Assault of the Slave Girls

Part 1

Slave Girl 1 versus Ultra Woman

By Skytower

          Prologue:

            To an experienced heroine like Tania the familiar was safe, the unfamiliar a warning sign that things might not be safe.  Tania had learned to extend this philosophy to nearly every part of her life.  A new doorman at her building, a new clerk at the supermarket, a new cop on the beat… in the past not noticing that sort of detail had often led to her being taken by surprise and captured.  So Tania was instantly alert when she settled into the dentist chair and her normal hygienist Peggy Sandusky didn’t walk into the room.  Instead a tall black woman who looked to be somewhere in her 20’s came in and smiled at her.  Tania covered her suspicion instantly, something else that she had learned to do in her career as a heroine.  But while she smiled Tania also casually took her arms off of the armrest of the chair and folded them on her lap.  It would take only an instant for Tania to tap her bracelets together and have access to Ultra Woman’s full powers.

            “Hi, I’m Tina Jackson,” The woman said.  “Peggy’s dealing with a five year old who has trouble keeping his mouth open for more than five seconds.”

            Tania relaxed a little bit.  An un-explained illness or a suddenly lottery win would be too much but a kid nervous at the dentist?  That she could accept.  Still she looked more closely at Tina.  The woman worked out, Tania could see the smooth skin and tight muscles in her arms.  She wore a standard dentist uniform of blue slacks, button up the front blue blouse and a white lab coat.  Her dark hair was straight and long but tied up into a pony tail. 

            “Been doing this long?” Tania asked.

            “Six months,” Tina said.  “Was doing in the navy for three years though.”  She smiled.  “It won’t hurt.”

            “Don’t worry,” Tania said relaxing some more.  “I can take it.”

            Tina put on a bib on her to protect Tania’s blouse and Tania looked at her own small reflection in the woman’s glasses.  There were no tentacles reaching for her head from behind the chair.  Over Tina’s shoulder was a clock and Tania watched it carefully as Tina started to work.  After a few minutes Tania relaxed a little more.  Tina worked smoothly and patiently and Tania heard no other movement in the room.  That meant that there was no goon ready to charge in and hold her down while Tina slammed a chloroform pad over her face.  Tania could see the second hand of the clock moving so there was no chance of hypnosis so long as she kept track of the time.

            So I can have just a normal dental visit, Tania thought.  Which was good, her teeth were strong and healed after battles-otherwise she wouldn’t have that many left, not with all of the hits to the jaw that she had taken-but plaque build up was plaque build up.

            The tune ‘Does anyone know what time it is,’ came from Tina’s pocket and she pulled out a small black cell phone.

            “Sorry,” She said pressing a button on it.

            Tania was about to say that it was all right when suddenly her world stopped.  A tone came from the chair she was sitting in and she froze as the stasis field snapped into place.  At the same instant the clock on the wall stopped and the door locked.  Paralyzed in one moment of time Tania never saw Tina open her cell phone and take out a small pencil thin drill.  Tina moved with well practiced but urgent haste, her hands almost a blur.  A magnified hologram of Tania’s mouth appeared on her glasses.  The drill bit into Tania’s upper back molar, quickly going through the enamel, dentin and stopping just as the nerve was exposed.  It was a tiny whole, no bigger than a pencil point.  Tina put the drill down and then took a thin rod out of the cellphone.  She eased it into the whole in Tania’s tooth and there was a slight clicking sound as the injection was made.  On the hologram a blue spot appeared inside the nerve.  Tania never moved.  Tina took out a third thin tube and held it over Tania’s tooth.  A blue beam shot from the tube and in seconds the dentin and enamel layers grew back.

            Tina put the three tubes back into the cell phone and closed it.  Then she pressed the button on her cellphone again.  The tone stopped and Tania blinked her eyes.

            “I busy,” Tina said into the phone.  “Tony…  I’ll talk to you later.”

            “Sorry,” Tina said as she put the cell phone away. 

            Tania shrugged in understanding and lay on the chair patiently as Tina went back to cleaning her teeth.

            One half of an hour later Tina watched as Tania left the office.  Then she took out her cell phone again and called.

            “Report,” Commanded a guttural voice.

            “Nightshade here,” Tina said.  “Slave Girl 1 is in the womb.  No sign of any suspicion.”

            “Good,” the voice said.  “Now we wait.”

            Tina hung up and welcomed her next patient.  She’d be doing this for another week at least.  Superheroines were a paranoid lot and someone who was here today and gone tomorrow aroused suspicions.  Ultra Woman had no idea of the three minutes and thirty three seconds that she had just lost.  No idea that the three minutes and thirty three seconds were vital to A.I.M.  No idea that in those three minutes and thirty three seconds of mental stasis Ultra Woman had suffered a great defeat and had lost and would loose more than she could ever dream of getting back.

            Chapter 1.

            In the old days they had used warehouses in dark parts of town.  Now criminal organizations used abandoned or vacant industrial parks in the suburbs.

            The criminal mind, Wanda thought as she looked at the building from the hill near the building, never rests.  The building looked normal from the outside.  Brick and sealed glass windows, a loading dock in the back with a dumpster beside it and a tall glass entranceway in the front.  It was located perfectly, one mile from the highway and two miles from a commuter rail station.  But no one had the money to use it.  At least not legitimately.

            Wanda raised her scanner and watched her display as the buildings walls became transparent and the inner rooms were momentarily revealed.  Then they blurred.

            “First clue,” Wanda whispered.  “Shielded.”

            But a clue wasn’t probable cause.  Wanda drew her lips into a tight line.  That building housed a Hydra operation, she was sure of it.  The tip that the X-men had gotten from Minnie the Moll was solid.  Hydra was snatching young mutants away from their families and either selling them or brainwashing them into being Hydra agents.  But if the X-men went in with only a tip it would be breaking and entering and even if they got the kids safely away the Hydra agents would walk.  It had happened many times before and they were tired of it.  That was why they had asked for her help.  Wanda’s Avenger status made her a law enforcement officer, once she got evidence they could grab the Hydra agents and turn them over the SHIELD, hopefully find clues to other missing mutants.  They had come to Wanda and she had briefed the rest of the Avnegers.  But she wanted to do this alone at first.  She needed stealth and what ever else Hulk, Thor and Captain America were they were not stealthy.  Ms. Marvel convinced her to take Hawkeye as back up.  Now he watched from the highway side of the building. 

            But being able to use the law also meant having to follow it.  The scanner alone was pushing things as far as the fourth amendment was concerned.

            “Of course if I just walk up to the front door and knock…” Wanda smiled a strange smile.  She was an Avenger they were Hydra.  She’d be knocked out and tied up in minutes.  Which of course would give the rest of the Avengers all the legal reasons in the world to tear that building apart stone by stone.

            “Hawkeye respond,” Wanda spoke into her communicator.  All that she got back was silence.  “Respond.” Wanda tried again.  Still there was no response. 

