The Black Lion - A butterfly and a Cat Songs (Patreon)

Sai, Evans Tower – New York

At the order of the Black Pride, Sai has move to the Tower to makes sure the attackers would never get inside

Her Odachi moved like butter. The new sword that her Master had created for her was simply spectacular.
Light, elegant, and lethal, just like her, a butterfly in the air, slicing enemies without any remorse

Or at least, those had been the words that her Master had spoken to her the day he gave it to her, several months ago.

When her place in the Pride was a fact.

Flashback

She was on her knees, showing her total submission to her Master, who had made her more powerful than before. His teachings in mental skills had made it possible for her to perfect her psionic power, to the point that her old and reliable sword had broken, being unable to contain its power.

Not a day went by without Sai thanking him for that night, where her Master tamed and conquered her. That Butterfly was weak and foolish.

But now…

“Your training is progressing, Sai. How do you feel?” asked her Master, with that warm and soft tone that made her feel butterflies in her stomach. These moments were the ones that always made her sigh.

When it was just Harry.
When he was warm, attentive, and loving.
When the Black Lion breathed and the man behind him emerged.

“I feel more powerful than before, Master, although my Odachi cannot say the same,” said the fighter, looking at the ruined sword in her hand.

Her master saw it while shooking his head, not impressed with the state of the weapon.

“That sword is old and rusty. Your belonging to another life, to another Sai. For that reason, I ordered the workshops to do this for you,” he said with a smile, while a metal cylinder inside the room slowly opened, showing something that took her breath away.

Sai stood up elegantly and walked toward the object, placing her hand on the exquisite kimono.

It was black, with purple ornaments and butterflies engraved. It was beautiful, feminine, and…

Before her incredulous gaze, the suit seemed to come to life and attached itself to her body, molding like a second skin, making her look beautiful, elegant, and lethal.

“Arcane technology, reserved only for my Lionesses. It allows constant movement, is bulletproof against conventional and plasma shots, and also enhances your speed a little, perfect for a shadow like you, darling. Accompanied by an Odachi of a very special silver. This one will not break. I forged it for you myself,” said her beloved Master.

Sai received it with trembling hands. She had never been given anything in her life. Everything had to be… livestock.

Her food in the Hand was earned with work, hard hours of work, and better not to mention the equipment, obtained “on credit,” having to do a hundred missions to pay for it.

Sai didn’t want to think about it. It was the past. Her present and future were here, in front of her.

Like a lioness.
The shadow lioness of Harrison Evans’ pride.

Flashback End

Since her failed attempt to assassinate her Master and her subsequent conquest and submission, Sai’s life had changed greatly. There was no beating, abuse, or anything like that anymore.

Now her life was… calm. A strange, constant calm that at first made her nervous. She thought that a life in the service of the Black Lion would be political assassinations and covert missions.

However, Sai received meals on Sundays and Tuesdays from gardening with her Master’s mother.

It was a simple, quiet life, which the killer Butterfly had come to appreciate. She adored Sunday meals, adored gardening, and simplicity.

Of course, with the exception of that time she and Ororo dismantled La Mano’s operations in New York.

And although Sai adored her new life and would defend it with the ferocity of a lioness, as her Master affectionately called all his women, a part of her missed the fighting, the adrenaline, and the violence.

So this sudden invasion of robots was the perfect excuse for her murderous and destructive instincts to come to the fore.

Sai was moving through the streets of the city, defending it from the few robots that had managed to pass her Master’s drones. She had lost count of the enemies that had fallen before her sword tonight.

Several hours had already passed, and the bulk of the robots were beginning to falter. Mechanical debris was falling all over the city, and Sai knew that this technology would bring problems sooner or later.

The Evans Tower shield resisted the attack, but the rest of the city did not, and the robots were terrorizing the citizens.

“ALERT, MUTANT GENE POTENTIAL DETECTED, SEVENTY PERCENT, EXTERMINATION OF GENE X AS SUPREME ORDER, EXTERMINATE AT SIGHT, ORDERS FROM MASTER MOLD MUST BE EXECUTED” said the abominable machine, as it aimed a plasma cannon at a little girl, while the father bravely tried to intervene.

