Unmasked

The cops in the front seat looked nervous. Audrey "Phantasma" North smirked from beneath her black and purple mask. They had arrested her and were hauling her downtown and still they were skittish. They were at least a little smarter than they looked, then. They should be afraid of her.

"Hey fellas, can we stop for some donuts?" she asked, leaning forward so that the purple pigtails of her wig bounced cheerily. "I'm in the mood for a custard filled one."

"Sit down and be quiet," one of them snapped, though his knuckles were white on the steering wheel. Audrey pouted.

"Oh come on. Can't a girl get one last treat before she's locked up?"

"I said be quiet."

"Say please."

Both officers stayed silent and did their best to ignore her, though the passenger muttered that they probably should have been transporting her in an armored truck instead of a squad car.

"We didn't have time for that," the driver griped. Audrey stretched out in the backseat, tapping her booted foot on the window just to annoy them further. There were already reporters lining up outside the police department, so she was escorted in the back and placed in an interrogation room. She glanced toward the two-way mirror and waved her cuffed hands. She expected to be kept waiting for an hour or more while they tried to make her squirm, but it was barely twenty minutes before the chief of police himself appeared, two armed officers flanking him.

"The press is going wild," he said, sitting down across from her. "The elusive Phantasma finally behind bars."

"Technically I'm not behind bars yet," she pointed out. "And I notice you haven't tried to identify me yet, either. What's the matter? Afraid I'll bite?"

She bared her teeth for emphasis and the chief's lips turned down, unamused.

"I don't bite too hard," Audrey went on. "I'll only draw a little blood, Chief Larsen, I promise. You might find that you're into it."

"It's already known that you're in custody," he said irritably. "We'll release your real identity soon enough. Officers Fry and Donaldson are here to remove your mask."

"Oooh, we're gonna have a three-way. Kinky. Well come on boys, what are you waiting for?"

They came forward reluctantly, clearly waiting for her to fly into a psychotic rage. They were probably right about the psychotic part, but she wasn't in a rage. This was exactly where she had planned to end up. She just continued to smile sweetly, even when the camera on the table started to smoke and melt. Then the one on the wall exploded, and commotion broke out in the hall. People were yelling and cursing as Audrey reached out with her mind and tapped into every piece of tech in the building. A surge rushed through the wiring, exploding light bulbs; computers and phones shut off, exploded, and began erasing files. Even the microwave and vending machine in the break room went berserk.

"What the hell?" Chief Larsen shouted. Audrey took advantage of the distraction to summon a tiny device that was tucked beneath her wig. The small metal legs scurried down to her wrists, making quick work of her handcuffs. Audrey had cuffed the chief to the table and knocked out the two officers in the space of a breath. With all the cameras out of commission and the entire department in a panic it wasn't difficult for Audrey to slip out of the interrogation room and sidle casually back toward the door the officers had snuck her in through.

A ruffled rookie spotted her and froze, hand resting on the gun in his holster. He seemed uncertain of what to do. Audrey winked and blew him a kiss before kicking the gun from his grip and shattering his wrist. She strolled out the back door, whistling a jaunty tune. Her neck tingled as she felt a presence close by and she spun and dodged, narrowly missing a sheet of ice that coated the ground where she'd just been standing.

"Freeze," a voice said casually. Audrey pursed her lips as a tall man dressed in blue and silver stepped out of the shadows.

"I'd rather not, Snowflake," Audrey replied.

"Look, we really don't have to do this the hard way-OOMPH."

Audrey darted forward, skidding across the patch of ice and ramming her fist into his gut.

"I like the hard way," she told him with a grin.

"Yeah, I can see that," he wheezed. He froze her fist as she geared up for another punch, and she cursed; swinging up her free fist to sock him in the face.

"You're really bad at this hero thing, Snowflake," Audrey remarked. "Afraid to hit a girl or what?"

"I believe in taking the high road," he said, wiping blood off his face. "Violence only leads to more violence, et cetera, so on and so forth."

Audrey laughed. "So you're even stupider than you look."

"Brains can take down brawn, Madame Phantasma."

"True. But unfortunately for you, you apparently lack brains so I'm not sure what you're driving at."

She smacked her ice covered hand on the wall to shatter the glass. Then she feinted left, pretending she was going to punch him again. As he raised his hands to freeze her attempt she dropped and slid, taking his legs out from under him. They grappled and skidded on the ice for a few moments until he got her wrists pinned and started to freeze them over.

"Any more tricks up your sleeve?" he asked.

"Just one." She focused her energy on the tiny earpiece in his left ear and a piercing, static-filled shriek sounded out of it. He flinched and cursed loudly, flailing back and trying to rip the earpiece free. Audrey was on her feet in a breath.

"Sweet dreams, Snowflake." She punched him twice in the face and delivered a swift kick to his chest, sending him sprawling across his own ice. Then she bolted out into the street, hacking a car and sending it speeding off in the opposite direction so everyone would think that's the way she had gone. She turned her coat inside-out and buttoned it up so that it looked like a simple black pea coat, and stuffed her mask and wig into the hidden inner pocket.

Then Phantasma sauntered, unconcerned, past the crowd of reporters scrambling in front of the police department and vanished in the night.