            Wanda was about to call Hawkeye again when the loading dock of the building seemed to explode with light.  Raising her scanner Wanda saw a man or a woman rush through the suddenly-on security lights and crash through the doors.

            “What the hell is he doing?” Wanda demanded snapping her communicator to the Avengers emergency channel.  All she got was static and Wanda cursed.  Hydra bases routinely sent out all wave jamming signals when they were attacked to make sure the enemy had no way to co-ordinate the attack.

            Wanda got up and ran toward the building, her boots making almost no sound on the ground as she magically lightened her steps.  What ever had triggered him, Hawkeye he was going to need back up.

            Wanda stepped through the whole in the wall and into carnage.  Ten men lay prone on the floor covered in blood.  Wanda stepped carefully past one man who had a fist-sized dent in his skull.  The other men had ribs sticking out from their green and yellow Hydra uniforms and one man was missing an arm.  This wasn’t done by Hawkeye.  Who ever had done this was vicious and powerful.  She knelt down and examined some spent bullets.  There was no sign of flesh or blood on them.  Who ever it was could be either bullet proof or very fast.

            Wanda followed the trail of blood down a corridor and into a large central room.  There she saw the attacker.  The woman was tall and slim but that was all that Wanda could tell.  The woman was wearing a skintight black suit and mask that revealed nothing but the fact that she was a woman.  Her hands and arms were covered with blood.  Ten Hydra men had cornered her and were trying to bring her down.  Four of them had grabbed her legs and four of them her arms while the two others hit her head repeatedly. 

            “Another one!” One of the men holding the woman’s legs shouted out as he saw Wanda.

            The distraction was all that the woman needed.  She jerked her arm free and slammed it down through the skull of one of the men who was holding her legs.  Then she managed to free her other arm.

            Wanda raised her hands to cast a hex-sphere.  Who ever the woman was she was at least a murderess and Hydra agents or no Wanda could not let them die.  But before she could cast the sphere a Hydra agent grabbed her from behind.  Wanda flipped him over but he was up and at her again and it took a few minutes to knock him out with a blow to his stomach and neck.

            Wanda looked to where the woman had been fighting and saw only a pile of dead men.  She heard a crash from another corridor and followed it.

            The room hummed with power.  Wanda looked around the edge of the smashed door cautiously.  Inside was a central column of gray metal that was badly cracked.  Angry glowing red lines pulsed with power.  In front of the column was a control panel. The woman had attached a USB tab to the panel and was taping away on the keyboard.  A man in a lab coat lay on the floor groaning.

            “Stop!” Wanda commanded as she stepped into the room.  Her hands were glowing with power and a hex-sphere had already formed.  The woman turned around and Wanda saw nothing on her face but a dark strip of polarized plastic covering her eyes.  “I don’t know who you are but killing is not allowed.  Surrender now.”

            In one motion the woman pulled the USB tab out and then slammed her other fist through the console and tore part of it out, throwing it at Wanda.  Wanda had no time to throw her sphere; she could only duck.  She almost made it but the panel glanced off of the side of her head and Wanda fell back against the wall dazed.  She watched through a dim mist of pain as the woman ran out of the room.  For a moment Wanda knew blackness, then she pulled herself awake.

            Very loud alarms were sounding.  The Hydra scientist by the remains of the console pulled himself upright at the same time Wanda did.

            “No!” He shouted.  “You crazy bitch!  The reactions overloading, we’ll all die!”

            “I didn’t do it!” Wanda snapped staggering over to him.  “Tell me what is happening.”

            “That’s a gamma generator,” The scientist said as he started to work with the console.  “We’re using two pieces of gamma charged ore to generate a controlled gamma eruption through a set of diamonds, but you’ve smashed the control, there’s nothing to stop the two ores from touching and when they do the gamma rays will take out everything for fifty miles!”

            “Why did you need that for a mutant kidnapping operation?” Wanda demanded.

            “This is weapons research!” The scientist shouted back.  “Not mutant kidnapping!” 

            “Can you stop that?” Wanda demanded pointing to the column.  The cracks were wider and the red glow more powerful now.

            “No time!”

            “I’ll give you the time!” Wanda shouted.  She formed the spell in her mind and cast the hex-sphere in her hands.  She couldn’t control time, but the air between the two ores was something that she could control.  Wanda threw the sphere into the column and in her mind she focused her energy between the ores.  The air between them was suddenly water and then ice as Wanda transmuted the atoms and then pulled all of the energy from them.

            “You’ve got a few minutes,” Wanda gasped out the words as she kept her hex-sphere in place.  The heat from the ores would vaporize her ice in moments unless she kept renewing the spell.  Beside her the scientist worked feverishly on the panel.  Wanda was ready to drop when he connected two last pieces of wire and then slammed his hand down on a red button.  The red glow faded from the cracks and Wanda released her sphere, allowing it to dissolve.

            “Done,” the scientist said.

            “Good,” Wanda replied.  “Now…”

            Wanda never finished her sentence as the words were lost to her backward flip to avoid the steel pipe that the scientist had aimed at her head. 

            “Hail Hydra!” The man shouted rushing at her. 

            Wanda dodged the pipe and planted her knee into his stomach as he went by her.  But before she could do anything else a Hydra guard tackled her to the ground.  Wanda slammed her forearm against his throat and rolled him off of her but another guard was coming at her.  This one got her foot into his crotch.  Three more guards were coming through the ruined doorway.  Wanda started to cast a hex-sphere but the scientist had recovered enough to grab her arm and before she could pull free the three guards were on her.  Two of them fell on her legs while the third kicked her in the head.

            Where were these idiots a few minutes ago, Wanda thought angrily before the heavy boot hit the side of her head and knocked her out.

            There was nothing special looking about the mobile home.  It was a silver Winnebago Journey pulled off by the side of the highway.  The woman in black emerged from the woods next to the highway and walked over to the door.  She was covered in blood from the battle and leaves and twigs that had stuck to her suit.  The door opened just as she reached it and closed after she entered.  A few seconds later the mobile home shimmered and vanished into the darkness without a trace.

            It re-appeared in the corner of a large chamber.  The chamber was easily one hundred feet long and the roof stood eighty feet above the floor.  It was sectioned with cubicles at one end, a set of machine shops and tables filled with biological tools at the other and lining both of the last two walls were monitor screens both large and small.  The monitors showed more information than could ever have been processed by any single human mind.  At the center of the chamber was a set of consoles each with a worker.  The workers all wore yellow jumpsuits with screened beekeeper like helmets.  All of the consoles were arranged around a nightmare.  The creature-for it had long since stopped being human-was called Modok.  Modok’s head was nearly his entire body, a four-foot high, two-foot wide cylinder shape with tiny arms and legs attached.  His face was human with the proper proportions between eyes, nose and mouth, but hideously huge and framed in metal.  Modok floated on anti-grav thrusters and his arms manipulated two joysticks to steer himself about.  When he saw the Winnebago appear a smile grew on his face and he floated over to it.

