Fuchsia Fox: "Return of the Shadow Tiger", By Centurion

[flirty_but_nice]

Hi guys. Here's the next Fuchsia Fox story by Centurion. My apologies for the delay in getting this released to all of you. The story was actually sent to me to post at the very beginning of March.

Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy it as much as I did! Your comments are, as always, most welcome and encouraged!
………………………………………

Fuchsia Fox: "Return of the Shadow Tiger"
By Centurion


Chapter 1 -- District of Columbia Court House, Washington, D.C.


"Mortimer Brody, Kendrick Rudov," said the judge, looking sternly at the two men standing alongside their defense attorney, J. Brinkman Nobbs. "Having carefully reviewed the testimony given here, I find no grounds for an appeal or a retrial. Your original sentence, twenty years for the willful and premeditated murder of James Hopper, stands. Case dismissed." He rapped his gavel.

"All rise!" cried the bailiff, and everyone in the courtroom got to their feet. As the judge retreated to his chambers, Nobbs gave his clients a resigned shrug. The bailiffs then took charge of the prisoners -- Mortimer in regular handcuffs but Rudov in leg shackles in addition to a belly chain that kept his wrists secured at waist level, to neutralize his formidable martial arts abilities -- and marched them out of the room.

Six months earlier, a jury had found them both guilty with practically no debate. Rudov, an expert at martial arts, had strangled the victim to death with his bare hands. Brody's part had been the engineering and subsequent theft of the holographic invisibility suit which had made the crime possible. Much of the evidence had been circumstantial, but compelling. There was the suit itself; although its invisibility circuits were now damaged, Sgt. Paul Erskine and four members of a police SWAT team had testified about its effectiveness. There was also the fact that Rudov had been caught wearing the suit while in the act of assaulting Federal prosecutor Isadora Porteous. The final nail in the coffin had been Rudov's spontaneous confession to Hopper's murder -- made while in the heat of action to Washington D.C.'s stunningly sexy superheroine, the Fuchsia Fox.

The defense attorney had done his best to discredit the Fox's testimony, but there was something about the brunette beauty that tended to win over juries. Seeing her on the witness stand, you couldn't help yourself; you just wanted to believe what she said. Statistics bore this out. The verdict in any case in which the Fox testified was pretty much a foregone conclusion.

District Attorney Amendola packed up his laptop and his files and headed straight out the rear entrance of the courthouse. There he felt a sudden rush of adrenalin as his eyes fell upon the very agreeable sight of the Fuchsia Fox herself waiting for him at the top of the steps, her nubile young body clad in that tight, two piece reddish purple costume -- the sassy little miniskirt fluttering above her long, flawless legs, and above her trim midriff the halter top with its fox head chest emblem. Having given her testimony earlier in the trial, she hadn't turned up for the sentencing phase because she hadn't wanted to cause any distraction.

"Well?" she asked, crossing her glove-sheathed arms.

"No grounds for retrial," Amendola grinned.

"Thank goodness," the beautiful heroine sighed. "I was afraid there for a while that Nobbs was going to get them off by claiming that my questioning Brody was a violation of his civil rights."

The prosecutor shook his head gently. "Let me worry about things like that," he said. "Right now they're on their way back to Cold Springs Prison, and good riddance to them."

From where they were standing, the two of them could just see the gated entrance to the east wing of the building where the police brought prisoners in and out of court. As they watched, the gate swung open and the gray prison bus rolled out, turning east onto E Street.

"What about the Shadow Tiger invisibility suit?" the Fox asked. "What happened to it?"

"The Army took one look at it and said they didn't want it back," the prosecutor said. "They said you pretty much fried the holographic circuits."

"Excuse me," the heroine said sarcastically. "When I caught Rudov, he was in the middle of attacking Dora. I wasn't in any mood to be gentle."

"The suit is being kept in storage at Cold Springs, too," Amendola said. "It was brought back in the bus in case the judge wanted a look at it."

"Well... I guess I'll be off then," the Fox said, launching herself gracefully into the sky and heading northwest in the direction of the Convention Center.

Meanwhile, the prison bus continued east, turning south on Third Street and through the underground tunnel to the Southeast Freeway. The driver and an armed guard were riding in front, a locked cage door separating them from the passenger section, where six rows of bus seats sat mostly empty, since Rudov and Brody were the only prisoners being transported this trip. In the very rear of the passenger section was another armed guard, next to the case containing the invisibility suit.

Once across the Anacosta River, the driver planned to take the Capitol Beltway into Virginia and thence to the prison. They never made it that far. Everything seemed fine right up until a big eighteen-wheeler truck loomed up in the lane behind them. The driver of the bus didn't think anything in particular as the truck started to pass on the left. He glanced up automatically into the rear view mirror, and then the eighteen-wheeler suddenly swerved, violently clipping the bus on the left and forcing it out of its lane.

The guards tried to brace themselves as the bus jounced over the curb, skidding across a margin of grass and into a parking area. The two handcuffed and chained prisoners could only put their heads down and hang onto their seats as best they could. Rudov took the opportunity while everyone was distracted to reach into the waistband of his trousers and slide out the fountain pen which their attorney had slipped him earlier. Quickly he popped off the cap and squirted a small amount of nitric acid onto his chains and another on his leg shackles.

The truck rammed the bus again, almost sending it toppling over as it plowed head on into a solid concrete bridge abutment and came to a dead stop. The shaken guards were trying to pull themselves together. The one in the passenger compartment moved forward down the aisle to check on the prisoners.

Rudov suddenly rose up in front of him, both hands and feet free of his restraints. A karate punch caught the guard right in the sternum and instantly stunned him, even with his Kevlar vest. The prisoner grabbed the man by the collar, spun him around and slammed him against the cage door.

The two guards in the front were still shaken and uncertain what was going on, but they were sure that Rudov was free and their other man was in trouble. "Hey! Just back off, scumbag," the driver ordered, drawing his sidearm while the other guard fumbled with the keys to the cage door. "Hands on top of your head! On your knees!"

Rudov responded by bracing himself for a second and sending a lateral kick straight to the door lock. The impact shook the entire door. His second kick bent the hinges of the door, and then with his third kick, he was through. "Shit!" said the driver, struggling to level his Glock at the prisoner but afraid to hit his own partner. By then the decision was taken out of his hands as Rudov seized his wrist, twisting it around and breaking his wrist bones, at the same time as he spun with a back kick into the other guard's ribcage. He straightened again with sword-hand thrust into a nerve cluster in the driver's neck, dropping him to the floor.

"Put some hustle in it, Brody!" Rudov called, grabbing a service pistol from one of the guards as he threw open the door of the bus. "We've got to go!" The eighteen wheeler was pulled up nearby with its engine idling, driven by a skinny Hispanic kid hired by their lawyer.

Brody was limping down the aisle on his partially paralyzed right leg. "Get the suit!" the engineer said urgently, as his partner unlocked his handcuffs.

"I thought it was broken," Rudov said.

"Do you have any idea how much I sweated over that thing?" Brody snapped. "Maybe I can fix it, okay?"

"Okay! Jeez!" Rudov made his way to the back of the bus and grabbed the case. A few minutes later, all three of them were in the eighteen wheeler and driving off down the highway.


***


Chapter 2 –


Fifteen days had gone by since the escape. Isadora Porteous was complaining about the bodyguard assigned to her by the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police, which she claimed put a cramp in her style. The police themselves were working overtime, following every lead to bring the two fugitives to justice.

It was a Saturday, but the National Archives was open seven days a week and this weekend was Jennifer Fletcher's turn to be on duty. The attractive, twenty-something brunette was dressed in black, flare-leg pants paired with a white, sleeveless turtleneck top which lovingly hugged her smooth feminine curves. She had spent most of the morning at her computer, answering e-mail inquiries and drafting a report for the director. It was nearly one o'clock as Jenn looked up from her work and stretched her lean, young body, wiggling her bare toes on the carpet under her desk. Time for lunch. She saved the report she had been working on while her feet found her high heels and slipped into them.

Downstairs in the public areas, Jennifer strolled across the Rotunda, by force of habit taking notice of the flow of visitors. The rainy weather outside was keeping most of the tourists away, but there was still a pretty hefty crowd. Jenn decided that she didn't feel like going out for lunch, so she steered her path toward the break room. As she did, she passed two men looking at something intently on their smart phone screen. "What do you think? You think she'll do it?" one man asked his friend. "Of course she will," the other man answered.

Inside the break room she found several members of staff also engrossed in something on their phones. "What's everybody looking at?" Jennifer asked casually, getting a Diet Coke from the machine.

"Don't you follow the trending entertainment news, Ms. Fletcher?" scoffed Jazmin Alikhan, one of the girl interns. "Some wrestler on a cable television show challenged the Fox to a fight! It's all everybody's talking about!"

"The Fox?" Jennifer said blankly, still feeling far behind on the subject.

