A League Of Their Own

Jennifer picked up the invitation and looked at one more time, just t make sure it wasn’t a joke.

You are cordially invited to attend a special party to celebrate our recent super successes.  Come dressed as the heroine described on the back of the invite, and be ready for 7 pm when you will be collected to be taken to the secret hideout.

Smiling, Jennifer shook her head and picked up the bag she had used to bring her purchase at the costumers home.  She was a tall woman, about six foot five, and very athletic, so the question of her physique was not an issue for this character.  The look, however – that would take a little more time.  She made her way towards the bathroom, chuckling to herself as she did so.

Outside her apartment block, the grey van that had been there for an hour showed no signs of occupants – a carefully planned subterfuge, as the three people inside knew.

The clock said seven when Jennifer adjusted the green wig on her head and looked at herself in the full length mirror.  She was wearing a white swimsuit with a purple trim around the edges, purple fingerless gloves and short white booties, but that was not the most striking thing about her costume.  Not even the fact that the tightness of the swimsuit left very little to the imagination as to how well she was built after all those gym session was the most striking aspect.

It was the fact that her body, where the skin was exposed, was covered in green makeup.  “It had to be somebody called the She Hulk,” she said to herself as she turned round in front of the glass.  “Well, if nothing else it made the actual costume simple.”

The doorbell rang, and Jennifer strode to the front door of her apartment.  “It makes me wonder what somebody like Diana or Linda has got,” she said to herself as she opened the door.  She stood there for a minute, staring at the three men in front of her wearing striped jumpers and domino masks, before they rushed her and pinned her to the floor.

“What the f..” was all she managed to say before she saw one of the men ripping a length of green industrial tape off the roll, and placing it over her eyes, cutting her vision completely off.

“Get her secured – we’re on a timetable,” she heard him say as she was rolled over onto her stomach.  She tried to fight back, but as her wrists were pulled behind her back and she felt a thin plastic strip encircling them her thoughts turned in other directions – such as what was going on, and why was she targeted?

“When I get into work tomorrow morning, I’m going to have words with the boss about this.”

Linda was the office manager – well, head secretary, but office manager sounded more official, more dignified.  When she had seen the invitation, it had taken her a while to figure out who the character she had been given was, but when she did figure it out she told herself it was most appropriate.

“After all,” she said to herself as she pulled her arms into the body hugging black swimsuit, “I am a marvel.”  She had fixed a yellow lightning bolt to the front of the suit with glue, so that when she stood up it reflected in the candle light.  Shaking her long blonde hair, she picked up the long red scarf that lay on the bed and tied it over her hips, so that it lay loosely over the tops of her legs.

Walking to her cupboard, she retrieved a pair of thigh length black leather boots, and pulled them over her slender legs as she sat at her dressing table.  Picking up the large black domino mask that she had made, she applied a layer of spirit gum to the edges and stuck it carefully over her eyes, so that it covered the upper part of her face but allowed her to see.

“Coming,” she said as the doorbell rang.  Pausing only to pull on a pair of long black opera gloves, she checked herself in the mirror before picking up the invitation and walking carefully to answer the summons.

“You’re late,” was all she said before the three men rushed her and pinned her against the wall.  Linda was terrified as she was pun round, and her wrists secured together behind her back with a plastic zip tie.

“Silence her,” she heard one of the masked men say, and a thick cloth was pulled into her mouth.  She struggled as they forced her out of the house, through the back door, into the waiting grey van, but when she saw the green taped woman sitting in the back she said “Jnnfr?”

Jennifer raised her head and said “Lnda” as the van door was closed.  The leader removed his mask and picked up a telephone.

“We have our two targets – returning to base.”

Slightly earlier the same evening, Carrie stepped out of the shower and towelled off her long blonde hair.

“How long have we got, Babs,” she shouted out of the open door, and a female voice called back “About twenty minutes.”  Carrie smiled at the sound of her partner’s voice – she and Barbara worked together in the office, and for the last three months had been together in every other way as well.

“Whose idea was this costume parry anyway,” she called out as she walked into the bedroom and pulled on a pair of red panties, looking at her costume as she did so.

“I presume Dinah fixed it up – she is the boss, after all.  How long until you’re ready?”

“Give me a few minutes – where are you anyway?”

“Putting my costume on – it’s meant to be a surprise after all!!”

