Part 5: Setting the stage
Back at the abandoned jail, Elizabeth throws her phone across the desk in disgust but with enough force not to break it. It is Sylvia’s day off and Elizabeths turn to supervise the prisoners. Elizabeth jolts up from her swivel chair in the booking office, flings open the clothes closet, and waddles down the hallway of cell doors dragging the uniform Javelynn was stripped of. In the cells, the Brazilian trio are entertaining themselves with a skipping rope they snuck back into their cell during rec time, Cassidy and Cathy are playing poker on the cell floor, and Javelynn is performing lunging jump squats to improve her kinetic linking as she imagines kneeing Felicia in the face. Elizabeth unlocks the food slot peep hole and says:
Elizabeth: Check-up time, you know what to do.
Javelynn punches the wall in frustration at being disturbed before setting her knees on the bench with her hands behind her back. Javelynn is the only prisoner who receives this check-up routine because of her exceptional physical abilities. She is usually taken into the medical room, has ger grip and leg strength measured, and is then forced to take medication that “settles” her. After the tablets are swallowed, her strength is tested again to ensure that the medication has worked. Her hands usually remain tied behind her back for the entire process.
When Elizabeth and Javelynn enter the medical room this time round, her strength is measured as usual, but this time, it is measured to ensure she is at full strength as Elizabeth has an assignment for her. As Elizabeth walks over to the medicine cabinet, Javelynn says:
Javelynn: Hey, can you get the dosages down on that shit? Makes my arms feel like cinderblocks.
Elizabeth: That is the point, but you don’t have to worry about that today *Pulls out her uniform from the bag*.
Javelynn: What is going on? Why is that here?
Elizabeth unties her hands and replies:
Elizabeth: You are being released on assignment. Get dressed.
Javelynn: What assignment? I wouldn’t push me too far If I were you*walks up closer to Elizabeth and looks down on her to emphasize the height disparity*
Elizabeth: And I would keep your distance *takes out the remote to Javelynn’s ankle monitor to make her step back*
Javelynn: *After stepping back a few feet and crosses her arms* What is it?
Elizabeth: The proxy I was using to capture the cat lady in her party clothes has gone rouge. Her name is Chloe and she has decided to take her prisoner for herself.
Javelynn: You sure this is not mistaken identity?
Elizabeth: Nope, not a chance. She never took the collar I used to track one of my pet cats out of the boot of her uniform when working as her “Black Cat” alternative self. She also gave me a walkie talkie to keep in touch and track me, but I tracked her in return back to her residence. I finally learned that her name is “Felicia”.
Javelynn: How did you get in contact with this now rogue proxy of yours?
Elizabeth: I took a trip downtown and figured that Felicia would be a regular or, at best, semi-regular at a cocktail bar near her residence. I went into the bar and talked to a few staff until I landed on Chloe who noticed, in detail, the woman I described physically to a tee as white haired, curvaceous, big legs and butt, and powerful-looking. Kind of like you but less lanky.
Javelynn: You sure your proxy hasn’t kidnapped a model of some sort?
Elizabeth: Are you listening to me? I said “powerful-looking” which means that she is not sculpted just for show, but for power and strength. She also sounded like she was nearly passing out on the radio with me.
Javelynn: So you want me to break into the cocktail bar, break Chloe in half, and capture Felicia?
Elizabeth: I wouldn’t mind it if you broke her in half, but I want you to capture her as well so that I can hold her accountable for going rogue in person.
Javelynn: Fine. *Javelynn then begins suiting up*
Once she finished suiting up, Javelynn is escorted out by Elizabeth and is free to complete her assignment by whatever means but still carries the status of prisoner who must return. While Javelynn travels from the woodland near where the abandoned jail is to downtown New York, a tired Chloe, right after her phone call with Elizabeth finished, grunts a bit as she puts the zip-tied Felicia back over her shoulder and resumes the trip. She feels Felicia begin to move a bit and says “Shush, we are nearly there” as they approach a double door saying “Crimson Theatre and Studio: Stagehand and performer entrance”. Chloe tries the handle and is relieved to feel that it is unlocked. She says:
Chloe: Yes! I had a plan B if it was locked, but I can hardly carry her anymore. Once we get behind the curtains near towards the studio, I can start dragging her.
