Global Protectors – All Fall Down
By Marcus Lycus
Welcome back to the final Global Protectors story. The end is here! Worlds will live and worlds will die and something, something…
Legal Horrors – The Global Protectors and Dynamo are copyright, trademark etc. of Doctor Droid (www.superstories.org/droidzone) and are used with his permission. Other characters and text are copyright Marcus Lycus.
This story is meant for people over the age of 18, please don’t read it if you are younger than that. Any resemblance between characters in this story and any actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental of course.
And finally, please e-mail me with any comments, complaints or suggestions. Remember feedback leads to more stories!
Marcus Lycus
May 2007
Part 8 – Valkyrie Vanquished
What has gone before…
Chapter One – A powerful alien invader named Lord Terminus arrived on the world of Gemma and proceeded to kill every single person. Only the queen was spared, and she was left stranded on an asteroid to forever look at her dead world. He then set his sights on Earth.
Chapter Two – The media tycoon J. Buckley Wolfe was contacted by the mysterious Mr. Senior with a plan to destroy the Global Protectors. First they blackmailed the Japanese heroine Rising Sun into becoming Wolfe’s slave. After months of humiliations her will was crushed and she was possessed by Senior.
Chapter Three – Senior blackmailed the Irish heroine Shamrock into a series of abusive relationships. She was fired from the Global Protectors and left an emotional wreck.
Chapter Four – The sex-demon known as the Incubus attempted to destroy the Argentine heroine La Sola. But even the demon’s sexual appetite was no match for the Latin woman’s. Defeated he was send into exile.
Chapter Five – The young Australian heroine Aussie Girl’s illicit relationship with the supervillain Dynamo turned ugly when he brainwashed her into becoming the villainous Thunder Girl. She was recaptured by the Global Protectors but now is uncertain who she really is.
Chapter Six – The American heroine Star accepted a top-secret mission to abduct a scientist from Cuba. After Mr. Senior revealed this, UN agents arrested and abused the arrogant American woman. After she is found not-guilty she foolishly tried to get revenge but was beaten, disgraced and imprisoned.
Chapter Seven – After months of clashes Tigress and the vampiric Dark Count met for a final battle. The Count was destroyed but Tigress transformed into a vampire and disappeared into the night.
***
Two weeks later…
It is midnight at the Gaea Building but for the four remaining members of the Global Protectors there is no rest.
“It’s hopeless, HOPELESS!” Valkyrie shouted and slammed her fist on the stainless steel desktop. The Swedish heroine looked at the reports again and sighed.
Her icy blue eyes first alighted on the folder marked Aussie Girl. Dynamo’s methods had been brutal but effective. Drugs, sleep deprivation, electroshock and repetition had left Aussie Girl severely confused about what was or wasn’t true. Aussie’s superhuman constitution and regeneration protected her from physical damage but her psychology was just as fragile as any other person’s. For a while she seemed to be getting better but in recent weeks her condition had degenerated significantly, as if someone was reinforcing Dynamo’s brainwashing. At this rate it would take months or even years of conventional therapy before Aussie could be considered healthy.
The folder marked Shamrock was shorter but just as depressing. Her performance degraded over the course of months before finally hitting rock bottom. She’d been fired but Val kept an eye on her. Again, for a while it seemed she was pulling herself together but then Shannon had taken a turn for the worst, jumping into unhealthy relationships and wallowing in self pity.
The Star folder was mostly legal documents. Her new trial wasn’t due to start for a few more weeks but this one looked open and shut. Star had attacked the UN Building in broad daylight, almost killing two of their agents. Her lawyers planned to argue Star was mind-controlled but it didn’t matter. Even if she was acquitted the Global Protectors would never touch her again.
Then there was Tigress’ folder. It had been two weeks since the Kenyan heroine’s final battle with Count. After their battle Valkyrie was pinned under wreckage, weak and bleeding for hours until La Sola found her. She needed days to recover. Maple Leaf had finally started to investigate Tigress’ mysterious activities and what they were finding was frightening. For literally years the Global Protectors’ deputy leader had been carrying on a private war against arms merchants, dictators, corrupt businessmen and other villains who were usually above the law. She’d killed dozens of people. In her campaign against the Dark Count she had used civilians as bait, costing them their lives. Looking at the evidence, Val now realized she too had been bait. No one had seen Tigress since but bloodless corpses were showing up in the abandoned warehouse district. Maple Leaf kept all of this out of the media of course. As far as anyone knew Tigress was on a mission in Africa. But sooner or later the truth would get out.
“It’s HOPELESS!” The tall blonde yelled again and tossed the reports in the air. They fluttered around the normally immaculate lab. She sighed again. She had no answer. There was no answer. Four of her teammates were gone, maybe permanently. And there was nothing she could do.
She spun around in her chair watching the lab whip by. When she stopped her eyes rested on a cabinet in the corner. She used to have an answer. An easy one at that. A captured mind control helmet she and Rising Sun had modified to edit memories. With it she could have prevented all of this, she could put Shamrock and Aussie Girl back in action tomorrow. But she didn’t have it anymore.
She’d abused it once. Used it to reprogram her teammate Shamrock into her perfect lesbian lover. Freeing Shamrock from her own control was the hardest thing Valkyrie had ever done. She did not dare take the chance of doing it again. So she destroyed her files, erased her memory of how to build it, and then destroyed the device herself. Trying to remember how she made it gave her a terrible headache. Even imaging using it made her nauseous. She shook her head and left the lab.
***
“It’s hopeless, HOPELESS!” Maple Leaf muttered staring at the computer screen. When she got the funding to build the team’s headquarters she’d convinced the banks the team’s membership and income would continue to grow. By 2006 she expected to have 12 or more heroines on the team, all generating sponsorships and donations.
Instead they never had more than 8. And now they had 4. For some reason Dr. Boyd’s process for activating superpowers had stopped working. He hadn’t had a full success since Star joined in 2002.
Heroine insurance was also going up. Ever since Red Jack trashed downtown the team had been hit with rate increase after rate increase. Firing Shamrock and Star had cut the rate slightly, but not enough. And not nearly enough to make up for the loss of Star’s income.
The only bright spot was the donations from their old enemy J. Buckley Wolfe. His money kept them afloat. The only problem was the price. Just touching him disgusted Maple Leaf but she endured it and pretended to enjoy his lovemaking for the sake of the team. The booze helped.
But now he hadn’t called in two weeks. Or cut them a check. Without his just-in-time infusions of cash they would be broke in a few weeks.
And Maple Leaf had no idea what to do.
“Excuse me, Maple Leaf, I think I have some bad news.”
