She paused again. “And it looks like you should be glad I did. You were about five seconds from drowning when I found you.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I say, somewhat offhandedly. This woman reminds me of Natasha, with her “better-than-you” attitude. “Why are you working for Jefferson? He’s done. Orchis is done. He’s probably going to jail.”
Sable bites her lip. “My security firm has suffered… a string of setbacks lately,” she admits. “A team of infiltrators has repeatedly made us look like fools. Silver Sable Security is no longer the prime business it once was, and we don’t have many places left to turn.”
Her expression hardens. “So you will tell me where you’ve hidden the Chaos Cube. Now.”
I can’t help chuckling.
“What’s so funny?”
“The Chaos Cube is gone,” I explain. “Some women ambushed me and stole it.”
“What?!”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“Who were these women?” Sable demands. “Maybe I can track them down.”
“I’m sure you can.” I think for a moment. “In fact… I can lead you to them.”
She gives me a strange look. “Are you suggesting… we team up? You’re a wanted criminal. And you assaulted one of my top agents.”
“Hey, she attacked me first,” I reply. “And yeah, I’m a wanted criminal… But for the moment, I’m probably the closest thing you have to a willing helper. Especially since your ‘top agent’ is probably still recuperating from the tranquilizer darts I shot her with.”
Sable’s steely blue eyes narrow. “What’s the catch?”
“I help you find the Cube, you let me go. Simple as that.”
She thinks for a moment.
Then nods, slowly. “All right. Deal.”
She sticks out her hand to shake mine.
“Ahem.”
“Oh, right.”
She unlocks the handcuffs and sets me free.
“No tricks, Belova. You won’t find me as easy to fool as Elaine was.”
“I promise, no tricks, Silvy.”
She frowns at this – guess she doesn’t like that nickname – but ignores it.
“Now… who were these women who ambushed you?”
“I think they called themselves… Black Spectre.”
Sable nods, and heads over to her computer.
I remain in the back seat as Sable begins searching through what I suppose is her database. I sit there thinking, weighing my options.
Silver Sable gave me a second chance, a new lease on life. I appreciate her for that, really.
But when we find it… that Cube is still mine.
***
To be continued... in 2026! Enjoy the holidays.
(Character references, when applicable, can be found in the second post.)
***
The nighttime road along the mountains was not for the faint of heart.
But Tony Stark’s industry didn’t build trucks for the fainthearted.
The vehicle which lumbered now across the rocky terrain was a mammoth 18-wheeler with state-of-the-art steering and endurance – as advertised by the large “Stark Enterprises” logo on the side of it. These advanced vehicles were necessary, of course, to transport the advanced and delicate weaponry across treacherous terrain, across the distance from the weapons manufacturing plants to the laboratories where they would be tested.
In the cab of the truck sat the driver, a lone woman eyeing the road ahead. She took her eyes off the road for but a moment to check her watch and ensure she was making good time.
This truck in question did not carry any deadly weaponry – but as with all her transport jobs, Taryn O’Connell treated the cargo as precious and her job as of utmost importance.
Taryn was a fit young woman with light skin and curly reddish-brown hair in a ponytail. She wore an olive-green jumpsuit that was unbuttoned at the collarbone, and brown boots. She had been working as a truck driver for three years, and had never failed a delivery yet.
Still, as she rounded the last of the mountain roads, she felt a slight wave of relief. The toughest leg of her journey was behind her. From here on, it would be smooth trucking.
As Taryn steered the truck towards an open roadway, a few miles out from the exit that would lead to the Stark Enterprises building, she saw some traffic cones blocking the roadway.
“Oh, come on…”
She pressed the brakes and glanced out the window. There was no one around. No sign of any construction, nothing to indicate any road maintenance.
“Damn teenagers again,” Taryn muttered as she opened the door and hopped out of the cab. There had been reports of young hoodlums setting up “roadblocks” to annoy the truck drivers who frequented the area. Taryn had never encountered any of their obstacles before, but she already hated those young ruffians.
She scooped up the traffic cones, one by one, and tossed them to the side. Then she headed back to her truck. “I swear, if those pranksters make me late…”
The sound was swift, short, a high-pitched whistle. Taryn felt a sudden sharp pain in her neck, just below her right earlobe.
“The hell?”
She reached for the spot, and her fingers closed around something slim and metallic. She plucked it out – a silver-tipped dart.
“What kind of crazy teenagers are…?” Taryn stopped as her vision began to blur.
She felt confused, addled… She tried to move forward, but her legs were rubber.
With a soft groan, she collapsed to the ground.
From the shadows of a nearby tree emerged a woman holding a tranquilizer gun – a large grey rifle with a long-range scope. She was Danika Trevani, an expert markswoman with light skin and short-cut blonde hair. She was tall and fit, dressed in a blue jumpsuit over a black sweater, dark blue gloves and boots, and a blue electronic headset.
Danika gave an “all-clear” signal. From behind the surrounding trees and bushes emerged other women – her teammates.
The first woman to step forward was Fiona McCormick. A demolitions expert, she was tall and slim, with light skin and shoulder-length reddish-orange hair. She was dressed in a black jumpsuit with red gloves and boots, along with a red belt and gun holster, as well as a red headset.
