Her real name was not, of course the Blue Avenger. Her parents had named her Kyla Smith, giving her an exotic first name to make up for her nondescript surname. She had chosen her crimefighting name because to her it symbolized the vengeance that was due a society preyed upon by criminals. She had been a victim of sorts herself, having lost her favorite aunt to a murderer in a bungled burglary. It had not satisfied her that the culprit had been apprehended, as a clever lawyer had managed to confuse the jury and get the felon off without so much as a slap on the wrist. The advent of her idols, the Jade Dragon and the Scarlet Falcon, had shown her another form of justice that seemed much more certain.

She had been following the adventures of the Jade Dragon and Scarlet Falcon for months and had finally gotten up the nerve to approach them. But suddenly her two idols had disappeared. It seemed too much of a coincidence. She could not imagine that the two crimefighters had simply decided to change their routine. Something sinister must have happened to them. And so she used her talent to investigate.

Kyla actually possessed two talents. One was purely physical. She was an expert gymnast. Her rather unimaginative parents had encouraged her in this unusual activity and she had taken it to the limit that any female could in the era of the 1920s. Her mother and father had hoped that her amazing ability as a gymnast might lead to a career in film or as a circus performer. But these goals did not appeal to the young girl. As a result, she had left home at age fifteen and had managed to find a job as a servant with a wealthy family. The work hours were long, but she was given a room of her own in a turret near the top of her employer’s home. She was expected to remain there while in the service of her employer. However, her second talent enabled her to leave whenever she chose.

She had discovered her mystic ability quite by accident while still a child. Like any child she sometimes found it convenient to keep out of her parents’ sight. She had found that hiding from her parents was remarkably easy; too easy. And the same experience was repeated when she played games of hide and seek with her playmates. Kyla slowly realized that no one could find her when she did not want to be found. It eventually dawned on the young girl that there was something special about her, that she had some sort of special ability to prevent people from finding her or even seeing her under normal circumstances. As she grew older she realized that her seemingly magical gift was triggered by her own mind. She had the ability to obscure people’s minds so that they simply did not see her. She could do it by a simple effort of will.

She also found that there was a limitation to her powers. When she was very young she could only hide from one person at a time. As she matured she was able to increase the number of people she could control. She was now up to six, but it took considerable concentration to deal with that many. As a result, she preferred to use natural cover as much as possible.

By moving among the thugs guarding Crunch’s HQ she was able to clear up the mystery of the two missing heroines. Crunch’s men liked to talk and they had let drop enough information in casual conversation for Kyla to determine that the Jade Dragon and Scarlet Falcon had been captured and imprisoned by the evil crimelord. She was also able to learn that the two women were being subjected to the most brutal and humiliating indignities at the hands of Crunch and his henchmen. If they were to be saved it would be up to the Blue Avenger to find and free them. And so, using her powers, Kyla clouded the minds of the guards at the doorway and entered Crunch’s lair.

* * *

The Jade Dragon struggled helplessly in her bonds as Crunch’s henchman thrust into her. She was sprawled on her back on one end of a long table. At the other end Suzi was spread out in a similar position. Each woman’s wrists were handcuffed to those of the other woman. Their nipple rings were linked to light chains that were attached to the ceiling, making any sudden movement painful and potentially damaging. Ropes tied just above each of their knees pulled their legs apart, making them extremely vulnerable to rape.

Suzi was being dealt with in a similar manner with another of Crunch’s thugs plunging in and out of her. The ordeal of the two women had begun several hours earlier when they had been led from their cell and brought to the room where they had been raped the previous day. The lower part of their bodies projected beyond the end of the table giving their rapists easy access to their sex organs. Crunch and Brick had traded victims, with Crunch renewing his acquaintance with Lin and Brick being given the honor of being the first of Crunch’s men to take Suzi. As usual both men had taken their time, raping each of the hapless heroines thoroughly before giving way to their henchmen. After that a procession of Crunch’s men had taken their turns with the two women. Lin and Suzi had been raped again and again.

Both women were on the verge of complete exhaustion. They had now been repeatedly raped for over four hours. Lin knew that Crunch intended to break them. Their rape was to continue around the clock until a lack of food, water, and the sheer brutality of the violence visited upon them resulted in their mental collapse.