            The door opened and Tina stepped out followed by the woman in black.

            “Report,” Modok commanded in a voice that was half machine.

            “Successful,” Tina said holding up the USB tab.  “We have the data on Hydra’s gamma-gun.  But it was close.  Modok the unit is not ready for this.”

            “She was successful,” Modok said.  “What of Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch?”

            “Unit 1 dealt with Hawkeye,” Tina said.  “The Scarlet Witch was captured by Hydra.  This should work for us.”

            “Yes, it should.” Modok agreed. “Our man will let us know where they take her.  This will help spark the war.”

            “I think that we were fortunate Modok,” Tina said. 

            “Even the best of plans need luck Nightshade,” Modok said.  “What of the unit?”

            “She has no obvious injuries,” Tina said.  “But I’ll examine her.  Slave Girl 1 remove clothing.”

            “Slave Girl 1 confirms obedience,” The woman said pulling off her mask to reveal herself as Ultra Woman.  Anyone who knew Ultra Woman would notice something strange about the way she moved and talked.  It was slow.  Not somnambulant enough for hypnosis but with none of the life or energy she normally possessed.  Her movements were practical and precisely mechanical.  Her eyes were bright and focused but the mind behind them radiated none of the warmth or kindness that Ultra Woman was known for.  There was a cold soulless logic to her gaze.  Her voice was toneless.

            After she took off the mask Ultra Woman pulled her shirt over her head revealing series of bruises and welts but no other wounds.  As she took off her black sports bra more of them were revealed.  Still more of the marks covered her legs as she took off her pants and panties.  When that was done all that she was left to wear were her bracelets.

            “Superficial wounds as I suspected,” Tina said running a scanner over Ultra Woman’s still body.  “But the pain is a problem.”

            “The Unit handled the pain,” Modok said.

            “Yes but it still registered in the host mind,” Tina said.  She turned to Modok.  “She’ll interpret it as a nightmare but if she notices the bruises it’ll arouse her suspicions.  I told you the Unit needs more time for infiltration.”

            “Slave Girl 1 report infiltration of host mind,” Modok commanded.

            “Slave Girl 1 confirms 2% infiltration,” Tania said.

            “That is not enough,” Tina protested.  “2% increases her strength, gives us her senses, powers and fighting instincts, not Ultra Woman’s memories and not any sort of ability to control her conscious mind.”  Tina held her scanner next to Ultra Woman’s head.  “Right now I’m reading increased brain activity, if Ultra Woman perceives any of this consciously…”

            “We activated Slave Girl 1 when Tania Mazona was asleep.” Modok said.  “That gamma gun was necessary for Operation She-Hulk.  The risk was worth the reward.”

            Tina frowned and for a moment they were both silent and stood looking at Tania. 

            Had there been any conscious part of Tania’s mind working she would have noticed the look in Tina’s eyes.  Not concern for a human life or guilt for having stolen part of that life, but a certain cautious satisfaction.  The scientist in Tina looked upon Tania as a project in the works.  A mouse that had not yet learned to find it’s way through a maze.

            Modok’s reaction would have surprised her.  Lust filled his eyes but not a physical lust.  That sort of lust was beyond him.  Had Ultra Woman been able to see into the abomination’s mind she would have seen a lust to control her.  To have her conform to every aspect of his will.

            “How long will it take for further infiltration at the current rate?” Modok asked at last.

            “A week,” Tina said.  “The Unit had to stop to go on this mission and now it will need to recharge.”

            “Very well,” Modok replied.  “We will allow it the time.”

            Tina’s scanner started to beep and she passed it over Tania’s head and then looked at the results.

            “What is it?” Modok asked.

            “Nothing serious,” Tina said.  “A spike in brainwave activity.  Ultra Woman’s nudity is somehow being perceived by her conscious mind.”

            “It should be repressed,” Modok said but there was no anger in his voice.  “Even at only 2%.”

            “That estimate was approximate,” Tina said.  “I can use quick heal on the body but the mind can’t be controlled yet.  We have to get her home and back to bed.”

            “Proceed,” Modok said. 

There was no flash of light as Tina and Tania appeared in Tania’s bedroom, merely a ripple in the air.  The teleporter that AIM had developed had been created with stealth as a primary design goal.  Tina checked the apartment and was relieved to find that there were no messages on the phone and that no one had tried to break in.  Returning to the bedroom she looked at Tania Mazona. 

            “Kneel.”

            “Slave Girl 1 confirms obedience,” Tania said kneeling on the floor. 

            Tina went over and put her hand on Tania’s head.  Raising the head Tina looked into the blue eyes of her oblivious slave.  The villainess closed her own eyes and her entire body shuddered.

            “I defeated you without ever having struck you,” Tina purred opening her eyes.  “We didn’t have a great battle with cars flying and buildings falling.”

She looked around the apartment and saw a photo of Tania with a young woman.  Though the young woman had red hair the resemblance was too close not to notice. 

“A daughter?” Tina asked.  She carried the photo over to Tania and held it in front of her face.  “Just like you.  An entire island of amazon women.  Slaves for AIM.”  Tina laughed.  “We’re still arguing about what to call them you know.  Valkyries, Harpies…”

            Tina knelt down and waved the picture in front of Tania’s face. 

            “I bet she really is just like you,” Tina said and bitterness began to creep into her voice.  “She grew up just like you, an on an island of women.  No men to tell you that you couldn’t do this or that.  No men grabbing your ass when you stopped being a little girl.”

            Tina stood up and then looked at the photo. 

            “Someday Ultra Woman I’m going to unlock your memory.  You’re going to remember this.  You’re going to remember exact moment in time that I decided to make your little girl a slave!  Not just a slave like you, she’ll be MY personal slave.  Her, your people… all of them will be just like you are now.”

            Tina walked over and replaced the picture then she walked back over to Tania, knelt down and ran her hand lightly over Tania’s hair.

            “And the best part is that you’re the one who’s going to bring them to me.”

            Tina almost cried out in pleasure but stopped herself at the last moment.  A glanced at the window told her that dawn was coming.  Tania Mazona would be waking up soon.

            “Put your nightgown on,” Tina said.  “Then get into bed and deactivate.”

            “Slave Girl 1 confirms obedience,” Tania said reaching for the wispy Georgette nightgown and putting it on.  She climbed into bed and Tina teleported out just as Tania’s body relaxed into a normal sleep.  After that there was silence in the bedroom save for the regular rhythm of Tania’s breathing and the ticking of the clock on her night table.

            Wanda woke with her shoulders and head aching.  The reason for the headache was fresh in her memory.  The reason for her shoulders aching was the way she had been bound.  Her cape had been taken and her red gloves replaced by a red leather single glove that pulled her shoulders back and encased her arms.  Wanda looked around.  She was in a large stone walled room.  The stone was dark gray and the ceiling was vaulted brick while the floor was hard packed dirt.  A cave?  The place was freezing and it smelled dank enough.  But light came from fluorescent work lights that were embedded in the ceiling. 

