Part 27
Nightmare in the hospital (White Owl, Crimson Valkyerie)
By Skytower
Tiffany leaned back in the chair
with the un-read magazine on her lap.
She wasn’t asleep, but she wasn’t awake either. Athena lay asleep in her bed and the steady
sound of the vitals monitor was the only sound in the room. Tiffany had felt drained after Abby and
Jenifer had left. This wasn’t like so
many times before when she or a friend had been in danger. This was a nightmare. People she should have been able to turn to,
people she should have been able to trust were against her. Tiffany had worn a mask for a long time. She had seen heroes and heroines who came close
to and then went over the line. But they
had always been on the fringe. Dark,
deadly characters whose claim to the title ‘hero’ had always been suspect in
her opinion.
But Ms. Marvel wasn’t one of
those. At least not by her
reputation. Since the first encounter
Tiffany had done some research on the other heroine and what she had found out
didn’t match with the woman on the boat that night. But then neither had what she found out about
the X-men matched what had happened to her and Athena. It all seemed impossible, but it had all
happened.
Then again, Tiffany thought, I’ve
never actually met of these people or fought along side them. But I do know Tania and what is up with
her? Why doesn’t she call us back?
Lost in the realm of her own
thoughts Tiffany never saw the small canister roll out from the shadows and
come to rest under the bed. The gas that
seeped from it was colorless and had no scent but it did have an effect. Tiffany never realized that her body was
going numb until she felt someone’s presence behind her.
“Don’t bother trying to move
Crimson,” A soft voice said. “I have a
mental hold on you.”
Tiffany struggled to move anyway as
she heard the door to the room close and the sound of the lock snapping into
place. The woman moved in front of her
and Tiffany recognized her from pictures.
She was slim, red headed and wearing a green tunic-dress with a yellow
belt and a yellow mask; Marvel Girl of the X-men. Unable to move Tiffany watched as the woman
attached a round disk to the side of the vitals monitor and then pressed her
fingers against Athena’s head.
Leave her alone!
Tiffany wanted to shout but her
voice was as silent as her body was helpless.
It wasn’t numb, her body just wouldn’t move. She saw Athena’s eyes open, widen and saw the
failed effort that her friend made to move.
When she failed Marvel Girl motioned someone forward and a small,
massive man walked over to Athena. He
wore a yellow suit with a cat mask and Tiffany knew his name: Wolverine.
“We really don’t like doing this,”
Marvel Girl said in a tone that was calm and matter of fact. But you two don’t take hints well. Ms. Marvel is our friend and we won’t let her
go to jail. So tonight we’re sending you
both a message.”
Wolverine held up a hand and Tiffany
felt a surge of terror as a single metal claw shot out of the back of it.
“In case you don’t know Wolverine’s
claws are adamantium,” Marvel Girl said.
“They can cut through nearly anything and they can’t break.”
With a quick move Wolverine pulled
the bedspread down. Athena lay in
enforced stillness wearing only a thin hospital Johnny-nightgown. Another quick move sliced the nightgown open
and Wolverine pushed it aside. Athena
was now completely exposed and Wolverine laid one claw at her neck.
“It wouldn’t take much pressure to
break the skin,” Marvel Girl said as Wolverine drew his claw down Athena’s
body. “One stab and she’d be dead. He could maim her. He could take his claws and leaves scars in
her face that would make people draw away in disgust.”
Tiffany had never felt so furious
and so helpless. She could feel the terror
radiating from Athena as Wolverine pressed his claw against her skin. The claw went down her throat, around her
breasts and down past her stomach, along her legs and back again.
“We’d get away with it,” Marvel Girl
said. “You know that.”
Though she couldn’t move Tiffany
felt her heart speed up as Marvel Girl lifted her right hand and held it
up.
“Wolverine could take you hand off
at the wrist. It wouldn’t take much
effort.”
