Chapter 42.5: The Noblest and Most Ancient House of All
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2021 6:06 pm
And here we go… Actually, the second-to-last big project of the year. And most likely the second-to-last big project ever. Sorry if you were expecting the next Pakal installment, I wanted to make a little break with it. I can reassure you that this story shouldn’t take too much time – most of it was written in parallel of Trackman’s chapter 42. And now I’m slowly getting impatient to write the next Pakal scenes. So once this is done, the goal is to finish the latest Pakal arc – or maybe even the Pakal story itself, depending on my speed.
Chapter 42.5: The Noblest and Most Ancient House of All
Prologue
**************
After the recent screw-ups of his daughter, Heartfelt City’s mayor had felt the need to restore his image. To show his support to cultural events and his open-mindedness to other cultures, he organized a gigantic anime and movies convention. The politician wanted to pretend that he was ‘hip’, and ‘radical’. His marketing staff was convinced it would be good for his approval rating.
Charlene wasn’t aware of all these political implications however. She was just happy at the prospect of having a fun good day.
The young woman was a cosplayer of Cruella DeVil. She was clad in a simple black sleeveless dress, red high heel shoes and black stockings, long red opera gloves, large turquoise earrings and a ring on her right hand, a cream fur coat with a red interior, and a matching purse with three foxtails. (Though the fur was fake.) She was also wearing a black-and-white wig, and was carrying the Disney character’s iconic cigarette holder. Charlene had a soft white skin, a curvy body, shapely legs, a round face, and golden brown eyes. Although she was wearing the outfit of the animated character, her beautiful appearance was a lot more remindful of Emma Stone’s recent portrayal.
Charlene parked her car, and exited the vehicle. She was cautious to not damage her costume. There was a contest of the better cosplay, and she intended to win it! Unfortunately, she was late, and the parking of the building hosting the convention was almost full. She had been forced to park her car on one of the most far-off isolated spots.
The cosplayer took a deep breath of fresh air, closed her eyes, and enjoyed the warmth of the sun on her face.
Today was going to be a good day! She was sure of it.
Mag’s hand hit a specific spot of Charlene’s neck.
“Uh!” the latter grunted.
The woman’s eyes rolled back, and she fell into her mugger’s arms. She was out cold before she could even comprehend what had happened.
Mag opened the car’s backdoor, and laid the cosplayer on the backseat. She quickly checked if the surroundings were empty, then climbed into the car and closed the door.
She methodically undressed Charlene. The clone removed the purse, fur coat and long red opera gloves first, then the earrings, ring, and high-heels. She slid the stockings down the young woman’s legs, and lifted her body to pull off the dress. Underneath, the cosplayer was wearing a plain white seamless bra, and comfortable white control briefs. A telling proof of the cosplayer’s attention to detail: there was a pattern of Disney’s dalmatians on both her undies.
Finally, Mag removed the wig. Under it, Charlene had chestnut brown hair tied into a tight low neck-bun.
“Hey, looks like you can remove your hair dye for once…” Tinker commented in Mag’s earpiece.
The latter looked at the black-and-white wig, and smiled lightly. “That’s true...”
When Mag was conceived, an accident during the cloning process had modified her hair colour. While the left half was jet black, the right half was brilliant white. Usually, when in mission or even when casually walking on the street, Mag was dying the white part to match her other half. Indeed, white hair were unusual, and attracted too much attention.
However, this time…
Mag was mature, she knew she had no choice and therefore never complained about it – not even to herself, not even in spirit. But she was almost always carrying on her a small bottle of a liquid that could instantly dissolve hair dye. And she wasn’t going to pass an opportunity to finally display her natural hair colour…
However, first things first.
Mag grabbed a few plastic zip-ties, and secured Charlene’s wrists, knees, and ankles. She tied a coil of rope around the upper-arms, below and above the breasts. She ball-gagged the woman with a red ball-gag.
Since this car’s trunk was too small and too airtight, Mag laid Charlene’s trussed up body on her car’s floor, in front of the backseat. She concealed her by covering her with a brown blanket.
After dissolving the black dye, Mag quickly wiped the stains clean with a handkerchief. Next, she put on the Cruella De Vil costume: first the tights, then the dress, then the fur coat. She put on the jewels, and finally the high-heels. She grabbed the purse, and exited the vehicle once she was in disguise.
She closed Charlene’s car, and went to the building hosting the convention.
Mag got in character when she came across an other group of cosplayers in front of the main gate.
“Nice costume, but you got the hair backwards.” a Jafar-cosplayer commented.
Mag pretended to smile sheepishly. “Made the silly mistake of doing it in front of a mirror. Forgot that it reverses the right and the left. And it was too late to change it.”
“Sorry sis’. Forgot about that detail…” Tinker said in the earpiece.
Mag just smiled and stroked the half of her hair that were naturally white. “Who cares? I’m not here to win the contest.” she muttered to herself. “Give Tina the coordinates of the place where I hid the real cosplayer. I’m entering the building.”
**************
In the women restrooms, two cosplayers were excitedly talking about the upcoming contest while refreshing themselves at the sink.
Kaylee, the first woman, was cosplaying as Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail. She was wearing a custom-made fake armour: a grey metallic breastplate with metallic shoulders, and elbow-long metallic gauntlets with metallic elbow-protections. A dark blue knee-long skirt was fixed to the bottom of the breastplate to cover her lower limbs. Finally, she was walking in long dark grey boots.
Just like the character she was impersonating, her hair were waist-long and loose. She had spent quite some time dying them dark red, and was hoping to win the contest. She also had a tall figure, a white skin and blue eyes.
https://fairytail.fandom.com/wiki/Erza_Scarlet
Miu, the second woman, was cosplaying as Android 18, aka Lapis, from Dragon Ball Z. She was wearing small gold hoop earrings on both ears, a sleeveless blue denim vest (with the Red Ribbon logo on the back of the vest), a blue denim skirt with dark blue tights, a brown belt, brown boots, and a black shirt that had white and black striped long sleeves.
Miu was a Japanese woman with short raven black hair, and dark brown eyes. Therefore, she was using a blond wig and blue contact lenses to match her character’s appearance.
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/ ... parent.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... 70813a.jpg
Miu adjusted her blond wig. “We should hurry up. The contestants are supposed to go backstage. I don’t want to miss the beginning.” she commented after checking her face one last time in the mirror.
“I don’t want to miss the end!” Kaylee playfully retorted. “’Cause I’m totally gonna win this contest!”
Miu winked and stuck out her tongue. “In your dreams!”
Kaylee flipped her hair. “Why do you think I spent an hour dyeing my hair instead of putting on a wig? This is the detail that’ll net me the prize!”
The cosplayers didn’t notice the two women who entered the restrooms. Therefore, they didn’t notice the crucial detail of one of said women stitching an ‘Out of Order’ sign on the door, while the second one was checking that no stall was occupied and that the room was empty save for Kaylee, Miu, and them.
**************
Tina shared a glance with Marie, nodded, then took a breath and got in-character.
“Wow! Nice costumes! Mind if we take a closer look?” she excitedly asked.
Kaylee and Miu jumped a little, surprised to be interrupted during their playful banter. The cosplayers shared a look, but they didn’t see anything wrong with letting women get closer.
“Of course.” Kaylee answered.
“Thanks a lot!”
Tina and Marie approached them.
“These clothes are really good…”
“Well, they took a lot of work!” a flattered Kaylee answered. “I-”
Suddenly, perfectly synchronized, Tina and Marie each grabbed a small needle concealed under their clothes. The needles were coated with a strong knock-out serum. Each sister jabbed her needle into a very specific spot of each cosplayer’s body, between the shoulder and the neck. Tina dealt with Kaylee, and Marie dealt with Miu.
“Ow!”
“Ouch!”
“Apologies, but we can’t let you two enter the contest. We need your guise.” Tina commented to the two women.
Indeed, the sisters had to go backstage in order to accomplish their current mission, and for that they had chosen to impersonate a few of the cosplayers attending the contest.
Kaylee and Miu stammered and blinked, but the serum was fast-acting. Their eyes rolled back, and they fell asleep. Tina and Marie caught them under the shoulders mid-fall, and dragged them into two different stalls.
The sisters stripped the two women of their costumes, and were very careful to not damage them.
Kaylee was wearing plain grey boyshorts with black borders, a comfortable matching t-shirt bra, and white socks. Miu was clad in dark blue knickers with black borders and a red ribbon, a matching dark blue full-cup bra, and blue socks.
The sisters left the two stripped cosplayers concealed inside one stall. They used Tinker’s homemade tape to secure Kaylee to the toilet seat, mummifying her legs from the ankles to the thighs, her forearms behind the back from the hands to the elbows, and her upper-arms above and below the breasts. Though they made sure to leave her hair alone. Tinker’s tape was designed to be sturdy and sticky, but to not leave marks on the skin once removed. It was a really strange property, but a very useful one. They stuck a few layers of tape over the lips to gag Kaylee.
Then, Tina and Marie sat Miu up on Kaylee’s lap. They wrapped tape to secure her legs to the toilet bowl. They mummified her forearms behind her back as well as her shoulders, and tape-gagged her with several strips of tape. They wrapped a few layers of tape around both her and Kaylee’s torsos to make sure Miu wouldn’t fall backwards.
Tina stitched an ‘Out of Order’ sign on the stall’s door, then closed it and locked it from the outside, giving the two cosplayers some privacy. They would sleep during a few hours, and hopefully wouldn’t wake up before the sisters were done. However, even if they did, Tina was hoping that the noises of the convention and background music played in the restrooms would drown out the girls’ muffled moans.
Next, she and Marie put on the costumes.
Tina slipped into Miu’s outfit, because it would be easier for her to put on the blond wig. Marie indeed had longer midback-long hair, and the sisters didn’t want to waste time tying them up. It was quicker for Marie to take the guise of Kaylee, whose cosplay included long loose hair.
Tina used Miu’s wig and contact lenses to conceal her own hair and eyes, but she couldn’t do much about her skin tone that was too tanned for the character she was cosplaying as.
Marie had it worst. Not only did her skin tone not match, but there also was no hair dye in Kaylee’s handbag. Therefore, Marie’s hair colour didn’t match either.
The sisters couldn’t do anything about it; but hey, the goal was to pretend to enter the cosplay contest, not to win it.
Tina and Marie left the restrooms. Tina removed the ‘Out of Order’ sign on the main door, and mentally took note of Kaylee’s and Miu’s location for later.
“Tinker. Tell Stasis and Libido we’re all in disguise. It’s their turn.”
**************
Hidden behind the corner of the building holding the convention, Stasis discreetly took a peek at the two watchwomen. Libido was with her.
The first security guard was lanky, had a hooked nose, green-brown eyes and waist-long loose hair that were dyed green. On her left and right side, she had some hair that went to her shoulders. Her bangs were cut short and met in the middle. The second guard was a plump shorter woman with light brown shoulder-long wavy hair pulled back by a black kerchief, brown eyes, and a soft round face with chubby cheeks.