The next woman to emerge was Luz Delgado. An expert with electronics, she was a Latina woman with tanned skin and curly shoulder-length brown hair. She was dressed all in white, with a jumpsuit shirt that was opened to her navel, a weapons belt with several pouches, and a knife strapped to her thigh. Her headset was white as well.
The next woman was known simply as Mei Lin. A specialist at hand-to-hand combat, she was an Asian woman with apricot skin and jet-black hair that she had tied into a single, long braided ponytail. She wore a light green jumpsuit with a black torso, along with a grey weapons belt and headset.
The final woman to emerge was the team leader – Tyler Meagher, a light-skinned woman with blue eyes and long, straight brown hair. She wore a dark blue jumpsuit with short sleeves and knee-high light blue boots.
Together, these five women comprised a little-known organization called HEART – short for Humans Engaging All Radical Terrorism. They were mercenaries, soldiers of fortune who had banded together under a shared common goal: to use their skills for all manner of illegal work, as long as it netted them a profit. Their specialties were infiltration and theft, and they planned to put both skills to good use on this night.
Tyler glanced at her watch. “Excellent shooting, Danika. Now let’s get moving. Fiona – you’re closest to the driver in size and appearance. Get into her uniform, fast.”
“Copy that, boss,” Fiona replied. She approached the unconscious Taryn, grabbed her by the underarms, and dragged her into the bushes at the side of the road.
“Luz and Mei Lin,” Tyler addressed the other members. “Have you spotted any other obstacles between here and the Stark facility?”
Luz and Mei Lin were the team’s expert recon members, proficient in all forms of surveillance.
Luz shook her head. “Should be easy work from here on, boss.”
“Danika!” Tyler called. “Make sure you retrieve your dart. We don’t need to leave any trace that we were here.”
Danika nodded and hurried to comply. She picked up the silver dart from where Taryn had dropped it and carefully slid it into a pouch on her belt.
“Fiona, does the uniform fit?” Tyler called to the bushes.
Fiona poked her head up, zipping up the uniform, and gave a thumbs-up. “Ten-four, good buddy!”
Tyler sighed. “Is that a yes?”
“Yeah, boss.”
As Fiona laced up the boots, the other four members of HEART piled into the rear of the truck. They concealed themselves between the various crates and tarps within.
Fiona glanced down at the real truck driver, who was bound with grey zipties and gagged with a white cloth. She had been reduced to a white plunge bra and pink cheeky panties.
“Sleep tight, babe,” she grinned. “And don’t worry – we’ll make sure your cargo gets to its destination...”
**********************
Stark Enterprises was the largest industrial compound in New York, stretching across several acres of land just north of NYC. The compound in question boasted Stark Manufacturing, Stark Technologies, and Stark Laboratories. (Tony Stark was never shy about putting his name on anything he owned.)
Stark Enterprises’ crowning achievement, known across the Western world and beyond, was the Iron Man suit, an advanced piece of battle armor that Tony Stark himself wore in his public identity as the world-renowned superhero and Avenger. Stark had created a second suit for his friend and confidante, James Rhodes, who operated under the name War Machine. For the last several years, these two suits appeared to be the only ones of their caliber produced by the corporation.
Recently, however, rumors had percolated that the most brilliant minds at Stark Laboratories were developing a third suit of battle armor – one that would be every bit as developed as the Iron Man suit, and perhaps even more advanced. An advanced technological suit that went by the codename “Cybermancer.”
As soon as Tyler heard about this suit, she knew HEART needed to get their hands on it. A new suit from the makers of the Iron Man and War Machine models could fetch countless millions on the black market. The idea of wealth like that… The heist was a risk, but the reward would be more than worth it.
Fiona pulled the truck up to the front gate, giving a flirtatious smile to the guard on duty. He nodded and opened the gate.
“Fish in a barrel,” Fiona murmured as she drove on through.
A few signs pointed the directions to the docking and unloading bay. Fiona found a quiet spot away from the other trucks and parked the vehicle.
“We’re here,” she spoke to her associates in her communicator. “And about time, too – this uniform is starting to itch.”
“Well, you’ll have the opportunity to change before long,” Tyler’s voice responded. “Survey the area. Is there anyone around?”
Fiona glanced about, her eyes falling on the docking bay doorways that led right into the Stark Enterprises compound. “There are two guards posted outside the entrance point. Both women.”
“Excellent. You know what to do…”
*********************
The two guards flanking either side of the docking bay entrance were rather tired – understandable, considering the long shift they had been working.
Yet neither woman could be happier.
“This is the life,” Marilyn remarked. A woman of average height and build, she had an angular face, light skin, and black hair tied back into a neck bun.
Ruth nodded along. “I’ll say.” She was a tall woman with light skin, dark blue eyes, and blonde hair in a square cut.
Both women were dressed in the uniforms of Stark Enterprises security – blue jackets over white shirts, dark blue pants, and black ties, as well as peaked blue caps.
They were fairly conventional uniforms for security personnel – yet that was exactly what Ruth and Marilyn needed after spending several months in Orchis uniforms (and out of those uniforms, on more than one unlucky occasion).
Shortly before the collapse of Orchis, an event which had led to the arrest of several of their coworkers, Ruth and Marilyn had seen the warning signs and decided to jump ship. They managed to avoid any bother from the police and had landed new jobs – still as security guards, but no longer on the wrong side of the law. They were now on the payroll of Stark Enterprises.