These are heroes? Tiffany thought to
herself as she fought the terror that filled her. What the hell do they think they’re
doing? Do they think we’ll forget
this? That we’ll cave?
“You don’t have to lie on the
stand,” Marvel Girl said bending down in front of her. The look on her face was stern and cold. “You
just don’t have to take the stand. Leave
town, have a lapse of memory… Do
anything you have to.”
Marvel Girl stood up and walked
behind Tiffany. A chill ran down her
back as the woman softly stroked her hair.
Marvel Girl leaned down and whispered in Tiffany’s ear.
“We don’t have to be enemies,”
Marvel Girl said nibbling Tiffany’s earlobe as her cold hand pushed into
Tiffany’s costume and cupped her breast.
“We mutants have enough enemies and few friends.” Both hands pushed under Tiffany’s costume and
cupped her breasts, then squeezed them.
“Trust me, you’d much rather be a friend like Ms. Marvel than an
enemy. We can show you things you can
never dream of.”
Tiffany gasped as her breasts grew
heavy and her nipples stiff. She could
feel Marvel Girl in her mind, pushing the sexual response. It chilled, infuriated and aroused her.
Wolverine stood up and walked away
from the bed and past them. Marvel Girl
stood up and pulled her hands out of Tiffany’s costume. Then she walked over to Athena and threw the
bedspread back over her. Athena’s eyes
were still wide as Marvel Girl placed her hand on the helpless heroine’s
forehead. Then they slowly closed. Marvel girl took the small disk off of the
vitals monitor. Then she walked past
Crimson and Crimson heard the lock of the door un-snap.
“You’re both out of your league,”
Marvel Girl said. “C-Listers trying to
sneak into the big leagues. Back
away. We won’t let Ms. Marvel go to jail
and if I or the Professor have to come back and mentally adjust your minds…” She trailed off and let that sink in. “Sleep on it.”
That was the last thing Tiffany
heard as a gigantic mental hand pressed against her mind and pushed it into
darkness.
Tina stood in the shower and let
Mystique sponge her off. Playing Marvel
Girl had been more of a thrill than she’d ever dreamed. The gas had simulated a mental attack and
after that it was all suggestion. She
didn’t doubt that when White Owl and Crimson woke up they’d be enraged and
their feelings for each other would grow even stronger.
“You’re quite the actress,” Mystique
said. Her blue nude body was so exotic
that Tina shivered.
“I’ve had practice,” Tina said.
“White Owl and Crimson must think
that the world is against them,” Mystique said squeezing Tina’s breast
playfully. She giggled and to anyone
else the sound would have been ugly but Tina reveled in it.
“Is that what’s it like?” Tina asked
as Mystique washed the white make up off of her black arms. “Being someone else I mean, someone
powerful.”
“It’s a lot like that,” Mystique
said. “Made you hot didn’t it?”
“Hell yeah,” Tina said. “I’m just glad you felt strong enough to
help. A robot wouldn’t have been half as
convincing as Wolverine.”
“It was a complete success,” Destiny
said from the doorway to the shower room.
“Modok is waiting for your report.”
“He can wait a bit longer,” Mystique
said as her hands drifted between Tina’s legs.
“I think we all need a shower first.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Destiny
said.
Tina shuddered as the two women
pressed her body between theirs. This
was power, this was success and this was everything she’d known it would
be.
And better things are yet to come,
She told herself.
Part 28
Enter the Duck
(White Owl, Crimson Valkerie)
“They were right here!” Athena
nearly shouted holding up the two halves of her hospital gown. She was still boiling with fright and fury
from the night before. She had slept in
nightmares and woken up covered in sweat.
Athena would always remember the cold eyes of Wolverine as he ran that
single ice-cold claw over her body.
“No one else saw them,” Abby
said. “There wasn’t a blip on your
vitals… there’s no way I can prove it.”
“Maybe we should carry cameras,”
Tiffany said sarcastically.
“Maybe you should think about
protective custody,” Abby said.
