The Mysterious Hieroglyphic Tablet

An Assyrian Avengers Thriller featuring Lady Puabi

Part One. Femdom Conflict

Lady Puabi, the sensuous and strong-willed wife of Smithsonian scientist Clifford Rogers, recollected the many days and nights that she and Clifford Rogers spent happily together after their wedding.  Clifford Rogers had frequently assured Lady Puabi of his full support, protection and of course love. Lady Puabi believed him implicitly and explicitly. She never wavered. They had been on many strange adventures together, such as the Bermuda caper, and fought many strange characters. Puabi always supported him in the conflict and he always delivered her from danger. She had unshakable confidence in them and their love. Then, slowly, she returned to her present situation. Lady Puabi memorized the features of the room. She looked up again and glared sternly at the almost naked figure standing before her. It was a woman of some stature with cropped brown hair and a singular gold chain with a red pendant and cool eyes. Lady Puabi recognized her at once. She was Amanda Delacroix, alias Madame Sin.

“I have listened to you long enough to fall asleep, Amanda Delacroix. Now, you listen to me. You think you have won. But you have really lost. My husband and I have trained for these moments.”

“Oh, I am sure you have, Lady Puabi. That is fine for me. I am taking the tablet that is supposedly from R’yleh with me. I have no plan to harm you. I simply want Mister Rogers to meet me.”

“He certainly will. Believe me.”

“I do. OK. Wait for him to find you. Goodbye.”

Madame Sin headed straightaway for the room storing the tablet and left Lady Puabi restrained on the floor. She had only bound Lady Puabi’s hands and feet, but she had not gagged her.  Lady Puabi was hardly helpless or frightened. She simply declined to show her strength or cunning before Madame Sin. Surprise was the better choice. Lady Puabi struggled slowly with her bonds. Despite depending upon Clifford, she had a long past experience with capture and escape. While she struggled, she remembered part of their recent training. Clifford Rogers had succeeded in minimizing Lady Puabi’s seeing eye sword and copying the eye gemstone so that he could track her signal and find her. When he was totally confident, he informed her.

“Darling, I am arming you with a portable version of your sword in event that you need to fight alone. While I am confident in your character, love demands that lovers defend each other.”

“It does, Clifford.”

“There can be no other way for us. Here. Take it. When you need to fight, twist the cap and the blade will extend for you. Furthermore, the radiation from the eye will signal me to find you. It will not fail us.”

“Good idea, beloved!”

They kissed tenderly and long. Lady Puabi was thrilled. She was fully certain that Lady Ishtar had done great by sending her to Clifford.

When she was duly confident that Madame Sin was well out of range and would not notice her, Lady Puabi struggled to escape and operate the tools that Clifford Rogers had given her for the assignment. It was her first duty as a special guard at Smithsonian and she was alone. With his agreement, Lady Puabi concealed her new micro-sword in an old lipstick tube which she had kept aside. Lady Puabi shook her head furiously and dislodged the cloth that gagged her, and it fell below her chin loosely. Madame Sin had felt that she should be silent, but, in fact, Lady Puabi grew tired of trying to handle her.

“Clifford? Are you there, beloved?”

“Go ahead, sweetheart, I am listening. Are you OK?”

“Yes. Oh, I am truly pleased to hear your voice. Beloved, Madame Sin is trying to steal those strange tablets that were delivered yesterday. She tied me up.”

“Well, I am confident that you can escape with those tools, but I will come to meet you. Can you send me a signal?”

“Yes, I will. Please wait a second.”

“Of course, sweetheart. I won’t close our contact. Work slowly. Don’t hurt those tender hands and feet.”

“But you’ll treat them if I do, right?”

He chuckled. They were a true pair. “Yes, of course I will.”

“Thank you, beloved.”

“It’s love, darling.”

“Aw! Yes, it is!”