The two women were very near that collapse now. Each of them was covered in sweat and sperm, and the continued thrusting into their bodies of one man after another had jerked painfully on the nipple rings. Small rivulets of blood dripped from each of their torn areolas. The only answer was for them to remain perfectly still, but such a solution was not really possible with the painful and continual intrusion of Crunch’s men into their sex organs.

Suzi and Lin had managed to clasp hands. It was not much, but it was a way of maintaining contact as their ordeal continued. Whenever one of the women’s heavy breathing or forced groans indicated she was experiencing pain that was more severe than usual the other would give her a comforting squeeze.

Suzi finally stopped moving. She was too debilitated to offer any resistance, but simply lay there in a sort of semi-coma while the rape continued. Lin. Being a little stronger than her young friend continued her fight, but she too was on the point of physical collapse. She could not hold out much longer.

* * *

The Blue Avenger crept through the halls of Crunch’s HQ. Strangely, there were very few people about. She wondered about this as she moved deeper and deeper into the lair of the crimelord. As she neared the center of the building she detected a low murmur. It sounded like many people talking or chanting. She walked toward the sound and found that it was coming from behind a door almost in the middle of Crunch’s hideout. There was considerable more activity here, with many men coming and going. Kyla had to exercise her power almost continually to avoid being spotted.

"This is getting dangerous," Kyla thought. "There are too many men here for me to deceive. Still, I need to find out what is in that room. There must be a reason for such heavy activity."

Kyla backed down a side hallway. The light was poorer there, making it easier for her to hide. "What I need is a diversion," she thought. Instinctively she knew that the heavily frequented room was where she should go, but she needed to find a way to lure most of Crunch’s men away from it. She remembered the garage doors on the outside of the building. "There must be an indoor garage somewhere in the building. That may be an answer to my problem."

Kyla moved away from the center of the building looking for access to the garage. She eventually came across a large metal door that seemed promising. Pushing it open she found herself in the garage. There were several cars and a number of trucks parked in the large interior space. In addition, there were hundreds of wooden crates stacked all over the floor. This was obviously the loading area for Crunch’s bootlegging operation. Most of the crates probably contained alcohol of some sort from Crunch's illegal distillery. The garage seemed almost deserted, with only a few men halfheartedly loading a truck. It was easy for Kyla to make herself invisible to these few.

She moved through the garage. The sight of the vehicles had given her an idea. Kyla’s eye soon fell on a metal gasoline can. This was what she wanted. She checked the men loading the trucks. No one was looking her way. Within a few seconds she had removed the cap and had splashed gasoline over the loading dock. Then reaching into her utility belt she took out a small container of sulfur matches. She struck a match and then moved quickly away from the blaze.

As expected it took a few seconds for the men working at the truck to notice the flames. Then once of them shouted the alarm and they charged over. Kyla acted quickly. Sticking out her foot, she tripped up the first man to reach the fire. The man went down hard. He had of course seen no obstacle in his path. Kyla played the same trick on the second man. The third pulled up, thinking that the floor must be slippery. Kyla moved behind him and kicked him hard between the legs. With a scream the man keeled over, clutching at his genitals.

By now the other two men were back on their feet. Fear was written on their faces. They knew they had been attacked by did not know by whom or what. It took only one more push to chase them off. Kyla stepped up to one of the wavering thugs and slapped him hard across the face. With a yell he turned tail and fled. His companion hesitated only a second before taking off after him. The man on the ground scrambled to his feet, still clutching at his gonads and limped off after them.

Kyla laughed as the so-called "toughs" ran like frightened children. The fire was burning strongly. Dashing back to the door to the rest of the building she exited the garage, pulling the door closed behind her. In a short while the fire would be discovered and the large number of men occupying the room in the center of the building would probably head toward it.

Kyla had only proceeded a short distance from the garage when a series of explosions sounded behind her. "Oops!" she thought, "Forgot about the booze." It must be pretty close to pure alcohol. The fire was going to burn hotter than she had intended. But it was too late to do anything about it. She continued moving back toward the center of the building. Coming toward her were dozens of men. Quickly she ducked into a side room. She was sure that she had not been seen; she had been able to neutralize the first few men she had encountered.

She waited until the rush outside died down and then returned to the hall. This time she met very few of Crunch’s henchmen. The door to the room at the center of the building was open and she headed straight for it.