Their watchwoman uniform they wore consisted of a black tie, a black long-sleeved button-up shirt, a black equipment belt, black trousers, and black shoes. (Soph was derisively calling the security guards of this specific security company the ‘Emo Squad’.) A badge with their name was tied around the neck.
Currently, the watchwomen were taking a break in the empty backyard of the building, near the big dumpsters and a door leading to a maintenance room. One of them was smoking, the other was eating a bag of Japanese crisps.
Stasis chuckled to herself, grabbed a ball, and raised her slingshot.
Then, she opened fire.
Her projectile hit the smaller watchwoman, and released a thick smoke.
**************
“What the-?!”
Amai waved her arms to blow the smoke away. She glared daggers in the direction of the shooter.
“Hey! I thought we agreed we were only PRETENDING!” she complained.
Stasis left her hiding place.
“I couldn’t resist.” she chuckled. “It was to facilitate the immersion. It’s not a green ball anyway.”
It was indeed just a harmless NON-soporific smoke. (Stasis had asked Tinker to make it bacon-flavoured, but the latter had retorted that she had better things to do, so it was plain boring non-flavoured smoke.)
Libido followed her sister.
Amai pouted. She unlocked the door of the maintenance room with her keys, and opened it.
“I suppose it’s time for our ‘mugging’ then.” the chubby woman commented.
Stasis nodded. “Yep!”
Midori threw away a small ‘improved cigarette’. “So we take off our uniforms?” she casually asked.
“Oh YES PLEASE!” Libido exclaimed.
Amai rolled her eyes. “Did you have to bring your horny sister with you?”
“We rotate, to make sure that each of us can rest between two missions. It was her turn.” Stasis explained. “I can make her turn her back if it bothers you.”
Midori shrugged. She was already high enough to not care about trivial things like modesty anymore.
Amai briefly hesitated, but shook her head. “No. It’s fine.”
She led everyone inside the maintenance room, and turned on the light.
Amai was not into Libido, or even into women in general, but Stasis’ sister was also one of the first people who helped her feel more comfortable with her body. Libido wasn’t judgmental, she would never shame someone because of her body type. On the contrary, she was finding all female bodies equally delightful. Strangely enough, in spite of the woman’s horniness, Amai wasn’t that bothered to be seen almost naked by her. The same way it wasn’t bothering her to be scantily clad in front of Stasis or Midori.
Besides, since this time Amai was expecting her ‘mugging’, she had been able to take the necessary steps to avoid a thoroughly humiliating discovery. As undergarments, she had put on candy pink boxer briefs that were offering almost as much coverage as regular shorts, a plain white tank top and a taffy pink full-coverage t-shirt bra. No silly or revealing underwear. Most uniformed women of Heartfelt City WISHED they were given the luxury of knowing in advance when they would run into an infiltrator!
Amai and her green-haired friend removed their uniforms until they were down to their undergarments.
Midori had followed Amai’s example and had put on non-revealing underwear. She was wearing red-yellow-and-green boxer briefs imitating the ‘dank flag’ with the number 420 printed in black, and a matching red-yellow-and-green camisole with a black strapless bra underneath.
“I think you should give us a bigger share of the money as compensation for your joke with the smoke.” Amai commented once she was down to her undergarments, and ready to be trussed up by her ‘dastardly-but-still-devilishly-gorgeous-and-awesome muggers’ (to quote Stasis). Next to her, Midori stepped out of her own discarded uniform.
Stasis shook her head and pulled out a coil of rope. “Nuh uh. Besides, you’ll get the insurance money as a bonus.”
“Yeah, but it’s paid by the municipality. So it bothers the mayor. So it doesn’t count.” Amai objected as her wrists were bound behind her back by Stasis and her upper-arms were restrained.
“It does.” Stasis retorted while knotting the ropes.
“It doesn’t.”
“Does!”
“Doesn’t!”
“Stasis, stay focused.” Tinker exclaimed in the earpiece.
“Sorry Amai, end of the discussion. I have to give in to the tantrum of my younger sibling.” Stasis said out loud.
“We’re of the same batch! I’m NOT younger than you!” Tinker retorted.
“Sorry, LITTLE sis'. Can’t hear you anymore. Earpiece must be having a problem. Krrrrrchhhhhhrrrrrr.”
Stasis ignored Tinker’s following rant. She asked Amai to sit on a discarded cardboard, and bound her legs with a second coil of rope.
“Fine. But mark my words, during our next all-you-can-eat-buffet challenge, Midori and I will UTTERLY defeat you.” Amai announced.
“Ha! I demand to see that!” Stasis cockily retorted.
The chubby guard smiled devilishly. “Oh, trust me, you will…” she ominously commented.
Near them, Libido had also grabbed a coil of rope, and was binding Midori’s wrists and legs the same way. Though, since the green-haired woman’s mind was currently exploring the dankest confines known to Man, she wasn’t in the mood to argue and debate. The green-haired woman sat on the same discarded cardboard as Amai, her back turned to her friend.
To finish, Libido and Stasis wrapped one coil of rope around the torsos of the two women who were seated back-to-back and knotted it. They needed to justify why these two didn’t try to untie each other!
The knots and ropework were genuine, an untrained woman wouldn’t be able to break free, therefore they would fool Amai’s and Midori’s rescuers. However, the bonds had a very specific pattern, and there was actually a trick to easily undo them. Stasis and her sisters had of course taught Amai and Midori the trick, in case there was a problem.
Libido and Stasis used black ball-gags with airholes to silence the two security guards. Once again, to fool the authorities, the gags were genuine. Their two friends couldn’t say a word anymore.
Midori and Amai were going to be left concealed in the maintenance room, as if they had been the victims of a real mugging for disguise.
The two sisters slipped into the black watchwoman trousers, shoes, button-up shirts, and ties.
Stasis winked as she was buckling her black belt. “Wish us good luck!”
Amai groaned.
“Alright, alright, no more wasting time. We’ll make it quick.”
She and Libido left the maintenance room, and closed the door.
**************
Tina and Marie regrouped with Mag near the entrance of the backstage.
“Nice costume. It suits you.” Tina said to Cruella-Mag.
“I’m not sure I should take it well.” the latter joked.
Their earpieces cracked to life.
“This is Stasis. We have ‘stolen’ our uniforms. Amai and Midori are ‘snug as a bug’, so to speak.”
“I can’t believe we never thought of that trick before. Having accomplices who are hired as part of the guards so that we can learn more about the security layout… accomplices who THEN allow themselves to be ‘mugged’ so that we can easily take their place and infiltrate the building...” Tina commented. “Sure, it’s a little weird. But it’s so much easier and safer!”
“Guess it’s because we never had any friend among security guards before.” Marie remarked.
“You can thank me and my awesome magnetic personality for that!” Stasis’ voice commented.
“Well, one thing is certain, we CAN’T thank your modesty.” Tina dryly joked.
“You can’t ask the Sun to stop shining, sis’.”
“Well, you and Libido should take position. We’ll enter the backstage.”
The sisters had been hired by an anti corruption NGO to sabotage and expose the mayor. They would take advantage of the fact that he wanted to make a big speech before the cosplay contest to do so.
This mission was allowing them to combine business and pleasure...
**************
The two employees guarding the backstage’s access were actually men, hence why the sisters couldn’t just mug them and enter, and therefore needed to impersonate cosplayers. Mag, Tina, and Marie approached them.
“We’re here for the cosplay contest.” Marie announced.
The first guard briefly looked at them. He noticed that Mag’s hair colour was backwards, Marie hadn’t dyed her hair red, and Tina’s skin was too tanned for the character she was cosplaying as (and so were Marie’s and Mag’s for that matter).
“No offense, but I think your chances are slim. Your costumes are great, but you didn’t pay enough attention to details. You sure you want to try?”
“We don’t care about winning, we just want to have fun!” Tina answered back.
The guard couldn’t help but smile, won over by her cheeky enthusiasm. “As you wish.”
He allowed them to enter the backstage.
**************
There were already a good chunk of cosplayers waiting to enter the stage. However, they were too excited by the upcoming contest to pay attention to the three newcomers.
Security guards were scattered across the backstage area to watch the cosplayers.
Stasis and Libido were among the guards. Tina, Marie, and Mag approached them.
“Greetings, civilians. We’re here to make sure that you don’t touch anything you’re not allowed to touch, and you don’t go to any place you’re not allowed to access.” Stasis announced to her disguised sisters.
“So. Can we sabotage the sound equipment and the projector to have them show compromising videos of the mayor receiving bribes?” Tina asked.
“Of course you can.”
“And can we enter the control room, and mug the staff to play our message?”
“Of course you can.”
“Thank you, you’re very helpful! I wish all security guards were as understanding.”
Stasis winked. "Follow us."
**************
Inside the control room, Delphine was sitting behind a computer. The technician and staff member was wearing white sneakers, blue trousers, and a black shirt with the word STAFF printed on the back in white letters.
The slim woman had a white skin, neck-long light loose red hair, green eyes, and there were freckles on her cheeks. She was wearing square framed glasses, and a pen over her right ear.
Two other technicians were sitting next to her, also typing on computers. To her right, there was a black woman with coarse black hair tied into numerous shoulder-long braids, and dark brown eyes. She was called Jaslene. To her left, there was a blond-haired fair-skinned blue-eyed woman called Grace. She had a shaggy bob haircut, and nails that were painted red.
Finally, her last remaining colleague was nervously pacing back and forth in the control room. Harriet had short black hair, big round-shaped glasses, a pearly white skin, and brown eyes. She was the coordinator, and she was worried that something wrong would happen during the mayor’s speech.
Jaslene, Grace, and Harriet were wearing the same clothes as Delphine.
“How are the spotlights?” Harriet asked.
“Operational.” Delphine answered.
“The sound equipment?”
“Also operational.”
“The projector?”
“ALSO operational.”
“And the spotlights?”
Delphine rolled her eyes. “Gosh Harriet, stop worrying! Nothing wrong will happen! I’ve checked everything THREE TIMES! All the systems are operational!”
“And what about the sleeping gas grenade?” a voice suddenly intervened.
“For the last time, I told you that EVERYTHING was operationa- Wait! Gas grenade?” Delphine realized that this wasn’t Harriet’s voice.
She saw a woman standing in the frame of the control room’s door. She was dressed as a watchwoman. The unknown woman winked at her. Then, with a cheeky smile on her lips, she threw a small grenade-shaped thing into the room, and closed the door.
“Oh shi-”
POOF!
The grenade released a thick green smoke in the control room. The four technicians started to cough.
Harriet, Jaslene and Grace were too taken by surprise to even react in time.
Delphine rushed to the door to try to open it, but the woman on the other side was holding the knob to prevent her from leaving the room.
Jaslene’s head fell on her desk, while Grace’s body slumped backwards into her office chair. With a small ‘thud’, Harriet crumbled on the floor, and curled up on herself like a napping cat. All three were sleeping like babies.
Delphine hit the door with her fist, but then succumbed to the effects of the gas. She fell forward, with her cheek resting against the frame, and her body slid down the door until she was on her knees. She started to snore.
