Chapter 18
by
micdan282
What's next?
Haunted
Her muscles ached, her ribs throbbed, and her skin still buzzed faintly from the electricity that had coursed through her body.
She was alive.
But just barely.
Rikki’s legs moved on autopilot, slipping into her apartment, where the soft glow from the streetlights spilled through the blinds. She dropped her gear by the coffee table and collapsed onto the edge of the couch. Her fingers trembled as she reached for her phone.
Finn.
She pulled up his contact and hovered over the call button. There was so much she wanted to say. That she loved him. That she was sorry for everything she’d put him through. That she had nearly died again. That tonight, she was only alive because the man who nearly killed her didn’t finish the job.
But the time glared at her from the screen. 2:47 AM.
He’d be asleep. And after the week they’d had, she didn’t want to wake him. Not with more worry. More stress. She locked the phone and set it aside.
Instead, she dragged herself into the bathroom. The mirror caught her reflection, and she paused. The woman staring back looked haunted.
Rikki stepped into the shower and let the hot water run down her back, trying to rinse off the night. But the memory of his silver mask lingered like smoke in her lungs.
“You have no idea what I’m capable of,” he’d said.
Later, still naked from the shower, she curled into bed. The pillow was cool against her cheek. She reached once more for her phone but stopped herself.
Tomorrow.
Sleep claimed her fast—too fast and she began to dream.
The Supplier sat behind his desk, watching his monitor closely. He smiled behind his mask as he read the data before, typing a quick command into the computer the screen lit up with a statement saying phase one activated.
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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