Chapter 1 - Undercover Blues
Paulina couldn't figure out how they had been tipped off to her presence, but there she was, stuck in a small room trying to convince them to let her out.
Oh of course with her super strength she could just tear the door off its hinges and leave, but that would defeat her purpose of being here in the first place. The sex trafficking ring had been operating in the city for months and she had been unable to find the brains of the operation. She'd finally tracked down this house of ill repute and managed to separate one of the girls long enough to take her place.
Unlike any other hero in living memory she was a polymorph, able to take on the shape and characteristics of any living thing. It gave her a huge advantage over other's when she needed to do recognisance or undercover work like now. She did have one major limit though, she could only hold a shape for 12 hours. After that the strain on her body was too much and she reverted back to her true appearance.
She was currently in the form of a small Chinese woman, no more than 5' tall and with a thin frame. It felt as normal as her true form which stood almost a foot taller at 5'10" and was a well-muscled caucasian, but that is the way it always was. When she was morphed in to whatever person she had chosen, it was like she had always had that shape.
It had happened a couple of times before, her presence detected by some technology or tipped off by something she didn't know. Then, like now, they had taken her and locked her in a room. Each time she had finally relented and broken free. This time was no different and she was rapidly approaching the 12 hour mark.
She looked up at the camera in the corner again, its red light reminding her she was being watched, turned to the door and let her form revert back to her true self. The clothing she was wearing, well almost rags really, flowed around her body and reformed her costume. The meta clothing wasn't part of her power, but instead a present from a previous boyfriend, a fellow hero and genius.
Now standing proudly in her crimson tights with yellow gloves and boots, her long black hair flowing down her back, a gentle nudge on the door sent it flying through the air in several pieces, taking out one of the guards outside.
A quick punch to the remaining guard crumpled him to the floor as well.
******
Captain Dillion had arrived shortly after the first cruisers, the police had quickly apprehended most of the low level enforcers that were in the place but no one had seen who was in charge and they were not talking either.
"Another great bust Morphina, you've done a great service here today!" The captain said. His square jaw and chiselled features made him look like the very definition of law enforcement. The grey sideburns and trench coat gave him an air of experience and authority no uniform could ever do.
"Not really Jake, they knew I was there and we're still no closer to finding out who's behind this. Just another failure on my part."
"Don't be so hard on yourself, no one could have done more and I'm sure you'll get them eventually."
Paulina didn't like it but had to admit there was nothing else she could do here tonight.
******
Once more Morphina exploded out of the room they had locked her in 10 hours ago. This was the fifth time they had known she was in their midst and separated anyone who was new out in to individual rooms.
'How could they know every time!' She yelled to herself in her mind. She cursed her own limits, she had tried so many times to hold her form beyond the 12 hours but fail each time. Now it was stopping her from apprehending whoever was responsible for this and her failure. She needed to find a way to overcome it.
She moved through the rooms quickly, taking out the bad guys efficiently but not paying much attention to anything but figuring out what was giving her away. A few minutes later she walked calmly out of the front door on to the street. They were downtown and the tall building and the noise of the city were everywhere around her.
Except for across the street.
There stood a large gate and what looked like a forest of trees. It wasn't the city park or other public space, it was the private dwelling of Henry Goalman. He had them in every major city, an entire block dedicated to his own private sanctuary. He was an immortal and known throughout the hero and villain world as a neutral party in the games of good and evil. Stories of those who tried to trespass on his property or involve him in schemes all ended poorly for those involved except Goalman.
He had purchased the property when the city was first being built, knowing it would grow up around him. If the rumors were true he was at least three thousand years old that he knew of things even the gods didn't know about.
No one was sure how he spent his days, nor even which of his sanctuaries he was in at any given time. There were photographs of him entering his London home and then just a few minutes later exiting his New York sanctuary.
The one thing though that everyone agreed on was that he was always curious about things he had not seen before. She was sure immortality had its boring patches and could see how anything new might be a welcome distraction from it.
The sirens of the police cars approaching echoed in her ears as she walked towards the gates. Perhaps he could help her with the limits of her power. If he really did have the kind of knowledge that was rumored, he might have something that could help.
The gate was massive and made of iron, on the pillar to the left was an intercom system so she pressed the button. There was no response, she repeatedly hit the button for several minutes until the police cars screeched to a halt behind her and she gave up. She'd get back to Mr. Goalman later, right now she had work to do.
Chapter 2 - Proper Introductions
Setting up a meeting with Goalman was a challenge for even a well-known hero like Paulina. Those who knew him guarded his privacy with a ferocity she had never seen before. But she had persisted and knew the right people who could get what she needed. She had to call in several markers and even promise several future favours to finally get a meeting setup. In the end, dinner had been arranged at his home.
Now she once again approached the gates of his sanctuary in the city but this time in a limousine he had sent to pick her up. She had prepared herself as if she was going on a date, thinking it best to impress him with her appearance and charm.
Her hair was curled and flowed over her shoulders to rest just above her cleavage, which while not ample by any means was presented in a stylish blue dress she had made from her meta costume. It hugged her curves without revealing anything inappropriately but clearly showed she was a woman of substance.
She had put on some low heeled shoes, her natural height sometimes worked against her when in the presence of shorter men and she definitely didn't want to get Goalman on the defensive. Her makeup highlighted her naturally angular features but didn't overwhelm her face and over her shoulders was a white shall that completed her outfit.
The sound of a car horn blaring brought her out of her thoughts as they turned in to the sanctuary, as they crossed the threshold the noise from the city was replaced by the chirping of birds and other wildlife.
'Of course he as a privacy spell on the whole place, I bet you could set off a bomb on his door step and he'd never hear it.' she thought to herself.
A short drive to the house, no mansion, at the center of his property seemed to transport her outside the city entirely. The building was impressive and looked like an 18th century English mansion. At the front door stood a young man, no more than 24 years old waiting for the car to come to a halt.