Smiling to herself, Carrie pulled the blue miniskirt over her panties, and then picked up the white short sleeved crop top with a red and yellow “S” shield stitched on the front.  Pulling it over her head, she then picked up the short red cape she had made, passed it around her neck and shoulders and pinned it inside the front of her top.  Sitting on the bed, she pulled on a pair of short red boots, and fixed a black Alice band in her hair before finishing the outfit with a pair of white gloves.

“Super,” she heard Barbara say from the doorway, and turning she looked at her girlfriend.  Barbara was wearing a figure hugging black body stocking, with a yellow bat symbol stuck over her breasts, and yellow gloves and heeled boots.  A yellow cape was attached to her back, and a black cowl was in one hand as he passed the other one through her long red hair.

“Put it on,” Carrie said as she walked slowly towards Barbara.

“I’m sorry?”

“Put the cowl on.”

Barabra smiled as she pulled to cowl, with the bat ears raised, over her head and looked at Carrie.

“I could go bats over you with that outfit,” Carrie said as she came closer.

“Well, I think you look super in that top,” Barbara replied as she smiled.

“Come here,” Carrie said as she wrapped her arms around Barbara’s neck, pulling her closer and kissing her passionately on the lips.  Her partner returned the kiss, embracing Carrie in her arms as they stood there, wrapped up in each other and completely unaware of the audience that was standing watching them.

Unaware, that is, until they heard a female voice saying “How purrfectly wonderful – such a pity we have to interrupt them, but we have a schedule to keep to.”

Barbara opened her eyes and saw over Carrie’s shoulder a woman dressed in a grey bodysuit, with long opera gloves and rumpled grey suede boots, and a headpiece that made her look like...

“Catwoman?”

“What?” Carrie said as she saw the horrified look in Barbara’s eyes.  Turning round, she saw the costumed woman and two masked men standing there, the mean armed and pointing their weapons at them.

“Secure them, boys, and take them to the transport,” she said in a cat-like voice as the man advanced, pairs of handcuffs in their hands.  “I’ll join you after I have a look round this puurfectly delightful house of theirs....”

“If I find out those two girls are behind the idea for this party, I’ll have their guts for garters – and I’ll need them for this outfit.”

Dinah was sitting at her dressing table, adjusting her eye shadow before picking up the black choker with the pearl inset and fastening it around her neck.  She was the deputy director of the company, and when she had seen her invitation it had taken her back to her tomboy youth, when she used to read comic books from the US avidly.

She was in her forties, but kept a youthful figure through exercise and martial arts – traits she knew she had in common with the character she had been assigned.  Picking up the blonde wig, she put it over her own short greying hair and adjusted it so that it hung around her cheeks.

“Perfect,” she said to herself as she stood up and adjusted the black swimsuit she was wearing.  Her legs were covered by a pair of dark blue leggings, over which she had put an old pair of fishnet stockings, and she sat back down to pull on a pair of black leather pirate-style boots.  Standing up again, she took the dark blue bolero jacket off the back of her chair and pulled it on.

“Just so long as they don’t ask me to sing,” she said as she heard the knock on the front door.  Hurrying down the staircase, she looked at herself in the mirror before opening the door.

“Can I help you?” she said, only to be pushed back into the room by a tall muscular man.  “You can shut up,” he said as he tried to grab her arm, only to be surprised as she grabbed his arm and executed a perfect judo throw, forcing him to land on his back on the hard wooden floor.

“You picked the wrong girl to mess with,” Dinah said as she went to straddle him.  He moved quickly, rolling over and pushing himself up to face her as she stood there, poised and ready to attack.

“Oh no – you’re the right woman, but I wasn’t expecting a workout as well,” he said as he rushed forward, only for Dinah to grab his arm again and knee him in a very sensitive area.  As he fell, gasping, to the floor Dinah walked over and grabbed him by the hair.  “Who sent you?” she snarled as she pulled his head back to look into hers.

“You’re going to find out,” he said as an electric charge surged through Dinah’s body, causing her to let go and crumple to the floor.  The man stood slowly up and looked at his partner as she pulled the taser wire from Dinah’s limp body.

“You took your freaking time.” he said as he grabbed Dinah’s arms.

“Well, it was fun to watch,” she replied as she took hold of her booted legs, and the  two of them carried Dinah out of the house.

Jennifer winced as the tape was ripped away from her eyes and she blinked in the dim light,  As her eyes adjusted, she felt her arms being secured with some sort of tape to the side of whatever she was sitting on, while her legs were been spread and secured to the legs.

