The Dangers of Daring Officer Dolly

Chapter 40. "Vicki in Peril"

by Skytower

"You know somehow I really can’t imagine Merry arguing the law." Mary said as she sipped her coffee.

"I can." Lucy said. She drank her tea with one hand and wrote down notes on a legal pad with the other. Mary didn’t know how Lucy could stand tea. Mary had tried it a few times and it had tasted like warm soapy dishwater. On the other had she knew that Lucy thought her coffee was a health risk. "Beneath all of the anger there is a very sharp mind. But I believe that Simone’s mind is sharper."

"I hope so." Prudence said. She was sitting in front of the eagle drinking a ginger ale from a tiny cup. One can of ginger ale could last Prudence for days. Mary was beginning to suspect that the young woman preferred being small. Over the past few months she had noticed Prudence wasn’t at her normal size all that much. She knew that Lucy had noticed it too. It was just one more thing on the list of things to worry about. "It’d be great to get to know them."

"Yea it’s hard having a long conversation when she either runs away or tries to kill you." Ms. Dream said.

There was a chiming sound and the holograms re-appeared in the same spot as Prudence. She scrambled away from them quickly. Merry didn’t look happy but Simone appeared calm.

"The matter is settled." Simone said. "By my right as sovereign I have appointed Merry ambassador to Earth and placed her under your direction Mrs. Rothschild. Under the Law of Diplomacy Merry is required to follow the laws of the United States as interpreted by you."

Well that explained the look on Merry’s face. Ms. Dream felt Lucy’s emotions shift from surprised to pleased to determined.

"That is a great honor Simone." Lucy said. "Thank you."
"The next time you meet in person Merry will formalize the appointment with her oath." Simone said.

"I’m also gonna study up on your laws." Merry said. "So no tricks."

Ms. Dream laughed and Simone and Merry looked at her.

"You’re asking a lawyer not to be tricky." Ms. Dream said laughing again. "Sorry I just can’t help it."

"I’m sure that there will be some interesting conversations ahead for both of you Mrs. Rothschild." Simone said smiling slightly.

"What about Ms. Huang?" Lucy asked obviously trying not to think of those conversations.

"She's been staying with Monica." Merry said. "I'll…"

A loud base bell cut through her words and Merry and Simone both froze with looks of astonishment on their faces.

"Security report!" Merry barked.

"Un-authorized transmission detected." A cold male voice announced.

"Relay and trace." Merry ordered.

"Repeat this is CIA1177-21, DUCO." A woman's voice said. "Trace this transmission for emergency evac."

"Location Thunderbird 2." Security said.

"CIA?" Merry shouted. "A spy? And I brought her here!" Merry shot them a look of pure fury. "A hooker huh?" Merry demanded looking straight at Lucy. Simone mirrored the look of anger on Merry's face. "Just a hooker! Another lie! Damn you Lucy! Security lockdown twenty four hours!"

"Merry!" Lucy shouted jumping out of her chair, but she was too late and the holograms vanished. After a few seconds Prudence climbed into the eagle and then a minute later she climbed out.

"No good mom, they cut us off."

"Damn it to HELL!" Lucy exploded and pounded her fist on the table with enough force to knock Prudence over.

She'd been so close. Vicki had found Thunderbird 2 empty at last and after a bit of work had figured out how to get the power started and the radio working. There was an isolated frequency that she'd been assigned just in case she needed an emergency message sent out. Vicki had managed to get two sentences out before the world went black. She woke up with her arms aching and something cold and metallic over her mouth. The room was stuffy and hot. It stank of sulfur. Her body was covered in sweat. Someone started to fondle her breasts. Vicki stiffened but tried to fight down her reaction. The hands pinched her nipples painfully for a few minutes before they withdrew.

"Wake up." Merry said pleasantly throwing ice cold water over her.

Vicki's eyes shot open and she would have screamed if her mouth hadn't been clamped shut by some sort of metal frame fastened to her head and neck. And that was the only thing that she was wearing. Even though it was hot and stuffy Vicki felt a cold wave of fear grip her heart.

She was in a dungeon. A large round dungeon dimly lit by flickering torches. Her wrists were chained above her head and her ankles were chained to the wall. Some sort of bar was attached to her knees holding her legs apart. On the far wall was a large-a very large-assortment of torture devices. Some of them looked so bizarre that Vicki had no idea what they did or to what part of the body that they did it too.

Her body. Vicki realized it and her dread increased. Merry was standing by the wall. She was wearing a black chain mail bikini with knee high black leather boots. Vicki had gotten used to being only half as tall as everyone else, partly she realized now because they had been so nice to her. That friendliness was gone and the size difference mattered again. It mattered a lot! Beside Merry was a gigantically arched doorway. Vicki could have moved through it with ease. Freedom. But the cold metal chains that held her made it look to Vicki like it was a million miles away.

"Hiya." Merry said smiling. Her voice was pleasant and she sauntered over to her captive. But lit by the flickering flames of the torches Merry’s face looked red and angry. "Now I think I should set this up for you." Merry said. Her fingers started to trace circles around the aureoles on Vicki’s breasts. Vicki was again suddenly very, very conscious of how much bigger Merry was. Not only bigger but stronger. Mery's skin was stretched tightly over muscles and the outfit she was wearing brought that home. "You are a spy. I caught you. So basically you've had it."

Merry smiled and hugged her and Vicki's face got scratched as she was pressed between the woman's chain mail covered breasts.

"It's been ages since I got to really go at someone. Simone doesn't like it, but since you're a spy and you broke one of the Laws of Security she can't really do anything about it. And you’re a shadow man too!"

Merry laughed and skipped over to the far wall. More and more fear was eating its way through Vicki's mind. Merry’s laugh had been tinged with evil. She started to tug at her chains. Merry turned and gestured at the instruments like a game show hostess.

"Behold my toys!" She said. Then she walked back over to Vicki and gestured in the same way. "Toys, behold my doll!"

She laughed and that laugh now held more than a tinge of hysteria to it.

"Now I know you want to talk." Merry said turning to her again. "I know you want to talk a lot right now. But I've gone through this before and I know that for the first few days the only things you'll tell me are lies." Merry looked serious for a moment. "And I don't like lies."

Vicki tried to scream but all that she could manage was a muffled whine. She watched as Merry walked over to a small box that looked like a microwave. Merry pushed a few buttons and the box started to hum.

"You tricked me into rescuing you." Merry said calmly. "I gotta give you credit for that, being willing to be mutilated… that was something. The amnesia bit was good too. You almost made it too, but what you didn't know is that all transmissions out of Dollopolis are shunted to random transmitters set up all over the planet. So even if your people got a trace they’re looking in the wrong place."

Merry turned to her and smiled again.

"So we're going to have a lot of time to talk. You're going to tell me just about every fact you have in your head." She paused. "And then you're going to make up stuff just to try and keep me happy."

Merry walked over to her and Vicki tried to press herself into the wall. Merry loomed over her. Then she bent down and kissed Vicki’s forehead.

"Making me happy is going to be your only goal in life. You’d stay up all night trying to figure out a way to make me happy if I let you sleep." She traced Vicki’s eyebrows with her finger tips. "Not that I’m going to let you sleep."

Vicki tried to draw back from her but the chains held.

"Right now the warmer is heating up the clamps." Merry said stroking Vicki's nipples softly. "That'll take a while. These'll be good for a start." Merry stroked her ears. "Then these." Merry's hand drifted down Vicki's stomach and settled between her legs. "Then I'll see what I can do down there."

Vicki screamed through her metal gag and Merry smiled. She bent down and kissed Vicki’s breast, taking it into her mouth and rolling her tongue around the nipple.

This is foreplay to her, Vicki thought. Panic made her tug harder and harder at her chains. This crazy bitch is going to torture me and she's getting off on it!

