Scott checked in at the office to see if they might be able to take Newton for a while, since Needle was worried that Phoenix Talon might do something drastic to her pet.
    "Hi, K. Robeson," Stephanie answered the phone.
    "Hello, Stephanie."
    "Oh hi, boss. How are you?"
    "Good, and yourself?"
    "Oh, I'm fine, fine. Is it all right if I take a little time off this afternoon? I've got some personal stuff I have to take care of."
    "Sure, go ahead." "
    "Oh, and we got a new cat," she added.
    "Oh, you do? Where'd you get it from?" There went that plan; Newton would have to stay in the closet for a while yet.
    "Molly helped me pick it out. It's a rare breed, Maine Coone. It's really pretty."
    "Sounds good. Felix around?"
    "Yes, hang on just a minute."
    Felix picked up. "Hi, what's up?"
    "You want to keep the cat away from computer screens and paperwork, and don't talk around it too much?"
    Pause. "Will do, that just occurred to me. All right. Steph, could you put the cat in the back office? Uh, we just need to get him used to all the rooms."
    "Oh. All right," Scott heard faintly. "Come on, Harvey!"
    As part of the backup plan, in case Tybalt chickened out, Scott called his friends at the power company to see which of those supposedly abandoned buildings still had power. It might be of some help in locating the hideout.

    Their planning was done, and Thunderbolt, despite his reservations, headed over to Beacon Hill to keep his appointment with Molly. The rumble wasn't until the next day; he could spare an hour or two for a nice, somewhat lonely older woman who had been very helpful to the team in the past.
    He rang the bell. Almost immediately, an elderly man opened the door.
    "Captain Sutton, please come in." The butler ushered him inside.
    "Captain!" Molly made an expansive gesture of welcome. "Do come in. Would you like something to drink? Lemonade?"
    He accepted a lemonade and a seat on one of the expensively upholstered sofas.
    "I have to say, I have been looking forward to getting to know you more fully for some time now," she smiled, sitting down across from him. "How are you liking the city?"
    "I'm enjoying it very much, aside from the random supervillains who pop up every five seconds," he told her. "But that's part of the job."
    "And you're enjoying the job?"
    "Love it," he said without hesitation.
    "And you're enjoying the random supervillains?"
    "Well... I suppose you could put it that way...."
    Molly fluttered a still-striking set of eyelashes. "Please remember my long-since previous profession. So please, tell me all about yourself," she invited.
    "I can only tell you little bits and pieces here and there...."
    "Because of the top secret government work," she nodded. "I understand."
    "Not many people do."
    "Oh, I believe there's always a reason for secrets," she smiled. "In Felix's case, it's so that people can find them out, specifically him." They chatted amiably for a while, and then, "So how are you and Sasha getting along?" she asked.
    He gave her a faintly puzzled look. "Just fine. Getting along with all my teammates. They're great folks."
    "Good, good. Nothing... special, then? There have been these scurrilous rumors in the newspapers," she explained when he looked blank.
    "I'm afraid I don't really read the newspaper."
    Molly looked bemused. "Where do you get your news?"
    "When you're in my business, that's really not hard. The news comes to me, but it's rather limited in scope."
    She nodded understandingly. "There's only so much news that one can handle."
    A sudden crash came from the other room; Thunderbolt jumped.
    "Excuse me for just one moment, sounds like he's having a bit of trouble." She rose gracefully and went into the next room.
    A couple minutes passed. He wandered around the sitting room, studying her objets, before deciding that she had been gone long enough to warrant an investigation. He followed in the direction she had gone, into the kitchen. Nothing there, but he heard mumbling from the next room.
    He opened the door; it was a dining room, with a chandelier above and cases of crystal on each sides. The butler lay unconscious on the ground, and Molly was slumped in a chair, unmoving.
    Instantly on high alert, he checked the butler and found him alive, was heading for Molly when the far door opened and someone stepped in.
    "Oh how nice, you're checking up on her. I so appreciate it, but I assure you she's purrrrfectly fine."
    Standing in the doorway was six feet of curvaceous beauty clad in a skin-tight deep green costume and partially cloaked in long black hair. Thunderbolt took a deep breath and remembered his training. Battle-hardened veterans weren't supposed to swoon at the sight of any woman, but....
    "And you are?" he invited.
    "Cat-she," it sounded like. "Pleasure to meet you."
    "Wish I could say the same."
    "I'm sure we'll be quite good friends, given time," she smiled slyly.
    Thunderbolt drew upon the house electrical current and the sunlight and raised his defenses as he stepped forward, putting himself between her and the two unconscious people. She remained lounging in the doorway, hip angled provocatively.
    "Trick! Treat!" she called. Someone threw the breaker on the house, and remarkably strong arms grappled him from behind.
    He'd looked when he came into the room—there hadn't been anyone there... or else they were really good. Without a power source, his shield was fading fast, his arms pinned to his sides.
    "I'm afraid Mrs. East had some items in her collection I just had to have," the woman explained, sauntering over to him. "I trust you'll explain that to her when she wakes up." He held still as she laid a hand on his cheek, ran it down his neck to his chest. "It would be such a shame to see anything happen to you... why don't you just sit down, and I'm sure we'll run into one another again sometime?"
    Instead, Thunderbolt slipped down a bit within the other man's grasp, got a hold, and threw the man toward where the woman was standing, only to see a large black cat leap away from where she had been. The man hit the ground hard, but leaped back to his feet immediately and backed out of the way, grabbing something off a shelf as he retreated. Thunderbolt glimpsed another figure in the doorway with a box full of crystal, moving quickly but not in a panic, as if unconcerned by any threat the hero might pose.
    The cat leaped into his arms. Then it quintupled in size. He staggered at the weight of the now-puma; it licked his nose, whiskers tickling his cheeks. The two henchmen were gone. He pushed the huge cat away from him; it landed on its feet, of course, and transformed back to a woman.
    "Pleasure dancing with you." She blew him a kiss and was gone. He followed cautiously, prepared for an ambush. The back door was open. She was standing in the doorway, waving at him.
    There was no way this wasn't a trick; he wasn't going to make a running tackle on her with no idea of how far her powers extended. A moment later, she vanished, but he could still smell her perfume.
    He went back to check on his host.
    "What happened? Captain Sutton, what happened?" Molly asked, coming around.
    "I'm not quite sure."
    "Why are all the lights out?"
    "You were robbed. I'm sorry." The cat woman had taken several glass cat statues.
    "What?!"
    He told her what had happened.
    "And you stayed here to defend us? Gallant of you," she smiled.
    "Thank you."
    "I'm afraid that puts a bit of a pall on the afternoon, and eaten up all of our time...." Molly sighed regretfully.
    "Perhaps I should call a doctor?"
    "Oh no, no. Roger's coming around now, and I was just... startled into unconsciousness."
    Thunderbolt very much wanted to be gone. He didn't understand any of this. When he made his way out to the front where he had parked the bike, there was a note in flowing handwriting on the seat.
    Til next time. Cait Sith. Followed by a paw print and a lipstick kiss.
    Well, at least now he knew how to spell it. He headed back to the base. At the moment, he had bigger fish to fry.

