Totally Spies Porn Story: Firecracker – Chapter 2

Las Vegas. A city of dreams held aloft on the glow of neon lights. Where everyone wanted to strike it rich and make their mark on the world one way or another. It was a somewhat daunting place even to this Beverly Hills resident. She’s never seen such grandiose hotels and games as these. The rides were many, restaurants were placed seemingly every five feet, and the drinks were at minimum 5% alcoholic.

It occurred to Alex that in all their missions, they’d never found their way to this particular city. “This place is like Clover’s dream.” Alex said as they passed by one of the many massive hotels that popularized Las Vegas in the eyes of the world. “And I thought Beverly Hills was grand.”

“That’s what sets Vegas apart from the rest of the country. You can buy anything here. And I do mean anything.” Donna smirked as they passed by a pair of somewhat scruffy looking women standing on a street corner. “‘Course it’s what you don’t see that we’re here for.”

“Where do we go for something that nobody will admit exists?” Alex asked curiously.

“I know a bit about the place.” Donna replied. Alex stared at her questioningly until she finally clarified. “I lived here for a few years before my dad decided to move me to ‘cleaner’ California. He thought it’d get me out of trouble.” She chuckled darkly. Alex decided to remain silent.

They pulled up outside one of the casinos that looked like a massive castle. A sign out front proudly proclaimed it to be the ‘Excalibur’. Alex didn’t know before that there was a hotel meant specifically for swords and sorcery nerds. She guessed this city really DID cater to everybody… everybody over 21 at least.

“Come on, we need something.” Donna pulled into one of the millions of parking spaces and climbed out of the convertible. Alex followed after her as they approached the massive hotel. “Remember, don’t say anything. Let me do all the talking.” Alex nodded as they walked through the doors into the casino itself. Alex covered her ears instantly, deafened by the noise of the slot machines going off every two milliseconds or so.

“Is everyone in this city deaf or something!?” Alex shouted over the roar of the machines.

“Probably!” Donna shouted back. “Come on! And try to look like you belong here!” Donna grabbed her wrist and dragged her through the casino. Alex tried to ignore the stink of cigarettes and body odor that combined with the noise of the machines to give her an instant migraine, but it was a futile effort and her head felt like it was going to explode any second.

Finally they left the slot machines, and the migraine inducing smells, behind as Donna pulled Alex through a door that had an ‘exit’ sign on it. Alex allowed herself to look up from the floor, seeing that they’d emerged into a relatively small and dimly lit room with a flat red carpet leading up to a sturdy wooden desk.

Donna kept a firm grip on Alex’s wrist as they approached the desk. It was flanked by two burly looking men in business suits, like something straight out of a mob movie. The chair behind it turned slowly, revealing a rather handsome middle-aged man in a business-suit, with sharp blue eyes that must have had the power to suck in any girl who looked upon them. Because they sucked Alex in pretty good.

“Donna.” The man said graciously.

“Dad.” Donna replied. Alex blinked and looked at her, then looked back down at the man behind the desk. This was Donna’s dad? The man who gave her such a crummy house in Beverly Hills? He looked like a billionaire crime boss. Why would he make her live away from him in those kinds of conditions?

“They told me you were coming back. I wasn’t sure whether to be proud that you’re making your own way, or upset that you’re disobeying my wishes.” The man leaned back in his chair. Those deep, draining blue eyes stayed on Donna.

“I think a better question is, why should I care what you feel?” Donna asked bluntly. “I’m not here to catch up with you anyway, I’m here to get Firecracker into the big-leagues.” Donna wrapped one arm around Alex’s shoulders, pulling her closer to the shrewd-looking businessman.

“This little girl?” The man quirked one eyebrow, his eyes scanning up and down the length of Alex’s body. “She looks like she can barely lift her schoolbooks, what kind of chance would she stand in a real fight?”

“I’m not here for your opinion of her body.” Donna smirked. “I’m here for your signature to let her in. Either give it to me, or we’ll go find another way.” Donna and her father stared each other down, while Alex looked back and forth between them. She had to wonder what happened between them to spawn this kind of open animosity.

Donna’s father finally broke the tension by opening a drawer and putting a piece of paper on his desk, grabbing a pen as well. “Name?”

“Firecracker.” Donna replied. Her father looked up at her incredulously. “That’s all you need to know.” He shook his head and started writing on the paper.

