Chapter One
May 20th, 11:20 PM
The young man crouched behind the slot machines, his gloved hands scratching at the red carpet, his masked eyes scanning the smoky, boozy, stain-soaked scene. The main room of the Paradise Casino was nearly empty, with hardly a patron or staff member in sight. Everyone had fled once the gunshots started. Everyone except for the gorgeous girl in cerulean spandex who had swooped in, seemingly out of nowhere, to interrupt the heist. The Blue Lynx.
The man had been watching her for ten minutes now: her brilliant entrance; the cocky, sultry way that she pronounced "You boys better surrender"; her initial attacks on the Rattlesnakes, the cowboy-boot wearing, pistol-packing gang of thieves that had been hitting up casinos and banks all summer. She moved with incredible grace and speed, disarming the gunmen and making quick work of half the baddies. But reinforcements had come from another room-- the Rattlesnakes seemed to grow in numbers each time they went out-- and formed a circle around her. They closed in, and though she had held her own for a minute, they rapidly wore her down. They knocked her to the ground, picked her up, seized her. She was now struggling in the clutches of three men, each of whom had at least seventy-five pounds on her.
"Hold 'er still, boys," crowed the Rattlesnakes' leader, a short, mustached man in a ten-gallon hat. He strolled toward the Blue Lynx with patient, spur-jingling steps, his thumbs tucked into his jeans.
"So..." the Blue Lynx said, breathing heavily, tensing her muscles. "You must be Tex."
"You bet your sweet, sweet booty I am, little lady," Tex replied. "So pleased to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Blue Lynx."
"Your men have met me," the Blue Lynx said. "I've had the pleasure of punching a few of them in the face."
Tex chuckled. "That I had heard. Which is why I brung in the cavalry tonight."
The goons had her secured tightly: the tall man behind her had looped his arms around hers, so that his hands pressed down on the back of her head, locking her in place. There were two additional men keeping her feet to the ground, one for each leg. The young man watched from behind the slot machines as one of these men slid his fingers up the back of the Blue Lynx's thigh.
"Fiend," the young man thought. But he couldn't help but think, too, that the henchman was a lucky son of a gun.
"We're gettin' sick and tired of you showin up and interferin," Tex said.
The Blue Lynx grinned at him. "Don't you know? Taking out the garbage is my job."
Her eyes were glimmering with arrogance and power. Her smile was a simply beautiful thing, especially as framed by her long, black locks. She knew what she was doing. She was a true superheroine.
Tex coughed. "I think I've had just about enough of yer lip, missy."
He pulled a rag from his pocket, and the Blue Lynx's eyes flashed. She knew what this was, as did the young man. Tex placed the chloroform on the superheroine's face, and her arms and legs jumped, fighting desperately against her captors, but finally unable to create any separation. The young man watched as the Blue Lynx's fists gradually unclenched, as her body slowly fell back into her detainer's torso, as her eyes rolled back into her head. Tex removed the rag, and the superheroine's mouth hung open, her arms drooped to her sides, her boots pigeon-toed, without a hold on the floor.
Tex nodded at his men, and they let the Blue Lynx drop to the floor. Her face was now invisible, lost in a thicket of long, dark hair. In minutes, she had gone from being completely in control to completely at her foes' mercy. And Tex knew it.
"Alright boys," he snarled. "Let's go ahead and take off the little lady's mask."
Tex stepped down and reached for the Blue Lynx's face, and the young man decided it was time to step in.
He charged toward the group. By the time the Rattlesnakes noticed, it was too late: he knocked two of them down, dealt a massive hook to Tex's cheek, spun around, shoved away two more, gingerly stepped around the Blue Lynx, tripped a man, uppercutted another. No one could touch him. When Tex went for his revolver, the young man knocked it away, and then knocked Tex out. Just moments after he'd had arrived on the scene, the show was over. He was surrounded by unconscious bodies: of Tex, of his booted goons, and of the Blue Lynx, peacefully asleep on the filthy red carpet of the casino.
He crouched down to look at her. He had been watching her tonight, had watched her for many nights: taking notes, of course, but also just taking her in. She was a gorgeous woman, even with her goofy blue mask on. Seeing her on the floor, her eyes closed, her lips open, her head nested in her thick hair, he had a sudden compulsion to take her mask off.
He reached for it, brushed her cheek, and brought his hand back.
No. It wouldn't be right.
Her eyes were fluttering now; his touch had brought her back to life.
"What?" she mumbled. "What's happening..."
"You were fighting the Rattlesnakes," the young man said, pulling the Blue Lynx up to a sitting position, resting his arm behind her back. "They chloroformed you."
"Ugh," she said, holding her head. "Go figure."
She looked around, noticed the other unconscious bodies.
"What happened to them?"
"I did," the young man said.
"You did?" the Blue Lynx said, with more than a hint of sarcasm. "And just who the hell are you?"
The young man stood up, brushing himself off, letting his golden spandex uniform shine in the light of the casino.
"I'm the Spaniel," he announced.
And before the Blue Lynx could respond, he was gone, had sprinted away from the casino, running into the night, the city's newest superhero.
On to Chapter Two
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