July 16, 2009

Felicia moved like a shadow through the corridors, her steps light, her breath controlled. Bain's headquarters was an intricate maze of reinforced steel and high-tech security, but after years of slipping through the cracks of the world's most impenetrable vaults, this was just another puzzle waiting to be solved.

She had already disabled one security grid—enough to give her a window, but not enough to keep her from tripping alarms if she wasn't careful. That meant speed was everything.

She rounded a corner, ducking behind a pillar as two guards stormed past, barking into their earpieces about a systems failure. Their hurried pace told her Bain's forces weren't focused on her yet. They were still figuring out how much damage she had done.

Good. Let's keep it that way.

Felicia reached the reinforced door where her HUD scanner confirmed Silver Sable was being held. A biometric lock glowed red at its center, waiting for Bain's access code.

Felicia smiled. "Cute."

From a hidden compartment in her glove, she pulled out a compact, pre-coded bypass chip and snapped it into the scanner's slot. The light flickered, scrambled, and within seconds, it flashed green.

With a soft hiss, the door slid open.

Inside, Silver Sable was standing, arms crossed, watching the door like she had expected Felicia the whole time.

"That took long enough," Sable remarked dryly.

Felicia gave a mock gasp. "Hey, some people would be grateful for a rescue. Maybe even say 'thank you'?"

Sable stepped out, rolling her shoulders as if shaking off the stiffness of captivity. "You considered Bain's offer for more than five seconds. That alone concerns me."

Felicia smirked. "Yeah, well, didn't have much to consider. She's got something I want, but I prefer taking things on my terms."

Silver Sable sighed, already seeing where this was going. "Let me guess. We're not just escaping, are we?"

Felicia's grin widened as she tapped her earpiece, pulling up a schematic of the facility. "Oh, we're definitely escaping. Just… with a little parting gift."

Sable frowned. "You mean the Iron Web."

Felicia nodded. "I know where it is. Bain's keeping it close, probably gearing up to use it after our little chat."

Sable's expression darkened. "Tell me you've finally seen the danger of this thing."

Felicia's response was an infuriatingly casual shrug. "Oh, I have. Which is why I think it'd be safer in my hands than Bain's."

Sable groaned. "Unbelievable. You still want it for yourself?"

Felicia placed a hand over her heart, mock-offended. "Come on, Sable. You don't trust me?"

Sable didn't even dignify that with a response.

The humming of fluorescent lights buzzed overhead as Black Cat and Silver Sable pressed their backs against the cold steel wall of the hallway. Alarms blared, red warning lights flashing in sync with the rapid beat of their hearts.

Felicia licked her lips, peeking around the corner. "So, good news—I found our stuff."

Silver Sable gave her a look. "And the bad news?"

Felicia pulled back, exhaling through her nose. "There are about six guys in there, all of them heavily armed, and one of them is way too excited about holding my whip."

Sable sighed, checking the empty holster at her hip. "I want my guns back."

"I want my grapple," Felicia shot back.

"I want my dignity," Sable muttered.

Felicia gave her a quick once-over. "Bit late for that, huh?"

Sable flicked her a sharp look. Felicia grinned.

Then, from inside the room—

"Hey, uh… why does this thing say 'Do Not Engage – Unpredictable'?"

Felicia and Sable shared a look.

Felicia grinned wider. "That's me."

And then she kicked the door open.

CHAOS.

Before the guards could blink, Black Cat had vaulted over a desk, grabbing one of them by the shoulders and slamming him face-first into a console. Sparks flew.

"HEY!" One of the guards fumbled for his gun, only for Silver Sable to snatch it from his grip, flip it expertly in her hands, and crack him over the head with the butt of it.

Another lunged for the alarm panel, only for Felicia's whip to coil around his wrist and yank him back.

"Ah-ah," she tsked, yanking him straight into Silver Sable's boot.

More chaos.

Felicia flipped over a table, sending a tray of confiscated gadgets and weapons scattering. She snatched her grapple line, spinning it like a lasso.

One of the last remaining guards lifted his weapon. "D-Don't move!"

Sable, now fully rearmed, cocked a gun in each hand. "Move?" She tilted her head. "Felicia?"

Felicia twirled her whip, making a show of it. "Oh, I love moving."

The guard turned to run.

Felicia tripped him with a flick of her whip.

Silver Sable pistol-whipped him into unconsciousness.

And just like that, silence.

Felicia panted, tossing her whip over her shoulder. "Well. That was easy."

Sable straightened her jacket, adjusting her now-restored gun holsters. "It was sloppy."

