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.