            Wanda climbed to her knees and looked around some more.  The cold floor was gritty and cut into her feet.  Her boots were gone.  The rest of her costume was intact but that didn’t make her feel much better.  Had they gotten Hawkeye as well?       

            One of the walls seemed to split open and a man walked in.  He was wearing a skin tight black suit with a gray slash around the waist and matching gray gloves and boots.  A knee length cape was black on the inside and gray on the outside, making it hard to guess his build.  A mask/hood covered the top half of his face and hid the color of his hair.  His boots crunched the stone as he walked loudly across the stone. 

            “Whiplash,” Wanda said. 

            “In the flesh honey,” Whiplash said.  From beneath his cape he pulled out a silver whip.  Wanda tensed.  The whip was made of a high level alloy, it had in the past gone through Iron Man’s armor.

            “What do you want?” Wanda demanded climbing to her feet. 

            He moved his arm and Wanda felt a whispering hand move across her shoulder.  She jumped back and saw a lock of her brown hair fall to the floor.

            “Hydra wants to know who your friend was,” Whiplash said.  “How you knew where the base was, how you got past security, why it was only you two…” He trailed off and smiled at her.  “Me I only wanna know one thing.”

            “What’s that?” Wanda asked.

            “How good you are at dancing.”

            The whip flashed out before Wanda could speak or react and snapped against the top of her right foot.  It was a hard stinging pain and Wanda jumped back.  But his next blow hit her other foot and she had to jump again.  For a while Whiplash chased her around the room, snapping the whip at her feet again and again.  Sometimes Wanda managed to dodge it, most times she didn’t and the lash marks were dull brown against her skin.  Wanda soon found it hard to dodge and her feet were getting stiff.  She stumbled and Whiplash quickly moved and his whip lashed out hitting the bottom of her foot on the instep. 

            Wanda screamed and fell hard trying desperately to roll away from him.  Whiplash stood still while the panting heroine managed to back up against the wall.  Slowly Wanda pulled herself upright.

            The whip shot out again and Wanda heard it instead of felt it.  Then she looked down and realized that the villain had sliced the front of her top open.  His control was perfect.  Whiplash had cut through her top and her bra and not left any mark at all on her skin.  Even while she was realizing this Wanda heard the whip sing out four more times and the top of her costume and bra fell away revealing her bare breasts.

            “Bastard!” Wanda swore as her large nipples and pink areoles were revealed.  With her arms in the single glove Wanda couldn’t even cover herself.

            “Who was your friend?” Whiplash demanded.

            “I didn’t know her,” Wanda snapped and a second later screamed as the whip snapped at her right nipple.  The pain was like someone pinching it. 

            “Try again,” Whiplash ordered.

            “I was scouting the place out when she attacked it,” Wanda said.  “Looking for a mutant kidnapping operation, I don’t know who she is.”

            Again the whip struck out, this time twice and Wanda screamed as welts appeared on the tops of her breasts.  Not giving her a chance to recover Whiplash struck out again and Wanda could do nothing but scream as her breasts were lashed.

            He paused and Wanda fell to her knees gasping for breath, her breasts on fire from the pain.

            “Your friend stole the specs for a gamma gun,” Whiplash said.  The whip slammed against Wanda’s thigh and she rolled away from it only to be met with it coming from the other direction.  Wanda got to her feet and fell back against the wall.  “Why are Avengers stealing Hydra tech?”

            The whip became a blur of motion and Wanda felt the bottom of her costume shred revealing her bare vagina.

            “Why?” Whiplash demanded again.

            “I didn’t know her!”

            Wanda screamed as the whip sailed through the air and stung the lips of her nether region.  Before she could fall Whiplash struck again at her breasts and then her stomach.  He whipped her with such speed and precision that Wanda felt every blow nearly at once. 

            When he stopped she fell to the floor gasping in pain.

            “Well so far I’m having fun,” he said.  “But still no answers.”

            “Bastard…” Wanda managed to gasp the words out through her pain.  She looked up to see that he had walked out of the room.

            This was bad Wanda knew.  With her arms bound she had no way to cast a spell and there was no way to even know where she was.  Worse they wanted information that she didn’t even have!  It wasn’t a question of holding out for as long as she could, it was a question of when they might believe her.

            The door opened and Whiplash walked in carrying a set of wooden boxes.

            “I really don’t know who she was,” Wanda said as he walked over to her.  He took hold of her hair and pulled Wanda over to the boxes. 

            “Get on them,” He ordered.  “One knee on each.”

            “Think about it,” Wanda said as she obeyed him.  The boxes were spaced about two feet apart and she nearly lost her balance but he steadied her by pulling her hair.  “Avengers don’t leave each other, she left me.”

            “Yea she did,” He agreed.  Whiplash snapped his fingers and a chain with a wide collar descended from the ceiling.  He fitted the collar around her neck and Wanda realized that it was a brank; a wide leather collar designed to make sure that she couldn’t move her neck.  Whiplash snapped his fingers again.  The rope pulled back until Wanda felt the brank start to choke her.

            “I want to know why,” He said taking hold of her left ankle.          

            “I don’t know,” Wanda protested as he pulled her leg up until her foot was touching her thigh and then used a leather strap to hold it in place. 

            “Yea you do,” Whiplash said as he did the same to the other leg.

            Wanda was now balanced on her knees, her legs bent double and only the collar around her throat stopped her from falling over.

            “No I…” Wanda’s next words were never spoken as Whiplash drove his fist into her stomach again and again until she could only gasp for air. 

            She was too stunned to do anything as he freed her arms from the single glove and fitted leather cuffs around each wrist.  He snapped his fingers again and two more chains descended from the ceiling.  He attached each chain to her wrist and snapped his fingers again.  The chains were pulled up and back and Wanda was forced forward as her arms were pulled into the strappado position.  Wanda’s body was bent forward and the pressure on her neck lessened as the pressure on her shoulders increased. 

            “I really don’t know,” Wanda said and craned her head to the right and to the left.  If she could only see her hands…

            She couldn’t and in another moment it didn’t matter as Whiplash tied a blindfold around her eyes.

            “I don’t believe you,” He mocked as the whip slashed across her bare ass.  “Giant Man and the Wasp broke into one of our labs last month.  Two months before that Captain America himself killed one of our techs and got away with a prototype neutralizer.  What are you Avengers up to?”

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Wanda said as her mind tried to sort out what it all meant.  What were Hank and Jan up to?  Cap kill someone?  That was impossible!

            “We’ll see about that,” Whiplash said. 

            Wanda screamed as the whip hit the instep on both of her feet.

            “Tell me what you know,” Whiplash commanded.

            “I don’t know anything!”

