. 22-25

Welcome to A Pearl Before Swine Part 7. The second act really accelerates here. My output will probably slow down considerably from here. A nice break in my life helped with the hectic output up until now.

Table Of Contents:

ACT ONE:

Parts 1-5, Chapters 00-18

ACT TWO:

Part 6:

Prologue: King of Kings

Chapter 19: A Beacon of Hope

Chapter 20: It Grows

Chapter 21: Brewing Vengeance

Part 7: (You are here)

Chapter 22: New Conflicts on a Fateful Day

Chapter 23: Spilled Secrets on a Fateful Evening

Chapter 24: A Curse of Nightmares

Chapter 25: Unseen, Unsaved, Unbroken

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Chapter 22: New Conflicts on a Fateful Day

Sierra woke up to the morning sunlight beaming into her eyes. She groaned an stretched. Looking to her side, she saw Evan laying on the soft carpet next to her where they fell asleep last night. It was already almost eight. She had a long day of work ahead of her.

Checking to make sure he was asleep, she stripped off her outer clothes and pressed a button that dropped the vacu-shower down. A second later, she was washed, cleaned and dried. She stepped out of the shower to see Evan's mouth agape as he took in the sight.

She was beautiful. Her toned body screamed athlete in the purest form. The long stretches of bare skin and muscle looked like they were sculpted from ancient Greek legend. Her sleek panties and sports bra did nothing to hide her gorgeous form.

She laughed. "You know what happened the last time you peeked?"

"Yeah, I got you as my perfect girlfriend" he responded.

"No silly. We almost got killed."

"I still think my point is more relevant" Evan said. She started to pull on her costume. "Wait, you're leaving already? Hold up a minute. I can get you what I have about those leads that you wanted to follow up on." He moved to his open computer, and several automatic updates popped up on the screen. "Oh depths, they were busy last night. They hit five establishments: a seafood market, a glass factory, a radiation facility, and two rich penthouse suites. Pretty standard reports, quick hits, property destruction, general terror and theft."

"What did they steal from a radiation lab?" Pearl asked, worried. "Are they going to unleash radiation warfare now?"

"Umm, no" Evan said. "It looks like that place was producing radiation detectors. They were tested elsewhere. There isn't any mention of radioactive contaminants being stolen, just some chemicals used to make their scintillators.

"Would this count for your list of chemical facilities that they have been hitting? It might be our best lead" Pearl said as she finished fitting herself into her costume.

"I don't know. Its not like they wouldn't be hitting places with chemicals anyways. Pretty much everything has something to do with chemicals" he responded.

"Hey, before you go, I bought these from my friend Marcus. He works at NeptuneTech." Evan handed her a small round chip. "It's a communicator, fully encrypted, high quality, and easily hidden. You can turn it off if you are in an area where the radio waves might be noticed. If you ever need something, or if I ever find something that you can deal with immediately, we can talk."

She fixed the chip to the inside of her neckline. Then she leaned over and kissed him on the lips before jumping out the back exit.

"Is she gone?" the voice came from the other side of his door. Evan jumped and quickly turned his computer off.

"Yeah mom. She had to go to work" he replied hastily.

Diana let herself in the room. "You know she is welcome to eat breakfast before she goes galivanting around the city." Evan froze at that. His mother just patted him on the back. "Oh you kids. You think you're so sneaky. You forget, mothers notice everything. So you're dating the lovely Pearl, the new savior of the city?"

"U-uh, um ... yeah?" Evan stammered. Diana only hugged him.

"I just want to be sure you keep yourself safe" she whispered. "Powered lead dangerous lives, and they usually aren't incredibly long lives either. Anyways, I'm proud of you." He looked up at her in confusion. "You keep her safe too. No one is invincible."

"I mean, Jupiter was invincible right?" Evan asked hesitantly. He was trying to make his usual jokes just like the old times, but he was still a bit in shock.

"If Jupiter was invincible, why are we using the past tense?" she smiled back. As she left the room, she looked back solemnly. "You'll always be my sunshine."