“We should have done this years ago,” Ruth remarked. “Tony Stark pays well, we’ve got great benefits, and the hours aren’t that bad. And I’m really starting to like this uniform!”
Marilyn winced. “Ix-nay on the uniform talk, Ruth.”
Ruth raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t draw attention to our uniforms,” Marilyn said. “I don’t like being reminded of all those times… y’know.”
Ruth chuckled. “Oh, come on, Mari. We were only mugged for our Orchis outfits twice.”
“Speak for yourself!” Marilyn frowned. “I was mugged and got my uniform stolen four times. Half the reason I wanted out of the ‘henchwoman’ business is because I was tired of being forced to wear a face-concealing helmet. I hated being a prime target of infiltrators.”
“Well, cheer up,” Ruth replied. “Our days of being ambushed and stripped by superheroines are behind us. We’re good guys now! And we no longer wear face-concealing helmets,” she added.
Marilyn rolled her eyes. “I guess…”
“Pardon me, ladies.”
The two guards looked up to see a redheaded woman in a truck driver uniform approaching them.
“I’ve got some cargo to offload, and I’m having difficulty carrying it by my lonesome,” Fiona said with a small, helpless smile on her face, jabbing her thumb behind her in the direction of the truck. “Perhaps a couple of strong women like yourselves could give me a hand?”
Ruth exchanged a glance with Marilyn, then smiled. “Sure, it’s our pleasure. Lead the way!”
Fiona nodded and led the two guards toward the rear of the truck.
She took the ring of keys from her belt and unlocked the door. “Surprisingly little security here, isn’t there?” she remarked.
“Oh, most of the security has been relocated to the labs,” Ruth explained. “There’s a high-tech new suit that’s being safely guarded inside the building, and our boss wants everything as secure as possible. We were the only ones assigned to cargo bay duty.”
“Your boss?” Fiona asked as she slid open the truck door.
“Bethany Cabe. Security Chief at Stark Enterprises. She knows everyone who works in the building. If any unauthorized people try to infiltrate the labs, she’ll catch them.”
“Sounds like a smart woman,” Fiona nodded. “Anyway, see if you can grab a couple of the boxes. Be warned, they’re pretty heavy.”
“We’ll be fine, ma’am,” Ruth nodded. “Come on, Marilyn.”
She climbed into the rear of the truck. Marilyn followed.
“Pretty dark in here,” Ruth remarked.
From outside the truck, Fiona chuckled. “And it’s about to get darker!”
So saying, she gripped the door handle and skid the truck door closed.
“The hell?” Marilyn whirled, reaching for her gun.
She grasped at empty air.
Moments earlier, Fiona’s dexterous fingers had relieved her and Ruth of their weapons.
The next moment, four women with night-vision goggles pounced on the two startled security guards, intent on relieving them of everything else.
*******************
Ten minutes later, Danika and Mei Lin were buttoning up the uniforms of Stark Enterprises security.
Nearby, Luz was utilizing some strong white zipties to keep the real guards out of commission. Ruth, stripped to a pink puka shell bra and white French cut panties, and Marilyn, down to an azure sports bra and grey hipsters, had also been gagged with silver bands of duct tape.
All the while, Tyler was listening in on the radio that had up until a few minutes ago belonged to Marilyn.
“Security is tighter than expected,” she told her team. “Fortunately, we’ve managed to break the chain’s weakest link. The element of surprise remains on our side.”
The truck door slid open, and Fiona poked her head in. “All done yet? My ass is freezing out here.”
Luz rolled her eyes as she pulled the zipties taut. “Your ass can wait another minute or two.”
Fiona stuck out her tongue.
“We are just about ready,” Danika replied.
Mei Lin nodded, tucking her long braid beneath the guard’s cap.
“Then let’s get moving,” Tyler said. “We’ve no obstacles to infiltrating now.”
“Except Bethany Cabe,” Fiona remarked.
“Who?”
“Security Chief,” Fiona explained. “She apparently memorizes the faces of everyone who works in this facility. She sounds like an expert at stopping infiltrators.”
Tyler nodded. “Sounds like we’ll need to remove her from the equation.”
“But how do we get close to her without her spotting us as imposters?” Luz asked.
Tyler thought for a moment.
“I have a plan. Listen…”
*****************
Stark Laboratories was always busy – but the added security presence made it feel more crowded than usual.
Thus, it was no surprise that some of the scientists, needing a break from the late and long work as well as the constant roaming security guards, would step outside the labs on occasion and stretch their legs.
Two of the scientists had chosen this moment to take one such break.
Katrina strode down the hallway, enjoying the lack of electronic machinery buzzing in her ears. “Peaceful, isn’t it?”
Her friend and coworker, Amara, nodded. “It’s nights like this I’m glad this company invests in soundproof walls.”
Both women were accomplished scientists who had worked their way up to Stark Enterprises.
Dr. Katrina Carlson was a chemist. She was a tall, slender woman with light skin and angular features, blue eyes and chin-length straight black hair. Her outfit was a standard white lab coat over a black dress and matching black shoes. An ID card was pinned just above the coat’s left breast.
Dr. Amara Perera was a biophysicist. She was a Sri Lankan woman with a medium build and tanned skin, brown eyes and wavy black hair that fell about her shoulders. She wore a white lab coat over a light blue dress with an ornate grey collar. She too had an ID badge pinned to her coat.