In a moment he held up the paper and she snatched it away from him, looking over it carefully. “It’s the standard, I assure you.” He told her.

“You talk like that’s something to be reassured by.” Donna smirked. Still, after looking it over thoroughly, she seemed satisfied by its contents. “Looks fine. We’ll be seeing you in the ring.” Donna turned to leave. Alex stood in place, staring at the man as if hypnotized until Donna grabbed her shoulder and dragged her toward the door.

The noise of the slot machines once again assaulted her senses, but Alex had too much on her mind now to care about them. “That was your dad?” She asked.

“Yep.” Donna nodded, pulling her through the casino. Alex didn’t speak again until they had left the nauseating scents and sounds behind, emerging into the front parking lot. She was tempted to ask what happened between them… but the look on Donna’s face was enough to keep her from asking.

So she climbed into the convertible underneath the perpetual neon glow that surrounded them. “Where are we going now?”

“I have a place set up for us to stay. We’re hitting the sack.” Donna said. Alex sighed in relief. They had stopped only once to sleep and eat the entire way from Beverly Hills, and it was a fairly long drive. She was looking forward to prying her boots off and getting some shut-eye in a nice comfortable bed.

Alex looked around in amazement as the glowing neon lights gave way to oppressive darkness, broken only by the line of street lamps on each side of the street. The buildings here looked rather run-down, with flecks of paint peeling off of the majority of them, while a few looked to have some pretty extensive damage.

“What happened to the glowing lights and festive atmosphere?” Alex asked.

“Style over substance Firecracker. If you can make a part of the city look good, the rest doesn’t matter.” Donna pulled up in front of a somewhat run-down looking building, then pulled into the alleyway beside it and brought the car to a stop. “Come on, let’s get some sleep.”

“Can’t we stay in one of those fancy hotels? You said we have a whole bunch of money saved up from the Beverly Hills fights.” Alex jumped out of the car and walked around it to join Donna.

“Relax, this place is fine. And safer for a couple of girls like us.” Donna winked and walked toward the building. Alex blinked and gave her a curious look before following.

Donna pushed the door open and stepped inside. Instantly two gun barrels emerged from around the doorframe, pressing into the sides of her skull. Alex almost had a heart attack, but Donna calmly held up the piece of paper her father had given her without looking to either side. In a few moments the guns pulled back, allowing Donna to walk inside.

“She’s with me.” Donna gestured to Alex calmly. Alex was sure her heart would burst right through her ribcage, but at Donna’s beckoning she walked slowly forward. She stopped at the door and poked her head inside, seeing the guards standing beside the door with some large, wicked looking assault rifles in their arms. Alex jumped past them and ran up to Donna, grabbing her arm tightly.

“Ow! Hey, you’re gonna pull my arm off!” Donna exclaimed.

“Sorry…” Alex loosened her grip slightly, staring at the large bouncers with the large guns.

“Relax, we’re all friends here.” Donna told her. Alex gulped and looked around at her new environment for the first time. The inside looked like a professional establishment, with thick red carpet leading up to a counter and a staircase with soft lighting. The walls were kept clean, and there was a chandelier in the ceiling that looked nice, but hung down almost low enough to hit one of the bouncers in the head at his full height.

Donna approached the man behind the counter. “There any rooms left?”

“Sure, will that be two?” The man replied.

“One, actually.” Donna pulled out a few bills and plunked them down on the counter. “And send us a nice meal in the morning.”

“Will do Donna, have a nice night.” The man nodded as he passed her a key. He seemed like any other hotel clerk, as if this wasn’t a hidden back-alley hotel with two well-armed thugs standing by the door.

“Come on.” Donna grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward the back, heading down a flight of stairs in the back beyond the staircase that led upward. They approached a sturdy wooden door near the back of a long hallway. Donna opened it with the key and went inside, with Alex following close behind her. The room was fairly large and well-kept, though it didn’t have any windows, being underground.

Alex walked to the bed and sat down, grateful for something soft after the long car ride. She pulled her right boot off and pulled up her pant-leg to examine her knee.

“How’s the leg doing?” Donna asked.

“It feels better… but it’s still a bit swollen.” Alex replied, running one hand over the swollen knee. It wasn’t as bad as it got in the hours after the fight, but it still didn’t look quite normal.