“Join the club Val. Come on in, sit down and get us both a drink on the way.” Maple Leaf pointed to her bar. Val hesitated but poured two glasses of white wine. As she sat down she noticed two empty bottles in the garbage bin.
“Cheers! To the Global Protectors! Best damn heroines ever…” Maple Leaf clinked glasses and downed her drink in one gulp. She got up and got the bottle.
“So how’s Aussie?”
“I… I don’t think I’ll be able to help her.”
“Hmm… You’ve helped her bounce back from worse? I mean after that thing with those Japanese demons I thought Aussie would be out for good. But you had her back on her feet in no time. I dunno how you do it Val but-“
“Maple Leaf I can’t, I just… I can’t.” Val’s voice broke and she buried her head in her hands.
“Oh crap, Val, Val, don’t cry OK, OK?” Maple Leaf walked around and gave her friend a hug. “It’s OK, OK? We’ll get through.” Maple Leaf refilled their drinks and they both downed them. Maple Leaf flopped down on the couch in her office and sighed.
“Remember how it was Val? Just the three of us jammed in that tiny office at the World Peace Institute? I always knew what you guys ate for breakfast.”
“Oh believe me, I remember! Did you know I finally had to sit Tigress down and tell her about antiperspirants and breath mints?”
“So that was you? Well you deserve a medal for that. She was… she was…” Maple Leaf’s voice trailed off and she choked back a sob. They’d both searched for Tigress and found nothing. “Good times Val, good times.”
“I remember Jillian, good times.” Valkyrie relaxed and leaned back, she reached up and let her long blond hair free from its tight bun. She shook it out. And drank another glass of wine.
“Mmm I never noticed how nice your hair is Val, you should let it down more.”
“Thanks Jillian, it’s such a pain though, takes forever to dry. Sometimes I just fly around the Gaea building a few times after a shower.”
“I bet a lot of guys would love to see that. You’re actually really good looking, I’d do you.”
“Mmm?” Val sat up and cocked her head.
“I mean if I was a guy. Geeze Val, I don’t know how you keep them off of you. I have guys hitting on me left and right.”
“I uh, I just try to keep things professional.”
“Ah I guess you can that with the science guys. But with the donors you have to wine and dine them and show them a good time and you know, some of them aren’t that bad looking…”
“Um”
“… and God knows it’s hard enough to find a guy when you’re a strong educated woman, but I guess you know what that’s like Val, so sometimes it gets all BOOM-SHAKKA-LAKA-LAKA y’know” Maple Leaf shook her pelvis on the couch giving Valkyrie images of her friend she really did not want. “Most of them are cool though, y’know, discreet. And the nice thing about superpowers is I never have to worry about a ride home.” Maple Leaf giggled.
“Um…” Val added.
“I kind of regret going all the way with Wolfe though. The stuff that guy said about us when his son died. I mean it’s not like we didn’t feel bad about it! But he’s been pretty good to us so I guess it paid off. Even helped me find ways to cut costs… shame about Shannon but a good CEO has to know when to write something off…” Maple Leaf paused for another drink.
“I think I’d better go-“ Val began. She really didn’t want to hear more. The image of her friend in Wolfe’s bed was much too disturbing. She stood up.
“Hold up one sec Val. I want to tell you something, a secret.”
“I, uh, think I’ve heard enough secrets tonight-“
“No, no this is totally good news Val. I mean, I know it’s all going to turn out OK, I know it. For sure.”
“?”
“OK, remember last year when I went up to Toronto for that conference? Well something happened there, something well, strange but really good.”
“Is this about a guy? Because really Maple Leaf I don’t-“
“No, no! Val listen, I met these kids OK? Three of them from the future.”
“From the future?”
“I know it sounds nuts but listen, they took me to the future like the 25th century or 30th century or something. And there was like a whole army of superheroes there, and they called themselves-“
“The Legion of Global Protectors?”
“Well the Legion of Galactic Protectors but yeah. There were like thousands of them, some of them were like our descendants and from what they said I just know we’re going to make it through. They even had a hologram of me outside and they said-“
“That we inspired them.”
“Yeah. Hey I didn’t tell you this already did I?”
“No, no, it’s just that… Jillian, this kind of thing happens every couple of years. Back in the 60s Stellar Man and Stellar Girl met the Legion of Stellar Heroes. In the 70s Astroman met the Legion of Astro Heroes. There’s also been a Legion of Extreme Heroes and a Legion of Dark Heroes. That future team has probably been rebooted two or three times in the last decade.”
“So you’re saying they lied to me?”
“No, it’s just… the future is always changing, the future that existed in the 50s wasn’t the real future, and the future of the 70s wasn’t the real future, and the future you saw isn’t real. They’re just probabilities. Now there’s definitely something out there around the year 2600, but it’s always changing. Just because you saw them doesn’t mean we’ll make it through. I’m sorry Maple Leaf. I hope you weren’t putting too much into what you saw.” Val yawned, muttered “good night” and headed downstairs.
Maple Leaf just sat there mutely. It was all a lie. Her last hope. Those happy kids in their space suits and their high-tech base, it was all just a phantom, no more than a day dream. There was no hope.
She reached for a bottle.
***
“Hmph, this guy is hopeless.” The oriental girl muttered as she crossed a vacant lot in the old warehouse district.
Rising Sun’s body knocked on the warehouse door. Despite the petite body’s powers, the mind in charge of her was a bit nervous. Her mind had too many bad memories of other warehouses and what had happened to her in them.
The way she was dressed also made him feel a bit… exposed. She was wearing a leather miniskirt, black fishnets, a red mid-riff top and no bra. It seemed like a good idea when she left on this mission, since it was about as far from Rising Sun usual look as you could get, but the Japanese heroine’s memories kept rising to the top, unbidden. He shook her head. “Nothing to worry about Jap-bitch, I got it all covered.”
The door was opened by a beautiful blond woman in dress that was barely there. Rising Sun had vague memories of seeing her in lingerie ads and billboards. And the woman had a monkey on her back. Literally. A small monkey, his head covered with electronics, hung from her back and crawled on her shoulders. The woman looked Rising Sun up and down, a bit of disappointment crossed her face when she saw the oriental woman’s small breasts.
“Dr. Ratcliff?”
“Yes, yes, you are Miss Hiro?” Rising Sun thought she saw the monkey’s lips move. “Not what you were expecting hmm?”
“I’m quite used to surprises, things are often now that they seem.”
“Good, there will be more. Come in, come in.”
Behind the door was a disorderly lab, jerry-rigged electronics and computers covered every surface. A dozen different high-tech helmets and headbands were scattered around. An entire wall was take up by cages, most of them held monkeys, one held a bodybuilder who was drooling and eating a banana.