"The Fuchsia Fox," said Jerry Callahan from I.T., showing her the video on his phone. "Look -- the show is called the Valhalla Underground. It's on twice a week, available on cable and by net streaming. A new fighter calling himself The Tiger has appeared three times in the past two weeks and swept all the fights. He's unstoppable."

Jennifer's brown eyes widened involuntarily as she watched the promotional video on Jerry's phone. It showed a muscular man standing inside a wrestling ring wearing a magenta full body suit with metallic gray stripes across his chest, abs and legs -- almost exactly like the Shadow Tiger's invisibility suit! There did appear to be a difference in the pattern of stripes, but the basic design was similar. His mask covered his entire head except for his mouth.

Three nubile young hotties wearing high heels and tiny little bikinis were fawning all over him, shooting seductive looks at the camera. Behind them hung a large sign that read: "VFC -- Valhalla Fight Club".

"I am the Tiger!" the man was gloating. "I come from the shadows where no one knows, and when I strike, I leave nothing but devastation behind. In the past two weeks, I have fought six bouts and won every single one. I have already taken two of the Valkyries. Wonder Babe and Super Babe have already gone down in defeat."

The three buff, bikini-clad girls were preening, standing behind him and running their hands over his muscular frame. Jennifer felt a hot blush steal across her high cheekbones as she realized what the girls were wearing. The dark haired one had on a blue, star-spangled bottom and a red bra with "WW" in gold on the left breast cup. The blonde had on red bottoms and a royal blue bra with a big yellow "S" on the left breast. And the third girl, the brunette... Jennifer's eyes almost popped at the sight of the very skimpy reddish purple bikini with a leering "fox" head on her left breast!

"Yeah, they call those girls the Valkyries," Jerry smirked, noticing the look on Jenn's face. "It's the best part of the show if you ask me. The big winner each night gets to pick one of them and wrestle her. They're all real fighters, don't get me wrong. But all the same about half the time the girl ends up losing her bikini and getting boned right there on camera." Jerry shrugged. "Hey, it's cable."

The Tiger was still in the middle of his rant. "I've saved the best until last," he continued as he reached around, slapping the fuchsia-clad girl on her tight little booty, then scooping her trim waist with his brawny arm and drawing her over to him. "Saturday night when I win, I'll take Fox Babe and I'll enjoy her right here in the ring in front of you all. It's gonna be so great!"

Jennifer narrowed her eyes. Could he be the Shadow Tiger? The costume was similar, but not exactly the same. She tried to remember if any pictures of the suit had been released to the media during the trial. She didn't think so. Because of the mask, she couldn't be sure if it was him, not on this small screen.

"But you know what?" the Tiger was saying. "I'm ready to cut to the chase. I hereby publicly challenge the REAL Fuchsia Fox to meet me Saturday night right here in this ring. What do you say, Fox? We've all seen how tough you are against those terrorist morons. Do you think you can handle a real man in a fair fight? Or are you too chicken to face me? Maybe you're just a spineless coward under that cute little outfit. I guess we'll find out Saturday, won't we?"

The video ended at that point. The usage counter showed that it had gotten more than 80,000 hits.

"It went up Wednesday night on the website," Jerry was saying. "No word yet on whether she's agreed to do it or not."

"Dream on, Jerry," said Jazmin. "Obviously it's just a publicity stunt. The Fox is a superheroine. She has more important things to do than appear on some stupid sophomoric fighting show."

"It's easy for you to put it down," Jerry said, "but fighting today is a science. You should see these guys in action. I've seen the Tiger fight and I think he could take her." His eyes got all dreamy for a second. "Can you imagine it? What if the Fuchsia Fox actually got beaten on live television?"

"As if!" Jazmin scoffed.

"Obviously the Fox isn't as confident as you are," Jerry replied coolly, "or she would jump at the chance to put him in his place, wouldn't she?"

Jennifer felt a definite jump in her pulse rate as she imagined stepping into the ring in the place of one of those bikini-clad "Valkyries", with the crowd cheering and the television cameras and everything. The Shadow Tiger was a formidable opponent who had given her quite a hard time -- at least while his invisibility suit had given him an edge. As much as she hated to agree with Jerry, the thought crossed Jenn’s mind that there was actually a slim but distinct possibility that she might not win such a fight. On the other hand, there was the matter of bringing an escaped murderer to justice.

"Oh drat," Jenn said out loud. "I've just remembered -- I have to hand deliver an important document to Dr. Tuttle at the National Zoo. If anyone needs me, I'll be back in about an hour."

As Jennifer trotted down the rear steps of the Archives building, she already had her phone out, speed-dialing. "Hi, Thomas?" she said, while looking for a safe place to change clothes. "I'm fine, thanks. I wonder if you can find an address for me..."


***


Fifteen minutes later, the Fuchsia Fox alighted, her miniskirt fluttering, outside a plain, square building much like a warehouse. A sign hung beside the door which was exactly like the one on the video clip: "VFC -- Valhalla Fight Club". The stunning superheroine was reaching for the door handle when three police cars suddenly pulled up. The first man to get out was a young, good-looking plainclothes detective.

"Great minds think alike, Fox," Sergeant Erskine said, grinning as he walked up to her. "I take it you're here to nab the wrestler who you think might be the Shadow Tiger?"

"That's my plan, Paul," the superheroine said smugly, as six uniformed officers wearing body armor got out of the cars.

"Well, because the suit isn't exactly the same," the detective said, "we can't be sure that it's the same man. But we do have sufficient grounds to question him. It just occurred to me, being that you fought the Shadow Tiger face to face, you'd probably recognize him, even masked."

"I think certainly would." the Fox said as Erskine opened the door, gallantly allowing her to enter first.

The interior of the building was laid out like a stadium in miniature. The entrance hall led past a ticket booth and into a lobby with rest rooms. Beyond that was a much larger, gymnasium-sized room with the wrestling ring in the center, surrounded on all sides by tiered seats, with catwalks among the rafters high above for lights. Two small platforms stood with tripod-mounted video cameras, and to one side was a raised booth for the announcer and commentator. On the opposite side of the ring was a wide stair that led up to a prominent archway where the fighters made their entrances.

As the Fox, Erskine and the six officers entered, this room was entirely empty except for two men standing next to the ring. One man was a wrestler, wearing a dark green and black spandex body suit and mask. The other man was wearing a normal gray business suit and smoking a thin cigar.

"Gabriel Rinaldi!" said the Fox, recognizing the man in the suit. "How is the porn business?" Rinaldi had produced and directed two sleazy porn films starring the "Fusha Foxxx" before Thomas Westerton had gotten a restraining order placed on them.

"The Fuchsia Fox?" the man gasped in alarm as his eyes fell upon her gorgeous body. "No, no, no, you can't come in here busting my ass this time. My lawyer says the Valkyrie's costume does not infringe on your trademarks. You can't copyright all foxes and the color fuchsia."

"Relax," the beautiful heroine said, striding down the aisle with her miniskirt whispering seductively around her creamy thighs. "I'm not here about that. I'm here to talk to one of your wrestlers. The one named the Tiger."

Rinaldi nearly bit through his cigar. "Shit! Are you telling me you're actually going to DO it? Actually FIGHT him in the ring? I told that bastard you'd never do it, but he said--"

"Calm down or you're going to have a heart attack," the Fox said, delicately laying a glove-sheathed hand on his arm. "I just want to talk to him. And if he's who I think he is, Sergeant Erskine is going to arrest him for jail breaking."

"And if his name is Kendrick Rudov," the detective added, "then you get arrested along with him for aiding and abetting a fugitive."

To their surprise, Rinaldi laughed. "The Tiger told me you might pull something like this, babe," he chuckled. "He's not here. He never gave me his name; his contract guarantees him anonymity. I don't know where he is, but the last time I spoke to him, he told me that he definitely will be returning at ten o'clock tonight when the show starts. He says he'll unmask just for the Fox, and that's IF she faces him in the ring and beats him fair and square. No police," he added, pointing his cigar at Erskine. "Otherwise he'll just disappear."

"You realize, of course," the detective said, "that by specifying all these conditions, he's practically admitting that he is Kendrick Rudov. And you're admitting that you're aware of it. I've a good mind to arrest you for obstruction of justice."

Rinaldi studied the end of his cigar for a second. "I'm admitting no such thing, copper. Speaking for myself, I think this whole lark is just one hell of a publicity stunt. What do you say, Fox babe? Want to roll the dice?"

Without warning, the green-clad wrestler who had remained silent all this time suddenly lunged at the Fox, a lightning-swift hand aimed at her slender throat. Erskine and the other men were caught completely off guard, but the sexy superheroine's glove-sheathed hand darted upward just in time to catch her assailant's wrist, holding his fingers flexing impotently just millimeters away from making contact with her silken flesh.

"Who might you be?" the Fox asked coolly.

"I am Killer Kobra," the man smirked, and now that Jennifer was paying more attention to him, the black highlights around his face mask did suggest a cobra's hood. "I'd like to fight you myself sometime." He struggled to pull his hand back, but it was caught in the superheroine's super-strong grip.