Brimming with a stronger self-confidence after their contact, Lady Puabi used all her strength to untie her hands and feet carefully. Then, she found the old lipstick tube and twisted the cap. Her sword hilt emerged and flashed like a warning light. The radiation, which was harmless to her and Clifford, sent him a signal to locate her.  Five minutes later, they were united and Lady Puabi relaxed in his arms.

“Beloved!”

“Hello, sweetheart. So Madame Sin hasn’t hurt you?”

“No, she only tied me up and gagged me. She knows what we both can do.”

“That is good. Come! I’ll treat you to a special dinner.”

“WOW! A daring, bold escape and a romantic dinner for two!”

“That’s it. Ask for whatever you like to eat.”

“Hmm! Roasted chicken, full, and a dry white wine.”

“Got it, sweetheart. Let us go.”

They headed, arm in arm, for the Institute dining hall. Lady Puabi’s eyes flashed happily. She adored him.

While they dined and wined together, Madame Sin had entered the store of the tablets and used her knowledge of arcane maters to affirm that the hieroglyphs were from R’yleh. She snapped her fingers and they stacked like books on the floor of the store room.

“I have a better place to keep these tablets,” she giggled. “I’ll keep them in my cellar till I can translate them and use them.”

Part Two. Super Heroine in Peril

Monica Campbell packed her needful things in her handbag and jumped into her convertible car. She arrived at the Smithsonian Institute a few days after Madame Sin had stolen the tablet. Lady Puabi was back at alert in the exhibit hall and received her.

“OK, Lady Puabi, what’s going on now?”

“Monica, as you have heard, Madame Sin broke into this hall, bound and gagged my by magic and then she stole a tablet with hieroglyphics supposedly from R’yleh. Clifford and I rehearsed my escape and tracking before she came. So, I am okay. Madame Sin wants to decipher the hieroglyphics and add them into her spells for new magic.”

“Does she know you have escaped?”

“She should know by now. It does not matter. She knows we will find her. She is waiting for Clifford to meet her.”

“She tied you up to lure him out, is that it?”

“Something like that. He came but they did not meet yet.”

“OK. He wants me to stand by you, which I will do. Goodness, he really loves you. I will meet Madame Sin until he is ready.”

“A diversion.”

“Exactly.”

“Monica, you have been knocked out often. Be on guard.”

Monica laughed. “Yeah! I still remember. I will, Lady Puabi. Thank you for being so concerned.”

“Thank you for helping us, Monica.”

Monica Campbell searched for a suitable spot and then uttered her word of transformation: ‘KAANGA!” Moments later, she was Panther Girl and she started out to follow Madame Sin and find the tablet.

Panther Girl used feline intuition to locate the tablet. Madame Sin was waiting for Clifford Rogers in an unoccupied single bedroom flat near the road that led to the Institute. Occasionally, she glanced at her watch but she was patient.

“Alors! Lady Puabi must have warned Clifford Rogers by now. He must be busy. OK. I can wait a while longer.”

She studied the hieroglyphs inscribed on the tablet and searched her memory. After a few minutes, she remembered the symbols written in the Necronomicon that were recommended to summon various Old Ones, including Cthulhu. Then, she remembered various hand gestures that the book suggested, which corresponded to those and realized that the hieroglyphs corresponded with both the symbols and the gestures.  As she began to utter a summoning phrase, Panther Girl appeared.

“Well! Madame Sin has re-emerged in Washington.”

Madame Sin looked up and saw Panther Girl.

“Zeut! This is Panther Girl. Where is Clifford Rogers?” Her English was mixed with Cajun Frenbch from her native New Orleans.

“He is a bit busy at the moment. You should give back that tablet.”

“Give it back? After so much effort and trouble to take it?”

“Including tying up a nice woman like Lady Puabi? Yes! Give it back.”

“I did not hurt Lady Puabi.”

“No, she escaped according to her plan.”

“OK. So, this is woman on woman?!”