“It should go down soon. That was a Hell of a blow.” Donna pulled her red leather jacket off and threw it to the floor, falling back onto the bed with a soft sigh and a thud. Alex watched her, wrapping her arms around her knee.

“Donna… what happened between you and your dad?” Alex asked. Donna looked over at her. “You don’t have to answer if you’re uncomfortable with it… but I’d like to know.”

“Let’s just say family ties are only as good as the family members.” Donna smirked. Alex stared at her, not sure what to say. She remembered Donna mentioning a sister too… she wondered where she was, but decided not to press such uncomfortable issues anymore. “We should rest, with any luck we can find you a fight tomorrow and get the ball rolling.”

“Alright… goodnight.” Alex nodded. Donna rolled over in bed and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders, reaching over to turn off the lamp on her side. Alex watched her sleep for several minutes before she pulled her remaining boot and gloves off and climbed under the sheets herself to settle down for the night.

The next morning Alex awoke to a feast of eggs, bacon, grits, just about every breakfast food one could possibly imagine. They found it all sitting right outside their door with nobody around, but Donna assured her it was safe. In this dump Alex wasn’t sure, but this was Donna’s world, she would know what’s safe and isn’t safe.

So she feasted. It was surprisingly good, better than anything she’d ever gotten from the breakfast menu of a fast food place. When they were filled to capacity they took turns in the shower, got dressed, and headed out of their room to the lobby. It was almost packed with people milling about and laughing in a companionable manner. Many of them didn’t look very friendly though. Spiked chokers weren’t uncommon.

“You stay here, I’m gonna go see what’s still available.” Donna pushed her way through the crowd, leaving Alex standing by the entrance to the back rooms. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall, watching the rough looking crowd just in case something broke out.

“New huh?” Alex’s head whipped around in surprise when she heard a male voice behind her. A man with light green eyes and a dashing smile was watching her. He was pretty scrawny to be in this crowd. His hands were extremely bony and his ribs were clearly visible through the open front of his black trench coat, under which he wore a pair of black sweat pants and a strange studded metal belt.

“Yeah… kinda. How’d you know?” Alex asked, forcing her heart to calm down. She’d been very jumpy since coming here she realized.

“You have the look of someone who’s not used to being in this kind of atmosphere.” The man leaned against the wall beside her, putting one foot against the wall behind him and crossing his arms over his chest. “It can be pretty daunting until you get used to it.”

“I’ve just never seen so many… um… violent people in one place.” Alex replied. It was kind of a lie, she’d seen plenty of mind-control induced riots, but nothing with anyone sane like this. “You sound like you’ve been around a while though.”

“Yeah, I’ve been hanging around for a few years.” He looked over at her. “You’re with Donna Ramone huh? She used to be the best.”

“So I’ve heard.” Alex replied. “I’m…” She trailed off, not sure what name to use. But she decided to remain consistent. “Firecracker.”

“They call me Mac.” The man reached out for a handshake, which she returned. His bony hand almost hurt her palm, but the shake lasted only a few seconds before he let her go. “So, what are you here for? The thrill of the fight? Fame and fortune? Rebellion?” He asked. Alex blinked and gave him a distrusting look.

“What, were you spying on me or something?” She asked. Mac laughed.

“No, those are just everyone’s reasons.” Mac replied.

“So which reason is yours?” Alex asked. He gave her a sly smile and shook his head.

“Now now, let’s not get too personal on the first date.” Mac pushed himself away from the wall. “I’ll see you around. Maybe in a fight some time… though it’d be a shame to disfigure that pretty face.” Before she knew what was happening his palm swept across her cheek gently. He winked at her and left through the crowd.

Alex watched him go curiously until Donna pushed her way back through the crowd toward her. “Alright, got you a fight. Should be a good chance to show this town what you can do.” She walked up and slung one arm over Alex’s shoulders companionably. “Come on, we should get moving if we want to make it to the arena in time.”

Alex nodded and let Donna lead her away from the crowd toward a staircase on the other side of the room that led downward. They entered a long tunnel filled with people traveling back and forth, some with pretty nasty wounds on their bodies. One guy was hauled past them on a stretcher, with his right arm turned around 180 degrees.