“Sorry for the mess.” The monkey mouthed and the supermodel said. “You said you were looking for information on mind control helmets.”
“Yes. I understand you are the inventor. I want to see the blueprints.”
The monkey looked at her. “Those are not for sale Rising Sun.”
Rising Sun’s face smiled. “You recognized me.”
“We had quite a night together, you, Maple Leaf, Tigress, me and a few dozen VX goons. Quite a memorable night.”
“I know.” Rising Sun smirked. “That’s the night you moved into your… current abode.” She patted the monkey on his head. It snarled and spat at her.
The supermodel’s voice changed. “Quite right. I’ve been waiting a long time for my revenge. Now take off your clothes slut.” Electrodes on the monkey’s head blinked in a new pattern.
Rising Sun’s hands twitched for second but then she smiled again and pulled the monkey loose. She swatted the model with the back of her hand and the blond crumpled to the floor. The lights on the monkey’s head blinked faster and faster but nothing happened.
“Wondering what’s gone wrong Dr. Ratcliff? Your helmet is working fine. But you see, we got something in common. Neither of us is in our right body.” Rising Sun held up her golden wedding ring and let the light play off it. Ratcliff imagined he could see micro-circuitry on it.
“You must have quite a mind, not only did you invent the mind control helmet years ahead of your time, but you managed to survive a mind transfer and stay sane inside a monkey. Amazing, simple amazing. I always wondered how you did it with such primitive technology. Now show me your files.”
The monkey made some more nonsense sounds. Rising Sun lifted her hand and casually broke one of the monkey’s fingers. “Now show me. While you still have some fingers left to point with.”
***
“Oh senior Archer there is hope for you yet!”
“Gee thanks baby. I guess.” He turned away from her and sat up. She reached up and caressed his shoulders.
“Oh senior Archer, don’t pout you macho, macho man. Come back to bed, show me those strong, strong fingers.”
The Blue Archer sighed but complied. He wasn’t used to this. Wasn’t used to being treated like a kid by his lover. He was the fucking Blue Archer! He’d fucked half the gals in Mega University! Of course those were just kids, nothing compared to…
“Mmm La Sola…” He sucked on her breasts.
They’d teamed up last week to stop Caligula and his Gladiator Gang from making the entire Megapolis Centurions cheerleading squad his helpless sex slaves. La Sola was glad they succeeded, she still felt bad about the last time Caligula pulled that off.
But she was even gladder she hooked up with Blue Archer. A millionaire playboy by day and dashing vigilante by night, the Blue Archer was quite a man. And after years as a superhero he had (almost) enough stamina to keep up with the Latina Bombshell.
As he fingered her and kissed her neck she sighed contently. With all the bad news at the Gaea Building she was glad to have some relief and just lose herself in carnal pleasures.
But all good things must end…
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
“Ah crap, sorry La Sola, that’s my Avenging League of Justice communicator.” He glanced at, something about a giant alien starfish. “Gotta go.” He started pulling on his costume, crawling around for some explosive arrows that fell under the bed.
“Comprendo” La Sola said in Spanish so no one would forget she’s from Argentina. “It is hard to be a superhero no?”
“Yeah, it can suck sometimes. Especially since we’re on different teams and… Hmm… Hey La Sola, have you ever, maybe, thought of coming over to the ALJ?”
“Ay?”
“Well you know we’ve been shorthanded in the heroine department ever since the White Witch went nuts and transformed the whole world into the House of Seven Soldiers. We’re really looking to put another woman on the team.”
“But what about Ultra Woman?”
“Don’t even ask! I mean everyone’s like ‘you have to have Ultra Woman, she’s iconic!’ but first she let her kid sidekick take over, then she came back, and lost her powers and now she hasn’t been seen in months. We need someone powerful, competent, and reliable. And smoking hot! Y’know, someone like you.”
“Oh Archer that’s so nice of you to say but now my team needs me.”
“I hear you, I mean, it’s good to be loyal, heck if it wasn’t for my team’s loyalty I never would have made it through my last two resurrections. But from what I hear-“
“What do you hear?”
“Well, I mean, it’s just a lot of people are saying there might not be a Global Protectors in a few months.”
La Sola scowled “Oh you’d like that wouldn’t you! You men, sitting in your space station watching us poor frail women fail so you can-mmph!” La Sola’s rant was cut off by the Archer’s kiss.
“No baby, that’s not it, not it at all, how can you say that? You know everyone’s rooting for you guys to pull through.”
The mercurial Latina’s features shifted from anger to sorrow. She started to cry. The Bowman sat down next to her and gave her a hug. “Come on Carmen, it’s OK. Running a team is hard work, believe me I know, I ran one out in California.”
“Did you? I never knew.”
“Yeah, ever hear of the West Coast Avenging League of Justice Elite?”
“No.”
“Yeah, well, neither did anyone else. We tried but you know how it goes, one week you’re saving the world from a demonic invasion, the next you’re busting litterbugs on the beach. But that’s the hero biz y’know.”
“Si.”
“All I’m saying it there’s a place for you in the ALJ if you want it.”
“Gracias.”
The Archer got up to leave but La Sola tugged on his quiver. “Do you have to go right now?” She reached for his fly.
The Blue Archer figured the starfish could wait.
The rosy dawn began to appear through the windows.
***
“I-I’m scared. Don’t make me go in there!”
“Sssh, it’s OK Emily, it’s OK, she asked you to this right? She wants this.”
“But Kristen…”
“Hush… after this we can go back to our office and we’ll play the Headmistress and the Naughty School Girl, and you can be the school girl.”
The blond girl ran her fingers through the shorter brunette’s hair and kicked her neck. Emily giggled and nodded. They kissed. Then Emily took a deep breath and knocked on her boss’ door.
***
KNOCK-KNOCK
Maple Leaf growled. She growled at the bright sunlight streaming through the window. She growled at the throbbing pain in her head. She growled at the nearly empty liquor cabinet across the room. She growled at her wrinkled and slept in costume. But most of all she growled at whoever was knocking on her damn door this early. She glanced at a clock. 10 am! Who the fuck would bug her at ten in the morning!
“WHAT!” She yelled.
“It’s um… it’s me. Emily. And Kristen. We uh… we need to talk to you.”
Maple Leaf growled at fucking Emily and Kristen. They were two failures. Two girls who’d gotten too close to the team and ended up being kidnapped by villains.
Kidnapped and more.
Maple Leaf didn’t like to think about some of the things that had happened to them. So she’d hired them as office managers out of pity and out of fear they would sue.