Merry stepped back and slapped Vicki’s breasts hard a few times. The sting lingered while Merry walked over to the wall and started to pick up the instruments.

You don’t get a fade out in real life. That was what Vicki’s instructors at the C.I.A. training school had told her. In film the fade out happened and all of the pain the heroine faced happened off screen. In real life that didn’t happen. Vicki had gotten a taste of that with Dr. Smith, but he had worked with a cold sadistic efficiency. It had been quick. Merry was going to approach the torture slowly. Like a lover. Vicki tugged harder at her chains. A sick twisted lover.

"Now this" Merry said walking over to her and holding up a foot long metal instrument with a small tube attached to the end. Along with the tube was a small plunger "is something I haven’t used in a long time. "It’s a good starter, not too painful at first but you’ll definitely feel it."

"Information." A cold male voice announced. "Twenty four hour lock down expired. Communication resumed."

"Security halt communication." Merry said suddenly serious.

"Refused." The male voice said. "Over ridden by Royal Command."

"Oh she is not going to cheat me out of this!" Merry snarled and tossed the instrument aside. She hurried out of the doorway only to have a barred door slam shut in her face. Merry turned around and the look on her face was one of pure frustration. "Ok, she can talk to them. But I still have you."

As soon as she had taken two steps toward Vicki another door slid across the entranceway and slammed shut.

"Grace period enforced by Royal Command." The male voice said.

Merry screamed and started to hammer at the bars with her fists.

"SIMONE!" She shouted.

"I’m sorry Merry but I will have the full story before I allow this." Simone's calm voice came from somewhere beyond the doorway. Merry turned and looked at the first set of bars that had closed.

"She's a shadow man and I brought her here!" Merry shouted. "She's mine!"

"Not for another hour." Simone said.

Merry roared and launched herself at the bars again. Even though they looked solid Vicki pressed herself back against the wall. Merry stepped back and closed her eyes. Her form shimmered for a moment."

"No Merry." Simone’s voice stopped her. "You will not get to her by shrinking. By Royal Command you will stay at your current height until I release you."

Merry roared again and charged the bars. She actually slammed into them hard enough to make them shake and Vicki again pressed herself back against the wall. She prayed with all her might that the bars were as solid as they looked. For the next few minutes Merry threw herself at the bars again and again. Then she looked back and nodded.

"You wait right there." Merry said to Vicki. She moved to a portion of the wall and pressed. A stone moved to one side and Merry reached into the wall behind it and took out a long file. She started to uses the file at the base of one of the bars. "This’ll take a while."

The sound of metal biting on metal filled the dungeon.

Mary felt a chill go through her as the man and the woman finished talking. It was worse than they thought. Vicki Huang was in the worst spot anyone could be in. Marry had been in Dollopolis, she had seen the anger in Merry’s eyes when she had thought that her city was threatened. She had seen the haunted look in Lady Goth’s eyes. Lady Goth had stood between Merry and a kidnapped Simone and Merry had broken her so completely that the woman was still in an asylum. Showing her a blonde Barbie doll was enough to send her into a cringing fetal position.

"So this is only her third assignment." Lucy said.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Mary demanded.

"She’s top level." The woman said. "I recruited her, I’ve overseen her training. And she was able to handle it. On the Diamond’s ship she still managed to get reports to us and they led us to a lot of people we never would have known about."

"Her getting to Dollopolis wasn’t something they ever thought of." Colonel Davis said. "They didn’t even know about the Diamond’s ship until yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Lucy asked. Colonel Davis that ship has been in the ship yard for nearly a week."

"The navy doesn’t always tell the CIA what’s going on." Colonel Davis said.

Mary sighed. Colonel Dave Davis was a man she never really liked. She couldn’t like him because she couldn’t really know him. He was tall with dark hair and dark eyes. His face was as cold, hard and angular as the rest of his body. The man could have used his jaw to draw straight lines. A former member of the Earth Intelligence Service he had joined the World Defense Group and had been assigned as Earth Forces liaison. Because he had been in the high ranks of the EIA he’d had brain surgery. There was a tiny chip in his brain that blocked out all telepathic and empathic transmission. The man was a complete black hole telepathically and empathically. To Mary that made him creepy. She was used to her powers telling her what she needed to know about people. She never read minds without cause but her empathic senses were impossible to turn off. Every so often when Colonel Davis talked she wondered if he was a robot. He wore the standard black business suit but she had never seen him with the stereotypical dark glasses. Beside him from the CIA was Sub-section leader and field supervisor Nancy Myers. She wore the same dark black suit. She was short, skinny and worried even if she was hiding it behind her professional persona. Her blonde hair was cut short and her hazel eyes were set behind thick oversized glasses. Three hours after Merry had angrily cut off communication Lucy had gotten a call from Colonel Davis. He’d been vague until Lucy had told him exactly what was going on. The next morning a dark un-marked car had shown up at the mansion a few hours before dawn. With typical over zealousness Colonel Davis had insisted on briefing Lucy alone, but Lucy had brought him and the woman into the briefing room anyway. It had taken nearly one half of an hour to get them talking openly. Lucy, Mary and Prudence had talked first and laid out what they knew of the situation. Then Colonel Davis and Ms. Myers had finally opened up. The more that they talked the more Mary had the feeling once again that fate had a cruel edge. Vicki Huang had been sent deep under cover. She was supposed to pick up intelligence on the new Criminal Enterprises from the lowest level she could. She’d actually worked a month as a prostitute to cement her cover before being picked up by the Diamonds. That showed an incredible dedication to her job and Mary admired that. So did Lucy. Lucy had listened outwardly calm but inwardly worried. It was a worry that Mary shared. They'd been so damn close and now it might go south. Again. If ever fate had set a problem to eat away at Lucy it was Dollopolis and Merry. She seemed to get just close enough to taste victory and then have it pulled away again.

"Why didn’t you respond when we put her picture through the system?" Lucy demanded. "We spent most of yesterday on hold with the government." She had a legal pad in front of her and was making notes. She’d been doing it since yesterday and to anyone else it might have been mistaken for doodling. Mary knew better. Lucy had the uncanny ability to carry on a conversation and work out complex problems at the same time. Three legal pads were filled with notes and diagrams in Lucy’s neat handwriting. She was working out something. Mary guessed it had something to do with Dollopolis but she wasn’t going to ask what. When Lucy was ready she’d tell them about it. Probably in more detail then they would ever have wanted.

"Deep under cover is just that Lucy." Colonel Davis said. "They were getting clearance to brief you when the transmission came in. But it takes a meeting between the field supervisor, her district head and the director of C.I.A. and getting them all together for a conference call takes time. The director was in high level meetings with the President."

"What about the traps I inquired about?" Lucy demanded.

"Officially they don’t exist." Ms. Myers said.

"Meaning they do and you won’t talk about them." Mary said.

"Meaning they don’t exist." Ms. Myers said patiently.

"Remind me again why we’re actually trying to help them?" Mary asked Lucy.

"We never asked for help." Ms. Myers said.

"Fine, see ya."

"Be serious Mary." Lucy said. "Ms. Myers you do need our help, even if you don’t want it. That you are here proves that. Now if you want to get your agent back in one piece then you had better start being honest with us."

"I can get a dictionary and look up the word for you if you want." Mary said.

Ms. Myers looked at Colonel Davis and he nodded.

"This is their turf Nancy." He said. "They’ve got clearance."

"Very well." Ms. Myers said. "The covert section has a task force on Dollopolis. They’ve been laying traps for Merry for a while now."

"Why?" Lucy demanded.

"You have to ask that?" Ms. Myers asked. "Mrs. Rothshild look at what has happened since you first encountered her. Force Group J is gone, the Earth Intelligence Agency is gone, she’s killed six supervillains over the past three years that we know of. The last group was Knife’s Edge! ICE’s front line killers taken out in five minutes. An entire island vanished! We can’t ignore all of that. I know they’ve helped you, I know you feel you can trust them, but your own reports detailed that Merry is nearly insane. We can not let a group with this kind of power operate with only the scraps of knowledge we have now."

