Lin jumped as she heard the bolt on the door being quietly drawn back. The time had come. She prepared herself for the final humiliation, the one in which she would beg Crunch not to harm her.

The door swung slowly open. Lin cringed as a bright light shone into her eyes. "My God! "exclaimed a hushed female voice, "What have they done to you?"

Lin almost wept with relief when she realized that it was not Crunch who had opened the door. She did not know who it was, but was so dreading another of Crunch’s "interrogations" that if the Devil himself had entered the doorway, she would have welcomed him.

Whomever it was cradling Lin in her arms. "Just relax," she said soothingly, "I’ll get you out of this."

Lin was now able to discern that the woman who had entered the room was most strangely dressed. She was wearing some sort of crimson and black costume, complete with a long flowing cloak. A tight-fitting cowl covered her head and masked her face. On her ample bosom was the image of a red hawk or eagle. "Who would dress like that?" Lin wondered, until she suddenly realized that she had been dressed in a similar fashion prior to being stripped naked by crunch.

"Hold still," the mysterious woman said, "I think that this might hurt a bit."

Lin began to whimper as the scarlet clad woman unclasped the nipple ring in her right breast and slowly worked it free. Her areola had not yet healed around the wound, and removing the ring caused tremendous pain. But she bore up without screaming or bursting into tears. Finally the ring was pulled from her flesh. Immediately, her nipple began to bleed profusely.

"Oh!" gasped the woman. She reached into a pouch attached to her belt and pulled out a strip of gauze and some sticky tape. Pressing it against Lin’s bleeding teat, she stanched the flow of blood and then taped the gauze in place.

"There is just one left," the woman said, obviously trying to encourage her. She took the nipple ring in her left breast and repeated the procedure. The pain was just as bad, but this time Lin bore it without complaint. The thought of escaping from her plight gave her renewed courage. Once again, there was the spurt of blood from the damaged nipple. Again the scarlet woman dressed the wound with gauze and tape from her belt pouch.

With the nipple rings removed, the chains that linked the various parts of Lin’s body were easy to remove. Only the metal bands on her wrists remained, but they did not hamper her from moving her arms.

"Now we have to get out of here." Said the woman. "I wish we had some clothes for you, but if I can get you to my cycle I have a spare cloak you can have."

"Cycle?" Lin wondered. But she did not question the woman. As long as she was escaping she was happy to cooperate with her rescuer.

Cautiously, the crimson clad woman looked out into the hallway. "All clear," she whispered. Taking Lin’s hand, she led her out of the tiny room. Down the hall a door opened. Both women froze. Brick came through the door. Right behind him was Crunch and several of his men. There was no place to hide.

"Nuts!" exclaimed the woman. In the stronger light of the hallway Lin could see that the woman was probably younger than she had thought. The cowl concealed most of her face, but the woman’s mouth and jaw were visible. She had the body of a mature woman, but there was something about the lower part of her face that made her seem younger. However, there was no time to speculate on the age of her rescuer. Brick had spotted them.

"Hey!" he yelled. "The Chinese bitch has gotten out!" Immediately he broke into a run, reaching inside his jacket for his gun as he did so.

The crimson costumed female reached down and grabbed one of a number of small cylindrical objects attached to her belt. The cylinder resembled a D-battery. The woman pressed a button in the center of the cylinder and then tossed it toward the advancing thugs.

BWAAM!! There was a deafening explosion and a huge cloud of smoke. Brick and the others reeled back from the blast.

"Quick!" urged the woman, "Run for it!"

Somehow Lin found the energy to trot down the hall. It was the best she could do. She was so sore both externally and internally that she could hardly move. As she and her rescuer moved away from the temporarily stunned goons, there was a second explosion. And then a third. The scarlet rescuer was covering their flight with a steady barrage of explosive devices.

Lin staggered out the door. The brief exertion had depleted her slender reserves of energy. Weak, frightened, and still naked, she could not go much farther.

"Over here!" Her rescuer took her arm and hustled her over to a bright red motorcycle. "Hold on to me," the crimson woman ordered as she jumped into the bike’s saddle, with Lin climbing on right behind.

The bike’s engine roared to life and within a few seconds they were hurtling away from the warehouse where Lin had been trapped and tortured. Her rescuer drove on for about ten minutes, winding her way down back alleys and side streets. They encountered very few people, and finally came to a nondescript two story warehouse located on a deserted street. Lin’s rescuer directed the bike toward the door, which opened seemingly by itself as they approached. In few seconds they were inside the building with the door closing behind them.

The woman in red turned off the bike’s engine and dismounted. "I’m sorry we were in such a rush that I did not have time to get that cloak," she said, as she helped Lin from the cycle.

Lin almost collapsed into her arms. "Oh, you poor dear," the woman said as she helped Lin up a flight of stairs to the second floor of the building.

Lin just barely made it. A few steps more and she would have collapsed, but she willed herself to climb the last few steps.

There was a heavy steel door at the top of the stairs. The red clad woman pushed a few buttons and the door slid back into the wall. Entering the room she flicked a light switch and then helped Lin into what was a very comfortable looking living area. It was beautifully furnished in the post modern style of the 1920s. There was lots of futuristic furniture built of chrome, leather, and glass. Lin was led to a comfortable looking leather couch. Exhausted she collapsed onto it.

