Chapter 3 - Things couldn't be clearer....or murkier
Bonnie glanced at her watch
as she sat aboard the company jet that was winging its way to France
and figured she had another 30 minutes or so before landing.
Glancing through the folder given to her by Jack, her boss at Deltox,
she had seen that it contained a fairly detailed representation for
Frois Vrai, the company she was visiting. The information was, by
all accounts, fairly routine though there was no listing of officers
for the company. Figuring that most of them had left upon the
company's acquisition by Deltox, Bonnie dismissed the incongruity and
leafed through the rest of the papers rather quickly before settling
back in her chair. She glanced out the window at the clear blue
sky and wondered to herself if she might be able to finagle a job in
the North American division. After all, she had her career to
keep in mind...........
Speaking of North America...............
The Carson
Family Amusements factory stood deserted and padlocked in the
industrial park of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Once an employer of
nearly 500 people responsible for the assembling and packaging of a
wide variety of board games, the company's fortunes had taken a marked
downturn corresponding with the rise of computer software. The
company's downfall was complete when it tried to form a partnership
with one computer manufacturer that ultimately led to both firms filing
for bankruptcy. As a result, the factory stood padlocked with the
employees laid off and rumors spreading that it would be tore down in
the near future. When people drove by it at night, they sometimes
saw a light bobbing near the windows which they assumed was a night
watchman.
In truth,
however, the person walking in the building wasn't garbed in a dark
blue and black uniform but rather a colorful outfit that would attract
the attention of any onlooker. As it was, the person stepped into
an elevator and disappeared from sight as the car descended into the
lower levels of the building.
"Geez, where is
the darned light switch? I thought Mr. J would have told me where
everything was in this place before he took off on his big caper
and.... snifff.... and..... mmmm... sniff.... NEVER CAME BACK!!! " a
lithe woman dressed in what looked like a jester's outfit from the
Middle Ages said before tearing up and openly wailing. Known to
the police and general population as Harley Quinn, she was a frequent
associate of the master criminal Joker, the long time foe of
Batman. When Batman disappeared in the event that seemed to claim
most of the heroes, the Joker threw a huge party that lasted three days
and nights with many well known criminals invited to attend. The
clown prince of crime had even arranged to have an invitation delivered
to Police Commissioner Gordon for the party though the invite arrived
two days after the party occurred. After the party wrapped up,
Harley was told by the Joker that he and a few of the boys were 'paying a long delayed visit to Gotham's financial district'.
However, the caper resulted in the cops arresting the Joker's
henchman, who they found unconscious, and the Joker nowhere to be
found. Harley found out from sources in the local jail that 'her
pudding' ( a pet name she called Joker affectionately) walked around
the corner of a bank hallway and vanished. Harley frantically
searched the city and contacted everyone she knew in the underworld but
there was no sign of him anywhere.
"It's a good
thing Mr. J told me about this place before he.... sniff.... he went
away. I just wish he told me who he agreed to work with,"
Harley muttered before blowing her nose with an oversized handkerchief
that was decorated with tiny images of herself. After tucking
away the cloth, she managed to find the light switch that had eluded
her and after a moment or two, the entire room Harley was in became
fully visible and it bore little semblance to anything in a factory
producing novelties or similar items.
The left side of
the room was lined with what appeared to be a series of tubes
that sat atop a vast array of electronic equipment that quietly hummed
as they operated. The front of the tubes, some of which showed
condensation from cold, were see through and inside most of them were
what appeared to be an array of heroines. The heroines were all
in some sort of suspended animation though what that entailed varied
from tube to tube.
"Oooohhh,
this looks pretty sharp. I should have a look at who's who in
these glass containers for the next time I swing by. Mr. J never
left me any kind of inventory sheet for these broads," Harley
said as she skipped over to where the machinery was sitting.
"Hmmmm, lemme see, this babe
goes by the name Firestar. I never heard of her before but
judging by the ice dripping off her, she must have powers like that
lame name she has....." Harley murmured as she stared at the
first tube. Inside the glass and steel capsule, a woman in her
mid 20's and dressed in a tight fitting yellow and red lycra outfit
stood in suspended animation. Tiny icicles could be seen on her
chin and clinging to her fingers as well as her pert breasts.
Judging by the surprised look on Firestar's face, she was caught
somewhat unaware by an attack and fell quickly to her current
captors. Her
right hand was extended out in front of her as if she was trying to
stop the cold that must have rapidly spread over her lithe frame.
"Doo...dee..doo........ hmmmm..... this one is.... oh cool!...... its the
Huntress! Geez, it was just a few months ago that me and Mr. J
ran into her and Robin when we were intercepting that armored car
shipment on the outskirts of the city. She certainly gave me a
kick in the keester when I had her friend in my sights. Somehow,
though, I don't think you'll be doing kicks of any type in the near
future. Hee hee!!!" Harley murmured as she slapped her
right thigh in delight upon seeing the contents of the next tube.