Finally the tunnel turned upward and they emerged inside of a huge dome, which was filled to capacity with people. It looked like one of the large stadiums where they held sporting events, there was even a ring in the middle. But it was covered with a dome of steel bars, with a door being the only way in and out. It was a fairly large ring though, easy enough to maneuver in.

The announcer was looking from inside the cage. “Would the participants for fight thirteen, please approach the ring!” He called.

“That’s you Firecracker.” Donna nudged her forward. “I’ll be right by the ring the whole time.” Alex gave her a smile as she walked down the isle toward the ring. She climbed in, listening to the cheers and jeers of the crowd as she took one side. She’d gotten used to being rooted against by now, but this was on a much larger scale.

“We have the Firecracker versus Michael Damien!” The announcer shouted. Alex turned toward the cage door to see a fairly well built man coming in after her. The announcer left, letting the assistants lock the cage behind him.

“Well, aren’t you a cute little thing?” Michael asked.

“Thanks, but flattery won’t save you.” Alex smiled innocently. Michael smirked.

“One-on-one match, until someone loses consciousness! Fight!” The announcer said. Michael just stared at Alex, and she stared back, standing up straight. She could see in his stance that he had no real training to speak of. He probably learned to fight on the streets, punching out hobos for spare change to buy himself beer. He sure smelled like it.

Michael made a painfully obvious feint to the left, weaving back to the right. Alex moved to intercept, but to her surprise he charged right down the middle, clocking her in the jaw. Alex stumbled back into the bars of the cage, shaking her head clear quickly as Michael charged at her again. Alex fired her Zipline Bracelets at the top bars and used them to hold her up as she lifted both legs.

She slammed one foot into his oncoming fist, cracking his wrist on impact. He howled and stumbled back painfully, but she kicked off the wall of the cage and swung forward, slamming both boots into his jaw. Michael collapsed to his back while Alex did a fancy flip in the air, unhooking her Ziplines and drawing them in as she landed cleanly on Michael’s chest.

Alex stood up straight and put her arms up like a gymnast as the lines clicked back into the bracelets. The roar of the crowd was deafening as the announcer climbed back into the ring.

“In record time for a debut appearance, Firecracker wins!” He shouted. The roar of the crowd only grew louder as Alex started waving, a grin spreading across her lips. This was even better than the victories in Beverly Hills. This was a real match, in a real stadium, with a magnificent audience. This was the big time, and she loved it.

She climbed out of the cage to find Donna shaking her head with a grin on your face. “Damn Firecracker… and here I thought you might have TROUBLE when we got here.” She pulled her close and ruffled her hair. “You could whip anyone couldn’t you?”

“Well… I can try…” Alex blushed slightly.

“Come on, let’s get our money and go out to celebrate.” Donna suggested.

“I’d like that.” Alex smiled and nodded. So they turned to leave the cage, heading down the isle in the direction of their hotel. Alex stopped however when she heard a familiar name called from the ring.

“Versus Mac!” The announcer shouted.

“Mac?” Alex turned around. She couldn’t imagine that bag of bones fighting anybody, she’d thought he would be someone’s manager, like Donna had become. But indeed there he was, standing in the ring with his black trench coat touching the mat around him. His opponent was a fairly muscular man who looked like ‘hygiene’ wasn’t in his vocabulary.

“One-on-one, until someone is rendered unconscious! Fight!” The announcer shouted from outside the ring. Alex watched the muscular man advance on Mac, but he didn’t move.

“What is he doing? He’s going to be clobbered.” Ales said worriedly. Donna walked up to her curiously and looked back at the ring.

“Oh. Mac. He likes his fights to be dramatic. He hasn’t actually lost in the last fifteen years. Only amateurs are stupid enough to fight him.” Donna said. Alex looked at her in surprise, then back at the ring.

Mac reached into his trench coat and pulled out a small metal orb as the brute hovered over him, reaching toward his throat. Suddenly eight thin-as-a-wire legs shot out of the orb and it leapt on the brute’s face, letting out a screech that drowned out the entire roaring audience. Alex covered her ears painfully, watching the ‘fight’ in shock.

A needle plunged from the orb into the screaming man’s neck as he desperately tried to pry it off of him. The orb emptied something into him before jumping back, landing easily on Mac’s shoulder. The bony man didn’t move a muscle, watching the brute in front of him grip his throat.