The Fox sighed, letting him go. "It looks like you'll have to take a number," she said bitterly. "Tell the Tiger I'll be here tonight." It seemed as if she didn't have any choice.

Rinaldi laughed again. "I'm afraid he's thought of all the angles, babe. Ten o'clock. That's when we broadcast, live. Don't be late."


***


Chapter 3 –


Rinaldi lost no time posting an update on the Valhalla Fight Club website. Within minutes, social media (#FoxFight!) was buzzing excitedly with the news -- a narrow majority excitedly predicting that the Fuchsia Fox was going to meet her match and get boned on live television. There was no way of telling how many bets were made on the outcome.

That night at ten o'clock, an estimated one thousand fans turned up at the VFC arena in spite of the overcast sky -- which was unfortunate because it only had seats for five hundred. Rinaldi charged $100 apiece for those, and he set up two big plasma screens in the parking lot, imposing a fee of $50 per car. Plus of course thousands more were watching on cable and by live streaming.

"It looks like a madhouse," commented Martin Fletcher, cruising slowly past the building in his Subaru and parking a hundred feet further on. His smart phone was resting in its hands-off mount on the dashboard, live streaming the show. "You know, it's not too late to reconsider."

His wife Jennifer, dressed in her sleek, sexy, Fuchsia Fox costume, leaned over from the passenger seat and kissed him. "It's has to be done, darling," she said, raising one aristocratic eyebrow. "You almost sound as if you don't think I can take him."

"Of course you can," Martin scoffed. "As the Army officer originally responsible for the project, I was allowed to look over the invisibility suit while it was in police custody. The control circuits were damaged, and frankly we have a better suit in the works, which is the reason we passed on taking over the project again."

"So you're saying the suit doesn't work?" Jennifer asked.

"Well, I'm not saying that Brody couldn't repair it," her husband said, "assuming he had an electronics lab at his disposal. But even if he did, this is a public challenge. For the sake of his pride, Rudov has to be SEEN taking you down. And without the suit, he's just a..."

"... an expert in martial arts, practically a Ninja." the Fox finished for him.

"I was going to say a thug," Martin said. "But that, too."

"And the fight is probably going to be watched by half the Washington area," the young superheroine fretted, her pulse racing. "So no pressure."

Martin drew his wife closer to him and kissed her warmly on the lips, his left hand cupping her perfect right breast and giving it a gentle squeeze. "You'll do fine. It's possible this Tiger guy isn't even Rudov. Maybe it really is just a publicity stunt."

Taking a deep breath, the Fox got out of the car and launched herself into the sky, using the cover of darkness to hide her movements as she approached the arena from the performer's entrance in the rear. In spite of the conditions that Rinaldi had specified, Jennifer caught sight of Sergeant Erskine and a couple of plainclothes policemen lounging around their cars nearby, watching the show on smart phones. But the hefty bouncer stationed at the door didn't pay them any attention as he waved the superheroine through.

The backstage area was a hive of activity, with costumed fighters and staff members busy getting ready for the show. Every one of them froze for a moment as the Fox appeared, as if they couldn't believe their eyes.

"Hey, so there you are, babe," Rinaldi said, greeting the stunning super-lady. "There were a lot of bets that you'd chicken out at the last minute. And I see you ditched your bodyguards."

The Fox's brown eyes flicked back and forth, keeping an eye out for Rudov. "Where is he?" she said, getting right down to business.

"Come with me," the promoter said, leading her a short distance to a door with a sign that read "Valkyries". Without bothering to knock, he opened the door to a small dressing room where the girls were still getting dressed.

The dark-haired Wonder Babe and the blonde Super Babe were just putting the finishing touches on their make-up. They gave the Fox long, appraising glances as they strutted over, taking up positions on either side of her. The third girl, the brunette, was still tying the achingly thin spaghetti straps of her teeny tiny Fox Babe costume. She took one look at the real Fuchsia Fox and her cheeks flushed scarlet.

"Well, if isn't the big enchilada herself," Wonder Babe smirked, her eyes looking pointedly at the superheroine's sweet but modest breasts, while her left hand cupped her own plump D-cups. "Or maybe not so big at that. I'm surprised that you had the guts to actually turn up. Are you looking forward to getting trounced in the ring in front of all those cameras?"

"I think I can handle myself," the Fox said, as Super Babe's slender arm encircled her exquisite waist on the other side, her hand patting her pert bottom.

"Honey," the dark-haired girl retorted cattily, "the only fight experience you have is with those ORCUS losers. The Tiger is going to chew you up and spit you out. And I will be delighted." She turned abruptly on her heel and headed out of the dressing room toward the arena, with Super Babe strutting right behind her.

Jennifer didn't bother to correct her. It was true that as far as the public was concerned, the Fox was most often seen dealing with bank robbers and terrorists. That was because her most spectacular battles -- for example with Alley Cat, Demetrius Van Meter, and even extraterrestrials and interdimensional demons -- had taken place when television cameras were nowhere around. Her superhuman strength and speed would tend to make up for the Tiger's martial arts skills, as long as he didn't have the additional advantage of invisibility.

Fox Babe, finally getting her costume tied, quickly she slipped into high heels and squeezed past without saying a word, hurrying after her friends.

Jennifer tried to catch her eye as she passed. She would have liked to talk with the girl privately without Rinaldi around, to ask her how she felt about having a job as exploitive and demeaning as this. It wasn't that Jenn was prudish; she had briefly been an exotic dancer herself. She didn't mind the skimpy little costume or the way the girls strutted around in the ring. What disturbed her was the fact that, according to Jerry, nearly every episode culminated with one of the girls being violently and sexually taken by a man. And the symbolism of having all three girls dressed in costumes that represented famous superheroines was painfully obvious. All of the thousands of men watching the program were presumably fantasizing about personally doing the same thing to Wonder Woman, to Super girl, or to her! That thought gave the Fox a creepy feeling, not exactly pleasant, but at the same time, a slight tingle of arousal.

"Your fight with the Tiger won't be until later," Rinaldi was saying, breaking into her thoughts, "toward the end of the show. We have to build up to it, naturally." Both of them had remained in the hallway outside the dressing room where they could keep an eye on the arena entrance. "You can wait in here and watch the show until we're ready for you."

There was a television set mounted on the wall of the dressing room, showing the opening credits of the "Valhalla Underground" program as the three lovely Valkyries arrived in the ring, going into their warm-up act while the announcer breathlessly proclaimed the fighters who were scheduled to appear that evening.

"We have a spare Fox Babe costume if you want to wear it," Rinaldi said with a sly grim. He chuckled as he caught the stern look the heroine was giving him. "Hey, you can't blame me for trying. I almost forgot..." He reached behind him and took a computer tablet from a mousy male assistant who had been unobtrusively following him all this time. "You gotta sign a release. It just means I have the legal right to use the images we tape tonight, for broadcast now and for promotional purposes later on."

The Fox took the table and glanced at the document. At first glance it appeared to be much the same as similar releases she had signed for magazine interviews and photo shoots. "Paragraph four," she said dryly, "seems to grant you sole and absolute ownership of the video rights in perpetuity. It also seems to include my consent for you to use the name Fuchsia Fox in all future promotions in any way you see fit, including actor-portrayed reenactments. Not a chance." She handed the tablets back. "I'm not here to perform for your audience. I'm here to question a suspected fugitive."

"Yeah but it amounts to the same thing, doesn't it?" the promoter smirked. "I can't let you go on camera unless you sign a release. I've got a business to run."

The Fox suddenly grabbed him by the collar with her free hand and picked him up about six inches off the floor. "Let's get one thing straight, Rinaldi," she said menacingly. "I'm only here because the Tiger challenged me to be here. I'm not signing any release, and I'm not waiting until the end of the show. I'm going to wait right here so that I can accost him the second he appears for his first fight, before he even gets to the arena. I don't care whether you get to film a single frame. That's not my problem."

"Hey, hey, no need to get all upset, babe," Rinaldi said, his feet dangling. "Sheesh! All you had to do was say so."

Just as the Fox was setting him down, the stage door opened and an attractive, black-haired young woman appeared, followed by a man carrying a television camera with a Channel 14 logo.

"Not brow-beating anyone I hope, Fox?" the girl said. "Sorry I didn't get a picture of that. I'm Vicki Ransom, Channel 14 news."

Jennifer had heard of Vicki Ransom but never met her before. She gave the impression of a biker chick who had been taught how to dress up for work. She was wearing dark colored lipstick and eyeliner. Her lean young body was dressed in a black polyester miniskirt topped by a neat, tan button up blouse, just loose enough at the bodice to show the ghost of her black demi-bra underneath. Jenn had heard that Vicki's specialty was digging up dirt on people.

"So you're the Fuchsia Fox?" the reporter smirked, holding her microphone up to the superheroine's face. "Do you really think you have a chance against the Tiger? People are saying he's unstoppable. They say he's going to knock your chest emblem off. Care to comment?"