And how did they repay her? What did they do? Maple Leaf was sure the two were having sex with the maintenance staff but was never able to prove it. Damn brain dead sluts. How come everyone in the whole fucking building was a fucking idiot! Maple Leaf didn’t know why she put up with this shit. Probably here to demand last month’s salary. Didn’t they know times were tough?
KNOCK, KNOCK “Hello? Maple Leaf? Are you OK?”
Maple Leaf growled again but struggled to her feet. She ran a hand through her hair, getting it out of her face. She pulled up her damn costume so not as much cleavage would show. She opened the door.
“Yeah?” She growled.
The English brunette and American blonde cowered a bit but Emily cleared her throat and managed to speak up. “We, um, we found something. Can we come in?”
Maple Leaf grunted and stumbled to her chair. The two office assistants sat down on the couch and spread out some papers on the coffee table. “Remember you asked to look into Wolfe’s finances after his donations stopped last week?”
“Yeah.” Maple Leaf dry-swallowed some aspirins. She actually didn’t remember but what the hell, they were here she might as well listen. She debated pouring herself a drink and decided against it, the two bimbos might want a drink too and she didn’t have enough to go around. Hopefully this wouldn’t waste too much time.
“Well we found something. About three weeks ago there was a massive transfer from his private accounts to a dozen different off-shore accounts. We figure it was close to fifty million dollars.”
Maple Leaf let out a low whistle. Damn. That was more than enough to save the Global Protectors. “What the fuck did that asshole Wolfe do with it?”
“Well, um, it took some digging but we found all of those accounts link back to a company in the Cayman Islands called Vector eXperiences!” Emily looked at Maple Leaf like that would explain everything.
“Am I supposed to know what the fuck that is?”
“Huh? I mean we’ve known for years that Vector eXperiences is a front company for Villainy eXtreme!” Kristen chimed in.
“Goddamn cocksuckers. I hate those assholes.”
“Um, right. So we did some more digging and it seems that VX just sold an old supervillain lair on Larceny-bay.com for forty eight million!”
The two grinned at Maple Leaf looking for approval. The Canadian heroine actually smiled. Her hangover dissipated immediately. Damn! She had something now, something to go on.
“Now what would a media tycoon need with a supervillain lair?”
“That’s just what we were wondering. According to the Kirby Guide it’s one of Claudius Crowe’s old lairs filled with super weapons designed to take down invulnerable superheroes.”
“Or heroines…” Kristen added.
Maple Leaf sat back and crossed her hands behind her head. Suddenly she didn’t need a drink after all. “That fucking bastard. He’s up to something, I knew it all along. Now do you know where this place is?”
“All here.” Emily pointed to a map.
“Defenses?”
“One of the Crowe fan sites had a complete blueprint. They’re pretty hardcore, lasers and stuff. Assuming they still work.”
“Well even if they didn’t he’s had time to get them fixed by now.” She picked up the papers and started going through them. Plans began to form in her mind. She started making connections. She started to feel hope.
“And um… there’s one other thing.”
“Hmm?”
“You know Rising Sun’s new contracts and that money from Japan? Well it’s not from Japan.”
Maple Leaf looked up from the papers, fear on her face. Rising Sun’s contracts were one of the team’s last revenue streams. “What?”
“It’s all Wolfe’s money. Funneled through his Japanese subsidiary. What’s more we can’t find any evidence Rising Sun has a new show there at all.”
Maple Leaf opened her mouth and then closed it. She wrinkled her brow and digested that. Rising Sun told her all about the new deal, the new show, even showed her posters and trailers. So why… how… She froze. Crap. Now she couldn’t even trust Rising Sun.
“Um… wow. Uh… Good work guys, good work. There’ll be something extra in your paychecks this month.”
“Actually about that… um… it looks like our checks weren’t deposited last month.”
“Really. That’s weird. I’ll be sure to look into it.”
“Um, thanks Maple Leaf.” They rose to leave. Kristen looked at the liquor cabinet. “Hey uh… should I put in an order for you?”
Maple Leaf looked at it for a second and shook her head. “Nah. In fact have some of the boys come up and empty it out. Put in some juice and mineral water ay?” She turned back to the reports in front of her.
Kristen smiled. “Sure thing Maple Leaf!”
Maple Leaf walked around her office letting reality sink in. It was Wolfe. Somehow she knew it, Wolfe set all of this in motion. But that didn’t help her unless she could figure out how to put things back together. Somehow. And that required money. A lot of it. And soon.
***
“Hello Val.”
Valkyrie looked up from her cot, Rising Sun had just entered. She glanced at a clock, she’d been sleep almost twelve hours! She rubbed her eyes and stretched. She still felt so sluggish!
The Japanese heroine knelt down and helped Val to her feet. “Rough night?” She giggled.
Val looked away trying to regain some composure, some control. “Um, yes. It’s been, it’s been a rough month to tell you the truth. Any news on Tigress?”
“No, nothing. We can’t just sit here waiting Val-san. I figured you might want help.”
“I guess I do.” Valkyrie climbed to her feet. She looked again at the clock, she just couldn’t believe it. “I know your field is electronics but a fresh set of eyes might help. Let me find their charts…”
“Oh Val we don’t need their charts, we just need… y’know our project.”
Valkyrie stopped dead. Years ago Rising Sun had helped her modify the mind control helmet, but Valkyrie had erased her memories of the event. The Japanese girl shouldn’t even know about it.
“I don’t know what you’re-“
“Oh Val, don’t play games. I know all about the mind control helmet, how it saved us and healed us after all those terrible things. I even remember why you destroyed it. I think you overreacted a bit, believe if or not, Shamrock and I enjoyed that night we had together.”
Val’s lip quivered, she had erased those memories too!
“How do you even remember-“
“Oh a friend of mine helped me. I remember all sorts of things now. You’ve been pretty busy haven’t you?”
Valkyrie had erased or modified Rising Sun’s memories 42 times. And some of the others more times than that.
“But it was all for the better right? Except for that one little slip with Shamrock, and given the circumstances who can blame you, you did it all for our protection. So let’s get back to work!”
Valkyrie’s head was already hurting, her stomach began to churn. “Rising Sun, Kisume, I can’t do it… I can’t even think about it…”
“You used it on yourself didn’t you Val? Overreacting, just like I said. But you’re strong, you can overcome it!”
“I…” She could see some circuit diagrams forming in her head, lists of parts, design notes… But then they vanished and it felt like a drill was boring through Valkyrie’s skull, from the inside!
“OK, Val, OK, let’s talk about something else for a bit, we can go back to the mind con- I mean the project later.”
