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"... and why exactly did you choose me," Bethany asked the man sitting across from her, "there are plenty of people who actually specialize in this sort of thing, right?"

"I was told you would be..." He paused only briefly and shuffled his hands across the table nervously, "...discreet. This isn't a -normal- missing persons case."

"By that you mean your wife is a super?"

"Yes," the man admitted, "Lesser known, of course. If she were famous there'd be no shortage of people, super-powered or not, looking for her."

The desperation was painted across his face. Mr. Roberto Mendoza, a well dressed Hispanic man with at least enough money to hire detective Bethany Hunter arrived at the restaurant fifteen minutes before the meeting time. Of course, Bethany arrived thirty minutes prior, ever vigilant and ready for anything. Bethany could tell the man was hurting and in desperate need of assistance, her assistance.

"According to you, Mr. Mendoza, you know who took your wife?" Bethany did seem suspicious of this fact and the fact that the police didn't seem to take the man's claims seriously. Of course he couldn't tell the police, or anyone else, about his wife's secret identity. Still, the police normally took these types of matters more seriously unless...

...they were paid not to look too hard.

"I don't -know them- persona-"

"Them?" Bethany interrupted, "There was more than one abductor?"

"At least two of them," Roberto hung his head, "Dressed like, shit I don't know, cat women?"

"Cat women?" Bethany sighed, "Do you know how many people that aren't named Catwoman or Cheetah run around in catsuits? What's your wife's name, her heroine name?"

Roberto whispered, "Libertas. And the police think she's run off with a boyfriend. She's been gone for almost two weeks and they've barely done a thing besides tear up my house looking for 'clues'."

Bethany always found it amusing that the police never considered a woman might run away with another woman, though she kept a stoic face instead of musing out loud, "Her powers?"

"She's strong, fast, wears an American flag style costume."

Bethany tapped away on her Ipad and nodded along, "How do you know cat women took her?"

The man slowly pulled an IPhone from his pocket, "I was looking over security footage from our house the night she went missing and one of the cameras caught - well. I couldn't show this to the police."

The high quality recording showed a van parked in one of the wealthier neighborhoods in the city; the time stamp showed 2:04 a.m. nearly two weeks prior. The back of the van opened and two women wearing nearly identical costumes appeared and pointed a device towards the camera. Moments later the video cut out completely.

"That's some tech they have." Bethany noted, "Cat women indeed."

"My wife didn't come home from patrol that night. I think they took her right outside the house and I didn't hear anything. Nothing."

Mr. Mendoza looked as if he might cry.

"This isn't your fault Roberto. I'll find out what happened to your wife, Mr. Mendoza and if I can bring her home, I will."

----------------------------

In only three days Bethany Hunter, private detective, had in fact found the gang responsible for the abduction of Roberto Mendoza's wife, Yennifer a.k.a. Libertas. Of course, a gang of feline costumed villainesses named The Pussies and under the command of the notorious Black Leopard were hard to miss by any estimation. Even worse was the revelation that Black Leopard and The Pussies were involved in a number of heroine kidnappings, extortion and blackmailing schemes, and there were even rumors among the criminal underground that Black Leopard was in the slavery business. This didn't bode well for Libertas and Bethany spent the next few days treading carefully in Pussy territory.

Dumb luck, however, would be Bethany's undoing.

Bethany awoke with a searing pain in the back of her skull and her last memory was of parking her car in the parking garage beneath the hotel she'd made home over the past week. She remembered opening the car door then nothing.

"I'm telling you, that's Nocturne! Look at her!" One of the catsuit-clad women exclaimed. Dressed all in white she looked more like a cartoon character than a serious villain.

"Nocturne is taller you idiot, and is way more muscular! Look, she's flabby!" One of the other women pointed. Her costume looked suspiciously like Cheetah's except for the mask and pointy metal ears, "Besides, she's some kind of private investigator and has a concealed weapon permit. Nocturne doesn't need a gun. Plus... flabby, hello?"

"Nnnnmmpppphhh!" Bethany protested, less about actually being captured and stripped half naked and more about being called flabby, "Ffffnnpppmmpphhh!"

"Yeah, dumbass. You couldn't'uv snuck up on the Mistress of the Night. No one can, she's a shadow! This... whatever... is... whatever!" The red headed Pussy sniggered, "She's like, whatever!"

"Let's get Blackie, she'll settle this," The white haired woman pushed the blonde woman, "You always think I'm wrong and I'm the smartest one here! I was right about Libertas and we made a lot of money, didn't we?"

"Look, she's obviously -not- a heroine and she's certainly not Nocturne," The red head demanded, "Buuuuuuut... Blackie doesn't need to know we grabbed some stupid private investigator, right? Maybe we can just... you know... for the night? Then we'll, you know, let her go or ransom her back or something."

The three women giggled in unison.

"We can pretend she's Nocturne, right?" The blonde asked, "Or maybe we can pretend she's Amazon Arrow. Remember when Curia-"

"Nmmmphhhh!" Bethany howled into the gag. Looking around the room then down at the state of her dress, torn nylons and all, the private detective protested once more, "Nmmmppfff!"

"Okay, okay. Besides, what Blackie doesn't know won't hurt us!" The white haired Pussy smiled as she pulled a trunk of 'goodies' out from under the large and uncomfortable looking bed. "Tonight she's Nocturne, tomorrow she can go back to being ... whatever her name is!"

----------------

To be continued?

----------------

The image and accompanying story are 's entry for the 2017 Detective Contest.