**************
The sisters shared a smile when they heard everything become quiet inside the control room.
With the help of two ‘watchwomen’, it was easy to snoop around and to reach the control room, in spite of the costumes.
The green gas had been designed by Tinker to quickly clear by itself. They waited a few minutes, then Stasis carefully opened the door, moving Delphine’s motionless body in the process.
They were greeted by a concert of snoring.
The five sisters entered the control room.
They dragged the four technicians to a corner of the room. Then, Tina started to strip Delphine, while Mag was undressing Jaslene, and Marie was taking off Grace’s clothes.
“Sorry for the inconvenience, but your clothes will be a lot more useful when we’ll have to make our discreet exit…” Tina explained to the snoring women.
Libido was watching them enviously. “You know. We’re a little short on zip-ties and ball-gags. We should probably use the fourth one’s clothes as makeshift ropes and gags.” she commented.
Tina sighed indulgently. “Fine. But you know the drill. No touching and no groping. Even if she has sexy underwear. ESPECIALLY if she has sexy underwear.”
“Okay.”
Libido started to strip Harriet.
The clothes of the staff members were simple and plain. Therefore, removing them was easy and quick. The sneakers were unlaced and taken off first, then the trousers were slid down the legs, and finally the t-shirts were pulled off.
Delphine was clad in orange socks, black boyshorts with a pattern of DBZ’s dragon balls, and an orange t-shirt bra with black borders and with a pattern of 悟 kanji. Jaslene was wearing ivory white cheeky panties, white socks, and a cream white push-up bra. Grace was clad in short socks, a black lacy g-string and a matching lacy balconette bra. Both had a translucent lace flower pattern. Harriet was wearing very prudish undergarments from her part: long socks, striped black-and-white long boxer shorts, a grey tank top, and a beige full-coverage t-shirt bra.
Libido grimaced. “Can we trade?” she asked Mag, who was stripping Grace.
“No.”
“So unfair…”
They still had enough zip-ties to restrain three women, so they used them to tie Delphine’s, Jaslene’s and Grace’s ankles and wrists. They cut Harriet’s trousers into makeshift ropes to bind the woman’s legs and arms. They cut Harriet’s t-shirt into makeshift cleave-gags to silence the four women.
Finally, they dragged the four technicians out of sight. Libido tried to sneakily grab Grace to be the one carrying her, but Mag was faster. Therefore, once the four women were concealed under a table, Libido went in a corner to sulk.
Tina waved her fingers and sat in front of Delphine’s computer. “I think it’s time to spice up the mayor’s little speech...”
**************
Wearing an elegant business ensemble, Heartfelt City’s mayor walked on the stage. He wanted to make a speech before the beginning of the cosplay contest. His goal was to look ‘hip’ in front of the ‘youngs’ to improve his popularity ratings.
Millie’s father perfectly looked the part of the honest politician who sincerely wanted to better the lives of his citizens. In that regards, he was a lot subtler and more competent than his daughter.
The politician waited until the crowd was silent, cleared out his throat, and put his sheet of paper on the rostrum.
However, the mayor was interrupted by the projector suddenly being activated. At first, he thought it was a small technical mistake, or perhaps even a joke. However, when the video started to be screened, the politician paled suddenly.
The video was showing the mayor, eating at a fancy restaurant with a few powerful businessmen.
“So we have a deal?” a businessman asked.
“Don’t worry. No environmental NGO will learn about your illegal dumping of chemicals. As long as I get my little envelope, of course.” the mayor answered. He chuckled at his own joke.
“What about my mall project?” another businessman intervened.
“Same thing. Have the money sent to me, and I’ll make sure the eviction notices are signed.”
“These specific evictions don’t seem very legal…” another man joked.
“Since when has that ever stopped us?” the mayor jokingly retorted.
The men all shared a good laugh. They clinked glasses.
“Now, I propose that we enjoy this fine dinner, paid for by the city’s taxpayers of course!”
The mayor was sweating now. He had heard that a waitress of this specific restaurant had been found bound and gagged in her underwear the same day as this meeting, but he had thought it was a mere robbery. He hadn’t connected the dots and realized that an infiltrator disguised as a waitress could easily record his conversation. While he was smarter than his daughter, he was still one league below his wife – or below the sisters for that matter.
The crowd remained silent for a brief moment.
Then, the first people started to shout: “BOO!”
Soon, most of the crowd was booing the mayor, and chunks of food started to be thrown at him.
The politician had to flee the stage in disgrace, and to take cover behind his bodyguards.
**************
Tina, Mag, Marie, Libido, and Stasis took advantage of the scandal to discreetly leave the convention. (Mag grabbed Libido by the collar when the latter tried to have a sneak peak at Grace's underwear.)
By the time the sisters had exited the building, a big sum of money had been transferred to their common bank account by the NGO which had hired them.
“I love it when a plan goes without a hitch…” Tina commented. She was sending an anonymous text to the police, to inform them about the predicaments of Amai, Midori, and the various unlucky bystanders they had mugged as part of their mission.
“So long for his re-election.” Stasis added with a smile.
Mag sadly shook her head. “Well, I wouldn’t be too optimistic. There’s still quite some time left. Public opinion is fickle, and doesn’t have much memory. He may still be able to fall back on his feet.”
“Unless we make sure he doesn’t…” Marie intervened.
Tina nodded. Preventing Millie’s father from being re-elected would indeed be a great victory against Heartfelt City’s corruption.
Their goal to better this town was within reach.
“And that’s what we’ll do, if we can.” she said. “For now, everything is going well for us. And I intend to make sure it stays that way! This will be the beginning of a new era!”
******* Meanwhile, at the same time *******
“You know that if Tina hears about this little escapade, we’ll get a big scolding…” Soph commented.
“I kept my promise of not overdoing things. I spent two full nights of restful sleep before this infiltration.” Angel retorted.
“Tina said we can learn everything we need thanks to Tinker’s hacking skills.”
“I want to witness things firsthand. It’s important for me.” Angel explained.
She briefly shook her head, and looked Soph in the eyes.
“Sis’! Tinker has agreed to not snitch on us; but if you want to call Tina, it’s now or never.”
Soph mock-punched her sister’s shoulder. “Hey! I came with you, didn’t I? It’ll be our little secret escapade.”
Angel smiled. “Thanks…”
**************
Angel led the way. She and Soph were using trees and bushes to conceal themselves. Their destination was a complex of white buildings surrounded by a huge park and a lot of green life.
They took quite some time to scan the area.
Until...
“Over here. Look at these ones.”
Angel pointed at the two nurses taking a break near the back entrance of one building.
Soph nodded. “You need help?”
Angel grabbed her dart gun, and put two knock-out darts in the chamber. “I can handle it. I prefer to do thing gently with nurses.”
“Suit yourself. I’ll sit back and watch.”
**************
The first nurse had a tanned skin, boyish short coffee brown hair, and dark brown eyes. She was of average size, with a pudgy waist. According to her name badge, she was called ‘Harper’.
The second nurse had a white skin, blue eyes and armpit-long blond hair, with a black headband to prevent them from falling on her forehead. She was tall and lanky, with sharp cheekbones and a tall noise. During work hours, she was tying up her hair into a ponytail with a black hair elastic. She also had a badge with her name on it pinned to her chest pocket. She was called ‘Alice’.
Both women were wearing the same uniform. White sneakers, light blue nurse trousers, and a light blue nurse blouse with short sleeves and a breast pocket filled with pens.
Angel and Soph discreetly approached them.
“Wonder what they’re talking about…”
“Bah, they’re on a break. Probably something light-hearted and pleasant. Like clothes. Or food.” Soph answered. “Or-”
“… Now, I see your point. But what I mean is that I don’t think we can trust the G20 to deal with the current crisis.” Harper was saying. “Aside from the Group being non-inclusive and unofficial, many of the countries at that table represent the champions of the financial and economic orthodoxies that led the world down the rabbit hole to its current economic malaise.”
“If your reference to the ‘rabbit hole’ is a clever pun using my name, I’ll have you know that I noticed and appreciated it.” Alice answered. “However, to return to the main topic of our discussion, you can’t deny that the fall of the Eastern Block has shown that proposing an alternative VIABLE solution to capitalism is extremely hard.”
“I think the real problem isn’t the lack of viable alternatives, but capitalism’s own force of inertia, that makes it hard to reform itself...”
“Well, I’ll be damned…” Soph muttered to herself.
Concealed behind the foliage, Angel raised her dart-gun and took aim. She shot Harper in the right butt-cheek, and Alice in the left thigh.
The two women froze when they felt something sting their body.
Harper frowned. She grabbed the small dart that had stung her, and held it in front of her and her colleague’s eyes. “What’s this?”
“Curiouser and curiouser…” Alice commented while taking a closer look.
“It’s-” Harper’s eyes widened when she realized that it was a small dart.
The two nurses exchanged a glance.
Then their eyes rolled back, they let out a long faint moan, and they fell forward. Their limp bodies collided into each other; and when they reached the ground, they were in each other’s arms. It was as if they were huddled together, with Alice on top of Harper. The slumbering nurses were breathing softly, with a peaceful expression.
Soph and Angel grabbed Alice and Harper under the arms, and dragged the two women into the nearby bushes to conceal them.
The sisters stripped the two nurses down to their undergarments.
Alice was wearing a sky blue t-shirt bra with white borders and a pattern of white fluffy sheeps. Her knickers and socks were matching the bra. Harper was clad in a red lacy thong, a scarlet red lacy bra with black lacy borders, and black socks with red hearts on them.
Soph and Angel used black soft ropes to restrain the two nurses. They didn’t use complex knots: the knock-out serum would make them sleep two hours anyway. They bound the ankles, the knees, the shoulders, and the wrists. They gagged the women with ‘Libido-approved’ black ball-gags with airholes.
Alice and Harper were left concealed under the bushes, lying next to each other on the soft warm grass.
Angel and Soph slipped into their nurse uniforms.
Then they entered Heartfelt City’s mental hospital.
**************
Angel and Soph indeed needed to check something that was going on in Heartfelt City’s mental hospital. Or more precisely, they needed to check on someone.
The two sisters were currently roaming across the building of the hospital complex reserved for the patients who needed a light treatment: the ones who didn’t need to be restrained, and who could roam (relatively) freely the parts of the building in which they were allowed.
It took them a little time, but the two sisters finally spotted their target in the atelier, a part of the mental hospital where patients could occupy themselves by building things.
“There she is.” Soph warily whispered.
She and Angel discreetly entered the room.
The light-skinned redhead at whom they were looking was wearing white clothes, but there was no mistake possible. They would never forget that woman; with her stringy hair, lanky figure, prominent ears, and crooked nose.
They were looking at Sarah Summers.
Apparently, Ulla’s intel when she had talked with the White Masks was dated. In truth, shortly after her mental breakdown, Sarah had been transferred to Heartfelt City’s mental hospital in the greatest secrecy. The prison’s administration was still very embarrassed by the fact that one of their own wardens had been swayed by the redhead, so they had made sure that no media would mention the transfer, hence why Ulla didn't hear about it.