Valkyrie blinked, it was like a load had been taken off her shoulders. She wiped some sweat from her brow and took a few deep breaths. Rising Sun helped her back to the cot and sat down beside her. She rubbed Valkyrie’s shoulders a bit, wringing the tension out of them.
Rising Sun talked for a while about Japan. About parties and conventions and commercials. She talked about seeing an acupuncturist for tension and her memories slowly coming back.
“That’s why I wasn’t in touch, I needed some time and some space to deal with everything I was remembering.”
“Mmm” Valkyrie mumbled contently as her friend continued rubbing her back.
“That better Val? I know you’re having a rough time what with Shamrock gone and everything.”
“Yes… That wasn’t my idea. Maple Leaf didn’t tell any of us until the meeting the next day. I think Wolfe might have suggested it.”
“Don’t be so sure, I know Maple Leaf’s your friend but she can be a ruthless bitch sometimes. She abused Shannon from day one.”
“I suppose…”
“You really miss her don’t you?”
Val sobbed silently. Her voice became pained. Rising Sun wrapped her slender arms around Val’s muscular body. “I… I do. I know she doesn’t feel the way I do, I know she can’t but that doesn’t mean I can turn my feelings off! She’s such a nice girl and so beautiful…”
“But Val, are you sure she doesn’t share your feelings? Think about it, for years you were the one telling her she doesn’t like women, that she doesn’t like you. Maybe without your interference she would have discovered the same feelings you did.”
“I-“ Val’s mouth opened and closed, it was possible, it was definitely possible.
“Remember how she was when you two were together? She was strong and confident and powerful. Maybe if we remake the helmet we can remove all her instructions and let Shannon make her own choices. She might choose you.”
“No…” Val whispered.
“Yes.” Rising Sun whispered in her ear. “She could be your lover again once you free her and fix your mistakes. Of course I might get jealous…” Her hands moved higher on Val’s body clutching her breasts. Val squirmed turning to look at Rising Sun. “Remember that night? The three of us? I wanted that you know, I wanted it, there was no control, you’re the one who used mind control to change my mind.
“I…”
Rising Sun kissed her, cutting off any rebuttal.
Val broke it off, searing pain shooting through her skull. She ran out the door as fast as her strong legs could carry her.
Rising Sun just smirked.
“Was it something I said?”
Then she laughed manically.
***
Days passed uneventfully. In Maple Leaf’s office…
“OK, you can do it? Look I don’t care how you do it, I need her to do this job for us. Great. Pick her up tomorrow then.”
Maple Leaf hung up the phone and there was a knock on the door.
“Hey Emily come in. What’s going on?”
“I just wanted to drop off the new financial statements, I don’t know how you did it but it looks like things are stable at least for a little while.”
“Oh, I just found a way to monetarize some of our underperforming assets.” Emily looked puzzled but dropped the point. “Anything else?”
“Just one thing, some of the tour groups have been complaining, because the trophy room is practically empty.”
“Yeah… that. Well with all the visitors I thought some of our stuff was looking a bit shabby so I’m having it restored. Maybe we should cancel tours for the next few weeks, just until everything is, uh, back.”
“Are you sure? We’re still making some good money from them.”
“Yeah, I’m sure. I think we’ll be OK for money for a little while.”
***
Head still pounding, Valkyrie decided to check up on her poor teammate. She opened the door to Aussie Girl’s ‘rehabilitation room’ or cell. The first thing that hit her was the smell. In recent weeks she’d had to keep Aussie under restraints, the Australian heroine responded by relieving herself all over the padded room. It just broke Val’s heart every time she went to see her. And no matter what Val did Aussie seemed to get worse and worse. Even regular visits from Rising Sun did nothing to help Aussie Girl.
She turned on the lights.
“Good morning Robyn, it’s time for your-“
The room was empty.
Aussie Girl’s straightjacket and ankle cuffs were sitting empty on the floor. Val’s blood ran cold. She hit her communicator.
“Maple Leaf, Val, Aussie Girl’s escaped!”
“Hey Val, didn’t you check your email?”
“Huh?”
“Geeze Val, at least try and keep track of things ay? She didn’t escape. I had her moved.”
“Moved?”
“Yeah, I figured your methods weren’t working so maybe it was time to try something new.”
“But-“
“Sorry I didn’t tell you face-to-face but I’ve been kind of busy. We can talk about it over lunch tomorrow.”
“But-“
“See you then.”
Val just stared at the empty room. Aussie gone?
***
“Aussie Girl’s gone! I’m Thunder Girl damnit! Thunder Girl!”
Maple Leaf ignored the blonde’s struggles and tossed her on the floor. The athletic blonde wiggled in her straightjacket screaming and spiting. Maple Leaf turned to the man in this shabby office in the bad part of town.
“Well Dominator? How does it look?”
The Dominator – This 4’ tall, bald man has an enlarged forehead and bulging eyes. However his comical appearance conceals a major threat, for the Dominator is the master of mind control...– The Kirby Guide to Villains, 2007 Edition
“Um, yes, very nice, very, very nice… You want her cured?” The diminutive man practically drooled on the blonde girl. But Maple Leaf just shook her head.
“I want her for a mission, whether she thinks she’s Thunder Girl, Aussie Girl or Mary Fucking Marvel I don’t care. As long as she can do it.”
“Hmm, yes, yes…” He pawed Aussie’s head, squeezing her skull like a ripe melon. Then his sweaty palms moved lower, squeezing her breasts through the straightjacket, Aussie squirmed at his disgusting touch. “Oh yes, oh… yes…”
Maple Leaf whacked him upside the head. “Get to work squirt.”
The Dominator turned to her with a scowl, “Oh I’ll get to work, we’ll both get to work…” The veins on his head started to throb, his eyes turned from brown to red and he smiled. “Now take off your costume Maple Leaf. I want to see you and your little friend get friendly, very friendly.”
But Maple Leaf just stood there smirking and smacked him again. The Dominator just stared at her open-mouthed. These Global Pussies had always been vulnerable to his powers but now he could feel no reaction from the Canadian heroine. Maple Leaf smirked down at him.
“Sorry shorty, I don’t swing that way. Now get to work on Aussie. I want to see her fly out of here. Or we’ll see how well you fly.”
The Dominator muttered to himself and got to work.
Across town Maple Leaf was laughing her ass off as she watched everything from her computer screen. “I always knew the robot version of me we confiscated from Doc Droid would be useful. But geeze, I’m not really that bitchy am I?”
***
“Surrender Global Protectors! You will never defeat the power of the Dark Jedi and his… RED LIGHT SABER!”