The backstage area is divided into 3 parts from front to back: Rigging area (especially important for magic shows), construction area (area where stagehands and theatre carpenters work), and upstage area where the backdrop is produced. Once on-stage, Chloe slowly puts Felicia onto the floor and falls to her hands and knees in fatigue. She is tired, but is still determined to expose Felicia for what she accuses her off. She then drags Felicia to the rigging area so that they can get underneath the stage. Once there, Chloe hears the jingling of keys and then the sawing of wood and begins to panic. She says:
Chloe: NO! Damnit! Why the fuck would someone be working outside of standard times? I worked here before switching to the bar and would always have the theatre to myself when the stagehands left. We need to get underneath stage quick.
Knowing that opening one of the stage panels will cause a bit of a noise, Chloe decides to see who is working overtime in the construction area. She goes around to the side of the thick and wall-like curtain that separates them and takes a peek. The person working is one of the theatre carpenters named Harold Redman who Chloe recognizes but never met let alone interacted with as he always seemed like a grumpy outcast with high blood pressure. In fact, Harolds surname is fitting in that his face is red and withered, hair is short and graying, carries a bit of a beer gut, and has slouched posture. He is wearing, similar to that of a janitor, a paint and grease-stained light brown jumpsuit, small belt with a pouch and bundle of keys clipped on, and ankle high black non-slip shoes. He also does not wear any PPE which has marked his thick hands with marks from wood shrapnel as well as sawdust-filled nails. He is the same height as the 5,8 Chloe who is shorter than the 6,2 Felicia. Upon seeing this, Chloe says:
Chloe: Why is he of all people working overtime? He should be retired.
When he stops sawing, Chloe flings herself back as Harold looks to his left and right to be sure he is alone. He opens up his large metal tool box on the ground and, with one of his keys, opens up a second layer to the toolbox that conceals a small safe. He pushes the wood he was sawing to the side and clatters the safe onto the workbench. He then takes one last look around and opens the safe. Meanwhile, Chloe is looking for anything nearby that can cause a diversion. With her nervousness reaching a climax, she is relieved to hear of a diversion when Harolds phone rings. Harold reacts by slamming the safe store shut, looks around, and answers the phone saying:
Harold: Uhh..Harold here, what it is?
Dorothy: It is me, are you coming home for dinner?
Harold: Oh, hey there sugar I was just ta…workin’ overtime for extra pay.
Dorothy: Are you nearly finished?
Harold: You bet! On my way now *Harold promptly leaves but forgets to put the safe away out of nervousness*
Chloe: Woohoo, just my luck, now we can get below stage *she then looks at Felicia who is now awake*
Chloe: Oh, you are awake just in time for the drop *pulls a lever that opens the panel and slides Felicia down to the padded floor. Chloe jumps down from where the panel opened and closes it*
Part 6: Preparing the case
Underneath the stage, a stage that has been rigged with multiple panels and levers for magic shows and plays that use a lot of special effects, Chloe empties Felicia’s purse of its contents and lays out the walkie talkie, 2 debit cards, 1 credit card, and a few hundred dollars in cash. This amount initially surprises Chloe, but it makes sense as to why Felicia wouldn’t walk around with a lot of cash. As she looks through Felicia’s stuff, she is on the phone to one of her friends at the Institute of Neighborhood Justice who provides services pro bono but is, so to speak, going the extra mile for Chloe and her illegal seizing of Felicia. After 10 or so minutes of intel exchange, Chloe says she needs to go and get some rest after thanking her friend, Rebecca, for her patience. She turns toward Felicia and says:
Chloe: Try not to make too much noise, you wouldn’t want to be seen like this in front of a live audience, would you?