“Run?” Athena answered and felt
fresh fury fill her. “I don’t care how
many friends she has, I don’t care if everyone in the world is out to get us…”
“If everyone in the world is out to
get ya toots runnins a good idea.”
Athena looked past Abby to the
doorway to the room. For a second she
didn’t see anyone and then she looked down.
Waddling into the room was a duck.
He stood about two feet tall, wore a blue vest coat and white
gloves. Behind him followed a striking
woman with long red hair. She was
wearing a blue business suit and skirt.
“You’re a duck!” Athena said.
“Glad to see you have a grasp of the
obvious,” The Duck said in a gravely voice with what sounded like a Brooklyn
accent.
“We’re from the Fair Wing Detective
Agency,” The woman said. “I’ve Beverly
and this is Howard.”
“Got a light?” Howard asked putting
a cigar in his beak.
“No smoking in a hospital,” Athena
said automatically still stunned at the sight of him. She was used to a lot of strange things but
this seemed so… Just stranger.
Howard shrugged and had started to
put the cigar back when he dropped it.
“Damn,” He said as it rolled under
the bed.
“We’ve already been over the
reports,” Beverly said as Howard crawled under the bed for the cigar. “We’ll be talking to Ms. Marvel later
on.”
“She’ll probably stick to her
story,” Howard said climbing out from under the bed. “Like you’re sticking to yours. Just got a few questions.”
“Like what?” Athena asked. “Don’t you think she’s too good to do it
too?”
“I don’t think anyone’s too good to
do anything,” Howard said. “Just
curious, you smelled rum on her breath?
How much, like she’d just come off an all nighter or like she’d had a
few belts?”
“It was pretty heavy,” Athena said after
a few moments thought. “I’d say an all
nighter.”
Howard nodded and just then Jenifer
came into the room.
“You,” Tiffany growled and Jenifer
stopped short.
“What?”
“A couple of the X-men were here
last night,” Athena said. “Marvel Girl
and Wolverine, “ She held up the split nightgown, “they made it pretty clear we should forget
about testifying.”
“How many friends does Ms. Marvel
have?” Tiffany asked.
“Did anyone else see them,” Jenifer
asked.
“No,” Abby said. “But I can’t see any reason for White Owl and
Crimson to lie. Should I even bother
following this up or am I just going to run into more denials?”
“Abby I had nothing to do with what
ever happened here last night,” Jenifer said.
“If you have any proof…”
“We know what happened!”
Athena was surprised at the rage in
Tiffany’s voice and equally surprised at the fact that her friend had drawn her
guns.
“I had to sit and watch while that
pervert Wolverine ran his claws all over White Owl’s body,” Tiffany said. “And I couldn’t move while Marvel Girl copped
a feel and in ‘invited’ me to be her friend.”
“Wolverine and Marvel Girl?” Jenifer
sounded shocked and Athena wondered how much of that was an act.
“That sounds like so much fun,” Le
Joueur said from the doorway, “I am so sorry I missed it.”
“What are you doing here?” Abby
demanded.
“I came to make sure that White Owl
was alright,” Le Joueur. “And talk to
you. You’re office said you’d be here.”
“Re-thinking my offer of protective
custody,” Abby said.
“Yes that worked so well for
Mystique didn’t it?” Le Joueur said.
“She was wheeled out of this very hospital in broad daylight.” She glanced at Jenifer. “When you get back to the mansion dear you
might mention to Ms. Marvel that I’ve bought some extra protection.”
“We are not…” Jenifer began but
Crimson cut her off.
“The hell you aren’t!”
“What sort of protection did you
buy?” Athena asked.
“I’ll show you,” Le Joueur said
walking over to the window. “She would
have come in with me but I know Abby wouldn’t approve and this is no place for
a battle.”
Athena looked out and then sucked in
her breath in surprise. Hovering in the
air over a building two blocks away was U1trawoman.
“Her?” Abby demanded.