            For a moment nothing happened.  Then another moment passed.  Just when Wanda was about to relax the whip slashed along her spine.  Wanda screamed and then waited.  Again just as she was sure that nothing was going to happen the whip hit her shins and Wanda screamed again.

            Now she realized the reason for the blindfold.  She listened intently, trying to track his movements and judge where and when the next blow would come.  But where before Whiplash had moved loudly now he barely made a sound.  There was only a whisper in the air just before the whip struck and that gave her no time to brace herself.

            Wanda screamed as the whip lashed her back and ass and then her arms. 

            “Who was you’re friend?”

            “I don’t…”

            SNAP!

            Wanda screamed.

            “Who?”

            SNAP!

            “Who?”

            SNAP!

            “I don’t…”

            SNAP!

            “WHO?”

            Wanda soon lost track of the questions and the number of times that the whip hit her.  Her world collapsed into a combination of pain and denial.  More than once she felt herself slipping away from the pain and into darkness only to be brought back by a particularly sharp blow.  After an hour-two?-her mind started to wander through a delirium of pain induced nightmares.  But she could not escape into them because Whiplash would not let her.  His questions kept coming, sometimes whispered into her ear, sometimes screamed in her ear.  Wanda had been prepared for questions about security protocols and secret identities, not questions about rogue Avenger activities.

When the villain at last paused for a break the only thing Wanda could do was hang in her bonds and try to keep breathing.  The blindfold was removed and Whiplash jerked Wanda up by her hair until they were eye to eye.

“No passing out,” He said letting her head drop. 

“I… I…” Wanda tried to talk but it was hard to keep the breath in her lungs long enough to form words.  In the next instant she screamed again as ice-cold water was poured over her body.

“I don’t know who she was!”

“Not good enough yet,” Whiplash said.  He took a length of rope and started to wrap it around her chest.  Then he wrapped it around the base of each of her breasts and started to tighten it.  Wanda winced as her breasts were bound.  He continued until her breasts were distended balls hanging from her chest.  When they were done he held a long vibrator in front of her face and smiled as he pushed it between her legs.  Wanda winced again as he turned it on.

“I hear these get real sensitive when their bound like this,” Whiplash said fondling Wanda’s breast.  He attached a pair of clothespins to her nipples and Wanda cringed as they stung deeply.  He walked out of her line of sight for a moment and when he came back he was holding a portable air conditioner.  He set it on the ground in front of her and turned it on.  Wanda felt her nipples stiffen from the cold wind it generated.  He put the blindfold back on her plunging Wanda into darkness, but not the soothing darkness of oblivion.

“I’ll just go get something to eat and come back when the boobies are ready,” Whiplash said.  “The toy should keep you awake.”

            “I don’t…” Wanda started to say but stopped when a ball gag was stuffed into her mouth.  After that Wanda could only whimper in pain.

            “Don’t want you to get too cold either,” Whiplash said from behind her.  There was a small clicking sound and Wanda felt a steady stream of hot air on her back.

            “Uh on’t o ything!” Wanda screamed through the gag.

            There was no response to her protest save for the quiet hum of the heater, the air conditioner and the vibrator between her legs.

            Tania pursed her lips in frustration as she stared at the computer screen.  She had been out of the shower for an hour and her hair was long dry.  Normally she only cruised the thug message boards for an hour or so before going to bed.  Not now.  Now she leaned on her couch wrapped up in a towel and glared at the computer screen.  A week.  The Scarlet Witch had been missing for a week and there was no chatter on the criminal message boards.  Tania had discovered the boards years ago.  Most of the superhero set thought that it was all cosplay, rollplaying and fantasy, but Tania had found one of her own miss-adventures detailed perfectly.  Thugs used the message boards on some superhero web sights to stay in touch.  Since then she’d followed them as closely as she could under the screen name of “Nega Woman’.  Tania could roll play with the best of them and so far no one knew who she really was.

Usually when some thugs took down a heroine they couldn’t wait to boast about it, but not now.  Wanda had been asked to look into a mutant kidnapping operation but it looked like she had fallen victim to it.  The Avengers and the X-men were looking for her and they were asking everyone else to look too.  There was a growing tension between the two supergroups over Wanda that Tania didn’t like.  She also didn’t like Hawkeye’s description of his battle with the woman in black.  Hawkeye swore that the woman deflected one of his arrows with her wrist.  That sort of combat was native to Amazons.  But she was truly worried about Wanda.

            “A week,” Tania whispered and she shuddered.  A person’s sanity could be destroyed in a week.  Tania had been held captive for that long and still had nightmares about it.

            There was a tapping sound on her window and Tania looked up to see White Owl standing on her balcony.  Athena was wearing her usual white swimsuit costume, boots and cape.  The sun was framing her perfectly and Tania suppressed a smile.  Athena probably hadn’t planned that but wouldn’t mind it either.  Tania motioned her inside.

            “I’ve got a lead,” Athena said.  “Le Joueur gave me a call and invited me over to her place.”

            “I don’t know her,” Tania said.

            “She’s low profile,” Athena said “and really low on the trust scale.  But she’s the only clue I’ve scrounged up so far.”

            Tania nodded and tapped her bracelets together to bring forth her costume and full powers.

            “Watch out for gas attacks,” Athena said as they headed toward the door.  “She likes those.  And don’t let her light up a cigarette.”

            Twenty minutes later they landed on the polished marble floor of a very expensive penthouse apartment.  The sun had set and the only light came from the under water lights in the swimming pool.  A slim Asian woman floated on her back in the pool.  She was nude and the green dragon tattoo between her breasts looked iridescent in the dim light.

            “I did say to come alone,” Le Joueur said floating over to where they stood.

            “First time I came to your place alone it didn’t end well,” White Owl said.

            “You got away from the people I sold you to,” Le Joueur said and then added “eventually.”

            “What do you know about the Scarlet Witch?” Tania asked bending down.

            Le Joueur stopped floating and started to tread water.

            “No introductions?” She asked smiling.  “I was hoping for a swim with the both of you… White Owl’s body is fine of course but I…  Ahhh!”

            Her words were cut off as Tania grabbed the woman’s long black hair and used it to pull her half out of the water.  The idea of Wanda being tortured while this low rent Dragon Lady smiled was infuriating.

            “I’m not in the mood for games,” Tania growled standing up and pulling Le Joueur out fully out of the water.  Le Joueur held onto Tania’s wrist to keep her hair from being pulled out of her scalp and kicked futilely with her feet.  For a moment Tania held her there and then she let the woman go.  Le Joueur slipped under the water.  She came up a few moments later and Tania was surprised to see her smile.

            “Your friend is very rude White Owl,” She said rubbing her head.  “Normally I would end the conversation here and now, perhaps call the police and charge her with assault.”

            “We’re in a hurry,” White Owl said.  “You called me Chance.”

            Le Joueur looked at her sharply.