She blinked several times, and saw that she was at in one of a ring of eight chairs.  Hearing some muffled moans, she looked to her side and was horrified to see Lind sat there, a thick white scarf tied into her mouth and ropes encircling her costumed body.  The sound of her boots squeaking as she tried to move her bound ankles from the chair leg they were secured to was the only noise she could hear.

Looking down, she could see thick green industrial tape wrapped over her swimsuit, and figured that was what was holding her to the chair.  Form the way whatever was over her mouth was pulling at her skin, she figured that some of it was covering the lower half of her face as well.

Linda looked up and saw her work colleague sat there, her eyes widening as she looked at the way she was secured to the chair.  This made her start to struggle more, the ropes holding her wrists behind the back of her chair rubbing through the silk gloves on her wrists.

A noise at the far end of the room caught the attention of both women, and they turned to look as two armed and masked men dragged tow more women into the room.  As they came closer, both Jennifer and Linda gasped as Carrie and Barbara were forced to sit in the chairs opposite them in their costumes.  Both had layers of white tape over their mouths, and Linda could see from her position that both had their wrist handcuffed behind their back.  As layers of rope were passed around the two young women, and their feet were tied to the legs of the chairs, a female voice said “Stay calm ladies, all will be explained in due course.”

Emma was standing impatiently in her front room, waiting for the promised transport as she glanced at her watch.  Her white hair was lying over her shoulders as she checked again the outfit she had had made especially for the event.

“The White Queen,” she said as she wrapped the cloak around her, “how appropriate.”  The cloak was actually part of the top half of her costume, extending as it did from the white top that was cut to leave bare her shoulders and midriff.  It emphasised her 38D breasts as the cape extended down to floor level, sweeping back from her shoulders and making sound as it moved with her.  Her legs were encased in a pair of white stirrup pants, that hung around her hips and over the short white ankle boots she was wearing to complete her outfit.  A pair of white gloves that almost extended up to her armpits was the final touch, the tops covered by the edge of her cape.

“I’m meant to be a mind reader according to the invite,” she said impatiently, “but it still doesn’t explain whermmmph.”

Her surprise at the sweet smelling cloth over her nose and mouth was genuine – but as she struggled to pull it down, she felt her head swim and her eyes start to close.  Eventually her head fell to one side as the cloth was taken away.

“Get her to the warehouse,” a voice said as she slipped into a state of unconsciousness and felt her body been lifted and carried somewhere, her cape dragging along her wooden floor.

“Jean, has the costume arrived yet?”

“Just now, Miss Prince – I’ll bring it straight in.”

Diana Prince switched off the intercom and stood up as the door to her executive office opened.  Her secretary came in carrying a dress bag in one hand and a large shoe box in the other.

“Excellent,” Diana said as she took the outfit from her secretary and laid it on a chaise longue.  “I think it’s a great idea for a costume party – remind me to thank Emma for it when I see her there.”

“Yes, Miss Prince,” Jean said as she stood there.  She was wearing a paisley patterned top with a brown suede mini skirt, and knee length brown leather boots, while her boss was dressed in a conservative grey suit and white blouse.

“How long do we have?”

“I believe the invite said that transport would arrive at eight – I will go and change now and join you in a few minutes.”

“Who are you going as?”

“A character that fits my style of dress,” Jean said with a smile as she left, closing the office door behind her.

As the door opened, Emma struggled with the two masked men that were holding her by the arms and leading her into the large room.  She saw the ring of chairs, some empty and some occupied, and gasped when she saw who was sitting there.

Jennifer, the head of security, was staring at her from the first chair, her green painted body held to the chair with layers of green tape.  Next to her was Linda, the head of personnel, in her Miss Marvel outfit but securely held to the chair with layers of white rope and a cloth gag filling her mouth.

On the other side of the ring were Barbara and Cassie, the two assistants to Jean Grey, her boss’s secretary.  There was genuine fear in the eyes of both of them – this was the first time they had probably experienced something like this.  Emma made a mental note to talk to both of them in a few days time – get what they felt out in the open.  That was her job as the Chief Executive of their company – staff morale alongside Linda.  She looked over at the gagged woman, who nodded in understanding – she knew what was needed.

Finally, sitting on her own was Dinah, the head of the research department.  She was unconscious still, her head dropped in front of her and her arms taped down to the arms of the chair she was sitting in.  Her ankles were taped to the front legs of the chair, but Emma was relieved to see she had not been gagged.  Not yet, anyway.