La Sola rolled her eyes and flew in to attack. Valkyrie was already there. Neither of them were worried, they were up against a fat guy in a brown robe swinging a red energy sword. He looked more like a You Tube reject than a supervillain but he’d managed to cut open an armored car so now he was the Global Protector’s problem.
Sure enough the fight was short and sweet. The Dark Jedi swung once, Val parried with her communicator bracelet, the sword cut through the ceramic bracelet and burned her arm but did no more damage. So Val grabbed the guy’s throat with her other arm. He passed out before La Sola even landed.
“Hey, that actually hurt.” Val waved her arm a few times, there was a red mark where the sword hit her.
“Not much of a villain though.”
“No, not much of one at all.” She looked at the overweight bearded man, he didn’t look like a mad scientist or alien warlord. “I wonder where he got this?” She picked up the light saber and turned it off. She looked at it more closely, it looked familiar. “Hey La Sola, isn’t this the Black Baron’s old energy blade?”
“Maybe… It did look similar. Hey Val, remember when we fought him that time? He cut Shamrock’s costume open and her breasts fell out, dios she blushed as red as her hair.”
Val shook her head and chuckled. “I remember, and then she beat the heck out of him.”
“And then she apologized to him!” They both laughed. La Sola shook her head and picked up the deactivated weapon.
“Si it’s the same one amiga, it still has the Baron’s seal on the bottom. But how did this hombre estupido get it? Didn’t we have it in the trophy room?”
Val frowned, she had her suspicions. She slapped the fat man a few times until he woke up.
***
Back at the Gaea Building…
“YOU DID WHAT?!”
“Look guys you know how things are-“
“Si, si of course but THIS? I mean, what else did you sell?”
“Um, nothing dangerous.”
“What about THIS!” La Sola slammed the energy blade down on Maple Leaf’s desk.
“Nothing really dangerous, I mean you stopped that guy right? And we made half a million dollars off him.”
“That’s not the point! We can’t do this! We’re supposed to be protecting people, not selling weapons!”
“Look, La Sola, it’s just a temporary thing until I straighten our problems out. I’ve got some new information and I think-“
“You think what? Maple Leaf, what’s going on?”
“I…” Maple Leaf consider telling La Sola and Valkyrie that the man she’d been sleeping with for months was actually the mastermind behind their current woes. She decided it was a bad idea. At least right now. “I can’t say. You just have to trust me. Please, Carmen, just-“
SLAP!
“Trust you? Jillian, I don’t even know you any more.” The Latin bombshell turned on her heel and left.
“Fuck.” Maple Leaf deflated and fell into her chair. She looked over at Val who had been silent until now. “What about you? You want a pound of my flesh too Val?”
Valkyrie just shook her head. “No Jillian, at least… not yet.” She left.
Maple Leaf looked wistfully at the empty liquor cabinet.
***
Riker’s Island still stank of piss and despair. The Asian heroine wrinkled her nose at the stench, she made it a point not to touch anything. She decided to burn her boots just in case once she got back home.
Star was waiting for her in a private conference room. There was no bulletproof glass this time. The American heroine was sitting in a steel chair with wrist and ankles cuffs but wasn’t shackled in. After all everyone said the disgraced former heroine was almost powerless.
“Hey toots.”
“Rising Sun? What the fu- I mean, uh, hey, good to see you.”
“Yeah, likewise. How’s stuff?”
Star laughed mirthlessly “Same ole, same ole. Still here.”
After only a few weeks in prison, the American heroine had changed. Denied the services of stylists and cosmologists her hair was a mousey brown color and cut above her neck in accordance with prison regulations. Without makeup her face looked different, older, even maybe, a bit wiser.
“Yeah, and I hear you’ve got something going on.”
“Well kind of. I mean like, this place… really the stuff that goes on here, you wouldn’t believe it. I mean like prostitutes having parties with the guards, some of the supervillains having access to the women here, and the stuff they let them do with heroines like me… Geeze…” Star squirmed her sore ass at the memory. “So like when that TV crew interviewed me I told them about it.”
“You made a pretty big stink.”
“Yeah, well, good. I mean this place, it’s like, putting stuff in perspective for me. I think about like, how I wasted all my time just worrying about the next party or the next magazine shoot when there are people really suffering right here in America. It sucks.”
“Yeah, sure does. That performance you put on for 60 Minutes really ruffled some hairs, they say the Governor’s coming down here. Maybe even the President. Heck, they’re even talking about pardoning you.”
“Yeah? Well they probably won’t, I mean, after all, I did it, I deserve to be in jail.”
“That don’t sound like the Star I know.”
“Yeah, probably doesn’t. Like I said, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. So hey, what brings you here, I mean none of the other girls have visited, Maple Leaf won’t even return my calls, and, y’know, we were never like, buddies or anything.”
Rising Sun chuckled at that understatement. How many times had the Japanese girl cried herself to sleep because of some casual insult from Star?
“Well y’see the thing is toots, I’ve got plans, big plans. And you’re not part of them. So all this trouble you’re starting is fucking with them.”
Star looked strange for a second, Rising Sun realized it was because the American girl was thinking. “Rising Sun, you’re acting pretty weird. When did you start cussing like a sailor?”
“Yeah, well babe, I’ve had some changes in my life too.” Moving too fast for Star to react Rising Sun locked the cuffs on Star’s wrists and ankles.
“What the fuck!”
Rising Sun just smiled and opened the steel door of the conference room. Star expected a guard.
It wasn’t.
It was the hideous man-machine known as Doctor Squid. And his long steel tentacles.
“Hey slut, you got me thrown in solitary.” Each of the tentacles ended in a vicious steel claw, the claws started to whir around like buzz saws. “Guess this is payback.”
Star started to scream but a lighting-fast tentacle wrapped itself around her throat cutting off any sound. Another tentacle tore open her orange jumpsuit. Its claw began to whir.
Rising Sun chuckled as Star’s blood splashed on her face and white costume. The doctor took his time. Rising Sun didn’t mind. It was nice to see that bitch finally get hers.
Finally Doctor Squid turned his blood-splattered face to her. “Okay, I did my part, now let’s get out of here.”
“Get out of here? That’s not what I said. I said I’d end your time in prison.”
“Right, yeah, same thing. Now let’s go.”
Rising Sun reached down and tore off her costume.
“Hey not that I don’t appreciate it but this ain’t really the time, we gotta get-“
Then Rising Sun reached over and snapped Doctor Squid’s neck.
Finally she screamed and huddled in a corner.
The guards came quickly.
