Chapter 5: The Scarlet Woman
Cold aching muscles groaned as they slowly returned to life, while a slender hand reached up to rub the sleep out of beautiful green eyes. Shivering, the young woman pushed herself up from the chilly steel floor and rubbed her arms to encourage circulation. Her eyes closed, Butterscotch Fox breathed deeply and steadily as she collected her thoughts, steeling herself for yet another day in the hospitality of Dr. Vanessa Payne. Her train of thought was quickly derailed however by a gentle rapping on the crystal globe of her prison, and the young heroine's eyes darted over to behold- almost on cue- the good doctor herself.
Vanessa stood nonchalantly outside of the sphere with one latex-clad hand in the jacket pocket of her black pantsuit, her eyes gazing possessively up at Butter with a coy smile turning up the corners of her ruby lips. Snapping to attention, Butter sprang up and stood perfectly still, allowing her captor to gaze at her gorgeous body in all her nakedness. Her eyes never leaving her prisoner, Vanessa removed a touchscreen device from her pocket, and with a few taps, a seam appeared in the Diamentium globe and slid down into the floor. "Wake up, sleepyhead" cooed the villainous Brit, "It's such a lovely day this morning; I thought I'd take my pet for a walk - what do you say? Sound good?"
The question of course was rhetorical - Butter had no choice in the matter. Her free will had been surrendered in exchange for the safety of her only sister, Regan. The two of them had only their father growing up, and with his position occupying most of his time, it fell to Butter to look out for her younger sibling. Aside from her own duties at the Institute, Regan was the greatest source of pride in her life. Her little sister had always been the smart one in the family, taking after their father while Butter pursued her calling as a Superheroine. And now, in her darkest hour, Butter's two devotions had come together with her duty as a Superheroine and her duty as a sister now one in the same; to protect the innocent. "Yes ma'am" she obediently replied.
Beckoned by her captor, Butter stepped out of her sphere and stood attentively at Vanessa's side. Pleased at her prisoner's acquiescence, the good Doctor reached down and weaved her rubbery digits through the heroine's fingers. Clasped tightly, their fingers interlocked not like lovers, but rather like links in a chain. "This way" she said smiling, "step lively now." Her heels clicking like a metronome on the steel floor, Vanessa strode confidently through the shadows before a sliding door opened automatically, leading the two into an illuminated hallway. Devoid of daylight, Butter had lost track of how long she had been imprisoned in that room and had whiled away countless hours dreaming of escape. But now, in the custody of the insidious Vanessa Payne, Butter found herself longing for the security of its confinement.
The winding hallways of the facility seemed to go on forever, its cold steel façade maddeningly claustrophobic to the young heroine as Vanessa happily marshalled her down this corridor and that with a spring in her step. Finally, the pair came to a stop in front of a massive steel bulkhead, and Vanessa tapped a keypad several times. With a loud rumble, the bulkhead rolled slowly down into the floor as a piercing light blinded Butter, forcing her to shield her face with her hands. Slowly, painfully, her eyes struggled to adjust to the illumination, and when she at last regained her sight, what she beheld stole her breath away. Walking through the giant archway, Butter stepped onto a large balcony overlooking the lush green foliage of a tropical island hundreds of feet below their mountain lookout. After weeks of confinement, Butter could not help but find the great wide open space intimidating.
"This view is quite spectacular in the morning" smiled Vanessa as she deeply inhaled the fresh mountain air, her back arching in a stretch like some malevolent black cat, "Wouldn't you agree?" The ingenious Brit clasped her hands behind her as she turned her back on her young captive and stepped towards the edge, her eyes scanning the horizon, appreciating the landscape in the early morning sun. For a moment, Butter stood in awe and confusion, looking around for the catch-22, trying to understand why Vanessa had brought her here. Then, she noticed the distance between them, and the Doctor's utter dismissal of her. Vanessa was at least fifteen feet away, and completely distracted. At first she would not let herself entertain the thought. But the more she considered, the greater the urge became. '
She's not even paying attention'
she thought. With the horizon laid out before her, escape was now a simple matter- '
I could just fly away'
she told herself. '
Fly away into the clear blue sky and she could never stop me
...' The temptation lasted only a moment, but to the downtrodden heroine, it seemed an eternity. She wouldn't dare. Who knew what Vanessa had planned for Regan if she left her behind? Now Vanessa's logic became terribly clear; this simple act was a demonstration of her power. Without a word, Vanessa had forced Butter to defeat her own "fight-or-flight" instincts- dangling her freedom in front of her just to rub her nose in it. Her teeth gritted, Butter summoned every ounce of strength to deny her own self-preservation, and with great bitterness, began to gently weep.