Evan was still in a state of shock. She wasn't mad that he was sort of putting himself in danger? What did she mean about Powered living short lives? He had read the history books, but he hadn't really thought about how long their careers lasted. Plenty died in the recurring Powered Wars, but he had no idea how well independent heroes did. He supposed that their dangerous lifestyle probably wasn't an ideal choice for living forever. A pang of worry for Pearl ran through him. There were a lot of dangerous people out there, and she was actively chasing some of them.

Just then he got a ping from his communicator. "Sunbeam come in. Can you read me? Pearl's voice crackled through. Evan cringed at his nickname. His last name of Ray combined with his mother constantly calling him sunshine had led to his unmasculine moniker. When he responded, Pearl continued. "I've spotted the Dark Sun. They continued their spree today. I was too late to stop the hit, but I am following them back into the inner city. I will relay locations to you as I go."

Pearl slipped a small earpiece onto one of the pearl topped studs that served as her earrings. Evan was telling her to be careful, but she was too zoned in on the chase to take his newfound worry seriously. The Dark Sun had just taken out an art museum that she was near. They loaded whatever priceless artifacts they stole into a hovercar and took off into traffic. Most people used ground based vehicles, but there were enough flying around that they didn't stand out. Pearl was having a hard time keeping up. She had managed to snag a ride on a shipping container being floated to a new destination, but it was too slow and starting to drift onto a different course.

Making up her mind, Pearl leapt into a passing passenger hovercar. The driver yelped, but mostly just moved to the edge of her seat in fear and awe. "Listen, I'm here to help, but I need to follow that transport." Pearl pointed to the fading vehicle. The driver nodded in fear and picked up the pace to catch back up. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you. I just really need to keep up with those bad guys before I lose them." Pearl noticed the radio was turned to NeptuneWatch where a frantic host was weaving a tall tale about how Pearl saved a school bus full of kids from a skyscraper sized monster. She looked back at the lady driving. "I need to save some people alright? Can you help me do that?" The driver nodded again, this time slightly more relaxed.

Eventually the transport set down in a dark corner of the undercity. Pearl got there just in time to see several individual bullet bikes speeding off in separate directions. The transport itself headed back up towards the Commercial Zone. Pearl cursed then directed her chauffeur to follow one of the bikes that headed back towards the outskirts of the city. Following someone in the maze of steel towers of the inner city without being spotted would be more difficult.

When they got far enough into the outskirts of the city. Pearl thanked her driver then hopped off to transfer to a bullet bike to blend in. The automated cars were difficult to control, but Pearl had plenty of experience manually resetting the destination to manually manipulate it's pathing. She found herself almost back where she started the day. This particular bike was headed towards Sector 30 in the same general corner of the city where she and Evan lived.

The bike stopped at a parking garage, and two figures got out. Stealthily, she followed them from the rooftops. The figures entered an old office building. Pearl began to scout out the perimeter. This wasn't a fancy part of town. The building had a clear walkway around the entire thing, and one door on each side. She relayed the address to Evan and placed some traps on the exits. When she got to the final exit, she paused.

Another group of figures had just entered from the back. She thought she saw the glint of a weapon in one of their hands. She paused. Making her decision, she laid the final trap and ducked inside. Before she had taken five steps, she heard a loud commotion. There was a rash of shouting, then gunfire nearly blasted her eardrums out. She picked up the pace to intervene.

Before she could locate the source, an overwhelming hum filled the air, and pebbles and dirt on the floor began to vibrate. The entire wall in front of her was blown open with a massive blast. When her ears cleared enough to stand up, she looked down the long hallway that had just been created through several walls. One figure was downed, and another was kneeling over it. Pearl ran over to either help or engage, but she halted dead in her tracks when they turned and she saw the faces.

Pearl and Alina locked eyes in a silent sizing up of the situation. The Angler coughed and started to rise from the floor.

"Leena?" asked Pearl.

"Wait what? Leena is there?" she heard Evan ask frantically.

The Angler moved to the corner of the room and helped a scrawny man up from his hiding place behind a desk. "Alina, lets go. We have to get out of here before the police arrive."

Pearl put her foot down at that. "Oh, you aren't going anywhere. You think you can get away after all you've done? You were lucky to get away the first time. Now you're going to pay."

