Chapter 10: Hot Pursuit
Shanna loves and hates being back at Central Park Zoo. She loves watching the snow leopards before her. They are beautiful creatures frolicking upon the rocks in their enclosure. She loves that they become active as the sun abates around late afternoon closing time. Occasionally, the playing kitties look upon her in her leopard skin, and they are curious. Shanna loves the cooling earth beneath her feet and the fresh air around her. Central Park is some Savage Land amidst New York City. Central Park is some lush, living forest amidst the barren concrete canyons.
But, the jungle queen hates that the snow leopards remind her of like leopards lost long ago. At this very zoo, young Shanna O'Hara worked as a zoologist, and she worked lovingly with a leopard named Julani. Julani died when a maniacal zoo guard gunned her down (see Shanna the She-Devil #1). The great cat had two cubs Ina and Biri. The young naturalist took them to Africa and raised them. The cubs became adults, and Shanna O'Hara became Shanna the She-Devil. Then, during one of the trio's adventures, madman Raga-Shah sacrificed savagely the animals to god Kali (see Savage Tales #9).
Shanna hates that she presently awaits an attack from a sneak. Half-naked, the heroine is comfortable and uncomfortable. On one hand, the huntress anticipates ambushing her prey. On the other, she is bait. A breeze brushes her bare hip.
Spymaster likes what he sees when he arrives at the zoo. At the 63rd Street entrance, the sneak walks right past the guard locking the gate for the night. After all, the security guard need not suspect the NYPD cop before him. "Officer Smith" explains that superhero Shanna contacted the NYPD about potential troublemakers at the zoo. One foot patrol is the only man that the department could spare. Mindlessly, the guard buys the story. Who does not always believe a police officer?
"Could you show me where the She-Devil is now?" the spysmith investigagtes, "I would like to see her on the security station's cameras."
"I have liked catching her on-camera this evening too," guard Dwayne Samuels grins, "If you're foot patrol, Officer Smith, you're going to like checking-out these feet and the rest of Shanna. I have. And, I used to check-out She-Hulk and Sue Richards when working at the Baxter Building [see Fantastic Four #278]."
"Um, right," Smith rolls his eyes.
The two "lawmen" go past the Arsenal administration building to the guard station near the zoo's entrance. Darkness is settling into the city at around 5:40 p.m. Spymaster likes what he spies once he searches for Shanna. The cameras show her in the west zoo near the snow leopards. She seems enthralled and lost in thought. Beside Smith, Samuels seems enthralled and lost in lascivious thought. A palmstrike smacks Samuels alongside the head and drops the dirty old man to the ground. Handcuffs fetter the unconscious guard to a tableleg. Then, simply, masking tape bonds his mouth.
Spymaster reflects aloud, "I won't be using chains and muzzles on that she-beast out there. I have a better plan for taking her down."
Smith snatches keys off Samuels, and he opens a cabinet. Inside, he spies a tranquilizer pistol and three darts. His impromptu plans will work. Normally, a spymaster plans missions meticulously, but his actions need to be quick this evening. For Spymaster's master Justin Hammer, Pavane must strike Nightwing Investigations and Iron Fist, and Shanna must not interfere. Spymaster must sneak-up on his cagey prey without startling her. He is minimally armed. He has the dartgun on his hip, a knife upon his leg (as does Shanna), a 9mm within his shirt, and a secret weapon upon his back. Otherwise, he has his wits against the huntress's wits, and he has his formidable fighting prowess against a superior fighter and acrobat. The She-Devil is a most dangerous game. Furthermore, Spymaster must not kill her. This hunt's prey are the Daughters of the Dragon and Iron Fist. Hammer would not like if Ka-Zar and his allies sought revenge for a murdered wife. That would be sloppy mission creep. Focused, the professional creeps toward the facility's west end.
On the westside, Shanna stands before the red pandas adjacent to the snow leopards. In the panda exhibit's lagoon, she considers her ravishing reflection and hopes that she presents a tempting target for a Central Park mugging. Behind her, Officer Smith looks over his tempting target. Shanna seems relaxed. Relaxed, she leans her bosom forward and presents behind her a ham and her footsole. Smith studies her from the east. He is the approaching shadow from the west behind her. Surely, the fair game will let a warden approach without startling.