The sisters couldn’t blame her. They too had thought Sarah was still in prison.
However, completely by chance, Tinker had recently come across a medical report, mentioning Sarah’s whereabouts. The writer of the text was explaining that, now that the redhead was properly monitored by specialists (and that she was receiving an actual medical treatment), she was making progress.
The sisters needed to be sure that the redhead wasn’t faking her mental condition. She was after all in an institution where escaping was easier.
Angel and Soph approached the woman, though they were careful to not stand directly in her line of sight.
Sarah was busy polishing a piece of wood designed to look like a bird. She had apparently carved it herself. There was a slightly faraway look in her eyes, probably due to her medication, but she was looking a lot more serene.
A white-haired doctor walked towards Sarah, and glanced at her woodwork. “This is very good.” he commented.
The redhead smiled faintly. “I thank you…” She then reported all her attention onto her work.
The doctor left her to her craft, and went to discuss with his aides. The two fake nurses discreetly eavesdropped them.
“The treatment is doing her a lot of good. She has agreed to stop cutting her hair so short that she looks like a cult leader. And she’s able to better control her bouts of anger.” the doctor explained. “I don’t understand why this woman was put into jail WITHOUT a psychological follow-up. Our mayor should release some funds...” He shook his head. “Anyway, we’re hoping to be able to organize a meeting between Sarah and her family in four-to-six months depending on her progress. She has already agreed to it.”
Soph grabbed Angel’s arm, and led her in a part of the room where they were out of earsight.
“The old Sarah would never have agreed to meet her family, even as part of a ploy to fool everyone. She doesn’t seem to be pretending.” Soph whispered to her sister. “And I don’t think she’s a good enough actress to fool trained doctors.”
Angel slowly nodded. Even when Sarah was pretending to be calmer, while the White Masks were doing her bidding, the mere mention of her family was still enough to drive her into hysteria.
“We should leave before somebody notices we’re impostors.” Angel finally said.
**************
Since they had been quicker than expected, and therefore had plenty of time to leave before Harper and Alice would wake up, Angel decided to loosen the knots binding the two nurses. Now, even untrained women such as the two nurses could break free in no time.
“Looks like you didn’t have to intervene this time.” Soph commented as her sister was loosening Alice’s ropes.
Angel shook her head. “I don’t think I would have been able to do anything. She wouldn’t have listened to me, just like she has never listened to Tina. On the contrary, seeing an infiltrator may make her relapse. I don’t care that I wasn’t the one who helped her. I’m just happy that there are OTHERS who can also help people. I’m happy to see there is hope…”
Soph took her arm. “Hope for redemption.” She wasn’t talking about Sarah anymore.
She was talking about her sister.
Angel smiled and pressed Soph's hand. “Yes...”
The sisters removed the nurse outfits and left them near their two slumbering real owners. They put back on their regular casual clothes. Then, they walked away.
“Tinker will also be satisfied.” Angel added.
“I’m still surprised she allowed us to go here.” Soph admitted. “Remember back when she put us in our place when we were at each other’s throats? She’s gotten a lot more assertive!”
Angel shook her head. “Tinker is not Mag. A part of her was feeling bad about what she had done to Sarah. Slandering a woman online and leading a hate campaign against her, even if she deserved it, even if it was to protect us… It’s not something to be done lightly. Tinker spends a lot of time on her computer. She knows how disgusting online harassment and slander are.”
Soph remained silent during a long moment. Angel’s reveal had left her thoughtful.
However, she then finally commented: “Sis’, you know what that means? With Sarah here, her followers have lost their figurehead. She’ll never try to rally people against us again. One of our main enemies has been neutralized.” She started to count on her fingers. “The Phantoms and the Company have weakened each other. Ulla has sabotaged Anna's latest project. Kheshig is reforming the Phantoms. You and Ulla made some progress with the White Masks.”
“Maybe… Maybe we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel…” Angel said with hope.
**************
Oh how the sisters were wrong...
**************
Irene Eudokia, head of House Eudokia, was sitting in her favorite armchair, a sumptuous finely crafted piece of precious woodwork. White pearls were embedded in the armrests, and the tapestry cushions were adorned with gold threads. The aristocrat calmly sipped her expensive rare breed of tea in a porcelain cup. She was watching the news on a gigantic TV screen.
First she saw images of the mayor’s public humiliation, when footage of his illegal deals were leaked right during one of his speeches. Various staff members, security guards, and cosplayers had been found mugged for disguise by the police after an anonymous text. Then she heard police officers discuss a very peculiar mugging for disguise that happened at Heartfelt City’s mental hospital. Peculiar in the sense that the muggers didn’t steal anything, and left the outfits near their victims for when they would wake up.
However, Irene had a good idea on the identities of the culprits...
She turned off the TV, and put her cup of tea on a nearby small table.
“So. Even after all that happened with the Phantoms, the nine sisters are still in Heartfelt City…” the aristocrat commented. “And even if I have to admit that their actions indirectly serve our interest, the idea of a revenge sounds way more pleasant…”
Irene was a smart competent businesswoman, but she also took great pride in her lineage and her family’s reputation. The sisters had sullied that reputation, and had made a mockery of her name. And for that, they had to pay... Plus, their elimination would also serve a purpose. In Irene's social milieu, reputation meant a lot of thing. The sisters had made her family look like utter buffoons, and now some rivals were starting to think THEY could get a shot at Irene. A good old-fashioned 'example' would quell their ambitions... And the sisters would make a fine 'example' of what happened to House Eudokia's enemies.
Irene’s children - Theophano, Constantin, Basile, and Zoë -, who were sitting around her, exchanged quick glances. They knew that when the family’s matriarch gave an order, they could only obey. Even Theophano would never dare to directly contradict her mother.
“What do you want to do, mother?” the eldest daughter asked.
“I have a plan.”
**************
Louette’s patience was coming to an end. She angrily entered Ellie’s apartment.
“Ellie! We need to talk! Ever since the battle with the Prophet, you’ve been acting strangely! You disappear during several days, and then you refuse to say where you went! Cassie is worried sick. Everyone is worried sick. You-”
The blue-haired woman looked more closely at her friend.
“What did you do with your haircut?”
Ellie had indeed cut her hair. They were now closely-cropped.
“You had such pretty hair… It’s a shame. It looks like-” Louette interrupted herself. Her eyes widened. “It looks like Sarah’s haircut.” she slowly commented. Her facial expression was now wary.
“You also have very short hair.” Ellie retorted, clearly on the defensive.
“Yes, but I’ve always had them that way. You, on the other hand…”
Ellie grimaced. “So what? You spend one day with the Siren and her infiltrator pals, and suddenly you renounce everything else? Wasn’t Sarah the woman who gave us the strength to keep on fighting? The strength to keep on LIVING?”
“I’m not gonna deny it. She had a way of making us feel proud of ourselves. She had a way of inspiring us to go forward, in spite of the pain, and to fight. But her influence was toxic, for us and also for her.”
This time, Ellie got angry. “I’m tired of hearing everyone badmouth her as if she was the worst scum out there! I thought we agreed that we would always put the victim above the torturer! And last time I checked, it wasn’t Sarah who drew first blood! SHE was the one whose life was ruined, not the other way around!”
“She was also ready to hurt Shannon to get to Blink.” Louette retorted.
The chubby woman scoffed. “Pffff! That’s what THEY say.”
This time, Louette lost patience with her friend. “Stop that Ellie.”
“Stop what?”
“Stop twisting everything to match your needs. Stop ignoring the facts that don’t suit you.”
“So what? I should see the world in shades of grey? Bah! That’s what THEY say to TRICK us. That’s what they say to JUSTIFY themselves.” Ellie scoffed. “You’ve seen how Tina’s sister, Mag, has treated us. As if we were baby-eating serial killers. I mean, HER sister comes to see Willow, and then Mag acts like WILLOW’s the one at fault. Trust me! They only see the world in shades of grey when it suits THEIR needs!”
"God, Ellie, she did it because she was scared for her sister's safety!"
The chubby woman shook her head, and adjusted her round-shaped glasses. She hadn't listened to her friend's answer.
“But their tricks don’t work on me. I have unmasked them… I have unraveled the hypocrisy behind their actions… They pretend they’re good people… But then how can they bear leaving Knipperen alive and free? Blink isn’t even trying to stop her. On the contrary, she’s WORKING WITH her… And then she tries to claim she’s better than us?! Don’t make me laugh! Thanks to her, Knipperen is still out there. You've read about that coffee shop vendor who almost died of thirst and cramps? It was Knipperen!”
Ellie paused and caught her breath.
“I’ll be fair, and give Tina and her sisters some slack. SOME OF THEM tried to help Cassie and Willow. And you. But Knipperen… Someone has to put an end to her actions! And to her sister's actions too!”
“So you are still trying to-” Louette shook her head. She was now the one becoming angry. “One time wasn’t enough?! You already put us all in danger when you had us join the Phantoms!”
Ellie ignored her retort. She was so busy ranting, she hadn’t even heard it. “You know what I’m thinking? I think Blink’s using her child to coax us… Yes, she’s playing the part of the nice mummy in front of everyone to-”
Louette couldn't hold it anymore. She raised her hand, and slapped Ellie.
“Get real! You’ve seen how worried she was! That wasn’t comedy!” she exclaimed.
There was a small moment of silence.
Ellie rubbed her red cheek. “You hit me…” she commented with an incredulous tone of voice.
Louette suddenly realized what she had done. “E- Ellie… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to… I-”
She tried to approach Ellie, to inspect her friend’s cheek.
Ellie reflexively recoiled in fear.
Louette bit her lower lip. She was looking guilty.
“Don’t you see? It’s another proof!” Ellie exclaimed. “You’d never have hit me before meeting them! They are messing with your head!”
“Why are you so hell-bent on hunting Knipperen and BLINK of all people?!”
“I’ve stolen files belonging to the Phantoms while they were busy fighting the Prophet. Ulla and Izanagi weren’t watching me anymore. And escaping the Crows’ attention was easy, they only had eyes for Willow... The files had information. Lots of information. About all the heists performed by infiltrators. And in these files, I found it was either Blink or Knipperen who hurt me! Since they are twins, they don’t know which one!”
“So it’s personal…”
“Of course it is! I agreed for a truce the time to rescue Shannon, but now the truce is over! I won’t let them get away with what they did! And if YOU refuse to help me, then I’ll find SOMEONE who will!”
“I promised myself I’d keep you safe, Ellie. That includes saving you from yourself.” Louette retorted.
Ellie smiled derisively. “And what are you gonna do? Are you gonna lock me in your trunk all day?”
Another short moment of silence.
“Low blow.” Louette blankly retorted.
Ellie stopped smiling, and became regretful. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It was anger talking.”
“It’s okay. We’ve all been having a bad time these past few weeks. Especially Magda and Willow. Just promise me you’ll stay out of trouble.”
“I promise.”
But she was lying.
“Come on, let’s invite Magda, Willow, and Cassie. We’ll eat somewhere together. They need to be cheered up!” Ellie then proposed. “I want to help them feel better!”
