kittysense (kittysense) wrote in newalliance, @ 2012-05-02 20:04:00 |
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Entry tags: | black cat, kingpin, loki |
Birth of the Black Cat
Who: Felicia Hardy and ????? [Closed Narrative with 2 surprise guests!]
NPCs: Walter Hardy Jr., The Crime Doctor, AIM Operatives
Where: Gotham, New Jersey
When: May 2, 2012. Night.
What: Project Rebirth: Revisited
Rating: SFW
They were deep underground when Felicia Hardy and her father were allowed to take their blindfolds off. Doctor Matthew Thorne, better known to the world as the Crime Doctor, was waiting for them. He was dressed in a long white lab coat, and appeared to have the accouterments of your average physician, but here he was more than that. He was the monarch of this hidden kingdom, a genius who had garnered a reputation as both a villain and a doctor.
"Welcome to Weapon Plus," he said, his voice cold and slightly harsh. "My benefactor asked that I extend you every courtesy during your stay here."
Felicia grabbed her father's arm, her yellow-blond hair swishing in the dim yellow light. She thought of herself as fearless, but not knowing where they were, apart from somewhere deep below Gotham City, had her on edge. It was so rare that she was able to spend time with her father, she decided to make the most of it. Despite the fact that Walter Hardy Jr. was almost always absent from her life, she adored him. He loved her, and he showered her with gifts to always remind her he was thinking of his only child.
She had all but proven herself to him. Finishing high school a few months early, learning how to fight - and most importantly how to be a thief - all of it led up to this moment. It was time for her to inherit the family legacy.
During World War two, her grandfather had been hired by the Nazis to steal something very special: Abraham Erskine's super-soldier serum. Blessed with eidetic memory, he was there to witness the transformation of a young, frail man into the champion of the American Dream. He also witnessed the extent to which the Nazis would go to destroy that dream, as a Nazi agent gunned down Dr. Erskine in front of him.
Knowing that he could never willfully let their regime win, Walter Hardy broke his contract, earning the ire of the Nazis as well as the Thieves Guild. He went into hiding, with the finest stolen art and treasures of the ancient world from his greatest heists. Eventually, he passed on his memory of the formula to his son, Felicia's father. He in turn spent much of his life dissecting the mysteries of the formula, hoping to give his family line the legacy they deserved.
Walter Hardy Jr. had been uncatchable for the last decade. The exploits he described seemed impossible to Felicia, but the stolen items were always visible proof that he'd done what he claimed. Whenever she asked him how he managed to pull off the truly impossible schemes, he would only give her a weary smile, fumbling at something in his coat pocket. One of these days, she hoped to see what he kept in there. Hardys were too canny to believe in anything as superstitious as good luck charms.
"Hardys make their own luck," he always told her, and said it again, quietly, as they walked through the laboratory. It looked on the surface like a hospital, but the odd yellow tint from the lights made it less inviting. Her father was again touching something in his coat pocket.
"I don't like this place," she said quietly, for his ears only. If the Crime Doctor heard her, he did not give any indication as he led them to the operating room.
The hum of generators could be felt. The room was alive with power, and she could feel it from head to toe. Her father pulled the Doctor aside, and she walked up to study the strange blue liquid being held in the device. It glowed with terrifying power.
Hardy pushed his glasses up on his face and lowered his gravelly voice, "Have you had time to review the formula? Everything is ready?"
Thorne nodded, looking more annoyed than friendly. "Of course, Walter. This is what they pay me for. I am very good at what I do, I assure you."
"Don't touch that," a muffled woman's voice called, startling Felicia, who'd fallen into a curious trance. She turned to see a group of people enter the room, all wearing fully body suits made of yellow and hiding their faces.
"Is.. is there radiation?"
"That's their uniform, dear," her father said, stepping beside her. "Advanced Idea Mechanics are the best at what they do, and are helping Dr. Thorne ensure everything goes as planned."
"I'm going to be like Captain America?" She frowned. "I don't want to look like a body builder."
"You grandfather talked to Dr. Erskine, before he'd died. He said it makes you more of what you already are." He squeezed her shoulder. "Who you are. Which is beautiful, inside and out. Strong. A Hardy."
The Crime Doctor walked over to them. "Are we ready?"
Her father turned and raised an eyebrow in question. She grinned. "I'm ready now. I'm not sure about five minutes from now."
"Then by all means," Dr. Thorne said, "we'll start immediately." He twisted a scalpel in his hand, turning it end over end, his eyes looking through Felicia.
(To be continued here...)