* * *

"Ugh!" Lin grunted. Her current rapist was especially well endowed and he had thrust into her especially hard. She tried to lie perfectly still so as not to tear her nipples, but it took every once of self-control that she had. Suddenly in the middle of a particularly vigorous thrust, her rapist stopped. From beyond the room came a low rumble. Crunch and Brick, who had been standing by enjoying the breaking of the two heroines, both jumped up.

"What the hell was that?" demanded Crunch. "Brick, find out what is going on."

"Come with me," Brick ordered, looking at the assembled onlookers in the room. Led by Crunch’s huge henchman Crunch’s thugs filed out.

"Get off them," Crunch said to the two men who were still pumping away at Lin and Suzi. "Pull up your pants and go with the rest."

Reluctantly the two rapists pulled away from the two heroines. In a minute they too were gone. Crunch strode over to the two women. He unhooked the chains connecting their nipples and untied their spread legs. This left their wrists handcuffed together, otherwise they were free. Crunch intended to manacle their ankles and then handcuff their arms behind their backs again.

To make sure that the two heroines did not interfere with his plans Crunch first tied their heads down by looping a length of rope completely over the table taking it across each of their necks as he did so. This left Suzi and Lin effectively helpless while he transferred the shackles.

From the garage area a series of explosions shook the building. "What the hell is going on?" muttered Crunch. Hastily he began to finish his rearranging of his victims’ bonds. He unlocked the cuffs connecting their wrists to one another and then recuffed their hands behind their backs. He then manacled their ankles together with a length of chain long enough for them to walk but not long enough for them to be able to run or kick.

All through this Lin and Suzi lay quietly, the latter because she was too debilitated from the ordeal of being repeatedly raped, and Lin because the rope across her throat prevented her from making any sudden movements. Crunch finished shackling the two heroines' ankles. He then untied the ropes that held them pinned to the table.

"Let’s go, bitch," said Crunch as he roughly grabbed Suzi and began to stand her up. At that instance Lin struck. For a brief second Crunch strayed near her shackled ankles. She swung her legs up and with a quick twist of her legs, looped the chain connecting her ankles around Crunch’s bull neck.

Lin strained with every muscle in her calves and thighs, yanking Crunch off his feet. Without thinking, Crunch tried desperately to unwind the chain from his neck, but so fiercely had Lin tightened the chain that he could not get his fingers under it. By now Lin had pulled the powerful crime lord into a sitting position at the side of the table. The back of his head was tight against the edge of the tabletop. Lin shifted backward so that most of her body hung off the opposite side of the table, using her body weight to increase the tension in the chain that was cutting deeply into Crunch’s windpipe.

Crunch tried to scream for help, but all that came out was a strangled squeak. Frantically he thrashed his body in a desperate attempt to escape. Using his immense strength he managed to lurch to his feet, dragging Lin across the table. Unable to loosen the chain, and slowly choking, he began to swing Lin about the room, banging her off the walls and furniture. Lin tried to hold on, but the battering she was taking threatened to knock her senseless. Her tightly flexed legs began to relax as her head smacked into the edge of the heavy table on which she and Suzi had been raped.

Crunch continued his frenzied attempts to shake Lin off, swinging her body in a wide arc and smashing it hard into the table again. Stunned, Lin began to lose her hold. Her legs relaxed. Crunch managed to take in a great shuddering gasp of air.

Crunch now had his hands under the chain. Flexing his muscles powerfully, he managed to uncoil the metal noose from about his neck. He now had Lin at his mercy once again, holding her manacled feet high in the air.

"You God-damned bitch," he gasped. I’ll kill you for that!" He drew back his foot to deliver a kick to Lin’s defenseless kidneys.

The kick was never delivered. Suzi had snapped out of her state of collapse. Drawing on her last reserves of energy, she managed to hobble across the room and jumping with both legs hurled her into the crimelord. She caught Crunch with one foot in the air and the impact of her 150-pound body knocked him to the floor. The unexpected attacked knocked the wind out of him and for a few seconds, he lay there, once again gasping for breath.

This was all the time Lin needed to renew her attack. The Jade Dragon picked herself up off the floor and hopped as high in the air as she could, coming down with her toes pointed into Crunch’s solar plexus. There was a grisly cracking sound as Crunch’s rib cage caved in under the tremendous force of the blow.