The Huntress, dressed in her usual purple and black costume with thigh-high boots and a crossbow hanging loosely off her right shoulder,
stared straight ahead with no movement visible whatsoever in her face
or the rest of her body. The only indication that the heroine
wouldn't jump out of the tube and attack Harley in an instant were the
small metal discs located on her body that appeared to have some sort
of current going through them. Two discs could be seen on the
left and right sides of the Huntress' face with a third one located just
above the cleavage in her uniform's top.
"Lemme see..... contestant # 3......... she likes to practice magic,
entertain kiddies at shows and stare longingly at the Bats. Let's
hear it for Zatanna!!!" Harley crowed mockingly as she glanced
at the data for the third tube before staring upwards at what was
inside. Zatanna, dressed in her usual stage outfit of a top hat,
tuxedo, fishnet stockings and high heels, appeared to have been
turned into a statue made of silver or some similar material.
Judging by the small, silver pigeon perched on the statue's right
shoulder, it appeared that the heroine had been taken while in the
midst of performing one of her magic tricks for an audience. Scratching her head with the boxing glove handgun that was her trademark
weapon, Harley didn't recall any newspaper articles or TV reports that
mentioned Zatanna's disappearance.
"Mr. J did mention that the people he agreed to do this for seemed a
bit odd, from what he could sense. Consider my pudding has seen a lot
of strange stuff since he first electrocuted a crime boss who got in
his way, he wouldn't say that without some thought..... sniff...... the
way he cocked his head in amusement. Gee, I miss the way
he'd..... he'd laugh as he plotted to get Bat boy one more
time...... WAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" Harley sputtered before
breaking down and crying again. The deranged villainess ran over
to a nearby box of tissue and grabbed some to wipe her eyes clear of
the tears pouring out of them. As she did, Harley noticed the
box's sides depicted not the usual generic pictures of flowers or solid
colors but rather a cartoon scene showing Batman and Robin dangling
over a pool full of sharks with the Joker and Harley busy torturing a
tied-up Batgirl. Gazing at the drawing for several seconds,
Harley's tears quickly dried up and a smile returned to her face as she
glanced once again at the tubes.
"The fourth member of the frozen........... lemme see........ can absorb
another person's abilities and memories temporarily by touching them
briefly with the effect becoming permanent if contact is
maintained. Rogue is her name according to what's written
here.... sounds pretty dumb..... still, I like the white streak in her
hair. I wonder if it's natural or a dye job," Harley
muttered as she gazed up at the next tube in the machinery.
Rogue, dressed in what appeared to be a skintight green outfit that
covered her from the neck down, had the same blank look on her face
that the other imprisoned heroines had. However, there was a
marked difference for Rogue in comparison to the others as, when Harley
gazed closer at the heroine, she had been apparently transformed into a
plastic mannequin. Her skin had a plastic sheen to it and there
was joint lines faintly visible on her wrists and shoulders. Rogue's eyes, tinged slightly in fear and apprehension, were clearly
nothing more than colored glass from Harley's perspective.
"Golly, this is just plain weird. It's kinda like being back in
Arkham on the other side of the glass," Harley said wistfully as she
recalled what she, and a few other criminals in Gotham, knew the mental
asylum as looking like. With her inspection of the immobilized
heroines completed, the red and white costume-clad woman headed over to
the lone computer in the room to see what the Joker had agreed to for
compensation in return for caretaking the quartet of heroines. As
she did, Harley was unaware that the elevator she had taken to the basement
was humming once again.
"Let's see, Mr. J was contacted about three weeks before he
disappeared with a proposal from....." Harley said out loud as
she recited the text she saw on the screen before stopping as a frown
crossed her painted face. Tapping the sides of her face with her
fingers, she stared at the screen for several long seconds as she scrolled
down through the text.
"There's nothing here about the guys my pudding was dealing with in
terms of names and locations. It just refers to them as 'The
Group' with all contacts to be done in the future over the internet or
by cell phone text messages. There's another folder here marked 'SECURITY'...... I wonder what it....... HEYYY!!!!!!!!!!" Harley
said out loud before jumping to one side awkwardly as a bolt of
electrical energy hit the desk to her right.
Harley turned around and saw a woman emerge out of a darkened corner in
the room. Dressed in tight fitting black leather from the neck
down with silver and gold gauntlets visible on her wrists, the red
haired woman was known to many in the world as Black Widow, a
crimefighting heroine who was known to associate with figures such as
Daredevil and the heroic group known as the Avengers. Formerly a
phenomenally successful spy for the communist rulers in Russia, she
left them to fight crime in North America. With formidable
fighting skills as well as the ability to deliver a powerful electrical
blast from her wrist gauntlets, the golden spider logo above her right
breast was often the last thing Black Widow's opponents saw before a
swift defeat at her hands.