"You just wait here," the woman said, "I’ll be right back." She scampered off, returning a minute later carrying a pillow, a blanket, and a pair of blue silk pajamas. Sitting on the couch beside her, she helped Lin dress. Then she placed the blanket behind her head and drew the blanket over her. Completely debilitated, Lin slept.

* * *

Lin awoke in semi-darkness. For a few seconds she was quite disoriented, and then she remembered her rescue. Sitting on a chair next to her was a beautiful blonde woman, or rather girl. Lin estimated her to be no older than about sixteen or seventeen. The girl smiled as Lin stirred and then something flashed in Lin’s mind. She knew this young woman! It was Suzi Kendall, the girl she had rescued from kidnappers several months ago.

The girl smiled again as Lin’s eyes lit up with recognition. "I see that you remember me," she said. "You did me a good turn when you rescued me from those toughs; you changed my life around. I was nothing but a rebellious fifteen-year-old, but you showed me that there was more to life than just looking out for my own selfish interests. Ever since that night I have been keeping track of you."

Lin’s eyes widened in surprise. Was she that easy to find?"

The redhead explained further. "I tracked you from a distance. I worked out that you were probably following some sort of predetermined route. Since you found me when I was tricked by those kidnappers I figured out that the street where I met them must be close to your route. After that I just staked out the area until I spotted you again. I kept hidden on one of the rooftops so that you did not see me. I have been sneaking out several times a week to watch you in action. This week when you disappeared I knew that something must have happened to you. So I started to ask around. I can make myself look a lot older than I am by using a little makeup. I had to be careful, of course, as I was sometimes associating with a pretty tough crowd. But eventually I overheard some toughs bragging about a Chinese broad that they had captured and I knew it must be you. So I just followed them to their hideout and waited for a good time to sneak in. The rest you know."

Lin felt strong enough to sit up. She noticed that her breasts were bound with a clean white bandage. "But what about that fantastic costume you were wearing, and the bombs?"

Suzi leaned forward. She spoke enthusiastically. "I made that myself. I decided that modeling wasn’t nearly as interesting as crime-fighting. So I tried to copy you. I call myself the Scarlet Falcon. I made the costume myself. Fortunately, the boarding school I was forced to attend thought that all girls should learn to make their own clothes. I didn’t appreciate the lessons at the time, but now I do. As for the bombs, I’m not like you. I never learned to fight, so I made myself a few weapons. I got top marks in chemistry. It was a simple matter for me to put together some small contact bombs. They really don’t do much damage, but they make a lot of noise and scare the heck out of anyone who is close to them."

"Amazing," thought Lin. "I’ve got a fan."

The girl was still speaking. "I have pretty wealthy parents, but they have never shown a lot of interest in me. I was always sent off to boarding schools. But I guess they have always felt a little guilty about neglecting me, so when they are off traveling around the world, they leave me with quite a bit of spending money. I used to spend it on clothes and jewelry, but now I use it to outfit my little hideaway. I arranged to rent this place and furnish it by phone. It is amazing what you can get away with as long as you pay your bills. I got the bike in the same way."

The two women continued their chat. Now that she was out of Boss Crunch’s clutches, Lin recovered rapidly, aided by her incredible conditioning. She spent several days in Suzi’s hideaway and had soon fully recovered physically. She would always have a pair of matching tiny scars on either side of her nipples, but they did not detract from the overall appearance of her magnificent breasts. It was the psychological scars that would take the longest to heal. She had been completely defeated by Boss Crunch. There was only one way she could recover from her ordeal at his hands and that was to seek him out and defeat him as soon as possible.

While she was recuperating Lin sent word to Master Zhou informing him of her whereabouts and getting a change of clothing. She also sent for her Jade Dragon costume. She had several, so the loss of one to Boss Crunch was not a permanent setback.

A more important problem was what to do about Suzi Kendall. The young woman was fascinated by Lin’s adventurous lifestyle and it was apparent that she wanted very much to emulate her. However, in Lin’s judgement, the young woman had neither the athletic skills nor the maturity to embark on such a dangerous course of action. It was obvious, however, that she was completely infatuated with the concept of the Jade Dragon and was determined to emulate Lin in every way possible.

Lin’s problem was how to get rid of the engaging teenager. At first she had tried logic and persuasion, pointing out that Suzi was rather young to be embarking on a crimefighting career. But Suzi had countered by arguing that Lin was not much older than she was. Lin had to admit that Suzi had her there and so she had changed tactics, describing the dangers that a young woman such as Suzi would be up against. She had given this up when she realized that it was the danger that attracted Suzi to crimefighting. Finally, Lin had come to the realization that the only way to deal with the overzealous teen was to undertake her training herself.

Suzi was enthusiastically supportive of the idea. She agreed to put her crimefighting career on hold for awhile and learn some basic martial arts skills. It was also Lin’s way of repaying Suzi for saving her life. The agreement worked well for both of the teenaged women.

And so it was that the Jade Dragon gained a companion. She began Suzi’s training at once, while at the same time preparing herself for a renewal of her confrontation with Boss Crunch. Only time would tell whether she would be able to recover enough to deal with Metro City’s arch villain.