“You… coward…” The man growled and tried to lurch forward, but he fell to the ground unconscious, clutching his throat. The crowd went wild, universally cheering as Mac calmly turned to leave the ring.

“Do you know anything about him?” Alex asked softly.

“Just that he used to be a scientist.” Donna replied. “But he was fired from his job. Nobody ever agrees on why. Some say he wanted to use his machines for evil. Some say he was wrongfully terminated because the company was evil.” Donna shrugged. “Whatever the reason, it’s obvious he was damn good at his job.”

Alex watched Mac walk away from the cage. She blinked when his eyes met hers and he gave her a small salute. She thought he would come toward her, but he turned off in another direction and headed down a different hallway.

“Come on, let’s get outta here.” Donna grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the arena down the hall. They left the hotel and climbed into Donna’s convertible. It seemed miraculous that it was still there considering the type of neighborhood they were in.

“How come nobody took this thing? It sticks out like a sore thumb around here.” Alex said.

“Everyone around here knows this place. And they know not to mess with it. If something is parked there, it’s off-limits.” Donna replied.

“Honor among thieves?” Alex asked.

“Fear of retribution.” Donna winked at her and turned to drive down the street. They made their way back to the shiny sparkling part of the city, though it didn’t shine quite as much during the day as it had when they reached the city last night. Donna took them to the ‘Texas Station’ casino and led her through it. Once again the stench of cigarettes and body odor made Alex gag, but soon it was replaced by more tantalizing smells.

“Best buffet in town… not that that’s saying much.” Donna told her. Alex smiled as they paid their way into the buffet, almost as large as the cafeteria at Bev. High and with more food lined up against one wall than she’d ever seen in one place.

“Come on, celebration time.” Donna smiled. They went through the lines gathering up their food, stacking two plates until there was nothing visible of them. They sat down and dug into their food in companionable silence. The atmosphere here was pretty nice, as everyone spent their time gorging themselves to the point of popping.

“Oh man…” Alex leaned back in her eat after her sixth barbeque chicken breast. “I don’t think I’ll ever eat again…” She rubbed her stomach, which was now bulging slightly against the fabric of her former WOOHP uniform.

“Not the best food, but there’s no better place for a mindless gorging celebration.” Donna replied, leaning back on the other side of the table. “We have time to catch a movie if you want. There’s a theater right here in the casino we can go to.”

“Really?” Alex grinned and sighed. “I love this place…” Donna grinned and led her out of the buffet to the theater, where they went in to watch Garfield.

Alex found it difficult to concentrate on the movie, or anything after that. She kept thinking about Mac’s fight in the arena… if you could call it that. She’d only seen that kind of technology from two kinds of people. WOOHP agents, and evil villains bent on world domination. He didn’t look like a WOOHP agent… could he be an evil villain? She wasn’t sure… but she reminded herself that it didn’t concern her anymore. She was a fighter now, not a spy.

They left the Texas Station in high spirits, taking off down the street back toward their hotel. Between the extensive breakfast, fight, victory dinner and movie, their day had been sucked away from them before they even realized it. The sun was floating down toward the horizon in the distance, and it was best to rest. Alex wanted to fight again tomorrow, build on the momentum she’d started today.

They parked in the alley again and made their way into the hotel, heading toward their room. “You’ve been quiet Firecracker.” Donna told her as they entered the hotel room. “Something on your mind?”

“Just thinking about Mac…” Alex replied. “I don’t trust him…”

“Well he has been known to occasionally kill opponents.” Donna smirked as she threw her red leather jacket to the floor and sat down on the bed. “But he’s harmless outside of fights. Get some sleep. It’ll do us both some good.” She said.

“Okay…” Alex nodded and pulled her suit off, leaving her in black bra and panties, before climbing onto the bed beside her. Donna reached down and touched her cheek, sliding her fingers over her flesh with a soft touch. Alex stared up at her, curled up under the blankets like a baby.

“Goodnight Firecracker.” Slowly Donna’s fingers moved away from her and she crawled under the sheets, rolling over to go to sleep. Donna loved her… Alex was sure of it now. She’d never seen such a tender… proud look in her eyes. Well it wasn’t like Alex was complaining. In fact, she had an ear-to-ear smile as she drifted off to sleep.