His ribs broken and his lungs crushed, Crunch writhed on the floor, spitting up blood. He tried to scream for help once again, but could only manage a choked blood-filled whimper. Lin struck again, this time with Suzi’s help, as both vengeful females hammered their feet into him like pile drivers, smashing a few more ribs and leaving the dying crimelord drowning in his own bodily fluids, as his punctured lungs filled up with blood.

* * *

The Blue Avenger came upon an incredible scene when she entered the central room of Crunch’s headquarters. On the floor was the shattered body of Boss Crunch. He was still alive, but coughing blood and crawling weakly toward the door. Standing over the dying man were two naked women, one a statuesque blonde and the other an exotic oriental. Both of the women had their hands and feet manacled, but clearly they had found a way to batter Boss Crunch into submission.

Both of the chained young women stared at her in amazement. The Blue Avenger realized that they were staring at her blue and purple costume.

"Who are you?" asked the oriental woman. "How did you get in here? Why are you here?"

"One question at a time," replied Kyla. "I’m the Blue Avenger and I am here to rescue you. I set a fire to lure Crunch’s thugs away from this room."

"Blue Avenger, please get the keys" interjected the Scarlet Falcon. "They are in Crunch’s pocket."

"Of course." Kyla bent and searched through the dying crimelord’s pockets. She found a set of keys in his back pocket.

"Quickly," Lin urged, as a series of explosions shook the building. There was a distinct smell of smoke in the air. "Exactly what sort of fire did you start?"

‘Just a little fire, but I think I started it too close to the illegal alcohol. It must have spread to the rotgut."

By this time Kyla had unlocked the fetters that held the Jade Dragon and Scarlet Falcon.

WHOOMP! A massive blast thundered through the building. A long tongue of flame shot down the hall.

"We’ve got to get out of here," said Suzi.

"You need clothes first," said Kyla. "You can’t go outside like that."

By now the air was thick with smoke and all three women were coughing. "We don’t have time for clothes," said Lin. "Just get us out of here."

"Come with me," Kyla replied. She sprinted down the hall.

During her early exploration of the building Kyla had come across a cloakroom. Fortunately, it was in a direction away from the smoke and flame. Lin and Suzi followed the scampering heroine. They were quite worn from their ordeal and did not make very good time, but eventually they all arrived at the room Kyla had remembered.

"It’s not ideal," Kyla said, "But there should be something in here you can cover yourselves with. Then we can get out of the building."

A quick look around ascertained that there were no female clothing items. However, there were a number of long trenchcoats that would serve to cover their nudity. Kyla put one on herself to disguise her costume. She was not sure of her ability to maintain invisibility in a large crowd of people.

The cloakroom was close to an outside door. Quickly the three women hustled out of the building. Outside it was still amazingly bright as huge flames leaped high in the air. The sound of sirens rent the air as the Metro City fire department headed for the blazing building. However, the fire cast long shadows that the three women were able to merge into. Using the confusion of the fire and the cover of darkness they were able to move away from the area of danger.

Lin found her strength failing. She had been running on adrenaline and the farther she got from Crunch’s HQ the more the shock of her ordeal began to set in. Suzi was in even worse shape; she did not have the same level of conditioning that Suzi had.

"We need to get home fast," said Lin to Kyla. "I don’t think either one of us can last much longer."

"I’ll see what I can do," said Kyla. She herded the two exhausted females into a dark ally and set them down on the ground. "Wait here. If I am not back in ten minutes try to make it home on your own." She removed her watch and handed it to Lin. "Remember, I said ten minutes."

Before Lin could answer Kyla was gone. Lin wondered what the young woman had in mind. Suzi was not thinking anything. She had sunk into a state of semi-consciousness as soon as she had been allowed to sit down. Lin checked the watch. A minute had already passed.

Kyla moved quickly back toward Crunch’s blazing HQ. As she had expected a large number of Crunch’s henchmen were milling about in the street. There were, however, several driving their cars away from the burning building. It was one of these that Kyla targeted.

The gangsters only drove the car far enough that it was not threatened by the blaze. Using her talent Kyla was able to sneak up on the men standing by the parked vehicle and launch her attack.

Although she possessed few martial skills, Kyla did have a deadly weapon at her disposal, her gymnastic talent. Taking a running leap, she hurtled into a handspring that propelled her feet like a battering ram straight into the chest of the car’s driver, who was standing on the running board. Because she was cloaked to his gaze the man was caught completely unaware. The impact broke several of his ribs and hammered him into the side of the car. He was out of the fight before he even knew that he had an opponent.