Instantly, Madame Sin aimed a gesture at Panther Girl and emitted a blazing beam of eldritch energy, which sent Panther Girl reeling a few meters away. It had touched Panther Girl’s face like a hot fist of fire. Panther Girl tumbled under the blow for a few minutes; and then, she revived and stood up. She was alert and ready to fight on. She summoned feline strength and leapt at Madame Sin like her namesake. Madame Sin dodged and retaliated with new energy.  They battled on in this manner for one hour. Then, Madame Sin struck harder and belted Panther Girl with a stronger blast. Panther Girl tumbled and fell, lying unconscious on the spot.

“Well! Never send a young girl to do the man’s job, Monsieur Clifford Rogers!”

Part Three. Avengers to the Rescue!

Madame Sin had restrained Panther Girl just as she had restrained Lady Puabi earlier. Panther Girl was out of action for at least one hour. Then Madame Sin refocused her attention on the tablet. She contemplated combining all corresponding data into one spell for extra strong power. While she sat and studied all the aspects of the tablet, Lady Puabi had contacted Clifford Rogers about the situation.

“Clifford Madame Sin has apparently defeated Panther Girl.”

“Apparently. You are thinking of recue, aren’t you?”

“Certainly. Will you join me, this time?”

“I can, now, darling. My remaining tasks can wait.”

“Meet me where we met before.”

“OK, darling. Brace up!”

“Of course. Clifford, I love you!”

“I love you too.”

A few minutes later, the two Assyrian Avengers were united again. They stood in their respective armor, in Babylonian style, in the corridor where Clifford had found Lady Puabi. Lady Puabi was proud and glorious in her royal regalia.

“Beloved! If Madame Sin succeeds in combining the Necronomicon with the tablet, and I suspect that she is planning to, the results will be devastating.”

“It certainly will. But we have enough time to intercept her, darling. Let us go quickly.”

They clutched tightly the hilts of their respective swords and hurried towards the flat where Madame Sin had kept the tablet. They knew that she was no longer in the Institute. They reached the threshold of the flat within one hour. Panther Girl was beginning to regain her senses. Madame Sin was still sitting near the tablet.

“Well! If I hold both my hands in gestures as shown and utter a phrase as listed in the Necronomicon…”

“….You may create a tsunami that would destroy the entire coastline of the state of Maine,” Panther Girl exclaimed. “Don’t do it!”

“No? But why not? I have nothing to lose.”

“You lose nothing, but the state loses lives.”

“Alors! C’est son affaire! It is their matter, not mine.”

“It will be when the government finds you!”

“Ah, yes! I must secure my escape. I need no hostages. Let me see..”

Just then, the Assyrian Avengers had marched into the flat. Panther Girl struggled in her bondage, unlike Lady Puabi. Lady Puabi hurried to cut her loose. Clifford Rogers confronted Madame Sin.

“Amanda Delacroix, as a woman, you ought to reconsider the effects of your actions.”

“I should, Monsieur Rogers, but I won’t!”

“Then you must know what awaits you.”

“I know. You are ready, no?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Let us waste no time.”

That time, the odds seemed against Madame Sin but she was still confident in her magic skills. She continued to mutter phrases and hold her hands in gestures as described in Necronomicon. As light energies bolted forth in every direction, Clifford and Lady Puabi fended them with the blades of their swords.  Panther Girl swerved and dodged and tried to approach Madame Sin.  Then, they all knew that they needed to break the tablet. Clifford Rogers had considered only the cost to the nation; he overlooked the cost to the Institute.

“Panther Girl, join us and move together.”
“What is on your mind, Mister Rogers?”

“The tablet. Let us move fast.”

Moments later, the tablet had been shattered and lay on the floor in fragments. Madame Sin had utilized their action to cover her escape. They did not worry about her until Clifford Rogers and Lady Puabi had returned home.

“Clifford, Madame Sin escaped.”

“I know. We must wait and see. Let’s take some food. Can you cook something?”

“Hm! A roasted chicken and potatoes should help.”

“OK. Cook thatm, then, sweetheart. Your own style.”

“I love you,Clifford!”

“I love you too!”