The Femme Fatales - Malice Ch. 02

My apologies for the delay in getting this chapter out. Between real life, writer's block and a decision to change the direction of this story about halfway through, it took quite a bit of rewriting. Hope you enjoy it.

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Late the following morning, James was sitting at the breakfast table, drinking his coffee and staring idly out the window, his thoughts far away as he continued to ponder the strange events of the evening before. He still could not come up with any logical reason why a high powered and high priced assassin like Flare would stoop to stealing diamonds. There simply had to be more to the situation than a mere robbery, but what?

"Master?" Amber's voice penetrated his thoughts.

"Hmmmmm? Oh, good morning my dear." James smiled up at her. "Sorry, was woolgathering a bit about last night. How are you feeling?"

Amber smiled, then leaned down and kissed him deeply for a moment. "Mmmmmm, much better now. I'm ok. Controlling the amount of power Flare put out was a bit draining is all, especially since she set the whole place on fire."

"Well I'm glad you're alright. She is definitely not our ordinary criminal."

Amber thought about it for a moment, her gaze distant as she went over the events of the fight in her head. While she had been able to overcome and contain the level of power that Flare had produced, it had been an intense and rather exhausting task. It had been a long time since she had gone up against anyone as strong as her angry opponent.

"No Master, she's definitely not ordinary. I think her rating as a low end Alpha is wrong. As skillful and strong as she was, she's definitely mid range, maybe even upper end. While she's not a Prime like me, she's a serious threat to most others, including most of the rest of the team."

James looked at her and nodded. "I think you're right. Sapphire's a Prime like you and could probably handle her, but the others would be at a serious disadvantage. If only we had some idea what she was doing. Jade's downstairs right now, checking to see what she can find out about those diamonds. Maybe they're special or dangerous or something."

As if on cue, Jade came walking into the kitchen.

"Well Master, those diamonds are rather special, but I'm not exactly sure what Flare planned on doing with them."

James and Amber looked at each other, then back at Jade. "Go on." James said.

Jade sat down at the table and regarded them with her calm gaze. "According to the jewelry store manager, the diamonds are all the same size, same carat weight, same color and same cut. They are literally almost perfectly identical in every way, right down to their crystalline structure. They could be used for anything from cutting lasers to jewelry. However, they are also all specially tagged with a microscopic symbol to prove their authenticity and help keep them from being stolen and sold on the open market."

Jade frowned slightly. "While it is possible they could be sold to a private buyer and used for who knows what, this does not fit in with Flare's profile and past history. She is too well known and feared in the criminal underworld. No one in their right mind would try to use her for something as small time as theft. She'd take it as a serious insult."

James muttered in annoyance and ran his fingers through his hair. "I've got a bad feeling about this. We haven't had any problems with high level powered types in over a year. Now we have one and she's not acting in character. She's stolen a bunch of perfect diamonds and it's not because she needs the money."

He stood and paced back and forth for a moment, his brilliant mind contemplating and discarding numerous scenarios. "Wait a moment. You said the diamonds are almost perfectly identical. How many diamonds were there?"

Jade said, "The manager said there were 100 of them in total, with each bag containing 20 diamonds. Amber's arrival kept Flare from getting one of the bags."

"Hmmmmm, 100 diamonds. All practically identical. Perfect for the focus of a cutting laser...or potentially something else." James tapped his chin with a finger, then looked down at Amber. "Your powers are somewhat similar to hers, as far as energy projection goes. Could she use the diamonds to boost her power?"

Amber thought a moment, then shook her head. "No Master, I don't think so. While she could possibly use one or more of the diamonds as a means of focusing her fire into a tighter beam, basically a laser of fire, it wouldn't amplify her power levels."

"Well that's a relief, at least." James sighed and stopped his pacing, then turned at looked down at them both. "Until we know more, there's really not much we can do but keep vigilant and hope we get some kind of leads. However, I don't want any of you going out on patrols alone until we know what we're dealing with. Amber, I want you or Sapphire to be with the others since you're the only two who could really go toe to toe with Flare."

"Yes of course Master." Amber replied, seeing the seriousness of the situation.