This time, she was sincere.
But Ellie also intended to do some other things after she had seen her friends...
She had a plan.
Chapter 42.5: The Noblest and Most Ancient House of All
Prologue
**************
After the recent screw-ups of his daughter, Heartfelt City’s mayor had felt the need to restore his image. To show his support to cultural events and his open-mindedness to other cultures, he organized a gigantic anime and movies convention. The politician wanted to pretend that he was ‘hip’, and ‘radical’. His marketing staff was convinced it would be good for his approval rating.
Charlene wasn’t aware of all these political implications however. She was just happy at the prospect of having a fun good day.
The young woman was a cosplayer of Cruella DeVil. She was clad in a simple black sleeveless dress, red high heel shoes and black stockings, long red opera gloves, large turquoise earrings and a ring on her right hand, a cream fur coat with a red interior, and a matching purse with three foxtails. (Though the fur was fake.) She was also wearing a black-and-white wig, and was carrying the Disney character’s iconic cigarette holder. Charlene had a soft white skin, a curvy body, shapely legs, a round face, and golden brown eyes. Although she was wearing the outfit of the animated character, her beautiful appearance was a lot more remindful of Emma Stone’s recent portrayal.
Charlene parked her car, and exited the vehicle. She was cautious to not damage her costume. There was a contest of the better cosplay, and she intended to win it! Unfortunately, she was late, and the parking of the building hosting the convention was almost full. She had been forced to park her car on one of the most far-off isolated spots.
The cosplayer took a deep breath of fresh air, closed her eyes, and enjoyed the warmth of the sun on her face.
Today was going to be a good day! She was sure of it.
Mag’s hand hit a specific spot of Charlene’s neck.
“Uh!” the latter grunted.
The woman’s eyes rolled back, and she fell into her mugger’s arms. She was out cold before she could even comprehend what had happened.
Mag opened the car’s backdoor, and laid the cosplayer on the backseat. She quickly checked if the surroundings were empty, then climbed into the car and closed the door.
She methodically undressed Charlene. The clone removed the purse, fur coat and long red opera gloves first, then the earrings, ring, and high-heels. She slid the stockings down the young woman’s legs, and lifted her body to pull off the dress. Underneath, the cosplayer was wearing a plain white seamless bra, and comfortable white control briefs. A telling proof of the cosplayer’s attention to detail: there was a pattern of Disney’s dalmatians on both her undies.
Finally, Mag removed the wig. Under it, Charlene had chestnut brown hair tied into a tight low neck-bun.
“Hey, looks like you can remove your hair dye for once…” Tinker commented in Mag’s earpiece.
The latter looked at the black-and-white wig, and smiled lightly. “That’s true...”
When Mag was conceived, an accident during the cloning process had modified her hair colour. While the left half was jet black, the right half was brilliant white. Usually, when in mission or even when casually walking on the street, Mag was dying the white part to match her other half. Indeed, white hair were unusual, and attracted too much attention.
However, this time…
Mag was mature, she knew she had no choice and therefore never complained about it – not even to herself, not even in spirit. But she was almost always carrying on her a small bottle of a liquid that could instantly dissolve hair dye. And she wasn’t going to pass an opportunity to finally display her natural hair colour…
However, first things first.
Mag grabbed a few plastic zip-ties, and secured Charlene’s wrists, knees, and ankles. She tied a coil of rope around the upper-arms, below and above the breasts. She ball-gagged the woman with a red ball-gag.
Since this car’s trunk was too small and too airtight, Mag laid Charlene’s trussed up body on her car’s floor, in front of the backseat. She concealed her by covering her with a brown blanket.
After dissolving the black dye, Mag quickly wiped the stains clean with a handkerchief. Next, she put on the Cruella De Vil costume: first the tights, then the dress, then the fur coat. She put on the jewels, and finally the high-heels. She grabbed the purse, and exited the vehicle once she was in disguise.
She closed Charlene’s car, and went to the building hosting the convention.
Mag got in character when she came across an other group of cosplayers in front of the main gate.
“Nice costume, but you got the hair backwards.” a Jafar-cosplayer commented.
Mag pretended to smile sheepishly. “Made the silly mistake of doing it in front of a mirror. Forgot that it reverses the right and the left. And it was too late to change it.”
“Sorry sis’. Forgot about that detail…” Tinker said in the earpiece.
Mag just smiled and stroked the half of her hair that were naturally white. “Who cares? I’m not here to win the contest.” she muttered to herself. “Give Tina the coordinates of the place where I hid the real cosplayer. I’m entering the building.”
**************
In the women restrooms, two cosplayers were excitedly talking about the upcoming contest while refreshing themselves at the sink.
Kaylee, the first woman, was cosplaying as Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail. She was wearing a custom-made fake armour: a grey metallic breastplate with metallic shoulders, and elbow-long metallic gauntlets with metallic elbow-protections. A dark blue knee-long skirt was fixed to the bottom of the breastplate to cover her lower limbs. Finally, she was walking in long dark grey boots.
Just like the character she was impersonating, her hair were waist-long and loose. She had spent quite some time dying them dark red, and was hoping to win the contest. She also had a tall figure, a white skin and blue eyes.
https://fairytail.fandom.com/wiki/Erza_Scarlet
Miu, the second woman, was cosplaying as Android 18, aka Lapis, from Dragon Ball Z. She was wearing small gold hoop earrings on both ears, a sleeveless blue denim vest (with the Red Ribbon logo on the back of the vest), a blue denim skirt with dark blue tights, a brown belt, brown boots, and a black shirt that had white and black striped long sleeves.
Miu was a Japanese woman with short raven black hair, and dark brown eyes. Therefore, she was using a blond wig and blue contact lenses to match her character’s appearance.
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/ ... parent.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... 70813a.jpg
Miu adjusted her blond wig. “We should hurry up. The contestants are supposed to go backstage. I don’t want to miss the beginning.” she commented after checking her face one last time in the mirror.
“I don’t want to miss the end!” Kaylee playfully retorted. “’Cause I’m totally gonna win this contest!”
Miu winked and stuck out her tongue. “In your dreams!”
Kaylee flipped her hair. “Why do you think I spent an hour dyeing my hair instead of putting on a wig? This is the detail that’ll net me the prize!”
The cosplayers didn’t notice the two women who entered the restrooms. Therefore, they didn’t notice the crucial detail of one of said women stitching an ‘Out of Order’ sign on the door, while the second one was checking that no stall was occupied and that the room was empty save for Kaylee, Miu, and them.
**************
Tina shared a glance with Marie, nodded, then took a breath and got in-character.
“Wow! Nice costumes! Mind if we take a closer look?” she excitedly asked.
Kaylee and Miu jumped a little, surprised to be interrupted during their playful banter. The cosplayers shared a look, but they didn’t see anything wrong with letting women get closer.
“Of course.” Kaylee answered.
“Thanks a lot!”
Tina and Marie approached them.
“These clothes are really good…”
“Well, they took a lot of work!” a flattered Kaylee answered. “I-”
Suddenly, perfectly synchronized, Tina and Marie each grabbed a small needle concealed under their clothes. The needles were coated with a strong knock-out serum. Each sister jabbed her needle into a very specific spot of each cosplayer’s body, between the shoulder and the neck. Tina dealt with Kaylee, and Marie dealt with Miu.
“Ow!”
“Ouch!”
“Apologies, but we can’t let you two enter the contest. We need your guise.” Tina commented to the two women.
Indeed, the sisters had to go backstage in order to accomplish their current mission, and for that they had chosen to impersonate a few of the cosplayers attending the contest.
Kaylee and Miu stammered and blinked, but the serum was fast-acting. Their eyes rolled back, and they fell asleep. Tina and Marie caught them under the shoulders mid-fall, and dragged them into two different stalls.
The sisters stripped the two women of their costumes, and were very careful to not damage them.
Kaylee was wearing plain grey boyshorts with black borders, a comfortable matching t-shirt bra, and white socks. Miu was clad in dark blue knickers with black borders and a red ribbon, a matching dark blue full-cup bra, and blue socks.
The sisters left the two stripped cosplayers concealed inside one stall. They used Tinker’s homemade tape to secure Kaylee to the toilet seat, mummifying her legs from the ankles to the thighs, her forearms behind the back from the hands to the elbows, and her upper-arms above and below the breasts. Though they made sure to leave her hair alone. Tinker’s tape was designed to be sturdy and sticky, but to not leave marks on the skin once removed. It was a really strange property, but a very useful one. They stuck a few layers of tape over the lips to gag Kaylee.
Then, Tina and Marie sat Miu up on Kaylee’s lap. They wrapped tape to secure her legs to the toilet bowl. They mummified her forearms behind her back as well as her shoulders, and tape-gagged her with several strips of tape. They wrapped a few layers of tape around both her and Kaylee’s torsos to make sure Miu wouldn’t fall backwards.
Tina stitched an ‘Out of Order’ sign on the stall’s door, then closed it and locked it from the outside, giving the two cosplayers some privacy. They would sleep during a few hours, and hopefully wouldn’t wake up before the sisters were done. However, even if they did, Tina was hoping that the noises of the convention and background music played in the restrooms would drown out the girls’ muffled moans.
Next, she and Marie put on the costumes.
Tina slipped into Miu’s outfit, because it would be easier for her to put on the blond wig. Marie indeed had longer midback-long hair, and the sisters didn’t want to waste time tying them up. It was quicker for Marie to take the guise of Kaylee, whose cosplay included long loose hair.
Tina used Miu’s wig and contact lenses to conceal her own hair and eyes, but she couldn’t do much about her skin tone that was too tanned for the character she was cosplaying as.
Marie had it worst. Not only did her skin tone not match, but there also was no hair dye in Kaylee’s handbag. Therefore, Marie’s hair colour didn’t match either.
The sisters couldn’t do anything about it; but hey, the goal was to pretend to enter the cosplay contest, not to win it.
Tina and Marie left the restrooms. Tina removed the ‘Out of Order’ sign on the main door, and mentally took note of Kaylee’s and Miu’s location for later.
“Tinker. Tell Stasis and Libido we’re all in disguise. It’s their turn.”
**************
Hidden behind the corner of the building holding the convention, Stasis discreetly took a peek at the two watchwomen. Libido was with her.
The first security guard was lanky, had a hooked nose, green-brown eyes and waist-long loose hair that were dyed green. On her left and right side, she had some hair that went to her shoulders. Her bangs were cut short and met in the middle. The second guard was a plump shorter woman with light brown shoulder-long wavy hair pulled back by a black kerchief, brown eyes, and a soft round face with chubby cheeks.
Their watchwoman uniform they wore consisted of a black tie, a black long-sleeved button-up shirt, a black equipment belt, black trousers, and black shoes. (Soph was derisively calling the security guards of this specific security company the ‘Emo Squad’.) A badge with their name was tied around the neck.
Currently, the watchwomen were taking a break in the empty backyard of the building, near the big dumpsters and a door leading to a maintenance room. One of them was smoking, the other was eating a bag of Japanese crisps.
Stasis chuckled to herself, grabbed a ball, and raised her slingshot.