The men forced her to sit down in one of the vacant chairs, draping her cloak over the back of the chair before pulling her arms back and wrapping a length of rope around her covered wrists.  As she felt them being drawn together, she watched as Dinah slowly shook her head.

“Uhhh – what happened,” she mumbled as she slowly came to and started to raise her head, “and why do I feel as if I held the wrong end of an electric lamp?”

“I don’t know,” Emma replied as she watched a loop of rope being passed around her waist and arms, “but I think it’s got something to do with whoever’s holding us hostage.”

“Emma?  What the hell... Oh.”

As Dinah raised her head and looked round the room, she saw the frightened looks on the other girls’ faces, and slowly nodded.

“This is big, isn’t it?” she said as she turned back to look at Emma.

“It looks that way,” Emma said quietly as she watched the masked man pull he rankles together and wrap more rope around them.  “I get the feeling we’re expecting others as well.”

“Diana and Jean?”

“Looks like that way – I wonder where we are?”

“Did you see anything when you were brought in?”

“No – they had a hood over my head.  I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

“Enough talking,” a male voice said as a cloth was pushed into Emma’s mouth.  As she looked over, she saw a black scarf been pulled into Dinah’s mouth, and decided to wait and see what happened next.

Jean knocked on the door.  “Come in,” she heard Diana say, and she opened the door and made her way in.

Her boss was standing there, dressed as Wonder Woman.  She was wearing a swimsuit with a red breast panel, gold bodice and top, and blue bikini style briefs with stars printed on them.  Her wrists were covered in silver cuffs, and her legs in knee length red boots with a whit stripe down the front and along the top cuff.  A gold diadem in her head completed the look, whole she had allowed her brown hair to fall around her neck and shoulders.

“Uhh – wow,” Jean heard herself saying as she stood there.

“You can talk,” Diana said as she looked at her secretary.  Jean had changed into a green short sleeved mini dress, with a black belt around her waist, knee length yellow boots and matching elbow gloves, and she was holding a large yellow eye mask in her gloved hand.  She smiled and ran her gloved hand through her long red hair as she looked at her boss standing there, with a gold coil of rope in her hand.

“I really do feel a wonder in this,” Diana continued, as she looked out of the window.  “Anyway, we need to get moving – I’m looking forward to this party.”

As Jean turned, she was surprised to see the door open suddenly and a group of armed, masked people come in.  As two of them grabbed Jean by the arm, the other four ran in and pointed their guns at Diana as she stood there.

“Don’t move,” one of them said, and Diana was surprised to hear it was a female voice.  “This is a robbery – just stay calm and nobody gets hurt.”

“What the hell is the meaning of this,” Diana shouted as two of the gang moved a painting off the wall and revealed a large safe.

“Combination,” the masked woman said as she pointed her gun at Diana’s head.

“Go to hell,” she snarled back.  To her surprise, the woman laughed, and she saw the masked men start to punch a sequence of numbers into the panel on the front of the safe.  She looked into the eyes that were visible through the woman’s mask, and asked “How?”

“You are not the only hostages we have,” she said as the two men dragged Jean into the centre of the room.  “I see you have some rope with you – use it to bind your secretary‘s arms and wrists.

“Now.”

Diana looked at the woman, then Jean, then back at the woman.

“If you don’t do this,” the woman said, “the first thing the police will have to do is clean your secretary’s blood off this fine thick carpet.”  One of the men holding Jean put a pistol to her head and cocked the hammer back.

“Please,” Jean said as she looked at her boss, and Diana dropped her head.  “I’m sorry,” she said as she took the coil of rope from her waist band and stepped forward, “I’m really sorry Jean.”

“I understand, boss,” Jean said as the gun was removed from her head.  Turning round, she watched as Diana crossed her hands behind her back and tied one end of the coil of the rope to one wrist, wrapping the rope around and between her arms before passing it up and tying it round her arms and chest.  Jean stood still as her arms were constricted against her side, staring straight ahead at the armed men who were slowly opening the safe.

“We need the final code,” the woman said as Diana tied the last knot off.  “Now.”

“Where are the others,” she asked as Jean was turned round.

“We’ll take you to them – the combination.”

Diana reeled off a series of numbers, which the men punched into the safe.  As a final beep sounded, the door opened and weans pulled wide.  “Secure her,” she said, and Diana watched as one of the men took a roll of silver duct tape from his pocket and walked towards her, ripping an end loose as he did so.