"You didn’t think that such knowledge could be gained without subterfuge?" Lucy demanded. "Or that your actions would drive people who are already paranoid and nearly xenophobic further away?"

"We aren’t interested in making friends." Ms. Myers said. "Our job is to protect this country."

"Try to look at it from their point of view Lucy." Colonel Davis said.

"I know their point of view Dave." Lucy said. "I am not naive. But we made an agreement with a people that holds such things in high value, by ignoring it Ms. Myers has driven Merry and Simone to be more and more aggressive."

"You can’t blame that ship on us." Ms. Myers said.

"Yea we can." Mary said.

"No Mary we can’t." Lucy said. "There is no justification for what Merry did on that ship. But Ms. Myers you bear some responsibility as well."

"We were protecting..."

"You were fishing without a license." Mary snapped. "And your about to loose your bait."

"She wasn’t bait." Ms. Myers snapped back at her. "She’s a young agent in over her head." She looked at Lucy. "The question is can we get her back?"

"That is only one part of the question." Lucy said. "Can we get Ms. Huang back and can we find someway to get you to back off your pursuit of Dollopolis. Because I guarantee you that you do not want them for an enemy."

"Lucy what we need is some sort of guarantee that if they turn against us we have a defense." Colonel Davis said.

"There’s only six people in that entire city!" Marry exploded. "And they’re the size of Barbie Dolls!"

"And they’ve got some one who seems to be able to go anywhere and kill anyone she wants." Ms. Myers said. And even without her they kidnapped Miss Shadow out of a hospital room."

"You had full security in your hospital room Miss Rothschild." Colonel Davis said to Prudence. "Four superheroes with the best scanning tech in the world and she walked right into your room."

"To save my life." Prudence said.

"The point Prudence is that Merry and Simone have proven far more dangerous than Colonel Davis and others of his ilk are comfortable with." Lucy said. She rubbed her eyes. "And yes. Yes I can see their point."

"Well they aren’t going to settle things with traps." Mary said.

"We’re open to suggestions." Ms. Myers said. "We aren’t evil people Ms. Dream, we aren’t the enemy. We’re just trying to do our job."

"What about all the reports we write up." Prudence asked. "We spend hours and hours on those things, don’t you ever read them?"

"That’s part of what drives their curiosity Prudence." Lucy said. "Our reports offer a glimpse of a greater whole. It is the part that they don’t know that scares them."

"Well trapping Merry wasn’t going to give them anything." Mary said. "We know that ICE sicked a telepath on Simone and that it didn’t get them anywhere and we know that Simone’s got a better mind shield."

"We also know how much they mean to one another." Ms. Myers said. "An exchange for information was proposed."

"By who?" Mary demanded. "My god you don’t read our reports do you? Do you have any idea what Merry would do if you hurt Simone? Or what Simone would do to get Merry back?"

"We’d be ready for an attack if they didn’t respond positively." Ms. Myers said.

"Ok, I’m asking seriously Lucy why are we helping them?"

"We are on the same side Mary." Lucy said. She was still writing. "The difference is in our methods."

"Yea, ours work." Mary said.

"We’re getting off track here." Colonel Davis said before Ms. Myers could respond. "Lucy you know who we’re dealing with, can we get agent Huang back safely?"

"Our hopes rest with Simone." Lucy said. She looked at her notes, wrote another line and then looked at her watch again. "If I am correct we will be able to talk to her now. Prudence if you don’t mind."

Prudence climbed into the eagle and after a moment they heard a soft chime from it.

"Mom we got a signal!" Prudence called out. "Twenty four hours." Lucy said. "I was correct in the lockdown command."

"I’ll patch it through." Prudence said.

"Good morning Mrs. Rothschild." Simone’s voice said. It was clear and calm. "Before we proceed I would like you to identify the new people in the room."

"This is Colonel Davis of the Earth Defense Group." Lucy said. "Beside him is Field Supervisor Nancy Myers from the C.I.A."

"Shadow men." Simone said and there was some anger in her voice.

"For want of a better title yes." Lucy said. "At least as far as Ms. Myers goes. She is Ms. Huang’s supervisor."

"Your agent has failed Ms. Myers." Simone said coldly. "By the Law of Security of Dollopolis she now belongs to my First Knight. I advise you to forget her. You will never see her again."

"Simone, Vicki Huang was not deliberately sent into Dollopolis." Lucy said and Mary had felt a spike of fear from both her and Ms. Myers at Simone’s words. "How she got there was a complete accident."

"Really." Simone said. "Or is that simply what they have told you? In the past Mrs. Rothschild you have been duped by elements of your own world. Why is this different?"

"Actually… I can't answer that." Lucy said. "Colonel Davis? Ms. Myers can you?"

"This is Colonel Davis. Duchess Simone given how she was brought into your city do you really believe it was deliberate?"

"It is possible." Simone said. "Such elaborate schemes are common where I come from."

"Where is she now?" Ms. Myers asked.

"Where all spies go: into my dungeon." Simone said. "Into Merry’s personal torture chamber. Merry has taken it as a personal insult that Ms. Huang is in the city. To have actually brought a spy into Dollopolis is one of her personal nightmares. Merry is angry with herself and Miss Huang is a perfect target for her rage. Ms. Huang received a reprieve when Merry sealed us off, by the Law of Security she could not be tortured during a lockdown. This morning I extended the reprieve for an hour. I wished to know why Mrs. Rothschild would vouch for the girl. So I ask you now Mrs. Rothschild why did you lie to us? Did you truly not know or are you lying now?"

"Simone when we talked yesterday all I knew about Vicki Huang was what I read in the police report." Lucy said. "I swear by Athena that’s all."

"Your word has not proved reliable in the past." Simone said.

"Yes I know." Lucy said and Mary winced at the pain her friend felt.

"Mine is." Prudence spoke up. "Simone she’s not lying."

For a moment Simone was silent.

"Very well." She said. "I will accept that. Regardless Ms. Huang now belongs to Merry."

"For how long?" Lucy asked.

"If she survives the torture with her sanity intact Merry will own her for the rest of Ms. Huang’s life." Simone said. "She will be Merry’s slave to be treated according to the law."

"Simone that can’t happen." Mary said.

"We are dealing with the Law Ms. Dream." Simone said. "The Law of Security."

"Then tell me what that law is." Lucy said. "I can..."

"I am neither Lizzie nor Jessie Mrs. Rothschild." Simone said coldly interrupting her. "I will not give away state secrets."

Ms. Myers started to say something but Lucy silenced her with a look.

"Simone will you at least turn the hologram back on?" Mary asked. "I hate talking to nothing."

"One moment." Simone said.

The ring on Colonel Davis's finger started to smoke and then the crystal on it shattered. He cursed and took it off.

"I will give you a choice Ms. Myers." Simone said. "Turn off the recorder in your right eye, remove the eye or have me incinerate it in your skull."

Her voice had turned positively ice cold and Ms. Myers reached up and took off her glasses. Then she pressed a finger to her temple. After that she put the glasses back on.

"Now we can talk with some decorum." Simone said as her hologram appeared. She looked exactly as she had the day before and Mary found herself wondering if Simone had slept. Colonel Davis and Ms. Myers studied her closely. There were no pictures of Simone or Merry and Mary didn’t need her powers to feel their curiosity.

"Simone Merry can not torture that girl to death." Ms. Myers said.

"To death?" Simone said. "Now that is an insult. Ms. Myers Merry would consider torturing a shadow man to death a personal failure."

"Why doesn't that make me feel better." Mary said.

"So what is she after?" Ms. Myers demanded. "You know now what Vicki is."

