White Elephant: Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

December 20th, 8:10 PM

Erin met the first elf she encountered with a hard punch across the jaw.  He cried out, fell over, and Erin kept moving.  She dispatched the second elf in her path with an even harder punch; he too toppled over, and Erin kept moving.  The third elf she targeted was swinging a roll of ribbon above his head, preparing to toss it lasso-style.  Erin had seen this trick before, though, and easily ducked the flying spool.  She dashed low to the ground and moved up on the elf, knocking him over with a knee to the upper body.  Already the path to Sunny seemed much less dense; in her peripheral vision, she could see Margot and Santa making quick work of their own elf opponents; it wouldn't be long before the three of them could team up on Mrs. Claus and take her down easily.

But as she incapacitated her fourth elf, Erin looked up and saw Sunny fiddling with the pockets of the utility belt.

"You've got all kinds of tricks in here, don't you, babe?" Sunny laughed.  She dumped a handful of smoke bombs into her open palm.  "I think I've seen these in action, before."

"Don't even think about it!" Erin yelled.

She ran at her foe, but it was too late.  Sunny tossed the bombs to the floor, and in an instant, the room filled with thick plumes of smoke.

"No!" Erin cried.  She coughed, pushing at the clouds, trying to remember the exact place where Sunny had been standing.  The Blue Lynx had passed through the smoke bombs enough to have an idea of what to do in this situation.  But there was still a major difference between being the thrower and being, well, herself in this moment, stumbling around blind, waving her arms in every direction.

She heard a squeak-- Margot!-- and a low grunt-- Santa!-- and the sounds of scuffling.

"Black Bobcat!" she said.  "Where are you?"

Suddenly, a blow to the stomach.  Erin brought her hands to her abdomen and doubled over.  Then, a boot to her butt.  She fell to her knees.  She spun around, attempted to get up, and was hit hard: a group of elves lunged at her, corralling her by the neck and upper body, and brought her to the ground.  They were pinning her down, an elf for each portion of her wriggling figure-- one on her right arm, and one on her left; one on her chest; one holding her head in place.

"No!" Erin grumbled.  "We're not doing this again!"

With all of her strength, Erin pushed back.  The elves holding her arms flew up in the air, and the one sitting on her chest rolled off her body.  She sprang to her feet, kicking at the elves that had been ready to ensnare her boots, and turned in a circle.  The smoke was gradually dissipating, but she still couldn't Margot, or Santa, or Sunny.  Out of nowhere, an elf ran at her, and Erin downed him with an automatic chop to the neck.  She followed him to the ground and noticed, laying to the elf's side, a pair of purple boots.

"Black Bobcat!" Erin said, punching through the smoke.  She found Margot's unconscious body, her arms and legs spread on the ground lifelessly, her tongue slightly poking out of her lips.  She went to wake her up, and a fist emerged through the a plume, catching Erin squarely in the jaw.

"Augh!" she cried.  She stumbled backward but did not fall.  Holding her jaw with one hand and sweeping at smoke with the other, she saw a red figure standing amidst the remaining haze.

"Blue Lynx," Sunny said, strutting toward Erin confidently.  "I want to thank you for your gift."  She tapped her waist.  The white utility belt was hanging around her hips.  "I think it looks quite nice on me, don't you?"

"I don't!" Erin said.  She had had more than enough of Sunny's talk.  She rushed through the room, the smoke mostly gone, and took a big swing.  Sunny strafed the attack, stepped forward, and plunged her hand into Erin's side.

Erin screamed.  Pain enveloped her body.  From head to toe, she shook with an electric jolt.  She started convulsing, started smoking, and then Sunny removed her hand.  Erin instantly collapsed in a heap near her enemy's feet.

"I'd seen this baby in action, too," Sunny said, holding the Blue Lynx's pocket taser up.  "I figure it would have a big impact on you."

Erin was in too much discomfort to come up with a response.  She clutched at her stomach, gritted her teeth, and kicked her legs erratically.  She knew her taser was strong-- she had rendered many a thug far bigger than her unconscious with its power-- but she herself had never felt it on full blast.  It was... awful.

Sunny squatted down and tried to look Erin in the eyes.  She patted the Blue Lynx's butt in a fake consoling manner.  "There there, honey.  I'm sorry.  That was a dirty move.  But I gotta know: how does it feel, hmm?  How does it feel to be beaten with your own weapons?"

Erin coughed.  She tried to ignore Sunny and concentrate on her predicament.  At the moment, she didn't have the strength to fight back.  Sunny had her belt.  Margot was definitely unconscious, and Santa, probably, too.  She looked at the Black Bobcat, who was laying just a few feet away from her.  There was no way Erin could rouse her awake.  But maybe... Maybe...

Erin rolled over onto her stomach.  She placed her hands on the ground and started to crawl along the cold wooden floor.  Sunny's hand didn't leave her rump.

"Where are you going, Blue Lynx?" Sunny said.  She pinched the blue spandex that was jammed in Erin's butt cheeks.  As Erin moved away, the spandex stretched, until the Blue Lynx's costume had been pulled several inches apart from Erin's red thong underwear.

"Ooh la la," Sunny said.  "I'm always impressed by your sexy sartorial decisions."

Erin told herself to not pay her any attention, but in this case, she had to: her outstretched hands were still inches away from Margot.  Her spandex had stretched as far as it would go.  In Sunny's grip, she was essentially frozen in place.

"Why don't you stop looking at my ass," Erin said.  "And try to take off my mask, or something?"

Sunny cackled.  "Say.  That's a good idea, Blue Lynx."

She released the spandex, letting it crack against Erin's backside, producing a "yip" of pain from its owner.  It was humiliating, but it was also enough to launch Erin forward, so that her hands now lay atop Margot's unconscious body.