The Angler pointed at a thick metal safe that sat in the corner. The entire front had been melted off by some sort of acid. "You see that? That is what remains of the most dangerous substance in the entire city. Some rogue Powered called The Viper, is about to lay waste to the city with it. You might want to follow her before the trail runs cold and she has free reign to destroy the city."

"So that's what you've been up to" mused Pearl. "Making dangerous superweapons. And I suppose you want me to just let you go free while I chase her? Think again. You won't be left alone to make more."

The Angler glowered at her. "You may have noticed that I haven't used it despite having ample opportunity. You're little more than a child. You have no idea what's happening to this city."

She just smirked back at him. "You're not that much older than me. Somehow I doubt you know as much as you think you do. But if you want to fill me in on the juicy details of the darker workings of the city, by all means go ahead. In prison." She clenched her fists and moved to a ready stance.

Alina started to vibrate. Her entire body emitted a low hum. Her feet rose off the floor a couple centimeters. Both Powered stared down each other in a hostile standoff. The Angler snarled. "I don't know your strength, but I know hers" he indicated the vibrating girl floating between them. "You might be able to defeat her, but I am willing to bet that you can't stop her from leveling this city block before that happens. Now. Decisions. Chase the maniac holding the power to destroy the city, or gamble that you can stop both us and her without thousands getting hurt. Your clock is already ticking low."

Pearl stood in defiance as she faced down her foes. She could hear Evan asking what was happening and not to hurt Leena. She grimaced. She had no idea if she could take on Alina. With Powered, there is no real scale of power. Matchups are incredibly dependent on which powers each opponent process. Even traditionally weaker Powered could easily take out the strongest in the right matchup. That was one of the reasons why the Powered Wars were so chaotic. Even if she could take down the girl, she probably agreed with the young crime boss that she couldn't stop the destruction.

Making a split second decision, she lowered her hands and ran to follow the trail of The Viper. Before she left, she turned back to the relieved criminals and gave a warning. "I will find you, I will take you down, and if you have made so much as a speck of dust more of that stuff, I will make you eat it before I kill you."

Dashing outside, she found one of her traps sprung. The invisible wires made from the same tough material as her costume had snared an unwitting escapee and pinned them to the ground. Unfortunately, the wires were all cut to pieces. Whatever acid The Viper used was powerful. Pearl wondered if it was something that came from her fangs. A light trail of green blood led to a drainage outlet on the street. Pearl took a deep breath and dove in after them.

Back at the ruined office building, The Angler put his hand on Alina's shoulder. "Can you take me, the doc, and this one barrel? I don't think we can escape with much more." She nodded. "Alright, move us to a safe distance then destroy this whole thing." Her confused eyes conveyed the unspoken question. "No one can know what we were doing here or how we did it."

After she had moved her charges to a rooftop a few blocks away, Alina returned and landed in the center of the building. Her head bowed towards the ground and her arms curled inwards towards her chest. She began to vibrate, and the low hum slowly increased in pitch. Layers and layers of higher vibrations were added to the din. Finally, she shot into the sky and threw her hands into the air in a sudden movement. The entire foundations exploded three dozen meters into the air. Buried gas lines added flames to the blast. The shockwave shattered windows for several blocks, and the nearby buildings suffered severe exterior damage.

The Angler cursed silently as he watched most of his progress being undone. It was a big setback but nothing compared to the problem he now faced. He was running out of time. His secret wouldn't last much longer. If he didn't capitalize on it now, he was destined to be nothing more than a footnote. He studied the handful of vials that he managed to salvage. It wasn't enough to complete his plan, but it was plenty to make a difference.

He needed a new plan. That plan almost certainly had to involve this new heroine Pearl. What could he do about her?

Chapter 23: Secrets Spilled on a Fateful Evening

Just like the previous night, the door burst open with a crash. Unlike last time, The Viper did not stay framed in the backlight for very long. The twins had been bound to the chair again. Their naked bodies still wore red markings from the rough treatment the night before. They looked wearily at the rushed arrivals.

The Viper stumbled into the room and began directing her goons. She was out of breath and limping. Donna noticed her left leg and tail bleeding an emerald goo. It sizzled lightly when it hit the ground. The lower section of her skintight costume was slashed in parallel lines revealing the wounded scales beneath.