"Pain." Simone said simply. "Pain and information. Once Vicki has told Merry every fact she has ever been exposed to Merry will be satisfied. Perhaps. Merry will work without rest until the woman has told her everything from her first word to the time Merry found her on that ship."

"Her whole life?" Ms. Myers asked. "No one can remember their whole life!"

"Exactly." Simone said. "But that won't deter her. Why do you think that Merry was so feared on my world? Merry's record of torturing a shadow man before insanity set in is five months and two days. Perhaps you'll recall Lady Goth?"

"She can't do that!" Ms. Myers said and some worry broke through her control. "You've got to stop her!"

"We can't let an agent be tortured." Colonel Davis said.

"Merely saying so will not stop it. Under the law even I do not have the authority to stop it. Merry is the one who can decide to stop it."

"Oh great."

"Yes Ms. Dream you understand." Simone said. She turned her gaze toward Colonel Davis. "We have been driven to this point by your relentless pursuit. Trap after trap probe after probe all aimed at us. Vicki Huang is unfortunately at the wrong place at the wrong time. No matter how she came into the city she is a Shadow Man and the hatred for them burns darkly in Merry’s soul. I will not stop my First Knight from following the law."

"You really have laws that allow torture?" Colonel Davis asked.

"Allow and govern the methods of." Simone said. "Laws that are both ancient and respected in our culture. Do not pretend that you do not have such laws, we at least admit that they exist. Had you ever managed to capture my First Knight I doubt that you would have talked to her pleasantly and allowed her to leave when she wished to. You would have done what ever you felt like to her mind and body. Our procedures were created ages ago and are minutely detailed. First the Law of Security, then the Law of Torture and after that the Law of Slaves. Merry will follow them one after another until the matter is finished to her satisfaction."

"Finished?" Ms. Myers asked. "How do you define finished?"

"Ms. Huang will be completely broken." Simone said. "So much so that even a random thought of disobedience or rebellion will horrify her. Her fear of Merry will be an absolute, it will govern her every waking moment and haunt her nightmares."

This was getting worse and worse. Mary looked at the hologram of the small woman. It was perfect in every detail, right down to the stone look on Simone’s face. Ms. Myers face looked determined and there was anger there too. Colonel Davis’s face was unreadable. But by the charter of Earth Force the U.S. Government could order them to save Vicki Huang. And what would happen if that order was given? Mary remembered the acrimony of the Force Group J split. This would be worse and it would tear Lucy apart.

"Simone if you won’t tell me the law will you let me argue in ignorance and tell me if I am right or wrong?" Lucy asked. She was scribbling furiously on a legal pad in front of her.

"Do you think to save her Mrs. Rothschild?"

"I do." Lucy said. "And I will if your laws follow the structure I believe them to follow."

"I have studied our laws for over two hundred years." Simone said. "Merry longer than that. I can find no legal escape for her. Do you really believe that you can successfully argue them against us?"

"I do." Lucy said with confidence.

"Then I name you her advocate. If you can prove her guilt free then Merry can not torture her. But you have only thirty minutes. Proceed."

"First let’s establish the facts." Lucy said. "Ms. Huang is in Dollopolis and she did try to get a message out to her employers."

"Correct." Simone said. "Ungrateful wench."

Come on Lucy, Mary urged silently. Pull this one out or we’re looking at a war. They won’t let an agent go and we'd have to help the CIA get her back somehow.

"Merry brought Ms. Huang to Dollopolis after rescuing her from the Diamond’s ship."

"Correct."

"What condition was she in when Merry brought her to Dollopolis?"

"Unconscious with her face destroyed and numerous internal injuries. Merry had to sedate her once they were safely away from the ship. From the looks of it the Crime Doctor melted her face with a radiation beam. I believe he did so while she was awake."

There was no way to miss the cringe that went through everyone at the table.

"Ms. Huang was on that ship to spy on the Diamonds."

"That is not a fact that I am aware of."

"How could we prove it to you?"

"Mrs. Rothschild you are dealing with Shadow Men." Simone said. "If one of them told you the sun was hot I would advise you not to believe him. If one of them told the other that the answer to two plus two equals four and the other agreed I would suspect that they were lying to each other."

"What about her original orders?" Mary asked. "They'd mention the Diamonds but not Dollopolis."

"Orders can easily be faked." Simone said.

"Not without time." Lucy said. "There was no way to know this would happen, no way for them to know about the Law of Security."

"True." Simone admitted. "Very well produce the orders."

"They're classified." Colonel Davis said. "It'll take a few days."

"You have no more than twenty five minutes Colonel." Simone said. "Even now Merry strains to get to the young woman."

"I have them here." Ms. Myers said. She and Colonel Davis exchanged looks but he didn't say anything more. "It's moot anyway Dave." She said taking them out of her briefcase. "The assignment ended when the Diamond’s died." Inside was a folder and she handed it to Lucy.

"If you would Mrs. Rothshild." Simone said.

Lucy opened up the folder and laid the papers onto the desk in front of Simone. The tiny woman’s image stood and walked across the desk to read them. For a few minutes she studied each of them. The hologram crackled slightly as she walked over the paper. She bent down in a few places to get a better look. It was a strange sight to see a two foot tall woman walking across the desk and even stranger when the hologram walked through a cup of coffee. Lucy silently turned the pages over so that Simone could read the other side. At last she stood up and went back to her throne.

"I am satisfied." Simone said. "The orders do not mention Dollopolis at all."

"Then I submit to you that she is not guilty of spying." Lucy said. "Ms. Huang was brought into Dollopolis. She had no choice in the matter and could not know if she was being tricked by the Diamond’s or Criminal Enterprises. Naturally she would try to contact her employers at the first opportunity. But she was brought into you duchy without any choice. She’s technically not a spy since her assignment had nothing to do with Dollopolis."

God I love this woman, Mary thought. She had watched Simone’s face and it had gone from skeptical to reflective. I just love her.

"I agree." Simone said. "As to the section dealing with the Law of Security she is innocent so far as deliberately spying on us."

"I'm sensing there's a 'but' here." Mary said.

"She still acted in very bad faith." Simone said. "Merry risked her life to save this woman, she lost a ship while doing so. I used the Temple of Healing to save her life and that involves as you know using my own life force. I can show you the entire record of her existence in Dollopolis from the time she emerged from the temple to the time she tried to contact her superiors. She was allowed to live, to walk freely. We fed her, clothed her, not a hand was raised against her. In no way was her freedom curtailed and yet she still broke one of the Laws of Security by trying to contact her superiors. Under that section of the law she can not be tortured, but she remains a slave for the rest of her life."

"Well at least we're making progress." Mary said. "Who's slave?"

"Merry's." Simone.

"Well we were making progress." Mary said. "Are you sure she'll go along with the no-torture ruling?"

"She's not happy about it." Simone said. "I have been allowing her to listen to this conversation."

"And?" Lucy asked.

"Allow me to demonstrate her feelings." Simone said. She pushed something on the side of her throne. "Merry you have heard all of this. You may speak if you remain polite."

"YOU'RE NOT CHEATING ME OUT OF HER LUCY!" Merry's voice crackled with so much anger that it was distorted. It sounded a bit like fingernails on a blackboard and no one at the table could stop the shiver that went up their backs. "SHE'S A SHADOW MAN! SHE'S MINE! I'M GOING TO TEAR HER SOUL OUT OF HER BODY AND USE IT TO WHITE WASH THE DUNGEON WALLS! IT'S MY RIGHT BY LAW! LET ME AT HER! I'LL TEAR THE BARS OUT OF THE WALL IF YOU DON'T OPEN THEM!"

"Merry your right of torture is over." Simone said. "Don't tell me you will ignore the law."

The response was a roar of frustration and fury that set Mary's teeth on edge. There was some banging and crashing and then a moment or two of silence followed it.