"Turn around," Sunny said.  She dug her hands beneath Erin's stomach and tried rolling her over.  Erin fought back as much as she could, but the effects of the taser had made her putty in Sunny's hands.  In seconds, she had been flipped onto her back.

She stared into Sunny eyes.  Sunny eye's stared into Erin's.  Sunny smiled.  Erin winced.

"Your belt is a truly great gift," Sunny said.  "But I'm a greedy girl.  I want it all, Blue Lynx.  I want your most closely guarded secret."

She set her perfectly manicured fingernails on either side of Erin's face.  She kneaded Erin's cheeks, pursing her lips, toying with her.  Erin shut her eyes.  She knew what she had to do, in this moment.  She couldn't let Sunny distract her any more.  She felt the long nails scratch up to her temples, could feel them gripping at the sides of the Blue Lynx's mask.  She took a deep breath.

"So here we go," Sunny whispered.  "At long last... What's yours... Is mine..."

As fast as she could, Erin grabbed Margot's taser from her belt, brought it forward, and slammed it into Sunny's arm.  As it had been with the Blue Lynx, the result was instantaneous.  Sunny leapt back, screeched out, crumpled to the ground.

"Augh," she groaned.  "You little bitch!"

Erin, suddenly emboldened by her attack, moved forward.  Again, she stuck Sunny with the taser, this time to her chest.  Again, Sunny cried out.  Feeling more confident, Erin attempted a punch.  She was surprised at the velocity she achieved, and was pleased when the blow rippled through Sunny's face, spinning her around, leaving her flat.

Slowly but with purpose, Erin clambered to her feet.  She now stood over Sunny, both of them breathing heavily, but one of them feeling much better than the other.

"I'll take this back," Erin said, reaching behind Sunny's waist and unclipping the belt.  She felt a surge a superheroine confidence as she reattached it to its rightful place atop her hips.

"You're... an indian giver..." Sunny croaked.

"I don't use that term," Erin said.  "And besides, I never gave my belt to you.  You took it from me.  You're a bad girl, Sunny.  And a horrible Mrs. Claus."

And before Sunny could say anything more, Erin kicked her in the skull, knocking her out immediately.

Finally having enough time and strength to think, Erin scanned the room.  It was simply littered: with ruined Christmas decorations, with broken furniture, with unconscious bodies.  It had been a strange, wild night.

She walked over to Margot and, with a few gentle pats, woke her up.  "Hey.  Black Bobcat.  It's me."

"Erin?" Margot said, her eyes fluttering.  She sat up and rubbed her neck.  "God.  What happened?"

"Well, we won," Erin giggled.  "I think that's all that matters."  She handed the taser to her friend.  "Here.  I had to borrow this."

"What?" Margot said.  She looked at the taser and shrugged.  "Okay.  Umm.  I'm glad I could help?"

"You did help.  A lot," Erin said.  "Now let's go wake up Santa."

The young women made their way to the strewn unconscious elf figures until they found Santa.  He too, was unconscious, face down but clearly breathing.  After a few minutes of patient effort, his eyes opened.

"Shit.  Did I get knocked out?" he grumbled.  "Fuck.  I'm sorry."

"That's okay, Santa," Erin said.  "You did great tonight."

"Hey, I'm just glad I could help," he said.  "I'm a big fan of you, and of your cute sidekick."

Margot blushed.

The girls helped the skinny man to his feet.  He readjusted his beard, hat, and gloves, staring at the multitude of small bodies scattered across the room.

"Man," he said.  "I've been doing this shit for years, but I've never had to fight a dozen elves before."

Erin laughed.  "Me neither."

"So what do we do now?" he asked.  "Just leave them here?"

"Yeah," Erin said.  "We can't really call the cops.  I mean, we're inside Hammerson's house.  He could easily say that we initiated all this.  I think we just need to call it a night."

Margot sighed.  "All that work... for nothing."

"I wouldn't say it was for nothing," Erin said.  "Didn't you have fun, Black Bobcat?"

Margot frowned, and then laughed.  "Yeah.  I guess I did."

And so the two superheroines and one Claus stepped over the elves and Sunny, wandered through the elaborate hallways of Hammerson's house, and walked out the front door.  The night was crisp and cool, and tiny snowflakes floated through the air, making Hammerson's property shimmer.

"You want a ride back to the mall?" Margot asked Santa.

"No thanks," he said.  "I actually live right around here."

Erin blinked.  "What?  Are you sure, Santa?"

Santa nodded.  "Yeah, it's fine.  You ladies have a good night."

He waved, and the girls waved back, and he walked away.  Minutes later, he was out of sight.

"God, that was weird," Erin said, climbing into Margot's car.  "Are you sure you can trust that guy, Margot?"

Margot peeled her mask off, set in on her legs, and started the ignition.  "Come on, Erin.  It's Christmas.  He's Santa.  Of course we can trust him."

The car reversed out of Hammerson's driveway, whipped into the road, and sped off, blowing by a solitary man casually strolling down the sidewalk.  In his red suit, hat, and beard, he looked like any normal mall Santa Claus (albeit a little skinnier than average).  But inside his head, he possessed a secret known to very few people (or elves): a secret he had witnessed earlier in the night.  He believed in his mission, and that meant no peeking, but in this case, he simply couldn't help himself: he had needed to see the Blue Lynx's face.  And so, he had.

As he wandered down the road, with seemingly no place to go, he improvised a little tune.  "Erin Steele is the Blue Lynx, Erin Steele is the Blue Lynx."  He whistled, and chuckled, and the snowflakes fell silently.  It was just days before Christmas and the world felt full of possibility.

THE END

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