You may recall, dear reader, the harrowing chase that raged through the streets of Liberty City between one Red Queen and two superheroines. While the Red Queen managed an escape, she unwittingly brought with her more than she wanted! For as she absconded with an undercover police informant by the name of White Rabbit, she also left with a tracking device placed surreptitiously upon his person.
Now, hours later, two girls stand strategizing atop a high ride building opposite a squat, decrepit structure.
“So he’s somewhere down below?”
“Yep,” nods Ginger, “this structure must have a layered basement. It looks like it goes down a fair way.”
“So what’s the plan then?” replies Eldritch, “If we just go in guns blazing they might kill him.”
“Not necessarily,” answers Ginger. “He’s only useful to them for the book. Until he tells them where the book is, they can’t do anything.”
“But when we get down there and free him, they might start to get desperate.”
Ginger taps her chin. “Yeah, that’s true. Still, I think we can risk it. The Deck has a somewhat democratic power structure led by the kings. They aren’t likely to care if we take out the rest of the group because no matter what, they’ll assume they can just handle us personally.” Ginny then smiles meanly, “By the time they realize otherwise, it’ll be too late.”
“Fair enough,” replies Eldritch with a shrug.
We might wonder, dear reader, at the relatively cavalier attitude displayed by the pair, after all, they seem to be playing fast and loose with a man’s life! But magic moves in unseen currents, and it is the soft whisper of magic that leads the two gently to their indifference, for good or evil we cannot say. So delicate is the touch that even the heightened mystical senses of Eldritch cannot catch the whiff of sorcery lingering in the air.
Beneath them, deep in the bowels of the converted structure, a set of three women sit in a room. One lounges on a throne, studying herself forlornly in the mirror. Another paces agitatedly, her nerves showing. The third sits in delicate concentration.
With a clipped tone, the woman snaps at her companion, “Faster! We need to eliminate it.”
Sighing in aspersion, the Queen Diamond places her delicate array of crystalized glass back on the table and says in a waspish tone, “The tracking device was miniscule, barely larger than an eyelash. It’s cutting edge technology by any standard so cut me a bit of slack if it took more than thirty seconds for me to neutralize it!”
“But it is neutralized?” cuts in an anxious voice.
Expression softening, Lady Diamond coos softly, “Yes Spade darling, it’s gone.”
Her voice still showing her nerves, Queen Spade asks, “So I won’t need to fight?”
Shaking her head gently, Diamond says, “No dear. Once we move tonight they won’t be able to track us anymore and we won’t have any trouble.”
Slumping back against her throne, Spade exhales and visibly deflates, “Thank goodness,” she murmurs, “I can barely control Her as is. If I had to fight…” trailing off, Lady Spade glances to the side and toward a mirror on the other side of the room containing her reflection.
Her mocha skin is unmarked and smooth, her curly black hair tied up in Grecian ringlets, and her dress of midnight black too adult for her age. From a distance, Lady Spade appears as a young girl trying to appear older and succeeding, if only to the untrained eye. But the sight of her pretty reflection does nothing for the young girl sitting in the too-large chair. Instead, it causes her to curl inward and mewl weakly.
“If you two worthless biddies are done wasting my time,” says the Queen of Hearts with a flick of her hair, interrupting Spade’s quiet contemplation, “We have a little rabbit to interrogate.”
“Isn’t that Queen Club’s job?” asks Spade.
Crossing her arms over her chest, the Queen of Hearts begins tapping her foot on the ground. “If she ever arrives!”
“Now now,” chides Diamond, still fiddling with the lattice array on her desk.
“Oh can it!” replies Heart. “That witch is worthless.” Smashing her fist into her palm, the Queen of Heart’s face contorts from a beautiful visage into a haughty sneer as she continues with, “Give me fifteen minutes alone with him and I’ll have him singing.”
“Given your reputation I don’t think he’d need fifteen minutes,” replies Queen Diamond in a calm voice.
Dismissing the innuendo with a snort, the Queen stomps on the floor and begins to retort before being interrupted by a dark skinned woman covered in braided bones and body paint dramatically throwing the door open. In a mysterious voice, she says, “De voodoo spirits sang me to dis place. Do mah sistas need me?”
“Oh lay off it,” says the Queen of Hearts with an exaggerated eye roll. “Would you just drop the accent Club?”
Sighing, the voodoo witch straightens up and steps out of the shadows, revealing surprisingly modern attire pairing with her hanging bones and paint. Shaking her skull staff slightly she says in a put out tone, “Come on, can’t you let me have a little fun? I’m rehearsing for the prisoner.”
“Speaking of,” says Diamond. “You’re good with magic, what’s the deal with this book?”
Her voice taking on a slightly ominous tone, Lady Club replies, “King Spade thinks it might be part of the Atlantean Cycle.”
Perking up from her chair, Queen Spade asks in a hesitant voice, “What’s that?”
This time, the Queen of Hearts replies. “A set of books on dark magic written by an evil sorcerer just before the fall of Atlantis. Each offers a unique set of powers to whoever is willing to pay the price to read them.” Then she glances slyly at Lady Club and Diamond who wear slightly bemused expressions at the sight of her sudden knowledge. “The King of Spades told the other Kings, and mine can’t keep secrets from me.”
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“Yeah, you have a way of sucking them out of him,” cuts back Lady Diamond.
“Price?” interrupts Queen Spade, worriedly glancing at the tension growing between the catty pair.
Club intervenes, saying hurriedly, “Blood. The books demand blood. Legend has it that once the books feed on enough blood they’ll summon the wizard back from the dead.”
