She lost her powers

A stubby man dressed in a brown and patched suit stood outside the oval office. His palms were sweaty and he clutched his briefcase hard. In front of him to the right of the door there was a panel with two lights, and right now it displayed a bright red. He checked his watch for the tenth time since he had arrived, tugging nervously on it. He'd waited for at least half an hour already. So far no one had even seemed to care to that he was waiting.

After a good long while the light finally switched from red to green and loud buzzing noise could be heard as the door in front of him unlocked. He swallowed, adjusted his tie and stepped inside. At the helm of the room there were a large and polished mahogany desk. The president sat behind it, her black hair was put up in a bun and she had her reading glasses on. Seemingly deeply focused on the piece of paper in front of her she didn't acknowledge the man with as much as a look. He stood there, feeling lost and misplaced, fidgeting as he let his gaze dart around the room.

"I trust that you're not going to waste my time. I don't like being disappointed." The president said as she looked up from her paper and took her glasses off. "They told me our investment was going to return results within the year." She jeered.

"I uhm, it's incredibly complex and I-" He stammered, cut off by the president.

"No excuses. If the contents of that briefcase isn't satisfactory you'll need to look for another job. You scientists are a dime a dozen!" She chided him.

"Yes ma'am." He rasped, quickly opening his briefcase.

From inside he plucked a folder with a bright red stamp over it. "Top-Secret"

"We've analyzed the starlet's physiological advantages in depth and come to the conclusion that what most of the public believes to be supernatural abilities actually have very complex but real scientific explanations. Among other things we analyzed her genome and-" He started explaining, only to find himself silenced by an angry look from the president.

"Don't waste my time. Can we stop her or what?" The president croaked.

"Yes madam president. We've developed a serum that should suffice to permanently block her so called superpowers."

The president smiled.

A few weeks after the meeting in the white house it was time for the Scarlet Starlet's regular health check up. She had them once a year, and mostly just blew through them in a matter of minutes. Still the government insisted and Stacie didn't really mind, the doctor was nice and she always enjoyed talking to the nurses. They were an inspiration to all women she thought, doing a lot of the doctor's job with only a fraction of his paycheck. This particular time her doctor's appointment lasted longer than usual.

"Yes Ms.Morgan I know you got superpowers, I don't think anyone in this country doesn't know that. I am however still your doctor and it is my advice that you do vaccinate yourself. Think of all the good people of this city, what would they do if you were lost to something as banal as mere infection. A few days with a cold even would have disastrous consequences." The doctor scolded Stacie.

"Geez, alright already. You're not my daddy you know." She sulked, pouting as she crossed her arms.

"Stacie." He demanded, holding up a syringe with a purple liquid inside of it.

"Oh okay then." She sighed as she rolled her eyes.

"Would you mind?" The doctor asked, handing her the syringe. "I'm pretty sure I couldn't pierce your skin." He chuckled and pointed to where she was going to inject herself.

"And you're still worried about me catching a cold." She snorted as she pressed the edge of the needle against her skin, pumping the strange liquid into her veins.

"There we go, all done!" She laughed, jumping down from the stretcher where she had sat. "I'mma go fight some baddies now doc. See ya' later!~"

As she walked out of the hospital she didn't feel any different. It was not before she jumped, meaning to shoot off into the sky that she noticed that something was awry. She felt heavy, like the air itself had gotten thicker somehow. It didn't matter much because after the initial surprise she still managed to take off, her curly red hair sweeping in the wind making her forget all her troubles. She loved flying.

It only got worse. The morning after she felt weakened, and three days after visiting the doctor she tumbled and crashed as she was chasing a pair of thieves. She had to limp back to her apartment, the pain of the fall different from anything else she'd experienced thus far. Something had happened to her.