Dreams of sitting on a hill with Donna carried her through the night until she felt something underneath the sheets with her, crawling slowly up her body. She looked down and pulled the blanket up, seeing a strange glowing red eye moving up her body. She could feel its tiny pointed feet moving across her skin.

“What…?” She asked softly, trying not to wake Donna. The red eye emerged from the shadows of the blanket onto her chest, contained within a small silver shell. It was attached to a razor-thin neck that was itself attached to a gumball-sized version of the orb that Mac had used during the fight. It climbed up to the top of her breast to stare at her, making soft cooing noises.

“What do you want…?” Alex asked softly. The tiny silver head turned toward the door, then looked back at her. “You want me to follow you?” The head nodded and the orb turned to jump off the side of the bed. Alex pushed the blanket off of her and stood up, following it to the door. It slipped right underneath, but she had to pull it open and lean out into the hall.

Looking to the left, she saw Mac leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. The tiny orb-robot scurried up his coat to his shoulder, cooing in his ear. He looked over at her. “Hello again, I thought it would be nice to talk in private.”

Alex stepped into the hall and leaned against the wall beside him, putting her arms behind her back. “Okay, so talk.”

“Not so friendly anymore?” Mac reached up to rub one finger against the side of the gumball-bot’s head. It cooed and rubbed back almost like a cat. “What, does my friend here scare you?”

“No. It’s kind of cute actually. But to be honest, YOU scare me.” Alex replied. “I heard you were a scientist but got fired… and you kill people… how do I know you’re not some nutjob out to destroy the world?”

“How do I know you’re not a cop here to arrest us all?” Mac countered. “Anyone can be anything, if you assume everyone has malicious intent, you’re in for a lonely existence.” He plucked the small robot from his shoulder, causing it to withdraw into a simple silver sphere. He put it back in his coat somewhere.

“Point taken.” Alex conceded. “But that still begs the question, what do you want from me?”

“You’re a strong young woman, Firecracker. I saw you in that ring, you’re stronger than any of those windbags. And you know how to use unorthodox weapons.” He looked over at her meaningfully. Alex didn’t respond, keeping him affixed with a searching gaze. “I want your help.”

“To do what?” Alex asked.

“First thing’s first. I can’t go telling everyone what I do… so I want to test you.” Mac reached into his leather trench coat, which Alex was getting the feeling contained a lot more than one would suspect, and pulled out a small note. “Tomorrow morning I’m going to issue a general one-on-one challenge like I do every day. You accept, defeat me, and we’ll talk about what you can do for me then.”

“Defeat you? But you’re undefeated, and I saw how you fight today. I don’t think I could defeat you.” Alex told him seriously. Mac grinned and nodded his head appreciatively.

“You know your limits. I like that.” Mac pushed away from the wall. “I’ve given you my offer, take it or not. But it won’t be open forever. If you don’t take my challenge tomorrow, then don’t ever sign up to fight me.” He turned to leave, putting his hands deep in the pockets of his coat. Alex watched him go, then turned to head back into her room.

What did he want with her? What would fighting him prove? Well, it would prove she wasn’t a coward for one thing. Honestly though, she was almost sure she couldn’t beat him. He’d gone undefeated for fifteen years. Besides, she didn’t even know what he wanted her help with. He could want to make her one of his villainous henchmen… henchgirls… whatever.

But… despite the obviousness of the danger and villainy… she knew she couldn’t stay away. The same feelings of excitement and change that had brought her to Vegas again gripped her heart. She knew she would sign up to fight him. It was stupid, mindless, and a very bad idea… but she would do it regardless. She just could not resist.

The next morning she awoke to find Donna still asleep beside her, though the clock showed it to be 9:30 in the morning. Alex climbed out of bed and dressed in her Firecracker uniform before heading out to the lobby, which was again packed with people. This time she pushed her way through them to the desk, behind which the clerk was now writing names on a blackboard behind him.

There was Mac’s name, as he said it would be, under Fight Nine. Signed up for a one-on-one, with no other name beside his. Alex waved the clerk over. “Sign me up to fight Mac.” She said. The clerk smirked and looked her up and down.

“I’m contractually obligated to warn you against that.” He told her.

“Just do it.” Alex demanded.

“Name?”

“Firecracker.”