Then, she opened fire.
Her projectile hit the smaller watchwoman, and released a thick smoke.
**************
“What the-?!”
Amai waved her arms to blow the smoke away. She glared daggers in the direction of the shooter.
“Hey! I thought we agreed we were only PRETENDING!” she complained.
Stasis left her hiding place.
“I couldn’t resist.” she chuckled. “It was to facilitate the immersion. It’s not a green ball anyway.”
It was indeed just a harmless NON-soporific smoke. (Stasis had asked Tinker to make it bacon-flavoured, but the latter had retorted that she had better things to do, so it was plain boring non-flavoured smoke.)
Libido followed her sister.
Amai pouted. She unlocked the door of the maintenance room with her keys, and opened it.
“I suppose it’s time for our ‘mugging’ then.” the chubby woman commented.
Stasis nodded. “Yep!”
Midori threw away a small ‘improved cigarette’. “So we take off our uniforms?” she casually asked.
“Oh YES PLEASE!” Libido exclaimed.
Amai rolled her eyes. “Did you have to bring your horny sister with you?”
“We rotate, to make sure that each of us can rest between two missions. It was her turn.” Stasis explained. “I can make her turn her back if it bothers you.”
Midori shrugged. She was already high enough to not care about trivial things like modesty anymore.
Amai briefly hesitated, but shook her head. “No. It’s fine.”
She led everyone inside the maintenance room, and turned on the light.
Amai was not into Libido, or even into women in general, but Stasis’ sister was also one of the first people who helped her feel more comfortable with her body. Libido wasn’t judgmental, she would never shame someone because of her body type. On the contrary, she was finding all female bodies equally delightful. Strangely enough, in spite of the woman’s horniness, Amai wasn’t that bothered to be seen almost naked by her. The same way it wasn’t bothering her to be scantily clad in front of Stasis or Midori.
Besides, since this time Amai was expecting her ‘mugging’, she had been able to take the necessary steps to avoid a thoroughly humiliating discovery. As undergarments, she had put on candy pink boxer briefs that were offering almost as much coverage as regular shorts, a plain white tank top and a taffy pink full-coverage t-shirt bra. No silly or revealing underwear. Most uniformed women of Heartfelt City WISHED they were given the luxury of knowing in advance when they would run into an infiltrator!
Amai and her green-haired friend removed their uniforms until they were down to their undergarments.
Midori had followed Amai’s example and had put on non-revealing underwear. She was wearing red-yellow-and-green boxer briefs imitating the ‘dank flag’ with the number 420 printed in black, and a matching red-yellow-and-green camisole with a black strapless bra underneath.
“I think you should give us a bigger share of the money as compensation for your joke with the smoke.” Amai commented once she was down to her undergarments, and ready to be trussed up by her ‘dastardly-but-still-devilishly-gorgeous-and-awesome muggers’ (to quote Stasis). Next to her, Midori stepped out of her own discarded uniform.
Stasis shook her head and pulled out a coil of rope. “Nuh uh. Besides, you’ll get the insurance money as a bonus.”
“Yeah, but it’s paid by the municipality. So it bothers the mayor. So it doesn’t count.” Amai objected as her wrists were bound behind her back by Stasis and her upper-arms were restrained.
“It does.” Stasis retorted while knotting the ropes.
“It doesn’t.”
“Does!”
“Doesn’t!”
“Stasis, stay focused.” Tinker exclaimed in the earpiece.
“Sorry Amai, end of the discussion. I have to give in to the tantrum of my younger sibling.” Stasis said out loud.
“We’re of the same batch! I’m NOT younger than you!” Tinker retorted.
“Sorry, LITTLE sis'. Can’t hear you anymore. Earpiece must be having a problem. Krrrrrchhhhhhrrrrrr.”
Stasis ignored Tinker’s following rant. She asked Amai to sit on a discarded cardboard, and bound her legs with a second coil of rope.
“Fine. But mark my words, during our next all-you-can-eat-buffet challenge, Midori and I will UTTERLY defeat you.” Amai announced.
“Ha! I demand to see that!” Stasis cockily retorted.
The chubby guard smiled devilishly. “Oh, trust me, you will…” she ominously commented.
Near them, Libido had also grabbed a coil of rope, and was binding Midori’s wrists and legs the same way. Though, since the green-haired woman’s mind was currently exploring the dankest confines known to Man, she wasn’t in the mood to argue and debate. The green-haired woman sat on the same discarded cardboard as Amai, her back turned to her friend.
To finish, Libido and Stasis wrapped one coil of rope around the torsos of the two women who were seated back-to-back and knotted it. They needed to justify why these two didn’t try to untie each other!
The knots and ropework were genuine, an untrained woman wouldn’t be able to break free, therefore they would fool Amai’s and Midori’s rescuers. However, the bonds had a very specific pattern, and there was actually a trick to easily undo them. Stasis and her sisters had of course taught Amai and Midori the trick, in case there was a problem.
Libido and Stasis used black ball-gags with airholes to silence the two security guards. Once again, to fool the authorities, the gags were genuine. Their two friends couldn’t say a word anymore.
Midori and Amai were going to be left concealed in the maintenance room, as if they had been the victims of a real mugging for disguise.
The two sisters slipped into the black watchwoman trousers, shoes, button-up shirts, and ties.
Stasis winked as she was buckling her black belt. “Wish us good luck!”
Amai groaned.
“Alright, alright, no more wasting time. We’ll make it quick.”
She and Libido left the maintenance room, and closed the door.
**************
Tina and Marie regrouped with Mag near the entrance of the backstage.
“Nice costume. It suits you.” Tina said to Cruella-Mag.
“I’m not sure I should take it well.” the latter joked.
Their earpieces cracked to life.
“This is Stasis. We have ‘stolen’ our uniforms. Amai and Midori are ‘snug as a bug’, so to speak.”
“I can’t believe we never thought of that trick before. Having accomplices who are hired as part of the guards so that we can learn more about the security layout… accomplices who THEN allow themselves to be ‘mugged’ so that we can easily take their place and infiltrate the building...” Tina commented. “Sure, it’s a little weird. But it’s so much easier and safer!”
“Guess it’s because we never had any friend among security guards before.” Marie remarked.
“You can thank me and my awesome magnetic personality for that!” Stasis’ voice commented.
“Well, one thing is certain, we CAN’T thank your modesty.” Tina dryly joked.
“You can’t ask the Sun to stop shining, sis’.”
“Well, you and Libido should take position. We’ll enter the backstage.”
The sisters had been hired by an anti corruption NGO to sabotage and expose the mayor. They would take advantage of the fact that he wanted to make a big speech before the cosplay contest to do so.
This mission was allowing them to combine business and pleasure...
**************
The two employees guarding the backstage’s access were actually men, hence why the sisters couldn’t just mug them and enter, and therefore needed to impersonate cosplayers. Mag, Tina, and Marie approached them.
“We’re here for the cosplay contest.” Marie announced.
The first guard briefly looked at them. He noticed that Mag’s hair colour was backwards, Marie hadn’t dyed her hair red, and Tina’s skin was too tanned for the character she was cosplaying as (and so were Marie’s and Mag’s for that matter).
“No offense, but I think your chances are slim. Your costumes are great, but you didn’t pay enough attention to details. You sure you want to try?”
“We don’t care about winning, we just want to have fun!” Tina answered back.
The guard couldn’t help but smile, won over by her cheeky enthusiasm. “As you wish.”
He allowed them to enter the backstage.
**************
There were already a good chunk of cosplayers waiting to enter the stage. However, they were too excited by the upcoming contest to pay attention to the three newcomers.
Security guards were scattered across the backstage area to watch the cosplayers.
Stasis and Libido were among the guards. Tina, Marie, and Mag approached them.
“Greetings, civilians. We’re here to make sure that you don’t touch anything you’re not allowed to touch, and you don’t go to any place you’re not allowed to access.” Stasis announced to her disguised sisters.
“So. Can we sabotage the sound equipment and the projector to have them show compromising videos of the mayor receiving bribes?” Tina asked.
“Of course you can.”
“And can we enter the control room, and mug the staff to play our message?”
“Of course you can.”
“Thank you, you’re very helpful! I wish all security guards were as understanding.”
Stasis winked. "Follow us."
**************
Inside the control room, Delphine was sitting behind a computer. The technician and staff member was wearing white sneakers, blue trousers, and a black shirt with the word STAFF printed on the back in white letters.
The slim woman had a white skin, neck-long light loose red hair, green eyes, and there were freckles on her cheeks. She was wearing square framed glasses, and a pen over her right ear.
Two other technicians were sitting next to her, also typing on computers. To her right, there was a black woman with coarse black hair tied into numerous shoulder-long braids, and dark brown eyes. She was called Jaslene. To her left, there was a blond-haired fair-skinned blue-eyed woman called Grace. She had a shaggy bob haircut, and nails that were painted red.
Finally, her last remaining colleague was nervously pacing back and forth in the control room. Harriet had short black hair, big round-shaped glasses, a pearly white skin, and brown eyes. She was the coordinator, and she was worried that something wrong would happen during the mayor’s speech.
Jaslene, Grace, and Harriet were wearing the same clothes as Delphine.
“How are the spotlights?” Harriet asked.
“Operational.” Delphine answered.
“The sound equipment?”
“Also operational.”
“The projector?”
“ALSO operational.”
“And the spotlights?”
Delphine rolled her eyes. “Gosh Harriet, stop worrying! Nothing wrong will happen! I’ve checked everything THREE TIMES! All the systems are operational!”
“And what about the sleeping gas grenade?” a voice suddenly intervened.
“For the last time, I told you that EVERYTHING was operationa- Wait! Gas grenade?” Delphine realized that this wasn’t Harriet’s voice.
She saw a woman standing in the frame of the control room’s door. She was dressed as a watchwoman. The unknown woman winked at her. Then, with a cheeky smile on her lips, she threw a small grenade-shaped thing into the room, and closed the door.
“Oh shi-”
POOF!
The grenade released a thick green smoke in the control room. The four technicians started to cough.
Harriet, Jaslene and Grace were too taken by surprise to even react in time.
Delphine rushed to the door to try to open it, but the woman on the other side was holding the knob to prevent her from leaving the room.
Jaslene’s head fell on her desk, while Grace’s body slumped backwards into her office chair. With a small ‘thud’, Harriet crumbled on the floor, and curled up on herself like a napping cat. All three were sleeping like babies.
Delphine hit the door with her fist, but then succumbed to the effects of the gas. She fell forward, with her cheek resting against the frame, and her body slid down the door until she was on her knees. She started to snore.
**************
The sisters shared a smile when they heard everything become quiet inside the control room.
With the help of two ‘watchwomen’, it was easy to snoop around and to reach the control room, in spite of the costumes.
The green gas had been designed by Tinker to quickly clear by itself. They waited a few minutes, then Stasis carefully opened the door, moving Delphine’s motionless body in the process.
They were greeted by a concert of snoring.
The five sisters entered the control room.