"Harley Quinn!! I don't know what role you have in the abduction
of the women here or if you have any part in the disappearance of my
friends and colleagues but when I have defeated....... OOOOFFFF!!!!" Black Widow started to proclaim before spinning backward from
the impact of an oversized boxing glove striking her jaw. The
heroine crumpled back into the corner that she had been secretly been
hiding in even as the glove retracted back to the gun Harley was
holding in her hand.
"Blah, blah, blah, ya know, I'm always amazed by you superhero
types. I thought the shrinks at my old home, Arkham Asylum,
talked a lot but you spandex clad idiots always make a statement when
things are just getting started!!" Harley said with a derisive
snort. As she skipped and pranced over in the direction of Black
Widow, the red and white clad villainess seemed oblivious to the fact that
two metallic objects had emerged from the ceiling and were tracking her
movements.
"The itsy, bitsy spider crawled up the waterspout...... down came the
rain and washed the spider out...... up came the sun and dried the
spider out... here comes little Harley to knock the spider about!!!" Harley chirped in a voice mimicking a little girl she had met
once when she was younger. As she got within arm's length of her
opponent, she wondered what she should do with her and if she might be
able to use her as a way to get information about the location of her
beloved Mr. J.
However, when Harley bent over to make sure Black Widow was
unconscious, she found herself the victim of a powerful kick from the
heroine that sent her spiraling backwards and slamming into a nearby
wall. Recovering quickly, the two quickly engaged in hand to hand
fighting with Black Widow's superior fighting skills neutralized by
Harley's unorthodox combat tactics as well as a better knowledge of the
area around them.
As the fight dragged on for minutes, there was considerable damage to the walls and
furniture in the room as well as a lesser amount to the machinery
around the inactive heroines. It was when the latter occurred
that
the overhead cameras focusing on the duo locked in fierce battle
started to hum softly with long, black tubes appearing at the bottom of
them.
"HIYAHHHH!!!"
Black Widow cried out as she delivered a solid roundhouse kick that
sent her red and white clad opponent spinning to the floor semi
conscious. Harley tried to pull herself back up but the effect of
the blow, in combination with the other physical and electrical attacks
from before, had drained her strength to continue and she fell back to
the floor in a heap.
"Well, my female jokester foe, I think it is time for you to tell me
everything you know about this operation here. After that, I have
some friends who might........ MMMMMPPPHHHHHH!!!!!!" Black
Widow started to say in Russian accented english before she was cut off
by a
stream of black fluid that flowed over her from a tube attached to one
of the surveillance cameras overhead.
The heroine tried to extricate herself from the black goo but found her
ability to move, as well as her strength, rapidly draining from her
limbs. Within seconds, her arms, flaying upwards in a frantic
attempt to escape the substance coating her, were moving noticeably
slower by the second and the same applied to her legs. Even
worse, Black Widow sensed that the substance was soaking through her
costume and absorbing into her body. She had encountered many
substances in her lengthy career of fighting crime but this material
was unlike anything she had encountered before.
As Black Widow fought a seemingly hopeless battle against the substance
enveloping her, Harley stood still and watched the fight with a bemused
look on her face. "I think I need some cherry flavored bubble
gum to chew on while, ouch, the spider lady is taken care of by the
security forces," the villainess chirped as she turned and
ambled back towards another desk in the room. Clutching her ribs
with her left hand, Harley retrieved a pack of gum from one of the desk
drawers and popped a stick into her mouth with little attention being
paid to what was happening behind her.
If the villainess had looked, she would have seen the struggle was
nearing its conclusion rapidly. Black Widow's blows against the
goo were becoming weaker by the second with the substance changing from
black to bright red in color. The heroine's legs and arms started
to draw tight to her sides and the energy seemed to be rapidly draining
from her eyes to be replaced by a spark not of her own.
"Geez, this reminds me of the day me and Mr. J took on Batty Man and
the Boy Blunder at the site of the Toys Not for Tots factory. My
pudding grabbed a rack of shiny catsuits and....... MMMMPPPPHHHH!!!!!!!" Harley started to say happily as she turned to witness her
opponent's final seconds of struggle before suddenly going
silent. The villainess' silence was caused by one of the overhead
cameras exuding a gooey substance that was similar in nature to the one
currently enveloping Black Widow.
Twenty or so minutes later, the room was silent once again save for the
humming of the electronic equipment surrounding the immobilized women
in the glass tubes. The only difference in the room from before,
besides an overturned chair and messed up desk, was the sight of two
female figures, garbed in red and blue material individually, standing
on opposite sides of the elevator entrance. The only signs, aside
from the barely visible nipples and pussies, that these latex (or
something similar) coated figures were actually women were the eyes
that flickered every now and then.
Other than that, the room was silent............