Sai was preparing to run toward the metallic monster, but her intervention was not necessary, as she watched a ferocious crimson lightning attack the abominable being, making it fall. At the same time, a small being in a yellow suit, with levels of fury never seen before, tore it apart with her bare hands, giving the father enough time to move away with his daughter to the safety of Evans Tower.

Soon after, Sai watched as the group of pupils her Master trained from time to time appeared on the street, destroying robots with coordination and discipline that could only be obtained with hours of training.

The obvious leader, a brown-haired, red-visor young man—Scott, Sai recalled—walked toward her.

“We have come to help,” he said simply, but politely. His bearing was that of a leader, wearing armor that Sai recognized as Evans manufacture, black with a yellow X on his chest. His body was worked, forged in hours of sweat.

“The metal monsters are attacking civilians. They scan them. Some are left unharmed, but others are declared threats and potential mutants. I was able to stop some, but…” Sai implied the rest, and everyone else understood what the silence meant.

“They will be remembered, and we will make the person responsible for this massacre pay for these atrocious acts,” Scott snapped, as he turned to the rest of his team, beginning to coordinate the containment work.

The priority was simple: to designate a safe point for civilians. Harrison’s sentries stopped the bulk of the forces, but they still had work to do.

“Damn, look at that,” said a young woman. She was beautiful, with wavy brown hair and a white lock. She wore a suit similar to Scott’s, although with certain more feminine touches.

Sai looked over to where the young mutant pointed, straight into the sky, over the city’s bay, where a storm of emerald lightning was ravaging the enemies, accompanied by what looked like a storm of vehicles and metal beams.

She didn’t have to be a genius to know who it was. Her Master was unleashing his destructive power on high, far from the people, decimating enemies with alarming ease.

If she didn’t know about her beloved Master, the death and destruction of the city would have been much worse. Of that, she had no doubt.

And at that moment, her omni-tool activated. It was Jean, one of Harrison’s lionesses.

“Sai, report. The defenses of the Rock are strong, but the city is suffering damage. Where are you?”

Sai was about to respond when the young man from before intervened, approaching her upon hearing Jean’s voice, causing a frown to appear on the beautiful woman from before.

“Is it you, Jean? I’m Scott. The professor sent us to defend the city. Do you have any information about that?” asked the chestnut-haired man.

“I know as much as you do. Harrison’s defense protocols keep the Rock and the Black Neighborhood relatively safe, although I can’t say the same about the rest of the city. If you can get information about what’s going on, I’d appreciate it,” Jean said in a friendly but professional and distant tone.

“Understood. We’ll secure as many civilians as we can,” Scott said, before pointing to his team and running to another part of the city, where more screams and explosions could be heard.

Sai used her power and called her Odachi to her side before starting to run toward the next target.

Her beloved Master would take care of the origin of these things, but they would be good exercise for Sai.

She channeled her power into her feet and began running down the side of a building before summoning her psionic butterfly wings and rushing toward the next target.

Sai’s mental discipline was being tested. Her telepathy, in these situations, was a curse. There were screams, people dying and begging, and she was not able to save them all.

It was a considerable weight for any soul.

However, she stopped thinking about it, at least for now, concentrating on her next prey. She would have time to give a prayer for all the lost souls when it was all over.

None of those present noticed the pair of figures watching them from the roof of a nearby building.

Black Cat, near Evans Tower – New York

“Your plan failed again. Although I must admit, trying to infiltrate the Evans Tower during a robot invasion could have been fun,” said Felicia, sitting on the ledge of the building, looking at the imposing tower, untamed and immovable despite the explosions around it.

“Oui. Apparently, the Black Lion leaves nothing to chance. At this rate, we will be unable to complete the benefactor’s contract,” said the hooded man, while repeating that damn habit that Felicia detested.

The fucking cards.

“When you contacted me, I told you that your request was impossible. There is no way to enter the Rock or the Evans Tower. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar,” said the thief, while crossing her elegant leg over the other.

“Mon ami, no security system is invincible. I’ve played almost all my cards. I’ve even been caught a couple of times. But I have one last beam up my sleeve,” said her contact from New Orleans.

When Felicia received the curious card, at first she did not give it too much importance. However, one night later, she was visited in her penthouse by Le Diable Blanc in person.

A legend. One of the most talented and successful thieves in the world.

With an impossible mission:

Infiltrate the Black Rock, Harrison Evans’ center of power.