            “Chance DeWinter is dead,” She said coldly and then added “Athena.”  She swam away from them and walked up the steps out of the pool.  “How you found that name I shall discover later.  For now you are right, you are in a hurry.  You have less than three hours to save the Scarlet Witch.”

            She plucked a translucent green robe off of a pool chair and put it on.  They followed her as she walked over to a glass table and picked up an envelope.

            “Normally I would make you play for this,” she swept her hand over the table and Tania saw a map and a set of miniatures.  A box labeled ‘Hackmaster’ lay on one of the chairs.

            “Dungeons and Dragons?” White Owl asked.

            “A variation, with my own rules.” Le Joueur said.  “You have no idea how fun it can be when play for real gold, silver and other items.”  She handed the envelope to White Owl.

            “The Scarlet Witch was captured by Hydra one week ago and Whiplash has been questioning her ever since.  She’s being held in a base in Angel Falls.”

            “What are they questioning her for?” Tania demanded.

            “I’m not sure,” Le Joueur said. “But I’ve heard rumors about rogue Avenger teams stealing Hydra equipment.”

            “That’s impossible,” White Owl said.

            “Hydra believes it,” Le Joueur said.  “But they’ve gotten all they can get out of her.  This morning she was bought by Arnim Zola.  They’re transporting her to him tonight at midnight.”

            Tania drew in her breath at the name.  Arnim Zola was a former nazi scientist, a monster with a twisted body and a sharp medical mind.

            “That envelope has the details of the base and a suggestion about the best way in.”

            “Two questions:” Tania demanded coldly.  “How?  Why?”

            “Hydra agents gamble and they do not gamble well.” Le Joueur said sitting down.  She reached for a cigarette but White Owl cleared her throat and Le Joueur pulled her hand back.  “One careless word of course means nothing, but ten, twenty…  it adds up over time.”

            “You’ll get into trouble with Hydra if they find out about this,” White Owl said.

            “They won’t bother with me,” Le Joueur said.  “I have my own protection against them.  I purchased that protection after an encounter with Whiplash.”  A look of hate crossed her face.  “What do you know about me White Owl, what is the one thing I can not stand?”

            “A welcher,” White Owl said.

            “Arnim Zola lost a bet to me once and laughed when I demanded payment,” Le Joueur said and her face grew fierce and dark.  “He sent Whiplash to show me the error of daring to ask for payment.  Whiplash captured me, whipped me bloody, beat me and raped me.  He brought me to Zola bound and gagged.  Afterward I was very nearly Zola’s lab project.  This is their payment.  If you can deny him someone he has paid 20 million dollars for then I will be satisfied.  If you hurt him I will be happy.  If you kill him or Whiplash then I will owe you a favor.”

            “We don’t kill,” Tania said.

            “Have you met that atrocity?” Le Joueur demanded.  “He’s not alive to kill.  And Whiplash I’m sure has raped the Scarlet Witch by now.  At the very least put him in jail.”

            “Let’s go,” Tania said to White Owl.

            “This doesn’t pan out we’ll be back,” White Owl promised.

            “You’ll probably be back sooner or later anyway,” Le Joueur said.  “We have more games yet to play.”  She turned and walked back into the pool.  “But if your friend comes again tell her I usually don’t give things away.  If she wants information next time then she will play.”

            “Can we trust this?” Tania asked as they flew away.

            “I’ll check on her story,” Athena said.  “She wasn’t kidding about hating welchers.”

            “We’re going to need some help,” Tania said.  “A Hydra base isn’t easy to crack.”

            “They will check on my story,” Le Joueur said as the heroines flew out of sight. 

            “As we knew that they would,” Tina said walking out of the penthouse.  She wore a black bikini and carried a tray with two drinks on it.  “That’s why we chose you.”

            “It helps that I do have a grudge against Zola and Whiplash,” Le Joueur said as Tina stepped into the pool.  “And I have a lot of Hydra agents who come to my casino.  None of them are foolish enough to talk of course, but it sounds right.”

            “You’re perfect,” Tina said handing her the drink.  “In fact AIM has been watching you for a while.”

            “I have riches,” Le Joueur said taking the drink, “I have my own casino, the respect of the underworld…  What more could I want that AIM could offer me?”

            “Games with bigger stakes among other things,” Tina said.  She put the tray and her drink down on the edge of the pool and un-did her bikini top.

            “Other things may be intriguing,” Le Joueur said smiling and reaching out with a finger to trace Tina’s dark nipple.

            “That’s what I’ve been told,” Tina said stepping out of the water.  She reached down and slid her bikini bottoms off of her long legs.  Then she slowly turned around, showing off her body.  “Think about it, you have my number.”

            “Ah you tease,” Le Joueur laughed as Tina started to walk back into the house.

            “I’d stay but I don’t have time,” Tina said turning back to her.  “They’re going to go after the Hydra base.  If our projections of their attack plan are correct then I have to be there to collect another slave girl.”

            “Do let me know how it works out,” Le Joueur called after her.  “And if I can be of any more assistance.”

            “Bet on it,” Tina said.

            “It makes sense,” Tania said looking through her scanner at the Angel Falls Landfill.  “Nobody would look for a Hydra base there.”

            “Nobody looks for anything there,” Athena agreed grateful that the wind was carrying the smell in the other direction.  “It’s perfect, everyone keeps away from it, it has access to the water and no one questions the sound of heavy machinery.”

            “They’re going to move her in a half hour,” Tania said.

            “If this is right,” Athena said looking at the contents of the envelope that Le Joueur had given them.  “How crazy are we Tania?  We’re about to assault a Hydra base with 100 thugs using info we got from other drunk thugs.”

            “Well her grudge against Zola checked out,” Tania said.  “You know her better than I do, is this legit?”

            Athena thought for a moment.  She’d had three run ins with Le Joueur in the past year, a loss, a tie and a win.  The win had been hard on Le Joueur, humiliating really and White Owl was the last person in the world that she should turn to with a tip.  The woman was callous, easy to underestimate and ruthless when she was going after something, but she did hate people who didn’t pay off.  In Le Joueur’s mind if you didn’t pay off on a bet you were damned.  Athena had always paid. 

            “I think it is,” Athena said.

            “Right,” Tania said.  “Then…”

Athena’s communicator beeped interrupting her.

            “Go,” Athena said into it.

            “I’ve sighted it,” Crimson Valkyrie said.  “Looks like a barge but there are ten men on it and Zola himself and they don’t look like real men if you get what I mean.”

            “Don’t try to stop them directly,” Tania said.  “Zola’s men are like Doc Droids robots, ten of them could take me out and he might have more of them hidden.  This is a 20 million dollar buy and he won’t trust Hydra.  Slow them down as much as you can but be careful.  Be very careful, you don’t want Arnim Zola to get his hands on you.”

            “I’ll do what I can,” Crimson said.  “Out.”

            “This gets worse and worse,” Athena said.  “Zola’s guys really that bad?”