They dragged the four technicians to a corner of the room. Then, Tina started to strip Delphine, while Mag was undressing Jaslene, and Marie was taking off Grace’s clothes.
“Sorry for the inconvenience, but your clothes will be a lot more useful when we’ll have to make our discreet exit…” Tina explained to the snoring women.
Libido was watching them enviously. “You know. We’re a little short on zip-ties and ball-gags. We should probably use the fourth one’s clothes as makeshift ropes and gags.” she commented.
Tina sighed indulgently. “Fine. But you know the drill. No touching and no groping. Even if she has sexy underwear. ESPECIALLY if she has sexy underwear.”
“Okay.”
Libido started to strip Harriet.
The clothes of the staff members were simple and plain. Therefore, removing them was easy and quick. The sneakers were unlaced and taken off first, then the trousers were slid down the legs, and finally the t-shirts were pulled off.
Delphine was clad in orange socks, black boyshorts with a pattern of DBZ’s dragon balls, and an orange t-shirt bra with black borders and with a pattern of 悟 kanji. Jaslene was wearing ivory white cheeky panties, white socks, and a cream white push-up bra. Grace was clad in short socks, a black lacy g-string and a matching lacy balconette bra. Both had a translucent lace flower pattern. Harriet was wearing very prudish undergarments from her part: long socks, striped black-and-white long boxer shorts, a grey tank top, and a beige full-coverage t-shirt bra.
Libido grimaced. “Can we trade?” she asked Mag, who was stripping Grace.
“No.”
“So unfair…”
They still had enough zip-ties to restrain three women, so they used them to tie Delphine’s, Jaslene’s and Grace’s ankles and wrists. They cut Harriet’s trousers into makeshift ropes to bind the woman’s legs and arms. They cut Harriet’s t-shirt into makeshift cleave-gags to silence the four women.
Finally, they dragged the four technicians out of sight. Libido tried to sneakily grab Grace to be the one carrying her, but Mag was faster. Therefore, once the four women were concealed under a table, Libido went in a corner to sulk.
Tina waved her fingers and sat in front of Delphine’s computer. “I think it’s time to spice up the mayor’s little speech...”
**************
Wearing an elegant business ensemble, Heartfelt City’s mayor walked on the stage. He wanted to make a speech before the beginning of the cosplay contest. His goal was to look ‘hip’ in front of the ‘youngs’ to improve his popularity ratings.
Millie’s father perfectly looked the part of the honest politician who sincerely wanted to better the lives of his citizens. In that regards, he was a lot subtler and more competent than his daughter.
The politician waited until the crowd was silent, cleared out his throat, and put his sheet of paper on the rostrum.
However, the mayor was interrupted by the projector suddenly being activated. At first, he thought it was a small technical mistake, or perhaps even a joke. However, when the video started to be screened, the politician paled suddenly.
The video was showing the mayor, eating at a fancy restaurant with a few powerful businessmen.
“So we have a deal?” a businessman asked.
“Don’t worry. No environmental NGO will learn about your illegal dumping of chemicals. As long as I get my little envelope, of course.” the mayor answered. He chuckled at his own joke.
“What about my mall project?” another businessman intervened.
“Same thing. Have the money sent to me, and I’ll make sure the eviction notices are signed.”
“These specific evictions don’t seem very legal…” another man joked.
“Since when has that ever stopped us?” the mayor jokingly retorted.
The men all shared a good laugh. They clinked glasses.
“Now, I propose that we enjoy this fine dinner, paid for by the city’s taxpayers of course!”
The mayor was sweating now. He had heard that a waitress of this specific restaurant had been found bound and gagged in her underwear the same day as this meeting, but he had thought it was a mere robbery. He hadn’t connected the dots and realized that an infiltrator disguised as a waitress could easily record his conversation. While he was smarter than his daughter, he was still one league below his wife – or below the sisters for that matter.
The crowd remained silent for a brief moment.
Then, the first people started to shout: “BOO!”
Soon, most of the crowd was booing the mayor, and chunks of food started to be thrown at him.
The politician had to flee the stage in disgrace, and to take cover behind his bodyguards.
**************
Tina, Mag, Marie, Libido, and Stasis took advantage of the scandal to discreetly leave the convention. (Mag grabbed Libido by the collar when the latter tried to have a sneak peak at Grace's underwear.)
By the time the sisters had exited the building, a big sum of money had been transferred to their common bank account by the NGO which had hired them.
“I love it when a plan goes without a hitch…” Tina commented. She was sending an anonymous text to the police, to inform them about the predicaments of Amai, Midori, and the various unlucky bystanders they had mugged as part of their mission.
“So long for his re-election.” Stasis added with a smile.
Mag sadly shook her head. “Well, I wouldn’t be too optimistic. There’s still quite some time left. Public opinion is fickle, and doesn’t have much memory. He may still be able to fall back on his feet.”
“Unless we make sure he doesn’t…” Marie intervened.
Tina nodded. Preventing Millie’s father from being re-elected would indeed be a great victory against Heartfelt City’s corruption.
Their goal to better this town was within reach.
“And that’s what we’ll do, if we can.” she said. “For now, everything is going well for us. And I intend to make sure it stays that way! This will be the beginning of a new era!”
******* Meanwhile, at the same time *******
“You know that if Tina hears about this little escapade, we’ll get a big scolding…” Soph commented.
“I kept my promise of not overdoing things. I spent two full nights of restful sleep before this infiltration.” Angel retorted.
“Tina said we can learn everything we need thanks to Tinker’s hacking skills.”
“I want to witness things firsthand. It’s important for me.” Angel explained.
She briefly shook her head, and looked Soph in the eyes.
“Sis’! Tinker has agreed to not snitch on us; but if you want to call Tina, it’s now or never.”
Soph mock-punched her sister’s shoulder. “Hey! I came with you, didn’t I? It’ll be our little secret escapade.”
Angel smiled. “Thanks…”
**************
Angel led the way. She and Soph were using trees and bushes to conceal themselves. Their destination was a complex of white buildings surrounded by a huge park and a lot of green life.
They took quite some time to scan the area.
Until...
“Over here. Look at these ones.”
Angel pointed at the two nurses taking a break near the back entrance of one building.
Soph nodded. “You need help?”
Angel grabbed her dart gun, and put two knock-out darts in the chamber. “I can handle it. I prefer to do thing gently with nurses.”
“Suit yourself. I’ll sit back and watch.”
**************
The first nurse had a tanned skin, boyish short coffee brown hair, and dark brown eyes. She was of average size, with a pudgy waist. According to her name badge, she was called ‘Harper’.
The second nurse had a white skin, blue eyes and armpit-long blond hair, with a black headband to prevent them from falling on her forehead. She was tall and lanky, with sharp cheekbones and a tall noise. During work hours, she was tying up her hair into a ponytail with a black hair elastic. She also had a badge with her name on it pinned to her chest pocket. She was called ‘Alice’.
Both women were wearing the same uniform. White sneakers, light blue nurse trousers, and a light blue nurse blouse with short sleeves and a breast pocket filled with pens.
Angel and Soph discreetly approached them.
“Wonder what they’re talking about…”
“Bah, they’re on a break. Probably something light-hearted and pleasant. Like clothes. Or food.” Soph answered. “Or-”
“… Now, I see your point. But what I mean is that I don’t think we can trust the G20 to deal with the current crisis.” Harper was saying. “Aside from the Group being non-inclusive and unofficial, many of the countries at that table represent the champions of the financial and economic orthodoxies that led the world down the rabbit hole to its current economic malaise.”
“If your reference to the ‘rabbit hole’ is a clever pun using my name, I’ll have you know that I noticed and appreciated it.” Alice answered. “However, to return to the main topic of our discussion, you can’t deny that the fall of the Eastern Block has shown that proposing an alternative VIABLE solution to capitalism is extremely hard.”
“I think the real problem isn’t the lack of viable alternatives, but capitalism’s own force of inertia, that makes it hard to reform itself...”
“Well, I’ll be damned…” Soph muttered to herself.
Concealed behind the foliage, Angel raised her dart-gun and took aim. She shot Harper in the right butt-cheek, and Alice in the left thigh.
The two women froze when they felt something sting their body.
Harper frowned. She grabbed the small dart that had stung her, and held it in front of her and her colleague’s eyes. “What’s this?”
“Curiouser and curiouser…” Alice commented while taking a closer look.
“It’s-” Harper’s eyes widened when she realized that it was a small dart.
The two nurses exchanged a glance.
Then their eyes rolled back, they let out a long faint moan, and they fell forward. Their limp bodies collided into each other; and when they reached the ground, they were in each other’s arms. It was as if they were huddled together, with Alice on top of Harper. The slumbering nurses were breathing softly, with a peaceful expression.
Soph and Angel grabbed Alice and Harper under the arms, and dragged the two women into the nearby bushes to conceal them.
The sisters stripped the two nurses down to their undergarments.
Alice was wearing a sky blue t-shirt bra with white borders and a pattern of white fluffy sheeps. Her knickers and socks were matching the bra. Harper was clad in a red lacy thong, a scarlet red lacy bra with black lacy borders, and black socks with red hearts on them.
Soph and Angel used black soft ropes to restrain the two nurses. They didn’t use complex knots: the knock-out serum would make them sleep two hours anyway. They bound the ankles, the knees, the shoulders, and the wrists. They gagged the women with ‘Libido-approved’ black ball-gags with airholes.
Alice and Harper were left concealed under the bushes, lying next to each other on the soft warm grass.
Angel and Soph slipped into their nurse uniforms.
Then they entered Heartfelt City’s mental hospital.
**************
Angel and Soph indeed needed to check something that was going on in Heartfelt City’s mental hospital. Or more precisely, they needed to check on someone.
The two sisters were currently roaming across the building of the hospital complex reserved for the patients who needed a light treatment: the ones who didn’t need to be restrained, and who could roam (relatively) freely the parts of the building in which they were allowed.
It took them a little time, but the two sisters finally spotted their target in the atelier, a part of the mental hospital where patients could occupy themselves by building things.
“There she is.” Soph warily whispered.
She and Angel discreetly entered the room.
The light-skinned redhead at whom they were looking was wearing white clothes, but there was no mistake possible. They would never forget that woman; with her stringy hair, lanky figure, prominent ears, and crooked nose.
They were looking at Sarah Summers.
Apparently, Ulla’s intel when she had talked with the White Masks was dated. In truth, shortly after her mental breakdown, Sarah had been transferred to Heartfelt City’s mental hospital in the greatest secrecy. The prison’s administration was still very embarrassed by the fact that one of their own wardens had been swayed by the redhead, so they had made sure that no media would mention the transfer, hence why Ulla didn't hear about it.
The sisters couldn’t blame her. They too had thought Sarah was still in prison.
However, completely by chance, Tinker had recently come across a medical report, mentioning Sarah’s whereabouts. The writer of the text was explaining that, now that the redhead was properly monitored by specialists (and that she was receiving an actual medical treatment), she was making progress.
The sisters needed to be sure that the redhead wasn’t faking her mental condition. She was after all in an institution where escaping was easier.