Black Leopard and the pussies belong to

Description
"... and why exactly did you choose me," Bethany asked the man sitting across from her, "there are plenty of people who actually specialize in this sort of thing, right?"

"I was told you would be..." He paused only briefly and shuffled his hands across the table nervously, "...discreet. This isn't a -normal- missing persons case."

"By that you mean your wife is a super?"

"Yes," the man admitted, "Lesser known, of course. If she were famous there'd be no shortage of people, super-powered or not, looking for her."

The desperation was painted across his face. Mr. Roberto Mendoza, a well dressed Hispanic man with at least enough money to hire detective Bethany Hunter arrived at the restaurant fifteen minutes before the meeting time. Of course, Bethany arrived thirty minutes prior, ever vigilant and ready for anything. Bethany could tell the man was hurting and in desperate need of assistance, her assistance.

"According to you, Mr. Mendoza, you know who took your wife?" Bethany did seem suspicious of this fact and the fact that the police didn't seem to take the man's claims seriously. Of course he couldn't tell the police, or anyone else, about his wife's secret identity. Still, the police normally took these types of matters more seriously unless...

...they were paid not to look too hard.

"I don't -know them- persona-"

"Them?" Bethany interrupted, "There was more than one abductor?"

"At least two of them," Roberto hung his head, "Dressed like, shit I don't know, cat women?"

"Cat women?" Bethany sighed, "Do you know how many people that aren't named Catwoman or Cheetah run around in catsuits? What's your wife's name, her heroine name?"

Roberto whispered, "Libertas. And the police think she's run off with a boyfriend. She's been gone for almost two weeks and they've barely done a thing besides tear up my house looking for 'clues'."

Bethany always found it amusing that the police never considered a woman might run away with another woman, though she kept a stoic face instead of musing out loud, "Her powers?"

"She's strong, fast, wears an American flag style costume."

Bethany tapped away on her Ipad and nodded along, "How do you know cat women took her?"

The man slowly pulled an IPhone from his pocket, "I was looking over security footage from our house the night she went missing and one of the cameras caught - well. I couldn't show this to the police."

The high quality recording showed a van parked in one of the wealthier neighborhoods in the city; the time stamp showed 2:04 a.m. nearly two weeks prior. The back of the van opened and two women wearing nearly identical costumes appeared and pointed a device towards the camera. Moments later the video cut out completely.

"That's some tech they have." Bethany noted, "Cat women indeed."

"My wife didn't come home from patrol that night. I think they took her right outside the house and I didn't hear anything. Nothing."

Mr. Mendoza looked as if he might cry.

"This isn't your fault Roberto. I'll find out what happened to your wife, Mr. Mendoza and if I can bring her home, I will."

----------------------------

In only three days Bethany Hunter, private detective, had in fact found the gang responsible for the abduction of Roberto Mendoza's wife, Yennifer a.k.a. Libertas. Of course, a gang of feline costumed villainesses named The Pussies and under the command of the notorious Black Leopard were hard to miss by any estimation. Even worse was the revelation that Black Leopard and The Pussies were involved in a number of heroine kidnappings, extortion and blackmailing schemes, and there were even rumors among the criminal underground that Black Leopard was in the slavery business. This didn't bode well for Libertas and Bethany spent the next few days treading carefully in Pussy territory.

Dumb luck, however, would be Bethany's undoing.

Bethany awoke with a searing pain in the back of her skull and her last memory was of parking her car in the parking garage beneath the hotel she'd made home over the past week. She remembered opening the car door then nothing.

"I'm telling you, that's Nocturne! Look at her!" One of the catsuit-clad women exclaimed. Dressed all in white she looked more like a cartoon character than a serious villain.

"Nocturne is taller you idiot, and is way more muscular! Look, she's flabby!" One of the other women pointed. Her costume looked suspiciously like Cheetah's except for the mask and pointy metal ears, "Besides, she's some kind of private investigator and has a concealed weapon permit. Nocturne doesn't need a gun. Plus... flabby, hello?"

"Nnnnmmpppphhh!" Bethany protested, less about actually being captured and stripped half naked and more about being called flabby, "Ffffnnpppmmpphhh!"

"Yeah, dumbass. You couldn't'uv snuck up on the Mistress of the Night. No one can, she's a shadow! This... whatever... is... whatever!" The red headed Pussy sniggered, "She's like, whatever!"

"Let's get Blackie, she'll settle this," The white haired woman pushed the blonde woman, "You always think I'm wrong and I'm the smartest one here! I was right about Libertas and we made a lot of money, didn't we?"

"Look, she's obviously -not- a heroine and she's certainly not Nocturne," The red head demanded, "Buuuuuuut... Blackie doesn't need to know we grabbed some stupid private investigator, right? Maybe we can just... you know... for the night? Then we'll, you know, let her go or ransom her back or something."

The three women giggled in unison.

"We can pretend she's Nocturne, right?" The blonde asked, "Or maybe we can pretend she's Amazon Arrow. Remember when Curia-"

"Nmmmphhhh!" Bethany howled into the gag. Looking around the room then down at the state of her dress, torn nylons and all, the private detective protested once more, "Nmmmppfff!"

"Okay, okay. Besides, what Blackie doesn't know won't hurt us!" The white haired Pussy smiled as she pulled a trunk of 'goodies' out from under the large and uncomfortable looking bed. "Tonight she's Nocturne, tomorrow she can go back to being ... whatever her name is!"

----------------

To be continued?

----------------

The image and accompanying story are 's entry for the 2017 Detective Contest.

Black Leopard and the pussies belong to