Felicia: *Muffled noises due to gag*
Chloe: I figured as much.
Chloe can’t get out from where she entered the stage, so she has to go through the small crawlspace door 20 feet away. This gives Felicia time to use the friction of the beam she leans against to cut the zip-ties. Once she breaks the ties, she hears Chloe walking on the stage and knows exactly which trap door to open. The smirk on Chloe’s face is wiped off abruptly as a trap door drops her like a stone into the grasp of the Cat who chokes her unconscious with on arm as she covers her mouth. She then leaves Chloe for the stage crew to assume she passed out drunk, puts her belongings back into her purse, and exits the underneath. As she walks through the construction area, Felicia says to herself:
Felicia: That girl is lucky I went easy on her, she had no clue who she was dealing with. *She turns to look at the safe on the work bench*
Felicia: What is a safe doing here?
Javelynn: What are you doing here?
Felicia: Huh? *Felicia turns to see Javelynn sliding down from the curtain and breaking her fall with a summersault*
Javelynn: Which way do you want this to go? Surrender or fight?
Felicia: Always the latter *Felicia turns to conceal her purse underneath the workbench*.
Javelynn: I prefer the latter as well! But are you sure you want to fight in a dress and heels?
Felicia: I could defeat you wearing anything.
Despite her displayed confidence, Felicia knows that she can’t take too many blows from Javelynn with minimal protection and that she needs to defeat her quickly. Felicia parries her head kick as she is only focusing on defense and keeping distance with defensive kicks to lure Javelynn to where she wants her. Javelynn has an impressive arsenal, but her martial arts arsenal is no-where near as polished as Felicia’s who parries her attacks with moves from savate, boxing and Judo when Javelynn tries to throw her. In frustration, Javelynn lunges at her with a flying knee that allows Felicia to dive near the workbench-right where she wants Javelynn to attack. Felicia then catches her spinning kick and smashes her ankle monitor with a hammer. This smashing activates the tasing mechanism and stuns Javelynn into unconsciousness. Felicia then says:
Felicia: Enjoy the rest of the show, loser-Lynn, but before I go *turns to look at the safe* I need to smell the roses on my way out.
Felicia unlocks the safe and sees a pile of expensive necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings entangled in a clump. From what it looks like, Harold has been collecting jewelry that patrons have lost in the seats! Before she can inspect them for value, though, she hears the jingling of keys and feels an arm wrap around her waist and a gun push up beneath her chin-it is Harold! Felicia is frozen by the sudden threat and says:
Felicia: I…didn’t mean to stumble across your treasure.
Harold: That ain’t no treasure chest missy, so don’t try to reach for anything.
Felicia: She broke into the safe, I was just admiring your collection.
Harold: Didn’t look like it. Plus, fightin’ the way you two were is illegal…I think.
Felicia: I admire those who fight for their catch, only cowards catch others from behind.
Harold: Pipe it down, missy *pushes gun up further*. I got bad knees and can’t even make a fist. I can’t scrap with you two martial arts crazies like Rambo or whatever. One kick from either of yas puts me out of work.
Felicia: I suppose you are not as dumb as you sound.
Harold: Right on, sugar. I ain’t fightin’ nobody, so I got to be a bit of a vulture against the Amazons if ya get what I mean. Now….what should I do with you two thieves?
Felicia: Aren’t you a thief yourself? That jewelry looks like it came from the lost and found bin.
Harold: I said pipe down, damnit! I only loot what is lost, I don’t do all dis’ kicking and breaking that you two brolics do. I ain’t violent.
Felicia: So why is the gun up my chin?
Harold: It ain’t no different than health insurance, lady. I also believe that anyone who tries to steal my loot becomes a part of my loot. If ya try and steal a diamond ring, you become the ring, got it? *Felicia rolls eyes in frustration at his idiocy*. I call it Harold’s law! Yeah!