"Not really," the Fox said disdainfully, glancing away toward the arena entrance.

"Surely you can give me something?" Vicki pressed, while Rinaldi looked on like a spectator at a tennis match. "The Tiger might be porking your little butt in front of all of Washington in a little while. What are your thoughts about that? Don't you have any trash talk? Some empty threats? How much is Rinaldi paying you to show up tonight?"

Jennifer opened her mouth to reply, but then thought better of it. Vicki was just trying to get a rise out of her, trying to trick her into making an unguarded statement. It was best to say nothing.

"L-look!" said the mousy assistant, pointing toward the television screen inside the dressing room. The dark-haired Wonder Babe was standing in the middle of the ring holding a wireless microphone, preparing to announce the first bout. As they watched, one of the cameras picked up a male figure clad in a magenta body suit with gray stripes as he dropped straight down from the catwalks overhead, pulling up short at the end of a rope and lowering himself to the canvas.

"There's been a change in the program!" the intruder announced, briefly taking the microphone from the girl. "The Tiger versus the Fox! Here I am, right on time! Now it only remains to see if the Fox has the spine to show up and face me! Where are you, little cowardly bitch?"

Jennifer's eyes widened in recognition. It was definitely the Shadow Tiger, and instead of the spandex replica, he was wearing the original invisibility suit!


***


Chapter 4 –


The packed crowd of more than five hundred inside the arena applauded as the buff babe wearing the skimpy red, white and blue bikini took hold of the microphone again. "Here it is, ladies and gentlemen," she announced, "the moment you have been waiting for! From the dark shadows of the deepest jungle, weighing 230 pounds -- the Tigerrrrrr!" The crowd in the arena clapped and cheered as the fighter in the magenta and gray body suit raised both muscular arms high over his head, strutting around the wrestling ring.

"Facing him," the girl announcer continued, gesturing toward the archway, "weighing, at a guess, maybe 120, 125 pounds -- Washington's own Fuchsia Fox!"

The crowd jumped to its feet, applauding wildly as the spotlight came on, illuminating the stunning superheroine as she stood for a moment in the archway at the top of the stair, looking apprehensively down at the scene. As the Fox walked down the steps, she could literally feel the weight of all those five hundred pairs of eyes on her, not to mention the impersonal stares of the two video cameras recording and broadcasting the fight live to thousands more throughout the Washington D.C. area. The superheroine couldn't deny that her body seemed to be tingling all over in excited apprehension of what could happen. Nervously, she remembered from their last battle that Shadow Tiger had a deadly nerve pinch. If she wasn't very careful, he could gain the upper hand and claim victory in front of all these witnesses. Jenn tried to remind herself, though, what Martin had said about Rudov needing to be seen winning, so he was unlikely to use the invisibility suit even if the circuits were back in operation.

Now down on floor level, the Fox mounted the steps to the ring itself. The bikini-clad Valkyries Super Babe and Fox Babe held the ring ropes apart while the lissome girl slipped through. Both of the girls met the superheroine's gaze boldly, smiling without a trace of embarrassment.

"You know the rules," Wonder Babe said into the microphone for the benefit of the audience as well as the two fighters. "No holds barred. The winner will be declared when one opponent is immobilized with his or her shoulders pinned to the mat for a count of three -- or until your opponent has had enough and taps out." She paused and looked directly at the Fox with a sassy feminine smirk on her lips. "What happens after that is up to the winner." Switching off the microphone, she scurried to the edge of the ring and ducked under the lowermost rope, sliding her pert caboose off the canvas and into the ringside area. A male referee in a black and white striped shirt remained, keeping back out of their way.

The announcer in the booth began his commentary over the arena's loudspeakers, but the Fox payed no attention to him, keeping her eyes on the Shadow Tiger as he slowly circled her. "Look, Rudov," she said. "I don't know what your game is, but it's not going to work. Why don't you just give up?"

"It's not going to be that easy, Fox Babe," the Tiger smirked. "I promised to nail you right here in this ring. I never go back on my promises."

Suddenly he threw himself against the ring ropes, using the force of their recoil to propel his body across the ring like a missile toward the gorgeous young superheroine, his right arm darting out intending to tag her as he passed. The Fox easily parried the blow, grabbing his wrist and slinging him around, whereupon the Tiger went straight into a forward flip, twisting out of her grasp and landing on his feet, simultaneously striking out with karate kick right to her knee.

It was a powerful blow which the Fox felt even through her invisible force shield. But the sassy super girl had seen it coming in time to shift her weight to her other leg, spinning in place and making a grab for her attacker's burly shoulders to catch him in a half nelson. In the split second before her glove-sheathed hands closed on him, though, he vanished -- just for half a second, reappearing a yard away, which in those circumstance might as well have been a mile.

"Holy cow, look at the speed of these athletes!" the commentator babbled excitedly. "You can hardly keep up with them!"

"You like it, Fox?" Rudov grinned as he warily circled her. "That's a trick Brody came up with. I call it Blink Mode -- just enough to give me that slight edge. You never know which direction I'll hit you from." Abruptly he launched a flurry of punches which forced the Fox to give ground, barely able to parry and dodge because of the way he kept vanishing and reappearing at random just when she was ready to counterstrike. It was almost like fighting with a strobe light running.

Another lunge, another karate punch aimed right in between the Fox's flawless coconuts, deflected by her force shield at the last second as she turned, making another grab for the Tiger's neck. Again, he eluded her grasp by a mere fraction of an inch, delivering another karate kick which, luckily, again failed to penetrate her defenses. By now Jennifer was getting the hang of anticipating his random disappearances, knowing that in half a second he couldn't possibly have moved more than a couple of feet either way.

The Tiger seemed to brace himself for a second and launched himself forward with a one-two punch, leading with his left fist to set up his right for a devastating taekwondo thrust aimed at the nerve cluster on the Fox's neck. The stunning super lady managed to evade the first blow and parry the second by the skin of her teeth, following through with a graceful pirouette, her miniskirt rising and swirling around her sensuous, sylph-like waist. The Tiger blinked out to no avail as the Fox's flailing forearm smacked him in the chest anyway and sent him staggering against the corner turnbuckle.

"Ungh!" Rudov grunted, catching himself against the ropes with one hand as his other hand clutched at his chest.

Just then a figure dressed in dark green darted along the aisle between the seats and bounded over the ropes into the ring. "Oh ho, what's this?" the announcer said. "It looks like Killer Kobra wants a piece of this action, too! With the sexy Fuchsia Fox in the ring, who can blame him?"

The Fox turned just in time to duck a flying kick aimed at her head, spinning and sweeping one gorgeous gam toward her new opponent. Surprisingly, the Kobra caught her kick and returned a thrust with the flat of his hand straight to her face. The cocky young heroine gracefully sidestepped, knocking the punch to one side with her forearm.

HSSSSS! A barely-noticeable puff of pale blue gas shot out of Kobra's glove, getting her right in the face! The Fox immediately recognized the distinctive scent of DS gas and held her breath, but that one brief whiff was enough to send a momentary shiver of numbness tingling up and down her spine. Knees trembling, a moment of fear gripped the Fox’s consciousness. Undeterred, though, the spunky super girl punched Kobra hard enough to send him flying to the other side of the ring, and then backed away, hoping to give herself a moment to clear her head.

"Hey, this isn't a tag team!" the referee remonstrated to Killer Kobra. "Get out of the ring!"

"I didn't do anything," the masked fighter argued, raising his hands and stalling for time. "I didn't touch her."

Meanwhile Shadow Tiger pounced on the Fox while the ref was distracted. The young heroine felt butterflies in her stomach from the pacification gas undermining her willpower, but nevertheless she threw out her left fist in a preemptive defense. Her assailant easily evaded her clumsy punch, grabbing her slender, glove-sheathed arm and smacking the sole of his boot HARD into her ribcage. The Fox struck back, missing as the Tiger evaded the blow, caught her arm once again and snapped Jennifer's lithe, lightweight body around, slamming her against the opposite turnbuckle. While she hung there momentarily dazed, his strong arm hooked around her throat, his rigid fingers jabbing hard into a nerve cluster at the base of her neck.

"Unnnghhh!" the Fox cried out, as knives of pain raced along her nerves, temporarily paralyzing her muscles and undermining her force-shield. The ninjutsu nerve pinch! Her alluring legs quivered with weakness. Barely able to stand, the heroine clung to the ropes, holding herself upright by sheer force of will.

Killer Kobra meekly retired to the edge of the ring, leaving the referee free to turn back to the fight just as the Tiger grabbed the Fox's arm and yanked her away from the turnbuckle, meeting her with an upward knee hard into her crotch. Jennifer winced from the impact on her delicate lady parts, pain reverberating throughout her body. Slightly doubling over from the impact, Jennifer was not able to evade as her attacker slammed his forearm into the side of her head.

