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Chapter 23
by
micdan282
What's next?
Confronted
It was late when Rikki finally got home. Her body although healing quickly still ached. Her ribs throbbed with every breath.
I need a drink.
But her peace was disrupted by a knock on the door. She quickly stashed the crate Thomas had given her before heading for the door. She opened it to reveal Finn, dark circles under his eyes, his face a mix of relief and frustration.
“Rikki.” His voice was tight. “Where the hell have you been?”
“Out,” Rikki replied turning away from him and walking into the living room.
“That’s it? Out? I haven’t heard from you in days. You ignore my calls. To see you I have to just show up at your place and you look like you've been hit by a train.”
“I don’t owe you a schedule, Finn.”
He scoffed. “That’s what we’re doing now? Playing the cold, mysterious, loner card?”
She turned, her voice sharp. “I told you, I’ve been dealing with stuff. Work’s been hell. I’m tired. Can we not do this right now?”
Finn stepped closer, trying to keep his voice calm, but his words came out edged. “Rikki, I’ve seen people with bruises before. They don’t get them from being a parole officer. You look like you’ve come from a fight. What are you mixed up in?”
“I’m not mixed up in anything,” she snapped, turning away from him, her shoulders tightening.
“Then talk to me!” he shot back. “Because you’re shutting me out! You disappear for nights at a time and when I do finally see you, you seem miles away. And what, you want me to pretend like everything’s normal?”
Rikki’s fists clenched at her sides. She didn’t want this, not now. Not when she was still hearing the impact of her body being hit. Still feeling the wind as she plummeted. Still seeing Rogue Knight’s armor behind her eyes every time she blinked.
“I never asked you to pretend,” she said quietly, almost bitterly. “I never asked for anything.”
Finn stared at her, eyes narrowing slightly. “So that’s what this is? You push me away until I stop asking questions? Until I give up? Because that’s what it feels like.”
“You don’t get it,” she said, her voice rising now. “My life isn’t some perfect fairy tale. It’s complicated and messy but it’s my life and I decide when I get to talk about it!”
“Rikki, I'm only acting this way because I care about you. I want to know what’s going on with you. Why you come home looking like you’ve been at war. Why it’s so hard to spend time with you.”
She turned to face him fully now, her jaw tight, her expression fierce but it was her eyes that gave her away. Tired. Torn. Haunted.
“Because I don’t want you involved in every aspect of my life. I don’t want you asking questions.” Her voice cracked, just barely. “So just... stop.”
Finn stared at her, stunned into silence by the sudden vulnerability.
“Please,” she said, her voice now lower, shaking with restraint. “Just leave it alone, leave me alone.”
The silence stretched between them like a chasm. Finally, Finn stepped back, his face unreadable, hurt, confused.
“If you won’t trust me with the truth, then what are we even doing?”
Rikki didn’t answer. She didn’t have one. With a heavy breath Finn headed toward the door, stopping only momentarily like he wanted to say something but didn’t. The door closed behind him with a quiet click. Rikki was alone again, with her bruises, her pain and her secrets.
What's next?
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Perils of a Novice Superheroine
A generic superheroing setting drenched with sex and scandal
Acropolis City, the center of super-human and caped crusader activity in this particular world - with its own dizzying highs and lows, high-tech skylines and slums standing in stark, four-color contrast, it provided everything that a costumed megalomaniac or masked vigilante could ask for. In fact, as is usually the case where colorful masked characters are the norm, it has become something of an institution by this point. But although the mere existence of costumed heroes and villains no longer shocks people, these people - who, by their very nature, thrive on attention - keep finding new ways to stand out from the crowd and attract the eye. This last goal tends to get a lot of emphasis in the most simple, sexualized way possible. For reasons that the world's most brilliant scientists have yet to explain, latent super-abilities seem to manifest more often in women than men by a ratio of 3 to 1 or more. This is true even when the superpower isn't "natural"; paranormal artifacts fall into their hands, esoteric martial arts schools never seem to have a male heir, the technological prototypes they test always seem to be the ones that are most easily used or abused for good and evil. Unfortunately, the glory days of the past where citizens were happy to see any old masked do-gooder show up are over - in recent years, Acropolis City has established a ranking system of heroes where those who get high marks from the citizens and resolve incidents are rewarded with corporate sponsorships and (most coveted of all) seats at the prestigious League of Propriety. Those who intimidate the populace, cause excessive collateral damage, or simply don't excite anyone, garnering low rankings, get 'asked' to move to less prestigious cities. Few superheroes want to get stuck battling clans of villainous hillbillies and corrupt small-town sheriffs for the rest of their careers, so they're always eager to please the influential citizens of Acropolis City (judges, eminent scientists, first responders, and of course the all-important reporters). On the other side of the law, a similar dynamic predominates; only the most glamorous and charismatic costumed ne'er-do-wells can make it in this town. And so, the novice superheroines just learning the ways of battling for justice and order, without any team to back them up, always end up patrolling the skeeviest, most undesirable slums of the city and taking on the most thankless rescues. As if that weren't bad enough, most of them feel obliged to dress in ways that get more outlandish and revealing with every passing year while they fight the good fight and/or feed their craving for attention, depending on how you see the 'cape life'. As if that weren't troublesome enough, the superhuman mutations that make so many of these heroes' careers possible also result in greatly increased sexual sensitivity, particularly in females. The adventures and misadventures that these spandex-clad lady crusaders get into are often too hot to print for the kind of comics that their young admirers would read. Messy mistakes will be made, but you don't want to disappoint your readers, do you? So let the League know what kind of superheroine you are, your chosen name, powers, and appearance, and they'll send you out on your first patrols. Good luck.
Updated on Dec 27, 2025
by micdan282
Created on Nov 30, 2016
by fyreant
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