I grunted as I stretched the kinks out of my back. The hot bath had done wonders for soothing my sore muscles, and I winced as more knots became unloosed as two of my devoted servants rubbed scented oils into my skin. "You're going to feel all those bruises tomorrow," Anik said.
I rolled my eyes. "I know I am," I said crossly. "Now hush up and leave me be,"
Of course, they knew I wasn't mad at them, but I was sore, and I desired the embrace of a silk robe to soothe the last stresses from my skin. Once Anik and Kaskae had finished their work, they helped me into an indigo robe of lustrous silk, brushed my hair until it was gleaming almost as brightly as the robe, and left me to ponder today's events.
As usual, Mister Impossible Sentinel had thwomped me from one end of Trafalgar Square to the other, after my latest plan to disarm his extensive superhero alliance had come unstuck after one of my hapless minions had said the wrong thing to the wrong person, thus granting Mister Impossible Sentinel the opening he needed to take me down and give me a well-deserved drubbing. I admitted full fault in that encounter, having grown just a little bit careless.
But as I sat in my favourite armchair, a cup of hot tea in one hand and a good book in my lap, I let my mind go back to our fight. Mister Impossible Sentinel had been ruthless as usual, but for some reason, the edge had been blunted from his crazy style. He'd made several rookie errors during our fight, errors which would have cost him his life had I not been so startled over his seeming incompetence.
In fact, I would almost have said that his mind was elsewhere, thus prompting his shoddy performance and appalling sloppiness.
I wasn't one to brood too much on the foibles of my nemeses, but Mister Impossible Sentinel and I had a history, and I'd grown to admire him, even after getting my hindquarters soundly trounced. He had a fighting style that bordered on insane, and he always adapted to my latest moves and tricks, somehow staying one step ahead of me.
Therefore, in order to recapture that brilliance I so admired, I knew I'd have to get to the bottom of his unusual lapse in judgement.
And it wouldn't be hard. As everyone knew, Mister Impossible Sentinel was also known as Gilbert Daniell, an accountant who worked for Pixy Enterprises, one of London's largest law firms. It was, of course, a front for his superhero enterprise, but only his superhero friends (and I) knew the real purpose behind the bizarre name. Of course, he didn't know I knew his civilian identity, and since he didn't know mine either, it was a perfect way to get to the bottom of his troubles.
Of course, it was all purely professional. I certainly wasn't interested in the man behind the flashy red and silver costume. I just wanted my nemesis back to his brilliant best.
With that thought in mind, I settled down for some serious planning. I had to go about this carefully, and approach in a purely professional manner. Gilbert Daniell didn't know Eva Destruction was in fact Llian Rhees, a socialite with friends in high places, and who always managed to be in the right place at the right time. He also didn't know most of my associates were in fact my subordinates, nor did he know my social connections were designed to recruit more hands to my cause so I could finally bring Mister Impossible Sentinel down once and for all.
But he did know of Llian Rhees, and I knew he admired her. So I already had an opening.
It was simply a matter of arranging a social event in which Gilbert Daniell and Llian Rhees could meet and talk.
And I already had the perfect event in mind.
All I had to do was arrange for an invitation to be delivered to Gilbert's place of employment. From there, it would be a simple matter to arrange for a little private time so I could get to know the man under the costume, and work out just what the hell was going on with him.
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