As the sassy superheroine stood there in a daze, Shadow Tiger's right hand snaked downward along the sensuous curve of her pert little tush and underneath her miniskirt. Sliding in between her legs, his fingers caressed the smooth flesh of her inner thighs as he picked Jenn up, hoisting her slight, feminine frame to chest height, and then slammed her down onto the mat, dropping the whole weight of his own body on top of her. WHAM!!!

"Oh god!" the Fox gasped in shock, the breath nearly driven out of her lungs from the double impact. Desperately the nubile young heroine struggled to fight the partial paralysis caused by the nerve pinch as the Tiger took a grip on her hair and pulled her head up, then slammed the back of her skull down against the canvas, causing the superheroine to see stars. Then he threw her onto her back, straddling her sylph-like body as his hands groped at her B-cups through the front of her costume.

"Holy shit, ladies and gentlemen, it looks like the Fox is in real trouble!" the announcer gloated. "The Tiger may have just claimed another victim!"

Half-stunned, Jennifer heard excited cheers in the background as the flat of the referee's hand came down with a slap on the mat. "ONE!"

Rudov's hands were on her chest, pressing hard, as the ref's hand rose up again then slammed back down onto the mat. "TWO!"

Panic set in when the realization suddenly hit the Fox that she was about to be counted out! Frantically she twisted her lithe body, pulling her left shoulder up in desperation before that happened. The majority of the crowd shouted out in disappointment.

Still sitting on top of the Fox, Rudov was still grinning delightedly. "Ahh, good, I wouldn't want it to be that easy on you," he sneered, shifting his grip further down her slim abdomen. "Let's see what you got under here." Rising up onto his knees, he rolled Jenn’s body to the left far enough to undo the rear fastener of her halter top, then allowed her to drop onto her back once more as he yanked the clingy little garment upwards over her tempting torso. The Fox gasped out loud, but managed to slap his hand away before he could raise it far enough to totally expose her nipples, but the undersides of her breasts were in plain view!

The crowd in the arena was on its feet shouting encouragement, most of them very eager to see the superheroine get plundered. A chant of "Fuck the Fox! Fuck the Fox!" began to be shouted in unison.

Acknowledging the desires of the crowd, "That sounds like a wonderful idea," Rudov said, grinning down at the girl trapped underneath him. "What do you say? Let's give this crowd what they really came to see." He leaned backwards, his hands sliding over her waist toward her hips.


***


Chapter 5 –


The Fuchsia Fox's heart was pounding inside her chest like a drum as she squirmed helplessly underneath the Shadow Tiger, listening to the crowd shouting encouragement for her opponent to defile her. Looking to her right and left, she could see the two cameras mounted on their tripods, rising to full extension as they focused their zoom lenses on her. Jennifer crossed her arms over her chest as the crowd kept up its chant: "Fuck the Fox! Fuck the Fox!"

The chant itself seemed to energize her resistance. There was no way she was going to let this bastard win, not this way.

"Not in this lifetime, sparky," the heroine said breathlessly, ignoring the pain that seemed to stab like needles through every muscle in her sleek body. Feeling a rising tide of strength flowing from her bracelets of Ishtar, the saucy super babe bucked her hips upward against her captor's solid mass. She bucked again, kicking the Shadow Tiger off of her. He rolled nimbly into a crouching position, but the Fox slammed both boots into his chest, sending him tumbling over the edge of the ring.

In the same cat-like movement, the heroine landed on her feet, her unfastened halter top having initially risen up, then falling back loosely into place covering her jiggling twins, but not before the image of her briefly exposed breasts was captured by the television cameras. Jenn whipped her hands behind her, taking hold of the dangling lower straps of her halter top, but before she could refasten the clasp, Killer Kobra struck again; his muscular arms twining around her slim neck from behind and struggling to trap her in a sleeper hold. Jennifer struggled for leverage as she arched her lean young frame. Kicking her hips forward, she was able to break the Kobra's hold and flipped him off of her onto the mat.

Meanwhile the Shadow Tiger had mounted to the top of the ropes and leaped. There was no time to evade; the only thing the Fox could do was meet his attack head on and brace herself, focusing her force shield on absorbing the kinetic energy of his body slam. She pivoted to her left, swinging her fist in an arc that knocked him out of the air, landing hard on the canvas.

About half of the crowd was cheering; they had been rooting for her all the time, apparently. From the others came a chorus of disappointed groans. The Fox reached down and grabbed the scruff of the Tiger's neck, lifting him up and peeling his hooded mask back to reveal his face.

"Freeze, Rudov!" It was Sergeant Erskine, advancing down the center aisle with his service pistol drawn. "Kendrick Rudov, you are under arrest!" Two other plainclothes policemen were making their way down the adjacent aisle.

Suddenly Killer Kobra threw down a mini-grenade at the Fox's feet. Thick white smoke billowed up around her, engulfing all three of the antagonists as if with a curtain. Choking in the fumes, the stunning superheroine felt an unexpected, hard kick right in the back of her right knee, causing her leg to buckle and dropping her to the mat. She could hear the sounds of a scuffle, panicked shouts from the audience, and the announcer urging everyone to remain calm, but because of the thick smoke, she couldn't see a thing!

Desperately the Fox rolled across the canvas and under the rope, dropping to the floor of the arena. The smoke cloud was beginning to disperse as she collided with someone. A male hand slipped impertinently underneath the front of her still unfastened halter top and cupped the supple mound of her left breast.

"Fox! Is that you?" said Erskine's voice, sounding a little bit dazed, his fingers giving her soft flesh a squeeze, causing her nipples to rise.

Jennifer could see the handsome young detective more clearly now, sporting a purple bruise above his left eye where someone had struck him. "Paul? Are you all right?" she asked anxiously. After a moment’s pause, she firmly removed his groping hand from her boob.

"Sorry... about that," Erskine gasped. "They got past me, I guess..."

Without another word the Fox pulled away from him, finally refastening her halter top behind her as she dashed up the aisle, dodging members of the audience who were milling about, still uncertain what had happened. In the lobby she encountered a scrum of people completely jamming the exit. She didn't have time for this! Flexing her lovely legs, the superheroine flew straight up, punching through the ceiling and outside.

She was just in time to see Shadow Tiger and Killer Kobra both climb into the back of a big truck which was already rolling slowly across the parking lot. The villains both waved at her impudently as the truck gunned its engine, tearing off into the traffic and causing a passing car to swerve into a light pole.

The Fox touched down long enough to make sure that the passengers of the car weren't badly hurt. They were dazed, but looked okay. Just then she saw the flashing lights of police cars arriving. Erskine must have called for backup. "Just stay put until help arrives," the spunky super lady told the civilians, as once more she launched herself into the overcast night sky, chasing after the truck.

A drizzling rain started to fall as the vehicle zigged and zagged through traffic, speeding in the direction of the river. The Fox soared through the rain like an angel in pursuit, swooping past in order to get ahead of the truck and head it off. Abruptly her quarry turned off the street, cutting through another parking lot, empty at this time of night. Brakes squealed on the wet asphalt as the truck came to a sudden halt and its rear doors were flung open.

Shadow Tiger and Killer Kobra appeared in the entrance, each carrying a shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile! KA-CHOW! KA-CHOW! The rockets streaked upward to intercept the sassy superheroine, giving her little time to evade. The first exploded next to the Fox's head with a staggering impact which stunned her even through her invisible force shield. Practically simultaneously the second one exploded a little to her left. This one included a thick synthetic cable which wound around her sleek young torso, pinning her arms to her sides and wrapping around her alluring legs for good measure.

Shaken by the unexpected impact of the two missiles at once, the Fox lost control of her flight, flipping end over end until her delectable young body slammed into a metal awning, rolled off of it and hit the ground, the superheroine knocked nearly unconscious.

"HA! Nailed her scrawny ass!" Kobra gloated. "Aren't you glad I had these twatseeker missiles handy, compadre?"

"Yeah," the Tiger agreed, dropping the now useless launcher. "Nothing like a backup plan when everything else goes wahooni-shaped."

"Hey, amigo. I plan for everything," Kobra said, as two henchmen scrambled out of the truck, hot-footing it across the lot. The thugs grabbed hold of the Fox, clasping a cloth soaked with chloroform over the struggling heroine's nose and mouth before she could completely recover. As she passed out into their waiting arms, the two men scooped her lissome frame up between them and carried her back to the truck.

"This is what you might call a bonus," Kobra said, cupping his gloved hand under the Fox's chin so that he could look into her beautiful face. "It was very considerate of you to chase after us, chica. At best I was hoping to make a clean getaway through the crowd. This time your cockiness was your undoing, eh?"

The henchmen carefully loaded the now bound and helpless superheroine inside, and they drove off into the rainy night.


***


Chapter 6 –


The rain was still falling twenty minutes later as the Fuchsia Fox's brown eyes flickered open and looked around her. She could hear the rain pattering on the metal roof of the aircraft hangar in which she found herself, and feel the cool breeze blowing through the open doors. The hangar was divided into two bays, one of which was empty, and the other of which was occupied by a twin-engine airplane, an eight-seater by the look of it. Through the open doors she could see the rain falling, with runway lights in the distance.

