Chapter 14
by
micdan282
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A Proposal
Nightingale moved silently across the rooftops of the city, her senses sharp despite the late hour. She was trying to clear her head, not take on a fight, not tonight. That hope didn’t last very long. A flicker of movement caught her eye on the adjacent rooftop. Tall, lean, and wrapped in shadows like she owned them.
Whisper.
Nightingale tensed. “You stalking me now?”
Whisper stepped into the moonlight with the confidence of a predator.
“Only a little,” she teased with a sly smile.
“Didn’t peg you for the rooftop-stalking type,” Nightingale said.
“I’m full of surprises and you’re not that hard to track.”
Nightingale straightened slowly, wary. “What do you want?”
Whisper stepped closer, her movements fluid and silent, like smoke curling through the air. “I need help.”
Rikki scoffed in disbelief.
“You’re serious, you want my help?” Whisper remained silent. “To start with I don’t work with killers.”
Whisper paused, a flicker of something unreadable in her gaze. “You’ve got to get over that. This is bigger than your cute little morals.”
Rikki didn’t answer. Whisper moved to the edge of the roof, looking out over the city.
“There’s an auction happening tomorrow night. Weapons, tech, black market types with too much power and no conscience. I’m going to crash it.”
“Why not go to the cops?” Rikki asked, though they both knew the answer. Whisper didn’t dignify it.
“I want to destroy the merchandise. Make a statement. But the place is locked up tight. I could use someone who knows how to hit hard and vanish.”
Nightingale crossed her arms. “Why me?”
“You’re good,” Whisper admitted. “I’ve studied you and despite beating your ass the other night I can tell how talented you are. And because, whether you want to admit it or not… we want the same thing.”
Rikki’s jaw tightened. “Is that so?”
Whisper turned to her then, fully, stepping closer. Not close enough to touch, but close enough to feel the shift in the air between them.
“Yeah,” she said quietly. “I see the look in your eyes. You’re angry, you’re tired. Trying to hold everything together while the city crumbles around you. Just like me.”
The words dug deeper than Rikki expected. She didn’t answer right away.
“I’m not convinced.”
Whisper smiled, slow and knowing. “Just think, we have a shot at putting a dent in the rot eating this place… and the chance to see if you like working with someone who doesn’t play by the rules.”
There was a tension hanging between them now. Not hostility but something sharper, warmer. Rikki noticed, and hated that part of her didn’t want to look away.
Finally she broke the silence. “Fine. I’m in. One job. But there has to be no killing.”
Whisper grinned, already turning to the edge of the roof. “See you tomorrow.”
She dropped down the side of the building, disappearing like she’d never been there at all. Nightingale stood still for a long time, staring at the space where she’d been. Her fingers curled into fists at her sides. She didn’t trust Whisper but God help her, she was curious.
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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