The sound piqued Vanessa's mouth up into a smirk as she gazed over the landscape. Casually, she turned to see Butter standing rigidly still, her face turning red. "Aww" the Doctor spitefully cooed as she approached the heroine, "Poor baby." Raising a gloved hand to her captive's face, she wiped a tear away with a single digit. "Are you ready to go back inside?" With murder in her eyes, Butter silently nodded. "'attagirl" grinned Vanessa as she brought her finger to her mouth, tasting the sugary sweetness of Butter's tears as her eyes dared the heroine to do something.
Returning to the shadowy corridors within the mountainside, Vanessa led Butter down the twists and turns of her stronghold before arriving at a set of sliding double doors. Tapping a keypad on the wall, Vanessa leaned over and spoke her name
Vanessa Payne
into the console, eliciting a soft chime before the doors slid open. The room beyond was pitch black, save for a spotlight revealing a heavy steel pedestal in the centre of the room. Reluctantly, Butter allowed her owner to tug her into the room, and the doors snapped shut behind her.
"Do you know what this room is, Butter?" the Doctor inquired. Not knowing, the heroine shook her head, and said so. "This is where the great Butterscotch Fox will finally be laid to rest" beamed the sadistic Englishwoman. Vanessa's rubbery hand slid into her jacket pocket, and produced a touchscreen device. Tapping it once, powerful overhead lights switched on with a loud *
clack
* to reveal a large Plexiglas cylinder ten feet in front of the two women.
The cylinder, protruding out of the grated steel floor with screens and machinery at its base, stood ten feet tall and was filled with a viscous green fluid. There suspended in that fluid, floated a thing that could only be loosely described as human. It possessed all the characteristics- two arms, two legs, ten fingers and toes- but consisted only of bones, nerves, and thin, undeveloped muscles. So unfinished was the half-person that it had yet to grow eyelids, it's blank gruesome eyes staring lifelessly down at Butter, it's teeth bared in lipless smile.
"No!" cried the heroine, her eyes welling up with tears at the Doctor's grotesque work, her trembling hands covering her gaping mouth "No, it
can't
be!"
"Oh but it is!" Vanessa gleefully shot back. "It's
you
my dear Butterscotch Fox! The very first of our production model
Butterclones
!"
"No!" Shrieked the distraught Fox as she buried her face in her hands, so disturbed was she at the sight of this abomination. "No no no!"
"Now Butter..." chided the brilliant villainess, "you're not
allowed
to look away- open your eyes."
Beside herself with horror, the heroine simply shook her head as she sobbed into her hands.
"I said look!" growled Vanessa, "
look
!"
Incensed at her captive's disobedience, the evil Brit grabbed Butter's wrists, and angrily forced the heroine's hands away from her face. So drained was the young blonde- both mentally and physically, that despite her tremendous strength, she could not resist as Vanessa wrestled her hands to her chest, pining them in place while one hand grabbed Butter under the chin.
"Open your eyes!" the Doctor barked, pointing the heroine's face at the cloning tank, "Open your fucking eyes, cow- or your sister
dies
!"
Near hysterics, Butter's eyes snapped wide open at the threat, and beheld the unholy creation that would spell doom for all superheroines. "No..." she whispered with shuddering breath, tears rolling down her wet cheeks.
Beaming at her prisoner's despair, Vanessa's red lips parted to bear her pearly white teeth in a cruel smile. "Yes..." she said, breathlessly, "
yes
!" Releasing her grip on her blonde plaything, Vanessa strode up to the cloning tank, running her gloved hand along the smooth glass as she admired her work. "With your genes and my expertise, I'll soon make all the soldiers I need to overpower the Institute! Each one bred for war with no regard for self-preservation. Imagine - an endless supply of living weapons ready to slam into those super-sluts at mach-3...they'll hardly know what hit them before they burst like water balloons!"
Shocked at the morbid details of Vanessa's design, Butter stammered for words, overwhelmed by the implications of things to come. "Y...you CAN'T!" she blurted, "