The superheroine flexed her muscles and discovered, not to her surprise, that her body was still bound up tightly in that tough synthetic cable which had coiled around her arms and legs. The ends were folded together and secured with a padlock just above her chest, where her hands couldn't reach. She was lying near the rear wall of the hangar, on top of a thick sheet of cardboard which served as a cushion between herself and the hard concrete floor.

The Fox was startled to see that she wasn't alone. Sitting next to her on another sheet of cardboard was a gentleman about forty years of age, wearing gray trousers and a white linen button up shirt, with handcuffs on both his wrists and ankles. He was looking quite attentively over the luscious curves of the Fox's sleek young body.

"Please forgive me for staring, senora," the man said courteously with an exotic Latin accent. "You are really her -- la Zorra Fucsia? I am a huge fan of yours."

"Um... Thank you," the heroine replied dully, caught a little off guard by the unexpected compliment. "You're not exactly catching me at my best," she added, straining her lovely limbs against her restraints once more. Something about him seemed vaguely familiar. "And you are--?"

"Alejandro Alonzo-Gomez," he said with a touch of pride, "attorney general for the Republic of Mexico."

The Fox's brown eyes lit up. "Oh my goodness!" she said. "I heard about that. You're here in Washington to meet with our attorney general about immigration policy. Good luck with that, by the way. I don't want to speak ill of our President, but once he makes up his mind about something, he can be awfully pig-headed."

"So I understand."

"But... how did you end up here?"

The man shrugged ruefully. "When I heard through social media that you were going to make a personal appearance at that fighting club, I could not resist the opportunity of seeing you in the flesh. I left most of my bodyguards at the hotel to keep up the appearance that I was there, and with only one trusted aide, I slipped out. It seems that my enemies were waiting for me."

"I'm so sorry about that, sir," the Fox said fervently, her cheek flushing slightly -- although she found it to be pretty flattering that he had risked his life to come out and see her. "I guess I'm indirectly responsible for you being in this mess."

"You can say that again, chica!" interjected Killer Kobra, walking into view from around the airplane. "I made good use of your arrogance to lure Alonzo-Gomez into my trap. Imagine my delight when you insisted upon sticking your own pretty head into the noose as well."

Following behind him were Shadow Tiger and four thugs carrying electric stun wands in their hands and pistols in shoulder holsters. Bringing up the rear was Mortimer Brody, limping on a cane.

Alonzo-Gomez made a face of disgust when he saw Kobra. "Raul Iriarte! I might have known they would send you." He turned toward the Fox. "He is a member of the Red Dragons, a criminal organization which spreads their filth all over Central and South America." The superheroine nodded; she had run into them once or twice herself.

"And you are responsible for putting twenty of our brothers in prison, Alonzo-Gomez," said the Kobra. "Did you really think we would let you get away with that?"

The Fox's eyes had settled on Rudov and Brody. "So you're the one responsible for breaking these two out?"

"That's right," Shadow Tiger said. "He offered me a job as a Red Dragon hit man. I must say it sounded better than rotting in prison. He also provided an electronics lab so that Brody could repair the suit. All I had to do in exchange was to entice you into facing me in public in the ring. Pretty good deal, eh?"

"We'll see how good a deal it is," the superheroine said smugly, flexing her slender arms against her bonds, "when I break... out of this..." But to her disappointment, the padlock stretched taut across the synthetic cable, but the cable itself didn't budge. It only seemed to squeeze her more tightly the more she struggled.

"Don't hurt yourself, bitch," Brody sneered. "That's a fullerene cable. Wonder Woman herself couldn't break that." The hoodlums laughed nastily.

"There will be a place for Dr. Brody in our organization as well," Kobra said. "And when your two corpses are found on the steps of the Capitol building, everyone will know not to mess with the Red Dragons."

"What are we waiting for?" Brody said nervously. "The police are probably setting up roadblocks right now. Shouldn't we be getting out of here?"

"Wait a minute," Shadow Tiger said, as if a new idea had just struck him. "It would be such a waste to kill a good looking chick as the Fuchsia Fox. Maybe just leave her tied up for the television cameras to find. Maybe with her top stripped off and 'slut' painted across those juicy tits of hers, eh?"

"Leave her alone, Iriarte!" Alonzo-Gomez protested, struggling to his knees with difficulty. "It's me you want!"

"Keep still, trash!" Kobra said, giving the Mexican a kick which set him on his back. He was eying the Fox as if seriously thinking about the Tiger's proposal. "Tell me, Dr. Brody. Will these stun wands knock her out?"

Brody shrugged. "Maybe all four hitting her at once."

Kobra gestured to the four thugs, and the Fox couldn't help but squirm apprehensively in her bonds as they moved in closer, encircling her with those electric prods poised and ready to strike. "I might be persuaded to let you live," Kobra said, taking his cell phone out and pointing the camera lens at her. "It depends upon how good you are at groveling for mercy. Or how well you can use your feminine charms to appeal to my kindness and charity."

"I get the feeling that you don't have a whole lot of either," the Fox said, keeping her eyes on the henchmen while tensing her lissome limbs, pulling the padlock taut against the cable.

"Your feeling would be most accurate," Kobra said with a grin. Slowly he unzipped the front flap of his body suit and whipped out his penis. "You might soften me up by sucking my cock, eh?"

The superheroine smiled sweetly. "I'd rather put a live cockroach in my mouth."

"Show some respect!" shouted one of the thugs wearing dirty garage overalls and a cap, darting forward out of place. He thrust his electric prod at her, but instead of striking the Fox's creamy skin, it came down precisely on the padlock above her chest! There was a snap of electricity as the lock popped open.

Instantly the thug swung around and zapped the henchman to his immediate left, spinning back to the left and disarming a second while his right leg shot out with a taekwondo kick to the third. Amid a flurry of confused shouts, he broke free of the scuffle and drew his Colt .45 automatic.

"Now let's all take it nice and easy," Martin Fletcher said, flipping off his cap. "Good thing the Fox posted me at the arena. I was watching both the show and the crowd and I happened to spot Dr. Brody limping out to join someone in a car. That must have been not long after he delivered the repaired suit to you." Shadow Tiger glared but said nothing. "I followed him here and took the place of one of your guards."

The three henchmen he had punched were watching his gun sullenly, waiting for the opportunity to go for theirs, which were still in their shoulder holsters. Kobra and Tiger smirked as if they couldn't care less.

"And where has this bravado gotten you, estupido?" Kobra spat. "Do you really think you can hold off all of us with one gun?"

"Unless I miss my guess," Martin said confidently, "I won't have to." The bad guys all took a step back in alarm as behind him he heard the sounds of a padlock snapping off and a cable uncoiling.

"I'll take it from here, captain. Thanks," the Fox said, stepping up to his side while shaking free of the last of her restraints.

"My pleasure, Angel," Martin said, still holding his gun steady, nevertheless.

The Fox charged into the three thugs almost before they knew what hit them, feeling the stings from the electric prods as they hit her force shield, and yet undaunted as she punched one in the chest, grabbed the second man's arm and flipped smoothly across his shoulders, high-kicking the third as she spun around to finish the first one with a knee to his breadbasket before dropping the one she had used as a fulcrum with a chop to the back of his neck.

Kobra leaped forward, spinning in midair to add more momentum to his forearm punch he aimed at the Fox's face. The heroine saw that one coming and blocked it, just as the palm of his glove released a puff of poisonous greenish-blue gas. But this time, the Fox was ready for that, averting her face as she gracefully twisted underneath his arm, smacking her trim, silken knee into his abdomen.

Her opponent staggered backward a few paces but sprang to the attack again as the Tiger joined him. Together the two villains hemmed the Fox in on both sides, raining down lightning-quick martial arts blows which the spunky super lady either parried or shrugged off with her force shield. A lateral kick from her high heeled boot caught the Kobra in the knee, sweeping his legs out from under him, but allowing the Tiger to press her even closer.

Rudov grabbed the Fox by the front of her halter top, yanking the slender girl toward him as he slammed his bony kneecap upward into her cleft. Jennifer winced from the impact, as the villain took advantage by throwing two quick punches in succession to her face, sending the heroine to the floor. The Fox braced herself with her hands and threw a kick at Rudov that made him back away.

Capitalizing upon the Fox being preoccupied wither hands full against the Tiger, Kobra snatched up one of the electric prods, swinging it straight at the Fox. Seeing the attempted blow at the last second, the girl jumped catlike over the weapon's arc, bringing a forearm chop down into the masked man's neck and knocking him out.

Suddenly there was silence except for the rain falling on the roof of the aircraft hangar. The Tiger had activated the invisibility suit and vanished completely.

Brody was still standing in the same spot he had been all along, mutely watching the fight. At this time he began to move toward the exit, until the click of an automatic pistol stopped him. "Not so fast, doctor," Martin said, his gun aimed at Brody while he unlocked Alonzo-Gomez' handcuffs with keys he had taken from one of the thugs. "Why don't you come stand over here?"