“Fine, it’s been nice knowing you.” He shrugged and turned to write her name on the blackboard. Alex walked down the stairs to the hallway that led to the arena, where a packed captive audience was watching a fight already in progress. She took a seat by the cage entrance, waiting for her fight to begin. Several fights later she was still waiting and getting impatient.

She looked over when Donna stormed into the arena, fuming. She spotted Alex and marched over to her. “What are you doing? I find you gone, and you’ve come to challenge probably the only man in this business you CAN’T beat!? What’s the matter with you!? You getting a big head?” She sat down beside Alex and smacked her on the back of the head.

“I just have to fight him okay?” Alex rubbed the back of her head.

“Why!?” Donna demanded.

“I don’t know.” Alex glared at her. Donna stopped, giving her a dark glare. It was the same exchange she’d had with Sam and Clover before they left Beverly Hills. Apparently it didn’t feel too good to have the tables turned on her.

Donna sighed and shook her head, putting a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Alex… I don’t want you getting’ hurt. We’re in this together.” Alex blinked. She hadn’t called her Alex in a long time, almost since they’d first become friends.

“I’ll be fine, I promise.” Alex replied, putting one hand over Donna’s. She looked up when the announcer went inside the cage.

“Will the contestants for fight nine please approach the ring.” He stated.

“That’s me… I’ll be back soon.” Alex said.

“Good luck Firecracker.” Donna said. Alex nodded and stood up to walk inside the ring. She walked to the far end and turned around, facing the door. The announcer watched Mac enter the ring. Cheers and shouts erupted from the audience at his entrance.

“We have the spectacular newcomer Firecracker, versus the undefeated champion, Mac!” The crowd was roaring with anticipation, the sound rising to deafening levels. “Fight!” The announcer left the ring and locked the cage behind him. Mac stood his ground, folding his arms over his chest.

“Okay, you got me here… what kind of test did you want to put me through?” Alex asked.

“This kind.” Mac reached into his jacket and pulled out one of the larger silver orbs, the size of a baseball. It sprouted eight razor-thin legs, a sinuous neck holding a shining red eye, and a scorpion-like tail with a needle on the tip. It let out a hideous screech and lunged at her, its needle glistening with venom.

Alex whirled, her arm lashing out as the razor-thin wire extended from her Zipline Bracelet. It sliced through the small metal ball, cutting it clean in half. The liquid contained in its tail splashed to the ground beside her, bubbling on the mat and slowly eating through.

“Huh…? That’s not a sedative… it’s acid!” She whirled on Mac. “You’re trying to kill me! What kind of test is this!?”

“A test of my skills.” Mac reached into his coat and pulled out a small piece of paper. At the top the words ‘Death Contract’ were written. On the bottom, she saw the name Edward Ramone written on a dotted line. Donna’s father… he hired Mac to kill her? Of course… he didn’t want Donna here. And if Alex died, Donna would have to leave.

“So you’re just a petty assassin?” Alex smirked. “That’s almost disappointing. But why bring me here? Couldn’t you have killed me last night with your little robot?”

“I could. But I’ve always finished my contracts in the ring… it’s part of my appeal.” Mac put away the contract and pulled out another ball. This one was bigger than the last, and when its limbs sprouted, it included a vicious-looking pair of blades on the end of two tentacles. Alex’s Zipline Bracelet cut through this one before it could even properly jump at her.

“God, and you’re undefeated?” Alex smirked. “I’ve known school bullies tougher than you.”

“Good then, I won’t go easy anymore.” Mac grabbed the sides of his coat and held them out. A sea of shining silver orbs fell to the mat around him, dozens of them, all sprouting into the spider-snakes that he’d been using all along. They wielded a wide variety of weapons, and all of them were giving off that hideous hair-raising howl as they swarmed toward her.

Alex backed quickly away from them until her back collided with the bars of the cage. The sea of silver bodies and glowing red eyes moved toward her, until like a wave of metal they all leapt at her.

Alex lashed out with her Zipline Bracelets furiously, cutting through them in groups, but several landed on her, slashing her flesh with blades and smashing her joints with hefty ball-and-chains. When she saw the ones with the needles approaching, she raised her Zipline toward the top of the cage and reeled herself up to it, flying away from the spiders.