He is nearly upon her. Shanna stands at the top of the exhibit's stairway. Thick foliage stands on either side of the steps, and the verdant brush frames the titian-tressed target. The spy stalks upward toward her. Excitedly, he fingers the secret weapon upon his person. He thinks that he will capture her with it and then pull out his gun.
Unexpectedly, Shanna turns calmly toward him. "Good evening, officer. May I help you?" The jungle queen assesses him standing beneath her on the steps. His face is just at the level of the dirt and her feet.
"I'm Officer Smith from NYPD. Dwayne Samuels spotted me on 5th Avenue doing footpatrol. He invited me in to assist you, ma'am," the hunter stands still before his alert prey.
Hazel eyes roll understandably, "That security guard did seem like a sweet old man, but he did not seem like the alpha of the pack. My criminal company tonight might be more dangerous than your average cop can handle. Did Mr. Samuels explain the situation? This job might require someone in a superhero's uniform."
Smith chuckles and leers friendly-like, "And, a lovely uniform you wear, dear. Do all the supergals wear fur bikinis and a lovely smile."
"Just the real she-devils," the redhead winks and grins, "Say, Officer Smith, I was just about to walk to the next exhibit. Would you leady the way? The path is narrow, and I don't want to brush past you." Seductively, Shanna strokes her pelt.
The knight clears his throat and turns away from her. He leads her down the path. Thick foliage grows on either side. She has no room to run when he. . . . . From his shirtfront, Smith draws his 9mm, and he whirls around to fire it slightly above her head. In theory, Shanna will duck, and Spymaster will throw his secret weapon over her. But, her head and face are not where he expected. She is not to be seen.
Where is she if not on the path? Suddenly, he knows. In a blur, a branch above dips; a heroine swings; and hard heels uppercut him fiercely. The master spy goes ass over teakettle down the steps. He bruises his bottom at the bottom.
Before the monkey exhibit, snarling Spymaster fires his semi-auto eight times in an arc at the foliage before him. On his ass, he empties the clip. Perhaps, he hits the she-ape hidden somewhere in the green. He must end this mission quickly. Quickly, he switches clips. The gunfire is sure to bring the real police. The nearby simians raise an alarm. They go ape. To Shanna's further benefit, the noise conceals any noise that the huntress could possibly be making.
Amidst the din, a hunting knife whistles from the bushes. Its hilt faces Spymaster, and the projectile knocks the handgun from his hand. "My man Daredevil does similar things with his billy club. He is also a good jumper—like me," Shanna bounds from the bushes and lands astraddle over prone Spymaster, "He survives this urban jungle very well. I adapt like he." The she-wolf's hand pins the male on his back. Pinning is how wolves show dominance.
Spymaster goes submissive and lax. Bluffing is how sneaky hunters trap their prey.
"Your tranquilizer gun gave you away, Bonnie," Shanna calls him by his presumed name, "I spot potential threats well." She reaches down and pulls out his gun. She tosses it aside casually by the knife that dislodged his other gun.
"I hate guns. One took my mother from me. Another took a beloved animal friend (Julani) at this very zoo. I hate people taking my identity from me. I hate tricksters who take me away from my husband and child in the Savage Land. I kinda hate you. You had better explain yourself. What are you up to, bitch?," the hot-blooded heroine slaps the dog upon whom she stoops.
The pinned person states, "I'm not Bonnie. I'm a guy." To free itself, the game throws the huntress off of hers. A devious left hand shoots to her right breast and crushes it in a claw. Its right companion crosses over and slides beneath pelt, and it twists her titty for all its worth.
Howling, she pummels him. But, her wild swats are off of the mark, and his crossed arms effectively keep her distant anyway. She pulls away as much as she dares with his right hand clamped upon tender flesh. No longer completely pinned, Spymaster can bend his knees. His knees strike the back of her knees, and she trips back upon her back. He releases her. He must reach his guns.