“I can’t believe how tight security is,” Katrina remarked.
Amara shrugged. “Dr. Endo’s project apparently costs tens of millions… They don’t want anyone outside this industry getting their hands on it.”
“Amazing how Suzi managed to talk Tony Stark into financing such a project,” Katrina remarked.
“I assume she batted her eyelashes at the boss a few times,” Amara grinned. “How do you think she got to be the head of the cybernetics division?”
Katrina rolled her eyes. “Cybernetics… big deal. That’ll just be the first division to go once the AI revolution takes over.”
“I don’t know… She described the suit as ‘post-artificial intelligence.’ Not sure what that means…”
“Ladies!”
Katrina and Amara glanced up to see a pair of women in security uniforms standing in a nearby doorway.
“You should not be in the hallway at this hour,” one of the guards, a blonde woman with an Eastern European accent, said sternly. “Why are you not in the labs?”
“Just stretching our legs, officers,” Katrina replied. “No need to worry.”
“We’ll need to see your IDs,” the other guard, a dark-haired Asian woman, said.
Katrina’s impulse was to argue, but the guards did not look in the mood for protest. Amara simply shrugged.
“Our IDs are pinned to our chests, officers. As you can see, our faces match the photos.”
“We need to ensure these aren’t forgeries,” the brunette guard replied. “Could you both step into this room for a moment?” She gestured at a small side office that appeared empty at the moment.
Katrina sighed. “I suppose not… But we don’t have much time off the clock. Can we wrap this up fast?”
The blonde guard grinned. “We’ll wrap things up fast. I promise.”
Katrina and Amara nodded. They followed the women into the small office.
“Do you need us to remove our IDs?” Amara asked.
“Yes,” the blonde guard chuckled. “And so much more.”
Before the scientists could react, hands clamped over their mouths and pistols rammed into their backs. They froze in shock.
“Now we can do this the easy way,” the blonde said, grinning as she held up a roll of duct tape. “Or we can do this the fun way.”
******************
It was only a matter of minutes before another two women of HEART had been “promoted” to new positions at Stark Enterprises.
Tyler and Luz dusted down their new lab coats and the crisp clothes that came with them.
“No offense, boss,” Luz remarked, “but you don’t look all that much like your ID badge.”
Tyler rolled her eyes. “As long as I hold a clipboard in front of the badge, no one will notice,” she reminded her associate. “Ninety percent of a successful disguise is in the uniform. Most people are too dumb to look beyond that.”
“Thank goodness for dumb guards and dumber scientists,” Fiona chuckled.
She, along with Danika and Mei Lin, had just finished binding the hapless Drs. Carlson and Perera back-to-back with black coaxial cables. Katrina was down to a cyan seashell bra and pink cotton panties, while Amara wore a violet full-cup bra and matching bikini briefs. True to Danika’s word, both scientists had been wrapped up fast.
“Now what?” Danika asked.
“Now,” Tyler replied, “we deal with this Cabe woman.”
*****************
Bethany Cabe was on high alert.
As the Security Chief at Stark Enterprises, that was precisely what she was there to be. Stark’s complex had no shortage of security measures, including cameras and alarm systems, but all would be irrelevant if not for the humans running them. To Bethany’s mind, no computer could ever truly replace a human guard.
That was not to say technologies couldn’t benefit security, of course. And Bethany had done her best to ensure Stark Enterprises had the best security in both human guards and security tech.
Bethany Cabe was a tall, svelte woman with light skin and sharp facial features. She had green eyes and long red hair that reached mid-back. Her skintight security jumpsuit was mostly blue in color, though the left sleeve and torso area were white, and the collar gleamed a metallic silver. Horizontal white stripes were marked along the uniform’s legs, with two similar stripes along her upper biceps – red along the left arm, white along the right arm. She wore a red belt, along with red wrist and ankle gauntlets. The letters “SE” were emblazoned in red above her left breast.
She was currently walking along the outer area of Stark Laboratories, ensuring that nothing looked out of place. No thieves had attempted to break into the building before tonight, not since Bethany had first earned her job as Security Chief. Still, her time working in the employ of an Avenger had taught Bethany not to take any chances.
Rounding a corner, she stopped in her tracks.
Approaching her were two women in security uniforms. Each one was clutching the arm of a woman in a lab coat, ushering them sharply forward.
“Hey, boss!” one of the security-dressed women called to Bethany. “We caught these two impersonating a pair of scientists. They were trying to infiltrate the compound!”
Bethany raised an eyebrow.
“Let us go!” one of the lab-coated women protested. “We’re not imposters. Please, this is all a mistake!”
“Check their ID badges,” the guard told Bethany. “The photos don’t match their faces!”
Impulsively, Bethany glanced at the lab-coated woman’s ID badge. There was no doubt about it – they didn’t match.
“Please, we can explain,” the woman in the white coat said. “Our ID badges were mixed up. We…”
Bethany held up a hand. “I don’t recognize either of you ‘scientists’ from our employee files,” she said. “But we’ll run a check on your faces and see if they match any on file.”
Then she turned to the guard who had made the accusations. “Good job… We’ll confirm if these two are imposters and…”
Then she paused. “Wait… I don’t recognize you either… Hmmmpphh!?!”
Her head was jerked sharply backwards as a chloroform pad was pressed over her face.