Elsewhere........at an airport in
France..........
"......right this way, Ms. Dobson. Frois Vrai has sent me, Gilles
Dubont, and a company limousine to drive you pour the plant pres d'ici," a thin man said, with a mixture of French and English in his
words, while gesturing towards a black limousine parked to the right of
a nearby entrance.
Bonnie nodded and followed the chauffeur to the waiting vehicle with
her eyes still reading through the briefing material she had been given
about the company she was visiting. Five or so minutes later,
Bonnie, seated in the back of what was a very sumptuous limousine,
was on the road for a 45 minute trip according to the chauffeur.
Ten or so minutes into
the trip, Bonnie finished reading the material about Frois Vrai
and decided to watch a little television on the TV mounted opposite her
in the car. After clicking through a few channels that were
showing Jerry Lewis movies, she came across the WNN (World News
Network) channel and the hosts were speaking English in what appeared
to be an international feed.
".......go to Washington where there was a press conference held that
was rather unusual to say the least. Our reporter Melissa
Browning is there to give us a full report. Melissa?" the
studio host intoned before the screen shifted to show a brunette
standing before a red brick building and the usual text showing at the
bottom.
"Thanks, Gordon. There was a press conference held today by U.S.
National Defense officials that introduced their newest agent to combat
super powered criminals in the nation and around the world.
However, just as they were about to introduce the agent, a heroine
known as Comet Queen, a reporter interrupted the opening statement to
say he had a tape showing that Comet Queen had recently collaborated
with a villain who goes by the name of Shape Shifter in the theft of a
large amount of electronic parts and equipment from a southern
California
warehouse. With that, the news conference quickly erupted into
pandemonium with reporters shouting out questions to the obviously
stunned Defense officials. As for the reporter responsible for
the chaos, he was quickly hustled out of the room by several men who
looked to be Secret Service men. The only thing we can tell you
about the reporter in question is that he was affiliated with WCGS, a
TV station based in St. Martin, Louisiana and goes by the name Gary
McLaughlin. We'll try and find out more about Gary and the tape
he alleged to possess as the day progresses here in Washington.
Back to you, Carlo," the female reporter intoned as several
other media types moved around in the background behind her.
"Sheesh....the government is
getting
involved with this hero stuff now.... the conspiracy kooks are going to
have a field day with all this crap......." Bonnie
thought to herself as she leaned forward and clicked off the television
before settling back in her seat and waiting for the drive to finish.
If Bonnie had bothered to look closer at the tray she had gotten her
drink from, she might have noticed the presence of tiny camera attached
to the underside of it. On the other side of the camera, a figure
wrapped in darkness that was not natural made notes on an electronic
tablet as the image of the limousine's interior played on a nearby
monitor. Behind them, two figures watched and gestured towards
other monitors throughout the room before returning their focus to the
limousine.
"This woman could prove to be an invaluable tool in our day to day
operations. According to the file sent to us, she's ambitious,
eager and ruthless to a certain degree. I'm sure that, given an
appropriate amount of financial compensation, she will agree to perform
tasks for us that will further out plans," one of the figures
intoned solemnly.
"Oh, that is certain. By the way, we've had some problems at the
work encouragement station once again. It seems the Kryptonian
was involved once again in an attempted escape," the other
figure replied as he handed a tablet to the other individual.
After scanning over the tablet, the individual let out a soft
sigh. "I guess we'll have to enact punishment protocol once
again. When the Kryptonian tried to lead an insurrection before,
we used a green kryptonite ray for punishment that was set at, hmm, 90
% potency, understood? Increase the ray to 92 % strength and
increase the duration by 8 terracycles this time!" the figure snapped
with an odd sounding noise heard at the end.
"Your instructions are understood and will be carried out. A
suggestion, though, about an alternative path that could be used.
Why not use the ray at 100 % potency for as long as it takes to kill
the Kryptonian? That way, the attempts to leave without
permission will decrease significantly," the other individual
replied with a tone that sounded like he was discussing a business
affair.
"An
admirable sentiment but flawed. If we dispose of the Kryptonian
on a permanent basis, the death would merely serve as a martyr for the
remaining workers and could result in more attempted escapes as well as
an increasingly agitated worker population. However, by returning
the Kryptonian in a weakened, helpless state to the populace, it saps
their desire to resist upon seeing what some might consider their
mightiest symbol reduced to a husk barely able to stand," the
figure said decisively with a mocking laugh echoing from the speaker
after the last few words.
"You're a sage leader. It's little wonder you'll be in charge of
this planet after the master plan has been completed," the
second individual murmured in awe as the two walked out of the room and
down the hallway to their next important meeting.
For the remaining heroines on Earth, if they didn't discover the
individuals who attended these meetings soon, their futures would soon
be severely limited in scope.... not to mention any remaining degree of movement.
To be continued.............