Felicia gasped in mock offense. "Sloppy?" She gestured at the pile of unconscious guards. "That was effortless."

"You got nearly shot."

Felicia shrugged. "You say 'nearly shot,' I say 'just dramatic enough to be fun.'"

Silver Sable sighed, strapping her gear back on. "…At least we're armed again."

Felicia clipped her whip to her belt, flexing her fingers. "You know, for a second there, I thought you were doubting me."

Silver Sable raised an eyebrow. "For a second there, I was."

Felicia grinned. "And now?"

Sable considered this… then smirked. "Now I remember why we work well together."

Felicia beamed. "It's because I'm awesome."

"No," Sable deadpanned.

"…Partially?"

Sable sighed. "Come on. We don't have time for this."

Felicia flipped her grapple gun, testing its weight. "Fine. But when we get out of this, we're revisiting that 'I'm awesome' discussion."

They turned to leave—

Felicia grabbed one last thing from the confiscation pile.

Sable caught her. "What is that?"

Felicia grinned. "Oh, just a little… bonus."

Sable narrowed her eyes. "Felicia—"

"Come on, partner. Let's go break more things."

And with that, they were off.

Before they could comment any further, the entire facility shook. A sudden, bone-chilling scream echoed down the halls. Not of panic—but something unnatural.

The two women exchanged a glance before rushing to the nearest window overlooking the main training floor.

What they saw made even Felicia's stomach twist.

Bain's soldiers—men wired into cybernetic augmentations, once standing in perfect formation—were convulsing. Their bodies jerked erratically as if invisible wires were yanking them apart. Their neural implants flickered wildly, sparks flying as their own enhancements turned against them.

Then, in terrifying synchronization, their spasming stopped—and they turned, all at once.

Their eyes glowed an eerie, flickering red.

Sable's jaw tightened. "What did you do?"

Felicia's lips parted, genuinely caught off guard. "I may have… disabled Bain's control system."

Sable's voice was dangerously calm. "And in doing so, you destabilized the Iron Web's programming."

Felicia exhaled slowly as the first soldier let out an unearthly roar and charged straight through a concrete wall. The others followed, moving like a hive mind, like something had hijacked them entirely.

Felicia swallowed. "Okay. That one wasn't in the plan."

The first wave came fast.

A cybernetically augmented soldier lunged at Felicia, his enhanced limbs jerking unnaturally, movements stiff yet overwhelmingly strong. She barely twisted away in time, his fist cratering the steel wall where her head had been a second earlier.

Felicia flipped back, landing lightly on a catwalk railing. "Okay, so they're a bit stronger than I thought."

Silver Sable didn't wait to exchange quips. She was already moving, dodging under the wild swing of another cyber-soldier before driving her knee into his gut and unloading three armor-piercing rounds into his chest. He staggered, the bullets barely slowing him down. His body twitched violently before he straightened—completely unfazed.

Sable's eyes narrowed. "They don't feel pain anymore."

Felicia grimaced. "Great. Just what I needed—zombie cyborgs."

More of Bain's forces rushed in, their movements erratic but fast. The red flicker in their eyes pulsed in sync, as if guided by a single malicious intelligence.

They weren't just attacking. They were adapting.

Sable ducked a high-speed punch, retaliating with a concussive grenade that detonated against a soldier's torso. It sent him flying back into a row of computer terminals, but the others barely reacted to the explosion.

Felicia sprang into action, using the chaos to weave between them. She had to keep moving. The moment she got pinned down, she was dead. With a flick of her wrist, she sent out electrified bolas, wrapping around the legs of two attackers. The instant their metal frames locked up, she delivered a powerful kick that sent them toppling over the railing.

They didn't scream.

They just fell.

No pain. No fear. Nothing.

Sable fought methodically, each movement efficient and brutal. A spinning back kick sent one soldier crashing into another, and with a quick snap, she unloaded a disruptor charge into the nearest one's cybernetic spine, causing him to spasm violently before dropping.

Felicia landed beside her, panting. "Okay, fun fight and all, but we're running out of space to run."

Sable wiped blood from her lip and reloaded. "Then we take the fastest exit possible."

The facility was a maze of steel and concrete, dimly lit by flickering overhead lights. Boots echoed off the walls as Black Cat and Silver Sable moved in sync, their breaths sharp, their movements sharper.

BZZZT.

The walls shifted around them. The red lights of the Iron Web's control nodes flared to life, casting the corridor in an ominous glow.

Then came the soldiers.