“Oh it was terrible! He just broke in here and attacked, he… he just killed her and made me watch! He was going to kill me but somehow I got my hand free and got a lucky shot, I think I knocked him out…”
One of the guards put his jacket around the obviously traumatized Japanese girl. “That’s OK miss, that’s OK… I don’t know how he got out but it’s over now, it’s over…”
Rising Sun tried not to laugh. Even after Riker’s improved their security it was easy for someone with Dr. Ratcliff’s mind control technology to arrange this little incident. She regretted killing Star, she kind of liked the idea of that bitch spending the rest of her life being raped in prison but she just couldn’t take the risk of the American heroine becoming some kind of martyr or political leader.
“That’s for outlawing tobacco in 2025 bitch” she muttered under her breath.
***
Val collapsed in sobs when she got the call from Maple Leaf. Star was dead. Killed in prison. All she could think was how this would never have happened if Val still had the mind con-
“AH!” She cried out in pain just because she tried to think about the m-, the thing she used to use.
Star dead. La Sola walked out. “How could I have been so stupid…” She cried. “If only I still had- AH!” Another sharp burst of pain reminded her not to think about the mind control helmet.
“Hey blondie.”
“Kisume! You’re OK!”
Val ran across the room and wrapped her arms around Rising Sun, the Japanese girl put her arms around the trembling blonde and held her. Val put her head on Rising Sun’s shoulder (she had to stoop to do it) and sobbed loudly.
“That’s all right Val, it’s OK. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.”
“I just heard, oh Kisume, it’s like everything is falling apart!”
“Yeah funny that huh?”
Val suddenly became serious and raised her head from Rising Sun’s shoulder. “What do you mean?”
Rising Sun looked up into her friend’s red puffy eyes with a sneer. “Well it’s your fault isn’t it? I mean you’re the one who decided to fuck with our minds and then, cause YOU made a mistake you decided to stop. So them girls were too weak to stand on their own and you decided to stop propping them up.”
“No Kisume it wasn’t like that I had to stop using the mind-“ a sharp look of pain crossed her face “the thing…”
“Yeah toots, you told me. But I got an idea-”
A look of concern and suspicion crossed Val’s face. “Kisume, your speech, you sound different.”
“Huh? Yeah well I got a lot on my mind and shit. But don’t try to change the subject blondie, you owe us and you’re gonna help put everything right. Now take a look at these…” Rising Sun pulled out some printouts. Val glanced at them and her head started to hurt.
“Where did you-“
“It’s some stuff I got from a monkey I know. Looks like plans for the Mind Control Helmet huh? If we can rebuild it we can fix everything. Get Maple Leaf sobered up, fix Aussie, get Shamrock back, everything.”
Val tried to look but her eyes kept going in and out of focus, the pain in her head was blinding now, her ears were ringing with her own words “you will never rebuild the mind control helmet, you will never help another build one”. She started to pant and sweat, her eyebrow twitched.
Rising Sun wrapped a lean arm around Val’s waist and steadied her. She nuzzled closer, leaning on Val’s arm. “Think of it” she whispered “everything back the way it should be, or even better.”
Val’s stomach heaved, She bent over double. Rising Sun saw a bit of blood leaking from Val’s nose. “That’s it, I know it hurts babe, just let it all out. Soon you’ll be controlling minds like before.”
Val’s whole body shook from a spasm. Her mouth started to foam.
“…can’t…can’t…please Kisume don’t muh-make me…”
“Oh but Val you have to. You have to. Think of your poor teammates, they need your strong leadership again. It’s such a small thing, all you have to do is overcome your own programming.”
Val’s eyes twitched wildly, her nose started to bleed.
“You’re doing just fine.”
***
Upstairs Maple Leaf took another Prozac and left her office. Things were close now. Very, very close. The money from selling off supervillain gear would keep them afloat for a while. The Dominator was making real progress with Aussie Girl, in a day or two she’d be up for her mission and Maple Leaf would finally learn Wolfe’s big secret.
The more she thought about it the more sure she was. Somehow Wolfe was behind it all, Shamrock flaking out, Star’s fuck up, Tigress going nuts, all of it. Once they took care of him she could start putting things back together. La Sola would come back, they’d cure Tigress, maybe take back Shamrock, win back their sponsors, pay off their debts… Everything would be fine. She just needed a few more days.
She reached the roof and opened the door. She took to the air headed for home. Tonight she just needed to relax.
***
Valkyrie was a broken wreck kneeling in front of Rising Sun. The Japanese girl held Val’s head in her hands letting tears, blood and drool flow down her fingers. She tried not to laugh.
“f-forgive me… please f-forgive me… I can’t I just can’t, my brain is no… can’t… think the mind thing…”
“Hush Val, hush, you don’t have to think about the mind control helmet any more!”
Val convulsed again and then was still. A look of peace settled on her face, she started humming an old Swedish nursery rhyme. “I’m a good girl.” She said cheerfully. Rising Sun brushed some blond strands from her face. “No more bad!” Val added.
“Yes you are toots, so I’m gonna give you a little reward.”
“Reward?”
“Yeah sweet tits, a big reward.”
Rising Sun reached up and peeled off her red and white costume exposing her pale, petite body to the statuesque blonde. “Now come to daddy.” She pulled Val’s unresisting head towards her neatly trimmed bush. “Come on now, I know you want it, you’ve wanted it for years, so do it. You’ll love it.”
Val’s mind was blank, she could barely remember where she was or what she was doing. Looking up she could see Rising Sun’s naked body. It was so beautiful, small but well formed, lean and tight with pale skin stretched as tight as a drum. She just had to… she wanted to… she heard the word ‘love’. She sighed. Love. Everything she wanted was in front of her. She extended her tongue and gave her beloved teammate a little lick. Rising Sun sighed.
“That’s it you blonde dyke, get to work down there. Show me how much you care.”
Val only heard the word ‘care’ and that was all she needed. She licked Rising Sun’s labia rapidly up and down, side to side. The Japanese girl muttered contently.
“See Val the thing is, even with my tech mind transfers are hard. Specially with a mature subject. Basically the receiver has to be mentally beaten down to the point you can just move in and knock her mind aside. Took months to get this Jap chick prepared but I don’t have months for you. Lucky thing you already set up all those blocks in your own mind for me. Right now I bet there’s not a single loose thought rattling around in that great big brain of yours.”
Rising Sun twisted the small ring on her finger and ran it around Val’s head. She smiled and nodded. “Nope, not a one.”
She placed the gold ring on Val’s forehead and concentrated. Val gasped once, her eyes rolled into head and she fell to the ground. Seconds later Rising Sun fell on top of her.