            “Yes,” Tania said.  “The three of us could take them but none of us could take them alone.”

            “Ok, we get in, get Scarlet and get the hell out,” Athena said.  It sounded easy but Athena wished that they had been able to get more help than just Crimson.  But superheroes led busy lives and they weren’t always on call.  It was the worst of luck for both the X-men and the Avengers to be out of range. 

            But of course there was no real choice for them.  Wanda was a friend and a fellow heroine.  After a week of torture there might not be a lot of her left to save, but if Zola got hold of her there wouldn’t be anything.  White Owl had never met him but Ultra Woman had.        

            “Here you go,” Athena said handing Tania a pair of contact lenses.  “There good for five hours.  You’ll get a text alert from me if anything goes wrong and they’ll give you and underwater edge.”

            “Let’s go,” Tania said.

            Wanda’s world had collapsed into a routine of pain and painful sleep.  They fed her gruel and let her use the toilet but her arms were never free.  The gruel suppressed her mutant powers but it was all the food she was going to get.  She learned early the consequences of begging for water.  All that got her was a five minute bath of ice cold water from a fire hose.  Whiplash tortured her until she blacked out and couldn’t be revived, and then let her rest until she was strong enough to be tortured again.  The specifics were a blur in her memory but the pain was not.  Her mind was closing down from the pain, blotting out the memories.  At the end of each torture session Wanda forced the specific events deeper and deeper into her memory, hiding them.  But that couldn’t erase the pain and fear.

            Her cell was a coffin.  At the end of each torture session Wanda was mummified in clear plastic, gagged and blindfolded and put into a box that smelled of Earth and death.  She could feel things walking over the plastic.  Small, gross things that may or may not have been alive.

            They don’t realize how close they are, Wanda thought as they dragged her to the torture chamber again.  In that part of her mind that still worked Wanda felt a bit of shame and pride.  Pride that she hadn’t broken yet and shame that the only reason she believed that she hadn’t broken yet was because they weren’t asking the right questions.  To stop the next blow from landing, to get him to turn off that heater or that air conditioner, to get a few hours of honest to goodness sleep Wanda would answer their damn questions!  She knew it!  Avenger or no, daughter of Magneto or no; she just couldn’t take it anymore!  Wanda was sure that she’d talk.   

            But they weren’t interested in Avengers security protocols, they weren’t interested in secret identities; they were only interested in information that Wanda didn’t have!

            “Ready for another day of fun?” Whiplash asked as her guards dragged her into the chamber.  He snapped his whip and Wanda started to cry.  She felt shame at the tears but pride that she still struggled as they put her onto the whipping stand.

            “This’ll be the last though,” Whiplash said fondling her breasts.  You’ve finally convinced the Supreme Hydra that you’re not going to talk.  So this morning you were sold.”

            “Sold?” Wanda whispered.  A whisper was all that her voice was still capable of after all of the screaming.  But she still managed to put some outrage into the question.

            “Arnim Zola paid 20 mill for ya,” Whiplash said.  “So we only got the rest of the day for me to get you to talk.”  He raised the whip.  “I love a challenge.”

            The ocean research ship Maria Stark had been one of Tony Stark’s pet projects.  A sub packed with beyond state of the art research instruments it boasted a depth capacity nearly that of an Atlantean craft.  On her maiden voyage the ship had been lost in a storm.  Days later the crew washed ashore, dead.  For a long time everyone believed that it was Atlantis that stole the ship.  But it was Hydra and now the research craft was at the bottom of the Angel Falls Landfill.  Hydra had dredged up a pit big enough for her and brought her in at night during another storm.  Then they’d buried her under tones of dirt and garbage.  The front of the ship was still open to the water though barely visible under old cars.  The open sea pool that had been meant to serve as a dual recreation/docking space was now only an underwater docking harbor.  Tones of drugs moved in and out of Angel Falls through the Maria Stark.  Garbage barges would drop anchor in the harbor and divers would bring supplies up and down.  At night, that close to the garbage piles no one paid any attention.  The ship also served as a research station, making better-in other words more addictive-drugs.

            Clad in the diver’s suit version of her costume Tania swam down in smooth even strokes.  White Owl’s lenses gave her near perfect vision up to fifty feet and that let her see and avoid the underwater sensors before they saw her.  The diver’s version of her Ultra Suit let her breath the water.

            Coming under the ship Tania looked up and saw that no one was in the dock yet.  She settled down behind the rusted shell of a Ford pick up truck and waited.  Now it was up to Athena.

            Athena crept along the side of the corridor, her hand resting on the stun gun in her belt.  Hydra wasn’t wasting manpower on guards.  They didn’t need to with a place like this.  But what they hadn’t realized was that while security cameras couldn’t be fooled they could be avoided if you knew where they were.  Tony Stark hadn’t been in but Ultra Woman was well known to the Avengers and the plans for the Maria Stark were emailed instantly.  The ship hadn’t been designed for combat and that helped a lot.  The added security cameras that Hydra had put in stuck out like flares in the night. 

            Athena pressed herself against the wall as Hydra men passed close by.  She hoped that they wouldn’t smell her.  Ultra Woman had gone under water but White Owl had crawled through three piles of garbage until she came to the old refrigerator that hid one of the emergency escape tunnels.  It had taken a half of an hour to nullify the scanner and the alarm.  It had taken yet another hour to worm her way through the former research ship toward the bridge.  Wanda was due to be sold in twenty five minutes.  Athena hoped that Crimson could slow Zola down and that they wouldn’t have to rescue Crimson herself later.

            Athena stopped at a ladder and looked up.  The hatch was opening.  Thinking quickly Athena grabbed a handful of the knock out gas bombs from her belt and threw them through the opening.  There were a few muffled thuds as the bombs exploded and more thuds as the men fell.  Putting a mask on her face Athena slowly climbed up the ladder.  As soon as she poked her head through enough to see Athena relaxed.  Ten men lay slumped over control consoles or sprawled on the floor.  She stepped over them and moved to the communications station.  A few commands into the computer cut the comlines in and out.  Then she moved over to the security system.  There was no sign of Tania but the feed from the corridor leading to the dock was up.  Whiplash was leading the Scarlet Witch along on a leash.  Athena cringed at the state Wanda was in.  She was nude, bound with a single glove and a ball gag.  The welts on her skin and the frail beaten way she stumbled told the tale of the torture that she had been through.  Two guards helped her walk.

            We’ll settle with Whiplash later, Athena thought savagely as she started to seal the doors in the ship.  Hopefully she could whittle down the opposition by trapping the men.

            Athena was alert and her senses were at their very apex due to the danger that she was in.  No human could have snuck up on her.  But even as alert as she was Athena never heard the spider crawl out of a shadow on the far side of the room.  Never heard the small black creature walk along the ceiling until it was directly over her head.  No ears could have heard the spider descend on a strand of black webbing.  It landed on Athena’s head and Athena froze.