"Ok, let's talk law then." Merry said angrily. "She's still mine. Article 117, Laws of Security; section ten. You can't keep me away from her forever Simone."

"Merry…" Lucy began.

"Shut up you…"

Simone broke the connection.

"I told you to be polite Merry." She said. "So for now listen. Ms. Huang's further fate will be decided under law. Under the law you can not torture her. You know that. Now we will resume and you will maintain decorum."

Mary watched as Simone slowly counted to ten and then released the button.

"Then lets talk law." Merry said. Her voice was hard and she was biting out the words. "Law of Security, Section 1: 'The First Knight shall have total authority and/or ownership over those who for their own gain place Dollopolis at risk.'

"Your response Mrs. Rothschild?" Simone asked.

"What?" Merry's voice cracked with anger. "She can't argue the law, only a noble and the First Knight can."

"I have named her as Ms. Huang's advocate." Simone said. "As you well know. And as your mother she is by the Law of Family a noble."

Merry growled but either she had nothing to say or she was too angry to form intelligible words.

"Well to begin with no one is arguing that her actions were in bad faith." Lucy said standing up. Mary had to hide a smile. Lucy was in full lawyer mode now and as much at home as if she were Goddess of Justice fighting a supervillain. "But knowingly put at risk? I think that's a bit much."

"Trace this signal for emergency evac." Merry said. "Trace. This. Signal. That means that your CIA would have known where the signal was coming from. They would have known where Dollopolis is. And invasion would have followed."

"For emergency evac." Lucy said. "She wanted to leave and she didn't trust you to let her go. Also the CIA does not have the power to invade another country."

"They don't have the legal right to have a nuclear reactor under their headquarters at Langely either." Merry said. "These are Shadow Men Lucy, the same type that ran Camp 04. They would have come in force and turned us into slaves or worse."

That hurt, Mary knew. Camp 04 had been full of superheroes. The heroes had been forced by the EIA to use their powers in hideous ways. Lucy had un-knowingly put a lot of the heroes in that hell. Lucy took it in stride though. Across the table Colonel Davis and Ms. Myers watched the exchange with interest and from her a lot more anxiety than Mary would have thought. Vicki Huang was more than just an agent to her. She was obviously a friend, Ms. Myers probably looked on Vicki as a daughter. Marry had seen that relationship many times in the intelligence community.

"They would have come for their agent certainly." Lucy said. "Just as you would have come for one of your people. But they would not have stayed."

"You don't know that." Merry said. "I've spent the last year dancing from trap to trap to trap. I'm on a hit list and I'm tired of it. Maybe if I take out a few Vicki's they'll slack off."

"Would that work with you?" Lucy demanded.

"It never has." Merry admitted. "But I'm not a Shadow Man. They don't feel like normal people. Vicki really proved that."

"So how can you hold her acting to her true nature against her?" Lucy asked. "She did what you did when you woke up in my house. You immediately assaulted the Young Ancient and others and threatened to blow it up. You were scared…"

"I don't get scared!" Merry shouted.

"You felt that you were trapped and your first instinct was to get home." Lucy said. "Vicki acted no differently. She is a young woman on her third assignment and you know the trauma she went through. She was shrunk against her will and her face was horribly melted."

"We treated her well, saved her life…"

"I treated you well and saved your life." Lucy countered.

"After I nearly killed myself killing Hellspite." Merry said.

"My point is that Vicki is a young agent, very in-experienced who found herself in a completely alien environment. She acted the best way she could, the way her training told her to act. There has been no harm done here Merry except to your pride. The transmission was never traced."

"It was made." Merry said.

She wasn't going to move on that point. Mary knew that tone.

"But it was not made out of a desire to betray kindness." Lucy said. "Merely out of a desire to get home. And since Ms. Huang has no family but Ms. Myers she was calling her family, the Law of Family allows that does it not?"

"We’re arguing the Law of Security, not family." Merry said. But there was a bit of hesitation in her voice.

"If I am correct the Law of Family is above the Law of Security." Lucy said. "Family is important in Dollopolis."

"She is correct." Simone said.

"She wasn’t calling her family she was calling a bunch of soulless Shadow Men." Merry said.

"Who-since she has no other living relatives-are her family." Lucy said.

"We now have a Law War Merry." Simone said.

A roar of rage and a crash answered her.

"Law War?" Mary asked.

"The Law of Family and the Law of Security are opposite each other in this matter." Simone said.

"The Law of Security has a better argument." Merry said. "Section 8 spells that out."

"Section 8 only applies to slaves taken by force." Simone said. "You rescued Ms. Huang. There is precedent for this Merry. Book five thousand of the Clordian History of the Laws of Family."

"I'm thinking book six thousand of the Clin History of the Law of Security." Merry said. "That favors me."

"We will have to consult both of them and compare."

"Let me out of this damn cell then."

"This will take some time Mrs. Rothschild." Simone said standing up. "A conflict between the Laws of Family and Security can be difficult to resolve. I will try to contact you by the end of the day."

"What about Ms. Huang?" Lucy asked.

"She is safe for the moment." Simone said. "Even if she were to stay here the Law of Slavery is very specific that slaves can not be tortured without just cause."

"Yippee." Mary said.

"I shall contact you when a decision is made." Simone said.

She got up from her chair and the image vanished.

Lucy let out a deep breath and sat down again.

"Best bit of garbage I've heard you put together in a while." Mary said going over to her chair and putting her arm on Lucy's shoulder. "Think it'll work?"

"I don't know." Lucy said. "It is very close but we have Simone’s support. That is the difference between them, Simone can see beyond her anger. She knows the situation they have found themselves in, Merry will still go with her anger."

"They take that law stuff seriously don't they?" Ms. Myers asked.

"Very." Lucy said. "But their legal structure is a labyrinth."

"You seemed to have figured it out." Ms. Myers said.

"Over the past year I’ve given their legal system much thought." Lucy said. "In the past 20 hours I have pressed those thoughts as much as I could. Educated guesses for the most part. I deduced that the basis for their laws are emotion, not reason or logic.

"Sounds a bit like ours." Mary said.

"No, our laws are written and re-written in endless comities." Lucy said and her voice took on a lecture’s tone. "So much so that the original writer of the law may not even recognize it. How ever at the heart of them all though is a desire to construct logical rules for society. But Dollopolis is a monarchial/patriarchal society, a feudal one. One person decides the laws and their culture has no tradition of emotional control. I have seen similar legal structures evolve in pre-feudal and feudal cultures; the sunken island nation of the Rictonian’s in the Pacific for example. Instead of repealing the bad law the generations to come write new laws countering it."

"You’ve been to the underwater kingdom?" Ms. Myers asked.

"Lucy gets around." Mary said.

"It was some years ago before they cut all contact with the outside world. I was on the committee that failed to get a treaty finished in time."

"So you think you’ve figured Dollopolis out?" Colonel Davis asked.

"Partly." Lucy said. "They have grafted reason and logic over the emotion but the heart of their laws seem to be emotions. Principally anger."

"Merry is the angry one." Ms. Myers said.

"Yes. But Simone is angry over these events as well. But Merry embraces the emotion, Simone favors the reason." Lucy made a note on her legal pad and talked almost to herself. "The contrast between them is classic. I could write a book if I ever got to know them better. I wonder if that is why they love each other so much. From what we know Merry started out trying to kill Simone. How does that shift so completely to love?"

"Lotta hard work on Simone’s part." Mary said. Secretly Mary envied her. Simone had Merry but Lucy would be forever beyond Mary’s reach.

"It’s not only that." Prudence said. "Merry needs her, she needs something to keep her anger bottled up. I felt that a couple of times."

"Even if we get Ms. Huang back only part of the problem is solved." Lucy said. She stared at the ceiling. "We must get the guarantees that will satisfy the government."

