Badass in Disguise Chapter 271

The Queen of Clubs' face twisted into a grotesque smile as she stood before Jade. The hatred in her eyes burned with an intensity that would have intimidated anyone else.

"We meet again," she snarled, her green whip coiled around her wrist like a viper ready to strike. Her knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip on the handle. "You hacked into my lab systems, destroyed my clone incubation chambers, killed all my human test subjects, and ruined years of my work. I've dreamed of tearing you to shreds ever since."

Her facial muscles twitched with neurotic rage, displaying just how unhinged she'd become.

Jade maintained her composure, studying her almost clinically. "Since you're so fond of those clones, I'll send you down to join them."

Her face contorted further. "Arrogant little bitch. Let's see how long your smugness lasts."

"I'll sever your nerve endings, keep you alive in a petri dish as my experiment. You'll beg for death."

As her final word hung in the air, the whip on her wrist sprang to life. With a flick of her wrist, it sliced through the air like a living thing, the titanium alloy blade at its tip aimed directly at Jade's throat. One clean hit and she'd be dead instantly.

---

In a monitoring room deep below, SPECTER watched the confrontation unfold on a high-definition screen. The previous guards hadn't challenged Jade enough to reveal her full capabilities. Now, facing the Queen of Clubs, she would need to fight at her best.

After observing for a moment, SPECTER fell into contemplation. He suddenly turned to the young woman standing beside him.

"Between you two, who would win?" he asked casually.

The woman stared at the screen, not answering.

"Oops, she's injured," SPECTER remarked coolly.

On screen, the Queen's whip had coiled tightly around Jade's entire arm. Like a thorny vine, its spikes dug into her flesh through her blue hoodie. Small blood spots appeared, rapidly spreading across the fabric. Blood began dripping from her sleeve, pooling beneath her on the ornate floor.

The Queen of Clubs tightened her grip, the whip constricting further. She clearly intended to slice Jade's arm into ribbons.

Jade grabbed the whip and they struggled against each other. Blood seeped through her fingers as the barbs cut deeper. Suddenly, she released her hold, allowing the force to pull her arm forward—but just before the whip could sever her limb, she lunged forward.

She had to finish her quickly. If Onyx and Void arrived, she'd be as good as dead.

The Queen stumbled back two steps from the redirected force. By the time she regained her balance, Jade was already in front of her.

"She underestimated her opponent," SPECTER observed dispassionately.

In a swift motion, Jade slammed the Queen's head against the large oil painting on the wall. Blood splattered across the canvas, adding a macabre element to the already disturbing artwork.

Jade showed no mercy.

"You can't kill me," the Queen gasped in horror. "Without me, you can't open—"

Jade's tactical knife plunged through her throat, cutting off her final words. She collapsed to the floor, eyes wide with disbelief and fury.

---

Jade staggered slightly before regaining her composure. Slowly raising her head, she looked directly at the pinhole camera hidden above the painting, making eye contact with SPECTER through the screen.

There was no canvas behind the painting—it was painted directly onto the wall, or more accurately, onto a concealed elevator door.

She ran her fingers across the painting, finding a small depression where the gaping maw of the abyss was depicted. A high-tech iris scanner emerged from the recess.

Without hesitation, she leaned forward for the scan.

A mechanical voice announced: "Iris identification successful."

On the monitor, SPECTER's reaction finally changed. His eyes narrowed as he watched Jade enter the elevator. Unlike his indifference to the Queen's death, this development genuinely surprised him.

He wasn't shocked that she knew the entrance location or how to open it. Her familiarity with the castle made it clear that Shadow had told her everything. What surprised him was that Jade used her own iris scan rather than the Queen's.

Had Shadow given Jade her iris data? When had she begun planning all this? If Jade was not Shadow's secretly trained assassin with implanted genes, what other possibilities could explain her identity?

---

The elevator doors opened, and Jade stepped out into a corridor identical to the one where she'd just killed the Queen of Clubs.

The doors closed behind her, the painting reforming into a seamless image. Oddly, there was no blood on the door. The floor was spotless too, with no sign of the Queen's body or any evidence of their fight. Even the blood that had dripped from Jade's arm was gone.

If not for her bloodied arm and injuries, she might have thought her battle with the Queen was a hallucination.

Yet Jade wasn't surprised by any of this.

She began retracing her steps toward the entrance hall, moving in the opposite direction from where she had come. Everything was eerily quiet.

This area should have had Selene fighting Onyx and Void, but there was no trace of them—no blood, no signs of combat.

She continued toward the entrance hall where fifteen bodies should have been lying. They too had vanished, along with any evidence of her passage with Selene.

At one corner, the wall should have been smeared with blood from Selene's palm. Of course, there was nothing.

This was clearly the castle's first floor, yet she had taken an elevator down. The sound of waves and wind had diminished, and the air felt less fresh—evidence that she was underground.

Jade walked steadily, conserving her strength while recovering from the fight. Finally, she reached the entrance hall.

Unlike before, another chair now stood in the center, seemingly placed there for her. Exhausted, she walked directly to it and sat down. She tore off her bloodied sleeve and wrapped her wounded hand.

Then she looked up toward the throne at the front of the hall.

It was no longer empty. Nor was the hall.

As her vision expanded, she saw the room was filled with people. This underground replica mirrored the upper castle perfectly, down to the placement of every object. Like a perfect reflection, except for the high ceiling, which was an illusion created by mirrors, and the absence of the great door that opened to the sea.

Jade's gaze moved from the throne to the young man standing at SPECTER's right. Slender and sharp-featured, he was about her age—the fake Silas, Milo Murphy. Somehow, he had survived the poison.

Then she saw her—a woman standing near SPECTER. Her features were soft yet predatory, with an innate coldness and allure that made her extraordinary.

It was her — Shadow's clone.

She was the one who had nearly driven Zach mad, who had caused Ethan and Night so much anxiety and fear.

How strange for Jade to see her own body from an outsider's perspective.

She studied her thoroughly, almost like a voyeur. If the clone weren't emotionless, Jade's wolfish stare might have made her uncomfortable.

Jade couldn't help but admire how good she looked.

She thought it was a shame Ethan wasn't here to see it.

Despite being surrounded by armed guards, Jade relaxed as if she were home. Between herself and SPECTER, she seemed more like the one who belonged on the throne, the true owner of this castle.

Finally, she looked at the figure seated on the throne. His appearance was strange—not ugly, but unsettling. He had an ordinary, almost grandfatherly face that somehow felt wrong.

After seeing Ace, King, Queen of Clubs, and Jack, she understood why. SPECTER's face was a patchwork: King's eyes, Ace's nose, the Queen's lips, and Jack's chin.

In his face, Jade saw the features of those she had killed. SPECTER, who never showed his true face, had forced them to surgically adopt his features so they could serve as his decoys when necessary.

Jack of Diamonds had died exactly this way, taking SPECTER's place during an assassination attempt.

Looking at his cobbled-together face always disturbed Jade, though fortunately they rarely appeared before her simultaneously.

"At last, we meet," SPECTER said.