While Alex rode off on his stallion, Riley cat, Budge, purred like a motor as he sat on his lap.
Everyone needed a cat, especially one as cute as Budge. Riley had only gotten a cat because they were so aloof and mysterious, the exact kind of attitude that Riley himself wanted to display. Every good villain needed a faithful companion. Some chose dogs, Riley wanted Budge.
He scratched behind Budge's ear as he watched the violence play out on the monitors. The other girl – Yvonne? – was lying prostrate on the floor in McManace's lab. She was out cold, her eyes closed and everything, a few stray strands of hair flopped over her lax face. Then, there was Debbie. The true bait. That one was putting up a hell of a fight, and Riley found himself almost rooting for her. Unfortunately, he needed her to fail.
So when Robespierre and John the Executioner had been let loose, it was only a matter of time. He leaned back, slightly disturbing Budge. Budge meowed, looking up at Riley, and then at the screen. The cat stood up in Riley's lap and watched with him. Riley raised an eyebrow, watching the cat follow along as Debbie and the cyborgs raced from one screen to another. He knew that cats were smart, but sometimes Budge displayed just a little too much intelligence. Riley hoped that Budge was just an exceptionally smart animal.
About a half hour later, the doors to Riley's lair slid open, revealing Robespierre and John the Executioner. Robespierre's eyes had returned to their normal red, and John the Executioner had a massive dent in the back of his head from where he had taken a hit. Riley had had to reboot him to get him to function properly. They each held one of the women. Robespierre held Debbie, and John the Executioner held Yvonne.
Riley swiveled around in his massive silver chair and eyed them. Both women had been knocked unconscious and Debbie was still wrapped up in the metal fiber Riley had invented for just such an occasion as this. He grinned deviously.
"Excellent work," he told the cyborgs. "Tie them up. Make sure they can't look at one another."
The two cyborgs did as he commanded. They had no choice, but Riley liked to pretend that they did. Robespierre cut Debbie free of the metal fiber – she was beginning to go a pale purple from lack of circulation, and Riley needed her alive – and they sat the two women back to back. Once they were tied up, this time with a softer but equally strong fiber rope, Riley clapped his hands and laughed.
"This is perfect," he said. "Once Alex Ambrose learns that we have the woman he loves most, along with her friend, he will surely come to save them!"
He stood up, sending Budge the cat tumbling to the floor. The cat landed on his feet, as cats do, and looked up at his owner, flicking his tail in agitation. Then, she sat down, and began to groom himself, purring as he did so.
Riley walked in a slow circle around the two women. Debbie, the girlfriend, had a massive bruise forming on the underside of her face and around her chin. That was good. There were also scars up her neck and a few along her arms, peeking out from gaps in the fiber.
He got a good look at the other one. She was sitting with her head hanging low. She also had several bruises forming, especially around her neck. He could make out the individual bruises where Robespierre's fingers had pressed into the skin. At least they would be in rough shape for when Ambrose finally made his appearance.
"You've both done excellent work," he said to the cyborgs. "If Ambrose takes any longer to respond, I might let you have a little more fun with these two."
"As you wish, Master," they said in unison.
"Although," Riley said as a thought occurred to him. "They've seen them, what did they call them? I think man-babies. Well, we're going to need more eggs soon enough. And incubators."
He turned to the two women with a dark, malicious grin.
"Once I defeat Ambrose," he said darkly, "his girlfriend can be of assistance to me. Whether she likes it or not."
"And the other one, Master?" asked Robespierre.
"Hm?" Riley said, turning his attention to Yvonne. "Oh, she can too, I suppose. Come along, robot boys, I want to show you something."
The two cyborgs looked at each other.
"The captives will be unguarded," said Robespierre.
Riley stopped mid-stride and looked at the cyborg. He went back and forth on whether or not he regretted giving his artificial intelligence and cyborgs the capacity to reason.
"Where are they going to go?" he asked, gesturing at the enclosed room. They were miles underground in a tower that extended far beneath the surface of the Earth. There were no windows, and the only entrance and exit was a single door. The women were not going anywhere.