James smiled faintly and nodded, then looked at Jade. "I need you to get me everything you can on Flare. Past associations with any known powered felons, recent incidents or anything out of the ordinary. Maybe we'll find something that will give us a clue."

Jade nodded, then rose to head back downstairs. "If there's anything out there, I'll find it Master."

Amber also got up. "I'll contact the others and let them know to regroup. Sapphire's up north helping to put out a wildfire and Ruby and Onyx are patrolling different parts of town. I'll go link up with them and tell Sapph to head back once she's done."

James nodded, then walked up and kissed her softly. "Mmmmmm watch your backside out there sweetheart."

Amber laughed and winked back at him as she headed out the door. "Always do Master."

---------------

Several firefighters stood idly by, watching as tree after tree fell to the ground. They could barely see the blur of the fast moving Sapphire as she smashed through tree after burning tree, bringing them down rapidly as she worked to halt the advance of the wildfire that had seemingly sprung up out of nowhere. Once she had moved on farther up the line, the fire crew would race in and begin dousing the burning remains.

The Fire Chief smiled faintly to himself and shook his head, then murmured to one of his crew leads "Wonder if we should put her on the payroll."

The man laughed softly "Probably couldn't afford her Chief. I'm just glad she was around to help us out."

The Chief smiled and nodded, watching as Sapphire finished creating a makeshift firebreak that would buy them time to finish containing the blaze. "That's for sure."

The two men watched admiringly as she knocked down several more burning trees, picking each one up and throwing it back into the burned out area and away from the forward line of the firebreak. In just a few moments, Sapph had cleared dozens of trees and thrown them away from the forward edge of the fire, removing them as a threat and widening the firebreak at the same time.

Sapphire surveyed her work from above for a moment, looking for potential problems, then soared down and landed by the two men. "It looks like we have 100% containment now Chief. I'll leave the rest to you and your crews."

He smiled and nodded, then stuck his hand out and shook hers. "Thanks for your help Sapphire. You sure helped us get this contained a lot faster than we would have otherwise."

"Always glad to be of assistance. Any idea what caused it yet?"

"A whole bunch of lightning strikes, unfortunately. That storm that came through last night touched it off. They all touched down in this same area, which is what caused it to get so big so fast. Thankfully, they were all in just this one area. As dry as it is right now, we could've had several fires instead of just the one."

Sapphire smiled "I'll take a lucky break any day."

The two men laughed and nodded. The Chief said "Thanks again for your help Sapphire. Sure is nice having you and the other ladies around. Helps a person sleep a little easier at night."

"That's what we're here for Chief. Take care." She smiled and raised a hand in farewell, then soared off into the sky and headed back towards the city.

As she neared town, her comlink suddenly chirped. Sapph pressed the activation button and said "This is Sapphire. Go ahead."

"Hey Sapph, it's Amber. You about finished with that forest fire?"

"Yes, Amber, I'm all finished out here. What's up?"

"Master wants one of us to be with the others at all times until whatever is going on with Flare is taken care of. Since we're the only two who can handle her, he wants one of us on patrol with any of the others whenever they go out."

Sapphire thought it over for a second. "He seems worried for some reason doesn't he?"

She could hear the uncertainty in Amber's voice. "Yeah, he does and I'm not sure why. It's not like we haven't dealt with beings as powerful as her before. Any idea what's different this time?"

Sapphire mentally shrugged, thinking it over. "No, I have no idea. It could be because he doesn't like it when things don't make sense. You know how he gets."

Amber laughed softly. "Yep, I know. Still, it makes me wonder if he's getting some kind of weird vibe that we aren't. I can understand this situation being a little strange, but he seems to be more concerned than he should be."

"Well, all we can do is stay vigilant and watch each others' backs...as usual. Watch yourself out there hon."

"You too Sapph. I'm about to link up with Ruby and Onyx and then we're heading back to the house. Talk to ya later."

"Bye Amber."

Sapphire deactivated her comlink and continued to fly towards town, mentally going over the recent events in her head. With the weird robbery involving Flare and James' uneasiness about the situation, it would be very easy to start jumping to conclusions. Still, extra vigilance never hurt anyone. She chuckled to herself and looked down as she began flying over the city.