She furiously knocked off the ones that clung to her suit before clinging to the roof of the cage, looking down. The wave swept easily up the bars toward her. Climbing on the cage obviously wouldn’t save her. But looking down she saw Mac watching her. He was the one she was fighting… if she took him out the fight would end.

She fired one Zipline toward him, but he stepped to the side and grabbed it, yanking. Alex was caught off guard and fell to the mat hard on her back with a heavy thump. A boot slammed into her side, doubling her over Macs foot. He raised his other leg, but she grabbed it and twisted, sending him to the ground.

Alex looked back quickly, seeing the wave of spiders jumping toward her from the cage roof, one of which had the same kind of needle as the first one. Alex whirled to her back and lashed out with one leg. Her boot slammed into it, knocking it into the bars of the cage to shatter it. The acid ate through the bar, creating a gap in the solid steel.

“What the…?” Donna walked up to the bars, staring at the gap. “Alex! Get out of there!” she screamed. “Someone get this damn cage open!” But the roar of the crowd and the screech of the steel spiders drowned her voice out.

Alex rolled through the spiders as they tried to cover her, but she jumped to her feet, crushing two underneath her boots and kicking one hard enough to send it through the bars of the cage. The audience screamed and parted to let the creature slam into the bench, shattering on impact. But while her leg was up one spider jumped on her other one, driving a steel spike straight through her calve.

“ALEX!” Donna screamed at the same time as Alex, who collapsed to her back on the mat. She rolled desperately to the side, but the spiders gave chase until she reached the bars. She raised her arm to fire her Zipline, but one spider leapt on her hand, slashing her bracelet with its long blades. It fell uselessly to the mat.

The spiders swarmed over her body, covering every inch of her. “ALEX! Get up Goddamnit!” She heard Donna scream over the excited roar of the crowd. The glowing red eyes were all turned to her face, watching her as she waited for them to tear her apart like so much raw meat. But they didn’t… they just perched on her body, staring at her. They weren’t even screeching anymore.

Suddenly one more spider leapt on top of the others, a needle glistening with liquid on its ‘tail’. It looked down at her, spraying a small amount of liquid before pointing the needle at her.

“ALEEEX!” Donna screamed one more time before the needle plunged into her throat, emptying its contents into her vein. Instantly Alex could feel its effects… but they weren’t the ones she expected. She didn’t feel any pain, she just slowly lost consciousness with darkness claiming her senses.

The darkness began to recede at last, allowing a sliver of light to filter into her consciousness. “Alex… you awake?” She heard Donna’s voice break through the darkness. Slowly she managed to force her eyes open. Everything was blurry, but she saw a blissfully familiar shorthaired head staring down at her. “Alex? How are you feelin’?”

“A… alive…” Alex replied. She blinked and shook her head to try to clear the hazy fog from her vision. She was lying in the hotel room she shared with Donna. Her Firecracker uniform was lying on the floor, and she had a thick white bandage wrapped around the hole in her leg. The rest of her body was covered with smaller bandages, covering cuts and bruises sustained from the spiders’ weapons.

Donna put a hand on the Latino girl’s head and pushed her back down onto the pillow. “Relax, you need to recover.” She reached over and dipped a rag into a bowl of water before putting it on her head. Alex closed her eyes, savoring the cool feeling on her heated skin. She felt terrible… but at least she could still feel.

“Why didn’t he kill me? He said that’s why he challenged me…” Alex mused softly.

“He explained everything to me.” Donna told her, holding the rag against her forehead. “I’ll settle with my dad, so you don’t worry about that. I don’t know why he decided not to follow through on it, and I don’t really care. More to the point, how could you be stupid enough to accept a challenge without talking to me first? I coulda told you the whole thing was a setup.”

“I know… I’m sorry.” Alex replied. “I promise I won’t do it again.”

“Damn straight you won’t. Trust me, I know this place, I can get you good fights.” Donna told her. Alex nodded and turned her head to the side, staring at the door. She blinked when she saw a sinuous red eye watching her from the crack under the door. Its head cocked to the side, then turned as the gumball bot crawled back out.

What did Mac want with her? Why didn’t he follow through on his contract? Did he really want Alex to help him… or was he toying with her? And how could she fight again knowing that the man who apparently runs this thing wanted her dead? This was all getting so complicated… but still, she didn’t think she could get enough of this excitement.

TO BE CONTINUED