Battle Lass: Out of Time

by Imperator

"Thanks for showing up so quickly, Kimi." Commander Reynolds said as both of them sat down in his office.

"So what's up, Reynolds?" asked Kimi.

"It seems someone is stealing government secrets from our highest security installations, and we can't seem to do anything to stop the thieves." Reynolds explained.

"Really, what do the security cameras show?" asked Kimi.

"That's just it, nothing. Just strange events like doors opening suddenly, guards standing then out cold instantly, and rooms trashed in mere seconds." Reynolds continued.

"I assume you want me to capture these thieves?" Kimi answered with a grin.

"Yes, and to do it you'll need to go undercover as a secretary for the Patterson Test facility. The hits have all clustered around that facility and we suspect it will be next."

"That, or the thieves are operating out of the site." She finished with a smile. "What does the site do?"

"They do particle physics research. Your job is to keep and eye on the place and catch the crooks if you can." He explained. "Be careful, Kimi. This thing maybe over your head."

"Don't worry, Reynolds. Don't I always come through?" she grinned as she strutted out the door.

Kimi pulled up to the Patterson gates and showed her new ID. The guard smiled and let her inside.

As her car pulled in, a cleaning van stood outside the gates, deviceing the building intently. "Just a few more minutes and it will be the changing of the guards." Snickered an evil voice as he stared at the facility.

Kimi found her new desk next to the entrance to the main security vault. She was posing as the security receptionist, and it was her job to allow people through the huge steel vault doors and into the depository.

She nodded and smiled as the doors opened and a few secretaries, managers and armed guards walked out, apparently headed for lunch. After a few moments, the room was empty and she settled down to do some typing.

Suddenly, she found herself completely tied. Her hands were bound to her waist behind her, several ropes ran around her shoulders, and her legs were tied together at the knees and ankles. A thick rag was pressed deep into her mouth and a large handkerchief knotted between her lips, effectively gagging her.

Unsure of who was watching and not wanting to break her cover, Kimi feigned a struggle to get free.

"Nice bod, babe," said a voice from behind her. A pair of black-gloved hands grabbed her chair and spun it around, and she found herself face-to-face with a stocky man wearing a pair of overalls and a ski mask.

"Too bad I've got business to take care of, otherwise we could have some fun together," he snickered as he grabbed her by the chin.

She pulled away and continued pretending to struggle.

The man walked into the vault and started filling up some large briefcases with important documents as he hummed to himself annoyingly. After a few minutes, he was done and came out chuckling.

"Like I said, babe, places to go, people to rob," he chortled.

Suddenly, he was gone. No flash, no breeze, no noise, nothing. Kimi blinked confusedly and looked around.

Seeing no one else around, Kimi stood up, twisted her arms, and snapped the ropes binding her wrists. Moments later, she was free.

"Now we'll see who has the last laugh..." she thought to herself. A few moments later, Battle Lass bounded out of the room and past a group of unconscious guards on the floor. With one leap, she crashed through a window and jumped six stories to the parking lot below just in time to see a white van screeching through the front gates.

Leaping like an antelope, Battle Lass bounded across the parking lot on an intercept course with the van. With another leap, she cleared the twelve-foot fence and landed just behind the speeding van as it headed out the main road and down the mountain pass.

The driver immediately began to swerve as he saw the Asian heroine hot on his tail. Suddenly, a couple of small objects flew out the driver's side window and hit the concrete just in front of Battle Lass. Each burst with a blinding white light and Battle Lass came to a stop completely dazed.

"Some sort of flares! I can't see straight!" she screamed, as the van screamed down the mountain and around the corner. She shook her head and in a few moments, her vision came back. With a great leap, she headed after the van.

Rounding the corner she saw the van off the road with its nose in the bushes. The driver's door was open, as were the back doors. Battle Lass slowly approached the van, thinking the driver must have crashed. She walked up to the rear doors, which were slightly ajar, and pulled them open. The van was empty except for the two briefcases and some old tarps on the floor.

Suddenly, she felt herself grow weak and, at the same time, a chloroform-soaked rag came down over her mouth. She struggled, but the chloroform had already taken its toll, and Battle Lass passed out. Picking up the girl, the stranger tossed her unconscious body in the back of the van. The man climbed in back and shut the doors.

Having read Battle Lass's dossier, which he'd secured from a previous theft, he knew Battle Lass's powers couldn't break anything laced with gold. Fortunately, he'd come prepared, and had several feet of gold-laced rope already in the van.

Soon, the doors opened and a hog-tied and gagged Battle Lass was thrown out of the van and onto the gravel. With a cocky grin, the man waved good-bye and got back in the van, which tore away in a cloud of dust, leaving Battle Lass out in the desert struggling on a deserted gravel road.

After an hour or two of struggling, Battle Lass finally managed to slip her wrists out of the ropes. Several minutes later, she was ready for action and in a really bad mood.