            From the same shadow as the spider another creature emerged.  She was a drider, with the upper body of a voluptuous black woman and the lower body of a black widow spider.  The drider had long red hair shaped into dreadlocks and she wore a multi-pocketed vest to cover her chest and lower body.  Her features were human save for pointed ears and a small set of fangs.  From the shadow behind her Nightshade emerged and rushed over to Athena.

            “How long can you hold her Shadow Web?” Nightshade asked.

            “Her mind is caught in my web,” the drider said.  “I’m fooling her now into thinking that only an instant has passed but her mind is too strong to fool for very long.  Five minutes.”

            “Long enough,” Nightshade said as lowered White Owl to the floor.  A quick look at the monitor showed that Whiplash was nearly to the dock.  Nightshade hissed and pulled the oblivious heroines mouth open.  This rescue had to work but this chance would not come again.  White Owl would make a perfect slave girl.

Nightshade took out her tools and drilled into White Owl’s upper molar.  Again her movements were perfect thanks to long practice but sweat gathered on the villainesses forehead.  If a Hydra agent came into the room Shadow Web wouldn’t be able to help her, it took too much strength to hold White Owl helpless.  If Nightshade were discovered then Hydra would know that AIM was behind everything.  That would prove catastrophic. 

As she had done with Tania Nightshade stopped at the root and then placed the seed into the tooth.  She sealed the tooth quickly and lifted White Owl back into her original position.  Then she retreated back into the shadow.  Shadow Web followed her and with a quick jerk of her hand snapped her spider back like a yo-yo.  Then they were gone.

            Athena blinked and whirled around ready to defend herself.  But no one was there.

            “Don’t panic,” Athena said to herself.  “Everything’s going fine so far.”

            She waited until Whiplash and his group was inside the dock then she sealed the door and cut the lights.

            Tania’s charged forward at top speed as soon as the lights went out.  The time for stealth was gone.  She launched out of the water like a dolphin and bore down on the two guards dragging Wanda before they even realized that they were in danger.  A double clothsline slammed them both into the wall and out of the fight.  Before Tania could turn a sharp blow seared the center of her back.  She whirled and saw that Whiplash was watching her.

            “Think you’re the only one with fancy glasses bitch?” He demanded, his own lenses glowing red.

            Tania tensed.  His whip could cut through steal. 

            The whip snapped at her and Tania took the blow on her bracelet.  She felt the impact but the metal held as she knew that it would.

            “You got two wrists lady,” Whiplash said and struck out again.  Tania dodged but the whip sliced along her leg leaving an angry red welt.  “But there’s a lot more parts to you!”

            Tania moved to the side, grabbed a scuba tank and threw it at him.  Whiplash ducked and Tania flew at him only to have his whip nearly slice her head in half.  She pulled up at the last moment and it sliced the front of her costume open instead.  Tania was still off balance and he struck again.  The whip scorched across her stomach leaving a trail of blood.

            This was no good Tania knew and she fell back.  There wasn’t enough room in the dock to avoid his blows completely. 

            She circled around him and the villain followed her.  Then he lashed out and Tania dodged but his first move had been a fakeout and the whip slashed at her twice more before Tania could back up.  The top of her costume was now open and there was a stinging welt between her breasts.

            I don’t have time for this, Tania thought and taking a deep breath turned to dive back into the water.

            “Not so fast!” Whiplash shouted and the whip wrapped around her throat. 

            Just as Tania had planned.  Even as the whip cut off her breathing Tania moved grabbing it and turning around.  With one massive jerk she pulled Whiplash off of his feet and he came at her.  Tania’s fist met his jaw and the villain collapsed.

            Tania nearly went into blackness with him.  Her lungs were screaming for air and her arms were getting numb.  She clawed at the whip but the coils were wrapped tightly.  Tania fell to her knees clawing at the thing.  Just as she was about to black out she felt it loosening.  Then it was pulled off and Tania fell into White Owl’s arms.

            “Easy,” White Owl said.

            After a few moments Tania was able to move again.

            “We gotta go,” Athena said.  “Zola’s nearly here.”

            “Come on,” Tania said. 

            She stumbled over to the prone form of the Scarlet Witch and White Owl fitted an oxygen mask over Scarlet’s face.  She moaned but was too far gone to do anything else.  Tania felt a near berserker rage fill her as she saw what had been done to her friend.

            “Hold it bitches,” Whiplash said getting to his feet.  He swung his whip and snapped it.  “That’s Hydra property.”

            He probably meant goad them and it worked.  Letting White Owl catch the falling Wanda Tania leapt into the air and flew at him.  She covered the space in three seconds, not nearly enough time for him to attack.  It was two seconds into her attack that Whiplash saw the look on Tania’s face and he had an instant to comprehend the danger he was in before her fist slammed into his stomach.  He went down and Tania followed.  Grabbing the hand that held the whip Tania pressed it against the floor.  Then she curled her other hand into a fist and slammed it into his wrist.  She was mad enough that the blow might have shattered steel.  The bones in the villains wrist were crushed into a powder.

            Leaving him to scream Tania rushed back over to White Owl.  Then they both took hold of Wanda and jumped into the water.

            A few minutes later they broke the surface of the water and kept going, flying upward. 

            “Here,” Crimson called from a hover car.  The car looked like it had been pounded nearly to scrap and Crimson didn’t look much better.      

            “Stop them!” Tania heard the mechanical voice of Zola call.

            “Get us out of here!” White Owl shouted.

            Crimson hit the throttle and they zoomed away into the sky.

            Modok, Nightshade and Shadow Web watched as the hover car flew away from the Hydra base. 

            “Slave Girl 2 is planted,” Nightshade said. 

            “But our information on Crimson Dynamo is out of date,” Modok said.  “She put up a good fight against Zola’s N-men.”

            “Maybe we should get her too,” Shadow Web suggested.  “I think I would like her in my webs.”

            “Her powers are partly based on nanites,” Nightshade said.  “She’d detect the unit.  In fact I’m worried about her being too close to units 1 and 2.  If her new powers are able to detect them…”

            “Everything we’ve worked toward will be lost,” Modok finished the sentence.

            “We could kill her,” Shadow Web suggested.  “Or capture her and dissect her.”

            “No,” Modok said.  “We will wait and keep and eye on her.  It is too early for such a death.  If she does detect the slave units then we will take action.  I will order our weapons unit to being research on a way to trap and contain her.”   

            “My webs can do that,” Shadow Web said showing her fangs as she smiled.  “I like the looks of her Modok.”

            “We shall study her first,” Modok said.  “Then if possible you may have her.”

            “By the end of the month Slave Unit 1 will be ready for data retrieval.” Nightshade said.  “We’ll have access to Ultra Woman’s short term memory, that should tell us more about Crimson Valkyrie.”

            “For now let them all think that they have won,” Modok said.  “In good time the fools will learn that the true victory this night was won by Advanced Idea Mechanics!”

…To be continued.

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