The doors slid open, and the two cyborgs followed their master out.
*******
After his owner left, Budge the cat trotted up to the two unconscious humans. His little paws pap-pap-papped against the hard floor of his human's room. He looked up at them, then chirped in confusion, and gave them a cursory sniff. The two humans, they were female, certainly smelled okay, they smelled like they might even be nice. The really thick string smelled really good, too, almost like it would be a challenge. He salivated and started nibbling at the rope, scratching at it with his paw, and giving it several sharp tugs. It gave way a little in his mouth, but not enough. He quickly lost interest in it.
He circled them cautiously just to be safe, then sat down in front of one of them and began grooming himself. He stopped when he noticed that one of the humans was moving. He looked up, paw halfway to his face, and saw her open her eyes.
*******
Yvonne swore to herself that she would never drink again. Her head throbbed, her mouth was dry, and most of all she wanted to throw up. Her entire body felt rigid and battered, as if she had been thrown against a wall. Even her neck was hurting. She tried to swallow a couple of times, only to be met with a sharp pain. She gasped weakly and tried to stand up.
She couldn't. Something was blocking her. She looked down and saw a thick rope wrapped tightly around her body, pinning her arms to her sides and binding her legs together. Behind her, she could feel something solid. It felt like a wall, but she could feel motion.
A sickly feeling settled in her stomach.
"Debbie?" she whispered. "Debbie? Is that you?"
No answer. Yvonne tried to look over her shoulder, and all she could see was dark hair.
There was no way of knowing who that was behind her.
Oh my god, she thought, scared.
Then she remembered everything that had happened in the last… had it been an hour? Two? Could it have even been a day? Time meant nothing anymore. Her head swam as she tried to focus. All she wanted right then and there was a tall drink of water.
"Debbie?" she tried again, her voice hoarse. "Debbie, if you're awake, please answer me."
Again, there was no reply. Yvonne hung her head in shame. She had promised herself that she would protect Debbie. If not out of friendship, but for Alex. Alex would never love Yvonne, but he would always love Debbie, and Yvonne wanted Alex to be happy. He would be happy if Debbie was returned to him, safe and sound, and Yvonne would have his trust, and a deeper bond with him as a result.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, even though nobody was listening. "I thought I could save you. I know we made up and everything, but I still feel so bad for treating you the way I did. You and Alex are amazing together. I just want what you both have."
A single tear formed in the corner of her eye, and she blinked it away. Yvonne was dangerously dehydrated. She couldn't waste water on tears!
She jolted when something jumped on her outstretched legs. She looked down and saw a sleek brown cat with a bright blue collar staring up at her. The nametag read "Budge."
"Hello?" she said to the cat.
[SFX: cute kitty meow]
"Whoa!" Yvonne said, leaning forward as much as she could. "Can you understand me?"
The cat started purring and slowly blinked at her.
"Poor baby," she said. "Did Riley kidnap you? Or were you a human he turned into a cat?"
Budge the cat just looked at her, still purring. Yvonne began to wonder if she was hallucinating, or if she had misread the cat's meow.
She seemed to get her answer when Budge started grooming himself.
"You seem like such a good kitty," she said. "I'm sorry you're trapped here with that awful, evil man. You deserve an owner who doesn't want to destroy the world."
Budge stopped grooming himself and began rubbing up against Yvonne's stomach. At that moment, Yvonne knew it was hopeless. If she was lucky, Riley would have his cyborgs beat her to death and she wouldn't have to see the world end. If she was unlucky…well, best not to think about that.
She felt a slight tugging on the rope right where Budge had been rubbing his head. She looked down and saw that he was trying to bite it. An idea formed.
"That's a good kitty," she said in a cutesy voice. "Good kitty-kitty. Biting the rope that mean man used to tie us up."
Budge stopped biting and looked up at her, purring lightly, then he jumped off her lap and trotted away, tail high in the air. He went over to the monitors and jumped up on the silver chair, then proceeded to… was the cat watching the monitors as if he were watching television?
No! Yvonne thought, jaw dropping. She threw her head back and sighed, frustrated.