"Get those vialssss in here!" she spat at her henchmen. Gila carefully placed a dozen small tubed in the corner of the room. They were tiny. No more than a centimeter in diameter and two in height, the ends were capped with steel linings. The glass between revealed a clear orange fluid. The Viper picked one up.

"What was that doctor cooking up here?" She tried to twist the lid open but jumped in surprise when a needle popped out of the bottom instead. Depressing the needle slightly, a drip of orange liquid pooled at the tip. She held it up to the light and watched it drop onto the ground.

"What is it boss?" said Gila.

She snapped at him. "How in Neptune'sss depthsss would I know? Do you even think before wordsss come pouring out your fat mouth?" She turned and grinned at her bound captives. "Luckily, it appears we have some test subjects." As the twins protested through their gags, she flicked the needle in an out threateningly.

Just then a sparkling ringing reverberated through the walls. The Viper gave her goons a hand signal, and they left the room to check. In a few seconds, they burst back in. "Boss! Boss! Its that heroine again!"

The Viper looked at them in disbelief. "What! Which one? Pearl?" When they nodded, she held her head in her hands. "How did she find me? Why now why now why now. Alright, here is the plan. You idiots deal with them." She indicated the bound twins and the stolen vials. "Keep it safe. I will deal with her." With that, she burst out of the room to confront her foe.

Back in the large closet, Gila and Monster just looked at each other. "What did she want us to do with them?" Gila asked. "Dunno" Monster responded. "She said to keep them safe, but did she want us to keep them here or move them?" Gila continued to query his clueless brother in arms. Monster thought for a moment as he tried to remember her orders. "She said to deal with them" he finally concluded, replicating The Viper's hand signals pointing to the prisoners and the vials. "Wait, she said to use that stuff on them?" Gila asked confused.

The twins started to squirm and protest at that remark. "Uhhh" was monster's only response as he slapped Donna's titties. "She did say these were her test subjects right?" Gila said as he started playing with Diva's nipples. Donna's angry screams were nearly painful through the gag, and Diva's muttering was about as audible as usual.

Both brutes examined a vial to figure out how it worked. They both barely missed stabbing themselves when the needles jutted out from the bottom. "How do we put it in them?" wondered Gila. For once Monster had an accurate reply. "Dunno, I'm just gonna jab 'em. The girls shrieked as their left boobs were stabbed with a tiny needle. They looked on in fear as the orange liquid slowly drained from the tubes.

"There we go" said Gila. "Huh, that actually worked" said Monster. Both of them brushed their hands with a job well done. Neither of them could have comprehended what they had just done.

Pearl turned the corner to see a familiar face. "Hello again darling" hissed The Viper. Pearl studied her. This was the first time she had seen the villainess in good lighting. Her shoulder-length raven-black hair was a little more disheveled than last time. A curled bang hung in front of her right eye. Her long sinewy form was still breathing heavily beneath the brilliant green spandex. Pearl noted the gashes along the lower body.

"I see you got my present" she said, indicating the wounds. "Your acid is a nice trick for getting out of trouble. Too bad it doesn't seem to help you stay out of it in the first place."

"It'll burn a hole right through you!" The Viper shouted.

"What's the matter? Did I catch you at a bad time?" Pearl mocked. Her face set into a stern glare. "I'll give you one chance. Whatever you stole from the Dark Sun, give it to me. I'm not in the mood to mess around. I will let you go free if you return it to me. You have my word."

The Viper just gave a haggard laugh. "Your word, right. Well, it that sstuff is so important that you would passss up your chance to bring me in, maybe I should hang onto it. Do you have any idea what it issss?"

Pearl said nothing but began to move forward. The Viper shifted back and forth like a cobra waiting to strike. When they got two meters apart, they both moved to engage. Their fighting styles were quite different from one another. The Viper lashed out with wide sweeping strokes. Her body twisted and twirled in inhuman ways to unleash powerful blows. Her scaly costume skintight costume sparkled and distracted as she twirled around. Pearl was much more direct. Like many Asian fighting styles, she kept her limbs close to her body. Unlike her opponent's spins, she kept her eyes on her target. Her moves were quick and tight. She effortlessly blocked every move thrown at her.