Unfortunately, she didn't look down soon enough and a bright blue energy beam blasted her out of the sky.

She grunted in pain from the impact of the blast and her body hurled out of control through the air. Rapidly getting back under control, Sapphire quickly dropped out of the sky, her eyes looking everywhere for the source of the attack. She spotted a man on the sidewalk, frantically trying to get her attention.

"Sapphire! Over here!! They're running down the alley!!"

She raced past him and quickly reached the alley, but whoever it was had already disappeared. Sapphire raced down the alley and looked in all directions, but spotted no one who appeared even slightly suspicious.

She asked a passing pedestrian "Did you see anyone come out of this alley?"

The woman shook her head. "No ma'am, I sure didn't. Just you."

Sapphire sighed and turned back into the alley, moving slowly along and looking for potential avenues of escape that her attacker could have used. She saw no doors, no ladders leading to the roofs of the buildings or any other obvious escape routes. She muttered in annoyance and was about to give up when she noticed a manhole cover. She ran over and jerked it out of the alley floor with one hand, then looked down into the hole. Noting 4 different tunnels heading off in different directions, she cursed softly and put the manhole cover back in place.

"No sign of them huh?"

She quickly turned and noticed the man she'd seen earlier. "No, I think they went down into the sewers, but there's too many tunnels for me to quickly search. Did you get a good look at them?"

The man sighed and shook his head. "No ma'am. Wasn't paying much attention until they suddenly stopped and shot you. All I can say is they were pretty large, easily over six feet, were wearing a hat and a trenchcoat and they can run pretty damned fast for somebody that big."

Sapph nodded. "Yeah, they were already gone by the time I reached the alley, so they moved quick alright."

"One other thing you should know. They were powered, like you."

Sapphire's gaze grew intent. "You're sure?"

He nodded. "Definitely sure. I saw them raise their arm and that blue energy beam came right out the end of their hand. It definitely wasn't any kind of gun or something."

"Could you tell if it was a man or a woman?"

He frowned. "To be honest, I'm not sure. They were definitely big enough to be a man, but they cursed when they shot at you and I'd almost swear it was a woman's voice, but kind of hard to tell. Sounded kind of husky, like somebody who smoked a lot or maybe deep voiced. Sorry I can't be more help."

She smiled and shook his hand. "Thanks for your help anyway. That's more info than I would've had otherwise. See ya."

She soared into the sky and raced back home, hoping Jade could find something with the clues she had now. Maybe, just maybe, they'd be able to figure out who Sapph's mystery attacker was.

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A short time later, at Malice's hideout...

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GODDAMNED MIND!!"

Malice roared with rage, then walked up and backhanded the large figure standing before her, knocking them to the ground. Her victim's hat flew off, revealing an attractive, dark haired woman, whose eyes were large with pain and fear.

"I'm sorry Mistress Malice! I thought she'd spotted me and was coming after me!"

Malice growled in anger. "You panicked like a scared rabbit and attacked without thinking, didn't you?!!" She moved close and grabbed the woman's face with her hand, digging her fingers into the woman's skin. "DIDN'T YOU?!!"

The woman cried out in pain and tried to nod. "Yes Mistress! I'm sorry!!"

Malice cursed and then released her. "At least you were smart enough to keep from getting caught."

The woman stayed where she was on the floor, silently watching as Malice paced back and forth. She was once known in the criminal underworld as Photon, an assassin much like Flare. Like Flare, she had been sent to kill the woman known as Malice...and failed. Now, she was a slave to the power of her Mistress. She'd rather be dead but she had no choice in the matter.

Malice stopped her pacing and then smiled cruelly. "You must be punished."

Photon whined pitifully. "Oh please no Mistress. It won't happen again, I promise!"

Malice's voice rasped huskily as she softly said "Oh, I know it won't. This punishment will remind you to make sure of that."

Malice looked down at Photon, then raised her hand. It began to glow with an eerie red light and Photon's body began to tremble, her breathing coming in ragged gasps as pain wracked her body. Malice's eyes glittered with her cruelty and rage as the glow increased and Photon screamed as the pain intensified.

"Yesssss, scream you stupid bitch! If you EVER disobey me again, I'll give you agony beyond imagining!!"

