Chapter Six
December 20th, 7:57 PM
Erin shut her eyes.
She could sense that her mask had left her skin. She knew that her face was bare: that Hammerson now knew her secret identity. She wasn't ready to meet his gaze. She wasn't ready for the Blue Lynx to be over.
"Oh God," she thought. "What have I done?"
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed Hammerson falling off the couch, hadn't registered the crash of his body hitting the floor, hadn't detected the presence of two more bodies in Hammerson's living room.
"Blue Lynx!" a voice cried. "It's me!"
Erin opened her eyes. The face greeting her was not the sinister visage of her arch-nemesis, but the concerned, loving look of her best friend, Margot, standing proudly in her Black Bobcat costume.
"Oh my God!" Margot cried. "Where's your mask?"
A shot of adrenaline blasted through Erin's body. "Hammerson's got it!" she yelled. "You have to get it back!"
Erin couldn't see Hammerson from where she sat. Margot must have knocked him down, somehow. But where had he scrambled to?
"He fell over the couch!" Margot exclaimed. "Santa! Get him!"
Erin blinked. And that's when she saw a tall, skinny man in a red costume and white beard. He had been behind Margot, but now, he was charging around the sofa. He disappeared, and Erin heard the sounds of a struggle.
"Argh!" Hammerson cried. "Fuck you! You fucking, goddamn..."
There was a cracking sound, and a squeal of pain.
"Shit!" Hammerson screamed. "You fucker! Hey! Give me... that... back! I need... to know... who she... IS! GODDAMN YOU!"
While the Santa and Hammerson fought, Margot attended to Erin's bonds. She cut at the ribbons on Erin's wrists and arms, allowing Erin to see to her tied ankles.
"I can't believe you're here!" Erin cried, on the verge of tears. "What happened, Margot?"
"It's a long story," Margot said, tearing the ribbons from her friend's thighs. "But basically, I woke up tied to a cross. Sunny had CRUCIFIED me, you know? She left me there, on stage. But I was able to talk to Santa, who's a good guy. He freed me, and then he volunteered to help me rescue you. We talked to a few elves-- they're not all bad guys, either-- and a few of them mentioned how you were being 'delivered' to Brent Hammerson. So we drove here, busted down the door, and found you two, umm... together... Umm..."
Erin blushed. "I... I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't escape. They took my belt."
"Really? Oh shit," Margot said. "Well, I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. But anyway, the moment I saw him on top of you, I ran at him and socked him silly. He flew over the couch. I didn't even realize he had taken your mask until... You know..."
Erin was sitting upright now, caressing her sore wrists. She gulped. "He didn't see my face, did he?"
Margot shook her head. "I'm not sure. But I don't think so. I think I got him just your mask was coming off." She peered over the couch. "Santa?" she called out. "You doing okay?"
There was a pause, a few stray noises, and then, a low, plain voice. "Yeah," Santa said. "I think I knocked him out."
Margot stood up to take a better look. "Yep," she said. "He is out cold. Did you get the Blue Lynx's mask?"
"Yeah," Santa replied. "Take it."
Margot extended her arm over the couch. "Alright. No peeking, now."
Santa chuckled. "Are you kidding me? Santa? Peeking? I wouldn't dare."
Margot took the mask from Santa's gloved hand and passed it to Erin. Erin pushed her hair back and pressed the mask to her face, feeling a surge of confidence as she re-assumed the role of the Blue Lynx, unbound, ungagged, and ready to go.
"I really don't know how to thank the both of you," Erin said, brushing herself off as she climbed to her feet. "But, umm, did either of you happen to see where my belt went?"
"It's here, Blue Lynx," a voice declared from across the room. Erin, Margot, and Santa looked up. Standing in the doorway, clad in her weirdly sexy Mrs. Claus outfit, and flanked by at least eight elves, was Sunny, twirling a white utility belt on her raised index finger.
"Sunny!" Erin yelled. The sight of her foe put her in an automatic fighting pose. "Give that back, or I swear, you're getting nothing for Christmas."
Sunny laughed. "That's pretty funny, Blue! But I'm not giving you this belt back. I worked too hard for it. Have you ever put on a Christmas pageant? It's exhausting."
Erin stamped her foot. No. It was SHE who was exhausted. It was SHE who had been embarrassed in front of crowd of people. It was SHE who had been bound for hours, who had spent time in the complete darkness of a sealed package, who had to endure both Hammerson's come-ons AND nearly being unmasked. It was the Blue Lynx who had had a rough day-- and now, she was furious.
"I'm tired of talking!" Erin cried. "You guys ready?"
She turned to look at Margot. Margot nodded.
She turned to look at Santa. Santa shrugged.
"I don't know, Blue Lynx," he muttered. "You're asking me to beat up elves? That doesn't seem right."
"These aren't your kind of elves, Santa," Erin said. "They're working for Sunny, who works for Hammerson. They're little bastards, all of them. If you want to save Christmas, you have to take them down."
"Well, okay," Santa said.
"Okay," Erin agreed.
And with a boisterous scream, the Blue Lynx, the Black Bobcat, and Santa Claus stormed across the ornate living room, hungry to do battle with a twisted Mrs. Claus and her team of evil elves.
On to Chapter Seven
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