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Chapter 19
by
micdan282
What's next?
Dinner for Two
The soft glow of streetlights bled into the dusk as Rikki and Finn strolled toward the small Italian bistro nestled on the corner of Main and 7th. The place was quaint, the kind of spot that felt tucked away from the noise of the city. It was exactly what she needed, a night to put the chaos on hold, to just be Rikki Drakeson.
Finn glanced over at her as he held the door open, his smile warm and easy.
“Table for two,” he told the host, his hand brushing the small of her back as they followed him to a quiet corner.
Rikki took in the candlelight flickering between them, the hum of laughter and the clink of glasses around them. For a moment, she allowed herself to sink into the normalcy of it all.
Finn watched her, brow crinkled in that gentle way of his.
“You okay? You’ve been quiet.”
She **** a smile, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Just… long day.”
He nodded as if he understood. Maybe he did. Finn was observant, even when he didn’t know everything. The waiter came by, and they ordered their meals. Finn launched into a funny story about his day at work causing Rikki to laugh, really laugh, and it felt good. But as she sipped her wine, she couldn’t stop her mind from drifting. Whisper. Devin. She tried to shake them off. Tonight she was with Finn. He deserved that.
Finn reached across the table, his fingers brushing hers.
“Hey,” he said softly, “I’m really glad we’re doing this. I know things have been… heavy lately. But I love being with you, Rikki. I just want you to know that.”
Her heart twisted, warmth flooding her chest. “I love being with you too,” she said, her voice a whisper. She reached for his hand and squeezed it, trying to push all the guilt and darkness away. For now, she was here with Finn. Just Rikki and Finn, sharing dinner, sharing stories, sharing their lives.
The night stretched on, the bistro’s cozy atmosphere wrapping around them like a blanket. For a few hours, she let herself believe that maybe she could balance it all. That maybe she could be both the hero and the woman with a normal life. And as Finn smiled at her across the table, candlelight reflecting in his eyes, she found herself believing it.
What's next?
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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