A synchronized thunder of mechanical footfalls rang out as cybernetic enforcers poured into the hall. Their metallic plating gleamed, eyes glowing like freshly charged batteries. Weapons primed, the first wave moved in perfect unison, a mechanical ballet of death.

Black Cat and Silver Sable exchanged a look.

"How many do you count?" Felicia asked, rolling her shoulders.

"Too many," Sable deadpanned, unholstering her pistol.

Felicia cracked her neck. "So, we punch through?"

Sable checked her ammo. "That would be the tactical term, yes."

The first cyber soldier lunged.

Sable sidestepped and jammed her pistol under its chin—BLAM. Sparks erupted as it toppled backward, convulsing.

Felicia flipped over two incoming soldiers, landing gracefully as her grappling line snapped around one's leg. A sharp YANK, and it went down hard.

The hallway erupted into chaos.

The soldiers were fast—but predictable.

Felicia slid under one's sweeping strike, vaulted off a wall, and drove her heel into another's head, sending it crashing into a console.

Sable fired precisely—headshot, kneecap, power core. Each round hit like a scalpel.

A soldier swung a metal fist at Felicia.

She ducked. "Nope."

Another raised its gun—Sable blasted it mid-motion.

"You're welcome," Sable muttered, moving to cover.

Felicia flipped behind another, tore out a loose wire from its neck, and jammed it into its own power port. The bot spasmed before collapsing like a bad investment.

"Appreciate you!" she called back, grinning.

Sable slammed a fresh magazine into her pistol. "There is no end to these things!"

"There's always an end," Felicia panted, dodging a sweeping laser blast. "We just have to—"

A hiss of air.

A new wave of larger drones descended from the ceiling. These were bulkier, bristling with heavier artillery.

Felicia's grin faded.

Sable sighed. "You just had to say it."

Felicia cracked her knuckles. "Okay, new plan. We punch through—harder."

Sable checked her last clip. "Agreed."

The next wave hit like a freight train.

The new drones descended like vultures, their heavily armored frames whirring with servos. Each step they took rattled the floor, their glowing red visors locking on like soulless predators.

Felicia winced. "So… these ones look beefier."

Sable cocked her pistol. "Observant."

One of the drones raised an arm-mounted cannon, the barrel heating up.

FWOOM!

A searing plasma blast scorched the air.

Felicia and Sable leapt in opposite directions, the hallway shaking as the shot vaporized a console where they had just been standing.

Felicia vaulted off a wall, flipped over one of the drones, and landed on its shoulders. She drove her claws into its neck plating, sparks erupting as she ripped out a handful of exposed wires.

The drone shuddered and fell like a dropped fridge.

"Yeah, that's right! Who's next?" Felicia taunted, grinning—until she turned and saw two more drones stomping toward her.

"Oh, come on."

Sable, meanwhile, had gone full efficiency mode. She dodged a sweeping mechanical claw, spun low, and planted an explosive charge on the drone's back mid-roll.

BOOM!

It staggered, collapsing in a heap.

Felicia whistled. "Nice touch."

"Less talking," Sable said, ducking as another drone swung a massive steel fist where her head had been.

Felicia cartwheeled away from a drone's grab. "More punching?"

"More punching," Sable agreed, rolling under a drone's arm before blasting it in the back of the knee joint.

The hulking machine buckled, and Felicia leapt in, climbing onto its shoulders again.

She yanked at its visor, twisting it sharply until—

KRSSHH!

The drone's head snapped at an unnatural angle. It shuddered violently, then toppled forward.

Felicia landed on her feet, dusting off her hands. "Boom. Robot chiropractic."

Sable ducked a wild cannon blast, spun, and fired two perfect shots into the power core of another drone. It convulsed and collapsed, electricity snapping through its circuits.

Felicia adjusted her gloves. "You ever get the feeling we're being watched?"

Sable, gun at the ready, barely glanced at her. "We're always being watched."

Felicia smirked. "Yeah, but, like, extra-watched."

Then—

A deep chuckle ahead.

And from the shadows of the hallway, two figures stepped forward.

Hammerhead. The Owl.

Hammerhead cracked his neck, the sound like splitting stone. "You two got a lotta nerve walkin' around like you own the place."

The Owl spread his sharp, talon-like fingers, eyes gleaming. "I told you, Hammerhead. The Cat always gets too bold for her own good."

Felicia put a hand to her chest, feigning offense. "Aw, Owly, you noticed? You're sweet."

The Owl hissed. "Don't. Call me that."

Silver Sable cut in. "We don't have time for this."

Felicia frowned. "Sure we do."

Sable turned to her. "What?"

Felicia gave a sideways smirk. "Come on, partner. You know how this works."