She felt something stir behind her, then she heard a deep-throated groan.
"Oh my god," Debbie said groggily. "What the hell was I drinking last night?"
Yvonne gave a brief "ha!" as Debbie woke up. Debbie was alive! Yvonne hadn't failed after all! Well, they were both captured, but Yvonne would take the win where she could get it. She felt Debbie struggle to turn around.
"Yvonne?" she asked, in a rough voice. "Oh, thank goodness. You're alive. I'm so sorry! I abandoned you!"
"Don't worry about it," Yvonne said. "We're alive, and that's what matters."
"I guess you're right," Debbie said after a brief pause. "Where are we?"
"Riley's stupid lair," Yvonne said, grimacing. "He doesn't seem to be here. Can you see him on your side of the room?"
"Nope," Debbie said, shaking her head. "I take it you can't see him?"
"Double nope," Yvonne responded. "I don't know where he is, or if he's even around."
"We need to get out of here," Debbie said. "I can see the monitors where I am. Oh my god, a kitty! I don't know how close Riley is, but he's in a room with a guy tied to a huge wheel with knives sticking out of it. There are- oh my god, it's Robespierre! Robespierre and the Executioner are with him!"
Yvonne felt Debbie tug desperately at the ropes.
"We're tied up tight," Yvonne said, pushing at her restraints. Trying to look over her shoulder, she said, "I don't know what this fiber is, but we need to find a way to break it."
Yvonne growled, then tilted her head back.
What would Alex do? She thought.
Alex would probably break down the door, throw a few hundred punches, break the monitors, kill Riley, then untie the women, and they would all leave knowing that Riley had been thwarted. Unfortunately, Debbie and Yvonne were stuck.
Suddenly, Yvonne felt a tugging right where her wrist met the floor. The whole of her arm was cramping uncomfortably. She looked down and saw Budge patting at her with his paw.
"What's happening?" Debbie asked. "Is that the cat?"
"Yeah," Yvonne said, surprised. "Holy moly. I don't know how, but I think he's trying to untie us!"
"What?" Debbie asked in a shrill voice. "Oh wow, that is one smart cat!"
"I know!" Yvonne said, chuckled. She paused. "We need to take him with us."
"Agreed."
They both sat as still as possible while Budge worked the knot. It took him a couple of tries but he started gnawing at it with his teeth. Yvonne's heart soared as the cat started to make some real progress chewing the rope. With every nibble, it frayed a little more, and it began to come loose.
[SFX: low hiss, doors sliding open]
A short sharp shock struck Yvonne and Debbie. They both screamed in pain as the electrical shock bit into their skin. The bruises on Yvonne's neck pulsed.
Budge yowled and jumped back from the women, having been mid-chew when the shock started. He started running around, panicked, then found a safe spot under the large silver chair and made himself into a tight little ball, eyes fixated on the door.
She looked down at the fiber. Whatever it was, it acted like an electrical conductor. She would have to tell Alex about it, if she and Debbie made it out alive.
Feeling jittery, Yvonne looked up at the sliding door.
"What's happening?" Debbie asked in a tight voice. "Oh my god. One of the monitors. It's the hallway outside this room. I think…"
She trailed off, although Yvonne did not need her to finish that sentence. She knew exactly who was standing in the hallway. She just didn't want to believe it. She wanted it to be Alex, but that was too much to hope for.
Steam poured through the gaps under and between the door, and for a brief moment Yvonne thought that it was smoke. She vaguely remembered seeing Robespierre belch a great plume of white fire before she had completely lost consciousness.
As the door opened fully, a thick cloud of steam poured through, lending a dramatic flair. A tall, dark silhouette of a man stood out against the cloud of steam, and he was flanked by two other silhouettes. Riley stepped out of the cloud, trailing steam behind him.
Robespierre and the Executioner stepped out from behind him, also trailing steam. Their glowing red eyes were fixed on the two women, and the cat.
Riley gave the women a sinister grin when he saw Yvonne's terrified face.
"Ah," he said. "You're both awake. Now the fun can begin."