“Surprise!” Danika chuckled as Mei Lin tightened her grip over Bethany’s nose and mouth.
Bethany tried reaching for her weapon, but Tyler and Mei Lin each grabbed one of her arms. Luz and Danika each grabbed one of her legs. Together, the four women lifted Bethany up and off the floor.
Squirming helplessly, the Security Chief of Stark Enterprises was carried into a nearby supply closet, slowly but surely losing the battle against the chloroform pad that refused to budge from her face.
******************
Tyler’s method had been tried a few times in the past, and had always worked. It was colloquially known by the women of HEART as “multilayered infiltration.”
The plan was simple in concept and slightly more complicated in practice. It involved mugging and replacing some security guards, then mugging and replacing some other employees of the building they were trying to infiltrate. The women disguised as security guards would then pretend to “catch” their disguised cohorts and expose them to a more senior security official as imposters. The security official, usually on the lookout for any suspicious activity or unfamiliar faces, would invariably let her guard down, assuming the “imposters” had been caught. It was in the brief moment before she recognized that her own women had been replaced by imposters as well that HEART would take her down.
In a world filled with superpowered men and women, Tyler prided her non-superpowered team on always staying at least one step ahead of the conventional wisdom. And once again, they had succeeded.
Bethany Cabe now lay in a corner of the supply closet, stripped to a sapphire blue sports bra and white bikini panties. Her wrists and ankles were secured with white zipties, and the chloroform pad had been secured over her nose and mouth with a strip of green duct tape.
Fiona was currently in the process of wriggling into her uniform.
“Why does Tony Stark insist his high-ranking female employees wear such skintight outfits?” she complained.
Luz gave a smirk. “Gosh, what a mystery…”
“And why do I have to be the one who wears this uniform?” Fiona added. “The rest of you get comfortable clothes.”
“Because you’re the closest to Bethany Cabe in appearance,” Tyler replied. “The uniform doesn’t come with a face-concealing helmet, and you’re the only redhead on the team.”
Fiona sighed as she snapped the belt around her waist. “Cursed by my gorgeous hair,” she murmured.
“Let’s get to the labs,” Tyler said, checking her watch once more. “We still need to steal the most valuable outfit of all…”
*******************
Suzi Endo could not remember another night when she was so excited… or so nervous.
As head of research for Stark Enterprises’ Cybernetics Department, she had undertaken a lot of work over the last several months, and the last few weeks in particular. Long, sleepless nights often had her working into the early hours of the morning. (Luckily, the department’s coffee machines never seemed to run out of supply.)
It had been a lot of work, but by morning… all would be worth it. The project she had dreamed about ever since her days as a college undergrad was about to come to fruition. The suit she had spent years trying to design was almost ready for the public.
She took a step back and looked at herself in the reflective metal surface of a metal door.
Staring back at her was a tall, slender Japanese-American woman with fair skin, brown eyes, and long black hair that fell between her shoulder blades. She was dressed in the suit of her own creation – a skintight violet bodysuit made of comfortable yet sturdy chainmail armor, fitted with silver forearm gauntlets and knee-high silver boots. More silver armor covered her shoulders and waist, fitting around her torso.
Suzi reached for the last part of the armor – a metal headdress with reflective silver visor – and fitted it over her head. She lowered the visor over her eyes. In the corner of her vision, she could see a set of computer data monitoring the costume’s readouts: ALL SYSTEMS NORMAL.
I’ll bet this is how Tony felt the first time he put on that suit.
Suzi had been inspired by the Iron Man costume years ago, and had always dreamed of the opportunity to create a mechanized suit of her own. After landing a summer internship at Stark Enterprises, which she eventually parlayed into a full-time position, she finally got the chance. She was given the time, the money, the resources – and she had taken full advantage of them. Now, she was more than plain old nerdy Suzi Endo. Now she was Cybermancer.
She turned and glanced at the only other worker in the lab at this hour. “Phil, how do I look?”
Phil glanced up from his computer. He eyed Suzi’s costume and rolled his eyes. “You look… purple.”
After spending years as a woman in the tech field, Suzi had grown used to passive-aggressive remarks from her male colleagues. Phil had also not made it a secret that he resented her promotion to head of cybernetic research the previous year.
Suzi walked over to Phil’s desk and glanced down. “Looks like you dropped a pen there, Phil. I see it rolled behind the filing cabinet.”
“I’ll get it later,” Phil replied, not looking up from his computer.
“Oh, allow me.”
Suzi grasped the bottom of the cabinet with one hand, and then – without so much as a deep breath – lifted it six feet off the ground.
Phil looked up in shock.
“That… that cabinet weighs two tons…”
“Three and a half, actually,” Suzi corrected him. “But with this suit I’m wearing, it’s light as a feather. Ten years of technological advancements, all woven into this outfit.” She smiled down at him. “Now, I’ll ask you again… how do I look?”
Phil glanced at the filing cabinet that Suzi was still holding above her head. “You look… amazing. Like a real superhero.”
“Thanks,” Suzi grinned. “Now would you mind fetching me a drink? All this work has made me thirsty.”
Phil nodded and quickly stood up. “Sure thing.” He quickly scurried off.
Suzi lowered the filing cabinet and straightened up. She had more tests to run – more data to accumulate to determine the extent of her suit’s powers – but for the moment, she was feeling more optimistic than ever.