She stood there as he wound the tape round her arms and chest, until her body from her waist to her breasts was a large silver band.  The men took her and Jean and forced them to leave the room, as the contents of the safe were systematically emptied by the group into a series of bags.

The two women were taken to a lift, and as the door closed both were gagged with strips of the silver tape.  They stood there as the lift descended to the basement of the building, and then were forced to walk down a corridor to where Diana knew there was an old storeroom.  As the door opened, and they were pushed in, they were greeted by six muffled voices trying to shout and scream.

“That explains it,” Diana thought as she saw the six women sitting there.  As she was forced to sit down in one of the two vacant chairs, Jean was placed opposite her and made to sit back while more rope was used to secure her to the chair around her waist.  The same thing was done to Diana, before both had their ankles secured and fixed to the leg of the chair.

“Well now ladies,” the masked female said as she came into the room.  “I hope you will forgive our little ruse, but we needed to get access to your systems, and your security is very good indeed.”  She walked into the centre of the room and looked at the eight women as they stared back at her, dressed in their super heroine costumes. “When we started to plan this, it was immediately apparent all eight of you worked as a team – a league if you will – and the only way we would succeed is to take all of you.

“You must have been wondering who sent the invitations, suggested the idea of the costumes?  It was my employer – she has a flair for the dramatic, and it has to be said the idea appealed to her.  We thank you all for cooperating so enthusiastically – especially you,” she said as she faced Dinah.  “My associate will be in pain for some considerable time.”

“GD” she grunted through her cloth gag as the woman turned away.  “Anyway, we have what we came for, so we will bid you a pleasant evening.  Not, perhaps, the one you expected, but you get to play the part of the captured heroine.  Enjoy your time together.”

She turned and walked out of the circle, the others following as she closed the door on the struggling octet.  The sound of rope against leather and cloth increased as all eight tried to free themselves from their bindings, mixed with the sobs of the youngest two as both Carrie and Barbara tried not to choke on their gags.

The only one who wasn’t struggling, or apparently wasn’t, was Jean.  Eventually, Diana looked over and called out “Wht r u dng?”

“Wtch,” Jean mumbled through her taped lips as she started to breathe slowly in and out, moving her chest up and down as she sat there.  Over time, the others topped struggling and watched as the golden rope around her arms and chest loosened and dropped around her waist, and Jean brought her arms round to her front.  As she peeled the tape off her lips, she said “Hang in there ladies, I’ll get myself free and raise the alarm before I free you.”

Diana nodded as her secretary leaned forward and reached down to untie her ankles.  She was doing what she was trained to do, but something was bothering her.

Someone knew the addresses of her inner circle, their secrets and their names.  There was a leak somewhere in the organisation – but where?

Jennifer was thinking the same thing – in fact, it had been uppermost in her thoughts for most of the night.  Where was the mole?

The nondescript building on the outskirts of the industrial estate was lit in the dawning light, especially on the upper floors.  On the top floor, in a luxuriously furnished appointment, a tall dark haired woman sat as her assistant took a call.

“I understand – it’s all going as we planned,” the brown haired woman said as she listened.  “Keep me posted of any developments.”  She replaced the handset and looked at her boss.

“The police have arrived – it’s quite the busy area now,” she said as she sat down.  “Apparently the secretary to the company owner managed to free herself first and raise the alarm.”

“A very resourceful woman,” the other woman replied in a deep voice that sounded like a warm bath was washing over you.  “Tell me, Penelope, how long before we get a full situation report?”

“I anticipate at least forty eight hours, Madame,” Penelope said in reply.  “We need to allow time for the dust to settle before we can attempt an extraction.”

“Regrettable, but understandable.  Remind me again – whose idea was it to have a costume party on this theme?”

Penelope smiled again as she stood up, while Madame asked “How is our guest?”

Penelope walked over to a monitor mounted on the wall and switched it on.  The picture that came into view showed a red haired woman lying on a bed, dressed in a short red nightie.  Her eyes were covered with a blindfold, and a thick white cloth was tied into her mouth.  She was lying on her side, her wrists pinioned behind her back and her ankles crossed and bound.

“Lillian is proving to be a most versatile asset to the organisation,” Madame X said as she watched Jean in her room.  “A master stroke - to have her replace the secretary for the last week.”

“Indeed, Madame,” Penelope said as she turned the monitor off.  “Is the matter with her uncle resolved?”

“Almost – the final move will be made in two days.  For now, keep her fed and comfortable.

“What is next for our attention?”