Startled by the sudden collapse of their comrade two other thugs ran to his side. Kyla repeated her attack, this time smashing her feet into the head of the man who was crouching over the fallen thug. The force of the blow broke his nose and knocked out most of his teeth.

Bewildered by attacks that were being launched by an invisible enemy the third goon ran off, heading toward a group of goons who were ogling the fire.

Kyla worked quickly. She took the keys from the pocket of her first victim and jumped into the car. Within a few seconds she had it running. Although not a skilled driver, she knew enough about cars to put it into gear and drive it off. To the amazed criminals the car seemed to be driving itself.

There was no pursuit. Within a minute Kyla was pulling up by the alley where she had left Lin and Suzi. She called to them from the car and was relieved to see Lin cautiously poke her head around the corner. "Quick," Kyla urged, "Get the Scarlet Falcon into the car."

Lin did as she was told. And the car roared off into the night. Following Lin’s directions, Kyla drove the automobile to Master Zhou’s home. This was Lin’s home and the place where the aged Wushu master was teaching Lin and Suzi their martial arts skills. Kyla dropped Lin and Suzi at the door and then drove the car off and parked it several blocks away. She then returned to Master Zhou’s home and knocked at the door. Lin was waiting for her and she was admitted at once.

"Suzi is sleeping," said Lin. "And I am very tired. You are welcome to stay with us. We can talk tomorrow when we are all rested."

Kyla nodded. A Chinese manservant showed her to a comfortable room. It was more luxurious than anything she had seen for quite some time. She knew that her employers would miss her when she did not show up for work, but she was not concerned about that. She was much more interested in staying close to the Jade Dragon and Scarlet Falcon. Now that she had found and rescued her two idols she only wanted to be near them. She also found that she was quite tired. The bed seemed very welcoming and she fell onto it without undressing. Within a minute she was asleep.

* * *

What was left of the great Boss Crunch crawled painfully down the smoke-filled hallway of his headquarters. Only a man of his considerable strength could have made it as far as he had. But he was fast running out of time. The hallway was thick with smoke, making it almost impossible to breathe. Already he could feel the intense heat of the approaching fire. Where were all of his men? Why had he been left to die alone in his blazing HQ? From behind him came an enormous blast of heat as the fire broke into the hallway. His clothes burst into flame. With a strangled squeal the most feared crimeloard in Metro City was consumed by fire.

* * *

When Kyla awoke she found that someone had come into the room during the night and tucked her in. She was till wearing her heroine costume, but she noticed that an exotic oriental robe in her size was hung by her bed. She availed herself of the room’s facilities, drawing herself a hot bath and having a good soak. Then she dressed in the robe provided, admiring her image in the full-length mirror that hung on one wall.

The door to the room opened and a maidservant entered. She sat Kyla down before a make-up table and proceeded to comb out her long lustrous black hair. She then produced a tray of jewelry from the table drawer. Kyla chose a conservative pair of jade earrings set in gold. The maidservant, who spoke only limited English, motioned to Kyla indicating that she should follow her.

Obediently Kyla followed the Chinese girl out of the room. She was taken to a rooftop conservatory where she found the Jade Dragon and Scarlet Falcon waiting for her. The two heroines were sitting across from an elderly Chinese man. Kyla looked at him closely. She saw that despite his great age, there was a certain aura about him.

The Jade Dragon arose. "Welcome," she said to Kyla. "This is Master Zhou my most honorable teacher. He is a master of the ancient art of Wushu.

Kyla noted the respectful manner the Jade Dragon took toward Master Zhou and bowed low. He swept his hand toward a chair, indicating that she should sit down.

"We will eat," said Master Zhou quietly. "And while we do, you will tell us your story."

Kyla told them about her past and how she had come to be on hand to rescue the Jade Dragon and the Scarlet Falcon from the devices of Boss Crunch. After she had finished Master Zhou spoke.

"It appears that we owe you a debt of gratitude. And it also appears that we can repay that debt by giving you what you wish. If it is your desire, I would like to live in my humble home and train with the Jade Dragon and the Scarlet Falcon. What is your wish?"

And so it was that the Jade Dragon and the Scarlet Falcon changed from a duo to a trio. Kyla gave up her maid’s job and took up training as a crimefighter. Metro City had entered a new era in the war against crime.