Disclaimer: This story is fiction and depicts acts that will get you sued, arrested or killed. Violence against women isn't cool or legal. Don't be stupid and if you do, don't tell anyone you got the idea from me.
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"Jesus that was a tough system," Scott said aloud. Quickly he silenced himself. That's no way for a pro to talk, he chided. I just can't believe that this place has a such a tough alarm. I haven't seen anything like it before. Of course it was no match for me, the greatest cat burglar in Silver City he laughed to himself. The greatest? Hardly. Not in this town. No, as a former NCAA track and cross-country star Scott was still fit and his gym routine kept him cut and trim. It was hard to go sneaking through windows with a forty-four inch waist. He knew he wasn't anything special but at 5'7", 165 lbs he was as fit as he ever was and still had his long blonde from his college days as well. He never really wanted to grow up and get a job so why get a haircut?
No, Silver City was another of the places where all the costumes gathered. Good, Bad and Indifferent this town was crawling with superpowers. Scott was just a working stiff trying to get by on a dishonest living. He never really went for the straight world. He always liked the danger of living outside the law. It wasn't that it was easy making your living off robbing the rich and giving it to himself. It actually took more work than some jobs he'd had in high school. New systems were constantly coming onto the market and a good thief had to keep up. There weren't really anymore houses you could just smash a window with a crowbar and loot. Nowadays, two minutes after a dog barks there's more private security on you than you can shake a stick at. Still it paid the bills and he really got a kick of out robbing rich people. Like this one, Sarah Gold, he'd been casing the place for two weeks. She was still getting mail and newspapers but no one had been home. No friends, no neighbors, not even a stray dog had crapped in her yard. He hadn't been able to determine much about her, an heiress, owned a small technological firm, no idea what they made but they must have sold a lot of it judging by the digs. And after the hour it took to shut off the alarms Scott was left believing the floors were tiled in gold brick.
The downstairs didn't show much, average electronics, silver tea set in the reasonably expensive china cabinet. Just the usual plates and knick knacks, mostly sentimental. Maybe she had some jewelry upstairs? Got to be something he thought to himself as he ascended the stairs. A library, nothing really rare, lots of Sue Grafton, Dean Koontz and some people he didn't know from Adam. Home office, she was a Mac girl but nothing worth stealing. Two sparsely furnished bathrooms, no drugs worth anything. More Advil and ice packs than he thought usual. Guest bedroom held nothing but a small bookcase with more crap. Ah, master bedroom. Gotta be something worth stealing in here. He took his time here, found the "toy box" under the bed, just a collection of smaller sized vibrators and some women's erotic books. He pawed through her drawers, sniffed her undies, took a few pair and put them in his bag. He pulled all the pictures looking for a safe or a false wall, nothing.
At last the closet. Mostly conservative business suits, some nice dresses and oh wow, look at all the leather, and the boots, my my what a a collection. Now where is the safe? He moved all the footwear, pulled all the clothes off the rack. Nothing! What that Hell is this girl protecting? Her $30 vibrator? Slowly he moved his hands along the inner walls of the closet and, what's this? A gap, small, but yes a gap. Carefully he placed his cheek near the joint where two walls formed the back corner of the closet and, yes, that's air. Definitely something behind this back wall. He tried pry bar but the wall wouldn't budge. Then he noticed the light switch. Actually the five light switches to be more precise. Why five switches for one walk in closet? He removed the cover and there it was. The switches arranged properly allowed the back wall to swing outward into an open space behind revealing what looked like a fireman's pole. Well, always wanted to be a fireman, Scott thought as he took the ride down.
It had been two weeks. Two weeks since Golden Archer had been home. She'd been gone all that time hunting one of Silver City's most notorious criminals, The Black Owl. Night after night, she had hunted the inner city eventually she'd chased him out of state. It was handy that she had the funds to put herself up in hotels, but she had nearly depleted her supply of arrows. Everything that was stored in her car was used up. That was another nice thing about owning her own technological firm. She could design her own equipment and modify her car so that all her gadgets were safely concealed. What a shot! The last one, from 800 yards right through the engine block. The Black Owl had tried fleeing yet again and from her rooftop perch she had shot the arrow that brought him down. An armor piercing, high explosive tip had penetrated right through the armor of his car, destroying his engine and allowing the Bisbee police and the FBI to take him into custody. Golden Archer had wanted to bring The Black Owl to justice for months, ever since he'd been abducting college coeds in Silver City and selling them like cattle to his international clientele.
A hot bath and about two days sleep was all Golden Archer wanted in the world. She was still enjoying her victory but the long searching and fighting had taken it's toll. She was exhausted and had to keep the radio up to help her from falling asleep.
"Holy Fucking shit!" Scott exclaimed as he landed lightly on the floor of what looked like the Batcave. It wasn't as big but it clearly encompassed the entire underground on which the mansion sat. He slowly explored this underground place and discovered a fully equipped gym, a motorcycle painted a familiar gold, what he could only imagine was a fully functioning crime lab, a large bank of computers, a complete surveillance system of the house and grounds on video terminals, a welding and machine shop with various types of arrows, grappling hooks, cables and other devices he could only wonder about. The motorcycle. Take another look he told himself. "Oh my God!, Scott exclaimed. It's Golden Archer's bike. That's her symbol. Sarah Gold is Golden Archer!" Man I've got to think, he thought to himself. Just then he saw a large door open at the other end of the area, just big enough for a gold colored Porsche to come through. He was going to have to bluff.
The door opened up to allow Golden Archer's car to pull into it's space and as she got out, the floor rotated 180 degrees to face her vehicle out the way it had just come. Had Golden Archer been just a little more observant she would have noticed that the lights in her lair were already on as the door slid open. "Home at last!" she shouted to no one. Golden Archer did not have a faithful butler or even a cuddly cat for that matter. She was all alone in the world and she liked it.."What in the Hell? Who are you?!?" Golden Archer shouted as she drew her bow from her back and quickly reached to her quiver for an arrow. She notched her arrow and drew her arm back. She beaded on down on his chest, all she had to do was relax her grip.
"I wouldn't if I were you, Golden Archer or should I say Sarah Gold?"
"What!?!" In her shock she almost let go of the bow string, she quickly tightened her grip and demanded an answer. "Who the hell are you and how did you get in here?"
"My name is Scott and I know all about you. I've been here for days, studying your house, it's contents. I've been reading up on you, Miss Gold, and I know it all, now lower that arrow. You want to keep me alive and safe."
"Why the hell shouldn't I just let this arrow fly and watch 50,000 volts course through your lanky little body?"
"Because if I don't call my lawyer at nine every morning and evening he sends the whole thing to the papers. The whole story, your parents, you, your company. Think you'll have even a penny left after all the lawsuits?"
Golden Archer lowered her arrow and placed her bow in it's carrier on her back. How am I going to get out this one, she desperately thought to herself. This was the only thing she had ever really feared, being exposed. Her identity known. The police, the press, the lawyers by the time they were done with her, she'd be in jail herself and that would be one butch lesbian encounter after another she thought miserably. When she looked up at who was obviously no more than a common burglar she knew he could see her thoughts even behind her mask. She searched all her experiences but nothing had ever prepared her for this. Even her little niece would be a victim. Imagine the villains that would go after her. The fact that she was only 18 would surely excite them more.
She lowered her head in defeat.
"You know it's rude to be so formal, why don't you take off that mask?"
"My mask? Why? You already know everything, what's the point?"