Angel and Soph approached the woman, though they were careful to not stand directly in her line of sight.
Sarah was busy polishing a piece of wood designed to look like a bird. She had apparently carved it herself. There was a slightly faraway look in her eyes, probably due to her medication, but she was looking a lot more serene.
A white-haired doctor walked towards Sarah, and glanced at her woodwork. “This is very good.” he commented.
The redhead smiled faintly. “I thank you…” She then reported all her attention onto her work.
The doctor left her to her craft, and went to discuss with his aides. The two fake nurses discreetly eavesdropped them.
“The treatment is doing her a lot of good. She has agreed to stop cutting her hair so short that she looks like a cult leader. And she’s able to better control her bouts of anger.” the doctor explained. “I don’t understand why this woman was put into jail WITHOUT a psychological follow-up. Our mayor should release some funds...” He shook his head. “Anyway, we’re hoping to be able to organize a meeting between Sarah and her family in four-to-six months depending on her progress. She has already agreed to it.”
Soph grabbed Angel’s arm, and led her in a part of the room where they were out of earsight.
“The old Sarah would never have agreed to meet her family, even as part of a ploy to fool everyone. She doesn’t seem to be pretending.” Soph whispered to her sister. “And I don’t think she’s a good enough actress to fool trained doctors.”
Angel slowly nodded. Even when Sarah was pretending to be calmer, while the White Masks were doing her bidding, the mere mention of her family was still enough to drive her into hysteria.
“We should leave before somebody notices we’re impostors.” Angel finally said.
**************
Since they had been quicker than expected, and therefore had plenty of time to leave before Harper and Alice would wake up, Angel decided to loosen the knots binding the two nurses. Now, even untrained women such as the two nurses could break free in no time.
“Looks like you didn’t have to intervene this time.” Soph commented as her sister was loosening Alice’s ropes.
Angel shook her head. “I don’t think I would have been able to do anything. She wouldn’t have listened to me, just like she has never listened to Tina. On the contrary, seeing an infiltrator may make her relapse. I don’t care that I wasn’t the one who helped her. I’m just happy that there are OTHERS who can also help people. I’m happy to see there is hope…”
Soph took her arm. “Hope for redemption.” She wasn’t talking about Sarah anymore.
She was talking about her sister.
Angel smiled and pressed Soph's hand. “Yes...”
The sisters removed the nurse outfits and left them near their two slumbering real owners. They put back on their regular casual clothes. Then, they walked away.
“Tinker will also be satisfied.” Angel added.
“I’m still surprised she allowed us to go here.” Soph admitted. “Remember back when she put us in our place when we were at each other’s throats? She’s gotten a lot more assertive!”
Angel shook her head. “Tinker is not Mag. A part of her was feeling bad about what she had done to Sarah. Slandering a woman online and leading a hate campaign against her, even if she deserved it, even if it was to protect us… It’s not something to be done lightly. Tinker spends a lot of time on her computer. She knows how disgusting online harassment and slander are.”
Soph remained silent during a long moment. Angel’s reveal had left her thoughtful.
However, she then finally commented: “Sis’, you know what that means? With Sarah here, her followers have lost their figurehead. She’ll never try to rally people against us again. One of our main enemies has been neutralized.” She started to count on her fingers. “The Phantoms and the Company have weakened each other. Ulla has sabotaged Anna's latest project. Kheshig is reforming the Phantoms. You and Ulla made some progress with the White Masks.”
“Maybe… Maybe we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel…” Angel said with hope.
**************
Oh how the sisters were wrong...
**************
Irene Eudokia, head of House Eudokia, was sitting in her favorite armchair, a sumptuous finely crafted piece of precious woodwork. White pearls were embedded in the armrests, and the tapestry cushions were adorned with gold threads. The aristocrat calmly sipped her expensive rare breed of tea in a porcelain cup. She was watching the news on a gigantic TV screen.
First she saw images of the mayor’s public humiliation, when footage of his illegal deals were leaked right during one of his speeches. Various staff members, security guards, and cosplayers had been found mugged for disguise by the police after an anonymous text. Then she heard police officers discuss a very peculiar mugging for disguise that happened at Heartfelt City’s mental hospital. Peculiar in the sense that the muggers didn’t steal anything, and left the outfits near their victims for when they would wake up.
However, Irene had a good idea on the identities of the culprits...
She turned off the TV, and put her cup of tea on a nearby small table.
“So. Even after all that happened with the Phantoms, the nine sisters are still in Heartfelt City…” the aristocrat commented. “And even if I have to admit that their actions indirectly serve our interest, the idea of a revenge sounds way more pleasant…”
Irene was a smart competent businesswoman, but she also took great pride in her lineage and her family’s reputation. The sisters had sullied that reputation, and had made a mockery of her name. And for that, they had to pay... Plus, their elimination would also serve a purpose. In Irene's social milieu, reputation meant a lot of thing. The sisters had made her family look like utter buffoons, and now some rivals were starting to think THEY could get a shot at Irene. A good old-fashioned 'example' would quell their ambitions... And the sisters would make a fine 'example' of what happened to House Eudokia's enemies.
Irene’s children - Theophano, Constantin, Basile, and Zoë -, who were sitting around her, exchanged quick glances. They knew that when the family’s matriarch gave an order, they could only obey. Even Theophano would never dare to directly contradict her mother.
“What do you want to do, mother?” the eldest daughter asked.
“I have a plan.”
**************
Louette’s patience was coming to an end. She angrily entered Ellie’s apartment.
“Ellie! We need to talk! Ever since the battle with the Prophet, you’ve been acting strangely! You disappear during several days, and then you refuse to say where you went! Cassie is worried sick. Everyone is worried sick. You-”
The blue-haired woman looked more closely at her friend.
“What did you do with your haircut?”
Ellie had indeed cut her hair. They were now closely-cropped.
“You had such pretty hair… It’s a shame. It looks like-” Louette interrupted herself. Her eyes widened. “It looks like Sarah’s haircut.” she slowly commented. Her facial expression was now wary.
“You also have very short hair.” Ellie retorted, clearly on the defensive.
“Yes, but I’ve always had them that way. You, on the other hand…”
Ellie grimaced. “So what? You spend one day with the Siren and her infiltrator pals, and suddenly you renounce everything else? Wasn’t Sarah the woman who gave us the strength to keep on fighting? The strength to keep on LIVING?”
“I’m not gonna deny it. She had a way of making us feel proud of ourselves. She had a way of inspiring us to go forward, in spite of the pain, and to fight. But her influence was toxic, for us and also for her.”
This time, Ellie got angry. “I’m tired of hearing everyone badmouth her as if she was the worst scum out there! I thought we agreed that we would always put the victim above the torturer! And last time I checked, it wasn’t Sarah who drew first blood! SHE was the one whose life was ruined, not the other way around!”
“She was also ready to hurt Shannon to get to Blink.” Louette retorted.
The chubby woman scoffed. “Pffff! That’s what THEY say.”
This time, Louette lost patience with her friend. “Stop that Ellie.”
“Stop what?”
“Stop twisting everything to match your needs. Stop ignoring the facts that don’t suit you.”
“So what? I should see the world in shades of grey? Bah! That’s what THEY say to TRICK us. That’s what they say to JUSTIFY themselves.” Ellie scoffed. “You’ve seen how Tina’s sister, Mag, has treated us. As if we were baby-eating serial killers. I mean, HER sister comes to see Willow, and then Mag acts like WILLOW’s the one at fault. Trust me! They only see the world in shades of grey when it suits THEIR needs!”
"God, Ellie, she did it because she was scared for her sister's safety!"
The chubby woman shook her head, and adjusted her round-shaped glasses. She hadn't listened to her friend's answer.
“But their tricks don’t work on me. I have unmasked them… I have unraveled the hypocrisy behind their actions… They pretend they’re good people… But then how can they bear leaving Knipperen alive and free? Blink isn’t even trying to stop her. On the contrary, she’s WORKING WITH her… And then she tries to claim she’s better than us?! Don’t make me laugh! Thanks to her, Knipperen is still out there. You've read about that coffee shop vendor who almost died of thirst and cramps? It was Knipperen!”
Ellie paused and caught her breath.
“I’ll be fair, and give Tina and her sisters some slack. SOME OF THEM tried to help Cassie and Willow. And you. But Knipperen… Someone has to put an end to her actions! And to her sister's actions too!”
“So you are still trying to-” Louette shook her head. She was now the one becoming angry. “One time wasn’t enough?! You already put us all in danger when you had us join the Phantoms!”
Ellie ignored her retort. She was so busy ranting, she hadn’t even heard it. “You know what I’m thinking? I think Blink’s using her child to coax us… Yes, she’s playing the part of the nice mummy in front of everyone to-”
Louette couldn't hold it anymore. She raised her hand, and slapped Ellie.
“Get real! You’ve seen how worried she was! That wasn’t comedy!” she exclaimed.
There was a small moment of silence.
Ellie rubbed her red cheek. “You hit me…” she commented with an incredulous tone of voice.
Louette suddenly realized what she had done. “E- Ellie… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to… I-”
She tried to approach Ellie, to inspect her friend’s cheek.
Ellie reflexively recoiled in fear.
Louette bit her lower lip. She was looking guilty.
“Don’t you see? It’s another proof!” Ellie exclaimed. “You’d never have hit me before meeting them! They are messing with your head!”
“Why are you so hell-bent on hunting Knipperen and BLINK of all people?!”
“I’ve stolen files belonging to the Phantoms while they were busy fighting the Prophet. Ulla and Izanagi weren’t watching me anymore. And escaping the Crows’ attention was easy, they only had eyes for Willow... The files had information. Lots of information. About all the heists performed by infiltrators. And in these files, I found it was either Blink or Knipperen who hurt me! Since they are twins, they don’t know which one!”
“So it’s personal…”
“Of course it is! I agreed for a truce the time to rescue Shannon, but now the truce is over! I won’t let them get away with what they did! And if YOU refuse to help me, then I’ll find SOMEONE who will!”
“I promised myself I’d keep you safe, Ellie. That includes saving you from yourself.” Louette retorted.
Ellie smiled derisively. “And what are you gonna do? Are you gonna lock me in your trunk all day?”
Another short moment of silence.
“Low blow.” Louette blankly retorted.
Ellie stopped smiling, and became regretful. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It was anger talking.”
“It’s okay. We’ve all been having a bad time these past few weeks. Especially Magda and Willow. Just promise me you’ll stay out of trouble.”
“I promise.”
But she was lying.
“Come on, let’s invite Magda, Willow, and Cassie. We’ll eat somewhere together. They need to be cheered up!” Ellie then proposed. “I want to help them feel better!”
This time, she was sincere.
But Ellie also intended to do some other things after she had seen her friends...
She had a plan.
Plus I once again really enjoyed Stasis little adding of a sentence there, then in the guards working mind then still answer before reality sets in. I think you've captured Stasis wonderfully so far, but then again, this shouldn't be anything new as you know that I have nothing but praise for you when it comes to writing the sisters and you've shown time and time again, that you really know how to nail down their personalities perfectly (especially Stasis) 