"How?" Mary asked. "They won’t even tell you their laws."

Lucy stood up and walked to the window.

"What about the deal Simone proposed just before they found out about Vicki?" Prudence asked. "That ambassadorial position?"

"Ambassadors are the biggest spies there are." Ms. Myers said.

"She’s right." Colonel Davis said.

"What satisfies you guys anyway?" Mary demanded.

"A lot more than we have." Ms. Myers said. "I know how I seem to you Ms. Dream, I know and I don’t care, I care about this country and this world. I don’t take chances with them."

"Look what you just went through with Timidious." Colonel Davis said.

"Look what we've already gone through with Merry." Prudence said. "She was the one who trusted us first. I'm sorry mom but that is really where all this started."

"I know." Lucy said. "My arrogance cost us all dearly. I was so convinced at the time that I was doing everything right."

"Everyone makes mistakes." Mary said. "The question is what do we do now? I do know where your coming from Nancy, Timidious did more to me than anyone. But Merry and Simone have played it pretty straight from the start."

"They're alien and powerful." Colonel Davis said.

"So's Moon Girl." Prudence said. "You trust her."

"She took the same oath all of you did when you joined Earth Force." Colonel Davis said. "And before that when she joined Force Group J. We had safeguards."

"Then that is the answer." Lucy said turning around. "Merry must join Earth Force."

"What?" Mary asked and she felt a chill run down her spine. She knew that tone of voice. She'd heard it before when Lucy was about to propose the impossible.

"If Dollopolis is to have any sort of safety in this world they must be seen to be under some sort of Earth control. We must have guarantees. Guarantees that the rest of the world will respect. Simone has the right approach by appointing Merry as an ambassador, but that is not enough. That places her under my supervision and my reputation is not what it once was. There is only one way I can see to solve this. Merry must join Earth Force. Her oath would satisfy everyone."

"Join us!" Prudence shouted standing up and nearly falling into the coffee cup. "Mom join us? She hates…"

"Me." Lucy said as Prudence found herself unable to finish the sentence. "She blames me for much of what is wrong and I will face that in time."

"Lucy you know that anyone joining Earth Force takes a loyalty oath while under telepathic scan." Mary said. "They have to sit in a room and answer questions while someone reads their minds. How the hell do you think you're going to get Merry to do that?"

"I don't know." Lucy said. "Yet." She walked over and started to gather up the papers. "But Colonel Davis do you remember Lady Highfield's report on Merry? Merry gave an oath not to take action against anyone until everyone was safe on Earth."

"Yea I don't wanna go there." Mary said shrinking from the memory. She hadn't known about the oath and that had nearly caused her to get Merry killed.

"We have to." Lucy said. "That oath was binding. Merry mentioned a severe penalty if she broke it."

"Yea, something about a 'five year death everyday' sentence." Mary said.

"So we know her word is good once it's given." Colonel Davis said. "I see where your going Lucy, it would be like Moon Girl's status, diplomatic immunity, yet accountability. We'd have her oath and her honors good. We'd just have to have telepathic confirmation. Earth Force maybe U.S. only, but the loyalty oath is accepted by the U.N. as reliable."

"Yea, so how do we sell her on this idea?" Mary asked. "You gotta realize Colonel that us trusting her is only part of it, it’s her trusting us that’s the other part and I’m not sure that’ll ever happen. I doubt Simone could order her to join us. Hell I’m not even sure Simone will be all that crazy about the idea."

"I have to think." Lucy said. "This distrust from both sides is a cancer and..."

"Mom look!" Prudence said pointing at the window.

"Oh hell no." Mary whispered. In the back of Rothschild mansion toward the cliffs was a Grecian temple. In that temple rested the mystic gem that gave Lucy her powers as Goddess of Justice. And it was there that she preyed every morning and evening to Athena. Sometimes though Lucy didn't prey to her, sometimes Athena called her. Nine times out of ten it was to warn her of some great disaster. Now it glowed and pulsed with a eerie white light.

"Wait here." Lucy said. Her body shimmered and was replaced by the seven foot tall Amazonian Goddess of Justice. She opened the window and flew to the temple.

"Oh this gets better and better." Mary said. "When ever she gets an i.m. from Athena we're in for something bad."

"What do we do?" Ms. Myers asked.

"We wait." Mary said walking over to the intercom. "Kitchen bring up some more of my coffee and some sandwiches will ya. We got some time to kill."

"Give me a few minutes." A female voice said. "Your coffee melted the stove and I'm making a new batch."

"Funny Daisy." Mary said and released the button. "Really funny."

Merry rested against Simone's chest, asleep at last. Simone stretched as much as she was able to. Merry had been crying and nearly hysterical after the conversation with Mrs. Rothschild. Their love making had been the only way to calm her down. Even so Merry trembled in her sleep as another nightmare battered against her guilty conscience. She lay between Simone’s breasts and clutched desperately at one of her nipples.

"Easy luv." Simone said stroking her hair. Merry sighed and relaxed a little bit. Simone started to sing a soft folk tune and Merry relaxed a bit more.

"This is killing her." Simone said after she was sure that Merry was deeply asleep.

{She will recover.}

{Your actions have had the desired result.}

{The deal will satisfy them.}

{And the scene played out well to Lucy's strengths.}

"She's incredible." Simone said.

{Yes she is.}

{That mind of hers is sharper than her history of being easily trapped would suggest.}

{Well we were giving her clues all along.}

{But how many other people could have picked up on them. I'm glad she's bred, I'd hate to loose that bloodline.}

"How much longer should we give them?" Simone asked.

{Another hour.}

{After this the CIA and other agencies should leave us alone.}

{So long as we aren't perceived as a threat.}

{The ambassadorial post should handle that part of it.}

"We should give a grand send off scene for Vicki." Simone said.

{Agreed.}

{Lizzie and Jessie will be back within the hour.}

{You'd best put on a very formal robe.}

{Merry can bring her to Lucy with an appropriately dramatic flair.}

"Five." Mary said and counted out the spaces on the board. "Boardwalk."

"That's mine." Prudence said triumphantly. "Two hundred dollars rent."

Mary sighed and handed over the Monopoly money.

"I can't believe were doing this." Ms. Myers said.

"Your turn." Mary said. "And we got nothing else to do."

"What about poker?" Colonel Davis asked.

"Mom doesn’t like that game." Prudence said as she carried Mary's rent over to her pile and put it down. Then she sat. Mary suspected that Prudence loved to play the game shrunk because she liked sitting on the play money. And of course playing with the race car. "She thinks all gambling is bad."

"So do I." Mary said. "Ever since the Card Master made us play for our souls."

"That was a long time ago Ms. Dream." Goddess of Justice said entering through the window.

"Yea, everything's a long time ago." Mary said. "What's up with the big goddess?"

"Many things." Lucy said as Goddess of Justice's form faded. "Athena knows of this, she has decided to act in our favor."

"That's good." Ms. Myers said.

"Not always." Mary countered.

"Hush Mary I need to work." Lucy said sitting down at the table. She took the legal pad and began to draw something on it. She drew silently but quickly and Mary started to put away the game. They were both half of way done when the chime sounded and Simone appeared.

"I hope I'm not interrupting something." She said looking at the board.

"Ever play Monopoly?" Mary asked.

"No." Simone surveyed the board. "A game of conquest?"

"Yea, we'll have to show you some time." Mary said.

"The Law of Family prevails." Simone said. "Though she is not happy with it Merry has accepted it. She will return Ms. Huang to your home tomorrow evening." Simone looked at Lucy who was still drawing furiously.

"Mrs. Rothschild?"

"One more moment please Simone." Lucy said as she continued to draw.

"Is Vicki alright?" Ms. Myers asked.