Sable sighed. "Hammerhead for me. The Owl for you."

Felicia waggled her eyebrows. "You do remember."

Hammerhead pounded his fists together. "I got a real problem with bein' ignored."

Felicia cracked her knuckles. "Well, buddy, good news. I got a real problem with your face."

The Owl flexed his claws, wings twitching at his sides. "You won't escape this time, Hardy."

Felicia tapped her chin. "I mean, statistically speaking? I will."

Sable sighed, resetting her stance. "We end this fast."

Felicia nodded, but there was a flicker of something in her gaze.

Unease.

Sable noticed it, too. They knew each other too well.

Felicia let out a breath, low and dry. "You know, normally, this is where we'd be thinking of ways to stab each other in the back."

Sable's eyes narrowed. "You still considering it?"

Felicia shrugged. "Nope. No time."

Hammerhead took a threatening step forward. "You two done yappin'?"

Felicia cracked her neck. "Yeah, yeah, let's get this over with."

And then—

They moved.

A blur of silver. A flicker of black.

The fight was on.

The hall shook with movement. A tornado of claws, bullets, and fists. The fluorescent lights above flickered wildly as the fight tore through the facility.

The hallway reeked of burnt circuits and ozone. Sparks rained from broken conduits. Somewhere in the distance, alarms blared, but none of it mattered.

Because standing in their way, blocking the last stretch of the exit, were Hammerhead and The Owl.

Hammerhead cracked his knuckles, his grin stretching too wide for comfort. "Y'know, you two broads have been a royal pain in my ass tonight."

The Owl tilted his head, eyes gleaming under the flickering emergency lights. "You should've just run while you had the chance, Felicia."

Felicia sighed dramatically, shaking her head. "Oh, Leland, sweetie, you know me—I love overstaying my welcome."

Sable reloaded her pistol. "Less talking. More breaking their bones."

Hammerhead pounded his fists together, stepping forward. "Lady, I am bones."

Felicia blinked. "Okay, ew."

Without warning, The Owl lunged from the shadows, claws raking through the air. Felicia barely dodged, twisting to the side as his talons scraped the wall behind her.

SCREEECH!

Felicia turned. "Cool. Love that you're actually a gargoyle now."

The Owl just hissed, his cape flaring out as he took to the air again.

Meanwhile, Sable and Hammerhead had already collided like two freight trains.

Sable ducked a haymaker, firing point-blank into Hammerhead's ribs. The bullets hit—
but Hammerhead just grunted.

"Gotta do better than that, lady."

He swung wide, his concrete skull crashing into Sable's gut and sending her flying back into a broken console.

Felicia winced. "Oof. That looked expensive."

Sable wiped blood from her mouth, expression unreadable.

"...Again."

Felicia flipped over The Owl's dive, landing beside her. "Look, I'm all for persistence, but—"

Sable grabbed Felicia's wrist.

Felicia blinked.

"Tag out," Sable said.

Felicia grinned. "Oh, I like where this is going."

Hammerhead cracked his neck. "What, switching dance partners?"

The Owl's wings flared as he hovered mid-air, staring down at them. "A desperate trick."

Felicia and Sable turned to each other, nodding.

And then—

They charged.

Felicia ducked and rolled, dodging a swipe from The Owl's claws that would have split her open.

"Gonna have to try harder, birdbrain!" she taunted, flipping backward onto a stack of crates.

The Owl snarled, leaping into the air. "You never know when to keep your mouth shut, Hardy!"

Felicia launched her grappling line, swinging to the side just as his talons shredded through the crates where she had been.

Meanwhile—

Sable unloaded a clip straight into Hammerhead's chest. The bullets barely made him flinch.

He grinned. "You really think that works on me, lady?"

Sable reloaded in an instant, jaw tightening.

Felicia, mid-swing, shouted over to her. "Oh, yeah, forgot to mention! He's built like a tank!"

Sable grunted. "I noticed."

Hammerhead rushed forward, shoulder first. Sable sidestepped just in time, his head slamming through the metal wall behind her, leaving a crater-like dent.

Felicia vaulted over The Owl, landing next to Sable. "Okay, I'll admit it—these guys are stubborn."

Sable nodded, gun still raised. "We do this efficiently."

Felicia spun her baton in hand, smirking. "Aw, you do care."

The Owl came diving down again, claws first. Felicia sidestepped, slamming her baton into his ribs, then whipping a cable around his ankle.

"Let's see how you like flying lessons!"

She yanked hard, sending him hurtling into a stack of steel crates with a resounding crash.