The thug almost has his tranq gun in hand—when a rock hits it and skids it away. The jungle girl is resilient and resourceful. From behind him, she taunts, "Come follow me into the trees if you dare. Maybe, I'll feed your appendages to the polar bears straight ahead. Your hands deserve to be torn off." Strides sound away into the twilight.
"Damn, she's quick and clever," Smith tells himself. Shanna simultaneously sprints and zig-zags from Spymaster. He cannot get a good shot by the time that he has gun in-hand. It is time for his secret weapon. He draws its skeins off of his sweaty back. He strolls after her. He must end this hunt quickly, yet he must stalk her carefully lest she ambush him. He advances with the folded weapon in his hands. "At least, she lacks her knife" he tells himself. She should be unarmed except for her hands, feet, wits, and every weapon that she can improvise.
At a fork, Shanna has gone one of three ways. She could be to the left amongst herd animals. She could be to the right toward the polar bears. Or, she could be straight ahead in the lush foliage of the crane exhibit.
"I'm in here, pig," Shanna mocks him from the bush.
The bird has stupidly given away her position. Into the crane exhibit, the hunter hurls the unfolded net onto exactly where she must be. The captured bird squawks. The master hits a belt button. Shanna screams hysterically in the electrified net. She is in his clutches. He rips a dart into the bush, and he smiles.
"Aaaaah, you got me, doc. What a maroon," bugs some bunny to Spymaster's right. He cannot see Shanna, however. By his own ingenuity, he has produced thick, grey smoke from the thick greenery. Hidden, she could attack at any minute. However, he hears instead a splash to the right, and he knows that she swims away through the snow monkeys' lagoon. Spymaster reloads the dartgun. He has only two tranqs remaining.
Shanna explodes from the water on the lagoon's far bank. Surprisingly, Samuels stands there before the owl house. With wisdom perched above, the old man brazenly warns advancing Smith "I've called the police, you maniac cop!"
"Do you want to be a hostage?" Shanna chastises. Distracted, she has just hesitated during battle. Charging Spymaster arrives. And, to the heroine's surprise, the criminal tackles relatively harmless Samuels first. The impact even breaks the poor man's rib. Shanna hears the crack. And, she feels sympathetic pain beneath her own shortrib. Wait. That pain is not sympathy, and that crack was not the tackle. A tranquilizer dart sticks tingling and painful in her liver. Abdominal injections can work very quickly.
"Run, Dwayne, I've got him," Shanna is brave. The dazed She-Devil charges Spymaster. Unexpectedly, Spymaster just lets her plow into him. Then, he monkeyflips the jungle girl onto her back. He slams a needle into her bosom. She gasps. She'll be out soon, and she knows it. Having delivered his load, the grinning goon rises. Screw it. She has been the damsel in distress before. For a while there, Ka-Zar the Savage rescued her during every adventure. She rises to faltering feet. On shaky legs, she sprints sloppily away. Squadcar sirens sound outside the zoo gate. She might make it to the police. Purposefully, Officer Smith pounds pavement behind her. Spymaster has drawn his combat knife for some reason.
Shanna's lonely knife is all that officers find upon entering. The knife lies before a monkey exhibit, but Shanna the She-Devil is nowhere to be seen. A security guard lies near the owl exhibit, and paramedics arrive to help him. Officer Charlotte Jones and colleagues check security footage. They view the fight and the contest's end. A stumbling Shanna reaches the sea lion exhibit near the gate beyond which police arrive. The video's bad guy reaches her. For some reason, he has out a combat knife. Then, some device jams the cameras. Then, the two are gone.
Nearby, Shanna is out of it. And, she is nude. Spymaster's knife cut away her costume from her unconscious form. Then, he bound the nature girl in her own pelt. Now, he slams shut a storage cage inside The Arsenal, closed for the night. The spymaster is pleased with himself. He has improvised well.
Officer Smith's walkie crackles. The terrible trio—Pavane, Skullcrusher, Scarecrow—are just about to move on Wing. Spymaster assures them that neither Shanna nor Knight will be a problem.