"She is fine." Simone said. "I will allow her to keep the health we gave her. Make no mistake though Ms. Myers that this is the last I ever want to see of her. To my mind she abused our kindness and spat upon our hospitality. Should she ever enter Dollopolis again it will be against one of the Prime Laws, and there are no loopholes in those."

"I don't think she'll want to go back." Ms. Myers said.

"Good." Simone said.

"Done." Lucy said. "Simone about the deal you proposed, I'm afraid I can't accept it."

"What?" Simone looked shocked.

"I have a counter offer to make." Lucy said. "Simone you and Dollopolis have generated a great deal of fear in the world."

"WE have?" Simone demanded. "My small duchy?"

"You did destroy an island." Colonel Davis said.

"A parlor trick." Simone said.

"A dangerous one." Ms. Myers said. "And that doesn’t cover the people that Merry has killed."

"Well how do you propose I assuage the worlds fears?" Simone said.

"Merry must join Earth Force." Lucy said.

"That's it?" Simone asked.

"Not really." Mary said.

"To join Earth Force you must swear and oath of loyalty." Lucy said.

"That's not a problem." Simone said.

"While a telepath scans your mind to determine if you are speaking the truth." Lucy said.

"Are you serious Mrs. Rothschild?" Simone asked. "A telepathic scan while she reads the oath?"

"Yes." Lucy said. "Oaths can be broken or falsely given. We'd have to be sure."

"Merry has never broken an oath!" Simone said angrily standing up. "The penalties for doing so are harsh. You? You dare question her word!?"

"We have to be sure." Colonel Davis said.

"You have to be sure?" Simone said whirling to face him. "You!" She turned back to Lucy. "Do you realize what kind of insult this is Mrs. Rothschild? Not only to the honor of my kingdom but to Merry? I've barely calmed Merry down, if I even suggest this to her she'll fly into another rage and you must know that I can't order Merry to do this."

It was rare to see Simone in a near rage and Mary was just about to try and calm her down when Lucy spoke.

"I know you can't order her to do it." Lucy said. "But she can agree to it. She did before."

"And look what happened." Simone said. "Her mind and body nearly shattered beyond repair, myself captured and tortured, Lizzie and Jessie nearly killed! What can you possibly offer Merry to make her take that chance again?"

"This." Lucy said holding up the note pad.

Simone gasped at the drawing. For a moment she looked at it in horror and then staggered back to her throne and sat down. She was actually shaking and it took a few deep breaths for her to calm down.

"What's that?" Mary asked going around the table to stand beside Ms. Myers so that she could see what Lucy had drawn.

On the pad Lucy had drawn a rectangular box. On the box was the royal crest of Dollopolis and below that was a circle divided evenly four ways. Bellow that was a skull with a rose in the right eye. Bellow that was a picture of a scythe.

"Do you have that Mrs. Rothschild?" Simone asked and there was more than a hint of fear in her voice. "How long have you had it? Is this some sort of game for you? Do you realize what that is? How dangerous it is?"

"I don't have it at the moment." Lucy said calmly. "And this is no game. While you were arguing the law with Merry Athena summoned me. She feels that Dollopolis needs help, help you will never ask for, and she agreed that Merry should join Earth Force. She showed me this and left me clues to find it. Athena said that in exchange for this Merry would even take the oath under telepathic scan."

"Your goddess is correct." Simone said. She was trying to get her balance back. "To get what is in that box Merry would do almost anything."

"What's in there?" Ms. Myers demanded.

"Oh good, someone else asked besides me." Mary said.

Simone took a deep breath to steady herself. Then she spoke.

"Something I hoped I would never see again. When she was a fugitive on my world Merry often hid on farms. Another farm hand with a good and willing body was welcome nearly anywhere. The crops were harvested by hand, using a scythe. Merry grew to like the design and used it as her principle weapon in hand to hand combat."

"You banned it though." Prudence said. "I remember now. Jessie told me you banned it."

"You don't know why." Simone said. "Shortly after Merry became my First Knight she was given a mystical scythe by the Four Great Powers. It was designed to calm her spirit and aid her in battle. It preformed the later function perfectly. But great as they were the weapon was still flawed. It was supposed to harness Merry's anger into concentrated blasts of power; and this it did. But it didn't dispel the anger, it doubled it and then returned it to her."

"Oh god." Mary said. "That must have been like pouring gas on the fire."

Simone nodded.

"The more she used it the more she wanted to use it." Simone said. "It became addictive. I didn't realize that at first. I began to worry when after each battle Merry became harder and harder to calm down. I truly began to worry when she started to use it on our own crops and nearly burned them all. Then, in the course of a matter I will not speak fully of, I was struck down by a telepath from a rival kingdom. Without me there was no limit to her rage and…" Simone faltered for a moment and then went on. "Between my duchy and the enemies stronghold she left a path of devastation one of your miles wide. Villages, woods, rivers… small mountains… The very dirt smoked. If it stood in her way Merry smashed it. The people of the city of my enemy threw him over the city walls to try to stave off her rampage and it worked until she was done with him. She was about to slaughter them all when I stopped her. By then I had recovered and it took myself and my personal guard the better part of a day to get the cursed thing away from her. It had driven her mad by then and she attacked me. For almost two months after we got it away from her Merry was a snarling animal that I had to keep locked up in a cage. It was almost a year before I managed to heal her mind."

"And Athena wants us to find this thing?" Mary asked.

"Athena has her reasons." Lucy said.

"She may." Simone said. "I sent the weapon back to the Four Great Powers and they promised to fix it. I had no more word from them before we were forced to flee our world. Of all the things we lost I had hoped that cursed weapon would never be found. I banned the design of the weapon from Dollopolis so that Merry would never be reminded of it. Mrs. Rothschild if this is Merry's original scythe then I beg you to destroy it if you can. I doubt very much if I could get it away from her now and it would take all of Earth Force to stop her."

"What if they fixed it?" Prudence said.

"I can't be sure." Simone said. "That is the standard cargo container that we used to transport goods back and forth. The upper symbol is for Dollopolis, the circle is for the Four Great Powers and the lower symbol is Merry's personal family crest. You can see the picture of the scythe below it. They might have been sending it back to me fixed, or it might never have reached them."

"Athena would not ask us to retrieve a cursed weapon." Lucy said.

"Can you be sure of that?" Colonel Davis asked.

"Yes." Lucy said and Mary knew she could.

"So you think if we show this to Merry she'll take the oath even with a telepathic scan?" Ms. Myers asked.

"If she knows of its existence Merry will do nearly anything to get it back." Simone said. "It allows her to unleash a part of her nature that I strive to keep in chains." She shuddered. "Imagine the worst that you have ever seen her and then imagine that tripled."

"Fun thought." Mary said.

"It is the repaired scythe." Lucy said with confidence. "I feel absolutely confident of that Simone."

"I’m sure you do." Simone said. "However Merry will not join Earth Force unless I allow it. Even if this is the repaired scythe I’m reluctant to let her join you."

"Why?" Prudence asked.

"Merry and I have studied the superheroes of your planet." Simone said. "As much as I admire what you do I am not blind to the danger of it. Death is the least of what can happen to a hero or heroine. I’m sorry to bring this up Ms. Dream but you are a prime example of the danger."

"Yea I am." Mary said. She’d been raped and her mind had been torn to shreds and worse. "It’s part of the life."

"And I have read much of that life Mrs. Rothschild." Simone said. "Supervillains, aliens, demons all seem to find your world an attractive target. Your battles are endless and many have been killed. Merry is all that Dollopolis has to protect us, despite your vow Mrs. Rothschild. I will not see Merry become another name on that list and my land left defenseless."

"They aren't only our battles." Lucy said. "Dollopolis is on this planet Simone, you can't deny that. It's your planet now too. You don't have enough power to leave."

"How did you…" Simone went white for a moment but recovered herself. "Athena." she said. "You can not keep secrets from a goddess."