After a couple of minutes of torturing the poor woman, Malice released her power and Photon slumped to the floor, her body shuddering in exhaustion from the terrible pain she had endured. Her clothing was soaked with sweat and her breathing came in stuttering gulps and gasps.

Malice knelt down and almost gently lifted Photon's head up, looking into her eyes.

"You'll be a good slave now, won't you my dear?"

Her voice a rough whisper, Photon said "Yes...Mistress. I...promise."

Malice abruptly let go and Photon's head thumped against the carpet. "Good. Flare! Help her to her room and clean her up. She stinks."

Flare, who had been kneeling by the door, stood and nodded. "Yes Mistress."

She walked over and helped the unsteady woman to her feet and helped her out of the room. Slowly, they made their way down the hall to an empty bedroom and Flare helped Photon sit down on the bed. Since it looked like she could still hardly function, Flare began helping to remove the other woman's clothes.

They had never met before, but they had known of each other through the criminal underworld. Both were assassins and both commanded a high price. It was something of a shock for Flare to see how broken Photon was now. She idly thought she wasn't in much better shape, but it seemed as though there was little life left in the once formidable woman.

"Easy girl. Let's get you out of these filthy clothes and into the shower. You'll feel better afterwards."

Photon looked at her with dull eyes and nodded. "Ok."

Stripping off the other woman's clothes, Flare was more than a little impressed with her body. Photon was a large woman, but in a very Amazonian kind of way. She was several inches over six feet and powerfully muscled, with long legs and large, firm breasts. Her dark hair was matted with sweat, but was thankfully short so it would be easy to clean. When cleaned up, she would be attractive but not to such a level that she'd stand out in a crowd. At least, not more than she already would, large Amazons being somewhat noticable no matter what.

Flare mentally snickered at herself for getting distracted, then helped the now naked Photon to her feet and helped her walk into the bathroom. "You going to be ok taking a shower?"

Photon took a deep breath and pulled herself together, then smiled faintly and nodded. "I think so. Thanks. That was...rough."

Flare nodded. "Yeah, she's done it to me before too. It takes awhile to recover."

"Tell me about it. When she captured me, I resisted her so much she nearly killed me. Took days to recover from." Photon's eyes looked bleak in rememberence. "She...broke something in me I think. My...spirit isn't...it isn't...oh God!"

She collapsed onto the floor of the shower, sobbing uncontrollably as her body curled in on itself.

Flare was not normally much for giving a damn about others, but she knew what Photon had gone through and couldn't help but feel something for her pain. She knelt down and wrapped her arms around her, stroking her hair as she tried to soothe the poor woman.

"You've got to hang in there. Someday we'll be free of her. We've just gotta hold on until then."

Photon looked up at her through her tears. "You...you think so?"

"Yes, I do. I will not let her dominate me completely. I do what she says to avoid the punishment, but I keep watching for any opportunity. You have to keep that core of yourself protected. Do whatever she says, give in to anything she wants, but don't let her have all of you. She can't own your thoughts as long as you don't let her."

Photon sighed, then slowly got to her feet. She wiped her eyes and looked down at Flare, then gave her a crooked grin. "You got a lot of spine for such a little thing."

Flare smirked up at her. "And don't you forget it."

The big woman chuckled, then impulsively hugged her. "Thanks for the pep talk.", she said huskily.

Flare's eyes widened at the sudden display, but then sighed and hugged her back. "Anytime."

She stepped back after a moment and said "Ok, take your shower and get cleaned up. I'll go see what Malice wants us to do next."

---------------

Sapphire arrived back at the team's luxurious mansion and quickly made her way inside. She headed downstairs and located Jade, who was sitting at the banks of computer monitors and running searches for information. Sapph walked up next to her, then grinned and nibbled on her ear.

"Mmmmm hey beautiful, you come here often?"

Jade squealed and laughed, then turned her head up for a kiss. "Mmmmm I come for you rather frequently as you well know."

Sapph laughed and kissed her deeply for a moment. "Mmmmm you do indeed."

Jade chuckled and said "So what brings you down here to my domain?"

Sapphire sighed. "I need you to look up somebody for me. They blew me out of the sky a little while ago."