“Well I needed someone I could
trust,” Le Joueur. “Especially with the
gang war under way between the Fiorelli’s and HYDRA. You can tell your friends Ms. Walters that
either U1trawoman or one of her operatives will be keeping an eye on me until
the trial. Should the X-men visit me as
they’ve taken to visiting White Owl and Crimson Valkerie… Well it should be
quite lively.”
“Do you have any idea how many
crimes she’s wanted for?” Abby demanded.
“Of course I do,” Le Joueur said
smiling. “I also know that she’s
powerful enough to protect me and you aren’t.”
Her voice was cold and Athena saw
Abby wince as her outrage subsided. Le
Joueur was right. U1trawoman was
powerful and she did have an organization of powerful friends. They had fought the Avengers to a stand still
once.
“How can you trust her?” Athena
asked.
“I have her word,” Le Joueur said,
“and her sympathy. As you know
U1trawoman has long been against the establishment and the Avengers are high on
her list of what she considers establishment flunkies.”
“She’s an internationally wanted
criminal,” Jenifer said staring at the woman.
“You’re just mad because in your
last battle she beat you senseless, stripped you naked and hung you upside down
from a flag pole.”
“Lucky punch,” Jenifer said. She was staring out the window and Athena
wondered if she were going to change into the She-Hulk.
“Then by all means go attack her.”
“Not now,” Jenifer said.
“This doesn’t do your credibility as
a witness any good,” Abby said.
“I’m worried about survival, not
credibility,” Le Joueur said, “and we both
know I’m just a side show.” She turned
to White Owl and Crimson. “You two are
the ones who should be worried.
Especially if what you say about last night is true.”
“It’s true,” Athena said. She looked at Jenifer. “Every word we’ve said since this all started
has been true.”
“Ok that’s it,” Abby said. “Le Joueur can her make her own security
arrangements, but I want you two in some sort of protective custody.”
“Against the Avengers and the
X-men?” Le Joueur’s laughter was heavy with contempt. “Where would you put them? The moon?”
“The Avengers are not harassing
them!” Jenifer nearly shouted.
“Well someone is,” Howard said
causing them all to look at him. Athena
had forgotten that the duck and Beverly were still in the room. She was looking at the vitals monitor with a
magnifying glass.
“There was something stuck here,”
Beverly said.
“And this was under the bed,” Howard
said handing a small canister to Abby.
“Look I’ll call the X-men and find
out where Wolverine and Marvel Girl were last night,” Jenifer said taking out
her cell phone.
“Yea, they’ll really tell you the
truth on a open line,” Crimson said.
“You tell them if they come after us again…”
“What can you do?” Le Joueur
asked. “Crimson I like you and I adore
White Owl, but against the Avengers and the X-men you don’t have much of a
chance.”
“The Avengers…” Jenifer started to
speak but Athena held up the two halves of the Johnny and she stopped.
“White Owl if you’d like I can talk
to U1trawoman,” Le Joueur said, “see if she’s willing to include you and
Crimson in my protection deal.
“Forget it,” Abby said. “The case would go down in flames.”
“Besides we don’t get along,” Athena
said remembering the last time she had seen the villainess.
“Oh she’s over that little tussle,”
Le Joueur said.
I’m not, Athena thought. She’d gotten in a lucky punch against
U1trawoman and the villainess had followed it up by capturing her and keeping
her prisoner for nearly a week and her sexual games had been… intense.
“You’d actually do that?” Jenifer
demanded angrily misunderstanding the look on Athena’s face.
“No,” Abby said. “What they’ll do is accept my offer of
protective custody.”
“Yea we will,” Athena said as she
saw Tiffany nod.
“We’ll set it up in my office,” Abby
said. “Come on.”
She left the room and Athena
followed her. Jenifer stood there and
Athena saw frustration on her face but Athena didn’t care.
“Well if you change your mind,” Le
Joueur called, “I’ll be at my casino supervising some rebuilding.”
“Thanks,” Athena said.
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