At the same time, Sable sidestepped Hammerhead's charge again, this time grabbing his wrist and spinning him into Felicia's direction.

Felicia saw her chance.

She flipped onto Hammerhead's back, reached into her belt, and—

BZZT!

A small charge detonated against the base of his skull.

Hammerhead stumbled, groaning, his enhanced skeleton fighting against the neural shock.

Sable moved in, a heavy roundhouse kick straight to his disoriented head.

Hammerhead dropped, groaning. "Ugh… That was dirty…"

Felicia wiped imaginary dust off her shoulder. "Yeah, well, so's your whole thing, buddy."

The Owl staggered to his feet, eyes blazing with fury. "You think this is over?! I will rip—"

Sable shot out the lights above him, casting him in sudden darkness.

A single beat of silence.

Then—

Felicia dove from above, delivering a full-force knee to his face, smashing him back into the crates.

A sharp CRACK.

And The Owl went still.

Felicia landed in a crouch, flipping her hair back. "So that's over."

Sable holstered her gun, surveying the wreckage. "Not bad."

Felicia flashed a grin. "You say that like we're not an amazing team."

Sable exhaled, eyes sharp. "We need to move. The Iron Web is still active."

Felicia nodded, stepping over Hammerhead. "Nearest exit?"

Sable pointed down the hall.

Felicia smirked. "Race you."

Alistair Smythe's fingers curled into fists. His jaw clenched so tight he could hear his own teeth grinding over the whirring hum of the facility alarms.

Before him, the security feed flickered in and out, the footage of Hammerhead and The Owl lying motionless in the debris. Black Cat and Silver Sable were already gone, ghosts slipping through the cracks of his grand design.

Again.

Alistair inhaled slowly through his nose, exhaling in a measured breath. His spider-like cybernetic limbs twitched behind him, responding to his rising frustration.

A soft click sounded from the other end of the comms.

"Mr. Smythe."

Madame Menace's voice was as sharp as broken glass wrapped in silk.

Alistair straightened, his hand tightening around the control panel before him. "Madame."

"I assume you've seen the state of your hired help?"

Alistair's eye twitched as the screen replayed the moment Felicia and Sable sent his supposed 'elite enforcers' crashing into unconsciousness.

"I'd say 'disappointed' is an understatement," he muttered.

Madame Menace hummed in vague amusement. "Then I assume you're prepared to fix their… failure."

Alistair's cybernetic arms snapped into formation, metallic legs shifting in a predatory stance.

"Oh, believe me—" He slammed his palm down onto the console, activating the Iron Web's full engagement protocols.

Across the facility, walls shifted, locking down new escape routes. Drones swarmed to life, clicking and sparking as they synchronized to the Web's network. The hum of energy shields powered up along critical corridors, reshaping the battlefield entirely in his favor.

He strode toward the exit of the control room, the red glow of the Iron Web casting his silhouette in eerie light.

"This ends now."

Felicia and Sable made their way to the exit doors—only for them to slam shut.

A cold, metallic voice crackled through the speakers.

"You didn't really think you'd make it out of here, did you?"

Felicia and Sable spun around as Alistair Smythe stepped onto the catwalk above them. He looked down with cold amusement, flanked by two of his heavily armed enforcers. His cybernetic enhancements gleamed under the flickering red light, a cruel smirk playing on his lips.

"You're impressive, I'll admit." Smythe's voice was calm, almost mocking. "You've survived longer than I expected. But this? This is where it ends."

Felicia exhaled sharply. "Oh great, another villain with a speech. Let me guess—you're about to unleash your 'ultimate' weapon?"

Smythe's smirk widened. "Oh, I already have."

With a sharp hiss, the floor split open beneath them—and from the rising smoke, a massive mechanical construct emerged.

It was spider-like, sleek and built for the kill. Multiple armored appendages extended outward, each ending in serrated blades or plasma cannons. The core of the machine glowed with raw energy, pulsating in sync with the flickering red eyes of the cyber-controlled assassins.

Felicia's stomach dropped. "Okay. That's new."

Sable gritted her teeth. "Run?"

Felicia nodded. "Run."

The Spider-Slayer lunged.

Author's Note: Hello everyone, so this is the second to last chapter here as we are now throwing ourselves into the climax of the story. Though they have been kidnapped, Felicia and Sable sure aren't going to let themselves be at the mercy of Sunset Bain for much longer and they will go down fighting if they have to. All of that is the sort of stuff that I think will have ot be saved for the climax as we see what the final accumulation of this partnership is about to yield. I hope you all look forward to what is to come.