This suit is going to change the world.
It was a major breakthrough in scientific research. Cybernetics were already being used to help disabled people walk, but she had taken the development to the next level. Wearing her suit, an ordinary person could rival Captain America for sheer strength.
She liked the sound of that.
Still, she would need to run more tests on the suit’s endurance and flight capabilities… The night wasn’t over yet…
“Ms. Endo?”
Suzi turned to the voice. She was surprised to see a pair of women in lab coats entering the room.
She didn’t recognize these women – they were probably from a different department. This building sure had a lot of different labs…
“You are Suzi Endo, correct?” one of the women asked. She had shoulder-length brown hair and a stern expression.
“The one and only,” Suzi replied. “Pardon my current state of dress… I’m testing out my new costume.”
“And a valuable-looking costume it is,” the woman replied, eyes gleaming.
The next moment, three other women stepped through the door. Two of them were wearing standard security uniforms; the third was in a more unusual uniform and – to the best of Suzi’s recollection – appeared to be Stark’s chief of security. Beth something?
“Can I help you?” Suzi asked. “We’re trying to keep this area relatively uncrowded. Need peace and quiet to make sure the costume works as planned.”
“No need to worry,” the brunette smiled, striding forward. “We’ll be happy to test the costume for you.”
Suzi raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me? I think I can test it on my own.”
“Alas, plans have changed.”
At that, all five of the newcomers drew guns from their belts and pointed them at Suzi.
The cyberneticist took an instinctive step back. “What the hell?”
“Your costume,” the brunette replied. “Hand it over and you live to see tomorrow.”
At this, a bolt of white-hot anger flashed through Suzi.
“Screw you! This suit is my life’s work. You think I’ll just let you steal it off my back?”
The woman dressed in Bethany Cabe’s uniform – whom Suzi could now deduce was not the real Bethany Cabe – chuckled.
“Sweetie, we’ve been stealing suits off women’s backs all night! It’s basically half the job.”
Suzi scowled. “You’ve all just made the biggest mistake of your lives. With this suit, I can take all of you down without breaking a sweat.” She raised her fists.
“I’m afraid the suit won’t help you… not for the next few moments, anyway,” Tyler replied.
She nodded at Luz, who grinned and pressed a small stud on her wristwatch.
The lights above flickered for a moment.
Suzi raised an eyebrow. “What was…?”
Then she glanced at her fists. Suddenly, the suit had stopped humming with power.
“What did you do??”
“Just a mild electronic disrupter,” Luz explained. “Momentarily shorts out all electric equipment within a twenty-foot radius. Whipped it up earlier this evening.”
Suzi glared at her. “Nice try. But it’ll take ten seconds for the suit to repower itself.”
“And it’ll take five seconds to render you unconscious,” Tyler deadpanned. “Isn’t that right, Mei Lin?”
Wordlessly, the team’s hand-to-hand combat specialist lunged at Suzi. The cyberneticist barely bad time to react – Mei Lin was a blur of fists and feet, striking three pressure points in immediate succession.
With a groan, Suzi crumpled to the floor. She did not get back up.
“Correction – four seconds,” Tyler mused. “Good work, Mei Lin.”
The Asian woman nodded. “These… ‘superheroes’… So weak without their toys.”
“Now, as we planned. Get into her costume. You resemble her the closest, and you’re the only one who can smuggle that suit out of here without getting bombarded by questions.”
Mei Lin reached down and grasped Suzi’s arms, then dragged the unconscious computer whiz behind a desk.
“Hey, boss-lady,” Fiona piped up to Tyler. “This little wristwatch-bracelet device is beeping like crazy.”
She held out her arm, displaying the red wristband she had stolen from Bethany Cabe. Small red letters spelling out “ALERT” were flashing across it.
“What happened?” Luz asked.
“I’d imagine that at least one of the Stark employees we incapacitated has been found,” Tyler mused.
Fiona listened to the voice coming through her communicator. “Ms. Cabe! We’ve found a couple of security guards trussed up inside a delivery vehicle. They were missing their uniforms.”
In the background, Fiona could hear the voice of one of the docking bay guards, ranting angrily. “The fifth time! This is the fifth time it’s happened!”
“Maybe they’ll get you a special jacket,” the other guard’s voice replied.
Tyler glanced at Fiona. “I assume you can handle this?”
Fiona smiled. “Sure thing, boss.”
She spoke into the communicator, doing her best impression of Bethany Cabe’s voice. “All units, return to position. We’ve secured the lab perimeter and apprehended the infiltrators. All is taken care of.”
The voice at the other end responded. “You got it, boss. Will relay the message.”
Fiona shut off the communicator and turned to her cohorts. “Piece of cake.”
“Amazing how people are willing to believe anything if it means they can avoid doing their own jobs,” Tyler mused.
Mei Lin stepped out from behind the desk. She was now fully dressed in the “Cybermancer” costume.
With her foot, she shut the door of one of the cabinets. Crammed inside was the real Suzi Endo, stripped to a black racerback bra and white cotton bikini briefs, bound with green zipties and gagged with silver tape.
Danika smiled at Mei Lin. “You look amazing.”
Mei Lin lowered the visor over her eyes. “I know.”
“Can I get one of those suits, too?” Fiona piped up.