    At Middlesex County Jail, where they were holding the theme villains the Revolution had caught, the inmates were getting some fresh air.
    "Are you sure it's a wise idea to let these guys out at exercise time with the rest of them?" a dubious guard asked his fellow, watching the theme villains out in the yard.
    "Look, what is he gonna do?" the other shrugged. "He's a fifty-year-old disgruntled automotive designer."
    "I don't know, man. He built a giant robot, maybe he's gonna summon it down on us."
    "Don't worry, it's at the impound, it's got a boot on, right next to the big truck."
    "That's a nice lookin' truck," his fellow admitted.
    "I wouldn't get too attached to it, I think the Revolution has their eye on it. One of 'em apparently swiped the keys for it the other day. He's just out there tossin' that baseball back and forth." He waved dismissively and went back to his newspaper.
    Out in the yard, a second baseball rolled up and hit the back of Buck Skylark's foot (that was, in fact, his real name).
    "Who threw this at me?" He peered at the writing on the ball. It said Hold on tight. "What? Whoah!" The ball lifted rapidly away, with him holding on for dear life.
    The uneasy guard looked up a few moments later. "Hey, what happened to the inventor?"
    "Probably went inside," the other opined. "He'll turn up when we do headcount."
    "And where's Carrier?"
    "You mean Postal Employee Man? He volunteered to work in the mailroom, I figured what harm could it do...."
    Buck landed in a street several blocks away, breathing harshly in shock.
    "Homer gave you a ride, huh?" the waiting man remarked. "C'mere, Homer." The ball smacked neatly into his hand. "General Motors, right? I'm the Babe. Pleasure to meet you. There's something I wanted to talk to you about."
    Motors looked at him wide-eyed, still gasping but now in a vaguely interrogative tone.
    The Babe shook his head. "If you're gonna be in the villain game, son, you have to learn to deal with the punches. Come on. There's something that'll interest you."
    "What?" he finally managed.
    "It'll let you wreak your revenge upon the Japanese people."
    Motors straightened. "You have my full attention, Babe."
    "How much do you follow baseball...?"

| Top |