"Are you sure Battle Lass can't find us here?" Damien asked, as he and the other five gang members stood about drinking beers and deviceing the strange man empty the briefcases.

"Of course not, she's been totally taken care of! They don't call me Standstill for nothing!" he laughed as he took out a strongbox and started stuffing it with papers. "Now you boys go downstairs and wait while I get the rest of these papers together."

The group went downstairs and sat at a table drinking beer and playing cards. Suddenly, a barrel came bursting through one of the windows and smashed into their table like a bomb. Battle Lass sauntered arrogantly into the room.

Immediately, the henchmen grabbed their guns and fired, but the bullets ricocheted off of Battle Lass's superhuman frame.

"You idiots!" screamed Damien. "Bullets don't work on Battle Lass! Get her!"

The remaining men rushed Battle Lass only to be thrown about like toys. Battle Lass walked to the center of the room and smiled.

"Give up, boys," she chided the moaning thugs on the ground. "This game is over!"

"Not quite," giggled a familiar voice. Battle Lass spun and stared at Standstill who was standing at the top of the stairs.

"You! I owe you big time!" Battle Lass screamed as she started for the stairs.

Suddenly, she found herself with her hands bound behind her back. The man must have had more of the gold-laced rope, as Battle Lass could not break free.

Standstill had Battle Lass by her shoulders and held her struggling body firmly as his men slowly got up. With a shove, he pushed Battle Lass into the arms of Damien.

"How in the heck...?" Battle Lass screamed as Damien grabbed her firmly.

"Very simply, this device allows me to step out of time. To you, time runs normally, but to me, each of your seconds is like an hour. I can move or do anything outside of time. When I turn the device off, I return to normal time."

"How did you ever accomplish that?" she gasped.

"I could stand here and explain it all to you, but I have a foreign buyer waiting to pay millions for this strongbox full of government secrets. Since you've proven to be such a nuisance, I think my boys here should keep you occupied." Standstill grinned as he picked up the box and headed outside.

"Boys, enjoy yourselves. She's all yours. Also, keep her chloroformed when you're done. I'm sure she's worth something to a foreign power." He laughed as he left the building.

"No...Mmff!" Battle Lass screamed as the Damien quickly gagged her with a strip of duct tape.

The men then rushed in and grabbed her thrashing, struggling body. Using more of the gold-laced rope, they quickly bound her elbows, knees, and ankles.

Pushing her to the floor, the men grabbed an assortment of boards and other blunt objects and began pounding away on the helpless heroine. While the men were unable to inflict any serious damage, the sheer number of blows began to take their toll. Then, a chloroform-soaked rag ended the misery.

She awoke to find herself bound and gagged in what appeared to be a tool closet. Her body was sore and stiff and she moaned softly as she tried to get free. Suddenly, she spied an old saw blade across the floor and she started to inch toward it like a caterpillar.

"If I can just..." She ran the ropes across the blade until they snapped and she was once again free.

Outside the closet, the henchmen stood guard with rifles. Suddenly, the door exploded off its hinges and knocked two of the crooks unconscious. Battle Lass exploded out of the closet and towards the remaining henchmen.

"Look, Battle Lass's escaped! Get her!" Damien blared, as he and the other men grabbed their rifles.

Battle Lass ran up and clotheslined two of the men. Then she turned toward Damien with an evil grin on her face. "You're next, jerk!"

"Screw you!" Damien screamed as he opened fire with his Uzi.

Battle Lass grinned as the bullets bounced off of her. Damien's gun quickly emptied, so he dropped it and started running for the exit.

With a quick leap, Battle Lass easily grabbed Damien, lifting him up in the air with one arm.

"I'm only going to say this once, then I start punching. Tell me where Standstill is."

"This is almost too easy." Standstill chortled as he looked over the papers in his satchel. The van was now a few miles away from yet another army base.

"Idiot, you missed the turn off!" Standstill screamed at his driver, as he glared at the sign on the road.

"No, he didn't, he's headed straight for the authorities, just like you are," said Battle Lass from the back of the van as she stood up and pulled off the tarps that were concealing her.

Standstill looked at Battle Lass. "To hell with you!" he screamed as he reached into his pocket. "I'll make sure no one finds you for a month!" He grinned as he held up the time-halting device.

"I wouldn't, if I were you," said Battle Lass, defiantly.

Standstill pressed the button and suddenly realized he should have listened.

"So, Commander Reynolds, explain this to me again," asked the chief medic.

"Well," replied Reynolds, "Battle Lass guessed correctly that his time device didn't adjust for inertia. See the van was moving near seventy miles per hour, and when Standstill pressed the button, it effectively stopped the van while he continued moving. Next thing he knew, he was flying through the windshield and sliding down the road. Battle Lass made a good call."

"So what happened to the device?" asked the medic.

"Destroyed in the accident," Reynolds replied, "and from the report you gave me, it doesn't seem Standstill will be coming out of his coma anytime soon in order to build a new one..."

The End