Shuddering, Lady Spade asks, “Why would anyone want that? And why are we searching for it?”
Smiling quixotically, Heart answers, “Who said we’re searching for it?”
Shooting her an annoyed look, Lady Diamond clarifies, “We want it, but we’re taking it to make sure nobody else gets ahold of the book. That’s all. The Deck won’t be using an artifact like that.”
“Good,” Spade replies in a relieved tone. Then, quieter, she adds, “We don’t need another monster.”
With pity, Diamond says, “You aren’t a monster darling.”
Bitter, Spade answers, “What else would you call Her?”
The other three exchange glances filled with meaning. But none of them try to say anything. They’ve had this discussion far too many times to count and far too many times for falsehoods. Trying to change the subject, the Queen of Hearts asks in a faux bright voice, “When does your body turn seventeen? I’m thinking we should try something new this time around. Maybe we get you some nice tattoos?”
“What’s the point?” sighs a morose Spade, “Next time She comes out I’ll be back to fourteen again.” Pouting, she adds in an agitated voice, “I’ve gone through puberty like thirty times already! I hate Her!”
“Shhh,” admonishes Diamond gently. “You’ll be grown up before you know it. Then the mood swings will be easier to handle.”
Snarling, Spade snaps back, “That’s almost three months away. I can’t wait that long!”
Lady Diamond begins to form a response, but the chirp of the device on the desk in front of her interrupts her thoughts. Frowning, she glances down, studying a stray beam of light for a few tense seconds. The rest of the Queens gather in close, waiting for her to speak. After a minute, Diamond leans back and exhales angrily.
“Those brats! They’re here!”
“Who?”
“Eldritch and Ginger Snap,” snarls Diamond. “Tell the Aces to get to the entrance and cover our escape.”
“The aces…” Lady Spade replies, trailing off before adding, “Did you forget?”
The Queen of Diamonds closes her eyes for a second, recalling the meeting that followed Vicious’ devastation of The Deck’s enforcers. “Okay, so who do we have available?”
“Ginger took out pretty much all of our lower numbers over the past month,” replies Lady Club. “And between Becca, Eldritch, and Beacon putting the squeeze on the city recruitment is down so there aren’t many replacements ready to go.”
“Where are the Jacks?” asks the Queen of Hearts. From the expressions on the faces around her, she can guess the answer without anyone saying anything. A sour twist in her lips, she says, “And the Kings won’t move until the four of us are dead or imprisoned. How fast could the Jacks get back here?”
“Not fast enough,” answers Club. “Besides, none of them have powers with any use in combat. What good would any of them be?”
“Cannon fodder,” replies the Queen of Hearts in an imperious tone.
Sparing her a withering look, Club replies, “Unlike you, I need mine.”
Snorting, Heart snips back, “Please! He’s a glorified grave robber.”
“His ninja training-”
“Would be a lot more useful if he wasn’t a coward and learned more than just sneaking around!” finishes Queen Heart.
Stepping in between the pair, Lady Diamond commands, “Enough! This bickering is getting us nowhere! If we’re going to stop them without Spade’s help we need to start preparing.”
“What’s to prepare?” shrugs Heart, “I beat them before, and I can do it again.”
Sparing her a withering glance, Diamond answers, “They clearly let you win. You were too dumb to notice the tracking device. Now are we going to prepare or do you want Spade to let Her out?”
Guilty, the Queen of Hearts glances over at the nervous figure of Lady Spade and backtracks with, “Well obviously not that. I wouldn’t do that to her.” Turning to face Spade with a slightly panicked expression, she clarifies hastily, “To you! I won’t let that happen to you Spade.”
Queen Club taps on the desk with a bone, making a macabre clinking sound that serves to get the girls attention. “So then, Diamond, you’re the smart one. What’s the plan?”
“I don’t think we have a lot of options,” replies Diamond. “I can’t fight them, best I can do is try to counter some of Eldritch’s magic. Heart will need to take the frontline. Her power will work well against Ginger Snap. Club, we’re going to need all your voodoo magic to keep Eldritch in check. Think you can support Heart and keep Eldritch out of the fight while I direct?”
Mulling it over, Club reflects while Heart watches her impatiently. Finally, she says in a slow voice, “Possibly? Her powers are strong, and magic is impossible to predict. My voodoo relies on effigies, and if she’s sufficiently warded against them I might be useless.”
“Your dolls, you mean?” asks Heart.
Sighing, Club rolls her eyes and replies, “Yes, Heart, my dolls. I’ve explained this to you a million times, they aren’t dolls. The proper term is effigy.”
Forestalling the coming argument, Diamond quickly interjects, “It doesn’t matter now. We’ll have to find out in combat.” Turning to Lady Spade, she adds, “If the voodoo doesn’t work, we’ll be at a big disadvantage. I’m sorry, but if that’s the case, we’ll need Her.”
Shrinking into herself, Spade glances away from the three, and then says bitterly, “Fine. King Spade will punish me if I don’t help either way, right? So I might as well get involved.”
Frowning, Lady Diamond makes to form a reply before grimacing and saying, “We need to get to the atrium. They’re in. The cards we have in hand won’t last more than a minute, tops.”
“Then we’d better get ready,” Heart says before turning to Spade and adding, “and you can come with, but don’t let Her out unless we need you. We can cover for you with the King.”
The Queen of Spades nods with a fearful expression on her face before closing her eyes and centering herself. Then she follows the other women out of the room.
What horrible transformation does Lady Spade hide in her diminutive form? And will Eldritch and Ginger present enough of a challenge to bring her out? Find out next week in… “Off with their Heads!”