"Yes." Lucy said. "And there have been times in the past when we could have used Merry's aid and there will be even more times in the future if Athena is correct. You are a part of this world now Simone, you must help protect it."

"I am the Duchess of Dollopolis Mrs. Rothschild." Simone said sternly. "I decide what I must or must not do."

"And now that the facts are before you what must you do?" Lucy asked.

Simone looked down for a few minutes. She stood and paced back and forth and then sat down. Then she screamed and slammed her fist onto the arm of her throne. It was the scream that reminded Mary how thin Simone’s control was. Then she sighed and looked up again.

"You’ve stripped me bear, exposed my weakness. Did that make you happy Mrs. Rothschild?"

"Of course not." Lucy snapped. "Simone you and Merry are in a hopeless situation, but time and time again you’ve slapped at us when we’ve offered help. As much as this hurts your pride it has to be said: You need help."

"We stand on our own or we do not stand at all." Simone said proudly.

"So you would rather see your duchy fade into history than accept help?" Lucy demanded.

"Help at a price." Simone countered.

"Mutual friendship is not a price." Lucy said. "Simone think past your pride, you’re not on your world anymore. You are here. Accept it. Deal with it."

"She is the woman that I love." Simone said after a few minutes. Her voice took on an almost pleading tone. "I don't think that I could live without her. There has not been an encounter with you and yours yet that has not ended with Merry severely hurt or near death. Yet you'd drag her into your battles? Why? Because your world fears my duchy? My duchy that has only 6 souls living in it?"

It was the most scared that Mary had ever seen her. Lucy must have realized that too.

"Simone." Lucy said gently. "Simone I know what she means to you. Look at Prudence, look at Mary. Do you think that I don't spend sleepless nights worrying about them?"

I could fill those nights if you let me damnit, Mary thought silently.

"But Simone look at where you are now. Dollopolis is on this world, perhaps permanently. We don't battle supervillains and aliens for the glory we battle them because we have all sworn to safeguard our home. And our home is your home. I would no more throw away Merry's life than I would anyone's life. She would be far more likely to survive in a team than alone."

"Merry has always fought alone." Simone said. "Or led my armies. What role could she fill in Earth Force?"

"I don't know." Lucy said. "As you say she has always battled alone. But team work can be learned."

"And would this satisfy your Shadow Men." Simone demanded with an angry glance at Colonel Davis and Ms. Myers.

"Yes." Lucy said.

Simone sighed again.

"Find the box Mrs. Rothschild. When you do, if it is the repaired scythe then Merry will join you."

"Yea, ok, how do we know if it's the good one or the bad one?" Mary asked.

"Prudence." Simone said. "If you take hold of the scythe and have an overwhelming need to kill everyone around you then it is the bad scythe. If you feel that urge then you must instantly drop it or it will consume you."

"Got it." Prudence said.

"I will not speak of this to Merry." Simone said. "And I warn you not to speak of it either until you know for sure. She would go mad with desire if she knew that she could have that weapon back in here hands."

"What about when she brings Ms. Huang back?" Mary asked.

"She won't be staying." Simone said. "After the Ceremony of Expulsion Merry will return her to you. Expect her tomorrow at sundown."

"Ceremony of Expulsion?" Ms. Myers asked.

"There will be no lasting harm." Simone said. "But there will be punishment for her crimes. It is the least offered under the Law of Security."

"We'll let you know when we find the scythe." Lucy said. "I don’t know when it will be."

"I should have thrown the cursed thing into a sun." Simone said with a sigh. "Farewell Mrs. Rothschild, I will await word from you."

"Man that rattled her." Mary said.

"It scared the hell out of her." Prudence said.

"It was hard I know." Lucy said. "But if you found Merry into the middle of the ocean and offered to take her into your boat she would ignore you and keep on swimming. Simone is the same way. That pride will kill them sooner or later. They have to learn how to live here with us, not hiding in the shadows."

"What else did Athena tell you?" Colonel Davis asked.

"That there is a dark time coming." Lucy said.

"Well she always tells you about those." Mary said. "What kind of dark times? No, wait." Mary held up her hand as Lucy started to speak. "She wasn’t real specific was she?"

"No." Lucy said. "But she was adamant that we find the scythe and return it to Merry and that Merry join Earth Force."

"Mom if this is the wrong scythe…"

"It won't be." Lucy said calmly. "I have faith."

"So how do we find it?" Mary asked.

"I have to work that out." Lucy said. She stood up. "I’ll be in my office until tomorrow afternoon at least. Athena showed me visions, clues, I must work them out for myself."

"Ok." Mary said standing up. She looked at Colonel Davis and Ms. Myers. "You want to stay the night or come back tomorrow?"

"We’ll stay." Ms. Myers said.

"Great. Lucy should I..."

But Lucy was already out the door. Mary sighed and pushed the intercom button. "Attention everyone, ok I know your waiting some answers and we got some. Briefing up here in five minutes. Daisy, Lucy’s got a night ahead of her, put some food in her office will ya. Oh and the two spies’ll be spending the night, set up the guest rooms?"

Mary let go of the button and sat down.

"What do you think?" Prudence asked walking across the table to sit down in front of her.

"I think if this works that gal’s gonna be a good piece of firepower to have around." Mary said. She looked at Colonel Davis and he nodded.

"So long as we can be sure which direction she’s firing." He said.

"What the bloody hell is going on!?" Simone demanded as the transmission was cut. Her voice broke with fear. Her entire body was shaking and her mouth had gone dry with panic. From the moment she’d seen the drawing until the transmission had cut off Simone had not been in control of her body or voice. At least not Simone Stronghollow. Duchess Simone of Dollopolis had been in charge. For the first time Simon realized why Merry was scared that the roll she played would take over permanently.

{That is what we would like to know.}

{We know you and Merry enjoy improvising Dollopolis history but when did you talk about this?}

{And how did Athena know about it?}

{And why is it suddenly reality?}

"Simone?" Merry asked coming into the throne room. She'd been waiting beyond camera range and had been shocked when Simone had talked about the scythe. "Simone what… I can't join Earth Force! I couldn't face them day after day, I couldn't keep the lies coming!"

"I don't know." Simone said. She sank into her throne and started to shake. Merry rushed over and hugged her. "I was talking, but… it wasn't me. I was… I don't know a puppet? Why? Who?"

Her voice was filled with fear and Merry hugged her and looked around.

"Lucy has Athena." She said. "But we have Ida!"

She looked up and pleaded with the air.

"IDA! Ida! Please, if this is something you know about please… Please tell us."

For a moment there was nothing and then a breeze blew through the throne room. It was a whisper that spoke more to Merry's and Simone's mind than anywhere else.

"All can not be revealed, but if you have faith all will be well."

The breeze faded and Merry and Simone looked at each other. The words had gone through them like a cool breeze and Simone slowly stopped shaking.

{It seems that we are involved in something beyond us.}

{We have been spinning plots and now we find ourselves spun into one.}

{Humbling.}

{Very.}

"What do we do?" Simone asked.

"I guess we play along and have faith." Merry said. "Ida's always been there for us, I think we owe her a little faith."

{We agree.}

"So we've gone from being the cricket bat to the cricket ball." Simone said. "Goddess that is humbling."

"That's terrifying." Merry said.

Simone stood up and took Merry's hand. They stood for a moment and then Simone straightened up.

"Well if we are the playthings of gods it's best we play well." Simone said. "Let's get ready to give Vicki a proper send off."

"Right." Merry said trying to match her determination. It was a lie she knew how scared Simone was. How scared she was. But if they were both scared they were both not going to show it. Merry wondered if the Group was scared. She wasn’t going to ask. "Let's use Lizzie and Jessie and Monica for it."

"They're in the fields." Simone said. "Let's go get them."

Simone squeezed her hand and they walked toward the castle entrance.

…to be continued.

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