"Don't anyone move," the Fox said. She was facing the open doors of the hangar, holding her right arm in front of her like a loaded weapon ready to fire. "There's no place you can run, Rudov," she said. "If you go into the rain, I'll see you. Why don't you just surrender?" She didn't hear the crowbar as it was silently lifted off of the aircraft tool rack.

"Didn't you hear my spiel, Fox?" the Shadow Tiger's voice replied, echoing in the half-empty hangar and thus impossible to pin down. "I come from the shadows where no one knows. And when I strike, I leave nothing but devastation."

The Fox instinctively tried to dodge as the crowbar whisked through the air straight at her head, glancing off her force shield but still hitting hard enough to drop the beautiful superheroine to her knees dazed, with her head spinning. An instant later, she felt the cold rigid bar of metal across her swanlike throat, pulling upward tightly as the Tiger got her in a strangle hold with all his strength behind it, choking off her air. Martin struggled to take aim at him, but there was nothing to aim at.

"I guess that's it, Fox," the villain whispered in Jennifer's ear, holding her shoulder blades pressed against his thighs by the pressure of the crowbar on her neck. "You were good, but not good enough. Maybe I'll go after Wonder Woman next."

"Not... likely..." Jennifer gasped, struggling to get a grip on the bar.

"Fox, you're ruining my moment," the Tiger scolded. "Why can't you just die with grace?"

Suddenly she leaned forward, flipping the villain completely over her shoulders, sending him skidding across the concrete several yards. The sassy super girl lunged after him, sucking air into her beautiful lungs as the Tiger rolled to his feet and came up swinging the crowbar. The Fox ducked, returning three rapid punches -- the first straight into his stomach with slammed the breath out him, followed by a left to his chest and an uppercut to his jaw. The Tiger sailed out hangar door and landed flat on his back on the rainy tarmac as the invisibility suit deactivated due to the impact.


***


Epilogue –


The Fox dragged the unconscious Shadow Tiger back inside under the roof, where she stripped him out of the invisibility suit. He turned out to be not wearing anything at all under it. Jennifer smirked a little bit at his flaccid penis as she bound his arms behind him with a piece of chain.

Martin had already used the two pairs of handcuffs which had been on Alonzo-Gomez to secure two of the henchmen and Killer Kobra -- after removing the masked fighter's gloves with their hidden gas cartridges. Forcing Brody to sit on the other thug with his back against the wall, he sidled up next to the Fox. "Are you okay, Angel?" he asked.

"None the worse for wear," the heroine replied cheerfully, rubbing the spot where the crowbar had hit her. "Thanks for rescuing me." She couldn't say a fraction of everything she wanted to say, not with the attorney general standing on her other side, filling his eyes with the sight of her. "Oh, Senor Alonzo-Gomez, this is Captain Martin Fletcher, U.S. Army Special Forces. I often enlist his help for special cases."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, sir," Alonzo-Gomez said with a gracious nod. "La Zorra, you are every bit as intelligent as you are beautiful," he added, taking her hand and kissing it.

At that moment they heard police sirens as half a dozen squad cars pulled up in front of the open doors of the hangar. Police officers poured out, led by Sergeant Paul Erskine with a broad smile on his face. "Fox! You came through for us again!" he enthused. His smile faltered noticeably when he caught sight of Martin standing so close beside her, but he recovered quickly as his men fanned out to take the prisoners in custody. "Vicki Ransom isn't going to like this."

"Vicki Ransom?" the heroine said. "What does she have to do with anything?"

Erskine held up his phone, which began playing a video clip. "I'm Vicki Ransom," the dark-haired reporter was saying, "here at the Valhalla Fight Club Arena, where the Fuchsia Fox very nearly got her sweet little tushy handed to her tonight. I wish I could show you the video, but I can't for legal reasons. The Tiger had just ripped the stays on that cute little top of hers and was just about to yank it off when the Fox had an accomplice drop a smoke bomb into the ring. Then someone shot off fireworks outside in the parking lot, providing a distraction while Washington's resident super babe put her tail between her legs and fled. With me here is Gabriel Rinaldi, the producer of the show..."

"Well, you don't want to see the rest," Erskine said, hitting the stop button. "Rinaldi just says something about you refusing to sign a release, and then says that he'll soon be marketing a the video and producing a reenactment of the whole fight starring his own Valkyrie Fox Babe."

The Fox rolled her eyes. "But that's not even what happened," she said indignantly. "I didn't drop that smoke bomb; Killer Kobra did, to cover HIS escape."

"That's what's so funny," Erskine smirked. "Vicki's going to look pretty foolish when the news gets out how you recaptured the Shadow Tiger for us when you were supposed to be running away."

Jennifer crossed her arms testily. "Oh, she'll probably claim that you had to rescue me, Paul -- and that the police are covering it up."

By this time the officers had finished handcuffing the prisoners and putting them into the back seats of the patrol cars. The Fox was secretly hoping they would take Rudov as he was, in the buff, but someone found a jumpsuit for him to wear.

Martin picked up the invisibility suit. "This time," he said to Erskine, "I'm most definitely taking this thing into custody. If the Army can't find a use for it, I'll personally see that it's scrapped."

"Take it; I'll be happy if I never see it again," Erskine replied.

"I must arrange with you to have these other men extradited to Mexico," Alonzo-Gomez said to Erskine, glaring at Kobra and his henchmen. "And for you, La Zorra," he added in a much softer tone as he affectionately took the Fox's hand, "would you accept my invitation to join me in my hotel suite for a candlelight supper, so that I may thank you properly?" Looking deep in her brown eyes, he gently kissed the back of her hand.

"Um... I'd be... delighted to, senor," the superheroine said, somewhat flustered.

"Gentlemen," Alonzo-Gomez said with a courteous nod to the men. He led the Fox to one of the squad cars and held open the back door for her. Turning to capture Martin’s stare, Jennifer teased a suggestive wink to her husband, then went inside the car, with Alonzo-Gomez following her in. He gave instructions to the officer who was driving, and they drove off into the rainy night.

Martin Fletcher and Paul Erskine looked at one another, jealous of the Fox having left with Alonzo-Gomez. "Maybe I should cultivate a Spanish accent," the policeman said wistfully, breaking the momentary silence between himself and Martin.


The end>>>>>>
By Centurion

[CJS]

Looking forward to diving into this one. I think Centurion and Damselbinder are the masters at describing their characters.

[GeekyPornCritic]

This is one of my favorite stories without any sexual peril. I was on the edge of my seat. Centurion captures my interest with Fox's risk of battling the Tiger on television. She would have been publicly humiliated into retirement if he defeated her and fucked her. He came so close to victory.

The "Fuck The Fox" chants really puts a nice touch on the story. I was picturing fans in the stands saying Fuck The Fox with excitement in my mind. The fans know what they want. Is this hinting towards a fan or group of fans that will try to fuck the Fox in a future story? Will they try to live out their fantasies?

Great story!

[wondergirlsupragirl]

The descriptions in this story are brilliant. I could almost imagine being amongst the shouting crowd as the intense action unfolded with the announcer commentating! Shadow Tiger definitely shows no mercy on the spunky superheroine, but it's great how she's still able to give him a good run for his money! Killer Kobra's surprise entry and sneaky tricks, sure add some awesome excitement!

Fabulous missile scene! Superb fight and peril action! Wild story!

[flirty_but_nice]

Wow, you three, what wonderful feedback!

As I said, I loved this story. I have really lobbied Centurion hard about letting a public bout like this occur. I very much lobbied to let him have it so that the refs hand successfully came down for the count of three, formally sealing the Fox's defeat in the ring. There were also some other tidbits I lobbied hard for, like the Fox actually having to cede to the organizer in signing the "release", but alas, Centurion held his ground, despite my best efforts. Despite that, though, in the end I was very happy by just how much he DID include!

Anyway, thank you for your wonderful feedback. I am sure Centurion will be just as happy about it as I am.

[GeekyPornCritic]

I respect an artist and writer holding his ground. This is his masterpiece and expression after all. I too would have loved to read Fox's defeat and sexual humiliation in the ring for the world to see. However, her character would have loss all creditability with the public. She would be forced to retire as superheroine as the public would not respect her especially if Shadow Tiger brought out her kinky side.

[DrDominator9]

Loved the ring battle description in this story and -- to back Centurian -- I was actually pleased that Fuschia Fox wasn't pinned in the match. There was more than enough humiliation in how she was handled and brought down to a near pin. People watching will remember that and it may have an effect on her popularity somewhat in future stories, since it was such a public takedown for her.

In any case, great job on another very enjoyable story, to Centurian for the quality of his work and to Flirty for helping bring out the Fox's kinks as much as she's shown of late.