“There’s only one such suit available in the world,” Tyler interjected. “And now it’s ours. By tomorrow, we will auction it off to the highest bidder – I hear AIM wants to get their hands on a Stark suit, and who knows how much they’ll pay for it.”
“What do you suppose AIM would do with this suit?” Luz asked.
“Study it… probably create more,” Tyler responded. “But that’s none of our concern. For now, we need to exit the building.”
At that moment, a young man burst into the room, holding a bottle of water. He spotted Mei Lin and ran up to her.
“Ms. Endo! Sorry for the delay… The water fountain was broken, had to go to the cafeteria… Here you go.” He held out the bottle.
Mei Lin stared at him, her eyes hidden by the mirrored visor. Her face was cold, impassive.
The young man gulped. “Please… I was only joking before…”
“Beat it, kid,” Fiona said stoically. “We have some tests to run on this suit. Get out of here unless you want to be a practice target.”
The man gulped again, glancing around at the five women staring intimidatingly at him. “I… Sure… I gotta get home anyway…”
He hurried off.
Fiona chuckled, then turned to Mei Lin. “Killer stare you gave that boy… even if he couldn’t see your eyes. Probably scared him out of a year’s growth.”
“Enough time-wasting,” Tyler said in annoyance. “Let’s get out of here. Mei Lin, do you feel like leading the way?”
Mei Lin smiled and flexed her muscles. She made a fist and aimed at the wall. Almost instantly, a hard-light laser beam burst from her wrist gauntlet, leaving a sizable charred hole in the metal
Danika chuckled. “I think she feels like it.”
******************
While HEART’s infiltration of Stark Enterprises had been quiet and covert, their exfiltration was somewhat… louder. With Mei Lin wearing the Cybermancer suit, there wasn’t much the team needed to fear at the moment.
After all, the security cameras would all show a woman who looked vaguely like Suzi Endo – and dressed in her priceless outfit – attacking security personnel and leaving a trail of unconscious guards behind her, alongside a woman who looked a fair bit like Bethany Cabe leading some other women to follow in her destructive path.
Like other covert ops teams, HEART was proficient in silent infiltration. But the women were not above more assertive and public displays of violence when the opportunity presented itself.
Before long, they had made it outside, to the employee parking lot.
Four of them piled into a security van, which Mei Lin promptly lifted off the ground. She then activated the suit’s rocket boosters, allowing her to fly herself and her associates over the fence.
“This is amazing!” Fiona chuckled, glancing out the window at the ground far below. “When do I get a turn with the suit?”
“Not before me,” Luz replied. “I’m the electronics whiz of the team, remember? I want to take a look at what makes this supersuit tick.”
Fiona rolled her eyes. “Whatever, nerd.”
“No one is getting a ‘turn’ with the suit, girls,” Tyler interrupted. “We are auctioning it off, remember?”
“Oh, come on! You really want to hand this over to AIM?” Fiona asked. “They have enough suits of their own. The dopey yellow costumes and goofy masks they wear… We can make better use of this outfit than they ever will.”
“Hate to agree with the team comedian, but she’s got a point,” Luz added. “With this suit in our arsenal, we’d be able to pull off so many more heists… I think we should keep it.”
Tyler frowned. “Perhaps we shall discuss this once we’re back at the hideout.”
***************
It took about an hour for the women of HEART to return to that hideout. A few double-backs to throw off any possible pursuers made the journey longer than it otherwise would have been – but better safe than sorry.
“Another successful heist!” Fiona grinned. “Let’s turn on the TV… I’m sure the Stark heist is all over the news.”
So saying, she grabbed the remote and switched on the television.
“And leading the news tonight, a daring theft that has taken New York by storm...”
Fiona grinned as she plopped down on the couch. “Grab some popcorn, girls. We’re on everyone’s mind!”
“…The theft, of course, of the famed Chaos Cube.”
Fiona sat upright. “The what now?”
Danika and Luz approached, staring at the TV as the face of a young blonde woman appeared onscreen.
“SHIELD is working tirelessly to apprehend this woman, identified as Yelena Belova. She is considered extremely dangerous. Any sightings of her should be reported to the nearest…”
“What the hell!” Fiona scowled. “Who is this woman? How dare she take tonight’s top story!”
Luz rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you write the network a letter.”
Danika frowned as she eyed the picture of Yelena. “She looks… familiar…”
Fiona scowled, and began scrolling through her phone. “No one’s talking about the Stark theft! All the news outlets are concentrating on this dumb Chaos Cube.”
Tyler approached, brow furrowed. “Maybe that ‘Chaos Cube’ isn’t so dumb.”
She grabbed the phone out of Fiona’s hand. Fiona started to protest, but Tyler ignored her.
“Very intriguing,” she mused. “I’d heard a thing or two about this Cube… Something related to the Kingpin last year. It sounds… valuable. Very valuable.”
Mei Lin smiled. “I think I know where this is headed…”
“Indeed,” Tyler nodded. “Girls, I think I’ve found the target of our next heist…”
*******************
The water is rising.
I’ve been stuck here… minutes? Hours? I can’t tell. Time has come to a standstill, and I can’t move a muscle.
It was sheer luck that I landed faceup at the side of the river. It prevented me from drowning right away. But the water is covering most of my body now, outside of my face. I don’t have much time left.
I can feel the drug starting to wear off… can just twitch my toes. But it’s too late.
