Pain Killer Jane; Double Trouble

For years Doctor Monroe had listened to his mob contacts talk about the vigilante known as Painkiller Jane whispering her name with a mixture of awe and fear as they described her latest exploit in gory detail.  He was skeptical at first as dismissing their stories as mere urban legend but as the evidence mounted he became convinced that she was very real and he became increasingly determined to uncover the secret of her seeming invincibility. 

Whether she was taking out a local drug lord or slaughtering a gang of kidnappers she seemed unstoppable, every so often someone would claim to have finally killed her but every time she would reappear a few days or weeks later usually among a hail of bullets directed at whatever loud mouth had been claiming to have eliminated her. Everyone seemed to have their own theory, she was a lifelike robot, she was the ghost of a murdered police officer called Jane Vanko even that she was an alias adopted by a whole squad of rogue cops. But only Dr Monroe had discovered the truth, using a sample of her blood he had obtained from an underworld contact he had learned her secret. She had a gift, a superpower for lack of a better word, her metabolism was supercharged minor injuries would heal in minutes wounds that would kill or cripple a normal woman would repair themselves in days. It had taken years and cost a small fortune to crack the secret but at last he held it in his hands. There is just one last step to take before he can be sure it works he needs to test it on a living subject. He had considered trying his creation on a volunteer but the thought of sharing this gift with some undeserving shmuck, no. He had resolved that he alone should be the first recipient of the result of all his genius. 

Without hesitation he injected himself with the formula he was confident would make him a very rich man. The needle stung and then formula began to burn in his veins, he had been expecting some discomfort but he was totally unprepared for the agony that now enveloped his body. He fell to his knees as his hips widen with a sharp crack. Through a fog of pain he is barely award as his flash shifts and changes from that of an out of shape middle aged man to a slim and athletic young woman. He writhes on the floor his moans pitching higher and higher as long red hair sprouts from his balding scalp and firm breasts grow on his chest. The process lasts just a few minutes but to him it feels like hours and when it is finally over he can only lay there gasping and exhausted trying to take in the enormity of what has happened to him. He doesn’t need to look at himself to know that he has changed, he can feel the weight of his new breasts on his chest and the profound wrongness of the new equipment between his legs. He holds up his now slender hands and sees a small cut on his palm from when he fell to the ground and he can see it healing so fast that he can actually see the skin knitting itself back together. Already his mind is racing, the formula works he thinks to himself, whatever unexpected side effects it may have it does work. He is confident that despite the minor setback of his unscheduled sex change he will be able to work out exactly where he went wrong and he will be a very rich man indeed.

His train of thought is interrupted by the sound of shattering glass and he looks up to see a woman in a red leather coat and dark glasses crashing through his skylight on reflex the Doctor goes for the holdout pistol he always carries in case of emergencies but before it even clears its holster the woman’s automatic roars and an explosion of pain blossoms in his shoulder, apparently his new healing abilities do nothing to alleviate the pain of being shot.

“Well, well, this is new.” Says the woman he now recognises as Painkiller Jane  “I never had a twin sister before, what to do with you?”

His vision blurs and he feels his consciousness slipping away as she stands over him with a nasty smile on her face.

When he comes back to his sense the woman has gone and he is securely bound and gagged in the back of a van the wound in his shoulder has been bandaged and he can feel that it has already started to heal although the pain is still considerable. He looks down at himself and notices that his clothing has changed, for some reason he is now wearing the same revealing outfit that the woman had been wearing.  He smells smoke and through the open door, he can see his lab burning. He tries to scream around the gag as he sees his life's work and his only chance of getting back to normal going up in flames. In response, two bulky figures fill the doorway he recognises them as Vito and Eddie a pair of enforces that he occasionally does business with.

“Yeah, that’s her alright” growls Eddie “I’d recognise that bitch anywhere.”

Vitto nods and climbs into the van

“I don’t know what you did with the Doc” he tells the new girl “and honestly I don’t much care but I do know you put a lot of my friends in the ground over the years so, me and my buddy here are going to have a little fun with you before we hand you over to the boss.”

Monroe cringes away as Vitto runs a rough hand up his soft thigh, he struggles to free himself, to fight back. If only if only they would give him a chance, if only he could explain but as the two thugs climb into the van with him he knows that it is hopeless they won’t listen he will just have to try and endure what comes next and hope that they tire of him before they reach the limits of his ability to heal.

Observing for a safe distance the real Jane shudders at the thought of what must be happening to her double and resists the urge to swoop in and rescue him. She doesn’t like it but she knows this is her best chance to find Don Moretti, only after she has taken care of him can she afford to think about the fate of Doctor Monroe. She just hopes the two goons don’t spend too long entertaining themselves before they lead her to their boss.