[flirty_but_nice]

I respect an artist and writer holding his ground. This is his masterpiece and expression after all. I too would have loved to read Fox's defeat and sexual humiliation in the ring for the world to see. However, her character would have loss all creditability with the public. She would be forced to retire as superheroine as the public would not respect her especially if Shadow Tiger brought out her kinky side.

GPC, that thought of yours has actually been a huge debate point between Centurion and I, he tending to agree with what you say. I, on the other hand, have disagreed with that notion over and over. Does a top ranked tennis player retire in shame in having lost to an unranked player in the first round of a tennis tournament? Does a champion boxer retire in shame after being upset and losing for the first time? Does a championship caliber football team pack it in the first time the are beaten by a huge underdog?

My thought is, hey, shit happens. Just because the Fox might suffer a loss here and there, even if such loss is to a normal person in shocking manner, that’s no reason to feel utterly “humiliated”, afraid to ever show her face in public again. I kind of prefer to think she’d just rise up, dust herself off, and then continue with her super heroine ways, generally kicking butt!

So anyway, this is always the debate point in Centurion not taking things as far as I am often lobbying for and resisting me at every turn. lol He is generally of the attitude that she cannot simply lose and or be taken sexually, unless some plot device can be created to justify how such has to be by her choice or there has to be a very powerful mitigating excuse. I keep saying I think the “humiliation” thing is an overstated concern.

I do agree, though, that with very public losses or near losses, criminals and villains might become increasingly emboldened, less respectful or afraid of what has now been shown to be a callable super heroine. To me, this is the great allure of it, though, for as a result, she might have to face increasing “challenges” to her power.

Good talking / debate points.

[flirty_but_nice]

Loved the ring battle description in this story and -- to back Centurian -- I was actually pleased that Fuschia Fox wasn't pinned in the match. There was more than enough humiliation in how she was handled and brought down to a near pin. People watching will remember that and it may have an effect on her popularity somewhat in future stories, since it was such a public takedown for her.

In any case, great job on another very enjoyable story, to Centurian for the quality of his work and to Flirty for helping bring out the Fox's kinks as much as she's shown of late.

Thanks for the feedback, Dr.D. Ultimately, as the story revealed, I ceded to Centurion’s desire not to have her lose. He was disgusted so much as it is, that he allowed her to nearly lose like he did. I had to back off, lest he toss the whole story aside out of frustration with me. Sometimes a rather thin line I must walk in pushing him to go further than he ever wants to go. lol

[DrDominator9]

I respect an artist and writer holding his ground. This is his masterpiece and expression after all. I too would have loved to read Fox's defeat and sexual humiliation in the ring for the world to see. However, her character would have loss all creditability with the public. She would be forced to retire as superheroine as the public would not respect her especially if Shadow Tiger brought out her kinky side.

GPC, that thought of yours has actually been a huge debate point between Centurion and I, he tending to agree with what you say. I, on the other hand, have disagreed with that notion over and over. Does a top ranked tennis player retire in shame in having lost to an unranked player in the first round of a tennis tournament? Does a champion boxer retire in shame after being upset and losing for the first time? Does a championship caliber football team pack it in the first time the are beaten by a huge underdog?

My thought is, hey, shit happens. Just because the Fox might suffer a loss here and there, even if such loss is to a normal person in shocking manner, that’s no reason to feel utterly “humiliated”, afraid to ever show her face in public again. I kind of prefer to think she’d just rise up, dust herself off, and then continue with her super heroine ways, generally kicking butt!

So anyway, this is always the debate point in Centurion not taking things as far as I am often lobbying for and resisting me at every turn. lol He is generally of the attitude that she cannot simply lose and or be taken sexually, unless some plot device can be created to justify how such has to be by her choice or there has to be a very powerful mitigating excuse. I keep saying I think the “humiliation” thing is an overstated concern.

I do agree, though, that with very public losses or near losses, criminals and villains might become increasingly emboldened, less respectful or afraid of what has now been shown to be a callable super heroine. To me, this is the great allure of it, though, for as a result, she might have to face increasing “challenges” to her power.

Good talking / debate points.

This is such an interesting debate that I am going to start it as a separate thread in the stories section!

[flirty_but_nice]

Here is a reply about all of the nice feedback from Centurion ...

“I appreciate the comments and I'm glad that you all enjoyed the story. I have to thank Dodo for the basic premise, including the Valkyries. The big snag was that I couldn't imagine a superheroine accepting a challenge from an ordinary masked television wrestler, especially if there was anything sleazy associated with it (like being forced into sex if you lose). No matter how much people were talking about it, Jennifer would just shrug it off. Flirty suggested that it was hyped on the local sports shows so much that she had no choice but to give in to peer pressure. My response was that "peer pressure" doesn't mean much when your only peers are Wonder Woman and Supergirl. Proving how tough you are isn't what a superheroine is about. If it were, there would be no end to the challenges. So the idea sat in the back of my mind for months while I tried to think of a plausible reason for her to take the risk.
​
When all of you reacted so positively to the Shadow Tiger, and some of you asked for a rematch, that started the wheels turning. She might accept if the challenge involved unmasking a wanted killer. There's precedent for that in an old Captain America comic that I have. At the same time, she couldn't be certain that it was him or the police would just surround the building and shut the whole thing down. Once the situation was in place I did my best to build up tension with the possibility that she might lose and what would happen to her if she did.​
​
Then I ran into another snag at chapter five, when it came time to resolve the actual fight. Flirty, bless her heart, was all for the Fox actually LOSING and getting taken with the cameras going. Quite apart from the humiliation, I couldn't see how the story would go from there. The Tiger was in no position to chain her up and make off with her, not with Erskine watching the building. So at best he would just escape again, and then what? Does the story just end with him escaping? Why would he have made the challenge in the first place if the best possible outcome is that he's on the run again? That didn't make sense. That's when I hit upon the idea that Kobra was a connection to the Red Dragon cartel, and the whole thing was just a ruse to capture an important government official. That gives the Fox something bigger than just her pride to fight for, which always makes for a better story.​
​
Even so, I was apprehensive. Here I was, teasing you all with the possibility of the Fox getting defeated in the ring and taken, and I couldn't help thinking that you'd be disappointed by the outcome. I tried to do the next best thing by planting that picture so vividly in your minds that if you wanted to you could imagine it happening anyway. I'm glad it worked out.​
​
The Centurion”

[GeekyPornCritic]

I would like to see The Fox get beaten and taken. This story serves as the perfect tease, and it is wonderful to read. I wonder if Vicki Ransom was introduced for the purpose of capturing film of The Fox being beaten and taken to enhance her career. It would be the perfect dirt on The Fox.

[DrDominator9]

Thanks, C, for an interesting backstage pass to the thinking and dynamics of how you and Flirty collaborate on plotting ideas. It highlights the care and love you have for your character and your readers. It also gives writers both old and young an important lesson about weighing the importance of plot points before just charging forward.

[MightyHypnotic]

Hey guys, are there any images of the Fuschia Fox character? I am bringing back the story archive on the blog and would like to add thumbnails of the characters if they are available.

[tallyho]

I think Centurion posted some renderings in some of the earlier stories like around 2014 sort of time. If you search his story posts back then you may find something.

[dodosony]

Hey guys, are there any images of the Fuschia Fox character? I am bringing back the story archive on the blog and would like to add thumbnails of the characters if they are available.

Hi MightyHypnotic,

You may search this story: Fuchsia Fox: "Angel & Demon", then you can find an thumbnail of the character that drawn by Centurion.

[tallyho]

There's also a representation here.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=24554&p=98208#p98208

[DrDominator9]

Thanks for your assistance dodosony! Your Fuchsia Fox bobble head doll is on its way. What's that? We're out of them? How about the honorary Fox Friend certificate? Those too! Well, Anyway, we appreciate the input!

[flirty_but_nice]

Hey guys. As already revealed, there were just some rough sketches that C had posted in a few of his early stories. If it’s any help, though, for posterity, he often had told me that he pictures Adrianna Lima (sp?) as his perception of what the Fuchsia Fox looks like. I don’t know much about her, but I am sure you could snatch a photo or two of her to post to provide illustration of what she looks like.

[Deceiver]

If it’s any help, though, for posterity, he often had told me that he pictures Adrianna Lima (sp?) as his perception of what the Fuchsia Fox looks like. I don’t know much about her, but I am sure you could snatch a photo or two of her to post to provide illustration of what she looks like.

I think Adriana Lima was a fan favourite for playing Wonder Woman. As a result, there are quite a few manipulations of her as the character. Physically, at least, she may have been a better match for the role than Gal Gadot:



When I first started writing Wonder Woman fan fiction, Centurion messaged me and gave some encouragement (he may have left comments on my site as well), which I appreciated. I wondered what had happened to him. I'm sad to hear of his passing. He seemed like a nice guy. RIP.

[flirty_but_nice]

Hi Deceiver. Thanks for the picture! Makes it easier to put a face to the Fox.

Also, thank you for your kind words about Centurion. He is missed.

[MightyHypnotic]

He sure is!