I wonder who will find my body.
I wonder what Natasha will say.
How could I have been so stupid?
I can feel the water washing over my nose and mouth now. This is it. Another minute and I’m a goner.
As the tide rushes over me, I stare up at the night sky through the watery filter. It looks… peaceful. Beautiful.
The moon illuminates the blurry sky above me. A brilliant shade of white and silver.
A lot of silver.
Wait… that’s not the moon.
I can see the silver form standing over me. It’s a person.
That Surfer guy I’ve heard about? What would he be doing here?
No… it’s a woman. She reaches down, grabs my shoulders, and pulls me up.
Air. Sweet, wonderful air.
My savior comes into view. A tall, light-skinned woman with long white hair. Cold blue eyes. She’s wearing a shiny metal grey armored bodysuit, with matching gloves and tall boots. A weapons belt with several pouches is strapped around her waist, and a holster is strapped to her thigh.
I recognize her from the news. Silvija Sablinova, aka Silver Sable.
“Yelena Belova,” she says. “You’ve created quite a bit of trouble for us, you know that?”
I can barely shrug my shoulders. How does she know me? And how did she find me?
Silver Sable looks me over, and seems to figure out that I’m not exactly in position to talk. “Ah. Paralyzed, I take it? I’ve seen this before.”
She reaches into one of her pouches and removes a small needle. Before I can react – not that I could react – she jabs it into my neck.
A jolt rushes through me, and everything goes dark.
*****************
I wake up some time later, and the first thing that hits me is that I can move again.
Well, sort of. My wrists are handcuffed behind my back. But I’m no longer paralyzed.
I’m in the rear of what looks like a surveillance van. Silver Sable is standing over me.
“Where’s the Cube?” she demands.
It occurs to me that Sable probably searched me while I was unconscious. That annoys me.
“Where’s the Cube?” she repeats.
“How did you find me?” I ask.
“Elaine managed to slip a tracer on you before you knocked her out.”
Elaine? Oh yes… Scorpia. The woman I fought with at Avengers Campus.
“Scorpia works for you?”
“Indeed she does,” Sable replies. “Although lately, she spends all her spare time making out with Claire… I have the most incompetent assistants…”
She paused. “Thanks for not stripping her of the Scorpia costume, by the way. That thing would cost a fortune to replace.”
“I don’t understand. Are you with the police?”
“Of course not,” Sable replies. “I’m a mercenary-for-hire. William Jefferson hired my firm to retrieve the Chaos Cube. We dispatched Scorpia to handle it, but she obviously wasn’t enough. So I have to do the job myself.”
She paused again. “And it looks like you should be glad I did. You were about five seconds from drowning when I found you.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I say, somewhat offhandedly. This woman reminds me of Natasha, with her “better-than-you” attitude. “Why are you working for Jefferson? He’s done. Orchis is done. He’s probably going to jail.”
Sable bites her lip. “My security firm has suffered… a string of setbacks lately,” she admits. “A team of infiltrators has repeatedly made us look like fools. Silver Sable Security is no longer the prime business it once was, and we don’t have many places left to turn.”
Her expression hardens. “So you will tell me where you’ve hidden the Chaos Cube. Now.”
I can’t help chuckling.
“What’s so funny?”
“The Chaos Cube is gone,” I explain. “Some women ambushed me and stole it.”
“What?!”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“Who were these women?” Sable demands. “Maybe I can track them down.”
“I’m sure you can.” I think for a moment. “In fact… I can lead you to them.”
She gives me a strange look. “Are you suggesting… we team up? You’re a wanted criminal. And you assaulted one of my top agents.”
“Hey, she attacked me first,” I reply. “And yeah, I’m a wanted criminal… But for the moment, I’m probably the closest thing you have to a willing helper. Especially since your ‘top agent’ is probably still recuperating from the tranquilizer darts I shot her with.”
Sable’s steely blue eyes narrow. “What’s the catch?”
“I help you find the Cube, you let me go. Simple as that.”
She thinks for a moment.
Then nods, slowly. “All right. Deal.”
She sticks out her hand to shake mine.
“Ahem.”
“Oh, right.”
She unlocks the handcuffs and sets me free.
“No tricks, Belova. You won’t find me as easy to fool as Elaine was.”
“I promise, no tricks, Silvy.”
She frowns at this – guess she doesn’t like that nickname – but ignores it.
“Now… who were these women who ambushed you?”
“I think they called themselves… Black Spectre.”
Sable nods, and heads over to her computer.
I remain in the back seat as Sable begins searching through what I suppose is her database. I sit there thinking, weighing my options.
Silver Sable gave me a second chance, a new lease on life. I appreciate her for that, really.
But when we find it… that Cube is still mine.
***
To be continued... in 2026! Enjoy the holidays.
(Well, technically only Ruth is original; though I could argue that ‘Earth-USB Marilyn’ is the only version of the character who gets screentime and development. Now, the question remains whether it’s a good or a bad thing for her...^^) I didn’t even anticipate they could return at that moment, and I distinctly remember suggesting a cameo of them in a PM months ago. I completely forgot about that. 
– the aftermath. Five times already… Time sure flies… Though Ruth’s own track record of three times is nothing to sneeze at. Oh well, at least they are now fighting for the side of good. It must be more gratifying to lose their uniforms while defending a good cause, right? Right? 
