Chapter 1 - Stake-out
SolarGirl hovered high above the dark alley, her cap flapping in the cool night air, her short blonde hair whipping in front of her eyes every few moments. She watched Galia de Thule's limo pull up and come to a halt by a door in the alley and the driver get out and walked to the passengers door. A moment later the villainous woman stepped out and made a quick beeline for the rear entrance.
She knew Galia was up to no good, she'd been planning something for weeks and had visited any number of seemingly empty warehouses and other buildings that had to be staging areas. She was the head of the most notorious assassins collective, and was involved in as several other nefarious groups that always seemed to be able to slip through the clutches of the law.
SolarGirl knew whatever she was planning was big, and that was more than enough to keep tabs on her.
She focused her enhanced vision to peer through the walls of the building, but found her sight blocked by something... though she wasn't sure what. A quick scan of the other builds brought up nothing out of the ordinary... except...
She flew down to a rooftop just across the street from the building Galia had entered and landed silently behind the shadowy figure on it.
"Nice try SolarGirl, but you can't sneak up on me." Came the familiar voice of Shadow Sword.
"A girl can try, can't she?" SolarGirl replied with a little laugh as the two heroes embraced.
Unlike SolarGirl, Shadow Sword was shorter, with deep olive skin betraying her Asian heritage, and a long mane of jet-black hair that followed around the blank red mask that she wore to conceal her identity.
SolarGirl respected her privacy of course and never tried to see beyond it, though she doubted it would work. Shadow Sword had powerful talismans, infused with magic, that would even stop SolarGirl's enhanced sight.
"So what are you doing here?" SolarGirl asked.
"Probably the same thing as you. I got some intelligence that Galia de Thule would be here tonight and I've been tracking her for the last few weeks... she's got..."
"...something big going on. I know." SolarGirl finished for her.
Shadow Sword nodded just in time to see the rooftop door behind SolarGirl swing open, she instantly took her fighting stance, pulling her sword from its sheath on her back, but then just as quickly, relaxed.
"You know if you two made any more noise, you might as well just go down there and knock on the front door." Night Sparrow said with a smirk on her face.
"You too?" SolarGirl asked as she repositioned her cape and brushed a few stray blonde hairs away from her face.
"It appears all three of us have been working the same case." Night Sparrow replied as she walked over to the edge of the building and across the street. Her dark blue half jacket covering her black unitard with fishnet stockings and thigh high boots making her hard to make out from the dark night sky.
"Make that four..." a voice came from the right side of the roof and the three heroes all turned in unison to see WonderMaiden take a step from her invisible jet's wing and onto the roof. The sound of the jet manoeuvring away from the building and off into the night sky could hardly be heard even this close to it.
"...and by the way, I kind of like your idea Night Sparrow." WonderMaiden continued without a bit of sarcasm on her face. She gripped her gauntlets and repositioned them slightly before putting her hands on her hips just above the short leather skirt that flowed from the dark red leather chest piece that made up the bulk of her outfit.
"What do you mean?" Night Sparrow replied, raising an eyebrow and jerking her short jacket a little as she stood a little more upright.
"Have any of you looked to see what that place is yet?" WonderMaiden asked.
SolarGirl shook her head no, "I just flew in a couple of minutes ago, I'd been following Galia's limo from above.
Shadow Sword made a similar shake of her head, "Hard to get too close with this on my back." she replied, pointing to her now-sheathed sword.
"Some kind of club, right?" Night Sparrow said as her fingers absentmindedly touched the choker around her neck.
"That's right. Club Reality." WonderMaiden stated matter of factly.
"Never heard of it." SolarGirl replied and the other two shrugged their shoulders.
"No one has by the looks of it. I did a quick Internet search in the jet and found nothing."
"That's strange." Shadow Sword said and then turned around to take a look at the building across the street, the three other heroes did the same.
"Club Reality. $20 cover charge, ladies free. Open 9 pm to 4 am." SolarGirl said out loud as she zoomed in with her vision to the small poster on the otherwise opaque door.
"Shit, wish I could do that." Night Sparrow said out loud and the others turned to look at her, then all four broke out in laughter.