***
Maple Leaf landed at her place in the hills outside Megapolis. She noticed the pool was looking a bit green, had she paid the pool boy this month? She couldn’t remember. She shrugged and headed for the basement, the pool was the least of her worries. The Dominator said he would have Aussie Girl ready soon, so Maple Leaf could finally find out what Wolfe was keeping a secret. Val’s fight was Tigress was bad news, Maple Leaf was starting to wonder if their friend was lost forever. Some cheerleader chick in California had contacted her offering to help hunt down Tigress, Maple Leaf was considering taking her up on her offer. The news about Rising Sun’s lies was also pretty upsetting, Maple Leaf was just waiting until Aussie Girl finished her mission before confronting the Japanese girl. And of course looming over everything was the money problem.
But there was nothing Maple Leaf could do about any of these issues. Not tonight at least. And not when she was so tense. She really needed to relax and luckily her ‘relaxation chair’ was waiting.
As she peeled off her costume she looked it over. It was an ugly metal thing, with titanium straps for her wrists and ankles. Small holes in the seat where the only indicators of its true function. Dr. Droid had built it years ago and Maple Leaf was its first and only victim. She saved it after Val and Tigress rescued her. For a while she kept it at the Gaea Building but she was always afraid one of the girls would find it so she recently moved it to her house. Maple Leaf never figured out why a supervillain would make a super-vibrator chair but she figured as long as she had it… well a girl has to relax somehow.
She hung her costume on the hook by the door and set the remote. 30 minutes of bliss should be enough. Actually maybe better make 45. Ah heck, an hour. She’d earned it right?
She set the timer and settled into the cold metal chair knowing it would warm up soon enough. She sighed when the hard metal restraints lock around her wrists, ankles and neck. It was out of hands now. The ultimate control freak was trapped. She gasped as the first probe rubbed against her closed labial lips. She knew it wouldn’t take long now…
***
Thunder Girl flew out of the Dominator’s lab. The little shithead tried to brainwash her! Him and Maple Leaf! But she’d smashed them good. Showed them who they were fucking with. Thunder Girl!
Now she was going to rescue Dynamo, she even knew where he was, those Protector Bitches were keeping him under a mountain. But Thunder Girl was too damn smart for them, she’d memorized the security system. Now she’d show them who’s boss!
The Dominator chuckled as he watched her leave. That last illusion had done the trick. The Australian girl really believed she’d killed two people. After this there was no way she’d go back to being Aussie Girl. He still had her go on Maple Leaf’s mission, he was kind of interested in seeing how things worked out.
But for now the Dominator had something else to keep him busy. He turned back to the Maple Leaf robot. Once he’d realized he was dealing with a robot it was pretty easy to just ring up his buddy Doctor Droid and have her reprogrammed. Now the shapely brunette was dressed in a Mounty hat, a red blazer and nothing else. He was impressed, she sure did look realistic.
“Hey big man… want some Maple Syrup?”
The Dominator smiled and laughed. Life was good.
***
Back at the Gaea Building, for the first time in months, Kisume Hiro opened her eyes. And screamed.
Valkyrie was standing over her, casually bending a steel bar in her hands and smiling.
“Hey babe, you awake?”
“I… I…”
“Guess so. So tell me, you got any idea where you are, what’s happening?”
“I… you… you… me…”
“Uh-huh… speed it up honey, if you’re no good to me then I guess I don’t need you any more, and if I don’t need ya…” The words hung in the air.
“You’re inside Val!” Rising Sun yelled. “You, you were inside me and now you’re inside her!”
“OK, so far so good. Gotta say I like this ride a heck of a lot more. I mean geeze babe, didja ever think about getting some enhancements?” Valkyrie pointed at Rising Sun’s meager breasts and then clutched her own.
“I… I know who you are!”
“Geeze I’d hope so, seeing as you had all this time to figure it out.”
“You… you’re Wolfe!”
“So far so good, Wolfe who?”
“Wolfe Junior, somehow you survived the Wraith Lord and-“
Valkyrie started laughing, doubling over with tears falling from her eyes. “Junior? Junior? Sister that boy’s been dead for six hundred years. Oh I’m Wolfe all right, J. Buckley Wolfe Senior at your service.”
“But…”
“But the who’s that guy I locked under a mountain? Oh he’s Wolfe Sr. too, the 2006 version. Me? I’m a bit more experienced, I’m the 2636 version. That’s what I called myself Mr. Senior.”
“Twenty six, th-thirty six? But you must be-”
“Yup. Cybernetics, cryogenic freezing, psychic encoding on a quantum computer… there are ways, especially if you’ve got more money than God and a good reason to stick around.”
“Us?”
“Yeah you. You fucking stuck up, all-powerful super bimbos. I mean killing my son was bad enough but after the war with Terminus you were just insufferable. Oh I tried to stop y’all, believe me, nuked your little club house, poisoned a dozen of your recruits, raped, I dunno how many of them little Protectors, didn’t matter. You guys just kept coming, and coming getting stronger and stronger so finally I was like, fuck it and dropped out of the game for a while. At least till you and the Swedish bitch went and invented a time machine… Then it hit me. Why waste time fighting your gals at your peak when I can go back and pick you off when you’re still a bunch of bimbos in off-the-rack swimsuits.”
“Time travel? But why-“
“Of course I didn’t have y’all’s superpowers and stuff, I could barely send anything bigger than a golf ball back, but with nanotech and quantum computing that was enough to send my mind back here. To when it all began when you Global Pussies were still young, inexperienced and vulnerable. And here I am with six hundred years of files, records, plans and general nastiness stored up…”
“(you won’t win)” Rising Sun said in a very small voice. Even to her own ears it sounded pathetic.
Wolfe just shook his head. “I already won. Seven of the Protectors are gone, just that bitch Maple Leaf is left. The only question is how am I gonna kill her before Terminus arrives.”
“I’ll fight you…” Rising Sun muttered unconvincingly. Wolfe just backhanded her.
“Babe, don’t make me laugh. You couldn’t even fight me when I was getting started. What makes you think you can do anything now?”
Rising Sun just sobbed.
“Now follow me bitch, we got one last Protector to take care of.”
Valkyrie’s knees bent and she shot upwards smashing through the ceiling and the five floors above into the open sky.
Rising Sun lay cringing on the lab floor looking up before she finally climbed to her feet and took off after Wolfe.
Afterword
Well that was a lot of plot to get through, hopefully it worked. Evil future Wolfe was the villain all along. As a clue I tried to make sure that the present version of Wolfe and the mysterious Mr. Senior always had the same speech patterns and grammatical errors, but no one picked up on it. Ah well.
Anyway 2 chapters to go. Let me know how this one worked.
Marcus
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