Speaking of ambitious plans, Felicia thought with amusement.

What did he want to steal? She ignored it and frankly was not interested.

The southern thief was famous for not very good reasons.

She received a payment, showed him the city and the locations of the towers.

And after months, they were still where they had been in the beginning.

They tried everything: infiltration, espionage, coercion. Nothing worked. Both towers were impregnable fortresses.

But to his credit, Le Diable Blanc wouldn’t give up.

“That shield has withstood explosions and constant attacks from those things. It’s an immovable object. There’s no way to get through it,” Black Cat said, as she stood up gracefully and walked around the rooftop, wiggling her hips gently.

Her contact did not respond. His white suit and hood concealed his face. The deck of cards in his hands kept moving.

However, now they were different.

Felicia watched with interest and some caution as the cards obtained a violet aura.

“You’re a mutant,” Felicia said. There was no accusation in her voice, just a simple statement.

“Oui, and apparently, my Master’s gift has arrived,” said the thief, raising his face and looking at a military helicopter that was moving a huge metal box with a logo familiar to Felicia.

“Ryker Island,” whispered Felicia.

However, the thief’s concentration on the aerial vehicle was broken when she heard a screech next to her.

She looked and saw her companion staring at the helicopter with a smile. The seemingly innocent deck of cards glowed with an intense purple light, fully charged with power.

“Do you know what it takes to flank an immovable object, chéri?” he asked.

“What the hell are you planning? That wasn’t part of the deal,” Felicia said, going on alert and stepping toward him.

“The benefactor needs something from the Black Lion, and she will get it by hook or by crook.”

And without saying a word, he threw the entire deck of cards into the helicopter’s fuselage.

the effect was instant, the flying machine starts to fall out of control, and Felicia watched with a wince as it to crash into the nearby streets.

The thief looked at the crash site engulfed in flames and then back at Le Diable Blanc, fury in her voice.

“What the hell was...”

But there was no one on the roof anymore.

She was alone.

And with the feeling that she had just made a big mistake.

She was not wrong.

Xu Xialing, Golden Dagger Headquarters, Macau – China

“Things in the West are tense, Mistress,” said one of her girls, as she watched the huge screens showing the disaster that was happening.

Xialing watched silently, the domination and power of the Black Lion...an unstoppable for...bending thousands of killer robots with ease.

However, that was not what captivated her the most about Harrison Evans. He was powerful, but not infallible.

What was really interesting was his inner circle, made up mostly of powerful ladies.

Emma Frost.
Paris Seville.
Ororo Munroe.
Jean Grey.
Susan Storm.

They were women with real influence, who served as support for Evans’s operations. real powers in the West, famous and intelligent, occupying seats of power in the New World Order

And an area of opportunity for Xialing.

“This will be a scandal. The Americans will be quite distracted after this. Our interests in that city?” she asked, as she stood up and walked to the window of her penthouse.

Beautiful, graceful, and lethal, her body perfected to the pinnacle of humanity. Her every move could kill a man.

And still...

It wasn’t enough for her father.

It never was.

“The Hand cell was exterminated. The Butterfly compromised. The organization cut off all relations to hide its steps. The Great Khan seeks a rapprochement with the Black Lion. A hundred Minotaurs were bought to begin space operations. A new era is approaching for humanity, although…”

“It won’t be enough. They tried to kill the Black Lion. They won’t live to tell the tale,” Xialing said, walking toward the central table, revealing a world map divided into three colors and regions.

Western Europe, East Asia, and Russia, dominated by the influence of Latveria. A can of worms that neither Xialing nor her father wanted to touch.

Asia and Oceania, dominated entirely by the Ten Rings. The Mandarin, and to a lesser extent, had absolute control over the region, from Mongolia to Japan.

Everyone answered to the Great Khan, Xialing thought mockingly.

And the West…

“Harrison Evans. What an interesting man,” Xialing thought, lost in contemplation, hesitating about her next move.

It would be a big gamble.

Supporting a foreigner.

Against her own father.

Especially after what the Mandarin had made clear about her place in the world as a woman.

But if she succeeded…

“Send a Golden Dagger to New York with a message. Arrange a meeting between the Black Lion and the Golden Daggers as soon as possible,” Xialing ordered before leaving the room.

The coin was in the air.

And she expected it to land on the side she chose.

The Black Lion’s side.