"Well I wish I could create sonic blasts with my voice..." SolarGirl said after the laughter died down, "...no, wait, I can!"
The four of them returned to their laughter instantly, SolarGirl's overpowered ability were well known, just like her cousins, and she often referenced the fact in self deprecating humour.
"Ok, ok, but really, what are we going to do? Or are we just going to stand around on the top of this building all night?" Shadow Sword finally asked.
"I'm still all for going in through the front door. I mean, the sign does say ladies are free. And besides, it's not like with the four of us following her around, Galia didn't notice at least one of us. She knows she's being tailed, we might as well do something unexpected." WonderMaiden was the first to answer.
"Really?" SolarGirl asked, "I mean, yeah, head-on is kind of my thing, but that seems a little too direct even for me!"
"Direct, but unexpected, that is for sure." Shadow Sword replied.
"And we don't seem to be getting any closer to answers just standing around flapping our lips." Night Sparrow finished.
"Alright, front door it is." SolarGirl replied with a shrug of her shoulders, "Besides, I haven't been out to a club in eons... I could use a little fun."
"I'm sure we'll all be a big hit walking in like this." Shadow Sword said, gesturing at their costumes.
"We are perfect as we are for our goal. Galia would never expect us to go into the club in costume! If we can get her off balance a little, she might trip up and make a mistake." WonderMaiden said.
"It's as good as plan as any." Night Sparrow replied with a shrug.
With nothing else to discuss, the four heroes jumped over the side of the building and landed on the street below, then strode confidently across it and opened the door to Club Reality.
Chapter 2 - Forced Entry
The bouncer on the other side of the door looked shocked, then confused, then shocked again as the four heroines enter the club.
"Ah... ladies... can I see some ID?" he asked.
He was big enough to block the second doorway that lead into the main part of the club, but they all could hear the music pounding and the lights flashing from behind him.
SolarGirl and WonderMaiden were as tall as he was and could see around him into the club, though both Night Sparrow and Shadow Sword were having issues seeing beyond him, Shadow Sword more so.
"You've got to be kidding." WonderMaiden said as she simply picked the man up like a doll and moved him to the side.
"Hey!" he cried out, but to no avail.
"The sign does say ladies are free right?" SolarGirl sarcastically asked as she followed WonderMaiden into the club and pass the sidelined bouncer.
"Consider yourself lucky, the last time I saw someone get between WonderMaiden and where she was going, he was in the hospital for a month." Night Sparrow said as she too walked by him.
"Humpf, you're lucky it was WonderMaiden and not me. No amount of time in hospital could reattach what I'd separate from your body." Shadow Sword said while gripping the hilt of her sword and glancing down at his crotch.
The bouncer quickly put his hands over his crotch and stepped back several feet, "Have... have a good time... ladies..." he said just as Shadow Sword entered the main club floor.
* * *
The music was loud and pounding, the dance floor was filled with bodies, and around it were booths with more people in them. On the far side of the club was a stage with a single microphone stand on it, but no one performing.
To their right was the bar, backed with people purchasing alcohol, in the far left corner was the DJ booth, and right beside it was the VIP area. Intermingled in the crowd they could see waitresses in skimpy black outfits that seemed to crush their waists down impossibly small. The towering heels their wore pushed out their posture to look like they were always bending over at the waist just a little, pushing their butts and breasts out.
"What do you think... in there?" WonderMaiden shouted over the music and pointed to the VIP area.
"Where else?" Night Sparrow replied and the other two nodded. All four of them headed towards the VIP area.
Just as they were about to arrive, a man came out of the VIP, smiling from ear to ear and held up his hand, "I'm sorry ladies, VIPs only."
He wasn't a bouncer, that was for sure. Dressed in a dark three-piece suit, his hair done immaculately in a fashionable quaff, and just a touch of grey coming in throughout it.
"You must be the owner." Night Sparrow said, making an educated guess about him, he nodded in agreement with her.
"A pleasure to meet you, I'm Nigel Real." he replied and placed his hand on his chest and bowed a little.